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toournextadventure · 2 years ago

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movie night pt ii

Summary: After your previous movie night was disrupted by Sam, you finally manage to get a real date with Tara. Or so you thought.

Word Count: 3.6k Warnings: swearing, mentions of stabbings, suggestive themes Pairing: Tara Carpenter x Reader (pt.i) (pt.ii) (pt.iii) (pt.iv) (pt.v) (pt.vi) (pt.vii) (pt.viii)

"I demand a do over," you said as you sat directly opposite Tara in the little café.

"It's not my fault you got caught," she said without looking up from her textbook. "I agreed to one movie, nothing more."

"Okay, then no movie," you said. "Go on a date with me."

"And they say romance is dead."

"Please go on a date with me," you corrected.

Tara sighed and looked up at you with bored, beautiful eyes. It wasn’t like you could blame her; you had been annoying her since you had been unceremoniously kicked out of the apartment by Sam. But the least she could do was humour you. It wasn’t your fault Sam had come home early and cockblocked you both.

You leaned forward on the table. “One date,” you said softly.

Tara leaned forward too until you could feel her breath on your lips. “You said that about the movie,” she replied just as softly before leaning back once again.

“Why won’t you go on a date with me?” You asked with a huff.

And just like that, Tara got silent. Not the “I’m ignoring you” type of silence she usually had around you, but a genuine silence. One that you weren’t entirely sure how to deal with. Your family was rather loud and rambunctious, and that was on purpose, so whenever someone was silent you were at a loss. Did you crack a joke? Ask what was wrong? Change the subject?

The longer the silence went on, the more your palms started to sweat. Through all the teasing and bickering between you both, did Tara genuinely not enjoy being around you? Sure, she played it off and still kept you around, but was it just because she was being polite? Did she share the same sentiments as her sister?

“I was just kidding,” you finally said with a humourless chuckle as you leaned back in the booth and picked up your coffee. “You don’t actually have to-”

“-I’ll go.”

“What?” You asked, nearly choking on your coffee.

Tara looked up at you. “I’ll go on a date with you.”

“Seriously?” You asked.

“Don’t make me say it again,” she said with a huff and the smallest crinkle at the corner of her eyes.

“You’re agreeing because you want to go, right?” You asked, your eyes still glued to her face even though she wasn’t sparing you a second glance. “Not because you-”

“-oh my god, do you want me to go or not?”

“Yes I do,” you said as quickly as you could manage.

“Good,” Tara said with an exasperated nod of her head before she started packing up her things. “We can go after our media class tomorrow.”

“Wait but I don’t-”

“-this is your one chance,” she said with a pointed look and a move toward the front door. “Don’t blow it.”

“Tara!”

“See you in class!”

And just like that, she was gone and you were stuck at the table with a cup of coffee you didn’t even want and your stomach twisted into knots. This whole situation was your fault, of course, but you would never admit it. Your determination ramped up instantly. You were going to make this the best first date. It was going to be so perfect that even Tara fucking Carpenter would have to admit it.

“Do you try to sound as stupid as possible?” Tara asked when you held the classroom door open for her to leave.

“You’re just mad because I refuted your theory about one of my favourite movies,” you argued back before stepping in line beside her.

It had been a good class and, though you wouldn’t admit it aloud, you had done your best to rile Tara up. You couldn’t help it, she just got so passionate and then she would wave her hands and her facial expressions gave her away. Everything about it was adorable, and you didn’t care if you had to sound like an idiot to make it happen.

Although you weren’t an idiot and you were right about your theory.

“You need to improve your movie tastes,” Tara said once you were both walking down the steps of the Liberal Arts building and out into the quad. It was a beautiful day.

“My movie taste is flawless, thank you very much,” you said. Her knuckles brushed against your thigh, sending a jolt across your skin. “You’re just an elitist snob when it comes to media.”

“Elitist snob, huh?” She asked with a nonchalant nod of her head. “That’s really how you want to start this date?”

Shit.

“So where to, your highness?” You asked, completely ignoring her question and keeping your head up. She could humiliate you, but you were at least going to try and keep your dignity intact.

“You’re the one who wanted the date,” Tara said; her knuckles brushed against your hand this time. You suspected she was doing it on purpose. “You lead the way.”

Fuck. She was insufferable. God you were obsessed with her.

Wait.

“Come on,” you said with a giddy smile as you reached out and grabbed her left hand. She flinched but quickly settled. “I know a place.”

“Sounds like something a creep would say,” she mumbled, but still let you pull her along with you.

“You’re the one who entrusted me with the date,” you said as you started dodging between people and cars that honked at you both even though they were still in park. “So shut up and come on.”

“If you get us killed and prove Sam right, I’m never going to forgive you,” she said but still followed suit.

“Sam thinks I’ll get us killed?” You asked when you slowed down, finally only a block or so away from your final destination.

“Yes she does,” Tara said with pursed lips and a nod. “Even called you a liability.”

“Well now that’s just rude,” you grumbled, but otherwise kept silent.

You pushed open the door to the abandoned building and pulled Tara until she walked in. With only a glance outside, you let the door click shut behind you. Your hand placed itself on the small of her back until you could lead her further into the building, quickly making your way to the empty arena.

“What is this place?” Tara asked as she stepped away from your touch to look around.

“Some sort of indoor sports arena, I think,” you called out on your way to the wall where you kept a projector screen. “Don’t know for sure, but it’s been abandoned for ages.”

“You brought a Woodsboro survivor to an abandoned building?” Tara asked. You froze. “Maybe Sam was right.”

“I… did not think that through,” you said as you turned to look at her. “We can go if you want.”

“It’s okay,” Tara said before walking closer, stopping when she was directly in front of you. “It’s a thing of the past.”

Was it though? As much as Sam hated you, you knew she meant well. She was traumatised, understandably, by her sister getting attacked three times and having to kill hers and her sister’s partners. That was enough to make anyone paranoid, and even with Sam going to therapy, it was evident that it still haunted her.

You weren’t so sure it didn’t still haunt Tara too.

“I’ve got stuff in my bag,” you said with a gesture toward the small duffle you had left on the floor. “I’ll set up the movie if you set everything else up.”

“Deal,” she said with a small smile that had your stomach doing somersaults.

It only took a few minutes to finish getting everything set up. For the first time, you were genuinely thankful to your dad for getting you the small portable projector. Sure you had used it before, but now you were going to use it to hopefully make it the best date ever. Failure was not an option.

“Pick a movie,” you said when you sat back down beside Tara and handed over your phone. “I won’t change it this time.”

“That a promise?” She asked, but took your phone nonetheless and started scrolling through.

She barely even looked through the plethora of movies on your phone before picking one and starting it. You raised your brow at her when you heard the beginning notes of Titanic playing, but kept quiet. If she wanted to put on a cheesy romance movie then you weren’t going to judge.

Tara quickly laid back on the blankets and pillows she had gotten out of your duffle bag, and you followed suit almost immediately after she was settled. The small space between you both vanished after only a few moments when Tara rolled onto her side and rested her head on your chest. Your breath caught in your throat before you exhaled and got comfortable.

“You picked a cheesy movie,” you said eventually as the movie continued to play.

“I figured you would like the score,” she said without looking at you. Her hand was now resting underneath the hem of your shirt while her fingers scratched your hip. “Since you’re a nerd for that kind of thing.”

“Uh huh,” you said; your own hand was rubbing small circles on her back. “I think you just wanted an excuse to watch a romantic movie.”

“Oh please,” she huffed. “Romance? With you around? You wish.”

“I most certainly do not,” you retorted quickly. “If I wanted romance I would find someone else.”

“You don’t think I’m romantic?” Tara said, finally sitting up just enough to turn her head and look at you. Her hand still stayed pressed to the stretch of exposed skin on your hip.

“No I don’t,” you said, your eyes stuck on hers. She was staring into your very soul and you didn’t want her to stop. “I think you’re a brat who knows how to get what she wants.”

“And what do you think I want?” She asked, now resting her chin on your chest, right over your heart that you knew she could feel racing.

She was teasing you, you knew that much. It was in the well-concealed smile on her lips and the way her eyes stayed locked with yours. Her question gave you pause and you knew you couldn’t answer. Tara had a habit of leading you on and then pushing you away once you were close enough for something to actually happen. If you hadn’t both been drunk at the frat party all those weeks ago, nothing would have ever happened.

“I don’t know,” you said softly, quietly.

Her smile grew slightly as she moved, pushing herself up until she was straddling your waist and looking down at you. The movie continued in the background but you didn’t care. All you could focus on was the feel of her small hands splayed across your chest and your hands on her hips as she leaned so close you were breathing the same air.

“Sam can’t interrupt this time,” Tara spoke slowly, her lips barely brushing against your own. “Does anyone else know where this place is?”

You opened your mouth to speak, but the words got caught in your throat when you felt the slightest roll of her hips. It was small, barely noticeable, but you certainly felt it. Had she done it on purpose? She probably had, Tara was cunning. With a singular huff, you closed your mouth and shook your head in the negative.

“Then I know what I want,” she said, and you didn’t have to guess what she meant before she pressed her lips to yours.

You felt more than heard her exhale softly through her nose, the warm air brushing against your cheek. Her lips were soft and tasted of strawberry cheesecake; a chapstick Mindy had admitted to giving her after your first movie night. Her fingers curled in against your chest, and her nails left the most delicious sting.

Both of your hands slid under her shirt, resting on the warm skin of her waist. Your thumb accidentally brushed against one of her scars, leaving her to shiver above you only for a moment before she leaned further into you, her kiss now feverish. You tried it again, brushing your thumb over the scar with a gentleness you usually kept reserved. In return, her nails dug deeper into your chest and she lightly bit your bottom lip until you let out a small groan.

She leaned in to kiss you again as her hands left your chest. With the warmth gone, you wanted to pull them back until she grabbed your own hands. Your breath caught in your throat again as she guided your hands up her sides, pushing her shirt up until you could feel the lace of her bra. She let go of your hands before grabbing her shirt and pulling it over her own head, tossing it onto the blanket beside you.

You wanted her to sit up so you could look at her, admire every inch of skin currently exposed to you. The frat party had been so crazy, and you had both been so drunk, you hadn’t been able to even look at her. Then Sam had interrupted before you had gotten the chance. Now was the perfect time.

You tried to pull back, pushing her softly with your hands so you could see, but her hands quickly flew to your cheeks to hold you still. Her lips found yours again and refused to let you go. As much as you loved kissing her and feeling her hands on your skin, you just wanted to get the chance to see her every curve and freckle and scar.

“Let me see you,” you mumbled against her lips, but she was already shaking her head before you could finish.

“Just kiss me,” she said; she didn’t give you much of a choice before leaning in once again.

When her hands held your face a little tighter, you knew she wasn’t going to give in. And as much as you wanted to admire her, you would let her make the choices this time. Besides, there were other ways you could admire her. Your hands went around her back to find the clasp of her bra, and even though you were no professional, it only took you a little bit of fumbling before the straps fell down her shoulders.

Tara removed the useless bra as quickly as she had her shirt, and even though you tried to look at her for even a second, her hands found your face once again. It would have been comical how much she didn’t want you to see her if you hadn’t been so distracted with her soft skin against your fingertips.

With feather light touches, you dragged your fingers across her skin until you could brush your knuckles against the side of her breasts. She exhaled through her nose again, but you didn’t move. If she wouldn’t pull away long enough for you to look at her, then you weren’t going to make a move without her say so. You just wondered how long it would take her before she-

-a door slammed shut.

You sat up quickly, nearly knocking Tara off your lap in the process. With wide eyes, you looked around the empty room, scanning for the source of the noise. It had sounded like the outside door, but that didn’t make any sense. In all your years of visiting the abandoned building, no one had ever come in.

Titanic continued to play in the background.

“Should we-”

-you cut Tara off with a finger pressed to her lips. You did your best to tune out the movie, listening intently in the direction of the only open door of the building. Focus. It almost sounded like…

“Come on,” you whispered as you grabbed Tara’s hand and pulled her after you. You were still vaguely aware of the fact that she was topless, but as the footsteps came closer, you didn’t care. You could fix that after you pulled her into a closet with you.

The door clicked closed behind your back as you pushed Tara further into the empty equipment closet. You pulled your shirt over your head and handed it to her quickly before pressing your ear to the door, listening for any other sounds of an intruder. Once she had put your shirt on, you felt her body pressed up against yours, listening just as intently.

Through the door, you couldn’t hear footsteps, but you did hear the movie stop suddenly. Tara’s body shook slightly against yours, and you looked down to see the rapid rise and fall of her chest. Her eyes were wide and she was holding her stomach. Where she got stabbed, your brain pieced together.

You continued to listen far after all sounds had vanished from the empty room. No footsteps, no movie, nothing moving around, nothing. Part of you was telling you to stay in the closet; there was no need for anyone to get killed. But you couldn’t stay in there forever…

“What are you doing?” Tara hissed when you grabbed the doorknob.

“I’m gonna make sure they’re gone,” you whispered back.

“Are you stupid?” She asked. “You’re gonna get yourself killed.”

“I grew up in the closet, Tara, I’m not gonna die in one too,” you shot back.

“Please don’t go out there,” she said softly as she reached out to grab your arm. “I don’t want you to go out there.”

The quiver of her bottom lip was enough to break your heart. Try as she might, you knew Tara was still scarred from Woodsboro, both physically and mentally. And you understood, you did, but someone had to be brave for the both of you. There was no way in hell you were going to make her go check for a murderer.

“I’ll be right back,” you said before leaning down and pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. “Promise.”

You didn’t give her time to argue with you before easing the door open slowly, closing it just as quietly once you were on the other side. Even just the few seconds with your back to the room was enough to have your pulse rushing so fast you were dizzy. But when you turned around, the room was as empty as you had left it.

Each potential hiding spot you knew of was empty. Not the other closets, or the hallway, or behind the bleachers pushed up against the wall. There was no one there, and that both made you feel better and more terrified. But with no one around, you needed to hurry and get Tara and get the hell out of there.

“It’s me,” you said through the door before Tara opened it quickly, throwing her arms around your neck and pressing herself into you.

“Let’s just get out of here,” she said quickly, and you only nodded in agreement before you went over to the pallet and started packing everything up.

It only took a few moments, but Tara was on edge the entire time. She tried to act like she was fine, but you could see the shake of her hands and the glazed over look in her eyes. She wasn’t fine by any means, and that was more than okay, but guilt started to crawl its way up your throat. She kept your shirt on, and you weren’t going to bring it up. Lucky for you, you always kept a jacket in your bag, and you quickly threw it on.

“I’m sorry,” you said once you finally dragged Tara out of the building and back onto the streets. Thankfully the sun was still out, or you swore she would have had a panic attack. “No one has ever come by before.”

“It’s fine,” she said quickly.

“Can I walk you home?” You asked.

She didn’t say anything, but grabbed your hand and held it tight. You took that as a yes and started making your way down the streets of New York, knowing how to get to her apartment by heart. It was a silent trip, but quick, and before you knew it you were standing on the stoop of her apartment building.

“I’m sorry again,” you repeated. “Guess I blew my chance, huh?”

“You didn’t blow it,” Tara said with a quiet sigh. “How about a do over?”

“Seriously?” You asked incredulously.

“Yeah.” She smiled softly. “But no more abandoned buildings.”

“Deal,” you said with your own smile and a light chuckle. “I don’t even think I’m going back for my projector.”

“Get going before Sam sees you,” Tara said as she pushed lightly against your stomach. “I don’t think I can handle her scolding.”

“Yes ma’am,” you said while stepping backwards. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“If you’re lucky,” she said before turning around and walking into her apartment building without a second glance.

With a small smile to yourself, you turned around and started the long trek back to your own apartment. You would need to come up with something not quite so risky for the next date. There were only so many do overs she would grant you, and if you got cockblocked one more time, you were going to combust.

But third time’s the charm, right?

#tara carpenter x reader #tara x reader #tara carpenter #jenna ortega x reader

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mugiwara-rosewolf · 10 months ago

Note

Good morning or good evening ! (I don't really know what time it is at your house) how are you? It's been so long 🥺

I loved the first part with sabo (you take your time to write the second part, I'm not here to pressure you or anything, just breathe)

I would just like a headcanons or scenario with the monster trio (especially Sanji-kun of love) where they discover and their reactions when female reader tells them that she is the daughter of a yonko...... Shanks, she is shanks daughter! (I know Luffy will be happy since he likes Shanks) but Zoro and Sanji don't know him! At least. Not personally. And I would like to know their reactions to the three of them. Thank you in advance if you accept 🥺

Hello my dear!

Thank you so much for your patience with the Sabo piece. It makes me so happy to hear you enjoyed the first part. I am about 1/2-way done with part three as we speak, but I want to get that ending *just* right, so it's gonna take a bit longer to finish & publish.

(And if you're interested, I could also do an interlude about Ace and Luffy's POV on that particular request; just DM and let me know ;)

Now, without further ado, I hope you enjoy these lovely reaction headcannons/scenarios - Enjoy! :)

***

What's in a Yonko-?

Monster Trio x Red-Hair F! Reader

Warnings: Slight!AU, mild-to-average swearing. The reader has a vague backstory.

Prologue:

You didn't know it then, but part of the reason Shanks stopped in the East Blue all those years ago was to check on you and your mother.

Unfortunately, your mother was not there to greet him - just you and a rambunctious monkey of a boy who proceeded to be your anchor in the storm.

Shanks could not be more grateful that his little girl had found a family there at Party's Bar. But the guilt of leaving you alone...of not being there when you lost your mother...the burden laid heavily on his chest, and he couldn't bring himself to tell you the truth.

Little did our red-haired captain know, but you still had fleeting memories of him. Memories of your father are like shards of glass in the back of your mind, waiting to catch the light. Unfortunately, those little shards of memory would not find the light for some time yet.

More than ten years after Shanks' 'vacation' in Fuschia Village - two years after Sabaody and Marineford and the shattered hearts that came after - you were sailing back to the Archipelago on your own.

It was at the request of your beloved captain that you'd waited this long. If you'd had it your way, you would have carved a path through hell to find him again by the end of those first 3 days. But once you read those headlines and saw Luffy's mourning face on that paper's front page, you couldn't even pick yourself up off the floor.

The sun had nearly set when you came across an island in the distance. With your newly-tuned Haki, you were able to notice a grassy outcropping. Jutting out in a sharp peninsula, you could see two clearly marked monuments at the point of those cliffs, enraptured by fresh flowers. The first monument was dressed in a great white coat like a scarecrow flapping in the wind. Fluttering from the second monument...was a bright orange relic you thought you'd never see again.

Without a second thought, you set course for that island. Barely bothering to moor your boat, you charged up that beach and scrambled for the cliffs as quickly as possible. Your rational mind protested the rush, but your heart was never one to listen. Ace was a part of your heart, just as he was a part of Luffy's. He was your friend, your partner in protecting his troublesome brother from danger. A shoulder to lean on after the death of Sabo.

First Sabo, now Ace...Were you and Luffy truly destined to be alone in the world?

No. You still had your crew. That's what you were going home to. But you had to see this through first. You had to say goodbye to the first family you'd found--one last time.

When you reached the precipice of that cliff, you expected to be alone. But no. What you saw instead had your feet screeching to a halt, startled-stiff in place with a shock you hadn't known since -since Sabo's death, Ace's death, your mother's death...

It was him.

As the sun fell into the sea, it painted the sky with vivid, vibrant watercolours like a bleeding wound across the sky. Crimson bleeding into amber and gold as it rippled with flashes of white on the tide. Silhouetted by all this light - was a familiar black coat.

The coat would have needed to be more on its own, however. The strange figure sitting in front of these memorials, sipping a bottle of sake with the breeze - you might not have known him if not for just that one shard of light. One last ray of sunlight caught crimson hair and set it ablaze.

Fire. Fire. Fire.

Suddenly, it was as if the whole world caught fire behind your eyes:

A pair of children, embers in the wind, slipping on wet sand, laughing at the waves roaring. ‘Hey, wait up!’ Luffy.

A blurry silhouette behind a crackling curtain of flames, a burning shove, a grating scream; ‘Don’t wait, GO!’ Ace.

A last whispered wish shared between a mother and daughter's glassy eyes: 'Set out to sea, my love. You're father's waiting for you...'

It's only then that the man seems to register your presence. His posture straightens, and he turns to look at you, brows furrowed. It appears to be a ready snarl. But at the sight of you, his threatening words falter.

"-Y/N?"

A man turns in the doorway, a smiling crescent moon; ‘Wait for me?’ The sun lights his hair on fire.

Fire. Fire.

Father.

"Shanks-" the word is a gasp as if the breath had been kicked from your lungs.

"Wait, what are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be -?"

"It's you."

LUFFY

The moment the Red-Haired Pirates dropped you off at Sabaody, you fucking bolted for Shakky's Bar. Beckman already had the drop that Rayleigh would have brought him there first. 'Him', in this case, being Luffy. -And there was no way you would go another second without telling your best friend the good news.

"Luffy-!"

As it turned out, you were the last to arrive. The rest of the crew was gathered together, and all turned to stare at you as soon as you arrived. When the others clocked your presence, many rose from their seats, eager for a reunion embrace, but you forestalled them for the moment.

"Wait, guys, I swear this is important - Luffy-!"

"Y/N-mph?"

You found him chowing down on a ham leg the size of Brooke's afro. His eyes lit up the moment he saw you. Literally bouncing out of his bar stool to coil around you in a rubbery embrace.

"Y/N~! You're back! What took you so long~? I wanna go exploring-!"

"Exploring can wait, Lu-" You struggled to grapple his rubbery cheek away from smothering yours. "Luffy, listen, I found him-"

"Huh? Found who?" Luffy's neck retracted at an awkwardly impossible angle - something possible only with a creature like Luffy. He must've caught something about the light in your (e/c) gaze - cause suddenly, his own eyes widened.

"Yeah, him." You affirmed with a nod of your head. "And you'll never guess who it is-"

"Who? Who, who, who, tellme-tellme-tellme--"

You responded by simply flicking the straw hat off the brim of his head. "Who was the last one to wear this hat? Do you remember?"

For the first time in perhaps the entire time you'd known him - Monkey D. Luffy was perfectly still. Silent. The shock absorbed inside his rubber body instead of bouncing off like everything else did. You held your breath, observing him for a reaction.

Mere moments later, everything about him lit up like fireworks. Luffy gasped aloud, eyes sparkling. "Really-?!"

You nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "You'd better believe it..."

Luffy snapped out of your arms, whooping, cheering, and leaping into the air. All the other Strawhats around them glanced at one another, confused as to what was happening between their captain and Quartermaster. But, as always, Luffy's enthusiasm was contagious. When the Straw Hat captain leapt back into his best friend's arms, babbling incoherent excitement with those overflowing starbursts in his eyes, you and the crew couldn't help but celebrate with him. By all rights, your dream was accomplished. You'd found your family - your father and crew, your nakama - out there on the sea.

"YAHOO~! This is the coolest day ever~! We've gotta celebrate!"

Zoro approaches you after the initial reveal/celebration at Shakky's Bar, which will likely be sometime on the Sunny (after Fishman Island...?). Don't get him wrong, he'll take any chance to eat, drink and be merry - but he was still confused AF about what went down.

From his perspective, you came bursting through the doors - after not seeing anyone in that room for the better half of two years - and made a B-line for their captain. During this time, you were attacked in one of Luffy's infamous boa-constrictor hugs, only to exchange a few words, flick the tip of Luffy's straw hat--and suddenly, their captain was absolutely exploding with happiness.

Which, again, is not in and of itself a bad thing. Especially after the shit their captain had to go through these past two years, Zoro firmly of the belief that Luffy deserved any and all happiness he could get. But the point still stood. He wanted to know why. What the big deal was. Yes, usually, he kept his nose out of other people's business. But this was you. Even after all this time, to a certain extent, he found you to be more mysterious than Robin was back in her 'Miss All-Sunday' days. Nami just claimed that he was hopeless with women. And damn that witch, but maybe she was right...

Still, Zoro was no chicken. And if he had questions, he would get his answers, no matter what.

"Oi! Y/N."

"Hm?" You glance over at him from your place at the railing. The sea breeze toying with your (h/c) hair in a way that would not have been half as distracting as it was. "Oh, Zoro! There you are-! I've been meaning to tell you that you were awesome back there. By the way, what happened to your-"

"Not important." Zoro breezed past your words before you finished your question. Or, more accurately, before you could tell, his skin was far too warm talking to you. "What was that back there? At the old hag's bar? What did you tell Luffy that he was so excited about?"

"O-oh," Now he wasn't the only one with redness in his face. He took a strange satisfaction in that thought. You rubbed at the back of your neck with that sheepish smile you sometimes got when you were embarrassed about something. Zoro bit back the pit-deep urge to cut his teeth on it. "I, uh, well - I was just telling Luffy I found'em..."

"Found them?" Zoro's brow furrowed. His lonely eye narrow and sharp, his lips rolling into a firm line at the potential prospects. "...Found who?"

"My family."

Zoro blinked. He didn't know why he stopped breathing.

"I-I mean, my birth family, not just-" You motioned generally to the Sunny, including all the crew scattered about above and below decks, doing their own thing.

"Oh." Zoro didn't know what else to say. He knew your dream had something to do with your deceased mother. Some sort of promise, kind of like what he made to Kuina. But as an orphan himself, who'd had no prior stake in what a birth family was like...he supposed some of the gravity of your...goal? Your promise? Your dream being fulfilled was innately lost on him. "And...who's that, exactly?"

At that, you couldn't help but smile: "Red-Haired Shanks. Yonkou of the Sea."

All at once, every one of Mihawk's dry and pouting complaints about his 'long-lost eternal rival' came rushing back to him. Wine-drunk fireside painting the picture of his once fearsome opponent now washed up with a bottle somewhere, hardly half the man he used to be. It wasn't until Perona finally did some snooping in Mihawks personal effects that they found out the name of the gothic-dramatic swordsman's 'eternal rival'. --And then got a look at his bounty.

Zoro's mind blanked and scrambled like white noise on a Den-Den Mushi. "You've gotta be shitting me..."

It took some convincing for Zorro to believe that, YES, you were indeed serious. This wasn't just some long-con prank. That 'armless washup' he'd been lectured about by 'some vampire' was indeed your father by blood. And yes, he really was all that.

After all that explanation and hassle, you only wanted to soothe your oncoming headache with a nice cup of tea in the galley. The evening was starting to fall on the horizon as you stepped through the swinging doors. -Only to find a sight you hadn't known you'd missed as much as you had until it was right there before your eyes.

Sanji....

The one person you'd missed almost as much in your travels as you'd missed Zoro and Luffy. Missing Ace as a given. You'd given him as a part of your life, almost as close to your heart as Luffy's. The three of you had grown up together, after all. After Shanks' visit to Fuschia Village, Luffy, Ace and Sabo were the closest you could find to a tight-knit family. -Then Sabo died. Then Ace went off on his big adventure at seventeen. A few years left with Luffy, and then it was your turn.

That was how you'd found your way to the Baratie. Shipwrecked by a whirlpool, you'd escaped in a barrel and washed up beside the floating restaurant. Young and more malnourished than you'd thought you were, you were able to skate under the radar and pretend to be a boy. It was the only way Chef Zeff would hire you. The only way you could either a) save up for a new 'ship' or b) hedge your bets in hopes Luffy would be lured in by the rumour of food and come to find you. --And, of course, you should've known Plan B was the one that would come through in the end. Luffy was nothing if not reliable in his own way.

Between your shipwreck and Luffy's bombastic arrival on the Baratie, the one and perhaps closest friend you'd made among the cooking staff -much to their surprise - was the owners 'son'. The tempermental sous chef Sanji. The remaining fighting cooks didn't know this then, nor would they swallow their pride unless necessary to learn. But from your experience, neither would he, as long as you did not approach then-teenaged Sanji with hyper-masculine abrasiveness.

Sanji was kind.

And now...now he was a man. Parted his hair to the other side from what you were used to - with stubble and a goatee. You could hardly believe your eyes when you first saw the change. Years had now passed since you two first met. Sanji had long since discovered your true identity as a woman-by-birth. And for a while there, your entire dynamic was completely unrecognizable. You weren't sure where you stood with him for a while there. And now...after over two years apart...it felt like you were stepping out on thin ice all over again. Afraid to take another step into the galley if the floorboards crack beneath your feet and you'd fall through to the bottom of the ocean.

Fortunately - or unfortunately - for you, Sanji spotted you before you could impulsively decide to retreat. The moment he did - his eyes lit up like the reflection of sunlight on the ocean. You were anchored to the spot when you caught that light. Your heart squeezed. There was no escaping him now...

"Y/N-chan~!" Sanji exclaimed, pirouetting mid-sautee to come and greet you where you stood. "How honoured I am that you would come to visit me, mon cherie~" He crooned, his heart practically throbbing in his eyes. "Tell me, what can I do for you, my dear? A bite to eat? A spot of tea, perhaps? Anything my darling Y/n-chan desires-"

"Sanji..." You sighed, hanging your head. Even knowing his theatrics was a part of expressing his love and care - didn't stop the embarrassed blush from flushing across your face whenever that intense spotlight was focused on you. But instead of protesting, you simply caved. "You know me so well..."

To your surprise, he set an already-prepared cup and saucer at one of the barstools along the galley island. You blinked. Catching your bewildered gaze, Sanji simply huffed out a knowing smile.

"Noticed you getting annoyed with the dense mosshead out there-" He said, motioning out the galley window with his chin. "Figured you might need to smooth over what a headache that bastard is-"

"Ey," You scolded, wagging a finger at him even as your lips threatened to twitch into a smile at his petty quips. "Be nice...."

Sanji scoffed. "Yea, yea..." You caught the curious (dare you say potentially jealous-?) glint in his eyes - practically predicting the question before it could even leave his lips. "So," Sanji cleared his throat, straightening his posture as if he wasn't awkward as fuck prodding into someone else's business. "...what were you do talking about anyway?"

You couldn't help but snort. This boy...you chuckled to yourself, with almost sickening levels of affection hidden by the voice inside your head. "Oh, he was wondering about what Luffy was so happy about, when I met up with y'all at Shakky's Bar."

"Oh~?" Sanji lit a cigarette. He was really bad at hiding the fact that he was curious. -If he was even trying to be discrete in the first place...

Anothe soft chuckle under your breath. "You remember that night in Water Seven? When we both figured out we were holding onto promises to our mothers-?"

Sanji stilled. His back now turned to you, the pans before him continued to sizzle at the stove -but for a moment it semed as if the tass before im were forgotten. His mind thrown back into memory until he had no choice but to look back and nod. "Yea..."

"Well..." You stirred a bit of milk and sugar in your tea, as you always did.

When you first revealed your identity, Sanji had tried to do all those little things for you. That is, until you admitted to liking the clouds that would plume when you did it yourself. When at long last you met his gaze - the rising breath in your chest was like a helium balloon rising to meet the dark night sky in his eyes.

"I kept my promise."

Sanji turned the stove off completely. All of a sudden his dark, brilliant gaze was 1,000% focused on you. "You found him...your father."

You nodded.

The blond cook swallowed, corners of his lips pulling taut around the edges. You had always had this sort of gut feeling that Sanji had mixed feelings about fathers. His seething hot-n-hotter-tempered relationship with Zeff was only one facet of this. You had yet to hear the whole story, but you'd never pressed for it. Just as Sanji never asked for more than you were willing to give.

"...Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked.

You nodded. "I wanna see if you know who it is," You said, again with that itching to smile you could never suppress now knowing who your father - the ellusive heart of your lifelong dream - truly was.

"Okay. Give me a hint?" He suprised you, being willing to play your little game. "I know it has something to do with Luffy's hat, right?"

"Huh-?" You blinked. Sometimes you forgot just how perceptive the effusive cook could be. "Y-yea, you're right. Damn, there goes one clue."

"Two more," Sanji established. "Then I have to guess. Alright?"

"Alright," You couldn't help for smiling now. "Hint two: amputee pirate."

Sanji snorted. "Of course you'd have pirate in your blood. You and Luffy are both too reckless thrillseekers."

You grinned unabashedly at that. "Alright, hint number three--billion berry bounty."

"Huh...ex-strawhat owner...amputee pirate...billion berry bounty-? Wha-" Something must've clicked inside Sanji's head. His jaw went slack, cigarette drooping limp between his fingers. "No..." True, you could have made the hints even more obvious than that. - But you knew Sanji didn't need it. He knew exactly who it was just from the way you smiled.

"Your father's a bloody YONKOU of the SEA-?!"

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jtl-fics · 2 years ago

Text

Fluent Freshman - Part 36

The Smiths had been a happy family.

A happy couple and three happy healthy children. Their first born son 2 years into a blissful marriage, a second born son 4 years in and the third, a first born daughter 7 years in.

They spent most holidays with his Mother’s large rambunctious family but his grandma on his father’s side and her mother were always invited to any family event.

“The more the merrier.” He had heard more than one aunt or uncle say. “We know that Gavin is an only child, we don’t want to leave you alone.” They would say to his Gran. Cousins playing, laughing, rough housing, and screaming. Family friends with their own kids stopping in. The adults who could cook cranking food out happy to feed people.

The more the merrier is something FF believed with all his heart.

FF loved being an older brother.

He loved them from the moment he knew they existed. Had wanted to meet them instantly. Waiting to meet Jay and then Robin had been the longest time of his life. Meeting both of them were two of the happiest moments in FF’s entire life.

Robin had loved to reach up and pinch at his face.

Nose, ears, or even cheeks his little sister had loved to clamp her fingers around it. He used to talk when she’d do it on his nose, purposefully sounding more nasally as he talked to her as she giggled wildly. It was her favorite game in the entire world and FF had always been willing to play it with her.

Jay fell asleep against his shoulders without fail on every single car ride.

Slight weight, drool, and tiny hands that always wanted to hold his arm like a pillow. He was getting big had denied that he did that with pure horror every time FF would ask him if he was going to take a nap. Yet FF very rarely made it to a far off destination without a little bit of drool on an outfit. FF had never cared, trying not to laugh too hard with Robin as she giggled so that he wouldn’t dislodge Jay.

His gran would pinch his cheek and tell him how good he was.

A good older brother.

The happy couple wanted more kids. Wanted a bigger and bigger family. His mom wanted what she knew, his dad wanted what he never had, FF wanted more siblings.

He always felt like he had gotten his wish, but only in the worst way he could have.

His mom and dad were fighting. They were driving home from the supermarket; he vaguely remembers that. He doesn’t remember what started the fight but he remembers how Jay and Robin moved in close to him. She was pointing at him and FF doesn’t remember what she said but he remembers her hands reaching and then-

His face hurt, his ear hurt, he looked over and Jay was asleep just like he always was but he doesn’t look right. He looks and Robin is there reaching for him but she can’t reach him. “I’m scared.” She had said his name, pleading and terrified. Her face was bruised, cut, and she had a burn that looked painful.

He lied to her.

He didn’t know it at the time, but he did.

He reached out and he couldn’t touch her face, but he held her tiny hand in his own, looked her in the eyes, and lied.

“It’s going to be okay; I promise.”

Then he woke up and that hand wasn’t the one in his anymore. The world is muted but somehow his grandma’s red eyes and pale skin stand out to him. He asks what happened and she tells him.

Things don’t get better.

His mom swears his dad tried to kill them all that he swerved so they’d all die together. He can’t corroborate that story; he just remembers her hand reaching and-

How do you ask your mom if she tried to kill you?

She must see the question in his eyes regardless. Must figure that if he can’t feel anything, can’t cry, can’t emote, can’t go and lay between his sibling’s graves in the middle of the night then maybe he’ll never ask the question and she’ll never have to answer.

He learned to live not knowing and maybe his mom learned that he was a coward.

His mom’s family don’t treat him the same. He won’t denounce his father and they look at him with pity and Daniel whispers poison into his cousins’ ears until they act like he killed Robin and Jay personally.

He can’t react.

Can’t plead with his cousins to understand.

Daniel would spin it and FF would find himself on the meds again. So, he got good at pretending. He got good at faking. He got good at everything that was needed to pretend like he didn’t have a care.

Then Coach Wymack and Captain Dan Wilds were there.

He’d been getting better.

Now Daniel was here.

Nicky tucked him into bed and he tried to sleep. Even feigned it well enough for Nicky to leave and to get startled by the shouting that shortly followed.

Daniel was going to stay.

Daniel was going to try to be on the same team.

Daniel was smart, strong, and very athletic.

Daniel was going to be on the same team.

He hears when Abby and his Gran come back, and someone must have mentioned that Daniel was there to his Grandma because she comes in and tells him that it will be okay. He puts on a brave face for her, and she kisses his cheek.

He lays there in bed and stares at the ceiling feel flushed and hot with anxiety.

He gets up and walks to the fridge and finds himself frozen there.

“Smith,” Bee’s voice rings in his ears as he had tried to keep pushing everything down. “Smith, there is only so much you can bottle up and repress.” She reached out and held his hand comfortingly because touch always made him feel like he was on earth.

“What am I supposed to do with it?” he had asked, ashamed.

“Smith, you’ll have to process it. Feel what you repressed and then after you’ve felt it maybe you can let it go.” Bee had said.

He had avoided taking her advice so far, it hadn’t felt safe, and it had been too much, too scary.

Nicky’s face comes into his vision, “Smithy?” he asks and there is concern that FF hadn’t felt worthy of. “C’mon bud. Let’s get you under the covers.” His friend says.

They get to the guest room and FF crumbles. His face in Nicky’s shoulder and when Nicky asks if he can hold him while he sleeps FF nods and holds on as tight as he can. Nicky’s hand finds his back, “It’s okay Smithy, I’m right here. We won’t let that asshole mess with you. You’re safe.” Nicky had promised and-

and it’s enough.

He relaxes against Nicky and he feels safe.

So, he decides to process it.

“Dig in!” Abby said not bothering with grace. It was good. FF still missed his grandma’s cooking. It was nice to have this loud Thanksgiving like he used to get but there was something special about helping his grandma in the kitchen and the two of them sitting down to eat. He missed events with his mom’s family. Loud and boisterous and his Gran welcomed and loved by everyone there. It was special to have his time with his grandma, but he wishes it could be with his cousins and his siblings still.

It’s okay to be nostalgic.

He lets himself process it.

Captain Neil was up front and had started to play some music. Nicky and Aaron were conked out before they had even reached the entrance to the interstate. They had also slumped onto FF with Aaron asleep on his shoulder as Nicky drooled into his hair. “You can just shove them off.” Andrew said. “It’s fine.” FF said and had reminisced about the last time he’d had something like this. How maybe Jay would be this big, would he be tall like Nicky or shorter like Aaron? Would Robin be big? Would she still want to squeeze his nose and ask him to talk?

It wasn’t a bad thought, just one that hurt to consider.

He lets himself process it.

Aaron looked at him with a twisted mouth for a while before he relented, “Fine they’re not that bad. It’s a big brother thing.” Aaron rolled his eyes. FF swallowed down some acid in his throat and had pushed the smiling eggs and bacon over to Aaron who smiled back at the breakfast and proceeded to eat it. A big brother thing. FF used to be one of those but, unlike Aaron, he hadn’t managed to protect his siblings. Aaron was a good big brother and FF only had the memory of being one.

It hurt and maybe it wasn’t just his great grandma he had reached out to when he had baked those brownies. They had always always been Jay’s favorite.

Two kids hadn’t moved as the rest of the world continued to. He watched as they clung to one another, and no one seemed to take notice of them. He didn’t understand how anyone could mess them with the bright orange children’s jerseys they had on. One sporting 01 – Josten and the other 10 – Josten on the backs. He had said something to Nicky and then he was squatted down in front of them. A big brother and a little sister with a burn. He’s glad to see them off safely. Glad they’re safe and that Millie is smiling at him like he hung the stars because he got her an autograph from Captain Neil. Glad to watch Brandon be lifted up by his father. He hopes they get home safe.

They didn’t even look that much like Jay and Robin but it had made him happy.

There were other moments, small moments that had hurt that he bottled up but those didn’t take much time to process though.

He finishes processing and lets himself come back to the present.

Something tastes good in his mouth.

“…put the knife away!!” he hears Nicky yelling and looks up to find that Nicky is hiding behind Matt Boyd in Abby’s backyard.

“Just tell me where my car is Nicholas!” Andrew says advancing on Nicky with a knife drawn.

“Can we not do this with me in the middle?” Matt pleads.

“He won’t stab you so you’re the safest thing to hide behind!” Nicky exclaims.

“Where. Is. My. Car?” Andrew hisses.

“Look, I’m just saying that until that asshole is off the campus….maybe it’s for the best that you don’t have access to your car?” Nicky asks pleadingly.

“What the fuck is he drinking?!” He turns as he hears Kevin nearby.

“Milkshake, it’s fine. Doesn’t Smiths deserve something that is not one of your dogshit smoothies?” Aaron asks and he’s standing between Kevin and FF. He sees one of Kevin’s smoothies in the starting striker’s hands.

“It’s not fine!” Kevin hisses. “I didn’t approve of it!” he flails one arm.

“Kevin, you’re not actually his doctor.” Captain Neil says, “Andrew, maybe put the knife away before people call the cops on you?” Captain Neil asks pleadingly.

“I’ll put it away once Nicky tells me where he put my car.” Andrew demands.

“We just barely avoided you going to jail a couple weeks ago Andrew. I just don’t want you to do something that would result in you being there on vehicular manslaughter charges!” Nicky pled from behind Matt.

“I wouldn’t crash the Maserati just to kill him.” Andrew is facing towards them, and FF can see him roll his eyes.

“I think they’re more worried that you’ll just run him over if you see him dude.” Matt says.

FF realizes belatedly that he’s sucking on a straw to an empty milkshake only when a wrinkled hand takes it from him and puts a hot drink in his hands instead. He looks and sees his grandma smiling at him.

He looks down and-

Oh, hot chocolate. This is nice.

He takes a sip.

Oh, his grandma’s hot chocolate.

Delightful.

He watches as his Grandma makes her way towards where Andrew and Nicky were continuing to run around a resigned looking Matt.

Andrew is stopped as his Grandma hands him a cup of hot chocolate filled to the brim with marshmallows. He blinks at the offering but takes it stopping his hot pursuit of Nicky.

“Jesteś moim ulubieńcem” she says. (“You’re my favorite now.”)

Nicky makes a noise like he’s dying. “Aras!” he cries dramatically.

“Got something to say about the drink from his Gran?” Aaron asks.

“No…” Kevin says petulantly. “…but he should leave room. I formulated a new healthier smoothie that tastes good.” Kevin says holding up his smoothie.

“Doesn’t taste like ass is more accurate.” Matt says walking over now that Nicky was immobilized by his despair and Andrew was enjoying hot chocolate. “Sorry Smithster, we’re still working on getting it up to ‘tastes good’.” He says apologetically clapping FF on the shoulder.

“Fat chance of that with Kevin’s sensibilities with flavor.” Aaron says rolling his eyes. “More accurate to say lack of sensibility.” He adds after a second.

“Don’t be rude, you ran off without even warning me.” Matt points at Aaron.

"You ran off?!" Kevin demands.

FF can’t help it.

He laughs.

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

#Fluent Freshman AU #AFTG AU #AFTG OC #FF - 36 #Wop wop it's late #That Tornado really threw everything off with my timing #I would also like to thank ca-van for helping me on the Polish for this chap #If you're wondering #Yes Aaron was in on the car removal #but has no idea where Nicky put it #Hence why Andrew wasn't chasing his brother around #Matt tried to step in to help #But just became the beautiful tree that Andrew and Nicky were running around #GS heard Andrew was interested in possibly killing Daniel with his car #he has now become a favorite #She makes hot chocolate for the rest too but Andrew gets the extra marshmallows #Andreil #AFTG

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fleet-of-fiction · 1 year ago

Text

Jake Kiszka x Narrator & Sam Kiszka x OC.

Chapter One

Summary: The Jones Family are new additions to the sleepy community of Beech Run. A tight knit scattering of rural houses, where everyone knows everyone. Deeply religious and overbearingly strict, the daughters of the family are kept under lock & key by a fanatical Father and submissive Mother. They watch from bedroom windows as their neighbours, The Kiszkas, draw intense curiosity and desire to be free. Madness of youth , hope & obsession collide to bring the danger of forbidden love to poetic ends. (Era A/U)

A/N: I want to dedicate this fic to all my beautiful friends who have loved and supported me through what could only be described as a difficult time. Their belief in me as a person, who tries to be good even though I'm prone to making hellish mistakes, has been unwavering and as such I wanted to create a piece of writing that I felt they would enjoy and immerse themselves in. So, this ones for you @writingcold @sanguinebats @thewritingbeforesunrise @takenbythemadness @edgingthedarkness @katuschka @lvnterninthenight @its-interesting-van-kleep @jakekiszkasbuttsweat @gretavangroupie and everyone else who has been with me on this journey.

Warnings: Religious trauma. Parental trauma. Intense emotions including desire, obsession, grief and yearning. Loss of virginity. Explicit sexual activity. Heavy praise kink. Severe edging. Oral sex m/f. Fingering. Masturbation. Dirty filth talk.

Summer 1984

The Kiszka's were like catching that scent of freshly cut grass on warm summer air. Nostalgic for something I'd never had. Books that I dare not open because my love for the cover meant that I was too afraid to start something I knew I'd never be able to put down. They were Sunday morning distractions, like I'd never known a day without putting my hand to glass and letting their chaos drift in through the open window.

The first time I saw them I didn't know the sound of laughter could make my heart want to die. The sort of rambunctious envy I felt was a thief to any joy I might have found, standing in the dust as I carried boxes into the new house. Theirs was a summer of freedom. And mine was like trying to find solace in the darkness.

The girl was pretty when she smiled. I thought, perhaps, in some other life she and I could have been friends. Sometimes I imagined it, that she would knock on our door and ask for me by name. A delusion I centred within myself whenever I saw her ride by on the yellow push bike that was always leaning against their porch steps. The boys weren't like that, though. No part of me could imagine myself in that wild entanglement. Fires and swearing, ripping their shirts off in the midday heat to wrestle in the dirt. Guitars littering their garage door, riffs that drifted in on the wind making me want to rise from the doldrums.

It just wasn't like that for us. Any hope that I'd carried into Beech Run was dashed the moment my Father shook hands with the patriarch of our neighbours, and immediately insisted that we weren't to go near those people. Godless and bohemian. Without decency. Without enough fear of a faceless, impalpable being that seemed to rule over nobody save for us.

He was a pastor and we paid for that dearly. With our curfews and our diligence and our punishments if we didn't honour God precisely how we should. I stopped believing that an almighty power would have chosen this life for me a long time ago, but nothing felt more certain until we moved to Beech Run. Only the devil would have put us next to the Kiszka's.

"They're so pretty."

Jolene was sitting on the windowsill, playing with her hair as she admired them. She had that faraway look in her eye that most girls had when they were seventeen. Romanticising them, giving them entirely fictionalised morals and wondering what her name would sound like on their lips.

"Come away from the window." I warned, the torture of it something I had already decided I would not endure all summer.

She would bite down on her lip and sway against the glass. Insufferable. Lost in a sea of their sweaty bodies tearing across the front lawn, having water fights and jam sessions in the garage. All the things we were denied. She and I, lumbered with reading lists and prayer groups that made me want to rip out my immortal soul and offer it to the highest bidder.

"The tall one, he looks as if he might sweep you off your feet. He keeps tucking his hair behind his ear, I think I'd like to do that for him."

No good would come of it. I could see the whispering angels and demons perched on my sister's shoulders. Consorting with her. The fathomless ages of young girls who had come before her in their tragic echoes, doomed to desire and the shadow of a breaking heart hanging above her head.

"Come." I encouraged, "Sit and read with me a while. And then shall we see if Ben will take us into town?"

The freedoms allowed to our brother were tantamount to our lack of it. He was the eldest and therefore had the privileges of that. He was male, and existed in a world that Jolene and I did not encompass. Sometimes he would take pity on us and drive us into town to get an ice cream or watch a movie. Sometimes he would be cruel and drive there without even telling us.

"I'm fine here." She sighed, and I suspected she wanted them to see her.

I was far too practical to follow her into that folly of romance. I thought myself immune to it, happy to just read about it in books that would remove me from my present circumstances. Something which had made me a target, previously, for underhand comments as I walked down the school halls or sat in the library just turning pages.

"Fine, until you send yourself silly with all this nonsense." I sighed, putting my book aside and shimmying to the end of my bed.

"I want to know what it feels like, don't you?" She was a dreamer, a conjurer of a fate I could already feel the chill of spilling down my back. "To be taken for a ride in a car, and have them open the door for you. And kiss you goodnight, making you feel like you're the prettiest thing they ever saw. Don't you want that, Bonnie?"

If I had ever wanted it, the moment had passed. Perhaps I was hopeful once, but then hope could be so easily dashed. My sister was beautiful in an uncommon way. Simple and understated, the sort of beauty that was caught at the right angle and once perceived, it was devastating. With long auburn waves and a set of dreamy blue eyes, she had lips that were full and round in complete contrast to what I had to offer.

"No." I replied without hesitation. "I don't want deal with any foolishness, least of all from a man. Don't we put up with enough of that from our own dear brother?"

She rolled her eyes in contention. "It's not the same, and you know it's not. Brothers are nuisances. In the same way Dads are."

With that, I couldn't disagree. Ours was a formidable creature who liked to keep us so pure it was as if any man would contaminate us by breathing the same air. Something which had begun to take it's toll. I had given up, and Jolene was merely awaiting her chance to break all the rules.

"Oh, but not these boys." She sang, returning her gaze to the frivolities unfolding across the street. "These boys are handsome and good. I just know that they are sweet and kind and up close I bet they have all these little nuances that only stand to make them even more handsome."

She would walk into a pit of fire if it promised to love her and adore her. Willing to walk to her heart break like ascending to the gallows with a smile upon her face and would willingly do it all over and over again just for a taste of something like passion. A part of me envied her.

"Maybe you're right." I agreed, deciding it might be worth a peek. "Maybe they are handsome and good. And maybe they will take you riding in a car and kiss you goodnight. But that doesn't change the fact that Dad would never allow it."

There were three of them. The elder of the twins was a lithe and charismatic thing. With a mop of curls and a penchant for wearing his pants low enough that my Dad had balked at the sight of him upon introductions. The younger twin was a little more reserved, hiding behind a curtain of long dark hair. His smile was entirely unexpected just by looking at the depth and darkness of his eyes. Neither of which were mirrored in their younger brother, who had all the hope and exuberance of a puppy dog that hadn't been trained on how to behave around company.

And Jolene was right. They were so infuriatingly pretty. All three of them with the same magnetic curse that had drawn my attention whether I wanted it to or no. I was no better than she, leaning my hand against the glass so that I might see them better. Rolling my tongue around in my mouth as I tried to appear calm.

"I'll jump out of a thousand windows before I ever let Daddy tell me who I can or cannot love."

I believed her. There was something in the way she stared out of that window that made me truly believe she would never let such a thing come between her and her desires. And as I looked down at the object of her affection, he saw me for the very first time.

Shirtless and sweaty, his hair wet and slicked back. He raised a hand to his brow and stared directly into our bedroom window. His brother, coming to see what had distracted him, followed his line of vision. Raising his hand, the two of them drenched and flushed pink as they stood at the end of their driveway regarding us. And we, against our better judgement, stared back.

I often stood in front of the mirror alone, wondering how I might be regarded by another. It was a terrible thing to be young and have innocence imposed. I would trail my fingers down my breasts and imagine that the handsome boy who had peered into my window was standing in the darkness behind me.

I couldn't see him. He wasn't a perfect image. His face was blurred from the distance of where he'd stood in my memories of that day. But it was him that I summoned whenever I touched myself. There was no other who came to mind. It was always the younger twin, the one with the long hair who had dared to stand and watch.

Perhaps it was his boldness that had made him stay with me. There was something bookish about his demeanour, like he'd been written by a woman for other women to fantasise about. Simply by standing there in the summer heat, taking note of me. Like I wasn't a ghost, after all.

"Open the door, Bonnie."

His voice ran through me like the prickle of a stinging nettle against flesh. To hear it whilst I stood there, naked, made my skin crawl.

"Just a second." I replied, pulling on my robe and hurrying to obey.

My Father was on the other side, standing there with a sourness that questioned precisely why I had been in the bathroom quite as long as I had. He would ask if I had been partaking in a sin, but at the same time he wouldn't speak it into existence. He simply cleared his throat and nodded at me.

"Your Mother and I were thinking, for the service this coming Sunday, that you and your sister would like to say a few words about how welcoming our flock have been since we arrived here."

His suggestion drew an audible sigh of disappointment. That I would be expected to stand in front of our neighbours and peers as if I were somehow grateful felt like a deception in the house of God. I could imagine their faces, thinking us good little Christian girls and what perfect examples of the lord's word. A credit to our loving Father. And our Mother, who would sit there in her perpetual silence and allow it to unfold without so much as an uttering against it.

"Of course." I replied obediently, "As you wish, Daddy."

He nodded his approval, clenching his jaw as if he'd anticipated a different response.

"I'd like the congregation to see what lovely girls we have." He mused, the grey flecked moustache that sat above his upper lip twitching. "They need to see that their pastor is the head of a good, solid foundation."

I had already agreed to his demand. There was no requirement for him to stand there and justify it any further. I was consciously aware of my state of undress, and felt it necessary to continue to nod my agreement as I scurried back to my room.

"Oh, and Bonnie?" He caught my arm, firm but not enough to cause pain. "Please make sure your sister stays away from the window tonight."

He would feel superior and I would feel beholden to it. As I smiled and nodded, as if I somehow held the reigns of my sister's deeds. He was smug and I was left wondering how he even knew that she'd been standing there.

"Yes, Daddy." I muttered, knowing it would have been futile to try and convince him otherwise.

She was feigning sleep as I came into the room. Making rudimentary noises and shuffling about as if in dream. I dressed quickly and quietly and it wasn't until I had switched off my lamp and laid my head down that she decided to end her performance.

"Bonnie?"

I flicked the lamp back on. "Yes?"

"Do you think Daddy will let us go to down to the creek this summer? I heard the Kiszka's talking about it outside. They said there was going to be a heat wave and all the kids from Beech Run and the next town over would be heading there. I sure would like to go."

There was an effervescent hope in her voice. That somehow, if she could only say it out loud, it might make it come true. I ruminated on the right way to tell her I couldn't see it being a possibility, not wanting to shatter her dreams entirely.

"Perhaps, if Ben is there escort us, there might be a chance." I offered, knowing that our brother had no intention of escorting us anywhere during his first summer in a new place with all the freedoms and folly of a youth that was extended to him.

She was leaning on her palm. Playing with a thread on her pillow case, her mouth all smushed up as she contemplated what I'd said.

"I just want to be like all the other girls." She sighed, before turning over and signalling the end of her part in our conversation.

"Dad wants us to say a few words at service this Sunday." I told her, plunging the room back into darkness, "Maybe we'll tell them all how he keeps us here like prisoners."

I heard a small, almost indiscernible titter from Jolene's side of the room. But I let her be. Sinking into my bed sheets and trying to imagine I time where I'd ever been satisfied.

He was there, again. Standing in the darkness. Haunting me. His imperfect face just beyond where I could see, the shape of him calling out to me. A set of deep set brown eyes appraised me, squinting through sunlight to get a better look at me. And I replayed it over and over until it was scratched into my memory like an old cassette that had worn it's self down to white noise.

I just wanted to know his name.

It was a Thursday evening. When the wall clock in the kitchen stopped. Summer rain began to fall. My Mother lost her most treasured thimble whilst sewing a set of curtains in the chair by the front window. And my Father was berating us for a less than exuberant attempt at writing a speech for the up coming church service.

He had us standing there like sentinels. Brushing his disappointment over us as if we were his canvas. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck begin to prickle, a deep rooted need to protect my little sister from this sort of tirade starting to bubble away beneath the surface.

"I don't feel your gratitude, Jolene." He scorned, scrunching her script up in his hands like it was a tissue he'd used to blow his nose. "Try something a little more heart felt."

She was on the verge of tears. I could see them welling up in the corners of her eyes. I looked over at my Mother and felt a sense of abandonment whilst she was still in the room as she searched for the thimble she had lost. Silently willing her to step in, to say something. Anything.

"We'll have something appropriate drawn up by Sunday." I assured him, waiting to be dismissed.

His dominance was always at it's most ferocious when I dared to even tread into defiance. Sometimes I wondered if he took pleasure in it. The way Jolene trembled beneath his word and I tried and fought in vain to protect her. I wasn't the one prone to rebellion and yet it felt as if I always took the brunt simply because I always tucked Jolene behind me, safely squirrelling her away from his overbearing eye.

"See that you do." He simply replied, waving a cursory hand that allowed us to leave.

I heard my Mother rejoice as the lost thimble was found. My heart sinking that this was her biggest joy. That she had barely taken note of her daughters and our pain and the way we were slowly sinking into oblivion. Why was I even trying to obey?

Perhaps I closed my bedroom door a little more aggressively than I'd intended. It caused the pictures on my wall to shudder. The bottle of perfume on my nightstand rolled over. And Jolene fell into her pillows, leaving the stains of tears in the folds of fabric.

"They'd never convict him a court of law because he doesn't beat us." She sobbed, screaming silently into blankets.

Perhaps he would have if the marks would've been translucent. I often wondered if my Dad had ever thought about beating us into submission. Sometimes the bloody veins in the whites of his eyes and the tiny speck of spit in the corner of his mouth as he raged at us made me wonder if he curled his fist up at just the right moment if he would strike.

"I thought, when we moved here, that things might be different." I dared to wonder, "But if anything, he's worse."

Jolene's face was all blotchy and pink. Sodden with tears and her hair stuck to her wet cheeks.

"He knows, Bonnie." She sniffed. "He knows that if we were given half the chance we'd be across the street. With those boys."

Would it have been so bad? To have known a summer of love? I was eighteen years old. Never been kissed. Never been taken on a date and had a door opened for me. I had tried so hard to ignore it, but I could no longer look away from it. The way I'd been spending more time on it, touching myself and imagining him in the place of my own hand.

"You don't care, anyway." She added, with a little more malice. "You don't want any of it. You're always trying to stop me from looking at them. You're always burying your head in a book, as if that will help."

Perhaps I deserved that. I didn't dare tell her that I'd had a change of heart, of late. That my usual stance had begun to shift. Where once I'd thought the wanting had passed, it had started to become an insatiable curiosity. Even my waking thoughts were plagued by it.

"That's not true." I confessed, laying a careful hand in her hair. "I'm sorry if I ever made you feel alone in this. I promise, you're not."

Her nose wrinkled as she looked at me. As if seeing me for the first time. Allied in our awakening interest in the boys across the street.

"I can't stop thinking about him, Bonnie. Every night before I sleep and every morning when I wake up. I wish I could wash him out of my mind. But he's there, all the time, looking up at our window."

"I know, I know..." I soothed, "I've tried to forget that they exist, too."

I'd forgotten to draw our blinds. In our haste to appease our ever demanding Father, I'd left the curtains open too. From the corner of my eye I noticed a light flicker on outside, drawing my attention. I turned and took note of the Kiszka house, the glowing square in the upstairs left quarter was like a beacon against the rural darkness of our street.

"Look." I said, waiting for my sister to follow my gaze.

It was the elder of the twins who appeared. A towel sat snugly around his waist as he ruffled another through his hair. He was lean and perfectly cut, not dissimilar to his counterpart. I felt a sudden shame at watching him, but there seemed to be no care for his close proximity to the window.

He was talking to someone. His mouth moving in soft intervals, as if engaging in a conversation we could not hear. I was enthralled, nonetheless. Wondering what he was talking about. Who he was talking to. He carefully ran his hands through his curls, making sure they were perfectly sculpted. His stomach taught and his arms raised above his head, but it was only inquisitiveness that made me continue to look.

I felt nothing until he appeared. Tossing his brother a clean t-shirt. Doing nothing of value. Padding around and making me feel like the most detestable of voyeurs.

"He's the one, isn't he?" Jolene asked softly, taking note of my how my breath hitched as he appeared. "We can't just pretend like this isn't happening."

"They don't even know we exist." I dismissed her, forcing myself to look away.

"That's not true." She replied fluidly, her voice rising like a song. "We were introduced when we first moved here. They've seen us watching them. Even if it's the only thing they know, it's that we exist."

I wanted so badly for it to be true. I watched him stand there poetically in the window, talking to his brother and running a hand through his long hair. Casual. No care within the world for him. And I envied not only the fact that I couldn't be close to him, but also that I ached to be him.

I didn't settle at all that night. Fretting, feeling as if I held all the anguish in the world in the pit of my stomach. Jolene had nodded off as soon as the light across the street went out. But I continued to stare at the void a while longer. Silent tears streaking my cheek, the salt on my lips like a bitter reminder that it was all I could do to let it out.

I could see my reflection in the glass. A spiritual spectre that didn't have a voice. I stood there in my white linen night gown, ruffled at the sleeves and thought myself truly a ghost. The window was cold to the touch. The night was cool and calm whilst within me raged a tempest.

I didn't want to go to bed and lay down and have my thoughts ruin me. It would have been nightmares that came to me, ones about being locked in a cage. And so I stood there, in the window I had promised not to let my sister stare out of.

That warm glow from across the street reignited. It almost made me flinch. The way the darkness was all consuming, and then there it was. The light on in the room upstairs. I held my breath, as if somehow they'd be able to hear me. Lip trembling as he reappeared, this time alone. A look of forlorn sadness in his face as he went to pull the curtains closed.

He thought he could see something. He thought himself mad as he peered out further, squinting into the darkness as he caught the sight of me. It was in my mind to turn and disregard him, but I was rooted to the spot. Afraid that if I moved I would never feel again the way I felt right then in that moment.

I knew that he could see me. Certain as I knew that he was watching me right back. I could feel the pull of my heart strings dragging it down, into a flurry that churned my stomach like butter. He stood there, his forearm against the glass as he rested his head against it. Staring at me as if he couldn't quite believe I was real.

And then he raised his hand and waved. And I, inexplicably, waved back.

I sat in the choir loft as parishioners began to filter in. Gripping my insincere little speech in my hand, the paper felt as heavy as granite as I turned it in my hands.

I'd barely slept. Keeping vigil the past two nights, waiting for Jake to appear. That was his name. So graciously given to me, scrawled on a piece of paper as we exchanged messages from our respective windows.

It felt like poetry in motion. The first time he held up a crude scribble and asked for my name. It felt like I had been truly seen. I'd hastily scrambled for a pen and a notebook, holding it against the glass whilst he nodded his understanding. Waiting with my heart beating a muffled drum within my chest as he wrote something back.

He asked me why we never came to the creek. Why we never seemed to linger in the wide open spaces all around us. Why we were always in town with our brother. He seemed intrigued. Telling me about his passion for his guitar through page after page of rushed sentences.

The last of which had told me to wait for him in the choir loft before Sunday service.

Only a fool would have agreed to this. To sit there in my Sunday best, knees clicking together in consuming nerves of what I was about to do. Keeping a watchful eye on my Father as he stood at the podium and graciously welcomed his congregation. I'd never seen Jake or his family at church on any Sunday since we'd moved there. I questioned why he'd asked me to wait for him up in the rafters, but not enough to stop myself from agreeing to it.

"Bonnie?"

I clutched the hem of my skirt, knuckles white and my cheeks pale as I swallowed hard. He slid into the seat behind me. Graciously foregoing the seat beside me, I kept my eyes focused forward and felt as if I might melt into the very grain of the wooden pews. He leaned forward, resting elbows on the back of my pew, his breath warm and silken against the curve of my neck.

"Jake." I replied, my mouth suddenly ravenously dry.

What did I even anticipate that the pay off of this risk would be? Just to feel my own heart beating so wildly in my chest that I thought, perhaps, that I might pass out? To have a moment of stolen sin? I could smell the soap he'd used to wash with that very morning and the hint of coffee and toothpaste in the warmth of his breath. Was this ever going to be enough?

"You don't know how long I've wanted to talk to you." He confessed in hushed tones that forced me to close my eyes against the sincerity of the words. "Ever since you moved here. You've been somewhat of an enigma."

Nobody had ever spoken to me like that before. With careless want and an honesty that threatened to choke me. I could feel my palms grow sweaty, a compelling heat rising in my cheeks.

"We're not allowed to talk to boys." I replied earnestly, opening my eyes to a reality I did not want nor could I any longer tolerate.

He scoffed at the insinuation that he was a boy. "I'm twenty years old, I'm hardly that."

There was an innocent playfulness in the way he chased his brothers around their front yard. Their boyish natures belying their true age. I envied more than ever that they'd been granted that. Feeling naïve that I could have ever considered him a mere boy. Now that he was sitting so close to me, I could feel the urge to sin like effervescence bubbling off his skin. Something only men could feel.

"Forgive me." I faltered, bowing my head in solemn regret that I had been so fruitless in my estimation.

But he didn't berate me. "Oh, you're a caged little bird aren't you?"

If I could have let myself cry, he'd have witnessed a dam bursting. I sat there twisting my skirt, almost ripping the paper against it, letting hatred and regret and desire course through my veins. I hoped, more than anything I'd ever hoped for before, that he couldn't see the anguish.

"Are you ridiculing me?" I dared to ask, turning my head ever so slightly to catch him in my periphery.

I could see his lips parted as he lingered at my ear.

"No, never that." He reassured. "But I've seen the way he keeps you behind glass. I've seen you standing at the window watching us. And I tortured myself wondering if you knew that we had been watching you, too."

My breath stilled. "We?"

He boldly leaned a little further forward. Joining me in my gaze as I stared down at the growing crowd below. His chin almost rested on my shoulder, his hair almost brushed against my cheek. I couldn't stand it, the close proximity and the way I felt as if I couldn't move an inch.

"My brother Sam, and I." He confirmed. "He thinks your sister is damn near the prettiest little thing he's ever seen. But I told him no, that's not true. There's more grace and beauty in the older sister. She is where my mind runs to when I look towards your house."

To consider that he had thought of me made the centre of my chest begin to throb with a yearning I had never endured before. It filled that empty space between my ribs. Aching to crawl out and consume the rest of my body. I could scarcely breathe. My hand instinctively dropped the hem of my skirt and flew to my collar bone. Resting there as I tried to calm my beating heart.

"I didn't think you knew we even existed." I whispered, letting his confidence shine down on me, a part of me feeling fearless enough to make these confessions.

"On the contrary." He replied, sweeping his breath across my cheek bone, quite unintentionally as he lingered close to me. " I've thought of you often ever since you arrived. Wondering if you were ever going to make friends with my sister so that I could have the opportunity to talk to you. It was the greatest disappointment when we realised it wasn't meant to be."

His dream had been mine. The two of us worlds apart, and yet staggeringly close. Wanting the same wants. Needing the same needs. Laying his head down each night with that same blurred image of me that I had kept of him, too. God had finally answered my prayers.

"There is nothing more that I want that that." I replied wistfully, "But he would never allow it. We'd be punished. Called wicked. Or worse."

Jake shook his head and slinked back, taking away the heat of his body and leaving me cold.

"There's nothing wicked about the desire for connection." He surmised, tucking his hair behind his ear and pulling out a cigarette from his shirt breast pocket. Putting it between his lips for later. "You tell that air headed brother of yours to bring you down to the creek tomorrow."

"Ok." I replied quietly, feeling the essence of hope leave with him as he scurried away.

He didn't linger. I couldn't see his face in the crowd as I stood at the podium. He'd slipped out as easily as he'd slipped in, and I was grateful. I didn't want him to see me up there. Making a breath full of lies for ears that would have listened to any old garbage I could have come up with.

It was all I could think about as I talked about how the sanctity of strong family values held our bonds with God together. Something about honouring thy Father. As I pictured Jake sitting behind me, hot breath on my skin and the scent of his cologne still in the air I breathed. If I was wicked, I was already going to hell.

Ben was sitting in the car, his arm draped casually over the back of the passenger seat. His hair was neatly combed to the side, his shirt tucked into his slacks as he checked his teeth in the rear view mirror.

"We don't want to go into town today." Jolene complained, slumping into the back seat with a pout that she would never let our Dad ever see. "Why can't you just take us to the creek?"

He turned and pointed an ominous finger. I was inclined to bat it out of my way as I slipped in beside Jolene. Knowing she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"You're going to town. I got a date with Harriet Dinsmore. I've been trying to pin her down for weeks. So don't start with all this going to the damn creek nonsense." He spat, carefully running a palm down the perfectly sculpted slicked hair that made him look uncannily like our Dad.

Jake had been unflinchingly correct in his estimation of our brother. For Ben, life meant never having to use much intelligence. He would fly off the back of our Fathers coat tails. No doubt becoming a pastor himself. Not for God but for the glory of it. But whilst he still held the keys to the car in his hands, I'd be smart.

"Oh, come on." I rallied, "You don't want your little sisters moping around while you try to court a pretty girl. We're better off at the creek. You can pick us up after."

I caught him roll his eyes in the mirror. "You would have me lie to Dad?"

Jolene popped her bubble gum, smirking as she stared out of the window over towards the Kiszka's house.

"It's only a lie if you tell Dad you're taking us into town with you. Has he asked where you're taking us?"

She knew there'd be a presumption made. But would use the semantics to her advantage. I felt a cool sense of pride in her, exchanging a knowing look as Ben rolled the thought around in his tiny little mind.

"Harriet Dinsmore? Isn't she the girl who works at the ice cream place?" I feigned interest. "She sure is pretty."

All it took was a few soft words about her hair. Her eyes. The way she served ice cream so deftly. She never spilled a drop. I wondered if he'd been so pliant before, if we'd had opportunities missed because we were so afraid of what our Father might do if he found out.

I was fuelled by that simple demand. That we get our air head brother to bring us to the creek. For what purpose, I didn't care. But I knew that if I didn't try I would reek of regret. And once Ben agreed to take us, I felt a sense of accomplishment that I'd never managed before.

Jolene was ratified in her excitement. Staring out of the window, beholden to a freedom so rarely afforded to us. We were given fair warning, of course, to keep to ourselves and not talk to any interested boys. To be on our best behaviour and not give him him any cause to have to tell Dad where we had been.

I did wonder what went through his mind as he dropped us at the side of the road, where the gate that lead down to creek stood open against a rickety old fence. I could hear voices in the distance. Jovial ones. And suddenly I was stricken with the stupidity of what we were about to do.

"Did he really say that?" Jolene asked, pulling down her little linen shorts and pulling fingers through her loose curls. "Did Sam Kiszka really say that I was damn near the prettiest thing he'd ever seen?"

If not for her, then for who? I set aside my reservations. Flattened down the pleat in my sun dress and pulled down the edge of my hat. I would make a fool of myself if it meant that she got to have just five minutes talking to the boy she liked. No more standing at the window wondering.

"That's what I hear." I replied, taking her hand as we sauntered through the gate and down the incline of the field towards the river bank at the bottom.

The tall grass weaved between my bare legs. Brandishing sleek little kisses against my inner thighs. The tips almost brushed against my crotch, each step like a feather dancing against my flesh. And it did not serve me well. I could see him standing on the embankment. Shirtless and long hair blowing in the warm breeze. I felt my stomach tie itself in knots over the sight of him, feeling as if the grass itself was inviting me to arousal as I walked towards him.

"Are you nervous?" Jolene asked, her hand still clutched firmly in the curl of my own. "I'm real nervous."

"Just stay close by." I soothed, "Don't leave my side, and we'll be just fine."

There were pockets of people dotted up and down the tree lined incline. Some were splashing around in the creek bed, where it met a wide opening that created a shallow pool, others were bathing in the sunshine. An array of colourful bathing suits on display. It was hot. The sort of hot where everything felt sticky and wet. There were balls and frisbee's being tossed around. Music playing from a boom box hanging from a broken tree branch. Beers sitting in coolers. Cigarettes and a sense that perhaps I'd bitten off more than I was willing to chew.

They were all there. All three of them and their sister, sitting in folding chairs and on blankets dotted around the clearing next to the water. There were a few faces I didn't recognise, too. Friends, no doubt. I didn't know where to look. It felt as if perhaps we were intruding, on account of the fact we weren't dressed appropriately for the occasion. We didn't even own bathing suits. It was apparent that we'd made a mistake.

Everyone was staring at us. Eyes boring into us as we approached. Jolene's hand squeezed mine. A silent plea for whatever we had walked into to stop feeling like a trap. Why did it feel as if I was feeding not only her, but myself to the wolves? They appraised us like creatures who belonged in a zoo. Eyes widened and sun shades slipped down their noses to get a better look at the Jones sisters.

"You came." Jake said breezily, greeting us at the edge of his little pocket. "I didn't think you would."

It was still in my mind to turn around and head back. But there was something in the way he wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand that made me willing to stay.

"You said to come." I hedged, every inch of me burning from the curious stares.

He was wearing a pair of denim shorts, cut at the knee. With a waist band so low I could make out the edge of whatever he had on underneath. With his body on unapologetic display, I didn't know where to politely look. There was only his eyes that could have accepted my gaze appropriately. And they were so intense I could feel myself wanting to back off.

"I did." He agreed, "And here you are. Let's get you introduced."

We accepted the seats we were offered. But declined the beers. Jolene sheepishly grinned as names were thrown at us and I tried so hard to commit them to memory. There was the Kiszka's; Jake, Josh, Sam and Ronnie. Danny Wagner and another friend from school, Lewis Dinsmore. Who's poor sister was stuck on a date with our unbearable brother. I was grateful for it, regardless. It provided an initial talking point which ingratiated us into the group, enabling me to calm my nerves as I sat there trying to act as if I didn't feel like a duck out of water.

"So, Bonnie. Are you a senior or did you graduate?" Ronnie Kiszka asked, hands on her hips as she supped on a bottle of beer and eyed the length of my dress.

"Umm, I graduated." I replied, "At our last school, in Ohio."

"So, what's the plan? College?" She continued, her questions posed innocently enough. But I felt like I was under the microscope. "I'm going to Michigan State in the fall."

"Oh, that's great." I tried to keep my voice steady and casual. "I'd love to go to college, but I'm needed at home to help my Mom."

Josh was sitting on a blanket, resting on his palms with his chin tilted up towards the sky. Languishing in a similar state of undress as his brother.

"Oh, is she sick or something?" He asked, pushing his shades up into his mess of curls as he looked over at me.

"No." I replied, looking down into my lap. "No, nothing like that..."

Jolene was more than happy to answer their questions. The intrusion didn't seem to phase her, she lapped up the attention like a neglected pup as I sat there wondering what they must have thought of us. Uncomfortable at the idea of it. Of them knowing our Dad would keep us at home rather that receiving a college education. That we were supposed to be somewhere else, and I wondered if any of them would know to keep our being there under wraps.

I couldn't hide my disdain. I smiled and nodded where required, but offered nothing in the way of conversation. I sat in the shadows whilst my sister took the reigns. Her desire to be part of something beyond our house was being fed to bursting and I could see the colour rise in her cheeks the more they enquired. Especially when Sam addressed her directly, their eyes finding each other in undeniable attraction. And all I could do was witness it unfold, hoping that my silence wasn't being mistaken for ill manners.

"You wanna get out of here?"

I looked up. Jake was standing at my feet, his hand extended for me to take.

"I probably shouldn't leave Jolene." I fretted, seeing how much she didn't need me.

"Probably shouldn't." He echoed, keeping his hand firmly offered. "Or is it because you're afraid of what might happen if you do?"

He'd been so kind. So humble. Introducing us to his friends and family. Like we weren't the spectacle we'd been when we first arrived. He'd been hospitable. Making jokes and including us in them. He'd made me laugh. Not just a giggle, but from my belly upwards. Making me radiate a smile that had been hidden for so long I hadn't even known I could smile like that.

"Afraid, of what?" I asked, although I suspected it was what he'd wanted.

He didn't say it out loud. There was only a hint of it in the way he curled his fingers up and urged me to go with him. I thought, perhaps, that he could see my uncertainty etched there in my face as I tried to fit in. All the things I wouldn't confess to. That I was afraid I'd spend my whole life never knowing what it truly felt like to be adored. Afraid that I'd always be a vessel for thoughts and feelings that would never be allowed to be expressed. Afraid that I'd never get to explore what it meant to be a woman. Fears that seemed to go unspoken. And yet, he heard me.

Jolene was sat with her chair practically on top of Sam's. Their heads bowed together in a conversation nobody else was invited to. I could see his hand edging towards coming to rest upon her knee, but he kept graciously stopping himself. Peering into her eyes instead, letting her ramble on about nothing in particular. Enchanted by her. And she, in turn, seemed entirely smitten with him. Blushing every time he tucked his hair behind his ear. Every time he threw his head back and let out the most infectious laugh I'd ever heard. He was being gentle with her.

"Come on." Jake said, "I know a spot we can go to."

Nobody seemed to care as he took one of the blankets and began to lead me away. Jolene looked over, silently watching as he took my hand. Too afraid that if she made a comment she would break the spell between her and Sam. I tried not to think too hard about it, grateful that people had finally gotten bored with our presence.

I would have let him take me anywhere. It felt like a sonnet that hadn't been written yet. The way he held my hand so casually, leading me back into the tall grass. All I could do was watch the way his hair moved in the breeze. Dancing against his flexing shoulder blades. His hips moving gracefully as he stepped between the long blades, blanket tucked under his free arm. The afternoon sun was beating down so hard, my cheeks began to burn. Grateful when he finally led me to a shaded area of tree's a little further down the creek where nobody else had bothered to venture.

I watched him as he laid the blanket down, flattening the grass and making sure we were shrouded by it. Inviting me to sit with him, the sound of flowing water and leaves moving in the dull wind as our soundtrack.

"You ever just lay in the grass and look up at the clouds?" He asked, rolling onto his back and placing arms behind his head.

I wrapped the hem of my dress around my knee's, conscious of the breeze as I laid down beside him. Through the canopy of the tree's around us, I could see wisps of cloud moving slowly against the brilliant blue.

"Not since I was a little kid." I replied, trying to remember the last time I'd done anything quite like this.

He was quiet for a brief moment. But it didn't feel like it needed to be filled.

"I hope you didn't get in any trouble yesterday. I don't think anyone saw me talking to you." He said, pulling out a small bottle of something honey coloured out of his pocket. "Sometimes people can't see what's happening right under their noses."

There was a flash of something in his grin as he lifted his head to take a swig, offering me some before dashing it onto the blanket at his side when I declined. I liked the way his side profile looked as I turned my head to look at him. There was something about the way his nose pointed at the tip, the way his mouth had the most enigmatic curl at the corners. It was obvious that he hadn't brushed his hair that day, but it didn't matter. It only served to suit him well.

I started to feel as if I could climb on top of him. The way he laid there, the muscles in his arms flexed as he laid them behind his head. I'd never been close enough to ever drink him in. I tried to commit to memory all the little nuances that were entirely him, knowing that I'd think of him later in more detail than I ever had before. It made me nervous.

"Clever." I surmised, impressed by his critical thinking. "Do you often do things right under people's noses?"

He smirked and turned his head, knocking me off my steady perch and into a panicked mess as his eyes met mine. I didn't dare look away. I didn't want to make the obviousness of my gaze even more obvious. I hoped that he couldn't tell I could hear the great whoosh of my own pulse when he looked at me. But I suspected that he did, letting his eyes fall down the rest of my body before coiling back up.

"Not everything." He damn near whispered, leaning up to rest on his forearm. "Some things I prefer to do where no one else can see."

It was getting hotter. The air felt warm in my lungs as I breathed. Even in the shade, it was sticky and sweltering. My dress was becoming increasingly drenched, beads of sweat pooling between my breasts. He was glistening in the sun light, his neck saturated as sweat ran down the peak of his adam's apple. Both of us tangibly giving in to the impetuous heat.

"Like what?" I asked, reaching for the bottle to quench a dry thirst that was forming in my mouth.

It tasted like fire. Did nothing to alleviate the dryness, only served to almost choke me and make me cough. Much to his delight as he placed a hand to my back and waited until I'd composed myself before offering his arm for me to lay against as I sank back down.

"Wouldn't want your Daddy catching us here, like this. Would you?" He asked, the sweat of his arm sliding against the back of my neck. "Wouldn't want anyone catching us here like this. I like being here, with you, just the two of us."

The weight of what was transpiring between us almost felt too heavy to bear. I could feel it, travelling up and down my body in waves of undulated panic and arousal. He wouldn't stop staring at me. Making it harder for me to deny myself.

"I like it too." I confessed quietly, allowing him to curl his arm up, making me inch closer to his face.

All the hours of wonder couldn't have stood up to the reality of him. The sweet and gentle nature of him coveting me, with nothing more than a simple gaze and the support of his arm beneath me. He made no attempt to touch me further, and I almost felt like begging him would have ruined the moment.

"Don't you get lonely up there sometimes?" He asked, grazing his bottom lip between perfectly set teeth. "I see your face sometimes and I can't stand the way you look so sad."

Oh, he'd noticed. My heart soared and broke all at once. That he had known not only that I existed, but taken the time to notice my mood made me feel as if our lives were not merely shadows.

"Not lonely." I shrugged, settling on a different word. "Perhaps, sometimes, it's a little melancholy."

He wrinkled his nose and thought about it. Reaching for a blade of grass behind him and ripping it from the ground in order to satisfy his need to keep his hands busy.

"If you were mine I'd never want to see anything but a smile on that pretty face of yours forever more." He said, running the blade of grass against my cheek playfully.

I shrank away. The sensation of it too intimate for me to appropriately deal with. I giggled, but my unease was there in the way my eyes couldn't settle back on him.

"I'm sorry." He apologised, throwing down the grass and trying to settle the vibe between us back into something a little more innocent.

But it was too late. I could feel a familiar throb begin to beat away between my thighs. Latent misery in being unable to satisfy my desires kept me tethered to the blanket, unable to confess that I wanted him to do it again.

"Don't be sorry." Was all I could say, a little more passionately than I'd intended. "I'm just...well, I'm no good at this sort of thing."

He seemed to go quiet all over again. Looking down at our bodies side by side. Swallowing so hard I could see his throat flex. Like he, too, was lost in a sea of words he so desperately wanted to say but couldn't.

"You're not like the other girls." He gulped, pointing out one of my deepest flaws. "I don't want you to be like the other girls. They aren't worth the risk like you are."

How could he have known my worth? Beneath that starry eyed exterior, was he just as nervous as I was? It seemed to me that he could scarcely hold himself back as his eyes moved between my lips and my gaze. Flitting up and down as if in conflict.

"All I've ever wanted was to be like the other girls." I sighed, noticing for the first time that he had moved closer. "Other girls get to be taken out on dates and have doors opened for them. And have goodnight kisses."

The subtle shake of his head intimated that none of that mattered.

"Other girls don't write their name for me in notes I can only see from my window." He said earnestly. "Other girls don't drive me crazy every time I see them come out of their front door on a Sunday morning wearing those pretty little dresses."

I felt like I'd fallen asleep and I'd woken in a dream. I could smell the liquor on his breath he lingered so close. The heat of the day dissipating as the heat of his body took over.

"Other girls don't make me write songs for them, before I've ever even spoken to them..." He stopped, right before his lips would trespass against mine.

"You...wrote a song...for me?" I breathed into his mouth, fingertips digging into the blanket folds at either side of my stilled body.

"For a good Christian girl, you sure do make me feel damned." He posed, speaking with his lips a feather light touch away from mine. "Damned to write songs for a girl I can't ever have."

Was it not enough that I dwelled beneath his touch? Whatever madness made him think he could not have me, I wished for such a fallacy to be gone from his mind. If God had put the attraction that was so palpably clear between us within our hearts, why would God punish us for acting upon it?

True. I was a little apprehensive. Not for the punishment of God, but from a Father who truly believed his word and actions stemmed directly from the all seeing eye above. But, like Jake had already so pointedly said, we were here alone. Just the two of us. No other man nor God in sight.

"Have me." I whispered.

I heard him hold in his breath. Already so close to my mouth, all he had to do was let it happen. Nobody was ever free from temptation, and I was sordidly aware of my need to walk directly into it's aching path.

If God truly did exist somewhere between this mortal coil and the thereafter, I believed that he would not blindly lead me to be tempted beyond my ability. That I may be able to endure it. My spirit and my body in unison for the very first time.

"You would hate me if I did." He whispered back, "I'm wicked, Bonnie. So much more wicked than you could ever imagine."

I didn't believe that anyone quite so beautiful as him could ever truly be wicked. Perhaps wicked in the ways that only brought pleasure, if you were so inclined to allow yourself to enter into that sort of thing.

Was I? That sort of person? He was only two years older than me but exuded an experience which far surpassed mine. Even with his boyish charm and child like nature, he was a man nonetheless. A man that held me in his arms on a hot summer day with the wind chiming through the leaves above us and the softness of the ever trickling water as it ran over rock and earth.

Heaven.

"I ache to know wickedness." I pleaded, feeling insanity wash over me as he still refused to kiss me. "It's not for anyone else to decide."

That one sentence brought him to his conclusion. I could see it there as his brow knitted together delicately, his gaze intensifying.

"You don't know what you've done."

Perhaps not. But I didn't have space for regret. Not when he let our worlds collide. At first, there was nothing but the gentle feel of his lips as they brushed against mine. Softly venturing, exploring what depths he could take with me. A solemn pull back as he checked in with me, I could feel his hand against my balmy cheek. Alabaster turning pink as the blood began to pump harder in my veins. I was breathless without even having to move.

When he'd ascertained that I wanted it, he returned to me. Pressing his lips against mine a little harder. Letting his head tilt to the side, our noses pressed flush into each others cheeks.

I don't know what it was that I expected. Certainly not the rush of adrenaline as he opened his mouth. Nor the moisture gathering between my legs that was certainly not due to the weather as I felt the slippery tip of his tongue converge into my mouth. It was soft and slow, only brushing against mine with subtle intimation that he wanted more.

I suspected that this was purposeful. Nobody had watched us as closely as he had and not drawn the conclusion that I had never been kissed before. I suspected that he knew this was my first time. And he treated it as such. Sweeping his thumb against my cheek bone, letting me whimper softly into his mouth as he pulled away only to slake his hand around the back of my neck and pull me up into an embrace that had more meaning behind it.

And then he stopped. Forehead rested against mine, breathless and lips drenched in each other. He didn't let me go, clutched me harder in fact. Made me wonder if patience truly was a virtue.

"I have thought about this moment over and over." He swallowed, kissing me again so briefly I barely had time to reciprocate before he'd pulled away again. "And always, I'm painfully aware of your virginity. I don't want to hurt you, Bonnie."

Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was something else. I let my knees unfold, the hem of my dress crawling up my thighs. Immediately I was aware of just how tightly I'd been clenching them, my body immediately softening in his grasp.

"Take it." I offered. "It is yours."

He would have it. Retrieving his senses at the shock of such a thing, he ran a gentle palm down my stomach and his hand came to rest at my waist.

"You're not a good Christian girl at all, are you?" He ventured, kissing me with a little more fervence.

Although the presumption was made based on my willingness to part with my virginity and give it up to him, I knew I'd been a sinner for far longer than I cared to admit. My thoughts had been impure before we moved to Beech Run. The levels of depravity increasing ever since Jake had made his presence known. I wasn't a good Christian girl at all. Not behind closed doors. Not anywhere where thoughts were free.

"I've committed all manner of sins in my mind." I replied honestly, my tongue lilting against my teeth, prepared for another kiss. "Wouldn't you? If you couldn't do anything? Have anything?! Wouldn't you imagine what it felt like?"

"Oh, I would." He replied, licking into my mouth with all the urgency of a man who had been granted his greatest wish. "But I don't want you to imagine anymore. I want to give you everything you've ever wanted."

He laid me back down. Sinfully slow. Taking in the sight of me, hair fanned out on the blanket and my lips swollen. My breasts sitting comfortably beneath a modest neckline, my sun dress being something I would have worn to church. Wondering if he felt the same fear that I did.

"Give it to me, then." There it was, that little beg that had been threatening to spill out of my mouth ever since he'd put the blanket down.

His hand travelled further south. Parting my knees. He ripped another blade of grass and settled it between his thumb and index. Teasing it above my face in the air, making me nuzzle into his chest as I tried to run from it.

But he didn't run it against my cheek. I soon realised it was for a far more nefarious purpose. I dared to peek out from his embrace. A look of total devotion there as he swept the blade up my inner thigh. The almost breath like touch of it reminded me of how it had felt as I'd walked towards him. I held my breath. My dress sat just below where my underwear could be seen, everything else on display. And he unashamedly caressed me, using the blade as his guide.

"Soft little babygirl." He crooned, "It'd be almost cruel to ruin you."

I didn't need his protection from it. The inflection of annoyance at his suggestion that my virginity was something I wanted to keep was hard to hide. My expressions betraying me as I looked up at him.

"Lucky for you, I can be cruel." He added, marking his territory on my heart. "Would you like me to be cruel?"

"If the devil so wishes." I replied, "I fear I'm already ruined by my own intrusive thoughts."

The tip of the blade ran down the fabric which sat between it and my naked flesh. At it's most vulnerable spot.

"You don't have to be virtuous with me. Not anymore." He promised, "I'm not your Daddy."

It was clear invitation to step into my desires.

"Tell me I'm a good girl, Jake." I needed it. "You can be as cruel as you like, just tell me I'm good."

I don't know why I needed to hear it. Maybe there was a part of me that still dwelled in the church where I needed to be holy in order to exist.

His eyes widened at my demand. Staring at me, like I was Jesus on the cross and he had come to worship. He let the blade of grass go. Preferring to run his hand up my thigh instead. I shuddered. Let my lip curl into my teeth. Never taking my eyes off him as he brushed a fingertip against my moist crotch.

"Such a good fucking girl." Partnered with the curse word, his praise left me bound to him. "Does my good little girl want to get fucked?"

The abruptness of his question left me open mouthed. I wasn't shocked because it offended me, I was shocked because the answer was an unequivocable yes. They way he claimed me with that one, solitary use of the word my left me dizzy. Of course I was his. And all I could do was nod my consent.

"You tell me you're innocent and beg to get fucked with the same mouth." He breathed against my lips, hooking a solitary finger around the fabric of my panties, his knuckle brushing against my slit. "That's my extra specially good girl, isn't it?"

He was playing with me. Strumming me like his guitar, like a song written just about me. Pulling down my underwear until they sat at my knees, I was completely at his whim.

"I'm not going to fuck you, though." He said softly, raking those same calloused fingertips that had held my face as he kissed me through the sodden valley of my pussy lips. "Not yet."

I knew it was futile to beg. Not when he so gently and pliantly planed his fingers down the edges of what I could tolerate. He would bring me to the brink and tell me it was what I needed. Dancing with the devil, my sinful thoughts brought to light. I'd never been happier than I was right there on that blanket in the tall grass. In the shade of the grove of tree's that surrounded us, in the hottest summer I'd ever recall.

"You're so fucking beautiful." He said, leaning back into a kiss that was now familiar, his tongue edging into my mouth enough to send a flood onto his fingertips. "You tempt me so..."

"Anything, Jake." I breathed, "Anything you want, just tell me what to do."

He softly ran the pad of his thumb over my aching, swollen clitoris. I moaned, let my eyes close, turned my face away in fear that I would look ridiculous to him. I'd never dared to venture to that part of myself before. Letting the throb ebb and flow whenever I was aroused, never allowing myself a moment to indulge in it.

"Pull my zipper down." He instructed, rutting his hip into my side. "It's kinda uncomfortable down there."

In the furore of him touching me, I'd failed to notice his maddening bulge. I felt foolish and girlish, stupid for not realising he was aroused too. My hand wasted no time in releasing him. Pulling down his zipper and opening the button of his denim shorts. I didn't dare put my hand inside, still feeling a little trepidation of touching him back. But the relief was there as he eyes rolled back, grateful just to be free of the constraints against his hard on.

"I want so badly to sink my fingers inside you and ruin this pretty little pink thing." He murmured against my ear. "Tell me it's ok. Tell me I can feel you from the inside."

I couldn't bear it. The need to be penetrated coupled with the fear of whatever pain might accompany it. But he was too beautiful to deny. The tip of his nose pressed against my cheek, his breath warm and like fire.

"I'm ready." I replied, even if my mind had not been quite up to speed with my body, I still would have let him have his way.

Not simply because of the way he turned me on. But the way he made me feel so cherished whilst doing it.

"Relax for me, sweet girl." He whispered, lips pecking kisses against my temple, hands opening my thighs a little wider. "Just let me take care of you."

The sting of a single digit cast aspersions throughout my body. He was slow in his intention, hissing back a soft moan as he let it slide all the way to his knuckle. I fought against my body's responses to cry out in pain. It hurt. But everything else was a welcome distraction. His voice. His scent. The feel of his body next to mine. All of it.

"Look at you." He praised, railing his kisses back down to my mouth. "The goodest of all girls."

He began to slowly pull it back, savouring the way my mouth opened at the sensation of him sliding it back inside. He didn't attempt to add more fingers, or ruin me the way he'd promised. He simply enjoyed the way I felt. The way I showed him my devotion in simpering moans and errant panting. His middle finger buried deep inside, palm pressed against my wet clit. Completely at his mercy.

"You've bewitched me, Bonnie." He confessed in soft whispers, "With your tight little innocent pussy. And that fucking smile, I can't stay away from you..."

No church girl could ever do witchcraft any justice. But I believed him.

"Then don't" I urged, not knowing what it would mean when the time would come for us to pick up this blanket and leave.

"Never..." He buried his tongue into my mouth, venturing deeper than he had before. "Will you cum for me, pretty little sweet thing?"

I didn't know what he meant. And I wouldn't spoil whatever spell I had managed to weave by asking him. If I were a flower I could feel my petals begin to wilt and fall. How could I tell him that I didn't know what he asked of me? I didn't want him to stop until I was completely deflowered. And whatever it was that he meant by cum, I hoped that I could do it for him.

"Anything...anything you want." I moaned, louder, arching my back to feel his fingertips deeper.

"That's it, oh, you're close..." He said, curling his finger up inside me, in a beckoning motion that almost sent me over the precipice. "You'll know when you get there, my little Ingenué."

His use of another language was unexpected. And his face said it all as I bashfully smiled into another insatiable kiss. He was right, though. I did know when I arrived. There was nothing about it that was anything I could have expected. With no knowledge that such a thing even existed, I was ebbed towards it like I was blind and seeing for the very first time.

At first it was like a muffled song I could hear from another room. The melody was there, I just couldn't pick up the lyrics. All I could see was those beautiful, deep brown eyes of his with the dark circles beneath watching me in wonder as it cascaded over me. The song no longer muffled, the crescendo of a great symphony in my eyes as I finished against his palm. The way he looked so satisfied letting me know that I'd done good.

"Ssssh...sssshhh..." He soothed, "It's ok sweet girl, I promise...it's ok."

I didn't know that there were tears falling down my cheeks until I tasted the salt of them on my lips. The sweet relief of something I hadn't known I'd needed filling me up from the soul upwards. He slipped his finger out and pulled up my panties, making sure that I wasn't hurt.

"I feel so foolish..." I cried, "How could you want me? When I'm like this?"

"It's because of this that I want you." He reassured me, grabbing the length of his aching cock beneath his boxer shorts and adjusting himself to a more comfortable position. "Don't you get it? It turns me on. The thought of nobody before me. That you'd be mine, entirely. And I can promise you here and now, I will protect you no matter the cost."

I couldn't wrap my head around what the cost might be. Only the way he didn't expect me to touch him back in that moment. He started to soften eventually as we laid there together, his hand running gentle strokes through my hair as I calmed. And he tucked himself away, promising that he would save it for another time.

The afternoon was growing late as we packed up and sorrowfully left our quiet little spot. The grass where we had laid all flattened in the perfect shape of where our blanket had been. A sorry reminder that the moment had fleetingly passed. I kept catching his eye as he tucked it underneath his arm, and he reached out to take my hand again.

"What now?" I asked.

"I don't know." He replied, with equal sadness. "But something tells me it'll be worth it."

We walked back in contemplative silence. Content just to be together a few more moments until it would be cruelly snatched from us. I could see that some of the crowds had already begun to disperse as we headed towards the plunge pool. A little less heavy on the noise. I could see Josh and Danny standing by their little group, deep in conversation whilst Ronnie packed up the boom box and cooler. Lewis was idly folding chairs, stacking them up ready to be carried back to the road.

"Where the fuck did you guys go?" Josh asked, watching us approach hand in hand. "Was about to send out a search party. We might have to, if Sam and Jolene don't get back here soon."

I had no concept of the time. I could feel the coolness of late afternoon on my skin, where once it had burned. The sun was still beating down as earnestly as it had been, but it was a little further towards the west.

"Shit, what time is it?" I asked, bile rising in my throat as I began to wonder if Ben was waiting for us up by the gate.

"It's a quarter to six." Josh replied, shaking his wrist as he checked his watch. "Why?"

I let go of Jakes hand. Circling the area for a visual of my missing sister. I couldn't see her anywhere.

"No, no this can't be happening...Ben will be here to pick us up in fifteen minutes..." I panicked, visibly shaking as I ran down towards the creek edge.

I called out her name. But there was no reply.

To be Continued...

@caprisunsister @thewritingbeforesunrise @takenbythemadness @katuschka @its-interesting-van-kleep @lvnterninthenight @writingcold @jakekiszkasbuttsweat @edgingthedarkness @velveteencatch @lyndz2names @nina-23-45 @itsafullmoon @vikingisthenewsexy @char289

#greta van fleet #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #fanfic #greta van fleet fan fiction #gvf #fanfiction #gvf fanfiction #jake kiszka fanfic #jake kiszka x reader #sam kiszka gvf #sam kiszka fanfic #sam kiszka

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spookythesillyfella · 5 months ago

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i need to know more about this au so i always did wonder if you had some songs you associate with anyone here? i think music inspiration is so fun to learn about!! :DD of course on your own time. i know there's a lot going on for you currently but i seriously rock with you talking about high voltage when you do!!!!! ily !! /p (take care and know you're never alone!)

doll . dude . each character playlist i have is over 5h in length . some are even pushing 10h – to say that i have songs that i think correlate to the guys is an understatement

buuut fear not !!! while i could certainly make this three thousand posts that are excruciatingly detailed . i think i should just give you a general gist of some of the things that go on inside this here head of mine !!!

Tracey : "Mezes 72" – Patron [as the subject of the song] . "Konton Boogie" – jon-YAKITORY [for the lyrics and very rambunctious tone of the song] . "Animo" – The Sukis [for the lyrics nd vibe also] . "Comet" – Steven Universe . "Worst Beat Ever Created (Number 10)" – DistantCry [this one is here mostly as a joke ; itz the type of music they'd be making without the help of the others ≠w=]

Brendon : "Blow My Brains Out" – Tikkle Me [suuuper fitting for him in all seriousness ; i love him] . "Kanjou wa Zaikogire" – Dobu no Awa [extremely underrated and extremely fitting] . "Keep Your Mind" – Sitcom [another super fitting one] . "I'm the Rain" – INABUKOMORI . "Composing the Future" – N25 cover . "Lotus Eater" – Aoris

Shrig : "Exorcism" – Creep-P [genuinely one of the hardest songs ever made ever in the history of ever and also very fitting for him ¥_^] . "Fata din Roman" – Patron [im sure you can already guess that this is here only partially because hv shrig is romanian but I SWEAR IT FITS !!!!] . "Love Bug" – Jack Stauber [i know the title is very on the nose but again IT FITS I SWEARR !!!!!!] . "FAKE SMILE - REBOOT ver." – Kairikibear . "Fear & Delight" – The Correspondents [fitting in the context of bedbug]

Tony : "Who Is She?" – I Monster [very fitting given his lore again] . "Tondeku Anata ga Mawaru" – Dobu no Awa [another lore one that im MAD is underrated] . "Heat Abnormal" – Iyowa . "BAKENOHANA" – NAKISO [yeah you should've seen it coming] . "You will never forget me" – Dobu no Awa . "Crack Baby" – Mitski . "Cigarettes out the Window" – TV Girl" [in the context of digitaltime] . "Uncanny" – Ghost and Pals ; special shoutout to a NOW DELETED DOBU NO AWA SONG "Please Kill Me" THAT I LOVED AND PLANNED TO DO AN ANIMATION TO

i could keep going for a LONG . LONG while but i don't think you want to read any more of this ahaha

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ember-da-toon · 7 months ago

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I've been gathering the courage to dump some oc x canon stuff here so like-

Yeah,

Have an infodump of my oc x canon ship kids because I can!

Sterling x Leona

They have triplet girls, all three are lion beastman just like Leona and have distinct hair color to tell them apart, everything else looks pretty identical.

There's Legacy, the oldest and natural leader of the three.

Kiara, the rambunctious second born.

And Talullah, the shy third born.

Sterling and Leona had the triplets when they were 27 and 28, respectfully.

The talk about having children didn't come up until Leona turned 25. Mainly because of his parents reminding him of the obligations of a prince and the need to keep the royal bloodline going. They knew the risks that came since Sterling would be carrying the heir. The possibility of the child being magicless like him was worrisome but not dire. They still urged Leona to have at least one child like his brother Falena did.

Both Sterling and Leona were hesitant. One didn't want to bring a magicless child into the world and have them struggle with navigating the dangerous world with alternative means, and the other... well, he just doesn't really want to be a father at all.

Leona soon relented and agreed to have a child. Sterling was somewhat disappointed that the child was going to be born out of duty rather than out of love with their own terms. Then again, he wasn't a royal, it was probably normal afterall.

They didn't know the gender (nor the amount) of the cub that would come out and left it for a surprise. Imagine the disbelief when three little girls came out, with their tiny ears and stiff tails.

Leona was surprised for sure. Two of them resembled Sterling while one of them resembled him. He wasn't sure how to feel about raising three at once, but there was nothing he could do about it. He needs to put in his effort after what Sterling had gone through to bring the little bundles of joy into the world. Sterling did fall asleep after the birthing process. He didn't get to see Leona's reaction when he was finally able to see him and the cubs.

As much as Leona wanted to hold and whisper blessings into their ear, he was just stiff and frozen. He was unsure of what to do or how to hold them. He sat by Sterling's side and waited until he woke up before he tried to hold the cubs. He was... a natural, actually. He's had experience with holding Cheka waaayyy back then, but he hasn't held Cheka properly ever since he learned how to walk. But these were his kids. His past knowledge of how to hold babies came back to him once he held his youngest daughter, Talullah. She was constantly shying away from the light, turning her head away from any bright lights and nuzzling into the towel she was swaddled in with soft mewls. Seeing the resemblance of his and Sterling mixed in her features was endearing to see. A mini carbon copy of their combined genes. He could tell that she was going to be rather sensitive and shy when she grew up, not like he could blame her. He knew what it was like to be the youngest born.

When he held Kiara next, the cub was constantly squirming and mewling almost defiantly. He could definitely see himself in her, not just in the literal sense but also her future personality. She's going to be quite difficult (fun) to raise. He just knows it.

Finally, he held his firstborn, Legacy, the one that was initially planned. She was the most well-behaved and curious one of them all. Her tiny hands outstretched with curiosity as she blindly pawed at the air.

I'll draw them soon, I swear. I just need to actually draw Leona first. (I've never drawn any of the TWST characters yet)

#twisted wonderland #twst #disney twst #disney #oc x canon #ship kid #fan kid #canon x oc #twst leona #leona kingscholar #leona x oc

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noirandchocolate · 9 months ago

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Headcanons About My Master Kohga’s Mama—

Named Hotaru (“firefly”), as I’ve mentioned on a few past posts. Her family has a tradition of insect names. Not everybody in the line has had one, but it’s common enough among them that if you read Clan records and notice somebody named after an insect it’s very likely to be an ancestor of hers.

Was adept at making and then administering poisons, both via subterfuge in food, drink, touches, etc., and via daggers and kunai. She studied under the Clan’s master apothecary for the poison making part. Kohga’s father was one of her mentors on the stabbing people part.

In fact, one of her earliest flirts with Kohga’s Dad (while his own mother was Master), was to, after bringing him over a bowl of food in the Complex’s dining hall, watch him take a few bites and then claim she poisoned it “to see if the stories of the Heir having an uncannily strong constitution were true.” Dad panicked, then laughed his ass off when he realized she was joking. That was what clinched his interest in her romantically.

Hotaru had very long, wavy hair (for real, not as part of her usual magic disguise, although I do not know at this time if it was really black or if that was disguised) and was very meticulous about caring for it. Around the Complex (ie not on missions when she was younger), she’d often have it done up in complicated styles and decorated with hair sticks/pins and kanzashi.

She’s responsible for Kohga’s extensive skin- and hair-care regimes. She washed her lil’ boy’s hair and showed him how to finger-comb and -curl it into pretty, neatly flowing coils and then wrap it up in the style he still does today. <3

I’ve said this before but Hotaru was a musician! She’s the one who taught Koh to play shamisen. She also taught him traditional Ancient Sheikah calligraphy. In general, she was big on preserving Yiga culture and traditions. She was an avid reader too and would go slip into Gerudo Town in disguise to buy (or, yknow, steal) books. If you gave her a good novel as a present she’d be your friend for life.

Very competitive player of the Yiga equivalent of Go. When Nana Master Kohga noticed her son taking an interest in Hotaru, she near-immediately rushed to arrange for them to marry. But not before inviting the girl to play a match against her so they could chat about her interest level. Hotaru won, impressing Nana, and declared that if there was anyone who could rein in the rambunctious Heir and be a good match for him, it would surely be someone who could best the Master herself in a contest of strategy, yes?

As a teen and young adult going out on missions, she liked to make up stories about the Hylians and others she and her comrades spied on or saw at stables/in towns. And then she’d sometimes go up to these people and use her disarming way with words to find out if she was right!

She loved foxes! Especially snowcoat foxes found up in the Highlands. Whenever she met up with any fox, if she had food on her she’d toss it a bit, and even if she didn’t, she’d gesture it a greeting. She was a quite stealthy girl, and she loved getting as close as possible to a pretty perfect white snowcoat whenever possible!

Once killed a target she wasn’t strictly supposed to have, because he tried to put hands on her. Upon reporting to her Blademaster superior, she recited the information she’d gotten and then remarked that she “also learned that he was a lech, and that leches die easily.” She did not get in trouble for killing him.

Almost never raised her voice and felt strongly about maintaining decorum even when she was joking or…well, killing people. As I said in the second linked post up there, she did not use swear words under any circumstances! Now, creative curses were another thing though. Imagine a slim, beautiful woman saying, in an even and possibly mildly sweet tone, “May you be dissolved in the stomach acid of a Molduga” after you take the last dumpling she wanted.

If it’s not obvious already, Hotaru had a dry wit and a saucy sense of humor. She was a master of one-liners. But she was fiercely loving toward her family and the Clan. She was the friend who’d tease you about not being able to handle spicy food but then who’d warn you sincerely if a certain dish in the day’s lineup at the hall had peppers in it. She was good at remembering details about people and asking after them and giving appropriate gifts on birthdays, things like that. As the Clan’s Mistress, that made her a very unifying figure.

She sadly died of what was probably a form of cancer, just shy of a year after her son’s ascension to the Master position. She was only 50. Every year on the anniversary of her passing, Kohga goes to her altar in the Clan’s hall of ancestors and plays some of their favorite songs for her, and at least one new one each time. <3 <3

#kidk says stuff #yiga clan #master kohga #age of calamity #legend of zelda #hotaru #I could go on about mama hotaru more but that’s enough for now #was in the mood to gab about her bc I posted about shamisen artists earlier and that always makes me think of herrrr #kidk headcanons

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noodlestaocc · 6 months ago

Text

Cap'n Noodles Makes A Friend

a brief little story for fun

It was a bright, sunsoaked day in Barrelbuster Bay, the perfect kind for some sort of adventure. The sun hung high amidst the sky, and one could swear they could hear the sand just screaming for you to set out to find something neat.

Not for Cap’n Noodles however.

The normally rambunctious pirate was oblivious to the call of the day, deeply sleeping within her quarters, sprawled across her desk with an old map serving as her makeshift blanket.

She hadn’t exerted herself significantly the day prior, nor did she stay up terribly late. She just didn’t feel like getting out of bed that day, for whatever reason.

The curtains were drawn tight, and she was lost in dreams, content to remain in her cozy cocoon until her stomach rudely interrupted her pleasantries with a loud grumble.

Noodles groaned, only to roll off her cluttered desk and land with a thud on the weathered wooden floor, sending a globe and spyglass tumbling down beside her. “Ow!” she whined, wincing as her senses gradually returned. The sunlight filtered through the curtains, and the cries of gulls echoed outside, informing her it was midday, and she had slept in once more.

"Oh... late."

Her stomach interrupted her again, an insistent reminder that it was time to find something to eat.

Noodles liked food, but sometimes she wished she didn’t have to eat. To live, one must eat; to eat, one must work; and to work, one must exert themselves—not exactly the most thrilling of pursuits for a fun-oriented person like Noodles.

Yet, her stomach was unforgiving, so she reluctantly pulled herself off the floor and ventured out of her quarters.

Squinting against the harsh sunlight that assaulted her weary eyes, she wandered the deck, contemplating her options for a meal. She was all out of noodles, because she didn’t want to work. She was also all out of bread, because she didn’t want to work. No crackers either. Why? Because she hadn’t worked a single minute in the past week.

The last thing she wanted to do was hold herself accountable, so she put her brain to work on finding a quick, easy solution to her hunger problem. And after a disappointingly considerable amount of thought, she did.

She could catch a fish.

Over by the railing, the salty seawater reflected Noodles’ unwavering gaze as she stared down into the pleasantly colored depths. The average person likely wouldn’t be able to see very far into the rippling blue, but Noodles was different. Everything was clear as glass to her, and she was just waiting for one poor sucker of a fish to swim a bit too close.

Then, just as she began to grow bored of her little stakeout, she saw a fish meander its way to her boat, triggering an anticipating grin to swiftly make itself known on her face.

It was big. It was delightfully oblivious. Did I mention it was big? It just had to come a little closer, and then…

Noodles pounced into the waters, cutting through the seas like a dart in the wind towards her breakfast. This was the fun part. The fish’s reaction time was regrettably not as sizable as its body, and before it could notice the long-armed child barreling towards her, the captain’s sharp teeth clamped down upon its scaly exterior and violently ripped it from its ocean home.

Emerging onto the beach with her prize, Noodles spat it out onto the sand once she was sure it was dead, and did a little dance to dry off.

"He he haw, that's breakfast! Time to eat!"

She swiftly turned back to her meal, only for her eyes to meet another.

It was a fuzzy, big-eyed, spectacularly rotund seal.

The two just stared at each other for a minute or two. Noodles never imagined she’d see a seal this close, let alone at all, and the seal clearly didn’t expect her to either.

Her eyes slowly dilated at the sight of the creature until she smiled brightly and excitedly exclaimed at the top of her lungs, “SHIVER ME TIMBERS! A SEA PUPPY!!!”

The seal jolted at her reaction, grabbing the fish and bouncing off at a remarkable pace across the sand. Noodles’ face dropped at both the seal AND her lunch getting away, and it didn’t take long for her to give chase.

“SEA PUPPY, WAIT!”

The seal didn’t bother listening, as it continued bouncing down the beachside. It picked up speed once Noodles started gaining ground, attempting to make it back to the water where it’d be able to jet away with ease. Unfortunately for the seal, it just wasn’t fast enough.

“GOTCHA!”

Noodles pounced upon her squishy escapee, rolling along the white hot sand with it tightly wrapped up in her lengthy limbs’ inescapable grip. She stared at it sternly as it thrashed about in her hold, trying in vain to get free from the peeved pirate before it could suffer any sort of consequence at her hand.

“Bad dog! Bad bad dog! Gimme back my fish!” Noodles demanded impatiently, glaring at its big, round eyes.

It eventually realized it couldn’t get away, and it reluctantly dropped the fish from its mouth. Noodles nodded firmly, trying to exude some sort of authority.

“Thank ya,” Noodles exhaled, turning the seal around in her hands to face her, holding it out at a distance. “Don’t steal! That’s bad!” she scolded, in a manner picked up from one of her crewmates.

The seal, clearly being unable to speak, just stared back at her. It was hard to properly gauge its feelings, likely given that it was a seal, but Noodles was picking up something.

“Don’t gimme that look! Yer in big trouble, mister! Or miss. I dunno.” The seal responded with more of the same, an unchanging gaze that refused to deviate from Noodles’ own. Then it barked. Noodles smiled innocently, her expression changing in an instant.

“Ok! Ya sold me!”

She sat down in the sand, set the seal down as well, and picked up her fish before ripping it in two (which was fortunately goreless given the friendly nature of the world’s programming) and giving the fish the tail while she kept the head. “Here ya go, sea puppy! We can share!” She smiled, flicking the tail a bit closer to the spherical creature.

The seal sniffed at its portion before gobbling it down in an instant, satisfied with what it could get. Noodles giggled at the voracious display before biting down on her half as well. “Sho, is it good?” She spat out, not even bothering to finish chewing. The seal had long since finished its meal but hadn’t left, so she assumed yes.

Noodles swallowed her half and continued speaking.

“Goodie! Never had breakfast with a sea puppy before,” the seal continued to lay there, not bothering to take its leave. “Toby always said there’s a first fer everything. Guess there really is, gaha!” She giggled, poking the seal and watching it wobble. She liked it, she thought it was silly. The seal was unbothered.

After a bit, Noodles had finished her portion too. She pat the seal on the head and smiled. “Well, that was yummy! I’m gonna go back to me ship now. Bye-bye sea puppy!” Noodles stood up from the sand, awkwardly waved bye with her weird arms, and trodded off.

Bopping her head to a shanty she remembered as she walked, she didn’t bother to look back until she made it back to her ship. Once there she began to climb aboard, only to notice a familiar trail alongside where she was walking.

She looked up on her deck and realized the seal had followed her! And there it was, sitting on a barrel, basking in the sun and letting itself deflate onto the warm wood.

“Mister sea puppy! Y’followed me!” Noodles shouted, wide-eyed as ever. Not that she was displeased, quite the opposite actually. She skipped up to the barrel it rested on, taking in its presence on her own property.

“D’ya like me or somethin, sea puppy?” The seal just stuck its tongue out in response to her eager inquiry. Noodles also took that as a yes. She threw her hands up in celebration before picking the seal up and swinging it around joyously.

“Yahoooo! Yer me new, uhh… eighth mate, sea puppy!”

She proclaimed, clearly overjoyed at her new friend. The seal, as usual, didn’t react much—but didn’t seem opposed to the idea. She swung the animal around until both of them were dizzy, collapsing on the floor.

“Oh oh oh! Ye gotta have a name,” she said to the seal, holding it up above her. “Y’like fish… so I’ll call ya Fishy. Aye?” The seal blinked. Noodles cheered, accidentally throwing poor Fishy into the air as she did so, but she caught him before he could hit the floor. “Ok Fishy! Yer me friend now! We should do friend things!”

Noodles contemplated hard on what she could do with her new friend. You wouldn’t believe it, but Fishy was thinking too. Eventually the two came up with a brilliant idea for something to bond over.

“SLEEPING!”

Noodles and Fishy immediately flopped on the floor, fast asleep, together. As friends do, I suppose. They wouldn't wake up until the next morning, and they dreamt of more fish.

Noodles had made a new friend that day, and she couldn’t have been happier.

i made this in two hours lol

#captainsquarters #oodlesofnoodles #oc #tadc oc #taocc #taoccnoodles #fishy

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leiawritesstories · 2 years ago

Note

LEIA CONGRATS ON 500 🥳🎉🎉💓❤️💘❤️💖🩷💓🩷💞❤️💖

you know what my prompt is 🤭

THANK YOU SO MUCH MARIA MY LOVE 🥰💕❤️😁😍

context: maria and my dm's are insanely chaotic. somehow we were talking about almond milk? and one of the things she sent me went like this: "now i need a fic where rowan's a foreigner learning the common tongue and he asks aelin for some nut milk." that's the prompt hehehehehe

Word count: 1.8k

Warnings: inappropriate jokes, swearing, innuendo, badly concealed horniness

Enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Romance books were horrible liars, it turned out.

Not a single one of the many, many romances Aelin had read in her lifetime had prepared her to meet the love of her life in a random aisle in a grocery store. No, all the books she read either involved small town meet-cutes, dreamy historical romances, arranged marriages that became love matches, and the occasional toe-curling bodice ripper. Love In Aisle 24B? She was convinced that would never happen.

Yet here she was, hand in hand with a man who was every single one of her dreams brought to life, leading him into her house.

But she was getting ahead of herself. Where to begin....?

Rice, flour, spinach, carrots, hot cocoa mix, espresso pods, almond milk. That was Aelin's list for her quick stop at the grocery store on her way home from work. She loathed shopping at five PM, knowing that the place would be overrun with harried parents, just-off-the-clock workers, and every single person in the vicinity who'd opened their fridge and realized they needed food for dinner.

Luckily, a parking spot opened up just as Aelin pulled into the parking lot, and she waved gratefully at the mom in the minivan who'd just vacated a spot that wasn't terribly far from the store entrance. She parked, got out, locked the car, and steeled herself for the chaos of dinner-crowd shoppers. It's just a quick trip, she reassured herself as she strode through the parking lot. Fifteen minutes, tops.

Entering the crowded store, she grabbed a basket and headed for the produce section, easily finding the spinach and carrots. Check, check. She wove through the maze of people and carts, muffling more than one curse, and ducked down an aisle to grab a bag of rice. Check. The baking supplies aisle was mercifully much emptier, and she found the brand of flour she liked and placed the familiar paper sack into her basket. Check. Hot cocoa mix was only a few paces away--and no, she didn't care that it was impractical for the late spring. It was always hot cocoa weather at Aelin Galathynius's house.

She braced herself as she stepped into the coffee and tea aisle and found it far too heavily occupied for her liking. Rolling her eyes, she decided to go grab almond milk and loop back to pick up espresso pods on her way to the checkout lines. Those would probably be their own nightmare, but she'd deal with that when the time came.

Aelin dodged shoppers pushing overfull carts and mothers desperately trying to keep a hand on their rambunctious children and made her way to the aisle with the non-dairy milk. Blessedly, it was empty, and she strode over to the almond milk section, found her favorite brand, and placed three cartons in her basket because it was on sale. She paused for a moment at the end of the aisle, sighed, and trudged back towards the coffee.

Just as she was about to turn into the coffee aisle, a hand tapped politely at her shoulder. "Excuse me?"

She turned, finding herself face to face--well, almost, since he was a good six inches taller than her--with a mouthwateringly gorgeous man wearing a shy half-smile. "Yes?"

"I do not mean rude, but you have the..." The man pronounced the words carefully, his voice bearing a distinctly foreign accent. Clearly he was still learning the language of Terrasen. "The...meelk? The milk! Milk of the nut."

Aelin spluttered a cough, stuffing down the lewd comment she immediately wanted to make. "I--um...I'm so sorry, I have the what?"

The man blushed, only making him more endearing. He pointed to the almond milk in her basket. "The nut meelk."

Understanding clicked in her brain. "Oh! The almond milk." She enunciated the words carefully.

"Al-mond meelk," he repeated, smiling in earnest. "Thank you, ma'am." He gave her an eccentric little dip of his head. "Please, show me where to find?"

"Of course!" Smiling back at him, she led him to the non-dairy milk aisle. "Here it is." She showed him the brand she bought. "I like this brand, but there are more options here."

The man picked up a carton of the same brand she bought; it looked comically small in his large hand. "Thank you," he said again, relief coating his accented words.

She grinned. "You're welcome..." She let the pause trail on, hoping he would give her his name.

"Pardon!" he exclaimed, then mumbled a few words in his native tongue. "I am such rude. I am Rowan."

"So rude," Aelin instinctively corrected. "We say so rude." She shook his offered hand. "My name is Aelin."

"Aelin," Rowan repeated, the syllables of her name turning thick and sweet as honey on his accented tongue.

Her blood turned to fire at the sound of his voice.

"Gods," she gasped, glancing at her watch. "I really need to get home, this was just supposed to be a quick trip."

Rowan stepped aside so she had a clear path. "Do not let me stop you," he grinned. "Thank you again, Aelin."

"You're very welcome, Rowan." Flashing him another grin, she headed towards the checkout counters, pausing briefly to grab espresso pods. The checkout lines were unbearably long, so she joined the much shorter line for self-checkout, waited for a few minutes, and went up to the machine when it was her turn. Efficiently, she scanned her items, placed them in her shopping bag, paid, and tore the receipt from the printer.

She was nearly out of the store when a commotion at the self-checkout caught her attention.

"I--I not understand!" Oh gods, that was Rowan's unmistakable accent. "No money?"

"Sir," the store employee all but snapped, "the sign says 'card only.' Can you even read?"

Rowan faltered. "I--"

"Show some decency," Aelin drawled, calmly stepping between Rowan and the irritated teenage employee who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. "You should be able to tell from the man's accent that he's not from here."

"Well--um--" The teenager floundered. "Look, I'm not--"

"Capable? That much is clear," Aelin scoffed. "I'll help Rowan here finish checking out, and you can run along back to restocking ketchup or whatever the hell else you do." Turning to Rowan, she explained, "This machine only has a card reader. Do you have a credit card?"

Softly, he murmured, "No, not in wallet."

"It's all right," she reassured him. "I'll pay."

"You no need--"

"Don't worry about it." Aelin tapped her credit card on the card reader, took the receipt, and handed it to Rowan. "There. Quick and easy."

He picked up his almond milk--the only thing he'd had to buy--and followed her out of the store. As soon as they stepped into the parking lot, he swiped her bag of groceries from her, laughing at her shocked protest. "Let me, let me," he said. "As thank you."

"Such a gentleman," she teased. "All right then, you can carry my groceries to my car." He walked beside her through the parking lot, waited for her to unlock her car, and then carefully deposited her groceries on the back seat. "Thanks, Rowan," she smiled, truly meaning it. A thought flashed through her head. "I'm sorry if this is rude, but...do you have a car? Or how else are you getting home?"

He shook his head. "My..." He spoke a word in his language. "Not know how to say. Like brother, but...of father's brother?"

"Your cousin?"

"Aye, my cousin. He has the car. I took bus from apartment to store."

"Can I drive you home?" she asked.

Color splashed across his cheeks. "No need, please, I will take--"

"The bus is never on time during evening rush hour, and you'll get stuck in traffic when it does show up," she snorted. "I promise I'm a safe driver, Rowan, and before you pull your stupid chivalrous act, no, it's not too much trouble." She leaned against her car. "I live here. I can drive you home without getting stuck in terrible amounts of traffic."

He folded. "Okay. I will drive with you."

His oddly formal language made her smile. "You're rather cute with your blush and your accent, y'know, Rowan," she teased.

"Cute?" Impossibly, Rowan blushed harder. "If I am cute, Aelin, then you are perfect beauty."

That fire in her blood burned brighter. "I'll show you beauty," she murmured, more to herself than to him.

Buckling his seatbelt with ease, he leaned over and whispered in his language into her ear. Though she couldn't understand him, she knew the thickness of his voice had nothing to do with the words he was saying. "Was that a promise, Rowan?"

His emerald eyes deepened to smoky pine. "Yes." As she started the car and reversed out of her parking spot, his hand drifted casually--naturally--to her thigh, its weight warm, welcome, and teasing.

She was in such deep shit.

Instead of asking Rowan for his address, Aelin asked if he was okay coming to her house, and when he breathed another Yes into her ear, this time pairing it with the faintest brush of a kiss on the side of her neck, she shivered and headed home as fast as she legally could. She parked, got out, grabbed her groceries before he could insist on carrying them into the house, and took the bag inside, placing it on the counter.

Rowan hadn't followed.

So she went back out to the car, walking around to the passenger side. "Rowan? Is everything okay?"

He nodded. "So okay," he promised. "I...I needed a breath."

The corners of her lips quirked up. "Can I show you my house?" Feeling bold, she linked her fingers with his. "The kitchen, the living room..." A pause. "My bedroom."

That got him out of the car and on his feet, a smirk tinged with desire curling his lips. "Please do."

She led him up the front steps and into her house, kicking off her shoes in the entryway. "The kitchen is right here, if you wanted to know." She gestured to her left. "You can put your almond milk on the counter." And put your rowillymilk in me, she added under her breath.

He left the carton on the counter, slid his arm around her waist, and leaned down to kiss her. Aelin rose onto her tiptoes to meet his lips, the kiss starting soft and quickly turning deeper, passionate, filled with the inexplicable desire that crackled between them. Effortlessly, Rowan lifted her into his arms, not breaking the kiss as he took a couple of steps and stopped, remembering he didn't know where anything was. He pulled away, breathless.

"Aelin--"

"Upstairs," she panted, her chest heaving. "Come here."

And she led him up the stairs and into her room and kicked the door shut behind them.

~~~

TAGS:

@live-the-fangirl-life

@superspiritfestival

@thegreyj

@wordsafterhours

@elentiyawhitethorn

@morganofthewildfire

@backtobl4ck

@rowanaelinn

@house-of-galathynius

@tomtenadia

@julemmaes

@swankii-art-teacher

@charlizeed

@booknerdproblems

@chronicchthonic14

@earthtolinds

@goddess-aelin

@sweet-but-stormy

@clea-nightingale

@autumnbabylon

@darling-im-the-queen-of-hell

@llyncooljones

@silentquartz

#my writing #answered prompt #leia's 500 followers thing #rowaelin #rowan x aelin #aelin galathynius #rowan whitethorn #rowaelin fanfic #rowaelin fanfiction #throne of glass fanfic #throne of glass fanfiction #rowaelin spicy times

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lyranova · 9 months ago

Text

Omnes Sumus Peccatores: Love is Rich with Both Honey and Venom

Chapter 2: The Confused Man and the Morning Sick Woman

Hiya guys, I hope you’re all doing well! I’m sorry that I’ve taken a while with thid chapter, I had it 98% done for a while but IRL has kind of kept me from being able to finish it…but now life has kind of slowed down a bit so I was finally able to finish it! The chapters with Zera and William will all, or mostly, be split between the past and the present, but i’ll try and have them marked so people won’t get confused! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy~!

Word Count: 3,087

Warnings: Swearing, Suggestive Themes, Morning Sickness, Mentions of Pregnancy, Dante (he needs his own warning 🤷🏻‍♀️)

————

5 Years Earlier

Zera watched as all the Mafia families in Clover city gathered in the elegant ballroom. This was an annual event where all the families mixed and mingled, where deals were made, and where grievances were discussed.

But when things between the families grew too heated they were instantly thrown out. That was the one rule for this event; you did not fight, and you didn’t not argue. Heated debates and discussions were allowed, but anything more was strictly forbidden.

She sipped her champagne and looked around the ballroom. There were 9 major families now; There was The Golden Dawn, a relatively new family that had been climbing up the ladder the last few months and was now the second most influential family.

Then there were the Silver Eagles; who were considered one of the oldest families in the room. Their matriarch, Acier Silva, stood elegantly beside her younger children as she politely spoke with Mereoleona Vermillion.

Mereoleona was a member of the Crimson Lions family; their leader was her younger brother, Fuegoleon, and he was currently trying to keep their youngest brother Leopold out of trouble while simultaneously trying to work out a deal with Nozel Silva of the Silver Eagles.

Her ice blue eyes shifted to the other side of the room where The Coral Peacock family; led by Dorothy Unsworth, the Green Mantis family led by Jack the Ripper, and the Purple Orca family led by Kaiser Granvorka stood. They weren’t the most powerful families, nor were they the weakest.

The Blue Rose family stood a bit away from the others. They were led by Charlotte Roselei and were almost a completely all female family, and if there were any males in that family they tended to be treated as errand boys or less. Although, there was a little rumor floating around that a lot of her family members were in relationships despite all of them having ‘sworn off’ relationships with men.

Then there was the Aqua Deer family, they used to go by the Grey Deer, but after a few changes in leadership they decided to rebrand themselves. So, now they were known as the Aqua Deer and were considered the ‘youngest’ family despite actually being one of the oldest. They were currently being led by Morgen Faust.

Finally, there was the Black Bulls who were being led by Yami Sukehiro. They were one of the newest mafia families, and were considered to be the worst of the worst. They caused a lot of chaos and damage whenever they appeared, and were known for being the loudest and most rambunctious family out of the nine. Tonight only served to prove that as the Black Bulls were being loud and rowdy as they parties and had fun.

Zera smiled as she watched them; aside from her own family, the Black Bulls were her second favorite mafia family. They were just so…free, and chaotic, and just themselves! They didn’t care what people thought, they just marched to the beat of their own drum, and it was just really amazing to see.

If she were to join any family; it would be theirs.

“ Are you thinking about leaving us?” A familiar voice asked, and she smirked before turning around.

“ Of course not papa, I would never think to do that,” She replied as she saw her father, Rika, head of the Cassia family walking up to her.

“ Of course you wouldn’t,” He agreed as he also took a sip of his champagne. “ But just in case you ever decide to, I wouldn’t be upset if you married Yami and joined his family.”

Zera chuckled and shook her head.

“ Yami’s not my type,” She explained as she looked the man across the room up and down. “ He’s too…meaty.”

Rika choked and sputtered on his champagne at his daughters words.

“ Too meaty?!” Zera nodded sadly.

“ Yes. Unfortunately, I prefer my men to be more…willow branch like as opposed to bull like,” She said in a sad, tragic sounding voice, making Rika chuckle.

“ So you prefer men like Jack the Ripper?” He asked and her blue eyes glanced over at the tall, stick like man.

“ I also prefer my men less blood thirsty,” She replied as she took another sip of her drink, making her father sigh and shake his head.

“ Must you always be so picky?”

“ You always told me to keep my standards high, so I’m just doing as you said,” She responded with a soft smile. “ And besides; with such an amazing and loving man such as you who raised me, how can my standards not be high?”

Rika felt his chest swell with pride at Zera’s words. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulled her close, and placed a small kiss on the top of her head.

“ I always knew you were my favorite child,” He sniffled jokingly, making Zera laugh.

“ Yeah we all know she is your favorite,” Zera’s brother Casper said as he walked over to them. “ Dad, we need you outside; Felix and Meino are about to brawl with a couple of members of the Crimson Lions again!”

Rika sighed and hung his head; of course those two were going to start trouble.

“ I’ll be right back, and please try to stay out of trouble until I do,” He pleaded with his youngest child, and she grinned at him.

“ No promises!”

Rika groaned and gave her a look that said ‘please don’t. The last thing I need tonight is another child getting into trouble!’ before he quickly followed Casper.

Zera chuckled before turning to look back out at the ballroom, where everyone was now dancing. She hummed softly along with the melodic music that echoed through the spacious room, her eyes closing slightly as her body began to sway.

She wasn’t much of a dancer, but for some reason, right now, she really wished someone would ask her to dance.

“ May I?” A male’s voice asked from beside her, and she opened her eyes.

It seems like an angel decided to grant her wish, and as she turned to accept his offer she instantly groaned. It wasn’t an angel that granted her wish; but a devil.

A very, very mean devil.

“ Well? Care to dance?” Dante Zogratis, a member of law enforcement who had been trying to get the mafia families on something for months, asked with a sleazy grin and his hand outstretched towards her.

Zera rolled her eyes and began to walk away; this man, if one could call him that, was the last person she would ever want to dance with.

“ Where are you going, Zera?” He asked as he began to follow her.

“ Away from you obviously,” She snapped, not even turning around to look at him.

Since Dante, as well as his siblings who were all in law enforcement as well, had infiltrated the inner circles of the families he had decided to make moves on all of the prominent women in every mafia family, hoping to get some kind of information out of them as well as a good ‘fuck’ as he put it.

Recently, Zera had been his latest target; but instead of giving up and moving on like he did with the rest of the women, he just kept pestering her, over and over and over again.

She had to give it to him; his determination was admirable.

“ Now Zera don’t be like that,” He began, his voice feigning hurt as he followed her. “ You know I’m the only man here who could ever make you happy, so why don’t you just say yes to my proposal? That way everyone can be happy.”

Zera scoffed before turning around on her heel to face him.

“ Is that so?” She asked with a raised brow, her arms crossing under her chest as she gave him a very annoyed look.

“ Yes, we both know that I’m probably the richest, most handsome man in this room,” Dante gloated as he gestured around the room. “ Not to mention that I’m also great in bed,” He added as he leaned in close to her.

Zera openly laughed.

“ If you were really great in bed would you feel the need to announce it to everyone?” She questioned with a smirk.

Coughs and chuckles could be heard echoing throughout the ballroom as people eavesdropped on their conversation, which made Zera smirk a bit; she always did manage to gather an audience when she was putting people in their places.

Dante’s eyebrow twitched in anger, and she could see his jaw tense as he tried to keep his temper at bay.

“ What was that?”

“ You heard me!” She exclaimed boldly. “ I said if you were so great in bed then you wouldn’t feel the need to announce it!”

The room again began to chuckle, making Dantes jaw tense even more.

“ Now Zera-!”

“ Besides I don’t care how great you are ‘in bed’ because I,” She glanced around the room for a moment before her eyes caught a glimmer of someone's coat. “ I-I already have a boyfriend!”

Dante raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“ You do?”

“ Yep, and he’s right here!” She announced as she grabbed the person closest to her and pulled him to her side.

The room went silent, but one could easily sense the confusion and surprise amongst the guests.

“ Him?”

“ M-Me?!” The voice beside her exclaimed in confusion, and Zera’s head immediately snapped in his direction.

Her blue eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly as she stared at the very shocked face of William Vangeance; the leader of the Golden Dawn family!

“ Shit! Why did it have to be him?!” She thought in panic as she glanced from him to Dante and back again.

Well, this would just have to do…

“Yep, this is my boyfriend, William Vangeance!” She repeated with the brightest smile she could muster. “ He’s smart, handsome, wealthy, and makes me see the gates of heaven every night we make hot, passionate love together! Isn’t that right darling?”

Williams face turned so red that one might mistake him for a stop light if they weren’t paying attention.

How…how did he end up in this mess? All he did was walk over in order to diffuse the situation, but now he was somehow in the middle of it?!

Dante was glaring at him, Yami was howling with laughter as he was watching the scene unfold, and he was currently dying of embarrassment.

He had never met this woman even once but now she’s claiming they had hot, passionate sex every night? Was she crazy?!

—————

Present Day

William closed his bedroom door with a tired sigh; that…had been a very awkward introduction between Neva and Yuno. The two had looked each other over silently before William began to explain the situation; and he could sufficiently say that neither one was very pleased at the idea of partnering up.

But, there was no way they could disobey the order of The King.

After telling the two to talk and get to know one another for the day, he decided to invite them both over for dinner, hoping that maybe Zera could help break the tension between them.

Speaking of, where was his fiancé?

“ Zera? Are you here?” He called as he began to look around their living quarters, he heard a soft groan come from their bedroom.

“ Zera?” He called again, and was once again met with a groan.

He began to quickly walk towards the sound and opened their bedroom door to see his fiancé lying curled up on the bed.

“ Zera?” He called softly for a third time, he watched as she slowly opened her eyes to look at him.

“ You’re home,” She began softly as a bright but tired smile appeared on her face. “ I would get up and give you a kiss, but your little seedling has decided to be very bad today by giving me an awful case of afternoon sickness.”

William blinked for a moment.

“ My little seedling?” He repeated in confusion as he slowly took his shoes off and began to unbutton his suit jacket.

“ Yes, your little seedling,” She confirmed with a pointed expression. “ You know, the one you planted inside my garden about six or seven weeks ago?”

He smirked a bit as he took off his suit jacket and threw it onto the cushioned bench that sat at the end of their bed.

“ But darling, if I remember correctly; weren’t you the one asking, no, begging me to plant my seed inside your garden over and over again until one finally took root?” He asked with a mock confused tone as he crawled onto the bed and towards his wife.

Zera smirked a bit before she quickly pouted.

“ Maybe. But just to clarify things; I didn’t beg you…I ordered you to.” She said as she looked at him over her shoulder.

William chuckled before nodding in agreement as he laid down behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her close to him.

“ You did, and there’s no way I could disobey an order from the Queen.” He muttered softly as he placed a kiss against her shoulder, then her neck, and finally her cheek.

A soft hum escaped her as she leaned her head back against his chest, the warmth radiating from his body made her body feel more relaxed and caused her intense nausea to dissipate slightly.

“ How did Neva take the news of needing to have a partner?” Zera asked softly, her eyes closing a bit as she grew more and more sleepy in his embrace.

“ About as well as I expected her to,” He replied softly as he buried his face into the crook of her neck.

“ So, not well at all?”

William chuckled before nodding slowly.

“ Not well at all.” He repeated, making her sigh.

She had a feeling that would happen. It was very well known to everyone that Neva didn’t work well with others unless it was William, he was the only person she would willingly work with, so for her to now be forced to work with others in order to stay in the family…she could only imagine how terrible of a reaction Neva had.

“ But she did choose a partner,” William said, making Zera’s eyes snap open in surprise before she rolled over to face her husband.

“ Really? Who?”

“ Yuno.”

“ Yuno?! The new kid?” She asked in disbelief, and her brows raised considerably when he nodded. “ Why would she want to work with him?”

“ Because, according to Neva, he can give an unbiased evaluation,” William explained. “ Which I have to agree with; if she were to work with Langris or Alecdora their reports would be very biased against her because of their history with each other.”

“ So this is the best way to get an accurate assessment on Neva’s improvements.”

Zera nodded slowly as she listened to her fiancé explain; they had a point, this would be the best way to get an accurate assessment, but still, she couldn’t help but worry.

“ What’ll you do if Yuno’s assessment of Neva is the same as Alecdora’s and Langris’s?” She asked softly, and she watched as William’s eyes searched hers for a moment before they slowly closed in thought.

“ I’m not really sure,” He admitted quietly. “ I told her that she would have to leave the family but…I don’t think I could make her do that.”

She nodded again slowly, she knew of William and Neva’s history together, and knew that this was the only place she knew and the only family she had ever had. So if he were to force Neva to leave…she wouldn’t have anywhere else to go.

“ Well, if you want my opinion,” Zera began as she reached up and placed a hand against the side of his face. “ I don’t think it’ll come to that, I think everything will work out between them.”

William’s eyes slowly opened and his brow furrowed.

“ How do you know that?”

Zera hummed.

“ Let’s just call it a woman’s intuition?” She said mysteriously, which only made his brows furrow more.

It was probably one of Zera’s many ‘gut feelings’ that she tended to get every now and then when it came to things that involved the family and it’s members…

“ By the way,” Zera continued, changing the subject. “ Is Neva still coming by for dinner tonight?”

Her fiancé blinked in surprise at the sudden change of subject, but nodded.

“ She said she would, but after our meeting I wouldn’t be surprised if she canceled at the last minute since I also asked Yuno to join.” William said with a chuckle, making her sigh and shake her head in disapproval.

“ I’m sure she’ll still come, because if she doesn’t, she knows I’ll never forgive her for it.” Zera told him with a small pout.

William chuckled again and nodded in agreement before he pulled her towards him and held her close.

“ We still have some time before dinner,” He muttered as he leaned his face down towards hers. “ We could take a nap, or maybe we could do something a little more…fun?” He suggested warmly, a hint of seduction in his voice.

Zera smirked at him as her hand slid from his face to his chest.

“ A little more fun, huh? What kind of fun did you have in mind?” She asked, her voice playful and flirty as she moved her face closer to his, their lips now only mere inches from each other.

William hummed, his eyes gazing down at her lips for a moment before slowly working their way back up to her face.

“ Perhaps the kind that doesn’t involve any clothes?” He suggested lustfully, and that only caused her smirk to widen.

“ I was hoping you would say that.” She muttered softly as their lips moved closer…and closer…and closer…

But just as they were about to touch, Zera’s hand immediately shot up to clamp over her mouth, and she pulled her face away from his.

“ Sorry!” She muttered quickly before climbing over him, getting out of bed, and rushing over to their bathroom where, as soon as she closed the door, William could hear her retching into the toilet.

A sad sigh escaped him as he sat up, climbed out of bed, and began to walk to the bathroom so he could hold Zera’s hair back.

Later, he would have to remind their child to try and be a little nicer to their mama and not make her so sick over the next few months.

————

Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

#black clover #black clover au #black clover fanfiction #zerilliam #zera x william #william x zera #mafia au #william vangeance #dante zogratis #oc; zera #love is rich with both honey and venom

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