#and i was hoping today would just be smooth sailing and nothing special

[sugaruapologist]

[bitchymanlet]

Safety Net

Chapter 1: The Plan

🔞MINORS DO NOT INTERACT🔞

Pairing: Levi x Fem!OC; Sub!Levi x Domme!OC

Tags/Content Warnings: canon compliant; problematic; pregnancy; baby trapping; porn with plot; explicit sex; angst; obsession; jealousy; age gap (both are adults); losing virginity; secret relationship; power imbalance; superior and subordinate romance; D/s dynamic; BDSM (FYI, these tags cover the overall story. No sex or kink in this chapter.)

Word Count: 2,491

Summary: Ambitious Scout Emmy Bohn, member of the elite Captain Levi's Special Operations Squad, finally brings her dream to fruition by means of deceiving the one who she holds most dear, her own Captain. However, it's not all smooth sailing from there. She must grapple with the possibility that the life of peace she's meticulously crafted in her mind over the years—the control that she so desperately craves—may always be a mere fantasy.

A/N: This is my first fanfic I've ever published. Hope you enjoy.

Levi shuffled into the Commander’s office with a despondent look etched onto his stony-face. He kept some distance between himself and Erwin’s desk, yet far enough away from the door to prevent anyone outside from eavesdropping.

“Levi.” Erwin perked up, giving the Captain his full attention.

Levi rips off the bandaid. “I’m in deep shit, Erwin... Emmy’s pregnant,” he paused, putting his hands on his hips and sighing, “and it’s mine.”

Erwin eyeballed Levi, waiting for an elaboration. “Care to explain?”

“It’s been so long since you got laid that you forgot how pregnancy works? We had sex.”

Erwin shut his eyes and released a long, weary sigh. “You’re not making my job any easier, Levi.”

“Sorry for the inconvenience,” Levi deadpanned.

Erwin stared at nothing as he put on his signature thinking face.

Levi spoke up, “Nobody knows. Except for Dr. Sieger at the infirmary. Emmy just found out today and came straight to me with the news. So…” Levi shrugged, crossing his arms. “Any ideas?”

Erwin thought about it. If the doctor had confirmed it, then there’s little chance that she’s lying about her pregnancy. Nor would it be feasible to assume the doctor would tell anyone, that’s a small relief to Erwin at least, since Dr. Sieger is under oath to keep patients’ medical confidentiality.

“There’s no certainty that the child is yours.”

Levi scowled. “Are you really suggesting that Emmy, the one without so much as a speck of dirt on her record, is actually a slut?”

“You cannot be certain that there is no possibility for her to have gotten pregnant from someone else.”

Levi’s scowl faltered slightly. He had only slept with Emmy once, and in that single time he had worn a condom. Shit happens, a broken condom isn’t unheard of. Sure, there was a possibility that Emmy could’ve seen someone else around that time… He scoffed at such a bullshit notion. She was a virgin right up until they had done the deed. But that’s none of Erwin’s business.

“You know Emmy’s reputation. And you know damn well how easily word gets around. Petra is Emmy’s bunkmate, she’s got the bottom bunk and she’s a light sleeper. If Emmy snuck off to go fuck somebody, Petra would’ve found out, and she couldn’t keep it secret–that girl wears her heart on her sleeve.” Levi glanced off to the side. “There’s no doubt about it… it’s mine.”

Erwin stared at Levi. “By your logic, Petra would know about Emmy sneaking off to see you. She could be a witness.”

“Petra doesn’t know because Emmy didn’t sneak off. I gave Emmy a late night assignment… As far as Petra knows, Emmy was busy following orders,” Levi muttered.

Erwin folded his hands together over his desk. “This was no accident, I see. This was premeditated.” He nodded, gazing at his hands before looking at Levi. “You realize that fraternization is prohibited? This is grounds for dishonorable discharge.”

“I’m well aware,” Levi answered dryly. “What’s the point in telling me this? You’re gonna give us the boot? Okay, thanks for dragging me out of that shithole, my six years as a Scout have been a blast, good luck with saving humanity, Commander.”

Erwin let out a wry chuckle. “You know that I would never give you the boot. Emmy is another story…”

Erwin considered the possible outcomes. If the child was indeed Levi’s, according to the military code, that would mean both Levi and Emmy would have to be dishonorably discharged. Booting Humanity’s Strongest Soldier from the Survey Corps would be shooting himself in the foot at best and damning the fate of humanity at worst. Although, if he kept their affair under wraps, Emmy’s pregnancy would eventually become a problem. He wasn’t so much of a monster that he would put a pregnant soldier on the front lines. Emmy is a very capable soldier in her own right, but so were many others. Nor could he make her take the fall for this either–it would ruin her.

“Her squadmates are aware that she is sick,” Erwin said. “I could formally put down that she has contracted a severe ailment and give her medical leave. Perhaps it was a flare up from some chronic illness that she had under control, until now. She can return at her own discretion.”

“Beats a dishonorable discharge, but… then she’d have to report for duty after her leave. What about the kid? She doesn’t have a family to take care of it, they're all dead,” Levi said in agitation.

“Then her duty won’t be on the field. She could transfer to office work, again, on the grounds of her documented chronic illness.”

“Then who would take care of the kid?”

Erwin narrowed his eyes. “Why don’t we ask her?” He stood up from his desk with an air of nonchalance. “Bring her here.”

Levi clenched his jaw and left to fetch his pregnant subordinate.

~~

When Emmy entered the Commander’s office, none other than Commander Erwin himself was seated on his small, professional-looking sofa.

“Hello, Emmy. Have a seat.” Erwin gestured for her to sit on the other side of his sofa.

Emmy stood frozen in place while Levi walked past her and plopped down in a chair.

She quickly nodded. “Yes, sir,” she said, quiet as a mouse, then she rushed to the sofa and sat down.

She held her trembling hands together on her lap. It wasn’t often that she had the chance to speak directly to Commander Erwin. Despite only having eyes for the Captain, even she couldn’t resist his charming aura.

But she had to keep it together. This is the moment of truth. She cannot screw this up.

“How are you feeling?” Erwin asked in a low tone of voice.

She cleared her throat. “Uh-I-I’m, uh, fine… sir.” She didn’t have to act here. Her anxiety was so real, her voice went up an octave higher without even trying. She gulped, hoping she wouldn’t throw up all over his nice rug.

“Captain Levi told me the news; that you are with child. Congratulations.”

Emmy glanced at Levi, who had a somber look in his eyes. She then lowered her head, saying nothing.

“Perhaps a ‘congratulations’ is not very appropriate, for the circumstances in which you find yourself are anything but.”

Emmy bit her quivering lower lip. She let out a whisper of a noise, trying to find the courage to speak. This was supposed to be the easiest part, yet here she is, all choked up in the Commander’s office like she’d just seen a titan for the first time.

“Nevertheless, I haven’t summoned you here for a reprimanding. I must ask you, what course of action would you prefer for yourself? I suggested that I give you a medical leave for your chronic illness, and that once you have recovered, you may return to do office work. Captain Levi, however, doesn’t like this plan.”

Emmy lifted her head up, widening her eyes at Erwin.

“I’m not getting punished?” Emmy’s high-pitched voice shook.

“No. This is… a special case, let’s call it that. Now, your thoughts?”

Her heart raced in her burning chest, in any moment her stomach acid could come up, further stripping her of her dignity before her two heroes. How she loathed making herself appear meek. Subordination was one thing, for she would gladly accept the command of a worthy leader. Meekness made her stomach twist in knots.

This is just a means to an end, she reminded herself, fidgeting with her hands all the while Erwin’s and Levi’s eyes locked on her.

Her eyes filled with tears. “I… worked so hard to get to where I am, sir,” her voice cracked, and she blinked her tears free. “To think that… after all this time, my-my career is…” She hiccuped, her voice caught in her throat.

Levi stepped up to her, pulling his handkerchief out from his breast pocket and handing it to her before retreating back to his chair, draping his left arm over the back.

Emmy whined at the kind gesture, her Captain always did have a keen sense of compassion. She gingerly wiped her tears on Levi’s divine handkerchief, almost as soft and silky as his skin. What a shame that her nose was too snotty to be able to smell it.

How despicable this was, and she knew it. After all the times she had been praised for her diligence; for her bravery, even from her beloved Captain Levi.

“I’m not fighting for humanity anymore…”

She never fought for humanity. She fought for herself. For this one goal.

“I’ll just be a mom,” Emmy heaved. “If I did office work, then there wouldn’t be anyone to care for my baby... My family died in the Titan invasion of Shiganshina five years ago!”

“Levi told me the same." Erwin’s eyes bore into her own with intensity, she hadn’t even noticed him blink yet. "What should we do instead, Emmy?”

She blew her nose into the Captain’s handkerchief, sullying the precious thing with her filth.

“Maybe… a medical discharge would be most ideal…?” her voice cracked.

Erwin quirked an eyebrow, and Levi leant forward in his chair.

“A medical discharge?” Erwin broke his gaze away from Emmy for a brief moment as he sat up straight and tilted his head. He then looked at Levi.

“That way,” she continued, “I could stay home to raise my and Captain Levi’s child, without being called into duty,” Emmy said in a lower tone, closer to her natural speaking voice.

The room fell silent. Emmy clutched Levi's soiled handkerchief, her eyebrows knit in worry. This was it. All the Commander had to do was approve. If he doesn’t, then these past five years would have been for nothing.

She would rather kill herself than succumb to a titan. If she had no control over how she could live her life, then at the very least she could control how she would die.

“Emmy… Do you love Levi?”

“Why the fuck would you ask her that?” Levi’s expression twisted into a grimace.

“Well, I’m curious.” Erwin glanced at Levi before turning his body over to Emmy, staring into her eyes again. “Why not one of your fellow squadmates with whom you spend more time in the day getting intimately involved? Why Levi, your superior officer?”

Levi gripped the back of his chair.

Being asked that so suddenly brought on a wave of heat over Emmy. She had a lot to be ashamed of, but there was no shame in loving the man who gave her a purpose for living. If this would help to convince the Commander of going along with her plan, then so be it.

Her breath hitched, her face flushing as she raised her shoulder in a bashful manner. “I do. I am in love with my Captain, sir. I have a close relationship with each of my squadmates, and I do care for them deeply, but the Captain…” Emmy continued with her shaky voice, “There’s no one in the walls who I admire more...”

She winced, dropping her head in embarrassment at admitting this to the both of them, and her eyes had again filled with tears as she bit into her stupid quivering lip. Her stomach gurgled in the silence.

Levi squinted his eyes; a pained, sympathetic look to his face. He’s heard her say it before, but now, he can’t quite shake it off as easily as he once had. This crush of hers that he foolishly fed into led to all of this. He can’t shake off the fact that he’s going to be a father. Father to a child growing inside of his most dedicated subordinate who will lose the career she fought tooth and nail to attain, all because he didn’t keep it in his pants.

Erwin scrutinized her reaction for an uncomfortable length of time.

“Very well, you shall have your medical discharge. Consider this matter settled.”

Emmy released a puff of air as Erwin stood up from his sofa and went over to his desk. “You’ll get lump sum payments for the two years you have spent in active duty. No retirement benefits, I’m afraid, but name one Scout with that privilege.”

Erwin opened one of his drawers and looked through his files. “You have served us well, Emmy… You are dismissed.”

In place of relief, she felt a pang in her heart and cringed as she held herself back from gagging.

“Thank you, Commander Erwin,” she said in a choked voice and leapt up on her feet. She saluted Erwin then glanced at Levi for a split second before turning her head guiltily. She hurried out of Erwin’s office, clinging Levi’s delicate handkerchief to her chest, feeling like the most revolting human being who had ever lived.

Levi sighed from his nostrils as he squeezed the back of his chair so firmly that the wood made a creaking sound. He glared at Erwin, who seemed unfazed.

“Oi. Blondie. Did you have to get so weirdly personal there?”

“I was determining her motive.”

Levi scoffed. “Now you’re calling her a liar? I know her better than you do.”

“There’s no need to get defensive. I granted the woman her wish, did I not?”

“Yeah, but why did you ask her that shitty question?” Levi stood up and strode over to Erwin’s desk. “You had to twist the knife in her wound?” Levi spoke with a harsh, gravelly voice.

“Think about it, Levi. You know who you are.”

Levi rolled his eyes. “I don’t give a shit what her motive is. She’s my comrade in arms. I’ve saved her life, and she’s saved mine. And she didn’t use mind control to get me into bed, I made the choice to fuck her.” Levi leant his fists against Erwin’s desk. “Fact of the matter is, I knocked her up. This is my responsibility, Erwin. End of story.”

Erwin hummed. “That is your prerogative, Levi.” Erwin found what he was looking for, and took out a medical discharge document before sitting down. “Even so, ‘taking responsibility’ here entails that this will remain strictly confidential. I am effectively sweeping this under the rug. If there is any documentation of you and Emmy having an intimate relationship, that could be held against me as Commander.”

“I get it. I’m not marrying her.”

“And you must make it clear to her that any sexual affiliation she has with you is not to be shared with anyone. In your heart you can claim it, though, legally, that child is not yours.” Erwin dipped his quill into ink and began writing onto the document. “She was diagnosed with a debilitating chronic illness and is hereby found to be medically unfit for duty. If perchance anyone discovers her pregnancy, it is nothing more than a subsequent occurrence of her early retirement.”

Levi’s knuckles still against the wood, his jet black fringe curtaining over his aggrieved, downcast face.

“I’ll be sure to spell that out for her.”

~~

Join my taglist @sixpennydame

[seresinsbabe]

Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x oc!Kazansky

Synopsis: She’s Admiral Kazansky’s only child. She’s beautiful, she’s smart and she’s off limits. Anastasia Kazansky is everything Jake Seresin wants and can’t have.

Warnings: Angst, eventual smut 18+, arguing, violence, mentions of deceased family, mentions of drug dependency, mentions of surgery and fractures.

Chapter 2 is here! This is not proofread so sorry for any mess ups. It'll be fixed when I'm hungover tomorrow!

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“What do you mean the caterer canceled?” Anastasia had taken her lunch break in her office so she could finalize the details of her parents' anniversary party. It was their fortieth and she wanted to make it special. When she’d checked in the week prior with the event planner everything was smooth sailing. Today she was calling to let her know there would be more attending as she’d invited all the recently in town pilots. “They accidentally double booked? Okay, so what are we going to do about it? I mean we can’t not have food.” She was growing concerned and any appetite she’d had was now lost. A knock came at her office door and she looked up to see Connor Clark, one of the resident doctors. “I’ve got to go. Call me later with some options.” She hung up the phone and tried not to slam the device on her desk.

Connor raised an eyebrow at her as he stepped in. He was a sweet boy, not the brightest so she wasn’t sure how he’d managed to match with ortho, but he had. And the second he met her he seemed to follow her around like a lost puppy. 

“Everything okay Ana?” She scrunched her nose up at the nickname. No one called her that. It was always either Stace, Stasia or Baby Ice. So hearing him call her Ana gave her the ick. 

Letting out a heavy sigh she shook her head in an attempt to shake how upset she was. “Yeah, just a little issue with my parents' anniversary party. Nothing I can’t figure out.” She gave him a tight lipped smile. “Is there something you need?”

Connor shook his head. “No, just haven’t seen you all day, wanted to make sure you were in.” That was weird. Stasia didn't always see each resident every day. She was just a physician assistant and she only saw the residents assigned to work with her doctor for that rotation.

Stasia grabbed her white coat, sliding it on over her scrubs. “Just been in the OR all day. Actually, I need to go make rounds, Laura wanted me to check on our femur fracture patient.” She was trying to use it as an excuse to get out of the conversation. And it seemed to work but when she was halfway out of her office door he spoke up again.

“Well, actually I came to see if you were doing anything Saturday?” 

Fuck. The brunette stopped in her tracks, frozen mid step as she tried to think of a response. This wasn’t the first time a colleague had a crush on her, but it was the first time one of the resident doctors had the balls to ask her out on a date. It wasn’t that Connor was ugly, but one it was just a bad idea and he wasn’t her type. He was too meek for her, she needed someone capable of putting up with the shit she dished out.

Finally she turned around, a soft smile on her face that if he was smart enough he would read as rejection. “I’m actually busy this Saturday. I have plans with friends.” That wasn’t entirely a lie. She didn’t have plans with friends this Saturday, but she could easily conjure some up, she was sure.

Connors face fell but then he smiled again and moved his hand in a passive wave. “No worries! Another time!” Before she could get the chance to tell him it wasn’t going to happen at all he was bounding off down the hall in the direction of the clinical building. Stasia cursed under her breath. Hopefully this wouldn’t be the start of a trend for the remainder of his residency here. The latest round of residents had only started two weeks ago and they would be for a good three or four months before moving on.

—

Anastasia had hoped the day would get better, but when she called the event planner after work she was let down. The woman had hit a wall trying to find another caterer on such short notice, but she promised to have someone by the end of the week. If that wasn’t bad enough, one of her patients had managed to storm into the post operative recovery wing screaming for her and her doctor, pissed because they’d cut off his oxycodone script. They’d found out he was getting oxy from more than one doctor and cut him off. Neither she or Laura were going to risk their medical license over something like that. Security had managed to get to him, but not before he’d thrown a clipboard at her and screamed in her face. 

So when she got a text from not only Rooster but Phoenix as well asking to meet at the Hard Deck for a drink that night she didn’t hesitate to accept. When five o’clock hit she was barely in her office before the scrubs came off and she was back in her street clothes. 

“He fucking said what to you?” Stace was fuming as Rooster relayed the events of their training that day. She knew this training was going to be hard on Rooster when she found out Maverick was going to be their instructor. Anastasia loved her Uncle Maverick, but her relationship with him was far different than Rooster’s relationship with the man. It was strained and had been since Maverick rejected Rooster’s application to flight school. 

While she knew the reason Pete had done it, she also knew that Bradley didn’t know. Once when Mav was visiting she’d asked if he would ever tell him and he just shook his head. She remembered their relationship before, Maverick had stepped up to try and be the father that Brad had lost when he was just a child. She wanted that back for the both of them, but with Maverick refusing to tell why he pulled his papers she wasn’t sure it would ever happen again. 

Today’s events weren’t exactly Maverick’s fault. Instead it had been that loud mouth Texan jackass’ fault. 

“He just brought up my dad and how he and Maverick were flying together when…” Brad trailed off when he saw the anger building in Stasia’s eyes and was almost regretting telling her. She was fiercely protective of those she was closest to. He’d seen her throw punches at grown men for stepping out of line, even if they were twice her size. So it should have been no surprise when the bell above the door rang and none other than Jake Seresin walked in and she marched right up to him. Her high heels clicked angrily against the floor.

The slap happened before anyone could register what was happening. 

“What the fuck is your problem!” Her normally sweet voice was filled with anger. Jake was taken aback, still registering just why the woman of his dreams had just slapped the shit out of him. It wasn’t until he locked eyes with Bradshaw that he knew why she was so mad.

Her hands came up to shove him and he grabbed onto her wrist before she could get any leverage to shove. “Woah now darlin’, don’t get mad at me because Rooster there can’t han-” he was cut off by her voice.

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” The words came out low and slow. “What happened to Bradley’s dad is none of your fucking business Bagman. You didn’t know Goose, you don’t get to fucking speak on him.” Jake could tell she was pissed, but her words hadn’t done anything yet to wipe the cocky smirk off his face. 

He turned to look at Coyote for help, but Javy just held his hands up in surrender. He wasn’t about to get on Anastasia Kazansky’s shit list. He valued his life and his career. 

Jake narrowed his eyes at the other pilot briefly before turning to look back down at the woman who’s wrist he still held. 

Surely if he let go she would just hit him again and he quite liked the way he looked.

“Calm down darlin’, it was just a little smack talk between friendly rivals.” He was trying to downplay the fact that what he’d said was fucked up. He was positive that if his mom had heard him say something like that she would have smacked him so hard upside the head he’d be sent back in time.

Stasia managed to get her wrists out of his grip and she couldn’t help the satisfaction that ran through her when she saw him flinch. 

“I can’t wait until someone knocks you off your goddamn high horse.” A well manicured nail stabbed into his chest as she spoke. “The day you realize your shit doesn’t smell like roses, it just stinks.” She finished the sentence off with a light shove. 

Rooster, Phoenix and Bob had all moved to stand behind her as soon as they realized she was on the move. None of them had been prepared for her to slap Hangman, and none of them could say it wasn’t satisfying. They’d never seen someone capable of stunning him like that. 

Stasia downed the rest of her whiskey sour and slapped a fifty dollar bill down on the bar. “Sorry Penny,” she apologized to the woman. Stasia had caused a scene in the bar before, but never like that. Usually it was when some guy had gotten too handsy with her or one of her friends and she’d put him in his place. She’d never gone off on someone when they’d just barely stepped foot in the door. Not that Jake didn’t deserve it, but she probably could have been a little more eloquent about it. “I’ll talk to you guys later, I think it’s best if I just head home.”

Any more time spent around Jake was just going to lead to more arguing and it would ruin the night even further for everyone. The others just nodded in understanding and said their goodbyes.

Outside the sun was just starting to set. A beautiful array of oranges, pinks and purples over the ocean.

“Hey!” A voice called out from the door and Stasia groaned.

“Did you not get enough in the bar?” Her voice was just as cold as it had been when she turned to face Jake who was jogging up to her.

“What the hell was that in there?” He sounded mad and she’d never heard him sound like this before. Jake was always the calm and cocky pilot.

Her brows furrowed on her forehead and her face scrunched up in confusion. “Uh, you mean where I ripped you a new one for talking about Rooster’s dead dad? What do you need a fucking instant replay?” Her arms crossed over her chest, an attempt to keep from hitting him should she get that angry again.

“I ain’t ever done anythin’ to you to deserve that kinda bullshit, Anastasia.” Jake’s accent was starting to slip the more he let his anger seep through his words. Stasia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Sure, maybe she’d crossed a line by slapping him, but he couldn’t really think he wasn’t in the wrong here.

“You can’t honestly be trying to say you didn’t deserve that. I mean this is a joke right?”

“No, it ain’t no joke. Bradley don’t get to send you to fight his fights for him and we had it out in the hanger today. There was no reason for you to embarrass the hell outta me like that.” Ah. It was all making sense Jake wasn’t sorry for what he’d done. He was just sorry she’d called him out like that in front of everyone. 

With a roll of her eyes she turned back around and opened her car door only to have Jake’s hand come up and slam it back shut. 

“You ass!”

“No, I want an apology.”

“Only if you apologize to Rooster first.” Her eyebrow cocked and Jake let out a huff through his nose. Stasia could see the gears turning in his head, like he was trying to decide if it was worth it.

“Fine.” Jake grabbed her wrist and pulled her with him back into the Hard Deck. “Bradshaw!” Rooster’s head snapped up and the look on his face turned concerned when he saw Stace being dragged by Jake.

Rooster stood up, ready to do something if she gave him the say so. “Bagman what ar-” he was cut off by Jake.

“I’m sorry for bringing up your dad earlier. It was out of line and sweets here made me realize that.” The whole dagger squad looked stunned as they tried to process what had just happened. 

Jake Seresin had just apologized because Anastasia Kazansky told him to. Hell, they weren’t even aware that the word ‘sorry’ was in his vocabulary. 

The first one to finally speak up was Bob.

“Stace, just how hard did you slap him?”

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Taglist:

@hangmandruigandmav

@alanadetigy

@starkleila

[worstlovesong]

Today meeting with my church cell group, so Satanist is being on the waiting list again... or i might go off topic and end up just writing about stuff im upset about.

So MUNA!! and Skatie. Kind of Girl💕 I love how before they start the song they will alway dedicate it to their trans and queer fans, it makes me feel this little kind of joy and safety. For their Greek theater performance, they even got the trans choir of LA to perform with them!! that gonna sounds so special!

Kind of Girl to be is an ode to self-love and self-acceptance. It is the work you put in to heal yourself so you get to love the people around you better. it is where you talk gently to yourself. As a girlie who had combined ADHD in the early 2000s in a catholic girls school let's say that was an experience, endless complaints to parents, being caned, being told if i just behaved i would have friends, having my teacher tell other class I was crazy, being prayed over that i will be healed. So Kind of girl to me is leaning to use healing instead of fixing, to not punish myself when my brain decides it is a wonky day, to maybe laugh a bit louder, and dance to Silk Chiffon with my Blahaj. To take my joy as they come and accept that that is the kind of girl that i am.

Also it is laughing everytime Katie sings work in the garden, because of Katie adventures in gardening, where there was lead in the soil, many many many injuries and tears and calling Naomi. Im SO SO sorry for laughing Katie, but your gardening just isn't very smooth sailing. Maybe thats another point, to just do what i want and would like to even if it wasn't the most smooth sailing journey. So sorry about the essay... ❤️ U

Sorry I took so long to get to this! I never get ask notifications 🫠

Kind of Girl is such a special song, it really is about self acceptance and love and learning to be kind to yourself. Your analysis of it makes total sense to me, you can’t give from an empty cup; you can’t give love to others if you’re unable to give love to yourself. It’s not about changing yourself, it’s about having the patience and self love to be able to be gentle with yourself and take the time to heal.

I’m sorry your experience was like that, it’s truly unfair how neurodivergent kids were and still are treated. Nothing was wrong with you and nothing is wrong. I’m glad you are able to now lean into healing yourself and embracing your neurodivergence instead. Find joy where you can, be patient with yourself, change the way you do things if they aren’t working for you. You’re doing wonderful 💖

Katie and her garden 😭 she has had her mishaps for sure. I hope now she’s more careful, it makes me laugh whenever she sings that part too

[blainesebastian]

it’s my party (and i’ll cry if i want to)

words: 1,829 ship: austin butler x reader summary: (anon request): angst and drama but ends well notes: thanks for the request! hope you enjoy :)  warnings: none tag list: @killerqueenfan, @karamelcoveredolicity, @elizabethrosecresswell, @gigisworldsstuff

You’ve called him three times and at this point, another time seems like overkill.

You’re usually not a person who overdoes it and granted, even this feels a little tame. You’ve called him over the span of a few hours, not all at once. It’s just, you had a bad feeling ever since you woke up this morning that things weren’t going to go your way. It’s your birthday, you were already a little apprehensive about celebrating it because nothing ever seems to go as you want it to, and when Austin promised he’d be home at a certain hour to celebrate, you took him at his word.

You know that dating an actor isn’t always smooth sailing, you know that he is sometimes, at the last minute, drawn into things he can’t get out of. Meetings, dinners, parties, events, mixers, whatever—you accept that, you understand, you’ve never put any pressure on Austin to somehow dip out of responsibilities just to spend time with you. You wouldn’t want to be that kind of girlfriend, anyways, that doesn’t support him? But at the same time, you just thought today would be a bit different.

A few days prior, you tried to tell Austin that you didn’t need anything special for your birthday—that you wouldn’t even be offended if they just moved through the week as if it was a normal day. But your boyfriend wouldn’t hear it, insisted that you deserved to be celebrated. And that sentiment is all well and good…as long as someone shows up to support those words and promises. You can’t believe you went from not wanting anything at all to somehow letting Austin talk you into deserving all the bells and whistles and now you’re pissed off that he’s late, MIA and that you can’t get ahold of him.

So ridiculous.

You are trying so hard, and failing, not to completely stew in your apartment because you understand that unexpected things can come up but that does not mean communication should just completely disappear? Then there’s the smallest part of you that’s worried because what if something awful happened and that’s why he’s not calling you back?

You wander over to your kitchen to get yourself a glass of water and look over at the door when you hear the familiar sound of keys turning in the lock. Setting the glass down, you watch as Austin comes in and toes off his shoes, the door closing behind him. Sticking his hands into the pockets of his black jean jacket, he turns to see you in the kitchen and offers you a small smile.

“Hey—you look nice.” He runs a hand through his jet-black strands, some refusing to move and reverting back to hovering over his forehead, “What’re you all dressed up for?”

You’re pretty sure your mouth falls open when he says that, “What do you mean what am I dressed up for?”

Austin sort of blinks at the tone of your voice before his eyes widen in realization, “Oh shit—no it’s,” He pats his pockets for his phone, slipping it out of his back pocket. “Fuck, I thought it was Tuesday.”

“It’s Wednesday.” You state with similar vinegar and just—you don’t want to be upset, you really don’t, you can see what’s happening right on Austin’s face. He’s lost track of the week, he thought your birthday was tomorrow, the man works long fucking hours and does exhausting things for his career that you can’t even dream of doing yourself.

And yet, you can’t find it within yourself to forgive him so easily either, something that you might otherwise brush off your shoulders��he forgot your fucking birthday. You cross your arms over your chest, trying not to boil but then Austin opens his mouth again and it’s like he’s trying to piss you off by saying all the wrong things,

“I’m so sorry—I got caught up runnin’ lines with Oliva and we just, ordered take-out—”

The thing is, you are not threatened by Austin’s beautiful co-worker, she’s nothing but sweet and completely supportive of Austin and your relationship. But it does rub salt in the wound, that he was eating dinner with another woman while you were waiting here feeling like a clown in your apartment for him to come home. And while you know that it’s not exactly fair? It still doesn’t make it hurt any less.

You put your hand up to try and just…stop this whole conversation because you feel like you’re going to lose your goddamn mind. “This is exactly why I didn’t want to do anything—my birthday is notorious for disappointing me one way or another. This is a new one though, so,” You toe off the booties you were wearing, starting to unzip your dress to get back into your comfortable clothes, “Thanks for that.”

Austin sighs softly, his one hand running over his face before pinching the bridge of his nose, “I said I was sorry.”

“Okay, and?” You throw over your shoulder, moving into your bedroom to take the dress off and put on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, “Saying you’re sorry doesn’t magically make everything better.”

Distantly, you have no idea why you’re trying to continue this argument with him. He’s apologized, it was a mistake, and you don’t even like your birthday that much anyways. And yet you know it has everything to do with that fluttering feeling inside your chest that this one might be different, that it might actually be enjoyable where you don’t feel like you might dread it next year, that Austin could make it…worth it. You hate feeling like you’re naïve, that the emotion was crushed inside of you when he didn’t show up and you waited and it felt like some sort of high school flashback where your date ditched you at prom.

You could just forget it, move on, maybe have a small celebration tomorrow.

But it’s your party and you’ll cry if you want to, right?

“Okay, well let me try and fix it?” He offers, leaning against the doorframe, “We could still make a night out of it—maybe sit on the roof? Order dinner?”

“You already had dinner.” You comment shortly, passing him. You need to get out of this damn apartment, get some fresh air before you really start saying things you might regret.

“Don’t follow me,” You warn, not even bothering at this point to put shoes on as you snatch at a jacket on the clothes tree near the front door and close it behind you as you leave.

--

Dramatic exit? One hundred percent, but it was feeling like the walls were closing in on you in that apartment. You just need to calm down, take some deep breaths, get the images out of your head of Austin running lines with Oliva, laughing with her, sharing take-out while you were calling his phone and waiting for him to come home. You know that Austin loves you, you trust him more than anyone, and despite tonight, your relationship is on very strong ground. You just…you’re jealous and annoyed that things played out as they did.

Shaking your head, you run a hand through your hair and make your way up to the roof of your apartment building. There’s a patio for tenants, lawn chairs, tables, even a couch and pool tables, beautiful view of the city. Just a great place to not feel so claustrophobic. If Austin wants to attempt to rebuild some bridges tonight, he can find you there—it’s one of your safe spaces.

Guilt pools in your stomach and you try to dismiss those emotions as much as you can because that’s the last thing you want to feel. Aren’t you justified in being pissed off? Ugh, maybe you shouldn’t have been so snappy. Or maybe it’s okay that you stood your ground for once.

While this inner battle ping-pongs back and forth in your mind, you push open the door to the roof after climbing the stairs—

And nearly have a heart attack when people suddenly yell surprise!

You stand there for a long few moments, almost like you might be having an out-of-body experience as you stare back at the crowd gathered on the roof and slowly recognize family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers.

This is a surprise party for you.

You take a step back out of instinct and bump into someone, turning to see Austin and your cheeks are suddenly so red, so hot that you’re pretty sure your shirt might catch on fire. “You didn’t…” You mumble, unable to find the rest of the words.

He smiles softly and sticks his hands into his jeans, “I would never forget your birthday.”

You shake your head, biting down on your lower lip so hard it could draw blood. How are you supposed to even look at him? So many dueling emotions are crashing over you like waves, your chest feels like it might cave in on itself. You don’t even know what to say.

“You were right, I was supposed to be here hours ago—I am sorry for that,” Austin sighs, “The cake I ordered got delivered to set in the wrong place and…it ended up in the food tent, so I was scramblin’ to get you another one. You’d think bein’ Austin Butler and everythin’ would make it easier ordering a cake.” He’s teasing with that last part, reaching to touch your shoulders with his hands, “I kinda had to improvise when I got home, get you to the roof.”

A choked laugh leaves your lips, rubbing at your own cheeks. Instead, you tore off the cute dress you were wearing, left the apartment in your around-the-house clothes and stormed on up here—

“Well, I’m here.” You sigh dramatically, head tipped back just a little.

Austin chuckles warmly, pulling you close to wrap you in a hug. Hopefully everyone behind you two on the roof can’t hear this scene unfold because you’re embarrassed enough. You already know your parents are somewhere recording and or taking pictures. You allow your eyes to close for a few moments, arms slipping around Austin’s back to hug him tightly, burying your face in his chest. He presses his lips to your hairline, squeezing you, his hands tracing circles into your spine.

“Happy birthday,” He says as you pull back. His hands move to cup your cheeks, stroking gently and smirking a little at the red splotches that must still be there.

There are so many things that you want to say or…to apologize for being snippy even if you didn’t know, for storming out, something anything. And yet, you lean up on your toes and press a soft kiss to his lips,

“No more surprise parties…ever again.”

Austin laughs, gently turning you around to push you out onto the roof and into the festivities, “No promises.”

[pokesaurio]

I find it hard to believe that New Amsterdam has such little fanfiction. It’s a great show! So I decided to write something for the Leyren ship (which I would usually never do) to fix this! Hope you enjoy :)

Summary: How the Dam Fam finds out about Lauren’s new roommate.

Helen:

“So, naturally, you offered her to live with you” said Helen sarcastically, incredulous at Lauren’s out of character decision.

“Well, yes, she has become my friend after all, and I couldn’t let her alone in the streets”, replied Lauren matter-of-factly.

“Hmm. And how’s it going?” Helen rose an eyebrow suspiciously.

“It’s...” Lauren let out a small sigh, “It’s effortless, really. I feel like she’s always been there”. The “which scares me” was left unsaid.

Helen patiently waited until Lauren disclosed more, knowing her friend usually needed more time to open up.

“Well, except for the massive tree in the middle of the living room. Which I don’t dislike, but...”

“What?!” This got Helen’s attention. Since when was Bloom known to decorate her apartments, let alone let another person do so... with living things?!

“Well, she bought a tree, said it reminded her of home. But apparently it was smaller in the picture, so now I have a full-blown tree in my living room. And I think I like it” that last part she muttered softly.

Helen let out a small, genuine smile, amused but also proud of her friend. “That looks like progress. You haven’t yet snapped her head off for touching your space, so I’d say that’s a point for Lauren’s intimate relationships”.

“Pfft. It’s not very intimate if I still don’t know about her. I have tried to learn what she likes, but she still won’t really tell me about herself. It’s a little frustrating really” Lauren let out an adorable pout.

“Well, give her time. She is living in a stranger’s house after all, in a new country and with probably no other connections or friendships here. I can’t imagine she trusts people easily” said Helen patiently.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Mama Bear is at it again. Free advice for all!” Lauren laughed.

Helen snorted. “Well, it’s taken me nowhere with Mina. Still don’t know how this motherly figure thing works, sadly” she stated defeatedly.

“Oh, come on! You’re doing great! She’s slowly respecting her school timetable and your curfews more, right? And she hasn’t put a massive tree in your living room. That has to count for something” said Lauren, pointing her finger at Helen as she walked towards her ED. “You’ve got this!” and she gave Helen her best thumbs up and exaggerated smile.

Casey:

Lauren haphazardly threw her stuff into her backpack and went for the door, ready to call it a day and head back home.

“Lauren, you’re rushing out” Casey said suspiciously as he entered the locker room. “I assume this means you’re gonna continue smuggling your friend here? Cause if it does, you should know you are risking even more than before. If they catch you again...”

“No, Casey, it’s not like that” Lauren stated. “Don’t worry, she won’t be coming back here”.

“So that means... you let her go? Do you know where she is?” said Casey, now concerned about Leyla’s wellbeing.

“She’s actually... living with me?” said Lauren, the last part coming out in a rush and higher pitch.

“What?” asked Casey, wide-eyed. “Lauren, she- what?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t leave her on the streets, and I figured since I’m never home it couldn’t hurt to give her my spare room” justified Lauren to what seemed like Casey and herself.

“Okay, Lauren, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, you are risking a lot for this stranger. Please be careful” said Casey, though not unkindly. He was just worried about his friend.

“But that���s just it, Casey. She’s not a stranger, not anymore, and I would have done the same for any one of you. I protect my people” said Lauren, now sounding much more convinced.

“Well, if you’re happy with your decision, I can only congratulate you. You finally have a friend outside of work!” he added with a smile, teasing Lauren.

Lauren swatted his arm playfully. “I forgot, Mr Popular here knows most of New York. And I might have one friend, but it’s a hard one” she said, giving him the finger.

“Okay, okay!” Casey laughed, raising his arms defensively. “You win. But Lauren” he said softly “I am happy for you. Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were doing”.

“Thanks” said Lauren with a smile, squeezing his arm lightly as she left.

Lauren:

She did know what she was doing. Right. Right? It wasn’t like Leyla was a random stranger, not anymore, and she liked her enough that living together had been smooth sailing so far. So why did she find herself overthinking everything when it came to Leyla?

“Get your shit together, Lauren” she chanted to herself. She was driving home, her palms sweating slightly, but still excited to get there. She had been rushing out a lot lately. The memory of Leyla’s soft smile as she held her hand, fingers interlocking and fitting perfectly as they stared at the tree and Lauren’s want, need to be close, oh so close, a compass searching North. She couldn’t wait to get home to Leyla’s sarcasm, Leyla’s dinners, Leyla’s subtle presence in her apartment and life that made it theirs.

Without noticing, Lauren had been smiling like an idiot for at least half an hour, and she had arrived to her portal. She got out of the car and went for the stairs, taking twice at a time. But as she opened the door, a wave of disappointment washed over her. Leyla wasn’t home, had probably had to take a DriverTime client, and suddenly the apartment felt empty and cold again. Lauren couldn’t understand how she had lived like this for so long before.

But then a thought sprung to mind. Leyla had waited for her every day for the past week, staying up and meeting her with a fabulous home-cooked dinner after work. The least she could do was reciprocate, so Lauren got ready to prepare a mindblowing meal or die trying. Cooking had never been her strong suit, but she figured it couldn’t be too hard.

She remembered Leyla mentioning she deeply missed Pakistani cuisine, and how she had been disgusted by Lauren suggesting she try a Pakistani restaurant around the corner. “You Americans think you can serve a random dish and rebrand an entire culture. That place is not Pakistani”, she had stated. So Lauren had asked, and she had learned, how Nihari reminded her of late night dinners at home and Lassi was her all-time favourite beverage. And so she had a single thought in mind; today she was making the best Pakistani dinner for Leyla.

As she set out to spice the assortion of different meets, she re-entered her previous reverie. She knew Leyla would love this, even if Lauren was probably going to ruin the recipe and tarnish the Pakistani name. But Leyla would smile sweetly, as she did every time Lauren remembered a small detail about her and did her best to make her feel like home, and she would be grateful. Lauren could not wait until she came back, excited to see that look on her face that said “no one’s ever cared for me like this, and I’m glad you’re the first one”.

Slow-cooking the meat into a stew proved difficult, and mixing the yoghurt, water, spices and fruit for the Lassi had Lauren seriously questioning her cooking skills. But all in all, after about an hour she decided she had done a pretty good job. She set out to dress the table, going as far as opening a good red wine and placing a candle. She didn’t want to overdo it, but thought Leyla would decidedly not mind and find her efforts cute. Lauren was struck by the inclusion of “cute” into her vocabulary, could not remember when she had cared about someone’s reaction this much, and decided damn Leyla and her faint smiles had softened her. She couldn’t bring herself to care, though.

And just like clockwork, as soon as Lauren set the last plate with the fine-looking Nihari on the table, Leyla entered the apartment.

“Honey, I’m home!” she shouted jokingly in her beautiful accent.

“Hey! How was work? Any frat boys I should beat up?” said Lauren smiling.

“No frat boys, thankfully. Just an old lady telling me about her grandson. I must have seen like 30 photos of him, and let me tell you, no one can convince me babies are cute. They’re bald!” Leyla proclaimed, dignified.

Lauren snorted. “Of course you would befriend a grandma and have her show you her family. It must be your cranky charm” replied Lauren teasingly.

“You would be surprised. I cause sensation amongst octogenarians” said Leyla amusedly. As she caught the smell of cooked meat, she looked at Lauren, surprised. “You cooked? You? Is MY tree burnt down?” she joked.

“I’ll let you know, OUR tree is intact and very much still alive. And don’t you dare take away my custody, I love him like my own son too!” said Lauren in mock dignification. “I did cook, and I hope you like it” she continued, now softly. She met Leyla’s eye, hope and wonder sparkling bilaterally.

Leyla approached the table, repressing a squeel of excitement at the site of her favourite foods. “Lauren! You shouldn’t have! How did you even-?” and as she turned around to look at Lauren, the intensity in her eyes stunned her. The amount of care and adoration was palpable there, and it was enough to overwhelm her.

“Thank you”, she said in a small voice.

“I thought you deserved something special. You know, for cooking horrible meals every day” Leyla approached her slowly, still with eyes locked in an intense duel. “You would think as a doctor my main threat of illness would come from my patients, but you make a hard run for it” another step closer. “And besides, knowing my cooking skills it’s probably very bad. So we’re even” she continued rambling. Leyla finally took the final step towards Lauren, cupping her cheek and forcing her to shut up.

“You talk too much”, she said, resting on her tiptoes slightly to reach for her cheek and place a soft kiss there. “Thank you, truly”.

Lauren stood there, transfixed and unable to utter words. “Y-Yeah. It’s... nothing, really” she managed to muster.

Leyla tried to fight off a smile at Lauren’s awkwardness. During the course of her stay at Lauren’s- their- apatment, she had been quick to discover that she could turn Lauren, the hard-assed doctor and witty friend, into a rambling mess with well placed silences and touches. And naturally, she had immediately taken a liking to doing so as often as possible.

She turned around and sat at the table, staring down at her food and trying not to show her satisfaction at the amount of time it took Lauren to recompose herself and sit with her. She let Lauren pour some wine for herself, seeing as she didn’t look too enthused with the Lassi, and tried the Nihari. And, oh god, it certainly wasn’t like the one she enjoyed back home, but Lauren had undoubtedly achieved something here. Leyla couldn’t stop a moan from escaping her lips.

Lauren sat across from her, lips parted, staring at her like she was the only thing in the world. Her eyes slowly trailed to her lips, and Leyla thought she might burst if she didn’t break the moment soon. “Lauren, it’s- it’s perfect” said Leyla, and she meant it. It might not be like the one back home, but Lauren had managed to capture a new flavour, to redefine the very meaning home. She could get used to this.

Lauren looked back up at her, smile back in place. “Really? That’s new” she said, satisfied and proud of her achievement.

As they ate in silence, Lauren realised two things. One, she was definitely falling in love with Leyla Shinwari. And two, while Leyla had been her roommate for a few weeks already, it was only now that she felt like they were actually _living_ together... building a home.

Iggy:

“Hey, Iggs! I haven’t caught up with you in a while! How’s everything going?” asked Lauren as she entered Iggy’s office, taking the sofa and sprawling out on it.

Iggy stopped flicking through his charts, immediately knowing something was up. He could tell Lauren was properly glowing, but knew he would have to let this play out if he wanted to get any information out of his friend.

“Lauren! It’s great to see you. I’ve been great. I went to see a nutritionist, and I’ve been trying to join some virtual support groups for people with eating disorders. I still have a long road ahead of me, and I have to put in the work, but thanks for calling me out on my bullshit. Truly” he said sincerely.

Lauren perked up even more, rising to her feet and reaching around Iggy’s desk to hug him. “Iggy! That’s great! I’m so glad to hear it, and I’m so proud of you. And hey, you called me out on my bullshit when I was using, so it was only fair I did the same” she smiled.

Iggy returned her smile, glad to see that both of them were making amends and working to improve their lives.

He rose up to start walking to his next consult, not wanting this conversation to end but really needing to get there on time. After Lauren followed him along, curiosity finally got the best of him. “Okay, I have to ask... What’s gotten into you? You look like you just got to perform one of your supper cool surgeries or something. Anything new?” he asked.

“Well, I’m doing well” she said as they strolled down New Amsterdam’s corridors. Iggy waited patiently, letting Lauren open up at her own speed. “And... and I got a roommate!”

Iggy frowned, perplexed. He knew Lauren, knew how much she valued her space and how closed-off she could be, so he couldn’t fathom why getting a roommate would be something she’d want to do, let alone be the cause of her exuberant joy. “Wha... How?” he asked.

“Well, it’s a long story, really. She came in with a patient, and kind of guessed what was wrong with her, but it turned out it wasn’t a guess, cause she’s really a doctor, but obviously I didn’t know that” she started rambling, with Iggy finding it hard to follow along.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down” he said, though he was glad to see Lauren so excited about something.

“Yeah, sorry. Basically, she pulled off a successful needle decompression in my ED, which I now admit was pretty cool, I called security, she had no place to stay, used the hospital closet for a while... And now she’s living with me” finished Lauren, looking way too satisfied by her explanation.

“She... You... What?!” asked Iggy, dumbfounded.

“Yeah... She’s kind of a lot. In the good way” said Lauren, and it was clear to Iggy by now that she was positively smitten. At this new information, he changed tactics.

“Wow, Lauren, that’s a huge step! I’m happy for you, and so proud. I’d love to meet her sometime” he said.

“Yeah! That’d be great! I’m sure you’d love her, once you get past her cranky façade. You two would totally get along” replied Lauren excitedly.

Iggy knew how possessive Lauren was of her space, knew how much it meant for her to have friends meet even if she may not do it consciously. The fact that she was agreeing to let him meet her meant he was right; Lauren was smitten beyond recognition.

“Great! And what’s it like, living with this...” he trailed off, hoping to get a name out of Lauren for once.

“Leyla! It’s great. Yesterday I cooked her some Pakistani dinner, cause she missed it from back home, and then we watched a comedy and watered our big-ass tree. Don’t ask. It’s like she’s lived with me all along” she finished bashfully.

And Iggy had to assume Lauren knew how this sounded, how many lesbian stereotypes she was ticking off. So he replied, amusedly, “Tell me, Lauren, does this Leyla know you two are dating?” he said, a mischiveous twinkle in his eye.

Lauren stopped abruptly in the corridor, a horrified look on her face. Iggy repressed a laugh, was thrilled by Lauren’s new baby-gay side. He turned around to look at her, saw her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish as she searched for a reply, but continued walking backwards. “Wait... do you?” he asked, now enjoying Lauren’s alarmed look. He turned around a corner, leaving a dumbfounded Lauren behind, and shouted, “Good luck!”

[sagasofazeria]

OC-tober day one!

Prompt: Journey

Taglist: @talesfromaurea @hellishhin @thelaughingstag

And a special Event Tag for oc-tober: @oc-growth-and-development

For this one I’m doing two things! First, I finished the maps of the rest of Azeria and I’m too proud of them to wait to share haha. The heroes journey across a significant amount of this map throughout the story.

I’ve also included some snippets of each character leaving home for the first time, as it’s the beginnings of their journeys here.

Maps up first!! Behold, the full continent in all its massive size and glory. Super proud of all of this, I think it looks awesome. Also please excuse the repetition of the name labels and compasses and that stuff, I have the maps all on separate pages and wanted to make sure they can stand alone as well.

[Image Description: Six hand drawn maps, each showing a portion of a continent. Besides the northwest corner and a small exclave on the west coast, most of the land is of the country Azeria. The other parts are part of Leinos. The continent is covered in deserts, plains, hills, and rainforest/jungle. Off the western coast is the fog-shrouded sea of dragons, and off the eastern side is the vast ocean of Aksir-Atan. To the north is the Ikarron ocean./end ID]

Now for the snippets!

Gonna put them below a cut so this doesn’t get too long.

“Yep. I’m tired, Ardos,” Faulkron said, moving to push past.

“Of what, son?”

“Well first of all, that! Stop saying that, you know I’m not your son,” Faulkron said with a growl.

“Well first of all, that! Stop saying that, you know I’m not your son,” Faulkron said with a growl.

“Maybe, but I raised you, didn’t I?”

“I don’t care! I’m sick of all this! I’m tired of being here, with you!” Faulkron snapped.

Ardos’ face fell further, and his shoulders sloped. “You don’t mean that, do ya?”

Faulkron groaned and leaned against the wall, throwing his free hand into the air. “Maybe I do! I don’t know! I don’t even know who I am, Ardos! This town is all I know, but it isn’t me! How am I supposed to live like this any more?”

“Oh, a simple life ain’t so bad-“

“Yes it is, da— Ardos,” Faulkron quickly corrected, turning away.

“You almost called me dad,” Ardos said, a tiny kindling of hope in his voice.

“We all slip up,” Faulkron said, the coldness of the words making him almost regret saying them. Almost.

“You’re sure you wanna leave?” asked Ardos, voice much softer than it had been before, and laced with pain.

“Yes.”

“You even know where you’re goin’?”

“No. That’s the point. I’m tired of the things I know, I want something new.”

“I won’t stop ya, son.”

“I know,” Faulkron said as he turned back to face the door again.

“Come back and visit?”

“Ha. We’ll see,” Faulkron muttered, pushing past Ardos and out the door.

“Be careful!” Ardos called after him.

“Hmph.”

“I love ya, son.”

Faulkron didn’t respond.

•••

Fuego

•••

The fog lay, as it always had, like a heavy blanket over the island.

Fuego lit the lamp at the front of his boat with his fire, coaxing it to life and sending the fog hissing back, the slender ship’s front pointed out to sea.

He turned back to shore. His family, friends, the King even, were all gathered on the beach, similar lanterns in hand. The whole island had gathered to see him off as he sailed into what could prove to be a fatal journey.

Fuego took a deep breath, then spoke.

“People of Zul’Zagan! I promise you all, this great journey I’m taking now? It will be nothing compared go the glory of my return! I swear by my life I will sail the sea and find the fire to burn away the Shroud, the gods have decreed it and so that is what I go to do. I will keep you all in my mind, my heart, and my soul. I know these gifts are a thanks for what I’ve done, but it feels wrong not to thank you all as well. This is and always will be my home, and you are my people. I carry you with me anywhere I may sail.”

The king stepped forward, voice regal and booming. “And I pray for smooth seas and a forgiving sky on your quest, Fuego. We will not forget you either, lightbringer.”

The king bowed his head in salute, and Fuego returned the gesture. Waving goodbye to his family, he whooped as he unfurled his sail and his ship leaped forward into the unknown.

•••

Shakari

•••

“Shakari A’Tusaara. You have violated the laws of the Duulza, your people. You have stolen from the Vhamani, those who are your elders and who wield magic you are not yet strong enough to control. You show yourself to have dangerous hubris. Your ambition could be the downfall of all of us, you know this.”

Shakari hung her head. She couldn’t bear to look at her family, watching from the crowd.

“I am aware.”

“So then you know why we must exile you.”

“I do,” they responded, fury and pain boiling inside their chest.

“Very well. Shakari, you hereby lose your place among the Duulza. You are no longer your mother’s child, and have no home in Duulza lands. You will be sent into the desert alone. If you should return and you have not been humbled, you will be met only with blades. If you should return and have made right your crimes, then you will be welcome once more.”

The elder, a rugged-looking dragonborn with sandblown blue scales, stepped forward, magic swirling around their claws.

“I place this Mark on you now. When it has gone, return to us. Remember, you are not above the world, but part of it. A dragon’s ferocity is wasted on destruction.”

A searing heat pressed into their chest, a white-hot symbol appearing on their scales as the elder placed their palm over Shakari’s chest.

“It is done.”

Still wincing from the brand, Shakari turned her back on her tribe for the last time, and walked into the desert.

•••

Jetra

•••

Jetra scowled at the man on the street corner.

“Marakos, the Hero! He died for you, all of you! He fought off a bandit scourge, and sacrificed his life! Honor his sacrifice. Be a hero! Join the army of Leinos! Remember him, and fight!”

She was sick of hearing the army talk about her father like this.

Setting her jaw, she slunk through the crowded streets toward the recruiter.

She snuck up behind him where he was standing on some crates, and before he could spew another lie she kicked the crates out from beneath him.

He crashed to the ground, sputtering, and Jetra took off back into the crowd.

When she was sure she wasn’t being followed, she made her way back to their house.

Her mom wasn’t home yet, so she let herself in. She packed her stuff quickly, and when she’d finished, she waited.

When her mom finally opened the door, Jetra had already made a meal.

They ate it in silence for the most part. They were both tired, and their minds were making all the necessary noise.

When the food was gone, Jetra finally spoke.

“I’m leaving tonight, mom.”

“I suspected,” her mother sighed.

“I can’t take this anymore, and-“ Jetra started.

“Hush, love. The less I know, the better, remember?”

Jetra sighed. “I know.”

“You’ve got everything?”

“Yes.”

“Come here,” she said, opening her arms and standing.

Jetra walked over and sank into her arms.

“I love you, daughter. Please, be careful.”

“I will, mom.”

With that, she stepped out into the nighttime streets of Anikora.

As she walked through the shadowy streets, she saw a small glowing bird appear on a nearby rooftop. It flapped its wings once, then took off. She smiled, and followed it out of the city.

•••

Alejandro

•••

His parents didn’t say why they were leaving, just that it was today. Alejandro wasn’t sure how to feel. He would miss the village a lot. He waved goodbye to all his friends, his old house, the beach, and the rest of the village, as his dad held him on the horse they were riding. His mother was on another horse next to them, with all the stuff they’d taken with them. It wasn’t a lot, because they couldn’t afford that much more space.

When they’d reached the big city, they stayed for a while, before getting on a boat that took them across a lot of water and to another city. Then they were walking again, and they walked with some other people too, people Alejandro didn’t know. There was another kid too, and they played sometimes, but it was mostly boring. They all traveled for a really long time, and Alejandro quickly forgot which way it was to home.

[calpops]

three month surprise | c.h.

Calum surprises you with a gift as your daughter turns three months old.

1.5k words

dates with cal masterlist

Copyright © 2020 calpops. All rights reserved. This original work is not allowed to be reposted on any platform in any format (translations included).

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Nights grow easier for you and Calum as the fact that Mila is okay starts to sink in. New rationalizations turn into mantras and coping mechanisms for long nights when neither of you want to sleep. The doctors wouldn’t have sent her home if she wasn’t okay. She’s okay. Calum repeats those words for him and for you, to convince you both that sleep is needed and when you wake she will still be in her bassinet by your bed, sound and sweet as ever. Though it’s a struggle, and for her first week you sleep in shifts just to be sure, as time goes on acceptance comes with it.

Calum’s parents’ visit helps with the anxiety. Having them on standby eases worries, having two more people around who love Mila reinforces the fact that if anything were to happen someone would be there, someone would help. His parents' adoration and instant love for her fills you both with warmth. The first moment they laid eyes on her a silence befell them, his mom’s mouth slightly parting with a tiny gasp and eyes wide with joy and disbelief. His dad stood still and quiet as he took her in his arms and finally broke to coo at her and sway with a rhythm that always puts her to sleep. Their help has been immeasurable in settling in at home and finding peace. Their departure came with tears and promises to visit soon—and requests to bring her to them so she can see where Calum grew up. You both have every intention to make a trip of it when she’s older and better able to handle that amount of travel. For now, zoom calls and FaceTime become a regularity so her grandparents can see her.

Time passes and her first month of life goes without incident and harbors love and laughter; tiny moments that add up to everything encompasses your time with her. Ashton, Luke, Michael and Mali all pop in and help out when they can. Her second month goes by in a blue and all too soon her third month of life approaches and Calum decides he needs to mark the occasion with something special. He keeps his thoughts to himself, wanting it to be a surprise for you, something sentimental you and Mila will always be able to remember.

“Good morning, little love,” Calum says in a soft whisper as Mila stares up at him from her bassinet. He gently picks her up, cradles her to him so her head rests against his chest and his arms wind around her. She’s still tiny, smaller than an average three month old though that’s to be expected. “We have big plans today, but you have to keep it a secret from mommy.”

Mila doesn’t squirm or squabble or make a noise and Calum takes it as a good sign of faith that their secret is safe. He carries her to the living room, planting little kisses to her smushed cheek as he goes, every moment with her precious and filled with love.

You’ve already left the house to run some errands and chase after some normalcy, as much love and happiness as there has been for nearly three months there has also been lingering anxiety and shutting out the rest of the world in favor of being with each other and Mila. You and Calum had a talk about it the night previous, thick words and teary eyes finally coming to the conclusion that something needed to give. You start with a baby step; going to a cafe with a friend and getting a few groceries on the way home. Calum uses your time away for the surprise.

He’s all set up for the surprise, supplies all laid out across the coffee table, his second in command curled up on the couch with a slightly wagging tail as he and Mila come into view. He settles on the couch next to Duke and in front of all the supplies needed. A long sheet of paper claims most of the table, paint, pallet and a rag claim the rest. Mila yawns in Calum’s arms, the little breath shutting her eyes for a moment and making Calum wrinkle his nose at how adorable everything she does is.

“This won’t take long, then we can take a nap,” Calum promises with a small laugh and gives her another kiss on the cheek then readjusts his hold so she lays on his lap and is held by his arms. He gently picks up one of her tiny hands and can’t help but coo, “Look at those hands, the cutest little things I’ve ever seen. Mommy’s gonna love this.”

Mila lets out a small noise, filled with joy, something akin to a laugh and Calum’s grin grows with the sound. She’s still naturally quiet and Calum enjoys the fact that you always tell him she gets it from him. But he loves to hear her little noises and can’t wait for the day that a true laugh sounds from her, until he hears dada and I love you. For now he’s content with the little noises of happiness and contentment she’s able to produce. Another small one comes from her as he takes her other hand and makes more comments about how cute she is, how tiny her hands are, how sweet she is, how much he loves her.

The surprise doesn’t take too long to make, Mila being compliant and relaxed helping the endeavor. Duke’s nonchalance and indifference also aiding in the smooth sailing. Everything is picked up and tucked away by the time you get home.

You’re not greeted by Calum and Mila as you mostly expected, instead you walk into silence and confusion. It’s only mid morning and usually Mila is awake and being tended to in some way. When you finish with the few groceries you find your husband and baby in the living room, one half asleep on the couch and the other sound and out in a strong and sure pair of arms.

“Cal, love, wake up,” you gently coax in a soft voice so as not to startle him.

“I’m not asleep,” he answers almost instantly but his eyes spring open and his tired voice betrays him.

“I’ll take her,” you offer and reach your arms out for Mila. “I’ll put her in our room. I don’t want her to fall,” you say though you’re sure she wouldn’t. She’s in between the couch and Calum, nestled against him with her head resting on his chest. Heart beats and a rhythmic sway are one of two ways to get her to sleep.

“I’ve got her. And we’ve got something for you,” Calum announces as he carefully sits up with a sleeping Mila still content and safe in his arms.

“Something for me?” you ponder and bite your lip, wondering if it’s a special occasion. “I don’t need anything but you two,” you say and when Duke pops his head up from beneath blankets you laugh and correct yourself. “You three.”

“Indulge me,” Calum says and stands, goes to you and gives you a kiss and a moment to greet Mila before stalking off to the bedroom. He leaves you baffled but comes back before you can call after him or follow them down the hallway. Mila is in one arm, waking with heavy eyes, and his other hides behind his back. You raise an eyebrow in question and slowly approach him when he beckons you with a look.

“I hope it’s nothing expensive,” you comment and when Calum shakes his head you feel a bit better. You’d much rather be giving Mila gifts than receiving any.

“Open it,” he says and finally brings his arm from behind his back to reveal a rolled up parchment.

You give him a small look before unwinding a red ribbon from the center of the paper and rolling it open. In your hands are the hands of those you love the most. Three little sets of prints lay on the page in different colored paint. Four hands in blue and pink right in the center and scattered paws in black dots along the page. Your lip quivers and your eyes blink back tears as a shaky breath escapes you at the sentiment of the present.

“We left a spot for you,” Calum informs and gestures to the space just big enough for your hands between his hands and Mila’s. Your fingers clutch the page with heartfelt emotions coursing through you.

You don’t have the words to express your thanks but a kiss for each helps to get the message across. “I don’t understand. Why? What prompted this?” you ask, baffled but appreciative of the gift. “It’s not Mother’s Day… is it?”

Calum laughs and shakes his head but pulls you into his free side. You find your way into his hold and revel in the comfort as you find yourself gazing at your daughter. “Mila’s three months now. I wanted you to have something special.”

“Thank you,” you say and lift yourself on the top of your toes to give him a kiss. “I love it. And all of you,” you add on and smile as you realize that though the last three months have been filled with trials and tribulations it’s also been the happiest time of your life.

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[jayeray-hq]

Sakusa : You Know We’re Meant to Be

JayeRay’s fluff prompts

Post Time Skip/Manga Spoilers!

Warnings: A little but of Hurt/Comfort and bullying but lots of Fluff after

If you like this, please check out the Character Masterlist!

This is part of a collaboration I’m doing with @lilolpotato​ some fluff to counter some of the hate from the Sakusa Hate Night thing that was going around 😊💖 Also a huge huge thank you to the amazingly talented @yuujiscurse​ for the banner! Their work is amazing! 😊💖

You weren’t sure if they simply didn’t know you could hear them whispering or if they simply didn’t care, as you stood waiting for your boyfriend to emerge from the locker rooms. Hopefully you wouldn’t have to wait long, Sakusa was usually the first out due to insisting on showering before the others of the team could infect the space with their germs. Still today you hoped he would hurry, even faster than usual, so you could leave the receptionist and the woman she was talking to, likely someone who worked in the building, far behind you.

“What does he even see in her?” the woman who’d greeted you almost every time you’d entered the building with a saccharine smile that was apparently hiding a mouthful of venom whispered to her blond coworker.

             “I certainly don’t see anything special,” the other woman, a pretty brunette agreed giving you a clear once over a blatantly dismissive look on her face, “She’s probably absolutely hideous behind that mask she wears all the time.”

             Your hands balled into fists in your jacket, as you tried to ignore them, reminding yourself that you wore the mask for a reason. It was for both your comfort, and your boyfriends. Sakusa’s germaphobia was a very real fear, and frankly you didn’t mind doing a few things to accommodate his fear, or make him feel more comfortable where you could, especially since you knew he would and had done the same for you before.

 Wearing a mask out in public was a simple thing, and frankly considering the pollution in Japan, not all that uncommon. The women were clearly being deliberately petty and you sank deeper into the jacket burrowing into it, and taking comfort in the familiar smell and feel of it. It was one of Sakusa’s old Itachiyama jackets, one he’d gifted to you when the two of you had first started dating.

 It was warm and comfortable, and a blatant reminder of how very much your boyfriend cared about you. After all very few people were allowed to touch his things, and even fewer were given gifts, especially sentimental gifts. Komori had teased the two of you for days when Sakusa had first given it to you, exclaiming every time he saw you wearing it that even he had never been allowed to touch Sakusa’s Itachiyama jackets and he was his cousin.

 It smelled like him, clean and crisp from the detergent he preferred to use for all of your clothing, one you’d become quite fond of yourself, and that you associated solely with him. It took your mind off the cruel women in front of you, at least for a little while.

 “Can you believe just the other day he dropped his towel on accident, I tried to hand it to him, and he gave me the most disgusted look and just walked away,” the brunette told the receptionist clearly deeply offended by the incident, “As if I were something dirty he’d found on the bottom of his shoe.”

 “I’ve tried to give him pens to use before,” the receptionist admitted equally huffy as she explained, “He won’t touch them, not until he disinfects them with a wipe first, and even then he’ll only hold them if he’s wearing gloves.”

 You sighed quietly to yourself, a part of you wanting to storm over there and defend your boyfriend and an equal part understanding, just a bit where they were coming from. Sakusa had a fear, one that was very real to him, even if it seemed silly to others, and he had extreme ways of reacting when forced to face that fear. Still even you could admit sometimes his inability to properly interpret social cues could leave him coming off cold, or even cruel even if he didn’t mean to be that way.

 “I bet she’s not even his girlfriend,” the spiteful brunette hissed, “Just an obsessed groupie who follows him around.”

 “He probably treats her like trash,” the receptionist added in a cruel enjoyment to her unkind speculations, “Which is really no less than she deserves honestly.”

 The women were clearly lashing out, and on the only target the had readily available, but that didn’t stop you from feeling hurt or furious on behalf of your boyfriend. How dare they insinuate he treated you badly? The idea was infuriating especially when you knew how very hard he tried for you.

 Sure, your relationship wasn’t all smooth sailing, but then what relationship was? Yes, you’d had to exercise a lot of patience as Sakusa slowly worked himself up to touching you, but it had been completely and utterly worth it. The feeling of being held in his arms, knowing he desperately wanted you to be there, so much so that he fought off his worst fears in order to do so was indescribable. You’d honestly never felt as loved as you did when your germophobic boyfriend reached his hand out to you, assuring you that he wanted to be able to touch you.

 Even several years in you still couldn’t cuddle without a thorough shower beforehand, and some aspects of physical intimacy, including public displays of affection were especially hard, but it was worth it. You were so proud, both of your boyfriend and how very far the two of you had come as a couple, and it infuriated you that these two women, who knew absolutely nothing of his struggles would dare to insinuate such awful things about him.

 Oh, you knew they probably didn’t actually believe them. You’d dealt with jealousy from other women before. Your boyfriend was undeniably incredibly good looking, stunning even, and for some reason a lot of people found his supposedly aloof and cold demeanor cool and enticing. He’d had fans for as long as you’d known him.

 Still it didn’t stop you from wanting to march right up to the women and force them to take it back. They could say what they wanted about you, but in no way shape or form would you allow them to badmouth your secretly dorky and completely socially inept boyfriend. Honestly one more word from them and you might’ve done just that, fortunately or unfortunately your furious thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of your boyfriend.

 “Hey,” the sound of his voice pulled you from your murderous thoughts and turned your attention to Sakusa who had emerged from the locker rooms at last. His hair was still a little damp from his shower, the dark curls not quite as springy as they usually were as they fell across his forehead, and he was fully zipped into his Black Jackals jacket, hands in his pockets the traditional mask covering half his face, “let’s get going before the others come out.”

  “Sure,” you agreed trying to keep your tone as upbeat and normal as possible ready to fall into step with him and head to the store, which was the whole reason you’d agreed to meet him at the Black Jackals usual practice gym in the first place.

 However it seemed you hadn’t done a very good job of concealing the lingering upset from overhearing the women’s gossip session. That or your boyfriend was getting better at reading you, though both honestly were possibilities. He stopped in his tracks, forcing you to come to a halt as well, his brows sitting heavily over his dark eyes as he peered at you intently, clear concern visible in them.

 “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice taking on the clipped edge that let you know he was deeply concerned. Apparently, you’d been more obvious than you’d thought.

 “Nothing,” you tried to assure him, forcing your tone to be upbeat, not wanting to drag him down, “Why would something be wrong?”

 “Don’t lie to me,” he ordered, the words blunt, but the clear care in his tone taking any sting out of them. Honestly he had very little in the way of tact at times like these, something you should probably be annoyed by, but could only find strangely endearing.

 “It really is nothing,” you assured him, your own tone softening at his clear concern for you, “Just overheard people gossiping about us again.”

 “Were you upset by them?” he asked hesitantly, clearly peering into your eyes, his whole body fidgeting with restless energy, a tension to him that reminded you of a rubber band stretched and ready to snap. For all that many read him as uncaring you knew that Sakusa was extremely protective of the few people he allowed close to him, and that you were one of the privileged few. He was clearly ready and willing to tear verbal strips off anyone who’d dared upset you.

 “Yes,” you told him, figuring honesty was probably the best policy at this point, “But only because they were saying untrue things about you, about how you treat me.”

 Some of the tension in his shoulders relaxed at that, and his eyes softened. You couldn’t see his mouth because of the mask, but long familiarity let you know the corners would be curling up in relief,. He clearly didn’t care a bit what people said about him, an attitude you wished rather desperately that you could emulate.

 “Let them say what they want,” he told you firmly, “It’s not something that bothers me, so don’t let it bother you.”

 “If only it were that easy,” you told him your own lips curling into a wry smile.

 Your eyes widened in surprise as he pulled one of his hands from his jacket pockets and gently took hold of your face, the warmth of his shockingly bare fingers on your skin making your heart flip over in your chest  his thumb gently swiping across your cheekbone rendering you completely and utterly speechless.

 “The only opinions about my person that I care about are opinions from people who matter to me,” he told you sincerity dripping from very word, “And the only opinion I care about when it comes to our relationship is yours.”

 Your heart was beating a rapid tattoo against your ribs at his fervent declaration, especially since you knew he meant every word. Your boyfriend was nothing if not completely and utterly honest when it came to you, even brutal at times. He was never one who’d spare your feelings, which was how you knew moments like these were as raw and honest as it was possible to be.

 “I love you Kiyoomi,” you told him a little helplessly, the words falling out of your mouth before you’d had a chance to really think about them.

 “I love you too,” he responded without missing a beat, even if you could see the faintest of pink blushes decorating the tops of his cheekbones over the mask, “And I don’t like seeing you upset. What people say about me doesn’t bother me, so please don’t let it bother you.”

 “But wouldn’t you be upset if people were saying things about me?” you pointed out reasonably, well aware he would be, as he’d proven many times over in the past.

 He clearly couldn’t think of an argument to that and so instead remained silent, so you continued, “You mean so much to me Kiyoomi and it hurts to hear anyone might think poorly of you or insinuate cruel things about you and how you treat me that are blatantly untrue.”

 He watched you with soft eyes, his thumb still gently tracing your cheek as he explained, “So long as those things don’t cause you to doubt me I could care less.”

 “Never,” you assured him fervently, “I like to think that by now I know you pretty well Kiyoomi and I don’t think there’s anything ridiculous petty gossipers could to make me doubt you, to doubt us. Despite the fact that we’ve had our challenges I always felt like we fit well together. Like two pieces of a puzzle.”

 “I’m glad,” he admitted freely, “I’ve always hoped that you’d felt the way I do.”

 “The way you do?” you repeated curiously.

 “Like you know you’re meant to be,” he told you the words stealing the breath from your lungs and you were fairly sure you forgot how to breathe entirely as he leaned forward to press a gentle masked kiss to your forehead.

 Fortunately, or unfortunately you were pulled from your thoughts by raucous sounds from behind the two of you. It turned out you’d been so wrapped up in your conversation with your boyfriend you hadn’t noticed you were blocking the hallway and keeping the rest of the team as a captive audience of sorts. Apparently the private, intimate moment wasn’t nearly as private as you’d thought, and you were suddenly incredibly grateful the mask helped cover your cherry red cheeks.

 Apparently Bokuto was the one who’d interrupted your moment, too moved by it to stay quiet any longer, and now the former Fukurodani Ace was fervently congratulating your poor boyfriend about how smooth he was. Sakusa looked incredibly put upon as the team swept you up with them as they left the building in a small herd, all of them gently teasing or congratulating the two of you on how very cute your relationship was.

 In the midst of all the chaos your boyfriend managed to sneak his hand into yours, his fingers twining together to keep you close and connected to him. You accepted the gesture, feeling warm, and secure and completely and utterly loved, enough to shoot the poisonous receptionist and her bitter friend a blinding smile on your way out the door.

 Sakusa was right. Their opinions, especially on your relationship, shouldn’t matter to you, at the end of the day you knew he loved you and that was more than enough.

[randombtsprincessa]

Buoyed Up

All Rights Reserved. © RandomBTSPrincessa, Tulips98.

Author: Randombtsprincessa

Characters: Jung Hoseok x Reader

Words: 4.8k

Genre: Fluffy Smut

Rating: Mature/Explicit (18+)

Summary: You take your boyfriend to soak up the sun on his birthday.

Playlist: Robokid - Ur Touch | Figgy - Do It Like Us | Tinashe - Days In The West (Drake Cover) (Ekali Remix)

Warnings: Yatching trip, Hoseok gets wet and shirtless, ogling, explicit smut, nipple/breast play, nipple biting, face sitting, unprotected sex (be safe folksies), hickies, profanity, dirty talk and dirty thoughts.

A/N: Happy birthday to my beautiful Sunboy! I would also like to thank @yeoldontknow​ for the nipple play inspiration and a special someone who shall not be named for the face sitting scene. I know you’re going to read this, don’t play. 

You had never been this thankful for a correct weather forecast before.

The sky and sea stretched out seamlessly in front of you in a brilliant canvas of blue. The wind was crisp and fresh. The wooden slats of the dock platform squeaked in your ears and right in your line of sight was the magnificence you had booked for one of the most important events of the year.

The star of said event was behind you, clutching your hand stretched out between you, fingers entwined. The squeezes he trapped your hands in could be seen as a form of expressing his affection…or simply conveying how nervous he was right now.

Your eyes, protected by the darkened haze of the sunglass could spy the captain and owner of the Yacht boat, wrapping and tying cords at the entrance, feet following the direction when one final, tighter squeeze made you pause, turning to look askance at the man behind you.

Hoseok, the birthday boy, wore a silky white shirt, so long and baggy it almost completely hid his lithe frame, nearly kissing his knees. Beneath them, you could just spy his denim shorts, and beneath them…well, his knees shook a little and toes squiggled in his sandals.

“What?” You asked.

“I just…um, are you sure, it’s alright for us to…take a boat?” He queried.

You paused. “What?” You tried again.

“I mean, things could go wrong if we’re alone. Storms, leaks, shark attacks, whale attacks,” He listed and for a split second, you allowed amusement to color your tone.

“Whales, baby?” You teased and he grumbled.

You had to sigh. You knew your boyfriend was a bit…easily rattled. So when you’d announced your plans for his birthday and he’d whooped enthusiastically, you’d taken a minute to talk him through it. It was a yacht, a decently large and comfortable engine based boat which would take you across to a private section of the shallows where you would spend the day. You would drive, there would be food and drinks and a luxurious day of sunning.

He had been thoroughly stress relieved, with fried chicken and soda before agreeing to your plans.

Of course, you should’ve known that coming out here and seeing things for himself would bring his earlier fears back to the surface.

You tugged him closer to your body. “If you’re really worried, then we can go back. I’m sure I can get a bit of a refund if we ask nicely.”

Hoseok didn’t meet your eyes, looking over your head at the captain who had spotted you by now, getting to his feet expectantly. “Did you pay a lot?”

“Just the standard fee; but your comfort is more important.” You promised, soothing a hand across his bicep.

“I’m…I’m fine, I just…”

“I’ll be steering, we will only go to the shallows and come straight back tomorrow.” You reassured again.

His big brown eyes met yours now, triangle lips pouting in thought before he uttered one word. “Fine,”

The captain, a hand carding through his crew cut, grinned at you when you finally towed Hoseok over to him and his boat. “Good morning, ma’am, didn’t I tell you there’ll be good sun and wind the day you want her?”

You laughed. “Yes, captain, you sure did. This is the birthday boy, by the way; Hoseok, my boyfriend.”

“Pleasure,” He stretched out a hand to shake Hoseok’s, toothily beaming. “You got a fine vibe around you, sir.”

Hobi hesitated before managing a smile. “So, who’s the ‘her’ you were talking about?” he asked.

The Cap turned, placing a gentle hand along the gleaming body of the yacht. “The most precious thing I own, meet Ferret. Come on in”

You couldn’t help but giggle at Hoseok’s stunned expression as he moved in. “He calls it Ferret?” He muttered.

“It’s cute,” You returned, turning your attention to the man in question as he gave you a basic run down of the boat again. You’d already gotten the tutorial and studied the manuals thoroughly over the last month.

You moved over the large reception and living space, glancing through the stocked little kitchenette in the back. The bedroom and bathroom were below deck, and the sun bed and fore deck sparkled from the cleaning it had undergone.

“What do you think?” You asked.

Hoseok sat on the padded sofa in the living, looking around and considering. “It’s good, I like it.”

“That’s what I like to hear. So, if that’ll be all, ma’am; I’ll hop off board.” He walked off, untying the rope that held the Ferret to its spot. “You’ll be back by noon tomorrow, eh?”

“Absolutely,” You shook his hand again, watching him cast a look over the vessel once more.

When he walked off, disappearing around the corner of the wooden walkway, you turned around to see your boyfriend smiling lightly at you.

“What?” You said, returning the smile.

“Nothing, just…” His teeth peeked out. “I’m happy I get to spend the day with you. I hope the guys don’t miss me too much.”

“They can have you tomorrow.” You reached out to pull him to his feet, planting a smacking kiss on his upturned lips. “Today you’re mine. Now come up, let’s take Ferret for a ride.”

Hoseok and you climbed up on to the ‘cockpit’ of the Ferret, set up high on the deck and over the galley for visibility and navigation.

“You’re sure you know how to do this, right? Don’t make me have to sail us back tomorrow.” He joked, climbing on to the day bed next to the steering console table as you sat in the chair.

“I might just throw you overboard on your birthday.” You warned absentmindedly.

You slid in the master key first, turning it and pressing the toggle switches on. The LED display lit up, welcoming the captain and panels of instruction and controls came up.

“Where are we going?” Hoseok asked again, curiously, watching you fiddle with the steering, the autopilot and infra red view to go over anything that may come up under the boat. He wasn’t too enthused with the idea but safety was key if he wanted to come back to shore with you.

“We’ll head over to the shallows; find a quiet spot to spend the day. Tomorrow we sail back.” You explained before the purr of the engine carried over the winds.

He watched you turn the small wheel on the control, carefully maneuvering out and away from the docks. The other boats and water vessels slowly decreased in size with the distance gained and again Hoseok internally expressed some gratitude to the heavens that his birthday came up on a relatively less busy day. It was not too cold to take far off vacations but it was still too cold to take one as this.

“Kick back, we have some time before we get there.” You said and he did just that.

Dropping his head back, he tossed his arms up behind to cradle his skull. The sun basked platform warmed his back, which his face heated up with the sun overhead. Soon it would be hot enough to actually warrant a dip in the seas.

He turned his head to look at his girlfriend, hair tied up and off the face, back ramrod straight even though there was nothing in the vicinity to even remotely pose a threat. She was wearing his chain, he noticed. The idea bloomed adoration in his chest, expanding and breathing air into his veins.

The engine had moved from a kitten’s purr to a loud roar, kicking up sea spray that misted around the vessel, cool and smooth as it hit the exposed parts of his skin. He undid the small scarf he had looped into his belt loop to wrap around his hair. He doubted it would do much, but he didn’t want to risk the salt water messing with the dye that was still settling into his scalp.

By the time they reached the shallows, it was reaching midday. You had cut the engine when you reached the shallows, steering till you were close to one of the small out crop of beach land that attracted the tourists. He could spy only one family, farther away into the distance but thankfully, they were too far to make their presence known obviously.

The autopilot engaged just in case, both of you migrated down to the galley, with you digging out a bottle of chilled champagne from the kitchenette. The bubbly popped loudly, with Hoseok cringing at the volume before the rich, crisp alcohol was poured into a stem less flute, kept to the minimum because his tolerance of alcohol was laughably low and well known.

He shuddered to imagine flushing crimson and losing touch with reality this early into the day.

The first hour was given to simply sitting in the shaded part of the deck, nursing the alcohol and catching up on the activities that were missed out on due to the hectic schedules of your lives.

Hoseok wrapped an arm around your shoulders, tucking you into his frame as he lounged back, feet up on the table, hair fluffing with the passing breeze. The heat, contrasting with the coolness of the sea air and the champagne was enough to lull you into the sleepy state, his soft hums echoing in your ear.

“Hey,” He said finally, his voice teasing. “Don’t’ fall asleep on me now.”

You smiled, sitting up against him. “Sorry, you just feel so peaceful.”

Hoseok kissed you softly before his eyes flickered to the expanse of water behind you. “Take a swim with me?”

Hoseok had been right. The sun had warmed the air enough for the water to be tolerable. Salty, cool and soothing, he plunged into the not too deep waters, his girlfriend laughing as she tossed one of the yacht’s floats in after him.

His head popped up just as you sat down at the edge of the boat, your feet kicking up water towards him.

“Aren’t you going to join?” He called.

“Nah, I want to watch you enjoy.” Your smirk made it clear you were enjoying the view indeed, fingers playing with the fabric of his discarded shirt.

Hoseok smirked right back, swimming closer so he could grab onto a wayward ankle. “Are you planning some mischief, darling?” He asked.

Your face turned impish. “Of course not,” You returned.

“Too bad, because I am.”

A hand smacked hard at the water, cupping and sending a wave of water straight at your face. He backed up quickly, laughing wildly at the stunned look on your face.

“Oh my god, I’m going to kill you!” You screeched, slipping off the deck straight into the water, uncaring of the water soaking through your clothes as you chased after Hoseok.

You spent about an hour in the water, splashing at each other and trying to swim around the other to escape the constant barrages of water. Even as the sun began to dip westwards, the temperature dropped, the cool water chilling against your skin.

Hoseok made you clamber up first, following quickly as you allowed the sea water to drain away first before entering the living space of the yacht.

The evening sun slanted down the slatted windows, illuminating the bags of clothes you’d stocked for the trip two days ago, when you were checking over the yacht one last time. A duffel bag, stuffed with both of your underwear, two extra tops and a change of pants.

Hobi moved to his clothes quickly as you flung them out onto the bed, quickly shucking off the shorts he wore, revealing his boxer briefs, the band hanging just at his pelvis. He grabbed one of the towels from the warming racks, hastily rubbing at his torso even as your actions slowed and then stopped completely, staring at your boyfriend’s visage in the mirror.

Thinly muscled arms moved quickly but precisely, catching any stray drops of water that gathered on his skin and you had to bite your lip, shaking yourself to snap out of it. You still had a cake to cut, damn it.

“What?”

You started, catching Hoseok’s gaze that had now found yours in the mirror. “What are you looking at?” He asked, looking down at himself to see if it was something stuck to his chest that had garnered your attention.

You smiled, handing him the hoodie from the bed, which he quickly zipped over his body, the zipper only reaching midway and leaving his clavicle available to your fervent gaze.

“It’s nothing,” You shrugged. “I just like seeing you shirtless. Never going to get over it,”

Hoseok stopped fluffing his hair, his mouth falling open first in shock at your blatant admission before he was snorting in laughter, body caving from his mirth. It had always been an endearing sight for you. The way his hair turned to floof, his lips and cheeks trembling to contain his chortles and the strain of his body - not from anything stressful though, but pure laughter.

He was beautiful and while it softened your heart for the man across from you, it did nothing to slake your lust.

If anything, it increased your desire to lay him down on the bed and ride him till he was a panting and moaning mess under you, your name on his tongue as he spilled in you.

You cleared your throat, looking away from the mirror and the real thing, down to your fresh clothes.

Cake…you had cake to cut…and dinner to eat.

And even though your body screamed to jump him right then and there, you were a self disciplined woman. You could last.

“Babe, do you mind waiting outside for a bit while I change?”

“Of course,” Hoseok smiled, grabbing the towel to drape around his neck as he exited the room, clicking the door shut after him.

Only then did you relax, peeling your own wet clothes off to change into the dry ones.

Fifty minutes later, Hoseok and you sat on the small dinner table that folded up from one of the couches. Hobi set the table while you cooked in the small kitchen attachment, all of Hoseok’s favorite food and snacks making their way on to the table. Kimchi fried rice steamed, sending tendrils of white mist up which curled around your man as he inhaled the aroma, a glass of Sprite bubbling at his hand.

You had decked out the room with soft fairy lights, too paranoid to risk candles, even though you were out into the water.

“This smells so good, did you add anything extra?”

“Just a lot of love,” You winked, already having promised to not reveal that fact that his mom had given you most of the secret keys to Hoseok’s heart…via his stomach. Fried sesame seeds in a little soy sauce underlying the taste of Kimchi…and here you were.

You swirled a finger around the glass of wine at the counter, waiting for him to dig in and take the first bite, moaning almost immediately as the rice hit his taste buds. “God, I swear my mom cooked this.” he shot you a suspicious look before deciding to let it go.

You grinned, reaching into the small under the counter fridge to pull out the cake.

You had bought, decorated and candled it at least ten days ago, making your best friend hide it in her fridge first before bringing it here. The glass top of the container was lifted carefully, lighting the candles quickly.

Making sure he was still eating, you quickly reached back and turned off the lights, plunging the room in near darkness. Another switch flicked on the fairy lights and the room was then lit up in a beautiful array of orange and pink, revealing Hobi’s surprised face as he looked up with a squawk of protest.

“What’s going on?” He asked, a little high pitched.

You didn’t answer, only picking up the cake and carrying it to the table. Hobi’s expression melted in an O, eyes sparkling at the army bomb candles you’d found. The small picture of you two on the standee, taken on your last anniversary, mirrored his smile.

“I hope you like it.” You mumbled. “I got cherry and strawberry cream filling inside.”

“This is amazing baby, thank you.” He whispered, leaning forward towards the cake.

You folded your arms on the table, “Go on; make a wish.”

Hoseok’s face sobered. He glanced up at you before closing his eyes, a second later blowing out the candles in a quick puff, the only source of light now the twinkling tiny beads that littered the ceiling and walls. His eyes opened, meeting yours with something like awe in his gaze.

“Happy Birthday baby,” You said lightly.

“Babe, you really pulled out all the stops this time.” He whispered.

I laughed, shrugging non-committal. “You’re my boyfriend, and it’s your birthday. I just wanted you to have a nice time.”

“I am.”

“I may have also made a bet with the guys about who you’re going to enjoy spending more time with.”

There was silence in which Hoseok sighed, shaking his head at yours and his friends’ antics but then you were straightening up. “So, what did you wish for?”

“You know, revealing a wish makes it moot.” He pointed out with a smile before grabbing your hand. “But I don’t need to wish for anything more because I have everything I could want right here.” He raised your hand to place a kiss to your knuckles.

You gave him a look. “You wished for a Grammy, didn’t you?”

Hoseok burst out laughing for the second time that evening, thumb caressing the back of your hand. He gave you a coy smile. “You know, I’m having a very nice time right now.”

You nodded.

“But I could be having a nicer time…how about dessert?” He waggled his eyebrows.

“You have a whole cake in front of you.”

“Babe!” He whined even as you giggled, leaning over to kiss his nose.

“Well, lucky for you I was thinking the same thing.”

Hoseok beamed, meeting your lips halfway in a soft kiss. His hair tickled your forehead, fingers brushing over the shell of your ears to delve into your hair. He scratched the soft skin of your scalp, a tiny trigger for you. It made you moan, keen further into his body. Somehow he managed to stand you up, guiding you back towards the yacht bedroom with giddy giggles left in your wake.

Once inside, Hoseok pulled you tighter against him, mouthy sounds and soft pants filling the room along with the gentle lapping of the waves outside and noises one can hear at night out in nature. It made the experience feel closer, more intimate as his hands ran over your skin, mapping out roads he’d explored time and again.

The first thing you did when you managed to pull your hands from around his neck was unzip the hoodie, taking your time to trail your fingertips lightly down the now exposed span of skin. Smooth, soft and supple, you couldn’t help but marvel at him being yours.

Hobi gathered your hair away from your neck, his mouth tracing from the edge of your jaw, nuzzling and nipping towards your neck. His fingers played with the hem of your blouse, hitching it up till he was pulling it up off you, tossing it to join his hoodie on the floor.

“Fuck,” he whispered at the sight of your naked chest, having forgone a bra.

Nudging his knee to yours, he backed you into the bed. You sat down with a thump, the mattress bouncing with your fall and started crawling back, Hoseok stalking after you on his hands and knees.

When you were finally propped on the pillows as to his liking, he dipped to kiss down your body again, encasing a sensitive, peaked nipple in his hot mouth, laving it over with saliva. Your head tilted back, back arching into his mouth until his other hand wrapped around the other, kneading it in rhythm with his tongue, essentially pushing you down to the bed.

“Fuck, Hobi,” you cried when he playfully bit into the nub, blunt teeth testing the waters between pain and pleasure. You glanced down to see him look up at you, pulling his lips back to show you the sight and you had to wrap a leg around his waist to tether you to earth. Swollen and dark with the attention, your chest stood out, resting in his hot mouth as he continued to swirl his tongue around it.

When he saw your attention was on him, he lowered his teeth again, pressure increasing steadily until you whined and he let go, pulling away to blow cool air onto the skin.

You dropped your head onto the pillow, pressing further in to make friends with the heat that settled in your thorax. It pulsated and thrummed in your blood, the very line he had made you just walk, mocking you.

The return of Hoseok’s hand, cupping your other mound, fingers gentle but insistently pulling at the other nipple made you look at him again.

“Good?” he asked.

You smiled nodding; your hand joining his to brush your own nipple before you followed the length of his arm, touching his chest, dragging over the sternum to where his happy trail disappeared into his pants.

He leaned in over you, kissing you again, slower, more intense, enough for you to chase after his tongue to suck on. You threw your arm around his neck, holding him to you as tight as you could as if his kissed poured life-breath into your soul.

“Easy baby,” he chuckled in your ear. “I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.” He placed a kiss under your jaw and added a pinch to the nipple he was playing with for added measure.

He moved further down the bed, tugging on your hand to sit you up.

“Come on, I want my dessert.” He winked at you mischievously, throwing his body down to the bed to comfortable lie down, grinning up at you. “Get on here.”

“Are you sure?” You asked. “I mean, it’s your birthday, don’t you -,”

“Shh, it’s my birthday and I know what I want. That’s you; grinding that pretty pussy into my mouth, till you come on my tongue. You can suck me off all you want when it’s your day.”

You gasped, smacking at his shoulder till you were getting onto your knees, crawling over to him and swinging a leg across him. His hands immediately clamped onto the tops of your thighs, squeezing in reassurance.

This wasn’t the first time you were doing this, Hoseok being insistent on your pleasure before him or sometimes only yours, allowed for ‘experiments’ that would enable him to find clues and notes to your body that he blatantly exploited to make you putty in his hands.

A dash of compliments, a pinch of soft kisses, grips of comfort and maybe a good meal if you’ve had a long day revealed to be the key to get you to ride his face. And today, to your dawning realization, he’d played you just as you had attempted to play him.

Damn his brains…

“It’s okay,” he whispered again, much closer to your core now before he was helping you lower yourself to his mouth.

Your breath hitched when you felt his lips rove in a circle over the most sensitive part of your inner thigh, just at the apex where he loved to hover. He nibbled the skin, teasing it with his tongue and teeth before a hand was smoothing over your rear, warning you of the coming onslaught.

You leaned back to watch the sight. Hoseok’s dark hair upon the bed, his glimmering forehead with a few stray strands matted to the skin and then those eyes.

Eyes that shimmered with greedy lust, mirroring yours and overwhelming in the way they channeled your wants through them. If there was anyone who was truly able to give you a peek into their soul by their eyes; it was Hoseok.

And you, oh so, loved it…

The first deep, hard swish of his tongue along your slit had your moan catching in your throat, coming out broken and whiny. There was no time to get acclimated to the sensation of the barest hint of stubble against your soft skin as he moved his tongue again, back and forth, collecting your arousal and massaging it back into your folds.

You chanced a look downwards, seeing Hoseok’s eyes closed too, eyebrows furrowed in pure concentration. His nose was buried inside you and you could feel his breath waft against you.

“Fuck Hobi,” You finally breathed out, not even out of pleasure but the sheer picture he painted with the way he looked. You could write odes but none would ever match his glory.

He pulled away from your core, grinning up at you.

“I like it when you say that.” He told you, index finger resuming the path of his tongue, circling on your clit. He looked down at it. “I like it when this pussy quivers.” He slipped the digit inside and you swore he had hit the spot at first try.

You wouldn’t be surprised, he had had enough practice.

“Yeah?” You asked, sounding lame.

“Oh definitely,” he hummed. “But you know what I like even more?”

You looked at him puzzled, eyes widening when he smacked your ass lightly, jolting you against his finger. “I like when you actually ride my face.”

You stared.

“What are you waiting for?”

You kept your eyes on him before slowly anchoring your hands back on his chest. Hoseok’s eyes narrowed, his tongue poking out and then you hesitantly rolled your hips, the pearl of your clit catching the ridge of his tongue.

“Good,” He nodded as best as he could from under you. “Now; do it like you mean it; use me, Y/N.”

You close your eyes, focusing on the small burning ember in your pelvic floor before grinding down insistently; feeling the bare hint of tongue increase till it was basically a landing pad for you. Your nerve ending sizzled with each contact, Hobi’s hands moving and tracing patterns into your hips to keep you going until you were giving him exactly what he wanted, coming over his tongue.

The digit in your cunt doubled, the soft muscle digging into your core to lap up any wetness he could find but all it did was add to the mess until you couldn’t stand the friction. You writhed away from him, rolling onto the bed haphazardly, Hoseok following. He gripped onto your wrists, pulling you closer to coo over you, praising you for the job well done.

You were his good girl, he was going to fuck you real slow and nice for this; you felt rather than hear his whispers, muffled even though they were against your shoulder.

Hoseok collected you in his arms, winding and tight to your back.

“Can you lift your leg, baby?”

You did as he asked, with Hoseok helping you prop the leg until it lay over his upper arm. The stretch burned, but you knew he was walking the line between pain-pleasure again.

When you felt him enter you, slow but steady, filling you to the brim in one practiced slide, your eyes met his – gazes locked with unsaid words that didn’t need to be voiced out loud.

It was there in your touches, in your kisses, in the way you looked at each other.

He thrust, hips canting into yours and your head fell back, knowing he was going to take care of both him and you this time around. His pace remained calm, the only indicators of his unraveling being the grunts echoing in your ears and the way his lips and kisses became teeth and bites; littering the skin of your neck and shoulders with the mark of his desire for you.

His hands had moved from your back to your ass, gripping the soft flesh to fuck into you, rolling his hips until your sweat slicked bodies moved as one, plunged into a blissful orgasm that painted your body with splashes of his overflowing pleasure.

Hoseok cursed, grabbing onto his length to drive further into you, cock twitching and emptying the last of its essence into your cove.

“Holy shit,” You were the first to speak.

“Yeah,” Your loved raised his head, eyebrows quirked. “No shit,”

You both broke into giggles before he was gently pulling out, tutting at the mess that was probably on the bed. “I sure hope the captain of Ferret has fresh sheets on board.”

You raised a lazy hand, pointing towards the cupboard where you were told extra linens would be. Hoseok got up, golden and naked for your viewing pleasure before a particular notion had you grabbing at his hand, making him turn to you.

“You enjoyed your birthday with me more than you will with the guys’ right?”

“Oh baby,” He laughed, kissing your nose. “They can’t hope to give me the kind of celebration you just did.”

[izabellq]

Costumes -> Tamaki Amajiki

summary: you accidentally match costumes with tamaki. prepare yourself for a whole day of endless shenanigans.

contains: MAJOR FLUFF, language if you squint (ik canonically, mirio is in 3-B, but for the sake of this plot, the big three are all in 3-A) also, i tried to make this gender-neutral, so if there’s any specified pronouns, let me know and i’ll fix it ASAP!

THIS IS MY HALLOWEEN SPECIAL! (im very much aware i posted this a day late oop)

UA had decided to hold a special event where students could wear their Halloween costume to school. You weren’t planning anything special or unique, just something to get the job done. So, you decided to dress like a cute puppy. It was only a simple onesie: topped with cute floppy dog ears on your hood, and a tail that attached from the bottom. You weren’t expecting to get a lot of attention, which was perfectly fine with you because you were never the type to seek the stage. You topped off the simple look with a black spot on your nose and one around your eye. And just like, you were good to go.

When you walked into school, you couldn’t help but feel a tad bit insecure. It seemed like everyone had decked out for this special occasion. You passed by some anime cosplay, food costumes, group oriented costumes — everything you could possibly think of. And as you made your way to your class, you wondered what Tamaki would be wearing.

You couldn’t help yourself. It was undeniably true that you had a rather large crush on him. Everything about him was enticing. He was so shy that it was usually you who initiated conversation, but that wasn’t enough to make you falter. You understood he wasn’t the most socially active person around. To be frank, it was rather comforting to know that not everyone at UA was a egotistical narcissist.

Finding your assigned seat, you scanned the class. Some of your peers also took the simple route which put some of your thoughts at ease. Others, the more competitive students, were quite impressive themselves.

You turn towards the doorway when Mirio’s booming voice gathers the room’s attention. He was wearing a... whoopie cushion? Oh dear lord. Mirio was a stickler for humor, so of course, he’d wear practically anything that could rise a laugh out of someone. Only, his jokes kind of sucked and no doubt would the class of 3-A be subject to awful fart jokes for the rest of the day. You weren’t so worried about that as you were worried about the two other students usually attached to his hip. One of them being Tamaki Amajiki.

The next one to stop into class was Nejire Hado who was absolutely breathtaking. Her costume, which was nothing more than a fairy, seemed to capture her true personality perfectly. Although, an angel would also be very accurate in her case. She turned towards the entrance way and stuck her head out into the hallway, “Tamaki! Don’t be shy! You look so cute!”

Your heart began to beat just a little bit faster.

“Mirio! Come help me out with him,” Nejire stomped into the hallway, the fluttering of her makeshift wings dissappeared, only to be followed by a laughing Mirio.

When they returned, their hands were clasped over Tamaki’s wrists, forbidding him from turning around and sulking out in the hallway. When you saw him, you’re taken aback. The smallest of gasps erupt from your lips when you notice his costume choice. A onesie, similar to yours, but instead of the dog ears; replaced with cat ones, and a longer tail attached to the back. He had the same minimal face paint (lined whiskers and a nose) as you did, curtesy of Nejire.

When he looked up, his cheeks were flamed with embarrassment. He found your gaze, and if it were possible, he became even more sheepish. You weren’t any different. The thought of having a matching costume with Tamaki, despite not having any prior arrangements, made you equally embarrassed. Now, all you wondered was, did he notice?

Well, if he didn’t before, he sure did now when Nejire spoke up, “Hey Y/N! Oh my– are you a puppy? How cute! Wait! You’re matching with Tamaki! Now you two look like an adorable couple!”

Her excitement, plus her lack of censorship, made the class laugh— everyone’s attention on you and Tamaki. “Nejire...” Tamaki muttered. He stared at the floor, wishing it’d just swallow him whole.

“You guys should take a picture together,” Mirio suggested, walking over to where you sat and giving you a hand. You hesitantly took it, positive that you looked about ready to vomit or pass out. Maybe both. In that order.

Dragged to stand next to Tamaki, you spare him a single glance. He has his left hand up to his face, doing a shoty job at covering his red cheeks. To you, he seemed... more embarrassed than usual? Perhaps he just didn’t wanted to match costumes with you. It saddened you, but it wasn’t like you could do anything about it now.

Nejire laughed, “Say cheese!”

Tamaki mumbled something that you could only assume was in response to Nejire. In a small pickle of confidence, you grabbed his hand and entangled your fingers with his just before the camera went off.

“Cheese!”

That was first period.

When lunch rolled around, Tamaki had face planted himself on the table.

Nejire and Mirio sent each other a knowing look before moving to console him.

“I don’t understand why you’re not happy, Tamaki! You’re matching costumes with them, you got a picture with them, and they also held your hand!” Nejire listed off the things that happened before the bell rang, signaling the start of first period.

“I am happy...” Tamaki muttered, lifting himself up from the table, “But they probably hate me now.”

“I wouldn’t say that!” Mirio added, “Haven’t I told you that they most definitely have a crush on you?”

“No offense Mirio... but I’m not too keen on taking advice from a literal walking whoopie cushion.” Tamaki propped his arm on the table, before leaning his head into the palm of his hand. The same one you had so eagerly held. He wished to repeat the notion a million more times. Only now, he was afraid he had messed up his one and only opportunity.

Mirio gasped, “I’ll have you know that I got many compliments today!”

Nejire giggled before turning back to Tamaki. “Why don’t we just call them over here?”

“I- um, no... I’d rather not do that,” Tamaki rushed out. He wasn’t sure if he could handle another awkward occurrence with you. You’d surely find him weird.

“Where are they anyways?” Mirio asked, not before sinking his teeth on the apple provided on his lunch tray.

“Oh I see them!” Nejire not-so-subtly pointed at you. Tamaki couldn’t help himself as he turned to look in your direction.

You were laughing at something someone had said before adding your own little quip. You were so cute, he thought. Nejire was the one who suggested he wear a cat-themed costume due to the running joke that he was a ‘cute little kitten’. He was prepared to arrive in his normal uniform but Nejire’s persistence was unwavering. And if he knew what you’d be wearing— would he have accepted the costume more easily? You deserved better than him, he knew, but a small part of him fantasized about the ways you’d love him in a way no one else had before.

“Earth to Tamaki,” Nejire sang, snapping him out of his thoughts. “They’re coming over here, straighten up!”

“Hey Y/N, care to sit?” Mirio asked.

Tamaki’s looking down by the time you got there, so he barely registers it when you sit beside him. Your shoulder rubs against his in brief contact and it makes him shudder. He hopes you didn’t notice.

“What’s up guys?” You brought over a juice box from your other table, sipping on the straw of your drink rather intently.

“Tell Tamaki that my costume is funny!” Mirio piped up, distracted from the match-making he was SUPPOSED to be doing.

You nervously giggled, “Well... your costume is certainly an attention-grabber!”

Mirio seemed pleased with that answer, not having considered the fact that you dodged the question the best way you knew how. Tamaki stared at you, adoration etched into his irises. He didn’t realize he had left out a soft laugh until you were staring at him.

He choked up, “Uh- sorry... I didn’t mean to laugh.”

You smiled, a picture definition of the word perfect. Everything about you, he loved. He just loved you in general. “You don’t need to apologize Tamaki! Your laugh is very cute!”

You pinched his cheek before continuing your previous conversation with Mirio and Nejire. Did you even realize what you were doing to him? He hid his face in his arms and rested on the lunch table. Tamaki knew his face was probably several shades of red and pink. He was only wondering how long it would take before you’d actually kill him with your presence.

And that concluded lunch.

The last period of the day came and went uneventfully. And soon enough, class 3A had returned to the dorms, agreeing to remain in their respective costumes until the clock striked midnight. Some students had decided to spend the night on a scary movie binge, while others payed no mind to the event by studying and finishing thier cumulated late assignments.

You on the other hand we’re stuck in the kitchen, preparing some coffee to get you through the night. Mirio and Nejire had wanted to pull an all-nighter as well, which meant you had to figure out a way to not fall alseep before midnight hit. You already had a messed up sleep schedule as it was, so one more added incentive should make the whole evening smooth sailing.

“Y-Y/N?”

You turn towards the kitchen doorway where Tamaki stood, a bit shellshocked from your presence. Still in that cat onesie, you could see his whiskers had become a bit smudged.

You smiled at him, an ache wrapped around your chest became noticeably present to you. “Amajiki! Shouldn’t you be up in Mirio’s room with Nejire? I’ll be up there in a second, I just gotta finish this.”

“Ah, well,” Tamaki moved into the kitchen, fidgeting with his fingers as he talked. “You were taking a while, so they sent me to check up on you. I’m glad you’re o-okay though.”

You hummed in acknowledgment, turning back to the light stirring of the coffee machine. Your fingers uncoordinatedly tapped the kitchen’s counter, a melodic beat strung to match your voice. Tamaki watched with amusement— nothing like the sight of you in your element could make him any happier.

Actually, there was one thing that would be slightly better.

Slowly, he approached you until he had occupied the space beside you. You noticed him almost immediately, but had pretended to take more interest in your coffee than him. Your heart rate picked up, leaving you to mentally curse your inability to remain calm.

“I have a question,” His voice was hushed, a bit unsure of itself. You turned to look at him but his vision remained on the counter.

“What’s up?” When the coffee machine stilled, you pulled your mug out and carefully placed it in front of you. The smell of the roasted beans infiltrated your nostrils and you couldn’t get enough of it.

“Do you- I mean... I think I’m... no that’s not right. I think it’d better if I just show you...” He bit the inside of his lip, whilst finally mustering the courage to look at you. You’re eyes were widened with curiosity, the reflection of the night settling in your skin.

He moves slightly closer, and when you don’t move away, he softly places his hand on your cheek, angling your face so your centimeters away from each other. Tamaki tries to speak, but he honestly didn’t even think he’d get this far. He’s left utterly speechless. Perhaps if Fatgum were here, he’d supply him with the confidence he needed to pull this off. His anxiety-prone thoughts began to take initiative and he starts to pull away, believing to have bit off more than he could chew. He really did believe you deserved better than him.

But your still there. You’ve always been there. In more ways than one. You grip the front of his onesie and pull him back to his previous spot. His hand recupped your face, and you take this opportunity of surprise to place your lips on his. Nothing more than a second long, only the brush of your lips before the tingling sensation had dissappeared all together.

It wasn’t enough. For either of you. You can’t remember who surged forward first, but it couldn’t have mattered less. The only thing that was being even remotely processed was the heat of your frenzied kisses. Tamaki poured all of his emotions into that moment; from the way he felt when seeing you in your puppy onesie to the butterflies that clouded his mind whenever he thought of you.

You were the first to pull back out of breath. You don’t care that your makeup is beyond repair, or that his is either. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you muttered six words into the smooth crevice of his skin, completely forgetting about the coffee you were prepping for yourself. “I love you, I always have.”

Tamaki smiled, though the nervousness hadn’t completely disappeared. “I love you too.” He admitted, feeling his heart flutter at the mutual affection. It wasn’t one-sided after all, not one bit.

Maybe he ought to take more advice from his friend the whoopie cushion.

Then again, maybe not.

“There waiting for us you know,” Your voice was a bit muffled, having been the after-effect of hiding your face in his neck. He understood you perfectly nonetheless.

“They can wait a little longer,” His arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you impossibly closer.

“Kiss me again,” You pleaded.

And so, he did just that.

CHECK OUT MASTERLIST HERE!

[mossybee-exe]

Customer Service|Hawks x Reader

Your job wasn't a really excited one, but it paid well so you didn't care.

It's not like you have a great quirk that would allow you to become a hero even if you wanted to so you were fine with it.

Your job was to supply pro heroes small essentials that they ordered. Such as giving pros a healthy lunch if they forgot it, capture rope for villains, etc.

But you also did other things like photo shoots for magazines, artwork, etc.

For the most part, you didn't care who came in even if they were a popular one, as they were always nice and paitent with you. Even when they weren't the nicest, you didn't have a problem with them.

But for some reason, there is one pro hero who you can not STAND! And that was the Number Two Pro Hero Hawks.

You had never met the guy but just from the talk shows he would be on or what you read in magazines, and how he acted, it just made you so annoyed for some reason. You thought he was a bit of an idiot.

But since you never met him you didn't care all that much.

That was until one very slow and boring Friday at your store.

You were just packing up another lunch into a bento box and in a brown paper bag for the next hero that would come in, when you hear the front door ding as someone walked in.

"Welcome to Hero's Spotlight! How may I help-" But you stop mid sentence when turn around and see the one person who you couldn't stand.

Hawks.

This day just got less pleasant. You think to yourself.

You do your best to keep your friendly smile on as he walked over with his usual smirk. "Hey there. I'm here for a photoshoot for Hero Daily." He tells you. "Oh I see.. well the just step over here for me!" You reply pointing towards the photo equipment.

You grit your teeth as you kept smiling as you don't want to give bad Customer Service otherwise your boss would chew you out with it.

You position him so he's facing the green screen sideways and he stood straight with his hands stuffed in his pockets and he stares off ahead of him.

You were about to take a picture when you noticed his wings wouldn't stop twitching and moving. "I need you to be still! That includes your wings!" You tell him in the NICEST tone and smile you could muster.

"But I can't stay still for long!" He complains. Knowing him, that is entirely possible, as he lives in a fast moving world. You honestly think he goes TOO fast and doesn't take time to stop and enjoy life around him.

"It's just for a second! You'll be fine!" You tell him and he sighs returning to his position. This time he was able to stay still and you got a couple of good shots.

You got a few more pictures in different poses until he was finally done. "Done! Happy now??" You ask, a little bit of hostility in your tone as you didn't want to spend much more time with this guy.

"Finally!" Hawks says with a sigh as he follows you back to the front desk. "I will send these pictures to the editor and that will be ¥1300!" You tell him as you stored your camera down below the counter where it usually went.

"Yes ma'am." He replies giving you the money before heading out of your store. You sigh of relief, glad it was over. Now it was nothing but smooth sailing for the rest of your work shift.

You hoped at least.

The next few days, Hawks kept coming back for either more pictures, or capture rope, or a lunch cuz he forgot to make one.

Each time he visited, you got less and less paitent.

Eventually, you couldn't take it anymore! The day you snapped you were already not having a good day. When Hawks came in and rushed you to get him a special requested lunch packed, you just couldn't take it anymore.

You were tired of his annoying "flirty responses," sarcastic remarks, and pressure of rushing you to get it.

Once again moving in his fast paced world.

"That's it! I'm already having an AWFUL day and I don't need YOU coming in here rushing and stressing me out! I know your world is fast, but you NEVER stop to appreciate it and rush into everything!! But I DON'T like being rushed so could you just be quiet for one second?!"

You tell angrily and immediately guilt had over taken you as Hawks' am, turning to a frown, and h had a blank expression, but you could see the hurt in his eyes.

You sighed and finished packing his lunch before handing it to him. "I'm sorry. Just take your lunch. It's free." You reply as you bowed, not daring to look up at his face as you were ashamed in yourself.

You expected Hawks to reply with his usual optimistic tone.

"Don't worry about it!"

"Nah don't sweat it! It's fine!"

But no. He didn't say anything. You just heard his footsteps walk away and out the door as it rung. You sigh and hide your face with your hands.

That was the worst think you could possibly say.

He was the NUMBER TWO HERO for heaven's sake!

But what was done was done. You couldn't reverse it.

A few weeks pass and Hawks never once returned to your store. You knew why. You knew he was disgusted with you, or hurt by your harsh words and tone. You were immediately regretting how you treated him.

Good news is, your boss hasn't approached you about it so at least he didn't report the situation to her!

But feeling the guilt was worse than any punishment you could ever get from your boss.

One day though, on your day off, you were walking through the relaxing and beautiful park near your apartment complex. You figured by now Hawks probably forgot all about how you yelled at home but even if he did, you could never.

You could never forget the hurt in his eyes and the fact he walked out silently.

You hoped a walk would help clear your head. But low and behold you saw Hawks sitting on a bench a few feet away, looking around.

He had his content smirk on and had casual wear on. And you hadn't realized until now, but as the sun's ray hit him at just the right angle, he looked like an angel from heaven.

You quickly pushed that thought away though as you felt a slight blush appear on your cheeks. You were about to turn and walk the other way, as you couldn't even bare being near him afraid he may yell something hurtful at you.

Which you probably deserved anyway.

But you knew you couldn't run from this any longer, so you decided to take it. You walked over to him and stood in front of him. From the way his smirk disappears again, you knew he recognized you.

You then look down and then get on your knees and bowed to him. "I am very very sorry for how I had treated you at my store. I just ask for your forgiveness! If you want to yell at me, I deserve it." You tell him.

You didn't care if people were watching now, you just didn't want to live with this guilt anymore.

Truth being, he really wasn't all that bad! You were just overreacting! Maybe sometimes he annoyed you but nothing extreme.

That's when you hear Hawks laugh and you look up to see him laughing and smiling before looking down at you. "I was never mad at you! Why would I be mad?" He tells you, and as relived you were by him not being angry, you felt yourself a bit annoyed.

He was never angry yet you suffered the past few weeks, feeling awful and thinking he was mad!

"Look I get it. Everyone just has those days, so I don't care! Infact I'm actually taking your advice now! I decided to slow down today and just enjoy nature." Hawks tells you while he grabbed your hands and helped you back up to your feet.

You then sat down beside him as he stared back at the bright green trees. "You were right about just taking a moment to enjoy life. It relieves a lot of stress as well." He adds while you just stared at him.

You were not only glad he wasn't angry or upset with you, but he also took your advice! You also couldn't get over how he looked like an angel in the light. A handsome one at that.

You felt a light blush before looking forward as well. What were you thinking?! This was the Number Two hero! Even if you did like him, he was busy with life and didn't have time for a partner. Plus you barely knew him.

But you guys talked for the rest of the afternoon before you both get ready to part ways.

"Well this was nice!" You tell him. After getting to know him better, you realized he wasn't at all that bad of a guy. "Yeah! But I never actually got your name." He points out. "Oh right! It's Y/N!" You reply.

"I see. Well, call me Teigo." He says writing something down before handing you the paper. "There's my number so we can keep chatting. See ya around!" He says before walking off.

You blush and close your eyes.

The guilt finally gone.

[ericsonclan]

Pirate Island

Summary: The Ericson pirates travel uncharted seas, unsure when they will find land, when suddenly Willy spots an island.

Word Count: 7292

Read on A03:

Louis tilted his head back and let the warm sun pierce his skin as he took a deep breath. The smell of the sea, there was really nothing like it. It symbolized the endless potential of adventure. Today, Louis was sure, would be an adventure. It always was with the Ericson pirates whether that be through the many shenanigans on Ol’ Kickass or when they arrived at a port town.

Louis glanced out towards the sea; he hoped they’d find some sort of port town soon - their produce wouldn’t last much longer. Not only would that lose them precious ducats that they could spend on important things like sea shanties but it would also make the lower deck reek. The smell would linger for days and soon they would forget about all the dirt and grime they had on themselves and be overwhelmed by how it smelled like fruity death down there.

With a deep sigh Louis walked back towards the ship’s wheel where Marlon stood. His best friend’s eyes were focused ahead, his stance solid and his shoulders set. He was sure to ensure it was smooth sailing as long as he was in charge. He was so focused in fact that it wasn’t until Louis strolled up the stairs along with Rosie that Marlon even glanced over. Once he did, a warm smile appeared on his lips. “Hey there, Lou,” Marlon’s smile faltered when he saw the look deep within Louis’ eyes that he was trying to hide beneath a smile. “What’s wrong?”

“Hmm? Nothing, just thought I’d check on my first mate! I even brought the ever so lovely Rosie!” Louis gestured to the pitbull who barked happily. Trotting over, Rosie began to claw at Marlon’s leg for some attention. With a small chuckle Marlon obliged and gave some pats to the pitbull along with some scratches behind the ear. But soon the blond pirate’s focus returned to the sea.

“I’ve known you long enough, Lou. You don’t have to hide anything from me,” Marlon gently turned the wheel left to guide the ship away from a pile of rocks a fair distance away.

Louis looked surprised by his friend’s words for a second but his smile soon returned. “Damn, I thought I could pull a fast one on you,” He leaned on the rail in front of the ship’s wheel.

“Have you ever been able to pull a fast one on me?” Marlon gave a grin that made Louis chuckle.

“I don’t know, maybe when we were ten,” Louis turned his body around and glanced up at the upper deck of the ship. Brody was working on fixing the riggings along with Mitch. Every so often the two would hold hands for a moment before slipping them away from each other. It was obvious based on their giddy expressions and being overwhelmed by the smallest thing that this was the first serious relationship either of them had had.

The captain’s eyes continued to wander and paused when he saw Clementine happily sparring with AJ. Both of them were absolutely exhilarated by the chance to spar together. It was clear from the soft thwack that appeared every few seconds from their wooden swords colliding and the confident auras that both of them radiated. Both of them were trying to use smack talk to get the upperhand in the fight by throwing the other off their game. Neither of them were any good at it but they didn’t seem to mind and the rest of the crew seemed to enjoy the unique insults they were hurling each other’s way.

While the two of them were caught up in the joy of sparring together, Prisha and Aasim were busy gushing over things only the two of them seemed to care for out of the whole crew: cartography. Both of them spoke animatedly as Aasim held out a map, showing his friend the vast seas they had yet to explore. The pair were especially thrilled to head out towards the northwestern seas next. Soon the two of them passed Ruby and Tenn who were busy making sure medical supplies were set. The redheaded pirate spoke clearly and concisely as a wide smile pulled on her lips, happy to have an apprentice of sorts in terms of healing. Tenn mirrored Ruby’s smile although his smile was quieter as he nodded along to her lessons.

Louis took a deep breath and glanced back at Marlon. “Our produce is about to go bad and while the crew seems happy, I bet all of them want a break from Ol’ Kickass,”

Marlon nodded along to those words. “Yeah, it would probably be best if we found a port town to aim for and spend a few days there,”

“Yeah. I just remembered, last time I talked with Aasim he said we were heading into uncharted seas. I told him that that's where the adventure was waiting and didn’t think twice,” Louis lightly laughed at his own choice as he spun his pirate hat in his hands before placing it back on his head.

“Don’t go kicking yourself, Lou. I’m sure we’ll find land soon enough,” Marlon smiled reassuringly. Louis returned it, although his smile seemed less genuine.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” Louis sighed and turned his focus on Rosie as his friend continued to steer the ship.

As luck would have it Marlon did turn out to be right. After half a day more of sailing Willy called out from the crow’s nest that Violet was squished in as well, clearly there because of Willy’s incessant begging.

“Marlon, we got a weird-looking island far out on the starboard side of the ship!” Willy cupped his hands, creating such volume that both Violet and Garbage seemed to be hissing at its force.

“Knowing Willy it's probably another island filled with squirrels,” Marlon sighed as he looked over at Louis.

“I don’t know, Squirrel Island was kind of fun,” Louis offered and noticed Marlon’s frown.

“Those squirrels were little terrors,” Marlon took a deep breath then called back to Willy.

“Alright, I’ll steer the ship towards there! Keep an eye out if it looks dangerous!”

“Aye, aye!’ Willy gave a toothy grin then went back to his story he was sharing with Violet while he held Garbage in his arms. Marlon and Louis shared a look then chuckled before Marlon set course for the island.

Soon with Louis’ instructions, Willy and Violet’s mixed directions and the teamwork of the crew they arrived at an island. From one glance it was clear this was no ordinary island. Palm trees grew everywhere around the entrance surrounded by white sands and rocky shores where dark blue waters crashed against a shipwreck that stood out proudly. On the shipwreck were nearly a dozen skeletons, all dressed as privateers with their deep blue coats and special hats. It was made in the sort of mocking way that made it obvious that those kinds weren’t welcome here.

Erupting from above the palm trees was a large cream-colored building where a black flag with crossbones and a skull flew proudly. This was pirate land. That became even more abundantly clear when the rowdy sounds of pirates filled the air as Ol’ Kickass anchored right by the docks. After making sure the anchor was placed and the sails were safely secured the crew gathered around Louis.

“Alright, crew! Here’s what we’re going to do. Prisha, Aasim, and Omar will go sell our wares along with me. The rest of you get a gist of the rules of this place but as of now, no fighting and no adventuring. Today is just a chore day,”

Those words made Willy and AJ groan loudly.

“I know, I know, boring,” Louis shook his head sadly.

“I think chore day is actually fun,” Aasim mumbled and readjusted his cravat in annoyance.

“But we gotta make sure this place is safe enough for us to rest for a few days and our fruit is this close to stinking up the place,” Louis held his fingers barely a hair’s breadth together. Everyone seemed to agree with their captain’s words and soon they were off doing their respective tasks. Louis led the way after he stole at least a dozen kisses from Clementine. Prisha, Omar and Aasim followed behind him. Ruby, Tenn and Brody headed out to search for medical supplies and as for the rest of them, save for Violet and Mitch who stayed behind to guard the ship while having spitting contests, they went searching around for any information they could get on this piratey island.

It was a fairly straightforward day. With Louis’ charm, Omar’s calmness and Prisha and Aasim’s ferocious need to barter they got great deals on their wares. Ruby, Brody and Tenn were able to find thread and needles as well as other medical supplies and alcohol that was sure to clean any kind of wound. Violet won the spitting contest which turned Mitch into the grumpiest pirate amongst the crew that day and as for the rest of them, they learned a few things about this island. It was an island where only pirates were allowed and there were no rules besides those that pirates abided by.

When the crew all returned to Ol’ Kickass they discussed whether to stay or not and after some long debate they decided to go for it. The news seemed to make Willy and AJ particularly happy. The two young pirates were beyond excited to go adventuring tomorrow, while listening to the words and rules of the older pirates of course.

Soon the night melted into a new day and the crew was ready to go exploring. Willy gave a mighty pirate call, swinging from one of the ropes and landing harshly onto the docks.

“Willy, don’t break anything!” Violet called out to the rambunctious pirate.

“Yeah! Not without me!” Mitch grinned at Willy and the glint in their eyes made it clear they wanted to find something explosively fun to do.

“Just don’t blow up part of the ship again,” Brody walked forward and stood beside Mitch.

“I won’t,” Mitch grumbled then added in a quieter voice, “I promise,” His fingers reached out for Brody’s and they soon intertwined.

“Good,” Brody smiled up at her love before pressing a kiss to his cheek which made it turn bright red.

“Damn, I didn’t know we had lobsters on our ship,” Louis teased Mitch, his arms wrapped around Clementine.

“Whatever,” Mitch flipped off the captain as he walked off the ship with his love but soon received some scolding from Brody for his action. It didn’t take long for the two of them to move past it though and soon they were lost in the excitement of exploring the island and their new relationship.

Louis hugged Clementine a bit tighter then planted a kiss on her cheek with a loud ‘mwuah’ sound. “Shall we go, m’lady? I think adventure and fun awaits!” He smiled at Clementine who immediately returned it.

“An adventure with you? Sounds perfect,” Clementine pressed a kiss to one of Louis’ hands which made him grow flustered. He couldn’t focus on it long though as Clementine held his hand and led the way off the ship.

“Ready, my treasure?” Aasim asked Ruby as his thumb brushed against the top of hers.

“I sure am! I heard from Marlon yesterday that he’d heard some pirates talk about a tavern that has the most divine dinners,” Ruby swung their joined hands as they casually strolled down the dock.

“Well then I will make sure you get the best food on all of this island,” Aasim stole a soft kiss from Ruby and the two were quickly in the middle of the pack. Behind them was Marlon who gave Rosie a special treat in thanks for her staying behind as watch before jogging forward to talk with Omar. AJ was behind them, talking animatedly with Tenn about how many cool pirate things they could draw here when suddenly Louis scooped up AJ.

“Wanna have a better view, little dude?” Louis placed AJ on his shoulders then handed up his pirate hat for the youngest pirate to wear.

“Yeah! This is awesome!” AJ shot out his hands and almost lost his balance but soon regained it by grabbing Louis’ dreads. “Oops, did I do a bad?”

Louis shook his head, only in part to shake off the pain of his dreads being yanked on. “Nope, little man. It’s all good,” He gave a thumbs up then returned his hand into Clementine’s.

Prisha and Violet led the back of the pack, casually talking about what they looked forward to doing on this island knowing that there was no risk of guards or privateers getting them. Both of them seemed absolutely lost in each other’s eyes when suddenly Garbage’s frantic hissing made them look back to see the pirate possum scampering forward. After a minute Garbage had successfully found Willy again and crawled up on his shoulder, leaving a few scratch marks along the way. Willy didn’t seem to mind though and eagerly chatted about his potential adventures with his favorite pirate pet.

The crew all walked happily together, quickly getting hit with the sounds of sea shanties which made the captain’s eyes sparkle with joy and he excitedly spoke to Clementine and AJ. The sea shanties that they were hearing along this particular stretch of the island all seemed to center around alcohol. A set of three pirates were singing All for Me Grog while a group of five across the way were belting out Whisky Johnny O’ .

“We definitely gotta pick up some sea shanties here!” Louis beamed over at Clementine who smiled and gave his hand a small squeeze.

“Sounds good to me,”

As the group continued forward they reached the inner workings of the island where life and chaos were happily coinciding. Pirates of all genders were flirting amongst each other, trying to impress others with their feats of strength while other pirates seemed to be itching for a fight and decided to pick it with the closest pirate they could find. The Ericson pirates steered clear of those types of pirates but were still enjoying their time there.

All of them were happy to finally be back on land, especially a piece of land that didn’t have people out for their heads. Their footsteps were lost amongst the lively sounds of life around them when suddenly Louis’ ears perked up when he heard the wonderful harmony of a hurdy gurdy, flute and some sort of percussion instruments. As he led the way he saw that the three pirate musicians were happily playing a tune so that any pirate could dance in the square to their heart’s content.

“Oh! We have to do this!” Louis ran forward with Clementine along with AJ on his shoulders. The captain soon took the center of the square while the majority of his crew watched. Placing AJ down, Louis did a quick bow with his hat. “M’lady, would you do this captain the honor of a dance?” Louis’ eyes looked up into Clementine’s eyes with a playful love within them. Before Clementine had a chance to say yes, AJ had grabbed her hands and pulled her towards him.

“I wanna dance with Clem first!” AJ smiled over at Louis who returned it. Within seconds AJ was spinning around with Clementine happily.

“Oh no! Whoever will I dance with now?” Louis placed the captain’s hat dramatically over his heart and waited until the music began to swell. With a mischievous grin he dashed over and grabbed Aasim’s hands. “I pick you!”

“Wait a minute!” Aasim protested but it was too late; he was thrown into the dance circle where Louis danced and spun him around.

“It’s time to let loose and dance, captain’s orders!” Louis teasingly told his crew who all waited to see who would make the next move. Prisha smiled over softly at Violet and was about to ask for a dance when Willy suddenly snagged her one good arm.

“Come on, Prisha! Let's dance!” Willy gave a toothy grin and Prisha couldn’t help but agree. Soon Willy was leading the way, dancing in his unique style as Prisha’s light laughter filled the air. Garbage bounced around on top of his head, fearfully hissing before the young pirate stopped abruptly. “You too, Mitch! Dance!”

“No fucking way!” Mitch waved a hand and tried to act cool when suddenly Brody pushed him into the circle. He gave a frown but soon was swept up in the dance circle.

“Let’s boogie!” Ruby grabbed Omar’s hands with a laugh and pulled him into the circle. The two danced around, kicking their feet together and laughing as the lively, heartwarming song ensued. The music continued for some time when all of a sudden Marlon began to clap to the beat and quickly got Brody to join the dance circle.

“Wanna dance, Vi?” Tenn looked up at Violet who gave a soft smile and a shrug.

“Sure,” Violet held Tenn’s hand and the two quietly joined.

Different members of the Ericson pirates began to clap to the beat as they danced in a circle, kicking feet with their partners before hooking arms and switching. Ruby and Brody laughed as they danced together, both on a mission to steal back their loves while Prisha kept trying to reach Violet but every time she got close Willy surprised her with another dance.

As the song reached its last section the different couples were determined and moved at a faster pace, working with their dance partners to reunite with their loves. Twirling around and using light footwork the couples got back together one by one and spun around again and again until the song stopped and the Ericson pirates all stood in the center. The crew caught their breaths, their chest heaving as their smiles grew. Moments like this together were absolutely priceless and they couldn’t wait to make more memories on this island.

After the dance, Willy quickly got distracted by having a palm tree climbing contest with AJ. Both of them threw large declarations that they were the best climbers before trying their best to prove it. Meanwhile Ruby and Aasim were happily sharing a quiet moment together off to the side as Aasim spoke words of affection and poetry to his fiery love. Prisha and Violet were sitting side by side sharing a few soft kisses. Violet then proceeded to place her head on Prisha’s shoulder. The taller pirate pressed a kiss to the top of her love’s head then rested her head on top of hers. Prisha looked out and watched in amusement as Mitch and Clementine were getting competitive.

“I can kick way more pirate ass than you!” Clementine stood up and got close to Mitch who looked shocked for a moment but a competitive grin soon pulled on his lips.

“Ha! Maybe when I’m eighty you’ll finally kick more ass than me!” Mitch smirked when he saw how annoyed Clementine was getting.

“Oh yeah? Let’s make a bet. Whoever can get the most ducats from pirate duels wins!” Clementine quickly spit in her hand and held it out. Mitch laughed and spat in his hand, slamming it into Clementine’s and giving it a firm shake.

“Deal. Winner gets all the ducats won,”

“Deal,”

“You got this, Clem!” Louis appeared from behind Clementine and surprised her with a kiss. That seemed to melt away the intimidating exterior of the pirate who soon returned the affection.

“Good luck, Mitch,” Brody gave her love a quick kiss on the cheek. Mitch grew incredibly flustered at that and Clementine saw her chance.

“Ready, set, go!” Clementine was off like a shot, already on her way to her first duel.

“Hey, wait! Fuck! That was cheap!” Mitch yelled and sprinted off with an angry cry as he tried to find his first opponent.

The competition lasted for quite some time and after a while Clementine and Mitch both collapsed onto the ground.

“I won, you little-” Clementine wheezed. “Shit,”

“”Fu-” Mitch gasped for air “Ck!”

The rest of the crew gathered around giving congratulations to both of them while Clementine flaunted her ducats and immediately bragged about how she'd spend them: half on dates and half on a new badass blade. A few minutes passed and the crew all decided to go grab some food at the local tavern. Clementine tried to get up but immediately felt her legs turned to jelly.

“Don’t worry, my darling!” Louis swept her up and carried her bridal style. “I’ll carry you!”

“Louis! Wait!” Clementine grew flustered but it was too late. Soon the others followed them with Mitch and Brody leading the back.

“I think you were pretty badass,” Brody gave Mitch’s hand a small squeeze. Those words made him smile and he immediately wrapped her up in a hug before pulling away quickly.

“It was no big deal,” The taller pirate tried to play it cool but Brody could see how much the words meant to him.

It didn’t take long for them to find the tavern where they supposedly had amazing food. Louis went about ordering the drinks and meals while the rest of them secured a few tables. Once they sat down Marlon noticed the wanted posters on the walls, placed there as a sign of pride for all the chaos the pirate captains and their crews had caused. Amongst them were pictures of all the Ericson pirates drawn in the usual inaccurate fashion.

“Wow, that Louis one is super accurate,” Violet commented, drawing the crews’ eyes to the wanted post which displayed Louis with a large evil smile and what looked to be a giant spider as his hair.

“Hey! I don’t look like that!” Louis huffed. “My hair looks even more spider-like in person,” Louis rolled with the joke and soon the others found the other wanted posters and pointed each out. Marlon’s looked like he had giant spikes on his head while Omar’s looked like he didn’t have any eyes. Willy’s wanted poster had him looking like a small gremlin pirate which the whole crew including him agreed was accurate.

Before they could spot all of the posters and talk about them though the food had arrived. Steaming plates of the finest seafood were brought before them along with fresh rolls. As AJ grabbed a roll he tore it open, revealing the soft, white, fluffy bread. Grabbing some butter he slathered it on the roll. The butter melted in an instant, soaking into the bread and enhancing its flavor.

While Willy and AJ chowed down on the rolls the rest dug into their seafood. The freshness of it was apparent in every bit as the flaky fish melted in their mouths. The crab was a particularly delicious choice as its subtle flavor tempted the palate to eat more and more. Garbage was just as happy with her food of choice: a simple apple that Willy had sliced for her. The possum licked the apple with happy hisses. Their time in the tavern was a simple joy. The crew talked, ate and drank happily without a care in the world when suddenly the tavern doors burst open.

In walked a man of alarming height. His outfit and demeanor made it clear he was the captain of his crew who all entered with wicked laughs, telling tales that left bad tastes in the Ericson pirates’ mouths. Behind them all was a curvy girl of average height. Her brown eyes peered from below her short black hair and seemed to hold a world of kindness in them. Kindness that was clearly not given to her as she struggled to carry around the crew’s treasure for seemingly no other reason than as a show of their wealth. The girl placed down the treasure and nearly fell over, a large bead of sweat trickling down her face.

“Wench! Get us drinks! Or else you may wish you sank with that ship that we saved your sorry hide from!” the captain shouted and his men laughed. The girl nodded and soon left to get the rum. The Ericson pirates watched on, all of them feeling their emotions roil due to the injustice they were seeing. The girl soon appeared back with drinks and the pirates heartily drank.

“Perhaps she can dance for us!” one of the pirates suggested and the others cheered in agreement.

The girl stood frozen in her spot, her hands by her side slowly curling into fists. “No,”

Her soft voice made the pirates glance her way.

“What do you mean no, girlie?” The captain spoke in a low tone. In an instant he grabbed her wrist and yanked her forward. “I spared your life! Out of the entire ship only you lived, so show some fucking gratitiude or else,” His voice was filled with warning.

Violet felt her stomach twist. While she couldn’t see clearly she was sure what the implications of those words meant. The other members of the crew soon noticed some bruises on the girl’s arms; the anger in their hearts grew.

The captain chuckled and pulled her chin towards his. The pirate’s breath reek of old fish and alcohol. “I hate being disagreed with.”

All of the Ericson pirates wanted to stop this, to make a move and get that girl away from this awful crew. Violet’s fists curled tightly but she wasn’t the first to make a move. Instead that honor went to Ruby who slammed her tankard down onto the table hard, causing a thin hairline crack to appear along the side of it.

“Get your filthy hands off of her,” Ruby warned and the captain as well as his men looked over her way.

“Hmm? Something to say, wench? Care to join her as one of my servants?” The captain held a twisted smile on his lips. “You two match well,”

“How dare-”

Aasim was cut short as Ruby slammed her fist on the table, her eyes burning with anger. “I’d rather make you eat your teeth!”

Ruby’s words made the captain frown before he burst out in laughter. “What a fiery wench you are! Alright, I’ll humor you with an arm wrestling competition. If I win, you apologize to me and if you win-”

“I’m fine with the satisfaction of kicking your ass,” Ruby strode forward, looking small in comparison to the captain of this crew. His crew laughed in amusement and before any of the Ericson pirates could say otherwise Ruby was seated at a table across from the captain. Rolling up her sleeve, she positioned her arm and soon the captain did the same. Once they were all set one of the captain’s crew counted down.

As soon as the countdown was done Ruby’s eyes took on a threatening glint and with all her strength she slammed down the man’s hand. That action alone would be impressive but the fiery short redheaded pirate had gone a step further. Her strength had set the man off his center, causing him to tumble over with the force of the move and crash into a chair, smashing it to pieces. Both crews stood there in shock until Mitch spoke up.

“Fuck yeah! Fuck ‘em up, Ruby!” Mitch pumped his fist in the air.

“You little bitch!” The pirate captain coughed as he rose. With a mighty swing he tried to hit Ruby but she dodged it.

The fiery pirate curled her fist and sent it crashing into the captain’s stomach. “Better be ready, I’m about to whoop your ass!” Ruby slammed her fist into her open palm. Aasim felt himself at a loss for words as he stared at his love in all her glory. She was amazing.

This wasn’t a funny joke or game anymore. The opposing crew soon charged to take down the pirate that had made their captain look bad.

“You won’t touch her!” Aasim charged forward and swung his fist, breaking teeth and sending a pirate flying back.

All bets were off now and soon the tavern erupted into chaos. Pirates charged at the table with mighty cries. Mitch and Marlon shared a smile and lifted up their tankards. Clinking them together, they downed their drinks then used the empty tankards to smash in their enemies’ faces.

“This is what you get for being shit!” Marlon slammed his tankard once more into a pirate’s face.

Prisha backstepped, dancing around a pirate’s attack before she unsheathed her blade. Using the hilt of the sword, she jabbed it into the man’s gut repeatedly before proceeding to knock him out as he keeled over, her sword’s hilt colliding with his face and smashing his nose.

Violet stood on the table to get away from all the chaos of the tavern and have a decent chance at fighting. It wasn’t longer until an opponent arrived. Cautiously Violet dodged attack after attack until she grabbed a chair and with a heavy hit shattered it into pieces on top of the pirate’s body. Prisha was in absolute awe of her love’s strength and Violet looked over with a proud smile when suddenly she noticed a pirate sneaking up on Prisha.

“Prisha!” Violet called out and gave a signal to Prisha. Prisha immediately held out her arm and wrapped it around Violet as she landed. With a secure hold on Violet, Prisha swung her love to her side where Violet proceeded to knock out the enemy with her foot. After Prisha placed Violet down the two shared a quick smile then continued their fight.

AJ, Willy and Tenn worked together, tag teaming pirates left and right. With harsh punches from AJ to their weak spots in between the legs, brutal foot stompings by Tenn and slingshot attacks from Willy, any pirates who faced them were doomed. That was before accounting for the ferocious Garbage who hissed as she scampered about, crawling up pant legs and biting down on the enemies’ noses. Omar used the plates on the table as makeshift weapons, weakening the enemies with kicks before breaking dinnerware over their heads.

“I’ll pay for all the plates I break!” Omar called out to the tavern owner who was still processing what was happening.

The girl was overwhelmed by the sudden chaos but that didn’t stop her from getting some good punches in, knocking out a few of the pirates that had made her life hell. She was about to lash out again when Louis pulled her out of harm’s way at the last second.

“That was close!’ Louis smiled at the girl. “I’m Louis, and you are?”

“Nurgul,” the girl gave a soft smile. “Thanks,”

“Think nothing of it! Just an ordinary day for the Ericson pirates!” Louis grinned then used his sword to cut a tankard in half that was aimed for Nurgul’s head. “Hey! Don’t be an asshat!” Louis proceeded to beat the pirate who’d thrown the tankard in a swordfight then kick his butt into a nearby barrel. He gave a smile back at Nurgul then looked over to see Clementine weaving through an enemy pirate’s attacks, outmaneuvering him then using her peg leg to crush his toes. When the pirate cried out Clementine grabbed a bottle and harshly cracked it against his head, knocking him out.

“Whoa,” Louis whispered. An instant later he joined his love in fighting off the remaining enemies.

Brody dodged an attack then another before grabbing the man by the collar. With a harsh jab her knee collided with his crotch. The auburn pirate refused to give him a moment to recover and with a heavy slam she crushed his face into a table, cracking it slightly.

Mitch gave an impressed whistle. Brody may have called him a badass earlier but that move right there made it clear that she had him tied in that regard. He swore his love for her grew in that moment but he couldn’t stay in the moment long because all of a sudden another attack came his way. Mitch was about to counter when the booming voice of the tavern owner made everyone stop.

“Alrighty! That's enough, you scurvy dogs!” The tavern owner stood in between the captain and Ruby right before they were about to exchange blows, blocking both of them. “I won’t have you go and ruin my tavern anymore! In fact, one of you sorry lots is gonna have to pay for all the damage that was caused!” The tavern owner looked over at the Ericson pirates then at the other crew. “We’re gonna settle this the way we always do here on this great island. Get ready, ye about to have a pirate duel!”

The captain of the crew gave a hearty laugh. “I’m fine with that! In fact, I challenge your captain!” He pointed at Mitch who gave a scowl his way. “A fight to the death, winner gets to skip out on paying for this fine mess and gets the lass of their choosing from the opposite side,”

“You have a deal!” Louis’ voice rang out across the tavern as he stood on a table, his hands on his hips. “Except it won’t be a fight to the death, not on my end,” His eyes were level with the captain’s and his jaw firm. He was obviously still upset about how they had been treating Nurgul and on a battle high from the tavern fight. “When I win, you’re gonna regret ever treating Nurgul badly!”

“Who?” The captain scrunched his nose. “That don’t matter, what I’m confused about is that you out of all your crew is the captain. Are you pulling me leg?” He glanced back at the Ericson crew and saw that they were all upset by his accusation against Louis. He was their captain after all. The captain paused for a moment, his eyes glancing over at the wall of wanted posters. “Well, sink me! You lot are the Ericson pirates!” He began to laugh, holding his sides. “I suppose you have a bit more fire in ya than me and the other crews thought you did. Still, you’re a bunch of lily-livered wannabes who claim to be pirates when you all haven’t even done half the things a pirate should do,”

“We do the right thing. We follow our own pirate law,” Louis stared down at the man.

“Is that so? Well then I hope that my blade doesn’t rust from cowardly blood when I gut ya tomorrow,” The captain laughed then harshly pulled Nurgul forward, urging her to lead the way. “Till tomorrow, ‘captain’!” The captain gave a mocking, obscene gesture then left.

“Louis!” Clementine hurried forward and looked up at her love. “What are you doing?”

“The right thing,” Louis met his love’s gaze and Clementine could see he wouldn’t budge on this decision. There was only one thing to be done.

Clementine and the rest of the crew worked to make sure Louis was the best equipped and well-trained he could be for tomorrow’s duel. The sunlight bled through the sky at a rapid pace and before they knew it night was upon them that soon shed away when the sun rose once more. Hopefully all their work had been enough.

As they made their way to the dueling pit they heard the overwhelming cheers of pirates heartily drinking grog as they waited to see the bloodshed of the fight. The crew was soon guided over to an area for viewing. As they passed they noticed Nurgul standing at the sidelines of the fighting pit. Louis was left alone at the entrance of the arena with Clementine. His eyes focused on the tiny crabs that scattered about the soiled sands of the pit, mindless to all the noise around them.

“Louis, be careful,” Clementine held her love’s hand and tried to get him to look at her.

Louis remained silent for a moment. “Everyone is continuing on me so I gotta be. Can’t be the normal screw up that I am. One wrong step...” His voice faltered out as he continued to look off into the distance.

“Louis, you’re not a screw up. You’re a great captain and fighter. You’ll win,”

Those words made Louis glance over his love’s way. “I don’t know about that,” He took a deep breath and turned to face Clementine. “Alright, I need you to slap me. One good slap to make sure I can focus,” He tried to stand strong in front of her, his eyes pressed shut but every few seconds he’d peek out at Clementine, his head unconsciously flinching backwards. Clementine stood there, knowing that she wouldn’t hit him but she wasn’t sure what the right choice was. After a moment she decided to go with her heart. Getting up on her tiptoes and wrapping her hand behind his head she captured his lips in a soft kiss. Louis seemed surprised by this before his shoulders relaxed and he melted into the kiss, if only for a moment.

The dreadlocked captain pulled back from the kiss, his eyes filled with shock. “I... can’t tell if I feel more focused or less,” His lips pulled into a smile that Clementine immediately mirrored. The pair stood there, becoming lost in each other’s eyes when suddenly the announcer called for the two pirates to get in the pit. Louis was about to step forward when he felt Clementine’s hand grab his.

“I believe in you. So does AJ and so do the rest of the crew. There’s a reason you’re our captain and it's for choices like this,” Clementine gave a smile, hoping that it would find its way to Louis.

Louis returned the smile then kissed the top of her hand softly. “I gotta prove you and the others right then,” He slowly slipped his hand free of Clementine’s and stepped forward into the sunny arena where his ears were pierced with the cries and cheering of the pirate crowd.

Louis tried to show his charisma and held up his blade with a big smile. He rotated in a circle, catching the eyes of all the different sections of the crowd until he saw his crew. He could tell they were nervous but he also noticed the trust and belief in their eyes. He would win today.

After a moment or two the duel was set to begin. The signal was given and the captain of the other crew unsheathed his double shell guard cutlass. Not waiting a moment he slashed it down towards Louis’ face. Louis immediately lifted up his rapier, blocking the attack and causing the sound of metal colliding to ring throughout the arena.

“Let’s see how long you’re gonna last before you end up as shark bait,” The captain kicked up dirt, aiming it directly at Louis’ face. The young pirate coughed sharply and tried to regain his sight when suddenly he felt something slashing against his back. The cold feeling of metal slid across his back once more and Louis dodged a third strike before proceeding to block a fourth. His hand held up his blade as the captain smirked down at him. “Not long at all I’d wager,”

Louis felt his nerves rising but he knew that if he let them consume him he’d wind up dead. Studying the man’s legs he noticed that he was heavily favoring his right one. So Louis decided to take a page from his love’s book and with a mighty kick he forced his opponent off balance. Using the moment of uncertainty Louis hooked his blade with his opponent’s and with a well-timed twist forced the man to disarm. His cutlass flew through the air and landed in the sand beside Louis.

“Don’t count me out just yet,” Louis pointed the sword at his throat but the captain soon slapped it away and elbowed Louis deep in his gut. The young pirate gasped loudly, a thread of saliva falling from his lips and onto the dirt. He tumbled to the ground, dirt flying up the air and clouding the pit.

The captain laughed loudly and leaned over to pick up his blade when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his left foot. Looking down, he saw Louis’ rapier embedded there.

“You’re not keeping that girl and you’re not gonna get any of my crew!” Louis grabbed the sides of the man’s head and headbutted it sharply. The action stunned the man but it also made Louis’ head ring. He couldn’t let that stop him from focusing on this fight though. With a wild cry Louis took his blade out of the man’s foot and used the hilt of his sword to pummel the man’s chest. Each hit brought him one step closer to winning and each made his opponent weaker. His hilt soon found its way to the bridge of the captain’s nose and with a mighty slam Louis shattered the man’s nose. The captain’s head swayed with the movement, his eyes stinging with tears due to the hit as blood slipped down his face.

“You little brat! I’ll be sure to send you to Davy Jones’ Locker myself!” he yelled, dodging an attack and sweeping up his sword. He immediately sliced his cutlass through the air, his blade colliding with Louis’ rapier. The two pressed their entire body weight into their blades, their feet digging into the dirt and sliding with the force. Neither of them were willing to lose an inch in this attack.

The captain once again tried to kick dirt into Louis’ face but the younger pirate danced around the attack. The sudden movement caused the man to slip forward and Louis decided to use some of the techniques he had tried to pick up from his crew. Aiming for the spot that Violet usually did with her iron knuckle studded gloves, he dug his fist into his opponent’s chest, cracking a rib. Soon he backstepped, changing towards Marlon’s stance of being well balanced with defense and offense, but leaned into a sturdy defense like Brody held. He carefully studied the captain’s movements, wanting to spot his weaknesses and exploit them the way that Aasim always did during his fights.

It took some time, precious time in which Louis worried his energy would flag and fail him, but at last he spotted the pattern the captain fought in. Louis cautiously backstepped, taking a page from Omar’s patient fighting style. He slowly dodged and parried each strike until he saw the shift in the man’s right leg. Not wanting to miss the moment, Louis feigned an attack, forcing the man to put all of his strength into a counterattack that would miss before he kicked out the man’s right leg once more and sent the hilt of his rapier crashing against the side of his head. With a loud thud the captain collapsed onto the ground. The pirate crowd grew silent as Louis’ chest heaved until suddenly a proud voice started to cheer.

“WOOO! That’s our captain!” AJ cheered, doing his signature happy dance. His sudden outburst made the other members of the crew cheer and holler, filling the entire arena with the overwhelming volume of their voices.

Louis took a shaky breath then grinned at his crew, thrusting his arm that held the rapier into the air. The action gained more cheers as the pirate audience applauded a fight well won. Louis’ eyes were entirely focused on his crew though, noticing how happy and proud they were of him. He returned their kindness with a bright smile then looked over towards Nurgul. “You’re free,”

[hoyaanae]

The beautiful dialogue of Lovely Us

Ep 01

"Once people become parents, their memory begins to become biased. They always remember they are their children's most reliable parents, but often forget that they are also children loved by their own parents. When they are waiting for their children to come back home, they forget that their own parents are also waiting for their return in a similar mood."

"When I'm absent from the concert, my idol won't know or feel sad. But when I don't go back to accompany my mom to celebrate her birthday, she'll know it. I don't want to make her sad."

Ep 02

"A lot of things are good at hide and seek - the old scarf I bought last year, the new eraser, Mom's favorite sewing needle, and a feeling of heartbeat for someone. We try to find them, but in vain. Then when we give it up, they just appear somewhere unexpected - on the back of the chair, in the book, in the cotton thread, and behind my back.

Human heart beats 60 to 100 times per minute on average. That day, I failed to count my heartbeat per minute. Even the water droplets falling from the umbrella were disrupted together with me. The joy, the thrill and the butterfly in the stomach converged into the restless heartbeats. On this raining day, a girl's heart beat 101 times in a minute."

Ep 03

"Huang Chengzi, why is the starry sky beautiful? Do you think it is because of the brightest star? Of course, everyone might say "Look, the Venus" while pointing at the brightest one. However, for those stars shining together and forming the Big Dipper and Orion, don't they look beautiful? They cannot be described as a foil. Anyway, I think some stars that keep shining might be more beautiful than the brightest one however dark they are."

Ep 07

"The audio frequency of the sound when a snowflake falls on the water surface is over 50,000 Hz. Because it falls beyond human beings' hearing range, this snowy day is still so quiet that it seems I can only hear my own heartbeat and that it seems there is only me and the person in front of me on this planet with a population of 6.6 billion. I hope this world can be noiser so that I can pretend that I've never discovered this secret."

"Do you have such a feeling? People around you always tell you that you are already standing on the top of the mountain, but when clouds and mist scatter, you find there is another higher peak waiting for you. After going out, I've found there are so many people who work harder and are more excellent than me. It's just like in an originally easy marathon race, I suddenly find all the people around are sprinting. So, I must run faster. Otherwise, others will surpass me. I'm a little bit out of breath."

"At the age of 17, we all have our own secrets. We are trying to hide those secrets, but they are still going to be discovered. We are unwilling to admit those secrets, but the more we conceal them, the more conspicuous they become. We are very clear about those secrets, but eventually, we are still willing to turn them into memories. And these secrets that cannot be told, are found so similar to each other after a long time. It turns out they are all about unexpected feelings for someone."

Ep 08

"I've always been content with what I have and I'm in need of nothing. I can remember what I read and I'm surrounded by nice people. My life has always been smooth and I thought the life that had been planned was not bad for me. Just like a sailing ship, with enough food, I didn't look forward to rains and storms. I just wanted to follow the prescribed route and go back fo the safe zone of the harbor in the end. That was my perfect ending. But from the very beginning, you've been determined to brave the storm and to see the bigger world. Wind and rain can't knock you down and the waves can't overturn you. You've shown me a life course that's completely different from mine. So, since her dream is to explore this world, I just can't let her go through it alone. Zhu Jinxiao, I like you."

"At the age of 17, the first habit developed by boys is to hide their affections. They think that the probability is just 0.01, so they put on the emperor's new clothes, trying to hide their affections with magic. But affections are not that easy to hide. Even if the probability is pretty low, it will be revealed at a certain moment. So on that rainy night, while looking at her back, he found that the most obvious evidence of falling in love with her was the feeling of easement in his heart and the smile on his face when he looked at her."

Ep 09

"In the past, we always felt a year with 365 days was exceedingly long, but only when it comes to this moment do we understand that we become one year older all of a sudden. The significance of spending the Spring Festival, extending from ancient times to the present, is shining brightly like fireworks, giving us the courage to heal each other many times. And then we can have a new start. It doesn't matter that you can't eat steaming hot dishes. It doesn't matter that you perhaps don't know the secret hidden in the couplet. It doesn't matter that you listen to your grandma's nagging sometimes. Even if it takes too long on the way back, as long as there are people we care about, we won't be lonely. We will return to the home we are familiar with."

Ep 10

"Actually we never forget the happy hours with our parents in childhood. Maybe the so-called alienation is because we walk so fast while our parents are staying where they are. One meter, a hundred meters, a kilometer. The distance becomes farther and farther until we can't hear them calling us. That's why we mistakenly think love is silent. So while we are confused, our parents feel the same too. They are confused about how they can give us their deep love in a smart manner."

"Those who love hiding their feelings most in this world are fathers. They hide their inarticulate concerns in warm lights. In every precious certificate of merit, they put their unmentionable encouragement. Besides, there are many silent surprises they carefully arrange in every day when we are marching to the future. They firmly care about us with such silent fathers' love, and we firmly love them."

Ep 11

"We think that many things and many people in this world can wait til tomorrow. So when you pause it or when you turn around, you think that everything will still be the same tomorrow, or you won't even realize this hope in your mind, because you think tomorrow should be the same as today. And you think nothing will change as time flies by. But this time, the moment you let go and turned around, some things completely changed. The sun went down and before it rises again, some people will leave you forever. We always thought that there would be a big ceremony to say goodbye, so we keep waiting for a warm hug, a refreshing drink, and a heartfelt goodbye. But in the end, we realized that most goodbyes in our lives are all silent."

Ep 12

"At that silent corner in my mind, there are a number of weird illusions. For example, can I become Alice who enters the wonderland with White Rabbit? For example, can I become the little girl who enters the forest with Totoro? For example, is there some special switch in this box which can teleport me? No, none of them exist. There's no flying dragons or knights, and I'm not the heroine of some comics for girls, either. However, the only thing I'm sure about is that this escape greatly shocks my world. My palms would sweat, and my sight would be indistinct. Then my view becomes narrower and narrower until there's room for only one person in my eyes. After a long time, I know such a moment is named adventure, in which the one in your eyes is irreplaceable."

Ep 13

"In the summer of 2008, in retrospect, the most impressive thing may not be the world-famous Olympic Games, but the silly things we did because we were fearless. What is shining and unexpected is everything that is closely related to friendship. We wanted to pick the brightest stars and make the most beautiful wishes, so we became the bravest boys and girls. While crying and laughing, with the bond between each other, toward the most beautiful end of youth, we keep running all the way and never stop."

"The familiar chirping of cicadas on summer nights, the familiar bear doll who must lean by the lamb, the familiar lovely girl who frowns even when she sleeps, and the 17-year-old time wrapped by the sense of familiarity never seem to have changed. The only difference is that when I look at the familiar him, I feel a flurry and uneasiness that I have never expected."

Ep 14

"That night, it was the first time I found there's magic hidden in my mom's smile. Those feelings between adults and children which I thought are hard to express in words don't have to be spoken out. They can be understood through her smile. Indeed, adults don't often say I love you, and seldom say sorry. But it doesn't matter. Action speaks louder than explanation. There's no need to express deep feelings in words. If you stand there quietly, you can automatically receive all their love for you."

"There are many new days like today. Today, he holds my hand. Today, he holds me in his arms. Today, he carries me on his back and runs in the street in the early morning. Many days with him like today will eventually become my unforgettable past days. I'll remember days like today for a long time."

Ep 15

"In the last hundred days, I heard countless times "Hurry up to walk! Hurry up to eat! Hurry up to take the notes! And hurry up to go to the toilet." But it's strange. When you try to seize time by the forelock, it goes faster. Then after the exams, we graduated."

"I just want to be an ordinary person. I'll live on a small fruit stand in the future or continue your small shop, which makes me happy. This is life. It's my own choice and I will bear the results. Different people have different dreams. Let those extraordinary people be extraordinary. I just want to be a happy and ordinary person."

"Friendship means so much to us. It brings us close, and makes me flinch, so sometimes we just tell ourselves that as long as we're together, I can be just a friend of hers. But the taxi that I failed to catch, the phone calls that have been hung up, the time that's flying and my restless heart are telling me eagerly that in this world, both love and friendship are important. Every detail related to you is reminding me that we can't be just friends. So when it's still not too late, I have to tell you the things that I want to tell you as soon as possible. Huang Chengzi, I like you."

Ep 16

"In this world, it seems like all wishes have a guardian. Wishing wells, shooting stars, the aquarium's white whale. They're all hiding in the corners of the universe caressing the sorrow of loving someone alone. It's just that the god of happiness can't bless everyone out there. They let some people be happy and their wishes come true, and let some be sad, but they can't admit how sad they really are. The feeling of being in love is like a butterfly gently flapping its wings, that stirs up a hurricane in people's hearts. The second you realize it, then there's no escape."

"That's you when you're happy. And that's you when you're mad. Over there is the jealous you, and you when you're being naughty and pretending to cry. I was just going to draw one to start with, but every expression you have is floating around in my head, and I really love every single one of them."

"I've never been afraid of growing up. And I've never worried that growing up would be lonely. Not because I'm so strong, but because I have faith that I will never be alone. The guy who held my hand will continue to grow up closely together with me. The guy who's in my diary and I in his, will exchange even more secrets in the future. All of us have walked together through the years and will continue to walk together farther into the future. This world never lets lovely people down, and we are all lovely."

[maria-scribbles]

glitter + crimson (let’s start a riot)//part one

“and that’s sailor, our resident mermaid, shell collector, surfer chick, and all-around ray of sunshine. she’s always down for a kegger at the boneyard so she can show off her dance moves; they’re not the best but she doesn’t let that stop her from getting down. her mom owns the surf shop on the beach, that’s how jj and i met her when we bought our first boards when we were ten. she’s been part of the crew ever since.” ~john b routledge

pogue sailor flynn just wants to have a great time with her friends this summer and try to ignore the fact that her flight-risk dad took off again to gamble his life (and her family's savings) away in atlantic city, leaving her with a mom who doesn't know how to cope. between surfing at the beach and cruising around on the hms pogue for hours, it's easy to keep her mind off her shitty home life. what isn't so easy though, is trying to deny her feelings for her best friend, jj.

summary: the pogues hit the beach for a day of sand, surf, and shells. sailor commandeers a hat, willingly participates in cardio, makes bank, and has a heart-to-heart with jj.

word count: 4k+ 

ship: jj maybank x oc (sailor flynn) 

warnings: mentions of abuse/neglect/parental abandonment, swearing, fluff, a lot of flirting 

a/n: hi there! i’ve had this little plot bunny in my head for a few weeks now and it wouldn’t leave me alone so here we are! this is the first piece of writing i’ve posted in a very long time so i apologize in advance if it’s terrible. i’m planning on this whole thing being at least eight to ten parts so get ready for the long haul! i actually split this into two parts cause my word count was insane and way too long for one post lmao. let me know what you guys think! title comes from “glitter & crimson” by all time low. also this is unbetaed, so i apologize for any mistakes.

another quick thing: i tried writing this with sailor as an unnamed or y/n reader but it just wasn’t the best. i adore fleshing out characters and i had so many good ideas for her backstory and personality that she kind of just wrote herself and i went with it. i hope you all enjoy reading about sailor as much as i enjoyed writing her!

~Masterlist~

part two | part three | part four | playlist

gif credit goes to @heapass​

part one: catching waves

The beach has always been special to Sailor; the soothing crash of waves against the shore, the warmth of sand under her feet, the comforting feeling of salt drying on her skin. It’s where her mother taught her to surf, where her father taught her to dive, where her friends taught her that family didn’t always mean having shared blood. It’s her home, her place, her safe haven. Nothing is more perfect than a day at the beach with the pogues, her board, and a bucket for shells. 

Today is shaping up to be one of those days. The weather’s balmy, the water’s clear, and most importantly, she hasn’t seen these many perfect shells in quite awhile. Sailor reaches out and grabs the delicate golden scotch bonnet from the ocean floor, inspecting it closely for any cracks or holes. When she finds none, she smiles and runs her fingers over its smooth surface, marveling at the way the sun’s rays filter through the water and make the entire shell shine brilliantly. Although she sells most of the shells she finds at her mom’s surf shop (or gifts them to her friends), this one’s going to be proudly displayed on the shelf in her room. 

She scans the sand for her next target before pushing off from the floor and heading to the surface where Kiara floats on her board, legs dangling in the water as she watches the rest of their group surf. 

“Kie, check this out! It’s a scotch bonnet!” She exclaims, placing the shell beside the half full bucket in front of her friend. Resting both arms on the board, she lets herself take a quick breather as the other girl gently picks up her treasure and turns it over in her hands. 

“Holy shit, how do you always find the good ones?” She asks, gently putting it into the bucket with the others as Sailor shrugs, tucking a wet strand of red hair behind her ear. 

“You guys always say I’m part mermaid, so...” Kiara rolls her eyes and splashes her friend, who just laughs. “Are you done now? We can’t let the guys have all the fun.” 

“Almost, there’s a gorgeous whelk down there that I have to have. Be right back!”

She dives before the dark haired girl can reply, swimming down twenty feet to where she spotted the shell. When she was younger, she used to find the pressure on her ears a bit painful but now she hardly notices, instead focusing on the muffled sound of the waves above. Down here it’s just her and the water: peaceful, quiet, and oh so beautiful, infinitely stretching out in front of her. It used to scare her, the vastness of the deep ocean, the secrets lurking in its depths, the unknown. Now, it brings her comfort. Inspiration. Hope.

She plucks the shell from the sand and heads back the the surface, where three more boards have joined Kiara’s. She swims straight under Pope’s, knowing he’s the most ticklish of the group, and runs the tip of the whelk along the sole of his foot. His yell is so loud she can hear it clear as day under the water and she laughs bubbles as his board wobbles before he topples over with a splash. The other three are still laughing as she surfaces beside her fallen friend and feigns shock.

“What happened? Did he touch a fish again?”

“Oh ha fucking ha. So funny.” Pope deadpans but he’s smiling as Sailor holds his board steady so he can climb back on. “I’m surprised you actually touched my foot, Miss Feet Are Disgusting.”

“First off, smelly, dirty feet are gross. And second, I didn’t,” She replies, pulling herself onto JJ’s board without warning and laughing as he nearly falls off just as Pope had. She sticks her tongue out at him as he shoots her a mock glare and shifts closer to he for balance, their knees knocking together.

“This did, here.” She holds the shell out to Pope, who inspects it like Kiara had done earlier and nods in approval before passing it off to John B.

“It’s...nice, right? It’s a good one?” He asks as he hands it over to Kiara. She meets Sailor’s eyes and shakes her head, mouthing ‘boys’ while carefully placing the whelk in the bucket.

“Seriously, JB-”

“Whoa, wait! I don’t get to see it?” JJ pouts, crossing his arms over his chest and Sailor fixes him with a flat look.

“I seem to remember that you, like a damn child, dropped and broke the last one I let you hold.”

John B laughs so hard he nearly falls off his board while Pope and Kiara glance at each other and hide matching snickers behind their hands. JJ has the decency to look embarrassed as he pleads with her and she tells herself that the slight flush creeping up the back of his neck is just from too much time in the sun, nothing more.

“Hey, I said I was sorry for that and I meant it! I swear I’ll be more careful, please, Sail?”

Trying her best to ignore the little thrill she feels at the sound of her nickname coming from his mouth, she relents with a sigh, “Fine, on one condition.”

He looks at her expectantly as she holds up one finger and points at the black hat turned backwards on his head.

“Gimme that, I can feel my scalp burning as we speak.”

“Holy shit, you’re such a fucking ginger,” He laughs but pulls the cap off anyway, running a hand through his blond hair before fixing it on her head properly, the bill facing forward and giving her eyes a much needed break from the bright summer sun. She only hopes her face feels hot as he lays one hand on her knee and holds the other out to Kiara, palm up. “Fork it over, Kie.”

Kiara hands it to him with a roll of her eyes and then fixes Sailor with a pointed look that the redhead pretends not to see; instead, she watches JJ carefully turn the shell over in his hand before holding it aloft, like Rafiki held Simba in The Lion King.

“Listen up, class- especially you,” He says, the hand resting against her leg pointing at John B, who looks affronted at being called out, much to the amusement of the rest of the group, “This here is a lightning whelk and yes, JB, as a matter of fact, it’s a great one. No holes, minimal damage, and defined markings. Ten out of ten would recommend.”

He passes the shell to Kiara with a satisfied grin as everyone sits in stunned silence, just bobbing up and down with the waves until Pope finally says, “Damn. Better watch out, Sailor! We’ve got a new shell expert in town.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so. I’m not giving up the crown that easily.” As the others burst into laughter, she turns to JJ and pokes him in the side, asking, “Since when you know so much?”

The look he gives her is all mock offense, but his blue eyes are soft as he says, “I always listen when you talk, you know.”

His answer catches her so off-guard that she tries and fails to form a coherent reply as her face flushes before settling on giving him a sweet smile, which he returns with a playful tug on one of the tiny braids in her hair. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Kiara staring at them with a devious smirk on her face and she knows she’ll be hearing about this later.

“Enough shell talk- no offense, Sail,” John B says, steering his board toward the waves. “We’ve got surfing to do.”

Sailor waves her hand dismissively then reaches over and grabs the bucket from Kiara. “None taken, I’m just gonna drop these off at the shop real quick and I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll go with,” JJ says, popping up onto his knees and turning his board toward the shore. “After all,” He yells toward the rest of the pogues over his shoulder, “you guys need all the practice you can get!” He winks at Sailor and she laughs as she turns to face forward, pulling her legs onto the board and placing the bucket in her lap while the other three flip him off in perfect unison.

The two teenagers paddle toward the beach together and catch a small wave that shoots them straight to shore. JJ holds the board steady as she hops off and then touches his shoulder in thanks before they walk toward where Sailor’s own board is propped in the warm sand with their things. She puts the bucket down and kneels beside it, carefully digging through the haul to find the scotch bonnet.

“There you are, gorgeous.”

“I didn’t go anywhere, babe.”

She snorts at JJ’s quip but doesn’t give him the satisfaction of looking up from wrapping the shell in a small towel and placing it in her backpack (she does blush though, and hopes he doesn’t notice.). As she stands to pull on her shorts, the redhead can’t help but glance at the lightning whelk, sitting pretty in the sand where she put it while looking for the bonnet. It really is beautiful, a ten out of ten as JJ put it, and damn it, she just can’t let it go to some touron who won’t appreciate it. So before she can change her mind, she kneels again to wrap it in another towel and gently nestles it alongside the other shell.

“Chop chop, time’s a wastin.’“ He says, grabbing the bucket with one hand and holding the other out to her; she rolls her eyes but takes it anyway and lets him pull her to her feet, muttering, “Jesus, you’re impatient.”

“It’s all part of the charm. Come on, race ya!” After a quick squeeze to her hand, he drops it and takes off running toward the shop without warning, leaving Sailor scrambling to catch up as she yells, “If you break those shells you’re buying them, Maybank!”

The duo weaves through the crowd of tourons and natives alike, ignoring the dirty looks thrown their way as they run by, kicking sand up in their wake. Fifty feet ahead stands The Sandbar Surf Shop in all its salt-weathered, sun-bleached glory, all but two of the rental boards gone from the stand out front. Alison sits on a stool with one of them on her lap as she waxes it, the boom box resting on the floor beside her blasting The Beach Boys as usual. She looks up in surprise as Sailor bounds onto the deck and slaps her hand against the shop’s door a few seconds before JJ does, both teenagers out of breath.

“Sweet victory!” The redhead shouts, sending a quick wave toward Alison, who returns it with an amused smile and watches the blond roll his eyes, holding the shell bucket close to his chest like a football.

“Victory my ass! I saw you jump over that cooler and that’s cheating.”

“Oh, I cheated? Who gave himself a head start? Oh yeah, you!”

Alison returns the now waxed board to the rack and wipes her hands on a spare rag. “Sounds like you both cheated, so no one wins.” She says with a shrug, chuckling to herself as they both stutter excuses and follow the older redheaded girl into the shop, empty sans for a young boy browsing the display of shells.

“I’ll get your mom.” She says to Sailor before heading through the beaded curtain to the back room and she’s grateful. She doesn’t think she has the strength to go back there anymore.

“I was carrying extra weight,” JJ says, placing the bucket onto the old surfboard-turned-counter and then leaning his back against it, “so I think the head start was justified.”

Sailor props her chin in her hand and drums her fingers along the board’s worn surface, her eyebrow raised. “And I think my jump was justified considering I had some ground to make up from that head start so...”

“Agree to disagree.” They say together, sharing a quick smile before he picks a pair of heart shaped glasses from the stand and puts them on, looking at her over the neon pink frames as he asks in a high-pitched British accent, “What do you think, darling? Too much?”

“No, I think they’re quite dashing!” She bursts out laughing as he strikes a vogue pose, then spins and dramatically leans back against the counter. “Rock that pink.”

“Hell yeah, fuck gender norms!” He says loudly, both middle fingers raised toward the roof.

“In this house, we stan non-toxic masculinity-” she starts, but she’s interrupted by a stern voice from behind the counter that says, “If you’re not going to buy those, put ‘em back, kid.”

Sailor’s mother sweeps into view and stares pointedly at JJ, who hastily stands up straight and returns the glasses to their place on the display as Alison silently heads back outside, shooting both teens a small, awkward smile.

“Sorry, Mrs. Flynn.”

Sailor wants to tell him there’s nothing to apologize for, that he did nothing wrong, but she knows he already knows that, so instead she just scoots a little closer and presses her hip against his. His hand moves to rest on her lower back in thanks and her whole body feels the sparks from his touch.

“I-I found some good ones today, Mom.” She says, pulling shells from the bucket one by one and lining them up on the counter. “A few coquinas, some scallops, a whelk or two...”

She trails off when Carmen doesn’t respond and looks down at her hands, twisting her fingers together anxiously as her mother inspects each shell. her face blank. JJ’s thumb starts to run tiny circles on her back and she concentrates on the feel of his ring, warm and soothing against her bare skin, instead of the fact that her mother hasn’t even glanced her way yet. She hasn’t looked her in the eye in almost three months.

The silence is thick in the air until Carmen finishes her evaluation and gives a small nod in her daughter’s direction. “Good job.” She says, heading to the register and pulling out some cash before counting out five twenties and holding them out to Sailor, her eyes fixed on a point somewhere over the teenager’s shoulder. She swallows thickly and takes the money with a near inaudible thank you, slipping it into her back pocket before grabbing the now empty bucket and nudging JJ toward the door with her hip.

As she’s about to cross the threshold she pauses with one hand on the door frame and turns back, asking, “Hey, Mom? Are...are you gonna come home tonight?”

Carmen’s brown eyes only meet her green ones for a split second before she looks away to fiddle with the register and Sailor can’t help feeling the dull stab of disappointment as she says, “Oh, um, I don’t think so. I’m pretty busy here with, uh, inventory, bookkeeping...”

(That stab used to be sharp as a knife, cutting her to the bone, but she’s almost gotten used to the pain.)

“Oh, right. Just...text me if you do, okay?” She takes one last look at her mother, bathed in the cool shadows of the shop that’s tearing her apart before turning and stepping back into the bright sunlight without another word, her throat tight. She’s not sure Carmen was even listening anymore.

“See ya later, brat.” Alison calls to her as she lets the screen door swing shut behind her with a slight bang. The older girl may not be related to her by blood but she’s most definitely Sailor’s honorary big sister, having babysat her for years in addition to working at the shop, so she waves to her with a small smile and a “bye, ho” before joining JJ on the beach.

The duo slowly starts walking along the water together, a stark contrast from their earlier mad dash and Sailor’s mind races with a million thoughts, most of them her hating herself for foolishly putting a scrap of faith in her mom once again.

“Whoa, you okay? That bucket’s not going anywhere, promise.” He says, pulling them to a stop with a gentle tug on her elbow and reaching down to take it from her clenched hand. She doesn’t even realize she was holding it that hard until she sees the little half moons pressed into her palm from her nails and she sighs, rubbing them away with her thumb.

Opening up has always been something Sailor struggles with, even with a friend group as close as the pogues. She’s the one who’s all sunshine and good vibes, the one everyone goes to for cheering up, the one that’s always...happy. She’s the friend who listens, the open ear, the trusted confidante. She knows all her friends struggles: John B’s fear of being abandoned that often keeps him up at night, Kiara’s terrible guilt over leaving her friends behind during her kook year, Pope’s feeling of drowning under his dad’s impossible expectations, JJ’s abusive household that has him convinced he’s not worthy of love. Every secret she holds close to her heart, guarding them with impenetrable walls that no one can break through.

The walls protecting her own secrets, though? They may be strong around the others but they crumble like sand when she’s alone with the boy standing beside her, his hand still holding her elbow as he starts drawing circles on her skin once again. Talking to JJ has always come easy to her, almost infuriatingly so, and she has no qualms about calling him her best friend. While the other pogues know she’s been having some problems at home with her flight-risk dad and indifferent mom, none of them know almost the full story like he does, just as none of them know exactly how horrible his father really is.

(She knows. She’s seen the aftermath far too often and has been there each time, cleaning cuts, soothing bruises, holding him in her arms and never wanting to let him go.)

“I just...don’t know what to do anymore.” She can feel him watching her as she talks and she avoids his gaze like her mother avoided hers, instead staring out at the ocean. In the distance, she sees one of their friends -Kiara, she thinks- drop in on a wave while the other two look on a little further away. “She won’t even look at me and I don’t know what I did wrong.”

“Hey, it’s not you, got it? God, you’re...perfect, Sail.” JJ says softly, so soft that the crashing surf nearly drowns the sound of his voice as the water washes over their bare feet. Sailor curses the fact that she blushes so easily because her whole face is on fire at his words, and she’s so distracted that she almost misses what he says next.

“Your mom’s always, uh, weird when your dad dips. It’ll be better when he comes back.”

Her heart clenches in her chest. If only it were that simple. She turns to face him and meets his eyes, blue as the ocean, open and honest, and sends him a smile that lacks its usual brightness. “I think you might be right, J. For once.”

His thumb stills on the crook of her elbow and she knows he knows she’s not telling him everything. She feels like she should say something, anything- apologize, explain herself, just tell him the damn truth- but before she can even open her mouth he says, “Listen, I get it.”

She can feel the hand on her arm start to slip away and she grabs it between both of hers, her voice tight as she says, “No, you listen. Today’s been...so perfect and I don’t wanna bring everyone down with my problems.”

“You know they won’t mind.”

(She does, but that’s beside the point.)

“I know they won’t, but I do.”

It’s her turn to run her thumb in circles on the back of his hand now as she continues, “I’ll tell you everything later, okay?”

“You don’t have to-” He starts but she smiles, genuine and bright this time, and cuts him off.

“I want to, J. And I will, promise.” Like a child, she holds her pinky out expectantly. He quickly glances down at her hand and then meets her eyes again before finally returning her smile, showing off that dimple that makes her heart skip a beat, and hooking his finger around hers.

“Come on, we’ve got waves to catch and friends to show up.” He says and just like that they’re back to normal. Sailor’s hyper aware of the fact that her pinky is still linked with JJ’s, but he doesn’t pull away as they start walking back to their things again and she can’t help but hold on a little tighter. She doesn’t think he notices until he walks a little closer, his shoulder brushing hers; out of the corner of her eye, she sees him smile and feels herself mirroring him without a thought, her cheeks turning as red as her hair.

Talking with him may be the easiest thing to do for her, but flirting comes in a close second. It’s natural: the teasing, the casual touches, and especially the clothes stealing (a good fifth of her sweatshirts probably actually belong to him). He’s the biggest flirt she knows, with that bad boy swagger and killer smile that make all the giggling touron girls fall over themselves to get to him. She tells herself it’s fine, that she’s so not jealous, when he dances with them at keggers on the beach, whispering things in their ears that make them blush, taking their hands and leading them away to dark corners or the spare room at the Chateau. After all, there’s the one golden rule of their group: no pogue on pogue macking, so friends is all they’ll ever be, all they can be.

She tells herself she’s fine with it, really. Being his friend is better than being nothing at all, and she wouldn’t trade his friendship for the world. Deep down though, she’d give anything to kiss him again -the first time was when she was eleven and JJ had just turned twelve, awkward yet sweet, the day she first saw the full extent of his dad’s abuse- but she holds herself back, unwilling to ruin the relationship that means so much to her. And sometimes, like now, she thinks (hopes) that he’s holding back, too.

Their pinkies linger together when they come to a stop at their things, both holding on just a bit longer than what’s considered friendly before their hands drop away. Sailor feels his eyes on her as she pulls off her shorts, money still in the back pocket, and stuffs them in her bag.

(So she just might’ve taken them off a little bit -okay, a lot- slower because he was watching, sue her.)

“I hope you know this is mine, now.” She points to his hat before freeing her board from the sand and waiting for him to do the same, hand on her hip.

“It looks better on you, anyway. Here,” He says, taking a step closer and reaching up with one hand to turn the cap backwards. “Don’t want you to lose it.” His finger brushes along her jaw when he drops his arm and she feels her breath catch as she replies, “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

JJ smiles at that, then nods toward the waves. “Race ya? I’ll play fair this time.”

“Nah, but I’m glad you can admit that you cheated!” She says, pausing for a second to laugh at the way his jaw drops before she takes off running and leaves him hurrying to catch up. “I’m proud of you!”

“I changed my mind, I want my hat back now, Flynn!” He yells after her and she just laughs harder as they splash into the ocean.

-

tagging some of my fave writers ❤: @pogue-writings​ @o-b-x​ @jjbabyouterbanks​ @heywards​ @obxsummer​ @jjmaybanky​

let me know what you think!

[heckinhacker]

Talon x Reader - Valentine’s special day.

word count: 1,701 requested: yes but no! It was exchange fanfic for Jinx skin! Thank you baby @semi-creative​, you saved us all with this great idea of fic- warnings: there’s one. I think I have everything written in gender neutral reader, but if I slipped some pronouns then I’m sorryyy-- another warning is I AM SORRY IF I FUCKED UP SOBS SOBS

A/N: I wanted to tag artist of this precious gem but I dunno! I searched and never found TAT 

Due to writer’s block I didn’t managed to write it for valentines! Sorry ;-;

You were slightly afraid of asking Talon WHY exactly were you sailing to Ionia together. Not like Talon was a big fan of the island, so what was the matter with him? You looked at the back of his head, as sea wind played with Talon’s bronze locks. You gulped loudly, cleared your throat and stood beside him. gazing away into neverending sea and sky. Amazing how both blues perfectly blended with each other but they didn’t at the same time.

- Talon…

- Hm? - he answered with a hum, like he almost always does.

- Are you dying or something? I mean- I know you hate doing something you hate for someone, and I KNOW you love me but still, no sacrifices needed. I wanted to see Ionia, but I don’t understand the dedication…

- What? No. I’m not dying, [Y/N].

- Then what’s the matter?

- Stop being inquisitive. 

- Ah- Okay, okay. Sorry, babe.

- Hmh. 

Smooth as sandpaper, Talon. Good job. You were a bit awkward by now, you just felt like you somehow angered your mysterious boyfriend, but in reality...he was the one who poked his nerve. Here he is, going to island he can’t give two shits for with dedication for you and this stupid “love-dove holiday” he really despised it, but for you...he can bare it. Or so he thought, now he was a glitter dick.

- I’m just tired, traveling is exhausting. 

- I know, Talon.

- Don’t be awkward because of me, you know me.

- I do, Talon. Don’t overthink that, I’ll be good in a second. 

- I’m sorry.

Now [Y/N].exe has stopped working. Did he really apologise? Maybe he’s really dying. You didn’t asked further, just laughed and squeezed his hand, looking at clouds and birds flying in between them. You were thankful he was here with you, no matter how grumpy he is or not.

When you noticed land with big Noxian flag dancing on the wind, you sighed with relief. Good thing sailing part is almost over. You grinned, looking beside you to steal a glance at your boyfriend. This time Talon was sleeping soundly on some chair.  You were surprised he managed to really drift off, since his trust to other people is almost nonexistent, and it’s like staying unarmed on opened field. You were glad that Talon trusted you enough with his life that he could take a nap outside his or your house. 

- Talon, I think we’re almost there. - you lightly tugged his shoulder to wake him up, and he did right away, giving time to his poor eyes to adjust to natural light greeting him right away. 

- Okay, I’m awake, I’m awake…

- Was your nap good?

- Nap as nap, nothing special.

- Good you didn’t had nightmares~ 

- Hmh. 

He stood up, leaning down on boat’s edge, looking down into water instead of land awaiting both of you. It didn’t take much time to sail to Noxian’s colony, placed in Ionian territory. It was great to feel steady ground with your feet again, you grinned making a few first steps as you held Talon’s hand, looking around. Even though there’s a lot of “Noxus aura”, it still looked much different than your homeland. It’s much more colorful. You were curious inside how does it look like even deeper into the island. You were sure that option is out of plan, but boy you were soooo wrong. At first you were one leading the way, but Talon quickly made his way to some kind of woods close to Noxian camp. He had everything planned, after all. He pulled out of this big bag he was carrying around a pile of clothes, handing them to you. 

- We need to dress up.

- I didn’t said anything earlier, but...what are we doing?

- Can’t a man try to surprise his partner with something?

- I must admit this whole trip is a big surprise and mystery to mee…

- Good. Now dress up. 

- Right here? Now???

- Yeah, when do you want to dress up? 

- I don’t understanddd…

- Do it, or we’re heading back.

- Okay, okay! Don’t get impatient! 

You did as he asked. You kinda hoped that Talon would steal a glance while you changed your clothes to Ionian styled ones.Talon was sitting with his back facing you, disguising himself as normal Ionian civilian.  Now your gears started to tick together - you actually WERE going deeper into Ionia! You couldn’t help but to grin way too widely. 

- So, what’s the plan?

- Now we’re walking to the closest town. 

- And then?

- You’ll see, [Y/N]. I can tell you that you’ll like what is going to happen. 

- Oh. Okay, I’ll take your word for that.~

Most of your walk was quiet, but that’s not a big surprise due to Talon being serious and not so talkative type. When you said something, he mostly hummed in understanding or commented something on topic. 

Streets of Ionia was way something else than Noxus. Here people laugh happily, talk, are nice to each other...It almost looked like magic for you. Talon looked like he didn’t gave two shits, but as long as you’re happy...well, whatever. 

- Stay close, [Y/N]... - he held your hand, making sure you’re still here. Just to make sure you don’t get lost. 

- I’m not a child, Talon! But fine. - not like you mind holding hands with him.

- We’re almost there.

- Where?

- Almost, [Y/N]. You’ll understand in a moment. 

- Meanie. 

When he suddenly stopped walking and looked at big logo of the most popular bakery of Ionia. He knew that you’ve heard about this place before, but it didn’t stopped him of taking you there anyway. Maybe you heard, but you never tried anything sweet from here. So, that’s your chance.  At first, you couldn’t believe your own eyes. You blinked a few times, rubbed your eyes and looked at the logo, then at Talon with disbelief. 

- Talon, I…

- No, don’t embarrass me even more. Let’s just go in…

- ...Thank you...

You walked in, as he wanted to. Insides of this bakery were so well decorated! And the smell of sweets in the air! It was pure and sweet for you. Talon, on the other hand, had a face like he was up to puke. Too much sweetness for his lungs. You can do it Talon!! He leads you to the table which is a bit moved away from other tables, since other couples were sitting here too, since, you know! Valentines Day! 

When you sat down, looking at each other, you could spot a slight blush on Talon’s manly features. You smiled genuinely at him, placing your hand on his. He shifted up, wanting to take his hand away, but then sighed deeply and let you hold his hand like that. You were patient enough with Talon, his uneasiness was pretty much normal, he loved you and you knew it, but his character is making everything worse. You understand and you want to be with him through that. 

- You can...pick whatever you want, how much you want. I’ll pay for that.

- We can share, Talon, that’s no-

- I said I’ll pay. Let me.

- Talon… 

- I’m bad enough lover, let me at least do that.

- No, you’re not! Don’t be harsh on yourself, you just are like that and-! And…

- And that sucks. You know you deserve much better. 

- I don’t. Even if I do, I don’t want any better. I love you, you know that. I know that you love me too, emotions are just hard for you. You thought about me today! I don’t know what the occasion is, today’s not my birthday, so-

- Valentines.

- Wha-

- Today is Valentine’s Day. 

- ...Oh! Really? I was one hundred percent sure you’ll forget about this, so I did!

- But I remembered. 

- That’s cute...And you remembered my wishes of visiting Ionia and this bakery! You’re the best, baby…  

- Humph. I’m trying…- he admitted quietly. 

- I know, babe. 

Talon looked down awkwardly, wondering what to say to you right now. He thought about what exactly to say when you both get there, but now his words are stuck in his throat. He wanted to tell you he’ll change, he’ll be more open to you, he’ll show you how much he adores you, but now he can’t get out any words. He got angry at himself. He only sighed and stood up. 

- I’ll buy you some cake for a start, later you’ll pick something. 

- Alright! 

He went away to lady behind counter, asked for your favourite piece of cake. He got black coffee for himself, no sugar, no milk. Bitter, just the way he likes it. He placed a cake in front of you and sat down, taking a sip of his coffee. 

Then - silence. 

Since it was hard to bare with this kind of quietness, you decided to start a conversation, again.

- So, about our being here now...do we stay somewhere to sleep, or we’ll travel back to...home? 

- We’ll stay, we travelled long enough. I have some place we can stay overnight. 

- Okay, that’s great. 

- Yeah… - and it would seem like conversation is over, but you won’t let it be like that.

- Talon, it seems like you’re holding something back. You want to say something? You know you can be blunt with me, no matter what. Right? 

- I know, it’s just…

- It’s just that honesty about emotions is hard. I know. Just try.

- I...eh. - he sighed, rubbing his nose bridge. - I’m trying. I promised myself I’ll be more open but I’m still...myself.

- And that’s enough.  - you assured him, gently caressing his hand with yours, looking him straight in the eyes with this smile of encouragement. 

Even though Talon is cold son of a bitch, he felt his heart sting a little. You cared so much even though he’s a failure of a boyfriend. Not that he’s self-doubtful, but he sometimes thinks you deserve someone more affectionate. You always assure him that he’s enough, he has no idea how you got feelings for him, but he wishes they would never disappear.  Maybe he didn’t said those thoughts out loud, but his little smile on grumpy features showed everything. 

‘Thank you, [Y/N]. I love you.’