#and snarking and asking all the inconvenient questions from the start

[incomingalbatross]

On the one hand I want to watch Amphibia S3 all together, especially since I have a WIP I've made good progress on.

On the other hand, the Sarah Jane Adventures ♥️

[spookilyjaded]

Scenario drabbles!

Requests

Masterlist

How he asks you out:

Bakugou: Probably at the most inconvenient time; such as the training grounds!

Bakugou watched as you flew through the air, your smile radiating from meters away. You were sparring with Denki who was attempting to dodge your attacks. Kirishima noticed Bakugou staring you down, nudging his shoulder playfully.

 “How’s your little crushy-crush goin’, Bakubro?” He huffs, “Nothing’s changed. Its like she dosen’t even fuckin’ notice me!” Kirishima –Being the only one who he had confided in about his little situation– Understood his frustration. It had been weeks of Bakugou pining and you were somehow oblivious to all his feats. 

“It's okay man! Hey, maybe you just have to be straight up with her, we’ve practically tried everything in the book!” Kirishima huffs in thought. “Hm. Maybe you’re right, shitty hair.” Before Kirishima can react, Bakugou starts to flaunt himself near your spar, gaining both you and Denki’s attention. 

He heads straight towards you, stopping just in front of you. “Bakugou, is everything good-” “Go out with me, nerd.” To say you were stunned was an understatement. You stared at him mouth agape. “Is that a yes or do you just have a staring problem?” His question broke you out of your state of shock. “Wasn’ really a question.” You snark back, crossing your arms. 

He growls with a sigh, “Fine! WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?!” you chuckle, gaining his offended attention. “EH?! Why’re you laughing, idiot?” “Your face is red as hell dude,” You meet his vermilion eyes that were frantically searching for an answer in yours, “Yes.”

Izuku: Would probs overthink it but would want to do it somewhere secluded and safe for any outcome..such as your dorm room!

His palms are a bit sweaty as he stands just outside your dorm room, reciting the exact words he had planned on asking you with. As he began to raise his fist to your door, you opened it. 

“Oh! Hey, Deku. I was just about to head down to the common room, what's up?” he brings his hand down slightly embarrassed. “U-um, could I talk to you about something.. Privately please?” Your eyes widened and you quickly moved out of the way. “Yeah of course, come in!” He closes the door behind him as you lean on your organized desk. “Something wrong?” Worry is laced in your voice as you see him fidget with his fingers subtly. 

“No! No, uh not at all,” ‘This was it’ “I was just wondering if you were free tomorrow and if you’d like to go on a d-date?” His eyes are slightly averted from yours, waiting patiently for your response. He suddenly feels your hand on his shoulder. He looks up to see your smiling face, now inches from his. “I’d enjoy that!”

His eyes glimmered at your answer as he brought you into a warm embrace. After pulling away, he writes down the place and time. “Here. So you know where and when it is!” You take the paper, feeling your grin widen. Soon, he's making his way out of your dorm before curfew hits. As he is halfway out the door, you lean over and press a kiss to his cheek. “See you tomorrow, Izuku!” Last thing you saw was his reddened face as you shut your door.

Mirio: I think that Mirio would bring it up in a Mirio fashion.. Such as a spontaneous date after school and your favorite cafe!

The bell rings as all classes end and the students file out rather quickly to enjoy the weekend. You were on your way out of the building as you heard your name being shouted from afar. Turning around, you see Mirio catching up to you. 

“Hey y/n! Wait up!” A smile graces your face at his determined stature. “Hey, what's up Mirio?” His smile never falters, “The sky! Ha ha! But really, not too much. And actually, I was hoping to change that!” You quirk an eyebrow, “Change it?” A faint blush dusts his cheeks as he rubs the nape of his neck.

“Yeah! With you, if you wanted to of course.” You two usually hung out with Tamaki and Neijire; But alone? “Oh, sure, Mirio! Don’t think I have anything going on later.” His smile turns sheepish. “I mean…right now!” You feel your face heat up at the implication. “Woah uh, yeah actually..lets do it now then! A spontaneous date couldn't hurt!” The words slipped out before you could think. You cover your mouth quickly, profusely apologizing.

“No need to be sorry y/n! You can totally call it that. At Least that's what I'd like to call it.” “Y-yeah! A date.. Sounds sweet actually. Where were you thinking?” His eyes light up, “The cafe that me, you and the others went to last month that had those yummy pastries! I’ve been wanting to try more of their menu recently!”

Your eyes sparkle at the decision. “Oh my gosh, yes! I loved it there.” His confidence heightened immensely, “Awesome, let's head over before the sun falls over the hills!” he grabs your hand, the enthusiasm practically beaming off of him. Maybe the idea of a spontaneous date wasn’t a bad idea after all.

[triforce-of-mischief]

[anon requested a shippy prompt; trying and failing to make something special for their partner]

****

So far, nobody had caught on to Chief's plot. His request for the cooking supplies was nothing out of the ordinary, if not slightly inconvenient since Ordon had wanted to start dinner early. Chief began the familiar motions of prepping the ingredients for pumpernickel bread, thinking ahead to how he was going to make it special.

Hateno had told him about one of his favorite meals; tomato sauce spread on baked dough with melted cheese on top. It could be customized with other toppings, and sounded simple enough that Chief could make it as a surprise for his boyfriend. Everything was going smoothly until Chief chose a pan for the bread dough.

Prince, who was absently watching from nearby, did a double take when he saw Chief grab a pan that was wider and shallower than the one he always used. "Chief? The other pan should be ready to use," he signed.

"I know," Chief signed back. "I'm using this one today."

Prince frowned, but didn't say anything more.

Smith wandered over, also staring at the pan for a moment too long. "Experimenting?" she asked, plopping down beside Prince.

"You can say that," Chief responded, and set the dough aside to rise.

Next was the tomato sauce. Chief retrieved a handful of tomatoes from the Purah Pad and diced them into quarters before pouring them in a bowl. He faltered, pushed aside the thought that he was doing this wrong, and set to mashing the tomatoes until he achieved an acceptable mixture.

"Oh my gods," a new voice snarked. "What are you doing."

"I'm making pizza, Four," Chief said without looking away from his work.

"You're making- is that another one of Hateno's fancy recipes?" Four demanded, joining what was quickly becoming an audience.

"It's not that complicated," Chief retorted. "There's only three base ingredients."

"Then why are you smashing tomatoes with a fork."

"It's the sauce," Chief grumbled, pouring the concoction over the pumpernickel dough.

Four choked and waved Rabbit over, whispering in his ear and setting them both into a fit of snickering. Chief knew that he was blushing by now, but ignored them as best as he could as he found a small jar of already-shredded cheese. Thank the spirits for the first small mercy of the day. He upended the entire jar over the pizza, coating it as evenly as possible.

Now for the hardest part- choosing the extra toppings. Chief asked his peanut gallery for input, ending up with a pizza that got less sane with every suggestion. Far wanted mushrooms, Minish asked for bacon, Rabbit requested safflina, Four insisted on radishes... Hateno had said that most anything was good on pizza, but Chief had the feeling that they were pushing its limits.

It was about halfway baked when Hateno returned, and it smelled... well. "Appetizing" would be an overstatement.

"Ordon...?" Hateno started uncertainly, and the man in question shook his head and pointed to Chief.

"He's the only one who's cooked anything."

Chief gave his boyfriend a shy smile, trying to pretend that the others' commentary hadn't gotten to him. "I thought it would be nice if I made dinner, as a surprise," he explained.

"Oh- that's awesome, thank you! I can't wait to try it," Hateno said, his tone inexplicably genuine.

Now that most of the excitement was over, a few members of Chief's audience had dispersed. Minish had fled as soon as they smelled the pizza, and Prince had only lasted a few minutes longer. Hateno sat in the now-empty space closest to Chief, waiting patiently for the pizza to finish baking.

The pumpernickel, from what Chief could see under the toppings, had come out nicely. The rest, however... Chief was too stubborn not to try it, but he could at least admit that he was a bit hesitant.

"You made pizza!" Hateno exclaimed, reaching for it and cutting triangular slices as soon as it had cooled enough. "You really went all out on this, huh?"

Chief nodded, passing a slice to Far (who looked eager to try it) and Ordon (who looked decidedly less so). "I tried to follow your description... I hope it's good."

"Is this pumpernickel?" Hateno asked, peering at the underside of his slice. Chief winced, but Hateno just shrugged and said, "Never tried that before."

Chief watched anxiously as Hateno took one bite, then another. His boyfriend made an appreciative sound, giving Chief a gentle nudge.

"It's amazing, love. Thank you."

Ordon coughed, and Chief glanced over to see that he and Four were making faces that were significantly more unpleasant.

"The rest of you ungrateful lot can eat whatever Ordon was going to make," Hateno added, unamused.

Finally, Chief tried a bite of his own pizza. He leaned into Hateno, happy that he had enjoyed his surprise.

...Maybe Ordon would let Chief sneak some of his dinner.

[legends-live-in-memories]

Just Some Guy

AYO im back with day 3! i got nothing else to say :)

Maribat Masterlist   AO3   @maribat-bdbwm

Day 1 2

Word count: 1.5k words

Summary: 

Marinette went to school hoping for a normal day.

Instead, she meets her father for the second time. Or perhaps, for the first time.

BD!Bruce Wayne Day 3- Identities

without further ado:

Marinette woke up in the morning with a bad feeling. Nothing was really wrong. She woke up before her alarm and she hadn’t tripped getting out of bed. She finished her homework the night before and hadn’t gotten into any fights all week. And yet, a weight sat in her stomach.

Her mother once said— when she was maybe three years old and landed on her feet when she fell out of a tree she wasn’t supposed to have been climbing— that as she grew up her affinity for the miraculous magic would cause these unfamiliar ‘sensations’ throughout her life. It was more precise than intuition but not nearly as sophisticated as precognition. Her teachers had said she was blessed by the ancestors as most guardians develop this skill only after years of training, not as a young toddler like herself. She knew to trust this feeling. Usually, she knew that this feeling meant something was going to hurt her; except, since living in Paris for a year, this feeling tended to mean that something was going to embarrass her at worst or mildly inconvenience her at best. She hoped it was the latter.

Nothing happened during her normal routine of getting ready and her papa had even made an extra nice breakfast for the family. The weather was perfect and everything seemed to be going right. So why did she have this feeling?

The walk to school was equally mundane and Marinette started to feel jittery. She hadn’t tripped on her way so that wasn’t what was going to go wrong either. Her class was a quiet sea of private conversations. Chloé wasn’t even doing anything beyond tapping on her phone. Though, she wasn’t usually as enthusiastic as she was now. Was that what was going to go wrong?

“Marinette!” her teacher had called. Madame Bustier was an eccentric woman, Marinette had learned. She was only their teacher for a few months but she was someone Marinette grew fond of rather quickly. “I’m glad you’re here early, can you do me a small favor?”

“Of course, Madame.” This was nothing out of place either, the feeling still weighed on her.

“I left some copies of some handouts in the staff room upstairs. Do you think you could fetch them for me?” Standing behind her desk, her posture straight and smile so bright, Marinette found no reason to say no. She agreed without hesitation.

The journey to and from the staff room was, again, uneventful and Marinette was just hoping that whatever Bad Thing that was supposed to happen to her would just occur. The fretting alone is enough to send her to an early grave. Checking on the time back in the class, it was only 8:20. She had the entire day left. Great.

The hours ticked by and it was then the lunch hour. Marinette’s nerves had calmed down in the meantime and she was fidgety for a different reason. Today was Friday and that meant her papa was in charge of her training. The thought alone was enough to lift her spirits. She couldn’t wait to see what he had in store today.

If only she could actually make it back to the bakery. Before anyone could actually leave the class, Chloé commanded the attention of everyone, including Madame Bustier, because she had a ‘special announcement.’

The bad feeling had immediately returned and Marinette felt a chill. This was it. This was what her senses had been preparing her for all day. She looked at Chloé and the curl of her lips, pale lip gloss shining as bright as ever, made a pit open in Marinette’s stomach. She had her undivided attention, hanging off of whatever words she was about to say next.

“A very important guest is in Paris and daddy has agreed that we all get to meet him. Bruce Wayne is coming here today! He’s staying at our hotel—of course— and he agreed to come to the school after lunch to speak to us about business and other boring stuff. All because of me. No need to thank me.” her little speech was decorated with self-congratulatory hair flips and pats on her own shoulder. None of it mattered to Marinette, however. Her brain was too busy rebooting. All her trepidation and egg-shell walking… for this? For this person? He was clearly important if not for Chloé saying as such then for the background chatter of her classmates but it all meant nothing to Marinette. Because…

Because…

Who the heck was Bruce Wayne?

Why would some old businessman want to speak to a bunch of twelve year olds? Well, he was staying at the mayor’s hotel, he probably didn’t have much of a say in the matter. Whatever the mayor’s precious daughter wants she gets. Too bad this man got dragged along for the whole ordeal. But that doesn’t explain why this was what set off her nerves. What could possibly happen in meeting this guy? Marinette could only wait until after the lunch hour to figure out.

Her excitement for her papa’s training was overshadowed by her dread. She could barely focus, distracted by her own hyper-aware senses. The trek back to school was slow, Marinette tried to prolong the inevitable for as long as possible, but she was facing her classroom door too quickly for her tastes. The chatter of her classmates beyond the door, Madame Bustier trying to control the noise, and a deep chuckle that cut through the cacophony, did nothing but make Marinette wish to be able to turn back and run home.

Could she call in sick?

Run away only to return on Monday?

No, a voice rang, her father’s voice, in her head. The only way out is through. Those were his words and Marinette wasn’t going to chicken out on meeting some stranger just because her gut feeling was warning her about something. Whatever it was, she’ll face head-on. She’s the daughter of freaking Batman after all.

She took a deep breath, mind made up, and opened the door with more bravado than she actually had.

Too bad she overestimated how much force she actually needed and accidentally slammed the door open. What was once a rowdy classroom was now a silent audience, peering as Marinette made a rather grand entrance. The tall figure standing next to Madame Bustier had the most unnerving gaze. She was transfixed. Mesmerized. She stared at the visitor, tall and broad, with swept back hair and a pair of baby blue eyes. She knew that face. She knew those eyes!

There were only two times she saw eyes that blue; in her own reflection and in the face of her father. Who was Batman. But… also this Bruce Wayne guy? What?

That’s not right. She would have known if her father was in the city and she most definitely would have known if her father was some guy named Bruce Wayne. Right?

At least her bad feeling was gone.

But why was he here? And why was he still staring at her?

“Going to become part of the decoration, Dupain-Cheng?” Chloé’s snark cut into the silence and called her attention away from her maskless father. That was when she noticed that she was still standing in the doorway. With everyone still staring at her.

She scurried to the back of the classroom to her seat in record speed, not meeting anyone’s eye, ignoring any snickering directed at her.

“Well, class now that everyone is here,” Marinette cheeks felt warm at her teacher’s comment, “Allow me to introduce you all to Mr. Bruce Wayne, owner and CEO of Wayne Enterprises.”

Oh, her father was someone rich then.

“Thank you, Madame. I will admit I was surprised that the mayor personally asked me to be here on such short notice but,” that was her father’s voice but it was the gruff tones she had heard when they met. This was airy, and approachable. “But seeing all of you here today, definitely made it worth it.”

It was so weird.

Marinette didn’t pay attention to anything he said during his visit, and after he left, with an indecipherable, lingering look in her direction, she felt like she could breathe again for the first time in forever. Watching the stone cold Batman prance around, engaging with children, was bizarre. She felt like she was watching another person, and she almost thought he was but she knew that face. She’s seen it before, the night they first met, and those eyes, so much like her own, so she knows that this man is her father. No matter how… cheery he acted. But it was over and Marinette’s day could finally go back to normal.

Putting the whole ordeal behind her, her anxieties quelled and the bad feeling having passed, Marinette was left with one question however.

If Batman is Bruce Wayne, then who the heck are his children?  

[someonesbeenhere]

Dramione Drabble, prompt - flower

Hermione couldn't help but smile at seeing her name etched in gold script on the door of the Minister for Magic's office. She'd worked hard, achingly so, many times wondering what it was all for.

This.

This was what it was for.

She turned the handle and pushed through, opening the office to be accosted by the overwhelming scent of flowers.

It was like a flower market in here!

Congratulatory bouquets of varying sizes and colours on every available surface.

It was beautiful, yes, but entirely unnecessary and now a bit of an inconvenience.

"Ah, Minister," her assistant piped up from behind her. "People were very forthcoming with 

their congratulations. We ran out of space."

"You're telling me," Hermione mumbled. "Can't even sit at my desk on my first day!"

"I'm so sorry Minister, what can I do?"

"No, no. Don't be sorry, it isn't your fault," Hermione assures her. "Hmm..."

Hermione steps forward and picks up a large colourful bouquet in a crystal vase, turning and handing it to her assistant.

"For you."

"Oh no, Minister. I couldn't possibly!"

"Of course you can! Don't be silly! Please, I insist!"

The assistant smiles warmly and accepts the gift.

"Thank you Minister," she says.

"Don't thank me, thank," Hermione pulls a small card from the bouquet and turns it over. "Gerald Ipswich, Department of Magical Games and Sports. Never heard of him."

Her assistant chuckles.

"Thank you Minister."

"Really, it’s no issue! In fact, send everyone else in for a bunch too!"

Her assistant nods and leaves, clutching her bushel of flowers. A moment later, more faces starting appearing in her doorway and Hermione found that she was rather enjoying meeting her new staff like this.

One by one, the room emptied, Hermione handing another and another vase to each employee that stepped through her door.

She only had to clear the desk now and she gave the flowers away happily until ...

Her hand stayed over a small, ceramic jug of wildflowers. Dusky purples, vibrant reds, sunny yellows and pale pinks, the colours were stunning. With dark green stems, untrimmed leaves and a sharp, unique edge to them that Hermione adored.

She couldn't give these ones away, these ones she wanted. She rummaged between the foliage a little, looking for a card, a note, a scrap of parchment, anything to indicate the sender but there was nothing.

She called her assistant back in and just as her pale face peeked into the office Hermione asked her about the jug.

"Are these supposed to be here? There's no note on these ones."

"No, they were left here first thing this morning, before even I got in."

Interesting.

And no note, interesting and infuriating.

"I can get rid of them for you if you like, Minister?"

"No, no. I want to keep them."

The wildflowers took pride of place on her desk when she was finally able to work. Every so often, her eyes would drift to them, take in their colours, using her quill to disturb the leaves from time to time.

Who would send flowers with no note? Surely the point was to suck up to the Minister, can't do that if you don't claim the gesture.

A while later, the door was knocked lightly, her assistants face peering around the frame.

"Auror Malfoy is here to see you, Minister."

Hermione sighed. He couldn't just give her one bloody day to enjoy it could he? Their bickering arguments were infamous in several departments and she had hoped that now she was Minister for Magic, he'd back the hell off. 

But apparently not.

"Okay, send him in."

He strode in, tall and lithe, his body agile but held tightly composed, his nose slightly upturned, steely eyes looking everywhere but at her. He stopped just short of her desk.

"Mr Malfoy, what can I do for you?"

"I need your signature on some requests for dark artefact investigation and a couple of raids," he said dryly.

"Of course," Hermione quipped lightly. Kill him with kindness was her new motto with Malfoy.

As she read over and signed each piece of parchment, Malfoy shifted impatiently on his feet.

"Nice office," he said unconvincingly. "Big, cushy."

Hermione suppressed an eye roll.

"I see you got my flowers," he said, nodding towards the wildflowers perched on her desk. "I'm surprised there's not more of them actually, losing the popularity contest are we?" He snarked. Hermione ignored him, her eyes darting up to look at him.

"These ... are from you?" She asked, astounded.

"It is customary Grange- Minister," he bit out, correcting himself. "To send a congratulatory gift when someone receives a new position."

"I'm aware Malfoy," Hermione seethes. "I just didn't expect flowers like these from someone like you. Not exactly your taste are they?"

"They're not supposed to be my taste though, they're not for me. They're for you, therefore they are to your taste, are they not?"

"Very much so," she tells him.

"Very well then."

"Where did you get them? I'd love to get them again sometime."

"The gardens around Malfoy Manor are rife with wildflowers this time of year."

"You picked them!?"

"Jesus Granger, must you question every bloody word I say?!" He burst, realising only too late that he'd just snapped at the new Minister for Magic. "Are we almost done here Minister?" He added quietly.

"Yes, Mr Malfoy," Hermione quickly scribbled two more signatures before handing the parchments back to Malfoy.

"Thank you Minister," he said dryly before turning on his heel to storm out. His hand on the door handle, he stopped, turning his head back only slightly and not daring to look at her.

"If you would like more flowers, Granger, all you have to do is ask."

With that, he wrenched open the door and left.

How interesting and infuriating, Hermione thought.

(Prompt from @dramioneprompts on Twitter) Find the entire collection of my Dramione Drabbles at https://archiveofourown.org/works/30801581/chapters/76033271

[fakeloveaskblog]

(Hi, me again. I am here and open to questions from the characters. Most of the ones asked I have no clue about but I will try my best. Also I just took my melatonin so sorry for any grammatical errors.)

Hello folks it’s me. All the way from The Void where all ghosts, demons and strangely dapper snails come from to answer your questions to the best of my ability.

First up “Can we Watchers kill someone? Or would we even want to?” I’m not sure about the others but for me personally I have never attempted to take someone’s life. Hell, the worst thing I’d do to someone is create mild inconveniences. So I’m not sure if we are unable to or if it’s just a personal choice. Not very helpful I know but it’s all I got.

Secondly “Can we possess people?” This I can provide more information on. Some Void creatures can and some can’t and even those who have the ability to possess people have to practice it in order to be good at it, just like any other skill. For me personally I do technically have the ability to possess people but I don’t use it much so I’m not very good at it. I’m not sure about the other so once again if you want to know you’ll have to ask them.

Lastly you asked “Can we possess inanimate objects such as a sword or a plushy?” This ties into the last question as possessing inanimate objects is just an easier version of possess a person or animal due to the lack of consciousness.

Also Logan for our anatomy I’m afraid that it doesn’t make logical sense, I mean I’m a small, floating, partially transparent, non corporeal ghost with eyes that change colour depending on my mood. I make about as much sense as a flying pig. (For you of course, I actually know a flying pig and she is just the sweetest thing you will ever meet.) Also I don’t have a heart in the way you humans have one, mines only metaphorical so sorry about that. Now that’s all the questions answered feel free to ask more, or not, I don’t mind.

Glow Eyes

(Me 🤝 You Writing asks immediately after taking our melatonin)

One of the candles on the table lit up into a flame. The flame turned bigger than it physically should be and rounder than any flame they'd ever seen. The flame started to float above the candle and your two glowing eyes blinked open. The flame calmed down and became your translucent body.

The twins ooeh at your entrance. The demon snail was still sitting on the table. You took turns saying both of your messages only stopping to exchange void nods in agreement.

"We ARE adorable!! So true!!" Patty exclaimed.

Logan took out his notebook again and scribbled down a few notes while nodding "Very informative, very interesting"

"A-HAh!!! Void creature murder is still on the table!!!" Remus cheered before trying to high five you but it ended up with him just patting your big shell "oHOHOH Demon Snail Assassin!!"

After hearing your thoughts on possession Janus snarked out "My new conspiracy theory is that cgi is a made up myth and all special effects in hollywood movies are just ghosts possessing things. I will not let anyone tell me otherwise"

"You have a point. Ghosts might not be able to unionise so having ghost posses things would probably be cheaper than using cgi" Logan added.

Patty rubbed chin while thinking "I think ghosts would be able to unionise. They can speak to each other! I am for ghost's right to unionise!"

Rowan, the only person here who actually knew things about hollywood, squinted and said "Cgi people aren't even unionised. Why would they need ghosts"

"Please Snail, Do tell me about the results of your investigations on possession once you've tested them" Janus said. "It sounds very intriguing" They blinked innocently "Especially if you posses someone to make them push themselfs off the stairs"

"For science" Their boyfriend added which made them smile.

"Yes for science obviously"

Patty shone up into a grin as you gave her a ghost snail hug "Aww thanks sweetie pie!"

Rowan put a napkin on her hand so she could pat your snail eye without getting goo on her nails "So if void creatures have specialities do you two ghost-bros have anything? Obviously Glowy has a skill for color matching, lovely pink eyes today by the way. But aside from that are you like a super expert on slamming doors or something?"

"Maybe their special void abilities are being great listeners!" Patty suggested sweetly.

"Or it's making assholes piss themself!" Remus suggested just as sweetly.

"That can be your questions. Your abilities please and thank you if you have any"

Logan was literally scratching his head about your answers to the anatomy question "Your flying pig friend sounds lovely and I do agree on your metaphorical heart but I can not accept that your anatomy would be illogical. Even if you do not have a biological heart there must be some explanation for how a ghost's body works even if neither you or I can figure it out this very moment"

He happily accepted your transparent snail heart in his hands. Rowan wrinkled her nose from disgust at the same time as Remus nearly trampled over Janus to get a closer look on the gooey heart.

"Thank you for trusting me with your heart. I give you my greatest promise to take careful care of it. I will leave it on my bedside table tomorrow morning so you can come and pick it up again"

He put the heart in his inner pocket before turning to Janus and simply stating.

"You are not going to get the required hours of sleep tonight, much less than so. We have a long night of experiments for science ahead of us. Alright?"

Janus kissed him "That sounds lovely darling"

[nukapind]

Inconvenience Store (Dabi X Reader)

A part two to Wet Floor was requested over on my AO3 and they gave me the full liberty of picking what to write as long as it got a part two, so here we are! Feel free to leave a comment/message/ask if y’all have any requests. Like usual, this was crossposted to my AO3.

Wet Floor (Part One)

___

Dabi was back at your little corner store the very next day.

And the next.

And the day after that too.

And soon it became a common circumstance to see Dabi to loiter around the store, almost always leaving you to pay for the noodles he’d be slurping on— usually while he watched in amusement as you’d stock up or clean the store, adding in a “you missed a spot” every so often with that shit-eating grin on his face.

Quitting was starting to sound pretty appealing.

Yet just as often as he’d be here, at your shitty little store— he’d disappear. The first time, he’d been gone for a week and you thought you were free from this mooch, only for you to find him waiting outside the store right as you came in to start your shift. Soon his disappearances were for weeks or even up to a month at a time, and yet he always ended up coming back through those sliding doors with a smirk painted on his face.

Today was one of the days he’d decided he’d bum off the store, seated behind the counter— though you’d told him not to go there countless times and he ignored you each time you did. Huffing, you made it a point to set the wet floor sign down with a loud thunk after you tossed the mop in the supply closet, there was no way you’d let yourself forget it again—  not after the punishment that Dabi himself was. Wreaking havoc on your wallet and using you as his source of meals.

“I’m getting another cup.” You didn’t bother to hide your growl at his words, he had to be eating this much just to spite you at this point— he probably wasn’t even enjoying them at this point, that was his third pack today. Rolling your eyes as you watched him take your water and pour it into the instant noodle cup, this guy really had no respect for anyone or their things did he?

It really didn’t matter that he’d always been there when you locked up, and followed you to your train each evening after you mentioned the gangs you’d passed. It also didn’t matter that despite how you resented the financial strain he was on your wallet, the best days were when he would sit behind the counter with you throughout your shift.

It really didn’t matter.

The beeping of the automatic doors opening smacked you right out of your thoughts; immediately plastering on that customer service smile you’d managed to perfect, despite the foul cursing towards Dabi that was ringing through your mind. “Hello! Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with.” Your hum was largely ignored by the man, and you held in the sigh threatening to bubble out.

Dealing with customers was so fucking annoying.

“Get out Dabi.” He stared at you, only putting his feet up on your stool and slyly grinning at your dismay. Rolling your eyes again, you swore your eyes would stay like that from having to put up with this guy for so long. Pushing past him, you settled yourself at your spot at the counter in front of him as the man came back to the counter with just a beer.

“Anything else I can help you find sir?”

“How about you give me your number?” Beady eyes stared you down, raking their way up and down your figure as if he’d just now noticed you talking to him— you didn’t bother to hide the frown on your face. “I’m sorry, I’m not interested.” It was a bad move, that much was clear, but giving him a fake number wouldn’t work— not as long as he knew where you worked. “The hell you’re not, I’ll ask one time. Give me your number.” It definitely wasn’t a question this time, it had been a threat. Your body tensed up at that, the man easily dwarfed you— hell, maybe his size was a part of his quirk.

Fear was starting to set in.

“Can’t you fucking hear? It’s a no.” A low snark sounded behind you, an arm shooting out in front of you before a lanky body pushed itself between you and the counter. Dabi’s typical slouch now gone, standing tall and staring down the man along the other side of the counter.

“Call off your fuckin’ guard dog babe.”

“I’m no fucking guard dog—”Blue blazed to life in Dabi’s hand, and a sadistic smirk pulled its way to his face. “—but if you get out the damn store, maybe I won’t burn you down to the fucking ground.” The giant of a man stared Dabi down, but the flame-wielder didn’t budge even though the man was easily the size of two of him.

The flame in Dabi’s hand flared brighter, making the man’s eyes narrow to your form that had still been obscured by Dabi. “This isn’t worth it.” He muttered, shaking his head as he stormed out of the convenience store— the flame subsiding after the man’s exit. Letting out a breath you didn’t quite know you were holding in as the man finally left, your posture slumped over. “I thought he’d never leave.” Dabi trudged back to the chair he’d been sitting in— a scowl plastering itself onto his face as he snatched the noodle cup back from the counter he’d left it on, easily replacing that self-assured smirk he had just before that man left. “What’s with you?” Brows furrowed as his chopsticks stabbed the at the cup, nearly poking a hole through the plastic.

Silence.

“Dabi, the hell’s wrong with you?” He’d never been like this before, not here with you at least— he’d always been so stand-offish and even kinda snarky— now it almost looked like he was pouting. “You don’t get to fuck around with anyone else.” He hissed lowly, a possessive glint in his eye. “Especially not with scumbags like that.” You blinked at that, he was just jealous? Dabi had never even bothered to show interest in you, and after all this time all it took was another man (albeit a very creepy and demanding one) to try to flirt with you.

Ignoring how your chest had clenched, you scoffed. “I do what I want Dabi, if I did want to date that man then I would. Unless there’s something you have to say, then you don’t have any say in that matter.” It was the right thing, right? If he said anything, and that was a big if, then maybe things would be different.

Grabbing the beer the man had left behind, you pushed past Dabi to go put it back in the coolers— until a hand gripped your wrist tightly. “Fine.” He stood back up, meeting your eye. “You’re mine.” This wasn’t a question either, but his silence waited for any objections— not that you would give him one. Biting your lip, you nodded slowly.

Smirking, he took the beer from your hand. “Good.” The tab clicked open as he pulled you to his side.

“You’re mine.”

Masterlist

[my-own-oracle]

Loving you- requested!

EDIT: this has been re-uploaded since my account was deleted! I am sorry for the inconvenience. 

Tfp bots with number 42-"I have never loved you as much as I do right now."

@a-bitchtm I love your enthusiasm, usually have a limit on the number of bots I have per request. But because I made you wait so long and I had a lot of fun with it, I did four of them. If you want to see any more, let me know. 

Ratchet

Ratchet was usually quite hard to approach: his no-nonsense demeanor often left interactions with the bot feeling flat, and with much to be desired. But he had been appointed your guardian, and a stubborn mech like the doc required a stubborn companion. 

You often spent your days at the base, watching the giant doctor work. But the evenings we're where the battles of stubbornness were indeed waged.

 You had been studying a map of your home city, it was only a state over and the proposed location of another artifact. You had been looking for a site that could hide, or be built around a 'mystical' cybertronian object. You had accepted this task, earlier this afternoon, but you still felt like you nad nothing. 

Ratchet was standing not far off. Mumbling to himself as he worked through the lines of gibberish, you recognized as cybertronian. You had tried to convince him to take a break and recharge a few hours ago, but he insisted he was fine. 

He wasn't. You could tell he was tired. His frame sagged, and his mumbling and squinting of his optics gave it away. A yawn caught you off guard as you checked your watch. 2:39 am. You had decided to keep him company. After all, you had work to do too, but your body was beginning to protest. Another yawn, you turned back to the maps laid out in front of you. 

"You need to go and sleep." Ratchet's voice filled the empty air, but his attention was still on the large screens. 

"So do you," you watched his helm shake slightly.

"No, I have to much to do."

"And taking care of yourself is also on that list." Ratchet turned to face you, and his optics looked dim. "Your tired, your frame is sagging," you raised a finger with each point, "your eye -ah optics, are dim and your starting to sway"'  

"You're infuriating. You are no better. You've yawned 36 times in the past two hours. Almost cycled off in to recharge 5 times in the past thirty, and if you want to call my optics dim, I would say yours have been snuffed out." His voice was firm, but it lacked its usual snark. 

"Since when do you keep such close track of me?" You stood up, waving your hand at his monitor. "You're always talking about how much more important your work is, but you're willing to use brainpower to keep track of the number of times I've started falling asleep?"

"It's my job to make sure all members of this team are in top form."

"All members?"

"Yes, "

"Then that includes yourself" He stammered a moment. Another sign to add to your ever-growing list. 

"Since when did you start fretting over an old mech?" A giant hand placed itself next to you, a silent offer. You climbed up, opting to sit in his open hand rather than trust your legs to hold you steady.

"Since the day I met you, Ratchet." He mumbled a response. You didn't quite hear it. 

"One more time, "

"I have never loved you as much as I do right now." You smiled, and so did Ratchet. You loved his smile, he should do it more. 

"Then love me enough to go to sleep; if you go to bed, I will too." Ratchet grumbled and smiled. With a few taps to his computer, he turned off the monitors and headed off to his hab-unit with you in hand to get some rest. 

Bulkhead

Today had played out so differently in your head. The dream had been waking up to no excitement. There is no need to storm an energon mine, no world-shattering event to stop. Thanks to a school-wide trip, no teenagers making errors could cause huge problems. At the end of this uneventful day, you would have all the time in the world to go out and watch the meteor shower that was occurring at 2am. Instead, you had been sent out on a mission with Bulkhead only to discover at its end, that the ground bridge wasn't working. 

"Why did we allow her to come again?" You turned and watched Miko as she played a game on her phone in the back. She was sprawled out in the back tired out from the rock show she performed for you on the drive up and the hiking around during recon. 

"Because her school trip got canceled, and I have a hard time saying no," Bulkhead's voice quietly filtered through the cab. You chuckled, Miko seemed lost in her own world at the moment, so you decided to give her space.

"You are wrapped around her finger" You all round a bend before you talk again. "How far are we from the base?"

"A good day's drive. Maybe more if we want to avoid major cities." You feel like sulking, you were definitely missing that meteor shower. "What's wrong, did you have a hot date tonight?" 

The eye roll was a gut reaction, as was your smile. "You know I don't have time for that; besides, you're starting to sound like Wheeljack." 

"Seriously then." you sighed, shifting to slouch lower in your seat. 

"There's this meteor shower tonight." You didn't know how much of this Bulkhead cared about, but he had been the one to ask…" I was going to spend time researching the best possible location to watch it from and see if I could bribe Ratchet to bridging me there and back."

"But now you get to hang with us." Miko injected, while Bulkhead realized the source of your frustration.

"You'd rather be watching it, hm?"

"Don't take it as I don't want to spend time with the two of you," you gesture to the cab, "It's just since I was little I've always wanted to watch the 'falling stars' my mom talked about seeing once." 

"It sounds nice," You leaned deeper into Bulkhead's seats.

"More like boring, but hey, to each their own." Miko flopped forward over the center console. "Hey, let's play a game while we drive." You smiled as Miko tried to describe her road trip game to Bulkhead. You spent a moment pushing the meteors out of your head; after all, it was not every day you got to spend quality time with these two. 

     * 

"(Y/N). Can you wake up?" The question was light. Bulkheads voice breaking the silence during another of Miko's and your naps. The sun had set at some point, casting the day into a soft and comforting darkness, illuminated by the milky way's thousands of stars. "(Y/N), wake up." Your head jerked awake at Bulkheads prodding. When had you fallen asleep? You had wanted to keep the giant bot company through the night since he was determined to drive as long as possible. 

"Is everything ok?" you started looking around. Outside looked peaceful, and inside was quiet except for the snores emitting from the teenager behind you. "Has Miko been asleep the whole ride?" You looked back in disbelief. It looked as though she had moved, but you had no evidence that she had woken up. 

Bulkhead chuckled, "You're delusional if you really think Miko would sleep for the majority of a day." You swatted at the headrest of the seat next to you. "Ok, ok. She was awake for a while after you fell asleep. I tried to keep her quiet." 

You were touched at the effort that must have taken. Miko was loud and brash, keeping her occupied and quite must have been a handful to do while trying to drive them home. "Thank you, Bulk." you shifted to lean against his door. "How far out are we?"

The sound of tires on the paved road filled your ears, and you watched as the wheel moved to keep them steady. "Not too far, but I'm taking a slight detour." He sounded guilty, 

"What was going on?" Slowly, being careful not to jostle the cab, Bulkhead pulled over to the side of the road. You felt the locking mechanism move under your back. "Step out, will you?" You eyed the dash, curious as to what on earth Bulkhead could want this late at night. 

"Bulk what's-" a man materialized in the seat next to you. He was a big broad-chested man with dark skin and an Autobot tattoo on his right shoulder. His black wifebeater and green cargo pants screamed military and soldier in your mind. His body had materialized with his hands on the steering wheel, his arms relaxed, and his eyes gently closed. He was still for only a moment, and in that moment, your heart sped up. From what you couldn't tell, but it was hammering. 

His eyes opened to reveal an unusual blue color, one more resembling the color of the bot's optics than any blue you had seen in a human. The man wasted no time opening up the driver's side door and stepping out. Hesitantly you followed. "What-"

"What do you think?" The man kept his head upwards towards the sky, his voice was Bulkhead's voice, but softer... almost. "The lights from all the major cities are far enough away you should be able to see this meteor shower you wanted to see."

"Who-" 

"Then again," Not-Bulkhead surveyed the flat landscape. "Miko had said you probably wanted to watch from an elevated area." He hurried past you back to Bulkhead's parked form and began climbing the back to reach the roof. Watching this man climb up, your close friend snapped you out of your shock.

"Just you wait one moment-" you grabbed the back of his shirt. "What's going on here?" you tried to pull the man down "Bulkhead-"

"Come on (Y/N)," He reached down gently, swatting your hands from his shirt and finishing his brief climb to Bulkhead's roof. Turning to offer you a hand up. "You didn't want to miss this, right?" the way he said your name, the gentle giant way he was caring about you, this was Bulkhead. This was Bulkhead trying to show you the falling stars you had always wanted to see. 

"How do you know we'll be able to see them?" You took his hand and let him haul you up into his arms. Letting him guide you into sitting in his lap. 

"I had Miko call Raph, and he looked up on his computer where we needed to be." His voice rumbled from his chest into your back. You knew you had to be smiling like a crazy person. "Look," one of his hands, previously holding him in place as he leaned back, was thrust forward-pointing up to the sky. You caught the tail end of it. The fading streak across the sky. It was followed by another, then another, soon enough, the sky was full of streaking silver light, and your heart was swelling. You laid back, eyes never leaving the atmosphere above you.

"Bulkhead, I've never loved you as much as I do right now." His arms moved to wrap themselves around your waist. Together, you stayed there, watching the sky until the last one had sailed by, before moving back into the cab and starting off to finish the rest of the road trip home. 

Bumblebee

Bumblebee loved Fridays. It was the best day of the week, especially since you had moved to the base. Every Friday morning, without fail, you would wake up at 7am and head out to the roof of the base. There you would lay out a massive tarp and roll out an industrial-sized shop vacuum you had bought off eBay. And it always leads to this. 

7:30am  

Bumblebee sat in the morning sun, his doors open to the world. You sat in an old pair of jeans, your knees on the metal roof vacuuming out his interior. To Bee, this was the most relaxing feeling in the world. You meticulously vacuumed his seats, driver's side, the back then, passenger side, afterword focusing on the floor mats. That's what you were currently on. Woking the vacuums brush against his transformation seams. Dragging out a week's worth of sand, dirt, and grit. 

He always told you it was unnecessary to clean him this thoroughly, but you insisted. 

"Bumblebee, you drive Raph and me everywhere. We, all though unwillingly, fill you with all the nasty and dirty particles of everything we walk through in a day. The least I can do is clean you out." 

After nearly two months, the strange feeling of the vacuum had become comforting. The feel of the brush, relaxing. The young scout would never admit this to anyone, but he especially enjoyed what came after. 

The vacuum shut off, the silence overtaking the air. You stood up, pulling a small white rag from your belt. You dipped it into a bucket of warm water, wringing it out before slipping off your shoes and crawling into his cab. 

The rag ran down his dash, cleaning up the oil and dirt that came off human fingers. Your hand pressed delicately against his leather interior, studying yourself as you worked.

"Everything alright?" you were scrubbing a little more forcefully on his steering wheel.

"Yes, There's just something a little sticky, I bet it's from a soda." you sighed, shifting to sit in the seat. "I can't believe you let me and Raph eat in here yesterday." You took the dry end of the rag, tracing back over every spot you cleaned with the damp side. 

"I knew you would be careful and take care of me later." You climbed out, chuckling at his comment like it was a joke. Throwing the now 'dirty' rag off to the side in favor of a new one, dipping it in the same warm water you had before. 

He shut his doors, he could feel you as you sat down next to him. Your presents brushing against his EM field; his door sensors, the ones that made up his 'wings' as you called them, lighting up at the gentle touch you had as you worked off scuffs and paint from other bots and cars alike. 

The strokes began to blend together as his processor slowed down; he wanted to stay in this moment forever. The chilly desert morning and his (Y/N) cleaning off the grime from the week. 

"I have never loved you as much as I do right now." He knew it was a strange thing to say, and an even more unusual way to thank you for all the work you were doing. But it didn't make the statement any less real. 

"I love you too." Bumblebee could hear the smile in your voice. Yes, if he had to pick any one moment to live in forever, this one was most definitely number one. 

Wheeljack

"I can't do this anymore." Wheeljack looked over, the thick book on your lap slamming shut registering in his audials. "This assignment doesn't make sense, this professor is a moron, and my school is a joke." Your hands were gripping the hair on your head. Wheeljack was no expert on humans, but he felt that that wasn't a good thing. "I'm done, I can't do this." he laughed to himself as you began shoving everything into the bag you took with you everywhere. "I can't do this, I can't. I'm done. I'm done." Your human optics are leaking a little. He watched as your face turned red, and your head shook back and forth.

He recalls Bulkhead explaining that leaking optics are a terrible thing for humans, It means there's something wrong. A soft whisper is let out amongst the noise, a whisper he wouldn't have heard if he wasn't so in tune with you.

"I'm a failure,"

Wheeljack was on his pedes faster than he had ever thought possible. You were hunched over that stupid bag, shoulders shaking. He had to get you back. He didn't know what exactly got you this upset, but he knew it had something to do with that university you kept complaining about this week. 

"Alright speedster, enough of that." As gently as a wrecker could, he picked you up. Dropping you from one hand to another. "No wrecker gets to sulk while I'm around, Stop your crying and brace yourself." The bot looked over to Bulkhead and the other humans as he walked to the center of the base. "Tell Prime: I'm going out."

Wheeljack gave you a soft toss upward, you yelped as gravity pulled you back into his open servo. "Ready?" You tilted your head, something he found cute but swore never to admit out loud. 

"What-what are you-you doing?" you stuttered between your tears.

"Fixing that look on your face." Wheeljack nodded to Bulkhead, who opened the base doors. Your bot tossed you up again this time a little higher, lurching forward he transformed around you, landing with you in his front seat. Before you could blink a seat belt was strapped around your torso. The two of you flying out into the desert. You watched as his speedometer climbed, 30 to 40. 50 to 70. 80 to 100. You were no longer on the road; instead, Wheeljack had turned out into the desert. The world was a blur out of his windows. He dared to look inward for a brief moment to check on you before returning his optics to his driving. Your soft hands were holding onto the seat and door. But the tears had stopped flowing, and a small smile was spread on your face. 

The wrecker pushed himself to go faster, he needed his speedster back, the one that laughed as he drove at unhuman like speeds that begged him to try and go even faster then he could go safely with you.  

150.

He was, for your sake, slowly climbing in his speed. Your grip loosened on his door, and he tightened the belt across your torso. 

170

Your body was shaking again, but not from tears, this was a familiar shake. This was you teetering on laughter. This was a shake Wheeljack loved to feel against his seats. 

190

"Wheeljack!" you were laughing. "I know you can go faster!" 

200

"I promised Ratchet I would go over 200 with you, he says it's dangerous." You hear the smirk in his voice. 

"Since when do you listen to the Doc-Bot?" Both hands were on his seatbelt, "I'm safe with you, come on, Faster!"

"I need you to say something first," He slowed a little, enough so he could glance inward again. "Tell me why you, of all people, would think you're a failure." Your face fell, not good, but necessary.

"I don't understand the work, my teacher wouldn't answer my questions." Your head sank. "She said I shouldn't be asking too many questions."

"Well, Frag her. She doesn't know what she's doing. It's obvious she's just bad at her job." you smiled again, "Now, if that's the only problem, I think we ought to see how fast we can outrun it." 

He gave a little yank on the strap, making sure your body was flush against his seat. 

He'd never tell you, but Ratchet had really freaked him out about hurting you. 

"Floor it!" 

He complied.

*

It was late in the evening, you both were tired, and your adrenaline had worn out, and Wheeljack knew he had burned through more energon than he should have. 

"We should call for a bridge." The car around you rumbled for a moment.

"Yeah, I'll patch us through." The two of you sat in silence.

"Are you even calling them?"

"No." You reclined his seat back. And listened to his engine idle.

"Thank you for making me feel better." 

"No big."

"Seriously. I have never loved anyone as much as I love you right now. Thank you."

His spark practically jumped, but he was grateful you couldn't see his faceplates. It would be nice to spend some more time with you, so you two sat in the quiet desert. 

Happy and content. 

Don't forget to share your thoughts with me!

[floralguccistyles]

Long time no post! Things in my life have been crazy, from health problems with both myself and family members, to the deaths of both my grandpa and my cat, and work/school has been insane. I hope y’all forgive me and I hope this makes up for it. Let me know what you think!

wildflower :: chapter three

...and brings you flowers

Considering my morning started with having to deal with a customer whose key card didn’t work to get into their room, I could assume today was going to be a rough day. 

Things only continued to spiral downhill when I had finished getting the key card situation handled only to walk into the kitchen and find the coffee machine was broken. One of the chefs jokingly told me to make myself a cup of tea, but I think he got a little scared when my lower lip jutted out and started wobbling in frustration. I wasn’t going to cry, but that didn’t mean the tears wouldn’t stubbornly well up behind my eyes. 

If that wasn’t enough, on my break I had stubbed my toe on the corner coming around from checking up on one of the rooms. I had sworn very, very loudly in front of a family of four with two kids under twelve and the parents had glared at me. I hoped they had the decency to see that I was having a bad day and wouldn’t tell my supervisor. 

All I wanted to do was curl up in bed with a good book, a rom-com playing in the background, and maybe some soup. 

My day was only made worse when I saw Violet walking through the lobby doors as I was leaving. 

“Great,” I muttered under my breath, letting out a huff of irritated breath. She had her book bag thrown over her shoulder, holding onto the strap on her shoulder so tightly it was a wonder it didn’t break. “What’re you doing here?” I asked in a whisper, not wanting my boss to hear me talking to anyone the way I was talking to Violet. Unfortunately, my boss Clara was an only child and wouldn’t understand the sister love-hate bond Violet and I had. 

“Nice to see you too.” Violet looked frustratingly put together, as she always did. She had definitely sucked up the good looks that had obviously skipped the poor middle child (me). Her long hair was curled delicately and though she didn’t wear much makeup, she had never needed it. She had eyelashes models would kill for. “I was wondering if we could go get coffee or something.”

“Coffee? We don’t do coffee.”

“Christ, Rose, is it really that much of an inconvenience to hang out with your sister?” she asked incredulously, rolling her eyes at my reluctance. “I thought we could talk, hang out, get some coffee out of it. It’s not the end of the world.”

I had obviously done something to piss off whatever higher being existed because the icing on the cake to my terrible day was dealing with Violet’s snark. To simply stop her from complaining (because she was world-class at it), I sighed. “Fine. But you’re buying.”

“You’re the one with the full-time job!”

“Do you want to get coffee or not?”

“I’m regretting my choice now,” Violet said simply, but gestured towards the door of the building. She had an old car Niall had actually helped her find when she had started college, so we piled into it. I didn’t know what coffee place she was taking us to, but I decided I didn’t care. I hadn’t had any coffee this morning, and I was in desperate need. Plus, if Violet had a hundred dollars to make on the bet with Lily and Niall, she had enough money to buy me a four dollar cup of coffee.

She pulled into a little coffee house that was close to the campus Niall worked at. I wondered briefly if he frequented it when he worked. When we walked in, the smell of coffee beans hit my nose and gave me a small reprieve from the terrible day. “What do you want? Their caramel stuff is really good.”

“Whatever you get is fine.” Though Violet had questionable taste in most things, her taste in coffee was impeccable. She nodded and walked to the bar to order while I found us a place to sit, close to the window in case I needed to zone out and have something pretty to look at if Violet got too annoying. When she returned, she set my coffee in front of me and took a seat, her chair scraping loudly against the floor and making the both of us wince. I took a small sip of the coffee (something caramel, as she had suggested) and instantly felt ten times better. “This is the only good thing to happen to me all day.”

Violet rolled her eyes, mumbled something about me being overdramatic underneath her breath. “Lily thinks I need to apologize.”

“I think so too.”

“I don’t.”

I gestured to the coffee shop. “Then what’s the point of this?”

“You bit my head off when I was trying to explain last time. I was hoping you’d sit and actually have a civil conversation with me about things.” When I didn’t respond, just gestured for her to continue, she did. “I didn’t get you the psychologist’s number because I think you’re pathetic or that you can’t handle shit. I got it for you because no woman should ever be propositioned for sex and it’s absolutely disgusting that the prick tried to do some sort of quid-pro-quo and got nothing more than a slap on the wrist. And if I’m feeling that, as a third party, I can’t imagine how you’re feeling about it. So I got you her number in case you wanted to talk.”

“But you didn’t ask me beforehand. You went behind my back.”

“Because that’s what people do when they care about you, Rose!” Violet exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Christ, if I thought it would be this much work, I would have just saved myself the trouble. I just think it’s shitty he’s getting away with it, so I thought maybe you’d want to talk to someone. It’s not a problem that you can’t sleep without someone there, but don’t you think you need to analyze why? Especially because you never had a problem with it before. And you’re still paying too much money for rent in a flat you don’t even live in anymore.”

There was no point in arguing with her because she, frustratingly, wasn’t wrong. It was shitty that Kent was getting away with it and I probably was stupid for paying money for an apartment I wasn’t staying in. But I had gotten that trademark Fairbrough stubbornness, and I wanted to handle things my own way, as I had always done in my life.

“I appreciate it and can understand where you were coming from.” The words felt like lead on my tongue because I was a prideful person. “But I honestly don’t think I need to talk to someone. If I do think I need help, you’ll be the first person I’ll call.”

“We both know that’s a lie. You’d sooner call Lily or Niall before you’d call me,” she replied in a snarky voice, taking a sip of her latte and staring out the window.

I didn’t bother correcting her. 

“Look,” she said after a couple of moments, all of which were spent sipping at our drinks and not talking to one another, “will you just take the card? You don’t have to do anything with it, but it’ll make me feel better if you just take it.”

“Fine. But only because you bought me coffee.”

When I returned home to Lily’s flat, the psychologist’s number in my bag, I toed off my shoes and flung myself onto the couch. I wouldn’t nap because then sleeping tonight would be even more difficult, but I did just close my eyes and rest there for several moments while the bad day crashed over me. Distantly, I heard the sound of Lily’s front door swinging open and groaned out to her, letting her know I was on the couch.

“Rosebud, you okay?”

I turned my body around at Niall’s voice, nodding my head slightly. “Hi, Niall. Where’s Lily?”

“One of her clients called. They’ve got to meet her at the prison.” He moved my feet, sliding his body underneath before he deposited them back on his lap. 

“I had the worst day,” I answered his question a little late, sighing out as he gave me sympathetic eyes. “I think I might meet with my landlord next week. My lease is up next month and...I mean, I’m basically living here. I just don’t know if I want to let it go yet. It was the first apartment I rented on my own. And I don’t know if Lily wants me around forever…”

“Lily will let you stay with her as long as you need, you know that.” He reached forward and started massaging my calf, causing me to close my eyes sleepily underneath his touch. “Why was your day bad?”

“People at work. Then the coffee machine was broken. Then Violet came in.”

He laughed, but it was faraway. I was slipping into unconsciousness, and I knew if Niall didn’t stop massaging my leg, I was going to drift off. “You’ve got to stop,” I told him, pulling one of my legs away to poke him with my toe.

His hands hesitantly left my other leg. “Why? Uncomfortable?”

“Too comfortable,” I corrected, shaking my head. “I don’t want to nap and have a shitty night of sleep tonight.

“Just nap, Rosebud. You look like you need it. Do you work tomorrow?”

I shook my head, because thankfully I had tomorrow off. 

“Then, c’mon.” He moved my feet again and stood up, holding out a hand for me to take. I groggily grabbed it in my own, allowing him to pull me to my feet and lead me to my room. I flopped myself onto my bed and smiled as he tucked me in, patting down the blankets so they would stay put. It was only when I was underneath my covers that I realized how much the day had taken out of me. Any morning without coffee always exhausted me, but meeting with Violet had just done me in.

“How was your day?” I asked sleepily, reaching out and lacing our fingers together. He squeezed my fingers. “Are you feeling a little better from the sexual assault situation?”

He sighed. “I’m never going to feel good about it, Rosebud. The fact that any of my athletes could do that to someone...it tore me up inside.”

I decided Niall needed a nap almost as much as I did. I patted the spot next to me, inviting him to rest with me on the other side of my bed. He sent me a small smile, pushing off his shoes from his feet and lowering himself onto my bed, over the covers since he didn’t get nearly as cold as I did. 

“Rest with me,” I requested softly. “We could both use the sleep.”

He stared at me for a few seconds. “You’re one of a kind, Rosebud.”

I smiled, snuggling closer to him. His arm came around to rest on my waist, pulling me closer to him until my skin was pressed against his skin.

We must have only napped for an hour or so, but I woke up before Niall did. He was knocked out onto my lavender pillow, a tiny bit of drool sneaking out of his open mouth. At least he didn’t snore as much as I apparently did. His entire body was curled, crunched up like even in sleep, his tension wouldn’t leave him. I realized when I stretched that our legs were slightly tangled together, his hand still on my waist. My skin was warm where his fingers touched.

Niall was truly, unfairly attractive. Now that I could look at him without the awkwardness of him realizing I was staring, I could easily admit that to myself. I had always known Niall was a handsome guy, but he was always unattainable. He was Lily’s. I had no business thinking he was attractive.

But his brown hair was fluffed on the right side where it pressed against my pillow, and he had an adorable sleeping face and I admitted to myself right then and there that Niall Horan was beautiful. The fact that he basically belonged to Lily didn’t change that, and it probably never would. 

“Stop staring at me,” he said softly, his lips curling up at the corners.

I jumped, not expecting his voice since I still believed he was in the middle of sleeping. “Jesus, don’t scare me like that. How’d you know I was staring?”

“I felt in my soul that there was a pair of beautiful big brown eyes on me, and look at that,” he said, opening his own beautiful big eyes and grinning, “I was right.”

“You’re full of shit, is what you are.” But I found myself leaning back down on my bed and quietly taking in the silence with him. Silence was never uncomfortable with Niall like it was with other people. “Thanks for napping with me.”

“Hopefully it made your bad day a little better.”

“It did.”

My phone buzzed on the nightstand and I sleepily reached for it, reading the text from Lily.

Getting dinner with Carmen. We’ve both had a shitty day and have to discuss some things about the case. Feel free to use anything in the fridge for dinner tonight!

“Want to go get some food?” I asked Niall, showing him the text from Lily. 

“Sure. I can go pick up some Nando’s, if you want.”

I groaned, leaning my head into his shoulder. “You are my knight in shining armor. The wind beneath my wings. An angel among us mere mortals.”

“You’re more dramatic than usual today. The chicken pita like usual?” He stood from the bed, readjusting his shirt that had been slightly wrinkled in our nap. As he ran his hands through his hair, I found myself distracted by his forearms, which were showcased by the rolled-up sleeves he was sporting. I’d never really noticed Niall’s arms before, but they were as gorgeous as the rest of him.

Had I mentioned how unfairly beautiful he was?

“Yes, please. I think I have some soda and ice cream. I can make us some floats?”

“You’ve got root beer?”

I wrinkled my nose. “I think so?”

He laughed at my uncertainty, leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to the top of my head. “Alright. I’ll call in and go grab it really quick. See you in about thirty.”

“Thanks, Niall!”

“Anything for my Rosebud.”

I took the time he was gone to tidy up around the apartment a little. I wasn’t a messy person by any means, but with my bad day, I had left a little trail of Rose-messes on the couch and in the foyer, where I had deposited my shoes without a care in the world. The last thing I wanted was for Lily to come home and see my mess and decide she didn’t want me living with her. It was bad enough I still hadn’t found the necklace she had given me. Niall had scoured his place trying to find it, so I wondered if I had drunkenly taken it off at the bar that night with Niamh and Pat. Leaving her apartment a mess just felt like another strike against me. 

Niall returned about forty minutes later, ringing the doorbell because his hands were full of food. He grinned as I opened the door, reaching out his arm to hand me the food in the Nando’s bags. It was only after I had the food in my arms that I realized he was carrying another bag.

“What’d you get?” I asked, kicking the door shut with my foot as soon as he walked into the apartment. I set the food on the counter and got my phone out. “How much do I owe you? I can Venmo.”

“Put your fucking phone away,” he said, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. “I got you something.”

His hand dipped into the bag at his side and pulled out something green and leafy. It looked like flowers, but I couldn’t see any blooms. However, when he handed them to me, I could suddenly see the tiny little buds at the end of some of the stems. “Rose buds for my Rosebud!” he exclaimed happily. “I know you were having a bad day, so I thought—oof!”

His breath left his body when I crashed into him, hugging him around the waist so tightly I thought I might pop him like a balloon. I was embarrassed to feel tears well up in my eyes at the sweet gesture, but the truth was, he had already made my day ten times better just by hanging around. And no boy had ever bought me flowers before. 

“Don’t cry,” he said when he pulled away, giving me a smile and wiping underneath my eye with his thumb. “They were supposed to make you smile.”

“You’re just…” I trailed off, unable to find the words to perfectly describe the boy in front of me. “You are everything,” I decided, pulling him back into my arms, content to just hold him there for a little longer.

He chuckled, his breath stirring the hairs on my head. I felt him squeeze my shoulders, reminding me that this was real and he was here. “Not everything,” he argued softly, “just someone who cares about you.”

~

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

I nodded towards Niamh, who was currently freezing her ass off outside of my apartment. We had met up with my landlord to discuss me not living there when my lease was up. However, every time I thought about giving up my own little apartment, the first big purchase I had made as a working adult...it filled me with dread.

“You know you’re welcome to stay with me for free, Rose,” Lily added. She had found out Niamh planned to accompany me and had invited herself. It wasn’t a problem, since Niamh and Lily got along fairly well, but after Lily’s recent schemes with Violet to get me in to see a counselor, I was a little wary of going through with this while Lily was here. Mostly, I didn’t want her to see me burst into tears and then turn around and make a plan with Violet to kidnap me and take me to the therapist. “You don’t have to give up your place.”

But I did. I hated staying there at night, because I felt an uncomfortable crawling on my skin, like Kent was watching me somewhere. It was irrational of me to feel that way, but it didn’t stop the fear when I was alone at night. “It’s a waste of money,” I replied, and wondered if Lily and Niamh could hear the reluctance in my voice. “Giving it up is smart.”

“You want to at least go inside and start packing some things up?” Niamh asked. I could hear her teeth chattering. It wasn’t particularly cold outside, but Niamh always ran a little chillier than the average person. 

I probably should. While most of my stuff was at Lily’s now, it would still be nice to go in and see what things I still had in my apartment. The pretty jewelry holder my grandmother had given me was there, along with some shoes that I didn’t wear everyday. The orange lamp my mom had given me for my college dorm was sitting on my nightstand, with the cute little pink mosaics on it that I loved. But seeing that stuff would make me sad, especially because I didn’t want to give up that little space yet. 

Just because something was smart and right didn’t mean it was easy.

“No, I’m fine. Let’s just go to lunch.”

They shared a look with each other, but luckily didn’t push. Niamh because she wasn’t that kind of person, and Lily because she still felt bad about the whole Violet thing. 

Niall and Pat were meeting us for lunch, effectively making me the fifth wheel. However, if it meant I got my money, Niall could join us for every meal he wanted to; Pat was fun to have around. Niamh called an Uber to the little deli she often frequented when she was done with work and when the driver pulled up to the restaurant, Niall and Pat were already sitting outside.

“Morning ladies,” Pat said happily, pulling out the chair next to him for Niamh to sit. She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. Niall had two open seats on either side of him, so I slid into one. “We already ordered your food.”

“You know my order?” I asked Pat, raising my brow. 

“No, but Niall does.”

I gave Niall a surprised look. Sure, he knew my Nando’s order because he usually picked it up for Lily and I, but I assumed he had only committed Lily’s order for the deli to memory. “Thanks, Ni. Did you get your usual roast beef?”

“You know me well,” he said, smiling. “I also got you some orange juice.”

Orange juice was my comfort drink. I liked having it when I was sad or nostalgic. When I gave him another surprised look, he shrugged.

“I know seeing your flat probably made you upset, so I figured you’d want some orange juice.”

Smiling softly, I reached over to give him a one-armed hug. I caught the tail end of a look that Niamh and Pat gave one another, their eyebrows furrowed as if they were trying to figure something out. They did this often; I joked that they were so in-tune with one another that they were of one mind. Before I could ask them what their looks meant, however, the server was setting down our drinks and food. Niall had been correct in my favorite sandwich, a turkey with Swiss cheese and extra oil and vinegar. He had also switched out my fries (or as he called them “chips” and playfully rolled his eyes when I said it wrong) for sweet potato fries, which were another weakness.

“Thanks, Ni,” Lily said when her own food arrived. She gave him a small peck on the cheek and I swore I saw dollar signs flash before my eyes.

There was something else, though. Something ugly that clawed at the front of my chest. I didn’t know what it was, but I’d never felt that way before, especially around Lily and Niall. I took a bite of my sandwich to distract me from it.

“How was the flat?” Niall asked.

I tried not to flinch at the thought of it, but a sour expression must have taken over my face. “It’s fine.”

“Sorry, Rosebud. I know you’re sad about leaving it.”

It was stupid to be getting so worked up over nothing but brick and wood, but I had put my all into making that little apartment feel like home. The canvas art that I had purchased at a little family-owned gallery hung perfectly above the tiny little fire place. Lily’s apartment didn’t have a fireplace for me to hang them over. Then there was the macrame plant holder that I had bought on Etsy that made me smile whenever I woke up to it because the sun from my window was always shining on it when my alarm went off. 

It was the first place that had been all mine. I didn’t mind sharing things with Lily, and I didn’t even mind sharing places with Violet. But that apartment had been Rose Fairbrough’s and no one else’s. 

It felt like I was losing a part of myself. 

Niamh seemed to notice the expression on my face and quickly changed the subject, prattling on about something else to keep the group occupied. I shot her a grateful smile. Freshman-year-me sure got lucky with Niamh as a roommate, and twenty-four-year-old-me was lucky that Niamh still wanted to be my friend. And through Niamh, I had met Pat, who never made me feel like a third-wheel when we all hung out. Though Niall and Lily were my people, Lily was my sister and Niall had been Lily’s best friend first. Niamh and Pat were, like my apartment, my own friends that I had made myself.

“I promised Violet I’d take her home from school and go shopping with her,” Lily said, looking at her phone after we had all finished eating. Her eyes caught mine. “I’m assuming you don’t want to come.”

I think I would rather have thrown myself off a bridge, but I didn’t tell Lily that. “I actually went to coffee with Violet earlier this week, so I’ve filled my quota.”

I felt better about denying this outing with them when Lily’s eyes lit up. “You guys got coffee this week? That’s wonderful!”

“It was fine. No big deal.” I had gotten free coffee out of it and Violet had only talked about the therapist for the first five minutes, so the trip actually hadn’t been as terrible as I had expected. 

“That’s a huge deal,” Lily said, smiling widely. “We’ll have to do another sister night soon.”

Niall covered his laugh with a cough when he caught the look on my face.

Lily said her goodbyes, kissing both mine and Niall’s cheeks before she was off. Niamh and Pat only stayed a couple more minutes before they followed behind Lily. That left Niall and I at the table by ourselves, finishing up our lunches.

“What’s on your agenda for the rest of the day?” he asked, giving me a charming smile. He collected our trash and deposited them into the bin, and I strangely watched his legs move as he did so. 

“Just hanging at the house. You?”

“Meeting with one of my athletes. He’s got an idea for eco-friendly sport equipment and he wants to run it by me.”

My eyebrows raised. “Wow. That’s incredible.”

“Yeah, I’m excited to hear about it. You need a ride home?”

I nodded and he led me to his car, a modest Toyota that he had bought as soon as he got the job at the college. When I slid into the passenger seat, I noticed something hanging from his rearview mirror.

“Hey! You found it!” I said excitedly, leaning forward and touching the tiny butterfly charm.

“Oh yeah, I did. I put it up there this morning to remind me to give it back to you. I like having it there. Makes me feel like you’re watching out for me when I’m driving.” He gently removed it from his rearview and handed it to me with a smile. 

“Thanks. Help me put it on?” I unhooked the clasp and wrapped the two sides around my neck. His fingers on my skin made me shiver, but I filed the reaction away for a time where I could dissect it later. 

He didn’t pull his hands away for several moments. I felt his breath on the back of my neck as one of his fingers softly poked at a spot on my flesh. “Hey,” he said softly, “you have a birthmark here. It’s shaped like a tree.”

“You’ve never noticed?” I asked, trying my best to clear my throat. My voice sounded suddenly throaty, like I had something caught in it. 

He chuckled, pulling away enough to have me feeling like I could breathe again. “I think I learn something new about you every time I see you, Rosebud. It’s impossible to know all of you.” I felt the car engine rumble as he started the car and pulled away from the curb.

“You know me better than most people do.”

“Yeah?” he asked, reaching out and tapping my knee. I found myself smiling at the gesture. It was so...Niall. 

“Yeah.”

And it was true. Niall knew me better than nearly everyone in my life, except Lily. The fact that he knew me better than Violet and my parents was something I held dear to my heart. It was just impossible to not unveil your soul to Niall. He was open and honest and caring. The world needed more people like him.

Too quickly, we were pulling up to the apartment. I wasn’t quite ready to leave, but I knew he had the meeting with his athlete and probably had to get going. “Thanks for finding my necklace.”

“Of course, Rosebud. I know how much it means to you.”

I thought about what he said, about feeling like I was with him when he was driving. Without another second to think about it, I unhooked the rose necklace I had worn to lunch today in my other necklace’s absence. “Here,” I said softly, leaning forward and wrapping it around his rearview mirror. “So I’ll always be with you when you’re driving.”

His finger gently touched the charm, and a slow smile spread across his face. “A rose to help me think of my Rosebud?”

“Always.”

He chuckled, and in a move that surprised me, pulled me over towards him so he could press a kiss to my forehead. “One problem, Rose. I’m always thinking about you. A necklace doesn’t change that.”

[bansept]

Sacrifice

SO, this is angst based on an episode from TVD, which I used to watch. I had in mind almost recreating an episode but then thought “nahhh” So at least I tried to innovate!

This is a one shot, so no updates after that because I love making people suffer, obviously.

Slight OOCness, because it’s a rather dark world.

TRIGGER WARNING : Major character death + mental issues that are camouflaged but not that much

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One does not decide their fate. You are born from your mother, grow and meet people, if fate is merciful, you meet the one you were created to love. You spend a lifetime with them, you learn how to love, how to care, how to live. You get to understand what it is like to choose for the first time. And, after a life worth of adventures, stories and feelings, you are put to rest.

Once upon a time Ichigo and Orihime believed in this reality. Believed that life could be harsh, but they would climb out of the pit of darkness to reach the sunlight, and enjoy it.

.

.

.

Like all days, it was sunny. In their minds, the vast grass filed in front of them was always illuminated, the light breeze always brought new and known scents to their noses, and they could feel whole again. They could feel the warmth of the Sun, the touch of the other on their hand. The whisper of the wind caressing their ears.

In their inner world, all was alright. All was safe and loving.

The exterior world was corrupted by uncaring people. It was dark and messy and cruel, nothing good could ever come out of it.

Especially people.

Their families had left, stolen away by the frightening death that loomed over each human being. From the father, whose childish behavior always pushed Ichigo out of his skin to the sisters and the brother that loved their sibling in the purest way possible. The sisters looked out for their brother, asking for his protection and his support. The brother watched over his sister, calming her when the world was latching onto her, pulling her out of the black waters of her mind.

But now, all this happiness they could vaguely remember had been taken away. Vanished, disappeared in thin air. Where did they go? Where were they all now? In the sky or in the dirt?

There were no such things as an answer.

“Let’s get going, Orihime.”

The rough voice brought another wide smile on her face. She felt his hand hold hers tenderly, and nodding her head, Orihime followed him docily, letting him lead the way, like he always did.

The world was upside down : debris of buildings here and there, some gigantic from a building or a skyscraper, others small enough to step on. Blocks of stones and piles of wood and iron littered the floor, waiting for more scavengers to dig in them, try to find what was essential to live.

But living was not possible anymore. Not after bombs were dropped on Japan. It was said it was that way all over the world, but no one could say for sure. Was it true the world was destroyed by a radioactive menace? Was it true that the peoples of the Earth were reduced to nothing but wandering all day long to survive for another day?

Orihime could never know. Her world was a golden field with a orange-haired man sitting next to her.

Ichigo talked to her. Explained what he saw, what he felt, what was happening aroudn them. Anything he knew Orihime would love, he described it to her, from a rare seagull to a tiny sprout on the ground, trying its hardest to get some energy. Many times, Ichigo would snark a remark, something along the lines of “it’s fighting to exist, just like us.”. Orihime could do nothing but hold his hand tighter.

For months now, they walked the day to stop at night, cuddling closer no matter the heat of the weather, holding the other close. Closing her eyes didn’t change a thing : she was still in the field with him. She was still watching his traits shift to something relaxed and she was still amazed by him.

Ichigo shifted closer to her, taking the light bag off her back to let her poor spine breathe a little.

“What are you thinking about?”

She smiled. What an obvious question.

“You.”

She heard him chuckle, the sound soft.

“Ah, even in this situation, you keep on saying that.”

Orihime felt his other hand on the top of her head, caressing the not so souple hair, pushing a few strands out of her face, not that it mattered anyway. She didn’t say anything, only placed her chin against his hand.

Even in this situation, where the world she couldn’t see anymore was destroyed, their families and friends dead, Orihime would still be strong enough to smile. If it was fate to live, and if things happened for a reason, then all the suferring of today would vanish tomorrow, and they would meet again in the golden fields.

.

.

.

When two people travel together in a hostile place, it has its advantages and its inconvenients.

The first being only worrying about one person. No time wasted thinking about a potential individual that got lost. And with Orihime not being able to walk two steps alone, it was easy to stick together. The food, found in a deserted cafeteria or an abandoned house, was also easy to share.

The second... Their number was low, and if they encountered any threat, it was hard to outrun it, or to fight it. Orihime was Ichigo’s number one priority. Always had, always will be. But that only pushed him deeper into the danger.

And it was during the night they would feel the weakest. Ichigo could stand watch, not Orihime. Orihime could sleep, not Ichigo.

When one dreamed of the same place with the same person, the other was haunted by the nightmares of the reality laid bare in front of him. Destroyed houses, rotting corpses, violence in each corner.

One does not decide their fate. They are born with protection in their names, and it is their way of life to live by it. It is not their choice what they see or what they think.

He can’t help but think he should travel alone, leave Orihime to a safer place and come back to her once in a while with what she needs.

But if thinking is not up to him, then feeling is.

He can’t bear it. The thought of letting her be alone. Without him. He aches the moment he thinks of leaving her. So he doesn’t.

He aches the moment he sees her white eyes focus on nothing but her last memory of him, of them, in the field near a barn they used to like.

He aches when he knows how much she must suffer from being stuck in one place.

But because he feels and because those feelings lead him, he keeps them going. In a way, he started to believe fate would be kind after it is cruel. Maybe they will get better soon.

Until he knows they won’t.

Scavengers, unknown men and women, hiding behind old rusted glasses and torn rags encounter them one day. Without any discussion, any word, they attack them, they push them to the ground to rob them. Ichigo wants to fight, but Orihime grabs his hand, his arm, his body to have him close.

The golden fields in her head are starting to burn.

The foreigners attach them far away from each other. Ichigo is near an old electric pole, tied smartly, no chances of him getting out without getting injuried. Orihime on her side, she is told to sit near the fire, because what can a blind girl do? She can’t run, she can’t escape, she can’t help.

The golden fields in her head are burning now.

Ichigo watches her cry, clear tears coming out of foggy eyes, her head tilted to the sky, not daring to speak. And he sense she’s lossing it.

Not because they are seperated by a few meters. Not because he’s not holding her hand. Because she, who couldn’t see the world, couldn’t perceive how evil it had turned, encoutered it by herself. And the only safe place, physically and mentally, was getting ripped away from her.

Ichigo tried to fight his bounds. He tried to have this tiny shape of light and hope in his mind, that the day he would have fate on his side was here. That he could free himself, and her, and go back home.

It lasted for hours. Her crying, his pulling. Both were silent, one to not bring attention, the other too shocked and petrified to move.

Maybe it was luck, maybe it was fate, but they managed to get out. Ichigo shuffled his hands out of the ropes, pretending to sleep as a guard looked down on him. He turned around and the orange-haired man stood up abruptly to wrap an arm around his neck, suffocating him enough to make the lad fall unconcsious on the ground.

.

.

.

But there was nothing he could now.

The fire of reality and fate had burned the golden fields.

There was no Sun. No wind. No gentleness, no caress. The orange wasn’t just a mass of hair next to her anymore. It was all she could feel, from the sky to the clouds. The ground was dark and bloody, the piece only shrinking into chaos.

She couldn’t walk anymore. She couldn’t run, or hide, or talk or anything! All was gone! All she hoped, all she yearned, all she saw was gone!

Even the hand on her arm, the same as always, the same touch and same pressure on her skin, it was different, and it was bad.

Everything hurt. Nothing was bearable anymore.

“Orihime, please... We gotta go now, or they’ll get to us...”

“I don’t want to move.”

He stopped pulling her arm, instead cupping her face. She couldn’t feel his eyes on her own. All was gone.

“What? Hime, come on, now is not the best time...”

“Why... Why are we doing this?”

Ichigo didn’t answer, nor did he asked what she was talking about. He only hissed an insult. Orihime’s void eyes blinked, and she waved her hands to him, messily touching his sides. It was wet.

“I don’t want... I can’t have this anymore! I can’t get going like this! And neither can you, Ichigo... So please... Let’s go home.”

Her hand pushed against the fabric of his vest in a relfex to stop the bleeding he had gotten from the guard. She had heard some fighting by Ichigo’s side, but he had assured her he was fine.

Liar.

“Orihime...”

“Don’t tell me can’t!” Tears kept spilling, getting in her mouth, on the side of her nose, dropping on the floor. “I’m tired, tired of doing all this! I’m tired of suffering everyday, of knowing you suffer too! What kind of life could we have here! Huh? Nothing!”

“... I know.”

“I just want to be home... Just want to feel the sun on my face again...”

A little click was heard, and Orihime closed her eyes, lips curling into a smile. Ichigo breathed out, voice shaking but calm and determined.

“... We’re going back home. To Sora, to Yuzu and Karin. To my father and mother.”

Ichigo pulled them close, sliding a cold and hard gun in Orihime’s hand, their foreheads brought together to feel warmth.

“I can’t wait to meet them... And so that I can talk to Sora about you. He’ll be glad.”

“I’m nervous... I hope he’ll like me.”

The two chuckled, and Orihime leaned closer to gently kiss him on the lips.

“He will.”

One does not decide their fate. You are born from your mother, grow and meet people, if fate is merciful, you meet the one you were created to love. You spend a lifetime with them, you learn how to love, how to care, how to live. You get to understand what it is like to choose for the first time. And, after a life worth of adventures, stories and feelings, you are put to rest.

Once upon a time Ichigo and Orihime believed in this reality. Believed that life could be harsh, but they would climb out of the pit of darkness to reach the sunlight, and enjoy it.

They were not always surrounded by light. They were not always surrounded by warmth.

They knew they wouldn’t be in the sky or in the ground.

They knew where their place was.

They knew where the sunlight was, the same place they would feel warmth, always.

There were two loud bangs. One soft thud, as their bodies fell together.

Then laughter, the golden fields perfect again, with the new Sun, the new wind, the new caresses, and the joy of meeting new faces.

Now, and forever, they were put to rest, and fate would never be cruel again.

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I’m not certain that people will like it, since I wrote that in an hour and with a loud loud mind.

I hope you guys do not hate me too much haha

[akirakurusuimagines]

Connected

@p5auweek​ day four: Soulmate AU (Potential Soulmates are able to talk to each other telepathically for a few minutes at a time.) 

You clicked your pen listlessly, your focus miles from the classroom and your professor’s dull lecture, completely and utterly absorbed in your grumpy mental chant to leave, leave, leave. Today was just an irritating day, only a couple weeks into the semester and you were already completely over it. You regret not taking full advantage of your spring vacation, especially now, where you were stuck with Ms. Chouno’s latest tangent. You just wanted to go home, cuddle up in your blankets, and take a nice, long nap. 

I get it, so can you be quiet now, please? You’re not the only one who wants to leave.

You froze at the sudden voice, head whipping every which way inside the classroom, looking for any potential people who spoke to you, anyone who met your eyes with a glare, anything. Thinking for a moment, you realized you didn’t recognize that voice, despite being vaguely familiar with most students in your class. If it didn’t come from inside the classroom, then did it come from inside your head? No, that couldn’t be it. Right? That’s just preposterous! Maybe it was just your imagination, you were bored to the point of insanity. 

Yeah, I’m just going crazy. That’s it, you convinced yourself, considering the lingering silence in your head. No wonder, she’s dragging on and on and⁠— 

Seriously, look, I don’t know what’s going on either, but can you please keep your thoughts to yourself for five minutes? The voice inside your head returned. It was rather light and gentle, but the snark in his voice was inevitable. Whoever managed to sneak inside your head didn’t seem like a fan of whatever was going on, either. 

Absolutely not! you retorted, eyebrows pinching together as you had to make sure to speak inside your head to this stranger. Get out of my head! 

I could say the same to you.

But you were the one who got in my head in the first place!

No, I think it’s the opposite.

“Whatever!” You hadn’t meant to say it out loud, unintentionally drawing attention to you from the other students in the form of giggling and snickering. Your cheeks reddened with shame as Ms. Chouno’s glare pierced right through your soul, though she continued the lesson without a word, likely choosing to confront you after class for your outburst. 

Regardless, the noise in your head died down and you were left to your own devices. Yet you still couldn’t bring yourself to try to contact the mysterious man again, half in fear that you were actually going crazy and it was a figment of your imagination, and half in fear that you weren’t and that he was going to be a permanent resident inside your head. 

That was the first day you heard his voice. 

Since then, his voice would only creep up upon you and scare the living shit out of you at the most inconvenient times, really. Once, he had blurted out the answer to the question you were pondering on an exam which caused you screamed in surprise. Luckily, the professor believed you when you nervously explained that you saw a bug and it shocked you and let you off with a warning.

Conversations between the two of you would only last for a few minutes at a time, and usually left you exhausted afterwards, though whether it was the bickering you two often found yourself engaging in or whether it was the energy needed to talk to someone telepathically, you weren’t sure. 

Neither one of you were comfortable enough with the other to use your real names or give any other kind of information, and you were perfectly fine with that, but you still laughed at him for a few minutes when he told you to call him Joker. What kind of a nickname was that? With the way he snorted when you announced yours, he didn’t think it was much better. 

There were a few times when you could’ve sworn you heard him say something rather odd⁠— yet anytime you asked him about it, he’d pull out one of the rules that you two set up with each other to have some form of privacy when you were at school, since it seemed like the only time that strange connection ever happens and you’d respectfully back off, but it didn’t make you any less suspicious of him.

It was strange, but you got used to hearing Joker’s voice in your head, and admittedly began to look forward to it. It was a nice distraction from the strange life you had at Shujin, and you wondered if he felt the same way about talking to you. The way he seemed to lighten up and become more and more friendly with you seemed to indicate that, especially considering you two were listening in on the depths of each other’s psyche. 

A couple months of your interactions with him passed by, and you noticed that most of your conversations with him were short and blunt compared to the light banter you two normally had. You couldn’t blame him; the situation involving the mafia’s more aggressive movements in Shibuya recently was nothing to scoff at. Perhaps he was worried about it? He never answered you when you asked, yet you still worried for him. He seemed like the type to get himself caught up in trouble. 

Trusting your gut, you set off to stake out Shibuya, settling yourself comfortably within Big Bang Burger and hoping to connect with him while you were there. He was worrying you. You weren’t exactly ready to give up that strange bond you had with Joker for him to up and die from messing with the mafia.

So you waited.

And you waited. 

And waited some more. 

You were beginning to think this wasn’t your best idea. Hours passed and no sign of life inside your head other than yours, which you had to admit, was a lot lonelier than you would’ve first imagined. Sighing aloud, you packed up your things, at least grateful for the opportunity to finish your homework, as difficult as it was. The kind woman working the register bid a farewell as you exited, wincing slightly at the change of lighting. It was time you started heading home, your parents were sure to wonder where you’d been the entire time, considering how dusk was nearing already. 

Yet your legs refused to move towards the subway, that small glimmer of hope in your chest of at least getting to properly talk with Joker winning over your rationality. You wandered around the streets of Shibuya for a little longer, making as much racket in your head to try and see if Joker would respond. Then again, he might not even be here and all you’re doing is wasting your time. 

It really was a mistake on your part to let yourself get so distracted with improbable ideas. You could tell rather quickly which people felt shady as hell, and despite your attempts to steer away from them, they seemed to be attracted to you like moths to a flame. They badgered you with easy money, simple jobs, promises of wealth, anything they think would be attractive to a high schooler like you. Everytime you dismissed them, they came back, more eager to get you to agree than before. 

You should’ve made a run for it, towards the subway station, and just hop on the first train and go, but you were too late. At your continuous refusal, one of the shady men who hounded you grew absurdly irked, perhaps because he was falling behind on his quota, and snatched your wrist, pulling you back into the shadow of an alleyway and pressing a knife against your throat. 

You froze up completely at the sensation, hardly even registering the words being said to you by the man who reeked of tobacco and booze. The realization of what was happening made your heart race, the blood pumping loudly in your ears, as you repeatedly pleaded in your head, keeping as still as possible in hopes that he’d just let you go. Please, Joker, please⁠— please answer me! you beseeched, quickly losing faith in this plan of yours, but it was the only one that came to mind. 

What’s happening⁠—? Where are you?! 

You nearly cried in relief, hearing the startled and panicked voice of the man you’ve never seen yet feel so close to. He was close. In the alley across from the beef bowl shop, please hurry, I⁠— 

“So what, you’re just not gonna answer me?” You bit back a gasp as the dull edge of the knife dug a little deeper into your neck, the man clearly displeased with your lack of response. “Are you gonna agree, or am I gonna have to get nasty?” 

“I wouldn’t recommend that if I were you,” a cool, deep tone sent shivers down your spine. It was familiar, and yet you still couldn’t see who it was. You were too afraid to look with a knife pointed to your throat. “Try anything and I’ll shoot.” 

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing⁠—?!” The grunt spat out, though with the way his tone wavered as a click behind his back rang loudly in his ears. 

“Go, and don’t you dare try this again.” 

“Nngh…” he withdrew his knife from your neck and shoved you aside, before rushing off to god-knows-where. 

You barely managed to catch yourself, body trembling slightly at the terrifying experience, before you finally looked to see who it was who saved you. “T-Thank you,” you managed to mutter. 

“What are you doing here? You know Shibuya isn’t safe for students right now,” the tall student who bore your same uniform stared down at you, concern etched all over his face. The voice clicked, hearing it in person: he was the same one who saved you just now, and the same one in your head. I’m glad you’re safe. 

“No way,” you mumbled, eyes wide, baffled. Akira Kurusu: Shujin’s transfer student with a criminal record, the one with more rumors than you could count surrounding him, that was Joker? “You’ve got to be fucking kidding.” It was hard trying to keep up with everything, and hold on a moment⁠— did he have a gun? 

“...You should go home,” Akira spoke after a moment. “We’ll talk later.” 

“Wait⁠—” You gripped the sleeve of his uniform as he began to leave, “there’s so much I need to talk to you about, and… I don’t want to travel home alone after what happened.” 

Akira stared at you, his glasses shielding his eyes from the world, yet after a minute, he offered you a kind smile. “Are you sure you’d like to walk home with me, after threatening to shoot someone? You’ll be fine, trust me.” 

You couldn’t stop him from slipping through your fingers, walking away with his hands shoved in his pockets, not bothering to look back. You stared, stunned, as he became lost in the sea of people, leaving you behind with questions and a heavy heart, but the determination to find out just what was going on with him now that you had a name and a face to associate with the voice inside your head. 

But first, you had to make sure you went home safely. 

[gameofdrarry]

Wizards Hearts Recs: Odd Jobs

Wizards Hearts was a four-month-long Drarry reading fest. Players were given a playing deck of 52 tropes, and were asked to find 52 different fics to read and comment on to fill their decks. To prevent the same few fics from being read, fics were restricted to only being used for the game three times before being considered ineligible for further points. The tropes and submissions list can be found here.

Check out the masterlist of fics for this trope below the cut!

📜 Azoth by zeitgeistic Rated:  Explicit Words:  88,722 Tags:  Eighth Year, Alchemy, Animagus, Snark, Banter, Pining, Graphic Sex Summary:  Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy a portrait? Harry has no idea; he’s too busy trying not to be in love with Malfoy to care. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 On Your Shore by xanthippe74 Rated:  Mature Words:  35113 Tags: Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Post-Hogwarts, Mystery, Scotland, Dark Magic, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Pining, Sharing a Bed, First Time, Non-Explicit Sex, Demisexual Harry Potter, Bisexual Harry Potter, Gay Draco Malfoy, Closeted Draco Malfoy, Curse Breaker Harry Potter, Antiques Appraiser Draco Malfoy, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, Good Parent Draco Malfoy, Past Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Married Astoria Greengrass/Draco Malfoy, H/D Sex Fair 2020 Summary:  Clearing out a remote house full of cursed collectibles in the Outer Hebrides? Not a problem for an experienced curse breaker like Harry Potter. Spending a week with the straight, happily-married man that he’s starting to have feelings for? And sharing a bed with him at night? Surely Harry can handle that, too. But both the house and Draco Malfoy have secrets to uncover, and Harry might be in deeper water than he thought. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Of Matchmaking Owls & Second Chances by xErised Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  11219 Tags: Owls, Paris (City), Dancing in the Rain, Humor, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Post-Hogwarts, H/D Career Fair 2017, Rekindled Relationships, Adorable Summary:  It's just Draco's luck to own an owl that's in love with Potter's owl treats. When Potter invites Draco's owl to be a taste-tester, Draco accepts. For the sake of his beloved owl, of course, not to rekindle that spark of attraction during their eighth year. Or because of how bloody fit Potter is. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Aural Gratification by author Rated:  Explicit Words:  10988 Tags: Aural Kink, Masturbation, Closet Sex, Coming Out, Dildos, Humor, Smut Summary:  Harry's not gay – he just likes listening to exciting stories about Aurors. It's not his fault that the narrator's voice is so smooth, so expressive... and really rather hot. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Draco Malfoy: Toilet Supremo by who_la_hoop Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  26189 Tags: Romance, Humor, flangst, HP: EWE, Career: toilet salesman Summary:  It must be a vision brought on by eating cheese sarnies too close to bedtime, Harry thinks. There's no way that Draco Malfoy can really be standing on his doorstep, calling himself a Toilet Supremo, and expecting Harry to buy not only this unlikeliest of scenarios, but also a new loo. But no: Harry's eyes do not deceive him. Malfoy, Lord of Toilets, is really there. Which begs a very important question: what the hell is he up to, and what evil scheme is he about to unleash? Because there must be an evil scheme . . . mustn't there? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 When Hippogriffs and Pygmy Puffs Collide by oldenuf2nb Rated:  Mature Words:  32755 Tags: Playboy Harry Potter, Tattoo Artist Draco Malfoy, Baker Harry Potter, Divorced Harry Potter & Ginny Weasley, Divorced Astoria Greengrass & Draco Malfoy, Bisexual Harry Potter, Magical Tattoos, Hand Jobs Summary:  Harry Potter bakes cakes, brilliantly. Draco Malfoy inks tattoos, brilliantly. Owls deliver post, including messages from clients, with an occasional lack of brilliance. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 It's Not Like Christmas At All by ProfessorDrarry Rated:  Mature Words:  29411 Tags: Christmas Fluff, Advent Calendar, Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, Past Relationship(s), Mentions of Past Homelessness, References to Illness, estranged family, Poverty, POV Alternating, happy ending guaranteed Summary:  Draco knew his life wouldn't have been appealing in the eyes of his past-self; Muggle job that would make his parents shudder. Muggle flat with an inconvenient living situation. Muggle hairdresser and coffee shop and charity work. But it was perfect. Well. Almost perfect. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 (We'll Call This Fixer-Upper) Home by phdmama Rated:  Explicit Words:  52520 Tags: Rock Star Draco Malfoy, Artist Harry Potter, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Post Traumatic Growth, mental health, Original Character(s), Original Character Death(s), (all those are in the past), Recreational Drug Use, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Hooking up, Dating, Semi-Public Sex, Growth and Healing, Mention of Suicidal Ideation, Getting Together, Boys Kissing, Falling In Love Summary:  Draco Malfoy hasn’t set foot on English soil in ten years. After the war, he fled to America, where he found himself in a community, and healed himself through following his heart into music. He’s now the lead singer and songwriter for an internationally known band, who have come back to headline the Wiltshire Music Festival. But as Draco is about to learn, his past isn’t as far away as he might have believed, and his future may hold more than he ever could have dreamed. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 All Roads by korlaena, Saulaie Rated:  Mature Words:  36636 Tags: Minor Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Journalist Draco Malfoy, Animagus Draco Malfoy, Magizoologist Harry Potter, Desi Harry Potter, Bearded Harry Potter, Background Femslash, Horseback Riding, Italy, Cabins, Mountains, Walks In The Woods, Drinking, Hangover, Masturbation, Implied/Referenced Blow Jobs, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Self-Hatred, Lucius Malfoy Being an Asshole, Friends to Lovers, Angst with a Happy Ending Summary:  Draco hates his job at the Prophet. He hates it even more when he’s assigned to write an article on Harry Potter, who left the country three years ago after their falling out. Draco doesn’t want to face the truth about himself, but he’s stuck between Harry and his duty, and he’s out of options. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 kiss me in the doorway by primaveracerezos Rated:  Explicit Words:  7787 Tags: Getting Together, Post-War, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Fluff Summary:  "At Draco’s trial, Potter testified that Draco had acted only in fear of his life, for his parents’ lives. When the Wizengamot announced his pardon, hundreds of eyes were on him, but he only felt one gaze. He found Potter’s green eyes in the crowd, where he was insulated by layers of loyal friends. The expression on Potter’s face was painfully open, studying, curious. Draco returned it. He had questions too." ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Quibbler Unsolved by leontina (Leontina) Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  17377 Tags: Post-Hogwarts, Post-Second War with Voldemort, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Minor Luna Lovegood/Dudley Dursley, Minor Astoria Greengrass/Pansy Parkinson, Buzzfeed Unsolved References, Alternate Universe - Buzzfeed Unsolved Fusion, Smitten Draco Malfoy, Oblivious Harry Potter, Oblivious Draco Malfoy, Matchmaking, World Travel, Redeemed Dudley Dursley, Explicit Language, Light Angst, Drinking, Getting Fired, Eviction, Masturbation, POV Draco Malfoy, Down and Out Draco Malfoy, Journalist Draco, Journalist Harry, The Quibbler, Sharing a Bed, Goats, The X-Files References, Ouija, Implied Sexual Content, Implied Switching, H/D Erised 2019 Summary:  Draco is down on his luck without a home or a job, and so he has no choice but to accept an offer to work at The Quibbler. He just didn’t expect to be searching for make-believe creatures in the Muggle world with Harry Potter. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Come A Little Closer by maraudersaffair Rated:  Explicit Words:  37787 Tags: First Time, Pining, Coming Out, slight angst, redeemed!Draco, gay!draco, unusual careers, Grimmauld Place, magical museums, Kayaking, Draco in the Muggle World, Snogging, Frottage, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Homophobic Language, Internalized Homophobia, Drinking, Injury, Dirty Talk, Kid Fic, Sex Toys, Bisexual Harry Potter, Gay Draco Malfoy, Kings Cross, Virginity Summary:  A few years after the war, Draco Malfoy works the service desk at King’s Cross and does his best to avoid his parents. He is also desperate to lose his virginity. Enter Harry Potter. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Critiquer by dysonrules Rated:  Explicit Words:  24260 Tags: Humor, Romance, HP: EWE, Post-Hogwarts, Photography, Secret Identity Summary:  When Harry submits his cock photo to a renowned Cock Critiquer and gets a terrible review, he decides to take a photography class to hopefully improve his skills. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Pathless Woods by onereader Rated:  Explicit Words:  30267 Tags: Wandmaker Harry Potter, Wand Wood Grower Draco Malfoy, POV Harry Potter, Found Family, Violet Wand, Magical Theory, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Slow Build Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Happy Ending, Dating, Puns & Word Play, Wandlore (Harry Potter), H/D Fan Fair 2019, Secondary Theme: Pottermore Fair, Handsome Draco Malfoy Summary:  “There is a pleasure in the pathless woods” Lord Byron. Harry finds himself unexpectedly reacquainted with Draco Malfoy when his work as an apprentice wandmaker takes him to Wiltshire. Amongst the trees Harry finds magic, growth, and a man who might finally be proving he’s worthy of the wand that chose him. Hawthorn, Unicorn hair, 10 inches, reasonably pliant. A story of found family, trees with feelings, belief in the power of growth, wandlore, and gratuitous description of Handsome Estate Owner™ Draco Malfoy swanning around in white shirts and leather boots. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Leaky Sinks and Proffered Services by parseltonquinq Rated:  Explicit Words:  4129 Tags: Top Harry, Bottom Draco, repairman!harry, draco needs to get a grip, harry needs to buy another shirt, i need to get some sleep Summary:  "It had only been a week and a half since Harry had fixed the bathroom sink. Draco knew he had a problem. The sink hadn’t even been broken. The thing was, he couldn’t stop thinking about Harry’s eyes or that smile or the way he filled out that plain white t-shirt. It was almost obsessive. So he did what any sane man would do and loosened some of the compression nuts with a wrench (he’d had to watch a couple of videos to learn how). He then proceeded to check out Harry’s ass while he worked, his mouth dry and his conscience taking the day off. " Draco breaks things. Harry is a hot repairman. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Scurrilous by Saras_Girl Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  25142 Tags: N/A Summary:  When Potter starts behaving more oddly than usual, Draco has no choice but to take an interest. After all, it’s his job. Sort of. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Walk in the sun by FreddieFoxBaxter Rated:  Explicit Words:  18239 Tags: Getting Together, Smut, Only One Bed, One Shot, Awkward Flirting, Drunken Confessions, Social Anxiety, Nude Photos, Dating, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Harry Potter is Obsessed with Draco Malfoy, Top Draco Malfoy, Bottom Harry Potter, Harry Potter in Panties, Model Draco Malfoy, Minor Neville Longbottom/Blaise Zabini, Minor Pansy Parkinson/Ginny Weasley, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy in the Muggle World, H/D Sex Fair 2020 Summary:  Harry is perfectly content with the life he built for himself; simple and private, it helps him heal the wounds from the war. He then accepts to go out with one of Neville’s acquaintances, never expecting that decision would bring him back to his obsession for Draco Malfoy. “That was his cue. Had Harry stopped to think about his situation, he could have left. Malfoy was nibbling at his neck, he had his hand down his pants. All things considered, a disaster incoming. And yet, his feet still refused to move. After all, he was not the stop-to-think-of-consequences kind of guy.” ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Salty Sweet by Aelys_Althea Rated:  Mature Words:  59795 Tags: Post-War, Not Epilogue Compliant, Baking, Pâtisserie, Sugar and Salt, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Apprenticeship, Bake-Off, Competition, change, Master and Apprentice, Character Development, French Influences, Muggles and Magic, Harry Potter Leaves the Wizarding World, Isolation, Patronus, Finding Peace, glamours, Workplace Relationship, Apprentice Harry Potter, Pastry Chef Draco Malfoy, H/D Career Fair 2017 Summary:  Draco was a Master. He'd always been one, but having a town of Muggles consider him as close to God's gift as they would ever receive was certainly validating. Except it wasn't enough. After years of settling, of conjuring masterpieces with his fingers and his prowess, Draco realised he needed a change. How hard could it be to find an apprentice pâtissier that did what they were told? As it happened, doing 'what was told' was about the last thing on his inevitable prospect's mind. Trust Harry Potter to be the one to turn Draco's life upside down. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Printed Press by Soupy George Rated:  Mature Words:  124993 Tags: Language, Themes, Sexual Content Summary:  Draco Malfoy was still slightly awed to be standing on the doorstep of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. He never would have thought that Harry Potter's very public and very ... sweary, emotional explosion would have led to him offering Draco, of all people, a job. ❤️ Read on FFN

📜 you made your mark on me (a golden tattoo) by tigerlilycorinne Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  6078 Tags: Fluff, Post-War, Post-Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Pining Draco, Tattoo artist Harry, Draco Malfoy in the Muggle World, sorta - Freeform, Getting Together, Sort-of Confessions, Kind Harry Potter, Humor Summary:  Draco wants to get a tattoo, but he can hardly do that when it turns out the artist of the shop he chooses is none other than Harry Potter. Draco would much rather leave, really, he would, because the last thing he needs is to be anywhere near Potter and his wild hair and green eyes, his shoulders and that bloody voice… what was he saying? Oh yes– Harry Potter is the last person he wants to be around. But it’s kinda hard to leave when he’s being so bloody distracting… ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 the potential of broken things by icarusinflight Rated:  Explicit Words:  10727 Tags: Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Post-Hogwarts, Auror Harry Potter, Ex-Auror Draco Malfoy, Bisexual Harry Potter, Drinking, Kneazles (Harry Potter), Explicit Sexual Content, Intercrural Sex, H/D Erised 2020 Summary:  "Can you feel that? Some things want to be what they once were. The original spell is still there, and it wants to work again. All it takes is a little push and then"—Draco clicks his fingers of his free hand—"snap, everything will go back into place." Harry's feeling lost, but he finds Draco in a shop full of (not broken, just waiting to be repaired) items. He stays a while. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Touch by bixgirl1 Rated:  Explicit Words:  44791 Tags: Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Rimming, Switching, H/D Career Fair 2017, Sharing a Bed, Post-Hogwarts, Humor, Hallucinations, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sleep Deprivation, Falling In Love, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Cuddling & Snuggling, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Resolved Sexual Tension Summary:  When Harry is referred to a professional cuddler for the soothing power of touch, he’s dubious — even more so when the Cuddler who shows up turns out to be Malfoy. But in the years since the war, Malfoy’s changed, and over the next several days Harry is confronted by how much he still doesn’t know about this new version of his old enemy — and by how much he wants to learn. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Special Delivery (previously Amende Honorable) by alittlebitAlexie Rated:  Mature Words:  11628 Tags: Post-Second War with Voldemort, Apologies, Misunderstandings, Accidents, Owl Post (Harry Potter), Bartender Draco Malfoy, Bartender Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy & Pansy Parkinson Friendship, POV Draco Malfoy, Unrequited Crush, Diagon Alley, Death Eater Trials mentioned, Letters, Love Letters, Gay Draco Malfoy, Flatmates Draco and Pansy, panic attack (mentioned), Nightclub, Confrontations, Running Away, Outing, Veritaserum, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Kissing, Snogging, Undressing, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Secret Crush, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant Summary:  After his trial, Draco writes apology letters to everyone he has hurt. Not so special. But he writes two to Harry. One to actually send, and one (that was never meant to see the light of day) to pour his heart out and admit things like thinking Harry has a fit arse and was his sexual awakening. What could go wrong? Well, Pansy could accidentally mail the wrong letter. That's what. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Sunseeker by shiftylinguini Rated:  Explicit Words:  15199 Tags: Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Post-Hogwarts, Writer Harry Potter, Single Parent Draco Malfoy, Magical House Fixer-Upper Draco, Texting, Friends to Lovers, Banter, Past Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Divorced Astoria Greengrass & Draco Malfoy, Muggle Technology, Flirting, Long-Distance Relationship, Getting Together, Crushes, Pining, Drinking, Drunk Texting, Frottage, Grinding, First Time, Humor, H/D Erised 2020 Summary:  Harry is a struggling writer. Namely, he is struggling with: writing his next book, dealing with his agent, finding a decent tea strainer, fielding his friend's concern over the aforementioned book, and figuring out who the cat loitering in his garden belongs to. He also has a slight liking-Malfoy problem. Okay, he has a massive liking-Malfoy problem. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Charmed Confections by Alisanne Rated:  Explicit Words:  35967 Tags: Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Light Bondage, flangst, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Mild Angst, Character death (offscreen not Harry or Draco), Community: hd_erised Summary:  There’s a new bakery in town, and Harry is obsessed with the luscious lemon fairy cakes. And with discovering the identity of the mystery chef. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Open Up, Potter by heyitsamorette (AmoretteHD) Rated:  Explicit Words:  3276 Tags: odd jobs, First Time, First Time Blow Jobs, Blow Jobs, Dirty Talk, Bisexuality Summary:  Harry has never had gay sex; not surprising when he’s only recently admitted that he likes blokes. But he has to start somewhere, and Malfoy is more than happy to help. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 I bloom (just for you) by Ladderofyears Rated:  Teen and Up Words:  3910 Tags: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Enchanted Flower Business, Amortentia, Flower Shop Owner Harry Potter, Professor of Viking Magic Draco Malfoy, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Harry, Generous Draco, Falling In Love, Wealthy Draco, No Magical Florists Hurt In The Writing Of This Fic, Promise Summary:  Harry Potter is the proud new owner of Potter’s Blooms and Bouquets, the very first enchanted flower business on Diagon Alley. Harry has been tasked with designing and making the bouquets for the upcoming wedding of Draco Malfoy and his mysterious fiancée. There is one small problem though: Harry finds himself falling deeply in love with Draco himself. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Pensées d'Attirance by orpheous87 Rated:  General Words:  2256 Tags: Getting Together, Pre-Slash, Pre-Relationship, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Fluff, Oblivious Harry Summary:  Draco is working in his mother's flower shop when Harry wanders in searching for a plant for his office. ❤️ Read on AO3

[dweetwise]

yes hello i am back on my bullshit again, presenting you yet another felix x ace! (also i’m taking the creative liberty to call the ship riconti because it sounds like a cheese or something and i found it funny) anyways, this one is just me thirsting over the oktoberfest skin through ace, ft. some suggestive language but no nsfw!

word count: 2781

Felix X Ace: Clothes make the man

The whole thing starts as an offhand comment.

"—I mean, it's clearly tailored. He pulls it off,” Ace is telling Meg, who has been complaining about Felix's stuffy suit and even stuffier attitude for five minutes straight. “But it's so impractical!” the girl argues. “Wasn't he on some kind of field trip when he was taken? What kind of guy wears a suit to that?” “I don't know, but I'm not going to complain about free eye candy,” Ace smirks, and Meg rolls her eyes. “Oh yeah, I forgot rich snobs are your thing. Sucks you can't scam him for his money in here,” Meg snarks. “Excuse me for having taste,” Ace shoots back. “I wish I had a suit like that. Do you think it's Gucci?” “Burberry,” an increasingly familiar voice answers from behind him and Meg whips her head around to look at its owner, eyes wide in shock at having been caught gossiping. Meanwhile Ace, liking to think he has more self-control, schools his face into a pleasant smile and slowly turns around to face Felix. “Would have been my next guess,” Ace says, trying not to let it show that he's mentally slapping himself for essentially thirsting over Felix when the other was within earshot. “I like the cut. You've got good taste.”

He’s feebly trying to save some of his wounded ego, but probably ends up laying it on too thick. Felix fidgets a little, maybe not used to getting compliments, before he seems to catch himself. He meets Ace's eyes and the hint of a smirk tugs on his lip.

“Wish I could say the same,” Felix says, pointedly looking at Ace's flamingo sweater, before turning around and walking away and leaving Ace to gape at the unexpected sass from the normally serious man. “I take it back, I like him!” Meg snickers beside him.

The Entity seems to share Ace's enthusiasm for Felix's fashion sense, and only a few trials in Felix is already in a different suit, this one a grey plaid.

“Hmm…” Ace pretends to mull over when they're working on a generator together. “Did you see something?” Felix asks, hurriedly glancing over the top of the machine to try, in vain, to spot the killer. “I think the navy blue suits you better,” Ace smirks at his own pun. “Though the plaid certainly makes a statement. Shame that statement is ‘I'm a grandpa at thirty years old’.” “You know, in my job, gold is really only used for trims. Any more than that is just tacky," Felix deadpans, not even sparing a glance at Ace's obnoxiously golden silk outfit. “And it's thirty-eight.”

Ace doesn't bother suppressing his grin over the fact that Felix seems happy to go along with his silly banter.

It becomes sort of an inside joke between them, and when Felix shows up to the campfire in a porn stache and driving gloves, Ace chokes on a laugh.

“I’m sorry, is this an 80's theme party?” Ace jokes. “Careful you don't end up on a propaganda poster with a stache like that.” “Why are you wearing an eye patch?” Felix immediately shoots back. “Is this the 16th century? Should we break out the rum and set sail?”

Ace hears Quentin snort beside him.

“It's a pilot outfit,” Ace argues, pulling his jacket with the pin-up print tighter against himself defensively. “No, mine is a pilot outfit,” Felix deadpans, and Ace can't really argue, not when the other is wearing a bomber jacket and pilot glasses and leather gloves. “Yours is a blind truck driver.”

Bill coughs out something akin to a laugh on the other side of camp and Ace bites his lip to stop himself from doing the same.

“Can I borrow the shades some time?” Ace forfeits the argument, and Felix smiles just the tiniest bit. “Sure.”

And Felix actually follows through with the promise, switching sunglasses with him when Ace later complains his own don’t go with his outfit. It’s a pretty cute gesture, like they were close friends or even a couple, and when Felix snorts and tells him he looks ridiculous it just serves to make Ace smile brighter.

It’s not like the exchange or the ones before it mean anything, it’s just harmless joking with the occasional flirt. Ace still thinks Felix is attractive, but he doesn’t have any illusions that the man would be into him like that, with what having a girlfriend and unborn baby back home, not to mention Ace having a good ten years on him in age. Still, he appreciates that Felix goes along with his cheeky comments, at least not grossed out by or taking offense to Ace’s flirting.

He only gets to keep the shades for one trial, because the Entity has blessed Felix with another outfit for Ace to offer his unsolicited opinion on.

“Oh my god,” Ace comments when he spots the horrendous, grease-streaked mop in place of Felix’s normally expertly styled hair. “Are you a closet hipster? Is an avocado smoothie going to fall out of the hat?” he quips, eyeing the fedora that is, in Ace’s humble opinion, vastly inferior to all of his own hats. “I needed a disguise to lay low for a while, and what better way to hide in plain sight in a big city?” Felix defends his unkempt hair and dirty t-shirt. “What’s your excuse?” he shoots back.

Ace glances down at his generously open shirt—gold again, just to annoy Felix—and tacky sequin pants.

“Vegas, baby,” Ace grins. “If you’d ever been, you’d know.” “I’ve never been happier to say I haven’t,” Felix chuckles. “I don’t think I could handle more of… whatever this is,” he says, gesturing to Ace’s outfit. “When we get out of here, I’m definitely taking you,” Ace quips. “I just want to see you cry over all the flashy satin and fake gold.”

Felix doesn’t roll his eyes or make a sarcastic comment like Ace expects. Instead, he stares blankly in confusion for a few seconds, before his expression settles into a smile Ace can’t quite place.

“Alright,” Felix simply says, and combined with the soft smile it’s enough to make Ace nervously look around camp for a distraction. “Hey, Kate!” he hollers, spotting the songstress braiding Meg’s hair. “You got a hairband for our friend and his questionable hair style over there?”

He ends up regretting the question as soon as Kate insists on braiding Felix’s hair and the normally standoffish man, somehow, goes along with it. He can’t believe he’s jealous for someone getting to touch the grimy, unkempt strands, and it sure as hell doesn’t help that Felix seems to like it. Kate looks thrilled to get to spend some quality time with the man, chatting about this and that and taking way longer than necessary to make the hairstyle, and Ace ends up walking away and pestering Dwight to play some cards with him so he can at least win at something.

His win streak over the poor boy is interrupted when Felix later sits down with them, gesturing for Ace to deal him in, and Ace can’t quite hide his pleased grin that Felix would rather spend time with him than the beautiful girl who just played with his hair for half an hour.

“Better?” Felix asks him, turning his head to display the most pathetic French braid Ace has ever seen, ending in a ponytail that’s barely an inch in length. “Much better,” Ace says, definitely referring to the company and not the state of his hair, and even the normally diplomatic Dwight gives him a weird glance over his cards after taking in Kate’s handiwork.

Only a few trials after the incident, Ace has the pleasure of spawning together with Felix in one of the Yamaoka maps. When he sees a horrendous checkered pattern from the corner of his eye, he knows he’s in for a treat.

He quickly turns to face the man, nearly tripping over some shrubbery as the Entity decided to place him in some inconvenient bamboo. He meets Felix's eye, opening his mouth to start a snarky comment, when his thoughts come to a complete halt upon seeing the entirety of the outfit.

“Well? Get it over with,” Felix demands, crossing his arms self-consciously and—lord have mercy—blushing a little.

Ace's brain is reduced to white noise in the equivalent of ‘hhhHhhHHhh’ while he just stands there, feet still in the stupid bamboo, and stares.

Felix's hair is now an impeccable undercut, a few loose strands framing his features beautifully, and the perfectly trimmed stubble adds a rugged charm to his handsome face. The vest is stylish, a navy blue similar to the suit Ace likes, and the checkered shirt shouldn't work with it but it does, and there's even a matching handkerchief in his breast pocket. Ace's horny brain immediately goes to hanky code and shut up brain it's in the wrong pocket—

Ace mentally shakes his head and looks at Felix's pants instead. And that was a bad idea, because he’s wearing fucking. Leather. Pants.

Again, it should look ridiculous, but Ace feels himself start salivating at the idea of them hugging Felix's ass—ugh, focus!

The pants have small ribbons on the sides and the entire ensemble is so goddamn adorable and sexy that he can't even deal. And Ace has seen a lot of handsome men during his life, mostly in the mirror, but right now, Felix takes the cake.

Felix's attitude shifts from embarrassed to curious when Ace isn't immediately opening his big mouth like usual.

“If this is how all Germans dress, it’s a tragedy I’ve never been,” Ace flirts, his dick having taken over his brain and his mouth running on autopilot.

Instead of insulting Ace's panama hat and favorite pink shirt, Felix clears his throat and averts his eyes.

“You don't look too bad yourself,” Felix mutters, cheeks heating up again as he twiddles with the cuff of his shirt.

Ace idly wonders if the bamboo bush is big enough for them to make out in without being spotted—brain, focus! The guy is just being polite, no need to jump his bones!

They've got the usual back-and-forth out of the way, but Felix still isn't moving to start the trial, regarding Ace warily and fidgeting, and he's just so fucking hot—ugh, he needs to say something, doesn't he?

“God, the things I'd let you do to me," Ace thinks while he says ‘We should find a generator’ because he's not going to creep Felix out any further—

Felix chokes on nothing and his face flushes bright red, and Ace belatedly realizes his brain got its wires crossed and he definitely said the first bit out loud. Shit, that was definitely out of line, and if Felix hasn’t been offended before he sure as hell should be now.

There’s a screech from his left and Ace has never been so glad to take a bonesaw to the shoulder as when the Nurse teleports next to him and interrupts their awkward conversation, Ace finally running out of the goddamn shrubbery while clutching his injured shoulder. Strangely enough, the Nurse doesn’t follow him as he runs up to the temple, and soon after he hears Felix yelp instead, the killer chasing him around the shack.

Damn, now he somehow needs to make it up to Felix both to apologize for his foot-in-mouth syndrome and for him taking the Nurse off Ace’s back.

Unfortunately for them, the Nurse isn't playing around this match, and when she returns to tunnel Felix right off the hook, Ace barely even gets the chance to yell out a “Move!” and throw himself in the way of the attack, much less talk to him about what happened earlier.

Soon Ace is walking back into camp, the second to last to have been sacrificed, only Claudette remaining in the trial and trying to find the hatch. He's already prepared an apology, and hopefully he'll be able to joke it off and Felix won't be weirded out by him. Well, at least not more than usual.

But then he spots Felix talking to Dwight by the edge of the camp, and Dwight freezes mid-conversation upon seeing Ace, before his face twists into a—smirk? Since when has Dwight smirked?—and he says something to Felix before taking off, walking over to where Steve and Ash look to be engaged in a game of tic-tac-toe.

Ace doesn't even have time to ponder why Dwight suddenly seems like he knows way too much, because Felix is approaching him and he knows this is a make or break it situation.

“Dwight seemed awfully smug, huh?” Ace jokes to buy himself some time after his carefully crafted apology flies out the window when he sees Felix’s serious expression. “We need to talk,” Felix says, looking and sounding every bit the stern businessman Meg thinks he is. “Yeah, alright,” Ace agrees and tries not to deflate too much upon essentially being shut down before he can even try to make things right.

As he follows Felix out into the woods away from prying eyes, he considers whether it's even worth apologizing if their friendship is done with anyway. He just hopes this won't cause unnecessary drama within the group, the others sure as hell don’t need to get involved.

His train of thought is interrupted when he's suddenly pushed against a tree, letting out a startled yelp that he’ll later vehemently deny. Shit, is Felix going to beat him up?

An arm wrapping around his hip is finally enough to pull Ace out of his racing thoughts, and when he looks up at the man he finally realizes that Felix is definitely not upset with him, and his eyebrows shoot up into his hairline upon seeing the clear bedroom eyes thrown his way.

“Is this not okay?” Felix asks, his dark gaze faltering from insecurity. “Naw, baby, just took me by surprise,” Ace practically purrs, a lazy grin spreading over his face as the familiar confidence returns, his hands running over Felix's shoulders appreciatively. “I thought you were upset with me from before, not that you'd take me up on the offer.” “Well, I—” Felix starts, clearing his throat self-consciously. “I've wanted this for quite some time, and Dwight said you probably wouldn't be opposed, so…”

That's what they were talking about? And Dwight convinced Felix that Ace is down to fuck? Shit, he needs to get the kid a fruit basket or something to thank him.

“He's definitely not wrong,” Ace says, trying for a seductive look but probably ends up leering stupidly from the anticipation instead. But apparently it gets the job done, because Felix pulls him tighter against him and leans in for a kiss.

And okay, wow, apparently he wasn't lying about really wanting this, because there's an urgency in the way he practically devours Ace's mouth, letting out an appreciative groan when Ace parts his lips and encourages him to deepen the kiss.

So maybe he should be worried about Felix's girlfriend or his sudden interest in men or whether he's looking for more than a casual fuck. But Ace has never been good at thinking certain things through and he's not about to start now, not when he has a breathless and flushed Felix pulling away from the kiss and looking at him with lust-blown eyes.

“I've wanted to do that for a long time,” Felix breathes, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a half-smile. “You really should have just asked,” Ace smirks, a little amazed that he managed to miss all the signs, because there’s nothing subtle about the way Felix looks at him now. “I was working up to it,” Felix argues. “But then you started practically eye fucking me—” “I was looking respectfully,” Ace corrects, causing Felix to snort. “You stood in a bush and drooled, and then propositioned me,” Felix points out. “Yeah, and you liked it so much you blushed like a virgin and started flirting and took the killer off of me—which, thanks for that, by the way—” Ace starts. “You're welcome.” “—and… why did I think you were mad at me again?” Ace realizes. “No idea. I thought it was pretty obvious why I dragged you here to ‘talk’,” Felix emphasizes, gaze roaming appreciatively over his body. “Well, what are you waiting for?” Ace encourages, flashing his signature smirk in challenge.

And Ace learns that no matter how much he likes Felix's outfit, getting to help Felix out of it is even better.

[enithinggoes]

The witch’s teachings, lesson 7.1- Leave something behind

I followed the witch’s plan, driving the cart we’d commandeered to a small nearby village and going with my companions to buy the required supplies, including wooden stakes, torches and lamp oil. But something in the back of my mind, call it an intuition, made me ask the witch for some time to visit the local church, to wich she raised an eyebrow and commented “huh… didn’t think you were the religious type, still, if you need to make peace with god, be my guest, just don’t take too long.”

When I got to the church, it was dark and there was a lone priest attending to it, almost bald but for a few grayed hairs forming a circle around the sides of his head, when our eyes met, his kind gaze turned to one of shock that, to his credit, he did his best to hide when he asked “what brings you here?”. Still, I was unconfortable with the way he looked at me and now something about the crosses and symbols bearing down on me seemed threatening so I merely said “5 coins for a bottle of holy water, please, and 3 more to not ask more questions” as I handed him the money.

Seems that was enough, as the priest quickly grabbed a bottle with a cross drawn on it and handed it to me without a word, maybe he wanted me to leave as much as I did. As I got out, I really felt that now, for better and for worse, I’d permanently moved from one side of the veil to another, and I wouldn’t be welcome back.

Next  we took off towards the capital, now more aware of the dangers of being seen closely I brought down the brim of my hat, thankfully the cover of night would protect me until we got close to the center. With my crossbow at my side and the clarity of the watcher, I honestly felt more confortable her on the road, with the company of the night and the forests and the creatures they would hide than I would with the stone and people of the towns, especially our current destination.

Nevertheless, duty called, and by 3 in the morning, we were at the entrance to the castle, it was decorated with drapes of red and purple and large, bright torches, like the eyes of a terrible monster with the large gate as its maw, I untied the horses, at the end of the day, they had nothing to do with this, so they were free to run if the bloodshed started sooner rather than later.

I rapped at the wooden gate, yelling “delivery from the inquisition!”, in just a few seconds two heavilly built and armored men opened the door, coming out and inspecting the wagon, their faces were covered by large helmets, clearly made to be imposing, painted red and purple much like the castle itself, there were only two thin slits for the eyes and I could not see anything inside. Nevertheless I could sense their intent, they saw through me easily, these wagons are never to be driven without security accompanying them, and all individual drivers are registered and known.

  That was fine and expected, the plan was never for the ruse to go very far, I hit the wood of the wagon as hard as I could and yelled “Go! Now!” as I dove behind it for cover, Morgana and Lyssa busted out, ready for battle, they fought the guards, though maybe outmatched in raw physical strenght and weight behind their attacks, they could beat them in agility and swordplay, Morgana gripped the middle of her blade tight with her off hand to move it with precision into the slit from which he saw and Lyssa used a distraction I created with a crossbow bolt to strike where the main part of her opponent’s armor connected with the helmet, taking advantage of the need for a joint for flexibility, master likely advised her on fighting oponents in plate armor during the ride.

The three of us headed deep into the castle, it was dark and surprisingly empty of any guards or servants, must have been because of “feeding time” as Morgana said, she asked me to try and “sense” the vampire through the many walls and rooms, and I could definetly feel something at the center of the building. “figures,” she snarked, “I could have guessed he’d want everything built around him,” we moved as efficiently as possible through the catacombs and soon came to a tall metal door with a heavy black padlock on it, with two men, also in heavy armor, holding halberds straight up, still as stone.

We engaged them in combat, though Lyssa and Morgana did most of the heavy lifting, these seemed even stronger than the last guards, when she saw an opening, the witch dove between them and gripped the part of the padlock that connected it to the latch, I saw the inside of her hand glow red-hot, in less than a second the metal had dissapeared and she turned to us, ordering “stay here and fight them until I come back!” and moving into the darkness.

Lyssa and I were capable of holding our own against the knights, but scoring a killing blow seemed almost impossible with them covering each other’s openings, she turned to me and said “you’ve gotta go ahead or she’s going to die. I’ve got it here.”

“Wait what? What do you mean?” I asked, too focused on dodging a halberd strike to look at her.

“Are you kidding me? Telling us to stay behind, purposefully not telling us how she’s going to fight him, trying to tell you you didn’t need her anymore before we came here? Come on Cato, I don’t need weird eye powers to figure out her intentions here, she wants to die killing that vampire.” She half-scolded.

“Will you be alright?” I asked, preparing to find a way to get past the guards.

“Just. Trust me with this, ok?” She turned to me and gently smiled before charging forward with a battlecry.

In that moment, while she attacked one of the guards, I focused my mind on the other and managed to stun him with a psychic attack before dashing between them, yelling back “Stay safe and don’t die!”, to which Lyssa answered “You too!”

 As I ran in search of my master, I could sense where she was before being even close and watch the battle through her eyes until I got there, in front of her there was a man, he wore a powdered wig and had arresting red eyes and a devilish smile, as he looked at Morgana, his eyes didn’t meet hers, but were fixed above her, like he couldn’t be bothered to confront her directly, he was lazily holding a golden scepter with a purple sphere on the top, “isn’t it nice when your inconveniences come straight to your door asking to be dealt with? Now, before we begin, do you have anything you wish to say to me?”.

Morgana didn’t answer, she just stared at him with killing intent, untill she extended her hands towards him, spouting flames in his direction, he lept upwards into the shadows of the high ceiling, laughing as he taunted “very well then.”

He moved unbelievably fast, attacking the witch from all directions, she was able to keep him at a distance by firing short bursts of flame whenever he swooped close,  but I knew it hurt her to use those powers for long.

Eventually she switched to using her shortsword, barely able to block his strikes with the scepter, after a few skirmishes she quickly stepped back, dodging an attack before slicing the vampire’s hand off, unfortunately he didn’t even flinch, just clenching his other fist and punching inhumanly hard straight at Morgana, she had just enough time to try to defend herself with her off hand, knocking her into the wall at the back of the room.

She did her best to get up as Lucius nonchalantly walked towards her, clapping with a hand that was already growing back as he moved, “Most people would have been splattered on that stone right now, you’re strong, too strong.” He grabbed her by the neck, pushing her agains the wall, “I don’t like it.”

"Still, is that all? You came into my home, with the intention of killing me, with this?” his laugh reeked of venom as he tried to quickly choke the life out of her.

I could hear a powerful thought in Morgana’s mind, “Oh I’ve got a lot more to show, I just needed to get us close to the far wall before I did this, I’m only getting one shot, sorry Cato.” And her arms started glowing again, white and bright like a star as she held onto the vampire’s arm tighter, tighter, she’d make sure he wouldn’t survive this by releasing all the power she held at once, blowing both her and the tyrant to smithereens.

[r3b3lgrrrrrrrl]

A LunaTic and Her Gunn (Part 112) "Sliding Safely Back Home"

@crystalbaby12 @backoftheroomandnotbelonging @5sosfam1dlover @rosefilledhearts-blog

Colson had immediately called Ashleigh; who called his Cleveland housekeeper, Lucy. On a Sunday, during Fourth of July Weekend; asking her to please come clean up the mess that he had made. The conversation between Colson and Ashleigh involved a strong talking to and the promise of him watching her LIVE tutorial regarding the difference between dish soap and DISHWASHER DETERGENT. Along with an even stronger suggestion of leaving Lucy a HUGE tip for her inconvenience and troubles. Colson had agreed easily. He didn't care how much it cost as long as he didn't have to deal with the ocean of bubbles he was responsible for.

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Sticky, soaked and gross, Colson was still irritated with Luna when he joined her in the shower. Pulling hard on her hair, he roughly fucked her from behind. Not saying a word amongst his grunts and moans. Alleviating some of his frustrations along the way as he made her wince multiple times from the hard slaps he'd landed directly onto her plump ass. Luna took her punishment like a Good Girl, bouncing off of his thick cock studiously. Making them both willingly explode for the other amongst the steam.

After rinsing himself off, Colson had pushed Luna against the wall. With his oversized, heavy palm against her collarbone, he kissed her hard. Biting her lip after.

"This isn't fucking over." He promised her before stepping out of the shower.

"UGH... I hate him so FUCKING much..." Luna had thought to herself as her body flushed in desire from Colson's threat.

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"I know she didn't do shit but still...." Colson's mind continued to throb. His stomach twisting at the thought of Luna's lips touching anyone else's but his, making the jealousy roll thickly throughout his body while he dried himself off. Adamantly trying to remind himself instead of the many times Luna had shown her devotion to him.

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Colson's attitude softened a bit more as they fell into their usual routine of getting stoned and doing other drugs together while getting dressed. They talked about what Colson expected from the game amongst other small things.

With light makeup on, Luna braided her long hair into pigtails. It was when she tossed on her cherished Rizzuto jersey over a knotted white T and black leggings along with her Yankees hat, that she caught a hard SideEye from Colson.

"I seriously hope he doesn't expect me to rep The Indians... Like, EVER... Because that's a hard NO." Luna thought to herself kinda baffled by his reaction.

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"Yo! You guys wanna kick it with Sid today?" Pete had asked once they had made their way downstairs.

"What? No. We're bringing Case." Luna scowled at both of them, killing their vibe.

"Fine, how 'bout a little micro dosing then?" Pete offered up a comprise as he pulled out a bag of mushrooms.

Before Luna could protest again, Colson's hand was down the bag and the mushrooms were inside of his mouth. Chewing with a smug look on his face while watching Luna's reaction.

"Fine." She had rolled her eyes as she grabbed her own small handful.

"Let the games begin." Colson declared as he rubbed his hands together with a diabolical smile while Luna chewed.

"You guys are the worst." She went on to sigh as she shook her head, both grinning as they agreed with her.

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Not being able to find her leather on their way out, Luna had grabbed Colson's oversized jean jacket off of the couch. With Casie in her beloved, clean, yellow T-shirt, they were out the door with Mod, Rook, Benny and a strongly protesting Pete to the idea of leaving Kevin behind.

"He'll be lonely and think I abandoned him!" Pete had shouted with wild eyes, he'd started micro dosing way before offering any to Luna and Colson.

"I talked to Kev, Petey... He's knows... He's cool. I set him up with a movie and everything." Luna had calmly reassured him.

Only being able to get Pete inside the SUV after convincing him it was for Kevin's own safety. That there just weren't enough seatbelts in Colson's Navigator to get all of them to Progressive Field safely. He continued to complain with worry for a majority of the ride until Casie told him to Calm It Down.

Phem, Noah and Caroline had caught an Uber to Hopkins for a flight to LA a bit earlier. Slim heading back to his own Cleveland house in the meantime. The plan being to meet back at Colson's for Family Dinner around 730/8ish to map out the upcoming week or so.

Leaving Kevin to chill at the house alone, watching Back To The Future with a blanket and a bowl of Doritos. Luna doesn't lie.

---------------------------------------------------

At Progressive Field, it's Team World V. Team Cleveland. Colson gets changed as Luna roams around the stadium with Casie, Pete, Rook, Mod and Benny. Grabbing enough hot dogs, pizza, sodas, french fries and beers to satisfy Chris Farley, minus the speedball, they head onto the field.

Mixing in with the other celebrities, Luna introduces herself to Dascha Polanco. Making an immediate friend as she genuinely gushes and congratulates her with a huge hug over her success through Orange Is The New Black and How she's Dying for the Last Season BUT NO SPOILERS, PLEASE.

Also being a NYC native, Luna finds herself having a LOT of things in common the actress. Starting off with the Bitching of The Bagel that includes huge, knowing laughs. They flow through to different HangOuts, common friends and experiences until the conversational river finally opens up to Luna's humble embarrassment when Dascha realizes who she actually is. Knowing her first and foremost by her photography and obscure reputation, it just so happens that Dascha is also a genuine fan of Dysfunctional Baggage.

Luna's new friend being wise enough to not to make a big deal out of her FanGirling Soul and to skip the verbal condolences with a simple look of acknowledgment. Breaking the verbal damn by asking Luna What Her Favorite Book Is to the artist's relief.

It's The Little Disturbances of Man. Luna's kept a hardback copy of it on her ever since she first read it when she was 10yrs old. Finding that it helps her humanize the masses when The World seems too mean for it's own good.

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Colson is busy introducing Casie to Anthony Mackie, who plays Falcon in the MCU. They're all huge fans and Colson's can't help his slightly spiteful mind snark to itself how Luna's missing out. He's still mad. At her. At Jackson. At the idea of anyone other than him being near His Girl. 

"She's gonna be saaaallttyy... I don't even fucking care. Fuck her..." Colson's mind abruptly shifts scenarios. "It may be more Jackson's fault... But that fucking bitch needs to realize what the fuck she's capable of on her own... Like, for real. Kissen' MOTHERFUCKERS and SHIT..." Colson feels his jealousy bubbles begin to simmer. Looking over Casie's head he catches Luna's eye not too far down the field. Their souls connecting instantly. Colson can feel her smile seep deep inside of him as she spreads her fingers wide to greet him like she always does. "FUUUUUUUCK Me." He pouts to himself as he feels his dick stiffen at the sight of her. Taking a gulp of air, he looks down at Casie. "Chill Kells... Focus. Kick this fucker out, then we'll deal with Luna." He pep talks himself before turning all of his attention back to Anthony, his daughter and the game ahead of him.

"Are you and AntMan friends yet? I don't believe that Captain just reeee-tired." Casie challenges as she rolls her eyes. "Annnnnnnnd, just so you know. Human is better and Carol Danvers is THE BEST." Casie cocks out her hip as she thrusts her hand onto it. "But I like that you can fly." She offers out with a slightly forgiving tone.

Colson and Anthony burst out laughing over the girl's questions and opinions. Anthony can't help but slap Colson's on the back. Reassuring him that he's got a Wild One as his roarous laughter continues before he squats down to speak with the girl.

"Yeah... I'm friends with AntMan... But he's tiny and annoying... And... Yeup, unfortunately, Cap's retired. He needed a break. He is like 500YRS OLD, you know!" Anthony chuckles as he throws his hands out to Casie's giggle. He continues on slightly serious as he looks her in the eyes. "Human is definitely better though and I don't care what the other Avengers's say..." Anthony leans closer to Casie. "You're right. Captain Marvel is THE BOSS... Her WHOLE body is an energy source!" Falcon goes on to laugh with Casie at his CoStar's undeniable powers. "And, Thank You." His tone lightens as he smiles at her softly. "I like that I can fly too." Anthony nods his head in solidification at Casie as his smile turns into grin, knowing it's more important to boost kindness, strength and acceptance inside a child over anything else.

After finishing up her chat with Falcon, Colson leads Casie over to his reserved seats. The mushrooms are just kicking in as he finds Luna and The Boys. Settling Casie, he kisses Luna with a forgiving look. With Casie muching, Rook and Benny drinking away and Luna beginning to feel the giddiness of the fungai with Pete, they all wish Colson a Good Game before he disappears again to find his team.

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Travis Hafners's daughter opens the game with The National Anthem at 5P. For as young as she is, she's perfectly on pitch and astonishingly commanding of the entire stadium. If she wasn't so young, Luna might've immediately thought to sign her.

Being leery of the Music Business herself, she finds herself going back and forth about it by the bottom of the First as her third eye opens. Not being able to decide on whether to leave the girl alone or to step in. "I know I'm not the only one to hear her power... Fuck, the game's being the televised... I COULD be a protective barrier between an impressionable girl and some much unnecessary Nastiness though...." Luna holds onto her thoughts. Choosing to consult Colson and The Ash's... And possibly Sammy before deciding on any type of action. Trying to focus on Colson and the game instead for the rest of the evening, the strong voice continues to sing in the back of her colorful mind as ideas manifest along with it.

The lineup is stocked with Cleveland's greatest, finest and most map worthy. The World's Team rounding out with a wide array of goodies itself. The game is filled with Ewwws & Awwws, whooping, clapping, screaming and even the occasional Boo. Cleveland is an unforgiving City, almost rivaling Philadelphia.

The Miz from WWE opens up the game by coming out looking like Wild Thing as The World's Team takes the plate. Driving the crowd insane by rocking thick, black glasses on the mound while he imitates Charlie Sheen’s stance from the iconic film. On The World's Team, Daddy Yankee hit a triple slightly past Colson in the first inning. He could've caught it but was too distracted by the signs in clouds. Thankfully no one caught THAT as the batter ALMOST ran out of his pants as he flew past first base. Making Casie point and laugh loudly with her adult company. Falcon from The Avengers hit a pop fly to The Miz, causing him to crash backwards into their second baseman Stephanie Beatriz as he made the catch. Successfully ending the first inning.

Rook and Mod miss The Funny while conversing with Casie and the Hot Girl Summer happening behind them. Being RockStars truly has it's perks... ALL of the time. Luna on the other hand is an avid sports fan, having caught Benny's eye and a couple of Pete's elbows to her giggly ribcage during the first inning. Cracking up together over the on field collision they had all witnessed. There's something about people from NY... They love their fucking baseball.

During the third inning, Jim Thome's son joins the game acting as a pinch hitter. Batting left-handed, the young boy points his bat at the pitcher, just like his legendary father used to. With that and a solid smack, he snatches a two-run single through center field that pulls Cleveland's Team within four runs at a score of 16-12. JR Smith enthusiastically welcoming the boy as he runs Home.

The announcer mentions The Hometown Anti Heroe's love of Ramen as Colson steps up to the plate with multicolored vision. Following the young Thome with a drive to right field that eludes Ryan Howard, The Great HomeRun Hitter of the 2008 World FUCKING Champions. Colson races around past third with his tongue wagging in determination as he finds himself sliding safely back Home for an InField HomeRun.

"MOTHAFUCKEN' RIGHT YOU DID IT!! YOU ARE A GOLDEN FUCKING GOD." His tripping soul excitedly screams at him as he hits a light peak.

Colson's HomeRun leaves The World's Team within a three run grasp. Smith hoisting Colson high in the air as Team Cleveland celebrates his epic run. Casie and Luna hooting and hollering as they ecstatically cheer him on along with with Pete, Mod, Rook and Benny.

Finally, in comes The Legend of Cleveland himself, Travis Hafner. The retired Indians slugger crushes a ball to the left, over the wall and nearly hits Mustard the Hot Dog mascot standing near The Corner. Who took the surprise gracefully. Had it been the Philly Phanatic and Victorino, there probably would've been a fight on Broad Street.

Cleveland’s comeback being only a run behind now as another one of The Indian's legends steps up to bat. Carlos Baerga nailing a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth. Bringing the score to 16-15 heading into the fifth.

The World's Team scores five fucking times in the top of the fifth. Luna losing her shit along the way as Mod, Rook and Casie look at her like she's crazy but Pete and Benny laugh in appreciation of her passion and knowledge. It's the shocking two-run homer by Falcon as his drive to the left slips under the glove of The Great Hafner that truly fucks her up. Screaming WHAT THE FUUUUUCK as she jumps up and Pete laughs while pulling her back down. Rooting for the other team, Luna's soul is torn as Yankees legend, Bernie Williams steps up to bat. With a solo blast to left, Luna silently exchanges a cheering look with Pete for their hometown team as he slams another HomeRun. Pushing the score to 21-15. The World's Team leading hard with six runs at the bottom of the inning.

Cleveland comes to bat one last time. Allie LaForce starting them off with a single and scoring Cleveland another run on a ground ball by Beatriz. It's JR's pop up that gives them their last out. Swiftly stealing Team Cleveland's hopes for comeback. Ending the five inning game at 21-16.

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Hanging out for a bit after, even with the loss Colson's giddy from the mushrooms and happy with his performance. He's in the middle of busting it up with Jamie Fox while Luna talks with Stephanie close by. Casie leaves Rook and Benny to find her dad. Standing next to him, she dangles on his arm while patiently waiting for him to finish his conversation.

"Anyone ever told you how smooth your daddy is?" A middle aged woman asks as she slinks up to the young girl.

Colson forgets about his conversation as he turns around and laughs loudly at her absurdity while Casie physically recoils. Offended by the stranger's words and grasping onto her father's arm, she recovers quickly.

"Yeah. His GIRLFRIEND." Casie fires back with a monotoned voice before perking up. "Hi, Looney!" She exclaims as her face shifts from a scowl to a relieved, bright smile before falling into a smug look that she smoothly shoots at the stranger from the comfort of Luna's presence.

"Hiii, Dilla." Luna coos with her own gleam, having observed the whole scene. "How are you?" She asks the woman as her grin sweetly widens while she acknowledges and glides past her with eye contact and a nod. "You guys ready? We should find The Boys, we gotta get home for dinner." She advises as she ignores the woman and collects her family.

Luna takes Casie by the hand as Colson slips his arm around Luna. Tucking her wounded shoulder safely inside of him as always. Walking away, Casie turns over her left shoulder in between her and Luna. Glaring at the woman, she throws up her middle finger behind her back with her free right hand. Smirking at the woman's shocked reaction before turning back around triumphantly.

On their way home from the baseball field Colson posts the playful picture Rook had taken of him, Casie and Luna on the way to the car out of the park. A smile curling up on his lips as he places the caption. Proving they're always better together.

××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

"Who needs luck when you got them skills and these two as your biggest fans 🏆❤️💎💯"

×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

"FUUUUUUUCK, I MISSED YOU!!" Luna exclaims with overwhelmingly vibrant enthusiasm as soon as she walks into the kitchen and sees Sam. Grabbing her into a deep, soul hug, she plunks a huge kiss on her cheek. Squeezing her hand, she drags her around the island to a cooking Ashleigh. "I missed you tooooo, Buddy!" Luna squishes her with a hug from behind as she smooches her cheek also. Noticing two women she doesn't know at the island, she immediately greets them warmly. "Hi! I'm Luna." She smiles at the women as she extends her hand to AJ's wife, Naomi and Dub's girlfriend, Natasha. "It's a pleasure." She beams at them.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. I hope she doesn't know I hit Her Dude." Luna immediately thinks of her mishap with Dub.

"More wine?" She asks as she tests the waters while still dragging Sam along with her to finally sit at the island as she fills the ladies wine glasses. "So tell me.... What's the story mornin' glories?" Luna laughs as she pours herself a glass of wine, figuring that if it's gonna be something... It's gonna be something.

Gathered in the kitchen, the four women talk about all kinds of different things as they get to know each other. Jumping from their individual careers and hobbies to fashion and politics and everything in between. Including the dumb shit their guys do. Sam smiling slyly while Ashleigh shrugs with a Fucking Men as she continues battering chicken. Potatoes are boiling to be mashed and green beans are sautéing. Colson comes into the kitchen to pick at dinner while Ashleigh swats at him. There's a bunch of them over and she's been air frying for over an hour now. Her chicken is NOT to be fucked with.

"What I tell ya, fucking men." Ashleigh mimicks a young Madonna as she clucks her tongue and rolls her eyes.

"Fugkin' MEN, WHAT?" He asks with his hands, imitating a horrible Brooklyn accent before he kisses Ashleigh's cheek.

Laughing at the two of them while shaking her head and standing, Luna watches Casie along with Ashton, Dub's daughter and AJ's two girls. Gazing out at them, she notices how they're very much

like their parents. Rolling and falling all over each other as they rough house around the huge yard. Still in the kitchen and spotting her Polaroid camera in her bag on the counter; Colson snaps a quick picture of Luna without her noticing. Setting the camera back where he found it, he plops a wet kiss in the side of her head to her tilted smile. Walking back into the living room, he shakes the instant photo in his hand. Watching as it slowly creeps into focus, his heart beats faster as it forms.

"FUCK, she's gorgeous." He can't help but smile to himself as he pulls on his wallet chain to tuck it into it's new home safely.

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"DIIINNNNERRR!!!" Ashleigh yells.

Those who aren't already in the kitchen come roaring inside. With almost twenty of them that are functional, they each help carry parts of their meal into the dining room with the expanded table. You'd think they'd be a hot mess but some how they function surprisingly well together. Each naturally gravitating to a job.

Luna counts plates. Sam grabs the green beans, Casie and AJ's daughters collect silverware as Colson places down the napkins. Slim pulls another bottle of white as Mod helps him with beers and lemonade out of the fridge. AJ collecting cups for the kids out of the cabinet. D gets Ashton milk as Rook happily snatches up the bowl of mashed potatoes, salt and pepper. Sneakily dipping his finger into it and taking a bite to Ashleigh's immediate ROOK. Pete strictly limits himself to butter duty, he's too high to handle anything else. Dub and Benny help with the salad, bowls and dressings as Natasha settles their daughter and Ashton at the table. Ashleigh handles the chicken with Naomi, making The Kid's plates first. Kevin's sat down for dinner before anyone, making Baze hop up to grab the Louisiana hot sauce from the fridge upon his judgmental request to everyone's equal shame and laughter.

Dinner is loud as always. Everyone talking over each other as they pass food and condiments during cross table conversations. The Three Dinner Questions are answered by everyone before they talk about the game. Filling Slim and Dub in on Colson's inpark HomeRun. The Boys eventually going on to bust each other's balls as usual while The Women continue to get to know each other and The Kids ask questions about EVERYTHING. Beers and white wine being passed along as quickly as Ashleigh's homemade chicken.

"So, you don't mind the air fryer?" She asks.

"This is air fried?" Dub asks in shock.

"What the FUCK is air fried?" Benny asks with such a panicked authority Luna can't help but laugh; she's never seen him react like that.

"You cook with hot air instead of grease." Ashleigh tries to explain.

"Fuck that voodoo ass nonsense, Ash." Benny drops his chicken and crosses his arms.

"You good, Benz? Cuz you're on some real weird ass shit right now, Pal." Luna lightly laughs again.

"Nah man, that shit ain't right... Fucking air fry... Just sounds like some voodoo shit." Benny sticks to his guns with his arms still crossed.

"What the fuck do you think a microwave is?" Sam scoffs at him. "Talk about unnatural? That's fucking electromagnetic waves verses air, Bro. Get it. Together." She rolls her eyes as she chomps into her chicken leg.

Benny thinks about science for a minute before picking his chicken back up. It's too delicious too deny. Even if it is voodoo chicken.

"Fucking Men." Sam mumbles to Ashleigh's laughter as she shakes her head and enjoys her chicken.

No one else is afraid of air fried chicken. Easily finishing it off. Benny eating five pieces of the devil's work alone. As they sit with full bellies, they start to talk about the up coming week. Colson and AJ having their girls clear the table so that they can work.

"I've got you guys booked for GMA this Thursday." Ashleigh informs Luna and Colson while looking at the calendar on her phone.

"This Thursday? Like four days from now?" Luna asks. "For what?"

"Have you not talked to Jackie?" Ashleigh sighs, sounding like Monica.

"No... It's the Fourth of July Weeknd. I figured she'd start tomorrow." Luna shrugs.

When Ashleigh sighs again Sam, AJ and Rook simultaneously stand up, grabbing odd things the kids had missed off the table and heading into the kitchen. Naomi, Natasha, Baze and Benny follow behind shortly along with Dub and D grabbing their babies. That leaves Luna, Colson, Slim, Kevin and a super stoned Pete. He still has is plate in front of him and is just hangen' out while he figures it out.

"They were supposed to contact her." Ashleigh explains.

"Here... Let's just fucking call her." Luna pulls her phone out and looks for Jackie's number, there's a slight attitude to her tone.

It's not directed at Ashleigh. It's more towards television and MorningTime Bullshit Talk TV. Luna's avoided things like this all of her career. Now it like she's Tom from Tom&Jerry; with fame and over exposure being the rake that constantly keeps smacking her in fucking her face.

"Hello?" Jackie answers on the second ring.

"Hey Jack, it's Loon..." Luna greets her friend. "I got you on speaker with Colson and his manager, Ashleigh..." Luna pauses for them to say Hello. "Uhmmmm... She has me booked for GMA Thursday? Do you know anything about that? Apparently they were supposed to hit you up?" Luna asks.

"Yeah, you didn't get my messages?" Her chipper voice slips through the speakerphone.

"What messages?" Luna asks as Ashleigh cuts her a What The Fuck look.

"The text, email and voicemail I left Friday evening, telling you about the booking... Is there a problem, Loons?" Jackie's sweet Australian accent asks suddenly concerned.

"Yeah. Luna's a jackass who doesn't answer her phone." Colson laughs as he smirks at her.

"Man, fuck you." Luna rolls her eyes but knows that it's true. "Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, Rolling Stone wants to book you and Colson in September for their October issue... I need whatever IT is...? I got a call from Kimmel for either Nightmare or Bad Things, they don't care which. One for something called Hot Ones. Oh! This is fun... I also got call asking for you to be a judge on RuPaul's drag show! I think you should definitely do that one!" She giggles after rattling off the long list.

"What the fuck.... Why? Ugh." Luna mentally sighs as she rubs her forehead in irritation.

"Hi, Jackie... This is Ashleigh, Colson's manager. I'm gonna take your number if you don't mind. Colson's going back on tour overseas in August, this way we can just coordinate their schedules together." Ashleigh steps in to help out. "Get them booked on the right things... And make sure everyone's communicating." She gives Luna a glance to her grateful smile and playful middle finger in return.

"That's a great idea!" Jackie immediately agrees.

"While we have her on the phone, let's get everyone in here so we can lock down the week." Ashleigh suggests to Luna's nod.

With Baze, AJ, Sammy, Benny, Rook and Mod back in the dining room, they go over the upcoming week. Monday, Luna and Colson are headed to the DMV for her Ohio ID, the courthouse to apply for their marriage license and to Colson's Cleveland jeweler to hopefully find their wedding bands. Deanna's expected in early Tuesday morning to finish the rest of the fittings. Casie is set to head back to her mom's Wednesday evening while Mod flies back to LA and Luna, Colson, The Boys, Sammy, Kevin, Pete and Deanna take off in the other direction to NYC. Thursday is GMA and other business. Sam agrees to call Mikey to see if he'll fly back with them Thursday night to record IT on Friday.

Feeling confident about the upcoming week, Luna takes Jackie off of speaker to talk to her privately. Ashleigh going on to present Colson with a handful of movie scripts as Luna heads out back.

"I need you to do me a favor..." Luna begins. "When I'm in The City on Thursday, I wanna get into my storage unit and pull the things I want in The Brownstone... Can you book movers and make sure it all safely gets there afterwards? I'll give you a key beforehand."

"Yeah... No problem, Loons. You want me to meet you there and help?" Jackie asks.

"If you wouldn't mind, that'd be awesome. Sammy'll probably be with me too." Luna answers.

"Absolutely. I'll meet you Thursday morning in Times Square, Sweetie." Jackie's Australian accent coos before Luna Thanks her and they say GoodBye.

Once off the phone with Jackie, Luna calls Monica. They speak on the details regarding the two new properties Luna's trying to obtain. Luna then goes on to ask Monica about the PreNump. It's ready to be signed, Luna informing her attorney when she'll be in town this upcoming week as they can schedule a meeting.

"I know you don't wanna do this Loons..." Monica tries to comfort Luna before she cuts her off.

"I don't wanna talk about it. I'll see you Thursday. Thanks as always, Mon." Luna quickly ends the conversation.

Walking back into the house, everyone is still gathered at the dining room table. Luna politely asks to talk to Colson and Ashleigh alone.

"What's up?" Colson asks with concern as he fills her wine glass.

"Did you happen to mention the PreNump to Ash?" She asks lowly as she looks over at their friend.

"He did... Why? Is everything okay?" Ashleigh's voice now holds it's own tone of concern.

"Yeah, uhmmmm... I just got off the phone with Monica. It's drawn up and we're set to sign it while we're in NY....." Luna trails.

"But..." Colson leads her as he lights a joint.

"You know I don't want this and I trust Monica with my life but I'd feel so much better if you brought Cyrus to look over it on your behalf." Luna explains to Colson as she takes a sip of her wine. "Do you think you can get him out there with us?" She asks as she turns to Ashleigh.

"I'll call him right now." Ashleigh replies, appreciating Luna's transparency as she calls Colson's private lawyer.

Colson and Luna sit and share the joint as Ashleigh makes the phone call. He gently comforts her worries about the PreNump before they start talking about how they want the performance on GMA to feel. Off the phone, Ashleigh reassures them Cyrus will be at the meeting.

After a while AJ, Dub and Ashleigh collect their families. Spreading Love and GoodByes as Baze and Sam head out with them. Slim not far behind. Leaving Colson, Luna, Casie, Pete, Kevin, Rook, Mod and Benny.

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Casie is tucked safely in bed after her and Colson's tradition of three books and their GoodNight Song. Mod is painting in the living room with Kevin. Benny, Rook and Pete are with them but deeply enthralled in a session of COD. Luna and Colson finally finding some time alone.

Sitting quietly by the edge of the pool, their feet playfully comfort one another's in the cool water as they sit shoulder to shoulder. Vance Joy is dreamily floating from Luna's phone as the moon beams down upon them. Sharing a joint, they go over the day's events. From their dry bubblebath to Colson's InPark HomeRun. Luna takes a deep drag off of the joint as the topic of Jackson finally comes up.

"I know why he kissed you, Loons, I'm a fucking dude." He deadpans as he looks over at her. "It was a pathetic last ditch effort to try to get you to change your mind." Colson looks away from Luna as he hesitates. "Which I hate that I get... Because I wouldn't wanna lose you either." He looks back into her eyes during his last sentence while he laces his fingers into her free hand that's resting beside him. Slightly squeezing it tighter along with what follows. "It's fucking disrespectful though. To you, to me... I still don't get why you had to go down there but I know you had good intentions... And it pisses me off because I feel like he takes advantage of that and your history together. And for real, I know it's not a big deal to you but you left him with a glimmer of hope when you kissed him GoodBye." Air quoting her on the last word.

Colson's now gripping her hand with a worrisome look. Luna finds herself in a unique position. Never one to explain herself but at the same time always knowing when to acknowledge that she's wrong, she gives Colson her own weird look. He's right... And, he's right. She has nothing to protest.

"I..." She begins to agree with him as Colson cuts her off, assuming she's about to argue with him as always.

"Aht." He puts his free hand up that's holding the joint hostage. "I told you. I'm a dude. I know what I'm talkin' about. So fucking stop. You wanna kiss someone GoodBye, kiss em on the God Damn cheek. Or Imma start kissen' bitches GoodBye too." He states firmly as he uses his joint laced hand to adamantly make his point.

Still holding onto Luna's hand tightly, he hits the joint finally. Staring out into the darkness just beyond the pool, they sit silently. Both thinking about his honest words. Puffing hard on the joint, he passes it to Luna. They catch eyes as she reaches for it. Like magnets, they're held there by each other's souls. Both of their blue eyes studying the other's. It's not they're normal challenging stare. It's more of a deep, inquisitive look into one another's truth.

"I'll fucking kill you." Luna lightly chuckles with that half grin that he loves as she holds his gaze and hits the joint seductively.

"EXACTLY." Colson retorts with a belly laugh before she lifts the joint to his lips.

Taking a full hit, he pulls Luna in by her jawbone and delicate neck. Kissing her passionately, he balloons her lungs with his smoke before releasing her. Luna's lungs expand beyond belief, taking Colson's WHOLE hit and the kiss he left on her lips. Exhaling, she coughs her head off.

"That's what you get..." He says with a slightly sarcastic tone as he rubs her back.

Luna proceeds to cough for another minute only for it to feel like forever as Colson shoots a couple more small zingers her way. Looking over at him as she's doubled over, losing a lung, Luna gives Colson the DeathStare. This shuts him up, leaving him to rub her back until she can breathe again after another minute or so.

"You're RIGHT." Luna slightly gasps out, Colson had hit her lungs too hard.

"Why... Wait... What??" Colson looks around the backyard in his honest confusion before scrunching his face up at Luna.

"I agree with you." Luna shrugs as she takes his arm and wraps it around herself. Nestling into him, she explains her logic. "He was disrespectful to both of us and our relationship... That's not cool. That's not fair and that's certainly not friendship. I would hope that you DO know that, THAT part of my life is bigger than Jackson..." They're both staring out into the star sprinkled and city line laced abyss as they talk.

"I do..." Colson sighs. "What are you getting at?" Knowing that Luna doesn't give details for no reason.

Sitting up, she turns to him. "I'd like for Opie to be at our Cleveland wedding. Along with his wife, dad and my niece and nephew..."

"I thought you didn't like kids?" Colson teases her under the midnight sky.

"I mean... I don't. Not REALLY." Luna lightly laughs at herself for a moment before thinking about it; she's slightly amazed by how many kids she truly interacts with and loves with her WHOLE heart without even realizing it.

"I'm teasing you, Buttercup." Colson pulls on her by the shoulders as he leans in closer to kiss the side of her head. "I know they're important to you... Invite who you need. Just not FUCKING Jackson. Or Tommy... Actually, you know what? Offer 'em both tickets to EstFest. On me." Colson looks at her smugly as he waits for her reaction to his new idea.

"No. That's not necessary." Luna answers after she hits the joint a few times before passing it back. "I may need to invite his mother though..." Luna looks over at Colson with a worrisome look. 

"Who's?" Colson asks with a slight attitude.

"Jackson's mom, Gemma. Out of respect." Before Colson can to begin to argue with her she reminds him of Old Codes to his understanding sigh. "I don't know though because of my Mom-Mom..." Luna trails at the end.

Their joint is long gone. Luna and Colson sit together quietly again, still side by side as they pass a fresh one back and forth. Saying what she needed to, Luna waits for Colson to speak.

"I'll make you a deal..." Colson finally breaks their silence as he passes her the joint. "I'll support whatever you feel is right for our private ceremony... As long as you let me record all of EstFest for a special Kelly Vision. Behind the scenes and all." He offers up his compromise with a cocky smirk.

The idea of recording their EstFest Wedding has been brewing in his head for a minute now. Knowing Luna hates feeling exposed, he had thought of a thousand different ways to convince her to do it. Now, Colson sees his shot free and clear and he's not missing it. In his mind, it also won't hurt his ego to have Jackson's Mommy watch as Luna takes him as Her Only either.

"Like all weekend?" Luna asks with a terrified look as she passes back the bone.

"ALLLL weekend." Colson grins as he takes a satisfied hit, knowing he has her on the hook.

"Fine..." Luna sighs, annoyed by whatever Buttercup shit just came out of his mouth beforehand and the fact that she's pretty sure Gemma won't dare come because of Patti but only mentioned it as a precaution; while simultaneously deciding it's all worth it to prove whatever point or loyalty to Colson that he needs.

"Thanks, Kitten." Colson pulls her closer with his draped arm still around her as he kisses the side of her head again, feeling bad for slightly manipulating her. "You can sit in on editing if you want..." He offers as he passes the shrinking joint.

"I'd fucking hope so." Luna scoffs before hitting it. "Considering you're basically talking about our wedding video."

"Shit... I didn't think about it like that." Colson admits.

"Yeah..." Luna exhales through her hit. "I didn't hire a photographer because it never struck me until now." She answers with her hands out as she yawns.

"No sweat, I'll hit up Wozy... I'm sure he'd love to do it." Colson reassures her with another kiss to the head.

"You ready to go tomorrow?" Luna asks him softly.

"Where? To the DMV or the courthouse?" Colson teases her.

"To the fucking courthouse, you Asshole." She chuckles as she slightly jabs him in the ribs with her elbow.

"Definitely. More than anything." He answers as he pulls her face in with his oversized hand to kiss her. "You?" He asks, letting his hand drop to fully study her as his eyes slightly darken.

"Absolutely." She smiles at him with That One Look, pulling him in now with both of her hands.

Luna kisses Colson passionately as his firm hands roam her body. With their tongues twisting inside their kiss, Colson pops back and grins against her lips. Pressing his lips onto her mouth with force, he breaks away slightly to grin again. This time wider. Rocking her slowly inside his hold as he begins to kiss her again, he picks up his pace. Realizing what he's doing, Luna starts to panic.

"Colson!! Nooo!!" Luna shouts as he throws them both into the pool.

Popping her head up, Luna spits out a mouth full of water at Colson. Making him quickly dunk her again. He pulls her up with his strong arms and plants a solid kiss on her sputtering lips. Still in their clothes, Luna wraps her body around his as they begin to heavily make out. Pulling off their wet clothing, they let the articles carelessly float around the pool as Colson guides her body to the side of the pool. Kissing all over her neck as he slowly pushes himself into her warm pussy. She gasps with a purring shudder as he hits her back wall.

"YOU. ARE FUCKING MINE." Colson's deep voice causes Luna to moan out in pleasure as he tangles his fingers in her wet hair and thrusts deeper inside of her.

The demanding authority in his voice has Luna bucking against him wildly. Pulling on his hair as she bites down on his shoulder and cums easily for him. Sliding safely back Home once more, Colson grips Luna's ribcage tightly.

"Oooooh, FUUUUUCK!!" He growls out as his body shakes and he releases himself inside of Luna while the water flows around their orgasms.

"Still mad?" Luna asks sweetly as she nibbles on his ear.

Not mad but definitely still hard, Colson drives himself further inside of Luna. She gasps again at his length and girth, her body twitches and she lowly purrs as her insides wrap themselves around him.

"This dick your only dick?" He taunts while pleased by her reaction.

"Mhhm..." Luna moans as she kisses him.

Unable to contain her desire for him, Luna starts grinding against Colson's solid dick. Leading them to fuck each other again feverishly in the pool. Sloppy, wet kisses land everywhere before Luna clutches onto Colson's body. Letting him take all that he wants from her. Again and again.

---------------------------------------------------

To be continued...

[btswrckd]

Kei Tsukishima X Reader

A/N: So I went back and did some editing because sleep is for the weak. Aka, I have insomnia and rewatched Haikyuu and decided to add on to this. Also if you’re not familiar with the way I set up a story, the sections that are bold and italic are meant to be flashbacks

It was hard, watching Kurasuno go against your school

It was even harder watching them attempt to block Ushiwaka’s spikes

You swore you saw most if not all of Kurasuno’s players wince when they came into contact with it

But then he did it

Kei Tsukishima actually managed to shut down one of Ushiwaka’s spikes and he did it without batting an eye

His team celebrated and two of them bombarded him with praise

You had half a mind to yell at Tanaka to be careful punching Tsukishima’s stomach

But the real concern was when Noya bit him on the shoulder

Well it was an amazing block and they did have a right to be excited

There was a small sense of pride as you watched your boyfriend give your ex a run for his money

Yes, much to everyone’s surprise, you and Tsukishima were dating

The two of you had met just after your first year of high school and Tsukki’s last year of junior high when his brother had dragged him to one of the boy’s volleyball games

There was time to catch a few of the girl’s games and there you were, the only first year in the line up for Shiratorizawa girls volleyball team

Tsukishima tried his hardest to be casual when it came to asking his brother about you but Akiteru knew better and teased him about it

At the time you’d been dating Ushiwaka in his second year, which was even more of a surprise since he didn’t really socialize with anyone

But even Tsukki could tell that it was not all sunshine and roses when it came to your relationship since Ushiwaka couldn’t even be bothered to watch your game

You remember scanning the crowd for him but not once spotting Ushiwaka and while you didn’t want it to bother you it definitely impacted your mood

After taking both sets quite easily you sauntered off the court with the rest of your team and bumped into Akiteru and Tsukki and lit up at the sight of your old friend

“Hey Akiteru!” You waved at him with a smile and blinked at the taller boy next to him “And...?”

“Oh” Tsukishima wasn’t entirely sure why he couldn’t form a proper sentence but finally but out “I’m Kei, Akiteru’s younger brother”

“Nice to meet you” You smiled and shook his hand before Akiteru chimed in to congratulate your team on the win

Tsukishima was quiet and studied you so intensely that it actually made you a little nervous

You thanked whatever higher power that decided to send your team captain to fetch you for the next match

After that day it was a bit hard to actually get him off your mind and you weren’t sure why

He was cute sure

In a little brother sort of way

But also, he seemed to be a little on the shy side and that was pretty adorable

So like was it a crush? Or did you just like the attention?

“Oh look at that”

You’re brought back to the present by the voice of the coach for Shiratorizawa who also happened to be your grandfather

You snap your head up to the court to find Tsukki gripping his right hand tightly and you had the urge to rush to him but knew you’d catch hell for it

Tsukki’s team gathered around him and Coach Ukai patted his shoulder to push him in the direction of the exit

You saw a flash of blood dripping down Tsukki’s hand and gasped, standing from the bench to follow when your grandfather slammed his hand on the bench

“Your team is here” He grumbled “You may only be acting manager for today’s match but you’re still Shiratorizawa’s manager”

You tsked and curled your hands into fists to hold back from snapping at him

It wasn’t that Kurasuno might actually take the set that made him angry, it was that you didn’t keep a relationship with his star player and ace

Tsukki cast a glance back to see if you’d be joining him in the medic’s office but instead found you handing water bottles out to your team, Ushiwaka lingering a little too long around you

To your credit you managed to sneer at Ushiwaka and snidely remark on his harsher than necessary or usual spike against Tsukishima and Tsukki smirked

He knew he loved you for a reason

“Are you ever gonna catch one of our games?” You asked Ushijima but knew it was really a lost cause

“I don’t want to distract you”

“It’s not a distraction when you have someone cheering you on!”

“Your grandfather wouldn’t like it” Ushijima’s attention returned to the notes he was studying

“I didn’t realize you were in a relationship with my grandfather” You crossed your arms and turned away from his desk “Just forget it. If you don’t want to go then all you have to do is say so”

He blinked at you as you stormed out of the classroom

You were upset and he probably should have tried to resolve the argument but the boyfriend thing was new to him

So he let it go figuring you’d cool off and then want to talk

That was not the case

Ushiwaka didn’t want to admit he was jealous

He had cared for you, he really did and probably always will but during the summer break after your first year when you pointed out that his top priority was volleyball, he hadn’t bothered to argue because it was true

He had thought that the granddaughter of Washijo Tanji would understand better than anybody how important volleyball was especially since you yourself were a strong player too

But that summer you’d broken up with him and started a relationship with a first year that he later found out was on the irritating Kurasuno team

“Hey” You tapped the arm of the person in front of you “Kei? Right?”

“Oh hello” Tsukishima bowed politely and blushed a little when you grinned at him

“Hi” You waved and noted the stack of books in his hand “Doing a little light reading this summer?”

“Just a little” He joked because he picked up about 6 books

“Oh I love this one!” You tapped on the first book in his little pile “That’s my favorite author”

“O-Oh” Tsukishima clutched the book tighter “He’s mine too”

You don’t remember how you ended up in an hour long conversation with the younger boy but it happened

And then at some point you exchanged numbers with him

Only a few weeks had passed during the summer break but you’d already developed a good friendship with Tsukishima

You also found that your relationship with Ushijima was slowly dwindling

You weren’t sure if it was the lack of time you spent together as a couple

Or if it was his absolute love of volleyball more than anything else

But you were sure that maintaining a relationship under the circumstances wasn’t a good idea

To add insult to injury, the same first year you left him for was a middle blocker determined to stop his spikes so Ushiwaka gave it his all

But he honestly hadn’t intended on splitting the guy’s hand open

“An unfortunate accident” He replied to the snark in your tone as you accused him of intentionally being a jerk

“Accident my ass!” You caught the attention of the rest of the team and Coach Ukai on the next bench over “You did that on purpose and you know it!”

“Perhaps” Ushiwaka was calm and it made your blood boil as he set the water bottle on the bench and took his spot on the court

“Someone’s gonna get it” Tendou sang from the sidelines while snickering into his hand

“Shut it Satori” You warned playfully

You may not get along with Ushiwaka as much but you lived for Tendou’s sense of humor and playful attitude

Washijo crossed his arms and demanded you sit down as the last set started but you refused

“I’m going to check on Tsukki” You unzipped your team jacket and set it on the bench “You know, the one your star player is trying to kill out there”

“I don’t know” You hesitated

“If you’re not happy then you’re not happy” Akiteru said as if it were that simple to just break up with somebody

Spending a weekend afternoon at the Tsukishima household was a routine you developed not long after your meeting with Tsukishima in the bookstore

“He’s right” Tsukishima agreed with his brother

A miracle in itself

“I knooooow” You groaned and flopped back on his bed “but we just—“

“You’re not a solid fit” He glanced over his shoulder to lock eyes with you “Just because you both play volleyball doesn’t mean you’re meant to be. By that logic then you and Akiteru should be together”

“Shut up” You sat up and tapped on his head lightly with your knuckles “If you wanna talk logic then technically you and I should be together since you play too”

“I’m not arguing that point” Tsukishima smirked at the blush creeping up your cheeks

You could never rattle him the same way he did to you

“Whatever brat” You picked up your phone and hovered over Ushijima’s name

“Stop being a wimp” Akiteru teased and pressed on Ushijima’s name to call him

“Akiteru!” You squeaked but held the phone up to your ear anyways “H-Hey we need to talk”

Ushijima didn’t seem like he cared all that much when you said you wanted to break up

In fact it was more like an inconvenience to even hear as much since, of course, he was in the middle of practice and couldn’t be bothered with something so trivial

“Why’d you even date him in the first place?” Akiteru questioned after the call “Actually how the heck did you even end up together?”

“My grandfather introduced us” You sighed and dropped your phone on the bed “Figured his star player and granddaughter would be a power team. Guess he was wrong”

Rushing to the medic’s office made you more anxious than you anticipated but when you finally got there Tsukki was done being bandaged up and ready to go

“Tsukki” You frowned up at him and held onto his injured hand gently “I knew his spikes were intense but I didn’t think...this is all my fault”

“Why is it your fault?” Tsukishima grit his teeth “Ushiwaka is strong and even if you and I weren’t together he’d still be using his full strength”

“Hey that’s not fair” You stepped back to give him some space “Even if my relationship with him wasn’t the best, I’d still like to think he cares enough about me to be upset about us”

“You and Ushijima broke up?!” Washijo gaped at you during the first day of practice

That old man actually stormed into the girl’s gym to scold you for having a mind of your own

The rest of the team gathered by the net and watched awkwardly as you faced off with the scary coach for the boy’s team

“Umm” You pursed your lips “yes? Is that a problem?”

Washijo crosses his arms and sneered “He’s been off during practices because of this so yes, it’s a problem”

“Welp, it’s not mine so” You shrugged and plucked a stray ball from the floor “You know grandpa, if he really cared so much then maybe he would have put in a little more effort. Like he does for volleyball”

“Is this about that kid with the glasses?”

You tensed at the mention of Tsukishima

How the hell...?

“Have you been keeping tabs on me?!”

“You were distracted” Your grandfather really thought he was in the right “so I asked your mother and she told me you’d been spending a lot of time with someone else”

“I seemed distracted or you were concerned that Ushiwaka was distracted because of me?”

“He seemed upset and I wanted to know why so I asked and he told me what happened”

“Are you kidding me?!” You were on the verge of pulling your own hair out “You’re really standing here telling me that he’s sad about our break up but didn’t even try to fix it?!”

You were fairly sure that if he gave a shred of a damn then he wouldn’t have agreed to break up so easily in the first place

“I...” You closed your eyes and took a deep breath before you completely lost your mind “Yes, this is about Tsukishima. That’s his name by the way. And he happens to care a lot about me, my interests, and my happiness. If Ushiwaka wanted to be with me then he would have fought harder but he didn’t. Now if you don’t mind, I have to get back to practice”

“Do you want him to care about you in that way?”

“You’re twisting my words Kei and I hate it when you do that” You turned away from him and started down the hall back to the court “I wanted to make sure you were okay and I see that you are. I have to get back”

Tsukishima bit back a groan at having not only the rest of the game to worry about but now there was the matter of apologizing for starting a fight

“But” You stopped to get the last word in, as always “You guys can do this. Shiratorizawa isn’t invincible and I think Kurasuno has proven they’re a force to be reckoned with. So good luck on this last set Tsukki”

By the time you got back Kurasuno had tied the last set and you could see both teams starting to lose their stamina but not letting it get them down, everyone on the court giving 110%

Tsukishima had made his way back to his team a few moments after you and gave a quick update to Coach Ukai, almost begging to be back in the game and getting his wish

Angry with him or not, you were still nervous to see him on the court after hearing that his pinky had been dislocated

Like honestly what the hell was Ushiwaka’s problem?!

Tsukishima kept doing his job, calculating and making plays at the last second. He was one of the smartest people you knew and you could only guess it ticked off Tendou to no end

You noticed that Hinata was so amped and tired at the same time

So much so that his legs seemed to have stopped working for him

“Shoyo” You frowned when he failed to jump for a block

“The biggest are always the strongest” Your grandfather stated from the bench “it’s an undeniable law of nature”

“Your hate for them is palpable” You growled through grit teeth and curled your hands into fists “it isn’t fair to lump Hinata in with yourself especially since he’s fought twice as hard as you ever did”

“What are you trying to say?” Washijo hated when someone argued with him but you were his granddaughter and quite honestly, sometimes he found it a breath of fresh air when he was called out on his crap

“Hinata isn’t easily broken” You smiled at the little redhead running the length of the court “Try as hard as one may but he doesn’t let anything get him down. He knows his height puts him at a disadvantage but he always proves everyone wrong. You took ‘no’ for an answer right off the bat, grandpa”

You weren’t sure if he said anything back because your sole focus was on Tsukishima and whether or not he’d survive this last set

“Tsukki” You gasped under your breath when he soft blocked another spike from Ushiwaka and winced “please...be careful...”

And then finally

Finally Kurasuno had match point and it was Hinata’s serve

“Come on Sho” You mumbled and hoped your grandfather wouldn’t hear but the sound of Hinata’s hand slapping the ball down put everyone at standstill

He did it! Hinata made the last point and Kurasuno took the set! Holy shit!

You couldn’t even feel bad that Shiratorizawa lost, only pride and joy for Tsukishima and the Kurasuno boys you’d come to know and admire

“Tsukki!” You joined Tadashi and Noya in tackling the tall blonde to the floor, landing in his lap and wrapping your arms around his neck “You did great Kei! That was amazing!”

“Y/N” Tsukishima’s voice was stern and a little frightening, a tone usually reserved for Kageyama when the setter gets on his nerves “you dummy”

Tadashi and Noya both froze and quickly scrambled away from their teammate because only a crazy person would get caught in the middle of that fight

“Kei” You mimicked his tone and pulled back enough to meet his eyes “you jerk”

He smiled, a full on grin that startled his team and coach, and gripped the back of your neck in his large hand to pull you in for a long kiss

Oh

This was different

Up until now Tsukki had only ever given you small pecks and most of the time it was usually on the cheek

But here he was with his damaged hand buried in your hair to hold you steady

In front of a crowd

And cameras

And his team

You cupped his jaw in both hands and smiled against his lips

“Kei Tsukishima”

You jumped away from Tsukki to find Ushiwaka standing above you with his hand stretched out

Tsukishima let you climb off his lap before standing up and wrapping an arm around your waist “Ushiwaka”

“You’re a formidable opponent” Ushiwaka dropped his hand and bowed slightly at the victor “in more ways than just volleyball. I’ll admit I was being petty when the game started today though I can assure you I had no intention of purposefully injuring your hand”

“Um thanks?” Tsukishima wasn’t sure what to make of his non-apology but bowed in return and watched him walk away, tightening his grip on your waist a little

“You’re rather affectionate now after being upset with me earlier” You teased him but let out a small gasp when he turned and wrapped both arms around you and buried his face in the crook of your neck “Tsukki?”

“I’m sorry” He mumbled against your skin “I was...jealous. I thought you might still have feelings for him and I—.”

“Of course not” You assured him and wound your arms around his shoulders “I love you Tsukki and there’s no changing that. Not even your little mood swings”

The rest of the team caught the tail end of your conversation and all joined in on teasing Tsukishima and he could only grip onto you tighter to hide his irritated expression