#anway back with catching up since there is......a lot of catching up to do ._.

[jinkoh]

surprise me

minhyuk x fem!reader

summary: you feel like nothing exciting happened to you all year but your best friend is keen on helping you change that. after all, the year isn't over yet~

tags: best friends to lovers, fluff, lots of stupid shenanigans and friendly teasing, new yers eve celebrations, alcohol consumption, food mentions, SFW

word count: ~3,7k

a/n: i'm rlly rlly in my mx feels these days so it was high time to write a minhyuk fic (did y'all know i'm actually ulting this guy?) it's kind of a silly and cliché plot but what's a better time for these kinda stories than december?

i hope you had a merry merry christmas (if you celebrate) and will get to end this year happily 🎄❤️

Masterlist

Minhyuk was already sitting at your regular seats when you walked into the café, sipping on his latte while your drink was waiting for you on the table. It was a small shop next to a mall, a little on the expensive side, but their coffee was the best (and you got a discount on days your friend Kihyun was on shift). 

It was unusually calm today, perhaps people were still with their families or too busy returning unwanted gifts to take a coffee break. Aside from Minhyuk, there was only one other customer, a woman, sitting at a small table by the window. There wasn’t anyone behind the counter but you caught a glimpse of bright orange hair disappearing to the back right as you walked in. A new barista, you supposed, or at least you didn’t remember anyone that eye-catching to work here.

“You’re late,” Minhyuk complained, when you made your way over. “You’re worse than Hyungwon.”

You chuckled and slipped out of your winter coat before sitting down, immediately warming your frozen fingers on the warm glass in front of you. “It's not my fault. It snows once and everyone forgets how to drive. Took me ages to get here.”

“I was on time,” he grumbled, but you knew he wasn’t actually pissed at you. 

“So, how was Christmas?” you switched topics, hoping to hear some fun stories from his holidays.

He shrugged. “The usual. I was home. Actually Hyungwon celebrated with us too. He spends so much time with my family, I’m sure one of these days his parents are going to call me to complain.” Minhyuk laughed before taking another sip of his drink. “Oh, also, Changkyunnie helped Kihyun to dye his hair. Did you see him yet?”

You shook your head. “How did it go?”

Minhyuk drew in air through his teeth. “Well, at least the hair is still on his head?”

“It can’t be that bad.”

“Depends on who you’re asking.” He shook his head in amusement, as if he was recalling the disaster in front of his inner eye. “Anway, how was your christmas?”

You nodded slowly. “Fine, I guess?”

“You guess?”

“No, no, it was fine, it was nice.”

Minhyuk looked at you with a raised eyebrow. He knew you too well to be fooled. “But?”

“I just—I met up with some friends back from high school, you know, since everyone was home for the holidays.”

“Sounds nice. So, where’s the problem?”

“I don’t know.” You shrugged. “Everyone was talking about all the things happening in their lives and I realized that nothing happened in mine.”

“You literally started a new job this year?”

“That’s different.”

“How so?”

You shrugged again. “It’s not about, like, achievements or whatever. I mean fun things, exciting things. The year is over and I can’t think of a single story to tell. It feels like I’ve become a really boring person.”

“Hm,” Minhyuk hummed. “It’s not over yet though.”

“Huh?”

“The year isn’t over yet. It’s only the 27th. That’s 4 days. Plenty of time to create some stories.”

“Stop joking around,” you frowned. “I’m actually upset about this, you know?”

“Yeah, but complaining won’t change anything. So, let’s do something about it.”

“Like what?”

Minhyuk kept quiet for a moment, his gaze following the people passing by the window. When a couple walked by, his expression suddenly lit up with a mischievous grin. “Hit on someone.”

“What? Now?”

“Yeah, why not?”

For one, because you weren’t the type to do that. You’d never hit on anyone before, in fact you barely managed to ask strangers for directions. But maybe Minhyuk was right. Maybe you should try to make some changes, if you weren’t satisfied with how things were. Becoming a little more daring seemed to be a good idea. 

Your gaze flicked outside. It still was snowing, the white cold piling up on the pavement. You’d only just warmed up after being out there—you weren’t all that keen on freezing to death all over again.

“Too scared to do it?” He teased, when you still hadn’t moved. “Thought you wanted to create some stories.”

“Shut up for a minute, will you?” you playfully shoved him away. “I’m trying to think here.” 

Since going outside was out of the question, you looked around the café. The woman was still sitting by the window, her nose buried in a thick book as she sipped on her coffee. You would have felt bad to disrupt her peace. Other than that—well, the new barista would be an option. He was still in the back, but the door was open and you knew the room was small enough that he’d still hear you if you stood by the counter. 

“Alright,” you declared and got up from your chair.

“Alright?” Minhyuk repeated with a laugh.

“I’m doing it.” With bold steps and a racing heart you made your way over to the counter. Minhyuk started saying something else, but you didn’t pay it any attention. You’d just get this over with.

You pushed your hair behind your ear and leaned over the counter, glancing through the open door.  The barista had his back to you, sorting coffee into the shelves. His almost neon orange hair really stood out against the muted colors of the café and you wondered what kind of person he was to choose a color that bold. 

“Excuse me,” you started, “I was wondering—are you here often?”

The moment the words were out you wanted to bite off your tongue. Are you here often? Well, probably, after all this was his workplace. You felt your face heating up and you heard Minhyuk snorting behind you. You shot him a warning glare, but it didn’t really keep him in line. 

The Barista finally turned around, and now you wanted to bite off your tongue even more. “Kihyun?!”

Minhyuk was full on laughing behind you now, clapping his thigh in amusement as he watched the scene unfold. Meanwhile, your eyes were still fixed on Kihyun’s hair. You briefly wondered if Changkyun was alive.

“Y/n, did you just try to hit on me?”

You reluctantly tore your gaze away from his hair to meet his gaze, before stuttering out an excuse. “What? No. Noo, of course not. I just meant like—are you here often? As in, this week. Are you here often this week?”

Kihyun didn’t seem to entirely believe you, his eyes wandering between you and the still laughing Minhyuk in suspicion. “Yeah, I work through until Saturday,” he replied anyway. “Why?”

“Just because. Can’t I care about my friend’s work schedule?”

He huffed a laugh. “Sure, you can. Just a little weird.”

“You know me, I’m weird,” you mumbled, your attention once again taken by his bright hair. “Sorry, Ki, I just can’t stop staring. Did you—was this intentional?”

Kihyun shot you a glare, flicking some strands out of his forehead. “We’re not talking about this.”

You nodded. “If it makes you feel better.”

“At least I didn’t try to hit on you.”

“I didn’t—!”

“You hit on Kihyun?!” Jooheon asked, scandalized, when you were strolling the mall the next day. Minhyuk had convinced you to come out with him, Jooheon and Shownu, which didn’t happen all that often since Minhyuk tended to be a homebody himself. But he’d claimed that you couldn’t make stories at home and you supposed he had a point there.

“Totally did,” Minhyuk answered in your stead, his eyes wandering over the things on display in the shop windows. 

“You made me do it in the first place.”

“Oh, don’t push the blame on me. I said someone, not Kihyun.”

“So, did he reject you?” Shownu chimed in, genuine concern in his voice. “Are you okay?”

“Shownu, I wasn’t actually hitting on Kihyun.”

He nodded understandingly. You didn’t think he actually understood at all, but you also didn’t want to dwell on the topic any longer, so you tried to steer the attention away by pointing out the karaoke stage that was set up a little further down the hall. A few people were gathered around it, but not too many since the mall wasn’t very crowded overall.

“That’s so perfect,” Minhyuk exclaimed and you knew from the color of his voice that you wouldn’t like what was going to follow. “I think y/n should sing Last Christmas to commemorate her painful rejection.”

“I didn’t get—and Christmas is over anyway!”

“Only if you let it be over,” Jooheon tutted. “It can always be Christmas in your heart.”

“Agreed,” Minhyuk nodded.

Your eyes wandered to the stage. It would surely be a story, you supposed. But you weren’t sure it would be the kind you wanted—you weren’t the best singer out there nor did you fancy being the center of attention.

“Wanna sing together?” Shownu offered, following your gaze.

“No way, not happening,” you declined maybe a little too quickly. “I’d sound even worse next to you with your silky voice.” 

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Shownu started but you just shook your head.

“You wouldn’t be saying this if you’d heard me sing before.”

Jooheon put his hand on Shownu’s shoulder. “Trust her on this.”

“Rude!” you complained with a laugh, boxing him in the side.

“You said it yourself!”

“It’s different when someone else does!”

“Anyway,” Minhyuk interrupted, jogging back to the three of you. You hadn’t even noticed he’d run off but maybe you should have paid more attention. He was smiling widely. “I signed you up, it’s your turn next.”

“I really hate you.”

“You really don’t, though.”

As he predicted, you were called on stage a few minutes after and you definitely did not want to be doing this. You held onto the mic with shaking hands when the song started playing and you timidly started to sing. It was truly awful and you were convinced these would be the longest 4 minutes and 22 seconds of your life. But then Minhyuk started to sing along loudly, making the people around him join in, until the little crowd in front of the stage was singing and laughing along with him (with you, he would argue later, but that was just flattery). It was stupid—after all he was the one who had made you do this in the first place—but knowing he wasn't going to leave you alone with it somehow made your heart feel warm and fuzzy. With everyone singing together, it wasn’t humiliating at all. Instead it was becoming pretty fun and you soon found yourself gaining some confidence, belting out the (wrong) notes and moving your body to the music. You were still laughing and full of adrenaline when you were coming down the stage, and so was the audience as they clapped and let you through to your friends. Jooheon held out his hand for a high five and Shownu gave you a thumbs up.

“You’re not that bad of a singer,” he insisted, making Jooheon snort. 

“It’s okay, you can stop lying now,” you giggled while Minhyuk linked arms with you. 

“I knew you could do it,” he said all proud, slightly nudging you in the side.

"Oh, come on, I barely did anything."

"No, you did plenty. Be a little proud!"

The door to Shownu, Hyungwon and Jooheon’s apartment wasn’t locked when you arrived, so you let yourself in, glad to escape the cold. You heard the guys as soon as you were inside, Minhyuk’s voice especially standing out in between the chatter that was coming from the living room. You quickly slipped out of your shoes and coat before making your way to where Minhyuk, Kihyun, Jooheon and Changkyun were already sitting on the floor, munching on sweet and savory treats and looking at something on Jooheon’s phone.

“Where is the rest?” you asked, instead of a greeting.

“Hyungwon is late as usual,” Jooheon replied with a shrug.

“But he lives here.”

Shownu huffed a small laugh as he came into the room with some soda and cups in his hand that he set down next to the snacks. “He’s grabbing some soju from the store,” he explained helpfully before taking a seat on a pillow and handing one to you too. You’d barely gotten comfortable when your phone lit up with a message from Minhyuk, which, considering he was sitting across from you, barely a meter away, didn’t make a ton of sense. You unlocked your phone anyway to take a look. 

Surprise everyone in this room, it said.

You looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. What does that mean?, you mouthed at him, and he promptly started typing again.

Think of something. Do something daring.

He poked out his tongue at you and you started to question your sanity for still going along with this silly game. Maybe you should call it quits already, singing in front of a (half empty) mall should be enough of a story, right?

Still, you couldn’t just let it go, a weird sense of pride telling you not to lose. So, you were looking around the room for inspiration. You’d  for sure think of something daring to do. You'd surprise everyone. You’d surprise him.

You hadn’t come up with an idea yet when Hyungwon came back, complaining about the cold outside and warming up his frozen fingers in your neck, earning him a screech from you and amused laughter from Minhyuk. For someone who was supposed to be your best friend Minhyuk seemed to have plenty of fun at your expense. Not like you were seriously bothered by it—the two of you had always been like that. But it was high time to get back at him. Perhaps you could kill two birds with one stone tonight.

With the soju being poured in generous amounts and most of your friends being crackheads either way, the atmosphere felt light and you were buzzing with laughter and alcohol. Minhyuk had been sticking to soda, but he never needed to drink to loosen up, so he was leisurely laughing with everyone and snacking on the box of pocky sticks in front of him. That gave you some sort of idea, not the best idea honestly, but to be fair unlike Minhyuk you hadn’t abstained from drinking so you weren’t exactly in your right mind. When Minhyuk reached for the last pocky in the box, you interrupted him with a decided “Gimme that.”

Instead of aborting mission, he seemed to bring it to his lips even more quickly, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes when he mumbled out a “Sorry, too late” around the pocky stuck between his teeth. You hadn’t expected anything less though. Without thinking, you crawled over to him, grabbed his face with both hands, squeezing his cheeks together and making him look at you. 

“I don’t mind,” you said before nonchalantly taking a bite of the pocky, and then in a whisper that only Minhyuk could hear, you asked “Surprised?” He didn’t get the chance to reply though, because you were already scooting back to your pillow.

“Y/n!” Jooheon blurted out, “First Kihyun and now Minhyuk? Is no one safe from you? Am I next?” He dramatically crossed his arms in front of his chest as if to cover himself. The other guys broke out in laughter and you joined in, but the laughter got stuck in your throat when your gaze met Minhyuk’s. He was staring at you with wide eyes and red cheeks, the half eaten pocky still stuck between his teeth. 

“Can’t believe you’re taking her away from me after we only just got started,” Kihyun joked along, lightly bumping into Minhyuk’s side. That made him snap out of his trance. He huffed a halfhearted laugh. “I think it’s reasonable to have second thoughts about dating a literal orange,” he teased.

“Come on, let’s stop it with the jokes,” Changkyun interrupted with a light pout, seemingly more offended about it than Kihyun himself. “It looks fine.”

 “I agree, it suits him,” Shownu nodded and with that the topic seemed to be done. The pocky topic too was off the table, but you couldn’t stop thinking about it. The look on Minhyuk’s face wouldn’t leave your mind. You hadn’t really thought much of it when you’d done it—you’d just wanted to surprise him—but now you wondered if you had crossed a line? The two of you were usually touchy but perhaps this was different to him. Perhaps it was different to you, too, because why else would your chest suddenly feel so strange?

It was still on your mind when you got home that night and still when you were getting ready for the New Year's Eve party two days later. You’d planned to go to that party with everyone ages ago and even though you weren’t usually a New Year's Eve kinda person you’d been looking forward to it. But now you were suddenly feeling so nervous about it. You kept changing in and out of outfits just to end up settling for the first one after all, this strange voice in the back of your mind wondering if Minhyuk would like it. You’d never wondered about things like that before—Minhyuk had seen you at your worst, with greasy hair and tomato sauce on your sweatpants and it hadn’t bothered either one of you. But now things suddenly felt different, all because of a dumb pocky stick. You hadn’t seen or talked to him since and you kept worrying about whether things between the two of you had changed or if you were overthinking this by yourself.

The sound of your doorbell pulled you out of your thoughts, and a quick glance to the clock told you that it had to be the boys who had promised to pick you up. You hastily gathered your things and threw on your jacket before rushing to open the door.

“Oooh,” Jooheon nodded approvingly as he gave you a once over. “Looking good.”

You grinned. “Not bad yourself.”

He swooshed an imaginary strand of hair out of his forehead. “I knew the day would come when you’d fall for my charms.”

With a giggle you linked arms and made your way to where Shownu and Hyungwon were waiting in the car. The other three would drive there separately and you weren’t sure if it was a good or a bad thing because as much as you were nervous about meeting Minhyuk you were also dying to see him.

The ride to the party took your mind off things or a little bit though. Jooheon had connected his phone to the speakers and was playing upbeat music to get you all in the mood and it was more or less working. The party was already in full swing when you got there, loud music coming from inside the club and people standing outside to smoke. It was less than an hour until midnight, but that had been the plan from the get go. The real party only just starts at midnight, Jooheon had insisted, so it’s better not to come too early. 

The others were already inside, somewhere in the crowd. Hyungwon, Shownu, Jooheon and you got some drinks at the bar first and then split up to look for them. You agreed to meet up outside a few minutes before midnight, whether you found them or not, to see the fireworks. Obviously it would have been smarter to make that agreement with everyone beforehand, but somehow no one had thought of that and texting them now was fruitless since there was no reception inside the club. Hence, you pushed yourself through the crowd of dancing people, trying to spot your friends. You hadn’t expected it to be so difficult to find them, the location was a lot bigger and busier than anticipated, and slowly but surely you were running out of time. Maybe it was smarter to make your way outside now, to see the fireworks with the others. Maybe they’d already found them and were just waiting for you—but something was urging you to keep looking. It was silly, it was just New Year's Eve, but your chest was filled with desperation to find them. All three of them, you told yourself, but you knew that wasn’t exactly true. It was Minhyuk you wanted to find. It was him you wanted to spend the last minutes of this year with.

Just when you wanted to go back to search the places you’d already searched to make sure you hadn't missed them, you felt someone grabbing your wrist and stopping you. 

“Y/n.” Minhyuk was standing behind you, a little breathless. Relief washed over you. “I was looking for you,” you said, your voice barely audible over the loud music. Minhyuk understood you anyway. He smiled. “Me too.”

For a moment you just looked at each other and there was this weird tingling feeling in your stomach. He was still holding onto your wrist but you didn’t try to pull away.

“You look pretty,” he eventually said and it made your heart skip a beat. Jooheon had complimented you earlier too, but this felt completely different. At a loss of how to respond, you averted your gaze.

“The others are outside,” you changed the topic. “We’ll miss the fireworks.”

“Yeah.” Still, he didn’t show any intention to move.

Suddenly the music stopped, and the people around you started cheering excitedly before collectively yelling a loud TEN!

Your gaze shot back to Minhyuk whose eyes had never left you.

 NINE!

 He leaned in a little. 

EIGHT!

“Surprise me,” he whispered right into your ear, making a shiver run down your spine.

SEVEN!

He pulled away again.

SIX!

You stared at him with wide eyes, your gaze briefly flicking to his lips.

FIVE!

Your mouth felt dry.

FOUR!

Was he really implying what you thought he was implying?

THREE!

Your heart was racing in your chest like crazy.

TWO!

Only one way to find out. 

ONE!

You reached for his collar and pulled him closer, smashing your lips into his with a little too much fervor. He didn’t hesitate to bring his hands up to cup your jaw, kissing you back as the people around you celebrated and the music turned back on. You kissed until you felt out of breath, and even then you didn’t go far, his forehead resting against yours.

“Is this good enough of a story to tell?”

“I don’t care about that anymore,” you replied. “This is better than a story.”

He broke into a smile, crinkles forming around his eyes and his gums showing. “Is it?”

“Mhm,” you leaned in again to leave another peck on his lips. “It is.”

Masterlist

[mephinomaly]

[TL] PYSCHOBREAK/Chapter 15

[ This post uses Ois~su ♪ ]

Kaoru: Okay guys, calm down~♪

It’s not very attractive if you get all flustered, is it, you two?

Koga: …!? Hakaze-senpai!

Adonis: There’s two Hakaze-senpais? No, that's the real Hakaze-senpai?

Kaoru: Yup. Sorry about being late. I heard you were touring as HELLSING but you kept getting further and further away from ES.

It was difficult to catch up with you, wasn’t it Rei-kun?

Rei: Mhm. We had other prior commitments to attend to so I thought we wouldn’t have enough time to come visit you. I was rather worried.

Koga: Sakuma-senpai is here too… W-what are you doin’? Ain’t you got things to be doin’, like those stupid variety shows?

Rei: Of course, I have already taken that into account.

Prior to our departure, I informed the staff and actors that we would be unable to participate. We have recorded a lot of footage already as well.

So we will not be needed for recording for some time.

Since I thought something of this manner would happen, I prepared in advance.

Adonis: That is very Sakuma-senpai of you. How did you know these sorts of things would happen?

Rei: Kukuku. There are always signs, albeit few, however I use them to make a decision.

Therefore, I am always prepared. That is all there is to it.

My grudge against the world is no more, and I have stopped shutting myself away in a coffin. So I never lose something, or someone, again, I must follow Adonis-kun’s example, and work as hard as possible.

Koga: Hm. You need t’work, ya vampire bastard~, all you do is laze around.

Jeez, man~... it worries me everytime. You lay there motionlessly ‘n I worried you’ve died.

Rei: I won’t dieee~. Living is fun, after all.

And what’s more, you are all precious human beings who overcome their difficulties by yourselves, without expecting me to do it for you.

I already am well acquainted with the idea. Since UNDEAD’s very first performance, my conviction has only grown stronger.

Consequently, I am able to rest in peace.

You do not wear me out.

I am grateful that is a guarantee.

You saved me.

Kaoru: Aha, like always, Rei-kun only says notional things, so I’ll give you a substantial explanation, ‘kay?

Don’t let Rei-kun just say profound things. You’ve got to explain things properly, you know?

Rei: Yes yes, mama.

Kaoru: You just brought up a sore subject on purpose didn’t you?

Rei: You will all love and accept me no matter what I say or do, so I can afford to be a bit silly sometimes.

Kaoru: I’ll kick you.

…Anway, since we’re in the middle of a live, I’ll keep this brief.

Rei-kun and I dreamt again, about the past.

In the dream, we found the guy behind everything— and we got rid of him.

That’s why the fake versions of us are bugging out and shutting down. The person who was controlling them has been disposed of so can’t control ‘us’ anymore.

Koga: Huh? What? Whaddya mean, playboy!?

Kaoru: It’s been a while since you called me that. I didn’t tell you back then, but I didn’t mind that nickname.

Actually, being stiffly called ‘senpai’ makes me feel gross. It was distant and lonely to see Koga-kun acting weirdly obedient.

Koga: Oh, my bad, it’s just ‘cos I’ve been callin’ the fakes ‘playboy’ ‘n ‘vampire bastard’.

Kaoru: Ah, alright. So? Anything you want me to clarify?

Koga: Of course there fuckin’ is…!

Whaddya mean that you ‘got rid of the mastermind’!? Who was it!? Until now we’ve had no idea!

This ain’t a discontinued manga! Next thing you know you’ll be defeatin’ a super powerful villain character off screen!

Rei: They weren’t that powerful of a villain to be perfectly honest.

The mastermind was some insignificant person you could find anywhere.

The self-proclaimed ‘vampires’ referred to him as Dracula-kun.

Koga: That name… Wasn’t that the name we heard in the dreams?

Rei: Indeed. It is from a distorted reality, something that could not exist in reality.

I suspected that the mastermind was the reason for these strange dreams we had.

The culprit did not only want us to be the only ones having interesting, funny lives.

He too had dreams and desires. There were many things he wanted to accomplish.

Adonis: So did you find out why he did it?

Rei: Of course. The basics of any mystery novel. Who did it, and why did they do it?

One must analyse, enquire, make deductions, and uncover the truth.

Fortunately, the culprit was rather careless and left behind a substantial amount of evidence. Therefore figuring out why was rather easy.

Firstly, who caused this all? It was a former devotee of mine.

In the dream, a so-called ‘vampire’ who was previously subdued as part of a huge effort.

He worshipped me, admired me, and wanted to succeed me—

He was a Yumenosaki student who was crushed by the Student Council.

The culprit, Dracula-kun, was sacrificed as part of the Student Council’s schemes. Though I have been through that cruel experience myself, I believe one should learn the hard way.

They must repent, or face the same fate.

Koga: ...

Rei: He did not understand. He did not understand why he had been treated so negatively. He thought it was utterly irrational.

Angry and unhappy, he believed this current situation was the incorrect reality—

He tried to reshape history into what he believed to be the correct version.

In the ideal, perfect reality he envisioned, he was to be my best friend, my number one supporter, my most loyal subject—

He would be close to me, and loved by me.

Kaoru: This is kinda silly but, isn’t that basically what we’re like now?

Rei: Mhm. To be honest, I think he wanted to be a part of UNDEAD.

This time the culprit was a pitiful shell of a human, who yearned to be brought to life again. He was unable to be resurrected.

[ ☆ ]

Chapter 14

Chapter 16

[nattikay]

So I saw this post while browsing toa tags the other day. While I don’t think being obsessed with the school mascot automatically makes Toby a furry (though it is funny to joke about lol) since “being a furry” actually just means “being a fan of anthropomorphic animals” and doesn’t necessarily require any form of costuming or interest in such, it did get me thinking, hmmm...if he was a furry, what would his fursona be? 🤔 And from there I started wondering what Jim’s and Claire’s would be as well because y not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

BUT WAIT, I hear you say--haven’t you already drawn the trio as werewolves and wolfwalkers etc.? Wouldn’t those be their fursonas??

Well yes....but actually no.

I guess it’s a little hard to explain, but there’s a nuance between “[person] but as an animal” and a proper “fursona”. While a fursona is an animal character used to represent its person, it doesn’t have to physically resemble them at all as you would expect [person]-but-as-[animal] to. For example, if you were to design me but as a cat, you’d probably give it light brown fur and green eyes like I have irl. But my fursona, unlike my human self, actually has blue fur and purple eyes. You can give your fursona matching physical traits to your own if you want to, and some people do, but most use only a pinch of their irl appearance, if any at all.

The choices people make when designing their fursonas vary wildly from “it looks like me irl” to “it looks like who I want to be”  to “I just really like this color scheme” to “this particular color/marking holds deep personal meaning to me” to “this particular pattern represents a particular defining moment in my life” to “idk it looks cool and i vibe with it” etc. etc. etc. Everyone has different reasons of varying depth for the decisions they make in designing their fursona.

Therefore, to design a fursona for Toby etc., it’s less a question of “what would this character look like as [insert species here]?” and more of “how would this character choose to present himself with his own [animal] character?”

And that’s a much trickier game than just transferring a character aesthetic to a new species. ^^; We have to kinda dive into the characters and makes some guesses about how they, if given infinite creative freedom to design an animal avatar with no rules or limits, would choose to present themselves.

So all that said, here’s what I came up with:

Starting with Toby because he’s the one who inspired the post. I think Toby might choose a wolfdog fursona. A lot of people who choose wolves as fursonas consider themselves to be overwhelmingly loyal to their friends, a trait that fits Toby very well. However, while Toby likes to be “cool”, I don’t think he really thinks of himself as much of an “alpha” type--he’s more of a sidekick, and he knows that, and he’s ok with that. He’s the wingman. So what better way to incorporate that than to add dog into the mix? Man’s best friend=Jim’s best friend. Sociable, humorous, and unwaveringly loyal. Wolfdog it is!

With the species decided, we can move on to the design itself.

I can’t imagine any form of Toby in anything other than warm colors. This is extra emphasized by the flamelike patterns on his legs and tail, which both speaks to his desire to be totally awesome-sauce as well as acts as an allusion to his flaming warhammer. It’s fairly common (not universal, but common) for people to give their fursonas a more “ideal” physique than the person actually has as a sort of way to live by proxy physical goals or fantasies they’ve been unable to attain irl for whatever reason. Given that we’ve seen Toby struggle with fitness from time to time, it wouldn’t shock me to see him take this route. His wolfdog self is still relatively short and stocky, but it’s all muscle, babey. 

This fursona is strong, fun, boisterous, and generally just kicks butt. Concentrated awesomesauce flows through his veins. Just don't mess with his friends, or you’ll feel the flames!

.

Moving on to Jim. Jim was the hardest to nail down, and most definitely the hardest to keep my personal biases out of oof. Which I may have failed to do anways because yes, ok, I made my favorite character a blue feline, sue me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  But hear me out first!

For Jim I ultimately settling on a cheetah/lion hybrid.

Cheetahs, in a way, are sort of the underdogs (er...cats?) of the feline world--at least, in their local ecosystems. They are built wholly for speed, not strength--and as such, just about every other large predator in their environment has them beat when it comes to raw strength. Remind you of a certain Trollhunter? plus the long lanky legs. don’t forget those lol

However, because of this disadvantage, cheetahs...usually surrender. They know it’s not worth it to defend their kill from larger, stronger opponents, so they’ll give it up and just catch something else. This aspect doesn’t quite fit our protective, selfless protagonist all too eager to risk everything to save his loved ones--so a pure cheetah may not be the right choice.

So what animal is brave and protective? That’s where the lion part comes in, of course!

Why not just make him a pure lion? Well, a little similar to making Toby a wolfdog instead of a pure wolf. A straight-up lion feels a little too “chad” for our sweet Jimbo. Too much of a jock. 

Jim has the humble underdog nature of a cheetah as well as the bravery and fierce protective drive of a lion. Cheelion? Leetah? idk, but let’s design it!

Like Toby and warm colors, I don’t think I can possibly associate Jim with any color but blue. While it’s never directly stated, given that we’ve never really seen him wear any other color (with the exception of the Eclipse armor), I think it’s pretty safe to assume that that’s his favorite. Blue sweater, blue jeans, blue shoes, even his backpack and bedsheets are blue. So naturally, his fursona would be predominantly blue as well! Plus some yellowish accents to (somewhat) match the natural colors of his chosen species(s).

I imagine he originally designed the character without horns, but then added them after becoming the Trollhunter, since it became such a major and impactful aspect of his life.

His lion’s mane also continues down his back in imitation of the “mantle” found on baby cheetahs. This youthful feature could subtly represent the fact that he’s been forced to grow up too fast and take on so much responsibility so young--so his fursona can still be young and carefree as long as he likes even while his real self struggles with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

This fursona is relaxed, calm, and confident. He’s not just cool--he’s crispy!

.

Lastly but not leastly, we have Claire. Out of the three, I think Claire was actually the easiest to choose--or at least, I had the clearest idea of what I thought she might go for.

Claire is a bit of an interesting duck, because while she’s shown to be fairly popular at school, she’s definitely far from the stereotype of The Popular Girl™. Yes she’s smart and pretty, but she’s also a little spunky or even a bit quirky--she’s a theatre kid, she’s a huge fan of hard rock band Papa Skull, and while I wouldn’t quite call her “rebellious” per se, she’s certainly willing to bend some rules if she feels the situation calls for it (not telling her parents that she was going to the concert with Steve, literally sneaking into Jim’s basement to try to find out what was up with him, etc).

That said, I think Claire might go for a hyena fursona--something a little out of the box, but not totally out of left field. (she also shows a slight Gurl Power™ streak here and there “the staff was not meant to be wielded by man--” “I am not a man!!!”) and if you know anything about hyenas...well, yeah lol)

I think Claire would lean into her punk-rock “rebellious” side with her fursona design. This character is completely free of the pressure of being the councilwoman’s daughter and having to maintain her mother’s public reputation, and thus allows Claire to express a less restrained side of herself. She has a bold semi-edgy color scheme with bright accents (and some earrings to match her person’s hair clips) while still remaining feminine and (her own brand of) fashionable. 

This fursona is spunky and sassy; she’s spicy and sweet all rolled up into one. She knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to chase it down. She lives her own life and she’s dang proud of it.

.

....sooooo yeah there’s my take on what Toby’s, Jim’s, and Claire’s fursonas could hypothetically be. And I guess since this post was inspired by a joke about Toby’s infatuation with the school mascot, here’s just some quick thoughts on how they might approach fursuiting to end us off:

Jim I don’t see as much of a suiter. He might try it once or twice if given the opportunity, but at the end of the day it’s not really his cup of tea--he’d rather act as the “handler” for his friends, if anything.

Toby and Claire, on the other hand, I could definitely see as suiters. In fact, with her interest in acting, Claire would probably particularly enjoy it--she’d be one of those suiters who really gets into character, absolutely refuses to break the magic publicly (outside of any actual medical emergency), and popular at cons because she just performs so well. 

Toby, meanwhile, would be the more chill type--uses his normal voice in-suit, isn’t really too stressed about “breaking the magic”, just kinda hanging around like he would normally except “look I’m a talking dog, cool right?”. 

also while I was typing this it occurred to be that since Eli is canonically a cosplayer then he could be a fursuiter as well; in his case i imagine he actually made his own suit it’s a protogen and it’s full of little LEDs and other electric gadgets, it’s not the prettiest thing ever as sewing is not his forte but boy did he try!! good for him. good for him

[constilationn]

Ready To Run 🌬

A/N: So I got this request at the beginning of the week and I've been working on it since then. I’m really not sure about this one guys, it’s a bit of a different style and it’s 6000 words because it took on a life of its own. (Sorry not Sorry) Anway, I’d love some feedback - please - but enjoy guys!

Rating: M

Warnings: Naughty words, sensitive subject - abuisve relationship 

Summary: This was the request I had: Reader is abused by parents or boyfriend and runs straight into the arms of Poe Dameron. 

@jacquelineprins this one’s for you 💓

You’re lost as you walk, turning the corner from the hanger and starting back towards the quarters in a quiet sort of daze because your arm’s throbbing underneath your jacket and you’re sure there’s blood by now, there must be. You want to look, you do, you want to see exactly what’s he done this time, what you’ll have to cover up from everyone else but you can’t bring yourself to lift the cuff of your jacket beyond the upper part of your wrist. You don’t want to make it real again because there’s a part of you that pretends it’s a dream whenever it happens, you can deal with it that way. You’re strong, of course you are, but there’s something about this that you just can’t handle. Either way, you have to pull up your sleeve and look. You have to.

You shouldn’t be surprised when you lift your sleeve, but you blanch anyway because your arm is red and sticky and the cuts go deep, almost like lashes of a whip. Your mind turns and turns and you’re wondering how you let this happen, because you were never the type of person to let someone else walk all over you, so what went wrong?

It’s your name on his lips that pulls you back, soft as he catches up to you in the hall, and you yank the sleeve of your jacket back down over your arm because he can’t see this, not now.

Poe Dameron catches your arm, pulls you closer to him and you try not to wince, letting a hiss of pain out between your teeth disguised by a smile as he grins back at you. He doesn’t know there’s anything wrong, he won’t know. No one will. It’s one of the policies, one of the stipulations of this relationship you’ve found yourself trapped in. No one finds out, not even Poe.

“Hey.” You make the first move, have to, so you don’t seem suspiciously quiet or upset or whatever it is you’re feeling right now because as it stands, you don’t even know. But you never do when it comes to this.

“Hey sweetheart,” sweetheart, that’ll come up later, you’re sure of it. It has before and for no good reason. Poe Dameron is a flirt, it’s a universally known fact and even if he felt anything towards you, the entire base knows your taken. It’s not an option anymore either because it’s like your property now. You live with him, with Charlie, share your quarters, share missions, share lives. Although it’s not really sharing, is it? Not when he acts like he owns you, parades you around like a prize and hurts you when you misbehave. It’s like you’re a dog, that’s probably the best way to describe it, rewarded when your good and punished when your bad. It’s hysterical, in another life you’d laugh and in another life still you’d punch the living daylights out of Charlie and tell him to never treat you like that again. But it’s not an option, not this time, and you’ve been beaten down so many times that you don’t stand a chance. Not anymore.

Poe clears his throat, polite just like always as he interrupts your stream of thoughts. “Can you do me a favor?”

Anything, you want to scream, I’ll do anything for you if you can get me out of here, away from this life. But you square your shoulders instead and ignore the wildness of your thoughts, muster another smile and paint into onto your face so it stays there even when he leaves. “Sure.”

You’re expecting him to say something about engineering, about fixing his ship just like always. You’re not expecting him to ask you to accompany him on a mission and you’re definitely not expecting him to tell you that you leave tonight. You know you’re staring at him like he’s got ten heads and you know you need to stop but you can’t because he’s just offered you an escape, he’s offered you an out and maybe, just maybe, this can be your salvation. This can be how you survive.

You can’t stop the grin that breaks across you face, but then again you don’t really try to. You resist the urge to jump into his arms because this is it, he’s given you a perfect chance to escape and, god, Poe Dameron has never looked so beautiful. “Please. Yes. I’d love to.” The words tumble from your lips and your grinning like an idiot but you don’t care, not anymore. You hug him then, you can’t help it, and the warmth you feel in his arms has nothing on Charlie who only ever lays a hand on you to hurt you.

“It’s nothing exciting, sweetheart,” Poe chuckles but he looks so fucking happy that you can’t bring yourself to care about the repeat of the nickname and you don’t let go of him, you can’t, not yet. “We’ll just be doing some surveillance, maybe blowing some stuff up.”

You nod, practically vibrating on the spot with this newfound energy. Your brain is going and going and going with endless possibilities and chances and opportunities. You want to kiss him, and not for the first time, but none of that matters at the moment. Nothing matters except you and Poe. Maybe you can tell him, maybe you can make a confession and beg him for help. He’s a good guy, he’s you’re friend so what’s stopping you? What’s fucking stopping you?

“Hey,” Fuck, does that voice make you freeze. It’s not a malicious one but accusation drips from Charlie’s tone and you feel your entire body just stop. Poe bristles next to you, crossing his arms because he doesn’t like the man, no one does and a lot of them question what a nice girl like you is doing with an arse like that. You couldn’t tell them even if you wanted to. You know what the punishment is for that.

“Charlie.” Your voice is weak, a pathetic attempt to seem excited and Poe quirks an eyebrow but says nothing. “Hey.”

You swear your heart stops when he walks towards you and it’s like this long, horrible drawn out thing until he reaches your side and Poe dutifully steps a little to the left so Charlie can throw an arm around your shoulder. It’s only been a few hours since you’ve seen him, since you landed back at the hangar after he’d decided to take his anger out on your arm. It’s only been a few hours of peace, of bliss, and you thought that maybe it could be enough. You’re wrong.

“I’ll see you later, sweetheart.” You try not to wince as Poe gave Charlie a nod and turns away. You let your eyes close as Charlie waits for Poe’s footsteps to fade completely. You know it’s coming so it shouldn’t surprise you as much as it does when Charlie rounds on you in the middle of the hall and lands a heavy slap on your cheek.

“Sweetheart?” It’s the way he says it, the way he relishes the word on his tongue and the look in his eye when you shrink away from him because he knows he’s got you and you can’t get away from him or his accusations because he was right there when Poe said it. “Sweetheart.” He pauses, considers and then nods with a definitive air, watching you with sharp eyes. You have no idea what move you’re supposed to make now, you don’t know what the right answer is.

You do know that when he takes hold of your arm, shakes it and drags you down the hallway to the quarters, you’d rather be anywhere else but here.

Charlie shoves the door open, let’s your arm go and pushes you into the room so roughly that you stumble and have to catch yourself against the metal foot of the bed. There are tears on your cheeks, falling to your lips and there’s salt and blood and you’re losing your bearings just a little. “Fuck.” It’s a weak word, falls from your lips as your arm hits the bed. Charlie smirks, like he’s pleased with his handiwork but you can’t fight him, can’t say a word. You know that. And so does he.

“Charlie.” You start but it’s not enough to get rid of that glare in his eye. Your attempt is weak anyway, it never would’ve worked but you had to try. You always have to try. Maybe that’s how you ended up here.

“Shut up.” His words are like fire, spitting all over you and you cower, you can’t help it. He looks absolutely murderousand you’ll know what’ll happen next. It’s nothing new, of course it isn’t, but the way you feel never goes away. This nervous flip of your stomach never goes away.

It wasn’t always like this. That’s what you tell yourself, that you’d made the right decision once upon a time and it’s not your fault that this is happening. Five years ago you were just a bright eyed pilot, looking to crush the First Order. Charlie was a technician, insisted he’d work on your ship and you fell for it. You fell for his good looks and his charm and the smile that you never see anymore. People had warned you, of course, but you didn’t listen to them. Hell, you didn’t listen to anyone back then. God you wished you had. Maybe none of this would’ve happened.

It’s been two years since the first time he hit you. You’d been laughing about something stupid, probably with Poe because back then you were happy. You’d felt his fingers dig into your thigh first and when you’d gotten back to your quarters, he’d hit you until your face burnt. You didn’t tell anyone, thought you could survive it because you’d never let anyone walk over you before and why should Charlie be any different? You were strong back then too, a fighter, and you were so sure you were strong enough to face it. You were so goddamn sure. But when he told you to never say a word, threatened you because it was your word against his and who would believe a stupid little girl, your world fucking crumbled. So you explained the injuries away and hid them but you didn’t say a word. Not once.  

And now you were trapped in your own personal hell.

Charlie gives you a smirk, a sick, twisted smile and stalks towards you from where you’re still learning heavily against the foot of the bed. “Let me see you arm.”

“No...no, I—“

“Let me see you arm.” His voice is deadly, words ripping through the room as he tilts his head and meets your eyes. “Sweetheart.”

It’s that word that makes your legs give out and your one the floor in a heap watching him when he crouches down but not doing a single fucking thing to stop him because what can you do? His fingers close around your wrist and you flinch, don’t try to hide it, as he pulls the jacket from your shoulder with his other hand and deposits it on the floor next to you. The cuff of your shirt reaches your wrist and Charlie’s gentle when he pulls it up, rolling it to your elbow and taking a sharp breath when he sees the mess of your arm. It’s worse than an hour ago, turned an ugly purple and red, darker blood dried across the top of the deep lashes that paint your arm. Charlie nods, eyes flicking from your eyes to your arm and all you can do is sit and watch as his fingertips run up and down your arm. “Jesus.” It’s his voice, a breath, and you snatch your arm away.

“Stop.” But he won’t, he takes your arm back with cold fingers and admires, fucking admires, the mess of your arm. You can’t remember the specific reason for this particular beating but you’re willing to bet it had something to do with Poe and the two of you on your mission. Charlie’s usually there, lurking in the back to keep an eye on you because god forbid you actually get rid of him for good. Maybe you were too comfortable with Poe, maybe you got cocky or maybe you said something stupid and Charlie didn’t like it. Whatever you’d done, he’d taken you aside on the mission and lashed your arm with his belt before giving you an affectionate little pat and telling you to run along. It was an almost comical exchange when you think about it. That doesn’t change the pain though. Nothing changes that.

“You want me to kiss it better?”

“No.” You whisper, trying to move your arm. “No.”

“Aw, c’mon.” His lips touch the deepest cut on your arm and you hiss, biting your lip so you don’t say anything, so you don’t make it worse. “Let me make you feel good.”

“No!” You shove him off, reaching for the bed to pull yourself up because your entire body is shaking and you’re not sure you can pull yourself up.

You back away from Charlie who’s sitting on the floor just staring at you and your back hits the wall as he stands up. “What the fuck,” and he’s back, stalking across the room, “was that?”

“I don’t...” your voice trembles, “I don’t want this anymore.” You can’t believe those word have just left your mouth, you can’t believe that you’re standing across from Charlie telling him that you don’t want him anymore.

When Charlie laughs, a chill runs through every single cell in your body. It’s like your blood freezes and you feel like you could just die on the spot. “What makes you think you get to make that decision.”

This, this is where you trip up because you haven’t rehearsed a speech, you’re not confident in your ability or hit him with the facts and logic. The truth is, you’re terrified, you are absolutely fucking terrified because you’re starting to realize there is no way out. It doesn’t matter how many missions you go on with Poe, how many escapes you think you’ve made. He will never let you go. You can’t believe it’s taken you this long to figure it out.

“Charlie,” he knows your about to beg, he can see it in your face. “Charlie, please. I can’t do this anymore.”

Charlie shakes his head, amusement dancing in his eyes. “Go on your little surveillance mission. We’ll talk about this later, sweetheart.” That’s all you need to hear. You snatch your jacket from the floor, throwing the door open and fleeing down the corridor. You hate how scared you are. You hate how you feel so small and weak and powerless every time you’re near him. Most of all, you hate him.

It’s quiet as you head back to the hangar, passing the canteen that’s bursting with people. That’s where Charlie will go, when he’s calmed down and hashed out a plan for later. He won’t let you go. He won’t take this little show of resistance at all. He’ll use it to break you, crush you even more until your nothing but a shell of what you used to be.

The hangars dark when you get there and you don’t see Poe standing there at first, too focused on the future, too focused on what Charlie will do to you. “Hey sweetheart.” Sweetheart, that name on his lips sounds so much sweeter than on Charlie’s but it makes your stomach flip. You look up to Poe, plastering a smile onto your face and Poe grins, pats the side of the ship and offers you his hand. “You ready?”

Yes! You want to scream, yes more than anything because you are ready, you’re ready to blow this place to shit and never, ever look back. But you can’t say that, you can’t say any of that so you shrug, “Sure,” and take his hand. It surprises you, how warm and soft his skin is, how light his touch is. You can’t help yourself when you compare Poe to Charlie. Even Poe’s hair, warm rich curls seem a thousand times better than Charlie’s stupid blond man-bun. But it’s the eyes, you think, that do it for you. Poe’s eyes are beautiful, so beautiful and you could get lost in them for days. You mother used to say that you can always tell a monster by his eyes and, oh, how right she’d been.

You slide into the seat next to Poe, careful, like you’re holding your breath as the dull hum of the engine starts beneath you. You feel Poe glance over, feel his eyes trace patterns across your cheek. “You can talk, you know.”

“I know.” God, how can your voice sound so small? Where have you gone; how have you lost yourself so spectacularly? You feel like a bomb, just ticking and ticking until one day it’ll all be too much and you’ll just explode and take out everything around you. Including yourself.

The ship breaks through the vines, soars up and you watch as Poe steers easily, marvel at the routine movements of his hands. It’ll just be surveillance tonight, making sure no one breaches the perimeter of the base. But you don’t mind. It gets you out, gets you away from Charlie and you have a suspicion that Poe knows that too.

“What happened to you?” You’re not expecting that. Of all the things Poe could’ve asked you, that would not have even been a guess.

“What do you mean?” He rolls his eyes, turning to face you and you raise an eyebrow, reply in a quiet voice. “Eyes on the sky, flyboy.”

He shakes his head, but there’s a smile on his lips. “You ever heard of command pilot?”

“Oh, clever.” You grin. “Dangerous though, isn’t it?”

“Stop changing the subject.”

You learn forward and quirk an eyebrow. “What subject would that be, exactly?” You want to hear him say it, you have to, because he must know what’s going on by now. He must.

“You know what I’m talking about.”  

It’s like you’re not even on the ship anymore. It’s just you and Poe and you’re starting to think that maybe you can trust him. He knows anyway, doesn’t he? Isn’t that what this has all boiled down to, the fact that he wants some sort of confession from you? There are tears in your eyes as you shift in your seat, watching the moons rise above the base. Poe doesn’t do anything, just waits. Finally you turn back to him and when you speak your voice is thick with tears. “I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.”

“Charlie.” And Poe’s voice is like ice. “Tell me about Charlie.”

“I...”

Poe reaches out, takes your hand and all you want to do is melt into him. “You can trust me.”

“I can’t.“

“Yes you can.” he gives your hand a squeeze, running his thumb along your skin and there are tears falling from your eyes too quickly to stop them. Poe coaxes it out of you, eventually, because it takes you a minute to trust him and realize that you’re safe with him; takes you a minute to realize you’re safe with someone.

You’re sniffing as you shrug your jacket off but Poe’s there, catching your tears on his thumb like they’re falling stars. He takes your jacket from you gently and you look up to him as he smiles, warm brown eyes locking on yours because he needs you to know that your safe. He needs you to know that he cares about you.

Your fingers shake when you touch your sleeve, you can see the material move as you drag it up over your arm and bunch it at the elbow. Poe stiffens beside you and he takes a sharp breath. Your arm looks like a slab of meat as you stare at it this time around; the skin angry. Tears fall fast and hot but Poe still doesn’t move until you try to roll your sleeve down and he catches your wrist with the lightest touch possibly because he won’t be the one to hurt you. He refuses.

He clears his throat and forces out one word. “When?”

It shouldn’t be so hard to tell him. You should be jumping at the opportunity because Poe figured it out by himself, you didn’t say a word so this isn’t your fault. You’ll doubt Charlie will see it that way but it’s too late now. He’s seen your arm, he’s seen your tears and he got the confession from you. “A few hours ago. On the mission.”

“What did he use?” Poe’s suspiciously calm but he hasn’t let go of you yet, linked your fingers together because you’re not alone in this anymore.

There’s no hesitation anymore. “His belt.”

“Sweetheart,” Poe dips his head. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

You shake your head, cracking the smallest smile. “You really think that would work out for me?”

Poe shakes his head, anger rippling across his face as his jaw flexes. “I’ll kill him.”

“No!” Your voice is shrill, bordering on hysteria as panic explodes in the pit of your stomach and Poe cocks an eyebrow in confusion. “No, you can’t. You can’t. Charlie won’t...he won’t like it.”

“I don’t give a shit what he’ll like.” Poe pulls you from your seat into his so that you’re on his lap. “We’re in this together now, me and you. You’re not gonna do this alone anymore.”

It’s then you let yourself fall into Poe, let yourself sob into the crook of his neck because this means the world to you and he must know that. Poe keeps his hand in yours, uses his free hand to run his fingers through your hair and down your spine until you’ve pulled it together enough to sit up and wipe your eyes. “Poe, I...”

He nods, you don’t have to say anything else but the smile he gives you seems to light up the entire ship.

And then he kisses you.

You kiss him back almost instantly because you haven’t felt this way in so long. You haven’t been touched like this, lovedlike this in so long and Poe is like this beautiful breath of fresh air that’s swept into your life and now you’re a seeing clearly for the first time in what seems like forever.

You pull away after a few second, tears dry on your face but that doesn’t matter because Poe’s looking at you like you created the entire galaxy. You want to take Poe’s hand and walk back into the base and never think about Charlie again but it’s not that easy. It’ll never be that easy.

“You okay?” Poe’s voice has your knees weak in the best kind of way and you give a little chuckle.

“I’m better than okay.” You can feel yourself coming back to life, can feel that fire and that light that’s been buried depo beneath the surface this entire time. You hesitate, “I need your help.”

“Sweetheart, I’ll do anything you ask me.” He smiles but his eyes are dull, don’t shine like they usually do.

“What’s wrong?”

You’ve never seen Poe hesitate like this, his mind turning like he’s fighting with himself over what to say to you. “I’ve been...” he stops, clears his throat and corrects himself. “I am in love with you.” You think the world stops, just freezes, and you give a little shake of your head in disbelief. You open your mouth to reply but Poe cuts you off. “I’ve been in love with you since that mission in Naboo when you shot that Stormtrooper in the face and then took a bullet for me. I’ve been in love with you since you started to learn how to fly and you got so excited about it that you smacked  Lana in the face by accident and gave her a black eye.” He chuckles, mostly to himself, and you grin along with him. His smile fades a little then and he continues. “I saw it happen, y’know, with Charlie. Watching that fire in your eyes go out was the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I...” you keep shaking you head because that’s the only thing you can do that makes sense. It’s confusing, it’s unexpected but it’s fucking wonderful because you love Poe too. It’s taken you a while to see, blinded by Charlie and all the pain he brought you but now you know. You think you’ve known since the time in the canteen when he threw a bunch of blueberries at you for calling him flyboy. You think you’ve known for a long time.

Poe gives a nervous chuckle, “You got anything to add, sweetheart?”  

The smile breaks across your face like the fucking sun and you pull him closer, kissing him again and again and again. “I love you too.”

“Thank God, could you imagine if you’d say something else, so—“ you cut him off with a kiss, laughing against his lips as he runs a thumb over your cheek. “You’re so beautiful.” He murmurs against your skin.

“You’re so cliché.” You reply but you’re laughing like you haven’t in months. “What are we gonna do?” You sigh, tugging on the ends of Poe’s curls as he swats your hand playfully. “I’ve gotta tell Charlie.”

“You don’t owe him anything.” Poe mumbles as he kisses your neck. “Fuck him.”

“Well—“

“Not literally.” Poe scoffs but his eyes are bright again, just like yours. “C’mon, we’ve gotta go.”

You haven’t even noticed that the base is coming back into view until the ship dips back below the vines and Poe lands the ship smoothly back in the hangar. You feel like your limbs are seizing up as Poe offers you his hand again and leads you from the cockpit. He’ll be waiting because you’ve been out on patrol too long and god forbid something happens to you that’s out of his control. Fear blooms through your chest and your heart hammers and you’re wondering how you got yourself here and why you couldn’t just stick it out for a little longer.

“What’s going on?” Poe murmurs as you turn the corner

“I can just tough it out.” you blurt, catching Poe’s wrist to stop him in his tracks. “I can tough it out, we both know that. There’s no reason to start anything. I don’t...I don’t need you to do this.”

“Sweetheart,” Poe sighs, “look what he’s done to you. You don’t need to stay with him, you don’t need to lie down and take this anymore.” He runs a hand through his hair as you wish for the ground to swallow you up. “But you’re not in this alone anymore. Everyone’s going to be on your side, I promise you that.”

It takes another minute of Poe convincing you for you to finally force one foot in front of the other, but when you do you feel as if nothing will stop your again. Poe’s right, he’s brainwashed you to make you think that being in this stupidly abusive relationship is okay. But he’s wrong, Charlie is so fucking wrong if he believes he can break you. You know who you are, now more than ever, you’ve ignited that fire that’s been desperate to burn for so long and your back, ripping through the restraints Charlie forced you into.

“I’m ready.” You nod, taking a breath because you’re not ready but it’s now or never. Poe nods, takes your hand and leads you down the hallway back to the quarters. As expected, Charlie stands in the hallway with his arms crossed and a bored, irritated expression that  sits easily on his face. You feel Poe’s thumb tracing small circles across your skin and notice as Charlie’s eyes lock on your hands. You learn over to Poe, a small smile lifting your lips. “Let’s not cause a scene.” You whisper.

Poe gives a mocking nod of his head. “No, let’s.” But you know he won’t. He’ll step back and he’ll let you say what you need to. He won’t take this moment away from you, not when he knows what it means.

“Back late, aren’t you?” You almost bail right there and then because Charlie’s eyes hold the murderous glare you’re so familiar with and he hasn’t stopped looking at your fingers, so delicately intertwined with Poe’s. You take a sharp breath, feel Poe’s grip tighten ever so slightly and take a step forward, eyes level with Charlie’s. He raises an eyebrow in amusement, like he can’t believe you’re going to say a word to him.

“We’re done.” It’s not exactly the way you pictured the delivery but the look of shock on Charlie’s face is as good as any and victory bubbles in the pit of your stomach. You take another step forward, breaking away from Poe’s hand and stepping up to Charlie. “This,” you motion between the two of you. “This is over.”

Charlie scoffs, “What makes you think you can do that?”

“What makes you think I can’t?” And, god, it feels so fucking god to stand up to him, to show him the warrior that you’ve been all along. “What makes you think I give a shit about you at all?” You’re words are ripping through the air now, deadly, stalking towards Charlie before they tear him to shreds. His jaw is slack, mouth open like he can’t believe what he’s hearing but you keep going. You can’t stop yourself because you deserve this and you’ll be damned if you let him walk away before you tear him apart. “You broke me.” You hiss, “you wanted me, you took me and then you fucking broke me. I haven’t been happy in two years,  do you know that? Fuck, I haven’t been myself in two years.”

You chance it, take another step forward and draw yourself up to full height so that you’re looking straight into his eyes. “W-wait.” God it feels good to hear him stammer, for him to be unsure in his own skin just like you’ve been for months and months.

“You don’t get to talk now.” Your voice cracks but it doesn’t matter, it won’t affect you. “You don’t get to say anything to me ever again. You understand that?”

“I—“

“Do you understand that?” Every single word that leaves your mouth is coated with malice.

Charlie nods once and his voice is so small. “Yes.”

“Get the fuck out of my sight.”

You watch him turn tail and hurry down the hall until he’s out of sight and you can finally breath again. Your stuck there for a little bit, just staring at the spot where Charlie had been standing and not fully believing a word that’s just come out of your mouth.

“Sweetheart,” Poe breaks you out of your daze and you stumble back into his arms, letting him whisper in your ear, and run his fingers through your hair. “You did it.” He murmurs. “Sweetheart, you fucking did it.”

And again, it’s your name on his lips that pulls you back and you lift your head from Poe’s chest, grinning when he kisses you. Because it’ll always be Poe that brings you back and reminds you who you are. It’ll always be Poe.

Every single time.

[squirmymochi]

Hello again! This story was commissioned by a lovely repeat customer and I got permission to post it for y’all to enjoy. Hope you like it!

***

“Chug! Chug! Chug!”

Connor chants along with the other boys as Jack downs the rest of his beer, his throat working up and down as he drinks. His sweat glistens slightly against his skin, catching the mid-morning light as he tips his head back to finish the last few drops before gasping in a breath of air and crushing the empty can in his hands.

“Yeah!” Will cheers from the passenger’s seat, laughing goofily. “Didn’t think you could actually do it!”

“Did he finish?” Henry asks, taking his eyes off the road for a couple of seconds to glance backwards at Jack. Connor doesn’t really mind--they haven’t seen another car in at least five minutes, and the expanse of road ahead of them is as straight as an arrow and smooth like glass.

The four of them are on a road trip, having finished their third year of college together a couple of short weeks ago, and in order to save money on gas they’d decided to pile into Henry’s old four-person car instead of taking two separate vehicles. It’s a little bit cramped, and very hot with their combined body temperatures warming up the small space, but luckily enough, Jack had the foresight to fill one of their mini coolers with sodas and beer, squeezing it between his and Connor’s feet in the backseat.

Connor’s pretty sure he’d have already died of heatstroke if it weren’t for Jack’s smart thinking. His smarts are one of the few things Connor admires about him--As the brain of the group, Jack always has the solution for any problem, and he’s kind enough not to judge, either. Before Connor came out to Henry and Will, the two of them had found a gay porn magazine stashed beneath his dorm room bed, and all it had taken was a panicked look towards Jack for his friend to jump to his defense with an excuse about art majors and the human figure.

Connor is pretty sure that’s the moment he fell for Jack. (Fell hard.)

Unfortunately, his crush (which has since spiraled into something much more) is just about the one problem Jack can’t fix for him. Connor’s three closest friends may know that he plays for the other team now, but that doesn’t mean they share the sentiment at all. He’s spent a lot of time trying to convince himself otherwise, but he always circles back around to Jack being straight.

That doesn’t mean he can’t admire his friend from afar, though, and admire he does. Like now, for instance, as Jack lets out a long sigh and wipes the sweat from his brow with the hand still holding his beer can, a soft sigh escaping his lips. “Damn, that was good,” he says, his voice low and smooth, turning to glance at Connor. “You’d better catch up, man. That was my second.”

“I’m almost done,” Connor retorts, lifting his own can to his lips. “Not everyone can swallow the whole can in one go.”

Jack lets out a huff of a laugh as Connor takes a few gulps of his second beer of the day, enjoying the crisp coldness of the drink as it trickles down his throat. “Weak,” Will jeers with a snort, turning back around in his seat to watch the open road. Connor narrows his eyes playfully at him, continuing to enjoy his beer.

“Hey, pass me a soda, would you?” Henry asks, taking one hand off the wheel and waving it in the direction of the cooler. “I don’t care what kind.”

“I got it,” Jack says, flipping the lid of the cooler and fishing out a can of ginger ale. “Must suck to have to stay sober this whole drive.”

“Whatever,” Will scoffs. “At least we won’t have to piss an hour more into the drive.”

“Caffeine is a diuretic, too, idiot,” Henry laughs, reaching back to take the offered can of soda. “But it doesn’t matter. We’ve got all the time in the world to get to the site. As long as we check in before dark, we can stop as many times as we want.”

Connor quietly takes another sip of his beer, sinking down in his seat an inch. He’s gotten pretty good at casually talking about needing to piss with his friends--they are boys in their early twenties, after all, it’s bound to come up occasionally--but it’s still weird for him to do knowing that he enjoys it more than the rest of them do. Having a piss holding fetish is probably his closest kept secret now that he’s out, and he’s sworn to himself that he’ll never tell another soul as long as he lives, but he still gets a little extra sweaty and nervous when one of his friends brings up their need.

Still, he can’t help but let his mind wander, watching as Jack fishes out another can of cheap, cold beer, leaving it unopened in his fist. How many beers is Jack going to have before he calls it done? How long will the other two wait before pulling off to a rest stop? The image of Jack squirming from side to side, shifting his hips and grinding down against the seat below him desperately, brings a whole new flush to Connor’s face, and he snaps his eyes forward automatically, as if he’s been caught.

“Better get drinking, Conn,” Will says with a grin, nodding towards Connor’s unfinished second beer. “Looks like Jack’s getting ready to down another one.”

“Since when is this a competition?” Connor retorts, though he automatically raises his can to his lips anyway. “Last I checked we were on our way to a campsite, not to die of alcohol poisoning.”

“Three or four beers won’t hurt you, anway,” Jack replies with a shrug, reaching up to press the still unopened can to his cheek. His skin squishes against it, and Connor can’t help but replace the can with a pillow, the sunlight from the window becoming early morning light in his imagination. God, he thinks, I need to get this whole crush situation under control.

“Ugh, my legs are totally numb,” Will complains, thunking his fist against his right leg for emphasis. “Henry, your car was not designed for people my size.”

“Jack is taller than you, and he’s not complaining,” Connor replies, almost too quickly. Jack flashes him a small smile, his face pink from the cold of his beer.

“Do you want to pull over for a little bit?” Henry asks. “I can keep an eye out for exits if you want to walk around for a little bit.”

“Ah, maybe in a few,” Will says. “We’re barely even halfway there, and it feels like we’ve been driving forever. Might as well tough it out for a little bit longer.”

“Might as well,” Jack agrees, stretching his long legs apart in the confined space of the backseat. His left leg rubs up against the cooler, pushing it into Connor’s leg.

“Hey, Connor, would you grab me a coke?” Will asks, reaching back blindly. “It’s too fucking hot out today.”

“Sure,” Connor agrees as he pulls the shiny red can out of the cooler. The ice water on his hand sends a shiver down his spine, but it isn’t unwelcome at all.

“Will, why don’t you put on some music?” Henry suggests as Will accepts the coke. “I bet everyone’s tired of hearing you talk, anyway.”

“Shut up, man, people love my voice!” Will replies with a laugh, smacking Henry’s arm with the back of his hand before reaching for the aux cord and plugging it into his phone.

Connor settles back with his beer, taking a couple of long swigs as the sound of Will’s music hums through the rest of the car. He can’t help but glance over at Jack, finding his friend once again staring out the window, golden light filtering through his hair and sparkling off his skin.

Jack turns, catching Connor in the act, and raises a brow at him questioningly. “You need something?” he asks, not in an unkind way.

“Ah, I was just…” Connor struggles to come up with an excuse, eyes darting around the car and landing on the unopened can of beer in Jack’s hand. “I was just wondering if you were gonna drink that,” he finishes weakly, eyes darting back up to Jack’s face.

“Hm? Oh.” Jack reaches down to crank the tab on the can, lifting it halfway to his lips. “I spaced out there for a second, totally forgot about it. But hey, wouldn’t want it to get all warm, right?”

“Right,” Connor agrees with a weak chuckle. Jack smiles warmly at him before lifting the can to his mouth, taking a few long pulls as his Adam’s apple bobs up and down.

Connor tears his eyes away, forcing himself to look out his own window at the flat expanse of land that passes by. No more staring for the rest of the trip, he decides, frowning at himself in the reflection of the glass. You’re giving too much away already. Just… be cool, alright?

You can definitely do that.

***

“Connor, you’re falling behind,” Jack says in between sips of his fourth (yes, fourth) beer. “You barely started your third, and I’m already almost done with this one!”

“You’re a lot bigger of a person than I am, jerk,” Connor retorts, taking in another mouthful of beer and swallowing it automatically. He’s not even thirsty anymore, but the alcohol seems to have done its job in loosening him up--he keeps laughing at nothing, and he’s somehow caught the competitive spirit that Will and Jack had slipped into since they started drinking.

“Excuses, excuses,” Jack chuckles, shaking his head with a smile. “Come on, I bet you can finish it all at once if you try hard enough.”

“I wouldn’t say try hard is in Connor’s vocabulary,” Will snorts.

“Hey!” Connor protests, moving his free hand to smack the back of Will’s car seat, giggling when Will throws a fake glare back at him. “I’ll finish it right now, just watch.”

“Before you do, is it alright if we pull over here?” Henry asks. “I gotta take a leak, and I don’t want you spilling all over my car when I’m driving. You’re loose enough already.”

Jack snorts, covering his hand with his mouth to hide his laughter, so Connor reaches out again to smack his arm away. “If you’re gonna laugh at me, at least do it where I can see it,” he says with a grin.

“Okay, we’re pulling over,” Henry decides as he changes lanes, drifting towards a small rest station off the side of the road. “I really don’t want to wait anymore, and my legs feel like shit, too.”

“Same here,” Will agrees, stretching his arms over his head. “How many hours we got left, anyway?”

“Three or four,” Henry says. “I’m glad we got the site so cheap, but couldn’t it have been closer to campus?”

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Jack replies with a shrug. Henry maneuvers the car down the narrow entrance road, scanning the area until he finds a free parking spot.

“Ah, finally!” Will sighs, hand on the door handle before Henry can even finish pulling in. “I feel like we’ve been in here forever. I should not have drank that much soda.”

“Are you two coming?” Henry asks, turning around in his seat. “Like I said, we’ve still got a while to go before we get there.”

Connor looks over at Jack uncertainly, then down at his own beer. He hasn’t been to the bathroom since he woke up this morning, and he does feel a bit of a need to go if he’s being honest. He likes holding, but he’s not sure if he would enjoy it around his three closest friends, even if they don’t know about his piss kink.

Before he can answer, Jack chooses for him. “I’ll stay here,” he decides, holding up his beer. “I wanna finish this one before you guys get back, and I have to see Connor chug that entire can. That is, if he can.”

“Of course I can!” Connor says automatically, lifting the almost full container in the air for emphasis. “I’ll prove it to you.”

“You two are crazy if you plan on going the whole ride without pissing,” Will says with a laugh. “But it’s your funeral.”

“We’ll be quick,” Henry promises, pulling himself out of the car and closing the door, leaving Connor alone with Jack.

“Well?” Jack prompts, tapping his beer against Connor’s where it hangs midair. “Bottom’s up! First to finish gets to pick the music for the next hour.”

“You’re on!” Connor laughs, lifting his can to his mouth and tipping his head back. The beer is cold and fresh on his tongue, and it pools in his mouth almost too fast for him to swallow. He drinks as fast as he can, ignoring the telling signals from his bladder and throwing his common sense out the window. He’s gotten pretty good at holding ever since he started exploring his kink, and he’s sure he’ll be able to last until the next rest stop, especially since Jack drank a whole can more than he did in the same amount of time. Surely it won’t be long until they pull off the highway once again.

And until they do, he gets to imagine Jack squirming around in his seat, trying to contain four cans of beer as subtly as he can, his face growing red from effort and embarrassment. And if that isn’t a good reason to pass up a bathroom break himself, he doesn’t know what is.

***

An hour later finds Connor shifting his weight from side to side in his seat, his hands pressed to the seat cushion on either side of his legs, trying as hard as he can to think about something other than the pressure between his hips. He knows from nights of careful research that it should take about two hours for a drink to go through him, which means everything after the second can of beer hasn’t even hit him yet, and it’s that thought that both scares him and turns him on a little.

He’s never held around his friends before, and he’s only ever held in public when he had sure access to a bathroom. It’s weird, knowing how bad he has to pee--maybe a six out of ten and quickly approaching an eight--and not knowing when he’ll be able to let it go.

On the other hand, he’s pretty sure that Jack is getting desperate too, and it’s honestly even hotter than he ever imagined it would be. Jack’s legs are spread open a little bit, completely still, and he’s slouching down in his seat, one hand tensed on his thigh, the other alternating between playing with his hair and drumming against the car door. He’s quiet--they all are at this point in the drive, letting the music Connor had selected earlier fill the empty space, but Jack is the kind of quiet that means he’s concentrating really hard on something.

Connor would bet good money that the thing he’s concentrating on is his full bladder.

Now that he thinks about it, he’s pretty sure that Jack hasn’t gone to the bathroom since they all woke up this morning, either. The four of them made their way down from the house they’d stayed over at together after getting ready for the day and eating a quick meal, and then they’d hit the road shortly after that. That means that Jack must be feeling as full as Connor is, if not more so.

He side-eyes his friend as Jack shifts in his seat, squirming ever so slightly, his hips lifting off the seat for just a second before landing again. He’s clearly trying to be subtle about it, but he’s not doing a very good job, at least from Connor’s perspective. He watches with interest as Jack continues to move around, first hooking one ankle under the other, then sitting straight up and shifting his weight to his right side, leaning heavily against the car door. At least he seems too distracted with his need to notice Connor watching him.

Surely he’ll ask to pull over at a rest stop soon, Connor thinks, glancing away from the show for a second to check for road signs. It’s been a while since the last rest stop was advertised, and they’d passed that one almost fifteen minutes ago, so there must be another one coming up soon.

He’s distracted by a soft grunt from his right--his eyes snap back to Jack, whose face is scrunched up in a grimace. His legs move to squeeze against one another as he hunches over slightly, the hand on his thigh twitching towards his crotch for just a second before settling back once again. He must be pretty full, Connor thinks, if he’s wanting to grab his dick already.

Once again, the thought of Jack squirming around with his hands clutching his penis makes its way into Connor’s head. He feels his face turn red and whips his head forward too quickly to escape notice, but he doesn’t dare turn back around. What would Jack say if he knew what Connor was thinking?

He keeps his eyes trained on the back of Henry’s seat, willing the blush off of his face, but when he feels a buzz in his pocket he has to clamp his legs together to avoid a leak. His bladder throbs inside of him, all but forgotten, and now it’s his turn to grimace as he pulls his phone out of his pocket.

Strangely enough, it’s a text from Jack of all people. Connor recognizes the little profile picture he’d drawn for Jack--the one his friend had insisted on using--before he even reads the name. Nervously, he glances up at Jack and finds him gazing back already, eyes flickering down to the screen meaningfully.

Connor looks back down, taking a moment to un-glue his legs from each other before he opens the text. A simple U ok? stares back at him. Confused, he looks back up at Jack; his friend motions to his face in a general wave, then makes a “spooked” motion with his hands.

I’m good, Connor replies, then quickly types out the first excuse that comes to mind. Just kind of have to pee is all.

When he gets the courage to look up, Jack is already typing out an answer, and a few seconds later his phone vibrates again.

Dude, me too. I’ve had to go for ages

Why haven’t you said anything? Connor writes back. I’m sure they would have stopped for you.

Don’t say anything! Jack answers. We can’t let them know we have to piss. They’ll make so much fun of us for skipping the last break

Connor’s eyes go wide, and he almost answers out loud from surprise. What are we supposed to do, then? he asks, immediately looking over at Jack. His crush grimaces once again, hunching over in his seat and re-crossing his ankles.

We’ve just got to hold it until one of them decides to pull over on their own, he says, and Connor feels his heart stop in his chest. The others only went to the bathroom an hour ago, and they’ve still got two or three more to go until they make it to the campsite. Is Jack planning on holding it the whole time? He’s already moving around quite a bit, knocking his knees together and constantly changing positions, and his forehead is shiny with sweat that Connor’s sure isn’t just from the heat.

Are you sure you can wait that long? he asks, throwing caution to the wind. He can always play his own interest off for sympathy, and besides, Jack seems pretty open to talking about it.

Of course I can! Jack replies seconds later. Obviously I’d go if I could, but that doesn’t mean I can’t hold it.

Connor bites his lip, typing out the next message on his phone. You don’t seem so sure about that, he ends up saying, looking up just in time to catch Jack pressing the heel of his hand into his crotch. It’s not the frantic grabbing and squirming that Connor always ends up imagining, but it’s still beyond hot and it has him once again following his reckless side.

I’m 22, not some kid, Jack writes, throwing a hand out to lightly punch Connor in the side. I bet you’re just trying to get ME to ask them to pull over for you.

No way! Connor replies, forcing his legs apart further as if to prove his point. His bladder gives off a dull throb in protest, reminding him that now is no time to let pride get in the way, but the kinkier side of his brain has fully taken over at this point and there’s no stopping it now. I could hold it the whole way there if I needed to. Besides, you’re the one squirming around here!

The last part earns him another gentle jab in the side, but Connor still tenses as the flesh near his bladder is squished. Despite what he’d said, he isn’t completely sure that he’d be able to last all the way to the campsite. His six out of ten is quickly becoming a seven, and the third beer still hasn’t hit him. He’s glad for all those late-night holds when his roommates were out, but he knows no amount of practice can keep him from wetting himself ever again. Still, there’s no way he’ll be the one to cave in and ask for a bathroom, not when he can distract himself from his own desperation with Jack’s the whole way there.

His phone vibrates in his hand once again, and he draws his attention from his bladder to focus on the conversation instead. Jack has written I bet you wish you were squirming like me with a “;)” at the end of the sentence--the last part makes his mouth dry, which in turn gives him an idea.

I bet you can’t fit another drop in you, you’re so full, he writes, sending it before he even realizes how kinky it sounds. When he looks up to check, he’s met with an inquisitive stare, a raised eyebrow.

What are you getting at? Jack sends back a moment later. Connor tries not to grin as he gestures towards the cooler meaningfully, then makes a drinking motion with his hand. He tries not to get too excited at the momentary flicker of doubt in Jack’s eyes--maybe he really is too full to drink--but it’s gone just as quickly as it had appeared.

“Fine,” Jack mouths at him, his eyebrows drawing together as he flips the lid of the cooler, much to Connor’s surprise. He lets out a quiet hiss as his hand meets the frigid water and half-melted ice, but after a few seconds of fishing he manages to pull out a can of cola. Connor watches with delight as his friend cracks the top of the can and takes a few long drinks, shivering in between gulps of soda, his other hand clenched into a fist at his side.

Jack finishes drinking with a soft, heavy sigh, then turns his gaze to Connor, holding the cola can out to him. Connor frowns, confused, until Jack leans forward even more, swishing the remaining soda around inside the can. His eyebrows are raised once again, challenging Connor to say no.

Connor pretends to glare back, acting like this little dare of theirs isn’t one of the most exciting things that’s happened to him all week. He accepts the can, shivering both from the leftover droplets of ice water and from Jack’s hand brushing against his, lifting it to his lips and chugging the rest of the soda as quickly as he can. It feels like a little over half the can, but he doesn’t really mind--after all, Jack had drank an entire beer more than he had at first, and it can’t be that hard to convince him to down another.

He grits his teeth together as he drinks, pressing his thighs together and shifting around in his seat as the cold soda makes its way down his throat. Only two or three more hours, he reminds himself, and then I can pee. Maybe I’ll even be lucky enough to go right next to Jack. Wouldn’t that be a dream come true?

He looks back down at his phone, where a new text waits on the homescreen. Good luck, tough guy! it reads, followed by You’ll need it >:)

Connor’s pretty sure he’s already maxed out on luck today, but he keeps that thought to himself.

***

“Hey, look at that!” Henry says, waving his phone in the general direction of the backseat. “We’re ahead of schedule. Should be there in an hour if we don’t hit traffic and don’t make any more stops.”

“G-Great,” Connor grits out, barely even glancing at the phone screen. He’s much too focused on his bladder, which has been screaming at him to empty it for the past forty-five minutes. He knows he’s held more for longer many times before, but for some reason it feels like he’s the fullest he can possibly get. Every few seconds his bladder throbs under his seatbelt, hours worth of piss begging to be let out. He wouldn’t have ever dared getting this desperate in a public place before, and if it were just him who needed to go he would have swallowed his pride and asked for a rest stop ages ago.

But one look at Jack has him clenching his muscles and steeling his resolve. Jack, whose face is currently stained bright red, who can’t keep still for five seconds without breathing so heavily it sounds like he’d just run a mile. Right now he’s got his hips lifted as far away from the seat as his seatbelt will let him, his hands in fists braced on either side of his body. He’s so clearly desperate for the bathroom, and yet both of their states seem to have gone unnoticed by both Henry and Will.

He watches as Jack changes positions once again, letting his ass fall back down to the seat below him and bringing his knees close together, shimmying back and forth as he bites at his lip like he’s just walked out of a PornHub video. All of a sudden he gasps, his hands flying to his crotch and pressing down, one knee hooking over the other one. Connor feels his own face heat up as he tries to keep his libido in check, though the image does end up stiffening his dick enough to stave off the next wave of his own desperation.

He figures that he can get away with pretty much anything so long as the boys in the front seats don’t notice, so he takes the opportunity to pinch the tip of his half-hard cock, sighing in relief as he does. God, he’s really desperate--the pressure in his bladder is now one of the only things on his mind. He can barely even tell which song is playing through the car’s speakers now; only that its gentle vibrations are not making his situation any easier.

Maybe he should have thought ahead, been smart about it instead of taking Jack’s soda challenge. Maybe the whole “alcohol is a diuretic” thing does hold more truth to it than he’d thought. Either way, the only thing keeping him from beginning to leak is his semi and the thought that Jack is even more frantic than he is.

He hears a quiet “Oh, oh God,” from his right and glances over, surprised to see that he can see the faint outline of Jack’s penis where he’s gripping it through his pants. There’s no wet spot yet, but it looks like it won’t be long now before he begins to leak in earnest.

A wicked idea enters Connor’s head, one that he can’t resist even though his logical side tells him it’s an absolutely horrible idea. He grabs his phone out of his pocket and types out a quick text, chewing on his lip for a couple of seconds before he decides fuck it and hits send.

C: You ready to give up and ask for a stop yet or what?

His eyes flicker over to Jack, waiting for the far-away cell towers to deliver his message. Seconds later, Jack lets out a high, soft moan, hunching over and shifting his hips from side to side as he squeezes at his cock. It’s probably both the hottest thing Connor has ever seen and heard.

Jack glances over at him, reaching for his phone when he notices the one in Connor’s hand. He doesn’t seem very ashamed of holding himself, which only adds fuel to the fire that is Connor’s terrible idea.

It takes a minute for Jack to type out his response with one hand, his other glued to his groin with no sign of moving any time soon.

J: Jesus Christ, I feel like I’m about to pop

J: But there’s no way in hell I’m asking them to pull over for me!

Connor fights the grin that wants to pop up on his face, though it quickly turns strained as a wave of need hits him. He presses his thighs together and points his toes as he types as quickly as he can, then drops a hand down to hold himself. At least his desperation will serve as a good distraction if his plan goes awry.

C: Are you sure about that?

C: You’re holding your dick so much I’m tempted to offer to help you with it

He watches out of the corner of his eye as Jack reads the text. His friend’s eyes go wide for a split second, but as soon as it’s there it’s gone, and he’s typing away once again.

J: At least buy a guy dinner first, jeez

Connor feels his heartbeat stutter as he reads the response, his mouth dropping open a bit as he white-knuckles his phone, both from shock and the need to squeeze something to make the pressure inside him go away. Before he can even begin to think of what to respond, a huge wave of desperation overtakes him and he lets the phone slip out of his grip, gasping as his hands fly to his crotch to stop the impending flood. He’s at a nine out of ten now, easy--he can feel the piss at the tip of his cock, fighting as hard as it can to escape.

He risks opening one eye and glancing to his right, wondering how Jack will react to his desperation. Will he be grossed out if he notices that Connor is half hard still? Will he kindly pretend not to notice at all?

He’s surprised when his eyes focus enough to notice the expression on Jack’s face. He looks flushed, almost flustered… And more than anything, he looks intrigued.

“Wow,” Jack mouths at him, somewhere between impressed and teasing. Connor shoots a weak smile at him as he circles the base of his dick with his hands, squeezing with all his might. Luckily neither of the boys in the front has noticed anything yet, but it’s still both terrifying and exciting to be this desperate in their presence.

Connor winces as he lets go with one hand, reaching down to grab his phone. He’s definitely pushing his luck, but that look that Jack had given him… It’s not the kind of look that passes between friends. It’s his turn to type with one hand, and he’s shaking ever so slightly on top of that, but at last he manages to type out another text and hit send.

C: Enjoying the show?

Seconds later, he received a reply:

J: I’d give it a perfect review if I could let go of my dick long enough to type it out

J: Are you regretting that last soda btw?

C: Nah, I could hold for longer if I wanted to

C: Not that I have a choice

J: You’re lying, I can tell!

J: I’m bigger than you and even I feel like I’m gonna wet myself any second now

C: That sounds like a you problem

J: I bet you have to go just as bad as me

C: Is it the desperation talking or were you always this delusional?

J: Oh shut up

J: If you don’t have to go, I bet you won’t mind grabbing another soda, right?

C: What if I say I’m not thirsty anymore?

J: Oh, I wasn’t expecting you to drink it

J: I just wanna see the look on your face when your hand hits that ice cold cooler water

Connor stares down at his phone, a slow smile spreading over his face. Intentionally or not, Jack is playing right into the almost exhibisionistic fantasy he’s had for a while, both of his friend teasing him while he’s full of piss and of him torturing a desperate Jack right back. As carefully as he can, he sets his phone on the middle seat and reaches over to flip the lid of the cooler, staring into the slightly sloshing water with a mixture of dread and excitement. He can feel Jack’s eyes on him as he reaches in slowly, his fingers barely brushing the surface of the water.

Better to get it over with, Connor figures, and with that he dives in, submerging his whole hand in the ice water. He lets out a choked-off moan as his bladder convulses, trying in anguish to expel the hours and hours worth of urine. He grabs the first thing he can feel--a can of off-brand lemon lime soda nobody had bothered to drink yet--and yanks his hand out, dropping the can onto the floor of the car and shoving his hand back down onto his crotch.

It’s a bad idea all around. The water that had clung to his hand soaks into his jeans and through his underwear, brushing cool moisture across his sensitive penis as he clutches himself. “Ah, oh,” he hisses, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as he moves his hips wildly back and forth, trying to keep the ocean of piss inside of him. It takes almost thirty seconds for the effect of the water to wear off on him, and it’s the closest he’s come to leaking since he’d last wet himself.

At the very least, he notes once he has himself back under control, Jack doesn’t seem to be faring much better. He’s constantly squirming, grinding his hips down into the car seat and letting out short, airy pants as he grabs at his dick, switching from hand to hand and occasionally using both. Every time he has to stifle a moan or a sigh, Connor’s cock gets a little bit harder, which in turn helps him hold it.

Jack doesn’t reach for his phone to text anymore, but he does glance over at Connor every few seconds, like he’s checking to make sure Connor isn’t watching. (Or like he’s making sure Connor is watching--it’s such unfamiliar territory that Connor can’t tell in the slightest.) It doesn’t matter, because either way Connor can’t bear to take his eyes off the show before him. It’s like every one of his fantasies of Jack wriggling around, drops of yellow staining the plush white bed under him, only this is even better because it’s real.

Jack is actually desperate in front of him, and better yet he’s flirting with him over it.

Connor’s thoughts are interrupted by a loud sigh from the front seat. He immediately pulls his hands out of his crotch, cringing at the lack of pressure and squeezing his thighs together to make up for it. He glances up in the direction of the sigh, which sounded like it came from Will’s part of the car.

“Something wrong?” Henry asks from the driver’s seat, reaching to lower the music.

“I’ve gotta piss again,” Will explains, crossing his arms over his head. “Guess I shouldn’t have had that last soda.”

“You want to pull over somewhere?” Henry offers, waving with one hand at the side of the road. “If it’s an emergency we can stop here, and if not we can always keep an eye out for a real rest stop.”

Connor’s eyes go wide, and he side-glances at Jack, who seems to have the same thought as him.

If Will asks to stop at a restroom, the game will be over.

Connor tries not to let the disappointment show on his face, though he knows the cons outweigh the pros for him. Sure, he’d get to pee at last and he wouldn’t be in danger of wetting himself around his best friends anymore, but he’d also lose the opportunity to see Jack slowly lose control, spurting hot leaks of piss into his jeans as he moans and squirms like crazy, trying his best to hold it in… In Connor’s mind, that image is priceless, worth more than any shred of dignity he might have left.

“Nah, it’s alright,” Will says with a wave of his hand, and Connor barely stops himself from breathing a massive sigh of relief. (Not relief relief, but still.) Unless Jack decides to speak up, it looks like his fantasy come true is back on track.

“What about you two?” Henry asks, his eyes flickering to the rear-view mirror, and Connor thanks the stars that he’s been able to keep his hand away from his groin for so long. “You haven’t gone since we got on the road, right? Do you want to pull over somewhere?”

“God, I totally forgot!” Will exclaims. “You guys must be pissing your pants back there.”

“Haha…” Connor trails off awkwardly, shifting his weight to his other side and pressing his knees into each other. “I mean, not yet.”

“What about you, Jack?” Will asks almost tauntingly. “You ready to admit you were an idiot for not going before?”

“I’m not admitting anything,” Jack says with a strained laugh, finding the strength somewhere to kick the back of Will’s seat.

“Oh, come on! You must be bursting back there!”

“Well, yeah…” Jack and Connor glance at each other at the same time, and something like mischief catches in Jack’s eye as they do. “I kinda feel like I’m about to explode,” he admits slyly, never breaking eye contact.

“Ha! I knew it!”

“Maybe it was all those beers… How many did I drink, four?”

“And half a soda,” Connor grits out, his dick throbbing both from arousal and desperation. He checks the rear view mirror and slowly slips a hand into his crotch once he’s sure Henry’s not looking. “You must be really full, huh?”

“Of course,” Jack agrees. “Although you can’t be much better off. You had almost as much to drink as I did, and it’s been hours since you last let go, hasn’t it?”

“Y-Yeah,” Connor manages to reply, heat flaring up in his cheeks. His dick feels rock hard under his hand, but he can’t stop kneading at it, both from his intense desperation and his need for friction. “Oh,” he moans, eyes fluttering shut for a second as the mix of arousal and need sends his brain into overdrive.

“I really don’t mind pulling over if it’s that bad,” Henry offers, but Jack answers for him.

“We’re f-fine, Henry,” he says in a less-than-convincing voice. “Don’t worry about us, just get to the c-campsite.”

“You gonna last the next twenty minutes, Connor?” Henry asks, glancing back in the rear view mirror again. This time Connor doesn’t bother taking his hands away from his crotch, hoping that his friend isn’t able to see how erect he is from the front seat.

“I’ll, mmh, be fine,” he says breathily, eyes practically rolling back in his head. His dick is so incredibly sensitive to every brush of his hand, to the point where he doesn’t know if he’d rather piss or jack off more. He looks over to see that Jack is doubled over once, again, one leg crossed over the other with his hands trapped in between them, putting as much pressure on his dick as he possibly can. His face is just as flushed (bad, bad choice of words) as Connor knows his is, and when he opens his eyes to meet Connor’s, his pupils are blown wide.

“If you say so,” Henry says with a shrug, speeding up as he passes the first car in minutes. “I’ll be honest, I was kind of hoping you’d ask to pull over. All this talk about pissing is making me need to go, too.”

“If those two can hold it for six and a half hours, I’m sure you and I can make it the rest of the trip without a bathroom break,” Will reasons. Connor’s eyes widen as he hears the number--six and a half hours?! No, it’s been more than that--it’s closer to seven or eight hours, considering neither of them peed after that first trip to the bathroom in the morning.

“Still, it’s not like it’s comfortable,” Henry says with a sigh.

“Oh, I know,” Jack says, his voice carrying an undertone of… mischief? Excitement? “I’m… not comfortable either.”

Through his haze of need, Connor notices that Jack isn’t just grabbing himself anymore, but moving his hand in small, open-palmed circles. Is he hard? he wonders, mouth dropping open a bit. Is Jack… getting off on this, too?

“Hey, try not to think about waterfalls,” Will pipes up, gleeful. “Or rainstorms, or whitewater rafting…”

Connor shudders, the very mention of all that gushing, gurgling, free-flowing water sending unwelcome images of toilets and showers to his brain. “God,” he hisses, knocking his knees together and bucking his hips in the air. Once again, he feels someone’s gaze locked onto him, and he doesn’t even need to check to know that it’s Jack who��s looking.

“Knock it off,” Henry cuts in, though there’s no bite behind his words. “The last thing I need is those two causing a flood of their own in the back of my car. I just had this thing cleaned a couple of months ago!”

“Oh, did you?” Will teases. “I couldn’t tell.”

A flood, huh? Connor thinks to himself, staring down at where the band of his jeans cuts into his bloated, distended bladder. I bet together the two of us could cover the whole floor of the car in piss, and then some. Jesus Christ, I have to go!

“Ten minutes,” Henry tells them as he pulls off the main road, onto an unfortunately bumpy dirt path.

Connor swears he can feel each tiny bit of gravel that they drive over, the bumps echoing throughout his bladder as he holds on for dear life. He hears Jack panting from his right and opens one eye to see that his friend is folded in half, both hands buried deep between his legs as he lets his hair fall into his face, chewing on his lip. He must be close to bursting, he realizes, noting the couple of beads of sweat dripping down his face.

As much as he’d love to watch Jack lose control and wet himself, soaking his jeans and the seat below him with hot urine, he’s pretty sure pissing himself in front of his friends isn’t something that Jack would be into, even if he is having fun holding. And it looks like they’ve only got a couple of minutes until one of them starts to leak, or even lets go completely.

“H-Hey, Henry,” he stammers, letting go of his penis with one hand to tap Henry on the shoulder. “We’re not, ah, um, we’re not so far away from the campsite, right?”

“Um, I guess so,” Henry says, glancing over his shoulder. “It’s like a seven minute drive, maybe a fifteen minute walk?”

“Could you let me and Ja-ack out here?” Connor asks, hoping the excitement doesn’t come through in his voice. “I d-don’t know about him, but I feel like I’m gonna pop, mmh! Any second now.”

“Please,” Jack gasps, lifting his head for just long enough for Connor to catch a hint of panic on his face. “I can’t hold it all the way to the, hahh, to the campsite!”

“Yeah, sure!” Henry slows the car to a stop, and Jack is out the door before Connor has even unfastened his seatbelt. “Just follow the trail to Campsite L, and  text me if you get lost, okay?”

“We will!” Connor promises, pushing the door open and setting his foot on the dirt path. Immediately gravity increases on his bladder and he lets out a loud, strangled moan as he dances in place, trying to keep himself dry. “Bye!” he yells, hobbling off to the side of the road after Jack, who’s already a good few feet ahead, still holding onto his cock for dear life.

Every step he takes is absolute torture--the pressure inside of him is enough to drive him crazy, and yet he’s still horny as hell despite the circumstances. “J-Jack, ahh, wait up!” he calls as he hears the car start behind him. “Jack!”

“Hurry up!” Jack calls without looking back, stomping his feet in place. “I seriously feel like I’m about to piss myself, Connor, it’s so bad. Ohh, I need to go!”

The two boys stumble through the forest, going as fast as they can without losing control completely, though it isn’t long before they start to leak. Connor makes it maybe fifteen steps from where he’d left the car before his bladder decides it’s had enough and contracts harshly, trying to override his control. He gasps in shock as a stream of piss jets out of his dick, wetting his pants from the crotch to the inside of the knee within three seconds, before he finally manages to cut off the flow.

Jack seems to be at the same stage in his desperation, because seconds later Connor hears a loud “Oh my God!” followed by the telltale splatter of urine against the ground. The sound is torturous to Connor’s ears, though he decides it’s worth it when he looks up and sees Jack bent over with his hands jammed between his legs, piss dripping out from between his fingers.

“How f-far do we have to go?” he asks from his hunched-over place a couple of feet ahead.

“We’ve gotta, haah, get away from the road,” Connor grits out, his bladder pounding inside of him, demanding he give it back the release he’d stolen from it. “C-Can’t have any cars seeing us when we… go…”

“Fine,” Jack agrees, reaching out to push himself forward on one of the nearer trees and stumbling a little as he goes. “You know,” he continues, looking back over his shoulder at Connor, “under different circumstances I don’t t-think I’d mind as much.”

“Ah… Yeah?” Connor adjusts the hand on his stiff, saturated dick and moans lightly as the fabric of his jeans rubs him just right. “What do you--mmm--what do you mean?”

“I think, oh, that you know what I mean,” Jack pants, breaking eye contact to squeeze his eyes shut against another flood of desperation. “God, I think my bladder’s in danger of p-popping right now.”

“Me too,” Connor agrees, glancing down at himself. Wow. His bladder isn’t the only bulge that’s noticeable--he’s pretty sure he hasn’t been this hard in years, and that’s including the few boyfriends he’d had in the past. He wonders if he would have already wet himself without the help of his boner, or if it’s his years of holding that are keeping the entirety of the Caspian Sea inside of him.

It feels like hours pass as the two of them stumble deeper into the forest, trying their best to contain the beer and soda inside of them for just a little bit longer. And yet when Connor works up the nerve to look over his shoulder (and the self restraint to look away from Jack, who’s currently hopping in place with one leg hooked over the other) he can still see the road through the bushes.

“I t-think this is it for me,” Jack moans, his breath fluttering. “I’ve, ah, never had to go this bad before!”

“Wait!” Connor pants, lifting one hand from his crotch to hold out towards Jack. “Over th-there!”

He moves his arm to point towards a deep seclusion in the woods, just out of sight of the road. “Just hold on, nngh, a little longer!”

“I… I don’t know if I can,” Jack admits, looking back at Connor with red cheeks and watery eyes. Connor can’t help but stare at him for a few seconds, taking in his messy hair and parted lips, his legs that are pressed so tightly together, and his hands, which are gripping the base of an obviously erect penis…

Oh.

So Connor was right before, and it hadn’t just been wishful thinking. Jack is getting some pleasure from holding it in, whether he meant to or not. And now here they are, together alone in the middle of a forest, both desperate to pee and totally aroused at the same time...

“Come on…” Connor says, drawing his eyes back up to meet Jack’s. “I- I’ll make it worth your while.”

Jack’s eyes widen once again, and he glances down at Connor’s crotch, where his piss-stained jeans are clearly tented in the front. Connor’s face heats up, but he doesn’t move to hide it at all. There’s no way he’s misread the situation--the evidence is right there in front of him, after all. And all those looks they’d given each other on the ride over, the flirty texts they’d sent each other… It can’t just be a coincidence, or a misunderstanding.

“O… Okay,” Jack says, his eyes wide as he turns to hobble towards the secluded area. Every few steps a couple of drops of urine make their way through his fingers, leaving tiny circles in the ground below him, but Connor knows that those tiny little leaks aren’t giving him any relief at all. His underwear rubs against him as he moves, and he shudders at the soft friction and the wetness of it all.

“Ah… O-Oh…” Jack sighs, pausing at the entrance to the clearing to dance in place. “Thank God we’re finally h-here…”

Before Connor knows what’s going on or has a chance to look away, Jack is scrambling at his zipper and pulling it down, reaching into his underwear to pull out his dick and leaking the tiniest bit along the way.

Wow, Connor thinks, his eyes going wide as he takes in his friend’s length. He can’t say he hasn’t fantasized about that kind of stuff before, but he’d never imagined Jack’s cock to look as insanely appealing as it does. It’s still stiff, too, and a little red, and for some reason Jack hasn’t actually started pissing yet…

Before he can stop himself, Connor takes a step forward, his own dick hard and straining against the confines of his jeans. Jack looks up, still not peeing, an almost hopeful expression on his face.

“C-Can I…” Connor stops mid-sentence to shift his weight to his other side, shimmying his thighs together as his bladder throbs inside of him. He’s never needed to pee so explosively bad before, and yet his need is the last thing on his mind at a time like this.

“Yeah,” Jack breathes, turning his whole body to face Connor. Hesitantly, Connor reaches out, brushing his fingers along the side of Jack’s dick and inhaling sharply as it twitches in interest. Jack makes a nngh sound, his breath stuttering as Connor continues to lightly touch him.

“I’ve never done this before,” he breathes, looking up at Connor unsurely. “What am I supposed to…”

“Do you want to try?” Connor asks, taking his free hand away to gesture at his lower half. Jack hesitates a second longer, then nods, watching hungrily as Connor lets go of his aching dick to unzip his fly. He considers pulling himself out, but instead goes for Jack’s hand, guiding it to the front of his jeans and letting Jack maneuver his way inside. His knuckles brush against the very bottom of Connor’s bladder and he shudders, eyes fluttering shut as Jack finally reaches deep enough and pulls his penis out.

“Oh…” he moans as Jack strokes him once, unsurely, then again with a bit more pressure. “That’s good…”

He forces his eyes open and reaches out once again, taking Jack’s leaking cock in his hand and twisting his wrist as he strokes, over and over again. Jack is making tiny little sounds, breathing shallowly and whining every time a bit of urine gushes out of him. Some of it splashes onto Connor’s lower leg, but he could care less at this point.

Jack may not have much experience jacking other guys off, but he’s sure as hell not doing a bad job of it. Maybe he mastrubates a lot, Connor thinks, the idea making him even harder as it enters his mind. Only it’s different now--he doesn’t have to fantasize, with the real deal right in front of him, on him. Every inch of his skin is so, so sensitive thanks to the overfilled capacity of his bladder, and Jack’s hand on him is practically sending him into overdrive.

“Ah, ah!” he exclaims as his bladder pangs harshly, forcing a short jet of piss to spurt out of his dick. He glances down, noticing that it had shot straight onto the leg of Jack’s pants and is dripping onto his hiking boots.

“Good?” Jack asks, pausing his ministrations, and Connor can’t help but thrust into his hand to get more friction.

“Don’t stop now,” he urges, taking a step closer until he can feel Jack’s labored breath on his cheek.

“Oh God,” Jack hisses as Connor speeds up his strokes, pausing briefly to drag his thumb over the tip, his fingers stroking the underside. “Oh God, Connor!”

His name sounds so delicious coming from Jack’s mouth that he practically comes right there and then. But right before he loses himself completely, his bladder contracts harshly, and he has to press his thighs together and shift his hips from side to side to keep from losing it all.

“Ah… haah… I still have to go so bad,” he whispers as a few stray drops fall from his cock, teasing him with the thought of release.

“Me too,” Jack agrees, his hand shaking as it pumps up and down on Connor’s dick. “But… I think it m-makes it better, don’t you?”

“Oh, yeah,” Connor groans. His legs feel weak under him, and he swears he can feel every cell in his body.

The sound of hushed moans and cries fills the seclusion, occasionally broken by a gush of hot piss hitting the forest floor. Connor knows he’s leaked enough to fill a whole can of soda on his own, and yet he still feels as desperate as ever--but at this point he’s too hard to lose control completely. Still, each stroke of Jack’s hand on his rock hard dick brings him closer to orgasm, and by the looks of things Jack feels the same. His penis is dribbling piss and precome, warm and sticky in Connor’s hand.

Time to bring him over the edge, Connor thinks, increasing his hand’s speed and making sure to pay attention to the tip every couple of seconds, smearing the leaked liquid around like some kind of lube. “Come on, Jack,” he huffs, eyes flickering between Jack’s dick and his face. “Come for me.”

That’s all it takes to send Jack to orgasm--his friend lets out a cry of pleasure as sticky white come squirts out of him, landing just to the left of Connor’s shoe. The ejaculate is immediately followed by an uncontrolled spurt of piss, followed by another, and suddenly Jack is gushing onto the ground with force, hours and hours worth of liquid finally exiting his body.

It’s that sight alone that sends Connor over the edge--he comes harder than he ever thinks he has before, his vision blurring and whiting out as Jack’s hand slips off his penis. He feels almost dizzy as his orgasm racks through him, shaking his body from fingertip to fingertip. His come lands in the rapidly growing puddle at Jack’s feet, sinking to the bottom of the urine like a feather in the air.

“Jesus,” Connor breathes, taking a deep breath in, but his bladder squeezes in protest, reminding him that he’s still far from empty. He makes a quick grab for his penis, but he’s too slow to prevent the line of urine from marking itself along the thighs of Jack’s pants in a splatter pattern.

He barely has time to notice before he’s pissing full force onto the ground, his urine mixing with Jack’s and creating a puddle beneath their shoes. And God, if that orgasm hit him hard, then finally being able to release all that liquid, those cans of beer and soda and water from the morning… It’s almost better. His stream is so powerful, thundering against the ground with force, and he can’t help but moan as his bladder finally deflates, letting go of the ocean inside of it.

The two of them piss in silence for almost a minute and a half, the sound of splattering echoing in Connor’s ears even as his stream tapers off. He doesn’t even bother tucking himself away, taking a few seconds to catch his breath and regain his bearings. His head is spinning from the events of the day, and he feels bone tired and jelly-like at the same time, but realistically he knows that they have to get back to the campsite before their friends come looking for them.

He opens his eyes, surveying the damage. Both his and Jack’s pants are soaked in several places, and he can already smell the piss drying on their hands and clothes. “Jack,” he says, tapping Jack on the shoulder several times. “We can’t go back like this?”

“Huh?” Jack opens his eyes, looking down at himself until he snaps out of his haze. “Oh, shit! What are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know… Did you bring a jacket with you or anything?”

“I was kind of preoccupied,” Jack laughs nervously. “Hey, didn’t Henry say we were gonna be camping near a lake?”

Connor squints, wracking his brain for memories from earlier in the day. “Yeah, he did. Do you think we should-”

“Have a little swim before we get back and help the others unpack?” Jack finishes for him. “It couldn’t hurt to be a little late, right?”

“Right…” Connor trails off, picking at a wet spot on his jeans. “Hey, Jack… You aren’t weirded out or anything, are you? I didn’t do anything too far, right?”

“What? Oh, no!” Jack reaches out to touch Connor’s arm, meeting his gaze with a small smile. “It was great, Connor. What are you worrying about?”

“I just… I didn’t know you liked guys,” Connor admits, somewhat embarrassed. “If I’d known, I…”

“I didn’t know either,” Jack tells him, rubbing his arm gently. “But… I liked it. I liked today, even if it wasn’t the most conventional.”

“I liked today, too,” Connor says, his face heating up as Jack moves his hand into Connor’s own. Jack smiles at him kindly, squeezing once.

“Come on, then,” he says, tugging Connor towards the road. “Let’s go get cleaned up, before the others wonder where we’re at.”

“...Alright,” Connor agrees, smiling back softly. “Let’s go.”

[olivarryprompts]

Fanfic Friday #7

Welcome to Fanfic Friday! Each Friday I will post a new fanfic here and on A03. Enjoy x

Read and save it on A03 here https://archiveofourown.org/works/32577124

{the anatomy of caring}

Ships: minor stevetony, focused on Tony & Peter

Warnings: none, it’s just fluff :)

Wc: 2355

It was obvious to anyone who knew the two well. It was Steve and Tony, Iron Man and the Captain. It simply made sense. If the logic wasn’t enough, the two looked at home with one and another. They slipped together like puzzle pieces. Tony always helped Steve through the confusion of a new world, and Steve always knew just how to help Tony deal with the anxiety of their reality. They were the perfect couple, and they both knew that.

Then, the spiderling came along. Tony saw a mirror image of himself in Spiderman. A young, ambitious boy who had the curse and gift of superhuman powers. He defied death each day he swung between buildings, and Tony couldn’t help but be enthralled. He couldn’t help but figure out who the kid was (It was pretty easy to figure out it was a kid, considering he only showed up outside of school hours). Steve, knowing his lover so well, knew instantly how protective Tony felt over the kid he’d merely stalked on the internet.

So when Tony explained the plan to show up at Peter’s with the “Stark Internship” it was no surprise to the captain. To the rest of the team, who’d all moved into the tower, it was a complete shock. The fact that Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, wanted to help this kid hone his powers and skills.

“You,” Bruce said, “Want to help this kid..what? Be a superhero?” “Well, someone’s gotta,” Tony explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Someone has to?” Nat questioned. “He can’t go around swinging off rooftops and beating up bad guys without any training. Or backup.” “Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t your idiot ass do that?” Sam questioned. “I was not a kid. And I had money, friends, people,” Tony wildly gesticulated. “I am beyond confused,” Nat laughed. “Same train as Romanoff,” Clint agreed. “Guys, this is not that hard. Come on. Let’s take this scenario. He ends up meeting some guys, and, instead of, say, winning, he loses. And either he dies, or gets badly injured. Who does he have? No one? He bleeds out. He’s a kid for fuck sake.” “Cap’s been awfully quiet,” Clint pointed out. “What? I knew this was coming days ago,” Steve explained with a smile, “I know my man. He wasn't just gonna let this kid get himself into trouble if he could do anything about it. Plus, Tony doesn’t keep tabs, he violently invades lives.” Tony shot him a look. “With love, invades with lots and lots of love,” he quickly fixes, flashing his million dollar smile at his boy. Tony just rolled his eyes and focused on addressing the group, “Look, I know it’s a lot, but I think it’s just what I have to do. And I own the tower, so, my choice,” he said with a hint of banter in his voice. Tony headed towards the elevator. “Where the hell are you going?” Sam asked. “The spiderling’s.”

Tony left before he could hear any of the exasperated responses. It was a fair drive down to Queen’s where the boy lived. He parked outside the small building, and he then climbed the seven flights of stairs to the apartment. He knocked on the door and greeted, “Hello, I’m Tony, Tony Stark.” He smiled his media smile, extending a hand towards May. “I-I know. Mr. Stark, hello, w-what are you doing here?” “Well, your nephew Peter applied for the Steptember Grant, and well, he got it,” Tony said, thrusting all the enthusiasm he could muster. He maintained his fabricated nonchalant, disregarding manner in most places. “Wow this is, this is incredible! Peter will be home any minute now. Come in, come in. Can I get you a drink?”

He was back at the tower, recapping his meeting with Peter to Cap. “-can you believe no one knows? Well, now it's knew. No one knew this kid was swinging around. And he got these powers with no one to help him through it, and god, it must have been awful. But, he’s good, Cap, he’s so good. He feels the need to help people, beyond just guilt. He’s, he’s-” “Tones,” Steve said, kissing his cheek, “Take a deep breath.” To be fair to the man, he hadn’t slept for at least 36 hours. With all that coffee in his system he had the right to be a bit uncomposed. The two were sitting at the breakfast bar, well Tony was sitting and Steve was behind it, cooking some eggs for the younger man. “I’m just glad I found him before he killed himself trying to save the world.” “Me too. How long has it been since you’ve slept?” “J?” “Sir, it has been 36 hours.“ “Tonyyyy,” Steve said, clearly disappointed. “Steveeee.” “I’m forcing you to bed.” “I have work to do. Plus it’s only eight o’clock.” “Eat then sleep, honey,” Steve said in that voice that you just didn’t ignore.

C2

At first the “Stark Internship” started as Tony upgrading Peter’s suit, monitoring his patrols, and teaching how to fight. Well, Natasha taught him how to fight. After she offered, Tony was in no place to deny. It was overwhelming to Peter. He was being taught about tech with Tony Stark and being taught how to fight from the black widow.

For the first couple weeks, he was a nervous wreck in the tower. He’d hardly speak to anyone and only do and touch what he was told to. He’d change, head straight to the gym, and then Natasha would train him. At first, the training was silent, other than Nat’s coaching. Then, slowly, the two began talking. It started with Nat asking how he first got his power, then it moved to her first missions, and then suddenly Nat knew a lot about Peter. And Peter was one of the few people in the world who knew a lot about Natasha. “-so what, you fought alien robots sent by Thor’s brother?” “Yeah, that's about right. I had to get up to one of the buildings, so, with Cap’s shield as my trampoline, I launched myself onto one of their flying machines. Pretty fun time up there.” “Holy shit, that’s incredible. How’d you stop them?” Peter knew how the battle had gone down, afterall he’d been in New York during the attack, but it was something else hearing it from an actual Avenger. “Well, it was quite complicated. The scientist-” Nat reminded him to keep his wrist straight. He made the fix, and went back to punching the bag. She launched back into the tale,”The scientist, remember him, who Loki’d controlled woke up mid battle. He’d installed a death switch for the portal, but to access it we needed the scepter. But, the thing is, the government basically sent a nuke toward New York in an effort to contain the aliens, so Tony grabbed the nuke and aimed from inside of the portal and threw it at their main spacecraft. This turned off all of the alien tech. He was a he-” “Hey Kid, Nat. Please don’t tell me you're telling the New York story,” Tony said from the entrance. “Hi Mr. Stark.” Nat rolled her eyes, “I am telling the New York story. You were a he-” “Don’t say it. You almost done?” “I’ll call it. Good job today kid.” “Thanks.”

Similar to the gym, he’d become far more comfortable around Tony and in his lab. At first he’d sit silently, doing his work. Then he got used to Tony’s eccentric tendencies, he memorized the layout and where everything was, and he’d also been unofficially given a workspace. It became easier and easier to feel comfortable. The late night coffee and deep chats were simply a bonus. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, it felt like he had a father figure. It was nice.

One day, Tony was vibin’ to ACDC and chatting with Steve whilst working on Mock 50 of his new suit design when Peter showed up. Steve being in the lab was something Peter had also become accustomed to. “Jarvis, please get some good music on in here. Queen perhaps?” Peter requested. He did it to annoy Mr. Stark, and it did just that. “Hey kid,” Cap said. “Don’t “hey kid” him,” Mr. Stark said, faking anger, “Did you just insult my music? How dare you? I am revoking all Jarvis privileges.” Peter laughed alongside Cap. “Sir, you can’t do that. I quite like the kid, and the innovations he is creating require my attention.” “Why did I program you to have a goddamn personality?” Tony said, focusing back to his work, “And Jarvis, put the quality music back now.” “Anway, how was school?” Steve asked. “Good, yeah. The same really. We had another one of your “fitness” videos for class today. Real good,” Peter joked. “Oh god, please don’t tell me they really use those.” “They really use those,” Peter smiled, “I’m going for a shower. See you in a flash.” “Wrong superhero, kid,” Mr. Stark called. “Idiot,” Peter heard Cap mutter into the top of Mr. Stark’s head.

Upon returning, he noticed the absence of the team leader. “Where did Cap go?” “Actual work or something stupid like that.” Peter just smiled as he settled down at his workstation. He wanted to try out some new formulas for his web fluid. He’d had an idea in spanish class, and scribbled it down in his notebook. He fished for it in his backpack.

It was so easy. Too easy. And so so comfortable.

C3

“Come on, I’ve got something to show you.”

Peter had just finished sparring with Nat, and Tony, unusually, came up to the gym to “collect” him. He hadn’t done that for months. Mainly because Peter stopped coming straight down to Tony’s lab. Instead, he went to the kitchen and, mainly because Steve forced him, ate some food. He usually ended up in a random chat with Sam or Bucky. Occasionally he would catch Banner, and he’d end up in a different laboratory. He was always happy to learn about what the incredible doctor was up to. Sometimes, he was even able to provide a suggestion or two. Bruce always looked impressed by the boy. It made Peter smile.

Then he would actually make his way down to the lab, but not before trying to find Hawkeye. He'd wanted to learn some tricks with the bow and arrow. Somehow, Clint would be dragged into teaching Peter how to fire a bow once a week. At least. Clint pretended he minded through teasing and jokes, but realistically he loved hearing about the kid’s week. He’d always been good with kids. It became a running joke that Clint would let Peter know about all the tech upgrades he wanted, and then Peter’d report them to Tony. Most of the time Tony replied with something snarky like, “Tell the idiot he shouldn’t have picked a dumbass weapon like a bow and arrow,” or “do it yourself if you care that much.”

The Avengers Tower had become home just as much as his apartment in Queens was, and it was clear that Tony knew that. Hence the, “Come on, I’ve got something to show you.” He took the little Avenger to the elevator, hitting floor 80. He was a little confused given that floors 75-90 were all bedroom floors for the avengers or just spare bedrooms. “Mr. Stark-” “You’ll see, kid.” In reality, Tony was nervous. He and Steve decided a while back that Peter deserved his own space in the tower, but he had been scared that Peter wouldn’t like it. That he picked the wrong colours, or mattress, or well, anything.

The doors opened and there were two doors facing one another. Tony opened one of them with a key he pulled out of his black suit. The door opened and he was met by a beautiful and modern room. It had a huge bed and tv. There was a desk equipped with the latest stark Holographic technology. In the corner was a suit, specifically a spider suit. That is when it clicked. “Mr. Stark, is, is this all mine?” “Yeah kid, sorry if you don’t like anything. Cap and I did the best we could knowing what you like. And ye-” Peter cut him off with a hug, “thank you.” “Anything for you, kid. Just say the word. Want a tour?” Peter eagerly nodded. “Alright so that’s the bed, obviously. No more sleeping in the guest rooms or that couch in the worksho-” “You sleep ther-” “Don’t say that I sleep there, I am no role model for sleep schedules.” Peter just smiled. “This is a little workshop area I mocked up. You can’t really tinker up here, but do all the designing you want,” he pulled up the most recent project Peter was working on, “Then, just through there is the bathroom, a little lounge area over there and yeah, that’s all. Oh, there’s two mini fridges by the lounge area.” Just as Tony finished his explanation, Steve showed up. “Tones, you showed it to him without me,” Cap complained. “Sorry, babes, you took too long.” he turned around and placed a little kiss on his lips. “It’s fine. How do you like it Pete?” “It’s, it’s-” Peter couldn’t think of any words to describe how incredible it was to have a room at the Avengers Tower, but more importantly how incredible it was to have so many people looking out for him. Before he had just one, Aunt May. She is amazing, but he’d always longed for just a little more. Then, with the Avengers, he’d been given a lot more. They became his family. And now his home. “Thank you,” was all Peter could muster before falling onto the floor.

The two of them, now in each other's arms, just looked down fondly at the boy. “We did good,” Cap whispered. “We did good,” Tony agreed. They did good with more than just the room.

[fallenflowersfromgrace]

LUZ APPRECIATION WEEK DAY 3 (Something Adorable)

Alright so this one came a little late. @zarieslayer helped me a lot with this fic. Like y'all don't understand how much of a blessing she was for me. (Ilysm Zarie! Thank you for helping me!) Anways, y'all are gonna have to bear with me because fluff is not one of my strong suits and this is my first time doing a prompt like this. So here is the sequel to day two and I present to you, my word vomit of fluff.

“Oh, no.” Luz let out a squeak of a gasp and leaned into her mentor’s shoulder who had yet to put her down. “Nononononononono, Eda!” The girl's breathing was beginning to get too fast for comfort.

“It’s going to be okay, kid, alright? I promise ya, we’re going to fix this, okay?” Eda reassured as she brought her free hand to gently rake at her student’s scalp in an effort to calm her down. Luz, in response, had nustled her head into the crook of Eda’s neck.

“Okay,” the girl mumbled in agreement as her tiny arms circled around Eda’s neck and the witch froze. At least Luz's breathing had gone back to normal.

“Wow,” King stared at the sight of a small Luz clinging onto Eda like her life depended on it. “Is it just me or is she a lot clingier than normal?”

“I just wanna give hugs,” Luz huffed and her higher voice made her pout mirror that of a disappointed child. “No one, besides my mom, really liked me giving them hugs when I was seven....eight?” The girl moved her head from Eda to glance over her smaller frame. “Seven.”

“Seven,” Lilith deadpanned and Luz had nearly forgotten she was there. “You’re telling us that right now you are in the form of yourself when you were seven.”

“I think so,” Luz placed her head in it’s previous spot. “I have a fresh scar I got when one of my classmates had pushed me into a tree because I couldn’t stop talking.”

“If I ever see that kid, I’m feeding them to Hooty,” Eda growled and if Luz felt her mentor’s hold tighten slightly, she said nothing. It never failed to amaze her of how much the witch cared for her, considering they’ve only known each other for a little over a month.

“So question,” King drew the attention back to him and Luz shifted herself slightly so she could glance at her fluffy friend. “How are we fixing Luz?”

“Umm,” Eda glanced down at the literal child in her arms and sighed. “Kid, I need you to hang out in the living room while Lily and I try and fix this mess.”

“No!” Luz protested as if the thought of being separated from Eda physically pained her. She tightened her grip and Eda had to question if Luz had always been this strong.

Of course, it could be that Luz’s naturally clingy nature was to blame, but the wide-eyed look of pure panic said otherwise. Luz had gone through a transformation that her body wasn’t prepared for and was racing to play catch up. Sure, her mind was the one of fourteen-year-old Luz, but not her body. To say she was terrified was an understatement. 

“Kid, I promised you I was going to fix this, but I can’t do that if you’re latched onto me like this.” Eda had resumed her previous motion of stroking Luz’s hair and the girl sighed in agreement. 

“Fine,” Luz mumbled out. 

“Alright, since I don’t trust you to be by yourself in a house full of things that could potentially kill you at your size...” Eda looked at King and the two shared a silent agreement. “King is going to watch over you.”

“Yes!” The demon cheered as he pointed at his now slightly taller companion, “Another chance to teach her about demons!” 

“Just don’t break anything or kill her, ya hear?” Eda asked as she put Luz back on the floor.

“We survived the Bat Queen’s babies, and it’s Luz.” King huffed as the girl patted his head, “I’ll survive.”

“To the living room!” Luz declared as she took off running, “I’m totally going to beat you, King.”

“Weh?!” The demon exclaimed before following. “Come back here! If anyone is winning anything it’s me!”

“Are you sure leaving the two of them alone is a good idea?” Lilith asked as a crash sounded from the other room and Luz’s laughter directly followed. 

“Nope.” Eda sighed as she rubbed her temples, “Just help me fix this before she hurts herself.”

////

In King’s defense, it was Luz’s fault. He was attempting to give her another history lesson, but she decided the best way to tell him to shut up was to throw a pillow at him. Where she got it was beyond his understanding, but all that mattered was that his friend had insulted his honor and of course, he had to defend it. 

“Face the wrath of the Demon King!” The demon shouted as he launched himself off the couch and tackled the girl to the floor before mercilessly whacking her with the pillow she had thrown at him.

“K-King, stop!” The girl giggled, “I’m sorry!” 

“That’s what I thought,” King huffed as she hopped off the girl and turned to drop the pillow on the couch only for something to hit him in the back of his head. 

“I challenge you to a duel!” Luz cackled as she held...another pillow? Where was she getting these things?

“I accept your challenge,” King narrowed his eyes and squealed when Luz swung her pillow and King hopped onto the couch. “Cheater!” He shouted as he jumped onto the armrest. 

“Nope!” Luz giggled as she attempted to attack once again. “You’re just bad at this.”

“You take that back!” The demon let out an offended gasp and he swung his pillow at the girl, to which she blocked with her pillow. 

The two continued their epic battle with feathers flying, a few objects getting knocked over, screams that could rival Hooty, and multiple face shots, but it was all in the name of fun...well at least it was until Eda’s wanted poster was knocked from its place on the wall. 

“I won’t tell Eda if you won’t,” Luz giggled in between heavy breaths. 

“Sounds good to me,” King nodded his head as he plopped onto the floor and curled up into a ball. Who knew a small Luz could cause so much destruction?

“Yay,” The girl sighed in relief and took note of her fluffy friend on the floor.

“Luz?” The demon cracked an eye open when he felt a soft weight on his small form. “What are you doing?”

“You’re warm.” Luz mumbled as she herself curled into her own ball. “And fluffy.”

“No.” King perked his head up to get a full glimpse of the girl laying her head on him. “The King of Demons is no one’s pillow!” He sighed and plopped his head down once he noticed Luz showed no signs of moving. 

Of course, he could simply crawl out and leave her on the floor, but that would result in making her sad. He hated seeing her sad. That specific moment of Luz’s breakdown when she came home without Eda was an image he could never shake from his mind. He’d do anything and everything in his power to keep her happy...even if that meant being used as a pillow. 

“I leave you two alone for an hour,” he heard Eda scoff from the doorway.

“Hi, Eda!” Luz waved but didn’t move from her spot.

“Looks like I’m not the only one who has gone soft around here,” the witch snickered. 

“She’s comfy.” The demon argued as he huffed, “My services were required.”

“Hm, did those services include trashing the living room?” The witch smirked as she surveyed the damage. That smirk fell when she noticed a blank space on the wall behind the couch. “What happened to my wanted poster?”

“Wanted poster?” Luz questioned and King winced. Oh right, that. 

“You two knocked it off the wall?” Eda growled before rubbing her temples. 

“Not on purpose!” Luz protested as she attempted to make herself as small as possible. 

“It was in the line of fire!” King nodded his head in agreement and the witch sighed. 

“After we fix the kid, you two are cleaning this up and Luz, you’re grounded for a week,” Eda rubbed her temples. “We clear on that?”

“But Eda,” Luz protested as she sat up, “it was-”

“Are we clear on that?” The witch repeated with no room left for argument. 

“Yes, Mom,” Luz groaned and flopped back down onto the demon. 

Eda and King shared a wide eyed look of pure surprise as a crash came from the kitchen which meant Lilith had probably heard the interaction. Luz, still blissfully unaware of the words that had left her mouth, was currently on her side and running a hand through King’s fur with a content sigh. If not for the whole outlaw thing looming over her head, she would most definitely be reaching for the adoption papers and slamming them down in front of the girl. 

“Not a word,” Eda mouthed to the gobsmacked demon whose tail was wagging with excitement.

“Suuree,” King responded with a large smile.

“Edalyn!” Lilith shouted from the kitchen and the witch in question had never been so grateful for her sister’s presence in the house. 

“Hey Lily, I need you for a second!” Eda shouted as she took off running to the kitchen and she ignored the knowing smirk King was burning into the back of her head. 

///

“You want me to what?” Lilith blinked in surprise as she looked from the small form of Luz in her arms to her sister. 

“Because I can’t trust King and Luz alone, the living room is proof of that, I need you to watch her,” Eda narrowed her eyes as if daring her sister to protest. 

“Edalyn,” Lilith inhaled sharply, “I am in no way qualified to-”

“Look,” Eda sighed as gestured to her student and Lilith, “I am well aware of the history between the two of you. I hate this as much as you do but you don’t remember how to make this potion let alone reverse it and I can’t watch my kid, so please, for the love of Titan, keep her alive for another two hours. That is all I ask.” 

“Fine.”

"What?" Luz questioned before groaning. Lilith was not a fun person to hang out with.

“Hu-Luz,” Lilith winced as if this simple request was the hardest thing she's ever done in her life. “Let’s leave Edalyn to her work."

"You know, you can put me down."

"Apologies, I'm not that good with children."

"I noticed."

///

“NO!” Lilith shouted as she chased after Luz who was now running down the hallway and rushing to the staircase all while laughing like a physcopath. “HUMAN, PUT THAT DOWN OR SO HELP ME, TITAN!”

“Too slow, Lilith!” Luz cackled as she almost literally flew down the stairs. 

“Luz?” Eda poked her head out of the kitchen, “What do you have?”

“A sword!” The girl responded before sprinting down the hallway and into the messy living room.

“NO!” Lilith shrieked and Eda blinked in surprise as she saw her sister run past her. 

“YOU GAVE HER A SWORD?!” Eda’s frantic voice followed them into the living room. 

“I stole it from her!” Luz shouted back and before she could reach the door, she felt something push her from behind and she stumbled forward. However, her fall was cushioned by the surprising reflex of the witch in pursuit of her.

Lilith, with a speed no one knew she possessed, had more or less tackled the girl from behind, but instead of having Luz face plant onto the floor, she had used their momentum to carry them forward and roll so the girl would not end up with a scratch. 

“Got you!” Lilith cheered as she moved the stay strands of her dark hair back into their spot. The witch was breathing heavily and the child in her arms was laughing like a maniac in between her tired breaths. 

“Not fair!” Luz giggled as she attempted to squirm out of the witch’s grip. 

“You were the one who snuck into the closet and grabbed the sword," the witch scoffed in amusement. 

"I didn't expect you to chase after me!" Luz exclaimed as Lilith sat her down on the floor. 

"In my defense, if you had gotten hurt, Edalyn would've killed me," the witch waved a dismissive hand as she moved to stand up from the floor.

"Can we do it again?" The girl asked and Lilith was staring at the biggest pleading eyes that could rival those of her younger sister. 

"What?" Luz wanted her to chase her?

"It was actually kinda fun," the girl explained and knew damn well she was close to breaking Lilith's defenses. 

"...sure…" Lilith answered slowly, still slightly surprised but recovered quickly to add a single condition. "But no sword."

"Yes!" Luz smiled brightly and Lilith swore the child staring back at her was smirking. 

She would rather be petrified before admitting it, but the girl was quite charming. No wonder why Eda had taken to her so quickly. There was a certain light that seemed to brighten the lives of those around her. 

///

"You know, I'm kinda sad to see small Luz go," King huffed as he picked up a book from the floor. 

"We did her a favor," Lilith responded as she swept the floor of the living room. "No one wants to go through puberty twice."

"True that," Eda huffed as she examined the non-existent damage to her wanted poster that had yet to be put back in its spot.

"You know, Edalyn, as cute as it was to see Luz clinging to you," Lilith smiled innocently, "I still can't believe she called you Mom." The pillow thrown at her head was worth it.

"Not a word of that," Eda hissed but the redness in the witch's ears made her seem less threatening. "Besides, I'm not the one she used as a pillow." 

"Excuse you," King huffed, "I was an amazing pillow." The demon pointed a paw in the direction of Lilith. "At least we know the wicked witch has a heart."

"I haven't a clue what you mean," Lilith huffed as she focused on her dirt pile.

"Are you guys done arguing?" Luz groaned and the attention drifted to the teenager on the couch with an arm draped over her eyes. No one told her transforming back would make her feel like death. There would be a time to be embarrassed later. 

"Yeah, kid, just get some rest." Eda chuckled as she bent down to ruffle the girl's hair. 

"Does that mean I'm not grounded?" The teen questioned. 

"Oh, no, you're grounded."

"Worth a shot." 

"Hey, Luz?" King poked her arm, "You feel okay enough to go upstairs?"

"Yeah," the teen responded and she moved to get off the couch. She could totally make it to her room, even if the room was still slightly spinning.

She made it past the couch and closer to the hallway when she tripped on air due to ground swaying beneath her. 

"Careful now," Lilith offered her a small smile before letting go and Luz smiled back. 

"Thanks," the teen groggily mumbled. She was unaware of her mentor walking up from behind her

"I'll make sure she makes it up the stairs and doesn't pass out in the hallway," Eda huffed fondly and threw an arm around her student.

"Yay…" Luz smiled but exhaustion drowned out the cheer. "I can show you my owl onesie."

"...your what?"

"My owl pajamas."

If Eda picked up her kid and carried her to get her out of the ear shot of Lilith and King's teasing, no one said anything. And if Luz, despite being back to her usual self, had locked her arms around her mentor’s neck before falling asleep...then that was no one’s business besides their own.

I owe the lines "What do you have", "A sword," "No!" and the idea of Luz and King knocking the wanted poster off the wall to @zarieslayer srsly she inspired so much of this fic and I am forever grateful to my keeper of fanfic secrets.

[swiss-cheeze]

(The Candyman Can) Rainbow Connection || Spencer Reid

Request: YES/NO // a part 2 was requested but I was going to do a part 2 anyway so, yeah. (@l0ve-0f-my-life)

Gender: none, they/them // I don’t believe there is any description, I tried to keep it nonchalant, the Sunflower song may be slightly suggestive because it’s sung by a female and have the aspects of femininity but overall is a non-gender affirming song.

Warnings: uhhh, slow burn, awkwardness? I honestly don’t know SEASON 8 SPOILERS, very long; seven pages on google doc lmao

Description: ten months after Maeves death you’re still singing for Spencer to help him cope, what happens when Garcia’s Dia De Muertos party brings to light your feelings?

Part 1: https://snitchthewitch.tumblr.com/post/621248749527760896/the-candyman-can-spencer-reid

Songs used:

It’s My Life - Bon Jovi

Hey There Delilah - Plain White T’s

Sunflower - Sierra Burgess

Rainbow Connection - The Muppets

———

Ten months.

It had been ten months since Maeve had left, ten months since a part of Spencer felt broken, crumpled and gone.

Ten months since you entered his life in a different way then he would ever think.

After your singing sessions things started to look better, brighter, lighter and happier.

Currently yourself and Spencer were jamming out in his apartment to It's My Life.

“It's my life! And it's now or never!” you screamed and jumped on the couch, Spencer followed you with a laugh and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“'Cause I ain't gonna live forever, I just want to live while I'm alive” Spencer sang, you grinned as you hoped down from the couch, grabbed his hands and started dancing.

“My heart is like an open highway, like Frankie said, ‘i did it my way’!” you grinned as Spencer spun you around and stepped onto the coffee table.

“I just want to live while I'm alive,” Spencer sang as you hopped up and onto the table next to the Doctor.

“ITS, MY, LIFE!” you exclaimed together and posed on the table as if there was a crowd gathered and you had just danced your hearts out; which you did. Your breathing was heavy as you let out a large laugh and jogged over to the CD player to turn it down as the next song came on from your playlist, going from a room shattering volume to a whisper.

“Drink?” Spencer asked with heavy breaths as he pointed to the kitchen, you nodded as you held your back and sat on the couch, Spencer came back a moment later with two glasses of water and handed one to you as you sat in the blissful aftermath of a singing and dance off.

“Are you going to Garcias Day of the Dead party?” you asked after a moment, it wasn't very risky to ask but it was still touchy as you both knew the background to the question. Spencer nodded.

“Yeah, yeah I am, I'm meant to be helping her with groceries sometime, she said she’d message me when she was ready” Spencer smiled as he placed the empty cup on the table and laid back against the couch cushions, “who are you bringing?” Spencer hesitantly asked as you grinned.

“I can't tell you that Spence, it's cheating” you shook your head before putting your cup down on the table and opening your phone to look at the time; you were meant to be home 10 minutes ago, “shit, sorry Spence i gotta head,” you said as you quickly gathered your belongings.

“Do you have to leave?” Spencer asked, he sounded so sad that you needed to leave, you bit your lip as you opened the door.

“I’m sorry Spence, i do, i've um…” should you tell him? “I've got a date,” you said with a tight lipped smile. Spencer hoped his face didn't convey the emotions he felt and hoped you didn't notice his change in demeanor.

“Oh, yeah of course,” Spencer said tightly, “you head ill...ill clean up here,”

“Thanks Spence, i'll see you at work!” you said with a grin and waved the Doctor a goodbye. The retreating of your footsteps seemed to echo in the surrounding walls of Spencer's apartment and his mind, your smile was flashing in his and out of his head a thousand times over in bright flashes as the room suddenly felt rather lonely and cold without your presence in it anymore. Spencer looked around the room as he felt his shoulders sag, emotions came back to him as well as memories of Maeve, Tobias, Nathan and multiple other people who impacted his life in some way, in a way of his work and in a way that's personal.

Alex.

Of course!

Spencer scrambled for his phone and clicked on Blake's personal cell number. It rang three times before the woman's voice floated through.

“Ried? Is everything okay?” the worry in Blake's voice floated through the speakers as Spencer took a breath.

“I…” Spencer sighed softly and sniffled, god was he going to cry again? “I think im in love...again”

“Oh Spence,”

---

You smiled tightly as your date talked about...what was he talking about again?

“And that's how I found out my family was a part of the mafia group in the nineteen hundreds!” the date exclaimed, oh god had you forgotten his name already?

“Thats,” you gave a fake laugh as real as you could, “that's amazing Matt!” you said with a clap of your hands.

“My name’s Michael…” your date reminded you, you sighed and put your head in your hands with a groan.

“I'm sorry-”

“No it's...I can tell your head is somewhere else,” your date said with a smile, “did you want to talk about it?” he asked, you bit your lip before responding.

“One of my coworkers…” should you be telling a story that isn't yours to tell? “One of my coworkers lost someone close to them ten months ago,” you started the story, you can't stop now, “and to be a good friend I started to sing for him!” you said happily, using your hands to talk, “i started singing for him because it made me happy when i was a child and i thought it would cheer him up as well, in the end it did and it helped him get better and obviously he is better but...that was ten months ago,” you sighed, “Micheal it was ten months ago that he lost what could possibly be his only love and here i am...in love with him,”

“Oh doll,” Micheal said softly as he put his hand on top of yours, “what do you mean his only love?” the man asked, “just so i can get a better understanding and idea of the situation,” he smiled politely.

“Hes...he has an eidetic memory, can read 20,000 words a minute, he has 3 PhDs and 3 Bachelors, he doesn't get along well with women in the romance scene a lot of the time but he's just...he's just so smart and he's so lovely and kind and works well with everyone,” you took a breath as you wiped a tear from your eye you didn't realise had leaked, “he puts himself on the line all the time; he’s been shot in the knee, shot in the shoulder, he got kidnapped and drugged, poisoned with a worse strain of Anthrax then actual anthrax, he's such a good hostage speaker, he delves into every case with everything he has as if its his last which it could possibly be, he helped a young boy, Nathan Harris, when he believed he was going to become a serial killer an-”

“Woah woah woah baby slow down,” Micheal said as he looked to you, “you’re getting so worked up over this boy, i mean, he's just a boy,” Micheal said with a grin, “you sing for him don't you?”

“Yeah I do,” you absentmindedly smiled, “it's amazing, just today we sung It’s My Life before I came here,” you said with a large grin, the memory still fresh.

“Okay so, how about, instead, you lean it to more romantic songs? Slowly give him hints and open up to him more?” Micheal questioned, you never actually thought of that but as you mulled it over it sounded a lot better than any other plan you would have had brewed anway. You nodded.

“Thats...thats really good Micheal,” you said with a grin, “thank you,”

“It’s alright; if i can't be the one then i'll help you with him,” Micheal said with a joking grin. You ended the night with the waitress coming over to take your plates as you asked for the bill, split it, giving a lovely tip and Micheal driving you home. He planted a kiss on your cheek before handing you his number on a napkin, “for whenever and whatever you want or need,” he had said, you gave him a kiss on the cheek and a thank you before retreating into your house and mulling over the next few songs to sing for Spencer whenever he wanted.

---

A few days passed after your date and Spencers emotional outburst to Blake (which she kept to herself and Spencer of course), you had been given a case and hadn't had time to sing to Spencer; you could tell this was taking a little toll on the poor doctor as he became distracted easily as well as the far off gaze he had on his face a lot of the time now, however, the plane had just landed back in DC.

“Spence!” you called for the doctor, he turned for a moment and slowed his walking for you to catch up, “did you want me to call tonight?” you asked with a grin.

“Yes please (Y/n),” the doctor said, he seemed sad but also desperate.

“Are you alright?” you questioned as you stopped the doctor with your hand on his arm, “i'm here for you,”

“I’ll be alright after tonight (Y/n), it's okay,” and without another word Spencer left you, spoke to Hotch for a second and then headed out the door.

“Are you two okay?” Blake asked as she came up next to you.

“I think so, I think it’s just because we haven't had a lot of time recently for our normal sessions,” you said with a tight smile.

“He misses you (Y/n),” Blake said, “a lot more than you know,” the two of you dropped the subject pretty quickly after that as you walked to the parking lots and headed home, the road seemed to go in a blur as you drove, forming colours and paint strokes against the harsh greys of the DC city buildings.

---

Another few days passed and your singing sessions went back to normal, except this time you added more romantic songs, adding a more soft tone or even adding your uke like one of the first times you sang for Spencer, and right now you were finishing off Hey There Delilah.

“Hey there, Spencer,” you had changed the lyrics for the last ‘hey there’, you heard Spencer give off a little breathy laugh, “You be good, and don't you miss me, two more years and you'll be done with school,” you couldn't help but laugh slightly at the school part seeing as Spencer had...well you know what he’s got, “And I'll be makin' history like I do. You know it's all because of you…” you trailed the end of your sentence off slightly, “We can do whatever we want to…” you sighed softly, “hey there, Spencer, here’s to you,” you trailed off again as you felt tears well in your eyes as you spoke the last words instead of singing them, “This one's for you” and with that the song ended and you smiled into the phone, Spencer clapped loudly into the phone’s speaker.

“That was beautiful (Y/n)!” the doctor exclaimed with a smile, “I haven't heard that song before,” you laughed, of course he hadn't heard the song before.

“It's a classic but not the type of classic you know of,” you said with a smile as you heard Spencer laugh along with you too, “I’m sorry Spence but i have to get to bed,” you sounded so sad.

“Right, of course,” Spencer said as he finally glanced at the clock, god it was past 12 already? You'd been on a call together since 10, “goodnight (Y/n), i'll see you at Garcias tomorrow?” Spencer asked, shit. You'd forgotten about tomorrow completely.

“Y-yeah of course! I'll be there don't worry,” you smiled into the phone, “goodnight Spence” and with that you hung up the phone and got ready for bed. Spencer did the same in his apartment.

---

You smiled sweetly at Spencer as he placed Maeve's photo on the altar as everyone gave him a sympathetic look and then another person's photo.

“This is uh, Nikola Tesla,” he said, you couldn't help but smile, “i just hope he's still having fun inventing things wherever he is” Spencer said with the little smile and laugh he does every now and then as he stepped back from the alter; allowing you to place your photo. You gulped as you fiddled with the photographic paper.

“This uh,” you started, nobody actually knew who this was, you sniffled as Garcia held you hand and you smiled to her as thanks for the reassurance, you cleared your throat, “this is Gene Wilder,” you grinned as Spencer chuckled softly, of course it was him, “i don't uh, i don't really have any family that i'm close to that has passed but, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has always been my childhood, it was always close to my heart and when the movie came out i fell in love with it even more and the more i watched it the more i felt Gene Wilder become apart of me, my family and my life.” you took a breath as you placed the photo onto the altar, it was of his iconic Willy Wonka pose, “of course he has become a meme icon,” you laughed as everyone did too, “but i know for a fact he looks at everyone from wherever he is and he looks at them with such passion and love and admiration for whatever they're doing and i know he fills me with hope and confidence whenever i need it” you smiled as you finished and stepped back and the line continued.

You all gave your thanks, gave a blessing or a prayer depending on who it was, sent your respects and then went your way with drinks and conversations and music. Spencer smiled as he came up to you when Hotch walked away, your conversation about Henry becoming dwindled as the food looked more appetizing to Hotch.

“Hey,” Spencer said with a little wave as he held a cup of...cordial?

“Are you really drinking cordial Spencer?” you asked with a laugh as Spencer nodded.

“Believe it or not cordial is a lot healthier than wine,” Spencer spoke with a laugh as he stated the obvious, you smiled as well but it was tight, “are you okay?” you nodded.

“Yeah i'll be alright,” you said quietly, where was this sad emotion suddenly coming from?

“Considering the circumstances it's okay to be sad (Y/n)” Spencer commented as he saw your saddened expression but before he could say anything else you put on a fake smile.

“Spence i promise, im okay” you said with fake confidence, “promise” you held out your hand for the doctor and took his warm palm in his, you could tell Spencer didn't believe you but nodded anyway, but your whole demeanor changed as soon as the song did and you grinned, “dance with me Spencer?” you asked as you set down your wine and dragged the poor doctor to the ‘dance floor’.

“N-no i'm not really- i haven't ever-” Spencer stuttered but with your glowing smile and laugh he found himself not finding the words to excuse himself before nodding and placing his drink down on the nearest surface. You brought the doctor close to your body and rested your head in his neck as his arms wrapped around your waist hesitantly and yours wrapped around his neck, you danced in a slow circle as the rest of the team gave suggestive glances to each other.

“Rose girls in glass vases, perfect bodies, perfect faces, they all belong in magazines” your voice floated through the air softly and Spencers voice hitched, “Those girls the boys are chasing, winning all the games they're playing, they're always in a different league” you continued to sing and sway with Spencer, his grip tightened on you as he buried his face into your hair as Hotch pulled Alex in for a dance, Rossi with J.J. and Derek and Garcia all walked to the dance floor; slow dancing and holding one another softly as your voice continued, “Stretching toward the sky like I don't care, wishing you could see me standing there” god was that directed to Spencer? It was, wasn't it? Spencer bit his lip at the thought as he continued swaying as he looked up for a second and saw everyone else slow dancing, a smile gracing his lips as your voice flowed through the air again, “But I'm a sunflower, a little funny, If I were a rose, maybe you'd want me” your voice wavered as you buried your face into Spencers neck, “If I could, I'd change overnight, I'd turn into something you'd like but i'm a,” your voice came out a little stronger now as you looked up and saw your co-workers now switching dance partners; Rossi with Hotch (which made you laugh a little), J.J. and Derek, and Alex with Garcia, “sunflower, a little funny, if I were a rose, maybe you'd pick me” your voice sighed at the end as you broke away from Spencers neck to look at the beautiful man in front of you, wording the lyrics to him, “But I know you don't have a clue, this sunflower's waiting for you,” both of you leant in as your eyes darted to Spencers mouth, his eyes doing the same to yours as he licked his lips without realisation, “Waiting for you” with your mouths inches apart and your eyelids slowly closing, you could feel Spencers breath fanning over your lips...almost...almost…

“(Y/n) that's a beautiful voice you have!” Alex exclaimed, the song continued in the background as yourself and Spencer jumped away from each other, smiling awkwardly as you wiped your sweaty palms on your hips and thighs. Your teammates all broke away from each other; Blake must have been the only one to see and realise what was going to happen, you looked to Alex with a mix of emotions including anger and appreciation; anger because she stopped you and Spencer from kissing, appreciation because she stopped you and Spencer kissing in front of the others.

“Thanks…” you smiled as you scratched the back of your head with an awkward smile, “well i gotta start heading!” you exclaimed suddenly, the crushing feeling in your chest getting too much for you to stay.

“Ohhh what what what?” Garcia asked as she came forward, “oh come on i can get the blow up mattress, we can all sleep here, take tomorrow off; Hotch we can take tomorrow off can't we?” Garcia suddenly exclaimed, you all smiled as did Hotch but he didn't say a word; Garcia was tipsy, if not already drunk.

“It’s okay Penelopie really,” you said with a smile as you walked to the girl and hugged her close, “i'll see you guys tomorrow though,” you smiled as you hugged everyone, of course Spencer being the last.

“I’ll drive you home,” Spencer said quickly as he picked up your coat as well as his, you stuttered as Spencer opened Garcia's door but decided against it; instead blushing and thanking Spencer as the two of you walked out of the apartment building and to Spencers old timey wimey car.

“Think those two will realise?” Derek said off-handedly with a knowing grin.

“They’re profilers, they'll figure it out,” Rossi said with a grin.

-------

Yourself and Spencer had already discussed you would sleepover at his house in case you got drunk or tipsy off of wine, that and the fact you used public transport to get to Garcias rather than a car and Spencer didn't want you to go onto the tubes at this time at night.

“No, Spence, I already told you I'm not taking your bed!” you exclaimed with a laugh as you got a drink from Spencer's kitchen.

“(Y/n) please, my couch is complete rubbish and i know!” Spencer exclaimed from his bedroom where he was getting dressed in. You scoffed jokingly.

“Oh yeah Spencer, you've slept on your couch you germaphobe” you said with a smile as you walked to Spencer's bedroom.

“I did! When…” as you entered the bedroom the air turned cold as Spencers smile fell, you looked at him from across the room in all of his shirtless-and-low-hanging-pyjama-pants glory, he cleared his throat, “when Maeve…” he choked as his sentence drained off the way it does when Spencer is emotional and about to cry.

“Oh, Spence im...im sorry i didn't think,” you said softly, you stayed in the doorway unsure of what to do. Spencer cleared his throat as he threw his side of the covers back and started to get into the bed.

“Please?” Spencer questioned, you knew what he wanted as he bunched the sheets at his waist and played with his fingers while looking at the covers, you nodded. Whether Spencer saw you nod or not you weren't sure but you went through the same motions as you would when going to bed; brushed your teeth in Spencer's connected bathroom, tugged off your work clothes, put on your pyjamas as Spencer waited patiently in the bed, unmoving. Your feet padded on the floor as you brought back the covers on the other side of Spencer and sat on the bed next to him, the covers bunched up around your waist as you waited, waited for Spencer to lay down, hold your hand, something.

And then he did.

“Spencer i know-”

“Can you sing for me?” Spencer suddenly asked, his voice on the verge of breaking as he looked to you with teary eyes, you nodded quickly and began to smile.

“Yeah, yeah of course i can Spencer,” you said quickly, “did you want to get under the covers?” you asked softly, Spencer nodded and sniffled softly as the two of you maneuvered to lay down. You laid on your back as Spencer clutched onto you, his head rested on your chest as your arm wrapped around his back and to his shoulder, “what do we want tonight?” you asked in a soft voice into Spencer's hair.

“Anything, anything happy,” Spencer mumbled into your chest, you nodded and thought for a moment.

“Why are there so many, songs about rainbows, and what's on the other side” you started to sing, Spencer doesn't know the muppets very well but he has heard this song play in your headphone while on the jet home after a tough case once or twice, this was the second song you used to calm yourself down next to The Candy Man, “Rainbows are visions, they're only illusions, and rainbows have nothing to hide” your voice was soft and filtered through the air as Spencer closed his eyes, envisioning himself in a wonderful forest, just like Kermit the frog with you by his side, your uke in your arms, the cords coming through seamlessly, “So we've been told and some chose to believe it, but I know they're wrong wait and see” you squeezed Spencer softly as you started on the chorus, “Someday we'll find it, The Rainbow Connection” you tilted Spencers chin up from your chest and moved back from Spencer a little so he wasn't arched weirdly nor where you bent weirdly, “The lovers,” you pointed a finger into your own chest, “the dreamers,” you pointed a finger into Spencers chest as he smiled softly, his tears dripping into the creases of his smile, “and me” you cuddled back into Spencer as his arms tightly wrapped around you again.

“Who said that every wish,” Spencer's soft voice filtered in the air, you smiled and hummed the instrumentals, “Would be heard and answered, when wished on the morning star” you smiled and kissed Spencer's head again and joined in with singing.

“Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it, look what it’s done so far” you shrugged jokingly as if the ‘look what it's done so far’ was someone really saying it, a soft chuckle came from Spencer, “What's so amazing,” you shrugged again as you looked to Spencer, “that keeps us stargazing, what do we think we might see?” you brought your unwrapped arm up towards the ceiling and cupped it around as if you were cupping Spencers chin, “Someday we’ll find it,” you looked back down to Spencer as your arm came down as well, “The Rainbow Connection,” you cupped Spencers cheek as you moved forward, Spencer doing the same as he looked down to your lips like he did at Garcias before gliding back up to your eyes, “The lovers,” you cocked a small smile as the lyrics came out in a whisper, “The dreamers,” you tapped Spencer cheek softly as the gap finally closed and your lips pressed against Spencers for a short moment before you both pulled back slowly, “And me”

[writerman]

Can... can I formally request this with Aro and Garrett pls thanks yes. muse a is muse b’s nanny and has been taking care of their children.

Oh Anon, I am sorry you had to wait for this one aha.

I toyed with the idea of making this a full multi chapter fic then I realised I already have too many stories waiting in the wings for me to finish.

Anways, enjoy!

----

He was in no way qualified for this. 

Never had been qualified and never would be. 

But he couldn’t deny he had been desperate for a job since he had been dishonourably discharged from the army. 

Carlisle had gotten him an interview as a favour and he’d only gotten the job because he’d flirted like Hell with the family’s assistant who had been asking the questions. They’d ended up banging over the desk, not his proudest moment, but it had sealed the deal and it had been a while since someone had seemed interested in him. 

Regardless of his actions in the interview, Garrett still considered himself a good person and an all-round decent guy… if he blocked out the reason for the dishonourable discharge. Though, if he was being truthful he saw no issue in his conduct that led him to be discharged. Everyone had their own ideas of what right and wrong were his just seemed to align with being an enemy of the state even if he hadn’t hurt anyone.

Getting a job had been hard, what with background checks and Garrett being so wildly honest when people outright asked him why he had left the army. It left him with very few choices and he didn’t think he could honestly hack flipping burgers somewhere.

Not that it wasn’t a decent job he just knew it wasn’t really for him. 

However, being a nanny wasn’t exactly something he was cut out to be. His experience with kids was slim, he didn’t hang out with anyone who had kids young enough to need a nanny. Though, Carlisle’s kids needed a cowpoke to wrangle them in sometimes. 

There were, of course, strict instructions on how Garrett must dress and behave around the parents of the child he was nannying for. He had a dress code too, thankfully, Carlisle was good enough to loan him money for some nicer clothes and good enough to loan Alice out to help him find the nicer clothes in the right stores. 

By the end of the trip, Garrett was exhausted but he cut a fine and nonthreatening figure in the threads Alice has sourced for him. Even if he did feel like he had exchanged his entire personality for clothes that looked like they belonged to Carlisle. 

Either way, he was thankful and he drove Alice home so he could catch up with Carlisle and get his approval on the clothes.

His first day working for the Volturi household was uneventful. He briefly met Caius the kid he was nannying but the first day was more about learning the layout of the house and working out schedules. 

He was following a different assistant down the hallway when he finally decided to ask them about the family. 

“So, honestly, what are the family like?” He didn’t expect an answer which was fine and at this point, it was more to make conversation than anything else. This assistant seemed to be for the whole house, whereas the one Garrett had… been intimate with may have only worked for the parents of the child. 

It would make sense. 

The assistant, her name was Bianca, shrugged as she led him to what looked like a home office but the equipment looked like it cost more than his entire life. She moved across the room and took a seat at the desk and set down the files she had been holding.

“They’re fine, it is just Caius’ father and uncle that live here with the boy. Marcus, your employer’s brother in law will be around often, he isn’t fond of leaving the house much but he keeps himself to himself. 

Mr Volturi, Aro, he is a busy man and does not like to be interrupted when working. Incredibly private but a good father to Caius. It is likely you may not see him much as he will already have left for work by the time you arrive in the morning.” Garrett could tell that Bianca wanted to say more he could feel that she was desperate to drop the formalities.

Idly he wondered if she withheld because there were cameras in the office. He restrained himself from looking around to prove himself correct. 

“Cool, so when do I properly get to meet the kid?” He asks wandering over to the large window that looked out over a perfectly manicured lawn bordered by pretty purple flowers. It was simple but nice and he could tell that the family didn’t spend a lot of time out there. 

The road he had driven in on to the house was completely obscured by large trees. Bianca wasn’t kidding when she said his new boss liked his privacy, but the trees were a talking point with the kid he knew that much. 

“Tomorrow morning, I expect,” Bianca gestured for Garrett to take a seat, once he was comfortable she gently rested her hands, fingers laced loosely together, on the desk and gave Garrett a long and searching look. “You’ve never taken care of a child in your life, have you, Mr Denali?” Upon hearing himself being addressed like that, Garrett had to force himself to stop his lip from curling into a sneer. It was a force of habit after years of being mocked for taking his ex-wife’s surname. 

While he had no qualms about taking her name, it was a nice one, others seemed to think it was an indication that his manhood was not what it should be. But, fuck that, Kate was a wonderful woman and he was still proud to have her name. 

They had grown apart and separated, technically, they were still married but Garrett hadn’t seen Kate for 2 years and she was seeing someone else now. He knew that when the time came she would seek him out for divorce if she needed it but for now, it was fine and they merely lived as strangers only occasionally contacting one another for specific dates and information.  

“No, but you knew that the second you saw me. Did the other assistant tell you how I got the job?” He wasn’t beating around the bush for this, if she was going to tell his boss and have him fired she had better do it now so he could head out and look for another job elsewhere. 

Bianca flipped through her notes and shook her head but she smirked and said nothing for a while. 

“Why don’t I show you around some more before we do the rest of the paperwork. You’ll need to see the kitchen and Caius’ room. There is a small study room for Caius too but getting in there will be your hardest task.” They exited the room and Bianca grabbed Garrett’s arm and dragged him down a hallway and through some patio doors to a yard at the other side of the house. 

It looked like some kind of staff entrance and he gathered it was when Bianca lit up a cigarette and sighed contentedly. With no one around but the two of them, she relaxed and Garrett considered that perhaps there were cameras posted around the house. 

“You banged Aro’s personal assistant after Carlisle recommended you for the job. You are far too cocky to be working here and I can see you getting into a lot of trouble with the boss, but,” Bianca stopped as she took another long drag of her cigarette less for dramatic effect and more because they couldn’t just stand in the yard all day gossiping. “I think it will work in your favour. While Caius will love you, Aro will want to kill you on sight but he won’t. Not if his precious child makes you his favourite.” She grinned as she let her words sink in and watching Garrett for a reaction. 

“You really think that’s how it’ll go down?” The query was met with a laugh and a nod. 

“Oh yeah, seeing him stuck in the middle is going to be so much fun.” 

She refused to reveal much more after that and instead she finished the tour of the house and finished up any paperwork Garrett needed to fill out before he left for the day. 

Bianca had been right about one thing, Caius loved him. They spent so much time outside while Garrett told him the names of plants and animals. They studied the life cycle of frogs and he explained how and why it rained. 

When it came to math and English Lit Garrett struggled somewhat, he wasn’t qualified to teach the kid, and thankfully he wasn’t asked to but when Caius had homework he had to help. Math was easy, it was simple addition and subtraction and the books he was asked to read had large letters and illustrations but teaching it to him in a way he’d understand just wasn’t in his skill set.

It was only those moments he wondered if this job wouldn’t be better for a teacher looking for something outside of a classroom? 

His first encounter with Aro was nothing to write home about. Caius ran into the house after Garrett had picked him up from school and tossed his coat to the floor. Garrett shook his head and called Caius back to pick it up and hang it up properly. 

When Caius refused Garrett gently asked again, and the boy refused. A shadow fell over the boy as Aro appeared at the door of the kitchen holding a mug of tea. He looked down at his son with little to no expression and Caius without another word shuffled toward his coat and picked it up. 

He didn’t stick around and was gone in almost a second, though his gaze did fall to Garrett for a moment and they shared a quick nod. 

Up in the study room, Caius seemed unaffected by the encounter and was chattering happily about Legos as he upended a bin of the brightly coloured bricks onto the floor. 

“Hey, hey, we can’t play with this until you’ve done your homework, and your dad is here to have dinner with you today so, let’s put this back. After this, you need to wash your hands, ok?” Caius grumbled for a few moments but put the Legos back into the bin before running off to wash his hands. 

He heard the familiar click of heels and Bianca appeared at the door with a smile as she beckoned him to her. 

“Mr Volturi wants an update on how things are with Caius.” 

“Right now?” 

“Uh-huh, get your butt down to his office, I will entertain the kiddo while you’re busy.” She gestured for Garrett to get moving as she stepped into the study room taking a seat at Caius’ desk. 

Doing as he was told Garrett strode down the hall taking the stairs down to the ground floor where Aro’s home office was situated. He had to admit he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be taking notes on Caius, after all, it was just a glorified babysitting job… 

But, if he was being honest, and he was being totally honest, the kid had calmed down a lot since Garrett had started taking care of him. Getting him outside running around and learning about plants and animals seemed to interest him greatly and his concentration at school had improved a lot because he wasn’t cooped up inside at home all the time. 

When Garrett reached the door to Aro’s office it was already open and Aro was squinting sat his computer screen looking decidedly unimpressed at whatever was on said screen but his attention was soon taken up by Garrett and he waved him into the office. 

“Take a seat, Mr Denali.” Aro didn’t much sound like how Garrett had expected, his voice was softer than he had imagined and the accent definitely wasn’t that of someone from the US.

Not that it mattered. 

He did, however, wince at being addressed so formally and Aro arched a brow at the expression but did not question him on it. Instead, he sat back in his seat and arched his fingers lightly as he surveyed Garrett with unfathomably dark eyes. 

“How have you settled in with us here, Garrett?” Ah, he had understood the wince, well, at least he was perceptive and that as more than some employers. 

But he wasn’t sure how to answer him. Everything was fine but how did he make it sound professional? 

He couldn’t, he didn’t have the background for that. 

“Well, you can probably tell me that better than I can.” For a brief moment, he wondered if he should have added sir to the end of his sentence but the honorific didn’t seem like it would fit with his boss… Garrett felt like he was being stared down by a lord or… a wolf. 

Aro merely nodded but said nothing more.

“Personally, I think I’ve settled in fine. Caius is a great kid, he’s smart and energetic. We get on well even if he has a little bit of an issue with respect for his elders and teachers at times but his teachers tell me that he’s always been that way and he will probably grow out it.” Aro seemed satisfied with this and again gave Garrett a nod to show he had heard and understood him.

“I agree, and yes, his attitude is my fault. Caius is still too young to understand the difference between home and work-life and, for me, those lines blur when I work from home. He will see how I am at work and will not understand that in business you must fight and your words must bite to be taken seriously.” Aro, for a second, looked tired as though just getting his words out was a battle and Garrett considered that there must have been something about Aro that left him at a disadvantage in business. 

Whatever it was he wasn’t going to ask or pry but he couldn’t say he wasn’t a bit curious about the man he so rarely saw but was raising a child for. 

There wasn’t much to the rest of their meeting, Garrett talked about signing Caius up to some sports to help him use his energy and Aro agreed to foot whatever the bill was and that was that. 

Garrett returned to Caius’ playroom and ensured the boy had washed his hands and done his homework before sending him downstairs to his dad.

With his job done for the day, Garrett collected Bianca from her own office she shared with the other house assistants and drove her home.

“How long do you think you’ll be able to get away with this?” It wasn’t accusatory, but Garrett could tell Bianca was worried about him and there was no getting out of this discussion, not when they were stuck in traffic.

He sighed because the same damn thought crossed his mind every day as he drove up the ridiculous drive up to the Volturi household to the job he was in no way qualified for. 

“I don’t know, Bianca. Every day I think ‘this is it, this is the day he’ll find out’ but nothing happens and I do my job and continue the cycle. At this point, I’m thinking of cutting my losses and just quitting.” He could feel Bianca watching him as he kept his eyes on the snaking traffic that had them at a dead stop trying to get into the city centre. He didn’t want to look at her and see pity in her eyes. Because there would be pity. 

“You might be fine. Carlisle is a close and personal friend of Aro’s. He has no reason not to trust him so maybe he won’t ask his assistant to look into it?” 

She had a point and in all honesty, it was the kind of comfort he needed. The words that made everything alright because they could possibly be the truth even if deep down he was still worried about being found out. 

 “I really like the job, I’ve bonded with Caius and I just feel that if I suddenly up and left all that progress we made would be for nothing.”

“You’re talking as if he was a problem child.” Bianca laughed but at the serious expression on Garrett’s face, she stopped and merely shook her head at him. “You really do love it the job, that much is obvious. I think everything will be ok.”

But it wasn’t.

It wasn’t even a month after their conversation in the car that Garrett pulled up to the Volturi household only to be directed straight to Aro’s office.

He barely knocked when Aro snapped for him to hurry up and close the door, and Garrett felt the ice in the pit of his stomach. This was it, this was the end. 

“You know what this is about, sit down, and try to explain to me why you think it is appropriate to lie on your application and then have sex with my assistant to get this job?!” Aro was seething his words were spat out with edges so sharp Garrett winced as though they had physically bitten into his skin. 

“I… I’m sorry, Aro.” There was no reason to prolong the conversation with lies or excuses. He had been caught red-handed and there was nothing he could do or say to help him keep his job. “Should I go?” Garrett made move to stand up from his seat but Aro raised a hand to halt him in his tracks.

“How many people did you kill?” Oh, he had… he had looked into his military career. How had he gotten that information? 

“Do you really want to know, and for that matter do you care? I saved my men that night and I won’t ever regret what I did.” Garrett’s voice rose in volume as he battled with the need to defend himself and remain calm enough that this discussion would not end in disaster. 

“I don’t suppose it does matter, but the fact you left the army with a dishonourable discharge concerns me greatly. You are classed as a criminal, did you serve time?” Of course, he would be concerned and Garrett understood that but he didn’t want to talk about this, he would talk about anything but this. 

“Yes, about 6 months. They pardoned me for saving the squad but I’m not allowed to go into law enforcement or go back to the army.” Garrett had no wish to do either, even if he hadn’t been discharged he would have left of his own accord after his second tour in the Middle East. 

Running a hand through his hair, Aro huffed an unhappy sigh through his nose before looking at Garrett with light disdain. 

“As much as I would love to never see you again, you’ve had a positive impact on Caius and I don’t want to upset his routine. You work well with him despite having no formal training to teach or take care of a child. 

You are allowed to continue your employment here, but I assure you that if you step out of line even once I will be glad to see the back of you.” 

It was apparent that the decision wasn’t one Aro took lightly and it seemed to go against everything he believed in. There would be push back from many people in his life he was sure. If anyone found out that Garrett had killed people against his squad leader’s orders that would put Aro’s reputation in jeopardy. 

To say he felt relief would be an understatement even with the underlying guilt he felt for Aro hiding his secret for him. Not wishing to endanger his employment further Garrett nodded at Aro’s warning as he got to his feet and he left the room quickly. He gifted Aro with a grateful smile as he left. 

Once Aro had cooled off a bit Garrett would thank him for giving him a second chance.  

“Bianca has paperwork for you to look over.” Garrett was halfway down the hall and heading towards the stairs when he heard Aro speak again, he turned to see him stood at the door of his office watching him an unreadable expression on his face.

Something in his eyes confused Garrett because if he looked close enough he was sure he could see something like fondness in the man’s eyes. 

It was ridiculous to think such a thing and he allowed his mind to brush it aside, he went to respond to Aro but the man had already returned to his office. 

Caius was still asleep, it was Saturday and the kid was allowed to sleep later seeing as all they were doing that was heading out to the park and maybe taking a boat out onto the lake, which Caius was wildly excited for. 

Instead of checking in on the kid, Garrett headed straight to the assistant office on the same floor and stepped inside to find only Bianca sat at her desk applying her make-up in a small compact. 

“Good morning, handsome. Aro has some paperwork for you to look over, it’s pretty big. You might wanna go grab a coffee and take a seat because it is some reading.” She didn’t look away from her compact and instead made a motion with her head to a stack of papers on the desk reserved for Garrett whenever he needed it.

“Urgh, that’s a lot of words for so early in the morning and I already got chewed out by Aro as soon as I stepped through the door.” Garrett rubbed his face to wake himself up, as he did he heard Bianca’s compact click shut. 

“What happened?”

“He found out.���

“No?! And… you’re still here?”

“Apparently. I think he likes me.” Garrett quipped sarcastically as he crossed the room to the coffee machine. Black coffee, and lots of it. 

“You joke but I think he really does. Whenever he talks about you he always looks pleased.” Well, that was news to him but it was better than the alternative and if he was honest, Aro hadn’t ever reprimanded him or had an issue with the way he took care of his kid. 

So, he was doing something right it seemed. 

“Well, alright then.” Garrett sat at his desk, the stack of papers looked ominous at 7:30 am and while he was loath to start reading he knew he needed to review the information before Caius woke up. 

Three pages in he stopped and had to set the papers down. Garrett stared at the back of Bianca for a long time, he knew she was aware of him staring, she had been sat quietly staring at her computer screen for 20 minutes clearly awaiting a reaction from him. 

“This is a contract for me to be a live-in nanny here at the house. Did you already know about this?” 

Bianca swung her chair around to face him and he was greeted with a grin from her. 

“Might’ve.” 

“Should I accept this?” 

“It’s a good deal, double the pay, and it’s permanent to a degree anyway.” 

He looked down at the paperwork again and scratched his chin as though trying to stimulate thought into a decision. It didn’t seem too bad and it meant that Aro was definitely not as angry at him as he came across in their meeting. 

This had to have something to do with Carlisle, he was sure of it and he’d found out later when he gave him a call. 

Being a live-in nanny was never going to be something Garrett could honestly say he’d end up doing forever, but it was the start of his new life, a fresh start that some days he didn’t think he actually deserved. 

“So, will you stay here?”

“Yeah, I think I will. I’m here all the time already and it’s less travel time,” Simple reasons and Garrett tried to play down how much it actually meant to him to be offered something like it even after what he’d done in the past.

If Aro was able to overlook it maybe one day Garrett could fully put it behind him and not live with the regret hanging over him like a grey cloud weighing him down with the rain of the memories soaking into his skin. 

Bianca leaned over and handed him a pen. 

“Why do you think he did this?” 

“I dunno,” Her response was short but her grin from earlier returned as she spoke again, “Maybe he likes you.” 

[something-tofightfor]

Ransom - one

Pairing: Logan Delos x Reader (Ink AU)

Word Count: 7462

Rating: NSFW (Talk of kidnapping, actual kidnapping, language, sex, scheming)

Trigger Warnings: Kidnapping

Author’s Note: This is a direct result of a conversation that I had two weeks ago with @the-blind-assassin-12​. This one got away from me a little but I think you’ll still enjoy it. It’s gonna get kind of dark, but when we get there, you’ll understand why.

Summary: You and Logan head to Westworld to test out a new narrative before it launches to the public - one where Logan gets to play the hero... but will everything go as planned?

“So it’s a… a kidnapping narrative?” He was bent over the tablet on the tabletop, his  eyes moving over the images as fast as he could scroll through them with one long finger. “The Hosts actually abduct the Guests?” 

“Yep.” You were perched next to him on the edge of the table, your bare legs crossed at the knee. “It’s different from the other types of narratives we offer, because with this one, there are actual stakes, Logan.” He glanced up and you smiled at him, shrugging your shoulders. “Still can’t get hurt, not really aside from being scared, or with some bumps and bruises and scrapes, but according to the people here, the ones that designed it? It’s a lot more intense, so not all Guests can participate, you have to be cleared to do it during the intake interview and then they flag you somehow.” He reached over with the hand that wasn’t on the tablet, fingers moving up your leg slowly as he stroked the skin there, his attention torn between what he was looking at and you, and you couldn’t help but grin. “Lucky for me, Logan, I get to…”

 “They’re gonna grab you, tie you up and throw you onto the back of a horse?” He looked up again, his eyes darkening as you nodded. “Gun to your head, or knife to your…” 

 “Mmmmhmm.” You bit down on your lip and put one of your hands on top of his, staring at him. “It’s meant to be a big thing, when they take someone. The narrative builders worked really hard to make it so that even though we’re aware of what the stakes really are and that we can’t lose, we stay immersed in it, no matter how long it takes to be rescued or for us to get away.” And they’re usually pretty good with that, so… “So that’s the narrative I’m going to test, gotta make sure that -”

 “Who’s gonna rescue you?” He was smirking, tongue moving over his lower lip to wet it. “Another new Host? Some random -”

 “Well I’d hoped it would be you, Logan.” You reached out to run your fingers through his hair, shaking your head. “I know you’ve been working hard lately, and you’re looking forward to this trip. What could be better than saving the damsel in distress from the -”

 “You’re the furthest thing there is from a damsel,” Logan replied as he pushed up from the chair he was sitting in, his hand pulling away from your leg and moving to your side, the other one flattening on the table on the other side of your body. “But I can’t wait to shoot those things and see how grateful you are to me for it.” You laughed, leaning and and kissing him slowly, your legs uncrossing so that he could step closer. “How am I supposed to find you?” His breath hot on your cheek, Logan kissed his way toward your ear before taking the lobe between his teeth and pulling back. “And how long am I supposed to wait?” 

 You raised both hands, your fingers skating over the bare skin of his arms and settling over the thin, inked lines on the inside of one of them. “I donno, Logan, it depends on…” He bit down and you hissed, head tilting to the side and Logan’s mouth dropped again, moving over your jaw and then to your neck. He doesn’t wanna talk about this now, he… “You know how this goes, Logan.” You sighed, humming quietly and stroking his arm again, the fingers of your other hand curling around the roots of his hair and tugging. “Delos.” He pulled away slightly at your use of his last name, looking up at you through long lashes. “We’re gonna be sleeping on God only knows what for the next couple days, and as much as I’d like to let you have your way with me on this table... “ He grinned, straightening up and before you knew it, Logan had scooped you into his arms and was carrying you toward the large bed against the far wall of the room you were sharing. A lot had changed between the two of you since he’d opened up to you for the first time in the Mesa suite, but as he tossed you onto the bed, lowering his body onto yours, pressing you down against the mattress, you realized that one thing was still the same. He still makes the most of these beds every time we’re here. 

 --- 

 You woke up the next morning, eager to head down and catch the train with him, but when you opened your eyes, Logan was already out of bed, the light in the bathroom on. Why would he need to… Logan never worried about his appearance on the mornings he caught the train into the park with you, since he’d just be changing into his well loved park attire, but you could hear him in the small room, opening drawers and unzipping his travel case. “Logan?” Climbing out of bed, you stepped carefully into the bathroom, blinking at the brightness. “Why are you -”

 “I can’t ride in with you this morning.” He was dressed in a white shirt, the sleeves undone and rolled up to his elbows, the tails tucked into dress pants. “They just… I have a meeting before…” He curled his lip and you felt your shoulders slump. “I got the email overnight, and just checked it when I woke up, some fucking client is here and wants to meet with me, refuses to talk to anyone else.” Oh. “So I have to do that, and then report back to Juliet, and it’s a thirteen hour difference, so I have to wait.” He huffed, shaking his head. “I won’t be able to take a train in until at least the one at noon, which means that you’ll be a full day ahead of me, and…”

 “Logan.” You reached out to him with both hands, stepping between him and the countertop. “It’s fine. Once I get there, I just have to ride up north toward Python Pass, past the mines. There’s a town there now, and that’s where this all is.” You smiled at him, even though you were disappointed. “There’s more for me to look at and assess before I start with the actual narrative, so I can wait for you, Logan, I -” You shook your head, pushing strands of his damp hair into place as his hands settled on your shoulders, his eyes drawn to the patterns on your skin beneath them. “I’ll need someone to rescue me, anway, so I can’t…”

 “William’s going in with you.” You caught the change in his tone of voice and sucked in a breath. 

 “William? Why? If he’s here, why can’t he -” Logan laughed, looking up and shrugging his shoulders. 

 “No idea. But Juliet said this client was very specific, and they didn’t want to see William, they wanted a Delos, and since I’m here…” You understood; Logan was a hot commodity, and since he was much more stable than he had been in the past, had made a ton of progress and implemented new processes within Delos, people were taking notice. And they should. You were proud of him, but you would have been lying if you said you hadn’t felt a wave of disappointment at learning he wouldn’t be riding in with you. “He’s just going with you, since there has to be someone from the board on the first trip…” Logan shook his head. “It should be me, but I’ll…” He pushed the strap of your tank top down, lowering his head to kiss the curve of you shoulder, right over the lines he’d permanently put on your body. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I know you will, Logan. 

 --- 

 He was seething with anger, staring out the window as the plateaus and desert flew by. That could have been a fucking email, or a phone call or… Logan understood that people wanted to see the face to go along with the name, that they wanted to feel like their investement and involvement with the company weren’t for nothing, but it was frustrating when the people he met with simply wanted to talk - and not about anything new. We could have had the whole day together. Logan shook his head, wondering what you were doing, if you’d reached the new town yet, if you had started your review of the narrative. Wonder what she’s wearing this trip.

 Even though the train ride was short, meaning that he’d get into Sweetwater just as the sun set, and could get on a horse and set out almost immediately, Logan wasn’t happy. The way he felt about you wasn’t new, but it was still unexpected, and each time the two of you went to Westworld or any of the other parks together, the connection between you had strengthened, even more than it did at home in Los Angeles. You’d been a surprise to him from the beginning, and after the night you’d taken him to get his first tattoo - had let him tattoo you - Logan had stopped questioning the way he felt about you, deciding to let things happen as they would. 

 That had been six months ago, and you’d provided Logan with something else to focus on, a distraction from work and from the thing that had nearly consumed his life: finding a way to oust William from Delos, and remove him from Juliet’s life. He was close - he’d found a way to prove that William was manipulating the system, collecting financial data on Guests without the knowledge of anyone at Delos, and even though that wasn’t what Logan truly wanted to remove him for, he knew that taking that angle with the Board was more likely to produce results than trying to find a way to prove that William had simply left him for dead in the middle of the desert. Either way, as long as I can get him out, I’ll… Personal vendetta aside, Logan’s free time was spent gathering and figuring out the best way to present the information while doing everything possible to keep things civil with William so that when he made his move, there was no opportunity for the other man to prepare. 

 But sending you off into the park with William had made Logan uneasy, and without telling you too much - you knew only the basics of what had happened and it had to stay that way until he could be sure he’d be able to use the information he’d gathered - Logan knew he wouldn’t feel better until he had eyes on you again. And then she’s going to get kidnapped, and...but that’s part of the game. He felt himself smiling, watching as the sun set behind the mountains, the chatter of the few other late day arrival passengers barely registering to him. As he stepped off the train and onto the wooden platform, Logan grinned, eyes passing over the scenery and the people milling around. Good to be back. 

 He wasted no time in going to the stables and picking a horse before asking for a map to Lost Spring. Within an hour of his arrival in Sweetwater, Logan had left the town behind him, riding north beneath the rising stars. The stablemaster had told him that he’d reach the town in the middle of the night, and even though Logan enjoyed the open air and the silence, he found himself urging the horse onward, dipping one hand into his pocket to pull out his watch more frequently as the miles passed. Just before midnight, Logan saw flickering lights on the horizon, and knowing that it meant his destination was close, he dug his heels into the horse’s sides, closing the distance more quickly. 

 It’s impressive. He sucked in a breath as the town took shape around him, larger than Sweetwater but smaller and less striking than Pariah, even though there was a lively feeling to it, too. After leaving the horse in the stable, he wandered back toward the saloon, where he’d seen a sign advertising rooms for rent. Logan looked over everything, watching as the Hosts moved through the street and between buildings, a few of them trying to talk to him, asking if he needed anything, but he was focused on the saloon, on the sounds of laughter and music that he heard from within. I’ll look for her, grab a drink and ask around, find out… But Logan didn’t have far to look, because as soon as he pushed through the swinging doors and into the bar, he saw you sitting on one of the stools, hair loose around your bare shoulders. Sleeveless. She’s gonna kill me. 

 Steps quickening, Logan cut through the tables where people were sitting and playing cards, striding to the bar and not even hesitating as he slipped his arms around your waist, letting his lips fall on the skin behind your ear. “Hey, darlin’.” You yelped but immediately relaxed backwards, turning your head and meeting his lips with yours. I don’t know why but I’m relieved. You shifted on the stool, turning your body toward him, and Logan groaned as you teased his lips with your tongue, the faint taste of whiskey and something citrus registering in his mind. It’s only been 14 hours, and I... When you pulled back from the kiss and looked up at Logan, he spoke again, letting out a heavy breath. “What was that for?” 

 “Happy to see you, Delos.” You shrugged, gesturing toward the empty stool next to you, Logan taking it and sitting. “I wasn’t expecting you tonight, thought I’d have to look for you -”

 “Yeah, I made sure that I got on the train this afternoon, I didn’t wanna spend the night alone in our room.” He held up a finger to the bartender, pointing at the whiskey bottle and nodding, and the man quickly poured him a shot. Once Logan had swallowed it down and requested an actual drink, he turned to you again, leaning an elbow on the bar. “This place is really different.”

 “It is.” You picked your glass up, taking a long drink and shaking your head. “I learned a lot today, got to talk to a lot of the Hosts, and…” You closed your eyes. “The people that live here.” Logan rolled his eyes, knowing that you were correcting yourself out of habit, much like Disney employees did. Gotta keep the magic alive. Logan never thought of them as people, but understood why you did, especially when you were around other Guests. “So I guess the story is,” you said, leaning in closer to him. “There’s a gang in the hills to the north, run by a guy that goes by the name of McCray, but everyone calls him ‘Ghost’, because no one knows if they’ve ever seen him.” He saw the excitement on your face, heard it in your voice. “People keep getting grabbed by his men, dragged out of town, and the Sheriff has had to rescue like six people in the last month, because they just keep getting taken.” That’s a terrifying backstory … “But the thing is that when the Sheriff and whoever he’s taken with him find these people?” You shook your head, closing your eyes. “They don’t wanna come back, they wanna stay on with the gang.” Shit. Logan’s eyes widened, his head tilted to the side. “Yeah, the Sheriff told me that  since I’m alone here in town, I need to watch out for three men on gray horses, because…”

 “Alone?” You nodded, mouth hanging open slightly as he cut you off. “Where’s William, he was -”

 “Oh, he left almost as soon as we got here.” You waved your hand, taking another long drink and finishing what was in your glass. “We rode up from Sweetwater together, but we barely checked into the rooms before he was making some bullshit excuse and telling me he’d be back in the morning.” The fuck? “I didn’t question it, because I really don’t give a shit where he went, but…” You shrugged. “I haven’t seen him in hours.” You straightened up, smiling brightly at him, and Logan grinned back, reaching out to take your hand in his, linking your fingers together. “Plus, it doesn’t matter, you’re here now, so I don’t need him.” He tilted his head to the side, staring at you, and even though he was dead tired and sore from being on the horse for so long, Logan knew that neither of you would be sleepng for a long time. 

 “You think there’s any rooms left?” He watched you pause, eyes going wide. “I need somewhere to sleep.” You stayed quiet for a second before reaching out and undoing one of the buttons on his shirt, fingertips brushing against the skin beneath it. 

 “I’ve got a bed you can climb into tonight, cowboy.” You leaned in, glancing around as if you were making sure no one was listening. “I don’t think you’ll be sleeping much, though.” He saw the flicker in your eyes and grinned, nodding as he lifted his glass to his mouth, swallowing the last of his drink and licking his lips clean. 

 “Lead the way.” Logan followed you up the stairs, his hands at your hips, and when you stopped in front of a door, your hand on the knob, he reached past you, fingers closing around yours and his body pressing against you fron behind. “Wait.” He was almost growling in your ear, and Logan felt your hips shift back against his, your lips forming his name but barely getting the word out audibly. That’s what I was lookin’ for. “I just wanted to tell you,” he said as his hand moved back from yours and up your arm before it moved to your stomach, his nose in the hair that curled freely behind your ear. “I rode here fast, because I wanted to spend the night with you.” You nodded, and Logan pressed you against the door, the fingers of his hand undoing the top buttons on your vest and then sliding beneath the soft material and against your skin. 

 “I’ll make it worth your while, Logan.” You turned your head toward his and Logan pulled back slightly, giving you space. “We just gotta get int-”

 “Do we?” He kissed you, almost tasting the surprise you felt, and grinned against your lips, the tips of his fingers curling around the swell of your breast, bare beneath the leather you wore. “I think we can -”

 “She’s sure pretty, partner.” He froze at the sound of the voice, both annoyed with the interruption and angry that someone had dared to make a comment about you in his presence. That’s not how this works. “Maybe when you’re done with ‘er you can send -” He swore under his breath and pulled his hand away from your chest, leaving the one at your hip where it was. 

 “She’s not a fucking Host.” His words came out in a hiss as he turned the top half of his body, eyes blazing in the dim light of the hallway. “And she’s not -” The man was dressed in a pair of dark pants and a dirty button down shirt, a black hat perched on his head. He’s good looking. Logan was surprised, but he knew better than to relax, the hand that had been on you going to his hip, where a pistol was holstered. 

 “No need to get upset.” The man held both hands up, his eyes looking past Logan and to you, the smile back on his face. “Even prettier from the front.” Logan was quiet, waiting, and then he heard you whispering in his ear, one of your hands resting against his back. 

 “He’s a Host, Logan. It’s fine.” You pressed your lips to the back of his neck, sighing. “Part of the game, hmm?” You spoke quietly, but then cleared your throat, stepping to the side. “I’m all set.” You took Logan’s hand, twining your fingers together. “Already got the rest of my night planned, but thanks for the compliment.” The second man stayed quiet, regarding you with ice blue eyes for long moments and then he nodded once, reaching up to tip his hat. 

 “You two enjoy yourselves.” After he turned away, heading for the stairs, Logan took a deep breath and returned his attention to you, nodding at the door. 

 “Inside.” No more interruptons. You wasted no time opening the door and walking into the room, and Logan looked around, taking it in. It was simple - very understated, but it looked cozy, and though Logan had seen his fair share of rooms in Westworld, it was always nice to see what the Delos money was paying for. “How were you so -”

 “I think it’s part of the narrative, Logan.” You were sitting on the edge of the bed, removing your boots. “They have to identify someone in town, right? Make sure they’re here? Gotta have someone scouting, even if the other guys ride in.” I didn’t even think about that. He stared at you as you twisted your hair over one shoulder, lips pressed together. “I’m in their sights now.” Are you? God she’s so fucking excited about this. He raised an eyebrow, bending over to pull his own boots off and curling his toes. Finally. “You picked a different outfit this trip.” 

 “I did.” Logan stepped over to the bed, grinning. “I just grabbed shit off the hangers and put it on.” He stood in front of you, reaching out to put his hands on your shoulders. “If I’m gonna be ridin’ out into the middle of the goddamn desert lookin’ for you, I didn’t want to wear layers.” You laughed, reaching out and pulling his shirt untucked, starting to undo the buttons from the bottom up. “Less for you to take off, too.” You looked up at him, not saying anything but still smiling, and he dropped his hands so that he could shrug his arms from the sleeves, the material falling to the floor as your hands worked his belt undone. “All business tonight?” 

 “Just focused, Logan.” You pulled his belt from the loops, letting it clatter to the floor and then lowered your hands, flattening them on the bed and scooting backwards onto the mattress. “And grateful  to you for defending me from that Host in the hallway.” Your lips quirked up as you spoke, but before you could get another word out, Logan climbed into bed with you, letting his body press down against yours, like he’d been wanting all day. “Jesus, Logan, you’re…” He was unbuttoning your vest as he kissed your neck, hands working quickly between your bodies. Once he’d undone the last one, Logan pulled the material apart and sat up, kneeling over your body on the bed. 

 He could see you clearly in the moonlight streaming in through the window, and the night was perfectly cool - Logan’s favorite type of night in the park, and the exact opposite of the sweltering day it had been. “Every time I see you,” Logan said the words quietly as he ran a hand up your stomach, spreading his fingers apart and pushing down gently. “I… just wanna touch you.” He swallowed, leaning down and kissing you hard on the mouth, your heart pounding beneath his fingertips. “I can’t help it.” He nipped at your lip, and though you’d been laying still beneath him, you reached up, one hand gripping his bare shoulder and the other wrapping around the back of his neck to hold him in place. “Yeah? That’s what you…” You arched your back, pressing your chest against his, and Logan’s fingers curled, thumb swiping against the raised peak of your nipple before he swallowed your breath in another kiss. 

 You pushed him away from you only a few minutes later, and though he was surprised, it didn’t last long as he watched you unbutton your pants, pushing them down over your hips along with some ruffled cotton and lace. He continued watching you for a few monents, reveling in the reveal of each inch of your skin, and then Logan moved too, keeping his eyes on you but raising his hips to take his own pants off, followed by the thin cotton shorts that he wore in place of typical underwear. I’m so glad we don’t wear this shit now. Both of you totally naked, Logan grinned at you, raising an eyebrow. “Thought you said you wanted to touch me, Delos.” He laughed, shaking his head back and forth as he moved back toward you, reaching out with both arms to pull you away from the bedding and onto his lap, your protests quiet and totally for show. He ran both of his hands over your back, waiting until you’d settled with your knees on either side of his body, your hands on his chest. “Got the shot this time, Logan.” Your eyes were wide as you stared down at him. “It’s good for a month, so -” Shit. 

 Delos had introduced new medical products onto the market over the previous year, one of them being a new form of birth control that was offered to both male and female guests of the parks just in case they happened to interact with a human instead of a Host during their trip. You had yet to try it out, instead preferring to stick to the methods you’d been using previously both inside of the park and at home. Why now? “What made you…” He cleared his throat, mind racing. That means… His hands moved from your back to your front, pushing both breasts together without looking away from your face. “You -”

 “Wanted to try it, see if I like it better.” You shrugged, leaning down. “Who knows, maybe I’ll stick with it when we go back home.” He squeezed your flesh gently as your hands moved up and into his hair, lips dropping to his ear. “You’ll have to tell me what you like better.” With a roll of your hips, you traced your tongue along the edge of his ear and Logan’s lips found one nipple, teeth following soon after as he bit down. You groaned - louder as his tongue swirled, and then Logan switched his attention to the other side of your chest, opening his eyes briefly and then closing them again as you started whispering in his ear - his name, pleas for him to keep going, and then as one of his hands made its way between your legs, you swore, pulling hard on his hair. Exactly. It was rare that Logan felt comfortable enough with a partner to go without protection, even when they were on a secondary form of birth control, but at the thought of burying himself in you with nothing between you for the first time? I can’t wait. 

 But he did wait, wanting to be sure that you were ready for him; one finger and then two slipping in and out of you with a practiced ease, Logan curling his fingers slightly without moving his wrist, mouth still on the skin of your chest. “You ready for me?” You nodded, patient as Logan’s lips made their way back up your neck and he removed his fingers from you, sliding the hand around to your hip and pulling your body down tight against his. “I hope so.” He kisssed you again, his hips jerking upward and causing you to cry out as he connected with the sensitive skin he’d been touching. No more. Been waiting all goddamn day for this. “Lay down.” 

 You were moving before he was finished speaking, trading places on the bed so that he could kneel above you, the fingers of the hand that had been touching you wrapped around himself, slowly stroking. “Logan, let me, I want…” But he shook his head, watching as your chest rose and fell, one hand resting on your stomach as the other gripped the blankets beneath you. “C’mon, Logan, I -” 

 “Not tonight.” He ran his tonge over his lower lip, reaching up with his free hand to push his hair back and out of his eyes, head shaking slowly back and forth. “Tonight I wanna enjoy this, what you’re… what we’re gonna…” Your eyes widened, and he could almost feel the excitement radiating from your body. She wants this, too. “You sure? There’s condoms in the drawer, they’re in every room, I -”

 “If you don’t trust the shot, Logan, that’s fine, but …” Your head moved slowly back and forth, hair spread out over the pillow. “I trust it, because I trust Delos.” He felt a flash of apprehension, thinking of William’s scheming and the collection of data, but pushed the thoughts away, again focusing on you. Not tonight. Not now. 

 “Oh, I trust it.” He watched your eyes leave his face, your gaze focused on his hand, on the way that his wrist twisted, his thumb moving slowly over his tip. “Just wanted to ask you again.” Logan took a deep breath and then let go of himself, using both hands to widen the spread of your legs before he settled between them. Won’t matter, her legs’ll be around me in… With a smile, Logan reached down again, guiding himself to your entrance, and with a long, low groan he pushed into you, fighting not to close his eyes. Look at her face. You lost the battle, your eyes sqeezing shut and your mouth dropping open as he filled you, one hand reaching out toward him and the other gripping the bunched sheets below you tightly. Holy shit. You felt incredible, muscles tight around him, and he’d been right, one leg wrapping around his thigh and the other around his waist as Logan settled in. Fucking perfect. 

 The two of you found a rhythm, Logan’s body covering yours, your nails digging into his back as he wrapped an arm around your shoulders, lifting you off the bed slightly, the other hand pressed into the mattress to brace himself. Logan’s past partners had wanted more from him; more than the places where their bodies had connected with his, more than the muffled moans and groans, more than the minutes of pleasure, but he’d never been willing to give it to them, at least not the way they wanted. He’d kissed his partners, sure. He’d touched them, of course, knowing that his skilled fingers and tongue were almost as high in demand as the rest of him, but with you, the bare minimum wasn’t enough, and he knew it never would be. Not again. In the span of time that he’d known you, Logan had done the impossible: he’d fallen for you, even though he didn’t know how to tell you. 

 He hadn’t been lying when he’d said that it had started out as simply sex, seeing you in the halls at Delos and being physically interested, but the peeks he’d gotten into your life - starting with your tattoos at the Christmas party and then your wit in the interactions you’d had at work and then on the night you’d allowed him to take you to dinner had made him more interested, and well before the night of his admission in the suite, he’d decided that he wanted more with you. So Logan kissed you at every opportunity, even as his hips were rocking against yours and you were leaving long, red marks on his back. He touched you, the grip on your shoulder anchoring the two of you together, his other arm still supporting some of his weight but the fingers of it stroking the side of your face at the same time. I want to tell her, but it’s not… I need to deal with William first. He didn’t want to complicate things, and though he knew you knew he was being faithful and you didn’t expect more, Logan wanted to give it to you nonetheless. “Fuck, Logan.” You groaned quietly, the ends of your nails moving against the back of his neck. “You feel…” I know. 

 Logan slowed the movement of his hips, lengthening his strokes, and you responded accordingly, meeting his thrusts with tiny ones of your own. She always… It was never a race to the finish with you, never an attempt to draw things out to impress each other; when he was with you, Logan let things happen as they were meant to, and enjoyed every second of it. He felt some lingering soreness from the horseback ride in, and knew that you’d come before he did that night; he could feel how close you were with the changes in the way your leg was wrapped around him, the grip you had on his bicep. “C’mon.” He mumbled the word against your throat, teeth grazing against the skin. “I feel it, but I wanna feel you…” His tongue dipped into the hollow at the base of your throat as you swallowed and he tasted sweat, even though it was still chilly in the room. You’re right there, I know it, I… He was taken by surprise as you moved the leg that was around his thigh and planted your foot on the mattress, moaning out his name, and Logan felt his tightly wound body snap, emptying himself inside of you with a few more faltering thrusts of his hips as he bit down on your shoulder, teeth sure to leave a bruise that no one would see beneath the embedded ink. Fuck. 

 It only took a few more seconds - he thought it might have had something to do with the jolt of pain from his bite - and then you came too, muscles seizing around him, the leg that was still holding him in place going limp. “Jesus, Logan, I…” You were beathless, lying beneath him, and though spent, Logan refrained from pulling out of you, focusing on the slickness he felt, the heat between your bodies. “Get offa me, Delos, I wanna…” He groaned, taking a deep breath and then, even as he slid out of you for the final time, Logan sighed out your name, rolling onto his back and reaching for the drawer on the table, where he knew that a stack of folded handkerchiefs would be waiting. Standard issue Westworld. He handed you the first one and  then pulled out another for himself, and the two of you spent a few minutes cleaning up before he rolled onto his side, waiting for you to do the same. 

 Neither of you made any move to get beneath the blankets, and as Logan stared at you in the still-bright moonlight, he smiled, reaching out to run his fingers over your shoulder, the faint indentations of his teeth still present. “I’m sorry, I got…” You laughed, moving closer to him and returning your hand to his side, stroking over the skin atop his ribs. “You’re a surprise.” You smiled, half of your face hidden by the pillow. “You know that, right? I never -”

 “Gonna get sappy on me now, Logan?” He watched a you widened your eyes in mock surprise, pinching his skin. “Was it really that good for you?” He laughed too, threading his fingers through your hair and pulling your face back to his, muttering the words “shut up” before he kissed you soundly, tongue gently prodding your lips for a brief second before it entered your mouth again. Maybe I am. “Damn, Delos.” You sighed as the two of you separated, both of your heads falling back onto the pillows, eyes still on each other. “If this is how it’s gonna be, I’ll keep getting that shot, Logan.” You yawned and the movement of your hand slowed, but Logan didn’t speak again, instead just watching you as you drifted off. “Blanket, Logan.” You sighed but made no move to reach for it, and Logan instead sat up, pulling the blanket over the two of you without bothering to get dressed. Won’t matter, we’ll just be taking everything off again in the morning. “G’night.” You yawned again, and beneath the blanket, you moved even closer to him, tucking your forehead in against his neck, cheek pressed to his chest. Goodnight. 

 In the time before he fell asleep, Logan was only dimly aware of his own body’s movement, the arm not trapped beneath his body winding around you to hold you close. 

 --- 

 He’d been right about waking up. After what seemed like only a few short hours of sleep (but had actually been the whole night), you’d woken Logan, your hands exploring his body, and before getting dressed and heading downstairs, you’d tired each other out again, this time by the warm rays of the early morning sun. Leaving the saloon, you walked across the street and to the small restaurant, settling in at a table together and letting a cheerful female Host take your breakfast order. You asked for coffee, but Logan reached out, his fingers wrapping around the woman’s arm as she left the table. “Can we get a pitcher of water, please?” She nodded once at him, her eyes moving over his face before she turned and stepped away. Logan returned his attention to you, rolling his shoulders and tilting his head from side to side to loosen his neck. She needs it. “You need to drink water, and a lot of it. If they’re gonna take you out, who knows…” He swallowed. “You get thirsty real quick out there.” 

 His mind wandered back to the days he’d spent in the desert with William, the days he’d spent there after William had left him, wishing for water and hoping for death. It’s just a game, for her, but still… “Of course, Logan.” You reached out and squeezed his hand. “That’s smart.” You talked over breakfast, but Logan was distracted, both by you and lingering thoughts of William, as well as by the aching of his muscles from his time in bed with you. What is wrong with me? “Want to go for a walk, I can introduce you to the Sheriff, and…” He was grinning, up and out of his seat at your words, a hand extended. You took it, smiling back at him, and within a few minutes, you were walking down the street again, the sun blazing down even though it was barely midmorning. “Sheriff's right down here, we -” You gasped as you pointed, your eyes on the hills at the end of the street. “They’re coming, Logan, it’s…” He turned to look at you, hearing the excitement in your voice. “I can see the dust rising, the horses…” 

 His heart pounding, Logan did the only thing he could think of - he pulled you in and kissed you, a hand on the back of your head, the other settled low on your back as your hands pressed against his chest. It’s just a game, but… When he pulled back, you were smiling at him, but he saw the surprise in your eyes at his behavior, and he was almost sure it was mirrored in his own. Who am I and what have I done with Logan Delos? He released you as the sound of hooves became louder, and the two of you turned to look in the direction of the noise, along with others that were on the street. He watched the two horses, their feet kicking up dust as they stormed in, and before he could even react, the animals had stopped in front of the two of you, one of the men dismounting and pointing his gun at you. Shit. 

 Logan’s hand went to his waist, fingers twitching over the butt of his gun, but he watched you shake your head, eyes wide. “No, Logan.” You swallowed, playing along, one hand held upto halt his movement. “It’s alright, they warned me…” 

 “She’s comin’ with us.” Logan noticed for the first time that the man still on horseback was pointing his gun at him, and as his eyes moved back and forth, he felt a slight tightness in his chest. Just a game. She’s not in danger. “My partner’s gonna toss you a rope, and you’re gonna tie her hands together.” The gun didn’t waver from where it was pressed to your neck, but Logan watched as you fought not to whimper, knowing that it would cause him to take action. “An’ then she’s gonna get on this horse with me, and we’re gonna ride up into the hills and see the Boss.” A coil of rope fell at his feet, and Logan glanced around, watching as the people and the other Hosts looked on, none of them even thinking about interfering. “I said tie her.” Logan finally heard you gasp at the sound of the gun cocking, and he bent down, picking up the rope. This isn’t gonna go over well, this is too intense, no one’s going to… “Both wrists, make it good, cowboy.” 

 “I’ll find you.” Logan spoke quietly as he reached you, taking one wrist into his hands and then the other, knotting the rope around them tightly before he curled his fingers around your chin, forcing you to look at him. “I promise, I’ll...”

 “I know.” He looked in your eyes and while you looked scared, you were still excited. “I know you will, Logan.” I don’t like this. The man on the horse instructed Logan to step back and so he did, reluctantly letting go of you. “I’ll see you soon, Logan.” He nodded, taking two more steps away from you and watching as the man holstered his gun, using one arm to lift you and waiting until you’d gripped the saddlehorn with both hands to kneel down, giving you something to brace yourself against. You put one foot in the stirrup, swinging your leg over the broad back of the black horse and he followed you, swinging easily up behind you. Logan felt disgust watching as he reached past you, taking the reins and settling his arms on either side of your body, chest pressed against your back. I don’t like this at all. 

 “You thinking about comin’ after her?” Logan’s attention was pulled away from you by the second man, but he only turned his head partially, keeping you visible. “Playin’ the hero?” With a laugh, he continued. “Good luck findin’ us up in those hills.” He heard you call out to him as your horse turned and began galloping out of town, and Logan caught the fear in your voice as you bounced in the saddle. I’m coming. “You come before sundown, and she dies.” Logan didn’t have a chance to speak before the second man took off after the first, the sound of hooves fading after long seconds as the three of you rode out of view. Shit, I should have… but no. She wanted to be taken, this is the narrative, she has to… 

 “Hey, you there.” Logan turned at the sound of the voice, noticing a man in a badge striding down the street toward him. “Who wa-” But he was cut off by the sound of more hooves, this time coming from the opposite direction. This place is fucking busy. Logan turned his head to look in the direction of the new noise - three grey horses, a single man atop each. Wait a minute… Brow furrowed, Logan watched as the three men tore through town, pausing only long enough for one of them to reach out and grab the arm of a lone blonde woman, pulling her off of the ground and onto the horse with him before they continued down the street, following the tracks of the first horses, the woman screaming loudly for help. What… Staring after the men, Logan felt himself freeze. Three men, not two. 

 “Who were those men?” He turned his attention back to the man with the badge, raising one hand to point. “The men on the grey horses, that grabbed …” The horses...

 “Those are McCray’s men.” Adjusting the brim of his wide white hat, the sheriff shook his head. “Was tellin’ your friend about ‘em yesterday, and…” Wait, if those were… who… 

 “Then who…” Logan pulled his own hat off, tapping it against his hip as he felt the panic rise in his chest. “If those were… where did… who…” He shook his head, pointing. “Who the fuck were the two that…”

 “I have no idea, son.” The sheriff stared at Logan, shaking his head. “Never seen ‘em in town before in my life.”

---

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[baeshijima]

Okay so u and waka,,, helping out at a kindergarten bc that way u could excuse urself from school work✨ how would that play out?

hgskdgfkks bb! and gg! tophie ditching school to play with children is probably one of the most wholesome things you can get 🥺

tophie taglist :  @ksyy / @ksyescribe + @cherryonigiri​ + @kukusbabe + @snazzieyama  + @kadoui + @kunimi-bby + @semiluvr + @pudding-head-kenma​ + @shinsuque + @luckywritesss + @astereim​ + @oyasenpai + @hikari-writes  + @namikxze + @haikoo + @pisces-mattsun + @mochiimii + @aexonian + @krusty-cheetahs + @cosmictooru  + @lcaita + @kuzuseijoh + @dramaqueenweeb1469​ + @aurumskyy​ + @akaashichigo + @catharsisbabey + @miki-snake

BB!GG!Tophie Helping At A Local Kindergarten

jsdfgjsdgkf

i’m already blushing and nothing’s happened ಠ_ಠ

lemme just start off by saying that it would be wakatoshi that brings the idea up

“sophie, i have an idea for tomorrow”

“if you mean egging the maths teacher’s car again, i’ll leave you like last time—”

“no that’s not what i meant, but that was fun~”

“it wasn’t,,, i had to sit there in the long lecture and apologise on your behalf since you weren’t going to”

“i still don’t see why you apologised”

“i don’t want to hear that from you”

“whatever you say, treasure (GJDHRSDGFKSDJGK I STILL DIE AT THIS OMFG 🥺) anyway, back to what i was saying”

ಠ_ಠ

“let’s help out at the local kindergarten for the day”

:O

“heh, i see i caught your interest~”

“would it be after school?”

“during”

. . .

“no”

“who said i was asking”

. . .

it took a while to convince me (it didn’t—) since i had a perfect attendance since i care about that education at times, but in the end i agreed

we ended up having wakatoshi call the school in saying i was sick and he was taking care of me since i didn’t want to not say anything,,,

but he already signed up and contacted the kindergarten, asking if he could bring me along with him today

at first i didn’t react, but then i took a double take

tODAY?? HE’S DONE THIS BEFORE???

yea

i knew he loved children, but i never would’ve guessed he helped out before

tbh, i should’ve guessed,,,

but he said to wear comfortable clothing

and guess what?

we wear couple outfits 🥺

oh!

we also baked cookies for the kids the night before too!!

that was fun 🥺

but since we both live on campus, we had to sneak out very early in the morning

we disguised it as us going on a run since we both do sports

and it was winter

so we would just say i came down with something the night before but it got worse after the run

very convenient if i do say so myself

i mean, no one questioned us so it was kinda useless—

n e way

we went to a cafe we’re regulars at and just chilled there for a while, had something warm to drink, shared some red velvet waffles and had a chat with the nice old couple who owns the place

they’re very sweet

the make a few,,, innuendos which i never catch on but wakatoshi does and he goes with it

while i’m sipping on my hot chocolate and our waffle—

but when it’s time to leave, they give us some more baked goods, on the house, to take and share between us

they’re very stubborn

when we get there, we change our shoes and greet the teacher of the class we’ll be helping out!!

her and wakatoshi are already familiar with each other so he introduces me to her

we set things up and then the kids come in

and let me tell you i had to hold back a squeal

and wakatoshi (the big oaf) just chuckled

damn him—

but anway

every time the children come in, they always shouted

“TOSHI-NII!!”

and honestly?

i melted

and combusted

just both tbh

and every time they do that, they turn to see me and just stare

some are excited

some ae shy

some are jealous as to why wakatoshi has his arms wrapped around me

oh boy

but the day went well? i think?

like, aside from all the jealous 4 year old girls trying to fight me for wakatoshi’s hand in marriage (i said they could have him and just fight between themselves. when i tell you wakatoshi was not impressed) it went well!!

we played with the children, helped them when they needed it, and my favourite part was giving them the cookies

it was before they leave that we gave it to them!! 

the teacher called their attention while wakatoshi helped me with the containers

the children were all giddy and it was the most sweetest thing i swear

they lined up in two lines, one for me and one for wakatoshi!!

and they said a happy “THANK YOU!!” each time they got one

🥺

some even gave me a hug 

😭

and then came some of the girls who wanna marry wakatoshi (some were in wakatoshi’s line and let me tell you i’ve never seen anyone happier than those girls iN MY LIFE—)

i noticed they kept shifting in the line and glancing at me

but me being the dumb person i am took no notice bc i had kids shouting their thanks, hugging me, kissing my cheek and wakatoshi’s burning stare drilling through me each time—

and when they reached me

oh my god

they started crying

anD I WAS LIKE

W H A T

so i whipped out my handkerchiefs bc i’m prepared like that and dry their tears, while telling them it’s okay and asking what’s wrong

onlY FOR THEM TO CRY MORE

by now the whole class is staring and idk what feels worse

not knowing what’s causing their tears, or a bunch of four year olds staring at us, along with the teacher and wakatoshi

rip

but you know what one of them said?

thrOUGH HER TEARS???

“y-you and tos-shi-nii should get marr-ried!! he lov-es you 😭”

“wut”

“i do”

“wakatoshi, you’re not helping”

and that’s the story of balamory how i became friends with those girls

by sharing what being wakatoshi’s (wife) girlfriend is like and spilling all the little things he does and make fun of him (once again, wakatohsi is not impressed) o(*°▽°*)o

they even start calling me “sophie-nee” as well 

and when i tell you my heart buRST

but now they all cal me that and i’m a mushy puddle of softness

and when they go home?

saddest thing ever

a lot of tear-shed from the kids

esp the girls who i made friends with

but you know what made up for it?

“will you come back next time, sophie-nee?? please come back 🥺”

oop

there goes my heart for the hgfjksdf time today—

and then wakatoshi and i helped clean up and the teacher was thanking us for being here jhdskjfd

long story short, we’ll be coming here weekly—

and then we go out for lunch at a small diner 

very cute

now we’re back at the dorms

his dorm actually

“my love”

“hm? what is it?”

“let’s have children”

“huh? oh, sure”

. . .

“wait, nOW—???”

interested? take part in my 300 follower sleepover event !!

[thetpot]

I just read you 10 stories post and I never knew you wrote Once upon a play and inconveniences. For some reason I realy love Once Upon a Play since it is such a fun story! So I had a question, since I think that I can safely assume you won't finish any of your old work. How were all you old stories supposed to end? So inconvenieces, on the sands of time (which is also a good story but just never got that far), etc. And maybe even what happened with Aang and Zuko later in Once Upon a play, since being gay illegal was in the fire nation.

oh my god, i’m screaming that someone who read my old work found me. biting my fist and screaaaming. 

first of all, i’m glad you enjoyed them :) all those stories have big (huge, gargantuan, unavoidable!!!) issues but writing them brought me joy too. once upon a play especially was such a shitshow lmaoo, i was hammering out like 4000 word chapters a day and then doing the whole shitty “comment for an update thing” in the a/n. ew lol, anway :)

yes, it’s safe to assume i’ll never finish them. maybe i’ll adapt the concept for once upon a play and revamp it with more of an understanding of how ember island players was imperialist propaganda rather than just a cutesy fun play. something like: what might it mean for certain earth kingdom political figures, who perhaps were doing better under the fire nation (currying the fire nation’s favour by weakening the earth kingdom’s infrastructure), to leverage something outrageous like a play claiming the scion of the fire nation and the last airbender are in an illicit affair, and use it to weaken specifically zuko’s position back home and threaten to destabilize the peace. something along those lines.

i also quite like on the sands of time, but i’m iffy now on divorcing the characters from the world of atla and dropping them in some ahistoric middle eastern setting. i’d have to think long and hard on what kind of cultural and religious influences i want to include and what i want to ignore. it’s unlikely but if i was to work on any of them again, i’d pick those two. 

as for how they were going to finish (or at least what was planned next, because i did not used to entirely outline all my fics, i think that might be obvious on re-reading once upon a play especially lmaooo), some elements i wanted to explore in inconveniences was that toph and iroh had an existing friendship that aang and zuko didn't know about, big party at sokka and katara's house, shenanigans with jet at that party, zuko and jet finally ending their fling at some point. aang's central arc within that story was basically this (taken from an old zipped file in the depths of my google drive, i didn't even remember i had this anymore lol): aang is tired of the sheltered life has been forced to live under gyatso’s wing. dissatisfied with his life, he is convinced that the answer lies in the conventional teen life – in parties, girls and alcohol. almost everything he does throughout the course of the story is in an attempt to live life to the fullest, to find the key to making himself feel whole for the first time in his life. however, as the story progresses, aang realizes that the void in his life does not need alcohol or drugs or parties or girls to fill it. he realizes that the only thing lacking in his life may have been maturity on his part.

which is yaknow… some characterization? not  sure how i feel about it now, but at least, it's something lol.

as for zuko, he comes to realize the full extent of his disillusionment from life and considers that aang may be the key to fixing it once and for all. as the story progresses, zuko tries to find with jet the connection he feels with aang but is disappointed when he realizes that jet is nothing like the person he imagined him to be.

even though jet initially appears to only be a conventional villain, he is later fleshed out as we see that zuko is his safe zone, the only person with whom he relaxes. this connection, however, is negated by the fact that jet constantly does things to sabotage his relationship with zuko.

the thing about jet is interesting because it's more nuance than i gave him within the story in the first 8 chapters. i'm not convinced how well i would have been able to execute those layers of his characterization but yaknow, i guess it's nice to know i wasn't just trying to demonize him? i can promise you that i had no intention 11 years ago of extending even an ounce of that same nuance to the female characters, sadly.

anyway, the story was intended to wind down with aang being really reckless with his freedom, gyatso returning and aang needing to reckon with the fact that his actions have consequences (probably something to do with accidentally outing zuko since he treated his relationship with jet with a lot of disregard in the story, as far as i remember), and aang needing to repair his relationship with gyatso once he returns.

i'm iffy on the characterization of aang, looking back, but i won't say much on it coz it's a characterization, i guess? just not the one i'd go for if i was writing aang today.

as for on the sands of time, the next phase of the story would have been zuko realizing that azula is hot on their heels and separating from the group, realizing he cannot best azula on his own and so deciding to play double-agent with azula and string her along long enough to allow aang a chance of survival. azula and zuko would then chase them to the edge of the desert and gyatso dies before he can tell aang he is the avatar. to escape azula (and zuko), aang ends up bending both water and air. 

as per gyatso's instructions, aang, katara and sokka venture deeper into the desert and along the way run into suki and the kyoshi warriors (who guard the boundary deeper into the desert), jet and his pals (who guard a part of the desert with huge geoglyphs of animals in exchange for the spirits granting them reduced dependence on water and food) and also zuko as the blue spirit. as they progress through the desert, they are aided by two mysterious figures who seem to be aiding them (surprise, it’s zuko and azula because the ozai actually does want aang to end up at the spirit gathering, he just wants to engineer that arrival to exploit that spirit energy for... something?). 

end of the story, zuko and azula finally catch up, big fight between azula, zuko, the gaang, the freedom fighters and the spirits, and zuko almost dies. aang goes into the avatar state for the first time. and apparently, according to my bizzare notes, that's the end of volume 1 (?!!!). i literally forgot until this very moment that it was supposed to be a multi-volume story (lmao what). basically volume 1 was supposed to build this attraction between zuko and aang which comes to a head at the end of volume 1, when aang's distress at seeing zuko hurt activates the avatar state, and zuko nearly gets aang killed by revealing his hand to azula.

and then there's volume 2 (?! i still can't get over 12 year old me's ambition lmao). after the gaang and zuko flee from azula, both he and aang acknowledge their feelings for one another but iroh back in the white lotus is well aware that zuko is endangering the avatar because of his feelings and assigns someone else to protect the gaang.  zuko leaves without telling aang, but instead of recalling zuko back to the city where iroh is, he makes zuko stay in the same city where aang is. aang tracks him down and they run into each other constantly while aang masters earthbending, and tension builds between zuko and aang as they resist their feelings for one another. the major conflict of this volume is when iroh tries to assign someone else as aang's firebending teacher. shenanigans ensue, tension galore. meanwhile, azula moves in to attack the city and once again, zuko and the gaang run (definitely sensing some repetition here lmao).

and then i never outlined volume 3 because i was a moron - an adorably ambitious one, but alas, one lacking the discipline to write what i think was supposed to be a 150k+ saga (?!).

as for what comes after once upon a play, i can promise you i barely thought about what was going to happen next in that story, much less what would happen after it. 

anywho, i hope that answers your question :). it was nice to pull out my decade old notebook and realize i still had all these notes squirreled away somewhere lol. 

[partyy-of-five]

Can you make an imagine or fanfic (whatever their called lol) for Emilio? Maybe like, the girl doesn't hook up with him and it's more of a challenge? Actually, IDC I just want some of him cus the show isn't super popular yet. :)

Thank you for the request! I don’t do a lot of self-insert fics but I am all for a challenge! Just a warning though, since this isn’t my usual writing style it may be a little rough in places. I also agree that we need more Emilio and want to write some fics for him in the future about his thoughts on things or something of the like. Anway, to the fic! 

 Reader x Emilio. [Female reader, she/her pronouns]. *Fic also available on AO3.*

Word Count: 2246

Timeline: Pre-canon aka Emilio is a player with nothing but time on his hands.

Summary: You go to a club to see Natural Disasters with friends and somehow catch Emilio’s eye—but you’re not interested in his game. 

Title: Just a Little Fun

You wait on the steps of your place for the Uber to show up. Your friend, Veronica, had convinced your friend group to go see this up and coming band. Apparently, the lead singer was really attractive. Or something.

You sigh and check your phone again, but in the time it took you to do that, the Uber had pulled up and Veronica was hanging outside the window.

“Y/N! Get in, girl!”

You shove your phone into your small purse, giving a sheepish smile to the Uber driver who rolls  his eyes at your friend as she drags you into the car.

“Started without us, V?” You say, as you smell the alcohol on her breath and shut the door behind you. On the other side of Veronica, your friend Jordan gives a nod.

“Pshh.” Veronica dismisses your comment before directing the driver where-to next.

“Its for the nerves!” Jordan teases, and when you raise an eyebrow she clarifies: “She’s hoping to get with the lead singer.”

You scoff. “Didn’t he hook up with your old college roommate a couple weeks ago?”

“Yeah, she’s the one who told her about the band.” Jordan replies before Veronica can answer.

You give Veronica a look.

“So what? She said he was a good bang and I need one of those as a rebound from Carl.”

You shake your head and sigh, looking out the window. Veronica is now on her soap-box about her ex again.

A fifteen-minute car ride later and you show up at the small club the band is performing at. The three of you pile out of the car and Veronica pays the Uber driver, including a cash tip with a wink.

“Hannah told me we can get an exclusive with the band.” Veronica says excitedly in your ear as you grab a standing table once inside. “I just have to find the right person to talk to.”

You nod, trying not to show your disinterest to your friend. But it doesn’t matter, she’s already whisked off somewhere.

“Want a drink?” Jordan asks, nodding to the bar.

You shake your head. “I’m good, thanks.”

Jordan shrugs and heads off, leaving you alone. You look around at the artwork on the walls for a couple minutes before getting bored. When you look back at the bar you notice a handsome man sitting near Jordan. He laughs at something his companion is saying and you think how beautiful his smile is. Trying not to stare too obviously, you alternate between looking at him and looking around for Veronica. Then, when you look back again for the umpteenth time, he’s looking right at you.

You sit up straight, cheeks flushing as you’ve been spotted, pulling out your phone casually to hide your face. Jordan comes over then, a drink in hand. You use her as an excuse to look over again and notice he’s still watching you with a smirk.

“Why so red?” Jordan asks.

“What?” You say, startled.

“Why so red?” Jordan repeats, sipping from her drink.

“Nothing.”

“Mhm.”

You look back at him again. He waves a little. Directing your attention back to Jordan, you realize she’s waiting impatiently for an answer.

“Did you not see that guy sitting next to you?” You relent, trying to use Jordan to block out the man from your vision.

“Which one?” Jordan glances over her shoulder.

You try and discreetly point him out.

“Him?” Jordan points, halfway turning around so it can’t be mistaken what she’s doing.

“Jordan!” You exclaim, grabbing her hand and forcing her to face you again. “Don’t be so obvious.”

“I mean, he’s pretty cute. For a dude.” Jordan laughs at your embarrassment good-heartedly. “He seems to be paying a lot of attention to you.”

“No, I don’t think so.” But you flush as you say it.

“Uh-huh.”

When you look back over to the bar he’s gone.

—-

Veronica comes back and reports she didn’t have any success. You and Jordan comfort her and order a round for the table. An hour goes by and you’ve forgotten about the guy as you talk with your friends. Then, the MC announces the band: the Natural Disasters. Veronica practically screeches in excitement.

“Holy hell he’s hot.”

Jordan rolls her eyes and you smile, following Veronica’s eyes to the stage. That’s when you see him. Center stage, a small smile on his face as he greets the crowd, is the guy from the bar.

“I told you he was a babe!” Veronica says when she sees your expression of surprise. 

Shit, you think, realizing you had not only zoned-in on the one guy who was probably the biggest player in this club, but also that Veronica would be beyond upset if she knew you kind of wanted him. Well, she doesn’t have to know.

The band plays and you try to pretend that you’re not disappointed with the turn of events. It’s not like it went anywhere anyway, it was just some mutual looks from afar—no big deal. Also, you were done hooking up with guys like him. Right? Yes, of course. Then you realize he’s seen you in the crowd and is kind of staring at you as he’s singing.

He does that all night, almost singing directly at you the entire time. You’re flattered, and maybe a little into it, but it doesn’t change who he is or that your friend already called dibs.

After the show, the three of you are getting ready to leave when a guy approaches and asks if you and your friends would like to meet the band.

“Absolutely!” Veronica replies before you can decline, grabbing Jordan and you both by the arm and following the guy as he leads you to the back. 

The room he leads you to isn’t glamorous: its small and is full of old furniture that doesn’t really fit the space. But the band doesn’t seem to care as they crowd around a small table with their drinks. As you and your friends enter, they all stand and greet you. Veronica immediately introduces herself to everyone and you try not to notice that the lead singer keeps looking back at you even as your friend is speaking.

When it’s your turn, you offer your hand to him so as to get it over with faster.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” You say politely, shaking his hand for the briefest of moments.

“Officially, that is. I couldn’t help but notice you staring at me earlier.” He says bluntly, but with a flirtatious smile. You flush again and he laughs a little. “I thought I should properly introduce myself. I’m Emilio.”

“Y/N.” You reply. 

“Thanks for coming, Y/N. I hope you enjoyed the show.” Emilio says, moving closer to you as someone has to move past him in the small space. His arm brushes up against yours and you feel your heart quicken.

“Yeah, I did. You guys have a really nice sound.” Emilio smiles at your compliment and you glance over at Veronica but don’t catch her eye. Surprisingly, she’s more interested in talking to the drummer now. You hate the little bit of relief that gives you.

“Want to sit?” He offers, gesturing to the sofa. You look at your friends, who don’t seem to be leaving any time soon, and nod. The two of you sit down and you try not to think about the fact that your knees are touching in the close quarters.

“So what do you do, Y/N?” He keeps his eyes on you as he takes a sip of his drink.

You sigh at this, reality slapping you in the face at his inquiry. Emilio lowers his drink with a questioning look.

“Look, I know you’re not really interested in what I say.” You admit, making him raise an eyebrow. “You’re just trying to hook up.”

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. 

“Woah, you’re getting a little ahead of yourself, Y/N. You don’t even know me.” 

“Yeah, I don’t, but I do know guys like you.” 

“I think that’s a little unfair.”

“Maybe, but I’m not worried about being fair.” You reply. 

Emilio scoffs, and to your surprise, he smiles. 

“Honesty. I like that.”

Annoyance sparks in you and you ignore how half of it is directed towards yourself because of how you like it when he smiles.

“You do, huh? Well, here’s honesty for you: I didn’t want to come tonight. She convinced me,” you point at Veronica, “because she wants to sleep with you—because that’s what you do.”

“Says who?”

“Says her college roommate that you slept with.”

“Okay, I guess you caught me.” He sits up slightly, leaning in closer to you. “But you have to admit you’re interested.”

“I’m not.”

“Really? Because the way you looked at me earlier tonight suggested otherwise.” 

The two of you are close, almost nose to nose. Emilio looks down at your lips and you take in a breath. His hair falls forward as his gaze stays downward, beginning to lean in to close the gap.

“That doesn’t matter.” You insist, putting a hand on his chest and moving him away from you slightly. Your hand rests there a moment too long and you ignore the smirk on his face as you put it back in your lap.

“Okay, if you say so, Y/N. But just so we’re clear, I don’t see anything wrong with having a little bit of fun.”

You roll your eyes and Emilio smirks again, taking a swig of his drink.

You and Emilio then join the larger conversation with the rest of the band and your friends. Time passes as you all have fun talking about your lives.

The band tells stories about when they met, how they started, and previous gigs they’ve had. You enjoy the way Emilio’s eyes sparkle when he talks about his music. Maybe it’s just the buzz you were feeling earlier, but you allow him to sneak an arm around the back of the couch behind you at some point. 

Sometimes the two of you break off into private conversations when the opportunity arises. Despite your earlier reservations, you find yourself opening up to him about your life. How things aren’t perfect right now with where you wanted to be and you just needed some time out tonight to not think about it. Emilio listens and relates to you, expressing his own frustrations with affording rent on the sporadically paid basis that comes with being in a band. You can feel your opinion about him change with each new topic you cover. 

After a while, the group conversation dies down as it gets later in the night. You and your friends have to head home, and Emilio insists on walking out with you to your ride.

With Jordan and Veronica already in the Uber, you stand just outside the club’s back entrance with Emilio. He grabs your hands and you resist rolling your eyes at the cliche with a smile on your lips.

“I had a great time tonight, Y/N.” Emilio says, the height difference making his hair fall down to his brows again. 

“Yeah, me too. It was nice to get out and not worry about things for a while.” You look down at your clasped hands before looking back at him. 

You can’t read the expression on Emilio’s face, but you feel like you can see the sparkle in his eyes—the one you know is genuine even in the short time you’ve spent together. 

“It doesn’t have to end, you know. We can go back to my place…” But Emilio doesn’t finish, already sensing your answer. He gives you a small smile.

“I did have fun though, Emilio. Maybe it wasn’t the kind you were looking for, but it was enough for me.” 

“No, it was enough for me, too.” 

You smile at that, a little surprised. But there was that sparkle again. 

Silence ensues. Neither of you want the night to end but know it won’t go any further. You look back down at your hands again for a moment before looking back at him. 

“Goodbye, Emilio.” 

“Goodbye, Y/N.” 

Then you do it: you reach up and kiss him. Electricity sparks as you let go of his hands so you can reach up and touch his neck. His response is eager and the kiss deepens as you taste the alcohol on his tongue. Emilio wraps his arms around your waist and you run a hand through his hair before pulling away slightly, staying close so you can savor the moment.

“Maybe another time.” You say in a breath, taking one last look at his eyes before pulling away completely. 

You keep your eyes on him as you walk away, enjoying the slightly dazed look on his face. With butterflies in your belly, you get into the car and give one final wave to Emilio. He waves back, giving you a smile as he runs his hand through his hair. The Uber pulls away.

Even if he forgets about you and moves on to the next girl tomorrow night, you don’t really care. It was nice to imagine what it would’ve been like if you had taken him up on his offer—but tonight was perfect just as it was. His was one of the best kisses you had ever had. 

(p.s — he didn’t forget your name). 

[profiler-in-courage]

I’m out of practice writing these types of scenes but here is my go. Creekmore Ch. 9

Also I was listening to Small Talk by Niall Horan while writing this if you want that experience. I’ll link it at the bottom.

Chapter 9.

Emerson paced in his living room. He had been doing this since he got home and that was almost an hour ago. He hadn’t even taken off his boots yet.

The click of his heels was oddly soothing to him. It reminded him of when he was a boy in San Antonio and his father’s footsteps would wake him up in the morning.

He peeked at the clock. It was 8:13.

Gwyn hadn’t gave him a time frame of when she would be over, which made him more nervous.

Waiting. He hated waiting when he knew something bad was coming.

You don’t know if it’s bad, he thought.

Although, wasn’t it always when someone used the “we need to talk” line?

She was mad. He knew it. He didn’t have to be a detective to know it.

She wanted more and thought he didn’t

But I do.

Did he? Did he really?

Maybe his use of caution was his subconscious telling him he wasn’t ready for a relationship. Sexual or otherwise.

His memory flashed back to when Gwyn had popped her head out from under the covers. Her hair in turmoil on the top of her head.

In that moment he knew. He knew he cared for her and that he wanted nothing more than to be all in.

Now if only he could convince her.

*******************************************************

Men are idiots, Gwyn thought as she drove to Emerson’s apartment.

Somehow during the day she had convinced herself that it wouldn’t work between them. He was too timid. She wasn’t one to beat around the bush. And Emerson seemed to excel at it as if it were a sport.

Was she being impatient?

With sex, a relationship, maybe she was rushing things?

You aren’t, she reassured herself.

She pulled into the complex, a more modern one than hers.

Apartment 4B, that is where she was headed.

She walked the halls, searching for the door number and searching for the courage that had been with her only moments ago.

*******************************************************

Emerson heard the knock. It was now or never.

Before Gwyn had a chance to utter a single syllable he took her in his arms and kicked the door closed with his foot.

Their mouths crashed together, halting any high-horse speech from either of them.

Emerson felt Gwyns hands tugging at his hair. It made every cell in his body scream for her.

He swooped her up and carried her into his bedroom. He set her gently on his bed, kicking off his boots before he moved over her.

They still hadn’t even said hello.

Gwyn didn’t seem to mind the lack of verbal communication.

She tugged at his belt as he undid the buttons of her blouse from top to bottom, placing a light kiss at every show of her skin.

Gwyn undid his buckle with one hand, which elicited a shocked chuckle from Emerson.

“You’re good at that,” he mumbled, his lips busy doting on her skin.

“I’m good at a lot of things,” she answered.

At that, he stood back and lifted his brown knit sweater over his head and slid off his jeans.

Gwyn kicked off her pants, not breaking his gaze for a second.

Emerson stood there in his underwear for a moment, looking at her in the same.

“You know maybe we should…” he started.

Is he fucking serious right now!? You have got to be…

Before she could finish her thought she caught the glint of a jest in his eye.

“Oh you little!” she laughed, grabbing his hand and pulling him back onto her.

Emerson kissed her deeply. Snaking his hand down to pull off her lavender lace.

“Do you know how badly I’ve wanted you?” she whispered against his cheek.

He brushed a hand over her forehead, moving the strand of hair that threatened to cover her eyes.

“I’m sorry I left this morning,” he said, feeling her hands slide off his own underwear.

She placed a finger on his lips.

“No more talking.”

He nodded.

Gwyn gripped his black sheets as he slid slowly into her. He placed a hand over her clenched fist.

“Am I hurting you?” he asked, concern laced in his tone.

She let out an incredulous huff, “No goddamnit, continue.”

A roguish smile broke out across Emerson’s face as he bent his head to kiss her. He felt her all around him now.

Dear god, he thought, not knowing how long he would be able to last.

It had been nearly 10 years since he had been with someone.

He found a rhythm and bit Gwyn’s shoulder. She turned her face to take his ear in her mouth.

Gwyn brushed a now sweaty lock of Emerson’s hair to the side. He got up on his knees and brought her with him. She wrapped her legs around him so she wouldn’t slip.

“You’re beautiful,” he declared between breaths.

“And you’re amazing,” she said, trying to catch hers.

She kissed him softly, slowly, but with purpose. Taking her time with the man that had shattered her plans tonight.

Emerson was gentle but ardent with her. And he was good. So good. One would never know he was out of practice.

He pinned her back on the bed, Gwyn could sense he was close.

She wrapped her arms around tightly around his back as he finished.

Emerson’s breathing slowed. He gave her one last lingering kiss before he rolled off of her.

“Wow,” he said, an arm over his forehead.

Gwyn giggled, “Wow indeed.”

“And before you start internally freaking out and problem solving like I know you do, I’m on birth control,” she continued.

Oh shit, he thought.

He had been so distracted that he hadn’t bothered to put a condom on, not that he had one anway.

“I’m sor..”

Before he could finish, Gwyn put her hand over his mouth.

“Emerson Woods if you apologize for anything tonight I will beat the shit out of you with no fear of an assault charge,” she snapped.

Gwyn saw his eyes crinkle into a smile. She rolled her eyes to keep from laughing.

Emerson shifted to his side, now taking his time running his eyes over her naked body.

“Good enough for you?” she teased.

He took her hand and kissed it, “Of course.”

Gwyn scooted closer to him, kissing his chest.

“I want only you,” he whispered against the top of her head. “I haven’t been this happy in a long time.”

She tilted her head to meet his gaze.

“I want only you too,” she said, kissing his chin.

He held up his hand, “Pinky promise?”

“What!?” she laughed.

Emerson chuckled, “Abigail used to always say it when she was little.”

“Pinky promise,” she answered, wrapping her finger around his.

He kissed her again, his tongue tracing the shape of her lips.

“Just to be clear does this mean we are together now?” she mumbled.

She felt him smile.

“Yes Gwyn.”

Small Talk by Niall Horan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAptfGj09iU

Ch. 1

Ch. 2 & 3

Ch. 4

Ch. 5

Ch. 6

Ch. 7

Ch. 8

[musubiki]

ive never really talked about this but jealous mochi is 100% a thing (and this got long and fic-y so i put it under a read more. chapter preview????)

so especially in the beginning when shes just getting her powers, and shes limes totally-normal-best-friend, he like half-flirts with girls a lot of the time and mochi has a kinda jealous episode

there's gonna be a short part when lime goes out with penny bun for a little bit?? (ms. penny bun, perfect cheerleader, keeps a trophy book of all the boys shes dated/used, upgrades to the newest iphone every year, who is super interested in lime for his popularity and looks, and is totally condescending to little creampuff shop daughter mochi)

and during the time lime goes on like 2 dates with her mochi gets more distant towards him because 1) that shit hurted, and 2) penny hates her so it's super uncomfortable and awkward, so she deals with it by avoiding him altogether

but then this nags at lime WAY MORE because the whole time his stupid ass is thinking ‘why the hell is she avoiding me?!’ cue throwing paper wads at her head in class, trying to catch her at the end of her ceramics club but the other members inform him that she left early, he tries texting her but she doesn't read them for a long time

pom offers mochi some suggestions, but mochi was never great at taking advice when she's in a bad mood, and excuses it as “He can do whatever, it gives me more freedom to practice magic without him bothering me” and hides in the greenhouse

and after a day of this, lime decides okay, maybe shes just feeling crowded?? or sick?? and gives her space, but after 2-3 DAYS he’s more like “Okay, fuck it.” and after whole day of barely talking to her, ends up jumping her backyard fence and pounding on the greenhouse door, demanding to be let in because “I asked your mom I KNOW you’re in there!” 

and mochi, half freaking out, is rushing to hide all her witchy stuff and switch the dial on the greenhouse door because knowing lime, he might just punch the door open if she makes him wait too long. maybe not. he's not THAT violent, she thinks.

so pom jumps out the window and leaves her alone, and she opens the door to lime, standing there leaning with his arm against the door and trying not to look as irritated as he feels. she tries to play it off cool with an awkward “Oh hey! What’s up? Haven’t seen you much today hahaha-” 

and he stands there with a half smirk looking down at her for a few seconds in silence before saying “Yeah, wonder why.” and the ‘casual-with-a-hint-of-irritation’ tone in his voice makes the awkward smile fade from her face. her shoulders scrunch and her hand rubs her arm as she turns and quickly walks back to the sink to fill up her watering can, pretending to be busy, and he follows her in.

“Okay, you gonna tell me why you’re mad at me?” Lime says as he leans on the table next to the sink and leans over to see her face. “I’m not mad at you.” She says while trying to sound as normal as possible, but he knows her better.

“Is it because I keep stealing all your creampuffs?”

“That’s normal at this point.”

“Technically that’s your fault for being easy to steal from.”

“I’m not easy to steal from, you have long arms!” She laughs out, and he chuckles. He kinda missed seeing her smile the last few days, but he shoots the thought out of his head. They usually stray from the current conversation, so he brings it back. 

“Did I step on your foot or something?”

“??? I wouldnt be mad at you about that-?”

“Is it because I ate the last of your ice cream on wednesday-”

“I- That was you?!?”

“HAHA noo-” He coughs, “What, does it have something to do with school?”

“No.” 

“Does it have something to do with the shops?”

“No.”

“Does it have something to do with Penny?”

and then she falls silent for a moment. a smirk slowly and gradually grows on his face until she finally answers with a much softer “no,” and as soon as it leaves her mouth, an “oh my god” comes out of his. “Are you jealous?!” he asks with a lot more excitement than he should. He’s never seen Mochi jealous before holy shit??? he tries to hide how much his face just lit up but its too late, she already saw it. 

“No! I’m not!!” Mochi almost yells, and tries to walk away very fast, but lime grabs the intersection of her overall straps and pulls her backwards, laughing and snorting at her. “Mochiiii~” he almost sings out teasingly, and she covers her face with her hands, groaning out a “Nooooo-!” muffled by her fingers. “HAHAha-I [snorts] W- I’m- What, you don’t like her????” He asks sarcastically, laughing. he knows shes terrible. hes not dating her seriously. he was just bored. 

Mochi falls back on the couch with her face still covered by her hands and groans. “NO- no I-...I mean - she doesn’t like me, and I’m not crazy about her either-” she mumbles out, Lime is smirking this whole time and slowly moves towards her. “-but i don’t wanna be that friend that tries to tell you what to do, or who you can and can’t hang out with I just [SIGH] its just....weird being around you when you’re around her and I.....-...yeah,” her hands fall to her lap, and lime is now crouching on the floor in front of her. 

He gives her the most amused, teasing, flirty, shit-eating look and she looks away, mumbling out a small “sorry,” and a few moments pass before he speaks again. “.......you don’t want me to see her anymore?” he asks, his voice a lot softer and lighter than it was 5 minutes ago, and her head shoots up “Wh- no! No! I mean if you want to keep seeing her then- I don’t wanna get in the way-!” Mochi stammers out, and Lime just laughs at her and folds his arms over her thighs. her cheeks turn red. “Moch listen, I don’t actually LIKE like her, alright? She flirted a little and I was bored so we went out, like, once. That’s it.” 

“I thought it was twice-?”

“Well the first one didn’t count because we just happened to both be at Mcdonalds at the same time. Plus she paid.”

“Oh god, you let her pay?” Mochi giggles out in amusement. 

“Eh, it was like $8.50.” 

“Oh nice, did they have the dipped cone there yet?”

“OH- yeah. We should go sometime. But anway-” Lime redirects the conversation after they strayed AGAIN. “Here’s the thing Moch, I’m not gonna go out with someone who doesn’t like you. You’re my best friend, and besides,” Lime looks up at her and smiles, “...anyone who doesn’t like you - obviously isn’t a good judge of character.......and isn’t someone I’d wanna hang out with anyway.” 

He looks at her eyes and tries his best to imply that she’s one of the best, if not the best person he knows. He doesn’t even know if she gets the message. She does, but shes not sure if thats what he was trying to say, so she just quietly gulps down a little. “Okay?” he smiles, nudging her legs a bit, and she smiles. “Are you sure?” Mochi asks quietly, and he snorts. “Yeah- how about don’t ignore me next time though, huh?” 

and she laughs as he lightly jabs her side, and he stands up, about to move away before adding: “Oh yeah, and since you got to veto one of my dates, this means that I am LEGALLY ALLOWED to veto one of your boyfriends in the future.” A shit-eating grin plasters over his face, but she just gives him a bit of a flat look, her face gets red and she thinks ‘can’t veto yourself, idiot.’ she cant think of any other guy he could possibly veto. she couldnt think of anyone else she would want to date, so she just laughs and agrees. 

(and she thinks hes joking, but lime 100% carries that in his pocket and then uses it to veto sulluvan, and mochis response is just “[exaggerated shrug] deals a deal, sorry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯” and since its technically a contract, sulluvan can’t override it so he has to eat it on one of their deals and hes pissed)

[archivedatl]

AP web exclusive: All Time Low tour diary

Posted by Scott Heisel on 08-Dec-06 @ 04:43 PM

Last month, Baltimore pop-punkers All Time Low took to the road with Sugarcult for a series of shows on the West Coast. Here's some of what they saw, in words and pictures. Learn more at www.alltimelow.com.

#1------------------------------------------------------------ Ooohooo So last night we celebrated two awesome occasions...well 3 since matt's molars finally grew in...anyways yesterday was Haloween and our first night of our tour with Sugarcult. I must say, it is pretty strange touring with a band who I spent the better years of my middle school life watching on MTV. Regardless of where this band has been, it definetly didn't eff with their personalities. They were all super nice to us and each came up and introduced themselves. The show went pretty well but it wasn't a good judgement of our the whole tour is going to be because Sugarcult didn't even headline, the Eagles Of Death Metal did, and the tickets for $25 on Haloween night :) I'm sorry but I would never go to a show if those were the circumstances...I'd be out expanding my collection of holiday treats. Tonight the 'real' tour begins so we will see how it goes. We are playing Washington State University in Pullman Washington. We haven't done too many college shows, so this should be interesting...anyways before we got on the road a couple days ago we were couped up in Ben Harper's (formely of yellowcard, now in amber pacific) house/studio in long beach, CA working on our new CD :). We demoed some hot licks that were going to send over to our producer matt squire so that he can put in some input. I heard my blogs are going to be posted on the Alternative Press website for this tour, so if that's the case then...helll yeah! Well I just woke up from sleeping in the van so I am gonna walk out into the freezing streets of Pullman, WA crack my back and grab some Qudoba. Much Love, Jack --jbstar #2------------------------------------------------------------ Yoo dooodds, So I'm gonna update you guys on the passed couple shows...on Wednsday we played Washington State University. Those kids are freaking crazy! Everyone seemed to be having a good time and we made some awesome new friends. I cannot stress enough, how cool the Sugarcult guys are. Which is really cool because I have been listening to those guys since 6th grade! Anyways before we played, matt thought it would be a good idea to have a fork and knife fight backstage...yeah it turned pretty ugly and we should have some footage online soon enough. That night we partied at 'The Christmas House'. Lets just say that I'm pretty sure alex made out with a dog...I really miss Hit The Lights :( Anways...we played Seattle after the college show and it was offf the hoooook. Everyone in the room was dancing and it got pretty redic. As soon as we told them the alex/dog story they went nuts. We met up with the Pink Spiders that night. We were nervous about that because we've heard some stuff...but for real those guys are the shit. There all super nice and we have no complaints about them. We have yet to tour with a band who we don't get along with (fingers crossed). We also heard that we may be doing a few shows with Cobra Starship in Dec, if that happends that would be sick. I'll keep you guys updated. Someone made us a bucket of the craziest donuts ive ever seen at the portland show last night!! They were reallly good. Sorry for the lack of pics, I'll make sure my next post has more, its just hard to take good pics on a sidekick :). Talk to you guys soon!!Jacko #3------------------------------------------------------------ Yo Babaayyss, Last nights show was off the hook! I love playing at The Boardwalk in orangevale calii. The crowd was as wild as usual and a bunch of kids were singing along. A lot of the same kids who saw us there on the Amber Pacific tour came back. Its always cool to see so many familiar faces,,,cough cough hint hint nudge...you get the idea folks! The next couple shows should be interesting...reno and vegas. I wont be able to gamble but at least ill be able to look at a lot of lights. We all have family comming out, so that should be exciting. I havent seen my brother and sister in ages and i know their gonna be wasted so that means they will be even more friendly :) Also Meg n Dia join up in vegas which is sick, SO SIKED FOR THAT!!! We met them on warped and their super nice. anyways i think its time, i go to In and Out because after this tour im not going to be able to go back for a while :( im going to eat there everyday twice a day until we leave Arizona. Ive attached pics from our set on the Epitaph stage at this years Bamboozle Left and also some pics of our acoustic set the 2nd day! Thanks to everyone who watched us either/both days :) love you peace peace n a bottle o' hair grease, jack #4------------------------------------------------------------ Wow...vegas has to be one of the strangest places on this earth. First of all we showed up in Reno (shity city) only to find that only sugarcults crew was there and the show probably wasnt going on. We were welcomed by a hooker in a pink tanktop and no teeth asking if we had any shirts we could give her...Thankfully we have power windows and middle fingers. Thankfully zack was asleep or he might have took her up on some of her offers...he's getting desperate you know..just kidding! Anyways we decided to hang out with sugarcults crew for a little then start the drive to vegas early since it was 8 house. We got to go over the Hoover Damn which was sweet. It's seriously Vegas Vacation all over again! Anyways, we got to vegas around midnight and it was a fantastic site! My bro and sis were staying at the MGM so thats where i headed. Rian to the Excalibur, Alex and Matt to the Venecian and Zack to the Luxor. We all split up and hung out with our fam for the evening. My brother took me around vegas and boyyy was it interesting. I was approached by numerous drunk people. It was basically like an Ocean City, Maryland for older people. It's just a place for adults to drink, walk around drunk, act like teenagers and maybe gamble a bit here n' there. it was Akward to say the least. Anyways the next day was the show at the House Of Blues at Mandalay Bay...probably one of the nicest venues we have ever played. We introduced ourselves to the Meg n Dia folks and got to know our new tour mates as we shared a dressing room. We soon found they are awesome people and they share a love for getting wild! The show was pretty cool, and the crowd was big. It was weird though because the merch was not in the venue, it was in the cassino haha. Anyways Vegas was an experience we wont forget, and I cant wait till we go there again. I hope the next time we go, were 21...actually nevermind because that would be three years :)stay rad, Jack #5------------------------------------------------------------ Lame! Tonight was our last show on the Sugarcult Tour featuring The Pink Spiders and Meg n Dia :( Damone will be taking our place on this great lineup. I am jelous that they get to join up! Anyways we made some lifetime friends on this tour and it was a great experience for everyone. Every single show was amazing and the fans never let us down. Traveling to bumfuck arizona and hearing a couple hundred kids sing your song is the coolest feeling ever. Sugarcult was very warming towards us and their personalities suprised the shit out of me. they were such cool guys and even when zack was sick they made him soup and gave him Emergen-C. WHO DOES THAT !?!? Thats like something my mom does...so in a way Sugarcult are our parents. They actually reffered to us as their younger brothers on stage. At the last show of the tour in Little Rock, Arkansas us and Meg n Dia ran on stage during "Bouncing Off the Walls" and started bouncing around and took over Tim's Guitar n Mic, Marko's (my twin) guitar and Airens Bass. It was so fun to bro down with a band that ive been listening to since middle school haha. Alex also got to soundcheck with sugarcult at Texas AM College because tim was at the hospital taking care of his sickness (i think he had a nasty cold). It was so crazy to see alex soundcheck with a band who for the past few years have held a special spot on my ipod and in my cd player :) I attached a pic of him sound-checking for fun. At the end of the show we said our goodbyes and gave our hugs. This is'nt the end of these friendships though, only the beggining...now we head home to write a new cd. Catch us on the road in the northeast in december when we head out with Cobra Starship! Stay safe, Jack