#as with all ST books take what you like leave the rest

[jonathanbyersphd]

Also I bought the official guide book (because I was bored) and

[sophie-looks-at-stuff]

Hi love! I hope you are doing well ☺️

If possible could I request a Aemond X reader? Maybe something where he takes notice of a hobby reader likes and surprises them with something related to it?

Piece de Resistance

Pairing: Aemond x Wife Reader

Summary: Aemond stumbles upon your love for the arts, painting, drawing, sketching, and the like. <3

Warnings: none I don't think, Aemond being a cute and supportive husband. a good moment of domesticity :)

AN: Hello! I absolutely love this request! I hope I did it justice haha. Thank you so much for submitting it! The picture is from Pinterest! It's St Augustine by Philippe de Champaigne.

It wasn’t often you got a moment to yourself nowadays. With your husband acting as Prince Regent in his brother’s absence, you and he both were kept rather busy. Him with the Small Council and issues of the realm, you with the petty social gossipings and happenings of the Court. So rare moments of peace and quiet like this were highly coveted.

Your marital chambers echoed with emptiness as you entered and looked around. The curtains you had chosen fluttered in the breeze. Aemond had not wanted them, but ultimately he conceded, never being able to say no to you. 

He must be in a Small Council meeting, you thought. Or perhaps training with Ser Criston, letting off some steam. Your husband seemed to have an ever-constant knot of stress in his shoulders and neck. You’d tried to massage it out many a time, but it never seemed to budge, or it ended in a much different sort of activity –

Under your armoire, lay a dusty, maroon-red box. You bent down, moving to pull it out of its little hiding spot. You had snuck it under there after you had moved into Aemond’s chambers. The day after your wedding. Aemond had insisted that you move to his quarters as soon as possible. He didn’t like being separated from you more than necessary. If he could, he would have you seated on his lap in Small Council meetings or even when he sat on the Iron Throne. But alas, that was a touch too far, and people would talk. As they always do –

Your husband was kind and dotting, if not overprotective and possessive of you. You had known one another since you were children. Your house and family coming to visit the Court, your mother and the dowager Queen had been friends since their youth. They had hoped that you and Aemond would get along well, and you did, famously so. When he had lost his eye, you had come to the Red Keep, to offer him comfort and company. You had never left after that. 

Your fingertips graze over the top of the box, as you rest it on top of your bed sheets. Leaving an empty trail in their wake. The lock lay rusted and golden on the front, pulling a small key from the pocket of your skirt, you unlock it. A small, soft resounding click bounced off the walls. As you gingerly opened the lid, the stale smell of linseed oil filled your nostrils. Small metal tubes of colorful paint lay untouched in the box. Clean bristles and dirty brush handles scattered about, small rolls of blank canvas. All of which lay, unmoved, unbothered, from the last time you had used them. 

When you were little, you had complained to your mother once about the bore of your lessons. For your tenth name day, she had brought in a painter from Highgarden to tutor you. He had taught you how to mix colors and paint the prettiest flowers. As you grew older, he taught you more complicated things, like ladies in bushy skirts, and golden dragons in the sky. An odd prophecy of your future.

Taking some basic colors, red, blue, yellow, and white, some brushes, and a small roll of canvas, you set up shop at your dressing table. For the time being, altering it into a makeshift desk. Deciding to paint what you knew best, you began to sketch out a dragon among roses, with some charcoal that you had borrowed from Aemond.

He wouldn’t miss it, you thought. He had a small goblet full of charcoal and quills, hiding amongst the piles of books and scrolls on the table. Which he used to plot his war games, or occasionally take dinner with you. When you both grew tired of his family and their bickering. 

The dragon began to take form on the canvas, it looked slightly like Vhagar, large, old, and wrinkly. Her age showing in her face and eyes. Around her, you drew roses, peonies, daffodils, lavender, a great colorful bouquet. Once you had begun mixing the paints, on a makeshift pallet made of spare parchment paper. The other sounds of the world seemed to fade away, the monotony of the act being therapeutic. A much-desired mindless activity in the middle of the war you all found yourself in. You would never voice this to anyone, but it was silly to you. The hubris and hypocrisy of your husband's family was vast and great, and deadly at the worst. The blood of the dragon ran thick and hot, volatile and dangerous. 

You had become so absorbed in your work that you hadn’t heard the door open, the faint call of your name. Lost on the wind perhaps. Aemond stood, leaning a shoulder against the door frame, a small smile playing at his lips, watching you, intently. He knew and had seen you become absorbed like this in a book or some piece of writing, but he had never seen you do this before. Paint.

The colorful oils stain your fingertips and wedge themselves beneath your nails. The same stale smell of the linseed oil met his nostrils.

 An odd sort of smell, he thought. He crept a bit closer, as close as possible not yet wanting you to know he was there. He silently rested his sword on the bed, the sheets muffling any noise it may have made. You were humming softly to yourself. An old hymn your mother used to sing to you. 

As he crept closer, Aemond could make out the picture you were working on. The colors came to life before his eyes, the eyes of his dragon staring back at him. 

“Gevie (beautiful)” He muttered, under his breath.

Startled, you jumped a bit, smudging one of the petals on the peony you were working on. “Shit” you breathed out.

“Aemond, Husband, I had not heard you come in!” You stand, turning to face him, stepping in front of your work as if to hide it.

Aemond chuckled a bit, noticing the pink tinge to your cheeks, embarrassed at being caught. He lifted an eyebrow, and gestured to the painting behind you, 

“May I see it?” He asked, his gaze meeting your own. After a slight pause, you stepped aside. Aemond walked past you, placing a loving hand on your waist, holding you to him slightly. Aemond has developed a habit of always having a hand on you, as if scared you were going to be snatched away, stolen from him. 

Again, he muttered a “Gevie” under his breath. He turned to look at you, your face twisted in anticipation of what he may think. You had hidden the hobby from him not out of malice, but rather out of embarrassment. Other ladies and some lords of the court had mentioned that painting was a poor man's job and that someone of “noble blood” needn’t concern themselves with such silly things. You had been worried that he would have agreed with them, not liking it. 

“I didn’t know you painted. This is lovely,” The hand on your waist moved to tuck a stray tendril of hair behind your ear, it had fallen loose from your braids. 

“I was afraid you would disapprove –” 

“Why on earth would I disapprove my love? This is beautiful, you have a talent”. Your cheeks turned impossibly more pink at his praise and approval. 

“Actually, I would like it very much if you were to paint something on my sword. Vhagar perhaps –” He trailed off thinking, “Or maybe the seas or those flowers are quite lovely too–” You had placed a finger over his lips, laughing. Aemond stopped talking, kissing the digit instead. 

“Yes husband, I would love nothing more,” Your smile matched Aemond’s from before. 

“I would like to show it off–” He murmured against your finger, kissing it again. You moved your hand to his cheek, cupping it lovingly. This small moment of domestic bliss was needed, for the both of you. 

“Well then, go and fetch it, and I shall get to work,” With the excitement of a little boy, your husband retrieved his sword from the bed, unsheathing it, placing it on the desk in front of you. The previous painting moved to the windowsill, to dry. Aemond pulled up a chair, sitting beside you. 

He rested his elbow on the corner of the table, chin in palm. The only free spot on the table, not littered with paints and brushes. You began to work, and he watched you, with nothing but love and admiration in his eye. He could sit here, happily, forever, watching you work, with the setting sun twinkling on the ocean water outside of the windows. Your delicate hands painted the hard metal of his sword. He would let you paint the whole damn keep if it made you happy. And now, with the conqueror's crown resting upon his brow, maybe he would –

Tag List:

@helaenaluvr  @anukulee   @stuckinaf4nfiction

@darylandbethfanforever9

[mentally-gone002]

kisses at the arcade

summary: reader and steve drive dustin to the arcade… and have some of their own fun.

a part 2 to the previous title-less fic that yall loved sm with henderson!reader x steve harrington 

you can find part 1 here, and part 3 here

a/n: so i sent the first part of this to my bestie and she was like “so when do i get a part 2??” and now here we are with a part 2! rlly it is all thanks to her, because not only did she help me make up my mind to make a part 2, but she also helped me completely construct every bit of this!!!! (did i mention she’s never watched ST???) she’s literally amazing so big thank you to my queeeeen!!!!

———————————————————————

dustin charged into the living room slightly out of breath, his ‘thinking cap’ baseball hat smushed over his unruly hair. “mom! can steve drive me to the arcade? mike, will, max and lucas are going.” he panted. 

his sister looked at him from her book while she sat on the couch at the mention of steve. she swallowed back a smile that he’d go out of his way to take her brother to the arcade. 

their mom cleared her throat before she answered. “you can go if your sister does, just to keep and eye on you.” 

dustin looked at his sister with pleading eyes. “please go, we’re gonna try and beat max’s records.” he said. 

“while max is there?” she asked, closing the book and placing it onto the coffee table gently. dustin nodded. “sure, i don’t wanna miss the look on your guys’ faces when she stays with her top score.” her words made dustin scoff while she walked off to her bedroom to grab a sweater and her bag. 

———————————————————————

when steve’s red bmw made its appearance onto their driveway, dustin raced out the front door and his sister followed behind him slowly. she shivered from the early december air that nipped at her cheeks and nose, so she picked up her pace. 

“your sisters got the front tonight, henderson!” she heard steve tell dustin, to which he replied with a groan that sounded like betrayal. she looked at dustin with a smile and stuck out her tongue. 

“real mature.” dustin rolled his eyes while he climbed into the backseat. 

she slipped into the passenger seat and flashed a bright smile at steve before he put the car into gear and began the drive to the arcade across town. 

it was a short drive but after some light conversation and a fair amount of bickering between dustin and steve it felt a bit longer. by the time steve pulled into the parking lot dustin was out of the car and racing towards the arcade. 

“wait until the car is in park next time!” his sister called from out the window before rolling it back up. she turned her face towards steve. “hi.” she smiled. 

“hey.” he smiled back at her, the corners of his eyes creasing in a way that made her heart beat faster. she didn’t know why. 

he reached a hand across the gap between them to connect his palm with the side of her face. she leans into the touch, shifting in her seat to get closer, reaching her own hand to connect with the side of his neck. 

he tried to contain his smile but what was the use if she’s there to create it? steve’s hand slowly drifts down her arm, leaving goosebumps in his wake, which she’d blame on the time of year if he asked, until his palm rested on her knee. the honey color in his irises were almost chased away from how his pupils were blown out. 

his gaze shifted between both of her eyes as he whispered, “you look beautiful tonight, you know that, right?”

she felt her face heat up at the compliment and her eyes shifted away from his for a brief second. “thank you.” her voice was a volume just above a whisper.

steve lifts his hand from her knee to hook his fingers beneath her chin, directing her face towards his. his tongue darts between his barely parted lips prior to leaning over the center console, gently connecting his lips with hers. the taste of her strawberry lipgloss made him smile. 

the sound of her heartbeat was in her ears, making it hard to think of anything other than him and the way his soft lips slowly danced against hers rhythmically. her fingers tangled in his soft chestnut hair while she pulled away to breathe, eyes still closed and her forehead to his. “we should go inside. the kids are probably wondering where we are.” she didn’t want to say this but she knew that keeping an eye on the kids was the best idea, considering that they’d still be paranoid due to the events from a month ago.

steve knew she was right but he was feeling greedy, only wanting her all to himself right now. “they’ll be okay without us, won’t they?” he wondered quietly as he reached for her hip, smoothing his thumb over the fabric of her clothes covering it. steve pulled her closer to him, being mindful of the console separating them. 

with labored breaths and a butterfly filled stomach she nodded, giving in to him. “what if they come out and see us?” she asked with a quick pull away from their proximity. her eyebrows were pinched together, creating a tiny wrinkle between them that steve wanted to smooth away with his thumb.

steve brings her back in and tilted his head to the side. “they won’t, baby, i promise.” he gave her a reassuring grin, making sure she mirrored it before once again connecting their lips together. 

———————————————————————

dustin angrily shifted the joystick and pressed the buttons of the arcade machine, trying to make more progress and wrack up the most points so that he’d finally beat max’s score on dig-dug. as he played, lucas, mike, will and max huddled around his back to watch the screen with nervous anticipation. 

“look out!” lucas exclaimed, pointing at an enemy just before it killed dustin’s character. 

the game made the animated sound signifying that he lost and dustin kicked the machine. “son of a bitch.” he sighed, shoving a hand into his coat pocket to try and pull more coins for another round; his pocket was empty. “anyone have any quarters i can barrow?” he asked the group. they all shook their heads, wanting to keep theirs for themselves. 

“ask your sister for some, i’m sure she’d have some.” will suggested with a smile. everyone else nodded in agreement, finding the idea a good one. 

dustin turned around, staring at the bench beside the front doors where both his sister and steve should have been. “hey, has anyone seen my sister or steve?” he looked back at the group. everyone turned their heads towards the bench at once. “they aren’t there, dumbasses, that’s why i’m asking.” he clarified. 

mike shrugged. “maybe they’re still outside?” he sounded bored at the fact they were trying to solve the mystery of dustin’s missing sister and steve harrington. 

dustin nodded. “probably.” he said before running towards the doors, dodging away from other kids. everyone followed on his heels all the way outside into the cold until they all stopped outside the red bmw which was still running. 

dustin reached for the passenger door handle without even looking inside, his only concern at that moment was quarters. “hey, do you have any- what the hell are you doing?” he exclaimed, stepping back with the door still ajar.

his sister and steve pulled away from each other’s lips in surprise, both staring at dustin’s wide eyes and disgusted expression first before noticing all his friends staring as well. steve shot dustin a nervous smile while she wiped the mixture of their saliva and her lipgloss away from her mouth.

“giving mouth to mouth.” max mumbled and caused the group snicker with laughter. 

dustin harshly nudged lucas, the closest to him, as a sign for him to shut up; lucas did after a small protest of how the shove hurt. “do you have any quarters? i spent mine already.” dustin reached for and snatched away his sisters bag off the floor beside her feet.

she stole it back from him. “hey! don’t dig through my things.” she said firmly, going for her wallet. “how many do you need?” her question made the group smile. 

dustin shrugged. “twenty for what i just witnessed.” he muttered. she shot him a glare. “i mean- just three dollars worth.” he reiterated with an innocent smile. 

she dug around for quarters and handed them all to dustin when she found the amount he wanted. the group took that as a sign to go back inside since they began to grumble about the cold. dustin tried to follow but his sister called him back.

“please don’t tell mom, okay?” she asked with pleading eyes. dustin nodded which made her sigh in relief. 

“you owe me though. and you,” he pointed at steve. “you owe me as well.” steve nodded in understanding which made dustin walk back towards the arcade, slamming the car door before he left. 

she looked back at him, bottom lip held between her teeth anxiously. steve frowned at her expression and leaned towards her. “hey, it’s okay.” his hand smoothed over her hair slowly, the curls bouncing back once his hand brushed them over. “maybe it is time to y’know… tell people?” he shrugged. his hand settled lightly on her shoulder. 

her teeth let go of her lip so she could speak. “yeah… i just wish he didn’t have to find out like that.” her concern had steve nodding with adamant agreement. she looked away from him in thought. 

he dropped his head to the side as his hand guided her face and eyes back to his. “it’s all gonna work out for us, okay? you don’t have to worry.” the kindness in his eyes made her feel more sure about the situation so she nodded in advance to leaning forward to press her lips against his again. she just wanted to be extra sure, and he kissed back with a gentle assurance.

it was going to work out for them. 

————————————————————————

to anyone wondering… yes there will be a part 3 and i’m working on it rtn!!! coming very soon yall

[bluekidchaos]

Holding you again

here's to hoping i write a bit more this year!!

Pairing: Severus Snape x fem!Reader

Warnings: 18+, post-second wizarding war, severus snape lives, mostly suggestive smut, fluffy smut, some angst

Words: 1,3k

Can also be read on AO3!

Back to masterlist.

I had accepted my death from the very beginning -knowing it was inevitable- and I had made my peace with it, mostly. Many regrets haunt me but the biggest one is leaving her behind with my timely demise. Those regrets hit me as that damned snake lunged at me, as I gave Potter my tears, as I could feel my life slip from me. One final thought before I disappear, forgive me.

-

My lungs are on fire, no, I think I'm drowning? Maybe it's both. My whole body aches, my ears are ringing and I can't see, it's too bright or.. maybe too dark? Is this what hell feels like? It must be, eternal agony.

There's shouting around me, movement, it sounds like her, but it can't be. I'm dead. It's just a last cruel joke from the universe.

-

A muffled voice tears through my senses. "Sev? I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, I just wanted to say.. I miss you, please come back to me." A cruel joke indeed.

Severus wakes up with a yell, the searing pain jolting him upwards making him almost double over in the bed. Frantically looking around him for any sign that he's in danger. The lights are blinding him but he can faintly make out that he's in a hospital.

A healer runs into the room, a young woman he recognizes having taught a couple of years prior. She says something to him but the ringing in his ears is too loud.

Severus is on edge. While he's sure he's at St. Mungos, he doesn't know whether Voldemort is dead or if he's actually safe.

His senses are working overtime now. Severus is holding one hand towards the ceiling trying to shield his eyes from the harsh light. The ringing is slowly starting to cease and some words are getting through to him.

"Professor? ... Can you - me?" The woman notices his aversion to the light and dims it a bit.

Severus tries to speak back but only gargled noises come out and he finally acknowledges the pain in his throat. Feeling like someone tore it out and put it all back wrong.

"Don't try to speak, you're still healing. Here, you must be thirsty." She hands him a glass with a straw in it. The first sip feels like heaven, if he were alone he'd probably let out an audible moan at how good it felt.

Another healer comes in shortly after, a man this time, that Severus knows from when he has supplied the hospital with potions. He explains everything to Severus, Voldemort was defeated by Potter, and they won the war. He was in critical condition when they brought him here and he's been in a coma for six months.

Severus's thoughts start spiraling, it's been half a year. Where are you? Are you okay, alive?

The older healer tells him to rest but Severus can't stop thinking about you, and he also just woke up from a coma, how much more rest does he really need?

Whether he wanted to or not Severus did end up falling asleep again and when he woke you're sitting by his side, reading a book. He doesn't wanna disturb you at first, just takes some time to take you in. Your hair is tucked behind your ears, lower lip trapped between teeth while you focus on the words in the book.

It takes a couple of minutes before you look up from your book and notice his eyes on you but when you do you almost throw your book aside and jump at him. Landing perhaps a bit too roughly over him you embrace him in a tight hug, sobbing in relief.

"You really are awake! Oh merlin, I thought.. I-" Another sob broke through you and Severus held on tighter, he wanted to say something, to comfort you. Tell you it was okay now, but nothing came out.

-

Severus spent another six months in St. Mungos before they let him go home. During this time you were by his side every day. He regained his speaking abilities, his voice was still hoarse and would probably continue to be but at least he could talk again. The pain had mostly subsided into a dull background feeling.

The moment he stepped foot into their home he felt himself relax properly for the first time in a year. Fatigue hitting him pretty hard too, he wanted nothing more than to just go to bed and hold you.

You broke the silence first, "I think we could both use a nice hot bath right about now, hm?"

He only nodded at your proposal, a bath didn't sound too bad, he could still relax and he did need to wash off probably.

While the bathwater ran you helped each other undress, planting soft kisses over the exposed skin, gentle touches over faded scars.

Eventually moving into the bathroom you add some oils and bubbles to the water before stepping into it. Severus joins shortly after and once he's made himself comfortable you lean back against his strong chest.

His arms move to encircle you, holding you tightly like he's scared you'll disappear at any second. You let the silence envelop you, no words were needed.

Severus could feel his need for you rising with every second he had you in his arms, never wanting to let you go again. He started trailing kisses along your neck.

You moaned slightly in response and let your head fall back against his shoulder to give him more access. Feeling his arms untangle themself a little, one trailed up to cup your chest and the other slowly made its way down between your thighs.

The hand on your breasts groping you and rolling your nipples between his fingers while his other hand starts making slow and deliberate circles around your clit.

You whine into his ear and your legs fall open as much as the little tub lets them. A hand of your own reaches above you to tangle into his hair and guide his head to plant kisses on his face.

While his fingers are working you into a frenzy he captures your lips with a passionate and intense kiss, all the words you didn't say to each other before transferred through the kiss. His tongue swiped across your bottom lip to ask for entry.

You open your mouth to him, letting his tongue and taste overwhelm your senses, your tongue coming to meet his in a lazy battle for dominance that he eventually won.

Severus could feel you tense above him and his fingers sped up. You felt yourself getting closer to the edge, neither of you caring to drag out the moment much. It was pure desperation and need, longing for each other.

He had broken your kiss to catch his breath but his forehead was still connected to yours, not daring to break too much contact with you. "Let go my darling, I love you so much.."

Your orgasm washed over you softly, Severus's fingers slowing down a bit to not overstimulate you but keeping the movement up to extend your pleasure.

Only when he felt you relax in his arms again did he stop. He was back to kissing you, less hurried this time, just full of emotions and softness.

You pulled back a little to look at him, feeling tears well up in your eyes you just smiled at him.

Severus wiped away a stray tear before kissing you on the cheek and smiling back at you, seemingly understanding you. He kissed your face and head a few more times before letting you sink down more into the warmth of the tub and his embrace.

You stayed in the tub long after the water turned cold just holding on to each other. 

[thewritetofreespeech]

Gale x Tav

words: 1992

rating: E

pairing: Gale x Tav (post game pairing)

summary: since you all are so thirsty for an extended verison of the NSFW headcanons post, I guess I had to make one. I am nothing if not a servant to my people.

tags: magic sex (literally. but also metaphorically), exhibitionism, voyeurism, masturbation (kind of), Gale using magic for naughty reasons, projection!Gale

part ii part iii

“Alright class! Please turn your alchemy text to Chapter 8, page 394.”

There was a loud, unanimous sound of rustling paper as all the students in the lecture hall flipped through their books to the requested text. You don’t know what Gale was always complaining about. This teaching thing wasn’t that hard.

Gale had to leave for a community conference of the Blackwater staff and some of the other schools of magical arts in Faerûn. Given that they were all wizards, you had asked why they all couldn’t just project their consciousness into one place and avoid the travel, but Gale didn’t have an answer for that and left earlier that week. In his absence, he had asked you to take over his Introductory to Magics class while he was gone. Given that it was an introductory course, which mostly meant learning the basics and text anyway, and you’d had ‘private tutoring’ from Mystra’s former Chosen himself, he insisted you were more than qualified to act in his stead.

It had actually been pretty fun. The young weave masters were all eager to learn. Honestly the hardest thing was keeping them on task with the subjects instead of running off with a lot of questions about your victory over the Elder Brain and recuse of the realm. It was flattering, but not apart of the testing materials.

The students all wait patiently with their books open for you to begin, and you turn around to the blackboard. All of a sudden you felt a twinge between your legs. Not a painful one but more….

“Professor [Y/N], are you alright?”

You turn to look over your shoulder at the class, clearly spaced out for a moment, before you smile and tell them, “oh yes. Sorry. Let’s talk about alchemy then.”

You begin to write and talk to the class when you feel the sensation again. It was faint, but distinct. At first you thought it was just the seam of your trousers rubbing against your apex. But it was too consistent for that. The sensation would come. Then the sensation would go. You tried to keep your mind on the lesson but the more it came & went you had to wonder what was going on.

It couldn’t be Haarlep. Despite your adventure being over, your contract with the sex demon wasn’t. He still used your form from time to time, though your popularity in Avernous seemed to be waning as he hadn’t called on it in some time. If it were him the sensation would be constant, before fading away like a breathless sigh off your lips. So it was something else.

By the time you get through explaining the 4 key groups of alchemy, and made it to page 396, the sensation had crawled up from your core and just to the pit of your belly. You were having a harder time focusing on the lesson. Your attention now spilt between 50% focused on what was happening to your body, a mere 10% on the lecture, and the rest on the stimulating sensation between your legs that was just too pleasurable to resist.

To save face, and avoid any embarrassment like moaning out loud in front of a class full of minors, you quickly pivot the class schedule into independent study. Telling the students to go out around campus and find 5, no 15 herbs, floral, whatever to craft with for tomorrow morning’s follow up lecture on application.

Some of the students seem confused. While other just look excited to have the afternoon off for ‘foraging’. Still, the all leave rate orderly while you wave them off, and just as the door closed behind the last one you let out a deep breath you didn’t really you were holding and brace your hands against the desk.

Your body felt like it was on fire. Teased, tormented, toyed with. Your hands still splayed on the desk, you spread your legs and let out a moan. Conventionally thinking would lead on to believe that rubbing your thighs together would make the sensation stronger, yet somehow spreading them apart made more room for…whatever this was to work. Your clit throbbed at the feeling of something rubbing against it. If they weren’t in front of you, you would have sworn it was your own hand touching you. The sensation was so similar. Your fingertips twitch at the thought. Prepared to slide down the front of your pants to finish you off.

“Hello there!”

You jump with a start. Eyes wide in alarm at the sound of a voice. The immediate thought coming to mind that another professor has come to ask why the entire Introductory to Magics class is out picking herbs & flowers instead of being in a classroom and caught you on the cusp of a very public private moment. Thankfully, it wasn’t. Only Gale’s Mirror Image projection standing there looking cheerfully at you. “Gale? What are you doing here?”

“I assume you mean what is Gale doing sending me here.” The clever non-corporeal remarked. “Gale has sent me here to see how his new technique is working out. And, judging by your flushed cheeks and wanton appearance, I would say it’s going splendidly!”

Your brain struggled to gather all the bits of information the projection was dealing out through your fog. But you gather enough to finally understand what’s going on. “Gale did this to me!”

“Doing. He is doing this to you ma’m.” As if to prove a point of the explanation, there was another, firmer press of rubbing against your clit. One that made you moan again and knees nearly buckle. “Gale has informed me, to tell you, that he enchanted one of the stones on his ring to be linked with your…well…your own stone. He also wants me to tell you it’s the ruby one. On the silver band.”

The one you bought him. “Can I ask…mmm…why he did this?”

“You can ask! He says it was to give you pleasure while he was away. Long distance relationship can be tricky.” It had been less than a week. “He thought this would be a good resolution in the intermedium. And, perhaps other times in the future.”

You’re not sure if you should feel violated by Gale’s magical molestations or marvel at his creativity. It didn’t really matter in the end because all you could think about was the nagging need to cum. And one other nagging thing – “and you couldn’t possibly wait until I was home to try out this new technique? I’m in the middle of teaching your class. I’m still at the academy! What if someone comes in here right now??”

“Oh. Not to worry. Gale has informed me that the door is magically locked until 2:30 this afternoon. Something about office hours? No one can enter until after that time. Does that help answer your question?”

You let out another long, heavy sigh. One of abject relief and feeling your legs give way as you fall back into Gale’s chair. All the energy sapped from your body as you gave way to the pleasure that had been bubbly up. No longer holding it back, but instead letting it wash over you.

“Gale says he’s happy you like your present.”

You open your eyes. Seeing the projection staring at you with a blank, but soothing expression. Those unending eyes seeming to look right through you. Or perhaps, more to the point, stare past itself and straight to Gale. It was kind of hot. The coolness of its gaze. “My present, eh?”

The projection nodded. “Yes. He says he did this for you.”

“Just for me?” You unbutton your blouse. It had been feeling terrible constricting for quite some time now anyway. The projection doesn’t say anything. Nor does its expression change more than the slight tilt of it’s head, as the fabric gave way to relieve more skin and the outline of your breast in their bra.

“He says yes. But the pockets of his mind I can access independently lead me to believe it’s not purely altruistic.”

You giggle at the projection’s honesty, before your laughter turned into moans. The feeling on your clit more intense. As if Gale was trying to change the conversation.

“Fuck…Gale….” Your back arched off the back of the chair for a moment before it came back down again. “I can’t take it anymore. Are you as anatomically correct as before?”

“Hmm…I believe so.” The projection looked down at itself. Seeming to ponder the concept, as well as all its parts. “But Gale has instructed me that he’s not interested in me using that ability with you. The time in Shar’s Caress was due to the other guests in attendance. With you, Gale wants you all to himself.”

There was an odd feeling of arousal at Gale’s possessiveness, even against himself in a way, but also disappointment. You were close. But the sensation from Gale’s ring to your core wasn’t enough. You needed more.

Just as you were again about to shove your own hand down your pants, you feel a new sensation of hands on you. Not just one hand, or two, but multiple hands. Mage hands. They play with your breasts, your nipples, your ears, your hair. You lean back in Gale’s chair with your eyes closed. Moaning and panting with a white-knuckle grip on the arm rests as the invisible hands play with your body. One finally gives you what you want. Phantom appendage digits thrusting into your inner core, wet and hot.

Your hips jerk up as you let out a wordless scream before the fall back down and you let it fuck you. Legs wide. Blouse open. Mouth agape as Gale abuses his power to abuse your body in the most pleasurable way possible. You’re about to cum probably harder than you’ve ever cum in your life and your pants were still on. How insane was that?

You open your eyes, half lidded and only for a moment, to see the projection still staring at you as you fall apart. Then, you finally do. You cum hard. Bowing back off the chair so hard you hear it creak, before you fall back limp against the soft leather.

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

You look up at the projection again. Trying to catch your breath and right your world again. “Yes.”

“Good. Gale is glad you did. He also says that it’s made up for a rather dull afternoon of meetings.” A shiver ran up your spine at the thought that Gale had done all of this during a meeting. “The time is now 2:00. If you would like to freshen up, I suggest you make haste before 2:30 when the doors reopen. Gale says that enjoys how you look right now, but it is probably not appropriate for academia.”

“Then maybe don’t do this at ‘academia’ locations.” You quip back as you smooth out your hair.

“Fair.” The projection agrees. “Gale would like to know if you would like to do this again then when you are not in academia. Perhaps tonight? At home?”

You bite your lip at the thought of it. Doing this all over again, only this time naked in your bed. Perhaps even able to participate more now that you knew what was going on. “Absolutely.”

“Splendid!” The projection offers you a smile before it fades. Disappearing with a last, “see you tonight” as it reabsorbed back into the weave.

Alone again, you stand on shaky legs and try to right yourself for the next class. You still had two more classes to teach before you could go home that evening and become Gale’s play thing again.

The thought made it completely impossible to be totally focused on your lesson plan. You may have told some impressionable young wizards that Fly and Feather Fall were absolutely the same spell. Oh well. Mistakes happen.

[magics-neptunes-things]

Secret Love II

So, here we are with the second part! I don't really where I'm going with it right now to be honest, so I'm just gonna I’ll just let my imagination run wild.

Thanks for your reviews, don't hesitate leave me some, it always makes me very happy to know what you think of my writings :)

Enjoy!

P.S Part one is HERE

____________________________________________________________

A few hours after leaving your hotel room, you return there hoping to be as discreet as you were before. On tiptoe, you reach your bed and slip under the covers, your mind always with Alexia. She also went to her room, you both agreed that it was important to enjoy the last hours of sleep before dawn. While you are looking for sleep, you don't realize that Ona’s breathing is no longer as deep as when you left, indicating that she is awake.

"... going to be late!"

Ona’s voice comes to you like through a fog and you need a few blinks of eyes to finally fix your gaze on her face.

"Breakfast is in seven minutes, you know how is Vilda with late people"

Oh man. You jump of your bed, frantically searching for your clothes by making more mess than anything else. You sprint in the bathroom to wash your face and comb your hair in a messy bun, trying to get the sleep of your face.

"Ona go, don't be let yourself" you say to your roomate.

"You sure?" she asked, popping her head by the door.

"Yeah"

"Ok. Your shirt is upside down."

You swear before you put it right, jump in your sneakers and go out slamming the door of the room. Obviously the elevator doors close a few meters from you, so you decide to take the stairs. It’s a miracle you’re on time and you're not even the last one.

You spot Alexia, sitting next to Jenni and Irene, with the same fresh, rested look as if she had slept 12 hours straight. This woman, you thought, before serving you a breakfast tray and looking for a free place.

************************

"Y/N what's that?"

You turn around but Aitana had time to have a close look to the hickey Alexia made two days ago. Her loud question made everyone turn around, even if you all were supposed to be focused on your strength exercises.

"What are you talking about?" you ask, your mind racing while looking for a good excuse.

"You got a bruise on your neck"

At this point those who were furthest away turned their attention to their exercises, but you feel that the look of several of your teammates burning your back. You crossed Alexia's eyes for a second and open the mouth to talk, but another voice answers before you.

"It must have been when you fell while getting ready, the morning you were late. I thought she was gonna break her neck."

The second sentence is more for Aitana than for you, but she seems to accept this answer with even a small laugh before grabbing his dumbbell again. It's Ona's look that you cross this time and since you don’t know what to tell her, you’re starting to do your exercises again.

************************

"So, you and Alexia uh?"

You were back in your room, reading a book while listening some music. It was free time but it was so cold outside that you didn't want to go out for now. Ona had said nothing until now, even during the meal time when you found yourself sitting in front of her. Even if you knew the subject was coming at some point, you appreciate the fact that she chooses to be sure she isn’t being heard by anyone to bring the subject.

"Well... Maybe"

You can't fight back the smile on your face and your vague answer seems to be enough for your roommate.

"Who knows?" she asked.

"No one, apart from Alexia’s mother."

"Even Jenni?"

You bite your lip and shakes your head. You know Alexia want to talk about it with Jenni, she's her bestfriend after all. But you had a rule and she just get with it.

"We got together six months after I arrived in Barcelona, I had a hard time understanding what was happening the first time she tried to flirt with me."

You smile in spite of yourself, the flirting was not necessarily the strong of Alexia but you always found it touching.

"And then we broke up when we lost against Wolfsburg, she thought our relationship was what kept her from focusing on the game and the win."

You swallow with difficulty, these memories being particularly dark for both of you. But now that you’ve started talking about your story, you can’t stop. Especially since the Catalan seems to be an excellent listener.

"After that we lost the final... It was awful. I spent every second trying not to look at her, not to show anything to anyone. No one knew and they thought I was disappointed that we lost the final when I was in reality heartbroken."

Lost in your thoughts, your gaze on your hands, you notice only when you feel her presence that Ona left her bed to sit next to you. She places her hand on your arm and you look up at her smiling, which must probably seem strange to her given with what you're saying after.

"Weeks and months passed and we found ourselves training for the Euro. And you certainly don’t need me to remind you what happened with her ACL."

Ona’s grimace speaking of herself, you continue, leaning against the wall behind you.

"I wrote her several times to tell her that I was thinking about her, but she didn't answer. I didn't expect her though, I knew that she had cut contact with almost everyone. But when we were eliminated and I returned to Barcelona, I found her one time on my doormat. She was... I never saw her like that Ona. She was destroyed."

The memory of this moment gives you shivers and you shake yourself mentally to return to the present.

"I let her in and she talked about her insecurities. She told me she was supposed to be in rehab in 15 minutes, but she didn’t want to go. She felt that it was useless and that she would never play again. So I threatened to call her mother and took her there. That’s when we started seeing each other again and got back together soon after."

There was a small silence, during which Ona seemed to digest the information you had just given her. With frowns, she looks at you thoughtfully when answering.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was this deep. And I’m sorry you both had to go through this without being able to tell anyone."

"It's in the past now. I can't talk for her but she makes me really happy. You really saved us this morning, but please keep it to yourself for now"

"I will"

She smiles and you kiss her cheek before she gets up to go to the bathroom. Thinking it's better to inform Alexia, you take your phone.

You - Can you talk?

Mi Reina ♥ - Yes, what's up?

You - Ona knows about us, I kind of just told her everything.

Mi Reina ♥ - Well she kind of cover you up this morning so it was obvious Guapa

You - Sorry if my girlfriend can't keep her lips to herself :)

Mi Reina ♥ - Touché.

Mi Reina ♥ - Can I talk to Jenni about us, since Ona knows?

You - If you want to, it's ok for me.

The next day, it didn’t take you long to realize that Alexia had spoken to Jenni. You have surprised the gaze of the striker several times, examining you with a thoughtfulness look. Every time you catch her looking at you, you were foolishly blushing and it was only when Alexia slapped her head that she stopped looking at you.

************************

Time pass and here you are, at the final of the World Cup. The more you advanced in the tournament, the harder it was to manage time for you and Alexia. But you had a few moments, thanks to Jenni and Ona who covered you a few times. You didn’t escape Jenni’s threatening conversation, based on "Hurt my best friend and you won’t see the light of the day again" but other than that she seems to have given you her blessing.

You were in the locker room once again, but this time it was the Final. You were playing against England, your last game of the tournament. You're not really listening what Vilda is saying, focused on your boots. You start the match, next to Alexia, Ona, Jenni and your others teammates. You’re stressed, you can’t wait for the game to start now.

You haven't forget the promise Alexia made this night in your hotel, but you haven't bring to topic again. Even if it doesn't happend, you couldn't be more happy.

What it seems an eternity later, you were on the fields and the referee was blowing in her whistle. You made it, you were World Champions. Tears of joy and relief invaded your eyes and you find yourself caught in a collective embrace, without really knowing who is tight against you. Cries of joy, tears and the cheering of the crowd around you seem to come from far away.

When you are able to stand up, you find yourself facing Ona who also huggs you before mumbling "I have to find Lucy". Of course she have to, not matter what is her relationship with her, they are really close.

You search for a particular person too, your eyes scanning around for pink hair. When you spot Alexia, she's on the ground and Jenni is helping her to stand up.

A bit like in a dream, you start running towards her before throwing yourself in her arms. The mix of emotion makes you feel like you’re floating when you wrap your legs around her waist and she hugs you back.

"We did it" you say, while she keeps you in her arms.

"Yes we did" she answers, with the most beautiful smile in her face.

If you weren't already madly in love with her, you'll probably fall again right now.

"So… What now?" you asked soflty after some seconds of silence you passed admiring her.

"I'm going to kiss you."

And she did, barely letting you the time to understand what she said. Keeping you in her arms, she approaches her face to yours and places her lips on yours, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Of course you hear exclamations of surprise around you, but you can’t focus on anything other than Alexia. She ends up putting you down, letting go your lips for a few seconds to catch her breath. You then kiss her a few seconds later, drawing her as close as possible.

You may have won the World Cup, but ultimately your greatest victory is her.

[sunshine-theseus]

Apple and Chocolate Muffins | Katie McCabe x Reader

Words: 1.9k Summary: owning a café apparently brings you the girl of your dreams Warnings: fluff

Having your own little book café on a corner of a small street in St Albans, London, brings you things you’d never expect.

I’d first bought the place from an older lady, Ms Nelson, who sold antiques. She’d decided she wanted to spend whatever time she had left travelling. She tried to simply give it to me, but I couldn’t accept and ended up paying her half of what was listed.

She likes to send me post cards whenever she’s about to leave a place. I put the most recent on display on the counter and the rest go in an antique memento box she gifted me before she left.

Ms Nelson also introduced me to my best friend Juniper, one of her old workers who helps run the place now.

“3 years here and you still refuse to tell me what your special recipe is. Whyyy?” Juniper’s favourite item, was my special apple and chocolate muffins. It was an item I refused to take off no matter how many times we changed the menu.

“They wouldn’t be a secret then would they June?”

“But I’m your best friend. And I need these in my life daily.”

“I literally make an extra 3, every night, just for you.”

The ringing of the bell on the door stops her from retaliating, and I approach the counter while June finally makes an order for Mr Byrne, one of our regulars.

“Welcome to the Inkwell Café! What can I get you?” I look at the customer, but my breath gets caught in my throat.

It’s like the Gods just sent down and angel to derail my day. Her eyes were a greyish blue and her skin was sun kissed, freckles scattering her cheeks. And her arms… well fuck me.

“Hello?” I hadn’t even realised I’d stopped paying attention until she waves a hand in front of my face.

“S- sorry could you repeat that?” I let out a nervous chuckle, but she just smiles a magnificent smile.

She starts listing off an order and I momentarily get caught off by her Irish accent, but I manage to take down the 3 different drinks. I’m about to tell her the total when she stops me again.

“Oh! And can I get one of those apple and chocolate muffins? Jonas is going to kill me, but I hear they’re worth it.” I give her a confused look.

“My friend Steph, she comes here once a month as a treat and raves about it at training.” Training?

“Oh! Well, here’s an extra one for her! For free of course. What’s the name for the order?”

“Katie”

“It will be ready soon.” I flash a smile before going to make the coffees.

June comes out of nowhere.

“Why is Katie fucking McCabe in here?” she whispers into my ear.

“Who?”

“Katie McCabe. One of the best Arsenal players ever? Captain for the Republic of Ireland Women’s National Football team? How do you not know her? I talk about Arsenal all the time. They literally train right down the road.” I stare blankly back at her.

“How did she even find us? You don’t casually find this café on your way to work.”

“She said her friend Steph comes here, told her about it.”

“Steph Cately!? I’ve never seen Steph Cately walk through those doors.”

“…Who? And you do tend to not pay attention.” Juniper just groans and I finish making the coffees.

“Katie!” as I give her the drinks, her hand brushes against my own. Tingles run up my arm, but I bid her adieu with a small smile and wave.

~~~~~

Katie begins coming in every Tuesday and Friday, and we slowly get to know each other while Juniper freaks out in the corner. Or sometimes Katie liked to just sit and read in a corner for whatever time she had before she left for training. Either way it was nice.

She loved telling me about her younger sister Lauryn who was on her way to joining Katie on their senior national team, and her crazy encounters on the pitch during games. I tell her about how and why I decided to open a book café and retell the stories Ms Nelson sends me. I also desperately try to repress all my feelings for the Irish angel that blessed my shop every week.

I also find out who Steph is. A very nice Australian woman, who does in fact come in once a month for the Apple and Chocolate muffin. I get to know her a bit too, but she usually grabs her muffin and something for her fiancée and leaves.

The first time Katie misses a Tuesday is 4 months after her first visit. I’m disappointed but don’t think much of it until she doesn’t show up on Friday, or either day the week following. That’s when I decide to visit their training ground, obviously dragging June along to do any talking, to see if I can figure out what happened.

I don’t think about how weird it is until Juniper pulls me out of the car in front of their training centre at 9am on Friday after hurriedly closing the café. And a promise for a free coffee to everyone we had to kick out.

“June this was stupid, this is something you do, not me. Why didn’t you talk me out of it.”

“I’m about to meet the whole Arsenal team just because your huge crush failed to come for her regular coffee a few times.”

“But like it is weird she just stopped coming so abruptly, right? Like we were getting along.”

“I mean sure, but you didn’t freak out like this when Mickie stopped coming. And it took us another six months to find out she’d moved to fucking Glasgow.”

“We should leave shouldn’t we.”

I turn around to head back to the car right as we’re about to enter the reception but come face to face with a slightly shorter brunette. One I’ve seen the face of in some recent team photo Katie had shown me, but was otherwise completely unfamiliar.

“Are you trying to get in? The door can be a little tricky sometimes.” How many Australians did they have here?

“Oh no-“

“Yes! We’re friends of Katie; Y/n and Juniper, and we haven’t seen her in a few weeks. We were hoping to catch her.”

“Oh! I think she’s shown us a picture of you actually! She talks about you both quite a bit. I’m Kyra by the way.”

“I know.”

“Nice to meet you.” I talk over Juniper and hold out a hand for Kyra to shake.

“Well, I’m not quite sure why she hasn’t come to see you, but I can bring you back to the locker room, you’ll just need to fill some forms out probably.” She’s already leading us to the front desk before I can deny her offer.

 Not 5 minutes later Kyra is happily dragging us to the locker room, and I can see Juniper skipping next to me, clearly excited.

“Dude you’ve gotta calm down.” I whisper to her.

“More like you need to stop being so uptight. Kyra Cooney-Cross is literally leading us to the whole Arsenal women’s team.”

“McCaaaabe! Someone’s here to see yoouuu.” Kyra calls out as soon as she opens the door.

“It’s not my bloody mum again is it? I swear she decides to come surprise me far too often.”

I peak out from behind Kyra and give a small wave.

“Hiii” I say meekly as Juniper jumps into talking to her favourite players.

“What are you doing here?” Katie gives me a quick hug.

“Well, you kinda stopped showing up and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

“Oh, y- yeah. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I just, I started getting feelings for you and freaked out and thought that cutting you off would help.”

“Y- you like me?”

“Yeah. Like a lot. I obviously totally understand you don’t like me back.” She lets out a sigh and looks at her boots.

“Shh shoosh shut up.” I place my fingers under her chin and tilt her head up.

It was hard to escape the doom of falling in love with Katie McCabe. Her eyes were the perfect shade of blue, her lips the softest of pinks, her freckles like the stars. She had the kindest of hearts and the most beautiful laugh. A creation made by Aphrodite herself.

“I really like you too.” And her lips are softer than you could imagine as she presses her’s hard against my own.

We’re broken apart by an array of whistles and shouts from Juniper and Katie’s teammates and I hide my flushed face in her neck.

“I can’t believe we finally get to meet the girl Katie hasn’t shut up about for like 4 months.” Alessia Russo, one player I am familiar with, comments from across the room.

“You talk about me?” I poke her in the side.

“Y/n you can’t talk you literally don’t shut up about Katie. ‘Oh my god she’s sooo funny and pretty.’”

“Bro what the fuck? That was a secret you were meant to take to your grave.” Juniper simply shrugs.

“As much as I want to stay and tease you about how much you talk about me, and kiss you, we do unfortunately have training.” Katie pouts as she hugs me.

“Oh! Before I forget. I brought you an apple and chocolate muffin.” I pull the baked good from my bag and hand it to her.

“Fuuuck yees! You are literally the best person ever. I need to know your recipe so bad.”

“Mmmm maybe I could teach you how to make them. Tonight, at the café?”

“I’VE BEEN ASKING FOR THAT RECIPE FOR 3 FUCKING YEARS AND YOU’RE GOING TO JUST HAND IT OVER TO HER?” Juniper’s outburst makes the room erupt in giggles.

“How about for your birthday?” She nods solemnly and begins to say goodbye to the other girls as they begin to head out to the pitch for training.

I turn back to Katie.

“I’ll see you tonight…” She leans up and kisses me one more time.

“Girlfriend.” She leaves before I can reply, and I’m left to giggle as Juniper drives us back to the café, to reluctantly reopen for the rest of the day.

~~~~~

The clock shows 6:13 and I begin to think Katie flaked, but right as I’m packing up the ingredients, the bell rings and in rushes a flushed, panting, Katie McCabe.

“I’m so… sorry! Caitlin could only… drop me… a few blocks away… so I had to… run.” She pants out.

“It’s ok.” I peck her on the cheek and take her coat, then offer her some water which she sculls down.

We spend hours baking and messing around. Mostly kissing.

~~~~~

Another 6 months pass before Katie and I decide to move in together in a small apartment down the street from the café.

She now helps me bake my apple and chocolate muffins once a week, insisting she has to always be in a simple cropped singlet after I had made a comment about how good her arms looked when she mixes the batter.

There was something so domestic about baking together that made it hard not to just scream to the world how much I loved the woman. Instead, I stick to wrapping my arms around her waist and whispering it in her ear, periodically kissing her while she cuts the apples or mixes whatever needs mixing.

I can’t wait to tell Ms Nelson her apple and chocolate muffins brought me the most beautiful girl in the world. She and her wife have been begging for a new post card.

[sadistic-kiss]

Use Me (Kinktober Fic)

Succubus Reader x Various JJK Men

.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.Chapter Eight.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.

Nanami's gaze hardened, "Oh, it's you."

"No, it's me."

"N-no I mean it's you! Not Yu-"

"Pfft hahah!" You began to laugh making the blonde madly blush.

"Stop laughing!" He huffed in embarrassment.

"Oh relax Nanami~" You moved much too quickly for him to catch you. Before he even blinked you were standing behind him shutting the door. "I don't bite."

Nanami jolted around in surprise, to him you disappeared and reappeared behind him closing him in. He took a swift step away from you. “Who has been feeding you?” He questioned nervously but you ignored it.

"Unless you want me to~" You walk forward as he backs up.

"Stay back." He hissed as he bumped into the desk.

"Oh...I forgot. Biting was more Sukuna's thing... what does my nana bear like..." You grinned as you manipulated the environment. Haibara's room changed into a classroom. You were no longer wearing your original outfit but now you wore a cutesy school uniform with a white blouse and short plaid skirt. Glasses upon your face and a handful of notebooks to add to the aesthetic. "This... this is what you like."

"Ngh-" Nanami released a shaky breath as you crowd him against the desk.

"S-senpai, can you help me with this problem please?" You questioned innocently, squishing your breasts with your books. A hint of cleavage peaking out just enough to drag his gaze.

However, the blonde was stubborn. He quickly looked away, “That’s enough you’ve had plenty to eat.”

Your lips form a pout, but then you notice the bulge in the male’s costume. A little grin touched your lips but you quickly put on your cute girl act. “Senpai…what’s this?” You poke at him with a light touch.

He gulped harshly, hips lifting on their own accord. “N-Nothing-“

“Is this a pencil?” You cupped him as he let out a groan. “Or a biiig eraser?”

“St-mmm” He was about to say stop but as you rubbed him up and down not even he could utter such a word because he didn’t want you to stop.

“What’s wrong senpai?” You grip him tight, the teasing making him heat up from face to feet.

Nanami clenched his teeth, snatching your hand away as he held it in the air. “You are a dirty pet.” He glared at you in anger but then he turned you around and slammed you against the desk, your things flying everywhere as they scattered on the ground.

“Oh! Senpai!” You gasp feeling him press his hard cock to your panties. Your hips moved trying to get more friction but then he pulled back.

“Listen here. I feed you and you will leave Haibara alone.”

“You have to cum in me. You could feed me with a kiss and just leave me unsatisfied.”

Nanami snatched your cotton barrier aside.

“Then you will leave him alone.”

“For the rest of the night.”

Nanami let out a low growl but then nodded, “Deal.”

“De-ah~!” You let out a cry as the blonde thrust inside your ass with one powerful thrust. You don’t even think he realized what hole he went into. You think he was just fucking you just to fuck you. Like it was a chore.

Nanami used to be gentle and kind- he used to take his time with you but not anymore. He fucked you like he hated you. Grip around your hips bruising, ass slapping against him at a harsh pace. You didn’t know such a gentleman could be so ruthless. You could barely keep your glasses on.

You didn’t mind, it all felt amazing to you.

You let out a drawled outcry, “Senpai~ Th-that hurts~! Please slow down~” You cried playing the part of an innocent schoolgirl. “B-be gentle! I’m sorry~”

Nanami knew you weren't in pain, you were just toying with him. He hated how you were able to get under his skin. He just wanted to get this over with so you could leave Haibara alone. He grabbed your hair and pulled you back at an arch, drilling himself into you with a brutal pace.

You whined but your eyes rolled.

“Hey!”

You and Nanami paused as Haibara popped up from under the desk.

“Y-Yu?” Nanami questioned in surprise as the boy looked at him annoyed.

“Be more gentle!” Yu hissed at him and then looked at you with soft eyes. “You okay?” He questioned cupping your cheek and wiping some of your fake tears away.

Nanami growled, “She’s not in pain! The others have done more diabolical things to this here pet and she still drools so lewdly.”

“Y-yu~” a sniffle racked your body as you nuzzled into his hand.

“It’s okay baby I got you.” Haibara leaned down to kiss you, the two of you sharing a more than passionate moment while Nanami was left flabbergasted.

“Yu…Nanami made me make a deal so I would have to leave you alone if he cums in me…”

“What!?” Yu looked surprised. “Nanami what the hell-“

Nanami returned to his earlier attempts to cum so you would keep your end of the bargain. “Yu Don’t let her manipulate you!”

“Kento! I don’t need you to protect me!” He angled your leg up as he pulled his costume down. “Scoot over!”

The blonde blocked your pussy with his hand before his cock could enter you, but then he felt your tail wrap around his wrist and pull it back.

“Dammit-“ Nanami hissed for two reasons. First, because he couldn’t stop Yu, and second because you became incredibly tight as his friend began to push into your cunt.

“Oh-“ “Ah~” All three of you moaned as Yu bullied his way inside you.

“Damn- You- I can’t get over how amazing you feel…” Yu sighed while kissing you deeply.

Nanami wasn’t going to let you drain him, all he had to do was cum. The blonde moved in and out of you, the tightness of your ass making it easier to reach his high.

Haibara noticed what he was doing, “Aye! Stop Nana-“ He was about to commend the blonde but then you put a finger to his lips.

“Don’t worry about him, focus on me…” You whispered sweetly, clouding his vision of Nanami so all he saw was you. Haiabra liked it when he had you to himself. So you gave that to him. Made him see just you and him in his room as he slowly rocked into you and kissed you sweetly.

Nanami however saw both of you, and he hated it. Hated how Haibara looked at you like a love-sick puppy. He was too deep in your clutches. He had to save him. The blonde felt the snap within him as he orgasmed- but for some reason, he didn’t cum. It felt like something wrapped around his dick and choked it closed. His peaked right there but he couldn’t burst. He let out a loud shout as he trembled in painful pleasure.

You looked over your shoulder with a wicked grin, Yu kissing your neck.

‘What’s wrong Nanami?’ Your voice echoed in his mind.

“Ngh- you…. you dirty pet…ah- …” He was frozen in his orgasm denial unable to do anything but moan and groan. He didn’t even want to move, his cock so sensitive and ready to burst but he couldn’t. Every movement from Yu had you tightening around him making his situation worse. “St-stop Yu-“ He gasped reaching for the other sorcerer but chains wrapped around him keeping him in place.

He was stuck, watching as Haibara made love to you. Your tongues tangling and your bodies rolling against each other.

Nanami let out a little whimper, feeling his mind turn to mush. “Pl-please…please let me…pet…” He cried, resting his sweaty forehead upon you.

You decided to show him a little mercy. Running your fingers into Yu’s hair you panted and moaned with him, “Cum inside me Yu~ Please~”

“Cum with me…cum with me…” He panted rocking into you quicker.

You both gasped, coming undone with one another. Yet you still didn’t allow Nanami to cum just yet. You knew when you did you wouldn’t be able to touch Yu anymore and that seriously hurt. However, you knew after this he wouldn’t be able to touch you anyway.

Yu almost fell over but he caught himself against his desk. His eyes were barely open as he went back in to kiss you some more, but you had to push him away, seeing as he could hardly stand.

“One…one more kiss…please…”

You smiled sadly as you shook your head, “I-I can’t I'm so sorry Yu…”

The boy looked pained as he sagged to the floor, “I understand…it’s okay…give me a moment…”

You heard a low groan behind you, you had almost forgotten about your blonde. You release his cock as he finally lets out a long groan of pleasure, cumming inside you. He came so much his eyes rolled and then he too was slipping out of you, falling backward onto the floor.

You knew he would be fine but you got down to look at Haibara. He was looking a bit pale.

“Yu…?” You questioned. “Yu are you okay?”

“Mm…” He mumbled softly, eyes closing. “Love…you…”

Your eyes widen. He just said he loved you…”I-I love you too Yu.”

He fought to open his eyes, a smile on his lips as he reached for you but you quickly moved back. He seemed to pout, “I…I can’t even touch you…”

“No…” You hated seeing how sad that made him.

“J-just give me a moment….” He whispered.

You knew that was a very bad idea. So instead you command him. ‘Go to sleep.’

His body drooped as he slid to the floor, instantly falling asleep. You reached for him wanting to put him on the bed but then you stopped. Getting up you made your way out of the room, leaning over Nanami who was on the floor. “Hey put him in bed when you get up okay?”

The blonde said nothing, he too was zoned out but not as bad as Yu.

“Cool.” You pop your lips knowing he was mad at you for tricking him but he will be alright. You began to walk out when Nanami decided to speak.

“You’re going to kill him…”

You frowned deeply, “No I won’t…”

“I don’t think you will do it on purpose… but if you actually love him you would leave him alone.”

“I do love him.”

Nanami snorted, “Do you even have that emotion… succubus?”

You felt something painful in your chest. It hurt. You didn’t like what Nanami was saying. You may not know what love is but you feel that Yu would be the closest thing to it that you’d ever have.

“You love him like a human would love a pet pig...”

“Shut up!” You growl stomping out of the room in anger. Whipping your hand back you shut the door loudly with a gust of wind. Who the fuck did he think he was talking to you like that? You were so angry by his words, but most importantly you were angry with that aching hurt in your heart. It didn’t feel very good. You wouldn’t kill Yu, you were very careful! The sudden idea of Haibara dying at your hands made you hurt. This type of pain was nothing that you had felt before. It almost felt akin to when you were denied food, but possibly a lot lot worse. Like you were starving. But you ate quite a bit so why were you hurting?

~

“I-I can’t believe I lost again!”

“That’s because you are trash.”

“WHO YOU CALLIN TRASH!?”

Choso chuckled as he beat his friend in another round of Street Fighter.

“Let’s go again!”

“Yo pass the controller it’s my turn!”

“No, it’s my turn!”

“Give me another go! Best two out of three!”

The champion sat back with his foot on the coffee table, lighting up his bowl as his friends fought over who would be defeated next.

*Ding*

The sound of your bell caught his attention as he looked up to find you crawling into the game room. The hazy blue light made your expression look strange. For a second you looked sad. Your head was down so he could barely see it as you crawled inside.

“Oh…” Everyone else got quiet watching you get to Choso and then lean your head on his knee.

“Is that the pet we’ve been hearing so much about?”

Choso waved them off, “You should be worried about whose ass I’m gonna kick next.”

That reignited the fire as they all began to yell at each other again.

Choso looked down and scratched your head a bit but you didn’t look up at him. Was this your tactic to make him feel bad about feeding you?

“Hey?” He tapped your cheek as you rolled your head to look up at him, your eyes looked a bit distant.

“You okay?” He questioned.

You gave him a little nod before rolling back.

That was weird.

What’s wrong with his little pet?

Has no one fed you?

.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.Chapter Nine.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.

[pippytmi]

kacy + a break-up AU based on this prompt list: "you’re my emergency contact and i’ve been in an accident so you drop everything to come to the hospital"

———————————————————————

The thing no one says about breakups is that they're an utter inconvenience.

Kate tries to rationalize it; she was dating Lucy Tara for twelve months and thirteen days, it's only natural to have established a routine that will take some time to unlearn. So when she wakes up and reaches for a warm body that isn't there, it still takes a while to remember why. And when she makes her morning coffee, maybe sometimes she will pour the creamer that Lucy likes by accident. (By the end of the week, she will have to pour the whole container down the drain). That’s normal too. Mostly.

Lucy’s absence hits the most in the morning, but Kate goes through the motions anyway. Before Lucy she would always take her coffee outside and sit on the balcony to watch the sunrise, so she still does it. Of course now there’s no Lucy wrapped up in a blanket and insistently making her way onto Kate’s lap to sleep while she does it, but. Kate sips from her mug and watches the clouds roll in over the gloomy horizon and pretends nothing has changed.

The drive to work is quiet save for the gentle patter of rain against her windows. Her radio is still set to the station Lucy likes, and Kate hasn’t managed to change it. Baby steps—that’s all it takes. Maybe tomorrow Kate might have the courage to switch it back to her own.

And when everything at home is too loud and simultaneously too empty, there’s work. Kate gets to her desk and finds a mountain of files with new assignments, and she welcomes them with open arms; her work has always been separate from Lucy, and it's the one constant she doesn't need to readjust to.

For a blissful hour and a half, Kate is in her own world. She argues with a client about what confidentiality means (and what it doesn't). She reschedules the deposition of a plaintiff on a particularly high-profile case because opposing counsel has accidentally double-booked. She creates an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of her new cases but organizes the clients by market value. 

By all accounts, her morning is shaping up considerably. That is, until her cell phone starts buzzing.

She ignores the first call from the unknown number flashing on the screen. Instead, she gets coffee from the awful machine in the break room. The second call comes thirty minutes later, and Kate ignores it again, spends her time politely explaining how to use the fax machine to her confused new paralegal.

When her phone rings a third time—just as Kate has gotten out of a grueling meeting with the senior attorneys which should've been an email—she answers it solely for peace of mind: “This is Kate.”

There's a brief shuffle on the other end. “Hi, I'm calling from St. Joseph Hospital for a Katherine Whistler?”

“Speaking,” Kate says curtly, prepared to give a spiel about how she won't donate at this time when the caller continues,

“Oh—good morning.” More shuffling. “Is this a good time? I have a sensitive matter to discuss.”

Kate frowns even if the person on the other line can't see it. “Yes, it's fine,” she says, and watches as her work phone lights up with another call that she will just have to return later. 

“I'm calling on behalf of a patient: Lucy Tara. She has you listed as her emergency contact. She is unresponsive and we were wondering if you could come in to discuss the particulars of her care…”

The rest of the call is static. Kate almost drops her phone entirely, only grasping onto select words like they're a lifeline. Lucy is alive. Lucy is hurt. Lucy was found unconscious. Lucy has yet to wake up. Lucy is alive.

Kate doesn't even tell anyone she's leaving; she just goes. Later, senior attorney Michael Curtis will tell Kate that she looked extremely pale and sickly when rushing out of the office, but Kate will only remember a vague blur from that phone call to actually arriving at the hospital. It might be the most reckless thing she’s ever done, come to think of it.

Dr. Carla Chase is the physician assigned to Lucy’s care, and she takes one look at Kate and blinks as if surprised to see her. “Forget an umbrella?”

“I'm sorry?” Kate says, heart caught dangerously high in her throat. She's literally choking on worry—Dr. Chase’s words don't sink in until she takes a step forward and realizes she is currently dripping all over the linoleum floor.

Dr. Chase gives her a small, sympathetic smile. “Let me ease your mind,” she says. “Ms. Tara woke up. Our timeline is good, she was not unconscious for long. Has a concussion and a nasty bump, but she's going to be just fine.”

Kate breathes. “Oh,” she says shakily, and embarrassingly, hot tears spring to her eyes at the confirmation. “That's…great. Thank you.”

“You can come inside, see her. I'll go find you a towel.” Even though Kate is a sopping mess, Dr. Chase still pauses to place a hand on her shoulder and squeeze reassuringly.

Even with the worst over, the hardest part is still walking into the room—harder still is watching as Lucy looks up with those wide, curious eyes that become expressionless the instant she sees Kate.

“Kate? What are you doing here?” Lucy asks, voice not quite harsh but definitely not welcoming.

Kate opens her mouth, but is unable to form words. She's too stuck just staring at Lucy: at the bruise that colors the entirety of the swell of her cheek, at the large bandage over her jaw, at the purpling of her black eye. Any relief at knowing that Lucy is awake sinks into horror at the state of Lucy’s injuries.

“Kate,” Lucy repeats, frowning. “Why do you look like someone died?” A beat. “And why are you wet?”

“The—the hospital called me,” Kate manages. “Are you okay? How are you…how are you feeling?”

“I'm fine. I just fell down a stupid mountain.” Lucy smooths down her blanket, twisting the corner between her fingertips the way she does when she's uncomfortable.

“A mountain?”

“It's not as dramatic as it sounds,” Lucy says. “Kai and I were searching for a missing kid and we got separated, and with the rain it was muddy and foggy and…well, you get it.”

“And he left you there? Unconscious?” Kate has met Kai Holman once or twice, and knows very little about him except that just like Lucy, he volunteers for search and rescue missions to escape his normal job. Beyond that, Kate’s opinion of him is quickly going downhill.

“He wasn't there when it happened,” Lucy argues. “I already texted him and explained, but, I told him he didn't have to come see me or anything.” She stops. “So why did you come?”

“Because the hospital called,” Kate says again, which is pretty self-explanatory.

Apparently, Lucy does not feel the same way. “But you didn't have to answer the phone,” she points out. “We’re not together. You could've just said ‘sorry, she’s my ex’ and called it a day.”

Kate stiffens. “You're the one who has me as your emergency contact. It was the…decent thing to do,” she says.

Lucy rolls her eyes. “Okay, congratulations,” she says, “you have done your civic duty of not being an asshole. But I’m alright, so you can go back to deep-sea diving in your pantsuit or whatever you were up to before this.”

“Hold on,” Kate says, a flare of panic overtaking any objection she might have to Lucy’s disdain (which is completely unwarranted, by the way). “How are you getting home?”

“They’ve invented a modern miracle called an Uber, not sure if you heard.” Lucy waves her phone exaggeratedly. “I’ll survive.”

It's an out, and Kate should take it. She should walk out that door and never look back, let all the unsaid issues between them continue to morph and mutate into something ugly and irreversible. But she can’t. 

“I’ll drive you home,” Kate says at last.

Lucy immediately shakes her head. “That’s not necessary,” she says. “Seriously. If you’re that against Ubers, I can call Kai and get him here in two seconds. He’d be more than happy to take me home.”

“That would be unnecessary. I’m already here.”

“And you don’t have to be,” Lucy reiterates, staring Kate down like she expects her to cave.

If it were any other situation, Kate would. She's soaked head to toe from the rain, she has no obligation to be here, and by all accounts either reason would be a rational excuse to extradite herself from this hospital. Especially the former—the chill of her wet clothes is finally beginning to catch up to her, and she blindly brushes back her damp hair while resisting the urge to shiver. It would be the rational decision to go home and change into warm clothes (and explain to her boss why she left without as much as a text explaining why).

But for once in her life, Kate isn't being rational. “I'm not leaving,” she says, crossing her arms in an attempt to look firm. 

Lucy sighs, sagging backwards against her pillow. “Come on, Kate,” she says. “This is awkward enough. I don't need a babysitter after one tiny little fall.”

“Down a mountain,” Kate says, unable to let that fact go. “What do your parents think about this?”

“I…might've not told them. Exactly.” Lucy bites her lip in an obvious effort not to wince. “I asked for the day off when I woke up, so.”

Kate blinks. “You woke up after a traumatic fall,” she says slowly, “and…asked your parents for PTO.”

“I wouldn't call it traumatic. That's such an ugly word. Limiting, even,” Lucy says. “It would've been a total badass move if it hadn't been, you know, raining.”

A knock against the wall announces Dr. Chase’s arrival, who has thankfully brought Kate that towel. “How are we doing?” she asks.

“Ready to get out of here,” Lucy says, sitting up eagerly. “Whenever you say so, doc.”

“Well, I really would recommend a CT scan to be on the safe side,” Dr. Chase says. “But given that you've passed all our cognitive tests and your vision is good, I can consider a discharge…as long as you have someone at home to monitor you today and make sure no further symptoms arise. And no sleeping until your normal bedtime.”

“I’ll be with her,” Kate interjects as she towels off her hair. Lucy looks like she might argue, but her desire to leave must win out, because she doesn't speak up.

“Fantastic. Let me get your discharge paperwork and a prescription for some painkillers—all over the counter. Then we're going to have a serious discussion about what you should and should not do, okay?”

“Got it. Thanks, Dr. Chase,” Lucy says cheerfully, but the instant the doctor leaves, so does her smile. “What was that? You obviously can't stay with me.”

“I know,” Kate says defensively, even if—for a second—she had been completely prepared to. “I'm sure Ernie or Jane can monitor your symptoms just fine.”

“...yeah,” Lucy agrees slowly, as if she had been expecting Kate to argue. Then, “Oh, shit. I actually forgot to tell Jane I'm here.” She frantically opens her phone and starts texting up a flurry, her brow crinkling as she concentrates on her screen, and Kate is brought back to movie nights spent scouring Wikipedia articles and faux-arguing over date night picks and it's…too much.

This is the opposite of unlearning; this is an all too painful reminder that Lucy Tara is no longer in her life. Kate wrings the damp towel between her hands and takes a deep breath to save face. At the very least, Lucy doesn't seem to have caught on to Kate’s internal turmoil, because when she looks up again all the cheerfulness from before is back.

Kate knows in that instant she never wants Lucy to lose that cheer again. “Everything okay?” she asks, aiming for just-polite-enough interest, and Lucy is gracious enough to allow it.

“They found the missing girl,” Lucy says, sagging backwards in obvious relief. “Thank God.” When she smiles, even if it’s down at her phone, Kate nearly tears up all over again.

“That’s great.” Kate clears her throat, places her hands in her (wet) pockets, and tries very hard to act casual. “So is Jane going to stay with you, then?”

“No—she’s the one who found the kid, she has to stay and give the police a statement,” Lucy mutters, biting her lip distractedly as she types out another message. “I’ll see what Ernie’s up to.”

By the time Dr. Chase comes back with discharge paperwork and a spiel about avoiding screens (during which Lucy noticeably peeks at Kate, like she might rat her out), Kate has already resolved herself to zero interference. Obviously it’s not what she wants, but she listens to Dr. Chase and nods along at all the right times while in her head she is already drafting a very long message to Ernie with all the relevant information. Then she drives Lucy home to that bleak apartment that Lucy lives in mostly as a general “fuck you” to her parents, which Kate swears is either haunted or infested by very spirited roaches.

The entire ride there, Lucy doesn’t say anything about the car’s radio being set to her favorite station (and which  Kate would always complain about), which is just as well. Kate isn’t sure how she would’ve explained it.

“This not sleeping thing sucks, I’m honestly dead tired with our without a concussion,” Lucy groans as she exits the vehicle, stretching her arms overhead.

Kate follows her outside, and when Lucy gives her a questioning look, she says, “Ernie’s not here yet, is he? I can at least wait with you until he does.”

“I’m sure I can survive thirty minutes alone, Kate,” Lucy says. “I won’t pass out the instant you walk away or anything.”

“I’d really rather wait,” Kate says, and Lucy sighs.

“Fine. God, I would’ve changed my emergency contact ASAP if I’d known you would be such a stickler for lame hospital rules.” Lucy wraps herself up in a  large black hoodie which Kate recognizes as her own, still muddy from the fall but otherwise intact.

“Why did you?” Kate finds herself asking, mouth three steps ahead of her head, and Lucy pauses outside her apartment door.

“You mean why didn’t I change it? Because I forgot, I wasn’t exactly expecting to land in the hospital.”

“No, why…why did you make me your emergency contact in the first place?” Kate clarifies, her voice strangely quiet even to her own ears.

Lucy methodically unlocks her door, but her hands falter. “Just because,” she says at last. “You know how it is. Anything was better than my parents. Sorry I didn’t…ask you first.”

“Well, I mean,” Kate shrugs, “I didn’t ask you either.”

At that, Lucy whirls around, mouth agape. “You made me your emergency contact?”

Kate hesitates. “Yes? After like six months. It was a practical decision, we spent pretty much all our time together and I assumed…”

Somehow, she’s said the wrong thing, because Lucy’s eyes darken. “Right.” She moves away, digging through her fridge in search of something to drink, and Kate awkwardly leans against the kitchen counter and tries to make sense of what’s going on.

“Did you eat anything today?” Kate attempts to change the subject. “I can make you something before Ernie gets here.”

Lucy takes a gulp of a water bottle and doesn’t respond, just eyes Kate from across the kitchen with a sharp, unyielding glare. Finally, the words seem to burst out: “I wish you weren’t so—fucking—” She shakes her head. “Do you even know how you sound, sometimes? No girl wants to hear that they’re the practical choice. Just once, I wish you’ve would picked me because you wanted me.”

Kate feels her entire body prickle, partly in shock and partly in indignation. “What are you talking about? I did pick you.”

“Did you?” Lucy tilts her head. “”Cause it kind of feels like you picked the idea of me. At least, that’s how Cara tells it.”

“Seriously? Cara? She—” Kate pauses to exhale, swallows back a frustrated sob. “She’s wrong. I’ve never trusted anyone like I trust you. Fuck, I’ve never loved anyone like I love you.” This time, her voice quivers like the sob might escape, and some of the steel in Lucy’s gaze softens.

“Then why did you leave?”

“I thought that was what you wanted,” Kate says. “You were pushing me away, Lucy. What was I supposed to think?”

“You should’ve fought harder for me,” Lucy says. “You could have talked to me. Jesus, Kate, I don’t—I can’t have this conversation right now. I’m basically a prisoner in my house, this is the last thing I need.”

Kate’s shoulders fall. “I know,” she says. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t do that either,” Lucy snaps, and she chugs the remainder of her water before she stalks out of the room. “No apologies. Okay?”

“Okay.” Kate waits to see if Lucy will come back to the kitchen, but she doesn’t. Instead, she hears the tell-tale sound of Lucy banging around through her board game drawer, because the chess set Ernie gave her rattles and gives it away. Kate tentatively enters the living room, finds Lucy sorting through a Monopoly box, but doesn’t try to say anything else.

Lucy breaks the silence all on her own, eventually. “I have nothing to cook,” she says. “But I asked Ernie to bring food with him.”

“Alright.” Kate doesn’t sit down because her clothes are still damp, but she does wait by the couch. “Can I help with anything?”

“No.” Lucy is sitting cross-legged on the floor and carefully stacking Monopoly money into piles by color, her muddy hoodie occasionally smearing against the carpet. “I’m fine.” She obviously isn’t; her jaw is clenched, her back stiff, her entire demeanor still a perfect mirror of her anger.

Kate wisely doesn’t push. And when Ernie arrives carrying Thai food and a thick stack of books which Lucy is outwardly horrified at, Kate doesn’t try to stay.

“I’m going to send you the doctor’s discharge instructions,” she tells Ernie instead, as Lucy gingerly pokes through one of the books Ernie has handed off. “Make sure Lucy eats something before she takes her meds.”

“On it, Dr. Whistler,” Ernie says seriously, his voice going low so Lucy can’t hear afterward. “And thanks, for being there. Even if you two aren’t…”

Kate casts one final look at Lucy Tara, bundled up in her clothes and adorably pouting at the prospect of reading all night instead of playing board games, and feels her heart beat so hard it hurts. “Take care of her,” she says, but it’s not a request.

Ernie gives her a small, sad smile. “I will.” 

Lucy doesn’t say goodbye, but she does spare Kate one brief, sorrowful once-over like she wants to. Kate memorizes that look—lets it linger in the back of her mind—and doesn’t cry until the first cheery pop song from Lucy’s favorite station starts playing on the drive home.

She hits the button to turn off the radio altogether, but her finger slips and she accidentally switches stations instead. Kate eases the car to a stop at a red light, watches as rain begins to drizzle once more, and then she makes the executive decision to switch it back.

Baby steps.

[nataliasquote]

Double the trouble [pt.3] | n romanoff

Double the trouble au: part 1, part 2

Summary: Natasha and Wanda's teenage twin daughters are a lot to handle, but despite their differences and arguments, there's nothing they wouldn't do for each other

Warnings: mentions of cheating, unhealthy coping mechanisms

Pairings: WandaNat, O!C × Valkyrie, Y/n × Bucky Barnes

wc: 5.3k

note: this part 3 was a Wattpad request with this particular plot line, so I’m aware that it moves very fast from part 2. But this ‘series’ of au oneshots aren’t really a series, but more of me just writing this family that I love so much. If you want to see more of this family, my asks are open! So please leave messages in there of what kind of things you want to see :)

- ⧗ -

Y/n and Isla wandered down the hallway in the direction of the cafeteria, their friendship group surrounding them as they all chatted and laughed now that classes were over. Maria was fiddling with the end of Y/n's braid as she walked beside her best friend and she made sure not to tug it too hard.

As they entered through the huge double doors, Isla let out a little sound and sprinted away, darting around the tables as she spotted the head of blue and black braids sitting on an almost empty table. She launched herself onto her girlfriend's lap and looped her arms around her neck as they met with a kiss, making the rest of the group groan with huge grins plastered on their faces.

"They're so perfect it hurts my soul." Maria commented to Y/n who just smirked. The group filled in the rest of the seats around Valkyrie's table, throwing their backpacks down as their shoulders ached from the weight of all their books.

"Lovebirds, no making out at the dinner table." Clint said, sending Isla a glare as she stuck her middle finger up and shoved her tongue in Valkyrie's mouth. Clint yelled out and stood up from his chair. He may hate their PDA but it would never take away from his monstrous appetite. Especially not on pizza day.

Y/n pulled out her boxed lunch, curtesy of Wanda and her love of making lunch for her girls. She knew exactly what she'd find; last night's pasta salad leftovers, some strawberries and blueberries and a small container of cheezits. Nat had slipped a little note and Y/n couldn't help but make a face at how cute her moms were. It didn't matter that she was almost a senior, homemade lunches would always be her favourite.

She noticed a hand sneak to steal a cheezit, but Y/nknew there was no stopping Maria. She was the group's food thief, so everyone was used to it by now.

"Hey Y/n," Steve called from across the table, grabbing the redhead's attention. "Where's Bucky?"

"He texted to say something came up. Not sure what though." They'd only been officially dating for two months, but Y/n still felt butterflies in her stomach whenever he was around. He was the perfect gentleman; picking her up from events, opening doors for her, surprising her with bunches of flowers whenever they went on a date.

Y/n was completely head over heels in love and it made her smile so much brighter. Clint joked that she was like Aurora and that animals would start following her wherever she went and if she started singing.

As they chatted their way through the lunch hour, Y/n's phone started buzzing like mad, almost vibrating so hard it fell off the cafeteria table. She was chatting to Maria so ignored the messages, knowing whoever it was could wait.

"Aren't you gonna check that?" Maria asked, scooping up another forkful of pasta. Y/n just shook her head and shrugged, her mouth full of food so she couldn't talk. "Wow. You've got some serious self control."

"If it bothers you that much then you can check it," Y/n said as she swallowed, reaching for her water bottle. She and Maria were really close, so her seeing messages on her phone was no issue. They were the kind of friends where nothing was TMI.

Maria reached for her phone and tapped the screen as Y/n got elbowed in the ribs by her sister who was still perched on Valkyrie's lap. Isla was asking to trade her blackberries for Y/n's strawberries, who was not at all impressed.

Their sisterly banter distracted attention from Maria, who had all colour drained from her face as she stared at Y/n's phone in horror. Her thumb was hovered over the screen and she didn't dare to take her eyes off the screen, not even with Clint's strange laugh.

"Hey Hill, you look like you've seen a ghost!" Valkyrie called, everyone turning their head to the brunette.

Y/n frowned. "You okay Ria?" Maria looked up at her and then over at Isla who was just smiling widely.

"Yeah I'm ok. I just remembered I've got some homework to finish before class. Sorry." She grabbed her backpack and shoved the rest of her food into it but Y/n seized her wrist, making her pause.

"What happened? What did you see?" Maria had a death grip on Y/n's phone and didn't seem to want to let go. "Maria, I need to know. Show me."

"No it was nothing. Just one of those texts from Bucky, you know how he texts."

Y/n narrowed her eyes. "Bucky doesn't text like that during school because he knows you're always on my phone. So show me what you saw."

Maria's eyes darted to Isla who's smile had dropped into a look of concern. She slid off her girlfriend's lap and rounded the table, taking the phone from Maria over her shoulder.

It was as if thunderclouds had darkened the sky when Isla saw what was on the screen. Her green eyes turned stormy and her fingertips were going white with how hard she gripped the small device. Her reaction had caused the table to be silent and Y/n pulled her lip in between her teeth, trying to pull her phone from her sister's hand.

But Isla held it up out of her reach before slamming it down hard on the table.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him!" She yelled, grabbing her back and swinging it over her shoulder, almost knocking out a freshman behind her as she did so.

Y/n swiped her phone from the table and punched in her password, hands shaking from what she might find. But she didn't have to search far, as her phone unlocked a single picture filled the entire screen and turned her mouth sour.

Bucky's side profile graced her screen, which wasn't uncommon as her lock screen was a picture of him and her kissing. But this time it wasn't her that his lips were pressed against. It was a senior girl, someone Y/n had seen at her mom's studio last year.

Blonde, tall, tanned, it was almost disgusting cliche. But the picture didn't stay in focus for long before it became fuzzy by the tears welling in her eyes. Everyone had crowded around her and had taken a look at the phone, Steve punching the top of the table as he grunted about his best friend.

Isla was being held back by Valkyrie, angry tears streaming down her face as she ranted in fury. The twins may tease each other and drive each other insane, but when it came down to it, they would do anything for the other. Which included getting revenge on stupid boyfriends.

Y/n looked at the picture for a few more seconds before clicking her phone off and sliding it into her pocket. She didn't speak and her face remained neutral as she took a sip of water, eyes remaining fixed on the table.

"Y/n?" Maria asked, slightly scared at her best friend's silence. The redhead slipped her backpack onto her shoulders and turned to leave but Isla grabbed her shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" It was a stupid question but her sister's silence was starting to scare her. Her mom did the same when she was upset; Y/n was almost Natasha's carbon copy. "Y/n?"

"I'm fine." The shortest sentence with the least amount of truth. Isla looked at Maria with a concerned look and they both surrounded her so she couldn't rush away.

"No you're not. You can't trick me." Y/n looked her sister in the eye and only then did Isla see the tears balancing on her waterline, the green irises looking extra vibrant. "Talk to me."

That was all it took. The tough front she'd tried to put up came crumbling down and her forehead fell onto her sister's shoulder, whole body shaking with sobs.

Isla froze for a moment but wrapped her arms around her sister and Maria rubbed her back, letting her know he was there. Isla tried to channel Wanda, knowing she was the best at comforting her daughters whenever they needed it.

"What did I do wrong?" Y/n cried into her sister's shirt, holding on really tightly.

"You did nothing wrong. He is a dick who doesn't realise what he had when he has it," Maria spoke into her ear. "You're too good for him babe."

"Clearly I'm not if he went off with her!" She spat, lifting her head and catching Clint's gaze. "I just-" she let out a sound that was somewhere between a groan and a roar and Isla winced as it was right by her ear.

Maria suddenly turned her head, eyes bulging out of her head. "Hey Y/n, let's go to the bathroom. More privacy there." The redhead was still crying but protested, not feeling like she wanted to go anywhere.

"I can't. If I see him, I-," her breath hitched as she spoke, crying making it hard to breathe. "I don't know where it went wrong. He kissed me this morning! He told me he loved me, he promised to take me on a date later and now-" that was enough to cut her off from talking and her bottom lip trembled, breaking everyone's hearts around her.

Surrounding tables had turned to look away from Y/n towards the double doors at the far end of the room, everyone watching one thing.

Bucky.

He was strolling through the tables with his backpack on one strap on his shoulder, unsure as to why everyone was staring at him. But his determined steps were soon halted by Steve, who placed his hand on Bucky's chest to stop him.

But it was too late. Y/n had looked up and locked her eyes on him, seeing the boy she loved having forceful words with Steve, his brow furrowed.

She completely froze. Maria was trying to get her attention, as was Isla and the rest of the group, but she was glued to the ground. Her body wanted to run but her brain was in overdrive, emotions clouding every function and blocking out the rest of the world.

She could just see Bucky and she hated it. She didn't want to do it, but she retreated into Natasha's bad habits, ones she'd picked up when she was younger and watching her mother struggle on her bad days.

She hauled the wall up in her mind and blocked everything else out. She shrugged off her sister's hands, Maria's too, and adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

"I'm gonna go find Miss Potts. I need to talk to her about the English assignment." This time she didn't wait for a response, storming off down the cafeteria as far away as possible from Bucky as she could be. Students started whispering amongst each other as she passed, but she didn't hear. She didn't care. Not anymore. She didn't care about anything.

She had 20 minutes until the end of lunch, so she kept walking with no true destination in mind. The football fields were pretty empty so she climbed up onto the bleachers and settled with her arms crossed over her knees, resting her chin on her forearms.

She wanted to process, to think everything over but her mind was empty. She had made herself numb in an alarmingly short space of time. It was dangerous but she didn't know what else to do. She'd never been through a breakup before. Or been cheated on. Had never even opened her heart up to anyone like she had to Bucky. And there wasn't a doubt that she would ever do that again either.

She spaced out and time flew really quickly. Science as last period. A boring class but her friends were in it, so it wasn't too bad. Except now she didn't want to talk to anyone. But she didn't have to. She just needed to get through the day and then she could have her whole night.

Technically it was a dance night for Y/n, but she didn't even want to dance anymore. So she wasn't going to. Not tonight.

She made her way slowly to the science laboratories and saw the bright red hair of her sister in amongst the crowd. She didn't bother walking up to them, knowing they'd come to her. And they did, checking over her to see if she was ok. But Y/n just shrugged which frustrated Isla.

"Stop trying to play it off Y/n," she exclaimed, trying to get through to her twin. "I know what you're doing. And mom won't be happy at all." She leaned down to whisper that in her ear, which made Y/n's eyes suddenly lock on hers. "Don't give me that look. You know as well as I do."

"Then don't tell her." Her voice was dull and flat, a total change from her usual bright and cheery tone.

"Y/n don't be stupid, you know I have to do that." Isla looked at her sister for a longer moment, her eyes softening. "Don't shut it out. You know what happened-"

She was interrupted by their teacher calling everyone into class. Isla didn't finish her sentence, only squeezing her sister's hand before disappearing into her seat on the other side of the room. 

Maria sank into her chair, trying to act as normal as she could. She showed Y/n a funny video and made a joke about their teacher's bright green shirt. Y/n smiled but it was clearly fake. She felt bad for acting like this around Maria, but she understood why.

Her final classes went by quickly. She wasn't paying attention and her paper stayed empty from the beginning to the end. Maria slipped her an extra set of notes after watching how her pen wasn't even retrieved from her pencil case. As they walked out of class, Maria pulled Y/n into a tiny hug, not wanting to exchange any words.

Y/n knew the meaning of her affection and she secretly welcomed it, even if she wanted to push Maria aside.

"Text me if you need me, okay? And if I see that douchebag I'll..." she mimed a boxing action which made the redhead smile slightly.

"Y/n I'll give you a lift to dance." Usually Bucky took her, but there was no way she was even stepping foot anywhere near his car.

"I'm not going," she replied shortly, making Isla and Maria share a look. "I just want to go home."

"But Y/n-"

"I want to go home Isla. You can either drive or I'll walk." She adjusted her bag straps on her shoulder and turned away, marching down the hallway with her green eyes ice cold. Even the freshmen she usually smiled at were ignored and people skirted nervously around her.

"Fuck fuck fuck," Isla muttered, watching her sister walk away.

Maria placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded encouragingly. "Go. She needs you."

Isla hesitated, checking her phone. "Can you find Val? I said I would meet her-"

"I will. She'll understand." Isla smiled and then took off, her track history coming in handy as she sprinted off down the hallway.

- ⧗ -

"Y/n! Get in the car!" Isla had spotted the black hood of her sister walking down the sidewalk and she pulled over, driving along side her. But Y/n ignored her, keeping her head down. "Fucks sake Y/n! Get in the car!"

"Just leave me alone Isla."

"No. You can push everyone else away but you don't get to push me away." She checked the cars around her and shoved her own into park, jumping out and running over. "What happened to sticking together?"

"I don't care." That was the wrong thing to say and she knew it.

"Okay that's it." Isla grabbed her sister's arm and dragged her all the way back to the car, opening the door and lifting her onto the seat despite Y/n's protests to get away. It looked funny from the outside but neither of them were laughing. They were both pissed.

"Look, I get that you're mad," Isla began as she pulled onto their street, "but you cannot and will not get over this if you push everyone away." Y/n stayed silent, staring out of the window. "So talk to me."

"Please don't." Y/n really wasn't in the mood for talking; she thought that was evident. But her twin's persistent nature carried through strong, even if Y/n didn't break.

Isla had really tried to push to get information, at least something. But as she rolled into their driveway and Y/n had only sunk further into her seat with tears trickling down her face, she felt dejected.

"You won't be able to avoid it with Mom or Mama, you know. They're gonna ask- or I'm gonna tell them."

"Okay," was all that came as a reply before Y/n slammed her door shut and walked up the front steps. Isla watched her as a few spots of rain fell onto her windscreen. She puffed out her cheeks and let out a sigh before following the hunched figure, making sure to lock her car.

Wanda was in the middle of changing the bedsheets when she heard the front door close. She knew it was Isla and so didn't rush to greet her as a pair of feet sounded up the stairs. But they didn't come towards her, which wasn't unusual as the bathroom was in the opposite direction.

As she was replacing the pillowcases, a bright ringtone came from her dresser and Natasha's contact came into view. Wanda frowned but answered all the same, knowing she was calling from the middle of Y/n's private lesson.

"Hey Nat, is everything okay?"

"Is Isla home?" Nat asked as she chewed her lip, a rather annoying habit.

"Yeah I heard the front door go a few minutes ago. Why?"

There was a moment of silence before Natasha spoke again. "Is Y/n with her?"

Wanda frowned. Why would Y/n be with her? "I- well, I don't know. I haven't been down to check. But doesn't Y/n have dance tonight?"

"She does. But there's been no sign of her and Bucky's car hasn't pulled up either. And that girl won't answer her phone." She sounded worried and Wanda felt helpless. There wasn't much she could do to comfort Nat through the phone.

"Stay on the line, I'll go check." She opened the door and peered down the hallway, not seeing any of her girls. But footsteps up the stairs caught her attention and she spun around quickly.

But it was Isla. Not out of the ordinary.

"Hey sweetheart. Is your sister home?" Isla stared at her, eyes wide.

"Uh, yeah. I think she's in her room." Wanda eyed her suspiciously but turned towards Y/n's door. "Wait, I wouldn't disturb her yet. She's um-"

"What's going on?" Natasha asked as she heard Isla's quiet voice. The teenager grimaced and glanced at her sister's bedroom door before dragging Wanda back to her own room.

"Bucky cheated on her today," Isla said straight out, watching the colour drain from her mother's face and a string of curses came flowing from the phone's speaker. "But please, give her some space. She shut me out and if we push her she's only going to hide it more."

Wanda sank down onto her freshly made bed and placed her phone on her pillow, Nat still on speaker so her angry rant continued.

"- and I'll be home in 20 minutes. Yelena can sort the classes out and I'll cancel my privates for today-"

"Nat, no, you can't just leave the studio. They need you-"

"I'm a mom first Wanda. Our girls come first, you know that. And I don't like how Y/n is handling this so I will be coming home. And that's final." There was a jangle of keys before Nat hung up and Isla felt a fuzzy feeling in her stomach.

The twins really were lucky to have moms who would drop everything to go to them whenever they needed. Nat loved dance but she would give it all up for her family in a heartbeat.

"When did it happen?" Wanda asked, patting the bed beside her for Isla to take a seat.

The teenager pulled out her phone and got up the picture that made her stomach churn, holding it out for her mother to see. "She found out at lunch. But she did what Mama used to do and that scared me more than if she had been crying none stop."

Wanda placed the phone down with an unreadable expression and wrapped her arm around her eldest daughter's shoulders, kissing the top of her head. "She had you, even if she shut you out, you're her rock. I think just knowing you were there helped her more than you could know." Wanda's voice was gentle and definitely one of Isla's favourite sounds. Somehow she always knew what to say.

"She cried at first and it made me so angry I just wanted to protect her even more," Isla admitted, leaning into her mother. "And then he strutted in like the king of the school and I swear I could have punched him." Her mind flashed back to Y/n crying on her shoulder and Bucky's cocky face and her fist subconsciously clenched into a fist. Wanda noticed this and placed her hand on top, relaxing the tension straight away.

"She's lucky to have you," Wanda said with a smile as she kissed her daughter's head. "What do you say to ordering those cookies Y/n loves? To cheer her up?"

Isla smiled, nodding. "I think she'd love that."

Twenty minutes later Natasha walked through the front door with a box of cookies under her arm. She had intercepted them from the shy delivery guy who was more than happy to accept the large tip she gave him, accompanied by her terrifying scowl. Hearing Isla's news had put her in a foul mood and Yelena didn't dare argue when asked to cover the senior classes later on in the evening.

"Where is she?" She asked as she entered the kitchen, following the sounds of hushed chatting. Wanda stood up to retrieve the box and took Natasha's work bag from her shoulder, guiding her to a chair. Isla smiled and kissed her on the cheek which soften her glare slightly.

"She's still upstairs, my love," Wanda spoke softly and slipped behind her wife, rubbing her hands up and down the tense shoulders that Natasha wore. Her whole body was tense so Wanda's gentle massage made her let out a deep sigh. "We wanted to wait for you."

"She's less likely to bite your head off," Isla joked with a small smile. "I basically kidnapped her off the sidewalk so she's not too happy with me." Both women shot her a strange and look and Isla realised how weird her comment sounded. "She wouldn't get in the car... stubborn, you know?"

"And I know where she gets that from." Nat would have protested against her wife's comment but she was too into the massage for it to stop.

"I'll take her a cookie and see how she is. Being alone isn't good for that girl."

With a plate of three cookies in hand and a bottle of water in the other, Nat climbed the stairs to her room, her mind racing with different scenarios. Best case would be that Y/n would be crying on her bed. Worst case would be emotionless.

And there she was. Natasha's heart sank as she watched the shell of her daughter return to her bed after unlocking her door. Her cheeks weren't tear stained and she hadn't changed out of her school outfit yet. Her knees were pulled up to her chest as she leaned against the headboard and stared at a spot on the wall.

The framed picture of her and Bucky which usually sat on her nightstand was now tossed face down in a corner.

"Hey sweetheart," Natasha said softly, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "Your mom ordered your favourite cookies." Y/n didn't move.

Nat scanned her entire body, the silence growing larger in the enclosed space. It unnerved her because this behaviour was such a contrast to Y/n's usual bubbly nature. There was always music playing whenever Nat came in her room, but now there was just a deathly silence.

"I heard what happened. How are you feeling?" No reply. "Y/n, don't shut me out please."

"I'm fine."

Nat let out a laugh. "Yeah, I can tell," she said sarcastically. "Talk to me lenya, it's okay."

Y/n gritted her teeth, digging the pads of her fingers into her knees. She didn't want to break, but the wall in her mind was growing weaker and Natasha knew exactly how to get through it. She'd learned her coping mechanisms from the best of course.

Nat could see it working. "Mama's here, you're okay. You can talk to me baby. Just let it out. What's going on inside that head of yours?"

That was the final straw. Y/n pulled her eyes away from the wall and found her mama's caring green ones staring back at her with love and compassion, and she cracked. Just one look at her mama and Y/N couldn't hold back anymore. She burst into tears and dropped her head to her knees, hiding herself.

Natasha moved quickly, sliding onto the bed beside her and and pulling her close to her chest, cradling her close. Y/n smooth hair was tangled but Nat ignored it and stroked her hand over it like she had done when her girls were babies. Three or seventeen, they were always her babies.

"I've got you, it's okay," were the words that Natasha murmured over and over. They didn't need to discuss what had happened yet. It was too soon. Y/N just needed her mama and a place to let it all out. Not that she couldn't do that with Wanda, but her connection with Nat was stronger. Wanda was Isla's rock, Natasha was Y/n's.

Nat couldn't help but let a tear slip down her cheek as she listened to Y/n's heartbreaking sobs. She could do nothing but let her cry, knowing that's what she needed. Blocking out emotions was Natasha's unhealthy habit and she kicked herself for letting Y/n learn it too. She encouraged her girls to let out their emotions, helping them do that if they needed.

Y/n choked out a sob and shuffled so she was hugging her mama's torso, looking for more comfort. "Aren't you supposed to be at the studio?" Always more worried about others, Y/n was selfless to the core.

"Nope. I'm supposed to be with my daughter who had a shitty day." Y/n smiled a watery smile and wiped her tears from her cheeks. "I left Yelena to oversee everything."

"That's a bold decision," Y/n said, her voice still shaky from crying. "But thank you."

"Oh my sweet girl, you don't need to thank me." She gently wiped a stray tear that had escaped down Y/n's left cheek. "You wanna tell me what happened?"

Y/n averted her gaze and looked at the dance company logo on Natasha's team jacket. "I got cheated on. It's stupid."

"You're right, he is stupid."

"She was really pretty too," Y/n cried, her tears appearing once more as the image replayed in her mind. "She's blonde and tall and probably everything he could ever want. I was dumb to think he'd be happy dating me when there are girls out there that look like her."

Natasha saw red. She hated negative self talk, but hearing it come from her daughter who was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen made her furious.

Without saying a word, she got up from the bed and tugged Y/n to her feet, holding her steady as her head spun from crying. She walked over to the full length mirror on the wall and held her daughter in front of it, hands on her shoulders.

"You see that?" Natasha pointed in the mirror at Y/n's reflection. "That girl right there is perfect. She's so much better than any blonde girl who looks like a supermodel. You are beautiful, smart, thoughtful, funny, talented, this list would never end. Y/n Romanoff is perfect and you better remember that."

Y/n could barely see her reflection through the tears that had once again made another reappearance after her mama's speech. She tugged the hands on her shoulders so Nat's arms slipped in front of her and she had something to hold onto. Y/n pressed her cheek to Nat's forearm and leaned on it, feeling her mother hug her from behind.

"If I'm everything you say I am, why did he cheat?" She turned away from the mirror and looked up at her mother who's gaze softened as she cupped her daughter's face.

"Because men are shit," she stated bluntly. "Why do you think I married a woman? Why do you think Isla is dating one? Men are shit and he didn't deserve you one bit. You, my girl, deserve the very best. Not some immature high school boy who didn't realise what he had with you."

"I really thought he was the one," she said dejectedly. Nat kissed her forehead and brought her back to the bed. "How did he change so fast?"

"I don't know honey. But you don't need him anymore. My girl can find someone miles better than him."

"I don't think I want to date."

Natasha stroked her hand over Y/n's hair and reached for the bottle of water laying on the blanket. "Even better. Means I get you all to myself." She pulled Y/n into her side and held up the bottle for her to take. "Crying makes you dehydrated, so drink up."

Y/n took a few sips, feeling the cool liquid soothe her raw throat. She made sure the lid was on tightly before placing it on her nightstand. "Every time I see him in the hallway I won't know what to do."

"Unfortunately that will just fade with time honey. But you've got Isla and Maria who will be beside you at all times. They'll keep him away, you know your sister."

"Im scared she's gonna punch him."

Nat paused for a moment. "Part of me wants to let her, but I guess I have to be a responsible adult and talk her out of it." Her joke worked and Y/n laughed, smiling properly for the first time since lunch.

"Unless you want to be called to a meeting with the principal, then yeah I think so."

Natasha tightened her arms around her daughter and hugged her hard, breathing in the remains of her floral perfume. "You think you're ready to see Isla and Mom yet? They're worried about you."

As much as Y/n wanted to stay in that blissful moment with her mama, she knew she needed to see the others too. And also apologise to Isla who was only trying to help.

"If you'll help me talk to them?"

"Of course sweetheart. Of course."

[bradleysass]

Decorating + Mistletoe Kisses - @noblehouseofgay - word count: 572 - 25 Days of Jegumas

Snowflakes drifted lazily outside the window, the world blanketed in a soft, white hush. Inside the small cottage James and Regulus shared, however, it was anything but quiet.

“Reg! Hand me the tinsel, would you?” James called from atop a precariously balanced stepladder, his voice muffled by the string of lights he held between his teeth.

Regulus sat on the sofa, a book open in his lap and a cup of tea resting on the armrest. He glanced up, unimpressed. “If you fall and break your neck, I’m not taking you to St. Mungo’s.”

James spat the lights into his hand, his grin irrepressible. “And miss a chance to boss me around while I’m bedridden? You’d love that.”

Regulus rolled his eyes but set the book aside, retrieving the tinsel from the cluttered box of decorations. He stood and handed it up to James, who took it with a wink.

“You’re insufferable,” Regulus muttered, but there was no real heat in his tone.

“Insufferably charming,” James countered, carefully draping the tinsel across the curtain rod.

The house was a riot of holiday cheer—or, as Regulus saw it, chaos. James had insisted on going all out for their first Christmas together, which meant every available surface was now covered in twinkling lights, garlands, baubles, and other festive paraphernalia.

Regulus turned back toward the sofa, intending to return to his book, when something caught his eye.

It was dangling from the ceiling, right above the doorway: a sprig of enchanted mistletoe. But this wasn’t just any mistletoe. The berries shimmered in rainbow hues, and the leaves sparkled as though dusted with starlight.

Regulus arched an eyebrow. “What is that?”

James followed his gaze and then burst into laughter, nearly toppling off the ladder. “Oh, that. Isn’t it brilliant? Found it in Zonko’s when I went to Hogsmeade last week.”

“Why is it sparkling like that?” Regulus asked, approaching the doorway cautiously.

“It’s charmed!” James said proudly, climbing down from the ladder. “When two people kiss under it, it sings.”

Regulus blinked. “It what?”

“Sings!” James repeated, clearly delighted with himself. “Loudly. And off-key.”

Regulus stared at him, equal parts horrified and amused. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

James beamed. “Isn’t it amazing? Come on, let’s test it out.”

Before Regulus could protest, James grabbed him by the waist and pulled him under the mistletoe.

“James Potter, I swear to—”

But James was already leaning in, his grin softening into something fond as he pressed a quick kiss to Regulus’s lips.

The mistletoe immediately erupted into song, a hilariously off-tune rendition of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

Regulus’s eyes widened in disbelief, and then—unexpectedly—he laughed. It wasn’t a polite chuckle or a quiet smirk; it was a full, unrestrained laugh that lit up his usually serious face.

James froze, stunned. He’d seen Regulus smile before, even laugh quietly on occasion, but this… this was different. It was bright and warm, and it made James’s chest feel like it might burst.

“Merlin, that’s awful,” Regulus said between laughs, wiping at his eyes. “Who comes up with these things?”

“Geniuses,” James said, grinning like an idiot. “Absolute geniuses.”

Regulus shook his head, still laughing as the mistletoe launched into a second verse.

For the rest of the evening, James couldn’t stop smiling. The decorations, the chaos, the off-key mistletoe—it was all worth it, just to see Regulus like this.

[kaleidoscopiccc]

more headcannons to add to the pile:

ocean is the only member of the choir that doesnt have her ears pierced because shes scared to death of needles

mischa is banned from the only wafflehouse in uranium for reasons he refuses to explain

noel and ocean made a pact in like middle school to get married if neither of them were married by the age of 30

neither mischa nor ricky are allowed on aux under any circumstances because theyll play nothing but badegg and undertale fan songs respectively

mischa walks around in a t-shirt and shorts in the middle of canadian winter, hes just immune to the cold for some reason

ocean sorts all her stationary in rainbow order, she will explode if they get messed up

noel and ocean get into arguments about the best taylor swift albums constantly during choir

ocean is a lover and fearless stan for life an noels favorite is reputation

constance doesnt even try to make her case for speak now

one time she did and both of them turned to her in sync, yelled "no!", and went back to fighting

penny casually brings up her trauma in the middle of conversions and proceeds to leave the rest of the choir speechless (“oh yeah like that one time i got my entire family and friends arrested in a police raid on our drug commune” “the WHAT”)

ocean has a bunch of sapphic romance books hidden under her bed even though literally no one but her goes in her room

noel was a theatre kid but was banned from all school performances after the nativity incident so he started taking art instead

constance is the same height as (if not a little shorter than) ocean but always wears platforms so ocean ends up being the shortest either way

“100% of people who have sex as teens die, you don't want to die do you?” -ocean oconnell rosenberg, 2009

everyone in the choir needs glasses just to varying degrees most of them just dont wear them for reasons ranging from "yeah thats understandable" to "WHAT THE FUCK RICKY

penny hates pants with all her heart and will only wear shorts or skirts no matter how cold it is outside

constance hates pants almost as much and will wear shorts all the way up to like december

mischa refuses to close any of the apps or tabs on his phone and it literally dies quicker than he did

ocean loves cats but cats hate her, if they dont kill her from allergies, theyll start scratching the shit out of her (she cant be within 500 ft of the potts household without dying on the spot)

noel literally had to lock penny and ocean in the choir room together for them to confess to each other

it took them 2 hours

the others were just outside playing cards the whole time

mischa taught ricky poker during those 2 hours and ricky absolutely wrecked him every single round

mischa rage quit after the 5th time he lost in a row

the piano in the st cassian music room (/choir practice room) has been horrendously out of tune for longer than anyone can remember and no one bothers to fix it (ocean tried once but failed miserably and probably just made it worse)

[venusscriptures]

part two of this post!

18+ !! Afab reader, oral (male receiving), creampie

It had been a couple of days since that night, the journey of being on the run taking away the privacy of a room and the time and energy to resume your nightly escapades.

Vash however, couldn’t sleep these nights without remembering how you had woken him up, and how good he felt that he thought that it was a dream, he simply couldn’t fall asleep!

It was affecting his performance, his exhaustion dulling his reflexes and spatial awareness. Meryl had taken notice to his state and eyed him, asking if he was alright. He replied with a sheepish smile and said he was, but if there was one this you knew, was that he lied like a fool getting caught when it came to his health.

After a pit stop in a town, Meryl had decided that they were to stay that night, seeing how the discomfort of the sand and vehicle was getting to them.

Meryl had once again booked the room, but you accompanied her this time, making sure that the rooms were in order. Unfortunately there were only two double rooms left, and you guys took what you could get.

Wolfwood, Meryl and Milly had already gone into their shared rooms and had begun to settle down for the night, but you had said you would take a small stroll outside, just to shake off your nerves.

Vash had watched your figure leave out the front door, just like how you left that night you gave him the sweetest wake up.

Blushing at the memory, he went up into the room, settling into his bed and facing away from Nicholas, who looked at him confused, but he shrugged it off and turned off the light, snoring nearly the moment his head hit the pillow.

After about an hour, Vash had heard the door next to their room open and close, signaling your arrival. He wondered what you had been doing out, and how he could get you to come sleep by his side.

You quietly laid down your gear down, sighing as you rolled your shoulders, grabbing your coat and sitting on the recliner, leaning back and taking off your boots. You had walked around the city, picking up bits and pieces of information about it. It seemed safe enough to stay for an extra night, that’s if Vash doesn’t attract any eyes.

Suddenly feeling parched, you got up to the door to grab a bottle of water from the vending machine you saw earlier downstairs. Opening it, you saw a distressed Vash standing there, his hair array and coat discarded, shocked at your figure before he smiled.

“Ah, did I wake you?”

You shook your head, a small smile as you walked closer to him, a blush slowly forming as you got closer to him, his eyes darting.

“No, I just returned and wanted to drink something, would you like to join me?”

You slid your hand against his waist, caressing it with your thumb. He looked to the side and shuddered, taking in a deep breath and nodding, still not looking at you. He was fidgeting, his ears red. He kind of looked cute this way.

You had booked another room for yourself, a single suddenly popping up after you had returned from your walk. The receptionist had given it to you and apologized for the delay, but you took the room key gratefully and went off to it. It was on the same floor as the others, but about 5-7 doors down.

After you told Vash, he nodded, smiling softly.

“I’m glad you can rest well now, [F/N]”

You raised your brows, smiling.

“Yet you’re not sleeping at all these days, shouldn’t you worry about yourself?”

“Ah…” He smiled sheepishly, scratching his nape in shame. He certainly couldn’t tell you the reason was because each time he closed his eyes, he had replayed you licking so gently at him.

“I’ll be okay, it’s not that bad-”

You cut him off, shaking your head and taking his arm, dragging him into your room, shutting the door and locking it behind you.

You turned around and pointed to the bed.

“Sleep. Rest, I’ll keep watch over you if you’re worried about unwanted ambushes.”

He shook his head, panic flashed across his face and a slight pang from the pits of his stomach spread all over his body, the familiar sweet scent hitting your nose.

“Oh, oh no I couldn’t, it’s your bed I don’t want to keep you up, I-Oh!”

You pulled him towards the bed, your eyes interlocked with his as you pushed him down, laying him back onto the mattress.

He gasped and brought his thighs together, gazing at you with a pleading look in his eyes, his eyebrows turned up. He felt himself throb between his legs, the sickly sweetness growing stronger than last time, making you heavy with lust.

“Vash..I want to continue what we did last time..I can’t bring myself to hold back..”

You pressed your lips against his, cupping his face in your hands and leaning over him, moving so that you straddled his hips, sighing into the kiss.

He gasped, grabbing at your pants and whimpering as he kissed back, opening his mouth for you while deepening the kiss, his moans escaping each time you slightly parted your lips.

You pulled back from it, amused as he chased the kiss. You pushed his chest back down and took off your shirt, leaving you in your bra. You slid down to in between his thighs, fondling them as he stared at your boobs, looking away shamefully before returning his eyes, biting his lip.

“Vash…I want to eat you out again..will you let me?” You whispered gently to him, your hands moving up to his sides, your hands caressing him all over.

He whined and nodded, arching his back slightly and moving his hips up so that you could slip off his pants. Having taken them off, your reaction was still the same as before. He was absolutely beautiful down here, and you could stare at it all day.

“I….thank..you..”

You looked up at him confused, and saw the blush on his face as his face was turned away from you. You had accidentally spoken your thoughts out to him.

Smiling, you leaned down to between his legs, sliding him down to in front of your face.

“Well, let me show you just how beautiful you are to me.”

You pressed a kiss on his slit, his mouth letting slip a gasp. You licked your lips and began to lick at him, closing your eyes and getting completely lost in his flavor, in his scent, in him.

He had lost count how many time he had came, his dicks long had emerged yet you let them curl around your fingers while you slurped at the vent they came from, the dual stimulation making him feel like he was high in the sky, as though he was amongst the birds in the clouds.

A particularly hard tug on your hair had you look up at him with lidded eyes, your mouth still working away at him.

He looked down at you, tears flowing down from his eyes as he sniffled, his body tensing up as he came again, a warbled moan coming out of his mouth.

You slurped up his fluids and crawled up to him, your mouth and chin dripping with his arousal. He whimpered, seeing you so delirious and messy because of him had made him more aroused. It was his scent that was coming from you, him that had you so excited, him that was under you, trembling in anticipation.

You licked off the slick around your mouth, kissing him deeply as you shifted back on top of his hips, taking off your pants and underwear, the appendages reaching up towards your warmth.

You sat above their reach, his hands holding onto your hips as his had twitched, wanting to plunge deeply into you.

You pulled away from the kiss and sat up, sliding back down to directly align yourself with him, looking at him as he watched his dicks reach up towards your hole, your wetness making it easy for them to slide around.

“Do you want me to fuck you, Vash?” You said with a sultry tone in your voice, taking his hands and raising them to fondle your breasts.

He groaned, his focus now on your tits, groping them and kneading them, obsessed with how soft and warm they felt in his hands.

“Please..I’ve been dreaming about you so much i couldn’t even sleep…I’d be so happy, I could die happy-Oh fuck”

You sunk down on him, his dicks twitching and squirming against your velvety walls, the warmth driving him insane, his moans and whimpers now silent as his lidded eyes stared up at the ceiling, his body appearing to be calm. However, inside you, he was going completely crazy, the dicks practically thrusting themselves in and out of you, the pulsing mimicking his heartbeat.

You proceeded to slide all the way down, laying down on his chest as you watched his face, amused by his reactions.

He gasped and left indents in your thighs as he gripped them tightly, finally breaking the silence and letting out a loud broken moan.

Not wanting to attract attention, you silenced him with a kiss, his eyes fluttering shut as he let out chopped moans, feeling you slide up and down his dicks. They were twirling around each other inside you, growing thicker as your hips oscillated on top of his, making you feel fuller by the second.

He whined into your lips and held the back of your head, kissing you deeper and pushing his hips up, the other arm wrapping around your waist as he started to thrust into you hurriedly, the pleasure making him impatient and unable to hold back anymore. He broke off the kiss and tucked his face in the crook of your neck, pairing each lewd gasp with a moan, his noises growing more frequent as he went faster.

His thrusts stuttered, then a final one harshly pressed into you, his dicks spasming as he came deep inside you, letting out a drawn out wail as you clenched down on him, his orgasm triggering yours suddenly. He held you tighter against him, a high pitched sob shaking him as your pussy gripped him tightly, his vision going white.

He awoke to the warm morning sun beaming down onto his face, greeting him like an old familiar friend. Feeling well-rested for the first time in a while, he grew aware to the warm mass laying on top of him, and his lack of clothing.

Remembering the events of the night before, he blushed, but kept watching your sleeping figure, your breathing calm and steady. It nearly lulled him back to sleep, but he kept watching your peaceful beauty, adoring how beautiful your skin looked in the morning sun. It looked as though your skin was glowing.

You started to shift, snuggling into him as the suns rays hit your eyes, waking you from your rest. Opening your eyes, you rubbed them and hid your face into his chest, making him lightly chuckle.

“Mornin’.”

You raised your head and smiled, pressing a small kiss on his lips.

“Mornin’ pretty.”

He could get used to this.

[artist-issues]

I’ve just come across your Wish analysis (which led to binge-reading loads of your other Disney rants, which I so loved reading and totally appreciated), and you’ve got me thinking. So please allow me to rant for a bit.

Flash back to when the live-action Beauty and the Beast came out. My friend loved it, raved about it for ages, and made me go see it with her. The original was my favourite childhood movie so I was excited for the new one… and subsequently disappointed to an extreme. I couldn’t put my finger on it for ages - just that there was a general feeling of wrongness I couldn’t explain (until I read your post and I was just like, “YES! THIS EXACTLY!”). My friend couldn’t understand it and would say things like, “I thought you said you liked Beauty and the Beast!” But I do like it, and that’s why I’m so upset how badly they missed the point.

It feels like that’s all Disney is doing these days: missing the point! Because it doesn’t matter how many times they give us a sassy girl with long hair and some vague magic skill that helps her in the third act! We want characters. As in, people who remind us of actual people! What makes Belle so charming and relatable? She’s polite when other people are rude, but firm when they push against her morals, and enjoys reading. A relatable female character is one who can be compared to other female characters. Belle on her own is just a girl who likes books, but against the motherly Mrs Potts who takes care of everyone, or the vain triplets who only want Gaston’s attention, she’s suddenly so much more real, and that’s what these new films are missing!

Anyway, I could go on and on about this, but I’m sorry because I didn’t mean for this to get so long or out-of-hand 😬

That is why you like it: that is why you’re upset; because you DO like the real Beauty & the Beast! Wonderful! Yes, you get it!

I think what makes Belle feel real is some of the raw emotion she shows—and how she shows it.

When living furniture puts on a light show, she gasped and claps and dances along. When the Beast asks her a romantic but loaded question, her first impulse is to say “yes!” but then she does double back and admit that she misses her father; she doesn’t have all her thoughts collected, exactly, but she is being honest. When wolves attack her, she screams. When she has to give up her life, she sobs on a bed. When she’s in a terrible situation, she does initially basically pout and refuse to leave her room. But when she’s being watched by others, she tries to be strong; she cries silently when she’s following the Beast to her room. She gives him her word with her back straight and her eyes closed all grave. Like I said, you can almost see her remembering stories she’s read of brave heroes giving solemn oaths, and she’s trying to be like them.

Emma Watson didn’t bring any of that.

She had to make the character too in-control of her own emotions even when outlandish or traumatic things are happening, because her idea of a “strong woman” can’t be delighted or horrified or fazed, in general, by anything st all. She made her as distant and unrelatable as any caricature. I mean, I remember very clearly the one and only moment I felt a glimmer of “that’s Belle!” in the movie, and it’s when Belle is given the library and the Beast leaves the room, and Emma Watson gives this excited little half-shriek of joy. And it’s like…where is that in the rest of the movie?

I can even find fault with that moment, too though. Because she waits till the Beast, the gift-giver, leaves the room before she really reacts that strongly. Why? The real Belle tells the Beast how wonderful she thinks it is, breathlessly, over the moon.

Because when someone gives you a gift, if you’re a self-protective, cool-calm demeanor feminist, you don’t let them see that they have any control over your emotions—not even the ability to impress you or make you happy with a crazy gift.

But, instead, if you’re a selfless woman, who is happy to share her emotions with others especially when it brings them joy, you have no trouble showing that a crazy gift delights and impresses you. It’s part of the gratitude/

Anyway! I could go on and on. But don’t let anybody get it twisted. You do like Beauty and the Beast. You just happen to know what Beauty and the Beast really is, and why you like it.

[therottenkingsreckoning]

Gotta say, I'm surprised and incredibly happy with how much y'all seemed to enjoy the first chapter! Don't know what I was so nervous about lol.

Right, as promised, chapter 2, and more soon to follow!

It would take some time after breakfast was already made and eaten before Frank felt ready to leave on their ill-fated grocery trip, continuously finding excuses to delay in little busywork around the house. Some cleaning here, reorganizing shelves of books, and gee I'm sure I must've left the oven on!

It couldn't be put off forever though. Eventually, he knew, Eddie would come back from his business, and Frank had to know before then. There'd be no leaving the house under the watchful eye of their beloved husband, no avoiding his questions when he spoke in that sweet, caring tone of voice. Frank loved the man, in part because of how deeply cherished he made them feel in return. It'd be cruel to hide the truth from him (if truth's what it was) and let him continue to think his lover was merely sick. Getting dressed for the day (he'd not be seen outside in PJs!) they donned a mask as well- for posterity's sake, and in case he really was contagious after all. Better safe than sorry.

After all of that, and with the heavy weight of finality in their chest, Frank stepped out through back door of the house and made his way towards Howdy's shop.

They knew by now that Eddie would've come and gone from there, likely voicing his concerns over Frank's current health to the resident shopkeep. Oh well, if Howdy gave him lip for being outside while sick, they had no trouble telling him to stuff it.

He was busy stocking shelves when Frank came in, hardly pausing when he saw them but still offering a chuckle. "Mornin' Frank, you look like shit." It was a friendly tradition between the two by now, and normally Frank would've responded with a roast of his own. But they had little energy for such things at the moment, his mind too tangled up in fears and what-if worries to try for an insult. Luckily, the bug did seem to get the message, and Frank could quickly slip unseen past the corner and into the pharmacy aisle.

There they were, the dreaded purple boxes. The thing that would soon decide his fate. Frank thought briefly about why their town's store would stock this many- there were only a few womb-havers here, and even fewer who'd realistically ever put the thing to use. Still, suppose they were there just in case. Just gotta grab one, they thought. Grab and b-

Buy it. Frank would need to buy the thing from Howdy. The idea had seemed doable in the abstract, but now that they were here...he couldn't do it. Having to look him in the eye, face his questions, try to make jokes...Frank swallowed hard, fighting the rising lump of bile. But he couldn't just walk out without it!

Glancing around quickly, they pressed himself close to the shelf, silently praying forgiveness for what he was about to do. A box was torn open at its seal, the contents swiftly stuffed into the waistline of their pants, and the empty shell stuffed behind the others as discreetly as he could manage.

His heart was racing with nervous excitement. They'd never stolen anything before. Should he just walk out like this? No no, surely that's too suspicious. Grabbing a bottle of cold medicine as pretense for being in that aisle, Frank walked through the rest of the shop as casually as he could manage, even as their mind screamed at each passing second.

Bunch of bananas (on sale!)

A loaf of bread.

Some cheese.

Four things was enough, right? Just a normal quick trip to the store, nothing weird with that. Nothing strange, he'd done nothing wrong.

The caterpillar had long since finished up restocking when Frank approached his counter, the normal indescribable level of snark in his eyes as he watched them. "All set?" he said, taking a look in the basket. "Not much today, eh?"

Frank let out a noise meant to be non-commital and bored, but ended up sounding more like they were suffering from stomach pain. Still, it worked somehow, earning little more than a raised eyebrow from the taller. "Yeesh, you do look terrible," he said, all teasing aside for a second as he spoke in genuine concern. "Tell ya what, I won't ask for a joke this time- tell me a fact. Know you're good for that, won't be hard on your noggin."

Oh if only you knew, Frank thought miserably, how hard everything is for me right now.

He racked their brain for a moment, trying to think of a fact he'd not told Howdy before. They'd told him plenty, it was after all the scientist's favorite activity. But for as many as had been told, Frank knew at least a dozen more.

"D-did you know that butterflies can't fly...if their body temperature is below 80 degrees?"

They tried to let his mind fall into the familiar rhythm of infodumping.

"Or no, wait, i-it was 65 I think. The uhh...the mucles don't..."

It didn't work.

Howdy seemed to mull over what Frank was saying, a comedically exaggerated look of concentration across his features. Frank had always hated that, how he and Barbie never seemed to take anything seriously even though there was plenty of serious stuff in their lives. What they hated even more though, was what happened next.

"So what if it's warmer than that? Does that mean more flight?"

Frank's heart sank. Oh no. He's got follow-up questions. On any other day they would've relished the chance to share more information. Now though, it felt like agony, the clock still ticking and ticking fast. "I think..." he started, but their mind was drawing blanks, stuck like a broken record on the singular thought of Oh God get me the fuck out of here. "I..."

Just then, sounds of the shop's only doors jangling open rang out from behind them, along with the cheerful-if-monotone call of "hello my lovely neighbors!"

Wally. Wally, the beautiful, darling little demon. Frank could almost have hugged the man if they weren't still pretending(?) to be sick. If anything at all could convince Howdy to take focus off of the grey, it would be the appearance of his boyfriend.

And sure enough, he did, a hand gently shoving Frank back with their groceries as the bug locked lips and eyes with his little man. Frank made a noise of pretended offense at this, though truth be told they were overjoyed for an opportunity to seize. "I'll take my leave since you two are clearly busy," he said, earning quick looks of embarassment (mostly from Wally.) Heart still racing and with a carefully measured step to avoid jostling free their secret "purchase", Frank walked through the door and headed home, praying they'd get there before Eddie did.

[nyaagolor]

Evanatsu Week Day 2: Roses / Tea

A happier one this time :) I am still behind, unfortunately. Short preview below and the rest under the readmore like before

Eva, admittedly, didn’t care much for tea. Drinking out of the dainty cups on Rokkenjima, surrounded by the bustle of servants and the gentle chime of silverware, Eva felt like a child again, all sculpted posture and delicate hands. It was much the same here, even in the change of scenery. Golden roses, perpetually in bloom and blanketing the arbor in a rich floral scent, covered the grounds like it were alive– some sparkling, monochrome plain only disrupted by the small gazebo where the women tended to have their parties. Eva hardly ever bothered to attend. 

Tea was sophisticated, lady-like, dainty in a way that made her stomach turn in a deep-seated repugnance. Coffee was much more to her tastes– but if she had to guess, the woman sitting at the opposite end of the table didn’t have a tenth of the palate needed to appreciate something quite so strong and snappy. Glancing across the arbor, Eva couldn’t help but smile to herself. Natsuhi, as it seemed, needed cream and sugar to stomach even the insipid teas that Ronove prepared. She was careful not to make noise when she stirred, applying her own attempts at elegance to something so childish. It was cute, Eva thought, like a little girl parading about in her mother’s heels. 

Admittedly, it was a mostly silent affair. They sat there for a while in the stillness, Eva swirling her coffee and trying to follow Natsuhi’s gaze. She stared out at the roses with a faraway look in her eyes, sipping her tea with enough ambivalence towards Eva’s presence beside her that she had to wonder why Natsuhi invited her here at all. As if noticing her staring, Natushi looked up at her, eyes wide. Within moments she was fidgeting with the cup, dragging her finger around the lip as though lost in thought. 

“Nee-san,” she finally said, “Thank you for joining me here.”

Eva hid her expression by taking a sip of coffee, letting the aromatics and bitter taste drown whatever she might have said. Natsuhi, words hanging awkwardly in the silence, continued. 

“I know you don’t like tea, so I was worried you wouldn’t come, but…” she turned away this time, staring at her reflection in her cup, “I’m glad you’re here. It’s nice to be in your company every once in a while.”

Eva licked the crema off her lips, unable to stifle a retort. “So being in my company on most occasions is unpleasant?”

Natsuhi immediately turned red. “That is not what I said!” she stammered. Eva just grinned at her, watching as Natushi’s indignation sputtered out into nothing, turning her face away like Eva couldn’t read her expression like a book. 

“I just… wanted to get to know you a little better, that’s all.” She paused for a moment, her gaze flitting back to the rose garden. “Since I never got the chance to.”

Eva felt the words fall away in an instant, any of the usual teasing drying to nothing on her tongue. Chances. They had gotten their chances, squandered every one. Eva had thought about it, sitting on the top of that high-rise when Ange was at St. Lucia. She had every chance to quit, every chance to be a good mother, every chance to just leave before 1986 had even happened. 

To say that they only needed chances brought an immediate and familiar scowl to Eva’s face. She and Natsuhi had passed each other in the hallway a hundred times, ignored each other’s tear-stained faces when they were still little girls who liked to act like they weren’t. They had stepped on each other to grasp at illusions above them and blame the other for their empty hands. They were given every opportunity to be what the other needed, to find some camaraderie against the idiot man-kings who lorded over the island. The only chances they ever seemed to take were to hurt each other, to take the burden off Kinzo’s shoulders and tear each other apart like dogs in his stead. They had chances, and they had time. If nothing else, that was the one thing they had been granted their entire lives. She had asked Beatrice about it, not longer after they had arrived at the Golden Land. In a thousand fragments, Eva had the chance to put the gun back on the table– to never pick it up in the first place. In a thousand fragments, she never did. 

Natsuhi went back to stirring her tea, silently shifting herself to turn away from Eva. She wasn’t dumb enough to miss the flicker of Eva’s expression, just how Eva did not fail to notice exactly what the change in posture meant. How naive, then, to think that a chance was what they needed when they had already had so many. How stupid, to walk so far down a trail of fate and still think there was a chance to try something else. How futile, how worthless, how pathetic, to try. 

… And for all of that, it was Eva who couldn’t meet her gaze. 

Natsuhi was the one who invited her out here, who remembered what she liked, who opened herself to ridicule and made a new chance herself. Perhaps caring enough to try wasn’t ever the problem. 

“What kind of tea are you drinking?” Eva finally said. Natsuhi choked on her own response, wincing and quickly wiping her face as she snapped out of her thoughts. 

“W– huh? This?” She sniffled, trying to clear her throat. “It’s black tea. It has rosehips.”

“Can I have some?” 

Natsuhi seemed taken aback by the question, watching Eva glance over at the teapot in the center of the table. “O- of course,” she said, moving to sit next to her to prepare her a cup. 

“I haven’t tried many teas,” Eva admitted as Natushi set up the saucers and spoons, “but you always seem to be drinking it. You’ll have to show me some of your collection another time.”

Natushi froze, her gaze fixed on Eva. At times like this, it was a little hard for Eva to imagine why they had fought so often– Natushi was easy to read, her emotions as intense and fleeting as a little girl’s. Eva felt vaguely like she was looking at a puppy she had just kicked. Even now, Natsuhi’s lips were parted in surprise, her eyes wide in shock and sparkling with barely concealed delight. 

“The cup is overflowing,” Eva pointed out, and Natushi quickly leapt back with a yelp, her knees hitting the table and making their drinkware rattle. The tea was still overflowing in the cup, silently spilling over the edges of the saucer and making a slight amber puddle on the table, filtering out slowly. Eva could see their warped reflections in the glassy surface, Natsuhi flitting about like a startled maidservant while Eva watched the both of them.  

Another meeting. Another conversation. Another excuse to be in your company. Another chance to know you. A million possibilities in a catbox of our own creation.

Perhaps another cup of tea wouldn’t be so bad.