#but her lack of surprise felt just a tad too natural

[dirtytransmasc]

something that breaks my heart, is that when viserys calls Alicent, Aemma, at Driftmark, she doesn't look surprised. she looks offended and saddened by the fact her own husband of at least a decade and a half can't remember her name, that he calls her by his late wife's name. but she didn't look surprised. it's happened before, and by the way she and Criston (though there was the faintest look of murderous intent in that man's eyes, cause he doesn't want to allow that disrespect to come to his Queen) don't really react outside of the discomfort and offence of it, means it probably happens quite a bit, enough for the two of them to react as little as they did.

[mimikoflamemaker]

Faeruninan Writing Challenge - Day 3

First Encounter with Their Love Interest

Neve tried yet again to wipe some of the intellect devourer’s gunk off her pants. Without much result. She expected to be dirty after getting out of that disgusting pod and crashing the mindflayers ship. And usually she didn’t mind that much – a little bit of gore has never killed anybody as far as she was concerned. The bright morning light however, made it quite obvious how absolutely caked in dirt they both were.

And she would’ve likely felt a lot less bad about this if she wasn’t so done up before. She could tell that a lot of her hair came out of the updo she had meticulously put them into… when exactly? It was a morning much like this one, but she couldn’t really tell how much time she had been on board of the nautiloid.

How much time she had left before her transformation was complete.

Since she really didn’t want to face that particular problem right now, moping about her appearance felt like a reasonable choice. Because her clothes, while pretty, were going to be a bitch to clean with all the small leather pieces artfully stitched together and gilded with silver. There was a reason she wasn’t using it all that often regardless of its undeniable quality.

Neve reached to scratch at a dried spot of… something smeared across her shoulder and barely noticed Shadowheart stopping in the middle of their climb up the gentle slope.

‘Did you hear that?’ the half-elf asked.

Not wanting to be caught unaware, she opted for the vague sound of agreement, while quickly focusing her hearing on her immediate surroundings.

‘Hey! I need some help here!’ a male voice carried over all of the other sounds of nature and disaster, only proving how distracted she actually was that this somehow escaped her notice – the man clearly didn’t care about not attracting attention.

Hells. This was the last thing she needed right now. Both the lack of focus and clueless idiot to land them in trouble just by hovering nearby.

She weaved past Shadowheart and continued up the path. The sooner they deal with that the better. They could always feed the wreck another victim, if they won’t be able to get rid of him otherwise. Whoever comes over to investigate, likely will not care much about the manner of peoples deaths – rather about whatever valuables they might have carried.

The man calling for help was an elf. He was similarly disheveled to them and it was an easy guess that he too have survived the crash. Neve observed intently as they approached, trying to seize him up. Beneath the layer of grime, he was dressed in finery, a tad old-fashioned perhaps, but well-made nonetheless.

Wherever the guy was taken from, he clearly left some servants behind.

That at least explained the tone.

‘Come on, hurry up!’

Some very relived servants perhaps. As they closed the distance completely, Neve’s eyes never left the stranger. He seemed harmless enough at a glance, but she used the same façade often enough to not take it at face value. It was always better to expect the worst – it left much less space for being unpleasantly surprised.

‘I’ve got one of those… brain-creatures cornered’ he continued, motioning towards some shrubbery behind his back. ‘You can kill it, can you? Like you killed the others?’

Neve paused a few paces away from the strange elf. She wasn’t sure if it was something in his tone or the way he squinted, making his expression difficult to decipher, but it gave her a pause. It was enough to tell her that something was off.

And she was well and truly done with doing other people bidding.

‘Kill it yourself’ the elleth scoffed, not even trying to curb her tone into something pleasant. ‘You should have no problem with one, tiny brain.’

Something shifted behind his eyes – a flash of annoyance perhaps?

Good.

In hindsight though, she shouldn’t have turned away so early. Then again, she didn’t expect him to simply pounce, and herself being yanked backward and onto the ground, the cold steel of a dagger held away from her throat only by her hand instinctively closed around his wrist.

Oh no, he didn’t.

As soon as her back struck the ground she dug her nails into the sinewy underside of his wrist, pulling his arm even further away, while his other hand grappled for her, intent on keeping her still. He clearly did not expect her to put up much of a fight though and so, after jamming a quick elbow into his ribs, she was able to roll away, procuring a dagger from her boot as she rose to her feet.

‘This doesn’t have to get ugly’ she sneered as they stared at each other, ready to strike. ‘But test me again and I will eviscerate you...’

‘My, my you know some fancy words’ the elf tried to hide his own grimace behind a smile, but it did nothing for her. ‘I saw you on that ship. Walking around while I was trapped in that… pod. What did you and those tentacled monsters do to me?!’

Well he was no less confused than she was a few hours ago. And angry. Neve could relate to either of those feelings. She lowered the blade with a flourish, but didn’t sheath it completely.

‘You got everything backwards, I’m afraid’ she tried to sound a bit more civil. ‘I was snatched up – just like you…’

‘Don’t lie! I’m not an idiot! I saw- Ah!’

At this point the connection of the tadpoles was not a wholly unfamiliar feeling and Neve decided to latch onto it. If this was allowing her to see into his mind, she might as well try to find something of interest there.

Or maybe not, she realized, grimacing against a surge of discomfort. The elf thoughts were fragmented and chaotic – he clearly didn’t know what was going on. But in the moments she saw clearly, she realized that she was looking at the memories of the dark, busy streets. Or empty alleyways. Some of those images were clearly of places she knew as well – of Baldur’s Gate. She tried to hold the images for longer, hoping that they will form some sort of a cohesive story, but their tadpoles seemed to have a different idea.

Neve saw light – the sun she realized – and felt the rush of fear so primal, she physically recoiled from the sensation, snapping the connection before she could discern the source of the panic.

In front of her the elf shook his head, clearly disoriented.

‘What happened? What… I saw you. They took you too…’

‘Glad we have that out of the way’ she replied, briefly wondering how much he saw. Was he privy to the thoughts she had in those last moments before being captured? ‘And to avoid any further attempts at each other throats – these parasites the mindflayers planted in us? This connection was their doing.’

‘The worm’ the confused look on his face was gone as if it was never even there. ‘That explains things, somewhat’ He relaxed a fraction and also lowered his dagger in a mirrored attempt to appear less threatening. ‘And to think, I was ready to decorate the ground with your innards’ he let out a small chuckle, his lips bending into a charming smirk. ‘Apologies.’

Neve was well used to dealing with people that didn’t possess an honest bone in their body. It was always a game for two.

‘Given what just happened, it won’t be a stretch to admit that I would have done the same should our places have been reversed’ she offered, mimicking the coy expression.

‘Ah, a kindred spirit’ the elf smiled, relaxing even further. ‘I believe some introductions are in order then… My name is Astarion. I was in Baldur’s Gate when those beasts snatched me…’ the trailed off, his eyes trained onto her face. Searching for something. ‘Though I suppose you’ve already seen that…’

She wasn’t the only one afraid of her thoughts being left bare for others it seemed.

‘Only glimpses’ she replied. There was no need to feed the hostility for now. ‘I suppose the tadpoles control this things more than we do. I’m Neve. And I too was in Baldur’s Gate before crashing this thing’ she gestured towards the smoldering wreck. ‘Into the ground.’

‘Really? You weren’t slacking off it seems’ he pretended to look away from her, focused on picking a clump of dirt from beneath his fingernail. ‘So, did you learn anything about these worms while wandering the ship?’ he asked.

One less observant, might have think he was asking about the weather. But Neve felt his eyes on her the entire time. And the unbothered veneer he presented was as thin as her weaning patience.

There was no denying though, that other survivors should they found any, might have a better knowledge and resources to deal with their growing problem, even if they might not be willing to share at first.

She still remember what the gith warrior told her. But it did look like she decided to proceed to that creche without them.

‘I’m afraid I don’t have anything good to say… You see, if we don’t get them out quickly we’re going to turn into mindflayers ourselves…’

‘Turn us into -’ if she needed any other proof that the entire display she was seeing so far was just an act, the bitter and quickly cut off laughter was as unexpected as it was honest. ‘Of course it will turn me into a monster… what else did I expect?’

Neve folded her arms across her chest and watched as something fractured in his expression, too fleeting to make much sense of what it meant. If anything, she could extend a certain appreciation towards his ability to push the more desperate thought away. She held her own by the throat ever since she woke up into that blasted pod and she could the increasing desire to just scream her frustration out bubbling into the surface more and more often.

The attitude of those around her at least give her the motivation to not give into that desire. There were appearances to be maintained.

‘Although it hasn’t happened yet…’ he continued, clearly picking up the same trail of thoughts she had when she came to at the beach. ‘If we can find someone who can control these things there might still be time.’

She would have preferred to be rid of the parasite altogether, but any solution that works would be a welcome one. And she wasn’t beneath aligning with anyone who might bring something useful to the table. Regardless of how annoying they are bound to be the entire time.

‘Can’t say you’re wrong here, so I propose we’ll stick together. Searching for the solution will certainly be faster if we join the resources.’

Astarion smiled, a little sharper this time.

‘You know, I was ready to do all of this alone, but maybe finding some allies is not such a bad idea. And anyone who can crash the mindflayer ship and walk off seems like a useful person to know.’

Well there was at least some ground to an understanding it seems. It was always better to know she was being used upfront she supposed, instead of painfully coming to that realization years later when the chances for getting out dwindled almost into nothing.

‘Alright then’ Astarion’s voice brought her back to the present as the elf offered her a small bow. ‘I accept this arrangement. Lead on.’

Neve could only hope that she wasn’t going to regret it too much it later on.

[electrical-communication]

Truthfully (wip)

Truthfully, walking was never as convenient as teleporting; when you’ve spent years as a rogue robot in hiding, however, you got used to not having the privilege of accessible teleport spots. Truthfully, Blues quite liked these little nature walks. Rock and Roll did too, but they weren’t as fond of thoughtful silence as their older brother was. The duo walked ahead of Blues, chatting away with each other about something or other. Truthfully, Blues was too distracted by the view of the vibrant sunset and distant calls of birds to eavesdrop on his siblings’ conversation, although he appreciated the background noise of the two talking all the same. And (perhaps a little vainly, he thought to himself) he was just a tad bit mesmerized by the way the sun rays glistened on his new plating. It was odd, really, to think he had spent so long avoiding this place yet now he found himself with an absentminded, contented smile on his face while on his way back to Light Labs. Truthfully, Blues could hardly remember the last time he smiled before he came home.

Blues was snapped out of his daydreaming by a rather strange sound. It was like… distressed squeaking. It was then that he noticed his siblings had stopped in their tracks, hunched over like they were examining something on the ground.

“Hey- oh,” Rock turned to catch Blues’s attention, but was shocked to see the older robot was already behind him, peering at what had the other two so interested.

It was a cat. Well, a kitten to be more precise. Truthfully, Blues was not expecting that, though luckily his surprise didn’t show on his face.

“What is a kitten doing all the way out here?” Roll asked. True, the little scamp was less like the young of a highly successful species of predators and more like an orange clump of fur hardly larger than a finger nor wider than one either. It was tucked away in some bushes, as if that would work to conceal its location when it was practically mewling its little head off earlier. Truthfully, it probably would have been mistaken for a really orange dandelion or something had it not been the noise.

“We should leave it alone. The mother is probably around here,” Blues suggested, already beginning to step back. He had enough encounters with wild animals as a runaway to know better than to get involved with situations like this. Of course, Rock didn’t have that kind of experience, so Blues expected it when the younger shot him a sad look, even if it didn’t make it sting any less.

“Aw, but it’s prolly so sad by itself. Can’t we play with it a little or something?” Rock probably would not have appreciated being told he was pouting, but he was totally pouting. Blues eyebrows lowered, and for the umpteenth time today he was thankful for the visor obscuring his eyes. What Rock was doing was dangerous, but Blues supposed he couldn’t blame him. Most of Rock’s interactions with animals were the companions built for him; and even if Tango could imitate the fickle nature of a real cat, he was nowhere near close to having the— for lack of a more flattering term— primitive mind of the real thing. Dr. Light and Dr. Cossack had done plenty of anthropomorphizing Rush, Tango, and Beat’s behavior— which is fine, because they are robots— but applying that expectation to organic animals was a dangerous thing. But Blues didn’t have the time to explain all of that to Rock.

“We might scare it,” Blues offered instead. Truthfully, Blues felt a bit pleased with himself when he saw Rock’s expression change from one of pouting to understanding. Blues turned to Roll, waiting to see her face change too, but instead he saw her thoughtful gaze examining the bush.

“I don’t see any other kittens here… I don’t think mama cats leave their babies far from each other,” Roll stated, but when that didn’t cause much of a reaction she added, “Plus this kitten is really friendly.” Roll gestured down to her feet as she said that, and it was then that the boys noticed the kitten had nuzzled up against her.

Blues waited for her to elaborate more, but it seemed Rock had already guessed what she was alluding to. “You’re saying you think they were abandoned?” Rock gasped. Blues mulled it over. It did make some sense. Truthfully, Blues had seen more than a few stray cats in the cities, and though he didn’t know too much about them, he knew enough to know they were quite skittish creatures who didn’t tend to approach humans (or in their case, human-like beings) without being accustomed to their presence first.

“I think she’s saying she thinks they were abandoned by a human,” Blues said, and at Roll’s confirmatory nod he heard Rock let out a sad little “oh”. “It probably wasn’t that long ago either. With as loud as he is, he would’ve been-“ Blues cut himself off, remembering the rather sensitive hearts (figuratively) of his siblings. “He wouldn’t still be here,” he quietly finished. A part of him felt guilty, as if he were to blame for the way nature worked and he wasn’t simply relaying that knowledge to his more naive siblings.

“Do you think maybe we just missed whoever dropped them off here?” Roll asked, having now squatted down to pet behind the kitten’s ears. Truthfully, they had crossed paths with a few humans on their walk— fortunately, none of them could match the robots’ child-like base appearances with their much more (in)famous armored forms, and Roll wasn’t very recognizable to the public outside of roboticist nerds— and all of three of them would have been none the wiser to any human’s foul feline-related motives. “If we search, we might be able to find them before they get away,” Roll half-heartedly suggested.

“They’ll just throw it back out again,” truthfully, Blues was a bit startled by the harshness of his own tone. It seemed to spur Rock on though.

“We can’t just leave them here without help!” he said, looking between the both of them for agreement. When Rock met Roll’s eyes, though, he stopped and the two both smirked as they reached some sort of mutual understanding.

“No, no. No way, Rock!” Roll gesticulated x’s with her hands, but the venomless tone and mischievous glint in her eye gave away her excitement for whatever idea the boy had.

“We should adopt the kitten,” Rock blurted out anyway, finally clueing Blues in on their disagreement. “You know you want to, Roll!”

“I know! But… You know it’s just..” Roll kept trailing off and interrupting herself, seemingly struggling to find the right words. “It’s just not the responsible thing to do,” she finally settled on saying. “Right, Blues?”

Truthfully, Blues felt a little warmed that Roll turned to him as the “responsible” one. Sometimes, Blues felt like his life was a series of terrible, impulsive decisions that he lived on with pride—fine for him, but awful for a role model. Still, if his sister thought he was someone to look up to, then that must mean maybe he was doing something right. He couldn’t let her down!

Blues looked back to the kitten, and already he felt his resolve weaken. Logically, he knew that picking this kitten up off the ground and bringing it to home was irresponsible and impulsive, but he also logically knew that this kitten would die in an hour or so without their intervention. Truthfully, looking at the raggedy orange thing— worn down already from its abandonment but with nobody to turn to care for it as it needs to be— he found that he was overcome with the urge to take care of it. Hell, if Dr. Light didn’t let them keep it at home, then Blues knew he would care for the kitten in secret at that point.

“We can take them to Dr. Light and ask him,” Blues compromised, already scooping the kitten into his hands before the other two could react. He began walking off toward Light Labs again, but halted when he realized he didn’t hear the thudding of his siblings behind him. He turned his head to see the two were stunned were they stood at his switch-up. “Well? Aren’t you two coming or do I have to ask him myself?” Blues playfully asked, and that seemed to snap the duo out of their stupor.

“I want to be the one to ask! I got to see his face when he sees them!” “Nuh-uh! I should ask him first!” The two raced forward, seemingly unaware that Blues was still the one holding the kitten. He shook his head with a fond smirk, and continued after them at a much slower, steadier pace than they traveled. Truthfully, Blues quite liked this whole “being an older sibling” thing.

—————————

Dr. Light knew better than to fret, he really did, but he couldn’t help feeling just a twinge concerned that his children weren’t home yet. Of course he knew that whatever the world threw at them, the combined force of his triplets would be more than capable of handling it. Still, they were supposed to be here by now… His finger twitched by the communicator—

“C’mon, Light! Ain’t you supposed to be gettin’ work done instead of bein’ a worrywart?” Auto’s crass voice interrupted his thoughts. The good doctor let out a sigh.

“You’re right,” Dr. Light relented, turning back to the project on his table. Besides, he knew if he sent Rock or Roll a message, the kids would teleport back to the lab immediately and stay by his side— which kinda ruined the whole point of them spending time out to explore themselves. Normally Auto was quite nosy too, but ever since Roll had— rather firmly— given him orders to keep Light on track when she wasn’t around, he did his best to follow them. It just wasn’t in his little mechanical heart to disappoint her (nor was it in his heart to tank the scolding afterward).

[fatefulfaerie]

Miniature

Linktober 2022 prompt #3/31

Word Count: 1,340

Incarnation: The Wind Waker (post)

Trigger Warnings: None Applicable

Tetra wrapped Link’s arm gingerly and carefully where they sat below deck. The silence was overwhelming, and when Tetra tied the sling behind his neck, Link opted to look anywhere else but the cute pirate girl. She bit her lip as she concentrated, and though her hair was half-fallen out of her updo and her forehead was sweaty from the summer heat, she was in Link’s frankest opinion, really pretty.

They sat on small crates fairly near to each other in the hold of the ship, where the crew normally slept on long journeys. Link was less than surprised to learn that Niko’s challenge was not the intended purpose for the large area. Yet, it was day and the sun was shining, the ship was moving south, and the crew was working as hard as they felt like. Which, according to Tetra, wasn’t very hard.

Link had only surmised that by a glance she gave him, rolling her eyes in his direction at the lack of motivation in her lackeys. Few words had been spoken between each other since they washed up on the ocean’s surface, like two kids who hadn’t just won someone else’s war.

Tetra leaned her elbows on her knees and looked with pity and concern upon Link’s broken arm. It would certainly heal in time but…

“Don’t look at me like that,” Link said, without even seeing the manner in which Tetra eyed him. He had decided to focus his eyes loosely on the floor, but eventually his gaze trailed to his right. Her blue eyes were like the ocean.

“You’re not allowed to feel guilty about this,” Link explained further. “Ganondorf was the one who threw me around like a doll.”

Tetra furrowed her brow and sat up straighter with her hands on her hips.

“I’m allowed to feel however I want!” Tetra insisted. Link’s heart lifted a tad at her sounding more like herself. “And it’s less guilt and more…” Tetra questioned the words in her head. None of them seemed sufficient. She shrugged her shoulders slightly and went with her first instinct. “Curiosity…I guess.”

“Curiosity?” Link questioned.

“All your adventures,” Tetra elaborated. “It’s where I’d rather have been in all this. N-not because I wanted to particularly be by your side in that tiny, cramped red boat. I just would have chosen being a tad more active, instead of hiding and getting captured and…” She seemed annoyed, her glare telling miles, “sleeping.”

Link didn’t need to brave a smile, as it curved naturally, beaming like it did before all of this.

“Our stop in Forest Haven will have to be a tad longer then.”

Tetra had no idea what Link meant by that. She knew he had conquered the Forbidden Woods, but surely he didn’t mean to take her through it because she so sillily admitted she wanted a piece of his heroics. She worried he perhaps gathered she thought she had missed out on time with him, and that wasn’t the case at all. He was…

Well he was pointing to a cylindrical piece of land only a tad away from the entrance to Forest Haven.

“That’s it,” he said, before gesturing with a nod. “Come on!”

He had gotten out that stupid boat of his, and held out the hand that wasn’t encumbered by a sling. Tetra kept her arms crossed where she stood next to the red mailbox.

“I’m not doing anything that puts you in more danger,” she said, thinking this was a secret entrance into the Forbidden Woods. Link sighed. “You are in no condition to–”

“Will you just take my hand?” He interrupted. “It’s more than harmless, I assure you.”

Tetra twisted her lips and let Link hang in suspense another moment before taking his hand. She regretted letting him bring the boat along, as there was no practical place to stand with Link steering, but they arrived soon enough. Tetra hopped out before Link would even dare think to use his one good arm to be gentlemanly for her. She held out her hand instead, and he looked so flummoxed it was almost too satisfying for Tetra.

“Will you just take my hand?” She asked. He blushed but Tetra didn’t notice. “It’s more than harmless, I assure you.”

Okay, maybe she did. He nodded silently, accepting his inabilities and letting her pull him to land.

Tetra insisted on being the second on the ladder in case Link fell, but he seemed to handle climbing with one hand just fine, though it was a bit slower than usual. Tetra was surprisingly patient, and assured Link that it was okay when he apologized for his lack of speed. When they finally got up and descended into the open metal door, Tetra was in awe of what she saw.

A man named Carlov greeted them and explained how prolific a photographer Link was, how miniature versions of people and monsters all across the sea were able to be sculpted because of Link’s pictures.

“I should have known it was all for a girl,” he said in the end, but an embarrassed Link changed the subject quickly, telling Carlov he was going to show her around.

“Be my guest,” Carlov said with a gesture, and soon Link was off, stopping at every sculpture and talking about who it was, what they were up to, or if it was an enemy, how Link managed to defeat it. Tetra found herself hanging on every word.

Link talked about every little thing, the Korok Aldo and how he planted a tree east of here, how hard it was fighting the Mighty Darknuts in Hyrule Castle, the wandering Merchants and what they would say about their ancestors. He even talked of silly things like how Beedle likes to collect beetles and how the Korok Irch has a lucky mushroom he takes with him everywhere.

“What about this one?” Tetra asked about the first one Link skipped, walking past it after talking about her own crew member, Senza. Link was about to inhale to try and explain the enigma that was Tingle when Tetra stopped him.

“Well that’s you,” Link said. “You don’t need to hear about you.”

Tetra had been following Link around as she listened, but this time she sat down directly across her statue, legs crossed, back straight, and eager. Link stammered.

“Uhh,” Link began. “This is Tetra. She’s difficult and elusive.”

Tetra’s enthusiasm switched into disappointment.

“That’s it?!”

Link adorned a cute bashfulness at that, deflecting his gaze.

“I can’t talk about you with you staring at me,” he reasoned.

“Face the statue,” Tetra suggested. “Pretend I’m not here.”

Link did just that, although it was hard to pretend she wasn’t there.

“Tetra seems bossy and strong willed,” Link continued, “but she's actually quite kind and considerate. Orphaned at a young age, Tetra followed in her mother's footsteps, becoming a pirate and watching after her mother's gang of lovable swabbies. Tetra and her crew were in search of a legendary treasure hidden beneath the waves of the Great Sea, but now she has found a new quest, searching upon the horizons for something far more valuable. Regardless of the waves ahead of her, she has changed the life of the hero named Link for the better.”

Link had hugged his arms close, and was too scared to look behind him.

“Will the hero Link stay with her?” she asked, Link’s surprise was felt in his heart. He swiveled around. Her blue eyes were wet like the ocean but dry of tears, hopeful and inquisitive. With his free hand, Link played nervously with the green fabrics of his tunic. The King said they were the seeds of the future, but nothing about that demanded nor prohibited that they stick together. It was solely their own choice, and Link had been preparing to say goodbye to Tetra, thinking she wanted him out of her hair.

He breathed into the word “yes”, feeling it in his very soul. He nodded and repeated it.

“Yes.”

[angelkurenai]

So much for a surprise - Chris Evans x Reader

Title: So much for a surprise

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Warnings: None

Prompt: I'd love a chris evans x reader one shot, where they're dating, and after the knives out movie, he's been spending a lot of time with his co-star Ana de Armas, and like in one specific interview she was getting very flirty and such with Chris, and touching his arm and stuff, and I'd just want to see how you'd interpret jealous!reader, and Chris reacting to that jealousy!!

Looking at your phone, for what seemed like the millionth time that day, you tried to suppress a sigh, though you couldn't help the roll of your eyes. Despite the amount of messages and notifications, and there were plenty for sure, none of them including your boyfriend.

You didn't want to hold it against him, after all you knew he was particularly busy these days what with all the interviews and promoting his newest movie. And despite all the games and laughs it could be, or at least it seemed to be to the rest of the world, you were an actress yourself and understood that it could be tiring, exhausting and on more than one occasions very nerve-wracking especially if one was already anxious about taking on a new role after years of being famous for another one. You understood because you had gone through all of that yourself, and you could have excused his lack of contact. You would have, really, if it wasn't for the fact that those interviews were no longer part of his job and a stressful one at that. No, if anything, they were obviously only an excuse now.

An excuse to not answer phone calls or messages, an excuse to spend less time at home, an excuse to make plans to go out with without you – oh you couldn't even remember the last time it had been just the two of you out for a simple drink – an excuse to pull further apart from you, an excuse fool around and be playful with another woman. It was that last part which brought a bitter taste in your mouth. If it was his friends, long-time ones or not, you wouldn't have paid so much attention to it but when he said that he was going out for the third time in a row with Ana and maybe some costar might tag along but he didn't know then there was only so much you could take.

You didn't doubt him, you would never doubt him or his fidelity to you, because you knew the kind of man you had beside you. After years of being together you how much he loved you, he made sure show it every chance he got and made sure you never forgot it, so you always trusted him even if he more often than not ended up surrounded by so many beautiful women at a time. But that didn't mean you could trust her, just like you couldn't blame her. Alright maybe you could andyou would if she ever tried anything with Chris, but the lingering touches or easy smiles and casually frequent glances were no reason for you to start anything or try to hold it against her. Not yet.

You could very easily hold it against him, though. For allowing all of it, but above all for allowing himself to be pulled away from you because of another woman. It wasn't your fault that you couldn't stop the pang in your chest. You weren't to blame for the way your heart squeezed, a bit painfully sometimes too. It was not on you that whenever he said, in that casual simple way that “Oh just going out with Ana.” as if she was his girlfriend of three years and not you, you felt your throat close up and your eyes burn with something akin to unshed tears. You refused to believe it was tears and you refused to believe that he was hurting you, that this situation was hurting you, when it could all easily be just in your head so instead you shrugged most of it off.

“Hey, we were-” the man started but paused when he saw the deep frown that had set on your face, the concern that slipped on his features was touching to say the least. Especially as he gave a small sign to his friends and approached you. Your friends as well and you tended to forget that lately just like you couldn't enjoy anything good that happened to you because of how things with Chris were but then again you had not shared much of it with him and when you didn't get to share your happiness with him it always tended to feel less true or real.

“Are you alright?” the hand on your shoulder along with the small squeeze and warmth it brought was comforting in a way you had almost forgotten you wanted but clearly more than needed, you realized.

“Just fine, don't worry about me. Going without any sleep for two days in a row kind of takes a toll on you, I guess.” you shrugged softly, slowly tucking your phone in your pocket; hoping even in the last couple seconds that there would be a message from your boyfriend.

“Are you trying to be reassuring now?” his eyebrows rose “Cause you're doing a really shitty job at it let me tell you. Hey remind me again who you've been taking acting lessons from at first? Hugh Jackman? Well it shows.”

“No, I swear I-” you couldn't help the giggle that left your lips, feeling light even for a few second “I am alright, really. A tad tired but only because I had so many scenes today. I recover fast and I have tomorrow off so all will be good. It's not anything I'm not used to.”

“I-” his small smile dropped in the end, worry showing through once more “Are you sure? Because I've seen you check your phone plenty of times in between breaks so I worried that- Well, something might've happened.”

“No, it's- Well, I expected some phone call or message from my boyfriend but apparently he's still busy with interviews, so I might just have to go ahead and meet him in person there. We might go out later... I think. We usually do every Friday so...” you trailed off and shrugged, not wanting to burden him with unnecessary worries and information despite how close you were lately.

“Oh well, in that case-” he nodded his head, glancing over his shoulder for a second before facing you again “It seems like you've already got plans with him then but uhm in case anything happens and you're off early or in the mood for drinks we know where we will be-”

“Oh but I'm not sure if I will have time to-” you said with slight worry and wide eyes.

“I know, I know.” he chuckled softly, quickly trying to calm you down “Just letting you know in case there's an off chance that it happens. We'll be waiting for you either way. I'll be waiting.”

You didn't dare say much to him after that, only gave him a shy smile and nod with a promise to at least try, and him that he was alright with anything, and watched him leave with the rest of your friends before you got in your own car to make your way to the studios where the interviews would be held. For the first time, probably in days if not weeks, you felt much lighter. Maybe it was good to see that you were wanted somewhere, in someone's company even though it wasn't your boyfriend's - despite your deepest hopes.

If only your good mood could last for longer than the whole 30 minutes of the ride, that would have been ideal. However, in the end, part of you wished that said interview was probably on the other side of the globe instead of so close to your filming location. Because as you walked into the studio, try as you might, you couldn't hold back the lump in your throat as you saw the scene in front of you.

“Don't know what that is but it sounds good!” Chris said with a grin on his face, soon followed by easy laughter from both him and Ana.

Ana's hand was in that very second on his arm, giving a small squeeze as they kept laughing together, until it slowly but surely started sliding down until her hand was holding his. The interview kept going and they both had smiles on, an occasional laugh escaping here and there. Her hand remained with his long enough for you to notice how he thumb was rubbing soothing circles one moment and playing with his fingers the next in a slow and easy manner that you knew he loved, you knew relaxed him even in the most stressful situations – especially during interviews which you knew he always needed – and that you knew... was your thing. Or at least so you thought.

And apparently you had been mistaken for at least three years now. You had been mistaken to think those warm comforting touches were just for the two of you to share and say things without having to verbally phrase them. You had been mistaken to think that the smile you saw on his face as he looked at Ana was saved just for you. You had been mistaken to believe that the way his face softened and his eyes focused with an unmistakable spark of interest were reserved just for you when you spoke to him about things you loved and not also her as she answered a question that very moment. You had been mistaken to think that the way his shoulder fell in relaxation, in easiness and comfort, as if coming back home for a long day, was reserved just for you and was something that came naturally. As naturally as the feeling of love which he so openly showed both with his actions and words whenever he saw you... or at least used to.

Come to think of it, many of the things you had been considering as important, as unique, for the two of you, were probably nothing more than maybe you getting sentimental or worse too attached. And, for sure you now realized, not happening lately much if not at all. But maybe that was to be expected when you were hardly spending any time together whatsoever. Maybe even not as meaningful... not as true?

But if that love, if those looks and touches and words, were not true then what else about your relationship was in the first place? What was real? What was unique? If he could so easily relax around her, flirt with her and accept her flirting back so easily, so openly then-

You shook your head and tore your eyes from the scene before you, effectively silencing their laughter in your head, even though it already sounded very far off. The unpleasant feeling was back, squeezing your heart, tightening your stomach in knots and making your eyes burn. The bad taste in your mouth, as your throat closed, was there too and you decided to bite on the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from saying or doing anything you wouldn't like. Even the taste of blood was better, anything was better, really than the bitterness that came when you watched them interact like that.

You were above this, had always been especially with all the fans and female costars he had that got a bit more handsy and yes, you brushed most of it off. Most of it, when your blood wasn't boiling like it was right now because of how long this had gone on for.

Watching Chris making his way towards you, with his usually warm smile -even though you couldn't feel its sentiment at the moment -and a clear look of surprise on his face to see you there you felt that over the bitterness, you did feel mad. What you heard didn't help.

“Hey, Chris, don't forget about the meetup later yeah?” it was Ana and really you had nothing against her, not anymore, and not much more than your boyfriend.

Especially when he looked at her with a smile and nod “Sure thing I'll meet up with you there.”

“Honey, hey!” he breathed out and pecked your lips though you didn't even blink up at him, let alone smile “What a surprise, what are you doing here?”

“Surprise huh?” maybe you had originally planned it as that but now even the word made you huff angrily “Oh I'm not sure, maybe you would know better if you did check your phone once in a while. What the fuck is wrong with you, I called you so many times, Chris. Damn it I almost thought something happened. You always answer at least for a couple seconds, you always-” you stopped yourself immediately when you realized you were close to raising your voice and causing a scene which was the last thing you wanted.

Chris' eyes were somewhat wide and his smile had vanished. He considered your expression and stance for a few more seconds before he said in more serious voice “Maybe you'd like to talk in private then?”

Shaking your head, you huffed a humorless laugh but followed him as he took hold of your hand, linking your fingers and leading you away from the main set. No sooner were you alone than you pulled your hand from his grasp, not fact or angrily, only in a cold way without a single emotion on your face which you saw made his frown deepen.

“What's the matter baby?” he asked, voice low and somehow hoarse as he saw you wrap your arms around yourself and take a step back from him. A flush of hurt was visible in his eyes and you didn't like that it felt good to see it, but it was what it was.

“No first, let me ask you a question Chris.” you took a deep breath, trying to straighten your back “Do you know what day it is today?”

“Friday, why are you-”

“Oh so you do know, splendid! Then you haven't lost track of the date and you certainly haven't lost your phone or anything because you would have mentioned it when I brought it up. Which means you haven't been checking it or have checked, seen my calls, and didn't bother. Both of which, especially today, are equally bad. So, to sum it up-” you let out a shaky sigh “You don't give a damn about me anymore.”

“What?” he blinked in surprise “Where did that-”

“You know it's Friday and we always make plans for Friday night, always Chris. You make sure to text me about it first thing in the morning every single time. No matter where we are, even when we cannot be together, because we had promised. You had, Chris, because you knew. You knew how important it was to me to know even in the most simple way that my partner cares, you knew how much I needed that and I never asked for more never cared for more than just an hour out of your day, you knew better than anyone what I've gone through, and you promised Chris!” you pressed your fingers over your pursed lips when you realized you'd let yourself get carried away, raising your voice was not something you wanted. His eyes did widen this time and his eyebrows shot up.

You shook your head and made sure to wipe any sort of emotion from your face. Mostly caring to wipe out the proof of pain, that is, which you had been constantly feeling, because you were absolutely fine with him seeing the anger. If he managed to attribute it to your jealousy as well then you didn't care, you were beyond that now. If only it was as easy for the tears to be concealed.

You looked at him, and despite your red-rimmed eyes, your voice was low and cold “You always made sure to call. For the past three years. You never missed a single day. Until today. But of course-” you laughed bitterly, your words laced with venom as you nearly glared at him “You already made plans with somebody else, didn't you honey?”

“What- No, I-” he shook his head, eyebrows knitted together and baby blue eyes glistening with sadness and, dare you say, guilt “That's not what it looks like. Really, if this is about it then I promise I- (Y/n), of course you're welcome!”

“Welcome where? Cause I don't feel welcome anywhere in your life, Chris, let alone around her. And no it's clearly not just about this, but how would you even know how you've been making me feel all this time when you're hardly ever around, Chris?” you hissed before looking away from him.

“Hardly ever around?” you didn't know if your words hurt him as much as angered him, based on the way his eyes darkened with anger “Given that you do the same job, I didn't think you'd just show up like this only to pick a fight over something you know I have little control over. These days are harder on me and you know it, you can't really blame me for that! I was doing interviews all day and in between breaks I was so tired I forgot to check even my own phone, I didn't know that's a crime now.”

“So you do think that that's really what I'm trying to say here huh? Wow.” you blinked several times “You think you're the only one having a hard time, Chris? You have no idea about how hard of a time I am having then. No idea how emotionally exhaustion this new role is or how tired I am all the time. No idea how despite all that, I still can't go to sleep lately. And insomnia doesn't even begin to cover it, because of the doubts and constant thinking that I do and you're not there Chris, during any of it. You have no idea about any of it but I mean, how could you? We barely even talk anymore and no!” you raise your hands to stop him “It is not because of this job, it is because of her that all this is happening.”

“H-her?” he frowned in confusion before you saw the realization set down on him and a small sigh escape his lips “Ana? Really, this is all about that? (Y/n), you were always above this, you've never had a jealous fit. We both know I'm just spending some time with a friend, there is nothing more to that. There could never be, how could you ever believe otherwise?”

“How?” you couldn't stop a scoff “Really? You ask how? Oh my gosh, Chris, she is flirting with you nonstop! I have seen the looks and touches and everything, you can't be that oblivious. No I refuse to believe it. For the love of, that was the exact way I acted around you at first! It's crystal clear that she likes you and flirts with you and asks you out all the time and you- you're encouraging this! Chris, you spent twice the time with her than with me and I clearly don't mean work. You're constantly out with her, you do nothing to stop it and even when you're supposed to do something for the two of us you- you go and put her first. And only on second thought, as if to do me a favor, you think to invite me over because oh poor her she'll spend our night all alone. Honestly-” you laughed humorlessly “I wonder who's really your girlfriend after all. Or better yet-” you paused, hesitating for only half a second because maybe you were too hurt and the part of you that was angry was easily controlling your words but you didn't hold it back.

What is the point in being your girlfriend in the first place?

You heard him take a sharp breath in, his eyes and face all showing unbelievable guilt and pain at your words as if it was finally downing him the extent of his mistake. But you didn't let yourself feel sorry even for a second and if he really deserved a taste of his own medicine he was going to get it.

“I didn't know I- I made you feel this way.” his voice was shaky and you could see the beginning of tears make his eyes glisten. You were probably too cruel but so was reality and everything you had been experiencing so when he took a step forward you took one backwards as well. “Honey-” he made to touch you but you shifted away and he didn't insist, although his hands were shaking and his eyes were wide, he forced himself to stay calm you “You know that... I- I love you more than anything.”

“Do I?”seeing the way his lips fell apart but he shook his head and tried to get it together.

“(Y/n), hear me out please.” his hands were shaking and he let out a trembling breath as he ran his fingers through his hair.

He finally got the courage to back up “You know that I love, that will never- it can never change, no matter what. I would never do something like that to you, certainly not knowingly. I'm not that kind of man, I would never be and even more so not to you! You know how important you are to me, goodness, I love you with all my heart! I've loved you for years, nothing can take it away. It breaks me to think I made you feel like this, hell to even realize you're jealous--” he scoffed angrily but you could see it was directed at nobody else but himself as he ran a hand down his face “It's not anywhere near flattering or funny or cute when I see you like this. I shouldn't have let it get this far, it's my fault you feel like this, I know, but I promise-”

“Promise?” you breathed out, your voice barely above a whisper but somehow more effective than any screaming or jealousy fit you could throw as it made him stop on the instant, lips pressing shut “I think I've had enough of promises, Chris, don't you think?”

“Baby, I- I-” he frowned, not understanding how this had gotten so bad and maybe that was somehow comforting - certainly preferable to him encouraging her flirting knowingly or as a joke “I love you.”

“And I love you, but this-” you let out a shaky breath, shrugging numbly “It's not even jealousy, not anymore. Was it at first? Yes, yes it was. You're my boyfriend and you spent more time with her, out for drinks with Ana, out for a dinner with Ana and maybe some costar, interviews with Ana and talking in between breaks with Ana, letting Ana calm you down and comfort you when I-” you sighed “But as I said, not anymore. At this point... I don't have it in me to feel anything at all.”

“So-” you took hold of your things again “You can go ahead and have your fun and you don't have to feel sorry for me-” you hated how you sniffled but remained proud for how put together you still were “I hoped things were different but don't worry, I do know there is someone out there that at least wants my company, my presence in their life. I won't doubt that. I wished it was you but... what can you do?”

“Wh-what?” he breathed out shakily, his voice gruff as he slowly came to realize what you meant “What do you me-”

“Bye Chris, hope I'll see you... sometime within the next week, if you decide to show up at our place.” you gave him a tight-lipped smile before you rushed away.

He tried to reach out for you but you were faster, and him being still in shock and a mess of emotions, didn't have time to catch up with you. He stood in his place for a good few seconds, his heart hammering in his chest, eyes burning, lungs hurting and mind foggy. It didn't even register when he heard Ana speak to him, asking whether everything was alright, and him brushing her off with a small mumble before closing the door, maybe a bit too in her face but doesn't bring himself to care, and asking for some time alone. All the time he couldn't help but wonder how it all had gotten to this.

“Who...” he could only hear himself whisper with a deep frown, the thoughts running through his mind nowhere near pleasant as your words echoed again and again in his mind. He wanted to be even a bit angry, and maybe he was deep down underneath all this, but he couldn't fight the ache in his chest, the deep burn of jealousy which oh stung a lot, and ultimately the hurt than ran deep - even deeper when he realized that this was how he had made you feel - inevitably it brought a feeling of self-loathing as well.

But when he heard the small thud, of something falling, he realized it wasn't really a matter of who. He didn't even have the right to be angry at whoever was making you feel good, welcome and at ease; hell even if they made you feel wanted and desired, he had it coming and he even deserved it as much as he deserved the bitter taste in his mouth and jealousy in his heart. It was him who was at fault, him who had screwed up everything.

Looking down he saw the small object that had fallen from his pocket where he always kept it with him the past couple days, secured and safe away from eyes that could find it before it was the right time. He wanted to scoff bitterly at the thought, would he get the chance to find one after all?

“So much for a surprise huh?” he asks practically noone as he opens the box and takes the ring to toy with between his fingers.

[biggest-stupidhead]

Hello! First of all I have to say that your writing is the best I have read so far and you have a way with words that has me going crazy at 3 am 🤣🤣 I wanted to suggest a short story where Levi and the reader have feelings for each other and are on a mission together. Then it starts to rain and it gets really cold at night so they’re forced to seek shelter and have to spend the night together in an abandoned old house until the rain stops, and they basically get to know each other better and eventually start flirting ya know ya know? 😗Thank you so much and please feel free to add any more ideas you may have 😁

ahhh the classic, stuck with a stranger trope. I dig it :) 

Summary: You spend a rainy night with your bitter captain

Word Count: 1.8K

__

The rain felt like needles as you rode into the wind, your cloak felt heavy and waterlogged as you struggled to see through the shower. You had lost your squad, leaving you alone in the middle of titan country. Your gear felt light, meaning that your blades were nearly gone and gas as well. In other words, you were royally fucked. 

Your horse was huffing, sides rising and falling deeply as she tried to hold the pace you had set. Her head bobbed and you threaded your fingers through her mane and stood on the saddle to ease the weight on her back, and allow her to resume her natural gait. 

Just as you emerged from the thin thicket of trees you had been riding in, you spotted a small cabin, and a black horse tied up out front. You recognized Captain Levi’s stallion and felt relief flood through you. You steered your mare towards the squat building and swung off once she came to a halt. Tying her up next to Levi’s stallion before jogging up the stairs. You lifted your hand and pounded on the door, a flash of lightning illuminated your form when Levi pulled the door open. His hair was dripping wet as was his clothes. 

“Cadet (L/n), surprised you made it this far.” He scoffed before turning and stalking back into the cabin. 

“Captain....the formation is broken.” You stated the obvious, unsure of how to respond to his jab. 

“No shit, this damn rain fucks with the signals. Seen it before.” You almost weren’t sure if he even said the last part since he muttered it so quietly. 

“So what do we do?” You asked, clutching your cloak anxiously. 

“We wait it out idiot.” Levi grunted as he began rummaging around the small cabin’s kitchen drawers. 

“What...about the formation?” 

“The formation doesn’t exist anymore, what matters now is getting back to the wall.” 

You remained silent, stunned by the gravity of the situation you’d found yourself in. 

“Shitty eyebrows needs to stop putting the fucking formation on a pedestal, you brats need to learn how to act at your own discretion.” Levi continued as he pawed through a drawer, he pulled his hand out holding two stones. Flint, to be precise, he had already taken some of the firewood that had been sitting in the cabin and chucked it into the fireplace. You wondered how long it had sat there in the lonely cabin, who had gathered it? A child maybe? When you were younger, you had lived on a farm with your family, raising horses for the military. One of your many jobs had been to get firewood. You wondered what had happened to the people who lived here before, wondered if they could ever return. 

“Oi, take off those boots. Just because nobody’s lived here in three years doesn’t mean you get to track mud inside.” He scolded and you quickly stripped yourself of your mud caked boots. 

“Yes sir.” You grumbled as you numbly wandered into the kitchen, pausing when you found a small corn husk doll, very similar to the ones you once made. You picked it up, cradling its head as you held it up in the dim light. The sound of stones clicking and then the crackle of a small fire brought you back. You turned to see Levi hanging his cloak and jacket by the flames. 

“Take off your cloak and jacket.” He ordered and you placed the doll down to fulfill his command. You shivered in just your shirt, which was soaked, the olive colored fabric nearly see through due to the wetness. Levi averted his eyes as he snatched your jacket and cloak from you. You dropped down to sit on the floor near the fire, staring into the flames as you allowed your mind to wander. Levi sat down as well, crossing his legs and closing his eyes as he tried to even out his breathing. The only sound was the crackling fire and the patter of rain on the old roof. You had nearly forgotten how it sounded, having lived in the castle for years now, the cozy cabin brought you back to your childhood. And before you could think better of it, you asked: 

“Where are you from captain?” 

“None of your concern.” He grunted, eyes still closed and face lacking any signs of emotion. 

“Well, where I’m from, when it rained like this...we’d go outside and-” 

“I didn’t fucking ask. Now shut up and go to sleep or something.” 

“There’s no need to be so bitter Captain.” You mumbled, crossing your arms over your chest and angling your shoulders away from him, the sting of his words. You sighed heavily and fell flat on your back, staring up at the rafters, a drop of water seeped through and landed right on your nose and you let out a huff of disgust. 

“....Look” Levi’s voice was heavy and less annoyed than previously. 

“If talking...makes you feel better about all of this....then I guess I don’t mind listening.” He looked at you out of the corner of his eye, bangs obscuring the top half of his face as he studied you, splayed out on the floor. 

“....Thanks.” 

“As I was saying, when I was younger, I used to be scared of thunder storms. But my grandma, she would make this cake. She called it thunder cake.” You closed your eyes and a dreamy smile curled onto your lips. Levi felt a pang of jealousy, being nearly 28, one would think that he could get over his childhood. But he just couldn’t seem to, he wished he grew up in the sunshine, known his family, gotten to be scared of thunder instead of men in the underground. 

“-it wasn’t really anything special, just a lemon cake. But making it during the storm...she said it was magic, and you know.....I believed her.” Your voice cracked and Levi frowned, he remembered that naivety, how his mother would tell him about fairies or goblins. He had believed those stories for a time as well. But when she had died, he no longer saw beauty in the world. How could he? 

“She was so smart Captain. She knew everything, how to treat a tooth ache, how to make the best bread, break a horse. I wish I could be half as wise as her.” You continued, Levi turned to look at you, your usually bright eyes seemed distant and foggy, mouth screwed into a frown, your bottom lip trembling. 

“When she died, I felt so alone. I couldn’t compare, how could I? She was so strong and, I was just a shitty kid.” You scoffed bitterly, Levi understood your pain deeply, loosing people was something he was all too familiar with. He blindly reached out and let his hand awkwardly fall over your own. You froze, head turning to look at him. 

“How about you? What did your...parent do to help you through the scary parts?” You asked, eyes wide and hopeful. Levi’s jaw locked as he tried to wrack his brain for something to say, you had just been so vulnerable with him. How could he not repay the favor? Especially if the two of you would die in this shitty cabin. 

“She would....give me a bath, or we’d clean the house.” He said with a curt nod, remembering his mother pouring soapy water over him after he had scrapped his knee, or cried so hard that his eyes were nearly swollen shut. Yes, that was the truth, they would take a bath and then she’d tell him those shitty stories. 

“That sounds nice.” You said wistfully as you turned your hand to lace your fingers with his. You sensed his tension and decided to carry on telling your own story. 

“I hated cleaning, my grandma used it as punishment for me. Like when I was 10 I threw eggs at the neighbor boy after he lifted my skirt up.” You chuckled lowly at the memory. 

“Sounds like he deserved it.” Levi said with the smallest of smiles. You beamed up at him and nodded. 

“Yeah, he sure did. My grandma made me clean the coop for two weeks after that, and the stables.” You giggled, squeezing his hand as you laughed. He felt another wave of jealousy, wishing he had memories like yours. 

“And you? Did you ever get in trouble?” You asked, rolling onto your side, pulling your hand free from his, he immediately missed the contact, not that he would admit it though. 

“That’s all I did when I was younger.” Levi scoffed, looking down at you with a gleam of amusement in his gaze. 

“What kind of trouble?” You pressed, resting your chin on your palm as you stared up at him. 

“I bet it was with girls, you seem to be popular with the cadets.” You teased and Levi’s nose wrinkled in disgust. 

“No, more like I was stealing and selling government property illegally.” He scoffed, reaching his hand down to ruffle your damp hair, you let out a bark of laughter as he grabbed the roots of your hair and shook your head playfully. 

“Yeah right, you’re the strictest of all the squad leaders, as if I would believe-” 

“I grew up in the underground, didn’t matter down there, just did what I had to do to put food on the table.” He shrugged, trying to keep the atmosphere light, yet stay honest with you. 

“No way....that’s impressive captain-”

“Levi, call me Levi.” He said, withdrawing his hand and leaning back against the couch that was behind the two of you. 

“Okay then...Levi, I call bullshit.” You said, propping yourself up on your elbow and beaming up at him. Levi glared down at you, not sure if he liked the defiance or loathed it. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, but your eyes never strayed from his and he let out a scoff. 

“It’s true, I was born a bastard and escaped through the military.” You raised your brows at this, you hadn’t expected him to be honest. 

“I...admire you for that, takes a strong person to overcome things like that.” You said a tad sheepishly as you averted your gaze, feeling like you had overstepped some boundaries. 

“We all face our own challenges..” Levi muttered, eyes still locked on you. 

“That is true.” You agreed, with a small smile thrown his way. The rain still pounded against the windows and your gaze strayed to them, watching the water stream off of the roof. 

“This will all be a bad memory in the morning.” Levi said, following your gaze, he recalled how you said you’d been afraid of thunder when you were younger. He wondered if you still harbored that fear. 

“I don’t think it will, I hope I can look back on it fondly.” You said, turning and smiling softly up at him, and Levi’s stomach began doing flips, his cheeks flushing at the sentiment behind your words. 

“Yeah....whatever, just go to sleep brat.” He grunted, reaching down and ruffling your hair once more, you giggled and laid down, soothed to sleep by the feeling of his hand in your hair and the sound of rain on window panes. 

[its-me-im-coraline]

Afterglow // Victoria De Angelis // Playlist Fics

words // 1060

warnings // kind of bad writing, mentions of sex

pairing // Victoria De Angelis x GN!Reader

author's note // if you want to be on the tag list let me know. Am i building the anticipation for the two very smutty fics I have to write? maybe unintentionally, but I hope you're excited lol

request // noooo

summary // Reader meets Victoria while traveling with friends. The two create a lovely summer fling and reader can not help but bask in the afterglow of Victorias influence hoping to encounter her again.

The night was still young as Y/N entered the beach bar, a small crowd of people filling it up with their conversation, laughing and dancing, the smell of smoke extremely apparent. After a rough year of work this mini vacation with their friend was the best getaway they could ask for, a place to let go of worries and let loose in general. But this could potentially turn out to be far less positive than they intended.

It all went smoothly, drinks coming and going, music loud overtaking them with a need to dance and sing along to the various songs playing - most of which they hardly knew the lyrics to thus their words coming out as plain blabbering, but it was not going to stop them. Victoria was just nearby, a drink in her hand and around her the band. They too had gotten there just a while ago, enjoying the music and drinks, never minding the lack of conversation. After all, it was their choice to spend their night at a club. Nevertheless both parties were too preoccupied until their eyes met from … well, it was just a 2 meters distance.

“Hey, Ethan!” Victoria Ushered her band member over to her, attempting to be heard over the noise. “You see that group over there? You mind if I call them over?” It was definitely a random statement for the woman, never having done that before, but it surely was not straying away from her personality.

Ethan simply nodded his head, asking a crucial question to his friend: “Which one do you like?”

Victoria blushed at the question, surprised that she was affected because she knew very well how perceptive her bandmate was. Besides, who would just invite a stranger over to their table if not because they were attracted to them. So, the woman pointed at the person she was interested with, Ethan nodding his head once again and going to let the other two men know of the situation.

Victoria stood there for a moment longer, looking at her friends to make sure they were all on board with it, after all she would not want to do something the rest were not comfortable with. Thomas had the same reaction as Ethan, saying a simple yes and giving Victoria a bright smile, while Damiano was a tad bit more reactive, whoo-ing at the girl and giving her the cheekiest of smirks in existence.

Now she did not hesitate, moving herself over smirking at the person she saw from her previous spot before talking. “Hey, sorry, I don’t mean to come off too strong but me and my friends saw that you two are alone and would maybe want more company?” Ever the polite woman she is.

Y/N smiled back at the woman before them, unable to form words, affected by her presence, thankfully their friend taking over.

“We would love to,” they said, pulling their friend and drinks and following Victoria back to her table.

Y/N swore, right then and there that they have never seen a presence so alluring before in their life, noting how sure they are she’d be trouble for them. And, man, how right they would be.

The night was a blur from there, the only thing they knew now is that they were in an unfamiliar room, in what seemed to be the same hotel they were staying at. Confusion was overwhelming all their emotions, the blond girl from the night before sleeping peacefully on the side, them sitting by the window, looking out and considering their next move.

They wanted to stay, oh how they wanted to, this woman was driving them insane. But they could not… At least they told themselves that as they dressed back up, maybe to eliminate the guilt they felt. In all honesty they were afraid of what would happen, not that, that was something they’d ever admit out loud.

A last look was shot at the sleeping figure, a small paper with their phone and name laying next to her, before leaving the room entirely. No hopes were alive that this would possibly happen again. Y/N was extremely sure it would stay a one time thing, but as they seem to be most of the time, they were wrong.

The same night Victoria called. It was a bold move, even for her, fearing for the worst at first but finding herself in the most pleasant position once again, and the next night and the night after and for the total of maybe four nights. It was starting to feel significant to Y/N, this was not just sex, it could not be just sex, no. They went on little dates, for dinner, for drinks, for breakfast… It simply could not be that.

After an especially intoxicated night, Y/N woke up with a pounding headache, alcohol still in their veins and someone kissing their neck as they opened their eyes.

“Good morning, beautiful,” said Victoria, a huge smile on her face, continuing her actions.

“Good morning,” said Y/N, mind wandering away, thinking how much they actually enjoyed this, wondering if this could evolve, maybe into something not of an entirely sexual nature, maybe something romantic.

“What are you thinking about, dreamer?”

“Nothing special. Just… thoughts,” they said, covering up the thoughts from before.

“Well, I am thinking of the past few nights, it was lovely as it lasted but I’m leaving in an hour.” And just like that, any sliver of hope was burned away with their slowly building emotions. They knew it was all just a dream, but hers was only past 17 and they did not involve feelings.

So Y/N stood there flabbergasted, no idea of what to say next, maybe to get her to stay or at least to come back. Words became hard and nothing could be said as Vic left a kiss on their lips before walking out the door. And they sat there, unable to move or talk, afraid of their mind and that woman's impact on it.

And her impact was deep, never leaving even after Y/N was back home, in the day-to-day life, the one with a job and responsibilities, but their mind wondered back to the memories in Cabo, never wavering and always wondering of what could’ve been.

tag list: @bieberhoodforever @tabi-toast @ginny-lily @moriro-da-regina @the-killer-queenie @makapaka11

playlist tag list: @cheese-toastie-11

[tallyovie-writes]

Pictures of Us | f. w. Part 2

part 1

Summary: all the paintings choose a student to patron, the Lady chooses you and watches as you and Fred Weasley grow in the same direction

Warning:none, might contain little angst, nothing serious

2k words

@sirenswhispers @discoverablefeelings @capture-the-moment-on-camera @sophieswizardswheezes

Sixth year, December

The corridors buzzed with excitement. With only less than two weeks to the Yule Ball boys were running around in desperate need of finding partners while girls were frantic about not being asked. Of course the already paired ones watched the madness spread with a smug smile on their lips.

The Paintings also had the time of their lives, the new puppets on their chessboard gave back a little life to their fading colours. Now they could play matchmaker from an even bigger selection.

The Lady wanted to be proud to say she did not take part in such childish acts, but she had a mission with those two before the second task. It's not like she could do much, but occasionally if she heard a french boy talking about inviting her patron to the dance she faked sadness as she gave the poor boy the news that you were indeed taken.

You weren't indeed taken.

Madness has yet to engulf you, but you weren't calm either. Collita was asked by a bulgarian boy, but you had doubts whether there weren't threats made by her that overpowered the poor boy's common sense.

You would have been fine with the two of you going together, but now that she had a partner, you weren't planning on being the third wheel.

You forced these thoughts out of your mind for now. You had more important things going on.

The Lady's corridor was full of students as usual, so you weren't surprised when you entered the DADA classroom someone almost knocked you off your feet.

"Watch where you are goi.....oh..." you started telling off your attacker, but as you looked up Fred Weasley held eye contact.

Ever since that encounter in the potions storage room things have changed. You haven't really met after that, the two of you gave a wide berth to one another. No funny business, no prank. When you did run into each other, a sudden awareness filled your body. He made no snarky comments, his usual sarcasm nowhere to be found. You didn't bring up the secret of the castle, and he didn't bring up the date. Like an unspoken deal has been made without either of your knowledge. It was awkward at best. You didn't think anyone noticed, there was only bad blood between you before.

He didn't reply, he didn't apologize for running you over. He took a long look at your face, lingering on details only he could see. Without his usual grin, he left the scene as fast as he came, robes flying around him.

"What was that? Has something happened between you two?" seems like someone noticed after all.

"Nothing besides me agreeing to a date, him agreeing to let me in on a secret, and our mutual ghosting. How is your french boy by the way?" you feigned innocence.

Collita's jaw hit the floor.

"I'm joking. Don't get your knickers in a twist."

"You know I wouldn't even be surprised. With all the sexual tension you two radiate, I wouldn't put it past you that I could find you in a broom closet with him."

Now it was your turn to let your jaw hit the floor.

"Well then, good to know nothing is going on..."

Boy, if you'd known...

Sixth year, yule ball

It wasn't that bad of an evening. You could say it could have been quite magical. The house elves outdid themselves, even the usual house rivalry crawled back to its gloomy hole.

The icicles lost their naturally given cold arua just like the stone walls' usual grim facade. White dominated, but was quickly swept by the wide range of colourful dress robes, Dumbledore's glittery lilac fabric showing how it's done properly.

It really wasn't your date's fault either that you didn't really enjoy yourself. The poor boy tried everything, but besides polite conversation you weren't capable of anything else.

You were standing alone by the food table, the ravenclaw boy left a while ago to try his luck somewhere else, probably with bigger chances.

You saw Collita bent over from laughter silent tears running down her face, her date was watching her with parted lips in amazement. Eyes big, positive surprise written on his face. Collita did that to people. She was naturally gifted with a charming personality, she drew you in, spoke to you like you were on a pedestal.

She made you feel seen. A secret talent that you were rather jealous of on several occasions.

Suddenly you felt sick of the swirling mesmerized faces, the colours were too vibrant, the music too loud, too many bodies pressed together.

Before the walls started closing around you, you left your previous position and made your way to the exit that led to the gardens. The only sound that was registrateable to your ears were only your own footsteps.

Fresh air cut your rapid breathing shorter. You slowed down, the Great Hall's chokingly sweet smells started to fade away into the night.

"Wouldn't say rushing to the night with only a light silk material covering you was a smart choice, wasn't it? I took you to be a lot smarter than that, love. You're gonna get sick." a soft voice interrupted you.

Fred Weasley stood next to the bushes.

"Well, being sick would mean I wouldn't have to see your ugly face in class, so..." you replied but your voice lacked its usual fierceness. You were too tired.

He chuckled at your reply.

"I don't wanna go back there.." you started in a low voice, barely understandable, but gathered your poise and frowned as you said the last sentence. "They are too happy in there anyway."

"Is that jealousy in your voice?" he found so goodly which strings of you he should pull.

"And what if it is?" you snapped at him.

A ghost of his usual smug grin appeared on his face.

"Get your big nose out of my business by the way!"

"Well love, you know what they say about big nosed guys..." he lazily shrugged, hands in the pockets of his robe.

"Get lost, Weasley, I'm not in the mood today."

Maybe it was the hint of desperation in your voice, or the pathetic look you might have presented, but he stopped picking your brains.

"Come in, Y/S/N, you might even find the bloke of your dreams tonight." Fred tilted his head to the side.

"I'm not interested in 'finding a guy' to be my only goal." you scoffed at his remark.

"Well then, as the only guy you talk to right now, I feel obligated to spare you from the clutches of the cold and sickness, so pretty please get your ass in here."

"I'll stay until I decide it's enough. But thank you for your concern. Bye Fred Weasley, 'find the girl of your dreams' tonight." you rolled your eyes at him.

Little did you know, he already did.

Despite the cold, the Lady felt your frozen heart start melting, even if you haven't realized yet.

Sixth year, few days after the Yule Ball

"I don't understand why you thought it was a good idea to freeze your pretty little ass out there in a low cut silk dress in winter."

You groaned out in frustration.

Collita didn't spare you despite the fact that you were bloody sick, and fuckin hurting everywhere.

"Madam Pomfrey said you won highest fever of the year." she mentioned between stealing a few of your get-well sweets. "At least you finally won something." she winked at you.

"Get out, and let me suffer alone you bimbo!" you hissed at her, but the sharp pains shooting down your neck really destroyed to effect you were trying to achieve.

"Alrighty, my little pathetic friend, I suppose I can leave you to your demise. Be a good and obedient patient." she sent you a kiss and strolled out the Hospital Wing.

**

In the Hospital Wing, after curfew

After Collita left you to suffer on your own Madam Pomfrey gave you a light sleeping tonic. You welcomed the sweet oblivion in the place of pain.

A light noise disturbed the calming darkness. Opening your eyes was a too heavy task, so you relied on your hearing. A soft fumbling could be heard, but the person near your bed executed the deed quite clumsily as the most colourful swearing left their mouth.

Fighting against the tonic's luring effect, you tried opening your eyes. When you did, you almost jerked back in surprise.

Fred Weasley stood there with an innocent smile on his face, like a child caught in a naughty act, his hands were midair frozen on the spot hovering above your stack of sweets.

"What the fuck are you doing in the middle of the night standing near my bed?" you demanded and pulled your blanket further to your neck. "Are you setting up a prank?"

"Have a little faith in me, Y/N...if it were a prank you would only know it before it happened and that's already too late. Can't a bloke visit his sick classmate? The classmate he warned against the cold?" you scoffed at his pointed stare.

"In the middle of the night?"

He started scratching the back of his neck.

"Good point. A point I should probably elaborate on." he didn't seem like someone who wanted to elaborate.

"Don't let me stop you from doing that..." you rolled your eyes at him.

He seemed a little awkward and you could barely hide your amusement. It is not every day a Weasley gets a little intimidated and loses his usual cockiness.

"You see..." he started but his gaze was still fixated on his hands. "...I felt a tad responsible for you catching a cold.

Your eyebrows raised in surprise.

"If it weren't for me dancing on your nerves in the garden making you irritated enough to stay outside longer than intended, you wouldn't be here right now." he sounded a little guilty and you couldn't help the warmth that started spreading in your stomach.

You started to chuckle.

"Weasley. It's alright." you felt a sudden bravery envelop you as you said the next words nonchalantly. "You owe me another secret and we are even."

You waited for his reaction.

He didn't disappoint. He lifted his head, brown eyes locking into your own. Now you weren't sure if it was a wise idea to make him remember your deal back in the potion storage room.

"And here I thought I could bribe you with chocolate that I nicked from the kitchen...you are not a woman easily pleased." he didn't seem that sad about this fact.

"Where would be the fun in that?"

"Right."

Silence fell upon the two of you. Eyes still interlocked, you weren't sure if minutes or hours passed by. The Hospital Wing's darkness faded, and the freckles splattered across his face became more contrasted than before. He tilted his head to the side, his gaze burned your skin.

Suddenly becoming aware of the weirdness of the situation you cleared your throat and looked away.

"Since the tonic made me hungry like a wolf, I'll accept that nicked chocolate." you said, trying to break the silence.

Fred smiled and threw you the bar he fumbled around with before. Your catch was nothing sort of graceful and you felt embarrassment tint your cheeks.

Looking down at the bar in your hand you felt your eyes grow big.

"How did you know this is my favourite?" you asked astonishment, creeping into your voice.

"Lucky guess." he shrugged. You didn't need to know that every time the Grand Hall's tables were filled with this, he couldn't look away from the joy radiating on your face. Just like now.

"Your taste is impeccable, I gotta say."

Oh yes, his taste was indeed impeccable, but not just in chocolate.

[ddarker-dreams]

Since it's spoopy season, is sr reader a fan of horror movies? Who would use the excuse of horror moveis to cuddle with reader? What does a horror movie viewing look like with the bucci gang?

a/n: i’ve never felt a request appeal to all of my main interests so Strongly . this hits everything in the world that i love. anon your mind is HUGE

[Scarlet Ribbons description]

Bruno Bucciarati;

Bruno will go for the full experience if he’s going to watch a movie with you. There will be a charcuterie board, fine wine, candlelight to set the mood, maybe even some essential oil diffusers. When you tell him you were planning to watch a horror movie, he just kind of blinks and goes Oh. He heard “movie” and automatically thought it’d be some sort of romantic endeavor. Not that he’s disappointed, just thrown off.

You might not expect it, but he’s the teasing type. It’s all good-natured of course. He’ll comment on how frightened you look from the movie, and ask if it’s too much for you to handle. Just when you think he’s asking out of concern for you, you catch a smug little smile, that gives him away. He’ll chuckle at any exasperated responses you give. 

He’s going to be focusing on playful banter rather than the movie. As soon as you get drawn into the scene, he’ll blow air on your ear, startling you. Or use Sticky Fingers to tap on your shoulder from behind. Bruno acts like he’s none the wiser the entire time lmao. He’s in rare form when it’s just the two of you around, a lot more mischievous. 

Giorno Giovanna;

Giorno feels pretty neutral about movies. He doesn’t usually seek them out on his own, but if you insisted on wanting to watch one, he’d relent when he has the time. You should feel special. He’s more into period pieces, as evidenced by Les Misérables being his favorite story, so a horror movie with that type of setting would catch his interest more than a modern setting.

He has a strong distaste for horror that relies solely on shock value and jump scares. It’s not that he can’t stomach it, he just prefers a movie that respects the audience. You’ll hear him sharply exhale after a jump scare, with a mildly displeased expression. Giorno won’t comment on his dislike for it if he feels you’re enjoying the movie a lot. Might try to gently steer you away from jump scare reliant horror movies in the future, but does so with so much tact and charm you probably won’t even notice. 

He considers it to be an excellent learning experience. Giorno picks up on the parts of the movie that make you cry, shudder, or frustrated. It all gets stored away in his mental catalogue on you. If you say it’s one of your favorite movies, he’ll even do research on it to impress you later on. Giorno would find it a bit unexpected if you said horror is one of your favorite genres, but he’s going to use this new information to his advantage. 

Guido Mista;

Mista loves to watch movies! He’s likely the biggest movie fan out of Bucciarati’s team. Horror isn’t his go to, but he’s easygoing, and down for anything if you’re involved. Expect negotiations though, for every movie you pick, he’s going to make you watch one of his favorites. 

He’s the type of guy who does the pretending to yawn so he can put an arm around your shoulder act. You could be sitting on opposite ends of the couch at the start, and by the end of the movie, you’ll be cuddling up against one another. It’s what Mista is looking forward to the most.

Do not even bother making popcorn if you intend on having any yourself. It’s not going to happen. Pistols will be swarming, stealing as much as they can. Number Five holds onto a piece of popcorn, saying that he saved it just for you, sniffling over not being able to save you more. Mista can’t even bring himself to chastise them since he knew it’d turn out like this lmao.

Narancia Ghirga;

Narancia doesn’t have the best attention span. Not for a lack of trying on his part, just sitting down and watching a screen for over an hour isn’t easy for him. He’s going to try his best for your sake, but expect him to be fidgeting during the slower moments. 

It doesn’t help that sitting in close proximity to you is so exciting! Narancia’s head is spinning. He can smell your perfume, feel your skin against his, and your hair when it brushes against him. All of his effort goes into maintaining his cool. If you were to get scared and cling onto his arm, his brain might just shut down. He couldn’t handle it. 

You might have to gently shush him at times, as he tends to point things out. If there’s a ghost in the background, he’ll be pointing at it, looking at you and asking if you saw it too. In a way it’s actually pretty cute. It’s up to you whether or not this is interruptive, but at least he’s engaging with it in his own way.

Pannacotta Fugo;

Watching movies with Fugo can feel borderline frustrating. He’s going to be making comments to you throughout, thoroughly critiquing the movie and the character’s actions. He doesn’t even realize what he’s doing. Fugo feels comfortable with you to express his thoughts, and it just comes flowing out before he can stop himself. Even movies he picks out aren’t safe from this. 

He would be a tad oblivious if you were trying to take the time to cuddle up to him. Every time you get close, he’ll lean forward, telling you an inaccuracy he spotted. It’s difficult to get upset with him, he looks so excited to show his knowledge off to you. Not many people will always hear Fugo out so he appreciates that you listen to him.

Fugo gets strangely quiet if there’s ever a mindless looking monster on screen, especially if there are close up shots of it drooling. It hits a little too close to home. This is amplified by how the characters in the movie would be frightened by it, running away. You don’t have to think about it too much to know it reminds him of Purple Haze. When you encourage him that maybe the monster isn’t even that bad, and is just doing what it needs to do, he’ll feel a tad better. Will still be in deep thought for a while.

Leone Abbacchio;

Nothing can scare this man. You have tried, and he doesn’t even blink at the most screwed up movies in all of existence. It’s become something of a game at this point. To see if you can finally earn a reaction out of him. You’ll walk up to Abbacchio, excited, telling him you finally have found the movie that’ll scare him. 

He’ll occasionally complain about how insistent you’re being. Don’t worry though, he doesn’t mean it at all. Abbacchio actually lives for your horror movie nights and doesn’t want to admit it. Seeing how you get frightened and subsequently cling to him thaws his icy heart. 

May or may not consider using Moody Blues to scare you at a later time. Abbacchio would let his Stand to transform into the monster from the movie, all for the sake of seeing your reaction. There was a time you summoned your own Stand to fend the supposed monster off, so he learned the hard way not to mess with you like that. The bruise from being punched on the face is still recovering... 

Trish Una;

Trish can appreciate a good film. She’ll never admit it, but she has a preference for very sappy drama romance movies. Horror isn’t a genre she’d actively watch on her own. Excessive gore makes her feel sick, so you’ll need to pick a more tasteful film for her to agree to watch it, which can be a challenge. 

She surprises herself by getting into the artsier movies. Films that use lots of color and new techniques draw her in. Trish might later ask you how they pulled off a particular special effect, or ask for your opinion on why a scene was the way it was. Creative elements are Trish’s fixation. 

Trish is 100% going to want to do some sort of matching couples Halloween costume. You can do one another's makeup, but she’s adamant on handling the costumes. She’ll often use the movies you’ve watched as inspiration! Honestly just wants to take pictures of the two of you together, not intending to go out all dressed up. It’s going in her memory book <33 

[tobesobri]

Hmmm request. Harry and y/n are watching a movie and there’s a long steamy sex scene. She’s sitting on his lap and he lets his hands wander. But doesn’t like say anything just watches the sex scene and starts touching her

oof okay this made me feel a way™️ so,,, 😬🥵 thanks for allowing me to indulge in some jand content

It was an indie movie, buried deep within Netflix because they’d already exhausted everything else. And it wasn’t a very good movie either. The acting was questionable. The plot seemed non-existent. Things happened that were never explained.

But, it led to some decent laughs, so they kept watching it.

The sexual nature of the movie helped too; that plenty of secret touching and innuendos had occurred which also led to the pressing together of thighs and odd shifting of weight on the couch they shared.

It wasn’t the first time they’d watched something like that together, but it was the first time they were stuck at home with each other for the past several months and had done nothing but indulged in each other at every waking second.

They sat sideways on the couch, Harry’s back pressed against the cushioned armrest and Y/N situated between his legs, laying across his chest. And it was most certainly not a stick he had poking into her backside. It made her smile more though, the longer he sat in complete silence and got hard knowing she knew everything about it. So, when the inevitable sex scene began to run its course on screen, the restlessness and the tension between them hit a head.

She felt him suck in a breath of air at the first steamy kiss on screen and within a matter of seconds afterwards, he slipped his arm around her waist, his right hand wandering onto her thigh with a mind of its own. Her eyes fled to his touch immediately, watching while his fingers slowly traveled across her bare skin. Both of them thankful for her habit of wearing oversized shirts around the house with no pants on underneath.

She was the one holding her breath when his hand finally met its destination. Seeing him there sent a buzzing through her entire system. He didn’t wear his rings, any rings around the house. His hands were completely bare. His knuckles prominent; his long fingers a reminder of what they knew how to do. What they had done in the past plenty of times before and now didn’t seem to be any different.

And if she were to turn around and see the expression on his face, his flared nostrils and furrowed brows, he wouldn’t have had to whisper what he did in her ear upon feeling her soaked panties under his callused fingertips.

Without looking away from the screen, he brought his lips closer to her ear. “See you are as wet as I thought you’d be.”

Her entire body inflamed with goosebumps as he began rubbing his fingers in circles over her panties. It was slow, teasing, and absentminded as they both continued to watch the movie. As she spread her legs out and his other arm curled around her waist to hold her in place, and they pretended nothing was even happening. That they were just sitting there, watching a drawn out sex scene in some random Netflix movie together. The characters on screen smack dab in the middle of foreplay themselves. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Although when he slipped his hand underneath the thin cotton fabric, and she gasped when he seamlessly continued what he was doing, he caused a bit of turbulence and she struggled to keep her eyes focused. He, on the other hand, didn’t remove his attention from the screen for one second. Even if her reactions to him sent a permanent smirk onto his lips.

It was fine for a while. She had her body mostly under control. She watched the TV and got more and more aroused the longer his fingers took care of what the movie was causing inside of her. It was casual. Him touching her while they watched the two people fall into a montage of rough sex. Casual.

That was… until Harry went a bit faster.

Then she began struggling to keep her cool, everyone of his muscles strained to keep her down as her body fought against it, and his voice returned at her ear, quietly and with the restraint she was clearly lacking.

“You alright there, love?”

She wanted to smack him. Of course she wasn’t fucking alright. His fingers were having a field day with her and there was still raunchy sex taking place on the TV.

Her exasperated laugh turned into moaning when he sunk his fingers into her and then spread her wetness over her clit, making what he was doing feel a million times better. He had three fingers on her, his middle one doing the most damage. He switched around though, sometimes using two and sometimes just his index finger, depending on which speed at which he wanted to unravel her. Not that he really ever did, however. Not completely.

Again, though, while she writhed against him, he just watched the movie. Slowing down when she was close, giving her a break while his smirk filled out his lips a bit more, before he went back to it. He was taunting her and she hated him, but also it felt so fucking good she didn’t want him to stop anyway.

Her hand clasped onto his left arm that was still very much firm against her waist and she dug her fingernails in, her backside lifting ever so slightly away from him when he brought her to the very edge again, only to be disappointed when he didn’t give her that release.

Then his touch was slow, almost barely even there as the sex scene came to a close, almost like he wanted her to watch it. Watch the characters on screen get what he refused to give to her. Watch as they came for each other and she had yet to come once the entire time since he’d snuck his devious, beautiful hand underneath her panties.

He felt every one of her breaths, too, as she panted. He felt her body vibrate against him when she whined for more. And then finally, he felt as she shifted until she was able to twist her head around and look up at him.

He glanced at her without moving anything but his eyes and the corners of his mouth. And, of course, his hand between her legs as it held her orgasm hostage like a carrot on a stick.

He lifted a curious brow at her pouted lips. “Need something?” He teased again.

She fluttered back to her previous position with a huff, coming down onto his chest hard that knocked the wind out of him. “You’re an asshole.”

“You missed most of the sex scene,” He said, deflecting. “Maybe we should rewind it.” He removed his left arm from her for the first time in the past five minutes and used his freed hand to swipe her hair over her shoulder and kiss her neck there, humming softly against her skin.

She followed his lips, lifting up until she was twisted again and able to kiss him. It took him by surprise, as his fingers froze on her and his eyebrows hit the ceiling. He expected her name-calling at his lack of mercy, but not this.

She pulled apart after a moment, however, and he realized why she was doing it and the evil look on his face returned.

“Harry, if you don’t let me come, I won’t let you for the rest of the time we’re stuck in this house together.

“Sounds like a challenge.”

She rolled her eyes, flopped back against him and grabbed hold of his right hand, attempting to pull it away so she could get up, but he refused quickly once he realized what she was doing.

And just as quickly, he fell back into his motions, giving into her. She whined again as she melted into his body once more, just like before. When she bucked her hips into his hand, he slid his left one back into place and held her down. She lifted one of her arms above her head, wrapping her hand around his neck where she pulled on his hair and whispered about how much she hated him.

“I love you too.” He mumbled with his lips against the top of her head, both of them watching his hand while she pulled the hem of her shirt out of the way for good. It was a better sight than any sex scene on TV anyways. His fingers slick as they rubbed against her glistening core. She was so pretty and warm and so fucking wet. He thought about fucking her until the sun went down. Thought about making her come in every which way he knew how to until she couldn’t handle it anymore.

And the way her body moved against his, her ass pressed onto his cock while she squirmed, it didn’t take much more than that to have him coming right alongside her, stifling his moans the best he could. He was a tad bit ashamed, but then again, she did weird things to him and the mess he’d made on himself and the one his fingers made on her just got him excited all over again thinking about hopping into the shower together.

When she came, her legs had pressed together and the hand that wasn’t tearing his hair out was around his wrist once it got to the point of overstimulation for her. But even when she fell against him in a sigh, he still remained in place.

And then he cleared his throat, “I, uh…” he stammered, breathlessly, “think we need to take a shower.”

She giggled, “Thought I felt something back there.”

Grumbling, he pulled his hand from her finally, wiping his fingers off onto her thigh before gently coercing her off of him to inspect the damage. And his boxer-briefs had done very little to keep everything in. Her shirt was stained. His underwear was stained. It really was a mess and his cheeks grew hot.

She laughed again. “That’s what you get for being a dick.”

[siren-dragon]

Do Androids Bleed Silver? (Ch.1) -- The Cat Returns fanfic

Hey everyone, I wrote another story and this time it isn’t a one-shot but a chaptered one. Yay! This is my first time doing a sci-fi story, so if it seems a little strange or odd, I apologize but I wanted to get something out before I go on vacation. Anyway, hope you all enjoy it! Also tagging @catsafarithewriter because they have been a wonderful support and inspiration.

Ao3 story link

Summary: Cyberpunk/Android AU

=============================================

‘Next stop; Shibuya Station. I repeat, next stop Shibuya Station.’ The automated voice sounded over the train intercom, ‘please wait until the train comes to a complete stop and stand away from the opening doors before disembarking.’

Looking down at the half-crumbled note in her hand, Haru took hold of her frayed but well-loved duffle bag and stood from her seat. “I guess this is my stop,” she muttered aloud before the exiting the train and out of the station.

In the year of 2207, the use of androids and cybernetics had advance to a level where their use was a common practice and the backbone of modern society; even in her much smaller hometown. But after entering Shibuya Crossing- Haru felt her backwater home was definitely not on the same level as Tokyo. The famed metropolis was well regarded as the forefront of robotics and cybernetics throughout the entire world but the invention of CREATIONS was the achievement that truly put the city into a category all of its own. Though technically possessing a robotics classification, many who’ve had the chance to see a CREATION regarded them as so life-like, it was almost as if their creator had conjured life itself….

And it was part of the reason why Haru wanted to study robotics in Tokyo; as the only robots that her hometown possessed were generic models of the Alpha and Beta-Classes. She wanted to see the daily technological wonders always taking place in Tokyo. But in truth, the real reason Haru wanted to go was because she loved to help others and repair problems. It was why she decided to study robotics and cybernetics in the first place- with the exception of her apparent talent in the field.

At first, many had viewed the cheery but ultimately clumsy brunette to be a bit of a hazard; and it wasn’t exactly a secret to Haru herself either. She could remember constantly stumbling on her impromptu runs to high school after having slept in- or when she once tripped cleaning the trash disposal unit in the classroom and ended up spilling the contents everywhere. But the moment she sat behind the small desk in her bedroom among the clutter of spare parts and tools, her once graceless movements sharpened and Haru would smile as she’d begin to skillfully repair whatever tech the residents of her hometown brought her. So, with the encouragement of Hiromi and Tsuge, she applied for various internships everywhere in Tokyo in the attempt to join someone’s Workshop team.

And it seemed that only one person was willing to give her a chance…

Walking further into the depths of Shibuya Haru gazed in amazement at the 3D holographic displays and looming skyscrapers that was a far cry from her small hometown. The streets were littered with people possessing a variety of enhancements the young woman had only seen before in adverts that managed to be broadcasted back home. Quickly shaking off her awe and hurryingly pulling out her note of directions once more, Haru began the walk away from the train station and towering skyscrapers while weaving her way through the small alleyways, the brunette teenager came to a halt once more on a rather isolated street. Glancing down once more at the paper in her hand, Haru glanced up at the sight before her with a bit of surprise.

“This… is the Bureau?” Haru spoke, looking at the old, neon green sign that flickered slightly with a smaller neon sign saying the Workshop was open beside an open doorway that was partially blocked by a dark noren curtain. Next to what was meant to be the entryway into the shop was a pair of roll-up garage doors- one of which was already lifted up to reveal the illuminated Workshop within. Tools ranging from chisels and wrenches of all sizes to a designated soldering station, making her maple-colored eyes glow with delight.

“If you don’t have any business Chicky, keep walking. This isn’t a museum.” A gruff voice sounded, causing her to jump slightly.

Standing up from beside what, to Haru’s surprise, was an AeroCycle on a hydraulic lift was probably the largest man the young woman had ever seen. He was tall and rather stout with ivory crew-cut hair and a dark stubble about his mouth and chin while dark brown eyes gave her an unimpressed stare as he crossed his arms; with the left being a robotic prosthesis baring a shade reminiscent of a dark coffee. As the man took in her short height, petite frame, and slightly disheveled ponytail; Haru only hoped he didn’t immediately send her back home based on looks alone- after all, she knew her appearance didn’t exactly scream ‘mechanic’.

“Well? Do you have business here or not Chicky?” He asked again, a hint of impatience coloring his tone.

“Sorry sir, my name is Haru Yoshioka… I’m the intern assistant you made the offer to.”

It was here a skeptical eyebrow lifted as his hands soon went to his hips. Haru mentally scrambled for a way to defend her skills should this man end up turning her away, but he only asked one question. “Can you cook?”

“…Yes?” Haru answered, still a little confused.

“Show me; head up there and make something then bring it over. We’ll talk after.” And with that said, the man returned to his work on the AeroCycle without another word.

Haru could only stare with a slightly dumbfounded expression before letting loose a soft sigh and followed his brief and general directions. Up a set of steel stairs lay a large viewing window, which oversaw the garage, and another door that lead into the living quarters that was surprisingly clean; if a bit cluttered. To the left lay a small kitchenette while the right had a simple living room and a corridor that led further into the flat. Turning to the kitchen and figuring not to keep the man who’d likely become her boss waiting, Haru was quick to fix a lunch from a hamburger steak with a fried egg on top and rice (it was either that or one of the instant ramen containers nestled in the pantry) and returned to see the stout man now talking to a customer while gesturing to the AeroCycle. “Next time learn to drive properly bird-brain.”

“And I told you before, lard-ball, it crashed during a chase!” The customer, who was dressed in a police officers’ uniform, snapped in response all the while glaring at the mechanic.

The mechanic merely grinned savagely, as if he was used to the explosive behavior from the officer. “While you were chasing what? A nearby bird.”

“As if you’re one to talk, you over-sized marshmallow. I’m surprised you can even climb the stairs to your flat without them snapping from the strain.”

“You say that again, you big chicken!”

“Umm… excuse me,” Haru spoke up, causing both men to swerve their heads to her immediately. “Is everything alright? I’ve got the lunch ready.”

“Thanks, Chicky, I’ll just take that off your hands.” The larger of the two men spoke, retrieving the succulent smelling meal with a gleam in his eyes, “and congratulations- you pass my test; welcome to The Bureau. The name’s Muta and this idiot here is Bird-Brain, a regular.”

“The name is Officer Toto Tsubame, nice to meet you and please, ignore this fatso.” Toto replied instead, bowing in greeting with a kind smile. “Are you new to the district? You are a bit young to be on your own…”

While Muta was large and hefty, Toto was his complete opposite with a slim frame and long, layered black locks tied into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck; reminding the brunette of a bird’s feathers. His skin was a tad darker than the larger mechanic and his clothes the standard dark navy-blue police uniform with the exception of knee-high shock absorption boots and a black carbon-fiber and titanium woven shirt that rested under the uniform with the cuffs rolled to his elbows. But what truly caught Haru’s attention was the unique dark-grey coloration of his eyes that she had only seen a few times before in holo-books or advertisements. “Oh wow, you have an optical upgrade on your eyes, I’ve never seen that before. That’s really cool…”

Here Toto gave a good-natured laugh, “you’re definitely new to Tokyo if this is your first time seeing something like that, but well spotted. My eyes have been altered with increased monocular vision and can see with UV and Infrared, alongside night vision. Plus, the color is a rather nice aesthetic as well- but that’s enough about me; what brings you here to the city Miss…”

“Haru. Haru Yoshioka, and it’s nice to meet you too.” She smiled, giving a bow of greeting in return. “I am here for an intern job at the Bureau. But, I’m not sure what cooking really has to do with robotics and engineering.”

Muta bit into the hamburger steak and sighed happily as he devoured the plate of food while Toto groaned at the mechanic’s table manners; or lack thereof. “I didn’t want some assistant who couldn’t take care of themselves, I’m not a babysitter. Besides, if you weren’t skilled enough to be here, I wouldn’t have offered you the job in the first place.”

“O-Oh, thank you.” Haru beamed, more than relieved that though he seemed to be rather rough and intimidating, Muta wasn’t that bad- arguing with Toto aside. “I promise I’ll do my best, and thank you for your help Moo-ta.” Haru quickly gasped, raising her hands to her mouth in horror as if attempting to prevent the words from being heard, but it was too late.

“What?! Did you just say Moo? Like I’m some kind of fat cow!”

“No, no, you’re just fat! Oh- um…”

Toto, meanwhile, had lost all pretense of professionalism and started laughing with tears of amusement threatening to spill from his eyes. “Bahahaha! Oh, you’re going to fit in here quite well with nicknames like that Haru. I’m definitely going to be using that one.”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up bird-brain.” Muta grumbled, glaring at the still chuckling policeman, “and you Chicky- you got anything to say for yourself or to me, your boss?”

Haru gave a nervous smile, “I’m sorry Muta, it really did slip out. Would you accept an Insta-Pudding with my apology?”

The ivory-haired man stared down at her with an irritated look before sighing, “make it an Angel Cake from Osono’s bakery down the street, and we’re even.”

“Coming right up!” The young woman chimed before quickly making her way toward the aforementioned bakery.

Toto and Muta both watched her leave with the former giving a thoughtful hum, “Yoshioka huh? I don’t suppose she wouldn’t happen to be related to Hayata Yoshioka, would she?”

“His daughter apparently, if you’re that curious. And she’s only a few good years younger than you and me, idiot.” Muta answered, releasing the AeroCycle from the hydraulic lift while wiping the oil and grease from his hands. “I didn’t know he had a kid, and thought the name was just a coincidence till I saw the resume file Haru and her friends sent me. She was apparently fixing Alpha-class mechs at 11 years old.”

Toto gave an impressed whistle, “well, she’s certainly her father’s daughter if that’s the case.”

"I thought that too, but it was the fact that she has no personal cyber-enhancements that really sealed the deal." Muta added, that information causing the slim police officer to splutter in shock. "So I thought ‘why not?’ and decided to give her a shot; and it wasn’t like I was going to turn down the help- so here we are. But the fact that she can cook is a definite bonus.”

“Do you ever not think from your stomach?”

“Shut up, bird-brain!”

Toto sighed, “well, just try to keep an eye on her, alright? Not everything is exactly safe here, so if you ever need anything give me a call.”

“Thanks… you big chicken,” Muta answered before giving a devious grin and holding out his hand. “Now for the repairs, that’ll be 3,500 credits.”

“What?! That’s daylight robbery!”

“Is that so? And here I was giving you the ‘Friends and Family’ discount. But if you would rather pay full-price, who am I to deny you that.”

By the time Haru returned to the Workshop, she could hear Toto and Muta starting to argue once more and was glad she decided to buy two cakes in order to pacify both parties. Though slightly nervous about her new job, Haru couldn't help the feeling of joy at the upcoming work ahead of her.

[the-voltage-diaries]

Το Βόρειο Αστέρι μου - Lucifer x Diavolo

AO3 Link

Το Βόρειο Αστέρι μου: Greek for ‘My Polar Star’

Word Count: 1859

A/N: I don’t know what this is. All I know is that @simpingw0lfi3​​​​​​​ refused to do it, so I did. Of course, please don’t expect this to be perfect because... it really isn’t. 

Vote of thanks: @akaiiro-yume​​​​​ for checking and correcting all the grammatical fuck ups I did, making sure I didn’t stop writing this halfway and going through any mental breakdown I might have had instead for me. And, of course, @some-ikemen-snob​​​​​ for making sure this SCREAMED Lucifer energy this way and that. only for now, but ily both.

Devildom 14th February, 20XX Saturday, 7:57 PM

Dear Diary,

      I suppose I've never written a journal entry such as this in the past, for I haven't found either the desire or the will to task myself with writing my thoughts down in a manner wherein I speak to an inanimate object. That said, I have been told writing is, in a manner of speaking, therapeutic, and I believe I could do with some of that right now. It would be false to assume I don’t still harbour any inhibitions towards using my time in this manner, especially when I'd much rather be by Diavolo’s side. The very same Diavolo who, as a matter of fact, happens to be the subject of this writing session today. Strangely enough, and if I recall correctly, he was also the one who introduced - which is putting it rather mildly - me to the “art” of journal entries. I admit, I haven’t given this activity the kind of gravity which was probably expected out of me, but then again, today is a little different from the rest. I'm not entirely certain as to where to begin, but I do believe I have been told in situations like these, one should do whatever... feels right.

      Diavolo is... well, where do I even begin? He is the future of Devildom, as a few might call it - myself included. While he does appear to be quite the cheerful and at times careless lord, it’d be a lie to deny that he is just as wise and compassionate underneath that wave of buoyancy radiating off of him. Honest to a fault, but with his moral compass always pointing towards the best interest of those around him. I’ll admit, sometimes it proves to be rather difficult to believe that he indeed is a demon. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to compare him to the Polaris considering he does quite radiate the charisma from himself, shining admirably amidst a dark sea of onlookers. While in name he rules over all the demons in the land of Devildom, the right set of eyes won’t take too long to deduce the eloquence with which his fingers reach out to the soul of every single resident of the land, holding them together better than gravity ever bound humans to the earth. 

      Saying that is all there is to him would be a lie whiter than the wet snow, making its way to the tips of my fingers and sliding off gently onto this page. That, of course, doesn’t mean describing how I feel towards him is no herculean task. There are some cases when a language -  no matter the plethora of vocabulary it offers - just isn’t sufficient enough, and this certainly is one of those cases. For the time being, let’s just owe my lack of articulacy to the bond of mutual respect and trust Diavolo and I share, built over centuries upon centuries, braving the ravages of time, and even perhaps the less than pleasing antics my brothers tend to pull. But while the impression the ruler of all demons and I tend to emit may seem to be distanced by a careful degree of professionalism, I don’t believe anybody knows that that might not be the case. Even Diavolo himself. Doesn’t come as a surprise, really, for they simply can’t know.

      Why do I believe that to not be the case, then? Well, I would wonder why I felt so strongly about it had I not known the reason myself. The very same reason which is now a secret so surreptitious that I can’t help but consider burning this piece of paper once I finish writing to ensure it is never revealed to another set of eyes. Such dastardly is the nature of this emotion, tricking one into its delusive warmth, encompassing them with the belief that nothing truly is impossible, that what they feel might just be true and meaningful enough to be returned by the other they feel for, only to cackle with glee and turn away when the reality doesn’t match the fantasy it was believed to turn out to be. The very same emotion which in layman’s terms is apparently called... love.

      I’m not entirely certain I understand the extent of its exquisite existence myself, to be truthful. All I know is no matter how intensely I try to shut the door on its escaping fumes, it turns futile the second I lay my eyes on the man in question. While the rest of the known universe sees an omnipotent leader binding everyone together, making them sing the same tune in harmony, I see what I can only consider an anchor, grounding me, making it so that I can’t ever fall into the abyss of the darkness that breathes inside of me and float away. He is the quintessence of the best of what the world has to offer, with his golden eyes sparkling like stardust, weaving their ever-lasting magic into the hearts of whoever they come across - be it human, or demon, or angel - wrapping them in their never-ending warmth, letting them sink into the depths of benevolence they promise. His hair are the cerise of a raging inferno, sheltering beneath their canopy a quick, sensible, erudite mind. His smile is but a warm culmination of everything optimistic and positive, like a flame inviting moths to it, reaching out to give their innermost yearnings a hand to grab on to and never let go. Simply divine. And this is where the paths diverge, I suppose.

      They see a to-be Demon King, I see Diavolo.

      But alas, love is a fickle mistress. Getting too lost in the charm of her alluring arms will only result in a doom of them wrapping around your neck, enticing, until you realise their hold is tightening. Not to hold on, but to suffocate. I might have gotten so lost in that fiery gaze that I didn’t notice it start to crawl along my skin, leaving a charred, burnt path in its wake. The very anchor which I believed to be the one to ground me and hold me close etched itself deeper into the oceanic floor of delirium, drowning me. The threads of his stardust wrapped themselves around me and clutched hard enough to strangle. Before I knew it, the symphony of something meaningful became the cacophony of a nightmare.

      This red thread strung through itself earlier today the series of events I’d rather forget. I’ve known how I feel towards Diavolo for a while now, and I had been searching for an opportunity to come clean and let him know about it for the last few days. Not to say I hadn’t gotten said opportunities at all, but one could owe it to me being too prideful to admit I was finally opening up to the idea of accepting feelings and... emotions. Around that time was when Solomon let slip a few details about the significance of Valentine’s day in the human world as an annual occurrence to celebrate romantic love, friendship, and admiration, and with enough persistence, Asmodeus managed to convince Diavolo to declare the day as an official holiday. Just a few hours ago I walked along the empty hallways to Diavolo’s office, knowing him, Barbatos and I to be the only ones in the building, still choosing work over any form of inactivity. By then, I had talked myself into finally telling the most powerful of all demons about the feelings I harboured towards him. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I was indeed a tad hopeful, wishing for the feelings to be returned. Once I reached the door to his private office, my hand settled above the smooth hardwood to give it a knock. And that’s when I noticed that the door was already slightly ajar. I heard a voice inside, other than Diavolo’s, and I took the liberty to glance inside, only for my hopes to come crashing down when the realisation struck me: I shouldn’t have done that.

      Inside his office, Diavolo sat in his seat with his mouth pressed against another, a hand trailing across the small face with dark green locks framing it with elegance while the other held on to the person’s waist, pulling him closer. My eyes widened when the smaller man of the two let out a muffled whimper, perched on Diavolo’s lap. Barbatos. I felt my heart squeeze out a pained croak at the sight, and even though every single nerve in my body begged me to move away and forget I ever saw anything, my legs didn’t move. They stayed glued to their spot on the floor even as I felt it crumble beneath my feet, just the way my eyes stayed on Diavolo. My lip trembled with a longing I never thought I’d experience when Barbatos intertwined his fingers with Diavolo’s, smiling into the kiss they shared, like the perfect harmony which was always meant to be. It was when Diavolo broke the kiss, eyes meeting the other’s and whispers of love and confessions floating across the room until they settled on my ears, that I finally felt the mask crack. The facade I had worked on for centuries to lay the foundation of crumbled as my fists clenched, letting myself have a moment of weakness when a lone tear of frustration, delay, anger, and self loathing dripped down my cheek. I looked up at the ceiling, a voiceless laugh tumbling across my lips at the cognisance that the Polaris I was reaching out for, shining proud in the middle of a dark, cloudless sky, was beyond my reach, and... never supposed to be mine. How far I could stretch, how willing were my fingers to make one last attempt to touch it’s light and bask in it - all of that didn’t matter anymore.

      I exhaled a shaky breath, blinking once as I tucked away whatever it is I was going to tell Diavolo in some corner of my mind, crushing the key with a hard snap of my fingers. My eyes found Barbatos again, glazing over with a heartfelt wish for him to find his happiness, at least. It was with one last aching smile towards Diavolo and a euphoric laugh spilling from Barbatos’ lips that I turned on my heel, shaking my head at the fate I was handed. Needless to say, I hold no malice towards either of them - they’re both precious to me, as much as I dislike admitting it.

      I believe I have shared more than what was required, and I shall burn this piece of paper lest anyone finds it. One might call it wishful thinking on my part, but I do pray that watching the last signs of anything I harbour towards the one who wasn’t meant to be mine from the start burn as the embers of the fire consume it whole makes me put a lid on my feelings once and for all, for they were never supposed matter. They weren’t supposed to exist to begin with.

      After all, only a prince deserves a fairy-tale with a happy ending, and I am no prince.

Lucifer.

[alj4890]

And Then I Left You

(Thomas Hunt x oc*Amanda) in a "what if" version to the RCD/TRR fan fic And Then I Met You Series

A/N This was one chapter that I couldn’t find a way to divide up. It’s a tad long, but let’s just say that what we have been waiting on finally happens.

@krsnlove @my-heart-beats-for-ya @aworldoffandoms @flyawayboo​  @trappedinfanfiction @everythingmarvelsherlockspn  @sophxwithers @kate-mckenzie @twinkleallnight

Masterlist

Chapter 6 The Chase is On

Cordonia, The Royal Palace...

Glancing at his door, Drake set his coffee cup down to see who was knocking in a persistent and irritating manner.

"Hey. Where'd you disappear to last night?"

"What were you doing with Thomas Hunt?!" Amanda stormed into his chambers and shut the door. "I thought you were my friend!"

Drake rolled his eyes. "I see you're in your usual, reasonable state of mind."

"Just answer me this." She took a deep breath to try to remain calm. "Are you on my side?"

"Come on, Amanda." He muttered. "Of course I am. That's why Hunt is--"

"I don't want to hear anything about him!" She snapped. "I don't care why Thomas is here." Her eyes narrowed on Drake. "I simply want to know that I can still depend on you to help me if I need it."

He folded his arms. "I'm trying to help. If you would just--"

"That's all I needed to hear." She twirled around and quickly left his room.

Dropping his head back, Drake groaned in frustration. He then searched for his phone to send a group text to Thomas, Liam, and Maxwell.

Drake: A's been by showing that she's just as stubborn as before.

Liam: I will have a talk with her. She can't ignore me during this social season.

Maxwell: 😬 Is this the same A we grew up with? She ALWAYS finds a way to wiggle out of stuff she doesn't really want to face.

Thomas: I think my only chance is to irritate her into finally speaking to me.

Drake: Maybe you can corner her at the derby.

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

The Derby...

"Now remember, you have to remain pleasant whenever they bring Thomas up." Nadia whispered.

Amanda grit her teeth. "I can fake it for a few minutes."

"That a girl." Olivia encouraged her as she stepped up to talk to the reporters.

"Your grace!" Ana smiled warmly. "Welcome home."

Amanda's answering smile was more natural at that opening to her interview. 

"Thank you." Her eyes lifted to the crowd of people milling about the track. "I didn't realize how much I missed Cordonia until I came back after such a long absence."

"It must have been a surprise to come home and discover that you are to take part as one of Prince Liam's suitors."

"Quite." Amanda shrugged with a smile. "I know though that his royal highness will choose a lady that will make all of Cordonia proud."

"How do you rate your chances?" Ana continued. "Given your closeness over the years, do you think you have a better one than the other suitors?"

"Not at all." Amanda gripped her hands together. "I believe that Prince Liam will give every lady a fair chance to see if they are meant to be his future queen."

Ana's attention drifted over Amanda's shoulder. "There you are!" She motioned for Thomas to come forward. "Perfect timing. I was about to ask how things are going with The Earl's Undoing."

The duchess stiffened when he stepped up next to her and set his arm around her waist.

"Everything is moving along as expected. Our only hiccup is Ryan's need to extend a promotional tour of his last film." Thomas turned toward Amanda. "Lucky for me, her grace has been so understanding."

Amanda felt her cheeks heat up with color. "I'm certain anyone would understand a need to wait on one of their leading actors."

"You'd be surprised how many refuse to hear the real reasons behind delays."

Against her better judgement she lifted her eyes to his.

An apologetic smile formed on his lips. He kept his gaze on her face as he spoke. "I intend on making it up to her grace once everything is ready to begin."

Amanda's eyes narrowed more in confusion than anger. She didn't know what to think about that or any of what he was hinting at. Her curiosity was starting to override her furious pride.

"Does this mean you might have to push back its release date?" Ana asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Possibly. We will know more once filming begins." He explained.

"Speaking of dates, I noticed that both you and Simone Carmichael just so happen to be here at the same time." Ana grinned at him. "Are you spending these next few weeks with her?"

Thomas had to grip down hard on Amanda's waist to keep her from walking off.

She had lowered her head so that her large sun hat hid her annoyance. He still caught the brief twist of disgust on her lips.

"No. I had no idea Simone was coming here." He bit down on his tongue when he felt Amanda pinch his hand. "From what I gathered, she came here strictly to do a photoshoot for you."

Ana chuckled. "Well, that and I might have hoped once I knew you were here too to help romance along."

"Forgive me." Amanda said sweetly. "But I must join the other suitors."

"There isn't anything to help along with Simone." Thomas gripped a handful of material at the back of Amanda's dress to keep her in place. "I wish her nothing but luck in her career and personal endeavors."

Ana didn't bother to hide her disappointment. Her eyes then lit up when she focused once more on Amanda. "Your grace? You know Thomas well. Which of his recent dates do you think was the most successful?"

Amanda could feel Thomas stiffening next to her. One quick peek revealed his frown firming while he waited to hear how she would respond.

Unable to believe her luck, or rather lack thereof when it came to her own personal romances, a laugh escaped her lips.

Thomas nearly cringed from the sharp, bitter edge he and those who knew her well could only detect in what was usually a warm, carefree sound.

"I wouldn't dare to presume Thomas's heart." She made a show of checking her watch. "I really must be on my way."

"Thank you, your grace." Ana added. "And Thomas," she winked at him, "I'll be watching you and those who visit Cordonia."

"Let. Go. Of. Me." Amanda hissed once they were well past the press.

"I need to speak to you." He insisted.

"You're ruining my dress!" She whispered harshly. "If you let go of me then I will listen."

She couldn't believe he actually believed her lie. Once his fingers eased, she made a mad dash through an opening in the crowd.

"Amanda!" He tried to keep an eye on her as he was forced to pause here and there to keep from mowing people down in his pursuit.

The last glimpse he caught was seeing his escaped lady ducking into the suitors' tent.

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

"Riley got into Liam's tent safely." Maxwell whispered. "Operation Big Apple is officially a go."

Nadia giggled. "Good. I hope we can find them a lot of special alone time. It's going to seem so weird to Riley being basically courted like a contestant on a reality show." Her nose wrinkled. "It's a shame they never got to go on real dates before all this."

"It will work out." Maxwell told her. "We'll--" he saw the one who really needed help and waved. "Thomas! Up here!"

"What are you doing?" Nadia didn't bother to whisper. "He's the enemy of our friend!"

"Babe, he's so not the enemy." Maxwell grinned at her anger mounting. "If you would hear him out, you'd know just how bad he has it for our friend."

Nadia hmphed as she watched the still an enemy in her eyes climb the stairs of the section they were seated in.

"How'd it go?" Maxwell asked.

"I was making some headway until Ana brought up Simone being here." Thomas sat down next to them. "Then she escaped before I could get a word of explanation out."

Nadia's delighted smile held a hint of evil.

Maxwell shook his head in exasperation over the two women he knew and loved. "Will you tell my wife," he whispered, "without mentioning a certain someone's name, why you went on those dates?"

Thomas eyed him then frowned at Nadia. He tried not to think too much about how he must be desperate to continually open up to these people who were practically strangers. He had a hard enough time doing so with his own friends. Accepting help from Amanda's had to mean that even he was unaware how much he must love this woman who refused to be near him. 

"I wanted to make certain it was her I wanted instead of just someone."

Nadia's brow furrowed. "You didn't know?"

"I did to some extent. But before I took a chance on ruining our friendship, I wanted to make certain."

"And every one of his dates was a bust." Maxwell added. "Nobody could measure up to our Aman--her."

Nadia looked back and forth between the two. "Oh. Then why did you come early?" 

 Thomas glanced around to make certain no one was listening. "I was asked by someone how I felt about her."

"Key component of operation Big Apple." Maxwell added.

Thomas merely quirked an eyebrow at that cryptic statement before leaning closer. "I told him I am in love with her and he planned on me being here for all this," he gestured around, "so that I could be with her in secret." His eyes flickered to the suitors' tent . "But she won't allow me to tell her how in love with her I am."

Nadia remained silent after his heartfelt confession. Maxwell shared a concerned glance with Thomas at his wife’s unusual reaction to something that would normally make her squeal with fluffy feelings.

"That is the most romantic thing I've ever heard!" Nadia clapped her hands over her mouth.

"And we have one more for team Thomas." Maxwell announced with glee.

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

The Royal Palace grounds...

Thomas stood off to the side with Drake, Maxwell, and Nadia as the ladies of the court lined up to greet the queen. He scanned the overly eager smiles and excited whispers of many of the young women hoping to catch Liam's eye. A slight smirk formed as he noticed just how uninterested Amanda seemed with it all.

Her facial expression was one of calm neutrality. She didn't gush when Liam walked by, merely curtsied and bowed her head. A genuine smile flashed across her lips when he paused to say hello. Other than that, she might as well have been standing in line for some mundane task.

Once the queen and Liam chose their partners for the croquet game, she and the remaining ladies were forced to follow along and clap politely for them. Thomas caught a few of her eye rolls each time someone complimented the prince on his amazing form with the use of a croquet mallet.

"Things must have gone well in the tent." Nadia whispered. "Look how happy Liam and Riley are together."

"I knew it would." Maxwell boasted. He then noticed Amanda trying to peek over towards them instead of focusing on the game.

Her hat helped shade her eyes as she ever so often turned to look at Thomas. The slight tightening along her lips was the only indication that she didn't understand why those closest to her were hanging out with him.

Thomas noticed and met her gaze with his own questioning glance. Her body stiffened in response before turning her attention back to a game she had always found immensely boring.

"Wow." Drake whispered. "I'm impressed. I've never known a simple look could irritate her that much."

"Will there be mingling anytime soon?" Thomas asked.

"Once all the fawning is done, we'll be able to eat and mingle." Maxwell explained.

"Good." Nadia placed a hand on her stomach when it gurgled. "I hope it's soon."

It wasn't long before Liam and Riley won, causing many to surround him to offer their congratulations.

Drake snorted. "With how they're acting you'd think he just became some conquering hero of a war or something."

Thomas had lost sight of Amanda when the crowd of ladies surged. As Liam politely excused himself, while holding fast to Riley's hand, he managed to get through and find an empty table.

"We better join him before he's surrounded again." Maxwell tugged Nadia along with him.

"You coming?" Drake asked when he noticed Thomas's hesitation.

"I was trying to see where Amanda went." His eyebrows lifted when he noticed her talking to the queen and pointing directly at him.

Her smile was a bit unnerving with the smug triumphant he could so easily see.

Much to his surprise, she began to walk over with the queen just a step ahead of her.

"Your majesty," she said sweetly, "allow me to introduce Mr. Thomas Hunt."

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hunt." Regina greeted him. "Her grace tells me you have quite the interest in Cordonian history."

Thomas blinked. The only history he knew had been interested in was whatever took place in  Amanda’s book. "Er, yes. After reading Amanda's story, I have wanted to see the fields and buildings where it all took place."

Regina smiled in approval. "Then I am most happy to be your first guide."

"My first what?" His brow furrowed.

Amanda laughed softly. "You are a lucky man, Thomas." Her eyes sparkled with imminent victory. "Queen Regina knows every historical happening that occurred on the palace grounds."

"You flatter me, your grace." Regina fondly replied. "Now go and participate with Liam and the others. I will make sure your Mr. Hunt is taken care of."

"You don't need to--"

Amanda curtsied and interrupted his attempt to get out of this. "You are too kind, mam." Her smile grew at Thomas's shock. "And don't believe a word Mr. Hunt says about not wanting this tour. He is afraid of irritating people with his need for extensive detail."

His eyes narrowed at her success with getting rid of him for the remainder of the afternoon. Little did she know that he was not going to go down without a fight.

"Perhaps her grace can join us, since it is her book that sparked this interest."

"She can once the tea is over." Regina took his arm. "Now then, let us start over there with the apple trees that Queen Odette planted for each child she bore."

Thomas frowned at Amanda's unabashed glee as he was forced into this. He knew he should be pleased that she couldn't chance being within the same area as him, but he had intended for today to be the end of her not listening.

He was ready to do whatever was needed to finally tell her what was in his heart. If need be, he would sneak into her chambers and force the issue. Yet...with her anger, she might use that as a way to make him leave her country.

Two hours into the tour, his prayer for escape was answered. Regina was summoned by the king for some matter or another. She quickly gave her apologies and insisted he go enjoy himself at the tea party.

"And do give my apologies to Lady Amanda." She said as she paused at the door. "Let her I know she can tell you even more stories from the past than I can."

"Thank you." Thomas bowed his head. "I intend on claiming her attention as soon as I find her."

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

Amanda had known as soon as Thomas disappeared with the queen that he would find a way back to the party. There really was only one option she had if she intended to not be confronted once again with whatever he felt the need to talk about.

But how could she sneak away without anyone noticing?

She grimaced at the ruby red dress she had on. It practically screamed designer and had drawn a lot of attention. With the floppy sun hat and heels, she couldn't have been less prepared to escape into the capital. She set her barely touched teacup down and began to walk the perimeter while trying to think of a plan.

"What are you doing?" Drake asked when she walked past him.

"Hmm?" She paused, preparing to glare at him. Then it hit her. If there was one person in the world who knew a way to get out without being seen, it was Drake. "Remember our conversation this morning?"

He eyed her warily. "Yeah?"

"Then let's get out of here." She whispered.

"Why?" He nodded toward the banquet being set up. "You love those pitiful excuses they call sandwiches."

"I'd rather have a cheeseburger."

His eyebrows lifted. "Really?"

"I missed breakfast." She whispered. Which was true since she was afraid of bumping into Thomas in the palace dining room. "This tea isn't going to hold me over until dinner."

Drake hesitated. A big part of him was ready to fall into her plan for his own sake. If he heard one more lady giggle while saying how strong Liam must be to swing his mallet, he would end up saying some kind of snide remark. He hated seeing his best friend be showered with phony attention.

But then again, he had promised to help Thomas with talking to Amanda. Shouldn't he find a way to keep her here so that they could finally put an end to her stubborn refusal? Of course, he could use the time alone with her to help ease the way for Thomas.

"After we eat," Amanda added, hoping to tempt him further, "we could find a place to play a couple of games of pool." She held her purse up. "I'll even buy the first two rounds of drinks."

She really is desperate for a break, he thought.

"Deal." He nodded toward a gap in the hedges. "When I say go, you head straight through there. I'll meet you down the hill in a few minutes."

She beamed at him before doing as she was told. As she hurried down the hill, she couldn't help but chuckle at her finding yet another way to avoid Thomas. Now she wouldn't have to worry about any confrontations or declarations or anything she didn't wish to hear.

This day was turning out better than she thought.

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

At a dive bar...

After grabbing a burger at some little hole in the wall place, the two had searched for a bar that they wouldn't be bothered at. The one they decided on was barely lit inside with an occasional neon side here and there. The few patrons sitting at the bar seemed the type to mind their own business and expected others to do the same.

"You sure about this place?" Drake asked. He felt a little uneasy at the type of patrons here.

"It's a bar without nobles or press." She pointed out. "This is exactly what we need." 

The two wandered over to an empty pool table. Drake handed Amanda a pool cue then proceeded to rack the balls.

"You going to finally tell me why we left the tea party so quickly or not?"

Amanda shook her head. "How about a drink?"

He mentally shook his head as she ordered for them both. She was getting worse. Before news of Thomas’s dates had aired, Amanda had been more willing to talk about him.

"Are you going to break or what?" She asked.

Drake leaned down and struck the cue ball.

Two solids went in.

"Guess I'm stripes." She muttered.

Eyeing the other patrons, Drake sidled up next to her. "Maybe we should go somewhere else."

"Why?"

"Because you are in a fancy dress!" He hissed. "A dress that looks like you stepped out of one of those old paintings in the palace with ladies sitting in the gardens or something.

Amanda wrinkled her nose. "I don't think anyone here cares about that."

"Why did you decide to leave the tea party?" He demanded.

She leaned down to line up her shot. "Because I didn't want to stay."

Drake's head dropped forward in frustration. "Why?"

"You know why!" She twirled around to face him causing her skirt to flare out in an elegant spin. "I did not want to be cornered by Thomas again and forced to listen to him talk about his love life!"

"Amanda, do you know why Thomas is here? Alone?"

"I don't." She stuck her nose up in the air. "And I don't want to. What he does is none of my business." She took another shot. "And I intend for us to be nothing but workplace associates."

"And people call me stubborn." Drake grumbled. "Liam invited him here. If you would just--"

"Hey!"

The two turned toward a large, bald, burly man. The black leather vest he wore had on it what appeared to be a bleeding skull and other lovely items of death.

"This guy bothering you?"

Amanda relaxed. "No. But thank you for coming to check on me." She gestured toward Drake. "He is actually a friend of mine."

Casting a warning glare towards Drake, the intimidating man then faced Amanda. "I know you."

She highly doubted it. "You do? Forgive me, but I can't remember our meeting before--"

"You wrote that book." He stroked his beard while staring at her. "What is it called?"

Drake's eyes widened. "You read The Earl's Undoing?"

"That's it!" He snapped toward his other companions.

Four more heavily muscled bound men walked over and was introduced to the duchess.

Drake mentally groaned at the bodily harm that he knew was about to befall him.

Amanda was delighted if he was to go by how bright her smile was directed at the men she was introduced to.

"Did you really like it?" She asked. "I was worried that many wouldn't give it a chance being about people who aren't well known."

"We did." The one introduced as Breaker replied. "My sister has talked of nothing but your book since it came out."

The first one, who said he was known as Crow, spoke up again. "My mom loves it." He smiled, revealing a few missing teeth. "You mind if I call her and have her come here to meet you? She doesn't live far."

Drake cleared his throat while edging around the bikers surrounding Amanda. "We should probably head out. We--"

"Of course I don't mind." She waived off Drake shaking his head. "We can stay another hour or so if you want to call her." She smiled warmly up at Breaker. "If you think your sister might want to also, I would be more than happy to meet her too."

The men excused themselves, yelling to the bartender to give her whatever she wanted and to put it on their tab, and stepped outside to make their calls.

"Okay. We're leaving." Drake whispered. "There's a back door over by the restrooms." He nodded toward the other side of the bar. "I'll go first and--"

"But why?" Amanda sat down on a barstool. "I can't leave with their family members coming here."

"Did you not notice the fresh blood on that one guy's shirt? All the scars? The weapons?" Drake ran an agitated hand through his hair. "These aren't the kind of men you sit down and talk regency romances with!"

"But they approached me about that very thing." She whispered back. "If you want to go on back to the palace, I'll be fine--"

Drake held his hand up to make her stop talking. "I don't know why we're arguing about this. We're--"

"Arguing about what?" Crow asked.

"You sure this guy ain't bugging you?" The shorter of the five asked from over Drake's shoulder.

"I'm sure." She replied with a laugh. "Thank you though, Gearhead." She tilted her head towards Drake. "He's more like a brother to me and likes to try and be an older one at that."

The bikers looked on Drake with some respect.

"Hard enough making a sister do anything, much less one that isn't related." Breaker grumbled.

He slapped Drake on the back. "You're a good man for looking out for her."

"Thanks." Drake managed to say once he was sure no bones were broken.

While the bikers sat down next to Amanda to ask her more about her book, Drake sent a quick text to Thomas.

He knew if there was any chance of getting out of here safely, he would need some help.

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

An hour later...

Thomas's entrance went by unnoticed.

The only sound in the bar was Amanda, reading her novel before a small crowd of some of the roughest individuals he had ever seen.

They were captivated as she added emotion to the dialogue.

After ordering a drink, he found a seat towards the back that allowed him a perfect view of her.

She gave her thanks as one of the bikers poured her another cup of tea when her voice cracked. She then continued with the passage that held her audience on the edge of their seats.

Elizabeth rode as if the very hounds of hell were nipping at her heels. Every moment that she felt slipping away meant that she might be too late.

"Eliza!" Marija called out. "Turn north!" She whipped her horse to catch up. "It is a shortcut to the abbey."

The two ladies continued down the moonlit road, each praying for the man they loved.

Reginald and Arthur were already in the field that would decide once and for all who would be with Elizabeth.

Arthur removed his great coat followed by his jacket, cravat, and vest. "Here." He handed them to his brother. "I'll fence better being unencumbered."

Reginald did the same. He then tested his rapier, moving it faster than the eye could follow.

"Brother, I beg of you, stop and consider what you're doing," Carlisle spoke in a low tone. "Please, don't do this. Sir Reginald has never been bested. You must--"

"I have to." Arthur snapped. He placed a hand on the younger man' shoulder. "When you lose your heart to someone one day, you will understand."

"This isn't love." His brother insisted. "This has been an obsession, one you refuse to let go."

"Some would say that the two are one in the same." Arthur rolled his wrist, testing the weight of his own rapier. "Now, forgive me, but I must fight for my chance with Elizabeth."

One noble who had journeyed with others to this spot to make certain honor was upheld in the duel motioned the two combatants to the center.

He dropped a handkerchief, causing the two to rush each other. Their swords let out a screech of metal as they slid over each other.

Arthur barely deflected Reginald's strikes.

He really is the best swordsman in Cordonia, he thought.

"Oh!" Crow's mom gasped. "This is my favorite part, your grace."

Thomas knew it was his too. He found himself leaning forward as Amanda continued after thanking the elderly woman dressed from head to toe in leather.

The two fenced, each with a determined fury to be the man to have Elizabeth all for himself.

They ended up face to face during a violent block.

"Elizabeth loves me." Arthur snarled. "She has been mine far longer than yours."

"That might well be so." Reginald spat. "But not only am I in love with her, I'm the only man she has ever been betrothed to. She is my intended. The Queen was the one to settle that Elizabeth will belong to no other but me." His eyes narrowed with the hatred he felt towards this man who dared to try and steal her away. "She is mine by right! Not yours!"

They pushed away and began to strike with more fury.

Each burned with a desire to permanently eliminate the one who stood between him and a lifetime of happiness.

The one that made them doubt that they held Elizabeth's heart.

Breaker's sister sniffed while wiping her tears. "Here it comes." She whispered.

Amanda yelled out Elizabeth's words.

"WAIT! PLEASE!"

The two noble ladies on horseback rode directly onto the field.

Before either could react to seeing the very one they were fighting over,  Elizabeth slid out of her side saddle and ran to Arthur.

The bartender cursed out loud. "Elizabeth chose that bastard over Reginald?"

"Hush!" Breaker's mother told him. "Listen."

"Elizabeth." Reginald whispered, as he saw her take Arthur's hand and yank him further down field.

He gripped his sword. Anger fueled his body as he was forced to see the woman he loved choose another. He took a step forward to finish this duel and destroy Arthur once and for all. Yet something made him halt and watch his Elizabeth talk with the man she had met first.

Crestfallen and heartbroken, Reginald took one last look at the lady who had once been his then turned to collect his things.

I must leave, he thought to himself. Elizabeth deserves to be with the man she loves. I can't take that away from her when all I've ever wanted was for her to be happy.

He handed his rapier to his man servant. He then began to put his coat back on.

He was startled when a pair of arms embraced him from behind.

Turning abruptly he noticed a somber looking Arthur speaking to his brother and Lady Marija.

Elizabeth lifted her eyes to Reginald's face, taking in every feature she adored.

"Eliza," Reginald stepped back and took her hands. His eyes dropped to the ground as he spoke, unable to see her disapproval for his rash actions, "forgive me for trying to take the one you--" he noticed her damp skirt and silk dance slippers.

A surprised yelp escaped her lips when he picked her up and carried her over to a moss covered boulder. Her concern mounted when he knelt before her.

"Reginald, I--" her breath caught as he began to use his discarded cravat to tenderly dry her feet.

"You're going to catch a chill or worse if you remain out too much longer." He took a deep breath to calm his renewed anger over her having such a man to look after her. "Arthur should see you home at once."

Elizabeth cupped his cheek urging him gently to look at her.

"Why would I allow Arthur to take me home when I would much rather be with the man I am in love with?"

Reginald lifted his eyes to hers. "Eliza? Do you mean--" 

"I love you, Reginald." She scooted off the boulder and into his arms. "You are the only man I can ever see myself married to." 

Even in the early blush of dawn, he noticed her cheeks coloring from her admission. As if desperate to prove her heart was his, she slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him. His arms wrapped around her, holding her close as he responded to her sweet touch. When they broke apart to catch their breaths, their smiles were nearly identical with their joy. 

"Eliza,” Reginald pressed her hand to his heart, "my love, my very being is and shall always be yours."

Amanda shut the well worn copy she had been given to read an exert from, thanking the group when they applauded.

She stepped off the stage and began to sign the copies they had brought.

"My lady," one of the bikers placed his hand on her shoulder. "You aren't like those nobles we always read about."

"Thank you, Ink." She patted his heavily tattooed arm. "I promise there are more out there, like Prince Liam, who care and want to listen to the people."

"Your grace," Crow's mom pulled her into a brief hug. "This has been the best surprise yet at this bar." She turned toward the others. "Right?"

Many murmured their agreement while some others spoke of the time Arnie threw a full keg at a guy who came in causing trouble as their favorite surprise.

"Will the movie follow the book, my lady?" Breaker's sister asked.

"Yes, it will."

Amanda whirled around at the sound of the deep voice she knew so well.

"Thomas! What are you doing here?"

He briefly shrugged while moving to stand a little in front of her.

"I plan on it being as if the words Lady Amanda wrote came to life." He explained to the group.

"You're that Hunt guy." Ink narrowed his eyes. "You better have treated our duchess like she deserves."

"Mr. Hunt has been nothing but kind." Amanda quickly spoke up. "He might love my book more than anyone."

"I do." Thomas said softly.

He took her hand and held tight when he felt her trying to tug it away without making a scene.

"If you will excuse us," Thomas met each of the suspicious pairs of eyes on him, "I need to speak to her grace about my plans in Cordonia."

Crow shared a glance with his comrades.

"It's fine with us as long as she wants to go with you." He replied.

Thomas cocked an eyebrow at Amanda.

Seeing no way out of this without causing a problem, she wished the bar patrons a good night and promised to visit again before she left the capital.

Drake breathed easier once they made it out the door.

"That might be one of the weirdest experiences I have ever had." He muttered as they walked to Thomas's car.

"They were sweet." Amanda glanced back at the building. "I never dreamed that people like them would enjoy my-"

"Get in the car." Thomas bit out as he held the door open for her.

She stiffened once more, remembering how angry she was with him. "I think I'll walk."

Drake didn't bother to mask his groan at her response.

Thomas tossed him his keys, told him to drive back to the palace, and grasped Amanda's arm. He guided her on into the night.

"I meant alone." She grumbled.

Thomas remained silent.

She huffed at that. "Why did you come to the bar?"

He abruptly stopped in his tracks. His grip on her arm caused her to stumble back against him.

She looked up at his face made harsher by the shadows and low light of a nearby streetlamp.

"Do you have no knowledge of the danger you placed yourself in? Do you have any idea what they would have done to Drake if those men had not been fans of your novel? To you?!"

His questions struck like a whip as he held tight to her.

She glared defiantly up at him. "I've been on my own for many years, Mr. Hunt. I do realize the danger, yet since those men were gentlemen I saw no need to treat them any differently than someone kind I meet at a palace ball."

"Your stubbornness is going to be the death of me." He let go of her arms, took her hand, and continued to walk the path back to the palace.

She twisted her hand to set it free, then jerked him to a stop once more when he refused to let her go.

"Why were you there?"

"Drake texted for my help in getting you safely out of that bar."

"And why does he have your number? And why are you reading texts?! You hate texting."

His eyes narrowed. "I never hated receiving texts from you."

For some reason that he didn't understand, that made her angrier than anything else he had said to her.

"Why are you mad at me?" He asked. "Is it because of--"

"You never told me!" She shoved away from him when his grip loosened. "We talked everyday, Thomas. EVERYDAY! Texted one another multiple times each day." Her eyes sparkled with tears. "I told you private things about myself that I never shared with any other person." Averting her eyes, she took a shaky breath. "And you couldn't bother to tell me you had begun to date again."

"Amanda, it isn't what you think. Those dates were nothing more than--"

"I don't want to hear it." She stepped out of reach. "I see now that I took advantage of our living arrangement and thought we had a closer relationship than we did." She looked up at him, trying to not let him know how hurt she was. "Like I said at the masquerade ball, I will treat you only with a professional courtesy and not involve you in anything personal."

"If you would let me explain why I did what I did--" his eyes widened when she jogged off to get away from him. "Amanda!"

She paused, gripping handfuls of her skirt. "I only want to know one thing. Why are you invited to the events?"

"Liam invited me." He replied. "He came to my home during his bachelor trip and we discussed you."

"Me?" She paled. "Why?"

"He believed that you have feelings for me and didn't want to possibly choose you when you could be with the one you want."

"He did what?" 

She covered her face. She couldn't believe Liam would do something like this to her. She didn't know if she would ever get over this embarrassment.

"Liam then asked me how I felt about you." He added. "And I told him that I am in love with you."

Her head snapped up. "You told him what? Why?" Her brow furrowed. "Are you trying to protect me from something?"

"No. I told him because I didn't want to lose you in case he decided to choose a friend to marry." Thomas replied. "He then invited me to every social event so that I could secretly be with you."

"Then why the mass amount of dates?" He could hear her anger once more in her tone. "If you are so in love with me that you journey to Cordonia weeks before you planned, why did you date so many different women as soon as I left your home?"

Thomas guided her into a small park near the gate of the palace. He gestured toward a bench for her to sit. When she stubbornly refused to budge, he tugged her over and used his weight to force her down beside him.

"I prefer to stand." She grumbled.

 "And I prefer you sitting beside me." He countered. 

She scoffed while folding her arms and staring off into the distance. 

"I didn't want to take a chance on hurting you." He began. "I--" 

"Hurting me? How?" She removed her sun hat when she bumped him with her trying to face him. 

 He repositioned on the bench and set his arm across the back of it. "I was worried that my attraction to you was formed from you simply being near at hand."

 Amanda's brow furrowed. "I see. So, you decided to start dating to test whether or not that was true?" 

"Yes." He gently brushed a curl back that had been caught up in a breeze. "And every single one of them proved that I wasn't simply lonely." His fingers slid down her cheek. "I was lonely for you." 

Thomas inched closer to her until he could easily slide his arm around her. "When Liam came to my home and told me you were his suitor," he paused, searching for the right words, "I've never felt so hopeless in my entire life. I thought in that moment I had truly lost any possible chance to be with you." 

Amanda lowered her eyes. "I felt the same way when I saw the footage of your dates." 

He cupped her cheek, carefully urging her to look up. "Those dates were nothing. There was no affection, no spark, nothing remotely romantic." 

Her eyes searched his for the truth.

He waited patiently for her to say something about his confession.

Eventually she blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t know what to think.”

“Would you like us to try and be together in secret?”

She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Would you? You've never struck me as the type of man who enjoys subterfuge.”

A hint of a smile appeared on his lips. “True, but I could last a few months doing so just to be with you.”

“We would have to be so careful.” Amanda blinked in surprise at herself for even considering doing this. “Even this,” she gestured to his arm curving around her, “would cause a scandal. Which, though it would eliminate me from being an acceptable choice for Liam, it would cause a great deal of damage to my standing within the court.” Her nose wrinkled. “I wouldn’t mind that so much but I need their support from time to time for votes that could affect the people of my duchy and for the various charities I am over.”

“Then we will make certain no one sees us.” He pulled her closer. “With your friends assistance, I think we can find time to spend alone.”

She felt her heart pick up speed as it finally registered that not only had Thomas confessed his love for her, but that she was about to do something so daring. 

“Amanda?” He leaned closer to her, giving her time to make a decision. His lips brushed her cheek. 

She swallowed before meeting his lips with a tentative kiss. She should have known that any kiss they shared could not remotely be considered chaste. It was all she could do to keep up with his passionate response.

After a few moments that felt all too brief, he eased away. “We better get you back to the palace before someone notices you're gone.”

“Drake is probably waiting by a side door we usually use to let us in.” she mumbled when his lips brushed hers again.

“Then we shouldn’t abuse his friendship.” He forced himself to move away from her. 

Taking her hand in his, he led her out of the park.

The clock tower chimed the late hour by the time they found Drake leaning against the palace’s east wall with his arms crossed. Noticing that the two were still holding hands without Amanda arguing had him smiling in relief.

“Everything good?” He whispered.

The couple shared a look before both nodding.

“Thank God.” His voice returned to its normal gruff nature. “I was about to resign from trying to convince Amanda to hear you out.”

[alice-in-wonderart]

hiii, do you write for xue yang? if yes, could you do some poly!xuexiao headcanons or scenario? whatever its easier to you! maybe with a little angst since xue yang is a hard person. even if you say no, thank you so much for your attention and for your writing, I love what you do 💞

UWU, you made my entire week, thank you so muchhh ❤️❤️❤️ you warmed my heart! Of course, I write for best boy XY~ Honestly, I write for nearly all characters. I picked headcanons, because there is- a LOT to talk about when it comes to poly XueYao and your girl is living for that adventure! I tried making it as angsty as possible, but my THIRST for a happy ending is so strong- I apologise for the delay in answering (life decided to life a bit more these past few days) and I hope you enjoy my take on the relationship~

P.S I might have gone a tad overboard-

I'm changing the canon quite a bit, because XueXiao need happiness and you are that happiness. XXC doesn't know Xue Yang's name until they meet post-blindness, Song Lan doesn't appear until MUCH later and ofc you're there lol.

You know that trope of the angel and the devil on your shoulder? That's your relationship with Xue Yang and Xiao Xingchen in short.

It all started when you met Xiao Xingchen during one of his many travels. He was so kind and sweet, understanding and compassionate. You were very fond of his company. Likewise, you didn't underestimate him, you listened to him, you were intelligent, funny, caring, responsible and he quickly found himself drawn to you.

So, it was no surprise when he expressed a certain interest in you. And it was even less of a surprise when you returned his feelings. And life was great.

But then, Xue Yang came into the picture and hit both of you in the hearts like Cupid's arrow. Discovering him on the side of the road was both the best and worst thing that had ever happened to you.

At first, both of you denied your attraction to him, but with every passing day, it grew more and more. The three of you'd spend nearly every second of the day together. The boy was handsome, funny and had a certain aura of...danger to him - one you found to be very charming in it's own way. Xiao Xingchen, too, had a growing fondness for Xue Yang's quick wit and rough play.

Nobody really suggested a poly relationship, it just kind of happened. One day you just grabbed both of their hands and they went with it.

Now, the dynamic between the two of them is much too entertaining. XXC is much more careful and caring, worrying and doting over both you and XY, showering both of you in love and affection. Xue Yang, on the other hand, is much more rough, mischievous and daring. They are the epitome of "good cop bad cop."

It is the most noticeable when you want to do something more dangerous or risky, be it joining a night hunt or anything else that could potentially end with you getting hurt. The response is always Xue Yang's immediate "Hell yes. Count me in" vs Xiao Xingchen's "No wait, what if you get hurt, just be careful."

While Xiao Xingchen is all sweet caresses, gentle hugs and forehead kisses, Xue Yang much prefers hidden inappropriate touches, especially in public, bites and playful smacks. He could endure a bit of scolding from Xiao Xingchen.

They wouldn't necessarily fight over you, but Xue Yang is much more needy when it comes to affection and it shows. God forbid it's just you and Xiao Xingchen without him. He'd be quick to join in, seemingly casually butting into the conversation, but you'd know better. He's lacked affection as a child and you know it, so his touch-starved nature is far from surprising.

Sharing a bed is an adventure. One sleeps unmoving, barely breathing, like a corpse, while the other - kicks and turns. Not a lot, but enough to be noticeable. Xiao Xingchen is the one who is turns, surprisingly. And of course, you're sandwiched in the middle of it all. Let me tell you, it's all fun and games, until summer rolls around. Sharing a bed in winter is a blessing, but the scorching heat of the summer days has made for some pretty interesting solutions. But nobody refuses to sleep away from the other two. You just HAVE to be bundled up together.

Xue Yang, despite being the self-proclaimed scoundrel of the relationship, is actually the most overly protective of the three of you. Underneath that seemingly devil-may-care attitude of his is a ticking time bomb of emotions ready to explode whenever somebody dares to so much as look at either you or XXC the wrong way.

"So what if he's blind! It's a blessing he doesn't have to witness your ugly damn face."

"Touch her. I dare you. I may not have a pinky, but you won't have a- " cue both of you dragging him far far far away from the situation.

But with life, as life goes, things are never black or white. And amidst the genuine love you three had for each other, trouble was bound to arise eventually.

Xue Yang never truly changed. How could he? The damage was already done. He may have found life with you and Xiao Xingchen to be pleasantly mundane and calm, but something kept weighing him down. And he decided, that it must have been Xiao Xingchen himself - the walking reminder of his past pain and his thirst for vengeance.

Imagine waking up one night, only to see Xue Yang standing next to the bed, staring at Xiao Xingchen holding... something in hand. It was too dark to tell. Upon noticing you're awake, he quickly turns around and leaves the room. And after a few long minutes, you feel the bed bext to you dip down with his weight. "Sleep." he'd mumble, before wrapping an arm around your waist. But somehow - it felt different.

And somehow you get that gut feeling, that perhaps you shouldn't leave Xiao Xingchen alone with Xue Yang. Perhaps you should be there at all times. Perhaps you were just imagining things, but you could swear something was rather off with your dear lover.

And then a fight happened. Now fighting was far from unusual, but this one escalated. It was over something minor, yet Xue Yang was much too hostile. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes - something you were used to, but this time your subconsciousness was screaming for you to run.

"It was you wasn't it?" Xiao Xingchen's gentle-as-ever voice rang, cutting through the unbearable tension, "Baixue Temple, Yueyang Chang Sect, it was you wasn't it, Xue Yang?"

And Xue Yang would just laugh and laugh. "I am glad you didn't forget me, dear Daozhang." And through a wicked smile, he'd tell his story of the missing pinky, sparing none of the gruesome details. And you'd realize, that all this time you'd been sharing your bed, your food...your love and relationship with a madman.

But that didn't make you want him any less. Not after so much time together. Not after falling in love. The situation was much more dire for Xiao Xingchen. He'd fallen utterly in love with the one who'd-

Yet he loved him so much. You loved him so much. And God, did it hurt, because through that fake smile of his, Xue Yang was fighting with himself. He didn't want his heaven to disappear. You - his wonderful candy, and his precious Daozhang were the cure for boredom he'd needed, the compassion he'd seeked for as a child, the understanding and caring he longed for.

And he wasn't ready to let go.

He'd try to attack, but it would be futile. Deep down Xue Yang knew, that he didn't want to hurt either of you. You never looked down on him, you never took advantage of him, you never stopped caring. And when Xiao Xingchen moved in front of you to protect you, yet took away his sword, instead opening his arms, Xue Yang realised, that perhaps for the very first (and only) time - violence and death weren't the only paths to walk on.

And perhaps, with time he'd learn how to properly love. And both Xiao Xingchen and you would be by his side, leading him and showing him what love is.

Perhaps, this relationship was worth fighting for.

[tobiosmilktea]

Hello! I really love your writing and I just saw your requests are open yay 👏🏻 So my idea is that the reader (female or neutral, as you prefer it) is a third year who takes art lessons as an extracurricular subject or something and the teacher ask their students to draw posters of the sport teams, and the reader got the volleyball team. The thing is the reader knows the third years but they're not really close, so they talk just a bit. (Part 1)

paint the clouds — tendou satori

4.7k words | genre/s: fluff | warning/s: possible ooc on everyone tbh | pairing: tendou x f!reader

↪︎ in which you painted a muse who always wanted you too

a/n: definitely not my best work and im super sorry for that, but i hope you still enjoy it 👉🏻👈🏻

a warm spring breeze blew strands of your hair in front of your face, laying against your rosy cheeks as you watched the horizon. the bright yellow sun teased the sky with hues of pink and orange, bound to mix into the darkness of the sunset. school had ended a few hours ago and now you were sitting in your art club waiting for your teacher to dismiss you. she was in a middle of a spiel explaining your next art project, but your brain struggled to follow.

your hand ached from drawing for hours, your wrist tender from constant pressure, and now you could’ve sworn you were going to get carpal tunnel sooner or later. it was worth it, anyway, you were doing what you liked doing as you honestly felt being an artist was your only talent. it was merely the only thing you focused on besides your academics. dating was certainly out of the question.

instead, you watched the birds fly past the open classroom window as your teacher explained the assignment something along the lines doing sports teams posters.

“i will be walking around the classroom with a box filled with names of sports clubs,” the teacher starts, pulling you out of your train of thought as your attention was finally set on her. “you will pick a random piece of paper from the box and that will be the sports team you will be making a club poster for.”

whispers erupted in the room as others verbalized which team they wished to get.

“i hope i get the volleyball team, they’re literally iconic.” you heard one girl say.

another voice exclaimed, “drawing the equestrian team sounds super fun too!”

the murmurs continued to the buzz even after the majority of the class had already picked out their sports team from the box. you were the last one to choose as you opted to sit in the back of the class.

“and last but not least,” said your teacher as she serpentine through the desks towards your sitting figure.

your hand dug into the small cardboard box only to feel one last piece of paper. you wanted to scoff slightly, but you stopped yourself the moment you grabbed the last slip of paper and read the messy handwriting. it took you a good second to even understand what it said as it was complete chicken scratch (no offense to the teacher).

“(y/n), what did you get?” your friend who sat in front of you turned with a smile on her face.

"i got the volleyball club,” you answered, eyes widening when your friend gasped.

“that’s literally the best one to get! i’m so jealous,” she sighed as if she just inhaled a rose scented breeze.

perhaps you were lucky to get such a sought after sports team as your main focus for the assignment, but you couldn’t help but feel an overbearing weight suddenly falling upon your shoulders. shiratorizawa’s volleyball team was the epitome of the academy. they were the ones who brought a significant name to the school with only the smartest of intellects but one with the best athletes. depending on how well you created this poster could potentially make or break your reputation. it was a visual representation of the team, anything less than iconic would dig a deeper hole for you.

it certainly doesn’t help the fact that you actually had to talk to the volleyball team now that you were in charge of their school poster. you internally groaned. you barely interacted with the third years, let alone being completely enamored over a familiar red-head.

your after school activities had ended in the midst of your running train of thoughts as you absentmindedly gathered your things and walked out of the classroom. you gripped the handle of your bag as you strolled through the near-empty hallways of the academy, your mind in a complete spiral as you had already tried visualizing what the end product might look like.

it was common knowledge to everyone who had known about you was well aware how amazing you were at art. no matter what medium you were given, you were known to be the girl who had magical hands that could create even the most beautiful things out of ash and smoke. you had this some innate, almost magical ability to have others stop in their tracks just to admire your works.

perhaps that you were too caught up in your own thoughts and the hypnotic tapping rhythm of your loafers clicking against the school floors that you hadn’t even notice your arrival towards the gym.

even the loud shouts of volleyball players from the ongoing practice wasn’t enough to pull your gaze away from the ground and towards the flying volleyball hurdling towards you.

“(y/l/n), watch out!” you heard a familiar voice shout out, immediately pulling you out of your own jungle-like psyche and into the real world.

everything had happened so quickly, all you knew was a blur fly past you to retrieve the ball before it knocked out of conscious. semi eita quickly turned to you, his figure greatly towering over you as he gave you a reassuring smile. “are you okay, (y/l/n)?”

you gulped, nodding almost too quickly. “yeah, i’m okay.”

“good,” he mutters as his brows slightly furrow in confusion. there was a thin blanket of awkwardness hovering above both of your heads as you both stood there in silence for a good five seconds—five seconds too long that is. “so what brings you here?” he finally breaks it, scratching the back of his head in the mean time.

right, you had almost forgotten why you were here in the first place.

“it’s about the art club, we’re doing sports team posters and i was wondering if i could talk to the third years for ideas.” you asked gently.

semi’s eyes immediately widened, the already prevalent smile on his face only increased at the statement. “that’s cool! come with me, i’ll show you to them.” he quickly motioned you to come inside the gym, feeling the brisk air difference of the air conditioned gymnasium to the warm spring breeze outside.

a shiver flowed down your back. not from the sudden influx of cold air surrounding your body, but the fact that towering volleyball players and their ever-so-intimidating nature causing nervous habits to take over you. soekawa jin, the vice captain of the team quickly flickered a look towards you before tapping ushijima’s arm for his attention. turning to see what his teammate wanted, soekawa swiftly pointed at you and semi approaching.

“it’s a surprise seeing you here, (y/l/n).” ushijima greets you in his deep, guttural voice. it caused you to gulp nervously, struggling to even put on the tiniest of smiles as you meekly muttered a ‘hi’ to the rest of the third years. however, it seemed as if the one you were most familiar with was not in sight. it did seem a tad bit quiet in the gym now that the practice game was on a time out.

“um,” one of the wing spikers approached you, ohira reon was it? “sorry for almost hitting you, by the way.”

you swiftly shook your head, “no, it’s okay. i was the one who wasn’t playing attention, so that’s on me.” 

“so, you’re here for the poster?” ushijima cut into it like a sharp knife, bold and straight to the point.

“yeah, um, i just stopped by to ask if you guys had anything ideal you want to see on your club poster.” your voice was softer than you hoped it would be when you spoke. 

eyebrows furrowing, ushijima glances among his teammates as provocation for an option saturated his hums of curiosity. 

semi then clears his throat, “we’re not really sure if we have any input for you, (y/n). besides, i think your poster will be amazing nevertheless.”

“that’s still a lot of pressure,” you mutter, “considering i would be mauled to death if this poster isn’t amazing.” sarcasm drenched your words like saccharine, hoping that the tall athletes would at least get your banter and share a laugh with you.

but they didn’t. instead, they stared with wide eyes at you in a mere worrying glance. perhaps the joke didn’t exactly translate well.

god, this is so awkward.

however, it wasn’t like you were exactly lying. as the face of shiratorizawa academy, you were aware that they needed to look good and if it were any less than that, you might never see the light of day ever again. not to mention you always liked adding twists to your artwork, which was technically the only reason why you were so infamously known to have such amazing works. but in the past half hour, you’ve came to the conclusion that it possibly isn’t the best option in this case.

“i’m kidding, by the way,” you let out a light huff.

“well, if it helps you in any way, you could always focus on ushijima as he is our ace.” soekawa cuts in, patting the captain’s back the moment he braided his arms over each other.

any form of leftover conversation (or lack thereof) was sliced—cut off from the sudden opening of the gymnasium doors and the (quite obnoxiously) loud middle blocker. tendou satori entered the giant gym with a bright beaming face of glimmering lights and cherries. tendou was perhaps one of the first people to talk to you the moment you entered this academy, eyes glazed in a honey-like optimism with every bright ‘hello.’ you always tended to be the quiet and secluded one in your classes with him despite being known to be infamously sardonic, you seemed to be the only one to which his overly comic ways of banter didn’t annoy you like it did with others. he, himself, was a sunray, and yet you couldn’t bring yourself to expose that thought as your eyes fall onto the approaching boy.

out of all the third year volleyball players, you and tendou had talked the most, yet considering you two as more than just mere acquaintances was a bit of a reach.

“yo!” the redhead’s loud voice thundered throughout the gym and you could already feel it echo within your heart.

“you’re back,” mused ohira with his hands on his hips. “are you okay?”

“yeah,” tendou says, fixing the loosened athlete’s tape over his fingers. “but the school nurse was already gone by the time i got there, so i had to fix myself up—oh hey, (y/n)!” he had cut himself off the moment his eyes fell upon yours.

your breath had hitched the moment he greeted you. it was as if your heart had immediately jumped into your throat and prevented you from even muttering a word as you can already feel your palms getting clammy. “hey,” you mutter almost in a whisper.

“so what are you doing here?” questioned tendou as his eyes suddenly widen the moment the words came out of his mouth, “uh-that sounded really rude, um—i actually meant that in the nicest way possible, by the way.”

you couldn’t help but chuckle at his sudden burst of scattered thoughts, noticing a faint flush of pink upon his cheeks. 

“she’s here for the club poster,” ushijima answers in your place as you seemed to not answer even after a beat had passed.

“oh nice! i’m sure it’ll look really cool!” the middle blocker grinned at you to which a sudden wave of monarch butterflies attacked your gut. you could even feel the heat coursing through your cheeks and all the way to the tips of your ears until they were as red as tendou’s hair.

“hopefully,” you modestly commented, eyes then falling upon tendou’s wrapped wrist and couldn’t help but be filled with curiosity. “what happened to  you?”

the middle blocker shook his head dismissively. “i tried blocking one of ushijima’s spikes again, but as you know, it is a bit impossible and i ended up hurting myself. it’s no biggie, though.” he shrugs.

“t-that’s amazing.” you breathed out before you could catch yourself. and you swore, you saw the light pink hues of blush upon tendou’s face had darkened.

how cool, you thought with the stars in your eyes. the thought was a bit controversial, but you couldn’t but find tendou satori cooler than ushijima at that very moment. the fact that he knew very well how difficult and painful it was to block his spikes, tendou still attempted it to the point at the cusp of being injured. you began fiddling with your fingers for far too long as you’ve come to realize how long you were standing there for no more reason. you mentally face palmed as you cleared your throat, “anyway, if you guys do have any preferred ideas let me know before friday.”

before the boys could even say a proper goodbye, your legs were already carrying you towards the exits of the gymnasium as if it was running on autopilot. she did hear their shouts of good lucks from across the room as your long strides pushed you to quickly leave.

why was i so awkward for?

in retrospect, perhaps you were more nervous than you thought. it had been an entire week since you had received the assignment to create a club poster for the volleyball team and there hadn’t been a night filled with peaceful sleep. instead, they were brimming with 2am moments of inspired antics. working on the large poster filled you with nothing but utter confidence even after it was finished, but now that you were actually at school with the rolled up poster of the incredible volleyball team, you couldn’t help but feel waves of reluctance and insecurity.

it was always like this with you. where everything was fine and your confidence within your works were expected, but the moment you did have to present such things, you couldn’t help but think of what you should’ve done differently. you assumed that you could’ve improved your mixed media skills by a little bit as there wasn’t much you could’ve done either way in that murky little head of yours that obviously lacked sleep.

the hallways of shiratorizawa were still pretty empty as it was still quite early in the morning. most of the students were outside anyway, so you quickly took this chance to unroll the large poster. taking some push-pins from the side pocket of your school bag, you hung the poster up in it’s place. 

you breathed out one last sigh of ichor before picking up your bag and walking away from the masterpiece.

throughout the entire day, you had come across dozens of stares of others as you walked through the hallways, bringing your endless sea of nerves to heighten until you were dragged upon its tides. there were whispers everywhere. they were probably talking about your poster for the volleyball club and immediately you felt drowned in sorrow.

within a snap, had already thought of the worse possible outcomes that others were talking about how terrible of a job you did. perhaps that leap of faith, that tiny step out of the box when creating your poster was too much of a risk that you ended up falling to your own demise.

“(y/n)!” a voice called from behind you.

turning over your shoulder, you saw a familiar redhead making his way towards you in a bright amble. you immediately felt your heart drop as you whip your head back around and started to walk away. 

shit, shit shit. you thought, tendou was definitely not the first person you wanted to talk to you when the possibilities of what he had to say to you was tangling in your psyche. as if they were tangled vines yearning to be untangled for his closure and yet, you refused.

your shoes clicked rapidly against the floors of the school when suddenly your wrist was pulled back, turning towards his familiar tall figure.

your direct gaze was on his chest, but you couldn’t bring yourself to look up upon his eyes. you couldn’t, at least. as if you were, your face would resemble something similar to a tomato.

“listen, tendou.” you muttered, still not attempting to meet his gaze. “i’m kind of late for class, but if you want talk later then we can—”

“no, i want to talk now,” he stated seriously, almost too seriously as it caused you to look up to him in surprise.

your mouth gaped to say something, yet nothing seemed to come out.

“i just wanted to say thanks for the poster.” tendou says as his breath almost hitched from the mere sight of you. he could recall the rushing feeling of blood coursing towards his cheeks and ears the moment he stepped upon school grounds and saw your poster. there his painted figure was, stood more prominently than the rest of his team. it was as if he needed the taste of sweet-tongued cough syrup just to ease his aching cheeks from smiling so hard.

the feeling was amazing. that from the smallest little action of you focusing on him rather than what he thought was going to be ushijima (like always) it was you who chose him. the loud middle blocker over the incredible ace of shiratorizawa. he knew validation wasn’t everything, and yet, his immense feeling of being at the top of the world certainly didn't help the fact that he had always been in love with you. you and tendou had the same class each and every year, that each first day of school, he would always sit giddily at his desk just so he could watch your angelic figure walk in.

in spite of it all, from his loud and upfront nature, he could never bring himself to even talk to you everyday besides an occasional ‘good morning’ whenever you would walk in. perhaps seeing this poster of himself was a little push into the deep end—to finally grow the guts to spill his unspoken epiphanies of built up feelings for once.

“usually, it’s ushijima who’s the face of the shiratorizawa team, but it’s nice seeing a change.” continued the middle blocker on the cusp of rambling, “i really didn’t expect you to focus it on me though, so that was a surprise... which by the way,” he hesitates as if he was do embarrassed to even ask. “why did you choose me?”

you pursed your lips the moment your breath was snatched from your lungs. “um,” you sighed, your mind speedily trying to come up with a plausible answer—something other than perhaps inevitably revealing you feelings for him, “i just think you’re really cool.” was all you could come up with and quite honestly, you wanted to face palm yourself for how stupid it probably sounded.

but to tendou, it was an absolute godsend. his heart thumped rapidly against his rib cage as his cheeks reddened into crimson wine. he didn’t know what else to say afterwards as that was his final push. it was then the idea popped inside his mind. a cheeky smile melted upon his lips as he patted your head gently.

“you’re an amazing artist, (y/n).” he complimented, amused by the fact he was the one who caused your reddening face before turning his heel and waving, “see you tomorrow!”

“u-uh, see you?” you stammered over his sudden departure, briefly waving before hold your hand to your chest. you felt as if your heart was to inevitably combust at the sudden overflow of ardor and vehemence of tendou satori’s actions. 

a sigh left your peachy lips, why am i feeling like this?

tendou could’ve sworn he had enough time to make it back to practice before stirring up any suspicions from his team, but the unfortunate tides have come across and drenched him in ill-fate—all gross and sticky.

ever since seeing your poster of him the day before, the thought of you had been on the middle blocker’s mind enough that even ushijima noticed his change in demeanor.

“what’s up with him?” the captain asked semi as they watched the redhead stumble into the gym.

“i think it’s about (y/l/n),” he answers in a hushed voice in case the disorganized tendou somehow heard. “he’s been in love with her since first year and seeing the poster of him is finally forcing him to make a move.”

ushijima refrained from chuckling, “so all it took was a poster with him as the center instead of me?”

“yeah, pretty much.” says semi.

tendou had been non-stop running back and forth between his classroom, the gym, and the art room after that burst of serendipitous ideas clouded his brain until it was all he could focus on. he had already missed the beginning of practice just so he could do something special for you for when he does muster up the courage to confess.

it was something along the lines of returning the favor of what you did to him, but he was well aware of the fact that he was a volleyball player for a reason and not an artist. honestly, most of the work was done with the help of you friend from the art club to which she basically did the drawing and tendou just colored it in. however he liked to think that it was the thought that counted, either way.

“sorry i’m late,” the missing middle blocker finally appeared. he was trying to catch his breathe as he rested his arms upon his bent knees. perhaps he quite disliked how gigantic the shiratorizawa campus was when it came to this. “i had to take care of something.”

ushijima gave semi an amused look before hardening his gaze on tendou, he tried not to laugh as he cleared his throat to hide that fact. “what’s more important than volleyball practice?” perhaps in the ace’s rarity, he was in the mood to tease the guy. “a girl?”

and immediately, the look on tendou’s face—of complete and utter fear that his captain would potentially punish him with extra conditioning was going to be the death of him—was instead replaced with chuckles him ushijima and semi.

“i’ll leave you off the hook as this was your first time missing a practice, not to mention you missed it for a girl you’ve liked for three years now.” said ushijima surprisingly out of character, than even he found himself shocked by saying it. “but if you miss another practice for (y/l/n), you’ll have extra conditioning everyday before and after school.”

tendou nods rapidly, “yessir!”

the rest of the day was filled with the sound of firm volleyballs being hit and slapped across the gym before falling to the floors with a coupled thud.

and despite trying his very hardest to focus his mind upon the practice game, he couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander to you in your bright enormity. his mind was on you, and yet he was playing the game harder than ever with each and every block he endured. perhaps it was the nerves, the aching adrenaline that flowed through his veins at the mere thought of  confessing to you by the time practice ended fueled his fire.

even if this was just a practice game against his own teammates, he was going to win for you and leave the gym with a confident aura enough to give him the guts to walk up to you.

the thing is, the game had already ended before he knew it. his side of the court had won and reached 25 points before he could even blink with the fact that he was in a ready stance even after the whistle had been blown.

“tendou,” ushijima called out to the redhead. “good luck.”

with that, the middle blocker’s head had cleared as he gave a smile to the setter. he walked over his bag, snatching it up and over his shoulder as he grabbed the rolled up poster within his clammy hands.

god, i’m was nervous. he thought to himself as he walked out of that gym.

the loud, boisterous guffaws from the rest of his teammates faded and echoed into oblivion as he walked the opposite way from everyone else. as the rest were going home, it was him who was on his was to your classroom. he had heard from your friend that you had cleaning duties today after school and it was the perfect time to just swallow his pride and just say.

but his actions were definitely faster than his thoughts as he had impulsively slammed the classroom door open without thinking.

you had thrown a shocked glance at the redhead at the sudden harsh action as he had thrown an embarrassed smile at you. chuckling at that adorable look on his face, you quickly set you mop aside. “tendou? what are you doing here? is your practice over already?”

the redhead nods, “yeah, just a couple minutes ago—um, i-uh just wanted to uh—”

he sighed frustratingly. this was the first time that the tendou satori—the third year infamously known for his innate way of speaking to others in such bright confidence for once, had his tongue tied. the reason why was obvious. it was because of you and your beaming eyes and that godforsaken smile of yours that made him go utterly crazy.

he was still trying to find the right words to say when your gaze fell upon the rolled up poster within his shaking hands. “what’s this?” you asked innocently as your hand reached for the poster and took it out of his hands without much force.

“w-wait! that’s—!”

you unrolled the poster, honey glazed your irises as your mouth gaped slightly.

it was you. a painting of you sitting under one of the large trees on one of the campus’s courtyards, sketching who knows what along with tendou’s large handwriting sprayed at the top:

WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME, (Y/N)?

you breath was snatched out of your throat as you flickered your widened eyes up to him. red and pink hues adored tendou’s cheeks and ears, scratching the back of his head as his chestnut eyes refused to meet yours. if he were to look at you then and there, he would immediately melt into a puddle of blossoming cherries.

“did you make this for me?” you asked gently, still absolutely moonstruck at the poster. it was a simple painting that was definitely not drawn entirely by tendou as you could tell your friend had something to do with it, but you couldn’t help but be absolutely astonished that he even went out his way for this. “i love it,” you whispered, capturing tendou’s attention.

“y-you do?” the redhead huffs in disbelief.

tendou was closer to you, more than you were comfortable with, but you didn’t fight it off. you didn’t bother giving a little space between you two. “i was serious when i always thought you were cool. you were the only one out of that group of popular kids to talk to me and was actually nice about it.” you suddenly professed. your consciousness mentally slapped you over and over again from the embarrassment of saying such a thing. and yet, the signal in her mind didn’t releasse itself until the moment you felt your eyes fall upon tendou’s chamomile lips. and to your peachy ones, did tendou even dare to think of the impossible, of the serenity that filled them under your blushing cheeks,

“i really like you, (y/n)... and i have for a while now.” he muttered.

you bit your lip at the sudden downpour of feelings that you didn’t even notice yourself clutching and perhaps accidentally crumpling the poster he made. “me too,” you said in a mere whisper, your gaze flickering back down to the floor. “and to answer your question... yes, i will go out with you, tendou.”

the redhead felt his breath hitch in his throat, pausing with his eyes almost wide and doe-like when he looked at you underneath the last rays of the setting sun. he let’s out a bright chuckle, “cool.” he attempted to act casually only to break the moment he found your embrace.

you gently laughed as it muffled within his chest, “cool.” you repeated.

[life-rewritten]

Spooky Season! A look into a Masterpiece (He’s Coming To Me Review)

I've been waiting to talk about this show and how my love for it will never end. Surprisingly the source of the show is GMMTV, whilst known for so many problematic elements in BL genre; He's coming to me manages to avoid every single issue naturally had with this genre. And because of that, this review is an ode to a masterpiece that should not be forgotten and should not be underrated. It's also Halloween, so this is another excuse to go back and look at the best things about this show. Hopefully, we get more like this GMMTV.

Ratings: Plot: 9/10 Directing: 9/10 Acting: 910 Satisfaction: 9/10 Overall: A* Rewatch factor: 8.5/10

AN IN-DEPTH REVIEW

Nothing wrong to say about this show. And that's a breath of fresh air; I remember first watching this show in 2019 very late because we had issues with the subtitles, and I went into it very sceptical and had low expectations. By the end of this show, I was so grateful and happy that this exists. 

The title of the show (He keeps coming to me) is what the heart of the show is about.  Thun, our main character who keeps going to Mes,  a ghost who he can see, his determination in keeping Mes by his side, to being his childhood acquaintance, to his best friend and finally to his lover, is felt and focused on when he has to brave the world and society norms, and some truths about himself.  Meanwhile, Mes has to discover his reason for being a ghost and unravel the mysteries tying him to his fate with Thun. So incredible to watch and see their love story unfold. 

Criticisms/ Comments

As I said, there are no negatives when it comes to this show.  All we could maybe mention is the slow pace from episode 1-3. But even at that, the relationship dynamics are shown genuinely because of the time it takes to develop the story.

This love story uses the trope friends to lovers which entails a soft cute and heartwarming bond between Mes and Thun since they first met each other. The two want to spend as much time with each other even though their worlds are different (spirit realm vs human realm). Thun is determined to have Mes keep coming to his side, learning about the lore and rules surrounding ghosts in our world; the use of incense, the way Mes starts of not being able to hold onto anything, the fact that Thun is the only person who sees Mes. He can't hide his feelings even when he's with his friends, he makes up excuses just to return home to spend time with Mes, and he makes it his mission to discover why Mes died, so Mes gets reincarnated. The slow pace might make people think the show is a bit boring, but it's just a way to introduce and show exposition to the other characters surrounding this world. If you rewatch the show, you also start to recognise foreshadowing symbolisms, devices and hints pointing to the final revelation about how Thun and Mes are tied together.

I also think some people struggled with as well the lack of 'skinship' from Thun and Mes, but this is a device used to emphasise one of the obstacles of our couple;  the lack of touch ( because Mes struggles to learn the rules of how to hold objects or touch Thun). We the audience try to uncover the reasons for why sometimes they're able to feel each other by mistake and Mes starts to work hard to hold objects and cook, and turn on the incense which keeps him tied to the environment it's in. I didn't have an issue with the skinship because the actors were phenomenal at showing little subtle hints to feelings on their faces of longing, want and love. The scenes where skinship was required wasn't stiff or awkward or weird like other shows of this genre make you feel about them. It felt natural,  a tad unrealistic (in terms of the way their heads tilted and the camera spun) but so what?  The show wasn't meant to focus on that; it focused on the bond and love between the two, they just enjoyed talking and spending quality time being domestic with each other, and that's adorable. Alright, let's look at the positives:

Character Breakdown and Plot Meaning

The characterisation of HCTM is so excellent; it still shocks me how much I didn't expect it to be this way. All our characters are critical to the plot, even when they're just side characters with no deep story arcs to themselves. Thun and Mes interact with people who are part of their path in recognising what they are to each other. Before I praise the characterisation of the two, let's focus on some other characters who were so good in this show:

Thun's best friends: Prince, Plufai and Khiem

These were a phenomenal group of friends who were so caring and patient and genuinely the heartwarming part of this series as well. I enjoyed watching how much they went out of their way to ensure that Thun was okay, even when they didn't understand why he was the way he was and also felt frightened by some of his actions (talking to himself randomly, and acting out). One of my fave story arcs during the season is when Khiem (Played amazingly by Sing) thinks Thun is taking drugs and so starts a secret series of investigations keeping an eye on his actions. It wasn't because they were judging him but because they were worried about his wellbeing.  

Also, my heart melted for Prince (Played by another excellent favourite Chimon),  who had unrequited feelings for Plufai and struggled to deal with her feelings for Thun and his own seemingly cold/nonchalant/evasive actions concerning her. It's the way he wasn't toxic or problematic and also was willing to step down if Thun did have feelings for Plufai. I also really enjoyed watching his relationship with her develop and the natural chemistry between the two.

Lastly, PluFai first starts as every female character from a GMMTV show, a competition, someone there to be a beard to the main character. Still, I enjoyed her heart. I also loved her being the mirror character to Thun's mum when it came to her relationship with Mes in the past. Both women show strength and understanding and acceptance once they discover the sexuality of the person who they had feelings for. And I thought her way of dealing with it, their friendship being robust and full of communication was really what sold it for me. There were moments when I was frightened about her connection to the mystery of Mes's death, and it broke my heart when she realised what she was to him and what it meant for her grandfather. I also enjoyed the way she takes it on her self to make it up to him and how forgiving she is to her grandfather despite the fact I didn't think he should be. She showed strength, understanding and warmth and kept being that way and also consistent.  And I love that because she wasn't problematic female stereotypes that GMMTV loves to add to women, she stayed great and true throughout the show. And I loved it.

Thun's Family: Mum and Dad

Honestly, the way the writing of these characters was what made me love this show the most. Thun's dad shows up only in episode 1 before he dies surprisingly and Mes sees his ghost disappear. I thought that's all we needed to know of him. Still, we really get to learn more about Thun's family dynamics; there are answers to why his mum didn't join them during the grave excursions, why she was absent during those years he meets Mes, his father's knowing and understanding gaze as Thun cries about not being able to see him and also how he's hidden the fact he sees ghosts. We get information as well about the relationship with him and the mum after Mes broke up with her.

Next, we have Thun's mum, her first appearance is warm and pleasant. Still, we won't be able to fathom that she's wearing the watch that Mes has been drawing all this time, she's the girl who provided Mes with the same gift he created for Thun, she's already been close with someone who came out and so she was a source of strength for Thun when he struggled with accepting his sexuality. That coming out scene is so incredible and has made this show a fantastic piece of media for representation for LGBT. I loved her relationship with Mes, despite it being an obstacle to our couple at first, she's so understanding of him, and she's so grateful he returned and is the person her son loves. But also it's the plot twist that Thun sees ghosts because she too can, and she was hiding that as a secret until she meets Mes. It made it better, a relief to know that he's not alone and there is a reason for why he's able to see them. It also made the relationship with our couple easier because she understood and saw Mes, so Thun and Mes's relationship was more readily accepted.

He's coming to me brought these characters and connected it to its world-building, rules and understanding of its supernatural themes whilst still providing consistent dynamics about friendship and family and life in general. Not only is it a BL show, but it had other focuses as well rounding it up and making it much more wholesome and needed. The characters held no toxic tropes commonly also found in BL, the relationships felt real and authentic, and each of the characters had development and growth that tied them together to the plot overall. Now onto the heart of this show: My all-time faves Thun and Mes

Thun

One of my favourite characters, honestly rewatching this show was so incredible, especially when I started to notice more about this character after all the revelations revealed throughout the show. I went into the show surprised at how open Thun was to Mes already, the way he cared and wanted what was the best for Mes who has always been alone and neglected. Even when older Thun shows up and still shows the same amount of care even though he dislikes the fact that he could see ghosts, he's so warm and protective over Mes, and it made me swoon and smile. I enjoyed watching him come to terms with who he was.

At first, we don't see any hints that this is something the story will focus on.  But as we go deeper into his university life and his reason for why he studied law etc. It becomes evident that Thun knows he's gay but is struggling with internalised homophobia, it's also pretty clear he's had feelings from the beginning for Mes. He even knew when Mes started having feelings for him too.

They just didn't want to confront what it meant. Ohm Pawat's acting is so incredible you can see the subtle changes in Thun, and meanings with his actions with Mes that they both have requited feelings for each other but they don't want to cross the line. Thun has memorable speeches during the show as well about his struggle with his sexuality and how people perceive him. It's incredible how the show mirrors his on the surface secret about seeing ghosts and being seen as abnormal to the world to his internal/ more profound secret about his sexuality and also feeling abnormal. It's so telling that once Mes enters his life, he no longer feels it a struggle to embrace who he is, he uncontrollably speaks to Mes and laughs and stares romantically whilst hanging around his friends, he can't help but run to him when he needs him. Especially during the rooftop scene, the fear of losing Mes causes him not to care what others think, and he proceeds to call for him and confess his feelings and stay out in the rain waiting for him. He also proceeds to accept his sexuality even more, once Mes enters his life, he kisses Plufai to determine what he truly feels and once that occurs he decides to head straight and try to talk to Mes about it, thereby afterwards always making Mes know what he is to him is more than friends. I can talk a lot about his character and how much I enjoyed his development and how he chose to finally trust the people around him and also his determination to keep Mes by his side.  Which we, later on, find out is also the reason for why they could touch and feel each other. The show emphasises that it's about his determination, his perseverance and love for Mes that keeps the latter coming to him. And towards the end, his wish comes true, and Mes returns to his side because of that. Awesome and beautifully written.  

Mes

Singto has been an unstoppable force in GMMTV as an actor, and Mes is another character that is just as memorable and great as the others. While Thun's characterisation surrounds his will and determination to keep Mes by his side, Mes's surrounds his warmth and caring aura. I love. love realising that both Mes and Thun mirrored each other when struggling with their sexuality, both had girls who were loyal and great to them, but they couldn't hide who they were anymore.

The show emphasises the importance of this,  telling the audience that yes they're gay, this is a show about two gay boys falling in love, and this is also about how they accept who they are whilst dealing with the obstacles that are supposed to separate them.

Mes is so soft, he's this adorable, mischievous (with personality), ball of fluff and I enjoyed his character. He wasn't written as a stagnant and a boring character; he had his own goals, his own self-exploration, his own storyline and mystery to be solved. And the way the show told his story, was fantastic, the way they mixed the supernatural elements of Mes and the mystery of his death back to Thun was so great. Mes and Thun were always destined to find each other; they were on the path to each other though one of it included him being murdered by his relative, every character is connected together to help get these two together at the end. I love how the show makes us feel like Mes has an unrequited love for Thun at first.

We see Singto's acting to the finest, the longing, the jealousy and the worry about their new blooming relationship. He also shows guilt and character depth when he realises that Kwan is Thun's mother. The pacing and directing keep us in the dark for why he's gone for so long and ran away after their first kiss. We later get the truth revealed as Thun comes out to his mum, and it's such a brilliant way to get the audience even more heartbroken about the reveal. Due to dramatic irony. The mum is the reason for why Thun can happily accept Mes as his lover in his life yet is also an obstacle because Mes can't get over what he did to her in the past. It's brilliant, and such a great way to write the story.

I am so happy as well that Mes returns to Thun's side. I cried like a baby watching their week together, knowing that the time to say goodbye was coming closer. Their conversation about everything and their uncontrollable feelings was so meaningful and heartbreaking; their confession about how they've loved each other from the start; how they've known how the latter felt but refused to accept it because of all the obstacles in their way. Mes still unsure but deciding to spend the last moments together as much as possible. And their relief in discovering that they can touch each other, and the reason for why. These two's love was so beautiful to see.

Lastly, I enjoyed the fact that this is a happy ending. With this genre when surrounding these topics death, separation etc. You expect sad endings mostly because that's the way directors like to end LGBT shows for a long time (something I absolutely detest), from episode 1, the show actually foreshadowed the ending, and comes through with it, I cried so much when I realised that it was not yet Mes's time to go all because of the reasons stated in episode 1. I also cried because GMMTV directors let a great representation show have a hopeful, romantic ending, and a show for many people to relate to, but also to run to and forget about reality.

 That's why this show is a masterpiece. I didn't even go into the devices and symbols used in this show, but there was a lot of meta, foreshadowing, dramatic irony etc. That also made this show brilliant. The directing and production quality is also fantastic and deserves praise. The actors; all of them were incredible. I just want another show like this please GMMTV?