#but i don't want to get everyone all riled up and freaked out over something that turns out to be nothinv

[hikeyzz]

i rlly rlly rlly rlly rlly rlly rlly rlly rlly don't like that i found a lump that i can't find an explanation for and will likely have to get biopsied to test what it is. thaaaaaat is really not good news for me rn. rlly not making me feel great. fuckingggg yikes.

[mistymisfit]

Dirty A-Z headcanon game  

MINORS DNI!!!

Implied that reader is shorter than Jason. Most are GN reader, except the pet names (princess and ma) but other than no specified gender :)

My personal headcanons. Sorry everyone, I don't think he'd be all that kinky, he just needs some affection fr. I have a Dick Grayson version on my drafts, and he is a slut so wait for that one lol.

Finished this draft trying to get out of writer's block, I don't think it worked lol.

edit: fixed some typos

A - Alone time (how do they get off when they’re all by themselves? do they watch porn, is it all in their imagination, do they jerk off, do they use toys?)

On nights where he spends too much time away from you, and he starts missing your your kisses, your warmth, your jokes, your hands on him, and his on you, he's forced to take out the big guns. That encrypted (mentioned in point P) folder he keeps as protected as he can for your safety. It has a few videos, some of them more intense, others more goofy with you two laughing. The one he watches the most is the one that begins with him telling you to say something to check the sound and you reply with "I love you" a sweet smile on your lips. The camera's then hurriedly left on the nightstand, and your giggling ensues with him kissing you all over your face.

B - Bondage (do they like it? do they not? do they prefer to be the one being tied or the one doing the tying?)

Absolutely against being the one tied up, past traumas and all, he needs to be able to move for his peace of mind. Completely opposite opinion if you're the one being tied, especially if he's tying your wrists with his costume's garrote (ribbons).

C - Crying (is it a turn on? a turn off? do they cry during sex? have they cried during sex? what was the reason?)

Very much into you crying, and he definitely feels conflicted about it. He wants nothing more than seeing you happy and safe, so why is his dick getting hard when he sees tears streaming down your pretty face? Also, yes, he cries during sex!!! It's not always, but sex is such a vulnerable moment for him--something he struggles with very much, so he can't help but shed a few tears. And you're also into it. Truly matching each other's freaks.

D - Dominance (do they prefer to dominate, or be dominated? do they have experience as a Dom? Do they have a Dom that they trust already? What kind of things do they enjoy as/with their Dominant partner?)

Prefers dominating, low-key a control freak, and is obsessed with the amount of trust you have on him. If he's letting you take control, it's in a more "let me take care of you, baby" way. On some occasions, more often than he'd like to admit he enjoys it more when you both refuse to let the other take charge, usually happens after an argument (see next point). He'd never admit it but he likes that more than anything.

E - Extra info (any other fetishes? feet? leather? role playing? blood? fantasies that they might want to experience not on this list?)

Marking: He would never hurt you, really. But there's something about his teeth leaving a mark on your skin, the whimper you let out every time he does it, and the soft kiss he leaves behind after he's done. God forbid he draws blood, it drives him up the wall. It's only fair game that he'd let you do it too, catching himself proudly smirking when he catches a glimpse of the scratches you left across his back. Or the time you bit his shoulder as you came, he followed shortly after. He's never lost his composure that fast before.

Role-Playing: It started with you joking once, playing damsel in distress and acting like he'd just saved you from a life-threatening situation, but it awoke something in him. Something something about calming his anxieties about not being able to keep you safe. He asked if you could do it more often, you nodded excitedly. If you knew it'd get him so riled up, you'd put yourself in danger earlier. Would love to fuck in his Red Hood get up but he thinks it'd be too impersonal to you--you'd agree in a second if he asked.

Praise kink: He needs you to tell him he's good, that you want him. You told him "I need you, Jay," and he's never taken his clothes off so fast. Most times it's not sexual; he just loves hearing you tell him he's doing a good job.

Make up sex: Jason likes seeing you mad, something about how feisty you get and how you could be as stubborn as him turns him the fuck on. He likes how rough you both get, gripping each other's clothes, hair pulling and biting harder than what you two usually do. Sometimes he starts arguments for this sole reason.

F - Food play (do they like using food in the bedroom? are there any foods they prefer to use during sex or foreplay? any they’d like to try?)

He got hit with fear toxin one time, you spent a couple of days taking care of him until he came down from a nasty fever. A side effect to the antidote Alfred and Bruce couldn't work out yet. You spoon-fed him soup, and he swears he fell in love with you all over again. If he hadn't been so sick he would've knocked over the plate and kissed you senseless.

Also! He likes watching you eat whatever he cooks. Sometimes he waits for you at home with dinner ready, well aware you always come back home starving. Most times, too hungry to cook a decent meal. So watching you sigh when you take your first bite, telling him how good it is, how much of a good boyfriend he's for doing this for you, his blush reaches his ears. He's just winning his way to your bedroom heart with food.

G - Group sex (would they have a threeway? four? an orgy? do they put on a show for spectators? or do they like to keep it just between them and their partner?)

Another no for him. Jason's not good at sharing, he's way too possessive to share your attention. And honestly, it'd hurt his ego a little bit if you were to suggest it. He's insecure, so his mind would instantly go to "I'm not enough"

H - Humiliation (does degradation and insults get them hot? do they get off on humiliating someone else? what kind of humiliation is good for them?)

See point E. He's too in love to call you a bitch. He's not exactly opposed to the idea of having kids with you someday if you wanted to, and he just can't imagine calling the future mother of his kids a whore. However, he's not past calling you a "fucking brat" if you keep on teasing him or using a mocking tone every once in a while like "Aw, is it too much? Thought you said you were a big girl"

I - Impact play (here’s where talking about things like spanking, paddles, canes, floggers and the like.)

Not specifically into spanking but has slapped your ass before, heart skipping a beat when his hand left an imprint on your skin. You could awake something in him if you tried, for sure.

J - Jelly (what kind of lube are they using? is it flavored? have they tasted it? do they prefer to use something other than real lube during sex?)

He's a big boy, so you could imagine what he's got under his pants is proportionate to the rest of him. He'd use it to make sure he won't hurt you, but he's more old fashioned prefering making you cum a couple times to prep you.

K - Kissing (what parts of their body do they like having kissed? what parts of their partner do they enjoy kissing? do they like leaving marks / having marks left on them?)

He's a hungry kisser, knocks the air out of your lungs, grabbing your face, knocking things over as you take a step back not to fall type of kiss. Tied in with C, he likes kissing the tears off your face. Most random spots he likes to kiss are the back of your knees and your ankles when he puts them on his shoulders. If he's sitting down and you're standing in between his legs, petting his head, he'll most likely kiss your stomach.

He has a spot, his pulse point on his neck, not easy to reach considering his height, so he has to be in a horizontal position for you to reach. You kiss him there, and he melts instantly. And his back, if you manage to cuddle as the big spoon and start pressing kisses across his back, he could pass out right there. Matter of fact, any kiss from you makes him melt, he's touch starved, so any contact you initiate flusters him.

L - Lighting (are the lights on? off? do they have some kind of mood lighting set up?)

At first, off. You have to work your way until he's comfortable enough to have some dim lights on. He's too afraid to scare you off with his scars.

M - Masochism (do they like pain? scratching? biting? being bossed around? spoken down to? choked?)

Scratching, biting, are all fair game with him. He's a bit feral like that. Doesn't like being spoken down; his ego's fragile enough from all his own self-hatred. Being bossed around? He's almost incapable of following orders, this man had no figure of authority before Bruce when he was a kid.

N - Not yet (orgasm delay? orgasm denial? do they tell their partner not to touch themselves for a certain amount of time or under certain circumstances? do they delay or deny other things like bathroom usage or food? do they need to beg first? do they like being denied / delayed?)

He's tried, seriously, but all you had to do was beg a little and look at him with those glassy eyes, and his resolve faded away fast. He's unable to say no to you; you know it and often use it to your advantage.

O - Outdoor sex (have they ever done it in public? would they? where?)

Yes, on his car, the bat-mobile he stole once just out of spite (Bruce was well aware he took it- and traumatized to find out his adoptive son's reasons) and against his bike on an empty parking lot (that one was pure wish fulfillment for him)

P - Photography (are cameras allowed in the bedroom? do they send nudes? do they ask for nudes? would they ever record themselves having sex / being caught up in a sexual act?)

For safety reasons he doesn't keep any pictures or videos on any phone (he's got many). HOWEVER, he has a couple of encrypted-not even Babs wouldn't be able to hack- videos of you two for times he stays away from you for long.

Q - Quiet please (what’s the volume like in the bedroom? are they quiet? do they scream? do they like a loud partner? do they prefer if their partner is more soft spoken?)

He whimpers!!! he acts though but he's a whimperer!!! It takes a while before you warm him up to make more noise, he was shy at first. On the other hand if you were quiet he'd worry, he need some encouragement to know he's doing good.

R - Routine (do they have a routine when it comes to picking up one night stands? do they have scheduled sex with their partner? are things spontaneous or planned ahead of time?)

Jason's not really one for one night stands, he has problems with vulnerability--and intimacy as a consequence. He's more of a spur of the moment guy; everything else he does is planned-- stopping some villains' plans, striking a drug trade deal--, so he's glad he gets to be more spontaneous with you.

Once you're in an established relationship, and he knows you're okay with him being blunt, he'd straight up ask you. "Can we have sex when I get back home?" you got a text while he was out on patrol; you blushed and giggled before telling him "yeah" and "wake me up if I fall asleep." he replied with a smiley emoji.

"Babe?" His hands held your hips, correcting your posture. You could feel the warmth radiating from his body behind you, and there's no reason why he should be sticking this close to you. He insisted on teaching you some self-defense moves, so now you were both sweaty, the furniture in your shared apartment moved so you could have more space to move freely. Sure, he could've brought you down to the cave, but this was more private and intimate. You hummed in response, eyes looking up at him. "Wanna ruin the carpet?"

Or he catches you bending over, your arms resting on the kitchen island, mindless watching something on your phone. He stands behind you, hands grabbing your hips. You look back, and you're about to ask him what he's doing when he wins, saying "Haven't had you like this in a while, you busy right now?"

S - Sleepy sex (do they give oral to wake their partner up? do they like receiving oral to wake up? do they like fucking their partner awake? being fucked awake? how about being fucked to sleep at night? do they have lazy morning sex?)

Being fucked awake would probably be too overwhelming for him. And no matter how many times you told him it's okay, he probably wouldn't like that doing it to you. BUT he's very much waking you up kissing you so you could have lazy, half asleep, sex. In his head, it feels extra intimate, even more if he does it in the attempt to make you stay in bed with him a little longer.

T - Top or bottom (self explanatory…)

U - Underwear (what kind of underwear do they put on in the morning, if any at all… do they own any sexy underwear or lingerie?)

In your opinion, the sexiest underwear he could wear is a towel right after he showers, hair still dripping water onto his chest. It makes you come up behind him, wrapping your arms around his uncovered torso as he looks for clean clothes in his drawer. You stand on your tip toes to press your lips between his shoulder blades. He turns around, smirking and already knows exactly what you want.

"We'll get the bed wet" He reasons

"Don't care" You smile, fingers tracing his v line stopping where the towel starts.

V - Voyeurism (do they like to watch, or are they more hands on? are they more of an exhibitionist?)

Wouldn't like anyone seeing you two in that situation. Even if he convinced you to have sex in a risky place most times, he's already gotten rid of any possible outcome where you two end up on a certain list. Also watching? He can barely keep his hands to himself around, in a sexual way or not. He's just touch starved like that.

W - Water (pool sex? bath / shower sex? are they into watersports at all?)

I may be biased but I don't really think he'd be into watersports lmao.

Shower sex is a yes, he particularly loves when he comes back from patrol and you get in the shower with him, helping wash the blood off. He's always a bit shaken when he comes home, thinking about his own mortality and how fragile life is, and it ends up with something else. Just to feel alive. Jason's very fond of moments where you run him a bath, in the hopes of calming his nerves and the soreness in his muscles. You'd sit next to him, outside the tub, washing his hair. He'd always manage to find a way to convince you into getting in and riding him.

X - X-dressing (do they crossdress as a part of teasing / foreplay? does crossdressing turn them on? turn their partner on? do they prefer to do it or watch their partner crossdress instead? do they use other costumes? cat ears, tails, etc?)

Not exactly cross dressing lol. But if he catches wearing any of his clothes, it's over for him. You put on his Red Hood muzzle once, and he couldn't get it out of his head for a month straight.

Y - Yes, Master (what kinds of names are used during sex? do they like being called master / mistress, daddy, etc…? what names do they call their partner?)

Him to you: Sweet pet names, most used are princess, pretty, baby, him calling you ma with a breathless sighs makes you want to jump his bones--again.

You to him: Handsome, if you want to see his entire face turn red. He also likes hearing you moan his name. My love, you called him this once while sitting on his lap and felt his attitude change, clearing his throat, and moving you away from his crotch.

Z - Zones (what are their erogenous zones? what spots on their body should be touched, bitten, kissed, when someone wants to get them in the mood?)

Like mentioned before, his pulse point on his neck. If he's mad at you, all you have to do is trace your fingers under his shirt and over the hem of his pants, and he's already forgotten why he was pissed off to begin with. You were play fighting with him once and dragged your teeth through his bicep, threatening to bite if he didn't let you go, he didn't silently waiting for you to sink your teeth into his skin. Even hoped for a scar, a permanent mark that didn't come from violence but affection.

[beelanddiavolosimp-blog]

Thinking and cooking

The brothers react to a Fem MC randomly flashing them during an argument

Warning ⚠️ boobs (also some of these opinions are mine so if it's unlike you just reword it 😭)

Lucifer

As per usual he was sick and tired of MC feeding into his brother's antics and somehow making them worse and more damaging so he started up a calm conversation that turned into a quick argument since MC was so defensive. "Why are you always so damn stubborn you never listen or even take my advi-" MC suddenly walks over being right in front of Lucifer and lifts up their shirt. Chest completely out for all of Lucifer's eyes to see. He immediately stopped arguing and stood shocked mouth open left over from arguing before his face flashes red and he looks away from Mc. "If you wanted a quick way to end the argument you could have apologized...." He says with a scoff as MC grins in triumph and sets her shirt down.

Mammon

He was being a little mean to Luke during a hangout with all 3 of them and MC felt compelled to say at least something. Which of course was a snarky remark that Mammon immediately fought. Easily an argument broke out of course. "I am not an asshole he was getting way too close to you and all hell would freeze over if ya said no to the damn bra-" MC was about sick of his mouth and decided to try something asmos jokingly suggested. MC lifted her shirt with no warning whatsoever staring Mammon right in the eyes as she did. He immediately screams and yanks Mc's shirt back down. His face lit up in a pretty red hue. "THE HELL ARE YA DOING!? DO YOU WANT TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK?" he continues to mumble things as he walks away from Mc steam seeming to come off his face luckily getting away for his sanity's sake.

Levi

What more to rile up an otaku other than dissing on one of his loved characters. MC genuinely didn't like them and made it known and Levi immediately retorted every single thing mentioned. He became too heated and MC was no help in the matter. "He is not a freak! He has some flaws like everyone else! Why do you even hate him so much I just don't get I-" well he freaks out from really any touch so would seeing anything do the same? MC wondered and suddenly lifted up her shirt. Levi shrieks loudly and falls back out of his chair and covers his eyes and ignores his forming nose bleed "M-MC WHAT THE H-HECK W-WHY DID YOU D-DO THAT!?" of course almost everyone in the house of lamentation could hear by now but Mc just shrugs and sets their shirt down "needed a quick way to get back to the game" MC says nonchalant

Satan

Anything can set him off really. But today it was MC saying a certain type of cat was ugly. It was the hairless cats she just didn't enjoy the rotisserie chicken look to them. He immediately started up and argument because well it's cats. "They are just as cute just because they don't have fur doesn't make them any worse than-" MC not wanting to deal with a huge outrage from him thinks for a moment before suddenly lifting up her shirt with one hand a grin plastered on her face. Satan immediately covered his eyes trying to be respectful even as his face burned in embarrassment because what the hell MC!? "You are so annoying just like my brothers..." He says with a agitated groan.

Asmos

MC and asmos were not agreeing on certain beauty trends that have come into light and asmos got a little heated because it was something he believed was art a truly creative and expressive trend that MC just didn't understand. "But you need to think outside of the box MC! It is such a great trend because it starts up an inspira-" MC not wanting him to speak much more knowing he would not stop if he did lifts up their shirt. Asmos just looks at them and continues to rant fully eyeing MC up just refusing to give up. MC sighs and sets her shirt down which asmos didn't appreciate but still continues.

Beel

Who else is surprised when the argument between the two was food related. MC wasn't too particular on sea food and let literally all of devildom know by almost gagging when seeing the food. Beel just couldn't understand and kept not listening to what MC was trying to explain. "But it's so good MC just add some butter maybe even something spicy and it'll taste just as goo-" Mc knew when it came to beel something big was needed to get him to stop talking about food and well. MC lifts up her shirt and Beel's eyes widen before his whole face heats up and he immediately looks at Mc's eyes to be respectful but the image still burned in his mind. "U-um...what were we talking about?..." He says how flustered

Belphie

He's a brat by nature so like Satan nothing wasn't too hard to start an argument between the two. Belphie wasn't too fond of how proudly MC was speaking of Solomon the shady bastard. He kept denying everything MC said about him because well stop complimenting someone that isn't him! "He's scummy MC I thought someone as smart as you would know that. He has done so many shady things in the past and are you really just going to-" MC about sick and tired of his whining just lifts up their shirt in a 'here fine' way. Belphie's eyes look directly at them and his cheeks definitely darken yet he continues to speak " I've seen those before MC it's not anything new thanks for the view though while I continue to tell you how stupid you are to trust him." MC sighs in annoyance not winning this round.

[darcytaylor]

You may be tired of this discourse and in that case, feel free to skip this lol, but I was thinking about some things today after rewatching S3 and seeing the new pap attack on N&JD and Tom H getting fed up with Zendaya being swarmed by fans, and I was thinking, what would I do if I was in their position or I was the normie partner of a celebrity? Like, I can't even imagine dealing with something like that, but if I had to, what would I do?

I was also thinking about why I was really put off by A's latest photo dump and I've come to some realizations. I was aware of her existence early on but I wasn't deep into the fandom until May, so I wasn't phased by the stuff with her and L that came out after. I didn't look into her much because frankly I wasn't interested and I was very vocal about people giving her grace or barring that, at least ignoring her. I felt like whatever she did, the fandom would find a way to hold it against her, so she might as well live her life. That is why when people spoke of her "playing SM games", I scoffed at it and interpreted her posts as typical GenZ SM activity. But that started to change for me when she posted those two stories where she literally bent over backwards to show us that L was her phone background, and resurfaced again with the latest summer dump, where she went out of her way to post parallel photos with L when he'd made every effort to make this paid-for promo as free of any hints to his private life as possible. And I started to think, why would she do that, especially if it was a sponsored post (which, mind you, is still up), which he would be expected to be professional about? If I was the partner of a celebrity and they clearly wanted us to be private, and made every effort to make it so, why, out of everything I could be posting, would I post things that would be sure to rile up a trigger-happy fandom and heap further hate onto my partner? Why, after everything that's happened, would someone do that? The only reason I can think of is - they care more about the attention they're getting from being with that person than the person's actual wellbeing.

Both him and his entire friend group changed their posting behavior post-Sorrento. Everyone... Except A. Now, I don't know what goes on in her comment sections, I don't go there nor do I wish to, so I don't know what she might be responding to with her posts. However, when everyone else in their circle has pulled back and learned lessons about fame and unhinged stalker behavior, why hasn't she? I used to make the argument of, well, she's a model and dancer, and therefore she has to maintain an SM presence to book jobs. Yet... These kinds of posts - the hints, the random limbs, the implied company, the specific timing and locations... These are things that contribute nothing to her professional aspirations. Most of them are empty landscapes and very generic photos without her in it. There's no purpose to them other than to maintain a back-and-forth with a small but captive audience that's build up around her. I now realize that I got this all wrong because to me, desiring and actively seeking out attention or fame is an alien concept - I don't understand why anyone would. But something about watching Portia say "my girl" to Pen after her speech and then remembering that that's exactly what A's mom commented on the papgate pics made me realize that I need to look at this from the POV of her having gone on a talent show and having a dad who's a DJ and how chasing fame (or in A's case, it's moreso notoriety) might not just be normalized, but perhaps even the "done thing" in her household. If my mom saw me plastered all over the tabloids with me and my partner looking freaked out and miserable, I'd really take issue with her if that was her reaction. What about that sordid incident was to be celebrated??? I understand now why so many people felt strongly it had been staged.

So now that my lens has shifted, I've been analyzing her actions from the POV of - what if they're calculated? And while L isn't entirely without fault here, he has course-corrected, so what's her endgame here? Both of their careers seem to have suffered. If I'm not mistaken, she used to be able to book better gigs, and while the Hollywood downturn is something that is happening, one has to wonder if all of this drama hasn't impacted L's ability to book roles, especially when compared to his costars' bookedness and busyness.

I was also thinking about all the WT-related events that she awkwardly tagged along to and what I would've done if I was in a situation like that, getting bombarded with hate from strangers over my very existence, but I liked the person and I wanted to stay with them. And honestly? I wouldn't have gone. Or at the very least, I would've been as discreet as possible. And while it's clear that it's L who had to invite her and he's the one who waffled on launching her until someone else did it for him, she could've conducted herself differently and at least flown under the radar more. Yet she elected to be photographed on red carpets, stepping out of cars with his family, knowing that people would pay attention to that group of people. What did she think would happen? That the public would swoon over her, someone with very little to her name? And it's like, at this point, she could stop. She should stop. L, R, S all have, to the best of my knowledge. But she can't seem to help herself. She had to make it known that she was in Spain with him, and for a second time, too. At this point I can no longer reasonably attribute these patterns of behavior to her age or inexperience. She's not changing her ways because she's feeding off of this. I mostly wasn't paying attention, but I was also naive, because I don't think like people who desire fame think. I just wonder where L is at with all of this and why he's going along with it still, is it rose-colored glasses? Does he feel guilty for everything that's transpired? Is he now stubborn and feeling petty, so he'll keep indulging her and trolling the fandom by proxy?

I was thinking about how there are so many celebrities whose partners I couldn't pick out of a lineup - I know they exist, but they aren't front and center. Some even have rabid female fanbases, yet they've managed to keep their private lives on the DL. I couldn't tell you what David Tennant's wife looks like, or Dan Stevens', or Jamie Dornan's, to name a few. There are actors who have been with their partners for a long time but almost never take them to events and they're still fine. So, I don't know if N&L landed in the spotlight too late in life so they still think of themselves as regular people and couldn't really anticipate this, but in A's case, given everything I know about her now, I'm honestly done giving her the benefit of the doubt. My biggest question now is - why does L continue to? And for how long? Is he complicit in these games or does it not even occur to him that's what they are, like in my case? I guess if we don't look too closely at things, we can't see them for what they are.

Anyway, I hope you're having a fun rewatch like I did and I hope our faves are safe and happy and DM burns to the ground, amen.

I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to respond to this ask because I was concerned it might add unnecessary drama to this whole situation. However, I thought about it and realised that you seem to be approaching this with a lot of empathy and depth, which I really appreciate. Your long, drawn-out paragraphs (which I definitely appreciate!) tell me you’ve put a lot of reflection into this.

You raise some interesting points about navigating a relationship with a public figure, especially when the partner isn’t someone in the public eye (and maybe they want to be and their family wants it for them as well). It’s understandable to wonder what someone would do in that position, especially when you see posts that seem to clash with the other's desire for privacy. Something about it feels like it's part of a social media game - or even a subtle taunting of the fans/fandom.

I do like that you questioned if it could be Antonia being Gen Z and that it might just be part of that always-online mentality, where sharing life moments (even indirectly) is natural, without considering public repercussions. But at the same time, if you’re dating a public figure who wants privacy, it would make sense to be more mindful. Part of being in the public eye is knowing that people will observe your every move, and when those closest to you don’t understand that reality, it will create issues.

I understand the shift in your perspective. When actions repeatedly go against someone’s implied boundaries, it raises questions about motivation and whether they’re prioritising attention (self-image or fame) over respecting the relationship they are in.

I noticed the change in the friend group after the Sorrento trip as well (I think I also mentioned it somewhere in a blog post), and while I will say Antonia did change her habits a bit (she deleted a number of Instagram posts of her trips with Luke), I agree that out of everyone, she’s still the one who continues to post and make it known that she may be with him (but then fan's also imply and spiral over the smallest things as well). It’s strange to continue doing that when you know these posts will only fuel ongoing speculation rather than help reduce it. And honestly, I think that, at this point, reducing speculation could only be beneficial for Luke. Antonia's posts seem more detrimental than supportive.

I’m sure fame would be hard to navigate, and I think it’s fair to say that, in certain situations, some people might see an opportunity to maintain or even leverage attention, regardless of how it might play out publicly.

In the end, I have no idea why any of the people in this situation continue to do what they’re doing, or why they keep posting things that only fuel more drama. I’ve mentioned before that maybe this is Luke’s way of not letting the fandom dictate his life - but, like you said, maybe he’s seeing things through rose-coloured glasses, or even feeling a sense of guilt or responsibility to make Antonia happy given the amount of hate she’s received. It could be any combination of loyalty, stubbornness, or simply him wanting to show support, even though the public perception won’t be positive. Luke could be trying to balance his desire to keep things private with Antonia’s approach, which may be different. But we won’t know for sure without knowing him personally (or being him!). It's all speculation and guesswork.

In the end, these kinds of things are complex, and I think reflecting on why people make the choices they do is absolutely valid and normal. But like I always say, there are so many possibilities for why things are taking place and unfolding the way they are. There are countless options and scenarios, both now and in the past, that could explain each action. Even if something seems clear, as fans, we don't know anything about motivations or anybody’s relationship status.

I really enjoyed reading your ask - it offers a lot to consider about how fame and notoriety affect both personal and professional lives, especially when someone’s actions seem intentional or at odds with their partner’s approach to privacy. So thank you!

I am having fun with my rewatch! I also wouldn't mind if DM burnt to the ground!

[simply-wlw-kpopstan]

29. The parents

Ryujin is right you should just ask her about it. it's been long enough to have this conversation right? Maybe you should just leave it and let jimin set the pace. she probably told them you're a friend anyways. You took a deep breath before walking out of the bedroom and joined the others in the kitchen.

"there you are! My parents are almost here and we still need to-" jimin was walking around like a mad man and winter was laughing at the scene while she sat on the counter eating something ning was preparing.

"jimin calm down before you freak the poor girl out." aeri said.

"right, sorry. Can you bring this outside?" jimin passed you a plate with some snacks, " Just place it on the table in front of the couch."

"I will if you remember to breath." you smiled making her let out a chuckle. "why are you so riled up? Are your parents that bad?"

"No, not at all. It's just been a long time since I introduced someone new and... It's nothing, forget about it." she shook her head and waved you off.

The five of you sat down once everything was set up, just staring out at the ocean in silence and jimin layed her head on your shoulder, "they'll love you. I don't know if that was what's bothering you this morning but they'll like you. I know they will."

You wanted to respond to her words but got cut off by a unknown female voice, "where are my girls?!"

"we're outside mrs. Yu !" aeri yelled and jumped up from her seat to go and greet jimin's parents.

"it'll be okay. I promise." jimin spoke softly before standing up and pulling you with her. The second you approached the door she let's go of your hand and creates some distance between the two of you.

"there's my baby!" her mother smiled with her arms wide open, " come here and let me look at you."

Winter, ning and aeri are holding back their laughter as jimin gets pulled in her mother's embrace. Your eyes drift to the man standing behind them and that's when you noticed him staring at you. Shit. What if her father hates you? If looks could kill, you'd probably be 6 feet under by now.

"you must be the new friend jimin told us about." his voice filled the room and everyone looks at you. Jimin pulls back from her mom and walks over to you.

"I'm y/n. It's very nice to meet you both." you try to hide the fact that you're feeling super anxious but judging by the looks of the girls you know you failed.

"forgive me for asking but how long have you known eachother? It's not like jimin to invite new people over." her mother spoke up.

Are they testing you? Or are they trying to tell you they don't want you here?

"actually we're project partners for one of our shared subjects." winter quickly intervened, " y/n's a music major like me. we've known eachother for a year but since the project we've gotten closer to eachother."

"I see." her mom said as she stared at you, "well let's go outside and get to know one another, I'm looking forward to your stories of this semester."

After an hour of talking, eating the snacks and secret glances with jimin, you decided to clear the table of the empty plates. "can I get anyone anything?" you offered but everybody shook their head and thanked you.

As soon as you're out of sight you took a deep breath and relaxed. Jimin's parents were nice people and you shouldn't be this anxious but the fact that you're keeping a secret from them is eating at you. Would they still like you if they found out you've been seeing their daughter? What if they found out Parker hit her because she was sleeping with you? That would definitely make them like you less-

”Hey,” jimin’s voice startled you as you rinsed off a plate, luckily it didn't break when it hit the sink, "sorry. Are you okay? You seem... I don't know, you're not your usual self. "

"I’m okay," you gave her a tiny smile, "I think I'm just tired. The effect of worrying about meeting your parents are probably kicking in and stuff" it slipped out before you noticed.

"so you were worried about that." she muttered to herself, "I guess we've both been stressed today." She looked behind her before walking closer and hugging you from behind.

"is this a good idea? Your parents can walk in any second." you looked at her as she layed her head on your shoulder.

"there's nothing wrong with hugging a friend," she turns you around and pins you against the counter, "it's a whole different thing if they'd walk in on us kissing." her gaze falls to your lips for a few seconds.

"jimin don't." you carefully pushed her away, "what will happen if they were to walk in? What would you tell them?" you crossed your arms and leaned back against the counter.

"they didn't. Why are you acting like this?"

"nevermind, you should go back. I'm going to lay down for a little while" you try to walk past her but she quickly grabs your hand.

"You're just going to avoid this?"

"they're your parents jimin, they're here for you and the girls."you pull your hand out of her grip and leave her in the kitchen.

masterlist | next

[sp0o0kylights]

Part Six / Part Seven (YOU ARE HERE) / Part Eight

A03

If the odd, small sounding Steve had been a weird pill to swallow, then the loudly swearing, furious one might as well have been a different person.

Worse?

He wanted Gareth and Eddie to stay behind.

“You are not going to the lab by yourself.” Eddie deadpanned, blocking the door while Steve acted like an agitated snake in front of it.

“You don’t understand.” Steve hissed, weaving back and forth on his feet, like he was trying to find a way out without bowling Eddie over.

Or breaking a window.

“Then help us understand!” Eddie shot back, throwing his hands up. 

Which was just the crux of the issue--because Steve seemed fine to talk about the lab being a horrible place, but kept refusing to answer why.

“You don’t have to tell us the full thing man, but give us something.” Gareth pleaded, hoping it didn’t come off as desperate as he felt.

Not his fault Steve was setting off his own anxiety.

The jock stepped back, running a hand through his hair and making a mess of it.

"I don't have the time." He stressed, anger, worry and pure fear mixing together in his tone.

In a mutter he added; "You wouldn't believe me anyways."

Tentatively, Gareth reached out, putting a hand on Steve’s shoulder.

For the first time since they’d known each other, Steve didn’t react to being touched.

"Eddie and I are gonna go no matter what. So you can either give us a heads up now, or you can be mad at us later when we just follow you anyway.” Gareth said, a hell of a lot calmer than he felt.

Steve had turned partly to glare at him, but seemed to at least let the words sink in. To get through that no, really, they were going, and all this arguing was just wasting time. 

Not that Gareth trusted it. 

"I don't want you guys getting hurt." Steve burst out, and it looked like it cost him to admit even that much.

Like it was inevitable and all this was a Hail Mary attempt to keep them from that future.

Eddie seemed to pick up on it too, because he caught Steve's gaze and held it. "You're a part of Hellfire now. If you were in that lab, we'd be all coming for you. Not one of us--all of us.”

He followed it up by invading Steve’s space, jamming a finger into the jock's chest.

“I don’t know why you think we’d be okay with you getting hurt." Eddie stared hard at him, voice as serious as Gareth had ever heard it. “You’re our friend, too Steve. We’re not abandoning Tiff and the rest of the Scooby Doo gang, and we're also not letting you do something that has you this freaked out, alone.”

Which is what this all seemed to keep coming down to. How Steve was willing to throw himself at problems, how he kept wanting to handle his own issues, while trying to manage everyone else so that he was the only target.

The only person in the know, the only one in the line of fire. 

Like he was a burden instead of a person. 

Gareth kept wondering how the hell that had happened. If this had been anyone else he would have written it off as some macho bullshit, but Steve wasn't like that. He'd didn't need to be the one white knight. 

The fear he spoke with had always been too real, for that. 

It wasn't like they--or at least, Eddie and himself, hadn't picked up that something was happening, either. Something big. 

Given the weird, hushed conversations Steve kept have with Nancy, and Jonathan and even the kids sometimes…

Once, just once, Gareth had seen Steve talk to the Chief of Police. The asshole had looked awkward as hell, giving Steve a few pats to his shoulder, and Steve looking equally as awkward, leaning into it--but they looked like two people who'd gone through the same shit and now were stuck together. Not a police officer giving a warning to a teenager. Not even a family friend catching up. 

Something was up in Hawkins and now wasn't the time to dog Steve about it, but Gareth still wished he'd give them a hint. 

A tidbit, a morsel, of what the fuck had him so riled up.

“And if all this means our friends are in danger, then we're absolutely going too.” Eddie continued, nearly nose to nose with Steve.

Steve put his hands on his hips, frustration written all over his face--but he didn’t step away. "I don't think you'd be okay with it, it's just-- I'm just--already involved! This is how it’s been."

As if that wasn’t fucking alarming.

"And now, so are we.” Eddie threw back, pointing at the phone. "It’d help if you at least told us what to watch out for, but if not then we need to stop arguing so we can go help.”

That definitely got through.

Steve tapped a foot, blowing out a breath and overall acted as if Gareth and Eddie were the ones being unreasonable here.

(Or a pissed off single mother of six, not that Gareth was voicing that image.)

"Fine." He snapped finally, pinching the bridge of his nose and backing away from Eddie. “Fine! But you listen to me when we get out there, and if I tell you two to run, I need you to trust me and run.”

A grin tried to blast across Eddie’s face, the smug one he wore when he won and he knew it, but he covered it up before Steve saw.

Gareth doubted it’d take much to slide Steve right back into trying to keep them at the trailer, or straight up pull some dirty ass move to force it.

(He belatedly wondered if he should worry about Steve trying to stab one of Eddie’s tires out, but didn’t think the older teen would go that far.

Not yet, anyway.)

"I wasn't kidding when I said you wouldn't believe me." Steve spoke over his shoulder, blowing through the door the second Eddie got out of the way, marching down the steps to his Beemer. "But let’s just say that lab did a lot worse than create shit like rabid dogs, and a few of their creations might still be there. Grab a weapon!"

“I thought there wasn’t any rabid dogs!” Gareth protested at the same time Eddie said;

"So the cops can get us on felony charges? What is trespassing not enough for you?"

Eddie shook his head, following Steve down to the gravel. "No thanks, man!"

“I never said their weren't rabid dogs at all, I said--wait, who told you that?” Steve asked, trying to turn and face Gareth but Eddie simply pushed him forward, kept him moving.

“They’ve waited for us long enough.” He whispered lowly, as Gareth scrambled about for something to use.

Managed to fetch the fire poker he knew Wayne kept around to scare away coyotes, or rival drug dealers, or anything else wandering about.

If Steve said bring a weapon, he'd bring a damn weapon.

Felony charges or not.

"The cops won't charge us. Not as long as Hopper’s the one who gets there first.” Steve said and the desperation in his voice had faded a little, revealing something hard and self-assured underneath.

Not cocky, but with the strength Hellfire had when approaching a boss or baddie they had conquered once before and were familiar with. 

"And if El's involved? He will get there first." Steve said firmly, whipping the backdoor of his car open and yanking a bag out.

A bag that had muffled squawking coming out of it.

Steve snatched a walkie talkie out from it, interrupting a stream of high pitched, upset nonsense coming out the tinny speakers.

Gareth caught someone half asking, half yelling if "-literally anyone could pick up!" before Steve hit the talk button.

"What's happening!?" He demanded, as he slammed the car door and stormed to the trunk.

"Steve!" Several voices yelled at once, the speakers shrieking in static feedback.

One beat out the others, as its owner screeched into the walkie in a tone that only children under fourteen and small dogs seemed to be capable of. "Where the hell have you been!? We called a code red an hour ago!"

"Bitch later Henderson, explain now." Steve commanded, picking out a bat with fucking house nails hammered into it.

Several of which were stained a rusted, blood-red.

Eddie stopped dead in his tracks, eyeing Steve with his mouth ajar as the nails gleamed lazily in his porchlights. 

Gareth couldn't blame him; his own heart had just picked up speed.

Steve gave the bat two experimental twirls, flipping it easily in his hand, before he seemed satisfied. Both the weapon and the movement worked together, elevating Steve into something straight out of the fantasy novels Hellfire traded around.

Like a fucking paladin come to life.

Gareth felt his breath hitch at the way it highlighted the guy's biceps, already on display since Steve had shoved his sleeves up. The movement was so smooth and well practiced that it was clear this was his weapon of choice--and that he’d definitely used it before.

Gareth wasn't even attracted to Steve Harrington, but one couldn't be blamed for having eyes.

"Mike insisted he saw lights on at the lab, and Will thought he might have felt something--" Henderson started, before being abruptly interrupted by someone on his end.

"He did feel something, Dustin!"

"Shut up, I'm talking to Steve!”

"Stop arguing and give me the short version. You're all in the lab?" Steve cut in.

‘It should be illegal to sound that annoyed while moving like that.’ Gareth thought idly, as Steve dropped the bat to the ground, then propped it up against his car.

He waved Eddie and Gareth over, one hand going to cover the walkie talkie’s speakers as it spat static. ‘Pick one.’ He mouthed, in the exact same way Gareth’s mom did when she was trying to talk to him and someone on the phone at the same time.

With a short glance at each other, they went.

"--we got to the lab and El and Max were already here--" Dustin tried again, and once again was talked over, making the conversation extremely hard to follow.

Kids, God.

"-You told us to meet you here-"

"-and there were these older kids running around-'

"-excuse you, tiny bratling, we are not kids-"

"Was that Grant?" Gareth found himself asking, as Steve waved a hand above his open trunk distractedly, like a vendor showing off wares.

Except instead of trinkets, it held a gun, a knife and a fucking candlestick.

The latter of which sported another suspicious red stain.

There was a second explosion of noise, and what sounded like multiple walkie's being fought over before a young, female voice came on, its owner having apparently won the tug of war.

"The idiots thought they saw something but it turned out to just be some teenagers breaking into the lab for fun." She scoffed, and sounded suspiciously like a Tiff Jr.

It took a second, but Gareth finally placed the voice to the redheaded girl--the one who rolled her eyes a lot.

"The wall and part of the floor collapsed, some guy fell through a hole into a locked room and El thinks the collapse wasn't an accident." The words were spoken rapid fire, like a front line soldier relaying information. "She and Will both feel something."

Eddie picked up the knife while Gareth simply held up his fire poker.

Steve nodded to them, and closed the trunk.

"Can you all get out of there safely?" He asked.

"El thinks if we leave, the--thing here will attack the guy that's stuck."

'Thing' Gareth mouthed to himself.

Not a person.

Not a dog, or bear, or--anything else.

A thing.

"Fuck." Steve spat, taking his hand off the talk button so no one on the other side heard.

"She and Will aren't sure what it is yet but they're thinking it's from the Upside Down."

After a brief pause wherein someone could be heard shouting in the distance, she sarcastically added; "Honestly I'm happy to leave the guy that's stuck here, he's really annoying--"

"No sacrificing Stewart!" Steve snapped instantly, and despite all the swearing and dramatics, having contact with the kids seemed to ease something in him.

His movements were no longer frantic, back and shoulders looser.

Even the way he talked seemed to unclench, like he'd been told the worst had come and now that it was finally here, he could deal with it.

"If you're sure, because I'm pretty sure Billy is gonna start looking for me soon." Max argued.

Steve groaned. "I'll handle him if he shows up."

For the first time since Steve had picked up the walkie, silence descended.

Gareth wasn't exactly an expert in such things, but it felt judgmental.

"Are you gonna handle it like the last time you handled it? Cause we don't have anything to knock him out with and I don't know if your head can--"

"Thank you Max, but I can deal with him." Steve cut in immediately, face flaming and yeah, they were definitely out of whatever protective crazy mode Steve had started off in. "This time I have my bat and backup. So unless your brother has taken to carrying stacks of plates around, I think I'll be fine!"

"Step brother." Max corrected immediately, huffing.

Then in a slightly quieter voice, she added: "Hey Steve? Get here fast."

"I'm coming. Steve over and out." He said firmly, like an older brother reassuring a younger sibling.

How the hell the guy had ever managed to appear like a heartless asshole was beyond Gareth.

Apparently it was beyond Eddie too because the guy was practically drooling with heart eyes in Steve's direction.

The kids signed off, before quiet, blessedly descended.

"Can I ask one question?" Gareth asked, as Steve cursed at the finally silent walkie talkie.

Steve stopped, entire chest heaving in a sigh.

"Yeah, one." He said, as though even that cost him a lot.

Out of the corner of his eye Gareth watched Eddie shake himself to awareness, and then try to flip the knife with the same move Steve used on the bat's handle.

He fumbled it immediately, chasing the blade as it clattered to the ground.

"Why a candlestick?" Gareth asked quickly, before Steve turned and witnessed Eddie's awkward, scrambling retrieval.

"Jonathan tends to grab the weirdest shit as a weapon." Steve responded. "He's used a trophy, multiple chairs, a lamp," he made an etc. all gesture, as if any of that actually explained things instead of causing about ten more questions.

"The candlestick actually worked pretty well so I kept it." He finished.

"Jonathan Byers?" Eddie said, holding the knife once more and clearly pretending he'd never tried to copy Steve. "How very Cluedo of him."

Steve frowned, nose scrunching in confusion. "Cluedo?"

"He means the game Clue. It's called Cluedo in Europe, Eddie's just a tabletop snob." Gareth rambled anxiously, because throwing Jonathan Byers wielding a candlestick into the mix was just the icing on top of the weird cake.

Part of him wondered if it would be rude if he asked Steve to spin the bat again, while the other part vaguely wondered if any of this was actually happening.

Maybe Eddie had accidentally laced the pot with a hallucinogenic.

(Frankly he wasn't sure how he'd have missed the addition of extra drugs, but hey; you couldn't say that made any more sense than Steve Harrington, small town golden boy, parading around with a fucking bat with nails in it, using a walkie talkie to speak to children about how a thing might try to attack one of their friends.)

The kid’s involvement at least, made a little bit of sense.

They were young but they weren't that young--and they also weren't as quiet as they thought they were.

Particularly not when they were riled up at the arcade.

Gareth knew the lot of them thought one of the girls had superpowers. He also knew they often pretended Will Byers, the kid who'd gone missing, had spent some time acting as a "spy" for whatever evil they all pretended to be battling.

He'd mostly assumed it was a D&D-slash- LARP kind of thing, or even just traumatized kids playing pretend to cope with what had happened, but now?

"I might have lied about just having one question." Gareth admitted as Steve picked up his bat.

"I'll explain some of it later, after we get them out." Steve said, as if Gareth might actually trust him to do so after doing his damndest to dodge giving an explanation. 

"Lead on, Sir Harrington." Eddie said before Gareth could say just that, like the lovestruck idiot he was. "We're going to need both cars to carry our wayward friends home, so Gareth and I will follow your lead."

Eddie spun his keys around his fingers, and given the smirk on his face, Gareth would bet money he was hoping it looked as cool as Steve's bat handling.

It didn't.

"Provided you promise to try not to lose us, because I've lived here all my life, I know where the lab is." He finished, and somehow managed to make the words sound fun and not the blatant warning it was.

Steve nodded once, hard. "Alright. Stay close to my car, and flash your high beams twice if you run into any problems--or see like, people in suites."

"People in suites?" Eddie asked, the knife still clutched awkwardly in his hand.

"Government agent kinda dudes, they're easy to spot." Steve said, like he was cautioning them to look out for deer darting across the road. "They usually look like they shouldn't be wherever they are."

"Alright." Gareth said, before his brain could come up with a list of questions regarding that.

Steve slung himself into the front seat of his car, Gareth claiming shotgun in Eddie's van shortly thereafter.

They waited to let Steve out first, and then stayed right on his tail as Steve promptly broke multiple laws to get to the lab.

"So this is all ominous as hell, right?" Eddie said, metal music pouring from the vans speakers and eyes on the taillights of the beamer.

"Oh dude, incredibly ominous. There was blood on that candlestick. " Gareth said, still in disbelief.

Whose candlestick had that even belonged to, originally? At what point in all this had Steve decided to hammer nails into a baseball bat?

Nevermind the weapon he was trying not to think about in the trunk of Steve’s car.

The gun.

Gareth knew instinctively why neither of them had gone for it. Eddie's father had drilled into him that the extra charge for carrying was never worth it and Gareth's own father had a firm "if you point it then you might as well have used it" mentality.

Steve didn't look like the kind of person to handle killing someone well himself, and yet the gun remained, locked up in the back of his trunk.

An option he'd offered to both Eddie and Gareth without bothering to fully fill them in.

"Blood on the bat too." Eddie said, dragging Gareth's attention back to the present.

Which at least, gave Gareth an opening for familiar ground. "I'm surprised you noticed that, given you looked like you lost all the blood in your head when he started swinging it around."

"Shut up." Eddie grumped, and though normally Gareth would tease him more, he found he just...couldn't. 

Not right now.

"I'm more worried that they all kept calling whatever the thing was…well. A thing." He said, because God was it bothering him. “I mean I guess it could be an animal still but the way they were talking about it…” He trailed off, uncomfortable.

"Personally I'm hoping for monsters." Eddie said.

Gareth turned to shoot him a look. "Seriously Ed’s?"

"Mmm. Because if it's not monsters Gareth, it's humans," Eddie tapped the steering wheel in time with Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls. "and humans scare me more than anything."

 Gareth leaned back, letting the seat absorb him, his own eyes sticking to the back of Steve's head. "I guess." 

Not that he wanted to deal with either.

Best case scenario in all this?

Everyone got out safely, and they drilled Steve into what the hell had happened to him, later.

Not that life was ever that simple.

xXx

Tiff met them outside the lab.

The place was desolate. Abandoned with the kind of tell-tale signs that boldly stated something awful had happened there.

Papers and a chair were still left in the guard shack and a phone dangling off the hook completing the look. The lab itself was dotted with broken windows, the corresponding shattered glass glittering all over the ground.

All it was missing was some lightning and it would be a great location for a slasher film.

One set of odd, claw-like marks on the ground later, right near where they all parked, and Gareth abruptly decided he'd rather focus on Tiffany rather than follow that thought more. 

Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, her expression annoyed, but the dead giveaway to her freaked out status was the way she couldn't seem to stop moving. Not even after they’d gotten out of their respective cars and started towards her.

Gareth hadn't seen her this bad since the day she temporarily lost her SAT guide.

It didn't bode well for the adventure ahead.

"Finally." She complained as the trio approached. "Did you three stop for milkshakes on the way!?"

"Traffic Tiff, you know how it is." Eddie said with an easy smile and a wave of his hand.

She simply gave a pointed look at her watch before glaring back at them.

"Steve!" Someone yelled, and Dustin promptly launched out of some corner at the older teen, babbling a mile a minute.

“Slow down, God!” Steve interrupted, doing a clear head to toe sweep of the kid. “You okay? Everyone good? Nobody dead?”

“Not yet!” Dustin said chipperly, which caused Steve to swat at his hat.

“Are you okay?” Gareth asked Tiff, as Steve and Dustin began talking rapid-fire, in the kind of way that spoke of past events and made little to no sense to anyone not in the loop.

"Yeah." Tiff nodded stiffly. “Would have been a lot happier if Stewart had listened to me for once, but.” She shrugged, her version of ‘it is what it is.’

Eddie reached out, squeezing her shoulder gently. “Is everyone else in the lab?” He asked, peering about.

He got another nod. “The room the idiot’s stuck in is just up the stairs and down the hall a bit. I’m amazed he didn’t get hurt, he fell through the ceiling.” She shook her head, clearly worried and trying her best not to show it. “Everyone’s kind of been wandering between there and here, but the random children who showed up are insisting we all walk around in groups.”

She turned to eye Dustin, before looking towards the entryway to the lab.

“Probably a good thing given the wall collapsed, but they all think there’s some,” She huffed, arms shrugging helplessly. “monster lurking about.”

Gareth stared at the lab entrance for a moment, once again taking in random stains and smears that were all around them. Spotted a few more of those weird, elongated claw marks raking down the stairs, spread more like fingers than anything else, and the group of them that surrounded a suspiciously large stain in the entryway. 

“What made you guys want to explore the lab tonight anyway? It’s Thursday.” Eddie asked. 

This earned him a more animated eye roll.

“Would you believe me if I told you I owed Jeff a favor, and he owed Grant a favor, and Grant got into it with Stewart over whether or not the lab had glowing goo hiding inside?"

“Glowing goo?” Eddie and Gareth echoed as one.

“Like what Mikey the bartender was saying last time he was drunk? The whole thing with that weird green goo that fell out of some truck?” Gareth asked, and it wasn’t the stupidest thing that had riled up Stewart and Grant but by God was it up there.

Tiff sighed a second time, sounding pained. “Yeah. That goo. Stewart kept insisting Mikey got a “hot tip” that some military guys knew it was here,” Her fingers came up to make the quotation marks, somehow managing to make the movement sarcastic. “and wanted it moved over to that new mall they’re building. Starcourt.”

“So Stewart had to come see it.” Eddie finished, as if he wouldn’t have also been dying to go get a look.

Frankly, Gareth himself was slightly annoyed he and Eddie hadn’t been called upon as it were.

“Mikey also apparently believes something else wants the goo and chased the military guys who were here out of the building. That part must be going around, because the kids here are pretty insistent there’s a monster inside.” Tiffany added, waving a hand towards Dustin.

Eddie made a move to slung his arm over her shoulder, giving her a full body squeeze before letting her go.

Tiff allowed it, and for the briefest of seconds, even seemed to lean in.

“Hello Steve, nice murder weapon.” She greeted loudly, entirely unphased by the nail bat in his hands as Hellfire’s jock and his favorite small annoyance stepped up to them. “Having met your children, I have to say, your parenting skills are utter shit.”

Dustin frowned up at her, instantly offended. “Steve’s our friend.” He corrected, angrily emphasizing ‘friend,’ right over the top of Steve’s loud protest of;

“It’s not a murder weapon, jeez!”

“If anyone is lacking in skills it’s your little group’s!” Dustin cut in, waving a hand around. “Not one of you was prepared for breaking into the lab! No weapons, no back up, you’re the only one who even had quarters and one of you isn’t even wearing a jacket. If we hadn’t shown up you guys would have been in some real shit!”

Tiff stared flatly down at Dustin, ignoring Steve entirely. “Sure, pipsqueak."

“What are you guys even doing here?” Steve asked, before Dustin could fuss more.

“Glowing goo, apparently.” Eddie answered, moving with him.

Tiffany took the hint, starting to walk towards the stairs as Dustin trotted forward next to her, clearly intending to “lead” just as much as she was.

Gareth watched from the corner of his eyes as Steve automatically stepped to Dustin’s right, making sure the kid was surrounded on all sides.

‘Fuckin’ softie.’ He thought fondly, even as he gripped the fire poker he held in his hand tighter.

Eddie had managed to stow the knife away, making it vanish somewhere among his jacket and Judas Priest shirt, so it was just him and Steve looking like lunatics.

Thankfully, Tiff had spared Gareth her opinion on the fire poker. 

“Goo?” Steve asked, and unlike the rest of them, he sounded downright alarmed.

“So there’s this bartender at the Hideout.” Eddie started, launching into the story with a lot more pizzazz than Gareth thought it really required. He and Tiff traded glances, and Gareth got to see the exact moment Dustin’s eyes caught sight of Eddie and went dinner plate wide.

Gareth would have nudged Tiff, maybe made a joke about how Eddie was gaining a new sheep just by his terminal need to be the loudest person in a room, but a movement on the left caught his gaze.

Gareth stopped, as something unmistakably fleshy slunk back in the shadows, one weirdly shaped paw flashing as something caught the light. 

Fear raked through him, freezing Gareth dead to the spot, hands tightening on his fire poker.

“Hey, guys? He asked, interrupting whatever story Eddie had inevitably gone off of (likely one of the many, many backstories involving Mikey the bartender’s belief in UFOs) “That monster the kids think they saw. What uh, what’s it supposed to look like?”

“Why?” Tiff asked, at the same time Eddie yelled at him to; “Keep up, Gary, god!”

Gareth didn’t answer, instead staring deep into the shadows.

Nothing moved.

‘You’re seeing things.’ He told himself finally. ‘Unless it went through solid fucking wall, you would still be able to see it. You're just stressing yourself out because Steve’s being weird.’

Fuck knows it wouldn’t be the first time he thought he saw something when his anxiety started acting up.

"So Gare, did you bring the fire poker along because of the monster?" Tiff asked, amused, as she briefly dropped back towards him.

Clearly, she'd just been waiting for an opening to tease him about it. 

He flushed scarlet. 

"No!" He spat, hugging the thing closer.

A grin unfurled on Tiff's face, Cheshire-esque.

"I'm serious, Steve told us to bring it!" Gareth insisted, trying to look manly with it.

He knew he failed as badly as Eddie had earlier.

"You know, I'm starting to think Eddie's not the only one gone on our human fighter…" Tiff trailed off, raising one eyebrow, and causing Gareth to flip her off.

Thankfully that train of conversation was interrupted by loud arguing.

“We’re not cats Steve, you can’t just put us outside!” One of the kids was bitching, the group having caught sight of Steve and hustling over.

Jeff was seated on the floor in the hallway, one hand holding up his chin while Grant leaned against the wall next to him, both looking incredibly bored.

Across from them was a door that had looked like it had survived a full-blown seige. Cracks ran throughout the wood, and with the entire center of it bowed inward it was clear why no one could manage to get Stewart out of the room.

It was completely wedged in the frame, with thick enough edges to make it impossible to just pop it out by hand. 

The hoard of gremlins were harder to make out now that they were all clumped together, but Gareth quickly made out their very….unique outfits.

Only the girls had dressed normally, while the boys looking like they either were planning on robbing a train.

Bandana’s over their faces and all.

“Yes, I can actually.” Steve retorted in the exact same bitchy tone. "Tiffany can stay with you guys by the cars while the rest of us figure out how to get Stewart.”

"Thanks for volunteering me." Tiff said flatly, but alas, was ignored by the group at large. 

“Really? So you don’t want El to, you know. Help.” The terminally loud one spat.

“El’s gonna dump your ass if you don’t stop talking for her, Mike.” Steve warned, making the girl puff up proudly while Mike immediately cut a fearful glance to his girlfriend.

“And if El could have helped before, why wait for me to get here?” Steve continued, one hand on his hip, the other resting the nail bat over his shoulder, cutting in before Mike's scrambled apology derailed the conversation.

“I cannot move the door.” El admitted in that sort of flat, blunt way she spoke. “There is something here that is making my powers unstable.”

Steve pointed to her, face morphing into a clear “see?” gesture.

“Now unless Dustin is going to science the door open somehow--and I’m not saying you couldn’t,” Steve spoke the second part quickly, as Dustin’s mouth popped open, “then all of you are going to wait outside. Where the demo-the thing, isn’t.”

Gareth really, really hated how he kept referring to it as a thing.

One of the kids rolled their eyes and muttered; “We literally said we don’t know if it’s a--” and promptly got elbowed in the stomach for it.

Right.

Not suspicious at all.

“But we can help!” Dustin protested furiously.

Gareth wasn't sure if it was because Dustin truly thought he could help, or if it was because he wasn't used to the pushback.

For all that he was an only child, Steve had clearly inherited an older brother's prerogative of letting kids do stupid shit so long as he supervised (and typically, laughed at the outcome.

Gareth still fondly recalled the time Mike declared himself man enough to smoke.

Steve had conned him into chainsmoking outside the arcade until the kid finally threw up in the bushes on his fourth cigarette and declared Steve's smoking habit disgusting.)

“El could help.” Steve countered calmly. “Max probably, if I gave her my bat, but the rest of you are just moving targets. So make like a drum, and beat it.”

"That was lame, Steve." Dustin sniffed, while the other kids groaned loudly. “A real low effort pun.”

Steve just flicked his hand out in a shoo motion before leaning his bat up against the wall.

Jeff stared it before making immediate eye contact with Gareth, every inch of him screaming ‘what the hell!’

With a sigh, and an unfortunate side glance at Tiff, Gareth explained; “It’s for the monster.”

That at least, was easier than explaining Steve knew what was here and was doing his damndest not to tell them what it was.

Even if it made Tiff grin manically in his direction. 

His only relief was that Steve got her attention right after, calling "Heads up!" before tossing her his car keys. 

Because her hand eye coordination was superior to Eddie’s, she caught them easily.

If there's an emergency, get them out." Steve warned, voice just over the edge of too serious, losing the banter he’d kept up since they’d arrived.

"If there's an emergency we're coming back on to save your ass." Dustin snapped back, arms crossed, because of course he was listening.

“No.” Steve told him simply.

“Yes.”

“No, no, no-!”

Tiff let out a sharp whistle, the sound piercing in the echoing hallway.

"Gremlins with me!" She commanded, before catching Steve's eyes over their heads . "You fucking owe me, Harrington."

He nodded, before dropping a glare to the kids. "Just don't let them drive my car."

“God I can’t believe he’s still upset about that, it’s not like we fucked up the Camaro.” Mike complained loudly, allowing himself to be herded back outdoors.

“Max did hit a mailbox.” Lucas retorted, and then yelped a loud; “Ow, Max!” as he was presumably punished for voicing the fact out loud.

Their voices faded slightly as they went down the stairs, and Gareth managed to drag his attention back to the problem at hand.

One very fucked up door.

"Do you think we could kick it down?” Steve asked, as Eddie bent down to examine the door.

Refusing to look anyone in the face, Jeff said; “We may have tried that already.” 

“My darling lambs, you’re approaching this wrong.” Eddie cooed, and got several glares for it.

“The door might be fucked by the hinges here, are not. Looks like all I need is the right screwdriver and lucky for Stewart!--” He yelled his friend's name, banging on the door and no doubt hoping to spook him.

A muffled shout of “Screw you Munson!” was all he got for his efforts.

 “--I have my toolbox in my car.”

“Do I want to know what you have a toolbox for, Ed's?” Steve asked.

“Perfectly legal avenues only, I assure you.” Eddie replied, batting his eyelashes up at Steve innocently.

Grant and Jeff both gagged.

“Would the two of you gentlemen be so kind as to fetch me my box?” Eddie said, pulling out his keys and offering them up to Jeff. “I want to try one more thing. I don’t think it’ll work, but I can test it while you boys are gone.”

“He’s going to try to kick it in himself.” Gareth tattled flatly.

“I am not!” Eddie immediately denied, eyes wide in feigned hurt.

It was fake as shit.

“Let him!” Jeff said over as he got up. “That way I won’t be the only one getting made fun of for doing it!”

A car suddenly honked from outside, startling them all.

“Check that the shitheads aren’t murdering Tiff while you’re out there!” Steve called as Jeff and Grant took off towards the entrance, before moving out of Eddie’s way as he surged upwards.

“It’s more likely she’d be murdering them.” Eddie replied, and sure enough he was backing up like he was going to try and kick the door.

“Do you see how thick that thing is? The indent, here?” Steve sassed, pointing towards the giant dent slightly off center, where the door bowed inwards. “I’m pretty sure Jeff wasn’t the one who did that. These things are built to hold, man.”

“Ah but you’ve seen Jeffery's legs. Our beloved new cleric should stick to punching things, he’s not made for kicking.” Eddie said, tongue peaking out of his mouth as he sized up the door.

An odd, low chittering caught Gareth’s attention, the noise like nails on a chalkboard as the older teens continued to argue. 

“Have you seen yourself?” Steve asked point blank, hip cocked and bitch mode on. “You aren’t either.”

“Don’t be mean, Steven, just because I don’t have jock muscles--”

The chittering got louder, and Gareth found himself taking a few steps away from his friends, in the opposite direction of the stairs as he tried to figure out where the fuck it was coming from. 

A light at the farthest end of the long hallway gave out, barely noticeable. unless one was looking for it. Gareth hadn't even internalized the hallway had lighting, he'd been too busying with everything else--but it did. 

Likely the place had a backup generator, but that didn't explain why the lights in this hallway were on--and now, suddenly, giving out. 

'Maybe the kids did it...?' He thought, still trying to figure out why the chittering sounded like it was getting closer. 

“You’re going to break your leg.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you need to believe in people more Stevie? Have some faith?”

“I have faith that you’re face is about to hit the floor, does that count?”

Another light failed, giving the appearance of the hallway warping. Not all of it, just one weird wall, that seemed to stretch like something was trying to break out. 

"Okay but if I kick the door and it busts in, you owe me ten bucks."

"If you kick the door down not only will I give you ten bucks, Eddie, I'll go see that stupid new movie you won't shut up about with you." 

"Oh we'll be seeing Fright Night with or without my door busting talents--" 

Another light, out, and now Gareth could see a shape taking form. Later he'd swear it had actually, crawled out from the wall.

(Later, he'd find out the Upside Down creatures had a habit of doing that.)

He thought it was a tiger at first.

It has the same overall shape--long body with muscular shoulders, head low as it prowled forward.

Except the tail curled up over its back, hanging like a scorpion’s and its face…

It took a second for Gareth to make sense of what he was seeing.

The huge, oddly shaped bulb, like a flower’s before it unfurled.

Thick liquid drooled out from red tinged edges, dripping onto the floor. It was too far away to hear, but Gareth imagined the little plinks of noise it made anyway.

"Guys." He said, voice pitched impossibly high.

The Not-Tiger stepped further into the light, revealing it to be hairless.

Its skin was flecked red and grotesquely gray, with odd, thick folds of flesh hanging off its sides. Those pieces moved in weird little jerks and flutters, almost like another appendage entirely.

Another step forward, the weird, folded pieces of skin moving out and out and out on either side of it, hitching up in a U shape and oh, God.

They were wings.

'Lion body, scorpion tail, dragon wings.' A far off part of Gareth identified. 'It's missing the human face, but otherwise that's pretty dead on for a--"

"Manticore!" Gareth screamed, right as the things head split open into five petals filled with rows of fangs.

It screamed right back, then lunged at him, claws and teeth and tail all extending to attack.

[planetbass]

funnybunny is literally the only jax ship that has any appeal to me. overall jax is seen as like an annoying twink but bc the only other male characters in the show r an older widowed man and a mentally unstable ai, neither of which jax would have any sort of chemistry with anyways, the only sustainable ships with him are with the 3 girls and zooble.

these are all my personal opinions so dont come at me with pitchforks or anything. idc if you like any of these ships for any reason, have your fun, i just like to analyze these freaks. ok disclaimer over.

TL;DR: i think funnybunny is the only jax ship that "makes the most sense" in terms of character, considering pomni is the newest member of the circus that doesn't yet have a solid established relationship with jax. i also personally just find them to be the most compelling compared to the other potential ships with jax.

ok now onto the actual ramblings.

with zooble, them and jax seem to have a bickering sibling relationship to me. zooble's the only one who really shuts jax down when he's being mean or stupid, which in turn isn't entertaining to him, so he shifts targets. i do think this also allows them to get along the best compared to jax with the other circus members, but i don't think they're like, particularly close. zooble's just the only one that meets jax at his level by retaliating or shutting him down.

with gangle... jax is just too mean to her for me to find it appealing (even in like a toxic relationship or bitter exes sorta thing). gangle is an easy target for jax because she's sensitive and doesn't fight back. the only time so far that she has was very circumstantial and while she was literally manic and in a perceived position of power over him. and even then, she's barely masking her true feelings; she's still hurt by him (and others). idk i can see how you can twist their dynamic into something more equal and interesting, but personally it doesn't do anything for me. jax picks on her just because he can and because he sucks.

ragatha is by far the most popular choice for jax shippingisms and i can see why, but again on a personal level it just isn't isn't my thing. ragatha is jax's #1 target for teasing and pranking because ragatha consistently has the biggest reactions, which in turn is most entertaining for jax. she gets scared easily, she's trusting and people-pleasing, she screams when scared, she gets mad at him, she yells at and reprimands him. this is fun for him. i think back to ep 2 when he calls her licorice hair, she clutches her hair and yells at him, upset, to which he seems proud of himself. the other characters probably would've just rolled their eyes and ignored him, but ragatha getting riled up at even just a small comment is where he gets his entertainment. his constant teasing and her falling for it/putting up with it (despite protesting) again feels very siblinglike to me, especially since jax is very raggedy andy-inspired. ep 4 even reveals to us that ragatha straight up doesn't like jax, but still wants to be liked by him. this goes back to ragatha's people pleasing nature – she wants to be liked by everyone, even if she doesn't like them, and already we know this is to her own detriment (coming off as disingenuous). this particular interaction with jax can be read in a way where she's got like, repressed feelings for him. that's fine, though definitely an interpretation made when wearing shipping goggles lol. and jax's teasing of her in particular definitely doesn't come across as a "being mean to a crush" thing on jax's end either. again, out of all the ships i can see how this one is most popular, but personally it doesn't do anything for me.

the biggest reason these ships don't do anything for me is because these dynamics are already established by the time the show starts, and i don't see them changing too significantly anytime soon. nobody likes jax, including pomni, but at least with pomni i can see that changing.

pomni is still new to the circus, still settling in and getting used to everything. by ep 4 she seems like she's almost completely adjusted. while she's been adjusting, jax has been testing his limits with the new circus member. in eps 2 and 3 in particular, jax is teasing pomni during their shared screentime, like he's seeing how she'll react and how much she'll retaliate. so far she hasn't really fought back but isn't afraid to call him an asshole in ep 2, though she's still pretty shell-shocked in that one, so it's possible now that she's more comfortable she'll be willing to challenge him more. by ep 4 it's clear that pomni doesn't like jax nor does she trust him, yet she also was part of a miraculous moment... where jax wasn't being an asshole and had his guard down. all it took was one day of working fast food to completely suck the soul out of his body. and clearly pomni is taken aback by this interaction, as the scene lingers on her for a moment after jax makes his leave.

pomni is established as someone who is upfront and honest, but also extremely empathetic and doesn't want anyone to feel like they're alone or unwanted. we even see in ep 4 that she knows how to show this in different ways – talking didn't work with gangle, because gangle closed up again before getting too vulnerable, but pomni was able to show gangle support and kindness through actions later on. in that moment with jax, i think pomni is realizing, oh yeah, this guy can be genuine, and like, has emotions. he's capable of being normal but chooses not to be, instead pushing others away. i think this little moment could be the very start of pomni eventually breaking through to jax, whenever that time comes. the others have reached a point with jax where they won't give him the time of day, or probably wouldn't take him seriously if they did. personally, i think pomni is the most capable of having a heart-to-heart (ish) moment with jax. she isn't one to sugarcoat things or dance around topics, but she's also sensitive in how she approaches these things.

jax is very troubled and impulsive (as said by gooseworx), but i get the impression he's also inherently very anxious (based on this ask response where gooseworx said jax was gifted hydroxyzine in the glitch christmas render, which is a prescription antihistamine that also treats insomnia and anxiety). he has an established personality that he wants to stick to; he is masking just as much as everyone else, if not the most out of all the characters. i can see jax as worried about acting "out of character" in front of the others – he has an established relationship and role and personality with the other circus members and breaking that mold can be very anxiety inducing. he is in the process of molding this same mask around pomni, but i think their dynamic is new enough that it can be changed. i think that jax will be more willing to open up around pomni than the other characters because she's the new one, because she doesn't know him as well as the others [think they do].

that's been my thought on their dynamic since the get-go, but especially after their moment in episode 4 i can really see pomni as being the only one who will be able to get through to jax, or the only one willing to understand him. she's also the main character let's be for real.

i also think jax just... likes pomni more than the others. this i can't really explain and is definitely my personal bias. truthfully you can't rly tell what his opinions are of the others, but it's the impression i get based on what he's said about the others and how he interacts with them.

i dont even completely see them as a romantic ship either. just like. idk. i can see them in particular getting close, platonic or romantic. jax needs someone to confide in and/or actually be able to relax around, and i can equally see pomni becoming more relaxed and silly due to his influence. she needs to grow into her jester shoes.

[the-firebird69]

You know what I kind of do and you see there might be answers there I have to go down there I know see what you're saying it's freaking huge we're in trouble that's gross I feel bad for them but I do understand what you're saying you could mean a lot of trouble some sidewalks go off from an ancillary computer and then they come back your people might not be able to read them we do understand that and they don't talk then that manipulate to talk. And down below it's worse I'm starting to see something else they can change into form or interface with machines it's really really quite interesting how bad this could be and yeah they can be a lot faster than depth know how to run all sorts of things including Bond making it a laboratory used for police work and stuff like that all over the place and undetectable if the program is good and his is good. And I heard that they have some pieces I'm going to go there and do something I do understand what you're saying I just sort of heard the phone conversation so I'll get it

Joel Watts

You did not hear the phone conversation but we did what we say is you're a fool and that's not true you're in town that you don't know what to do you're not a suicide counselor you never have been but know that Joel Watts said he was once so you sent it to him and that's really what helped let's figure out what you're saying it's a suicide counselor and he sounded it she sent it to him and you're saying this I don't know what he's up to he's going to hurt himself or someone else and we know what that means too and nobody read it. And then she disappeared and so will and Bill get it. And we have a tiger by the tail and we have to do this and we're going to help him get there

Mac

So the letters are clean and I wouldn't know he says but I do understand what you're saying they are very clean very important and urgent and years behind

Dave

I have to tell you something we got to get on this now people are angry they see what you're saying

Mac

Olympus

We probably responsible but the guy would not go there we told him we have to he said no and said there's something there he said no you should have to tell him the whole thing so one day you're saying that it looks and says no way I can't go there and do that it says groups there groups is there Groot and you can see it in pictures he's looking in this pictures of it this is no way so it started as interesting now we're there hopefully good God just took so long as probably gone or doing his thing is an emperor of all mankind

Alicia

Kick everyone's ass is a computer and really ours is kicking my ass and this one's much faster and much more powerful I have to see what it's doing

Tricia

We have to get to it and we have to do it now this is important and he's riled us up we need this out so we can see it will and Bill

I need to say this we need to get going you have to perform up a group and go there Ken

Do you want to compete and they want to compete over the stuff and they're getting teams in

Olympus

[soulcheri]

"Why not?" Judging by experience, bad ideas are often the most rewarding. And isn't that what Jake is looking for? A reward. Something tangible to take with him after being sated properly? Nina's pussy would surely do that. Not only would she take Jake's virginity (unbeknownst to her) -- she would cement herself permanently in his life and in his memories. When he looked back on this day years later, or told his grandkids about how he lost his v-card... he would have to recount this event. Her name over Brooke's.

For Tyler, Nina seducing Jake was about him getting Brooke's best friend out of the way so he could move in on her. For Nina, this was about power. It was about proving to everyone, especially her latest sidekick, that she was the real powerhouse among their friend group. She was the one, the guys wanted to fuck and the girls aspired to be. Not Brooke Maddox. She needed to be knocked down a peg or two, reminded of where she stood on their social ladder's food chain.

Which, is why Nina forces Jake down onto the bed with her hands placed above his shoulders. "Don't worry, Jakeypoo. No one has to know what I do to you. It's just you and me here. Tyler would kill you if he ever saw us together and what Brooke doesn't see, can't hurt her right? Don't you want to practice, anyway? Make sure you'll be good enough for her when the time finally comes? She has a lot of romantic ideals. Trust me, I would know. Girl talk and all. You have sooooo many expectations to live up to. So consider this me, helping you. For her. She's my best friend, I want the best for her. And I know you no longer want to be hers. You want to be the guy that she can't stop thinking about, right? The guy she craves and comes undone for with a single look? The one who makes her freak flag fly and she just has to have at the drop of a hat." In other words.... he wants to be more like Tyler.

Who, come to think of it.... has Brooke in that very same predicament. Downstairs, Brooke can barely hold herself upright let alone form a coherent response to Tyler's goading. If it weren't for his hands holding her up and making sure their electric kiss didn't break -- even after they knocked over a tower of beer bottles -- she might've collapsed into a puddle on the floor. His hands on her ass, under her shirt, and then over the front of her shorts sends shockwaves through Brooke's system. Pleasure stabs at the juncture between her thighs, creating a series of spasms and gasps the moment Tyler's fingers locate her sweet spot. She's not only soaking wet from her dip in the pool with Jake but, from the arousal he draws out of her.

Look at me with those pretty eyes. Her mouth falls open with a shuddering gasp just as she feels him spread her pussy lips wide open. "Tyler," She whines. Her voice sounds so strangled, you would've thought he was choking her. Instead, he merely ups the ante by pressing his thumb so far up against her clit it makes her sing like a caged bird, desperate to be let out of its prison. By now, her arousal had begun to beat like a drum against his finger, giving way to how easy it was for him to rile her up with a single touch. He wasn't this bold or this possessive in France. Sure, he taught her what being fingered felt like but.... this time was different. For starters, it was insanely more hot.

Part of her is even worried she might combust purely from overheating. Was that even a thing? Was it possible to die from overstimulation? It sure as hell felt like it. To make matters worse, or slightly more embarrassing for her, Tyler just has to comment on it. He warns her to calm down, lest she fall freely towards her open grave. "Oh my----" she would've said GOD! but her words were overshadowed by her moans the second he enters not one but two fingers inside of her. Brooke has no choice but to grab ahold of something. Which just so happens to be the sleeves of Tyler's leather jacket. Every nerve ending along her body is alive and screaming for pleasure and mercy. Which he never really shows her. But rather, he reminds her of their pact. So long as they were fucking or getting physical with each other, they were not to do the same thing with others. He says he hasn't with Nina, therefore she shouldn't with Jake.

Oh god. Jake! Since the moment Tyler cornered her in the kitchen, Brooke forgot all about him. He was a distant thought, a distant memory to what was currently taking place between them. But, the reminder snaps her out of it. As does Tyler's encouragement to go find him before Nina does. Considering, they know the risks of leaving the two alone, together. France only happened after Brooke watched Nina flirt with Jake and nearly fuck him on the dance floor. At least that's the story Brooke was going to go with to avoid admitting her feelings for Tyler might be complicated and overwhelming. Fitting, since his kiss reiterates that. Brooke's dizzy with want after it ends and he pulls his wet finger out of her shorts to sample the taste of her from it. The way his tongue wraps around the evidence of her moisture and sucks it dry, is enough to make her knees clench.

Had she been in a more stable frame of mind, she might've questioned the meaning behind his next few words and the suggestion they're laced with. Isn't that where Jake is waiting for you? Why don't you go check on him? I'll be outside, waiting by my car, if you need a ride. What made him think she would need a ride once she found him? Did Tyler know something that Brooke didn't? "Yeah.... okay...." she can barely walk, let alone think straight after Tyler releases her to rejoin the party. Brooke does but not without forgetting to take the bottle of Grey Goose she originally went downstairs to get.

Her feet lagged the whole way, resembling dead weights as she turned the doorknob and twisted it open into Noel Cameron's bedroom. The second it hung ajar, it revealed a topless Nina spread over Jake's lap. The skirt her friend had on had luckily concealed Brooke's view enough that she couldn't physically see Jake's cock wedged between her pussy but the implication and reality was there all the same. "Oh my god!" Brooke gasps, prior to covering her mouth with her hands. From their position, Jake's back is facing her so he can't see her trembling frame until Nina fists his hair and pries his mouth away from her aching tits. "Brooke--" The redhead feigns her embarrassment. Though, she doesn't make an effort to get off of Jake.

Not that it matters because by that point, Brooke has seen enough. She's already half way down the hall and through the front door, when the tears and the visceral sting of her friends' betrayal become more imminent. Both can be felt in deepest parts of her belly and seen in her sorrowful eyes as she breezes past Tyler outside, on her path down the driveway. If he calls out to her or sees her leave, she can't hear him past the blood thumping in her ears. All she wants is to get the hell out of there and fast before Jake has time to catch up to her and beg to explain.

Jake does his best to shrug off Nina's insult. He knows she's only being a bitch because her parents don't love her enough. It was either that, or they love her too much. Because when you spoil a person rotten, they become just that —- rotten. How else could you explain her deviltry? Jake was a douche because his parents weren't around to give him enough attention. Therefore, he gets it from bullying others and overcompensating. What was Nina's reason? Is Tyler not giving her enough dick? Was he too small? It was possible the tattooed rebel was all show. It wouldn't surprise Jake if Tyler was overcompensating too.

"What do you mean Brooke left?!" He stands up from the bed...forgetting he's hard as stone. Jake was only reminded by the narrowing of Nina's eyes, as she looks down at the protrusion in his shorts. He's embarrassed by it, until he feels her hand brush along its length. For a split second, Jake forgets all about Brooke. The only thing he can focus on is the pleasure Nina's providing him. Brooke was taking too long, and if she did leave him hanging, that would be fucked up considering he took Viagra for her. He wanted to make sure he would last longer than a few pathetic seconds. Without the pill, he would have been lucky to make it through foreplay. "What do you want to do, Nina? Fuck? No offense but, I don't think that's a good idea. I'll admit though...you are hot. You have great tits." Jake can't believe the words coming out of his own mouth. It's the buildup in his groin, its driving him insane. He'll cave and do just about anything for relief.

--

It's just a nickname Riley and I made up to describe people who get under our skin. He'll show her what it's like to have him under her skin. As their lips move together in perfect harmony, Tyler's hands slide underneath her shirt to explore her bare waist and hips. He's seconds away from cupping her breasts when he hears something break behind them. In the haste of their passion, they knocked over a few beer bottles and one of them rolled off the table before shattering against the floor. Rather than stopping what they were doing, Tyler laughs and then returns to kissing her. This time, his hands squeeze around her ass and he pulls her closer to his chest, mouth, and the growing erection behind his jeans. "You're so pretty when you're coming undone..." his breath was harsh against her mouth as he slides one palm down the front of her shorts. Her clothes were soaked from when Jake tossed her in the pool. As a result, there's some resistance between his fingers and her panties, which were sticking to her skin.

"Look at me with those pretty eyes." Tyler takes her throat in his other hand and urges her to look up at him, in the same moment his fingers spread her apart. He's not sure if she's wet from the pool, or him. Either way, the lubricated feeling makes him smirk against her lips as he glides a thumb up and down her clit. By now, he knows exactly where to touch her to drive her crazy. He can feel the way her pulse comes alive behind his fingertips. "Your poor pussy is going to have a heart attack if you don't calm down. Take a deep breath." With the hand he had around her neck, he exchanges his grip to hold her chin. While keeping her eyes leveled, he inserts his index and middle finger inside her. Brooke was still too tight. Therefore, he removes one finger and places his thumb against her clit, to stroke and massage the little bud that's sure to make her stomach do backflips. "You remember what we talked about in France? Only I can make you cum. I haven't fucked Nina and you won't fuck Jake. Besides..." Tyler leans in and kisses her with a level of passion that could be mistaken for hate. Once he pulls back, he tugs on her bottom lip with his teeth, and groans. "I heard Nina was making her rounds. First with Noel, then I saw her head upstairs. Isn't that where Jake's waiting for you?" After working her core to an all-time high, he drags his hand back and sucks on his middle finger, making sure her sweet nectar doesn't go to waste. "Why don't you go check on him? I'll be outside, waiting by my car if you need a ride home." After releasing his hold from her face, he lets her go—-like a hunter showing mercy to its prey.

[sebsgirl71479]

Shoot your Shot the Trilogy

Sebastian Stan x Curvy Actress Reader 

Word count: 2,815k

A/N: I had a request for a lovely reader for a continuation of this mini series so here it is @ozwriterchick thank you for the idea. 

Warnings: Fluff, cussing, sexual themes 18+ no minors tiny bit of smut (I’m getting better lol) 

It was the morning after the best night of your life. You woke up and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table, it was only 7am but you felt amazing. All of a sudden you felt Sebastian playing with your left hand. You looked down and he was fiddling with your engagement ring. With a big smile on your face you turned over to face him. He was already looking at you with an equally big smile. 

“Good morning my beautiful fiance, did you sleep well?” “Yes, Dragostea mea (my love) probably the best sleep I've had in a while and it's all because of you.” Sebastian rolls on top of you and starts kissing you all over making you giggle. His now long hair tickling your neck, you love his new hair gives you something to hold on to. When he starts sucking and biting your neck and shoulder you let out a soft moan and he starts grinding his hard cock into the apex of your body.

“Hmmm Seb baby I really want to finish this but I have to pee. I'm sorry.” “Ugh, okay but as soon as you're done we are finishing this in the shower.” “Sounds like a plan to me.” After a very long and steamy shower you both get out and get dressed for the day. You settle on a cute sweater dress and long knee high socks since it's still a bit chilly in California. Sebastian loves it when you wear those socks, it gets him all riled up but he's trying to control himself. It's a lazy day for the two of you so you head into the kitchen to make coffee, while Sebastian gets things out of the fridge for breakfast. After eating your breakfast, you and Sebastian go finish your coffee on the back porch looking out onto the LA skyline. With your head laying on his shoulder you feel content, safe, happy, something you never thought you would ever have. 

“Baby I don't want to pack my stuff back up to stay at my place. How about we stay here the rest of the time we are here and I can just go check on my condo if I need to?”  “You know what I like the sound of that. Besides, I want to stay in this happy bubble of ours for as long as we can.” “Oh my gosh! Seb how are we going to handle the critics choice awards? They're gonna notice the ring.” You both turn and look back out to the city thinking of how to navigate the red carpet. All of a sudden Sebastain turns to you with a sly smile. “Draga mea (my dear) I want the whole world to know you are mine forever and what better way then to show everyone on the carpet. What do you say?” He takes your hand and kisses your ring finger with so much adoration in his eyes it makes you want to cry. “Let's do it. Watching everyone freak out will be the best thing to see.” 

He laughs at your excitement and takes out his phone to call his manager to let her know the good news and that they will show off the ring while walking the red carpet. But just so they don't have to answer the same questions multiple times he told her he won't be doing any on camera interviews so they can just enjoy the moment. When he comes back he extends his hand to you and you place your hand in his and brings you into his waiting arms. You both head back into the house and head to the living room to watch tv and waste the day away. You end up catching a marathon of Friends for a few hours. Thinking back to the Variety interview he did with Jennifer Aniston he really is a little bit like chandler like he said. You start to giggle thinking about it, this catches Sebastian's attention. 

“Angel what's got you laughing so much, it's just a commercial?” 

“I was just thinking about when you did your interview with jennifer last year and watching friends you really are chandler.” You can't stop laughing now. Sebastian starts to laugh and hides his face in your hair feeling a little embarrassed but not to where it's bad. He inhales your scent from the shampoo you used and he knows that he is home, your his home. He can't wait to marry you. After watching your marathon. You both fell asleep on the couch, Sebastian lying lengthwise with you laying on top of him. When you first did that you were worried your weight was too much for him but he told you he loved it and to never feel any less about yourself. Sebastian showing you how cherished you were was one of the reasons you first fell in love with him. 

You never realized 4 days could go so quickly when you and Sebastain are so wrapped up in your engagement bubble. You both woke up a little later than expected on Sunday morning but it was good which meant you were not rushing to get ready for the awards by 4m. You had to push Sebastain out of the bathroom so you could take a proper shower without distractions. It took a good 10 minutes or so to finally get him out with the promise of a mind blowing BJ when you finished. That made him look at you with such lust in his eyes he couldn't hide his hard cock poking from his sweats. You went up to him and placed your hands in his hair and pulled him lightly to you in a passionate kiss. Sliding your tongue into his mouth you heard him moan and that gave you the go ahead to slide your hands down his back to grab his ass a little. That made him kiss you harder and then you brought your hands to graze his erection and give a little tug. A few seconds later you broke the kiss both of you panting and heaving chests. 

“You baby, you are a very bad girl, you better get in that shower before I won't let you and we skip the show.” “Yes sir as you wish.” With a wink over your shoulder you start to take your robe off and just before it reaches your hips you close the door on him and he lets out a frustrated groan. “I LOVE YOU!” He yells through the door. With a bit of a giggle you yell back just as loud because of how loud the shower is. “I LOVE YOU TOO SEB!” You took your time in the shower making sure you did a whole body sugar scrub to have that glowing skin and did a little trim job where it needed it. You couldn't do that with Sebastian in the shower no way. Once you got out of the shower you dried off and started with your face creams and the perfect body lotion that smelled like roses and bergamot. You left your hair in the towel since the hairstylist was coming soon to style your hair. 

You slipped on your robe and left the bathroom to see a pouty Sebastian sitting at the end of the bed. He gave you those beautiful blue eyes that make you weak in the knees and jutted out his bottom lip. “Hey there handsome, why the long face, did you miss me that much?”  Sebastian just nodded his head and gave you his hand. You walked over to him and stood between his legs. You looked down at him and he was just admiring you as he rubbed the outside of your thighs. You bent down to give him a peck on the lips while also slowly kneeling on the floor in front of him. You both didn't say a word, you didn't have to, you were both so in tune with each other. He laid back on the bed and you already saw the prominent bulge of his cock in his sweatpants. You hooked your fingers into the band and started slipping his pants off. He lifted his hips to help you along the way. 

His cock was already leaking pre cum and your mouth started to water. He propped himself on his elbows to watch you a little. “For being just a good boy I'm gonna make you feel so good baby.” You raked your fingers up his thighs and rubbed his hips a little to make him relax. You licked a thick strip from the bottom of his shaft to his leaking slit and he fell back on the bed with a loud moan. Wrapping your mouth around the tip and sucked it lapping up his cum. “Oh god baby, you know how much I love that mouth of yours.” You hum a little and his eyes roll back really trying to keep it together before he cums too fast. You're bobbing your head up and down and taking him as far as you can while using your hand to pump the rest of his huge cock. You let go of his shaft and take a deep breath in through your nose and suck in your cheeks to take him all the way, all while you tug on his balls a bit. “Holy shit y/n!” That’s what did him in and he shoots his cum down your throat and you lap up everything he gives until he brings his hand to your chin telling you he’s sensitive. You look up at him and open your mouth to show him you took down everything. He brings you up on the bed and smashes his mouth to yours in a kiss that would make you fall to your knees if you were standing. Once you both break the kiss the doorbell rings letting you know Sebastian's stylist and hair and make up have shown up. 

“Saved by the bell baby, and just in the nick of time.” “Draga mea that was amazing. What did I do to deserve you?” “All I did was ask you out on live television.” You both start laughing and then the bell rings again and almost forgot about who was at the door. Sebastian gets up and fixes his hair and pulls up his sweats, but not before you give him a pat on his butt on the way up. He gives you a look over his shoulder like you're gonna get it all you do is shrug your shoulders and tell him. “You have a great ass Seb. How can I not smack it every once in a while?” He just shakes his head and goes to let everyone in the house. 

Everyone comes into Sebastian's bedroom to set everything up while he takes a quick shower. You greet Seb’s stylist Michael with a quick hug while the MAU gets her makeup setup. You decide to connect your phone to the Bluetooth speaker in the room and put on your 90’s RnB mix on your Spotify. You're bopping to some Brandy when Sebastian comes out of the bathroom ready to get dressed. He comes over and gives you a kiss on the forehead saying a quiet ‘I love you’ before speaking to Michael about his suit for the night. You look through the mirror at him and smile just thinking that you will marry that man soon and how lucky you are at this moment. 

The suit Michael picked out for Sebastian was amazing, he looked so sexy and you convinced the hairstylist to not slick back his hair this time and left it a little fluffy on the top. You went with light makeup and winged liner and nude lip. Your hair was in a side sweep with a crystal barrette to hold it up and soft waves to your hair. Thank goodness you write NDA’s for the stylist because if they noticed the ring they didn't say anything but even if they did they still wouldn't and couldn't say anything to anyone. The car was on its way and would be at the house in 5 mins so it gave you enough time to get your earrings in and spray on a little perfume. “Printesa, are you ready the car is out front?” “I’m coming, Seb.” You put a few mints, your cell phone and a few more essentials in your clutch as you head for the door. 

Sebastian can't stop looking at the deep V neck of your dress showing how great your boobs look in it. “Hey mister eyes up here.” “Sorry baby you just look so damn beautiful and sexy in that dress.” “Well you look pretty sexy yourself there, Michael did another great job.” With a soft kiss to your lips Sebastian took your hand and led you to the waiting car. Another 45 mins in traffic and you made it to the Fairmont Hotel. Your leg was bouncing so much that Sebastain had to put his hand on you to calm you down. “Y/n everything will be alright, remember we aren't doing any interviews. Just walking the carpet and getting our picture taken. If they notice the ring just show it off for a second and we head down the line. I love you so much baby. I'm right here, don't let go of my hand.” “Okay Seb, thank you for easing my mind. I love you too.” 

Just then the door opens and Sebastian gets out and fixes his jacket and he leads you out of the car and you start to walk to the red carpet. You meet up real quick with his manager to make sure his requests are met before we walk the line. You hold your right hand in Sebastians left and start walking. You make your first stop for the cameras, trying to listen to the photographers as to where they want you to look. All of a sudden a photographer yells out “Y/N what is that beautiful piece of jewelry on your hand?” That's when the crowd and photographers go crazy. You look at Sebastian and he gives you his megawatt smile and kisses your temple. “Go ahead and show them printsesa. I want them to see how you are mine now, forever.” “I love you so much Seb.” Just then while you're still looking at Sebastian you lift up your left hand and the ring starts to sparkle with cameras flashing. 

You only hold it there for a few seconds so they can get a good look at it then you start walking back down the line. When you get to the middle Sebastian spots Lilly and he asks if it is okay if he takes a few pictures with her. You let him know it's fine she's his co star for goodness sakes. While he takes a few pictures with Lilly you are being asked questions by the photographers but you let them know you're not answering any at the moment. You walk a little further and by then he’s done with Lilly and rejoins you on the carpet for a few more pictures and you head on into the hotel for the show. 

“You did fantastic y/n I'm so glad we didn't stop for interviews, less stress.” “Yeah it was so much better and it was all because I had you by my side baby.” He gives you a hug to try and calm your nerves a little and it helps. Just as you get to your table Lilly comes over to you and gives you a hug and kiss on the cheek. “Oh my gosh y/n congratulations Sebastain told me when we took pictures, let me see this ring.” You show her your beautiful engagement ring and she gives you another hug before you feel a tap on your shoulder and turn to see Seth. He gives you a small hug and gives his congratulations as well. You both take your seats at the table and get ready for the show to start. 

Sebastian didn't get the award tonight but it didn't matter. Being in the same building as all these other fantastic actors and actresses showed him that he is worthy of being here and being a damn good actor. But in his eyes he was already a winner, with you as his fiance and more movies on the horizon for him his life is only going to get better. And all because the woman laying in his arms tonight had the guts to step out of her comfort zone and ask him out on live TV. It will be a story he can't wait to tell their kids some day. 

Taglist: @christycurlswrites @buckyalpine @frostironfudge @altagraye @allandoflimbo @peaches1958

[obscureblorbos]

König NSFW Headcanons

This imagine was brought to you by: All of you sick freaks who REALLY liked an idea that should've stayed in my head. Love y'all <3

Contents: 18+, third person, gender neutral insert, primal play, knife play, size kink, D/s (on both sides)

A/N: srsly though holy shit i wasn't expecting so many people to like my post. like,, 500 NOTES?? that's the most i've ever gotten on any of my blogs. i swear y'all encourage me to write the most deprived things on this site

As I've said in my previous post, whether he Doms or subs depends on who wins. This can range from a typical struggle for dominance, to going out into the woods for a "hunt". The chase during the latter is the most fun part. Just the thought of it leaves him anxious to find his prey. No matter his role, though, he's jittery from start to finish

Often uses names like "hase" and "maus" during these activities

König roughhouses quite a bit in these scenes. As much as he likes subbing/bottoming, he does not intend on making it easy for his partner to achieve that part of him. Neither person is leaving the scene without at least 3 bite marks and a couple nicks.

Likes to cut off his prey's clothing and use it as makeshift restraints

He can sometimes get too excited and carried away, which is why he makes sure they both remember the safeword beforehand

For sure has a size kink. The man's almost 7 ft tall, so he towers over everyone. He loves how easily he can overpower his S/O with this stature alone. His fingers can reach places they probably couldn't, and he can switch positions however he likes — use them however he likes. The momentary fear that he might actually break them makes him shudder with taboo excitement. Don't even get me started on watching them struggle to take his length-

That being said, it gets him so riled up when his smaller partner can pin him down and take what they want from him. Straddle his torso and point a knife at him, and soon enough his gnashing and growling will fade into pathetic whimpering. At some point he learns to just give in and be their victim

Overall, there's something about the mutual "You're alive because I allow it" dynamic that really sparks a flame in him

König is the type to poke and prod at his partner when he's in a certain (bratty) mood. Like he'll genuinely piss them off sometimes, and when they finally tell him to shut up, he uses his large frame to corner them

"And what happens if I don't?"

Also really enjoys praise. Being called a "good boy" makes shivers run up his spine. Internally, he wants to drop to his knees and do whatever his S/O desires at the mere slip of those magic words, but usually decides not to in favor of playing hard-to-get

Curses in German in the heat of the moment

A mean top. He likes to tease and demean his S/O, and makes them earn everything he does to them. He gets off on his sub begging for his touch — telling him how much they need him

I say he likes to tease, but that's only half true. König enjoys the tension that comes from saying and doing certain things, and playfully getting himself in trouble. However, he does not have enough patience for orgasm denial or edging. He can only tolerate one instance before ramming into his partner, regardless of what role he was meant to be in

Words of affirmation are essential during aftercare — giving and receiving. He needs reassurance that his partner doesn't mean all the nasty things they've said and done — that there was no real hatred behind that. He's often on edge when it comes to being vulnerable at any capacity, so praise gives him some momentary peace of mind. He extends the same treatment to his partner, since his type of play as a Dom isn't far off from what he does in battle

[toots-senpai]

Eyes of the Predator

Author: @toots-senpai

Fandom: creepypasta

Pairing: jeff the killer x reader

Rating: R 18+

Word Count: 643

Warnings: gore! eye contact, murder, blood!, cunnilingus

MINORS DNI

i don't except follows from ageless blogs, you will be blocked!!

Jeff has these eyes, there's something about them that has you compelled to look into them a little longer. His gaze is soft yet piercing, like a small child who came in for a hug just to stab you in the back. You're utterly magnetized to his gaze. If it's walking past a window shop or walking past the bathroom mirror your glances will catch and lock for a few seconds. It's become so much of a habit that it's probably what has locked you in this toxic relationship. Every time you don't fully catch his glance he'll forcefully make you look at him instead. It's always a thrill to read his body language just through his glances, whether it's the cold murderous pierce through your pupils, the romance drunk look that suffocates your iris's or its the normal sad look of Jeff. The one that's deep and heavy compared to his usual look of chaos, that one just screams for you to look deep into his eyes and tell him everything is okay and that you're here for him until his eyes bubble up and his tears freeze before the slip off his scarred cheeks.

This relationship, is going too far. Public displays of affection turn into public murders turn into toxic hot bloody sex. He'll sacrifice everything for you. Your happiness means the world to him and all he wants in return is your eyes looking up at his. Maybe more so down at him. Eyes locked as your hips shake as he holds you up on his shoulders, tongue and cheeks scarping your thighs and your velvety cunt. It's too much to handle. Especially now. Jeff, has a habit of bringing you two into bad situations as well, his anger getting ahold of him and he'll lash out at anything that pisses him off. So, you're in a club, somehow. Blood's splashed all over the walls and your skin and what started out as an orgy turned into a murder scene with no survivors and Jeff, he nonchalantly lays down on the gigantic mattress in the middle of the room. Sheets containing a pile of bodies and guts are rolling off of the bed and he.. is laying in it all. You could gag. The woman in front of you, she was just trying to get out. You knew no one in here and Jeff only knew the person he killed first. The invitee hanging limply from his arms on a statue, dead after being stabbed swiftly by Jeff during an argument. 'How do you have an argument during an orgy?' The tiny voice in your head can ask but honestly, the only thing you can comprehend is all the blood around you. Red, everywhere you looked and Jeff comes behind you softly but it doesn't help. His reassurance, it's fake but when he tilts your chin to lock at the giant mirror and your eyes lock, the fantasy reappears and it's all real.

His eyes are laced in his romantic dream world and while you were freaking out, the blood around you two has been riling him up. You are such a good lover for him, as soon as he swiped and sliced, you did too. You played your part to the bitter end and here you are. A bloody treat in front of him. Your hair and skin soaked with blood and if he wasn't so sure about the health conditions of everyone around he would think before going to lick up the blood off your smooth skin but this stupid party fit his fantasy. Every single one, just like the stupid guy he met said and you complete whatever fantasy he wanted from the beginning. Once your eyes lock and his fingers rub between your thighs, his fantasy has come true and you are playing every role.

[allkordelia]

Left Out in the Cold

Tsk...tsk..tsk..secrets...secrets...secrets

After a few weeks has past, it felt like everything was getting back to normal. I was lucky to have the wedding pushed back a bit longer since what happened, and having my uncle and aunt pestered me about the night of the party and what happened. I lied to them telling them I didn't remember, and played obscure when they told me how I was ranting nonsense about the devil and whatnot.

They seem to buy it somewhat Vi still had her suspension, but Elijah was happy to put it all behind us and move on with our lives...shows how much he cares. Not long after being cleared, Elijah threw a party to celebrate my recovery (aka my hell) where everyone stared and walked around me as if I was made of pocelian glass.

I would usually be by Elodie or Peter to hide me from those fools, but I been dodging them for days. Everytime I saw one of them I would hide, but after a well I just left to my studies because I couldn't be bothered to keep hiding in my own home. I felt like a child all over again all alone with nobody to be there when you need them, I have Sébastien but he travles since his first book came out and when his not traveling his hosting parties with his new friends he made through Europe. Then Luther is still away traveling across the seven seas leaving her to deal with his father, but on the upside I still had Vi and baby sammy to keep me sane.

The sound of knocking on my door woke me from my sleep, I looked over to my clock to see it was 5 o'clock in the morning. I groaned getting out of bed before walking to my door, my brain was too tired to register who walked passed me and into my room.

"Hello to you, too." I yawned going to my bed, I got in and pulled the coveres over me and notice Sébastien pacing around my room.

"What got you riled up?"

"I need to tell you something and its really bad...very very bad." He said stopping before walking to sit at the edge of the bed, I looked at him with raised eyebrow.

"Go on." He sighed before running his hand through his locks anxious.

"Well, you know how I throw parties for my special friends...." he says lowly making me nod.

"I don't know how but your little friend Gray got in invited to my party by one of my guest." My eyes widen sitting up.

"What?" I asked shocked.

"Yes, he came in with a fellow I met in Switzerland and apparently him and Gray go back." He spouted shaking his head.

"So? Dorian traveled around I mean he bound to meet people along the way." I shrugged, Sébastien looked me the eyes.

"The man said he meet Dorian in 1893." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Just like Elodie's mother and grandmother."

"Wait...he meet Elodie's family in 1893?" He questioned.

"No, he meet them in 1886 same time he met my uncle and Harry. I saw a photo of them in my uncle's office once and it was dated that same year." Sébastien looked shocked as he leaned back thinking.

"That doesn't make any sense that was nearly 25 years ago, but he looks like he could still be in his early 20s. Who the hell is this man." Sébastien mumbles freaking out.

"It didn't make sense to me either when he brung it up, I think I heard someone ask him about it and he said something about some cream he use." I rolled my eyes at the possibility of face cream that could make you look younger.

"What you mean he brung it up?"

"I told you he knew Elodie's mother and grandmother very well which I now realize means they fucked." We both grimace at the thought of it, I shook my head trying to get back on topic.

"Peter and I thought he was joking, but when we told him it was Elodie's party he was confused and thought Elodie was Cecilia." I remember his face brighten when he realized that Elodie wasn't the only child and brought up a bet.

"....Amelia." I looked up at him, "I left out a small  detail from the party." He said nervously.

"What?"

"After, our mutual friend left...uhhh...Dorian wanted to have a look around since it belong to an old friend of his..." he looked at me fidgeting.

"We went into a room that I use to store my old paintings, and he looked around telling me about being painted in there..." he shook his head stopping.

"Mind you I was still very freaked out about what happened a couple days ago, and we started talking and...." he looked at me with a gulity look.

"We ended up on the floor of the studio...having sex." He rushed out covering his face with his hands.

"WHAT!?!?!" I exclaimed loudly, he moved forward covering my mouth.

"Ssshhhh please be quiet." I looked at him bewildered, I slapped him across the cheek making him remove his hand and covered his cheek in shock. I pushed him making him land flat on his back by my side, I  sit up on my knees looking down at him.

"What is wrong with you?" I looked down at him angry, he looked away  hurt as I yelled at him.

"How can you be so stupid? We don't know nothing about this man and only the lord knows what he may got and you sleep with him." He looked up at me confused.

"What?" He said shock, I glared at him before tapping his forehead with the palm of my hand making hissed in pain.

"Do. I. Need. To. Say. It. Slowly. To. You–"  I stopped as Sébastien flung his arms around me making me slap his back.

"Get off me." I hissed, he squeezed me tight making me roll my eyes.

"You have no idea how happy I am right now." He pulled away as I glared at him.

"Your really trying to piss me off, aren't you?"

"No, that's not my intention." I raised my eyebrow, he sighed before sitting down.

"I'm just happy your not mad about me being..." he didn't finished, but I knew what he was trying to say.

"Being what? Exceptional? " He smiled.

"I always knew you were...anomalous, I never mind it. All that matter is you are happy." I smiled back at him.

"Thank you, Amelia." He grinned blushing.

"But..." I said making him furrowed his eyebrows, "I'm not too keen on what went on between you and Dorian." He sighed rubbing the back of his neck.

"I couldn't help it his voice was sweet like honey when talking about his travels and those innocent beautiful brown doe eyes..." he said breathly before stopping noticing I was looking at him in dismay.

"He was enchanting, okay. He kissed me first and his lips felt so soft and I couldn't help but kiss back. One thing lead to another we were on the floor...naked." He said awkwardly, I shook my head I couldn't blame Sébastien for being smitten with him.

"I would be lying if I say I didn't get smitten when we first meet." Sébastien looked surprised at me.

"Really?" He chuckled.

"Yeah, than he opened his mouth and everything just went down hill from there..." We giggled.

"You know his having a party today, maybe we should snoop around and see what's his hiding." I laughed at Sébastien suggestion.

"Yeah, sure well you distract him with your cute butt. I can go snooping around." I giggled, he looked at me with a look making me shake my head.

"No. Nope, not happening."

"Why not? Aren't you curious what he got hidden in that house and i always knew you been checking out my butt. " He grinned making me roll my eyes.

"Gulity as charge, but back to what i was saying why the sudden courage to snoop around his estate."

"Because after our..." he turned red, "sex act I saw a key he had on a chain around his neck and I got to thinking what if his hiding something in his house that he don't want anyone to see." I grew intrigued with this new peice of information.

"Interesting." I looked at Sébastien as he waited for me to give him an answer, "Fine, but you be on look out and if you have to seducing him I think your the man for the job." He grabbed one of my pillows and threw it in my face making me laugh.

Sébastien and I talked about how we were going to snoop without getting caught by Dorian or by the guests, since it was still early in the morning Sébastien slept over and we went to sleep until the sun came up.

[chloe-spade]

Time Travel is Forbidden for a Reason - Savanaclaw

Franklyn coughed as soon as the mist settles, they seem to be back at Savanaclaw, along with Shun.

He knows the location well, but he didn't know how they were there. The only thing they remember was Caramel's magic going a bit haywire.

"We're back to Savanaclaw?" asked Shun, looking around, "didn't know a freshman could do a simple transportation spell."

Franklyn looked around, hoping he might see them nearby.

"This is bad, I don't why, but I have a bad feeling." Shun sighs to himself. "And I'm at Savanaclaw at all places. Out of all the places, why here?"

"Could you not complain for at least a moment? I can't find anyone," Franklyn freaked out, still looking around.

"Calm down, little wolf," Shun groaned, "We're just back at school, as maybe so did the others. We can just the headmage what happened."

"Easy for you to say," Franklyn muttered, looking down.

Shun rolls his eyes, grabbing his shoulder.

"Well, that's what you get for having a troublesome track record. And I'm taking responsibility for you, so you listen up. Calm down and breathe. We will figure this out, just stay calm."

Franklyn just nods and breathes, slowly calming down, following Shun's breathing patterns.

"Hey! Back off," a Savanaclaw student cried from afar as he and another student walked towards them.

"Great...." Franklyn mumbles. "We have company."

"Excuse me? Did you need something?" Shun groaned as he looked up at the two students. "If not, I suggest you leave us alone?"

"You have a lot of nerve of coming here and pushing us around," the student growled, preparing for a fight.

Franklyn stepped in front of them. "Woah, hey," he interjects, "we're friends so...can you leave us alone and mind your own business? We have done nothing to you."

"Well, I don't expect someone from Savanaclaw to be pushed around by some know-it rich kid," One of the students mocked.

"I'm rather surprised that this snobby student preferred this scrawny kid as a friend in the first place." Another student laughed.

"Oh, you'd think I'd rather be friends with some barbaric no brained incels? Hard Pass." Shun barked.

"I don't think they wanted to be friends in the first place," Franklyn remarked. "They're just bullies with no remorse."

"Aw, are you hiding behind him like a little baby?" The student mocked.

"We don't have time for this," Shun hissed, grabbing Franklyn's arm, "It's about time we leave."

"Pssh, I can't believe one of our students has become the rich kid's puppy dog," One hissed.

Both stopped as the students laughed. mocking Franklyn increasingly.

Shun kept a grip on Franklyn, "Whatever you are thinking, don't. They are not worth our time. I mean it, Franklyn."

Franklyn was silent until he turned to the students, his eyes glaring, and wolf ears pulled back.

"WHO ARE CALLING PUPPY!? COME ON, FESS UP!" Franklyn yelled.

"Aw, are you having a temper tantrum now?"

Franklyn growled as Shun tried to hold him back.

"Franklyn, what did I tell you?! I don't want you back in detention over stupid stuff like this?!"

One student noticed Shun's lion features and grew an awful grin on his face. "So..How did someone like you get into Pomefiore? You must be some cowardly lion or more of all a disappointment to your family. I wonder what they may think of you?"

Shun groaned at the badly attempted insult.

Franklyn, however, was more riled up.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT TO MY FRIEND?! AT LEAST HE IS ACTUALLY A SMART EDUCATED STUDENT WHILE YOU TWO MIGHT BE REPEATS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIVES?!"

Shun sighs and steps back, accidentally bumping into another person. "I apologize," he says, stepping forward and turning around to look at the person. As soon as he saw who it was in, he became quiet.

That person is Leona Kingscholar, who is clearly not pleased with the situation.

Everyone stopped as the two students saw their dorm leader, letting Franklyn continue his insults and fury at them.

"Gone silent now?" Franklyn mocked. "That's what I thought, you two are cowards."

"Franklyn," Shun whispered, "I suggest you shut up."

"Oh...Heyy, Dorm Leader Leona, we didn't know you'd be napping around here." The student stammered, "we didn't mean to wake you up."

"I would be taking my nap but since a group of disruptive children decided to wake me up, I can't go back to sleep."

Franklyn stayed silent, looking at anything, except for Leona.

"We're leaving, sorry housewarden....bye!" They left in a hurry.

Franklyn immediately goes to Shun and cowards into him, quivering at the sight of Leona.

Leona groaned. "What's with him? A few moments ago, he acted like a know-it-all not shivering like a coward..."

"W-well," Shun stumbled, "He is meeting with his housewarden, and second o-of all, we didn't m-mean to wake you up."

"Now I need to go look for a new place to sleep. And I hope you don't tell your housewarden because I don't want to deal with him either. So if you better not yap to your dorm about this. Or to anyone else."

"Is he seriously threatening us?!" Franklyn gasped.

"He's not threatening us, we just disturbed him," Shun whispered.

Leona yawns as he begins to walk away. "Do whatever you want. I'm leaving."

Shun and Franklyn watched Leona leave, and when he was gone, they looked at each other.

"Ok, this is not normal, that was not normal, and we need to go."

"Couldn't agree more!"

With that, they ran to the nearby stadium, with Franklyn looking around for any passersby and or more students. After a few minutes, he concluded the coast was clear.

"Ok, the coast is clear." A moment of silence. "WHAT WAS THAT!?

"I don't know," Shun replied sarcastically, "we just so happened to meet my father, in the past!?"

"And he's still menacing as I can remember,"

"He's not menacing, he's just tired. And unfortunately, more irresponsible. I can't believe he let those two get away with that. Not that it matters now."

After a moment of silence, Shun's expression was now drained and full of worry.

"Ok, you have that worried face. Are we being watched!?"

Shun shakes his head. "No, I'm worried about Lydia, she'll be all alone, by herself, without me to protect her and the worst part is, I don't know where she is!? Or is she even in the same timeline!?"

Franklyn gulps.

"I don't want to think about it. I'm worried about everyone, especially Lydia. If everyone is here, we'll be in luck."

His ears twitched as he heard something from a distance, the same as Shun.

"You heard that, right?" Whispered Franklyn

"Obviously,"

Franklyn sighs. "Look, I know you're stressed about this, I am too, but in this situation, we might as well keep calm and not yell into the air.

"That's a lot coming from you," Shun remarked.

"I'm doing this for the both of us, ok? Cause my stress is through the roof and you're pretty close."

"I'm pretty sure that I'm going to strangle Caramel when I see her. "

"Please don't..." Franklyn whispered.

Another rustle was heard, causing them to jump.

It was steps, footsteps.

From whom?

Before seeing who, Shun pulled Franklyn to a nearby closet, keeping an eye on a small peek.

A familiar laugh was nearby. The laugh of a certain hyena.

Shun and Franklyn, even though they were silent, they looked at each with an expression of worry.

"Oh, boy, now, where did they go?" Ruggie laughs to himself, looking around with a grin.

"Ruggie, can we not scare them? They're already terrified as is." Jack asked, walking towards Ruggie.

Franklyn gasped, his ears perking up. He knew that voice.

"Ruggie, it's plainly obvious where they decided to hide," Leona added, walking by. "We're here to question them."

"I know, but I like it to be a little game, to keep them on their toes."

Ruggie slowly tiptoes to the supply closet, shushing the two bystanders.

As soon as he opened the door, both Franklyn and Shun fell to the ground with a bump.

"Oh...I didn't expect that."

"Franklyn, I told you to stay still." Shun groaned.

"I'm sorry that it wasn't easy to stay on the wall while freaking out!" Franklyn whined.

"Well, Well, what do we have here? Two lonely students," Ruggie teased with a grin.

Leona came by and looked down at them. "You could've picked a better hiding place, y'know. This is sad to witness."

"I mean, they were scared, so I don't nearly blame them."

Franklyn's breath hitched, as he grabbed onto Shun again.

They got up, groaning in pain.

"Now thinking about it, you do look like Leona, just a smidge," Ruggie says, walking around them.

"Do you really think he looks like me? Because he sure acts like another person I know." Leona mumbled.

"I mean, physically, yep! But I can also tell he is less of an asshole."

Jack looked at Franklyn up and down, examining him. Franklyn did the same, both having a no-word conversation.

"What are you two doing?"

"My bad, but he reminds me of someone, that's all."

Franklyn opened his mouth to say something but stopped and just nodded in agreement.

"How about we get back to the dorm and you answer our questions?"

"Why would you want to interrogate us in the first place, nor do I have the time to."

"Because you two randomly appear at my dorm, disturbed my nap, and apparently you two are from the future."

"How much did you hear?" Franklyn asked.

"Hmm, almost everything," Jack answered.

"I may be lazy, but I am also a dorm leader, and bold to assume id let you two get away scot-free."

"And because of this, he had to drag both of us into it. So now you owe us."

"You were the one dragging me, Ruggie."

"That's because you have good hearing." Ruggie shrugs.

After a lot of convincing, mostly from Jack, they all walked to the dorms in awkward silence. It was an awkward walk, mostly because of Leona and his thinking process. Jack and Franklyn attempted to make some small talk as well.

"So," Franklyn started, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything really."

"I have one," Leona blurted, "How were you two able to time travel? Knowing you two, you should know that it was one of the forbidden spells?"

"Well, let's say something...happened back in our time."

"Oh, don't sugarcoat it. Caramel Spade sent us to the past, we don't know how but she did it. Not only does it turn out there are more of us than the two of us, but I'm sorry but you may have to raincheck in that nap. Not only that we are in the past, but my sister is missing, so I'm sorry but I am this closer to walking away and finding her myself."

Franklyn gasped. "Shun, you need to calm down for else he'll kill us!"

"Oh hush, Franklyn, he's not going to hurt us. For one, he is my literal father, and two, if he tries to hurt us, my other father will beat his ass."

"Speaking of which," Ruggie smirks, "who is your other father? I'm curious now."

Leona sighs, "I don't like where this is going. And young man, as your father, I don't you telling them, by extension, me."

"In this state, he's not going to listen." Franklyn sighs.

"I mean," Jack started, "He already me of Vil. Considering his tone and his dorm uniform could be a dead giveaway."

"And so, what?" Shun hissed.

"Now, that's Leona." Ruggie chuckles.

"Vil Schoenheit is my father, married into the Kingscholar Royal Family."

"I knew it! I knew it! You owe me big time buddy!" Ruggie laughs at Leona. "You said that he wasn't but we both knew."

Leona stopped in disbelief, the only expression was one of confusion and processing.

"Ok, what happens in my life to make me fall in love with him?"

Ruggie burst out laughing, holding his stomach tight, and Jack was also in disbelief.

"But they hate each other."

"Well...used to," Franklyn muttered.

"So... why him?" Leona asked.

"Hey, I can't tell you everything, it could ruin everything, ruin your and more importantly my future."

Leona groaned. "Of course, you would say that. I don't know why I bother asking now."

"Well, you are curious," Shun muttered. "You asked, I answer."

"Yeah," Franklyn agreed, "But I apologized to Shun, he's having a breakdown considering that his sister is somewhere around here and he's panicking."

"Oh...I have two kids, and one's missing. This...is not what I expected when Ruggie woke me up today," Leona murmurs, shaking his head.

"Yeah, and I know I wouldn't miss this," Ruggie chuckled, "My day has just gotten so much better because of this."

"Of course, Uncle Ruggie is enjoying this," Franklyn sighs.

"Aw, I'm your uncle? I'm flattered."

"Why do I trust him with my kids?"

"Even I don't have an answer to this."

****

Leona was now sitting down in the Savanaclaw Lounge Area, fully accepting what has happened in the past hour.

"I have two children with one of the most annoying people in my life. One is now a Pomefiore Housewarden and the other is one of the most powerful mages of her age." Silence. "Sounds about right.” Leona chuckles to himself. "I should consider myself lucky, but...I mean, I am happy that my future is seemingly bright, It's Vil that's throwing me off."

"Yeah, I guess so," Ruggie noted," Vil is like the last person you would be with, and personally I find it hilarious, even though it's confusing."

"Well," Leona looks over, "I do have positive feelings, but I didn't expect those types of feelings."

Ruggie's ears perked up. "Oh, I didn't know you could even have those types of feelings," Ruggie chuckles, "The only time I see you happy is when you are prideful or smug. And that's rare."

"Shut up, I know,"

Ruggie chuckles, "Oh please, I know you love them as much as you like Cheka. You're just surprisingly good at hiding positive feelings. There's a hidden romance between you and Vil that I didn't realize. I could ask Rook, just in case,"

Leona huffs at Ruggie. "Even if I did, why would he fall for me? Hell, we've been rivals for so many years and the only reason I decided to make amends is that he's Jack's childhood friend."

"That means you care,"

"This conversation is over,"

"Aw, I made Leona blush," Ruggie teased.

Leona walks over to the two teenagers.

"We can't stay here," Shun mutters, "I can't leave her, I just can't, not after what happened when we were children.

"Lydia's a strong mage," Franklyn soothes, "I think she can handle herself, and we know she can handle herself."

"I know! But I can't leave her alone, what if she's by herself with no one else."

"Look, I would like to help you but Leona and Ruggie think it's best to inform the other housewardens about your arrival, so we must stay here for the time being."

"Appreciated, but I can't stay here, without knowing about Lydia's condition in this place, where she is, and what if someone hurts her? I would be remised as a brother to not find her immediately."

"Was he always this overprotective?" Leona groaned.

"This is just the tip of the overprotective iceberg." Franklyn groaned.

"Now, we figured out about Shun," Ruggie started, "but who're your parents?"

"Seriously, Ruggie, why are you curious now? It's so obvious." Leona asked.

"To us, yes, but to him, no."

"Have you not listened to us about affecting the timeline, so I don't think I'm allowed to tell you, like at all." Franklyn looks down.

"But Shun broke that rule already when he rambled on our way here," Jack reminded, "So, I think it's best to tell us in case,"

"Holy shit, you actually don't realize? It's so obvious."

"Give him some slack, I think the fur color is messing with his head."

Jack looks confused as he looks back at Franklyn.

"Not now, please," Franklyn said.

"Oh, that reminds me, your hair reminds me of Epel. a friend of mine,"

Silence filled the room, as Leona and Ruggie look at Jack, dumbfounded that he hasn't realized who Franklyn's future parents are.

"I...I have no words," Ruggie whispered, "He just said that, and he said that,"

"Wait a few moments," Leona whispered," Jack may be an idiot, but we should let him process-"

"You're Epel's son!?"

"There it is."

"How do you not recognize me?!" Franklyn shouted, "My ears and tail should have given this away a while ago!"

"Oh," Jack said, that was probably the only thing he could say at that moment," I...um, I..."

"What kind of accent was that?" Ruggie asked, "That new,"

"It's an Harveston accent," Jack said.

"Oh my god, your son acts and looks like Epel, that's a double whammy right here," Leona chuckles.

"I cannot believe it," Jack whispered, "You're my son from the future, and I'm with my best friend...meaning we'd get married and start a family,"

"Oh, my seven, his tail is wagging!" Ruggie commented

"So is Franklyn's..."

"Yes, I'm your future son. And sorry for not mentioning it sooner."

Jack pat Franklyn's head, "It's alright, I understand why you didn't want to say anything at first because of the whole-time paradox thing," Jack said, "But it's really awesome I get to have a family with my best friend,"

"Yippie for you," Leona sarcastically mumbled, "Now, I think it's time to alert the other housewardens before this becomes worse. Now, let's see.... where the hell is Shun?"

They all looked around but Shun was nowhere to be found.

"He sneaked out on us," Ruggie gasped, "He is Leona's son."

"And a major pain in the ass."

[heloisedaphnebrightmore]

Open your eyes [Bucky Barnes x Reader]

Title: Open your eyes Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Female!Reader Word count: 5.8k Published: 23 May 2021 Author: Heloise Daphne Brightmore Notes: My first Bucky fic, so go easy on me :D Warnings: Stabbing, shooting, injury, typical avengers stuff Summary: It’s been over two years since you met Bucky and slowly but steadily you grew closer to each other to the point where you started developing feelings for him. It seemed you were on the right path to maybe establish more than a friendship, but that was until he decided to push you away without an explanation.

Marvel Characters Masterlist | Masterlists

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You were running across the metal bridge of the submarine, trying to get to the engine room when you caught sight of a Hydra agent. You could have left him; you could have shot him. Either way you could have just followed the order you have been given and head to the engine room. But it was boring and at times you found recklessness more fun than to just follow orders that didn't satisfy your playful needs. As though you were a cat, you jumped from the bridge lending on the lower level, barely causing any sound that would be out of the ordinary. A proud smile appeared on your face as you sneaked up behind the man and tapped his shoulder. He turned around in a quick movement, gun pointing right at your chest.

"Well, hello pretty boy," you smirked, your tone inviting and flirtatious, causing the man to smile at you as though he lost focus of his mission. "It's a shame that you have to leave so soon," you chuckled, a devilish tone to your voice. His eyes widened as you grabbed his gun, pointed it upwards and stabbed your knife into his flash, a silent scream escaping his lips, before his body landed on the floor.

"Is this really necessary," Bucky appeared on the deck above you, jumping down to your level as he rolled his eyes.

"Is the big Bucky Barnes jealous?" You snickered. You knew he would never admit it, but you were more than just a fellow colleague of some sort.

"No?" He replied, though it was more of a question than a stern statement. "I just don't think all these little games of yours are unnecessary," he added quickly, trying to change the subject as he always did.

"Come on, Barnes, let me have fun," you groaned. "I like to play with my toys," you offered him a mischievous smile as you stepped closer to him, your chest flush against his. You felt his heartbeat quicken, his breathing turning shallow as your lips grazed across his. His light blue eyes usually held kindness behind them, but as a darker shade took over, you could feel his lust surface. "You could be one of them if you didn't play hard to get," you bit on your bottom lip as you jabbed your knife under his arm right into the man's stomach behind him. "I would treat you better though," you chuckled as you stepped back, swiftly pulling your knife out of the man. Bucky looked over his shoulder, his attacker lying across the metal floor. "You're welcome," you winked at him as he shook his head and rolled his eyes, but you didn't miss the tiny smile in the corner of his lips and the barely visible pink tint spreading across his cheeks.

"You know you could do all this without being too dramatic, right?" He asked, heaving a heavy sigh.

"What would be the fun in that?" You laughed, leaving the man behind, and heading towards the engine room.

It took you a couple of bruises and scrapes to get through the heavily protected area, but with Bucky's help you finally found yourself surrounded by the submarine's engines. "We are here, what now?" Holding onto your earpiece, you waited for a reply from someone who understood physics more than you did.

"There are two wheels, one on each engine," you heard Tony's voice and you started looking for the objects, walking around the gigantic metal machines surrounding you. "They look like circles," he added, earning a loud groan from you.

"Just because I don't understand engines, it doesn't mean I'm stupid, old man," you huffed, a silent chuckle leaving Bucky's lungs. "Do you think something's funny?" Your head shot back around; a deadly gaze directed at the man.

"Considering you have walked past the wheels twice already—" he snickered without finishing his sentence as he watched your face turn confused before a sharp exhale left your lungs.

"I hate both of you," you groaned as you stomped back towards one of the wheels, whilst Bucky grabbed the other one. As hard as you tried, yours didn't even move an inch, and whilst Bucky had his vibranium arm, even he was struggling with the jammed object. "You can barely turn it with your god-like powers, how am I supposed to move it?" You huffed as you watched him struggle. "Can't we just blow it up?" You asked somewhat trying to joke around, but partially being serious.

"No!" You heard Rogers' panicked voice. "No smashing, no blowing, nothing that could cause bigger damage," he instructed you in a firm tone.

"Fine!" You huffed. "You are boring," whining, you finally concentrated back on the wheels, but it didn't want to budge.

"Move," Bucky said as he stepped beside you and peeled your hands off the wheel.

"What a gentleman," you snickered, placing a hand on his shoulder. "There are a couple of other things in my room you could help out with," you chuckled as a loud, throaty groan left his lungs. It was a mystery if the sound was caused by your words, the hard work he was putting into moving the wheel or both for that matter. But either way, you loved riling him up.

"We are good," Bucky spoke in his earpiece as the submarine started moving again, causing you to unsteadily stumble back, before Bucky wrapped his arm around your waist and caught you. His gaze fell on you, watching you intensely, almost as though he was studying you. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," you replied with an innocent expression. "As far as I'm concerned you are the one holding me," your gaze turned to his arm, still wrapped around you strongly. As much as you wished to smile, you had to stop your facial muscles from forming a smile and giving you away. He quickly let go of you and heaved a heavy sigh.

"There's always a double meaning to your sentences, always telling me suggestive things, always flirting with me," he exhaled sharply.

"I thought I made myself very obvious," you chuckled, trying to mask how awkward you felt having to say what you felt out loud. "I like you, Barnes," his eyes widened at your words, but he quickly composed himself, as though a part of him already knew it.

"You can't keep thinking about things like this when we are busy trying to just survive missions after missions," his tone was commanding as if he was telling you to stop your feelings at all costs, but his gaze seemed different. It was soft and caring, the complete opposite of his words.

"The world is always in a war, it's inevitable. And even if I tried, I would not be able to just put a stop to my feelings. You know damn well that's not how it works," you scoffed.

"Well, you have to learn then. I'm over 100 years old, I could be your grandfather," he argued, earning a deep frown from you.

"James Buchanan Barnes, are you trying to make up excuses?" You asked as you folded your arms in front of your chest. "Because it sounds like you are trying to convince yourself why you shouldn't have feelings for me."

"I don't have time for this little game of yours," he replied sternly as he started heading back to the control room. You pulled a face, grimacing at the man, sulking in a child-like manner. "Just because I don't see you, it doesn't mean I don't know about the faces you make," he let out a silent chuckle, earning a confused look from you.

"God, you freak me out sometimes," you huffed as you followed in his steps.

"Can you two please stop flirting and get back?" Stark spoke up in your earpiece, earning an annoyed huff from you. Silently, you both headed to the upper deck to meet the rest of the crew, finally getting rid of Hydra on the ship, and stopping them from taking over the submarine.

It took another 5 hours for you to get back to the compound, but when you finally did, you dropped down on the couch in the lounge, exhaling deeply, feeling your body relax on the soft sofa.

"Some space would be nice," Natasha spoke standing beside the couch with a small smile and a questioningly raised brow.

"Just so you see how generous I can be," you smirked proudly and sat up, offering her the other side of the sofa.

"Very much so," she chuckled, but it quickly died down as Tony asked for your attention.

As usual, he talked about the efficiency and effectiveness of the mission and team performance and by the time he finished you were about to take a nap on Natasha's shoulder, drifting into a short slumber. But you couldn't sleep just yet as you felt her shoulder move, silently shaking you awake. You offered her a deadly gaze, before you realised everyone was already gone.

"Oh, we're done?" You asked as you looked around and stretched your back, standing up from the sofa. Natasha nodded in response and ushered you to head to your room, suggesting you didn't look too well which earned a grimace from you.

You attempted to rest and try to finally have a good night sleep, but unfortunately after hours of rolling and groaning you gave in. However you tried, you just couldn't get yourself to sleep and it left you frustrated. You wished to be able to control your mind and forget about certain things whenever you wanted, but unfortunately you couldn't do that, and it always left you with one particular person on your mind.

James Buchanan Barnes.

You were wary of him at the beginning, he was the Winter soldier after all, and you have heard and seen what he was capable of. But the trust Steve put in his friend pushed you to give him a chance too and you never regretted it. When you finally got closer to him and he opened up to you, talking about his past, you couldn't possibly imagine how he could keep himself in one piece. The pain, the trauma, the memories that haunted him scared you, even though you weren't the one living them all over again.

But somewhere along the line, you fell for him. You tried to spend more time with him and at first, he seemed interested, you were there for each other whenever in need, but something has changed. That night played in your head over and over again, hoping to understand what went wrong, but you couldn't find the solution.

You were seated on his bed, leaning against the headboard as he placed his head on your lap. Caressing his hair gently, playing with his long locks always soothed his worries and you hoped he would feel better. Sometimes you weren't sure how to make him feel better, so you did what you always did, listened to him.

"I— I can just hear their screams, the last terrified look in their eyes, the realisation that— that they are about to die," his voice was shaking as he stumbled across his words. You ran your fingers across his hair, removing the escaped locks from his face. "All these memories are coming back, and I just— I just don't know what to do," a heavy sigh left his lungs, as though trying to get rid of all the horrible memories.

"It's not your fault, you are not responsible for it. You weren't in your right mind, Bucky, they were controlling you" you tried to sooth his worries, but it didn't seem to work. He shook his head, another throaty sigh escaping his lips.

"But it was me. Regardless of not being in control of my own mind and body, it was still me," he groaned as sat up, looking into your eyes. Placing a hand on his cheek, you caressed his stubbly face, hoping it would calm him down. He tilted his head into your palm, enjoying the feel of your warm touch, but then he turned away and abruptly stood up.

"Hey, are you okay?" You asked as you stood up from the bed and walked up behind him, placing your hands on each of his shoulders, squeezing them reassuringly.

"I think you should leave," he spoke, but his gaze didn't meet yours again. He avoided looking at you and even though you wanted to object, you understood he needed space.

However, that space was standing between you for the past 3 months. You were understanding and supportive, knowing of his past it was inevitable that he needed to think things through, but you were tired of waiting. It's been 2 years since you fell for the man and it didn't help that he was always close to you physically, but never enough to be able to touch him mentally. You knew he wasn't indifferent towards you, there was an invisible connection between the two of you, but he clearly avoided you and paused whatever was going on before he decided to keep his distance. You tried to keep your cool and act as though it didn't affect you, but as time passed, it started to become hard to put on a brave face.

Shaking your head, trying to get rid of your thoughts, you jumped out from your bed. Attempting to cool yourself down, you headed to the kitchen to grab something to drink, your throat feeling as though it was covered in cotton.

"Can't sleep?" Rogers' spoke as he stepped inside the kitchen, watching you take out a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Not really. I'm guessing you are struggling too," you raised a brow, earning a nod from the man.

"I'm glad we can't sleep. I meant to talk to you," he spoke as you took a quick chug of your water, a questioning expression painted across your face.

"What about?" You asked with a deep frown. It wasn't often that Steve and you had anything to talk about unless it was to do with a mission. "If you plan to scold me for my behaviour today, just save it," you added, already prepared for his nagging.

"Actually, it's not about that. It's more of a personal matter," he replied as he took a seat at the dining table, pulling out the chair beside him to offer you a place to sit. You furrowed at the subject matter; personal subjects weren't your thing after all.

"What did I do?" You asked cautiously, earning a silent chuckle from Steve.

"Nothing, I just wanted to talk to you about Bucky," he spoke as your eyes widened in surprise. "I'm not blind, none of us are and your little conversation today didn't go unnoticed," he pointed at his ear. You felt your cheeks warm up as you realised, they have all heard your confession. Scrunching your nose, you awkwardly cleared your throat and whispered an apology. "No, no, don't apologise, please, it's fine. But it made me want to talk to you even more."

"I know you are Bucky's best friend, but I don't think we should have this discussion," you chuckled awkwardly, uncertain of how to react.

"I agree and I don't want to go into details. He is a very good friend of mine and it's not my place to talk about him with you, but I thought it would be important to tell you that since you have been around, he has changed. I know he doesn't show it well, but he cares for you. He just needs time to understand himself and you and the situation you are in," he explained with a soft smile.

"Do you think I don't know? I see how he looks at me, I see how he behaves around me. The little things that he does whenever I'm in need of help. But I can't possibly do anything when your friend makes up the stupidest excuses to suppress his feelings and pushes me away," you shook your head in response.

"Just give him time. He will come around. There's a limit to how long he can lie to himself," he attempted to encourage you.

"Look, I can't possibly understand what he has been through, but I can only hope he gets it together, because I'm running out of options," you pursed your lips in a humorous manner to lighten the mood as you stood up from your chair. "Two years, it's been two years, Cap," you chuckled darkly. "At this point, even a rejection is better than tiptoeing around our situation."

"Yes, I understand," he offered you a consoling smile. "Go, try to take some rest."

"Well, I wish I could," you smiled as you headed towards the exit. "Have a good night, Cap."

Another week passed and there was no progress in your situation. You caught Bucky's eyes on you, but each time your gaze met, he abruptly turned away. It felt as though you had tried everything to get close to him once again, but the man was stubborn and you were out of ideas. You were on the verge of giving up. Wanting to talk to him, you headed towards his room to tell him that you were done, and you understood that you were probably seeing things and maybe misinterpreting your situation, but before you could have reached his room, Stark stopped you.

"I need you," he said, grabbing your arm and fairly forcefully dragged you across the compound.

"You know, I could just follow you, right?" You asked with a deep frown as he finally let go of your arm and you continued in his steps, heading to the lounge.

As you arrived, Nat and Steve were already seated on a couch, whilst Barton sat at the table, waiting for Tony and you. Before you could even take a seat, Stark has already started explaining your mission against another Hydra hideout. According to his resources and F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s intel, it seemed it was only a small warehouse where they exchanged weapons and since the mission was a rather small one, not all Avengers were needed.

Within an hour you have already discussed the tactics and you were on your way to the warehouse not far from Texas. Taking an old S.H.I.E.L.D. jet that Tony tweaked up, you have arrived at the abandoned area within a couple of hours. Steve and Nat went straight for the entrance, whilst you and Barton used the backdoor, closing off any escape route according to F.R.I.D.A.Y.

But as you stepped inside the building, it became clear that the tactic you have discussed and the blueprint F.R.I.D.A.Y. showed has not been updated. "Is it just us or have you found yourself in a completely different part of the building too?" You asked Steve and Natasha through the earpiece as you looked around, realising nothing was even remotely similar to your expectations.

"Same here," Natasha replied with a heavy tone.

"Oh well, we like a good improvisation," you chuckled silently. "Let's get the party started."

"Stay aware," Rogers warned you, knowing how reckless you were at times.

"Pfft, yes boss," you replied with a grin and even though you couldn't see it, he shook his head.

Barton and you separated, each of you inspecting a different area of the building with all kinds of metal boxes hiding thousands of weapons in them. As you headed towards the back of the building, you heard gunshots from not far away and you started running in the direction of the noise.

"Which one of you was that?" You asked, but for a second no reply came.

"It was me, but it's all good now. Easy targets," Barton replied in a smug tone.

"Don't get cocky," Steve replied as you headed back in your direction.

"Yeah, yeah," he chuckled silently. You shook your head at the conversation, their bickering always making your mood a little lighter, a little happier.

As you continued to a segregated area, you heard the rumbling sound of a machine. Walking through the room, you held your gun up, ready to fire, but there wasn't a soul around, only a dozen desks. Arriving next to the computer on top of a desk connected to a large, old looking machine, you touched the seat in front of it, it's leather still radiating heat. It was enough information for you to know that someone was close by.

You didn't need more time to find out you weren't alone as the sound of a gunshot shook the room, the bullet grazing your face. You immediately ducked and jumped behind another desk as your opponents started shouting at you vigorously. Beside the table you peaked out to look at the size of your enemy as you caught 3 men, each hiding behind a table just like you did. Adjusting the gun in your hand, you turned it toward your first target, shooting him on the chest as he fell back with a loud scream.

Your next target was farther, but it didn't stop you from shooting him on the shoulder and his stomach. However, the third man was relentlessly shooting at you and all around the room not even trying to spare his bullets, so you hid back behind the table.

"Maniac," you whispered.

"Are you alright?" You heard Natasha's voice through your ear.

"Yep, I just have a mental-case on my hand," you replied as you started shooting back, hitting him right across the chest as he fell back, gasping for air. When everything turned silent, you could only hear the rumbling of the machines again. Standing up from behind the table you headed to the 3 men, gun in hand, ready to shoot if any of them were alive, but they were laying on the floor, limbs spread out in all kinds of directions, no sign of survival. You didn't think twice before you headed back to the computer and took out a USB stick to copy the files. However, as you waited for the process to finish, you heard a loud groan. Turning around in a swift movement you saw one of the men raising his gun at you, so you shot. But before your bullet could reach him, he fired his weapon, burning a whole straight in your abdomen, the pain forcing you on your knees as a silent cry left your lungs.

"Fuck," you swore as you held onto the side of the desk to assist you in standing up, whilst your other hand was trying to apply pressure on the wound, stopping you from bleeding out.

"That didn't sound good," you heard Steve's voice.

"No way, captain obvious," you groaned as you pulled out the USB stick, shoving it into your pocket and grabbed your gun, throwing its strap over your shoulder.

"Are you okay?" He asked, ignoring your previous comment.

"Been worse," you replied, attempting to hide the pain in your voice.

Trying to balance yourself against the wall, you headed towards the exit, but each step seemed heavier, more difficult to take. Another room and another room followed, and it felt as though the exit was running away from you. Stopping in one of the rooms, you slid down on the wall and took a seat on the floor, feeling like you didn't have energy anymore, not even to take another step further.

The pain was unbearable, worse than any other injuries you've ever experienced before. You've been shot before, but it was always somewhat numbing when you sat down to take a breather, but as you stayed still leaning against the wall, the pain just increased. Closing your eyes, you tried to think of happy thoughts. The first time you met the Avengers, feeling as though you found a new family, the first time you met Bucky, his child-like smile painted across his face as he introduced himself, though you've heard of him already. There were many happy thoughts running through your head as you slipped in and out of consciousness. You could hear someone's voice, but you weren't sure if it was through your earpiece or if someone was beside you, but it didn't matter anymore. It was tiresome to stay awake, so regardless of the voices telling you to open your eyes, you shifted into a deep slumber.

"You know, I wouldn't mind if you woke up already," you heard a voice, but you couldn't identify it nor could you see the person. It remained dark and somewhat scary where you were. It wasn't often that you felt terrified, but all your efforts to open your eyes seemed fruitless. The steady beeping of a machine beside you and the voice you heard seemed familiar, a cold feeling around your hand sending shivers through your body. You could hear your own groan, but it felt as though the voice didn't belong to you.

"You're safe! Come on, open those beautiful eyes," the voice tried to encourage you. "You can do it, I know you can. Just open them."

Another loud groan left your lungs as you fought hard against the darkness, before your eyes fluttered open, the bright lights above you burning your vision. As if your visitor could sense your discomfort, they dimmed the light as you felt the cold sensation disappear from your hand.

"Do me a favour and open those pretty eyes, okay?" He pleaded with you, his voice sounding familiar, his tone holding a great deal of worry. It took you a good few moments to adjust your vision to your surroundings, before you could force yourself to look around. Without a second glance you recognised the hospital wing of the compound, before your gaze fell on Bucky's scruffy face, clearly avoiding his razors lately.

"Hey," you wanted to greet him, but your voice was barely a whisper, your throat burning from the dry sensation.

"Wait, here," he stood up to offer you a glass of water and he gave you the end of the straw. Chucking it down, trying to regain moisture in your throat, you almost choked on the liquid. "Careful," he warned you as he took the glass from you. Luckily coughing up the liquid seemed to do the trick and within seconds you felt better.

"Thank you," you tried to smile, but it quickly disappeared as you attempted to sit up and a horrible pain shot through your stomach, making you cry out in pain. Bucky placed an arm behind your back and helped you into a seated position, watching as you squeezed your teeth tight, not to let out a sound. He shook his head disapprovingly and that's when you realised the dark circles under his eyes, the deep frown between his brows as if they were permanently stuck there and his lips chapped from dehydration. "You look awful," you snickered, but the pain in your stomach quickly put an end to it.

"Not worse than you," he replied with a soft smile, the wrinkles between his brows started to slowly flatten.

"That I believe," you nodded, feeling as bad as you possibly looked. "How did I end up here? Last time I checked I was in the warehouse," you asked with a humorous tone, but Bucky's face quickly turned concerned.

"It's not funny. They found you unconscious and they brought you back. You've been out for days. You were covered in blood, in and out of consciousness. How could you be so reckless to get shot?" He scolded you and for once you felt guilty.

"I know, I could have jeopardised the mission," you added with a heavy sigh.

"What?" He asked with a stunned expression, furrowing at your words. "Who cares about the mission? You could have gotten yourself killed," he raised his voice, filled with concern and anger. You've never seen so many emotions from him nor has he ever raised his voice with you.

"I'm sorry," you apologised, another rush of guilt taking over you as you let your head fall forward. It wasn't your intention to get shot after all, it just happened, because once again you were reckless and didn't pay attention to the details.

"I'm just glad you are okay," he added as he sat down beside you.

"Oh, were you worried about me?" You chuckled, trying to lift his tense mood.

"Yes, I was," he stated firmly, concern clearly painted across his face.

"Is it a friendly worry," you asked with a mischievous smile, "or it's an 'I almost lost the love of my life' worry?" You snickered playfully.

"It's an 'I'm going to murder you next time if you try something like this' kind of worry," he huffed, earning a heartfelt laughter from you, but it quickly disappeared as the pain shot through your stomach, as though someone stabbed you. "Stop playing around, can't you just be serious once?" He groaned, your recklessness playing with his nerves.

"You made me laugh, so don't nag me," you pulled a face, an annoyed grimace which earned a disapproving look from the man as he leaned back in his chair, folding his arms in front of his chest. "If I knew I needed to get myself almost killed to get your attention, I would have done it earlier," you replied with a humorous tone, but with a straight face, trying to lift the mood once again. Of course, you knew it could have gotten you killed, and you were glad that you were alive and fairly well, but it was easier to joke around than to stay serious.

Bucky shot up from his chair and started walking up and down in front of your bed. "You know it could have ended worse, right?" He asked with a stern look and you nodded in response, this time stopping yourself from trying to joke around. "You could have died," you weren't sure where he was going with it, but from the grave and solemn emotions across his face, you knew he was very serious. "What if you died, huh? You wouldn't be joking around now; you would be six feet under the ground. Would that be funny?" He asked, almost as though he was demanding an answer.

"No, it wouldn't, and I don't want to die obviously. I just didn't want to see you so worried so I thought it would be better if I joked around and you would be less— I don't even know, tense I guess," you huffed as you played with your fingers in your lap nervously. Bucky heaved a heavy sigh as he sat down in the chair beside you and placed his elbows on the edge of your bed, watching you intently. He lifted your hand and leaned his forehead against your knuckles as he closed his eyes, a comforting silence falling between the two of you. "I'm sorry," you apologised again, this time sincerely. You never wanted to make him so worried, let alone see him this concerned. He shook his head, but he didn't open his eyes.

"I was worried because you were dying, but that wasn't the only reason," a heavy sigh left his lungs as he lifted his head and kissed your knuckles, his words leaving you in confusion. His gaze fell on you, watching and studying you as though he was trying to read you. "I was worried because I thought I would lose you before I could have even told you how I felt. I was worried because all this time I have been pushing you away instead of giving us a chance and I thought I would never be able to tell you this. I honestly thought I was about to lose you and it was eating me up from the inside," you took your hand from his and placed it on his cheek, caressing his stubble as he placed his hand on yours, leaning into your touch. "When I heard your voice and watched you fighting to wake up, it felt like I got a second chance with you."

"And what about all your excuses? You are older, you are broken, your mind is not there. What about all of those excuses?" You raised a questioning brow, but you couldn't hide the tiny smile in the corner of your lips.

"I still think I'm older than you," he replied with a wider grin this time.

"And here we go, James Barnes is back with excuses," you huffed shaking your head as you rolled your eyes.

"I will always think like that, but it doesn't mean I love you any less," your eyes grew wide at his sudden confession, a shocked expression taking over your facial muscles.

"Lo— love me?" You asked, stumbling through your words, feeling like you were dreaming, like you were in an alternate universe, an unfamiliar scenario playing.

A heavy sigh escaped his lips, a soft smile spreading across face. "Yes, I do love you."

His words once again shocked you, but as he repeated them, they started to feel more real. "Does— does that mean that– that you would like to give us a chance?" You stuttered, your own confidence betraying you.

"I would like nothing more," he smiled softly as he squeezed your hand. You watched his blue eyes, trying to understand if it was indeed reality or if you were in some sort of dream, but the genuine, loving expression across his face, his eyes holding your gaze endearingly gave you all the answers you needed.

"It took you long enough to open your eyes," you scolded him, but you couldn't mask your happiness. "So, how is it going to be? Do I have to wait for the first kiss until our first date? Sorry, I only dated people my age," you snickered playfully. He shook his head with a wide grin across his face as he stood up and leaned closer to you, hinting a small kiss on your forehead.

"There's your kiss," he chuckled as you pouted, his actions making you feel soft as though you were more than just an agent, but a woman once again.

"What about on the lips?" You asked with an awkward smile.

"You really are impatient," he replied with a scolding tone, but a cheeky smile in the corner of his lips and he did as you wished and connected his lips with yours, kissing you softly, filled with love and care. As he pulled away, he sat back in his seat, both of you beaming happily. A warm sensation rushed through your body when he held onto your hand again, leaning his face against your knuckles, his happy, worriless smile making you mirror his expression. In that moment, you were just plain happy and no one could take that away from you.

Notes: If you enjoyed reading this little piece, please don’t forget to leave a like, comment and/or reblog. Your opinion matters and gives us motivation. Thank you ^^

If you enjoy my stories, please consider donating and supporting me on Ko-fi. Of course, it’s completely your choice, I will continue updating for free anyway :) Thank you <3

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[sillydg]

"A Walker knows, when a Walker knows" Part one. Faith happens.

Hi everyone! I’m participating in the 12 Days of Fictmas! Thank you so much @emichelle and @leelee10898 for hosting it and I love it so far!!

So I completely failed at writing a short piece. Because when I got the amazing prompt ‘Nutcracker’ my mind kept running. And I ended up with a 9.000 words piece, and it turned into a series that I’m going to focus on this December and January. I mean talking about a crash and burn, got nothing going on situation.

SORRY!

Book: The royal romance

Pairing: Drake Walker X F!MC (Riley Herreld)

Rating: 18+

Series Summary: Drake meets Riley. But not in the usual kind of way. Fate interferes when Riley’s supposed to be working on that big Bachelor night.

She gets drawn to Cordonia in another way. But what happens when a Workaholic, meet a Walker come together? Will they provide a Christmas miracle and get over their own love skepticism?

Or can we turn on ‘Love actually’ after this series to make us feel good again?

One way to find out!

Part one. Summary: We see how faith interferes with Riley meeting the guys and after that, it’s jingling all the way at the Christmas Market. Extremely fluffy Drake and Savannah!

A/N: This is without pre-reading. I completely went rogue, so I’m sorry for the mistakes I made due to tiredness and English not being my first language.

A/N: If you want to be tagged for this series (Outside of my Drake’s and Permanent taglist) Please let me know!! I will not tag the Readers/writers taglist for part two without having permission.

A/N: Some parts might seem a bit uncharacteristic, but for the sake of Christmas fluff. I'm taking this all the way. In this story Bartie is a little bit older when Drake meets Savannah again.

Category: Over the top a bit predictable Christmas fluff, with an edge.

Warnings: Mentioning’s of a mom dying of cancer, swearing, and implied sexual situations. Please do not read if you’re under 18.

CHARACTERS BELONG TO PIXELBERRY STUDIOS

A Walker knows, when a Walker knows. Faith Happens.

Four years ago. New York.

Riley enters pub ‘The fiery breath’ on a cold Sunday afternoon. She decided to come in early to have a cup of coffee and hear about Daniels's Saturday night shift since she had to call in sick the night before.

“Riley!” Daniels smiles broadly from behind the bar.

Riley lets out a relieved breath, "Oh Thank God. You're still smiling at me! I was so scared that you would be furious for having to take the Saturday evening murder shift all by yourself and missing your hot date because of it. I'm soooooooo sorry."

He snorts, "Yeah. I'm so mad at you! God, I bet you loved calling in sick because of having massive food poisoning."

She chuckles while sitting down on a high stool, "It was a hoot! Man, me and the toilet had some serious one-on-one bonding time going on yesterday. I think we even got to second base..."

He leans on the bar, “Ooof, that sounds like a hot night indeed! Are you feeling a little bit better though?"

She nods, "And believe me. This is not going to happen again. I've learned my freaking lesson last night."

"What do you mean..."

"Well, You know how I always get a lot of chicken wings on a Saturday night before work, right?"

Daniel nods because he knows how much she loves her weekly wings.

"Well. Yesterday I was heading over to my favorite place when I noticed a new Indian restaurant right beside it. So I thought… Why not try something different for once? What's the worst that can happen?” She groans, "How wrong was I, right?"

Daniel rubs his hand over his face, “Oh Riles. Because one. Famous last words. It's a miracle that you're still sitting here because of two. The well-known rule is that you have to wait at least a month before trying new places around here. Half of them close after two weeks due to hygienic problems and most importantly three.

You don't like Indian food because of the coriander. It's literally genetically determined that you don't like it.”

Riley shifts a bit uneasy, “But my mom did. So I thought… " And she sighs deeply. "You know how my mom always believed in signs of the universe? And how romantic at heart? I've really been trying to, you know, be less of my rational self and open up for things like 'faith' and all that."

He lays a gentle hand on her arm in support while she continues speaking. "And since it was exactly a year ago that she passed away yesterday... I figured. Maybe she's sending me a sign. Or maybe I just wanted her a bit close." A light sob escapes her mouth.

Daniel walks from behind the bar and wraps his arms around her. And after a few seconds, he hears her sobbing turns louder. After a few minutes of silence, she whispers, “Thank you, Dan.”

Daniel leans back with a gentle smile on his face, “I’ve got you always. Well, are you ready for some coffee before your shift starts in twenty?”

“Always. You know how I like it!”

He brews her a double espresso and sets it in front of her. She contently sips it, "Was Ron mad at you for missing another date?"

"Nah, he understood."

"Thank God. And how about the rest of the night?"

Daniel takes a second to think, "Well I found out that I am brave enough to take out the trash all by myself."

"Wow!" She grins, "Look at you! Conquering the little rats all by yourself in the ally! So proud!"

Daniel smacks her with a table cloth, “There is no such thing as little rats Riley. Every rat is too big. And the ones in our back ally are huuuuge. Splinter huge!"

And she holds up her hands in defense, “Okay, Sorry. But still. I'm proud and happy, because this victory means that I never ever have to take out the trash again.”

“You wish."

"Fine. But if I go out to take the trash and never return, I'll probably be eating Pizza with my new friends in the sewer."

"So now I'm starting to think you actually are asking for food poisoning."

Riley shrugs, "Well can't leave my toilet hanging, now can I. We really bonded, Dan."

"Oh well, since the forever Bachelor, because I don't believe in love, is finally hooked I will keep my juicy story about the four hottest guys in the universe walking into this very bar last night to myself."

Riley pouts and combines it with big watery puppy eyes.

"Damn Girl," he grins, "If you ever fall in love with a guy by a god forgiven miracle, that man is properly fucked. Even I can't say no to this," and he motions for her face, "Whatever it is what you're doing right now."

"Are you sure about that... because I'm still not hearing any of those juicy deeds."

Daniel sighs dreamily while leaning on his hands, "You've should have been there Riles. The door slammed open and these four hotshots entered the bar. One was kind of cocky, one way too hyper, one a bit static but damn I would have loved to eat some breakfast with that guy this morning... but the other one. I think I met your 'The one' Riles."

Riley burst out in laughter, "Hahaha, Oh God. And you... Hahaha, how do you manage to look so serious, hahaha, while saying something so ridiculous." And she wipes a few tears away, "Man. Crying from sadness, crying from laughter. Hell. What a rollercoaster today. Thank you I needed that."

But the moment she looks up she sees Daniel glaring at her with a dead-serious look on his face. "I'm not kidding Riles," he states, "He was poorly dressed, drank your favorite whiskey, hot as hell, and grumpy as fuck. But there was something about him."

She chuckles, “I’m sorry Daniel. I know that you are more like my mom in this area, with the whole 'the one' stuff...." And she falls silent for a second not sure how to react, so she relies on her 'joke' defense mechanism. "Besides I already made that deeeeep connection with the toilet seat, remember? No one can come between us anymore. I might even be ready to introduce him to my father.”

"You can joke all you want, but I couldn't help it. I Just got this feeling…”

Riley notices that she's about to cross a line so she hits the breaks. “Okay. Okay. I'm sorry, let me try that again." And she takes a deep breath, "Well if he's really my 'the one' then it might be for the best that I haven’t bumped into him yet, Daniel. Because I’m nowhere near ready to meet my ‘the one.’ I have to find a way to become happy with myself first. To love me for who I am. To grow and find out where I belong. So in my mother’s words, if it’s meant to be our paths will cross eventually.”

“Well, let’s hope your mom is right because I asked them if there is a chance of them returning tonight because I told them about you and they really wanted to meet you!"

"Ahhhhh you told them about me?"

"Of course, you're my number one Riles, and well... I wanted to give you a chance to meet him."

Riley leans with her elbows onto the bar, "So what did they say?" And her eyes grow wide, "Wait what did you say?"

Daniel averts his eyes and starts shifting at his place, "You know..."

She hides her hands in her face, "Ohh no. You've told them about me throwing up, didn't you? O god. Probably also made a dirty joke about me barfing over their food if I would be there."

"I did not!"

"Liar!"

"Tsssk. Besides even if I did, it doesn't matter. Because they are sitting in a plane towards Cordonia right as we speak!"

Riley frowns, “Cordonia? Did you say Cordonia?”

He nods, “Yeah, why?”

“Well, my granny lived her whole life in Cordonia. It’s where my mom is born, and she has lived there for eighteen years before moving to New York with my dad. The two of them met there in a cute bed and breakfast. My mom used to sing there and my dad was a visitor.” Her mind is racing back and forth, “And I forgot about it.” She takes her phone out of her pocket and searches for ‘Cordonia.’

She scrolls through pictures of landscapes and a smile appears on her face, “It’s beautiful. My mom used to tell me a lot about it. She always said that the people were so nice and she loved the traditions.”

Suddenly her eyes lock onto one of the photos and she freezes. There was no way to describe what she's feeling right now, but one way or another it feels important. She softly whispers, “Dan, look at this.”

And she turns her phone to show the picture to Daniel.

He frowns, “What do you mean? It’s just a bandstand Riles, with a lake behind it. It's not that unique and you literally walk past one in the park every freaking day.”

She shakes her head and glances at the photo, “Nah. It's special. There is definitely something about it." And she sighs, "It’s beautiful.”

Daniel glances over to Riley who seems to get lost in the picture altogether, without even noticing herself.

“Yo Riles, can I see that again?”

“Mmh?” She murmurs without looking up from her phone.

“Riles…”

And she snaps out of it, “Oh I’m sorry. Yes of course!” And she hands him her phone. Daniel takes another look at the photo but can’t discover anything special about it and when he looks up he sees her staring absently out of the window.

Her mind is clearly all over the place ass she nervously taps her fingers on the wood of the bar. He has never seen her like this before and suddenly an idea comes to mind. He closes the page and searches for, ‘Teacher jobs in Cordonia.’ And a direct hit on top of the list draws his attention. “School of sparkles and sunshine,” His eyes scan over the job offer and even with the completely different school system he manages to figure out that they need a school counselor combined with a teacher for six and seven years old.

He hands her, her phone back and points at the screen. “Here look at that! Call them!”

“What?” Her eyes grow wide, "Where is the photo?"

"I closed it..."

She murmurs under her breath frantically searching.

"Riley, stop! Just focus on the job offer now, okay? I'm sorry, but I'm sure you'll find it back later!"

She glares at him, "Ohh but I'm so gonna smack you if I don't."

"Fine whatever. Just look!"

She murmurs swearwords as her eyes flash over the screen. She looks up in confusion. “Are you serious? Do you want me to call them? Right now? You want me to decide in a second to move to Cordonia? Dan, they are searching for someone who is available next week.”

“Yes! It’s perfect for you!”

She sighs. He's right, it is perfect for her. And with all the things her grandma and mom used to tell her about Cordonia, it could very well be where she belonged. But she cant help it and her mind keeps drifting off to her dad. Because without any brothers or sisters leaving New York would mean leaving him behind. Alone… And she shakes her head. “I cant.”

He lays a gentle hand on her arm, “It’s been one and a half years since you’re graduated as a teacher. I remember so well how excited you were about finding a job anywhere else than New York! Because we both know that you've never been truly happy here, nor that you ever will be.

And I get it. You've been through a lot last year. You decided to stay after your mom got sick. You wanted to be there for her and your dad. Spent as much time as possible with both of them. And after she passed away you decided to stay a few months longer to support your dad.

But those few months have turned into a year now, Riles. Don't you think it's time to think about yourself for once?

We both know that your dad just wants you to be happy, just like I want you to be happy and just like your mom wants you to be happy." He shoves her phone back over the bar.

"So call them.”

Riley’s eyes flash from Daniels to the screen and back. She knows he’s right, and the more she thinks about it, the more it surprises her how excited she feels about it. Could this be it? Could this be the place where she would finally be happy? Where she could find her place to do exactly what she loves?

Her thumb lingers above the number to call. One tap. Only

one tap away. But the thought of leaving her dad behind is excruciating.

She looks up with pleading eyes to Daniel, “I can't do it. I cant…”

“Yes, you can. Do it.” And he

starts tapping in the bar in a rhythm… “Do it. Do it. Do it.”

“I can... Yes. I can... Oh, the hell with it!” And before she knows it she taps the number. But right after she gives the phone to Daniel, “OMG what did I do? I cant.”

They hear, “This is the director of ‘Sparkles and Sunshine, how can I help you?” And Riley looks up with panic in her eyes.

Daniel shoves the phone back while trying to encourage her, “Say something. You can do it, Riles.”

Riley shakes her head.

“Hello? Is anybody there?”

He smiles gently at her, “Remember the promise you’ve made to your mother…”

She sighs deeply and closes her eyes as she recalls her mother's words she agreed on.

Promise me that you will search for your place in this world. Don’t let this stop you. Promise to trust that I will guide you when you areready for it, just listen to the signs. And don't worry about your dad. He is strong and you are too. I will always be there with you and him. He'll never be truly alone.

I love you, carebear. But please be a carebear for yourself as well. Because caring for someone else starts with caring about yourself.

Her eyes are filling with tears and with a shaking hand, she picks up the phone from the bar. Daniel nods encouragingly.

“Hello?” She hears.

“Hi, this is Riley Herreld,” she says with a shaky voice. She draws in a sharp breath since she’s still on the brink of

crying, “And I’m calling for the job offer I found online…”

Present-day.

Sunday, five days before Christmas.

After spending the morning making arrangements for Bartie's stay at Drake's apartment and preparing Drake himself for the week to come, he and Savannah find themselves strolling over the annual charity Christmas Market of Bartie's school 'Sparkles and sunshine.' They are heading for Bartie and Maxwell who have been spending the day leading one of the activities on the Christmas Market.

The ambiance is perfect on this typical winter cold Sunday afternoon, with some light snowfall and the shimmer already setting in.

There are strings of lights, and decorated Christmas trees between all kinds of different stalls and the different activities to participate in.

The sound of Christmas music played by the school's live band fills the air, bringing everyone instantly into that jingle mood.

Drake looks around in amazement at all the kids happily running around, "This is so different from the Christmas Charity event last year, which was merely set up for the rich parents to show off their goodness by doing voluntary work, while eating bites made by expensive caterers, drinking expensive booze and where the only organized activity was 'networking' for the same rich parents, while the kids were bored and hungry."

He glances over to the collection of stalls with all kinds of rustic homemade food and different warm beverages like homemade gluhwein and hot cocoa. He loved homey and rustic food. And with this, there will be some money left at the end of the event for the children's chosen charity instead of last year where there was close to nothing to donate eventually.

Savannah nods, "This is the first time that Riley, Bartie's teacher, was allowed to organize it and she decided to turn it a bit around. The kids turned in their ideas and she just selected some of the activities, food, and stalls. " And she looks around, "Though I think she has some weird deals with some high placed timelords because no one in her right mind can fix all of this in only a month, while also being the producer of the annual Christmas play, counselor, part-time teacher and always willing to help every kid who needs a little bit of extra schooling."

He snorts, "Sounds healthy."

"Yeah, Yeah, brother. You have no right to speak. This is your first week off in four years working at the palace." And she stops at her pace the moment her eye falls onto a small wooden figure, "OMG look at this!" She holds up a little wooden Nutcracker. "Can you imagine this little thing standing on your table... or your tv cabinet?"

"No."

"I'm going to buy it for you anyway."

"Then I'm going to give it to the lady who lives with the cats three apartments away from us. Her cats always love new stupid stuff to knock off of tables and cabinets."

She pouts and holds it right next to her face, "But Bartie would love this since he plays a nutcracker as a leading part in Christmas Play 'The Nutcracker.'

Drake grins, "You can try all you want Sis, but you know how I feel about Christmas decorations. What's the use to make your apartment look like an elf barfed in it, only to wrap it up a few weeks later?" He offers her his arm and with a disappointed face she sets the little guy down again, before locking her arm in his. They start strolling again.

"But..." says Drake while leaning in, " I am considering buying a three for this one time only. I know how Bartie loves to decorate it and it's not every year that my awesome Nephew gets to stay with me for three nights in a row!"

Savannah squeaks excitedly, "Drake Walker, he's going to love that!"

Drake snorts, "Yeah. Yeah... The things I do for family," and he bumps his shoulder gently against hers. She smiles softly, "Once again, thank you for being such an amazing Uncle Drake."

He shrugs, but Savannah stops him from moving forward. "Don't wave it away, Walker. You've listened to my monologue about school and the rest of this week for over three hours this morning. WHILE sitting down. And we both know that you get restless after sitting down for more than ten minutes and your average concentration span is less than five.

Besides not every uncle decides to buy the apartment next door AND makes his nephew feel at home by turning one of his rooms into a bedroom for him as you did a year ago. He loves being at your place and he loves you, Drake. So don't brush over it and take the beep compliment!"

Drake beams at her words, "Well I promised to never let the two of you out my sight ever again didn't I?"

Savannah nods, "We are very lucky to have you in our lives!" And she lets out a shaky breath.

Drake knows that she tries to avoid bursting into tears right now. She loves the fact that Bertrand asked her to help him organize the big annual Beaumont Christmas Bash since Maxwell's occupied. He's helping Bartie's teacher miss Riley Herreld with the dance routines of the Christmas play.

But filling in for Maxwell also meant being separated longer than one night from Bartie for the first time ever.

Besides, both of them know how hard it is when a beloved parent leaves, even if it's only for a few days. So he understands why she feels conflicted and the reason why he got her an early Christmas Present. It's something to help them both through the nights, and days until they reunite on Thursday night when they are all heading over to the palace for an Early Christmas Party organized by Liam and Olivia.

Drake nods, "Come on. I wanted to wait until we got home, but we have a little bit of time on our hands right now. And since Bartie and Max are going nowhere for the next two hours, how about we sit down for a bit?"

Doubt is written all over Savannah's face, "But don't you want to know what activity he came up with? He's been over the moon since Riley picked his idea, and he's been so mysterious about it."

He grins, "Oh I'm dying to see what he came up with Sis, but... I think this might be important to do first."

And a small smile appears on her face, "Well, how about it then. Just for a bit." Drake nods towards some benches around a decorated table, "How about you sit down and I get us some hot cocoa." Savannah nods, shivers, and dives deeper into her scarf. "Good one."

He moves over to stand at the end of the waiting line. His eyes drift over the crowd, enjoying the sight of the kids being happy, painting wooden figures, singing, and dancing.

But suddenly his eyes lock on a silhouette in the distance. He's not even sure why he's staring, but he seems not able to tear his eyes away from her. She's wrapped in a huge wooly scarf, an equally warm woolen cap, and her long red woolen jacket seems to be tailored perfectly.

His mind is racing as he tries to determine if they have met before. Because it feels like it, but he can't remember her name. And even though she's too far away to see the fine lines of her face, there is one thing he knows for sure. If she would've introduced herself to him he would've remembered it.

She's standing next to a fire barrel, ruffling through a stack of papers on a clipboard while talking to a man beside her. The man seems a bit flirty, but she ignores it or maybe she doesn't even notice it at all.

But all of a sudden her eyes snap up and hers meet his despite the distance. And for a few long seconds, they just stare at each other. He subconsciously smirks and suddenly the most beautiful smile he has ever seen appears on her face. Not knowing that it's a reaction to his own body language.

And his heart skips a beat. What the... He frowns. Okay, that's weird.

"Sir, Sir..."

"Mmh," He says sunken in thought. What is happening?

"Sir, do you want something to drink or to eat or..."

He snaps out of it. The line behind him turned long and all the people once in fornt of him has dissapeared. "I'm sorry," he murmurs while setting a few steps forward. "Two hot cocoa’s please." And for a brief second he looks back, but she returned to her conversation as well.

"Are you driving?" The man behind the stall asks.

"Mmh?" And once again his head snaps back.

"I asked if you were driving."

He shakes his head, "Nope, we both have a ride home. But why do you want to know?"

"Well first off all, if you're going to be distracted like that, it might be best not to drive. But most of all," The man points at the bottles standing right next to the pot of hot cocoa, "In case you want an adult poor.”

“That’s surprising, how about it!”

“Coming right up," and he pours two shots of whiskey before topping it off with cocoa and whipped cream, "There we go."

Drake smiles as he hands him money, "Keep the change and I'm sorry about what happened..." He coughs, "Twice..."

He shrugs, "She has that effect on a lot on a lot of men. You're not the first and certainly are not going to be the last person who can't stop staring at her. But let me save you from making a fool of yourself like Tim, the guy from the sawmill standing right next to her does every time when he sees her.

In the four years she's been here she never dated. So good luck if you're thinking about trying it." And the man hands him the drinks, "Merry Christmas to you, sir."

Drake nods and he moves his gaze once more to find her, but she's gone. Weirdly enough he feels a little bit disappointed. He instantly decides to ignore it as he takes place across from Savannah.

"So..." and he hands her, her drink and holds his up in the air for his sister to tap it, "Cheers."

And with a big smile, she taps her mug against his, "Cheers." She sips content, before looking up in surprise, “Nice. Didn’t expect that.”

“You know me, couldn’t say no.” He grins, "And now why I asked you to sit down for a little bit."

He takes off his leather gloves, opens his jacket, and takes out a small package. Savannah frowns the moment her eyes lock on the flat and beautifully wrapped box. He lays it in front of her and her eyes grow wide, "Drake Walker, did you buy me jewelry?”

He shrugs casually, “Yeah. No biggie. Just two excruciating hours in the jewelry store I'm never getting back. But completely worth it."

“I can’t believe this,” and she studies the perfectly wrapped box. “So what is it?”

Drake snorts, “I’m sorry? Did I miss an important note about a change in the gift-giving process? Because the last time I checked things were as follows; The gift giver gives a wrapped present, which is wrapped to make sure that it’s a surprise, and the receiver unwraps it to find out what it is.”

She rolls her eyes, “Jeez. Fine. No need to be sensitive about it.”

But there is still no trace of unwrapping intention as she asks, “Can I at least get a hint?”

“For the love of God, Sav.” And he rubs his forehead, “Okay. I can do this the hard way and state, ‘Just open the Beeeeep present’, what you are not going to do and a whole discussion unfolds. Or I do this the easy way since we have only," and he glances at his watch, "A little bit over an hour left to see what Bartie and Max are up to. So a hint it is!"

"Yaaaaash," squeaks she excited.

Drake shakes his head, "Are you done?"

She nods, "Yes, please go ahead!"

He grins at the sudden serious expression on her face. "Alright," he says but remains quiet while sipping slowly at his drink.

His sister looks at him with big eyes as he slowly takes another sip.

“Are you kidding me right now?” She squeaks the moment he moves in for another sip.

He shrugs, “You know no one is stopping you from just opening that present, Sav.”

She groans and smacks him a few times against the arm, “Draaake.”

"Fine. Fine,” and he laughs, “Stop hitting me." And she moves in for another slap as Drake quickly says while shielding himself, "Remember how mom made us and dad matching bracelets from pieces of string?”

Savannah freezes with her hand still in the air, “I completely forgot about that! We would ‘link’ them together every time he had to leave, making so that where ever he went, we were still with him. And he was with us.”

Drake appears carefully from behind his arms, “Exactly, so if we would wake up, scared and feeling alone because of missing dad we only had to look at our bracelets to feel better.”

Her hand drops and smiles softly sunken in thought,

“Yeah, I remember.”

Drake sighs deeply as Savannah keeps staring at the little wrapped box, but still without any intention of opening it.

“Sav, can you please just?”

“Oh right,” And she pouts, “But it's beautifully wrapped. I hate to ruin it.”

Drake sets his drink on the table, takes the package out of her hand, before ripping the paper off. “Note to self," he groans, "Always pack my own gifts because there is no way in hell that it's going to look too pretty to unwrap.”

And he shoves the black box back to her over the table, “There we go.”

She opens the lid excitedly, and two silver bracelets appear. One bigger and one smaller one, both with an infinity symbol subtly weaved in. Savannah's bracelet has a big heart with a smaller heart cut out of it., “Drake…” she whispers completely stunned.

She carefully takes one out, studies the little heart, and while gasping she says, “You’ve imprinted my name in his small heart and his name in mine?”

“Yes. And the smaller heart is cut out of the big one, so the two of you can link them together the moment you say goodbye after dropping him off at school tomorrow morning.”

“Drake,” and she swallows hard, “This is perfect. So if he wakes up in the middle of the night, I am there beside him. Or… Or…”

He gets up from the bench he was sitting on, walks around the table, and sits down next to her. He wraps her in a big hug and she starts to sniff. "Are you freaking kidding me Walker, are you seriously making me sniffle in public."

Don't worry, you look adorable while doing it Sis," and he gives her a gentle smile.

"Sniff. Sniff. I know your lying but I'll take it anyway."

He gently rubs her back and her sniffles slowly disappear, “You ok?” And he leans back to meet her eyes.

She wipes the last tears away with her hand before nodding, "I'm fine. But hell Walker. I could ask you the same thing. You are buying us jewelry, sitting and listening for so long without complaining this morning, and thinking about getting a Christmas tree for... What other Christmas Miracles are you planning to participate in?"

"I think this is pretty much all of it, Sis."

"Yeah, you sure? Not something like, 'Drake Walker and the Christmas Miracle of bringing someone else to the Beaumont’s bash as my date than Johnnie Walker?'

He snorts, "You know my heart belongs to Johnnie, and him alone. I'll never get enough of him and no one is going to get between us."

Savannah chuckles. She loves teasing her brother like this. But she also knows better than trying to push a stubborn hot head Walker into the mess that one calls love.

"You know that I know that, right?" And she reaches for her bag to take the invitation she brought with her. "This is the official invitation."

He opens it and smiles at the already with Johnnie Walker' filled-in RSVP card. "Thank you, Sis, for accepting instead of forcing me into something I'm not comfortable with."

She sighs in understanding, "Is Liam still holding on to his Single Drake Christmas tradition?"

Drake nods, "Yeah. He sends me at least three pictures a day, with phone numbers and way too much information. And we both know that it doesn't matter, he's going to invite two of them and Kiara to his early Christmas party anyway."

Savannah can't help but chuckle, "Oh God, and his 'surprised' face every year while saying, 'Ohhhh look who just showed up out of the

blue asking for you? She 100% single, looking for something steady." And with a smirk, she states "Yeah, the ladies are lining up for you ever since the whole 'Things are great' meme took off right?"

He grins, "I do have absolutely nothing to complain about when it comes to one-night times of fun since that very moment if that's what you're talking about Sis."

"Well, You enjoy that bachelor life as long as you still can, Walker." And she sinks in thought, leaning her head against his shoulder, "Because it's just like dad always said.

A Walker knows, when a Walker knows.

We know it instantly when faith decides to throw that special someone in our face., but when it does your Bachelor's days are over.

The only problem is that we are not in the slightest bit capable of dealing with strong emotions that come with us ‘knowing.’ Our prime reaction is trying to Walker our way out of it by instantly running away, denying, drinking, ignoring. Yes, we turn to desperate measures until we are finally ready to get our heads out of our asses, give up fighting, and give in to our happily ever after... Because no matter how hard we try, there is no denying it eventually."

Drake snorts, "Faith? Instantly knowing that special person stands in front of you and a happily ever after... Sav... Have you been doing reruns of 'Love actually' again?"

She chuckles, "Absolutely. And there is nothing wrong with enjoying a little bit of romance in your life Drake. Christmas miracles do happen you know. Besides, you secretly so like that movie."

Drake frowns, "Absolutely not. I think I can say without hesitation that if I ever offer to watch that movie voluntarily it will mean that I'm in direct danger or completely lost my mind.

"Noted! But make fun of this faith thing all you want Drake. One day, when you least expect it, it's going to smack you in the face with a chair. But since we are talking Liam's and Olivia's party anyway... Why don't we take a look at this week's schedule?"

He rubs his hands over his face, "Didn't we already talk about this today?"

And she ruffles through her back and takes another paper out of it. "We did but I forgot to show you this," and she lays the folded paper open in front of him. "Drake Walker, Bachelor of a lifetime, good luck with your first experience with the family agenda."

His eyes drift over the paper, "Right so Bartie and I are meeting you and Bertrand at my place Thursday right to all head over to the Early Christmas Party?"

She nods as he looks up, before looking down again. He murmurs, "Bartie's play Friday night on the night before Christmas...already knew that" but then he frowns, "Sooooo why exactly is the Beaumont Christmas Bash starting on Friday directly after Bartie's play instead of the usual first day of Christmas?"

"It was the logical thing to decide. Everyone who is invited to the Beaumonts Christmas Bash from our inner circle is going to watch Bartie anyway, including mom. And we have enough room for everyone to stay in. So why bother and sent everyone to a hotel for just one night. And well. At that moment we decided to go even bigger this year!”

Drake pinches the bridge of his nose, “Even bigger? Sis, there are almost people dying every year. And now you want two nights of disaster and danger in a row?”

She chuckles, “I'm replacing Maxwell, remember? So its not going to be more dangerous than ever!" Her eyes turn dreamy, "It’s going to be more romantic than ever.”

“Oh dear lord. I'm extremely conflicted right now since I have no clue which one of these two is worse.”

She smacks his arm, “Just hear me out. There is snow to be expected this Friday, so I fixed up a lot of beautiful carriages for the couples to travel with towards residence Beaumont, including fluffy blankets, a guy with a top hat upfront, and bottles of booze. All bedrooms will be completely decorated Christmas-style, extremely soft rugs in front of the crackling fireplace, and fuzzy blankets everywhere."

"Oh God, I hate everything fluffy... If you ever find something fluffy in my apartment then..."

She rolls her eyes for him interrupting her dreamy monologue, "But there is already something fluffy in your apartment. I did make you that package remember? In case there is ever going to be a lady friend sleeping over. With blankets... slippers..."

Drake slowly shakes his head.

"Mmh, then I might just have hidden it!" And after a quick innocent smile, she continued, "Anyway. Rude for interrupting me. There will be a huge white piano in the middle of the big ballroom. Live Jazzy Christmas music and it will be decorated like a serious winter wonderland. Glitter, fake snow the whole shebang. And mistletoes everywhere!"

“Not conflicted anymore. We are bringing Maxwell back. I prefer my hero complex being triggered all the time instead of touching fluffy things all night.”

“Don’t worry, it’s a Beaumont bash. Dangerous things like swords and firework are definitely going to be there. Only the swords are going to be covered in fluffy fabric and the fireworks will involve a lot of glitter and glamour."

Drake grins, "And Bertrand agrees with all of it?"

Suddenly Savannah throws him a death glare, making him instantly lean back a little bit. But then her glare turns into a broad smile, "Yes."

He blinks, "Okay. I believe you. Note to self. Do not piss Sav off."

“Good. Now, I’m just saying this once. You are the only one who has the privilege to change his RSVP up until the very last minute because if you’re planning on getting smacked in the face by faith, this is the best time to do it.”

“Nope,” and he teasingly runs his finger over the agenda, “It’s not on the agenda. Darn. Bummer.”

She shrugs, "There are going to be enough single ladies to enjoy anyway, even just for one a night."

"Nah I'm just going to enjoy being around the people who I hold dear in my heart," and he pulls her close, "Because that's all I need in my life."

"God, you're not kidding around tonight, are you Walker?" And once again she wipes away a few tears.

"Well, you're also not kidding around Sis," and he points to the Monday morning nine o'clock appointment he has with Bartie's teacher.

"Oh right," and she smacks her forehead with the palm of her hand, "How about we continue our search for Bartie? I'm sure she'll be around there somewhere as well. I'll give you a quick introduction and tomorrow she'll tell you a bit more about what to bring the days to come and you can ask her some questions. Well, If it's still needed after my extremely thorough explanation today that is."

Drake chuckles as they both rise from the bench and he puts his gloves back on. Yes her explanation has been more than thorough, but also extremely incoherent due to extreme nerves and a constant rollercoaster of emotions for the week to come. So he can only thank God on his bare knees for a chance to ask questions. Because that schedule combined with those stack of books. It didn't make any sense at all.

“But why do you think that she's close to Barties and Maxwell's activity? She's organizing this whole thing right? She can be everywhere."

"Well, she told me that she would keep an extra eye on Maxwell since he loves playing with fire or something."

And all the alarm bells are going off in Drake's head the moment he hears the words 'Maxwell' and 'fire' in the same sentence. "What did

you just say?"

"She said that she would keep..." and Savannah falls silent in the middle of the sentence as she suddenly realizes what Riley actually told her.

"We need to find them, now! You go that way, and I go the other way."

She nods, "Whoever finds them, calls."

And they turn on their heels. His teacher must have been kidding right? There is no way that she would let him lose around fire right?

But she only met him four days ago... And usually, five minutes is enough to figure out the danger that is Maxwell. But I never met her before. Oh God... What kind of mess am I running into?

Part two. Bartie's Choice