#but if my hometown could do this? oh the whole town might literally start to change

[agirlwholovesrockstars]

baby come back

♡ STEVE HARRINGTON'S MASTERLIST ♡

❁ AGATHA'S MAIN PAGE ❁

This is a sequel to "Careless Whisper"

✧ Summary : they say "you should leave all the past behind" but what if they deserve a second chance?

✧ Word Count : it might be long but I hope it's worth it

✧ Warnings : 18+ MDNI‼️ Past!Ex-Boyfriend!King Steve! Harrington x FEM!reader, eventual smut, cursing, mentions of bad household, complicated father & son relationship, slight emotion invalidation & misogyny, cheating, separated parents, alcohol consumption, mentions of smoking, child neglect, trauma, intense confrontations, fluff, angst, not giving away anything! don't wanna give you guys ideas 🤭

✧ What to Expect : ANGST, FLUFF AND SMUT‼️reader will be so unsure of him but she'll get there ;)) I promise this will so fast paced, the story goes back to present and past!

✧ Note To Reader : YOOOO y'all making me inspire to write more for Steve! THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT omg- even it's just small numbers of recognition is enough for me 🥺🫶🏻✨

✧ Author Note : I literally tried to think of a better song to associate the next part and my god- my brain was like zapping up to Baby Come back and I was like "THAT'S IT!" 🤩🙌🏻

"Henderson, I already told you not to wipe your feet on the inside of my car"

"Must've slipped off my mind"

"I've been your chaperone- wait a second- I'm your goddamn babysitter for the past 3 years!"

"Just step on it, already!"

"Remind me why I'm being friends with you" Steve turns on the engine of his car and held onto the steering wheel

"It's because I'm a great person"

Steve chuckles as he shakes his head but a fond smile is evident on his lips

"What time should I pick you up?"

"The usual"

Dustin talks about his night yesterday after school with the whole segment of the D&D Campaign, while listening as he kept his eyes on the road, I think he could make a word count on how many times he mentioned Eddie

Steve watches his young friend steps outside of his car, "Okay, see ya"

He's heading on his way to Family Video, where she meets Robin sitting on the front stairs

"What are you doing?" He asks as he gets outside of his car and puts his keys inside of of his pocket

"I guess, we're both too early, too early that Kevin hasn't even arrived yet" Robin stood up as she walks closer to Steve

Steve looked behind him, there's a new diner in town that he hasn't been it yet

"Wanna go there and eat some breakfast?" He nudge his head on the facility that he's looking at

Robin follows his gaze and clasps both of her hands together "Let's go, I'm getting bored here for waiting"

Once they get inside, the smell of brewed black coffee invades both of their noses and the sweet scent of pancakes and waffles

Robin already got an eye on the waitress who is serving some delicious fully packed breakfast plate, she swore that she is drooling over it and it made Steve chuckle

Steve is always been a pancake and bacon kind of a guy, he likes the combination of sweet and salty, so, that's where he is aiming for

Both of them saw a table that is near to window, they sat together across from each other

The male waiter was about to gave them menu's but they dismissed it

He nods gladly as he calls someone else to fill up their order

"Hello, goodmorning, what's your order-"

"Hi, can I get-"

Oh my fucking god

Holy fuck

It's you

His mind is going ablazes because he pretty much knew himself that he has a 20/20 vision

But at this time? All of his insides are overheated

He hasn't seen you since....the prom

Fuck, the memories starts to take him back

You just finished your last school year on that history that you both happened before and you move out of the school

Not only moved out of school, but you also left the town, Hawkins Indiana

Yes, you left.... without sparing him a single word about your departure

The town that you've never wouldn't have thought you could ever get back to

But, this is your hometown where you truly grew up in

You only decided to comeback since

You got homesick

You missed your family, that's why you take the chance to finally be with them

Temporarily

You clear your throat, you try to mask up your expression as you completely forgotten his companion that you briefly glanced and you noticed her confused look at you

She darts back and forth on you and Steve

You remained civilized, "What can I get for you?"

You say softly as you clicked your pen and holding up your notepad

He blinks as he takes a deep breath, "Uh- Pancake and Bacon and Coffee"

Damn, you wished there's a machine to mind sweep your entire memory of him

You still remember it

He still eats the same way

"Okay, um, should I bring creamer and sugar?"

"Yes, please"

Shit, he still makes his coffee the same way too

Fuck, fuck, fuck

Who in the right mind that you chose to have your vacation here?

When you could do it somewhere else

You trust yourself too much that you thought you won't be able to see this familiar face again

You nod but you can feel his eyes on you

You look incredible

Of course, he'll take every chance to look at you

You cut your hair shorter, you even changed it into different shade of color, your natural dark brown is gone, it turned into more lighter brown

The wavy length and the bangs looks so perfect on you is shaping your face that he still does love until now

You dress so differently now too, he could tell by your silver rings and....

A piercing? You have three earlobes now

He adores how you wear your makeup, not too flashy but it enhances your features

He is delighted to see your face again, he never thought that the universe will give him another glimpse of you even is just like this

A part of him that made him sad for a sec, it's understandable that you changed your whole appearance

You changed because you want to forget who you were before

You have to remove every single thing about how you look that reminded of him

Maybe in another life....

You're happy together

You motion to Robin who is still absolutely puzzled from the not so obvious look of recognition form the both of you

She could already tell that is something is deep between the two of you

Before she tells her order, he catches Steve who is not even afraid to gape on you, he's not even trying to hide it until she spoke up and he heard her voice

He got shy all of the sudden and runs his fingers through his hair

"The Breakfast meal?"

"Yeah, right that one"

"A drink along with that?"

"Oh, a cup of coffee too as well"

You nod as you clicked back your pen as you tear off the paper from your notepad

"It'll be ready in a minute" you say, you offer the both of them with a small smile as you finally take your leave

Robin leans forward with her hands together, "Okay, what was that?"

"What?" He acts clueless, he knows Robin won't drop the scenario that just happened

Robin chuckles in amusement "Well, you tell me" she nudges her head to you

He glances at you with those eyes, you can still freaking feel them on you

You start cleaning the table and picked up the tip from a another customer

"Robs-"

"Don't you dare "Robs" me and don't you ever lie to me" she throws her hands up as she raises both of her eyebrows at him

He sighs as he scratches the back of his neck

"Do I really need to tell you?" He shuts his eyes for a second as he takes a deep breath

"Uh yeah? Because that look it isn't something that is far beyond that you just know the person"

"You knew her"

She leans backward as she crosses both of her arms

She can't even tell if she just struck off a nerve or offended him

"I'm just messing with you, dingus, it's okay-"

"No-No, it's just-" he exhales

"it's been a while since I saw her" he speaks in a voice that his bestfriend couldn't ever expected to hear

It sounds so broken, it increases her pique of interest even more

What happened?

"I hesitated because-" he looks at her with guilty eyes "I think you're not going to look at me in the same way ever again"

Robin listens intently as she gestures her to keep going

"I am here to reassure you that I'm not going to judge you"

"I did something bad in the past, Robin, but I've changed"

"We all have done something wrong in our lives, Steve, the right way to do is to face it, hold yourself accountable for it, and learn from it, but that doesn't make you a bad person"

He looked at you again, you are now serving someone else a vanilla milkshake

"Yeah, you're probably right, but to her? I am"

Flashback to 1986

He spent all of his allowance that his father gave to him

All of his money going out all night in the town

The prom was one month ago

One month ago

He trying to do anything to get you out of his mind

He drank a lot of alcohol and gets drunk most of the time

But when the morning comes, it felt like he needs to start it all over again

He realizes that trying to forget you, it's just a waste of time

He wants you to come back, he needs you to come back

He'll do anything for it

Anything at all

He knows it won't be easy

He angrily crumpled and tear off all of the pictures that he had with his friends

Friends that aren't not even real

He knows that you're right about him, it's just his own stubborn mind who refuses it

He hates himself

No, scratch that, he loathes himself for becoming like this

His mom's words were very dear to him even it's just a simple phrase

"Don't try to be something that you're not"

Don't be a fucking people pleaser

Now, he got the point why you don't like these titles at school

The social cliques at the campus

It's also his own fault that he got into this

He wanted to be somebody

Even it hurts people that he loves the most

So, that same morning, he is so determined to be different this next coming school year

He trashed everything that upsets him, he even ditched some of his varsity jackets, all of his trophies he put them all in a case and placed them on the attic

Everyone is going crazy how he acted so differently at school

He just rolls his eyes at it, god, now he really fucking gets it why you're so ick to this

"They're so overdramatic at this stuff, I mean- what's the damn point?!?" your voice echoes to his mind

That's where he retired of being King Steve

Everytime he heard someone mentioning it, he just grimaces, winces and even cringed at it

He doesn't even Iike to be called on that name anymore

Sure, he is still good at his academics and sports but now ever since he pulled that "dropping his title" at school?

He is now getting the treatment of true colors

Now, he is out of that barrier of being on the top popular guy at school

His eyes and mind opened at your perspective

He can see it why, fuck, that adds more salt to the wound

He cannot even blame anyone for making him being this way

Maybe, high school is tough that's why he did it

But then, he notices a pattern of events on his life

Fuck, he is just like his father

He rarely visits the house and just talking about his work and didn't gave him a chance to speak what is going with his only son

He never paid attention, never even cared, not even felt any affection to him

But when he does, he just snaps at him, and tell him that being emotional is weak

Having feelings are weak?

How fucked up is that?

So, he kept his mouth shut even though he wanted to yell at his father

The only parent that he felt being loved is his own mom

His mom that left them both behind, he can still remember it

Because why?

His father cheated on her too

It's like a damn cycle, it making him violently vomit at the thought of it,

History repeats itself

He made a promise to himself that he won't ever be like his father

But, he already done it and it angers him even more

"Hey, Steve" he opens and locks the door behind him

Not "Hey, son" am I even your son? He thinks to himself as he keeps his eyes on the television his own father doesn't even noticed the obvious scowl on his face

"There's this woman at work, who-" he chuckles in a salacious way and it sends shivers down to his spine

"Who slapped me right after I kissed her and told me that she isn't interested in me" he chuckles yet again as he removes his coat

"She wears that outfit and expect me not to do anything? She did that in order to seduce me, she wants it" he scoffs as he shakes his head

He gotten so uncomfortable, he starts shifting from his seat

Steve needed this bottled up emotions to blow up

He wants and he needs his father to hear him out

"That's what you did to, Mom, too, huh?"

The silence is too loud, Steve is so fucking insane for doing this confrontation but he has to do it or else he will lose his mind

"What the fuck did you just say?" His dad grumbles as he stares down at his son with a fire on his eyes

He glares at him as he chuckles dryly, "You're so messed up that it hurts" he spats

"What are you even talking about?" He pushed him by the shoulder

"I hate that you're my dad!" He does the same action as he stumbles back, Steve thought his mind playing tricks at him but he swore for a brief moment that he saw his dad cracked

He is guilty, he is ashamed of it, he knows he is not a perfect father, he is not proud of it

15 year old, Steve would've been shitted on his pants for doing this but he is not afraid of it anymore

He is completely appalled, lost for words, the way his narcissistic exterior washed out on instant

"I lost the girl that I ever truly loved because of you!" He points at himself with anger and sadness swirling into his eyes

"Do you think it's easy for me to live out my life there knowing that my own fucking father is proud to have this mindset?!?" He steps closer as he makes hand motions to his head

"I can't just push you away because why? You're my dad, I-I can't just do that" He throws his hands up as he sighs in exasperation

"I-I have so much things that I wanted to scream out loud for you to hear because I've been carrying it for a long time and it really sucks because this argument isn't going to change anything" He is trying to so hard not to bawl in front of his old man but it his voice wavered badly but he didn't care

This is the most unfiltered thing he has ever done in his life and he knows for sure this will help him....A lot

"You've gone soft, Steve, that's the real world"

He looks at him with furrowed brows as he shooks his head

"I'm not gonna grow up to be just like you, asshole" He laughs incredulously as he starts picking up his shoulder bags and luggage

"Where do you think you're going, young man?"

"I'm going to leave because I'm sick of you and this big house"

"You're not able to survive out there without my help"

"You know for the first time in forever made me realize having a enormous fortune isn't necessary in life sometimes"

"You listen here-"

"What is fortune when you don't even have a good fucking relationship with your parents and household"

That's where he slams the door shut and breathes out a really long satisfying sigh with a proud smile on his face

He feels good, he feels great, he feels he has done something wonderful in his life

This is just the start of it

He takes his car keys and drove away like nothing ever happened

"Steve! Earth to Steve!" Robin clapping her hands right across to her bestfriends face

"What- I'm sorry" he says as he began shifting on his seat

"Okay, so to be clear, y'all are highschool sweethearts before-" Robin squints her eyes as she make gestures to her expressive hands

"and I was...." His shoulders slumped down, he doesn't even want to finish the sentence

"King Steve" Robin shrug both of her shoulders as she gave a sympathetic smile

"yeah" A small but sad smile flashes on his lips as he ducks his head down in shame

Robin is obviously needs some more information to fully understand what happened to your relationship with him

"Is it so bad?"

"is far more than bad, Robs"

"Did you kill someone?"

Steve eyes widened as he genuinely laughed, "N-No- I didn't!"

She chuckles but she is glad she made him laugh, "So, what is it then?"

He just made this one look to Robin and as she tries to read his eyes, her smile drops

"Oh"

As if you we're on cue, you placed their orders on their table as Robin made a stressful brush up to her hair as she glances at you

"Your order's are complete, just call me if you're ready to-"

"We can pay now" Robin's voice is firm but a hint of disappoint surrounding at the tone of her voice

You looked over at Steve for a sec who still gave you those pleading eyes as you tried your best to look away as you gave the receipt to them

You've taken both of their payment as you walk away quietly

Did just Steve talked about you to her?

Fuck

"Robin- I"

"I know it's in the past, It isn't my place to open up the wound again" she sighs as she tug up a smile to him

He smiles as he nods to her words, he is worried that this could ruin their friendship

"But I am fond that you chose to change, Steve, you changed for her" she places her palm on top of his as she pats it gently

"Do you still love her?" Robin asks him as she tries to search his eyes

She can see it, the same devotion is still there, it never died and it never will be

His last words to you echoed into his mind

"I can't never love again, I only want you"

And it truly did

He still does

Robin chuckles slightly to Steve with those lovesick eyes, "Of course, you do"

"You can't never get over with your first love"

You're done with the night as you put on your jacket along with your sling bag on the shoulder

But when the time you got inside of your car, your vehicle won't start up everytime you try it won't ever run

You sigh in frustration "Goddamn it!"

You look over to the other side of the road, you saw Steve locking up the doors at the Family Video

Shit, the universe is really testing you

You walked outside of your car as you close the door with a slam as you start to pace around it

You fumbled with the stuff inside of your bag as you pulled out a cigarette stick and you flick the lighter in your pocket

You inhale deeply as you blow out the smoke, you massage the back of your neck as you try to figure how to get the fuck outta here

You're mad that you're hopeless to get home

The last thing that you wanna do and the last option is to get ride home with Steve

You felt a hand behind you, you shrieked as you almost punched him in the face

"Woah- it's just me!" He held both of your wrist as he takes as step foot back to dodge your aim

You huff as you tap off the excess from your cigarette, you mumbled a small "sorry"

Well, isn't this great? Your first conversation with him after what??? 3 years???

He doesn't want to react because he hasn't seen you smoke before, I mean- you can do what you want but both of you really did changed

Did you developed anything else such as bad habits? that added another pang into his chest seeing you do things that you've never done before

He looked over to your car, "What happened?"

You blew out the smoke as turn your head into the other side, you try your best to remain calm but it feels all too much when he is this close to you "My car won't start"

"I can take you home, I know a place that can fix your car tomorrow" he suggest as he offers you a ride home respectfully, you can see that

Something is not right to him and it's giving you the creeps not in a bad way but why do he seems so nice? Is it because of you or he changed too?

You have no other choice, the terminal closes up pretty early, so, there's no train or bus to take

Only for tonight, just this night

You blew out the last smoke as you stub the cigarette into the nearest ashtray near the trash can

His eyes are glued to you, he watches your every move, of course, he knows that you wanna wrap this all up and forget all of this ever happened

As much as he wanted to talk to you ask you if you're okay, he respects your peace and boundaries

"Okay" you walk back up to him as the both of you crossed the road

What the fuck? Is he a gentleman now? You're not used to him like this, opening up the car door for you?

You flashed him a small but also confused smile as he jogs into the driver's seat

You saw the oh so familiar necklace that hangs on the rearview mirror

You made that necklace to him

Why does he still keep it?

He starts the engine as he put his hand over the headrest as he drives backwards

The drive was....so awkward and how quiet it is ringing to his brain

You just busied yourself watching all of the scenery outside in the car window as you passed by into different places

He takes his chances to glance at you

My god, he can't believe that you can still made him feel like this way

You crossed your leg that made your skirt rides up a little, he clears his throat

"Uh, so, which way should I go to?"

"Just turn here" you point out to him

He brings the car around the different small houses and his breath staggered he recognizes it

Oh, you're here because of your family

You're only having a vacation

"Stop here!" The tires screech as he stops abruptly and you accidentally bring yourself closer to him that he almost almost can kiss your lips in just one move

His breath hitched at the gap between the two of you

Your eyes flit to his and to his lips

It felt like eons that you both just stare for each other at the moment

You know and he knows

Fuck, you still love him

"I-I gotta go" you slowly move back up as you open the door but before you get outside, you softly say "thank you" and closed the door

You didn't give him a chance to reply as you quickly grab your house keys to unlock the front door

He sighs as he massages his forehead, he rolls up the windows before you get inside

"Take care" he says as you only nod and closed the door behind you

You squeezed your eyes shut at whatever that was inside of his car

"What are you even looking for?" He says not looking at you as he looks at a Nazareth vinyl

"Michael Jackson's Bad album" you say as you squealed gleefully when you found the one you were looking for

"We're going to be late for the movie, sweetheart" he hold both of your shoulders to grab your attention

"They're aren't going to start without us, Eddie" you say as you smirk at him as you walk away

"We have to buy popcorn-" he whines jokingly as he kept being all dramatic while he slings his arm around yours

"and drinks and other goodie stuff, I know, I'm just gonna pay this, stay calm" you giggled as you excitedly take the purchased album into your hands

"Hey, Eddie!" The same girl with the dusty blonde hair greets him the same time as you both are about to leave the record store

You can't never avoid him, huh?

She looks at you and your hand is wrapped around his forearm as she gives you a small wave

You only nod and smile, Steve is right behind her

"Dude, what's up?" Eddie greets him, right you forgot they studied in the same school

Of course, they knew each other, except for you because you left

You're nervous because of what Steve might think of you but you can't see anything on his face and his eyes

He doesn't seemed to mind that you're with someone else, there's no jealousy, mockery, sarcasm as he talks to Eddie

He doesn't even noticed how close you are at the metalhead

Meanwhile, Robin saw how you study him, but you look away you don't want to make him realize that you still care for him after all of this time and as she does as well

"Where are you two going?" Steve beams as he takes in how divine you look, Eddie didn't even catches it

"To the movies!" Eddie grins as he pulls you by his side as you roll your eyes playfully

"Are you guys going to watch Batman?" Robin gasps as she watches Eddie eyes goes big in excitement

"Yeah" you nod at her, Robin who is surprised that's the first ever interaction that you just had with her, so, she decided to introduce herself to you

"I'm Robin, by the way, I'm the bestfriend of Steve- ow!" He hits her by the shoulder as you chuckle in amusement in the way Robin punctuates and emphasizes the words to you

"We gotta go now" Eddie chuckles as he wraps his arms around you, but halts his tracks as he remembers something

"Sure, see you later" Steve nods as he purses his lips together as the both of them step inside

"Harrington, you could invite her to your party!" Eddie points at you and your close your eyes in embarrassment

You didn't tell Eddie about your history together with Steve but you did kinda....throw some hints at him about your past but didn't reveal the real name

Party? He still does that? you think to yourself

You saw how Steve became jittery all of the sudden as he tries to drop the topic right away but Robin, a glint of mischief on her eyes as she snaps her fingers at Eddie

Damn, you got yourself invited but you grew amused to the mystery girl

"I can't fucking believe you did that" he glares at his bestfriend who is pretending to be innocent as she walks away from him

"Oh- please, don't act that you didn't want that" she scoffs at his in denial behavior as she saw a vinyl that is similar to his situation

"You still want her, right?" Robin smirks as she gives the vinyl to him who is now gauging at his reaction

He takes the vinyl out of her hands without looking at it first but he laughs as soon as he saw the title

"Baby Come Back by The Player"

She wiggles her brows at him, he tries to kick her by the leg but she managed to dodge it

"Don't fuck it up this time, dingus"

"Trust me, I won't"

You had fun watching Batman with Eddie, he'll be right back with you as he headed at the men's restroom

You overheard a kid who is very defensive with his bestfriend, you try not to pry but until you heard the name "King Steve"

You've never looked around so fast in your entire life and your eyes fall onto the boy

"You're being friends with a douchebag-"

"He is not a douchebag!"

"Yeah, right, I heard he break girl's hearts like it was nothing-"

"T-That's not true!"

God, your mind is saying no but your heart is making you walk towards him

Curiosity got the best of you as you listen closely, but you stay alerted when things get heated

The poor kid, huffs as he shifts on his stance as he watches the two young ones left him

"He doesn't even like that name anymore, what a bunch of assholes"

"Hey, are you okay?"

He quickly swipes the tears away "Y-Yeah, I'm good"

He probably doesn't even remember you, "Dustin, right?"

"Yeah"

You smile sweetly at the kid, you really shouldn't ask a lot about him but you feel mystified of what you just witnessed, "Was that true? about what you said at Steve?"

"He cares a lot, he loves a lot, he is willing to do anything just to protect- Wait a second- who are you anyway?" He was getting into until he realizes that he is talking to a stranger and he paused

The kid missed the endearment on your eyes as you blink rapidly, you looked over your shoulder as you saw Eddie searching for you

"I'm gonna go now, bye" you say as he tries to chase you but you got lost in the crowd until he can't no longer see you

"Whoever that person is, that's so bizarre" he speaks for himself

"I have to tell this to Steve at the upcoming party"

He is not looking forward to it

But he wishes you were

He doubt that you will show up over at his house

But, honest to god, he thought the time stopped when I saw you walking by alongside with Eddie and Robin

His brain is muddled and his heart rate is increasingly so fast

"Hey, Steve-" Dustin jogs over to him but his mind is elsewhere as the door swings open

"Here we are" Eddie does his classic antics as he opens his arms as you chortled

"Welcome" Steve steps aside as he lets you all walk in

"Where's the drinks?" Robin feels so at home like she unashamedly looks through his refrigerator

"It's literally 7pm- don't you dare drink-" He puts his hands over his hips as he reasons with Robin

"Not that- I'm just thirsty" Robin rolls her eyes as she tries to explain

"You?" Dustin loudly made a sound that all of the guests caught their attention

You give him a small wave and a crooked smile and now you're regretting attending this

Steve clocked your reaction as he hold your shoulder leading you away from him

"Why are you pointing at her, Henderson?" Eddie is perplexed as he tries to understand the situation

"You mean- you didn't know?" Dustin bunches up his eyebrows at the metalhead

Steve glares at Robin who winced at the look that his bestfriend just gave him

"I think, you might want to sit down, Munson"

Steve has taken you in the backyard as he slides the door close

Oh, hell no

Not this place

Steve cringes what he just realized but he tries to keep his composure

"You still do parties, huh?"

He stare at you for a second, are you actually having a conversation with him?

"Uh no- we're going to have a movie marathon, not a party"

"Oh" you nod slowly in understanding as you stare at the swimming pool, you breathe in deeply as you keep your hands to yourself

Your sight of vision fell into Eddie, Robin, Dustin bickering at each other as you saw the guilty look on your metalhead bestfriend directed at you as you send him a small smile as you look away yet again

"I see that you told them"

"I-I'm sorry, I only told Robin-"

"Save it, Steve" your voice has gotten serious unlike earlier, but he can see it in your eyes that you're fighting between your emotions

You're trying your best to resist yourself for giving yourself away too fast

Steve's shoulders tensed as he looked up into the sky to find the right words to say to you

You deserve to know that, he needs you to know that him and Robin are nothing more than a platonic friendship

"Robin is just my bestfriend, she helped me"

"Help you?....with what?" You knit your brows together as you look at him in question with your arms crossed

"I- uh- I moved away from my dad after we- to live on my own independently" He suddenly became shy as he scratches the back of his neck as he averts his gaze somewhere else

That's where he truly see your eyes soften as your eyes went everywhere to his face

He can communicate properly with you now?

He is actually saying the truth to you?

You're not used to it and he knows he doesn't blame you

Before you can reply, Dustin calls out at the both of you as Steve sighs when you're the first one to walk away from him

"Hey, are you okay? dude?" Dustin asks him sincerely

"Yeah, man, I'm good" He lies, as he gives his young bestfriend a forced smile

False bravado, that's the mask that he's wearing all the time ever since you reappeared again

Tryna' keep up a smile that hides a tear

He wants you so bad, but how he will ever to win you back?

"Sweetheart, I'm so sorry, I didn't know-"

"It's fine, Eddie, it's not your fault"

"Do you want to leave?"

"No, I'm gonna stay, Eddie- it's alright, I promise"

"Just tell me, if you're not up for it anymore, okay?"

"Okay"

Everyone is a blobbering mess after seeing Dead Poets Society, except for you and Steve

You caught him giving you those eyes yet again like he was begging for you

Begging for you to give him a chance

He wants to talk to you, the scariest thing you could ever say to him that your doors are chained and he'll understand

But the thing is that, he can't live without you

He'll do anything to persuade you, convince you, make you believe that he is nothing like the "Steve" the one you've met before

If he could go back in time, he would redo everything

The moment when everyone is leaving and saying their goodbyes

He took your hand and he must swallow his shock because you let him hold you for the first time in forever

Eddie even talked to him while you were distracted by Robin, by him saying "I don't know what happened between the two of you that much but.... I'd get her back, man, whatever it takes"

"Can we talk?" He whispers as he puts you in the corner where no one else can see you both

"Steve-"

"Just give me the chance to make you see-"

Oh, Steve's brain just mushed down

Because you're fucking kissing him

He recovers as he cupped both of your cheeks as he gives into you

Your hand gets lost to his hair, god- he misses that a lot, your sweet scent, he's inhaling it so much that electrocutes his brain

The kiss went into seconds, minutes and feels like an hour

You don't know what's gotten into you but you know you're going to blame yourself for this

You already told yourself that your guard is up

But, your heart tells no otherwise and your body reacted, so, positively that it flushed down closer to his

You stopped yourself as you saw him chasing after your lips but then he saw how hurt you look, his heart drops to his stomach as he gulped

He is flustered and so are you, but he sees the recognition in your eyes, the realization

He flinched the way you angrily punched him in the chest all of the sudden as you wept in front of him

No words thrown out between the two of you

It's the same damn kiss

It never changed, it still feels the same, moves the same, the way both of your lips melded into one another is a complete shocker to you

He didn't care about your outburst as he let the tears fall from his face as he embraces you instead

He starts caressing your head as he tries to keep you calm on his warm hug

You held onto his shirt in a fist that you violently sobbed face flat in front of his chest

As much as you wanted to stay in that area

You begrudgingly dragged yourself away from him as you walked outside, not giving him a second look

He knocks off one of his picture frames as he slides his back down against the wall as he started crying

Love is embarrassing, isn't it?

3 years, 3 goddamn years, you both still yearn for each other

Your first kiss after 3 years invaded his mind the entire night, he stares at the empty space of his bed

God, he wishes that you were here next to him on his arms

You've never packed up your stuff so fast in your entire life

You're ready to leave first thing in the morning

The door bell rings and you hold your breath for a second

"Oh no, not you- Steve-" you tried to close the door but no to avail as he stepped his foot to prevent you from for not letting him in

He glanced at your luggage and bags that makes his stomach twist

"Have you used up all of it?" He says as he kept his eyes on you

"W-What are you even talking about?!?" You threw your notepad in the near table, fuck- you shouldn't have double checked too much on your lists before going out

He got you now, you can't escape this

"All the love in your heart"

That's where you avoid his eyes as he moves closer to you

"Ain't there nothing left for me?"

"Steve- stop!"

"That's right-"

"What-"

"A lot of people that I know what I did to you was foolish, anyone can see it"

You let your stubborn attitude subside as you listen to him

"There's was something and everything about you"

You take out a shuddering gasp as your eyes burn from the threatening tears

"You can blame it all on me, I was wrong, baby, I-I just can't live without you"

He could've done this before

Take the responsibility of his actions and not to sugarcoat every word and have the guts to hold the accountability of his mistakes

"Steve, you gotta move on-" you lie what you truly feel, what's stopping you?

"Baby come back, come back to me, please"

"S-Steve, I don't know if I can trust you-"

"I didn't realized what I had when you're were mine!"

Your guarded demeanor has shunned off as you let your arms dropped to your sides

"I-I confronted my dad after one month ago when we go on our separate ways, I-I know this is unbelievable but I removed everything that you didn't like with me, my friends, my title, all of it, and it did helped me to become a better person"

He looks straight into your eyes, he never looks away as he tries to make you understand

"And I'm so very sorry that pulling up that fucked up shit that I did before just so I can improve myself and to have a character development was utter bullshit, hurting you was never right"

You purse lips together as you shake your head in disbelief

"What I said back there was still true too"

"What do you mean?"

"That no matter what you do to me, whatever happens to the both of us, I'd still love you"

He cries, his face glows so red as he takes in every feeling that he's receiving

You're the first one yet again to kiss him

He yelped as he brings you closer to him, your hands went through his hair as you throw your arms around him, he dives in deeper earning a moan out of you

He breaks out of the kiss, your face went pale but he shuts off your thoughts with the words

"You sure, you want to do this?"

"Steve, yes, I do, I want you like you want me, I need you like I need you-"

You're about to dove back on him aggressively but something feels so different on his touches, it's not foreign but it's making you want to bawl at how he is so soft with you

His eyes crinkle in awe and delightment as he couldn't get anymore happier

He carries you upstairs as he puts you onto the bed carefully

He removes his shirt and his pants, you get out of your shoes and when you're about to remove the straps of your dress, he beats you to it as he slowly takes it off but not without kissing your neck

His hands goes under your skirt as he plays with the garter of your panties

You spoke his name so decadent that he nearly melted down on you

You held onto him by the shoulder blades as he finds the zipper on the back your dress, he unzips carefully and lovingly as he takes his sweet time to adore and treasure every single moment of you

This is not just sex, he never looked at you like the one from before only filled with lust

This is love and admiration and it touches your heart so deeply that it might've been stop beating for a few moments

It's unreal that he is doing this to you, it's also unreal that you let him do this to you

When all of it's left is your paired black lacy undergarments

You both stare together for a while as you held his cheeks as he rests on it

He smiles so wide that it actually hurts and so are you, your smile lingered everytime he looks at you

You raise yourself using your elbows as he unclasp your bra, he threw your bra across the floor somewhere, he can't help but to kiss you again, you mewl as you fall back down on the mattress, you grind yourself against him as he groans when felt how wet you are

You kept grinding yourself onto him as he grants your wish as the friction increases more

Next thing to remove is your panties, you whine, when he licked a stripe into your cunt

"Steve-"

"Yes, baby?"

"I wanna feel you"

You don't need him to ask him twice as his boxers flew off somewhere

He carefully enters your sopping aching hole as you both moan in pleasure

Your jaw falls slack as your furrowed brows crumpled up even more as you adjust to his size

He kisses every part of your body, worships it while you're losing your mind of how it feels so fucking good just like before

"F-Fuck" he curses, praising you as he kisses your jaw

He watches how your cunt clamps sucking him inch by inch, he grunts when you start clenching around him

You're drooling, your eyes are fucked out, you're brain is mashed up

You're a fucking goner

He kneads your breasts as you moan even louder, the squelching sounds that comes in and out of you is music to his ears

"S-Steve, pleas-e move!" you squeal and your voice becomes so tiny that you bit your lip

He spreads your legs far more wide as he grabs your hips harder

You arch your back when he picks up the pace and hitting the spot were you're mostly addicted

"Oh!"

Your eyes roll backwards as your mouth hangs "0" shapes as Steve watches your expression contorts in pleasure

Breasts are jiggling, he goes faster and faster, he places himself on the crook of your neck as he puts lovebites all over it

You locked him in place as you can't keep your suppressed screams any longer

"Steve!"

"Christ-"

You scream his name so loud that his brain shortcircuit as you both came undone

He peels himself off of you but you held him close

"No, don't pull out just yet"

You tap him by the shoulders as you switched positions, he let out a sharp gasp at the angle that you're on top of him

Despite the overstimulation, you grind yourself onto him

"Woah- baby, fuck-"

"Yeah?"

"Don't give me that look- I'm gonna bust"

You giggled as you close your eyes at the sweet sensation as your brows pulled together and you moan when you start to bounce on his cock

Holy fucking shit, you rocked up his world

His hands are everywhere literally setting you on fire, he brings you closer as you continue to do your job as you look at him with blacked out eyes

His eyes got even more darker as he copies your move making your head fell onto the side allowing him the access to kiss your neck

You both went off to one another as you both entered another climax

You fell asleep together after 3 years

The scenario you'll never thought you could experience again

You woke up in a cold empty bed as you look around in your room, you can't see his clothes anymore, maybe he's in downstairs

The last night events flashes right before your very eyes as you bring your knees up

A tinge of pink on your cheeks as you try to remember every detail happened last night you were so beyond elated and in a complete bliss

You wore your dress again as you went downstairs only to find Robin

"Robin?" You ask in confusion, not that you don't want her here but it's just so random

"Hi" she waves awkwardly as she scratches her head

"What are you doing in here? Where's Steve?" You look for him again but it seems like he left

"Don't freak out-" She breathes out

You raise both of your eyebrows as you motion for her to continue

"He's at the airport" She says as she starts following you making you stay focus but she has no power to control you

"What?" You take your car keys as you went inside the vehicle and turn on your engine

"Wait- stop! He didn't told me the reason why! He just said he'll be at the airport!" She shouts out loud as she rests her back against your front door

"Okay, I'll be here at your house! Steve and his ridiculous lovelife- I swear to god- I'm gonna kick him in the ass" she slumps down in defeat as she mutters words under her breath

Why would he leave you?

Fuck, no- did he regret it again?

Tears well up in your eyes as your stomach began to churn as you fighting for your dear life to get into the airport as fast as you could

No, Steve wouldn't- stop overthinking- maybe, he has a reason

He won't just leave you like this, you felt how soft and he made you feel like you're the only person on his life

He made you think that the both of you had a future

So, why would he leave without a word?

You ran as your feet can take you, but when you saw the airplane takes it flight, you rest your head against the window and sobbed

The familiar voice calls your name and you look around a bewildered Steve who is now walking towards you

"Baby, what are you doing-"

"I thought you left me" you hold him tight as you looked at him in the eyes

"You're not going to leave me? Are you?" Your voice sounds so small that he doesn't want to see you crying anymore

"Honey, I'm here, I would rather jump off a cliff for leaving you all alone again, okay?" He reassures you as your worried features decreases but there's still uncertainty on your eyes as he takes a deep breath

"Robin is in the house, I don't-" he cuts you off as he tuts

"Ah-ah, let me speak- the airline called me in the morning and told me that the schedule that I booked in for is going to take off and of course, that would be a disaster since I used half of my expenses for the flight right? So, I made a decision on the spot- I called Robin to accompany you because you were peacefully asleep, baby, I don't wanna wake you and I was about to come back to you and tell you that you're coming with me" he held up in front of your face of two airplane tickets

Your unsureness totally fades away as you look at the ticket, you read aloud what it says

"Chicago?"

"Yeah, I'm going to take you with me while I study for college"

"I actually want to take master's degree too"

"Yeah? We can go together"

A big smile grows on your lips as you step forward to him as he closes the gap and gives you the most promising kiss

"We better start packing up soon"

"We sure are"

"I love you"

He kisses your cheek, "I don't think I could love you more, baby, I love you more than anything"

•

special mention to @savage-aespa, this person here is the main reason why I made this fic! literally giving me an idea that there's a possibility for them to be together and I hope I did my job alright! I'm sorry, it took me a month to finish this up and if you made it here, thank you so so much for reading, your support and your kindness will always be appreciated! take care always! 🥹🫶🏻✨

[autisticmob]

Do you regret going to the Josh fight and did you have to travel for it?

I did not have to travel, it was in my hometown!

And I do regret it a little bit. When I rolled up at like, 11:20, there were maybe 30 people there. It was a MASSIVE open, grassy area, and I thought, “oh cool, plenty of room for social distancing." Hell, we could’ve had a hundred joshes and spectators there and socially distanced just fine. Unfortunately, WAYYYY more people showed up than I think any of us bargained for. By the time I realized the crowd was closing in behind me, there were probably a solid 1k+ people there. So there I found myself on the front lines of The Joshening, and I figured. Well, it’s too damn late now, might as well record for posterity.

 And OG Josh, bless the guy, was doing his damnedest to keep the thing as covid-safe as possible. He literally had a pocket full of masks that he was offering to anybody he saw without one, and he really did pick the biggest open area he possibly could. He even picked pool noodles and rock-paper-scissors as “combat” methods that you could remain socially distant for! 

Dude knew the original post (which btw is literally from last year when I don’t think ANYBODY thought covid would last until April 2021,) had spiraled WAY beyond his ability to reel it back in, so he showed up, took responsibility, and tried to make the best of an absolutely fucking ABSURD situation. 

Had I known how many people would come out to a random-ass field in the middle of my fucking NOWHERE little city, I absolutely would have stayed home. As things stand, I don’t feel particularly at risk of spreading anything, I’m vaccinated and was masked up the whole time. But literally as soon as I realized how many people were around I got real fucking nervous. 

Did y’all know the vast majority of the people there were from OUT OF STATE? Like not even just out-of-town, but like, Not Even Within The State Of Nebraska. There was a guy there from Denver. There was a guy there from fucking WASHINGTON DC. All for the fucking Josh Battle. Literally if just people from Lincoln showed up, it probably WOULD have been like, maybe 30 people? And that would’ve been perfectly safe assuming everybody masked up and spread out.

It’s this wild combo of like “oh god unintentional superspreader event” but also.... Just a lot of people doing some real wholesome and silly shit?? Like... I’ll be real it was the most fun I’ve had since quarantine started. The vibes were wonderful. It just snowballed in a way I don’t think anybody could have foreseen or prevented once it started going?

idk thats my 2 Cents on The Joshening

[dreamwritesimagines]

Burn The Witch 7 - After Midnight [Bucky Barnes x Reader]

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful support and feedback my loves ! ❤ Here’s an extra chapter, I hope you like it as well and please let me know what you think! ❤ Thank you! ❤❤❤

Warnings: Enemies to lovers, fake dating, mentions of blood, sex, violence, death, manipulation, language, guns, knives.

Summary: Missions require stealth.

Series Masterlist

For a spy, working at unusual hours was nothing new. During your training at the academy they would wake you up at ungodly hours to drag you to exercise just so that you would get used to being ready to fight anytime.

So technically you weren’t supposed to be this tired, but you hadn’t gotten any sleep last night. To your surprise, at around 5 in the morning you were assigned to a new mission to capture and bring another member of HYDRA in. It was unexpected because your superiors had told you earlier that earning Bucky’s trust and getting information from him was the priority, and they hadn’t sent you after any target for days up until this morning. You weren’t exactly complaining anyway, other missions weren’t your priority.

Even if you kept telling yourself what you were doing was just business, somehow talking to him didn’t feel like it.

“God damn it,” you muttered to yourself when the sight of your reflection in the elevator mirror caught your eye, making you heave a sigh and push the button to your apartment. Your shirt was stained with so much blood that you could hardly see the white and you licked your thumb before trying to scrub off the dried blood on your cheekbone. The elevator made a small noise before the door opened and you stepped outside, dragging your weary self to your door.

“What’s up neighbor?”

You jumped out of your skin and turned to Keith who was watching you with a grin on his face, holding a cup of coffee.

“What the fuck?”

“Likewise. Why are you covered in blood, you normal civilian you?”

You opened your door and stepped inside with him following you suit.

“Mission.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, “Young lady, look me in the eye and tell me you didn’t kill the Winter Soldier.”

“What? No!” you made a face, “I could never- it was another kind of a mission.”

“You already have a mission, didn’t you tell them you’re supposed to focus on that one?”

“The target was heavily protected and it needed my expertise.”

“Nobody likes a brag.”

You rolled your eyes, “Keith, General literally told me that before sending me there.”

“You’re not supposed to get close to targets anymore,” he reminded you and you shifted your weight from one foot to other, biting inside your cheek.

“It got out of control,” you murmured, making him sigh.

“Y/N.”

“It’s not like I wanted to!” you defended yourself, “It was just necessary, that’s all.”

“If you get in close combat with a target you might end up with visible injuries, and that would compromise your cover as a civilian and tip Barnes off.”

“I know, I know…” you murmured as you walked to the sink to wash your hands, then switched the coffee maker on.  

“Do you?” he insisted, “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re looking for trouble.”

You grabbed a cup from the shelf and turned to him.

“I just wanted to get it over with,” you said, “Okay? I have other things in mind.”

He pulled his brows together, “Like what?”

“Like…” you waved your hands, trying to find the words, “Like other stuff. Like my main mission— by the way I couldn’t ask the other night, why did they locate you here?”

“General said your relationship with Barnes is progressing well. It’s better to have another agent close by, just in case he decides to make a late night visit.”

The innuendo wasn’t lost on you and you raised your brows, “I feel like I’m working in a dark alternate version of a matchmaking system where they hook you up with a date you can’t trust.”

“So every dating app out there?” he asked, making you laugh as you sipped your coffee.

“Speaking of dates,” you started, but was cut off your phone beeped and you checked the time, then cursed under your breath.

“What?”

“I can’t believe I’m working at a stupid milkshake shop,” you grumbled, “I need to take a shower and get to work, see yourself out.”

“You know, you could bring some milkshake home,” he said as you walked to the bathroom, “That’s what a good neighbor would do.”

“Goodbye Keith!” you called out and closed the bathroom door.

                                    ***

You really, really needed something to snap you out of this sleeplessness. Preferably coffee, preferably in an I.V. or something because you had a feeling drinking it wouldn’t be enough at this point.

“Thank you and bon appetite!” you smiled brightly at the customer after serving them their milkshake, then dropped the smile and pulled the small apron off your uniform.

“I’m going to take a break and get some coffee,” you told your coworker “You want anything?”

“No thank you,” she said and you fixed your hair before walking outside to make your way to the coffee shop.

Keith had a point. It was stupid to get in close combat with a target, especially now. General had sent you there with clear orders of you keeping your distance and using your sniper rifle, not your dagger and in the heat of the moment, you had decided to go after him when you couldn’t get a clear shot.

“Hi, can I get a hot red eye please?” you asked the barista, “Actually no- make it a black eye, largest cup you have.”

She smiled slightly, “Long night?”

“You have no idea.”

She swiped your card before giving it to you and you walked to the waiting counter to lean against it, nibbling on your lip.

You really, really wanted to believe that your sour mood was a result of you not getting enough sleep, but deep down you knew it wasn’t like you to take unnecessary risks.

It was the fact that you had been too distracted to take the shot at the right time because you were looking down at your phone when the target had walked out of his building.

But after all, it was your main mission, wasn’t it? You had to make sure to get Bucky’s attention to get closer to him. Maybe two missions at the same time had these kind of disadvantages, but it wasn’t as if you could walk there and tell them not to give you side missions.

If you wanted to be a handler, you had to prove yourself.

You took the lid off the cup, the scent of hot liquid filling your nostrils and you grabbed the sugar packets before tearing the top off to pour sugar into it. You dipped the thin stir stick into the beverage to stir it, then put the stick between your lips but as soon as you turned around and saw who had just gotten his coffee, you held your breath.

“Hi!” you said breathlessly, pulling the thin stick off your mouth, “Um- Captain—Captain America sir.”

“Oh God no, please call me Sam.” He offered you his hand and you shook it.

“Hi Sam.”

“It’s Y/N, right?”

“Yes!” you said, “Yes, it’s wonderful to see you again. Under much better conditions where I haven’t been shot at.”  

“Bucky just went to that uh….” He paused, “Milkshake shop right? He just went there to see you.”

You scrunched up your nose, “Oh no, I literally just went on my break.”

“That’s alright,” he said, “He’ll be back here. Would you like to sit down?”

Nope.

Nope, you did not want to sit down.

You had planned a whole strategy to pull the wool over Bucky’s eyes, but Sam’s file told you that he was an excellent judge of character, much better at reading people than Bucky. Everything that you had told Bucky to manipulate him had worked so far but persuading Sam wouldn’t be that easy.

Seeing that any small sign could tip him off, you had to put even more of an effort into the illusion.  

“I’d love to!” you said and followed him to the nearest table. You sat down and pushed your hair behind you ear, smiling up at him.

“I never got to say thank you,” you said, “For saving me back there.”

“Don’t mention it, really,” he said, “How’s your arm?”

“It got better,” you said, “I thought I was dying but as it turns out, it was just a graze. Only thing that’s hurting right now is my ego.”

“Oh it happens.”

“Even you have to admit, that was a bad first impression.”

He grinned, “For what exactly?”

“For—um… for a first—first impression. In general,” you stammered and sipped your coffee while he sat back.

“So how do you find New York?” he asked, “Bucky mentioned you just moved here.”

“It’s been a month, yes,” you said, clearing your throat, “I like it so far. I mean, aside from getting mugged, I enjoy it. It’s very different than where I grew up in but like— it’s very new.”

“Yeah, especially if you’re from a small town…” he mused, “Where did you say you moved from by the way?”

“Cannon Beach, Oregon.”

“I love small towns,” he said, “Very peaceful.”

“They are!” you said, “I mean sometimes a little too peaceful with nothing to do but…”

“You know, visiting Oregon has been in my list for a while now,” he said, “Any advice on where to go if I end up visiting there?”

Oh he is good.

If you weren’t a trained spy, you wouldn’t have even noticed that he was trying to see whether you could be trusted or not. Bucky, being secretive himself hadn’t even asked anything about your so called hometown but Sam knew exactly what to ask to see if you were hiding something.

You thanked Chloe for making you read everything about your file the other day in your mind before you pursed your lips, deep in thought.

“Well my hometown doesn’t have much to offer but— do you like hiking?”

“Sure, why not?”

“We have a state park,” you said, “I think you’d enjoy it. Natural view, all green and peaceful. Back in high school, every semester break my friends dragged me there and the there was this one time we were all there, I got stung by this huge wasp and it was just before the school dance and I ended up not getting asked out by my crush—anyway, it’s a long way of saying I don’t hike anymore.”

That made him chuckle and he seemed to be convinced that you were sincere, thankfully.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said as his eyes went over your shoulder, making you look up and gasp.

Jesus, as it turned out you weren’t the only one with a mission who required you to get in close combat.

“Oh my God.” You covered your mouth with your hands, staring up at his bruised face half hidden by his hat. Sam pushed his chair back, clearing his throat.

“I should probably step outside,” he said as he stood up, “Gotta make a call, I’ll see you later.”

“Thanks man.”

“What happened?” you asked as Sam walked out of the coffee shop and Bucky sat down across from you to the seat Sam had just left. He tried to offer you a small smile.

“It’s nothing.”

“Bucky it doesn’t look like nothing…” you mumbled, your brows pulled together “Does it hurt?”

What?

“Does it hurt?”

You weren’t supposed to ask that, you were supposed to gather info on where he went and what he was doing on missions of his own.

“Not at all,” he assured you and you took a shaky breath.

“What happened?”

“There’s this thing me and Sam are working on,” he said, “Don’t worry about it. I went to the milkshake shop to see you but…”

You wanted to ask for more details but something told you it could create a problem to insist this early so you decided against it.

“Just tell me you’re safe?”

A soft light crossed his eyes, “I am,” he said, “I promise.”

You paused for a moment before you pushed your hair behind your ear. “I gather you’re kind of used to getting hurt then?”

“A little,” he admitted, “That’s why I couldn’t call you or anything. I got caught up in something.”  

Ah. He wasn’t giving you any details even if he thought you were a civilian.

He could like you, but he still couldn’t trust you. Maybe it was a precaution, maybe he wanted to keep you away from his mess, but either way, it was very clear that he had trust issues.

You took a mental note to put it on your report for General and shook your head.

“Of course,” you said, “You don’t need to explain anything, I’m just glad that you’re well and safe. Bruises aside.”

“Looks that bad huh?”

“No!” you said quickly, “No I wouldn’t say bad. Not by a long shot, you’re still pret—uh…dashing. Cute as a bug’s ear I’d say. Looking—looking aces. Dynamite even!”

He pulled his brows together, keeping his eyes on you.

“I may or may not have checked some early to mid 20th century slang just in case,” you admitted, making him tilt his head in confusion.

“Just in case of what?”

“Just in case you said something and I didn’t understand on the second date,” you said, “And let me tell you something, you guys spoke a completely different language back then.”

“You’re joking,” he said with a small smile and you crossed your arms.

“You don’t believe me?”

“Say one more term and I will.”

You thought for a moment, “Fine. Are you ready for this?”

“Absolutely, bring it on.”

“I will….” You trailed off, searching your mind for the right words you had checked online the other night, “I will snap my cap if you spook me showing up looking like you were about the buy the farm last night.”

A clear laugh escaped from his lips as it lit up his whole face and that was when you realized how rare it was to hear him laugh out loud. A warmth filled your stomach and you raised your brows, your nose in the air.

“See? Told you,” you pointed out and stole a look at him, “Was it—was it good?”

“It was great,” he said when he could pull himself together, “Absolutely perfect.”

“Why thank you,” you sipped your coffee as he cleared his throat.

“Speaking of the second date…” he said, making you bite down a smile, “Any chance you’re free tonight?”

“I am,” you said, “But you’re not.”

He pulled his brows together, “Hm?”

“Have you seen yourself?” you insisted, “You look like you—you almost died or something!”

“It wasn’t a big deal, really.”

“Well, those bruises say otherwise,” you said, “You need some rest. How much sleep did you get last night?”

He averted his eyes and waved a hand, “Some. Enough.”

“Bucky,” you said, leaning in slightly, “How much?”

Everything the government and your division had gathered on Bucky suggested the same thing; The Winter Soldier was basically created for war. He was the perfect soldier, and there was no way anyone could get any information from him. There was a reason why they had sent you into this mission, trying to get intel from him by force was absolutely impossible.

Even the government knew that.

But the same unstoppable soldier who would probably die before saying anything to the enemy caved in when you batted your lashes.

“Two hours.”

Your jaw dropped and you shook your head, “Nuh uh.”

“It’s enough, it’s more than—“

“Nope,” you cut him off, “You’re going to rest at home and—eat soup and watch garbage TV, mister. No dates for you on two hours of sleep.”

A soft smile pulled at his lips, “I can function with two hours of sleep darling.”

Your heart did not skip a beat at that, it was just you being very focused on your own cover and that was it.

“Well I don’t want you to just function,” you mumbled, “You need to take care of yourself too.”

Judging by his expression you could see that he wasn’t used to hearing that and you put your coffee on the table, then reached out to gently put your hand over his vibranium one. His hand twitched like a gun recoiling in your hand, even if you knew it was involuntary and a look of disbelief crossed his features, as if he hadn’t expected you –or anyone to touch that, as if he was afraid that you would be scared.

But of course, that was the spy in you speaking. Your cover wasn’t supposed to notice anything of the sort.

“How about…” you trailed off, “We have a date tomorrow? You go and get some rest tonight, and I’ll pick what I’m gonna wear for tomorrow and spam my friends with outfit ideas.”

“You sure?”

“Of course,” you said, “We have all the time in the world for dates. And I happen to live here, you know? It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

He smiled and turned his hand to entwine his fingers with yours, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles.

“Good,” he rasped out, “I like the sound of that.”

                                         ***

You should’ve known your superiors wouldn’t make it easy for you. This time, you were allowed to take your team with you because as it turned out, the right hand of the target you had brought in last night had gotten away, so now you had to take him down for your superiors to cut a deal with the target.

The first part of the mission had gone splendidly. He was alone and in hiding, so setting your gear up on the rooftop and pulling the trigger hadn’t been difficult whatsoever. You watched as a couple of agents burst through his door so that they could retrieve his body and fixed your ski mask before starting to dissemble your rifle to carry it easier.

“Anyone wants to grab some dinner?” Keith’s voice reached your earpiece and you yawned.

“Nah,” you said, “I’m going to go home and sleep for a year or something.”

“Deleting the security cam footage of the building right now,” Chloe let you know, “And I want dinner, I’ve been running on multiple cups of coffee.”

“You got it.”

“Are you buying?” one of the agents in your team asked, “If you are, we’re coming too.”

“Yeah man, I’m buying. Tacos?”

“Sounds good, just let me check—“ Chloe started but then gasped, “Shrike, get out of there right now!”

It was almost instinctual. You grabbed the small pistol out of your boots and turned around to point it at the person behind you but as soon as you recognized who he was, your heart started pacing.

Bucky had decided not to rest at home after all.

“Hi soldier,” you managed to say, “We have to stop meeting like this.”

Chapter 8

[yandere-society]

Scream

Pairing: Jungkook x reader

Synopsis: It’s been a year since your mother was slaughtered, with no leads pointing to any possible suspects. It’s been an up-hill battle for you to accept what happened— especially with no answers or closure— and the citizens of your hometown have been sleeping with one eye open ever since. But now, the mystery killer has decided to make an anniversary visit, and is making it known that they not only have a dire love for infamous horror films... but they also have their targets set on you and all of your closest friends.

Word count: 8k

Headline: Small Town Woodsbroro Is Waking Up Screaming Once Again!

Warnings: dark themes; Gore; Smut; Crackhead humor (only because I promised my bff I’d give her an honorable death scene); Foul language; Jungkook is psychotic; Graphic depictions of him killing your mom/friends; we’re also going to pretend that it’s outrageously easy to get away with murder; dont fact check me on anything you read here; rough sex; mask kink. 

Admin: @tatertotthethot​

Baley was high as a fucking kite.

 So high, that she didn’t care about it being 1am as she blasted the Cha-Cha slide at full volume. 

  So high, that she was completely disregarding her lactose intolerance whilst making herself a triple layered, sharp cheddar grilled cheese that was bound to have her ass blasting right back off by 3am. 

  So, outrageously stoned, that she was totally unaware of the masked killer standing just outside the glass doors in her kitchen, watching her every move.. With her beat up, hogtied boyfriend laying out next to him. 

  “Now it’s time to fawnky! To the right now—“ 

  She crab walked along with the instructions, spatula in hand. 

  “To the left!”

  “Take it back now, y’all.” 

  Ghostface grimaced beneath his mask, eyes stalking the stoned woman with disdain. She was  the epitome of “crackhead energy” and it pissed him off how much she resembles you. It only makes sense, being as you two have been best friends since kindergarten— probably soulmates in a past life— but it is within that fact that Ghostface has grown to absolutely fucking loath her. 

  She’s too much like you. She keeps up with your humor and probably has more of your heart than he, himself, has earned a place in yet. He knows good and well that if it ever came down to you having to pick between him and her, you’ll pick her. 

  That simply will not do. That’s exactly why he is about to rid you of that option— or, as he sees it, the dilemma. 

He growled and  swung at the air, wishing he could just bust in and end her already.

  “How could you be in love with that creature?” He hissed at Taehyung, the built-in voice box beneath his mask altering it enough to remain anonymous. The question was quite hypocritical, being as he was in love with a girl that most would consider Baley’s second-half, but only you were an exception to being so.. abnormal.

  “Mmmph—“ Taehyung drearily gurgled out from beneath the strip of tape over his mouth, tears breaching his eyes as he watched Baley’s precious, uncoordinated ass do the “Charlie brown”. It looked more like a fucked up gallop.

  “What is the sex like, dude?” Ghostface ripped the duck tape off Taehyung’s split lips. “That’s a serious question.”

 “Boo bear..” was all Taehyung could muster up, more scared for her than himself.

  Ghostface gagged and slapped the tape right back on with a little too much force, having to take a second to regain his composure before pressing the call button on Taehyung’s phone. The Spotify music thankfully cut off as her phone rang out from the counter.

  Baley was only upset for a split before she spotted the name on her phone screen, and was quick to answer it with a sickening amount of glee.

  “Angel muffin!” She cooed. Gross

  “Hi, boo bear..” Ghostface flipped his middle finger up at Taehyung before clutching his Bowie knife back down to his side. 

  “Oh my God, What was that? You sound like Corpse, mixed with the bear from Five Nights At Freddy’s.” 

  “The bears name is Freddy, dumbass.” 

  Baley neck rolled back in offense.

  “Are you trying to get pegged or prolapsed? Might wanna remember who the fuck you’re talking to, the next time you call this cellular.” She snapped, hanging the phone up with a viscous pout. She still somehow managed to pick back up on the beat and cha-cha’d real smooth as she took the pot off the eye and turned the stove off, visibly upset.

  Ghostface stood there for a moment, processing what she just said, before turning towards Taehyung. 

“She claps your cheeks?” 

  Taehyung glared back at the screaming-ghost mask, bracing himself when a gloved hand reached out to once again rip the ductape off his lips. 

  “It’s not sus!” He immediately defended. “I have a gspot up there for a reason. I am not ashamed to use it.”

  “I don’t give a fuck about that!” The killer snapped out. “why would you let that.. unstable individual insert something into your rectum—“ 

  “You’ve got a whole lotta nerve calling somebody else unstable,” Taehyung deadpanned, and with that, his mouth was once again resealed shut. 

  He called Baley’s phone again, just as she was about to take a bite of the sandwhich that she’ll, unfortunately, never get to eat. 

  “What, fucker?” She scorned.

  “I can see you.” 

  “Oh, yeah?” She sarcastically spat. “Then what am I doing?” 

  She clenched her buttcheeks in and hunched her back out, her body resembling a question mark, before vigorously gyrating her body- mostly just her spine. Jungkook knows from the various tiktoks you’ve shown him that he was witnessing the inverted-twerk. 

  “Hm? Tell me, fuckboy. What am I doing?”

  ”Something a fucking cockroach does after I spray Raid on it. How the fuck do you clench your buttcheeks like that?” 

  Baley halted in mid thrust, surprised but not exactly fearful (yet) as she whizzed around to face the sliding glass doors that led into her back yard. It was pitch black outside, and all she could see was her own reflection starring back at her. She was also too high to care about the fact that she had the hood of her sweatshirt over her head and the strings pulled all the way out, which  only exposed the center of her face in a squished circle. 

  “I use my glutes. You know that. Why haven’t you come in?” She asked, not superstitious but a lil-stitious. 

  “This isn’t Taehyung.”

  “Okay, Isn’t Taehyung. Why haven’t you come in?” 

  “Because I want you to come out here.” The killer responded, grinning at the visible unease finally creeping into the girls stance.

  “Okay, babe— I hate to be a bummer here, but considering that today is the one-year anniversary of Ms. (L/N)’s murder, this isn’t very Cash Money of you. Can you please just come in and.. stop?”

  He let out a chuckle, a dark one. 

  “Boo bear?”

  “What, Isn’t Taehyung?”

  “Turn on the outside lights.“

Ghostface put the speaker on the phone and sat it on the ground as he crouched over Taehyung, pulling him to sit up straight. He watched as Baley apprehensively padded over to the light switch by the door. He could practically feel her heart beating in-sync with Taehyung’s racing one as he placed the knife to his neck, smiling beneath his disguise.

  The lights flickered on, and she screamed, terror finally bringing the seriousness out in the situation. 

  “HANG UP OR MOVE A MUSCLE AND HE DIES!” The killer roared, knowing she was still too high for her survival instincts to kick in. Any sober, sane individual would’ve probably caught on to the fact that they were gonna die no matter what she did. What was just making it easier for himself, knowing her dumbass was gonna comply.

  “W-What do you want me to do?” 

  See?

  “Be a good girl, and come here.” 

  “Quit trying to seduce me, you sick son of a bitch. My boyfriend’s literally right there!” She croaked out, voice shrill with exasperation. 

  The killer plunged the knife into Taehyung’s arm, making him jolt to life with a pain-filled howl. Baley began sobbing out, apologizing profusely. 

  “Your boyfriends going to get gutted like a fish if I have to repeat myself. Drop the phone and come here.” Ghostface seethed, wrenching the knife back out on the last word.

   Baley reluctantly— and stupidly—  did as told. She let the phone fall from her hand, then jumped out of her skin as the Bluetooth reconnected in the house and started playing WAP. She tried not to sing along despite the situation as she padded over, shaky hands rising to cover her mouth.

“N-Now what?” She asked. 

  “I just figured your last words should be said face-to-face. Is there anything you two would like to say to each other?” He asked, that being the only generosity he’d be willing to spare as he ripped the tape away from Tae’s mouth, one last time. 

Baley dropped to her knees, so much despair in her eyes. So many things she wanted to say. She recollected herself and caught her breath in just enough time to utter final goodbye: “I-I-I said certified freak..” 

  Tae’s eyes closed as a single tear escaped, nodding his head in understanding. “Seven days a week...” 

  “GAH!” The killer roared out, wrenching  Taehyung’s head back to slice his throat before shoving him away and lunging  at Baley. 

  She landed on her back with him on top, and he wasted no time as he began slashing her apart, in any way he possibly could. He let all the pent up rage and annoyance he felt towards her, out on her body. It was worse than the brutality he inflicted on to your mother this time last year. He’d only stabbed her a total of 19 times— one for every year she failed you as a mother. With Baley, he didn’t stop tearing into her until WAP ended. And damn, did it feel good. He finally felt like he’d purged his soul clean.

  This may all seem reckless, but Jungkook was actually just lucky. In order to mask his true motive behind all this, he had to find another one to cover it with. It was simply convenient that Baley’s father is the town mayor, and after a little digging, he made the grand discovery that he was also having a secret affair with (Y/N)’s mother. In fact, the mayor had several mistresses throughout the town. 

  Jungk—er, Ghostface.. chopped off one of Baley’s fingers and slid the glass door shut, writing the same words on it that he wrote on your mother’s bathroom mirror.

  CHEATING PIG!!

  Yes. When he did this last year, the police had to dissect through your mother’s long line of past sexual partners, and had to track down the father you never met for an interview. No leads came about, because it was all time wasted, anyways. Now, with this new addition, the mayor will not only have to set the scandals ablaze again by having to publicly confess his infidelity to the town and police, but they’ll have to lead on another pointless investigation for every woman he’s cheated with— over a dozen of them. They’ll have to also charge him with withholding crucial information from the investigation as well, but what’s so fucking comical about it all is that.. NONE of it has anything to do with any of this. It’ll just be another cold case with no leads. 

  And maybe, just MAYBE you’ll be smart enough to ditch this place and come with him. That’s all he wanted. You have nothing left and nothing to come back to now, and as long as you give in to him and leave, there won’t have to be anymore lives taken. You could start a new life and never experience another hell like the one he’s creating here. If only you’d say yes.

  “May you both continue to clap each other’s cheeks in the deepest depths of hell,” he told the mauled corpses as he walked off, so happy to have Baley gone that he almost wanted to skip to his car. 

  Now, he will go home and clap your cheeks to complete the cycle.

  —

“Damnit, bitch, pick up,” you huffed in frustration as Baley’s FaceTime continued to roll over, telling you that she’s unavailable. You thought you could power through today with your newly adapted ability to suppress shit, but it was hard when you’re left alone to reminisce. You just couldn’t shake the fact that the date on today’s calendar marked the same day that your heart, soul, and peace of mind was so horribly torn apart. 

  It didn’t help that you also missed your mother terribly. She wasn’t always the best, but she still loved you, and you loved her. Oh, God. Mom—

No. No. Don’t think about her.

You tried calling Baley one more time and couldn’t fight off the tremble in your hands, nor the tears at your water ducts as it rung through till the end. Damnit. 

  You couldn’t be angry. She doesn’t owe you the company— especially since you two have already been FaceTiming all day. But she was good at distractions, always able to drag you out of your shell of deprecation with her chaotic sense of humor. She is one of the only two people you have in your life that are capable of doing such, but you knew you’d get scolded if you blew up the others phone. Jungkook hates being hounded and rushed, having already told you that he’ll be there any minute. But he’s taking way too fucking long it seems, and you just hate sitting here, waiting.

  You can’t shake the feeling that you’re being watched. The feeling first crept up on you this time last year and never left. You felt so venerable to the cruel world when you’re alone, especially since the maniac is still out there.

  You still resent the police department  for practically giving up on your mother’s case after 9 months. “Cheating pig” was the only lead they got and yet, it pointed them no where. She wasn’t in a relationship. She didn’t even like relationships. And still, they deemed it a randomized attack— no leads, no motives. Nothing. Just a local woman stabbed in the chest 19 times while taking a shower. Like some Psycho remake. No signs of forced entry. No evidence of sexual assault. Just a very passionate, yet unexplainable massacre with a useless message left behind. 

  It doesn’t make sense. And even though you wish to never have the attacker come back, you can feel it in your bones that they will wish to clarify it one day. 

  “Fuck it.” You breathed out, heart slamming against your chest and paranoia gnawing at your insides as you quickly scrolled to Jungkook contact. But then, just as your thumb twitched to press the call button, your door bell rung and you sprung up to your feet, making a mad dash to the door. You checked the peep hole first, just knowing it was gonna be him, but was disappointed when it wasn’t. That still didn’t keep a rush of relief from washing over you when you did see who it really was, though. You forced a welcoming smile on to your face as you unlocked all 7 bolts from the door, and opened it to greet Namjoon and Hobi with a hug. 

  They were cops, currently in their uniforms, also old friends from highschool. They’ve been looking out for you ever since last year, always making sure you knew you were safe beneath their watch. They use to take turns guarding your house until they were told to stop, but you were extremely happy to see them both here at the same time tonight.

  “Everything okay?” Hobi asked, having noticed the shake in your limbs during the brief embrace. He leaned back and observed the tension in your eyes, even though you were hoping to hide it. 

  “Yes, just— today,” was all you could say, and didn’t have to clarify for them to understand. 

  “That’s why we’re here. We got permission to guard your house tonight,” Namjoon explained, eyes drifting over your shoulder and into your house. “Are you alone?”

  “Yes, but Jungkook should be here any minute now. He had to go to South Korea for a week for his fathers birthday and just flew back in tonight, but apparently there’s been some huge wreck on the main highway and everyone has been stuck.”

  That bit of information was actually true. However, Jungkook was lucky enough to have just miss it.. because he’s the one that actually caused it. It was honestly dumb-luck as to how he did it, but kind of amazing when given details.

  He was in the express lane, him and the car behind him hitting 80mph. He recognized the car as the one that was parked beside his back at the airport, because he had stopped and took a moment to judge the driver for how worn down and raggedy the tires were. One bad pot hole or nail in the road would strip that sucker straight from the rim. 

  And that’s exactly what inspired him as he recognized the car, an idea sparking that could soon serve as an alibi in the future. He already had a hand out the window, smoking a cigarette. He still has those iron steak-nails he used at his construction sight. They’re 5 inches in length, subtle enough to casually drop out of a car window along with the cigarette. If they hit just right... 

  He gave it a try, honestly thinking it wasn’t going to work.

  But holy fucking hell, did it.  Not even a second after he dropped it, did the car suddenly swerve out as it’s tires screeched and sparks flew. Rubber scattered out amongst the road as the car continued to spin out, getting struck by a the car in all 6 lanes of traffic, ultimately causing a huge pile up in just under 10 seconds. It was the most destruction he’s ever witnessed and it happened so fucking fast he almost ran himself off the road just watching from the rear view mirror.

  “NO FUCKING WAY!” Jungkook had squawked out as his head rapidly whipped back and forth to witness the massive mess he just created behind him. He was smiling like the maniac he is, undoubtably impressed with himself. He did it so lazily, too. But it only pumped him up even more for what he needed to do- the whole reason he even thought to do that. He only wanted something major enough to buy himself maybe an hour’s worth of time, so that when/if he gets interrogated in the future, they can check the traffic reports for a registered wreck to fit his alibi. But considering that he just shut the whole damn highway down, it’ll not only register but definitely make tonight’s news. 

  “Ah, yeah. We heard about that. 36 cars piled up. Can’t believe nobody was killed.” Namjoon said.

  “How the fuck did that even happen?” You wondered, baffled.

  “Some dickhead was going 80 an hour on an old tire and it wiped out after hitting a nail on the road. Thankfully, he only has a broken nose and whip flash, but with all the cars that got totaled— I don’t even want to know how much the cost of damage would be. But it caused 5 miles worth of traffic back-up.” 

  “Mm..” you grimaced, shaking your head. “Well.. would you guys like some dinner? Maybe some Coffee?”

  “Ah, thanks, but there’s no need. We’ve got all the energy drinks and McDonald’s we need. You just chill out for the night, we’re right out here if you need anything,” Hobi assured, making you genuinely smile for the first time in the past two days. 

 But that was just before a familiar car pulled up that had your mood skyrocketing.

  “FINALLY!” You broke out, sprinting down the steps and over the driver side of it right as the man of the hour stepped out. He welcomed you with open arms and easily lifted your feet up of the ground.

  He looked just as good as he smelt. You’ve missed him more than words could describe in this past week— and Jungkook knew it. Of course, he had offered to take you with him so that you could finally meet his parents. But as predicted, you declined, saying that it’d be too much to meet his mother when the anniversary of your own’s death was approaching. 

  You continued to squeeze your arms around his neck for the next several seconds, and it wasn’t until he heard you sniffling and felt your shoulders shake that he realized you were crying. He couldn’t help but like that type of reaction. He was hoping the distance would torment you, maybe teach your ass a lesson.

  “Don’t cry,” he rumbled in your ear as he pressed you hard against his lower half,  making sure to up the intimacy of the embrace as he felt the eyes of the onlookers in the yard. 

He waited for a second before peering over at the officers, who were awkwardly standing beside their cars. He gave a wave, pretending as if he were sheepish about them having to witness this. 

  “How’s it goin, guys?” 

  “Fine, fine,” Hobi responded. “Don’t mind us. We’re just here to watch out for you guys.”

  “I appreciate that. Really.” He said in his best acting voice, even flashing a dimpled grin that gave off nothing but innocence as the two got into a patrol car, nodding to him in welcome. It actually makes things more convenient for him. They’ll be able to backup his whereabouts later on.

  He pondered this while returning his attention to you, coaxing you out of your emotional outburst.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just been so hard not having you here. Fuck, I’m so glad you’re back.” You breathed in and sighed out, and he could tell by the end of the last sentence that you were more-so talking to yourself, clinging to him one last time just to greedily soak in the physical presence of his body. He felt something ache in his heart, as well as his jeans. 

  “Well, I’m here now. Maybe next time, you’ll just go with me,” he lightly chided, hand coming up to pet your head as he kissed the top of it. 

  “Yeah.. I started regretting it after the first hour you left.” You whispered out, meeting his lips. You kissed each other a couple times, probably more than necessary. But it calmed you down and made you feel steady again. “Come on, I made you something to eat.” 

  He got his duffel bag out from the back seat and slung it over his shoulder before taking your hand,  following you inside. It boosted his ego knowing that the two men watching from the tinted windows of the car were secretly jealous of him. They had a thing for you. Almost every straight guy in highschool did. That’s why he never minded what you wore, and was more than happy to let you flaunt yourself to their eyes. He liked teasing others, knowing they’ll never have such a prize as you.

  Once inside, you were quick to relock your bolts. You were very strict about that now, taking extra precautions to prevent a potential attack. It kind of humored him knowing that it was him, a resident inside this very home itself, that those locks were meant to keep out. You’re literally locking yourself in with the killer.

  “Damn, you cleaned the hell out of this place.” He ogled, not only taking in the immaculacy but smelling the pinesol and bleach amongst the floors and counter tops. All the laundry was folded, not a speck of dust in sight. You even cleaned the grout amongst the kitchen flooring, it seemed. Nothing looked out of place. 

   “I had to do something to keep from wigging out,” you shrugged, walking over to start the microwave for him to heat up his dinner plate. He left his duffel bag by the door and grabbed himself a beer before sitting at the table, noticing it’s prestigious shine. 

  “Did you polish it?”

  “Yeah...” you said as you scratched the back of your neck, somehow embarrassed. 

  “It’s looks amazing in here, kitten. Really. I know you did it to cope but still, you did a damn good job.” He praised, feeling a little bad. He knows this took a lot of work, and it sucks that you opted to do all this just to keep the anxiety of his absence away.

  “Thank you,” you sighed, taking his plate out and sitting in down in front him, then handing him some utensils. 

“Where’s your plate?”

  “I already ate, silly. I’ll munch with you, though.” You began making yourself a salad as he began to eat, complimenting you on how good it was. He doesn’t know that you’ve been awake for two days straight, and that you’re still battling off an anxiety attack. You were expecting it to vanish now that he’s here, but the sleep deprivation was getting to you. 

  So, you decided to reminisce on better memories. The old days; back when you first met him.

  It was senior year of highschool, and he was the new transfer student from South Korea. He was the punk-emo guy that stood out amongst the crowd. All black clothing, more band shirts than anything. He had that messy mop-hair going on, and approximately 6 piercings on each ear, along with a studded labret to boot. 

  From day one, he was the most attractive guy you’ve ever laid eyes on.  Much to his exterior trope, he was anti-social and didn’t seem friendly at all. The only time you personally heard him speak for the first few months of school was when he’d answer the teacher for roll call. 

You only had one class together, chemistry. He’d always sit at the back of the classroom, and you’d remember the giddiness you’d feel just before walking into class and making eye contact with him, even for just a split second. You heart always skipped a beat and would threaten to seize up whenever Baley would lean over and tell you that he was looking at you again. Of course, that would be all the interaction you could get, being as you refused to engage any further. But life seemed to play out like a Wattpad fic back then. 

  Around the middle of first semester, your teacher was fed up with all the chatter amongst friends, so she decided to assign seats. Jungkook’s was still at his designated one, but you had to sit directly in front of him so that Taehyung could sit closer up, next to Baley. It’s also thanks to that class that the two of them fell for each other. It was also the same day she issued a partner-assignment that had to be done with the peer behind you. 

 You remembered having to play it cool, turning your desk and chair around to face him head-on for the first time ever. You anticipated that he’d still be sporting that ice-cold, disinterested glare, but he actually seemed pleased. He wasn’t actually smiling but he had a friendly glint in his eyes, like he welcomed you.

  “Hello,” he started off, naturally confident in himself.

  “Howdy,” you responded, immediately hating yourself. You’ve never uttered such a word in your life and you don’t know why the fuck you decided that that was the perfect moment to try it out. 

  He only snorted back at you, though, amusement swirling in his colorless eyes. You were intimidated by that as well. They were jett black. No distinction between his pupils and his irises. Just solid, black orbs boring into you.

  You then continued to battle with basic communication.  

“So, uhm.. wh—..” 

English, motherfucker! Do you speak it?!

“What parts do you wanna do?” You rushed out.

  “I’ll get the information together and answer the questions, as long as you create the PowerPoint and present it to the class,” he said without missing a beat, as if he’d already decided on that for the both of you. 

  “What criteria, though?” You asked, still waiting on that part. 

  “All of it...” He reiterated in a “duh” tone. 

  “That’s not fair to you, though...” you continued. 

  He arched an impressively sharp brow. “How?” 

  “You’re literally doing all the hard work.”

He shrugged, and you tried not to drool when you saw all his rings and the veins on his hands and fingers as he took his phone out. “I learned this shit back when I was freshman in South Korea. We’re way ahead of y’all there.” 

  “Oh.. well.. I can at least do the images and label them.” 

  Stop starring at his fingers.

  “Mm,” he hummed with a lack of conviction, still looking at his phone. “No offense, but no.”

  “Uhm.. okay..” you frowned in dejection, not sure how to respond to that. 

  “I said no offense,” he grinned up at you apologetically. “I just know you’re bad with visualizations.” 

  “What? I have an A in here. How do you even know that?”

  “The teacher got onto you for messing up the labels on the last test. You got all the functions right but failed to match them to their description.” He said without any hesitation, and you were just as stunned as you were embarrassed. But he didn’t seem to be insulting you, and even reassured you of it. “Again, no offense. I just think it’s best for the both of us if I do it.” 

  “Okay. Cool,” You agreed, deciding to let him have it. Your face still burned, though. 

  “You still have an important role, don’t worry. Presentation is worth 40%, so you’re still gonna have to put in work and present it accordingly.” 

  “I can do that.” You nodded, suddenly feeling like you were sitting before a full grown man rather than a teenage boy. You couldn’t help but ask: “How old are you?” 

  “19,” he mused, as if he knew what you were thinking. He didn’t even ask you why you asked, and instead returned his attention back to his phone screen. “You?”

  “18,” you muttered, your eyes reconnecting to his hands like magnets.

    You really wanted to compliment them but decided against it, being as you were no longer as confident with this situation. Sure, he deserves to know how beautiful his hands are but you’re weren’t going to be the one to say it. You were expecting a cheeky personality at most, just because it fits the mischievous bad boy bullshit you read about in teen fiction, but you were instead met with a blunt and mature persona that made you intimidated in a way that you’ve never experienced before. He almost seemed.. authoritative to you. 

  “I see you like my rings.” He smirked, eyes not even looking back up at you. You had spaced out whilst tracing the path of his veins again, and immediately cut your eyes down to your own phone, feigning innocence.

  “Whatchu mean?”

  “Everyone like my hands, for some reason. I see you’re no different.” 

  “I ain’t even looking at your hands. Maybe you’re just too conceded,” you shot back, leg nervously pouncing as he lifted his head up to peer at you. 

  “Really?” He sarcastically challenged, making your insides stir. He sat up straight and pulled his hands back under his desk. “So the gold rings didn’t even catch your eye?” 

  “Your rings are silver.” You said without even thinking, then straight up face-palmed when you caught yourself.

  “Thought so.” He openly grinned, and the little notion caused butterflies to erupt in your tummy. He pulled his phone back out and still wore that playful grin of his as you bashfully held his gaze. “Now, if you think you can manage to tell the truth, what’s your phone number?” 

    It’s amazing looking back at those memories, because you’re now starting to think that maybe Jungkook just knew back then that you two were going to hit it off. He’s always seemed so sure of himself when it came to you, always knew what the next move was gonna be and never once sent mixed signals or struggled to express how he felt towards you. He’s the most straightforward person you know, so much that it’s almost unnatural at times. If he was ever bluffing about anything outside of being playful, you’ve never been able to call it. 

  But damn, are you madly in love with him. You guess his ability to always remain focused and blunt is perfect for a person like you. He keeps you moving... well, for the most part. He wants you to move back to South Korea with him, and although you know you’ll eventually give in, you’ve been trying to hold off on it for as long as you can. 

 It won’t be as easy for you as it was for him. Jungkook was already fluent in English when he came here, thanks to his mother’s bilingualism. He hardly even had an accent from how well adjusted he was to your language. You, however, don’t know a bit of Korean. For you to go there, it would impair you in almost every single way. You won’t be able to go anywhere without him. You won’t be able to read directions or road signs. You won’t be able to go out and eat or order off the menu if there isn’t any pictures. You won’t be able to work. You’ll have to adapt to a whole new culture and way of communication, just to properly function outside of your home without him at your side. 

  Which, brings along another point, you’ll be without any friends. You don’t want to live in a world where you can’t go out with Taehyung and Baley whenever you wanted. You’ll be lonely as hell and home sick, he’ll be your only source of humanly contact until you learn.

  You’ve told yourself that if the two of you remain stable for one more year, then you’ll go. You are ready for a change, but if you could just get one more year of preparation, you’ll be ready to go. You’ll take that leap of faith with him. 

  “What is it, kitten?” He finally asked, the prolonged silence getting to him.

  “Nothing,” you lied, but didn’t want to divulge. “How was your trip?” 

  “Nice, but I was bummed out the whole time.” He shot you a look that made you pout in apology, but continued. “I talked all about you to them, showed them pictures. Almost fucked up and showed my cousin your vagina.” 

  You choked on your salad, which made him laugh. “I told you to put those in your hidden folder.”

  “There’s so many, I just haven’t taken the time to pick them all out. It’s okay though, they only saw your face. They all think very beautiful— especially my mom.”

  Your smile grew at that, “Yeah?” 

  “Yeah. So does my grandmother and my aunts. They were passing my phone around more than the dishes.” He snorted to himself, “They were even more surprised to see how much I smiled in our selfies. Which... I should warn you, when you do finally see my parents house, don’t be surprised when you spot our photo booth pictures framed in the hall. My mom went feral when she saw how much of a simp I was being in those.” 

  “She printed those out?!” You almost cried.

  “Yes, she did. She printed each one individually and framed them side-by-side.” 

  “Aw, Kookie. I should’ve just went. I’m so sorry.” You pouted, guilt causing your heart to sink.

“You weren’t ready, angel. They understood,” He assured you, leaning forward to take your hand in his. You suddenly wanted to cry again. 

  “But I promise to go next time. Or whenever you wanna take me. I swear, I’ll go.” You said in determination, and was a little thrown off by his reaction.

  His face went blank for a moment c like his brain needed a second to buffer. 

  “You will?” He inquired, that being the first time you’ve actually agreed or expressed any type of want. “Why now?”

  “Because it sounds like they really want to meet me, too? What’s wrong?” 

  “Nothing. That’s great. I just figured you wouldn’t be moved by that. You really wanna go now?”

  “Yeah. Your family sounds so nice.” 

  “Was that what kept you from coming?” He interrogated, and it’s clear that he genuinely had no faith in you ever entertaining the idea.. which was a little disheartening. You’ve never said you’d never want to go, you’ve always kept a window open for later. You not sure why he’s so surprised. 

  “No, not necessarily. I wasn’t ready to meet them but if they’re that excited to meet me, then.. of course it’ll make me want to meet them, too. And get a little taste of South Korea.” 

  “Alright, I’ll plan a trip,” he had to say with forced enthusiasm, which you bought as you kissed his lips. Inwardly, though, he was screaming. If all it fucking took was a little conviction by saying his family was nice, just to make you consider.. them maybe he wouldn’t have had to do what he just did. 

  Whatever. Extra insurance. He had to tell himself, and decided to retrain his thoughts back on you as he remembered something.

  “I have a special surprise for you.” 

  “Yeah?” 

  “Mhm,” he stood up and walked over to his duffel, fishing around before pulling something out. “Close your eyes.”

 You did as told, and waited about 10 seconds. 

“Open.”

You almost shit yourself upon hearing the voice, then came closer to shitting yourself when you took in the familiar Ghostface mask that you seen in the movie Scream.

  “WHUZZZUUHHH!” He drawled out while doing the cowabunga fingers, and you couldn’t help but laugh. 

  “Where the hell did you get that?”

  “Halloween store. I got it in Korea.”

   That was a lie. He’s had two of these masks for over two years, both of which he got from Party City here in America. He bought one to kill your mother in— the same one he just wore to kill your friends in— and the other one was meant for what he wanted to do now. He wanted to fuck you with it on. He’s not sure why, but why not? You might  discover you have a mask kink. 

  “What the fuck is up with the voice?” 

  “Sexy, ain’t it?” He animatronically purred out, and it wasn’t until he fully stepped forward and began undoing his belt that you realized he was already shirtless. 

  Your eyes grew wide as you landed back in your chair, unable to decipher if this was a joke or not. You soon realized it wasn’t as he was now popping his button loose and unzipping his pants— his hardening dick print becoming more prominent. 

  “You’re not fucking me with that mask on,” you blurted out, sticking your foot out to stop him from advancing any closer.

  “I’m fucking you with this mask on,” he argued, grabbing your ankle. “Consider it pay back for the time you refused to give me head unless I let you wear your Burger King crown.” 

  “No, Darth Vader.” You tried pulling your leg back but soon wound up almost getting drug out of your chair and onto the floor. Your unease soon turned into giggles and screams as wound up besting your play fight, his mask only coming off long enough to go down on you at the kitchen table. 

  And that’s what set the night off. You went from getting your pussy eaten at the dinner table to getting your throat wrecked on the living room couch. Then you were forced to watch yourself get rammed up against your body mirror in the bedroom, and now you’re bent up like a pretzel amongst your bed.

  “Ah— GAH!” You grunted in struggle, finding it hard to cuss like you wanted being as a hand was firmly constricting your air supply. You watched the masked man above you as he heatedly fucked into you, his chain dangling above your face. Your ankles helplessly swayed around his shoulders with each brutal slap of his pelvis. Your face still stung from the actual slaps of his palms, causing you to flinch any time his hands moved. You noticed done time throughout all this that he was hellbent on making you look at that damn mask. You weren’t complaining, though. Just more-so concerned about how hot it must be under there. 

  But then he slowed down for a moment, trying not to cum again as he lowered his face to yours, and finally decided it was time it come off, being as you were ready for a kiss.

  “T-Take that damn mask off—“ 

  Wrong move.

  He growled and ripped your hand away as you tried removing it yourself, and you were stunned by how much aggressive he became— more aggressive than he was already being, as if truly lashing out. He man-handled you, flipping you over and plunging back into you with way too much force. You yelped at the intrusion but could do nothing else as he pinned your hands behind your back, picking his speed right back up. He kept your hands locked in place with a single one of his own before clapping the other around your mouth, darkly chuckling at the fright on your face. 

  “I meant it when I said it’s staying on,” he rasped, pushing into you so deep that veins protruded from your neck in strain. 

  He couldn’t explain it— or maybe he could. But he felt extremely powerful when he wore this mask. It took him all of two rounds to finally admit to himself that it turned him on, knowing you were getting off to the very same face that your loved ones last looked at in sheer terror. He didn’t realize up until then that he somehow considered Ghostface as a different alternative to himself, one he was growing to like a little too much. It even made his dick more sensitive to the feel of you, making you seem tighter. And warmer. And sluttier.

  He’s sure he began speaking Latin somewhere in the midst, but it wasn’t until he saw tears surfacing in your eyes that it dawned on him that his hand had somehow traveled up to cover your nose, as well as your mouth. A moment of panic shot through him when he dropped it and allowed you to breathe, thinking you were gonna make him stop. But much to his pleasant surprise, you only coughed out and mewled, head collapsing on the pillow as you pushed against him, a silent demand keep going. So he did. He made sure to keep the punishing pace up and running. Your body violently jolted with each slam, ass bone aching at the brutal impact. Each thrust was felt like a punch to your cervix and someway or another, you were okay with it. 

 Little did he know, it was actually because you didn’t want any type of deja vu happening. He fucked you in all the ways you liked the night before you found out that your mother was slaughtered inside your childhood home. You didn’t want tonight to be anything like it. So you let him hurt you. 

  If only you knew history was going to repeat itself, no matter what the two of you did.

  It didn’t take but a few more strokes before he lost his ability to hold off, and emptied himself inside for the third time since he’s arrived back. 

  Once he did that, the blinds were illuminated in a dim grey, hinting at a sunrise. After a quick shower and clean up, the two of laid there, the mask finally gone. 

  “What are you thinking, baby?” Jungkook wondered, starring up at the ceiling. You haven’t said much of anything since that last bit. “Did I hurt you? Scare you?” 

  “No. I could take it.” You said, and it sounded genuine. But he still wanted to know what was on your mind. “I just don’t know what the hell I would do if I didn’t have you. You’re the only person I know that’s never even accidentally done wrong by me. You’ve been nothing but good.” 

  A void clouded his mind, emotional absence taking place of everything else. It’s a defense mechanism that he’s certain only comes up to block out any sense of guilt or remorse. He kept his gaze up at the ceiling, even as he felt you crane your neck back to look up at him. 

  “I love you, Kookie. Thank you for being here.” 

  “I love you too, baby,” he said numbly, those words being true... but his next words were not. “I could never imagine myself doing anything to hurt you.” 

  Being as he wasn’t planning on looking down, you crawled up for a moment just to kiss him, unbothered by the distant stare in his gaze. You then laid back down and got comfortable, readying yourself for a good days sleep.

  “I think it’s finally time I start seeking happiness again, instead of contentment.” 

  That’s when it hit him. You didn’t notice how his heart cleaned beneath your head, nor was there any way you could feel the tension in his gut. He can’t say he feels full remorseful for what he did, because that would require him sympathizing for the innocent lives he’s taken away, with no rational reason. He simply didn’t feel anything for them. He was only concerned your pain, especially knowing it was unnecessary now. His trip to Korea was enough to motivate you to move on and consider a change of scenery. You didn’t need any fear to drive you out, you just needed time. God only knows how far of a set back this will be now. The fact that you’re laying here, currently thinking that life will only go up from here, when he knows damn good and well it’ll be in shambles again before the day ends.. 

  He really needs to work on his impulses. Maybe homocide shouldn’t always be the first option he leans towards. It was just more fun that way.

  But moments like this weren’t fun at all. He remembers how grueling it was last year, waking up with you at the sound of the doorbell going off. He remembers the grim look on the sheriffs face as he told them that they found your mother, dead. It was his arms that had to pick you up off the floor as you crumbled down and screamed, his ears that rung as he held you, not knowing how to console you. For the last year, it’s been his shoulder you’ve cried on, his company keeping you sane, his reassurance telling you that everything was going to be okay.... When it was his hands that caused every single bit of grieve all along.. and was about to cause even more.

  So, he did the only thing he could do in that moment. He held you and mentally apologized, hoping that there was some way to telepathically tell you that you mean more to him than life itself, and that’s he’s so sorry for letting it drive him crazy at times. He’s still clinging to the original intention that you’ll say fuck it and flee with him, but he regrets going about it so recklessly. 

  You were fast asleep now, snoring even. He only hoped the discovery of the bodies would hold off long enough for you to get some much needed sleep. But it seems the universe was done working in his favor. 

  Those same, familiar knocks sounded off at the door, and he immediately ordered you to stay put as it woke you up.

  “Probably just them checking up. Go back to sleep.” He whispered, assertively pushing your head back down and pulling on some sweats before going to the door. 

  It was the sheriff, same look on his face as last year.

  “Sir?” Jungkook frowned, posing cluelessly. 

  The sheriff looked ghostly pale, like he was nauseated and on the verge of tears. Jungkook knew why but he had to act like it was a throw off. 

  “Sir..?” He repeated.

  “Y’all’s friends.. Baley and Taehyung were found this morning.” 

  He had to stall and blink, as if he wasn’t catching on to the implications. The sheriff reluctantly continued.

“Baley was found, dead on arrival. Looks like the killer has returned.” 

  “Wh-What?” Jungkook stuttered, acting like he was bewildered. The sheriff’s next words, however, would spark a more genuine reaction.

“And Taehyung was found unconscious, but still alive.”

  Jungkook’s veins ran colder than ever before, all mimicked emotions becoming sincere in that moment.

  “Someone attempted to cut his throat, but aimed too high and cut his under jaw instead.” 

Jungkook could only stare at the sheriff, probably just as pale in the face now. 

“He’s in critical condition. Doctors don’t know if he’ll make it just yet, but there’s a fighting chance that he might.”

[silentprincess17]

The Perils of Swimming

This fic is a collab between me and the wonderfully talented artist @neivaloz on tumblr! Check out her awesome artwork that accompanies this fic! I love how we inspired each other and I look forward to more!

Summary: Link agrees to go swimming with Zelda when she gets her body back. He does not think this through, because there is one major problem: he can't swim.

Read on AO3 here!

Now that the sea in Aboda Village was directly in front of him, with Zelda no longer a ghost and made of flesh and skin, her promise of taking him out to swim actually a reality and not a passing comment at Papuchia Village, Link was beginning to regret the rashness with which he had said yes.

He hadn’t expected her to actually take it seriously. In the throes of the whirlwind adventure, he hadn’t anticipated she would actively remember, let alone take it to heart- it was now... four months since they had reclaimed the Ocean Realm? Which means it was roughly two months since they defeated Malladus. Towards the end, time seemed to fuse together, and life boiled down to essentially overcoming whatever barrier was in their way at the time. First it was restoring the tracks, then obtaining the Compass, followed by the Bow of Light and finally entering the Dark Realm to fight Malladus with the Lokomo Sword strapped to his back. By the time they reached the Compass, Link had more or less lost all notion of time, as Zelda and he grew progressively more panicked with each setback and it became an increasingly hectic race to save her body…

Link had chosen to stick with his engineering, primarily. He still felt he was more of a rookie soldier who only knew how to perform vague attacks that just so happened to work out in his favour, and without Zelda’s help as a Phantom he most certainly would have failed from the get-go. With that in mind, he chose to continue with what he had trained for up until now: to pilot the trains with mechanical engineering as his mainstay. Still, he didn’t want to completely lose what sword skills he had developed, so he regularly stopped at Hyrule Castle to train with Captain Russel and his guards. (The latter was really just an excuse to see Zelda before. Or afterwards. Most of the time it was both.)

And yesterday, Friday night, was one of those times he had gone to training, visiting Zelda before he supposedly went home for the weekend.

What he hadn’t expected was for her to insist on coming with him back to Aboda Village. He would never refuse her anything, and he assumed she might have wanted to meet Alfonso, or Niko, or really just visit his hometown, and he had agreed, staying at the castle that night. Zelda had long since given him a room close to hers, as a “more convenient place to stay” seeing how central the castle was to the rest of Hyrule.

Taking all that together, it was a surprise when she dragged him across to the small beach, where the sun sparkled against the deep blue sea, unclasped her belt that had the small sash attached to it, and pulled her dress off.

He gaped, before hurriedly turning away, “Zel! What are you doing?!”

“Taking my dress off silly, I’ve got my swimsuit underneath! We’re going swimming! I’ve finally, finally, caught up with the paperwork that accumulated whilst we were on our journey, and I finished my lessons in advance this week, for this reason! I know it’s not Papuchia, but there’s always a next time!”

What? Swimming? NEXT TIME?!

Nope, he had to ignore that for now. There was the issue of surviving the first-time round.

Because the idiot that he was, he couldn’t swim!

He lived in what was basically a seaside town, and yet, he couldn’t even paddle in the water, let alone swim.

He would drown as soon as the water reached higher than his neck!

“Link? It’s not too late, is it? I know it’s a little bit later than what I originally intended for when asking you, but there was just so much reordering to do in the Kingdom. Plus, you remember the whole scribing thing we had to undertake; it all took up so much more time than I expected. And then the weather was just awful this past week whenever I had some free time...”

Oh yes, he remembered the scribing. That whole incident had happened a week after their return to the castle, where Link had stayed behind both to physically recover himself from exhaustion and his wounds, and simultaneously help Zelda adjust to the land of the living.

On the first day, she had walked into so many doors and walls he thought she might have concussed herself, she regularly forgot she had to eat, and she didn’t have any fear of heights, despite the fact that falling with a body had pretty serious consequences. Consequently, Link felt honour bound to try to help her to remember she was, in fact, Hylian, and as such susceptible to many perils that she seemed to have forgotten over the course of the long months she spent as a spirit. Plus, she was very cute, and he blushed every time he felt her grip his hand excitedly, or drag his arm towards a bookshelf, or give him impromptu hugs for helping her.

Niko had cornered them after a week, wondering where Link had gotten too. When he found the two of them nibbling on sweet buns from Castle Town, a book on maps wedged firmly on their thighs, Link’s arm resting on the panel just above her shoulders; Niko had pulled a right fit. He had fussed over Link before declaring he would now create a tapestry to commemorate the newest iteration of legendary events. And that had taken the better part of two weeks to complete, and was now referred to as the “scribing” by Zelda and him.

“Link! Are you going to change your clothes or not? That’s the second reason why I didn’t drag you to Papuchia, because I forgot to tell you to pack your trunks.” She paused, “You do have trunks, right?”

No, no he didn’t. He’d just sacrifice an old pair of cargo pants he had. It would be fine. Probably. He made a vague motion towards his house, before deciding to put the Hero’s cap on. It would hopefully hold some of his hair back, and it would bring him luck on this death quest he was about to embark on.

Why?

Why did he put himself through this?

He sighed. He knew the answer.

This was all because he couldn’t say no to her.

He shuffled back into his home, Niko popping up whilst he half-heartedly opened his wardrobe and shuffled around some more. Spirits. He didn’t want to go back out. He didn’t want to admit to Zelda he didn’t know how to swim. Worse still, he didn’t want her to think badly of him for living by a seaside town, and yet, never having learnt such an essential skill.

Niko hobbled across on his cane to Link, peering around the wardrobe door.

“What’s with the long face? I thought you’d be excited, bringing the Princess over. Yes boy, I know she’s here, everyone heard the two of you enter town. It’s a small place, Link.”

He fished out an old, half-faded blue pair of shorts. “Zelda wants to go swimming, Niko.”

Niko’s eyes widened, “What? But you-”

Link slammed the wardrobe door shut with perhaps more force than necessary. “I know.”

Niko hesitated, before he placed a gnarled hand on Link’s shoulder. “I have a question for you Link… Do you know of any of Princess Zelda’s weaknesses?”

Well, that one was easy. “She’s absolutely terrified of mice. She will literally jump into my arms, or onto my back, to escape them.” He chuckled, “Even as a giant Phantom, three times my height, she couldn’t come near one.” He hesitated, thinking back to their recent conversations on her balcony under the stars, “She’s also scared of not doing well... but I guess this is a fear we all have…”

“That’s your answer then, Link.”

Huh? Why would knowing what Zelda was scared of make any difference?

“I can see you are still confused. Let me make it clearer. Did you judge the Princess for having those failings? Did you at any point think less of her?”

He vehemently shook his head, before stopping midway as it finally sunk in.

Oh.

Niko simply tapped his cane against the floor twice, before ambling off. “I’ll make some fried chicken for you both. One always gets hungry after swimming in the sea.”

Link scrambled into his shorts, and then ran out, just as Zelda walked up to meet him. “You were gone for an awfully long time, Link. I don’t want to imagine how disorganised your wardrobe is-”

The words bubbled out, “Zelda I don’t know how to swim.”

“-at least you’ve got some… are those even trunks? Well-”

“Zelda.” He grabbed her hand, shaking her arm a little, “Zelda!”

“What?”

“I don’t know how to swim.”

She stared, stupefied. “Why didn’t you say? I would have brought my floats!”

It was his turn to gape. “Floats?”

She waved her hands in the air. “You know those things you use to keep you upright in the water.” A frown grew on her face, “Wait, does everyone here not know how to swim? That’s quite dangerous! We’ll have to change that.”

She shook her head, gently clasped his hand, pulling him along, “But that’s for later. I’ll teach you today, Link, if you want?”

He nodded, and she smiled.

“Let’s start off with paddling first, and then progress to basic kicks!”

Time flew by again, as he started off gently peddling his feet in the water, arms spread out wide, head just about jutting above the water line as he hovered, suspended in the sea, for the first time. Once he’d mastered just holding his weight in the water they proceeded onto kicks. That involved first thrashing his legs whilst gripping onto the ridge of land to hold himself in place. Then he advanced to doing one leg at a time like a proper swimming pattern. Zelda wrapped her arms around his middle, and he had a go at moving both arms and legs in synchrony.

He was surprised she could carry him, “Link, I do exercise you know. I’m not just a fluffy Princess. Being a Phantom was quite the experience.”

She heaved him higher, and he spluttered in the water, thrashing his arms a bit at the unexpected heave, “I liked being strong, and being able to help you. So, I’m going to do the best I can with my current body too. You never know, it might prove useful on our next adventure!”

He could only smile. He thanked the Spirits for giving him the chance to meet Zelda. For going on their convoluted journey. For having her as his best friend.

Soon enough, she gently let go of him, and moved to interlock her fingers with his hands as she guided him through the waves, his legs doing the measured, purposeful kicks they had practised.

He was so focussed, he hadn’t at all noticed Alfonso on the shore, until he called out to them, probably wondering what Link was even doing in the water. Zelda told Link to keep on kicking his legs as she slowly walked backwards, screamed back that he was okay and that he was learning to swim. Both of them cringed as they heard Alfonso guffaw loudly and watched as he shook his head, walking off towards the station.

“Well, we’re nearly there, Link!” She loosened her grip on his left hand, moving to clasp his wrist instead, “I’m barely holding onto you! You’re doing it! You’re swimming!”

And he gave her the biggest smile he could, as she slowly let go, wading backwards, and he swam by himself towards her, for the very first time.

Suddenly, the idea of doing this again was no longer so horrifying.

What was there to worry about when he had Zelda, his partner, his best friend, by his side?

[beomglocks]

argus limited ; k.th

summary : the sweet man on the train is not all that he seems or you meet taehyun on a train and he flirts with you until you realize what he’s really up to

pairing : gangleader!taehyun x reader

warnings & other : this was a dream i had, i literally just typed this all up so sorry if there’s mistakes, mention of blood

w/c : 1.7K

the train is quiet save for the clinking of glasses, hushed conversations, and the metal gears of the train churning every so often.

you look outside at the snowy mountains and landscape. it makes you feel out of place since you're sitting inside a cozy wooden booth with your most elegant attire on.

it was somewhat mandatory for guests of the argus limited to be dressed accordingly since this train was very exclusive and reserved for wealthy people only. you're lucky yeonjun managed to get you a train ticket to go visit him in argus.

you hadn't even known he was staying there until he had brought you a ticket and sent it to your phone. the only message along with it being a simple, "hey baby im back! come visit me ;)" cheeky bastard.

you fiddle with your fingers, having nothing better to do on this incredibly long train ride. argus was miles away from your hometown so the journey took several hours and the train ride had just started around 2 hours ago. since you had to go through several different terrains it wasn't like your cellphone had much use seeing as there was no reception.

"excuse me miss?" you hear someone say. you tear your eyes away from the snowy desert to see a very handsome man. he had a piercing gaze and stark blonde hair. he was wearing a suit that screamed wealth and had an intimidating aura.

"do you mind if i join you?" he says as he takes a seat anyway. you sigh, looking back towards the frosty window. the guy doesn't speak for a while but you can tell he's watching you. you don't pay him any mind, not too interested with partaking in conversation.

he clears his throat, "what's a pretty woman like you doing all alone on a train like this?" you let out a silent laugh at his attempt at flirting. you don't answer his question, simply humming with a smile on your face.

"where might this pretty lady be headed towards?" he tries again.

you decide to humor him for the time being. it's not like you've got much else to do on this train. "im headed to argus," you answer. he grins at hearing your voice.

"argus? meeting someone?"

"yes, i am," you smile.

"a boyfriend?" he asks, more and more intrigued by you by the second. you raise your eyebrow at him. "i'll let you speculate that," you decide to tease.

he chuckles, satisfied with your answer. "where are you headed?" you ask him, feeling like it's only fair to know about him as well. he subtly darts his eyes around the train before answering, "just beyond argus actually."

"from your attire, im guessing business reasons?" you say. he smiles, showing off his pearly teeth, "i'll let you speculate that."

he waves his hand to let the waiter know to come to your booth. "bring your finest wine," the man demands. the waiter nods and goes off.

"you drink?" you ask. you look him over once again. he does seem like the powerful businessman type so you wouldn't be surprised if he did. "only when im around pretty women," he says smoothly. you roll your eyes at his flirtatious remark, "you must be a drunkard then."

"i'm quite the nephalist actually," he crosses his arms on the table, looking at you. "so why the wine if you don't like to drink?" you deadpan.

"well im rarely ever around pretty women like you," he shrugs. the wine comes to your table and you can tell it's very expensive just from looking at it. you let the waiter pour both your glasses before speaking up again.

"what, you don't hire women at your company?" you don't know why you ask him this but you do. you're interested by this mysterious man and if he's going to be accompanying you for the rest of the train ride then you might as well learn more about him while you can.

"my company?" he laughs lightly taking a sip of the wine. "i do...though they're not the classiest." he hums looking at his cup. you sigh, not really caring to look into the specifications of what he's talking about. "what's your name anyways?" you ask.

he smiles again, "taehyun." you nod off looking back outside. "mine is y/n."

taehyun chuckles, "can i assume that's your real name?" you look back at him with an eyebrow raised. "why would i use a fake name?"

he nods with a smile on his face and his hands up in a defensive manner. "in my company that's what we do. i trust you with my real name though."

you frown, looking away. you're starting to get weird vibes from taehyun. he hasn't done anything weird per se however you get the feeling that he's a sketchy man.

you start to hear footsteps approach your table and when you look up you see a tall man with dark hair standing next to taehyun. he looks at you then at taehyun and leans down to whisper in his ear. taehyun stares at you the whole time while he listens to whatever is being said to him.

"ah i see," he says out loud. the man stands straight again and bows to you awkwardly and walks away. "looks like this," he gestures between you both. "has to be cut short."

"is something wrong?" you take a sip of the wine and swirl it around the cup, never taking your eyes off him. he fixes his suit and takes another sip of wine. "a minor issue with our luggage." is all he says. he winks at you when he stands up and proceeds to walk away in the same direction as the man.

you take a deep breath when he leaves. you feel like you've been holding it in all this time. taehyun feels like a really intimidating man and you don't know why you feel that way. maybe it's the way he speaks or the way he carries himself. you can't put your finger on it but there's something up with him.

you lean your head on your palm, looking outside again. you really miss yeonjun and you can't wait to see him, the mere thought of being with him again makes you giddy. it's unfortunate you can't call or text him right now but once you get to argus you already know the first thing you're doing with him.

some time passes and once you realize it it's dark outside. the train employees have dimmed the lights of the carts and lit some candles for a more homey feel and you can't lie, you like it. it makes the train feel more elegant than it already is.

you stand up to go back to your room which you're glad yeonjun brought you. there are parts of this train that are merely for everyday train riders and parts that are for people traveling much longer distances. the ones who travel from town to town are able to book rooms and that's exactly what yeonjun did for you.

you rub your eyes a little since the wine made you a bit drowsy but not tired to the point where you would be able to k.o. at the sight of your bed. you bump into someone along the way and quickly apologize for not looking. "y/n," you hear taehyun's voice. you look up and sure enough there he is.

you suddenly feel cramped in this small corridor. the corridor is only meant for one person at a time to get to their rooms however you and taehyun are standing face to face and your back is against someone else's door.

"oh taehyun, i was just about to go back to my room." you don't point in which direction because frankly, you don't want him to know where you'll be staying for the rest of the night. he places his hands at your waist and you're about to tell him to get his hands off you when he speaks up, "already? the night's still young," he laughs heartily.

you laugh dryly already feeling uncomfortable with his presence. "yeah well.." you trail off when you see something on his suit jacket. "what's that?"

you point at a red mark on his suit and he follows your gaze with a frown. he wipes it with his finger and inspects it as if he's clueless as to what the red substance could be too. "that's odd..im not sure," he says. he wipes it away and looks at you with a weird gaze, quietly telling you to drop it.

if you were feeling uncomfortable before, well you're certainly feeling unsettled now. you clear your throat and wiggle away from his light grasp on your waist. "well taehyun, it was nice seeing you again. im going to sleep so i guess i'll be seeing you for the last time when the train stops at argus?" you smile trying to draw away any tension.

he nods off, "right, i'll be seeing you off for argus in a couple of hours." he places his hand on his neck and cracks it, you flinch involuntarily and hope he doesn't notice.

it's silent for a moment, just like earlier. the only sounds being glasses clinking, hushed conversations, and the trains gears churning.

"sleep tight y/n," he finishes the conversation with an easy smile. you smile back and walk off towards your room. once you step in, you breathe heavily as if you'd just been drowned and came back for air. what's with that guy? now you really can't wait to get off this train.

you sit on your bed and think back to the interaction you just had. that red mark was definitely blood. it was too dark to be the wine you both were just drinking otherwise you would've pointed it out earlier. was he bleeding or was it from something or someone else?

you really don't want to dwell on it for much longer or else you'll force yourself to dig deeper into just who this taehyun is. for now, you simply let yourself take a nap for the rest of the journey to argus. you don't even let yourself dream of the strange man. you dream of seeing your boyfriend after months of waiting and finally getting to be with him.

and you don't even realize the hushed voices coming from just outside your door.

[spices-and-cherries]

Faster Than a Kitten on Parade (Benoit Blanc x Reader)

Okay, not to toot my own horn, but this is actually kind of good? Like I’m kinda proud of myself... I spent a large amount of time trying to figure out southern accents and their corresponding regions that I kinda gave up and said Mississippi. Louisiana is another safe bet? Anyway, to all Bostonians reading this, I’m sorry. I wrote what I wrote for the sake of plot. 

I did not reference race, gender, sexuality, or physical appearance. If I missed something, please let me know so I can change it!

Warnings: brief description of near car accident and reckless driving

***This is pure fluff with not even a hint of angst***

Every day you take the bus to and from work. While it’s thankfully a straight shot from where you live, Boston’s public transportation leaves much to be desired. The buses rarely run on time, the traffic is miserable, and in the winter it’s living hell. Snowy, cold, wet... It makes you wonder what made you think of moving away from your hometown to this. Was the career move really worth it? Yes. 

But that doesn’t mean that your commute lacks any perks. The bus stop you wait at in the morning is right outside a coffee shop, people keep to themselves (unless there’s a game coming up), and it provides you with the time you need to reflect on the day. Most of all, however, is the new guy. 

One of the things that comes with riding the same bus everyday is that you tend to ride with the same people as well. So of course your curiosity is piqued when you first saw him. Everything about him seemed so different from the usual folk you see walking around Boston: kind, gentlemanly, smart...

That being said, you have yet to actually meet him...

Normally, that would be completely fine, but you have to admit something’s going on when a fellow commuter has continued to make your day more than several days in a row. Was it his smile? The way he holds himself? That time he gave up his seat for an older lady? Is it just because he’s so clearly not from Boston?

You’ve been trying to build up enough confidence to actually say something - literally anything - but you always chicken out. The first time it was because he was reading a book and you didn’t want to disturb him. The second was because he was standing barely a foot away from your seat and you blanked because that ass. The third and fourth (and admittedly fifth) time ended in a similar fashion.

That is until one glorious and blessed day.

It was snowing hard, but as usual, the city chugged along without a care. So, you had left your apartment with several layers of sweaters and more handwarmers than you could count (That’s a lie. You were carrying ten.). The bus was unusually full and by the time his stop came around, there weren’t a lot of seats left. 

Did you forget to breath when you watched him look at the seat next to you?

Were your hands getting sweaty even though that shouldn’t be possible considering the temperature?

Was your heart running faster than a kitten on parade?

Yes, yes, and yes.

“May I take this seat?” His accent somehow prevented you from speaking so you just nodded and smiled. “Thank you kindly.” You shift slightly to give him some space and to try and get rid of sudden spike in adrenaline that his unexpected (and totally welcomed) accent caused...

You watch him out of the corner of your eye, trying really hard to not look weird or creepy. He has on this grey pea coat and a deep maroon colored scarf. His blue suit pants stretch just a tad over what looked to be some muscle. And his aftershave...is amazing to say the least. But all these fine details aren’t what really catch your eye. For what ever reason, this man has no gloves on. His finger tips are turning purple! Hurriedly, you look in your work bag for one of your spare handwarmers. You find it at the bottom, still in it’s packaging. 

“I couldn’t help but notice that you don’t have gloves...” You hand it to him. He looks at you with surprise. 

“Oh, no...! I couldn’t possibly...” His voice sounds like honey... 

“I insist. I buy so many, I won’t miss one.” You push it into his hands. 

“That’s mighty kind of you.” He smiles again. It’s very soft. Like marshmallow clouds kind of soft. 

“Oh, not at all!” And in that moment, you did something very daring: you introduced yourself. “Um, I’m (Y/N) (L/N), by the way.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mx. (L/N). I’m Benoit Blanc, but please, call me Blanc.” He offers to shake your hand and you take it. You can feel how cold his hands are through your gloves, but it barely even registers. You’re far too busy trying to memorize his name.

Benoit Blanc. 

“Is that French?” Oh. My. God. Really?

“Yes.” He chuckled a little. One side of his mouth went up, scrunching that side of his face. It was a hella cute scrunching. “On my father’s side. Immigrated several generations back.”

“I was gonna say that you don’t really look French...”

“I take after my mother.”

“Ah. That explains it.” You smile, genuinely amused. “Sothen, where are you really from then?”

“A small town in Mississippi. You wouldn’t have heard of it.”

“Yeah, probably not.” You nod slightly. “I bet that it’s super different than here.”

“Heh, yeah it is.” Mr. Blanc holds the handwarmer up for a second as emphasis. 

“I, uh, I’m from (hometown) - (region) - so I know where you’re coming from. Boston sure is something else, isn’t it?”

“Never have I ever - and I mean ever - been in a town as - as - as unique unto itself as Boston!” A few people look up. You don’t care. You had no idea that a man of his age could look so cute. “Apologies.” He lowers the volume of his voice - not that he really needed to. “Now, comin’ from the South, I’ve had my fair share of human nature, but the drivers here are a whole ‘nother species. It’s like the jungle out there.”

“Did you ever make the mistake of taking a taxi when you first came here?”

“Much to my chagrin, yes, yes I have.” He shakes his head disapprovingly, but you can see a little twinkle of amusement in his eyes. “Not too long ago, in fact. The man was speakin’ on the phone and nearly drove us off a bridge... Nearly had a conniption of the heart.”

“That is pretty bad. In my first ride I was this close-” You bring up your thumb and pointer finger, the pads barely a millimeter apart. “-to getting run over by a cement truck because the driver ran a red light. He got mad at me too ‘cause I didn’t tip him.”

“Good lord, that is quite the experience...” His brow furrowed slightly. 

“I saw my life go past my eyes.” You say dramatically. “But hey, that’s Boston.” You sigh heavily. “Anyway, how long have you lived in the city?”

“Jus��� a couple of months.” Aha. Just around the time he first started taking the bus... “Yourself?”

“A couple of years. I feel more and more like a true Bostonian every day that passes.” You chuckle. “The plus side though, is that I can show you where all the good food is. I can be your personal tour guide!” It takes a couple of milliseconds for your brain to register what you had just said. “Well, if you’d like that... The offer, uh, stands?” What are you talking about?

“I think I jus’ might take you up on that, if you wouldn’t mind.” This man. Bless this beautiful man. God, that smile. “That bein’ said, I do believe this is my stop.” 

“Already? Time flies when you’re having fun.” You smile.

“Yes it does. It was a pleasure meetin’ you, Mx. (L/N),” He stands up. “And thank you very much for your kindness.” He waves the handwarmer a little. 

“You can call me (Y/N) and you are very welcome.” 

“Then call me Benoit, if you please. Now you have yourself a good day.” He smiles, waves a little, and hurries off the bus. And just like that, your whole year has just been made.

Did you pass your stop a while ago?

Were you smiling like an absolute idiot anyway?

Was your heart running faster than a kitten on parade?

Yes, yes, and yes.

I hope you all like this! I had so much fun writing it and it just flowed out of me. Side note, the title is inspired by Trixie Mattel’s song, Gold. She’s a country singer, but it’s actually good, so check it out! If you have any constructive criticism or requests, please let me know! I am also a big fan of comments - they make my week every time! See you all in the next one! - Simpy

[aquietwritingcorner]

Embers of Revelation

Author: RealityBreakGirl/aquietlearningcorner Word Count: 8269 Rating: T Prompt: FMA Big Bang 2021 Warnings: Child abuse/neglect Characters: Riza Hawkeye, Roy Mustang, Jean Havoc, Heymans Breda, Vato Falman, Kain Fuery, Black Hayate Pairing: Royai Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Family Chapter: 6 of 7 Summary: Tasked by Fuhrer Grumman to investigate a suspected alchemic incident, General Mustang’s team finds themselves stranded in Hawkeye’s hometown. Needing a place to stay, they find themselves taking shelter in her childhood home. However, her past can’t stay buried there, and as revelations come to light, they also bring embers of danger with them. Sequel to Embers in a Wounded Heart AO3 || ff.net

__________________________________

Chapter 5

Havoc made his way back downstairs and followed the voices around until he found Mustang in the dining room with the documents that they had laid out. He, Breda, and the sheriff were looking over them.

“Hey boss,” he said. “What’s going on?”

Mustang looked over at him. “How were Hawkeye and Fuery?”

“Alright,” he said. “Both were worried about the other. Fuery feels guilty, and the drug kinda lowered Hawkeye’s walls, so she’s a bit more emotional than usual.”

It was his way of saying that she was worried and scared, and she knew that the team would pick up on it. He was sure that the Sheriff could read between the lines as well, but most people were polite enough not to push when something was clearly being framed in a private way. The sheriff appeared to be one of those people.

“So, what’s going on out back?” Havoc asked, curious about the noise that he was hearing. It was still going on.

“Falman looked through the records in town,” Breda said, “and found evidence that there was a door that led from the outside the basement. No one is exactly sure when it was covered up, but it was. Right now, we’ve got men out there, digging to find it.”

“Why?” Havoc said. “He wasn’t getting through that way, if we have to dig to find it.” If he had been, surely they would have seen some sign of it.”

“If he was using alchemy to cover his tracks, he might have,” Mustang said. “But with the ground as saturated as it’s been, the rain would have washed away any signs of alchemy used on the ground.”

“We also want to know for security’s sake,” Breda said. “Even if he wasn’t getting in that way, if there’s a tunnel, or staircase or some other sort of opening, then we need to know so that we can guard against it.”

“Right,” Havoc said. “That makes sense.” He paused, looking towards the kitchen and the back door. “So, who’s out there?”

“Most of the men that came back with you,” the sheriff said, “and that other fellow of yours. Lieutenant Farman or something.”

“Falman,” Mustang corrected him

“Falman,” the sheriff immediately corrected himself. “Can’t get it to stick in my head for some reason.”

People always seemed to have a hard time remembering Falman, or his accomplishments and Havoc thought it was tragically ironic, considering that the man had that fantastical memory that he did. He was kind of like Sheska, in that, and Havoc had a brief chill thinking about the unholy memory that would be produced if the two of them ever got together and had children.

“I’m about to head out and check on the progress,” Breda said. “You wanna come?” he asked Havoc.

Havoc shrugged. “Might as well. Might pick up a shovel and help.”

“No, you won’t,” Mustang said, and havoc looked back at him, startled.

“Sir?” he said, confused.

Mustang looked at him. “I’ve noticed the way that you’ve been pushing yourself. You’re not moving smoothly now either. You’re not going to be doing any hard labor. You’ve been neglecting taking care of your legs since the day Hawkeye was looked in the basement. Today you’ve pushed them even more. You need to rest them.”

Havoc made a face. “Boss—I’m not sitting around doing nothing while there’s work to be done.”

Breda clapped him on the shoulder. “Oh, no one said that you were sitting around doing nothing. Someone’s got to write up the report since Hawkeye and Fuery are out of commission.”

“Oh. Goody. Great,” Havoc deadpanned, and Breda, Mustang, and the sheriff all grinned at him. Well, at least he could provide the entertainment.

He went with Breda out back, waving at Mrs. Nelson who was, it seemed, cooking up a storm in the kitchen, just like Havoc had thought she was. It looked like she was planning on feeding every single man here, and somehow that didn’t surprise him in the least.

Out back there was a group of men working behind the house. They seemed to be taking turns digging, although there were plenty of shovels around.

“Where’d we find all the shovels?” Havoc asked, not remembering there being that many around her before.

“General transmuted them,” Breda said. “It made it go faster.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Havoc said, looking at all of the work that had been done.

Running along the house there was a trench, dug down about three feet and extending out about two. It ran for maybe four yards at this point, and they were clearly looking for something very specific. The ground was so wet, though, that the piles of dirt were slippery, sloppy mud piles and the walls of the trench held little integrity. The men themselves were covered in mud, nearly from head to toe, and even Falman himself, who looked to be doing more directing then digging, was pretty muddy too.

Havoc was glad that Fuery was laid up in bed at this point. He didn’t need to see trenches like this. Not after his experiences down south. They brought to mind the few stories that Havoc had gotten out of the young man, and even those were sparse. Best for him not to see these, if he could be spared them.

“Any luck?” Breda called out to Falman.

Falman shook his head. “Not yet,” he said. “We know it’s somewhere in this general vicinity, though, from the pictures I found. The house has been remodeled a time or two, so that makes pinpointing it a bit more difficult. Plus, when these things are removed, they tend it bury the place where the door was.”

“Yeh, and the Hawkeyes always were a paranoid bunch,” one of the men said. “The family’s been around these parts since nigh the beginning of the town. But they’ve always been a bit squirrely. There’s stories that stretch back pretty far. Riza’s grandparents here were as well. They didn’t like anyone in their business. And old Berthold, now he was a strange one.” The man glanced at them, “Look, I ain’t saying that I have anything against alchemists. They can be right useful! But there was something off about Berthold, and especially after his wife died of the sickness. Didn’t see a lot of him before that but saw less after.”

“Yeah?” Havoc said, curious, and wondered if this man would give him more information.

The man nodded. “Bout once a month he’d go around and fix things, charge for them, although it didn’t have to be money. Sometimes it was supplies or what have you. You never knew what me might ask. Sometimes he brought his daughter around with him, and sometimes he didn’t. She was a slight, shy thing, never played well with the other kids. Just stood back and watched, like she was scared to or something. Worried about her a bit, but she seemed alright, so we just thought it was more of the Hawkeye strangeness.”

He paused, though, scratching at his neck, before remembering the mud on his hand and pulling a face. “When she came to school, though, she seemed to be alright. Shy, quiet, but alright. Well-mannered, polite, smart. She was socially awkward, but that was understandable, living in this big house with no one but her strange father. Honestly, she only really started to come out of her shell when that Mustang kid came around.” He shrugged. “No one thought he would last, but he did.”

“A city boy in the country. Yeah, that’s usually a recipe for disaster,” Havoc agreed.

The man seemed to take that as encouragement and kept talking. “Oh, there were a few disasters in there,” he said with a grin. “But on the whole, it wasn’t too bad. All the girls were enamored with him, though, and the boys hated him for it. He would start to get a little arrogant, and then Riza’d come along and slap him down, sometimes literally. She’d fuss at him and chew him out about the stupid things he’d do, and he always looked surprised, but he listened and learned. It was honestly the most animated that any of us had ever seen her, and it was refreshing to know she wasn’t completely taken over by her father.”

The man sighed, looking back at the house. “Kinda hoped the two of them would get married one day. They were good for each other. You should have seen how withdrawn she got again when Roy left. A few of us worried about her, but we all knew better then to step into the private affairs of the Hawkeyes. Things never went well for the people that did that. When Roy came back just before Berthold died, we didn’t know how things were going to go. He was a soldier then, and Berthold did not like the military. When Berthold passed, the talk about town was if Roy would marry Riza, or if she would follow him.” He shook his head and sighed. “She followed him, but not in the way that we thought she would.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Havoc said.

“Imagine our shock when we saw the newspapers talking about the Flame Alchemist and The Hawk’s Eyes, and we knew that they were our Roy and Riza.” The man continued. “It was a shock to us, and the talk of the town for months. Even more surprising was when Riza turned up one day, talked to some people about making sure her home was restored a bit and kept up, paid for it, and then left. We had no idea what was going on. She had some strange requirements too,” he said, thinking about it. “We weren’t to look through the study or the basement. She took care of the study, and Roy came a few days later, and took care of the basement. He never returned, but she came back once a year to check on things, and then left. I think she’d write Mrs. Nelson and maybe a couple of others to check on things, just to be sure.”

“Yeah, sounds like the yearly trips she’d make,” Havoc said. “Never knew where she went, though.”

The man shrugged. “Here, it seems.” He looked back at the house again. “You know, even though they never married, it seems those two are still together.”

“Yeah,” Havoc agreed. “Boss and Hawk are pretty inseparable. They always manage to find their way back to each other. And,” he grinned, looking at the man, “she still gets onto him and fusses at him.”

The man chortled and rocked on his heels. “Some things never change, do they? Maybe one day the two of them will just go ahead and get married.”

“Maybe so,” Havoc said, and he knew that he wouldn’t object, although he wasn’t counting on it anyway. Not until everything was done and Mustang’s plans were complete. The only thing those two were more dedicated to then each other, was the plan.

Havoc watched for a few more minutes before looking over at Falman. “So, what are you going to do if you don’t find—”

He was cut off by the shout of a man who was digging. “Hey! Hey, I think we found it!”

Falman gave Havoc a look that seemed to say, “you doubted me?” and all three of them headed over to where the men were digging. There were the remnants of a structure there, capped and sealed off. It looked like it could have been part of a chute or an escape at some point, and the men were trying their best to clear the soggy ground away from it so that they could get to it easier. That, of course, wasn’t easy, considering the soggy ground around them, but they were still trying.

“General!” Breda called, his voice bellowing like only he could. “We’ve found something!”

Within just a few moments, Mustang was outside, and so was the sheriff, both of them heading straight towards the area that the men were gathered around. It only took them a second to realize the trouble that the men were having with the ground, and only one word from Mustang to clear them away.

“Move,” he said, and all of the men scrambled back.

Mustang clapped and put his hands on the ground, the familiar blue light crackling up. Or, well, listening to the murmurs of the men who were watching, it might only be familiar to Havoc, Breda and Falman, Havoc decided. Maybe he was just so used to alchemy and seeing it that he forgot just how amazing it could be.

Mustang raised up part of the ground in thick walls, to prevent the slop of mud from running down in it, and, at the same time, drew the moisture out of the ground around it. Havoc could feel the ground under his feet become a little firmer, but he heard others suddenly notice that the ground around them was soggier. They were standing further back, so he guessed that Mustang had simply moved the water away.

“Alright. That won’t hold forever,” Mustang said. “The ground is too saturated for that. But it will hold for now.”

The opening was clearly sealed up, and that was another problem that they were going to have to deal with. Havoc heard talk of tools and the like, but he just smirked, knowing wait was coming next. Mustang clapped again, and put his hands on the seal, transforming it into a door. Breda climbed down into the area Mustang had made, and together they pulled each side open. It was dark down there, and Mustang pulled on a glove, snapping and sending a small line of fire down it. Stairs were still there, rickety though they seemed.

“Falman. Stay here and guard the entrance,” Mustang said.

“Yes, sir,” Falman replied, looking as if he really didn’t want to go down there anyway.

Havoc climbed down to join them, And Mustang turned to look at him, clearly about to tell him to stay behind too. “I’m coming, boss,” he said. “I need to see this through.”

Mustang looked at him, and then nodded. “Alright. Then let’s go.”

“I’m coming as well,” the sheriff said.

“So am I,” Thompson said.

“No.” Mustang’s voice was sharp. “This is the captain’s private life. We know about it, but I am not going to expose her life to people she hasn’t given permission to.”

“This is part of an investigation that’s happened here, where I am,” the sheriff said. “This is my jurisdiction. I need to be part of this.”

There was a clear tension building between Mustang and the Sheriff, and it was all fueled by Mustang’s protectiveness over Hawkeye. Mustang, though, was not a stupid man. He understood how to weigh things and seemed to come to some of decision.

“We’re going to go down first,” he said. “Let us look around, make sure that there’s nothing sensitive, either both personally for the captain, or militarily, and then, once we’ve made a clean sweep, then we’ll call you down.” The sheriff looked like he was going to protest, but Mustang cut him off. “We don’t know what we’re going to find down there, but we do know that it involves the military. With my alchemy I’m better equipped to handle any potential problems, and I know my men and what they’re capable of. It will be easier for us to handle any potential problems. We know how to work with each other.”

The sheriff was silent for a moment, and then he nodded. “Alright,” he said. “But if you’re not back soon, we’re coming down.”

Mustang nodded, and they headed down the dark, damp stairs. There was no light down there, but apparently Falman had thought ahead, and gave Breda a lantern before they headed down. The stairs were steep and old and creaky. They carefully made their way down them, Havoc just hoping that they wouldn’t collapse under them. The stairs led into an open area that obviously had once been part of the basement but had been blocked off at some point in time, although Havoc couldn’t see a reason why.

“How did I miss this?” Mustang murmured to himself.

“Depends on how thick the walls are,” Breda said, going over to it with the light.

Mustang followed him over and beckoned for him to shine his light in a particular place. “Here,” he said. “Signs of alchemy. This was how he was getting in and out of the house. This was how he locked Hawkeye in the basement and escaped.”

“But how did he get down here?” Havoc said. “It wasn’t the way that we came in.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Mustang said, and turned to look around and see what else he could see down there.

Breda swung his lantern around too, trying to see what else there was down there. It carefully roamed the walls, until Mustang called for it to come to a stop.

“There,” he said. “Right there. I want a closer look.” They walked over, and Mustang knelt to examine the wall. “there’s alchemy here too. There must be a wall here with something behind it.”

“Want me to get the sheriff?” Havoc asked, this seeming like something that it might be a good idea to have the man in on.

“Yes,” Mustang said. “Bring them down.”

Havoc went back over to the bottom of the stairs and called up. “Hey! You two come on down. We found how Johnson was entering!”

It was only a couple of moments later that the Sheriff and Thompson were coming down the stairs and joining them in this closed off section of the basement.

“Where?” the sheriff asked.

Mustang gestured towards the wall. “Over there. He’s been transmuting himself a way into the basement. But I think that he also transmuted his way in here too. This wall shows signs of alchemy. I’m going to see what’s behind it.”

The sheriff nodded, and they all stood back as Mustang clapped and put his hands on the wall. The wall itself fell away, revealing a tunnel behind it. The sheriff and Thompson looked at each other, but Mustang was staring at the tunnel, resolute. Breda and Havoc followed suit. They were going to figure this out.

“Let’s go,” Mustang said, all business, his voice holding all of his command.

He started forward, Breda and Havoc right behind him, the sheriff and Thompson following behind after a moment. The tunnel was earthen, and sodden. It looked like it might collapse at any moment, but Mustang walked on, not deterred in the least. It was winding, and every so often there was a plank of wood with a transmutation circle carved into it. Mustang activated them as they went, and it became obvious that these were for structural integrity, which really was ingenious when you got down to it. It still didn’t take away Havoc’s unease at being underground in a sodden earthen tunnel after the area has been completely saturated with rain and the water table had to be higher than normal, but it was at least something to try to help.

The tunnel went on for a long way, completely dark and only with room for them to walk single file. Eventually, after what felt like forever, but probably wasn’t as long as he thought it was thanks to the dark, the tunnel started to slope upwards. It was a relief to Havoc, and Breda’s shoulders seemed to relax fractionally as well. This tunnel was claustrophobic, and Havoc would be glad to get out here.

“Any idea where we are?” Mustang called out, breaking the silence. “I’m completely lost.”

“Well, if I’m right, we’re still on the Hawkeye property, but nearing the edges of it,” the Sheriff said. “I think we’re heading towards Johnson’s house.”

“Really?” Mustang said. “Now that’s interesting.”

“I wonder how deep this tunnel is,” Thompson said. “How many properties could we pass under and the people up top have no idea?”

“Theoretically, you could have a whole maze of tunnels under the town, if they were properly structured,” Mustang said.

“A whole other society, huh?” Havoc said. “Not a bad idea.”

“It’s like the Ishvalans that were living in the sewers,” Breda said. “Living down there and making their own lives separate from those above, for the most part.”

“Never would have thought of that,” Thompson said.

“It isn’t something I think you’d have to worry about too much,” Mustang said. “The sewers were already structured, so they didn’t have to worry about keeping up anything. But for something like this you’d need either alchemists or engineers to make sure that the integrity is maintained. That’s not a skill that you’re going to find to be very common.”

Mustang frowned as he came across another one of the carved transmutation circles. “It will be interesting to see if Johnson is smart enough to have figured out how to do this on his own.”

“You think he didn’t?” Breda said.

“I don’t know yet,” Mustang said, “but it feels familiar, like alchemy I’ve seen somewhere else before.”

“What do you mean?” the sheriff asked.

“All alchemy tends to carry with it a personal touch,” Mustang said, “especially if it’s unusual or new alchemy. Even if you trace back the most basic of alchemy as far as we can, you can see that there’s a certain pattern to it. Think of it like how engineers can tell another engineer’s work by the way it’s constructed or put together. Alchemy circles are basically elaborate calculations. You can tell who developed something if you’re familiar enough with the person’s work.”

“Huh,” Thompson said. “Never knew that.”

Mustang shook his head. “It’s’ not something that most people would notice. Even amateur alchemists often don’t see it. It’s really only noticed when you get into the high-level research and development of circles.”

“And these seem familiar to you,” Breda said, pulling them back on topic.

“Yeah, but I can’t put my finger on it,” he said. “I need to get a better look at them and do some research.”

By this time, the floor was sloping up more and if felt like they were coming to an end. In fact, as they rounded a corner, they came to what appeared to be a dead end.

“What?” Thompson said. “Don’t tell me that—”

“Don’t worry,” Mustang said, clapping his hands together and placed his hands on the wall in front of them. It parted, opening up into another dark, empty space. But this was a structured place, and a staircase was clearly seen. This was, obviously, a basement, and the exited out into it

They all looked around for a moment, Mustang frowning a bit as he did.

“What is all this stuff?” Thompson asked.

“It looks like supplies to me,” the sheriff said. “And I get the feeling they’re not for anything good.”

“They’re alchemic supplies,” Mustang said. “And in an unusual quantity.”

“Just what have we stumbled into?” Havoc asked.

“More then we bargained for, but maybe exactly what we needed,” Mustang said with a confident smirk. “Let’s keep going.”

They headed towards the door of the basement, up the stairs and out of it, to emerge in a house. The house wasn’t well cared for, and definitely not clean, but Thompson and the sheriff seemed to recognize it.

“This is the old Steadman place that Johnson bought,” Thompson said.

“I thought so,” the sheriff said. “This proves quite a lot.”

“And opens up a lot of questions,” Breda said, looking around.

There were footsteps from outside, and then, suddenly there was a man in the doorway with a gun.

“Hold, Carey!” the sheriff called out, and the man lowered his gun.

“Sheriff?” he said, confused. “Thompson? Roy Mustang?”

“Yeah, it’s us,” the sheriff said. He hitched a thumb back towards the basement door. “Found a tunnel. Followed it all the way here.”

“A tunnel?” Carey said.

“Yeah. Make sure no one gets in here, alright?” the sheriff said,

“Yessir,” Carey said.

They poked around the house a little more after that, and then headed back, with just a few things that Mustang and Breda wanted to give a look over. But the day was drawing to a close. They needed to get back to the house, and the other men needed to get back to theirs.

The walk didn’t take terribly long, although Havoc’s legs were hurting him quite a bit by this point. He was definitely going to be in a lot of pain tonight when he finally stopped moving, which was incentive to keep moving. Of course, if he kept moving, he’d also end up hurting a lot, so it was a lose-lose situation all the way around.

By the time they got back to the house, Havoc was nearly hobbling, and Breda had fallen back to walk beside him, just in case. Many of the men had already left, leaving just a few that were there keeping an eye on the place. The Doctor had the wagon prepared and looked relieved to see them.

“General Mustang!” he called. “Good. If you hadn’t of shown up, I was just going to take your man on with me anyway.”

“Apologies, Doctor,” Mustang said. “We were following up on an unexpected lead.”

“Well, I’ve got a couple of the men ready to bring down the young man of yours. We’re going to load him up and…”

Havoc stopped listening to the doctor’s words, focusing instead on getting himself inside. His legs were aching fiercely now, and Breda, concerned, had decided to pull Havoc’s arm around his shoulders. Havoc didn’t mind. He really needed to sit down. His legs had had it, and there really was no choice. He was going to have to take one of those pills tonight.

Grimacing in pain, he let Breda lead him inside, all but collapsing at the small bench that was just inside the door.

“You really did a number on yourself,” Breda said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Havoc replied. “Just help me get to the mud room. Gotta get all this stuff off.”

“Nuh-uh,” Breda said. “We’re gonna get you upstairs and to the bath. You can get cleaned up, up there, and go straight to bed after that. And you are taking one of your little pills tonight. I’ll take care of any of the mud you leave behind or any of the mess you make.”

Havoc wanted to object, but really there was no fight left in him for this. He was in pain, and he was filthy and the last thing he wanted to do was clean. Breda got an arm under him again, and helped him stand up, Havoc letting out a hiss of pain as he did. They went towards the stairs, and then very slowly made their way up them. It was hard, but Havoc dug in deep and managed. Breda all but dumped him in the bathroom, telling him to strip, started the water, and then left. When he came back it was with clean clothes and a towel for him, and a bottle of some kind.

He dropped some of it in the bathwater, and watched it for a second before turning away, seemingly satisfied.

“What was that?” Havoc asked him.

“I was gonna give it to you later, but you’ve put yourself in this much pain I thought I’d go ahead. Remember that oil you got on that trip to Ishval? The one that helped you so much? I managed to get my hands on another form of it. You’re not supposed to rub this in directly, but soak in it, and it should help. Seems like a good time to try it out.” Breda explained.

“I’ll take it,” Havoc said.

Breda helped Havoc up and into the tub, and Havoc let out a hiss followed by a sigh of relief as the warm water and the oil hit his legs and back. It wasn’t an immediate relief, but it did help. Breda gathered up Havoc’s muddy things, then, and stood up. “I’ll be back later to get to this floor. If you need anything, just yell.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Breda.”

Breda waved off his thanks and left, and Havoc relaxed back into the tub. He tilted his head back and listened. He could hear other people moving around the house. The nurse seemed to be checking on Hawkeye, and then there was movement down near Fuery’s room, too. He heard walking and voices and worked out that they were taking Fuery out to get him to the doctor’s office. Havoc had wanted to say something to him before he left, but too late now. He’d just have to give him a call later or maybe go see him, once he felt up to walking that distance again.

Breda came back in at one point, still muddy himself, but less so, and took care of the floor as promised. He said that someone had finished connecting the phone, and that it was in working order. The sheriff had guards stationed around the house and the shack that Johnson had stayed at. He also had some men stationed around the house, just in case. With half his men down, Mustang had thanked the sheriff who said for him not to worry about it, that they looked after their own. Breda also said that the Nelsons were sticking around, at least until everyone was settled for the night. Mrs. Nelson was cooking up a storm, and she was keeping things clean too. Mr. Nelson had taken care of the horses and had helped with a lot of the logistics of things, such as building something around the outside entrance to the basement so that it wouldn’t get mud around it again and filling back up where they had dug. Fuery had been taken on to the doctor’s office, and Hawkeye was sleeping again, the stuff that Johnson had used apparently knocking her for a loop. Havoc appreciated the update, and thanked his friend before he left again, to take of whatever else there was do.

Eventually, Havoc was ready to get out of the tub, and he managed to pull himself up and out of it fairly well. He still had a good strength in his arms and was well versed in relying on them more than his legs. Shifting the burden to them and giving his legs a rest wasn’t too much of a switch. He dressed himself, but Mr. Nelson appeared to help him to the room, the rest of them being far too muddy. He settled into the bed, Mrs. Nelson coming up not long afterward with some food for him and handing him his bottle of pills. Havoc ate, took one, and then laid down to sleep as best he could. His legs were still screaming at him, but he didn’t want to take another pill.

He heard the others getting showers, the bathroom and other floors getting cleaned, and Mustang checking on Hawkeye as he drifted. Breda came in at one point, and made Havoc take something else that helped him get to sleep better. As Havoc drifted off, his last thought was that he sure wanted to get back home soon.

By the time Havoc woke the next day, the sun was already well up. He groaned as he woke up, groggy from the medicine he had taken, and grimaced as he felt the pain in his legs. That wasn’t a good sign, although there wasn’t much he could do about it at this point. Slowly and carefully, he rolled out of bed and dressed himself before carefully making his way to the bathroom and then downstairs.

Hawkeye was at the kitchen table when he got there, also looking groggy and nursing a cup of coffee. Falman was at the stove, cooking. Hawkeye gave Havoc a smile as he came in, and as she turned her head towards him, he let out a bit of an exclamation at her face.

One side of it was covered in deep blues and purples and looked like it hurt. There were a couple of cuts near her eyes. Her hair looked like she had maybe run her fingers through it, and she was wearing what appeared to be one of Mustang’s shirts instead of her usual tightly fitting ones.

“Geeze, Riza, good morning I guess,” he said.

She gave him a tired smile. “It’s practically afternoon,” she said, “but yes, good morning.”

“How are you feeling?” Havoc asked her as he sat down. Falman put a cup of coffee in front of him, and he nodded his thanks to the other man.

“Hungover and sore,” was her answer. “I have no idea what he used on me, but the effects of it linger.” She looked at him. “How are you feeling? I was told your legs were in a lot of pain last night.”

“Still are,” Havoc said, “although nowhere near as bad.  I don’t plan on running anywhere anytime soon, though.”

“No, I wouldn’t think so,” Hawkeye said. She paused. “Thank you, Jean, for all that you did yesterday.”

Havoc waved it off and swallowed the sip of coffee he was taking. “No, don’t worry about it. It’s just what we do.”

Riza merely smiled back at him, tiredness still in her eyes.

“So, where’s Mustang and Breda? And any word on Fuery?” Havoc asked.

“The general called this morning to check on Fuery,” Falman said. “He’s doing fine, nothing wrong with his spine. He just pulled a few things in his back, but that, his ribs, his arm, and his head should heal up fine with time.”

He walked over to them with a pan and slid some eggs onto their plates before returning to the stove to tend to another pan. “The Sheriff called this morning as well. Breda and Mustang took off after that. I’m not entirely sure why, but I think something may have happened or been discovered at Johnson’s house or shack. They headed out to investigate.”

Falman returned to them, sliding some sort of hash browns onto their plates, before returning, again, to the stove. “They told me to stay here and keep an eye on things. I’ve had the basement door locked, just in case, and Hayate patrolling the house. Nothing has happened, except for the men who kept an eye on the property last night asking me for some coffee, and Mrs. Nelson calling and saying that she’s going to bring some more food by, as well as our clothes.”

He brought over another pan and pulled them out some bacon. “She bundled up all our dirty clothes last night and took them with her, insistent on cleaning them.”

Hawkeye smiled. “That sounds like Mrs. Nelson,” she said. “She was always doing things for others.”

The three of them ate quietly together, Hayate making an appearance for food one time, but otherwise not begging off of them like he liked to do. It was clear that he was focused on his job of patrolling the house. It was a couple of hours later when they heard a sharp bark from him, and a skittering of his feet on the floor. Falman was the first one up, a hand on his gun, just in case. Hayate didn’t seem to be alarmed, though, which was a good sign. But after everything that had happened, no one could really blame them for not being cautions. Hawkeye, too, had her gun out and ready to go, making her way to the entranceway living room, just in case. Havoc stayed seated on the couch, his gun half hidden. Sitting or standing it make no difference to him. He had gotten to be a good shot either way.

It turned out, though, to just be Breda, who stomped his boots on the stoop, opened the door, and slammed it behind him. He looked at his welcoming committee for a moment, and then carried on as all of them lowered their guns. After all, he had to have expected this as well. All of them were a bit paranoid normally. Now it was in overdrive.

“You’re back sooner than I expected,” Falman said. “I thought you would have been gone longer than that to look over all of the information found in Johnson’s house and shack.”

“Johnson’s dead,” Breda said bluntly as he stepped into the living room. That sentence immediately had all of their attention.

“What?” Havoc said, clearly startled. How could Johnson be dead? He had seen him delivered to the prison himself, seen the deputy take custody of him, seen the first aid done on the shoulder where Havoc shot him. “He couldn’t have bled out!”

“No,” Breda said. “He didn’t. When the sheriff went in this morning, he found the guard there, also dead, his throat slit. Johnson had been murdered in a similar manner.”

“Who was the guard?” Hawkeye asked.

“Robert Harper,” Breda said. “Sheriff says he’s got a family. Young. He wasn’t looking forward to breaking this to them.”

“Oh, no,” Hawkeye said.

“that’s not all,” Breda said. “A man named Brandon Pruett was guarding the shack. He was also found dead this morning, throat slit, not far from the ashes that was all that was left of the cabin. It was burned to the ground.”

They all exchanged looks at that. This wasn’t a one-time thing; this was definitely someone covering up something.

Breda wasn’t finished. “The two men guarding his house last night, John Yuerisk and Adam Presson were also murdered with the same MO. The house there was burned to the ground too, but it looked as if the basement had been cleaned out first.”

“What about the tunnel that led from his house to this one?” Falman asked.

“Collapsed,” Breda said. “It looks like it was done on purpose too. Mustang is going back through it, reconstructing it and looking for the plates that held those transmutation circles. He told me to meet him back here.”

Havoc ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, man, what a mess.”

Breda nodded. “The sheriff has asked for our help with this. With all of the stranded passengers, the pool of who could have done it is pretty wide. It’s too much for him to handle alone, especially with the deaths of those four men.” He looked at Falman. “You worked in Investigations for a while and worked with Hughes. Mustang wants you down there helping.”

“Of course,” Falman said, and left immediately to go get his uniform jacket and whatever else he needed.

“What about us?” Hawkeye said. “We can help out too.”

Breda held his hands up. “That you need to take up with the general. Personally, I think it might be a good thing if we all went, but Falman can at least get things started.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder, back towards the front. “I did borrow a small cart and horse, just so you two wouldn’t have to walk the whole way if you can convince the general to let you go. I also brought back the laundry that Mrs. Nelson took with her, and some food she sent along.”

“Bring it in,” Hawkeye said. She looked over at Havoc, her gaze determined even with her bruised face. “Think you’re good for it?”

Havoc grinned at her. “Oh yeah, I can help out with this,” he said. “Better than sitting around uselessly.”

“Good,” Hawkeye said. “Then we’ll be ready to go as soon as the General gets here.”

It was clear that, whether Mustang was in favor of this or not, Hawkeye planned on being involved, and there was really no arguing with her on that. Breda went to unload the cart and eat something, and Havoc and Hawkeye went upstairs to change. They ran into Falman on the way down, who they admonished to be careful on his way to town. Hawkeye called for him to wait, and then followed him down the stairs, calling Hayate over to her. Havoc could hear her instructing the little dog to go with Falman and guard him, and then the two were sent on their way.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for anyone to go alone,” Havoc heard her explain to Breda. “If none of us are going with him, then Hayate is a good choice.”

“Yeah, makes sense,” Breda said.

Breda hauled the laundry upstairs where they went through it, claiming all of their uniform pieces. Havoc had a bit of confusion between his pants and Falman’s, but Falman was thinner than he was, so that was quickly figured out. By the time they were dressed and ready, there was an odd sound from the basement. Breda made his way down to the basement while Hawkeye took up a position looking out back, towards the entrance they had found. Havoc stayed in between, ready to give assistance as needed.

Suddenly Hawkeye called out “All clear!” and lowered her gun. “it’s just the General.”

Sure enough, about the time Breda got to the top of the basement stairs, the backdoor opened to admit a very filthy General Mustang. He was covered in dirt and mud, and honestly, it made sense. Those tunnels had been made of dirt and the like. Of course, he would get filthy reconstructing them.

“Any luck?” Breda said, as Mustang headed straight for the washroom.

Mustang tossed something to Breda before he moved into the washroom fully. “Not really. I found part of one of the plaques, if you can call it anything useful.” He started to strip down in the washroom, clearly not wanting to get mud everywhere. “Other than that, nothing useful at all. I made sure to collapse the tunnel back again. I don’t want anyone else using it. But I will say this,” he came out, a towel wrapped around him, “that tunnel was definitely collapsed with alchemy.”

He started to head for the stairs, and then paused, looking at Hawkeye and Havoc. “Why are you two in full uniform?”

“Because we’re going to help with the investigation,” Hawkeye said.

Mustang frowned. “No. Absolutely not.”

“And why not?” Hawkeye demanded.

“I won’t have the two of you exhausting yourselves like that.” Mustang said.

“It won’t exhaust us,” Hawkeye said.

“I said no,” Mustang said and started walking out and towards the stairs. “I’m going to shower, and then Breda and I are going to help with the investigation.” He left, leaving the three of them in the kitchen, his steps echoing on the stairs.

Hawkeye stood there for a moment, then her eyes hardened, and she strode after him, purposeful in her walk.

Breda and Havoc stayed put and stayed quiet for a moment.

“How much you wanna bet she just walks in on him?” Havoc asked.

There was the sudden noise of a door being flung open, a strangled shout of “Hawkeye, what the--!” before the last word was lost in the slamming of the door.

“Why would I bet on a sure thing?” Breda said.

Havoc shrugged. “What some food?”

“Sure.”

By the time that Mustang and Hawkeye came back down the stairs, Mustang was a bit grumpy but not arguing the point anymore, Hawkeye apparently presenting her case to him well. They ate, and then all four of them headed out, Havoc and Hawkeye riding in the back of the cart that Breda had borrowed. It wasn’t a long ride into town, but once there it was clear to see that people weren’t happy and that things were tense.

“Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us,” Breda said.

“Yeah, we do, but we’re going to do it.” Mustang replied.

Although they weren’t much of a military presence, having all of them there did help to bring order to the chaos. Falman already had a system going, and so they jumped in and helped to smooth it along. Falman handled a majority of the interviews, recording names, statements, and various other details. Havoc had never really had the chance to see this side of Falman in play before, not like this, and it was fascinating to watch him. He understood, now, why he had been such an asset to Investigations and why General Armstrong was trying her best to get him back to Briggs.

Breda, likewise, was also an asset. He helped to look over the statements that they were given, organizing and classifying them. He had piles and piles of them, but he also had a system going. Havoc had a feeling that he and Falman were going to be working late into the night on this, like a giant puzzle that they needed to put together and figure out. Havoc was mostly on organizing duty, although he had his own ways to soften people up before they went into be questioned. Mustang oversaw the whole operation, Hawkeye a step behind him, like she always was, or going somewhere with the authority of his orders.

There were a few other soldiers that had been on the train, as well as a few that were former soldiers, and they were quickly drafted into helping with crowd control, after they had passed through their own questionings. The sheriff and his men were working with Breda on classifying a lot of the information and making some follow up questions that they needed to tend to later.

All in all, it was several hours work that stretched into the night for all of them. No one was happy with that, from the people who were helping, to the people who were being questioned, to the townspeople.  It didn’t help that there were more than a few people in town who were in mourning. With four men dead, murdered, no one could blame them for that. It was probably the biggest tragedy this town had seen in a very long time, if at all.

Havoc could sense that some of the townspeople blamed them, and he could understand why. The military was often at the center of trouble, and Mustang and anyone associated with him definitely tended towards that. It was just the way it was. But others, although unhappy, seemed to recognize that it wasn’t their fault, even though they were involved.

All in all, it made for a very difficult and long day, one that had all of them tired and dead on their feet by the end of it. They ended up borrowing the cart again to head back home, something that turned out to be a good thing, as the doctor sent Fuery back with them, saying that he still needed to be careful, but that he would be fine overall.

The days after that moved quickly. Mustang made call after call out to Eastern Headquarters and to Central. There was a lot to report on, after all, and it took a bit of finagling to make it work so that Hawkeye’s secret wasn’t exposed. It was written off, it seemed, as if Johnson was under the impression that she knew more about Mustang’s alchemy then she did, and that he could get it from her. With Johnson dead, well, he couldn’t refute it. Of course, anyone in the know knew differently, but there were precious few of them—that they knew of.

Hawkeye grew increasingly tense over the days. None of them knew if Johnson had managed to give knowledge of her tattoo to anyone or not. There was no way to tell if other people knew about it or not. All that could be known was that Johnson knew. It was understandable that she was high strung about it. Mustang was too, and that put the rest of the men on edge. Add to that, that it was still a mystery how those supplies in Johnson’s basement got moved with no one able to travel, and it was a true mystery, and a chilling one at that.

It was at least a week later before the military was able to get anyone into the town. It was another week before the rail lines started running again. The rains had caused massive damage over every region they had been hanging above, and crews were hard at work trying to repair things. The team did, though, eventually go on to their original destination, but by the time they had gotten there, the trail had grown cold. Without anything else that they could do, the team returned to Central. They were truly grateful to be back home.

But Havoc couldn’t shake the feeling that things weren’t over yet. So much had happened, and so much was still hanging in the balance and left unknown. There was no way that this was permanently over. Something else had to happen. It didn’t make sense otherwise. There were too many loose ends for his liking, and if there were too many for him, then there were definitely too many for Mustang.

Havoc thought about it, as he sat in his apartment, looking out the window at the night, and flicked his toothpick away. Yep. Something was definitely coming. The question was, what and when?

And, what to do in the meantime?

His hand reached out for the phone, and he rattled off an address to the operator. “Hey—Rebecca? Wanna go out tomorrow night?”

[captainscanadian]

Hope | Bucky Barnes x Reader (Part 3)

My Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Summary: When an old friend stops by, you decide to revisit your past for the sake of writing inspiration. 

Word Count: 2100+

Pairing: (Eventual) Doctor!Bucky Barnes x Patient!Reader, 

Warnings: Heartbreak, Bullying, Alcohol, Death

A/N: This fic was my entry for @wkemeup​‘s 4K Writing Challenge. I DON’T DO TAGLISTS!

If anyone asked Rosie Bender what she valued the most in her life, she would always say that it was the people who had been a part of it. Regardless of whether she had just met the person or if she had known them her whole life, she had always believed in keeping people close. 

Being the social butterfly that she had always been, it was often a wonder why she hadn’t managed to leave this boring old town. But she had to blame her love for a certain Rebecca Barnes for keeping her in her hometown.

Becca had been the reason why Rosie and Bucky had gotten close. Although she had been in the same year as the man during high school, she had never really hung out with him. Truth be told, who would have hung out with him? Considering that he was the guy who had humiliated his best friend in front of the whole school, she had loathed him with a certain passion.

Back then, all he had cared about was hanging with the popular kids - and Rosie, as social as she was, she was considered one of the weirdos. But now, she had no choice but to accept that Bucky was an inevitable part of her life, being Becca’s brother and all. 

But that did not mean that this nurse could ever forgive her friend for the dickhead he used to be. While she hadn’t been close to you back in high school, she had certainly felt bad for you after the incident. A part of her had wanted to be the friend you would have needed at that time, though she had been unsure about approaching you when literally everyone had made you the joke of the school. How could she have gotten you to trust her when Bucky of all people had caused you so much pain?

Nevertheless, Rosie found herself walking up to your front door that morning. Whatever the issue that you had with Bucky, it was between him and you. She was not going to get involved in his business anymore. 

But she was not someone who could keep away from you, especially knowing that you’ve been back in town after a whole decade and that you were staying alone in your childhood home. She was certainly glad about your return to Shelbyville, that too in time for your ten year reunion. 

So, there she was, holding a basket of baked goods in her hand as you opened the door, her heart beating against her chest as she grew slightly nervous of how you would treat her, but giving you a smile nevertheless. “Hello, Y/N!”

“Rosie… what a surprise.” You raised your eyebrow. “What brings you here?” 

“I’m sorry to show up at your door unannounced. I’m sure you’re busy… with whatever you’re doing, painting the house- Nick told me that you were, not that I’ve been stalking you or anything.” She bit down on her bottom lip as she drew a sharp breath. “I just… I just wanted to stop by, because I didn’t get to speak to you the other day when I saw you at The Tavern, seeing that you pretty much stormed out of there… but I brought you some cookies?” 

You could not help but chuckle softly at how she was fumbling with her words. “Rosie, it’s okay… I really appreciate you coming by. I’ve been here a few days and it’s starting to feel lonely.” You admitted, accepting the basket of cookies from her and stepping away from the door to let her in. “Why don’t you come on in? I apologize for the mess. I still haven’t finished with the painting, you know, it’s just me.” 

Certainly relieved that you hadn’t shut the door in her face, the nurse stepped inside of your home and looked around. She hadn’t really been inside of it before, but from the way Bucky and Becca had described it, she understood that the pop of colour that she was now seeing was your doing. “I think it looks great.” She smiled, turning over to look at you. “It’s good to have you back here, Y/N.” 

You wouldn’t call Rosie Bender your close friend, but you had been acquaintances back when you were in high school. When your mother had been sick, she had been her nurse for some time and they seemed to have gotten quite close. “Thank you.” You smiled back at her as you led her towards the dining room, which had remained untouched by your attempt at home improvement and therefore lacking the pop of colour. “I don’t know if I can say that it’s good to be back, but it’s lovely to see a familiar face and not feel a certain sense of murderous rage.” 

Chuckling softly at your words, she nodded. “Oh I can imagine…” She could not help but agree, for she had been a witness to your worst nightmare on that dreadful day. “So, for how long will you be in town for?”

You shrugged your shoulders as you set down the basket of cookies. “I don’t know, really. I actually came out here to get some writing done for the last book of my series, but I saw the state the house was in and decided to fix it up.” You replied. “I’d say I should be here for a few months. I’m hoping to stay until I can meet my deadline.” 

She nodded, understandingly. “I have to say, I’m a huge fan of Hopeless. I’ve read all three of your books. It’s one of my favourite series.”

“Oh you’ve read them?” You asked, taken by surprise that she had actually read your books. Not that you wouldn’t have wanted anyone from your past to read your works, but you had assumed that the people you had left behind in Shelbyville wouldn’t have been willing to take a chance on your works. 

“Your mother used to have me read her the first book every night when she was first admitted.” She replied with a sigh. “She used to tell me that she wanted a part of her daughter to be there with her, and that if you couldn’t be there in person, your book would do. I only started reading them for her, but somewhere along the line, I fell in love with Hope Anderson and her own quest for love.” 

“And that reminds me…” You took a step towards her as you smiled, feeling your eyes glazing over for a moment. But you told yourself that you weren’t going to cry. “I never got to thank you in person, for taking care of my mother while I was gone. I know now that I’ve missed out on a lot of time that I could have had with her, but thank you for being there for her. I’m sure she really appreciated that.” 

“You don’t have to thank me, Y/N.” Rosie shook her head as she pulled you into a hug. “I was only doing my job, and I knew… I know what happened. I know why you left. I guess I kind of figured that you wouldn’t want to come back to what you left behind and I did my best to be there for your mother, because I knew you couldn’t.” 

You finally let the tears slip as you accepted her warm embrace. “I should have been there… but I couldn’t, I never wanted to come back here.” 

“I know…” She rubbed your back, gently. “But I’m sure your mother’s watching over you now. She’s probably glad to have you home again, Y/N. She wanted you to have the house. She told me that it’s why she never wanted to leave, no matter how many times you asked her to move out to LA. Now that you’re back here, and… you seem to be putting your personal touches to the house. I’m sure she’s happy, wherever she is.” 

Leave it to Rosie Bender for being so warm and comforting, just as she had been on that day ten years ago. Even though you weren’t friends, she had been someone who treated you like one. 

“I’m so sorry, I don’t know… I’m still a sobbing mess, aren’t I?” Pulling back from the hug, you were quick to wipe away your tears. “Can I make you some tea? I wasn’t expecting any visitors but I feel like it’s rude not to serve you anything.” 

“How about I make the tea and you help yourself to some cookies?” She chuckled softly as she walked towards the kitchen to put on the kettle. 

You nodded, grabbing yourself a snickerdoodle that still felt warm against your tongue as you took a bite. You immediately recognized them; they were Winnifred Barnes’ secret family recipe. “So, you and Becca, huh?” You asked, turning over to look at her. “How did that happen?” 

“Believe me, I didn’t see it coming either. I’ve known her since we were kids, but we never… we never realized that we had feelings for each other until we both finished college.” She replied, laughing softly. “You know what they say, sometimes the love of your life would be right before your eyes and you wouldn’t have any idea.” 

Now she may have said that on purpose, but she certainly played it off like an absentminded thought. 

“Yeah… you wouldn’t have any idea.” You agreed. 

Rosie poured two cups of tea before looking up at you. “Y/N, are you coming to the 10 year reunion next weekend?” She asked, curiously. 

She wondered if you even knew about the reunion, considering that she had left multiple voicemails to your LA office but you hadn’t returned any of her calls about whether you would be attending the reunion. 

“I wasn’t planning to.” You admitted, shrugging. “Do I really want to go there when I know that the people who made my teenage years miserable will all be there under one roof?” 

“You know, the Maximoff twins RSVP’d.” She informed you, cracking a smile at the thought of those two. “I don’t think those two would really qualify as people who made you feel miserable.”

“I see enough of Pietro and Wanda back in LA.” You clarified, laughing softly at the thought of the two people from high school whom you had still kept in touch with. “Wanda works for my Publisher and Pietro is a frequent guest at my book launch parties.” 

“Connie Chapman would be there.” 

You raised your eyebrow. “What?”

“She RSVP’d too, just thought I’d let you know, in case you needed a reason to be there.” She replied, setting down a mug in front of you before pulling herself a chair. “The invite still stands. I understand that you might not want to be there, considering what happened during senior year. But I would really appreciate it, if you could come… and show those people that you’re much more successful than all of them could ever be.” 

As you sipped your tea in silence, you pondered if you should really attend your ten year reunion. Surely, your senior year happened to be the worst years of your life - and you had wasted four years with a certain Ivan Petrov who couldn’t have bothered to put a ring on it. Not even your relationship with the ex-boyfriend who had inspired the plot of your second novel had been as bad enough as your senior year of high school. Was it really worth revisiting those memories for one night? 

Considering that the working plot of your fourth novel currently revolved around Hope Anderson revisiting her high school days and that your writer’s block had still gotten you to the point where you were killing the time by painting your house, you could certainly use the experience for a little more writing inspiration. The book was not going to write itself, and you couldn’t really figure out what to do with Hope and Jason’s story without having them attend their ten year reunion and face some harsh truths about their past. 

You were well aware that Bucky would be at the reunion. Having run into him at The Tavern, you had avoided having any kind of confrontation with him by drowning yourself in alcohol and dashing out of there before either of you could address the elephant in the room. But you knew that it was not best to avoid him for any longer. You needed to find closure for that chapter of your life, so you might as well find it at your ten year reunion. 

“Fine, I’ll be there.” You finally spoke up, making Rosie look up from her cup of tea with wide eyes. “I can’t promise that I’ll actually enjoy myself. But I don’t think I should be hiding away from those people for any longer.” 

What even was the point of hiding anymore?

[twilightknight17]

So I fell asleep last night before I could make the post, but I got P5 Scramble yesterday and I’m having a blast so far. ^_^

I’m probably going to go through it the same way I did my Royal playthrough, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t click through on these posts!

Before we start, I just want to mention that I don’t really know anything about the story. Somehow I’ve managed to avoid spoilers for an entire year except for a few small things.

I do know the identity of (who I assume is) Kyoto’s Jail Monarch. (Monarch is kind of a weird, formal word. I think I liked Jail King better. Or... Warden? Warden might have been the best choice.) ANYWAY, I think I know their identity, and by extension, I have a vague idea of why Shadow Joker exists. Other than that... You’re getting speculation and bullshit untainted by later plot revelations. XDDD

I did find it funny that when I booted the game up, I got a “No save data found, unable to start game” message. Like... no shit, PS4, it’s a brand new game. But the little starting tutorial fight was cool, and I liked the opening movie!

The police briefing was...interesting. It’s good to see them actually being somewhat logical? Like... considering everything that happened the year before, it makes sense that they’d assume this is the Thieves again. They have no way of knowing that there’s no way to access Palaces anymore. This isn’t really the Thieves MO, though. Except for the guy who confessed to document tampering. The author shredding his work for no reason and the guy streaking through the criminal justice headquarters don’t seem like they did anything wrong. Those seem more like psychotic breakdowns.

But... I guess we don’t know if the police ever knew anything about Black Mask, or if Shido was convicted on only real-world crimes and not the metaverse hits he ordered. I wonder if that’ll get elaborated on.

Zenkichi’s introduction was him laughing at the streaking guy in the middle of this Serious Police Meeting, so I think I’m gonna like him a lot. ^_^

Anyway, the “higher-ups” really want this case closed, according to “Commissioner Kaburagi”, who I already don’t like. If you’re the police commissioner, Makoto really would be a better choice, holy shit. She’s already prepared to go after Akira, who is the only Thief they know the identity of, so I guess that’s fair. But still. Has he not been falsely accused of enough for a lifetime?

Although... if you’re gonna look up all his life details, can you maybe... share some? Just a few things? Hometown? How are his parents? Anything?

*

Coming back to Leblanc was cute. Got some Trickster’s Maze vibes from the initial text conversation where they were talking about how people kept not responding to texts, but I think it’s all good. Love that the Sayuri is still on the wall, and that Morgana’s been home with Akira.

Naming the app “Emma” is never going to stop being hilarious to me, because reasons.

Y’know, Atlus, this would work a lot better if he could like...respond to their curiosity. At least these dialogue options seem to suggest that talking things out with his parents went well. Even “I missed you” isn’t inherently negative. He’d miss them either way.

.......so when my boyfriend gets back from his soul-searching vacation, he’ll be welcomed back with open arms, right, Ryuji? Right?

Meanwhile, for summer break plans, Yusuke wants to go to Kyoto for a month-long art tour. Unless...

Never change, dear. Never change.

Nice of Sojiro to water my plant and keep my room from drowning in dust, but he really couldn’t have replaced the bedframe with literally anything other than the plastic storage crates? XD The attic looks so empty and lonely without the shelves of trinkets and plushies, and the TV.

So my reaction to this next part was literally, “LAVENZA, IT’S BEEN LESS THAN 24 HOURS”. X’‘‘D Akira really can’t catch a break. But Lavenza’s dialogue sounded actually sad that he was being dragged into this again. And she’s promised repeatedly that she’s going to be there for him. It’s sweet, even though my room is still a prison and she’s still using torture equipment. Iron maidens, Lavenza, really??

I’m a little concerned that Igor’s not around, though. Lavenza did the dream/reality/mind/matter speech instead. Where is he? I know he’s never around for spinoffs but considering my headcanons I’m very curious now. And why didn’t he like... tell Morgana that Lavenza said ruin is coming again? Even if we don’t count thirdsem events, Morgana still knows that he’s Hope, and he still has a bond with the Velvet Room. Talk to your cat damn it.

Oh no, she’s cute and Alice-in-Wonderland themed. I’m doomed.

She called it her “EMMA keyword” and I immediately blurted “what? keyword??” and then everything went directly to Hell immediately. Keyword was the key word, I guess. X’‘‘‘DDD

And you can tell it’s been six months, considering that these nerds got caught almost immediately. And got their hands bound. And got dragged to the throne room and forced to kneel!

...I’m doomed.

Someone at Atlus looked directly at this fandom and all the fanart of the interrogation and said, “Yeah, they’d be into that.” XD Steppy steppy. At least she’s not a rapist like Kamoshida, but jeeze, we keep getting beaten up and thrown in the dungeon by royalty. All we need is a princess and we’ve got a whole royal family!

Although, I suppose the prince didn’t bother with a dungeon. XD

I think it’s interesting that apparently the guards tried to take our Desires and failed. I guess being a persona-user means your mental state is stable enough that something like that can’t manifest.

Oh no, she’s cute. I love her. Another for the collection of Joker’s baby siblings. This is number... 5? She kind of reminds me of Jose, a little. I’ll be interested to see what she is, since she’s got amnesia right now. She can’t be just a straight AI.

But if she’s Yald’s mom, I’m also going to be majorly weirded out.

I really like the gameplay? It’s so interesting to see how the characters move and fight when they’re not limited to turn-based attacks. And I like being able to jump to different points and use them to ambush enemies. I don’t fully understand all of it yet, and it’s hard for me to keep an eye on things like status ailments and my teammates because everything is so chaotic, but I’m sure I’ll get it.

I did die to a miniboss, and when I hit “return to checkpoint”, it gave me the prompt to select a language for the voice acting again. I dunno what was up with that. X’D And I’m baffled by the concept that you can just leave the metaverse and come back and it restores all your health and stuff. No penalty. Time doesn’t pass. You didn’t waste a day. Have the kids finally learned that we are capable of entering and exiting more than once on the same day? Hallelujah.

...this boy is angry that we have to deal with the Jails instead of having a BBQ feast. Never change, Yusuke.

If you go by the crepe shop in Shibuya, Morgana still doesn’t think you’re a crepe person. I’m so tired, Morgana. It’s also a bit weird and forced that Iwai and Takemi are both out of town. We couldn’t have seen at least one of them? I know we’re not gonna be able to use those shops when we’re on the road, but we could worry about that then.

(Disturbingly easy to return a gold bar that you apparently bought off the dark web. Omg. That was hilarious.)

AND THEN YOU GET UP THE NEXT DAY AND ZENKICHI IS JUST IN YOUR HOUSE? SITTING IN THAT CHAIR? That is not the “detective chair”, sir, that is my boyfriend’s chair, and you need to move. At least he likes the curry, but jesus fuck. Sir, I have unresolved trauma of adults coming into my house to snoop into my business. Get out of my house. X’D

You give me a detective sitting in my boyfriend’s chair and then immediately send me to a taping of the same show in the same studio where I first met him. God, P5S, you’re trying to kill me.

Alice clearly knows that giving out the keyword is doing something. She’s being very deliberate about this. But I don’t think she’s actually aware of the Jail. Love that she’s so arrogant that she can’t imagine that Akira just... didn’t use the keyword, and that’s why she can’t control him.

So I guess the Jail Monarchs are called such because they’re imprisoning other people’s shadows in their distortions. So these are people that want control over something to the point that it distorted their worldview. Part of me wants to go off on a ramble about how this relates to Mementos or Apathy Syndrome, but I’ll wait and do that when I have more information. I’ve got some more of the dungeon to do, and I cannot wait to see Alice’s boss fight.

I’m having so much fun. I really missed these kids; they’re grea--

.......I hate these children. X’‘‘‘‘DDDD

[crowleyellestair]

Hey dear!! How are you doing? Are you feeling any pain? I had all my wisdom teeth removed last year and the first day wasn’t good, but after that it was okay, but my jaw was swollen for a while tho. I wish you a smooth recovery!! You asked for requests, so I was thinking about this: reader travels with geralt and jaskier. Mutual pining between she and geralt, but they still haven’t confessed their feelings. They go to a ball and Yen is there (1/2)

AN/// Sorry this is so late; I have a post explaining everything and how it wasn’t as smooth as both of us hoped. This is a great prompt, and thank you so much for the kind words. I was excited to write this! It’s a little longer, but I hope that makes up for the wait.

  Lights blurred together and she didn’t try to blink them into focus, her mind too busy in stealing itself. Y/n was well aware Yen could read her mind at any moment, and she could let herself wander into emotional territory. Instead, she focused on how loud the room was, and how it made her head pound. Voices mixed together, none distinguishable at this point. She was sure that if she focused, she could make out the conversation between Yen and Geralt that unfolded right in front of her, but that was risky business. She could never look at the witcher without her heart racing, love grasping every part of her being.

Feet stomped across the dancefloor, drowning out her friend’s playing, though if the small trio they sported wasn’t at the other end of the room, she might be able to hear it better. The room was hot, despite the cool night. She struggled to keep the empty glass clinched between her fingers as she started to sweat. It had been years since she had worn a dress, the extra fabric not helping. Y/n tried not to sway as the heels of her shoes started to make her feet hurt. Jaskier had helped her create the outfit, and she started to regret not insisting the flat shoes she had mentioned at the beginning of the process.

People moved around them, their figures blurring along with the lights. Their forms making the room even louder, warmer. Her knees were locked, but she could only focus on keeping her mind shut. Yen was a powerful woman, and it is intimidating- you’d be a fool to think otherwise. It was hard for the woman not to compare herself to the sorceress in the moment, especially since she’d been doing it since they first met years ago.

“Y/n?” Her eyes snapped into focus as her name was called. She looked between the two sets of eyes staring at her. Violet ones, filled with amusement, and molten gold, filled with what she could only hope was concern. She cleared her throat, looking down to her glass.

“I’m… going to get fresh air.” The woman gave a curt nod, mainly for herself in agreement, and walked away, still feeling both gazes on her back. Everything continued to blend together until she finally made it onto the balcony. Y/n started to gasp, a hand going to the tightened bodice. The other grasped the railing and her eyes had to blink away tears.

There was so much hope built for the night. After Jaskier was asked to play at the party, the two spent the whole day preparing. Jaskier for his show, and Y/n had prepared to simply ride along until the bard insisted tonight was the night. He had been along for the ride for half a decade in the adventure that was her infatuation with the witcher. Everything from her hair to the dress was tailored special, all with the help of the bard. While at first she had been against it, not wanting to risk years of friendship, she had caved. Though, it had all been thrown away once golden eyes found violet. Geralt had been what she could only call giddy, and he’d been posted by the sorceress’s side since. And it hurt.

Y/n was the one who was always there, defending him, representing him and loving him. Of course, he had never asked for any of that, but she had given it. It was only three nights ago where they had sat in comfortable silence under the same stars she looked to now. It was a normalcy for them, as she always stayed up when he woke from nightmares. It had been a busy day then, filled with brewing potions and decoctions, as Geralt trusted her with certain recipes to help out. The woman could remember the first time he taught them to her, and the small, timid smile he gave. He mentioned how his teacher would be furious if he found out Geralt gave away ‘witcher secrets’, but he knew the knowledge would be safe with her. It was small moments like that that made her fall for him, and had her convinced he felt the same.

But it always comes down to Yen. Y/n always convinces herself once more that he feels the same until the sorceress glides back into their lives. Y/n never spoke of Yen and her assumptions or questions, though she knew Jaskier caught on to her envy. Anytime the bard would try and sooth her worries, she would change the subject, the would-be truth too hard to face. However, tonight was the night. It was all or nothing. The trio had travelled close enough to her hometown, so if he had rejected her, she would be able to slip away easily. She felt somewhat guilty about planning to leave. She hadn’t told Jaskier about her plan upon rejection, and she knew Roach would be raw about it too. The witcher once had said how frustrating it was, knowing Roach loved her more. The mare would always take her side when fights happened, never letting her usual rider on, no matter how frustrating it was for him. Geralt was particular, however, and she wouldn’t dare overuse her stay among the party if he didn’t feel the same.

Y/n was lost in thought, even as someone approached, which was uncommon for her. She was on autopilot when she responded to the thrown-out phrase,

“Doth my eyes deceive me?”

“Probably, I’m blind.” Her tone was quiet compared to the excited baritone who initiated, though excitement flooded through her as realization dawned. She turned around quickly, a smile gracing her for the first time since arriving at the party. Before her was her childhood friend, who stayed by her side until she left with the witcher and bard. “Felix!” He gave a smile in return, giving a sarcastic bow before opening his arms. The embrace was warm and a great change of pace. They parted, though he kept an olive toned hand on her shoulder.

“Y/n, it’s great to see you. It’s been, what, half a decade? At some point I started to wonder if you were simply an imaginary friend.” She laughed, and his smile grew.

“Well, you are crazy enough for that to be in the realm of possibility.”

“Exactly, that’s why I was worried.” Again, they both laughed, making their way to the balcony. His hand dropped, though his arm rubbed against hers as they stared out into the night sky. “I’m surprised you’re back. And at a party, no less.” The woman shrugged, trusting him, though not wanting to give too much away.

“The entertainment tonight is a good friend. We travel together, and I came to support him.” It wasn’t necessarily a lie, but too much time has passed to tell the whole truth. While Felix had been supportive of her leaving, she remembers how warry he was of the witcher.

“Well, I’m glad. It’s great to see you.” There was no response, though there was something she wanted to say. She wanted to apologize for leaving him, knowing he wanted to break out of the town just as much as she had. But he was a noble’s son, he couldn’t come with.

“How’s the family,” was all she could come up with. Y/n practically flinched at her own inquiry, knowing that everything was muddled with her at the moment. They were close, though she never felt how she did with Geralt. She was never in love. Childhood infatuation, maybe, but she knew she couldn’t be with Felix. Everyone in town knew the brunette next to her wanted to ask for her hand, but she left the first moment she could.

“Fine. Can’t complain, I guess. The estate is good too. I should be taking over in the next year or so.” She nodded, not really knowing how to get out what she wanted to say. Her mind kept reeling back to Geralt and Yen, and what they would be up to, and it ate away at her. “Are you staying or passing through?”

“Oh, uh…just passing. Or maybe staying. I’m not entirely sure yet.” They stood in silence for a moment before Felix knocked against the railing. He turned to face her, giving a small smile.

“Well, could I ask for a dance?” Y/n opened her mouth to decline before he dropped his head, peering at her through thick lashes. “Just as a farewell dance. Or maybe a welcome back dance, if you do decide to stay.” Her mouth shut, and she looked to her hands. The only people she’d be hurting by saying no where Felix and herself. Geralt seemed pretty preoccupied at the moment anyways. She looked back up with a smile, agreeing.

Arm and arm they moved to the dance floor, Y/n trying to block out years of secret smiles the witcher had given her. The sharing of warmth at night when it was only a little chilly. The brushed knuckles as they walked side by side. Mornings and nights spent attached at the hips in perfect contentment. His broken compliments given to her, and his flustered brooding that followed. Fingers lingering a little too long on skin when tending to injured areas. Personal secrets shared over liters of ale. All of it had to be steeled away.

Hands found hands, shoulders and hips. Her eyes found Jaskier’s confused gaze, but she brushed him off, trying to make Felix the subject of the moment. And after a while, he was. After stepping on his feet, and bumping into other couples, the two lost time, smiling and laughing the whole way. Felix had asked for one dance, but they spent more than three together. All of them were upbeat, and they both were out of breath. It seemed Jaskier finally needed a break, slower strums filling the air. Felix stared down at his old friend; a large smile spread over his visage. He started to lean in, when a low gruff was heard behind her. Y/n’s eyes widened, knowing the huff anywhere, turning in Felix’s arms to find Geralt, standing very uncomfortably in the middle of the floor. If Y/n wasn’t so engrossed in the amber eyes in front of her, she would have noted that Jaskier’s lyrics were supposed to come in two measures ago. Th bard seemingly also entranced by the scene before him. Blue eyes found violet, and she gave a smirk, suggesting this was her idea.

“Geralt, what are you doing here?” He cleared his throat, looking away for a moment before looking at her skirt.

“We came here together.” It took a moment, but Y/n let out a small snort, something she only did with him. Usually she kept up appearances, even with her laugh, though she always herself with him. Even now, she couldn’t think of Yen or Felix. Only the witcher she adored.

“I meant on the dance floor.” HE gave a curt nod, closing his eyes, almost as if readying himself.

“To ask you to dance.” The witcher glared at the ceiling when she took a moment to process what he had just said.

“Me? To…dance? What about Yennefer?” Geralt’s brow raised as his eyes met hers.

���What about Yen?”

“Well… weren’t you two conversing? You seemed pretty engrossed.” His eyes flew over her shoulder to find said woman smiling. The sorceress had said Y/n would say something like that. It was among the many things she said would be spoken, among things like a confession, to which he had scoffed at. Though Yen was heavy set on Geralt asking her to dance. The two had a relationship once, though it turned to an easy friendship after realizing it wouldn’t work out. Mainly because, despite the djinn entangling their futures, Geralt’s heart belonged to Y/n. The wolf shrugged, not knowing how to continue. Though he started to glare once more, and Y/n followed his glare over her shoulder to Felix. Guilt started to eat away, but he spoke up before she could say anything.

“It was great to see you again, Y/n.” He bowed his head before disappearing into the crowd. He turned back to the witcher, who looked more uncomfortable than when he arrived. His jaw was tight, but he stepped closer, eyes still looking to where Felix disappeared before seemingly scolding himself.

“I’m sorry.” Her heart dropped, thinking he already knew of her affections. That he would reject her before she could even ask. She too cleared her throat, not being able to meet his gaze either.

“For what?”

“He seemed nice.” Her brow raised before she met amber again.

“Felix was a childhood friend. He holds title at an estate not too far from here. It was nice to see him again, though he surely has other people to rub elbows with here.” They stood in silence as couples floated around them.

“So…dance?” Y/n perked up, stumbling over herself.

“Yes! Dance. Love to dance. I mean- I would love to dance. With you.” His hands found her hips and her hands found his shoulders. His eyes couldn’t stop roaming over her face, and a flush broke over her cheeks. “I have to admit though, I don’t really know how to dance. No matter how slow.” He nodded for a moment before looking into her eyes.

“Stand on my feet.” Her brow rose, and again his gaze found the floor. “Dancing was apart of training. You need to be able to be as graceful as the creature you’re going against.” Tepidly, she stood on his boots, and he started to flow with the music. She didn’t realize it, but her hands had curled into the white locks that rested over the back of his neck. His thumbs pressed into her waist, and they got lost in each other’s gazes. Jaskier must have been keeping a watchful eye as he played a second slow song. This was it. Now or never.

“Geralt, I… We’ve… wow, this was way better when I practiced earlier.”

“I remember you saying that you never practice.”

“Yes, well,” a small smile broke out on her face. “This was something that I thought needed it. It’s very important.” She took a long inhale before looking to the neck that was straight in front of her. Maybe if she isn’t looking into those intense eyes, it would make things easier. “Geralt, you are important. To me. You have been for the past five years. But, more than a friend. I know that this jeopardize everything, and I’ll leave if you want me to but-.”

“I’d never ask you to leave. Do you want to leave?” Her eyes found his again, and sadness turned the amber to liquid.

“N-no! I meant that if you’re uncomfortable with my affections towards you, that I would leave. I wouldn’t want to make you suffer with someone you don’t want to be around.”

“Your affections towards me?”

“Yeah. I… Geralt, I have come to love you.” Y/n let her eyes close, and her head fall. Geralt’s movements had stopped, except for his hand that cupped the joint of her neck.

“I can’t promise to know what love is, but I’m certain that this is what I think it feels like. I know I can’t… express things, but I know that I care for you more than I’ve cared for anyone before.” Wide eyes met his own, and he could feel his heart pounding out of his chest. “If you would have me.”

“Yes. Yes, of course I would.” He started to lean down, trying to give her time to back out, despite professing her own love. Geralt was aware how difficult he was at times, but he also knew that she was a rare happiness in his life. His heart seemed to be at a normal human rate whenever she’s near. Her scent had become something he was addicted to. Waking up without her aroma became foreign, and unwelcome. Her soft, caring gaze was something he saw whenever his eyes closed.

Their lips connected, noses brushing against each other. The witcher seemed timid, Y/n pushing into it further to show she wanted it. Wanted him. To have and to hold, till death do they part.

[supermanshield]

A Weekend in Smallville

Summary: Amid a town coming together in the aftermath of an alien invasion, Bruce meets Lana, learns a little bit more about Clark, and reflects on his place in Clark’s life and rural Kansas.

Or: Bruce in Smallville. Goes about as well as you'd expect.

Words: 7,217

Rating: Teen and up for like one swear word and mentions of sex.

Read on AO3 or continue reading here!

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Dinner had been put away and Bruce had once again taken his place at the table, papers and laptop laid out in front of him. Various people from town, and eventually some Leaguers (and shouldn’t that raise some suspicion? No one paid attention here) had been walking in and out all day to get a bite to eat. The old wooden floorboards were littered with dusty footsteps, but Martha Kent was on the couch, too exhausted from providing for everyone all day long. Jonathan wasn’t much better off after driving around town and helping his neighbors. Bruce would sweep up the dust for them when he was done working and before he flew back for the night.

“We’ve rebuilt what we can right now, with the available materials. It’s not much, but at least people will be able to sleep in their own home right now.” He must be tired too if Clark could sneak up on him like that.

“It’s something,” he sighed. “I’ve been on the phone with contractors all day to procure the necessary materials and workforce. The more elaborate structures might be repaired within the month.”

Clark grabbed a glass of water and slumped down in the chair across from Bruce. Even he seemed tired, which should be impossible, but seeing your hometown in shambles and its people in distress all day will do that. Even to Superman.

“Rest of the League?” Bruce asked.

“Barry and Hal helped all day. They went back home just now. J’onn went back to the watchtower and Diana had other matters to attend to.”

Bruce nodded. It was time he got back to Gotham as well. With a bit of luck, he could charter a jet to fly back tonight and still get a couple hours of patrol in. He told Clark as much and started putting away his papers, but Clark grabbed his hand when he went to close the laptop.  “Bruce, wait… It’s Friday, why don’t you stay the weekend?”

A weekend in Kansas, with nothing to do but help at the farm… While he loved the Kents, that wasn’t Bruce’s idea of a productive time. They still had to figure out what had led the aliens to Smallville of all places, and what they wanted. No, he could be of much more use elsewhere.

Before Bruce could reply though, Jonathan shot over his shoulder from where he was sitting in the living room, “We got that queen size bed for your room, Clark,” and Martha added, “You’re more than welcome to stay, Bruce dear.”

Great. Clark looked at him expectantly, still holding his hand. “It’ll be fun. And wouldn’t it be easier to start investigating here what those aliens wanted?” Clark knew exactly what to say to keep him around. He had other obligations, though.

“You know I can’t.”

“Aww, come on, Dick and Tim can watch over Gotham. And they’ll have backup from Cass, the Birds of Prey…” Clark’s voice faded, his eyes drifting down. “And you have to let those ribs heal properly. Finally.”

Something in Clark’s voice said he would just keep Bruce here if he threatened to fly back tonight. Bruce sighed. The only appealing thing about the queen size bed was the fact that he and Clark didn’t have to literally sleep in each other’s arms all night like before. Although it was going to be another warm night so he might just kick Clark out anyway. He could sleep floating in the air for all he cared.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll just have to make some phone calls to set things in motion back home.”

--- 

The new queen bed stood proudly in the middle of Clark’s small room, with Clark seated on the edge now, observing Bruce put his things away and taking off his jacket. At least Alfred had packed one extra set of clothes.

When he was done, he turned around and looked at Clark, who looked as if he was debating a life or death situation, and as always, Bruce wondered what he would ask. It didn’t take long.

“Wanna go out tonight? Have you ever been to a real midwestern bar?” Bruce only knew of one bar in Smallville, and it was in no condition to operate right now. Still, he felt a vague sense of excitement at Clark asking him out in his hometown. They hadn’t done that before. Every time they had been in Smallville together so far had been for something serious. Clark’s parents, Clark’s temporary loss of powers, Kara, Conner, and even once for Damian, to recover from a nasty concussion.

“It’s open? Didn’t half the roof and the back wall get blown up?” he asked Clark.

“Already boarded up. And yeah, there’s a lot of people there. Something about celebrating your whole town surviving an intergalactic attack, maybe, who knows.” Clark shrugged.

“Hmm. They got karaoke?”

Clark’s eyes shot wide open. “Yeah!”

“One of those bull-riding things? Because I would beat the crap out of everyone.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but no. There’s another bull you can ride though,” Clark grinned and hooked his fingers through Bruce’s belt loops to pull him close. He felt his heartrate spike and really, this is why they should’ve just gone back to Gotham.

“Not here.”

“Jeez, no, of course not.” Clark kept looking up at him though, still waiting for an answer. He was truly tired, but also mildly curious to Smallville nightlife. If anything, Clark would make it more fun. Maybe he could beat him at pool or darts or something, and then maybe they could make everyone and themselves believe that they were normal and just have an average date night out.

“Alright, just not too long. And I’m gonna beat you at whatever bar games they got,” Bruce grinned.

“At karaoke?”

“Maybe we’ll do a duet, who knows,” He winked and freed himself from Clark’s grasp. The other man stood up and hooked his arm through Bruce’s offered one. “What say you, Clarkie? Let’s get to that bar o’ yours,” he continued in his worst midwestern accent.

“Not like that you aren’t. You’ll stand out way too much in your dress shirt and Armani pants.” To his horror, Clark turned around towards the closet in the corner of the room. Oh no, whatever he kept here was probably worse than the rainbow cacophony of shirts he had in Metropolis.

“Short sleeves or long? It’s pretty warm.”

Bruce debated his options. Better get this over with quick and hopefully painless. “Long, and I’m keeping the pants. I am not wearing your old jeans.”

Clark threw a shirt at him. “This one has the most black I think.” It had black alright. And red. Straight-up lumberjack. At least the fabric felt nice. “I’ve also got an old blue and white Henley, but it’s pretty worn down. What do you think?”

“I’ll go with the lumberjack,” Bruce mumbled.

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

"Lana, Pete! How are you?" Clark hugged his friends in the middle of a loud, crowded bar, filled with the continuous strings and drums of country music. They had been here for just over an hour and Bruce was on his second beer, something he didn’t do all that often. They kept getting interrupted by people that knew Clark, and Bruce was enjoying himself less and less. Lana he hadn’t met before yet, though, and he had to admit to a quiet curiosity, with the way Clark talked about her and all. (Clark’s enthusiastic ‘My friends are your friends’ from earlier rang in his ears and he forced his mouth into a smile. He would do anything for that man.) His train of thought got interrupted by Clark’s warm hand on his shoulder. "This is Bruce!"

Lana was dressed in jeans and a blue t-shirt that didn’t completely cover her shoulders, her auburn curls doing that instead. Bruce grabbed her hand to shake it, but it got answered swiftly by a peck on his cheek. He introduced himself to Pete as well, a scrawny guy, who was somehow allowed to wear a crisp white dress shirt, unlike Bruce. He was starting to feel like maybe Clark had played him and shot him an accusatory look.

Lana turned back to Clark. "We came over as soon as we heard you were in town! Couldn't pass up the opportunity you know?"

"Great to see you Clark,” Pete joined in. “And, you know, Smallville could really use some extra hands right now.”

Clark laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, gee, what did you guys get yourselves into this time?” Before the alien invasion became the talk of the day, he quickly changed the topic. "How's little Clark?"

"He's great! We’re lucky we could get a babysitter this late, but... Are you still here tomorrow? You should come by to see him!"

"We’d love to, yes.”

The conversation carried on for a while, as Clark and his friends obviously had a lot to catch up on. Bruce felt strangely intruding. He considered to start looking for that darts game, right as Lana turned to him.

"So, Bruce, how are you? You from around here?"

"Gotham.”  

"Oh, one of Clark’s city friends! What's it you're doing all the way out here?"

"Bruce is my boyfriend," Clark said and grabbed his hand.

"Oh, Clark... Really? That's awesome!" She turned to Bruce. "I've heard him drop the name a couple times… Didn't know you were so handsome!"

"And I'm a billionaire, too!" Bruce chimed, automatically kicking into Brucie mode. Clark rolled his eyes.

“Wait? Bruce Wayne? The Gotham pl… philanthropist?”

“That’s me.”

Lana’s whistle got lost in the music, but the look she sent Clark said it all. "Wow, Clark, not becoming a gold-digger are we...?" Clark put up his hands in defense, but she continued quickly. "How did you two meet again?" Clark’s flat "work"  got lost in the music too, and Bruce didn't hear anymore after that, because he could see the wheels turning in Lana’s head as she turned back to Clark and made some joke about journalistic integrity. Her whole expression had changed though, and Bruce turned away from the bar to start walking towards the exit. Fresh air. Did he make a mistake? Slip up? Maybe it was the beer. He needed fresh air. The door was too far and it took too long to push through everyone, but eventually the stars looked down at him, the door slammed shut and the music got abruptly replaced by late-night Kansas silence.  

Bruce looked around himself and quickly regained control of his breathing. The parking lot was half-empty, Clark’s beat up truck tucked away in the far corner. He’d be out here soon. He was probably making excuses to Lana and Pete right now to start looking for Bruce.

It wasn’t long before he heard the old rusty door slam shut again.

“She knows.” The calm in his own voice surprised Bruce. 

Clark walked up to him. “She's the first person I ever told."

"You saw the look in her eyes, she's putting one and one together right now, and I…"

“Bruce, stop. You don’t know that, and besides, I trust Lana.”

“You could have at least told me, warned me.” Trust was a burden in Bruce’s life, and an unnecessary slip-up had revealed who he was. He should have asked Clark who they could have run into, a stupid mistake. "I'm walking back to the farm," he said resolutely.

“Hey, what? It’s fine. Stay.” Clark grabbed his hand, but Bruce quickly pulled away. He really didn’t have time for this.

“I’m done here. This was a mistake,” he bit back, and turned around to start walking towards the exit of the parking lot.

"At least take my car? Bruce?"

"No."

Clark was beside him before he could blink. "Bruce."

"I'm walking to the farm and taking my car back to the airport and to Gotham. I'll have Alfred prepare some documents and have a hefty sum of money send Lana's way."

“What? Bruce, baby no, you don't have to do that,” Clarks hand were on his shoulders and he was forced to look straight into those blue eyes. Unobscured by glasses. Idiot. “Lana is my oldest friend. I trust her. Look, I’m sorry this happened. But maybe she hasn’t figured it out and we can still…”

“It’s too late for that. All I can do now is make sure nothing else gets compromised.”

“For fucks sake, Bruce, I’m trying to tell you, it won’t.”

“Until it will.”

Clark let out a huff of breath and closed his eyes. “At least talk to her.”

If it were anyone other than Clark, he would have just walked away. But alas, here he was, with Clark in front of him. The only man that could convince him to do something as ridiculous as wearing a lumberjack to a midwestern bar, and reason his way into Bruce’s mind just like he had wiggled his way into Bruce’s heart. Bruce crossed his arms. “Fine.”

“Good.”

“I’m still walking back to the farm.”

“No karaoke?”

“Forget it, Clark.”

“Ok, whatever, you’re tired. Get some rest. I’m gonna hang around here a bit longer. Here,” Clark pressed his car keys into Bruce’s hands and kissed him on the cheek.

When Clark was back inside the bar, Bruce debated walking back anyway and tossing the keys somewhere in a field for Clark to find. Exhaustion soon enough took over his anger though, and the adrenaline dissipated. Clark should consider himself lucky.

 ---

Clark’s ‘I’m sorry’ and chaste kiss on his forehead woke him up briefly barely an hour after he’d gone to bed.

“Still mad.”

He heard Clark flop on to his back and chuckle quietly. “And still here.”

“Quite the observation you made there.”

“Well, I learned from the best.”

“Obviously.”

Whatever Clark said after that was lost on him, and he turned around again to face the other way and closed his eyes.

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

The next morning, as Bruce walked down the creaky stairs, hair still damp from his shower, the smell of fresh coffee approached him pleasantly. There was a lot more work to do in town, so Bruce had really made an effort to get up early, but he still found Clark at the kitchen table with a half-eaten stack of pancakes before him. There was toast, yoghurt and fruit laid out for Bruce. Martha knew him well.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” he asked Clark as he took his seat. Jonathan walked in through the kitchen door, his brow already covered in sweat.

“Dang dust is making it so much harder to clean,” he said as he wiped his handkerchief over his forehead.

“Oh shush Jonathan, you need to eat something and drink plenty water. The boys will be there to help soon.”

“I’m staying all week, pa,” Clark clarified.

“Alright,” Jonathan said after he gulped down his water. “Just came back to get some more tools.” Martha walked him to the door and Bruce heard her say to slow it down, especially in this heat and Jonathan’s yes, yes you know me probably sounded funny to himself, but clearly not to Martha.

Clark looked at him over the cup of coffee he was pouring for Bruce. “So I take it you’re staying?”

“If you’ll have me, yes.” He still wasn’t sure how to feel about what happened last night. It seemed like something so avoidable, something Damian would definitely pin on him for being careless. And his son would be right. As much as he wanted to blame Clark, it was largely his own fault. The wrinkles disappeared from Clark’s face as he smiled and passed him the coffee.

“J’onn contacted me about the aliens this morning. They’re Zandrian. He’s been interrogating them, and it seems as if they were looking for some signal here.”

Here, as in Smallville. “Your Kryptonian ship.”

“Most likely, yes.”

“And why is it still here?”

Clark swallowed his bite. “Thought it was harmless. It’s never sent out any kind of signal, not now either. Nothing I can sense at least.”

“Radiation?”

“Perhaps. So, that’s what we’re doing today. I’m taking the ship to the north pole and I wanted to ask you if you could take a look at the barn.”

That sounded like a plan. Something where Bruce could be useful. “Okay. I’ll need some instruments from the cave though.”

“I’ll pick up whatever you need. But first… Baby time!” Clark grinned. Bruce nearly choked on his coffee. “Eat your breakfast. Lana’s expecting us.” Clark got up and started putting things away, clearly way too excited for this.

“I have to see her right now?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He quickly drank the rest of his coffee. “The sooner, the better.”

“No scary batshit, Bruce,” Clark pointed a finger at him. “We’re there for the baby.”

 ---

Lana and Pete’s place was another old farmhouse, not too far from the Kent’s, so they walked there. Lana inherited it from her aunt after having lived with her most of her life, Clark told him. Bruce had sweat stains under his arm by the time they reached the house. Maybe he should have opted for one of Clark’s t-shirts and ugly cargo shorts today.

The breeze blowing through Lana’s living room and being out of the sun helped though, and Lana served them lemonade with ice cubes. Bruce sat down on a chair and Clark took his place on the large couch.

“I’m sorry Pete couldn’t be here, you know how he is with the store.”

“Is it bad? We can go help if he needs,” Clark offered, verging on apologetic.

“He’ll be fine. I’m sure you both have more important matters to attend to.” She looked at Bruce when she said it, and he cleared his throat.

“Just. Make sure he asks if he needs. We can provide,” He settled on, hoarsely. The bat was barely audible in his voice and Clark should be proud. He nodded at him from where he was sitting on the couch. It could wait.

They got startled by a baby’s cries, and Lana disappeared out of the living room. She came back in with Clark (the name still irked Bruce, even though Clark had told him the child wasn’t named after him but after Martha’s maiden name – because yes, that made it less weird somehow). “Look who’s awake!”

The child on Lana’s arm looked around drowsily, clearly unsure how to feel after waking up from his nap and being greeted by two strange men. 

Clark reached out his hands and Lana placed the baby in his lap. Bruce knew he was around 5 months old. Clark had been there for the birth but hadn’t had much opportunity to see him after that. Lana sent him many pictures and videos though, that Clark would show Bruce late at night in bed, and they would laugh at the child’s antics and giggles. The learning curve of young people was incredible.

The child was slowly waking up in Clark’s arms and started making more sound. Not crying, he was content, and Bruce wondered if he knew instinctively that Clark’s arms were the safest place on earth. “He likes me,” Clark grinned up at Lana when the baby grabbed his fingers.

“Of course.”

Bruce felt stuck in place, captivated by the sight. Clark looked so incredibly at home, so natural with a child in his arms that held on to Clark’s pointer finger with a force as if he did it every day and was decidedly not named after Clark. Bruce quickly swallowed around the lump forming in his throat before his thoughts would betray him anymore and moved from his chair over to the couch to sit next to Clark.

When Lana walked back into the living room with pie, she took a picture of them, and that would probably make this day a lot harder to look back on later, but right now Bruce didn’t care. The baby was on Clark’s lap, looking up at both of them and laughing. Definitely at Clark sticking out his tongue and making cooing sounds. Bruce didn’t do that. Until he found himself mimicking the baby and trying to get him to laugh. Damn mirror-reflexes.  

He tried not to think about what he had missed out on with Damian. What Damian had missed out on. Instead he put a hand on Clark’s back, and held it there while they both continued to make ridiculous sounds and faces at little Clark.

 ---

When Clark left to take the rocket ship to the North Pole, Bruce went to work on the barn. Though, not before he did change into Clark’s old Henley and cargo shorts. Alfred would kill him if he got any more dust on his nice clothes.

The hatch in the floor of the barn was open, and the space underneath now empty. There had been some radiation coming off of the ship itself, but it was faint and not nearly enough to hurt anyone. Bruce doubted he would find any more in the rest of the barn, and considered other forms of signals the aliens could have picked up. Lower frequency wave lengths, maybe.

Nonetheless, he went around the hole in the ground methodically, scanning every scrap piece of metal, rock, and dirt. He swept it clean too, and took any tools that were still there out to examine them later in the barn. There was a large box, all the way at the back, that he skipped at first, but knew he eventually had to get back to as well. Getting it out was no problem, he could lift it over his head and slide it onto the barn floor easily, but he had a feeling what might be in there.

After cleaning the other tools and logging anything of interest he could find on the metal and rocks, he went back to the box and opened it. Sitting on the floor, he stared down at pictures of Clark, a baseball and bat, scrap of red fabric, a pair of extremely worn down and no-longer-white converse.

“Haven’t seen that thing in a while.” Jonathan’s voice startled Bruce as he walked into the barn and took his cap off.

“Hmm. Sorry, I was cleaning, we thought…”

“I know. You don’t have to apologize. I’m sure you know what you’re doing.”

“What happened to the baseball?” Bruce held up the ball, split clear in half and its threads loose.

“Was the first one Clark hit clear across Smallville. I looked for it for six months on the other side of town,” Jonathan answers proudly. “The shoes are from when he first outran the car.”

“That must’ve been something,” Bruce huffed. He got up. “So this is a reminder. Of what he can do.”

“Oh, I don’t need to be reminded of that,” Jonathan Laughed. “But I kept the memories because I knew he could never belong to us. Never belong here. He belongs to everyone, out there.”

Bruce thought about that. In Smallville, Clark was clearly at home. “I don’t know. I think he belongs right here, in the center of it all. I haven’t seen him so relaxed and… happy in a long time.”

“Bruce, son. As much as Clark is still a small-town boy - and will never not be -, I know he is happy right where he’s supposed to be, with you.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he told me.”

As Jonathan left the barn again, Bruce felt in the back of his mind the creeping feeling that he could never give Clark what he had left behind here. That he could never be what Clark truly wanted. Because as much as he hated Smallville’s openness and missed the gothic stoicism of Gotham, this place was everything Clark stood for. It was everything Bruce was not. Somehow, somewhere along the way, a mistake had been made, one that Bruce would have already undone were he a stronger and less selfish man.

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

Bruce would never tell the man as much, but Martha’s sandwiches were far superior to Alfred’s. Maybe it had something to do with working outside all day that made the sandwiches waiting for him taste just that much better.

He had considered multiple times during the day to beam up to the watchtower, but he didn’t have his suit, and finally settled on just contacting J’onn about his progress with the aliens and the mediocre findings of his work in the barn. Maybe it could help, as J’onn was still in contact with the creatures after they had quickly been escorted away by the Green Lanterns. Hopefully, some negotiations were all that was needed to keep them away.

 ---

As the day progressed, and Clark didn’t return, Bruce worked himself to a sweat multiple times. In Smallville, he wasn’t expected to be Brucie Wayne, because no one knew who that was. But he wasn’t Batman either. It was as if he was back in training, another nobody working long days in the sun, sweat forming a sheen on his skin, and exhaustion putting him to sleep in the afternoon heat on the porch. No, he decided, this was as far from his training days as possible, and allowed himself to relax.

As the sun started setting, he ended up in the kitchen with Martha to prepare dinner. She knew he wasn’t very skilled around the stove – courtesy of Alfred’s warnings -, so he was put on vegetable cutting duty. That was fine. He used to do it all the time with Alfred as a child and still did sometimes. The methodical slicing of the bell peppers, potatoes and onions kept him focused and calmed him down.

Just as dinner was almost done and they were cleaning up the kitchen, a familiar sound followed by creaking floorboards and the opening of the screen door made Martha jump. Bruce smiled. Maybe the smell of dinner had made Clark fly back a little faster.

“Oh, Jonathan! He’s back!” Martha shouted while putting her tea towel down and practically skipping towards the screen door. “Hey, ma. Pa,” Bruce heard from his place in the kitchen.

“Are you okay? We got worried, you stayed away so long…”

“I’m fine, ma. Just some miners in South-Africa that got stuck.”

“Told you the boy was fine, Martha.”

Bruce washed his hands and was drying them when he walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway, where an adult, 6 foot 3 tall man in a Superman suit was hugging his aging and tired parents. Bruce felt painfully out of place, but it quickly subsided when Clark looked up at him. “Hey. Little detour there.”

“So I heard.”

Clark walked over to him and kissed him chastely on the lips. It was the kind of kiss you give your significant other in front of your parents or your children, or when you return home from work after a long day. A type of kiss they had shared many times, to the children’s (and especially Damian’s) horror, but that here, in Smallville, made Bruce feel as if they were normal. As if they could be normal. As if he always helped Clark’s mom with dinner and worked long hours in the sun with his dad. Though, as quickly as the kiss ended, the feeling fleeted and Bruce felt like himself again. They broke apart and Clark looked him up and down.  

“You look dashing in that ensemble Bruce, who picked that for you?”

Right. He was still wearing the Henley. And the ugly shorts. A pair of his own limited edition and now-brown sneakers to top it off. “Oh, thank you, just a simple get-up I found in the dumpster here.” He made his way over to the stairs, and Clark followed him with a grin.

“You boys be down soon, dinner is ready and I’m setting the table outside,” Martha warned as they made their way upstairs.

In Clark’s small bedroom, they both changed into something more appropriate, and Clark combed down his wind-swept hair. Bruce turned to look at him and waited for him to be done.

“Your ship?”

“Buried it next to the Fortress.” Bruce nodded approvingly. Clark set down the comb, but as he did so he stared out the window into seemingly nothing, his brows furrowed and drawn together. The miners. Bruce walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” Clark sighed, but still pulled Bruce into a hug. “Thanks for asking.”

Clark hugged him with an intensity that made it clear that it was needed much more than the kiss from before. “Just… It was stressful,” he sighed. “Those miners. I couldn’t just drill them out, it took hours.”

Bruce nodded and angled his face towards the crook of Clark’s neck. He smelled like dust and a vague hint of sea-salt, and definitely needed a shower, but the crisp clean t-shirt was all Martha’s laundry detergent. As they stood, Bruce felt the tension leave Clark’s shoulders and his grip loosen, and he looked back up at him. Clark’s eyes had regained their usual shade of blue and the lines had disappeared from his forehead.

Bruce tried a smile and grabbed Clark’s hand. “Come. Dinner’s waiting.”

 ---

After dinner, Clark somehow got them excused from doing dishes and took Bruce by his hand out into the garden, and to the barn. Bruce thought about telling him about the box he found, but didn’t. Instead, Clark asked if he wanted to for a walk and grabbed a picnic blanket.

Their walk was laced only with the sound of cicadas, and took them away from the farm uphill where the low grass gave way to bushes and trees. They stopped at the top of the hill.

“I don’t know why it is you’re taking me here,” Bruce said as Clark laid down the blanket on a patch of very dry grass.

“I thought we could enjoy the night together. Just the two of us.” Clark’s smile was much too innocent as he sat down and patted beside him for Bruce to sit.  

“We had a fight.”

“Yes. And I love you. Please tell me you haven’t been thinking about that all day. I thought we were okay just now.”

Bruce sighed. “My secret identity got exposed. I’m not okay with that.”

“You wanna talk about it? Did you get a chance to talk to Lana?” Clark prompted.

“Not yet. But I’m… sorry. For the way I reacted last night.” He sat down next to Clark on the blanket.

“I’m sorry too. I should have let you know.”

“Does Pete know?”

“Yes, although he doesn’t really acknowledge it. We barely talk about it.”

Bruce huffed out a breath of air. They were surrounded by small, green trees that gave way to a view of the corn and grain fields below. The sun was inching closer to the horizon and it had finally started to cool down a little bit. Next to him Clark was looking at him, but he wasn’t sure what to say.

Clark shifted and settled behind Bruce, trapping him in between his legs and large arms, which Bruce allowed. It was painfully clear that Clark knew just what Bruce needed, and where that used to irk him to the core and make his skin crawl, he now welcomed it, leaned back, and let himself relax. It was easier to talk when you didn’t have to look the other person in the eyes.

“That should have been you, Clark,” he started. “A house in Smallville, wife, child... sometimes I don’t understand why you left this place at all.” This whole weekend felt like the first time he was really in Smallville and had seen what made Clark, Clark. A reality that he wasn’t a part of and only allowed a glimpse of, by some miracle.

“So you do like it here,” Clark said. When Bruce didn’t say anything to that, he continued: “I knew I had to give that up a long time ago. And, just between you and me, I'd say we have the most awesome family in the universe.”

“But we'll never have that. A child all our own. You could have.”

“I know,” Clark whispered into his hair. “Is that something you would have wanted? If…”

“Even if it was technically possible, the moral implications are just... I wouldn't want to bring a child into this world. Into our world,” Bruce mused out loud.

“But It is technically possible. Conner.”

“Conner is a clone. And we’re lucky we found him when we did.” He had turned into a wonderful kid, a good crimefighter even, but he had his unpredictability. They didn’t know nearly enough about his physiology, his lifespan, his unpredictable moods. Clark squeezed his hand.

“And if we were normal?”

If they were normal, Clark would have stayed in Smallville, and they would have never met. And Bruce, as a rule, did not think in hypotheticals. Not like this. Yet, he heard himself answer without hesitation.  “Yes.”

“Me too,” Clark’s lips were on Bruce’s ear in a way that was not quite a kiss. It was an affirmation, taking Bruce in, this moment, his scent mixed with that of Kansas, and a gush of breath that ghosted through Bruce’s hair. Clark’s breathing was grounding, a dull constant in the midst of the song of the cicadas, the feeling of dead grass under his toes and the Kent’s old picnic blanket under his fingers. It was all wrong.

“Don’t you wonder what would have happened if you had stayed? With Lana?”

“Once or Twice, a long time ago. But I left here to find myself. I never fit in here, never really belonged here. You know that.”

“You do, though. You’re much happier here. Yourself.” Bruce turned to meet Clark’s blue eyes, the smile lines visible even on Superman’s perfect skin. “And I don’t,” he breathed in. “I don’t fit in here. With you.” The smile lines disappeared.

“Bruce… Why would you think that?”  

“I feel like this is the first time I’ve ever really been in Smallville. Stopped and looked around. Like I’ve finally seen the last piece of the puzzle that is you.”

“And everything else completes it. You complete it. I belong to you.” Clark put a hand over his heart. “And you belong to me. Don’t you ever forget that.” Clark’s blue eyes under his furrowed brows pierced right into his soul, something he had discovered a long time ago he could not ignore.

In a different life, Clark might have stayed in Kansas. As it was, they had found each other elsewhere amid their hectic lives, in some twisted inescapable fate. An alignment. 

“Hn. You’re still a Kansas boy at heart.”

“And you like that.” Clark’s smile was back. The one that regardless of the Kansas sun or Gotham greys or Metropolis shine brightened up his life and Bruce found himself smiling back in return.

“Can’t say that I don’t.”

“So… now that you’ve got me completely figured out…”

“Hmm?”

“Where do we go from here?”

“We have sex. That is why you brought me here, right?”

“Bruce!” Clark covered his mouth with his hand in a fake gasp. “I can’t believe you think of me that way.”

“But you did.”

“Can’t say that I didn’t,” Clark smirked, put his hand on the back of Bruce’s neck, and kissed him.

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

In the middle of the night, the queen bed was too big and Clark should be right on him, spooning him, and cooling him with freeze breath. So Bruce rolled over into his space, and Clark – half asleep – happily put his arms around him. He could be a selfish man if Clark was too.

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

On Sunday morning, the clouds started gathering and simultaneous to the electric tension of a storm building in the air, the people of Smallville let out a collective sigh. Soon, they would get some rain.

After a quiet Sunday breakfast and Clark’s parents had returned from church, it was off to town in Clark’s old truck. Jonathan had taken his newer one, full of materials and tools, and Clark and Bruce would do clean-up together and haul away rubble to a nearby depot. Main street already looked more lively than the day before, with most of the rubble gone and gathered in piles. People were walking around and making small talk, a stray door was being hung back into its hinges. The few buildings that had any structural damage had been taped of, and shattered windows had been boarded up, but the wind had picked up and blew the dust away, clearing the air and everyone’s mood.

 On the way to and from the depot, Clark rolled down the windows and sung along with the songs on the radio, missing some of the words and looking over at Bruce every now and then.

He watched Clark, sunshine ever present in his skin and smile. How he was in such good spirits while literally cleaning his hometown after an alien attack was lost on Bruce. But then again, Clark was usually in a good mood if he was able to help someone. Even though he was doing it as Clark Kent now, and couldn’t use his super strength to haul stuff into the truck, or maybe because of that.

“It’s fine, B.”

Bruce hummed in response.

“I hope you had a good time here, despite everything.”

“I’m still having a good time now.” He immediately regretted saying that, because Clark mistook it for him liking his singing and continued on for the remainder of the ride. Really, it was Clark’s enthusiasm that made it tolerable. Bruce felt content to just watch, and breathed in the Kansas air, and tried to store away this memory forever.

 ---

When they were back in town, Clark stayed to help Pete at the store while Bruce went to the local hardware place to get some more supplies. He found what he needed and was waiting in line when he felt someone approach him from behind.

“Hey, Bruce.” He turned around to face her.

“Lana. Hello.”

“You got something that needs fixing?” she smiled at the small box of screws and plugs in his hands. He looked at the people in line behind her, all getting something, even if it was just a nail to hang up a picture that had come off the wall during the attack.

“More than one thing, I’m afraid.”

Lana huffed. “Smallville will be fine. I hope you’ve been enjoying your weekend here at least?”

“It’s been…” Eye-opening. New. Necessary. “Different,” he settled on.

“Ha! I believe that, coming from the big city and all.” That obviously wasn’t what he meant, but he assumed Lana knew that.

It was Bruce’s turn to pay. He put down a 20 and accepted his change, stepped aside to let Lana pay. “Walk with me,” he commanded when she was done. They reached Clark’s truck in the middle of the sunlit parking lot. Bruce held on to the keys in his pocket and missed the protective confining warmth of his cowl.  

When Bruce didn’t say anything, Lana cleared her throat. "The way Clark talked about the bat always made me think he was in love with him. Glad to see it worked out." It was a good thing Lana was just as blunt as Clark. Something about rural Kansas, he thought. He couldn't help but feel a smile tug at the corner of his mouth.

"Sorry, it just wasn't hard to connect the dots. You’re him, right?”

Without hesitation. "Yes." The things this town did to him were beyond his understanding. Small town life brought out the truth easily. Here, there were no covers required, no masks. It’s the same reason why he could have found the last piece of Clark, only here.

"Look, Bruce. I know how important the whole secret identity thing is to Clark. Think he can count on one hand the people that really know him."

"More like three hands now with my children and the league." There was that incessant tug at the corner of his mouth again.

"You're a father."

"Not in the most traditional sense of the word, but yes." He leaned against the door of the car. Lana seemed to think about that. Batman and Robin. What it implied. Bruce braced himself for the passion of a young mother, but it never came. Instead she swallowed.

“I did love Clark once, but I knew I could never be what he needed. I’m glad he found someone,” she paused. Looked up at Bruce with her brows drawn together. "Your secret is safe with me Bruce."

That was the issue, though. No secret is ever safe with anyone, because then it wasn’t a secret anymore. He gritted his teeth, swallowed. He thought of Clark, how he would put his warm hand on his shoulder if he were here right now, how he would say once again that it was fine, Lana could be trusted. Clark’s closest friend, first love, and the person that knew him best before he became who he had to be. Lana was to be trusted. Bruce sighed.

"I just need you to sign some documents, and get your contact information in case something gets compromised."

Lana nodded. "Sounds fair."

He opened the car door and climbed in. Lana put her hand on the open window. “It was nice meeting you, Bruce.”

“Likewise.” He paused. “I’ll make sure Clark gets you those documents.”

“Alright,” Lana laughed and waved at him as he started the car. He wondered how much of Clark had rubbed off on her during their childhood friendship and dating through high school. Or maybe it had been the other way around. Clark probably wouldn’t be who he was today without her, or without anyone here for that matter.

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

The jet was placed imminently in front of them, Smallville and its normalcy reduced to a memory on the far horizon. Bruce turned around and looked at Clark, his hair windswept and glasses placed awkwardly back on his nose. Here to see him off to Gotham.

“Thank you for having me.”

Clark laughed. “Thanks for staying.”

“I would almost say it would be acceptable to do this again some time.”

“Almost?”

“Well.” Bruce shrugged. “Minus the alien invasion.”

“Of course. 4th of July? Bring the kids?”

“That could turn out worse than an alien invasion,” his own laugh surprised Bruce.

“I mean… we’ll have Alfred to keep them in check,” Clark argued. “Ma would love having all of them over.”

“I’ll give it some consideration, then.”

“Hmm, so that’s a yes?” Clark grabbed his waist and brought his face close to Bruce’s. His triumphant, beautiful grin was the most annoying thing in the world that Bruce could only wipe off with a long, slow kiss. 

Behind him, the engines of the plane roared and it was really time to say goodbye. To Clark, if only for a couple days. To Clark’s parents. To Kansas. Godawful, unpredictable, and beautiful Kansas. Just like its most important (former) inhabitant.

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

Out of the window of the jet, he watched Clark, the town, and finally the cornfields disappear, and he sighed contently. Smallville. His secret was safe here.

[thetravelerwrites]

Hearthway Hollow: Shahan (Part 2) Lemon

Rating: Explicit Relationship: Female Human Reader/Male Werewolf Additional Tags: Exophilia, Hearthway Hollow, Werewolf Boyfriend, Ramadan, Iftar, Halva, Breaking of the Fast, Muslim Character, Muslim Monster, Islamic Holiday Content Warnings: Stalker, Stalking, Guns, Anxiety, Death, Abusive Language, Sex, Oral Sex, Werewolf Sex, Knotting Words: 5898

The second and final part to @momolady​’s birthday present! The reader spends several happy months in Hearthway Hollow, getting to know the people there, when her past catches up with her and she finally discovers the identity of her wolf admirer. Please reblog and leave feedback!

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Three months had passed blissfully in Hearthway Hollow. Your job at the store acquainted you with just about every face in town, so soon you were on a first name basis with most everyone. Strangely, though there were rules against talking about the werewolves, they weren’t all that shy about shifting in public, particularly the kids. The first time you saw a mom trying to rein in the fuzzy puppy that was her child, you thought you were going to have a conniption fit and die from the cuteness.

After Billy had seen what squalor you lived in, he made it his mission to furnish the small house to the rafters. There was a proper table and chairs, a king sized bed, a couch, and lots of piddly house stuff you’d always made it a point not to be burden with, like hand towels. There was even a TV! With cable! And Netflix!

He also insisted you come over on the weekends to have dinner with his family, and you became fast friends with tiny, ferocious Kamilla. Ivan and Ellie, Kamilla’s siblings, were incredibly nice to you and seemed to take after their mother in terms of temperament.

You had started keeping perishables in the house as well, which is something you’d refused to do before. You cooked every night, and it felt really good. It felt like you were… home.

You used the shooting range at least once a week and had become friends with all of the officers. Sometimes when you were off work, you’d go by and play cards with the one who was manning the phones that day. It kept you occupied, while at the same time, there was literally nowhere safer than a police station, so you always felt like you could let your guard down there.

Of all the officers, you felt closest to Shahan. You couldn’t deny you had an attraction to him, and he had gone out of his way to make you feel safe in your own home, going so far as to install bars on the windows and security cameras at all the entry points.

Ramadan was coming up, and you wanted to do something nice to thank him. Maybe you could cook him something for Iftar, or the first meal when the fasting ended in the evening. You had done some research, and according to what you’d read, dessert was the most important part of the ending of the fast in some Islamic cultures, and dates had cultural significance, so you thought you might try your hand at making halva paste sweetened with honey, with mashed dates and chopped nuts in it.

You wondered if your wolf friend, who you’d nicknamed “Shadow” since all he did was follow you like a baby duck who’d imprinted on you, would take offense to you showing attention to another man. Frowning, you brushed that thought away. He had no claim to you, and if he was going to get jealous over you doing something nice for a friend, he wasn’t worthy of you anyway.

You often contemplated about whether or not Shahan was your wolf friend, but you couldn’t ask. More to the point, you had made the decision to not speculate about his identity. Every time you began to wonder, you shut down that train of thought immediately. Knowing who he was would complicate things. Everything was nice the way it was, and you didn’t want to ruin it. It couldn’t last forever, you knew, but all the same, there was no reason to destroy the peace prematurely.

On a Wednesday, you were playing rummy with Ariell when you asked, “Have you gone through this ritual thing? I’ve been here long enough to see other people going through it and everyone seems really happy about it, but I just can’t wrap my brain around it.”

You’d figured out Ariell was a werewolf by deduction. Just about everyone at the station was. Honestly, now that you’d had time to acclimate to the oddness of the townspeople, determining who was and wasn’t a werewolf had become almost a sixth sense.

“Oh, yeah,” He said. “As weird as it seems from the outside, I can guarantee you it’s even weirder from the wolf’s point of view.”

“How so?”

“Well,” He said with a sigh, laying down a three and picking up another card from the pack. “I met my wife Lace over eight years ago now. I was travelling because I’d spent my whole life in this tiny town and I just wanted to get away for awhile. I had no plans or aspirations other than seeing as much of the world as I could. And that’s how I met Lace.”

“What happened?”

“Well, to be perfectly honest,” He said, leaning back in his chair. “I fucked up royally. When I saw her, as soon as our eyes met, there was this… spark. We spent a glorious week together, making love, going on dates, talking for hours, and just generally wrapped up in each other. And then… I left.”

“Left?” You said, laying down a card. “Why?”

“Because I was young and stupid and I didn’t realize what was happening at first. When I did, it scared the shit out of me. I was twenty-one and thought I was too young to be tied down, too young to be in love, too young for a mate. I wasn’t even sure I believed in the whole soulmate thing until I met her, and then when I realized it was real, I… I bolted. I couldn’t face the reality of it.”

“So it really is like love at first sight?” You asked doubtfully.

“Ehhh,” Ariell replied, shrugging. “A lot of people might think of it like that, but I’m more of a pragmatist.”

“So what’s your take on it, then?”

He put his cards face down on the table and knitted his fingers in front of his mouth. “You know how… you’re out somewhere, maybe a party or in a cafe or whatever, and you’re not really paying attention to anyone, but suddenly you catch sight of someone in the room, and you don’t even know them, but there’s this… instant attraction. There’s something about them that makes you want to go over and talk to them: a tenuous thread of connection that compels you to want to know more about them. Have you ever felt that?”

“Yeah, once or twice,” You said.

“Okay, it’s like that, but amplified a million times over. It’s not necessarily love; it may not even be a physical attraction, just an intense desire of some kind you feel deep down in your bones that pulls you toward that person. I mean, when Lace and I first met, it was like a head-on collision: explosive and powerful and there was no stopping it. It was just sex at first, but then… I wanted to get to know her. I took her on dates, I asked her a million questions, and she did the same with me. We talked about anything and everything, and spent every waking moment together. It may not have started out as love, but it became love very quickly. Too quickly. And when I realized what was happening, it scared me shitless. So I ran.”

“What happened after that?”

“I got her pregnant, is what happened,” He said, picking up his cards.

“Oh, shit,” You replied in surprise.

“Yeah.” He had a look on his face that clearly said, Oops.

“So did she track you down or something, hellbent on revenge?”

“I expected her to, but no, she didn’t,” He said, blowing out his breath forcefully. “She was going to raise the baby on her own and forget all about me, and I don’t blame her for that in the slightest, but when Ari turned one she shifted. My wife is a witch, not a were, and she didn’t know anything about raising one. She wanted our daughter to grow up among her own kind, so she found Hearthway Hollow through a friend of a friend. It was just chance that it happened to be my hometown.”

“What did she do when she saw you?”

“She smacked the piss out of me, justifiably. Then she introduced me to the daughter I didn’t know I had. That day, I swore to devote my life to both of them. And I haven’t faltered since.” He sat back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. “I thought about her every single day after I left, but I was scared to go back. I knew she was my mate, but because I was a coward, I destroyed what we had. I thought she’d hate me for the rest of her life. To this day, I can’t believe she forgave me, let alone married me. I’m the luckiest man alive.”

“I agree,” You told him. “I’d have shot you.”

He laughed and sat up straight. “And I wouldn’t have held it against you.”

You sighed. “It still feels… stalkerish to me,” You said, shaking your head.

He nodded sadly. “From your experiences, I’m not at all surprised that it does. But the ritual is based on consent. If you reject him, then that’s it. He can’t try again. He can’t keep bugging you. It’s over when you, as the recipient, decide it’s over. I think that’s the biggest difference. It all depends on what you want. You’re the one in control, not him.”

“So if I told my wolf friend to stop coming around, I’d never see him again?”

“Not as a wolf, or a prospective mate, but he’d still be in town. You just wouldn’t know him. It’s one of the reasons the ritual’s anonymity works in the recipient’s favor. It’s less awkward for you should you decide to turn him down if you never know who he is.”

“But it sucks for him, though, right?” You asked.

He nodded in agreement. “Yeah. But that’s how it goes sometimes.”

Ariell had given you a lot to think about, and you went home after the game with your mind in a roil.

As you were making dinner, you heard a familiar scratching on the front door. Looking at the security monitor, you saw Shadow sitting on the porch outside. Smiling, you went to let him in.

“Hey, Shadow!” You said, clicking all the locks in place after he got his tall, slender body inside. “Did you have a good day today?”

Two happy barks. You had allowed him to answer yes or no questions, but that was the only communication you had permitted. Two barks for yes, one bark for no. He agreed to this arrangement happily, so long as it meant he’d get to have some semblance of a conversation with you.

“Good, I’m glad to hear it,” You said, bending to hug him around the neck as he tried to move his head to lick your face at the same time. “Hungry? I’m making chili.”

He barked two more times and danced in place, his claws tick-tacking rapidly on the hardwood.

“You scuff up that floor and Billy’s gonna skin you,” You said with a laugh.

He barked again, and you thought he was laughing too.

You served up dinner and sat on the floor with him while he scarfed his food from the bowl. Then he joined you on the couch for some bingeing and fell asleep in your lap. He was gone by morning, as usual, having left a note wishing you a good day. You sometimes thought about waking early and pretending to sleep, just to catch a glimpse of him as a human, but you stuck to your guns about leaving his identity a secret.

One day… Maybe one day…

Ramadan began, and after some failed attempts, you managed to make a very good batch of Halva paste and some lavash bread, and walked it next door to the police station. It was just after dark when you arrived, and Shahan looked up and smiled when he saw you.

“Hey!” He said brightly, standing when you came in and jumping to help you with the containers, not able to see what was inside them. “What’s all this?”

“Happy Ramadan!” You said. “Is that right? Can I say happy Ramadan?”

He laughed. “Yeah, that’s fine.” He pointed. “Is that food, because I’m starving.”

“It is!” You said. “I made halva with honey, dates, and pistachios, and lavash bread.”

His jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me? I haven’t had halva since my grandma died!”

“And I brought whole dates, too, cause I know you’re supposed to eat those first.”

His smile got wide and warm, like it always did when he talked to you for any amount of time, his eyes glittering. “Wow, you really did your research, huh?”

You shrugged and smiled back. “You’ve helped me out a lot over the last few months, and I wanted to do something nice for you.”

“I appreciate it. And the fact that you made halva, which is literally my favorite, is…” He put a hand over his heart. “I’m touched, really.”

He helped you set down the food, and then you watched as he pulled out a prayer rug from a backpack so he could do the Maghrib, or sunset prayer, which was the fourth of the five daily prayers. You didn’t pray with him, but you did kneel next to him out of respect, watching his face as he bowed and listening to him mutter in Pashto.

“Are you super devout?” You asked when he was finished.

“I’m not a ‘pray every day’ kind of guy, but I do observe the important celebrations and holy days,” He replied, rolling up the rug. “I brought dinner with me. Want to join? There’s enough for two, and it’s better to break the fast with friends than by yourself.”

“Sure,” You said, briefly thinking about Shadow. Well, he could use his nose to find you.

You both ate the traditional three dates to break the fast, then he unpacked the dinner he’d brought. There was a lamb stew and vegetables rolled in flatbreads, plus fruit and a pastry called a konafah. All of it was delicious.

“This was great,” You said, wiping your mouth. “You’re a really good cook.”

“Thanks,” He said, smiling. “My Nia taught me a lot before she died, but she never got a chance to teach me how to make halva, which is why this is such a treat.”

“Well, dig in,” You said, handing him a butter knife.

He spread some of the paste onto the lavash bread you’d made and took a bite, his bright, beautiful eyes rolling closed as he moaned.

“Oh my god,” He said. “It’s so good.”

“Is it?” You asked, happily surprised.

“It’s amazing,” He said, gleefully shoving the rest of the piece of bread in his mouth and chewing with delight. “Almost better than Nia’s.”

“Aw,” You said. “Thank you.”

He opened his mouth to say something else, but the phone rang. He sighed unhappily.

“I should get back to work,” He said. “But… thank you so much for the halva. And for celebrating with me.”

“It was my pleasure,” you said, and went in for a hug. The hug went on for longer than was perhaps necessary, all while the phone rang. You forced yourself to step back and bid him farewell. You could feel his eyes on you as you left.

You walked back home with a huge smile on your face, feeling lighter than air. A feeling which disappeared immediately when you saw the package sitting on your porch. Cold fingers of dread crawled up your spine and the steel bands were back, squeezing your lungs closed. You turned and sprinted back to the police station.

Shahan was just hanging up the phone as you fell through the door, close to hyperventilation.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” He asked, bounding around the desk. “What happened?”

“There’s something on my porch,” You gasped.

His face darkened. Your friend Shahan faded to the background and Officer Madhwari took over. He rushed out of the door with his hand on his side arm and strode over to your porch. He drew his gun, glanced at the package briefly, and opened your door.

“Police!” He called, stepping inside. To you, he whispered, “Stay close to me.”

You rushed to grab your gun and held it downward so you weren’t pointing it at Shahan, but you clicked the safety off. Shahan checked every room, every closet, and even looked in the attic, but no one was there. He holstered his firearm and told you to do the same. You complied.

He went out to pick up the package and brought it inside. It was wrapped in plain brown paper and had nothing on the outside: no writing, no stamps, nothing besides tape holding it closed. Shahan sniffed it deeply, trying to parse what it was by smell alone. He grimaced, and his eyes cut to you.

“What is it?” You asked him.

“Give me a second,” He said faintly, taking a pocket knife out and slitting the side open. He pulled out a small, plain grey box with a box top. Even you could smell the stench of decay and new immediately what was in it without having to ask. You covered your mouth as the tears came to your eyes.

“What do I do?” You asked him.

“Grab whatever you need. I’m taking you to Billy’s,” He said. He got on his radio, telling the other officers about what had happened and ordering them to gather the pack as you snatched up items hurriedly. When you were done, Shahan ushered you into his patrol car and sped off down to Billy’s house, which was only five minutes away.

Kamilla was at the house, and she and Billy were waiting for you outside. Billy had already shifted. You’d never seen him in his werewolf form: he was massive, bigger than any of the adult weres you’d seen yet. As soon as you arrived, he barked “Stay here!” And took off into the trees.

Kamilla put her arms around you and you sobbed into her shoulder. “It’s okay,” She was saying, patting your hair. You jumped when you felt a third hand on your back.

“It’s just me,” Shahan said. “The package had a trace of Gish’s scent on it, so the pack is using it to track him down. If he put the package on your doorstep while we were eating, then he hasn’t gotten far. We’ll find him. Don’t worry.”

You sniffled and nodded. He looked like he wanted to say more, but he nodded in return and got back into his cruiser, heading off down the road in the direction Billy had gone.

“Come in,” Kamilla said. Her mother, Maria, and Ellie were also there.

“Are you hurt?” Maria asked as you came forward.

“No,” You replied as she hugged you. “Just shaken up, I guess.”

“Don’t you worry, sweetie, the pack has some of the best trackers in the world. They’ll find this son of a bitch,” Maria said. You nodded and let her lead you to the kitchen and sit you at the table. Kamilla shifted and went outside to protect the house as Ellie made you tea.

The wait was anguish. Every once in a while, Ellie would get a text from her husband, Jack, who was helping with the search. Your heart jumped every time the ringtone sounded. There were signs of Gish in the forest, but they hadn’t caught sight of him yet.

Then, there was a call. Ellie took it just as Kamilla opened the door.

“Come outside,” She said. Gulping, you followed her.

There, on the lawn, was Shadow, but not the Shadow you knew. He was still slender and golden with a black strip down his back, he had the same glittering eyes, but rather than the complete wolf form you’d always seen, he was in his werewolf form, the halfway point between man and animal. He was tall, standing on his hind legs and towering over you, looking at you intensely. All you could do was stare at him.

“They found him,” Kamilla said. “He was almost to the highway, and we wouldn’t have been able to follow him, but they caught him before he could get too far. They’re holding him at a safe distance away from the town. Your friend here is going to take you out there.”

“Me?” You said in surprise. “Why?”

“We have our own ways of doing things,” Maria said when she came out on the porch to see what was happening. “This man hasn’t hurt anyone in town, just you. As such, what happens to him is your decision. Adam will want your opinion on the matter. And it’s a chance to confront him one last time. Do you want to pass on that?”

You thought about it. “No, I don’t.” You turned to Shadow. “Let’s go.”

He picked you up bridal-style and took off into the woods, holding you close to him. You hugged him around the neck and buried your face in his fur, smelling a clean, warm smell. Strangely, though, as the wind whipped past you, you caught a whiff of another scent.

Lamb stew and halva paste.

You knew it. You knew it had to be him. You felt a tear of both fear and relief fall from your eye and land on his shoulder.

“It’ll be okay,” He said in a low, grumbling voice. Those were the first words he had ever said to you in the entire three months you’d known him as a wolf. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I swear.”

“I know,” You replied, clinging more tightly.

You had lost track of time when he finally slowed to a stop and set you back on your feet. He got on all fours and shrunk from his werewolf form to his full wolf form. You understood why: if you decided to let Gish live, he couldn’t know about the nature of the town or the people who lived here.

Shadow barked once and nudged you forward, and you began to walk. There, in a clearing with the crescent moon visible in the night sky, Adam stood in front of Saul, Angelo, and Ariell in their human forms, guns drawn. Around them were at least a dozen wolves including Billy, all staring at you, flanking the officers in a circle that closed the middle figure inside. Shahan, as you suspected, was not there. At least, not in his human form.

Kneeling in the center with his hands cuffed behind his back was Gish. He was disheveled and it looked like he’d been in a fight. He was looking at you with an expression of pure hatred. Instinctively, you took a step back, but you felt Shadow behind you, a warmth at your back.

“Welcome,” Adam said, taking your hand and patting it reassuringly. “I told you we’d protect you, didn’t I?”

“And you proved it,” You said with a shaky smile.

“You understand why you’re here, don’t you?” He asked

You nodded, gulping. “Maria told me. I’d like to talk to him before I make a decision.”

Adam nodded wisely. “I understand.” And he stepped aside.

The circle of wolves let you enter, and Shadow took his place with them right at your back. Feeling his eyes on you gave you courage.

Before you ever had a chance to say anything, Gish began to hiss, “All I ever did was love you, you ungrateful bitch. All you had to do was let me, and none of this would have happened. You’re selfish; that’s always been your problem.”

The wolves around you began to growl and snarl, but you held up your hands. “No. Let him say what he wants.” And they quieted.

Gish’s eyes narrowed at your sudden ability to command wolves, but he didn’t let it stop him. “You’ve blown this whole thing out of proportion and gotten these people involved in our private business. You should be ashamed of yourself. I’ve done so much for you, and you never even thanked me for it. All I wanted was some appreciation, but that was apparently too much to ask from you. Nothing is good enough for you, is it? You’ll never do better than me and you know it. Who else would want a crazy slut like you?”

He finally stopped talking, glaring at you, and you looked down your nose at him.

“Thank you,” You said.

He smiled. “It’s about time you--”

“For making my decision for me,” You continued. “It’s the last time you get to do that.” You turned and walked away, saying to Adam as you passed, “He’s yours, fellas.”

Adam nodded and began to shift. There was a sound of terrified confusion from Gish behind you that gave way to a scream, but you didn’t look back. Shadow got up on his hind legs and held out his arms for you. You walked into them and let him take you home, the distant sounds of wolves attacking their prey fading the farther away you got.

Shadow took you back to Billy’s house, where Maria, Ellie, and Kamilla took you inside as you began to unravel. It was the first time you had come face to face with Gish since he had tried to kill you, and the weight of it was crashing down on you. Shadow made to follow you inside, but Maria stopped him.

“She needs to rest. This will have been extremely exhausting for her, mentally and emotionally. Come back later.”

Shadow grumbled agreement. You didn’t want him to go, but you were too stunned by everything that had happened to form a coherent sentence. Kamilla led you to an upstairs room with a bed and helped you get your shoes off, getting into the bed with you and holding you as you cried yourself to sleep.

The next morning, you woke to find Billy, Ivan, Ellie and her husband Jack, and Kamilla’s fiancee Corey sitting with her at the table, all of them eating breakfast. Billy got up and gave you a bone-crushing hug.

“You alright, kid?” He asked as he released you.

“Yeah, I think so,” You said. “Thanks, Billy.”

“Come on, get some food in you,” He said, pulling out a chair. “You look like shit.”

“Billy!” Maria hissed.

You waved her down, smiling weakly. “I’m sure he’s not wrong.”

You ate breakfast with the family and sat with them for a while. You considered going home, but you really didn’t feel like being alone.

Around midday, Shahan returned.

“Well?” You asked him.

“Coroner’s report says cause of death was mauling by wolves. It’s not a lie,” He said sardonically. “But it’s done.”

You didn’t know how to feel, so you just went numb.

“Want me to take you home?” He asked, and you nodded. After thanking Billy and hugging everyone, you got into Shahan’s cruiser and he drove you home. He walked you to your door.

“Will you come in for a minute?” You asked him.

“Sure,” He said, and followed you in. He watched as, after a moment’s contemplation, you took off your gun holster and pulled out your knife, mace, and taser. For the first time since you started running, stored it in your travel trunk, possibly for good. You were crying again, but you didn’t feel sad or scared or anything in particular. You were just crying.

“Are you alright?” Shahan asked in concern.

“I don’t know,” You said, your voice wavering.

He pulled you into a tight hug, one arm pulling you close to his body, and his other hand buried in your hair, holding your head to his shoulder.

“You were so brave,” He whispered into your ear. “I’m so proud of you.” Suddenly, as if he just realized what he was doing, he let go of you. “I, uh… I should get back to the station.”

“Shahan.”

“There’s a lot of paperwork left to do, and we have to notify his family.”

“Shahan, wait.”

“I’ll come back later to--”

“Shadow!”

He stopped in his tracks, his hand on the doorknob. His breathing was uneven as he turned to look at you, his eyes full of anxiety.

“It is you, isn’t it?” You asked, not really needing an answer.

He swallowed hard and let go of the doorknob unturned. “I’m… I’m sorry about the deer,” He said, his voice shaking. “If I had known, I’d never…”

You nodded. “I know.”

“I’m not like him,” He whispered pleadingly. “I would never…”

“I know.”

He was breathing very hard now, seemingly wrestling with himself. “I… I love you,” He said, apparently losing the fight with his own willpower. “I know you think it’s because of the mate connection thing, but it’s not that, I swear. You’re so brave and strong and smart and sweet. You’re so beautiful. I’ve never--”

He was cut off by you grabbing him by the ears and pulling him down for a kiss, which he returned with enthusiasm. He lifted you, and you wrapped your legs around his waist as he took you and laid you on the couch. Your hands moved to the buttons of his uniform, shaking so badly that you were barely able to get them undone. He wasn’t much better; his breathing was erratic and he was kissing your face and skin in a frenzy.

“Wait,” You said. “Aren’t you supposed to refrain from intimacy during Ramadan?”

“Allah forgives,” He said, muffled against your skin.

You huffed a laugh. “Wait, Shahan. Wait, wait, wait,” You told him, pushing on his shoulders.

“What is it?” He asked, his eyes dilated wide and trained on your lips. “Do you want to stop?”

“It’s not that,” You said. “Let’s finish the ritual.”

His eyes widened in shock and delight. “Are y--really?”

You nodded and smiled at him, kissing him sweetly.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. What was next after accepting gifts?”

His brow furrowed. “But you didn’t accept any of my gifts.”

“You brought me takeout, remember?” You said with a smile.

He blinked in surprise. “Oh. Yeah. Um… next is scenting.”

“Well, let’s do that, then?”

He grinned wide and his beautiful eyes sparkled. He finished getting undressed, and undressed you as well, and he started to shift. Golden fur sprouted from his skin with a black strip down his spine. He grew in height, slender and trim.

“My Shadow,” You said fondly.

He laughed and came in close, rubbing his face and cheeks to your body, licking you and sniffing you as he went. You scratched and petted him as he scented you to his heart’s desire.

“What’s next?” You asked him with a grin.

He grinned back. “You know what’s next.”

He picked you up, taking you into the bedroom. He laid you on the bed, licking up your body, his hands softly moving up your sides to cup your breasts, his thumb caressing your nipples as they hardened.

God, it had been so long…

“Shahan,” You breathed. He pulled himself up your body and kissed you, deep and hard. He pressed close to you, and you could feel something pressing against your thigh. The tingle you were feeling between your legs grew to an ache, and you opened your legs wide and wiggled a little.

He seemed to get the message, kissing back down your body until his tongue pressed against the pearl of your body, making you cry out. He linked his fingers with yours as he slurped and sucked, his growl vibrating through your core as he devoted all his attention to you. The muscles in your buttocks and thighs contracted uncontrollably as you got closer and closer to the cusp of pleasure, groaning as the wave crashed into you full force. His eyes watched as you writhed in ecstasy, your breasts heaving as the jolt of euphoria hit your brain and whited out your vision.

As you relaxed, he reared up on his knees. You felt him nudge against your entrance, but he waited, leaning on his arms and looking you in the eye.

“Yes?” He asked.

“Yes.”

As the word left your lips, he pushed himself slowly into you, and all you could feel was the throbbing of both his heartbeat and your own as he buried himself to the hilt inside you, the stretch pinching slightly but it so good that you didn’t care. He moved slowly at first, but quickly gaining momentum, creating a friction that made your eyes roll back in your head.

“I love you, Shahan,” You replied, and his pace became frenetic, pulling another blinding orgasm from you.

“I love you,” He growled into the skin of your neck.

“Oh, god,” You gasped. The orgasm was so powerful that you thought you might pass out, but he pulled out of you and flipped you easily.

“We’re not done yet, my love,” He said as he pressed the front of his body to the back of yours, lifting your hips in the air. You gripped the sheets in your hands as he re-entered you from behind, thrusting hard and fast. He slowed, and you felt him press the knot against you.

“Yes?”

“Yes.”

He pushed and it popped into place as he groaned above you, panting hard in your ear. You turned your head to kiss him over and over as he grinded himself against you hard and deep, and you moaned again and again, the pleasure drawn out and continuous, as if you were just in a perpetual state of orgasm. You felt him throb inside as he came, and he howled loudly, his spine straightening and his head pointed at the ceiling.

You did actually pass out at some point, and when you came to, you were lying on Shahan’s bare chest and he was petting your back softly. Evening light was filtering into the room.

“Mmm…” You groaned, stretching.

“Welcome back,” He said, kissing you softly.

“Sorry,” You said. “I didn’t mean to knock out on you.”

“No worries, honey,” He said. “It had been a day. Besides, I took it as a compliment.”

You snickered. “Good.” You sat up and looked out the windows. “It’s late. Is it almost time for Iftar?”

“Yeah,” He said, smiling at you sweetly. “And I could eat an entire deer.”

You made a face. “Not funny.”

He laughed and placed his hand on your face, kissing the top of your head. “Sorry.”

You nuzzled into him and he bent to kiss you. You savored it, lingering. Reluctantly, you pulled away and got up to get dressed.

After prayer and Iftar, you were sitting with him, just sort of talking and being close, when you asked him, “Listen, I need to do something that’s going to be very difficult for me. Will you stay?”

“Of course, baby. I’m here,” He said, rubbing your back.

You nodded and took out your phone. After a moment, you dialed a number and held it to your ear, your hand shaking. After a few rings, you heard a woman answer.

“Hello?”

You tried, and failed, to keep the tears from falling.

“Mom?” You said, your voice very unsteady. “It’s me.”

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My Masterlist

The Exophilia Creator’s Masterlist

[stonerbughead]

Maria watches friday night lights (#24)

I’m here! The final season! 5x01, here we go.

“Don’t you just love summer in Texas? 7 am and I’m already sweating like a whore in church.” This, set against the montage of summer in Dillon with trash pick up and kids running through a sprinkler, is true perfection.

let’s dive in, under the cut:

Lol is that Tinker driving alongside Vince and Luke running? Hilarious/wholesome image.

Buddy as a radio host really truly makes so much sense. Why didn’t they think of this sooner lmao

Oh my babe Tim!! on the inside but he’s getting out in three months, ok I see that

“I kinda coached you.” “Coach was my coach, billy.” Lmao “You could be a little more enthusiastic.” “Sorry, Billy, but im in prison.” Uh yeah. read the room, Billy!

Oh Tim, my poor babe 😭 wants to be visited *less* by his brother and friend. Abolish prisonssssss ugh

Oh Tami coming into the first staff meeting and immediately proposing the rest of the staff do more work probably isn’t the most strategic choice lol

This reminds me a lot of teacher meetings in season 4 of The Wire, with all of the staff talking about particular problem children the system is failing. And oh boy they all hate a teenage girl named Epyck. “I just wish she wouldn’t come into school.” Uh you should not be a teacher, miss! But also: you all need more resources.

Jess and Vince are as cute as I knew they’d be omg. “I thought you might need help with the laundry.” OKKKK

Ugh poor Becky! her dad is so gross. She’s stuck with her—I’m sure—evil stepmother and half sister? Major yikes!

The idea of Billy working for Eric Taylor is...interesting. And his argument is basically “you are inspirational and could make me a better person under your influence.” Man, only a mediocre white dude could get away with this!

Yessss Devin is still here playing in a band with Landry and that drummer whose name I can’t remember — oh jimmy okay! Devin is still the coolest character in this town.

Wow Landry is playing a show with his hometown band the night before leaving for college? That’s...a choice!

Oh geez something about Buddy and Eric watching mainly Black kids play basketball whilr recruiting for the team...and of course the one Buddy has his eye on is the one white kid lmao I can’t

“I’m not football stupid.” Lol good one.

“Worst instincts of american culture—violence, aggression.” Okay sexy! what’s your name white kid with moves?

“You’re in Texas now. You love the game of football. You just dont know it yet.” LOL

Aww Tami talking about how this girl Epyck all the other teachers hate has never been properly cared for to succeed is exactly why a guidance counselor like her needs to be in East Dillon. but yeah she’s bout to learn REAL fast what lack of funding and institutional racism look like! Eric is right about her not being the big cheese anymore and being able to change everything at once.

“Yes I’m stealing a basketball player but I’m doing it one step at a time.” Lmao

AWWWW Eric saying “I’m gonna miss this” quietly while eating with his family bc Julie’s about to go to college!! My heart.

“Oh boy oh boy” — literally me, physically tensing up, when Billy tried to give his little inspirational speech to the football team toooooo much he is so cringe. OMFG he read “if you can believe it you might achieve it” off a piece of paper from his pocket and attributed it i literally cannot

“The hippie? What for?” Lol that basketball player is considered a hippie in Dillon? Hilarious. The south is wild.

“These kids are being forgotten.” “Tami, it’s a matter of resources.” “I’m your resource!” Yes Tami but you alone cannot fix dozens of kids who are products of being in a system with lack of resources since before they even started elementary school.

Damn big Mary is out franchising and being corporate dad while Jess watches his children?? Not cool.

“So who is this guy?” “He’s not the punter, you wouldn’t be interested.” LMAO VINCE GOOD ONE

Aww Landry came to say goodbye to Mrs. Saracen. Aw he’s going to Rice? That’s a good school.

OMFG Mrs. Saracen has Landry’s music in her MP3 player???? My fucking heart 🥺

Grace is soooo cute holy shit

Oh wow does Crucifictorious or whatever have fans singing along? It’s really nice that Julie went out of her way to go.

Are we contrasting this with an East Dillon farm party? Ew so drunkenly kissing farm animals is what these kids do for fun huh

“I like knowing that I can do whatever I want. I’m a free spirit.” LMAO I hate this guy

“I’m gonna miss this.” “Miss Dillon?” “No I’m gonna miss the Alamo freeze and all their cool treats and hot eats.” LMAOOOO Landry

Omg they’re reminiscing about Matt working at the Alamo freeze. “I miss his little white hat.” L O L

Lol Landry and Julie say their final goodbye in the strip club, nice. “I’ll see you at Christmas.”

Omg Eric searching through their boxes for ping pong paddles so he can play a final game with Julie has my whole heart. Omfg and they found her Girl Scout vest.

Awww they’re playing in the garage, the season 1 vibes, oh my heart.

Oh so is the basketball coach mad about Hastings playing football? Wild culture truly.

(In the end, a teenage boy can’t help but answer the siren call of other teenage boys chanting his name)

Oh poor Andre acting out about their parental neglect at the Classic. Too real but babe it’s not Jess’s fault 😭

Go Tinker!!!

Hastings knowing some strategic info about another team from basketball, very interesting touch.

Wow Hastings somehow doing well without knowing what he’s doing or seemingly understanding football is hilarious.

“Lions win, lions win! Oh, the humanity! Alarm bells are going off all over Texas right now!”

Oh wow it’s happeninggggg

Ewww Becky really has an evil stepmom like Jesus can she have any positive parental figures

Jess and Vince are cute af. Vince helping Andre out 🥺

Honestly yeah I don’t blame Becky for wanting to leave that emotionally abusive household. The found family code in this town is so well established by now. like, Billy is obligated to take Becky in bc Tim considers her family and I’m like, yep!

Ohhh the Taylors sending their first kid off to college, emotional!!!

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

Another Crazy Plan (Sriracha, Part 24.)

Description: A problematic college student gets the worst summer job of the ‘83 - Jim Hopper, the Chief of police in your hometown will have you as his secretary since his old lady Flo has two months lasting holiday. It was agreed so Hopper could let you far away from all the trouble.

Part summary: Family life can be described as something spectacularly beautiful - when everyone's playing by the same rules. You clearly were not, which ended up in a huge argument.

A/N: We can't have easy peasy lemon squeezy Hopper all the time, can we? Because life isn't always easy peasy lemon squeezy with him.

Warnings: Angst, Eleven being one (1) angry bean.

Word count: 2.8 K

Tagging: @nemodoren​, @creedslove​

Master list: H E R E

The family life you chose for was treating each of you well. Hopper put on a bit of weight and he started to take care of himself again as well. Eleven was starting to speak like other girls her age did, plus she really enjoyed cooking with you. And you?

Well, you had a loving man by your side and a beautiful baby girl you could call yours at the end of the day. What could be more than that? Eleven knew that you're not her real mom, she wasn't that dumb, but that didn't stop her from calling you so. And soon enough, you would turn at that name, accepting it as yours.

But really, it wouldn't be your relationship with Hopper is something didn't go downhill at the end of the day, would it? The day came when you were spending your time with El at the cabin, being bored out of your mind again, because Eleven was doing her homework and you had literally nothing to do. The bathroom was cleaned so much it shone, the bedroom was all tidied up, the laundry was done, the lunch was ready...

If you were fed up with the cabin after one single weekend, how must've Eleven felt? She was there for seven months. Almost seven months. She must've felt so, so, so frustrated and alone. And that was when the shitty idea was born.

"Hey, the homework can wait, what do you say?" - You asked and sat beside her, making her look at you. Eleven adored when you smoothed her back and gave her a smile like that. You looked really pretty and she felt just good to have a momma like that. - "I want to take you out, to have some fun. We need to buy some groceries, what do you say?"

The finger poking the tip of her nose was tickling her, yet she didn't smile at all. You wanted her to leave the cabin? Why? What for? For how long? She panicked.

"But... Papa and bad men." - She whispered, shaking her head. Hopper specifically instructed her not to leave the cabin at all costs until everything settles down. She was safe there. And you were offering her... - "What if they see? Danger." - She caught your other palm in hers, furrowing at you, shaking her head. - "Not allowed."

"Eleven, I'll protect you. Nobody knows you're here, nobody will see. I swear, baby." - You whispered back, taken away by her unapproving reaction. You imagined this going way differently than Eleven disagreeing. - "Just for one day, you are allowed to go out with me. I'll get you ice cream, how does that sound?"

"Leaving the cabin is stupid. And we're not stupid." - She looked you in the eyes, meaning every word of her speech. Hopper told her this many times. You were leaving the cabin because of school and word. He was leaving for work. And Eleven wasn't allowed to leave, because it would be stupid to show herself out there... Just like that and for no apparent reason.

"Eleven." - You put your hand on her jaw to make her look at you once again. - "Please. You need to get out of the cabin... At least once. I'll take you somewhere where anyone gets a chance to recognize you, I'll hold your hand the whole time and I know just the perfect ice cream waffle to buy you on the way home." - You pleaded. She was your baby girl. You took care of her for months and the last thing you wanted was to see her rot in the cabin. And that was exactly what she was doing. Eleven took a deep breath, putting her pen down.

"Hopper. He will be angry." - She said. It could be heard that she's fighting herself inside her head. She loved the idea of you taking her out to the town. Just to shop. She saw moms just taking their girls to the town daily to the city. And she wanted it as well, so desperately it almost hurt. She just wanted to be normal.

"He won't know if you won't tell him. It can be our little secret." - You kissed her forehead lightly and that was the exact moment she gave in. Just one afternoon, she and her mom walking around the city, having fun. What could go wrong?

"Okay. I promise." - She held her pinky up and looked at your hand. That was a gesture she learned from you and Hopper. You usually bet on the chores or cooking, and this was a way of Hopper promising you the reward afterward. A promise. That was what pinkies entwined meant. And you circled yours around hers, smiling. - "I promise and friends don't lie." - Eleven repeated once again and you nodded, slowly getting up from the chair.

Both of you got ready - you put on just some denim shorts and an old flannel shirt since it was a hot spring day outside. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the birds were singing and flowers blooming. It looked just beautiful.

El took out her favorite dress with small flowers printed all over them. Even if it was a warm and sunny day, you packed her a denim jacket just to be sure that she'd have something to snuggle into in case she would get cold. When you felt like she's ready, you started the car - Talking In Your Sleep suddenly yelling all over the car. You laughed and turned the volume down, watching Eleven with a warm feeling in your eyes. She freaked out and was looking at you as if she never heard a radio play so loud. 

“Sorry for that, I forgot that I have it on so loud.” - You smiled and put sunglasses over your eyes, doing your seatbelt. - “That's my and Hopper's playlist. I listen to it every morning while I drive to college, thinking about both you.” - You said with a smile and drove out of the forest, turning the car at Bloomington. 

“Your and Hopper's playlist.” - She wondered and looked out of the window, watching the surroundings moving at such a ridiculous speed. It almost seemed that Eleven is running really fast; or that she's not moving at all and the world is spinning fast. She liked riding in a car. - “I know this.” - She pointed at the radio, listening to the Romantics.

“You do? I've never played it at home, how come you know it?” - You looked at her, then again out of the car, giving her a piece of bubblegum. 

“Nancy. I heard Nancy.” - She tried to explain, but she knew that her vocabulary is not on the level to explain something so complicated to you. You rose your eyebrows, nodding. She must've heard some Nancy listen to it. - “Nancy... Is that your friend form the lab?” - You asked quietly, letting her know that there's no pressure, that she can take her time before answering your question and that she doesn't have to answer at all if she doesn't feel like it.

But Eleven shook her head almost immediately, chewing on the menthol gum. - “She is pretty. Mike's sister. It would be weird if they would go to Snow Ball together.” - She tried to explain, but the last sentence threw you off the rail. Snow Ball. That was a ball for kids happening on Hawkins Middle every winter and you always loved it. How could Eleven know about it? But you decided to focus on Mike. 

“Mike... Is he your friend or something?” - You asked and turned right on the next road as well. Eleven took a while to think of an answer before she nodded at the thoughts she had on her mind.

“He is a friend. He told me that friends don't lie. He lives in Hawkins.” - She described Mike in the best way she could and at that moment, you had a small revelation. Mike and Nancy... Mike and Nancy. Could these two be the...

“Mike and Nancy Wheeler? You have these two on your mind?” - You asked curiously and Eleven nodded immediately. Her gaze wondered about you knowing the Wheelers. - “Oh, Nancy was a freshman when I graduated. She was fine, we never started being friends, tho. Plus Wheelers live in Hawkins since forever, so my parents know their parents.”

The rest of the ride was rather quiet since you both listened to the collection from the Romantics - What I Like About You and A Night Like This were your jams since you and Jim started to listen to the Romantics together, so you mumbled each word of those songs by heart.

You were real with what you've told to Eleven - you took her to a grocery shopping, taking her hand to yours and not letting it slide the whole time. ou bought vegetables, fruit, cereals, you let her choose some sweets; to say it quickly, you have made yourself some stocks for the whole week in the cabin. She was curious about a lot of things, getting stuck for a while sometimes, just looking at it. 

Nobody was looking at you two. You were just a girl and an adult woman shopping together. Nothing more, nothing less; just you two walking around in a grocery shop, talking and holding hands all the time. When you were done with groceries, you stopped at a lonely bistro, where Eleven got the waffle with ice cream you promised her earlier that day. And it was her favorite thing ever. 

You got her a frozen Eggo filled with chocolate and strawberry ice cream and frozen raspberries. And it was so good. 

Unfortunately, as every good day, even this one had to come to an end. And you end was a Blazer standing on the driveway. At that exact moment, you knew that you're grandiosely fucked. Hopper was at home sooner than you - he usually came home at quarter past eight, but that day was obviously an exception. It wasn't even six o'clock and Blazer was already parked there. 

“El.” - You turned at her, turning the engine off. - “No matter what happens, you will go to your room, close the door and let me and Hopper talk, alright? We might not go easy on each other, but you need to stay in your bedroom.” 

“Won't go easy?” - Eleven repeated after you and you sighed, taking the paper bags with gricer. 

“We will be yelling at each other, I might cry, I might say something nasty, leave... but I'll be back. I'll come back no matter what, okay?” - You smiled and cautiously stepped over the tripwire and Eleven mirrored your actions. 

You could say that Hopper is pissed straight off the bat. One look and you knew that you fucked up big time. But to his bad luck, you weren't that wallflower who would take his bullshit. You were ready to kick his fucking ass. You took one of the bags from Eleven, who looked guilty, worried and about to cry. You put the bags on the table, kissing your forehead, sending her off to the bedroom. 

But you didn't pay Hopper any direct attention after that - he was a fucking diva and you weren't about to give in. And when you ignored him for five minutes straight, he started talking. Slowly, but he started. 

“What do you think you're doin', Y/N?” - Jim whispered unbelievably as you put the groceries on their place. 

“I was shopping. Are you blind or what?” - You asked back in the same, sarcastic tone of voice. Hopper was trying to keep the temper controlled, but in the next moment, he exploded. 

“Do you even realize how much danger you put her both you and her into? If someone from the government would see her if someone had noticed her if...” - He raised his voice, but you turned around and show your index finger directly to his voice as you both stood opposite each other. 

“No-one saw us, Hopper. Do I look like an incapable idiot to you? Do you even care why did I take her to Bloomington?” - You hissed. The tone of your voice said everything your words hadn't. A huge argument was starting and you planned telling Hopper everything you thought of him keeping Eleven there. Every last thought you had, he was about to hear it. 

“There are rules we agreed on. And no, I don't know that did you think about as you drove away, but you acted like a five-year-old fuckin' brat again.” - He pointed back at you. You could start yelling now, yes, but you just smiled, which threw Hopper off the rails completely.

“Oh, oh, oh.” - You laughed, putting your hands on your hips. - “So I am a fucking brat. Well, thanks for that, because you're letting that girl rot in this fucking cabin. And I very much prefer being a brat over being a fucking tyrant.” - You yelled at him, throwing him off the rails even more. - “I love her, Hopper. I took her as my own, I haven't told my mom, I found a job, I study college and I have a total jackass by my side, and yet, I am still here. So stop telling me what I am and what am I not, or I'm leaving and you can take your fucking proposal back.” 

And since that moment, you started to argue a big time. You yelled at each other things about your relationship, Eleven, the fucking cabin, the age difference, the way he cooked - you argued about everything. You threw a plate on the ground while Hopper stuck to pointing his finger at you. But just at that moment, Eleven opened up the door to her room.

She promised you that she won't leave the room, but you were harsh on Hopper - just as Hopper was harsh on you. She ran in front of you, crying like crazy, looking at Hopper. 

“LEAVE MOMMA BE.” - She yelled at him. Since that moment, you barely knew what happened - Hopper wanted to tell Eleven something, but she started screaming (and she went fully in) before he just suddenly flipped on his back. After that, Eleven hugged you and cried, even more, blood was dripping out of her nose. 

She almost let you know that she has superpowers, but you thought that maybe Jim just lost balance and fell on his ass. This was too damn close for Hopper. And he had to look at the consequences of your actions - that little girl was terrified, she hugged you so tight that you could barely breathe while you looked at Hopper with tears in your eyes, starting to cry as well. 

Slowly, Jim sat a bit away from you, watching both you and Eleven crying. 

“Were you... Were you serious about leavin' me? And her?” - He asked after a while. You shot a look at him, reaching your palm to catch him, so he slowly moved closer to both of you. 

“Are you crazy? I would never.” - You whispered and leaned into his shoulder, cradling Eleven. - “I'm sorry about taking her out. I just wanted to see her happy.” - You whispered and looked at him. You loved that man, even if you didn't take any of his fucking bullshit. Jim was your rock just as you were his. And you hurt him and his trust. 

“You're right and I knew that. She can't be locked here all the time, all alone. But... I can't take her anywhere since she's wanted.” - James smoothed Eleven's shoulder carefully, letting his hand rest there a little. And at that moment, you had another idea. And this one wasn't as shitty as the Bloomington one. 

“What if we tell my parents? They are living in the suburb, their house and garden are secluded, they have a swimming pool and the house is large. They will be curious about her and us... Yeah... But they might help up. And Eleven will be safe.” - You postponed and Jim furrowed a bit. 

But he needed to say - it was a great idea. 

[thethoughtsfromthreeam]

Sunshine

Pairing: Maxwell Lord x OC (Evelyn “Evie” Blaker)

Warnings: None

A/N: I’m creeping close towards the end.  We got some smut, some angst, more smut, and a whole ass load of fluff coming down the pipeline.

Reminder:  I ain’t ever seen Pedro Pascal in FUCK ALL, I’m just coming up with this as I go along, using imdb.com, wiki, and 84,000 tabs I got open to plan out this shit.  I also write soft versions of his characters so if you’re craving asshole vibes, I ain’t got any but my own to offer.

Tags:  @zeldasayer , @romanticgumchewer, @beskars​ , @coolmaybelateruniverse , @the-feckless-wonder, @lavenderl3mons , @pascalisthepunkest , @mandoandyodito​ , @randomness501 , @fioccodineveautunnale  

[PART 1]  [PART 2]  [PART 3]  [PART 4]

Part 5 

 Lead to Big Changes

Evie stood in the bathroom, brushing her long hair before plaiting in into a braid. She took one last look at herself and satisfied everything was in place as it should be, she entered the bedroom where Maxwell was sitting on the bed putting on his cuff links.  He looked up to watch as she walked over to his dresser, where her items were laid out neatly.  She began put on her necklace before moving on to other items.

Like that first morning together, it felt natural to him to see her puttering around his room, getting ready for the day.  His long hours prevented him from really feeling how empty such a large house could be for one person, but there were times when that coldness, the loneliness touched him.  But not now, not when she was here, and she warmed rooms she wasn’t even in. He watched her intently, noticing the subtle bounce of her breasts, the sway of her hips, and that cute little hop she does when she walks.

“Why do you hop when you walk?”  She turned her head towards him, a look of confusion on her face.  “You have this little hop when you walk.”

“Oh, the hop.”  She laughed and went back to what she was doing.  “A gift from the pier.”

When she finished putting on her accessories, she turned around to see him still watching her and she smiled.  Walking over to him, she began to knot his tie that he had yet to do up.  Her brows furrowed a bit as she worked and he sat patiently, placing his hands on her jean-clad hips, sneak his thumbs under the hem of her tee shirt to rub along her skin.  She had only been in town for less than one day and he was already dreading her return to Poughkeepsie.

“What’s your plan for the day?”  When she arrived, Evie insisted that he didn’t need to stop his world just to babysit her, that she could find things to do while he was at work.  He tried to protest, but when he looked at his schedule, he found things he couldn’t cancel or more.  So, he became more pragmatic about it.  He his schedule to have his late afternoons and evenings free and if two deals went through today, he was going to have a nice long weekend with her, uninterrupted.

“Not sure yet, it’s so warm for October that I might go to a park. Maybe museum hop or stop by an art gallery.  The city is my oyster, so whatever strikes my fancy I guess.”

“Take my credit card.”

“Max, I don’t need you to pay for anything.”  She laughed as she patted down the knot and straightened the tie, admiring her handwork as she talked.  She proceeded to button up his vest since she was standing there, and she thought there was no need for her to do any of this.  But the idea of being part of Maxwell’s routine felt right, as if she had always been a part of it.

Never in all her relationships had she ever felt at such ease with someone as she did with Maxwell.  It was as if they had known each other for years, rather than only a couple of months. Silences weren’t awkward, they were already developing their own group of inside jokes and waking up in his bed seemed like the most normal thing in the world.  

Evie loved her life in Poughkeepsie, but the idea of going back seemed sad to her.  Other than her job, there wasn’t a life for her in her hometown anymore.  Her best friend moved to Boston last year and her dad moved to Lake Placid to wind down toward retirement.  She sat on a non-profit board and occasionally joined a book club at the library, but the last couple of years it had just been home and work. Change might be good, she thought on the train ride into the city.

Here, the city offered so much more, including Maxwell.  Whose thumbs continued to rub against the skin of her hips, and it was starting to drive her a little crazy.

“You sure you’ll be fine on your own?”

“Of course.  I’m a big girl.”  She leaned down to kiss his lips softly and before she could pull back, he was chasing her lips for a longer kiss.  His tongue snaked out to swipe against her lower lip and she smiled as she opened to let him in.  Soon their kiss turned breathless and Maxwell pulled back so he could breathe again. Their eyes were darkened by lust, but Evie – as usual – broke the spell first by gently kissing his forehead and stepping away from his touch.  His hands dropped onto his thighs as he watched her head to his closet to take out her sweater.

“Yeah, I know.”  His tone was husky and more than a little feral sounding.  She smiled a little wickedly as she slipped her arms into the sleeves. It was her turn to watch him.  Even at home, Maxwell carried himself with command and authority and Evie realized that this was a natural posture for him. He wasn’t putting on a show, he was just finishing his morning routine.  She felt a shiver of pleasure run through her.  He was all man and for now at least, all hers.

After finishing up, he turned to Evie and held out his hand.  She slid it into his easily and they left the room to start their day.  They stopped off in the kitchen so Evie could meet Marnie, his cook, and after a rapid-fire ten-minute conversation, Maxwell ushered her out of the kitchen, a couple of breakfast sandwiches in tow.  He shook his head, not believing that in such a short amount of time, Evie learned the names of all Marnie’s grandchildren, how long she was married to her husband, and her favorite thing to cook.  

Like with Bennett, Evie easily inserted herself into the lives of his staff and they all seemed to love her.  He pretended like he didn’t see Marnie’s pointed look that said, how did you snag someone like this?  Maxwell didn’t know the answer and he wasn’t stupid enough to question it.  As they exited the house, Bennett was waiting with the doors open and in the crisp October morning, the warmth of the car was quite welcomed.

“Bennett, drive Evie wherever she wants to go today.” Maxwell pulled out his phone, scrolling through his calendar and starting to prepare for the day. Without either him or Evie realizing it, her Max was stepping back into the role of Maxwell Lord, CEO of Chimtech.

“Max, no!  I can take a cab, it’s not a big deal.”

“Evie, he will drive you, it’s what he’s paid for.”  Maxwell’s voice was harsh and left little room for compromise. She was taken aback, although he didn’t seem notice as his eyes never left his cell.  She was more than a little shocked because in the entire time they had known each other, he never talked to her in that way.  Before she could say anything, Bennett spoke from the driver’s seat.

“Yes Mr. Lord.”  He didn’t miss a beat as he drove them to headquarters and Maxwell kissed Evie on the cheek before he got out, acting as if nothing happened.  He slipped his credit card into her sweater pocket before she could say anything.  As he walked away, Evie turned to the driver, a sly smile growing on her lips.

“Bennett, what are Bette and Lorraine doing today?”  He looked back at her, surprised.

“Well Lorraine is on break from school and Bette’s home with her, why?”

“Let’s make this a family day.”

“Wait.  What?

“Call up Bette and see if they’d like to join us for day on the town.”  She waived Maxwell’s card.  “His treat.”

“Okay, where to you want to go?”

“What does Bette and Lorraine like?”

“Well my Bette loves flowers and Lorraine is wild about flamingos.”  Bennett snapped his fingers and looked at Evie.  “We can go to the Bronx.  They got the Botanical Gardens and a zoo!”

“Perfect, let’s go!”  Evie sat back and looked out the window.  She was still dwelling on the tone he used and how it stung her.  She looked at the credit card in her hands as Bennett drove them to Brooklyn to pick up their passengers.  If he wants to act like a dick, then he can pay for it, she thought. Literally.

---***---

Bette was just as vivacious a person as her husband and the two women immediately recognized a kindred spirit in the other.  They chatted through the whole ride to the park as Lorraine sat up front with her father, forever a daddy’s girl.  The day was sunny and gorgeous, and the foursome strolled through gardens, enjoying the sights.  Bennett had been modest when he said his wife loved flowers.  

Turns out she was a horticulturalist and worked for City University of New York as a professor in their science department at the Bronx campus.  Evie hung onto every word her new friend said about the plants they viewed, and she could see Bennett bursting with pride.  Evie believed that the morning’s adventures wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable had Bette not come along.  They left the park briefly to grab something to eat.  During lunch, Evie’s phone rang and when she saw it was Maxwell, she picked up.

“Hi Max.”  Evie smiled into the phone and turned away from the table as not to be rude, but she didn’t miss Bette mouth, ‘Max?’ to Bennett with a look of surprise.  He shrugged with a look back at her.  His voice was low enough that Evie didn’t catch anything he said.

“Hey you.  How is the city treating you?”

“Good.  I’m at lunch right now. But we visited the botanical gardens this morning and after lunch we’ll stop by the zoo.”

“We?”  The word caused a twinge of jealousy to course through him and his words came out hard. One day in the city and she’s already gallivanting off with others, a wicked voice in his head hissed at him.  “Who could you possibly be with?”

“Yes, we. Bennett and his family joined me and we’re having a blast. Lorraine is going to teach me about flamingos when we go to the zoo.”  She was shocked at his tone and she returned it with a neutral one of her own to tamp down any confusion that could be sparked by an argument.  She stood up and walked way, positioning herself near a window and away from people.

“You’re with my driver and his family?”  She told him to go to work today and she was out and about with his driver and allegedly his family?  Did she plan this all along?  Maxwell’s face grew warm as his jealousy boiled beneath the surface.

“Yes.  If Bennett is going to be with me all day, then why not?  Who am I hurting?  And besides, I want to learn about flamingos.”  Her tone turned pointed and she refused to explain any further.  She waited until he spoke, stretching their silence out – one that was filled with tension.  Behind her, Bennett and Bette exchanged another look and kept eating lunch while Lorraine continued to read her book.

In that silence, something changed and suddenly the tone he took with her was back to normal.  The whiplash it caused Evie almost made her dizzy, but she could still sense a strain lacing his words.

“Ah.  Well, Marnie called me and said she was cooking dinner tonight.  That ravioli dish you two talked about this morning.  It should be ready by seven.  Will you be back in time?”

“Yep.  See you then.”  She ended the call without waiting for him to reply and sighed.  She wasn’t stupid, she knew Maxwell was used to getting his way and was used to making comments and remarks that were curt, hard, brusk, even downright rude was more akin to his normal way of speaking.  The softness he directed towards her was the anomaly.

While she wasn’t above using a sharp tone when the situation warranted it, she felt bitterness in her mouth when confronted with unnecessary rudeness and maltreatment.   For the first time, the little niggles of doubt that had been on the edge of her mind since Maxwell Lord first came into her life began to crawl out of the shadows.

“Ready to go see the zoo and check out some flamingos?”  She smiled brightly again and turned towards her lunch companions. Everyone nodded and as Evie paid the bill with Maxwell’s credit card and felt a lot better.

Little Lorraine was much like her mother and as they wandered through the zoo, the young girl threw out facts and stories about many of the animals, most excited for the flamingos, of course.  

As they moved from exhibit to exhibit, Lorraine and Evie unconsciously matched up with the former having an audience for all that her brain had offer and the latter excited to learn new things.  Once they arrived at the flamingo enclosure, the young girl sighed with happiness.

“Lorraine, why do you like flamingos so much?”  Evie asked as they leaned on the rail watching the birds walk elegantly through the enclosure, their bright pink plumes a perfect complement for the deep blue autumn sky above them.

“Cause they’re stupid looking and dance like morons.”  Evie began laughing loudly in surprise.

“How do you know they dance like morons?”  Evie smiled as Lorraine took out her cell phone and pulled up youtube. In her library were dozens of videos about flamingos.  The young girl clicked on one video and there it was, the stupid flamingo mating dance.

“You’re right, they do dance like morons.  I can see why you love them.”  Evie smiled down at her.  Lorraine grabbed her hand and they moved onto the next exhibit with Bennett and Bette trailing behind and holding hands like teenagers.  They were enjoying their impromptu date and Bennett brought their clasped hands up to his lips, smiling the whole time.

While Evie gave her full attention to Lorraine, seeing Bennett be so generous and open with not just Bette, but everyone around him gave her heart a little twinge.  She squeezed Lorraine’s hand and refocused herself on the conversation at hand.  She wasn’t about to let Maxwell Lord detract her from learning about the lemurs next.

By the end of the afternoon, everyone was pleasantly exhausted and the drive back to Maxwell’s house seemed all the quieter after Bette and Lorraine were dropped off at home, with promises of seeing them soon from both Bennett and Evie. She was giddy to have made a friend in the city, giving her another reason to come to visit.  When Bennett dropped her off, she waved good-bye and trudged up the stairs into the house.

The cozy atmosphere enveloped her as she opened the door and then closed it behind her.  The day was catching up to her and she leaned against the door, her thighs starting to ache from all the walking.  I’m entirely too out of shape for this city, she thought.  She closed her eyes a moment and before she could open them, a set of plush lips brushed against hers.  

Evie opened her eyes to find Maxwell standing in front of her, looking relaxed. His tie was off, and his sleeves rolled up, hands in his pockets.  Outside of sleeping in bed, this was probably the most relaxed Maxwell had been in front of her.  He rocked back on his heels, looking at her with a smile on his face that also seemed relaxed.  His aura seeped into her own body and she relaxed, too.

“Did you enjoy the zoo?”  Whatever tone he took with her earlier in the day was gone and in his place was the attentive partner, supportive and loving.  It was as if the Maxwell from earlier had been conjured up by her brain to sow the seeds of doubt in her mind.  In fact, as Maxwell stood there, he didn’t even think of his comments earlier or his tones.  He was interested in what she had to say, wanted to know how her day went.  

As he waited for her answer, she realized he was interested in what she had to say.  After their date, he all but admitted that he never conversed with people and yet with her, he was fully invested in everything she did or said.  It made her feel wanted and loved in ways other partners hadn’t. The thoughts from earlier in the day and the worries that had crowed the edge of her mind seemed to disappear.

“It was a beautiful day, Bette and Lorraine are so smart.  I learned more from those two in one day than I could probably learn in a lifetime on my own.  I like Bette and I think we’re going to try to meet up for coffee again before I go.”  He grabbed her hand and they walked into the dining room.

“Tell me all about it.”

---***---

Maxwell wasn’t sure what woke him up, but he lurched out of a dead sleep and sat up in bed.  The room was quiet, and his clock told him that it was early in the morning, hours before he had to get up.  What could have possibly triggered this, he wondered.  It was then that he realized that he was alone in bed and when he saw the bathroom light off and the door open, he was confused.  

Getting up, he threw on a shirt and walked out into the hallway, the faint late October chilliness permeated the house and creeped along his skin.  A gleam of light from the first floor caught his eye and he descended the stairs, entering the living room where he saw her on the couch.

Evie sat curled up at the end, a book in her hands.  He recognized it the title and his heart clenched a little because it had been his father’s favorite, although she could have never known that.  As he got closer, he noticed that she was sleeping, with little snores coming out of her slightly opened mouth.  The lamp light made her hair look like burnished copper and once again, his heart squeezed at the sight of her, that feeling that she belonged all the stronger.

He leaned down and brushed her hair away from her face, the movement causing her to stir.  Her eyes opened and she gave a sleepy smile when she saw who it was.  She sat up from the slumped over position, her body grumbling at being in such an uncomfortable position for too long, already upset with her after her long day in the city.  He smiled back at her.

“Evie, what are you doing?  It’s two in the morning.”  He squatted next to the couch, picking up the book after it slid off her lap and setting it on the coffee table.

“I wasn’t tired, and I didn’t want to bother you, so I came down to read here instead.”  He laughed as her comments were punctuated by a yawn.  He wondered how long she had been sleeping instead of reading.

“You wouldn’t have.  Come to bed.” He stood, reaching his hand out to her.

“Okay.”  She stood and swayed at the sudden movement, reaching out with her other hand to grip his to stay upright.  Once she stopped swaying, he bent his knees and swept Evie up into his arms, her look of surprise clear on her face.

“Max!  I can walk! You’re going to hurt yourself!”

“Yeah, but it’ll be fun.”  He lightly kissed her temple as he turned around and began taking her upstairs.  “Besides, I’ve already carried you upstairs, what’s one more time?”

She laughed but gripped his shoulders harder just in case.  They entered the bedroom and Maxwell gently laid her down on the bed. He leaned down to kiss her on the lips, but her hands grabbed him and pulled him down on top of her.  She wrapped her hands around his waist and reached her head up to return the kiss.

“I’m too heavy for you.”  He tried to roll off, but she tightened her arms.

“You’re never too heavy for me.”  She snuggled further under him, his bulk like a weighted blanket.  He threw her a skeptical look but didn’t move.  If anything, he curled around her more, their mutual warmth seeping into each other.  Evie’s eyes began to droop, and she tried to hide a yawn in his shoulder but failed.

“Just go to sleep sunshine, you had a long day.”  She hummed as her eyes closed and before long, the sound of her even breaths reached Maxwell’s ears.  He waited a few beats longer before rolling off her and to her side. She seemed to chase him in her sleep, also rolling onto her side to face him, although she never woke up.  

He gave into the temptation of touching her again, brushing her hair away from her face and the silky strands seem to pass through his fingers like water. He trailed them along her jaw, skin soft under his touch.  As he laid there, his brain wandered back to his comments earlier in the day and he closed his eyes, shame washing over him.

There was no reason for him to have acted that way and to make her feel so small and hurt.  And he rolled on to his back, staring at the ceiling.  He mentally kicked himself for acting like such an ass to her and then never apologizing for it.  You never apologize when you act like an ass, a small voice in his head reminded him and he could feel his face on fire.  He looked over at her.  He should have apologized to her.

You shouldn’t have been such a dick in the first place.  It’s not like you’re actually dating or anything, the voice inside his head reminded him.  It’s not like you ever want more from them.  Maxwell looked back up at the ceiling.

He wanted more from her, though.