#but then she would get more invested in the mystery at hand and reluctantly help them

[mixedvegetabless]

What if faroe lived

Explanation under the cut!

After she almost drowned, Faroe experienced severe mental trauma from the ignorance of her father. Arthur, scared that he can't take care of her, pushes Faroe away more. She instead is raised by Tess, Arthur's housekeeper, who taught her many life skills(especially survival skills).

Faroe soon grew a resentment towards her father for pushing her away, and since then has strived to be better than him. Originally going to go into biology, Faroe instead pursued detective work to mimic her fathers profession. Once Arthur is a suspect in a murder case and suddenly goes missing(events of s1), Faroe decides to track him down and bring him to justice.

[kankuroplease]

Is it too soon to ask for shisui x kaguya hcs? Cause I’m absolutely invested now

Tw: obsessive, manipulative behavior, and just unhealthiness

Some thoughts on this ship for this au of how it would all start 🤡

So to start, they’d meet at a private auction

This beautiful woman he’d never seen before who seemed so otherworldly

Biding on the same painting as him and letting out a small huff when he won

Something about her made him want give her a hard time

So he bid on the next time she bid on, driving the price up again again

Never outbidding her

just because he thought the way she glared at him was cute.

He almost completely forgot about that night until he came to place an order with Hinata and the ethereal being was sitting there all pretty enjoying her tea until she saw him

Kaguya could not believe this asshole from the auction was leaning on her chair like a slutty manwhore asking if she’s friends with Hina.

He did smell wonderful though, she’d give him that💀

One look at Hinata and she knew her suspicions were spot on; this man was one of her “associates” and massive trouble

So she did what any self respecting woman of class would do and tell him to mind his manners and wait his turn.

Which just made Shisui more intrigued with who this mysterious nougat was.

Just as she was leaving he handed her his business card, just in case she was looking for anything real estate in the near vicinity.

She reluctantly took it and continued on with her life; struggling to find anything worth investing in and declining obvious attempts at dates with senior citizens at the private athletic clubs

It wasn’t until she was playing racket ball with Toneri that the topic of real estate investments came up that she remembered she had the business card of a very attractive young “real-estate agent”

When she went to look at the apartment he was selling, she was amazed with how everything was staged

Impressed even, he had a great brand of wine poured for her, the lighting was great, everything was nice until she saw the painting he outbid her for

“I thought this would help sweeten the deal, princess”

She was OFFENDED. Never in her life had she had someone so blatantly messing with her so flippantly, even when it could come to a financial loss for themselves

Shisui was humored by her berating him. Honestly, just the reaction he expected from a spoiled heir to the Ōtsutsuki

“Someone’s mad~”

Were the last words he managed to say before she kissed him, presumably to shut him up.

Before either of them knew it, they were fucking in the living room underneath that damn painting

A shameful shaky walk back to her waiting vehicle; Kaguya really wasn’t proud of herself for not only hate-fucking this man she barely knew, but for enjoying it so much💀

Shisui on the other hand, was very proud of himself for always carrying a condom. They seemed very compatible, sexually at least~

He did feel a bit like a dick for teasing her so much, but didn’t have any real regrets.

Her threatening text about suing him if he spoke a word of this to anyone, also made him smile as he admired the scratch work she left on his chest and arms.

All his sloothing pointed to her being a single hardworking woman and in a long dry spell, so he wasn’t surprised that she had some pent up frustration 😏

More time goes by and they have a few run ins with each other

With Shisui giving her pleasant greetings and compliments

And Kaguya ignoring him and the rapid beating of her heart at the sight of him/the glorious memories of him on top of her in that apartment

Kaguya was unknowingly fanning the flames of desire in him with each meeting

It all came to a head at one of Hinata’s yacht parties when Shisui had his men lock them a room together for a date

“You do know I can have you arrested for false imprisonment?”

“Do you honestly think I’m scared of prison?” “I just want to thank you for the good time, maybe get to know you better”

Kaguya knew she wasn’t getting out of this “date” easily and decided to sit and see what this bastard had to say

Admittedly, she wasn’t hearing much over her own thoughts of escaping. She only focused back into what was being said when he asked why she never returned his messages.

He thought they had a lot of chemistry and had been thinking about her a lot lately

Kaguya simply shrugged. The truth was she didn’t have a good reason, she wa

“Why are you so interested in me? Is Madara looking for some sort of financial assistance?”

Oh

So she knows who his adoptive father is, yet she’s still so bold?

Yeah, he’s obessed.

Smiling to himself, he and simply leave. telling her she’s free to enjoy the food and to enjoy the rest of the night

Leaving Kaguya to contemplate what just happened

And even more confused when her favorite flowers and imported chocolates started being delivered to her weekly from Mr. Uchiha himself

Now she had to wonder how he knew all this and the thought of it sent shivers down her spine

After about 2 months of this, Shisui called her and asked to go out on a date, properly this time

She really can’t answer why she went on the date; morbid curiosity and lust were at the top of what she could gather for a reason

And of course the date was at one of the best rooftop restaurants around with an amazing view, which led them to being in luxury suite in hotel going at it all night

He’d planned for the evening to go just as it did, but he wasn’t planning on being hung up on everything she did.

Kaguya snapped back with she doesn’t want to go on a date with a man that’s sharing his dick with the world and has a barely legal little redhead friend. Yeah she did some research on you too, pal

Now this would make Shisui’s sweet smile turn mischievous. “So you want me all to yourself?”

“I don’t even think that’s even possible, Shisui”

“Give me a trial run and find out~”

And with that, Against Kaguya’s better judgment, this trail run would officially start

But kaguya isnt one to just accept Shisui’s manipulation attempts. Their meet ups were to only take place in neutral territory

She also found the damn tracker he’d put on her car at some point. It became obvious that there might be one with all their “chance” meets

She put the tracker on a pizza delivery vehicle and tipped the kid a hefty check of a years salary to make up for the job they’d no doubt lose driving all over town to teach her obsessed lover a lesson

Making sure to turn of the shared location feature he’d asked her not to and poured herself some wine to enjoy by her pool

Shisui was worried when he saw how active she was being driving all around and livid when he sees it’s some kid

Does she know what she’s doing to him!?

When he finally does come to her home, she’s sitting and ask if he enjoyed his little excursion. He in fact, did not.

He’d try to warn her about her behavior, but she’d warn him not to test her. He may not be afraid of jail, but she’s not afraid of him or his little family

If he wants her to believe his word and trust him be faithful, he needs to show he can be trusted to not pull this stunt again or they’re done

Shisui would sigh and think about her words. He trusts her, but the tracker was more for her own safety or so he’d tell himself

Of course he can’t stop his behavior cold, so he’d compromise; no tracker, but he’ll still “check up” on her

And inconvenience and threaten the lives of the other people that are obviously into his girl

It’s totally normal for a boyfriend to worry about his girlfriend

And it wouldn’t take Kaguya long to figure out why normally overly friendly business associates have all but turned into statues during meetings. Shisui 🫠

She would be 50/50 on if she wanted to end their trail relationship until she witnessed him thanking one of his low income tenants for the meal they’d made him as a thank you

At first she was appalled because she assumed he was whoring again the lady may have been older, but she was naturally beautiful and mature and something about that made her jealous 😤

And this made Kaguya come up to the pair and ask Shisui who his lovely friend was. Exchanging pleasantries with the woman despite wanting to ask what’s really going on

Shisui’s knowing smirk about her attitude on the way up the elevator would only infuriate her more

Just when she’d be ready to explode, he’d tell her that that tenant has a wife and those two a very happily married. “You see, she was doing alright in life until she wasn’t. Her wife got injured on the job, ran into one scammer, and that’s how they end up as my tenants. She just happens to know where I live as her brother is the doorman.”

She was still a skeptical until he told her they can probably go over their for dinner if she wanted to. It just reminded her that he’s got a pretty good heart deep down.

At the same time Shisui would be reminded that although she’s tough enough around the edges, she’s still pretty soft and vulnerable if he squints

Gotta love that and her sheepishly asking if maybe she rude to that woman/should she apologize

It’s moments like that that would make the Kaguya fall in love a little more each time despite some of his concerning behavior

While simultaneously making Shisui feel like she’s getting to him more than he’d thought previously possible

Most of his past lovers were genuinely scared of him, airheads, didn’t care who he slept with, easy to manipulate, or lead lives he couldn’t help but want to change if things were to become serious. Kaguya pushing back is refreshing

Her not being impressed with material gifts that are thoughtless, made him work harder to impress her

He was overwhelmed with happiness when he woke up to her sleeping face the first time

A dangerous feeling, but a manageable one in his penthouse if only she stayed

His mouth dropped open when she agreed to move in. Working remotely isn’t a problem for Kaguya and the commute to her office isn’t horrible either, so why not?

She’s never lived with someone else or liked anyone enough to consider it

Her only two conditions are she gets her own room and, if she’s working, he doesn’t disturb her

His only rule is don’t ask questions she doesn’t want to know the answer to. He lives a life that wouldn’t want to know all the details of and probably shouldn’t. He’d never lie to her, but she’ll have to live with the information she receives

Other than that, he’s finally caught his pretty little bird and she’s safe in her cage

[ecto-american]

Stuck (Stubbornly)

Phic Phight Oneshot for @deuynndoodles​ : Jack and Maddie are stuck in the Ghost Zone. Fortunately for them, Phantom's around and willing to help out. However, they'll rather be arrested by a ghost warden and put in ghost jail before they'd allow some teenage menace to help them. Oh wait...

Read on AO3 or FFN

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"Should we call Jazz or Danny?" Jack suggested.

Maddie stared out into the unending void of the Ghost Zone. It hurt to think that their voyage, a trip that they had been planning out for months, would end so soon already, but they had barely made any progress when they realized just how much fuel the Specter Speeder was guzzling. Something was wrong.

"...Not yet," she determined. "We should have emergency fuel. We should be able to get back without any problems. Can you refill?"

"You got it," Jack replied, and he got out of the co-pilot seat. She could hear him go to the back, and shuffling around. He didn't say anything for a while, and that immediately began to unnerve her, but she kept her attention on the dashboard, trying to think of what went wrong when building. Was their fuel lines loose? Was there gas leaking everywhere? "Uh, Mads? I'm not seeing it?"

Her blood froze, but no need to panic. Maybe he just didn't see…

Maddie walked to the back and checked. And checked. Moved some stuff around, checked some more.

They had no emergency fuel.

"Why don't we go outside and check the engine?" Jack suggested. "Maybe we can figure something out." With a dry mouth, she nodded, and they hesitantly went outside to check.

There were no ghosts around, thankfully, just an endless green void. They knew that they would be safe breathing in the GZ air, thanks to their prior tests and experiments. They hooked themselves to a rope using a carabiner clip, the other end tied tightly to the speeder. Floating unnerved her, and she kept a hand on the speeder as they went to the front of the speeder. Jack popped the hood, and smoke floated out, making Maddie's heart sink. This was definitely not a good sign at all, or something that could be a simple fix.

"Need some help?"

Maddie looked over her shoulder to see…

"Absolutely not," she scowled. Phantom was floating nearby.

"Are you sure?" he asked. He floated up a bit higher to glance at their vehicle. "Looks like you got. Well, uh, basically car trouble."

"Leave. Now."

Phantom opened his mouth to say more, but Maddie pulled her ecto-gun out.

"We don't want help from some lowlife ghost!" she hissed. Phantom put his hands up in surrender and flew away.

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An hour passed, and they decided to take a break working on the engine. Every possible problem that she could think of had been exhausted, and she had to take a break to both cool down and think. She sat on the steps leading into the speeder, with Jack deciding to lay on the floor of the inside.

"Fuel line wasn't broken, none of the lines were cut or had knicks. There's no reason it should be draining so much gas," Jack thunk aloud. "There shouldn't be anything besides the engine that the gas is going to, and there's no weird random connections to anywhere else. The battery's still good."

"And we forgot the emergency fuel," Maddie slumped over. Jack sighed.

"It's my own fault," he replied. "I should have checked to make sure Jazz and Danny had properly put all the supplies in. A proper exploration team always triple checks before a voyage."

Maddie could only give a low hum of agreement as she stared out into the zone. She felt somebody pat the side of the speeder, and she scowled as she saw Phantom grinning at her, giving a half way.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I brought help this time," Phantom told her, and he jerked a thumb behind him. It was finally then that she noticed the Red Huntress. Maddie raised an eyebrow.

"How in the world…" she murmured, only to trail off as she stared at the two of them. Jack sat up, and he poked his head out of the speeder.

"Oh dope! It's my favorite huntress!" Jack boomed. Red seemed bashful at the comment, shifting her weight onto her other foot and rubbing her upper arm.

"I mean, if you don't trust me or want my help, I figured you'd be willing to let a human help," Phantom explained, motioning towards Red.

"So, do you need help?" Red finally spoke up. She reached down to pat her left calf. "I have some tools with me, but I can always go and fetch more."

Something in Maddie's gut told her that this was very, very odd. Humans and ghosts working together so...willingly like this. She had taken note that Phantom and Red hadn't hunted each other down or fought like they used to, but she just assumed that they didn't quite run into each other that much anymore. Both were unpredictable with odd schedules and routines.

She glanced at Jack, who despite his initial enthusiasm, seemed to share her feelings, and she shook her head no.

"We'll be fine," she insisted. "You two should leave."

Red stared at Phantom, who shrugged his shoulders.

"So, wanna just go get some boba tea?" Phantom asked.

"And just leave them here?" Red scowled, motioning to the Fentons.

"They don't want our help," he replied. Red glanced from Phantom and the Fentons, who studied the two of them. She finally shrugged as well.

The two began to idly chat as they flew off, their conversation becoming more and more distant.

"That was weird," Maddie mused.

"Yeah, I thought she and Phantom were rivals," Jack mused. Maddie shrugged. Right now she wasn't too invested in the mystery. She'd worry about that later when they got home.

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Judging by their phones (which they had worriedly learned that they oh-so-helpfully had no reception in the land of the undead), another hour passed since Phantom and Red had left. Jack was deep into the engine, fiddling with a possible solution to the problem as Maddie stood nearby. She continued to think as she looked around. She was surprised that they hadn't been bothered by now.

"Trespassing in an unauthorized vehicle that is also a real world item," a deep southern voice boomed. Well, she absolutely spoke too soon.

They whipped their heads to see a huge, hulking figure, an all white man with a black hat, black gloves and wearing a suit of white.

"Ghost!" Jack squawked. He scrambled to grab his gun, Maddie already having hers drawn. The ghost frowned deeply. Maddie was finally very aware of just how many ghosts were surrounding them. Too many to count, but they all looked exactly like the ghosts that terrorized Amity Park years before, all identical and matching in uniform that resembled a SWAT team. There was also vehicles resembling police cars and police vans.

"Resisting arrest. That's against the rules," he continued. He opened a large green and white book in his hands, flipping to another page. "Assault and battery with a deadly weapon." He glanced up at them with an angry glare. "Y'all are going away for a long, long time."

"We're not going anywhere," Jack frowned. He charged up his weapon.

Maddie looked around, and she shivered anxiously. There was no way they could take on all these ghosts. She nudged Jack, and he side-eyed her curiously. She lowered her weapon, and she used her head to motion around them. Jack blinked as he looked himself, and all of his confidence left him. He also lowered his weapon.

"We'll go," Maddie finally spoke. The ghost smirked, and he knocked on the side of a police van. The back opened up.

"Surrender your weapons," he ordered.

One of the SWAT ghosts came forward with his arms outstretched. Reluctantly, the adults handed their weapons over, detaching themselves from the speeder and getting into the van.

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Their cell was a lot like a normal cell, and it was just them. Iron bars, no windows, single toilet, and four bunk beds. Jack was laying on one of the beds, facing the fall, as Maddie laid on the one across from him, staring up at the bunk bed above her.

Of course. Of course they ended up in ghost jail. It was just their luck. Though a scientist part of her was giddy at knowing that ghosts had some kind of legal system! Who would have known!

As she tried to start figuring out what on earth to do, she heard something banging against the jail bars.

She immediately sat up, staring to see Phantom making the noise by banging something in his hand on the bars. He was staring at them with a bright smile, and it only made her mood drop even more.

"Phantom!" Maddie hissed, standing fully and going up to the bars. "How did you find us?"

"We came back to check on you guys and see if you changed your minds," Phantom explained. Jack got up from his own bed to come over, looking surprised to see the infamous ghost teen. "Technus and Skulker were looting your speeder, and they said Walker arrested you. So we came by as quickly as we could."

The Fenton adults could see Red nearby, glancing around the corner. She was keeping watch.

"We're not going with you," Jack replied. Phantom rolled his eyes.

"Okay, and what? Stay here forever? Never see your kids again?" he asked. Their faces instantly dropped. "So do you wanna go home or not?"

Maddie narrowed her eyes at him before noticing that he was holding a metallic-looking cup of boba tea and raising an eyebrow.

"You brought a snack with you," she said. Phantom shrugged, offering it to her.

"Want a sip?"

"No! Just!" Maddie glanced at Jack worriedly, and he mirrored her expression. They, unfortunately, knew that they really...didn't have a choice. "Get us out of here!"

"Danny, you may wanna hurry it up," Red's voice called out softly to them. Maddie did a double take. Oh yeah. Danny Phantom. Huh, she kinda forgot about that.

Phantom nodded, and he dropped the boba tea, letting it float in the air as he phased them out of the jail cell. Maddie stared at him.

"Wait, you can just phase through?" she asked. Phantom shrugged.

"Uh, sorta yes, sorta no," he replied, grabbing his tea.

"Danny!" Red's voice hissed. Phantom glanced to her.

"Okay, so super quick rundown of Ghost Zone rules. In the Ghost Zone, you guys are the ghosts, so you basically can fly and phase through objects, so Red can phase through objects and you guys too, but this is also a human cell that only I can get you out, and speaking out getting out, we need to leave. Now," Phantom quickly explained. As soon as he finished, he motioned for them to follow him.

He began to fly towards Red, and they jogged after him. Phantom peered around the corner before pulling back. Red did too.

"How's our escape route looking?" Phantom asked. He took a sip of his drink as Red pulled up a map on her suit. She studied it for a bit.

"Hmm. We may run into some trouble," Red mused. "Best bet is for me to take Mr. and Mrs. Fenton and phase with them out of here, and…" She gave a weird pause. "We'll uh. Wait for you to escape on your own." Phantom sucked on his drink, and the sound of air coming through as he ran out of boba tea grinded Maddie's nerves.

"Oh would you just!" Maddie scowled, and she slapped the cup out of Phantom's hands.

"Hey! I paid for that!" Phantom cried out. He scrambled to pick it up. "They were having an unlimited refills special if you got that cup!" Red snorted in amusement.

"Danny, they kicked you out for getting too many refills anyway," she reminded him. Phantom made a face.

"Well maybe they shouldn't advertise it as unlimited refills then," he retorted.

"Most people don't drink twelve cups of boba tea," she replied.

"Maybe I should be rewarded for being able to drink that much then."

"Hm, we'll debate it later," Red replied. "Look, I'll get them out and meet you on the other side. Got it?"

"Got it," Phantom replied. To Maddie's horror and shock, Red lifted her visor up, but not all the way. Just enough to expose her lips, and she leaned into Phantom to give him a light peck on the lips.

"Be careful," she told him. Phantom nodded.

"I will," he promised. "If I'm not with you in five minutes. Just." He paused. "Leave without me, get the Fentons home, and then come back for me." Red nodded as her visor went all the way down.

"Grab my hands," Red instructed the Fentons. Maddie blinked, reluctantly taking one of her hands. Jack took the other. Red summoned her board, jumping in the air and allowing it to manifest beneath her. She held onto them tightly and flew through the walls.

Instinctively, Maddie closed her eyes as she flew through. Only to feel no impact. A blur of walls impaired her vision with constant flashes of the darkness of being in a thick jail wall and the light of the prison rooms and hallways. She blinked as the neutral green skies of the Ghost Zone finally greeted her, and Red continued flying until they were a decent distance from the prison. And now that she had a moment to think…

"What the hell are you thinking?" she exclaimed to Red. The huntress snapped her attention to her in confusion.

"What? You would have died if we let you stay in there!" she scowled.

"No, not that!" Maddie clarified. "I mean, thank you so much for helping us, but you? And Phantom?"

"Exactly!" Jack agreed. "He's an absolute menace! He's a danger! Don't you guys fight? What happened to all of that?"

She could see a glimpse of Red's face under her heavily tinted visor, and Maddie was sure that the girl looked embarrassed and was likely turning as red as her suit.

"Oh man, it's a looong story," Red sighed heavily. "Uh, best and easiest and quickest way I can explain it is; a lot of the things that made me angry with him was a misunderstanding, and I found out that he's...actually a really sweet guy. I know it's weird to say, but, um. Well, I've never met a guy who was so kind, thoughtful and romantic. My life's kinda hectic, and he just...he really goes out of his way to make it easier on me."

"How so?" Jack wondered.

"Well, like. He does a lot of my household chores and stuff like laundry, bringing me lunch when I have long shifts at work, listening to me when I have a bad day," she explained. "He makes life a lot easier and better."

How cute. If it wasn't between a dead teenage menace and this poor, obviously manipulated girl. It honestly reminded Maddie a lot of her own Danny and his little girlfriend, Valerie. Valerie told her a few times about Danny doing some of her chores at home since Valerie was so busy working and doing school. It kinda pissed Maddie off, since Danny never seemed to remember his own chores at home, but she never felt like bringing it up to him because, well, at least he was really good to her. She'd be ashamed of him if he was any lesser.

"Hey!" Phantom called out as he zoomed towards them. "Let's go! Quick!"

Red nodded. She passed Jack off to Phantom, and the two teenagers flew the Fentons home.

[thelastspeecher]

Amphibious Tendencies - Chapter 8: Agalychnis callidryas

Chapter 1   Chapter 2   Chapter 3   Chapter 4   Chapter 5   Chapter 6   Chapter 7   Chapter 8   Chapter 9   Chapter 10   AO3

I wanted to get this chapter posted before the end of the year, ideally before the holidays, and I’m so glad I managed to get it done.  And don’t worry if you feel like this chapter has a distinct lack of McGucket content, there will be plenty in Chapter 9.  Enjoy.

— 

Summary: Dipper, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy try to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding the Author, only to discover that someone they know has secrets of his own.

When going to sleep, the red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) will conceal its brightly colored sides and feet to better blend in with the foliage around it.

——————————————————————————————

             Dipper paced back and forth in front of the fake tree that had led him to the Journal.  The forest was still, the only sound being bird calls in the distance.

             “I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you here today,” he began.  Soos raised his hand.  Dipper stopped pacing.  “Yes, Soos?”

             “I thought Wendy would be joining us,” Soos said. Dipper sighed.

             “Unfortunately, it looks like she won’t make it,” he said. “She told me she might not be able to sneak away from her family.”

             “Aw, that sucks,” Mabel said.  She winked.  “Especially for you.”

             “What- not for-” Dipper stammered.  Mabel giggled.

             “Did you guys really think you’d go on another wild adventure without me?” a voice asked.  Dipper, Mabel, and Soos looked over.  Wendy was walking up to them, grinning.  A young man who looked like a lanky version of Manly Dan followed her.

             “Wendy!” Dipper said eagerly.  Too eagerly.  He hurriedly cleared his throat.  “Glad you could make it,” he said in a more subdued tone.

             “Yeah, it was a bit tough to get outta the house,” Wendy drawled.  She jabbed her thumb behind her, at the man she had come with.  “Hope you don’t mind I brought my big brother.  He’s my ride.”  Wendy’s brother waved cheerfully.  He was even taller than Wendy and like her, wore a flannel and muddy boots, though his shirt was gray.  “Bro, this is Dipper and Mabel.  You already know Soos.”

             “I see the family resemblance,” Mabel said thoughtfully.  Wendy’s brother chuckled.

             “Thanks,” he said.  He had a deep voice but spoke gentler and softer than Manly Dan.

             “Why haven’t we met you yet?” Mabel asked.

             “Jonah works at our cousin’s logging camp upstate during the summer,” Wendy answered.  Her brother, Jonah, nodded.  “It’s a coupla hours away, so he can’t visit that often.”

             “Yeah, I figured I’d supervise you kids before I drop by the Shack to help with the repairs after that earthquake or whatever,” Jonah said.  He raised a thick, red eyebrow.  “Wendy said something about a book and the mysteries of Gravity Falls?”

             “What exactly did Wendy say?” Dipper said suspiciously.  Wendy rolled her eyes.

             “C’mon, dude, Jonah’s cool.”  When Dipper still seemed doubtful, Wendy tried another tactic. “If you can trust me, you can trust him.”  Wendy looked at Soos.  “Back me up, Soos.”

             “She’s right,” Soos said.  “Jonah’s trustworthy.  He even worked at the Shack for a while!”

             “All right,” Dipper said reluctantly.  “I’ll start from the beginning, then.”  He cleared his throat.  “Soon after Mabel and I came to Gravity Falls, I found this book in the woods.”  Dipper held up the Journal.  Jonah nodded thoughtfully.  “It contains all the secrets of this strange town, but the biggest mystery is who wrote it. Who was the Author?”  Jonah furrowed his brow.  “Thirty years ago, the Author vanished without a trace.  But according to a new clue, we may have found his secret hideout.”

             “What new clue?” Jonah asked, visibly invested in what Dipper was talking about.

             “The Author wrote a bunch of secret messages in invisible ink, which could only be seen under a black light.  Using this, I was able to determine that the Author had some sort of hiding place in this area.  I found the Journal around here, so it’s not that much of a surprise.”

             “Did you dig it up or something?” Jonah asked.

             “No, I opened a panel in this tree and found a switch that opened up a hole in the ground,” Dipper rattled off.  Jonah looked at Wendy, who was looking at the tree thoughtfully.

             “Whattaya think?”

             “I think that branch looks like a lever,” Wendy said.  Jonah grinned.

             “That’s what I thought.  Care to do the honors?”

             “You know it,” she said with a wink.

             “That does look like a lever,” Dipper muttered to himself.  He turned away from the tree, frowning thoughtfully.  “But how could we get up there?  Maybe a ladder?  Or ladder-shoes?  Or-”

             “Kid,” Jonah said gently.  Dipper looked up at him.  Jonah nodded at the tree.  “She’s got it under control.”  Dipper turned around to see Wendy, who had managed to climb up the tree while his back was turned.  He gaped. Wendy took an axe out of her belt and used it to hit the lever disguised as a branch.

  ��          “Boosh,” she said casually.

             “Wow!” Mabel gasped.  Soos let out a low whoop.  Wendy shrugged.

             “Yeah, Dad made us do a buncha lumberjack games when we were younger.  Guess I kinda ruled at it.”  She grinned at Jonah.  “Unlike some people.”  Jonah rolled his eyes.  He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, the tree began to shake. Three birds perched in the upper branches cawed in distress and flew away.  “Whoa!”  Wendy fell out of the tree.

             “Wendy!”  Jonah rushed forward, just barely managing to catch Wendy in his arms.  He stumbled backward as the ground below his feet began to sink, along with the tree.  They all watched the tree lower into a massive hole.  Finally, the tree stopped sinking.  Wooden boards sprung from the sides of the hole, forming a circular staircase to the bottom.  The base of the tree, at the bottom of the hole, opened up, revealing a door.

             “This is it.  This is the Author’s secret bunker,” Dipper said excitedly.  Jonah grimaced.

             “I was not expecting something this intense.”

             “Oh, this isn’t even half as intense as it usually gets,” Mabel said, waving a hand airily.  Jonah looked at her.

             “Really?”

             “Yep!”

             “That’s…not great.”

             “Whatever we find down there, we tell no one,” Dipper said solemnly.

             “Unless we find a dead body or something,” Jonah said. Mabel’s eyes widened.  “I’m not saying we will, but I’m also not saying we won’t.”

             “There’s a non-zero chance of finding a body anywhere,” Dipper said with a shrug.  Jonah blinked, bemused.  Dipper held up a lantern.  “Who wants to go first?”

-----

             They descended the spiral staircase, the lantern illuminating their way, light reflecting off of cobwebs that could have been decades old.  The stairs led them directly into a large room.  

             The room had clearly been prepared with some sort of apocalypse in mind.  A large metal cabinet in the back was helpfully labeled “Weapons”, a gas mask hung from a hook on the wall, and there was even a large metal sign proclaiming the room to be a fallout shelter. An uncomfortable-looking cot was shoved against the wall, like it had been pushed to the side to make room for more important things.  A calendar for 1982 hung above it.

             “This is stupid cool,” Wendy said, excitement coloring her voice.  Jonah made a non-committal noise.

             “It’s like a fallout shelter or something,” Dipper said, setting the lantern down on a wooden crate.  “It must’ve belonged to the Author.”  Jonah raised an eyebrow.  He looked over at the sign that read “Fallout Shelter” on the wall.

             “Uh, yeah, I think it’s a fallout shelter,” he said dryly.  Dipper ignored him, instead walking up to a wall with shelves reaching from the floor to the ceiling, each one filled with boxes.

             “This is going over my bed,” Wendy said cheerfully, taking the fallout shelter sign off the wall.  Jonah sighed and rolled his eyes.  “You’re not gonna get on my case for stealing or whatever, are you?”

             “No,” Jonah said.  “Clearly, whoever owned all this hasn’t been keeping track of it, so I guess it’s fair game.”

             “This is incredible!” Dipper gushed.  He stared up at the boxes.  Each was labeled with a year, the highest labeled “2070”.  “It’s like he was preparing for a disaster. But what kind of disaster would need supplies for over sixty years?”

             “Nuclear warfare comes to mind,” Jonah said. “This place is a fallout shelter, after all.”

             “Why would he be worried about nuclear warfare, though?” Dipper mused.  Jonah shrugged.  He looked over at Mabel.

             “Mabel, get your face out of the barrel.”

             “But there’s caterpillars in here,” Mabel protested.

             “Geez,” Jonah sighed.  His eyes landed on the weapons cabinet.  He stilled.  

             “Isn’t this insane, Jonah?” Wendy asked.  Jonah was silent.  “Bro?”

             “Huh?”  Jonah looked over.

             “You all right?”

             “Yeah, I’m…”  Jonah cleared his throat.  “It’s just…this all seems familiar.”

             “Familiar?” Soos repeated, holding the Smez dispenser he had found in the weapons cabinet.  “Why, dude?” Jonah shook his head.

             “No idea.”  He forced a smile at his younger sister.  “But, yes, Wendy, this is insane.”

             “Wait a minute…” Wendy said slowly.  She walked over to a map of Gravity Falls that had been taped to the wall.  She ripped it off, revealing a hatch that read “Caution Stay Out”.  The hatch slowly swung open.  Wendy grinned at the tunnel it had been covering.  “I think we’ve got some more bunker to explore.”

             “Whoa,” Dipper, Mabel, and Soos said together. Wendy looked over her shoulder at Jonah, who was still standing near the staircase.

             “Are you coming or what?” she teased.  Jonah managed a weary smile.

             “I have to keep an eye on you, don’t I?”  He walked over.  “As the one who found the tunnel, I think you should lead the way.” Wendy punched his arm playfully.

             “Don’t have to tell me twice!”

-----

             All five tumbled out of the rapidly shrinking room the tunnel had led them to.  They landed soundly on the floor of a new room, one that didn’t have walls closing in on them.

             “What a rush!” Wendy gushed.  She looked at Dipper.  “Dude, that was awesome!  The way you got us outta that in the nick of time?”  Dipper rubbed the back of his neck.

             “Th-thanks,” he stammered.  Jonah eyed his sister concernedly.

             “I’m glad you’re not traumatized by that booby trap, but I’m a bit worried that you seem to have actually enjoyed it,” he said. “You’re not an adrenaline junkie or something, are you?”  Wendy merely gave him a crooked grin.  Jonah sighed and got to his feet.

             “Whoa,” Dipper breathed.  The others uttered similar hushed exclamations of wonder as they stood.  The room they had fallen into was similar to the first one they had entered.  With one major exception.  One wall of the room was covered with screens, switches, and buttons.  Another wall was covered with shelves, which were themselves filled with empty lab glassware.

             “It’s like a weird surveillance room,” Wendy remarked.  

             “How are we gonna get out?” Jonah wondered, going back to now blocked off entrance they had fallen through.  “Oh, Dipper, your vest got stuck.”  Jonah tugged Dipper’s vest loose.  As he did so, a piece of paper fell from Dipper’s vest.

             “Um, I’ll get that,” Dipper said quickly. Before he could do anything, however, Jonah picked up the paper.  “No need to-” Dipper said, hurrying over.  Jonah looked down at him with a small smile.

             “It’s okay, kid,” he said softly.  He handed Dipper the vest and note.  “I’m not gonna read your little love confession.”

             “How- how did-”

             “I was your age once.  I know how these things go.”  Jonah looked over at Wendy, who was laughing at Soos messing with the glassware.  “You’re also not doing the best job hiding the enormous crush you’ve got on my sister.” Dipper turned red.

             “I’m not- you’re-”

             “Like I said, it’s okay,” Jonah said firmly. “But a word of advice.  Come clean to Wendy.”

             “But she’ll laugh at me.”

             “No, she won’t.”

             “Then…do you think she might…”  Dipper swallowed.  “Feel the same way?”

             “Not a chance.”

             “Then why would I-”

             “Because keeping this bottled up won’t help you,” Jonah said.  “You have to move on, and you can’t do that while you’re still stuck on her.”  Jonah crouched so that he was at Dipper’s eye-height. “It sucks, but it’s something you have to do.  Trust me, I know about growing and changing better than anyone.”  Jonah patted Dipper’s shoulder and straightened.

             “The Author was pretty crazy, huh?” Wendy said.

             “Yeah, he seems paranoid,” Jonah said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.  He looked around.  His eyes fell upon a note taped to the wall.  Dipper followed his gaze.

             “What’s that?” Dipper asked.

             “Dunno,” Jonah said with a shrug.  Mabel, who was closest to the note, took it off the wall.

             “Experiment #210, the Shapeshifter, has somehow escaped. Consult B for suggestions on tracking and capturing,” she read aloud.  Dipper’s eyes widened.

             “The Author made a reference to someone called B in the Journal,” he said.  He took the Journal out and began to flip through the pages.  “I think he might have said it when he was talking about-” Jonah stopped Dipper’s page turning. Dipper looked up at him.  “What?”

             “That’s…” Jonah croaked.  He had gone deathly pale.  Dipper looked at the page the book was open to.

             “It’s just the entry on about cryogenic tubes and-” Jonah took the Journal from Dipper. “Hey!”

             “Is that why this is so familiar?” Jonah whispered. Everyone else exchanged nervous looks.

             “Jonah, what’s going on in that head of yours?” Wendy asked.  “You’re acting way weird.”

             “Just gimme a second, okay?” Jonah said.  He looked around.  Upon spotting a door, he walked over to it and opened it.

             “That’s just a closet,” Wendy said.

             “No.  It’s not,” Jonah said.  He grabbed a cord hanging from the ceiling of the closet.  A gush of water from the ceiling soon followed, accompanied by a loud klaxon.  The back of the closet opened, revealing yet another room.  Jonah entered it.

             “Son of a-” Wendy muttered.  She went after her brother.  Dipper looked at Mabel and Soos, who both shrugged.  The three followed Wendy and Jonah deeper into the bunker.

             “Okay, this is just being stereotypical,” Mabel said, her hands on her hips.  The room they were now in was a clearly abandoned laboratory, filled with strange machinery.  “Would it kill the Author to make his mad scientist lair be sparkly or pink or something? Maybe put a sticker here and there?” She gestured to the corner. “There’s even a cage that something must’ve broken out of!  Really, where’s the creativity?”

             “Whoa,” Dipper murmured, staring at the cage in the corner.  Sure enough, the metal bars had been brutally ripped apart.

             “I can’t believe it,” Jonah whispered.  All eyes focused on him.  He stood before a large cryogenic tube in the middle of the room. “This is what he was going to do to me?” he said quietly.  Wendy crossed her arms.

             “Okay, that’s enough.”  She marched over to Jonah.  “Dude, what’s going on?” she demanded.  Jonah sighed.

             “Wendy, I never told you this, but…”  He met Wendy’s eyes.  “I’m adopted.”

             “No way!” Soos gasped.  Wendy furrowed her brow.

             “That makes zero sense.  You look just like Dad!  And you act just like Mom!”

             “The personality happened accidentally,” Jonah said. “You tend to pick things up from the people who raised you.  But my appearance was on purpose.”  He looked at the others.  “None of you freak out, okay?  Or-” Jonah grimaced.  “-put me in a cryogenic tube.”

             Before their very eyes, Jonah’s form changed from human to something very different.  His skin was white and slimy, he had four legs that resembled a spider’s, and his head was roughly the same shape as a horse’s.  Four fangs stuck outside of his mouth, and each hand had three clawed fingers.  He looked at them with baleful red eyes.

             “The- the-” Dipper stammered.

             “You’re the Shapeshifter?” Mabel said.  Jonah’s flesh shifted and changed until he was back to looking like a younger, slender Manly Dan.

             “Yeah.  I am.”

             “That’s why you were acting so weird,” Wendy said. “Why you kept saying all this junk was familiar.”  Jonah nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

             “Kids can’t always be trusted with big secrets like that,” Jonah said gently.  Wendy rolled her eyes.

             “I think I’m old enough to know how to keep stuff under wraps.”  To demonstrate, she made a motion as though she was zipping her mouth shut.

             “No, I agree.  But after Mom…”  Jonah trailed off.  He cleared his throat.  “Dad wanted to wait a while longer, since you and our brothers were already dealing with so much.  You didn’t need to deal with this, too.”  A silence fell.

             “How’d you wind up being Wendy’s brother?” Mabel finally asked.  “Also, how’d you escape from the Author?”  Jonah managed a weak grin.

             “I don’t know the answer to the second question, but I know the answer to the first.  Angie found me in the forest.”

             “Wait, wait, wait,” Dipper said, holding up his hands. “Grauntie Angie found you?”

             “Yep.”

             “I’m not surprised by that,” Wendy said.  “Dr. Angie brings a lotta things home from her hikes.  I’ve heard Mr. Pines complain about it.”  Jonah chuckled.

             “Yeah, she actually wanted to keep me.  But she and Stan had their hands full with Junior at the time.  So they brought me to Mom and Dad instead.”  Dipper stared at Jonah.

             “Hang on, did you say that Grunkle Stan knows you’re…”

             “An alien?  Yeah, he knows.”  Jonah’s smile became more genuine.  “And he never treated me any different for it.  He’s a tough one, but he’s a good guy deep down.”

             “Back up, back up,” Wendy said.  “You’re an alien?”

             “You guys keep wanting me to go back to something I just said,” Jonah commented, amused.

             “It’s a lot to take in,” Wendy pointed out. Jonah shrugged.

             “Fair enough.  Yeah, I’m an alien.  According to Angie, at least.”

             “How could Grauntie Angie know that?” Dipper asked.

             “I mean, she is a biologist.”

             “Or…”  Dipper began to pace back and forth.  “The Author told her.”

             “Are you suggesting Dr. Angie was in cahoots with the Author?” Soos asked.  Dipper frowned, still pacing.

             “I wasn’t, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she was. She’s a researcher herself, after all. She could have worked with the Author while he studied the magical creatures of Gravity Falls.  It would explain how she knows so much about the weird things around here.”

             “She also could have figured it out on her own,” Wendy said firmly.  “You guys haven’t had a chance to see her in action, but she’s crazy smart.”

             “But-”

             “I just don’t think Dr. Angie would ever work with someone who would cage up Jonah,” Wendy said.  “I’ve seen her talk to the gnomes and stuff, and she’s always very respectful.”  Soos nodded. Dipper stopped pacing.

             “Well, then…”  He looked over at the cryogenic tubes.  “Maybe she knew the Author well enough to get in here and rescue Jonah.”

             “No,” Jonah said, shaking his head.  “It’s- things are coming back to me a bit.  I remember someone green taking me out of the cage.”

             “Green?” Mabel asked, cocking her head.  “Like, wearing green?”

             “No.  I…” Jonah’s forehead wrinkled.  “I remember green hands picking me up and putting me in a box or something.”

             “Anything else?” Dipper pried.

             “Um.”  Jonah looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully.  “Yes.  Angie took me out of the box.  But that’s it.”

             “You really don’t remember anything about the Author?” Soos asked.  Jonah shook his head.

             “No.  I don’t. If I do, I’ll let you know.”

             “So, Dr. Angie did lie a bit,” Wendy said slowly. “She didn’t find you in the woods.”

             “I guess not.”

             “I bet she set up some sort of arrangement where someone rescued you and then handed you over to her.”

             “Maybe?” Jonah said, but he sounded doubtful. “Look, we need to stop jumping to conclusions.  That’s a dangerous thing to do in Gravity Falls.  You can never assume anything around here.  Just ask Angie when she gets back from her trip.”  He put a hand on Dipper’s shoulder.  “But be careful when you ask your questions, kid.  You might find out something you didn’t want to know.”

             “What does that mean?” Dipper asked.

             “Nothing, really,” Jonah said with a shrug.  He checked his watch.  “Aw, shi- shoot.  I need to get to the Shack.  I promised I’d help Stan out with the repairs.”  He headed for the entrance to the surveillance room.  “And I’ve never needed to hit something with a hammer more than I do right now.”

-----

             They emerged from the bunker, blinking in the sudden light.  Once the bunker entrance was hidden again, Jonah turned to Wendy.

             “I’ve really gotta get to the Shack.  Whatever happened to it, Stan needs a lotta help fixing it.”

             “It was zombies,” Mabel provided helpfully. Jonah stared at her.  “We defeated them with the power of music!”

             “I…”  Jonah shook his head.  “This town, I swear.”

             “You’re an alien,” Soos pointed out.

             “Yeah, but even I can only handle so much weirdness before I need a break,” Jonah retorted.  “Wendy, think you can find your way home?”

             “Who do you think you’re talking to?” Wendy asked. “I’ve got feet, I can walk.” Jonah kissed her forehead. “Gross, dude!”

             “Nah.”  Jonah waved at Dipper and Mabel.  “It was…” He paused.  “…nice meeting you two.  See you later, Soos.”

             “Later, dude!” Soos called.  Jonah walked away, muttering something under his breath. Mabel sighed loudly.

             “I think we could use some food after all these…” She waved her arms around animatedly. “Revelations.”

             “I think there’s still leftovers from the breakfast Emily made yesterday,” Soos said thoughtfully.  Mabel let out a whoop.

             “Yes!  She doesn’t skimp on the sugar!” she enthused.  Soos scooped her up and placed her on his shoulders.  He marched away, both of them chanting about syrup.

             Dipper looked up at Wendy, who was still staring off in the direction Jonah had gone.

             It’s now or never.

             “Wendy,” he croaked.  Wendy looked over.

             “Yeah?”

             “I…I’ve got something to tell you.”

             “Shoot.”

             “I-”  Dipper squeezed his eyes shut.  “I’m- I’ve got-”  He took a deep breath.  “I think I’m in love with you.”  Silence. Dipper cautiously opened his eyes. Wendy smiled at him reassuringly. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean it, can we pretend I never-” Dipper said in a rush.  Wendy put a hand on Dipper’s shoulder.

             “Dude, dude, calm down.  It’s okay.”  She shrugged. “I always kinda knew.”

             “Wait, really?”

             “Yeah, man, you’re always like, muttering stuff under your breath,” Wendy said with a slight chuckle.  Dipper groaned loudly.  He sat down heavily upon a nearby log.  Wendy sat down next to him.  “Look, I’m like, flattered or whatever, but…I’m too old for you.  You know that, right?”

             “…Yeah,” Dipper muttered.  He put his head in his hands.  “Jonah said I needed to tell you in order to move on.”

             “Do you think you can?” Wendy asked after a moment.

             “I don’t know how to tell that.”

             “It’s something you feel.  Like a weight being lifted off your shoulders, that kinda thing.”

             “I just sorta feel…itchy,” Dipper said, idly scratching his latest misspelled mosquito bite warning.

             “Aw, don’t feel itchy!”  Wendy elbowed him.  “Look, man, my summer was boring as heck before you showed up.  I have more fun with you than practically anybody else!”

             “Really?”

             “We fought ghosts together!” Wendy said firmly. Dipper managed a slight chuckle. “If you stopped being my friend, I’d track down that nixie and get it to turn me into a frog, too.”

             “Heh.”  Dipper stared down at his shoes.  “Did I…did I just ruin things between us?”

             “What?  No!”

             “But things will be awkward-”

             “Dude, I just found out my big brother is an alien. That’s awkward.  This is nothing.”  Wendy smiled at him.  “After all the stuff you’ve done this summer, I think you can handle a little awkwardness.” Dipper returned her smile.

             “Friends?”

             “Yeah, dude!  That’s what I’ve been saying!”  Wendy playfully shoved him off the log.  Dipper laughed.  Wendy pulled him back up.  “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

             “Okay,” Dipper said with a nod.  Wendy got up from the log and walked away.  Dipper watched her vanish into the forest, something heavy settling in his chest.

             Abruptly, Mabel popped out of the bushes, startling him.

             “And?” she asked.  Dipper frowned at her.

             “What did you hear?”

             “Everything, all the time!”  Mabel joined him on the log.  “So…I was right!  You’ve got a crush on Wendy!”

             “Yeah,” Dipper said, too weary to respond to Mabel’s knowing tone.  “Jonah told me to tell her.”

             “He’s smart,” Soos’s voice said from behind them. “Um.  I mean.  I’m not here?”  Dipper groaned loudly.  He put his head in his hands.

             “Mabel, how can things be amazing and terrible at the same time?”

             “I’m sorry, Dipper,” Mabel said, patting him on the back.  “Sometimes, crushes don’t work out.  I mean, look at me.  I’ll never be with the guy from the twenty-dollar bill.”  She grinned.  “But if it makes you feel better, I’ve already got five potential bachelorettes lined up for you.”  Dipper chuckled.

             “Thanks,” he said.  Soos sat on the log with them.  “I can’t believe we ran into another dead end.  There wasn’t actually that much in the bunker, and if Jonah doesn’t know anything…”

             “Yeah, the Author’s doing a good job hiding his secrets,” Soos said.  “At least I got his sciencey coat and briefcase.”  He held up the aforementioned briefcase, which he had grabbed, along with a lab coat, from the surveillance room.  The briefcase popped open, revealing a computer screen and keyboard. Dipper gaped.

             “Soos, that’s not a briefcase, it’s a lapop!”

             “And a really busted up one, too,” Mabel said, wrinkling her nose.  Soos inspected the laptop carefully.

             “I bet I could get this fixed up in a few days,” he said.  “Gonna need a lotta duct tape,” he muttered to himself.

             “This could be our next clue!” Dipper enthused. He took the Journal out of his vest. “Well, one of them, anyways.  I think we need to figure out who ‘B’ is.”

             “From the note in the bunker?” Mabel asked.

             “B’s also mentioned in the Journal.  Clearly, whoever B is, they were someone the Author knew well.  Maybe he even trusted them.”

             “I dunno.  Didn’t he say to trust no one?” Mabel said doubtfully.

             “That’s why I said ‘maybe’.”  Dipper began to flip through the Journal.  “If only I could remember where the Author mentions B…” He stopped at the page on nixies. “Can’t believe my nixie trap hasn’t been working,” he griped.  Mabel leaned over.  She pointed at the page.  Dipper slapped his forehead.  “Duh! The Author mentioned B when he was writing about nixies!”

             “It looks like B is Mr. Ponds’ wife?” Mabel said. “That’s what mate means, right?”

             “In this context, yes, I think so.”  Dipper closed the Journal, his mind racing. “The Author actually worked with a magical creature.  And presumably, he worked with her more than the two times we know of.  We need to track her down.”

             “Or track down Mr. Ponds,” Soos said.

             “Yes.  But I don’t know how successful we’ll be.  Like I said, my nixie trap isn’t working.”

             “Maybe you should ask Dr. Angie for help.  Mr. Pines told me once that she knows how to hunt. Add that to her being a frog scientist, and I think you get the best person for the job.”

             “We can’t wait for her to get back before we make our next move,” Dipper said.

             “We could ask Emily to help,” Mabel said. “Or even Grunkle Stan.”  Dipper frowned at her.  “Jonah said Grunkle Stan knows about the weirdness in Gravity Falls. Maybe he’d help us if we told him it would keep the weirdness away?”

             “I don’t think that would be a very effective argument.”  Dipper shook his head.  He closed the Journal.  “We’ll figure out our next step after the laptop gets fixed.”  Soos saluted.

             “I’m on it, dudes!”

             “Good, now that’s all figured out,” Mabel said, jumping to her feet, “let’s get back before Grunkle Stan eats up all the good leftovers.”

[mercy-burning]

Say You’ll Remember Me (Songbird Chapter 1)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader Summary: After performing at open mic night at a bar downtown, Reader meets someone that could change everything for her. Rating: 18+ Warnings: Smut (oral sex - male and female receiving, fingering, male masturbation, cockwarming, penetrative sex, unprotected sex, creampie), Language Word Count: 7.1k

SERIES MASTERLIST SERIES PLAYLIST (new songs added with the release of each chapter)

***

Love never came easy to me. Truth be told, a lot of things never came easy to me, and I was okay with that, but love was probably the one thing I wish I could just let myself feel with no problem.

For as long as I could remember, I've wanted to be in love with someone as much as I'd seen my parents love each other. My older sister got a boyfriend when she was 17 and I was 11, and they've been together ever since. They're married with two children now, and just as in love now as they'd been when they met.

I've never seen anyone love the way I've seen my family love, but for some reason I was never able to give as much as them. I mean, I felt love obviously, but it was never that all-consuming, life-changing love that was supposed to make your head spin and your soul ache.

Maybe I just never found the right person, but every relationship I've ever been in ended because of my inability to give out as much love as I was given. And that's not to say that I didn't care about the people I've dated, they were all really great people in fact... But I could never fully be in it, you know? Some people give their all to another person, would do anything and everything for them if it meant they got to spend the rest of their lives together, but I never felt that. Sure, I could have settled in any of my relationships, but if I was going to actually spend my time building a life with another person, I was going to really feel like I needed it to survive. Or, like I deserved it, if I was going to go that far.

For the past few years I've pretty much given up on relationships. I've been on a few dates, had a few hookups here and there, but at this point I was almost certain that love wouldn't find me any time soon.

However, the one thing that filled that love-shaped void in my soul was music. Words, melodies, stories... It all made me feel the way I was convinced love was supposed to make you feel. Even if I never wrote songs about my (positive) experiences with love, I loved love songs, and most music in general. That was the one thing I was sure of. Music was the one and only love I knew I could count on. It kept me safe, it ensured that I wasn't alone, and it hugged me in a way where I've never felt more at home.

Which would explain why I was here on a Friday night, singing in front of an entire crowded bar. Performing and sharing my music with people was the best way I knew how to outwardly show... well, anything about myself, really. I didn't go to open mic nights often, but when I did it felt better than anything in the world.

Tonight was... different, though. Not in a bad way, of course, but there was something in the air that made me feel like something great was going to happen.

It was the same feeling I got whenever I knew I was about to get laid.

Now, say what you want about it, about me, but even if I sucked at finding love I sure knew how to have one-night stands. I loved sex. It was another way I was able to get that happy rush of feelings while being with another person without actually having to be in love with them. Truly, sex was the perfect outlet for me, and my music was a great tool that helped me get it. Not that I needed help—if I wanted sex bad enough I could easily look for it—but the fact that I could play several instruments and sing well definitely made things easier.

And tonight I wanted it bad.

I hadn't realized it until I tried to figure out what song to sing for open mic night, and in turn came to the conclusion that I hadn't had sex with another human being in about a month. Which wasn't a bad thing by any means, but it didn't change the fact that I wanted someone else to help me out in chasing that high this time.

So I opted to go with a cover of a song I knew would do the job no matter what. I brought my electric guitar with me and mirrored the Wildest Dreams performance that Taylor Swift did from the GRAMMY Museum. The song itself was sexy and sweet, but with the electric guitar and the electric guitar only, it made for less sweet and more sexy. I'd always loved that performance from the second I saw it, so as soon as I was able, I bought an electric guitar and taught myself to play it. It was a hit every time I performed it.

I was wearing a maroon, long sleeved turtle-neck crop top that exposed my belly-button ring (which was sparkling silver and caught the light in the bar beautifully, if I were to say so myself), a pair of tight jeans, and black glittery heels that I only ever pulled out when I was feeling brave. My hair was half-up and half-down, leaving a good amount of my face exposed which donned silver eyeliner, sheer lip gloss, and my eyebrow ring. Paired all together with my black and white guitar and shiny nail polish that matched the deep maroon of my shirt, I felt hot as hell. Better than I'd felt in a while if I was being honest.

It felt even better when I was performing. I was confident in my abilities as a musician, to which I considered myself fortunate. If only I could have been that confident in other departments, I feel like I would have been dead-set for life.

But tonight I didn't want to think about that.

I played the song just as well as I had every other time. Probably even better, if only for the fact that I was working to get myself a lay. But whatever the scenario, I was feeling good and that's all I'd ever wanted to accomplish.

I saw him immediately after I sang the last note and the final chord of my guitar faded out into the applause.

He's just... where my eyes decided to wander, I guess. I don't know exactly what it was, but I was thankful for it, even though I almost forgot to breathe with the way he looked back at me. I couldn't tell what color his eyes were because of how far away he was, but I'd have bet on my life that they were some shade of brown. He bit his lip rather nervously when he noticed me staring at him, unable to tear my eyes way, but nevertheless he kept his gaze trained on me. It was so strong I could have sworn they burned holes into my soul.

Or, more likely, my libido.

Either way, I knew it then, when I packed up my guitar and walked through the crowd to find him, that I wasn't going home alone for the first night in weeks.

That was a good feeling.

So good, in fact, that I allowed myself to be a little more vulnerable than normal. It wasn't anything huge, but it also wasn't like me at all.

While generally, guys are more notorious to be the ones kicking out the women after a one-night stand, I always found it the opposite. I hated waking up in the morning and having to kick some dude out of my apartment. They always put up some sort of fight when it came time to leave, and I didn't get why. All the women I've hooked up with were easier to communicate with on that front, so I didn't mind as much, but still made it a point to be the one coming and going no matter who I slept with.

There was something different about this guy, though. Again, my sex drive was probably getting the better of me, so it maybe wasn't the best idea to let him come to my apartment, but I truly believe that a part of me wanted this man to see where I lived. I... don't know what it was, or why it happened, but it felt exciting. It felt new. It sparked some newfound adventure in me that I didn't really know I craved until I had it.

That being said, I could almost tell immediately within minutes of talking to him that he was going to be a hard one to get to leave. But the thing is...

I didn't mind that.

Something deep inside me wanted to feel what it was like to wrap this man around my finger, to have him so invested in me that he didn't want to leave me, and it was a weird feeling. I didn't know what to do with it, exactly, other than test the waters and see what was going to come of it.

He was about to tell me his name. That's when I started to realize it was a bad idea, and I was already in a vulnerable position. So I held my hand out to his face, pressing my pointer finger to his lips and seductively licking my own.

"No names. Is that okay?"

Something in those brown eyes (I was right) practically begged me to let him say his name, and a part of me wanted to know what it was just so I could scream it. But I knew that if I knew his name, I was ultimately going to be in trouble.

Like I said, there was something different about him. I didn't know what it was, and I didn't want to know because if I did, then I was going to be even deeper in uncharted territory. Besides, if anything the mystery of having no names would make this even sexier. Right?

Reluctantly he nodded, and I slid my finger down his lips and under his chin, then over his throat. I saw the goosebumps form on his skin as I went lower, lightly over the navy blue sweater he was wearing and stopping at his lower stomach. I grabbed one of his belt loops and pulled him close to me, smiling softly as his eyes never stopped searching mine.

"You ready to show me a good time, Pretty Boy?"

He exhaled at the nickname , but I couldn't tell if it was from nerves or what... Either way, he said, "Yes," and I twisted his belt loop tighter with a wink.

***

She was the most captivating woman I think I'd ever seen.

She commanded every room she was in, made everyone pay attention to her, and even if she couldn't sing or play the guitar the effect would have been the same. Granted, I only ever saw her in the bar. So, technically only one room.

But it was about to be two.

I didn't even want to be in the bar, and I was going to leave since Derek, Emily, and Penelope ditched me for their own endeavors, but at the very last second a voice in the speakers cut through the radio-generated music announced that someone would be performing, officially kicking off open mic night.

It wasn't that that stopped me. But it was her name.

Y/N.

I had to wonder if, when she said, 'No names," she remembered or even knew that I'd already known it. Or maybe she just didn't want to know my name. Whatever that meant, it didn't deter me in any way from trying to take up any space or time that she had. After she locked eyes with me on stage, I sent out so many signals, hoping to whatever higher power was up there, if any, that she would come to me. I just... needed to know her. To see her up close.

Truthfully I don't know what made me think I had the right amount of confidence or skill to do anything other than babble incoherently or just stare in her presence, but thankfully she didn't have much of a knack for talking.

When she finally stood in front of me, I didn't know where to look. I knew ultimately that I should look at her face, but damn it if I couldn't help but look at all of her, my stomach naturally doing flips when I caught sight of her belly-button ring, and... Her hands... Good God, I couldn't stop staring at her hands. I realized once she was closer that that's mainly what I looked at while she was on stage. The way her fingers worked the guitar, making it look like it was the easiest thing in the world, it was enough to send me into a tailspin.

Truthfully I don't think there was one single flaw about her. Naturally all human beings have flaws, but as far as I could tell, from this first meeting, this woman was nothing but an angel sent from Heaven, specifically to destroy me.

My favorite part about her, though, was by far her voice. I didn't listen to much mainstream music, but if it sounded anything like that, then I wanted to hear all of it.

Forget angel... She was a siren.

Yeah. That was the perfect way to describe her.

And when she touched me...

I'm pretty sure I blacked out.

I say pretty sure, because I distinctly remember telling her, "Yes," when she'd asked me indirectly to leave with her, but everything else only came in one-second flashes. A moment where I was in her car, and more clearly a moment when she pulled me out of it and shoved me against the door after she closed it, running her glorious hands through my hair and attacking my neck with harsh, sloppy, butterfly-inducing kisses.

But I made myself remember when we were actually in the apartment, because there was no way I was going to let myself forget that moment.

So I was completely well-aware of everything around me when she unlocked the door, pulled me inside, and shoved me against another door for a second time that night. This time she kissed my lips, and I all but melted into her. Her tongue didn't waste any time slipping into my mouth, but I didn't waste any time trying to fight it. I would have given her anything she wanted, she didn't even have to ask for it.

That being said, she broke away from me, looked me dead in the eye, and asked, "Can I take your pants off?"

I nodded eagerly, choking out a breathy, "God, yes," as best as I could.

That seemed to be what she was looking for, because she all but groaned as she squatted on the floor and worked at my belt. I didn't know what to do with myself, my hands seeming to wander aimlessly before settling behind me on the door. Once she got my pants down, she looked up at me through those silver-painted eyelids and leaned forward, pressing a hot, wet kiss to my dick through my underwear.

Any other time in this sort of situation, I most likely would have felt embarrassed by whimpering the way I did, but seeing the primal lust widen her eyes as I did it completely erased any doubt I ever had. By the time she pulled my boxers down and licked a large, slow line up the underside of my dick, those doubts were completely wiped off the board, no evidence of them ever having been there.

I wanted to look at her more than anything, to memorize the way she looked wrapped around me, but my eyes wouldn't stay open. Everything I was feeling, every sensation that ran through my veins, every hot lick of her tongue as it swirled around my tip, every small stroke of her hand when she took a break to whisper filthy things to me... It all rendered me completely unable to think straight.

At one point I was almost at the breaking point, and she knew it, too, because she pulled away from me completely and stood straight, running one of her hands along the inside of my thigh as she went up. I opened my eyes to meet her, her mouth slick with a smear of her lip gloss and her saliva. She looked like she was on the brink of tears, but none of them had fallen. But the gleam in her eye, that's what stood out to me. She was so utterly consumed with burning desire that I would have done anything to satiate every need she had.

She waited a beat, studying my face and the way my lips were no doubt still smeared with her lip gloss. And then she grabbed one of my hands and brought it to cup her crotch, tilting her head to the side and practically sighing at the touch.

"Aren't you going to return the favor, Pretty Boy?"

My first instinct was to tell her I needed a second to breathe. But somehow I knew I wouldn't be breathing well regardless of what happened. I stumbled out of my shoes and pants as quickly as I could, using my hand to lightly rub along the seam of her jeans. As soon as I was free of constraints, I made a point to turn us around so she was the one with her back against the door. I helped her pull her pants off, and once they were, along with her heels, I draped one of her legs around my shoulder so the process would be easier for the both of us.

I've only ever gone down on a woman a few times, so it was safe to say I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to satisfy her. But even if I hadn't had much practice, I knew I was a good listener. I practically read people for a living, and I knew how to read behavior and body language. So I knew that that would be my strong suit here.

That being said, I did have some idea of where to start. So I looked up at her while I brought my tongue out to her panties, lightly dragging the tip of it along the seam that met the corner of  her thigh. On my way to the other side I pressed the lightest of kisses to where her clit would be through the fabric, and then repeated the process a few times, feeling her squirm beneath me. Once I could tell she was getting close to frustrated, I made it a point to drag my tongue upwards in a long swipe until I reached her clit. I kissed it again before using one of my fingers to come up and slide under the fabric, though not pushing it entirely aside.

She sighed out as my finger ran along the very tops of her lips. When I pushed it in just the slightest, gathering her wetness as my tongue still gently worked at her clit through her panties, I took the moment to look up at her.

If she wasn't already the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen, and in that moment she was even more perfect, her lip bit and her eyes on the verge of fluttering closed, I could only imagine what she would look like when I was inside of her.

I almost collapsed thinking about it, but went back to my task quickly, knowing that if I stopped thinking for once in my life then I wouldn't have to imagine it, and I could experience it instead.

So I finally pulled her panties aside and used the tip of my tongue again to taste her, just as lightly as I'd done it before. Only rather than fabric I was met with the smooth, slick taste of her pussy. I think I could actually hear her tremble under me as I flicked my tongue over her clit a few times, though everything I was feeling in that moment was so strong that it was more likely that I was losing every ability to think straight.

As time progressed I deepened my every movement, bringing my tongue deeper and harder through her gradually until the point where I was practically eating her out like a man starved. You could argue that I was starved for her in every sense of the word, but that moment wasn't about me. I was focused solely on making her feel good, paying attention to how tightly she gripped my hair when I briefly sucked on her clit, or the way she bucked her hips forward whenever I pushed my tongue inside of her as far as I could will it.

She seemed to like it best, though, when my fingers pumped slowly in and out of her in tandem with each swirl of my tongue around her clit. I took my time, savoring every second I could as my eyes stayed shut. I could barely keep them open.

When I finally did look up her, that seemed to finally be the thing that pushed her over the edge. Well, started to, anyway.

"Wait," she breathed, and for a second I thought maybe I'd done something wrong. I pulled away from her and raised an eyebrow, and all she did was look down at me, her eyes just as lust blown as they'd been before, if not even more. "I want you to edge me, can you do that? Just... keep bringing me there, but don't give me what I want. Not until I tell you to."

"Anything," I told her truthfully, keeping my eyes locked with hers as I brought my tongue to her once more. She shuddered under my touch as I worked at her clit again, quickly flicking over it as my fingers came up to hold her hips. It wasn't long before I brought her to the edge for the second time that night, and this time when I pulled away, I leaned my head into her thigh, pressing soft kisses to the inside. She was so focused on watching my face that she must not have noticed my fingers coming to slide into her again. She fluttered her eyes closed and leaned her head against the door with a soft thud as I fingered her, quickly picking up the pace as my tongue came out to lick at her thigh before I bit into it softly.

"Fuck, you're so fucking good with your hands," she managed to say through a moan.

I laughed a little, glancing over at her hands briefly and just letting the words fly from my mouth. "You're one to talk. The way you played that guitar? The way you touch me? Good God..."

She hummed hungrily, opening her eyes and pulling me up by my hair to pull me away from her. Her leg dropped from my shoulder and I stood up to meet her, towering over her by a good four to five inches.

For a moment we just stood there and stared at each other, both pants-less and desperate for each other but unwilling to do anything about it.

Until she pulled at my hair, craning my head to the side so she had access to my neck before running one of her hands down the side of my face, neck, and finding purchase gripping my shoulder. Her nails lightly scratched at my skin, sending a mess of goosebumps down my whole body, right before she took the other one and grabbed my bare ass.

"Baby, I've barely even touched you, yet."

I don't know what it was that made me so bold, but I smirked as both of her hands squeezed, causing her fingernails to leave indents into the skin on my right shoulder and my left ass cheek. "Touch me, then."

She was more than happy to oblige. Within seconds, both of her hands were slipping up my sweater and roaming my back and stomach as she leaned up and kissed me again. I met her lips happily, allowing her all the access she wanted to my tongue. At this point I was growing restless, wanting more than anything in the world to have her push me onto the bed, or the couch, or even the floor, and do to me whatever she saw fit.

My desperation must have broke the surface somehow, manifested in a way I hadn't noticed, because she laughed against my mouth, pushing me away and ripping off her shirt in one fluid motion. Which left her in only a grey bra that matched her panties.

"Take off your shirt," she said.

I didn't hesitate, doing as I was told and tossing it on the floor with our other clothes.

"Go sit on the couch."

I went there as quickly as I could, only feeling slightly embarrassed being the only one completely naked. But almost as soon as I sat down on her couch—truthfully one of the most comfortable ones I'd ever been on—she'd come up behind me and started massaging my scalp. I closed my eyes at the way it almost lolled me to sleep. If she did that any longer, I'm sure I would have.

Eventually, though, she slid her fingers down my neck and over my shoulders, resting them finally on my bare chest and drawing circles. She brought her lips down to my right ear and grazed it with her teeth before whispering, "Touch yourself for me? Go slow."

I didn't have to be told twice. As I'd quickly learned, I was pretty sure this woman could have done anything she wanted to me and I wouldn't have rejected her.

My hand firmly gripped my dick and went slow, just like she'd asked. With every long, meaningful stroke, she mirrored it with a swipe of her tongue along my neck. Her hands remained at my chest, reaching down to circle my nipples in very light, goosebump-inducing motions.

"Faster," she told me, and I listened. Each stroke of my hand was met with even faster, sloppier kisses along my neck and jawline, and I could have sworn I felt her fingernails digging themselves harshly into my chest.

"Faster."

By this point I was occasionally bucking my hips forward to meet my hand, and Y/N laughed lowly against my jaw, mumbling against it. "You wanna cum, Pretty Boy?"

"Not... Not yet," I stuttered truthfully.

"Aww," she cooed, tilting my head to the side and giving me a kiss on the mouth. It was probably the sweetest kiss we shared that night. "You want to cum inside me, don't you?"

She kissed me again immediately after she said it, and I moaned into her mouth, my hand working faster. If she didn't stop me, I was going to be done for, and I knew I wouldn't be able to go again. Not for a few hours at least. And I didn't know how long she'd want me to stay, or what we would even do while we waited.

Thankfully she seemed to take some semblance of pity on me, because she brought her hands away from my body, pulling back completely and telling me to stop.

I removed my hand and practically sighed in relief. I waited for further instruction, a sound, a touch, anything... But I almost had the wind knocked out of me when she appeared in front of me, having taken off her bra and underwear. What I found shouldn't have surprised me, but somehow it did. This woman was just full of surprises.

She had nipple piercings that matched the silver color of her eyebrow ring, not sparkly like the belly-button ring, but it was the cherry on top to what I'd already found practically perfect in every way.

As she sauntered to me, I couldn't decide where to look. Much like before. So I started from the bottom and worked my way up, eventually meeting her eyes when she straddled me on the couch and took my face in her hands.

"You clean?"

"Yes," I stated clearly, not wanting any signals to get crossed. I even nodded to accentuate my point.

"Good. Me, too. And I happen to be on birth control, so..." She leaned into my ear again and ground her hips into mine, the hot wetness of her pussy slightly grazing my dick. I almost fainted right there. "You can cum inside me all you want..."

She bit down on my shoulder then, and I groaned, bringing my hands to rest at her hips.

Then she pulled back and looked me in the eye again, grabbing my dick and lifting her hips to hover above it. She sunk down completely and quickly, letting me adjust to the feeling for all of two seconds before she gripped my chin in her right hand and smiled, batting her eyelashes. "But only when I tell you. You can't cum without my permission, got it?"

I breathed out a weak, "Yes," and then she got up and sank right back down, setting a quick and steady pace right away.

Both of her hands gripped my shoulders while mine stayed planted firmly around her waist, and if they were too tight she didn't say. In fact, by the look on her face I judged she probably enjoyed how tightly I was gripping her. So I decided to test it out. And sure enough, every time I let up my grip on her waist she would clench around me and move a little faster, making my grip tighten, and then she hummed, digging her nails into my shoulders.

Every high moan and whimper she let out as she rode me was just as melodic and beautiful as her voice when she sang. Added to the way she moved and the way she worked her hands, she was a rhythm all her own, constantly creating some sort of song, some piece of art that begged to be heard, to be felt in the deepest part of any soul that would embrace it...

I wanted it to last forever. I wanted to drown in her song forever.

Maybe that was a little dramatic. I mean, I only just met this woman under two hours ago at least (I wasn't sure how much time had passed truthfully), didn't know a single thing about her other than her first name, her musical ability, and her body. And all she knew about me was... well, my body.

Regardless, I was determined to make this last as long as I could, so I let go of her hips and brought my fingers to comb lightly through her hair, bringing her head up from the crook of my neck to meet mine, our foreheads touched together.

As if she knew what I was thinking, she slowed her hips, and then pressed her lips to mine gently. I'm pretty sure I felt my heart melt.

"What's wrong? Not gonna last much longer?"

I couldn't tell if it was a taunt or a genuine question. Either way, I shook my head and cradled her face. "I don't think so... But I want this to last."

"Hmm," she contemplated, but not for long, because seconds later she stopped moving her hips altogether and stayed sitting on my dick. She leaned back a little, bringing her hands to rest on her thighs as she took me in. "Well, then I guess I'll have to get creative."

I genuinely had no clue what she was about to do, but when she moved one of her hands to her breast and pinched at her nipple, I didn't care one way or the other. I was curious, sure, but ultimately I knew I would welcome whatever she did.

"I noticed you've been eyeing my piercings all night," she said sweetly, continuing to play with her nipples. She bit her lip softly before grinding down onto me and making me suck in a breath. "But I have to say, these two are my favorites... Aren't they pretty?"

"Fuck, they're beautiful," I breathed, splaying my hands over her stomach. "You're beautiful..."

"Aww,” she drawled. “Thanks."

Then she promptly removed her hands from herself, grabbed my wrists, and brought them to her breasts. My hands instinctively squeezed, feeling the contrast of soft skin and cold metal in my palms. I licked my lips before flicking my eyes up to meet hers. "Can I?"

"You can do whatever you want, baby," she purred, grinding her hips once more. A groan ripped from my throat before I leaned forward and brought her right nipple into my mouth, immediately swirling my tongue around the metal of her piercing. I think she might have groaned also, but I was so caught up in the way she grinded onto me and the feel of her skin on my tongue that I couldn't tell you for sure.

I kissed across her chest until I reached her other nipple, and gave it the same careful attention. Meanwhile I suddenly felt her hand slip down between our bodies so she could touch her clit. I brought my head up and peppered kisses up her neck.

"Let me help," I whispered against her skin, bringing one of my hands to replace hers.

She grabbed my wrist before I could get there. "No, keep doing what you're doing. Please..."

And that was that. I moved my mouth back down her neck, down the slope of her breast, and went back to flicking and swirling my tongue over her nipples. Eventually I took one and just slightly tugged at it with my teeth, causing her to buck her hips forward and send a shockwave of energy through me. At that point I was pretty sure I was almost feral with need, not caring how long it took anymore.

So right after she brought herself to orgasm, the movements on her clit slowing to a stop, I shifted our weight and pinned her to the couch so that her back was arched off the armrest. With an amused laugh, she wrapped her legs around my waist as I held one of my hands to the back of her head, the other on her waist, and pushed into her with one, long, fluid thrust forward.

I didn't waste any time with adjustments. I didn't care that my knee was only slightly hurting at the angle it was placed in. The only thing I cared about right then was fucking this woman so good she'd have to remember me. Which wasn't like me at all, but I didn't care.

So that's what I did. My hips set a ruthless, quick pace that had her sliding back until she was almost off the couch, the only thing keeping her anchored being my arm cradling her neck and head and her legs wrapping around my waist. Her heels dug brutally into my lower back, and if I had to guess, they were probably going to leave bruises. Not to mention her hands were clawing desperately at my shoulders to hold on, grabbing any skin she could as I pounded her into the arm of the couch.

I tried to keep my head up, but I was falling into oblivion. And I think she knew it, too, because she used her hands to keep me upwards, even doing so much as looking down between our bodies as best as she could to see me drilling my hips forward. The sight seemed to send her into a tailspin, because she bit her lip and groaned out.

"Fuuuuck, baby, just like that, don't stop, don't stopdon'tstopdon'tst—"

She came hard and fast, trying her best to keep her eyes open, right before looking up at my face. She clenched around me, and I knew I was done for. Any second now and I would finish. Just before it happened, she slid her hands up my neck, brushed the hair from my face, and brought me down to kiss her.

I moaned in her mouth as I came, keeping my hips pressed flush to hers and holding myself deep inside her. She moaned right back, swiping her tongue against mine as she squeezed her whole body around me and pulled me impossibly closer to her. In that moment, I didn't feel like it was just an orgasm... Which might sound cheesy and kind of stupid in retrospect, but it really felt that way. Right then, with her whole body holding mine and daring itself not to let go, it felt like every sense I had was stripped away and all that was left of me was her. As good as it felt to cum, it felt even better just being wrapped up in her in every capacity.

And that was why—even after we were finished and exhausted—we stayed just like that, wrapped up together on the couch with our lips moving lazily together until I felt myself start to drift off.

At that point, she'd somehow managed to pull me off of her and lean me back into the position I'd been in before, and my eyes struggled to stay open.

"I'm gonna go clean up," I thought I heard her say, and I wondered how she had the energy and stamina to stand up and walk around. But then again, I was so exhausted that I wasn't sure if anything that happened after we came down from our highs was even a coherent experience.

That being said, I managed to mutter an "Okay," while she disappeared and I tried to catch my breath. It only took about a minute before I realized that I was alone, and that she'd left to clean up the mess that I made. That seemed to snap me out of it, though not by much; I was still a little light-headed when I got up from the couch and started to collect my clothes from the floor.

I almost had my pants all the way on when I heard her voice from behind me.

"You don't have to leave... if you don't want."

I turned to face her, noticing that she was wearing a large nightshirt and probably nothing else. Even after she'd just gotten obliterated on the couch she still managed to look like the most angelic thing I'd ever seen. Or maybe I hadn't actually done as well as I thought, and she was the one who'd obliterated me... Either way, I felt bad for staying, especially knowing that she didn't even want to know my name.

So I shrugged, stifling a yawn. "No, it's fine, I... I should go. I don't want to intrude or anything, I—"

"Oh, please," she scoffed, walking up to me and placing a soft hand on my forearm. "As far as intrusion goes, I think we're way past apologies, don't you think?"

I smiled at that, admittedly leaning into her touch as her hand drifted up and to my cheek. "Okay. But only if you let me sleep on the couch."

"Don't be silly. You just fucked me on said couch, it's okay if you sleep in my bed with me."

I only shook my head, placing my hand on top of hers. "You didn't even want to know my name, which tells me that you probably aren't the type of woman to let men sleep in your bed with you after sex. Which is fine, don't get me wrong, but... I don't want to make you uncomfortable. And, I... I feel bad enough, I didn't help you clean up, I should have—"

"I'm gonna stop you right there," she said, removing her hand from my cheek and placing it on my bare chest instead. "That right there is why I don't mind if you sleep in my bed. Plus, it's late, you don't have a ride, and I can tell you're sleepy because you've been nodding off as we've been standing here. You can barely stand straight."

I didn't know what to say. Probably because she was right and I was nodding off right now.

She spoke again. "At least stay and rest for a few hours before you leave. And if it'll convince you to stay... You can have the couch."

I smiled lazily, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek. "I'll be gone before you wake up."

"Well... In that case, can... Can I kiss you one more time?"

"You can do anything you want to me," I told her truthfully, and not even a second passed before she pressed her lips to mine.

Despite everything we'd just done and the fact that I was almost asleep, it was the hottest kiss we shared that night. I was sure of it. It was lazy and wet, and so filled with the aftermath of all that we'd experienced together that I almost fell to my knees, and not because I was tired. Her tongue grazed mine in the most purposeful way I'd ever felt in a kiss my entire life. The way she held me to her, her hands weaved in my hair and mine pressed firmly to the small of her back, had me tingling from head to toe.

To this day, it's still the best kiss I've ever had.

I swore to myself I would never forget that kiss, and I never have. I couldn't have, even if I tried.

When she pulled away, I almost chased her, but I let her go, opening my eyes to stare deeply into hers. She didn't move for the longest time before clearing her throat and taking a small step back.

"Goodnight," she whispered softly. She looked almost as dazed as I felt.

"Goodnight," I whispered back as she turned around and padded into the darkness.

***

As I stood at her kitchen counter four hours later, a pen in hand and hovering over the back of a receipt she'd had crumpled on it, I tried to think of what to write, even though I knew it probably didn't matter to her one way or another if I said anything at all...

At the very least I wanted her to know just how much that night meant to me, even if she didn't feel the same way. Even if she didn't want to remember my name, I needed her to at least remember my face, remember what we did... Remember me...

I recalled the song she sang. And then I wrote it down.

I had the best night, thank you. Say you'll remember me... —S.

***

"Nothing lasts forever But this is gonna take me down."

—Taylor Swift, Wildest Dreams

***

TAGLIST:

@bluesunrise02 @meowiemari @teenwolfgirl90

[pterodactylterrace]

Guys Like You Chapter 9

Title: Guys Like You

Chapter: 9

Chapter Summary: What happens when a busy schedule leaves you lonely?

Rating: 18+

Chapters:  {Prologue} {Chapter 1} {Chapter 2} {Chapter 3} {Chapter 4} {Chapter 5} {Chapter 6} {Chapter 7} {Chapter 8}

It had been weeks since Faye had seen Henry outside of work. Henry's schedule was packed with choreography practice, training, filming and hush hush phone and zoom interviews he refused to tell Faye anything about. She was starting to get the feeling he had given up on her and was moving on. Why else would he refuse to tell her anything about this 'project' he was working on? Not a single clue was dropped. He continuously sited 'not wanting to jinx it' as his reasoning for not telling her. She was banned from his house for the last three weeks, finding herself right back where this had all started. Could it even be called a relationship? They had never agreed to be exclusive or anything, so it wasn't like she could lay some sort of claim on the man. It seemed he was drifting further and further away with every passing day.

Briar was taking it harder than her mother was. He was the first male presence outside of her grandfather and uncle she regularly had contact with. To say she had quickly become attached was an understatement. One particularly heartbreaking evening, she had convinced herself he would be coming over and bringing "Princess Kal" as she had dubbed the poor canine. She sat by the front window, clutching her stuffed bunny stubbornly until far after her bedtime, finally breaking down into hysterical sobs when she realized he really wasn't coming. Faye's texts to Henry about the child's expectations went unanswered.

A few days ago, Mrs. Anderson was unable to babysit, leaving Faye no choice but to either call in sick, or bring her daughter with her to work. Last time hadn't caused much of a problem, so hopefully she would be able to get away with it again. Just as long as it didn't become a habit, it wouldn't be a problem, right? It really wasn't, either. For the first hour or so, the child sat in the corner of the makeup trailer, mesmerized by the movie playing on her tablet. Faye had breezed through the battle wounds on some dwarves and applied the prosthetic ears on the elves in that time, her daughter calmly tucked away the entire time.

Then came time for Henry to get into the makeup chair. The second he stepped foot into the trailer, Briar had latched herself onto his legs, sobbing and clutching his pant leg like her little life depended on it. To say Henry panicked would be an understatement.

"I told you she missed you." Faye shrugged. In fact, she had mentioned several times how Briar kept asking about him. It was a bit of a wakeup call as far as her dating life was destined to go. If Henry was only around for a few months and Briar had attached herself so firmly to him, what would happen if Faye actually dated someone and spent even more time with him? Briar would be devastated if it didn't work out.

"I'm so sorry, princess." Henry soothed, detaching the toddler from his leg and scooping her up, letting her continue to cry into his neck. "I've been busy, I wasn't trying to make you sad." He assured, sitting in the makeup chair with the little girl still clinging to his shirt.

Faye may have failed to mention the multiple meltdowns she'd had to endure due to his sudden absence, but why should she bother the man with it? It's not like it was his job to pacify her daughter. She just wished the little girl hadn't grown so attached to him in the short time she had known him.

Briar completely refused to be apart from Henry for the rest of the day, perching herself in his chair while he filmed, staring intently at him as she clutched her bunny to her chest, whimpering unsurely the first few takes of a particularly rough fight sequence. Thankfully, she had calmed quickly, Faye explaining to the little girl that he was just playing pretend and wasn't going to get hurt.

She had reattached herself to him the second he drew too close, practically climbing him like a monkey to cling to his neck again. Faye was past the point of trying to stop her by then. She had been the one dealing with it ever since he had decided to vacate the little girl's life. At least now he could see first hand why Faye had been so irritable with him lately.

He vowed to Facetime later that night to say goodnight to the little girl when he had strapped her into her car seat that evening, the child unwilling to let her mother take her to the car by herself. His promise didn't stop her from sobbing the whole way home. The poor girl cried herself out by the time Faye had pulled into the driveway, half asleep all the way through dinner, ultimately passing out at the table, a forkful of pasta clutched in her chubby fist.

To his credit, Henry had called later that night, well after Briar's bedtime. Again, he apologized profusely for his insane schedule in the voicemail he had left. Faye wasn't in the mood to talk anymore, too drained from her daughter's most recent meltdown.

Now, here he stood at her doorstep five days later, his shoulders slumped in defeat and a pleading look on his face as Faye blocked his entry into her home with her tiny body.

"Can I help you?" Faye asked calmly, crossing her arms and leaning against her door frame.

"Faye, please, can we talk?"

"What's there to talk about?" Faye brushed him off, fixing him with a cold look.

"You're avoiding me."

"Excuse the fuck out of you?" Faye hissed, stalking toward him and shutting the door harshly behind herself. "I'm avoiding you? Are you seriously going to pretend the last three weeks never happened? One second, you're around all the time, the next I only see you at work. You dodge my calls, refuse to see me and break my three year old daughter down into hysteria thinking she did something wrong. Please, go on, tell me how I'm the one avoiding jack shit here!"

"I deserve that." Henry sighed, roughly shoving a hand through his untamed curls.

"Goddamn right you do." Faye hissed, fury burning intensely in her usually wide, innocent brown eyes.

"Please, Faye. Can you hear me out?"

"What's there to talk about? You got bored and you left me behind. I don't want your fucking excuses."

"I promise, I wasn't trying to avoid you, and I didn't get bored of you!" Henry growled, anger taking over his once apologetic face at her accusations.

"Then what the hell is it? Please, tell me why I should be okay with only being in your life when it's convenient to you."

"I've been busy, Faye! My life doesn't revolve around you!" Faye's entire body tensed at his outburst, returning his fiery gaze with a cold stare.  

"And mine doesn't revolve around you either, Mr. Cavill. If you don't have time for us, that's fine. I understand we aren't a priority for you. You've made that much clear. That doesn't mean I have to be at your beck and call whenever you can fit me in. I have my own life. I have a daughter to take care of, and I don't need you breaking her heart every time you can't spare a goddamn second for her."

"I wasn't trying to hurt her. I wasn't trying to push you away." Henry seethed. "You think I enjoyed being away for this long? You think I liked not spending time with you?"

"You make time for the things that matter, Mr. Cavill. Clearly, that's not us." Faye replied, her calm tone slashing through Henry's heart worse than any previous rage or hostility could. These were not words created by anger and meant to hurt him in the heat of the moment. This was coming from a detached, practical place in her mind. This was something she had thought about, long and hard.

"Faye." Henry sighed, his tense shoulders falling in defeat. "I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt Briar. The time I've spent with you two these last few months have been the happiest I've been in years. I understand if you don't want to see me, but I really wish you would. I... damnit, I fucking need you two." He admitted shakily, his eyes falling to Faye's feet, taking notice of the black ink covering the top of her right foot for the first time. Had he really paid so little attention that he hadn't even noticed that? Was he really that detached from something that brought him so much unconditional joy?

"And what am I supposed to do when you vanish again? It's the life you live, Mr. Cavill-"

"Henry. Please, call me Henry." He pleaded softly, each utterance of the removed name feeling like a knife to his heart.

"You aren't tied down to one place. You travel all the time. Why should I let you continue hurting us? What promise can you possibly give us that you won't just leave again?"

"I never left, I've been right here." Henry whispered, unsure hands coming to rest on her hips, slowly lowering his forehead to rest against hers. He had no idea when they had gotten so close during their argument, but he had to admit, it felt good to hold her again. "Please. I promise, I won't vanish again. If I can't be here in person, I'll call, I'll Facetime, I'll send video messages, I'll text. I will do anything and everything I can to be here for you."

"Then what happens when you find someone else?" Faye countered, remaining stiff in his hold, her arms still crossed tightly over her chest, subconsciously trying to block him out and build a wall between them.

"I'm not looking for anyone else." Henry assured, pressing a soft kiss to the crown of her head.

"Doesn't mean you won't find her."

"Then this mystery woman can sod off. I'm not interested." Henry hummed, pulling Faye closer to wrap his arms around her, resting his cheek atop her head, her tension slowly fading away with his embrace. "Can you forgive me for being an ass?" He asked hopefully, peppering the top of her head with kisses.

"This time. There won't be a next time. I don't have time to invest in someone that won't make any time for me."

"I promise, I will make time for you two." Henry vowed, reluctantly taking a step back to look into her face. "Would it be too much to ask to come inside? I sure could use one of Briar's special cups of tea."

"Mmm, you might be out of luck then. She's decided she wants to be a knight instead now." Faye informed him, slipping away from his desperately clutching hands to push the door open, Briar freezing in the middle of charging through the house on her hobby horse, sword in hand when she saw the man standing outside.

"You're back?!" She gasped, dropping her toys and bolting past her mother, Henry catching her as she rushed him, hoisting her into his arms and letting the little girl sling her arms around his thick neck. "I sorry... I be good." She sniffled, her chubby hands gripping his collar tightly.

"Oh, sweetie. Don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong." Henry soothed, rubbing her back softly. "I was the one that was naughty, can you forgive me for being mean to you and your mommy?"

"Don't go." Briar whimpered, burrowing further into his neck, her sobs only increasing at his apology.

"I won't, I won't." Henry promised, smoothing down her wild, uncombed hair, looking fearfully up at the child's mother. Was this what she had been dealing with since he had been away?

"She got it in her head you were mad at her, and that's why you weren't coming around anymore." Faye explained, nodding him inside.

"I'm so sorry." Henry repeated, holding the toddler a little tighter as he slid past her mother, perching himself on the arm of the couch as she sobbed into his neck.

"You understand why I'm not too keen on second chances?" Faye sighed, locking the door behind herself. "I'm not going to keep putting her though this. I don't expect you to change your lifestyle, so when we fall to the backburner again, please, do me a favor and stay gone. It's not fair to her."

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I truly have been busy."

"I know. That's your life." Faye shrugged, leaning against the archway to the living room.

"What can I do to make it up?"

"You can't. You just have to understand that this is the last time I will allow this to happen. If you get too busy for us again, I won't open the door the next time you come knocking." Faye's declaration hung in the air, the sureness of her voice leaving no room for argument or further exchange of words. A desperate sort of silence befell the two adults, the only noise in the house being made by the small girl in Henry's arms.

Briar's sobs slowly gave way to small sniffles and hiccups, her tiny hands refusing to release his shirt, unashamedly wiping her nose on the fabric. Henry was the one to finally break the suffocating silence that had taken over the room.

"Could I ask for your help with something?"

"What might that be, Mr. Cavill?"

"Please, Faye. Henry. Call me Henry, or anything else really. I didn't mean to hurt you or set us back months. Call me any number of mean names, just... not that." Henry pleaded, resting his head against Briar's.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I need to shave my head." Henry sighed after a long moment, turning sad eyes up to her.

"You want me to shave your head?"

"You're the only one I trust to do it right now."

"You literally have a hairstylist on set."

"This is different." Henry insisted.

"How is this different?"

"Believe it or not, I like my hair. Shaving it off isn't exactly a fun time for me."

"Is the tape getting to painful to remove?" Faye asked, raising an inquisitive brow.

"I mean, it will be a plus not having to deal with that for a while, but no. I... I have a screen test in a few days. Over zoom, but a screen test none the less."

"Oh, congrats."

"But the role calls for a military style cut." Henry continued. "Which means it all has to go."

"What role is it for?" Faye asked, crossing the room to run her fingers through his unruly curls.

"Mass Effect." Henry divulged, leaning into her touch.

"So you showed up for a haircut?" Faye asked, detangling his hair with her fingers.

"I showed up because I missed you, but it made me realize you're the only one I'm comfortable with doing it. I've been dreading it for over a week now."

"I only have scissors here. The best I can do is a hack job." Faye informed, continuing to play with his hair absently. It was so soft when he didn't try to tame it. The products that kept it in check, looking so neat and orderly, always made it stiff and crunchy. His natural hair was a thing of beauty.

"I have clippers back at my house. You're both more than welcome to stay the night."

"You know Briar won't stay in the guest room." Faye sighed, rolling her eyes.

"I'm fairly certain I'm not in good enough standing with you for us to be doing anything that young eyes shouldn't see." Henry chuckled, looking hopefully up at the woman gently running her nails over his scalp.

"You are not." Faye confirmed around a giggle of her own, playfully tugging at his hair.

"Easy, love, the baby is right here." Henry lightheartedly scolded, raising his brow at her.

"You should have mentioned you enjoyed that sooner. No time to take advantage of it before I chop it all off now." Faye sighed, reluctantly letting her hand fall away, Henry reaching out to pull her closer, looking up at her hopefully.

"What are the odds I can talk you out of a kiss?" He asked, staring longingly at her mouth. Faye smirked and rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, leaning down to allow him to press a slow, affectionate kiss to her lips, reluctantly pulling back when Briar began to stir from her crying fueled power nap against his neck. "There you are, sleepy head." Henry chuckled, easing the child down to his lap instead.

"You here?" Briar asked, rubbing her still red eyes, staring up at him with a wobbly lower lip.

"I'm here. Would it be ok if you and Mommy stay at my house tonight?" Henry asked, wiping away the dried tears from her face.

"I bring Bunny?" She asked, her face finally splitting into a grin when Henry agreed to her request.  

"You go get Bunny, I'll pack you a few things." Faye instructed, Henry reluctantly setting the girl down so she could do as her mother asked.

"Thank you, so much." Henry sighed, pulling the tiny woman against his large frame, dropping his head to rest against the top of her chest.

"For letting you use my tits as a pillow?" Faye teased, running her fingers through his hair again, wanting to memorize the feel of his curls before she had to chop them all off.

"Secuititty." Henry chuckled, pulling her in to straddle his hips, needing to be even closer to her. "Thank you for giving me another chance."

"Try not to blow it."

"I'll do my absolute best."  

@Xxxkatxo @Weallhaveadestiny

[prettywordsyouleft]

MonX Hospital | Changkyun

Pairing: Im Changkyun x reader

Genre: lab technician – hospital au / romance / strangers to lovers

Warnings: medical terms, and the word “blood” is used a lot, considering Changkyun’s profession, illness.

Word count: 4417

Index: Shownu | Wonho | Minhyuk | Kihyun | Hyungwon | Jooheon | Changkyun

Turning around to the next tray of samples to check, Changkyun stopped for a moment after reading the name on the adjoining paperwork. Working at MonX Hospital as a Laboratory Technician meant he could process samples from the same patients at least twice within his working week. It shouldn’t stand out as anything important to him, yet when he saw your name for the eighth time in the past two weeks, Changkyun found himself a little stunned. There were several other technicians in this department who could have processed your blood work but it seemed to always end up in his batches.

“Everything alright?” his co-worker Bora questioned and Changkyun snapped out of his thoughts, however, his brows remained furrowed.

“Yeah, I’m just getting familiar with this patient’s blood samples.”

Bora grinned. “That sometimes happens. I like to think of it as a sense of fate for a technician to see the same person’s samples during their stay. It’s a pleasure to watch as things improve for the patient through their continued testing.”

As Changkyun waited for the results from the automatic analyser to be transferred to the computer he was monitoring, he didn’t hold the same optimism as Bora did. He had been steadily watching the decline in your numbers over the past two weeks. And when the results appeared, his shoulders dropped.

“There’s an abnormality in these results,” he murmured, and Bora swivelled her chair around so she could see the screen. As a technologist, she was more experienced in looking at results such as these. Still, Changkyun could tell the levels to your iron and blood oxygen count were low.

You would no doubt need a transfusion today.

“Just remember that doing these tests are what will help this patient get the right treatment for a quick recovery.”

Changkyun nodded softly. However, your results bothered him for the rest of the morning and he even spent some time staring at a sample under the microscope just to find exactly where the abnormality was. He was invested for some reason and hoped he could find a way to see your numbers improving each second day instead of dropping.

Resigned, he stepped out for a coffee break in the hospital’s public cafeteria, watching as a patient rested her head against a windowpane. She looked far too pale to be away from her room, though she smiled when the sun danced over her skin.

He couldn’t help himself and sat at the table next to her. “Are you here for the sun?”

“After being locked up in this place for two weeks, I’ve finally found a spot where I can get direct sunlight. It’s too nice a weather lately to be cooped up inside so this is my happy medium.”

“I hate to break it to you but you know you can’t absorb vitamin D through a windowpane, right?”

The patient looked at him with a heavy pout which made him regret speaking the fact out loud. “Really? Is it only if I go outside? I’m not allowed out though…”

“Sorry,” he said apologetically. “I once was stuck inside recovering from a really bad virus and used to sit by the window every day until my father, who is a scientist, told me otherwise.”

Peering at his badge, she nodded. “I guess it’s now a bit of a like father like son moment then. He broke your heart and now you’re breaking mine, Im Changkyun.”

Changkyun cringed and waved a hand in dismissal. “I really didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine, I’m teasing you. Are you a doctor?”

“No, I work in the lab.”

“Doing what?”

“Running tests on the samples we receive.”

“Like blood tests?” she asked and Changkyun nodded. She then smiled warmly. “Maybe you’ll have come across mine.”

“Maybe.”

“If you can figure out what’s wrong with me, I’d ask you out on a date, you know.”

Changkyun, having taken a sip from the coffee mug, spluttered it everywhere. “Wh-what?!”

“I’m kidding, of course,” she remarked, looking back outside. “The doctors keep saying that monitoring my blood samples will find the answer to why I’m so sick but all that keeps happening is-”

“Y/N!” a voice called out and Changkyun let go of the mug he was holding, gaping at the patient now being fussed over by a distraught relative, the wheelchair she was sitting in now being wheeled away.

Your wheelchair.

It was you, the person he had been staring at under a microscope all morning long. Well, your blood sample at least. He couldn’t believe that the mystery in the lab had appeared in front of him right now. It was his first time meeting a patient in the flesh like this.

“Wait!” he called out fruitlessly and you turned back, shifting around to grin at him.

“I hope you can find what’s wrong with me, Mr Technician! If you do, I’ll go on a date with you!”

Glancing down at the coffee starting to run off the side of the table and then at your departure, he groaned, reaching out for a stack of napkins to clean up his mess.

Changkyun was hopeful this wouldn’t be the last time he saw you outside of the laboratory.

His daily trips for the rest of the week to the cafeteria didn’t bring you back into his presence. Your samples hadn’t been as regular as before and when you did turn up in his batches on Thursday, he smiled when he saw he had predicted right. Your iron and blood levels had rapidly increased, indicating you had received transfusions of both. You would no doubt be feeling a bit better after receiving the treatment, though he couldn’t be sure since you hadn’t returned to the cafeteria since that day. Had his pointing out about the sun having no effect stopped you? Or was it the relative who acted as if you were too fragile to be around others that had prohibited your return?

It was strange. He had never found himself so interested in another human before like this. You weren’t someone who matched his typical type in women, but Changkyun couldn’t deny you captivated him either.

Was it the added bonus that he had seen what your cells looked like up close? Shuddering with the rather creepy thought, Changkyun tried to forget about you. He knew he couldn’t, though. He was too invested in helping find a reason for your illness, as a professional of course.

“It’s not because of the date offer,” he mumbled to himself, ears growing hot despite his outspoken stance.

Though, he wondered if you actually had meant it since you mentioned it twice.

Another two weeks went by and by that time, your samples were almost back to how they had been before the transfusions. The doctors hadn’t figured out anything, he concluded. And every time he ran the automated analyser or looked at a sample on a slide, Changkyun couldn’t figure what was causing your cells to be abnormal. Even after talking with a pathologist for better understanding, there was little to go on aside from having a type of anaemia. But even the more experienced people couldn’t decide on which type it was.

You were a mystery to everyone.

And strangely, he missed you.

“I know you’ve worked extra today, but reckon you could go pick up some samples for me? Dora fell down a set of stairs an hour ago and is in orthopaedics so can’t collect the samples from wards fifteen and sixteen that we need to test tonight.”

Changkyun nodded at Bora. “I can do that.”

“Good, after you fetch them you can go home.”

“How kind of you to let me go like that,” he cheekily replied and Bora laughed.

“Well, I could make you stay on even longer and-”

“Ten hours is enough!” he chimed, diving to door to the department. “I’ll get the samples and then get out of here.”

“Less talk, more movement, Changkyun!”

He chuckled as he headed to the elevators in the lobby to take up to the floor needed. He thanked the nurse after retrieving the samples from ward sixteen, heading across the foyer to the opposite ward. Whistling softly as he walked to the nurse’s station, Changkyun glanced lazily around the ward, skidding to a stop when he noticed your name on the wall. Blinking rapidly, he went towards the door when a nurse caught his attention.

“Are you here to collect the samples?”

“Uh, yeah,” he distractedly answered, smiling weakly. Tearing his eyes reluctantly from your door, he followed the nurse to her station and waited for the package. Changkyun went to walk off, only retracing his steps back to the nurse. “Is room three allowed visitors?”

“Miss L/N?” she spoke and he nodded. “She has restricted access at the moment due to a family request.”

“Ah, that answers that then,” he murmured and then smiled back at the nurse. Thanking her, he then headed back down the hallway, his feet dragging outside your door. He craned his neck as if that would gain him better access to seeing you again. Your blinds were shut and only a small window in the door allowed him a brief look into your space. Sighing, he began to move again when he spotted you coming back into the wardroom.

You were walking this time, albeit with the help of an IV stand. You grinned. “Well if it isn’t Mr Technician.”

“Changkyun,” he corrected awkwardly and clamped his eyes shut. “I mean, please call me Changkyun.”

“Are we one a first name basis now?” you wondered with an animated smile. “I guess you already know mine. Sorry about the other week. My Aunt is a bit over the top. I’m all the family she has left so me being sick has sent her into a perpetual meltdown.”

“It’s fine, though I did wonder if you went in search of other places around the hospital for vitamin D.”

“Do you know, they’re supplementing it through this bad boy to me,” you mentioned, patting the IV machine. “Along with a multitude of other things.”

“Still no definite answer to what’s going on?” he asked and you gave him a wry smile.

“That would be too easy, now wouldn’t it? Every day they propose something else, and then take it back. I wonder how hard medical school must be if they can’t seem to collectively come up with an answer.”

“I don’t blame you for being frustrated.”

You shrugged and then pointed at him. “What about you? How’re my samples looking?”

“I’m struggling to figure out the abnormally. My whole team has looked at it and have suggested a few things but equally can’t come to a conclusion.”

You giggled. “I feel so exposed. Everyone gets a look at me under a microscope except me.”

“Maybe one day you could too,” Changkyun blurted out without much thought, scrunching his face up in realisation. “Uh, I mean not many people would-”

“Can I? Would I be allowed to?!” you wondered, stepping closer to him with a bright expression. You seemed hopeful and who was he to knock you down for that. Changkyun was nodding before he even realised it.

“Sure. I’ll make sure you can.”

You grinned, patting his arm as you passed him to go towards your room. “Sounds like it’s a date.”

It took a lot of convincing and doing the dirty jobs around the lab for an entire week before Bora agreed to let you look at your own blood sample. Bora gave Changkyun a pointed look. “You’re invested in this case, you know.”

“I know.”

“Did you seek the patient out first or-”

“We met by chance, I swear. I’m not going to go against professional conduct and privacy clauses. Further, if you hadn’t of sent me to go retrieve those samples-”

“Okay, blame me, it’s my fault!” she concluded with a shake of her head, a loose grin spreading out her lips. “You’re lucky I’m a hopeless romantic, Changkyun.”

“Wait, I wasn’t, I’m not…” Flustered with his supervisor’s reaction to his request, he fanned a hand at his face, trying to express that it wasn’t anything like that. Bora didn’t buy it and when Changkyun went to collect you for the scheduled visit, he felt hot under his collar.

Why was his good deed being taken as anything more than that?

However, when he reached your room, he stopped in the doorway, finding you out of your pyjamas and in a floral dress instead. You spun around, carefree.

“What are-- I mean… Woah.”

“Thank you,” you said with a broad smile. “I hoped you’d like it.”

“Why did you get dressed up?” he asked hastily, glancing down at his usual work attire and lab coat.

You giggled. “You look handsome for our date too.”

“Oh, this isn’t a date.”

“Didn’t you offer me to come with you to the lab?”

“Yes, but-”

“And didn’t I agree and say it’s a date?”

He nodded quickly. “You keep joking around with that and-”

“Hospital life is boring, let me enjoy experiences like this, hm?” you pleaded and Changkyun bit at his bottom lip before nodding again, holding out his arm for you to take. You were delighted by his chivalry and swooped in around it, clasping his lower arm gently. And you practically skipped at his side all the way to the lab.

You were gracious during the visit. You complimented his team and made them smile, everyone becoming more comfortable with the idea of a patient in the lab. You asked questions and Bora was in her element answering them for you. You were engrossed by the process of their work and by the time Changkyun took you to the back office where he had set up a microscope for today out of the way from the rest of his team, you were buzzing.

“This is amazing. You do so much here!” you breathed, taking a seat next to him in awe. “I’ll never complain about getting another blood test taken again.”

Changkyun looked at your bruised skin around the underside of an elbow and instinctively reached out to run his fingers over it. “You’ve had so many.”

“Those aren’t even the places they get it from me right now,” you lamented, patting his hand gently all the same. “I’m okay if it means I’m helping you all find whatever it is you can in my samples to help me get better.”

“Speaking of samples, should we look at yours now?” he asked after a visible swallow, reaching forward to the equipment and turning it on. He looked through the ocular lens and fiddled with the machine until he was satisfied with the setup. Changkyun then gestured for you to take a look.

You turned timid as you did so, quietly staring into it.

“This is your most recent sample,” he told you and you didn’t answer. Feeling more confident than you in the situation, Changkyun expertly changed settings of the magnification for you and then took the slide out and replaced it with another. “This is a healthy blood sample. Can you see the difference?”

“Kind of. Can you swap them a couple of times so I can get a better understanding?” you asked quietly and he did that for you, hearing you sigh when you were looking at your own again. “So this is why I’m sick?”

“It indicates you have an abnormal cell structure right now, yeah.”

Lifting your eyes from the lens, you glanced curiously at Changkyun. “Are you allowed to show me the other blood sample like this? I mean, I get seeing mine, but another patient-”

“It’s mine,” he confessed with a short laugh. “So you don’t have to worry about any privacy clause.”

“You drew your own blood just to show me this sample?”

“Well, it made sense to have a second slide. In experiments, we always have a control slide when presenting variables and-”

Your lips cut off his explanation then, pressing softly into his. Before he could truly register that you had kissed him, you pulled away, covering your mouth with a hand.

“I uh, I was touched, that’s all,” you quickly told him, turning away from him to recover. Changkyun cleared his throat noisily and then stood up.

“Is there a reason why you’re not allowed to go outside?”

Frowning at his random question, you nodded. “Too many people are out there.”

“Tomorrow at lunchtime, don’t make plans,” he announced and you eyed him carefully. Changkyun, emboldened with your kiss, smiled warmly at you. “I know where you can get direct sunlight without anyone bothering you.”

Admittedly, it had taken Changkyun all this time to find a place where you could access the sun without technically leaving the hospital grounds or leaning out a window to do so. He hadn’t at first understood why he started searching, ruling it down to his logical side needing to find an answer to the question proposed in his mind. But as he helped you up the final metal stairs to the rooftop, Changkyun knew the reason he had searched for this was because he liked you.

A whole lot.

“Wow,” you breathed at the view when you came to a stop at his side, squinting under the bright midday sun. “It’s beautiful up here.”

“I checked with your doctor and also with some medical studies and its safe for twenty minutes for us to just sit here and soak in the sun,” he said and you grinned, going over to the bench on the rooftop and sat down.

You then removed your cardigan and offered your arms out to the light. “Heavenly.”

“I thought you might like this.”

“I should have kissed you sooner if it would lead to this,” you teased as he sat down beside you. “I also have a regret from yesterday’s visit.”

“You do?”

Nodding, you scooted around and promptly laid your head in his lap, dangling your arms and legs out to the warmth from above. You peeked through an eye at his evident surprise from your move and giggled. “You blocked the sun from that side.”

“Oh, so this is merely strategic?”

“And more comfortable,” you admitted, nestling into his thigh some.

Changkyun smiled. “What was your regret?”

“You’ll think I’m mad.”

“Well, you’re certainly not normal,” he quipped and you whined outlandishly. Chuckling, he found himself brushing your hair away from your face so the sun could reach that too. You stilled, looking up at him.

“I like you.”

“I like you too,” he admitted with a shy smile, your own splitting your lips until you were grinning giddily.

“Would you like me even if I wasn’t sick? I’m sure as a medical professional you probably find what you see under the microscope more fascinating than my actual form but-”

“No, it’s not like that at all,” he cut in, still smoothing your hair back from your face. “I like you. Not your illness, not what I see from my work. I can’t deny that I’m invested in seeing the changes to your tests, but that’s just because I saw them before I met you in person. I was invested before I found you trying to soak in sun through a window.”

“Don’t remind me of that embarrassing moment,” you exclaimed, mortified. Throwing a hand over your face to hide your emotions, Changkyun pried it away and held it instead. Your expression evened out and you started to smile again. “You knew my name before you knew me. And you knew a lot more too, I guess.”

“I’d rather get to know you like this though.”

“Me too.”

You sat up suddenly, almost bashing into Changkyun’s chin in the process. Sheepishly flashing him an apologetic smile, you held up your index finger. “That’s right, the regret!”

“You mean not telling me how you felt yesterday wasn’t the regret?”

“I’m pretty sure when I kissed you, it showed you,” you countered and Changkyun rubbed at his neck with his other hand awkwardly. You then looked at him and grinned. “I wanted to wear that!”

“What?”

“Your lab coat!” you explained, tugging at the sleeve of it. “I was in the lab and I didn’t once put one on!”

“Well, you looked so pretty in your dress, why cover it up?”

“Because! Oh, you won’t understand because playing dress-up as a doctor isn’t fun like it is for everyone else who isn’t in the health sector professionally.”

“I’m not a doctor,” he reminded and you rolled your eyes.

“Still, you get to wear a white coat of importance! Let me try it on now.”

“What about the sun?” he asked and you stood up, bouncing around impatiently, almost pulling it off of him when he shrugged it down his shoulders. Slipping it on, you giggled triumphantly and spun around in it. Of course, it was too big and made your child-like request even more obvious. He laughed heartily then, the magic of the moment making his heart soar further for you.

You were right. For him, the lab coat was simply part of his work attire, nothing more. He saw no joy or importance in wearing it since he did so every workday. However, watching you enjoy it made it feel special.

Until you stumbled in your excitement, reaching for your head as you continued to lose your balance. Changkyun lurched towards you, catching you before the ground did. “Y/N, are you okay?”

“Just a little dizzy. I guess I went too far.”

“Let’s get you back to your room and get a nurse check your stats, hm?” he offered and you didn’t argue, leaning into his side as he helped you back down the stairs. Once back in your ward, you slipped off his coat and climbed under the blankets, smiling weakly.

The transformation bothered him. Upstairs you were carefree and empowered. Now back under your stark white sheets, you looked weak and tiny. Changkyun blinked back his emotions.

You smiled sadly. “Looks like reality came back for us. Go do amazing things, Changkyun. You’re the one with the power to do so. I’m back where I belong now too.”

He was determined to find a way to make you better again.

“I’ve got it!”

“You have?!” Bora asked immediately, scooting backwards to his station and taking a look at his findings. She grinned. “You bloody have too.”

“Pathology needs to get onto this right away and then the doctors will act upon it, right?” he asked, hope building within his chest. She nodded once and he sent the files through to the team, marching out of the department and over to pathology to follow up.

It hadn’t been easy, and after being in the hospital for over three months now, Changkyun wished he had been able to source the correct abnormality in your tests faster. However, the main thing was they had a definite answer now. You had an autoimmune disease that had triggered the mysterious illness. And whilst knowing that didn’t mean you would get better and be healthier than before, it did give answers. And answers could lead to the right medication to support your health to improve and to help you live with your condition.

Answers meant discharging once better as well.

You stood in the doorway of the department, grinning brightly at Bora who welcomed you in. Changkyun hadn’t seen you yet, still focused on his work. But he stirred as soon as he heard your voice.

“Sorry to interrupt,” you said, looking around the department until you caught his gaze. You slowly grinned. “I just happened to be discharged today and I need to thank the technician who found the answer for my diagnosis.”

He didn’t care about the rest of his team jeering at him right now, getting up from his seat and approaching you. Of course, you already knew of his findings since your treatment began three weeks ago. However, you attempted to keep a straight face as Changkyun stopped in front of you.

“You see, when I was terribly sick, I ran into a lab technician who I told I’d go on a date with him if he helped me get better. I’m here to collect on that date.”

“I thought you were joking,” he murmured and you grinned.

“Oh no, if anything, I asked for the date because you were handsome, not holding onto any hope that you would actually help find the reason for my illness.” You wrapped your arms around his neck and Changkyun walked you out into the hallway, closing the door and the deafening noise out behind him.

He leaned in closer. “Well, I guess I do deserve a reward for my hard work.”

“When can you leave?”

“I think I have some extra hours up my sleeve that I can use to leave work now.”

“Oh good because I want to go on a very long date with you.”

“How long?”

“How much time can you give me?”

Changkyun’s lips were so close to yours now, he merely hummed and you shivered with delight. “How about as long as you want.”

“I’ll be greedy, you know. I’ll want all of your time.”

“I have to work,” he mentioned sadly and you nodded.

“And I have a lot of therapy to attend.”

“But outside of those hours?” he wondered and you pressed into him, kissing him with demand.

It wasn’t his first or even his second kiss with you. And Changkyun knew it wouldn’t be his last either. However, it was one he knew he’d remember forever, the way you tasted so sweet from pure happiness to be leaving the hospital and with him as well.

Finally, you stepped back just enough to catch your breath and answered. “Outside of work and therapy, I hope you can give me all your time. I don’t want to stop repaying you for the rest of my life.”

“Can I ask a question?” he breathed and you nodded. “Did you really mean it about wanting to date me from the first day you saw me?”

“Now that would be telling.”

“So it was a joke!” he whined and you giggled, stepping up on your toes to kiss him again.

“No, I did think you were handsome. I just didn’t believe I’d get this lucky. A cure and a boyfriend. What more could a girl ask for?”

_________________

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[concussed-to-pieces]

Whether It Works Out Or Not: Winter’s Cold, Part One

Fandom: Red Dead Redemption 2

Pairing: High Honor!Arthur Morgan/Named OFC

Rating: Holy shit T.

AN: You kids lookin’ for a fix-it? Let’s get it started.

[Spoiler warning for the epilogue!]

Tag List: @huliabitch​​ @cookiethewriter​​ @pedrosbigdorkenergy​​ @thirstworldproblemss​​ @anonymouscosmos​​ @culturalrebel​​ @karmezii​​ @teaofpeach​​ @crookedmoonsaultpunk​​ @wrestlingfae​​ @zombiexbody​​ @nelba​​ @scribblenotes76​​ @toxiicpop​​ @mstgsmy​​ @misty-possum​​ @gallowsjoker​​ @midnightbeauty35​​ @lackofhonor​​ @renegademustelid​​ @missfronkensteen​

Part One: Strangers

Part Two: Friends

Part Three: More

Bonus One: A Brief Diversion

Bonus Two: Back In The Cage

[!TRIGGER WARNING!: This installment contains brief mentions of pregnancy and general peril. Stay safe!]

"I want the fellow you've got in that cell. The one you're sending up the river." The mustachioed man demanded without pretext. "You boys give him to me and I'll make it worth your while, plus a touch extra." 

  "Listen mister, I don't know who you are or where the hell you came from, but that feller has five grand on his head. I doubt you've got enough scratch to make anythin' worth our while." The senior bounty hunter sneered, his boots still propped up on the table in front of him.

  A sack hit the table, the mysterious man undoing the drawstring slowly. "I've got six grand right here, genuine bill and coin. Count it all if you feel like it, or if you just want to touch it." His smile was mean , like the slash of a knife across his face. "Split between the two of you? Three grand apiece. Five hundred extra each. You boys really so well off that you can turn down five hundred window dressing?" The man queried.

  "Hell." The bounty hunter gawked at the money, then over at his partner, and finally back up at the man in front of them. "Jesus mister, you know this feller will probably die even before he reaches justice, don'cha? He's real sick. He was nearly dead on the mountainside as-is, and he ain't gotten better. Hasn't so much as opened his eyes in days!" 

  "Hey hey, if he wants him and he's willin' to pay that much…" The other bounty hunter trailed off, looking greedily at the bag on the table. "I ain't that inclined to turn the bastard in to the Pinks if I can make a little extra."

  "But we was gonna'-"

  "Or," the mysterious man sighed, "I suppose I could just take my money and be on my way." He began to retie the drawstring but the first bounty hunter stopped him. 

  "Hold up there, friend . We didn't even catch your name. Normally in polite society, a feller makin' an offer has the courtesy to introduce themselves."

  The man leaned in, sweeping his hat off of his head and offering a stately little bow. "Ah, where are my manners? Gentlemen, my name is Doctor Franklin Craft. Junior of course."

  The younger bounty hunter openly stared at him. "Ol' Doc Craft had a son?" He asked hesitantly. "All I ever heard about was the messy business that went on with his daughter's husband." 

  "Truly, a sordid tale. And she is actually the reason why I'm here." Doctor Craft ( junior, of course ) bowed his head in respect. "Before Irene...made her brief return to polite society, she chanced across the very fellow you have in that cell." Craft's grip on the brim of his hat tightened visibly. "He stole something from her. Something... irreplaceable . And while I may be unable to get it back, I can assure you that this man will be afforded all the comforts I can offer him while he lingers on this earth." He snarled sarcastically. "Now, do we have a deal?"

  ...

  Two Days Prior ...

  "Annie, you're a terror! " Irene laughed, scrubbing at the little girl's grubby face with the corner of her apron. "What have I told you about playing in the mud? Only in your mess trousers and only outside, right?"

  The child nodded, offering a beaming smile. Irene probably would have fallen for it, had the girl not tracked mud all over the modest dwelling. Anna was only a hair past one year of age, but she had been racing around from the moment she was able to walk. Irene was hard-pressed to keep track of her on her own. 

  It had been nearly two years since Irene had seen Arthur. Once she realized a seed had been planted during one of their pleasurable trysts, she took great pains to tie everything up neatly. Returning for her deceased husband's money had been her boldest move yet, but there was little the courts could do to dispute her claim to his property. Willie had purported that she was dead so he could remarry, and yet here she stood before them, hale and hearty. It had caused quite the uproar, if only for the unapologetic way that she had addressed everyone's shortcomings in dealing with her reports of abuse. 

  The railroad bonds he had hoarded so jealously became her failsafe, and it was with careful consideration that she began to invest in various ventures. Subsequently, there was the business of selling off every last thing . Every ounce of property, every stick of furniture, down to the hideous pewter candlesticks in the dining room. 

  Irene found herself politely turning down suitors left and right. Now that she was a woman of means, it appeared that men were willing to give her the time of day once more.

  It wouldn't be long before she would have real difficulty hiding how her body was changing. Irene decided to purchase a simple cottage up in the East Grizzlies, and it was there that she began making a home. A true home. A home of her own.

  She planted herbs, chopped enough firewood to last a lifetime, and went fishing and hunting in the nearby woodlands. The self-sufficient woman continued to live in relative isolation, only making the trip to Annesburg when she desperately needed a midwife. All the research and overheard lectures from her father couldn't have prepared her for labor, and she would be eternally grateful for the patient woman who had led her through the agony to emerge on the other side one daughter richer. 

  She named the baby Anna, her heart full to bursting when the tiny babe clutched Irene's index finger with all her strength. Little Annie Craft , her eyes just as devastatingly blue as her father's and her hair soon growing into a mess of tawny-blonde corkscrews.

  Anna held out a small rock to her mother, the muddy offering obviously one of contrition. "Sorry?" The child questioned.

  Irene sighed, rumpling her hair and accepting the pebble with a laugh. "Go get washed up, little one. It's nearly dinnertime."

  Anna nodded, trotting back outside to the small bowl on the steps that Irene had repurposed as a child-sized washbasin. 

  Irene took the small stone and wrung out her dishrag, scrubbing at the rock to reveal whatever it was that had caught Anna's eye with this particular specimen. It appeared to be quartz, the dull glitter in the last of the day's sunlight more than enough of a reason in a child's mind to acquire it. Irene smiled a bit sadly down at the small stone on the counter, then scooped it up and placed it carefully on the windowsill with the rest of its contemporaries. A few more pebbles, several dried up leaves and flowers, and the real prize, a snake's shed skin. All the treasures a small child could muster up and then some, proudly displayed.

  "Well! Gracious me, where did you come from, little cherub?" An unfamiliar man's voice drifted in through the windows and Irene jerked her head up, startled and dismayed to see a dapper-looking fellow on one knee in the mud of the front yard, her daughter's hand in his own as he presented her with a small paper flower. 

  The woman fairly bolted for the door. "Annie, love, come here!" She called benignly, trying not to distress the child. "What have I told you about strangers, wee miss?"

  Anna nodded, gifting the man one of her signature smiles but not moving. "She is a beautiful little girl." The stranger mused, rising to his full height and moving his hand to Anna's shoulder, keeping her where she was. "Her eyes, in particular! What a lovely shade of blue they are." He studied Irene standing on her front porch for several long moments. "I assume she must get them from her father, since yours are such a pristine hue of amber."

  "Indeed she does." Irene replied evenly. "Please unhand my child at once, Mister…"

  "Trelawny, ma'am! Josiah Trelawny, at your service."

  "Mister Trelawny, release my daughter and you may leave my property unharmed."

  "I had dealings with a man who has eyes like your little girl's, Miss Craft." He continued breezily like she hadn't spoken. How did he know her name? "Strong fellow, secretly altruistic, bit of a temper. Fiercely loyal." Josiah paused dramatically. "And currently , almost out of reach."

  Arthur . Irene knew she must have let something slip in her expression, for a knowing smile blossomed on Trelawny's face. The man let Anna go, and she toddled across the front yard to the steps. "What is it that you want from me, Josiah Trelawny?" Irene snapped. "Does he have debts that need paying?"

  "Heavens, no! That man has paid his debts twice over again." Josiah took a step forward. "Might we converse indoors, Miss Craft? The things I am about to tell you are matters that warrant a certain amount of... discretion ."

  Irene hesitated, then reluctantly nodded while beckoning him to approach. Trelawny followed her indoors, not speaking again until they had settled down at her small kitchen table.

  "Arthur, you see, is a friend of mine. Though I'm certain he would argue to the contrary." Josiah explained while he helped himself to the grudgingly-offered biscuits and fresh raspberry jam. "Currently, however, he sits in a filthy cell waiting to be judged. The bounty on him was very substantial, Miss Craft, very substantial indeed." He settled back in the chair, biscuit crumbs marring his damask waistcoat. "Five thousand dollars, by all accounts."

  " Five thousand? " Irene repeated in horrified dismay. 

  "Yes. Now, that is undoubtedly distressing enough. That is no simple room and board, ma'am! A man may work his whole life for funds such as those." Josiah leaned forward. "And yet there is something far worse that hangs like the sword of Damocles over his head, Miss Craft. Arthur is abysmally ill. He is plagued by that lunging pestilence, the consumption. Lord only knows how long he's had it, but it is ravaging him now in incarceration."

  Consumption . Irene had no doubt that she was white as a sheet at that news. "Why are you telling me this, Mister Trelawny?" She mentally congratulated herself on keeping her voice steady. 

  "The locals mentioned you are a woman of skill. That you know certain... remedies , though you are not permitted a doctorate so instead you must fall back upon the moniker of hermit witchery." Josiah steepled his fingers. "Then of course, there are the rumors I've heard about you being the long-lost Widow Carson. There was much ado about her in the polite society...why, over a year ago at this point! How time flies." His eyes were narrowed. "The dead woman who came from the wilds and returned to them just as fast, carrying with her a fortune and apparently ," those eyes darted to the oblivious child who was currently playing on the hearth rug, "an outlaw's brat-"

  Irene was on her feet in a flash, her palms meeting the table to cut the man off before he could continue. "You shall not speak so rough in front of my daughter, Mister Josiah, or I will make you regret opening your mouth. Mind your tongue while you sit at my table and take my hospitality hostage," she seethed. "What is it that you want from me? Did you simply come here to chastise me for having a child out of wedlock? I fear you're a touch too late to stop me on that front."

  "From you , my dear woman? Nothing at all!" Josiah exclaimed, seeming appropriately cowed by her display of backbone. "You misunderstand my intent. I am here because I am in search of a gentleman named Frank Craft ." His contrition gone, the man was watching her like a hawk . "I came across mention of him in Arthur's journal. Frank is... instrumental to a plan I have devised, you see."

  Shit . "Why don't you tell me about this... plan of yours and I'll see whether it's even worth Frank's time." Irene challenged him, folding her arms across her chest. Anna buried her face in Irene's apron, the child obviously picking up on her mother's discomfort. 

  ...

  Back In The Present...

  "Oh well done , sir! Well done indeed!" Josiah praised her roundly when she returned to their meeting spot with Arthur in the saddle in front of her. "You have performed admirably , Doctor Craft!" 

  "Don't forget your half of the bargain, Trelawny." Irene said sharply, peeling the false mustache off with a grimace. "I expect that money back in my hands in two days."

  "But of course! A few more investments in the Kilgore mines and I shall have your payment safely returned." 

  Arthur, who did not even seem to be conscious , started coughing and wheezing like his lungs were fit to come out. Irene didn't miss Josiah's look of extreme worry. "I'll do my best with him, Trelawny." She murmured. "I can't promise anything. He seems in a bad way."

  "The coughing started back in...April, perhaps early May of last year if I recall his journal entries correctly. It's a miracle he's endured this long." Trelawny stated bluntly. He shifted in his saddle, "speaking of his journal, I have that very item with me. Should he recuperate, I imagine he would miss it immensely." He tossed her the leatherbound book, and then tipped his hat. "I'll be off. Thank you for your assistance, Miss Craft."

  "Just get me the money, Josiah." She retorted, pulling her scarf up over her nose and mouth before spurring Bluster off in the direction of home. Arthur's mare trotted along behind them serenely, the other animal having always possessed a much more even temperament than Bluster. 

  Irene pressed her ear to Arthur's back after a time, listening to how ragged and labored his breathing was and her heart broke. She prayed like she never had before the entire ride home, prayed to the Good Lord to let her save this man.

  Please God, spare him, he's suffered enough .

  As she rounded the final bend in the road before the last thickly-wooded section, she was startled to see an enormous stag barring her way. The beast was a strange amber-white, boasting a many-pronged rack of antlers that would have left many a hunter awestruck. It practically glowed in the moonlight, nigh ethereal as it turned its head and studied the woman with one liquid, pitch-black eye.

  Irene cautiously reined in Bluster, who didn't seem concerned with the massive creature. That of all things was what made her uneasy. Bluster, the perennial coward, was wholly unbothered by the hulking apparition that currently sat in front of them. Chase was unphased as well, the mare actually lowering her head to graze the sparse grass. Bluster's breath fogged out around his nose, the air already sharp with the promise of winter, and Irene realized with a jolt of confusion that the stag had no visible haze from its breath around its head. 

  The deer that towered head and shoulders over her even while mounted turned in the direction they had been heading, and then set off at a stately pace. It stopped after a moment, looking back at her as if to say, " well? " 

  Irene clicked her tongue, coaxing Bluster to a careful trot. The stag appeared satisfied with this arrangement, soon picking up speed. It led her on a strange path, a bit more of a winding one than she would have taken, but Irene felt weirdly confident that this odd... vision was here to help. 

  Off in the woods to the left, sounding like it was dangerously close to the deer track she would have taken, she heard a furious crashing of branches and the yowling of a cougar as it chased down some unfortunate prey. 

  Irene looked wide-eyed at the stag and found that it had turned its head to stare at her once more. Bluster whinnied uncertainly, beginning to fidget as he doubtless caught the noise and smell of the big cat, and Irene urged him on a little faster. 

  Jesus , encountering a cougar at this hour, her with nothing but her revolver and the limp weight of Arthur further burdening Bluster? They would have been dead for certain!

  "Thank you." She breathed, feeling foolish for being disappointed when she received no reply.

  The stag finally halted on the rocky hilltop adjacent to the little hollow her stead rested in, still not an ounce of breath fog around its nose or issuing from its mouth, and Irene realized after a moment that it was waiting for her to continue onwards. 

  "Thank you," she said again softly, grateful even through her disbelief.

  The deer folded its legs to lay in the grass, as if to keep an eye out for danger while Irene dismounted and led the two horses down the steep incline. Arthur started to cough again, the noise sharp and hollow as his breath rasped in and out.

  "Nearly there Arthur, nearly there." Irene soothed, knowing that he was probably unable to hear her in his delirium. "We'll be home…" her words trailed off when she turned to look back at Arthur and saw that the stag had vanished. "...soon."

  Bluster whickered at her quietly after a moment, breaking the spell of her confusion. Right . Work to be done.

  ...

  " The queen will never win the game, for Rumpelstiltskin is my name! "

  Arthur couldn't even bring himself to wonder what the hell he was hearing. Some sort of distant nursery rhyme, and he wasn't sure if he was imagining the sound of a small child laughing fit to split their sides.

  Christ , he was tired. His body ached and his lungs seared like hellfire. Throat raw from coughing, tongue sour with the iron taste of blood. He had really, really thought he would be dead by now. Guess his body had other plans, the bastard .

  He went back under, muddling around in the red haze of semi-consciousness. It seemed like someone was always forcing him to take some kind of medicine. Bitter, scraping his battered throat like knives all the way down. Maybe it was poison. 

  Some strange salve for his chest, reeking so potently of mint that his eyes watered even though they were closed. It reminded him of the ointments Hosea had soothed the horses with, the damn man probably pious as a pope from all the anointing he did. 

  A ladle full of lukewarm water pressed to his lips and he drank as best as he could, though some of it ended up trickling down his chin. His jaw was physically sore from the rib-shattering coughing he had struggled through; it was all he could do just to pry his teeth apart. 

  Christ , he should be dead. He had been surprised enough when he managed to survive getting a hole blown in his shoulder without losing the limb to gangrene, but this was a whole new level of bullshit. 

  What little life he had left after enduring Dutch's madness, Micah had done his best to beat out of him.

  Maybe they wanted him healthy for the gallows. Put on more of a show if he was strong enough to raise his head. Arthur didn't have the heart or breath to tell whoever this was that their care was in vain. He was so far gone…

  Nobody could save him. Not even God himself could save Arthur Morgan at this point.

Winter’s Cold, Part Two

[samanthalightning]

She's Got A Date-EoWells X Allen!reader- Part II

*The GIF is not mine. All rights to the owner*

Part I

Summary: A new meta is in town, and you are starting to want your secret relationship not to be not-so secret anymore. But Wells doesn't have the same idea

Warnings: Smut if you squint very hard.

***

You never really were one to wake up early in the morning. You hated it, actually. You never liked seeing the sun rising up, you hated the way it made you feel; that heart sinking and hopeful feeling. It reminded you of when your mother died. You stayed all night with your brother in the precinct, after a few hours of sleep, you woke up when the sun was rising, and you wished really hard to go home and see your parents again. But you never did. Your Mom died, your Dad went to prison for your Mom's murder, you never came home, and the Detective from the case adopted you. Barry told you back then that the sun was also a star, unfortunately, it wasn't the star for wishing.

You hated mornings, but of course, you have to pay bills and have to get a certain someone from your bed.

Your limbs ache, as you stretch your arms over your head. You went rounds last night, which shows how much you missed each other and how much of an animal you both were.

Still completely groggy, you moved under the sheets, propped your elbows, laying on your stomach to stare at him. You couldn't help but smile upon the sight of him.

Always so stern, well-composed, mysterious, guarded, seems like the kind of guy who's least likely to do something that will get him in huge trouble— except for the Particle Accelerator explosion, that was a huge mess— Now, he's in your apartment, sprawled out on your bed, specifically, naked under the sheets of 24-year old girl's bed. So relaxed and comfortable. The careful and stoic demeanor he radiated temporary vanished.

You ran your fingers through his brown, unruly locks. You remember how hard you gripped on them last night.

God, memories like this are what enters your mind when you talk to Barry and Joe; it makes you flustered and all scared to face them. Eventually it got easier to deal with, but the guilt doesn't fade, or it hasn't yet.

Despite Barry's admiration for the man, he would question it. You're his baby sister, and there are so many issues he could point out. But you know him, he'll get over it quickly.

Joe, on the other hand, the silent treatment is what he's going to put on. He's a tough man to break. Besides, he has yet to deal with Iris and Eddie dating.

You didn't want them to feel as though you betrayed them or left them out on a part of your life, because they're part of it. You really wanted to tell them.

You don't want to be all sappy, you want to take in this nice morning and this man in front of you. He usually wakes up before you. Perhaps you really worn him out last night.

You ran your dainty finger across his cheek, he stirred in his sleep, grumpily. You stifled a giggle. Even in his sleep, he's guarded.

"Good morning," you mumbled, leaning to kiss his pink thin lips.

That woke him up. Gradually gaining his consciousness, his lips moved against yours, passionate and sweet. He reeled you into him, his bare chest meets your naked ones. His hands roamed your body, up and down your sides. He then planted a hand on the small back softly, pressing you closer to him, while his other hand slowly moved dangerously low. He runs his hand on the skin of your thigh, up and down. At the same time, your hands gripped his biceps.

The kiss deepened, squeezed and nails dug on the skin of your thigh in the process. You tried to suppress a moan, but damn he was such a good kisser. You don't know how he managed to stay quiet during intimate times like this. The kiss was turning feverishly and intoxicating. You felt that warm feeling in your stomach, an ache between your legs, sending jolts of excitement through your veins.

Wells knew you better than yourself, and he knows how you get. So before things escalated further, it took him a decent amount of control to reluctantly pull away from your lips.

A beam already crossed his face, as he fluttering his eyes open, "A good morning, indeed,"

You gave him one more peck on the lips, before placing your head on his chest, and his arm around you. You snuggled further to his warm body. It's heavenly, because it's starting to get colder in Central City.

"Can't we just stay in bed today?" You looked up to him, pouting with puppy dog eyes. It has an effect on him, and you like to push your luck.

"We have to go to work. And Caitlin and Cisco will notice."

You sighed. "I know." Your fingers drew circles on his chest. "Don't you think it's time to tell them, Har? It's been 6 months."

"I just need things to wind down, then we'll tell them," he assured you, though it wasn't enough to convince you, because that was what he said the last time. You're young, not dumb.

"When will that be?" You tried not to sound as if you were forcing him, but sneaking around is becoming tiring.

Wells frowned, uncomfortable with the discussion. "I don't know. Let's not talk about this— come on, we need to get ready." He tried to sit up, but you pinned him down. Your legs over his and hugged him tightly.

"Y/N…" He warned. You didn't bugde, kept him pinned down on the bed.

"Let's just stay in for a little while. How about just one more round?" You suggested playfully, biting your lip.

He opened his mouth to object, but you didn't bother to let him start. You ghosted his neck, your lips trailing up, and planted a kiss behind his ear, his sweet spot. You sucked it to leave a mark. His chest heaved, licked his dry lips and hummed in satisfaction.

"Y/N, w-we need to go," he managed to stutter those words.

Ever so stubborn, you didn't listen. Instead, you hushed him, and started nibbling on his ear. You earned a growl from him.

"Just one. I promised," you whispered seductively.

Your fingertips brushed against the skin of his stomach, traveled lower and lower, down lower abdomen, painstakingly slow just to rile him up. His breathing was getting uneven. His face still maintained a leveled expression, but his blue eyes turned dark, boring into yours. You decided to go for it. You took his length, as he grunted. You slowly pumped the base, torturing him. He couldn't help but let out a guttural groan.

You don't wanna look back later today, and all you remember was you talking about going out in public again. So, make-up sex, even though you didn't really fight.

He gave in. One round turned into two, turned into three, until you both were very exhausted and fell asleep.

You didn't wake up until it was late. Harrison wasn't very pleased with this. You know he had every right to; this the third time he got late, because of you.

He scolded you for sidetracking him, hurrying out of your apartment, not before giving you peck on the lips.

The elevator dings, and the doors slide open. You exhaled sharply, mentally cursing yourself for having no self control. You and Wells went at it like bunnies in heat.

You hissed, stepping outside. You were a little sensitive, so sore, limbs are like jello. Your legs wobbled as you walked in the hallway. You feel like each step you take, you're gonna collapse to the floor. It's gonna take you a few days to walk properly again. So much for being subtle and discreet. The team will definitely notice.

You entered the cortex. Caitlin and Cisco were present, of course. Cisco was chilling in his seat, feet up on the desk, while fiddling with a pen. As usual was babbling, about how excited he is to know what kind of meta you have to deal with today to Caitlin who was invested in whatever she was doing on the computer.

He paused, seeing you entered the room.

"I take that your date went well last night," he teased.

Caitlin spun her chair around to face you, cocked her head slightly and an intrigued look crossed her face.

You rolled your eyes. "I didn't have a date, Cisco," you insisted.

You know that, of course, they would wonder. Usually, you would come to the lab around Dr. Wells would arrive, just so you can sneak into his tight schedule.

"I just overslept," you lied, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Funny. Dr. Wells overslept, too," Caitlin commented with knitted eyebrows.

Your eyebrows lifted, surprised. Despite the fact that this happened before, it still surprises you how fast he can get here.

"He's here?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't he be?" Cisco scoffed jokingly.

Your face paled. Oh crap. You were not as good as him.

You opened your mouth, but luckily, Barry, Joe and Wells entered the cortex to save you. They got a case that needed some insights. Members of a crime family had been murdered. Poisoned by gas, specifically. And Joe thinks that it's a Meta.

Wells wheeled to the desk. "Fascinating. A meta-human that can manipulate poison gas," Wells commented.

"Is it just poisonous gas or he can control all aerated substances?" Cisco questioned, walking to the comms, and stood behind Dr. Wells.

Caitlin followed suit. "And how is he able to formulate the connection. Is it physiological or psychological?" She inquired, taking a seat on the chairs, immediately working on something on the computer.

"This individual can create a mental nexus using gaseous substances," Wells said.

"You mean connective gases on a molecular level?" You asked him, eyes lighting up in excitement.

"Yes,"

"That is ridiculously cool," Cisco stated.

"This is so exciting," you squealed, rocking your feet in excitement like a child at an amusement park.

Barry laughed at your reaction, Joe looked at you incredulously.

You changed your expression and mimicked a frown, "I mean, it's devastating. People died. Sad."

"They get really excited about this stuff," Barry said to Joe.

"The only thing I'm excited about is putting criminals behind bars, except Iron Heights isn't exactly equipped to handle meta-humans," Joe stated.

"I guess it's fortunate the ones you've encountered so far no longer with us,"

It really is.

"Well, unless we're planning on executing every super criminal we stop, you geniuses are going to have to come up with someplace else to hold them,"

Joe was right. The number of people affected by the Particle Accelerator was huge, it's hard to track them all down, and killing them all isn't exactly the best approach for this problem.

"A meta-human prison? Sweet," Cisco murmured.

"Until we figure a way to remove their powers,"

"There is one place here that might hold them," All of your heads turned to Cisco in curiosity.

"You can't be serious," Caitlin scoffed. "We haven't been down there since— it's cordoned off."

"Cisco's right," Wells agreed. "It could be modified to acts as a makeshift prison,"

Caitlin looked at them in disbelief. Your eyebrows furrowed, confused. You tried to read the room, though you didn't get what they were talking about that made Caitlin upset. She's always been uptight, sure, but this was different. As if she was hurt.

"What could?" Barry asked.

"The Particle Accelerator," he replied.

It all suddenly clicked. Caitlin's fiancé died because of the explosion. Cisco told you he died down there. The details were vague, the team wasn't very open to discuss whatever happened that night.

Silence hung around the cortex, as everyone shifted uncomfortably. It was a touchy subject. To you, to Barry, to Joe, especially to them; the ones who lose more than anyone in this room.

"Uhm, I guess we should go down," Cisco spoke.

You all agreed. Cisco scurried out of the room immediately. Wells was about to follow Cisco, but turned over his shoulder, asking Caitlin if she wants to come with you.

Caitlin didn't budge. She stared blankly at the distance, lost in her own world. The doctor called out to her again, only to be ignored.

"Caitlin," he called her. Caitlin whipped her head around, raising an eyebrow in question. "Did you hear me? Are you going down the accelerator with us?"

Barry cleared his throat. "Actually Dr. Wells used Caitlin's help identifying the poison gas." He turned to Caitlin. "If that's okay with you."

Caitlin smiled at your brother. "Let's go."

Taking a step forward, your body reminded you how sore you were. You limped as you tried to exit the cortex. You weren't exactly subtle. The team noticed you struggling with... walking.

"You okay, Y/N?" Joe was obviously concerned. "You're walking a little funny,"

Your eyes flickered to your boyfriend's blue ones. He was watching you carefully, just to see how you are going to dodge this. You wonder are you going to, as well.

If you had a dollar for every single person who corners you, you'll have— well, two dollars.

"Yeah," you chuckled nervously. "Just a little sore. Took some workout classes last night, and the trainer was very hard and intense on me." He coughed at your choices of words, blush creeping up on his cheek.

Your lips curved slightly, only for it to fade when Joe pointed at your neck. "Your trainer gave you some hickeys as well?" He questioned.

Your eyes went wide, cheeks turning

into a dark shade of red, hands quickly flew your neck to cover whichever part of your neck he left a mark on. He's not a damn good detective if it weren't for his observation skills.

"I think I heard Cisco calling us. Gotta go! Bye!" You sprinted-staggered out of the cortex.

Joe looked at Caitlin for answers. Caitlin shrugged and answered, "She had a date,"

You all approached the entrance of the accelerator. You've never been here before, it's not like you have any reason to down here, but the thought of wandering the what's underneath the floor you work for that blew a hole in the city did enter your mind countless of times. You didn't want to ask, though. It was a sensitive subject.

It's huge space, hollow, dim, despite the number of lights it has, and there's a lot of pipes. There's not much to say, really.

"The copper in the tube is arranged to form cavities," Wells pointed out, wheeling inside. "And we can use those cavities as containment, which we have to design to counteract meta-humans abilities, but..." He paused, processing a thought.

"This is perfect," Cisco said with a heave of chest. He seemed reluctant, but it was the best option you got.

All of you take a look around, check for somethings that could be faulty or ruptured by the explosion, so you could fix it, before building the makeshift prison. Cisco took the other side, and you followed Wells.

You pulled your cardigan across your chest, and crossed your arms. It felt strange and bone-chilling, almost. Lurking around the place that someone died in. Ronnie, Caitlin's fiancé could have been anywhere in here, before he died. It must be so hard for Caitlin. It must have hurt so bad. She had to go to work everyday to the place where the love of her life was killed. You always wondered what he was like, prior to the whole mess 10 months ago. No one talked about him, and asking seems to be so insensitive for people you just had met. But it's been months, and you're all way past being just colleagues. You're dating your boss.

"You never talked about him," you began.

His eyes wandered around, too busy inspecting to turn to you. "About who?"

You wondered if he was truly oblivious or he just wants to confirm if you were asking about him.

"Ronnie," You saw the way his posture stiffened when you mentioned his name, but he didn't stop or paused.

You felt bad for asking. He never really says anything. You know he feels bad, but he was never vulnerable with it. 6 months of dating, he just never talked about his pain, and during the times he was actually in the state of it, you weren't in his life.

"He was a structural engineer for the project; he was a good man, a smart man," he said.

"And he died down here?" You inquired.

He nodded. "Yes,"

"How?" He slowed down, before eventually stopping.

You were met with silence. You instantly felt bad. You knew that you crossed a line and let your curiosity get the best of you. The details may be too much for him to explain.

You shook your head in regret. "I'm sorry. That was insensitive," you apologized.

"No, it's fine." He waved his fingers dismissively. "He contained the blast; adjusted it to make sure that it would go upward, not outward. He wasn't able to go out, since a lockdown was initiated. He saved so many lives that night, including mine."

You know he felt bad. For Barry, for Ronnie, for everyone. You took a step forward to him, and hugged his shoulders from behind tightly. You gave him a peck on the cheeks, then rested your chin on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry you lost him," you murmured to his ear.

He sighed, relaxing in your arms, as he put a hand on your arm and rubbed his thumb against the fabric of your cardigan, soothingly.

"Thank you," he mumbled.

"How about dinner again tonight? Just to cheer you up," you suggested.

"I thought we're gonna take a break from your cooking,"

You rolled your eyes, but you were the one who suggested it. You need practice, not spontaneous dinner with lack of experiences with cooking meals.

"I know—"

He straightened. "But…?" He already knew that there is an underlying agenda.

You were hesitant to even say it now, but it doesn't hurt to try. Again.

"There's this amazing restaurant that opened last month. They're not that pricey, but they serve a pretty decent steak. So I was wondering if he could go there too, you know, go on an actual date," you whispered the last part with a wince on your face.

You dreaded his reaction, because deep inside, you know what he's going to say. But you kept your hopes up that he might change his mind on the whole thing.

"Y/N…" He exhaled. "You already know what that means. "We talked about this, right? I don't think it's the best time for us to go public with our relationship."

You sighed, exasperated. You unwrap your arms around him. You heard those excuses enough today. "I know, babe. But why do these people matter? We don't need the public's seal of approval for being in a relationship." You argued.

He turned around to face you. You watched him, as he took your hands and kissed your knuckles sweetly. "We don't," he told you sincerely.

"Then why?"

"It's not the best time. Your brother just woke up and he has a new power to deal with. As long everything worked out, we'll talk about it, okay?" His eyes searching into yours for yes, so you look down at your feet.

You knew, of course. He told you that earlier, still you pushed. You always attempt to do this, using every reason and excuse, but it always leads to you being disappointed. You wonder why it still feels the same despite getting this reaction so many times.

This anger bubbled in your chest. "Yeah, I know. It's what you always say," you murmured through your gritted teeth, sarcasm dripping off of it.

He opened his mouth to reply, but you didn't give him a chance to do so, you walked ahead, past him. Wells, who was very aware of your frustration, followed you. He decided not to react or add fuel to fire. It was not the time nor the place.

While inspecting, walking quickly, so you stay a couple of meters ahead of him, you feel your phone vibrate in your pocket. You fished it out. A notification popped out of the screen. It was a text from Iris.

"Hey. Are you busy tonight?”

***

Yikes. What do you think will happen?

Anyway, I'd really appreciate if you share this and give it some love. Thanks!

Part III

[egelantier]

Yuletide Recs

Having had two days of more or less nothing but reading fics, I come bearing recs!

First of all, my amazing gifts:

The Goblin Emperor

For Thy Principles

The nohecharei of Edrehasivar VII were unparalleled in their defense of his person, but there were limits to even their prowess. When Maia first developed the fever, Cala quickly determined that it was not the end result of a magically-based assassination attempt – and from there it had to be left to the court physicians.

Maia falls ill, and Csethiro protects him as best she can.

Beautifully gentle Maia sickfic, with Csethiro holding him together. For me all for meeee.

Benjamin January Mysteries

Dry as a Bone

“Oh. Well, I’ve been better, maestro, been a hell of a lot better to tell truth.” Shaw stared at him for a long moment, and he was stunned to see honest to God grief in his eyes. Even when Shaw had just lost his brother he had been so much more himself than this lost man currently standing before him. “Not that I mean to put anything extra on your shoulders, I’m sure you’ve got enough of your own shit going on at present moment, but it seems like I’ve just lost my job.”

Shaw loses his job, and finally confronts Ben about trust (and lack thereof) between them. It’s GREAT.

The Tarot Sequence - K.D. Edwards

A Distraction Worth Losing

They may never be together, but the gods would have to move heaven and earth to split Rune and Brand apart.

Brand, Rune and The Kiss incident. (Poor messed up babies, somebody save them.)

And fics of the collection:

17776, Astreiant, Raksura, Frederica, The Gentlemen, The Goblin Emperor, Hades, Innkeeper Chronicles, Jeeves, Kate Daniels, King Arthur the movie, My Next Life as a Villainess, Nirvana in Fire, No. 6, Psmith, The Secret Garden, The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, Swordspoint, The Tarot Sequence, Teixcalaan Series, The Temple of the White Rat verse

17776: What Football Will Look Like in the Future

so far, so fast

When Manny gets a craving for some fancy meal he had once, over ten thousand years ago, Nick decides he’s gonna fulfill that craving, no matter how hard it is. Because real romance is about making the impossible happen for his husband.

Goddamn transcendental.

Go Get It

Sometimes you start out just planning to get some groceries with your husband, and next thing you know, you’re committing to join the most hopeless team in college football.

Nick and Manny decide to play. It’s perfect.

Afterlife

A young man dies six months before the end of human death; his loss saves five lives, which end up much longer than anyone expects. (A series of worldbuilding vignettes about original characters in the 17776 setting.)

Made me cry, in a very cathartic way.

Astreiant Series - Melissa Scott & Lisa A. Barnett

April dressed in all his trim

A quiet evening in spring.

Sweet little slice-of-life with lovely sensory details.

Books of the Raksura

The Second Consort

“When Glow arrives, be friendly and welcoming,” Ember said. “Not scary.”

“Why does everyone think I’m going to scare him?”

Chime said, “They can see your face when you look at him.” He paused, glancing over at Moon. “That face, that’s the one.”

Ember sighed. “I remember being in his position. It’s pretty nerve-wracking coming to a new court and not knowing what’s going to happen to you there - whether they’re going to welcome you or shun you, whether you’ll make new friends, whether a queen is going to claim you…” He came and put a sympathetic hand on Moon’s shoulder. “Glow is probably worried about all of those things, and missing his home and clutchmates, and it’s our job to try and help him relax.” For a moment Moon thought he was just being soft-hearted, until Ember added, “He won’t open up and tell us what’s really going on unless he’s relaxed.”

Jade takes in a new consort, on Moon’s permission, and everybody is delightfully adult about it.

Frederica

Lady Alverstoke

Frederica commences her first Season as a married woman by planning a ball, promising most straitly that her husband will have nothing whatsoever to do …

Sweet and funny slice-of-life post-happy-ending for canon.

**The Gentlemen (2019) **

Even

The week after he intercepts Fletcher, that squirrelly little cunt, outside the London Miramax office, Raymond reluctantly ventures down to Brixton.

Under normal circumstances, Raymond tends to give this part of Brixton a wide berth, but he has unfinished business that needs attending to. Of course, that doesn’t mean he has to like being accosted by the overwhelming smell of greasy fish and chips when he pushes the car door open, doesn’t mean he has to be pleased about stepping into a piece of chewed-up gum the moment he sets a foot on the kerb.

But then, he can always take a shower after an errand in Brixton. The deep-seated discomfort of unfinished business doesn’t wash off that easily.

Raymond tries to pay Coach back for saving his life, and it doesn’t quite go as planned :D

The Goblin Emperor

The Archduke’s Discovery

Prince Nemolis goes on a journey, and learns a bit more than he wanted to know.

Really great point of canon divergence, and true and precise character voices.

Hades

all the spaces between us

For a place full of the dead, crammed with ghostly shades and nothing but the endless lull of eternity unchanging, gossip sure travelled fast in the Underworld.

Or, Zagreus mulls over his relationship with Thanatos while the rest of the Underworld get overly invested.

Slow, slow, slowest of burns.

Innkeeper Chronicles - Ilona Andrews

A Quick Trip

“It’ll be a quick trip,” Maud said, more to herself than to Arland. “No one will even notice we’re gone.”

Pirates are plaguing an ally, just outside of vampire space. Maud and Arland don some aesthetically beat-up armor and try to get more information from the pirates themselves. Of course, plans only last until you meet your enemy. Or your enemy’s giant alien attack boar.

Excellent canon voice, action/adventure sprinkled with badassery and hilarity.

Jeeves & Wooster

August Thirteenth

Discovering that this is not the first August thirteenth that he’s lived through, that certainly was a head scratcher. Luckily Bertie has the stalwart presence of his man’s man, Jeeves.

Very, very great and satisfying use of the time loop.

Kate Daniels - Ilona Andrews

lookin’ like a snack (cake)

It took Barabas a while to figure it out, because he wasn’t used to not being taken seriously.

Barabas considered several ways to phrase it, and finally settled upon, “Do you have a thing for twinks?” Christopher knocked his head back against the headrest: once, then again. “Is that a yes?”

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

When Goosefat Bill finds himself in a difficult situation, the last thing he wants is the King to show up and “help”, in his own unique and unexpected way.

Goosefat Bill does not need to be rescued by his King. But he might just enjoy it a little.

My Next Life as a Villainess (Anime)

All I Have To Bring Today

Catarina and Sophia had been discussing the latest in the Devilish Count series, and Sophia had mentioned how romantic the surprise picnic the count had planned for his lover was and how she wished for someone to surprise her like that.

“What about you, Catarina? Have you ever wished for someone to sweep you off your feet?” Sophia had asked.

Catarina makes a choice! As sweet and as hilarious as the canon.

Nirvana in Fire

Adverse Event

What a pitiful man must he have become, if the only thing he could provoke in bed was a monologue on his character flaws.

: or, the famous strategist mei changsu plays xanatos speed chess against truth serum: the fic.

Mei Changsu gets hit with an accidental truth serum; it doesn’t stop him from lying to himself, but it does buy Jingyan a clue.

Records of the Land of Xiang

There was something of Xiao Jingyan there, in the firmness of his jaw, the unforgiving slash of his brows, and most clearly in the eyes that neither saw nor conveyed deception. But Long Zhan was not Jingyan, could never be, no matter how much Changsu might wish otherwise, because Jingyan was dead.

In service to a very-much-alive Prince Qi, Jingyan dons a Jianghu-typical disguise and infiltrates the Jiangzuo Alliance to suss out this Mei Changsu fellow and see if he might be useful in helping them re-open the Chiyan conspiracy case. Basically, a slightly ridiculous premise where everyone is running around the Jianghu with masks, multiple identities, and secret agendas.

Fascinating and fun AU scenario that delves, among other things, into Mei Changsu the jianghu chef, not Sir Su the court schemer.

suffering as I suffer you

The first time Jingyan stays the night at Su Manor, he discovers an uncomfortable truth about Mei Changsu.

Excellent extrapolation of Mei Changsu’s illness into his nightly routine - with Jingyan watching…

Here, In Our Arms

With the world put to rights, however briefly, Xiao Jingyan and Mu Nihuang take the opportunity to make a fuss over their beloved Lin Shu, and will not take no for an answer.

Sweet moment of comfort.

Find the Coals Amid the Ashes

Despite Changsu’s assertions, Lin Chen is a well brought up person. He would never violate his host’s privacy during a social call. It would be inexcusable, for example, to break into a marquis’s private alchemy lab in the middle of said marquis’s birthday party, in order to search said alchemy lab for certain hard to find medicinal herbs, which one has reason to believe can be found therein. These would be the actions of a man without honour, of a man who has only desperation to his name.

Lin Chen crashes a party and makes a new friend.

The best team up ever :D

Dead Letters

Mei Changsu isn’t the only schemer in Da Liang.

Fei Liu fixes things, in the most Fei Liu way imaginable, and it’s great.

No. 6

All Good Things

In the midst of a crisis for No. 6, Nezumi returns to Shion’s side.

A reunion! And cuddling.

Psmith

The Psky Is The Limit

“As this ship’s Orator, my mission is still as it was in the beginning and shall ever be, world without end. It is to hail any message sent by comrades from outer space and pass it on to you verbatim. Well! The hour, I say, has come. The Word has come into being. Here comes Psmith, bearing news of great mirth: the intercom has spoken.”

(A Mike and Psmith Space AU)

Psmith in space! Hysterically funny Psmith in Pspace, at that.

Psmith Pops In

Psmith reached over and solicitously loosened Mike’s scarf, his fingers brushing the skin of Mike’s neck, and that young man, to his horror, felt heat creeping up from where gloved fingers brushed his bare skin. Really, this blushing nonsense was getting out of hand. Ever since Psmith had tried to take the blame in the case of the painted dog, Mike had developed an inexplicable habit of turning hot and cold around him, and these odd responses had become more and more frequent.

Very funny! And then very tragique! And then jussssst right.

The Secret Garden

The Space Garden

When Meri La Nix was sent from the Mars colony to live with her aunt at Missiles Wait Manor, nobody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. But some of them thought it.

Beautifully inventive space retelling - with gardens, still.

The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty

The sky spinning above him

In which there’s a jewellery thief on the loose, Tang Fan plays dress up, gets a mild concussion and also a boyfriend.

Frothy, sweet, well-grounded and hot. Also hilarious (check the end note!)

truth in fiction

Three days after Wang Zhi leaves the capital, bits and pieces of his extensive library begin arriving at Sui Zhou’s house.

Sui Zhou is really committed to research and accuracy in Tang Fan’s porn. It’s delightful.

Time don’t fool me no more

“The electrician is a Tang dynasty spy,” he says, dumping some of his eggs in Tang Fan’s bowl.

Tang Fan nods, shovels more food in his mouth, and starts talking again.

Past or future, Tang Fan has Priorities. And Sui Zhou is weak.

Meeting at the End

Sui Zhou knew he never should have let Tang Fan go alone. He knew he should have gone with him.

Really, really great and desperate whump. Super satisfying.

clever boy

Tang Fan never spares a smile for any of the girls at Wang Zhi’s establishment, he’s noticed. That’s alright, though. It means Wang Zhi gets his attention for himself.

Wang Zhi falling, falling hard; it’s delightful.

a bold and brilliant sun

“You’re sure you didn’t do something to it? They don’t usually stall out,” Sui Zhou says. He looks away from Tang Fan, out the windshield at the endless rust-red of the planet.

Tang Fan pouts at this, and slumps down on the edge of the console, feet propped up at an absurd angle against the pilot’s seat. “You think I’d fake a mechanical issue just so that they’d send a sexy Fleet crewman out here to rescue me?” As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he giggles. “Okay, I would do that, but I promise that this time the problem is real.”

Space AU! Most excellent space AU condensing all there is to love about the canon in one perfect package.

Blind Taste Test

Wang Zhi invites Tang Fan to evaluate Joyous Brothel’s chefs — but it’s Tang Fan and Sui Zhou who are really being tested.

Wang Zhi, ever helpful :)

Authorial Intent

Sui Zhou and Tang Fan end up in hot water yet again. Kinky sex ensues.

Hilarious, kinky, heartfelt, and in character.

Swordspoint Series - Ellen Kushner

Chrysopoeia

It struck Alec that this would have been much easier if their positions were reversed. Richard would have known what to do if he’d been dragged back here with a hole in his gut. He was quite simply not supposed to be the one on this end of the equation. In fact, it was possible he had done something very bad to deserve this.

Richard is wounded, and Alex is coping. Excellent h/c and excellent bloodplay and sharp, painful slice of Alex’ POV, excellently rendered.

At first — this was just like him — he thought he was hearing god. But it was only the man in the bed, whose face had turned toward him on the ragged pillow.

The Tarot Sequence - K.D. Edwards

Third’s a Charm

Addam asks a favor of Brand.

Addam asks Brand for help, which ends up being exactly what Brand and Rune need.

Pretty good

Five times Brand crawls into Rune’s bed and one time Rune crawls into Brand’s.

Brand and Rune, through the years.

Teixcalaan Series - Arkady Martine

Also in the Act of Reaching

When Three Seagrass arrived at Lsel Station, she was, officially at least, traveling as a private personage. She had missed Mahit and the possibilities they’d both chosen to turn away from. She also had– would always have– a gaping hole in her life where Petal had once stood.

It was simply that, left on her own, Three Seagrass wouldn’t have let either absence drag her to the ass-end of beyond.

Reunion, metaphors and realigment. Subtle and clever and just right.

The (concept of the) World Was Wide Enough

Yskandr Aghavn comes to the world like a drowning man comes to shore, but he is living on borrowed time. Teixcalaan has so many wonderful things to choke on.

Teixcalaan has had his heart for all of his life, has elevated him, corrupted him, and discarded him.

It is Lsel that he thinks of as he dies.

Temple of the White Rat Universe - T. Kingfisher

If Grace Is Too Much

Zale is given a case by Bishop Beartongue which turns out to be more complicated and personal than a holy advocate-priest would prefer.

Clever and sweet and carefully shocking, but in a very right way.

Outreach

“We don’t generally assess the… cursédness… of objects, trees or otherwise,” Beartongue said.

Utterly delightful.

[socialwriter]

Ch. 2-Diamonds are a girls best friend

Listen alongside- this and this

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Female Reader

TW: Prostitution, sexual activities, mentions of homelessness, cursing, health issues

2.2k+ words

A/n- This is the second chapter of my moulin rouge series, I hope y’all enjoy, mwah

 The curtain rose, and JJ's mouth instantly went dry when the most beautiful woman he had ever seen walked onstage. Immediately, butterflies erupted in his chest. He realized that this mission of his was going to be much harder than he had initially anticipated…

Y/n strut on stage, hips swaying from side to side slightly. She had the routine down pat, knowing how to maximize tips for the night. Leaving the men of the audience wanting more, that’s how you keep them coming back for more. You push and push them, but don’t let them over the edge. Eventually, she landed center stage, the spotlight hitting her making the jewels on her body and costume glimmer. The entire audience was quiet, anticipation evident by the atmosphere. 

You were ready to begin. 

The silky notes left your throat, as looked up at the audience through your eyelashes, flirting with every man in the room all at once. Your eyes skimmed the audience, creating a connection with each and every person watching. After all, the larger the connection, the larger the tip. Though, your attention always drifted back to those middle booths. The money makers. You hadn’t forgotten your conversation with Topper before the show had begun for the night.

----

You’re putting the finishing touches of makeup on for the night, painting the red rouge on the lip when a knock was heard at the door. You breathe in, putting on your sultry look, preparing for an early customer, only to relax when you see it's just Topper likely here to tell you to break a leg. “There’s my star.” He said, a grin on his face as he opened his arms towards you. 

You rolled your eyes, but nevertheless walked over to him to give him a small hug and air kisses. Topper had always been able to see the shine and glimmer in you that you hadn’t been able to see in yourself. To yourself, you were just like any of the other performers, nothing special, but he saw something more in you. He had taken you in when you were left homeless at 14, giving you a job as a waitress before letting you perform when you were of age. He picked you up, dusted you off, and made you a beautiful star, though he said you didn’t need his help doing the last part.

“I’m just doing my job Top.” You retort, pulling away from the hugs. He just grins at you and shakes his head, surprised that after all these years you still had never learned to take a compliment. “And that’s why we pay you the big bucks.” He muses, before the smile falls on his face and he becomes serious. The mood change is abrupt, taking you aback. It looked like this wasn’t just his ritual check in before he started the show.

“I need your help.”

“When don’t you.”

Topper huffs and rolls his eyes, clearly not in the mood for jokes anymore. “Listen, you’re the first girl I’m telling this to, but we’re running low on money. We can’t afford the drinks, the costumes, the lights. Pretty soon we’ll be going under if we continue on this path.”

A small gasp escapes your lips and you look down, tears threatening to spill. This place and Topper had given you a home when you had nowhere else to turn to and now it may be in ruins? You saw other girls, in similar positions you had been in, depending on this place to pay the bills. Some of them had families and children to care form, and now they might suffer because of this place going under. “I hate to break it to you Top, but I don’t have any money to keep this place a float.

Topper shook his head instantly. “I know you don’t, trust me, I don’t think anyone that works here does. But one of our patrons tonight can save us, and I need your help convincing him to invest in us.” That was no shock to you. Topper had often asked you to pay special care to the top paying customers to ensure that they always came back for more, but never had the stakes been so high. “Who?”

“His name’s Rafe Cameron, Duke of Monroth. He’s been coming here on your nights off for the past few weeks, but I think we’re going to need you to give him the final push to give us the money. He always sits in a middle booth, as per usual with the bigwigs. Can you do this for me, for everyone here doll?”

You nod, a determined look in your eyes. “This Duke isn’t gonna know what hit him Top.”

---

You smile, eventually walking around the venue, collecting your bills on the different beats of the song. Everything was a show, and the people had to be entertained at all times.

When you start to approach the booth of the three bohemians, JJ pats down his pockets before realizing he doesn’t have any money to give. “Gimme some money.” He whisper-yells at the two men seated next to him, you were only one booth over. You were currently giving a show to someone who you didn’t realize yet was Rafe Cameron, and he was thoroughly impressed, enjoying the show but not tipping a cent. 

“I only have a $20.” Pope whisper-yells back, but you’re already walking, so JJ grabs the 20 dollar bill from Pope’s hand without his consent and grabs your wrist ,spinning you around. You’re shocked to say the least, and about to pull away from the rude customer. You may dance around and perform sexual acts in front of men, but you drew the line at consent. However, when you turned around, your breath hitched as you met the most beautiful blue eyes that you had ever seen. The unknown mystery man hands you $20 before getting on one knee and kissing the back of your hand. The tip is huge, and with the chivalrous attitude, you connect the dots in your head that this must be the duke Rafe Cameron. It looked like you would be seeing more of those mesmerizing blue eyes later tonight.

You start to walk away from who you assume is the duke, but not before turning around and blowing a kiss his way. JJ is practically swooning at this point, his eyes glued on you the entire time as he makes his way back to the booth with Pope and John B. “Man..you’re good.” John B mumbles, looking at JJ with only respect in his eyes. Pope, however, is a little less impressed, muttering, “You owe me $20” under his breath.

You stuff the 20 in your corset, making your way back to the stage before it feels like a ton of bricks have been piled onto your chest. You stumble upstage and lean on a wall, hoping that the dancers in front of you will distract the audience from whatever is happening to you. It's hard to breathe, and you don’t know what's happening, until you feel a hand on your shoulder and see Sarah’s worried eyes, Kie glancing over at you with concern in her eyes while she dances. Focusing on Sarah seems to pull you out of whatever funk you’re in and let you focus on breathing in and out again. Eventually, you feel like enough oxygen has filled your lungs as you start to walk back to the front of the stage, nodding to Sarah to let her know you’re ok. She reluctantly allows you to walk forward and finish the number, but makes sure to keep an eye on you for the rest of the night.

After belting out the final notes to the song, you’re met with applause from everyone, and you smile at them all. “I hope you all have enjoyed your time at the Moulin Rouge thus far. Now, who’s ready to dance?!” You ask the audience, earning whoops and hollers in response. The rest of the girls and yourself all start to walk off stage, the real performance of mingling with customers just beginning. 

John B and Pope, seeing you walking off stage, stand up abruptly. “Now’s your chance pal. Talk to Y/n, and we’ll distract Topper. Good luck bud.” John B says to JJ, before both boys leave heading over to Topper. “Hey Top, looking spiffy as always, that a new tie?” JJ hears Pope shout, causing him to chuckle and shake his head. Before he can start looking around to find you, you’re already in front of him, a light sheen of sweat on you from the rigorous performance that you had just given. “Hey handsome.”

JJ gulped, scratching that back of his head nervously. He had expected to have to pull you away from some rich scum to talk to you, and he had no clue as to why he would be the first man you approached. “Me handsome?” He asked, pointing to himself. Way to make yourself look like an idiot, JJ.

You just giggle, twirling some hair around your finger. You had half expected the duke to be some arrogant asshole that immediately wanted to get into you pants, but he was different. You catch yourself getting butterflies in your stomach at his goofy smile and pretty blue eyes, but try to push down the feeling. Your profession was not one for love. “Yes you, silly.”

You lean down so that your mouth is right next to his ear, your lips just barely brushing against his skin. “Care to dance?” JJ’s eyes widen slightly, and he looks you in the eyes. “Aren’t I supposed to be asking you that?” 

Smirking, you shake your head at the blond, holding out your hand for him to take. “I like to switch things up, what can I say?” 

JJ takes your outstretched hand, standing and following you to the dance floor. “I’m, uh, not really a dancer, I actually do more music.” You look back at him, surprised by the information. Most men kept their mouths shut during this part, wanting the physical and nothing more. But not the man stood in front of you. He seemed genuine, nervous sure, but like he wanted you for your soul and not your body. You can’t help but smile at his awkward stance, glancing at the other girls and how they're dancing with their customers for the night. “Well, that means that you already got the hard part down. If you’re dancing to the beat, then you’re already doing better than most of the guys in here.” You tell him, smirking when his face turns a shade of pink. “Now come here.”

You pull him close, wrapping a leg around his hips so that your chests are pressed together, and your hands go up to his shoulders, fingers absentmindedly playing with the hairs at the nape of his neck. JJ clears his throat, uncomfortable with how close you are, considering your dress is riding up so that your ass is almost hanging out. “You, um, you don’t have to do that, you know.” He says, looking you in the eyes. The smirk you had on your face falls, and you lower your leg. It looked like all the usual tricks wouldn’t work, like you had thought they might. Apparently this Rafe guy needed an emotional connection, which would be harder. You’d trained yourself to block out emotions, but this guy was demanding you to be vulnerable and be the real you, not the act that you put on. 

“Where did you come from?” The words tumble out of your mouth before you can even really think of what you’re saying, and your eyes widen slightly, heat rising to your cheeks. You rest your head on the blond’s chest, praying that he hadn’t seen the blush on your face. But JJ had, and it made him fall in love with you even more. Seeing the real you, the real woman, the real person, not the performer and the act that you put up. He was determined, in that moment, to make you his, no matter the cost. “America.” He joked, causing you to snort, shaking your head before pulling away. Instantly, you both crave the other's touch. “I’ll be in my dressing room, hope to see you there.” You tell JJ before walking away, giving him one last parting glance. 

John B and Pope see you walk away from JJ, so they decide to quit pestering Topper to see how the mission with JJ and you was going. “So how’d it go man?” Pope questions. JJ is left speechless for a moment before glancing back at the two. “She invited me back to her dressing room.” John B and Pope both grin at JJ, the former patting him on the shoulder. “Well done, you go up there, talk to her uninterrupted, and we’re in for sure!” 

JJ nods, sending the two a half hearted smile before sneaking another glance at you. You approach Topper, a smile on your lips before you remember that you have to do this for professional reasons. “I’ve invited him back to my dressing room.” You inform Topper, causing him to grab you by the shoulder and kiss you on the cheek, grinning. “That’s my girl, I knew you could do it.” You can’t help but look back at the blond haired, blue eyed man, and resent the fact that you can’t help but blush when you see that he’s already looking at you.

Tags: 

@normatural @sarahcxmeron @bricksatanakinswindow @ssjiara @tomfreakinghollandneedsaoscar @girlsru1eboysdroo1 @the-crackhead-next-door @perfektionsmakel @teamnick @danicarosaline @gracie-jo15 @jjmbanks​ @meandmymessyminds​ @keepingupwiththepogues​ @jjaybank​ @x-lulu​

[kayr0ss]

The Masterplan (Diakko)

[LWA, Diakko, kind of an AU?, funny, absolutely disastrous, nothing goes according to plan, but their friends are so supportive!!!!! ...car chase??]

Summary: Akko is planning a confession. On the other side of the playing field - Hannah and Barbara are dead-set on their best-friend getting the girl of her dreams.So of course nothing goes to plan. Not even close. It's a complete, fast-paced, adorable disaster. [Modern AU]

--

Akko was on a mission.

She was riding shotgun in Lotte’s car, speeding through the highways of Glastonbury city with the urgency of a government spy. It was finally go-time.

She was finally confessing to Diana Cavendish.

They’ve gone over The Plan three-times over by now—Sucy, Lotte, and herself—and the warm glow of a perfect Friday afternoon felt like an omen for good-and-romantic things to come. The time was nigh—it was now or never.

Now, Akko was no fool. She knew that Lotte and Sucy were only in it so she’d shut up about The Masterplan once and for all, but she appreciated their help nonetheless. And maybe she’d take back what she just said because Lotte seemed genuinely invested in planting the seeds of love and romance.

“Flowers. Lights. Confession.” Akko muttered to herself for the hundredth time, earning an eyeroll from Lotte (who was in charge of lights) behind the wheel.

“It will be fine, Akko.”

“It’s me!” She groaned, throwing a hand up to gesture emphasis. “Anything that can possibly go wrong goes wrong with me!”

“I second this.”

“Thanks for the support, Sucy.” Akko groaned sarcastically. “I ate way too much, way too fast in my nervousness earlier and now I’m bloated and likely ruined my appetite for our dinner!”

“Dinner?” Lotte spared her a sidelong glance, zipping through the highway and causing her passengers to lurch in their seats. “That wasn’t part of The Masterplan. You completely overlooked any sort of food-prep.”

“Kuso!” Akko groaned. “I’ll just wing it! Let’s just get those flowers.”

“Take a left here,” Sucy tapped on Lotte’s shoulders. She was a botanist and therefore assigned to help with the flowers. She made plans to arrange a bouquet with her contact at the local shop, and had reluctantly sworn an oath to forego anything poisonous—with sucked—but it was for Akko, and it was just for one night.

Time was of the essence.

Lotte drummed her fingertips against the steering wheel in anticipation when they came to halt along a stoplight. The Masterplan’s execution was set for eight o’clock, and it was already four-thirty in the afternoon.

Three and half hours.

Set-up their small backyard patio with lights.

Get ready with the best flowers.

And let Akko handle the confession.

Simple. Effective.

Ultimately, disastrous.

 ---

“She said it’d be just the two of you?” Barbara leaned forward, watching with a mixture of excitement and apprehension as Diana paced around her office at the hospital.

“Yes.” The blonde woman had sunk into a trance-like state of thought. Thinking. Thinking at a hundred miles per hour. This was the opportunity she had been waiting for.

“I—I’m going to confess.”

“Finally!” Hannah practically slammed her fist down the table.

“It must be done perfectly.” Diana said with conviction. “I must get her flowers, and I should at least offer to cover our meal. Do you think she likes Japanese?”

“Likes? She is Japanese! Though she might be sick of it.” Barbara shrugged.

“Or—” Hannah perked up. “—missing it terribly after having stayed in London for so long.”

Curses. They were only at ‘food’ and it was already beginning to get complicated.

“Should I just ask her?”

“No way!” Barbara gasped. “You’re gonna blow Kagari away with a surprise without spoiling anything.”

“She is rather fond of surprises.” Diana stopped her pacing to run her hand through perfect, blonde hair.

“So what’s the plan, Dia?” Hannah urged, already sharing a grin with Barbara.

“Flowers. Food. Confession.”

Simple.

Hannah was already calling the flower store.

 ---

“What do you mean someone reserved them already?!”

Sucy glowered at the shopkeeper, and Lotte and Akko had to physically back away as though she had grown fangs.

“I’m sorry!” The clerk raised his hands defensively. “Like, just five minutes ago!”

“After everything we’ve been through, Hendrick?! I even called that I was coming by!”

“You always buy the weird stuff you know? And besides, I’ve got other roses aside from Ecuadorian ones, I think—”

“Not settling for anything other than the best.” Sucy was determined. “Names. I need names. Who bought them?”

“I can’t tell you—”

“You can and will.”

“Look, I—”

“You two!” Sucy had spun around, locking her eyes with Lotte. “Get back and get the garden ready. I’ll deal with this mystery buyer and follow in a minute.”

“’Deal with’?” Lotte gawked. “How are you even going to—”

Sucy Manbavaran would never be outdone when it came to plants. This was personal now.

“Go!”

 ---

“I’ll pick them up and meet you in a few!” Hannah grinned excitedly. “Barbs, you know what to do!”

“She does?” Diana blinked, allowing herself to get dragged by the wrist towards Barbara’s car in the hospital parking lot.

“You’re not going on a date wearing your scrubs.”

“I had no such plans to.”

“Casual won’t do either!” Barbara nagged, fishing for her keys. “You’ve gotta look drop-dead gorgeous.”

“I—I don’t think it’s necessary to.”

“Shush, hon. I just want you to relax and think Akko thoughts, or whatever.”

“Akko thoughts aren’t exactly… relaxing as of the moment.”

“Fair point.”

“Where to?”

Barbara took a quick glance towards her watch and pursed her lips in thought. “Shopping. Then food.”

“Shopping—?”

“Shut up and get in the car!”

 ---

“She’s crazy!” Akko shrieked. “She had that crazy look in her eyes, like she’s about to poison someone!”

“Well we’re going to have to trust her because it’s five-fifteen and the patio is far from ready!”

Lotte was back behind the wheel, zooming through traffic towards her trinket shop. It was a lot less time than she was comfortable with. Lacing the gazebo with firefly lights and battery-operated teacup candles likely took longer than her mental estimate.

“How are you feeling?” She glanced towards Akko. “You’re looking pale.”

“I—I’m fine.” The brunette said in a contorted voice. Lotte brushed it off as nervousness (which was a rare enough emotion for Akko).

“You sure?”

“Yup!” Akko nodded in determination, steeling her resolve. “Kami-sama, why can’t we just be dating already?”

“Just a few more hours until you are, Akko.”

“If she likes me back!”

“Which she will.”

“But have you seen her Lotte?” Akko began to ramble.

“Many times, yes.”

“How is she even real—what am I doing?! Oh no, oh no, oh no am I seriously going to confess—”

“Breathe!”

Lotte gave her best friend the surest smile she could muster.

“She will.”

 ---

It was now five forty-seven.

“You.”

Sucy narrowed her eyes, staring straight into hazel. She had camped out in the flower shop, figuring that whoever placed such an urgent order would show up any minute to pick them up. True enough, a familiar woman in a white-coat with auburn hair came bursting through, shouting for her order of Ecuadorian roses.

“Sucy.” Hannah sneered, crossing her arms. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“Those flowers you ordered are mine. I got here first.”

“No way!” Hannah challenged. “I put in the call. He said they were available.”

“How can that take precedence over a client already in-store and paying on the spot?” Sucy turned her calm but heavy glare towards Hendrick, who was sweating bullets while looking between the two women.

“I already paid!” Hannah pulled out her phone triumphantly, showing the screenshot of an online payment transfer. Sucy cursed herself for not having the foresight to have done so earlier.

“I—I don’t make the rules ma’am.” Hendrick conceded, carefully presenting the lovely bouquet of twenty-four roses to the woman who happened to be Sucy’s friend—if only through the sheer force of Akko’s gravitational-friendship-pull. The poor shopkeeper looked pale, trapped between the two very different yet equally threatening auras.

“I’m leaving. Buy something else!” Hannah had turned around dramatically, stepping out through the door with her hair bouncing through the motions.

“You never told me you had online orders.” Sucy told Hendrick evenly.

“I—It was launched recently.”

“Screw that,” she said with gritted teeth. On whim, she decided to follow Hannah, walking into the street and whistling as loudly as she can towards the nearest cab.

A middle-aged man with a bushy moustache looked up from behind the window. “Where to, missy?”

“No questions!” Sucy jumped into the front seat. “Follow that car—and don’t fucking call me missy!”

---

“You’re being—what?” Barbara shrieked as quietly as she could. Just as Diana entered the dressing room a minute ago, her phone began ringing with Hannah’s photo popping up. “Chased? By Sucy? For the flowers?”

[“Yes! She’s a madwoman! Probably going to blow something up with another potion or—"]

“Don’t call me while you’re driving!” Barbara hissed, looking back towards the dressing room which was slowly opening.

Diana stepped out, looking lovely in a sheer white top and cream slacks. She asked how she looked and Barbara had quickly tossed another top for her to try, desperately trying to keep up with Hannah’s rambling on the other line.

“You look great—love the pants—try this blue one! Come on, come on! In you go, nothing to stress about!”

“Stress about?” Diana blinked, frowning. “Is that Hans on the phone?”

“Yeah, it’s all going swell!” Barbara’s voice pitched a little too high. “In you go!”

“O—Okay.”

She had practically slammed the door into Diana’s face, and with a deep breath she diverted her attention back to Hannah.

“Don’t overspeed, and why are you two having a car chase?! It’s just flowers!”

 ---

“Just flowers?!” Hannah repeated, aghast. “Not when it’s for one of the most important days of our best friend’s life, they aren’t!”

She took a sharp turn at the nearest street, going nowhere in particular if only to shake Sucy off. It was an unfortunately wide road and she was opposite the rush hour lane, leaving it relatively traffic free. She had no intention of breaking speed limits and was forced to stay at seventy. Soon enough, the cab pulled up at her right.

Sucy rolled down the window, looking as worked up as Hannah had ever seen her in their time knowing each other. The driver seemed like he was having the time of his life. “I’ll pay for its price plus ten pounds on top!”

“You think I’m cheap?!” She shouted back, doing her best to keep her driving steady.

“Twenty!”

“You can’t buy me, Sucy! Not for this occasion—not ever!” She grit her teeth and banked towards the left, putting a truck in between them.

Barbara was still in the call.

[“By the nines, Hannah!”]

---

“Whoa!” Akko blinked, head whipping to the side while she followed a familiar-looking SUV speed down the road, seemingly chased by a cab. “Shit’s crazy today!”

“Come on, Akko!” Lotte led her out of the trinket shop’s front and back to her parked car. It took them around forty-five minutes just trying to find the perfect set of lights and the clock was ticking. Akko’s nerves were beginning to fray, and the woman was jumpy, reckless (more so than usual) and generally hyper—

“Akko, be careful!”

—active.

By the nine.

There was a loud thud—and the resonance of something very hard bumping into metal.

That was it.

The Masterplan would have to wait.

Akko ran into a lamppost and passed out with a bleeding nose.

 ---

“I haven’t heard from Akko.”

It was now seven in the evening and Diana was beginning to fret. She and her friends had returned to her flat to get her ready, but she thought the brunette would at least message her. Should she send another text? She did just half-an-hour ago, informing the brunette she was heading home to get ready. Is a call too forward?

Goodness. She shook her head—why would it be too forward? They were by no means strangers. Far from it! She blushed, this whole thing was getting to her and she hated it. Deciding she could very much call Atsuko Kagari whenever she pleased, she slipped out her phone and dialed.

“She has a heart emoji after her name?” Hannah snickered.

Diana ignored it, flushing red. Her phone rang. And rang. But Akko never picked up.

She exhaled in frustration, wondering if Akko had gotten herself mixed up in another form of disaster. It wasn’t a far-fetched assumption. Or did she ditch her? No, she wasn’t like that. Was she?

Her eyes fell towards the navy-blue top she had picked from the store, and then towards the most beautiful bundle of roses she had ever seen.

It looked perfect. Except—

“Did you really get into a car chase for this?”

“Yup!” Hannah raised a fist in victory. “And I won too. Sucy just up and backed off.”

“That’s suspicious.” Barbara narrowed her eyes. “But I still insist you are absolutely insane for pulling that!”

“What matters—” Hannah crossed her arms. “—is I got the job done.”

Diana sighed, growing anxious and excited at the same time. She glanced back towards her phone. “Let’s just hope I get to give them.”

 ---

“A lamppost.” Sucy stared at Lotte evenly. “Unbelievable. I got into a fucking car chase only for this moron to walk into a lamppost.”

“That’s what you’re worried about?”

“It’s Akko. She’ll be fine. Hasn’t she broken like, every bone in her body at this point?”

Well. She wasn’t wrong. They were in the Glastobury hospital and Lotte hoped Diana would be on-duty, but upon asking the nurse’s station she clocked out early for today.

“What did Diana say?” Lotte asked Sucy.

“Huh?”

“You didn’t text her?”

“I thought you did.”

“Sucy!”

“You’re the one with her number.”

“But I—”

“Are you her flat-mates?” A young-looking doctor peered through the door of Akko’s recovery room. She broke her nose—but there was no need for a rhinoplasty and therefore she didn’t need admission. Broken nose aside, Akko was in surprisingly good health, bearing an almost-Olympic endurance which in hindsight explained her ability to recover from seemingly anything.

“Yes!” Lotte nodded diligently.

“Well you can take her home now. This one is crazy—she’s already sitting up after an hour of recovery. But I do need to warn you she’s—uh—”

“She’s?” Sucy prodded, hiding her concern under the guise of impatience.

“High as a kite?”

---

Akko was having a good time.

A good time.

She laughed, her head feeling woozy, her hands moving as though they were floating in water and—it was just so funny! By the nines this was the shit!

Her nose kinda felt funny though. Weird.

“Akko?”

Huh? Is—it’s a friend! Akko grinned. Her best friend! “Oh Lotte.”

“That’s just trippy.” Another voice said.

One eye only? Oh it must be Sucy!

“Your hair—” Akko smiled whimsically. “It’s freaking whack, Sucy.”

“Why does she still sound like herself?” Sucy turned to Lotte.

“I told you to be careful!” Lotte wailed, moving to her side to help her up.

“This is place is so bright.” Akko narrowed her groggy eyes, her head lolling about while she inspected her surroundings. Then she gasped. “Where’s Diana! This is Diana’s work!”

“She isn’t here.” Lotte placated. “And sit down—you’ll hurt yourself again!”

In the snap of a finger, Akko was done laughing and suddenly began to pout.

“I miss Diana.”

“I’m sure she’ll be here any second—”

“She said she’d go hooooome first.” Akko pointed towards her phone, sitting on the bedside of the outpatient recovery room.

Lotte sighed. “Come on, you need to go home too.”

“Can you do me a favor?” Akko asked innocently before leaning in and whispering to the two as though to share a secret. Then she broke into another grin—a charming, lopsided grin that screamed ‘painkillers!’

Lotte looked towards Sucy. The latter just shrugged. “Why the hell not? Saves her the time to go here and she’d know what to do with Akko.”

---

It was now seven-forty-six.

Barbara sped down the highway to the hospital, feeling every bit sorry for Diana who was cradling her head in her palms in the passenger’s seat. Although it was a little funny, and apparently Hannah thought so too, based on the snickering in the back.

“That’s just like her, though!” Hannah finally grinned.

Hannah was right. And honestly, Diana knew she’d be fine. But of course this would happen—and only to Akko. The world wasn’t so kind as to allow the night she finally decided to confess to be easy, right?

Dr. Strenger had dutifully informed her that a patient he recognized as Diana’s friend was admitted for a nasal fracture. All she needed to hear was ‘brown hair’, ‘red eyes’, and ‘lamppost’ and it was enough. Thankfully, it seemed Akko’s recovery was marvelous (unsurprising) and that Lotte and Sucy had accompanied her.

They pulled up into the parking lot and Hannah groaned. “Back to our workplace, yikes. You better do good by that bouquet, Diana! I almost died for that!”

She huffed, stepping into the familiar entry way dressed way too nicely for the hospital and holding a gigantic bouquet of flowers.

The receptionist blinked. A few of the nurses had turned their heads at the sight of her. “Dr. Cavendish?”

“Spare me the comments.” She lamented. “What room us is—ah.” Why was she blushing? In front of her colleagues! “Atsuko Kagari.”

“Oh, miss Akko!”

Right. Between accidents and visiting Diana, the staff knew her by now.

“She came in a pretty bad shape, but she didn’t need to be admitted. Dr. Strenger sent her home.”

“She isn’t here?”

“Actually,” the receptionist tilted her head. “On their way out she was screaming rather loudly that she was going to straight to your place?”

Her—what?

---

“I don’t think this is Diana’s house.”

Sucy elbowed Lotte, the pair of them standing behind a still-delirious Akko who rang the doorbell to a three-story tall apartment. It looked every bit as posh as its red-brick façade suggested. It was imposing. Classical. Nestled in a street of similarly luxurious dwellings that had cars Lotte had only seen in magazines—parked in garages or even right at the streets.

“But this is where Akko directed us to.” Lotte shrugged.

The door finally opened, and they tried so very hard not to face-palm.

 ---

“Atsuko.”

Akko grinned, feeling woozy, and reaching forward to shake the hand reluctantly offered to her. As she’s told herself earlier in the day, she was no fool. She knew she was tripping—her guess was either anesthesia or painkillers—or wait, were those the same things? Or like… not? Huh. She should ask Diana alter and—oh-right-she-was-still-shaking-Aunt-Daryl’s-hand!

“Hello!”

“A—Are you quite alright?” The elder Cavendish tentatively asked, eyeing her nose.

“Oh yah.” Akko waived a hand, giggling. “Lamppost.”

“Of course.”

Akko swore that was a little smile! It was a lot of work, but they at very least didn’t hate each other anymore. Unlike at first. Charming—that was Akko’s middle name! Actually it wasn’t, but—

“It may as well be.” Daryl commented.

Holy shit, did she say that out loud?

“You did.”

“Anyway—” Akko squeaked “—I came to visit Dia?”

Daryl blinked, then looked over to the two friends Akko had brought with her.

“I think you should come inside.”

Akko nodded, the action of it made her still-groggy head spin and eventually she lost her balance, falling forward—

—and getting caught by the wrong Cavendish’s arms. So wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. Not this one!

“I’mma take you up on that offer.” Akko mumbled, apologizing profusely while she righted herself.

 ---

A soft 'ping' alerted Diana to a text message.

Daryl Cavendish (1)

“What on earth does she want at this hour?” Diana mumbled to herself, sulking once again in Barbara’s passenger seat. “As if I don’t have enough to worry with Akko—oh by the nines!”

The sheer volume of her voice was enough to make both Hannah and Barbara snap in attention.

8:26 Daryl Cavendish: Diana. Someone very interesting has come to visit, although I’m afraid she forgot your updated address.

“Christ.” Barbara groaned. “That’s at the opposite end of where we’re going. I love you but I’m getting real tired of driving you around.”

8:27 Daryl Cavendish: I look forward to hearing your side of this story. 8:27 Daryl Cavendish: 😉

Diana’s ears turned bright red. Hannah looked over her shoulder to read and outright laughed.

“Just drive, Barbs. Have mercy on Diana’s poor soul.”

---

“She said that?” Daryl’s eyebrows inched upwards every so lightly.

“She totally did! Diana’s a lot cheesier than people think.” Akko smiled smugly.

She had checked her nose via a mirror in the living room, and all she could do was laugh. Cause she didn’t feel like she had a nose. Or an… anything. It was so weird to move her hands around and like, not feel them moving.

Daryl paused for a moment to check at her phone. “Hm. Diana will be here shortly.”

“Yeesh.” Akko grinned, rubbing at the back of her head sheepishly. “I can’t believe I forgot she moved out last year.”

“You helped her move.” Daryl said pointedly.

“I know!” Akko shrugged. “I forgot that too. Head��s all woozy. Having a good a time though!”

“I… am glad to hear that?” The elder Cavendish turned towards Lotte and Sucy. “Are you two alright?”

The two women held up their hands, shaking their heads with jumbled responses of “Yep!” and “We’re fine!” and “Just go ahead and talk!” and “Take your time!”

---

“Well this takes me back.” Barbara peaked up at Daryl’s excessive apartment through the driver’s side window. “Alright”, she elbowed Diana. “Go get your woman!”

Diana looked absolutely spent. But also, a bit relieved. She’ll finally see her—the circumstances didn’t matter. Somehow all this craziness felt just like Akko and after hours of chasing her around she was… just excited to see her again.

She felt a swell of affection in her chest. The same feeling that pushed her to think about confessing in the first place.

“Will—Will you two come with me?”

Hannah clapped her shoulder. “You think after this entire afternoon we’d ditch on you now?”

Barbara grinned at her, encouragingly. “Come on, lover girl.”

“Please don’t ever call me that again.”

---

“Diana!”

Akko practically wept, running across Daryl’s living room (“Akko, no!”) and into the (proper) Cavendish��s arms.

“I missed you todaaay!” The brunette whined.

The reaction was a bit excessive, even for Akko, and at Diana’s confused reaction Sucy had helpfully supplied that she was—“Still high as kite. Painkillers, or whatever.”

Akko pulled back, lip trembling. “You’re so pretty.”

“Th—Thank you. Goodness, your nose!”

“Lamppost.”

“I heard,” Diana said softly, hand coming up to cup Akko’s cheek. She had been so worried. She inspected the wound with such tenderness that she could hear Barbara swooning in the back.

“Ahem.”

Right.

“Aunt Daryl. Thank you for taking care of her.”

“No worries.” Daryl replied with a lilt in her voice, smirking. “I’ve grown rather fond of this one.”

The miracles of Akko’s charm, Diana supposed.

The next thing she noticed was Sucy glowering towards Hannah—and the flowers. Her eyes widened, suddenly remembering their car-chase, and that the entire point of the evening was supposed to be—

“Easy now.” Diana said carefully, intent on alleviating whatever tension remained. “At least we know Akko’s alright.”

 ---

Oh she’s pretty.

What the hell! She’s already in her arms but she’s so so pretty and Akko could just breathe in the smell of her hair and oh Diana is right here!

Never-mind Daryl, and Sucy, and Lotte, and Barbara, and Hannah—Hannah?

Akko blinked, looking towards the auburn-haired woman. Then she grinned. Flowers! The sight of the bouquet triggered what felt like a distant memory through the hazy fog of her mind:

Flowers. Lights. Confession.

Diana.

She gasped.

Akko then suddenly grabbed the bundle straight out of Hannah’s hands—faster than anyone thought she could move.

“Hey!”

But she didn’t care, she pulled on Diana’s arm, urging her to look back towards her—and oh the lights were so pretty in this house—it felt perfect, it really did, the only word that echoed in Akko’s addled mind was:

Confess!

“Diana.”

She said softly, as if in a moment of clarity. She shoved the flowers towards the blonde.

“I love you!”

---

I love you.

Diana’s jaw had dropped.

She said I love you.

All she could see was the blinding grin that Akko was shooting her way and really—really Akko? Right now? In this situation?

But she couldn’t believe that she was smiling back. Because she realized she didn’t care. Akko had just told her she loves her.

This entire day was a disaster.

But she loves her.

She loves her!

Diana wants to say she loves her back. Goodness, when did her mouth stop working? She settled for pulling her closer—keeping her steady, Akko was still a little out of it—but she couldn’t help it. Diana pulled Akko in, cupping her cheek and—and—

Diana kissed her.

It wasn’t easy—she had to do so gently to avoid disturbing the gauze and plaster on top of Akko’s broken nose.

But Akko’s eyes had fluttered to a close so prettily, and she actually kissed her back. They pulled apart—Diana was suddenly aware of the people and their surroundings—and Akko looked up to her. Smiling. Surprised. And then—

Between the blood-loss, being heavily drugged, and Diana kissing her?

Akko’s eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted.

-

fin

-

A/N: Every time I write something I realized I like to focus on singular, detailed moments that are slow and soft. Then I read this hilarious twitter thread about a guy who interviewed George Clooney despite rupturing his gall bladder who got high as kite on his pain killers, and then I throught "That's some big fucking Akko energy", and likewise decided, "what if I just wrote whatever the hell I wanted and get tripping" and here we are

Hope you enjoy this - this is something a bit different for me and I just sat down for like four hours straight and spweded this out, am i ok, LOL

[silverfierro]

The Other Side // Self Para

Theodore told her to stay away from the water. How on Earth did he expect her to do that? For more than half of every day, water was everywhere. The only time she had gone to explore it resulted into her lungs stretching to their capacity and her weakened body smashing against metal. Anywhere else but the water was safer...surely it was.

Delirious from the oxygen seeping out of the submarine, Madeleine reluctantly left her temporary shelter. The entire Games so far was more a competition between her and herself. Aside from the two other tributes she had made contact with, one enemy and one friend, nothing grand or amazing had transpired. Just a girl trying to make it in a foreign world. For all she knew, this wasn’t even the arena, simply a body of water somewhere far from the coastlines of Panem. Nothing was keeping her here but herself. If only that fantasy was true. If she hadn’t seen the faces in the sky during the first night she might’ve believed it had it been a lie being told to her. 

She rested against the diminished sub, her lower half submerged in the water and the sand beneath her. She longed to be in a similar position, leaned up against a solid tree instead of cold, stale smelling metal. She wished the sun couldn’t beat down on her because of the tree branches blocking any chance of the rays making it to the ground. She wanted to meet up with Vine and the other Malik siblings. Not to do anything in particular, but to be in each other’s company and pause for a moment instead of thinking about the world. Even if nearly everyone back home didn’t want her, she knew her home itself would welcome her back with open arms. She belonged amongst the trees as much as anybody in Seven did. 

Madeleine failed to notice the water receding from her. Too occupied with looking into the distance and chatting with Theodore when he had something to say, it left in a silent way. She was still coughing, suffering from a mild pain in her lungs that she couldn’t fight off. If she was infected with something, she couldn’t tell. There was no green mucus or residue for her to spit up as proof, only the aching every time she tried to inhale more than her usual intake. The way her chest moved up and down was all she could focus on.

“Where are you gonna go now?” the young boy asked, looking around as much as she was. Still a coward, even in death.

“Wherever I need to,” she answered casually. “Like you said, it’s important to keep moving. I’m just resting now.” Truthfully she’d been resting for over twelve hours. The submarine hadn’t seen much of her awake. 

“I think you should move away from here.”

“Theodore, that’s all you’ve been saying this entire time,” she responded coldly. “I understand, but I’m still trying to recover. You wouldn’t understand.” He had become a nuisance since she entered the sub. There was a lecture about how dangerous the stunt she had pulled had been, a strategy on how to stay inside the vessel the entire games, and a plan to return all the way back to where she’d started the Games. Madeleine had once been worried about being so invested in him that she’d be tethered to the world, but that was looking less likely each time he opened his mouth. 

“Don’t you want to live?” he asked demandingly. 

She shot him a look of pure annoyance, but didn’t answer his question. She had been so resigned to die in the arena, clinging to each moment knowing it could be her last, but was it as inevitable as she believed? Was death as eager for her as she thought? Her bones gave her approval, her soul was packing its bags, and her body was taking the blunt of every injury as if all to say yes, but this little ghost boy consistently said otherwise. A boy so unlike the people normally in her path. Madeleine couldn’t understand why someone who had every reason to fall in line with everyone who had ever said a mean thing about her refused to do so. Who was this kid, really?

Madeleine would never get to answer the strange boy’s question. In the far distance where the coral had been growing from the day before, a wave mightier and more towering than any tree traveled towards her. It was shocking she hadn’t heard it before she saw it. Theodore’s strategy wouldn’t work this time. Running would accomplish nothing, there was no place to run where it wouldn’t reach her. Standing still didn’t seem like the right thing to do either. The submarine would be safe, but she doubted it would survive such an assault after being attacked by the growing coral. Lastly, her ability to get a good breath in, the only thing that would really save her, was squandered. 

A second or two of oxygen in, that was all she could take. Her hands went up against the submarine as she tried to stand firmly enough to breathe better. Grounded and still, it wasn’t enough either. 

“Don’t you want to live?” Theodore’s question rang in her head. Her heaving gave her the answer she had known all along. She had known it since she was as questioning and innocent as her district partner was. 

Of course she wanted to live. But like every ghost in her life, what say-so did she have in when her time would come?

The wave slammed through her being, knocking her sense’s down to near nothing, so much so that Madeleine didn’t recoil when her head made direct contact with the submarine that had before protected her. Everything, absolutely everything felt shattered beyond repair. Her body went with the rushing surge of the wave to who-knows-where. She wanted to whine in agony, but only bubbles emerged from her mouth. Saltwater entered and rattled her lungs, the pressure more intense than ever. All she could see was blurry blue and all she could think about was when it would all be over.  

She was far beneath the surface when the wave stopped. Again, she was in open water, but there was no refuge this time. Only a brain without control over the body it governed. Only eyes that strained to see anything. Theodore, the surface, something to help her cling on. When it seemed like there was no possible way the middle of her chest could take anymore suffering without bursting open, everything stopped.

BOOM

Madeleine felt nothing. She stared down at an enormous sea. There were no sand bars or beaches, no sign of the tunnel entrances she had traversed. Nothing but the big blue, but not like she had been seeing it a moment before. She was above it, all of it in her view. Her pain was gone, her senses seemed functional, and she seemed to be sitting in the sky like a cloud. But how? A light in the far reaches of the same sky let her know how.

Theodore appeared to her with half a smile on his face. If he had been able to cry, he might’ve, but Madeleine felt no such sorrow. She thought she was going to, but a blue emotion like the sea beneath her did not enter her being like the saltwater had. A light. A light for her. A light beyond. 

“Do...you want to go?” Theodore was so hesitant still. She thought she would maybe pity him forever. Her own brothers at half his age were braver, more competent, and stronger. She would miss them, but this was better than being forced to watch them grow-up while she remained the same. What future awaited her in the beyond was a mystery, but the light she had spent so much time leading others towards felt too warm to be as disparaging as her first life had been. She could watch her family in peace, perhaps send them airs of comfort. She could start anew on the other side. The other side did not know her, despite her dwelling so close for so long.

The girl spun around to take one final look. Not at the world, no. It wasn’t hers nor had it ever been. She sought others like her. Ghosts like her. Cannons had sounded for them and she loathed the idea of them staying in their crafted hell with no one to guide them. Saving the tormented had been the one thing on Earth she felt meant for. Without her, the realm between would’ve filled up by now.

But it was only her. But not really just her. With no soil nor roots to tether her, Madeleine faced Theodore again and then wanted to cry, the light meant for her radiant and calling.

“I’m ready to go, Theodore,” she answered, the echoes of her voice like a ghost for anyone listening, and then she was gone.  

[conceptstage]

“How do I look?”

Caleb glanced up from his book and frowned. Beau stood in front of him, holding her arms out to her sides and sneering at him in what he’d come to recognize as an attempt at a smile. There was a blue ribbon braided into her hair, down her back and tied off with a cloth flower that they’d gotten at the festival in Hupperduke. She was wearing a bit of make up around her eyes and her very best crop top (which, for Beau, meant the one with the fewest blood stains) with a new pair of pants that Caleb had never seen before that sat so low on her hips that it was a mystery to him how they stayed up at all.

“Uhhh… In what… way?”

Beau groaned and dropped her arms to her side, rolling her eyes so hard that her head did a full 360 roll around her shoulders. “I don’t fucking know man, do I look like… Do you think a hot girl might be into this?”

Caleb blinked incomprehensibly. “You came to perhaps the worst possible person for this question.”

“I know that, alright! I know you’re fucking useless, but you’re the only one I could go to right now. Nott would even more un-fucking-helpful than you because she’s basically a bad advice dispenser, Yasha would be too awkward to say anything other than ‘I don’t know, fine’, Fjord would tell me it’s what inside that counts which just means I look like a fucking dumpster, and Caduceus would tell me that I look dehydrated and I should get some water before I go!”

“If I did not know better I would think that you had already spoken to all of them.”

She shook her head and sighed. “I just know them too well, we spend too much fucking time together.”

Caleb turned back to his book but he was still strangely invested in this conversation so he didn’t start reading again yet. “Ask Jester.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” He glanced up when Beau didn’t answer and found her covering the lower half of her face with her hand to hide her expression and looking pointedly away from him. “Ah,” he mumbled, understanding washing over him like a cool breeze. “She is the one that you’re looking to impress.”

“Shut up,” she said, more as a reflex than an actual demand. “It’s not like that. We’re just going into the next district to catch a play in the park. She found this flyer and- You know what, it doesn’t matter.” She picked up her coin purse and tied it to her belt. “It’s just two friends going out for a fun evening in the park, it’s not even a date, it’s no big deal.” She shook out her hands to get rid of some excess energy and let out a heavy breath. “It’s no big deal,” she repeated, sounding less convinced this time. She started towards the door and pulled it open so roughly that it nearly flew off its hinges, but it seemed that Xorhassian architecture was built with people like Beau in mind and it withstood her aggression.

“Beau,” Caleb called, just before she disappeared into the hallway.

She groaned and stepped back inside, her shoulders tensed up around her ears like a threatened cat. “What?”

“You look very nice.”

Her shoulders relaxed reluctantly and she was trying very hard not to show him how much she appreciated it, but he could tell anyway. She was right, they did spend too much time together.

“Well… thanks, I guess. Enjoy your book.”

“Enjoy your friend outing in the park that is not a date.”

“Fuck you,” but she was smiling so he counted it as a win. She shut the door as she left and he turned back to resume reading his book.

AO3

[knit-wear-it]

Abnormal Psychology I

1. A Lesson on Psychopaths

PhD Student! Harley & Arkham Director! Crane // Backstory

Little writing exercise to help me get into Crane’s head & figure out his relationship with Harley 🎉

Hope you enjoy & hopefully I’m not spoiling anything! xo

Abnormal Psychology.

A Lesson on Psychopaths

Three years before Harley meets the Joker.

Dr Jonathan Crane sighed as he settled into a seat at the back of one of Gotham University's larger lecture halls. Undergrad students taking Abnormal Psychology drifted into the building, some of them yawning and grumbling to their friends, others hungover from a night of partying on the university's greek row. Crane felt just as alien among them now as he had as a student, and they ignored him now just as they had then.

At 30, Crane was as unimposing as he’d been as a teenager, but now he knew how to hide it beneath the trappings of academia and success. The corduroy blazers and sweater vests favored by intellectuals; dignified Oxfords shined and polished with care; wire-framed glasses demanding he be taken seriously, though his vision wasn’t particularly bad. He wore his black hair neatly swept back from his face, winning the constant battle to keep it from flopping over his eyes like it had when he was a child, and haircuts hadn’t been plentiful. 

But the most essential of all these trappings was his work, including his complete control of Arkham Asylum and its inmates. Arkham was Jonathan Crane’s dominion now. 

As the lights in the auditorium dimmed, a few stragglers attempted to sneak in unnoticed. They were no different than the students Crane had lectured five years earlier while completing his PhD, all of them lacking the intellectual curiosity to genuinely delve into the mysteries of the mind.

Except for one girl. Harleen Quinzel. The reason he was there today.

Crane first met Harleen when she was a twenty-year-old clinical psychology major. Gotham University required its PhD candidates to teach as part of their course work, something that did not come naturally to Crane, who had little patience for the lackluster brain power most students — and most people, in general — so often displayed. But Harleen stood out to him back then. Blonde with big blue eyes and a button nose, she looked like she should have been a cheerleader or a dim-wit. She sat in the front row during every lecture, taking meticulous notes and listening to Crane speak like she was fascinated by every word coming out of his mouth. When she asked questions, they were always thoughtful and engaging, displaying a respect for the mind some in Crane's profession lacked.

Now, five years later, Harleen was where Crane had been then; forced to lecture lazy undergraduates to satisfy the teaching requirement of her PhD program. 

She’d reached out to him over email a few weeks’ earlier with questions about a new drug used to treat young psychopaths. Despite running an asylum full of psychopaths, Crane found the pathology tedious, and not one that required in-depth study. But Harleen’s ambition and keen interest reminded him of his own, and he reluctantly found her thesis proposal interesting enough to set time aside to meet with her. 

"Today we're talking about psychopaths," Harleen greeted her students, tucking a piece of honey-blonde hair behind her ear as she arranged her notes on the lectern. 

She could have only been twenty-five, but she presented herself as being much older, dressing in shapeless gray trousers and blouses buttoned up to her throat, her hair tied back in a tight bun. She might have been trying to distract people from her obvious beauty, wanting to be taken seriously for her brain instead of her face. Equally plausible: she simply didn’t care how she looked, a luxury only beautiful people possessed. 

"Imagine stripping away everything that makes you human," Harleen explained, her eyes sweeping the auditorium. "Your capacity for empathy, your ability to love and nurture and connect, to be accountable to yourself and society. Psychopaths aren’t capable of those things, and they don't even realize they're missing them."

Crane settled in to listen, finding himself invested in a topic that usually bored him. Harleen’s take on the well-trodden topic of psychopaths was unique, refreshing even, just as his research in fear was unique. And in an unexpected twist, Crane began to wonder how else they might be similar. 

"Psychopaths don't have brakes like the rest of us, so they're capable of anything," she concluded an hour later. "They have no boundaries... They have no limits. Nothing can stop them."

Crane hovered at the back of the lecture hall, waiting for the students to finish filing out before he approached her.

"Dr Crane," she greeted him with a smile. "I didn't realize you were here — you didn't have to sit through all of that."

"On the contrary," Crane forced a smile that felt more like a grimace. "I found it very informative."

"I'm glad," she gestured to one of the tables below the lecture podium. "Shall we sit? Unless you'd like to get coffee?"

"If the staff coffee is anything like it used to be, I think I'll pass," Crane forced another pinched smile as he took a seat across from her. 

"How are you finding Arkham?" she asked eagerly, bracing her elbow on the table, the picture of rapt interest.

"There is a lot of work to be done," he admitted, removing his glasses and tucking them in the inner pocket of his blazer. "And, to be frank, the other staff members are…"

"Less than desirable?" Harleen suggested, making Crane laugh reluctantly.

"Quite," he agreed good-naturedly.

"I can't thank you enough for giving me your notes," Harleen offered him a patient smile that bizarrely reminded Crane of Joan Leland.

"Mapping the mind of a psychopath is certainly an undertaking," he observed, raising his eyebrows. “And ambitious.” 

"Joan's been very encouraging," Harleen shrugged. "She thinks it could be valuable to law enforcement. I suppose it’s the most productive thing I can do with my work."

"Productive, perhaps," Crane replied sourly, feeling a sudden pang of resentment for the head of the psychology department, who’d always seemed intent on derailing his work. "You should research what interests you, not what Joan Leland thinks is best for society,” he added drily. 

"That's true," Harleen agreed slyly, her eyes sweeping over him like she was taking stock of him. 

Evaluating him. 

"I think of studying psychopaths like studying rare birds,” she continued breezily. “They're fascinating, bizarre even, and even though so much of their behavior is explainable, the little glitches that make them different challenge what we think we know."

"Indeed," Crane agreed, again reminded of his own passion for the human mind. "Have you thought about what you'll do after your studies?"

"Well," she laughed, looking a little embarrassed. "Arkham sure does have a lot of psychopaths."

"Most of them are nothing more than petty criminals," Crane sneered. "Unintelligent slaves to their most basic impulses. Not the rare birds you described.”

"True," Harleen leaned forward, her eyes glittering with what could only be described as naked ambition. "But with you running Arkham, I’m willing to bet it’ll be one of the top institutions in the country soon, and the most obvious choice for housing and studying those rare birds." 

Crane eyed her warily, seeing straight through her attempt to flatter him, though it was undoubtedly working. Had she used her pretty face or her blue eyes, he might have resented her for it. Instead, she was showing him exactly what she wanted, and appealing to his expertise, his intelligence, and the thing that mattered to him most of all: his work.

"Perhaps we can find a place for you when you've finished your doctorate," he said evasively, watching her eyes light up.

——————

Crane always told himself he helped and advised Harleen Quinzel because she was like him; she shared his passion for the mind, and she was dedicated to her work, with little patience for sentimentality or ceremony. She was one of a handful of people in his life he might have described as a ‘friend,’ though they rarely met in person, and certainly never socialized.

Over the years, he gave her his notes on her work, he introduced her to publishers of psychology journals, and when she became Dr Harleen Quinzel, he pointed her toward the people that would allow her to continue her research at Arkham.

It was only after the Joker was admitted to Arkham, and Harleen grew distracted and disinterested in what Crane had to say, that he started to wonder if it had all been a lie. If she had been playing him for years, from getting his notes on her thesis, to getting him to tell her about R’as al Ghul. 

And then there was that last day he saw her. When she’d refused to help him, slamming his cell door in his face while he screamed her name.

—————-

A/N: Almost, almost gave away some spoilers. ❤️

[ashleyswrittenwords]

The Queen and Her Bodyguard

Another ZeLink Oneshot

Word Count: 2317 (blame anon)

Note: Modern AU because I haven’t done it yet! 

---

The woman thumbed at a thick pile of newspapers, looking over them with a passing glance before taking off her reading glasses and peering keenly at Zelda from across the desk.

“Your Majesty,” she conceded to a sigh that Zelda could tell had been building up for quite some time. It wasn’t normal that she arranged for a meeting without explicitly stating the details beforehand. “It has come to my direct attention that the media is becoming more invested in your relationships.”

“My relationships?” The Queen echoed questionably before directing her attention towards the headlines of the fanned-out periodicals.

The Queen’s Secret Courtship

A Royal Love Affair with a Commoner?

Forbidden Love: The Queen and Her Bodyguard

Impa watched Zelda closely as she took one of the papers in her hands and promptly looked up with a furrowed brow. “Forgive me, Impa. By what do you mean to show me tabloids?”

“As your head of public relations,” she spoke pointedly, “I find it to be disconcerting in reading rumors swirling around you and your detail. The attentiveness of gossip magazines and talk shows alike have heightened the theme of adultery within these walls.” She paused to let the statement sink in, though Zelda was quite skilled in deeply guarded masks. They were a political art after all. Impa knew as such, so she relented.

“It would be to both your benefit and my own if we were transparent in the truth.”

The newspaper was put down and Zelda sat back in her seat, her eyes lingered on the picture that accompanied the headline. It was a paparazzi shot from her vacation at Aris Beach where her bodyguard helped her out of a resort pool. She was laughing at whatever he had said at the time. With a chaste smile, Zelda met Impa with an even voice.

“With all due respect, there is nothing to be concerned with regarding my affiliations with my staff. Link Forester has been in my security detail for several years now, it’s only natural that we’ve become friends. Is that what you were hoping to hear?” Zelda folded her hands in her lap neatly as Impa leaned back in her chair – relieved.

“And you would alert to me if that status has changed? For the betterment of your brand, of course.”

Another polite smile. “Of course, Impa. I trust your judgement.”

Impa motioned for her glasses once more. “Alas, this speculation has put a damper on your other prospects. Suitors being the main concern. Gods know the lot of them don’t understand the difference between reality and The Daily Hyrule.” She went on for the next few minutes on what royal public relations need to do to counteract the rumors. The queen of Hyrule dismissed herself shortly afterwards, bidding Impa a good day and walking out to the halls of the castle. All the while playing with the threads of her blouse sleeves, a nervous tick of hers that hasn’t quite gone away.

Footsteps followed behind her quietly. She didn’t need to turn around to be assured that he was there. He had been there in the bright hours of morning to the burning hours of the night. Never late to escort her to her first appointment of the day and a constant until she bid him goodnight at her chamber doors. That is, other than the occasional Sunday where she would be adamant in dismissing him for the day. Even that usually didn’t work against the stubborn man.

Six years. It would be six years next month.

“Your Majesty.”

With a tight-lipped smile, Zelda nodded at a group of passing guards who stepped aside with reverently bowed heads.

“Gentlemen.”

She strained her ears just in time to hear them whisper to the man behind her and him to answer with a curt laugh. It made her walk faster. Her office was up ahead. It was an infamous stretch of hall. The queen’s office, the one they didn’t air in television shows, was quite informal. It was tucked into the deep recesses of the castle, far removed from any possibility of public interference. Due to this, the halls around it were kept bare. It was to Zelda’s preference to keep from being hounded about protocol at every waking hour. The area was inconspicuous, yet full of secret laughter, whispers, looks, touches…

“You’re nervous,” Link stated plainly, making Zelda startle at her door.

Her surprise shocked her more than his words. It was all too easy lately to fall into a mindset that lacked propriety. With her hand on the door, Zelda’s words defaulted into formality. “I beg your pardon?”

“Why are you anxious?” His voice was firm as he slipped his hand under her own to grasp the handle fully. Their eyes met and she pulled her hand away reluctantly. They shared a closeness privacy afforded that usually wasn’t possible for their stations.

After all these years, Zelda had come to learn a lot about her bodyguard. He had a ravenous appetite, a deep interest in animals, and a sweetheart of a sister who would soon graduate high school. On the other hand, he also had intellect, more connections than she could keep track of, and an insufferable loathing for not knowing.

“What did Impa say?” His tone was borderline stern, adamant in getting the information from her. It reminded Zelda distinctly of the first time there was a bomb threat on the palace premises. Thank Hylia it was a false call, but she’d never forget the look in his eye and the way he commanded her to the panic room. If she had gotten anything from that hectic event it was affirmation that he was the right man for the job.

She didn’t answer his question. Link had been equally as much in the dark as she was during their morning review of what the day would bring. It wasn’t like the Sheikah woman to leave a scheduled appointment unlabeled nor was she one to mistakenly book the queen’s time without incessant reminders. It had left them both stumped and now with the mystery meeting over she would normally brief her guard with the appropriate details. Even so, her lips did not move to explain the gap in time. Instead, she looked away from him listlessly and licked her teeth in the manner that spoke that she was thinking.

Without another word, Link opened the door to her office. Zelda paused before fully making her way inside, noting his footwork meant he wasn’t to follow her. Her eyes flicked up to his already awaiting ones, “Will you not join me?”

Link raised a brow, “Does Her Majesty require my assistance?”

“I do.”

The sound of the door closing behind them reverberated through the room. Natural light flooded through the curtains on the opposite side, revealing a modest study space that would comfortably fit the necessary duties of a queen. It was also a space that let them be properly alone.

A shiver snuck up her spine. It was a familiar feeling to be alone with him, but she’d never get used to being alone with him like this. Close enough to feel the warmth radiating from him. Close enough to feel his breath on her neck. Close enough for her imagination to become overwhelmed with thoughts that spurred need for the man behind her.

Zelda forced herself to move forward towards her desk to fluff a stack of papers. It was a needless task to draw her focus, but she didn’t want it. Dimly behind her she heard the turn of the lock flip into place and soon the warmth at her back returned to glue her feet firmly to the carpet below.

“Your Majesty,” he murmured, blowing hot air onto the back of her neck as he did. The ghost of his fingers brushed her right hip. Zelda sharply inhaled and regretted the motion entirely. She could hear the arrogant smirk on his lips. His hand took hold of her hip and traced circles. They felt like fire beneath her black pencil skirt.

Her lips parted for a warning, but relented to a breathy, “Link.”

Gentle as he always was, he pulled her into him and whispered directly into her ear. “What sort of assistance are you in need of, my queen?”

His lips followed the flush rising up her neckline: brushing, kissing, licking. It was all so slow, needing.

Zelda swallowed thickly, twisting in his grasp before glowering up at him. “You could ask nicely.”

There was a glint in his deep blue eyes, “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The smile that played annoyingly on his lips begged to differ.

She made a face and knotted a hand gingerly through the blond hair on the back of his head, pulling him down. “You truly ought to learn your place, Link,” Zelda bit back a smile as her lips touched his. Then, the need was back to urge him closer. Coarse fingers inched her skirt higher. A gasp from her lips made room for him to deepen the kiss, his teeth grazing her bottom lip.

“What did she say?” He said breathlessly against her mouth as she forced his suit jacket from his body.

“You’re such an effective detective,” Zelda laughed and pressed into him. She reveled in the taunt muscles of his arms, which trapped her to the desk. Once his jacket was out of the way, she unabashedly felt up to his neckline. Link locked lips with her again and traced her backside with the curve of his palm. It caused Zelda to jump at the contact. He laughed against her lips.

“She,” Zelda breathed shallowly as her guard dipped to the crook of her neck, “She asked me about us.”

Deviously, he nipped at her skin to hear her yelp but paused to meet her eyes. The blue in his gaze danced along with his thoughts as he sized up her statement, ever so thoughtful. Strands of hair fell into his sight from her hands running wild in his locks. “What did she ask about?”

Zelda sorely missed his mouth on her body but relented by drawing her bottom lip between her teeth. The anxiety of his scrutiny and the interrogation from earlier made her hands drop from around his neck. “The gossip articles have been pushing out a narrative,” she spoke slow, speaking out thoughts she hadn’t quite sorted yet. “About the queen and her bodyguard.”

His eyes searched hers for a long moment before he answered, “Haven’t they always?”

They had. They had been since he made his first appearance to the paparazzi as her person guard. Who could blame them? Link was a handsome man. A stark contrast to Rusl, who had been in service for years before leaving for the private sector. The public had always kept an eye out for any love match for their queen and it was the perfect scandal a gossip magazine could stir up. A forbidden love, a workplace romance, they had thought of it all before.

However, Zelda and Link hadn’t always shared these private moments. There was a time where these speculations could be completely written off as nothing but. If anything, the rumors were a match to spark their secret rendezvous.

“They’re enough now that Impa had the gall to ask,” Zelda’s voice didn’t have its normal strength. “I lied to her, Link.”

Guilt and betrayal lined her words. Link knew how much she loved Impa. They shared a deep bond that not many had, and her hurt was infectious. He gathered her in his arms for an embrace, the bite of lust now smothered in place of comfort. They stood together for a long minute before Link swallowed and said weakly, “Do you want to stop?”

Do you want to stop?

A sharp ache pierced through Zelda at his question. Of course, she had thought about it. Stopping everything that had become a strange normalcy over the last two years. Her grip on his forearms tightened. It wasn’t just about the touches, the soft sighs, the sex. It was the late nights of talking about nothing and everything all at once. It was sharing an intimacy Zelda had never experienced with anybody else. It was loving and being loved with no strings attached.

“We can stop,” his voice sounded misused. “You will always be my priority, no matter what happens.”

Against all odds, she pulled him closer as her chest constrained and felt his heart beat strongly in his chest. “I’d rather not,” Zelda finally said. Link let out a breath he had been holding and buried his face in her hair. “Impa didn’t let up, but I know she thinks something is wrong,” she sighed into him. He was mindlessly drawing circles on her back.

“Do you reckon she’d tell anyone about us?”

Zelda grinned. It wasn’t often that he slipped into such casual speech. She loved it. “No, but I worry if she has noticed who else has?” She moved back to watch his face, “And I worry for you Link. I… I would never forgive myself if your life was uprooted because of m-”

Link interrupted, touching her chin with a smile. “Don’t worry about me. You worry about yourself.”

Concern was written across Zelda’s face, but she knew nothing would make him budge.

“We have to pick a different vacation spot. Aris Beach has been compromised,” she started, fixing his collar as an excuse to feel him on her fingers.

“Already on it, Zel.”

“And you need to stop looking at me like that in public.”

He smirked, “Like what?”

She had no choice but to smile. “Like that!”

For the meantime, the issue of addressing their situation was pushed aside and as always it was the Queen and her bodyguard against the world.