#but wasn’t allowed to read new moon until she was 16

[pixelephant]

I was inspired by the SpongeBob poll going around and thinking about the absolute moral PANIC these books caused for some reason lol

[icedmetaltea]

Idea 16: Vanessa knows how to sew

You know, at this point my nickname should be Afton. Cause I always come back!

 

… 

*cough*

 uh moving swiftly on

 

This new idea/concept is probably my longest yet, I couldn't help but do my usual thing of trying to explain everything. I will also say that this one might not be “as good” as my other ideas so be warned. With that out of the way, grab yourself a snack/drink and strap in!

Once again, we must set the scene. Life has returned to normal for our faz fam, or at least as normal as it can be for a family consisting of mostly robots. Silver Parasol was able to find an abandoned restaurant and purchase it to give the bots a place to live. It took a bit to get used to its smaller area (It is about the size of your average chucky cheese) but animatronics have acclimated well. The restaurant still has a lot of the same activities as the pizza plex once did, they are just a lot smaller. In some cases, such as with Monty's golf course and Roxy’s raceway, they’ve been replaced with miniature versions like mini golf and RC car racing respectively. There are a few new activities as well though such as “Chica’s cooking class'' and “Painting with Sun and Moon”. Roxy and Monty also hold “weekly challenges” and I will let you figure out what that means. (Some of you came up with some really clever ideas the last time I did this :) )

 

As for our human friends, they are doing quite well! Gregory has been doing well at school and has gotten his own little group of friends. He has developed a reputation at the school for being the kind of kid who causes trouble. Not anything bad of course, he still gets amazing grades but has from time to time crested harmless pranks that everyone finds quite amusing. Vanessa has being doing good as well. She got a promotion at work due to how high quality her work has been and she has gone on several more successful dates with Luis and are "officially" a couple. (Everyone is happy for her, though Gregory still takes some slight joy at how flustered Vanessa gets whenever he asks about their dates. Once a gremlin always a gremlin)

 

Now, something that is important to mention is how Vanessa has been dealing with the memories of being under mind control. It isn’t just her memories; these also include all of Vanny’s memories. (While under mind control Vanessa didn’t see everything that Vanny saw or did. Vanny would only have her be aware of what was going on when SHE wanted Vanessa to see something, which normally meant murders ). Allow me to attempt and explain.

(if you don’t want to read all this, scroll until you see the asterisk*) 

When Vanessa was first freed she tried to just not think about her memories of that time and tried to live in the present. This proved to be a bad idea since the events of idea 10 kept happening. What I mean by this is that Vanessa would see something in the present that felt vaguely familiar, such as a child alone in the pizzaplex, and it would trigger one of Vanny’s memories. From there, Vanessa would be forced to watch the memory play out, which usually consisted of a child being murdered. Then she would come out of the memory in the midst of a panic attack. After a few months of this, she realized that this wasn’t the way to go about this. So, after the events of idea 12, she decides to try dealing with these bad memories in a different way. Her new method is to, just, think about them. Get used to the fact that they exist so she doesn't get overwhelmed by them when she sees something familiar. They are still bad, and she will never not feel guilty about the actions that take place in them, but it does help reduce the amount of pain that they cause to a point that she can live with them.

 

Through this methodic remembering Vanessa discovers that she also has access to Vanny’s memories that, other than having very bad implications, aren't really that bad One of these series of memories is of Vanny creating that suit she wore  (btw it has long since been burned, it was one of the first things that the Faz fam did together after “that night”) As such one of the skills Vanessa now has is sewing. She had known Vanny could sow for a while now, she had found a sewing kit in her room after she was freed and easily figured out the connection. Up until now though Vanessa herself hadn't attempted to use it since she didn't remember how to. Even though she now knows how to sew, she hasn’t used this skill for 2 main reasons. Firstly, it reminds her of Vanny, though this reasoning has been getting a lot less strong as time goes on; and secondly, she hasn’t had much of a reason to use this skill at all… until now.

 

*TLDR Vanessa basically got Acquired Savant Syndrome , without the necessary physical head trauma.

 

The situation arises on a normal day while Gregory was at school hanging out with his friends. They decide to challenge him to a contest during recess, who can climb a tree to a certain branch the fastest. Gregory, being… well Gregory, immediately accepts (it would seem Roxy and Monty have been rubbing off on him) and is off to the tallest tree in the yard before they even decide on a prize. He climbs the tree and reaches the lowest main branch in around 15 seconds, much to the amazement of the children in the yard. 

 

However, in their collective excitement, the children failed to notice that the branch  Gregory is standing on has rotten and died. So after a few seconds, it breaks under the load  and Gregory begins falling to the ground. Thankfully his shirt manages to catch one of the smaller branches, slowing his fall but ripping his shirt in the process. He lands on the ground and, aside from some small cuts and bruises, is completely fine. The same cannot be said for his shirt though, the branch has made a tear from the bottom to the arm sleeve.

 

It should be stated that this particular shirt means a lot to him, it is one of the last possessions that he has from his old life, the one where his mother was still alive. The reason he knows this goes back several months, back to just a few days after “that night.” One of the first things that Vanessa and Gregory had done together was try and find his old house. They had done this to see if anything was still there and, if there was, take it back to Vanessa’s apartment so that Gregory would feel more “at home”.  

 

The 2 of them had found that the house had been claimed by the city since the owner, Gregory’s mother, had been found dead and she had had no living adult relatives. All of the possessions that were inside the house had been sold or given to charity in accordance with Utah state law . In a nutshell, all Gregory has from his old life are memories and the clothes he was wearing. It might seem kind of silly to a stranger, but the Faz fam knows how important it is to him. Besides, people tend to form emotional attachment to inanimate objects in real life (especially after traumatic events), so I think this might be plausible.

 

 Anyways, after picking himself off of the ground and reassuring the others that he is all fine, Gregory looks down at his special shirt and realizes that it is ruined and he thinks that Vanessa will likely have to throw it away. He really doesn’t want this to happen due to how much the shirt means to him, so he decides to try and repair it. After recess ends he grabs some duct tape, goes into a bathroom and tapes up the shirt. He hopes that the temporary repair will fool Vanessa long enough for him to try and find a more permanent fix for his shirt.

 

Vanessa isn’t home yet as she had to work late that day. (The company is planning on pushing out a new DLC that is based on the new restaurant the PizzaPlex animatronics now occupy as a way to advertise the place. So everyone is working a bit harder to get the update ready for release.) Gregory is about to take advantage of this and toss his ruined shirt into his room and put on a new one when he notices Freddy watching him, in his plush form. Freddy asks what he is doing, which means that Gregory has to explain the situation to him. He is just finishing up his explanation when he hears the door unlock, Vanessa has already returned from work. 

 

She enters and is in the middle of asking how his day was when she turns to look at him. She stops speaking, seeing him covered in scrapes and bruises and wearing a torn shirt. Vanessa, trying to remain calm and not get TOO worried, asks what happened to him. Before Gregory can even attempt to craft a response that downplays what actually happened, Freddy answers with “Gregory fell from a tree!” in a tone of voice that sounds like he is discussing the weather.

 

For several seconds nothing happens, then Vanessa fully processes what Freddy has just told her and launches into “doting parent” mode. She kneels down to Gregory and starts checking him over whilst asking him multiple questions about his well being. Gregory manages to calm Vanessa down after reassuring her that he is fine. Now a lot calmer, Vanessa notices that his shirt is ripped and the duct tape on it, prompting her to ask him what he planned to do with it. Gregory defeatedly tells her that he was going to try and fix it.

 

Vanessa remains silent, thinking. She knows how much this shirt means to him, and doesn’t want to get rid of it or have it not be wearable anymore. She wonders if she might be able to fix it herself, and then remembers that sewing kit and the memories of Vanny making the suit. Vanessa realizes that she might be able to solve this problem. So she asks Gregory if she can try and sew up the shirt for him. Gregory, who was expecting Vanessa to tell him to throw it away, is caught a bit off guard before saying yes.

 

So Vanessa takes the shirt to her room, opens the sewing kit and grabs some blue thread. She hesitates before picking up the actual needle, some of that old fear still lingering despite it being over 7 months since “that night”. Vanessa takes a deep breath and starts fixing the shirt. To her surprise she finds it to be quite easy, like riding a bike after a long break. Within an hour (idk how long this would really take lol) she has already patched up the tear and the shirt looks good as new.

 

She goes over to Gregory’s room and finds him having a conversation with Freddy about discretion “You can’t just bluntly tell people that someone fell out of a tree! You have to give them some sort of warning!” Vanessa gets their attention and shows them the patched shirt. Gregory takes his shirt, looks it over and places it on the bed. He then gives Vanessa a big ol hug while graciously thanking her for fixing it. She tells him that it was no problem, and then asks him how he even climbed the tree in the first place. 

 As a little aside, Vanessa would eventually take sewing up as a hobby and make everyone various little items as gifts Eventually she might even make Gregory a little costume for Halloween, probably something either bear or knight related.  Maybe even a combination of the 2!

That is where I will leave it, I hope you enjoyed this long boi. Again, I admit that this might not be as good as my other ideas, but I really just felt the need to write this one as it has been on my mind for a long time now.

❤️❤️❤️

[emarli-the-doodler]

Idea 16: Vanessa knows how to sew

You know, at this point my nickname should be Afton. Cause I always come back!

 

… 

*cough*

 uh moving swiftly on

 

This new idea/concept is probably my longest yet, I couldn't help but do my usual thing of trying to explain everything. I will also say that this one might not be “as good” as my other ideas so be warned. With that out of the way, grab yourself a snack/drink and strap in!

Once again, we must set the scene. Life has returned to normal for our faz fam, or at least as normal as it can be for a family consisting of mostly robots. Silver Parasol was able to find an abandoned restaurant and purchase it to give the bots a place to live. It took a bit to get used to its smaller area ( It is about the size of your average chucky cheese) but animatronics have acclimated well. The restaurant still has a lot of the same activities as the pizza plex once did, they are just a lot smaller. In some cases, such as with Monty's golf course and Roxy’s raceway, they’ve been replaced with miniature versions like mini golf and RC car racing respectively. There are a few new activities as well though such as “Chica’s cooking class'' and “Painting with Sun and Moon”. Roxy and Monty also hold “weekly challenges” and I will let you figure out what that means. (Some of you came up with some really clever ideas the last time I did this :) )

 

As for our human friends, they are doing quite well! Gregory has been doing well at school and has gotten his own little group of friends. He has developed a reputation at the school for being the kind of kid who causes trouble. Not anything bad of course, he still gets amazing grades but has from time to time crested harmless pranks that everyone finds quite amusing. Vanessa has being doing good as well. She got a promotion at work due to how high quality her work has been and she has gone on several more successful dates with Luis and are "officially" a couple. (Everyone is happy for her, though Gregory still takes some slight joy at how flustered Vanessa gets whenever he asks about their dates. Once a gremlin always a gremlin)

 

Now, something that is important to mention is how Vanessa has been dealing with the memories of being under mind control. It isn’t just her memories; these also include all of Vanny’s memories. (While under mind control Vanessa didn’t see everything that Vanny saw or did. Vanny would only have her be aware of what was going on when SHE wanted Vanessa to see something, which normally meant murders ). Allow me to attempt and explain.

(if you don’t want to read all this, scroll until you see the asterisk*) 

When Vanessa was first freed she tried to just not think about her memories of that time and tried to live in the present. This proved to be a bad idea since the events of idea 10 kept happening. What I mean by this is that Vanessa would see something in the present that felt vaguely familiar, such as a child alone in the pizzaplex, and it would trigger one of Vanny’s memories. From there, Vanessa would be forced to watch the memory play out, which usually consisted of a child being murdered. Then she would come out of the memory in the midst of a panic attack. After a few months of this, she realized that this wasn’t the way to go about this. So, after the events of idea 12, she decides to try dealing with these bad memories in a different way. Her new method is to, just, think about them. Get used to the fact that they exist so she doesn't get overwhelmed by them when she sees something familiar. They are still bad, and she will never not feel guilty about the actions that take place in them, but it does help reduce the amount of pain that they cause to a point that she can live with them.

 

Through this methodic remembering Vanessa discovers that she also has access to Vanny’s memories that, other than having very bad implications, aren't really that bad. One of these series of memories is of Vanny creating that suit she wore  (btw it has long since been burned, it was one of the first things that the Faz fam did together after “that night”) As such one of the skills Vanessa now has is sewing. She had known Vanny could sow for a while now, she had found a sewing kit in her room after she was freed and easily figured out the connection. Up until now though Vanessa herself hadn't attempted to use it since she didn't remember how to. Even though she now knows how to sew, she hasn’t used this skill for 2 main reasons. Firstly, it reminds her of Vanny, though this reasoning has been getting a lot less strong as time goes on; and secondly, she hasn’t had much of a reason to use this skill at all… until now.

 

*TLDR Vanessa basically got Acquired Savant Syndrome , without the necessary physical head trauma.

 

The situation arises on a normal day while Gregory was at school hanging out with his friends. They decide to challenge him to a contest during recess, who can climb a tree to a certain branch the fastest. Gregory, being… well Gregory, immediately accepts (it would seem Roxy and Monty have been rubbing off on him) and is off to the tallest tree in the yard before they even decide on a prize. He climbs the tree and reaches the lowest main branch in around 15 seconds, much to the amazement of the children in the yard. 

 

However, in their collective excitement, the children failed to notice that the branch  Gregory is standing on has rotten and died. So after a few seconds, it breaks under the load  and Gregory begins falling to the ground. Thankfully his shirt manages to catch one of the smaller branches, slowing his fall but ripping his shirt in the process. He lands on the ground and, aside from some small cuts and bruises, is completely fine. The same cannot be said for his shirt though, the branch has made a tear from the bottom to the arm sleeve.

 

It should be stated that this particular shirt means a lot to him, it is one of the last possessions that he has from his old life, the one where his mother was still alive. The reason he knows this goes back several months, back to just a few days after “that night.” One of the first things that Vanessa and Gregory had done together was try and find his old house. They had done this to see if anything was still there and, if there was, take it back to Vanessa’s apartment so that Gregory would feel more “at home”.  

 

The 2 of them had found that the house had been claimed by the city since the owner, Gregory’s mother, had been found dead and she had had no living adult relatives. All of the possessions that were inside the house had been sold or given to charity in accordance with Utah state law . In a nutshell, all Gregory has from his old life are memories and the clothes he was wearing. It might seem kind of silly to a stranger, but the Faz fam knows how important it is to him. Besides, people tend to form emotional attachment to inanimate objects in real life (especially after traumatic events), so I think this might be plausible.

 

 Anyways, after picking himself off of the ground and reassuring the others that he is all fine, Gregory looks down at his special shirt and realizes that it is ruined and he thinks that Vanessa will likely have to throw it away. He really doesn’t want this to happen due to how much the shirt means to him, so he decides to try and repair it. After recess ends he grabs some duct tape, goes into a bathroom and tapes up the shirt. He hopes that the temporary repair will fool Vanessa long enough for him to try and find a more permanent fix for his shirt.

 

Vanessa isn’t home yet as she had to work late that day. (The company is planning on pushing out a new DLC that is based on the new restaurant the PizzaPlex animatronics now occupy as a way to advertise the place. So everyone is working a bit harder to get the update ready for release.) Gregory is about to take advantage of this and toss his ruined shirt into his room and put on a new one when he notices Freddy watching him, in his plush form. Freddy asks what he is doing, which means that Gregory has to explain the situation to him. He is just finishing up his explanation when he hears the door unlock, Vanessa has already returned from work. 

 

She enters and is in the middle of asking how his day was when she turns to look at him. She stops speaking, seeing him covered in scrapes and bruises and wearing a torn shirt. Vanessa, trying to remain calm and not get TOO worried, asks what happened to him. Before Gregory can even attempt to craft a response that downplays what actually happened, Freddy answers with “Gregory fell from a tree!” in a tone of voice that sounds like he is discussing the weather.

 

For several seconds nothing happens, then Vanessa fully processes what Freddy has just told her and launches into “doting parent” mode. She kneels down to Gregory and starts checking him over whilst asking him multiple questions about his well being. Gregory manages to calm Vanessa down after reassuring her that he is fine. Now a lot calmer, Vanessa notices that his shirt is ripped and the duct tape on it, prompting her to ask him what he planned to do with it. Gregory defeatedly tells her that he was going to try and fix it.

 

Vanessa remains silent, thinking. She knows how much this shirt means to him, and doesn’t want to get rid of it or have it not be wearable anymore. She wonders if she might be able to fix it herself, and then remembers that sewing kit and the memories of Vanny making the suit. Vanessa realizes that she might be able to solve this problem. So she asks Gregory if she can try and sew up the shirt for him. Gregory, who was expecting Vanessa to tell him to throw it away, is caught a bit off guard before saying yes.

 

So Vanessa takes the shirt to her room, opens the sewing kit and grabs some blue thread. She hesitates before picking up the actual needle, some of that old fear still lingering despite it being over 7 months since “that night”. Vanessa takes a deep breath and starts fixing the shirt. To her surprise she finds it to be quite easy, like riding a bike after a long break. Within an hour (idk how long this would really take lol) she has already patched up the tear and the shirt looks good as new.

 

She goes over to Gregory’s room and finds him having a conversation with Freddy about discretion “You can’t just bluntly tell people that someone fell out of a tree! You have to give them some sort of warning!” Vanessa gets their attention and shows them the patched shirt. Gregory takes his shirt, looks it over and places it on the bed. He then gives Vanessa a big ol hug while graciously thanking her for fixing it. She tells him that it was no problem, and then asks him how he even climbed the tree in the first place. 

 

That is where I will leave it, I hope you enjoyed this long boi. Again, I admit that this might not be as good as my other ideas, but I really just felt the need to write this one as it has been on my mind for a long time now.

NO WAIT THIS IS PRECIOUS I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS!! and vennessa sewing up the shirt,,,,,, omg this is so sweet I love this smmmmmm 🥺❤

[swinterr]

fic rec vi ♡

hi!

this is a another new set of fic rec and i’ll probably do a compilation of genre (?) just like the first ones.

made some changes like tidying up a bit and adding summary, for those that doesn’t have any summary i’ll try my best to add my own summary (it will probably be shit tho, i ain’t making a smut summary guys, i’m not confident in my describing a fic ability but i’ll try my best. if its in italic it means i made the summary hehez )  if the summary is shit, i made it okay.

read and support the fic and authors here: the fic rec ♡

a for angst

f for fluff

s for smut

// for series or list

nct 

jeno

no title by @tyongf-nct | s

- smut blurb.

body guards and boyfriend by @pastelsicheng | f

-  sometimes the only way you can really get some alone time with your boyfriend is by making his job hard.

lipstick smears by @kopikokun | f

-  jeno never thought trying to get his makeup artist’s attention would be this hard.

jaehyun

[10:30] by @moonttaeil | 

- a lockdown moment.

[2:40] by @nct-jungjaehyun | f a

- cute quality fluff time with bf!jae with a dash of angst.

[11:41] by @jeongvision | f 

- family time with apples.

just like magic by @starryhyuck | f s

-  jung jaehyun’s body count is almost as high as yours. however, after yuta spreads a nasty rumor, you learn that jaehyun’s always imagined those girls to be you instead.

love to hate me by @moonctzeny | s a 

-  you and jaehyun meet as sm trainees, developing a friendship until he debuts and you decided to leave the company and pursue a solo career. when you reunite again in a music show and he acts like he barely knows you, you stubbornly begin a series of hate-brimmed sex rendez-vous. your touch-and-go relationship continues on, until a song collaboration will force you both to deal with all your repressed feelings for each other.

moving on by @ddeonghwaa | f a

- reader has been chasing jae for some time but when she moved on jae suddenly enter the picture.

sun&moon by @ppangjae | f a

-  asking jeong jaehyun to accompany you to your family’s 1-week christmas vacation as your boyfriend has its consequences. one can surely get through 1 week of pretending to be in love with an enemy, right?

snack run with a snack by @kopikokun | f 

-  on your usual movie night with the members, they assign you sudden snack collecting duty. you’re a little peeved, but at least jaehyun offers to tag along. Unfortunately for you, things really aren’t going in your favour tonight.

lover boy by @neoct-zen | f s

- bunch fics of lover boy jae and reader.

jungwoo

one more time, please by @haequarius | f s

-  you don’t know what you and Jungwoo are, but you are certainly weak for him.

jealous by @whiplashsan | s 

-  jungwoo is all smiles and sunshine until he gets jealous, and he just so happens to get jealous over the smallest things when it comes to you.

doyoung

sugar, spice and everything not nice by @alreadyblondenow | s

-  doyoung getting your ring size wrong, unprotected sex, kitchen sex, slight fingering, wedding tragedies.

no title by @ncteaxhoe | s

- dom!doyoung, rough? i need holy water.

the little one by @ethaeriyeol | f 

-  a gift of life; female reader x husband!Doyoung; fluff, light angst, married au

lucas

exquisite taste by @weishenkonbini | s f

- smut but with a fluffy ending.

for you always by @labyrinthsofyou | f

-  in which you surprise yukhei when he forgets about your date.

6:19 by @cozykpopblurbs | f

- a cute fluff ft kun and winwin.

10:18 pm by @nctsoftarchives | f

- reader supports lucas at his superm debut stage. 

16:47 by @sichengssmile | f s 

- a fluffy smut. lucas a big boi.

missed you by @tokyobts | a f

-  after you and yukhei broke up, yukhei still has feelings for you. he reaches out to you at school and tries to get you back. at first you avoid him but later his actions manage to make your heart flutter. you’ve come to a sudden conclusion that you maybe still want him in your life.

johnny

34 + 35 by @domjaehyun | s 

- you and your husband johnny decide to take your marriage to the next step.

i couldn’t wait a little longer by @alreadyblondenow | s f a

-  you two were never together longer than two days, but the feelings, oh the feelings that you have for each other is clear as the day. it was a never-ending try of making the relationship official. johnny tried, you tried but it never happens.

what happens in korea, not stays in korea by @alreadyblondenow | f s 

-  a week vacation in korea for your sister’s wedding became even more exciting when a famous dj had a crush on you. johnny was sure that it’s love at first sight. not putting both of your careers on the line, you two had no regrets when the time comes and you finally leave.

laundry day by @immabiteyou | s

- a domestic fluffy smut.

make a wish by @sluttyten | s f a

-  you’re jungwoo’s sister, and he’s made it clear he wants you and Johnny to have nothing to do with each other. so you and johnny start fake dating to piss him off.

want it all by @sluttyten | f s 

-  you are entirely innocent to the point of being naive. johnny is not innocent, but he loves that you are because it means he can teach you everything you don’t know.

sungchan

wish i was her by @softsungchan | f a 

-  you wished you were her, laying in Sungchan’s arms and feeling his warm breath on your neck, giggling about sweet nothings whispered into the starry night. You wished for it to be you, the girl he liked.

2:21 am by @the32ndbeat | f 

- sungchan being whipped, thru a text message.

haechan

14:52 by @ukiyoexo | f

- a cute haechan and reader ft the reader’s baby sister moment.

prince’s order by @nsheetee | f

-  prince haechan nurses you after you faint, and orders you to stay with him until you feel better.

sweet treat by @markresonates | s

-  haechan takes you for ice cream but all you can think about is sex with him.  when you act like a brat, eventually you end up in the bathroom. with no panties. 

clingy by @love-mi | f 

-  I’m not clingy! I just love your company and constantly want to be around you and have your full attention at all times

mark

hyuck is always right by @luvrenjun00 | f 

- ceo!mark x reader ft baby donghyuck. a tooth-rotting fluff.

taeyong

snow storm by @whereisten | f s 

- a fluffy smut whilst a snow storm.

1:59 by @smoll-tangerine | f

- reader and taeyong ft my favorite game (where i always die first) among us!

bts

taehyung

is this allowed 1 2 by @seokiie  | f s

- how were you supposed to know bts would be filming at your coffee shop today? how were you supposed to know a certain curly-haired boy would take a liking  to you?

cabin pressure | f by @jiminrings | f 

-  pilot!y/n who accidentally became famous bc of a viral post about her, best friend!jimin!, taehyung having a shy lil crush on you aND ot7 being meanies for a tad bit :((

art major!tae and biochem major!yn | f by @jiminrings | f

-  tae’s cold and probably needs a friend more than he needs a model, y/n feels this nEED to take care of him, a term of enderment then a dash of emotional constipation and a sprinkle of jealousy :D

gank mid lane by @kimtaehyunq | f s 

- gank / verb: (in a video game) use underhand means to defeat or kill (a less experienced opponent)

birthday surprise by @ephemeralkookie |

-  like every year, you prepare a little surprise for your boyfriend’s birthday, one that you’ve been preparing for days. and after a very tiring day, taehyung only wants to spend the night in your loving arms.

jungkook

cookies & cream | s by @1kook | f s 

-  jungkook will watch a thousand cheesy christmas movies if it meant making you happy. (and maybe having his dick sucked.)

unholy night | s by @ephemeralkookie | f s

-  after a christmas day passed with the Jeon’s family, Jungkook decides to transform the holy night into an unholy one.

‘a short’ abstinence | s a by @seokiie | s a

-  maybe blue-balling you boyfriend (who has an insanely high sexual drive) wasn’t the best.

in which she’s done with him by @minstrivia | a

-  jungkook angst/fluff where he always pushes oc away (who confesses her feelings but was cruelly rejected) and insults her but she always comes back to take care of him when he’s drunk or picks him up from his one night stands and she finally decides to leave him alone.

bad influence by @noteguk | s 

-  in which you know jungkook is a bad influence on you, but you can’t avoid falling for him every time.

jock!jk and shy art major!yn by @jiminrings | f

-  established relationship ft. jock!jk and shy art major!y/n, y/n gets an unexpected pep talk and jungkook doubts himself, and either so much tears or so much dUST according to kook

special affair by @1oserjk | f

-  sugar daddy au except it’s just jk spoiling u thru animal crossing

fairy of shampoo by @ironicarmy | f s

-  sundays are for relaxation, house cleaning, and happiness.

abstract ft bob ross by @mimithings97 | f

-  paintbrush in one hand, joint in the other and you sitting on his dick is what jeongguk wants. and what jeongguk wants, jeongguk gets.

badboy!jungkook by @jungshookz | f 

- badboy!jungkook falls for good girl reader ft the boys and the reader’s apple. 

growing by @lesgetittkookie | f

- dad!jungkook teacher his daughter how to walk. super super cute family/domestic fluff.

quiet, baby by @bratkook | s 

- i don’t how to write a summary on smuts so imma just put this. reader and jungkook doing something in the subway.

still want that by @whatifyoulivelikethat | s

-  fucking min yoongi ex-girlfriend? a terrible idea. being hopelessly in love with her at the same time? an even worse idea. knowing he was being used and still doing it anyway? ah, Jeon Jungkook, what are you doing? part 2 of savage love.

desiderium by @jeonggukingdom | f s 

-  “we’ve been at it like rabbits, how are you still so horny?”. a newlyweds!au smut.

chapstick by @softyoongiionly | f s

- based on the time Jungkook said he needed someone to scold him so he’d remember to put lip balm on. or jungkook’s had a really long day and the only that can make it better, is seeing you. 

lover boy by @jingukk | f 

-  jungkook likes you. a lot.

unexpected confession by @sunkissedjk | f

-  you gathered up the courage to confess your feelings, but it seems everyone in school knows about it before you could even find him.

string attached by @ephemeralkookie | s

-  jungkook is what we can call your sexfriend. No strings attached, just you and him having fun and releasing the huge pressure and stress of being idols. But after spending an entire day together, you realize that maybe he’s not just your sexfriend.

no title by @himbojk | f s 

- dilf jk.

astro

eunwoo

ceo!eunwoo by @m0onbean

no title by @yutopiada | f

- a cute idol!reader and eunwoo moment at a music show.

disney by @bangchan-sonyeondan | f

- a cute date with eunwoo at disney. reader likes vintage things hence using a disposable camera.

baby, it’s cold outside by @fresh-outta-jams | f 

- a cute cold christmas fluff with eunwoo ft. the boys. reader went to the boys’ place for a sweater and cocoa gift exchange.

got7

yugyeom

cruel brothers by @imsarabum | f

-  jackson and jaebum have always acted as if they were your big, overprotective brothers. so when they both walk in on you and yugyeom in a very intimate position, things get a little tense!

txt

soobin

a special night by @gyuluster | f

-  an intimate insight on the first night of choi soobin’s wedding, consisting of kitchen floors, witches and an eternity of love.

boughs & branches by @jeogiyall | f 

-  decorating the tree with boyfriend! choi soobin from txt! fluffity fluff fluff with a lot of cute fluff thrown in and a dash of christmastime fluff. 

sleepy binnie by @immabiteyou | s

-  “i’ll let you do anything if you just touch me now. “ a sleepy soobin smut.

cake by @immabiteyou | s

- reading waiting for mc soobin with the guys. a cute fluffy smut moment.

kpop oc/s

seri by @ggukkiedae

anyway, thank you again for the writers please take care and be safe!

please free to recommend your favorite fic that i haven’t feature yet.

if the links won’t work and i labelled some fics wrong please let me know and i’ll try to fix it as soon as possible!

support the fic and the writers!

[rsmrymnt-tea]

introspection//rumination

cw; intrusive thoughts/suicidal ideation (though dola shakes them off). she's starting to go through it after being alive for so long, and she doesn't want anyone to know. description of drowning, lesson 16 things, breaking bones, dying and considering it. reads a little 3edgy5me.

--

beneath the moonlight on a cliff above the waves, she stood alone. clad in a starry coat, still in her nightdress.

eyes pointed to the horizon, where water meets sky, and the silver moon seemed as though it's grown closer. the wind was cold, enough to render her coat near useless. it would be warmer to be in bed beside her lover, and she knew she should return soon. but tonight she needed to breathe. to think. to loosen how tightly her mind gripped her heart.

she couldn't sleep next to solomon feeling like this. she didn't want him to even sense her despair, or see her brows furrow in her troubled sleep, or catch her vacant stare as she lay awake next to him.

she didn't want him to feel any guilt for this. she'd done this to herself after all.

she glanced down to where the sea meets earth, violent and ever warring between the rocks and waves. the void whispered to her, its voice between unwelcome and not--if she ran, would she land in the calmer waters? or meet her end not through drowning but through shattered bone and viscera?

the sensation of drowning reentered her mind, a memory she’d wanted gone still somehow in her mind. beyond the panic, the desperation of burning lungs begging for air was a cold calmness before the darkness took over. revival was more painful that dying.

broken bones reminded her of yet another memory she’d wanted gone—a hand tight around her neck and thorned tail twisted around her midsection, gripping tighter and tighter until bones crushed with muffled cracks. she wasn’t sure whether she died from strangulation or internal bleeding, but it wasn’t the worst way to go. the turmoil that came after resurrection hurt just as much.

dolasach shook her head and forced those thoughts away with a hard sigh. it didn't matter--she'd come out unscathed and live either way.

humans werent made to last forever; a thought that her sleeping lover once told her, from a time before she'd joined him in eternal existence. he was right--for the weight of existing, even within a mortal lifespan, was heavy, weighted down with loss and regret and a yearning for the left behind, no longer in reach. the faces she knew from what should've been her only lifetime had long faded into nothing, and their voices gone for even longer. memories, dear, treasured, that she once believed would remain vivid slowly distorted as the years passed. satan tells her of their first few years together now, because a demon's memory was built for eons, and she never wants to forget those early, tender years.

there are many things she never wanted to forget. cherished memories she desperately wished she could hold onto and grip closer her heart and never lose--but such luxuries aren't given to immortal humans, for in their permanence grew the impermanence of the world around and within them. humans werent made to last forever.

it pained her that what stuck the most were that thoughts that she wanted to leave behind the most.

but she couldn't say she regretted her choice. no. not when centuries of existence has allowed her to reach far beyond what her mortal self would have. not when she could still make new memories with found family of demons, her two lovers, and even the two angels she now rarely saw. there was still so much she wanted to do, still much, much more than what the past three centuries had given her.

she wasn't anywhere near ready to say goodbye to her loved ones, no matter what the void may tell her. she wasn't ready, she told herself. she doesn't want to, she insisted.

despite it all, she was still the happiest she ever has been.

dolasach closed her eyes and sighed before beginning her journey back home, her steps slowed down by her thoughts. the weight was a little lighter now, not by much, but enough that it was easier to bear.

but it will make itself known again soon, as it always did. she just wished she could bring herself to share it.

[runwithwolvcs]

You Know I'm No Good - three

New Beginnings

Timeline: Takes place a few years after the events of Breaking Dawn

Pairing: Paul Lahote x OC (Tallulah is 18)

Warnings (future chapters): Drugs/Alcohol, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Jealousy, Mental Health, (Mentions of SA, but no details)

She was like the moon -- part of her is always hidden away

Tallulah looked to the boy in front of her, up close, in much better light than she had first seen him in, he looks older, worn and tired. Like he hasn't slept well in days. “I’m aware of who you are.” she stated in a matter of fact tone, and she watches as the smirk returns to his face. Great, an inflated ego, she thought. Tallulah is overly aware that his eyes are on her, like he's trying to read her uninterested expression. “I didn’t know Joseph had a third daughter,” he spoked tentatively, as if he would cause her to bolt if he said something wrong. She nodded her head in response, of course nobody knew. “Yeah, I’m the best kept family secret there ever was,” she eased out with a breathy laugh, “I didn’t mean it like that” he backtracked quickly, “I’ve just never seen you around the rez before”

Tallulah nodded her head in understanding, “my mom hates it here so she never brought me.” she stated before turning her body back towards the bar, hoping he’d get the hint that this was not what she wanted to be talking about. The next question out of his mouth being ‘why’, clearly meant he did not know how to read a room, causing her to turn her entire body back towards him, her face level with his as he was leaning against the counter, eyes looking into hers, as she venomously spoke, “because it's a giant reminder that her ex husband spent two years of their marriage being in love with another woman before leaving her to care for a child by herself while he lived happily ever after.” The look of shock on Paul's face didn’t surprise Tallulah in the slightest.

The waitress had dropped off both of their drinks and as she was about to open her mouth to drop another heated sentence she felt a petite arm wrap around her own, and a raspy feminie voice greeted Paul, to which he nodded in acknowledgment, barely taking his eyes off of Tallulah, “Sorry, Paul, but I need to steal my sister for a moment,”. Tallulah was now looking at the tall, raven haired girl beside her. Lenna.

Now she was confused, as the younger of the two pulled her away from the counter, drink in hand, back to the table where Josie was now sitting beside herself. Lenna sat down beside her twin, across from Tallulah, a look of exasperation was evident on Lenna's face, whereas Josie had an apologetic one.

Before she could even ask what had just happened, Lenna was speaking in a heated tone, “you need to stay away from him,” she started, “he’s got a girlfriend,” before she could defend herself from what felt like an attack, Josie piped in, “They’re back together?” she asked in a shocked tone, to which her twin nodded her head furiously. “What does any of whatever you're talking about have to do with me?” she asked, eyebrow raised, Tallulah crossed her arms as she leaned back in her seat. “This has everything to do with you!” Lenna exclaimed, “You’re the shiny new toy here, doesn’t help that you're hot either. And Paul Lahote is dating Rachel Black, happily, might I add, and when they aren’t together, she's not happy and when she's not happy, I’m not happy!” she rambled, Tallulah looked to Josie for clarification, “What Lenna is trying to say is that Rachelis her boss and she is not easy to work for when she doesn’t get what she wants. And for as long as we can remember, Paul was the source of that stress. They’ve been on and off since they were 16.” Josie clarified, with Lenna adding, “Plus, dad has a rule about dating older guys, and he does not fit the qualifications, even for you.” she stated before picking at her perfectly manicured hands.

“Well, no need to stress. I’m not a homewrecker.” Tallulah stated matter of factly. “ Besides, he’s not my type anyways” Not that Tallulah had a type really, anyone who didn’t want her commitment and could make her feel something other than numb, was good enough for her.

The three girls stayed at the cafe until it was nearly dark. The twins carried the conversation, with Tallulah nodding her head and giving one word answers whenever it was needed. She didn’t particularly care for the topics in which they were being brought up, like who broke up or who’s not friends anymore. In such a small area she figured this was typical considering everyone knew everyone here. She didn’t even want to think about what people might be saying about her. After awhile, Lenna had to get to work and Josie had received a text from Kira of when dinner would be, to which Tallulah thought was odd, her and her mother never ate dinner together as a family. Either her mother was at work or she was out with friends, being left up to her own devices. So when Josie and Tallulah walked through the front door of their home to the smell of a home cooked meal, she felt a tinge of jealousy. The twins were living the life she had dreamt of as a child, a mother who cooked, a dad that was present in their lives, family dinners where they could talk about their days, the good and the bad. A family that made memories together, rather than apart.

The two girls kicked off the shoes and before making their way to the dining room table, Tallulah felt awkward, she didn’t want to sit in someone else's seat, so, she let Josie sit in her usual spot before sitting down, Kira and her dad sat at the ends of the table. They all jumped right in, grabbing and passing food to each other as if Tallulah had been there for years.

As they ate, Kira asked how her first full day in La Push was, she shrugged her shoulders, before stating, “it was alright. Met some people who seemed to already know who I was.” This caused her father and Kira to laugh, as Tallulah took another bite while her dad asked, “catch any names?”, before she could even answer, Josie was answering for her, “She met Paul today, seemed like they really hit it off.” Tallulah couldn't stop the glare that adorned her face, for someone who had essentially told her their dad didn’t like him, she was really throwing her in front of a bus.

She looked at her dad, trying to gauge a reaction from him but he was looking at Kira, the two of them silently communicating from across the table, before saying, “I don’t know if that's someone you’d want as a friend.He’s quite older than you, Tal, nearly 27.” to which she shrugged off, saying, “he was just asking if i was your daughter. Not a lot of people knew you had three before yesterday.” No longer having an appetite, she dropped her fork onto her plate, “and not that it's anyone's business, but I can make my own friends, older or younger. Thank you for dinner, Kira.” she said trying to contain her anger before standing up and tucking her chair in. She grabbed her plate and brought it into the kitchen, the anger that has been stirring since the day before coming back out as she tried to calm herself before it came back to bite her. She tossed her food and placed her plate in the dishwasher before walking up to her room and shutting the door gently, she turned towards her bed noticing a black book bag with a folded slip of paper on it. Picking it up and opening, she recognized it as a schedule, reading it over, she noticed she had more independent study periods than actual classes. Written in pen below the timetable there was a note, stating, “exempt from AP Literature, Biology III and Calculus”, which were all classes she had taken in the first semester of her old school. She let out a breath of relief at the thought of not taking them again. Shoving the paper in her bag, before dropping it at the foot of her bed. She grabbed a book out of one of her unpacked duffels that her mother must have packed for her, before laying on her bed to read.

-

At some point she must have dozed off, the room was dark but the moonlight illuminated from the window. Tallulah got up and stretched her back from the odd position she had fallen asleep, before stripping out of her jeans in favour of comfy shorts and a baggy t-shirt. She made her way into the hall to use the bathroom she shared with the twins, as well as to brush her teeth. From the bathroom she could hear the muffled voices of Jira and her dad, ‘he’s too old for her’ ‘this could be good for her’ ‘or it could push her further away’ ‘you and i both know that wont happen’, it didn’t take a genius to realize who they were talking about, and she wasn’t bothered by it in the slightest because in her mind, if they never assert their problems with her, then they can never be mad. How can she go against them if she didn’t know what she was doing wasn’t allowed?

She left the bathroom after dousing her face with water and patting it dry to see Josie waiting outside, Tallulah rolled her eyes before brushing past her, not listening to her apologies, she didn’t care if Josie was a snitch. She's just happy she found out sooner, rather than later.

[omggiogiothings]

Summer

Sorry it's like, 3 years late. But this was requested from @genderbenduniverse which is Fem Robin and Bruce in the pool. After writing this I realize it was actually a Fem Bruce so I'm sorry, I'll see if I can do something for fem Bruce next time. For now, this ties in with my last post here. Thanks!

and thanks to @theladieauthor who wrote changing tim's name. I couldn't come up with good names for them soo,,, Tiffany ended up being a good idea.

---

The funny thing was, Bruce followed Dixie on instagram. Every blue moon he would open the app (squinty eyed, in a way that Tif said made him look like a meme) and see her photos. They were usually promoting some sort of charity or something of her on a new trip. She was active on it, as much as she could be and it helped keep her secret identity.

Of course, he hadn't been happy when she first got it at the age of 16. He didn't want his underage daughter going around posting photos of herself where any creep can see it. But it had helped solidify her identity and she was at that age where she could tell him to take his concern and stick it where the sun didn't shine.

She also posted a lot of athletic videos and was always careful of things she couldn't post in case it got back to her alter ego. She was responsible.

But he still hated it.

(Janna had a page but it wasn't for her civilian identity. Bruce had thought about following it but the PR nightmare of following the Red Hood would be terrible. It didn't stop the Red Hood from leaving passive aggressive comments on Bruce Wayne's meger photos.

Bruce liked every single one because he knew Janna loathed it.)

So when he went outside to find Tif and ask about the latest meeting notes for a meeting he had in like, 15 minutes, he was not happy to find Dixie by the pool, Tif crouched to the side with a camera.

He didn't like the two piece bikini she wore that took him back to discowing days and the way it barely covered any parts of her body

"Hi B." She greeted, holding a beach ball over her head and striking a pose. "What's up?"

Tif looks up after getting a shot. "Is it the meeting? Want me to prep with you?"

Bruce is actually caught off guard. He has two papers in his hands and a lot of things trying to come out of his mouth and he knows if he says anything it would be a jumbled confusing mess.

He's torn between demanding an answer, reprimanding his 26 year old daughter for doing what she is technically allowed to do with her body, and just walking back inside and pretending he didn't see anything.

"Absolutely not." Comes out, sounding strangled enough that both girls look startled. Without even considering it, he is dropping the papers and shrugging out of his jacket. Alfred raised him as a gentleman after all. "You are not taking pictures to post in that."

"Oh my god, B." Dixie says, blue eyes wide in astonishment. "You are not giving me your jacket."

He holds it out as Dixie stares, miffed. Bruce knows without a doubt that if Dixie was a few years younger she'd have flipped him off and scoffed. Now, she almost seemed amused, which he was glad for. Dixie's anger was still legendary, but she knew how to pick her battles and how to speak her mind in a way that truly hurt and wasn't just covered with teenage hormones.

He hopes his look reads he wasn't budging on this. There is a cold second where Dixie stares (again, choosing her battles) and he thinks she is going to refuse and make a point.

But her lips quirk and she takes it, dropping the beach ball to her feet and shuffling it on.

She is swimming in the jacket, looking at the long sleeves with a calculated look in her eyes. It reminds him of the time she was twelve, leaving a school dance and had shivered until he gave her his jacket. They had gone out for ice cream afterwards while she griped about girls being mean and so classist. It had been one of his suit jackets because in those years Alfred was heavy on his business suits. He remembers when he got it back and found crumpled flowers in the pockets and a nickel that confused him because he had given her his credit card not hard cash.

"I don't care what you do." He says, needing to iterate this and not just leave their conversation as a mess. "But not this."

Tif has been silent, looking at everything with raised eyebrows. He knows Tif's also received his jacket before. Actually, all of them have.

Dixie grins, a grin that instantly puts him on edge because she shoots forward and links their arms together. Dixie has always been affectionate, a contrast to Janna, Tif, and Danielle. While she hadn't initiated a lot of touch between them lately, she always passed touches and gentle nudges when she thought necessary.

Tif takes the photo as Dixie jerks him towards the camera unprepared. He hates photos, always has but Dixie laughs, bright and cheerful in a way he misses. It's been awhile since he heard her laugh that way.

He is still blinded by the laugh that when Dixie takes one more step he is biting at a curse at the rush of gravity as she drags him into the pool with an iron grip around his arm.

Later, when he sees the photos she'd posted he still hates the small two piece suit she's wearing but her caption has him tagged. He finds himself taking the file from Tif's laptop and saving it as it becomes one of his favorites.

-

@ Dixie_G Photo set: The first photo is Dixie in a two piece bikini, a beach ball under her arm and with a sunhat on. She is winking to the camera, hair loose and wild while she is kneeled on a towel, the beginnings of the pool can be seen behind her.

The second photo is of Dixie and Bruce, their arms linked and a suit jacket that obviously belongs to Bruce on her that covers most of her body. She is grinning while Bruce wears a scowl, seemingly not expecting the photos.

The third photo is Dixie in the water of the pool, hair wet and head thrown back in laughter. The jacket she wears is soaked and sticking plastered to her. Bruce is on the other side, soaked and giving her a firm look but there is a crook to his lips that gives away his amusement.

Caption:

@ Dixie_G : Ready for Gotham’s summer this year with a friend’s newest bikini set! Check it out in the link in my bio! Pictures taken by Tiffany Drake-Wayne @ Its_Tiff_D It might not meet Bruce’s dad stamp of approval, but all the proceeds go to a good cause! Check it out!

[lassieposting]

💘💘💘💘 + ghasdug

send me 💘 + A SHIP and i’ll tell you—

where they first met and how

So Skug says they stowed away on the same ship, but this is...not exactly true.

He stowed away on that ship, because he was running away from home and he was a snobby little lordling who'd never had to fend for himself a day in his life, so the furthest ahead he'd actually thought to plan was "they won't want to turn around and drop me off once they're underway".

Ghastly was not stowed away at any point during that trip. Ghastly was signed on for the journey as a deckhand, because Ghastly's mother told him he needed to, and it had to be that particular ship. Ghastly gets seasick, and did not want to go to sea in the slightest. But Ghastly's mother has visions and so Ghastly does as he is told. Apparently there was something important waiting for him on that ship.

Anyway Skug pops out once he thinks they're far enough away from shore that they'll leave him be rather than take him back to port, and he is incredibly mistaken. The captain is in favour of turning him around right there and then, because he's clearly some rich lord's brat, and whoever his father is will probably pay handsomely for his safe return. Ghastly manages to talk the ship's crew into letting him stay on, provided he pulls his weight like the rest of them.

Needless to say, even before they're attacked by pirates, that voyage is a rude awakening for poor Skug, and good lord does Ghastly hear all about it. He has blisters. His feet hurt. This shirt was expensive and now it's all sweaty. His hair is in his eyes all the time. He's tired. The guy in the next bunk snores. Some of these people look like they have lice. He didn't realise he'd be doing manual labour, this is servant stuff, how dare they.

Ghastly does. Not realise at that point what he has let himself in for.

how long their ‘flirting’ phase was before feelings got involved

Poor Ghastly gets to pine for years. Baby Skug isn't a great boyfriend. He's less invested - he loves Ghastly, but they have two totally different outlooks.

Ghastly is ugly. He's always been ugly. He's got a face he believes only his mother could love. He's never believed he'd find someone who saw past that or loved him regardless. So as soon as he gets Skug into bed, he's over the moon and ready to commit. He's like 17, and would absolutely settle down there and then given half a chance.

Skug, on the other hand, was a weird-looking child who only recently grew into an attractive adolescent and he is loving it. For the first time in his life, girls are noticing him. He doesn't want to settle down, he wants to play the field and sow some wild oats and have fun. So there are periods of exclusivity with Ghastly, interspersed with periods where Skug basically drops him to chase after the latest pretty bit of skirt.

who fell for who first ( if applicable )

Ghastly's smitten by the time they make it back to Ireland - Skug is a bit soft and allergic to hard work and a pain in the arse, but he's flashy and charismatic and funny and pays attention to him without gawking at his face (past the initial "good god, what happened to you?") - but Skug is well and truly settled into living with Ghastly's family by the time he actually gives Ghas the come-on.

where their first date was and what it was like

They went to the local tavern and got drunk, and then rode home in the pouring rain once it kicked them out at closing time.

When they got home, Ghastly's parents had long since gone to bed, but that wasn't necessarily unusual - once Skug, who has a considerable allowance, is old enough to start drinking, Saoirse institutes a rule that if they're not home by the time she and her husband turn in for the night, she'll leave blankets in the barn and they can sleep there instead. She's not having them barging in, wasted, at all hours of the day and night, waking her up after a hard day's work.

So they put the horses away and give them a quick rub down, and Ghastly is trying to look anywhere but Skug because Skug's shirt has gone kind of see-through and poor Ghastly is an awkward, horny teenage boy, but he keeps shooting him these furtive glances over the horse's back and Skug notices because Skug notices everything and lowkey teases him about it. "Want me to sit for a portrait? It'll last longer," sort of teasing, and Ghastly tries to laugh along but he's also vibrant red because he's been caught staring, so obviously Skug realises something's up

And he's precisely as tactful about it as he ever is about anything, and jokes, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you wanted me," and Ghastly's ears burn and he doesn't deny it quick enough and now Skug's eyebrows are inching towards his hairline and Ghastly panics because like, he's ugly, Skug is going to be disgusted or laugh at him and he can't cope with either, so he just? Freezes?

But like. Skug was a weird-looking, unfortunate child who very recently grew into an attractive adolescent, so he fucking thrives on attention. So his response to this awkward not-quite-a-confession is actually a moment of silence while he mulls this new information over (this feels like an eternity to poor Ghastly) followed by an early attempt at using The Hot Voice and, "If you want me, have me."

So, they end up having sex in the hayloft on the blankets Ghastly's mom left out for them. Ghastly has never even been kissed and doesn't admit that he has no idea what he's doing until he realises Skug is expecting him to take the lead. He also blurts that he loves Skug when he nuts, so like. It's your typical painfully embarrassing virginity loss.

It can't be all bad though, because Skug's up for doing it again.

who asks who out and how ( with a sign? spelled out on a cake? just a simple ‘will you go out with me’? )

So in my endgame-ghasdug AU, they get back together post-TDOTL. Ghastly survives being stabbed, but the blade nicked his spinal cord, so he's in a wheelchair for quite a while, and then has to do A Lot of physical therapy to relearn how to walk. Skug shows up at the hospital/facility where he's recovering every day unless there's an emergency, because Ghastly is very depressed and struggling with survivor's guilt over Anton and doesn't see the point in doing his physio because it hurts and he's exhausted and he shouldn't be alive anyway. And Skug annoys him into doing it, mostly by heckling him from the other side of the room, because he's not great at the whole emotional support thing. Ghastly will mutter, "Christ, I want to hit you," and Skug will tell him, "Well, if you come over here to do it I won't even duck." And if Ghastly gets his ass up and uses the walking frame support thing to cross the room, well, then Skug will take a punch like a man and be happy about it because Ghastly walked.

They also talk a lot during this period. Ghastly feels like shit, and he reminisces a lot about the good old days and how he never saw Ravel's betrayal coming and memories he has of Anton, and sometimes that veers into memories they share from when they were young men. And Skug, at this point, is old enough and has been through enough to admit that he wasn't great to Ghastly when they were boys. He was flighty and selfish and high-maintenance, and he would've hated to be treated the way he treated Ghastly. And he tells him that, at one point - that he's sorry, and if he could go back and do it differently, he would, assuming Ghastly was daft enough to be willing to put up with him a second time.

And Ghastly laughs and tells him, "I'd still have you now, you stupid bastard."

who proposes first

Ghastly. They're 19/20. Skug thinks he's joking.

if they keep / kept their relationship secret or let everyone know right away

Neither - they don't announce it, but it's not exactly a secret either. Ghastly's parents notice pretty much straight away, but other than a few parental pointers on what is and isn't appropriate, it's not really a topic of conversation.

where the proposal happens and how ( kiss cam at a baseball game? on a hillside surrounded by ducks? at a disney park? )

Skug's sister Confelicity accepts the first proposal she gets at the age of 16, because she's desperate to get out of their parents' house and away from their toxic relationship and controlling behaviour. Their father disapproves and refuses to attend the wedding (and, of course, their mother is not allowed her own opinion), and Carver is out of the country, so Skug stands in to a) pay and b) give away the bride. He takes Ghastly for moral support, because he doesn't like most of his relatives and also doesn't like the groom (Thurid Guild - their relationship doesn't improve when Confelicity divorces him a few years later to marry a baronet). While they're watching the couple say their vows, Ghastly murmurs, "We should get married."

Skug is right in the middle of his hoe phase and does not realise Ghastly's serious.

who’s more dominant

Generally, Skug. He is one hell of a force of personality and Ghastly does get steamrollered quite a bit, although he does eventually learn how to say no. Skug always gets things his way, always does whatever he likes and be damned to the consequences, and Ghastly is always there with a handful of the back of his shirt, pulling his ass out of whatever fire he started.

In bed, though, it's Ghastly.

how into pda they are

As teenagers, Ghastly's mother has to reprimand them occasionally for being too all over each other, but teenagers be rabidly horny. As grown men, they're just sort of casually affectionate. Comfortable with each other. When they're relaxing in camp after a day of travelling, Skug will lean against Ghastly to read a book or put his head on Ghastly's leg while they chat. They can have a silent conversation just by reading each other's faces. They'll nudge each other when something reminds them of an in-joke. They have that easy intimacy that comes with having known each other forever.

where their usual ‘date spot’ is ( if applicable )

As boys, Ghastly has a particular flowery meadow he likes to take Skug to for picnics, because he's a romantic. Skug at that age is considerably less so, and more interested in whether they can screw there without getting caught.

In the modern day, they go to see old movies. Ghastly was very into the early films of the late 1910s and the 1920s, after the war finished. He associates them with a time where he finally got to just set up his shop and live the life he always wanted to live. Skug hasn't seen most of Ghastly's favourites, because he spent that period of history fighting the truce and then spiralling into a black hole of trauma and misery, but he got very into the noir detective era to the point that he's still clinging to the aesthetic like 80 years later, so they'll alternate who picks the movies and catch each other up on their favourites.

who’s more protective

They've both spent their fair share of time fretting in the chair beside a hospital bed. After Ravel's betrayal, though, it's Skug. Ghastly retires as soon as he's considered fit to make the decision, and decides he wants to go back to Dublin to reopen his shop and just sort of try and forget Roarhaven exists. And Skug is absolutely adamant that he gets to do it. There's a lot of interest in Ghastly for a while - groundbreaking healing magic was used to fix what should've been a permanent injury, people want to know if he suspected Ravel, they want his advice on how to rebuild after Devastation Day. He's more approachable than China, and a lot more popular. But he can't cope with it all, and anyone who tries to hassle him in Dublin will have Skug to deal with.

how long it is before they sleep together ( can be as in ‘had sex’ or as in ‘shared a bed’ )

The first night Skug stays at Ghastly's family home. Ghastly is an only child, and his family isn't wealthy - their house doesn't have a guest room. It's sleep with Ghastly or sleep on the floor, and Little Lord Priss isn't going to be sleeping on the floor.

Honestly, he's relieved there isn't a spare room for him. He's never really slept alone before. Like most children of very wealthy families back then, he grew up in a nursery with his four oldest brothers and sisters, and when he was too old to live with The Children, he shared a room, first with Carver and then with Francis. The thought of being on his own in a strange house is pretty intimidating.

He moves to his own bed as soon as they get him one, but he stays in Ghastly's room, and he's perfectly happy with that.

(Ghastly is less happy. He's very much crushing on Skug and he's terrified he'll say something incriminating in his sleep.)

who steals whose clothes and how often

Skug gets to steal Ghastly's clothes for a year or two after he moves in with Ghastly's family. After that, they're built too differently. Ghastly is built like a brick shithouse of muscle. Skug is lean and toned and tall. When they're younger, he can more or less wear Ghastly's clothes as a nightshirt, but after Skug's final growth spurt, Ghastly's clothes don't sit right on him at all, and he's gotten too vain and fashion-conscious by that point to just wear them anyway.

what their usual coffee / tea orders are

Ghastly is fussy about his tea. Plenty of milk, two and a half sugars, leave the teabag in.

Skug just inhales it black, which Ghastly thinks is an abomination.

if they ever have any children together

Ghastly thanks his lucky stars every day that they have a 0% chance of accidentally spawning a skuglet. One of him is plenty.

He's very involved with Skugbab when he comes along, though. He's godfather and a very present uncle.

if they have any special pet names for each other

Skug doesn't do nicknames, and would rather not be given them, either. Ghastly gets away with "Skul", primarily because he's the only one who's known Skug since he was all of 16, but also because "Skulduggery" is a mouthful when all your blood is rushing to your downstairs brain and it's his own damn fault that he didn't think of that before he picked it.

if they ever split up and / or get back together

So many times. They're on and off again more frequently than Saracen's clothes. Every time Skug spots someone new, he ends it with Ghastly to pursue them, and then comes back when he loses interest or it doesn't work out.

what their shared living space is like ( messy? clean? what kind of decor? )

Ghastly's family home is an old farmhouse on the outskirts of Dublin. It's simple, but cosy, and Ghastly's dad is incredibly houseproud, so it's very well-looked-after. Skug prefers it by miles to his own palacial, but cold and unwelcoming, family home, and he tries to replicate the vibe later on with Wifey. It's pretty small compared to what he's used to, so it sort of feels like they're all living on top of each other, and he has to get used to not having any servants and drawing his own water to heat his own bath etc, but he's loved there, and that makes all the difference.

what their names are in each other’s phones

They're both old-ass men about some things, and this is one of them. So no emojis or anything - they're "Ghastly Bespoke" and "Skul". How romantic.

who falls asleep first and who wakes up first

Ghastly wakes up first: he's used to rising early to get started on his chores. Skug is absolutely not a morning person at this point in his life and Ghastly frequently has to turf his ass out of bed by pulling his quilt off/dumping water on him/yelling in his ear.

Reversed with modern day ghasdug: Ghastly still wakes at a sensible time, but damn it he left the army a century ago and now he likes a lie in. Skug never really stopped being a soldier and still has most of his military habits, so he's up with the sun.

who’s the big spoon / little spoon

Ghastly is the big spoon. Skug likes to be Held.

who hogs the bathroom

Skug. The boy is vain as all fuck. There is a grand total of one cloudy looking-glass in Ghastly's family's home and Skug spends a good chunk of the morning hogging it to fuss with his hair and peacock at his reflection. Ghastly is under strict orders Never to mention this to Fletcher.

[tripleaxeldiaz]

maybe one day i’ll fly next to you

chapter 4/8

read on ao3

start from the beginning

“Buck!”

Buck nearly slices his hand on the skate he’s supposed to be sharpening when he hears May’s voice. He drags his eyes away from ice long enough to see her, Chim, and Maddie looking at him expectedly. Apparently, that wasn’t the first time she’d said his name.

“Sorry, what?”

“I said we’re going to that Thai place on Sawtelle for dinner, do you wanna come?”

“Oh, uh—” his eyes drift back in time to see Eddie land his cleanest quad lutz all day, and he tries not to smile. “I’ve got a session with Hen in a little bit, maybe tomorrow?”

“You okay, Buckaroo?” Chim asks. “You look...forlorn.”

Buck snorts and shakes his head. “I’m fine, just tired.”

Chim shrugs as he follows the girls out of the rink. Buck tries to focus, tries to get lost in the back and forth of sharpening, but he keeps getting distracted by Eddie’s practice and the way he commands the ice even when no one’s scoring him. He feels an ache in his chest watching him, a dull one but still there — it’s been a month since Skate America, and they still have lunch and hang out and everything is fine, but there’s also a tension between them now, the tension of knowing what it’s like to have their hands on each other, what the other one tastes like, and wanting to do it more. 

They make eye contact as Eddie heads for the locker room, and he sends Buck a smile so warm Buck swears it’s better than sunshine.

He keeps thinking this waiting thing is going to get easier, but it really, really hasn’t.

“Did you guys get a divorce or something?” Buck jumps as Hen sits down next to him and starts lacing up her skates. 

“What? We haven’t— We never— What?” Buck asks, voice an octave higher than normal. 

Hen levels him with an unimpressed look. “Don’t give me that. You went from hating him to being attached at the hip to staring at him like a lovesick puppy in like six weeks. Either this is a lover’s spat, or it’s some kinky roleplay thing that I don’t actually want to know anything about.”

Buck doesn’t think he’s ever blushed so hard or so fast in his whole life. “Jesus, it’s none of those things! We—” he looks around quickly before turning back and lowering his voice, “we did kiss, at Skate America, but it was just once and we decided to...pause any next relationship steps until after the Olympics.”

“Why? You’re allowed to date teammates, that’s not against the rules.”

“I know, but—” he’s not sure how to explain I can’t stop thinking about him but that makes me lose focus and as much as I want to make out with him I also want to beat him at every possible competition without sounding insane, so he settles on “we just don’t want any distractions.”

“So you’re gonna pine for each other from afar for the next three months, because that’s less distracting than actually being together?”

Buck pauses lacing up his own skates. “Okay, so maybe it’s not a great plan.”

Hen shrugs as she pushes off from the boards, skating backwards so Buck can still see her skeptical frown. “It might be easier to handle if you just embrace it now. I know it’ll be easier for me to handle.”

Maybe she’s right, a little voice in his head whispers, because it makes sense. But at the same time, a relationship is something he’s never had to factor into competition season before, so he’s honestly not sure how to navigate it. Maybe it starts great, they’re mooning over each other, but then one of them has a bad showing, and it leads to animosity or jealousy or some other ugly thing that would drive a wedge back between them when they’d (he’d) just overcome it. Buck cares about Eddie, cares about their friendship, their potential relationship, Eddie’s general happiness. But he also cares about his career, about his own dreams, and call him selfish or single minded, but he really cares about winning the Olympics. And he’s not willing to risk hurting any of those things by jumping into something too quickly.

He wants to do this with Eddie, but he wants to do this right, when he can make Eddie a top priority like he deserves. If that means he has to endure a few more months of pining, then fine. Come February, it’ll all be more than worth it.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, he’s sitting cross-legged at center ice, staring off at nothing, when he sees Eddie skating over to him out of the corner of his eye. He doesn’t say anything, just sits down next to Buck, copying his position, and inviting himself into the reflective silence Buck’s created in the dim morning light.

He finds he doesn’t mind the company so much. 

“Are we meditating?” Eddie whispers eventually, like he still respects the quiet even though he has no idea what it’s for. 

“Something like that,” Buck says, and Eddie nods, lets them fall back into their own thoughts. It makes Buck melt a little bit, a welcome relief from the incessant buzzing he’s been feeling under his skin all morning.

The truth is, Buck hasn’t been able to make himself move for about 20 minutes. He came in for one last early practice before they’re supposed to fly to Japan, fell on every single jump he attempted, and eventually just didn’t get back up. He had half hoped giving up would spurn his stubborn streak to try one more time one last jump, but instead he just sat, his worries burying him deeper and deeper like freshly fallen snow.

He groans and leans back, laying flat on the ice, trying to focus on the bite of the cold on the back of his head instead of anything else. Eddie follows suit to mirror him again, and Buck’s stupidly grateful that he’s here. He turns his head to face him and is met with eyes glowing honey colored in the sunlight.

“I’m really worried about fucking everything up,” he says in a rush, like Eddie’s gaze pulled it right out of him before he could put all is walls up and lock them, pretend like he’s still strong and has it all together.

“You won’t,” Eddie says with no hesitation.

Buck rolls his eyes. “You don’t know that.”

“I do. I’ve watched you skate since we were 16. I know setbacks make you fight harder.”

“This isn’t about setbacks,” he says, sitting up and resting back on his hands. “This is about going to the last GP before the Final, where everyone is warmed up and has all their kinks worked out, while I can’t even land a clean triple loop.”

Eddie, once again, sits up to mirror him. “One bad practice doesn’t mean anything. Your programs are solid, the audience and the judges love you, you really have nothing to worry about.”

“Except your perfect jumps getting in my way.”

Eddie laughs and it echoes around the rink. “Yeah, except that. But hey, if I win, I’ll let you hold the medal, just to remember what gold feels like.”

With anyone else, Buck would bristle at a joke like that, especially after a trainwreck of a practice. Hell, three months ago, he certainly wouldn’t have been okay with Eddie saying it. But now he just laughs, and he feels almost relieved, because despite their being direct competition, despite the pause they put on whatever it was they were moving towards, he still has Eddie in his corner. He might not actually know how this next week will go, but Eddie believes in him, and right now, it’s enough to finally get him up off the ice, offering a hand down to Eddie to pull him up too. They linger for a minute, hands still clasped, before Buck pulls away and glides toward the edge of the rink.

“Think you can’t beat me in a 500 meter, golden boy?”

Eddie smiles that smile that makes Buck’s stomach drop, and then he’s flashing past him, halfway around the ice before Buck can even start. They go around and around, name calling and playfully shoving, and Buck’s nerves melt away with every burst of speed and every glimpse of joy on Eddie’s face.

~~~~~~~~~~

By the time they land in Sapporo, Buck’s so exhausted he feels a little drunk. He’s never been good at sleeping on long flights, always too distracted by the endless movie choices or a trashy thriller he picked up at Hudson News or his own worries swirling in his head. He finally managed to fall asleep for an hour before he was woken up by the warm weight of Eddie’s cheek resting on his shoulder, his hair softly brushing his jaw.

His only focus after that was on keeping as still as possible for the rest of the flight.

Eddie, thankfully, takes charge of herding him through customs and to the car waiting for them at arrivals, gently steering him so he avoids people and poles while his eyes are half closed. He’s much nicer about it than Maddie ever is, and he only runs into a wall once. Eddie apologizes for it profusely, gently rubbing his head checking for bumps. Buck has to literally bite his tongue before an embarrassing string of words tumbles of his exhausted mouth.

They make it to the hotel in one piece, and Buck barely has time to take his shoes off before he passes out, starfished on the bed, soothed by the background noise of Eddie puttering around the bathroom. 30 seconds later (actually four hours but it feels much shorter), an alarm goes off, and Buck is once again herded around the room and out the door, a cup of coffee shoved into his hand as they get in the van to take them to practice. 

Thanks to the coffee and a 30 minute nap in the van, Buck’s at least awake enough to be functional when they arrive. He’s even more awake after a few laps around the rink, the wind stinging his face a better pick-me-up than caffeine. He runs his jumps with Bobby, lands them clean, and he feels good, his nerves quieted by lingering exhaustion and confidence he hasn’t been able to find in a few weeks. 

He sees Eddie by the boards, the usual thrill of having him watch running through him, pushing him just a little bit harder, but it’s quickly snuffed out when he sees that Eddie’s not alone, and he’s not even looking at the ice. Instead, he’s talking to a handsome Russian skater, one that Buck’s known since they were juniors so he knows how big of an asshole he is. He’s laughing loudly like Eddie just told the funniest joke he’s ever heard, his hand running up and down Eddie’s bicep in a much too friendly way. Buck tries to shake it off and keep focused, but after falling out of two spins and almost face planting on a three turn, Hen sends him off to stretch on his own and “get your damn head on straight”. He stalks off, passing close enough to Eddie and The Asshole to hear The Asshole ask when Eddie will have time to get dinner before going back to the States. 

Buck...he’s not jealous. He has no reason to be, he and Eddie are not dating. But he feels something boiling hot and nasty in his stomach, and he kind of wants to slam the guy’s hand with a toe pick every time his laugh pierces through the rink.

He’s being obnoxious and distracting, so Buck is pissed, but not jealous. And he is not avoiding Eddie by hiding in Chimney’s room until he’s sure Eddie’s asleep.

He does avoid him the next day, out of an abundance of caution that his brain-to-mouth filter might fail and he’ll say something he regrets, and because he does need to get his head on straight and focus like Hen said. He needs at least silver to qualify for the Final and push him a little bit further in the USFSA’s good graces, upping his chances of being named to the Olympic team in two months. He can’t do that if he’s worrying about non-existent relationship drama. So he fills the rest of the day with practice and conditioning, working hard enough that his brain quiets and he feels prepared, but not so much that he hurts himself. He sees Eddie here and there, thinks he tries to catch his eye a few times, but he’s got tunnel vision now, and nothing short of a life or death emergency will break it. 

At least, that’s how his tunnel vision used to work. 

But the next day during short programs, he sees The Asshole strutting towards Eddie again before their warm-up group goes out, and his tunnel crumbles, filling his brain with static and rubble.  

His program could have gone worse, overall, but it also certainly could have gone better. A quad loop turned triple loop and a sketchy landing on his triple axel land him in third place, meaning his free actually has to be perfect to get him to the Final. Only the six highest scoring skaters after all Grand Prix events qualify, and last he checked, he was just in sixth place but could easily be overtaken. Eddie is (surprise surprise) in first, Buck feeling a strange mix of pride and panic as he watches him execute another flawless short. It seems to be only getting stronger as the season goes on, which should also be happening for Buck, but instead it feels like he’s slowly unravelling, hurrying to spin himself back together before he loses too much ground.

The Asshole is in second. Buck has to sit on his hands during the presser so he doesn’t reach across the table and smack that smug look right off the guy’s face.

“He really said he was ‘looking forward to representing his country at the top of the Olympic podium’. Like seriously? We’re all thinking it, but no one’s conceited enough to say it out loud and on the record.”

Maddie shrugs from the other end of the bed. “Maybe it’s a language thing. Like he meant to say ‘on the podium’ instead but got confused because English is hard.”

Buck levels her with an unimpressed glare. He had come to her room right after the presser, lamenting about everything that went wrong and stupid judges and stupid Russia (“Really, Buck? The whole country?”). He’s usually grateful for Maddie’s voice of reason, but today he just needs to vent all his frustrations that have built up over the past few days. He really doesn’t care if they make sense or not.

“You should see the way he’s throwing himself at Eddie. I’ve watched him flex his arms every time Eddie’s walked past for two days. It’d be funny if it wasn’t so irritating.”

“Well, I’m sure Eddie’s not falling for it if this guy is as big of a jerk as you say he is.”

Buck stays quiet, avoiding her eyes and slowly dragging a french fry through ketchup on the room service plate in front of him. 

“Oh my god,” Maddie groans, reaching forward to shove his shoulder. “Do you really think Eddie is that shallow?”

“Well I don’t know!” Buck says. “I heard him ask Eddie out to dinner after the competition, maybe he said yes! It’s not like he’s seeing anyone.”

“It’s not like he’s seeing you, is what you mean. Since you were the one who said you two should wait until after Beijing.” 

“Whatever,” he mutters as he stabs another fry into ketchup.

Maddie shakes her head. “Jealousy is not a good look on you, Buck.”

“I’m not jealous! I’m just...concerned for my friend, and—” He stops as Maddie just stares at him like she sees right through him. Which, he supposes, is probably not hard for her to do. She reaches out for his hand, taking it in hers and squeezing gently.

“If you’re that ‘concerned’,” she says, air quotes very much implied, “then I think you should just go talk to him.”

“And say what? ‘I don’t want you to go on a date with that handsome Russian man because I want to go on a date with you, even though I was the one who said we should wait because I’m an idiot’?

“...maybe not those exact words. But you do have to go back to your room, because it’s after midnight, the free dance is in eight hours, and I need to sleep.” She all but rolls him off the bed, pulls him into a quick hug, then shoves him into the hallway. “You got this! Use your words!” she yells as the door closes behind her.

When he gets back, Eddie is still awake, reading a book and icing his right ankle. He smiles at him in greeting, that same soft smile that Buck’s pretty sure only he gets to see. The smile he definitely didn’t see whenever he saw Eddie talking to The Asshole.

Maybe not all hope is lost.

“Rough day?” Buck asks, nodding towards Eddie’s ankle.

“Think I just landed on it weird,” Eddie says. “You did really great.”

“I think the judges would say otherwise, but thanks. You were really great, too.” They swim in a semi-comfortable silence as Buck gets changed. He waffles back and forth on what to say, if it’s actually even worth saying anything at all despite what Maddie said, until he faces Eddie again and blurts out, “So are you gonna go to dinner with that Russian guy?”

Eddie just blinks at him for a second before he starts laughing. It’s not a mean laugh, it’s more like a I can’t believe you just said something that dumb laugh. Maddie has a laugh that’s very similar.

He’s still catching his breath a bit when he answers. “No, no I’m not going to dinner with that guy. You know him, right? He’s a total douche. Pretty sure he was actually holding a flex whenever he was talking to me.”

Buck sits on his bed and tries to keep his own laugh in, worried that it would come out hysterical with relief. Not that he ever really doubted Eddie’s taste or ability to take care of himself. It’s just...nice to have it confirmed.

“Plus,” Eddie says as he gets his composure back fully, “I, uh, told him I’m interested in someone else anyway. So hopefully he’ll back off for good.”

Buck freezes, his eyes locked on Eddie’s. A wave of guilt washes over him so suddenly it makes him nauseous. As dumb as his friends may think he is, he’s not that dumb — he knows what he asked of Eddie when he put this thing of theirs on hold. But hearing that Eddie’s following through, seeing it in action — it doesn’t sit right with him. It makes him feel like he’s imposing, like he’s taking away part of Eddie’s life just for the vague chance that they could have something, something that’s not even guaranteed no matter how right it feels to Buck even now.

“Eddie,” he starts, waffling again, “if you want— I mean you shouldn’t have to— I don’t want you waiting around for— for me, for us, if that’s not something you’re interested in anymore.”

There’s a beat before Eddie moves, tossing his book and the ice pack aside. He stands gingerly, favoring his left side just a little bit, and shushes Buck when he tries to protest. He crosses the short distance between their beds slowly, like he’s trying to make sure Buck doesn’t bolt before he gets to him. Carefully, he reaches down to take both of Buck’s hands in his, moving until he’s standing just between Buck’s legs. When Buck doesn’t look up (partially out of embarrassment, and partially out of marveling at how warm and good Eddie’s hands feel in his), he squeezes gently until he gets his attention. Buck finally manages to lift his head, and is met with a look so full of fondness it takes his breath away.

Eddie lets out a slow breath through his nose. “I wasn’t kidding when I said it meant something,” he says quietly, unwilling to disturb the bubble of peace they seem to form when they’re together. “So I’m still very interested. And I really don't mind the waiting. It’s only three months — we’ll be too stressed and working too hard to think about anything else anyway.”

Buck tries to talk around the lump in his throat, but he can’t, so he just nods instead, squeezing Eddie’s hands back. Something loosens in his chest, a tension he thought was coming from agonizing over his programs and his protocols, but maybe not. Maybe he’s come to rely on Eddie, on his friendship and general presence, more than he thought he has over the past few months. That confirmation that they’re moving toward something, together, makes him feel grounded in a way that he hasn’t felt in weeks.

They stay in their bubble for a little bit longer, and Buck feels himself calm even more. Eventually, Eddie squeezes his hands one more time, whispering “goodnight, Buck” before pulling away and getting back in his bed. He turns the lights off, the room falling into darkness, and Buck drifts off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

Something’s definitely wrong. Maybe it was minor yesterday, but after landing on his ankle eight more times during his free, Eddie’s clearly favoring his left side and in a whole lot of pain. It’s clear to Buck, at least — to anyone else, Eddie is all grace and smiles as usual, easily taking first place with no way for anyone else to beat him, even with three skaters left.

But Buck knows, knows Eddie and knows that feeling of trying to push through the pain better than anyone, but he doesn’t have time to do anything about it — talk to Eddie, talk to Bobby, talk to someone — before it’s his turn to skate. He tries to shove the worry down, but that raspy little voice is back in his head, whispering about all the worst things that could be happening to Eddie, and all the worst things that could happen to him again if he fucks up his own landings. Visions of cracked bones and bandaged cuts fly through his head — flashbacks to months of bitterness and rage and uncertainty. The panic at his dream potentially slipping away from him again floods his chest and makes it hard to breathe. He swears he feels his leg seize up, just like it used to, just like it hasn’t in over a year until right now, but can’t figure out if it’s real or not.

His music starts just as his spiral does.

The first fall is, technically, his fault. He’s too close to the boards for his triple axel, so he can either crash into them when he lands or stop short and hit the ice. He loses points either way, but in the split second he has to think about it, the latter seems less embarrassing and less painful. As he stands back up, he quickly does the math in his head. Accounting for his average component scores and any potential tech panel biases, he really, really cannot afford any more screw ups. 

So, naturally, he falls again.

It’s the jolt this time — that fear that grips his entire body when he sees the ice so far below him, the memory of landing so incorrectly that he couldn’t walk for three weeks, couldn’t skate for even longer. And it’s all laced with worry for Eddie, who he knows is watching from the side, no ice on his ankle and still standing on it, trying to ignore something that’s only going to get worse. Maybe it’s projection, but he wouldn’t wish the misery he went through on anyone, not even Eddie when he couldn’t stand the sight of him, and especially not Eddie now.

He finishes by sheer force of will, his stubbornness and perfectionism overcoming his panic long enough to get him through his last step sequence and spins and to hit his final pose with a smile. The applause feels genuine, but he knows it’s not enough. It’s not even close to enough.

He finishes fifth in free skate, fourth overall, and he knows before he even sees the complete standings that he’s not going to the Final.

Luckily, since he finishes off podium, he doesn’t have any post-competition pressers or photo ops or reasons to slap on a fake smile for anyone. He goes back to his room and packs up so he has something to do with his hands. Maddie and May both text him about doing something with their last night in Japan, but the thought of going out and talking to his friends about their successes against his own failures kind of makes him want to throw up. Instead, he turns off his phone and finds a Japanese dub of Goonies playing on cable and burrows into bed in an attempt to get his brain to shut up for the first time all day.

When burrowing doesn’t work, he squishes himself into the armchair by the TV instead.

When that still doesn’t work, he paces.

That’s what he’s doing when Eddie gets back, looking worn out but still smiling, ribbon of his gold medal dangling out of his warm up jacket pocket. He waves goodbye to whoever is on the outside the door, but as soon as it’s closed, the act drops. Buck watches him sink against the door and lets out a long breath, grimacing as he tests out putting full weight on his right ankle.

Whatever anxiety Buck had managed to pace off (which really wasn’t a lot) comes back in full force, and he’s at Eddie’s side in three long steps.

“You’re hurt,” he says matter-of-factly.

Eddie shakes his head. “It’s just really sore, Buck, it’ll be better when I finally get to rest it.”

“No, it won’t be,” Buck snaps as he strides towards the ice bucket in the corner of the room to start filling up a bag. “You’ll think it’s getting better, and you’ll keep taking painkillers to take the edge off, but it’ll just keep getting worse, and you won’t even know it until your PT finally tells you it’s either two months off your feet to let it heal properly or you risk never being able to compete again.” He almost rips the bag in half as he finishes filling it with ice. He wraps it in a spare towel and shoves it at Eddie, who takes it gingerly before sitting on his bed and placing it on his ankle.

“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” Eddie says. 

Buck shrugs. He might know a thing or two about trying to force healing too quickly and ignoring pain, about getting a cast off two weeks too early and almost having his bone heal crooked. But his issues are not what’s important right now. 

What’s important is Eddie.

“Look, can you just—” Buck sits on the bed next to Eddie, hovering over him like he can use his body to shield Eddie from anything else that might hurt him. “Just promise me you’ll get it checked when we get home, okay? Don’t put it off, don’t wait until after the Final—”

“Hey,” Eddie says, his hand coming to Buck’s shoulder and squeezing. “I’ll go, I promise. First appointment I can get.” Buck nods, and Eddie nods with him, thumb softly pressing against his pulse point. He doesn’t feel better, but he feels less buzzy, less like he’s dangling off the edge of a cliff by the tips of his fingers.

Buck nods again, decisively, before quickly squeezing Eddie’s wrist and standing. Eddie catches his hand before he makes it very far, his eyes filled with an intensity he hasn’t seen off the ice.

“I’m okay,” he says firmly, reassuringly. “We’re okay. Everything will be fine, you’ll see.”

You don’t know that, Buck thinks, but he just quirks a smile instead before heading to the bathroom.

He closes the door behind him, sinks to the floor, and tries to let any worse case scenarios push him back over the edge.

~~~~~~~~~~

[from: Eddie] It’s a stress fracture

[from: Eddie] They said if I had landed on it a few more times it would have been much worse

[from: Eddie] Glad I listened to you

Buck feels a weird sense of relief and unease as he reads Eddie’s texts. The door to Bobby’s office shuts behind him, the sounds of the rink muffled to a dull murmur. He’s not sure why he’s here — he hasn’t done anything to get him in trouble, and they literally had practice together an hour ago.

Bobby sits at his desk, hands folded in front of him. “So I’m not sure if you heard, but Eddie—”

“—has a stress fracture in his ankle, yeah, he just told me.”

Bobby smirks before continuing. “He’ll be out for the next six weeks at least, so he’ll be missing the Final.” He pauses for what feels like dramatic effect.

Buck scrunches his brow. “Right. But what does that have to do with me? I’m second alternate, that kid from Japan should be taking his spot.”

“And he is,” Bobby says. “But the skater from Canada who qualified also has to withdraw. I guess a bad case of the stomach flu has been going through their team. He won’t be back in shape by next weekend, which means—”

“I’m in,” Buck says quietly.

Bobby nods. “You’re in.”

Buck’s first reaction is to laugh. A high pitched, hysterical laugh because he really can’t believe this is happening. He screwed up, screwed up bad, but he’s getting a second chance, by some twist of fate or intervention from the universe or however the hell this happened. Bobby keeps talking about flights and practice schedules, and Buck hears him, but not really, because all he feels is relieved. Relieved that his Olympic chances maybe won’t be as squashed as he thought, and relieved that he gets a chance to prove himself again, to show that he can deliver and that he’s worthy.

That’s all he’s ever trying to do, really.

He leaves Bobby’s office practically floating, already texting Hen about when they can meet and tweaks he wants to make that will push his programs that much closer to perfect. He’s in the middle of calling Maddie when he gets a text back, pulling it up as she starts listing all the program improvements she has planned for her and Chim to work on since they didn’t make the Final themselves.

It’s not from Hen like he expects, it’s from Eddie — a picture of him laid up on a couch, foot in an air cast but still smiling at the camera.

[from: Eddie] Told you I’d take care of myself. I’ll be cheering you on from here

It hits him then, and he plummets back down to Earth at the reminder.

Eddie’s not coming with him.

He gets to try and keep his Olympic dreams alive, while Eddie stays home and hopes that he does enough to be healthy in time for Nationals.

A year ago, he’d be stupidly smug about a change of events like this. Now, it just makes his stomach twist and sympathy and sadness. He’ll be facing this competition alone — without his friend, his fiercest competition, his...Eddie — and no matter how much easier it might be for him to stay focused, alone is the last thing he wants to be.

[wiypt-writes]

Riding High

Ch17: Welcome to Miami

 Chapter Summary: Frank, Fliss and the Circle Of Truth take a Road Trip….

 Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. SMUT (NSFW) No under 18s!!! 

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 16

 June 2018

“How’s Fliss?” Gregg asked as Frank leaned back in his chair, hand curled round his bottle of beer.

Frank looked at his friend and took a deep breath “She says she’s ok. I think it’s the waiting that’s the worst. Knowing the board’s been held is one thing, not knowing the outcome….” “I know it’s hard and easy for me to say this but…well, even if he gets out he won’t be allowed anywhere near her. As I explained to her likely hood is he’ll be tagged and on a curfew and movements restricted to the state of Mass.” Gregg took a sip of his drink “And if it isn’t done automatically, through the appeal process I can file for further restrictions as well around him contacting her in any way, shape or form…but I’d be surprised if that isn’t a condition.”

“I know.” Frank said, “And she gets that…I think it’s more anger about the whole thing now you know?” “It sucks.” Gregg nodded “He spent so long abusing her and he’s still managing to do it in a way through all this.” Frank raised his eyebrows and took a drink of his beer, nodding to Jake and Simon as they approached their table.

 “I know I don’t need to ask but…” Frank started but Gregg raised a hand. 

“You’re right, you don’t.” he understood immediately that Frank was asking him to keep quiet, and he nodded as their two friends arrived at the table. After the greetings they all settled down reaching for a beer from the bucket that sat in the middle of them all, the conversation easy. Frank was happy to see the boys, he hadn’t in a few weeks so he’d grabbed the opportunity for a few beers happily, Fliss and Mary practically shoving him out of the door as they had some girly night in planned with Roberta consisting of popcorn, pizza, facemasks and a Marvel DVD, Fliss and Roberta assuring him whole heartedly they were watching it because it was a good film and not merely to perve on Chris Hemsworth or Evans or whoever the hell the Chris was in this particular one.

Whatever, sweetheart.

 “So…” Simon said, looking around the table “Are we still on for a weekend somewhere? 22nd to 24th June?”

 They all made noises, and Frank nodded. “Schedules cleared, baby sitter lined up…we just need to decide where we’re going.”

 “Well, I got something to suggest to y’all…” Jake grinned “Greg already knows about this, but basically, the Company we’re doing the promotional work for has offered us up to 10 each for the Miami Rocks Concert which runs that weekend....so if you’re interested.”

 “Rock music?” Simon looked at him, and Jake shook his head.

“Not just rock.” he said, leaning forward “It’s a combination of tribute acts and the real deal…and there’s different stages each with a different genre, and the main stage which contains the big acts.” “Ok, I’m interested…” Frank leaned forward.

 “So the Friday night is a rewind to the 70s, 80s and 90s… headlined by none other than Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Mr Will Smith himself…” Frank let out a snort and looked at Simon who had started bopping in his seat, clicking his fingers.

 “That finishes about midnight and then Saturday is the big one. You got 5 Seconds of Summer, George Ezra and Liam Gallagher from Oasis headlining that night.” Jake continued “The other stages rage from all sorts. Mo-Town, Indie, Chart, Reggae…and then there’s a party after which continues until early hours, run by Hot Dub Time Machine.”

“Shut the front door!” Simon snorted “Hot Dub?”

Jake nodded.

“Dude I saw him one New Year’s Eve in New York a few years ago.” Simon said “He was brilliant!”

Frank sat and listened as his friends started to discuss the concert in more detail. He had to admit, it sounded like a pretty good idea, and just the distraction Fliss could do with.

 “Hate to be the voice of logic…” Simon said. “But if it’s only like three weeks off, wont’ we have trouble getting hotel rooms?”

“Fuck that, I’ll sleep on the back of the truck.” Frank said, causing the rest of them to laugh. “No need Frankie-boi, I got a client who works for the Hyatt Group man.” Jake shook his head “Three rooms already reserved out in the Regency, about 10 minutes’ walk if that from Bayfront Park where the concert is…just in case you fancied it. $100 a room for 2 nights, including a late checkout on the Sunday coz, well, we’re gonna need it.”

 “Three?” Frank frowned.

 “You and Fliss, Simon and Bonnie, and Me and Greg…” “What about Zara and Lisa?” he frowned “I thought this was a couple’s thing, not a boys weekend away…” 

“Well it was going to be…” Greg shrugged “But Zara’s away with the kids that weekend, decided to go back to California as her sister is being taken in for a C-section, and of course she has to be there…”

“And it’s Lisa’s idea of hell…” Jake supplied.

 “So why don’t we re-arrange?” Simon asked.

“Fuck that!” Jake snorted “I’m got a child and fiancée free pass for the weekend.” “Amen brother!” Gregg hi-fived him.

 “But you two can bring your girls, no problem…they’re cool” Jake gestured between Frank and Simon with his beer bottle. “Thanks for your permission…” Frank raised an eyebrow. 

****

Naturally, Fliss was over the moon with the promise of a music festival, especially when she looked up the acts that were on. So, when the Friday in question rolled around, after dropping Mary at school, with strict instructions she was to behave herself as Frank WOULD be checking, they set off in Fliss’ jeep, Frank driving as she lounged in the passenger seat, eyes hidden by her aviators, hair pulled into a loose side pony tail as they made the four hour down the coast and across state to Florida, stopping half way for some food at a roadside diner.

Simon and Bonnie weren’t due to arrive until just gone 5 ish, Bonnie having to finish the morning’s classes before she could leave, whilst Jake and Greg were here having come down the night before, so when they had checked in they decided to freshen up and go for a walk, Fliss eager to hit Lincoln Road Mall. They spent a few hours just walking and looking in the shops, eventually finding a Pandora one which Fliss headed into wanting a new charm for her bracelet as a memory of the weekend. She paced the shop eventually settling for a silver palm tree with a small diamond in the middle of the trunk and Frank batted her hand down when she went to pay, instead producing his card. The usual argument about who was paying ensued, which eventually Frank won by telling Fliss that he wanted to be the one that filled that bracelet for her, and she relented, smiling softly. Frank didn’t miss the relieved look on the shop assistant’s face as she finally waved the out of the store.

They met Jake and Greg in a bar not far from the hotel, and they were joined by Bonnie and Simon for a drink before the two girls announced they were heading off to get changed and ready for the evening.  Frank left it until about 20 minutes before he needed to be ready and headed up to their room, pulling on one of his infamous hideous Hawaiian shirts which he had brought especially. Fliss looked at him, shaking her head with a fond smile on her face as he innocently asked her what the problem was. She laughed and told him nothing at all, before she gave him a kiss and they headed down to meet the others.

 The walk down to the Park took them 10 minutes. Fliss was walking slightly ahead with Bonnie, her braid swinging down her back, gently brushing against the yellow off the shoulder top she was wearing. Her bottom half was dressed in denim shorts, a pair of pink converse boots on her feet. She’d certainly embraced the Festival Vibe, opting for bright colours in honour of the fact they were heading back musically a few decades. They arrived and joined the queue to exchange their tickets for wrists bands which took them about 15 minutes, and then they joined the lines to get through the main gates. That didn’t take long at all and once they were through they followed the crowd before Greg stopped, and looked around.

 “We get split up…” “We all got phones!” Jake snorted “What are you, 50?”

 “Sorry, force of habit with the kids…” Greg let out a groan as everyone laughed.

 “So the main stage is that way…” Jake said, pointing to his left “Right at the back. DJ stage is there, and the other stages are dotted about…anyone got any preference on where we go?” “Other than Will Smith I really wanna to go the 80s stage!” Fliss grinned and Bonnie Hi-Fived her.

 “Yeah we got some Duran Duran to dance to.” she agreed. “And Erasure.”

“And Wham.” “And Culture Club….” “Yeah, we get the picture…” Simon rolled his eyes.

 “Oh and I want to see the Queen and AC/DC tributes.” Fliss finished.

 “Anything else?” Frank looked at her.

“Beer.”

“Well we need tokens.” Jake said, “No cash at the bar, tokens only so…the tent is over there…”

 They all set off, Fliss and Bonnie hanging behind chatting away, but it wasn’t long before their chatter died down and Frank turned to see that, actually, it hadn’t died down, they’d disappeared. “Where the hell are the girls?”  Simon asked, looking round as he realised they were missing.

 “Knowing Fliss in some tent getting her face painted…” Frank paused, turning on the spot before he spotted them. Fliss was stood as Bonnie was sat on a stool, having some sort of Festival glitter painted around her temple and eye socket. “Yup, there you go…” Simon followed his gaze and snorted. “Fucking hell…what are they, 8?” “Leave ‘em be.” Frank said fondly “Come on, let’s go get the drinks sorted.”

 He waved at Fliss, before pointing to where they were going and she gave him a thumbs up to show she understood, before Bonnie stood up and she sat down. Frank smiled at her face as it lit up and he headed off after Simon.

 By the time they had gotten the tokens and ordered beers for them all, the girls still hadn’t joined them, and it didn’t take long to realise why. They were both in a tent which contained 2 electronic dance mats, right in the middle of a very energetic dance off.

 “It’s like having a pair of kids…” Simon mumbled the boys stood by the entrance to the tent whilst Frank simply grinned. As they watched Bonnie made a mistake, the mat flashed red, and then another one, before Fliss made one too. The two girls’ foot work was ridiculously fast as the song gathered pace and finally the routine ended. Fliss grinned and hi-fived Bonnie as their scores flashed up, Fliss winning by 60 points.

 “Yesss!” she punched the air as Bonnie shook her head and the man handed them both some really tacky bright pink beaded necklaces for taking part. 

“Re-match…” Bonnie said, looking at Fliss as they both dropped the necklaces over their heads. 

“Maybe later, I’m fucked now…” Fliss said, bending over, hands on her knees as she drew her breath “I need a drink!”

 She turned and saw the boys in the doorway, Frank raised an eyebrow and held up the beer and she grinned. 

“I knew I bought you for something.” He rolled his eyes and then Greg suggested they head off to the first stage for the start of the 80s Tribute acts. They only intended to stay for a short while but Fliss begged Frank to stay longer, and was backed up by Bonnie as the Duran-Duran band came on. Fliss told Frank if he wanted to go and meet up later he could, but truth be told he didn’t want to. This was as much a weekend for him and her as it was for him and his friends, so with that in mind Simon and Frank both decided to stay with the girls and that they would find the others later.

 And Frank was glad of his decision, as about 20 minutes later, when Hungry Like the Wolf started to play, Fliss was bouncing around like a lunatic. He knew it was one of her favourite songs, and seeing her cutting loose was making him a little horny if truth be told. He moved up behind her and grabbed her hips, swaying with her in time to the music as he dropped a kiss to her shoulder, gently singing along as she danced in front of him, occasionally brushing up against the front of his shorts, which was doing nothing to help his current situation.

 “Someone’s definitely on the hunt down…” she teased, pushing her ass back into his crotch whilst she turned her head to face him as the song morphed into Rio. He grinned and gave her a kiss.

 “Not hunting, I already got you.” “Hmm, yeah you did…” she murmured against his lips.

 The continued dancing with one another, Simon and Bonnie doing the same before the 4 of them all decided they were ready for another drink. As fate would have it, they found Greg and Jake already at the bar. They muscled their way in, grabbed another beer and then all turned to head towards one of the tall, standing tables which were dotted around not far from the bar. Frank waited for Fliss as she had ordered a bottle of water too, and the guy serving had forgotten it. When he came back, apologising, Fliss waved him off and thanked him as Frank picked the bottle up and stuck it in his pocket. He reached for Fliss’ hand, and they were making their way over to their friends when suddenly he felt Fliss yell out and she stopped dead. He turned to face her, seeing someone had bumped into her and her beer had spilt all down her top.

 “Hey, come on man…” Frank looked at the guy as Fliss pulled her hand out of his to wipe at her top “Be careful huh…” But the man wasn’t looking at him, his eyes were fixed completely on Fliss. “Yes, wouldn’t want an accident now would we, Felicity?” At the sound of her full name Frank instantly knew this had to be someone to do with her ex-husband and he reached out for Fliss as he saw her stiffen and slowly she raised her head to look at the man, her eyes widening and she swallowed.

 “Richard.” she spoke softly. 

“Fancy seeing you here. Must be nice to be free to do what you want.” “Yeah, well, making up for lost time. I didn’t exactly get a lot of chance to have fun when your brother was beating the shit out of me.” Her chin raised a little defiantly and Frank felt a surge of pride as she stood up for herself, the anger evident on her face.

 “You’re a fucking liar…” Richard said and Frank immediately stepped in.

 “Ok that’s enough…” he spoke sternly, glaring at the man “We’re not here for any trouble, we’re just out for a good time with friends, and I’d like to keep it that way. So, if you don’t mind, we’re done here.” he turned to Fliss and slid his arm round her waist, making to steer her away.

 “You need to be careful.” Richard spoke to Frank’s retreating back. “Now she’s got her claws into you, you’re done…first sign of trouble she’ll be accusing you of all sorts.”

 Frank sighed, he’d tried to be reasonable, but the anger felt like it was bubbling from his feet and he whirled round, placing himself in between the man and Fliss. “Listen, asshole, why don’t you just fuck off?” his tone was laced with venom. “Your brother is a nasty, wife beating piece of shit.”

 At that Richard stepped forward, drawing himself to full height, still a good 3 inches shorter than Frank. His fists balled as he clenched his hands at his side, his mouth curled up into a snarl.

 “She’s a liar.”  Richard pointed at Fliss, before his attention turned back to Frank. “She lied and because of her, John’s life and career is ruined…” “His life? Ruined?” Frank barked out a laugh “Your brother got nothing more than he deserved, and so will you if you don’t get the fuck outta my face.”

 “Frank…” Fliss pleaded with him, pulling on his arm and desperately looking around for help before this descended into a fight. Thankfully, she caught Jake’s eye who hit Greg on the shoulder, who in turn tapped Simon, and the three of them plus Bonnie hastily started to jog over.

 “If he was that bad why has he been considered for parole?” Richard shrugged “An appeal his lawyer is convinced he’ll win…” Richard said, taking a step back as the other men approached. “And that’s all because they finally saw through her lies…” Frank made an angry noise but Greg pushed himself in between the two men, patting Frank on the chest.

 “Come on buddy…” he said. “Whatever it is, leave it…” Jake went to grab Frank’s arm, but he jerked it out of his grip.

 “I’ll tell you this…” Frank pointed at Richard “If he gets out, you can tell him from me, he stays the fuck away from my girl, and the rest of my family, you got that? Or I’ll put him in a hospital, see how he likes it.”

 “Big man making all the threats huh?” “It ain’t a threat, it’s a god-damned promise.” Frank snarled. Richard gave a snort of a laugh before he allowed his wife to steer him away, shooting one last contemptuous glance at both him and Fliss.

 “What the fuck?” Simon turned to Frank, who completely ignored him and moved to where Fliss was stood, her arms wrapped cross her front, hugging herself, Bonnie gently talking to her.

 “You ok?” he asked her gently and she gave a nod as he took her in his arms, hugging her tightly, hand falling to the back of her head.

 Greg gave Frank a questioning look, which Frank answered with two words “His brother.” “Who’s brother?” Jake pressed, “What just happened? I’m so confused.” “To be fair that doesn’t take much…” Frank heard Greg say which earned him a “Fuck you” in response, and the two men began to bicker as Fliss stepped back from his arms. Frank looked down at her, taking her face in his hands.  “You good?”

“Yeah…” she nodded “You shouldn’t have risen to him.” “Probably not.” he shrugged “But I’m not having that piece of shit or anyone associated with him trash mouthing you.”

 “My hero…” she rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face told him he wasn’t in too much trouble. He gave a snort of a laugh and dropped a kiss to her head. “Can we go back to the dancing now please? And I need another beer, that ass hole spilt mine.” “Is it time for tequila yet?” Bonnie asked, offering Fliss a drink of her beer. Fliss took a sip, shaking her head

“I swore after last time I would never drink that shit again.”

“But that was a lie, right?” Bonnie looked at her as she passed her pint back over. 

“Yup, a very big lie…” Fliss agreed, causing the rest of the group to laugh. 

So they did their tequila. Several shots of to be intact and spent the rest of the night wandering stage to stage, lapping up the atmosphere. Frank kept a close eye on his girl who seemed none the worse for her encounter as she danced the night away with him and Bonnie, the 2 of them disappearing at one point for a walk around the various stalls that were around the outside, coming back with a packet of interlocking glow sticks which they proceeded to activate and make head wear out of. 

 Will Smith took to the stage at about 10 pm and Frank was beside himself with laughter as Fliss reverted to some kind of school kid. She seemed to know every single word to every goddamned song he had, and when it came to Men In Black she launched expertly into the dance routine that half the crowd were doing, in time to the video showing behind the stage.  Simon and Jake tried to copy her before they both gave up and when she finished she turned around and Frank raised his beer to her and she bowed, as they all laughed. Deciding that they didn’t want to stay for the after party, considering they knew it was going to be a really late one the next evening, instead they agreed to head down to the beach. They managed to find a guy who was walking round with a cool box selling beer and they bought 2 bottles each, for twice the price they should be but, whatever…

 When in Miami…

 As they walked across the sand, Frank looped his arm round Fliss’ shoulder whilst they weaved themselves through the various mini-parties which seemed to be going on as people were set up all over with small fires, beer, drinks and music playing. Frank had a sneaking suspicion half of them were probably intending on sleeping there too. Eventually they found a clear spot and flopped down onto the sand, under the illumination of one of the boardwalk lights and then Simon stood up, heading over to a group of teenagers sat a bit to their right.

“What’s he doing?” Greg asked. 

“I think he’s reverse bootlegging.” Jake said and Frank gave a snort of laughter.

“What?” Fliss frowned, “What’s that?” “Instead of selling alcohol to underage kids he’s buying it off them, look.” Frank said, nodding to him. Fliss watched as Simon slipped one of the kids a twenty and took the bottle of vodka he was offering to them, raising it up as he walked back.

 “What the fuck man?” Greg snorted “That’s…”

“Shameful.” Jake nodded before he chuckled, shaking his head. “I love it.” With a grin Simon dropped down next to Bonnie, standing the bottle of vodka up in the middle of the circle they seemed to have made as Fliss sat between Frank’s legs, leaning back against his chest. His spare hand ran up and down the outside of her thigh softly as they all sat chatting about the evening, comparing their best bits and what they were looking forward to tomorrow evening. Eventually, someone, Frank wasn’t sure who, decided that they should play Never Have I Ever, and Fliss eagerly agreed, jumping in with the first question.

 “Ok, never have I ever driven a boat…” Fliss smirked.

“What, that’s a crap one!” Frank snorted “Everyone here’s probably driven one…including you.”

“Nope…”

 “Bullshit!” he snorted “On our first date, and several times since…”

 “I sailed it Frankie, I didn’t drive it…”

 He paused for a moment and then looked up as everyone in the circle grinned.

 “She’s right man…” Simon conceded “I sailed mine too…” “And me…”

“And me…”

 “Oh fuck you!” Frank spluttered as they all laughed at him. Fliss handed him the bottle, which he took from her with a glare taking a mouthful. Fucking hell, he could tell it was cheap as it burnt like paint stripper as he swallowed, wincing. 

That was basically the way the game went. Each trying to deliberately catch everyone else out. Simon caught Jake spectacularly, forcing him to reveal a tale about how he got locked out of a hotel room, naked on the balcony and climbed down 2 storeys to go and get a spare key from reception, Simon repeatedly got Bonnie on a number of occasions before Frank caught Fliss out with the tale of how she had once called her University Lecturer “Daddy.” by mistake. 

“Ok, Never have I ever…”  Fliss paused, before a wicked grin spread on her face and she looked at Frank “Called anyone else’s name during sex.”

“Oh God…” Frank heard Bonnie mumble from where she was sat, but before he could even open his mouth to call Fliss an ass hole, he saw Greg reaching for the bottle.

“No WAY!” Fliss spluttered, looking at Greg “What? When!”

 “I was about 21…” Greg said, scrunching up his face. “I was in bed with a girl and, well, I called her mom’s name.” The entire group fell silent before Jake, Frank and Simon all let out a roar of laughter, and Fliss snorted, grinning from ear to ear.

 “That’s…impressive.” Frank nodded as Greg put the bottle down and Fliss picked it up and handed it to Frank. Everyone turned their attention to him as he narrowed his eyes and grabbed it from her.

 “Spill.” Simon pointed at him.

 “I err, well…look, it…” Frank stuttered over his words “I was…look we don’t need to discuss this…” he said, knocking back the vodka and avoiding Bonnie’s eyes, shaking his head “I plead the 5th.” There were various groans around the group but when they realised Frank wasn’t going to budge Greg shrugged, calling him a pussy, and picked the next category.

 “Never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex.” he said, with a raised eyebrow. Both Fliss and Bonnie moved for the bottle at the same time, and the boys all cheered.

“Was it each other?” Simon grinned “Please tell me it was…” “Ok,no…that…” Frank began to protest, hiccupping slightly.  “That would be weird…”

“No it wasn’t each other.” Bonnie grinned at Simon “I was 17, playing spin the bottle and had to kiss this girl called Eva…” “And that’s it?” Simon asked.

“Yeah…” she nodded, taking a drink from the bottle before she passed it to Fliss.

 “Spill…” Frank instructed her, his hand on her hip where she was still nestled in between his legs.

 “I was 19…and, yeah, well, I experimented” she shrugged. “A few times…” 

“Wait, there was…” Frank looked at her as she turned her head to grin at him “You did more than kiss?”

 “For me to know and you to find out Sailor…” she winked. Well fuck me!

 Another 15 minutes or go they’d exhausted the bottle of vodka and decided to call it a night. Bonnie was faring the worst out of them all, her and Simon walking a little behind everyone as he kept his arm round her to keep her steady. Frank noticed Fliss was remarkably with it considering what they’d drunk, but then for such a small person she did have quite a high tolerance, and she’d drunk a hell of a lot of water as well.

 At the hotel they bid everyone goodnight and headed up to their room where Fliss decided she needed to shower to get rid of all the glitter and sand and sweat from dancing. Frank was inclined to agree so let her go first, swapping over after 10 minutes or so with an exchange of a soft kiss in the bathroom doorway. By the time Frank got out of the shower Fliss was sat cross legged on the large bed dressed in a camisole and boy-shorts set which was white with multi-coloured polka dots on it. It was the set he had bought her for Valentine’s Day, along with a set of baby-pink lace underwear. He loved seeing her in lace, but there was something about the lounge sets like the one she was wearing now that gave her an innocence, made her look so comfy and so settled that he adored seeing her wearing them around the house and to bed…even if they didn’t stay on long.

 She grinned up at him as he smiled, crossing to drop a kiss on her head.

 “You raid the minibar?” he asked, nodding to the packet of chips she had ripped open.

 “Yeah.” she shrugged “Figured fuck it, why not?” “Well…”he crossed the room and opened the fridge which was under the TV unit “In for a penny…” he pulled two beers out, popped the tops and passed her one.

 “Don’t you think we’ve had enough?”

“Can you see straight?”

 “Yeah…”

“Then no.” he said and she laughed, taking it from him.

 “You’re a bad man Frank Adler.” “I try.” he quipped. She shook her head, smiling before she reached for her phone which had just gone off. Frank whipped the towel from around his waist and stepped into a clean pair of boxers before he roughly dried his hair.

 “Bonnie says her and Simon are hitting the beach during the day tomorrow…do you fancy it?” “Sure.” he nodded, dropping to the bed, laying down on his side, propping himself up on his elbow as he reached for a Dorito.

 “At least I think that’s what this message says. ‘Going to the Bitch…’ I mean that’s gotta be beach huh?” 

Frank snorted as Fliss scrunched up the empty chip bag and tossed it across the room where it settled just besides the bin. They both looked at it for a second before Fliss shrugged. ”She was trashed.”

 “I’m not surprised.” Fliss said, moving to toss her phone onto the night table before she too settled on her side, facing Frank, elbow on the pillow “Simon was deliberately asking questions in that game where he knew she’d have to drink…” “Oh and you weren’t…” he looked at Fliss who shrugged, grinning cheekily “Never have I ever called anyone else’s name during sex, I mean seriously! She was right there!”

 “I know, which is what made it so funny.” “Funny is not the word I would use…” “Oh whatever, and as if Greg has done that too!” she said, chuckling as she also settled on her side “He’s a dark horse…” “So are you…” he looked at her taking a long drink of his beer. “In fact….I think you need to tell me more about these lesbian encounters you experienced whilst experimenting aged 19."  

 "They weren't proper lesbian encounters, I was teasing you...." 

 "I don't care, make em up." He said and she let out a laugh.

 "If I do will it get me something nice?" she grinned.

 "Something very, very nice."  He raised an eyebrow suggestively.

 Fliss grinned and then launched into a clearly made up bullshit story about some girl called Candy and Frank completely zoned out. He was simply too caught up concentrating on the childish, teasing expression on her face as she spoke. Her eyes were shining in the dim light of the room as she talked and grinned in the same manner she had been doing all night. Not even the encounter with that asshole’s brother has dampened her spirit. She was just enjoying herself, freely. And so was he. She said she couldn't remember the last festival or concert she had been to, and Frank had admitted the same. It had to have been easily 10 years ago. It felt good to be recapturing that part of their lives they had both given up (albeit for very different reasons) and making new memories together that he knew would last a lifetime. 

 A lifetime...huh, how about that?

 He zoned back in just in time to hear Fliss' very risqué story telling, and dropped his head with a sight that was half laugh, half groan at her filthy tale.

 "...and her thighs were so strong, it was ridiculous, my ears were squashed so hard, I felt like my head was in a vice. Still, I managed to-"

 "Ok..." he said, taking her beer off her and setting it down on his nightstand along with his, before he leaned over Fliss, caging her with his arms "I'm getting kinda jealous...and a bit turned on...it’s very confusing.

 “You asked…” she muttered as his face dropped her hers.

“Yeah, I did…” his lips brushed against hers “And I promised you something nice…” “Very,very nice…” Fliss said, her hands sliding up his arms to his shoulder.

 “Well, I’m a man of my word…” he grinned, lips pressing to hers harder this time in a soft, deep kiss which he pulled away from and ran his nose against hers. “Turn over…”

 “What?” she looked at him, her eyes widening slightly.

“You trust me?”

“Of course I do…” “Then turn over…”

 She took a deep breath, and looked at him and he looked straight back, fully understanding what she was thinking. He’d never asked her to do that before. “Lissy, I promise I’m not gonna hurt you.” “I know you’re not…” she shook her head, before she bit her lip and he moved back so she could turn over onto her stomach. With gently finger tips he brushed her hair off her shoulders, sweeping it to one side gently dropping soft kisses down her neck as his hands traced down to her hips. He gently grasped her top and she moved to allow him to slide it up and over.

 The sheets on the bed rustled slightly as he moved downwards, pressing his lips to the small of her back, watching her reaction carefully as he saw her fingers clutching softly at the pillow. He continued his affections, lips and hands exploring every part of the soft skin on her back until he was fully led over her, thighs bracketing hers, his mouth gently sucking at that spot behind her ear that drove her wild. And right on cue she let out a low groan and he felt his groin twitch at the noise. Fliss could feel his hardness against her back and as his teeth gently grazed her ear she felt her spine arch slightly.

 He moved away, and his hand gently slid to grasp at the hem of her shorts, and she tilted her hips up slightly so he could pull them down, hurriedly departing with his own boxers before he resumed his previous position.

 “You good?” he asked her softly and she nodded in response. 

With gentle hands he reached down between her legs to finding her hot and wet for him already. At his touch she arched her back again. Frank let out a grin and moved slightly so he could part her thighs with his knee. Repositioning himself, he led flat, his arms sliding up hers so he could lace his fingers with hers, palms resting on the backs of her hands and he gently pushed into her, the pair of them giving a groan at the feeling and tightness of this angle. He gently thrust, his chest sliding up over her back, and she moved ever so slightly with him, her head tilted back slightly and she turned her face towards his where he caught her mouth in a slow, sloppy kiss. Frank continued his languid, deep movements, listening to the quickening of her breath and eventually he felt her hips beginning to rise in slow circles, her whimpers increasing.

 He gently knelt up, and pulled her hips so she was perched on her knees, pushing into her slowly, deeply, letting her get used to the position that they’d never tried before because Frank knew it wasn’t one she had good memories of but right now, her body was relaxed and she was giving him everything. His hand reached up and he traced down her spine before he leaned over and placed another soft kiss on her neck before he moved and grasped at her hips again, his pace gently quickening, a low moan escaping his mouth as Fliss pushed back onto him, wordlessly telling him she wanted more. He thrust forwards again and again, pulling her back onto him at the same time, his eyes focussed on where they were joined, the sight of him sliding in and out of her made him moan with desire.

“Don’t stop…” he heard her half pant, half whisper and he picked up the pace ever so slightly, leaning over to gently nip at the back of her neck, causing her to shudder, a deep growl rumbled in his chest as her walls briefly squeezed around him.

“Fuck, baby…” he groaned as her hands clutched at the bed sheets whilst he buried himself deep inside of her stilling for a moment.

“Frankie…” she whined and squirmed as she turned to look at him over her shoulder. Once glance at his clenched jaw and she knew he was trying to fight back his high as he picked up his previous movements, just a little bit faster. She was close, quietly moaning his name as she dropped her head back down, forehead against the pillows, her spine arching as he continued to thrust.

Frank groaned again “Come on sweetheart...” his voice deeper like it always was when he was in the throes of desire, “let go for me.” He rolled his hips forwards, five or six more times before she was done.

“Fuck, Frank, I…” she let out a broken cry as her core spasmed again and again and her entire body trembled as a loud lament spilled from her lips. He was done himself, and with a groan of her name his relief washed over him with an intensity he couldn’t even begin to describe.

Fliss collapsed forward and Frank tumbled with her, his chest onto her back, his weight crushing her in the best way possible for a second ot two before he rolled onto his side. Reaching out, his hand gently across her bare back as Fliss face, which was pressed into the pillow turned to face him.

He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss, brushing her hair off her face.

“Okay…” she mumbled, nodding at him “I’ll concede. That was very, very nice…”

******* “You behaving?” Frank asked Mary as he and Fliss lay in bed the next morning, the phone held at arms-length so they could both see her.

“Yeah, of course…” Mary rolled her eyes “Bill took me to the yard last night and Joanne helped me tack Monty up and then Bill walked round the field with us so the dogs could have a run and it was awesome!”

“When I get back we’ll do the full trail ride.” Fliss smiled at her “Takes a good hour, we can go one evening before it gets dark.”

“Cool!” Mary grinned, bending down and then suddenly Fred’s bemused face filled the screen. Frank snorted as he was instructed to say hi to Fred, which he did, before the cat settled down on Mary’s lap and she continued to chat to him about what she had done the night before…which was basically staying up until gone midnight with Bill watching Harry Potter in the movie room.

Eventually they got her to pass the phone over to Verity, who assured Frank she was no trouble, and then they cut the call and decided to get up and head down for breakfast to meet everyone.

The day was spent lazily on the beach. Fliss hardly moved at all, simply soaking up the sun as Frank and Simon continuously brought her and Bonnie a supply of drinks as the man remained by the bar at the top of the sand.

“I gotta ask…”Bonnie said, turning to look at Fliss “And tell me to shut up if I’m outta line but yesterday, that guy Frank looked like he wanted to kill…who was he? Simon says he’s never seen Frank that angry…” “Oh, err…” Fliss rubbed her head “It was my ex-husbands brother, he was being an ass hole.” “Oh.” Bonnie frowned “I take it you don’t get along…nasty break up?” “You could say that…” Fliss said, taking a sip of her drink, tapping the straw lightly on her lips. “John…my ex…he er…he used to beat me. Badly. He’s actually in prison, well, for how long we don’t know as he had his parole hearing about 4 weeks ago so..” “Oh shit…” Bonnie dropped her gaze “Sorry, I didn’t…” “It’s ok.” Fliss said, waving off the usual apologies that came when she told someone about her past.

There was a moment of silence before Bonnie sat up and looked at Fliss.

“Wanna go for a dip?”

Fliss glanced at her, then down to the ocean and grinned, nodding.

Yelling to the boys to watch their stuff they headed down to the waves, Fliss happily diving straight in, simply allowing herself to float. She was calm, relaxed, and couldn’t remember a time she’d ever felt so happy before.

Eventually, it hit 5pm and Fliss was hungry. So they decided to pack up, grab a bite from the bar and then go change ready for the evening. Fliss had to smile as she saw Frank and the rest of the boys stood at a table by the beach bar all clutching pints and laughing. He was dressed in a pink shirt, black shorts with a baseball cap on the wrong way, glasses shielding his eyes.

“I never realised what an overgrown Frat Boy I’m dating.” Fliss mumbled to Bonnie who snorted as they made their way up the wooden boardwalk, beach bags in their hand.

 “Hey pretty girl.” Frank smiled as Fliss slid under his arm, reaching for his pint. With a roll of his eyes he watched as she took a huge drink. “You know if you want one I’ll get you one…” “Tastes better when it’s someone else’s.” Fliss shrugged.

 “Yeah, why is that?” Bonnie asked.

 “Because it’s stolen.” Simon looked at her “Well known fact, forbidden fruit just tastes better.”

Fliss went again for Frank’s drink and he jerked it out of her reach “Piss off, look, here…” he said, reaching into his pocket and handing her his wallet “Go to the bar.” She grinned and dropped a kiss to his lips, turning away, Bonnie following.

 “Dude you’re so whipped.” Jake snorted at him.

 “Yeah, I don’t much care.” Frank shrugged, burping slightly as he looked at Fliss, taking in her appearance. Her hair was falling around her face and down her back in a mass of long, messy salt and sand tangled waves and she was wearing a pink crochet slip over her black bikini. He would happily admit he was well under her spell and that she could whip him all she fucking wanted to. 

They grabbed a bite to eat, headed back, changed and made their way to the park for their second night of music. It went much the same as the night before, Bonnie and Fliss taking off on their own adventures, and Frank keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of John’s fucker of a brother, but he didn’t see him.

 By the time Liam Gallagher came onto the stage, Fliss was drunk. And so was he. But it didn’t stop her from going wild. Once again she knew every single word to every single song and when he launched into Rock and Roll Star she started pogoing like a person possessed. Mind you, so was everyone else on the dance floor in front of the stage, so Frank joined in. He quite liked this song and, well, if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em…

 He ended the set with Live Forever, Frank’s favourite song that he had done and Fliss sighed happily.

“He’s sooo good!” she said, “Why does he have to go?”

“Because his set has finished.” “But why?” “Because it has!” Frank laughed “He’s been on for almost an hour and it’s 1 am!”

“Hey, Liss, don’t worry…” Bonnie hiccupped “Hot Dub starts in 20…just enough time for a drink…” “Yes…” Fliss agreed, pointing at her. “But I think I need some water too.”

“Pussy…” Frank looked at her and she narrowed his eyes at him.

“I’ll carry on drinking beer if you want, but you’ll be clearing up my puke later.” He snorted and held his hands up, palms out “Water it is.” Hot Dub Time Machine was surreal. He was on for about an hour and took them through a load of the best party songs from the 60s right through to the present day. One minute Frank was doing the Twist and Shout with Fliss, and the next they were all in a circle air-guitaring to Immigrant Song by Led Zep.

 By the time they left the park it was almost half 2 in the morning and Fliss decided that she didn’t want to walk and insisted Frank give her a piggy back. He rolled his eyes but crouched down and she took a jump onto his back as he carried her the 10 minutes or so back to the hotel, Simon groaning at him as Bonnie kept complaining he wouldn’t carry her.

 “You’re showing me up, dude!” he glared at Frank who simply shrugged as Fliss smirked.

 “I like riding him.” She hiccupped, as everyone burst into laughter and Frank shook his head as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

 “You’re a fucking nightmare” he sniggered and she shrugged.

 *****

 The next morning everyone was feeling the effects of a heavy weekend, and Frank was pleased that they had the late check out option. Eventually, after dragging themselves out of bed they managed to shower, pack up and head down to check out. There was another argument about who was paying for the room, this time Fliss winning as she put her foot down telling him he was paying for New York and that she really wanted to pay for this. She’d told Frank before about John never letting her have any financial control over anything and Frank knew that it meant a lot to her so he relented, and instead bought them brunch before they set off home.

 They got back in time for a roast dinner, and then they headed back to the annex to watch a film, Fliss crashing out halfway through. She left them to it and headed to bed and was flat out by the time Frank made his way upstairs.

 “I can’t believe you got the day off!” She moaned at him over breakfast on the Monday morning.

 “I can’t believe you didn’t” he shot back

“I can’t…clients and stuff.” She pouted, biting into her toast before she groaned again. “I’m too old for partying all weekend…I can’t hack it anymore.” Frank snorted and took a sip of his coffee before Fliss grinned at him. “Can we go again next year?”

 Frank laughed “The Circle Of Truth have already decided it’s going to be an annual thing from now on.” he said, standing up and with a kiss to her head he moved to the stairs yelling for Mary to get a wiggle on. She came down the stairs, Fred and Thor following before she ate her cereal and then Frank bustled her out of the door to drop her off for the last Monday of the school term. 

Wednesday lunchtime, however, their happy little bubble burst.

 Frank was actually in the sales part of the shop, discussing the benefits of different types of engines with a customer, having been asked to give some advice. He spotted Fliss’ jeep pulling up and as soon as she climbed out and turned towards him, he could tell from her face what was going on.

 “Excuse me for just one second.” He politely told the customer, and glancing at his boss he jerked his head towards Fliss. His boss, a nice enough guy called Andy, knew vaguely what was going on and nodded in understanding as Frank stepped outside.

 “Baby?” he asked tentatively as Fliss stopped in front of him.

“He did it.” she whispered softly, stepping into his arm, pressing her face into his chest.  “He made parole. They let the fucker out.”

**** Chapter 18

[kristal-dawn-art]

Jujutsu Kaisen OC Reika

I couldn’t resist, so here’s my OC for JJK. 

Name: Kougetsu Reika (紅月霊花) Alias: Rei Species: Human; sorcerer Birthday: August 30 Zodiac sign: Virgo Age: 16 Gender: Female Height/Weight: 163cm/ (5’4” Hair/Eye Color: Deep auburn/dark gold Status: Alive Relatives: Kougetsu Toshihiro (father); Kougetsu Mika (mother); Gojou Satoru (distant relative); Okkotsu Yuta (distant relative)  Occupation: Student/Jujutsu Sorcerer Affiliation: Kougetsu Clan; later Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School

More info under the cut XD; 

Appearance: Reika has fair skin, dark golden eyes, and deep auburn hair that she wears in a side ponytail with a 3-part fringe. She favors comfortable clothing that is easy to move in, with a typical outfit consisting of a purple shirt paired with a gray-and-pink jacket, denim skirt, dark leggings and running shoes. Her school uniform consists of a purple tank top tucked into a short pleated uniform skirt. Leggings, running shoes, and a short-sleeve uniform jacket complete the look.

Personality: Reika enjoys observing others as much as she loves interacting with them - well, as much as she can observe given her situation - and because of how sheltered she’d been before enrolling at Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School (aka Jujutsu Tech), she jumps at the chance to befriend someone. She’s fairly straightforward in her words and actions, whichever is more appropriate in a given situation. While not too much of a conversationalist, she’s happy to keep someone company, if she feels they need it. 

For the most part, she wears her emotions on her sleeve, and her tone of voice is a very good indicator of how she’s feeling. Rarely does she feel the need to hide her emotions, but when she does, she does it fairly well. Being a studious sort, she dislikes it when someone interrupts another person while they’re explaining something, and will often clap a hand over the offending party’s mouth.

She’s not that good at picking up on tension in a room, so to speak, but she can make a good guess at how people are feeling, and if they’re feeling down, she’ll try to help them feel better. Overall, she likes knowing she can help others, and is happy to play the support role whenever on assignment. She also hates ‘seeing’ someone get hurt, whether or not they show they’re in pain. Even while worrying for someone, she’s able to keep a cool head, and will choose her next actions in such a way that she’ll have time to tend to the injured person if necessary.

ABILITIES AND POWERS

Overall skill level: At present, Reika is a strong Grade 2 sorcerer, though her precise control of and sensitivity to cursed energy, plus the speed at which she masters different forms and applications of her inherited technique makes it possible for her to move on to being at least a semi-Grade 1. 

Extreme sensitivity and energy control: Because she is both deaf and blind, Reika’s other senses plus her ability to sense cursed energy are all highly enhanced. She can feel movement through minute changes in air pressure and thanks to her Curse Sensing, and reading the flow of another’s cursed energy tells her also how much was expended. Training also helped her get a feel for how much energy she has to use to get a certain effect.

Enhanced mobility: Reika’s training to use cursed energy to fuel her movements has improved her speed and reflexes. So while not as fast as individuals like Yuuji or Maki who have innate physical talent, Reika is still able to move very well in combat, with little to no wasted movement. 

Competent combatant: Even though her training and her personal preference had her focus on defensive applications of her technique, she can still do a reasonable amount of damage when necessary and thus can hold her own reasonably well.

JUJUTSU Cursed Energy Manipulation Great Cursed Energy: Reika’s inherited technique, overall, takes much cursed energy to use, even if the individual techniques don’t use a lot. Training further helped Reika learn to conserve her energy and use the appropriate technique for a situation. This, combined with the overall effect of the Kougetsu clan’s inherited technique, means that Reika has a high amount of cursed energy to work with at any given time. Drawn-out fights are challenging for her, but alternating between manipulating her opponent’s energy and her own can help her last longer, though not without taking a toll on her body.

Inherited Technique Hands of Tsukuyomi. Believed to be an offshoot of Limitless, this technique hinges on users being able to manipulate both their own cursed energy and an opponent’s to achieve a variety of effects. At its most basic and on the surface level, Hands of Tsukuyomi can disguise or suppress the user’s cursed energy, allowing them to pass as civilians. Users may also gain enhanced speed and mobility by fueling their movements with cursed energy, and increasing the impact of any physical attacks they may employ. The technique’s more advanced forms let users divert cursed energy, absorb it, and amplify the effects of an ally’s technique. Extremely advanced applications of the technique see users manipulating light to distort what opponents see, and even unleashing a barrage of compressed light over a desired area.

All forms fall under one of four phases, each one focusing on a particular general effect. Full Moon focuses on amplification, Waning Moon covers absorption, Crescent Moon deals with redirection, and New Moon focuses on negation. Regardless of form, the user needs precise control to achieve the desired effect. Only a handful of users are able to use more than 2 phases, and while they can and do master at least one, true Hands of Tsukuyomi masters are able to use forms from all four, flowing from one to another depending on the situation. Reika herself is regarded by her family to be a highly gifted user as she is only one of three Kougetsu sorcerers so far who have learned to use Hands of Tsukuyomi to heal themselves and others. 

In most cases, activating a technique requires a specific series of hand seals from a fixed set of 12, based on the lunar zodiac, and the user concentrating on the desired effect, including range (if any) and the target. The only techniques so far that don’t require these seals are Reika’s Curse Sensing, Tidal Flow, and Shroud.

Benefits: 

Users being able to reflect an opponent’s cursed energy and any effects of these back at the original user (e.g. a user would be able to deflect Mahito’s “Idle Transformation” and possibly cause him to transform instead into a form he wasn’t planning) along with the precise control of their own cursed energy allows them to last longer in combat, compared to if they were to rely on their cursed energy alone. 

Users are also able to increase the effectiveness, strength, range, or duration of techniques when using more energy than typically required. For instance, users can move twice as fast when fueling their movements, or reflect more than one cursed technique simultaneously.  

Drawbacks:

The stronger the opponent, the more difficult it is to make their technique rebound completely; the user will either have to use more cursed energy, or deal with the technique in a different way (absorb or negate it). 

The more powerful forms take longer to master and use up a lot of cursed energy, so if they’re countered or don’t work out as well, the user may be worse off than if they hadn’t used said forms.

Overuse causes users to suffer from paralysis in one or two limbs, an inability to speak, blurred vision, muscle pain, or a combination of any of those. The more powerful the form that was last used, the bigger the toll it takes on the body. In the worst-case scenario, a user may pass out from the physical and mental strain.

Techniques:

Full Moon: Zenith (満月: 天頂 ; Mangetsu: Tenchou) After activating the technique, Reika lays a hand on an ally and channels some of her cursed energy into them the moment they deploy a technique of their own, thereby strengthening it (e.g. Fushiguro’s shikigami will be harder to destroy) or amplifying the effect (e.g. Inumaki’s cursed speech won’t create as much of a backlash).

Full Moon: Moonbeam (満月: 月光; Mangetsu: Gekkou) Reika compresses light and unleashes it in a barrage of beams that she can direct freely, and even redirect if they haven’t made contact yet. The bigger the area of effect, the fewer the projectiles launched.

Waning Moon: Afterimage (下弦の月: 残像 ; Kagen no Tsuki: Zanzou) -description to be added-

Waning Moon: Kaleidoscope (下弦の月: 万華鏡; Kagen no Tsuki: Mangekyou) Reika alters the surroundings to conceal her and her allies’ location while also setting up a protective barrier. While active, the barrier absorbs the energy from cursed techniques targeting her or her ally, creating a well for Reika to tap into later. This takes a lot of concentration, so if she’s distracted, the barrier fails to absorb the energy, thus exposing the illusion.

Crescent Moon: Mirror (三日月: 鏡; Mikazuki: Kagami) Reika controls the trajectory (?) of another individual’s cursed energy, turning it back on them or onto a different target. The effect is usually instantaneous and she doesn’t have to keep the technique activated, unless the user is of a higher grade. When that happens, she needs to keep it active until the redirected energy hits the new target. This technique doesn’t work against special-grade opponents, though, and is tricky to use when there are more than two opponents.

Crescent Moon: Haze (三日月: 朧; Mikazuki: Oboro) A more advanced form that Reika is still trying to master. In theory, she would be able to arrest the flow of cursed energy from multiple targets, making it appear as if their techniques were deactivated. Then, she’d redirect the trajectory of each one (e.g have Kamo’s arrows target someone else, or make Hanami’s plants grow in a different direction) before letting the attacks go through to their new targets. Reika left Jujutsu Tech not long after enrolling to learn this technique from a relative.

New Moon: Disruption (新月: 破壊; Shingetsu: Hakai) This technique enables Reika to negate or forcibly deactivate a technique deployed by someone else. However, both her feet need to be planted - similar to the Simple Domain - and the user whose technique she wishes to deactivate must be within 10 meters of her. 

New Moon: Umbra (新月: 本影; Shingetsu: Honei) An advanced version of Disruption that Reika is still trying to master, it functions similarly to a Simple Domain, but instead of requiring the feet to stay set at the point the technique was deployed, it calls for Reika to keep her hands in the necessary seal and concentrating on keeping the flow of energy around her constant. Its range is just 3 meters, but Reika doesn’t need to stay grounded, so it’s more versatile and can be activated even in the air. This is another technique that Reika had to learn from a relative.

Others: 

Energy Sensing. Reika’s energy grid that she uses primarily for navigation, but can be used in combat and to sense approaching cursed spirits. Reika can quickly react to whatever information she gets from it. 

Tidal Flow. Reika uses cursed energy to enhance her actions in combat. 

Tidal Strike. Reika channels cursed energy into her hands or feet and compresses it for precise strikes; the effect is more slicing or piercing compared to the blunt force from, say, Itadori’s.

Shroud. A reversed curse technique involving Reika surrounding herself or others with negative cursed energy to heal injuries.

Barrier Techniques Eclipsing Light (食の光; Shoku no Hikari) Reika creates a protective barrier of compressed light around her and the target. While active, the barrier steadily absorbs the target’s cursed energy, preventing them from using any techniques. She then reverses the flow of the energy, releasing it in either a barrage of multiple projectiles from above or as a single, focused beam originating from her outstretched palms. The domain is still incomplete. 

Story: The only child of the current head of the Kougetsu Family, Reika was born both blind and deaf, which made both her parents reluctant to have her train as a sorcerer, even if she later proved to inherit their clan’s Cursed Technique.

As time passed, it became obvious that the little girl’s other senses were enhanced. Using vibrations in the ground and in the air, she was able to tell when someone nearby was talking or when something was being moved. She proved herself capable of using and controlling cursed energy earlier than other young sorcerers, soon figuring out how to lay strings of energy out in a grid pattern and using that to ‘see’ her surroundings. 

Because of her clan’s stance on sorcerer society and her parents’ protectiveness, she lived a sheltered life, rarely leaving the family compound and interacting only with family members and teachers brought in to tutor her. Eventually, however, Reika asked that she train in both hand-to-hand combat and the use of her Inherited Technique, arguing that she needed to be able to rely on herself as well, not just on family members, to keep herself safe. Toshihiro and Mika agreed, making sure she learned to suppress her cursed energy so she’d appear as a civilian to any sorcerers and cursed spirits, even when using her energy grid to navigate. The last thing they wanted was for their only child to be endangered, or to draw the attention of other sorcerers.

As her skills improved, Reika took to going out on her own to explore the city, eventually encountering cursed spirits. The harmless ones she left alone, but not the more threatening ones. She often led these back to the Kougetsu family compound for more experienced sorcerers to exorcise. At some point, however, she grew confident enough in her abilities and began exorcising spirits herself when she perceived they had less energy than she did and she could do so without endangering civilians. 

During one such outing, Gojou witnessed her luring a cursed spirit into an alley before exorcising it, and became intrigued when he learned the younger one could neither see nor hear - likely a result of a Heavenly Restriction. When his superiors learned of Reika, they called for her enrollment at Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School, reasoning that she’d need field training her family might be unable to provide. Reika’s parents were reluctant to let her go, but the young teen was eager to leave. For her, it was a chance to live away from her protective family members, to test her abilities as much as possible while keeping others safe - civilian or sorcerer - and to learn more about her role as a sorcerer. She entered Jujutsu Tech soon after the Kyoto Sister School Goodwill Event.

Trivia

Reika has to touch someone’s face or throat to be able to tell what they’re saying, using the vibrations to interpret the words. Otherwise, someone needs to sign into her palm to give her information directly. 

The Kougetsu Clan doesn’t condone the way sorcerers in Japan are treated, or how the society functions as a whole. Because of this, Kougetsu sorcerers went largely unregistered for 5 generations, their technique relatively unknown. Reika enrolling at Jujutsu Tech broke this pattern.

Reika aspires to be like Maki when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. 

When meeting someone for the first time, she asks if she can touch their face. To her, Gojou has a lively face, Fushiguro and Itadori both have kind faces, while Kugisaki’s is determined. Panda’s is friendly, Maki’s is strong, and Inumaki’s is gentle.

Reika says that different colors feel different to her, and she picks out clothing based on that. 

Seiyuu/VA: Nitta Emi (JPN)/Cherami Leigh (ENG)

[dorki-c]

The Three Cups: Cup of Caution

Characters: Villain Deku, (reader), Brief mention of Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and Toga!

Relationship: Villain Deku / Izuku Midoriya and Fem! (Reader).

Audience: 16+ ONLY please!

A/N: Two weeks and approximately 6 pages later- I bring to you the second cup: Cup of Caution. Thank you all for your support the past two weeks and the lovely comments, it really means a lot! I would be really thankful if everyone who read this would reblog and liked this!

But before anybody goes on and read this, PLEASE PLEASE TAKE CAUTION (No pun included) WHEN READING THIS. It handles some heavy things within the one-shot and I really don’t want anybody to be reminded of horrible experiences that they may have gone through. AS WELL AS! Please note that I’m not a health care professional or somebody who knows how to deal with first aid- so please do not use my one-shot as a correct and reliable source to deal with this situation! 

(ALSO! COME REQUEST A PROMPT FOR MY VALENTINES WRITING EVENT! CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO!)

TW: Gun use (only very briefly), Mention of Self-harm (only if you squint REALLY hard), blood and bleeding, Self-deprecating thoughts, mention of bullet removal, unprofessional medical procedures and cauterization, implied forced enclosure, mention of alcohol.

[IMPORTANT: I DO NOT ENCOURAGE ANY OF THE TRIGGER WARNINGS!]

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The midst of every night always had its unknown secrets basking in the twilight. They writhed and crawled scantly across the surface of the two villains hides like insects ready to rip and chew apart delicate layers of flesh.

Darting left and right from advantage points, your observant pair of eyes stayed forever locked on the green-haired man (boy) behind the heavy-duty mask that carefully- though quite excellently- tightened around the back of your neck and head with approximately four, maybe five, click-in locks.

You didn’t know what this arranged ‘meeting’ was about, frankly you didn’t care (like always), though as each minute of the task (in your mind) was wasted by each and every mother fucking curse you plan to yell at Shigaraki when you arrive back at the base.

That crusty asshole decided it would be (unadulteratedly) hilarious to set you up to ‘guard’ his younger brother’s puny smug (handsome) ass which in turn meant staring by squatting down where your unshielded knees may scrape against the harsh concrete of the building you stood on top of.

Obsessively gripping the bland black pistol in the palm of your hand, your nerves screamed at you to relax to the cold polluted air that ran warm in the blood of whoever isn’t dead tonight. With the narrowing of your eyes darting from Deku to the three men standing in front of him with a small flat line seemingly narrowing to an expression of annoyance.

When are they going to finish? You wished you could have said that, but that’s not allowed. It will never be permitted.

Screaming little nuisances echo out protests to rebel again Deku- like the previous time before- though both you and the rest of the audience resting in their seats know not to do that, again. The fresh crescent moon wounds encircled around a singular wrist (covered by a glove) alerts the subconscious bully lurking in the midst at the front of this theatrical performance of life.

But (focusing on the task at hand) what was that man holding? Crouching downwards to get a better look, your body moved on its own accord when shit hit the fan. Invisible gusts aiding in your descent as a small glance to the side can confirm what happened before three bodies laid flat in the closed off alley.

Packing the pistol into a holster at the starting line of your boots, itty-bitty footsteps reached to her colleague, though her form was turned away from them. “Get up, we need to leave before the police get here.” What? How much of an asshole is his crush? “I can’t, you idiot.” Pivoting on her heel, she glanced downwards to see the source of the other villain’s problem.

Oh.

(And here (y/n) never thought black dress pants could turn red…)

With a leg shot to frigging bits, the frayed edges of the dress pants curled upward and attempted to soak up the liquid seeping out of his body, although it was in futile. Alongside that, (y/n) didn’t have any other cloth or rope or… something to stop the blood flow.

However, that was a failed observation on her part.

Glancing at her own self, she noted the blazer that covered only a bare minimum of her shoulders and back. (Oh well, it’s not like I can’t buy another one) Sighing softly, she could feel those all-too-familiar green (laser) eyes observing the slow languid movement of the female taking off her blazer, drooping down to his level and tapping the leg with such delicacy that Deku could’ve had a small crisis about how close (y/n) was.

“Open your mouth.” When he did so, a side of (y/n)’s arm was barged in the clamp that is his mouth.

“Bite down on my arm until I tell you to stop.” This is going to hurt like a bitch, although she didn’t mind pain (it’s a friend nowadays), where in a second she felt the contraction of what might be millions of miniscule sensory cells curse a wave of spiky pain erupt along the bridge of her forearm, the female made quick work of wrapping her blazer into a tight knot around the upper base of Deku’s bloodied leg that certainly is comparable to a two-way circuit of agony that flooded both of their bodies.

When ripping the arm from his canine teeth, only flinching as she did so (her favoured shirt was practically ruined with slobber), a blackened satin hand extended itself upwards and was met with a sweet cranberry red hand.

“Come on, we need to get you patched up.” Said (y/n), where all Deku could do was nod in agreement.

(Why did she want me to go with her?)

(What’s this feeling in my chest?)

--------------------------------------------

Kicking the door with only her heel, the leaning weight of what could’ve been a dead man laid heavy on her spine.

Grimly being reminded of the injury he held accountable on his leg, she laid him down on the ragged and worn couch- the fabric was tough and stale (it always caused an uncomfortable rub against naked skin) with the seams of the couch allowing small uplifting specks of thread-, though, she should’ve thrown this heap of shit outside for some DIY freak to refurbish, but (y/n) at the moment doesn’t have the money to afford another couch.

So, she’ll do with this one. Plus, it’s a good couch for staying somewhat clean when your flooding blood out of your fragile body.

In the moment of time, her shoes and mask were thrown off and a new pair of gloves were hastily applied onto her hands.

“Wake up.” Pinching the poor boy’s arm, vibrant green eyes, that match spring grass sprouting from a thick layer of dirt, had burst open in surprise of the ‘prickly golden needle’ sensation, however, the plain white ceiling was unfamiliar to his presence.

Huffing at his slow reaction, although helping him sit up in the process, the soft groan of lethargy slips from the (pretty) boy’s lips to crash and burn the depths of (y/n) terrified mind (about having somebody who isn’t a female in her apartment).

“Damn,” Rasp and smug his voice was, if he wasn’t hurt with a leg injury, then you would’ve tortured him to the full extent of your vexation, “is this my treat for being alive?” You suppose you knew what his innuendo implied, considering you were sitting between his thighs, “What?” Asserted Deku as he observed your facial cues.

“I’m not sucking your goddamn dick, asshole.”

Oh.

(And here Deku thought he could get laid tonight.)

“I need to wrap your leg,” Holding up a roll of dressings for him to see, “and to do that, I need you to take off your trousers.”  

“Well, you could always—” He notices one finger of your hand about to take off your purply-red gloves in a threatening motion, “—Okay! Okay! I’ll do it myself…” A pout was evident on his face, but he did as you asked (mostly because he was scared of your quirk).

A belt buckle jingled to the floor, “My offer still stands.” Then the ruined dress pants fell along with them. 

“I don’t want your offer.”

Grabbing the disinfection solution and a cotton gauze, the female opened the pungent liquid and tipped it upside down to gather it on the gauze, “This is going to sting.” Affirmed (y/n), “I know, doll.” Deku only managed to hiss out a response as the onslaught of a headache started to run towards him.

They both treaded this situation carefully and cautiously

As you clean the dirt out and rid the chance of infection to happen, your eyes started to frantically inspect each of the wounds as they still leaked blood every time your index finger very softly pressed on the skin around the wounds.

They still bled after applying pressure.

Fuck.

“I have to remove the bullets.” The male’s face paled. “Give me a second, I need to get some things.”  Deku saw her (rather sexy) form exit the living room and into one of the rooms (which he guesses to be her room) and then come out with a pillow, tweezers, and a brightly coloured (f/c) lighter. “What are…these for?” Those once bright green eyes gained a cloud of mistrust when narrowing at the objects, “The objects are for the bullet removal,” Staring horrified at her, she continued without paying mind to his facial expression, “I need to grab some plastic gloves and a rag from the kitchen, but after the procedure, I will need you to take a few pills.” (Y/n) wore a blank expression when announcing the news, but it further piqued his interest in this dark hour.  

Was she scared? Afraid?

When noticing Deku’s lacklustre expression, (y/n) snapped her fingers at him, “Are you aware of any allergies to any brands or medication?” Shaking his head in response, the female left him alone for a few minutes before returning with the rest of the things.

“Let’s get started, shall we?”

(Deku swore he heard the soft chime of ‘I’m sorry’ behind the curtains of (y/n)’s sentence)

-----------------------------

Waking up to a soft drag of curtains opening, the green haired villain only remembers the white adrenaline of a few slick objects being dragged out of squishy tensed skin where the only thing keeping him awake was the soft murmuring of “you’re doing good…” as smooth plastic painfully slid across the red hills of his cheeks that began to form rivers from the nearby reservoir uphill.

Alongside the unknowledgeable lull of his drowsy head, he saw the heavily wrapped leg and small patches of gauzes strapped further down his legs, with the ability to only whimper in an attempt to alert you that he was awake.

The small widening of your eyes as your body spun around to see his groggy eyes open to the shimmer of mornings gift: the sunrise.

Shuffling towards the bed and sitting on the side, (y/n) wore some sort of expression that the green-haired villain had never thought she knew how to express. “Holy shit,” Started Deku, “What is it?” (Y/n) added, “Your actually showing-- I might as well dare to say this—your showing emotion for once!” Exclaimed Deku as his eyes looked like they could light up a million galaxies in just a millisecond.

But the moment didn’t last, the luminously concerned expression that Deku had (stupidly) pointed out fell into the deepest depths of hell, then, the usual cold and icy exterior had taken the throne as the new ruler.

“Fuck off.” Snapped (y/n) before making haste out of the room. You left before he could utter another syllable.

Damn it. He should’ve taken caution.

Pushing himself up against the bed, the breakfast that was once warm was already cold. Well, he might as well dig in and find out if you poisoned it. He wouldn’t be surprised, maybe you’ve already figured out the burial site and what colour his coffin could be…

Nevertheless, the small gesture of kindness presented by you had reached his heart. It’s been a long time since he’s actually ate something that smells and looks edible, alongside the small note next to the three white pills, informing him to “take these with the food”.

Wow, you have nice handwriting. The compliment rang through his mind like a ping pong ball emitting even more compliments than he couldn’t utter out loud because he knows the risk of rambling to his crush will be high.

That’s more of a reason why he has to take caution.

 -------------------------------

When was the last time he was allowed out of this apartment?

Sure, everyone has popped by to help him get around the place, but when was the last time he saw- and actually sat down on- his precious throne donning a wine glass in one hand and a roll of newspaper that had a crossword puzzle on the back.

But several things (these past three-ish weeks) have perplexed him to the edge of understanding and not understanding.

Like why hasn’t Kurogiri bothered to teleport him back to the base? Or why does Toga always giggle when seeing him stuck in your bed, additionally, if you truly hated and despised him, then why are you letting him stay bedridden on your personal bed? There’s too many questions and not enough answers.

Gosh, and somebody better not stop him from drinking more then three fucking wine bottles- all from the same brand- or else he’ll explode (not literally, he rather not be like somebody he used to know.)

Sighing at the state his thoughts were in, the timing of your arrival was always as impeccable as ever.

Holding a small bag containing some trinkets, the small smile he used around you allowed the torture of butterflies and (slowly) budding roses in your stomach to erupt into a full fledge garden when he began using a subtle approach when seeing you come back to your home.

Petite smiles became the norm, saying thank you and staying quiet when your gloved hands brushed soothingly on the tattered skin littered with scars as his breath softened to nothing but— “Deku?” Humming a respond to desensitise your harsh wrath, the headache medicine that you had given to him earlier this morning was absolutely making magic (cue the jazz hands in the background) happen in his head.

A soft (and holy) finger ghosted past his temple to simply brush a measly strand of green out of his face. “Are you okay?” Murmured (y/n) where she let her guard down long enough to let the (beautiful) green-haired boy see the glimmer of comfort that you discovered.

Leaning his head towards your unaware palm, he basked in the warmth of your hand that emitted on his cheek.

“Yeah…I’m okay with you, sweetheart.”

(If religion didn’t exist, I would’ve imagined Deku worshipping the ground (y/n) walked on.)

(If the overwhelming heat in your cheeks didn’t exist, I would’ve imagined (y/n) kissing Deku.)

Tag list:

@glitterfreezed, @in-this-house-we-stan-izuku, @haredabi, @orenjineki, @quietlegends

[airi-p4]

Kwami Christmas

For @quickspinner ‘s Month of Miracles, Day 16: kwami gifts

AO3 _______________________________

"Marinette! What do you want for Christmas? The kwamis want to give you something to show gratitude for how well you treat us" Tikki happily asked.

"Thank you, guys, but I don't need anything. Any material thing, at least" she sighed, sadly. "Thank you anyway. I'm happy to have you around”

Tikki wasn't content with her answer. She had been observing Marinette throughout the years, and she knew her well enough to know when she wasn't happy. And she hadn't been for a while. That's where the gift idea came from, anyway. But… what would make her the happiest?

Tikki entered the Miraculous box and called for a kwami assembly. With Sass and Plagg with their respective owners, Tikki took the role of leader in the box.

"Guys. I need ideas for Marinette's Christmas present. What information have you gathered?" Tikki asked, hitting the improvised table (an empty roll of thread) with her hand.

"What about some cookies?" Mullo suggested. "She loves cookies!" The other kwamis raised their cheerful voices in agreement, but Tikki cut them short.

"No. We can't compete with her parents' cookies. We need something more special. Kaalki, any idea?"

"Let's give her kwami glitter. She'll be fabulous with it!"

"I doubt she would be happy with her body glowing in glitter forever, nor glowing in the dark. Any other ideas? Pollen?"

"What about a crown? She's our queen, isn't she?" 'yes, she is!’ The rest of kwamis responded.

"Mm… could work, but let's consider other ideas. Ziggy?"

"A magic comb! She'll be able to comb her hair without damaging it thanks to the magic!"

"Marinette's hair is already silky and beautiful, but we can add it to the list. Ok, next. Xuppu?"

"A banana tree! I love bananas! I bet she does too"

"Discarded.” ‘Whyyyy’ Xuppu cried at Tikki's blunt rejection. “Trixx?"

“A flying carriage! Like in that story! She could travel anywhere if she had it, even to-"

"Wayzz?"

"What about something that warms her heart?"

Tikki's attention was caught for the first time since their assembly started. "That sounds right. Any idea of what could that be?"

"Hot chocolate? Longg suggested.

"A kwami magic blanket?" Roarr added.

"A love potion?" Ziggy mentioned.

"Isn't that forbidden…?" The ox kwami said.

"Yes, it is." Tikki answered.

"Something made with love?" The rooster kwami said, earning the looks of the rest of the kwamis. "She's been so sad since that boy left Paris..."

"You mean Plagg's owner or-?" Fluff asked.

"That's right!" Tikki finally shouted, hitting the pseudo-table with her hands. "She's been longing for some love. She told me Adrien wasn't what she expected, that she regretted having chosen the wrong boy at that time"

"Do you think she still regrets it, even now?" The pig kwami asked.

"If this is about the blueberry boy, I would say she does" the fox kwami affirmed.

"How do you know that, Trixx?"

"Because I've seen her sighing at his photo before. Haven't you noticed? Her eyes filled with love and hurt. She even cried once"

"Oh, no! Poor Master Marinette!" "Let's help her!" "Yes, let's give her love!" the kwamis cried for their guardian.

"Guys… we can't change people's hearts, you know that…" Tikki said.

"What if he feels the same? It's been a long time but maybe…" Nooroo said.

"You're right! We have to contact Sass and-" Duusu exclaimed.

"We don't even know where he is… He left Paris, didn't he?" The dog kwami asked.

"Oh no…" "what can we do now…?" "Is there a way to contact him?"

"I have an idea. I can go to his sister, my previous owner. I'm sure she'll tell me" The tiger kwami suggested.

"Stop, Roarr. You know everyone has forgotten about the Miraculous. Except those who has used time-related ones, either Sass or Fluff"

"What about Alix, then? My previous owner?"

"Didn't she have a crush on the blueberry boy too? I don't think it's a good idea…" Longg dismissed Fluff’s idea.

The discussion followed for some minutes, but Tikki wasn't listening. She kept thinking what they could do to know if Luka's feelings remained the same. Sass’s kwami cycle was a few years further, but maybe, there could be another way. There had to! Tikki re-read the list:

Cookies

Magic glitter

Crown

A comb

Banana tree

Magic flying carriage

Hot chocolate

Magic blanket

Love

'Music' Tikki thought. Remembering how the blue boy used to play his guitar for her. Her eyes finally glowed in hope. "Guys. I think I've got it!" she exclaimed.

"Really!?" "Tell us!" "Woohoo!"

"I need a minute to check on something. I'll be right back!" And with these words, Tikki left the Miraculous box.

Outside, looking at her surroundings, she saw how Marinette had fallen asleep in her desk. She had her earphones on and trails of tears at the corners of her eyes. Tikki covered her with a blanket and took her earphone out to listen to the music. It was indeed Luka's song, the one he composed for her many years ago.

She then moved into her smartphone and searched for the boy's more recent songs. It had been 5 years since he had left, even more since they first met, but the tune under his songs, even if hidden and faint, remained the same to Tikki's experienced ears: Marinette's tune.

The discovery reassured her plans.

She entered the box again, ready to share her plans with her fellow kwamis.

"Guys! You know how kwamis can't be recorded, right? But that's not entirely true. We can listen to each other's voice recordings. I remember hearing Plagg through the phone before. It's not impossible"

"What's the plan?" Barkk asked.

"I want you to get what's on the list ready for Christmas. Can you do it?"

"Of course!" They all agreed, happily moving to their tasks.

"You'll have the best Christmas present ever, Marinette", Tikki said, kissing Marinette's cheek before secretly using her tablet to carry on with her plan.

_______________________________________________________

And just like that, Christmas arrived.

"Merry Christmas, Marinette!" The kwamis congratulated the guardian. Marinette giggled and answered back "Merry Christmas"

"We have some gifts for you!" Tikki exclaimed.

"Oh, guys, it wasn't necessary, you know? Thank you" she said, welcoming the presents.

"What's all this?" She blinked.

"Wear it!" they enthusiastically exclaimed.

Marinette put on a silver tiara with blue and pink diamonds, and the kwami magic blanket over her shoulders, like a cape. She then put some glitter on her dress and shoes. She looked like a princess.

"Wow! This is so pretty! I feel like Cinderella" she giggled. "Thank you very much"

“You’re welcome!” They said, Tikki signaling them. “We have something else for you”

“You do?” Marinette blinked again.

“You need to sleep first. Sorry Marinette” Tikki said, while Duusu cast some sleeping magic on her, putting her under sleep. “Time for the plan, everyone!” Tikki smiled, using Marinette’s phone to give a call to an old friend.

_____________________________________

Marinette could listen to some music. New music to her ears. It sounded like chants, coming from somewhere far. Far away. She opened her eyes to see she was on a deserted island with only a banana tree and some bushes on it. “Xuppu!” she heard a low voice complaining.

“Tikki?” she called. “Where am I? Is this a dream?”

Marinette felt like crying at noticing her surroundings: alone on a deserted island, in the dark night, just as if she was inside her own lonely heart. She curled to hug her knees as soft whimpers left her throat. ‘This is the worst Christmas ever…’ she whispered between hiccups.

All of a sudden, she heard some water splashing and saw something coming from the sea. She wasn’t sure what, but it was getting close. She was afraid it was a shark, but instead, she soon realized it was a tiny boat. “Help!” she screamed and waved, and it wasn’t until the boat was almost at the coast that she realized who was on it.

“Luka?” she gasped. ‘Could this be true? This had to be a dream- no doubt’, she thought.

His surprised expression could match her own. Both of them were hesitant to take a step closer. ‘It had been five years. Why would they meet now?’ Marinette felt her stomach twirl at how sour destiny could be. Luka stayed silent, trying to understand what was going on. ‘Where was he? Why was Marinette there? What happened to Christmas?’ But everything lost its importance when he noticed the tears in her eyes.

“Marinette” he called, and her body reacted in a jolt. “What happened? Why are you crying?”

Marinette finally lifted her face to meet his blue eyes. Her glowing dress was, along with the moon, the only source of light. “Luka… Is- Is that really you…?” she asked.

“Yes, it’s me. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? What happened? Where are we? Don’t cry, please” he begged, taking a few steps closer.

“I- I don’t know… I woke up here all alone and it was all dark and lonely and Tikki and the kwamis disappeared and- This must be a dream, right? There’s no way this is real”

“Probably, yes. When I woke up I was on the boat, lost in the middle of the sea. Then I saw something glowing and I moved towards that direction, looking for the land. I didn’t expect you to be the one glowing...” he explained. “You look beautiful. Thank you for guiding me here, Marinette. I’m happy to see you”

“Luka!” she jumped to hug him. “I- I was so scared! I- I-”

“It’s ok, Marinette. I’m here now.  We can use the boat to-” Marinette’s grip tightened around him, and he immediately got worried. “Marinette…”

Luka hesitated. As much as he wanted to hold her, he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to. She had made her choice back at the time, and it hadn’t been him. ‘What claim could he have now, after years of an unreciprocated love he couldn’t move on from? Wasn’t it a dream, though? It had to be. Hasn’t he dreamed of her multiple times before? It didn’t need to be different now’, he convinced himself.

And he hugged her back, overthrowing all the piled up love he had for her. Marinette’s gasp was cut by her need for ask, enjoying the fantasy hug for as long as she could.

“Marinette…” he whispered again, close to her ear. In response, she pressed her body to his even closer, in need of contact. Their heartbeats were fast, in unison, and they stayed together until the chants from before alerted them.

“What’s this music?” Luka asked, giving her some space.

“I- I don’t know…” she answered, still clinging to his body.

“Should we go search for land? The boat must be- Oh, no. The boat is gone. Sorry Marinette” Luka apologized. “I should have brought it closer to the sand”

“It’s not your fault Luka. This… This sea is probably my heart. Meeting you here has just reminded me how much I regret the past, so the sea level increased. It’s not your fault. It’s mine”

“Is this… your heart? I thought it was mine… Your heart should be a happy sunny place. You deserve to be happy, not like me. What happened? What's here that darkens your heart so much?”

Marinette could only cry. ‘You’, she wanted to say. Would he believe her, though? If this was her dream, he would probably return her feelings, and when she wakes up, she would be sad and disappointed. She wasn’t sure if she should be enjoying this tiny happiness in the form of an illusion. Before she could say anything, a shooting star fell in front of their eyes. The stardust cleared up to transform into a magical flying carriage, similar to Cinderella’s.

“Now there’s no doubt this is a dream” Luka stated. “Why don’t we try to enjoy our time while we’re here, Cinderella? Just like old times…” He smiled at her but, instead of waiting for an answer, he lifted her light body and seated her in the carriage, getting on after her. “Let’s go”

A rainbow suddenly appeared as a road to guide them. Marinette was still unsure of how to cope with the fueling emotions going through her heart, while Luka kept looking at her from under his lashes in his usual loving eyes- the expression he only showed for Marinette.

“Luka” Marinette called. “Isn’t that the Liberty?” she pointed.

“What?” He reacted in surprise. “No way… It sank just before I moved, remember? The day you- rejected me.” His words felt like a stab in her heart. She had rejected him before, and that was her deepest regret in her life. “Let’s go see it. It’s a dream, after all”

The carriage stopped at the Liberty’s deck and Luka helped Marinette to step down from the flying vehicle. “Wow, so nostalgic… It’s exactly as I remember it. As expected of dreams. Are you cold?” He noticed her trembling and grabbed a blanket to cover her. “Here. Look. There’s some cookies and hot chocolate, too. Let me prepare you some. Wait here”

“NO!” Marinette shouted. “I- I’ll help!”

“Of course” Luka smiled. “Do you think we’ll remember this when we wake up?”

“I don’t know…” Marinette answered.

“I wish I could meet you like this when we’re back in the real world. I’ve missed you, Marinette. A lot more than you could imagine” Luka said, reaching for his favorite mug.

“STOP!” Marinette shouted loudly. Then, her eyes became sad and focused on the man in front of her. “How do you expect me to go back to the real world after this sweet dream? This is where I rejected you! This is where the moment I regret the most in my life occurred!”

Luka waited a few seconds in silence before he spoke again, making Marinette tensed up as she waited. “Why don’t you use this dream to fix your regret, then? Isn’t this what dreams are for? Tell me, Marinette. What do you regret?”

“I regret-” she started, but he cut her.

“I regret letting you go” he started, reaching for her hand. “I regret not trying harder to make your feelings turn to my direction. I regret leaving your side. I regret not having contacted you in all these years. I have so much regret I could never move on” He said, staring at her incredulous eyes. “I’ve never forgotten you, Marinette. You’ve always been the song in my head- even now”

Marinette felt like crying. Of course he would say kind words for her in a dream. Of course he would love her back in her sleeping palace. But she was happy. Why wouldn’t she? Seeing his relieved face gave the courage to speak up.

“I regret making the wrong choice. I regret rejecting you when you were obviously the right answer, the one for me.  I regret having noticed too late. I regret never telling you my feelings. I regret not being brave enough to contact you all this time. I regret not having kissed you… But- If this is a dream and I can fix that… I want to do it right this time…” Marinette moved closer to him and cupped his cheek. “I love you, Luka. My life can’t ever feel complete without you”

And before he could answer, she leaned for a kiss on his lips. A kiss he welcomed. The kiss he had been starving for for years. The kiss he always wished for but could never force on her. The only kiss that mattered to them.

And then, the clock marked midnight.

“I guess it’s time to wake up…” Marinette whispered, not wanting her sweet dreams to end. “I wish this magical dream would never end...”

“I love you, Marinette. More than anything.” Luka said, kissing her again. “Will you give me your shoe, Cinderella? Or maybe your heart?”

“I’ll give you my shoe. I can’t give you something that’s yours already” She kissed him again before holding her arms tight around his neck. “I don’t want to wake up”

“Me neither…” Luka mumbled, keeping her close. “Can I call you sometime? Even if you don’t remember this dream… Is it ok for me to miss you? To love you?”

“I’ll be more than happy to receive a call from you. I’ve been hoping for one for so long now…” Before Marinette could lean in for another kiss, the bells rang again. “I guess it’s time to go. Here. I’ll give you this. It's a magic comb I received from the kwamis. It has some kwami glitter on it, just like the one on my dress and shoes. A lucky charm for our next meeting…”

Marinette took one step behind, and then another. Their hands irremediably split, but not before Luka kissed one of them hissing a low ‘I love you’ to her. As she took another step behind, she could feel her heart warm up… and before she could notice, she opened her eyes: back in the real world.

She woke up with tears in her eyes, but a relief and warm feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time. “Luka…” she whispered.

“Marinette!” Tikki called. “How was your dream?”

“Tikki! Was this your doing? What have you done, you little trickster!” Marinette said, happily tickling the red kwami. “Thank you Tikki, I had the sweetest dream”

“That’s not all, Marinette!” Tikki exclaimed, and the rest of the kwamis approached with her phone. The screen showed an unknown room, but a familiar guitar on the table. ‘Could it be…?’ her heart rate increased in expectation.

“Sass? Could you explain to me what just happe-” he said, and noticed the phone screen. Luka blinked in confusion, looking at his hand and back to the screen. Then, he lifted his hand to show Marinette its contents: the magic comb. Marinette gasped and that was everything Luka needed as an answer: they had shared their dream.

“So… emm…. Hi! Long time- No, that’s not right. Tikki! What’s the meaning of this!? I need answers!” She screamed in embarrassment, making Luka laugh.

“It’s Christmas magic, Marinette! Our magic is stronger during Christmas. We wanted to give you a present that would warm up your heart! Did it work?”

“It did” Marinette said, aware that Luka couldn’t see or hear her kwami’s explanations. “Merry Christmas, Luka”

Marinette’s heart grew warmer with Luka’s smile. “Merry Christmas, Marientte”

After a long video call where they confirmed that what happened was actually real, they confirmed their feelings for each other and set up a date to meet again. When the call ended, Marinette spoke to the kwamis. “Thank you. Thanks to all of you, this is the best Christmas ever. I love you”

The kwamis reunited by her side for a collective hug. “Anything to make you happy” Tikki answered.

THE END

[rwbyconversations]

The Scarlet Letter: Let’s talk about RWBY’s male LGBT rep

I have been sitting on this post for nearly four weeks waiting until the 15th due to the Before the Dawn spoiler rules.

So let's start with a blunt statement: RWBY's male LGBT representation has not been good. If the series' handling of female LGBT rep is good (which... well there's worse shows) and the general standard for how you write LGBT characters in a show like this, its handling of male rep has been... how not to. And Before the Dawn kinda solidified the idea in my head that the show's handling of its male LGBT cast just isn't good enough, either by the standards of when RWBY began in 2013, or today in 2020 when compatively massive steps have been taken over the past decade to show a more diverse list of characters... or at least a more diverse list of female characters.

I don't wanna make this a pissing match over how over-or-under-represented male or female LGBT characters are, but I feel like it's safe to say that the majority of the trend-setters for modern romances, especially in western animation, have been between women. Korra and Asami from Korra, Chloe and Max from Life is Strange, Marceline and Bubblegum in Adventure Time, (insert the relevant Steven Universe characters here, never watched it), and more recently, Adora and Catra in She-Ra and Luz in Owl House.

Compatively, while studies have shown that in general male LGBT characters get more appearances on a purely numerical level, in general they're more one-off characters there to pad a roster, or played more for comedy (see Josh Gad in the Beauty and the Beast remake or the gay guy in Avengers Endgame that was more notable for how hard China and Russia snapped him out of existance). The only big male-LGBT focused media I can think of from the last decade would be Yuri On Ice, Moonlight, IDW's Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye (Chromedome/Rewind best pairing fuck you Roberts for issue 16) Love Simon, and the anime adaptation of Banana Fish.

So it's no surprise that RWBY basically follows these ideas. It's big romance is (unless the writers are very stupid) going to be between Blake and Yang, their first out character was Ilia, Coco got sent to the Book Dimension where she confirmed "I use my sunglasses to perv on women without their knowledge" which uh... yeah you can definitely tell RWBY is written by men... and Volume 6 had Saph and Terra being a good example of an LGBT couple without any real drama. In the last three years alone, the show has drastically increased its lesbian and bisexual characters, alongside even including its first out trans character in May Marigold (albeit only revealed on Twitter). In general, these depictions of sexuality have been pretty OK. Would have liked it if Ilia wasn't immediately written out of the show after Volume 5 as it made her feel a bit more disposable than intended but whatever, subject for another day.

RWBY's male rep though is a bit spottier. There's the plant bois in Volume 5's premiere, we nearly had Pilot Boi until some last-minute revisions, and... Scarlet.

Why Scarlet's a bad launchpad for male LGBT rep

I don't like Scarlet or how his sexuality has been handled. Scarlet's homosexuality wasn't revealed in the show, or by the writers, or even in anything that's actually canon. He's confirmed gay in his sole of dialogue in a non-canon fan anthology, where the manga's Twitter team had to say that Miles suggested the idea and approved of it.

In short, Scarlet is Dumbledore'd, where his sexuality is revealed in out-of-show material and in a way that doesn't make it supremely obvious (Miles himself never commented to confirm this so this news was limited in how far it could spread. I'm genuinely curious how many people still don't know Scarlet's gay), and Scarlet himself is a nothing character who was written out of the show after Volume 3 and only reappeared in Before The Dawn, half a decade after he vanished. Compared to Ilia, as this came out after Ilia's entire arc in Volume 5, it's not a great starting point for mlm rep. But things would have been forgiven if it had gotten better, if the show did have more male LGBT characters introduced, even just on the Saphron/Terra level of just being around for a few episodes before leaving. Then it would have been a misfire but then we could all say "Things got better."

It... didn't. Which is why when Before the Dawn released in 2020, a full two years after Scarlet was first confirmed gay, while the franchise had more than doubled its wlw rep, Scarlet remained the one male character in the entire franchise who had a name and liked men. I remember vividly a fake leak for After The Fall which claimed Yatsuhashi would come out to Velvet and admit to having a crush on Fox. And I remember as well how many people were disappointed when it was said to be false, because it would have been nice for Yatsuhashi's character, especially after the fleshing out he gets in the CFVY books. If Yatsu had come out as gay in the books I'd like his writing enough to say he's a good case for rep, albeit with the caveat of "This is all in side material." But in reality, the leak was fake and Coco was confirmed gay instead.

Unfortunately, Before the Dawn proceeded to ruin Scarlet and made me at times feel genuinely uncomfortable as a queer man! Let's talk about that.

Before The Dawn is crap and Scarlet's writing is borderline offensive

I hate Before the Dawn. It's... bad. I read it while on a vacation and the only solace I had about the entire thing was that I'd bought an M&M chocolate bar. The bar was finished before the book. That bummed me out. It's not a very well written book, the prose is very Early 2010s YA Writer, none of the characters are memorable and there's various Fun Incidents like "NGDO using children as bait for Grimm," and "Neptune's hydrophpobia being used as a threat to torture him and the scene is played for comedy."

Theo was cool. I can't wait to see him as written by good writers, he should be a highlight of the Vacuo arc.

I had two hopes for Before the Dawn- "Don't be bad," and "Let Scarlet and Sage be well written." I'd liked how After The Fall had handled some of its characters (barring, y'know, Coco perving on women), especially Fox and Yatsu who were surprising in how much I liked them. I was looking forward to seeing Myers give Sage and Scarlet similar treatment- two relatively nothing characters meant he'd have a blank slate to write them however he wanted, he could give them unique personalties and if nothing else it could be cool to see their Semblances.

And then I read the book. (Sage fans I am so sorry for you, you got baited harder than Johnlock fans)

Scarlet's a giant dickhead in the book. It's his sole character trait and his inner monologues go on, and on, and on about how much he hates Sun, how he revels in mocking him. Most of his dialogue is sarcastic put-downs about Sun and how lame he is, and Sun is never properly allowed to defend himself or point out how going with Blake meant he was able to help save Haven Academy.

(hey remember when Sun in Volume 6 expressly says to Blake "I was a bad leader for ditching Neptune and the others, and I need to work on that" only for Before the Dawn to have him staunchly refuse to accept that he let the team down? I don't think Myers did but I do)

Scarlet being a ratty bitch would be one thing if, again, the franchise had done more rep. He'd still be a badly written character, but it wouldn't sting as much. But because Scarlet is still the only expressly confirmed male LGBT character in canon (the book teases that Nolan is gay but there's never confirmation either way beyond him smiling at Scarlet), it means that he has to represent that entire ideal. So when the one gay man in Remnant is being an asshole and a snide loser, that means that by extension, this is how the franchise sees gay men. And that fucking sucks! I wanted to come out of Before The Dawn singing its praises, I wanted to like the book, but it was a massive letdown, especially coming off of the other big 2020 RWBY controversy involving gay characters.

Yeah. We're doing this.

Clover and Fair Game: Technically not queerbaiting. BUT:

Let's pre-empt this: Clover wasn't queerbaiting, and Fair Game, while cool and I dig it, kudos to them for becoming one of the top 5 RWBY pairings on AO3 in one year that's fucking impressive (I say with mild malice as an IronQrow main), never had a chance. The writing never seriously boosted it barring one interaction which was flirty (them talking in the lobby of the Schnee Manor), and everything else was out of show boosting through the social media teams and CRWBY hyping it themselves by saying they liked it. If you wanna blame people, blame the animators who went off-script with stuff like Kim Newman adding the wink as a deliberate nod to the Volume 4 waitress, or the social media team deliberately using the same policies for Fair Game as they do for Renora and Bumblebee.

It wasn't Eddy's fault that things escalated, and he himself has said that in retrospect, he should have warned people that this never had a shot.

But I can't blame the Fair Game fanbase. Because Fair Game took off like wildfire. It came right as the fanbase began seriously asking for more male rep, Qrow's pretty hot, and the Clover wink came right after the Great IronQrow Reawakening of November 9th, 2019. The rocket was primed, and they rode it to the moon. Finally, to these people, after seven years RWBY seemed to be doing something with mlm rep in show. People started getting into RWBY just for Clover and Qrow's interactions. And if heroes were boring, Watts and Tyrian also had a fantastic dynamic that made Nuts and Volts one of the more popular villain ships overnight. Things seemed to be turning around! RWBY was remembering that gay men existed! You could hear the choir sing!

... And for those people, that meant that episode 12 hit like Truck-Kun.

People got pissed. People were horrified. And it didn't help that some members of CRWBY had said in the build-up that episode 12 would have some shots that made them nauseous (probably the Tyrian thumb thing) Out of context, it looked to these fans like CRWBY were basically laughing at their suffering, like they were saying "Lol, you thought you had a chance, get fucked, I hope your vomit burns on the way up."

Yeah, Fair Game was never gonna be canon, and I think some people ran too far with it. But in the wider context of how desperate RWBY's mlm community had gotten for basic crumbs of content? I can see why they'd run with what they had. The writers aren't at fault for what happened, but CRWBY didn't help matters. And that desperate mix of what felt like official backing from the crew, jokes about how cute the ship was, and the hope that finally the show would have onscreen rep? I can see why people ran with it.

So why is the show more lackluster in depicting mlm characters?

Money. Let's be honest, most RWBY fans don't care if the show doesn't have good male rep. I'm willing to bet some of you reading this won't care and just dismiss it as not being that big a problem. I don't think the writers care if the show doesn't have good mlm rep because they're not poaching that market. They're after what they see as a bigger, more lucrative market, which in this case is female LGBT rep. That gets people buying games, watching shows, raising awareness and boosting awareness of your property, which means you make more money. In short: Two women kissing hits more markets and generates more attention than two men.

Am I saying that Miles, Monty and Kerry deliberately sat down seven years ago and said "We're not doing gay men because it won't generate enough ad revenue and traffic to be worth the loss in revenue from homophobes?" No, that's silly. But I'm saying that it's less important for them, and it shows in the things that are small and add up. Things like Miles not verifying Scarlet's sexuality or retweeting the manga account's confirmation to spread the message (compared to how he enthusiastically confirmed Ilia being a lesbian himself during the Reddit AMA). It shows in how Pilot Boi would have been the first mlm character only to die in his second full episode until M&K were told about the Bury Your Gays trope. It shows in how Shannon believes that Ozma is "megaqueer" and Miles jokingly laughs it off instead of confirming it, leaving it to just be Shannon's headcanon. It shows in how actor shipping is compared between the mlm and wlw ships, where Arryn and Barbara's frequent pushes for Bumblebee are seen as "official confirmation that it's endgame" while Michael and Kerry saying they enjoy Seamonkeys is treated as "well it would be cute if they did it, but they're never going to."

I'm not gonna say anything like "CRWBY are gonna have Qrow end up with a woman like Robyn out of spite against the bad apples of the Fair Game crowd." I'm not gonna say that I don't think CRWBY cares about male representation in the series. It is, however, definitely a low priority for them, and because that leads to gaffes like Scarlet's writing in Before The Dawn being offensive in his depiction, it only makes the contrast between the sexes all the more painfully apparent.

I'm kinda tired of waiting for Rooster Teeth to show that they do care about mlm. I'm kinda tired of RWBY's male rep being written like it came from a 1993 time capsule where I have to enhance the screen to see a guy holding a sign of Sun's abs or be content with the only onscreen rep still being the plant bois in Volume 5. I'm tired of how often the crew dances around answering basic questions about sexuality (and age, and birthdays, and heights, and so on) by treating it as a spoiler question, as if just wanting to know what way people swing would ever be a spoiler. I'm just... tired of all this. When the best mlm rep in Rooster Teeth's history remains the two dads in Camp Camp who show up in a few episodes, that should say something really bad about your company and your biases (To say nothing of the recent Red vs Blue seasons and their blatant queerbaiting for Grif and Simmons and the whole can of worms that is Donut).

I'd like to not feel like I'm borderline unwelcome because I'd like to see two men in this show kiss, and that the sole thing that represents people like me in this show is some British twat who complains about sand.

I'd just like to feel like my sexuality isn't a joke to Rooster Teeth (or at the very least, be like Donut and have it be a funny one). But at this point after the last few years? I feel like a very uncomfortable punchline to them. And it just sucks.

[kpop---scenarios]

Finally Mated

Wolf! Suho x Reader

Commissioned by: @skittlez-area512

Warning: Smut

Word Count: 5.5k

A/N: This is a prequel to the mini Mated Series. Read Part One / Part Two

"It has been happening to all the men in the Kim family for centuries. Once it happens, you need to learn major self control. This life is not easy. You must never speak of it to anyone, except those you meet who will become your brothers. This is important Junmyeon, not a word, to anyone." His father could not stress that enough, he was not to speak to anyone about it, ever. The secret was to be kept within the family, and his new family. Junmyeon felt as though he was backed into a wall with how vague his father was. As much as he tried to pry, his father was a steel vault, only ever letting out what he wanted to, when he wanted to, constantly leaving Junmyeon with a million questions. “Please please please" Junmyeon begged at the dinner table, his 16th birthday approaching in just a few days. "Just tell me the big reveal. It's close enough." “Jun" his mother chuckled. “it’s a few more days. I’m sure you’ll be okay. Now eat your food." “Ma, I really won’t be okay. I’m going to go crazy if I don’t find out now. Please, dad" he whined, one more time. His father sighed. “Okay fine.” “Really?” Junmyeon asked excitedly. “No. Wait a few more days. I’ll tell you at midnight when your birthday begins. You know, it’s going to be a full moon that night" his father says, glancing over at his worried mother. Junmyeon looks over to his mother and immediately notices the slight worried look on her face. She notices Junmyeon looking at her and tries to hide her worried expression with a smile as best as she could but Junmyeon could see it in her eyes. She was terrified. That night, Junmyeon laid in his bed, his fingers intertwined with each other as he tried to figure out what his mother could be so worried about. He wasn’t entirely worried about his 16th birthday, although his mother's face had him feeling rather uneasy about it. He tiredly got out of his bed, walking down the hall to the stairs to go get a glass of water from the kitchen. Half way down the stairs, he heard his parents whispering. It was almost 2am, he couldn’t understand why on earth they would still be up this late. “Yongha, a lot of these boys don’t make it through the transition. Just think of his brother.” His mother cried. “Junmyeon is not Junseo. He’s much stronger, he’ll make it through, Taeyeon. Please have faith. I didn’t know Junseo would transition early, no one did. It’s not common. Had I been around and been there to help him maybe he would have survived.” His father sighed. Junmyeon couldn’t move as he listened to his parents' conversation. He had a brother? Why had no one told him about this? He stood there contemplating whether or not to confront his parents about this enormous lie they kept from him for almost 16 years. Did he pretend he heard nothing? He felt so absolutely conflicted on what he should do. After a few seconds of listening to his mother whimper, he couldn’t take the not knowing. Junmyeon stomped down the stairs, making sure they knew he was coming. “Junmyeon.. what are you still doing awake?” his mother asks, wiping away her tears. “Who is Junseo?” he asks, his tone harsh. “W-what?” she stutters. “I heard you. I heard you say I had a brother and he didn’t survive the transition, so what the hell is going on?” he snaps. “Jun..” his father begins. “Don’t. You’re going to explain everything. I’m sick of all the lies. Tell me" His father sighs as he motions him to the kitchen table. They all sit down, no one saying a word. “Junseo was our first born. He died on his 16th birthday, a few months before we found out your mom was pregnant with you.” His father sighs. “I can’t believe you never told me I had a brother" Junmyeon gasps, feeling like his entire life was a lie. “You said the transition killed him. What transition?” His father sighed. “The men in our family.. are wolves.” He says, Junmyeon looks at this father with the most confused and unconvinced face. “Wolves? Like werewolves? Are you kidding me? This is the biggest load of shit I’ve ever heard" Junmyeon yells, frustrated that his parents seem to take him for an idiot. “Jun..” his mother begins. “Don’t. I’ll show him.” His father says, “Yongha, you can’t..” she says. “I’ll be fine. Junmyeon, come with me.” His father tells him, standing up and walking out the back door. Junmyeon skeptically followed his father into their large backyard. His father moved towards the edge of the forest line, they happen to live in the country, no neighbors around for miles. “Stand back” his father warns, stripping himself of his clothes. Junmyeon stares at his father who stands before him in his boxers, his fist clenched as his body vibrates. He can’t help but roll his eyes, turning to  walk away, thinking it’s a load of shit. Before Junmyeon is able to get back into the house, he hears the sounds of bones snapping and loud growling sounds coming from behind him. Junmyeon spins around, and instead of seeing his father, he stands there face to face with a very large grey wolf. Junmyeon can’t move, he feels trapped as he stares this beast in its eyes. “W-what..” he gasps, as his mother wraps her arms around him. "Don't be afraid baby." She whispers, her words comforting him. "D-dad?" He stutters. His mother let's go of him, allowing him to walk up to his father, or the giant grey wolf standing before him. He hesitantly reaches out, placing his hand on his coarse fur. His father lowers his head, showing him it's okay and he won't hurt him. Now that he knew what was going to happen on his 16th birthday, he didn't really want it anymore. "Does it have to happen?" Junmyeon asks his father who was now back in his human form. "It does. It's both a blessing and a curse for our family." His father answers. "What if.. what if something happens to me? I'm not ready to die." Junmyeon whispers. "The moment you feel not like yourself, you tell me. I'll be with you every step of the way." His father smiles. "Now go get some sleep."   ** On Junmyeon's 16th birthday he woke up feeling strange. His body felt exhausted, his muscles, even his bones were sore. His throat was dry and his eyes burned. "Dad!" He yelled, still in bed. "Junmyeon?" His father asks, rushing into the room, his mother right behind him. "I don't feel good." He groans, sweat trickling down his skin. "It's starting." His father says. "Taeyeon, get the towels, ice water and meet us out back." His father demands, scooping Junmyeon in his arms to bring him to the backyard. "Dad.. I can't l." He yells, before his world goes dark. The next few hours, which to Junmyeon felt like days, he was in and out ubt of consciousness. All he could remember was pain. Bones snapping. Screaming in agony. The sound of skin tearing. His mother was crying. His father told him to hold on. When he awoke, his parents sat by his side, both with tears streaming down their faces. "Mom? Dad?" He croaks, his voice hoarse. "Jun?" His dad says, looking shocked. "My baby!" His mother cries, holding him tightly. "You did it, son. You made it through. It'll now get easier as time goes on." His dad says. "I'm proud of you my boy." And his father was right. It got easier and easier after every time he shifted. ** When he turned 21, he learned he was the alpha of his own pack, but he had to find the ones meant to be with him in his pack, and he had no idea how he was supposed to do that. It wasn't until he had run into a former close friend from high school, Minseok that he realized every wolf had a very distinct smell to them. "Are you?" He asked Minseok, raising his eyebrow in an attempt to be discreet. "Am I what?" Minseok asked, confused. "A wolf?" Junmyeon whispered. "How do you know?" Minseok asks, shocked. "Me too." Junmyeon laughs. "I feel like you're supposed to be with me." "I think so too." After that the rest came easily. The last one to join the pack, was the youngest, Sehun. He was going to University and surprisingly was one of the closer ones to Suho. His pack was finally completed after a year or so and now they could do what they wanted. Until, mates began rolling in. First was Chanyeol, and the Minseok and Yixing. ** The most recent person to meet their mate was Sehun and Junmyeon could tell exactly how head over heels he was for this girl. So much so, he had been planning to bring her over to meet everyone today. Junmyeon wouldn't admit it to anyone that he was jealous that some of his brothers had found their mates first. He had sort of expected to be one of the first, since he was the alpha but apparently that didn't matter. Junmyeon groaned as he crawled out of his bed. He could hear the chatter coming from downstairs, along with Baekhyun's squeals, so he assumed that Sehun's mate was here. It was only polite for him to introduce himself. He slipped on a shirt before shuffling his feet down the stairs. "And this is our leader, Junmyeon." A voice says. Junmyeon looks up as he walks into the living room, his eyes go from Sehun to you. You. You stood there with your plump lips, smooth skin, beautiful eyes and hair. You were perfect. You smelled delectable. Junmyeon could feel his cock harden as a faint growl erupted from his chest. He could faintly hear people talking in the background, but honestly he felt lost in your eyes. Lost in picturing a life together with you. Who were you? "Gemini mate." He heard Yixing say. So you had two mates. Who was the.. no. No. Not Sehun. He couldn't do that to him. Junmyeon tore his eyes from your intense gaze, only to find hurt and betrayal flooding into Sehun's eyes. "I didn't.. I don't.." Junmyeon stuttered. He didn't know what he could possibly say to make any of this okay. Nothing would help. It's not like he planned this, sometimes things happen, and it just so happens that you are Junmyeon's soulmate as well as Sehun. "I think we should talk." Junmyeon says, looking at Sehun and you. Sehun nods his head, storming out the back door. Junmyeon walks up to you, motioning for you to go first. He almost grazed your arm with his hand and he could feel the electricity even by just being that close to you. It was a feeling like no other, something that he already craved more of. "I think.." Junmyeon paused. "I think she and I should spend some time talking. This is all very sudden and new. We should try to figure some things out as soon as possible rather than later." "I agree." You say. He hadn't expected you to agree so quickly but maybe you were feeling as desperate as he was. "But I need to talk to Sehun for a minute first." You finish. "That's fine. I'll wait over there." Junmyeon says, walking away from you. He stood there watching you try to sooth Sehun. Your hand on his bicep made him slightly jealous. It was an unfamiliar feeling to him and he didn't like it. He felt a sense of relief when Sehun turned away from you, storming into the house and slamming the door. You walked towards Junmyeon with a sad look on your face. All he wanted to do was make you smile. "Are you okay?" Junmyeon asks you, turning to walk beside you into the forest. "Yeah..  it's just a lot to take in is all. He'll adjust to it, hopefully." You say, shrugging your shoulders. "Well, he doesn't really have a choice, if he wants to keep an amazing girl like you." Junmyeon whispers. "I'm not amazing." You chuckle. "You don't know me." You smile. That was true, he didn't but he was going too. Over the next few months, Junmyeon would find out all there was to know about you. All your likes and dislikes, your favorite things, the different expressions your face held when you felt different emotions. He loved you fiercely and showed it, but you loved him partially and it showed. Much to your surprise, Junmyeon noticed the lack of effort you put in with him compared to Sehun. He saw how different the way you acted with both of them was. If anyone would ask, they would a thousand percent know how much you loved Sehun, but with Junmyeon it was questionable. He just knew something bad was coming as you and Sehun drifted further away from him. He could hear you whispering at night about a plan but he never listened long enough to hear it. It hurt his heart far too much. On Sunday night he heard you yell that you and Sehun were going to take a walk in the woods, just them. There was no invite for Junmyeon, just a brief goodbye before they lovingly took off, hand intertwined, without a care for him. Junmyeon knew he probably shouldn't follow you, but he did anyway. He wanted to know what you were up to. As he kept his distance from you two, he began to recognize where you were going with Sehun. The witches. There was only one reason you would want to visit them. You were going to sever the connection between you and him. "Excellent, you're here. Which means you've made your final decision." The older witch says. You nod your head while your hand squeezes Sehun's. "A lock of his hair?" She questions. You reach into your pocket and pull out a small tuft of hair, his hair and hand it to the witch. "The tie will be broken immediately after I do this. Are you sure?" She asks. "Definitely." You breathe. "Elle.." Junmyeon starts, stepping out of the trees. "How could you?" "Jun.. I.." you stutter, your eyes wide. "I'm sorry. I love you, I do but it's not the same. It's not as deep or as passionate as with Sehun. I just can't do it anymore." You whisper. "Fine." He growls. "Do it." He said to the witch. "Do it!" "Junmyeon.." Sehun begins. "Don't." He snaps. "You are no longer my brother. And you, Elle, fuck you." Junmyeon snaps before clutching his chest and collapsing to the forest floor. ** Hours later Junmyeon awakens, still laying on the forest floor, with what feels like a small hole in his heart. He had always thought losing the connection of your mate was supposed to be agonizing, and unbearable, making you want to die. But it was bearable. He could breathe, got up with ease. What was happening? As he staggered through the woods in the opposite direction he was supposed too and accidently stumbled upon a beautiful waterfall. With an even more beautiful woman standing on a rock, back facing the water while you looked at him. His heart pounded so hard he thought it was going to burst through his chest any second. Everything about you was magnificent and his cock yearned for you. His hands ached to touch your body, his lips needed to be on you. And by the looks of how you were looking at him, you felt the same. Without a second thought, Junmyeon began walking towards you, his eyes staying right on you, not like he could look away even if he wanted. You were the most beautiful creature he had ever laid his eyes on. And then it clicked. You must be why his connection with Elle hadn't been as strong. She wasn't the one he was truly supposed to be with, if she was he wouldn't feel like he does right now. He would feel more heartache and desire for death than lust. "Hi." He says as he approaches you. "Hi mate." You giggle. Your laugh is infectious. "You are.. wow." He says, mesmerized by you. "Thank you." You smile, stepping down to face him. "So are you." Junmyeon sniffs the air, he can smell you soaking pussy without trying and it was driving him crazy. "You smell..phenomenal." "The only way you'll find out is by trying it" you smirk. You weren't wrong. From the moment you set your eyes on him, you wanted his cock buried so deep inside your pussy. You wanted to hear the sound of him moaning as he fucked you. Junmyeon stood in the middle of the forest, leaning against a large rock, staring at you. You slowly walk towards him until there's only a small space in between you. "You want me." He says. You nod your head. "I do." You whisper. "That's all I need." He growls, his lips crashing onto yours. Junmyeon's hands immediately wrap around your waist, pulling your body closer to his. You can feel the heat radiating from his body, the heavy need he has for you. Junmyeon breaks the kiss, moving his lips down your neck before making his way to your ear lobe, sucking for a second. You feel his hot breath against your neck as he whispers into your ear. "I can smell your dripping pussy." He growls. You can hear the low growl coming from his chest as he spins you around, your ass flush against his already semi hard cock. "You smell.." he pauses, slipping his hand in the wait of your skirt. "Delicious." He finishes, his forefinger moving in between your lips, gently grazing your clit. You throw your head back against his hard chest as he draws circles on your clit, causing your knees to feel like they might buckle. As your orgasm fastly approaches, Junmyeon reaches his other hand under your shirt, pulling it up along with your bra, exposing your breast. He takes two fingers and begins rolling your already perky nipple, making your body shudder in pleasure. "I think… I'm going to.. cum." You cry out. "That's it baby." He groans, his finger moving faster. Seconds later your knees buckle as your orgasm washes through your body. You can feel Junmyeon raging hard on pressing against your backside, almost instantly making you feel horny again.   He takes his finger from inside your pants, placing it inside his mouth to suck the cum off. "Mhmm" he groans. With a moan, you turn around to face him, dropping to your knees with your hands at the waist of his shorts, slowly pulling them down over his cock before allowing it to spring free. You began to drool ever so slightly at the sight of us thick cock. You wrap your hand around it, giving him a few pumps before you lean your head forward, kitten licking his tip, spreading the precum around before taking in as much of him as you could. Junmyeon throws his head back as you continue to pull him from your mouth before shoving it further down your throat. "Fuck." He hisses, reaching down to grab your arms and pull you up. His face is stone cold as he turns you around, bending you over the large rock causing your skirt to hike up over the curve of your ass. Junmyeon brings his hand back before swatting your ass a few times, making you jump. "Oh my god." He moans as he lines his cock into your entrance. He takes his time pushing himself in, stretching you out. Before he moves anymore, he let's you settle before proceeding to fuck you, hard. Junmyeon grips your hips, his fingertips digging into your skin as he rams his cock in and out of you. "Shit." You cry out, trying to hold on as he pounds you. "You feel so fucking good baby." He grunts. Junmyeon takes one hand from your hip to move to your head, grabbing a clump of hair before pulling your head back, sending shivers down your entire body. "Your tight pussy is gonna make me cum." He breathes. "I'm gonna pull out." "Cum.. in my pussy." You huff, needing to feel him fill you up, desperately wanting to have his cum drip from your pussy and down your leg when you walk back to the house. "Are you sure?" He asks, unable to hold on for much longer. "Yes, cum in my pussy." You cry out again. Junmyeon's grip on your hair and hip tighten as he releases himself into you, coating your walls with his cum. Releasing your hair, Junmyeon whispers a few apologies for pulling it too hard, but you assure him you enjoyed it far too much to complain at all. "Are you sure?" He chuckles, pulling himself out of you. "Absolutely." You smile, adjusting your skirt and your hair. Trying to make it look you hadn't just been fucked senseless, but there was no use. You were a mess. You could barely keep the tears in your eyes as you and Junmyeon laughed about your childhoods and how strangely similar they had been. He had never felt like this before, not even with Elle. He had just met you but instantly knew this is what it was supposed to feel like to have a mate. "Y/N?" You both hear from a distance. "Y/N?" You hear again. "Shit." You scramble, mumbling some kind of apology and telling him you'd make it up to him. "You don't even have my number.." he trailed off, once he had seen you disappear. Junmyeon wondered who had called to you and startled you so badly that you took off in an instant. Maybe your father? Or maybe it was your brother? He knew he would find out eventually. As he wandered back to the house, his mind briefly thought of Elle and Sehun, and he genuinely wished them nothing but the best, now. Had they not done what they did, he never would have found his one true mate. "Dude, where have you been!?" Minseok asked, running towards Junmyeon who was almost at the house. "Gather everyone. Family meeting." Junmyeon says, walking passed Minseok and into the house to wait. Once everyone sat down, he began to speak, until someone had asked where Sehun was. "Sehunno longer belongs to this pack." Junmyeon says straight out. He did his best to calm the yelling and questions so he could further explain. "He and Elle secretly went to have their mate ties with me severed. Left me in the woods once it was complete." He says. "That's all there is to say about the situation, no one brings it up again." He murmurs, leaving the group of confused boys in the living room while he goes to his room. That night he happily dreamt about you. When he woke in the morning he wished he could just wrap his arms around you and never let you go. And he planned on it. That day he went back into the forest, back to the waterfall and waited. ** A few hours later, he's startled awake by the sound of footsteps coming closer. "Hey you." You smile, walking up to Junmyeon and crawling into his lap. "Hey." He smiles, nuzzling his face into your neck, inhaling as much of you as he could. What happened yesterday completely slipped his mind, all he could concentrate on was the fact that you were now back in his arms and he felt like he could breathe again. "So about yesterday.." you pause. "Mhm." He responds. "That was my boyfriend who was yelling for me.." you whisper. He had not been expecting that. Junmyeon pulls his head from your neck, giving you a confused look. "You have a boyfriend?" He asked, thinking back to him ramming his cock in your pussy, and you not once mentioning that. But in reality, it didn't matter anymore. Once true mates found each other, nothing was supposed to come in between the connection. "Had a boyfriend. I ended it last night." You tell him with a smile. "How did he take it?" Junmyeon asks, pretending not to care. "He knew about my mate. I was honest with him from the very beginning. He was okay with it. He wished us the best and moved on." You smiled at him. Something about that did not sit right with Junmyeon. What kind of man just accepts it, regardless of mate status? "How long were you together?" Junmyeon questions. "Over a year." You answer. "But it was never a serious thing." Something definitely wasn't right. "But now I have you, forever." You whisper, pressing yourself into him more. "Not here." Junmyeon chuckles. "Come see your new home." "My new home?" You ask, looking shocked. "Well you're moving in, aren't you?" He asks. "I've only known you for not even two days." You protest with a laugh. "True, but we're going to be together no matter what, there is no one else. It's you and me baby." Junmyeon smiles. "Move in and you can meet the guys." "You know what? Okay!" You laugh. "Yeah?" He smiles. "Yeah." You answer, placing your lips on his. Junmyeon excitedly stood up, bringing you with him before throwing you over his shoulder and running as fast as he could towards the house. He couldn't wait for everyone to meet you.   "Guys!" He yells, walking through the kitchen door with you still over his shoulder. "This is Y/N." He says, placing you on the ground, facing everyone. Everyone comes to say hi to you, and much to Junmyeon's relief, you didn't seem to be connected to anyone else besides him, and for that he was very thankful. Once all the introductions had finished, he picked you up once again, and took you upstairs to his room, which was now also your room. "We can go get your stuff if you want?" He asks. "I need to tell my parents I'm leaving." You pout. "Come with me and then we can pack?" You ask. "Deal." He smiles as you grab his hand and pull him back downstairs and out the door. Junmyeon couldn't believe how lucky he got with you. ** Over the next 5 months, the two of you were inseparable as expected. Almost every night Junmyeon took you on a date and when that was done, took you home and fcuked you hard, like he always should. You swore you would never get tired of that man, and you wouldn't. "Wear something special tonight." Junmyeon tells you, as the two of you lay in his bed at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. "Mhmm.. what's the occasion?" You ask, rolling onto your back, which made your breast fall out from your oversized tank top. "It's a surprise." Junmyeon groans, scooting himself down before cupping your exposed breast and wrapping his lips around your nipple to suck. "Oh." You smile with a moan as he sucks for a few more seconds. "Baby." He smirks after letting your nipple go with a pop."I can smell your pussy from here." He groans. "All for you babe." You smile. Junmyeon sits up before he rips the blankets from you, and spreads your legs open for you. You clumsily pull your shirt up, giving him free access to whatever he wanted. Junmyeon spreads your lips open with two fingers, licking your soaked pussy with the flat of his tongue. You try to hold it in but you can't, you let out a loud gasp as your eyes roll back into your head while Junmyeon continues to lick long strokes up your pussy, teasing you. "Please. I need more." You whine, bucking your hips in an attempt to meet his tongue for more. "Greedy baby." Junmyeon chuckles, diving back in but this time wrapping his lips around your clit to suck while inserting three fingers into your pussy. You back arches as he continues to hit the right spot with every suck, and with every pump. "Cock.. cock.." you cry. "I need you cock." You moan. Junmyeon has no hesitation to stop what he's doing. He sits up, pulling his hard cock from the inside of his sweat pants before pushing himself into you without waiting. You both let out a loud moan as his cock stretches you out, filling you up completely. "Fuck me." You cry. Junmyeon chuckles as he slowly pulls his cock out of you before ramming back inside you, repeatedly. Your hands grip the bed sheets tightly as he grips your ankles to fuck you senseless. "Clit." You cry out, your orgasm almost there, but just needing a little extra help. Junmyeon reaches his fingers in between your lips again, rubbing your clit as he pounds you. "Fuck your pussy feels so good." He grunts. "You gonna cum all over my cock baby?" He moans, watching you squirm beneath him. "Yes.. Oh God yes.." you scream, your legs begin to shake as you cum, hard. Your body twitchs while your eyes roll back. Junmyeon keeps relentlessly fucking you, desperately chasing his own release. "Fuck." He yells, spilling himself inside you, slowing down his thrusts while he pours every last bit into your pussy. Junmyeon lays on top of you for a moment, catching his breath when a frantic knock is placed on the door. "Jun.." he can hear Minseok. "Sorry to bother you, but it's urgent. There's been an intruder seen on the grounds. You need to come on perimeter since there's no one else here." "Okay, I'll be out in a minute." Junmyeon calls Minseok, pulling himself out of you. "Sorry baby." He whispers. "All good my love. I'll just be here, getting ready." You smile. "I love you." You whisper, placing a small kiss on his lips. "Always and forever." He says before getting up to get dressed and head out. Junmyeon walks out his front door, going to meet with Minseok at the edge of the forest, thinking about how lucky he is to have you, before he turns himself into a wolf, and heads out to protect you and the house. ** Five hours, and no one found later, Junmyeon arrives back at the house. Minseok had told him he was heading out for the night and to have fun on his date with you. Oh did he plan on it. Junmyeon walked into the kitchen, smiling as he opened the drawer that contained something very special. A ring. Not just any ring, no. The one that was passed down from generations to generations in your family. He had been lucky enough to receive it as a gift from your grandma. He tucked it back in its special spot, waiting to put it in his pocket until before the two of you left. As he walked up the stairs, he heard the shower running and he couldn't believe you were only showering now. It had been hours since he left. "Baby, why are you not.." paused, looking around the room. The dress you had planned on wearing was still laid out on the bed, along with the jewelry and shoes you had decided to go with it. He looked towards the bathroom, where steam filled the small room, even with the door open. "Babe?" He called out, praying you'd be in there. But you weren't. Instead there was a puddle of blood, along with writing on the wall, in what looked like was the blood. 'Mates are sinners' it read. Junmyeon felt like he couldn't breathe. Not you. You were his true love, his everything and now you were gone. Vanished without a trace. But he will find you. He storms out of the room and down the stairs, phasing into his wolf from the second he gets outside. He could faintly smell the odor of someone unrecognizable. He followed the scent for an hour, until he couldn't pick it up again. In the middle of the forest, he collapsed onto the leaves, muttering what he saw on the wall. 'Mates are sinners.' He whispered. "I don't get it." "That's the saying of the Mated serial killer. He hunts and kills our supernatural kind mates. According to him, it goes against everything." A man says from behind Junmyeon. "Who are you?" He asks. "Do Kyungsoo, Vampire SSF." He says. "Supernatural Special Forces." He says, clearing it up. "I've been after this fucker for a long time." "I think he took my mate." Junmyeon admits, looking Kyungsoo in the eyes while his are bloodshot, and filling with tears. "Our luck she's still alive, and you're going to help me put this fucker away." Kyungsoo smiles. Junmyeon stands up, shaking Kyungsoo's hand and agreeing. He would go to the ends of the earth to find you. The hunt is on.

[auror-lovie]

I Loved You, Mr. Scamander; Ending 1 Part 2

━━━•✦.✧. Author’s Note.✧.✦•━

WAIT Y’ALL ACTUALLY LIKE VICTORIA???

PLOT TWIST!

━━━━━•✦.✧. Summary .✧.✦•━

Victoria always thought that writing out her feelings would make them disappear. And it worked!... Until Paris. When she returned home, she reread the letters she wrote about them.

━━━━━•✦.✧. Add-Ons .✧.✦•━

TW; SELF HARM: Picking at skin

THETORIA  (Theseus/Victoria) SUBTEXT (If you don’t want to read this then just click away)

━━━━━━•✦.✧.☾.✧.✦•━━━━━

After what happened in Paris, Victoria decided to take a break from working in the Ministry. She had just lost so much that it was taking a toll on her. Years of emotional baggage, finally released but at what cost? Her leaving the people she loved?

Yeah. That idea sounded better in her head.

A year away from the Ministry made her realize how mundane the muggle world was. In that year, she put her wand back in its box that Ollivander gave her all those years ago and put that box in a trunk that stayed in her closet. She distanced herself from the wizarding world, only keeping tabs via The Daily Prophet. 

Though she thought the muggle world was a bit mundane, she found herself falling in love with the muggle world, despite its flaws.

She needed income if she was going to keep living in that flat. So Victoria had cut her hair and started wearing men's clothing. She managed to charm her identification card to present herself as a male and got a job as a bartender.

When she wasn’t at work, she often strolled through the parks. Reading a book, thinking, or just… observing. Muggles were like wizards- possibly more advanced than they were. They had their own problems, their own battles, their own wars to fight.

Then she’d return home. Home to the flat that she shared with (Y/N). Even though she knew (Y/N) was gone, it didn’t stop Victoria from announcing that she was home. Old habits die hard.

“(Y/N)... I’m home…” Victoria whispered.

No answer. 

Victoria closed the door to her flat and walked over to the couch. She sat down and eyed a small box that sat on the coffee table in front of her. It was like the box was taunting her to open it, but if she were, the memories of her curse would reveal itself.

Her curse? She loved people too much.

She had put so much love into the world without expecting the world to reciprocate. She’s had many infatuations, but those died out within weeks or a month after she realized her affections.

There were only people in Victoria’s life that she ever truly loved, but due to circumstances, she only allowed herself to love them from afar. Hesitantly, she opened a small box. This box contained the letters to all the people she’s ever loved- not like she’d ever let those people read it. Opening the box, she picked up and opened the first letter her fingers touched…

Newt.

Wednesday 02 December 1908

Newton,

I’m writing this because I’m in love with you. I fell in love with your unfailing kindness. You were so kind to me and (Y/N). You were kind to the creatures you loved so much and I have a feeling that you’ll continue to hold this kindness. For your mind, as brilliant as it is, cannot comprehend extreme levels of cruelty or evil. You don’t have a wicked bone in your body, and I think that's something that we can all aspire to have.

Where kindness exists, generosity usually follows. My love, you have proven this quality in multitudes, as you are generous with your time and energy in taking care of us and your beloved creatures. Adding to that, your kindness and generosity lead to loyalty. Whether you are aware of it or not, you’re incredibly loyal to those you hold close- and I can’t help but be drawn to that.

Now, the other students would call you "weird". You are NOT weird- far from it. You love what you love, and you’re not going to apologize to anyone for it. With a mad twinkle in your eye, you lead us into a world of magical creatures with a sly smile.

Simply put, you’re a Hufflepuff through and through. You are hard-working, kind, generous, and selfless — with a touch of madness, and extreme loyalty all included. And for that, I love you. I just wish I could tell you, but (Y/N) loves you too.

And her happiness comes before mine.

- Victoria

She sighed and put Newt’s letter back into the envelope. Victoria picked up and opened the next letter.

(Y/N).

Wednesday 16 November 1910

(Y/N),

The most kindhearted Ravenclaw I’ve ever met. I think you deserve the world, yet somehow I don’t think you always see that. But I want you to know, I often find myself wondering what I did to deserve you.

You taught me what a soulmate really is, and I wouldn’t be able to survive without having you in my life. You come into people’s lives with a purpose and you change them. You make every single person around you better, without even realizing it.

You light up every room and lift every single person around you. You get to know the ones you hold close down to their very core, even when they’re hard to get to know. I would know- I was really closed off when we first met.

I could use up so many pieces of parchment, declaring my love for you but you don’t need that from me. You’re so in love with Newt. I can see it in your eyes. When we have Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw joint classes, you’re running over to his side. When we enter the Great Hall, you’re looking for him.

It hurts my heart to see you cry or be sad over Newt. Half of me tells you, “Everything will be okay. Just tell him when you’re ready”. What the other half of me really wants to say is “If he can’t see your worth now, then he doesn’t deserve it ever.” But you love Newt with all your heart and I wouldn’t dare get in the way of your happiness.

I love you, (Y/N). And I think I always will.

-Vi

Victoria hadn’t realized the tears forming in her eyes until a tear dropped onto the letter. She sniffled, wiping her eyes with her free hand. “Okay (Y/N), I’ve taken my break. I’m coming back to the Ministry… to get you back.”

•✦.✧.☾.✧.✦•

A year was long enough. It was long enough to heal- to move on.

She returned to the Ministry. Walking into the main hall, she made her way to the Minister of Magic’s office.

“Miss Howard, are you sure you want to return? I am aware of your loss and if you don’t want to continue working for us, then I completely understand.” The Minister of Magic, Hector Fawley, asked.

Victoria nodded, “Yes, sir. I’m sure.”

“Alright then. You came in at the right time. I believe Travers and Scamander are with the others. Follow me.” Fawley informed, standing from his desk.

She tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, despite her hair still being short. It was a force of habit she wasn’t able to break due to her anxiety. “Of course.”

Fawley guided her to the meeting room she knew all too well. She could hear Theseus’ voice through the door. Fawley gave no warning before he entered the room. “Travers, Mr. Scamander, I apologize for the interruption, but I do have an announcement to make. An Auror is coming out of… “retirement” to join your ranks.”

Victoria could hear his introduction spiel and picked at her cuticles. Her foot tapped impatiently. Fawley didn’t have to publicly announce her return. A nice private meeting would’ve been nice.

“Well, where is he?” Travers’ voice echoed.

Victoria stared at the door and gulped. Was she ready to face them again? Was she ready to face him?

“How bold of you to assume it’s a man joining you today,” Fawley replied. “Come on, Howard. Don’t keep your fellow Aurors waiting.”

Theseus’ head snapped up, looking at the doors. ‘Howard?’

She let out a shaky sigh before entering the meeting room. Eyes immediately darted to her. Her eyes met Theseus’ for just a moment before she focused on the bookshelf behind him.

Travers scoffed. “You can obviously tell that this Auror is a male.”

Victoria cringed. She felt her hands curl up into fists. Her knuckles turned white and small crescent moons were starting to form on her palm. It took everything in her power to not punch her superior. She exhaled deeply, unclenching her fists.

Theseus looked at the Auror that made their way into the meeting room. He looked down at their hands- Victoria now picking at her cuticles again. “Victoria?” Theseus asked to confirm his theory.

She looked back at him and nodded. “Hello.”

~*~*~

After a long day filled with meetings and settling back in, Victoria was exhausted and couldn’t wait to go back home. Once she organized the last file a soft knock was at her door.

“Come in!” She said, a small yawn following it.

“Victoria. Ah- hello again.” Theseus greeted as he entered her office. “Hope you’re settling in nicely.”

“You know, Scamander, you don’t have to tread lightly around me. I did my time. I asked for space and all of you respected that.” Victoria said, putting on her blazer as she walked to the entrance to her office.

Theseus cleared his throat. “T-That’s good. You heading home?”

Victoria nodded, “Of course! I can’t sleep in my office… unlike some people.” She teased.

“May I walk you home?”

Victoria looked at her watch. “Hmm… Since you’re offering. Sure.”

The walk consisted of them catching up. He asked about her new hairstyle and what she’d been doing for the past year.

“I like it. It’s cute. Now you can’t hide your face behind your hair whenever I make fun of you.” He said, ruffling her hair.

“Yeah, yeah. You’ll mess up my hair no matter the length.” Victoria laughed, lightly whacking his hand away.

When they arrived at her place, Theseus looked around. Despite (Y/N) not living here, it seemed that she still did.

“Make yourself at home. I’m just going to change out.” She said, pointing to the couch before walking to her room.

Theseus walked to the couch and sat down. He looked around to see the photos of her and (Y/N) ranging from their Hogwarts years to the present.

He then looked at the box that sat in front of her. That box held three letters. He knew it would be rude to read them, but something was just calling out to him. So he slowly opened the box and took out the letters.

At first, he smiled when he saw that the letters were for Newt, him, and (Y/N). Then when he read Newt’s letter, something changed. He was confused. ‘Since when did she love Newt? Wait, she loved (Y/N)?’

Theseus was anxious to read his letter but proceeded anyway. As he read his letter, his heart was filled with mixed emotions.

He read aloud the last paragraph, “And all those times you made me smile and laugh, I fell in love with you. I hoped and prayed to whatever celestial being that could hear me. I wanted you to love me too, but you were already in love with (Y/N). No matter how many times you denied it, I saw it in your eyes. You have the same tells as your brother. I know because I loved him too at one point, so I noticed things. I’ve said it many times over the years and I’ll say it again, her happiness and well-being will always come before mine.”

“I loved you, Theseus Scamander,” Theseus whispered as if to keep that to himself.

Victoria gasped from behind him. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”

He scoffed. “Apparently, I wasn’t the only one with a letter. Newt and (Y/N) got one too? Did they get to read their letter? Were you ever going to tell me?” He asked, standing up and turning to face her with all three letters in his hand.

“No! They didn’t. And you weren’t supposed to read them either. I was planning on not telling any of you” Victoria bit the inside of her cheek.

“Then why did you write them?” He asked, setting the letters back on the table.

“I was afraid of rejection. It was obvious that you and Newt fell in love with (Y/N). So when I wrote the letters, it was me saying “I love them and I’m aware that they won’t love me as I do them”. And in writing those letters, I laid out how I felt and from there I forced myself to move on.” Victoria explained.

Theseus stared in shock.

“Look, I’m not asking you to love me back in any way, shape, or form.” She sighed, picking at her skin.

“Victoria-”

“J-Just go. I know I invited you in here, but you need to go… Please.”

Theseus observed her actions and it didn’t seem like it was going to stop. “Victoria, you’re going to end up hurting yourself!” He said, walking over to her and quickly grabbing her hands.

“Theseus… Please just go. You read the damn letters. You know now.” Victoria cried.

He shook his head. “Not when you’re hurting like this. I’m not going to leave you alone.”

“But what about Leta?”

“We broke it off. We decided that getting together during a time like this would probably do more harm than good.” He said, holding her hands.

“Oh… I’m sorry…” She whispered.

“We can talk about that later. I’m staying to promise you something.”

She raised a brow. “Last time you promised me something, you broke it.”

“Well, I intend on keeping this one.”

“Then out with it, Scamander! I’m not getting any younger.” She joked, sniffling softly.

“I’m going to help you find her. I’m going to stay by your side and support you for as long as you want me to. I want to see a day where you’re not harming yourself due to stress or anxiety.”

“Then stay.”

And he did.