#but yeah my brain was giggling about them having similar names and being white haired elves

[cyazurai]

All of my current legacies have name themes... so naturally, my brain goes "name a set of twin boys Astarion and Estinien hehehehehe." And now I'm going, do I need to do this in Spare Parts? Or am I supposed to make a new legacy? Huh, brain? Which is it??

[whatifyoulivelikethat]

closeted | jjk

pairing(s): jungkook x reader

summary: Jeon Jungkook doesn't like you and you don't like him. Your friends and his friends decide enough is enough and they lock you in a closet together to settle your differences. Mhm.

warnings: language; implied slut-shaming; alcohol consumption; fuckboy?Jungkook x (technically noona) fuckgirl?reader, ft all other BTS members being... helpful? lol; enemies-to-lovers

–

“Jeon Jungkook? I don’t really have any thoughts about him. Isn’t he kind of a fuckboy?”

“Oh, her? Ah, there’s nothing to say really. Doesn’t she like to mess around?”

Those were your opinions about each other, which was now why both you and Jeon Jungkook were stuck in a closet in Kim Taehyung’s parents’ house.

“Taehyung, let us out right now!”

“Not until you two stop hating each other!” announced the booming, baritone voice of Kim Taehyung on the other side of the door, slightly tipsy and yelling over the loud music.

“We don’t hate each other,” came the silvery growl behind you. Jungkook shoved you slightly to the side so he could slam his fist against the heavy wood. You scowled, jerking away from his touch. “Stop being stupid and open the door.” His short ponytail at the back of his head swayed as he tried to shoulder the door, only for you to hear more bodies press against it.

“Nuh uh, Jungkookie,” Park Jimin snickered, sounding drunker than Taehyung even though the two of them had probably consumed the same amount. “Can’t muscle pig your way outta this one.”

Taehyung and Jimin burst into giggles on the other side of the door as Jungkook fumed next to you, long black bangs flaring as he clicked his tongue and rolled the sleeves of his black sweatshirt up, eyes narrowed, jaw tense.

You threw up your hands as Jungkook backed up and ran into the door with a loud thunk!

Nothing except Jimin, Taehyung, and squeaky laughter adding to the mix.

“We don’t even talk to each other,” you muttered as Jungkook shook his head vigorously and prepared to rear up again like a stubborn horse.

“And that’s the problem!” Kim Seokjin tittered in between bursts of laughter. “We’re all friends, except the two of you that like to pretend the other one is a fucking tree rather than an actual person.”

Jungkook collided with the door again and the single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling flickered ominously.

“Who cares?” Jungkook roared, throwing his head back and pushing his hair away from his face with two hands. You rolled your eyes as he smacked the closet door.

“We do,” said a fourth, trying to be the voice of slurred reason. “In order for our shared friend group to have harmony, we two should work out your differences in a civil, dignified manner and discuss the root of your negative relationship.” You made a face and glanced at Jungkook, who made a similar confused expression. How much did Kim Namjoon drink? He sounded like a drunk philosopher.

“Locked in a closet is not civil, Namjoon,” you pointed out.

“Yeah, but it’s funnier,” Jung Hoseok laughed cheerfully, knocking on the door. “You two good in there? Not ripping off each other’s heads yet?”

“We don’t hate each other,” Jungkook repeated, giving up on fighting the door now that five people were holding it down. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“What’s the reason then?”

“Huh?” you shouted through the door. Jungkook rolled his eyes at you and you rolled your eyes back.

“What is,” Taehyung repeated, slower this time, emphasizing each syllable. “The reason that you guys are so hostile towards each other?”

“Did he eat some snacks you hid one time?” Seokjin piped up. “Because that would piss me off too.”

“That already pisses you off, hyung,” Jimin cut in. “You always bring it up.”

“Because he does it all the time! No matter where I hide them!”

“Your hiding places a pretty bad, hyung.”

“Namjoon! You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“Eh?”

“The side of reason and being right!”

“Hah…”

Jungkook clicked his tongue again and shoved his hands into his loose cotton pants. They were black and white striped and looked more like pajamas than actual pants. He hadn’t even bothered to get dressed to hang out with his friends. What a weirdo. You sighed, looking away, staring at the wall instead. Why look at Jeon Jungkook? Everyone looked at Jeon Jungkook. You didn’t need to add to that ego.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“Why are you wearing hyung’s shirt?”

You glared at him from your periphery. He was leaning against the wall, hunched over, glaring back.

“First of all, this is my shirt,” you snapped. “Second of all, they’re all your hyungs. Be more specific. And third of all, Yoongi only borrowed it because he said he was cold and this was one of the few things that fit him.”

Jungkook shoved his tongue into his cheek, looking at your black-on-black long-sleeved shirt with a moon tarot card design. He narrowed his dark eyes, giving you a piercing stare. You ran a hand through your hair, cocking your head away from him haughtily.

“Yeah, but you knew which hyung I was talking about.”

“Because only one of them has borrowed this shirt, idiot.”

“That’s not very nice,” Hoseok chided from the other side of the door. “No name calling in there!”

“You’re not very nice,” you retorted at the door, suddenly remembering that they were out there listening. In fact, one of the loons had turned down the music so the five of them could hear the exchange better. Mature of them.

“Why don’t you two say something you like about the other?” Namjoon suggested. “Compliments might help lessen the tension.”

Your eyes shifted to Jungkook’s clenched jaw, a vein popping on his neck. Yeah, okay. He noticed you looking and you jerked your head away, staring at the wall again.

“This is stupid. Why do we have to do this?” you complained.

“You look pretty good from the back.”

You flinched, irritation rising. Did he just–?

“For an older lady, that is.”

A muscle in your eye twitched. “Yeah, well, every guy says I look good from the rear view.”

“That’s not a compliment, Jungkook,” a deep, raspy voice from the bottom of the door.

Jungkook lifted himself off the wall, making a noise of surprise. “Yoongi-hyung? How long have you been there?”

“The whole time,” Jimin giggled. “He’s been pretending to be asleep.”

“I can’t sleep anyway,” Min Yoongi grumbled. “You guys are loud as fuck.”

“Nah, you just wanted to listen to the shitshow of these two,” Taehyung teased. There was the sound of a hand smacking of a shoulder and a disgruntled grunt at the bottom of the door.

Seokjin called your name loudly. “Yah! You haven’t said anything, backhanded or not!”

You grimaced and glanced at Jungkook again. He still looked surprised and, for a single second, you thought he looked pretty cute with his big round dark brown eyes and parted pink lips in an ‘o’. For a single second, he didn’t seem like that ‘hot guy’ that literally everyone, not just women, but men too, everyone was head-over-heels in love with, Jeon Jungkook, ‘hot guy’ with tattoos and a handsome face.

Blech.

You shifted your eyes away and stared at the corner. “I guess you might not have only one brain cell. Maybe you have two or three.”

“Ooh, nice, that’s a great one,” Jimin agreed behind the door. “Three is being generous, noona, well done.”

“Shut up, Jimin-ssi.”

Ugh, this shit was so dumb. And what kind of closet was this anyway? It was full of coats. A lot of them were more neutral colors, but there was the occasional muted jewel tone. Why did Taehyung’s family need this many coats and why was this closet on the upper floor? Some of them were neatly tucked in clear plastic covers. Oh. Probably to prevent them from getting moth holes, huh.

“Why do you hate me, anyway?” Jungkook muttered. “I’ve never done anything to you.”

“I don’t hate you. I just don’t like you,” you huffed.

“Why not? What did I do?” he sighed, reaching over and placing his hand on your shoulder.

You whipped your head around, narrowing your eyes. “Don’t touch me.”

He removed his hand, backing up with his hands in the air. “Whoa, okay, jeez. It’s just kind of hard to talk to you when your back is to me.”

“Hmph, why? Precious Jungkookie wants attention? Wants everyone to dote over him and love him?” you mocked in disgust, crossing your arms.

He twisted his lips. “… distracting, that’s all,” he mumbled.

“Hah?” You leaned forward, raising an eyebrow. “You forget how to talk?”

Jungkook looked away from you, frowning. “Sometimes, yeah. You’re kind of pretty.”

You blinked at him. What? You didn’t expect him to say that.

“In some lights, anyway.” He pointed up. “This one is pretty dim, like you.”

That was more like it. “Takes one to know one.”

His eyes shifted back to you. “What? A pretty person to spot pretty?”

You growled and scoffed, rolling your eyes. “See, this is why I can’t talk to you. You’re so full of yourself. All you ever do is think about is showing off how much better you are. How cool you are.”

“That’s because that’s all they ever talk about.”

You paused at his downcast tone. Your eyes drifted from the wall to his face. Jungkook wasn’t looking at you. His eyes were on the ground and he was rubbing the back of his head, frowning.

“I envy the way others talk about me. They always have such a perfect image pictured.” He inhaled deeply, slumping against the wall again. “It’s hard to live up to the picture everyone has of me in their head. Sometimes I don’t even want to try anymore so they give up and leave me alone.”

What?

His dark eyes shifted to you, half-shrouded by his long dark hair, tan skin glowing even in this dim closet light.

“I envy you,” he snapped, irritated edge to his voice. “I know you hear all that crazy shit they say about you, but you do whatever you want anyway. People call you a slut and you just invite all the hyungs over to your place and watch movies all night. People say you dress weird and you show up in big fur coats and wacky t-shirts and knee-high boots. People say you don’t know what you’re doing, but you can calculate your change faster than the cashier with the fucking computer.”

You gawked at him; jaw slightly slack. It took you a second to collect yourself. “It’s… not that hard. It’s basic math.”

“Hmph, yeah, well, I suck at math,” Jungkook muttered. “I’m not smart like Namjoon-hyung.”

“You’re good at a lot of things, Jungkook.”

“Like what?” he accused, putting you on the spot.

“Uh… you can draw. Namjoon draws like a five-year-old.”

Jungkook snorted. “Taehyung can draw.”

You raised an eyebrow. Honorifics, where? “Not realistically like you can. It’s a different style. Weirder.”

“I’m not weird,” Taehyung said through the door, voice half-muffled.

“Yeah, you are,” Jungkook replied without looking away from you.

“You’re kind of like an alien. In a good way,” Jimin added hastily.

“You’re kind of like an idiot,” Taehyung shot back.

Slapping sounds ensued outside the door.

Jungkook scratched his head, messing up his black hair. “I’m just saying I wish I was a little more like you sometimes.” He coughed. “Only sometimes.”

You ran a hand through your hair. “Well, I kind of wish I was like you sometimes,” you admitted, looking away from him. “I wish people would say nice things about me like they do for you. I wish people would praise me without reason. I wish people would fall in love with me like how they fall in love with you, without even knowing you.” You scoffed bitterly, flicking a hand carelessly. “Instead, they just play pretend and mess with my feelings because they think I’m easy.”

You left out a heavy sigh, weight off your chest. You hadn’t meant to say all that, but oh well. It was out there now.

So dumb.

“Then, when they find out I’m not, it’s my fault for some stupid reason. Like it’s my fault you painted this fake picture of me in your head.”

You felt something touch your outstretched hand. You jumped, seeing Jungkook’s right hand touching your fingertips, hand ink standing out against his flexed fingers. You almost pulled back. Almost. Then you caught the look in his eyes and stopped, mesmerized by the seriousness in his dark brown orbs.

“I meant it when I said you were pretty,” he whispered, barely audible.

Your eyes widened.

Your pulse raced through your veins.

“You… you said only in some lights,” you whispered back.

Jungkook lifted himself off the wall. One step. Two steps, towards you. You could have backed up. You could have slapped his hand away and yelled at Taehyung some more to let you out. Men were stupid. They ain’t shit. They play with your feelings and only want to use you. Dudes are just fuckboys.

Except Jungkook confirmed he wasn’t, just now.

And you confirmed you weren’t the female equivalent of a fuckboy – a fuckgirl?

For some reason, that made this different now.

This moment.

Jungkook looked down at you, tilting his head, brown eyes curious. You spread your fingers a little more and laced them with his, pressing your fingertips against the back of his hand as he pressed his against yours. You tilted your head the other way as he leaned down.

“I said you’re pretty in some lights,” he breathed. “You’re beautiful in all of them.”

He stopped just above your lips.

Pausing.

You lifted yourself up to close the gap, holding his hand tightly.

Mouth to mouth, resuscitating something that was almost dead because of misunderstandings and surface judgements, whispers and rumors clouding the truth, because everybody talks, everybody talks, everybody talks… too much.

For some reason, you expected Jungkook to smell musky or woodsy, something manly, but, in actuality, his cologne was light and sweet, barely there, like a fresh summer’s breeze. It was you that smelled more intense, your coffee and cream perfume mixing with his fruity scent, dominating a little, just like how you pressed harder into his soft lips, capturing them, surprised that was pleasant, almost sweet but with a hint of spice, the tip of his tongue teasingly brushing against your lips, and you drew back, narrowing your eyes at him.

He smiled a little, squeezing your hand lightly.

“That was nicer than I thought,” he murmured.

“You’re not that bad yourself,” you muttered, frowning a little at the heat rising in your cheeks.

“You guys still alive in there?” Yoongi asked gruffly from the ground, his voice drifting under the door.

“Did they kill each other? Should we open the door?” Seokjin wondered.

The doorknob began to turn.

Jungkook started and reached for the door.

You jumped and reached for the door.

A thin crack of light appeared.

Your hands intertwined, grabbing the doorknob and yanking it closed before it could fully open, both swiftly locking the door together with a firm click. The doorknob shook, confused noises on the other side of the wood.

Jungkook stared at you, brown eyes wide. “I… I just… thought we were getting somewhere,” he whispered under his breath.

You scratched your cheek with your free hand. “Yeah… we were getting somewhere... with this.”

The doorknob rattled violently.

“Excuse me, you two?” Taehyung shouted through the door. “Why the fuck is the door locked?”

“Uh…” you started.

“It’s jammed,” Jungkook shouted back.

“Nope, it’s definitely locked. I heard it,” Yoongi said from the floor.

“That bastard,” Jungkook hissed quietly, stepping closer to you.

“Why is it locked?” Jimin accused, sounding peeved. “Hmm? You two doing some naughty stuff?”

“Scandalous,” Seokjin and Hoseok gasped in unison.

Jungkook glanced at you and you shrugged, mouthing, maybe? He mouthed back, I thought you weren’t easy. You chuckled, speaking softly to his chin.

“We already spent all that time being hostile to each other.”

“So, you admit to the hostility.”

“Sure, if it helps your delicate baby brain sleep at night.”

His free arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you to his chest, kissing you again, holding your hand tightly, muttering against your lips, you’re kind of annoying, and you muttering back, you’re actually annoying, and him smiling between gentle kisses.

“I have to find the key, fuck, what the hell are they doing in there?”

“Are you sure you wanna know Taehyung?” Yoongi yawned from the ground. “What if you open the door and you’re scarred for life?”

“They were supposed to find common ground, not get handsy!” Taehyung shouted back, bounding away with Jimin’s disapproving sigh following. In the closet, Jungkook let go of your hand, kneading your waist as you wrapped your arms around him, both of your hands on his broad back, moaning softly into his lips as he sighed into yours, the kisses more audible now, hands exploring as Yoongi sat outside the door, clicking his tongue knowingly.

“You’re handsome, huh,” you breathed against his kisses.

“In some lights?” he teased.

You laughed, slipping your hands under his black sweatshirt, running your fingertips on his skin, making him gasp into your kisses.

“Yeah, in some lights.”

Outside the closet, Yoongi and Namjoon sat side by side, Seokjin and Hoseok long gone from secondhand embarrassment. The sounds from the closet were escalating, clothes rustling a little too much for two people who supposedly hated each other. But, as Yoongi and Namjoon discussed calmly, there were plenty of signs that indicated that those weren’t their true feelings.

“If you think about it, they’re a good fit,” Namjoon chuckled, amused as he heard Jungkook yelp. “This whole stuck in the closet thing was more fruitful than I thought.”

Yoongi laughed, raspy and full.

“Why do you think I suggested it?”

--

masterpost

[realcube]

'you're..you're wearing that-' he hesitated, swallowing the lump forming in his throat, 'for me?'

navi | taglist | nsfw part two

summary ➵ on your first date with tamaki, he’s already wondering why you romanticise a guy like himself

content warning ➵ reader wear make-up, a dress and the accessories pictured above, very insecure! tamaki, mild angst & fluff

credit ➵  thank you to @suneater18​ for the request and the pics belongs to hippieartesanatos

the moonlight penetrated through the sombre clouds which waved overhead, creating a picturesque night sky for you to admire on your date; as if the heavens were smiling down upon you, congratulating you for scoring such a nice guy.  

well, at least, that is what you would’ve thought if your date was sooner to start. currently, you were shuffling on a park bench, fidgeting with your phone as your eyes flickered between the screen and the gorgeous sight above you, anticipating when your date will finally arrive so you can admire it together.

however, twenty minutes had passed since nine o’clock — the time you had both agreed to meet each other at — yet you were still sitting alone, tamaki no where to be seen. what make it even worse was that he was ghosting all your messages and calls. 

perhaps it was the first-date jitters speaking but there was a voice lurking in the back of your head, whispering that you have been stood-up. however, you were too ashamed to just get up and leave now, so you figured that you may as well call your friend and ask them to join you.

your eyes burned with tears which you choked back as your fingers worked on their own to search your contacts for your friend’s number. there was a part of you that believed you were being to hasty but you truly couldn’t bare to just sit here and act ‘hopeful’ any longer. with shaky hands, you tapped your friend’s contact as your thumb hovered over the phone icon.

“(y/n)!” 

you froze upon hearing your name called from a distance, your immediate reaction being to whip your head around to see who — or what — was in such desperate need of your attention that they were willing to yell your name from half-way across the park. 

and of course, it was none other than tamaki amajiki himself; dashing towards you at full-speed in a torn suit, muddy shoes and..his hair seemed to be unevenly cut. he wore a determined yet petrified expression as he came hurdling in your direction, a single stray tentacle dragging behind him as he ran.

a smile of both confusion and relief tugged at your lips, the pads of your fingers dabbing lightly under your eyes to rid of any puffy skin or dampness while simultaneously ensuring that you wouldn’t mess up your lashes or eyeshadow. 

“tama! you’re here!” you squealed, your hands automatically clasping together in excitement as he approached the bench, about to fall into the seat beside you due to how tired he was but pausing as he watched you spring to your feet and open your arms for a hug. his lips slowly curled into a weak smile, his expression softening and he didn’t waste a single second before throwing his arms around you, pulling you in for as tight of a hug that his worn biceps would allow him to.  

despite the fact he reeked of an ungodly amount of body spray, you still basked his embrace since this is the moment you spent the last three hours or so preparing for. you were quite shocked at how shabby he looked but you decided against questioning it, out of courtesy. but on the bright side, it really made you feel better about the outfit you had spent hours styling, yet you were still not completely sure about.  

tamaki suddenly pulled away from the hug so he could fall back onto the bench, letting out a hefty sigh and momentarily zoning out in order to catch his breath. you weren’t too sure whether it was appropriate to giggle or pout at the sight so you chose to not do either and instead, just awkwardly stand and stare at him.

a sharp inhale was all tamaki needed before he was finally able to sit up slightly and bow his head, folding his hands to you before blurting out, “i am so sorry i’m late, (y/n)!” and before you could even get a word in, he began his breathless explanation, “i got a small tear in my shirt and mirio said he’ll fix it but he made it even worse. then nejire said she’ll style my hair but she only knew a few male styles and said my hair was too long and before i could say anything she was chopping away at my hair-- and somehow mirio’s dog got ahold of my suit and it made the tears even worse! i was so stress and y’know when i’m stressed i stress-eat, so i began eating fish snacks and before i even knew what was going on, it was nine o’clock. so i ran here as fast as i could and i tried to manifest tentacles to help me move faster but it turns out i didn’t eat enough fish snacks so i only have one tentacle and i can’t even move it properly- look!”

the fact he said all of that in seemingly one breath left you stunned in place, with you eyes fixated on his rapidly moving lips until they instinctively shifted onto his single tentacle, laying dejected by his feet until it started squirming around. however, that was all it seemed capable of doing — squirming. 

“uuh,” you hummed, trying your best to stifle a snicker as tamaki was clearly in genuine destress. “it’s fine, tama! i was a bit worried that you wouldn’t show but it doesn’t matter, you’re here now so let’s focus on that.” 

your words somewhat calmed him down as his shoulders visibly relaxed, his red eyes tearing off the concrete ground to meet your kind gaze. a slight gasp escaped his lips as he noticed how gorgeous your make-up was, but before he could utter a compliment, his eyes went further downwards as he tried to process the whole of your outfit.

his cheeks immediately burned red at the sight; your stunning purple dress, shimmering heels and matching crystal accessories which were evidently worn to complement his own aesthetic. a certain piece which he was drawn to, was the golden, gemmed ear cuff you wore with pointed tips to form a similar shape to his own ears — one of his biggest physical insecurities.

“you look..” tamaki mused, momentarily cutting himself off to think of a word that would do you justice, “perfect.” his voice was hushed, hardly above a whisper but you were still able to make out what he said and a sheepish grin crept onto your features.

“thank you, baby!” you chirped, perking up slightly and giving him a little twirl, causing a burst of red to explode on his cheeks which he was quick to try cover with his hands. it was moments like these when he wished that hoodies were first-date appropriate, that way he could just sink back into his hood and pretend he doesn’t exist.

“you look really nice too.” there was nothing wrong with a little white lie every now and again. however, it wasn’t even said with the intent of being a lie as you secretly thought that the scruffiness kinda suited tamaki, like, he looked badass! like your prince charming who accidentally fell into a ditch.

your compliment didn’t help the increasing temperature of tamaki’s cheeks either, causing him to slump farther back in his seat as he muttered garbled speech under his breath. it took a good few seconds but eventually he was able to peer at you with a single eye through the inbetweens of his fingers,  “a-and i like your little ear cuff thing.

everything he said only widened your beam and make you feel more giddy, to the point where you were practically bounced in place, “thanks, tama! i saw it and immediately thought of you, so i bought it.” you stifled a squeal at how observant tamaki was being, praising all the small details of your attire which you thought would go unnoticed. “i decided to wear it today because remember how you showed me the tie you bought for our date?” you explained, vaguely gesturing at said tie which hung in tatters around his neck, “yeah, so, i thought we could match.”

it took him a few moments to process what you just said and while his brain was running on overdrive, you were met by his rapid blinking and frozen stature. having known tamaki for a while now, you knew how this was a fairly common occurrence when was truly stunned by something, so you allowed him some time in silence to consolidate. 

“so..” he started, trembling hand dropping from his face and onto his lap so you could see his whole bashful appearance. his gaze seemed to be trained on the floor, until he finally looked up to reveal the twinkle in his eyes, “you’re..you’re wearing that-” he hesitated, swallowing the lump forming in his throat, “for me?”

the thought that you were ashamed to be with him was something that constantly taunted him from the back of this mind. you were heavenly in a way that his words simply could not describe, though that didn’t stop him from trying. it was beyond him how a person as divine as yourself would even give him the time of day; let alone insist that he was beautiful, leave encouraging notes in his locker, comfort him when he shows even the smallest sign of being upset, give him praise on all the thing he was insecure about and so much more.

when he looked in the mirror, he did not see what you see. he viewed his ears as creepy and not a feature he should put on display, hence a part of the many reasons why he’s so fond of his hood. but here you were, all dolled up in his favourite colour just to showcase that you were with him. your ears decorated with pretty cuffs that made them look a similar shape to his, at first glance.

when he’d walk beside you through the corridors of the school or under the shade of the trees in the park, he’d feel the eyes of jealous passersby burn holes through his skin; despite the fact you weren’t even dating him yet, people just hated seeing a guy like himself by your side, apparently. 

he stopped eating before meeting up with you so he wouldn’t have any weird manifestation that could draw attention to himself. he started wearing his hood up at all times so people wouldn’t judge him for his elven ears. he refused to touch you just in case people thought you were dating and became envious of him, which would quickly turn to hatred. 

so why would you want to look like him? why would you want people to know that you are on a date with him? why did you act proud to be with him?

you quirked a brow at how confounded he sounded, thinking over your answer with a hum; you wore this outfit for tamaki and yourself because you thought it was pretty and it suited you. however, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that there was no need to give tamaki the full truth right now so instead you allowed him to enjoy his rare surge of confidence by replying with simply, “yeah, for you.”

you weren’t going to be surprised that he was flattered, by now you were well aware that tamaki held all your opinions on him in high esteem so that’s why you always tried to be as nice to him as possible — that, and it was just in your nature to be kind towards him when he’s been nothing but respectful to you back.

however, what you didn’t expect was to hear faint sobs from behind his hands and watch as crystalline tears poured escaped from the inbetweens of his fingers, racing down the back of his hands. “tamaki..” you murmured, reluctantly taking a seat next to him to wrap your arms around, rubbing comforting circles in his shoulders like you usually did when he was sad. although, you weren’t even completely sure that he was disheartened by your statement. 

“i’m sorry.” you spoke in a hushed voice, leaning in close to his neck until your nose brushed against his skin, resulting in him tilting his head so it rested upon yours. “are you okay?”

“please don’t apologise.” he croaked, stifling his snivels to try show that he wasn’t upset. “you did nothing wrong. in fact, you’ve done everything right. i’m the one who’s been messing up.” he felt your hand ghost over his own and without a second thought, he intertwined his finger with your own, freeing his other palm to place it on your shoulder and exposing his pale, tear-stained face is the process. 

“i know it’s hard but you should tell me what’s on your mind, tamaki.” you hummed, gently caressing the back of his hand with your thumb and planting a kiss on the damp skin of his cheek. his cologne was still suffocating strong but if you were to die, it would ideally be while cuddled up to him, under the celestial night sky. 

opening up had never been an easy task for tamaki; especially about a subject that concerned his physical appearance and emotions. but there was a knot in his chest that would simply come undone when he was with you. he couldn’t explain it, but all the barriers and walls he had established to avoid getting his feeling hurt or heart broken would come crashing down whenever he was with you. perhaps it was a familiarity, maybe it was your reassuring presence or might just be pure love and adoration. 

either way, he found him himself babbling on about anything and everything that bothered him with little regard for his own pride or secrecy, he voiced every thought that came to his mind in the moment. he told you just about it all — all his problems and insecurities —and you listened, offering him encouragement whenever he’d cut himself off, saying something along the lines of, ‘i-i’ll stop now, i sound silly’ or ‘you’re probably tired of hearing me prattle on’. though, of course you didn’t want him to stop until he had gotten everything off his chest as it was a rare sight for him to talk for such lengths at a time so the last thing you wanted to do was discourage him.

“i just..” tamaki stammered, coming to the end of his passionate ramble, “don’t understand why you want to be seen with me, let alone wear those.” he raised his shaky hand from your shoulder to gesture to your ear cuffs, “don’t get me wrong, they look cute on you, but i just don’t get why you’d want to have ears that look like mine.”

“because yours are beautiful!” 

he winced at the compliment and at how sincere you sounded, “well, i’m glad you think that, (y/n).” he muttered, not even having to finish his statement as the dejection in his voice made it obvious that he did not view himself in the same light. his gaze dropped to his feet which were shuffling uncontrollably,  “i don’t know why i’m making such i big deal about this. aren’t you annoyed?” 

your let go of his hands only to slip them around his neck and pull him into your embrace, you felt him tense up in your arms but slowly allow himself to relax his cheek onto your shoulder. “i’m not annoyed, baby. i get what you mean and it’s horrible that you feel that way.” all tamaki could do would tick his tongue in agreement. 

“i know i tell you this all the time but i honestly think you’re so attractive, inside and out. i was so excited when you agreed to date me, i could’ve died of happiness on the spot!” you chirped, momentarily jerked your head backwards so you could peck the tip of his nose, giggling as he scrunched his face up cutely at the sudden touch.

your angelic laugh rung through tamaki’s head, forcing his lips into a smile as he gawked at your adorable action. “i love you..” tamaki uttered, raising his voice ever so slightly to ensure that you heard what he said, “so much.” thanks to you, his sobs were now just mere sniffles into the crook of your neck. 

you inhaled sharply, eyes-widening at his words; you would’ve never thought he would be the first on to say ‘i love you’, but you were far from disappointed, in fact you felt yourself melting further into his touch.

you felt his grip on you tighten, his breathing slowly retuning to it’s regular pace as he squeezed his eyes shut, cancelling out all his other senses so he could focus on the way your body felt against his own. 

he wanted to be confident. he wanted to take pride in himself for you. he was tired of restless nights filled with tears due to his worries berating him for simply existing in your presence. 

it wasn’t going to be easy but he needed to start acting on everything you said. because eventually, it wouldn’t just be for you, it’d be for himself.

and of course, it didn’t go unnoticed by you when he started wearing his hood less often, when he began holding his head up higher as he walks by your side, the way he now shoots warm smiles at people who try to glare at him.

and five years later, how he didn’t bat an eye at deadly glare that the waiter — that had been subtly flirting with you all night — shot at him as he got down on one knee, in front of the whole restaurant. 

[animatedrapture]

RINTOBER: [ Achilles' Heel ]

word count: 2,222

suna rintarō x reader

tags: ambiguous end, implied major character death, angst, implied sexual intercourse, toxic relationship, detailed pain(?)

song: achilles come down - gang of youths

a/n: HALLOWEEN SPECIAL because... death...?

a HUGE thank you, once again, to my wonderful wife, love of my life, bby @toffees-main 🥺 for proofreading the final piece and preventing me from sounding like a dumbass like, twice. also, thank you to @newfriendjen and @kaitycole for beta-reading the initial draft!

"Rin, Rintarō, I love you!" You shouted from the bleachers; a proud smile decorating your features as you cheered for him right after he'd hit the ball to the other side of the net, securing EJP Raijin another point—so close to winning.

His gaze and yours were two opposites of a pole with a pull unparalleled—a pull science can only wish to decipher. He finds you as he rotates through the set up and there's a beam in his eyes, making him break out into a grin you just know he couldn't find it in himself to reserve for later.

That day, that match—Suna Rintarō was named the MVP of the game. He owed it all to you and the swell of his heart with each cheer he heard from you; your voice distinct as if it were the only one that mattered in that whole gymnasium. Perhaps, at least that time, you truly were all that mattered to him.

But not anymore.

The first—the first was the lack of replies, the dryer replies. I love you's met with Love you's and very little effort to hide the lack of sincerity beneath. It began through texts until it was the quick, snipped tone laced with the parsimonious manner he answered you. The act of it was much like an attempt to deprive you of water until you're but withering rose in his grasp that he would rather replace than try to plant again and save.

Just how long were you willing to go without the water you needed to stay alive?

"Rin, love, I'll prepare dinner for us tonight, come home early, okay? I'm cooking your favorite!"

"I'll try," was his reply as you watched each of his hasty movements through your shared bedroom.

"I prepared you a bento, too. It's on the kitchen counter," you continued as he attempted to ignore the way you looked at him similar to the way you look when you're lost and searching for something. He hums in response, and just as he was about to reach for the door, you call out to him, "Rin, where's my goodbye kiss?" in the usual tone you would pull back then when he would forget and pepper you with kisses in retaliation, offering an apology before heading out.

He looks back at you with exasperation, "I'm late, Y/N." He doesn't wait for you to answer before he has the door shut close.

That's how you know he also forgot the food you prepared on the kitchen counter.

Foolishly, the answer to the question was that you were willing to wait until your next life for his love to drown you into bliss again. It's that answer that's disrespectful to the mystery of reincarnation—but you're everything Suna Rintarō wanted you to be; that is, if it was a fool he wanted you to be, you would play the part better than any award winning actor to have ever lived could. Even if it was a miscreant he wanted you to be, some sort of heretic to the laws of the world and the conditions of love. You'd be everything he asked of you. After all, who were you if not his other half?

Who were you if not water to shape into whatever container he put you in, right?

The second—the second was the lies that slipped past such sinful crimson lips. Oh, by the heavens, as if the lack of fondness in the timbre of his voice as he spoke to you wasn't enough to put cracks to the cemented foundation of you and him. Cruel, it's so cruel—you wonder if you're lacking somewhere, have you changed? Are you no longer diamond in the sea of glitter—? Worth not of his time nor the beating of the caged heart you thought you've acquired?

Now when he speaks, even the very sound of his voice reverberates like a sharp spear piercing through your chest without mercy—as if you're Spartan in the Battle of Thermopylae. The lies that come along with them about how training ended late again, or that he's travelling for a match again—Huh? No, you don't have to come, Y/N. I need to focus.

Did he have to lie about who he's with, what he's been doing? It's laughable. As if you wouldn't kiss away the taste of anything that lingered in his lips, if it was blood, alcohol or the lips of another girl. Rintarō, did he not know you enough to know you would surrender to his will no matter what mud followed his footsteps?

Ah, but, what would admitting such things do to his pride? Maybe it's that—or maybe he liked the way the lies were like lemon and salt to a fresh wound. You think, you never thought you could be so masochistic.

Third—the third is the sharpness of his gaze. It's the same gaze, same pair of eyes you've loved for such a long time and you fail not to love to this very moment. You're softer than clouds but now most hollow in comparison to the unacquirable stars among the cosmos—you think they're there but they're just a burst of light, something that has probably died lightyears ago.

It's like chokehold, the fourth—the fourth is like chokehold and he, the assassin. Ruthless—he's ruthless when he looks at you as you're not more than a tedious chore to him and the ring on your finger held no promise of relentless love greater than what a deity could offer.

Foolish—you're foolish. Delusion is a coping mechanism to the ones whose realities have been robbed in front of them—delusion is what you're supposed to call it when you fill your head with all the excuses and all the things you tell yourself have to change. You used to be a masterpiece. A masterpiece to him; as though you're Holy Grail found in a gallery of things that could never begin to hope they would ever amount to you.

Delusion is ignoring the liquor in his lips, the intoxicating smell of his cologne mixed with alcohol and cigarette smoke. You're confused and your reality that seems to have been distorting more often than usual. You question the strings that premeditate fate when it's you feeling the drunkenness and hangover the next day when it should be Suna and the tabloids of "Suna Rintarō spotted in yet another bar." You wonder if each sunset and sunrise you watched with Suna was a mere fever dream when it's you who vomits on the toilet. You, who sobs on the bathroom floor.

"Sfumato," your friend tells you, "The gentle blurring of edges to make rendered objects appear as one with their environment." The edges blur when you call that delusion as love—you only have to wait long enough before both are truly one and the same. The pain disguised as martyr sacrifice to the greatest allegory of love to exist. This is what you're told. They say, "Y/N, you've confused love with delusion," and yet you don't listen.

You don't listen most of all when you're back underneath him but you feel like you're being bloodied all over, stained like wine to a white dress. Yet you allow yourself to indulge in the kisses he's abated you of, you revel in each time you ask him to tell you he loves you and he finally does as he luxuriates you of your desires and of your whines for love—nevermind that he was doing it for himself. After all, it is as the word suggests, a luxury.

Suna Rintarō had become a luxury you couldn't afford, therefore, he did not have any business of giving himself to you. Not unless he wanted to.

Is there such thing as a free reign over the heart of someone? Hand it over as they will but how long would they truly allow you to borrow it—? Borrow it because one never truly surrenders such a vital thing to human functioning. Yes, you are and you have been delusional to believe so.

"You own the entirety of my heart, Y/N," you're unsure whenever it echoes in your head. He brings you enough torture, why must your own brain create such clamor in your head. Was such pain necessary? Is pain to love much like Adam's rib to Eve?

"It's a promise ring, bunny," he said as he tucked your hair behind your ears—his gaze is intense, almost like you would disappear from his sight if he looked at anywhere or anything but you.

You stared at the ring that shone under the light of the restaurant, your vision blurring at the tears welling from your eyes and you try your best to choke in the sob that involuntarily escapes you.

"Hey, Y/N, what are you cryin' for?" He questioned with a chuckle, looking at you with amusement dancing in his eyes while his thumbs reached out to wipe away each tear that betrayed you—falling down your cheeks as he cupped your face.

"I-it's nothing, I—I'm just happy, love," you answer him through your tears.

There's a smile playing across his lips, he tells you, "'m just making a promise that I'll marry you one day, bunny, is all."

You nodded eagerly with a wide smile even as the tears that left you continued to fall, "I'm making a promise to say yes, Rin. No matter what," you answered him through your sobs, wrapping your arms around his neck.

"Guess I should start practicing to get on one knee then, yeah?" He laughed as he pulled you closer, his arms around you, you giggled along with him—it felt like you were molded together to form one perfect piece, like the act of staying there for all of eternity, in each other's arms, would turn you into one. Entangled together in all the right ways—as if Rapture has befallen the Earth and that was your final state as did the universe.

The fifth—the fifth is the screaming, the fights. Who would have thought you would break like a mere twig stepped on in the darkest forest on this Earth? It was under his shoe did you break from; each word that left his mouth was scathing—they didn't feel like a stab or pins and needles to the human heart, they felt like burns of acid that slowly ate at your decaying soul, breaking heart, dwindling sanity.

"I don't get it, Rin! Why do you treat me like this?!" You screamed through your tears, your chest heaving as your lungs tried its best to support you, even when it's already been punctured by the shattered pieces of your heart that continued to beat in separate shards, digging further into your lungs, damaging your ribcage, piercing your throat.

"Please, God, just tell me what to do—Rintarō, tell me what I need to do to turn us back to the way we were, please," you begged, falling to your knees and you let the shattered items on the floor puncture your skin. You felt numb yet your whole body was buzzing. The pain from the pieces of glass from under you doesn't register in your brain because all you can feel is the pain that was spreading from your chest and out into your whole body.

Under his mercy had he turned you inside out and greedily taken every part of you—everything you surrendered on your own volition until you were nothing, not even a shell of yourself but more like a ghost floating through the air. It looked like a battlefield—and perhaps it was. Love was never something you come out alive from. Love was greedy, selfish, treacherous. Love is like an assailant you allowed to enter in the safety of your own home.

"Don't you get it? Y/N, I don't love you anymore!"

No. You think, no. No, it repeats in your head, over and over. Denial. You were in denial, at this conjecture, you were aware of even this.

"I stopped loving you long ago, Y/N. You were dumb enough to stay." Has he always been this truculent towards you? You wonder but you can't recall anything else but the echoing of his words. Words he used like a champion of the battlefield, liberating away the life of his enemies.

No. Don't say that. You don't mean it. No.

Suna thought you would be the arrow to his heel—the one to bring him to his knees in the most torturous of ways. In reality, maybe you were more his heel than the arrow. He was both Achilles and his actions, the arrow that brought him to his own demise.

Sixth—the sixth was sickening grief. You're so unfair. You're so selfish. How could you run away from him, only to scream his name and the tormenting shout of "I love you" that haunted him awake or in his slumber. How could you be so cruel? To let him fall to his knees in front you the way you made him to. Ruthless—you're so ruthless. The pain was the excruciating kind, crashing towards him like ocean waves bringing him farther from the shore and near to wherever you were now. How could you leave him like you did?

After all, what was he if there wasn't you?

📞 violet is calling... all content featured belongs to ©️ animatedrapture. do not plagiarize, repost, or modify.

[hardcasey]

Soft Hands, Soft Hearts

Won't Fade into the Background - Part 1

Pairing: Wooley x GN!Reader

Summary: You and Wooley have been pining for each other for a while, but after a few drinks at 79′s, you gain the courage to make the first move. 

Word Count: 3.3k 

Rating/Warnings: G, this is just pure fluff 🥺

A/N: Okay, so I had the idea to make a series devoted to giving the background clones the love they deserve. I have ideas for a bunch of different clones, but if their are any specific boys you are interested in, please let me know! I started with Wooley because I was feeling soft and he is baby (sorry, I don’t make the rules)  😤 This installment is fluffy af, but I have some ideas for a smutty follow-up if there is any interest. 

Also, a HUGE thank you to @delusionsxfgrandeur for both proofreading this and giving me the confidence to post it in the first place 💕

It had been months, but the 212th had finally returned to Coruscant after a particularly grueling campaign. The men, having received a week of well-earned shore leave, had barely gotten their feet on the ground before making a beeline to 79’s. Which is where you now sat, drunk off your ass amidst a sea of white and orange. 

You were an information officer attached to the 212th and had quickly befriended many of its members, a feat you accomplished just by treating them with the most basic level of respect and consideration. All it took was you remembering their names and sneaking them in a few treats before they were all following you around like a pack of lost puppies. It made you very protective over them, they all were such good, soft boys who deserved the world. Especially Wooley, the clone currently sitting next to you in the booth you had all squeezed into. 

He was younger then some of the other troopers like Waxer and Boil, still too shiny to have earned his colors yet. He was soft-spoken and somewhat shy, which only endeared him to you more. And he also had the softest, fluffiest looking hair you had ever seen, which he wore in an undercut that just accentuated the look for maximum poof. 

The only thought in your head right now was how much you wanted to run your hair through it. I bet it feels like a cloud, you thought drunkenly as you stared at him unabashedly, no doubt grinning like an idiot. You had your chin resting in your hand and started to loll your head back and forth, basking in the pleasant buzz of the alcohol coursing through your system. Evidently, it had started to affect your fine motor skills since your chin slipped from your palm and you bumped your nose hard against the rim of your glass. 

“Ow,” you winced as you rubbed your face, shooting a dirty look at Waxer as he snickered at you from across the table, drawing the attention of others. 

“Had enough?” Cody asked, cocking up his eyebrow at you with a smile, an expression he had no doubt picked up from General Kenobi. 

“Mmmh, I think this’ll be my last drink,” you replied, motioning to the half finished drink in front of you. You had reached the perfect level of drunkenness, just enough to leave you feeling carefree and happy without becoming too messy. The last thing you wanted was for one of the boys to have to drag your drunk ass back to your room, especially on their first night of leave. 

Wooley caught your eyes as you settled back down, and you shot him a broad smile that made his heart beat faster. He could feel his cheeks heat up slightly and he smiled timidly back at you before you turned back to Cody, the two of you falling into a playful back and forth. 

Wooley’s eyes fell to his hands, looking sheepish, and Boil chose that moment to kick him under the table. Wooley made an indignant noise at his vod’s antics, and was about to protest when Boil started darting his eyes at you repeatedly and mouthed ‘Talk to her’. 

His brothers could read the hesitation on his face because Waxer swooped in and said lowly, “She’s been staring at you all night, vod. She likes you!”

Both Waxer and Boil knew of his giant crush on you, and had launched a campaign to get the two of you together, much to Wooley’s embarrassment. The two of them were not subtle and the last thing he wanted was the two of them making a scene in front of you. He took a long drink of whatever alcohol was in front of him, hoping to quell his nervousness. 

With Wooley’s attention momentarily elsewhere, he missed the moment when Boil caught Cody’s eye and gave him a small nod. The Commander was also privy to their plans and masterfully steered the two of you’s conversation to Wooley’s recent accomplishments on the battlefield. 

“You should have seen it, he jumped right on top of the spider spider droid and took it out faster than I could blink, isn’t that right Wooley?” 

Wooley froze as you turned to look at him expectantly, barely managing not to choke on his drink. “Uhh, yeah,” was all he managed to come up with in response and he wanted to smack himself. Kriff, why was he so bad at this? 

You rattled off a couple more questions at him, which he answered in similar fashion, though if you were bothered by it you didn’t show it. He nervously ran a hand through his hair as he desperately wracked his brain for something, anything to say. 

Luckily, he was saved when you blurted out, “Can I touch your hair?” Apparently being drunk made you just say anything, huh, you chided yourself, hoping the booth would swallow you up whole. 

You were completely surprised when he stuttered out, “S-sure,” and scooted closer to give you better access. Reaching up and running your fingers through his thick curls, you found that it was in fact softer than a cloud, a thought which made you start to giggle uncontrollably. Your laughter was infectious because soon enough, Wooley was laughing too. 

You kept slowly playing with his hair, your hand sometimes wandering to the sides to feel the short hairs there. A shiver ran through his body at the sensation “That tickles,” he told you, eyes half lidded and words slightly slurred, though you couldn’t be sure if it was from the alcohol or something else.  

Your fingers paused. “Oh, sorry. I can stop if you want.”

You started to pull your hand away but he caught you around the wrist gently. “No!” he said, maybe a little too loudly. He winced slightly and then much more softly he said “I like it,” before placing your hand back on his head. 

You smiled and told him, “C’mere,” pulling him closer so that he could rest his head on your shoulder. “My arm was getting tired. This is much more comfy.” 

“Mmm,” he agreed as he shifted to settle against you. His  cheeks were still pink but he seemed much more relaxed now.

“So it sounds like you’ll be getting to paint your armor orange soon, huh?” 

His eyes brightened at that and your heart clenched at the proud look that washed over his face. “Yeah! I have a few ideas of how I’m gonna paint it, but I haven’t decided on a final design yet.” 

“What are some of them? I’ll help you make up your mind.” 

~~~

By the time you all left the bar it was early in the morning, but the streets of Coruscant were still packed with people, all hoping to enjoy the first day of the weekend. You and the rest of your group weaved through the throngs of people as you made your way back to the barracks. Being short, you had a harder time pushing your way through the people and almost got separated from the group before someone grabbed your wrist and tugged you back into the group. 

You stumbled towards whoever had rescued you, looking up to see it was Wooley. “Don’t wanna lose you,” he said gently and you felt your heart do a backflip. He had no business being this cute! None at all!

He hadn’t released your wrist yet, and maybe it was the alcohol making you braver than normal, but you decided to slip your hand into his. When he realized what you had done, he looked down at your joined hands and smiled up at you before the two of you raced to catch up with the rest of your group. 

When you finally arrived at the barracks, you were about to reluctantly pull your hand away when Cody said, “Wooley, why don’t you walk her back to her room, just to make sure she gets back safely. We don’t want to lose our favorite information officer.” 

“Uh, yes sir!” Wooley said with a salute, though he misjudged the force of his hand somewhat and thwacked himself in the eye instead. He was just thankful he had the alcohol as an excuse for his mistake, instead of the real reason, which was the look in Cody’s eyes that said ‘If you don’t ask her out tonight, you’ll be on latrine duty for a week.’ 

Without further ado, you bid the rest of the boys goodnight and started off towards your room, still hand in hand. Even though it was calloused, his hand was still so warm and nice against yours, and you never ever wanted this to end. You squeezed his hand lightly and your heart soared when you felt him squeeze back. 

The walk to your room was about a thousand hours too short and you quickly found yourself standing in front of the door. 

There was a beat of silence where the two of you just started at each other, both unsure of what to say. Wooley was racking his mind for a way to ask you out on a date, desperately hoping you couldn’t feel how sweaty his palm was. 

You beat him to it, though, and asked, “Do you have any plans for this week?” If you don’t I was thinking we could, um, do something together tomorrow.” Your bravery faltered somewhat halfway through, but it didn’t matter because his eyes lit up and he nodded back vigorously. 

“That sounds great!” 

“Okay! I’ll think of some places we can go and text you in the morning so we can decide.” 

“Great!” 

There was another beat while you had an internal debate with yourself. Did you kiss him? Should you ask or just do it? Should you wait to see if he kissed you?! Little did you know that Wooley was having the exact same debate in his head, only about 100 times more panicked. 

You decided that you had no more bravery left tonight and settled on running your hand up his arm and giving his bicep a little squeeze. “Goodnight! I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“See you,” was all he could come up with as his brain short circuited. He watched with an awestruck expression as you went into your room, staring at the metal door in a daze for much longer than he’d like to admit. He realized he would look like a creep if he just hovered outside your room all night and quickly made his way back to the barracks with the biggest smile on his face. 

The door to the barracks slid open and he paused as he came face to face with all of his vode, who all turned to look at him as he walked through the door. Even Cody had yet to retire to his personal quarters. 

“Well, how’d it go?” Boil was the first one to break the silence and ask what everyone wanted to know. 

“She asked me out!” Wooley told them, still smiling broadly. 

The room was filled with cheers as all his brothers crowded around to congratulate him, patting him on the back and ruffling his hair affectionately. Despite all the attention, Wooley couldn't find it in himself to be embarrassed. 

~~~

“Try the other jacket,” Boil said from his perch on the top bunk. 

Wooley shucked off the jacket he was wearing and quickly slipped his arms through the jacket Cody held out to him. “How do I look?” 

“Hmm, let me see the first one again.” Boil’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he contemplated Wooley’s current outfit. They had been at this for the last twenty minutes, trying to figure out the best outfit for his date, which was happening in less than an hour. 

“There are only two jacket options! And you’ve worn both of them multiple times, Boil!” Wooley moaned. The clones didn’t have much access to civilian clothes and the few they had managed to commandeer - mostly from the Lost and Found in the Coruscant Guards’ office - were shared between the lot of them. There was even a clothes economy of sorts that had developed between the various squads. In fact, the jacket he was currently wearing had been Cody’s prize for beating Rex at a game of Sabacc a few cycles past. 

Wooley sighed before shooting Boil an apologetic look. He didn’t mean to sound unappreciative, after all his brothers had awoken early just to help him prepare, despite the hangovers they were undoubtedly nursing. He was just starting to feel nervousTM again. 

Cody put his hand on Wooley’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “You’re overthinking it, vod. Remember, she asked you out. She wants to spend time with you.” 

“Who asked who out, now?” came a voice from behind them. They spun around to find General Kenobi leaning against the doorway, a steaming cup of caf in one hand.

“Wooley has a date today!” Waxer blurted out, smiling smugly as his younger brother shot him a look before turning back to address the general. 

“They are, uh,  trying to help me pick out an outfit to wear.” 

“We can’t decide on a jacket, though,” Cody chimed in, holding the other option up for Obi-Wan to see. “What do you think, sir?” 

Obi-Wan’s eyes flickered back and forth, rubbing at his beard absentmindedly as he considered. “Actually, I have something in my quarters that’ll go well with the whole look. You can borrow it if you want, Wooley.” 

“Oh no, sir, I couldn’t poss-” Wooley started, but the general ignored his protests, already starting to drag him towards his room. 

Wooley stood ramrod straight in the middle of General Kenobi’s bedroom as the jedi rummaged around in his closet to search for the jacket in question. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to act in this scenario, they had never covered it in training. Though he had learned that there were many things involving General Kenobi that he had been totally unprepared for. 

“I know it’s in here somewhere.” Obi-Wan’s voice was muffled from behind the wall of clothing. “Ah, here it is!” He exclaimed before making his way back to Wooley. He blinked owlishly at the poor trooper in front of him, who looked so stressed out he was beginning to wonder if he’d need to call a medic. 

“Is this your first time going on a date?” He asked gently as he helped Wooley into the jacket, spinning him around to fuss with the collar a bit. 

“Is it that obvious?” Wooley asked with a shy smile. 

“Everyone is nervous on their first date, don’t worry. I remember the first time I went out with someone. My hands were shaking so much I ended up accidentally spilling water all over them. Trust me, it gets easier,” he finished with a warm laugh. 

Wooley was included to believe him. General Kenobi seemed to have a lot of experience in the romance department. Or at least it seemed that way, what with all the people who fawned over him. Maybe he would have some good advice for the question that had been plaguing his every thought since last night. 

“Um, general, if I could ask… how do you go about, uh, kissing someone for the first time. I asked some of the others for tips and they all had different ideas, which just made everything more confusing.” 

“Honestly, my best advice is to just ask them if you can kiss them. Many people find that really romantic. Wait for a moment that feels right, like a lull in the conversation when you two are close together. But most importantly, don’t stress yourself out about it. If it happens it happens, and if not just wait for another chance,” Obi-Wan patted Wooley on the head affectionately. “Now you should probably get going, you’re meeting them in twenty minutes.” 

“How do you know-” He didn’t even get the question out.

“Cody.” Obi-Wan’s commander had come to him this morning seeking advice to give his little brother. 

“Cody,” Wooley smiled fondly. He’d have to thank his commander later. 

~~~

You were waiting on the sidewalk in front of the barracks, shuffling your feet awkwardly as your planned meetup time drew nearer. The two of you had decided earlier to spend time walking around one of the huge seasonal markets that was in town for a few days. You hadn’t gone on many dates before now and this morning had been a whole debacle, your roommate helping you pick out the perfect outfit for the occasion. You had eventually settled on something casual but still cute, and sighed with relief when you saw that Wooley had a similar idea. You were starting to worry that maybe you had gone too casual. 

All of your nerves melted away once you saw him, looking like an absolute snack in that leather jacket. You decided to tell him as much as you offered him your hand. 

“This is the first time I’ve seen you out of your armor. You look handsome. Love the jacket.” 

Thank the Maker for Obi-Wan, Wooley thought as he took your hand and squeezed it fondly. “You look really great too!” He told you as the two of you made your way to the taxi stand, both pointedly ignoring the eyes of Wooley’s brothers trying and failing to be discrete as they started at you through one of the windows. 

You two made your way downtown to the market, which was a place where people from every corner of the galaxy would come to sell their wares. It seemed to span multiple city blocks and was absolutely packed with people. The two of you flitted from one booth to the next, marvelling at the exotic wares in each one. As you shopped, you both ended up finding little trinkets and buying them for each other as a way to remember the day. 

Before you knew it it was lunchtime and stopped to grab some food from one of the many vendors. The two of you found a place to eat nearby a troupe of street performers, snuggling up to each other as you ate and watched the show. When you got up, Wooley kept his arm around your waist and you were so happy that you were pretty sure you could leap twenty feet in the air like you had seen some of the Jedi do. 

You passed by a stand selling cotton candy and could’t pass up the opportunity to see Wooley’s face when he tried it for the first time. You ripped off a big piece and held it out for him to try. 

“It dissolved!” He said excitedly and you were pretty sure there were actual stars in his eyes. 

As you and Wooley split the cotton candy, he thought back to what Obi-Wan told him and wondered if this was one of the moments he was talking about. You two were so close to each other and your lips were glistening pink with sugar and, Maker, he wanted to kiss you so badly right now. 

He had just opened his mouth to ask you when a nearby animal bleated loudly. Your head whipped in the direction of the noise and from between people’s legs you spotted a small white animal that looked so incredibly fluffy. 

“Oh stars,” you whispered, “It’s so cute. C’mon Wooley let’s get a better look!” 

Without waiting for an answer, you started to tug him in the direction of the ball of fluff masquerading as an animal. He was briefly disappointed at the missed opportunity but was quickly distracted by the adorable animal in front of him. It was some sort of sheep-looking thing, only neither of you had seen one so fluffy. It’s fur was so thick that you could barely make out its face, making it look like a cotton ball with four nubby legs sticking out of the bottom. 

Your head darted around looking for the owner because you had to pet it NOW. Your eyes landed on an elderly Ugnaught woman settled in a rocking chair. She was working on a knitting project, her knitting needles moving a mile a minute, and the displays around her were filled with bundles of plush looking yarn. 

You waved your hand to get her attention. “Hi! Is this your sheep? Can we pet it?” 

The old woman pushed the pair of thick, round glasses she wore higher up her nose as she spoke. “Of course, dearie. I have some food here if you’d like to feed her. Just cup your hands out like this and she’ll come right over.”

The woman poured some pellets into your outstretched hands and you quickly knelt down to offer it to the sheep. It let out another little bleat as it approached before promptly gobbling up everything with fervor. You giggled at her antics, her soft little tongue tickling your palms. 

“Baaaaaa,” she whined up at you once she had finished, and the old lady scolded the little animal for acting like she was starving when she had just eaten an hour ago. 

You turned to Wooley, who had been watching your interaction from off to the side. “Do you want to try feeding her too?” 

“I-I’ve never fed an animal before…” He said hesitantly. 

“Don’t worry, it’s easy. I can help you if you want.” When he nodded you told him to cup his hands and the woman poured some more food for him to give the sheep. You had him kneel down next to you and helped him hold his palm out, cupping your hand under his. When you felt him trembling slightly, you ran your thumb soothingly across his wrist. He turned to look at you and, oh maker he was so close, you could just lean in an inch and kiss him. But no, you couldn’t get distracted right now, you had a hungry little sheep to feed. 

You both turned back to the matter at hand and Wooley made a little noise in the back of his throat when the sheep came up to him, but he kept his hand out and the little animal started inhaling the food. “Ahh, it tickles!” Wooley gasped, a huge smile on his face. 

Once you were done giving her treats, the three of you settled down on the floor of the little tent, the sheep moving between your laps as you took turns cuddling it. You both ended up taking pictures of each other with the sheep and the old woman even offered to take a picture of both of you with the sheep. You sat there for a while, chatting with the old lady, who had lived quite the life and had many interesting stories as a result. The conversation trailed off and you sat with your head on Wooley’s shoulder, the only sounds around you were the din of the market and the clacking of the woman’s knitting needles. 

You peaked up at Wooley only to find him staring down at you. There was a beat before he suddenly asked, “Can I kiss you?” 

He was about to start berating himself internally for asking so awkwardly, but all his thoughts stopped when you breathed out a soft, “Please.” And then you were cupping his cheek and pressing your lips against his, and nothing mattered anymore. You let out a contented sigh against his mouth and he moved his hand to rest on your hip. 

You were both reluctant to separate, but a tug at your hair made you gasp and pull away, only to find the sheep chewing on a lock of your hair. Behind you, you heard a chuckle and you both turned to see the old woman looking at you both with a knowing twinkle in her eye. Both of your faces heated up as you realized you had just started kissing right in the middle of her store. The two of you started to apologize but she brushed it off with another laugh. 

“You know, there is a tree in a park a few blocks from here. They call it the Lover’s Tree. My husband and I used to sneak off there for a bit of privacy,” she told you with a wink. 

You thanked the woman profusely and even ended up buying some yarn as a thank you. Before you left, you both gave the sheep one more pat on the head before taking off and running towards the tree hand in hand.

[harrysbbby]

Super Rich Kids

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x Reader

Summary: Rafe and Y/N are young and in love, not to mention filthy rich. But does money really buy happiness? Based on Super Rich Kids by Frank Ocean

Words: 3k

Warnings: drug use, swearing, mentions of su*cide so please be mindful if this would be triggering. a whole lot of angst

Start my day up on the roof

There's nothing like this type of view

Point the clicker at the tube

I prefer expensive news

Rafe Cameron was an anomaly. Too spoilt to hang with the Pogues, too much of a delinquent to fit in with the Kooks. But he made do.

One of his favourite things was watching the sunrise from the roof next to his room’s large bay window. It centred him, calmed him. His mind was constantly racing, so seeing the orange glow rise over the trees, was nothing short of relaxing.

He would usually do this while scrolling through his phone, checking Instagram, seeing what party had happened the night before across Figure Eight. Fox News would send him updates, you know, rich people paying rich people to tell middle class people to blame poor people. And he supposed he fed into that idea, but as the sun hit his eyes, making him squint, he didn’t think further into it.

New car, new girl

New ice, new glass

New watch, good times babe

It's good times, yeah

Wind blew through your hair as you drove along the highway. You laughed raising your hands above the open windscreen, feeling the air on your fingertips. You could feel the diamond ring wobble on your finger, pulling your hands down to admire it. It matched your icy diamond bracelet, courtesy of your new boyfriend.

Rafe leant over placing a hand on your thigh, the cold feeling of his Rolex catching your attention. You could see your reflection in his glasses as you smiled at him. You leant over, placing a kiss on his cheek, before throwing your head back, whooping into the open air.

She wash my back three times a day

This shower head feels so amazing

We'll both be high, the help don't stare

They just walk by, they must don't care

The steam of the shower blended in the air with the smoke of weed, creating a damp leafy smell. Your soapy hands ran over his skin, washing off the dried saltwater. You grabbed the shampoo, foaming it up in your hands before reaching up to run it through his hair. He held your waist, securing your stance against him as you washed the salt and sand and seaweed from his hair.

He leant his head back, letting the water run over his head. He could feel your lips on his neck. He let out a throaty groan, gripping your bare ass. You giggled into his neck, hand running through his hair, ridding him of the rest of the shampoo.

He felt euphoric.

The two of you were giggling uncontrollably as you exited the shower, leaving puddles along the lavish floors of the main bathroom. You were wrapped poorly in the white fluffy towels, when you heard the vacuum cleaner whir from down the hall.

“Oh shit, the maid is here,” you cursed. Rafe’s bloodshot eyes lit up as hushed chuckles escaped his mouth. You tried to shush him, but your laughter was louder than his.

You made a run for it, sprinting down the hall, leaving drops of water behind. You slinked past the maid in the open living room upstairs. She didn’t even flinch as your white-towel clad bodies raucously giggled all the way to your room.  She had seen similar scenes a hundred times through. She’d found the bottles of alcohol hidden in your room, or your stash of weed. She needed the money, she needed employment from your family, she didn’t care what you did. You and Rafe collapsed onto your bed, still giggling out of your minds.

A million one, a million two

A hundred more will never do

Rafe went home that night. As he entered the house, he heard his dad summon him to the kitchen.

“Hey son,” he greeted him, not looking up from his paper, “I transferred some more money into your account today, saw you made some pretty decent purchases.”

“Yeah,” Rafe cleared his throat, “they’re for my, uh, new girlfriend. You always told me how to treat a girl right, Dad. I really think you’d like her.”

“That’s lovely,” Ward eyes never wandered from the page he was intently staring at. Rafe’s shoulders hunched as he made his way upstairs, unsure his dad even registered his retreating footsteps.

He took out his phone, opening up his banking app, surveying the hefty total. His heart didn’t pick up like it used to when he saw the number rise. He felt empty and unloved, but as your name appeared in a notification at the top of his screen, he thought, maybe, he would have a chance of filling that void.

Too many bottles of this wine we can't pronounce

Too many bowls of that green, no Lucky Charms

“I never understood what this is called,” your words slurred as you held the bottle up to your eyes, squinting as your hazy eyes struggled to focus.

“Who gives a shit! It tastes good either way,” Rafe leant forward, snatching the bottle from your hands, taking a large swig. You drunkenly laughed before pulling him into a kiss.

Music blared as the party pumped around you. Topper, who was sitting on the other side of Rafe, rolled his eyes.

“It’s ‘mow-ey’ if you’re show-ey and Mo-et if you know-it,” he said taking the bottle from Rafe’s hand, pouring the bubbly liquid into two flutes and passing them back to you and Rafe, “so please, be classy.”

You immediately downed the drink in one go, tipping your head back as you went.

“Or,” one of Rafe’s other friends drawled, reaching into his back pocket, “we could do some of this.”

You eyed the bag of leafy green substance. You held onto Rafe’s bicep, as he grabbed the bag from his friend’s fingers.

You were slouched on the couch, Rafe lazily slung over your middle as you stoked his hair.

“Do you ever wish we had a normal childhood?”

Your high took away your inhibitions, your mouth moving before your brain could stop it. Rafe swivelled in his spot below you, glancing up at your face. He thought about what he had the other night: the void in his chest, the feeling of being unloved, but the feeling of doing whatever the hell you wanted when you wanted was so freeing, but was it freeing enough? He answered honestly.

“I…I don’t know.”

The maids come around too much

Parents ain't around enough

Too many joy rides in daddy's Jaguar

“Why is your house always being cleaned? How does it even have enough time to get dirty again?”

You laughed at Rafe’s question as you led him into the garage.

“You know my mother, she’s a germaphobe. One speck of dust and she brings the cleaning day forward a half a week!”

You opened the door to the garage, smiling as Rafe’s jaw dropped. He inspected the glistening gold, pristinely kept Jag.

“Now, my parents are out of town, which is the only reason I’m letting you do this,” you pointed your finger at him, before tossing him the keys. As he ran past you to the car, he planted a kiss on your cheek, swinging open the driver’s side door, “Please be so careful, my Dad will kill me if we do anything happens to it.”

You joined him in the car, smiling as he delicately ran his hands over the interior, little ‘oh my God’s escaping his lips. He placed the key in the ignition, hearing the car turn on, allowing an appreciative moan to escape his lips.

“Let’s take this baby for a spin!”

Too many white lies and white lines

Super rich kids with nothing but loose ends

Super rich kids with nothing but fake friends

You walked inside the party, Rafe’s friends immediately ushering him away from you.

“Look, what I’ve got.”

Rafe’s eyes train in on the white powdery substance in the small plastic bag. He gulped. He’d drunk and done drugs before, sure. But cocaine was different. Although its white colour glistened against the glass of the table, its darkness was encompassing.

“Babe! Where are you?”

Rafe heard you call his name. He hushed the boys around him.

“Later, later.”

He ran up the stairs, finding you and spinning you around, capturing your lips in a kiss. It caught you off guard, but you melted into it.

You hummed as he released you before capturing the sight over his shoulder.

“Ew gross. Cocaine is disgusting. Makes people so violent. Promise me you won’t become like them,” you caressed Rafe’s face nodded your head towards the guys behind him.

“Yeah of course. I would never,” he nodded, allowing you to drag him away, casting one final look at the white powdered table as you went.

It was hours later, and you still couldn’t find Rafe.  He left you at the beer pong table to go to the bathroom, but had never returned. You weaved your way through the party, before his blue polo caught your eye. He was hunched over a table, a group of rowdy, aggressive boys surrounding him, one hand up to nose. You stomped over to where he was faced away from you, tapping his shoulder harshly.

He rose, turning his head, catching sight of you. He stood to his feet quickly, hastily wiping the white under his nose.

“Y/N, I—” he started, but your raised hand cut him off.

“No Rafe, I’m just… so disappointed, I really didn’t think this was you.” He looked like a scorned puppy, eyes wide and lip pouted. Problem was, he was meant to be your ride tonight. All your things, including your car, at his house. But very obviously he could not drive. You crossed your arms over your chest, “Give me your keys. I’m leaving. I don’t care if you come or not.”

He quickly fished into his pocket, handing you the keys as you continued to glare at him. You stalked away. He felt one of the boys hands come to grasp his shoulder as another laughed.

“Bro, your Mrs is mad!”

“She’s gonna give you the best angry sex—"

“Just, shut up!” Rafe snapped angrily. The rage burning inside of him was like nothing he had ever felt before. The heat rose, as if steam emitted from his years, his skin felt like it was on fire. He shrugged the guy’s hand off his shoulder, jogging to catch you before you left.

Real love, I'm searching for a real love

Oh, real love, I'm searching for a real love

Oh, real love

You and Rafe had just exited the Golf Club, walking hand in hand towards his car. It was your 6 month anniversary. You celebrated with an amazing meal, and Rafe even surprised you with an amazing new dress and shoes for the evening. You were super impressed he had managed to pick it out, but understood more when he said he had gotten Sarah’s help. Regardless, it flattered you, as he had clearly been paying attention as the dress was the same one you had eyed off shopping together just weeks previous.

The chilly night air hit your skin causing you to shiver. Rafe let go of your hand, shrugging off his suit jacket, before wrapping it around your shoulders.

“Thanks,” you smiled. You reached his car, leaning against the passenger side door as Rafe held both your hands, “I had a really great time tonight.”

“Me too,” he pulled your head up to meet his, placing his lips gently on yours. This kiss felt different than the others, more passionate, slower and more tender. Rafe pulled away looking into your eyes. He felt a warm feeling in his stomach, like it was summer, butterflies floating around.  His knees felt weak, as he whispered, “I love you.”

He had never said it before. He don’t even think he had felt it before, ever. He didn’t get this feeling when he was with other girls or his family. He felt nervous, worried that this wasn’t the feeling he was meant to have.

“I love you too,” the anxiety pulsating through his body subsided when he heard those words. He pulled you in for another kiss and he knew. This was what it was meant to be like: love. Real love.

We end our day up on the roof

I say I'll jump, I never do

But when I'm drunk I act a fool

Talking 'bout, do they sew wings on tailored suits

You had reached the Cameron house, following Rafe up to his room. He immediately moved across the room, stepping outside his large window. You huffed, following him, knowing your argument wasn’t over. You sat next to him, bringing your legs up to your chest, looking out over the trees, looking as if they were glistening under the moonlight.

“You know, sometimes, I think it would be easier if I jumped.”

His voice was solemn, yet serious. He sounded as if it was something he had genuinely considered, hard expression staring off into the middle distance.

“Rafe,” you started, but he continued.

“I think, it would be so much easier to just end this life, start the next. See what’s in store for the afterlife. But then I think, would there even be a spot for a person like me in heaven?”

You didn’t know what to say. Your skin felt hot and your heart was beating out of your chest.

“You’re not a bad person, you just… do stupid stuff sometimes,” you tried to calm him. But his expression didn’t change.

I'm on that ledge, she grabs my arm

She slaps my hand

It's good times, yeah

Sleeve rips off, I slip, I fall

The market's down like 60 stories

He was stood now, but his feet were unsteady. He looked almost unwell, sweat beaded across his forehead. You stood slowly arms outstretched, watching as his feet shuffled. They took one too many little steps, missing one of the roof tiles, causing him to wobble.

“Rafe!” you screamed, reaching forward grabbing his arm. You used all the strength in your body to pull him towards you. It worked but sent both of you falling back onto the roof. He landed next to you. You groaned as you sat up, rubbing your elbows which took the brunt of your fall.

“What the fuck was that Y/N?” his voice was gravely. He shoved you away from him, as he struggled to get to his feet again. You stood slowly.

“What the fuck was what? You were gonna fall, Rafe!” you yelled back, your face holding a bewildered expression.

He felt the fire burning inside once again. But now the voices that had been drowned out from the sticky substance flying up his nose, had begun crawling out of the void

No one loves you.

Your father thinks you’re a failure.

No one loves you.

You’re not gonna get anywhere.

Why would she love you?

“I don’t need your fucking help, okay?” His voice was venomous. You could feel droplets of spit hit your face, burning as if they were poisonous. Tears welled in your eyes as he continued to scream, “I’ve never wanted it. You were a good fuck, but you don’t mean anything to me!”

“You don’t mean that,” you whispered. It was the drugs talking. He was Rafe, your Rafe, and he loved you.

“Yeah, I do.” The certainty in his voice was piercing. The voices were egging him on: you mean it, you mean it. But really, he felt it. Nothing meant anything to him. The void was swallowing him up whole and he didn’t want to take you with him. “Everything in my life is shit, okay? Including you. I don’t need you telling me what to do and I especially don’t need you for anything else. We’re done.”

Tears were falling rapidly down your face. His expression was so hard, it alone couldn’t have cracked your heart. Sobs began escaping from your lips, watching as he breathed heavily. This was not the boy you fell in love with. This was the shell, overtaken by his self-loathing and unfulfillment. You wiped your face, collecting yourself.

“So what that’s it?” you asked, already knowing the answer. Rafe didn’t say anything, the only movement coming from him being the heavy rise and fall of his chest. “I really hope you figure out whatever’s going on with you,” your voice was so shaky the words nearly didn’t come out. You swallowed the lump in your throat as you hastily climbed back through the window, wanting to get away from him as quickly as possible.

The heat had subsided from Rafe’s body as he watched you leave. Your tears had dampened enough of the fire for him to realise what he had just done.

She never loved you.

You’re a failure.

How could anyone ever love you?

He heard your car start from the driveway, seeing the red reflection of your lights against the trees get dimmer and dimmer. You were gone. And you were never going to come back.

And some don't end the way they should

My silver spoon has fed me good

A million one, a million cash

Close my eyes and feel the crash

So you and Rafe broke up. You’d run into each other at parties occasionally, barely making eye contact and definitely never speaking. Over time you showed up with a new boyfriend, clad in designer wear. Rafe continued to hand in the corner, snorting blow and a bottle Moet in his hands, desperately clinging to the last thing he had left, you.

The Cameron money stood well over time, aiding Rafe and his addiction. But every snort came at a different kind of price. His emptiness grew larger and wider, fully encircling his body. The only thing reminding him he was alive was the pit in his stomach, ignited every time he got high.

At night when he would close his eyes, begging slumber to take him he would see your face. The wind blowing through your hair. Your smile. What it felt like to feel loved. Something he hadn’t felt until he met you and hadn’t felt since he lost you. He was empty and unloved.

Real love, ain't that something rare

I'm searching for a real love, talking 'bout real love

Real love, yeah

Real love

I'm searching for a real love

Talkin' 'bout a real love

��✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

a/n: I never really write angst jsjdjajsj but lemme know what you thought.

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[heartbreakgrill]

Anyone Else; Calum Hood

You leaned down over Calum’s shoulder, blocking out the bright sunset behind the two of you. He inhaled, reveling in the coconut scent of your shampoo, fused with sunscreen and chlorine-d pool water. He shook his head lightly, reminding himself to open his eyes and focus on the phone in his hand. You lifted your free hand, that wasn’t cradling a White Claw, and pointed at a profile.

“She’s super cute! I feel like she’s your type,” you commented at the picture of a taller girl, sporting fishnets and a Led Zeppelin.

“You think I’m only into girls who like rock?” Calum chuckled a little.

You shrugged, moving away to tug over a free camping chair. You leaned back in, giving Calum the view of your neck as your hair fell away from it. He licked his lips as you spoke again, “I mean, I think you look good next to someone like that based on how you dress and shit. If you’re not into that, dont let me pressure you.”

You giggled and twisted around to look at him. His eyes focused in on yours, “Uh, yeah. Or, no, youre good. Youre not pressuring me. Just helping, right?”

“Right,” you scrunched your eyes in a beat, to show you were somewhat confused by his confusion. “Anyways, swipe right or left and lets move along.”

“Okay.” Cal did as you said, allowing the screen to switch to another girl.

“Oh, no, no, she looks too much like Crystal,” you giggled lightly. “Love Crystal, but that’d be creepy.”

“So I can’t like anyone who looks like anybody in our friend group?” Calum remarked, his heart hoping you wouldn’t break it by what you would reply with.

You wriggled in your seat, “I dont know. I feel like its weird. If they look like Luke, Ill allow it.”

His lips fumbled before his brain could reach out and grasp the words and shuffle them back into a drawer, “What if they look like you?”

“Yeah, right,” you looked back at him, “I’m unique. One of a kind, baby.”

Calum flushed as you spoke. He fumbled again, about to spill again, when Sierra called your name from the pool. “Show me that boy from last weekend?”

You quickly got up, excusing yourself from Calum, and pranced across the concrete patio to the fire pit, where Luke and Sierra were cuddled up, talking to another one of your friends. Calum tried not to break his neck and watch you animatedly talk about your Tinder date last Saturday. Yet he knew it was noticeable he was trying to pry.

He felt a hand slap down on his shoulder and Calum jumped in his seat. Michael took your seat, Crystal trailing along behind and slinking into his lap. “You got it bad, mate.”

Crystal grinned at him, “You really do.”

Calum shook his head, “Dont know what youre talking about.”

“Oh, my God,” Michael pressed his fingers to his forehead, eyes cartwheeling in their sockets. “Seriously, I never understand situations like this. I dont think it’d ruin your friendship if you asked to kiss her and she rejected you.”

“It wouldn’t,” Calum remarked, speaking the honest truth. He shifted in his seat, glancing at you before meeting Michael’s eyes. “But it would ruin me. And I dont really want a broken heart right now.”

Crystal’s eyes widened and she leaned forward. “Cal, is it worse than we thought?”

“Worse?” Michael furrowed his brows, looking between the two before realization hit him like chance. “Oh, shit. Dude?”

Calum stood suddenly, tossing his empty beer can in the garbage. “I’m going home. See ya later.”

He didn’t give them the chance to say anything else as he gathered his damp towel, shoes, and bag from around him. He passed through the kitchen, waving lazily to Ashton and Kay, who were preparing the food for s’mores.

“Not staying?” Ashton called after him.

He heard Kay mutter something else to him and Ashton shocked a small, “Oh.”

You finished telling the story of Matt, who you had gone on a date with last week as Calum was pulling out of the driveway. “Yeah, but I don’t know if I’m going see him again.”

“Why?” Luke asked, puzzled by the fact that you sounded like you were really interested in him for the past five minutes, but didn’t wanna go on another date.

“I dont know,” you crossed your arms. “He’s just not my type. He’s kinda, like, stern. He’s funny, but funny in an unconventional way. He doesnt seem like he’d, I dont know, be playful in a relationship. Does that make sense? i want a guy who can be playful, but who’s mature.”

Sierra grinned to herself, nudging Luke with her elbow. “Yeah, that makes sense. Hey, ya know, Y/N?”

“Hm?” You looked to her.

Luke took over, “We know someone who’s like that.”

“Oh!” You smiled wider, “Who?”

You felt Michael slink an arm over your shoulder, whisper in your ear, “Calum.”

You moved from under him, his weight overbearing to you. “Yeah, okay.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Crystal sat on the couch across from Sierra.

“Nothings wrong. Hes just super out of my league. Plus, I’m not his type. I’m all, strawberries and picnics and, like, Hozier. He listens to Nickelback and he’d rather go to a club than kayak. I dont know, I feel like he wouldn’t like me because of my interests.”

“Cal’s a softer, you know that, right?” Luke replied. “Hes a big rockstar, yeah, but he loves hiking and nature, too.“

“He loves y- ow!” Michael groaned out, Crystal interrupting him with a shove to the ribs.

You gave him a strange look before looking back to Luke, “I know, but still. He’s still out of my league.”

-

The weeks passed, more pool parties and barbecues filling your lengthened free summer days that you weren’t working or going on sporadic Tinder dates. You’d been on five total, with four different guys. Each party brought more stories, more tall tales of Derek, the free lance artist who wore a scarf and ordered you red wine, Gideon, the police officer who hadn’t put his career in his bio, and got slightly upset when you talked about your advocacy for human rights. Spencer was just weird, with piles of facts, criticizing your jokes for being politically incorrect or scientifically impossible. However, Aaron was nearly perfect. He was super sweet, dressed like a normal person, and laughed at your jokes, agreed passionately with your advocacy.

Each time you retold a story, Calum would slide down in his seat, frown at the world around him, excuse himself from the party too soon. You were catching on slightly, smelling the jealousy seeping from his pores, though it was masked by chlorine. You figured he was just jealous because he couldn’t manage to match with a good enough woman on Tinder. So, tonight- though you had to leave early for a date with Aaron- you would most definitely find him a match.

Calum had arrived early to Luke’s house to get the meat started on the grill. He was flipping a few burgers, sipping at his first beer with absentminded concentration. His mind wandered as Luke rambled off his ear about something he saw on Twitter. Luke laughed at a joke he made, while Calum’s eyes lost focus and went blurry. His thoughts swirled with you- your shampoo, and its coconut scent that reminded him of his first crush in middle school. Your eyes were seen in so many, so similar, yet freckled with so much heartbreak and kindness that emitted from your soft spoken lips and light hands that had contact with the stars.

He didn’t care if he would look better next to a girl with jet black hair and a perfect body. He didn’t care if they played bass, too, or if they were famous and loved The Rolling Stones. He didn’t care if she was hard headed and loud. He liked that you were soft and quiet- he was, too. He loved that you dressed so different; your floral patterns went well with his dark jeans t-shirt combos. He didnt care about things looked, just how they felt. And things with you...Hell, you felt good.

Calum jumped as Luke shouted, “Youre burning the burger- Cal!”

Calum dropped his beer can, spilling the liquid all over his bare feet as he grasped for the spatula. He tossed a burnt burger into the trash with a huff, scooping the others onto a tray. “Sorry.”

Luke shook his head, sitting down beside Calum, who was dipping his feet into the water to clean them off. “What’s your problem, mate? You’ve gotten so quiet lately. Especially when Y/N’s around.”

“Part of me is hoping I’ll be able to fight the urge to kiss her if I just stop talking to her. But, then she comes around and i cant stop talking to her. We get on so well,” Calum murmured, though Luke could hear.

“Yeah?” Luke urged him, feeling proud he could get Cal to say so much. He was a quiet person, a loud jokester in social situations, but so soft and enclosed about himself.

Calum shook his head, huffed, “I cant settle for somebody else. I know that sounds selfish and stupid, but she’s all I want. She’s all I’ve wanted since i met her. She’s so perfect and good and...she makes me feel good. I dont know. Its not impossible for her to like me back, but she’s so obsessed with the idea of someone being her type. Its like she’s afraid to just take a chance and love someone who she doesnt have figured out. She wants it all to be certain and specific and exactly the way she expects it to be.”

Luke sighed, creating small ripples with his feet in the pool, “Cal, Y/N is like a literal angel. She’s gentle and quiet and contained and confirmed. She’s perfect, like you said. But, Sierra knows her so well. She keeps herself like that because she’s been heartbroken before. So many times before. She’s scared, yes. But I think shed be willing to give you a chance if you just tell her...tell her exactly what it is.”

“What do you mean?” Calum already knew everything about Y/N. But, he didnt want Luke to think he was obsessive even though she knew everything about Cal, too.

Luke shrugged, both of their head’s turning to the patio door as it opened. “I dont know. But, you do. Just tell her.”

“How will I know if I’m saying the right things?”

“You just will.”

Sierra led you over to a lounge chair, sitting beside you as you slipped out of your sandals and tugged off your shirt. You were left in your bikini top and shorts, a combination that made Calum’s heart palpitate. He took the courage from Luke’s words and stood, walking over to you.

“Yeah, so if he ever wants to...” Sierra trailed off as Calum’s shadow fell over the two of you.

He gave you a shy smile as Sierra grinned and excused herself.

“Hey, Cal,” your lips lifted, eyes following him as he sat next to you. “How’ve ya been?”

“Good, you?” He was shy. He knew you could tell, too. His eyes kept switching between yours and his hands, your lips and...

“I’m okay. A little burnt out. Work has been busy because its summertime. High fashion and stuff, ya know?” You laughed, jabbing at a joke. Your eyes glinted when Calum tossed his head back and laughed.

“Yeah, I know, dont you see my high-end swim shorts?” He made a motion to show off his pants, and you admired him.

“Cute,” you replied. A beat of silence passed before your phone made a noise. You didnt touch it, knowing it was rude to do so, but your brows flicked up. “Oh! Have you matched with any other girls on Tinder? If you haven’t, I’m making it my mission to find you someone else.”

“How am I supposed to think about anyone else?” He blurted out suddenly.

You stopped smiling, blood freezing and your body turning stiffly. “What?”

“Uh,” Calum thought, wondering how he should go about this. “Theres a million little things I haven’t told you. I cant go on keeping them to myself. And pretending I want anyone else.”

You met his eyes and Calum felt the world melt away. Like a focused lens on a camera, he only saw you, your golden little halo. Your shocked expression.

“Cal,” you hesitated, “Aaron.”

“Is he the guy you want to hold you?” Calum whispered.

You visibly shivered, your heart beating out of your chest.

“It kills me thinking of you with him,” he paused, “you and i could have it good. I dont know him, but I know myself, and I know that I can love you so much better than he could.”

You shook your head, sweat pooling on your hands and the back of your neck. “No, Cal. Please. Dont make it hard.”

“It’s not hard unless you make it hard,” Calum spoke as soon as you began to stand.

“No, its not supposed to be hard. I want it to be easy for once,” you said.

Calum grabbed your hand, turning you back around, “It is. I know were so different, and I’m on the road all the time, and I’m fucked up because of people from my past. I know I smoke, and you help clean up cigarette butts in the park and I’m silent when I shouldn’t speak, but if you jump, Ill jump, too. C’mon, please?”

You finally met his eyes, feeling the rhythm of your heart steady. “I know its dramatic, but I’m just so afraid. So many guys have hurt me and made me feel ugly. I carry myself in a way that allows protection and routine. I hate the idea of some disturbance because disturbance has always meant hurt. Cal...i could love you. I think I’m very close to loving you, but i dont know if i can let myself.”

“I do love you, and I’m letting myself,” Calum stepped closer, tugging you to close the distance more. “Just let go.”

With silent permission, his hands slipped around your waist and your clutched his t-shirt. Your fists were tight, your lips stoic. Until you felt a lock pick inside your soul and you relaxed.

TAG LIST: @mantlereid @boxofteenageideas

, @dinosaursandsocks , @ashhdaniellee95 @zhangyixingxing1

[g0ldengubler]

chapter 6~life is a “high” way

(*i do not own this gif*)

A/N: this chapter is honestly one of personal favs because we get to see more of spencer feeling more confident in himself in a way while still being him and it’s just aaaaa :’) tomorrow you will get chapter 7 but then after that, expect chapters to come out a bit slower, including requests (which i am working on currently and thank you so much for sending them my way!). lots of my focus needs to be on my personal life but writing helps me get through all of that hell, so i’m in a very wishy washy position lol. thank you so much for the love on nauseous i love uuuuuu

Category: fluff w smut at the end

CW: road head, d/s dynamic, daddy kink

Word Count: 3282

before you read | last chapter | next chapter (coming soon!*)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spencer parks in front of your apartment building and stays in his seat as you get out. You both had decided that packing up right away and not going to lunch was better. That way, you can learn more about each other on the way there. You couldn't wait to get inside that smarty-pants brain of his and find out what's really going on in there.

You shut the car door and start walking, but stop when you don't hear his footsteps behind you. When you walk back to the car, you see Spencer sticking his battery in the cigarette lighter to charge.

"You're more than welcome to come in, y'know." You chuckled.

Spencer looks up at you, licking his lips as he moves some of his hair behind his ear. "It's ok, I don't want to bother."

"You won't be a bother. I've been to yours, now you can come into mine."

"Oh, so that's how that works huh? You have to go into the guys apartment before the guy goes to yours?" Spencer said sarcastically.

"You know what I mean!" You pull open the car and grab his hand, "C'mon, Spence. You'll be fine!"

He giggles under his breath and comes out of the car. After locking it, the two of you head inside and up the elevator to the 4th floor. Once at your door, you unlock it and open up to 4 paws jumping onto you. You hear Spencer gasp in surprise and giggle at his reaction, making it seem like you were giggling at your two buddies. Sitting on your old couch was your next door neighbor, Seth, who was watching Pose on the tv.

"Thank you again for watching the boys while I was gone. I really owe you big time for doing this." you say as you get up from the floor.

Seth gets off of the couch and walks up to you to give you a hug. "Anytime! If anything, they can stay at my place when you go on a case-" He stops and looks over at Spencer, standing awkwardly by the door still and letting the dogs sniff him, "Although, it seems like this new case was a success."

"Shut up, Seth!" You giggle, lightly slapping him on the arm. Realizing you forgot your manners, you quickly try to take it back. "Seth, meet Dr.Spencer Reid. Doc, meet my neighbor, Seth."

Seth reached his hand out to shake, but Spencer politely denies. "Sorry, I-I don't shake hands. It's actually been proven that it's safer to kiss." You catch Seth's eyes looking him up and down. "Seth stop teasing him like that!" You laugh. Spencer wasn't into guys, but somehow Seth looking at him made you a little jealous. You're not even dating the man, y/n shut up, you think to yourself.

"You and I will talk later." He says.

"Oh, Spence! These are my babies. The scottie is Benedict and the husky is Draco."

The room went silent for a moment, Spencer trying to hold in a chuckle. "Yes, I did name them after Benedict Cumberbatch and Draco Malfoy. I've had them picked out since I was a teenager, don't judge."

"Oh c'mon hun," said Seth, "it's adorable that you named them the way you did."

"It is," Spencer spoke, "I didn't depict you as a nerd."

"Oh my god, you kidding? She's probably the biggest nerd I've ever met with all her Sherlock and other crime shows, Harry Potter, Doctor Wh-"

"Ok, I think he gets it Seth!" You cut him off. That was enough embarrassment for today.

"I will say, Benedict or Tom Felton could always come my way."

You slap him on the arm again laughing. You look back at Spencer, who was awkwardly chuckling along with. You then announce that you were going to get in the shower. "Seth, can you take them for a few more nights? We're going up to my dad's cabin back home for the weekend. Also, when I get out and do my makeup, you promised me that you would tell me how your date went last night with 'Mr.Perfect' as you said it."

"Bitch I have ALLLLLL the tea that I'm not missing on spilling!"

"Good. Now you two get along. And Spence," He looks up at you, his hazel eyes looking into you...

"Don't miss me too much, hm?"

Then you walked into your bathroom, trying to wrap your brain on the fact that you just said that to him.

                           ~Spencer's POV~ I can't believe she said that.

She left me here a little turned on. I could start feeling my pants getting tight and had to put my bag over myself as I sat on the couch so then I wouldn't embarrass myself in front of Seth. I looked around her apartment to distract myself of thoughts of being in the shower with her. She had a very interesting aesthetic. Walls white with old picture frames that had beautifully taken old photos in them. The lamps that were in the living room looked like they were from the 70's, old gold coating chipped off at some parts of the stand. While there was a vintage look to her place, it was also very modern at the same time, a minimalistic look took over her kitchen. She had a fake vine hanging from the wall behind her tv, some of it covering her maroon record player. In some ways, our aesthetics were similar. If she had a bookcase in here, I'd feel like I was at my place.

Seth and I began to get to know each other. I came to find out that Seth worked as a bartender at a club, and he enjoyed taking photos for his social media. "I would love to be a photographer," he said, "but right now it's just a hobby that I do mostly during the colder months." He says cold, cloudy days (especially if it's raining) were the best times to take photos, in his opinion.

"So," he says, "you work with y/n at the BAU?"

"Yeah, we've really become good friends in the past 9 days. It's like we've known each other for years. Plus, she's great out on the field. She's definitely someone myself and the rest of the team will never take for granted."

"Thank god," Seth said as I heard the water turn off, "She told me that it was her dream to be a part of the BAU. She would never stop talking about it when she was in college."

"Hm, she never mentioned that to me."

"Well, let her tell you on your way to the cabin. She'll love it."

After a little bit more conversation, y/n came back to the living room. Her hair was damp, not fully wet but not dry either. She had thrown on a white turtle neck shirt with a brown sweater vest over it. She matched it with darker brown corduroy pants, cuffing the bottoms. In her hands was what looked like to be her makeup bag. She sat down in front of the mirror that was in the corner on the left side of the tv (when you look at the tv), beginning the process.

Seth and y/n talk about his date from last night and got pretty detailed about it. He talked about how the man took him to a gay bar that was a few blocks from here, and how they danced and drank the night away. "Oh and then get this," says Seth, "we're pretty drunk at this point, right? Well at one point, the local queen that performed came up to me and tried to flirt and shit, thinking she was all that and a bag of lashes, and he saw how uncomfortable I was and stood up for me. And let me tell you, he was REA-DY to throw hands!"

"Stooooop he's literally a keeper!" y/n says.

Once she was done with her makeup, she gets up and goes back to her room, coming back out with her luggage. She goes over to the door to grab a pair of Vans and comes back to tell Seth and her children goodbye.

"I'll be back in a few days. Thanks again, Seth. I really-"

"Owe me one, I know I know!" Seth cuts her off, "Now go have some fun and relax, you need to after working so damn hard for this job!" He turns to me and waves. "And it was very nice meeting you, Doctor."

"It was nice to meet you, too! But please, you can just call me Spencer."

Seth smiles as we walk out the door. What this trip will bring? For once, I'm letting fate take the lead instead of science.

~Y'N's POV~ It had been about a few hours of being on the road. At this point, you were somewhere in Pennsylvania, but not sure if you were close enough to Philly to grab a cheesesteak. You think back to the start of the drive. You suggested that you'd be the dj because your library on spotify had a full range of genres with some songs you had no clue were in there. "It'd be a fun little journey!" You told Spencer. And that it was, a journey.

You ended up driving right by a dispensary before even leaving DC. Garcia told you that that's where she gets her stuff, but knowing that bringing a lot of weed across the country wouldn't be a fun trip, you two decided to go with the original plan and just wait till you get to Michigan.

You could tell Spencer was getting a kick out of your music library. While majority of the songs he didn't know, he was still being goofy and jamming out along with you, trying to match the same energy you were having. The songs that talked about sex, drugs, and/or alcohol surprised him every time, his jaw dropping or his eyes bulging out of his head as he listened to the lyrics. You couldn't help yourself but laugh at his reactions, which would make him laugh along with you.

You two weren't alone, however. You were pretty much sucking down on the carts you still had, although you both made a deal that whoever was driving could only get a little high if they wanted to, drinking plenty of water and eating snacks to sober you up a bit if needed.

Driving through Pennsylvania, you look out the window and onto the scenery around you. You weren't paying attention, however, because you couldn't stop the dirty thoughts that intruded your mind. You couldn't help to think about giving him head, since you hadn't done it yet because both times he gave you all the pleasure. You couldn't wait to get to the cabin and go straight to your knees for him. Suddenly, you tried to get them out of your head. 'You're getting way too excited, y/n. STOP IT!' you thought to yourself.

You decided to just feel everything around you, taking a few more hits from your pen before taking it in. Nineteen by Movements was playing; it was like you could feel the song itself and everything about it as you looked up at the very tall street lamps passing by. Nothing felt better than this moment. Just you and Spencer out on the open road. It felt like nothing could stop you two. You felt free, but you also felt safe and complete, something you haven't felt in a long time.

At one point, you couldn't take it anymore. It was 2:30am and Spencer was still driving. He told you to get some sleep but you weren't sleepy or tired at all. You tried to feel free but when you did, you thought of Spencer, which led to dirty thoughts. It was like you couldn't escape it, and every time the thoughts came, you couldn't help but secretly rub your thighs together for some kind of friction.

As you tried to get the thoughts out of your head, you look over to see a nice little surprise. The passing lights outside helping you see, you noticed the bulge in Spencer's pants. How in the hell would he be getting hard now of all times? Were dirty thoughts intruding his mind, too? Seeing that made you even more wet than you already were. This was your chance.

You look out to the open road in front of you, and gently graced your fingers across his bulge. You look out the corner of your eye...nothing. Not even a flinch. 'Playing hard to get, hm?' You thought to yourself. So you did it again, which made him shift in his seat a little, still pretending he didn't notice anything. Finally, with some kind of courage that you never knew you had, you grabbed his cock through his pants and slowly started to stroke it. His eyes came out of his head, letting out a small gasp.

"You know I'm driving, right?" He asked, "We could crash if I'm paying attention more to this and not on the road."

You give him a smirk, "It's almost 3am," you begin to say, but then you notice that you're the only car on the road, "and no one else is on the road right now."

You start to undo his belt with your one hand. "You pleasured me twice already," you continue, your hand successfully undoing the belt and undoing the zipper on his pants, reaching inside to pull out his already, fully hard cock, "I need to show my thanks somehow, don't I?"

Spencer shifts in his seat, keeping his eyes out on the road. You were kind of hoping he was looking for somewhere to pull over, but you wouldn't mind doing it as he drove. "You...you already did...b-by inviting me to your dad's cabin."

You stopped stroking and he almost let out a whimper. "I saw that bulge in your pants just a few minutes ago, are you suuuurree you don't want to...daddy?"

Just hearing the word 'daddy' made him grab your hair tightly. You smiled as you shifted your position in your seat to go down on him. When you were ready, Spencer stopped at a red light and pulled your face close to his, lips almost ghosting each other.

"You better make daddy feel good then, since you're being such a fucking brat right now." He whispered as you continued to slowly stroke him again.

You couldn't even react to what he said because once the light turned green, he guided your head down to his cock before letting the tightness on your head go and letting his hand rest on top. You decided to egg on your bratty-ness by teasing the tip, giving him kitty licks at first and then slowly just running your tongue in it, licking up the pre cum.

Spencer tightens his grip again, making you whimper. "I'm not sure doing that is a good idea, angel. Do you want to get punished once we're there?"

You shook your head no, but the thought of him punishing you made you feel yourself drip between your thighs.

Spencer moves his grip from your hair and slaps your ass with a huge SMACK, which made you moan loudly.  "You have to use your words, angel. Unless you want to be a little slut tonight."

You look up at him to see his eyes were still on the road. You smirk as you pump him a few times before taking his head in your mouth. You bob up and down slowly, hearing him grunt and curse under his breath. You step it up by going down a little lower, each time going back up and then going lower until you had all of him in your mouth. You stayed like that for a few moments, gagging on it.

"Oh fuuuck that's it...that's it baby, take my cock in your mouth, just like that." He says before pulling you off to let you breathe. He's quiet for a moment before he says, "Now I'm going to guide you, angel. You're gonna make daddy feel more good than he already was, got it?"

"Yes, daddy." you answer, knowing that he wanted to hear you say again.

He pushes your head back on his cock, moving you head faster than before. He couldn't get enough it, making you gag every so often and pulling you back up. Spencer's cock twitched in your mouth and you knew he was close. He controls your head faster, his rhythm getting sloppy.

"You want me to cum in that pretty mouth of yours, angel? You want daddy's cum?" He growled, trying not to thrust into your mouth as he continues to drive.

"Mhmm!" You moan, which almost made him go over the edge.

"Keep doing that for daddy, moan for me. God, I bet you just love having my cock in your mouth, but I'm sure you're just desperate for my cum."

You moan again. That you were. You wanted his cum so bad in your mouth so you could taste him; taste how good you made him feel.

"Don't...fuck...don't stop doing that, angel...that's it...fuck I'm gonna cum..."

And with that, you feel his cum shoot inside your mouth, letting out moans and cursing. You slowly continued to suck him, getting every last drop. When you did, you move up to face Spencer as he pulled over, showing his cum in your mouth at first and then closing your mouth to swallow and open back up to show him it was gone. The look in his eyes told you that that was the hottest thing he's ever seen.

Spencer pulls you in surprisingly and attacks your lips with his, as if he was hungry for them. He was almost eating your face but you didn't care, you kissed him back and let your tongues play with one another. You both pull away after a bit and he just looks into your eyes. You look into his hazel eyes and felt complete.

"Now, will you stop being a brat and get some sleep?" He asks.

You giggle as you quickly look at the time in the car radio. "It's 3:15," you said, "it's my turn to drive."

"But now you're all tired from pleasing daddy," he jokes, "so you get some sleep, and I'll drive. I really don't mind it. Honest."

"Are you sure?"

Spencer nods his head. You decided to give in and get comfy in your seat.

"Goodnight, Spence." You say as you move the top part of the seat all the way back. You grabbed your traveling pillow and placed it on top of your right arm, laying your head as you turned your body to face away from him.

"Goodnight, angel."

[abloomntime]

A Bloom In Time Ch22 Cooking Cat Returns With Mustache Girl

(I headcannon Mustache Girl's actual name to be Muriel. )

You know. It feels a lot better sleeping on a bed than it was sleeping on a hard cold wooden floor. Also much better to wake up with having sore muscles for a second time. Slowly waking up, blue eyes peered out awake to the world, blinking away the blurry vision that came with it. Where was she again? The first thing she saw was the blue canopy of Hattie bed......And slowly she started to remember what happened last night. Groaning, the grown woman slowly sat up on the bed and reached a hand up to push the long messy hair out of her face. Vision slowly focusing and seeing the large pillow pile and diving board attached to the top of it, and the bookshelf with all those children books on it. Yawning, Poppy stretched out her back the Starella story book tumbling off her lap and onto the bed beside her, not that she noticed. She was a little busy smacking her lips and rubbing her face before standing up and sluggishly walking her way towards the tiny door. She was hungry and you know what, some apples in the morning didn't sound too bad anyways. As her ma would say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Right? Well not quite. As she tired crawled(dragged) herself into the control room, the sweet smell of fried eggs and cheese filled the air and when she sniffed, Poppy found herself turning in the direction of the kitchen. Her stomach rumbled at the smell of the food and she stood to her feet again. Mind blank as she tiredly trudged her way towards the ramp up to the kitchen area. Passing Rumbi who was happy to be back in the control room and not carried around room to room anymore cleaning. Up the ramp and past the big vault door, she could smell the food getting closer and closer until she pushed open the doors without a second thought.

"....Well, good morning to ya," a cheering slightly southern accent called out, "I was wondering when I would see you again."

The voice seemed to finally wake up Poppy as she blinked and turned her head in the direction of Cookie who smiled and was standing on a chair to reach the hot stove. Something was sizzling on the stove in front of her and that's what was making the delicious smell. The girls were there too, all dressed in the same outfits as yesterday but these ones were different colors. Same design and style, different color. Hattie was wearing a dark blue and white out fit and hat( dark blue being her shirt and pants, and white being anything else from her cape to hat), and Bow was wearing a similar dark blue and white attire(with her dress being dark blue and everything from her Bow to shoes were a white). The girls happily waved at her in between eating what looked like friend eggs into their mouths. A third short person was standing off in the corner of the room behind Cookie looking bored.

"Oh. Uh.....*YYYYAAAAWWNN* H-Hello again, Cookie." She proceeded to rub her face again. "W-What are you doing here?"

Cookie smiled turning back to the stove to flip the yellow almost cresent shaped egg. "Well, since the last episode of my cooking show for this season was finished, it means I get a few months to take a load off and prepare for the next season after the Annual Bird Movie Award Ceremony is over."

"Bird ....movie awards?"

Cookie nodded. "It happens once a year, but unfortunately since one of the three judges not awefully sick from bad bird seed they had to push it back a few months this year. Now the deadline is the week before Cupid's Day, that's why the theme for this year's contest was romance. Poor Mr. Grooves is having an awful time trying to find suitable actors for this fairytale romance theme he has going on. I would've volunteered myself, but I was really looking forward to some rest." She smiled shyly and pointed to herself. "And I wasn't exactly what he was looking for in the fair maiden role."

"I think you're beautiful Cookie!," Bow piped up, "The prettiest cat in the world!"

"And the best cook, too!," Hattie added.

Both making Cookie giggled and waving her paw, "Oh stop! Ya'll are making me blush worse than a kitten with a puppycrush."

"What are you cooking?," Poppy asked shuffling closer to them.

"Cheese omlets," Cookie replied happily. Reaching over and grabbing a plate laid next to her, she expertly flipped the omlet up and onto the plate in her paws with ease before turning to Poppy smiling and offering it out to her. "I hope ya'll don't mind me stoppin' by. I had nothing else today to really do, and I thought that I'd drop by and spend some more time visiting like I promised. And I wanted to see for myself if you were settling in today."

Poppy gladly took the plate from her stomach rumbling and mouth watering at the sight of it. "Uh. N-No. It's perfectly fine. In fact it's very kind of you to do so." Smiling she took the fork handed along with her and dug in......OH MY PECK!! Whatever a cheese omlet was it was SO delicious! Once again her cooking amazed her again. " SO GOOD!!"

Cookie ended up chuckling again turning off the stove. "I'm glad you think so, honestly it was only a few eggs and slicing a few pieces off that cheese wheel, the fridge is practically empty. Why didn't you go restock yet?"

Poppy stopped mid bite and looked at her for a moment staring. "Restocking?"

"Y'know. Shoppin'? All ladies like to shop, don't you?"

"Uh...Actually I don't think I could. I haven't exactly been paid by anyone yet so I don't really have much to buy any fancy things." She continued eating and eventually a movement to her right caught her attention, blue eyes looked down to meet gold ones as the two made eye contact and her brain quickly registered it to be another little girl in a red hood with her hair in two ponytails. Swallowing down some food, Poppy smiled at her. "Well hello there. I don't think I've met you yet. What's your name?"

"Mustache Girl!," the tiny girl proclaimed pointing a hand up, "Defeater of bad guys and savior of the world!"

"More like almost destroying it," Hattie shot back shooting her a dirty look witch this ...uh...'Mustache Girl' shot back with equal annoyance.

"Says the one who messed up by making it rain dangerous hourglasses everywhere!," the blonde yelled back pointing a finger, Hattie just stuck her tongue out at her.

The little girl continued to look slightly annoyed and Cookie reached behind her to pat the child's head. "This is Muriel. But we call her Mu for short." She gave a scary mom smile down to the children. "And we're not going to fight today are we?"

"No, Cookie!," all three girls agreed under the cat's gaze.

Poppy wasn't gonna lie, she was slightly scared and kinda impressed and this cat woman's skills to mother these three with ease within just a few seconds. And Mu huh? She giggled. It was pronounced the same way as 'Mew', like what a cat would say. And honestly it was kinda cute of her. Mu noticed the way Poppy was giggling and looking at her and frowned. Before shooting an accusing hand and face at her.

"And what are you laughing at?," she asked and Poppy noticed she also had some kind of accent. "Are you a bad guy too?!"

"MU!," Cookie scolded giving her a stern look and Mu instantly froze, eyes shooting sideways to the cat, "What did we talk about with minding your manners? Now you apologise to Ms. Bloomington this instant!" Her gaze turned apologetic to Poppy. "I am so sorry. It's hard for her to break old habits from Mafia Town, but I promise you she's a good girl."

"There's no need to apologize." Poppy smiled wider before kneeling down slowly to Mu's height. The little girl pulled her hand back to her and watched as Poppy stopped eye level smiling at her like Cookie would. "It sounds to me like you're a very brave little girl."

Mu paused for a moment. Looking Poppy up and down suspiciously as if trying to decide if she was serious or not about it, but took it as a compliment. Smiling proudly and puffing out her chest, pointing at herself. "Absolutely not wrong! I'm the bravest crime fighter in the world!"

Poppy chuckled again and sweetly nodded. "Well, I wouldn't be surprised if ya was. Such pretty eyes too. They look just like gold and honey."

"YEAH! That's exactly what I am!" She puffed up prouder at the strokes to her ego. "Gold and honey! The best gold and honey in the universe! Finally someone who gets it." Behind her Hattie rolled her eyes stuffing the last of her breakfast in her mouth, and Cookie seemed to be happy with the way the two stopped arguing finally.

Poppy chuckled again. "Well, it's really nice to meet you, Mu."

"Likewise, Bloom-in-Tons!"

"Call me,Poppy!" She smiled as she stood up to finish eating her food as she smiled. "Why don't you all go play?"

"Yes," Cookie agreed nudging Mu forward a little bit, "Why don't you all go and play with that pretty gold castle they showed us and be nice while the adults talk for a little bit?" The children were a little apprehensive at first but agreed to do so with Bow quickly stuffing the rest of her breakfast into her mouth and both her and Hattie tossing the dishes into the sink as one after another they ran to the doors with a few shouts of- 'I call being the Gold hero!' 'No you don't! I'm the best crime fighter!' "No you're not! I beat you remember!' 'Yes way!' 'No way!' 'Yes, Way!' and Bow following after the first two as they left. Cookie sighed shaking her head and grabbed the frying pan and spatula she had been cooking with hopping off the chair before looking up at Poppy. "I'm sorry for that. Those three may fight sometimes, but Hattie was quick to forgive everyone including her. They are friends I swear, but they argue worse than Conductor and Mr. Grooves at times....Mind being a dear and dragging over that chair there?"

"Hm. Oh! Sure." Plate in one hand, Poppy used the other to drag the chair across the room right behind Cookie to the sink following. "And it's quite alright. Kids will be kids after all, I don't blame them at all. Hmhm." She scooted the chair over where Cookie silently pointed and watched as the plump cat impressively jump onto it and faced the sink with the already dirty dishes in it. Going back to eat the other half of her breakfast as she watched Cookie roll up her sleeves more and turning on the sink. "Thank you for the..omlet by the way. I really appreciate it. "

She nodded not looking at her and instead turning on the hot water to the said sink. "Well it wasn't trouble at all. I was a little surprised you hadn't gotten up yet. Aren't you supposed to be the little dumplins' new babysitter or somethin'?"

Poppy sighed through her nose swallowing again. "Uh, well. Yeah that's my new job I guess. Being a maid and nanny to 'em. But to be honest with ya, I don't know the first thing about where ta go or even start with whole thing."

Cookie paused for a moment in her movements to look over at her...Yellow eyes roaming up and down eyeing the tacky dress on her and the messy bed head she had. "Well, by the way you look now ya'll are having some trouble settling in."

Poppy groaned allowing the cat to take away her now empty plate. "Tell me about it. With all the darn crazy things that's happened in the past few days I'm about ready to burst. And even if I knew where ta shop, I couldn't exactly pay for anything being broke."

Cookie looked at her confused. "Broke? But I thought all those gold do-dads were supposed to be your payment? The children seemed awefully proud to have them and Hattie said something about buying a whole bunch of things with some of it."

........OH!! THE GOLD!! OF COURSE!! She had completely forgotten about all of that in favor of being hungry and getting herself some food, but now that she remembered that didn't sound like a half bad idea to use it for food and some clothes that weren't so tacky.

"That doesn't sound like a half bad idea ya got there!...But. I'm not really sure where to use it. Haven't visited many places around here."

"Hm...I got an idea!" Cookie's smile widened at her. "Mu and I were just going around to do some errends after visitin'. Why don't ya'll come along and we'll make a girls trip outta it? It'll be fun to show someone around my favorite places! And I know just the place in Express City where you can trade gold for pons."

Poppy blinked. "W-Wha- N-No! I-It's fine. You're too kind really. We'll be just fine just how we are right now-"

"Nonsense," Cookie cut her off giving her a look. "Staying here all the time isn't going to magically put food in your fridge or nice clothes on your back. I insist. Besides, some time stretching your legs will be good for you."

Well. That didn't sound too bad to be honest. She could definately get a change of scenery besides haunted woods or an alien space ship, plus some actual soil under her feet sounded nice instead of floating in outer space. But Cookie wasn't exactly about to let her just waltz out with a bed head like hers. Luckily there was three little girls who gladly got very excited when they were asked by the cat to play 'make over' with Poppy, and by that she meant tidy up her hair. To say it hurt quite a bit with all the tangled built up ever since she crash landed in the swamp was an understatement. IT PECKING HURT!! Didn't help her hair was very long so it would take quite a while, in the meantime Cookie was nice enough to gather some of the gold objects they definately could put to better use. Of course both Bow and Hattie were very reluctant to let any of the buried treasure they found go, and once seeing all the gold Mu certainly was not willing to let 'any potential evil doers get their hands on it'. But they all came to a understanding with the stern gaze of the cat thrown at them. They would the girls each keep one, leave one or two pieces of gold for back up just in case of any emergency where they needed money, and the rest was coming along with them. They agreed reluctantly. No surprise Hattie chose the golden Roach King. Bow chose the castle as she enjoyed having it while playing her games. And Mu chose the cookie. Why?....She pouted and said because it reminded her of someone before shoving it into her cape's pocket with a huff. It was decided the golden skull would be the thing to be left behind and was hidden under Hattie's bed for safe keeping. Which left the golden gear, trophy, potion, pencil, Mafia Man, Cheese pieces, and candle would be all the things to go. But they all wouldn't be easy to carry as solid gold was a sure heavy thing. Luckily Poppy was just what they needed, who else to carry them but the strongest gal here? So into the pockets of her trusty leather apron they went. The weight was a bit much but she'd manage, like the light pain in her head right after the girls got done with her hair finally, leaving it in that signiture long braid and pretty blue bow tied at the end by Bow. She was ready! But the trip all the way down to the planet was another thing in of itself.

She was NOT about to risk free falling from space again, and these two weren't exactly known for their iron grip the last time. Cookie, being the genius cat she was suggested she just come along with them to Moon City to catch the next chip taxi down to the planet with them. Poppy hesitated at first, but she agreed afraid of falling from the sky again. Bow and Hattie coming out with umbrella's in their hands presumably going on their own to follow them all. Making sure they were all comfortable the cat lifted her sleeve again to reveal the same watch like device she had used the last time she was there and instructed Poppy to hold onto her paw now, as it would be a really quick trip there. She wasn't sure what to expect when she nervously grabbed Cookie's paw, but she did slam her eyelids shut when Cookie pressed the button on there. Before quickly grabbing Mu's hand with her other paw.

.....

........

"Uh..Ya'll can open your eyes now," came Cookie's voice.

Were they there already? Poppy's hand was released by Cookie and the human slowly opened her eyes. ....And what she saw both surprised and calmed her. Looking up the starry sky of outer space shown down at her live the time she free falled, but without the falling to the ground this time. The pretty stars shown brightly before those blue eyes blinked around at everything else. It was a CITY alright. A BIG ONE!....Well, she guessed any city would be big to her, as she's never really been IN a city before, the only one she's known to be in the city was her distant cousin who had a Fruit Stand somewhere in the Subonette City Marketplace. He'd sometimes tell them all the tall buildings that were so close together and the giant skyscrapers the rich fatcats lived in and their fancy carriages being pulled by giant beautiful black stallions. He always said the place was always too big and crowded for his liking but he didn't leave because the market always brought the best customers to his food. But she'd didn't think any city would be this.....Flashy. The tall buildings were decorated in massive lights and music blasted from everywhere and all kinds too. Rock, jazz, blues, techno remixes. You name it. It was almost enough to hurt her ears and her eyes. And all around them were...There was....PENGUINS!! Moon Penguins. They all didn't seem to mind or care that they just showed up in the middle of the town square and didn't care. Beeping was heard as a car zipped by them all and Poppy jumped staring at the weird mechanical beast that just went by. Gigantic signs were everywhere decorated with lights. One said 'Hats', another had a picture of a fedora and said 'Nuthin' Cooler', one Said 'Hats and Buy'. She giggled at one that read 'Penguin Suits Clothes Store'. There was even a giant glowing sign of piano keys with the words "Feelin' Lucky? Casino Hall'. It was...AMAZING!! Even if her senses were being attacked right now. But then she stopped to stare at the fountain they were standing right next to. It was in a giant shape of a music note and like most everything else, was bedazzled in lights as water poured from it.

"Are you alright?" Mu was giving her a strange look as the grown woman gawked at everything. "You look like you've never seen a fountain before."

"I've never been in any city before! Let alone on the moon!" Poppy smiled excitedly at the two of them. "This is amazing!"

Cookie chuckled and grabbed Mu by the hand gesturing for them to cross the street to the right.....Then proceeded to grab Poppy's hand to drag her along behind them as she still stood and gawked at everything but jumped at the tiny cat pulling her along across the street to the sidewalk. Another red car driving by them. As they walked Poppy noticed there was tiny bush plants in pots everywhere also covered in lights as they passed. These pengiuns really loved lights huh? Speaking of them she saw a lot of them. Moon penguins wearing suits, fedoras, and black sunglasses, they were all listening to music or talking to one another, or driving those big machines they were riding in. At one point she saw a lady penguin dressed in a pink outfit similar to the others, waddling around with a baby stroller with an egg carefully placed inside of it. She giggled at the sight of a tiny fedora on the egg as they passed, how peculiar- BAM!! Bright yellow light! Suddenly hitting her straight in the face. Poppy had to slam her eyes shut again at the sudden bright yellow flashing on them, only being guided by Cookie still holding her hand but Poppy did blink her eyes open and look up to where the light was radiating from when she felt cookie tug her in a different direction before stopping. While she got her hand back, Poppy held it up above her as her eyes adjusted and she was finally able to make out the blinding light up above. There was three gigantic blinding signs on top of the biggest building she's ever seen. Two were saxophones and one in between them were bright yellow letters saying GROOVES.

"That's Mr. Grooves moon studio," Cookie explained noticing her staring up at the signs. "He built it right by the entrance to the metro so he can just waltz on in and start workin' if he decides to shoot on the moon for what ever reason." Her yellow eyes also squinted up at the sky above and pointed up to two little stars floating down from the sky. "And here come the little darlins' now. I told them to meet us as soon as possible at the metro here before we go down to Express Town."

"Express ....Town?"

"It's the first town before you get to Express Owl City. Millions of birds ...mostly owls, live there. But Express town is big enough to have everything we need, and to be honest I'm not a fan of cities. I've gotten used to a small town life as it was."

Poppy continued to gawk at the bright lights, slightly impressed by it all...but then slowly shifted over to two little things floating down from the sky towards them, it was hard at first to see them thanks to the blinding yellow light from the sign but eventually she was  able to see the forms of Hattie and Bow floating down towards them. Hattie was holding onto her hat with one hand and smiled down at the three girls below when she noticed they were staring at the three of them.

"I'M MARY PENGUINS YA'LL!!," she called down from the floating umbrella waving her hat.

Mu huffed crossing her arms. "Show offs."

Poppy chuckled at it all and watched with a smile as the two girls gently floated down closer and closer, until they were right in front of them.  Standing on the ground smiling and putting away those magic umbrellas into...Well magic thin air she guessed and smiled up at them all.

"Are we late?"

Cookie shook her head, and gestured to the stairs leading down into the ground, turning as she did and starting to walk down said stairs. "Not at all, Sugarplum. Come along now everyone. The evening train's 'bout ta leave any minute now. And we don't want to miss that now do we?"

Shaking her head no, Hattie followed right behind her with Bow and After rolling her eyes, so did Mu. Poppy slowly followed after them down the stairs, but surprisingly she wasn't greeted in darkness. Instead she was met with a secret underground tunnel of concrete under the city and ....HOLY COW!! A train! There was a train smack dab right in the middle of the room, a few penguins climbing onto it or off it as the many doors on the long thing was open. Thank goodness it wasn't as flashy as the city outside as she looked around in wonder. The place was still pretty big even for small penguins, about five or six houses wide and height if you asked her. There was one penguin who wore the same thing as the other penguins only had on a conductor's hat and a small mic in his flipper, Poppy watched from the bottom of the stairs as this penguin looked at a watch on his other flipper before bringing the mic back up to his mou- ...Uh...Beak.

"Attention passengers." His voice boomed through a speaker above them all. "The Evening Train to the planet below will leave in exactly thirty two seconds. Those boarding please have your luggage in hand and board immediately. Last call for the evening train. That is all."

"Oh, that's our ride. C'mon ya'll. Don't want to be late now."

Cookie hurried the three little girls in front of her towards the nearest open doors on the trains, Poppy trailing behind. Passing penguins going in or out of the tram Poppy gazed up at it as she stepped in. She had to lean other a bit to not hit her head on the ceiling. The weight of the gold in her heavy duty leather apron making her lean more from the weight of it. It had white painted walls with poles and handles on the ceiling to hang onto along with benches the perfect size for Poppy and the girls to sit in. Poppy being obviously taller ended up taking up a seat and a half next to them, but there wasn't many penguins on board so she had plenty of room to herself without having to worry about taking up space for anyone else.

"Last chance of boarding. I repeat last chance,'' the Conductor Penguin's voice sounded out. Poppy glanced over at the doors as they all closed with a loud click ceiling them as the girls and Cookie all sat on either side of her. But gave a small yelp when the train lurched wobbling everyone in it and slowly started to pull forward, Poppy glancing out the window behind them and seeing the station move as the train started taking off. "We are now leaving Moon City Metro. Please remain your seats and enjoy the ride. Thank you for choosing PenCo Express Services for your space travels."

As they picked up speed, Poppy kept staring out the window and her eyes widen seeing the out side of outer space and suddenly the sight of the moon after a few seconds, it was silver and round like a moon would look like but a good CHUNK (like half of it) was alive with lights bright enough to be seen from her spot on the running train. The lights making the buildings look shadowy, it was kinda pretty in a monochrome way. As she turned her head in the opposite direction to look forward, the planet from what she could see from it was getting closer and closer. Well.....Here she goes.

[anna-pixie]

hi love! if you’re up for another request, what about Poe where he and the reader are always at each other’s throats and Rey and Finn set them up on a blind date with each other to make them recognize the tension between them??

SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO WRITE THIS

i haven’t proofread so i’m sorry if there are any mistakes

- i’d love to do a second part to this exploring the relationship more so let me know if that’s something you’d want!

request: poe and reader being set up on a blind date by finn and rey to recognise the tension between them

pairings: poe dameron x reader

warnings: swearing, very slight nsfw

***

You don’t hate Poe Dameron. No, no. You just despise his existence. Yep, that’s about right. From the moment you laid eyes on him, you knew that the two of you would not get along. Your first day on the resistance base, almost a year ago now, was hectic. Your planet had been infiltrated by the First Order and you and only a few others had the opportunity to escape.

The first person you met was General Organa, and she took you under her wing quickly. She introduced you to Rey and you soon realised that she saw the two of you as family. You had never had a best friend before you met Rey, and eventually Finn too. They just understood you like no one had before. Being their friend had its perks, you got to help Rey with her Jedi training, you had sleepovers, you had people to confide in. But it also has its disadvantages, most notably Finn’s best friend who always has to tag along.

Poe freaking Dameron.

He was the cockiest, most overconfident and annoying person you had ever met. It seemed as though he went out of his way to actively poke fun of you every chance he could get. He would constantly undermine you to General Organa. You were a very competent pilot, you had grown up flying with your father. Yet every time you were supposed to go on a mission, he would come up with a reason as to why you should stay behind and work in the comms room instead. Maker, he is the worst.

On this particular night, you find yourself cuddled between Rey and Finn under a mass of fluffy blankets, glaring intensely across the room as Poe sets up the movie projector. He trips slightly, accidentally unplugging the system and you snort, whispering ‘idiot’ under your breath. However, from the way he turns around to glare at you, you assume he heard you.

Rey elbows you, telling you to be nice so she can enjoy the movie. You sigh, rolling your eyes as you listen to her. You know how excited she has been to watch this film, so you don’t want to ruin this night for her. You cuddle further into her side and she smiles, clasping your hands together under the blanket.

“Awww, is Y/N finally coming out of the closet?” Poe comments when he spies your conjoined hands, taking a seat next to Finn as he plugs BB8 into the wall next to him.

“Jealousy isn’t a good colour on you, Dameron.” You tease, your voice monotonous as if you can barely be bothered responding to him.

“Oh, puh-lease. I wouldn’t touch you with a barge pole.”

Rolling your eyes, you bat back, “You would fuck anything that breathes.”

“Says a lot that I wouldn’t fuck you, then, doesn’t it?” He chuckles lightly, wincing when Finn elbows him the same way Rey elbowed you. You grit your teeth, frowning as you realise he has won this argument. You try to ignore the pang of hurt you feel at Poe’s admission of not being attracted to you. You don’t care about that, why would you?

“What is this movie even about, Rey?”

“I’m glad you asked. It is set before the the Empire took charge way back when, and it kind of looks at wh-”

“How about we just watch it, hm? Don’t wanna ruin everything.” Finn comments, causing Rey to smile sheepishly and look down, stuffing her mouth full of popcorn.

****

You let out a deep breath, your nerves getting the better of you as you sit in the darkness in the small room.

Rey and Finn have decided to set you up with someone, giving you the chance to dress up and get out there on a blind date. It was unconventional, to say the least. You were in a small private room attached to the base bar, and you were literally wearing a blindfold. Rey instructed you only to take it off when you hear two claps.

You perk up as you hear shuffling, hushed voices and maybe a giggle. You hear the chair accross from you scratch against the floor twice, realising that your date must be sat across from you. About a minute passes before you hear the claps, and you slowly remove your blindfold, groaning as you see who is sitting across from you, removing his own blindfold.

Poe.

“If you don’t mind, I’m expecting company.” You snap, not wanting Poe to ruin your date. You’re finally putting yourself out there and you don’t want anything to go wrong. You ruffle your hair slightly before groaning. Why is Poe still sitting there?

“Um.” He starts, his eyes darting around the room before he looks back at you, an unfamiliar sheepish look in his eyes, “I think we might’ve been set up.”

Your eyes widen as you try to take in what he said, looking to the window only to be met with a giggling Finn and Rey. You groan, placing your head into your hands as sheer embarrassment takes over your body.

Poe chuckles, trying to ease the awkward tension before his laughs trail off when he realises you’re not snapping at him like you usually would. It takes a few seconds of observation before he realises you’re crying, his face falling as he gazes at you helplessly.

You sniffle lightly, cursing yourself for crying in front of Poe of all people. You had been so looking forward to tonight, your self esteem had taken a hit lately and this was your night to doll yourself up and put yourself out there and it turns out to be a giant prank.

You finally look up, praying that your eye makeup hasn’t smudged as you glare at Poe, “Were you in on this?”

“W-what?” You’ve never seen Poe look so shocked, his eyebrows practically shooting off his forehead with how high he raises them.

“C’mon. You wouldn’t pass up a chance to humiliate me, right? I bet Rey told you how crappy I’ve been feeling lately and you couldn’t pass up the chance to mess with me…. R… right.” You can barely get your words out, your tears building up to the breaking point. You grab your small bag and attempt to walk away quickly, but Poe grabs your arm.

“Y/N. Sit down.” Usually you wouldn’t listen to him, but his stern tone doubled with the fact that the room is literally locked makes you change your mind. You huff, throwing your bag onto the floor as you return to your previous seat.

“This is fucking stupid.” You mutter darkly, glancing to the side as you try to prevent your eyes from watering once more, “I get that it was a joke but fuck, it’s not funny.”

“I… I don’t think it’s a joke.”

“I’m confused..”

“Fuck.” Poe curses, smiling sardonically as he leans back in his chair, “Listen, Y/N, this isn’t how I wanted you to find out.”

“Find out about what? Poe, what is going on?”

Poe gazes at you with a look you’ve never seen, that you can’t quite decipher. His eyes are dark and he seems hesitant to speak, his lips moving like he is about to say something before his brain stops him. He places a large hand over his mouth and mumbles something quietly, his eyes darting down the room as if he is ignoring your gaze.

Is… is Poe embarrassed? Your eyes widen, you’ve never seen him like this before.

“I can’t hear you.” You furrow your brows as he repeats the same mumble from behind his hand, “Listen, are you going to tell me or not? If not I’m finding a way out of he-”

“I had a sex dream about you.” You stop mid sentence, Poe’s statement cutting through the air similar to the way his X-wing cuts through the galaxy. You can’t tear your eyes away from his face and you just stare, mouth slightly ajar as you watch his face slowly turn red.

“You… had a sex dream… about me?” You heard him loud and clear but you needed to confirm that your mind wasn’t playing tricks on you.

“Yes, and, fuck.” He can’t get out a sentence and even though you usually take any chance to make fun of him, you give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Poe, I’ve just cried in front of you so nothing is embarrassing now. Just tell me, please?”

He takes a deep breath, finally meeting my eyes properly, “I stayed in Finn’s room the other night, I lost the pass to mine. Um, long story short, I had a sex dream and shouted your name. Finn heard it all and now he’s convinced that I have a thing for you…”

You can’t help the snort that leaves your mouth as Poe finishes explaining his story, giggling quietly to yourself as Poe watches bashfully. You’ve never seen him look at you in any other way than in anger, it’s quite refreshing. Albeit weird, considering the subject matter.

“I thought Finn was smarter than that? You freaking hate me, there’s no way you have a thing for me.” You continue giggling, trying to mask the slight pang of hurt you feel. Look, you still hate Poe. But, you always thought maybe… just maybe… there could be something there. Oh well.

“Yeah. We hate each other.” Poe states, the atmosphere taking a sudden nosedive into very awkward territory.

“I can’t believe they tried to set us up.” You want him to say something, anything to keep the date going. Just to see how it goes. But he doesn’t, of course he doesn’t. He hates you, after all.

“Well, let’s break outta this joint.” Poe leaps up with newfound determination, and you squeal in shock as he makes a beeline straight for the door, not even thinking twice before he shoulder barges it at full force, thankfully allowing it to slide open. He leans against the slightly open door and you realise he’s allowing you to leave first, since when he moves the door will slide shut again. You grab your bag and quickly walk towards him, blushing as your back brushes against his front while you slide past him.

You hurry down the white hall, cringing at the artificial light, stopping only when Poe calls after you, “I’m sorry that your date got ruined.”

You turn ever so slightly, meeting his eyes over your shoulder and sigh when you realise he looks serious, “It’s okay. You can’t control your dreams, I know I’m irresistible.” You tease, trying to lighten the mood. Poe chuckles, muttering something under his breath. He turns in the opposite direction to you, walking away slowly as the door closes behind him.

You’re going to fucking kill Rey.

****

“How many drinks do I have to buy you for you to accept my apology?” Rey groans, rolling her eyes at Finn as you giggle drunkenly to yourself.

“One more.” You give her a smile and your cutest eyes, knowing she can’t resist. She shakes her head at your obvious manipulation.

“You said that three drinks ago, Y/N. This is the last one, I swear.” She says, as she shouts an order to the poor sod working behind the busy bar. You don’t have a lot of breaks, so when you do, you go hard.

“And you said that three drinks ago.” You cackle, gulping your new drinking down like it’s water and you’ve just finished a marathon. Rey shakes her head with a smile as Finn laughs along with you.

“Have you guys seen Poe tonight? I can’t find him anywhere.” Finn ponders, your eyes rolling automatically at the mention of your least favourite person. Yep. He is still definitely your least favourite person. Though, with the alcohol running through your veins, you can’t ignore the way your heart swells as you think of the arrogant pilot. Fuck.

“I’m pretty sure he went to… you know what… with that new pilot. What was her name? The blonde?” Rey questions, your heart dropping as you think of Poe hooking up with another woman as you speak. Of course he’s hooking up with someone else, why would he ever think of hooking up with you? He hates you.

You hadn’t spoken to each other a lot since the failed blind date last week, save for the several insults shouted at each other when you disagreed on something in the comms room, and the awkward glances when you passed each other around base.

No! You don’t want to spend your fun night thinking about Poe.

Oh, speak of the devil and he shall appear. Poe comes stumbling out of the dark forest, his hair messy and his face pulled into a stupid smirk. The blonde pilot Rey mentioned follows close behind, buttoning up her shirt and swiping her thumb over the edge of her mouth. Wow.

Before your brain has a chance to catch up with your body, you’re walking (more like stumbling) over to Poe, who is now stood talking to Snap, a shit eating grin plastered over his smug little face. All your drunk brain can focus on is the horrible feeling of jealousy flowing through your veins. Rey and Finn watch with wide eyes as you stop in front of Poe, looking up at him with a pout as he wonders what the hell you want.

“Can I help you, short stuff?”

“Don’t call me that, asshole. And yes, I need to talk to you.” You cross your arms and tap your foot lightly, trying to present a facade of casualness, “Now?” You press when he doesn’t say anything, just stares at you with a shocked expression.

He coughs slightly and excuses himself to Snap, who raises his eyebrow with a wry smile. He places a large hand on your back, you can feel the warmth of his skin deliciously through your thin dress. He leads you to a quiet area where there aren’t many people but you shake your head, silently taking his hand and leading him further into the forest.

You stop when you reach a large tree stump, sitting atop it as you try to regain your confidence to talk to him. He stands in front of you, his arms behind his back as he waits for you to speak.

“Um, so. I need to tell you something.” You let out a nervous giggle, swinging your legs back and forth.

“Wh-” Poe starts, but you cut him off quickly.

“No. If you talk I’m not gonna say it and I really need to say it.”

“Sorry, okay, go on.” He isn’t used to you acting like this, and he wonders for a second if you may be pranking him. Those thoughts leave his mind when he sees the tear travelling down your cheek.

“I don’t hate you, Poe.” You finally admit, a weight lifting off your shoulders as another tear falls. Your voice is thick, heavy with emotion as you continue to ramble, “I don’t think I ever hated you. I think I was intimidated by how much I liked you, and then it turned out you really did hate me. So I just told myself that I hated you. I thought it wouldn’t hurt then, when I saw you with other girls, but it does. I was excited the other day, you know. I thought maybe that stupid date could be our chance but… then I remembered that you hate me. I mean, you should, I’m a comple-”

You let out a slight whimper as Poe slams his lips onto yours, stepping forward quickly and slotting himself between your legs. He doesn’t give you any time to breathe as he pushes his tongue into your mouth, meeting your own and giving you the most intense kiss you’ve ever had.

He pulls back briefly, shutting his eyes as he rests his forehead against your own, “I’ve wanted to do that since the first fucking time I saw you, Y/N.” He kisses you again, long and hard as you crumble beneath his strong arms.

“Then why didn’t you?” You’re out of breath as you try to respond, wrapping your arms around Poe’s neck and threading your fingers into his dark hair. He attacks your mouth once more, speaking a broken sentence in between kisses.

“I,” Kiss, “thought,” Kiss, “you,” kiss, “hated,” kiss, “me.” He pulls back then, a goofy grin on his face as he gazes down at you. You bite your lip slightly, trying to hide your smile as you meet his eyes.

“So Finn was right after all?”

“I guess so.” He doesn’t let the conversation carry on, kissing you once more before he grips your thighs, pulling you flush against him so you can feel his hardness against you. You gasp and he pulls you closer, putting even more pressure on your most sensitive area. His large hand caresses your inner thigh as his lips begin to mark your neck, and you shiver in anticipation as he gets closer to the place you need him the most.

“You know what would be really sad?”

“Hmm?”

“If this was just another dream.”

“Well, if it is, you’d better make it a good one.” You smile innocently at him as he grumbles, his eyes dark as he finally reaches your sweet spot, gaging your reaction as he goes.

“Oh, I will baby.”

[chaotic-super]

Alien Detected

“How does it work?” Kara asks.

“It's just a simple skin test.” Lena states proudly, smiling at the blonde reporter she has come to care  for. “Let me show you what a negative response looks like.” With that she places her thumb onto the device and waits a couple of seconds for the flashing green light to appear.

“ See?” Kara nods along to Lena's words nervously. “Great, now you try.”

The blonde stares blankly the CEO for a few seconds, her mouth moving to form words that never make it off of her tongue as she glances down at the device held out to her.

“But won't a device like this-” Kara stumbles over her words. “-doesn't it  go against everything America is supposed to stand for?”

“Such as?” Lena perches on the edge of her desk, device placed delicately on the desk so she is able to cross her arms defensively over her chest.

“Freedom against persecution, oppression. America has always been a country full of immigrants.” Kara chuckles nervously.

“It's also always been a country of humans.”

“It's just – don't you think this device will force aliens back into the very shadows the president is trying to shine a light on?”

“If aliens want to be citizens, that's now their right but if humans want to know which of their fellow citizens aren't actually one of them then that's their right too.” Lena looks into Kara's eyes defensively until Kara backs down from the mini stand-off they seem to be caught in and looks away. “I'm a businesswoman. L-Corp is in the business of making money and this device is gonna make us a fortune but unlike my brother I'm gonna do it for the good of the world.”

Lena smiles wearily at Kara as she finishes her speech, turning to sit down back behind her desk so she has a physical barrier between herself and the reporter to help regain her footing after being challenged in a way that made her feel as though her motivations could possibly ever be anything other than good and pure.  

“So?” She picks up the device and holds it out to Kara, who looks rather shaken.

“I-um. I don't know-” Kara stutters out, trying and failing to come up with a reasonable excuse to not have to touch that damn device that could give away her true heritage. A few more stutters leave her mouth as her mind goes blank of any reasonable excuse she could make so her hand slowly begins to make its way toward the small silver device.

She feels as though she is moving in slow motion as she wills someone to interrupt the moment to get her out of there. Her hand hovers over the sensor for a second and she takes a deep breath before she takes the plunge and presses her thumb gently down.

Lena watches inquisitively as the reporter before her begins to stutter and look around nervously. She understands that she may have made her slightly uncomfortable but nothing that should reduce her to the stumbling mess she has become. She is just about to ask her if she is alright when Kara's hand reaches out to the alien detection device and a thumb is pressing down onto it.

It flashes white three times as it analyses the data before turning red. Lena's eyes flick up to Kara's face as she processes the information but the blonde isn't looking back, she's staring at the device as she pulls her hand away from it slowly.

“You're an alien.” Lena states, standing up from her chair and stepping around the desk to stand before her friend.

“I- yeah.”

The CEO tries her best to catch the reporter's eyes but her gaze is fixed firmly on the ground.

“That's why you don't like my device isn't it? You don't want anyone to find out.”

Kara finally looks up and tentatively meets the emerald gaze of the woman before her. “Nobody can find out Lena, please.” She can feel her eyes well up her lips begin to purse up into a pout as she holds her tears at bay. Alex is going to kill her when she finds out that |Lena knows she isn't human.

Lena frowns as Kara's words. “Of course I'm not going to tell anyone and I'm not judging you Kara. I never would and I would have hoped that you'd know that.”

“I'm sorry Lena, It's not you. I know you wouldn't judge me but this isn't something that I tell people.”

Lena doesn't think that she has ever seen Kara look so small; her head turned down toward the floor, her arms crossed tightly across her body and her eyes flickering around the room, unwilling to hold her gaze for more than a few seconds at a time,

“I'm not mad Kara, I promise.”

“Really?”

“How about we go and sit down and talk about this?” Lena steps closer to the Kara, her heels easily making her just as tall as her. She lifts Kara's chin until their eyes meet. “I just want to understand.”

Kara finds herself nodding before she has even thought about it. She knows hat she should get out of there quick sharp but can't help but feel a weight lifted off of her chest now that Lena somewhat knows her truth. She watches as the CEO makes a quick call to Jess, requesting her to reschedule all of her meetings for the rest of the day before flashing her a small smile and gently taking her hand in her own and directing her towards the white couch on the far side of the room.

Lena doesn't let go of Kara's hand as when they sit, she holds it gently on her lap with both hands. “How about we start with the basics?” She waits for Kara to nod before she continues. “How long have you been on Earth?”

Kara clears her throat. “I've been here since I was thirteen. The Danvers adopted me right away.”

“You took their name then?”

“I did.” Lena waits for her to elaborate but she doesn't but doesn't want to push her too hard either.

“Do you like it here?”

“When I first got here I hated it, I never thought that I would be at home here and I still don't a lot of the time but I've found that it's the people that make me feel at home, not the planet.”

“Does that mean that there are more of your people here?” Lena's eyes brighten at the thought of finding out new information on an entire race.

“No.”

“No-one at all?” Lena's voice is soft, caring.

“No-one I want to talk about.” Kara states softly.

“We don't have to talk about them then. What planet are you from?”

“I-” She stammers. She can't actually tell Lena where she is from, she would know about her identity. “I can't tell you.”

“You can't? Why?” Her brows furrow in confusion.

Kara meets her eyes pleadingly. “I really can't tell you anything like that, I'm sorry.”

“You're acting weird about this, what's stopping you? Is someone threatening you?” Lena takes one of her hands away from Kara's and uses it to push some of her golden locks back behind her ear so she can look into the cerulean eyes more clearly. She can't push the worried frown from her face as she waits for the answer.

“I don't really know how to explain this without telling you a lot of things that I have been sworn to secrecy over by the government.”

“The government knows that you're an alien?” Lena leans back into the couch, still clutching at Kara's hand as she tries to make sense of what little information she I getting from Kara. She finds rest bite from her overworked brain in taking in the face of the reporter; the shape of her face, her beautiful golden hair, her beautiful blue eyes and perfect pink lips, the little scar above her brow that looks almost exactly like the one- “Supergirl?”

Kara flinches and pulls her hand away from Lena's as she stands up, ready to bolt.

“Don't leave Kara, please.” Lena follows Kara as she begins to walk to the door and grasps her arm to stop her. “It's true isn't it?”

Kara doesn't answer, just brings a hand up over her face and lets out a muffled sob.

“Oh, Kara. I'm not going to tell anyone, you're still my friend.” Lena gently turns her around to face her and captures her in a tight hug. “Thank you for all the times you've saved me.”

Kara squeezes Lena back with as much force as she dares to without hurting her. “Nobody is meant to know, it can put you in danger and I don't want you to get hurt.” Kara sobs into Lena's shoulder.

“If I'm going to be in danger then I'm glad I've got you, you've kept me safe since the moment I stepped foot in National City and don't think for a second that I'm going to let you avoid me now that I know, especially now that I'm aware of what is hiding beneath those cardigans.” Lena brings her hands up to Kara's muscles and gives them a strong squeeze making Kara let out a choked giggle and pulls back to look into Lena's eyes.

“I've only ever told one friend who I really am and now he doesn't see me as Kara the same way he used to, he looks at me and sees Supergirl. I don't want that to happen again, Supergirl is what I do but Kara is who I am.” Kara wipes away her tears and looks meaningfully into Lena's eyes.

“I think I understand.”

“Can we start over?”

“Of course.” Lena takes a step back away from Kara and pats the non-existent wrinkles out of her shirt.

Kara takes a deep breath before offering her hand to Lena. “Hi, my name is Kara Zor-El and I'm an alien from Krypton.”

“Well hello there Ms. Zor-El, I'm Lena Luthor and I'm a human from Earth.” They smile at each other broadly, giggling at themselves. “I promise I will always see you Kara, even when other people won't.”

“Thank you, Lena. Really, it means a lot.”

“No, thank you.” Kara tilts her head in confusion in similar fashion to that in which a golden retriever puppy would. “You could have lied about who you are, where you are from, but instead you trusted me with your secret even though we have only been friends for a few short weeks, it's been a long time since anyone has trusted me like this.”

“Well, your device kinda took away a lot of my choice but I do trust you Lena, I understand that you are just trying to escape your brother's legacy and make a name for yourself. I knew it from the second I came in your office with Clark Kent and I haven't stopped believing since. In fact, I probably understand better than anybody what it's like being trapped in the shadows of your family.”

“You truly are one of a kind Kara.” Kara blushes at the compliment, making Lena smile. “Now, how about we pick this conversation up again after we go try than new Italian place down the street? On me of course. I think that it will do us both some good to have a little while to think through everything. ”

“Just when I think that you can't get any more perfect Lena Luthor, you surprise me. Plus, now that you know my secret I don't have to restrain myself during our lunch dates and can eat as much as my heart desires and this one is on me because I can't expect you to pay for how much food I'm about to order, heavy conversions make me hungry.”

“When aren't you hungry darling?”

“When I'm asleep.” Lena's laugh ricochets around the office as she grabs her coat and they make their way out.

[hazbinextgeneration]

Into The Casino Ch13

Disease wa quick to catch up with the pretty pony down the hall and she seemed just a little rattled from the intense asking. Lou seemed to be VERY against the idea, but..she did it. SHE DID IT!! The feeling brought a small proud feeling to her as she silently marveled at her small victory. She can't believe she actually did that! And it worked!...But she would slow down. She only got this far by sheer luck, best not to push it too far. Especially when Disease casually strode up to her with a raised brow.

"Ssso. You wanna go sssee the bird brain?," he questioned raising a brow to her. She paused. It took her a moment for her to gather her senses enough for her to reach into her dress pocket and pull out the small pink business card from it, Disease flicked his tongue at it and slowly took it from her once his senses registered it as harmless. His smile never leaving. "I-...Can you take me there?" Her finger reached out and pointed to the small address under the fancy club name written on it, and Disease chuckled. "Nah. You don't to worry that pretty little head off. Wouldn't be the first time I went down to sssteal a few secrets from there.~" He gestured for her to follow and she blinked before slowly trailing after him. Walking there instead of using the armored limo was a new feeling. It reminded her of the week she spent finally free of that horrible cage, only to wonder the streets for almost a whole week, homeless, hungry, and hoping she wouldn't get mugged when she took short naps in doorways. Everyone always looking at each other like they would suddenly snap and be at each other's throats, and she was always afraid that someone was going to be her. Again those feelings came back as she glanced around the red sky and run down looking buildings. Compared to Lou's casino, these looked much less taken cared of and she couldn't help but shiver at what was inside of them. Strangers? Drugs? Or maybe something much, much worse. Disease didn't at all fazed by what was going on around them though. Humming and flicking his tongue out every so often, like this was just another day on the job for him and for all she knew it probably was. After all he did say it wouldn't be his first time going down there to find out secrets, but she didn't know what secrets he could possibly want. Rita and him despite being on such ...tense terms seemed to get along alright. Or maybe not, what did she know. But her attention went back to the snake when he inched himself with a growl...and she leaned back instantly. Did he have....fleas?! A moment later he seemed back to normal and resumed whistling. ...She had no idea what this man could do. She had a couple ideas for Lou and Cyber with what power they had demonstrated. Lou's plants were a key part of him and he seemed very calculating by his eyes. So did Cyber but they seemed to be calculating in different way. Lou was like a gambling man, watching his every move carefully. Mentally rolling the dice as it was, looking at all the choices and trying each one before going for the one that seemed to work. Cyber's way of calculating was...well like this computer thing Lou told her about. Calculating the most likely outcomes and going straight for it. There was no denying she was as much of a powerhouse as she was smart. But she literally knew nothing about this serpent other that he was apparently married to Midnight and a father. He seemed to know exactly what she was thinking because he chuckled and gave her a quick side glance raising a brow. Similar to what Lou would do but coming from Disease it was much less threatening, maybe it was because she was taller than him? "Ssso, any specific reason you're going to a place like Bird Brains?" She blinked before looking down. "W-Well..I-It's not really to see Rita." Disease fully turned to her now, smiling widening a bit and senses all high for what she had to say now. Oh this was interesting. "I-....I w-was hoping to talk to one of her workers." His brow rose further and he hummed. "Which one? Dolly'ssss really nice. Just don't touch her or ol' Jaspy boy'sss bound bash ya sane...Not that Im speaking from experience." She chose to ignore that last bit, and what was the risk of telling? Would he tell Lou?...Most likely, Lou did NOT seem the slightest bit happy about her going at all. So with a breath she answered, "Someone who could possibly answer my questions. I can't not know the answers for m-my sake." Disease rose a brow and his sly mind revolved around that idea for a moment before shaking his head. Remembering Lou's orders to keep her away from people. Eh, the guy was always a spoil sport. "I wouldn't go too far if I were you. Clubs are hotspots for big bad people to come around and cause trouble. Better stick close in places like strip clubs if you don't wanna get caught.~" Her ears went back and she sighed. "Alright." Disease nodded. This job should be easy. "....Hey Disease. W-What's a strip club?" The snake stopped. Completely, utterly stopped. Just like someone paused a movie. His leg was still stuck out like he was about to take a step, tongue stuck out, and eyes wide with his frozen smile....And he slowly looked up to her. She stared down at him confused at his actions but he finally spoke. "...Heh. Well then. I guesss you'll be in for a shocking surprise, eh horn head?" To say she was shocked was an understantement. He was completely. Utterly. MORTIFED at what was presented before her. When they finally got to the Heaven in Hell Strip Club, Disease still hadn't said a word about anything and so when they slunk through a side way he 'just happened to know' instead of using the main entrance where a long line was, her ears were almost immediately blasted with loud obnoxious sounds, and when asked Disease simply told her it was the clubs music.....THAT WAS MUSIC???? The next thing was multicolored bright light that made her go blind for a second. But she wished she was still blinded as the sight that finally hit her was almost like a literally punch to the face. And her jaw dropped in horror at the scene before her. What she could only describe as ....VERY, very exotic dancers were entertaining many guests sipping multicolored drinks and at another part of the entire thing was a whole bunch of demons close together partying and....Was that dancing?! That could not have been dancing! Where was the jazz band and the fancy dresses and the tap dancing??...She wished she was still blinded and not staring at the horror in front of her. Disease didn't seem to mind one bit as his tongue flicked more as he oogled some of the women in the area. He could feel Midnight slapping him and the cute self concious and jealous pout on her face and he snickered. She was so cute like that. He turned back to the frozen look of horror on the women and grabbed her arm to start tugging her away, but she yanked her arm away from him in instinct. The contact finally bringing her back to her senses as she took one last look at the horror show in front of her and looked at him in question. He snickered and gestured around them. "What did ya expect?! Welcome to hell, Horn Head!!" ..Well, he had a point. She really shouldn't have expected anything less by now. But when he started moving from the upper level he was at, she followed closely behind. They were passed by other demons who wore clothes she wouldn't be caught dead in. Maybe a couple making out, the smell of alcohol and smoke attacking her senses to where she coughed and reached a hand to cover her mouth and nose from everything. Everything burnt and hurt her watering eyes and the spinning sights were starting to make her head hurt. How could anyone like this kind of place?! Disease however ever oblivious continued to lead her down the steps and his tongue flicked towards the bar and slitted eyes glancing over all the drinks being served by the bartender. Her eyes rolled, men. Typical- Her shoulder bumped against someone and for a moment she made eye contact with another demon. Red cherry skin and snow white hair staring back at her. "OMG! S-Sorry! I-I'm so sorry!!" She tucked her head down and quickly stepped down the stairs after the still walking away snake. Catching up to him just as he reached the bottom of the stairs and started making his way towards the bar counter. " I-Isn't it too early to be drinking anything?" He blew her off and still headed to the counter. "You kidding me? Cyber interrupted my drinking sssession so Im taking the time to finish it here. Relax your fuzzy face...And speakin' of fuzzy." His smile became sly as he leaned against the counter and rose a brow. " 'Ey, Dolly. How'sss it been, Sweetcheeks?" She blinked her purple eyes as one women standing by the bar turned around and immediately smiled seeing the snake man. "OMG!! Hello, Disease! I wasn't expecting to see you here tonight!" The gal looked...pretty cute. Her eyes big and giggles at seeing the snake like he was an old friend. Guess he really did sneak in here more than once. "You want the usually tonight?" He nodded. "Yeah. And maybe a burger or somethin'. Im starvin'." The lady giggled and nodded her head before bouncing off with a hum. Leaving her standing there with the snake who crawled into one of the barstools and ran his long tongue over his fangs as a bottle was placed in front of him. "HEL-LO beautiful.~" Amalfia rose a brow as Disease began chugging the bottle down like it was his last decent drink, before directing her eyes back to the giant mess of a laughing and rowdy crowd. "Uh...S-Shouldn't we be finding someone here? I-I still want to know something." He again blew her off and went back to looking into the inside of the bottle. "Even if you did ask nobody would care enough to listen anyways. Now stick close will ya? Placesss like this would eat your weak little heart out, Sugar." She scowled at his response. He didn't even look at her, and she wasn't about to even drink that toxic stuff. With a sigh, she coughed a few more times from smells and smokes, turning her eyes to the side. Her eyes almost didn't catch the flash of white within the tall crowd and she paused. She could barely see it, but there was a small flash of white making it's way across the very crowd and those purple eyes followed it until it vanished....Quickly he unleaned against the wall and gave a nervous look to Disease, who was still downing the bottle and not even looking anywhere in her direction. She hesitated. Should she go for it? What if she was wrong and she just got in a heap in trouble for nothing. ....But if she was right- It was decided then, with a hiss intake of air, she sucked it u[ and began pushing her way into the crowd. ...GOD!! It was worse than she thought!! Everyone kept shoving and pushing her, screams and laughs were thrown into her ears so much they retreated against her head and she groaned. Her mind partially blurred as her eyes looked everywhere for a flash of white. But it was hopeless, she couldn't see anything past the flashy lights and moving demons- Until she finally broke through the other side, almost colliding with the wall. Her body gasped as if she had burst from water instead of a small crowd and groaned. Coughing her lungs out once her eyes reopened...And wouldn't you know it, she saw white. Literally. From across from her was a giant white head with a purple strap and purple hat on it. And when the head turned around- She almost smiled from the relief and excitement she felt from seeing the grumpy face of the white skeleton. Charles was standing right across the room from her! Said skeleton was tapping his foot and looking at a clipboard in his hand with a scrutening look, it reminded her of the faces Midnight gave the few times she walked in on the woman looking through her spell books. But her excitement was short lived when he turned and began walking away, which made her body shift into gear and hurry after him. She almost lost him again too, hurrying through another small crowd and trying to keep her eyes on that flash on white. Luckily she glimpsed a small purple hat ducking through a small door in the back. Well of course she followed him right up to the door, and there wasn't anything stopping her from going in...Except for the Staff Only sign right above the door. That's what made her pause and stare dead at the white door in front of herself. Well this was just great! Now she had to wait around for him to come back out! Which could be bad. Someone could wonder why she was standing in front of the door for so long, or Disease could notice she was missing. He would probably make her leave and she wasn't leaving without having those darn answers!...Her sanity as she knew it was on the line, and the mere thought of being a prisoner again was starting become overwhelming and her stomach did a flip flop. That was NOT happening!! With one determined shove, the swinging door was pushed open and in she went without a second thought. The inside was...different from what she expected. It looked quite a lot like the staff's lounge back at the casino only much smaller and less fancy. A few couches, a mini fridge, other kitchen things, a television, and a few other relaxing things meant for the ones who worked the place. But her purple eyes laser focused onto the figure in the middle who was currently pouring himself a cup of coffee while grumbling that sounded like 'stupid creature', being sighing and bringing the piping hot liquid to his lips. She again hesitated. Here he was. Right in front of her, no one around to stop them. But considering she's basically trespassing and the fact he was clearly annoyed....This might not be the best time..She almost wussed out, until that thought of being trapped again crossed her mind..she was not going to back down and become someone's pet or plaything again! With a sharp intake- "C-Charles?" The skeleton jumped, and snapped his head to her. One eye widened in surprise. Clearly he wasn't expecting her to be there, some of the coffee spilling out of his cup and dripping down the sides of the mug he was holding. Both stared at each other for a few tense seconds before his surprised face turned into a scowl, "What are you doing back here?! Can't you read!!" "Y-Yes! But you don't understand. Im here because I need your h-help-" "Then you can wait outside just like everyone else!" The coffee mug was placed back onto the counter and he bagan marching towards her, making shooing motions with his hands. "Go on. Out, out, out!! You can make a complaint with me after my break!" "No, it's not about that!" "Then it can still wait u-" "IT'S ABOUT LOU!!" Her eyes slammed shut. Silence. She was expecting him to still kick her out. For hands to start shoving her back to the door...but nothing but silence greeted her ears. Ever so slowly, she reopened her eyes and blinked down to him. Charles was in a similar pose Disease was in when he froze. Only this time he wasn't all the way frozen and just blinking up at her. His arms still in that shooing position, but soon a scowl formed on his face and his arms were quick to go back to his sides. She could now tell this guy was suspicious by the way he was looking her over. "...And why would you want to ask me about him?," he asked crossing his arms. Well, that wasn't a no. But she had to word her next few words very carefully. "I-I..it's me." His brow rose. "W-W-We met a-at the dress shop? You were with...R-Rubix?" It was like a switch was flipped in his head turning on a lightbulb and his scowl became even more annoyed. He looked her over and finally seemed to recognize her from those months ago. ".....Yeah? Rita told me about how you're his...'lover' now" He made quotation movements with his hand and spat it out like it disgusted him. "What?! N-No! Nothing like that! W-We're not-...H-He's just courting me!" It didn't seem that made him even less impressed as he still scowled. "Well? Whatddya want? If you haven't notice I have a job to do and I don't wanna spend my break playing nursemaid to someone like you! Did he put you up to this?" "W-Wha- N-No! I came here be-because-..." She sighed and looked down, reaching up to rub her arm. SHould she really tell him her reasoning? Would he even tell her if she did tell him? He looked already suspicious and not willing to speak yet..well, she definately had nothing to lose. "I-...Need to know more about him. And you are the only one who knows about him enough to tell me what I want to know?...Please." A small silence followed...and she heard footsteps walking away from her. Those purple eyes blinked up and watched as Charles made his way back to the counter. Grabbing his coffee mug, before taking a giant swig of it. An almost calm look on his face as he sighed and looked up from it. The two stood there staring for a few moments. "You want to hear why I hate Lou to no end?" She nodded and he hummed, almost not beleiving her. "Im happy to tell but what do you get out of it?" ".....Im hoping to not get hurt. That's the most honest way I can word it." There was another pause before he huffed what sounded like a chuckle before looking at her. "You really serious about this?" She nodded and he hummed. "Alright. Since you're so willing to listen I will allow it." A huge wave of releif came over her and she let out a breath, watching as he walked over to a couch and sat down in it. Placing the mug back down and looking up to her with a serious face. "How much DO you know?" ....Shr shrugged. "Not much. Just vague details about his death, but Rita t-told me you two knew each other for a long time." He huffed again and she flinched. Placing the mug onto the coffee table rather roughly and staring at her. "Yes. Unfortunately we did. But beleive me if I had it my way, I would go back and time and strangle him until he wilted sooner." She blinked and remained silent so he continued. "You want to know who he was? To put it simply he was and always will be a slimey, rotten, manipulative b*st*rd who uses others for his own gain and never thinks twice about anyone but himself!..Maybe that metalheaded body guard being a slight acception, but that's besides the point." He pointed at her and her ears went back. "Even if he's telling the truth, I wouldn't trust ANYTHING that comes out of his cabbage patch mouth. He's the whole reason for what happened to me!!" "W-What happened? I don-" The coffee table shook when the smaller man slammed his hands down onto it. His one eye glowing with hatred and when he opened his mouth fangs appeared. "HE FUCKING KILLED ME!! YOU WANT TO REALLY KNOW WHY I HATE HIM SO MUCH!? IT'S BECAUSE THAT OVER GROWN F*CKING LEAF WAS THE DEATH OF ME AND NOW I GET TO SPEND THE REST OF ETERNITY KNOWING HE'S JUST UP THE ROAD AND I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF RUNNING INTO HIM TOO UNLESS ONE OF US ARE KILLED OFF AGAIN!! AND THIS TIME!! IT WON'T BE ME GOING UNDER FIRST!!" His chest heaved and it took a couple blinks for him to look back to her. The unicorn's body was like that of a scared hellhound. Leaning back with scared wide doe-eyes and looking like she'd bolt any second. His heaving slowly went down and he sighed, slowly letting his body drift back down into the comfy cushions of the couch and relaxing back. The embers of hate slowly burning out and his teeth going back to their normal state. He slowly lifted a hand to grab the cup and again brought it back to his mouth. "....That is what he was and that is what he WILL always be! Life, death, and in between." He took a sip and gave her a glance she couldn't quite understand. ".....Not to mention a womanizer. Men and women have been heartbroken by him but it comes at no surprise to me. That's how he is." She didn't answer right away. Just staring at him in absolutely horror at what she had said and her mind rushing trying to process this new information. She new he must've done something bad to end up here, but...he actually killed Charles. The skeleton demon looked too passionate about that to have been lying and so Lou.....But he hadn't even lifted a hand to anyone as far as she's been there. To her he was WAY more interested in collecting money(or whatever was counted as money down there) and playing his games. ..Or occupying his plants, she had no idea what his garden looked like. But the way she was staring at Charles...Well it certainly wasn't like the scowl he was giving her back, until he sighed again. "There you have it. All laid out. Whether you beleive me or not, I don't care, but don't blame me when something happens." ".....Im s-s-sorry." It came out just above a whisper, but it was still enough to get him to stop and snap his eye back up to her, blinking rapidly. "...What did you say?" She stood there staring at him with a blank but wide eyed face. "I-I...*inhale* I s-said. Im sorry. I don't think you deserved what happened to you...I r-really don't." He just stared at her. She was...apologizing? To him?! For something Lou did that she didn't even do?! ...He stared at her for a moment, but a little voice whispered: But Lou doesn't pick just any sideliner to just make googoo eyes over. Something must be horrific about her to earn her a spot on leafboy's arm. So he looked away with a scoff. "....You came and you got what you wanted. But I suggest if you don't want to end up like this-" He pointed a hand to the eye patch he wore."- I would advise you to get as far from him as possible...while you still can that is." She stood there but looked down again. "O-Oh. I see." An awkward silence filled the air and she took a shaky breath. She guessed it was time for her to go now. So she took a step to the door. "T-Thank you for your time. I-Im sorry to have bothered you, Charles." He still didn't look at her when she opened the door. "Just...don't say I didn't warn you. Good luck. Hell knows you'll need it." She didn't say anything else when she stumbled out the door, regaining her balance and taking a deep breath- Coughing from the smoke and alcohol smell. Well....She couldn't be too upset. That's what she told herself when she began making her way back to where she hoped Disease would still be, not pushing very hard or fast anymore since she wasn't in a hurry, but the sounds and lights didn't bug her much this time. She still coughed though. Her mind was almost a blank and everything was a blur around her as her mind still revolved around what just happened and mixed feelings were still revolving around her head...No wonder the two hated each other, but...She didn't know. Her head still couldn't make heads or tails of one thing. Lou...hadn't hurt anyone as far as she knew? Yes there WAS something definately behind those red eyes she should be worried about...But there WAS something else. She didn't know what but when he spoke she always felt like, he was telling the truth. Maybe not the whole truth all the time, but if there was one thing he always was it was honest. Since when was anyone honest with her? It was more than she could say for everyone else. And it's not like he could've wanted anything from her. What could she have had that made her even worth his time?...Which was a good question she still needed to answer. But for now, she had gotten most of what she needed to decide- Something grabbed and on instinct she whirled around and brought a hand up-....Only to stop when a hair of slitted snakes eyes and a frown stared up at her. "Didn't I tell you to ssstay with me?! Do you know how much trouble we both could've been in?" Her fear quickly went away and she sighed. "I-...Im sorry. I just...wanted to look around f-for..." "For Rita or someone." He narrowed his eyes flicking his tongue. "And DID you find someone?" "Yes." He blinked. Mildly surprised she wasn't trying to deny it like most people, but she frowned. "But I didn't find out anything I wanted to know." She wasn't lying. She wanted to hear good news. Maybe he got sent to hell for merely gambling or maybe something like that. She wanted to find that out. Not what she was told. Disease stared at her for a few more seconds. Tongue flicking out then back in...before he smiled in satisfaction. She wasn't lying. "That's the ssstuff I wanna here. Now you're coming back with me. And try not to wonder off like a lost sheep this time."

All characters except Amalfia belongs to @palettepainter

[sumeshi-t]

[Kiseki no Angst]

akashi seijuro x reader

wordcount: 5k+

tw: cheating, mentions of depression, death :(

"i don't hate you. i'm just disappointed you turned into everything you said you'd never be."

people used to look down on you, never really noticing that you were someone worth respecting. it wasn't your fault, but your surname's fault. you always knew that being born into that family was the biggest mistake. nevertheless, you worked hard not because you wanted to be noticed, but just to tell them that you weren't a piece of trash anyone can just trample on. 

despite the insults aimed your way, you maintained your cool. you didn't stoop down to their level because, hey, they didn't know who you really are. that you were someone more than “just what your surname is”, that what it was doesn't really define you.

you were one of those students who aced in tests, and got high enough remarks in every subject. 

you were also someone who, in the field of sports, is actually considered good. but you also had your own flaws–one of them being your laziness. you were too lazy to focus on one sport and decided that as long as you don't get a failing mark because of that subject, then you're fine. 

friends? you rarely had them, because most of the people who approach you were just looking for your weaknesses, so they can have something to gossip about the next day. so, you usually just sat alone and ate in silence, watching everyone from a certain point in the room. 

there was this very outstanding student, and his name was akashi seijuro. he was someone close to perfection–intelligent, sporty, and quite good looking. yeah, he was your classmate but there was hardly any conversation made between you two. due to your constant observations, it was pretty damn obvious that a portion of the female students had a not-so-secret admiration for that guy. 

you wondered if anyone was brave enough to confess their feelings, but seeing as how his eyes weren't interested in that aspect of life, his stare could either make a girl combust on the spot or make them bury their body alive. you had a hunch that confessions were rare to happen. 

also, since he's too smart, you figured that he could somehow, sense it in a person. akashi seijuro, for you, was peculiar and indeed, someone to look up to. he was something akin to an inspiration, without the need to be interested in him in any romantic way.

you still wonder how on earth he noticed you, as you were playing chess–alone–just a few meters before the gym's entrance, in some lounge in school. that time, news about rakuzan's loss to seirin were being spread around and duh, since you were in the losing school, it was the hottest topic. 

usually, people would just glance then whisper amongst themselves upon seeing you. who wouldn't? when they see someone having a fierce battle with their self.

but he was the first, in a long time:

akashi moved a piece on the board and muttered, "checkmate." 

you had a scowl on your face from analyzing too much and it was still evident when you looked up at him. your eyes met his, and though you've heard that if you did, he'll “gouge” them out, you were still, just a tad bit frustrated at his interruption. really though, it was the first time you looked straight into his eyes, and you knew well to listen. 

but contradicting what your brain had always reminded you, akashi didn't flinch or scowl, and you just couldn't read his expression.

"i didn't mean to bother you, kaname." 

akashi just came from practice and you realized, it was about time for students to go home. then it took your brain seconds to register the way he called you using that last name.

you nodded, then proceeded to packing your stuff, turning your attention away from him. you thought he'd leave already, but he was just standing there and was watching you. 

not to be rude, you stopped for a while, holding a white queen and a black king in one hand as you looked at him again. "akashi-kun, is there something wrong?"

"why do you prefer isolating yourself from everyone?" the red-haired and red-eyed guy suddenly asked, catching you off-guard. you smiled, not really reaching your eyes, and answered as you continue to pile the pieces back inside their place.

"because they don't like my name. and it's also for them to have a topic to talk about, every once in a while. i pity them," you trailed off.

"but ‘y/n' isn't that bad for a name, don't you think?" 

his words made you freeze, a small gasp escaping your lips, which were soon trembling as you tried to hold in tears. “what's… it to you, then? i mean, you barely even talk to me in class, get it?"

this was very sudden, you thought. you described it as awkward, weird; and a lot more words your brain's dictionary could give you. or at least it could provide you. the akashi you've come to know was a bit more hostile than this.

but he smiled. 

akashi seijuro smiled at you. it wasn't fake, it wasn't something you daydreamed. it was genuine. the warmth you felt from it, was far from fantasy.

"it's just a heads up for you, that there are some people who won't judge you because of a surname," he paused, waiting for you to react. when you didn't, he continued. "just continue being you, y/n." 

"…why are you being like this all of a sudden?" 

"you're interesting, and you have potential to do great things. don't let their judgments get in your way."

it honestly just started from that day. that was the first unforgettable moment you shared with the emperor.

you really didn't expect that he'd end up sharing his surname with yours, in the end.

and now, as you wore an elegant and expensive white gown, you knew there were more moments you can look forward to. and you knew, that you were you, he was who he was, and that the two of you were special in your own ways. you honestly thought his father would get in the way of your relationship, but it seems like the odds were in your favor. 

your rings were wrapped around your fingers, and a kiss to seal and lock you two together for the rest of your lives.

akashi was a very loyal man. he was sweet, have tendencies to spoil you, despite his busy schedules. you were fine with it, after all, you were there behind him and supporting him.

akashi was also quite a loving husband; he lives up to his title,"the emperor" both on the court, and, although not really surprising, this was the case when it came to your bedroom activities.

still, there was something about him, that your guts have been meaning to tell you, that there was something wrong. or something you didn't know or understand yet. maybe it was his eyes, but really, you just end up drowning in them. so you killed off the doubt screaming at the back of your head. 

you were faithful, and you both love each other so much that that love gave fruit to an addition to the akashi family lineage. a boy whose features were a perfect combination of yours and your husband's. for that reason, your child's name had sounded so similar to akashi's.

akashi seiji.

he wanted it so, because you wouldn’t agree to “seijuro jr”. somehow that was childish of the red-haired man (and of you) but it was cute, you figured. even though you two were married, he still rarely showed his, somewhat, other sides.

and there goes that feeling again… doubt? suspicion? you couldn't even find a word to name it.

years have gone by, and before you knew it, you were celebrating seiji's fourth birthday, complete with all of your husband's business friends, and his middle school basketball team, the 'generation of miracles'. 

your lives were going too happy, too well, too perfect. just like a fairytale. you began to believe that until one night. things began to take a different turn, perhaps going in the wrong direction. 

you came home from work—you had insisted that you won't be a housewife, and you didn't have any interest in the akashi business—and was surprised to see your husband there, doing his paperwork in your room, with seiji on the bed, solving mathematical equations that weren't really for his mere age of six. 

your son jumped out of bed and ran to hug you as soon as you came in, his arms wrapping around your waist as he did so. yeah, he was a mother's boy indeed. 

and he went on about his day; seiji was getting better at playing the piano, and was also starting to learn basketball. his eyes that had the same shade of color as yours, darted over to sneak at his father, and whispered. "mother… i think father should teach me instead of any other coach. because he is the greatest!" he giggled. 

akashi sighed, hearing him clearly, then turned around to face you both with his eyes closed. you expected him to at least smile at your son and his eagerness, but he had this unreadable look on his face. eyes closed, his brows sunk in deeper. this was the usual face he makes when he used to crush his opponents in basketball, the face he makes when a secretary just fails at their assigned task. 

it was… terrifying.

"shut. it." 

your eyes widened a bit, but seeing how your son reacted, broke your heart more. so you forced a smile, bent down and gave your son's chubby cheek a peck. "come on, ji-kun. it's way past your bedtime. say good night to your father." he did as he was told, bowing before akashi before you led him outside, back to his own room and waited for him to fall asleep.

it was around 9:45 in the evening when you came back to your room and saw your husband on the bed now, reading a book. you quickly went to the bathroom to freshen up before crawling into bed next to him. you leaned your head, placing it on his right shoulder and took his scent in. 

"sei? is everything alright?" when you felt that the timing was right, you asked him. with a soft thud, the book was closed and he placed it on the bedside table near him, making you lean on the headboard instead. 

"everything is as it should be, y/n." he faced you with a blank look, and it was the first time you noticed that his eyes were now different. again. his golden yellow eye had returned, and looking at him made you feel uneasy.

"and why are you looking at me that way?" 

"n-nothing, dear… maybe i'm just tired." 

"then sleep, rest. good night, y/n. by the way, try to avoid making too much eye contact with me." he turned around, and slept with his back facing you. you were… shocked; no, that was an understatement. you were hurt. what had happened, you wondered. you tried to think back everything that has happened between you two, if you've said or done anything to trigger this certain side of your husband. 

when he was deep in his sleep, you placed an arm over his body and let the darkness your eyelids can give, take over you. 

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there was one thing that was constant in this world. 

change.

things change. people change. as time passes by. some were for good, for the better. 

but the way your husband changed, it wasn't exactly good, no, not at all.

it started out with text messages from women's names you didn't know. and akashi totally didn't care nor bothered if you saw the notifications popping up on his phone. 

and in the end, unwelcome women came in every night, sometimes with your husband or the girl was fetched by limo. you were usually late to arrive home since your workplace was much farther than his. 

you weren't deaf, dumb, nor blind. you also weren't strong enough to handle this. it hurt to know and be slapped in the face by the reality that you have no power to stop him even if you tried. if it wasn't for your son's presence, you might've snapped. every night you'd sleep in your son's bed, trying your best to just cry it all out once he's gone to sleep. 

once he asked why you weren't sleeping with akashi. you only smiled, feeling a lump form in your throat. "well, your father is very busy with work and he doesn't like being disturbed." 

that was also the same night you decided to sit right outside your bedroom doors for a few minutes, hearing every single noise completely, and all you could do was to let your tears fall down in streams on your face, sobbing quietly.

you began questioning your worth; this was worse than when you were younger. you much prefer the hushed whispers and gossiping that surrounded you than the way your husband was destroying your pride and your love.

weeks, months, and then it has been a year since akashi has been taking women—mistresses—home for his own sexual desires. for a year, you remained strong, well, as strong as you could and as you would like to believe yourself to be. 

and then it was seiji's seventh birthday. 

for a day, you were suddenly his 'beloved wife' once more. akashi gave you stolen kisses on your forehead, your cheek and an arm was always either on your waist or around your shoulders. 

you excused yourself when it was time to eat, and a certain pink-haired lady followed you to the restroom. "y/n-chan?" 

you blinked back the forming tears in your eyes and forced yourself to smile, however you weren't able to fool momoi satsuki. "is akashi-kun… okay?" 

you looked anywhere except your friend's concerned eyes. biting your lower lip to prevent from breaking down in front of her, you nodded stiffly. 

silence shared between you two until she couldn't hold it in anymore. 

"he isn't the real akashi, is he?" 

then the restroom doors suddenly burst open, and entered a busty woman with layered auburn hair, wearing a tight dress that reached just above her knees, hugging her body completely, and six inch stilettos that matched her clothing. 

her icy blue eyes were familiar to you and then you remembered her as one of the women akashi has taken in. 

"oh! mrs. akashi, hello. nice to meet you. you're looking splendid!" she reached for your hand and shook it. "i haven't introduced myself, i'm aya, akiyama aya, one of the new board directors." you put on the best fake smile you could and with a pleasant—yet slightly higher tone of voice—you conversed with the bitch—mistress.

when aya had left, momoi decided to hug you, as if she saw through everything just because of what happened between you and the lady. 

"m-momoi… i just… don't know what happened… why things had to be this way, it's so hard for me to be living under the same roof as his."

you let a few tears go, then quickly wiped them off as you pulled away from momoi's caring hug. "please, don't tell anyone about this. i have my son to keep me going, and i'll be stronger. thank you so much." 

"b-but, y/n-chan!" 

you shushed her, bringing your index finger to your lips. "let's go, they're probably having dessert by now. you should really try it." and you led her out, squeezing her right shoulder lightly as a final way of thanking her.

you watched your son enjoy his special day, as his father sat next to you, running his thumb over your palm he was holding. something about what momoi said had your pulse racing, even if you two were silent. gulping down your fears, you asked him. "who are you?"

his thumb lingered over your skin before he removed his hand from yours. he smiled, and you didn't know if he was laughing at you, mocking you for such a stupid question or was forcing it out of his system for show. 

"i'm akashi seijuro, your husband, who else would i be?" 

your son suddenly raced towards you. his eyes were intent on his father's, and you swore you saw akashi's eyebrows twitch for a fraction of a second. "father, my friends and i have decided to go horseback riding. may i take yukimura with me?" 

akashi motioned for his hand as a go signal, and seiji bowed before running off with a butler to where the horses were kept. and then when they were far away from you two, you resumed your low-volume conversation with the red-haired man.

"do you love me?" 

"yes, i do."

"no, do you—you, right now—do you, love me?" 

and then he was silent. his face looked troubled, as if akashi was having a war with his own self, with his own mind.

"that's what i thought…" you murmured, and stood up, suddenly feeling numb. you went to follow your son and took pictures of him, innocence and happiness radiating off of him. seiji was your last pillar of strength, and if you can't hold on any longer, you'll have to take him with you. 

'that gives me an idea…' you thought.

but as a faithful wife, you still had to think. what if akashi returns to his real state? 

two weeks later, seiji made a mistake with the notes of the piano piece he was playing. akashi was there, listening, while you had been busying yourself with crochet; and he made his son stop. the look he gave seiji was a look you'd like to describe as one would use when abandoning or when giving up on someone.

"why can't you be a little bit more like me?" he sighed, patting seiji lightly on his head before leaving, his eyes darting towards you, as you can see from your peripheral vision. 

akashi disappeared, probably off to find aya or another woman he kept. 

that was the last draw. you were fine if you were being the one trampled on—most of your life, you went through that—but if your son gets affected, oh, things were to change for real. 

you hated this change. why did things have to change?

it was funny how you just felt your anger now. determined, you helped your son perfect the piece before letting him have his snacks, leaving you alone with your thoughts. playing a different piece, one you once enjoyed playing with akashi, your eyes were closed since you've mastered every note by heart. 

you cried one last time, then made a decision. if akashi couldn't stand your presence, how much more that you couldn't stand those filthy women. it was also for the sake of the child. this was for the better. you loved akashi and you always will, but… things are different. 

he is different.

through your own sources, and with the help of your mother, you were able to find a house of your own. you hadn't really told her the complete story, nor do you want to, and you didn't want her to get involved. you're not going to take revenge, of course. you're just going to keep your distance until the real akashi decides to come back... you hoped.

you can just make him—the akashi right now—to love you. but… you're far too hurt and exhausted already. you honestly tried. it was too late, you figured. 

he didn't… care. 

you know there's a chance you'll also get hurt physically if a confrontation was done. plus, your son, you didn't want him to have to go through that. he was just seven! 

tonight you'll set things right, or maybe a bit better. sort of. you were just tired. and couldn't endure anymore. you were but a human after all, and this was your limit. 

in just five days, you and your son would stay in the house—bought with your own money—that would be ready once you arrive. 

"y/n." akashi's stern voice startled you. for the first time, he was 'available' tonight, which happened to be the last night you were going to see him this close, the last night you were going to hear his voice, his breathing. this was the last night you were going to live under the same roof, where you promised to love him with every passing day; yet the same place he broke his oath to you. 

"seijuro." you replied. you met his eyes and tried to look deep into them, trying to find the man you married. you know it's him, he's there, but somehow he just won't come out.

"you bought a house under your name," he began and that wasn't a question. you nodded, not a single emotion slipping from your face. you tried to remain as blank as you could. "yes, and i used my own resources to acquire it, don't worry."

'this house was supposed to be for you, me, our child. and i was supposed to be the only woman to share this bed with you. but if there are too many others, then i guess i'll take my leave.' you wanted to say more, but he just stared at you. 

he was trying to read you. 

but no, no he won't. he wouldn't understand. because he didn't know you.

"…sei," you took a breath and he turned to face you once more. and you pushed yourself forward and gave him a kiss, and you closed your eyes. 

god, you missed his lips. you probably imagined it that his hand tugged on your hair while the other caressed your cheek, down to your shoulders then arms. when you pulled away, it was for real. his upper body was nearly on top of you already, and your eyes widened a bit. 

you shied your body away from his, and he probably got the message that nothing would happen between you two tonight. 

"…good night, sei." you murmured and turned the opposite side. you felt no movement from his side for a few seconds, nearly a minute or so, until the sheets were pulled and the lights dimmed. 

you only took a nap, waking up at around two in the morning. everything was ready. you had your son up and in your car already with the help of his maid. she was eager to help you, and she'll go with you. 

with one last glance at your husband, you left a note and placed a clear, glass queen chess piece on top of it. 

then, you were gone. 

that morning, akashi woke up to an empty bed and saw your note. the first words he saw made him grip on the paper, crumpling its edges a bit.

‘sei. 

don't misunderstand this, please. i don't hate you. i'm just disappointed you turned into everything you said you'd never be.’ 

you had left him the address of your house nonetheless, even if you knew full well that he can just get someone to find it for him but you weren't going to be selfish and keep your child to yourself. it's just… living in two different houses 'cause apparently, one wasn't enough, no matter how big it was.

‘…in case you'd want to visit your son; please do. i hope you find happiness, akashi seijuro. not just you, but also the real akashi seijuro.’ 

you wrote your name on the bottom right side of the paper, concluding the letter.

oddly, akashi didn't burn the letter or anything like that and instead, threw it inside one of his drawers, including the chess piece. he thought you couldn't stand living away from him, and even if he doesn't want to admit it, he was waiting for you. 

the same way you were waiting for him to just come to you as his real self. 

the last time you met him was during your child's ninth birthday. you were the one organizing the parties, not him, and you even had to invite him. akashi still had his pride with him, and you expected that. you also expected that he still came home with different women every other night, but he didn't tell you that he'd stopped. 

the akashi household… was quiet. too quiet. 

two years passed. no child-like voice laughing, no happy piano tunes, no you; it was dull, it was nearly lifeless. it was too late when akashi realized that. you sometimes text him, reminding him of work-related stuff, and that he should be taking care of his self. sometimes leaving subtle hints for him to visit for seiji's sake. 

he didn't want you to know that he was missing you. and he wanted it to hear from you that you missed him, but you felt, after two full years of waiting, that you were the only one wanting to continue on with this marriage. 

again, for seiji, you decided not to divorce him. it had been in your head for a while. since he is a male akashi, they might snatch your child, the only heir, your only treasure and sanctuary; and force you to live the rest of your days alone. you couldn't take that. 

so instead, with the strength left within you, you continued to raise your son, despite feeling down at how helpless you seemed to see yourself.

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akashi seijuro felt empty, and thinking about it, he finally let his pride go off for a bit. this year, his son was turning 10, and during his time, at that age, his father was already preparing him for business-related duties. 

yes, that would be a perfect excuse to finally visit his wife and child. 

reaching for one of the drawers, akashi grabbed the note and the chess piece. he cursed his self for losing and giving his wife a chance. plus, it had been months since you last contacted him and he wanted to know why. it wasn't like you to just cut him off like that. it has been far too long to be considered as the woman being busy with work. 

akashi drove his way using his own car, not a limo, to where his wife and son both lived. he had hoped that they didn't move without her telling him about it. but then, it would've been easy to track them down. 

the house was a bit big for just the two of them, he mused upon laying his eyes on a pearly-white, simple, yet elegant house. he went out of the car after turning the engine off, outside black iron gates. 

akashi rang the doorbell, and he waited, the glass chess piece in his pocket. after around two minutes, a boy could be seen running to the gate, carrying a basketball with him. 

"he's… grown… a lot." the father of the child murmured. since they lived separately, seiji exclaimed in happiness at the sight of his father. he opened the gates for the elder akashi to enter and gave him a big, warm hug. 

akashi's heart began to throb, and he returned his son's hug, going down on one knee to hug seiji tighter. he half expected for his wife to be there, running to the sight of this reunion with tears brimming her eyes.

but there was no one.

but, it can't be that she left her child—their child—all alone? 

"seiji, where is your mother?" akashi asked upon pulling his son away gently to look at him. the kid looked down, scratched the back of his head and sighed. the young akashi's actions reminded him so much of his wife. "well... you see, she's been away for a while now. and i don't know when she'll be back."

just then, a maid was rushing to the two red-haired males, followed by an elderly woman akashi could recognize even from afar.

it was her mother. his mother-in-law. 

the male head of the kaname household has long passed, and the rest of their family have families of their own. 

well, maybe except for y/n. her family's status has become quite complicated; and akashi finally admitted to his self, it was his fault.

"seijuro-kun? well, it took you a long while," mrs. kaname said spitefully, with as much venom as her voice could get. akashi knew not to mess nor look down at this woman whose hair was now graying, lines of age evident on her face.

akashi bowed in greeting, "i apologize, mother." 

"enough," she paused, motioning for the maid to get seiji out of the elder akashi's reach, and to lead the child back inside to play. 

he could only watch, though he was quite confused of this sudden action. "follow me." mrs. kaname ordered, and they both arrived at a veranda, overlooking the backyard where his son was playing basketball. 

he let the elderly woman sit first, before him, and when it was not that awkward, akashi began to speak. "is… she home?" 

"what if i told you, that she's not? that she's now happy in another man's arms?"

akashi clenched his jaw at the thought of y/n, her refreshing laugh and calming smile, the touch of her soft lips on another man's; how did he put it, he was mad, he was jealous, he… was hurt.

mrs. kaname looked at him skeptically, and could see through his efforts of hiding his feelings.

"though that's not exactly the way she felt when you did that to her, at least, you've had a fair share of your own medicine."

then it struck the emperor. he remained silent, still, and his wife's mother continued.

"if she were here, she would've gotten mad at me for doing that to you."

akashi and mrs. kaname's eyes met.

"however, she's not going to be around to do that anymore." 

the redhead saw the pain, the held back tears of the elderly woman.

what? what did she just say?

"mother…? i'm sorry, but… what?"

mrs. kaname took a deep breath, then smiled a sad smile as she explained. 

"she ‘s gone; you don't know how much it hurt to just watch her suffer, waiting for you all this time! she wanted to just end everything, but seiji was her only thread of hope. but still… in the end she,"

"…couldn't hold on and wait much longer."

akashi was having a hard time to process all that in an instant. however, he felt his hand reach for the chess piece he hid in his pocket. and he gripped on it, hard, as if letting go of it would have made him lose his grip on life.

he was too deep into his thoughts that he didn't notice mrs. kaname stand up, and retrieve something from inside the house. a few minutes later, she returned, but akashi was just staring straight ahead, frozen in place.

whatever the thing was, mrs. kaname slid it over the table to her late daughter's husband. "here," 

it was a small photo album. on top of it was a crumpled up paper that had y/n's handwriting. 

"that was the last favor she asked of me. apparently, she knew… she felt, that, her hopes were slipping away. her heart gave up."

akashi's eyes went down to observe the album but his hands refused to leave his lap. 

"as what she wrote there, she told me that if ever you visit, i should give that to you, so you'd know and you'd see the things you missed when your son was growing."

mrs. kaname stared at him for a while, and decided, to stand up and leave him alone, giving him the privacy he should have, since that album's contents were for him and his eyes only. she figured it wasn't part of her right to take a peek. 

akashi brought out the chess piece and placed it before him before he hesitantly took the photo album. the glass queen reflected the sun's light, making it shimmer in the background as the redheaded man began to flip through the album's pages slowly.

seiji and y/n in a theme park, a picture taken by seiji himself with y/n staring ahead at the sunset by the beach, seiji making a three-point shot in their garden, seiji playing with his own team of friends, y/n having icing on her nose when she and her son baked together, and lots, lots more. 

but then, it seems the album wasn't filled to its pages. and akashi wanted to see more, until he reached the final page and his mouth went open in the slightest. 

akashi stared at the image of himself, his smiling self, in the wedding picture; and the emperor reminisced.

the way y/n became his wife that day, her eyes sparkling in delight, her face glowing despite being underneath the veil she wore, her soft lips on his when they kissed; everything was perfect. 

until things began to fall apart. 

the akashi business was about to face bankruptcy, due to an inside-job by one of his employees—how he didn't even see that, akashi couldn't find out why—and stockholders and investors began to pull out one by one.

because of that, it triggered the real akashi to go into hiding. all the stress, the pressure, the fear—building up in his heart.

his single, golden yellow eye began to diminish, the same time tears began to form in his pair of red eyes.

and now, the real akashi was back.

he took out the wedding picture from the album, and was surprised to see another paper, however this one was neat and organized, meant to be hidden and be discovered by him and him only. 

akashi began unfolding it, and read y/n's letter, and he could hear her voice in his head as he did so.

'dearest sei,

thank you for visiting our son after all this time. i tried to forget about us, about you; but believe me, even though i'm no longer by your side anymore, that i love you. i always have, i always will. remember that i'll be here, to support you two—the two amazing men in my life.

from now on, i leave ji-kun in your hands. my mom promised me she would help and guide the both of you.

seijuro, i love you. i love you. thank you. 

i love you.

good bye.'

the veranda had a roof, akashi was sure of that, he took note of that. 

and it was supposed to be sunny.

then, why was there rain? the letter began to have droplets of water. 

when the redheaded man felt something wet trickling down his face, he realized that it was of his own doing. not just about that, but about everything.

immediately, akashi asked where his wife lied in eternal sleep. 

he took the time to buy a huge bouquet of her favorite flowers, and he crouched before the gravestone, feeling the weight of her letter in his pocket.

akashi took a deep breath, brought out a black king chess piece and the glass queen one. he placed them, lying down beside each other and pressed down, as if trying to bury them together; but not too deep, just enough for the two pieces to stay there for sure.

"…checkmate, huh?" he sighed, and proceeded to sitting, leaning slightly on the gravestone. "it happened to be that way, because i cheated?" 

akashi grit his teeth in a mix of different emotions. he gasped, feeling the pain in his heart.

akashi seijuro cried. 

"i'm… sorry; i'm so sorry…"

he closed his eyes, making more tears run down his face. he hated it, that it had to end this way. he regretted his words, his actions, his choice of wallowing in fear when she was there—to help and support him—always, no matter what. the redhead gasped for breath, and he spoke with his voice that could barely be heard.

"i never… realized it… i never realized how much you loved me…. and how much i wasted that love…"

he sobbed in silence, and a gust of wind blew... he felt that you were there, smiling and crying at the same time, as you hugged him. akashi didn't really see you, but then you vanished with the wind; finally feeling your soul at peace.

[ghostsray]

You are my brother (boogie woogie)

(my first @phicphight 2020 fic! based on @dp-marvel94‘s prompt: “Vlad successfully clones Danny again. When Danny meets this new clone, the boy is nothing like he expects.”)

(word count: 2625) (AO3)

Danny sunk onto his bed, the soft matress feeling like heaven after a long day of school and ghost-fighting. He was so exhausted that he wished nothing would interrupt his brief moment of respite. Thus he released a deep groan when he heard his bedroom door creak open.

"Oh, don't groan at me," his sister said. She entered the room and sat next to him on the bed.

"What do you want, Jazz?" Danny's voice came muffled from where it was buried face down on his bedsheet.

He lifted his head high enough from the bed to see Jazz staring at him with crossed arms. "You could have told me you went to Vlad's," Jazz said.

Danny scowled. "What are you talking about?"

Jazz faltered. "You mean...you didn't?"

"No, of course not. Why the hell would I go to that froot loop's place?" He sat up beside Jazz, who was busy fidgeting.

"I thought he looked like--nevermind. It was probably someone else."

"Who looked like me?"

Jazz pulled out her phone and opened it to a photograph. There was Vlad Masters standing in front of his mansion. By his side was a teenage boy who looked an awful lot like Danny.

"Someone took a photo of the mayor in front of his house with a child," she explained, then hesitated and added, "When someone asked him who it was, he said it was his son."

Danny's face darkened. He took the phone from Jazz and observed the boy in the picture. Although he was dressed more smartly than Danny normally would, there was no denying that they were related. On first glance, he looked identical to Danny: everything from his pale skin and short stature to the way his mouth sloped when he smiled. But after looking at him more closely, he could make out a few minor differences: his black hair was streaked with messy white stripes, his eyes were a shade darker blue than Danny's, and his face was just slightly slimmer. None of that fooled Danny, though. Danielle also looked somewhat different from him, and she was still his genetic clone.

Danny stood up, the day's exhaustion from a minute ago completely forgotten. "I think I need to pay our Uncle Vlad a little visit," he said grimly.

"Wait, now?" Jazz asked just as Danny transformed before her in a flash of light. She shielded her eyes as he changed into ghost form, and when she looked up again, he was already gone.

.

The way to the mayor's mansion was quick. As he flew in Phantom form, Danny kept thinking up insults he would throw at Vlad once he saw him. He slipped intangibly into the building and began to search for the man.

He didn't find Vlad, but he did run into his son.

He was sitting in the library, reading a copy of Dracula. On a regular occasion, Danny would have found it hilarious that the vampire-looking ghost would own the book in his library, but he wasn't feeling very festive at that moment. As he stared invisibly at the boy, Danny couldn't shake the feeling of unease that settled in his stomach from looking at him. He had spent lots of time with his other clone, Danielle, but she was younger than him, so it didn't bother him that much. This clone in the library was much closer to Danny's age, and therefore, much more similar in appearance. Even with the darker eyes and streaked hair, Danny felt like he was looking in a mirror.

As similar as the clone was in physical appearance, though, Danny would never be caught dead(er) in his clothes. The dude reeked of Vlad's ill-gotten wealth. He wore the kind of polo shirt that only snobby rich kids wore, and his feet were in loafers that Danny could never afford. It was clear that the clone had tried to comb his hair into an orderly position, but just like Danny's hair, it was impossible to tame and was sticking out in various places. Danny thought he even saw him wearing some of Vlad's mascara, but that might have been his imagination.

Once he got over the shock of seeing a wealthier copy of him in person, Danny toughened his expression, floated in front of the clone, and dropped his invisibility. The clone jumped in his chair and nearly dropped his book in surprise.

"Let me guess," Danny drawled. "Daniel Masters?"

There were many different outcomes that Danny could have expected. The clone could have been like Danielle, held under Vlad's control against his will, and begged Danny to help him. Or he could have been the opposite, completely under his evil influence, and released an evil laugh and said something like Yes, it is I, now prepare to die and let me replace you. Or maybe Vlad could have decided not to risk another Danielle incident and hid the fact that he was a clone from him, thus making him deeply confused by the similar-looking ghost in front of him.

What happened was none of the above.

The teenager's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed in a voice full of excitement, "You're Danny! The original!"

Danny faltered for a moment, put off by the sudden admiration in the clone's voice and the smile that had plastered itself onto his face. "Um, yeah," he replied. "And you--"

The clone extended a hand and said, "I'm Daniel--but you already knew that. I also go by the name Niel!"

Danny was so flabbergasted that he shook the hand without thought. "Niel?" he asked.

"N-I-E-L. Daniel, Niel. It's a different pronunciation, but close enough to my written name. Plus, it's not like I want to go around using your name. Well, even though Dad still insists on calling me Daniel because he's boring like that."

"Dad," Danny echoed. "You mean Vlad."

That stupid grin was still on Niel's face as he said, "Yep. He created me, didn't he? By combining your DNA with some of his. Mostly yours, but he said he couldn't get your mid-morph DNA and had to use his own, which was hard because you two are really different and it took him a while to make me, but now I'm here. It makes sense for me to call him Dad. Or Father, but that's boring. I mean, who even uses that word anymore? Fa-ther."

He giggled, and Danny stared. The Fenton struggled to make sense of this clone. He was so...childish. Unlike neither Vlad nor Danny, except maybe for when Danny was six years old and still filled with childish glee. Now that he thought about it, he supposed Niel was technically even younger than that.

As soon as Danny remembered how to speak again, he said, "You're awfully calm about being a clone."

Niel shrugged. "Sure, I was cloned from you, but I like to think I'm still my own person. I mean, I know Dad probably made me to replace you, but that's dumb." His eyes sparkled, and he concluded, "I think we should be brothers."

"Brothers?" Danny asked, then a gear clicked in his brain and he responded, "Hold up, I am not going to live with you and Vlad. We're not brothers."

Niel seemed a little disappointed, but he pressed on. "Why not? We are brothers; our DNA is close enough. Unless you want to call me your son, but that's too weird." (Danny had to agree.) "Anyway, I know you're okay with calling your clones family because you call Danielle your cousin, even though she should be our sister. We should all live together--me, you, Dad, and Danielle, even though I don't know why she ran away exactly, but I'm sure she and Dad can make up."

He seemed so passionate about the idea of living as a family that Danny almost felt bad for bursting his bubble. "Sorry, but my answer is still no," he stated. "I don't know how nice Vlad is to you, but from my experience, he's a terrible dad. You were right about me calling Danielle my cousin, but that's because she didn't have a family after Vlad refused to accept her."

Niel's face scrunched up in confusion. "But...Dad said she left by herself because she was confused about being your clone."

"You must have mixed up confused with abused," Danny replied dryly. "Vlad tried to kill her. He wanted to melt her down to make you."

Niel looked like he was either constipated or in pain. "But--That's not--I mean, he wouldn't--" he stammered. "He's a good father to me!" He finally exclaimed, forgetting his previous statement that no one used the word father. "I'm sure he's changed!"

"Yeah, right," Danny said with a roll of his eyes. "That's about as likely as Mr. Lancer saying a real swear word."

"Who's Mr. Lancer?"

"Unimportant. What I'm saying is, your "Dad" majorly sucks. I'd say no offense, but I mean full offense to Vlad."

Niel gripped the copy of Dracula in his hands until his knuckles turned white. Danny half expected him to either start attacking Danny or to break down crying. However, after a few seconds passed, Niel took a deep breath until he calmed down, then he said, "He'd still be a better parent to you than those Fentons."

Danny snorted. "No doubt. Did Vlad tell you that? I bet he had a lot of words to say about my dad."

"He did," Niel confirmed, "but I don't really care about his petty grudge with Jack. I could tell the portal thing was an accident. It's silly to still hate him for something that happened twenty years ago."

Danny faltered. That wasn't what he expected Niel to say. "Then why..."

"Why?" Niel's dark blue eyes bore into Danny's light blue ones, and he said simply, "They hunt you."

Danny felt like he had been sucker punched in the gut. He swallowed down the lump that had formed in his throat. "Ah. That..."

"I watch the news," Niel pressed on, digging the metaphorical dagger deeper into Danny's hide. "They go after you every day. They want to kill you. They say they're going to tear Phantom apart molecule by molecule."

"That's because they don't know it's me," Danny argued weakly.

"Then why don't you tell them?" Before Danny could respond, Niel held up a hand and interrupted, "That was rhetorical. I know why you keep your ghost half a secret. You're scared of them."

Danny balled his hands into fists. "I'm not scared," he growled.

"Really? You seem pretty scared to me."

It was true. Sweat was pouring from his forehead. Danny wiped it away and pressed his lips into a thin line. "I'm not scared," he continued to lie, "and I know they're better parents than Vlad. They may hate Phantom now, but I'll get them to change their minds."

Niel laughed--a villainous laugh that reminded Danny heavily of Vlad. "Yeah, right. The Fentons becoming buddies with Danny Phantom?" He grinned at Danny and added, "What was it you said? That's about as likely as Mr. Lance saying fuck."

"Lancer," Danny corrected.

"Whatever."

Danny glared at Niel, who smiled pleasantly in return. "Join Vlad," Niel told him. "Be my brother. We can keep you away from them, and then you won't have to be scared anymore." Niel frowned slightly and amended, "Well...we'll keep you away from Jack, at least. Dad still has this dumb infatuation with Maddie...but I think he can be content with letting her go if he got you."

Danny's glare melted into something sadder. "Do you really believe that?"

"Yes," Niel answered with conviction. "I'll get Dad to take you away from them. We'll be brothers, and maybe Jazz and Danielle can be our sisters. We'll be a happy family."

Danny's gaze lingered on him a moment longer, then it wandered down to the book he still held with an iron grip. "Niel," Danny called the clone's name hesitantly, then he sighed. "You're too young."

Niel was puzzled by the sudden change in subject, but he told him, "Dad said I'm fourteen. The same age he got the DNA sample from you, even though you're sixteen now."

"Yes, but your literal age is, what, one?" Danny lifted his eyes again to look at Niel as he spoke. "You don't have a lot of experience."

"I have knowledge. I read."

"It's not enough. You haven't spent a lot of time with Vlad; you don't know him like I do. He'll never let go of my mom. Danielle and him will never make up. And I--and Jazz--will never join him because he's a horrible person."

Niel looked like he was one tick away from bursting. "Why not?" he challenged, but he sounded more desperate than mad. "What's so bad about him?"

"Let's see...he's a cheater, a liar, super creepy, and a huge jerk," Danny listed on his fingers. "He kidnapped me, like, twenty times, and he always sends deadly ghosts after me to either kidnap me again, or kill my dad. That's not someone I would ever want to be family with."

Niel's jaw was taut. "So you won't change your mind."

Danny shook his head.

Niel's hands shook as he breathed, but he was eerily calm as he placed his book on a table by his chair and stood up. "Dad told me you wouldn't listen, that you're too stubborn. I guess I should have believed him."

"Niel..."

Niel's face was relaxed as he looked at him, but his eyes burned with dark fire. Suddenly, twin rings of light flashed across his body, transforming him into a ghost.

Though Danny knew that Niel had some of Vlad's genes, that fact was made more obvious in his ghost form. He still looked like Danny and even wore the same black-and-white jumpsuit, but he had blue skin and red eyes like Plasmius. Streaks of black ran across his white hair where the opposite color had been in his human form. He must have inherited his dad's dramatic sense of fashion, because a high-collared, Dracula-esque cape draped over his jumpsuit, similar to the one Vlad wore.

As Danny stared at the ghost before him, he felt a cold spread through his body, and it wasn't his ice core. Niel's form reminded him too much of another ghost who was mostly Danny and a little Vlad. Suddenly, Danny felt less like he was looking in a mirror, and more like he was looking at a younger version of the alternate future self of his that killed his friends.

No, Danny sternly told himself, forcing the panic back down. Niel wasn't Dan. He wasn't a genocidal adult ghost with fiery hair and an icy heart. Niel was just a snobby little rich kid who thought Vlad was the balls and didn't know much about the world. He felt himself relax a bit as he successfully kept himself together, but his hands were still in fists by his sides in case Niel attacked.

"Calm down, brother. I'm not going to fight you," Niel assured him calmly. "At least, not today. Knowing Dad, he'll inevitably make us fight each other someday, unless you change your mind about joining him."

"In his dreams," Danny spat. "Tell him to shove a froot loop up his ass."

Niel sighed, like he was disappointed but not surprised. "Goodbye, Danny," Niel said, and he floated off the floor as he said it. "I'll see you soon."

He abruptly dropped through the floor below and out of sight. Danny turned intangible and followed him, but when he emerged in the mansion's lower floor, Niel was nowhere to be seen.

[spoon-writes]

Ends of the Earth | Chapter 23

Fandom: The Mandalorian

Pairing: Mando x OC

Read on FFN or AO3

Summary: When Sinead's husband is ripped from her, she escapes the Hutt Empire and goes on a quest to find him. Since being a runaway slave in the Outer Rim isn't exactly easy, she makes the Mandalorian an offer he can't refuse, and soon they travel across the galaxy looking for her missing husband.

Chapter index

Chapter 23 - Red Vekkass

Sinead was about to throw up.

Gripping the armrests so hard her knuckles turned white, she took a deep breath through her nose. This was it. The old mining station was a pinprick of darkness before the enormous gas giant which bathed the cockpit in a deep orange glow. They were too far away to be detected by scanners, but the space surrounding the station was surely filled with traps. One meter too far, and they would be shot down.

She was being pulled in two different directions, shaking with anger and grief while also wanting nothing more than for Kyen to hold her again. She missed him so much it hurt.

"How do you wanna do this?" Mando turned in his seat to look at her. She wished he wouldn't.

She didn't dare open her mouth, so she just shrugged. All higher brain power had been rerouted, circling around Kyen like a pack of vultures.

"I can try pinging them. Keep out of range of the artillery."

"Mhm."

His hand hovered above the lever for a moment before pushing it down. The ship crawled forwards. The gas giant grew until it filled the whole galaxy. A light on the control panel started blinking.

Mando waited for a couple of seconds before a disembodied voice filled the cockpit.

"The fuck you want?"

Sinead let out a giggle that only bordered on hysterical.

Mando cleared his throat. "I'm looking for Red Vekkass."

"Yeah? Well, you better turn round and piss off before I turn that piddly little bucket into space debris."

"I need to speak with Red Vekkass."

"Told you to fuck off-"

"My name is Sinead Cade." She hadn't even realized she had opened her mouth. It felt like someone had taken control of her brain. "I need to speak with Red Vekkass. I knew him before Loovria, and I've spent the last five years looking for him."

It felt almost wrong to say her name out loud like that. She was so used to aliases and convenient lies that baring herself felt ... sacrilegious in a way.

There was an awful silence that lasted for minutes. She held her breath.

Finally, a new voice came over the comm, deeper and more authoritative. "Roger that. Head for the hangar. One wrong move, and we'll blow you to stardust. Over and out."

For a moment, neither of them moved.

"I guess we just ..." Sinead trailed off. Her heart was pounding.

The ship started moving at a slow speed. Mando's hands danced across levers and buttons. If the station began firing, they would have to dodge at no notice. The pinprick grew into a proper station; it was shaped like a sphere and tapered out into a point just above Dilo’s swirling surface. Narrow walkways shot out from the lower part of the station where ships could dock. They were all empty now.

"You ready?" Mando asked.

"Yes." No. She had never been less ready in her entire life.

The Crest passed through the magnetic field that protected the hangar and touched down between many smaller ships. Through the window, Sinead saw a group move towards the ship, and she strained her eyes to see if Kyen was there. He wasn't. She counted eleven blasters between eight sentients.

The child was sleeping in his seat and didn't stir when Mando picked him up and carried him to the safe room. Sinead tried not to think about what would happen to him if they didn't come back.

The ramp had never moved slower. She was ready to jump out of her skin, while Mando stood still as a statue.

The posse held their weapons at the ready as Sinead and Mando came down. Had Kyen not told them who she was?

"I'm here to-"

"Yeah, we heard you on the comm," a hulking mass of a Nikto said, his voice so deep Sinead felt it reverberate in her chest. "Follow me. Don't try anything." He sneered at Mando, whose hands inched imperceptibly towards his blaster. Sinead tried to catch his eyes through the helmet and shook her head once. They could not afford to start a fight with a bunch of pirates. She had come too far to die so close to the goal.

A large Twi'lek with a gash across his forehead scowled at them.

Flanked by the pirates, they were led through the station. A sour smell of unwashed bodies made her stomach churn, and she felt like she really had to throw up. They passed rooms filled with weapons or cargo, tables strewn with bottles, and food left out to rot. How could he live like this? It didn't make any sense.

Mando kept bumping against her, his head darting around. If she had had any room in her brain left over, she would have noticed the tension coming off him in waves.

Finally, the Nikto stopped in front of a thick blast door.

"Boss' in there."

Sinead swallowed thickly.

This was it.

The door opened.

She stared.

Laughter bubbled up from deep in her chest with the sheer unreality of it all. Her brain desperately tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

"Sinead, what are you-"

"That's ... that's not Kyen."

Saying it out loud broke the spell, and she fell silent, a hollow feeling in her chest.

The man sitting in front of her was human, but that was where the similarities between him and Kyen ended. Where Kyen was tall and broad-chested, with a round freckled face and deep green eyes, this man was all sharp edges and wiry limbs, small eyes peering out from a gaunt face. A scar ran from the bridge of his nose across his forehead and disappeared into short dark hair. He sat on an ornate chair, just one gilded filigree away from being a throne.

"Who are you?"

He smirked at her. "You said so yourself. Not Kyen." He leaned back in his throne. "Name's Red Vekkass, but I know you already knew that."

"B-but how? Why ..."

"Sit down, and I'll-"

"No!"

Behind her, the pirates jumped, and one drew his blaster. A hand landed on her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Calm. Down," Mando hissed.

She took a deep breath. "I want to know why according to records on Loovria, your name is Kyen Beck."

His grin grew, flashing a row of yellowing teeth. "Funny story, that." He looked behind her and yelled at the top of his lungs, making her jump. "EVERYONE! GET THE FUCK OUT!"

The Nikto took a step forwards, glancing at Mando. "But Boss, don't you think-"

"Out. Now."

They filed out until only Mando and Sinead were left. The Nikto was the last to go, snarling at Mando as the door closed.

Vekkass crossed a leg over the other, silent for a long moment as he regarded them both. "I knew about you," he pointed a dirty finger at Sinead. "The Mandalorian is a surprise."

A scream tried to crawl up her throat, and she took a deep breath through her nose. "Why-" voice barely shaking- "do you ... or did you go by the name Kyen Beck."

"Knew him."

"When?"

"Sit." He gestured to a hard-backed chair. Now that she could focus on other things besides the man in front of her, she realized they were in what must have been the mess hall. Two long tables had been pushed against the wall to allow a sort of runway with the throne at the other end. She didn't remember walking across the floor.

She threw herself into one of the chairs, gripping the armrests to keep from launching across the room and throttling Vekkass. Mando remained stubbornly standing behind her.

Vekkass lit a cigarra and took a long drag. "Met him on a moon in the middle of nowhere. The Empire had us working in a mine-"

"He was on Celvalara!" It came out in a rush. It hadn't all been for nothing.

"You've been? My, my, what busy bees you are." A bit of ash fell from the tip of the cigarra. "But yeah, we were on Celvalara. Shared a bunk, if you can call two stone slates a bunk. You could say we were buddies, as much as slaves can be friends. I guess you know all about that." He grinned at her.

Sinead kept her face carefully neutral.

"Worked the mine together with all the other poor bastards. Dunno what for, but those bucketheads worked us like akk dogs. And through it all, Kyen wouldn't shut the fuck up about you."

A small nugget of warmth filled out some of the emptiness. Kyen felt closer than he had been these last five years.

"Don't know if you noticed, but the Empire wasn't doing too hot in those days. People heard things. Me and Kyen, we talked about escaping."

"Did you?" Mando said. Sinead had almost forgotten he was there.

"You could say that. The Empire had all but fallen to pieces when we got the chance."

"That still doesn't explain why records on Loovria-"

"Back when shit really hit the fan, me and Kyen and a couple of other guys stole a shuttle to the planet. Forget the name-"

"Luria," Sinead said in a carefully measured voice. Her nails dug into the wooden chair.

"Right, Luria. The bucketheads weren't too happy about us leaving, even though they hadn't heard word from command in days. We figured it was better to split in case the Empire suddenly got a mind to follow. Back then we didn't know the Empire had fallen." He took another long drag of his cigarra. "Got picked up by some New Republic cruisers out by Atravis. I've had a bit of fun in my youth, figured Beck wouldn't mind me borrowing his name for a spell. He seemed like a nice enough fella." Another yellow-teethed smile. "Seemed like the New Republic officers wanted to make a quick cred, so they dropped me off on Loovria instead of taking me in. The name sorta stuck, never really got the urge to correct them."

So all of this was because of a couple of New Republic assholes who'd rather make a few extra credits than protect the people they had sworn to help. Although Vekkass seemed more like someone to protect from.

"Honestly, never thought you'd come knocking. You're lucky I remembered your name, or else you'd be space dust right about now." He waved the cigarra through the air. "Was under the impression you were still stuck on Tatooine."

"Sriluur."

"Right." He watched her for a long time, head cocked to the side. "Didn't know palace slaves could even get married."

Behind her, Mando's hands balled into fists.

She shrugged. "What the boss don't know, the boss don't mind."

Vekkass let out a bark of laughter. "Guess that's true." He turned his eyes on Mando. "You, on the other hand, I've heard a couple of things about. Like how you ambushed my people on Alpha. What did you do to the kid?"

What kid? Sinead turned to look at Mando. She hadn't even asked what had gone down on the station, too caught up in her own stormy mind.

"He attacked me. Did what I had to do," Mando said flatly.

"I see. Doesn't really matter, was gonna get rid of him anyway, so I guess you spared me a headache." He watched them both, waiting for their reaction. Sinead had to suppress a shiver.

"When was the last time you saw Kyen?" Mando asked in the same emotionless voice.

"On Luria, as I said."

"You know where he was heading?"

There was a subtle gleam in Vekkass' eyes, "I might. First, I need you to do something for me."

Of-fucking-course.

"What?" Sinead said between clenched teeth.

"Need you to find someone who used to be a part of my crew."

"What did he do?"

Vekkass flicked the cigarra onto the floor where it lay smoldering. "I thought bounty hunters didn't care about that."

A tension headache had grown slowly from her temples until it felt like her head was stuck in a vice. "I'm not a bounty hunter."

"But he is. Looks like it, anyway." He looked Mando up and down. "He was supposed to meet up with the crew after a job. Problem is he never showed. And he had all the loot.

"You think maybe he got picked up by the New Republic?" Sinead said.

"That's what I assumed until I got word that he'd been spotted on Trillu. Not as dead or incarcerated as previously thought. I want you to find him, bring him back with whatever loot is left. Or kill him. I don't really care as long as I get what’s mine."

Sinead stopped herself from laughing out loud. She wouldn't be surprised if the clothes on his back had been pilfered off some poor bastard. "Why haven't you gone after him before?"

"Can't really spare the manpower, can I. Was about to send for a bounty hunter when you two fell into my lap."

"I'm not with the guild," Mando said.

"Does it matter? I don't care who you are, as long as you get it done. And when you come back, I'll tell you where Beck was headed."

Sinead bit down on the inside of her cheek so hard she tasted blood. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to travel across the galaxy on the trail of another lost soul. Hopping from system to system, asking strangers for information, following breadcrumbs that only led to dead ends.

She just wanted Kyen.

"He's probably long gone by now." Mando's raspy voice acted as an anchor and tethered her to the moment.

Vekkass pulled a small object out of his pocket and threw it to Sinead. It was a tracking fob. Mando gently took it out of her hand.

"I'm sure finding one man won't be a problem. You've come this far," Vekkass said and sat up on his throne. It was clear the audience was over.

"What's his name, the man we have to find?" Sinead's voice sounded strangely dulled.

Vekkass paused for a moment, thinking it over. Then, "Jami something-or-other. Twi'lek. A slippery little devil, so your best bet is probably taking him by surprise. Otherwise, he might slip away, and then no Kyen for you." He grinned again, a strange jerk of the lips like a wild animal showing its teeth. Leaning to the side, he raised his voice. "Brex!"

The door shot open, and the Nikto came barreling in. "Yes, Boss?"

"We're done here. Take them back to their ship and let them leave." Vekkass gave Sinead a final look. "Good luck."

The walk back to the ship was done in complete silence. Sinead curled her hands into fists so hard her nails left half-moons on her palm. It was surreal boarding the Crest. It felt like they'd been gone for days.

The child still slept in the saferoom, and Sinead stopped to watch him while Mando climbed into the cockpit. The child's small face twitched in his sleep. She reached out and touched his hand that poked out between two folds in the fabric.

A vibration went through the ship when the engine came to life, and she left the child and crawled into the cockpit. The Crest was surrounded by pirates who watched with suspicious eyes as it rose from the platform.

"You think they're gonna let us go?" Sinead sat down in her seat.

"If they wanted to kill us, they would've already done it. I think Vekkass was being truthful. At least about that."

"Hm. It's somehow easier imagining Kyen as a pirate than me actively working for one."

The Crest soared through the blue electromagnetic field and was finally free, but the shadow of the mining station seemed to cling to it like an oil-spill.

"You know, we don't ... we don't have to do this." Mando didn't turn to look at her as he spoke.

"What's the other option? He knows where Kyen went after Celvalara."

"You trust him?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. Of course she didn't, but what did he want her to say? "Finding this guy can't hurt. As I see it, we're just getting rid of one more pirate the galaxy doesn't need." And helping another one in the process ...

Mando nodded once and flicked a row of switches, sending the ship hurtling into hyperspace. The blue light danced across Sinead's face. Suddenly, she felt impossibly tired, her heart a heavy lump in her chest. Relief that Kyen could still remain unsullied in her mind battled against nauseating guilt; when the door opened, and she saw it wasn't her Kyen sitting on the throne, she hadn’t been confused or saddened, but so relieved. Was her love really that conditional?

She bit down on the inside of her cheek, hard. Small bumps had formed where she had broken through the skin.

"How do tracking fobs work?" She grasped for anything that might distract her.

Mando leaned back in his seat. "The fob tracks via your chain code. The more digits, the more exact it is."

"How precise can it be? Can it point out the correct planet?"

"Planet, continent."

"Oh."

She stared out at the swirling mist.

Mando cleared his throat. When she looked at him, he had turned in his chair to face her. "After a bounty's been fulfilled, the information is dormant. You said the Hutts think you're dead. You have nothing to worry about."

It didn't feel like she had nothing to worry about. It felt like an entire Imperial armada was waiting for them just on the other side of hyperspace.

"Yeah, okay." Turning back to look at the mist, she wrapped her arms around her midsection in a poor excuse for a hug. She tried thinking back to Sriluur, where she and Kyen would sneak off to lie in the shade of the palace, but everything felt wrong and faded like she was looking through a dirty window.

She just wanted someone to hold her again.

There was a bump from the hull, and Mando got up, faltering when he looked at her. The blue light danced across his armor. "I'll just ... go check on him ..."

"Right."

She felt his hand accidentally brushed her shoulder as he passed her, then he was gone, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

<- Previous chapter - Next chapter ->

[charmed-asylum]

👨‍🍳#𝓕𝓞𝓞𝓓𝓲𝓔👨‍🍳

Summary: Something happening in Easter Hills. Something that effecting everyone under the surface. Could this just be a phase a trick that no one can shack off? Is this something that will pass with another or can we all be heading for destruction

Declaimer: #Foodie has some curse words, blood,cat fight, mentions of bullying and eating disorder. Also, I do have dyslexia who happens to do her own proof reading so be easy with me!!! 

A/N: This chapter is a filler before things start to go to shit in the next one. Let me know what you think or want to be added to the tag list. xoxo Tia

MASTER LIST // Previous CHAPTER 2

Tagged: @weapinggwillowss​ @kittykatlow​ @alagalaska @deansblackbeauty​ 

The journey to school was a blur. I don’t know how or by what grace of god but I made it come Monday. It has been one hell of a week but that be an understatement. In reality, it wasn’t just this week it was these last month or so. I tap my number two pencil a few times against the desk waiting for my name to be called. Ms. King was an older lady full proud of the fact she been teaching since 1968. While it was an achievement to the only thing she to show was  13 cats waiting for her at home. The simple 10 minutes routine took her much longer and left us 20 minutes to cramp everything in. Today this lovely dry hot day was pushing 22 minutes. Taking a deep breath I look away from the heart diagram and look up to see what was taking so long. Class of normally 27 students was a minor fraction of 18 if that. I would think nothing of it but as I chew on the nasty no taste but death eraser it hit me. It was the same thing for all my other class different students were missing, I heard principal Ratchet mention the flu or mono. Just did not feel right.

Eraser still hanging from my mouth as I think of that day. Mind rush back to sitting in the back of the ambulance. Flashing blue and red light blur my vision only clear thing was KP looking like a superhero. His huge rough hands play in his hair as he let a huge breath out from his chiseled chest. Eyes darting back from the black bag and the sheriff. I was gonna speak but KP knows what is best and having me talk wasn’t it. Men stuck in his ways talking to the freak was never useful. The only words that came from his mouth addressed to me were,” Second time in a month you got something going on with you and these damn woods. You doing some witchcraft or something. Weird girl”. I chuckled under my breath at the joke he was. But he was right two times in a month this time I’m alone. No parents no reassurance. Blood mix with the dirt covers most of my clothes. KP didn’t mention much just that we saw the body out of nowhere. Not that it was still alive barley but alive not that it said anything just that it was dead when he checked. The next thing I remember was me in the bathtub still in my clothes as he cleans me off. Water was mix with soap water and dirt. I practically begged him to stay not to leave with tears rolling down my cheeks eyes red with fear and pain. With a kiss on the crown of my head, he promises me before carrying me to bed. We lay snuggled together his hands holding me tightly his hands and mine laying close to my heart. By the time the rosters call to wake up the night creatures, he was gone.

Bell took me out of my mind back into reality. Slowly grabbing my thing I rush out to my locker to see if Janet picks up the note I left. Peaking over my shoulder I shield myself as I put in her combo. With a tap it open with the note still there. SHIT JANET. Besides the creepy 3 words messages, I haven’t heard from her. Just had to focus today thing on Janet.

Corner of my eye I could see few people going towards the cafeteria. I swing my bag over my shoulder and ran off to the cafeteria. Even though my lunch period was for another two periods. Pushing through the sea of people looking for her. Crazy how classrooms were getting more and more empty but the cafeteria was getting more and more crowded. Pushing people who were waiting on the growing line to get food I look around for Janet. She has been having lunch during this period and her regular one with me for a month. Turning shoulders calling she was nowhere. FUCK.

My fresh white polish nails comb through my hair as I tried to remain calm. Closing my eyes I pray to the lords for help a sign. Anything to prove  I’m not losing it once again. As I started to relax I could hear a noise a voice. Looking up I thank god before following the voice. Now before I explain to you what saw a person should know in this school I’m a freak I’m okay with it, I accept it, I celebrate my flawless in the eye of my peers. One of many things is my strict unorthodox eating habits. I have been called every word in every dictionary. Something I never wanna contribute to, Tiffany though is a 500 calories a day type of girl. Once someone gave her a regular coke and she beat the poor freshman right to ER. She screams Malibu Barbie with matching purse. Flawless. She Janet’s level flawless just with an eating disorder. This Tiffany if it wasn’t for the 5,000 purses and that annoying voice, this girl looks nothing like her. First, it was the fact all my years of knowing her she only wears a crop top and thong poking out now in size large sweater with purple unicorns and leggings, that she probably got from the local theft shop in town. I almost piss myself. Then was her plate. The fact she had a plate was a shocker.  She had two things of chili fries, a sloppy Joe, and three pudding cups. Sipping from a BIG BOY slushie from the gas station down the road. Unknown to me I was currently in front of her table mouth open till one of her minions toss a fry at me.

“ Tiffany. Hey huh, Tiff” I said still unsure.

If I was shocked before when she turned to me made me beyond doubt stun. She had a ton of acne and her face look a bit puffy from her skeleton skin-tight face not so long ago.

“ What do you want? “ One of her minions ask as she was chewing on some sour union flavor chips.

“ Have you seen. Janet today? We got a project due tomorrow and I can’t find her” I said spit balling as went on.

They look at each other and giggle. Tiffany looks at the other and like that her mood change she sat up a bit more and turn to fully look at me. With her stain shirt and food on the corner of her mouth. She looks at me with hungry in her eyes with a quick lick around her smug lipstick lips grind at me.

“ Actually no we haven’t but we were gonna look for her. Hey, you got any Trippie on you” Tiffany said with joy and lust in those hazel eyes.

Step back and put a hand to my hip. I look at her as she waited for my answer. This gosh darn drug again. The reason why I and Janet been at odds, to begin with.

“ No. I don’t take that stuff. Tried Popi. She the one who had it in the 1st place. You haven’t seen her she usually here with you during lunch” I pressed. Look of doubt of cross all four girls face. Who was spotting a similar appearance to their leader?

“ Come on. Smith your join to the fuckin hip. You must know where we can find her or some of the drugs. We ran out quicker then we wanted to. Takes longer to get it up. Help us. We do anything. Tell Janet we are willing to do anything “ Zoe said grabbing tight to my wrist. Her grip was airtight that I felt the pressure. Almost like how it was with Janet that last time. Same look in the eyes too.

Pulling away from her grip with all my might I stumble back. I look at the girls as their expressions started to change to a dead zone look in their eyes. Like they were on something. My mouth became dry my brain ache from thoughts that were running through my head. My eyes darted from one to another to another.

“ Lik-”

Tiffany ignore me and started to laugh after taking a few more bites of her sandwich. Drops of it left on her shirt one just by the corner of her mouth.

“ She not gonna tell us. She wants it all to her self. It’s fine we figure it out we are not selfish people” Tiffany said laughing between each chew. I clench my jaw till I felt something swooshing in my mouth a bitter taste.

“ Like I said. I don’t take that stuff. I care what goes in my body and I don’t trust it” I said before turning to leave. I got a few steps in before I heard more laughter. I stop and chuckle to myself what was so funny. Sound like she was mumbling something. “Excuse me” I said turning back around.

“ You know what. Why did I even ask you? Face it. Without that candy eye boy toy or your American pie girlfriend you nothing but a fuckin virgin who can even drive. Your nothing only thing you were made to do was to worship and praise others. Look at you Janet doesn’t give you any attention finally realize what dead weight you are and left you. I bet it hurts knowing that you are nothing. EVERYONE LEAVES YOU. But you are one thing. Very good at if I may say. Being a pathetic bitch. Roof roof” Tiffany said with a smile on her face and a wheeze of a laugh. I hated her I know I should not but I did. Hated that she was mostly right I hate that I let this get to me and most of all I hated I was entertaining it. It was too late I felt the tears in my eyes. So I did the only thing left to do and that was to mirror her. Show who she was I am good at pretending so much so I don’t know if my mind grew up with my body.

“ Funny you say that. Because the only thing I see is a bunch of mystery meat slops of shit. Yeah, you almost was right but you forgot about one thing. Tiffany, I’m not someone bitch I am the mother fucking  animal control. I round up all those rodents pest and I put them down. Don’t test me, ugly soul. Because next time I put you down maybe just maybe finally allow your groupies some air to think for once” I said got closer to her till I was nose to nose.

Taking my thumb I gently clean her of the sloppy Joe that settles on the corner of her mouth before rubbing it on her shoulder. A smile with victory as she remains silent from my death stare. Lips cover in raspberry flavor organic lip-gloss roll off a bit from my tongue as I move it across. Stepping back I flip up my middle finger high in the air and turn around probably too quick because next thing I know something pulls me close and punches me square in the face knocking me slow motion down to the ground. Light flicker a bit before with rainbows and glitter before it all fades to black.

Drips of water fell down my forehead. The buzzing was the first thing that caught my attention, the buzz from a circle ceiling light with a cool white tent. Buzz hypnotize me Mumbling back noise stop but my eyes remained on a poor dead fly t stuck in the filter.

" Oh, Ms. Smith you awake. That was a nasty fall. I will be back in a second" Nurse Jane called out.

The nurse’s office like this fly in a black hole stuck in the 1950s with a wall of fame for Nurse Jane prize dog. Yup, Mr. Fuzzy Bear. Elvis Presley played in the background. I look at the wall  Mr. Fuzzy Bear look completely different then dog I saw a few weeks ago. Tap on the shoulder shocks me to the core as I scream out and throw the now baggie of water into the floor by my converse. Hands shake with fear my breathing getting shorter as I hold onto the wall of trophies. Trying and failing to catch my breath. Another tap sent me to the floor crawling to the corner covering my ears and tried to control my breathing.

" Oh, I'm sorry. Ms. Smith. I was seeing if you were okay. Sit here let me get you some water" Nurse Jane said. I could smell whiskey on her breath as she spoke to me. Mix with the cheap drug store perfume they sale but no one brought due to the reaction most got.

Looking up I watch as she walks off. She had far to much hair spray that perfect her scoop with a white daisy in her hair and the white long sleeve white nurse uniform. My eyes went back to the daisy I study flowers out of boredom and that one something was off. Slowly getting to my feet I follow her to the front till I stop and see the puddle I felt. CRAB CAKES I said to myself as I got on my knees to clean up my mess.

“ That’s a new daisy huh Mrs. Cruise. Might need to clip a few and add it to the garden” I said

“ Oh, this little old thing. My little boy was playing out in the fields and found some. Next to this strange patch of grass. Probably weed. Anyway, it was the prettiest thing I have seen had to cut one of myself. But don’t let your self eat it. My poor baby eats some and well that how he ends up going to see you” She said handing out a can for the trash.

“ How is little guy anyway. Not eating any more chocolate or flowers I hope” I asked dusting off my rip denim jeans.

She looks at me strange her head tilt to the side hair staying in place. A huge grind plaster on that clown-like makeup face.

“ Smith. My baby has been with you all this week. I took my little fuzzy home and he started to act like he was from the wild. Brought him back so the good lord of a doctor can make him all better” Jane said.

I wanted to laugh because last I check he wasn’t there. Words stayed at top of my tongue. My eyes dart to her and the wall of trophies back to her.

“ Oh yeah. Ethan got hurt had to get someone over from next town over. Sure he is back to the cute button he always is in no time. If I may ask because well new doc might make a fuss where was this planet at” I asked.

“ Well, I was on my daily work out power walk so mmmm somewhere by the old wooden bridge in Lovers. Such a pretty sight” Jane said. Before I can speak the phone rang. I slipped out as she turns to answer it.

I look in my hand was the white tissue with the daisy I snatch off of her. Something was off. Maybe if Janet didn’t want to tell me I figure it out myself. Something was wrong and I attend to figure it out one way or another. The first stop was to work.

Most don’t know because my family likes to keep it hush back before Ethan came into town my dad family own Easter Hills Animal Hospital for over 60 years. Still does as a private owner. Ethan was like the fun aunt and each time I had nowhere to go she would sit me on the desk and teach me things. The first animal I cut open was a raccoon at the age of 7 with Ethan of course helping me every step of the way.

Lights in the hallway were dim fluorescent lights. With my phone in my hand, I tap on the flashlight and slowly walk into the back. Maybe I can check a few of the animals and the daisy I snatch to see if anything was similar. BING BING I glance down to my notifications to see a text from KP. Asking me if I am okay. I cared about him but there was too much at state. I need to know. Call it a hunch.

It smells like trash and cleaning supplies for some reason. Like the hardcore, stuff police use to clean a crime scene. I should know each night I clean the operation rooms and front area. The stuff we use was the general store brand. And it smells and looks too perfect. The new vet hasn’t arrived yet, so who did this? The keys dangle from my left hand hitting me as I walk down to the back where the files would be at. I just had to check to see if the dog was still here. As I got close something wasn’t right. There was a brand new lock on the door. I was here not so long ago this heavy-duty lock wasn’t here. Clipping the keys to my hip I glance around before I tried to jiggle at the lock. No luck. Looking around I tried to think on my feet. Shit. Lending against the wall  I see a light on in Ethan office. Alright, that can work. Pocketing my phone in my back pocket. I sneak into her office.

The walls were cover in wine red wallpaper with cherry dark chocolate wood floors. Her office looks nothing like the one you would assume a veterinarian office would look like. Everything from the desk to the chairs was expensive something Ethan insisted. There was a black bookshelf that lay against the wall with matching black gold nods desk. Chairs that were a whopping 2,000 each sat perfectly insight. Awards plastered on another wall with pictures of her many accomplishments. She looks print-ready perfect. Along with all her pictures was one in the corner row of her with my parents when I was younger. I remember that day like it was yesterday. The first day she started almost 10 years ago. She had a short boy cut with dyed blonde hair that made her features pop. I didn’t know much about beauty but she and my mother are what I imagine. Most look at Mona Lisa or Marvel statue for reference me I had two prime examples just for myself to see each day. Kinda like what I felt when I saw KP for 1st time 6 years ago. For so many years  I was lost in the woods unable in away to find my way home. At first, it was Ethan and Janet who hold me close then shortly KP. 

A loud bing drum though my ears. Clinching onto my ears I start to breathe again. Calming myself before I slip again. I had to focus. My eyes gaze to the computer. Ethan was many things but OCD was one. She always had copies full of details. I couldn’t get into the back room but maybe this could work. I rush over almost knocking over a picture of Ethan's two older daughters to the desk. Shaking the mouse I wait till the computer comes alive. My left hand cradling my face biting my thumbnail. Taste is nail polish with taste funny but I chew and spit it out without thought. CRAP. Password. Taking my hand away I tap the keyboard. It could be an endless list of it could be one. Sitting back in the plush comfy desk chair lean back and rock back and forth. Great way to putting all those AP and college courses to good use I thought to myself. Tapping my sneakers against the wood floor I loosen my messy bun and run my fingers through my hair. My ring KP gave me tangle through my hair. I stop thinking and reach to type something in quickly. WINE. Nope, crap. Pulling out the draws I look around for something. A hint clue maybe like many older people password somewhere.

While her office was perfect these draws were nothing like it may be the OCD part was probably the wrong word. It had five draws: 1st had simple office supplies and a pill bottle of viagra, 2nd had appointment book and business card old open bag of photo chips, 3rd had a prepaid phone, key to the safe, and thing of condoms. 4th one had a bottle of cheap whiskey, two glasses, and a few files full of pictures and post it’s. The draw in the center didn’t budge. Feeling around the smooth polish surface I felt something off. Stretching down a bit more I felt it. A huge grin spread across my face as I grab and quickly tried to open the back door with it. Still, it did not budge. Running back I did not see the front door was wide open letting in a cool breeze. Driven by excited I tried for the desk draw and heard a click. Opening it. I saw a phone book and a journal and right on the front corner in a bright pink post-it was the password: 2HOT4THISISH. 

My laughter was cut short when I heard heavy foot shuffling outside the crack door. I pause and tried to figure my next move. With my eyes on the door, I quickly shove the papers from the files in my bag. The journal replacing it with a book another that was on the table and putting everything back to what it was. Before I could slip out the door open with a loud creak sound. Panic took over and I quickly bundled tight under the desk with my legs squeeze tight to my chest a gentle rock not make a sound. I could hear wheezing. My eyes were full of tears as I tried not to panic. Who could it be? My eyes drift off to the side and I could see a pair of Black Jimmy Choo nearly 3 feet from my hand. I quickly move it and watch the shoes. It was there for another 10 maybe 15 minutes before I heard a rattle of keys and shoes walk away. Towards the end hallway I heard some more noise but this time it was from the back door I tried to open earlier. Whoever it was the person did whatever to the lock.

I jolt awake from the sound of my phone going off. I glanced down to see it was KP. And it was going at 11 o’clock. Fudge I slowly got up from the floor and sat in the chair.

“ Hey baby I’m so sorry I got lost in my work and fell asleep” I said rubbing my eyes.

I could hear a deep breath in and I could imagine he was rubbing his forehead with a thick strong finger.

“ Sweetie. You had me worried. I had to hear from someone else you got in a fight with that toothpick girl. Tiffany something. Why didn’t you call me” he asked with a bit ignored.

I look around at the office and back at the computer it was still on. I rest the phone in the crook of my neck and type in the password.

“ I know I didn’t want you to worry. I’m sorry. I should have told you. Do you wanna snuggle tonight Phillip. We can snuggle and I can give you kitty licks or something” I said trying to get him to lighten up. The home screen came up. There was normal stuff internet, virus protection filed, a few others. As I waited I click on to each and look to see what I can find.

“ Oh really. You know I love your kitty licks Issac. I gotta stay in late today probably till about 2 in the morning. But I can still come over. For some snuggle, if the offer still open” KP tease.

My smile drops when I saw something I didn’t mean to click. It had pictures and pdf of things I never have seen before. I hold the clicker to print everything out.

“ Of course. You know where the key is. Just bring some milk if you come. Mr. Cereal cruncher uses the last bit the other day” I said with a giggle.

“ Will do. Sorry I been distant. Perks of small ass town are not many folks to call if there a crisis. I never get how a town of 203 people can have a police unit of 12 people which includes the old man club who just sleeps in the police car. One day this mentality gonna bit them in the ass baby. Baby are you still there” KP asked.

I wasn’t listening but instead reading what I found. It was my reports I send for. For the drug, dog, and something unknown. I glance at the date and it was of a few days ago. Each had this strange code at the end of each page.

“ I’m sorry about that honey. You know this town stuck in time. I know things are hectic with you. I wish I could make it perfect like the way you are. But I can only be your snuggle bunny and talk to you and be here for you” I said packing my bag and looking some more.

“ That’s all I ask for baby. My beautiful snuggle bunny. God your -“ KP stop talking and shot out to someone. “ Huh. I gotta go another fuck up animal. Just pop up by lover lane” KP said disappointed.

“ It’s okay. Hey, hasn’t it been a lot of that lately? We don’t get those anymore. You cheating on me with another animal lover” I teased. It was silent only I could hear was a deep breath from the other line.

“ I am joking. I’m gonna be wearing your favorite plaid shirt to sleep. I love you. Stay safe for me please” I said in a mouse-like whisper.

I need this stuff. Looking in my bag I pull out my key chain for my USB drive. I looked around before plugin it in and copying all the files. As it got to 100% I quickly unplugged it and fix everything to was before I came. My bike was a half-mile away hiding behind trees and some branches. Midnight sky dance high. Times like this I would stop and lay on the road and look up now I’m filled with this void. This feeling was creeping from the corner of my eyesight. Feeling of claws pulling at your flesh. Ahead I could see some birds flying south. A huge flock like it was on my date. They always know I wish I could just have left with KP and not look back. Even with that would I be escaping the danger or welcoming another.

I sat Indian style on the floor with a pencil in my bun and a yellow highlighter in my mouth. Looking over the papers and files scattered across. The more I read more I could tell something wasn’t right.

“ Baby why are you up ?” a voice said for behind me. I jump up almost choking on the highlighter falling in the papers behind me.

KP stood tall with his sleeve rolled up to show his god-like muscle hairstyle slick back looking like a Ken doll.

“ Sorry homework” I said looking up to him. He chuckled and bend down on one knee to get a better look at me. He took my hand and slowly help me up in. I could smell the coffee from his breath mix with some gum. He smokes even though I told him how much I hated it. More he smokes a brand that not even available anymore. Which made me madder at the money he spent.

“ You know you keep it up with the donuts and cigarettes your not gonna be able to promise me that forever. Mister” I said with a bent brow at him.

With a finger, he played with my hair a bit before meeting my eyes. Sweet sparkle that makes anyone weak to the knees and a smile to match. Coming closer he kisses me with such hunger. I reach for the back of his neck to help me out as I deepen the kiss. Til I taste the cigarette and stop.

“ No kisses till you brush your teeth. Yucky “ I giggle in his neck. My hands still playing with his neck hair. His hands move further down my back till it reaches my rear.

“ But I’m sleepy. I don’t wanna. You said you are my snuggle bunny” He said with his puppy eyes. I hit his rock hard chest playfully before pushing myself backs away from him laying on top of the papers so he couldn't see it.

“ And we will when you brush your teeth. Or you can quite” I said with a fake shock face.

He laughs and walks to the bathroom join to my bedroom. I turn to watch as he walks off. God his butt was a thing of beauty.

“ What type of work are you doing “ He asked from the bathroom.

I slowly got up when I heard the water and quickly move all the papers and shove them in my bag.

“ Research paper for history. You know how Mr. Burns is a pain in my buttocks “ I said checking around for anything else.

KP wall out with a mouth full of mouthwash gave me his serious look. I walk over to a bin under my bed full of some clothes for him and toss him over some sweatpants. Getting under my blankets I waited for him to come out. My cell started to ring from my bedside table. Reaching for it I answered it and walk out to the hallway.

“ Janet is that you. God, I have been worried” I whisper into the phone. Nothing.

“ I forgot you quite. Tiffany came at me looking for you. Be proud I told her off” I laughed. Still nothing.

“ If you are in trouble I can help. And hey if it’s something legal then fuck it. You are my friend I can talk to KP. He here..hello” the phone click and I heard a dial tone.

“ Who was that” KP asked standing in the doorway arms cross over each other.

“ Janet. She has been calling and saying nothing. I’m worried “ I said looking up to him. He pushes himself off and wrap his arms around me and squeeze me tight. Tears fell onto his bare chest.

Master of Puppets began to blur though the tiny radio. Fiddling around I press onto the snooze buttons. KP was still sound asleep with his arms wrap around my small of my abdomen. Head in the crook of my neck snoring. I glance back and kiss his forehead smiling. The clock read blink 6:03. Taking his hand I slowly ease myself out of the embrace and out of bed. He snuggled into my pillow and started to snore once more. Flipping my alarm off grab my outfit I had plan night before and headed into the bathroom.

It still early so I decide to open the windows to let some fresh air in. After a few minutes, I hop in. I scrub some shampoo in my hair and hum this morning song to myself. I reach back and let the water hit my face run down to the rest of my body. Taking the dirt and worried away. A cheep cheep stops me as I tried to figure out what it was taking out last bit of conditioner. I felt something coming around me then more cheep cheep. I wipe my eyes to my surprise I saw a bird no five maybe more in the shower with me. I tried to move but more I did more they attack me two in my hair other hitting me with its wings. My breathing started to fall short as panic set it. I tried not to scream thinking to all the safety videos I would watch growing up but it didn’t work. I tried pushing away shooing them but still nothing. The anxiety got so bad that after trying to hold it in I scream. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. They kept attacking me this time pecking me over and over. Taking my hands I tried to push then away. Still, they came after me. I grab for the shower curtain tight trying to find some escape. AHHHHHHHHHHHHELP. With one last scream, the curtain I was holding onto with my dear life suddenly gave. Suddenly everything faded to black. The only thing I could hear was the birds still chirping.