#can be fully immersed i want to just sit down all day for hours straight with it

[mumintroll]

the day we finished reading of mice and men in school when i was like 13 me and my friend had to walk home holding each other and crying it forreal changed my brain 4ever

[bukojuiice]

— genshin boys as your college roommates who are head over heels in love with you

ೃ ft. childe, diluc, kaeya, zhongli, and xiao x gn! reader

ೃ 400-600 words per character!  ♡

ೃ warnings: mention of alcohol drinking ( but aside from that, just lots and lots of fluff!)

ೃ this is my very first writing contribution to the genshin fandom, so i hope everyone likes it!  after 5 months of playing genshin, i think it’s safe to say my brainrot for it has finally consumed me and i’m confident enough to brew something up! <3

ೃ genshin impact masterlist 

ೃ if you want to be a part of my taglist, answer this form! ♡

CHILDE:

– You and Childe are the perfect embodiment of the best friends to roommates trope. Whenever you wanna sleep in for 5 minutes more and you’re about to run late for your first class, Childe never fails to slowly drag you out of your bed, laughing as he does so. “Wake up sunshine!” is the first thing you always hear in the morning and you don’t complain if you get to hear his smexy voice anyway. He is a confident flirt and is not afraid to show you how much he cares or how much he pines over you. 

–  He’s always always there to save the day. There was a time when your classmates stood you up on the group project you were making, and guess who comes up to you with glitter, glue, and colored paper? Childe, of course! He stayed up until the wee hours of the night with you just so he can help you finish it. He even promises to set things in a “very civil way” with your absolute jerk groupmates the very next day. You practically hang out with him 24/7 as most of the time he just barges in your shared apartment with some amusement park tickets on hand or to some expensive yoga or judo class. There’s never a dull moment with him and with each passing day, the more you fall harder for him.

–  After a morning jog with him and seeing cute little dogs frolicking around with their married owners, Childe suddenly had the urge to adopt a dog with you.  But, due to a no pets rules established by the landlord, the two of you opt to owning hamsters instead! Childe named his hamster, narwhal (after his favorite animal of course!) whereas you named yours bunny, to match his irrelevant pet name picking. your hamsters both share the same house/cage and even they are pining over each other.

  –  His siblings visit a lot, especially Teucer. At this point, there was never a day the little boy didn’t ask when are you and Childe going to finally become “playground playmates” (a term for lovers that they use in second grade apparently) since the two of you are living with each other and seem so close. Childe is always able to successfully change the topic and shift away from talking about the shared feelings that the both of you have for each other. But, alas, the day had finally came to be and during your monthly trip to the amusement park, Childe confidently confesses to you on top of the ferris wheel.

“So... everyone in my life knows that you’re my best friend. Yea, that’s pretty cool and all but... Can we be more than just that (Y/N)? Is there hope if I think there could be something between us?”

DILUC:

– Diluc is your posh and rich roommate who sounds and looks too good to be true. The fact that you’re roomies with the literal heir to the country’s biggest wine and beverage company sounds like something straight out of a fanfic. But, it was of his volition to decide to live in a penthouse near Teyvat University. It was the doings of his step-brother Kaeya who tricked him into getting a roommate so that he won’t be alone for the rest of his college years... aaand that’s where you come in. practically barged into his life, but, you were a blessing. an angel sent from the skies.

–  He’s quite cold and unapproachable at first, only greeting you whenever he sees you but never bothered to engage in small talk with you. Even if the both of you go to the same university. It wasn’t until your second month as roommates, when you accidentally had too much to drink after a friends’ night out. You come home to see him in the living room, drinking grape juice from a wine glass, and watching a rerun of Hannah Montana. You practically collapse at the front door, he rushes to you and helps you up as you drunkenly confess to him in tears how you wanted to become much closer to him especially since the  two of you are going to spend the rest of your college years together. That was when Diluc realized how distant and aloof he’s been and vows to make it up to you.

– Diluc is very talented. Albeit in very discreet way, he makes sure to make use of his talents especially if it’s an opportunity to make memories with you. He is an amazing cook as much as he tries to deny it, He’s a secret virtuoso caught in 4k when you impulsively bought a guitar one time and you asked if he knows how to play, and he does so well. He practically serenades you in the most non-obvious way possible. Lastly, He’s very athletic. You invited him to play tennis one time, betting that if he won, you would do his bidding for the rest of the week. Before you could even blink, he wins. His “punishment” for you was that you accompany him in binge-watching TV Dramas. Grey’s Anatomy and Downtown Abby are just some of the shows the two of you would watch. It is absolutely adorable seeing him so invested in these dramas. and since the next on Diluc’s list were sit-coms, you were preparing yourself to answer his questions on the context of jokes that he didn’t get. In a poor attempt to flirt with you, he calls out your name and recites in the most Joey Tribbiani voice he could muster, “How you doin?” You were laughing so so hard that night because his pick up line actually worked on you and suddenly your realizations came full circle: you were very much in love with him too.

–  His naturally cool yet shy nature had always gotten the best of him.  He’s always wanted to ask if you wanted to carpool with him to school. Riding with him in his Tesla sportscar that goes 150 Mph? Heck yeah. However, it took quite a while before he could muster up the courage to ask you (4 months of being roommates until he finally popped the question) Since then, the two of you go home to and from University whenever you had similar schedules. Ever since then, Diluc had began to soften. His cold and hard facade slowly melted. Asking if you could help tie his floofy red hair then he’d let you play with it and let you style it in different ways. He takes you out on café dates during lunch breaks and take you out to watch a movie after both of your late night lectures. Everyone in campus thinks the two of you are practically together at this point. All that was left was to bare your feelings with one another through a fumbling and awkward confession.

“Words cannot not suffice these feelings I’ve been harboring for you since the very beginning. I L-like you a lot. Do you feel the same way too?”

KAEYA:

- Everyone loves Kaeya. Your friends and family, The School Faculty, The owner of the Convenience Store from down the street, The old lady who lives next door, The little kids from down the hall, and even the angry brown poodles from the farthest apartment to your right absolutely loved him. it was hard to keep up with having a roommate that not only were you crushing so hard on, but also had such a vibrant social life. Kaeya interacts and socializes with a lot of people and he admits that it does tend to get tiring at times. But, if these sacrifices lead to coming home to his cute roommate who has captivated his heart since Day 1, then it’s all worth it.

— Despite how warm and friendly he may seem, Kaeya is a very private person. He’s brought two or three friends like Jean, Lisa, Albedo, or Rosaria. But, only to discuss school affairs. He wasn’t the kind of person who trusts others easily, even if he was giving off the impression that he was a trustworthy and reliable person himself. He’d much rather spend time with you on days off from school. He may be a party guy on the outside (he insists he does it for future connections when he graduates) but he’s quite a homebody. Kaeya is the type to watch korean dramas and anime with you, go on late night convenience store cravings, and these always resulted in a perfect evening spent with him. When the both of you are fully immersed into the anime and things get a bit cozy, you rest your head on his shoulder, huddling for warmth.

— Kaeya would always come home with a little something for you. May it be take-out food, A trinket, a board game, an accessory, and even skincare products. The indigo-haired man is very particular about self-care and you bet that he’s bought different kinds of face masks, ointments, and even matching cute headbands just for the two of you! He’s very flamboyant and flirts with you a lot. Trying to impress you with pick up lines and suggestive jokes, but you always thought that he was just joking around because that was always a part of his personality. It was always a part of him. For Kaeya on the other hand, it seems to him that you don’t take him seriously and it's possible that you don’t return his feelings at all. He had to set things straight and it didn’t take long until Kaeya found the perfect opportunity to do so.

— With the help of practically everyone in the apartment, Kaeya is about to surprise you with a candle-lit dinner up on the apartment rooftop. His sly smooth-talking quickly convinced you that the both of you were just going to go out on your nightly convenience store trips. Your curiosity grows when he takes you by the hand, covering you with a blindfold, and whispering to your ear, “Do you trust me?” Gripping onto his hand tightly, the both of you go up some stairs and you reply, “Yes Kaeya, I do.” He slowly uncovers the shield from your eyes and your eyes sparkle at the sight of the candle-lit dinner, complete with jazz music, and a romantic view of the city.

“(Y/N)... You are the most precious person to me. I hope you can take me seriously, especially my feelings. I am saying this with my heart in my hand and with nothing but genuine love in my soul.”

ZHONGLI:

— Zhongli is truly husband material. You’re saying this as his friend, as his roommate, and as someone who’s absolutely smitten over him. He’s a third year environmental archaeology student at Teyvat University. Gentle, kind, and has nothing but wise and intelligent things to say. your lovestruck self can’t help but just admire him from afar, not knowing that he too has been entranced by you ever since you moved in.

—He's always the first to wake up in the morning. The first thing he does is make you a cup of coffee. He's got your favorite memorized, (Coffee with cream. Not to sweet and not too bitter.) The both of you own matching mugs, (written in colored scribbled letters, “The Wise Roommate” for Zhongli and “The Cute Roommate” for you.) He always wants to spend his free mornings with you. Both of you have different schedules so you never see each other at Campus and this was the only blissful time of the day you can spend with one another. Once you get home for dinner, (Zhongli is always the first to get home if he doesn’t stay too long at the library or strolling around the city) If it’s your turn to cook or if it’s his, he never forgets to brew you oolong tea after dinner. A perfect chance for the two of you to just talk the night away and engage in deep and meaningful conversations.

—Zhongli fell in love with you because you just quietly listen to him. Sometimes, you would share your thoughts and insights, even sharing your own personal knowledge that Zhongli had not known prior. You were one of the very few people in his life whom he could talk about absolutely anything with. Well, who wouldn’t listen to a handsome man who has a voice as smooth as butter? He is very passionate about his studies. Taking a lot of extra courses and spending a lot of money on his research. and so, most of the time, he spends all of his Mora on his extra studies (excluding the money he needs to pay for rent) and other interesting antiques. You understood why though. So, instead, you ask him to accompany you to do mundane chores. Going grocery shopping, doing the laundry and cleaning the apartment. He always helps in any way he can. The prying eyes of people around you and the old lady fr next door boldly coming up to you to ask if you and Zhongli were a married couple. You blush profusely whereas Zhongli coolly denies the woman's claims. It hurt quite a little but who were you to complain?

— It was during one of your night strolls with Zhongli. He had invited you out after dinner under the guise of wanting to have some fresh air and find a clear spot for the fireworks from a nearby festival. Your heart was thumping loudly to a non-existent rhythm, blissfully unaware that Zhongli was feeling a burst in his chest too. He clears his throat and his shoulders straighten. Zhongli puts his hand on your shoulder and breathes deeply. His cool and gentlemanly aura still radiating off of him as always. A wonderful array of colors fill the sky as his lips began to form the words he's always wanted to say:

"Tonight is beautiful isn't it? I thought that this would be the perfect time to open my heart up to you... You are a diamond in the rough that few see the beauty of. My beloved– Will you accept my feelings?

XIAO:

—  Having a popular twitch streamer as your roommate was a one in a million chance. Especially if you’re not even an influencer or internet figure yourself. But, how did this come to be? Why have you developed a crush on Xiao aka VigilantYaksha without knowing who he was? A gamer with over 6 million followers on different social media platforms? Simple, a high-end apartment near Teyvat University had a special discount if you were willing to be roommates with someone. It’s an amazing deal, near your school, cost-efficient, and you believed the 10% chance of scoring a hot roommate as seen on reality TV and romantic comedies. It was like rolling through a Gacha Game and getting a 5 star character. As that “character” is soon to be revealed as Xiao.

— Things started off rocky at first. On your first day, he flatly welcomed you by the door, introduced himself, then quickly retreated back to his room. As soon as you locked eyes with him, he gave off a certain cold and unfriendly aura. You wanted to get to know him better. Maybe with a little love and care, he could open up to you and you could become friends! That same day, you had mistakenly thought of your room as his and you walked in on him streaming a horror game. He wasn’t spooked by the jumpscares. But instead, he was looking at you in horror because you’ve just exposed yourself to thousands of people. You wave at the camera, apologize, and left. Since then, his fans, (called the Anemo Tofus) have been shipping the two of you together. Creating fanfiction and fanart of Xiao and the mysterious roommate that accidentally walked in on him. They practically begged Xiao to at least talk a little bit about you, to which, he declined. When you surprised him with dinner (as a little treat since this was your first week with him) He sits across the table from you, his eyes gazing deep into yours, as he pops the question, in a very tsundere tone: “Would you like to appear in my streams? T-the Anemo Tofus wanna learn more about you. B-but, if you don’t want to, it’s alright! You don’t have to-” You cut him off before he could continue his doubts, “Xiao! What are you saying? I’d love to!”

  —  There was something blossoming between the two of you after that particular dinner with him. Starting with your first “roommate video” that you had thought of when you were brainstorming for video ideas. It was an Almond and Mapo Tofu mukbang whilst the two of you answered questions from fans! The viewers noticed how visibly comfortable he was around you despite his usual reserved attitude. He was cracking up a lot more sarcastic and self-deprecating jokes whilst Tofu filled both of your mouths. Outside of the confines of social media and inside the comfortable space that was your apartment, you and Xiao grew closer. Wearing matching hoodies, going on midnight snack runs, playing in arcades, and stargazing with him up on the rooftop as you contemplate about life and talk about the mysteries of the universe. There were times when you would stay up late doing school works and would accidentally fall asleep on the sofa. Xiao would come out of room because he periodically had cases of insomnia. When he sees you on the sofa, he can’t help but smile at your sleeping figure and admire your beauty. First. he brings all your clutter back to your room then slowly picks you up from the couch, into his arms, and brings you back to your room. He places a blanket on top of you and your stuffed plushies next to you so you can hug them any time. 

— On a particular night, you fell asleep on the sofa once again and begun to  have recurring nightmares. Xiao was there to witness you whimpering, muttering to yourself, and shivering to a mental image that he could not see. (He wishes he could erase all the pain that these nightmares were giving you) You subconsciously grab onto his hand, murmuring to yourself: “Xiao, please don’t go.” He whispers back, “I won’t.” Your nerves slowly relax when you feel the Yaksha squeezing himself to lie next to you on the couch. Holding onto your arm, he continues to reassure you that it was going to be okay. You grab onto him, hugging him from behind. He feels your heartbeat revert back to it’s normal pace and you return back to your peaceful slumber. “I’ll always be here for you, (Y/N). I’ll be here to protect you. Forever and always.”  Turning to you to plant a kiss on your forehead, you nestle your head on Xiao’s chest. He watches as you cling to him for love and warmth until he is slowly whisked away by his weariness, rewarded with a peaceful sleep he hasn’t felt in a while.

“And they were roommates.”

[moxfirefly]

Idk why I haven't been receiving notifs from you for a while but I'm binge reading your stuff again and I wanted to request the little excuses to touch each other with Donnie and a non binary reader if possible? Hope life isnt too rough on you right now 💜💙🧡❤ remember to take breaks and stay hydrated !!

I hope it isn’t because of some glitch. I’ve been here just not as here

But I’m working on a big fic project and I’m doing little things like this on the side to keep myself sane. So let’s do this cause I love my big smarty pants and his little touch starved ways.

Rated Fluff and Romance

Donatello can pin point the exact moment his brain did its first shut down.

He had lounged back in his chair, that increasing headache rearing its little ugly head and a handful of interrupted sleep hours catching up on him. It wasn’t even lab work, they were fully immersed in an investigation and Donnie had scoured the ends of the cybernetic world for the suspect.

A second to breath was something he could surely afford. Barely but surely.

Just as the aches and pains settled he felt you come into the Lair, even if felt was more like smell. That particular scent of yours accompanied by Korean bbq.

“You know I always wanted a pet turtle when I was a kid, this isn’t how I envisioned it” You set the bag on the desk, the soft whirring of the monitors being the most sound at his security Hub.

Donnie peaked an eye, not at all missing your smirk at your own joke. “And here I thought the true comedian of the family was Mikey” He sighed, he knew he needed a break but any cyber stone unturned could mean this guy was on his way out of their line of sight. Even as he checked one of his monitors and was quite literally being seduced by the aroma of delicious food, he couldn’t stop working.

And so you had grabbed his hands, your small human hands had held his large mutant ones. “For the sake of this family and myself, please eat before you keel over” Your worried look had held no joking undertones, if anything he saw true concern shine through them.

Then you had taken his glasses off, the tips of your fingers gently applying pressure to his temple. It was a harmless act, something he’d done a thousand times over. But your elegant fingers, soft and smelling of whatever moisturizer you had, just invaded his senses. “You need a vacation” You joked and Donnie wanted to snort because yes he did, but his brain was smog of incoherent babbling. All because a beautiful human with soft hands was touching him.

That had been the first time.

Donnie wouldn’t want to put much thought into it but for the time being he could let that little nugget of gratification sleep in a box. He wasn’t sure if you did this with all of his brothers. Yes you had nurturing ways, basic human kindness, but his brain wanted to incept the idea that it was only with him.

There was no point in clouding his brain with more inquires that already existed in there.

Even when he wants to ignore going over your place with his brothers and feeling like he might the center of your thoughts. Everyone piles into your living room with April in toe and you opt out for chilling with Donnie in the kitchen. A container of ice cream between the two of you, talking about all sorts of things.

It surely shouldn’t feel like much when you both settle into the living room. Donnie on one end of the couch while you sit on the floor closest to him. He can’t afford any more thinking when he feels your head rest on his unclothed knee.

And surely enough he doesn’t know what mythical deity possess him enough to ruffle your hair in pure affection.

Donnie considers himself highly observant, nay his powers of observation are god tier. He knows what he’s working with, he understands what his environment holds but you?

God you’re fucking tricky to him.

And he rather quite likes it.

Another instance filed for review later comes in the shape of a picture. April wants a picture of them, if all of them and herself and you included. Even if Vern grumbles about him being included since he’s ‘helped’ but he’s stuck in photography duty. She tries to neutrally stick herself between them and Splinter.

You glue yourself in front of Donnie, lifting your arms with a laugh to cover his face from the photo. There’s a good ten seconds of the two of you horsing around when Vern starts directing and demanding professionalism. So you both settle and Donnie feels that magnetic pull that makes him wrap his arms around your shoulders, his forearms snugged under your chin and against your chest and fingers gripping the sides of your arms.

It’s way you lean back and grip his forearms.

At some point he can’t continue assuming there’s more to it.

Sitting together with your knees touching.

Comforting hands on his shoulders trying to eviscerate tension.

The time you held his hand all night when Leo was badly injured.

Resting his head against yours and actually letting sleep take over. Waking up with his head on your lap as you caressed his head.

There isn’t nothing behind it all. Behind you leading him to his bed and helping him into it after three straight days of no sleep. Nothing to think about when you tuck him in and kiss his arm and stay to make sure he actually sleeps.

Nothing behind the rhythmic caress of your fingers at his temple.

It’s nothing.

A beautiful ethereal being like you would never love a creature like him. The maths off, can’t be calculated.

And he sure as hell isn’t...

Fuck.

[saphyhowl]

I have an RQ, write about Le comte having a day off

Comte had attempted to elaborate a list of all the activities he desired to do on his day off for the fourth time. He glanced at the clock. Two hours left before dinner. Then, he would be free of all his obligations and his day off would start even earlier than he had anticipated. No more checking if everyone had drunk their rouge or blanc. No fearing for an unexpected guest waltzing through his door. A whole day without worries was a rare occasion for Comte. However, he had yet to find a complete list of activities to do on his day off. You would think that as a man gifted with immortality, Comte would have all the time to fulfill all his lifelong wishes. That had been the case before he had offered the residents of this mansion, the gift of life.

An idea popped in his head and he eagerly wrote it down before it would fade away from his mind.

“A bath!” he exclaimed out loud.

He then scribbled something again as he hungrily whispered the word “chocolate”. The ideas finally flowed out of his mind and after some time Comte was satisfied with the list of activities for his day off. He stood up and went straight towards his wardrobe.

“Spending the day in pajamas?” he thought out loud.

Comte pondered whether a dignified noble like him should follow MC’s advice and give in to the temptation of being lazy for a day.

The next day, Comte was soaking in his bath, a book in his hand and a cup of coffee in the other. This was pure bliss, all the stress washed away. How calm it was today. Comte sipped his coffee. At this hour, everyone would be awake and would be enjoying their breakfast. Why were they so calm? Comte shook his head and tried to immerse himself back into the book.

A faint thud coming from the lower floor almost stirred him out of his reading, but he pushed the urge to check on the strange noise aside.

As he soaked in the bubbles surrounding him, Comte heard another thud followed by a voice proffering an insult. Comte almost thought he heard the name “Dazai” as well.

“That’s it!” Comte sighed.

He stepped out of the tub and put on his bathrobe. He carefully dried his feet before sliding them in his slippers and made his way towards where all the muffled noises occurred.

The dining room. A place that had witnessed several fights and arguments. Logically, the noises had to come from this room. Comte violently opened the door to catch the troublemakers in the act.

Comte froze. All the residents were sitting together at the table, visibly in the midst of their breakfast. They turned their heads to see a half-drenched Comte in a bathrobe anxiously looking around the room.

“You might want to close that bathrobe a tad more, Comte,” Arthur suggested.

Theo choked on his pancakes.

“You were not fighting?” Comte asked.

They all shook their heads.

“Do you want us to?” Theo asked confused.

Comte did not answer and left the room grumbling to himself that he had imagined things.

Back to the bath in which the water had turned lukewarm. Comte snatched his book and decided to sit in his armchair instead. As he read on, he eventually grabbed some chocolates from the box on the table next to him. In the background, he could still hear voices coming now from the garden. He managed to remain focused on his book until a discussion tore him away from his reading for good.

“Oh hello, little bees! Theo, look at the bees. How wonderful nature can be- Ah!” said Vincent in his usual cheerful voice.

“Sebastian! Vincent got stung by a bee. Damn those bees! ”Theo shouted.

“Did you know bees die after they sting you?” Arthur explained.

An ominous silence and then the clear sound of someone punching a person.

“What was that for?” Arthur complained.

“Sebastian! They are fighting again,” Isaac warned.

There was a sound of hastened steps crunching the gravel.

Meanwhile in Comte’s room, Comte was now finishing his third box of chocolate. The book had been long tossed on the floor. His knees were jumping up and down nervously. He was waiting for the right time to intervene. No, Sebastian had it under control. Comte munched on another chocolate piece..

A shadow passed his window.

“I am coming to your rescue Arthur,” Dazai said.

“Dazai! No jumping from the windows, especially the third floor,” MC scolded Dazai.

 A window opened on the right side of Comte’s chambers.

“Will you all just shut up! I cannot concentrate.” Mozart complained from his window.

“Arthur, we do not give the finger in this house.” Sebastian scolded.

The scolding continued in the garden while Comte was opening every drawer in his room to find the earplugs he had once found in the modern age during his numerous trips. As soon as he found them and put them on, the voices from outside became muffled. With a sigh of relief, he lied down on his bed to enjoy a nerve-calming nap. He concentrated his thoughts on relaxing his mind and preventing it to spiral around the wellbeing of the other residents.

Something tugged on his sleeve, but he ignored it. His body was gently being shaken, but he found refuge under the covers. Something tickled his feet and he jumped upright, clearly awake. He took his earplugs out and glared at the intruder…Intruders. The whole household was solemnly standing around his bed.

“How? Wh-What are you all doing in my room?” Comte asked.

“You slept until dinner time. We thought you were dead.” Arthur said and got a flick on the forehead from Napoleon.

“It is time for dinner and as we all know some of us caused a lot of trouble today. To apologize for disturbing the much-deserved rest you needed on your day off, we decided to have a special dinner outside in your name Comte,” MC explained as she glared at the culprits, namely Dazai and Arthur.

Comte blinked several times as he fully grasped what was occurring. How foolish he was to desire a day off on his own! He was bound to them all, having a day off meant isolating himself from them. While they annoyed him, made him worry countlessly, he did enjoy their company greatly and truth be told he had found it hard to ignore them.

They waited outside of his room to let him change accordingly. Comte was back to his impeccable self.

“Now Comte, please just focus on the path ahead and think about all the nice food Sebastian prepared for us.” Vincent beamed at Comte.

“Is that a hole in the wall?” Comte blinked in astonishment as he passed by a gaping hole on the wall where there used to be paintings.

“Now, it may smell like something burned, but rest assured we managed to put out the fire,” Leonardo added.

Comte blinked again in shock and only managed to whisper how one day Leo would all kill them by accident because of his smoking habit.

The crowd ushered Comte outside and into the garden before he could see the rest of their mess.

Each of them took up the task they had been entrusted to make this barbecue evening a success. Comte was given the hardest task, which was to stop worrying. There he was, enjoying the mild evening as he sipped a glass of wine. Only then, surrounded by his rather weird friends, whom he even considered family, was Comte able to fully enjoy his day off.

Then, Arthur decided to pour beer over the meat to “give it a nice taste” only to cause a large amount of smoke to spread through the garden and making everyone cough. Jean, who had been calm and peaceful until now, panicked. His warrior instinct kicked back in as he tried to protect MC, carrying her around the garden, and shouting at the top of his lungs: “Take cover!”.

Comte held onto his wine amidst the chaotic crowd trying to calm Jean down. “A peaceful day off indeed,” he sighed.

*******************************************************************************************

I believe the people in this mansion have no day off  or privacy whatsoever lol. I hope you enjoyed it @crystallikelaw. 

[sisterspooky1013]

Damsels, Chapter Three: Interview

By SisterSpooky1013 / Read Previous Chapters Here

Rated E / Tagging @today-in-fic

The Hoover building is deserted at 4am, which is exactly why she has to be there so early. She arrives at Skinner’s office with nothing but her car keys and the casual clothing on her back. Agent Wiley, a young woman in her twenties, greets Scully warmly. She’s tall and brunette with an hourglass figure, and Scully has the passing thought that she is exactly Mulder’s type. She wonders if they’ve ever met.

“I’ll drive you to your apartment in Philly where you’ll stay for the duration of the undercover assignment, Agent Scully,” Wiley says in an authoritative though very high pitched voice. “We’ll leave your car in the bureau garage for the duration, but you can give A.D. Skinner your keys for safekeeping.”

Scully hands Skinner her keys and he sets them on top of his desk, rubbing his hands over a weary and sleep-rumpled face.

“I’ll fill you in on the case details on the way. Let’s hit the road, we’ve got a two and a half hour drive ahead of us,” she finishes, slinging her purse over her shoulder and making for the door.

Scully follows her mutely. Just as she reaches the door herself, Skinner speaks.

“Agent Scully?” he asks in a hoarse voice. She turns to face him. “I…I…” He keeps restarting his sentence, but never gets further than that.

Scully finally interjects. “It’s okay, sir. I understand. We all have a job to do.”

He nods at her with a grateful expression, and she follows Agent Wiley out to the parking garage.

The sun is just beginning to brighten the inky sky as they drive out of D.C. Agent Wiley is chatty behind the wheel as Scully leafs through the case file; once they get to Philly, she won’t have the opportunity to see it again. The only trace of Dana Scully in her apartment will be a burner cell phone, which she is to keep off and hidden in an air duct in the wall. She will call Agent Wiley at least every other day, or as needed, to share any updates. She is to turn the phone on only when she’s sure no one else is in the apartment with her. She is expected to get as close as possible to the other dancers at the club, one of whom they believe to be Mila Chamberlain. In the file, there’s a photo of Mila, a young Asian woman with a short blonde pixie cut and penetrating dark brown eyes. There is also her parents’ account of her disappearance shortly after meeting Ricky at a party, and their fears that’s she’s a victim of sex trafficking.

“Your cover is Diane Sellers, recently divorced and needing work,” Agent Wiley explains. “To our understanding, they won’t ask you much about your history, but it’s still good to have a backstory ready. It can be helpful to use real details from your life in regards to things like siblings, parents, and past romantic partners, just because it’s easier to keep straight. We don’t recommend addiction being a part of your backstory, in case that affects Ricky’s willingness to trust you. You should immerse yourself as much as possible with the staff, including spending time with them outside work if you can. You can have them over to your apartment, which is why it’s important that there’s nothing there that isn’t part of Diane’s story. It’s fully furnished with everything from tampons to Rice a Roni, but we’ve also set up a bank account and a debit card in case you need to buy anything. Once you identify Mila, call me. You should try to get as close to her as possible, and ultimately the goal is to confirm that she’s being held against her will. Then we’ll raid the club and get you both out of there. What questions do you have?”

Scully stares out the window at the cars rushing by. The pink sunrise illuminating the clouds on the horizon makes the sky look pinstriped.

“Why weren’t you asked to go undercover, if this is your case? You’re young, you’re very pretty. So I guess my question is why not you?” She recognizes the irritation in her voice, but she can’t help herself.

Agent Wiley glances over at her and back to the road a few times. “I can understand why you’d ask that. And I also realize that I haven’t thanked you for taking this assignment. It was a hard one to staff.”

Scully scoffs and turns to face the other woman. “I wasn’t given a choice, Agent Wiley.”

“Right. Sorry. Um, the reason I couldn’t take this assignment is that I have an ostomy bag, as a result of a pretty severe case of Crohn’s. I doubt anyone wants to see a stripper with a bag of poop strapped to her belly dancing around on stage.”

Scully closes her eyes against the shame that wells in her gut. “I’m sorry, Agent Wiley. That was rude of me to ask.”

“Don’t worry about it, Agent Scully. Honestly, I’d take my ostomy bag over this assignment any day. I don’t envy you.”

Scully turns back to the window, spinning up the life story of Diane Sellers as they drive on through the early morning light and towards her uncertain future.

Agent Wiley drops her off around the corner from her apartment with nothing but a set of keys and verbal instructions for where she can locate the burner phone. Her interview is today at 2, and the address of the club and interview information are on a slip of paper on the kitchen counter. They bid one another an awkward goodbye, and Scully goes in search of her home for the next several weeks.

The apartment is small, a studio, and fully furnished. She can tell that Agent Wiley herself took care of decorating it; youthful touches like a sequined throw pillow and a magnet on the fridge with “Diane” printed on a tiny license plate give it a dorm-like feel. Many of the items appeared to have been thrifted, which will be important to keeping up her ruse of being a woman in a tight spot financially. She locates the air duct and the burner phone, turning it on to be sure it works before securing it back in its hiding place. She pokes around the various cabinets and cupboards to find all kinds of dried goods and snacks, and is surprised by the 6 pack of beer in the fridge and the bottle of vodka in the freezer. The closet is full of clothing in her size, some of it basic jeans and tees, some of it tube tops and daisy duke shorts that she would never wear. Well, Scully would never wear them, but she suspects Diane would. The slip of paper on the counter reads:

Damsels in Dominance

1634 W York St, Philly

Ricky Dean, 2pm

She makes a face at the name and her stomach turns at the thought that this might be some kind of S&M club. It's just after 9am, so she has quite a bit of time to kill before her interview. She doesn’t think she’ll be able to sleep, so instead she takes a thorough inventory of all the cabinets and closets to see if anything important is missing. In the bathroom, she opens the medicine cabinet to find a full Oil of Olay skin care line right next to a box of condoms. What the hell does Agent Wiley think she has planned for this assignment? Her confusion deepens when she pulls open the drawer of the bedside table and is greeted by a book light as well as a small bullet vibrator. Either Agent Wiley went to very great lengths to make sure this apartment would pass the sniff test for anyone who decided to snoop, or….she doesn’t even know what the other possibility is. Adding some paperback novels to her mental shopping list, she slams the drawer shut and flops down on the bed. Mulder is at work by now, and she wonders how long Skinner will be able to keep up the ruse. Knowing Mulder, not all that long.

Mulder arrives at work just past 8, noting that Scully’s car is parked in her typical spot in the garage; she must have needed to stop by before heading to Quantico. He’s a little bit disappointed that she’ll be away for the next few weeks; the basement office is exceedingly boring without her. At the same time, he’s grateful for a bit of space to think.

The tension between them had reached a tipping point but now sits suspended, teetering between coworkers and friends or whatever lay on the other side. He’s made some attempts at pushing things towards the “more than friends” end of the spectrum, but nothing seems to come of it. He kissed her, and while she kissed him back and seemed receptive to it, she hasn’t initiated anything further. The night they played baseball together was fun and flirtatious, but again nothing happened. He’s getting the sense that any move will need to be made by him. Maybe Scully just isn’t the forward type in these situations, or maybe she isn’t confident enough that he’ll reciprocate. This time that she’s working away from the office might be the perfect opportunity to take her out on a real date, knowing that if things get weird they won’t have to face each other in the morning.

Entering the office, he doesn’t find her there; they must have just missed each other. He logs into his email and opens a new message.

Hey G-woman,

What time can you get away for lunch today? I was thinking about checking out that new sushi place on 8th. Or we can meet halfway, whatever works.

Would you like to get dinner sometime this week? My treat. Let me know.

Mulder

He hits send, then digs in to some more case reports that he needs to complete. He has a vision of Scully returning to find them completely caught up on paperwork and how pleased she’d be with him, and decides then and there to make it a reality. While he’s not generally an approval-seeking kind of guy, the surprised smile on Scully’s face when he does something uncharacteristically responsible is one of his favorites. The number one spot will always, of course, be held by the smile she gives him when he says or does something that truly strikes her as funny. He finds it hard to keep from smiling just thinking about it.

Two hours later, there’s no response from Scully. That’s a little bit weird, but not exceedingly so; if she’s working on a particularly gnarly autopsy it can take quite a while. When he still hasn’t gotten a response by noon, he first checks his sent email to be sure it went out, then picks up his office phone.

“Autopsy bay, this is Richard.”

“Hey, Rich, this is Agent Mulder up at the Hoover Building.”

“Hi, Agent Mulder, how can I help you?”

“Is Agent Scully around? I was hoping to talk to her.”

“No, I haven’t seen her.”

“Not at all today?”

“No, I haven’t seen her in a few weeks, actually.”

A flush of worry spreads across his chest.

“Hey, Rich, are you guys pretty busy down there? I hear you have a big case you’re working on.”

“Busy? Uh, no, not really. Just business as usual.”

“Okay, thanks. If you see Agent Scully, will you ask her to call me?”

“Sure, will do, Agent Mulder.”

“I appreciate it, bye.”

He sets the phone down and sits back in his chair. Did Scully lie to him? And if so, why? Her car is here, so he knows she came in today. Picking up the phone again he tries her cell, which goes straight to voicemail. The darkest part of his brain worries that she came to the office but never made it to Quantico. He makes one final phone call.

“Skinner.”

“Hi, sir, this is Agent Mulder.”

“How can I help you, Agent Mulder?”

“Have you heard from Agent Scully today? I’m having a hard time getting in touch with her.”

“She’s assigned to work at Quantico for the next few weeks, Agent Mulder, she wasn’t expected to report to the Hoover Building today.”

“I know, sir, but her car was in the garage when I got here and I just called over to Quantico and they haven’t seen her today. I’m a little worried.”

He hears Skinner mutter what sounds like “Jesus H Christ” under his breath before he speaks again. “Agent Scully is fine, Agent Mulder. She’s on assignment. I encourage you to focus on your own assignment.”

Mulder hesitates. “Should I take that to mean that she’s NOT assigned to Quantico?”

Skinner sighs. “All you need to know is that she is fine, but unreachable. You worry about yourself and let me worry about Agent Scully, got it?”

“Um, okay. Thank you, sir.”

He hangs up the phone even more confused than before. Scully’s behavior yesterday after she returned from Skinner’s office makes a little more sense; she was uncomfortable about lying to him. When he leaves the office that night, her car is in the same spot it had been that morning. He doesn’t like this, but he knows Scully was in the same situation when he was on an undercover assignment and he should just trust her, and Skinner, and wait it out. That’s easier said than done, and he spends his entire evening imagining all the dangerous situations she might be immersed in. Drug cartels, amateur mafias, cults, hackers, the list goes on and on. He can only hope that she’s safe.

Damsels in Dominance is an unassuming building nestled between strip malls and fast food restaurants. The parking lot and entrance are at the back of the building, a fabric-draped chain link fence surrounding it for privacy. Scully pays the cab driver, though now that she realizes how close her apartment is to the place she’ll probably just walk back. After much deliberation, she wound up wearing jeans and a blue T shirt, guessing that it would be out of place to dress up for an interview at a strip club. She pulls the front door open and finds herself in a small foyer with a counter along one wall, a hulking man perched behind it on a stool. Even seated she can tell that he’s very tall, with a broad chest and square shoulders. His neck is nearly nonexistent, thick and disappearing into the rolls under his chin like a tree trunk. His head is shaved bald and his deeply tan skin shows evidence of long ago healed acne scars on his ruddy cheeks. A small gold name tag pinned to his T-shirt reads “Denny.”

“Hi, I’m Diane, I’m here for an interview with Ricky,” she says with a smile. She’s decided that Diane will be the kind of person with an easy smile. The kind of person who makes friends quickly. She channels her sister Melissa, who would talk to anyone and somehow have them sharing details of their childhood trauma within fifteen minutes. If she’s going to get these people talking, she needs to be more like Missy and less like herself.

Denny nods with a grunt and stands, proving himself to be at least six inches taller than Mulder; her head barely reaches his waist. He comes around the counter to push open a second door and holds it for her, motioning her to follow. They enter one end of a long hallway, a door directly in front of them labeled “Enter Here to be Dominated.” They walk down the hall, past some restrooms and several other unmarked doors, until they come to one that says “office.” Denny knocks and a small woman answers.

“Diane, 2 o’clock interview,” Denny says in a flat baritone, then turns and walks away.

[secret-ssociety]

Behind the scenes

Pairing(s): Aaron Tveit x Reader, Les Mis (2012) cast x Reader

Warnings: This is just fluff. Like one curse

Summary: It is never intended for Enjolras and Eponine to fall in love in the original story, but a lot of things can happen when the cameras are turned off

A/N: I know everyone is waiting for more of the Let Me Down series but I have wanted to do this for a long time bc I am utterly in love with this man and I've always said I don't want to just write Peter Parker's stuff. Might make this several parts, who knows, I like things with parts.

masterlist

requests are open!!

For the first time in the whole day, silence fell upon the set of Les Mis, being only vaguely interrupted by the quiet chatter of everyone else who, unlike you, still had energy to talk. It's not like it was your fault, though, you had no idea of how much running around implied to play Eponine.

Huddled in a quiet corner of what had been built to be the Café Musain, you pushed your knees against your chest and hid your face between them, hoping to catch some rest before Tom decided he wanted to do a scene again. Was it maybe two in the morning? Three? You didn't even know anymore, you weren't allowed to carry a watch around your wrist and your phone was charging in your trailer, but the last time you had checked it was midnight and that had been a few hours ago.

Doing a movie, you had come to learn in your first few days of filming, was quite different from putting up a show. Interacting with your surroundings, going over scenes and even directing your eyes to a certain place while saying your lines was a world away from your common place on stage. You'd had to repress a loud squeak on your first day on set when you saw just how real everything looked, and when you started to try on your garments... you might as well have been a street urchin on Paris, 1832.

A small finger touched your shoulder timidly, waking you up from your fragile sleep and making you lift your head from its place. Your eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the light and you even had to squint a little to recognize Daniel standing next to you, looking just as tired, but with a small flame of caffeine dancing in the back of his eyes. Who the fuck gave the kid coffee? You wondered.

"How long do you think they'll keep us here?" he asked sitting next to you. From all your cast mates, Daniel was probably the first one you had grown fond of, but then again, so had everyone.

"Maybe not much longer, unless they want us to be here at noon tomorrow," you answered raising an eyebrow. Being the youngest person on the whole set, you could tell he was trying to hold his own like the adults, drinking coffee and doing his best to stay awake.

The problem with that, you knew, was that caffeine reacted differently on kids and adults: when an adult drinks coffee, it gives them energy for a long period of time, the caffeine is distributed in order to serve the body for good while. When a child drinks coffee, on the other hand, the caffeine gives them a rush of adrenaline that gets them jumping up and down and running circles around the adults, very much like Daniel was doing a while ago, thus burning all the energy they had acquired as fast as they had engorged it.

"You want to rest for a minute?" you asked him, stretching your legs so that he could rest his head on them. He shook his head tiredly, but didn't put up a fight when you grabbed his shoulder and started to lay him down.

Softly, you caressed his hair, while carefully trying to undo the tangles the dirt had made onto his hair to give him that street gamine I-live-in-the-elephant-of-the-Bastille look. In a matter of seconds, he was fully asleep, snoring quietly against the fabric of your skirt.

You heard some of the boys approaching, laughing loudly with cups of steaming coffee on their hands, and were quick to lift your finger up to your lips, to let them know of the resting boy that would be quickly awaken by their laughs. They apologized in whispers, handed you the cup they had brought for you and sat around you.

"Helena is trying to convince them to let us go to the hotel," Alistair commented, although he didn't look tired at all, more like he was amused by everyone else's exhaustion.

You sighed in relief against the cup, which was held close to your lips, making the steam hit your face in a warmth that made you aware of how cold your nose was. Only one gulp of the bitter liquid was enough to warm the blood flowing through your veins and take you back to life, you could open your eyes properly and the first the landed on was one of the most distinctive of your cast mates: Aaron Tveit.

Was there something special about him that made you think of his full name instead of just the first? Yeah, everything. He was the embodiment of the Enjolras Victor Hugo had wrote, the one that had been nicknamed Apollo by his friends. Maybe it was the way he held himself, somehow taller than everyone else, with that revolutionary fire in his eyes and walking around the set like he was actually going to get the people to build a barricade.

Wherever he happened to exist, you couldn't help but feel the presence of an olden god amongst mortals, the time go slower and light to travel in a bliss. There was just something so ethereal about him...

"He's talent, isn't he?" Alistair commented, having followed the direction of your eyes. "Among other things," Eddie joked, perhaps having caught on on the repressed smitten nature of your gaze. Stubbornly, you rolled your eyes.

As if saved by the bell, your director announced that everyone was allowed to go and get some rest, under the condition that you had to be back the next day before lunch. You were so tired, you almost forgot you were on your costume, being remembered by Eddie when you walked straight to the exit.

Up until that day, you had followed you stylist's skincare routine religiously every day after finishing filming, but once you found yourself in your sweatpants and Alistair's sweater, you simply poured water in your face and wiped all the makeup away with a paper towel.

Outside of your trailer, you found at least half of the Amis waiting for you to go grab some pizza while forming a wall to shield a newly caffeinated Daniel from your accusatory eyes. "I just left my cup unattended for a second!" George said quickly. You didn't know if you should laugh or yell at them, but you decided you were too tired to do either, so you simply took his hands and walk with the boys to the minivans the studio had hired for your transportation.

Eating pizza after having barely washed the makeup off of your face and only having a few hours to sleep after? You knew you were going to break out, but that was a tomorrow's problem.

Perhaps it was the magic that gravitated around Aaron that made you look back to see him, walking several feet behind the lot of you and clearly immersed on his thoughts. What you did next wasn't exactly a conscious decision, but it felt as natural as if it were.

"Hey, Tveit," you smiled, stopping before him. He looked surprised for a second, since he hadn't heard you approach him, but then smiled softly at you.

"Hello, Y/L/N," he said back, looking at you with those piercing eyes of him.

"We're going to grab a bite, wanna come?" You asked with a bright smile, one so cute that made it hard for him to say no.

"I don't know, it's late..." he said with half a smile.

"Did you know that pizza wasn't invented until the late half of the 18th century," you said, persistently, making him raise an eyebrow at the random fact, "that means all of our characters died without having ever eaten pizza. Shouldn't we, in order to honor them, do the things they never got to do?"

Aaron tried as hard as he could to fight back a smile at your argument. He had heard from the other guys about your occurrences and funny yet charming way with words, but he still hadn't had a chance to delight himself with it all too much. Maybe you were both too busy, maybe he wasn't as good as he liked to think to break the ice and Alistair had beat him to it.

He was practically convinced already, but still you added, "come on, Enjolras is still going to be here tomorrow morning... er, today a little less morning." You corrected checking the time on your wrist watch.

He was tired and not really hungry, but sill he nodded and followed you to the exit, where the rest of your friends cheered upon his joining.

Thankfully, the place Fra Fee knew was not too far away from the hotel, because none of you would have managed to walk too much after the day you'd had. Pulling a couple of tables together with the help of a waitress who pretended not to be a little starstruck, all of you sat down and ordered. You personally tried to ignore the way Eddie gave you his sit so that you would end up sat next to Aaron.

After ordering three large pizzas and some lemonade, and having grudgingly remembered that you couldn't order a beer or anything of the sort, you resumed your chattery. You soon found that, while you weren't the only theatre actress on the room, you were the only one who had never been on a film before. Still, that didn't mean your previous work had gone unnoticed.

"I was really excited to meet Y/N," Eddie commented on Daniel's side, "because I went to see her in The Phantom of The Opera, in London and I was" he made the gesture of his head blowing up, making you laugh.

"Yes, I knew I had seen you somewhere! You're Christine Daaé!" George exclaimed, interrupting the bite he was about to give to his pizza.

"Didn't you say on the first table reading that your dream role is Esmeralda, from the Hunchback?" Aaron perked up, making you blush a little.

"Esmeralda, Christine and Eponine," Alistair numbered, only giving you time to nod, "are you planning on becoming the Holy Trinity of French Theater?"

"I'll be able to say the Holy Trinity of French Theater died in my arms!"

You almost spilled your lemonade at the exclamation, unable to contain your laughs, very much like everyone else on the table. You didn't mean for your face to be as red as it was in that moment, but you couldn't help it when everyone seemed to be so interested in your past work. Despite attention being your line of work, you didn't know how to handle it that good.

It was when Daniel's adrenaline burnt off, as you had predicted, and he was found too tiresd to even keep his head up that you came back to the hotel, with the quiet company of Aaron, who had also offered to take the young boy back to his room. You were both in silence, though it was not an awkward one, it just wasn't necessary to talk to enjoy the other's company.

"We're getting a cow," he said suddenly, when you were approaching the entrance of the hotel.

"What?" You asked with a confused smile.

"We're getting a cow, on the set, tomorrow," he clarified grinning, "she will be there for the scenes of the barricade."

"Why would a cow be on a barricade?" You questioned with a laugh, opening the door for Aaron, since he was carrying Daniel, and receiving a little thank you in return. "Not that I'm complaining."

He laughed in return and followed you to the elevator, making sure neither the young boy nor the jacket he had put over him fell from his embrace. The cow thing had just been to start conversation and be able to ask what he really wanted to know, although he was a little pumped up about the cow.

"Do you want to do what Alistair said?" He asked curiously, "About being the Holy Trinity of French Theater, it is."

"I had never thought about it that way, but it sounds quite nice," you answer thoughtfully. "Though, I believe I would have to play Eponine on a stage, rather than a set to really earn that title."

"You're not liking movie making so far?" He asked somewhat amused, specially when you whipped your head to look at him with wide eyes.

"No! That's not what I mean," you talked so fast you nearly stumbled through your words, but the kindness on his eyes made you sigh and calm down. "This has been amazing so far and I would never underestimate the huge effort it takes to make one of these. I mean, I've only been doing this for a couple days and I'm already beyond exhaustion. And yet it has been wonderful, the set and the preparation and just seeing all the work it implies is... unbelievable."

You knocked three time on the door, to see Daniel's mother not two seconds later. Aaron had been worried that maybe she would be concerned and even a little mad at how late her son was coming back, but you had been texting her throughout the extra hours of shooting and to let her know you were going to take him to eat something before coming back to the hotel.

She kindly thanked you both, took Daniel (who was still sound sleep) on her arms and gave Aaron his jacket back, to then close the door. Without saying much, he walked you to your own room, prompting you to continue.

"Where was I? Oh, yeah! So filming a movie is... I'm running out of adjectives, but it's really great," he chuckled slightly, "but I don't think it can top the feeling of being on the theater," you sighed dreamily.

"On stage, there is no take two, the things you're doing can only be done once. There's..." your tongue ran through your lips, an action Aaron found almost mesmerizing, as you tried to find the words to describe the thing you loved the most in the world. "There's this feeling, when the show is about to start, the lights dim, the overture starts and you get goosebumps and you heart starts thumping at the moment you come on stage, there's something about that moment being unrepeatable and having the eyes of the crowd on you, the adrenaline is just... is like the identity line that divides the actor from their character disappears and in that moment you're not quite them, but you're not you, you're just..." you let out a breath at the inability to find the word and, for a moment, you worried you might have bored him with your rambling, but he had that bliss over his face, the one only a theatre actor knows and has, that told you he knew exactly what you're talking about.

The next morning, back on set and with your costumes again covering your backs, Aaron found himself so hypnotized by the sight of you rehearsing with Amanda his tea got cold and was utterly scared when Eddie's palm fell onto his back, dragging him out of his day dream.

"Is this the part when the Phantom is stalking Christine?" George asked jokingly, making Aaron roll his eyes.

For someone who made so much fun of him for becoming Enjolras, he had certainly developed Grantaire's mocking nature.

"She's really talented," the blonde man answered nonchalantly, drinking from his tea and making a face when he found out the drink was cold.

"I see," Eddie said handing him his tea, "are you seeing our dear Y/N under a new light?"

Was he? It would be a lie to say he didn't come back to his room with you occupying every single one of his thoughts, his heart fluttering who had managed to put his passion for theatre in words. Had his hands always became a little shaky around you? Yes. But today it was even worse.

Today, your voice giving life to Eponine's thoughts and emotions could make his cheeks blush or bring tears to his eyes in a matter of a second. Today, you walked around with a strange light over you, one that didn't allow him to look away while, at the same time, reprehended him for staring. Today, you were more than an artist, an actress. You were something more than human.

"Nonsense," he replied stubbornly, "I have always known how talented she is."

Before he could get a sarcastic comment or a snide yet friendly remark, the three men's chatter was interrupted by the two previously mentioned ladies rehearsing The Robbery, one of the scenes you planned on filming that day.

"It's the police! Disappear! Run for it!" Your strong soprano voice cut all chattery in one swift motion. "It's Javert!"

He probably held his breath for as long as you held the note. Once you opened your eyes, you seemed a little embarrassed at all the eyes on you, but Aaron didn't understand just what did you have to be embarrassed about.

Eddie shook his shoulder, "breathe, mate!"

[extremelyblackandwhite]

innocence - 03

PAIRING: bodyguard!bucky barnes x innocent actress!reader

WARNINGS: age gap

A/N: i’m gonna name this chapter symbolism  i don’t even know how to much to thank you guys for all your support, i am so so happy you’re enjoying it. much love xx

NEXT CHAPTER

Hiding, being a ghost story. 

Bucky knew too well about that. He knew perfectly how not to get any attention, even with a metal arm. He could disappear in the middle of crowds without much thought and even now he felt like he had too, he was still something other than human, half machine no matter how much Steve tried to tell him he wasn’t. He was no longer Sergeant Barnes, the longer time went by the more he forgot about him but he would always be the Winter Soldier. His name would always be associated with the attack on the UN, the blood from his victims would forever invisibly stain his hands, the Washington attack photos would forever be searchable and ready for someone to see.

Y/N didn’t know how to disappear. She knew how to become other people, how to be the person other people know. No matter how many wigs, how much makeup or how many times she changed eye colour, she could always see herself in the mirror, it was always her.

As she stepped outside her bedroom, Bucky took a long look at her. Y/N wasn’t ordinary, she was always polished, remarkable and as such Bucky had to make her look like any other girl in New York. Dark jeans and shirt with a musky dark green jack. Hair was done with a matching black cap sitting on top of it.

     - Sunglasses. - he pointed out, noticing her dark shades laying next to her keys by the kitchen. - Cover the eyes and people normally can’t pick you out a crowd. 

    - We can leave through the garage. - she grabbed her keys and bag from the hanger. 

    - Do you have a subway card? - he asked her as he opened the door to her flat.

    - We’re taking the subway? - she sounded excited as she followed behind him like a lost puppy. Bucky once again thought she was going to be eaten alive, in a city she didn’t know with people ready to put her face on billboards for the small price of her soul. He wondered if she would sell it willingly or if it would be stolen from her. Maybe it would be stolen while she was blinded by the flashlights, sucked off her small body. - I’ve never been in the NY subway.

   - It’s not that exciting. 

   - It’s a subway system that takes you everywhere. How can that not be exciting? - her hand wrapped around his once more, not caring it was holding metal rather than flesh, as to pull him out the door before he could change his mind. His eyes looked down to where their hands connected as she kept walking ahead having Bucky removed any resistance from her steps.

Y/N merely looked in front, far away from the four walls which enclosed her in a house which as time faded started to no longer feel like home. Her heart was pounding, running like wind on a storm as the agency’s words rushed through her mind. She could get shot, she could get kidnapped, hurt. Yet, he seemed to make her feel somewhat safe. Maybe it was her subconscious telling her the Winter Soldier never lost of a battle or maybe her brain was smarter than her consciousness. 

They took the stairs down from her floor to the garage, the lights turning on one by one as they made more progress through the worn out pavement which had tire marks and oil stains. This was more of what Bucky’s world looked like, stained, used, worn out, not needing replacing just staying there, fading away over the mocking lights.

   - What are you looking at? - she stopped, feeling the resistance his feet were creating with the ground. Her eyes gazed from his hand to his eyes which were frozen onto the oil spill on the ground. - Oh, Mr. Andrews’ beloved car broke down and spilled oil all over the floor. He refuses to have it clean, says it reminds him of his lost car. 

Bucky removed his gaze from the ground, giving her a reassuring nod, this time with him starting the walk yet she still stood ahead of her. Her feet finally touched the outside of her apartment, the sounds of cars and other vehicles along with the indistinct chattering of people walking around. While immersed and happy to be outside without a higher up member of her agency, her body seemed to reject this, taking a few steps back until her heel hit the point of Bucky’s shoes. 

    - You are gonna be alright, Y/N. - his hand moved over hers. - Trust me. 

    - What if they discover? I don’t want to ruin things.

    - They won’t. Come on, you can’t experience the subway if you don’t walk to it. 

New York, everybody knew about New York, everyone sang about it. Y/N like any non New Yorker knew the city from the representations she had seen in media. From the shining lights of Broadway, the Empire State Building where lovers meet, Central Park’s countless green patches, Times Square in New Year’s Eve to the stairs of the MET on television. Walking New York and watching New York were different things and she didn’t know what place to look with more wonder than the other. 

Bucky had told her it took an hour on the subway to reach Coney Island but she still looked at the rushing horizon with the same curiosity of an animal leaving hibernation. He found it different to watch her watch his home, she had different eyes from tourists, eyes which longed to discover the very foundation of an overbuilt city. His eyes moved from her figure, hand still over hers, to look around the subway. There weren’t any people looking at them, most of them lost in books and their phones, too busy to look at her. Nevertheless, their heads, despite their gaze being glued to any type of media, still seemed to flow her way in some sort of magnetism he didn’t really understand.

As they came to their stop, her eyes seemed to still remain a diamond shine, looking around as he walked a path that was too familiar to him. Looking up he saw it, looking exactly the same as it did when he was a little, the Cyclone. Her eyes looked up too, bashing in wonder of what stood in front of her. 

    - It’s wondrous, isn’t it? - she held his hand as she rushed through the crowds. - I can’t believe this is just here.

    - It’s been here for a while. - he commented, looking around for long but not long enough until she pulled him towards a salesman cart. His eyes left her sight for the first time in the day, looking around to the place he seemed to remember in shades of black and white or sepia, a distant memory. His memory seemed to wrap time around the place and almost like hallucinations he could see spectres of people that no longer walked the living. 

    - Thank you. - her voice broke him out as his eyes returned to watch her over her. She held two cones of cotton candy one blue and other purple, a smile on her lips. Y/N extended him one which he suspiciously took in his hand. - It’s just cotton candy, Bucky. 

    - I know. - he sighed, remembering how he and Steve would save any penny they found on the ground to buy sweet treats in Coney Island. - What do you wanna do?

    - I don’t know. What do you suggest?

    - I’m just here to accompany you. We’ll do whatever you want. 

    - Let’s win a big Teddy Bear. - she started rushing through the crowd again until one of the stalls with fake guns and duck like targets. Bucky let out a mindless smile as she grabbed the gun in the complete wrong position yet still held the confidence of someone who was a trained shooter. Not to his surprise, she failed miserably, a little pout settling on her lips. - Well ... can’t be good at anything. 

     - Let me try. - she handed him the prop gun which he propped onto his shoulder before locking gaze with the target, sending a shot straight through the wooden duck once, twice and thrice. The man at the stall rejoiced, clapping at him before pointing at the stuffed animals atop them. -  Come on, pick one. 

Y/N looked at the stuffed animals above her, all too big and probably would call for attention on the subway ride back home. Her attention was although locked on a small fuzzy black teddy bear nailed to the wood of the stall by its bow. She pointed up to the toy in turn making the man pick up a ladder and remove it for her. Bucky’s gaze once again left her as he noticed a small shack that seemed to have colourful memories in his psyche. Noticing this, Y/N placed her hand over his arm. 

     - What’s wrong? - she questioned, afraid there was any danger lurking. 

     - Just a memory. - he replied before turning to her but she was much too curious to let it go, gaze also locking on the little shack. - Used to be where they’d held the best leg competition.

     - Sounds a bit sexist. - Y/N remarked. 

     - Never said it wasn’t. - he sighed. - We used to sneak through the back until we were caught. 

     - Should we sneak in too? - before Bucky could remark what a terrible idea that was, the actress was once again pushing him to the small shack, going around the back where no one was standing.

The soldier was about to scold her that this would definitely catch some unwanted attention when Y/N opened an old wooden door, going through it which meant he had to go after her. As they both stepped into a building which had been closed for more than 50 memories, his colourful memories started to turn black and white. The once fully lighted, velvet walls of the theatre like shack were worn out, paint chipping away and velvet hanging from it. The signs were broken, some even painted over by spray cans. There was a light layer of dust on the ground and the whole building held itself by the already showing wooden foundation rotting away with time. Time catches up to everything.

Bucky looked at the seats which were almost never filled as men would almost jump on stage to see the girls legs who would giggle at the attention. The stage still seemed to hold some glory with its burgundy curtains worn out by the signs of time yet still magnificent. Y/N jumped the barrier that separated the stage from the sitting area, the wooden boards creaking as she looked around. A theatre always felt like home. He merely looked from the sitting area, a sight that probably everyone who’d seen her play had watched before. 

    - It’s magnificent, isn’t it? - her fingers traced the heavy curtains before turning to Bucky who had sat on the front row.

    - It’s old.

    - Everything is. - she replied, her eyes roaming around the broken lights, trying to picture what this looked like during its hay days. - Reminds me of old musicals. 

    - Well then maybe you should sing. - he joked. - You did say you’d do whatever I wanted.

    - I’m afraid I would break the wood more than it already is. 

    - Come on. - he teased and she looked up to the ceiling before looking to her feet and to the side.

    - I follow the night can't stand the light. When will I begin to live again ... One day I'll fly away, leave all this to yesterday. What more could your love do for me? When will love be through with me? Why live life from dream to dream and dread the day when dreaming ends?

taglist: @disasterbii @lookiamtrying @buckysteveloki-me @nsfwsebbie @americasass81 @jamesbarnesappreciationclub @lostinthebeans @mariahthelioness29 @buckyandsebastian @peaches-roses-sins @theadorasabditory @sipsteacasually @tonystankschild @saiyanprincessswanie @booktease21 @noiralei @learisa @everythingisoverrated @uglipotata72829 @naturalthrone22 @husherstan @mandiiblanche @vicmc624 @newyorkgoddess @itsallyscorner​ 

[elriel-oblivion]

WHO'S READY FOR SOME HARDCORE NSFW 🔥😈

Ashes from the Deep

Part IV

--

Just kidding! 😅

Lol, sorrynotsorry for that fake intro haha, but here's part four for real 😅 Thanks to everyone who read/liked/commented on/reblogged the last part, I really do appreciate all your support 😊🥰🥰

Shoutout to @julesherondalex again for finding one of my fave paragraphs ☺️☺️ I think I only have one fave line this time 😅 And thanks to all who comment their own faves!! I really like seeing what you like in each piece - and it def helps me gauge what kinda writing/literary techniques work and engage people the most 😊😊

I hope nobody's disappointed by this part lol, I really enjoyed writing it in tandem with the previous one 😅

Word count: 4.1K. Lemme know if you'd like to be tagged/removed

I've also finally posted all four parts to AO3 if anyone prefers to read there 😊

Ashes from the Deep

Part IV

--

The water falling from the jug to Azriel’s head was the only sound in the bathroom. His hair absorbed the water, darkening to a midnight gleam. A thin breeze entered the room, and now without a blanket, Elain's exposed arms prickled with goosebumps.

Elain plunged a hand into his hair, breaking the mud between her fingertips. A quiet breath passed through his mouth and the corners of her lips rose.

She rubbed his scalp, coaxing as much dirt to the surface as she could before guiding another jug of water through his hair. Some of the mud drained away, some clods of sediment sticking to the basin. She poured over a final jug and stained water trickled into the drain. The warmth of the water tickled through her skin, replacing the cold from outside.

‘Is that nice?’ she asked, brushing the water through his hair with both hands.

His body seemed to relax, one foot sliding forward a little. ‘It is,’ he said thickly. He cleared his throat.

Her fingers continued to gently work at his head, and when sure his hair was completely wet, she ran the bar of soap under the tap. Soft lavender entered her nose and she inhaled deeply. That calm scent loosened her own muscles; this could be as much a session of serenity for her as she hoped it'd be for Azriel.

So long as she held taut the chain on her heart.

Soap foaming, she immersed her hands back into his thick hair, forming a lather. The lavender smell intensified, a wave of tranquility sweeping over her. She blinked slowly, as though her mind were wading through water.

Another sigh from him drew her attention back to his head. She needed to focus on this task; for Azriel, she could stay awake a little longer, especially since she’d already started.

Her fingertips massaged his skull, pressing a little deeper at the base where knots had a tendency to form. Elain moved her own neck, a sharp stab sparking at the top of her spine.

She hadn’t mentioned it to anybody yet – didn’t even know if she would – but her visions had been so feverish the past fortnight. Sleep felt like a luxury as she tossed and turned with psychedelic madness flashing behind her eyes. A turquoise expanse of sparkling ocean, birds shaped from sunset, glittering gowns in every shade, and a too-wide smile with pointed teeth were just a few of the recurring images attacking her every night.

Bathing before bed wasn't helpful. She'd hoped the calming scents of the herbs she'd found would be enough to pacify her mind and lull her to sleep. So far, there was no positive result beyond a loosening of her muscles. At least some of those herbs relieved the intensity of the dark circles round her eyes.

Mellow darkness, however, was a true reprieve, one which she found in her garden in those quiet evening hours, when the sky, having bled through its saturated sunset, was awash with deep muted blues.

As if she’d summoned it, a similar darkness manifested around Azriel’s body, swirling thickest about his head like a black cloud. His shadows rose like vapour, tendrils reaching out and twining about him.

Elain’s hands were hidden among those dark whorls, and they whispered on her skin in cool caresses. She leaned over his head and said, ‘Azriel?’

His eyes flicked open. ‘Huh?’

There was something boyish and confused in the way he blinked and she laughed lightly. ‘Your shadows are sort of hiding your head.’

He turned his head an inch or two. ‘Sorry,’ he said, and those shadows began sweeping over each other, wisps kissing her as Azriel pulled them in.

Elain’s hands were stationary until those shadows were completely reeled in, a faint frown on Azriel’s face. Sorrow lurked there, perhaps that he couldn’t be cocooned in that safe space.

Guilt coated the chain around her heart.

‘Don’t be,’ she murmured. Did he hear the shame in her voice? She hoped not; he should be resting, not worrying about Elain’s feelings. ‘You can close your eyes again.’

He did, but not before she caught a shadow lingering behind his eyes. Were they a glimpse into the shadows he leashed within himself, or were they a reflection of something darker, more sinister, perhaps?

That guilt began to cut into her heart now, icy claws digging. Cold squeezed her chest, a cold unrelated to the outside breeze breathing over her skin. How could she think Azriel was sinister? After the countless times he’d reached out to comfort her, be with her, listen to her – and the sincere light she saw in his eyes. Even the hope Rhysand had spoken of that day of the last battle in the war. The hope whose meaning he'd learnt from Azriel, learnt to experience from Azriel.

No, it was absurd. Yes, Azriel was a warrior and yes, he’d killed people. Possibly worse, she didn’t know. But those shadows she knew with certainty weren’t formed from the darkness of nightmares and malevolence and all things wicked.

They were a darkness of safety and security, of nights spent in a loved one’s arms. When a child sought their parent; when an adult sought their partner. They were the darkness found deep underground, where the earth was pure and things grew. Where life grew.

And just like his shadows, he too was not crafted from unholiness. There was unrelenting virtue glowing in him, burning whatever taint touched his darkness. She’d seen it in his eyes when he’d found her at the Hybern camp, when he alone had armed her with his own dagger at that later battle – and then run straight into the thick of it without Truth-Teller.

She didn’t know what she would’ve done if he hadn’t survived while she held his blade.

So when his shadows leaked out again, wrapping him in twining vines and wisps, she said nothing. Simply continued to work in that lovely lavender soap, giving as much care as she could. He deserved it.

She poured jug after jug of warm water over his head, wading her fingers through his locks to wash out the soap. Within a minute or two, the water was running clear. She yawned and dried her hands on a fresh towel.

‘Az, you can lift your head now.’

The guilt relented a little, icy claws releasing. A cold still filled the space left behind. But before the warmth of his presence, his existence, could balm her heart as it often did, she froze. His shadows parted to reveal a tear slipping from his eye. Just a single tear but so abrupt it was jarring on the shadowsinger’s face.

‘Azriel?’

He was unresponsive. His breathing was regular, body relaxed in a state of sleep. Except for that tear. What was he dreaming of?

She raised her hand to his face but let it hover in the air. Would this wake him? Would he even be fine knowing Elain had seen him cry?

She touched the tear anyway, placed a knuckle right beneath it. The tear slipped onto her hand and she wiped off the trace left on his face.

Azriel stirred, voice raw as he said, ‘Mother?’

Mother – was she what, who he dreamt of? There was such a childlike insecurity in his tone that Elain’s heart squeezed. She moved her hand back a little when her own voice sounded wispy. ‘No, it’s Elain.’

His eyes opened, gaze darting around the room. There was a small crease in his brow as he blinked away whatever haze remained from his dreams. The shadows dissipated.

Confusion limned his features in the few seconds it took him to fully awaken. Did he know he cried? That she’d wiped off his tear? No, that wouldn’t be okay. Elain had to distract him, if that were even possible for a spymaster.

Sometimes his title overwhelmed her. Sometimes she found security in it; did he see things he didn’t want to on his travels? Did he have access to a wealth of information he didn’t initially understand, just as Elain didn’t comprehend her visions without further probing?

‘I asked you to lift your head but you’d fallen asleep,’ she said. ‘I didn’t want to wake you, but we should dry your hair before you really go to sleep. Especially if you’ll be going outside again. Although I would ask you to consider taking a guest room.’

That frown deepened for a second before he smoothed out his face. ‘Right.’ He sat straight, and Elain set a hand under his head as he stiffly pulled it up. He rotated his neck a bit, water dripping off his sodden hair, sliding down his face.

She placed the towel over his head, patting it across his scalp. Some strands escaped to hang over his forehead, so she pulled them back, ruffling the towel through his hair. All the while, he watched her, but she busied herself with the water that glistened on his neck. Anything to avoid his eyes.

Then he dropped his head – from tiredness or something else, she didn’t know – so she took the opportunity to dry the back more. Drying his hair took more effort than washing, he just had so much hair. The small towel quickly became damp so she continued with the one round his neck, and a short while later, deemed his hair dry enough. Still wet but not sodden, so she combed her fingers through it, smoothing out the tips that stuck out. She left both towels on her bathtub, touching a knuckle to one of the trailing plants sitting on a stool nearby.

She heard the chair scrape across the floor, Azriel rising, so she laid a hand on his shoulder. ‘Wait. I want to clean your face, too.’

The idea of having to look at his face for however long it took to clean sent a thrill through her and she woke a little more. The chain on her heart slipped from her control a little and she leashed it back. Her chest tightened as she grabbed a cloth and ran it under the tap. She knelt next to him, honing in on that giant gash on his cheekbone. She touched the cloth to his face.

He winced and her hand stilled. ‘Sorry.’

A small smile graced his face, and he said, ‘Don’t be.’

She recognised the words from earlier and breathed a laugh. ‘That cut does look very bad, though. I think I’ll have to clean it with alcohol too.’

‘Let’s crack open that wine then.’

Something sultry laced his voice, the chain in her chest slipping again. The metal warmed and Elain fiddled with her grip. She let out a shaky laugh. ‘Not tonight, Azriel.’

Goodness. A late night wine session with Azriel. There was heat in her cheeks and she didn’t know how to tone it down. It was even worse with his face so near hers. He’d see it all. Her face warmed further, and it was only the dirt and blood on his that reminded her he was in no position to be drinking the night away. Not with fatigue so clear on his features and in his posture.

And not with Elain. That toed a line she didn't deserve to cross.

So she gave focus only to his skin, wiping the cloth across his face. Once most of the mud and blood was off, she rinsed the cloth, then wiped him down again. He turned his head and as his eyes fixed squarely on her, the chain heated further. She tried to grip it elsewhere, but every link was as hot. It wasn’t uncomfortable – quite pleasant, actually – but she was sure it would be soon enough if she didn’t move now. The cool air sweeping into the bathroom did nothing to help. If he would just stop looking into her –

Elain abruptly stood and on a whim went to close the window. Maybe he'd think she was cold, though she'd regret trapping the air when it was stifling here soon.

She moved to the cupboard by the door, her back to him. She took a deep breath, taking her time to pull out a bottle of alcohol, in pouring a few drops of it onto a clean cloth. The distance between them was refreshing. The chain didn’t cool, not with Azriel still so close in the same room, but at least it didn’t warm any more. Elain took a moment to readjust her grasp and pull it again.

She composed herself and knelt beside him. The alcohol’s scent permeated the air and her own nerves bristled. ‘This’ll hurt.’

His smile was slight. ‘It’s all right.’

She bit the inside of her cheek and touched the cloth to the wound. His jaw clamped like a vice and she lightened her touch, the cloth barely kissing his skin.

This wasn’t the right way. She needed to clean that wound, regardless of what pain it’d inflict. It'd be temporary, the sting. So she pressed the cloth harder, dabbing it across his cheekbone.

His features were stonelike at the contact. Did pain ever become easier to bear? Would the prick of a thorn be less painful in a decade than it was now?

If Azriel’s face was anything to go by, she guessed no. Perhaps some pain couldn’t be learnt; perhaps the body never fully digested pain.

Perhaps she'd never fully recover from the desolation in the Cauldron.

‘Are you all right, Azriel?’ Her voice was so quiet, like she didn’t want to flare the hurt any further.

‘I’m all right. Are you all right, Elain?’

‘I’m fine.’

He wasn’t all right and nor was she, but neither was willing to broach that right now. There was so much to him she didn’t yet know. What was it that shadowed his eyes so often? What darkness clouded his mind before he fell asleep? In due time, she’d learn, but that human impatience, the sense that there was never enough time, threatened to run her tongue.

Time stretched out before her. She’d learn. He was her friend, she just needed to give him time to teach her the workings of his soul. And in return, she would bare hers too.

Neither said a word as she pressed the alcohol into every wound, cleaning his cheekbone and temple, a scratch across his jaw. She stared at the graze there for a few seconds. She’d ask Madja for some calendula oil later; that would speed the healing process.

She sighed as she washed the cloth. Something had loosened the chain, but it wasn’t a sudden unravelling. It’d just been gradual and she hadn’t noticed, one link falling back at a time. Her heart expanded. There was torment in Azriel’s posture, on his face, and it hurt. It hurt that Elain couldn’t do anything for him besides give basic medicines for his body.

But he was more than just a physical form. He had a heart and a soul, both so tight with whatever misery lurked in his past, and she couldn’t do anything about that. For all the light she saw in the world, all the places of brightness, there was ten times as much darkness, ten times as many nooks and crannies where gloom and wretchedness dwelt. What good was the light if it didn’t burn away the shade over everyone’s souls?

She spent more time washing the cloth than necessary.

The chair creaked. ‘You can talk to me, Elain, whenever you need.’

The chain slipped again, Elain’s fingers grappling for those final links. It hurt so much that he was willing to give so much. Her smile was too bright as she turned and said, ‘I know.’

He stood. His gaze was so direct on her that she only held one chainlink now. Just one link remained in her hand, one link between her and the release of a beast she hadn't yet had the courage to face.

The link heated. Her muscles loosened and her hands fumbled with the tap, the cloth falling from limp fingers.

He would realise. He would know what she was thinking and feeling if she didn’t get a grip on herself, on that final chainlink. So she turned her body to face his and cleared her throat. ‘We should go downstairs to the fireplace. It’ll be warmer there.’ For his damp hair, of course.

No matter that whatever cool air remained in the room did nothing to tame her heat.

His hand was cold on her wrist, a shiver tracking her bones, and colder still were the shadows that swept them up and into the living room. Good, there was much more space here. Her feet hit the floor and she bent to place three logs in the hearth.

Moonlight glinted on the steel she struck against the flint but the metal didn’t spark the way she’d seen it do when everybody else lit a fire. She tried again, Azriel silent beside her. This was pitiful. She swiped the steel a couple more times, and a spark finally appeared.

It was too silent here. ‘Those shadows are quite convenient at times, aren’t they?’ she said.

He breathed a laugh. ‘They can be.’

She let the spark catch on the cloth resting on the hearth and threw it onto the logs, a blaze finally blooming. She doubted anybody else took that long to start a fire. Heat bathed her legs.

Elain didn’t know what to make of the lack of judgement she found on his face when she stood. Though, it was common with him, how honestly he looked at her. She shouldn’t be surprised. Save Nuala and Cerridwen, he was perhaps the only one who didn’t view her as a naive fool, a child. None of the others said it, but she saw it in their eyes, that patronising glimmer.

He was leaning against the mantelpiece with a forearm, one leg crossed over the other, the portrait of casual elegance. It wasn't often she got to see him looking so relaxed. Then again, he was tired.

Her eyes met his. ‘Just a few minutes now and we’ll be warm.’

His eyes were soft; he didn’t say anything. Just kept looking at her. Into her.

The air warmed. That was a quick few minutes.

Just the flames. Of course it was the flames. Anything else would be ridiculous.

The wound on his cheekbone was an angry red in the dim light. ‘I think you’ll need a bandage for that wound.’ Some herbs would be prudent too.

‘I’ll be fine without it,’ he said.

She pleaded for interference from something, anything. ‘It’s quite deep.’

‘Not a match for my Illyrian healing.’ The smirk that followed sent a hot spark down her skin. The chain now burned and she lost her grip on it completely, that leash uncoiling and slipping down, down, down into the abyss of her core. Her heart swelled like a dragon inhaling a mighty breath.

She needed a distraction from his achingly stunning face. The wings behind him were not a reprieve at all. Especially not after what she'd overheard about them. Certain people tended to forget she was in the room and had heightened hearing when they talked about the sensitivities of the Illyrian wings.

Her face heated and her heart throbbed against her chest. How improper these thoughts were. The air was stifling now. Perhaps they should've stayed in the bathroom. Even the weak chill of night air would be better than this. She wished she could have shadows to cool her down like Azriel did. Or to hide in. She'd seen him do that plenty of times.

His wings rustled and he straightened, coming off the mantelpiece. His eyes were glazed, somehow even more stunning than they were outside earlier. The fire highlighted the grey brown storm swirling in his gaze while streaks of emerald glistened like the veins on leaves in the height of summer.

It felt like the height of summer too in this heat.

He frowned. She cleared her throat of the pocket of air lodged there.

'Oh.' A bead of sweat glinted on his temple, right above the gash there. The sting that would ensue was an unnecessary pain, so she reached up to wipe it away.

As her finger touched his skin, above the crackle of the flames, a loud thudding beat entered her ears. Azriel caught her wrist and a small gasp left her lips.

His eyes smouldered, that thunderstorm churning in the dim light. His heartbeat. It was his heartbeat she heard. It ran and ran, crescendoeing like a drum before the climax of a song.

Was the shadowsinger feeling the same as she? Did his heart yearn to touch hers too?

It was unbearable, the alternative. Unbearable but probable.

Her voice was thick, with longing, with desire, with anguish all entangled when she spoke, 'I can hear your heartbeat.'

He said nothing. If he truly didn't reciprocate -

She almost couldn't continue but pushed out, 'And it's a beautiful sound.'

That song in his heartbeat finally climaxed, a thunder of sound pounding the air.

'You're beautiful, too,' he breathed.

Her own pulse throbbed, heartbeat echoing in her throat. Tears blurred her vision of him. She blinked them away; she wanted to truly see every inch of his wonderful face.

His breathing lightened.

As did hers.

He was a mirror, Azriel. He saw her; he saw what she hid from everyone else, clear as day. It was his eyes that told. His words, too, in that smooth voice, free of condescension.

And now no mouth had ever looked so inviting.

And maybe this was okay. This fondness, this attachment she'd developed for him. It wasn't a sudden spark - childish and unquestioned. This had been building for a while now. Months. Maybe even since the first year she'd met him. And maybe it was improper and she was a lady, but perhaps it went beyond expectation. If her sisters could give themselves wholly to their love, then so could she.

Love. It was exhilarating, liberating to open up that well inside her. To no longer have that chain leashing her heart.

And because she knew he'd not make another move, she whispered, 'Are you going to kiss me?'

The fire hissed as a log tumbled further into the hearth. Shadows smoked behind his eyes. 'Only if you want me to.'

Without a doubt, she wanted this. There was a certainty, a clarity in her bones that sang high and free. It whistled through her marrow and glided into her blood, awakening her soul. She was not a child. She could want this. She could have this.

'Yes.'

A frown marred his face and her heart dropped. His eyes were now a hurricane, darkened like night descended over them. Torment was etched in the line of his brows, in the flicker of his jaw as it ground together.

He was afraid. Of hurting her. Ruining her. She'd seen the way he always glimpsed his hands, glancing away with revulsion in his eyes. He thought he was a disgrace, a savage.

But how could that be? How could this male, this male of honour, loyalty and charm think so little of himself? He was better than any male she could've had the pleasure of knowing.

'I know what you're thinking,' she said, 'and I want you to know I trust you, Azriel. You will do me no harm. You couldn't.'

His eyes shuttered as he lowered them, brows still furrowed. He still held her wrist, so, pulling his arm with her, she reached out and stroked his brow with her thumb. She rubbed back and forth in gentle motions until that crease was gone, and he exhaled slowly.

'I trust you, Azriel. So kiss me.'

The moody veil of night lifted from his eyes, the tempest calming to a glistening haze. His heart still pounded, so wondrously loud as he leaned down, his free hand settling against her cheek. He was unhurried, tentative.

It was agonising. Worse still, he paused with an inch of space between their lips. His night-chilled air and cedar scent blended with the smoke and wood of the fire, seductive as it crept into her skin and twined around her bones like ribbons of mist round pillars.

With shadows flickering over his face, and the light so sultry beside them, his eyes were alluring. She'd never let herself notice that before. 'Kiss me,' she said faintly.

Elain didn't breathe as his lips touched hers.

__

Feedback's welcomed, thanks for reading 😊

@illyrian-lover-flower @julesherondalex @nooriee @mis-lil-red @verifiefangirl @tswaney17 @a-happybird @thewayshedreamed @sleeping-and-books @thefangirlofhp @januarystears @courtofjurdan @ladylochan

[wwenhlimagines]

"Making Love With The Radio On" - Elias Smut

(Part 2 of More Than Anyone)

Warning: smut, curse words

Dedicated to @jazzy-tzw, @team-elias, and other Elias fangirls

Song: Making Love With The Radio On by Gavin Degraw

2 weeks after your period started aka first day of ovulation

Rolling over in bed, your hand lands on the soft sheets instead of your husband's muscular frame. You open one eye and look around the room to see his side of the bed empty and cold. You pout lightly as you reach for your phone to see if he texted you.

"Good morning gorgeous! I've gone out to the gym and then I will go to the store on the way home. See you in a couple hours babygirl! I love you ❤"

You smile to yourself as you text him back. "Good morning handsome! Enjoy your workout babe and come home to me soon 😜 I love you too."

While you have some time to yourself, you take a shower and prep your entire body for the evening with your husband that you have been waiting for. Elias decided he didn't want to "waste the good ones" so he has refused to let you touch him for 2 whole weeks. He seems to be going to the gym more to distract himself and work on his stamina for you. You have also refused to release any stress in that way so both of you are wound up and ready to devour each other. After shaving, moisturizing, and styling your hair, you put on some light makeup and get dressed with Elias's favorite blue lingerie set underneath your outfit. You look over yourself in the mirror before you head out to the living room to relax and watch some tv.

About an hour later, Elias walks into the house with a few bags from the store and sets them in the kitchen before walking over to you. His hand cups your face as he leans down and kisses your lips softly before leaning his forehead against yours. "Well hello there wifey!" You smile and kiss him back "Hi hubby! What have you bought at the store?" He smirks and sits down next to you allowing his right arm to land on the back of the couch and his left hand softly caressing your thigh. "Well, maybe you will find out in a little while, but for now I'm going to start making lunch for us." You give him another kiss before he gets up to prepare lunch.

10 minutes later, you were bored of the show you were watching and decided to go check on Elias in the kitchen. You walk into the kitchen and smile at the sight in front of you. Elias has replaced his shirt with an apron along with some workout shorts and his hair in a bun. He hums lightly to the music his phone is playing and you can't help but sneak up behind him. Wrapping your arms around his waist, but under the apron, startles him slightly before he relaxes into your arms and flexes his abs to entice you further.

"Is there anything I can do to help Chef Elias?" He smirks and turns towards you to give you a wink before replying, "Well I guess you could help handle the sausage." He focuses back on the chicken breast and veggies in front of him as you moan lightly and trace your fingers over his abs. "Oh how I've missed your sausage. It tastes so good and it makes me feel amazing." He cracks his neck before he adjusts his position in front of the stove and leans slightly back into your arms. "Well babe it's going to make you feel better than amazing all day today...after we eat." You pout at the last part and bring your hands to his back and start lightly dragging your nails up and down his back. He shifts nervously before you start leaving slow sensual kisses all over his back and letting out small moans with each one. Elias groans before taking the food off the heat before throwing it onto the plates. You stand back and watch as you slowly start to unbutton your blouse and turn on a Gavin DeGraw song.

I tried giving up

Walked through quite enough

Had to call it a day

Elias rolls his eyes before he walks over to you and kisses you roughly as his body traps you against the counter. His hands take over for yours as your blouse comes off your body and his eyes take in the blue lace bra. "Babe, you know this set is my favorite on you. Are you trying to please me for some reason?" You bite your lip as his lip meet your neck and his hands grab your ass. "Oh don't worry babe, your pleasure is my pleasure. How do you feel about the leggings?" You turn around and lean over the counter letting your ass rub against his hardening cock. The song continues as you slowly grind on your husband in the middle of the kitchen.

So I loosened my lips

And let a little prayer I memorized

Do what I just wished

And suddenly, to my surprise

Oh, DJ, when you play my song

Make me feel bigger than an old King Kong

At the risk of this coming out wrong

Feel like making love with the radio on

Elias turns you around and lifts you onto the counter before his lips attach to yours feverishly. You moan into the kiss as his hands give your ass a light smack.

Oh, every time I hear that jam

Grabbed my baby right by her hand

Even if my day was going all wrong

Feel like making love with the radio on

You let your hands wander to his apron and you quickly get rid of it so you can run your hands all over his muscular chest and torso. His lips start to travel down your neck as he pulls your hips to the edge of the counter to connect with his. You wrap your legs around his waist as he travels down to leave kisses all over your chest. He knows you can be insecure about that area, so he makes sure to show some extra love to your breasts.

Don't you call it a flaw

Everybody needs some a peace of mind

It should be the law

To take a little private time

Elias reaches behind you to unclasp your bra and fully immerse himself in your chest. You squeeze your legs to bring his hardening cock close to your wet core and thread your fingers through his hair. His head continues to travel down before he releases your legs from around his waist and sets you down on the ground. You sneakily let your hand travel down his pants to grasp him and slowly start pumping.

"Babe, you can't be doing that right now. I need everything I have to end up deep inside you." You smile and remove your hand before turning away from him and pulling your leggings off. He groans behind you before he pins you up against the counter and drops his pants. His dick rests on the low of your back as he plays with the sides of your thong.

Oh, DJ, when you play my song

Make me feel bigger than an old King Kong

At the risk of this coming out wrong

Feel like making love with the radio on

After a few seconds of internal contemplation, Elias decides to remove your panties and lift you back onto the counter. You press your chest against his and give him a passionate kiss before you pull away and whisper, "Put a baby in me Elias." He takes quick action to enter you and start making a slow rhythm with his hips. Your eyes stay connected to his as his dick stretches you open just right. Your breathing starts to deepen as his hand reaches down to rub slow circles on your clit in time with his thrusts.

Oh, every time I hear that sound

Engine running and I'm homeward bound

Even if my day was going all wrong

Feel like making love with the radio on

Elias starts to lose his rhythm and you grab his ass to encourage him to keep going. "That's it Elias, just like that." You moan as his thrusts start getting deeper and harder. He attached his lips to yours and your tongues danced together as his thrusts got stronger and your pussy started clenching onto his dick. You pull your lips apart and breathe onto his lips. "I love you so much Elias." He kisses you again and pulls you closer before pulling back. "I love you so much more Y/N." You rest your foreheads together as your orgasm takes over your body. You gaze straight into his eyes and see nothing but love as your body trembles beneath him. A couple thrusts later, Elias moans out your name as you do the same before his thrusts send his cum deep inside you. His thrusts slow down, but he stays inside of you as you lazily kiss and giggle lightly. 

"I can't believe our baby may have been conceived in our kitchen." Elias quirks an eyebrow at you before he responds. "Excuse me? Who decided to start dragging their nails over my back knowing that is a surefire way to get me going?" You roll your eyes and bop his nose before retorting, "Who was cooking shirtless knowing that's my biggest turn on?" Elias blushes lightly as he bites his lip and chuckles lightly. "Fine, we are both at fault...but now we can eat!" You smile as he helps you down and brings the food over to the couch. You put on your panties and top before following him with his shorts in your hand. Elias looks back at you, "Why did you put clothes back on babe?" You throw his shorts at him and sit down on the couch. "Because I know how easily distracted we can become when we are naked and I'm hungry." Elias puts on the shorts and smiles as he sits down next to you handing you a plate. "Well then, eat up princess, you've got two episodes of Schitt's Creek to eat and recover before it's your turn to take charge. By the way, I got some massage oil at the store in case you want to use it." You smirk over at him and dig into your food before relaxing into the couch and thinking about how the rest of the day will go.

[obxdrewseph]

Tik Tok - Rafe Cameron

Description: Rafe Cameron falls for a girl he often sees in a cafe and is too nervous to talk to her, so his best friend, Topper, decides to take matters into his own hands and makes a tik tok asking if anyone can identify Rafe’s crush. Of course, she sees it and confronts him. 

P.S. pretend covid doesnt exist in this LOL

---------

“Bro, just do it.”

“No.”

“Rafe, c’mon man. When did you become such a pussy?”

“Shut the hell up man, I’m not.” 

“Then ask her out!” 

“No!” 

It was your typical Wednesday afternoon-- the college cafe was bustling with students coming in and out from classes and from students mingling with their friends.

Rafe and Topper sat in the midst of all the chaos, ignoring their econ homework to stare at Rafe Cameron’s current obsession.

“How is this girl different from any other you’ve liked? Just man up and ask for her number or something.” 

Rafe Cameron. 

Notorious player on campus. And douchebag. He was the type to sleep with a girl and kick her out of his room at 3 in the morning. He never had strong feelings for a girl, which is why Topper was baffled at the fact he kept staring at the dark haired, brown eyed plain Jane in the corner of the coffee shop. 

“Look, she’s just a pretty girl. And she just looks... shy I guess.” Rafe lamely said. He didn’t know why he wasn’t just barging up to her like he normally did at parties. Of course, those girls were clawing to get to him. He didn’t have to work as hard. 

Topper sighed loudly. “Fine, fine. If you’re gonna force my hand.” 

Rafe raised a brow as Topper slowly pulled his phone from his pocket. 

He then began to film the girl and zooming in on her face. 

“Top, what are you--”

“Ssssh.” 

After 30, long, agonizing seconds for Rafe Cameron, his best friend finally stopped filming the poor girl.

“Does anyone know this girl? This loser wants to ask her out...” He spoke as he typed.

“No wait--”

“Done. Just posted on tik tok.”

Rafe’s jaw dropped.

“What?”

“Now, we wait.” 

-------

You had a long day of classes and all you wanted to do was fall in your bed. 

But no, as a history major, you had to read 250 pages (the entire book needed to be read by the end of the week, but you were spacing), write detailed notes on them, and then start on your essay that is due next week. 

You always liked to get ahead of schedule so that your work wouldn’t pile up. 

After sitting in the cafe for an hour, you had to go home to cook dinner. You hated eating at cafes since bread just wasn’t your thing. 

Once you hit your dorm room, you checked your phone that seemed to have hundreds of notifications.

"The fuck?” You whispered out loud. As an RA, you could say whatever you wanted to in your room, but you still felt weird swearing in front of others. Which is why you whispered the words to yourself.

You dropped your bag at the door and quickly opened your phone. 

GIRL, CHECK TIK TOK 

Congrats, you’re famous! don’t forget me lol

rafe cameron ?? honeyyy get itttttt 

Confusion. That’s all you felt. You quickly clicked on the link on of your friends sent you. 

You watched the video set in as Topper, the owner of the account, zoomed in on your face at the cafe you were just in. You didn’t think you looked pretty as your hair was a mess and you hadn’t showered in a couple of days. 

Not to mention you were wearing jeans and a baggy t-shirt-- the normal college attire. 

As you read the caption, you felt your heart race at an abnormal rate. 

The words became blurry fairly quickly as your stress started to build up. You set your phone down on the counter to avoid dropping it-- you were rational enough to do that. 

You kept getting texts from your closest friends saying two words: Call me. But at this point, you couldn’t even think straight. What was a hot, popular guy like Rafe Cameron doing pining over you? And apparently being too afraid to ask you out?

Honestly, you had never been hit on in your first two years of college and you didn’t think it was going to start with Rafe Cameron, the richest guy at the school. And every straight college girl’s wet dream. 

You heard your phone buzz on the counter and you checked caller ID. It was your best friend.

You took a deep breath and answered it.

“Hey, you didn’t tell me you were dating Rafe Cameron.” She joked. 

“Shut up! Tell me what to do!!” You screamed. 

“Ok, ok, I can tell you’re freaking out and nervous, but this is a good thing! A happy thing! A guy liked you so much that he put a video--”

“His best friend posted the video--”

“As I was saying, put a video out about YOU! This is your chance to finally have the romance you’ve always dreamed of, right? You’re always pining after those book boyfriends or whatever who AREN’T REAL.”

She emphasized the last part which made you cringe. Your obsession with fictional characters was justified-- if she read, she would know. 

“Dude, this is Rafe. Rafe fucking Cameron.” She gasped at your swearing, a joke both of you had because you’ve known each other since you were children.

“Exactly, it’s Rafe motherfucking Cameron, meaning, you HAVE to go after him.” 

“No, you’re wrong! He’s Rafe Cameron! If he was really into me, he would’ve asked me out already. Literally no one can say no to him nor does anyone want to.” You bit your lip, thinking of ways to get out of this. “You know what? I bet this is a prank or something.”

“A prank?”

“Yeah, like Topper trying to embarrass Rafe by making an ugly girl ask him out--”

“First of all, don’t talk about yourself like that. And second, no, tik tok is not the place to embarrass girls. They would get roasted so hard. And third, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE.”

Contrary to your best friend, you never seriously wanted a relationship. You were the type to fantasize about falling in love and hyped up all of your friends when they had crushes, but you never truly found someone you wanted to get to know or wanted to date. 

It just seemed so outlandish to you. 

Plus, you wrote off college boys when one followed all of your roommates on instagram besides you. That kinda knocked your ego down. 

“Look, I’m just going to ignore this. I don’t think it’s going to be the love story you think so I’m gonna go.”

“Wait, y/n--”

You hung up before she could finish. 

You just couldn’t deal with her hopeless romanticism right now. 

You sighed and tied your hair into a messy bun. How could you finish your homework now? 

--------

“I don’t think she saw it.” 

Topper laughed at his nervous looking friend.

“Dude, she definitely saw it. It has thousands of likes the last time I checked and I’m pretty sure people were tagging her in the comments.”

Rafe fixed his hat so it covered his face. He definitely didn’t want his friend to notice it turning beet red. 

“I hate you dude.” 

“No you don’t.” 

Once again, the two rich boys were sitting in the same cafe they were in yesterday. They had been sitting in there for two hours now, and there was no sign of the mysterious girl who did or did not know she was tik tok famous.

“I don’t think she’s coming.” Rafe commented. On one hand, he was relieved he wouldn’t have to talk to her. But on the bigger hand, he desperately wanted to see her again. He didn’t know why he was so captivated by her brightly dyed hair or the 10 pins stuck on her backpack. She seemed so normal, yet she stuck out with all the book stickers she had on her laptop. Rafe would never tell a living soul that he liked reading YA romance novels but he felt like he could confide in this mysterious girl. 

“I don’t know. It’s still early.” Topper noted. 

“Um, excuse me?” 

The two boys’ heads shot up at the dainty voice.

You were wearing black ripped jeans with a white top; it was the most simple outfit Rafe had seen you in as you usually dressed in bright colors. He would never admit it, but he even noticed when you changed your nail polish.

What Rafe didn’t know was that your best friends held an intervention last night and told you to dress “more to his style” which included simple attire. Yet, you couldn’t fully immerse in the role and wore your favorite bucket hat that was covered in white daisies. 

“Hey,” Rafe said lamely. 

Topper immediately gathered his stuff and left you two alone. What a homie.

At Rafe’s bland answer, you smiled politely. 

“Can I sit?” You asked. Rafe nodded and gestured towards the seat. He didn’t know why he was acting so weird, but you were just so much prettier up close. 

He could see the bright red earrings you wore that matched your Nikes and noticed your clumsily applied makeup (which he knew because his sister was so good at it). It only made his heart race even faster.

“Um, so I saw the video... I’m sure you know which one I’m talking about.” 

The boy blushed.

“Yeah?” He tried to act suave and calm, but his nerves were all over the place. He felt a bit calmer seeing the girl start to play with her hair: a nervous trait his sister said most girls had. 

“Um, well, I... I was wondering...” The girl trailed off, her face turning a darker red. He almost felt bad for her, but she was so darn cute and wanted her to continue.

“Look, I’m really bad at this... and I know you’re good at it, so...” 

The boy’s ego inflated slightly. 

“So?” 

This wasn’t going the way you wanted it to go. You felt frustrated that you couldn’t even get the words out that you practiced. Your eyes prickled with tears from embarrassment; you wanted to get out of the situation as soon as possible. You didn’t know what you were thinking approaching the hottest guy in campus and expect not to be tongue tied. 

And his lack of words made you think he was just messing with you. 

You felt a gentle hand on top of yours which burst your drama bubble. You looked up and saw Rafe’s bright blue eyes full of concern, and... something else.

Dammit, he probably thinks I’m a weirdo. 

“Hey, it’s ok. Honestly, it was my friend, the one who left earlier, it was his idea to put the video up and he did it without my permission. If it were up to me, it would’ve taken a lot longer to pluck up the courage to approach you...” He confessed. 

This shocked you. Rafe Cameron... tongue tied around you?? 

“Look, let’s start over. I’m Rafe Cameron, junior, business major, and fun fact: I’m on the hockey team.” You knew all of those details, but you let him give a formal introduction. You thought it was cute that he felt the need to explain all of this to you because there wasn’t anyone at your campus who didn’t know who he was.

You held out your hand.

“Y/N, a sophomore and a history major. Fun fact: I’m an RA.” His eyes brightened at your response and shook your hand with a smile. 

He had to practice his stern handshake with businessmen his father forced him to meet, but your hands were gentle and soft, like they were afraid of hurting him. It’s been a while since someone has treated him so delicately. He liked it. 

“Well, y/n, it’s a good thing I don’t live in the dorms because I definitely would’ve tried to act up to get your attention.” He teased. 

You laughed at the response because you knew a couple of the young freshmen who made a ruckus in the lounges so that you had to come in and yell at them. 

You shrugged. “I don’t know, we could’ve met sooner if you were.” 

The flirty words flowed from you naturally and you wanted to take them back as soon as they left your mouth.

But they made Rafe Cameron blush, so you let it go.

Suddenly, his watch buzzed and he swore under his breath.

“Shit, I’m so sorry, I have a business meeting to get to. Can I get your number for uhhh... for future purposes?” 

His slight fumble of words made you grin.

“Of course.” 

I guess tik tok is good for something. 

[sword-brainrot]

Hello~! I'm the Anon who asked for the Saniwa with the part-time job.

Don't worry hc were enough! I don't want to cause more work for you :3

But those hc were good! Can I ask for the same thing but with Yagen Toushirou, Minamoto Kyomaru and Suishinshi Masahide!

Thank you ^^

Hello again!! I'm so happy that you enjoyed the previous ones!! They are always such a blast to write.

TW: violence, blood, burns/scars, S*icide mention

♡  Yagen wouldn't be at your café often but would show up from time to time. Normally when he was with some of his younger siblings (only like two because OH GOD). He would often be busy at the citadel doing any work you assigned him for that day or working on new medicine.

♡  Yagen has rarely any time to take a break. He is very much so a workaholic. You will always see him working on something, so it takes his brothers a lot of begging to get him to stop. When they do, it's to go to the café where you work. A lot of the younger swords miss you a lot when you are not at home.

♡  Yagen will take the chance of coming to visit you as a chance to buy stuff at stories for medicines he is working on or maybe a book to help him study. So often times, they will come into the café with some bags that he bought just before coming in.

♡  He will make sure that his younger siblings don't bother you when you are working! He will buy them a small dessert while ordering some tea for himself. He doesn't want to cause more trouble for you because he knows you are working hard to support everyone at the citadel and really admires you for it.

♡  That being said, he does worry about you a lot. Don't be surprised if you feel eyes on you while you work. As soon as you look over at him, he will advert his eyes and pretend he was just reading. In actuality he was trying to study your body language and facial expressions to make sure you aren't overworking yourself.

♡  They will stay at your café for about an hour, at most. Before he gathers them up and says one last goodbye before taking them home.

♡  When you do get home, you are not allowed to work all that much. He understands you have to do paperwork and assign jobs for the swords but he will make extra sure you are taking breaks and eating properly. So don't be surprised if you see him much more often around you after you get back. He will make sure to bring you tea, snacks, and maybe some sleeping medicine at night if you can't fall asleep.

♡  Customers are relatively patient and understanding, so he often doesn't have to worry all that much when you are working.

♡  So expect a very shocked Yagen walking into the café and seeing hot coffee being poured on you when the customer gets so angry for getting the order wrong. Shock quickly turns into pure anger. He will push his younger siblings away before dashing over to the scene.

♡  Yagen is one of the fastest Tantous. You won't even see him. It will be a blur in front of your eyes before you finally realize that Yagen had just dashed from the door to the other side of the café and right into the man. The man now knocked out, laying against the wall he was just driven into by Yagen.

♡  The anger quickly fades from his face since the man is no longer his concern. His attention is quickly brought over to you, worry on his face and he doesn't even attempt to hide it. His gloved hands with quickly find yours, and guide you quickly to the back to help you.

♡  His siblings will follow the both of you, very concerned about you. Expect Yagen to be very quiet during this time. It will be mostly his younger siblings asking you if you are okay and having small talk to you.

♡  Yagen will hold you very gently as immerse the burns in cool water. His treatment is fast but gentle. He won't look at you in the eyes as he puts on the lotion and bandages the burn. The most he will say will asking his siblings to be a little more quiet and careful around you.

♡  The first time he will look at you will be when he gives you a pill to relieve the pain that you must be feeling. His eyes will still look insanely worried for you and you will see his mouth in a straight line, as if he is holding back emotions. He can't let you or his siblings see him cry.

♡  Yagen had to see many people hurt, almost all of them being people he cares about deeply. Sometimes, they wouldn't make it and break/pass away. He knows you are fully human and a little more fragile than him and the rest of the swords. It is only then, when seeing you hurt, does he realize how terrified he is about losing you.

♡  Yagen had lost his previous master and his mastered used him to die. He doesn't want to lose you too. He is no longer just a blade, he can make sure he can protect you.

♡  After his emotions are more under control, he will declare; "My siblings care about you a lot. All the swords care about you a lot." He will look down as he continues, "I care about you a lot. So get better soon and when situations like that happen and get too dangerous... It's okay to run away and rely on us. It doesn't make you weak. So don't go pushing yourself too far or else I won't forgive you. There is only so much I can help heal..."

♡  When you get home, you will have your own personal nurse around. Yagen will be around much more now. He will make sure you have everything you need and make sure you aren't working too much so your wounds can heal. He is also going to be the sword that is constantly changing your bandages and making sure you are taking your medicine and resting. He isn't going to allow him to back sass him either. You are following HIS orders until you fully heal.

♡  He isn't going to prevent you from working or going back to the café, though. He knows you are responsible and will do what you wish but he wants you to be aware that everyone cares about you and will be there if you need them. As well as not pushing yourself too far.

♡  Minamoto will often times show up at the café! Normally in the afternoon with Suishinshi. Minamoto often challenges poor Suishinshi at the arcade and whoever loses has to pay for the winner's food and drink. Let's just say... Minamoto isn't the one paying often and you see a very angry sword hiding half his face in his collar because of it.

♡  Minamoto thinks it's great that you are working in the café because it seems like something you really enjoy doing! Even if it's stressful sometimes. He honestly wishes he could also work with you and help out around the café but knows that working there is on a strict schedule that he just can't follow due to being a Touken Danshi (sword warrior). He has to be prepared to work around the citadel or go off to missions any moment you say the word. He respects that too.

♡  Doesn't mean he doesn't do his own work though! He actually gets paid to win stuffed animals from claw machines for people and sometimes enters gaming tournaments around the town to try to win some money for you and the citadel. He wants to help too! In his own special way.

♡  Speaking of that, he is very good at claw machines! So if he knows you like a certain animal or character (or maybe he just thinks it's cute), he will win it for you and show it to you when he gets to the café to surprise you and bring up your day! He knows you two can't talk much while you are working but he wants to make you smile any way he can and brighten your stressful day.

♡  Even though he shows up often to the café, he doesn't stay too long. He doesn't want to take up too much of your time when he knows you are busy. He wants to relieve your stress, not add onto it.

♡  Minamoto will try to make you some of the drinks or desserts back at the citadel for when you return! It... does not taste the same. He can make it look pretty! The taste is lacking though. It's the thought that counts. He would love it if you two cook together and you teach him how to make it! Anything to get your mind off work and just enjoy your time away from it. Bonus points if you actually enjoy cooking.

♡  As everyone knows, Minamoto is actually a pretty chill person. He doesn't look for a fight and eager to welcome anyone new and let them know that he respects them. That being said, his emotions sometimes gets the best of him and doesn't want to confront them directly which might come off more passive aggressive.

♡  I bring this up because the side he shows when everything goes down will not be a pretty one.

♡  He will be having a little chat with Suishinshi as they enjoy their drinks (Suishinshi with black coffee where every time he takes a sip, it looks like he is getting hit but he has to look mature. And Minamoto with a very sweet smoothie that could probably rot your teeth if you're not careful) but then will hear the loud commotion coming not too far from them. As soon as Minamoto sees that it's you that is involved, he rushes to get up and protect you. Not wasting any moments and nearly throwing the table on it's side. The drinks that were on it, broken, on the floor.

♡  Even though he rushed, he witnesses you getting the hot coffee poured on you right in front of him. Just a little too slow to get there. Horror will be written on his face as he turns his attention to the man who just did that to you.

♡  Fury. The man lasts no chance before Minamoto has him on the floor and letting his anger get the best of him.

♡  It is Suishinshi that urges you to go into the back with a follow coworker to get your wounds handled. It is also Suishinshi that pulls Minamoto off the customer. The once angry customer is now beaten and bleeding badly. However he is still conscious and rushes to get away from the swords. Suishinshi understands how his friend his feeling but knows that he can't let his anger get the best of him... Not here.

♡  Suishinshi will be the one that goes into the back to see you and take you home. Minamoto will be no where to be found. He has to cool off before he can see you.

♡  You will find him much later, on the rooftop looking at the stars. He will be much more quiet than ever before and won't look at you if you sit next to him. It will take a while before you can hear his voice that sounds stressed, as if not wanting to let more emotions get out.

♡  "You should of ran. You didn't have to take what he was saying... You-" He would pause as he grips his cloak, "You didn't have to see that side of me."

♡  He doesn't mean to blame you and would apologize a lot when he realizes it comes off like that. He knows that it isn't /your/ fault. He has a lot of emotions welling inside of him as he thinks about the incident and now seeing your skin bandaged. He never wanted to see you hurt like that.

♡  If you touch him and get close, everything he was holding back would just break. He would be sobbing into your shoulder as he expressed how he was so scared that he was going to lose you and not protect you. How he wanted to not cause more stress for you but ended up being useless and causing so much more stress and hurt onto you. His hug will be tight but gentle to make sure to not touch any of the wounded areas.

♡  He cares about you a lot that sometimes he doesn't know how to react to some of his more darker emotions. He didn't mean for today to turn out like that. He promises to be better and make sure to never let his anger get the best of him like that again.

♡  Like stated above, Suishinshi comes to the café often with Minamoto! He will often complained that Minamoto dragged him along but in actuality, it was Suishinshi dragging Minamoto. Though, you don't need to know that he misses you often when you aren't in the citadel. He will keep that secret just between him and Minamoto. Minamoto knows not to tease him about it because he will get defensive and just not go, then gets all depressed for not seeing you. So instead, he just smiles and goes along with it. Anything for his best friend.

♡  Suishinshi still often pays for the meals and drinks when they go because Minamoto still brings him along to the arcade. If he wants to see you so bad, he has to play a few rounds with Minamoto.

♡  Although he is often angry about losing, he does cheer up quite a bit when you come over and smile at them before asking for their order. You may even see a small blush on his cheeks that he tries to hide with his collar.

♡  He still orders black coffee even though it is very clear he does not like it, at all. He wants to impress you and show you that he is very mature and can handle bitter foods/drinks! Though you can see Minamoto often laughing at him for trying to drink his cup and making a face each time... HE WILL DRINK IT ALL. He will not back down.

♡  Even after Suishinshi and Minamoto leave after their order, you will find him outside the café around closing time. He will act like he just came back to do some shopping but he will not be holding anything. He is really just looking for an excuse to be with just you and walk you home after work. Don't point it out, he has an image to uphold!!

♡  Will wrap his cloak/jacket around you if it's cold when you both are walking home. "You shaking so much is distracting me, just take it". You won't even be shaking but he will say you were anyway. His cloak/jacket is very warm! Personal heater sword right there. Though he gets cold often but will still want you to swear the cloak/jacket.

♡  Don't be too surprised if you still him glaring at other customers when he is in the café. If he sees anyone looking at you in interest, his eyes are locked on them and he is giving them the death glare. He won't stop until they get the note. If you ask him about it, he will reply very bluntly to you with "I don't like their face."

♡  He can be very rude to those not important to him. Especially those that are trying to do something with his master.

♡  He is trying to get better at expressing his emotions! Emphasis on try. Sometimes when you both just get home and you both are hanging up your coat, hat, and taking off your shoes, he will mutter very softly for you to hear; "Good work today" before running off. You can't even ask what he said or thank him because he is already gone by the time you hear it and look over to him.

♡  He wants you to know that he supports you in everything you do but is really bad at putting that into words. Even worst with confronting you directly about it without running away. Just know that he means it every time he does get it out! He cares about you a lot more than he is able to express.

♡  So when he sees someone causing you trouble in the café one day? Oh no... He doesn't wait and gets up right away. Minamoto is the one that tries to calm him down, saying that aruji (master) can handle it. They are very capable on their own as well! That is the only reason that Suishinshi hesitates for a moment.

♡  But it is in that moment when the situation grows dire and coffee gets splashed onto you. Both swords stand there in shock for a moment before rushing forward. Suishinshi wastes no further moments and quickly knees the customer in the stomach to make them topple over, onto the ground.

♡  However, he doesn't focus on them. Instead, he turns his attention onto you and gently grabs you to rush you into the back. Minamoto is the one that deals with the violent customer (this time a little more calm but still seething).

♡  "It's okay. It's okay.." He will keep repeating as he puts cold water on your burns. You are unsure if he is trying to reassure you or himself. You will see him on the slight panic mode as he tries to help your wounds. Him shaking rather bad and dropping any item he tries to hold and help. A coworker will have to come in and actually help bandage and take care of your wounds as Suishinshi is escorted out to calm down.

♡  As soon as you come out of the room, now bandaged up, you will see him pacing back and forth in the cafe. Minamoto trying to get him to sit down and breathe. As soon as he hears the door open, his eyes shoot over to you and he runs over. Grasping you gently as he starts to go on a tangent.

♡  "A-are you okay? Are you hurt badly? Can you walk? Oh god that was dumb, of course you can. How are your eyes? Can you see? How many fingers am I holding up? Do you remember my name? My liege, do you know how worried I was about you? You shouldn't of..." He would stop and look down at the ground as he tries to catch his breath that he wasn't aware he was holding, "You shouldn't of been the one that got hurt. I should of taken the hit and your pain. I am sorry for failing you as your sword. I have no right to the title of Touken Danshi."

♡  Don't expect to continue working for a while. Suishinshi is normally one to not give affection openly but after that incident, good luck getting rid of him from your side. He will be constantly trying to help you around the citadel and not letting you touch almost anything that could hurt you.

♡  Also expect him to constantly be cuddling with you (if you allow it). It is more for him than you. He wants to make sure he doesn't lose you and protect you.

♡  There will be times where he is cuddling you from behind, with his chin resting on your shoulder and another sword will come in, telling you about missions reports. Suishinshi will be glaring at them from your shoulder. Almost like a feral cat trying to tell people to leave their owner alone.

♡  Suishinshi will say that he won't allow you to go back to work but if you really wanted to, you could. He is just very paranoid of a similar incident happening again.

♡  When/if you do start working again, expect him to be there everyday for the first good while. He won't use Minamoto as an excuse anymore and will just be there by himself. He wants to make sure to protect you! It will take a long time before he will actually distance himself from you and not be at your side all the time. You might have to talk to him to let him know that it will be okay and that it won't happen again. Even then, he will be scared and still show up fairly often. He will break the habit overtime!

[hpfannons]

Oh la la! Thats a fine choice of specimen. Thank you. :) lol. I only ask about the jealousy thing because I remember that Dick said one time that they only get to see him 2 months a year or something... I probably meant the batfam side i guess... lol but its good most Harry’s friend are okay or just roll with it... maybe I should asked some batfam moments during their stay in order hq... I really love that scene where Harry was on Dick’s lap and and the rest are just with them... I kinda want a scene with the same feeling...if you dont mind. xD thank you very much! glad to hear ur answer about fudge and umbridge. thank you so much... im really immersed in this au... looking forward to part 7. >_< thanks and stay safe y’all.

Glad you like my batfam! My best friend and I spent way too long going back and forth on people we could agree on for different characters (I think Tim and Alfred were the hardest… but it was years ago, so don’t quote me on that lol)

Sorry about the jealousy thing though, miscommunication on my part. I blame that for answering at 3 am on my phone XD

Yes, there is a lot of buried jealousy with the Batfam. Though surprisingly, most of it comes from Harry. That’s mostly because all these new family members come in while he’s at school, so it kind of feels like they’re all much more close knit with each other than with him because he’s not there for the large portion of the year.

They’re all happy to include him and catch him up with things he missed while he was at school… But there are some things you just have to be there in the moment for, because retelling the story just isn’t quite the same.

That’s not to say that the rest of the Batfam don’t have the same feelings as well, I think I’ve mentioned before that Tim and Harry especially are very close (actually best friends, on the same level as Harry and Ron) so Tim is definitely one of those people who feels Harry’s lost during the year the most.

Add on the fact it’s not really that easy to keep in touch with him while he’s at school, and it really is just hard on everyone.

As a side note, I fully believe the family would find some kind of way to make alterations to a communicator that will work at Hogwarts. Considering how many people who both use magic and have been involved with the Justice League in some way or the other, I find it hard to believe they haven’t found a work around for the whole magic screws with tech problem. At the very least, Harry would have a way to check his email from family, b/c making Headwig carry letters from Scotland to New Jersey and back is just cruel.

As far as the Batfam hanging out around 12 Grimmauld Place… They’re trying to be as non-confrontational as possible, even if there’s still some ruffled feathers from the first night. So the boys mostly go along with helping clean out the place under Molly’s orders - Jason was originally kind of prickly about it because he’s not a child (certainly not her child), so he found getting ordered around kind of insulting… Until his inner clean freak won out and yeah, this place does need a lot of work. Alfred has taught them all well, and it shows.

Tim mostly hauls himself up in the library when he can get away from clearing out pixies and de-gnoming the garden. He’s got like four notebooks full of information and Ron is a little shocked to find out Harry wasn’t kidding when he said Tim was worse than Percy and Hermione together when it came to information gathering.

Damian has less than stellar people skills at the best of times, and here he’s decided he doesn’t care very much for anybody over the age of seventeen (that’s not family anyway), so most of Dick’s time has been dedicated to keeping the youngest away from most of the Order. Not that he really blames him, Dick isn’t nearly as vocal about it as Damian, but he is also just completely done with all of them. He’s only playing nice because they’re here for Harry.

Bruce has also posted himself up in the library, reading everything he can get ahold of in regards to the history of the wizarding world trying to understand exactly what he’s son has gotten wrapped up in. Because lord knows nobody in this house is going to explain it to him… At this point he’s about one wrong comment away from telling them exactly where they can shove their ‘muggle’ excuses.

There was one notable evening though, when the boys as well as the Weasleys and Hermione were just hanging out in a parlor or sitting room or whatever it was supposed to be. Jason had been messing around with an old radio he found the other day and between him and Tim, they managed to get it working. The minute they recognized Britney Spears’s voice, there were four sets of eyes immediately on Dick who gave all of twenty seconds of resistance before he was up and dragging people along to dance with him. The impromptu party had ended up going on for hours, Tonks getting roped into the fun with them while Sirius and Remus smiled fondly from the doorway. Molly made a passing comment about bedtime, but didn’t argue back when that was quickly shot down by the other adults. Let the kids be kids while they could.

As far as soft moment’s for the Batfam… there are two that really come to mind, though they’re kind of sad though.

The first is really kind of short, but it’s after the battle of Hogwarts, and Harry’s come back from his final fight with Voldemort, and there’s just people everywhere in the great hall, but Harry knows exactly where he’s going. Bruce is standing to the side, watching while Jason’s getting patched up, and trying to keep an eye on his other kids as well. Everyone's a little banged up and bruised, but they’re all alive, and that’s the important part right now.

And then he sees Harry and there’s this almost tangible sense of relief because now all of his kids are present and accounted for, and Bruce feels like he can finally breathe again. And Harry just like collapses into Bruce who has to scramble a little bit to catch him, but then just stands there and holds him, because Harry is just completely exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally. And all Bruce hears is “I want to go home Dad.”, and honest to god Batman almost starts crying in the middle of the great hall in front of everyone.

The other is after the Triwizard Tournament, and everything with Mad-Eye Crouch, when Harry’s in the hospital wing. Everyone’s standing around trying to figure out what the hell just happened, and Harry wakes up still kind of groggy from whatever Madam Pomfrey gave him to knock him out, and he ends up breaking down crying in front of everyone.

Dick doesn’t even hesitate, he’s on Harry before the first tear even really starts rolling and just tucks him into the crook of his neck and let’s him cry it out. Except Harry’s been traumatized and he’s like full-on sobbing, almost wailing, and that just stabs everyone straight through the heart. Tim’s next, doesn’t say anything, just sits down behind Harry and tucks himself up against his brother’s back. Damian and Jason join in as well, Damian sitting on Harry’s other side and just quietly putting his head on Harry’s shoulder; while Jason sit’s down a little farther away, reaching out to put a hand on the back of Harry’s neck. Bruce is standing on the other side of the bed, and just runs a hand through Harry’s hair while they let him get it out and calm down.

And once he’s down to hiccups and kind of stuttery breaths, Dumbledore says something about leaving him be, and if looks could kill… Jason’s still armed, and he almost, almost goes for the gun. Bruce head’s it off at the pass though, saying he’ll go with them to discuss things further and also inform the league about what’s happened, but the rest of the boys will be staying.

Madam Pomfry insists on dosing Harry again, and after some reassurances that his brother’s aren't going anywhere, they get him to drink the potion. That’s as far as they indulge the mediwitch though. Tim and Damian both try to settle down in the bed on either side of their brother, though after some jostling around and being unable to really fit two teenagers and a ten year old comfortably in a hospital cot; Dick and Jason move another bed over flush against Harry’s and Dick manages to coax Damian into it with him, as long as the younger is able to keep hold of Harry’s arm. Jason retakes the seat he’d pulled up to the bedside, kick’s his feet up on the cot and settles in to keep watch over the lot of them for the night. And that is exactly where and how Bruce finds them the next morning.

[siegfriedens]

“Did you do that on purpose?” + rowancéline

physical contact starters, starring rowan jung and céline heo !!

Rowan enjoys a handful of things. Despite his outgoing persona and friendly smile put to everyone out there, it is no secret that he is an extremely picky enjoyer, if that is even something one could be. Jung enjoys hot cocoa every morning to pair watching the sunrise from the wide windows of his room, reading endless pages on whatever subject anyone would discard because it’s too boring, gloomy library corners no one goes to. Sunny days and hot summer weather, time he can spend outside playing rugby like it’s the only thing to do when it gets too warm. Rowan loves to be top of the class and talking over and over about the experience of human faith. However, there is nothing he enjoys more than being annoying to people that clearly didn’t expect him to because of his heartwarming smile, great looks and straight top grades.

It first hit him when he was still a kid in middle school. Born and raised in Sligo, a small town in northern Ireland, there was nothing to do but spend time with friends on the outskirts of the city, wandering around the green fields with kegged beer and a pack of cigarettes to share. His mother worked endless shifts to put a roof above their heads and the still teenager boy tried to forget reality by hanging out with the same friends he had since nursery. Sure, those boys were nothing like him and wouldn’t be his choice of friendship group if there was the option to choose, but still, there was nothing to do in a small town, neither was it upon him. After all, he didn’t really click with a lot of people; he didn’t even click with those boys on a deep level or anything. They were friends, and that was more than enough to Rowan, a teenage boy that had no family and was desperate for attention in any sort of way. He definitely felt somewhat alienated, but that stuff didn’t matter at eighteen.

He mostly did it because he wasn’t as popular as his few friends. They were all tall, blonde and had their way with girls all around. Meanwhile, Rowan was just their shadow, still loved and cherished but nothing more than that forgotten friend. Being the different one in a small town was harsh, so he found his way fitting in by building up his own reputation. He wasn’t a manwhore or an asshole like his friends. He was just annoying to anyone that treated him differently.

Even after leaving town for college, it stuck to him. After all, attending college at the best academy of the United Kingdom under a scholarship was no different than growing up as the different one back in a small, country town - he still had to find his way, and nothing more comfortable than sticking to his somehow perfect technique from back in the day. Rowan was going to annoy whoever challenged him. Sure, he was a nice guy, wore his smile with pride and greeted everyone good day, but he wouldn’t lose his future to manners. He was determined to be the best and there was no other human being to hold him back, nor have his place.

Soon enough, Rowan added one more thing to his enjoyable activities list. He had summer mornings for the most enjoyable thing ever, but that was before meeting Céline. Moreover, that was before annoying the hell out of her. That, annoying the hell out of the girl that challenged him in every possible way, was his new favorite thing to do. For that, he didn’t spare any efforts on making sure she was properly annoyed every single day as they would always bump into each other around campus. Even when they didn’t, Rowan would sneak into one of her classes just to make her go all red from anger. At some point, he would even wait for her outside her classroom just to escort her to her dorms while showering her with half rude, half flirtatious, annoying suggestions. He liked it because, even though she seemed to want to run away from him, she couldn’t. They were stuck with each other because of their friendship group and Rowan just loved it to have her around everywhere. Again, annoying her was his favorite hobby.

Despite her rudeness and witty comebacks, Rowan took those to build the strength needed to keep up his own good work. Céline was smart enough to get whatever she wanted and, if that was to leave her alone, she would have done it way sooner. She didn’t, and he had that as some kind of weird silver lining. Of course, it was almost confusing to enjoy having someone you claim to hate near you everywhere, but Rowan never worried much about making sense to anyone, not even to himself. Even if it didn’t quite add up, he just liked being around the French girl that hated him just how much he did it back, so he made sure to make her hate him even more. Rowan liked how she would yell at him and bite back. He liked how she would wear those little plaid skirts around campus and scold him for staring at her ass for too long, not even ashamed to hide his intentions. At some point, he even thought she liked being annoyed by him just as much as he had a ball at doing it every single day. He knew her schedule by heart. For annoying timetable purposes, of course.

They have a few classes together, and he loves those more than anything else in the world. Rowan would sit right next to her and stare at her for one or two whole lectures. Even if she didn’t look back or kept her expressions nonchalant to his little smile at the corner of his lips, he kept staring. Céline was the prettiest when fully concentrated, brows furrowed while chewing on her pencil, and the Irish boy was no fool to miss a second of that sight.

That lost autumn afternoon was no different than any other. Rowan sat by the huge window, next to the girl that hated his guts. It was their last class of the day, of the week actually, and he waited to see her the whole afternoon. She wouldn’t leave his head for good, and he thanked all the gods he could think of for it. Again, Céline had that same concentrated expressions combo going on her pretty face Rowan knew by heart. He smiled at her in between random notes he took on a lose piece of paper he had - even though she was quite entertaining, he could double task and wouldn’t handle her his place top of the class just because she was pretty and had the biggest ass he had ever seen. The French girl was completely immersed on whatever their old professor talked about, taking pretty notes on that pink notebook Rowan himself stole from her locker a couple hundred times. He could smell her floral perfume. His eyes surely didn’t leave her lips when she would apply that same fruity chapstick as a habit every once in a while. Rowan hated her for so many things, but he hated her the most for making him want to have her.

The hours went on unnoticed and Rowan didn’t even realize the class was finally over. Actually, he only noticed it when Céline, who had his full attention, started packing her stuff. He woke up from his daydream and started doing the same, but he had nothing to pack. He didn’t even have a bag at all. Standing up for once, Rowan folded his notes and put his small pencil inside his suit jacket pocket before going to her. He loomed over her for some seconds, watching her organize her stuff flawlessly as she wanted to beat him so bad at his own game. He wouldn’t allow it, however. She didn’t give him the time of the day, and Rowan was definitely annoyed, missing her yelling at him for nonsense.

Without thinking twice or speaking any word, Rowan tapped her spring water bottle that rested peacefully on the table. He made sure to ruin not only the notes from that class, but her whole notebook as the water made the pages stick together. When Céline looked at him, he was smiling. Finally, he picked the almost empty bottle up, drinking the rest of liquid that remained there. She was red angry again, and he loved that on her.

Her tone was music to his ears. She was finally talking back at him, biting back. My wild thing, I love when you bite back, he thought to himself. “Of course I did that on purpose, silly billy. Why would you even ask?” He answered in a shrug, putting the bottle down to tap her nose in a somewhat caring way, like she was a child. “I thought you’d be used to it by now, pretty girl. What is wrong with us these days?” Shaking his head to the sides in a disappointed expression, he analyzed her head to toe, folding his arms. “Come on, won’t you say you hate me so much for this? I somewhat miss it. You seem kinda off, actually. Need help relaxing? I am top of the class.”

Finally reaching her ruined notebook, Rowan closed it after making sure some more pages were ruined as he didn’t spare the chance to rip some soaked, fragile pieces of paper apart. “That’s surely ruined, isn’t it?” That same defiant smile lit up his face. He was high on the way she looked down at him, clearly annoyed. “No worries, sweet girl, you can have my notes. Why don’t we hit the dorms together?” Looking her in the eyes, Rowan brushed some rebel hair behind her ear. “I’ll make it comfortable to you while we study, I promise. You can even strip naked if you like, as your clothes clearly want you out of them very badly.” Your tits are begging for help out of this stupid tight shirt and your ass is peeking out as always, that’s what he meant. He just wasn’t going to give her the time of the day.

Rowan sighed. “Well, sorry for the notebook. It was surely on purpose.” His tone mocked her in every possible way. “You’re more than welcome to join me tonight, if you’d like. You know where I’ll be.” And just like that, he kissed her left cheek, long enough for him to imagine what it’d be like to kiss her lips, or maybe the tanned skin that begged to be kissed by him. Rowan walked to the door with no rush, turning back once more before leaving. “Also, I don’t like this perfume you’re using now. Change it for the next time I come to annoy you, will you?” He winked at her. “Don’t be shy to join me tonight, sweet girl. I’ll wait.” And he left, just like that. He knew she wouldn’t show up, or at least she never did, as he asked every single day, but he hoped she would. Everyday, Rowan wished Céline would.

[sugaabooga]

Sleep For Smiles

Pairing: Seokjin x nurse!Reader

Genre: Fluff, fluff, fluff, smol f2l!au

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: PG-13, some cursing, Seokjin’s lowkey being neglected

Synopsis: After another tiring night shift, you go back home to find Seokjin doing the most to make you crack a smile. -OR- “Can i request a jin x reader fluff where reader is super grumpy and tired all the time and jin wants her to smile uwu”

“EEUHH.”

“Whoa.”

You pause in your loud stretching and shoot a glare up at the doctor who stands leaning over the counter with an amused grin.

He flips back to the first page of his clipboard and drops his hands down behind his back, continuing to look at you with a playful glint in his eye.

“What are you looking at Min?” you hiss.

Yoongi shrugs. “Your ugly ass face, that’s what.”

You over exaggerate a gasp making the 3rd year resident roll his eyes and let out a snort.

“Have you eaten?” he asks with a disinterested expression.

You sigh, shaking your head and going back to analyze the patient’s orders you received from another resident just a few minutes ago. “One of the professors got some food from the convenience store, but I haven’t had a chance to eat it.”

Yoongi looks at you with an awkward smile. “Well, you should uh. . . eat soon.”

You hold back your laugh at the tsundere doctor that you’ve managed to befriend during your three years of working at Yonsei University Hospital and instead shoot him a grateful look to minimize his discomfort of somewhat outwardly showing his care for you.

“Thanks, Yoongi,” you say, making his face slightly pink in embarrassment. He awkwardly coughs and holds up his clipboard, lightly smacking it against the counter.

“Well, I’ll be in the night room,” he states, an indirect way of telling you to come find him if there was an emergency.

You nod and send him away, going right back to organizing other patient records and making sure nothing was out of the ordinary. You sigh after what feels like a few hours but to your dismay, it’s only been thirty minutes.

Internally cursing the clock that reads 2am, you heave your lethargic body up from the comforts of your swivel chair and head over to the carts so you can replace a couple of patient’s IV drips.

Just a few more hours, you encourage yourself. A few more hours and your night shift for today will be over. It’ll be home at last.

//

“Babe?”

The voice that usually has the power to immediately form a smile on your face fails to do so as you trudge in through your door at 9 in the morning.

You hear feet shuffling as you haphazardly kick away your shoes and enter the living area of your small apartment. You fail to notice the sink empty of dirty dishes, coffee table clear of cups, plates, and wrappers, and your random clothes and objects previously strewn all over the floors, placed into a hamper or their original places.

Your boyfriend appears, head peeking out from behind the wall. 

“Well hello there,” you say in mild surprise, not having expected him to be over at your apartment so early in the morning.

Seokjin’s brows furrow before wrapping you in a brief hug. “Were you at the hospital this whole time?”

“Mmpgh,” you grunt in response, as he pulls away and you stumble past, heading straight to the couch. As you near the living room area, you realize his computer’s out, meaning that he must have been working before you came.

With a heavy sigh, you automatically collapse onto the couch. “Seokjin.”

“Hm?” Seokjin makes his way over to the couch as well, gently sitting on the sofa beside you. He gazes down at you with a soft smile, arm immediately wrapping around your shoulders and pulling you into his side.

“M tired,” you mutter at which Seokjin chuckles, caressing your hair.

“I came early in the morning in hopes to cook us both breakfast,” he says. “I thought your night shift was two days from now.”

You weakly nod as your consciousness goes in and out. Curse Kim Seokjin and his warm, squishy body. You wrap your arms around Seokjin's waist, adjusting yourself into a more comfortable position.

“I had to cover for Mina,” you mumble. “You’re right though. I have another night shift, two days from now.”

Seokjin sighs, gently pushing away your hair from your mouth so you were laying down more comfortably. “Good job for another hard day at work.”

With all the energy left in you, you let out an empty laugh at your boyfriend’s encouraging words.

“Why did I go into nursing?” you sigh, detaching yourself from Seokjin and leaning back into the plush cushions of your sofa to fully lay down.

“Yeah, why did you?” Seokjin jokes, but you feel too tired to give him a solid kick in the shoulder as you normally would and quietly place your feet over his lap.

You groan, reaching over the coffee table to get a hold of the TV remote and turn on Netflix to continue rewatching your favorite medical drama of all time, Hospital Playlist.

You would think after another tiring night shift, you wouldn’t want to watch anything that has to do with your job. But contrary from that common belief, watching Hospital Playlist encouraged you to continue working hard at your job for the sake of humanity.

You silently play the fourth episode and turn up the volume, tossing the remote aside.

Seokjin slightly frowns at your lack of reaction and shuts his computer, wiggling over to you.

“Y/N~” Seokjin whines, form wrapping around your lifeless body.

“Hm?” you hum.

Seokjin sighs in content, your soft, warm body always reminding him of how you were his. His best friend was dating him. How wonderful was that?

“I love you,” he suddenly declares, plopping a kiss onto your cheek.

“I love you too,” you respond, drooping eyes honed onto the TV screen and not sparing him a glance.

Seokjin's nose slightly wrinkles at the lack of attention and chooses to glare at the surgery scene playing out before him.

For a while, Seokjin finds himself immersed in the drama. Then, a joke lights up his face.

“You know people say there’s some kind of foam stuck at hospitals?”

“Unbeliebbuble,” you cut off his joke, making Seokjin’s jaw slightly drop.

“You aren’t supposed to answer the joke!” he exclaims, making you snort at his overreaction.

“I’m sorry Jin,” you sigh with a playful glint in your eye as you reach up to ruffle his hair. “You said that one too many times.”

Seokjin huffs, removing himself from your body and propping up his computer. You seemed way tired than usual and Seokjin tried to think of ways to cheer you up. He hated seeing you so drained of energy.

Seokjin half-heartedly emails back his superiors, mind running a mile a minute in hopes to get an idea of how to cheer you up.

“Hey,” Seokjin starts off, turning to face you with a lunch suggestion on his tongue, then shuts up when your knocked out state is all he sees.

Seokjin suppresses his grin, quickly fiddling around for his phone and snapping a closeup picture of your mouth dangling open.

“Y/N,” he whispers. “Aren’t you going to wash up?”

No response.

Seokjin’s lip quirks up as you don’t even stir and spends a solid minute staring at your face. He sees how you’ve already taken your makeup off. Or how it came off with the long work hours you’ve had to suffer through. Despite your hair being slightly greasy and drool starting to dribble out the corner of your mouth, Seokjin  coos, wondering how he had managed to gain your romantic affection after those long years of a platonic relationship.

When you slightly twitch, Seokjin loudly snorts and carries you up from the couch, walking over to your bedroom. He changes you into your loungewear and throws your clothes into the hamper, tucking you in and closing the door shut.

Seokjin heads over to the kitchen, deciding to cook up lunch so when you wake up you wouldn’t resort to cup noodles.

A few hours later, a brief rustling makes you stir in your sleep as you continue drifting in and out of your dream. The sound of a door slamming shut jolts you out of your imaginary scene between you and your boyfriend out on a date and you groan, wondering when you had snuggled into your bed. Looking down, you tug on your nightshirt in confusion.

You roll your eyes, a small smile lifting on your puffy, chapped lips as you realize Seokjin had taken care of you yet again.

You roll out of bed and into your bathroom to wake yourself up by doing your normal morning routine. After some refreshing skincare, you make your way into the kitchen, already having decided to just clear another two bowls of cup ramen. To your pleasant surprise, a full-on meal was already awaiting you.

You shake your head, obviously Seokjin being the one who had prepared this grand meal. At the sight of the rice and soup neatly placed beside each other, your stomach loudly grumble and you make a quick mental note to call Seokjin later and dig into the rice and the various side dishes.

“Is it good?”

“HMPFGH!” you choke on the kimchi you were scarfing down, a violent series of coughs erupting at the unexpected voice that interrupted your meal.

Seokjin alarmingly pats your back, reaching for the water cup and handing it to you. With tears in your eyes, you take massive gulps of water and gasp out a deep breath.

“I thought you left!” you finally say after the whole ordeal.

Seokjin nods, walking over the chair across from you and gestures to you to keep eating. “I went out so I could restock your snacks. Food must be good, huh? You didn’t even hear me coming in!”

“Well, first of all, thank you, kind sir, for buying snacks,” you say with a playful glare. “But just so you know, the food is alright. Don’t wanna feed into your ever-growing ego.”

Seokjin scoffs, leaning back and arms starting to move animatedly as a small smile naturally comes up onto his lips. “WOWWW. This is what I get for cooking a whole meal for my dear girlfriend who was knocked out from her night shift! WAAH.”

A giggle erupts between your lips as you shove another spoonful of rice into your mouth. You miss the way Seokjin fondly smiles, leaning forward with a shameless stare.

“Finally,” he mumbles.

“Hm?” you look up from your chewing, eyes wide in confusion.

Seokjin nods to himself. “Of course. Sleep is always the answer.”

Your brows furrow at his randomness. “What are you talking about?”

Seokjin’s bottom lip instinctively juts out as he props his chin on his hand. “I tried to cuddle with you, attempted to tell you one of my foolproof jokes-”

You bark out a laugh that Seokjin blatantly ignores.

“Cleaned your whole apartment and cooked you a meal,” Seokjin dramatically sighs.

You gasp, looking up with an apologetic expression. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, Jin.”

Seokjin remains silent, looking down at his cup.

“I was so tired that I didn’t even notice you decluttered everything and. . . washed the dishes?” you gasp once more when spotting an empty sink, pouting at your boyfriend. “I’m so sorry.”

You put down your spoon with a sigh, getting up and smacking your lips onto Seokjin’s for a brief second. Immediately, Seokjin cracks a smile, unable to contain his laughter.

“What the heck,” you scoff. “You were acting!?”

Seokjin laughs, pinching your cheek without care of your protests. “How could I ever be mad at my wonderfully perfectly utterly clueless girlfriend?”

Seokjin giggles at your glare. “I’m just kidding. Of course, I don’t blame you. I never can and never will. You’re working so much these days. It’s obvious for you to not be. . . fully awake?”

“I’m sorry,” you frown, grabbing a piece of fish cake to bring into your bowl.

“Don’t be,” Seokjin grins. “At least you smiled.”

“What?” you say, giving Seokjin a weirded out look.

“I’m telling you!” Seokjin sighs with a shake of his head. “All you women need is sleep. Not a man.”

You chortle out a laugh at his statement and nod. “I one hundred percent agree.”

Seokjin breaks out into laughter mid-scoff, unable to resist your contagious laughter.

“Let’s go outside after you’re done eating,” Seokjin suggests.

“No,” you deadpan, making him flinch. “I wanna finish rewatching Hospital Playlist.”

“You already watched that drama three ti-”

“I’ll give you that cuddle session I wasn’t able to give you earlier,” you interrupt with a wink.

Seokjin breaks out into a grin. “That actually sounds a lot better than a walk in the park.”

You laugh at his eagerness and continue eating with satisfied hums at his cooking. Seokjin wipes the sauce at the corner of your lip and continues to blatantly stare, feeling his heart swell at the sight of your lips stretching into a smile.

//

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed whatever this was LOL. I was slightly debating how to approach this request but i hope it turned out alright!! Seokjin’s cute or whateva.

[dweetwise]

day 10: fairytale

prompt from: flufftober pairing: felix x ace notes: a soulmate au that went from fluff to angst with a happy ending. not even going to tag this as flufftober bc i failed ;w; warnings: implied violence, child abuse mention, death mention word count: 2760

Felix had always been unsure about a lot of things in his life. Throughout the years, he’d wondered if he’d ever fit in with the other kids, been worried that his grades weren’t good enough to get into the university he wanted, and eventually doubted his skills even as an established architect.

But there was one thing he was absolutely sure of, something that he’d known without question for as long as he could remember:

His soulmate was an asshole.

He was woken up in the middle of the night, again, from a sharp pain in his jaw reminiscent of what he thought getting sucker punched in the face must feel like. He blinked awake and rubbed at the spot, knowing it wouldn’t be any use, praying that this was a one-off—

Pain shot up his spine from his lower back, akin to getting slammed against something, before there was a sharp jab to his stomach that made him choke on a pained gasp.

Felix gritted his teeth and wondered how the hell his soulmate was even still alive after three decades of similar treatment.

It had started when he was just a kid, occasionally feeling phantom pains of a skinned knee or a bump on his forehead; typical mishaps from a lively child. His parents had been overjoyed that he had such a strong connection to his soulmate, telling him most people didn’t feel anything until adulthood, and that his soulmate had to be a very special girl.

But then the sensations progressed to kicks and punches and broken bones, forcing Felix to sometimes skip school and lay in bed while his parents’ worried whispers carried through the door, concerns of abuse and questions of “who could do that to a child?” floating in the air.

Luckily the episodes were few and far between and it became just another one of Felix’s quirks for his peers to resent him for.

When puberty hit and some of his male classmates started complaining about strange cramps in their abdomen, Felix was elated to notice that he felt nothing.

And then one day, he felt the very obvious agony of getting kicked in the nuts, doubling over mid-class and causing some of the girls to glance at him in sympathy.

His soulmate was male, and he didn’t know how to feel about that.

On one hand, he knew he’d never meet him. On the other, he questioned if the universe knew something he didn’t, for the first time considering whether the obvious path of eventually marrying a nice girl from a reputable family and popping out some kids to continue the Richter legacy was right for him.

He never told his anyone about his soulmate’s gender, even going as far as to avoid dating altogether. He wanted to bring up his doubts to his parents, but he didn’t have the courage, and then one fateful summer they were gone.

The loss of his parents made him shove himself back on what he knew they’d considered the “right” path, immersing himself in his studies, forcing himself to practice small talk, and even getting a girlfriend. She was even sympathetic to the occasional days where he just laid in bed and cursed his soulmate for getting into trouble again, petting his hair and reassuring him it’d be over soon. All in all, he’d pieced his life together the best he could, and living with the pain became just another annoyance.

But then it got so much worse.

For an entire year straight, his soulmate seemed to get into fights several times a day, Felix helpless to stop the agony over feeling a rib crack or getting hit over the head with a blunt object. He constantly woke up screaming in pain and had to excuse himself from countless business meetings, his entire life revolving around the pain. His only relief were the strong painkillers and sleep medications the doctors prescribed him, but even they weren’t always enough.

He understood why his girlfriend decided to leave, and he was surprised he didn’t feel anything, maybe because he was too high on the meds to really register anything that wasn’t the pain.

Then, out of the blue, it stopped.

Felix took some time to fully realize it, cautious to get off the meds and then dealing with the withdrawal of them. He wondered if his soulmate had died, and instead of feeling the immense relief the thought should have brought him, he found himself crying.

So he resorted to the dumbest thing he could come up with.

He didn’t know what brought the idea on, never having thought to get revenge for the countless hours of pain his soulmate had caused him, but he had to know.

And that’s why he kicked his bedside table as hard as he could, which made him curse and grab at his foot because he hadn’t realized actual pain was worse than phantom pain!

He laid on the bed clutching his foot for what had to be half an hour. The pain subsided to a dull throb but there was nothing in retaliation, no fist to the face or kick to the ribs like he was used to, and the absence of pain somehow hurt even more. He felt alone in a way he hadn’t since when his parents disappeared, choking out a sob—

“Ow!”

—until pain flared up his uninjured leg and he grasped his foot on reflex.

A laugh bubbled up in his throat through the tears, disbelief over the fact that of course the idiot had used the other foot and now they were both basically immobilized for the next couple of hours.

But whoever the bastard was, at least he was still alive, and Felix knew he wasn’t alone.

Life got so much better after that small incident. Maybe his soulmate realized there was an actual human being sharing his pain, or maybe he’d had a close call after the year of violence that made him somewhat change his ways.

Felix had a business partner now, Lauren, who was way too supportive of his predicament. Even if she would chuckle at him when he was cussing out his troublemaker soulmate while ramming his elbow into the wall to get his point across to the idiot, she never blamed him for having to take a day off or having to step out of a business meeting when it got too much.

And he told her more than he’d ever told anyone, from his soulmate’s gender to the worry he felt after the pain had suddenly stopped, and to their current back-and-forth that was almost playful.

So of course she’d notice when he suddenly blushed furiously as they were sitting on a plane on their way to a conference.

“What’s he doing now?” Lauren asked curiously.

“Apparently a goddamn tiger or something,” Felix hissed through gritted teeth, pinching his arm hard and trying to ignore the sharp sting of nails raking down his back. “Who claws at someone’s back like that?”

Lauren burst into laughter and slapped him on the shoulder, and their combined efforts luckily seemed enough to snap his soulmate out of it and get his partner to stop before Felix imploded from embarrassment.

Felix had never felt anything like that before, the only thing having made it through their bond being immense pain.

In retrospect, he should have realized it was because he was getting closer to his soulmate.

The conference in Las Vegas had been Lauren’s idea, and Felix scrunched his face up in disgust as soon as he took in the gaudy faux luxury of the hotel they were staying in.

“Did they pick this place to kill our inspiration? Or get ideas flowing out of spite?” Felix commented, regarding the ridiculous fake gold fountain in the lobby.

“Be nice,” Lauren chastised, and Felix relented, deciding the least he could do for her was not complain about the trip every five minutes.

But then they met up with the rest of the group of international architects and were dragged to a casino for “optional but recommended team-building” and Felix was just about ready to bash his face against the nearest slot machine over being forced to socialize.

Lauren pulled him aside to let a group of security guards escort a patron out of the establishment, Felix sparing an envious glance at the stranger and wishing he could take his place so he didn’t have to put up with any awful group activities.

“Gentlemen, we can talk about this, sì? I’m sure there’s been a misunderstanding—” the man feebly tried to address one of the guards.

“Keep moving!”

And then the man got shoved forward and stumbled to the ground, and Felix’s entire world stopped turning as he realized he felt both the push against his shoulder and his knee hitting the hideous marble floor in time with what was happening in front of him.

“Stop!” he was yelling before he even realized, his feet carrying him towards the scene.

“Felix!?” Lauren called behind him, but he didn’t even turn around. He had to know—

“Sir, please go back to your group. This doesn’t concern you,” one of the guards said while another one yanked his maybe-soulmate to his feet, a harsh grip on his arm that made him wince—

And Felix felt the pain like it was his own, hissing out a curse and clutching at his arm through his suit, and from the way the guard’s eyes widened in surprise and Lauren gasped behind him, nobody had any doubt as to what was going on.

The pain disappeared when the guard released his hold on the man they were about to throw out, his soulmate, Felix couldn’t believe it—

“Apologies, sir. We didn’t know he was with you,” one of the guards said, clearing the way between him and who was supposedly the love of his life.

“Oh honey, there you are,” the man lied so convincingly even Felix almost believed him, casually walking towards him. “I was just trying to tell the lovely gentlemen over here about our—honeymoon,” he settled on, a pleasant smile on his face even while flighty brown eyes glanced around as if looking for an escape.

Felix’s head was swimming, and he knew he should say something so the security wouldn’t get suspicious, but he was too busy taking in the fact that his soulmate was right in front of him, not seeming at all phased by the revelation that had Felix shook to the core.

Luckily, Lauren was an absolute lifesaver.

“Why don’t you two lovebirds go get some air!” she encouraged, giving Felix one of her now familiar shoulder slaps.

And that seemed to give his soulmate pause, a hand coming up to touch his own shoulder while his eyes widened slowly in surprise.

“You’re right,” Felix offered Lauren, before turning back to his soulmate. “Come on… ‘darling’.”

He didn’t have to grab the man’s hand to get him to follow him out of the casino, but he did, trying to tell himself it was only to sell the lie better. That still didn’t explain why he felt remorse when he let go.

“Okay, how did you do it?” his soulmate demanded, immediately crossing his arms over his chest and putting some space between them.

And it wasn’t like Felix expected love confessions or a heated make-out session or even any chemistry, but he sure as hell wasn’t prepared for an accusation.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” the man responded. “I appreciate you covering for me, but how did you make me feel it when your friend smacked you?”

“You know how,” Felix insisted, his own impatience surfacing. This wasn’t how he’d imagined their first meeting going at all.

“Yeah, sure buddy,” the man laughed dryly. “Do you know what the odds are? There’s seven billion people—”

“What were you doing in 2014?” Felix interrupted.

“I’m sorry?”

“I felt you getting beat up almost every single day. What the hell were you doing?” Felix accused.

The wariness melted away from the man’s features, replaced by recognition.

“I was in jail,” he said. “In Panama. It, uh, wasn’t the friendliest of places to be.”

Well, that explained a lot, and wasn’t really surprising considering the display Felix saw inside the casino.

“It was fucking torture,” Felix pointed out, and his soulmate winced.

“You’re telling me,” he said quietly, averting his eyes.

“And when it stopped, I was so scared that you’d died,” Felix confessed, not wanting his soulmate to think he was still angry at him.

The man looked back up at him, surprise clear on his features.

“I always thought you hoped I’d died,” he said. “And that you were just… checking. Even after that.”

“Why would I want you dead?” Felix scoffed, a little offended.

“There’s a considerable amount of people who do,” his soulmate shrugged with a sheepish grin. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you’ve been stuck with me as your… you know. Probably thought I was some hot chick,” he grinned but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“After all the times you’ve been kicked in the nuts over the years?” Felix snorted.

“Shit, sorry—yeah, you’re the unluckiest guy alive,” the man chuckled. “I’ve basically put you through hell.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Felix argued. “I was… uh, in a bad place. Several. And it always helped to know that I wasn’t alone.”

“Is that why you started bumping into shit? To get my attention?” the man smirked, and Felix didn’t have the heart to tell him it was because he wasn’t constantly bedridden and in pain and could finally afford to be careless.

“Maybe,” Felix smiled back. “It always felt kind of like… flirting.”

“That’s kinda fucked up, but I’ll take it,” his soulmate joked.

There was a beat of silence as the man regarded him curiously, and Felix took the opportunity to finally properly look at who he’d been sharing a bond with for the past forty years.

The man looked older than him but not by much, grey hair and tanned skin combined with the lively accent giving him an exotic edge that Felix couldn’t quite place. He was handsome, symmetrical features and a sharp jawline with a well-trimmed beard, and even though his long nose was crooked from having been broken one too many times, Felix was mesmerized.

He was shorter than Felix by a couple of centimeters, but had broad shoulders and a nice build that Felix couldn’t help but think would fit perfectly in his arms.

He barely even spared a thought to the tacky clothes the man was wearing, the deep purple button-up with a questionable card print or black sating lounge slacks never something he would personally choose to wear. Still, he wouldn’t mind them strewn on his bedroom floor while they were busy with… other things.

Felix didn’t even realize he’d been leaning closer until a hesitant but oh-so-warm hand effortlessly came up to rest on his shoulder.

“Geez, if I’d have known you were this hot I would’ve done something sooner,” the man purred approvingly, dark chocolate eyes crinkling at the corners when he smiled.

“Like what?” Felix was able to ask even while his head was swimming from the compliment, daring to lift a hand to rest on the man’s hip.

“I don’t know. Carve my phone number into my skin or something.”

“That sounds painful,” Felix offered, even though he shared the sentiment.

“Worth it,” the man grinned. “What’s your name, gorgeous?”

“Felix,” he said, trying to ignore how the praise made his neck heat up. “Yours?”

“Ace,” his soulmate, Ace, grinned even wider than before, and Felix looked down at his tacky shirt again.

“Like in the card, or…?”

“Yup!” Ace beamed. “And I know yours means ‘lucky’, which is the most hilarious coincidence I’ve ever heard.”

Felix bit back a comment about destiny, instead voicing the question he hoped was on both of their minds.

“Where do you want to go from here?”

“Well, that’s up to you,” Ace said, giving him a mischievous smile. “You wanna be my lucky charm while you’re here, baby?”

Felix wanted to correct him and say “forever”, but his rational side knew it was way too early to tell. And since he was an expert at repressing his feeling at this point, he had no trouble giving a small smile and offering a casual answer.

“Sure.”

…And that’s where his self-restraint ended, because when Ace smiled happily and wrapped his hands around his neck, Felix found himself immediately going in for a kiss.

The approving moan against his lips told him everything he needed to know.

[bloggideon]

Moonlight

Zaterdag 2:53 am, September 2019

Ever since Sander could remember, he’s always had sleeping problems. During the day, he can immerse himself in his art and the hustle-bustle of the city. It’s easy for him to avoid the dark thoughts but during the silent nights, when it's just him in his bed, nothing to distract him, those thoughts crawl back up. When that happens, counting numbers down from 21 down to 1 in his head mostly helps him fall asleep. Help his brain focus instead of wandering off and the repetitiveness of it calms him down. But tonight is a different case. 

It’s a cold winter night. Sander is lying on his side, thighs up to his chest, arms wrapped around them.

21

20

19

.

.

3

2

1

He’s still wide awake. It’s not working. How many times has he counted so far? 7? 8? He can’t even remember anymore and doesn’t care to. He takes the blankets off him and sits up straight in frustration. Something is missing. It’s the first time he’s felt an itch like this. He looks around the room trying to figure it out. Eyes wandering from the buckets of paint and paintbrushes strewn on the floor to the wall painted in big bold strokes of black and grey. That was a few nights ago when he was on the verge of a manic episode. He painted for 5 hours straight, just strokes of black and grey repeatedly till he felt somewhat calm. His eyes linger on the wall for a few seconds, taking it all in till they settle on the closed window. That’s it. He gets up and opens it, illuminating the room with moonlight. He stands there staring at the moon for a few minutes. That’s it! The moon. That’ll calm him down. He’s in awe of its beauty. There’s a strange sensation growing inside him. He doesn’t know what it is but it’s comforting. It’s hopeful. A a shiver runs down his spine from the cold wind now entering the room, but Sander doesn’t care. He goes back and lay on the bed staring at the moon, counting down again

21

20

19

18

.

.

.

8

9

And this time, he falls asleep.

Zaterdag 23:00, October 2019

Sander knocks at a garage door and is granted access. He enters, taking his camera off his neck. There are a bunch of students spray painting different trucks. He finds a spot by one of them and starts taking some shots. Covered from head to toe in dark clothes and wearing a mask, he hopes it’s enough to not get recognized if the police catches wind of the illegal activity going on. A voice snaps him out of his thoughts. “Serious?”. Looking towards the direction of the voice, He sees a dark-haired girl pulling a brown-haired boy along with her. “Cute”. That’s the first thought that pops in his head. “Huh? That was weird”. He takes his eyes off the camera for a few seconds to fully take this stranger in. He looks at his brown curly locks and his dark brown eyes twinkling in the moonlight. “Beautiful. I absolutely need to capture this” he thinks as he starts taking photos. He’s completely mesmerized by this stranger, overwhelmed by a strange feeling stemming from deep inside of him. “Where have I felt this before?” He should be taking photos of the paintings, but he can’t take his eyes from that one truck and that one boy. All he wants is to run his fingers through those soft curls. To have this boy in his arms. To hear his voice. Just when he thought he can’t be more enamored by him; the girl takes off his mask and Sander witnesses a beautiful smile, completely forgetting how to breathe. “He is the one. He is the one. He’s definitely the one” he hears the voice inside him saying. Seeing that stranger kissing the girl makes him feel a tinge of sadness. For the first time, he pays close attention to her. Noor? That’s Noor! Just as he thinks about going over and talking to her so he can talk to the boy as well, his phone buzzes. He takes it out and opens the message:

Britt: Where are you? I need you right now. Call me asap.

He wants to stay and get to know the brown-haired boy, but he knows he has to leave, or Britt will get annoyed and he really doesn’t want to have another fight. Sander glances at the stranger one last time and then it hits him where he’s felt this before. That one winter night where he was battling insomnia but staring at the moon calmed him. Bingo.  He walks out of that place determined to get to know this stranger. This boy who rocked his whole world. He wants to know what makes him smile and what makes him tick. He wants to know his deepest desires and darkest secrets. He wants to know how he’ll feel in his arms. He wants to know everything about him.

Zaterdag 1:12 am, January 2020

Sander has never felt this in peace before. The lonely nights where he used to spend hours counting numbers trying to fall asleep feels like an eternity ago. In Robbe’s arms, he can fall asleep in an instant. Robbe. He still can’t believe this guy is his. That Sander is currently wrapped in his arms, face buried in his chest. Both his arms and legs wrapped around him in a tight embrace. Robbe. He says in his mind as he gets lost in Robbe’s fingers lightly running through his hair. In this very instant, everything is right in the world. He’s right where he belongs and where he always needed to be. His body fits right in with Robbe’s like two perfect puzzle pieces. Robbe. Sander kisses him on the chest, a light feather kiss.

“Robbe”, he whispers.

Another kiss on the neck and Robbe moans.

“Robbe”, he whispers again.

That prompts Robbe to grab his hair in a fist.

“Sander”, he whispers back.

Sander couldn’t help himself after hearing that sweet sweet voice, so he licks Robbe’s neck from his collarbone all the way to his chin getting a deep moan from him while the fist gets tighter. Robbe pulls Sander face up tenderly and kisses him on the lips once and then again going in for a deeper one. After a few seconds of their lips caressing each other and tongue intertwined, which feels like an eternity, Sander bites Robbe’s lower lip and let’s go which prompts another moan from Robbe, his eyes still closed and his lips searching for Sander’s. Sander smirks and places a finger on them. Robbe kisses it opening his eyes and looking at Sander. “Don’t you have to wake up early in the morning for school? Let’s go to sleep”, Sander says. He can’t stop staring at Robbe’s beautiful face in the moonlight streaming from the window. Robbe nods. His eyes now full of mischief, he licks the finger on his lips which sends a shiver down Sander’s spine. Sander grabs Robbe’s hands pinning them above his head and wraps his legs around him even tighter making him unable to move. He could feel Robbe’s breath hitch and his beautiful brown eyes looking at him filled with ecstasy. Bringing his lips close to Robbe’s but not too close so Robbe is unable to kiss him, Sander whispers, “You know exactly how to turn me on don’t you?”. “What do you mean”, Robbe smirks and licks his lower lip slowly and sensually while gazing at Sander with those beautiful brown eyes brimming with lust. Sander knows he can’t win against Robbe. Even when Sander has him completely pinned down, making him unable to move, Robbe has the upper hand. He has him completely wrapped around his finger.

He kisses Robbe and rests his forehead against him. Their noses touching.“You’ll be the end of me’, he smiles. Robbe rubs their foreheads together, “Alright alright, I won’t tease you anymore” he pauses and then adds “tonight. Let’s go to sleep”, Sander let go of Robbe’s hands burying his face back in his neck. Robbe wraps his left arm around him, his right hand immediately finding Sander’s hair and resting there. He inhales deeply taking in Robbe’s scent. It makes him calm.

“Goodnight, my love”, Robbe whispers as Sander lulls to sleep thinking about that one night where he saw a brown-haired boy who rocked his world. The brown-haired boy he decided he’ll get to know no matter what. The brown-haired boy who accepted all of him, his best and his worst. The brown-haired boy who he loves to death. The brown-haired boy who’s currently in his arms counting down from 21 for him.