#can’t have shit. try an post a disgusting bug love story and I still get finch’d

[hana-bobo-finch]

your honor they make me ill. they make me insane your honor. your honor,

[karl-raccoon-enjoyer]

Would you be willing to share some of your A and B headcannons? (Only if ur willing haha)

Absolutely! Was very excited to see this ask!!

(wasn’t sure if you meant individual or shipping,so I did both)

A-Specific HC’s

*I usually refer to her in a gender neutral way to respect other people’s headcanons, but I think she’s transfem

*Also has autism because I have autism (that rule basically applies to any headcanon anyone’s ever had about A ever but-)

*Tbh my headcanon for what name she would go by in different circumstances changes constantly, so let’s just say she can’t pick a name to save her life

*Can be very calm or very chaotic depending on the circumstances

*”The circumstances” being whether she needs to be the voice of reason to keep people safe/help people or not

*A acts crazily but at the same time cares very deeply about other people

*Her little quirk is drawing on absolutely everything

*Her art style is a little cartoony but the kind that uses cross-hatching

*Think the art style in the original Alice in Wonderland

*Which also happened to be her first special interest

*Would have some kind of pet reptile

*Is entertained by watching her reptile hunt the bugs she puts in it’s cage

*A’s reptile goes everywhere with her (even if it’s sometimes in places where it shouldn’t)

*For every time she changes her own name she changes her reptile’s name

*If her reptile doesn’t like you, she doesn’t like you

* Therapist Friend™️ (no explanation needed)

*Favorite texture is tightly-woven yarn (the soft kind not the hard kind)

*Least favorite texture is drying honey

*Already made a post about this but- Because she’s so caring, she took care of Matt as a baby (I headcanon he was only a couple months old when he arrived) and is now his mom

*She made those goggles he wears one day to try her hand at crafts

*Absolutely hated them, but still gave them to Matt because he thoughts they were cool

*That’s why Matt always wears them

*Her and Near both have a stim of playing with their hair, but neither one knows who picked it up from who

*Has a very beautiful singing voice

BB-Specific HC’s

*We all know this already, but he’s trans as well

*Despite that he still like some more traditionally “feminine” thing like nail polish and makeup (not saying that’s weird/bad)

*Before he was trying to copy L, his little quirk was making dolls

*He taught Near how to make those little rubbery dolls he has

*Also really likes puppets

*Had really long black hair

*Was like an older brother to Mello

*Sometimes slept under little kid Mello’s bed to scare off the monsters (then sometimes made it seem like he was fighting them to keep Mello on his toes)

*Worms his way into the weirdest crawl-spaces that nobody even knew existed

*One time one of the workers found one filled with tons of unfinished dolls

*Turns out it was his pit where he put all of his failed creations

*Eavesdrops on people all of the time

*Comes up with concerning names for his menstrual cycle such as “The Great Cleansing”

*Gives some of his creepiest dolls to people he doesn’t know that are too intimidated to turn them down

*Loves horror movies

*Once tried to make an indie film, but the tape was destroyed by Whammy’s staff, so there wouldn’t be a recording of him

*Is talented at a few instruments but doesn’t care enough to pursue any of them

*Would be the type of kid to have a jar of dirt that they store live bugs in

*Would tell other kids to stick their hands in as a prank

*Put bug eggs in the rooms of people he didn’t like

*Once tried to eat a live bug but didn’t do it again because it tasted bad

*Honestly there’s a very long list of disgusting things he’s tried to eat in the past

*Has a notebook full of weird ass short stories he wrote that don’t make any sense

*Rarely bathes

Ship HC’s

*They both do reckless shit but then get upset when the other does reckless shit

*”What the hell don’t pierce yourself you could get really hurt!” *pierced themself 3 days ago*

*A is one of the few people Beyond really cares about

*A’s crush on Beyond started when he had found her reptile after it had gotten lost and it was [expressing affection in whatever way that animal does] at him

*Tbh his first reaction was to run some kind of “experiment” on it, but he thought it was pretty so he decided not to

*After A died he took care of her reptile and cried more than he’d like to admit when it died as well

*Beyond became interested in A through him realizing that she also liked to do schemes around Whammy’s, and, after participating in some with her, realized she was pretty fun to be around

*Neither of them have a problem with PDA (to a reasonable extent), so most of the little kids think they’re really gross (think back to when you were little and saw 2 characters kiss in a movie)

*A is way taller than Beyond

*A has a lot of OC’s and Beyond turns her favorite ones into dolls

*Beyond is more like a stepdad to Matt than anything

*A is the only person he ever told about the numbers

*She believed him wholeheartedly

*Refuses to tell her her’s or Matt’s numbers because he wanted her to be able to live her life freely and happily without worrying about death all the time (like him-)

*As soon as Beyond figures out his feelings he confesses

*A tried to keep her composure, but she still starts happy-stimming

*A’s love languages-

* Giving-

1. Physical Affection

2. Words of Affirmation

* Receiving-

1. Physical Affection

2. Acts of Service

*BB’s love languages-

* Giving-

1. Acts of Service

2. Gift Giving

* Receiving-

1. Physical Affection

2. Words of Affirmation

*Beyond has a place in his room where he stores food, so A can always have access to her comfort foods

*When Beyond couldn’t sleep, he went into A’s room to watch her sleep (in a protective way but also in a creepy way because it’s Beyond)

[atlafan]

a/n: okay, here it is! a lot of you really wanted me to post this on here, SO THAT MEANS I’M GONNA SEE LOTS OF FEEDBACK AND REBLOGS, RIGHT?! Can’t wait to know what you think of this one! [Patreon] [Buy Me A Coffee] (not proofread) I was inspired by a lot of different things with this, it’s sort of like Scarlet Witch meets The Dragon Prince meets ATLA??? Also, Harry is a major himbo in this, and we love that for him.

Warnings: angst, fluff, flirting, magical fighting, smut (rim job)

Words: 22K

Pairing: Harry x OC (Amber Hale)

Song Inspo: High For This - The Weeknd

“What do you do with a BA in English?” The age-old question that was coined from the hit musical, Avenue Q. Harry thought he had the answer to that question, and it was go to graduate school to get his MEd in English. He’d get his K-12 certification, not that he wanted to work in a K-12 school system. No, he wanted to be a literary professor. He wanted to be able to have high level discussions about the classics, post-modernism, film adaptations, and more. He loved reading, ever since he was a little kid there was a book in his hands. There was just something about getting lost in a world that someone else created for a bit, and then analyzing the shit out of it.

He had already done a semester of student-teaching as a senior, he didn’t love it. He took a gap year trying to find a publishing company to work at. He thought he could maybe be an editor. Harry soon realized he didn’t like being told what to read, and the pay was pretty low. He even tried working at a bookstore for a bit. It wasn’t as much fun as he thought. So, at the age of twenty-four, he enrolled in a master’s program to get his Med in English. At least this time when he’d have to student-teach, he’d be doing it at a collegiate level. He knew he’d get stuck teaching a couple of sections of first-year composition, but he had no problem teaching students how to properly construct a paper. There were three classes he needed to take in the fall, all of them being online-asynchronous: Social Behavior in a Diverse Society, Philosophy, Ethics, & Education, and Teacher Action Research.  

Since Harry had a semester of teaching under his belt, he was able to get a better paying grant, and wouldn’t have to just TA, he could actually teach. He’d still be subject to observation, but at least he could be trusted. So, he’d be teaching two sections of Composition, and one section of Fiction Workshop, where students would read texts Harry picks out, and discuss them. Fiction was his favorite, so he was really excited to be teaching this particular course.

The university he was attending was on the east coast in the states, a very picturesque college town by the seacoast. Harry loved fall, so he was happy about getting to be immersed in the season. So, he had his courses settled that he had to take, he knew what he was teaching and set up his Canvas pages, the last thing he needed to figure out was a place to live. He had been staying at a motel in the area, but that was starting to get pricey. He looked around online, but there wasn’t much out there. He also didn’t want to get stuck living with a bunch of undergrads that were loud and partied. He asked the other faculty in the English department if they knew of anything, but they didn’t.

Harry decided to go for a walk in the downtown area, and see if there were any ads in some of the shop windows. A lot of the buildings looked to be apartments up top. On his walk, he noticed an interesting looking café. There were other coffee shops in town, and this one looked to be almost deserted. Harry shrugs his shoulders and heads inside. A chime sounds as he walks in, and he sees that it’s almost like a country store. There’re tee shirts, sweatshirts, scarves, gloves, books, knick-knacks, and treats. This seemed like a neat little place, why wouldn’t there be a lot of people here? It was still summer, maybe it was more of a college student hangout?

Even though it was still summer, the place smelled like cinnamon and apples. The fresh smell of coffee wafted through the air as well. From the back comes a woman wearing a green apron over her clothes, dusting her hands off. Harry stops in his tracks as he looks at her. She had these piercing blue eyes that resembled sapphires. Her hair was up in a loose, wavy ponytail, the color being one of those silver/lavender mixes, a contrast to her dark eyebrows. She was a short thing, couldn’t have been a little more than five feet tall. Her nails were painted black, and she had this gorgeous necklace hanging around her neck. She also had various piercings in her ears, and a silver hoop in her left nostril.

“May I help you?” She asks Harry just as a Siberian husky comes trotting out by her side.

“Hi! I’m new to the area, and I was just strolling by and saw your shop…um, do you have iced tea?”

“Yeah.” She nods slowly. “Come over to the counter.” The dog circles around Harry, sniffing at his legs. “Are you okay with dogs?”

“Love ‘em! Boy, girl?”

“She’s a girl, her name is Opal.”

“That’s a lovely name.” Harry smiles, and leans down a bit to let Opal sniff his hand. “She’s a beautiful dog.”

“Thank you. So…you said you wanted an iced tea? Here’s the list of flavors.” She taps a laminated paper that’s taped to the counter.

“Right, yeah, um…what do you recommend?”

She furrows her brows at him for a moment, studying his face.

“I just drink the plain, black tea with a dash of sugar syrup.”

“Then I’ll have that.” He smiles.

She nods, gets a cup to fill with ice, and goes into one of the small fridges where the tea was chilling. She adds the syrup and then the tea, then snaps a sippy-cup style lid on top.

“Here you go. That’ll be $3.99.”

Harry sets a five-dollar-bill on the counter.

“Keep the change.”

“Thanks.” She puts the rest in the tip jar.

“What’s your name? You’re not wearing a tag or anything.” He says before taking a sip of the tea.

“It’s Amber.”

“Amber! Oh, is that why you’re wearing one?” He points to her necklace.

“Well, I was given this when I was a little girl.” She says as she looks down at it, then back up to him.

“Do you mind if I peruse around the store a bit? Although, I shouldn’t be buying any trinkets until I actually find a place to put them.”

“What do you mean?” She blinks at him. Who was this man and why was he being so friendly with her?

“I’m new to the area, and I’ve been having a tough time finding a place to live. I’m at one of the nearby hotels, but I can’t stay there much longer. You wouldn’t happen to know of any vacant apartments, would you?”

“Sure she does!” Another woman comes out from the back. “Amber owns the whole building, which means she owns the apartments upstairs.”

“Penny.” Amber seethes, and then looks at Harry. “I’m sorry, I don’t rent to college students.”

“I’m a graduate student, and I’m also going to be teaching. M’not loud, and I keep things tidy. I’d be happy to fill out an application if you like.” He smiles. “Plus, I could be a walking advertisement for the place because this tea is incredible.”

“The shop does well for itself.” Amber mutters.

“Oh, just give the boy an application.” Penny says.

“Fine.” Amber sighs, and ducks down to grab an application. She hands it to Harry reluctantly. “My email is on the bottom. Just scan it and send it to me that way, and I’ll get back to you.”

“I’ll make sure of it.” Penny smiles. “Parking’s included.” Amber glares at her. “Well, I’m just going to head back to the back, take stock of things.”

“You do that.” Amber says, shaking her head, and then looking at Harry. “She’s a good worker, but she’s nosey as shit. So, you’re a grad student?”

“Mhm, and I’m twenty-four, so I’m not fresh out of undergrad either. I’m going for my MEd in English, and I’ll be teaching a few classes as well. I’m excited to get started.”

“English, huh?”

“Mhm.” Harry smiles.

“You must really like to read.”

“I do.” He nods. “Do you?”

“No, I hate it actually.”

“But…there are so many books here.”

“Yeah, the majority of them are cook books, or informational books about the area. I’ve never really cared for reading. It’s a waste of time, if I’m being honest.”

“A…a waste of time?” He blinks at her.

“If I’m reading, it’s so I can learn something.”

“But even if it’s fiction, you can still learn so many life lessons.”

“Maybe worry about teaching that to your students instead of me. I’m a lost cause.” She smirks. “I need to finish up what I was doing in the back, so if you still want to peruse…”

“No, uh, I’ll get out of hair. I’ll email this over to you later tonight. It was nice meeting you.” He looks down at Opal who was eyeing him carefully. “And it was nice meeting you too, gorgeous girl.” He smiles, and leaves the shop.

Amber takes a deep breath and heads into the back where Penny is. She glares at her, and it makes Penny laugh.

“You could use a new tenant.” Penny says to her.

“I don’t need you finding one for me.”

“He’s cute.”

“He’s annoying.” Amber deadpans. “Practically told me his whole life story!”

“He clearly felt comfortable around you.”

“So? He’s an English professor or something, how pretentious.” She makes a disgusted noise.

“Just give his application a fair shot, would you?”

“I will, but only because if I don’t I know you’ll keep bugging me about it.”

//

Harry couldn’t believe that he just heard with his own two ears that reading was a waste of time. He knew there were people that didn’t care for it in the way that he did, but Amber said she hated it. He couldn’t fret over it too much, though, because either way he still needed an apartment, and she had a vacancy open. So, when he got back to the hotel later that day, he worked on his application, and emailed it over to Amber. The name of shop was cute: Opal’s Café & Convenience. He found it endearing that she named it after her dog. Amber seemed rough around the edges, but maybe Harry could be the one to smooth her out a bit.

//

Much to Amber’s dismay, Harry was the perfect applicant. He didn’t have any pets, he wouldn’t be throwing wild parties, his credit checked out, and his references were solid. Amber would be stupid not to let him take one of her apartments. She emailed him back and let him know it was his if he wanted it, and when he could move in. In the email, she attached a list of rules he’d need to follow when being one of her tenants. She lived in the building as well, and she valued her privacy. She explained that she would often make a lot of tea in her own apartment, so Harry might catch a whiff once in a while.

Harry was so thrilled he’d have an actual place to live just in time for school starting that he agreed to all of her conditions. So what if he’d smell tea once in a while? There were far worse smells out there. Harry packed everything into his car, and headed over to the building as soon as he could. He found his parking spot, and started moving things up. His apartment was on the floor beneath Amber’s. She had the entire top floor to herself. Harry was surprised that he’d have the whole second floor to himself. It was a spacious one bedroom that he was grateful for. He was drenched with sweat by the time he got the last of things upstairs. The first thing on his list was to install his air conditioner. He tore his shirt off, kept the front door open for some airflow, and got to work putting the air conditioner in the main window of the living room. It was the space he’d be in most, so he wanted it cooler in there. He could always leave his bedroom door open or just use a fan at night.

Amber was heading down the stairs with Opal, and noticed Harry’s door was open. She was about to get to work opening the shop. Her eyes widen when she sees that he’s shirtless, littered with tattoos. He just happens to turn and see her standing in the doorway.

“Oh, hi!” He smiles, and walks over to the door, bending a bit to pet Opal.

“Everything going okay so far?” Amber asks.

“Mhm.” Harry nods, crossing his arms. “Just got the A/C installed, so it’ll be nice and cool soon. Thanks again for letting me rent from you.”

“Yeah, well…it’s money.” She shrugs. “Look, uh, there’s a basement here too, don’t go down there. It’s locked anyways, but I keep all of the supplies for the shop in the basement, so…it’s off limits.”

“Oh, no worries. I’ve got plenty of space up here. I don’t have a bike or anything, so I don’t think I’d even need the extra storage.”

“Good.” She nods. “Well, I’m headed down to open up. See you around.” She snaps her fingers to get Opal’s attention, and they go downstairs. Once they’re down in the shop, Amber notices Opal looking at her. “Don’t even start, I already know you’re on Penny’s side.” She sighs.

“He is awful cute.” Opal says. She and Amber could communicate telepathically.

“I have more important things to focus on, we have more important things to focus on.” Amber crouches down to her dog. “You realize we can’t just chat freely with him around.”

“It’s the same with the college kids. He might think it’s cute that you talk to your dog.”

“I don’t really care what he thinks.” Amber rolls her eyes and stands up. “I have to get the coffee and tea going. Could you check the shelves and see what herbal teas we’re low on?”

Opal nods, and heads over to the aisles to take stock of everything. Amber gets the coffee and tea brewing so it’s fresh for the customers. Penny comes in an hour or so later to make some fresh biscotti while Amber was working on making more herbal tea. Amber’s herbal teas were quite popular with the college students. Were they laced with a little magic? Maybe, but it was all for a good cause. She had special anti-stress and anxiety teas, sleepy time teas, wake-up teas, and some teas that could put someone in the mood, but she didn’t advertise those often.  She didn’t want anyone taking advantage of anyone else, she only sold it to people who knew to ask for it, and they had to sign a waiver.

Certain coffees had some magic involved too. There were coffees that were ground with something to help people focus for long period of time, coffees for all-nighters, and more. She lived in a pretty liberal area where people were super into different types of “wellness”. There were so many people that would rather try drinking an herbal tea, than take a pill, so she used that to her advantage. No one ever really questioned why her products worked so well.

Amber had been living pretty peacefully the last few years, but as of late she felt this odd disturbance. Something bad happened in the spring. Something came after Opal. Amber almost lost her best friend in the world. She had been trying to track down whatever the fuck it was, but the trail had run cold. She took the time to train and work on some of her spells. Opal explained that Amber should be able to just think and cast instead of having to say the spell out loud. She had gotten a lot better at it, and she had gotten a lot better at throwing a punch. Whatever the fuck that thing was, she’d be ready for it. Amber also didn’t want anything bad happening to the college students. They were so vulnerable as it was, but a lot of them would walk around intoxicated at night, making them the perfect target. She felt protective over her college town, she wasn’t going to let anything happen to anyone.

That’s why she had a chip on her shoulder when it came to Harry. She didn’t exactly trust the new guy, especially since he came right to her shop, and asked about a place to live. It was rather peculiar, but she thought it would be better to keep a close eye on him, so she accepted his application. No one else seemed too bothered by him, and she didn’t exactly appreciate the glances Penny and Opal gave her when it came to him. Yes, he was cute, but Amber had a hardened heart that couldn’t be so easily sueded by a handsome man with a kind a smile.

//

Harry couldn’t believe how packed the shop was once the college kids were back in town. Amber did really well for herself. He liked living above the shop a lot. Sometimes he’d buy a coffee, find a place to sit, and get some grading done, or do some homework of his own. Sometimes he’d catch Amber looking at him, a deep furrow in her dark brows. He’d give her a soft smile, and she’d just look away. Opal liked sitting by his feet. Any time he’d sit down for a bit to get some work done, there she was. He loved dogs, so he was happy she seemed to take a liking to him.

“Hey, Professor Styles!” A girl in one of his composition classes, Zoey, says to him.

“Oh, uh…it’s Zoey, right?” He looks up from his laptop.

“Mhm.” She nods. “You like to hang out here?”

“I live upstairs, actually. I like to come down here for a change of scenery. Do you come here a lot?”

“Oh, definitely. My friends and I come here almost every day. Amber has some of the best tea and coffee I’ve ever had. I was just stopping in to stock up on her sleepy time tea.”

“Sleepy time tea?”

“Yeah! Puts me right to sleep after having a small cup. You should try it.”

“Zoey, come on!” One of her friends says.

“I better go, it was nice seeing you!”

Harry waves to Zoey as she leaves to go down one of the aisles. He gets back to his work. He was doing some research for his philosophy class. He had to look into the different philosophies of various educators from a list his professor gave him. Without even realizing it, he skipped dinner, and ended up being the last person in the shop.

“Glad to see you’re making the most out of having free Wi-Fi.” Amber scoffs as she crosses her arms. “We’re closed.”

“Shit, I’m so sorry.” Harry scrambles to pack up his things. “Time must have gotten away from me.” He looks down at his watch and sees that it’s nearly 9PM. “Fuck, I need to get to sleep. Hey, could I buy some of that sleepy time tea you sell? One of my students was telling me about it earlier.”

“Sure, you can buy a pound for fifteen dollars.” She grabs a bag of it and they both go up to the counter so she can ring him up.

“Must be good stuff if college kids can afford that.” He hands her exact change.

“It lasts a while.”  She purses her lips briefly. “You may have some…vivid dreams. It’s really, um, potent, especially if it’s your first time drinking it.”

“Do you make it yourself?”

“I do.” She nods. “I promise it’s all FDA approved.” She smirks.

“I trust you, no worries.” He chuckles. “Do you need any help cleaning up?”

“No, I’m all set. Penny’s in the back still, I’ve got all the help I need.”

“Alright, well, have a good night.” He smiles.

“You too.” She watches as he heads out the door in the back to go upstairs. Amber looks down at Opal. “You need to stop sitting by him so much. He’s going to think I’m staring at him every time I look over at you.”

“I can’t help it! He smells nice.” Opal says.

“I don’t care what he smells like. We need to be cautious.”

“You worry too much. Whatever that thing was caught me on a lunar eclipse, so I couldn’t transform fully. Had I been able to, I never would have gotten hurt.”

“Yeah, and it probably knew that. Probably want to make you transform into a wolf full time. You’d become rabid.”

“I’m well aware of that. I’d be able to sniff out anything demonic about him, especially by now. He seems genuine.”

“Good for him.”

“Amber.”

“Opal.”

“Would you two give it a rest?! You’re giving me a headache.” Penny says as she comes out from the back. “We have receipts to go over.”

//

Harry took a quick shower when he got up to his apartment, and then made his tea. It tasted really good, like, the best chamomile he ever had. He only drank about half of it when his eyes started to droop while watching to TV on the sofa. So, he got his butt into bed, and fell asleep almost immediately. Amber was right about him having vivid dreams.

There he was, walking through a forest at night. He had no idea where he was going, but let his legs take him there regardless. There was a glowing light that intrigued him, so he made his way over to it. As he approached, he saw a woman from behind, her hair flowing in the breeze and her hands glowing with what looked like electrical currents. He steps on a twig by accident, catching her attention. She looks over her shoulder at him, her eyes glowing a white-hot blue.

“What are you doing here?” She says, floating in the air above him. He falls to bum and looks up at her.

“I…I don’t know.” He swallows. “What are you doing here?”

“You need to get out of here it isn’t safe!” She scolds him.

“M’sorry, I don’t even know how I ended up here.” He scrambles to his feet, and she lowers herself to the ground. Her hair was still flowing, her eyes and hands still glowing. “I saw the light and just followed it I guess. Is there a way for you to turn that off? It’s pretty bright.”

The woman takes a deep breath, and closes her eyes. Her hands stop glowing, and when she opens her eyes, all Harry sees is a familiar sapphire color. He realizes who it is once her hair settles. It was that same silver/lavender color that Amber had.

“Amber?” His eyebrows shoot up as he looks at her. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing that you need to concern yourself with. Get out of here, now.” Her eyes glow again, as well as her hands, and she shoots up into the night sky without another word.

“What in the actual fuck?” Harry says to himself.

Harry woke up to his alarm the next morning not feeling groggy at all. In fact, he had never felt so refreshed after a night’s sleep! He quickly grabs his phone and opens the notes app before forgetting his dream. It was so bizarre and weird, he wasn’t quite sure what it meant, if anything at all. Why would he have a dream about Amber? And why would he dream about her glowing the way she did? He hadn’t watched Harry Potter recently, or anything of the like.

He gets dressed for the day, and decides to go into the shop for his morning coffee. The place was already bustling with early birds. Amber was behind the counter getting coffee and tea orders out. It astounded Harry that she was able to do so much by herself. He waits in line, saying hello to some of his students in the process.

“Good morning, what can I…oh, hi, Harry.” Amber sighs. “What would you like?”

“I’ll take an iced coffee, please, black.” He smiles as she nods. “That tea really put me to sleep last night. You were right, I had an odd dream.” She freezes for a moment as she scoops the ice cubes into the cup. “You were in it, actually.”

“That’ll be $3.50.” She says flatly as she sets the cup of coffee down on the counter. He hands her his card, and she runs it through the machine.

“You’re not even the least bit curious as to what I dreamed about?”

“Nope.” She smirks. “I don’t need to hear about your wet dreams.”

“It wasn’t a…I didn’t…” He shakes his head as his face flushes. “It wasn’t like that.”

“I’ve got a line of customers waiting.” She slides his card back to him.

“Can we talk later?”

“Harry, whatever it was, it was just a dream. So I was in it, so what? I’m flattered you were thinking of me, but don’t worry about it.”

“It’s just that…the strangest thing happened. Your eyes were glowing, and your hands were too, but, like, a different type of glowing, and we were in this forest. Oh! And you were, like, flying or floating, or something like that. Your hair was kind of glowing too.”

“You read too much fiction.” She rolls her eyes. “Buh-bye.”

“But-“

“Next!” She shouts, and it makes him flinch. He grabs his drink and leaves. Amber looks down at Opal, who was about to say something, but Amber shakes her head as to warn her.

“Amber, we need to talk about this.”

“Later, I have customers.” She whispers down at Opal, and looks at the next person in line. “Good morning.” She smiles.

Harry was so distracted during his classes, he ended up showing the movie version of The Grapes of Wrath to his fiction workshop class. It worked with the unit they were since they were discussing historical fiction. He wanted to know why Amber was so cold to him even though she was plenty kind to just about everyone else that stepped through her shop. He also wanted to discuss his dream with her. It felt so real, and he wanted to know why. He had a few students come see him during his office hours, and he tried to be as present as possible for those. There was one girl in his fiction class that came to just about all of his office hours, and normally he didn’t mind, but he had a lot of course work to do, and some grading to get done. He was also in a rush to get back to the shop.

“Hi, Professor Styles.” Whitney smiles.

“Hi, Whitney.” Harry sighs as she sits down.

“Are you feeling alright today?”

“Just a little stressed. I’ve got some work for the classes I’m taking to get done.”

“It’s so cool that you’re a grad student. You’re so good at teaching, I never would have guessed you weren’t a full professor.” She had a tendency to flirt with him. She was a senior, and twenty-one. In any other scenario, Harry probably would have gone for it since he was only a few years older, but he wasn’t about to start dating a student.

“Thanks, that means a lot. Listen, uh, I know we usually chat for a bit, but I really need to get some work done, so unless this is class related…”

“Oh.” She sits up a little straighter. “Um, I guess I don’t really have any questions…I will say, watching the movie helped me understand the book a little better. I was supposed to read it in high school, but I just used spark notes back in the day.”

“Good! I’m glad you have a better understanding of the themes.”

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later. Have a good weekend!”

“Thanks, Whitney, you too.”

They smile at each other before she leaves. He runs a hand through his hair, and attempts to get some of his grading done. Once he makes a decent enough dent, he packs his things and heads to the shop. He finds an open table to sit at, and gets to work on his courses. He was sitting near one of the aisles with the mood enhancing tea.

“I’m telling you, I’ve never been so wet in my life.” Normally, Harry wouldn’t eavesdrop, but a sentence like that was something he couldn’t just ignore. “This stuff really works.”

“Okay, but how was Robbie?”

“Hard as a rock, and desperate to please. He went down on me for, like, twenty minutes! He said I never tasted so good. We fucked for, like, an hour total. It was incredible. I’m definitely buying this stuff again. I couldn’t recommend it enough.”

“Does it taste good?”

“Mhm, like strawberries. I think that’s why it makes for such a good aphrodisiac. There’s a chocolate flavor too, but Amber said that one’s really strong, and it’s better to start out with the strawberry flavor.”

“Oh, damn, I’ll have to ask her about it then. Look, she restocked the anti-anxiety tea! The blueberry flavor is my absolute favorite.”

“I like the lemon, personally, but to each their own.”

Harry couldn’t believe what he heard, more so at the beginning of the girls’ conversation. How the fuck was he supposed to concentrate on his work now? He needed to wait out the customers like he did the night before. Opal comes trotting over to him like usual.

“Hey, there, pretty girl.” He pats the top of her head. “Thought about you today. You gonna curl up around my feet again?” Opal does just that and lets out a such that makes Harry chuckle. As the sun sets, and less people are in the shop, Harry finishes up his work. He notices Amber wiping down the tables. “Hey.” He says to her, standing up and walking over to her. “Could we talk?”

“Is this still about your dream? I told you might have some weird, vivid ones with it being your first time drinking the tea.”

“It’s just…I don’t know why I would have dreamt something like that. I asked you what was wrong, and you told me it was nothing I needed to worry about.”

“Hm, sounds like dream me is a lot like the actual me.” She smirks. Harry frowns slight, and she sighs. “You’re really worked up about this, huh?”

“A little, yeah.”

Amber looks down at Opal, and then back to Harry.

“I wish I could be more help, but it was just a dream, Harry. Try having some more tea tonight and see what you dream about.” She looks down at her watch. “I need to close up early, I have somewhere to be in a bit.”

“Oh, uh, do you have a date, or something?”

“What? No.” She scoffs. “I take Opal for a long walk on Friday nights. She gets antsy if we don’t leave on time.”

“Is that safe?”

“Of course it is.” She blinks at Harry. “We just go walking through some of the neighborhoods with the students live off campus.”

“Could I join you? Haven’t explored the area all that much.”

“Wouldn’t it be weird for you? In case you run into your students?”

“Nah.” He shrugs. “Doubt they’ll recognize me in the dark.”

“Let him come with us.” Opal says, and Amber glares down at her. “I know we were going for a hunt, but it might be good to get to know him better. His dream could mean something.”

“Ugh, fine!” Her voice startles Harry a bit. “Be at your door in ten minutes with some sensible shoes on.” She looks down at the loafers he’s wearing. “You’ll wanna wear sneakers, Grandpa.”

//

Ten minutes later, Harry was waiting outside his door for Amber. He decided to wear his light-wash jeans and a windbreaker, along with his glasses. Amber came down the stairs with Opal wearing a long black jacket, and black jeans tucked into a pair of combat boots. Her hair was down for a change, Harry thought it looked beautiful.

“Ready?” She asks him.

“Mhm, you’re not going to put a leash on Opal?”

“Nah, she’s not the type to run away.” They both head down the stairs and out the back door to the street. They make their way to the off-campus neighborhood.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, how long have you been dying your hair that color? It’s really pretty.”

“Huh?”

“Your roots never show either, do you touch it up at home?”

“I don’t dye my hair.”

“Amber, remember who you’re talking to.” Opal says.

“I mean, uh, I have a hairdresser do it.” She smiles weakly at Harry. “I go every six weeks like clockwork. My hair’s, uh, naturally blonde, so my roots don’t show.”

“Really? But your eyebrows are so dark?”

“Dye those too.” Amber hated lying about herself, but there was nothing she could really do about it. “I don’t really like talking about myself, um, let’s talk about you. How come you’re going to grad school here and teaching?”

“Well, I love literature, reading and whatnot. I have a degree in English Education, but I wanna teach at a collegiate level, so I got into the master’s program here, and they’re letting me teaching. I’m technically a grad assistant, but I have my own classes.” They cross the street, and head up a slight hill. “Sort of hurt a bit when you said you hated reading.” He chuckles.

“I’m not going to apologize for that. I genuinely hate it if it’s not for research.”

“Did something make you not like reading as a kid?”

“I didn’t have much of a chance to read as a kid.” She mutters. “I went to an agricultural boarding school growing up, not much time for reading fantasy books when you’re working the land.”

“Wow! Why’d you do that?”

“I didn’t really have of a choice.”

“How come?”

“I just didn’t. I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Well, is that how you got so good at making tea and coffee? I overheard some girls talking earlier, uh, you make an aphrodisiac?”

“I make a few, yeah. What did you hear?”

“That they work really well.” He smirks.

“They do. I only put out the best.”

“What would make you put out a product like that?”

“Sex sells.” She grins at him.

“Have you ever tested your product?”

“Sure, I test all of them to make sure they work properly.”

“And you found that it worked properly?” He smirks.

Amber is about to make a smart remark when she hears a blood curdling scream. She and Opal look at each other before sprinting off in the direction of the scream. Harry’s puzzled, and concerned, so he runs after them. He couldn’t believe how fast Amber could run. They all hear the scream again, and run towards the beginning of one of the walking trails. Harry loses sight of Amber and Opal as they run deeper into the woods. Harry’s stumped on where they could have gone. He uses the flashlight on his phone to help him see better.

“Help!” He hears a woman yell, and runs towards the sound.

When he gets closer, he starts getting major déjà vu. It was just like his dream. He stops short when he finds Amber and Opal. Opal’s eyes were glowing a striking blue and so were Amber’s. Amber’s necklace was glowing bright orange too. There was a woman on the ground, knocked unconscious. There was some odd shadow looming over her. All of a sudden, Amber’s hands start glowing, and what looks like electricity comes from her fingertips. It latches around the shadow like shackles, and it bellows a horrible sound.

“Who sent you?!” Amber yells to the shadow, but before she can get an answer, it vanishes. “Son of a bitch!”

“Amber.” Opal says. “Harry…”

Amber looks over at Harry, who she had completely forgotten about. Her necklace, eyes, and hands stop glowing. She looks down at the woman on the ground. She looked like a college student. Amber sighs, and raises her hands up, thus levitating the woman.

“Can you carry her? I’ll explain later.” Amber says.

Harry nods, and cautiously takes the woman in his arms, carrying her bridal style. Amber puts her hand on one of Harry’s shoulders, and blinks. Next thing Harry knows, they’re back on one of the streets in the neighborhood. Amber places her hand on the girl’s forehead, and takes a deep breath. Her eyes glow for a moment before she takes her hand away. She snaps her fingers, and the girl disappears from Harry’s arms.

“What the fu-“ Amber snaps her fingers again, and they’re in her apartment. “Fuck!” Harry pants, totally freaked out.

“Okay, calm down.”

“Calm down? Calm down?! How do you expect me to calm down?!”

“If you don’t then she won’t be able to explain.” Opal says.

“Did she just talk?” Harry points to Opal.

“Yeah…she must be allowing you to hear her.” Amber shrugs.

“Right.” Harry’s eyes roll back, and he faints, dropping to the floor.

“And here I was thinking I’d have to force him to drink some tea to make him think this was all a dream.”

“Don’t you think he deserves an explanation? He literally had a dream where something similar happened! What if he’s some sort of mage too, but just doesn’t know it?”

“How could he not know it?”

“Not everyone’s born into it like you were. Maybe something drew him here, and maybe things activated when he drank the tea.”

“What do you want me to do, wake him up and explain everything to him? No way, I’m not diving in deep with a stranger.”

“But if you just-“

“Enough!” Amber’s eye glow warningly. “What I say goes.” She snaps her fingers, sending Harry down to his own bed. “He’ll just think he had another wild dream.”

“Wouldn’t that be suspicious?”

“Not if I give him something.” She grins. “I’ll be back in a minute.” Amber snaps herself down to Harry’s bedroom. She sprinkles some dried strawberry dust over his open mouth. “Sweet dreams.” She nearly cackles, and snaps herself back upstairs. “With the dream he’s about to have, he won’t be recalling a damn thing. It’s better if he doesn’t know.”

“We’ll see about that, stubborn girl.”

//

Harry wakes up Saturday in a cold sweat. He couldn’t remember how he ended up in bed, or taking his clothes off. He rips the blankets back and winces when the cold air hits his stiffy. He was used to being hard in the morning, but not like this. His prick was swollen and throbbing, begging to be taken care of.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” He spits into his hand and grips himself.

He hisses from his own touch. He tries to remember last night. He recalls going for a walk, and then not much else. He jerks himself off until he comes. When he does, he swears a wank has never felt so good. He makes a proper mess of his tummy and heads for the shower. As he’s washing his hair, he notices he’s still hard, like, really hard. Not the post orgasm hard before he softens, it was like he hadn’t come at all. He sighs heavily, and starts pumping himself again. He grips at the tile on the walls as he whimpers and whines until he comes again.

When he gets out of the shower, and walks towards his dresser, he feels a throbbing between his legs. He looks down and sees that he’s hard again. Now he’s just annoyed. He had no idea what was going on. Unfortunately, he knew it wasn’t gonna go away on its own, so he jerks off a third time. He gets dressed, and goes upstairs to Amber’s apartment. He knocks on the door, but doesn’t hear anything.

“Amber, you home?!” He knocks again, but there’s nothing. She didn’t open until noon on Saturdays, where could she be?

He heads down the stairs, and peers into the shop, but doesn’t see anyone. He hears some noises coming from the basement door. He sighs and goes over to it. He knows he’s not supposed to go down there, but he needed answers. He knocks on the door loudly.

“Amber, you down there?!” He jiggles the door handle, and much to his surprise, it’s unlocked. “Amber?” Harry makes his way downstairs, and is stunned with what he sees. There were dozens of bookcases filled with old looking books, and bottles full of different liquids and leaves.

“Harry!” Amber shouts as she storms towards him. “You’re not supposed to be down here!”

“The door was unlocked.”

“Fucking.” She pinches the bridge of her nose. “I’ll have to talk with Penny. Go upstairs, now.”

“What is all of this stuff?”

“It doesn’t concern you.”

“Is this a weird meth lab or something? Are you a drug dealer? Is that what you’re really selling to the students?” He gasps for a moment. “Are you selling them ecstasy?”

“What?! You’re a fucking moron!”

“Then explain what’s going on because I woke up with a raging boner this morning, and it took a really long time for it to go away, and I also can’t remember a thing that happened last night, so I want some answers!”

“Wait, you woke up the boner?”

“How is that the thing you’re focusing on?”

“You were supposed to have a wet dream. Did you dream about anything?”

“No, one second I was on a walk and the next I woke up in my bed all sweaty and hard.”

“Weird.”

“You’re telling me. Now-“

“No, it’s weird because what I gave you had a delayed effect.”  She walks over to one of the shelves and pulls out a book. She flips through one of the pages. “Ohhhh.” She nods, closes the book, and puts it back. “I sprinkled some strawberry dust in your mouth from my dried stash, it’s extremely potent, that’s why I make it into a tea. Um, when it’s used the way I used it…it’s supposed to make you have a wet dream. I think it delayed because you passed out last night.”

“I did?!”

“Yes.” She sighs, and snaps her fingers, bringing them to her apartment.

“Amber, I’m about two seconds away from-“

“Have a seat.” She points to her couch, and sits down. He sits down next to her, but not too close.

“Where’s Opal?”

“Out shopping with Penny. She upset with me because of last night. She wanted me to tell you everything, but I didn’t want to. I guess I don’t really have a choice now.”

“What do you mean she wanted you to tell me?” Harry blinks.

“May I press my forehead to yours? It’ll be easier to explain that way.”

“Um, sure?”

Amber grips the back of Harry’s neck, pulling him closer. It was almost like she was about to kiss him, but she doesn’t. She presses her forehead to Harry’s, and her eyes start glowing. Harry suddenly has flashes of everything from the night before. She lets go of him, and gives him a moment to process everything.

“Holy shit.” He says, blinking a few times. “So my dream did mean something.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. You had some sort of vision, and I have no idea why.”

“What are you then?”

“I’m a mage.”

“Which is what?”

“Well, it’s sort of like a witch, but less spooky. I can cast spells, and I have other abilities. I was born into it. My hair color is naturally like this, that’s why you haven’t seen my roots grow out.”

“Your necklace was glowing last night too. Does that have anything to do with it?”

“I’ve had this since I was born. It helps enhance things.” She grips the jewel for a moment. “It also keeps me safe.”

“From who?”

“People who might want me for their own selfish needs. I’ve been trying to track this…this thing down. A demon of some kind attacked Opal last spring. I thought I was close to finding it last night, but that shadow was just a minion.”

“Do you know why something might have attacked her?”

“We’ve…wait a second, you’re taking all of this in a little too easily. You’re not freaked out?”

“Most of the fiction I read is fantasy based.” He shrugs. “Besides, it’s hard to doubt something when you see it with your own eyes. So, why do you think something attacked her?”

“We’ve been trying to figure it out for months! We were out in the woods at night collecting some leaves. I turned my back for a second and I heard her yelp out. It was terrible. Luckily, it left before it could do some real damage. I don’t want it hurting her, or any of the college students. Seems like it’s back.”

“Can I ask…why have a shop that’s so obviously full of magic?”

“A lot of people are into natural healing methods these days. And this is a pretty granola town.” She shrugs. “I’ve been here the last four years. Things took off quickly.”

“Where were you before?”

“I told, you I went to an agricultural boarding school. It was for kids like me. I…don’t really know my parents, and I don’t have any siblings. They kind of just send you off once you’re of age to go to pre-school.”

“That sounds terrible.”

“It wasn’t.” She shakes her head. “Well, it was and it wasn’t. I learned how to keep myself safe, and learn how to properly use my powers. They let you leave when you’re twenty. I had all my firsts there. My first kiss, my first love, my first heartbreak.” She sighs.

“Is Penny a mage too?”

“Sort of.” Amber smiles. “She’s more a mother to me than my own. She practically raised me. When I left the school I asked her to come with me, and she agreed.”

“When did you get Opal?”

“When you’re little, around the age of six, they take you to a farm so you can connect with an animal. She was the cutest puppy I had ever seen. I bonded with her right away. We ran around and played and laughed. Opal’s my everything.”

“And she can talk with you and others telepathically?”

“Correct. She has to feel bonded to the people she allows to hear her. She’s felt comfortable with you since you got here…I’ve also been trying to figure that out. It pisses me off to no end that she likes you.”

“Why?” He chuckles.

“Because I can’t stand you. You’re so fucking positive and bouncy. You’re always in a good mood, it’s disgusting.” She grimaces.

“Well, I know being a mage can’t mean you’re crabby because Penny’s always delighted to see me.” He smirks. “It disgusts you that I’m happy?”

“Very much so, yes.” She nods.

“I can’t help it. I’ve got a great job, I’m studying something I’m interested in, and I get to see you every day. What could be better than that?”

“You’re happy because you get to see me every day?”

“Well, sure. You’re so interesting, and…I’m very attracted to you, but I’m sure that’s been obvious to you since I walked through the door.” He rubs the back of his neck as he blushes.

“I’m flattered, but I’m not really one for dating. I don’t have the time for it. Not when there’s a fucking demon on the loose that I can’t seem to track down.”

“Maybe I could help. Two heads are better than one.” He smiles.

“No, the only thing you can help with is keeping all of this to yourself. You can’t say a thing to anyone.”

“I won’t, I promise.”

She nods and takes her necklace off. Harry watches as she moves her fingers above the stone, and crates an amber ring from it.

“Here, you like to wear rings, so put this on.” She grabs one of his hands and slides the ring onto his pinky. “This will keep you safe. It’ll keep us connected.”

“Thank you for trusting me with all of this. Um, so about this morning…did you think I was going to be distracted by a saucy dream?” He smirks.

“It was supposed to make you forget everything entirely. I’m sorry it didn’t work right, that must have been painful. How many times did you, uh, you know, before it stopped?”

“Three.”

“Poor thing.” She pouts. “You must be exhausted.”

“I’m still a little tired, yeah.” He chuckles.

“Why don’t you go to take a nap? Penny and Opal should be back soon, and I need to catch them up on everything.”

“This isn’t some trick, right? You’re not going to try to cast a spell to make me forget?”

“No.” She chuckles. “I don’t see much use in it. Your body was clearly trying to fight off what I gave you.”

“Does, um, does it always last like that?”

“Oh, you mean staying hard after you come?”

“Yeah.” He blushes.

“Not if you fuck someone. If you’re alone and have to take care of it yourself it takes longer for it to wear off since you’re not exerting as much energy.” They both stand up and she walks him to her door. “Should have come knocking sooner, I could have helped you out.” She winks at him.

“That’s not funny.” He deadpans.

She laughs anyways, and sends him out. She snaps herself back to the basement where Opal and Penny are already waiting for her.

“Before so a word, I told him what he needed to know.” Amber tells them.

“The powder didn’t work?” Penny asks.

“No, apparently it didn’t kick in until just before he woke up. Poor thing had to jerk it three times.” Amber shrugs.

“See! This is why I think something is dormant within him. First, your tea causes him to have a vision. Second, the powder didn’t work. What did he say when you told him what was going on?” Opal says.

“He took it really well. The questions he asked were more for his understanding, to piece things together. He wasn’t freaked out at all.”

“Then that’s a third thing. We need to figure out what he is.”

“I know, but how? It’s not like I can experiment on him.” Amber sighs.

“I’ve heard of this before.” Penny says, padding over to one of the book shelves. She makes a motion with her hands to get one of the books on the top shelf down. She brings the book over to the lectern so she and Amber could look at it together. Penny flips through the pages, and finds what she’s looking for. “Ah-ha! Here it is. Long ago, there were families that left the coven, wanting to leave the magic behind. It was when a lot of those awful witch hunts became popular. After a few generations, the families became unaware of their abilities, thus the magic lying dormant within. Apparently, all it takes to ignite the magic is meeting another witch, and drinking something magical they made for them. You’ve been making him tea and coffee for almost two months! Then you gave him that tea sleepy-time tea that’s laced with magic. No wonder he had a vision.” Penny shakes her head.

“I wonder if deep down he felt a pull here…to Amber.”

“Could be.” Penny ponders. “I’ve seen that happening too. Certain covens did have truces back in the day. You two could have been from two separate covens, but bonded nonetheless.”

“If you’re getting into some weird soulmate shit, I’m gonna have to head out.” Amber says.

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Penny shakes her head. “When’s his birthday?”

“Um, February, I think.” Amber says.

“Then is birthstone would be an amethyst.” Opal says.

“If you look at any color wheel you’ll see that purple and yellow are polar opposites.” Penny says.

“But they’re also complimentary colors.”

“Can one of you just get to the point?!” Amber huffs.

“You’re not soulmates, but you are connected. In our various covens, those with citrine birthstones, like yours, and those with amethyst birthstones tended to make great pairs. They’re good at problem solving together.”

“I made him a ring from my stone…should I add an amethyst to it?”

“No.” Opal says. “No, he’ll need that ring to stay as it is for safety. We need to get him his own necklace with the stone. Then we can see if it glows.”

“If it glows…he’s a mage.” Penny states.

“Great, where the fuck am I supposed to get a pure amethyst on such short notice?” Amber pinches the bridge of her nose. “Not to mention getting it welded into a necklace.”

“You’ll have to take him out to the Four Peaks Mine in Arizona. I can run the shop while you’re gone. You’ll take Opal with you, simple as that.”

“It’s not simple. He has classes to teach, and there’s a demon on the loose!”

“Yes, but you might be able to ward it off together. It’s Saturday, we could get there quick, and be back by tomorrow night. Plenty of time.” Opal says.

“That’s a long way to snap us there. We’ll need to sleep there tonight so I get gain my strength back.” Amber says.

“Then so be it.” Penny says. “I can handle things here. We’re only open a half day tomorrow as is. Where is he now?”

“Napping.” Amber sighs. “I’ll go wake him up. Opal, be ready in five?”

Opal nods, and Amber snaps herself into Harry’s apartment. She walks into his bedroom where he’s sleeping soundly. Poor thing was knackered. She sits on the edge of his bed, and gently pulls him out of sleep. His eyes flutter open slowly.

“Amber?”

“Hi.” She smiles softly. “We have to go to Arizona for the night to get you an amethyst stone.”

“Um, okay…why?” He sits up a bit.

“It’s your birthstone, just as this is mine.” She points to her necklace. “We need to test something, and we need the pure substance to do so. We may be connected somehow, yellow and purple are complimentary colors.”

“Can I ask you something? If the birth stone is so important, why don’t you glow yellow instead of blue?”

“Blue and yellow are also complimentary colors, just as green and purple are. I was born in November, so it was already obvious what my stone would be, but when my parents saw my eyes for the first time…they knew I’d be powerful. Not all citrines are born with such blue eyes, only the most powerful. Your eyes are very green, so you may be quite powerful yourself, but we won’t know anything until we get to the mine. Pack an overnight bag, and be downstairs in five minutes.”

Without another word, she snaps herself out of his room, leaving him speechless.

“I’m really starting to hate it when she does that.” He says to himself before getting out of bed.

//

It was dusk by the time Amber was able to snap herself, Harry, and Opal to Arizona. Their first task was to find a motel to stay at for the night before heading to the mine. The biggest challenge was finding one that was pet friendly.

“The mines will be too dangerous for you two. I’ll go and bring back what we need by morning.”

“I can’t let you go alone.”

“Amber, you’ll know if something’s wrong. I’ll check in with you. Just get a room and rest up.”

Opal sprinted off into the night while Amber and Harry went to the check in area of the closest motel. They go inside to see what the vacancy situation is. An older gentleman was behind the desk.

“Good evening, folks.” He smiles warmly.

“Hi, we’d like a room with two queens please.” Amber says.

“Let me just double check if we have that available.” The man goes onto the computer on his desk. “Unfortunately, our last available room with two queens has already been reserved by a family of four coming in. I do, however, one room with a full left. Would that work?”

“A full is so tiny.” Amber frowns. “Is there at least a couch in the room?”

“A small loveseat.”

“Ugh, alright, we’ll take it.” She sighs, and gives him her credit card. Harry can’t hide the smirk on his face as the man types away at his computer. Amber glares at him briefly before taking her card back, and getting the room key.

“Enjoy your stay.” The man smiles at both of them.

“Can’t you just cast some sort of spell to make the bed bigger?” Harry asks once they’re in the room.

“No, that’s not how that works. I can’t change the molecular composition of a mattress like that. I’m also too weak to perform that kind of magic even if I wanted to. Snapping us across the country took a lot out of me, and I need to rest so I can get us home tomorrow.” She closes and locks the door behind them.

“What exactly will finding this amethyst do?”

“Well, I’ll turn it into a necklace, put it on you, and we’ll see if it glows.”

“And if it does?”

“Then you’re a mage, and we’ll have some bigger fish to fry.” She sits down on the edge of the bed and takes her boots off. “I’m gonna go wash up, and then I’m turning in. I brought some tea so we can get to sleep.” She makes her way into the bathroom. Harry goes in after her. When he’s done, she hands him a cup of tea.

“Thanks…do you think I’ll have a weird vision again?”

“You could.” Amber shrugs. “I have no idea.” She goes through her bag and pulls out a night shirt and pajama bottoms. “Turn around.”

Harry does so quickly while she changes. He grabs his own pajama pants to throw on, and stays in his tee shirt. Once they’re done with their tea, they both climb into bed. It wouldn’t be a big deal, but there was little wiggle room, and Harry was a broad, tall guy. They were shoulder to shoulder, squished in the small bed.

“Could be worse, could have been a room with just a twin.” Harry says to break the tension.

“Why in the fuck would there be a motel room with just a twin bed in it?”

“I don’t know, I was just saying.” He shrugs, and turns his head to look at her. “Clearly, there are stranger things out there than that.” He smirks.

“Go to sleep, Harry.” She rolls away from him onto her side.

“You’re making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be. You’ve never shared a bed with someone before?”

Amber sighs heavily and rolls back onto her back to look at him better.

“I have, but these are tight quarters if you haven’t noticed, and you told me you were attracted to me-“

“So? You think I’m going to disrespect you and take advantage of the situation? I’m not that kind of guy.”

“I didn’t say you were. I just feel…nervous. It’s been a while since I shared a bed with a man, that’s all. You’re pretty, um, attractive yourself, so…there’s that.” Her face had to be beat red right now, she could feel it.

“Well, look who’s expressing their feelings!” Harry gasps. “Who knew this side to you even existed?”

“Don’t be sarcastic with me, Harry. You don’t know what it was like growing up the way I did. It was really hard at times. We were basically like grounded nomads.”

“M’sorry.” He turns on his side to face her easier. “Would you, uh, would you want to have a cuddle while we drift off? Doesn’t have to mean anything, but I know you’re worried about Opal, could help you calm down some.”

Amber nods and turns back over so Harry can spoon her. He doesn’t fully press his pelvis to her bum, he didn’t want to push it and make her uncomfortable. She did feel better having his arm wrapped around her. They both drift off easily after settling, the tea kicking in.

In his dream, Harry’s brought to a large estate, like a mansion from 1800’s London. There was a large field as well, a gentle breeze flowing. It looked like it was a beautiful day. He goes walking for a bit and finds this gorgeous tree that had a few tire swings attached to it. He stops short when he sees Amber. She looked a little younger, her hair was much longer, tied back in a flowing braid, and she was wearing a black, off the shoulder maxi dress with buttons running down the front. She had her arms crossed over chest, and she didn’t look happy with the young man she was speaking with. Harry creeps a little closer to hear what they’re talking about.

“Is what Opal told me true, yes or no?” Amber says to him.

“Amber-“

“Yes, or no, Max.” She scowls at him.

“What exactly did she tell you?”

“That you’ve been practicing dark magic in the woods at night.”

“She’s never liked me.” He scoffs. “I can’t believe you’re going to believe that mat over me.”

“Be very careful with how you speak about her.” Amber’s eyes start glowing.

“Settle down.”

“Answer the question.”

“Yes, okay, yes…I’ve been practicing dark magic.”

“Why?! You know it’s against the rules.”

“Well, it shouldn’t be. It does more good than harm, everyone is just too scared because it’s powerful.”

“You’re going to get expelled if one of the elders catches you. Do you want to be thrown out into the world before you’re ready?”

“We’re eighteen, Amber, we can do whatever we want. We could leave here together, and never come back. This place is a prison.”

“This place keeps us safe. You know as well as I do we can’t leave until we’re at least twenty.”

“Since when do you follow every single rule, huh? Where’s the girl that sneaks off into my room at night?” He steps closer to her, caressing one of her cheeks.

“That’s totally different.” She swats his hand away. “You shouldn’t be messing with that shit. If Opal saw you, others could too.”

“So I’ll be more careful.”

“Or you could stop. If you don’t…if you don’t then it’s over between us.”

Max’s dark brown eyes start to glow, along with the jewel hanging from the chain around his neck. It looked like aquamarine. Brown and blue were opposites as well. Maybe those gems had a connection too? He couldn’t be sure, a lot of this was confusing. Amber’s eyes were glowing again to match Max’s energy. Both sets of their hands started glowing as well.

“You’d throw away everything between us over something so small?!” He yells at her.

“This isn’t small, this is serious! Don’t make me strike you, Max.” There were tears streaming down her cheeks.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

With a flick of her wrist, she blasts him, knocking him down to the ground. She hovers over him, ready to serve another blow.

“I’m so disappointed in you.” She says to him.

“You don’t know what you’ve just started.” He grits his teeth.

“Actually, pretty sure I just finished it. Goodbye, Max.”

Harry blinks, and all of a sudden he’s in a forest at night. He could hear growling. He runs in the direction of the noise and sees Opal growling towards a man. It was Max. Harry’s eyes widen as he watches Max chant something, striking a blow towards Opal. Harry tries to save her, but he’s frozen in his place.

“Opal?!” He hears Amber yell, and Max disappears. “Opal! Oh my god!” She drops to the ground, her body going over Opal’s and snapping them away from the scene.

Harry’s eyes burst open, and he sits up right away. Amber’s not in the bed anymore. Before he has a heart attack, he hears her coming out of the bathroom.

“Morning.” She yawns. “Opal’s about five minutes away. How’d you sleep?”

“Amber, uh, when Opal got attacked, did she ever say what it was, or who it was that attacked her?”

“No.” Amber shakes her head. “She couldn’t remember a thing. I think whatever it was put a hex on her memory of the event. Why?”

“I had a really unsettling dream.” He blinks a few times and looks at her. Before he can say anything else, Opal appears in the room, letting a large amethyst fall from her mouth.

“You wouldn’t believe the digging I had to do to get this, but it’s a good one.” She says. “You both slept in that tiny bed?”

“Not the time. Go drink some water.” Amber snatches the amethyst. It hovers above her palm. Her eyes glow, and in seconds it’s transformed into a slide on a necklace. “Let’s do this first, and then we can talk about your dream, okay?” She says to Harry as she comes over to him. Opal hops up on the bed, and Amber sits beside Harry. “Close your eyes.” She says softly, and he does so. She places the necklace over his head, and the gem rests on his chest.

The amethyst starts to hover and glow. Amber and Opal look at each other.

“Is anything happening?” Harry asks.

“Open your eyes.” Amber says.

Harry opens his eyes, and they’re glowing a bright green. He gasps when his looks down at the floating amethyst. He looks down at his hands and sees that they’re glowing too.

“How do I turn it off?!” Harry yelps in fear.

“Don’t panic! Give it a moment, the gem is bonding with you, just breathe.” Amber says.

A few moments pass before the gem rests on Harry’s chest once more. He eyes and hands stop glowing as well, and he takes a deep breath.

“What does all of this mean?” He asks them.

“You’re a mage, your abilities have been dormant for quite some time. You’re definitely more powerful than most, you’ll have to learn how to hone in on it.” Opal explains.

“I guess that would explain the vision-type dreams. I…Amber, I saw your break up with someone named Max. You got into a fight because he was performing dark magic. Then I was in the woods where Opal was attacked. It was him who attacked her, not some random demon.”

“What?!” Amber’s eyes flash for a moment. “I’ll kill him, I’ll-“

“No, Amber, that’s the exact rage he wants you to feel.” Opal says. “But we do need to track him down before he does more damage around town. Those college kids don’t deserve his wrath.”

//

When they all got back Sunday evening, Amber explained everything to Penny. She was beyond infuriated, and reached out to the other elders back at the boarding school to let them know what was going on. Harry was taking in a lot of information in, but he was doing well at not freaking out. Penny took him aside to calmly explain to him was his powers meant, and that there was a code of ethics he’d need to read up on and follow. Now that Amber knew Max was involved, she needed to figure out a way to track him down, and fast.

//

The weeks go on, no shadows lurking, no demons, and no Max. Amber, Penny, and Opal take advantage of the quiet to train Harry in their spare time. Lucky for them, he was a fast reader, and a quick learner. He was picking up certain spells naturally. He knew it would take a while to get as good as Amber at all of this, but he was happy with the progress he was making. He had never felt more like himself in his life. Penny had them working on combination spells, and boy were they powerful. The blue and green glows mixed beautifully.

“I have a feeling he may strike on Halloween.” Opal says to them one evening.

“Wouldn’t that be sort of cliché?” Harry asks.

“Please, Max lives for shit like that. He probably thinks it’ll be the perfect cover since we usually go out on Halloween.” Amber says.

“What do you do?”

“Penny stays back to hand out candy to the little kids, and Opal and I usually go around making sure there aren’t any creatures looking for trouble.”

“If Opal thinks he may strike on Halloween, then I think I know where we could wait for him. If I draw out where I had that original vision, do you think you’d know where in the woods it is?”

“It’s worth a try.” Opal says.

Opal knew exactly where Harry was talking about after looking over the picture he drew. Halloween was only a few days away, they needed to prepare. Harry was about to get ready for bed when there was a knock on his door. He looks through the peephole to see Amber, and he smiles.

“Hi, there.” He says as he opens the door.

“Hi, may I come in?”

“Of course.” She nods and comes inside. She had on an oversized shirt and pajama pants. Harry smirks to himself as he closes the door. “So, what’s up?”

“Nothing, I just…well, I just wanted to say that I’m really proud of you.”

“For what?”

“Taking all of this so well, for jumping in without a second thought. You’re doing really well with the lessons, and I know it’s got to be stressful because you’re trying to balance this whole mess along with getting your master’s and teaching.” She chews on her bottom lip. “I know Penny is really good at giving praise, but I’m not always so good at it…that’s what the kids at the boarding school used to tell me when I’d work with them anyways, so I just wanted to make sure I told you how proud I am. I really couldn’t stand you when we first met, but I like you a lot more now.”

He knew the last part was a joke, so he laughs before responding.

“Thanks, that means a lot. When I’m passionate about something, I tend to just dive right in, and I usually aim to please.” He steps a little closer to her. “Is that all you came down here for? To praise me?”

She narrows her eyes at him while her cheeks turn a bright red. He was making her nervous, and she hated feeling that way.

“What else would I have come down here for?” She puts her hands on her hips.

“I don’t know, you tell me. Typically, when a girl comes knocking at my door after midnight, she’s looking for something very particular.”

Amber scoffs and shakes her head. She crosses her arms as she smirks at him.

“Mm, I bet you’d love it if I came down here to seduce you. You strike me as the type that likes to hear a woman beg for your cock. Am I right about that, Harry? You’re so nice and sweet all day long, do you like to get a little mean in the bedroom?” She raises her eye brows playfully. “No, maybe you like it when your woman gets a little mean, or maybe it’s a mix of both.”

“You know what I think?”

“Tell me.”

“I think that whoever you’ve slept with in the past never pleased you in the way that you need to be pleased.”

“And how do I need to be pleased?”

“Probably with a lot of tongue, I’m guessing.” He watches as Amber’s pupils dilate just the smallest amount. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? To feel all warm and wet between your thighs.”

“I’ve got a toy that does that for me. Perfectly mimics the feeling of someone sucking on my clit.”

“Can’t beat the real thing.”

“Sure it can.” She shrugs. “It gets me panting, mining, screaming. And it gets me absolutely soaked. Probably squirted for all I know.” She pushes past him to walk towards his door. “Sleep well, Harry.”

“How am I supposed to sleep knowing that right above me you’re soaking your own sheets?” He pouts at her.

“Drink some tea, you’ll sleep just fine.” She winks, and out the door she goes.

Harry groans to himself, and heads to the kitchen to make himself some tea. There’s no way he’d sleep on his own tonight.

//

“I should be going with you two.”

“No, you’ll stay here with Penny where it’s safe. Dark magic can’t infiltrate the shop. You’re his target, so we’ll have a fake you set up.” Amber says. Both her and Harry were dressed in all black. She takes his hand in hers, and she snaps them out to the forest. “We’ll have to travel the rest of the way on foot.” She tells Harry.

“When we get there, and we catch him…what exactly are you going to do.”

“I’m going to take his powers away. I should have done it a long time ago.”

“You know how to do that?”

“Yes, Penny taught me how. It’s only for extreme circumstances, but I know how to sort of, like, bend the energy from him. His stone will go black, and that’ll be it.”

“So…all of this is because he thinks you broke up with him because of something Opal saw him do?”

“It’s more than that.” Amber sighs. “He was always jealous…I put Opal first a lot. He didn’t have the same relationship with his animal guide, and eventually he parted from it. That can break something within you. It’s probably why he turned to the dark magic in the first place. I tried to be there for him, but we started fighting a lot more, and when Opal told me what she saw, that was the last straw for me.”

“How long were you together for?”

“Well, I’d known him my whole life, but we got together when we were sixteen, so two years. He was my first everything. I’ve had other relationships, but it’s tough dating a non-mage. Everything has to be a secret; it’s exhausting.”

“Hearing you say that helps me make sense of my own dating life. I never felt fully connected to any of my girlfriends, even when we were having sex. I felt like I was trying to force the passion or something.”

“God, you’re such a romantic.” She says in a disgusted tone. “It’s all that damn fiction you read.”

“Are you telling me you don’t want to have passionate sex?”

“No, but sometimes sex is just sex. You get your rocks off, zip back up, and get on with your day.”

“That doesn’t sound like much fun.”

“Have you ever fucked someone you hated?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever hated anyone to be honest with you. I’ve not liked people before.”

“Okay, have you ever fucked someone you didn’t like?”

“Why would I do that?”

“You can be attracted to someone and hate their guts. It’s hot and lustful.” She smirks.

“Too bad we didn’t fuck when you hated me then. Could have been pretty steamy.”

“You’re an idiot.” She laughs. “Wait, I think we’re here. Get into positron.”

The two of them huddle behind a large tree. Amber’s eyes glow, and with a few twists of her fingers, a fake Opal is created. Amber acts as if the dog is a puppet, making her sniff around and dig. Harry quietly watches in amazement. Before long, a shadow appears, then a few more. Max appears with the shadows, his eyes glowing a reddish brown.

“You must think I’m a real idiot.” Max chuckles lowly, snapping his fingers and making the fake Opal vanish. “Come on out Amber.” Amber and Harry stand up, coming out from behind the tree. “Oh, look! You’ve brought a friend. Did you really think I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between your mutt and an illusion?” He smirks.

“No, we knew you’d figure it out.” Amber says. “You’re such a sick fuck trying to hurt her when really it’s me you’re mad at. I broke your heart, and you blame her, but you did it to yourself. You knew I wouldn’t tolerate all of this.”

“You broke just about every rule you could at that boarding school!”

“Yeah, like sneaking into your room after hours, and breaking curfew, not messing with dark magic! It’s possessed you, your eyes aren’t supposed to glow red. I’ve grown fond of this town, and I won’t have you terrorizing defenseless kids because of me. This ends now.”

“Well, you’re about that, but I don’t think you’ll be satisfied with the outcome. See, I’m going to find Opal, and I’m going to make sure she learns that eavesdropping isn’t okay. I know she’s gotten older, but even old dogs can learn new tricks.”

Max’s hands and eyes start glowing, and he charges towards Amber.

“Harry, handle the shadows, I’ll take care of Max!” She yells just as she jumps into the air to avoid Max’s blow.

While Amber and Max cast spells at each other, Harry springs into action. He couldn’t fly or float, or whatever the fuck Amber’s able to do just yet, but he had gotten pretty good at casting key defense and offense spells. Max’s shadows were strong, getting the better of Harry a few times, but Harry’s eyes start glowing along with his gem, and then all bets are off for the shadows. He’s impressed with himself when he’s able to make them vanish. He looks over and sees Amber and Max rushing towards each other with an immense amount of rage. The blow they strike at the same time explodes, causing them both to be flung backwards. Amber’s back slams into a tree, making her fall to the ground.

“Amber!” Harry sprints over to her, cradling her face in his hands. “Come on, Love, wakeup.” He’s panicking now.

“I should have known.” Max says as he scrambles to his feet. Harry looks over at him. “An amethyst and a citrine, how cliché.” He scoffs. “You’re new to all of this, I can feel it. Why she’d spend her time with a mongrel like you is beyond me.” His hands start glowing again as he walks over to Harry. “Not to worry, once you and Opal are out of the picture, she’ll be all mine once more.”

“I’m sorry, but you’re mistaken.”

Harry lunges forward, tackling Max by the legs. He pins him down, and punches Max in the face. Max telepathically throws Harry off him. Harry casts spell after spell towards Max, but they’re all blocked.

“You’re weak, what could she possibly want with you?” Max laughs as he blocks another strike.

Amber’s eyes flutter open, and she sees the two men fighting. She rises off the ground, and gets high enough to have an arial view of them. She watches as Max throws Harry into a tree. That was the last straw. She takes a deep breath, and nose dives towards Max. He doesn’t see it coming as he’s forced into the ground. She pins him down and snatches the gem around his neck, and breaks the chain.

“What are you doing?!” He shouts.

“Something I should have done a long time ago. You’re too dangerous.” Amber shoots back up into the air, and Max follows her.

“Give it back!”

“No!”

She wraps the chain around her fist, and points her other arm out at him. The blue glow leaves her palm and goes right to Max’s heart. First, a red glow starts to leave his body, and soon it turns into Max’s original brown glow. They both start lowering to the ground. He’s screaming at the top of his lungs, and she has tears streaming down her cheeks. There’s a large flash of light, and then nothing.

“You have no idea what you’ve done.” He says weakly on his knees looking up at her.

“I know exactly what I’ve done.” She throws Max’s gem on the ground and steps on it, breaking it into tiny pieces. “I can’t believe I thought this would actually be a challenge.” She pushes him all the way down to the ground with her boot, and steps on his chest. “Only the weak turn to dark magic.”

“What am I supposed to do without my powers?” He asks weakly.

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask your friends?” The shadows come to surround Max. Amber steps back from him and watches as they circle around him. They look to her. “Unless you want to end up just like that, I strongly suggest you take him far away from here.” They all vanish. Amber had a feeling this fight was long from over, but for now Max wouldn’t be able to do any more damage. She rushes over to Harry who was still laying on the ground. “Harry!” She cradles his head into her lap and places her hand on his forehead.

“Amber?”

“Hey.” She smiles down at him.

“Did we win?”

“We did.” She nods. “You were so brave trying to battle him. I took his powers away, we should be safe for a while.”

“I bet Opal will be relieved.”

“Yeah, she will be. Let’s get back to the shop, yeah?”

Harry hums his response just as Amber snaps them to the shop. Penny and Opal were cleaning up from the trick or treating.

“You’re back!” Opal exclaims, running over to the two of them. Amber drops to her knees to hug her friend.

“I took his powers away. We could easily see him again, but not for a long time.” Amber says.

“I’m so proud of you.” Opal nuzzles her forehead to Amber’s. “I’m proud of you too, Harry.”

“I’m glad you’ll be safe now.” Harry scratches at Opal’s head.

“You two look knackered.” Penny says. “Here, I made some tea for you both, go upstairs and unwind for a bit. We can talk about everything in the morning.”

“Good idea, thank you. Where’s the tea?” Amber asks.

“I snapped it up to Harry’s apartment.” Penny smiles. “Go on, Opal and I can finish locking up.”

//

Harry and Amber make their way into his apartment. They see the tea on his coffee table, and sit down on his sofa. They’re quiet for a moment as they take a sip. It had the faintest hint of a coffee smell, which was peculiar. It should either taste like chamomile or vanilla. Amber was too tired to question it.

“I’m going to head up.” She says after finishing her tea. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Alright.” He smiles at her. “We can keep training together, right? I’d like to keep learning.”

“Of course.” She smiles. “You still have a lot to learn. Goodnight, Harry.”

“Night, sleep well.” He walks her to the door and watches as she heads upstairs.

Amber takes a quick shower, and changes into a tee shirt and bed shorts. Opal was already asleep on the daybed in the living room. Amber crawls into bed and sighs with relief. She tosses and turns for a bit. She felt wide awake now, like she had just been given a burst of energy. She huffs and puffs, getting more and more uncomfortable. She feels hot all over, and kicks her blankets back. Her thighs felt sweaty, so she dips her fingers inside her shorts and gasps. She was wet, incredibly wet. She sits up and remembers the tea.

“Fucking, Penny.” She groans. Coffee had a way of masking other smells. Amber gets out of bed, getting more and more frustrated with each step. Opal pops an eye open.

“Can’t sleep?”

“Why’d you let Penny give me the mood tea?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Seems like your problem will go away faster if you see Harry, though.”

“You’ll face my wrath in the morning.”

“Mhm, go have some fun.”

Amber makes her way down the stairs to Harry’s apartment. She bangs on his door, preying he wasn’t asleep already. After a few moments, he opens the door only wearing a pair of boxer briefs. He was holding a pillow over his crotch. Amber places her hands on either side of the doorframe.

“We have a problem.” She huffs. “Penny slipped us the wrong tea.”

“Was wondering why I got so hard once I got into bed.” He looks her up and down. “Why’d you come all the way down here?”

“Because if we don’t take care of it properly then we’ll be up all night, and I don’t feel like masturbating for hours on end until it stops.”

“Here I was thinking I’d have to wank off to just the thought of you.” He steps closer to her, dropping the pillow to the floor. Her eyes flicker down to his strained prick.

“I wanted us to go out on a proper date before we did anything like this.” Amber mutters. “Penny’s so pushy whenever she wants me to be with someone.”

“Do you ever listen to her?”

“No.”

“Seems like she took the necessary steps.” He hooks an arm around her waist, pulling her into him. “I’ll take you out to breakfast tomorrow morning, how’s that sound?”

“I’ve always wanted to go on a breakfast date.”

“You wanna do this? I can kiss you, touch you?” His lips ghost over hers.

“Please, take care of me. M’dripping.”

“For me?”

“For you.” She confirms. “This stuff is potent, but it works better when you have someone in mind that you really want to fuck.”

Harry groans and slots his mouth over hers. He brings her further into the apartment, and kicks the door closed. His hands cup her cheeks as they bump into various walls. She bites down on his bottom lip and he moans into her. He licks into her mouth and starts sucking on her tongue. She tugs on his hair and jumps up so he can carry her into his room. Her legs wrap securely around his waist, moaning into his mouth as he sucks on her bottom lip. He drops her onto his bed, a whine escaping her from the loss of his body. He smirks as he moves to hover over her, attaching his lips to her neck. He sponges wet kisses along her skin, and nibbles on her earlobe.

“What do you like, Amber?” He says into her ear, and her hips buck up into his.

“Anything right now would be good, I’m soaked.” She whimpers, and he moves to look at her.

“Because of the tea, or because you really want me, because I can’t fuck you if it’s just from the tea.”

“It’s a mix of both. The tea can bring out things you’re already feeling for someone else. I want you, I mean it, I’m not just saying it so you’ll fuck me. I…I like you, alright? I really do like you. I think about you when you’re not around, and the best part of my day is when you come into the shop after you’ve finished working for the day. You set up your stupid laptop and work on your stupid assignments, all while looking unapologetically handsome.”

“Why would you keep all of that to yourself for so long, hm?” He coos, brushing some hair away from her face.

“Because romance makes me sick, and so does being vulnerable.” She pouts at him.

“Well, lucky for you, I’m pretty good at both.” He presses his lips to her once more before shifting down her body. He tugs on her shorts, and she lifts her hips to help him take them off. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath, which made things much easier. His eyes widen when he sees how slick she is between her legs. “Christ, you weren’t kidding.”

“It hurts, please, just do something.” She whines again.

Harry smirks before licking over one of her inner thighs, and then the other. He licks over her slit, and she moans out in relief. He licks up to her clit and sucks harshly on it. He moans into her and presses down on her lower stomach. He slides two fingers inside her, and her head rolls back into his pillows. Harry thought she tasted amazing, and she was so wet and warm around his fingers. He was leaking into his boxers, he could feel it. He knew part of it was from the tea, but he also knew how he felt about her. He had been dreaming of this moment since the day he met her, and he couldn’t believe it was finally happening. The tips of his fingers pet against her g-spot, and her hands fly to his hair to grip onto. He continues to suck on her clit, trying not to bust in his boxers too soon. She cries out as she comes around his fingers. She gets her shirt off while he rids himself of his boxers. He comes back down to hover over her. He licks into her mouth as her arms wrap around her his neck. He ruts his hard cock against her folds.

“Do you want me to wear a condom?” He asks her as he starts to knead her breasts.

“N-no.” She shakes her head. “Are you okay with that? I…I’m clean.”

“So am I. Are you on the pill, or something?”

“I have an IUD, so you can come inside me if you want.”

“Is that what you want?”

“We’re going to be able to go for multiple rounds, and I want you to fill me up each time.”

“Fuck.” He groans, and spreads her legs farther apart.

He rubs his tip along her clit before pushing inside. Her nails dig into his shoulders, her mouth falling open from the stretch he was giving her. Her heels dig into the backs of his thighs, pulling him closer to her. Her hands trail down his back until they reach his bum, sinking her nails into the plushy skin.

“You feel so fucking good.” She gasps as he thrusts in and out of her.

“So do you.” He groans. “You’re so fucking tight, don’t know how long I’ll last.”

“It doesn’t matter, you’ll get hard again.”

“Thought you said since we were taking care of it properly it won’t last quite as long?”

“It won’t last as long, but it’ll still last for bit.” She pulls his face down to hers to kiss him. “Let me get on top, yeah?”

He nods, and rolls them both over. She readjusts, and starts bouncing up and down on him. She throws her head back and scratches down his stomach. His hands find her hips, thrusting up into her to match her pace. He watches as her tits bounce up and down. He sits up a bit so he can suck on one of her nipples. Her clit rubs against him perfectly, and she’s coming again in no time. With another thrust, he come inside her, biting down on her shoulder in the process.

“You’re amazing.” He mutters into her neck. “I can feel how hard I still I am.” He groans as he looks up at her. “It’s like I’ve got a cock ring on or something.”

“I know, don’t worry, we’ll make it go away together.” She smiles and lifts herself off of him. “Um…there’s something I’m sort of into, and I was wondering if you might be too?”

“Well, what is it?”

“Could I…would you be comfortable if, I, uh, got behind you and lick you? Maybe use my fingers? I can conjure up some lube.”

Harry’s eyes visibly dilate, making Amber smirk.

“You have no idea how okay with that I am.”

“Yeah? Have you done it before?”

“No, but I’ve always wanted to. I think I actually have some lube here. Let me just double check my side table.” Harry eagerly leans over and reaches into his side table drawer. He finds a bottle of lube and tosses it to her. He gets onto his stomach for her, and she giggles as he wiggles his bum at her.

“M’gonna make you feel so good.” She says lowly, giving his bum a little smack before leaning down to spread him apart.

She licks a strip around his hole, swirling around his him. He grips the blankets on the bed, moaning and whimpering into his pillow as she suckled and slurped around his hole. She sits up for a moment to get some lube on her fingers. She starts with her middle finger, rubbing it around his rim, and then slowly slipping it inside him.

“Fuck.” He groans.

“Does it hurt?”

“No, feels good, don’t stop.”

Amber bites her bottom lip as she slips another finger inside him. She pumps them carefully, she didn’t want him to be in any sort of pain, this was supposed to be pleasurable. Her fingers get deep enough to reach a particular part inside of him. She reaches a hand around front to grip his throbbing cock.

“Doing so well, Harry.”

“Think you found my prostate, shit, feels so fucking good.” He grits his teeth as her thumb rubs over his tip. “M’gonnna come again, fuck!”

Amber presses his prick as close to his stomach as possible to make less of a mess as he comes. She slowly retracts her fingers from him, and lets him roll onto his back. He was sweaty and panting. She licks the palm of her hand that was full of his come, and then leans down to lick his stomach clean. His prick hardens back up instantly.

“Harry, I’m so wet, I almost came watching you enjoy yourself.” She says after licking her lips. “And your come tastes so good.” She pouts.

“I eat a lot of fruit.” He breathes. “Lay on your side for me.” He pats the spot next to him, and she does what he says. They get into a spooning position. She raises her leg a bit, and he slips inside.

“Oh, wow, you’re in so deep.” She arches into him. He grips her hip and starts moving in and out of her.

“Yeah? Like feeling me like this?”

“Yes.” She gasps when his fingers slip to her clit.

“You like it dirty, huh? You don’t like have vanilla sex.” He says into her ear, nipping at her lobe.

She moans out, unable to form an actual response. Once he gains a little more energy, he has her turn onto her stomach so he can fuck her properly from behind. He sits up on his knees, and starts pounding into her relentlessly.

“Oh my god!” She gasps. “Keep going, just like that!”

He grips the back of her neck with hand, and reaches around front to rub her clit with the other. He strokes are fast and deep, beating up her g-spot. She was chanting his name, and it was just egging him on more. He needed her to come again, and he needed her to come hard. As good as she felt, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to do it again after this.

“Want you to soak my sheets.” He growls. “Come all over my cock, Amber.”

“M’close, m’close!” She cries out.

Everything feels overwhelming all at once, and she finally lets go. He comes inside her at the same time, and does soak his sheets. His cock is absolutely drenched. He collapses next to her on the bed. He sighs with relief when he feels his cock actually start to soften.

“I have a spare set in the linen closet.” He says to her, and she giggles.

“Don’t bother, that was just the first session.”

“Um…what?”

“That was just the first session. You’ll probably come two more times.”

“But, that other time I only came three times.”

“Yeah, and it hurt, right? Did these last few hurt?”

“Not at all. Felt amazing.”

“We could 69 for the next one. You’re really good at going down.” She bites her bottom lip.

“Wouldn’t mind feeling your mouth around my cock either.”

“Seems like you’re almost ready again.” She looks down at his hardening cock.

“Fuck, please, come sit on my face.”

“You don’t want me to clean up first?”

“You just licked my asshole, I’m not too concerned about tasting my own come while it drips out of you.”

Amber whimpers and scrambles her way to hover over his face, leaning down over his cock so she can lick over his tip. Harry immediately starts sucking on her swollen clit, making her gasp before she’s able to wrap her lips around him. They went at for hours, switching between a number of positions, making an absolute mess of Harry’s sheets. Amber realizes that Penny must have given them a combination of the strawberry tea and the chocolate tea; that’s a strong combination. They couldn’t get enough of each other, and instead of being upset with Penny’s antics, they decided to just roll with it. Harry ate out Amber’s ass, she rode him reverse, he hit it from the side, they were like animals. He had scratch marks all over his chest and back, she was littered in bite marks, by the time the tea wore off, they were exhausted. Neither had the energy to magically make the sheets clean, so Harry stripped the bed while Amber helped make it back up. They fell asleep curled up with another completely naked.

//

Opal woke up to an empty apartment, to which she laughed. She headed down the stairs to go see Penny, and let her know their sneakiness paid off. The only thing was, there was no sign of Penny. Opal couldn’t get a scent on her.

“Oh, no.” Opal says to herself, and goes upstairs to Harry’s apartment. She scratches at his door. “Amber!”

Amber sits up quickly in bed. She wraps herself in one of Harry’s blankets and sprints to the door, rattling Harry awake.

“Come back to bed.” He groans, but she doesn’t hear him.

Amber opens the door, and Opal rushes in.

“What’s going on?” Amber asks her frantically.

“I’m sure you’re tired, and rightfully pissed off, but Penny didn’t show up this morning. I don’t even have a scent on her.”

“Shit.” Amber groans. “This has Max written all over it. He probably bagged her on her walk here this morning. Why she doesn’t just live here, I’ll never know.”

“What’s going on?” Harry asks them.

“Penny’s missing, get dressed.” Amber says firmly before snapping herself and Opal upstairs.

Harry wanted to talk to Amber about everything they did last night, take her to breakfast like he said he would. But Penny was missing, so that meant their nightmare from the night prior wasn’t over. He gets himself dressed and down to the shop. Amber was already waiting downstairs with Opal.

“Where do you think they took her?” Harry asks.

“I have an idea.” Amber sighs. “He probably sent those damn shadows after her.”

“Penny’s so experienced, I don’t understand.” Harry shakes his head.

“She’s old, Harry.” Opal says. “She wouldn’t stand a chance alone.”

Amber’s eyes start glowing out of nowhere, and she starts hovering in the air. Just as soon as it happens, she’s back on the floor.

“I know where she is, she just sent me a signal.” Amber says.

“I know where she is, she just sent me a signal.” Amber says. “It’s essentially a trap, they know we’re coming for her.” She looks down at Opal. “Are you strong enough for this?”

“I’ll have to be. Let’s go get her.”

//

Amber snaps them to where they need to be. Mac had the shadows take her to an old, abandoned building on the outskirts of town. Amber brought them just down the hall from where Penny was being kept. Harry had so many questions, but he knew now wasn’t the time. He stays close to Amber and Opal, walking down a dark corridor.

“Harry, stay with Opal. I’m going on the room.”

“I can’t let you go in there alone.” He tells her.

“I wasn’t asking.” She says before snapping herself into the room. Penny was chained up to a wall. “For the love of god.” Amber sighs before snapping her free.

“Behind you!” Penny shouts, and Amber gets zapped by what looks like red electricity. She gets knocked to the ground, but picks herself back up. Max’s eyes were glowing red.

“I told you that you had no idea what you did.” He grins evilly at her. “Give me the dog, now.”

“It’s me you want, not her. You have me, okay? Just take me.”

“The thing is…” He walks towards her. “I don’t have you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can’t be serious.” He scoffs. “You wreak of that dolt’s scent, Amber. What did you do, go home and fuck him to celebrate? I found this one because she was wearing one of your sweaters, thought it was you.”

Amber looks back at Penny with wide eyes. She had to have known that Max was going to come for her. Penny set the tea up so Harry’s scent would mix with Amber’s, and make her hard to find. Penny essentially sacrificed herself.

“And to think I was mad at you.” Amber smiles softly at Penny.

“I’d never trick you on purpose.” Penny says.

“Blah, blah, blah.” Max rolls his eyes. “Either way, I’ve lured you here.”

“What do you even want from me? Do you think forcing me into a relationship is going to be much fun?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Max chuckles. “You think you’re such a prize, but you’re not. I’ve had women far better than you. This really is about Opal, so hand her over.”

“No.”

Amber’s hands glow, and she strikes a blow at Max. He blocks it and sends it back to her.

“Like the new powers? My friends gifted them to me.” He grins.

“Red’s never been your color, sorry to say.”

They both run towards each other to duke it out. Shadows start to crowd around Penny, and she tries to deflect them, but she needs help. Harry and Opal storm in to help her. Harry’s able to zap them away. He looks over at Max, and runs towards him, striking him with a powerful blow. Amber’s eyes widen as she watches Harry try to face off with Max.

“Amber, get Opal and Penny home, now!”

“Harry, I’m not leaving you!”

“Go!”

“Listen to your foolish boy, Amber, you won’t want to see this.” Max says as he strikes Harry.

Amber fights back tears as she snaps herself, Penny, and Opal out of there. She starts crying because she knows she doesn’t have the strength to snap back right away.

“If I lose him, I…I don’t know what I’ll do.” She cries. “I finally opened up to him, and I-“

“Don’t waste your energy on panicking.” Penny says. “I tried to stop him so you wouldn’t have to worry. I wanted to ward him off, I’m sorry.”

“This isn’t your fault, it’s mine.” Opal says. “I was in the woods that night because I was following him. I had caught wind of dark magic usage, and my suspicions of it being him were true. I had no choice but to tell you.” She says to Amber.

Amber drops to her knees, and wraps her arms around Opal. Amber didn’t blame Opal for anything. This was all Max’s fault. She could feel herself getting angrier. She needed to know if Harry was alright.

“I have to get back to him. He can’t face Max on his own.” Amber looks up at Penny. “Do you think I’ll be able to do it?”

“You are the strongest girl I know. If anyone could muster up the energy to do this, it’s you. Don’t rely on the anger, rely on the love that feel for that boy.”

Amber wants to protest, but she couldn’t deny it. She loved Harry, a lot. She’d fallen for him, and she needed him to be okay. She takes a deep breath, and snaps herself back to where Harry is. She gasps once she’s back in that room. Harry was levitating Max in the air with his powerful green glow. He was holding Max in some sort of bubble.

“Harry!” Amber shouts.

“I’m okay! I don’t know how I’m doing this, but I’m okay!”

“Let me help!”

She blasts her blue glow up at Max, mixing with Harry’s. Max shouts this goulash sound, and a bright red light shines, filling the room. A loud explosion occurs, blasting Harry and Amber back. Max falls to the ground with a loud thud. Amber scrambles to her feet, and dusts herself off. Harry was totally knocked out. She wants to tend to him, but she has to make sure Max can’t do any more damage. She rushes over to him, and stands over him, nudging his body with her boot. His eyes flutter open, and he looks up at her.

“You’re so far gone.” She shakes her head. “You could have been such a wonderful mage, now look at you.”

“I’ve always envied you.” He says weakly. “You were given the best companion, one that could actually help you and bond with you. You’re one of the most powerful citrines out there. We could have been something together.”

“You ruined it. I feel nothing for you, absolutely nothing.”

“I can tell. Your heart belongs to that one.”

Amber steps on his chest, making him wince.

“And don’t you forget it. I showed mercy by taking your powers away. Walk away while you still can, or I won’t show you such kindness again. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.”

She rushes back over to Harry, and immediately snaps them back to the shop. He was still unconscious. Penny and Opal crowd around the two of them.

“Harry, please wake up.” Amber whispers to him. “I need you to be okay, please, I need you.” She cries into his chest.

“Amber.” Penny puts her hand on Amber’s shoulder. “Let’s get him up into your bed. You have some things in your kitchen we can whip up to help him.”

Amber nods, and Penny snaps them all upstairs. Amber gets Harry tucked into her bed. His breathing was steadily, and his blood pressure was normal. He used so much energy to keep Max at bay, he must be so drained, especially after the night they had. All he wanted to do was take her to breakfast, Amber hoped they’d get the chance. She goes into her kitchen with Penny while Opal stays curled up next to Harry.

“So, what are we making?” Amber sighs.

“Here, crush these mint leaves up, I’m making a watermelon tea, so I’m reducing some watermelon over the stove to make a syrup. We’ll use the mint leaves for the tea itself.”

“What will this do? He can’t drink this if he’s not awake.”

“He’ll need it for when he wakes up. It’ll be like an energy boost.”

“How do we wake him up?”

“We don’t. He needs to sleep whatever this is off. You’ll be there when he wakes. I’m sorry again about last night. When you told me what Max did, I knew he’d try to find you today. I just wanted to help, and-“

“I understand why you did it. It’s okay.” Amber smiles softly. “It could have been worse. Please, sleep here tonight in my guest room.”

“Alright.” Penny nods. “I think that’s a good idea.”

Once the tea is done, Amber brings it into her room, sets it down on the side table closest to Harry, and crawls into bed. It was only the early afternoon, but she felt sleep pulling her in. She succumbs to it, letting her eyes droop as she rests her head on Harry’s chest.

Hours later, she stirs awake when she feels the weight shift in the bed a bit. She looks over to see Harry knuckling at his eyes, and sitting up. He looks at her and smiles softly.

“Hey.” He says.

“How are you feeling?” She asks, reaching to caress his cheek.

“M’alright. I woke up a little while ago, Opal had me drink the tea you made. She’s downstairs with Penny running the shop. I fell back asleep after I drank some of the tea.” He presses a kiss to her palm, and she smiles. “How are you?”

“Better now.” She sighs. “I’m glad you’re awake, I was worried. We got blasted backwards after our magic combined. I don’t know how you were able to hold him off for as long as you did.”

“He…he was trying to egg me on. He was saying all of these awful things about you, but I remember reading it wasn’t good to harness anger to make yourself more powerful, so I just sort of thought about how I wanted to keep you safe, how I wanted Opal to stay safe because I knew that if anything happened to her you’d be devastated.”

“I was really worried about you.” Her voice cracks, and her eyes widen. “I thought he was going to try to kill you. I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t make it out of there.”

“Amber.” Harry cups her cheeks, using his thumbs to wipe her tears away. “I…I didn’t know you felt so strongly about me. We haven’t had a chance to talk about last night. I know we did a lot last night, and we had a bit more, um, gusto thanks to that tea, but everything I said to you last night I meant. I want to be with you.”

“I want to be with you too. I…I don’t want to know what it’s like to be without you. I was scared that I would. I know I pushed you away in the beginning, but I was fighting off something bigger than the two of us. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about someone before.” She looks down for a moment, and then back up at him. “I think…I think we were supposed to find each other, like, there was some sort of pull between us. I mean, there were plenty of other stores on this strip with vacant apartments, but you came into mine.”

“I always thought this stuff only happened in the books I’ve read, but it all sort of makes sense. I mean, I had no idea I was a mage, or whatever. Clearly, whatever this is inside of me was trying to bust out. And…amethysts are drawn to citrines, right?”

“Yeah, sometimes.” Amber smiles. “Usually, um, it’s a male citrine that goes for a female amethyst, not the other way around.”

“What about same sex couples?” He smirks.

“Same sex couples usually share the same gem, it’s rare if they don’t. I’m not sure what the science behind it is, you’d have to ask Penny.”

“Oh, is Penny…?”

“Mhm, she’s a widow, but her wife was the kindest woman. The two of them basically raised me.”

“What was her name?”

“Luna.” Amber smiles fondly. “They’re both garnets.”

“That’s really cool. I want to keep learning more about all of this; it’s so fascinating.”

“You’ll definitely learn more. I’ve got shelves upon shelves of books downstairs that you haven’t even touched yet.”

“Do you think I should tell my family about any of this?”

“God, no. Sometimes these things skip generations, they’d probably think you were nuts.” She chews on her bottom lip for a moment. “We’ve digressed a bit, um, I feel really strongly about you.”

“I feel strongly about you too.”

“Like…I…I’m in love with you, Harry.”

“Oh, thank god.” He sighs with relief. “Feel like I fell in love with you from the second we met, but I’ve been trying really hard not to come on too strong. You’re not the biggest fan of romance.” He smirks.

“No, I’m not.” She leans in to peck his lips. “I’m the stoic one, and you’re the cinnamon roll.” She grins.

“Mm, your dirty talk is impeccable.” He rolls his eyes, and it makes her laugh.

“Let me continue. You’re the only one this stoic girl becomes soft for. You turn me into a little cinnamon roll, one of those really sweet ones with a ton of icing.”

Harry chuckles and leans in to kiss her. He sucks on her bottom lip, smiling into the kiss.

“Definitely sweet.” He mutters against her lips.

“We should probably get out of bed before we completely throw off our sleep schedules.”

“You’re right.” He sighs. “M’also starving. I don’t think I’ve eaten all day.”

“Same here.”

“I owe you a breakfast date.”

“It’s already past five, no restaurant would serve us breakfast right now.”

“Maybe not, but I’m sure I could whip something up. You got groceries?”

“Yeah, plenty of food in the kitchen.” She blinks. “You want to make us breakfast for dinner?”

“Mhm.” He kisses her again. “Do you like pancakes?”

“Love ‘em.” She nods.

“What about chocolate chip pancakes?”

“Those are my favorite.”

“Mine too.”

//

Turns out Harry made some of the best pancakes Amber ever had. After they ate, they went down to the shop to see how Opal and Penny were doing. Amber decided to close down early. Harry needed to finish up some homework, and make sure he had his lesson plans ready to go for tomorrow morning. It was weird getting back to reality, but it was a routine Amber was sort of craving. For so long their main focus was training to prepare for Max’s eventual strike. Amber couldn’t be certain that he wouldn’t try something again, but she looked him dead in the eyes when she threatened him. She saw fear, she could feel his fear. She wasn’t worried about him anymore, nor was she as worried about Opal. She could exhale for the first time in a while.

She had a new concern: Harry. Over the next couple of weeks, she wouldn’t let him sleep alone, which he didn’t mind one bit. Harry liked that Amber was being so affectionate towards him, he reveled in the attention. The kisses, the soft touches, the hugs, the smiles, everything Amber did, Harry loved. He couldn’t wait to finish up his office hours most days so he could get to the shop. Even though Amber had to work, Opal would still curl up at his feet, and Penny would drop off an extra biscotti at his table. Harry felt like he had formed this new little family. It made the little town he decided to call home actually start to feel like home. He even got to see how Amber made her many teas.

The only thing that wasn’t so great was that Harry’s student Whitney tended to keep him late, and Amber didn’t like it. She trusted Harry with her whole heart, but she didn’t quite like the idea of someone else thinking they could try to flirt with him. Whitney came into the shop all the time, Amber knew exactly who Whitney was. She was a senior, so not much younger than herself or Harry, but still, it wasn’t appropriate for a student to be so forward with her professor. So, much like with everything else, Amber took matters into her own hands.

One evening, Harry had made Amber a late dinner after she closed up the shop. After they ate, they made their way to his sofa. Harry thought they were going to just cuddle for a bit, but Amber had made her way into his lap, straddling him and running her fingers through his hair while she sucked on his neck. Normally, Harry would be more cautious about having a mark in such a public spot, but it was getting colder out, so he could wear a turtleneck or scarf to cover it up. He was also just enjoying her body on his too much to care. She was rolling her hips into his, and his hands were kneading her ass.

“What’s gotten into you tonight, huh?” He pants as her teeth really start to sink into his skin. “Not that I’m complaining.”

She pops off him with loud, wet noise, catching her breath as she looks at the red mark forming on his neck. She runs her thumb over it in hopes that it’ll turn a delightful dark purple.

“You just smell so good, you know your cologne drives me wild.” She says as she latches back onto his neck. He moans out as she nips at his skin. She rolls her hips down in a way that grins her center right over his bulge.

“Fuck, Amber, can we move this to the bedroom? M’about ready to explode here.” He groans, squeezing harder at the skin on her hips. She tugs his head more to the side to make the mark even bigger. “Can mark me up all over, yeah?”

“Mm, that sounds nice.” She mumbles into his neck, and kisses her way over to his lips. “Maybe we could take a quick shower, and I could lick you all over too.” She wiggles her eyebrows at him, and his eyes visibly darken.

“Should make you dinner more often.”

//

Harry was on cloud nine the next day at school. He couldn’t stop smiling even if he tried. Amber made good on her promise to lick him all over, especially where he liked it most. He liked that they both enjoyed a good tonguing, and he liked that they were so good at taking turns. He wasn’t even mad about how fucked up his neck looked. Harry knew what Amber was doing, she was clearly marking her territory, and he didn’t mind one bit. If he wasn’t into her dominant personality, he wouldn’t be with her. The sweater he was wearing covered up most of it anyways, and his students never seemed to hide the marks on their necks, so what was the big deal, really?

After he finishes his classes for the day, he heads to his office for his office hours. He dives into the papers he needed to grade. He assigned a ten-page paper for his fiction workshop, and now he was regretting it. He got about a third of the way through his stack when Whitney came to his office.

“Hi, Professor Styles.” She smiles.

“Hey, Whit.” He smiles back. “I’m actually glad you’re here, could use your help.”

“With what?”

“I have a ton of grades to put into a spreadsheet from my physical gradebook. Think you could do that for me?”

“Sure!”

Harry unhooks his laptop from the docking station so she could dive into the spreadsheet he started. Things were quiet for a bit, but she was having trouble reading his writing. Harry had horrible penmanship.

“Professor Styles, I can’t read this.” She says, getting up from her seat and walking over to him. She leans over him slightly, and points to some of his scribbles. “See, I can’t tell if that’s an 87 or an 81.” Her cleavage was practically spilling into his face. He was about to say something, but someone else beat him to it.

“Maybe you should get your eyes checked.” They both look up to see Amber leaning against the door frame.

“Hey!” Harry smiles brightly, and Whitney stands up straight. “Amber, this is Whitney, one of my students. Whitney, this is my girlfriend, Amber.”

“Girlfriend, oh…um…I didn’t realize you were seeing someone, Professor Styles.”

“Course you did, how else would he have gotten that mark on his neck.” Amber smirks. “Now, why don’t you do everyone a favor and put your tits away because he’s not going to suck on them, alright?”

“Amber.” Harry looked mortified.

Whitney looked frightened, and she was speechless. She quickly gathers her things and walks out of Harry’s office. Harry stands up and goes to close his door. He was upset, Amber could tell.

“What?” Amber asks.

“You can’t talk to one of my students like that!”

“Why not? She was practically shoving her tits in your face, and you were letting it happen.”

“I was about to tell her to back off, but then you showed up. Why are you even here?”

“I came to surprise you, but I can see I’m unwanted. Why was she even here?”

“She comes to help me most days after class. She was working on a spreadsheet for me. And you’re not unwanted, you just don’t come to see me here often. It would have been a nice surprise if you hadn’t come in guns hot.” He puts his hands on his hips and looks at her. “Are you seriously jealous?”

“I can’t help that I feel protective over you. I don’t like that other people think you could be theirs when you’re mine.”

“And to think you didn’t want anything to do with me just a few months ago.” He smirks.

“That joke stopped being funny after the first time you made it.” She rolls her eyes, and stops towards him. Harry was just under a foot taller than Amber, and yet she commanded every room she walked into. She grips the collar of his sweater and tugs him down to her face, her eyes glowing.

“You’re so sexy when you’re like this.” He wraps his arms around her, lifting her up and sitting her down on his desk. “But don’t think it gives you a pass for acting like that. You need to be nice. She’s one of your customers, remember? You’re nice all the time at the shop, why can’t be nice where I work?” He pouts.

“Because no one flirts with me at my place of business.”

“Oh, please.” He scoffs. “I’d be a very rich man if I had a dollar for every time I’ve caught someone checking you out.”

“That’s totally different. No one’s shoving a part of their body in my face.” She pouts back at him. “Why does someone so pretty have to be one of your frequent flyers?”

“Okay, let’s get something straight. The only tits I want shoved in my face are yours.” He plants his hands on either side of her thighs, getting nice and close to her face. “And even though Whitney might be pretty, no one could ever compare to how incredibly beautiful you are.”

He always knew exactly how to melt her heart. He leans in to kiss her, sucking on her bottom lip, and licking into her mouth. Her hands move up to his chest, tugging on his sweater to pull him closer. She wraps her legs around his waist, and slowly lowers herself back onto his desk. He follows her, helping her keep her legs around him.

“Wait.” She pants as he kisses down her neck. “Go lock your door.”

“Shit, you’re right.” He says, quickly going over to the door to lock it, and then going back to her. “This is going to hurt your back, do you wanna do it on my chair, on the loveseat?”

“I really want you on top.” She whines.

“Yeah? Want me to be in control right now?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s sit on the loveseat, even if you’re on top, I’ll thrust up into you.” He kisses her. “I’ll rub your clit.” He kisses her again. “Suck on your glorious tits.”

“Fuck, okay, just get my clothes off.” She huffs.

He picks her up, and undoes her jeans quickly. He tugs them down, along with her underwear. Harry drops his own pants and rips his sweater off. Amber gets her jacket off and wraps her arms around his neck. Harry tugs her back to the loveseat, turning her around so she’ll sit on him reverse. He pumps his cock a few times before lining himself up with her. Her jeans were around her ankles since she didn’t bother to take her boots off, so things felt a little tighter than usual; neither of them were complaining.

He bites down on her shoulder, and her head rolls back into his chest. His hands grip Amber’s hips, and he starts thrusting up into her. They needed to be quick and quiet, so he takes one of his hands and it brings it up to her mouth so she could suck on his fingers. Her eyes roll back as she sucks on his digits. His other hand slips between her thighs so his fingers could work her clit. She moans around his fingers from the sheer pleasure. His tip was pummeling her g-spot, and his fingers were working magic – excuse the pun. His palm was pressing into her bladder, and she was starting to panic. She didn’t want to make a mess of his loveseat.

“Can feel you squeezing around me.” He says into her hear, nipping at her lobe.

“H-Harry, I-“ She mumbles around his fingers.

“Hm? What’s the matter, gonna make a mess?”

“Mhm.” She whines.

“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” He stops all motions immediately, and lifts her off of him.

“What the hell are you doing?!” She asks as he grabs a tissue to come into.

“You said you wanted me in control.” He says as he pulls his pants back up. “Can’t have you squirting all over my office. I’ll take care of you when I finish work for the day.” He smiles and kisses her forehead.

“Harry, this isn’t funny.”

“M’not trying to be, Babe.” He helps her pull her own pants back up. “I have a lot to do, and since you sent my little worker bee away, I may be here a little later than usual. I’ll come to your place when I’m done.”

“You’re sure you wanna play this game with me?” She asks as she puts her jacket back on. “I don’t think you’re prepared for what you’re coming home to by denying me of an orgasm.”

“I’ll take my chances.” He smirks. “I can’t have you thinking you deserve a reward for acting up in my office.” He pecks her lips and opens his door. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

She narrows her eyes at him, looks him up and down, and nods.

“Okay.”

Harry felt a chill run through him as she left. Maybe he should have let her come.

//

Harry wasn’t kidding when he said he had a lot of work to do. He didn’t get home until after the shop closed. He drops his things off in his apartment before going up to Amber’s. She was sitting on her couch watching TV when he came in.

“Hey, Baby, sorry I’m back so late. Where’s Opal?”

“Staying with Penny tonight.”

“Oh?”

“Told her we needed some alone time.” She stands up and walks over to him, giving him a slow kiss on the cheek.

“Huh.” He swallows. “Well, we’re alone now.” He puts his hands on her hips. “Did you, uh, take care of yourself at all?”

“I’ll admit, I almost did just to spite you, but I thought it would ruin the fun.” She slides her hands up his chest. “That being said, I’m not quite in the mood for you to be so in control anymore.”

“What a relief.” He sighs. “M’exhausted, I don’t think I could keep up the façade of being so in charge right now.” He pouts at her and she giggles.

“You made a very good point earlier. I shouldn’t have spoken to your student like that. Bring some coupons with you tomorrow to give her as an apology, but make no mistake, if she keeps hitting on you I will not hesitate to fuck her up.”

“I can live with that. She’ll only be my student for another month or so.” He presses his forehead to hers. “So, what would like to do instead of playing games tonight?”

“I’d very much appreciate it if you ate me out for a bit. You denied me of what would have been a rather powerful orgasm and I think you should make up for it.”

“Fair enough. Then will you go back to bouncing on my cock the way you were? Felt so nice.”

She nods, and takes his hand to lead him to the bedroom. She takes her night shirt off, revealing her naked body to him.

“You’re wicked.” He grins. “Lounging around with that glorious bum of yours out for anyone to see.”

“Good thing I was home alone.” She grins, and gets onto the bed, spreading her legs open for him. She snaps her fingers to light the candles in the room.

Harry rids himself of his clothes, and knees onto the bed. He kisses on her belly, leaving a trail of wet kisses behind as he makes his way between her thighs. He hooks his arms around her thighs and dives in. He sucks on her clit immediately, making her moan out. She cards her fingers through his hair as he eats her like he hasn’t eaten in days. The noises he makes as he sucks and licks on her are filthy, and they only spur Amber on more with her moans and whimpers.

“Oh my god, Harry.” She whimpers. “You’re so fucking good, Baby, so fucking good.” She was near tears. His tongue was so wet and warm, fucking in and out of her. “Fuck, I’m gonna come, I’m gonna come, Harry!” She comes hard on his tongue, and he laps it up, moaning at how good she tastes.

“Fucking hell.” He breathes when he sits up. “Do you want me to give you another this way?”

“God, you’re insatiable.” She groans. “Please, I need you inside me now.”

Harry sits up against the headboard, and Amber sits on him reverse she like had earlier in the day. This time they could both be as loud as they wanted, and this time Harry could grope freely at her breasts. She uses her knees to move up and down on him. She was moving fast, wanting him to fill her up. He uses one of his hands to rub circles into her clit.

“Amber.” He moans into her ear, thrusting up into her. “You’re so fucking wet for me, feels amazing.”

“Only ever want your cock, no one else’s.” She had never said anything like that to him before. “Don’t want anyone else ever again.”

“Fuck, I don’t want anyone else either. M’all yours.”

“Yes!” She gasps as she comes around him. He follows right after, filling her up. “Yes.” She whispers.

“Are you all mine?” He whispers into her ear before kissing on her cheek and shoulder.

“Mhm.” She relaxes into him, and looks up his face, admiring his features. “You’re all I want.”

“You’re all I want too. I’m so glad we found one another.” He wraps his arms tightly around her.

“So am I.” She sighs happily.

Eventually, she gets off of him, and they both clean themselves up before getting into bed. Harry tells Amber about his classes and coursework, and she tells him about some of the funny customers that came in that day. They lay there giggling and chatting, just enjoying each other’s company.

“Harry?” She asks as she traces over his tattoos with her finger tips.

“Hm? What is it, my love?”

“You mean the world to me, I hope you know that.” She snuggles into his chest. “Jealousy is quite ugly, but when I love, I love hard. It’s just who I am.”

“I’m so honored that you’ve welcomed me into your small circle. I see the way you are with Opal and Penny, the love you have for them radiates off you. I can feel what you feel for me.”

“And I can feel what you feel for me.”

“We’re connected.” He says, and kisses the top of her head.

“We are.” She nods. “And it feels wonderful.”

[mego42]

I 100% agree about wanting more fanfic lists! I honestly think it's the best way to get a variety. Everybody has personal preferences, if someone, who mostly reads long, fluffy au Brio fic, is making recs, they're not likely to mention short, angsty, canon Brio (which is understandable and fair!) so ideally someone else, who does like those, would also do recs. I'm pretty sure I've read or at least tried the vast majority of Brio fics, but the recs often make me re-read the fic and author.

YAAASSSS!!! I mean like, okay, I v much get why people have issues with rec lists, and I def do not by any stretch endorse the idea that recs/rec lists should be considered anything other than one person sharing a think they liked, but to me a lot of the issues (the same fics/authors getting recced, feeling like awesome fics/authors are going unrecognized) can be solved by more reccing, not less. everyone’s got different taste and different stuff they look/read for and I am extremely pro sharing that.

Idk, I think about it like this: in a previous internet life I was a YA book blogger and I lived and died by recs from other bloggers whose taste and preferences I knew. I mean, you know, I’d check out a book bc the premise sounded interesting but literally the first thing I would do was go to Goodreads and look for a handful of people who tended to like the same books I did and see what they were saying about it bc that was the best way to get a good idea of if I wanted to give it a shot. Or, on the flip side, there were some people whose reviews I followed bc I knew we v much did not read for the same things so if they hated a book for X, Y and Z reasons, I was probs going to like it (one thing about book blogging is if you want to keep current, you do not have a lot of time to mess around, snap judgements are key but that’s a whole other thing and idk if it’s even relevant anymore bc that landscape has changed so much). 

ANYWAY, the point is, I got in the habit and now I do the same thing with fic bc, tbh, I don’t have a ton of time to read, esp not when I’m actively writing which, with the exception of the last week or two, I’ve been doing p non-stop since I got here. All of which to say is, I am desperately in favor of fic recs for purely selfish reasons, I need them! Give them to me!!! Please!!!!!

That said, I uh, am v bad at returning the favor and I recognize that (I think I’ve made what? two rec lists for this fandom?) so I will try to do better to live by my own, idek what this is, moving on and here are 10 recs not really thematically linked by anything other than I’ve read them and loved them and don’t think I’ve put any of them on one of my rec lists yet (and if I have, my blog is a trainwreck I cannot be expected to remember what’s on it LET ME LIVE):

The Goodest Boy by EnsignDisaster

There’s a key turning in the lock and Buddy rushes over to greet his Master excited for her to meet his new friends. The door opens and he dances around Master’s feet rejoicing on the fact that she’s made it home. It's been literally forever.

“Hey Buddy what’s wrong? Need to go potty? Need to pee-pee?”

“Nah he’s good we took him out.”

Master does something very unMasterlike, she drops all the food she’d brought in on the ground and screams. It’s a non traditional avant garde type of hello…Buddy loves it. Mostly because while Master taps furiously on her small light box and sits tense in the corner opposite his new friend Buddy can lick up the egg smashed on the hardwood floor.

Buddy! The! Dog! POV! no further explanation necessary. Technically WIP, but it covers the whole pilot in a way that could be read as standalone (THOUGH THAT WOULD V MUCH GIVE ME A SAD though, when did the show forget the Bolands had a dog? so maybe that’s a tragic casualty of canon, idk)

May The Moon’s Silvery Beams by @pynkhues

Emma hums in agreement, and Rio turns her around to sit her on the counter, grabbing one of the older looking boxes of muesli while she kicks her legs out, heels bumping back against the counter, watching him. He gropes around the inside of the box, finally just opting to pull the plastic cereal bag out and peering inside. He can’t quite keep the grin off his face when he sees the wad of cash lining the bottom. This woman kills him, she really does.

Then there’s a little face peering up beside him, trying to peek into the box.

“What is it?” she asks, and he tilts the box sideways so she can see inside.

The upside to not getting here until s3 is that old fic is new to me! Huzzah!! Idk how many of y’all have already read this on but if you haven’t I highkey recommend. Extremely cute take on what if Emma woke up when Rio and came by to collect his/Beth’s/whoever's money during the shutdown. Cannot believe I’m reccing kidfic. Witchcraft!!!!!!

Maybe You’re My Fantasy by ohmisterjapan

He fucking loves the involuntary. It speaks to how he likes to unlock chaos and walk away. He's been called a control freak before and it felt like such a misunderstanding of him - he's all about self control but he doesn't want to control others. It's more that he enjoys revealing to them how little they can control themselves. It's more that he likes to stand still in the eye of someone else's storm and pick coldly through the wreckage.

Another oldie but a goodie. This fic is more like an extended character study (first chapter Rio POV, second chapter Beth) and I LIVE FOR THIS KIND OF SHIT. I really really really love the take on both characters, it really digs in and pulls out some nuances that made me sit and think about my own read of them and I love it.

A Shock Of Blue by mintletters16

“You don’t look very well. Would you… like me to get you a glass of water or something?”

Her voice is low but smooth, laced with a softness that cuts straight though to his core. Strawberry blonde locks fall gently just above the pair of magnets freezing him in place.

He can still feel the chaos tearing through his veins - emanating from the gold plated gun stuffed in his waistband - and suddenly he can’t be here anymore. Can’t meet this wide-eyed gaze that’s been locked on his for the past God-knows-how-long anymore.

Can’t see blue alive and concerned when he just left it cold and void somewhere in oblivion.

She’s looking at him like he’s on the brink of madness. He thinks maybe he is.

Apparently, it’s backlist rec day over here and I’m not sorry. This one is another technical WIP but the chapter works as a standalone (BUT if the author decided to return to it I WOULD NOT BE MAD). It’s a what if Beth and Rio met pre-canon and it works so!!! well!!!! The tension and fascination and build are all *chef’s kiss* plus the writing is gorgeous and lyrical and ugh, I love it.

for a moment we were strangers by openhearts

“We got stuff,” Rio motions with a nod to the backpack Beth hadn’t noticed when they arrived hanging on the back of one of the chairs at the island.

She swallows and turns back to the dishes, realizing Rio apparently means to sleep there , assuming the place isn’t bugged.  Or for some kind of cover story if it is.  She turns and fixes Rio with a narrow-eyed stare, studying his face, the corner of his jaw especially prominent from the angle she’s looking up at him.  He’s methodical about drying each dish and setting it back on the rack, maddeningly ignoring her hard stare, so when he goes to take the next plate from her hands she grips it tightly and gets his attention.

“Hey.”

“What you on about now?” he asks, irritated.

It gets her gut uneasy, how he’s just . . . there, settling in, in ways he never had before, no matter how nonchalantly he would let himself in through her locked doors.  

“This is,” Beth tries, failing, to find words for it, “. . . it’s weird .”

This one takes place post 204 and Rio and Marcus end up spending a long weekend staying with Beth and Emma for reasons (that work, for the record, I’m just not trying to summarize rn) and it’s domestic and cute but honestly my fav part of it is how weirded out Beth is by how easily they slip into sync. The story does an excellent job balancing where they are in canon (uneasy post-sex truce) with a snapshot of what they could be if they got over themselves (HA! as if) and Beth is DEEPLY FREAKED which makes her slow slide into realizing she could maybe sort of kind of oh shit like it/him??? that much more satisfying.

Not So Careful by @bensonstablers

When he doesn’t answer, her eyes go to his but he’s too busy watching the letter opener which is still pressed against the back of his hand. Curiously, Beth runs it up his arm, careful not to press too hard, and smiles a little as he shivers. Pulling her leg up onto the bed, she shuffles closer to him before pressing the tip of the sword to his chest and slowly circling his left nipple with it, being sure not to get too close.

“You ain’t gotta be that careful.”

And when she lifts her eyes to meet his, he’s got that look. The one that always makes a lump form in her throat and for her to fall back into bed with him without a single thought of what they have to do that day. Only thing is, this time they’ve got nothing to do for the rest of the weekend and well, staying in bed the entire time had seemed like an appealing idea so she allows herself to give in a little to that look.

It makes me EXTREMELY SAD that knifeplay ranked so low on the kink survey so I’m gonna need y’all to check out this V V V EXCELLENT example of it and come back and tell me you’re sorry and you voted wrong. I am v reasonable what are you talking about.

love (where it wasn’t supposed to be) by @lilliloves

"You know what I can't stand?" Rio asks, stepping closer. It's a rhetorical question but he pauses for a second and watches Dean sniff, watches a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead, watches him shift on both his feet as he contemplates making a run for it.

"A guy who don’t realize how good he's got it." Rio continues, looking Dean up and down in disgust. "A guy that will literally fuck up a good thing just to get his dick wet."

"Yeah, well I can't stand a guy who can have anyone he wants but chooses the married woman he's not entitled to.” Dean shoots back. "And I really can't stand the fact that you're always in the room with us even when you aren't there."

And who brings him into the room Dean hmmmmm????? Jk, jk (or am I). In this one Rio catches Dean out on the town with another woman (bc of course he is) and tries to call him out but whoops! gets called out himself. I really love the like, idk, undercurrent of wistful regret in this fic. I love Dean straight up calling Rio out on his feelings (spoilers but there’s an exchange right after this one that made me straight up holler), and, you know, obvs I am here for Rio making Dean feel like an ass. 

Hell Is Other People by makemanybraver

Rio: We're in Hell, Elizabeth! If you don't think you belong here, then repent! Don't fuck everyone in the room in hopes that you get to go out!

Beth: Why do I have to repent?!

Rio: Because you did some fucked up shit in your life, Elizabeth! You keep doing fucked up shit here, too! And you think you don't belong here!

Beth [screaming at the top of her lungs]: Because I don't!

This fic is existentially bonkers and I love it. It’s the kind of experimental format/homage/what have you kind of thing that I L O V E. Based on No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre, Beth, Rio, and Fitzpatrick are stuck together in a room in hell for all eternity. What more do you need, honestly.

Working On Things by odenkirk

Unknown Hold up, Elizabeth. I'm really thinkin about you here.

Beth turned her face into the pillow, effectively suffocating herself for a moment, but thinking it was a good trade off for the way the cool silk of her pillowcase chilled her skin.

She lifted her head to glance at the still sleeping Dean before replying.

Beth I'm thinking about you too. But this can't happen.

She wanted him to know she wanted him, but she also thought that admitting she was already there would save Rio from trying to convince her. She wanted him, but morals had to win just once in a while.

YES this is technically Beth/Dean while also being Beth/Rio BUT it’s also sort of Rio/Dean and I am HERE FOR THE DIVERSITY OF SHIPPING leave me alone who asked you.

Five Times He Knew What She Was Thinking, and One Time He Didn't by JoeyLee

Aight, so tell ‘em I was hittin’ it. Said deliberately blunt, eyes locked on her face the whole time, just to see those blue eyes widen. She looked so shocked that he almost laughed, so he softened it teasingly just to keep her going. Oh, I’m sorry, sweetheart, tell ‘em we were makin’ love.

Then he just watched her, just watched her face, just fucking fascinated. Her lips were parted and her eyes were big as saucers, and…there it was. Before she could look away flustered, he watched the thought go through her mind. Him and her together.

He wondered what she was picturing or where. Them in the back seat, her bed, a motel?  Her on top or him from behind or his face between her legs?

Whatever it was, the blush started immediately, and he watched it bloom out from her cheeks to her hair. Then she was tearing her eyes away to gulp a little.  But it didn’t knock her down for long before she was looking back. And then, wait, was she actually asking him how to go about telling a fed they were fucking?

Okay this is another technical WIP but works as a standalone. I am absolutely fucking feral for character POV takes of canon scenes and this is a supremely excellent take on Rio POV of some notable scenes from the pilot through 204. Imo it brilliantly captures Rio’s voice and I love it a lot. 

HEADS UP I am absolute shite at tracking ao3 to tumblr unless people have specifically told me someone’s ao3/tumblr name SO if you recognize any of the non-tumblr authors on please lmk so I can tag them and YES I recognize that I am asking y’all to do things for me throughout this entire post and I’M SORRY OKAY I’M A WHOLE ASS MESS LOVE YOU BYE

[sunflowerhae]

butterflies by Kacey musgraves with jeno pls 🥺 I was LITERALLY listening to this song while I saw your post and took it as a sign 🥺

|📣 ▹▹ it WAS a sign my love! Enjoy! Also, I will say this is a bit longer than the others, so yeah lol🦋

Send in your own request!✨🍰🌙

|⚠️ caterpillar’s unfortunate death

“I was just coasting, never really going anywhere. Caught up in a web, I was getting kind of used to staying there”

You’ve known you didn’t like Lee Jeno since you were eight years old.

It was October; the leaves on the ground made loud, crunchy noises that were music to your ears when you walked home, and the weather was just cold enough for your mother to pack you into a light blue jacket and pull a beanie over your head before sending you off with a kiss and your peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

It was the day you had been waiting for, for what seemed like weeks; Miss Stacy’s First Grade Class was going to start raising butterflies.

You had been paired off into groups of four kids to one butterfly. You were in a group with a young girl named Yeri, and two boys named Renjun and Jeno. You would sometimes play tag with Yeri, and Renjun was your tetherball partner. You hadn’t had many interactions with Jeno; the older boy was always too busy playing kickball with the other boys to play with any of the girls - let alone you - but it didn’t matter to you; nothing did. All you could focus on was your beautiful caterpillar, and the excitement you felt about raising and then releasing it.

You had a routine.

Everyday, Renjun and you would come into the class and check on your caterpillar; change it’s water, give it more leaves; anything it needed, you gave it. In the afternoon, after lunch, Jeno and Yeri would do the same. However, that day Yeri had left school at lunch; her retreating figure slumping along as she did the walk of shame to her mother; anxious about the dentist appointment she had. You didn’t think twice before getting up from your spot under the tree and walking to the sand field not far from you; Jeno’s figure in your line of sight. He was waiting for his turn up to kick, laughing at something Na Jaemin had whispered to him, when he felt a small peck on his shoulder.

“H-hi Jeno oppa,” You shyly mumbled while looking down at your light up sketchers, not used to interacting with the elder boy.

“Hi.”

“So um, Yeri unnie left for the day, so I’ll be helping you with your caterpillar duties.”

Jeno gave you a confused look. “Oh, Why did noona leave?”

“Um, a dentist appointment I think.”

He shrugged his shoulders and gave you a weak, “okay,” Before turning back to the game.

You thought it was okay.

But clearly, it was not.

“I don’t understand why we even have to do this.” Jeno whined next to you as you wrote down how much the caterpillar had eaten since this morning to now (2 WHOLE leaves).

“Because, well...it’s cute” you shrugged.

“Well, I don’t want to do this lame work. We wouldn’t have to if we just killed the bug.” You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. Kill the caterpillar? Not on your watch.

“N-no! We can’t kill it! It’s a living thing! Would you kill a cat?”

Jeno’s eyes went wide, and he frantically shook his head. “No! But this isn’t a cat, it’s a caterpillar!” He laughed.

You didn’t think this was a laughing matter, so you gave a small ‘humph’ and turned your head so you weren’t looking at Jeno anymore. Jeno, wanting to play a small joke on you, took this opportunity to silently open the caterpillar's cage, take out said caterpillar, and hide it in between his hands. He thought it was so funny; seeing you turn and freak out because the caterpillar wasn’t there anymore.

What wasn’t funny was when Jeno totally forgot living things need air to breathe.

It was quite a scene to behold; you were standing by the teacher's desk, sobbing so hard that snot came out of your nose, while softly holding the dead caterpillar's body in your little hands and caressing it with your left index finger. You couldn’t help but feel absolutely terrible. Somewhere out there, a little mommy butterfly is wondering when her baby will be home from his adventures in human children's land, and he’ll never return. He’ll never get to turn into a beautiful butterfly, and fly in the wind; spreading his beauty.

Jeno was also trying not the cry. He didn’t mean to kill the caterpillar. He just wanted to play a small prank on the girl he thought was pretty like his mommy. He did actually want to see the caterpillar turn into a butterfly. Renjun tried assuring him that it wasn’t a big deal, but Jeno still felt guilty. Especially when you wouldn’t stop caressing and petting the caterpillar, saying that, that way it doesn’t feel scared, or lonely. Saying that out loud to your teacher made you cry even more, and you didn’t stop crying until you were safely in the arms of your own mommy, while she pet your hair and held you while walking to the car.

The next day, you saw Jeno laughing and playing with his friends; seemingly having forgotten all about the caterpillar incident the day before. Your blood boiled. In the end, you got put into another caterpillar group, and got to release the butterflies anyway; but you never forgot about that one caterpillar incident with Jeno, and you vowed to never let your guard down around the older boy, and to always hate him.

And you had perfectly upheld that vow until sophomore year of high school.

“Now you're lifting me up, instead of holding me down Stealing my heart instead of stealing my crown Untangled all the strings round my wings that were tied”

Week 1

“It’s your fault we’re in here, so shut up!” Jeno had been nothing short of annoying for the past week while you both sat out your punishments in after school detention.

Why were you in after school detention, you ask?

It was no surprise that you two went the ways you did after elementary school. Jeno, being the most popular varsity soccer player by sophomore year - and you, being a valued member (gunning for president by senior year) of the photography club. It was because of the ways you two went, that you ended up in the position of taking the soccer photos for the yearbook. You had to stay at their practice for the whole two hours, but took a break halfway through to catch up on a bit of homework. Jeno, wanting to always be the center of (your) attention, thought it would be a hilarious prank to kick a soccer ball at you while you were looking down at your homework. The first time was harmless. It landed at your feet and startled you, sure, but you just glared at a laughing Jeno while throwing it - albeit, weakly - back. However, the second time he kicked it, neither of you got so lucky.

And that’s how you ended up with a broken $630 camera, Jeno with a bruised (you weren’t that good at punching) nose, and the both of you with a months worth of after school detention.

“My fault?! You’re the one that punched me!” You both sat at opposite ends of the classroom, but that didn’t stop you from fighting. The teacher had walked out to go get more coffee, so you two were free to argue.

“And you’re the one that broke my camera!” You fired back, which initiated you both yelling on top of each other in anger. Jeno wouldn’t usually be too upset about a small incident like this, but after school detention collided with his soccer schedule - which meant that for the next month, Jeno was off the team.

And boy, did he hate that.

“ENOUGH enough! Listen, I really don’t want to talk to you, so you stay on your side and I’ll stay on mine, deal?” You offered, already tired of yelling. Thankfully, Jeno mumbled out a,

“Fine,” and turned his gaze out the window with a sigh, just as the teacher was walking back in.

Week 2

“I need help with my homework.” Many people thought you were an easy A kind of person. You came off as a smart kid, but you secretly kept it in that your grades were genuinely terrible, and just prayed that no one found out.

Usually you would be with your math tutor, but with after school detention, that wasn’t possible. The teacher was, once again, not in the room (that happened a lot, although the times she was there, she was sleeping), and so your only hope was unfortunately, well, Lee Jeno. You knew he was smart - sports kids had to have good grades. You really hoped that he would help you, and wouldn’t laugh, and wouldn’t tell anyone that he did.

When he heard you, he was so ready to laugh in your face and spit out a “no way”, but when he looked up and saw your pouty gaze, well, he was sold. So, instead, he mumbled out a small, “yeah sure” - to which you smiled and took a seat next to him.

It was only once you were already out of the school building did you realize that not only did you two not fight that whole time, but you actually made jokes with each other, and you sat with him the rest of detention.

Shit.

Week 3

“-And so I quickly grabbed her and said ‘no yeri, those aren’t eggs!’ And she spit them out onto the floor while yelling!” The milk Jeno was in the middle of downing quickly flew from his nostrils as he broke out in laughter at the climax of the story you were telling him. You quickly had to shush him while laughing yourself; making wide eyed glances back and forth between him and your detention teachers slumped figure.

It wasn’t that you two were friends, oh no, definitely not. You just had no one else to talk to in detention, so Jeno and you found yourselves sitting next to each other and actually having civilized conversations that didn’t end in having to be separated. The thought of you two being friends still disgusted you, and you refused to admit that you were becoming close.

This is as far as I will get you told yourself.

I only have one more week, and then I can go back to hating him.

But do I still want to?

You didn’t know this, obviously, but Jeno was thinking the same thing.

Week 4

You and Jeno were slowly walking down the empty hallways of your school after your last detention together. Not a word was said between the two of you; both afraid of what might be shared.

You didn’t want to stop talking to Jeno. In the last four weeks, you’ve come to actually enjoy your time together - finding that you had more in common than you thought. While you never would have admitted it before, you’ve always kind of wanted to get to know Jeno, even if you did think he was a jerk. So the idea of not talking to him made you quite upset, though you tried not to show it.

Finally, the two of you got to the entrance doors of your high school, but neither pushed them open. You both just stood there, exchanging awkward glances back and forth, and hoping that the other wouldn’t leave. This went on for around a minute, before something was finally said by Jeno, “y/n, can I be honest,” you nodded, “I don’t want to go back to hating you.”

“Same!” You exclaimed a bit too quickly, the both of you giggling messes at the fact.

“Actually, if it’s alright with you, I was wondering if you, maybe, I don’t know, wanted to see a movie with me tomorrow?” He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, and in the pit of your stomach, you could feel a lonely little butterfly begin to flap its wings as you nodded at his offer with a smile on your face.

“Now I remember what it feels like to fly You give me butterflies”

The breeze from the open windows pulled and pushed your hair every which way as you closed your eyes and smiled from your spot in the passenger seat.

The speaker was blasting with Kacey Musgraves, and you almost felt yourself falling asleep, but the hand that slid into your own had you opening your eyes and glancing at the boy occupying the driver's seat. He was glancing back and forth between the road and yourself with a smile on his face, and you couldn’t help the content sigh that fell past your lips.

“What’s up, baby?” Jeno mumbled, always worried when it came to you.

“Nothing, you just make me so happy.”

Jeno’s smile widened, and he brought your interlocked hands up to his lips, and kissed the back of your hand, before looking at you and saying, “happy three year anniversary”.

First, your mind is occupied with that little 8th year old girl, crying while glancing down at the dead caterpillar in her hands.

Then, you think back to that moment in front of the entrance doors to your school, where that little butterfly in your stomach popped up for the first time, and your heart warms at the thought that that butterfly lives in a garden of its own kind now.

[fizzysquish]

I'd really like to hear about your opinion on the ahit fandom if youre ok with sharing? love your writing by the way!!

Oh wow I actually didn't expect anyone to wanna know yifhfkhck

And thank you!

Alright this is.. Gonna be long and most likely have some spelling errors every now and then but bear with me.

Tw- talk of pedophilia, swear words

Tldr at the very bottom

The ahit fandom..

...sucks

But also doesnt? Its kind of hard to explain. In general, if you just glance at the fandom it will either come across as pure or as a shit show. This fandom has some serious problems.

This fandom has a lot of drama happy people in it. Im not going to name names or anything, cause there's no point, but it does. A single scroll through the tags will tell you that much. And this isnt me saying 'people can't have opinions' or what have you. What im saying is that there are people in this fandom who live just to stir up drama and make others angry.

Or, in a lot of cases, instead of just saying a persons opinion, they'll swear up a storm and say they hate certain people or call certain types of fans 'the problem with the fandom' and like.. That just makes you sound like an asshole honestly. And it hurts people, too.

(And nobody can tell me it doesn't. Ive had to reassure too many venting and upset friends because of it. It hurts people.)

Also, because you know I have to mention this and it fits perfectly after this first paragraph- subcon. Snatcher.

I legitimately do not understand why some people hate snatcher so much. And I also cannot understand why some people will specifically target snatcher fans at times.

Snatcher is a big comfort character for a lot of people. Wether its for personal reasons (ex- mine is because of my own past dealing with abuse and trauma), or if its just because they make someone happy.

Snatcher is a comfort character, and the whole story surrounding subcon is so so interesting and fun to explore? And so what if people enjoy it? I can understand that it can get frustrating seeing so much of it, especially if you like something else, but that is no reason to target snatcher fans (or.. Any fans in general) and/or make people feel bad for having fun.

Fuck, thats how you make people leave the fandom entirely. I understand it can get frustrating, but just.. Try to be nicer? Try not to make people feel bad for having fun? Please?

And before anyone tells me "it's not about that!", i want to point out that I often see posts like "don't let the snatcher fans see this-" and other things along that.

If you want me to believe its not about that, prove it. Cause as far as i can tell, it certainly is.

(Also as a note- who cares is someones thirsty??? Like

Just block them and avoid if it bugs you so much?? It's not that hard dude)

-THIS PARAGRAPH MENTIONS PEDOPHILLIA, SKIP IF NEEDED-

Another serious thing to mention is the pedophilia in this fandom. Feel free to skip this part  if it makes you uncomfortable, but its something i need to talk about.

There are pedophiles in this fandom. Ive seen the art and the fics (no matter how many times i scrub my eyes, because its disgusting and horrible and just- eugh-). There are pedophiles here and its easy to come across them because they just.. Aren't afraid to post in main tags. People follow them. People support them. Granted, not everyone, and generally most people know to avoid em, but they're still there. They havent been kicked out or ostracized. And it disgusts me.

I know this whole paragraph could be argued that "that doesn't represent the fandom!" Or whatever but.. This is a younger audiences welcome game guys. Its advertised as 'the cutest 3d platformer!'. Kids can and do play this game.

There is pedophilia in this fandom, and i feel its important to mention.

-END OF PARAGRAPH-

Also, some people in this fandom just.. Suck. Plain and simple. Some people in this fandom are just genuine assholes. And said asshole just like harassing others and causing problems. There's a literal shit ton of drama and problems with this fandom, and honestly it's.. So dumb??

This is literally just a video game and people are just having fun. If there's a problem, treat it like a grown up and either ask the causes to stop and why, or block and move on. Simple.

Now lets move onto the good parts of this fandom, yeah?

First of all- there are some serious sweethearts and amazing people in this fandom. While there are some that suck, there are more that are actually just here for a good time and to make good content.

Ive met some of the nicest people ivs ever known thanks go this fandom. Ive created friends who I seriously consider family. And most people ive talked with or even just ran across have been pretty cool.

This fandom is also generally very welcoming to new people (minus the assholes), ive noticed. Some people get into it really easily just because eveyones generally friendly and supportive. Which is always great!

Also, the fanworks people in this fandom create. Can i just talk about how fucking talented people are??? Its pretty amazing to see how people create things for this fandom.

People will take the story that gears for breakfast showed and they'll run with it, and create these amazing au’s and stories and 'what ifs' from it. Its just.. So amazing to watch people use what we've been given just weaved it into something.

(And this isnt even going over the mods and the stories those create, which always amaze me.)

So with all that laid out, do i think the fandom good or bad?

...i think its both.

The fandom itself has some serious problems in it. It gets unnecessary drama nearly every other month or so for no reason. There are some truly disgusting people and some absolute assholes, but the majority of people are actually pleasant, fun to be around, and welcoming. As long as you be careful of who you follow and use critical thinking skills, its not so bad.

Im not going to lie to someone and say it's all honkey dory. In this fandom, you will inevitably interact with either a creep, an asshole, or both at some point. There is a likely chance that you will have your feelings hurt in some way in this fandom. Ive see it, ive heard about it, ive experienced it.

All that being said, if you curate your viewing, follow people that seem/are cool, and use the block feature (don't. Debate it, if youre unsure about someone just block em)... Its a very fun fandom filled with both heartfelt creations and memes, and has plenty of potential new friends.

So its both good and bad, yeah.

Tldr-

Fandom has lotsa issues but overall is fun, just make sure curate your experience for yourself and dont let what drama pops up or what assholes say get to you.

[alyfawx]

My Thoughts on  Shane Dawson/Jeffree Star/Tati/James Charles

you guys don't get to make decisions on who people choose to watch or support...its not up to you guys...and hating won't get anyone anywhere...so why not move the fuck on already god damn...i believe shane wants to change and will change...yes he did a lot of shitty things but he has the right to grow and learn from them...not be pegged forever as the things you call him...(you'll get blocked if you reply without having an open mind about it so don't try) i'm so tired of people just saying one liners or what everyone else says"he's a racist..he's a pedo...your a pedo for sticking up for him...for one...no i'm not...for 2 i just believe people can change and not put them in a box forever as this one or 2 things and not trying to see the prospective in a new light...and just closed minded af...i don't condone pedophilia but i truly don't think he like children in that way in the first place...he made a really bad joke...a REALLY BAD JOKE but it doesn't excuse it was wrong..but i'm not calling him a pedo for it...2 as for the black face situation...i don't like that he did it and it was also a bad take back then but i do not think he should always be in a box as a racist because he grew up and stopped that shit and never did it again...and i'm not black so i guess i don't have a say in forgiving him for it but still i think he learned from it and moved on...now you guys can keep the grudge fine...but stop harassing him about it...it won't do anything good just stress you out and put you in a low vibration...and as for the James thing i don't think Shane will bug him again and James is even more popular then he was before...and as for the suicide thing...Shane is wrong for that...but also why put him in the same situation as James...it doesn't help James or Shane...though if your a hater who cares right...fuck Shane let him commit suicide because thats justice in your eyes...no...your just as bad as he was...i don't think people really think when they post really...same goes for shane and whoever posted drama or hate...because hate seems to be so easy to spread now a days...like where is the love..why can't we move on from things...and i feel like...no one is gonna read this far...and just skim it see that i'm a fan of shane and just spread more hate to me because i'm trying to defend someone who did shitty things...we all do shitty things...some offends more then others but its all the fuck the same because its still hate...and this is what i dislike about how the internet works...its always jump on the band wagon and destroy this person because this person said this and did that and what not...we never really think hay...maybe spreading hate won't get you anywhere...it will just put more fire to the flame and than we act as if its this persons fault i hated this person because they shows me this and told me that...and weren't you all the same people who attacked James when dramageton happened...right we never take accountability for our actions its always some one else’s fault not our own...and Shane said you don't have to forgive him and you can say all the hateful shit you want about him because he deserves it...but even so...how bout we don't and just leave the damn dude alone..and anyone else...i just don't get it...its not hard to walk away from a situation that you have no control of...why waste time spreading hate when you can instead spread love somewhere else which will do far better then sitting here saying all these things to someone you don't really know..all you know is he said and she said and clips and fabricated evidence and accusations and shit...because you have been wrong about someone before...James is one of them...is he an angel...no...but hey lets stick up for him because everyone else is...cuz now that you were proved wrong about something you feel bad and want to fix it by making excuses for your actions by trusting someone else’s story...instead of doing your own research and your own evidence and intuition....no lets blame shane,tati,jeffree for lying about someone...i didn't know...it was fake...so its not my fault...but no it is cuz you assumed without real evidence...and now you just want to put the blame on someone else for your actions...

Shane is not innocent

Jeffree is far from innocent

Tati is a manipulator

and James is using this to thrive now...

no one wins...

Shane i think really wants to love on from this and wants to do his own thing away from drama and hate..he just wants to create...and he recently hasn’t done any of the things he use to do...only thing is the whole james thing but you know what...it doesn’t matter because Jame’s is better then ever and is doing his own thing so did he really lose?

Jeffree is a whole mess and he just need to like chill...get off of the internet stop doing make up...get some help and therapy and actually try to kill his ego and pride and narcissistic tendeses...and i mean actually try to come down to earth for like a year and not just dress down in walmart clothes no...actually be a normie for like a year no fancy cars or 10 Pomeranians living in a castle...actually come down from that throne see what it was really like to get on that level...no distractions or excuse...and work on himself...and go within and reflect and actually feel instead of hiding behind a paywall...

Tati needs to mind he own business and only focus on her self and leave shane,jeffree or James out of her vocabulary...actually pretend they don’t exsist...

James...he actually kinda doing well with what he’s been doing but i would like to see him actually address his feeling torwards this...of like just forgive and forget on a real tho...tell people to just stop everything about the situation and walk away...tell them not to harass or contact shane,tati or jeffree...just leave them be and let them deal with there own demons...

for me this situation has really been taken a toll on me...cuz you see Shane is really getting gutted here...and i know some things he’s done should not be forgiven..but i don’t think he should have his platform taken away...and here’s why...cuz Shane isn’t trying to spread hate...most of the time he was trying to stay silent from the situation but people keep bringing it up and attacking him...telling him to do this and that and when he does that out of pressure..he doesn’t think before he speaks...not really because he gets flustered and embarrassed and reacts with comedy at the wrong times and or say the wrong things because he really can’t react the right way because no matter what he says or does no one want’s to hear it..they already painted this image of him a really bad image and he feels like he has to be on the defend but defending makes things worse so its like...what can he do...nothing...but people don’t want him to do nothing that means he’s hiding from it...but what if its not like that at all...maybe he just doesn’t know what to say to please everyone...and come out alive mostly...i put myself in his sues and i’m an empath so its hard for me to just sit and read these cruel comments about him when honestly i think he’s trying so hard to fix this mess but no one..wants him too...they just want to just go die in a hole somewhere...and i just find that disgusting and cruel...yes you have the right to your opinion...and yes you have the right to not forgive him and yes you have the right to not like him...but is it really necessary to go on all his posts and tweets and spread this unbelievable hatred towards someone...a million times over...to the point they feel like they could probably just die and no one will care...no..i don’t like that...no matter what he said...i don’t think he deserves that...no one fucking does...especially since...he hasn’t touched a kid inappropriately on the real though...but everyone assumes he did cuz of the jokes he said...and the gestures...all an act but everyone wants to believe he’s really this way because they just hate him...until a real victim with real evidence comes out against him i refuse to call him a pedo because a pedo is a child toucher and he’s not that...and this doesn’t excuse his actions its still disgusting...but he isn’t serious about it and never was...ya’ll are protecting no one because no one is in actual real danger...he stopped that nonsense...he’s not even making money off those things anymore youtube cut his funds so move on...and as for the black face as i stated before since he stopped and never made racist slurs since...and yeah you don’t have to forgive him and i don’t have the rights to forgive him for what he did but REALLY...does it do anything for you saying he’s a racist for what he did years ago and since hasn’t even mention anything negative towards a person of color...so what if he doesn’t hang with much of them...maybe he just couldn’t find a good friend who is a person of color...that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s perposly doing it or he hates the black community...because guess what there are people out there who don’t have a single black friend but still don’t hate them...

honestly i think everyone who hates Shane should just leave him be

and the people who like him watches what he puts out...

no one should decide who you choose to watch or support...

(this was originally gonna be on Shane's Instagram comment section on his last post but i moved it here cuz it couldn’t fit and also i added more...)

[mamichigo]

Fic: new and old things (1.7k)

Pairing: Tanjirou/Inosuke

Tags: Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Future Fic, Ten Years Later

Summary: They are no longer children, they haven't been for a long time. With spring comes a fresh beginning, the start of something new. Tanjirou couldn't stop the wave of nostalgia.

A/N: This was for @yue-luna-brilante’s request: “ "inotan- in nezuko’s wedding (she’s human again) - they act like an old married couple" (which was followed loosely). It’s a bit redundant to post it here now, but oh well.

*

A strong gust of wind has Tanjirou staggering on his feet, and he had to clutch the circular tray in his hands before the carefully balanced cups of tea tumbled to a tragic death. After a second, he was able to walk again, though his steps were careful on the diagonal line of the hill. The wind still blew with great fury, but Tanjirou was ready for it this time, and treaded on without too much trouble. 

He could see the branches of the cherry blossom tree peeking down at him, always watchful; reaching the top of the hill, however, brought him face to face with the dancing pink petals, carried over by the wind. One almost flew straight into his eye, but Tanjirou was lucky enough to successfully step out of its direct trajectory.

It was a beautiful day, he had to admit—though he could do without the wind—, as the sky was perfectly clear, the few passing clouds being small, fluffy ones hurrying along. There were flowers blooming everywhere, and their fragrant scent reached Tanjirou's nose at every turn he made. He thought he could smell lavender in the distance, but he wasn't sure (Tanjirou never got the hang of differentiating between flowers).

It wasn't the scenery that caught his attention, however, but the sleeping body of a man sprawled gracelessly on the grass. His hair was a mess of long locks all around him, and his chest rose and fell with the serenity of someone deep in their dreams.

Tanjirou set the tray down, then lowered himself to crouch next to the man, observing the shift of the faded scars across his chest.

"You're going to catch a cold if you don't cover yourself, Inosuke," Tanjirou chided to his sleeping partner. "Not that you ever listen to me when I say that."

When his voice didn't succeed in alerting Inosuke to his presence, Tanjirou proceeded to poke his cheek once, then again, and just one more time for good measure. Inosuke grumbled and, instead of opening his eyes, rolled to the side—away from Tanjirou's fingers.

"Don't think you'll escape from me that easily. You made a grave mistake, you know," Tanjirou said as he bent down until his lips were close to Inosuke's left ear.

Now within the perfect range, Tanjirou proceeded to blow harshly into the ear, causing Inosuke to jump back and scramble to sit up at the same time, looking like a graceless chicken attempting to escape.

Tanjirou laughed as Inosuke blinked at him in confusion.

"Sleeping outside again, I see," Tanjirou commented innocently.

"What's the problem with that? The house is too hot," Inosuke replied, rubbing at his ear with some aggravation.

Tanjirou shuffled closer to pluck a twig out of Inosuke's hair, and a flower petal fell along with it. There were still blades of grass and leaves in it as well, and Tanjirou raised his eyebrows at it meaningfully.

"You could at least bring a blanket, or put on a shirt. I wouldn't be surprised if you got sick in this wind."

Inosuke clicked his tongue. "I don't need it, I don't get sick anyways."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't!"

Tanjirou stared at him for a long moment. "Then next time I'll leave you to puke all over yourself without any assistance, as you're obviously not sick."

Another long pause.

Inosuke silently extended his hand, and Tanjirou didn't hesitate to take off his own haori and hand it to him, smiling all too smugly. Inosuke didn't bother putting his arms through the holes, but at least he had it wrapped around his shoulders.

"There, happy? I'm going back to sleep," Inosuke grumbled and fell back on his side, not even waiting for a reply.

"Ah, wait, wait, I brought us some tea!" Tanjirou nudged the tray a bit closer. "Don't you want some?"

Inosuke took a glance at it over his shoulder and promptly lost interest, closing his eyes. "Nah." He paused, then perked up once more. "Did you bring honey?"

As a matter of fact, he did; Inosuke had taken the habit of filling one third of his tea with honey before drinking any of it, to the concern of Tanjirou and the disgust of literally every single one of their friends.

"I did. So, will you have some?"

Inosuke hummed, appearing to think it over. Then, before Tanjirou could do anything about it, he quickly snatched the honey bottle and the dipper, coating the latter in a generous amount of honey to then shove it directly into his mouth. Tanjirou cringed at the sight.

"Are you trying to get yourself to puke?" Tanjirou asked.

"No, I'm eating, can't you see?" Inosuke waved to dipper in his face to make his point. "You're being naggy today, it's annoying."

"Naggy?! I'm trying to look out for you!"

"Nagging old man."

"I'm the same age as you!"

They stared down at each other, but Inosuke was the one to look away first: not because he was backing down, but because he most likely got bored. He even had the audacity to drop his head on his arms and shuffle around like he was getting ready to fall back asleep.

Tanjirou opened his mouth to complain, but let it go with a sigh, instead leaning his back on Inosuke's body and looking up at the sky. Since Inosuke didn't stir, he assumed he actually went through with his desire to take a nap.

Tanjirou retrieved his own teacup and cradled it into his hands, blowing the steam away and taking a hearty sip. Alone with his thoughts, he found himself sighing again before taking another sip.

"Are you gonna tell me what's bugging you or what?" Inosuke suddenly asked, voice low and laced with exasperation.

"Oh, uhm. Is it that obvious?"

"No shit it is."

Tanjirou bent his leg up at the knee to rest his elbow on top and lean his cheek into it, head tilted to the side so he could see just the edge of Inosuke's profile.

"You do know me really well, Inosuke. How couldn't you, it's been a long time since we've met each other, after all."

Inosuke hummed a low "uh huh", which might seem rude to anyone else, but Tanjirou knew well it was an invitation to keep going.

"We were pretty young, weren't we? You, me, and Nezuko and Zenitsu, not to mention everyone else like Genya and Kanao." Tanjirou scratched at his cheek at the same time Inosuke let out a jaw cracking yawn.

"When we were even younger, and Nezuko was just a tiny child, she would get scared by the shadows of the trees outside, or the noise of them shaking in the wind. With dad sick, she didn't want to bother him, or mom for that measure." Tanjirou rotated his teacup, watching the ripples appearing on the surface of the liquid. "So she'd come to me instead, and I'd hold her hand and tell her a story, or sing her a lullaby. Her hand was so was small, I could hold all of it in my palm."

Tanjirou fell back, spine curved around Inosuke's body, his teacup raised high above his head. A stray flower petal made its way into it.

"Sometimes I realize I still think her hand is that small."

Inosuke raised himself up to his elbow, twisting to the side in what looked like a painful position to get at look Tanjirou. His eyebrows were raised, almost comically so.

"You really are the sentimental type," Inosuke pointed out. "Are you freaking out about the wedding again?"

"I'm not freaking out!" Tanjirou protested, sitting up to level a glare at Inosuke. "Just because I'm thinking about it doesn't mean I'm freaking out. It's just that Nezuko is so happy and it's all she talks about, so it gets me thinking about… Stuff."

Inosuke snorted. "You're trying not to cry about it, aren't you?"

Tanjirou vehemently slammed his teacup back on the tray. "I'm not! I'm not crying about it!" He huffed and crossed his arms. "Listen, just because Nezuko will look the most beautiful she's ever looked in her wedding attire, and her smile will be all big and bright, and she's getting the happiness she deserves after suffering through being a demon, and… And…"

Tanjirou paused. His voice was wobbling. "Inosuke?"

"What?"

"I'm crying about it."

Inosuke shot up, murmuring curses under his breath, frantically reaching for whatever he could find of Tanjirou first (which turned out to be his right pants leg) to tug him closer. Inosuke rubbed his palms against Tanjirou's cheek, getting rid of each tear that fell from his eyes.

"She's all grown up now…"

"Yup."

"And she found someone to love her like she deserves."

"Uh huh."

"She really is gonna be the prettiest, you know?"

"Sure."

They continued to go back and forth like this for a few minutes until Tanjirou had gotten the tears out of system. He was grateful for Inosuke's attempt to help, though his cheeks were starting to get red from all the rubbing.

Tanjirou cheese on his bottom lip. "Mom would be so proud of her. I… I wish she was here to see it," he confessed, something he rarely let himself say out loud in fear that the sadness might consume him whole.

When he felt like he would cry fresh tears, Inosuke roughly pulled on both his cheeks, stretching it far enough that Tanjirou couldn't even speak through it.

"She's already proud, dumbass. Just like my mom," Tanjirou gasped at that, but Inosuke didn't relent. "They're watching over us, everyone is. You told me that, didn't you? Don't be a wimp about it now."

Tanjirou nodded as much as he could when Inosuke was still pulling on his cheeks; he had, in fact, said that to Inosuke many years ago, murmured against the curve of his shoulder. That night, Tanjirou had given one of his earrings to Inosuke, who never took it off since then. He smiled at the memory, and that was what made Inosuke let go. Now free, Tanjirou pressed their foreheads together, then their noses, gently nuzzling against the other.

"Sorry for the sudden freak out," Tanjirou whispered.

"Hah! Called it, you were totally freaking out! Just like I said."

Tanjirou hit him lightly on the chest. "Shut up," he ordered, but the laughter in it wasn't in any way persuasive.

[tottwritesfanfic]

Fanfic Authors Tag Game

Thankee for tagging @moramewhq​

AO3 name(s): Tottwriter, [REDACTED] Fandoms: Haikyuu!!, Digimon (a little lapsed, but I still tinker with my WIPs!), sliiiightly BNHA, and I have a TUA wip which I will someday resume. I try not to venture into new fandoms but, you know...I fail. Number of fics: I have 56 posted works, but also, uh... a few which I haven’t gotten to posting yet.

1. Fic I spent the most time on:

Um. Oh jeez. I mean, I guess nothing has overtaken Hope’s Fire just yet, because that’s the monster. Hopefully nothing else will? XD

2. Fic I spent the least time on:

Well this is genuinely a toss-up, because I have a few which I wrote for 20 minute prompt game fills, and then hardly even bothered to edit before they were thrown up on Ao3 without a backward glance.

Annoyingly, some of them are among my most popular works.

3. Longest fic:

Hope’s Fire! As I said, it’s the monster, currently clocking in at ~144k. My longest completed fic is The Ocean’s Curse though, which is 62.4k!

4. Shortest fic:

Okay so my shortest fic is actually a bit of weird experimental stuff I wrote for Starbound, which you will note I did not list in the fandoms above, lol. It’s old and weird and 351 words long... I don’t think anyone wants to read it. You don’t want to read it.

5. Most hits:

Hope’s Fire! It’s not really surprising tbh, given how long ago I started it and how many chapters it has. 

6. Most kudos:

Hope’s Fire wins this one too! I bet you’re all really shocked to learn this.

7. Most comment threads:

...imma give you lot one guess. 

8. Favorite fic I wrote:

fuck. Er. I dunno? I mean I write because I like writing them, you know? But honestly if I have to narrow it down... Parallel for the ‘serious’ fics, and either Press Play or (Not) Moving On for my more lighthearted stuff. It’s hard to pick when I swing between such tone extremes!

9. Fic you want to re-write:

I mean this is probably gonna sound really dumb but...kinda also Hope’s Fire??

Hear me out tho, because it’s complicated (and also I sorta already am). This fic started in 2015. I love it wholeheartedly, and I keep coming back to tinker and I wish life would stop throwing so much shit in my way and let me devote a bit more time to fic-writing so I continue it properly. 

But the periodic and spaced-out returns have meant that every time I knuckle down I end up re-reading the whole fic for continuity and tone reasons. You can probably see where this is going. Each time I read my old opening I cringe. It’s just not up to the standards of my writing today and it bugs me.

If I’m being brutally honest, part of the reason I haven’t updated it in so long is that I keep getting distracted going back and tweaking/fixing old chapters rather than focusing on new ones. It’s a bad habit but one I just can’t seem to kick.

10. Share bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on:

You know, I’m actually gonna give two. I’ll drop them below a cut because this got long, but I know I have both Digimon and HQ peeps here and it’s sucky to be in the fandom that doesn’t get the love. I can’t promise when I’ll manage to get either of these posted (I’m trying to avoid adding more works to my Ao3 until they’re actually, you know, finished) but...they exist!

First up, we have Fun and Games at the Adventure Cafe

Yes, this is exactly what you think it is:

The notice on the door said “HELP WANTED” in large, sensible font.

The addendum “Enquire Within” sat below it, equally formal.

Scribbled underneath in scruffy handwriting was just one more addition:

     ‘as in we’re hiring. dw we know what we’re doing.’

   The notice on the door the following morning was back to plain old:

     HELP WANTED      Enquire Within

…It lasted half a day or so, at least.

As Sora remarked later, it was a wonder they got any applicants at all. Then again, as Taichi remarked, it wasn’t as though a lot of places were taking on extra staff—which was something of an oddity as the summer approached.

“It’s that swanky place round the corner,” he said with disgust, peering out of the window. “Bastards are driving everyone out of business.”

“But not you guys, right!” piped up their current interviewee. “You’re doing great! Honestly, as soon as I saw the sign I knew I had to apply. I’ve always wanted to start my own ramen business, and I figure I ought to start out with a popular place like this and get some real experience in the industry, you know?”

“Er, yes. Right,” Sora remarked, looking over his application. “Well, Daisuke, I will have to warn you that as a new hire you’d be working front-of-house rather in the kitchen, but if you’re okay with that—”

“Eh, just tell him he’s hired already,” Taichi replied, turning back to face them with a grin. “Yamato could definitely use a hand in the kitchen sometimes, so taking on a future all-rounder makes total sense.”

From the look Sora shot him, it perhaps didn’t, but Daisuke was already practically leaping to his feet with a grin, exclaiming that they could totally rely on him, and he absolutely would not let them down and could start the next day if they needed him to.

Next up, for my HQ peeps, here’s a little snippet from Connection Problems, my longtime langushing halfway chatfic. I’m not sharing the chatfic stuff because formatting tumblr is hell, though. 

Kenma always suspected that being a third year would turn out to be a pain, but he’d rather hoped his fears wouldn’t be realised within the first few weeks of the school year. Really, it’s bad enough that Kuro, Yaku and Kai have left, and that everyone else nominated him for the role of Captain (he’d talked them down to being Vice Captain instead, but that, apparently, was as low as they were prepared to go). He does not need Taketora constantly pestering him about—of all things—a chat group as well.

“Come on, I thought you and Kuroo were like, joined at the hip or something! Don’t try and act like you don’t miss him now he’s at university.”

He shrugs. “I have a phone. We’re keeping in touch.” Because, really. That’s all that matters, isn’t it? Why does everyone have to complicate things so much?

“Yeah, but, it’s not the same, right? Besides, what the hell! You spend all that time on your phone as it is. And even Fukunaga joined, right?”

Kenma glances over at Shouhei, who nods, grinning sheepishly. Drat.

“Still, I don’t have that chat app you all use,” he says. “It’s too much trouble setting it up, when I can message Kuro just fine.”

That should have been the end of it. Any rational person would have seen that it was no good, and left him in peace. Kuro would have, certainly. Not pushing—never pushing, actually. Just nudging him along a little, and even then, only when it comes to volleyball. He’s learnt all of Kenma’s limits over the years.

But the thing is, Kuro isn’t there any more. It’s just himself, Taketora and Shouhei, and okay, Shouhei never pushes—he hardly ever says anything, for that matter. But Taketora is clearly some sort of demon and he, Kenma, is being punished. Maybe he really pissed someone off in a previous life. Maybe this is a penance so he can piss someone off in his next life with a free pass. Either way, the badgering doesn’t let up.

Kenma holds out until the 27th of May. Seven weeks of hassling is more than enough for anyone.

Aaaand for tagging how about: @ahiddenpath, @humandisasterbuckybarnes, @mooifyourecows

[cutesuki--bakugou]

2k Follower Special pt. 1

Thank you everyone for over 2,000 followers!!! It truly means the world to me, and I couldn’t think of a way to say thank you... So, I’ve decided to do the naughty alphabet, with both my head canons and a little snippet of a scenario ;D 

Because they are ending up so long, there will be multiple parts to this special. Once all parts are posted, I will add them to my master list and also edit each post with links to the next one. 

1 | 2 | 3 

BTW, please blacklist the tag cutesuki-lemons if you do not want to see this content from my blog. I will no longer be tagging with specific keywords for this type of content.Thank you~

Due to the nature of this post, the characters are 18+

Under the cut~

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

As your lover, Bakugou wouldn’t be one to just leave you hanging after sex, be it a quicky, hardcore or something gentle, and he will take care of you afterwards. Jizz all over your face or body? He’ll help you clean that up. Need to pee but he ravaged you so badly you feel like you can’t move? He’d carry you to the damn toilet if he needed to. A bit sore from being tied up or whatever other kink you’re both into? He’ll be sure to take care of that with a hot bath or massage. Sheets are filthy and you both are desperate for some sleep? He’d get that shit changed in minutes.

Quickies are a different story, however, typically leaving you to fend for yourself if out in public or needing to recover quick enough to not get caught or be late. Admittedly, he’s also a bit of a cuddle bug after rough or gentle sex where you both aren’t in a rush. Once the lust is out of the way, his adoration for you quickly takes over, and he finds that he just wants to hold, kiss and touch you all over, to hold you against him. Often, this can lead to another session if you want it, as he just can’t help himself around you.

“Mm… Damn, you look so fucking hot like that.” Bakugou ran his hands up your sides from gripping your hips, watching your back rise and fall with your heavy breathing. Bent over in front of him, your ass was still pressed into his hips, and he could feel the hot wetness of his own cum on his abdomen as he leaned over you. Unable to resist seeing you all dirtied up, he had cum on your ass, your skin red and irritated from repeated spankings while he fucked you. He loved seeing you like this, completely ravaged to the point that you could barely move, hair a wild mess and skin glistening with sweat.

“You… came on my ass, didn’t you?” You peeked back at him over your shoulder, having to look from behind your hair. Carefully pushing it aside, Bakugou kissed your shoulder softly before moving his lips to your flushed cheek. “I did. You couldn’t tell?” You scoffed softly, wiggling your hips a bit into his. “Katsuki, my skin is so hot and numb from you spanking me that I wouldn’t even be able to feel a pinch.” After another rough kiss to your cheek, Bakugou sat up, snatching his dirtied t-shirt off the bed and using it to wipe your backside clean. “You kept asking for it.” Once clean, he gave your thigh a pat, and you took that as a hint that you could lay down. Flopping over to the side, you sighed, holding your arms open for him to join you. “Come here.”

Bakugou took the invitation gladly, laying down and pulling your body against his tightly. Legs intertwined and not a single gap between you, he kissed you softly. “You’d better be careful rubbing my back like that. You just might put me to sleep.” 

“I think that’s what we both need, Katsuki. I think that three rounds is enough for tonight. Save some energy for in the morning.”

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Bakugou might love every inch of you, but he’s incredibly partial to your ass. He loves watching it bounce while he fucks you from behind or when you’re riding him in reverse cowgirl position. Grabbing or slapping your ass, in some odd way, makes him feel powerful. The little noises you make and the way you bite your lip when he squeezes it or spanks you drives him crazy, and he loves it when you wiggle your hips or beg for his hands to touch you. He also enjoys fingering you from behind while you lay down, watching your back and hips arch up into his touch being a huge turn on for him. Cumming on your ass is another one of his favorite things, seeing you bent over in front of him and all dirtied up with his cum making him feel dominant and powerful.

As for himself, Bakugou takes a lot of pride in his own hands. They are what channels his powerful quirk, what makes him strong. He tends to use his hands as a power display, and when it comes to sex, he uses them as a way to assert his dominance and pleasure you to the fullest. He loves feeling your skin, so soft against his calloused palms and fingers. His hands being on the larger side, Bakugou loves to use them to pleasure you, pinching, fingering and teasing until your begging for him to fuck you. Shoving his fingers into your mouth and watching you lick and suck on them is a huge turn on.

“Katsuki, I’m trying to finish a report…” You mumbled softly as you typed away at your laptop, currently laying face down, upper body propped up with your elbows while your legs rested casually behind you. Or, they had been. Now, they were forced to lay straight, your lover straddling them and sitting near your knees as his hands ran up your thighs. Bakugou’s grip was rough as he stroked and massaged you, his hands running up over the curve of your ass and back down again. “I’m just giving you a massage, fuck. Relax.” Even though you couldn’t see him, you could hear the smirk on his lips, and a small gasp escaped you as he dug his thumbs into a sore spot on your inner thigh. You had to admit that it felt good, but you knew that he wasn’t just doing this for no reason. Seeing you laying there in your leggings had obviously turned him on, and being as impatient as he was, he didn’t waste a second trying to get you warmed up.

Though you didn’t want to admit it, his efforts were working. Feeling his hands caressing and squeezing your ass, his thumbs pressing into your inner thigh right along your sex and the feeling of his hard cock against your thighs was killing you. Damn, you wanted him to fuck you, just as badly as you knew he wanted to. You could even feel the heat of his palms through the fabric of your leggings, and as one hand slipped between your legs, you knew that it was about to escalate. Moaning softly at the feeling of him teasing your clit, you couldn’t resist a soft rolling of your hips, arching them up into his touch.

“Looks like someone’s finally getting the fucking hint. Why don’t you close that laptop and stick that sexy ass in the air for me. That’s it…”

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

Bakugou has a thing for seeing you covered in his cum. Your face, your tits, your ass or dripping from your pussy, he loves it all. Although seeing it on your ass is his favorite sight, he gets the most turned on when you lick it off your lips. After a good facial, he loves gripping your chin, smearing your skin with his cum and making you lick it off his fingers. The more eager you are to taste it the better, loving to watch you waiting eagerly with your mouth open and tongue at the ready. He also loves to watch you play with it, too, rubbing your pussy as it drips from you and fingering yourself. You can be as filthy as you want to with his cum and he will instantly be ready for another round, if you can take it. He also has a bit of a kink for cum humiliation, making you walk around with it in your panties or dripping down your legs.

“Fuck, that’s it!” Bakugou dug his fingers into your hair, straddling your torso as he pumped his hips into your breasts. Holding them together, you kept your entire body at the right angle and your breasts squeezed together for a perfect tit fuck, something that Bakugou just went crazy over. Keeping your eyes on his face and on his body like you knew he wanted, your mouth was open, the tip of his cock pressing into your waiting tongue with every thrust. His cock was so hot between your wet and ravaged tits, you knew that he was getting close to finishing, and you felt your body swell with excitement. You loved it when he came on your face, loving to see his face contort in pleasure and hear the sounds he made. More than that, you knew that he loved it, and everything you were doing right now was for him.

Before you knew it, you felt the hot spray of his cum against your cheek, squinting out of instinct to not get it in your eyes. The way Bakugou sighed made the corners of your mouth turn up into a smirk, though you kept your mouth open and tongue out to catch as much of his cum as you could. His trusts becoming erratic in his final moments, he finally came to a stop with his tip right between your tits, feeling the last of his cum leak down across your chest. It was all over you. Across your face, on your tongue and down your neck, so deliciously hot and wonderfully messy. Licking what you could off your lips, you smiled up at him, releasing your breasts as you watching him attempt to catch his breath. “Mm… You like that, Katsuki?” A soft gasp escaped you as he gripped onto your face, smearing some of his cum across your cheek and to your lips where you eagerly opened your mouth. Sucking the cum from his thumb, you felt the heat return to your body as he smirked, his crimson glare flickering with an intense fire.

“Yeah I fucking liked it. By the time I’m done with you, you’re going to be covered in my jizz. Now roll over, I want to see that pretty ass while I fuck you.”

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

It really is no secret that Bakugou likes it rough. But, there are times when he’s really into it that he wants to go all out, to use all his strength on you. He already knows that his strength can be too much, as can his enthusiasm and eagerness to feel that pleasure he craves, and so he has learned over time how to control and tame himself. That doesn’t keep him from thinking at times, however, how good it would feel to just use all his strength on you. How easy it would be to hold you down and take you as he pleased, as hard, deep and fast as he wanted without holding back. He would never do such a thing without your permission, but to fuck you with no restraints is something he truly desires.

Your moans were like heaven to his ears, every sweet gasp and sensual calling of his name sending a fresh fire coursing through him. Bakugou loved fucking you, having you pinned under him and completely helpless against the blissful pleasure. Right now, he had you on your side, straddling one leg while the other rested around his hips. Your face half buried in the pillow you clutched, you couldn’t control your voice, nor could you resist edging him on and begging for more. “Y-yes, Katsuki! Right there! More!” Bakugou leaned over you a bit more, digging himself in deeper with each thrust and spiking your pleasure. Pressing his lips against your ear, his grunts and low voice sent chills down your spine.

“You like it when I fuck you hard? You wouldn’t able to take it if I gave you more.” After a short pause, you were on your stomach, your hips up off the bed as he fucked you from behind. Clutching and pulling at the sheets, you struggled to speak, all the air ripped from your lungs with each thrust. “Y-yes I can! Katsuki, I-I I know you’re holding b-back, please don’t! Please fuck me as hard as you want, I can take it!” With that, it was like an explosion went off inside him, his fingers digging into your hair and snatching a handful to pull your upper body off the bed. With this new leverage, Bakugou began to do just what you asked, not holding back and not giving you a second to breathe.

It was like he was an entirely different person, pushing you to the limits of what was pleasure and what was overwhelming. Still, there was no pain and you found that you loved this raw and untamed version of him, just as much as he loved letting loose.

[huhnerhexen]

all for the other ask set!

I just took my painkillers, so I'm really high and I'm sorry if this makes no sense, I'm trying my best...

1. Are looks important in a relationship?

- yes, but they're not the most important thing. I can look past appearance, but if you're ugly on the inside it'll never work

2. Are relationships ever worth it?

- theyre worth it every time! Even if they fail, you learn a lot about yourself and they change you for the better

3. Are you a virgin?

- no

4. Are you in a relationship?

- no, my partner of about three years and I broke up a month ago

5. Are you in love?

- I'm in love with myself, which is more than I can say when I was in that relationship

6. Are you single this year?

- yes

7. Can you commit to one person?

- yes; I'm like a penguin... I mate for life

8. Describe your crush

- that's easy, I don't have one

9. Describe your perfect mate

- soft and sweet, generous, respectful of my boundaries, openly communicative, like my grandpa!

10. Do you believe in love at first sight?

- no

11. Do you ever want to get married?

- yes

12. Do you forgive betrayal?

- in time and with an apology, of course

13. Do you get jealous easily?

- I used to, but I've done a lot of work since then and I don't anymore

14. Do you have a crush on anyone?

- other than myself? no

15. Do you have any piercings?

- I have a nose ring, my septum pierced, 3 earrings in my right ear, and two in my left

16. Do you have any tattoos?

- 11; a bumble bee, a cat drinking wine, my rat's footprint, my grandma's signature, a sloth, the pisces constellation, the aurora borealis constellation, squirrel nutkin, my grandpa's signature, Snufkin and Moomin, and a lavender sprig

17. Do you like kissing in public?

- a quick peck doesn't bother me, but keep your tongue in your own mouth

There is no 18 or 19 in this series of questions??

20. Do you shower everyday?

- I've been bathing more than showering lately, but I do wash everyday

21. Do you think someone has feelings for you?

- I don't, but that's none of my business anyways

22. Do you think someone is thinking of you right now?

- no, I don't think so

23. Do you think you can last in a relationship for 6 months and not cheat?

- obviously, I did that for 3 years. I don't cheat, it's wrong and it fucks people up

24. Do you think you'll be married in five years?

- maybe? I haven't given it much thought tbh

25. Do you want to be in a relationship this year?

- no

26. Has anyone told you they don't want to ever lose you?

- yes, and then they did

27. Has someone ever written a song or poem for you?

- no

28. Have you ever been cheated on?

- not that I am aware of

29. Have you ever cheated on someone?

- no, I would never

30. Have you ever considered plastic surgery? If so, what would you change about your body?

- I've had plastic surgery twice; once in the ninth grade to fix me jaw, and two days ago I had top surgery

31. Have you ever cried over a guy or girl?

- yes, and what a waste of time that was

32. Have you ever experienced unrequited love?

- no

33. Have you ever had sex with a man?

- yes

34. Have you ever had sex with a woman?

- no

35. Have you ever kissed someone older than you?

-yes

36. Have you ever liked one of your best friends?

- yes

37. Have you ever liked someone who your friends hated?

- yes

38. Have you ever liked someone you didn't expect to?

- yes

39. Have you ever waved someone you couldn't have?

- yes

40. Have you ever written a song or poem for someone?

- yes

41. Have you had sex so far this year?

- yes

42. How long can you just kiss until your hands start to wander?

- depends on the person, but awhile, I really like kissing

43. How long was your longest relationship?

- almost 3 years

44. How many boyfriends/girlfriends have you had?

- I've had 6 partners

45. How many people did you kiss in 2012/2013?

- I can say with 100% certainty that I have no idea; I can't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning

46. How many times did you have sex last year?

- I don't know, sex isn't something I count

47. How old are you?

- 21

48. If the person you like says they like someone else, what would you say?

- I'd ask them why, people love to talk about their crushes, I'd also encourage them to go after it. Just because I like someone doesn't make them mine

49. If you have a partner, what is your favourite thing about them?

- I don't have a partner

50. If your first true love knocked on your door with am apology and presents, would you accept?

- no, not yet. I'm not at a place to forgive Kai yet. I'm still working through and breaking down what they did to me

51. Is there someone you would do absolutely anything for?

- yea, my grandma

52. Is there anyone you've given up on? Why?

- I gave up on my dad's dad, Lane; he's just a genuinely awful guy and every time I've tried to extend an olive branch it's come back to bite me in the ass. He can be angry and miserable alone, I don't have room for that shit in my life.

53. Is there someone mad because you're seeing/talking to the person that you are?

- no, the people in my life are incredibly supportive of me in all my endeavors and decisions

54. Is there something you will never forget?

- what a classmate and friend wrote to my mom once when she was compiling a big note full of all the reasons people care about me. "There's nothing they could ever do that would be bad". Those words have been etched onto my heart for 6 years

55. Share a relationship story

- I'll tell you about my grandparents, and how they were made for each other. My grandpa worked for CBC and so did my grandma, but they worked in separate buildings, and one night my grandma's friend says "Elaine, come out for drinks with me and some of the guys" and my grandma really doesn't want to, but she's a polite lady so she does anyways. She winds up sitting next to my grandpa, and they don't say much to each other but his friends keep bugging him and making jokes about how he needs to "get home to his wife" (he isn't married, but he fancies my grandma and his friends are just trying to make him work harder for her). They wind up leaving at the same time, and they walk home together because they lived a couple buildings away from one another. My grandpa assures my grandma that he isn't married, he tells her he's going home to Red Jacket, Saskatchewan for Christmas, but could he give her a call when he comes home? She says yes; and a year later they were married. They've been madly in love with each other ever since.

56. State 8 facts about your body.

- I have 8 less teeth than the average adult; my eyes are two different shapes; when I learned to walk it was with a slight limp so now I always have one; when my body is really low on estrogen I get incredibly clumsy; I have 2 holes in my jaw from where a surgical plate was removed; I'm deathly allergic to peanuts; my limbs are so long, my fingertips almost reach down to my knees; I have a small groove in my head from wearing headgear when I was a child.

57. Things you want to say to an ex

- you always went on and on about how I deserved better, and you're wrong. It's not that I deserved better, you just didn't deserve me.

I have so much pity for you, because you have to live the rest of your life knowing what Ostin did to your mom, you did much the same to me. You acted the same as the man who makes you so sick. You're disgusting for what you did, and I hope you regret it everyday of your life.

58. What are 5 ways to win your heart?

- listen openly to me, tell me things that happened to you during your day, sending me songs or poems or little trinkets that remind you of me, laugh at my jokes, vocalize your feelings about me

59. What do you look like?

This is me and my roommate's cat, Anaan!

60. What is the biggest age difference between you and any of your partners?

- two years, he was 15 I was 17 and as soon as I learned how smol he was I couldn't get past it...

61. What's the first thing you notice in someone?

- their mouth, I lip-read so someone's lips and teeth is the first thing my eyes go to

62. What is the sexiest thing someone could ever do to/for you?

- oh gee I don't even know? Maybe take off my clothes for me, but like really slowly?

63. What is your definition of "having sex"?

- anything that gets the job done, y'know? wets the whistle

64. What is your definition of cheating?

- being physically intimate with a party outside of the pre-established exclusive relationship

65. What is your favourite foreplay routine?

- tease me until I want to kill you, and then fuck me until I can't remember my own name

66. What is your favourite roleplay?

- I don't have one. I did improv in highschool and doing any sort of "acting on the spot" makes me astral project back to that cringey time

67. What is your idea of a perfect date?

- one where it doesn't matter what you're doing, you never want it to end because you can never have enough time with the person you're with

68. What is your sexual orientation?

- queer!

69. What turns you off?

- people who are mean to animals

70. What turns you on?

- climate justice

71. What was your kinkiest wet dream?

- that will stay between me and the lord, thanks

72. What words do you like to hear during sex?

- none, if you can form words or sentences, one of us isn't doing our job right

73. What's something sweet you'd like someone to do for you?

- bring me flowers! No one has ever brought me flowers before

74. What's the most superficial characteristic you look for?

- probably wardrobe

75. What's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for you?

- my sister moved in with me to take care of me while I recover from my mastectomy. I didn't even have to ask, she offered to do it

76. What's the sweetest thing you've done for someone?

My roommate and I had mice and squirrels living in the basement of our old house, and they ate and destroyed all of her old baby books and photo albums; so this year for Christmas I took all the pictures I had of us, and a bunch of pictures she had posted on her social media, and I made her a new photo book to preserve the memories she made these last few years.

77. What's your opinion on age differences in relationships?

- the older you get, the less age difference really matters, my roommate is 41 and her partner is turning 61 this year. I think so long as both parties are of legal age and consenting, do what you want. That being said, it gets iffy if the older party knew the younger person when they were a child; ie. Leonardo DiCaprio and his most recent girlfriend.

78. What's your dirtiest secret?

- I don't have one? I'm literally an open book... You can ask me anything

79. When was the last time you felt jealous?

- when an 8 year old girl came into the shop and told me her grandpa was taking her shopping for her birthday.

80. When was the last time you told someone that you loved them?

- on Wednesday, when I was saying goodbye to my grandma at the hospital (that sounds like a downer, she's fine, she had a knee operation and I went to visit her after work)

81. Who are five people you find attractive?

- LP, Ezra Miller, Joji, my ex boyfriend (they're mad cute, but they're ugly on the inside), Chris Fleming

82. Who is the last person you hugged?

- my mom, after she drove me home from the hospital and helped me get inside

83. Who was your first kiss with?

- a boy named Rhys, in the ninth grade. We were each other's beards before we even knew it

84. Why did your last relationship fail?

- a lot of different reasons; we kept fighting, they had no time for me, they wouldn't communicate with me, I had trouble trusting them, they sexually assaulted me and were hella manipulative, they forgot I existed a lot, there were a lot of red flags that we ignored until it blew up in our faces.

85. Would you ever date someone off of the internet?

- sure, I don't see why not!

Thanks for asking! Sorry it took so long to answer, I had to stop and nap a few times in between questions...

[ilovemesomekillianjones]

Happenstance 7/10

Rated T    2.2K     ao3     ffnet     ch1        ch2       ch3       ch4       ch5      ch6

A/N: Thanks as always to my fabulous beta @hookedonapirate!! I’m on family vacation this week, it’s spring break for me and the kids and my hubby is back from his deployment!!   So, without further ado here is chapter seven being posted from Las Vegas.

Emma jumped up off her bed and threw her hand over her mouth as she began to gag. Running from her room she bowled straight into Killian.

“What is it, love?” he asked when he saw her frantic expression.  

Emma dry heaved once more and continued on to the bathroom without a word. Killian followed, wondering what had made her ill, only to be met by the door slamming in his face. An errant thought that perhaps she was disgusted by their kiss ran through his mind, and his heart dropped low in his chest.

“Killian?”

He heard her weak voice through the door and longed to help her through whatever was making her sick. “May I come in?” He entered the bathroom when she cracked the door open, and knelt beside her. Emma was on her knees, head over the toilet as she vomited again. Tears streaked her face and she was sweating. He wondered if she’d eaten something spoiled, or if she’d caught a stomach bug. “I’m going to grab a few things, I’ll be right back, love.”

Killian was back by her side a moment later with an ice pack for her neck, a glass of water, and some crackers. He wasn’t quite sure what she needed, so he settled for comforting her until she could tell him exactly how he could help. He laid the cold pack across her neck and rubbed her back.

Emma was a ball of every negative emotion known. She was disgusted, that she’d ever been attracted to Neal, ever let him in her life. Angry that he felt like she owed him anything. Sad that she was once again dragging Killian into the cesspool that was her relationship with this asshole. Embarrassed by her reaction. Deciding that was the one thing she could control, Emma wiped her mouth and stood up. She walked to the sink and ripped her toothbrush from the cup on the sick. Brushing her teeth forcefully she ignored the confusion on Killian’s face; she couldn’t talk about it right now, not without being sick again. Reaching to the tub, she turned the water all the way to hot. “I’m going to shower,” she mumbled, still not making eye contact.

Killian watched as Emma moved in silence. She scrubbed at her teeth as though she were angry at them, and when she turned on the bath tap he was shocked it didn’t break loose from the wall. She was angry about something, perhaps his kiss had offended her then? When she mumbled that she was going to shower, he didn’t detect anger, but shame; she couldn’t look at him. But hadn’t she kissed him back? Hadn’t she deepened the kiss, and hadn’t she been, dare he say, happy? “Swan, I’m sorry I-”

“Killian,” she interrupted, still not looking at him. “I promise this has nothing to do with you, but I can’t talk about it right now.”

Killian placed his pointer finger gently under her chin and raised her downturned face. She avoided looking at him by averting her eyes. “Let me help.”

“You can’t. At least not right now. Please, just let me shower.” Tears formed in her eyes, and she sounded more broken than she had in months.

Killian’s shoulders sagged in defeat and he turned to walk out.

“I promise, Killian, it’s not about you.”

He nodded his head in understanding, then left her to shower. He shivered as he entered her room, it was freezing; noticing the window was open, he crossed the room to close it. As he looked around though, something was off. Several of her pillows were scattered on the floor, her blanket was in a heap at the bottom of the bed, and her lamp had been knocked down from the night stand. A frightening picture started to emerge, and he feared that she’d been attacked in the few moments he’d stepped away.

Several purposeful steps carried him straight back the bathroom. He knocked lightly so he wouldn’t wake anyone in the house. When Emma didn’t answer, he opened the door and stepped inside the steamy room closing the door behind him.

Emma had already washed thoroughly, but she scrubbed her mouth again, trying to wash away any trace of where his hand had touched her skin. She was sitting in the tub letting the scalding shower rain down over her as she let her tears fall freely, trying to make the disgust, anger, and sadness flow away. She’d allow herself this, and then Neal would never bother her again. She would get his damn bag, and then she would be that swan, she would take flight and not land until she was far from here. Maybe Killian would come with her?

“Swan?”

Emma froze when she heard his voice, she hadn’t heard him come back in. “I’ll be out in a few minutes. I’m almost done.”

Killian could see her silhouette through the shower curtain and his heart wrenched in his chest as he saw her sitting in the tub, knees pulled to her chest as the shower sprayed over her. He heard the catch in her words and knew she was still crying. “Emma, if you were attacked we need to-”

“I wasn’t!” Emma panicked internally, she didn’t want to do this, not now. Turning off the water, she stood up, and reached out for a towel which Killian handed her. “Can you get me something to wear, I didn’t bring anything in.”

“Aye.” Killian was back in a flash. “Here you go,” he said leaving what she needed on the sink before exiting again.

Emma stepped out of the shower and eyed Killian’s choice of pajamas. There was a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. And boxers? Drying off she dressed, combed her hair, and brushed her teeth once more. She walked across the hall to her bedroom, but as soon as she was at the door she felt suffocated. Willing down the panic, she took a deep breath and looked at Killian who was sitting at her desk. “Can we sleep in your room tonight?”

His eyebrows furrowed at her request. She’d never wanted to sleep in his room, but he wasn’t going to argue with her right now. Getting up from the chair, he nodded his head and followed her down the hall.

Killian’s room was always immaculately neat. Almost as if no one lived there, which she supposed was kind of true since he slept in her room every night. She crawled right under the covers and snuggled straight into his embrace the moment he was next to her.

“Talk to me, Swan,” Killian whispered. He’d turned off the lights and slipped into bed where Emma had promptly cuddled up to him.

“Tell me about Liam?”

Killian sighed as he accepted that he was going to have to allow her deflection until she was ready. Something had happened, of that he was sure. “Liam was my brother. Remember when I said it’s not always better to know who and why? Well, I had the ideal, nuclear family, mum, dad, brother, and it didn’t make a damn difference, I still landed in the system. I was seven when my father accepted a job here in the states. Shortly after we’d settled in, my mum was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.”

Emma inhaled sharply, realizing what kind of story this would be. If Killian had once had a family and was in the foster system, then he’d lost everyone he’d loved, too.

“My father, the cowardly son of a bitch, left shortly after her diagnosis. He didn’t want to be widowed and saddled with two kids. He abandoned all of us, never to be heard from again. Liam joined the service in order to support me and mum. She died within a year, and then it was just me and Liam. He was old enough to take custody of me, and we did okay for a bit.  When I was fifteen, two men showed up at our door to notify Liam’s next of kin that he’d been killed by a drunk driver. I had a family, I knew them, I lost them all.”

Emma pondered his story, wondering if perhaps it was worse to know what you were missing. To have loved and been loved, only to lose it all; was that harder to cope with than never knowing who or where you came from. She brushed a tear that had fallen onto Killian’s cheek. She wouldn’t tell him she was sorry for his loss, he knew that already. She couldn’t pretend to understand his loss, it was different than hers, but she could offer comfort. “I’m here for you, Killian, just like you’ve been here for me. I know it’s not the same, but we have each other.”

Killian wrapped his arms around her, feeling the love passing between them. It was palpable, his heart was full, and just like New Year’s Eve, he felt valued. “Aye, love, we have each other. And you’re right, it’s not the same, but that doesn’t make it any less special.”

As the silence spread between them, Emma knew his questions were building. She could tell he was trying to hold back, and it would only be a matter of moments before he asked her again. Looking into his stormy blue eyes, she offered a deal. “If I tell you, you have to promise to stay calm.”

Killian tensed the moment she spoke the words. If she was warning him to stay calm, then that meant it was bad. “What happened?”

“Promise me first.”

“I can’t make any promises, to break them would be bad form. And if I find out that some piece of shit hurt you…” He couldn’t even finish the sentence as thoughts too heinous to speak crossed his mind. Her glassy green eyes were still light from the tears she had shed, and he hated the pain he saw in them. “What happened?”

“How do you know something happened?”

“I didn’t at first. I thought maybe you were regretting our kiss-”

Emma chuckled, “Don’t be stupid.”

“How am I to know, it was my first. Maybe I did it all wrong? But then I saw your room, the pillows and blankets were messed up, the lamp was knocked over, and the window was open.”

“When you left to change, Neal must have been watching from outside, he came in through my window.”

“Mother fucker. I’ll kill him,” Killian cursed.

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you! No one is killing anyone. How will we have each other if you’re in jail?”

“What did he do to you, Swan?”

“He didn’t do anything besides scare me. I mean he didn’t… rape me, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

A rush of relief flooded Killian’s body and he got a little light headed as breath came freely to him again. He supposed he wouldn’t need to commit murder now. “Now that I know what he didn’t do, can you tell me what he did that made you vomit?”

“I tried to run as soon as I heard him, but he pinned me down.” She tensed as the words left her lips. “He put his hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t scream. I was trying to get away, that’s why the bed is a mess and the lamp got knocked down.”

Another string of curses flowed as Killian listened to Emma recount what Neal had done and what he wanted. “We’re going to the police first thing in the morning.”

“No! He told me if I told you or the police that we’d be sorry. I don’t know what he means, but I don’t want to take any chances. I just want to get the stupid bag he needs me to retrieve and then we can leave this town. We can go far away from here.”

Killian assessed her silently. “You don’t want that, love. What about Ingrid and Ruth, Mary Margaret and David, and finishing school. Would you give all that away to run from Neal?”

“I’m not running,” she said stubbornly.

“I know you want to be that swan, I know you want to fly away from the bad things in your life. But what about the good things? Don’t let Neal take those away from you.”

“You won’t go with me?”

“I’d go anywhere with you or for you, to the end of the world or time.”

“Very smooth.”

“Thank you,” he smirked.   

Emma sighed; she knew he was right. She had to finish school, she’d promised herself in freshman year she wouldn’t be a statistic, she would be in the fifty percent of foster students that did graduate high school. She had real friends, friends that were like family for the first time ever. And she would totally regret it if she left Ingrid behind, the one caretaker who’d treated her properly, shown her that human decency was a real thing. Ingrid was the closest thing Emma had to a mother, and as far as Emma could tell, she was the closest thing Ingrid had to a daughter since losing her own daughter several years ago to Leukemia at the age of twelve.  

“Fine, but I still don’t want to go to the cops, we don’t know what Neal is capable of, he’s losing it. I don’t know if it’s jealousy, but he was crazed just now.”

“Emma, we have to go to the cops. You don’t know what’s in this bag of his.”

“If we send the cops to the locker, he’ll know, and he’ll retaliate.”

“What if we don’t send the cops to the locker?”

Tagging some lovelies:

@laschatzi @spartanguard @hollyethecurious@winterbaby89 @kmomof4@resident-of-storybrooke @artistic-writer@jennjenn615@snowbellewells@xhookswenchx@ultraluckycatnd @emeraldwitches @nikkiemms @galadriel26@roseyflush   @a-faekindagirl@ @killianjonesownsmyheart1 @effulgentcolors@onceuponaprincessworld @captainswan-shipper88@andiirivera@teamhook@tiganasummertree @deathbycaptainswan @kday426@sherlockianwhovian@mayquita@captswanis4vr @welllpthisishappening@princesseslikepirates @officerrogers @therooksshiningknight@thisisforcs@freechoicedreamer

[buckysforeverprincess]

What Do You Want From Me? Ch 9

Lance Tucker x Reader

Words: 1873

Warnings: Sickness

A/N: Some more Lance/reader interaction. What could possibly be going on with these two?

You were sitting in a coffee shop, sipping on a cold caramel frappe, waiting on your two thirty interview. After your last interaction with Lance, you contacted his agent/manager and told her you were resigning. She asked you if you would interview and hire a new PA for Lance since you knew the demands of the job and were the best person to find the right fit for his personality. You agreed with the condition of no contact from Lance until you made the decision to hire. That was two weeks ago and so far, you hadn’t had any luck.

Reading over the resume again and waiting for Hailey to arrive, you were surprised when someone who was not Hailey pulls out the chair in front of you and sits down. Giving said person your best resting bitch face, you glared hard at them.

“I'm sorry.” Claire says, giving you her best frown.

“For what? For not telling me the entire story about Jase? Or could it be forgetting to mention that he's a dominant?” You ask her coldly.

“Both. I should have told you he was the governors nephew from the start. But would it have changed your mind?” She questions you.

“It could have been a deal breaker. Being with him brings a lot of unwanted attention…not something I’m too fond of.” You take a sip of the frappe. Ugh, this is so gross cold.

“How's it going with him anyway? You haven't updated me. The sex as good as I've heard?” She has always been a thirsty bitch.

“Wouldn't know. I asked if we could take it slow, given the revelation of him being a Dom, and everyone wanting a piece of him!” God, she's irritating.

“I thought you'd be ok with that. I mean, you've worked for Lance...all you do with him is submit.”

Oh, she's done it now!  

“Seriously, Claire?!! What the fuck does that even mean?!” Your raised voice grabbing the attention of some of the patrons.

“Shhh! It just means you have to be a little submissive to have worked for him for so long. He's no easy task.” She says softly, trying to avert the stares you were now receiving.

Maybe she's right. Maybe on some level you were a submissive, but definitely in not a ‘yes, master’ way.

“Claire, I know you're trying to help, and I won't deny that I need to get on with my life, but don't you think I should do it on my terms? When I'm ready? This whole thing with Lance has really put a strain on me and-”

“You slept with him!”

Absolutely did I not just give that away!

“I…didn't say that.” Who the fuck are these people I surrounded myself with?

“You didn't have too!”

I'm pretty sure I gave nothing away.

Claire sits back in the chair and crosses her arms, “then answer the question. Did you sleep with Lance Tucker? And because I know you so well, if you stay silent or deflect, I'll automatically know you did.”

To do list: drop Claire as a friend, effective immediately!

“Why does it matter? Lance is in my past. See?” You hold up the resumes in your hand.

“God, I honestly hate that man! I can't believe he finally got to you!”

Well, that's a curiously odd statement to make.  

“Claire. I'm moving on. I promise. Please, no more talk of Lance, or Jase, or anything that has to do with sex. Actually, let's not talk. My interview should be here any second, and I think you should go.”

She glares at you, but knows you have work to do. “Fine. Text me later! Love you!” Claire gets up and leaves the coffee shop.

Thank fuck! You’re not sure how much more of her you could take.

 A few short moments pass when someone else is standing in front of you. “Hi…are you Y/N?”

You look at the girl and smile. “I am, are you Hailey?” She gives a shy smile and confirms her identity. You look at your phone and notice she's ten minutes late and offers no apology for her tardiness. She's also a cute, young blonde, which is exactly Lance’s type. Sorry Hailey, no rose for you. “Shall we get started?”

Two weeks later, you were able to find someone to replace you as Lance’s PA. You contacted his agent to send her the resume and job application to run the usual checks. Mindy was going to do well with Lance, and you couldn't be happier with your choice.  

The only problem now, was making contact with Lance. You told his agent you would see Lance to give him his keys and the details on Mindy. Also, on her first day of work you would accompany her to give her the basics and lay of his house. Lance will take one look at her and will scream to the heavens. You’d be there to make sure she stayed.

You had sent a text to Lance to work out a time to meet him. He answered back and had agreed on nine am the next morning. Obviously the sooner the better.

When you woke up the next morning, you weren't feeling well. Maybe it was just nerves from seeing him again or could it be from the finality of it all? Three years of being Lance’s whipping post is about to come to an end. Definitely a good reason to not feel well.

Grabbing a muffin and a coffee on the way to his house sounded like a good idea. Hopefully the caffeine will get rid of this fucking migraine, you thought as you went inside the little coffee house you frequented.  

Opening the door, the harsh smells of the coffee beans made your stomach want to regurgitate, and you felt overcome with nausea. Great! Stomach bug. I don't have time for this today. You slowly made your way to the counter, ordered your banana chocolate muffin and Carmel latte, and rushed out the door, deciding the coffee house was off limits until you were over the bug.

Pulling into the driveway, the clock read seven minutes before nine. Sometimes you hated being punctual. You looked at the half-eaten muffin in disgust and threw it back in the bag. It tasted horrible and the coffee was too sweet. Fucking newbies! Lance better have coffee ready

You walked into his house and a feeling of nostalgia took over. Three years was a long time to walk away from. You'd miss this place but couldn't do this anymore. The broken heart would heal but seeing his face daily while it healed wouldn't help. This was for the best... you just had to make yourself believe it.

“Hi.” Lance says but doesn't smile.

“Coffee!” Your excitement for the dark substance made Lance chuckle. He opens the refrigerator and pulls out a bottle of your favorite hazelnut creamer and places it next to the coffee maker.

“It's fresh…figured you'd want some. Uh, I can make you breakfast? If you're hungry, that is?” You start to pour the coffee into a mug.

“No thanks, I had half a muffin from the coffee house. Tasted like ass! Mmmmm!”

The moan you let out is illicit, but Lance’s coffee is so good. He only buys the expensive shit, in the rare case he entertains guests and as of today…that’s what you were.

“How've you been?” Lance asks you, and you're not sure if you're ready for this yet. Not enough coffee for a conversation that may need you to be on your toes.

“Good, I've been good. How about you?” You direct the question back to Lance.

“I'm ok. So...I... uh, I wanted to apologize for my behavior at the charity event. I'm really sorry.” Lance genuinely looks apologetic.

You think back to that night and realize you may have been a little harsh to him as well. “Since you said sorry, I should as well. When I ran into you, I said some things that were pretty awful, and you didn't deserve that. I'm sorry. In my anger, I attacked you. I wanted you to hurt like I did. I shouldn't have let it get the best of me, so I apologize for my own actions.”

Lance leans on his counter. God, he looks good! Why am I still conflicted about everything?

Maybe it's because he's being so sweet right now, you just want to hug the shit out of this man.

“Oh…I just remembered….’future wife’ huh? Do I detect a hint of jealousy?” You ask him, assuring yourself he'd play it off.

Lance walks over and stands in front of you, “I meant it. It may have come out in a fit of anger, but I meant it.” Lance leans down to your ear whispering, “I refuse to believe this is the end of us!” He kisses your cheek and backs away.

Who is this man? You ask yourself totally shocked at his statement. If you were one hundred percent honest with yourself, this is what you've always wanted. This is not the Lance Tucker you've grown accustomed too. Where the hell is the Lance you knew?

“So, you have stuff for me?” Lance is staring at you with a smile.

“Yes!” You come out of your state of shock. You grab the file you brought with you and start going over the details of his new PA, Mindy. Lance is actually paying attention for once and not interrupting. Subject displays abnormal behavior. Further treatment and evaluation is recommended before giving final analysis.

“Do you have any quest-” was all you got out before bolting to his bathroom.

“Y/N? You ok?” Lance runs after you and finds you in the bathroom vomiting up the awful muffin.

“Lance…please...go!” Panting between heaves, but he's having none of it.

He grabs your hair from your face and rubs your back, whispering something to you that you can't make out. When you feel you've finished, he grabs a warm washcloth and gently wipes down your face, cleaning you up. You feel too weak to fight him off, the vomiting taking a toll on you and all you want to do is take a nap.  

“Can you walk?” Instead of answering him, you just close your eyes and relax in the floor. “Nope, not here!” Lance gets to his feet, puts his arms around you and scoops you up bridal style off the floor. He takes you to his room and places you on the bed and under his covers. Lances leaves long enough to get you some apple juice and a bottle of water.

“Beautiful, can you sit up?”

You do so, and Lance hands you the juice, which you gladly take a drink of. “Thank you, but I should go…”

“No, you should rest, and when you wake…they'll be soup waiting.” He smiles at you.

“Chicken noodle…from the deli?” Hoping he knows they have the best chicken noodle soup ever!

“Is there any other kind? Now rest.” Lance leans down and kisses your forehead before he stands to leave the room.

“Lance…” You say right before he exits the room, making him stop and turn around. “Thank you...for that. You didn't have too.”

 Lance gives you a genuine smile. “I'd do anything for you.”

[markusstrayya-blog]

Once In A Freak (Part 1)

Support Me? | MASTERLIST | Who Do I Write For?

Pairing: Loki x Reader (eventual), Logan Howlett x Reader (Father figure), Avengers x Reader, X-Men x Reader

Word Count: 2670

Summary: Being a mutant has more downsides than upsides. How will your peers feel when you catch feelings for a certain trickster god. WIll your friends and family support you, or have they done enough already? I mean, you are a mutant, how much harder could life be?

Warning(s): Fluff, HYDRA mentioned, Infinity War Steve (God he looked delicious with that beard!), Language. I’ll probably add things as I go along.

Authors Note: So, this was originally posted on my other account, as all these repeated fics were, but Tumblr sucks. Anyway, I didn’t edit this one, as I already loved it, but I��ll be rewriting the entire series. I’ve got the writing bug! Anyway, I’m planning on posting this story to Wattpad, but I’ll probably wait until I have the first few chapters ready to go.

All I did for this one was combine the two parts I’d already written because I felt that it wasn’t going to read well if I didn't, so here we are.

Anywhoozy, requests are open, and so’s the taglist, so enjoy!

PROLOGUE

If anyone had told you all those years ago that you would work for the X-Men, S.H.I.E.L.D. and more recently, the Avengers, you would have called them insane. But alas, here you are, in your own spacious room at the Avengers compound, curtesy of Tony Stark, with your back pressed against a painted wall, viewing your handy work on the other 3 walls. Your (H/C) hair had been tied into a messy bun that had been slowly falling out over the past few hours, evident by the thick strands that had made it their job to block your view. Your white t-shirt and old denim overalls were blotched with a rainbow of colour. Your skin didn’t fare any better.

Your aching legs assisted in lifting your small frame from the ground, as your feet carried you into your ensuite bathroom, which, you had also painted last week. Peeling off your clothes and undoing the tangled mess upon your head to reach the tie, you sigh. That’s the last coat. Once your hair has been released from its elastic restraint and begins to flow over your shoulders and down your back, you enter the shower and begin cleaning yourself from the day’s activities.

The comforting feeling that the steamy water brings will always be something that you cherish, as it gets to work on cleansing your multi-coloured skin, the coloured water pooling atop the tiles surface around your feet. Running the soapy loofah over your wet skin, the hardened paint flakes off, leaving your skin to return to its natural colour. Now for my hair. Grasping the shampoo bottle in your right hand, you squeeze the liquid contents into your left palm before closing the lid. You moan as your hands begin to massage your scalp, making sure that all the paint is removed from your hair. Once your hair is rinsed, and the shower head returned into its slumber, you step onto the bath mat and thoroughly dry your hair with your hairdryer, combing it every so often.

Moving into your walk-in closet, you pick out your favourite pair of skinny jeans, and your Deadpool-themed tank top, curtesy of Wade (of course), both of which will fit nicely over your matching black undergarments. You slip your feet into your black converse before taking one last look at your masterpiece of a room. You’d had to paint all the walls white, as they were previously cream, whilst covering one wall, the one that your bed rests against, you’d painted lightning striking a darkened landscape, and in the center, a blue orb with a figure, watching the storm overhead. You smiled at the memory and headed out into the kitchen.

Spotting the cupboard, you race forward, opening it with such force that it almost swings off its hinges, reaching your hand in and grabbing a packet of (F/F) chips before slamming it closed. You tare open the packet and shove the largest chips you could grab into you salivating, hungry mouth, closing your eyes in ecstasy. BUZZ. BUZZ. Ugh, what now? Checking the caller ID, you hastily answer your phone. “What’s up Wolvie?” You could hear him groan before taking a swig of what was most likely whiskey.

“I told ya to call me Logan, but that’s besides the point. I wanted to know how you are settling in?” You snort, before eating another chip.

“Well,” you begin, “I think it’s going very well. I’ve just finished painting my room and I’m already on to (F/F) chips.” You knew he would be shaking his head, smirking at your antics. “Hey, don’t laugh at me! I’ll have you know I’ve been here a week and I’ve settled in just well.” He laughed at that.

“That’s good Bub, that’s really good. Y’know if they annoy ya too much, I’ll kick their asses for ya.” Giggling, you begin to reply before you are interrupted by a certain AI. “Ms. (L/N), Mr. Stark says that you’re needed in meeting room 8 as soon as possible.”

“Thanks F.R.I.D.A.Y. Tell him I’ll be there in a few minutes.” You shook your head. “What did you really call me for Gramps?”

He gasped in feigned horror. “Well, I was asked by the Professor himself to tell you that we’re gunna have a party o’er next week. You’re welcome to come, but after that insult I don’t think-“

“Okay! Okay! I’m sorry, I’ll come!” Humming he ended the call wishing me luck and promising to text me the details. Speed walking over to meeting room 8, you munch on a few more chips. What does he need me for? Surely it can’t be a mission! Mentally throwing those thoughts away, you opened the door, before stepping in, making sure to close the door behind you, moving to stand next to Cap. He has told you many times to call him Steve, but you like to mess with him, calling him Captain or Cap most of the time. Your eyes meet, and you smile up at him, eyes crinkling at the corners. His blue t-shirt does nothing but to hide his broad shoulders and the protrusion of his large muscles. Even his jeans look too tight. How does he fit such a fine ass in those? He smiles back, before clearing his throat, gaining the attention of those present in the room.

As soon as Tony’s eyes see me, his face instantly lightens. His expensive suit does nothing but help him prove his importance and influence he has on the team. He’s loaded – with cash, that is. “(Y/N), you made it!”

You looked at him and around the room, confused. “Uhm of cour-“

“Now,” he interrupted, “I need to introduce you to an old friend…and a…seemingly new one?” You looked at him then, sensing his uneasiness. Logan had taught you how to read moods after he took you in as his own when he found you in the woods. You also noticed how he seemed to be trying to convince himself that this new person was a friend. Strange. He pulled you further into the room, stopping in front of two men. Men? Snap out of it (Y/N), this is Thor and Loki. They’re Gods! “No wonder…” you muttered.

Thor leant down to your level, his long blonde hair replaced with short hair. It suited him. “Pardon, Lady (Y/N)?” Shit. He heard me! You look up at him, taking in his missing eye, covered with a golden eye patch and his attire. Asgardian armour, or a king’s attire?  He was smiling at you. “Nothing. Sorry, I’ve just been busy.” You smile back, hoping he accepts the lie. “There is no need to apologise Lady (Y/N)! I assume you know who I am?”

Smirking at him you nod and hold out your hand. His hand, that is much larger than your own, pretty much engulfs yours, as he greets you. You turn and face his brother, clad in green, gold and black attire, who’s looking down at his feet. “And you’re Loki?” You could’ve sworn his head would have flung off his neck due to the speed in which his gaze raised to yours. “That’s me, Lady (Y/N).” Taking your hand in his, he slowly lifts it to his lips, placing a feather-light kiss to your knuckles, before lowering your hand back down. Even though he was much taller than you, he wasn’t as big and muscly as his brother. His hand was much smaller, making yours fit into it nicer. “Just (Y/N) will be fine.” You extend the chip packet towards him, his face, framed by that luscious raven hair, contorts into a look of confusion. “Chip?”

Glancing over at his brother, as though he’s seeking permission, he extends his own arm out, his slender hand reaching into the packet, before emerging with a good-sized chip. Still looking uncertain, you take your own chip and elegantly place it into your mouth. You can feel the stares of your teammates boring into the back of your head, they, themselves unsure about what’s happening. Thor, though, just smiles at the both of you and gestures for a chip himself. Loki looks up at his brother in what you assume is disgust before placing the chip into his mouth, taking in the mix of flavours that would be dancing around the inside of his mouth. “Thank you.”

--

After the whole chip fiasco, in the meeting room, you decided to leave and make your way back into the spacious kitchen. Placing your large phone on the counter, you turn, and tear open the fridge door, reaching your arm through, until you grasp the large bottle, pulling it toward yourself. Plopping the bottle of Coke down, you begin your search for a large glass, and once found, you begin to fill it to the brim with the dark liquid, returning the bottle back to its place in the fridge.

“Ahem.” Looking up, you spot Tony staring at you from the doorway. Rolling your eyes, you grab your glass, gulping down its contents. The familiar fizz that enters your mouth brings tears to your eyes, but you pay no mind. Staring over at Tony, you continue to chug the entire glass.

Placing the empty glass down on the counter, your hand lifts to your mouth, wiping the stray liquid on the back of your hand, before placing both hands on the marble top. “Yes, mister Stark?” It wasn’t that you don’t like him, it’s just you’ve begun to get a weird feeling about him, like something’s not right. Eyes still on Tony, he steps into the room, stopping a metre away. “What’s up, Tony?” You place your right hand on your hip.

“Why did you do that?” You looked over at him, quizzically.

“Do what?”

Rolling his eyes, he replied, “With the chips. Why’d you offer him some?”

“Look, Tony, I was just being friendly. You’re always telling me to make friends, so here I am, trying to do just that, and yet you’re here, saying I shouldn’t?” You couldn’t believe this guy. First he tells me I need more friends, and now he tells me not to make any. Make up your damn mind! Your inner thoughts cease as two new presences slowly enter the room. You’re not sure if Tony notices the two Gods, tiptoeing behind him, as they try not to disturb us.

“He’s dangerous, (Y/N). He’s killed before, and he will probably kill again. Just keep your distance, okay?” You scoff at his poor attempt to sway your opinion.

“What, and I’m not?” That makes the brothers stop. “Tony, I don’t think you realise this, but he’s not the only one in this building with a bad history. Just look at what happened to me, I mean, I’m still here, aren’t I?” It’s only when you stop talking do you notice Loki’s eyes on you, as they stop flickering back and forth – from you to Tony, and back again. “You see, where I come from, everyone had to fight for where they are now, for their place in society. I don’t think you realise how much people can change, Mr. Stark,” picking up your phone from the kitchen counter, you begin to walk towards the hallway, leading to your room, “Look me up, I’ll probably be in one of those old S.H.I.E.L.D. files!”

You storm into your room, lightly slamming the door behind you, before you slide onto the carpeted floor. What’s so wrong about making friends. We’ve all done things we regret. UGH! Allowing your fingerprint to unlock your phone, you take notice of a new text from Logan. Good ol’ Wolvie.

 Wolvie

 Wolvie: Tuesday at 6. Bring a plus 1, or whoever ya want if you’re up for it! 😉

Wolvie: At the Mansion. I’ll be expecting ya bub.

 Lips tilting up into a smile, you typed in your response.

 (Y/N): Not sure about the plus one old man, but I will be going! I can’t wait to see everyone again!😊

 Placing your phone back on sleep mode, you can feel the familiar tingling sensation as it runs up your spine, stopping, only for a moment, when it reaches your head before the feeling explodes all around you. You close your eyes, relishing in its addictiveness before you open them once more. Your body, covered in a purple and blue mix of electricity, zaps and pops around you, calming you down. It’s in this bubble, of sorts, that you can use your abilities without affecting the world around you.

“Miss (Y/N), Loki wishes to enter, shall I let him in?” Taking a deep breath, the bubble dissipates, the stored electricity evaporating into thin air. You nod at the AI. “Of course, let him in.” The soft thud of leather boots fills your room, as the god enters your room, quietly closing the door after him, before turning to you. He’s still wearing his Asgardian clothing.

“I heard what Stark said out there, (Y/N), and I-“ You interrupted him.

“Nope. Not hearing it. He told me to meet new people, and that’s what I was doing. He can shove it, if he thinks, even for one second, that you don’t deserve to have at least one friend.” He looks at you in complete shock, almost as if he wasn’t expecting that. “Let me guess,” you walked closer to him, “the silver-tongued God of Mischief didn’t see that one coming?”

Shaking his head with a small smile, he replied, “I am unable to be your friend, Lady (Y/N), although I thank you for standing up for me.” You give him a questioning look.

“What do you mean I’m “unable to be your frie-“

“I am a dangerous villain who does not deserve such kindness.” He turns, heading back towards the door, his arm outstretched reaching for the metallic handle. You grab his arm, spinning him back towards you.

“Now listen here Mr. Mischief,” he swallows hard, “yes, you may be dangerous, but that does not mean that you can’t receive kindness. Trust me, I may not be as old as you, a literal God, but I have been down that road before, and trust me, it gets you nowhere.” You take a shuddered breath, before continuing. “I don’t care what you’ve done in the past, but I swear to you I will not let you travel down that path of no return, the path where you believe you don’t deserve anything. The past does not define you. I learned the hard way.”

You can feel tears prick at your eyes, threatening to break free. You are aware the god in front of you knows. He’s been studying you throughout your entire outburst. “What…” He begins, “What do you mean you had to learn the hard way? What happened?” You bow your head, shaking it, as your eyes close tightly to stop the tears from shedding.

 Loki’s POV

 I’ve only known this mortal for at least an hour, and yet she stands before me, a God who will not hesitate to end her life, after standing up for me and proclaiming herself to be my much-needed friend. “What…what do you mean you had to learn the hard way? What happened?” I knew she was already close to tears before I asked but I couldn’t help myself. This fierce little mortal had stood up for me, and now was breaking down because of what others had done to her.

I wasn’t much of a hugger, let alone someone familiar with comfort. I was never the favoured child, always coming second, but this mortal had awoken something in me. The urge to comfort her was overpowering. Never, in my many, many years had this urge come over me. The only thing I could say it was like how I felt towards my moth-Frigga. Hesitantly, my arms wrapped around her small form, as I pulled her towards me, rubbing her back. How could something so foreign to me feel so natural?

What was happening to me?

Once In A Freak Tags:

@bluegirlusa1 @stupidlysarcastic @mirtaqueen @marvelest-marvel@wishrains @nhievyenne @excuse-you-dickwad @blackcat995 @missaphrodite23 @li-ssu @gay-hufflepuff16

Loki Tags:

@baoxiii

Forever Tags:

@theonegirlunderyourbed @jemjem-chan @reading-in-moonlight

Apologies if tags don’t work!

[lewnatic]

For the D&D asks, 1-20

Oh gosh, okay. This is gonna be long so I’m gonna do it under a cut.

What was your favorite Nat 1 Experience?

I don’t think a lot of my characters have had really funny Nat1 moments, sadly. I will always remember the one when @zhixx​ made a goblin named Spook’em specifically designed to have the least survivability possible. The first time he was downed he rolled a Nat1 on his first death save. The feeling of comedic timing was just beautiful.

Favorite D&D Inside Joke?

“You are a privateer! BUT ON LAHND.”

Favorite Item Your Character received in D&D?

Phailyn was supposed to get a tome to increase his strength, but when his crush said she wanted it, he immediately fucking dropped it so she could have it. So the DM let me sneak off and get a scrying orb we’d passed up earlier. He hasn’t used it yet, but I just like the story behind it.

Ves probably considers Sikrikta to be the best item she’s received has a lot of really expensive shit she’s keeping just because she has bourgie taste. She got a bottle of wine as a gift that would have been 400g if she’d left it unopened. She’s drinking it gradually through the adventure. It’s good, but not quite as good as what she’s used to.

Teeki has a gaudy diamond crown that Bing bought for 300 gold. It does nothing. It is purely cosmetic. She loves it.

Basically I love frivolous shit.

Preferred Animal Companion (if you had any)?

Vesxlit has a familiar, if that counts. He’s a parrot named Brilliant. He talks like a normal human (in a setting where that is definitely not commonplace) and is a member of the Bardic College in the capital city of the nation we’re traveling in.

He’s a posh gentleman who helps Ves sew dresses. They spend 90% of their time arguing because, being a bird, his fashion sense is incredibly bright and garish.

Favorite D&D Battle Encounter?

Every boss fight Skaaren has done is goddamn awesome, tbh. My favorite is the first just because of how scary it was.

Keep in mind, we’re level 1 in Pathfinder, an Oracle (Ves) and a Barbarian (Cato.) We’ve just watched a big hole open up in the ground, and our characters don’t know why, but we’re looking for missing people (including the barbarian’s boyfriend Fabius, he’s important) so we figure hell, this is probably where they’re missing.

We find some of the missing people at the bottom of the hole, but we haven’t found Fabius, so we go deeper in. We find this creepy old woman doing some kinda ritual or something by a pool of water? Barbarian charges in to kill her and save his man, and… kills her very quickly.

Silence. We go to check on Fabius, and we’re not sure if we can safely move him. I’m running out of heals from earlier stuff and I pop my last one on him, and after a while of debating what to do a ton of undead start coming out of the water. Just a goddamn mob. Whatever the hell creepy-lady was doing, we were suddenly way in over our heads. Even if we picked up Fabius and ran, we don’t have a fast way out of this hole. And we start taking damage fast. Including Fabius.

I don’t remember the specifics of the fight. I think that’s a testament to how much we were panicking. I remember feeling the helplessness of being a mage completely out of spell slots frantically trying to hit things with my stupid mace.

And I remember when the fight was over, I stayed down there panicking for several more minutes, trying to determine if Fabius was even alive while the barbarian ran to get the local doctor in a town of which he didn’t even speak the language.

In the end, Fabius was okay, and we both got out of it alive. It was just that sense of dread and fear, that we didn’t know how the DM’s rolls were going or if anything we were trying had any impact. Skaaren has always done a stellar job since of bringing that sense of genuine fear into the game when he wants to, but that first unexpected taste of it was so damn cool.

Favorite D&D NPC Interaction?

Varis Vrynn was my favorite villain. Not because of his fight, or how he fit into the greater lore, but because of how @extravagantshoes​ played him. He was a slimy uppity elf in the city of Galthiel, a city with heavy class divides based on magic ability. Varis was a powerful diviner, and a lot of our party interactions involved everyone in the party trying to piss him off and Varis looking down his nose in disgust at all of us.

Then Cedlanna, our young sorcerer, got a conversation with him alone in his manor, where he wanted to make a deal with her. And she just ripped into him. Cut to the core of his insecurities and how with all of his riches on display, his manor still was incredibly empty–that for all the parties he hosted he was completely alone.

He was doing some really irredeemable things and later tried to kill us all but I still managed to feel kind of sad that we ended up gruesomely killing him.

Dumbest thing You & Your Party Did

Charging through multiple spinning saws comes to mind. Every time I try to sneak around in heavy plate armor also comes to mind.

I feel like I need to make a separate post to discuss just all the impulsive things Cato does. Turning an entire city upside down just for the chance to punch a specific guy in the face was one.

Most Epic thing You & Your Party Did

I might also make a separate post about this, but Cato and Ves convinced a bunch of lizard people that they were their gods.

Basically in this setting, the level 1 baddies generally fought are called Rapia. They’re kobold-esque in design, but they have a faith-based culture and… well, kind of a faith-based biology. Rapia need something to worship, they undergo gradual physiological changes based on the thing they follow. (Say it’s a sea creature, they might get gills.) And if they don’t have something to worship, they literally become sick and presumably die.

We’d fought a few before and looted crap from their caves, including a tiny hammer that we never could have used but the barbarian held onto cuz idk??

We later ran into some others by falling through the roof of their cave, but they didn’t attack us. They started to assume that we were the gods depicted on one of their cave walls. For the sake of brevity, a fight broke out later when we were trying to leave, and Cato gave the hammer to one of the rapia who was helping us escape. It turned out in the DM’s notes, this hammer had significance to the rapia, and was supposed to be given to the religious leader of a tribe. And so the entire tribe turned to our side and protected us. And… they started following us.

It was about this time that the DM broke character to tell us he had no plan of this happening, and I guess we just have a tribe of rapia now. And we’ve had the goddamn campaign balanced around having a tribe of rapia ever since.

What did you like about your Campaign’s World?

I’m gonna try to sum these up quickly cuz these stories have already gotten long.

The Ascension world has elements of what I affectionately like to call Pop Fantasy, there’s some genre-awareness while not being parody, and all the work on the pantheon Spi did has been goddamn amazing. I also cannot figure out the overarching mysteries and that is awesome.

Nejj puts a ton into immersing us into the world. I can always very clearly get a feel for the sort of setting he’s putting us in, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with the political intrigue he’s been setting up.

Skaaren’s got the weirdest goddamn races in his setting and I love every single one of them. He’s also packed the setting full of little cultural details, I swear to god he’s done extensive research into what we’re having for breakfast in the morning based on where we’re staying.

What was the most Interesting Lore you Found?

I seriously can’t pick a favorite here so I’m going to give a silly answer, and that’s that acolytes of Ves’s goddess commune with her by getting super high. 

Summarize Your Campaign(s) in a Single Sentence

One for each campaign:A group of weird rebels and one very ordinary guy dismantle the ruling government.Goblins discover crazy politics and necromancy, what happens next will warm your heart.Tourists getting intimate with the horrifying hidden truths of nature

Describe your whole Party Dynamic in a Sentence

The best bunch of weirdos and one stupid shady paladin.Loner rogue becomes Team Mom by sheer force of how much the other two hate each other.Bug Jesus and The Angriest Boy discover family in the form of lizards.

What Alignment do your characters lean towards?

I have a weird time choosing an alignment for characters cuz motivations change a lot for my nerds. Teeki was True Neutral but has become more Chaotic Good. Ves is Lawful Good I guess?? And Phai is a goddamn mess whose alignment has shifted at least thrice since his conception.

How do you tend to Take Notes (if you do)?

Badly! Next question.

Prefer Story/Plot Driven or No Plot/Character-Driven Campaigns?

I tend to prefer plot-driven, but I honestly think elements of both should be implemented in your narrative–occasionally giving breaks from the overarching plot to give the cast some time to dick around can give a breath of fresh air to roleplay.

Combat or Role Play?

Roleplay, of course. I actually used to think I hated D&D combat. It took a lot of great sessions to make me realize that the RP doesn’t stop for combat, and that’s when I started really getting into learning and enjoying mechanics elements.

Favorite D&D Monster/Creature?

Illithid. I would love to actually play as one someday.

Magic User or Fighter?

Magic is more engaging to me, personally, but I like both.

Preferred Weapon/Spell in D&D?

Tasha’s Hideous Laughter. In large part because of how it’s roleplayed in Critical Role tbh. I also have felt the high of Sneak Attack enough times to really love it now.

What was your Favorite Nat 20 Experience?

One time I rolled a Nat20 perception while we were on the road and it was literally just to find a coin on the ground. That might always be my favorite. 

[rey-ophelia]

bitching time (personal thing)

ok, how can i get frustration out if not by bitching in my own blog, right?

it’s just my opinion and that’s the whole disclaimer and warning you can get assuming someone will actually read this. this post is self-undulgent.

i don’t know what to say tbh. it’s just i’m at this point in life when even the most little thing can upset me very much or annoy me to no f end. but i’m working on it and mostly succeeding. right now i’m typing on impulse i can’t say that i’m overly involved in supernatural and teen wolf because i pretty much gave up on both shows due to a lot of shitty things. i reblog a lot of posts with them and discuss them sometimes but these shows are shitty. no doubt. (although spn was good. i have problem with the latest seasons and even kripke fucked up sometimes, i’m looking at s4 and 5 and his explanation of the 5th season’s ending, like, dude, were you high?) first of all, dean winchester is the most important character in my life so far. he is the first and the others are on the second place. i can talk a lot about my love for him but i’ll just stop beating around bush. so he (and my another fave - stiles stilinski) are considered(?) bisexual or that they could be a great bisexual representation and i just not agree??? yeah, i don’t agree. obviously i mean canon, i’m all in when it’s fanon but in canon... just no.  i don’t mind stiles being bisexual but this show is finished and in the end they never went there. they just baited people and that’s it. i think they never really meant to go even that long? third season is their peak but then they just ruined it.  anyway i mostly feel strongly about dean. i hate the majority of spn fandom and i’ve been there for 2 months and decided fuck it. my biggest regret is reading those awful posts. among them were shipping wars, of course. i loathe both destiel and wincest. stop using dean as a prop-up for your faves, you disgusting pricks. i’m tired of all the hate he gets and how people just love rewrite canon facts in order to further their agenda. sam needs to grow up and cas can just die. it’s mercy from me because they already killed his character. he is worthless.  in canon dean is straight. and yeah, interpretation and all that jazz but can you stop bugging the actor who refuses to agree with your views? they never intended to go there. they were successfull even without all this sheezle with castiel. if you think that i’m taking it too serious you’re right! but i never went and sent anyone hate and didn’t call them names directly, i’m just trying to vent it out because i still don’t want to hurt people.  it’s just...people are trying to have fun that’s why i don’t go and bitch at them. but dean means so much to me and his story and his real canon traits are completely erased in these ships (god, i can’t even read fanfiction with dean anymore and ship him with anyone) and that makes me mad and sad. and what’s the fuck with spn right now? they just bring up all the good things from the first 5 seasons and rewrite dean things for sam and ultimately ruin them in the end. mary, colt, alpha vampire...  i hate everything, i can’t even write this shit down. the thing that i started to write this post in the first place for and now i can’t even type it because i’m so mad. can andrew dabb fuck off and bring back real spn? can they hire proffesional writers and not those fanfic sam writers (perez, fuck off, bitch)? can they stop propping up sam as sensible brother when his empathy is non-existent? can jared actually grow the fuck up and see his character as he actually is and learn to act?  probably not. so i’m out