#combing through to see what's in here and theres so many bits and pieces of random drabbles

[lighthouseshepard]

was talking a while ago about the idea of arthur seeing john ringed in gold as his eyesight returns after theyre separated, kind of like an aura effect which would dwindle as time went on. forgot i did this tiny piece of jarthur fluff in my phones notes eifjejf

"What are you looking at?"

John raises one inquisitive brow in Arthur's direction, but it takes him a solid ten seconds to process the question. Blinking as though coming out of a daze, he shakes his head, tired eyes wide.

"What?"

"You were staring at me," rumbles John. "Quite intensely, I might add."

"Oh." Arthur swallows, dragging a hand across his face. "Sorry, John. Just lost in thought, I guess."

Across from him at their tiny kitchen table, John stretches out a hand. He takes Arthur's left, splayed loosely across the worn wood, in his own. Fingers intertwine, a suggestion of warmth and security pressed into his palm through a firm squeeze.

"I didn't say it bothered me."

Arthur smiles at the twinkle in John's eye. It wasn't the only light about him. His skin seemed to glow from within, every flawless and unscarred inch bathed in a subtle haze of gold, and Arthur knew the window behind them had nothing to do with it. Neither could explain it. Then again, neither knew what complications could arise from separating two souls into one. Where initially he thought the effect might blind him anew it only added to the ache of awe felt whenever he caught himself gazing for too long. John was a hard one to look away from overall - the thin veneer of light, cascading over him like a perpetual sunrise whenever Arthur least expected it, did nothing to make that any easier.

John didn't seem to mind. He liked the attention, even if he would never admit to it.

"Sorry, it's just... it's interesting, you know?" Arthur murmurs contemplatively. "I wonder if anyone else sees you this way, or if it's just the effect you have on me because you had my eyes."

"I think," John hums, "asking others if they saw a nonexistent light with no visible source would be a terrible idea."

Scoffing, he taps one finger impatiently against the back of John's hand. "Hush. I'm not going to do that, obviously. I just mean it's curious. Noel said he couldn't see anything, so why..."

"Why you?" John finishes the thought for him. "I don't know, Arthur. It could be my influence, it could be solely us separating. Does it... bother you?" he adds uncertainly.

Arthur meets his eye anew. They were bright hazel, possessive of an earnest desire to understand this new physical life he'd earned and everything which came with it. They too seemed to glow in the right environments, often at night when they laid inches apart, holding the other close. In the depths of that hue he could easily spot filaments of deep amber. Sun warmed whiskey, he liked to say. It always made John flush.

"No," Arthur says. "Not really. Honestly, it reminds me of staring directly into a cloudless sky at the sun high overhead. I glance down, blink back, and the imprint of that light remains long after. It suits you, I think. You spent so long in the dark world, John. You deserve a little illumination of your own."

John doesn't immediately respond. Smiling at his taken aback expression, Arthur stands up from the chair, never once letting his hand go.

"You're very pretty, darling," he says quietly. Leaning down, he kisses the top of his head, mouth soft against black waves. "Whether this continues or not the father on we go, I'm okay with it. I like you ringed in gold."

[swtki]

My Game - Spencer Reid x Reader

This is a part 2 to Teachers Pet

SUMMARY: After Y/Ns little test, she takes Dr. Reid up on his offer. She also takes him back to the apartment. 

WARNINGS: 18+ CONTENT, SMUT, FEM READER, PROFFESOR-STUDENT, TEACHER REID, ORAL (FEMALE RECIEVING), PENATRATIVE SEX, SEMI DOM-SUB

It had been three days since Dr. Reid emailed me. I hadn’t texted him yet, too afraid of not knowing what to say. When I pulled that little stunt at his desk, I expected nothing to come of it. Just seeing his cute and pink face was enough of a reward. But it was obvious to me in the days following, he wanted to cross his finish line.

My phone sat comfortably in my hands, the series of numbers lining the top of my screen. I had not an inkling of an idea of what I would say. Should I go casual? Professional? Sexy? I mean, did anyone ever know how to aproach their crush?

Y: It’s Y/N, sorry I took so long. I’ve been kinda busy.

S: No worries, I was beginning to think I had read the room incorrectly. What are your plans for Saturday night? Theres a great Italian restaurant next to where I’m staying in DC.

Y: That sounds wonderful, actually. I’ll meet you there at 7?

S: Perfect.

I reluctantly pulled my figure from the sofa, and soon eagerly jumping into the shower. When the water hit my face the entire day melted away, and left only the anticipation of that night. I felt so special, I mean I was living my most vivid fantasies and not every woman gets to do it with a genius professor.

With my makeup carefully applied, and my dress matching my shoes, I started down the stairs. As my heels made a clicking noise, I started to feel a familiar flutter in my stomach. I was nervous; First date nervous. Though I had met him many times, and most recently met his body with mine, the event of a first date was a pâté of emotions.

The door of the restaurant was cold against my hand. I didn’t expect a high end dining experience, and when I walked in the entry way I was glad it wasn’t. The entry way was filled with cozy items. The faded rose pattern on the wallpaper complimented the display of family photos.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for a tall brunette man, it was a table for two.” I said to the hostess. She paused for a second, tapping on her tablet as she checks the current table descriptions.

“Ah yes, party of two for Reid?”

I confirmed and she led me through a hallway to our left, which led into a small dining area. The room walls were a burgundy color, illuminated by the candle sitting at the head of each table.

I thanked the woman as I walked toward Spencer. He looked a tad bit cleaner than usual, his hair was combed and tucked away behind his ears.

“Oh, here let me get that for you.” He rose from his seat and rushed over to the chair across from him.

“How gentleman like, Doctor.” He laughed and we both took our seats.

“Please, call me Spencer.” His form was more relaxed than it usually was in class, giving him a calmer and peaceful demeanor.

Dinner progressed, a glass of wine was nursed, and he insisted on paying our check. Though I had been on dates before, this felt like my first real adult date.

“How did you get here?” He inquired as we stepped onto the rough parking lot terrain.

“I took a cab, I’m thinking I may catch the train though.” I said. His mouth spread into a displeased expression.

“Nonsense, please let me drive you home. I would hate for those statistics we learned last week be applied in this manor.” I laughed and rolled my eyes. I hesitated to answer for a moment, instinctually I looked down and shifted my weight on my feet. The thought of him driving me home could end up in a number of ways; Mostly good. But, if I did take the train, it would end in a few ways; Mostly unmentionable.

“Alright, since you asked nicely.” His cheeks grew red as he avoided eye contact with me. I knew right then where our night would likely head.

“Would you like to come up? We can have a drink if you aren’t hell-bent on going to sleep before nine-thirty.” I joked with him.

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want you to feel forced into anything because I know that theres a certain expectation when-“

“Spencer, if I didn’t want to fuck you, I wouldn’t have asked you up.”

Sure, having to say it in blatant terms is less than sexy, but thats what I adored about our dynamic at that point; I led the relationship.

I leaned into my fridge, purposefully bending over so my skirt lifted to show my ass.

“Well...fuck,” I said, “As it would turn out, someone stole my wine bottle and filled my fucking vodka bottle with water.” I stood up and shut the door, walking over to the counter inches away.

“One time I took the drink turn when it came to our friend-team-dinner-night, the bottle was forty dollars, which granted is the cheap wine more or less. To this day I still have no idea who stole the bottle, because I wanted to take it home.” Spencer reminisced. I laughed at his unusual way of trying to understand.

“Wasn’t really mine to begin with,” I started walking over to the sofa where he patiently sat. “I’m not of legal drinking age. But of course it tastes better when its forbidden, everything does.” I stepped in front of the man, his knees only an inch from my shin. "Can I touch you, Spencer?” I said in a soft voice, the lids of my eyes relaxed in a sweet shift.

“Y-yes.” He gasped, obviously so turned on by the way I stood over him, in power of him. I threaded his hair through my fingers and tugged back, pushing his head as far up as I could. His eyelids fell and he was no longer looking at me.

“Look at me, sweetheart. I want you to see everything.” He opened his eyes, his irises were colored with lust and desperation. I connected our lips in a long a sweet kiss. Rather than just having a mess of tongues, the kiss was filled to the brim with emotion, of pleasure that this was happening again. His lips were slightly swollen when I pulled away to unbutton his shirt. While I fiddled with the garment, he put his hands on my hips firmly.

“Can I- can you sit on my lap?” he asked, a red tint forming on his face. I smiled and obliged, sliding his shirt off of his lean torso. I started kissing him once more, this time I made sure to press my dripping panties against the large tent in his trousers.

“Would you like to take this to the bedroom?” I ask,hands resting comfortably on his neck.

“Please”, I stood and laced our hands together, leading him to my bedroom. Once we both entered through the doorway, I pushed him onto the bed, he fell softly.

I reached my hands behind my back to unzip my dress, as I felt it fall past my legs and onto the floor, I saw his eyes scan every detail of my body.

“One might say you were planning this.” He eyed my matching lace set.

“Wanted to make sure Spencer Reid had the best.” I replied, climbing on top of him so that I would be straddling him. I felt his hands connect to my waist as we kissed, his hands were warm and excited me even more. He pulled away, quickly pressing his lips to my neck and collarbone. My breath hitched in my throat as he bit down lightly on the skin. “Lets get these off, shall we?” I motioned to his pants, which had to be killing him right now. While he does that, I reach into my drawer and retrieve a condom, laying against the plush material of my pillows after I set it down on the table.

He gets on top of me , pressing his lips with mine as he rubs the back of my bra, signaling he wants me to take it off. I ,of course, reach back and unhook it, tossing it onto the floor. He grabs my tit while dancing his tongue with mine, making me more wet than I thought was possible. Usually, these actions signified a need for control, but when Spencer did it, it was like a desperate sixteen year old boy. Its clear he needed me.

“Can I...” he nods down to my cunt, still covered by the thin material of my panties.

“Can you what, Spencer?” I lace my fingers in his hair and pull, earning a soft groan from the man hovering over me.

“Can I please eat you out?” He begged. I smiled and pushed his head down, spreading my legs when his face met my stomach. He started by taking his thumb and rubbing over my clothed pussy. I bucked my hips, desperate for more friction. “Is it okay for me to take these off?” His eyes met mine, searching for confirmation. I smiled and nodded, moving my hands to stroke his hair rather than tug at it.

As his fingers latched onto the last piece of fabric that covered me, instinctually I pushed my hips upwards. He looked at me, silently asking if taking the garment off was still okay. When I bit my lip, a rose hue covered his face. He was flustered by me, by the escalation of us. But nevertheless, he slowly pulled off the last piece of modesty I had.

To re-assure him, I lightly tugged at his hair. Thankfully, he took the hint and licked a long stripe on my clit. My voice was caught in my throat as he continued making flat-tongued movements. I felt his hands slowly wrap around my thighs, pushing my heat into his face more than it already was.

He devoured me without hesitation, but when he pulled away for air he replaced it with two fingers and then when my stomach tensed and my eyes rolled back into my head, he used three. I finished with his mouth sucking on my bundle of nerves and his fingers buried inside me.

“Do you want to keep going?” He raised his head up and his thumb stroked my thigh, which he was still grasped onto.

“Yes, God yes please, Spencer.” I whined, the high fading away. He stood up off the bed and removed his strained boxers. He was beautiful; His lanky form was now a lean masculine type. I smiled at him, to which he obviously thought he was being laughed at. He couldn’t make eye contact with me, resulting to the floor instead. “Spencer,” I crawled towards the edge of my bed and placed my hands on his shoulders, “You are so gorgeous, the reason I’m smiling is because you always hide it in those sweater vests.” he relaxed.

“Thanks” he mumbles, still avoiding my eyes.

“Now please, come back here and let me take care of you.” He climbed back onto the bed while I rested against the pillows. He was nervous, and obviously he wanted to do it right. I could see his hands shaking as he unwrapped the condom and put it on.

“You’re sure?” He asks, the tip of his cock resting on the top of my inner thigh. He was easily six inches, my hand could probably wrap around and be too small.

“Yes, please fuck me.” He slowly inserted himself into my dripping cunt, causing me to let out a lewd string of words. Once again, my hands flung to his hair and tugged harshly, causing his arms to almost buckle beneath his own weight. I could feel his pelvis against mine, his muscular bottom torso pressed up against my clit. “Move, baby, its okay.” I reassure him. His hips pull away from mine, then snap back with a nice pressure. He quickly started to pick up his pace, small grunts escaping through his clenched jaw. “Do you like the feeling of your pathetic little cock inside my cunt? I bet you feel like a special little bitch now.” I moaned into his ear. “Well, are you going to tell me how much you enjoy my cunt?”.

“God, yes! I love it so fucking-“ his moan paused the sentence and he focused on getting his movements right.

“So fucking what? Go on, finish the sentence baby.”

“So fucking good, I love being inside of you so much!” He was practically whimpering in pleasure.

“Be a good boy and make me cum all over that pretty little cock of yours?” I struggled to contain my moans, I could not fall apart this quickly.

“Yes I will!” His fingers reached down to rub my clit, impressively keeping a steady rhythm. I felt the knot in my stomach becoming hotter and hotter as the minutes passed by.

“Oh my god, such a good- oh my god!” my eyes rolled back into my head as the impact of my orgasm was full forced. When my head cleared, I tugged on his hair, pulling his head so he could look me in the eye. “Gonna cum soon? Are you going to cum all inside of me?” his thrusts got off beat, he was close.

“Yes, I’m gonna-“

“Ask permission to cum, Spencer.”

“Can I please cum inside of you? Please?” He whines.

“Of course you can, baby.” With that he makes a strained moaning noise and his hips slowly stop moving. We’re both panting, while he flushes the condom I walk into the bathroom next to him. I turn to the shower and twist the hot water knob.

“We might as well get clean together, yeah?” I said.

“Yeah.” he smiles and kisses me once more.

[germvity]

RISES THE MOON

leon s kennedy x reader // 8 // two-way mirrors

"ah..!" he sighs, letting you off as you swallow. "good boy. you feel okay?" you ask softly, fingers tracing lines on his outer thighs. leon nods, drowsy from his intense peak. "good, this trial will probably last for a little while longer and i wanna see how many times i can make you cum." you grin as leon whimpers.

tags: protective!reader in this one, david being a bully 3.0, fighting (physical and verbal), leon being a sub part 2, smooches, he's a simp for you pls

warnings: fighting (physical and verbal), mild smut, hurt/comfort

sorry this chapters late i was writing a lot theres like-- 7 drafts in here 😭 enjoy!

---

you wake up with leon curled around you. memories of yesterday came back to you, and you can't help but smile. leon was truly smitten with you after it, clinging to you like butter on bread. "leon~.." your voice is soft as you comb your fingers through his hair. the blonde mumbles slightly, nuzzling your collarbone as he exhales slowly. "come on, wake up for me. trials will start soon." you purr, gently tapping his cheek. "mmn. y/n?" leon yawns, tightening his hold on you. "be a good boy and wake up for me." you tease, watching leon's ears turn red as he whines. "stop..."

you giggle, kissing his head softly as he stretches. "sleep well?" you grin, letting him kiss you before nodding. "i haven't slept like that in years." he jokes, his nose kissing your neck as he cuddles into you. "i'm not surprised that you slept so well, you went for about 4 rounds." you tease as he makes a small embarrassed noise. "what? you don't like being my good boy?" you tease, and he shoves your shoulder slightly. "shut up.." leon pouts, and you chuckle, kissing him sweetly.

melting into your lips, leon hums into your mouth as he tilts his head for you. "good boy." you smile when you pull away, admiring his soft blush and slightly parted lips. "knock it off-.." he huffs, sitting up and shuddering when your fingernails traced soft lines over the hickeys on his back. "you did so well for me." you breathe, and leon hums softly, back arching into your touch. leaning forward, you kiss one of the hickey's softly, making him jump. "sorry, you're too tempting." you smile, kissing his shoulder.

leon's back is to you, but you can just tell how flustered he is at your attention. "aww, is my baby embarrassed?" you tease, and leon groans slightly as you press down on one of the hickeys. "please-.." he mumbles, but you tut. "not now, we have to get ready for trials." you smile, kissing his neck softly. "you're so mean." he fauns hurt as he leans back onto you, placing his forearm over his eyes dramatically. "oh hush, you might get a treat tonight." you grin, kissing his jaw.

leon seems satisfied with your answer, getting up to get dressed. a bell tomes, signalling that trials will be beginning shortly, so you join leon in getting ready. "need anything?" you ask, rummaging through your items. "no, i'll be alright." leon smiles, grabbing your hand to get your attention. "for good luck?" he asks, and you catch on immediately. smiling, you give leon a soft kiss as black fog rolls in to collect you both.

unluckily, the two of you start separated. in fact, all of the survivors were separated. cursing, you step over to a generator, starting it up carefully. a yell catches your attention, and you stand slightly, turning to look over your shoulder for the source of the noise. silence. sighing, you turn back to your generator, connecting the wires carefully. nea finds you, giving you a small smile as she crouches next to you. "y/n, long time no see." she teases, and you glance at her with a polite smile. "yeah... how is everything?" you ask, not really that interested in knowing about the survivor camp. "eh, same old. david's still a tyrant." she sighs, falling silent before murmuring a small. "and i miss you."

you sigh at her confession, not knowing how to respond as your dull eyes stare at the belly of the generator. "will you ever come back if we manage to knock david off his pedestal?" she asks, trying not to seem hopeful. "i can't... i'm sorry." you sigh, falling silent once more. "oh.." she mumbles, and it was clear she still had feelings for you. "i just... really miss you." nea breathes out, and you nod. "i know... i just... me and.." you take a breath and turn to nea. "i'm seeing leon.." you whisper to her, and she seems so hurt. "what?" her hands are trembling and you're nervous she'll fuck up the generator.

"i'm sorry... he just.. cares for me, a lot." you sigh, looking back to your hands. "and i don't?!" the rebel yells, standing from the generator. "shh..! i'm sorry! it's just... we weren't official, nea." you huff, standing to soothe her. sniffling, nea storms away, and you sigh. "nea wait..!" you want to go after her when another yell comes from around the corner. furrowing your brows, you decide to leave your gen, not caring that ruin was currently eating away at it's progress. upon following the source, you see david standing over leon, a foot on his throat and a bloodied stick in his hand. "leon!" you yelp, charging david off of him. "you fucking whores! i hate you both!" david snaps as you struggle to get the heavy stick from his grasp. "you ruined everything!" the fighter growls, pushing you away to try and hit you.

quickly, you evade his swing and snap a sharp piece of metal off of a nearby hook. "david, please." you try to reason, arming yourself and not caring if it cut your hand. "y/n..!" leon rasps, trying to get to you. "stay there, leon." you demand, keeping david's focus on you. "you fucker, i swear. all you had to do was not say no-!" he swings, and on instinct, your sharp metal finds his throat. spluttering, david drops his weapon and grabs the metal, falling to his knees. you gasp, ignoring the way his blood had splattered onto your face as david collapses. the fighter gurgles, and you glance at leon, seeing his broken form. grabbing the stick, anger fuels you as you bludgeon david brutally.

gasping at the small whimpers, your attention shifts to leon, his hazy eyes are fluttering closed as he looks away from you. "leon!" you scramble to his side, cradling him in your arms. an ugly bruise blooms on his throat as he coughs sharply, blood seeping down his face. "y/n..?" he mumbles, clutching you tightly. "hey, it's okay, you're okay! tell me what happened, baby." you smile, ignoring your shaky hands as you hold his hand tightly.

"i was working on opening a chest, and he just-..." leon pauses to cough again, and you hush him softly, rocking him carefully. "he hit me, and tried to choke me and-." leon can't finish as his eyelids flutter. "hey, hey..! open your eyes for me, it's okay..!" you breathe out, your tears dripping onto his face and mixing with his blood. "it hurts.." he admits, managing to keep his eyes open for you. "i know baby, i know." you sigh, looking around for nea. the rebel stood nearby, clearly terrified of the situation, but she clutched a med kit tightly.

"nea, please help him!" you beg, and she sighs softly. moving over to you, nea crouches and unzips the med kit. "i can't stay mad at you... i'm no monster." she smiles, pressing some antiseptic onto his gash. leon whimpers, and you hush him, easing your rocking so nea could heal him. the antiseptic gives him a bit of oomph to sit up slightly, letting nea bandage the gash on his forearm where he had defended himself. "you poor thing.." you gush through tears, gently stroking his face with your hand. nea's hands freeze at your words, but she keeps going despite her own feelings. "thank you so much nea.. i owe you big time." you sigh as she presses a small needle full of red liquid into his arm. "yeah, you do." she smiles despite her watery eyes.

"i'm sorry that we didn't work, but despite us being separate.. can we still be friends?" you ask softly, and nea nods. "of course." she smiles, wiping her tears away as she hugs you tightly. "thank you.." you smile, hugging her back despite leon being squished between the two of you. heartbeats pick up as the killer approaches, and nea pulls away. "shit.." you mumble, grabbing leon's hands. "can you stand..?" you ask softly, and the officer nods slightly. "i think so.." he says, still holding you tightly as you help him stand. "come on, we gotta go." you usher leon away from the scene, but ghostface cuts you off.

"jesus christ, what happened here?" he laughs, voice modulator crackling. "leon, stay behind me." you mumble, stepping in front of the blonde protectively. "damn, relax cutie. i'm in a good mood today so i'll give you time to run." the killer is masked, but you could tell he was smiling. quickly, you push leon the other way, staying behind him as he runs. footsteps gain on you, and you grunt as the ghostface's knife slashes against your back. you split up from leon, vaulting the killer shack's window adeptly. "fuck, i hate this place." the killer grumbles, climbing through the window clumsily. "good! get used to it!" you snap, darting out the door.

you keep him there for two gens, and he huffs, leaving agitated as the third one pops. you sigh, resetting the shack pallet carefully before heading off in the other direction. "y/n!" leon calls, and you turn to see him ushering you over. "leon, are you alright?" you ask, jogging over as you cup his face with your hands to inspect him. "i'm feeling better yeah, those syringes are good shit." he chuckles, and you smile, giving him a soft kiss. "i'm glad you're feeling better." you say, grabbing his hand to lead him to another generator. "come on, let's try and get out of here." you say, crouching before the generator.

"i saw you looping ghostface.." leon trails off, and you glance at him. "it was hot." your blonde grins, and you laugh slightly. "thanks, maybe i can teach you a thing or two." you chuckle, grinding on the generator as nea pops danny's ruin. "let's go!" you smile, letting go of the gen to kiss leon lovingly. he gasps, letting go of the generator too. "y/n..!" he whines, grabbing the wires once more. "sorry, but letting go of a gen every now and then feels good." you smile, brushing his hair out of his face.

finishing the generators was easy as nea now keeps the aggravated killer on her tail, and you lead leon to the gates. luckily, your spine chill managed to carry you in small bursts to 99 the gate, and the two of you wait for nea to find you both. "so.. while we wait-..." you tease, pulling leon's jacket to kiss him. "open the fucking gate!" nea calls, and you look over to see her hauling ass towards the two of you. "got it!" leon calls, opening it quickly and pushing the two of you to safety.

the three of you cheer as danny storms off, angry at his loss. "take that you tosser!" you yell through the thorns as leon pulls you into him for a kiss. "gross..!" nea fake gags, and you roll your eyes. "hey, before we split... are we good?" you ask, and nea nods. "as long as we can kick ass in trials, we're good." she smiles, hugging you once more before waving and heading off to the survivor camp. leon seems confused, going to ask you what was going on but you cut him off. "come on, let's go relax before any more trials." you smile, pulling him along to your shack.

[everafterkeiji]

Song: Car Window by Thomas Headon

Summary: After the memorable defeat of Aoba Johsai to Karasuno, Iwaizumi meets his lover at an uncanny moment.

Pairings: Hajime Iwaizumi x fem! reader

Word count: 3.7k

Genre: fluff

A/N: PART 2 IS COMING FOR THE KATSUKI ONE MY MIND IS JUST HELLA CONFUSED AND IWA HAS BEEN INVADING MY THOUGHTS

It's quite hilarious how life can reward your dullest moments with an unexpected blessing. A few people have experienced such a thing, sometimes the blessing comes in success or a present from somebody you longed for.

Usually, 60 seconds were easy to endure and its a time you'd like to pass by too quickly knowing what magic or milestone was bound to happen in such a short time anyway? Though there are times where it feels like it holds much more seconds especially when you're working out or either in a really long meeting you hated.

Then again, who are you to underestimate the endless possibilities that were to happen in that time span? Maybe you'd receive a random lottery ticket and you know, you can win or even have the chance to meet a celebrity.

But what could have possibly prepared Iwaizumi for the best 60 seconds of his life?

Here he was, sulking in the sorrow that was brought to his team by the defeat of the match between them and Karasuno, the ticket to nationals slipped away from their fingers. Who was to deny the tears they've shed once they entered the bus, it was their safe space to lean on each other and they spent the rest of the ride comforting each other. All throughout the bus you could hear sniffles and Oikawa trying to hold his team together.

Iwaizumi was seated next to the open window as he listens to Oikawa being the encouraging captain he is, the setter grasps the heart of the team feeling comfort in a while, even Iwa admitted that his friend brought him back to the light.

He had his earphones in, enough of the silly comments his seatmate, Oikawa, has made. He has his arm leaned on the little edge of the window, with his chin resting on his forearm. His eyes desperately wanted to close from his previous crying but he fears once he closes his eyes he'd be brought back to the moment where the ball wasn't saved, to the doubt that floods his mind wondering if he even deserves to be their ace. Gladly with the help of Tooru, this thought was dismissed and now all that Iwaizumi was doing was staring at the sight in front of him.

He takes this time to reflect on what he could do to enhance what he lacked during that match. He wonders if his reaction time was too slow or the power in each spike was unbalanced. Did he even trust himself completely when he played? If he didn't, why did he think it was the right time to question his abilities when there was something at stake?

He sighs to himself as he removes his earphones, knowing not even music was helping him ease his mind. Oikawa has fallen asleep beside him, the setters head leaning on Iwaizumis back. Even if he wanted to push away the boys head, he knew Oikawa was tired of putting on his composed captain facade, so he let the poor boy rest.

Then he hears blaring music from the car opposite to him making his head come upward a bit as he glares at the car, disturbing his triumph at peace. A red light comes on and he rolls his eyes thinking of how he was going to sustain the noise.

But then, that's where he wished 60 seconds lasted forever.

Right before him was the noisy car with one window open revealing a sight that makes his heart flutter and his mind frantically running in circles. He sees a girl with her eyes closed singing her lungs out while she finishes the note with a smile and a giggle, once she opens them, the afternoon light beaming down on her delightful orbs enhancing it's hues, even giving her skin a glass like finish with how healthy it looked, her cheeks painted a shade of pink that were like the flowers that reminded him of Valentine's.

And then these stunning pair of eyes, landed on his love struck ones.

He feels the way his heart registers how lucky he was to gaze at such beauty, like a sunset with all the delightful colors or the overall atmosphere of spring, the feeling of it being so foreign to him but nevertheless, he accepts this new found giddy feeling. He watches how she leans her cheek on her hand and maybe then he should've felt the way cupid's bows ran through him so easily.

Unfortunately, the panic sets in.

With such grace was ahead of him, he worried about his own sake. He wonders if his hair looked presentable, and didn't portray how stressed he was because of the game. He wished he didn't look shiny from all the sweat and tears. He suddenly feels the urge to rummage through his bag and comb his hair and fix his appearance, Oikawa would've teased him for acting so foolish for the girl. But what else can he do?

Admiration and relationships wasn't included in his dictionary since the only thing he looked forwards to was volleyball and his studies. Being in a situation where he wasn't able to act quickly with how flustered he was, brought him down completely. He knew in his games that whatever he did would affect the team in multiple ways but he counted on his teammates so that every action would be returned with a positive outcome.

Now is the opposite.

This could have so many outcomes. Maybe one second there'd be a guy beside her wrapping his arm around her and flipping him off for looking, then theres rejection lingering in the air. Maybe she wasn't into guys? Maybe she has a specific standard and that he wasn't hitting her expectations? Possibly just gotten of a relationship and wasn't interested in dating right away?

Oh god, you've got to stop. He thinks to himself.

A tiny encounter made his mind collapse with so many ideas. He couldn't even mutter a word to her, then his mind leads him to think it'd quickly lead to dating, god maybe even a relationship. He's had zero idea on what her name is so how can he come to conclusions so quickly? He knows he needed to stop asking these unanswerable questions before he could mess up his first attempt to converse with her.

Then with a gentle smile from this gorgeous stranger, he feels the warmth that surrounds him as he returns the smile to her as if it was an instinct. After that he settles for a tiny breakdown, confused to why he did that.

He turns his head to the light noticing how 15 seconds were only left out of this encounter. Hastily, he wanted to ask for her name or at least build up the courage to shout what he wanted to say, though he was left utterly speechless. He couldn't possibly gain that high of an esteem to just speak out to a stranger without blurting out how attractive he found her to be.

But he needed to try or else this moment was bound to be something he'd regret.

"Iwa-chan!"

Oikawas voice surprised him as the setter stretches with a smile on his lips, from the movement he lets his arm rest on the aces shoulder making Iwaizumi panic and irritated at the loss of time.

Meanwhile the young girl continues to stare at the man who has held his gaze the entire time they were there. You see the way his features were all amazingly sculpted, every crevice, every inch, to say that he was handsome was an understatement. Judging from his attire, you could tell he was an athlete, also with how the bags from behind him was shown. You also saw his reaction to meeting you and you wished he didn't see yours.

You felt embarassed when he saw you sing, you weren't ready to face a boy like that and to think that you gave off such a random first impression. You hated the way the sun was shining on you making you think it showed the harsh texture of your skin, not to mention how blinded your eyes were after it. You were flustered to say the least but your eyes couldn't dare to leave his.

Something about him was so pleasing. It makes you come up with dozens of scenarios to who this boy was. Is a girlfriend involved? Is he the type of boy you'd read on a novel? You smile to yourself at how silly the idea was. Usually in novels, movies or books, each meeting was distinct than the other. There are always the unique encounters, then there are the completely weird ones but for you this was somewhat the sweetest thing you've stumbled upon.

Although maybe falling in love under a red light wasn't always the ideal, to the two of you it seemed to fit.

You see brown locks behind him and this makes the pretty boy show a shocked reaction. Shit, is that his boyfriend? You thought. Your eyes lock with this new figure and he happily waves at you catching you off guard. You wave awkwardly, anxious of who this man was.

"Gosh you are incredibly pretty but alas this man likes you, his name is Iwa-"

The vehicle speeds off before he could even finish his sentence. Iwaizumi turns to the setter as Oikawa trembles in fear as he feels flames surround him, the anger irradiating from the spiker. Oikawa lets out a scream as Iwa leaves a smack to the boys head as Tooru whines caressing his throbbing head from the pain. Iwaizumi sinks in his seat, letting the emotions course through him making his lips form a line.

Too many things happened all at once. Oikawa basically hitting on her but suddenly half introducing him? How did he even know? She's gone, he thinks. He lets out a displeased sigh shaking his head while biting his lip, disliking how embarassment and regret was mixing perfectly. He hated how Oikawa had the chance to even talk to her before their chances were dust. Oikawa even managed to let out a compliment he wanted to say but the words were taken from him.

"I'm sorry okay! Don't hit me again please!" Oikawa begs as Iwaizumi lets out a scoff as the setter takes in his expressions. Slumped in his chair with arms crossed at his chest, eyebrows furrowed, and a familiar twist to his lips when he was frustrated in a game. Oikawa chuckles slightly connecting the pieces from the previous events.

"So what? You've lost the love of your life, Iwa-chan?" Oikawa teases making Iwaizumi raise a hand as Oikawa dodges it using his bag as a shield. He thought it was just a coincidence before. He woke up when Iwaizumi was plotting his approach and he happened to catch a glimpse of the two staring at each other like nothing else mattered. He questions if Iwaizumi was actually serious of his feelings for a stranger but when he sees the genuine smile that he gives her, he was surprised.

With an unforgiven action, he just chose to try to introduce him knowing Iwa would've never done it as fast as he could. Although in Iwaizumis eyes, Oikawa flirted with her but in reality he just wanted to help knowing maybe someday, this encounter would bring him happiness. Even if the girl would be miles away, he knew that the impact of them meeting was something that would cloud Iwaizumis thoughts on a daily.

Oikawa notices how Iwaizumi would inspect every face in the street or crowd just to find the girl his eyes have fallen in love with. There were many unsuccessful times where he's mistaken her for someone else and he despises it. Oikawa thinks about how he can help his poor teammate and a bulb appears above his head as he continuously taps the spikers shoulder.

"Have you ever considered a dating app, Iwa-chan?" Iwaizumi blushes at the question but he shakes his head as Tooru takes Iwa's phone and ran to a corner unlocking it. Iwaizumi rushes to find him as Oikawa lets out a gasp and a cackle. The spiker finds him and immediately grabs him by the collar of his shirt yet the setter couldn't careless.

"WHAT IS IT YOU DINGBAT."

"Seems like you're the one who's a step ahead of me, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa exclaims making Iwaizumi furrow his eyebrows but once his eyes settle on the dating app that was open from his phone, heat rushes to his cheeks shading it pink. He puts down Oikawa with a shove before pulling his phone away from the boy.

"So what.." He whispers as Oikawa lets out another laugh, wiping his eyes. Iwaizumi hids the phone in his pocket, locking it. He continues to walk leaving a sigh as Oikawa runs to catch up with him.

"Well don't be shy now. Any success?" Oikawa asks, trying to ease down his playful tone. Iwaizumi turns his head to him, before huffing in defeat.

"Nothing. No one can ever come close to her."

"Maybe she's trying to find you too?" Iwaizumi lets out a scoff. He wished it was true. He didn't think he was the type to be memorable, the guy you'd find yourself dreaming of. He thought he was a mere average boy and that there was always going to be someone better. He desperately wants to meet you but are you really putting effort like he is?

Was it just him who felt a connection?

They weren't put in a universe where it was easy to find your soulmate. The moment where everything fits perfectly wasn't always guaranteed in their situation. Why did they have to meet at a red light? They could've met at a cafe after his practice so he didn't need to worry about the time or how he was going to approach her. He swore if ever he met her properly again, there'd be no hesitation.

For you, you've also searched for this boy. Only hearing a fraction of his name so you couldn't really play detective with a tiny lead. Although the boy that complimented looked familiar, but maybe you were just mistaken? You've downloaded multiple dating apps like him but whenever there was a match, they never looked like the pretty boy you saw. You would recognize him from anywhere knowing his features were very much embedded in your memory. If only their bus hadn't sped off too quickly, maybe then you would've gotten his name. Although his name might just be a crumb in your way to find him.

-

"He can't be any better than me, that I'm sure of." Your little brother exclaims as he flips the magazine page. You sighed resting your cheek and chin on the palm of your hand as you watch your brother curse the man on the magazine. You tilt your head, curious to the envy he had. Your brother was well into volleyball and he usually asks for you to buy him the latest volleyball magazine so he could look up to whoever was on it but his overconfident comments had you laughing every time.

Once your eyes landed on the page, you sat up immediately grabbing the magazine and holding it close to yourself.

Oikawa Tooru. You read.

You take in the way he looks and then you specifically remembered a certain face. Your eyes widen in realization that this was the man who complimented you. The man that could lead you to him. Your eyes scan all the trivia about the well known player and finally finding the team and school he was on. Aoba Johsai.

You immediately grab your phone, typing furiously searching for the said school. You click on their website seeing the latest news about the school. There was a certain article that had an eye catching picture.

It was a group photo of their volleyball team and your eyes landed on Oikawa himself, founding out that he was the captain of this successful team also being a setter. As your eyes scanned through every member, your heart nearly dropped when you saw him. There he was stood next to two other members, smirking at the camera. Like a fool, you let out a squeal, exhilarated that you've found him. You scrolled further finally knowing the names of each member.

Iwaizumi Hajime.

You smile to yourself as you read his name, finding it pretty the way it suited him. You read that he was a spiker and so called ace in the team. With this found information, your heart was jumping in different directions. Your mind was bringing up multiple scenarios of seeing him in his element and that makes heart bubbles appear behind you.

How perfect. You think.

You knew the location of the school and you wonder if it was right to visit. You tried to push back the idea of rejection but maybe it was a sign for you to stop assuming and acting all stalkery. You let go of your phone, pacing around the room deciding on the better option. Visit him and get your hopes up when he doesn't even miss you or visit him and end up having the chance you both missed. Too many what ifs and what abouts rushed through your mind, but trying isn't a bad thing to do.

-

"I'm so fucking dumb, I can't believe myself."

You groan to yourself as you walk around. You gained the courage to finally visit Aoba Johsai, where your little volleyball prince was attended at. Unfortunately, your lack of understanding directions brought you to this poor situation making you look like a lost puppy, desperate to call for help but the thought of people judging you just because you were lost haunts you.

You grew more and more impatient as time passes, counting on your phone as a GPS but honestly nothing was working when your brain couldn't comprehend how you got lost when you followed the directions. You sigh in annoyance.

You took the time today to look as good as you can make yourself, ready to face him. Yet when everything was all set for you, it went downhill just because of some directions. You shut your phone off, frustrated the way the voice kept repeating where to turn. So you run your fingers through your soft hair as you decided to move on your own.

"So where do you wanna eat?" Oikawa asks as he stretches while walking. Iwaizumi lets out a yawn as he gives the boy a shrug as a response. Oikawa checks on his phone scrolling to look at some places they've yet to eat at. Iwaizumi inspects his bags if he's packed everything. He notices his water bottle was missing and he mutters that he would be right back, going back to the gym to retrieve his bottle. Oikawa hears nothing though as he giggles at the compliments his fans have left him.

You bend down tying your shoes as a stranger passes by. You stood right up dusting off the dirt in your knees. As the universe gasps, realizing that the person who went pass you was Iwaizumi himself. Yet they didn't bother to make ends meet as you two walk in different directions.

Oikawa raised his cellphone trying to get a decent angle as he checks himself through it. The lighting was perfect for him and once he was about to snap the photo he notices a person behind him. His eyes widen as his looks at you as you fiddle with your bag. Oikawa sets down the phone as he turns to you with his mouth open. His head turns frantically, trying to search for Iwaizumi. It's her. Oikawa thinks. He takes a good look at you once more just so he can confirm his thoughts if you were truly the girl Iwaizumi was talking about. He found himself familiar at your features as you took a turn, escaping his presence not even knowing Oikawa was stood a few inches away from you.

Oikawa couldn't hold himself together as he lets out a laugh. After it, he turns to the sky with an amused smile before speaking.

"Ah, you're too funny. I'll let them find themselves."

Out of all the chances they gave you, the two of you were at the same place but was running around each other.

You let out a whine as you see a figure walking with his back facing you, seeing the jacket that the team had on one of the pictures you browsed. You let out a sigh before wiping away the sweat you had on your face, freshening up your appearance. Giving up and finally allowing people to help you, you approach this tall figure, tapping them gently on the shoulder.

"Hello! I-I'm sorry, I just wanted to ask where the Aoba Johsai gym is? I got pretty lost." You says with a light chuckle as the person turns around, revealing the man you've endlessly searched for.

Both of your eyes enlarged at the sight of each other, such at a close proximity as you both scan each others faces, making sure if this was finally the reality they longed for.

It's you.

"H-hajime Iwaizumi?"

Iwaizumi eyebrows furrow, curious to how you found out but this leaves a smile on his lips loving the way it escaped through your mouth. His eyes gave out a soft glance before nodding and extending his hand out.

Your eyes dragged down as you stare at his hand that was deeply waiting for yours. You look up at him once more before smiling with tinted cheeks.

"That's me, and you are?"

"I'm Y/N."

"Nice to finally meet you, pretty red light girl." You blush even more as Iwaizumi lets out a chuckle before you shook his hand, both hearts meeting, as fate was sealed once your hands met. Some might say that Cupid stared at the two of you, relieved you both found your way to each other.

Oikawa turns to look at the two of them as he leans on the wall, shaking his head with a sly smirk.

"Fate huh?"

[lovemollywho]

Bitter Rivals

Okay this is dedicated to @starseternalnighttriumphant because she is literally one of my favorite Rowaelin writters (Hannah, theres a little shout out to you, you’ll know it when you see it lol)

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

“I swear the next time that pompous dick face asshole even looks at me, I swear - I swear Elide that I’m going to take my $4,000 dollar Louboutin’s and stab him.” Aelin let out a frustrated groan in her throat as she stacked together case files to take home for the night. Elide stood in the doorway of Aelin’s office watching her friend and boss pace back and forth grabbing various objects and stuffing them in her bag. 

“I take it the meeting with the new Mr. Whitethorn didn’t go as planned?” Elide asked wondering when Aelin was going to notice that she had started to throw random things in her bag and not the case files she needed. 

“Oh that’s for sure,” Aelin said waving a box of tissues in her hand. “First he wants to come in like if he owns the place, classic alpha type you know? But then what really gets me is he had the gall, the fucking nerve, to look me up and down, head to toe and then walk away! The buzzard didn’t even say anything to me! Just gave me this once over, sat down, and proceeded to ignore me the rest of the meeting.” Aelin finally noticed the box of tissues in her hand and all the random junk that she had placed in her bag. Huffing she started to pull things out and Elide did her best not to laugh.

In all reality Aelin was used to people, men, in particular, sizing her up only to underestimate her in the end. It was something that she thrived on adding fuel to her fire. But when Rowan Whitethorn the newest addition to their law firm came swaggering in and dismissed her completely something in her blood boiled over into a hot rage. It didn’t help that he was tall, muscular, and looked like he could definitely act out a scene in one of her many romance novels. He wanted to act like an arrogant jerk so in Aelin’s mind he would be treated as such and therefore off-limits. 

“Well here’s some news that might make you feel a bit better.” Elide said walking into Aelin’s office and sitting down, “The paralegal gossip network has been whispering that the higher-ups are starting to look for candidates to promote to partner and,” Elide paused for effect, “It seems you are the top of the list!” The smile that broke across Aelin’s face was so big that Elide wondered if it hurt. Aelin jumped up and down in joy before regaining her composure. 

“Whew okay, no big deal that’s cool. Besides, it’s not like I’ve gotten the promotion yet anyway. Do we know who the other people on the list are?” Elide shook her head.

“Not that I’ve heard, but the moment I’ve found something out I’ll let you know.” Aelin nodded and gathered her bag and purse ready to leave for the day, Elide doing the same but instead of walking towards the elevator Aelin veered towards the right. Elide paused and gave her a quizzical look, Aelin giving her a secret smile said, “I hid some of the chocolate bark that Lys made for the office.” Elide scoffed a laugh and continued on leaving Aelin to have her end of day snack. 

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

Thirty minutes later Aelin had combed the office kitchen not once, not twice but five times looking for her secret stash of goodies but to no avail. A part of her knew that she could just ask Lysandra to make her some more but another part of her was frustrated at whoever had found the chocolate that she had clearly been hiding. Finally deciding to give up she jumped when someone cleared their throat behind her. 

“Is there a reason you’re tearing up the kitchen so late in the day?” Aelin turned around to see Rowan Whitethorn casually leaning against the entrance to the kitchen. Aelin’s eyes narrowed on the twig-like object in his hands. As if knowing exactly what he was doing, Rowan brought the chocolate bark up to his mouth and bit off a piece.

“You!” Aelin accused finger-pointing at Rowan. “You ate my chocolate!” Rowan looked at the piece of chocolate in his hands before bringing it to his mouth again this time taking a bigger bite finishing it off. He dusted his hands off before putting them in his pocket. 

“I didn’t realize they were yours.” He said giving his shoulders a shrug. Aelin wanted to smack the smug look off of his face but instead grabbed her bag that she had put down when looking for her missing snack. 

“Oh, so the chocolate that was clearly on the top shelf with multiple items in front of it, hidden from view. You didn’t think that it was someone’s and they were hiding it?” Aelin scoffed and moved to go around Rowan. 

“There were some on the counter in the glass jar, why didn’t you eat those instead?” Aelin asked moving out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

“They were dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is too bitter and when I was looking in the cabinet for something else to eat, I found the milk chocolate ones.”

“Because I was hiding them!” Aelin huffed. She didn’t know what was going on with her, usually, she was more calm and collected than this, but Rowan had gotten in the way between her and something sweet. It didn’t matter that he had rolled up his white button-up sleeves and she could see the whorls of tattoos on his ridiculously toned forearms - seriously that’s not a part of the body that should even be attractive. 

“Oh Aelin you’re still here, good.” Aelin turned to see Arobynn Hamel, one of the law firms partners walking towards her. She sighed internally and plastered on a smile. 

“Arobynn.” She nodded in acknowledgment. 

“I need to talk to you about something.” Rowan stepped out of the kitchen and into the hallway with Aelin. Arobynn’s eyes flicked to him before turning back to Aelin. “Oh good you’re both here then.”

Aelin was curious to know what Arobynn could need the two of them for.

“I’m sure both of you are aware that we are looking at possible new partners. I wanted to let you both know that you are on that list and tomorrow morning at our monthly check-in meeting we’ll go over some projects and cases that we want you to work on together.” Aelin felt like she had just gotten hit with a fright truck but her smile stayed in place. Arobynn touched his hand to Aelin’s shoulder and then walked away. Without another look or word to Rowan she walked away. 

------------- 

“Can you believe?!” Aelin said pouring herself another glass of wine before offering to pour Lysandra one. Lysandra held out her glass and watched with a smile as Aelin filled it up. 

“I mean first the bastard doesn’t say a word to me, and then he eats my chocolate, which by the way should be punishable by death, I should know, I’m a lawyer. But then he’s my rival for the partner position?! I swear Lys, I don’t know what I did wrong in my past life or what my ancestors did wrong but this sucks. It sucks.” She took a big gulp out of her glass before picking up one of the cupcakes Lys had baked before Aelin came over. 

“So what are you going to do?” Lys said taking a sip out of her glass.

“I don’t know, I don’t know what they’re gonna ask us to do, you know?” 

“Well let’s worry about that tomorrow then, have you heard about his new Polish movie that’s apparently better than 50 shades?” Lys asked picking up the remote to turn on the TV.

“Um what? I wanna watch.” Aelin picked up another cupcake before snuggling into the couch.

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

The next morning Aelin walked into her morning meeting with a chocolate croissant and three shots of espresso over ice with sugar and cream. She sat down at her normal spot by the window and brought out her phone to look over emails when Rowan sat down next to her. She tried her best to ignore him but when he started tapping his pen on the legal pad in front of him Aelin had to put down her phone before she threw it at his head. 

Before she could say something to him Arobynn walked in with three other men and two women one of them Clarisse and the others Aelin had met on various occasions but could not recall the names of. 

“Ah good, you’re both here.” As everyone sat down Aelin sat up straighter. This was her chance to become a partner, something that she had been working towards since she started at Hammel and DuVency six years ago. 

“Let’s get started then.” Clarisse templed her hands in front of her, “Arobynn informed the two of you of the opportunity to make partner, but rather than look at your individual cases and workloads we want to see how the two of you work together.” Elide walked in the room and handed both Rowan and Aelin some files before sitting down. 

“This is Dorian Havilliard, I’m sure that you’ve seen him in the news recently. Currently he’s being sued by his father, Dorian Senior, over a breach in a business contract that they had. We will be representing the younger Dorian and I want the two of you to work this case together.” 

“With all due respect,” Rowan chimed in. “Why?”

Arobynn responded, “This is a high profile case, and both of you are good looking to deal with the press. You also both have a stunning amount of wins which should make this easy. Ms. Lochan here will assist the two of you during this time.” Aelin nodded and pulled out her phone to send a quick text to Lys. 

“Anything else we should know moving forward?” Aelin asked, scanning through the case file. If all she had to do was to win this case to prove that she was better than Rowan then the partnership was as good as hers. 

“No, we will leave you two to discuss the important matter of the case amongst yourself,” Clarisse said standing up. “Please remember that we’ll be watching how the two of you work together during this time.” With that they all stood up and walked out of the room.

“Elide, could you get me all the files from the 2012 White Wolf case, they had a case similar to this, and pull any other files you can find on Dorian Senior, he wouldn’t be suing his son if it wasn’t important.” Aelin listed off, Elide nodding as she took notes.

“What makes you think that Dorian Senior is the one to blame?” Rowan asked. Aelin didn’t look at him as she continued to scan the file in front of her. “Because I’m not being paid to believe otherwise.” With that she stood up and walked out of the room. 

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

Around lunchtime, Lysandra walked in holding a small green box that was trademarked to her bakery. She knocked and Aelin’s head shot up before a smile took over her face.

“Yeah! You brought it!” Aelin said getting up from her chair to hug her best friend. 

“I also brought some food from Emrys,” she said holding up a takeout bag which she pulled out of Aelin’s reach, when she pouted Lys said “And, a slice of his chocolate cake.” Aelin jumped up and down grabbing the bag from Lys before pulling out a couple of fries to eat before splitting up the food between her and Lysandra.

“I love you Lys, and I love your baking but nothing will ever beat Emrys’s chocolate cake, I swear he puts crack in it.” Lys laughed at her friend taking a bite out of her own burger. 

“So you gonna tell me why you needed me to make you chocolate?” 

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

After Lysandra left, Aelin took the box of chocolate up a floor to Rowan’s office. His office door was open but he was on a call, his back towards the door. Aelin knocked tentatively, when he turned around and saw her he placed one finger up telling her he would be just a minute. 

“I understand that, but in the meantime I don’t want him anywhere near his son. We’ll file a restraining order on him, I can get a judge to sign it in,” Rowan looked at his wristwatch, “about an hour. Does that work?” Rowan nodded his head to whoever was on the phone before setting it back on the receiver.  He walked around his desk to the front and leaned against it, crossing on leg over the other. 

Damn it, he was attractive. 

“I came to bring you this,” Aelin said handing over the green box that Lysandra brought earlier. He lifted a silver eyebrow at her. Aelin shrugged and smiled. 

“I realized that we might have gotten off on the wrong foot so I wanted to give you a little something so that you know where we stand. Rowan opened the box while Aelin’s smile grew brighter. 

“What is this?” Rowan asked, still staring at the contents inside the box. 

“It's homemade dark chocolate, your favorite.” Rowan lifted the box towards Aelin where she could see the message written inside.

“Oh, that. That’s from me.” The words ‘Rival Confirmed’ were written across the assortment of chocolate sweets that Lysandra had put together for Aelin.

“Anyway, looking forward to working with you.” Aelin turned and walked out the door feeling much more satisfied than the day before. 

Tags:

@safewithintheheart

@bibliophileaddict

@acer6437

@bamchickawowow  

[qhostqizmo]

I breathe in the place I live

and wonder what else can I give this home My Home

- - - - - - - - - -

PRE-CONTEXT:

tender thoughts: someone gets a blow to essie's face, and when amon notices she acts skittish and disoriented. after pri heals her she continues acting weary and humiliated, and only mumbles when asked that her face is sore. in private later amon gets closer without essie blowing him off, and there's still a reddish glow to her face where she was hit. he carefully brushes the hair from her face and places his fingers beneath her chin to meet her eyes and softly whispers she looks lovely, and asks if theres anything she'd like him to get her. she shakes her head and he just murmurs a soft apology. there's a too-long lingering eye contact where amon leans in closer before they both sorta realize and amon clears his throat and tells her to rest while he finds some ice to soothe the ache a bit. before they go to bed that evening they sit a while with ess leaning against amons chest and him pressing a chilled compress over her cheek. there is too much cuddling and idol touches to be considered platonic but they are both fools. essie actually ends up dozing against amon. he has to fight the urge to not whisper 'the words' into her hair while stroking it against her nape. 

bonus: amon finally whispers 'i love you' in her hair when he's certain she's asleep. but she is only 90% asleep. so a groggy essie thinking she's dreaming mumbles back 'i love you too'. amon has to struggle with his heart not to hold to tightly too hope but it's going !!!! shut up stupid meat organ she's tired she isn't aware of what she's saying, even if she sighs dreamily and snuffles again his collarbone hnnngg ko'd arrow straight through the chest

- - - - - - - - - -

Morning held a faded aroma of leather hide and rainwater on the bark of dense wooded trees. It was nostalgia; not quite a camping trip, but not quite the same as the lone gleaming eyes peering through the wood you thought you once saw. No, it was familiar, and comforting. The world was as quiet, and soft, and solace as being alone without feeling alone. Without being… alone.

She didn’t want to open her eyes. Was it a fear of what reality would display? Once, perhaps. Now, Essätha was merely tired. Excessively tired. Massively, unspeakably, horribly tired. All was silent, but there could be a crowd, and birds singing, and marketplace voices and she would still find it hard to lift her eyelids. They held a weight that could not be compared. It made her wonder how much worse it must be to recover from dying, and she inwardly winced in sympathy for the Master Arcanist of Etheron. Maybe it was more peaceful then this, but she doubted it.

It took a long time; minutes that felt like hours, for her to shift. Each limb felt stiff with sleep, and with an ache. She slept well, but bunched up, her body would not forgive her. A soft, grunt sound alerted her to another presence. The forest was calling.

Essie could only open her eyes so much. It already felt a heavy great burden to lift them so far. Her vision was greeted not with for boding, or darkness, or a stranger. There was no one trying to kill her; stab her through the chest, and no one trying to strangle her or escape the bed awkwardly in the morning. There was comfort, and tranquility. A few heartbeats longer, and her cheeks had the faintest color of pink dyed in them. If she had been uncomfortable; bunched up, then they must feel dreadful. Balled up, her head on their chest; she was probably suffocating them.

Clearing her throat in a rasp, she uttered vaguely, “M’lord?”

Amon smiled at her gently. His eyes were slits; almost a cat’s content. His arm squeezed around her shoulders in a supportive gesture. Even tired, her heart fluttered in response. The feeling it arose in her still gave way to war and conflict; an unending want and what felt like a bottomless terror.

“Good morning, Essie.”

Morning? She blinked her eyes slowly, never fully opening them past a half-mast point. It couldn’t be morning. They’d only just laid down together a few minutes ago, for her to relax and let her eyes drift a moment…

“I couldn’a slept yet,” she mumbled in exhausted conflict. “I feel like I haven’t slept in days.”

Nodding the nobleman responded with patience, “It was a tough day yesterday, Essie. Close your eyes and rest a little longer.”

She would very much like to do that. Waking was almost safer then sleeping. Even if her dreams could be as much a nightmarish hell as reality, it also could have sweet spots, but even the best visions couldn’t match this. When the reality was this; Lord Amon Thomas Illiad so close, and warm, and calm and joyous and comfortable as she felt, she felt she could melt. It was real, it was real, it was real and it was… so many things she couldn’t define or say. Which was hard for someone like her, who really knew how to use her voice.

Feeling tongue-tied tension rippling nausea into her stomach, Essätha tried to rise from the impossibly welcoming spot on his chest. “We’re going to be late meeting up with the others.”

“I know.”

Groggy, she tried to identify the cool, quiet tones of his voice. He seemed so unbothered by this fact; so at ease. His hand rubbed against her shoulder in a soothing, rhythmic gesture. A dragging sigh of relief escaped her. The rampant longing in her mind for him to touch her was ignited like flame to oil; she never wanted him to stop. The way he touched her was an alien solace; a foreign pleasure. It gave way to thoughts in all flavors and kinds, all desires both wicked and unbearably tender. She liked how protected and cared for she felt most of all. She wanted it to last; to cling to the beauty of this thought and those feelings and this moment as long as she could.

Placing her cheek to his shoulder, she nestled herself obediently against him. He did not complain of her suffocating position, curled into his side with her head and shoulder against his arm and torso. His very arm could be asleep from her weight, and he wouldn’t say a word. He’d hold her there without so much as a peep, cradling her.

Like the day prior, Amon nuzzled his face into her hair. He breathed deeply. The fluttering in her stomach intensified.

I love you.

A wave of deja vu slammed into her like a wall. Her face glowed. Why on earth would she believe that she’d heard those words?

Gripping her fingers into his shirt; the very same shirt he’d worn yesterday, still smelling faintly of sweat from the battle, Essie sleep-mumbled into his clothes. Amon’s hand moved to her back, and his breathing seemed to elevate. Wishful thinking, she presumed, placing her other hand against the side of his face as she peeked up at him. He was warm beneath her fingertips. Flush, even. She racked her brain, but couldn’t remember if he was usually quite this warm every morning when they woke. Then again, she rarely moved in to stroking his features so quickly in the day. Mm. Perhaps being so obvious and touchy wasn’t such a good idea…

Ignoring her own advice however, Essie stroked his sideburns a few times with her palm, before digging her fingers through his hair to comb the black locks back. She closed her eyes. She definitely needed more rest. She had to be crazy thinking she saw what she wanted to see in his gaze. It wasn’t the possessive look of others she’d seen before; seeing a fetching prize to be won. It wasn’t a promiscuous glance; expecting something. The way he stared at her was… so much like the feelings burning in her chest. Delicate, and thoughtful, and endearing; gentle, and considerate, and yearning. She wanted so badly to see it, to believe it, her muddled thoughts were convinced she had to projecting and reflecting those fantasy’s upon his expression.

“Need… to get up.”

He was silent. Only the tingles racing after his hand, moving across her shoulderblades, reminded her she was not alone, even as her mind drifted along between consciousness and unawareness.

“How does your face feel?”

She groaned at the reminder. “Tired.”

Lord Amon didn’t laugh. Essie sighed quietly, and replied faintly, “Not as bad. Haven’t opened my mouth enough to know how sore my jaw is. Guess I can tell you at breakfast.”

Inhaling a bit sharply as her fingernails scrapped gently against his nape, the nobleman rasped in response, “Would you like to go have something to eat then?”

She nodded against his chest. Her stomach wasn’t begging to eat yet, but if she laid here any longer she was going to pass out and then someone would have to dig her claws out from clinging to her nobleman-now-bed.

“Alright,” he murmured, unfolding his arms from around her. She wondered if she pouted and blubbered pitifully for him to hold her, if he would. She felt sincerely and insanely too confident that his answer would be a yes.

Baring her weight into the mattress, Essie pushed herself to wobble uneasily on her arms. Her hair was a mess, and she still couldn’t keep her eyes pried more then mere slits. She probably looked more zombie then anything.

Offering her a warm, crooked smile, Lord Amon reached up as he had the day prior, brushing hair out of her face with cautious adoring care to look into her eyes. Her heart flip-flopped.

“Would it help if I offered you my arm while we walk?” The sparkle in his eyes said he was both teasing and genuine.

She nodded mutely, too scared how squeaky her voice may escape her in response. Or worse: how breathless she may sound.

It pained her pulse, which stuttered as he rolled over to escape the bed so that he may come over to her side and help her. She blinked after him, eyes trailing as he moved around the bed. Such a mundane task, and yet he still was a silhouetted glow in her eyes.

She bit her tongue, the strange hallucinating dream; more like fractured glass or puzzle pieces to a full picture she could not recall, hazy in her thoughts.

I love you too.

As Amon greeted her on the other side of the bed, where she was closer to the edge, Essie rolled over. There were not many body aches to pinpoint on, thankfully. Just exhaustion.

Flopping her feet over the bed, she did not plant her weight before standing. Thankfully, her knight in no-armor was standing right there, ready to catch her tired frame from sagging too far to the floor.

“Whoa- I’ve got you, Essie,” he whispered, guiding her back to her feet with a playful grin. “Maybe we should get you to sleep earlier today.”

“Okay,” she mouthed, her throat dry and voice a wispy crackle.

As long as he’d be there, she’d bet a million platinum she would find rest with fair ease. Home was always the best and most comfortable place to rest one’s head after a weary day, after all.

[belarath]

so I've finally figured out how to vent on here again without falling into a panic spiral which is lovely  :  and I’m just going to spam myself here cause I really need to let something out   :   I’m dying, I'm just straight up dying in here   :   I’m so empty, in many ways   :   I’m wrecked physically, I couldn't walk up a hill 2 weeks ago without sitting down halfway though, and I don't mean a big hill I mean the side of a lightly inclined large road   :   I barely can make it to eat anymore, sitting up is a challenge, any you can forget any kind of maintenance   :   I got better yesterday only just so I could wash my hair enough that after washing it again today its not riddled with dandruff enough to clog up my comb anymore   :   I finally shaved which I like, but i’ve only been able to enjoy that at home. I step outside and its not good for how anxious I am. I had a fake lining of protective masculinity that I relied on to convince me I’m safe. I still felt uncomfortable going places especially at night but it wasn't to bad. now though I’m double as certain every person I see will shank me. I’m constantly looking over my shoulder which panics me cause every time I do that I'm certain that makes me look afraid which makes me a better target   :   though shaving has made me feel better physically   :   I hate my body so much, but shaving makes me feel a bit better which is a relief, the constant loathing of how I look is very very draining   :   you'd think that like after alllll this god damn time it'd get a little easier to live with such a retched self body image but its just so heavy feeling still   :   I worry   :   I’ve always been a very sad person   :   and like I acknowledge that Its probably not healthy how sad I am all the time but   :   I’ve been like this my entire life   :   I’ve never felt happy for longer than like, maybe more than a month or 2 straight   :   I’m so confident in how well I can endure the deathly long expanses of numbness and hyper draining lack of energy   :  the lack of passion for anything the tastelessness of food   :   the contentment to not move the endless wishing for god damn peace and quiet   :   I have that thing where you really just don't want to exist, I just don't want to have to live in this body and be this mind, I acknowledge I don't have a fear of death because I day dream about not being alive in the sense that being alive is very very very heavy   :   not all the time but,,  so much of the time and that not needing to feel the desire to not want to feel heavy anymore is lovely   :   like I’ve lived like this for my entire memory and so just continuing to live has been my jam   :   I know that if I did die, my Mum would not cope, she’s die   :   I’ve watched her claw her way through things, I swear she doesn't know how hard she’s had it, and I cannot take any joy she's gleamed from this life she's sacrificed so much to reach by selfishly dying   :   death is out of the option until my Mum dies   :   and its likely that death will be out of the option until my close friends either drift away or die as, well, they’ve gone though too much, one specifically I worry about, and I think that dying would be rude to say the least   :   and again its just very selfish   :   one of the virtues of having been programmed to treat myself as lesser is that this instinct has prevent my death which is cool   :   it does make for some suffering though   :   but anyway i’ve drifted   :   I wasn't worried about myself and my sadness until this week   :   I think wednesday? I think I had a moment, I’m certain I had a moment where I fantasied about self harm, and the thing about this is that fantasising about it made me feel better, which really is the part I’m scared about   :   funny thing is though that I have a friend who did self harm but they used like a cutting tool and in my head I was like “ugh no thats just not the way to do it stabing is a way better idea!”   :   my friend told me about their experience and they said they knew it was dumb thing to do cause they had people they knew that did it but they still did it, I forget the reason why. but they regretted it and for some reason it made me thing that I’m way more reasonable because I learnt from them and decided that using like cork board pins seems like a way better idea XD   :   I didn't self harm because the pin I had on me I’m sure wasn't clean and I didn't have the energy or the free break to go get a clean one, and going through the rigamarole of sterilising and then trying to hide it was just,,, to much for my stamina to think possible.  : luckily again another piece of programming “gifted” to me by good old paterna saved me from this moment of self harm as I believe everything has to be done by the book! not by like a real book but the book he taught me to make for myself. what a lovely instinct! to have half my brain assigned to making rules to punish and contain my self which is completely SELF SUFFICIENT   :   I’m being sarcastic btw   :   to the core of me tip to toe I hate it with a fucking passion   :   one of the few passions that I do have XD   :   but again I drifted though   : the moment passed and I haven't wanted to self harm again since then which is good but I’m still unnerved   :   I’m so scared   :   I’ve been dying on the inside for a little bit now   :   I think i have anxiety, and i think I may have a little paranoia though I haven't googled it so I may not   :   but gosh its been put into perspective how self destructive I am   :   there was a post which listed a bunch of self destructive behaviours 28 in total, I had 21 of them and the other 7 involved sexuality which I don't have much of being mostly ace   :   I remember thinking “its a fairly good list” but it kinda highlighted somethings    :   it made me think    :   maybe dressing in wet clothes because you couldnt be bothered to keep your body clothed cleanly and then going out in cold windy weather even though you know you’re going to shiver and probably chafe a bit and then be super hungry cause your cold so you decide to eat out and berate yourself for spending or get home and eat and berate yourself for not making something better and getting fatter or not eating just cause who cares.   MAYBE THATS SELF DESTRUCTIVE   :   or maybe staying at public dnd games which a bunch of people who unnerve you and sap you of energy for sometimes chunks of 3 to 5 hours because you “don't want to offend people” or “don't want to mess up anyones schedule” while also not eating or drinking enough MaYbE ThAtS SeLfDeStRuCtIvE Too   :   maybe its knowing you will get horrific migraines or want to throw up from lack of sleep and maybe that will spike your anxiety about being fired from your work because you can't shake the feeling everyone wants to fire you but you don't mention anything because you'd feel bad about leaving or something and because some of these people you actually like you'll degrade yourself more because they are worth it and you’re not MAYBE THATS FUCKING SELF DESTRUCTIVE   :   I WANT TO SCREAM BUT I DONT   :   I NEVER FUCKING HAVE AND IM DYING INSIDE   :   god I get so mad and I scream so loud in my head my head hurts   :   I’m so broken in so many intricate ways and I know I could feel so much better but, theres so much in the way! and most of its me thats in the way! I’m so close to not even just like help Im so close to comfort! I just want be held by people I like, I’m sure I could ask for like more hugs or to cuddle or to hold hands or for people to play with my hair or for just in general human contact of any kind but, theres so much social anxiety to even begin to ask something like that and that even if I were to get consent how the hell could i learn to initiate!? I”M SO FUCKING SCARED to like ask for physical contact from yet another trauma as a kid. If it weren't bad enough that I’m hyper petrified about getting consent for any kind of physical contact but I also believe that if i were to touch people it would be automatically labeled as predatory because I’m male. I’m starting to think maybe sexual trauma as a kid has had a bigger effect on my psyche than I think? which in all honesty is just, its just exhausting to hold in my head that idea.

[thefreshfinds]

BROKEN KID: POP MALCOLM

Popping into the music scene with an idiosyncratic sound — independent Houston hip hop artist, writer and audio engineer Pop Malcolm prides himself in creating a sound that can be called his own. Moreso he breaks all barriers in every element of hip-hop. Aside from being less braggodious than the rest, Pop Malcolm combines a quick combo of different flows with superlative punchlines and metaphors. Most of all, Pop Malcolm isn't afraid to fluncuate between a sound for the old and new school heads. Still, he uses bits of video game effects in the mix but says "it's new wave hip hop the right way." Not only is Pop Malcolm relatable but he leaves the listener with some things to ponder on. The best way to describe Pop Malcolm is as an avid thinker and it's displayed through his bars. Take for instance "Days Passed", in the middle of the song he expresses how some things we've been taught in school are pointless because they aren't used once you start working in your field of choice. Another great thing about Pop Malcolm's music is his way of subtly giving advice to those listening. "Broken Kid" fits best in this scenario solely due to the beginning of the song where he looks at himself in the mirror and says "I believe in you, even if nobody else does. I believe in you. We gonna see it through." Here, he's saying to keep going for you and ignore all the noise.

His project, Broken Kid doesn't miss a beat. It's self-reflective. And even gives a big middle finger to those who doubted him but are now "believers", a dab to his day ones, nonstop grind and shows his immense love towards a wifey type who'd he fight for. Equally important, Broken Kid can't be hindered by just one genre. It has a heavy influence of R&B, old school rap, rock and more! It's pure hip hop but even metal fans like his music. You can digest it if you're not a rap fan and really enjoy it if you're a hip hop head. Broken Kid basically shows off Pop Malcolm's prime excellence in the game. All the while, Pop Malcolm passes along what he's learned. He stays lowkey to remain high key. And knows that anything is possible if he leaves it up to God and stays optimistic. "My theme in Broken Kid  is honesty. Rappers make songs about things they don't do and sell their fans a fake life just to let them down. I am who I am on and off the mic. Every song has its own theme but my overall intention is to deliver real music people can relate to, appreciate and still bang in the whip. I can't fail if I stay myself and stay in my own lane." he goes on to say.

The first track, "golden ticket" has a beat that can be best described as intergalactic fused with a combative base. He is less concerned with others opinions because they’re focused on things that aren’t even important. Instead, Pop Malcolm goes to say that he just wants to move the youth because they are the future after all. Apart from his dual flows, his voice is used with much force. It also includes an 808, hi-hats and an interesting piece from the xclophone.

"days passed" stresses that Pop Malcolm doesn't want snakes around him. Lyrically he comes the hardest and even goes on a run. "days passed" also speaks on homies he’s lost and addresses that he’s been through things. Yet he doesn’t go into depth about his personal issues. Instead Pop Malcolm counts his blessings and stays optimistic toward the future. Beat wise, he uses a lush 90's R&B beat that goes smoothly with his words.

Then theres "broken kid" which is more of a chillwave song with an old school hip-hop and 8-bit influence. With a woodpipe to back him up, Pop Malcolm is more relfective and speaks on a time where he was looked down upon. But through it all, he flourished! An example can be seen in this one line where he says "I use to get made fun of. Now I get the green like Mario in one up."

Afterwards, "fwm" goes off. He basically keeps his distance from most because they're fake and even goes to say that most are p***y's. The reason he's able to differentiate the real from fake because of how money hungry they get. Sonically, the beat uses 8 bits, drum rolls, pixelized flute and an organ. " It was a track that is really raw and is for the spitter fans. I would make more tracks like that but I feel I need to keep a balance in how I approach tracks to stay fresh." Pop Malcolm says.

Immediately "key" changes the vibe. On my first listen, I interpreted it as a bosa nova track but "key" really is dancehall and hip-hop in between. The beat fuses the marimba with video game like synths, slightly low guitar chords and hi-hats. Needless to say it does a great job! Here, Pop Malcolm says that hes aiming for success by investing and saving. Although he's all about his hussle, he advices others to not let money overrule their life. My favorite line can be found in the span, 2:34.

"ollie" essentially speaks on his grind. The beat sounds somewhat similar to "Hotline Bling" by Drake but it seperates itself from that stigma by using an overruling japanese driven piano, reverse sound effect again, hi-hats and base. " I think it has a lot of layers and things many people can relate to. It's sonically a masterpiece." Pop Malcolm adds.

Whereas "piano" tells people to think again because he's not about to get played. Pop Malcolm shuts it down by coming hard with a base-heavy combative beat and destructable bars towards the fools.

All he wants is respect, and "rapper name" deems it with great success. See the thing he's moved by in hip-hop is its rawness. "It's seen as rebel music" Pop Malcolm says "When people talk about music they tend to leave out hip-hop or say it's not even music. I feel there's a lot of art and stories and hip hop and it's looked over as trash because of the radio and ignorant people. I respect the art." This song is another reflective one that speaks on certain hardships he has faced. Pop Malcolm is really trying to be a better person and is actually hurt that people would ask him to change his name. Really, he's just trying to cope. Sonically, it has a more softer side. It's meshed with twinkles, flunctuating guitar riffs, hi-hats and the reverse sound effect.

Lastly, "trustworthy community" leans more toward boom-bap. He goes to say that humanity is a lie, thus why it's so hard to trust America as a whole. This song also took a lot of emotion out of Pop Malcolm but still was one of his favorites to create.

On the whole, Pop Malcolm says in his own words that anybody can relate Broken Kid. It doesn't hold gender or race to it. "I just wanted to create something that shows we are all a bit f***d up, relating to things that aren't always fun and just being honest. All I can promise is honesty and that translate into what I create."

Moving forward, Pop Malcolm hopes to collab with Le$ but most importantly, he wants to quit his day job when his music takes off. He's excited for the tours and meeting fans. However, he really wants to take care of his family.

Pop Malcolm's advice to any upcoming artist is to never sign a deal, stay true yourself, plan for the long haul and take care of BUSINESS. "The fast way isn't the best way."

Make sure to stream Broken Kid. It's available on all streaming platforms

By: Natalee Gilbert

LINK(s):

1. Instagram - @friendwthechain

2. "Broken Kid" - https://soundcloud.com/rdpent/sets/brokenkidalbum

3. YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZhW1ZWCTqkOUV0TUbY6Eqw