#didn’t have too much to drink but just enough (maybe 2.5 drinks) to be a little loosened up

[ilostyou]

ok my night was successful enough that i can pretend the horrors aren’t horroring. yeehaw

[theuntoldoriginsoftheportmafia]

Part Ⅴ Escape - Chapter 2.5

♘ A Detective Must Be Armed ♘

3,842 Words

Mori didn’t even bother trying to cover himself once he knew he was found out. “He is going to die sooner or later, Osamu, you must be ready for that. Why keep him from having a poetic death, from having the peace he so wants?”

“He can have that while he’s alive.”

“If he truly wanted it, he would’ve left it, left you, but no. He’s a coward, that’s why he doesn’t kill. Having an attachment to him will only drag you down. And it will get him killed, painfully, and you will lose him, and it will be your fault. He’ll never leave you, you’re using him. Let him go. Then he can be free.”

But Dazai is a selfish bastard. “No.”

“Alright then, have it as you wish.”

Two weeks later, Dazai has everything arranged. Burnt hats, drugged wine, a car bomb. All ready to go at a moment's notice. Secret files relating to the Tripartite Framework, the brainchild of a man named Nastume, the only piece missing, one to rule the day. This is what Dazai tells Oda when he takes him to a small coffee shop in Nerima, Tokyo’s 20th ward. They need to be far away where no one in the Port Mafia can listen in.

“This is good, but I don’t want you to do it for me, I want you to do it for yourself. You don’t really want to leave Nakahara-san, do you?” He looks concerned.

“I don’t know, I just . . .”

“And so suddenly, I thought you liked him a lot?”

“I do . . . but have you ever seen the statistics?”

“On what?”

“Teen relationships. They rarely last more than 2 years. It’s been a year. And I’m me, it’s a miracle we’ve made it this long. He’s just going to leave me sooner or later.”

“Where did you read something like that?”

“Very reliable sources.” Dazai proclaims, taking a suspiciously long sip of his coffee.

Oda raises an eyebrow, “If it has pop-up adverts, it doesn't count.”

“Hmph! Pop-up adverts don’t make the information any less correct.”

“Maybe, and perhaps that is true, but if anyone is the exception, it’s you and Nakahara-san. I don’t want you to leave a place where you’re happy just for my sake. And don’t you dare use me as an excuse for sabotaging your first happy relationship! I won’t have it.”

Dazai looks down, choosing to watch his reflection in his drink rather than face Oda’s piercing eyes. He’s much more observant than he gives himself credit for.

“The end is inevitable, Odasaku. Instead of suffering and crying about it, I’d like to help you fulfil your life’s dream. Isn’t that a good enough reason?”

Oda considers it, and seeing he won’t change the younger boy’s mind, he nods.

“Yes, on one condition.”

“Anything for Odasaku.”

“You bring the Akutagawas along with us.”

Dazai tenses, “Why? Ryuunosuke belongs with the mafia, it’s the only place for someone like him. What would we do with his gift, with his urge to kill?”

“The urge to kill that you gave him. You owe this to him, Dazai.”

“He had it long before me. He’s angry at the world and he needs a place to get out that anger.”

“Exactly, with this so-called detective agency you propose we can give him a safe place to actually work out some of his many issues.”

Dazai frowns. “He and I are different. I know neither right nor wrong, it’s all the same. He has a sense of morals and chooses to rip, tear, and kill anyhow. He’s too far gone for help or to be of any use to us.”

Oda continues, determined, persisting. “Admit it Dazai, you know you owe it to him. I understand if you don’t feel sorry, not even a little bit. I understand if you’d do all the same again if you could, but he’s just a boy, like you. Like I was. Don’t you wish I’d gotten another chance, a shot at something better? Something more. It may not seem like it to you, but after all my years, 16 is still a baby. He’s not done, we can still save him. I want to save him. Maybe because I think it’ll redeem me, and maybe that’s even more selfish than leaving him, but please Dazai. Help me. Help me do the right thing. The boy deserves a second chance, even if you don’t think that you do. Help me save him.”

Oda appeals to Dazai’s affection for him, and it’s working.

‘I’m selfish Odasaku, far more than you. Don’t even think of calling yourself that when I’m the one seriously considering leaving a child to the wolves. I want it to just be us, no one else, certainly not from the mafia. All they’d be is a liability.’

“And if I don’t.”

“Then he dies,” Oda says with finality, his normally lively blue eyes taking on a pensive shade of grey. “A gruesome death probably. You’re the only one who’s accepted him. He sees everything in you. You’re like a saviour to him. You can’t just undo that. When you’re gone, he’ll be eaten alive by a world that’s never wanted him.”

“Saviour?” Dazai scoffs, “I’m his abuser. I can’t help it. That’s how one gets better, by being ripped apart and reassembled again. It’s the same for any mafioso. I am successful because I have nothing left to lose or gain. Once I am gone from his life, he can be free, if he wants. Maybe he will still choose vengeance. Maybe he’ll fall behind in his training. Maybe that’s what you want. Maybe it will be better if he’s tamed his anger, but I promise you that he will never be tamed so long as he’s in my presence. He strives to improve, for more violence because of me. Happy people, people content with themselves do not kill. If you want him to be happy then you should want him as far from me as possible.”

“We should at least take Gin,” Oda says a little defeated, only poking at his food now. He knows Dazai has a point.

“No, their brother would never let them leave him. It’s both or neither.”

“Fair, but it has to be you asking, it won’t sound sincere otherwise.”

“ . . . Fine. I made you a promise. I intend to keep it. If this is what you want, I’ll ask, but you have to come with me, and if he doesn’t want to leave, we go alone.”

“Deal.”

-

The train ride back is quiet, the only event being a young spiky-haired boy knocking into Dazai and another young man, in a rush not to miss the train.

“Sorry, my big bro’s on here! I got lost and I can’t let him leave without me!”

A few minutes later a tall man with the same spiky hair brings back the boy to apologise to the people he disturbed, only to be waved away by the young blond man whom he knocked into Dazai. He scowls.

“I am studying. I have no time for your apologies, you’ve already put me a minute behind schedule.”

The big brother looks a bit shocked but says nothing, leading the boy away.

“What a big grumpy meanie!” Dazai hears the kid mutter.

-

They arrive back at the Port Mafia’s headquarters at 14:00. The afternoon is a stormy grey, the colour of Chuuya’s eyes. Dazai keeps his eyes on the ground. 

He and Oda find the siblings in the training room. They bow when they see Dazai, immediately wary.

“Akutagawa-kun, Gin-chan, do you like the Port Mafia? Honest answers only please~”

The siblings stare wide-eyed.

“W-what do you mean, Dazai-san?”

“I mean, do you truly enjoy your work here, how it makes you feel and what it does to others? Or are you only here because I brought you? If you answer yes to the former then my next question has no relevance.”

There’s a long beat of silence, a whole note, a measure, a song.

Dazai can see the questions in their eyes: ‘If we say no, will we be punished? Will it change how you treat us? Will it make you think us useless? Will you push us even harder? I’m not sure how much more I can take.’

“If you say yes, then you’ll never have to deal with me again.”

Oda looks at Dazai, shaking his head. Dazai knows exactly what he’s doing.

‘It’s a tempting offer . . . too tempting. There’s more to this. What isn’t he saying?’ Akutagawa narrows his eyes, thinking carefully over his answer. ‘I do like it here, it’s the closest thing to a home I’ll ever have after everything. I shouldn’t fear Dazai so much, he gave me all this. It’s ungrateful to want out, to fear for the life of my sibling, their purity. They can handle themselves doubting them is disrespectful but . . . I fear myself. I fear what I'll become without Dazai-san. I need a routine. I fear being weak. He is my solution. And I need him, what would I do without him. Without his training I’d be weak. I don’t want to be weak. I don’t want him to leave. My reliance on him is weak. He can’t! . . . But what do I say to make him stay that won’t make him think I’m whiny and useless? . . . Gin! Gin should get another chance at least. They’ll hate me for speaking on their behalf, but . . .'

So he puts on a show, stomping his foot. ‘I will make Dazai-san stay! I will. But can I go without Gin?’

In all his life Akutagawa Ryuunosuke has never been elegant. There is nothing elegant about him, from his birth to his running away and joining the mafia. He could have been, yes, he has that air about him, and his uncle, a scholar, surely would have taught him if he had gotten the chance, but he didn’t. So now, he stands in front of the man he most wants to think well of him, almost more than his own mother, unsure of what to say. What are the right words? 

When Gin starts to speak their brother cuts them off. “I hate it here! I cry every night! I want to be good, but I stay because of Gin. They love it here!”

The words come out so intense, like hot coals, but even louder than his shout is what goes unsaid. The silent cry rings out through the space. ‘They don’t need you, they don’t need to see you ever again, but I do. Stay away from them! This is all I know. Please don’t leave me!’

‘Jesus, he’s just a boy. . . . What did you do to him, Dazai?’ Oda looks to the young executive, worrying what he’ll do next.

Dazai strides forward, grabbing Akutagawa’s chin, finger pressing too hard. “My, my, Akutagawa, still just as poor at deception as the day I found you eating rats in those woods.”

“Dazai.” Oda says the name in vain.

Dazai continues, his voice a soft sort of violence, a gently dangerous drawl in Akutagawa’s ear. “If you’re so pathetic at lying, just tell the truth. You want me to stay don’t you?”

Akutagawa makes no sound. In the 16-year-old’s eyes, Dazai sees someone even more familiar to him than himself. Mori Ougai. So human, so dark and twisted, a monster. Dazai strives to become inhuman and instead has become painfully, and brutally human, the worst kind. The kind that feels so deeply, the kind that feels so much, anger, rage, fear, (at himself), when all Dazai wants is to feel nothing at all.

He squeezes the boy’s chin until his finger quivers and his knuckles are white and Akutagawa’s eyes water. He hates himself. He hates that this boy has made him see himself, hates that he’s shown him that becoming inhuman is impossible. His reflection makes him nauseous.

He stops squeezing, hands aching and places his hands on Akutagawa’s shoulders instead, fighting the urge, the instinct he's not sure when he developed (inhuman things aren’t supposed to have instincts.) to dig his nails in.

“Why? Are you a masochist? Are you sick like me? Twisted like me? Have I done this to you? Why do you want me to stay when I only hurt you, push you, violently beat you with your own ability? If that's the case then you might be beyond saving, hmm?”

“Dazai.” But neither of the two hear Oda. Gin stares on without words. They’ve been training with Ozaki-san since they joined the mafia and have heard of Dazai’s tactics, but never seen them in person. 

‘Ozaki-san’s torture squad is one thing but this . . . Is this what my brother has endured silently for so long?’

Words are failing him again and Akutagawa hates it. “I-I . . . You taught me never to be weak . . . and without you . . . I am weak. I do not want to be weak!”

“Oh, so that’s it.” Dazai’s tone is empty. He knows and knows and knows.

“I want to train so I will not be weak, for that I need you.”

After a moment, Dazai says, “I’m glad you’ve finally admitted that. It seems you’ve finally unlocked your ambition. You’ve learnt the most important lesson. You are weak. You are from gutters, waste and ruin. You must have ambition, it is the only thing you have. Do not allow your sibling to take that away.”

“Dazai!”

“And you must never have pride. Pride limits your options, a mafioso must never have things he won’t do. Someone as lowly as you must learn how to get what you require any way you can, that includes begging, a skill you seem to suddenly have come upon. Begging does not make you weak, you cannot possibly get any weaker, it makes you cunning, and manipulative. Tell me Akutagawa-kun, . . . how does it feel to be as awful as me?”

Dazai drops his hands and walks to Gin. Akutagawa follows his movements with wide eyes. The words are cruel, Dazai knows, but he’s filled with so much hate, mostly for himself that the words bubble up like sticky tar.

‘This is what I wanted, isn’t it? So why does it feel so . . . heavy.’ Akutagawa finds his coat suddenly weighs a thousand pounds.

“Gin-chan, you don’t love it here, no?”

“I-” under the weight of Dazai’s gaze they have no choice but the truth. Just as it’s about to force its way painful up their throat, Oda smiles at them from behind Dazai. “I am lonely. I don’t know anyone but my brother. I don’t mind the training, and I do this because I am good at it, but I guess if I was good at something else then I would like that too. I would like some friends. I think I would like it more if I had friends and because this is probably all I’ll get to be good at since we’re all alone. I am loyal to the mafia, you don’t have to worry.”

(A/N: Not @ author-san with the Gin / Kyouka parallel. I had to edit this because I think I accidentally tagged someone when I was trying to refer to myself, the author, in a humourous way, so if I did sorry. This is sooo embarrasing 😳 ahhh social anxiety go brrr!)

In the face of their sincerity, their face painted by things they’ve had to do so young in life, the things they’ve lost, Dazai sees Chuuya. He wished Chuuya could’ve had something better. But Gin isn’t Chuuya, and helping them won’t help Chuuya. He struggles to find sympathy for them.

As he searches for the foreign feeling, everyone holds their breath. Fortunately, he is a better actor than Akutagawa. His deception makes him sick.

‘Like a pitcher plant, using sweet words to lure them in. At least Mori never lied about the awful side of things.’

He bends down, careful, too gentle and they’ll get spooked and scamper off into the darkness again. 

‘Oda should be doing this.’

“Are you afraid for your brother? What will become of him if I go? What he will do if I stay?”

Gin whispers out a small “Yes.”

“Hmm, then we have ourselves a conundrum. I cannot stay. I am bound by the dream of my friend, here, Odasaku-san, but I would hate to lose such a fine asset, one Mori-san hardly deserves.”

Gin looks wary, cringing away as Dazai describes her brother. Asset.

Dazai smiles, a patronising twist to his lips, but even that doesn’t hide the emptiness. “You see Mori is the one who set all of this up. He wants something called a special ability permit, and to get it he must prove his usefulness. The easiest way to do that was to eliminate mimic . . . using Odasaku, without a care for his or his children’s death. Luckily Oda survived, but that’s why we’re leaving. You may stay with the child slaughterer if you wish, it’s of no bearing to me. I’m sure I’ll find a fine replacement quickly enough.”

Both Akutagawas flinch at this. 

‘Leaving? Going where? Leaving us? To do what? Who will be his replacement!? Will we be replaced’ The eldest Akutagawa’s mind races.

“Leaving?” asks Gin, too stunned to make much sense of Dazai’s words.

“Yes, Dazai-san wishes to start a detective agency,” Oda explains, hoping to comfort the young teens who suddenly remind him so much of his orphans. “And he’s- I am asking you to be a part of it, a chance to get away from this dark, death-filled place.”

No one says a word. Oda grows more desperate as the silence stretches on.

When he speaks, his voice cracks with emotion, memories of childish laughter flash behind his closed lids, tears escaping and fleeing down his cheeks, “Please, come with us. I can’t let any more children die.”

“Well, there we have it! The perfect compromise, you get to leave the Port mafia but stay with me. Wonderful, isn’t it.” Dazai’s voice, akin to the hosts of those nauseating day-time game shows, is light but his expression is dark, gaze sharp enough to cut through Akutagawa and then some. “So, what do you say?”

Gin turns to their brother, knowing he will follow wherever they go, “I . . . must make this choice for you, brother. Dazai-san, if you are unhappy and my brother wishes to be where you are then I cannot allow myself to hold him back. I won’t. Ryuu, I am sorry. I know you think you’ve found a place here, so please forgive me, but I fear every day for your health and what Mother and Uncle will think of us when we reunite with them, so I will go. ”

The eldest Akutagawa stares at his sibling, the person who means the world to him. Looking into their eyes is as if a door to a long-forgotten world has been opened, light seeping through.

‘I had forgotten the possibility of ever seeing mother again. Is that what Gin was hanging onto all this time? . . . Hope? Is that what I am missing? But how can one have hope in a world like this? Gin was my world before the Port mafia was. I can be anywhere as long as they are happy. But can I trust this Oda-san to keep Dazai from hurting Gin? If this is what they want I have to, I have no choice but to follow. I must honour the promise I made to Uncle to protect my sibling. I will protect my sibling! For their sake . . . I will go.’

So holding a picture of Gin, healthy and smiling in his mind, he makes his choice. Not for Dazai, for his siblings.

“I will follow you anywhere, Dazai-san, no matter what! Even as you hurt me it only makes me stronger. I will not be weak, even if I have to beg for my last ounce of strength I will carry on under your teachings.”

‘Ugh, he’ll surely be a pain to get rid of. He’s going to follow me around like a puppy to keep me from thinking he only left because of Gin. I’d best leave him to Oda.’

“That’s it then. Pack. We leave at noon tomorrow?”

The siblings nod and scatter, their steps silent.

“Noon?” Oda asks when they’ve gone.

“Yes, in broad daylight Mori-san will have much greater difficulty sending his forces after us if he even bothers. But I don’t think he will. He knows how firm I am in my decisions. The only variable here is Nakahara-kun.”

“Nakahara-kun . . .” Oda is taken aback at the formal address of his senior’s (former?) boyfriend.

‘This must be his way of distancing himself, just as Ango-kun did. Poor kid. He can never have anything good, can he? Is all of this just pointless after all, what when bad fortune seems to follow him like a black cloud, forever chained to his side as if it doesn’t want to be with him either? An eternal bond that punishes both. Am I just setting us both up for failure by going along with this? I trust Dazai-san, of course, I do, but this may be beyond both of our control . . .’

Dazai shrugs noncommittally, pressing the button for the lift. “Yes. As predictable as he is, if he does decide to come after me himself, out of anger or . . . something else, then he could cause us quite a bit of trouble, giving away our location with his destructive tendencies at the very least.”

Oda offers no response, trying to think of the right thing to say in the odd situation, but Dazai continues anyway. “Ah . . . Nakahara-kun, always defying the odds.” he chuckles darkly, but with more humour than Oda has seen from him in the past week, “That’s why Ranpo finds him to be such a pain when he has to take an extra few seconds to account for all of Ch- Nakahara-kun’s potential actions. It sure would be nice to have Ranpo on hand, but alas he’d never betrayed The Silver Wolf.”

Oda listens silently as Dazai thinks aloud, a verbal display of crumbling love.

As the lift descends Dazai continues to ponder, “I wonder what Nakahara-kun will choose. Whatever he assumes will cause me the greatest pain, most likely. Vengeful dog. Attacking me or not following me at all. Either way, it hardly matters anymore. You needn’t worry Odasaku, I will have no second thoughts. There is nothing in the mafia for me anymore.”

“Nothing? What about the other executives, you’re close to them, right?”

“They’re all adults, they’ll be fine.”

“And Nakahara-san?”

“It’d be generous of me to call Nakahara-kun a fling, sure, it was fun to play with him, like a little toy dog but someone so short could never reach my heart.”

‘It’s barely been 14 days. All I heard from him was “Chuuya this” and “Chuuya that” for months before they got together, and after too. Who does “Mr. Demon-Prodigy” think he’s fooling?’

“And if he disagrees?”

“Don’t be stupid Odasaku. He feels the same as I do, and if not he will soon. I’ve made sure of it, can’t have him lingering around, that’s what the car bomb is for.”

‘There’s no winning this argument is there? Well, it’s not like Nakahara-san will come with us.’

The lift dings with finality and they step out, parting ways to make arrangements and pack their meagre belongings.

‘It’s as that old submarine captain in that movie said then, isn’t it? There’s no going back.’

[sunsetsimon]

hihi ˙ᵕ˙

I don’t really know how I feel about today? I took a shower this morning and I was proud of atleast getting up out of my bed today. I even did my skincare routine and brushed my teeth. but idk I guess cuz I started my period so i’m just all in a funk. I ate something and my mom made it but I didn’t finish it because I don’t really have an appetite and the food texture made me nervous and i’m also feeling a lil gloomy today too.

anyways enough about me,, I hope you are having a better day than me. I hope you ate and is hydrated also. ⭐️

hi my love im so sorry i’m answering this so late! it makes me so happy to hear that you were able to do a couple things for yourself! even if you’re a bit gloomy and can’t eat, you can still be proud of the other things you did :) what foods do you enjoy eating? maybe having some of your favorites or cravings will make it a bit easier to get something down

i had a fucking shitty day today honestly! i guess i had way too much to drink last night (which was odd because i was at home and only had 2 and a half, plus i ate dinner and had a good 2.5 hour span but whatever i guess) so i had the worst hangover after puking my guts up at 3am. i was supposed to be helping my sister make my brother in law his bday cake but i was so woozy and had to go home, i laid in bed for literally 5 hours after that just trying to sleep. i had to force myself to get up and shower and get ready for work, and it was crazy busy there of course. and then as im going to lock up for the night, THE FRONT DOOR WAS BROKEN??? the owner is out of town right now too so i stayed there an extra 30 minutes just waiting to hear back, and then had to rush to a dinner that i was now going to be 45 minutes late for. then my hangover headache started to come back so i had to leave after an hour. and now that i’m home i just had to call the non emergency line to report a drunk guy who has been screaming from his balcony for about 3 hours straight. now all i want to do is sleep, so im hoping i can pass out within the next hour or so. luckily i have the next 2 days off so im hoping to recoup a bit after this shit show lol

it felt good to get that off my chest ugh ive been so sick of everything recently

check in whenever you can, im thinking of you constantly 💗

[hellohelloxo]

Your old fraternity is finally doing something. And I know I should be happy, okay? I want to and I should be but really, how can I? Yes there’s comfort in knowing what happened to me won’t happen to other girls, but that’s not necessarily justice is it? You still graduated. They told me you joined the military, so you’re deployed and far, far away from me. But I can’t guarantee that you’ll always be. Because even though I want to be happy, I want to find peace, the truth is that just because you’re not in a frat doesn’t mean you can’t do it anymore. You can very easily make friends with a girl, and use that friendship to make her feel comfortable enough to take a drink you made in a different room or smoke the joint you’ve been saving “just for her” and then walk her home alone when she’s had too much and can’t stand up anymore. Or maybe she can. I don’t really remember that part.

I’m not at that school anymore. You’re not at that school anymore. Everyone that was cemented by your side, enabling your actions despite knowing the dirty details (and they knew. I made sure they did.) have jobs. You are gone. And it doesn’t matter that they’re condemning the current president (who wasn’t even president until right before you graduated) for not doing anything about you. Because they’re talking about how they could’ve punished you and not how they could’ve prevented it. The signs were there. You did it to multiple women. And I refuse to believe it couldn’t have been prevented.

Yes, they’re doing something now (and even now, they’re complaining about what happened, not about the lack of consequences or that they can no longer make sure there’s consequences for you), but it’s too late. Where was the outrage 2.5 years ago? Where were the consequences then? Were they buried beneath your diploma? Or the frats pristine reputation of being the house full of “nice guys”? Was it hidden beneath the growing pile of underage wristbands in the girls bathroom? Maybe they just faded with my bruises but even then, they still had a month.

But still, good for them for doing something now, at least. Maybe when it’s one of their friends they’ll stay angry but, really, even my (now ex) boyfriend stayed friends with you after finding out.

P.S. I don’t forgive you. You didn’t hurt my feelings, you raped me. So I can’t forgive what I was forced to forget (I never knew what actually happened. Just what my friends told me was happening when they walked in)

[thatonebirdwrites]

Chapter 5 - An Excerpt of my Book 3 of Shared Moments

NOTES: Decided this would be a great chapter to use for the excerpt of book 3. It gets steamy at one part since this is the chapter that details their first time. Also the secret workshop is something Korra and Asami discover in accident in my Book 2.5, during the investigation into who broke into Asami's mansion and the ousting of the triads that took it over. They find a secret passage hidden by a bookcase in the study that goes deep underground. After they take back the mansion, Asami, Korra, and the brothers head into this passage that is riddled with booby-traps only to discover it was a secret workshop made by her mother as a test for Asami in the future.

Chapter 5: In which Korra and Asami Experience Things

Summer 171 AG

Sato Mansion - Secret Workshop - Early Evening

The workshop was not only fully stocked with supplies, but it had materials that were quite expensive and hard to find. Asami studied her inventory list, amazed. Most of the items were in relatively good condition. She had expected more wear-and-tear or at least rust, but she’d found very little of that. She drank her cup of willowbark and peppermint tea absently.

Had the broken door somehow been sealed in a way to prevent that degradation? Standing, Asami walked over to the door and studied it. Platinum mostly, though the hinges were metal and the crank mechanism was a mixture of metals.  She pushed the door shut, and sure enough, it did seal well. Pulling it open, she checked the other side. It had been wedged oddly, except…

… there were indents in the walls next to the door where it had been wedged at an angle.

Ah. 

That was how her mother had made it ‘broken’ without actually breaking it. Fascinating. 

Asami walked back to the workshop desk and sifted through the blueprints. Some of them were of buildings she’d never seen and definitely didn’t yet exist. Were these possible future projects that her mother hoped to do? That hurt a bit to think about, how her mother never got a chance to realize them. Most were surprisingly not related to the company - community theater, a library, shelters, train station. 

Huh. A lot of these blueprints were ideas that Asami had already started to do. A community theater? That was Bolin’s nonprofit mover, which construction on it was already starting. Shelters? Asami had devised a modular design, very different from what her mother had sketched, but would serve a similar purpose. Train station? Part of the city bid. 

All this time, Asami had been worried she was too much like her father, when she’d completely neglected the fact that she was also her mother’s daughter. How could she have forgotten that? She would need to rectify that mistake. 

Asami gathered them up and walked to a cabinet that held more blueprints in its top drawer. She laid them inside with reverence. Maybe someday she could incorporate bits of her mother’s ideas into a redesign.

Wait.

She could do that now. Lukken said they were pretty much guaranteed to get the rebuilding bid. Asami sifted through the blueprints again. The train station could work and perhaps the library since the downtown one was currently filled with vines. 

As she sifted through the drawer, a leather bound book caught her eye. It was wedged against the left side of the drawer, half hidden by the large amount of blueprints and sketching pads. Lodged thoroughly. It took several tugs to finally free it. 

Asami turned it over in her hands. No markings on it. Just a dark brown leather cover. She opened it. 

Late Summer 154

Our little Asami runs around far faster than I expected. I’ll turn my back for a moment to pick up something, pour a drink, and turn around to find she’s not there. A moment of panic hits, the search commences, and I find her often in the same general location - my workshop. She’ll have gotten a hold of my writing utensils or my colored pens somehow, and my blueprint will be adorned with her ‘additions.’ 

Except, she has an eye for color. Several times I set her in her crib - despite knowing she’ll just find her way out again, nothing can hold back our Asami - and reviewed her ‘additions’ only to realize some of the scribbles would be aesthetically pleasing. Would give the building a bit of flair and color. I dare say she has a talent for it.

This last one she scribbled on was for the upgraded factory, and she gave one of the corners this squiggly line in a variety of colors, and I realized that each of the corners would benefit from a spire like that. Give it a little uniqueness. This new factory design will be a major upgrade to Hiroshi’s automobile lines. It’ll give him far more space than the prior one. It amazes me still how far his company has grown since we first met. To think he worked out of a garage and now he owns several factories and is a crucial market for vehicles? I’m so proud of him. 

This… was one of her mother’s journals. Asami traced her gloved finger over the flourishes in the characters and the details of the prose itself. “I inspired the spires, Mom?” she said to the journal with a tearful chuckle. She pressed the journal to her chest and decided to take this with her. Unlike her father’s journals that she found in the study, which were still hidden in a trunk in her closet, this journal felt safe to read. A glimpse into a mother she could barely remember. 

She picked up the blueprints she’d chosen and carried them and the journal to the work table. Laying them on the workshop table, she studied the blueprints, her gloved finger going over the lines that her mother had drawn. The entire structure was far more ornate than she had expected, which now that she thought about it, the Future Industries tower also had some interesting ornate design choices, especially on the interior.

Yet, there was several buildings in town that held that similar unique aesthetics. Despite her father telling her many a time that part of downtown and the boroughs had been designed by her mother, Asami had failed to make the connection. 

Asami sat down in the chair and shook her head in wonder. Her mother’s mark was everywhere, and all she needed was the formula to solve where those handprints were. Here in this room lay the formula, and here, Asami could start to rebuild the city and leave her handprints on it just like her mother. 

In a way, hadn’t she already? Asami laid her hand on the leather journal and traced its edges. That first entry admitted that some of her two-year-old scribbles had inspired her mother’s designs. 

It reminded her of the Lion Turtle she’d met during the war. The confusing knowledge they had given her, and yet, that knowledge showed an interconnectedness that pervaded both worlds. Nothing ever happened in isolation. Everything had a ripple affect, even the words said, the actions done, the dreams dreamed. Her two year old scribbles influenced architect blueprints and became part of the skyline. 

Who else had been affected by the ripples that spread outward from her existence, words, actions? She’d never truly know, and thinking about it humbled her. It made life feel weightier, not a heavy burden-type of weight, but more of a settling into oneself sort of weight. Or rather, perhaps, a permutation within the equation of her self. 

Her own mother had shared in her recorded message that people were made up of connections. The same message from the Lion Turtle - the interconnectedness of reality and the balance to the various elements that constitute it. Yet, even as much as people were made up of connections, the myriad components that comprised a person held a diverse set of attributes, endless permutations, and thus a uniqueness that couldn’t be fully copied. 

Asami leaned back and looked at the ceiling. Each platinum tile in the ceiling fit together seamlessly, only a slim line between them showed they were tiles. From a distance, things seemed seamless, but up close, the finer details revealed themselves. Wasn’t getting to know a person similar? From a distance, the person was a person who could meld into crowds of other people, like a homogeneous whole, but up close, the details of each person in the crowd distinguished them from one another to reveal humanity as a heterogeneous mixture. Even identical twins like Korra’s cousins could be distinguished if examined close enough. 

Pulling out her Idea Journal, Asami furiously wrote down these ideas. Quickly one page filled and another. The third she added a drawing to give the ideas more depth.

These insights felt important, something to be remembered, and maybe something Korra would enjoy discussing too. A smile twitched Asami’s lips at the thought of Korra, of her beauty, of her empathy, of her ferocity for justice, and that intense desire to touch Korra hit her hard. Maybe later, once she was ready to return to the Island, she could see if Korra would be open to exploring one another more physically or sexually. Asami tapped the pen against her journal, her mind now fully captured by the alluring idea of seeing Korra naked. 

That was not a productive thought, but Asami shut her Idea Journal, tucked it away, and leaned back. Her hands behind her head, she let the thought sweep through her. Why not indulge in a little fantasy about her super fantastic girlfriend? This was her personal secret space. She could do anything she wanted in here. Such as enjoying the thought of Korra without all the pesky clothes.

A thump from the hallway startled her. Light flickered on the other side of the door, except that wasn’t a flashlight. 

More like fire bending. For a brief moment, fear seized her, but she forced herself into a train of logic to calm herself.

Who would know of this place outside of Team Avatar? No one that is, at least no one alive. Maybe her father, but he was in prison. Had someone found the passage by accident? Surely she had remembered to lock the study door. Except, she couldn’t recall. She’d definitely shut the bookcase, hadn’t she?

Confused and now worried, she looked around the room for a potential weapon. She hadn’t thought to bring her boomerang nor the shock glove. Sighting a wrench, she grabbed it and pressed her back against the wall by the door. She’d flip first to identify, then attack fast if an unknown fire bender. No way would fire harm her mother’s legacy again.

The door creaked open. “Hey—”

She moved quickly and caught the person’s arm and leg, and flipped them into the room. The person tumbled forward and caught themselves with air bending. 

Wait. Air bending?

And why were they wearing her clothes?

“Korra?” Asami stared, baffled. That was the disguise she’d crafted for Korra when seeking the truth of the mansion break-in. Why was Korra wearing that?

Korra rolled onto her back and sat upright. “I deserved that." she rubbed her back. "You’d think I’d remember from last time…” She pushed up to her feet. “Anyway, I came to find you because you were taking so long, and I got to tell you about Raiko and…” Korra tilted her head. “Were you going to hit me with a wrench?”

Asami flushed, embarrassed. She placed the wrench on the work table. “Saw fire bending. Left the glove and boomerang at the island… Korra, why are you wearing a disguise?” Asami walked over to her and lifted the hat off Korra’s head. Korra’s hair tumbled down in only one wolf tail, which made her girlfriend look utterly adorable and surprisingly older.

She looked at the hat and shook her head. “This is a bit large for you, isn’t it? There were multiple fedoras in the hat box, you know. I think the black one would have fit you, and to choose brown? Korra, this doesn’t go with your outfit at all!” She put the fedora on the table. 

Korra laughed. “Of course you’d critique the disguise. And why do you have a box full of a million hats when you never wear one?” 

“I…” Asami blushed. “Um. You see.” She had no excuse. Sighing, she decided it was better to just admit it. “I collect them! The work put into making a hat unique? It’s fascinating. And don’t you dare tease me.” She wagged her finger at Korra’s continued laughter. “Maybe I’ll start wearing them then.” 

“You got to wear that flower one then. The one where they look like pinwheels!” Korra bent over laughing. “It’s so bizarre!” 

“I will not! I… bought that one because it was weird.” Asami sat down in the chair. “Now that you’ve had a laugh at my expense, please, explain?” She waved her hand at the disguise. 

“Oh right.” Korra sobered. “So. I might be banished.” 

“WHAT?” Asami jumped to her feet. A surge of anger shot through her. 

Korra grabbed her shoulders. “Hey, let me explain. Sit.” She pushed Asami back into the chair, which Asami allowed since standing angry would have meant her pacing uselessly. Korra stood there a moment, her hands still on Asami’s shoulders, but this time her expression had changed to sadness. “Uh. Okay, not sure how to explain. I…” Her shoulders drooped. 

Now that Asami couldn’t stand. Except, this chair was not comfortable for what she wanted to do. So she slipped free of Korra’s hold, grasped her hands, and walked her to the bed alcove. Except it needed sheets. Right. She held up a finger at Korra’s confused question and dug through the nearby dresser. 

Huh. Clean sheets that smelled faintly of wood lay in the top drawer. Better than nothing. She quickly slid the sheet on and folded another by the pillows in case she got cold. The alcove itself wasn’t quite tall enough for them to sit upright, so she crawled in and pulled on Korra’s arm. “Come on, let me hold you, and you can tell me everything, okay?” 

After taking off the trenchcoat, Korra slipped in with her and pressed her face against Asami’s shoulder. Asami wrapped her tightly in a hug and kissed the top of Korra’s head. It took the Avatar nearly a half an hour to share the full story, including her conversation with Raava-Vaatu. When she finished, she pressed tighter against Asami, to the point that it was making Asami very hot and bothered, which contrasted confusingly with the boiling anger at Raiko. The Raava-Vaatu conversation she needed that to percolate a bit before she could respond, but the Raiko nonsense? That needed a more immediate fix.

“A punch isn’t enough for that man,” she said, darkly. “And no, Korra, you will not be banished. Not if I have anything to say.” The gall of that man! Korra and her were building a future together in Republic City, and Asami refused to let that rat-faced, joy-less husk of a man try to tear that apart. Raiko’s party would of course likely fall into line since they’d been irritating with their endless anti-Avatar rhetoric and baffling twists of facts. But of the opposing parties, at least two of them might be sympathetic, and the one definitely so. 

“You think you can stop him?” Korra sighed. “I don’t really know what to do.” 

“You don’t need to do anything. Let us take care of this for you, okay?” Asami brushed Korra’s hair from her face and kissed her forehead. “We’ll fix this.” 

“Not you though.” When Asami raised her eyebrow, Korra spoke in a torrent of words. “Bo and I talked about… okay, it was about you because well, I default to that sometimes because you’re awesome, and point is, he suggested we do a Team Avatar adventure until things… cooled down here. So then, I thought we could seek out more air benders in other nations to rebuild the Air Nation. So I came here to find you and ask you to come.”

Asami blinked and reran through the flood of words. “Oh.” Korra came to ask her to join her. “Korra, I’m already ahead of you. I figured you’d want to search for air benders elsewhere, so I did some preparation today.” Asami’s anger faded somewhat at the idea of a Team Avatar adventure. “I got the okay for…” she trailed off and wondered if there was a way to share this without giving it away? Unlikely. “I wanted to surprise you, but you’ve seen the models and sketches of it…”

“No way! It’s really the airship?” Korra pushed herself up with one arm. “Bo said you’d have one hidden away somewhere!” 

Asami smiled. “Not hidden. Built. Gave the blueprints to Kyung before we headed South for the final battles. She started up production right away. I toured it… not quite a week ago to advise on interior work. Lukken confirmed it’s completed now and ready to fly.”

“That is fantastic!” Korra’s look of delight warmed Asami all over. 

“I planned to surprise you by showing up in the airship at Air Temple Island. Because I did make it for you.” Asami found Korra’s look of delight mixed with surprise so utterly adorable that she couldn’t resist a quick kiss on the nose. “I will have to keep a record of our travel and any issues we have, then report back for my team to improve the second one. But otherwise, it’s your own personal airship.”

“You are so amazing.” Korra eyes held a sheen to them, and she smiled that adorable lopsided grin. “Always a step ahead I swear.” 

“No, in sync.” With Korra pressed up against her, her body was being far too aroused. Irony considering she’d been indulging in thoughts of Korra naked earlier. “Oh, I should ask, did you lock the study door?” When Korra nodded, Asami decided to focus all her attention on Korra rather than spare one more iota for that Raiko fool. “Good, because you look very hot right now,” she whispered in her best sultry voice.

“I… am hot…” Korra swallowed, her pupils enlarged, and her brown cheeks dusted with a blush. 

Asami snickered. “Yes. You are.” She slid her hand under the red blouse of the disguise and traced her fingers along Korra’s abs. “And getting hotter?” Teasing Korra had become one of her favorite pastimes, and this evening, safe in the workshop, she was curious how far the teasing could go. She kissed along Korra’s cheek and nibbled on her earlobe.

They’d been dancing around sex for awhile now, and with Korra up against her and touching her, Asami really wanted to just try. She’d wanted it for a few weeks now, but they both had been shy. Asami knew her reasons was wanting more research and being anxious for reasons she couldn’t quite remember, but now that they were in the heat of the moment, with Korra right here… 

Korra’s hand traced the back of Asami’s neck, which felt so good. “Do you want to… you know… do… it?”

Asami’s mind went into error mode. Do it?  For a long moment, she pressed her face against Korra’s neck to give herself a moment to process the words said.

Oh!

Korra had asked her for sex. “Yes.” The word came out before she was even aware she’d spoken. 

That seemed to be what Korra needed. Asami’s eyes widened when Korra brazenly wiggled out of the blouse and then her breast binder. She tossed them onto the floor. Asami caught her breath, stunned by Korra’s beauty. To see what had been hidden by clothing… her imagination didn't do it justice.

Beautiful. Gorgeous. Spectacular. Delicious. Asami needed a thesaurus. None of the words were sufficient. Her hand slid across Korra’s bare skin and over her right breast. Korra tugged at her jacket. 

Right. That was a problem in need of a solution.

Asami slipped out of her jacket and shirt, hesitated briefly only to decide, why not, and chucked her bra too. Perhaps pants should go, but she was too distracted to think beyond that intense desire to explore. She kissed Korra deeply, and each touch sent her into a haze of intense want.

No, trousers needed to go too. Onto the floor both landed.

The pair moved slowly at first, the touch shy. Asami was determined to kiss each patch of bare skin, to focus all her attention on Korra, and Korra’s pleasure. Still she hesitated with anything below the waist, until Korra, herself, pushed Asami’s hand down. Korra moaning her name sent a shiver through Asami, and she chased after Korra's gasps of pleasure when she slid her fingers inside her. Korra moved with her, the intensity building with each thrust and kiss. Korra's hand curled into Asami's hair and pulled slightly, causing Asami to moan at the amazing stimulation.

Her first time with Korra swept her away. Diagrams, discussions, and thinking of sex did not in any way capture the intense emotional connection and release. The shyness turned to a semi-urgency, weeks of dancing around this erupted into their touch and the joining itself. Riding Korra through, holding her as she came felt like the world have been painted in color after nothing but greyscale.

When Korra touched her in turn, Asami pushed Korra’s hand down, the same gesture of consent, and nothing in the universe could prepare her for how amazingly good it felt to have Korra finally touch her there. The intensity rose and rose, her heart beat raced, and finally, her mind fizzled into a wonderful haze of pleasure. When she caught her breath again, Korra was holding her and stroking her hair and face. 

She’d just…

… they’d really just…

Asami blinked back tears and cupped her hands against Korra’s cheeks. Her girlfriend looked down at her, and tears shone in Korra’s eyes too. Asami rubbed one away. 

Korra kissed her softly then laid her head against Asami’s shoulder, her body wrapped around Asami’s, her grip tight but warm. Asami held her close, and slowly her heartbeat began to calm. 

“Was… that okay?” Korra whispered. Her breath tickled Asami’s neck.

“Yes, yes. For you too?” Words were difficult. She felt too full of emotion and her body still fizzled with a glow of warmth everywhere.

Korra nodded into Asami’s neck. “More than… I’d ever thought. Thank you.”

Asami nodded, unable to sort out words for a reply. Instead, she held Korra close. How was it possible to feel this happy? She kissed the side of Korra’s head and ran her fingers through her golden-brown locks. The alcove itself was relatively warm from their activities, and at their lack of motion, the ceiling light dimmed considerably.

How long they laid there in each other’s arms, Asami wasn’t sure, but she’d started to doze off when Korra lifted her head away from Asami’s shoulder. The movement triggered the light, and the room brightened again.

“Did you eat lunch or dinner?” Korra kissed her bare shoulder. 

“Hmmm. I… don’t recall.” Had she forgotten to eat again? Probably. Too many tasks in the day. “We had breakfast I know…”

“’Sami!” Korra attempted a glare, but her lips kept twisting up into a smile. “Eating is important, you weird workaholic.”

“Mmmm.” Asami didn’t want to get up yet. She wanted to hold Korra tightly, to feel her skin against her own. “Too much to do. And now there’s you.” She pulled Korra down for a kiss again, which was what Asami preferred at the moment. Korra’s hands swept up and down her sides, and Asami tightened her hold, losing herself in the taste of Korra. 

Though if she kept this up, she might get them all worked up again. Now that they’d finally had their first time, sex no longer seemed as big of a deal. It was another layer of intimacy and way to reveal her endless gears of love to Korra.

Korra pulled back and brushed Asami’s hair from where it had fallen on her face. “You…you distracting engineer! We ought to eat dinner.” 

“Or I could eat you?” Asami teased.

The blush returned and extended almost to Korra’s ears, and she had that same frozen look of brain overload from earlier. “Uhhh. Sure.” She licked her lips and looked so adorably flustered.

Asami laughed. “I’m teasing you. Though it is one of the techniques I learned from that book. We could try it sometime.” That particular technique had quite a few drawings, and Asami had been glad the door to her room had been locked.

Korra smiled, shyly. “Sure, you’ll have to teach me though.” 

“We’ll teach each other.” Asami cupped Korra’s face in her hands, distracted again. “You’re so beautiful,” she said, softly. Gently, she kissed her forehead. “I love you so much.” She rubbed her thumbs over Korra’s cheeks. The word love felt so woefully inadequate for the depth of her feelings.

“I love you too.” Korra’s expression softened, and she kissed one of Asami’s hands. “Now let’s eat food?” 

Asami pulled her down for one last kiss. “Okay.” Eating before sex might have been a better plan. She’d have to remember that, so that next time - Asami really hoped there was a next time, they could hold each other for as long as they wanted, without their stomachs’ - or rather Korra’s - growling. 

By the time they dressed, Asami realized she was a bit light-headed, so eating probably was a good plan. She rolled up the blueprints she hoped to adjust for the city rebuilding and tucked them into a shoulder bag along with her mother’s journal. Looking around the workshop, she tapped her gloved finger against her chin. What else would she need for a long airship trip?

“What’s taking you so long,” Korra asked, impatient, though a smile was still on her face. She poked Asami’s side.

“Deciding if I want to take supplies. This is a well stocked workshop.” Asami caught Korra’s hand when she tried to poke her again and kissed her knuckles. “I think… I’ll make this my personal workshop.”

“Really? I thought going to the mansion was still painful for you?” Korra wrinkled her brow in concern. 

“Yes and no. This room?” Asami waved her hand at it. “Has only good memories. It’s my mother’s. Then there’s her recorded message for me. The fact you all helped me reach it? And our first time? All here.” She tugged Korra closer and kissed her on the lips. “And it can be our little private spot.” 

“Well, okay. I’m on board with that.” Korra grinned and kissed her. Which if they kept this up, Asami was going to regret putting clothes back on.

“Right. You need food.” Asami reluctantly pulled away. “And let me grab a few tools and materials…” she hurried to the cabinet and materials tub before she could get distracted again by Korra. Now that they’d had sex for the first time, Asami felt a bit more… free? Like she could really let her guard down, and she hadn’t even realized her guard had been partly up this whole time until she’d shared this beautiful evening with Korra. 

Tying the shoulder bag shut, she slid it over her shoulders. These supplies would let her make a few 3D models of blueprints, which could be a nice distraction for the long hours or days between wherever they were going to search for air benders. She turned to Korra, who stood at the workshop desk and looked at the blueprints that were still laying there, ones Asami had decided to not take with her. 

“Your Mom did all of these?” Korra looked at her.

“Yes.” Asami grasped Korra’s hand. “I think I’m going to adapt her train station one for the city rebuilding projects. You know, to meld her and my styles in honor of her?” 

“That’s beautiful, ‘Sami.” Korra squeezed her hand and smiled. Then she put the ridiculous fedora on her head again. It was far too big. Asami sighed but decided to not protest it. If Korra was determined to look ridiculous, then okay. She’d live with it she supposed, at least until they got back to the temple. Then she’d fix it.

Asami made sure to shut the door to the workshop as they left, and once back in the study, she had Korra help her set the books in a neater arrangement on the bookcase that contained the lever. She planned to keep this room locked, but at the same time, it was better to be on the safe side. 

She paused by the phone and tapped her gloved fingers against her trousers. “Tempted to make a call to start the process to fix…” 

“Food, ‘Sami. You can fix the universe after.” Korra tugged on her hand. 

“All right. Have it your way.” Asami didn’t mind. Korra’s insistence was endearing, and food would help Asami feel a lot less lightheaded. After locking the study, she lead the way toward the main floor. They were stopped only once by the new butler, who relayed Korra’s message, only to be startled when Korra herself interrupted with a laugh to tell him she was here already. 

Hmmm. She should install a phone in the workshop to avoid this in the future. Asami hadn’t heard the phone ring in the study. Too far away. 

“Do you think we can get the food to go and eat someplace… quiet?” Korra looked uneasy when they left the mansion and got into Asami’s satomobile. 

Asami raised her eyebrows. “Are you worried about Raiko’s words?” 

“A little.” Korra tipped the fedora forward as if to shield her face. 

“Let the jerk try. He’d have to get through me first.” Asami drove toward the gates, where several Future Industries guards stood in the guard house that had sat empty for almost a year. They waved at her after they opened the gate, and she waved back, self consciously. Before she’d turned on her father, she wouldn’t have noticed the guards and gone about her day taking them for granted. Now, it felt strange to not wave back and acknowledge their work.

“’Sami, I don’t want you arrested for my sake. Tenzin might not be able to get you out this time.” Korra clenched her hands together. 

Asami glanced at Korra. “They’d have to catch us first. Korra, Raiko lost his temper. I don’t think he can pull off this banishment, not without more support, and right now he’s only got his own party supporting him. The articles about you can’t make up their minds on whether to blame you for the vines or celebrate you as a war hero, so unlikely public would fully back it. There’s at least two parties that are pro-Avatar in parliament. We can leverage those and maybe push them to do a vote of no confidence in Raiko. Give him a good scare, and he’ll backtrack to save face.” 

Korra wrinkled her nose. “That… sounds needlessly complicated.” 

Asami shrugged and shifted to increase her speed. “Typical politics. Gotten more complex since the parliament was added to the government.”

“What’s the difference between President and parliament? I never quite got that.” Korra leaned her arm against the door. “Tenzin had me sit in on some of the meetings to establish the new government, but I didn’t see the point of my being there.”

That surprised her. She hadn’t known Korra had been present for those early meetings after Amon’s defeat. Asami hadn’t paid much attention until after her father’s trial, when she had to research how the voting system would work and what role did what. “President commands the troops, oversees government departments, and enacts laws. Parliament writes and passes laws mostly, though they can issue commands to have departments created I think. Their roles might get adjusted over time. This set-up is pretty new compared to the old Bender Council.” 

“Huh. Why didn’t they explain it like that in the meetings.” Korra looked around the street at the buildings, most of them upper scale homes, apartments, and stores. “Where are we going to eat?”

Asami realized she had been heading toward the docks out of habit. “How about we got to Fan’s Dumplings? Since we never did have our first date, we could make tonight that?” They’d been together now for about a month and a half, and it surprised her they’d yet to do a typical date. But then, going from friendship to romance had blurred the lines of what was a date and what was a hangout at least for Asami.

“Yeah! Let’s do it! Oh… wait, do you think my disguise works?” Korra looked at her and adjusted the fedora again. 

No, Asami did not think it worked. Not with that over-sized hat, but she didn’t want to hurt Korra’s ego, so she said instead, “I’ll get it to go.”

Fan’s Dumpling was located near the edge of the northwest part of town, where much of the upper class citizens lived. Tucked in the corner of two streets, the restaurant shone brightly with a neon sign in its window and ornately painted sign above its door, the paint one that glowed when light shone on it. Since they were getting it to go, Asami kept to the front, where the hostess and her podium was. 

The staff there knew Asami fairly well, since she’d gone here a lot before her father betrayed her and the city, but it had been months since then she’d been here. As she waited for the food, the hostess chatted with her, but to Asami's dismay, despite knowing her before the war, the hostess spent more time in awe of Asami. Was this a thing now? People treating her like she was… different and unreachable?

If so, Asami did not like it. She was relieved when the food came, and she could return to the satomobile.

Except, Korra wasn’t in it. Confused, she looked around only to sight Korra atop the restaurant. She put her hands on her hips and glared at her. “Okay, you can come down now.” 

“How did you see me?” Korra flew down on a gust of air bending. “I was hiding!” 

“Korra, you stood there. If you want to hide, you need to lay on your stomach, flat as possible or be behind something.” Asami gave her the bag of food and settled into the driver’s seat. “I know you’ve had stealth missions before.”

“Well, those we just blended with the crowd,” Korra hopped into the passenger seat with a wry smile. “Being all secretive like this is a bit new.” 

Huh. She supposed she’d have to teach Korra a bit more on stealth then. Because that was the worst stealth job she’d ever seen. “How about you tell me where we’re going next? For that place you mentioned?” She started up the vehicle and looked over at Korra. That fedora really was the worst fashion accessory. It was shadowing Korra’s beautiful face all right, but the clash against her clothes was an abomination. 

Best to focus on driving and not the horrendous color clash. 

Korra directed her poorly with her terrible directions, so Asami had her describe the location instead. From her gestures and rather… confusing description, Asami came to the conclusion the place was a cliff that overlooked the bay. There was quite a few of those on the edges of the west and east boroughs, so Asami headed southeast toward a cliff she knew would have a spectacular view. 

Pulling up to the area did require her to drive on a narrow, one-lane dirt road up to the top of the cliff. The satomobile handled it decently, but not as well as Asami hoped. The grip of the tires on the dirt was imperfect, likely needed to adjust the tread, and the engine struggled up the steeper incline, which meant she needed to adjust that too. The shocks were a mess, for the bumpier terrain, and that gave Asami an idea on a variation of the satomobile that allowed for more off-road travel. The chasis would need adjusted for the improved shocks and thicker tires, since more surface area and deeper tread would grip the land easier. 

“Okay, what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” Korra laughed. “You got that Sato look going.” 

Asami raised an eyebrow. “Which Sato look is it this time?” Why Korra insisted on calling her ‘looks’ only ‘Sato look’ when they seemed to be wildly different from each other was beyond her. 

“The ‘I’m calculating how to fix the universe’ Sato look.” 

She smiled and shook her head. “Contemplated how to alter the satomobile for better off-road travel.” She parked at the top of the cliff. Turning, she brushed Korra’s hair from her face. “This might not be your spot, but I thought you’d like the view.”

Korra gazed at her with a soft, affectionate expression, one that always melted Asami’s heart. “View looks spectacular to me,” she said, her gaze still on Asami. 

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” Asami murmured. She leaned over and kissed Korra, gently, her fingers trailing down her girlfriend’s face. “But we should eat, so you don’t die of hunger on me.” She poked Korra’s growling stomach. 

“Got me.” Korra smiled and hopped over the side of the satomobile. 

Asami got out like a regular, sensible person. “One of these days I’ll get you to exit a vehicle correctly.” 

“Nah, too boring.” Korra plopped down on the hood of the satomobile and patted the spot next to her. Asami sat down gingerly, and took the bowl of dumplings Korra handed her. 

The cliff overlooked Yue bay and Air Temple Island but with the curve of the shore, the city skyline was framed by the several mountain peaks. The sky was a deep umber tinged with violet and orange from the sun setting to the west. Birds dived to the surf below and other creatures called to each other, mixing with the tumult of the bay against the cliffs. Asami sighed contently as she ate. 

“How’d you know of this place?” Korra asked between mouthfuls. 

“I used to come here to think… before I met all of you.” Asami waved her chopsticks at the expansive scenery. “Seeing it all laid out before me? Inspiring. A great way to let ideas percolate and bubble forth.”

Korra looked out over the view. “It is pretty fantastic. When I first came here, Naga and I would explore the edges of the city, mostly because Naga wasn’t fond of running through the city. Too much tumult I think. So we’d go along the cliff trails. More room for her to run. I haven’t taken her out here lately. Don’t know why.” 

Asami chewed on a dumpling and thought through the last month, of how busy all of them had been with recovering from the war and acclimation back into everyday life. “Rebuilding after war isn’t easy. There’s always more to do. Can be easy to get caught up in it.” 

“True. I need to take Naga out on the paths more. She deserves a good run like that.” Korra scooted closer so that their legs and arms were touching. “When I was still at that compound, I had to get special permission each time I wanted to take Naga out on a run. It was freeing to ride her across the tundra. Sometimes I’d urge her into a trot to see how fast she could go. She loved that.” 

“Korra, why did you have to have special permission?” Each story of this compound gave Asami more and more bad vibes.

Korra shrugged. “Claimed it was for my safety.” 

“But safety from what?” Asami pinched her nose. “Honestly, it sounds more like a prison than a training compound.” 

Looking down at her mostly empty cup, Korra sighed. “I guess so. Remember how Mom said there was a kidnapping attempt when I was still pretty young? I don’t know exactly who did it or why, but the security after that got increased a lot I'm told.” 

“So that was their justification of locking you up? What about your parents? Were you able to be with them at all?”

“Every month, I’d get a few days with them. They’d come and visit me at the compound a lot though.” Korra smiled sadly. “I never questioned any of it. The only reason I left… was because I wanted to learn airbending and Tenzin wouldn’t stay to train me at the compound. Master Katara found me loading up Naga, and when she gave me her blessing, that convinced me I was doing the right thing.”

“I’m glad you ran away. Locking you up like that? That wasn’t okay.” Asami once again found herself furious at the White Lotus. To lock away this beautiful woman? Even if it was for safety, surely more time could have been spent with her people? Asami recalled their time investigating spirits in the South, when Korra kept admitting to not seeing this or that place, how she'd never been able to go. Like the courtroom at the ice palace in Wolf's Cove. 

“Yeah, at the time, I didn’t know anything else.” Korra finished her cup and dug out a soup container. “I really hated that compound at times. All my days were filled with training. Whenever the city had a festival, I’d beg to go. Most of the time I was told no.” A hint of sadness mixed with despondence threaded through her voice.

Korra drank some of the soup, her gaze unfocused. “I think I was around nine when I sneaked out to go to the summer solstice festival. I so badly wanted to be around people. To play with kids my age. I found a few playing an arcade game. One where you throw the ball toward a hoop? I got in a fight with them with my boasting. One of the kids pushed me around with his water bending, so I water bended back at him. That’s when the others asked me to prove I was the avatar. So I fire bent and accidentally set the entire game on fire. I nearly panicked and almost flooded the area.” 

“Really?” Asami looked at her, amused at the image of one of the festival games on fire.

“Yeah. Dad and Mom ran up then and put out the fire. I got a good scolding for it, but those kids sure believed my story then!” Korra rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed. “I got taken back to the compound and locked in my room by my fire bending instructor. The next day, Dad came back with the kids who I’d tried to befriend. They apologized, and Dad convinced my teacher to let me play with them for the day. They came every month with my Dad for a year or so. But I guess the novelty of playing with the Avatar wore off? I didn’t see them as often, until they stopped coming at all.” 

They locked Korra in her room. Asami was still stuck on that part of the story. “Is that why you’re so eager to befriend everyone?”

“Partly? I also really like people.” Korra finished her soup and leaned against Asami’s side. “It’s fun! There’s so many people in the world, and so many stories to hear.” 

Asami curled her arm around Korra and pulled her closer. She set her empty food container aside. “Avatar Korra, glad to make your acquaintance over a cup of tea.”

Korra wrapped her arms around Asami’s chest and kissed her earlobe. “You know me too well.” Her kisses trailed down Asami’s neck, a wonderful tingle that spread through her body. 

She turned her head and kissed Korra, her arms tight around her. Making out with Korra already felt fantastic, but now that they’d had their first time, it left Asami wanting more. Except the hood of her vehicle was not comfortable. “Maybe the ground or back seat?” Asami whispered. 

Nodding, Korra slipped off and pulled her into the grass and flowers that adorned the cliff. They laid down, kissing, and sliding their hands under their clothes. Asami slipped out of her jacket, as did Korra, to make it easier to slip their hands under each other's shirts. Each kiss and touch made her more and more aroused, until she found her courage to ask, “Do you want to… again?”

“Yes please.” Korra pushed Asami’s hand toward her trousers.

She didn’t need any further coaxing, and the pair made love for the second time that day. The glow of the sunset washed over the bay and the city, and the cloudless sky darkened toward a starlit twilight. Asami decided this was perhaps the best evening she'd had in a long, long time, and she snuggled tighter around Korra, only partly clothed, her jacket over them like a blanket. Tomorrow they'd worry about planning the Team Avatar mission and loading up the airship. Tonight though, Asami only wanted Korra.

Read More Here

[androids-musings]

Android 16's Niece: Chapter 2.5

Summary: Another anecdote that takes place while the Androids are driving in the Lucky Foods van. 17 tries to sic a hyper kid in an enclosed space on 18 and 16 in hopes of entertaining himself. It doesn’t go as planned.

This piece is written in third-person.

Characters: Saki (OC), Android 17, Android 18, Android 16

Word Count: 1.5k

A/N: This a funny idea I mentioned in passing to my friend that I decided to write out because I missed writing for 17 and 18. Enjoy!

Read the main story here.

“Hey, 17, what’s that?”

17 glanced at Saki, who had draped herself over the rim of the now-nonexistent driver’s window. 16 had broken off the remaining pieces of glass at their last gas stop to prevent any shards from raining down in the back of the van. It was nice since 17 could now rest his arm on the door while he drove, but he knew that the lumbering android only did it to ensure the safety of this kid he called his niece. Speaking of which, 17 was mildly surprised that Saki was willing to come anywhere near the window instead of staying by the van’s heater vents. 

“You’re too young to be in the driver’s seat, you know,” 17 said. He turned his attention back to the gas pump as the numbers continued to tick upward. How much longer was he going to have to wait for the gas tank to fill up? Maybe leaving the van running was a mistake.

“I don’t see you with a driver’s license either,” Saki shot back. “So what’s that you’re drinking? It looks pretty.”

Saki pointed to the brightly decorated can in 17’s hand. Swipes of neon blue and green ink twisted around the black can like dripping paint strokes. 17 lifted the can and swirled the drink around. 

“It’s an energy drink,” 17 answered simply. 

The irony of consuming the stuff wasn’t lost on him. Energy was the last thing in the world that 17 needed now that he was an android with access to infinite amounts of it. Ever since he first awoke as one of Dr. Gero’s abominations, he never once felt tired, hungry, or thirsty. Despite this, he still found himself swiping a can from the fridge as he followed Saki out of the gas station’s shop after her latest lifting spree. Old habits died hard, he supposed. 17 didn’t see a point in wasting a good beverage, so he cracked the can open while waiting for the van to fill up with gas.

“Those are like coffee, right?” Saki asked. She shifted to grip the rim of the driver's door window and swayed back and forth against it. “Do they taste good? Or is it like coffee in the way that it smells good but tastes bad?” 

More questions. This kid seemed to have nothing but questions about the most mundane things in the world. 17 wanted to snap at her to stop asking about his choice of drinks and crack into one of the bottles of sugary juice she just stole, but an entertaining thought stopped him. This kid was already full of energy as she was and a minor nuisance with her constant talking throughout the trip so far. What would happen if she were to get a bit of caffeine in her system? It might be entertaining to watch her drive 18 mad and see if 16 had an end to his seemingly limitless patience. 17 didn’t worry about whether this would backfire on him. Saki had mentioned to 18 before that he gets immunity from being bothered by her since he was the driver, and she wanted to avoid potential accidents.

“Why don’t I give you some to try?” 17 said. “Do you have an empty bottle back there somewhere?”

Saki’s nose crinkled. “Is it alright for me to drink that stuff? I thought those kinds of drinks were only for grown-ups.”

“You’re thinking of alcohol,” 17 said. He threw a glance around to make sure 18 and 16 weren’t close enough to overhear and ruin his plans. “It’ll be fine, I was already drinking stuff like this by the time I was your age.”

“Alright then!” Saki chirped. “Hang on a minute.” 

Saki vanished from the window and fumbled her way back to the rear end of the van where she kept her stash of snacks and drinks. 17 blinked at the space where she had been. He had expected a bit more resistance from her on the subject, given her odd morals and the short time they had known each other, but she had trusted him without another word. What happened to the suspicion that she held toward him just a few hours ago?

More fumbling sounds came from inside the van, and Saki reappeared at the window with a water bottle in hand. She finished the last of the water inside before passing it to 17. 17 held the bottle away from himself and he poured a decent amount of drink into it. In hindsight, he may have poured too much. Just a few sips would have been enough to get the kid jumpy, and she’d likely waste the rest of it once she found out how energy drinks taste. What’s done was done, though. He could just consider the wasted drink the price for later entertainment. 17 handed the bottle back to Saki.

Saki raised the bottle to her nose and gave it a tentative sniff. “It smells like blueberries. And… lemon?”

“It’s blueberry lemon flavor,” 17 said, raising the can to take another sip. 

“So it tastes like blueberry lemonade?” Saki asked, turning to him with a wide grin. 

“Sure, let’s go with that.”

Saki giggled excitedly at the promise of lemonade. 17 watched as she tipped the bottle to drain its contents and grinned when her face twisted with a muffled gag. Saki slapped a hand over her mouth and forced herself to swallow the acidic drink. She groaned in disgust.

“That didn’t taste like lemonade at all!” Saki whined. 

17 didn’t even attempt to hide his chuckles. “I’m surprised that you committed to it.”

Saki whipped her head to 17, her brows scrunched together and her mouth curled in a pout. “You did that on purpose! You knew it would taste disgusting!” 

The gas pump sputtered, announcing the van’s full tank with a harsh click of metal. Downtime was finally over. 17 raised the can again and drained what was left of his energy drink to Saki’s astonishment and disgust. He hummed in amusement at her expression as he crushed the can in his hands.

“Tastes fine to me,” 17 said. He chucked the can into a nearby garbage can and turned to remove the gas pump from the van. “Go get 18 and your uncle. We’re leaving.” 

“Okaaay,” Saki replied, a hint of disgust still in her voice. She squeezed herself through the window and jumped down before heading off in search of 18 and 16. 

17 let his smirk drop as he hooked the gas pump back onto the machine. Things were about to get interesting in the van. It was about time something else came along to shake up this quiet trip of theirs.

─── ⊹⊱✿⊰⊹ ───

17 twisted to look back for the umpteenth time, yet the scene behind him still hadn’t changed. Saki had hardly moved an inch since she passed out asleep against 16 not long after they left the gas station. 16 kept a hand on her shoulder, serving as some semblance of a seatbelt to keep her in place during the drive. 17 wasn’t expecting this to happen until after Saki had burned through all the caffeine in her system. What the hell was going on?

“What do you keep looking back for?” came 18’s voice. 

17 turned back to the road. “It’s nothing.” 

18 hummed, unconvinced but not nosey enough to push the subject further. Silence settled in the van. 

Nearly an hour later, the telltale sounds of Saki waking up finally reached 17’s ears. She sleepily murmured something to 16 before shuffling her way to her usual spot against the safety bars. Saki draped herself over the bars and turned her bleary gaze to 17.

“17, I don't think that energy drink you gave me did its job very well,” Saki said, biting back another yawn.

“Hang on, you gave the kid an energy drink?” 18 snapped. 

Crap.

“I thought it would be funny,” 17 admitted. Saki shot up at his words, suddenly wide awake, and shot a glare at 17.

“Funny?” 18 repeated. “She would have been bouncing off the walls of this van if she hadn’t immediately gone into a caffeine crash. Would it still have been funny once she started annoying you?”

17 glanced at 18 with a smirk. “I get immunity from being bothered as the driver. Saki said so herself.”

“Oh yeah?” Saki piped up. She propped her arms on the floor of the van and raised her feet to drum them against the back of 17’s seat. “Well what if I revoke that immunity? Karma! Payback! Consequences!”

Yeah, this absolutely wasn’t worth the drink he wasted.

“Whoops,” 17 said, jerking the steering wheel to throw the van across the freeway.

A squeal shredded through the air, followed by a series of thuds. 17 bit back a chuckle as 16 moved in the rearview mirror to tend to the whining Saki. Consequences, indeed. A jab to his arm knocked the amused smile off his face. His gaze snapped to 18.

“You threw me into the window, jerk,” 18 spat. She fixed her tousled hair with a huff and angled herself away from 17 to watch the scenery pass them by. 17 grunted and turned his gaze back to the road ahead of him.

Consequences, indeed.

[whoaffle]

Hancock and Nick Valentine headcanons...

Got sucked into the Fallout 4 vortex, so here are some headcanons for non-feral ghouls and 2.5 gen synths, specifically Hancock and Nick!

Hancock will sometimes crave raw meat: Feral ghouls like to prey on humans and other animals to feed on fresh meat, and that urge manifests to some extent on non-ferals as well: they feel a strong desire for raw red meat sometimes (although it doesn’t have to be fresh and definitely not human). Imagine finding Hancock eating little strips of raw Brahmin meat at 2am.

Hancock has night-vision*: Well, maybe not full night-vision, but certainly better than a human’s! He still cannot see in pitch black rooms or anything, but he will see much more clearly in the woods at night than a human would. Applies to all ghouls, in fact.

Nick has the sense of touch on his metal parts: I suppose it would be rather hard for him to interact with objects with his metal hand if his sense of touch was limited to skin-covered parts, so I headcanon his uncovered metal parts would also experience tactile sensations somehow. So if you hold his tiny metal hand, he will feel it!

Hancock is much faster than a human: Feral ghouls will just sprint at you at unimaginable speeds, besides moving their limbs pretty fast and dodging attacks very efficiently, so I can’t help but imagine non-ferals would also have this enhanced speed, both in terms of reflexes and movement speed. Hancock may not show, because of how chill he is most of the time, but he could move really fast if he wanted to, besides being so damn good at dodgeball!

Nick is pretty stronger than a human*: Probably due to having a metal skeleton? That man is stronger than he looks! He can easily carry another person in his shoulders, even if it’s an adult man. Not gonna say he could carry you in your power armor, because he wouldn’t be able to hold it firmly enough and with enough balance to do so, but a smaller object with the same weight would be OK to lift for him!

Hancock has relatively bad hearing: Actually all ghouls do. My take is that ghoulification increases your senses of sight and smell, but your hearing will deteriorate, after all, you do lose your external ear cartilage. If you say something to Hancock and he goes “huh?”, don’t worry! It’s not because he’s stoned, he simply didn’t hear you. (He is also stoned, of course, but that’s not the point).

Nick doesn’t have a heartbeat, but a purr: Instead of a beating heart, Nick has a motor and a coolant pump, so if you lean your head on his chest you won’t hear that “tu-dum, tu-dum...” sound, but instead, a constant low-pitched vibration, very similar to a cat’s purr! Yes, you read that right: detective Nick Valentine from Fallout 4 purrs like a kitty. :)

Although Nick doesn’t require sleep, food or water, he can sleep, eat and drink: This is actually supported by the fact that Nick has animations eating noodles, drinking from a cup while idle and has a bed in his office (there are two beds at the agency, one is Ellie’s and the other has gotta be his own). Falling asleep, for Nick, is similar to entering a hibernation period for a computer. Also, his eyes may remain open, but won’t glow in yellow like when he’s awake. When he wakes up, his eyes will slowly light up and his motor will start making a louder noise.

Hancock has suicidal tendencies: Actually supported by the bug(?) that if you leave Hancock alone in a settlement, he may die randomly upon your arrival to said settlement, saying “one... last... trip...” right before falling down dead on the floor. I interpret that as Hancock committing suicide via overdose if unattended for too long. Other things that support this headcanon for me are: his past history of drug abuse when in difficult moments of life, his choice to ghoulify himself as a destructive response to self-hatred and the fact that in my game at least he asks to get back traveling together every time I walk near him - much more frequently than my other companions.

Nick may overheat if he can’t cool down properly: Just like any machine, if Nick’s coolant system is malfunctioning, or if he’s working harder than his coolant system can handle cooling down, he will overheat. Besides becoming hot to the touch, this may also result on: 1- trouble processing thoughts and speech, 2- delay in movements and responses, 3- headache, 4- eventual shutdown (passing out).

The only reason Nick still remembers Jennifer Lands’ death and human Nick’s rivalry with Eddie Winters is trauma: We know from the holotapes that human Nick was traumatized and went after treatment for his trauma, resulting on the brain scan that was later on loaded into synth Nick’s body. So we may as well deduce that the scan was of Nick’s brain before healing from trauma. We also know from the Far Harbor DLC that Nick’s memory cannot keep long-term information, which is why he forgot his interactions with DiMA from over 100 years before. If he can’t remember 100 year old memories, he shouldn’t remember anything from human Nick’s life... The reason he does is because it’s a literal trauma, so it’s imprinted on him even after everything else has been forgotten and even thought Nick’s sense of self and identity is no longer tied to human Nick and his experiences. He has flashbacks and nightmares about these memories.

Hancock loves cuddling more than he loves his own life: Maybe not more than he loves drugs, though. But really, he loves cuddling so so so much! This is partially inspired by how romantic he is. I’d say he’s one of the most romantic companions I’ve dated, he says really sweet things when you sleep with him and when you ask him about his thoughts or your relationship... So I thought it suited him to be very fond of physical contact, specially cuddling!

I guess this is what I have for now!

I love Nick and I love Hancock so fucking much! I guess I love Hancock even MORE than Nick, which is impressive considering how much I love Nick! ^^ Anyway, hope you guys liked these?

*contradict lore suggested by game quotes / mechanics.

[absolutepokemontrash]

MC’s half Demon, and they look AWFULLY familiar...

‘Kay guys, I got a different kind of stupid Headcanon to throw at you. Get ready!

Part 2 Lessons 1-5 Part 2.5 Group Retreat Lessons 10-12 Lessons 13-15 Part 3 Part 4

*ahem* picture if you will, it’s the day the exchange program is set to start. The student council (nix Mr. Kill All Humans, Weeb-supreme, and our Scummy Sweetheart) have assembled to welcome the new human student. All is going according to schedule, the portal opens up at eight am sharp, they hear the pitiful screams of the selected human who was not given a heads up about the whole thing, and the poor little human falls straight onto the marble floor.

There’s something a tad... off about this human don’t you think? After they’ve peeled their sorry ass off the floor they observed the assembled student council with an air of sophistication and self importance that no one expected. Their posture was perfect, their eyes sharp and calculating... they bared a striking resemblance to-

“Lucifer,” Diavolo looked to his right hand man, then back to the human. “The human kind of looks like you!”

And out popped four pitch black wings from the human’s back and two small horns out of the sides of their head, one horn was a bit bigger than the other. They even still had some of their down feathers! How cute!

((Content warning: Swearing (I have a potty mouth, forgive me), but that’s it.))

Luci-dad

So, the MC is Lucifer’s kid! Of course Mr. Prideypants immediately tries to recall exactly what little romp in the human world uh... spawned this half-human half-demon child of his. Good thing MC’s got the other parent on speed-dial.

“Please note, MC,” Lucifer pinched the bridge of his nose upon hearing Asmo take even more pictures of his newly discovered hellspawn. “I was not aware of your existence, if I was I’d-”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not upset.”

Lucifer blinked a few times in surprise. “P...pardon? You aren’t upset?”

“No, my parent told me that my father was a high ranking demon, and they bare no ill will against you. Though, I am looking forward to this whole... exchange program thing.”

Oh wow, that was easier than Lucifer thought. Damn. Well, he was a father... (let’s be real, he’s been parenting his brothers for thousands of years, and a good chunk of you sinners call him daddy)

MC is probably the most protected student at RAD, despite the fact that they have no visible security detail whatsoever. They didn’t want to be seen as... weak and pathetic.

Something about this human just... set the lesser demons on edge. Any talk of eating them was stamped out on the first day when they walked by. It’s like Lucifer himself was staring at them, daring the demons to try and bother the human. MC’s powerful presence kept them protected and feared.

...at least until dear uncle Asmo decided to do their hair one morning. All those ribbons may have looked adorable but they kind of ruined the intimidation factor.

MC loved to mess with the other students, keeping their lineage a secret for the first little while just made it so much funnier when the other demons tried to scramble out of MC’s way without looking like they were running from the ‘weak little human exchange student’.

Oh wow, what a sadist. Like father like child

Flying lessons are a must. Poor MC isn’t terribly good at controlling their wings, and their horns are still growing in so when they pop into their demon form the first thing they get is a sore skull. Ow... it sucks that Lucifer isn’t outwardly very sympathetic.

“Ow!” MC crashed face first into the grass in the backyard of the House of Lamentation. “Father! My wings are cramping! Can’t we practice this tomorrow?”

The sight of seeing his dear child crash face first into the ground had lost its hilarity after the first three times. Lucifer slowly lowered himself to the ground and crossed his arms as he stood over his incredibly grass-stained kid.

“MC, we’ve been ‘practicing this tomorrow’ for the past month. If you want to learn to fly you’re going to have to actually manage to stay in the air for more than three minutes.”

MC shot Lucifer a withering glare that only preteens were capable of, Lucifer matched it with his own much more sophisticated glare.

“You’ve been flying for over a thousand years! Don’t you have any tips that can actually help other than ‘don’t panic, you’ll look ridiculous’?”

Lucifer dragged a gloved hand down his face and looked around, the two were alone as far as he could see.

“MC,” Lucifer began. “When I was a young angel, I needed to learn how to fly with someone else.”

MC perked up. “Who?”

“Michael. The smug bastard picked up flying quicker than I did.”

“What’d you do?!”

Lucifer smiled at his child’s intense investment. “I practiced flying every day for five extra hours until I could do everything that Michael could do, just better.”

MC’s starry eyed interest died almost instantly upon hearing about the extra five hours of practice. “Humph, I bet I could outfly younger you and Michael with only two hours of practice a day.”

“Really now?”

“Yes! Watch!” MC shook off their wings and took off in a running start before shakily making it into the air. Their form was decent enough, and they weren’t shaking as much as the previous attempts. “SEE?!”

“Yes MC,” Lucifer smiled. “I can see.”

You know what else Lucifer could see? MC crashing right into a tree.

“Ouch...”

Okay... maybe they could halt practice a little early and order a treat from Madame Scream’s. A little sugar to refuel is needed when the end goal is crushing a mutual rival beneath their heels. Just some good old fashioned father/child bonding time!

MC has a smaller seat right next to Lucifer’s seat in the Assembly Hall. I will not compromise on this one.

For all your fluff needs, I give you: Lucifer teaching MC how to play the piano. He has a proud little smile on his face when his kid finally starts getting it. That’s all. Enjoy the image.

That one Uncle who gives you Alcohol at Family Gatherings (Mammon)

Yeah, when Mammon burst in late to the party and whining about everyone’s spamming him with texts to haul his scummy ass to the Assembly Hall, the last thing he expected was to see a mini-Lucifer.

“What the fuck am I lookin’ at?!”

The glare the two Lucifers gave the poor Avatar of Greed was enough to make him want to turn tail (uh, wing) and book it down the hall.

“Mammon, this is MC. They’re my child.”

“Hello.”

“...whaaaa..?” Mammon looked between the two, same glare, same intimidating aura, same annoyingly good posture.

Mammon scratched the back of his neck and looked over at his older brother. “Do I uh... still gotta babysit em’ if they’re not human?”

“The lake of Cocytus will melt the day I let you babysit without supervision.” Lucifer grumbled.

“I don’t need a babysitter!”

Despite Lucifer’s initial denial, Mammon and MC ended up spending a lot of time hanging out when Lucifer was busy with paperwork. Of course Mammon’s first thought was ‘how do I profit off this situation?’

MC is now Mammon’s designated babysitter after they caught him picking up their feathers that had fallen off with the intention of painting them white and claiming they were Lucifer’s from back in the Celestial Realm.

Mammon does end up spoiling MC a little. Just a smidge. They’re the kid of his totally not his favourite brother after all! How could he not? Whether or not these gifts are obtained legally or are legal at all is subject to scrutiny.

“Mammon, I can’t drink this!” MC placed the bottle of Demonus back on the counter of the kitchen.

“Why not? That’s a bottle of the good stuff! We gotta celebrate you gettin’ an A on that test somehow!”

“I’m underage! Incredibly underage. I’m not legally allowed to drink.”

Mammon wordlessly plopped a silly straw into the bottle. “...does that help?”

“No.” MC then inclined their head to the bottle. “And I don’t want to get hung from the ceiling, that bottle was in my father’s study yesterday, I’m above theft.”

“How old are you s’posed to be anyway? Never mind... uh...” Mammon wracked his brain for something else he could do for MC that didn’t cost anything (don’t judge him, the poor bastard was flat broke!). “I could... teach you to drive!”

“Driving?”

“Yeah! Drivin’ is awesome! We can take my car!”

The bills for the damages done to the car and the Devildom were mailed to Lucifer the next day, and MC and Mammon got to keep each other company as they hung from the ceiling. Ah well! At least MC wasn’t upside down!

Mammon wasn’t that good of a flight teacher either, he also crashed into a tree (the same tree MC crashed into, actually) when he was cheering for MC. They were finally able to do a loopdy loop! He was proud and distracted! Okay?! Lucifer! Stop smirkin’ at him! It’s not that funny!

At least the vantage point from the tree was decent and the branches didn’t scratch him up too badly. Oh hey... that person walking by was wearing a very nice watch... he’d be right back-

That Uncle That is Always Absent From Family Gatherings and When He is Present He Leaves Early (Levi)

He missed everything. That is not an exaggeration. He was in the middle of an online raid battle and couldn’t look at his phone! No Lucifer he can’t pause an online game! That’s not how it works!

Okay, the human exchange student is half demon? WOAH! THAT’S JUST LIKE THAT ONE ANIME- W A I T. THE LITTLE NORMIE IS LUCIFER’S KID?!

Okie doke, he was fully convinced that MC just had to be an anime protagonist.

They binged every series that Levi compared them to. Sure MC might have missed a few assignments because of late night anime binges, but they were too good for this school crap anyway, right?

Nope. Lucifer put a ban on the two watching anime until both their grades improved. Surviving that hell brought the two together.

“Ugh!”

The sound of a pencil case being haphazardly thrown across the room made Levi peek out of his bed-tub. If his figurines got knocked over so HELP HIM-

“This is stupid!!I shouldn’t have to catch up with this!” MC crossed their arms and gave their Demonology textbook their best disapproving glare.

Lucifer Lite (tm) was having a hell of a time trying to claw through their missed work, and Levi sympathized, he really did, it’s just... he was playing Animal Crossing-

Levi paused the game to placate his anime-buddy when their wings popped out and he feared for his rare merch’s safety.

“H-hey, MC? Do you need help?” Levi’s offer was met with a bone chilling glare that lived rent free in his nightmares ever since. He had pulled a Mammon and forgotten he was talking to Lucifer’s child. Lucifer’s allergy to help must have passed down to MC.

“No! I don’t! It’s just... dumb!” MC hissed, she turned and looked over at the fish tank. “Right Henry 2.0?”

Henry 2.0 did not respond.

“MC, you need to finish your homework or we can’t watch anything together,” Levi sighed, he had finished his work over an hour earlier. He had mastered the art of all night anime binges and managing to do most of his work in the fifteen minutes between the time he woke up and the time school was supposed to begin. “We haven’t even binged all of volume 4 of TSL yet!”

“Mmm...” MC grumbled. “Fine...”

MC picked up their pencil case and began continued their work. Levi breathed a sigh of relief and went back to Animal Crossing.

The tiny normie did in fact finish their work, only after they caved and asked Levi for help. Swore him to secrecy, they did... very intimidating, they were.

Just saying, he most definitely sent that one Keanu Reeves meme with big Keanu and little Keanu but with Lucifer and MC to the wrong group chat. Poor bastard.

Flying lessons? No. Levi hadn’t flown since his time in the Celestial Realm, he had no advice to give other than: “Flap your wings!”

“THAT’S WHAT I’M DOING YOU-”

MC didn’t get to finish that thought, they lost their balance and fell right into RAD’s fountain. Ah well, Levi had a head start on running for his life that he squandered by laughing at MC. RIP.

The Uncle/brother/whatever the fuck that Starts a Fight With Your Dad at the Family Reunion. (Satan)

Oh... another Lucifer? Eugh. Gross.

Satan gave the kid a wide berth when they first met. Everything the kid said or did ticked him off. “Tsk. Look at MC. Making an omelette. So annoying.” “Oh wow, MC vacuumed? Roll out the red carpet, we need to celebrate their existence!” “Look at them. Breathing. Disgusting.”

MC’s pride wouldn’t ever let them admit it but... they knew Satan didn’t like them, and it hurt their feelings.

“Shhhh,” Satan whispered into his backpack.

“Meow.” The backpack replied.

“I said shhhhh.”

The backpack did not reply after that, which was a good thing considering the little princet of the HOL was nearby.

“Satan?” They asked. “Who are you talking to?”

Satan coldly brushed past them as he made his way to his room. “No one you need to concern yourself with.”

When the little calico kitten was safe in his room, Satan quickly realized a mistake in his foolproof ‘sneak a cat into the house’ plan. He didn’t have any toys for the kitten, and he didn’t want his books getting scratched...

It was alright, he’d just rush out to the a store that sold cat things and rush back! Five minute trip tops!

Well when Satan got back the cat was no longer in the room. Oh dear. He discreetly tore apart the house looking for the poor little thing until he ended up finding it in the library, happily chasing around a loose feather being held up by MC.

“Oh, hello Satan.” MC chirped as the kitten batted it’s adorable little paws at the feather.

“My... my door was closed. Did you let the cat out?”

MC shrugged. “I heard meowing.”

Satan ran a hand through his hair and grumbled. Stupid smaller Lucifer. Stupid original Lucifer. Everyone sucked.

“Let me guess, you’re going to run to Lucifer and tell him all about the meowing and the rule breaking.”

MC shook their head and glared at Satan. “Of course not. I’ve already gotten way too attached to this little guy anyway. We’re co-parenting this kitten like mature adults.”

With some coaxing, Satan did sit down and play with the kitten, maybe MC wasn’t... so terrible.

The two watch Unsolved Mysteries together, that’s their show. “This guy did it.” “Satan, we’re two minutes into the episode-” “Trust me.”

Thirty minutes later.

“He did it.” “See MC, what’d I tell you?”

Lucifer did find out about the cat, but with enough pleading, MC and Satan managed to warm up the cold spot in Lucifer’s chest where his heart should have been. The cat’s name is Detective Toe Beans (or just Bean).

Satan can’t fly, he has a tail, but he did read up on wing anatomy and how flight actually works in demons, his advice would be good in theory, but it’s full of so much technical jargon that MC can’t understand it.

At least MC didn’t crash into something, they barrel rolled through one of the HOL’s windows. Good thing it was the window to their room. The broken arm still hurt like hell.

The Best Dressed Bitch Who Brings The Booze to The Reunion. (Asmo)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lucifer’s kid was SO CUTE! A thousand pictures commemorating that adorable moment needed to be taken! Wait- Lucifer- GIVE BACK THE PHONE-

Asmo, surprise surprise, absolutely adores little MC! So cute! So small! He was just so excited to announce to all his Devilgram followers that Lucifer was finally a certified DILF.

That post disappeared five minutes after it was made but the damage had already been done.

Asmo made sure MC looked their best at all times, if they needed help talking to anyone? Asmo’s got their back!

Sure, maybe he’s a little pushy, but pushy’s a good thing sometimes, right?

“Asmodeus-”

“No, these shoes wouldn’t fit you...”

“Asmo-”

“No, not these ones either...”

“ASMODEUS.”

Asmo squeaked and jumped upwards, Geez Louise... little MC’s voice could sure be scary when they wanted it to be...

“I don’t need any fancy new shoes.” MC huffed, sitting up straighter in one of the chairs in Asmo’s room. “I thought this was supposed to be a sleepover.”

“Hmmm...” Asmo pouted. “Makeovers are an essential part of sleepovers... what’d you do with your human friends up in the human world that could possibly be better than a make-over?!”

MC began to list things off. “Ordered junk food, talked about people we hated, watched movies,”

“Greasy food is so bad for your skin...” Asmo cringed and shook his head violently. “But I’m totally down to watch a movie and bitch about people I hate!”

“Ah yes, human sleepovers, a tradition I never quite had the chance to enjoy.” Solomon said from Asmo’s bed. “Who are we bitching about?”

“Remind me what Solomon is doing here.” MC muttered as they sat down in front of Asmo’s TV.

“Because, I wanted to hang out with my two favourite humans.” Asmo cooed, reaching over and trying to pinch MC’s cheek, which they awkwardly dodged.

“Can we watch The Exorcist?” Solomon asked, propping his head up with his hands.

“Ew, no.” Asmo made a face at him. “That scene with the vomit? Hell NO.”

“Mm.” MC mumbled. Asmo turned to look at them.

“MC? Are you doing okay? You don’t look like you’re having any fun...”

“I’m fine.” MC grumbled.

Asmo pursed his lips, as much as it made his little narcissistic heart break, he nudged MC. “Why don’t you pick the movie, sweetie. I’m sure Solomon and I will like anything you pick!”

MC noticeably brightened. “Let’s watch Scream!”

The strangled noise that came from Asmo was... concerning, but to his credit, The Avatar of Lust held his tongue about his distaste for the movie, and the three slumber-party goers had quite the lovely time.

After the movie ended, MC went back to their room, sure it was a sleepover but their bed was right down the hall.

Good for Asmo and Solomon. Horny fuckers. We stan.

Asmo just claps and tries to cheer MC on when it comes to their flying lessons. (The idea that Asmo came up with to wear his cheerleader costume from the previous Halloween was immediately shot down by Lucifer)

“You’re doing wonderful, MC- WATCH OUT FOR THE POWER LINE!”

MC didn’t hit the power line, but Asmo’s scream of terror caused them to fall butt-first into a dumpster. Their injured tailbone served as a tragic memory of the incident.

Oh well, good thing Asmo had nice smelling soap to give that could mask dumpster-stink.

The Uncle that eats everything and tells you to eat your veggies while you angrily pick at your broccoli at the kid’s table. (Beel)

Lucifer... has a kid?! Beel choked on the cheetos he had snuck into the Assembly Hall when the kid’s wings popped out.

Oh wow, that’s nice :) maybe they can eat together. Belphie would probably like them.

Wait what is the gender neutral term for Niece or Nephew?

...Nibling? Uh... let’s not say that around Beel. We don’t need him to get hungrier and begin associating MC with nibbling on things.

The Underground Tomb incident probably went a little differently, but after all that nonsense, the two are closer than two peas in a pod!

Mmm... peas...

“Beel?” MC stepped into the Avatar of Gluttony’s room.

“Hi MC.” Beel was doing push-ups in the middle of the room, on the ground right beneath his head was a massive bowl of spaghetti that he bit into every time he completed a push-up. “Can you come stand on my back? I need the extra weight.”

“On your back?” MC padded closer. “Are you sure? It’s not going to hurt?”

“No, it’ll be okay.” Beel assured them. “Belphie and I did this all the time. Except Belphie is normally asleep.”

MC tentatively stepped onto Beel’s back. It was a balancing act to say the least, they eventually gave up on standing and ended up sitting cross legged between Beel’s shoulder blades.

“You did this with Belphegor?” MC asked.

“Yeah,” Beel sighed. “He was always too tired to exercise, but he’d let me bench press him sometimes...”

MC frowned and hugged their knees to their chest. Knowing full well that Beel’s twin wasn’t in the human world like Lucifer said was absolutely ripping them apart from the inside. Guilt felt just as rotten as their pride did when they were being belittled...

“Maybe you’ll see him again sometime soon.” MC whispered. “Maybe my father’ll come to his senses and let him come back down to the Devildom.”

Beel paused his push-ups for a brief moment, then nodded and went back to his eating exercising combo. “I hope so. He’ll like you, MC. I’m sure of it.”

MC nodded. “I... hope so.”

Beel’s a pretty decent flight teacher, but his wings are just so different from MC’s that it renders any tips he had next to useless.

“MC, maybe your wings aren’t flapping fast enough.”

“Beel, I appreciate the thought, but I’m not a hummingbird. Or a fly. I don’t need to flap my wings a million times a minute to stay afloat.”

Ah well, MC tried to take some of Beel’s advice, but their lower right wing cramped up and they ended up flying in circles until Beel was able to catch them. Ah well, better than the dumpster incident the previous week.

The Uncle That Passes Out in The Basement and You’re Not Allowed to Wake Him Up Even Though All Your Toys and Video Games Are Down There. He Also Picks a Fight With Your Dad’s New S/O Before He Passes Out. (Belphie)

Sitting in the attic was quite a drag, and this supposedly weak little human was quite the annoyance to try and call out to. It took a lot longer than expected, but when he heard little footsteps coming towards his prison, Belphegor nearly jumped with joy.

Oh... it... looked like Lucifer. Smelled like Lucifer. Stood like Lucifer. Quacked like Lucifer. Or... trilled..? Whatever sound a peacock made, this brat sounded an awful lot like Lucifer.

A... half-demon. Hmph. Belphie honestly thought Lucifer had actual standards. Not anymore, he guessed.

(Man I could fill a whole-ass fic with the Belphie betrayal thing, but for now let’s skip to post attic nonsense)

Okay so maybe MC wasn’t disgusting. They made a good nap buddy. It was cute when their wings came out when they were sleeping sometimes. Well... it was cute when they didn’t hit him in the face and make him wake up with his mouth full of feathers.

What Beel said had been true, Belphie made a good substitute when weights weren’t available, but Beel didn’t want MC to feel left out, so Belphie and MC ended up sitting on his back while he did push ups. MC once got bored and started playing Go Fish with Belphie on Beel’s back while he exercised.

Yes. MC is still a member of the Formerly-Anti-Lucifer League.

“Are you sure he’s not going to be too mad at us?” MC asked for the dozenth time that day. Detective Toe Beans was wrapped around their neck like a scarf (he had gotten so big!!!) while MC nervously sat in one of the Library chairs.

“Positive.” Belphie said with a toothy grin. “Besides, he’s like putty when it comes to you. Just give him your best puppy eyes and we’re not guilty on all charges.”

Putty..? Really..? Lucifer..? How strict was he before MC got there... they wondered.

“Sh! He’s coming!” Satan stuck his nose into a random book, it was the Oxford English Dictionary... and it was upside down.

Belphie pretended to pass out and MC decided that the best course of action was to stare deeply into their cat’s eyes. Yeah... that looked casual and not weird.

“Satan, MC, Belphie.” Lucifer nodded to the three of them as he walked towards the entrance to his study.

“Lucifer.”

“Afternoon, father.”

Belphie let out a cartoonishly loud fake snore that nearly caused both MC and Satan to break cover and start laughing.

Side note, Bean had adorable widdle eyes! That cute little face was just to die for-

“You three..!”

Belphie, Satan, and MC peeked their heads into Lucifer’s study, their handiwork was perfect. Everything was covered in red post it notes. Perfectly not harmful, but SO inconvenient!

“You’re all cleaning this up or so help me-”

“GO!” Belphie and Satan each grabbed one of MC’s arms (Satan also grabbed Bean) and sprinted out of the House of Lamentation. Maybe they’d move back there in twenty years... they hoped that Solomon and The Angels would let them crash at Purgatory Hall...

Belphie had used up his physical energy supply for the next four years. He passed out the moment they stepped into sanctuary. Time for a nap...

Flight practice? Ha. Belphie’s napping. Though, he was suspiciously awake and filming whenever MC did something stupid.

“Try not to suck so bad.”

“GO TO HELL BELPHIE!”

“I’m already there. Hell is every second I’m stuck here watching you fail.”

“YOU’RE GOING TO GET IT FOR THAT!”

Well... MC mastered the dive bomb that day. Lucifer bought them a cake.

Bonus! Your Dad’s New Husband! That Has Managed to Somehow Make Everyone Hate Him Despite the Fact That He’s A Cinnamon Roll. (Diavolo)

A mini Lucifer? A mini Lucifer!

Diavolo dotes on MC like he’d dote on his own kid. MC wants a crown? They’re getting a crown! A damn nice one too! MC wants a title? Here! MC is now... idk Ruler of the area between Majolish and Hell’s Kitchen.

Poor Uncle Mammon’s got some financial insecurity, he’s still the cool uncle... right?!

He is very much that ‘how do you do fellow kids?’ Meme.

He tries to do stereotypical ‘dad’ things but he’s not very good at them. Once he tried to host a barbecue...

Barbatos saved the day, but Mammon’s hair was still singed, Solomon’s cooking still gave Beel food poisoning (SOLOMON EATS TOXIC WASTE I SWEAR-), Luke still got hit in the face with a frisbee, and Simeon got an unhealthy dose of DAD NERVES and got so stressed everyone was almost blinded by the holy light he suddenly started blasting. We do not mention the water guns.

(Seriously whose bright idea was it to give Belphie and Satan water guns while they were in Lucifer’s presence?)

Praise Barbie. He’s too good for them.

“Um...” MC awkwardly held up the baseball, trying to look at it from all angles like it was a completely alien object. “Lord Diavolo... are you sure you want to play catch?”

Diavolo clapped his hands and bounced on the balls of his feet. “Yes! It’s a thing human fathers do with their children, correct? We must make up for lost time between you and Lucifer, right?”

Lucifer massaged his temples and nodded. “If you two would like to play catch...” Lucifer grimaced. “I will too.”

“Okay! MC, throw the ball to Lucifer!” Diavolo instructed.

Lucifer half heartedly held up his baseball glove as MC tossed him the ball. He caught it, and looked over at Diavolo, who was applauding like he just witnessed the greatest feat in sports history.

“Okay! Throw it to me!” Diavolo waved his glove in the air, Lucifer rolled his eyes and smiled. He threw the ball at Diavolo with... a lot of force. Enough force to probably dent steel... Diavolo caught it like it was nothing.

MC suddenly feared for their safety.

“Okay MC, catch!”

Diavolo threw the ball with enough force to break the god damn sound barrier. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration, but the ball sailed way over MC’s head and crashed right through a window.

“Oh my...” Diavolo put a hand on his hip and surveyed the damage to the window. “This isn’t so bad, I believe in human world TV shows this happens quite often. Look! The glass broke in a perfect circle!”

“Yay... property damage...” MC murmured.

Lucifer sighed and pulled out his DDD. “I’ll phone someone to replace the win-”

“Lucifer no! Now according to human world customs we must,” Diavolo took a deep breath, rushed forward, grabbed both Lucifer and MC’s hands and started sprinting away from the Demon Lord’s Castle. “RUN FOR IT!”

“Di- Diavolo!” Lucifer gasped.

“Who are we running from?! That’s your castle!” MC squeaked.

“I don’t know! Just run! That’s what the human TV show says to do!”

Weirdly enough, Diavolo was the best flight instructor. MC’s ability to fly increased tenfold after Diavolo found out that MC was learning to fly.

“You’re doing amazing MC! That was a perfect turn!”

“Thanks Lord Diavolo, I’m surprised I haven’t crashed into anyone or fallen yet!”

“Well, I highly doubt you’ll be crashing into anyone anymore, your flying is practically perfect now!”

Mammon proceeded to fly past them holding what looked like Lucifer’s wallet.

“M-mammon?!”

“Oh... I wonder what he’s doing. Look, MC! It’s Lucifer! Hello Lucifer dea-”

Lucifer ended up colliding with the two of them and sending them all crashing to the floor.

That was the last time MC fell during flying practice.

(We currently have a Go Fund Me set up for Mammon to get the funds necessary to flee the Devildom after that incident. Please donate to save- oh shit hi Lucifer-)

[writing-in-a-chipotle]

Unbearably Mortal (Part 2)

(Alcina Dimitrescu x gender neutral reader)

Part 1

Words: ~2.5 K

Summary: In which a lot of things happen and none of them are good.

A/N: Hey, y’all! Back at it again with another chapter! Hope you enjoy!

“Nope nope nope nope… no way in hell…” You shook your head violently, unable to process what Mary had said. “This is… this is all some sort of elaborate prank, right? You’re messing with me. Yeah.” You swallowed. Your saliva felt like acid.

Mary grimaced. “I’m sorry, but this isn’t a game. This is very much reality.”

“So… what are they then?” You began pacing the floor, anxiety clinging to the pit of your stomach. “You expect me to believe that they’re some sort of weird, blood-sucking vampires?? You must be out of your mind… they don’t exist! They can’t be real!”

Mary stood up and walked over to you, gently placing her hands on your shoulders. With her blocking your path, you were forced to stop pacing and look at her.

“Listen,” She began, eyes gleaming with fear “I have no need to lie to you. Believe whatever you want to believe, for the only thing on the line right now is your head. Jane and I risked our lives to save you. If we were caught, all of us would have died. So, are you going to freak out and get yourself killed, or are you gonna listen to me?”

You were stunned into silence. Mary was being deathly serious. You nodded shakily.

“Good.” Mary breathed a sigh of relief. “If you had a mental breakdown and they heard…” She didn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t need to either; the implication was horrifying enough as it was.

“Thank you, by the way,” you sighed, sitting back down on the bed, “you really didn’t have to save me.”

“Honestly, I’m still scared out of my mind,” she admitted breathily, “but I’m glad you’re better now.”

“Thanks.”

She hummed, then pursed her lips. Her frown deepened even more. “Well… now what do we do? The Dimitrescu family is notorious for slaughtering any trespassers they find.”

Your eyes widened and your stomach dropped. “Oh no… oh no, no, no…”

You were stuck. You were stuck in a terrifying castle with horrifying, blood-sucking monsters who would gladly turn you into a mangled corpse on their living room floor. You had no way to call for help, and your parents probably didn’t even know what was happening…

Your phone.

You patted your pockets and fished through them. Let’s see: some dirt, a crumpled flight itinerary, your house keys… aha!

“...what’s in the box?” Mary asked, “I don't think I’ve seen anything like it before.”

You blinked. Box? “Oh, this? It’s my phone.” You rotated it slowly in your fingers so she could easily see all its sides. “It’s a bit larger and blockier than your average iPhone because it’s designed to connect directly to the satellite, making it easy to call anyone from anywhere in the world. It cost me a lot of money, but since I was planning on traveling the world after I graduated, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to have it a few years early.”

Mary gave you a completely confused stare. “What’s an… iPhone? Or a sad-del-light? Did you make those up?”

You frowned, your eyebrow twitching in confusion. “Uh… no? I wouldn’t make anything like this up. You… you truly don’t know what modern technology is like?”

She shook her head. “I’ve… never been outside the village. I have no idea what the rest of the world is like.”

“And you don’t have a phone? Internet? Anything??”

“I’m afraid not,” She fidgeted with the hem of her skirt, “the Lords don’t allow anyone to leave the village or write letters to the outside world.”

A chill shot up your spine. “That’s… terrifying…”

Mary nodded, then tilted her head, thinking. She pursed her lips and motioned with her finger for you to come closer. You lean your ear to her.

“What is it?” You whisper.

“There are rumors of a girl who escaped the Lord’s wrath,” she began, “apparently, she managed to leave the village unharmed. There was an old hag who used to moan about how her daughter left her for a new life. She sounded half mad, so no one bothered listening to her.”

Your grandmother. She was talking about your grandmother.

And your mom.

This meant that… your mom knew about these crazy monsters? That she let you come here, to a place where you would most likely die? Alone??

Nothing made sense anymore.

You realized you had zoned out of Mary’s story. You shook your head, bringing your attention back to the present.

“Is that a good idea?”

“Uh, sorry, what?” You blinked. Mary was staring at you like you were an idiot. (Which you were, but that’s not the point.)

“I said,” she repeated, “you need to blend in until we can figure out how to escape.”

“That’s… that’s a pretty good idea. And wait….” you repeated her words in your mind. “We? You want to come too?”

“Goddess, it’s like you’re dense or something.” Mary muttered under her breath. “Of course I want to leave! Are you out of your mi-“

“I get it, I get it,” you huffed, interrupting her, “What do we do now?”

“Now,” she folded her arms, “we need to get you a disguise.” She walked over to a tiny dresser in the far corner and pulled out a neatly-folded maid’s uniform. “I hope you’re my size.”

————————

Turns out you weren’t Mary’s size.

You couldn’t help it; your new friend was practically a walking stick. Your shoulders were too broad, your legs too long; but with Mary’s excellent sewing skills, you were able to make it work… sort of.

“Damn, this uniform is itchy,” you complained, scratching at the neckline.

“You’ll grow used to it after a while,” Mary replied. “Now we need to get to work or-“

“We’ll be made into wine. Got it.” You straightened out your sleeves.

She nodded. “Just follow my lead.”

The two of you walked quickly and quietly out of the servant’s quarters. Your heart was racing. Every time you turned a corner, you half expected a bloodied monster to jump the both of you and tear out your arteries.

You rounded another bend and nearly walked into Mary. She had stopped suddenly and immediately fled to the side of the hallway, bowing deeply at the corridor. You quickly followed her lead.

The moment you bowed your head, a steady buzzing filled your ears.

Swarms of flies flitted through your vision as they flew down the hall, buzzing excitedly. Maliciously. You don’t know how they managed to convey such emotions, but they seemed…. off.

And then, they changed.

The insects spiraled and spun into a large, buzzing mass, sewing themselves into a completely different form; one with a deep black cloak, ghoulishly pale hands, wild blonde hair…

And blood-stained teeth.

Mary curtsied deeply and you were quick to follow suit. “Good evening, Lady Bela,” she said softly, refusing to look up, “how may we be of service?”

Bela gave a bored wave of her hand. “We’re a bit... short-staffed in the kitchens at the moment,” she drawled, “Mother doesn’t want dinner to be served a second too late. She-” Her eyes fell on you and she stopped dead in her tracks. “You smell familiar, human…” she growled.

Oh no, you were dead, you were dead, you were dead. Cold sweat fell from your neck, and your heart raced. Bela stepped closer to you, brows furrowed and hungry eyes glinting.

“They’re new, Lady Bela,” Maria said quickly.

She raised an immaculate brow. “New, you say?”

“Yes, Miss.”

“... I see.”

It was only a moment before she leaned away, but to you, it felt like hours. The Dimitrescu was a terrifyingly deadly whirlwind, one that seemed to stare directly into your soul… maybe even smell your fear. Bela’s lips twitched, giving you a glimpse of sharp fangs.

“Well then, newcomer,” she hissed, amusement dripping in her voice, “if you’re so eager to serve us, I want you to pour the wine.”

Your heart raced in panic, your hands shaking. Pouring the wine meant seeing these monsters at their most bloodthirsty. It meant you would get caught.

I won’t survive, you thought fearfully.

You quickly dropped into a clumsy curtsy before you forgot yourself. “A-as you wish, Lady Bela,” you choke out.

“Hm… we’ll see, won’t we.” She dissolved into a sea of flies and flew down the hallway and out of sight.

You breathed heavily. Your heart was still going a mile a minute. Before you could say anything, Mary grabbed your arm and tugged you along.

“Wha-“

“Shh,” she hissed. “Not yet.”

You followed her silently to the kitchen. This whole situation was too hard to process… you’d barely been in Romania for a day and you suddenly had to face the reality of your imminent death.

You felt lightheaded. Your vision swam.

“Where are you, draga mea?” A smooth, enchanting voice swirled in your mind. You felt your pulse hammering in your temples. The voice sounded so close, yet so far away. It was familiar and warm… but it was too hard to tell if it meant anything. You were too woozy, too lightheaded…

“It’s time to wake up, darling,” the voice continued dreamily, “Open your eyes for me?”

“...hey… hey!” A familiar voice hissed, “hello? Are you alright?”

Your eyes snapped open.

Mary stood in front of you, her hands on your shoulders. Once she saw you move, she breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you alright? You haven’t blinked for the past few minutes, nor have you responded to anything or anyone around you.”

“Yeah, I just…” you swallowed thickly. What was wrong with you? “... I just spaced out.” Mary frowned, giving you a suspicious glance, but didn’t push.

You were in the kitchen. Cooks and maids bustled around in an organized fashion, whispering instructions to each other while slicing, cooking, and plating bright red slabs of meat. You definitely didn’t want to know what kind the Dimitrescu’s were eating tonight.

Someone grabbed your arm and you flinched, turning around. It was one of the older cooks, a salt and pepper haired woman with soot-stained clothes and greasy calloused hands. She shoved a a bottle of wine into your hands so fast, you nearly dropped it. She glowered at you.

“As soon as the meal is served, you pop open the bottle and pour for everyone.” She hurriedly rattled off instructions. “When they finish their drink, pour them another. You do not look at them, you do not touch them or their glasses, you don’t even breathe around them. And for the love of the Goddess: Do. Not. Spill.”

You gulped and nodded. You just had to do your job, then leave. That’s all. You could do this.

Or so you told yourself.

The old woman gave you a quick look, and for a moment it seemed she gave you a twinge of a sympathetic smile. But just like that it was gone, replaced by her signature scowl.

“Alright, we go in three…” she held up three fingers covered in burn scars. One second passed. Then another.

The kitchen maids smoothly entered the dining room in one sweeping motion; a flurry of skirts and iron serving trays. You followed them close behind. The maids placed the trays in front of each Dimitrescu before fleeing to the kitchen single file.

And then it hit you.

You were the only maid who was supposed to stay throughout the entire meal.

Without you even knowing it, Bela had assigned you one of the most dangerous jobs at the castle; one where you had to stay, alone, in the same room as four hungry, bloodthirsty vampires.

You quickly began pouring the wine.

You walked around the massive mahogany table, trying your best not to spill the blood-red drink. You poured for Bela first, and you tried your absolute best not to look her in the eye. You didn’t know what you would do if you saw her grinning.

You moved on to the next Dimitrescu: a redhead with glistening fangs. As you poured, she suddenly hissed. In your surprise, you fumbled the bottle. But you didn’t spill.

The last sister (you assumed all three of them were sisters based on their similar appearances) was a brunette with mischievous eyes. You didn’t mean to look at her… you really didn’t…

Based on her low, rumbling cackle, you knew you were doomed.

The last Dimitrescu, the Lady Dimitrescu, was much different than the other three. She was incredibly tall, with a flowing white dress that fell to her ankles, a wide-brimmed hat…

And pearly-white satin gloves.

Why did that seem so familiar?

You shook your head. You had to stop thinking and just pour the wine! You only had one more glass to fill, after all.

The brunette stuck out her foot, and you went down.

You landed on top of the bottle, and it shattered under you. Glass and wine flew everywhere, piercing your clothes, slicing your skin, staining the rug…

And completely drenching the front of Lady Dimitrescu’s immaculate dress.

The air cracked with electricity. “You...” she hissed, in a stranglely familiar voice.

Before you could even beg for forgiveness, the towering terror of a woman stood from the table and grasped you by the collar before you could even blink.

She growled, breath smelling of blood. “You will pay for your insole-“ her breath hitched. Her death grip on you loosened and faded, till you dropped to the floor like a rag doll.

Fearfully, you looked up at her.

Her demeanor had completely changed. Where once stood a cold-hearted monster was a shocked, crying… woman. Tears streaked down her face, dripping from her chin as she sunk to the floor. She didn’t look like a monster, she looked… human.

The lady reached out a gloved hand, then flinched as if burned. She looked lost and confused and sad; unable to process what she was looking at… or rather, who she was looking at.

A chill ran up your spine, fearful tendrils snaking through your system as you both stared into each other’s eyes.

And then, Lady Dimitrescu uttered a single word, barely a whisper at all, and your stomach dropped. Your world spun.

“Y/N?”

You couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. Everything you had ever known was completely useless, and your life would end at any moment, you were sure. You felt like crying, you felt like throwing up.

She said your name.

Lady Dimitrescu, one of the most powerful supernatural beings in the world, who couldn’t possibly know who you were, had said your name.

It was too much. There were too many strong emotions, too many near-death experiences in one day. Your body was bloody and exhausted, your energy spent.

You collapsed on the dining room floor, and your vision faded to black.

[elektrantchios]

That fic on Colin Bridgerton was everything!!! Please do an Benedict x reader where he paints you in secret but the reader finds out and Benedict confesses his love <333

work of art | b.b

   MAIN MASTERLIST | REQUEST OPEN

title: work of art  pairing: Benedict Bridgerton x reader summary: you and Benedict bond over art and fall in love, though it takes you time to realise   warning: swearing, angst, fluff and not much else word count: 2.5 k A/N: thank you so much for the request! i really enjoyed writing this and hope you like it!

Even though you had your own flat next to Benedict’s you preferred sitting in his while you worked. You would sit on the pile of cushions on the floor with you note pad across your lap to draw but, in the end, you’d give and watch Benedict while he worked.

His work was better than yours anyway. And when he’d paint or drew, he got this look on this face, a look that made you fall more in love with art, more in love with him.

“you have your own work, I believe” he grinned.

You smiled at him looking away, “I rather watch you. You know I struggle to draw without a live model” you groaned closing you pad.

He smiled at you nodding before returning to his work.

You really did love him, the kind of love that made your gut hurt. The love you felt was inconvenient at most times, you’d be drawing a live model and when it came to the eyes you would draw his eyes. Then you’d stare at the drawing, at those eyes.  After the sixth time you gave up on portraits and stuck with landscapes or ones where the face couldn’t be seen.

Before you met Benedict, art was just something that made you stand out among your four older brothers and two older sisters. You did enjoy to paint and draw and going to all the galleries and the art shows but they never really sparked joy until the day Benedict came into your life.

You remember it clearly. You were stood studying the painting ‘Venus with a Mirror’, the roman goddess of love and beauty. It was a masterpiece something you could never dream of doing yourself.

“quite the painter, wasn’t he?” someone said behind you.

“he was” you agreed.

Then you turned around and saw Benedict and all the art in the room was forgotten.

“Benedict Bridgerton” he bowed his head.

You smiled feeling dizzy, “y/n  y/l/n”.

“it’s a pleasure to meet you m y/ln. Always a pleasure to meet a titan fan” he move to stand next to you.

“I don’t think they’re too hard to find” you laughed looking at the painting too.

He laughed along and you swear it sounded like music.

You carried on meeting him once a week, at first it was just art shows and museums but then it turn into showing each other your art then just having dinner together. And now you had neighbouring flats.

“oh hell” you jumped up collecting your things, “my brother will be here soon to take me home for dinner. I need to get back to my flat before he comes”.

“and why can’t he just pick you up here?” Benedict asked looking away from his work. Paint was covering his hands and had splattered on his shirt.

“oh yes” you clapped your hands together. “Brother, I know papa pays for my flat to do my art but I don’t actually use it, instead I sit in my friends flat and watch him do art instead. What? you think something is going on? You think we’re having an illicit affair?! Where did you get that idea?” you exclaimed acting the conversation out.

You swore Benedict blushed but you couldn’t be sure. “well that doesn’t happen” he coughed.

“thank you for clarifying our relationship for me, Benedict” you chuckled. You opened the door then paused when he called your name.  

He cleaned his hands with a cloth close by, “will I see you at the Astin’s party tonight?”.

You sighed. “unfortunately. Mother is convinced this is the year I marry” you rolled your eyes.

That struck his heart, you marrying someone was painful enough knowing it could be soon was worst.

“you better not leave me hanging” you smiled bring his attention back to you.

“I wouldn’t dream of it”.

“I’m taking that as a promised Benedict Bridgerton”.

You smiled at him one last time before leaving.

Benedict watched the door shut behind you. He was truly fucked. How he manged to actually get work done while you sat there was a mystery, he could hear your soft breaths feel your e/c eyes on him.

As long as you were a part of his life then he would be happy, content. Of course he knew a day would come where you’d fall in love with someone else and marry them. And it might just break his heart. He thought of what you said, how your mother thought this was the year for you. knowing he would lose you was pain enough being there to see it would feel like death.

Once Benedict was sure you weren’t coming back, he pulled out his secret project he had hidden behind some old paintings, it was proving to be impossible to finish because you were always by his side. He would spend the night at the flat but that would equal questions from his mother.

But here he was alone.

This was his heart drew bare. You. the day he met you actually, he still remembered it clearly. The sun light had pooled in through the sky light and made you look like an angel. He had spent many sleepless nights reliving the moment in his mind. The moment you met his eyes and smiled. Remembering the memory again and again felt like his own personal drug.

He knew you didn’t and would never love him back so he agreed to love you in silence. He poured all his love into this, every brush stroke was a piece of his love, his soul.

 You sat in front of the mirror the mirror looking at yourself. Your hair was done. You had your best outfit on. everything was perfect but something, something was missing. What if you did meet the person you would marry. two of your brothers and one sister were married already, why wouldn’t it be your turn. But it wasn’t the life you wanted.

A married life being the perfect partner doing whatever is asked of you. you wanted a life full of colour and art with Benedict by your side. Benedict. A smile took over your face, you loved him so much. He was so close to your reach but so far away at the same time.

You met your own eyes. “I love you Benedict. I always have and I will for the rest of my life” you whispered to yourself. The thought of losing him had become too much, you battled with yourself the whole way home and the whole times as you dressed. If you were going to lose him let it be because you told him the truth. Not when he fell for another.

Maybe just maybe the feels the same.

You had only been at the party for an hour and you had already met three suitors your mother had picked out all who were closer to her age than yours, but like  she said you couldn’t afford to be picky. You smiled and nodded as whatever their name was spoke, over their shoulder you spotted Benedict stood in the shadows with a bottle of wine in his hands. He pointed to the room behind him.

“I’m sorry” you cut them off mid-sentence, “if you would excuse me” you smiled walking away.

When you walked into the room you found Benedict sat on the floor in the dark. “come sit here don’t want to risk being caught” he waved you over.

You sat next to him reaching out of the bottle. “hope you got the good stuff. I need it”.

“not found your perfect match yet?” he laughed.

You nearly chocked on the drink. “god no. they were all old” you laughed. You took another swig and sighed. “she wants me to be the perfect child but I can’t be” you lent your head against the wall.

“we could run away to France” he said so seriously it shocked you.

You looked at him feeling breathless. You opened your mouth to speak, this could be the moment to tell him. tell him and run away to France and never look back. Your nerves ran out last minute. “I feel like dancing will you dance with me?”.

You jumped to your feet mentally kicking yourself for saying something so dumb. Benedict felt the last bit of hope he had die when you changed the subject so fast. He joined you standing in the middle of the room. If this is the only way he could be close to you he would take it.

You stood in front of each other, looking into his eyes.

Silently you both got into the right place. You could faintly hear the music playing from the main room. He put his hand against your back, you supressed a shiver. No one said anything while you danced.

Your eyes met his and it that moment you were breathless.

You were so close now. After a shaky breath you noticed you had stopped moving and were looking at each other now. His eyes fell down to your lips for a second before they met your eyes again.

You took a wobbly step back and exhaled. “my mama will be looking for me”.

“y/n” he stepped forward.

“she’ll go mad too, I left whatever their name was standing there” you laughed moving even more away from him. You left the room as fast as you could.

He was to shocked to follow after you. Just a few moments ago he was so close to you, touching you. He wanted to kiss, god how he wanted to kiss you and he thought maybe you wanted to kiss him as well but you walked away.

He wanted to paint. Every time he was hit with reality, he pained you, imagining you did love him back. It was a dream but he was all tied up in it. He was tied up in you.

He took a deep breath, he left the room, he left the whole building, not looking at anyone as he did. He wanted nothing more than to see you again but you would probably be with someone else, maybe evening falling in love.

It hurt to leave Benedict alone. But you were reading to much into things. He didn’t want to kiss you, why would he. You had just made him uncomfortable. You were battling with yourself when you saw Benedict walked through the main room to the doors.

The rest of the room seemed to disappear. You could only see him walking away from where you left him. Had you made him that uncomfortable he had to leave, he didn’t even say goodbye. You wanted to run after him and admit everything, give him your hand, heart, give him anything he asked. He just had to ask you.

“stay here” you mother hissed down your neck.

“I need to go” you muttered eyes locked with the door Benedict had walked through.

“No. you need to stay here and get a match” she snapped spinning you around so you were facing her. “Do you think you can just keep doing what you’re doing? Spend your day and night doing your ridiculous painting like that will get you anywhere”.

You were speechless. You knew no one took your art seriously but it hadn’t been said to your face. you had spent years with your back to a door keeping the truth out. “I don’t care” you started walking away.

“y/n” you didn’t listen as your mother called your name.

You didn’t care that people were looking from her to you.  

You only cared about Benedict.

Benedict knew he was in for it when the got home and his mother saw his dress shirt was covered in paint, but right now he felt calm. You were in front of him, well the painting version of you was. He was almost done and soon this version of you would be gone too.

Apart of him hoped that his feelings would go too. It would make things easier if they did but who would he be if he didn’t love you. He had loved you for so long it was buried into his bones.

You knew Benedict like you knew yourself, you were so like sometimes it felt like your souls were one but they had be halved to make two people.

He would be in this flat painting you hoped he was waiting for you. you had enough of being scared and keeping everything locked up, you would tell him how you felt and face whatever followed. Once you reached the building you ran up the stairs as fast as you could, hating past you and Benedict for getting rooms on the top floor.

You nearly tripped up multiple times catching yourself last minute every time. You were gasping for breath once you reached the top. When you could breathe again you ran down the hall, all the rooms you passed were filled with laugher and music. How you wished you were apart it.

You stopped in front of his door. You put your hand against the wood and listened. You could hear him muttering under his breath, a brush quietly working away. You smiled at the picture in your head, maybe you’d paint it one day of all the things you could pictured this one was the clearest.

“Benedict I shouldn’t-“ you started as soon as you entered the room but stopped when you saw him.

You were right, he was painting you just didn’t think he would be painting, you.

Benedict dropped the paint brush to the floor. He looked from you to you, mouth open wide. “I can explain”.

You still stood in the doorway holding the  door open. Mouth wide open. He came closer guiding you into the room so he could shut the door. “I don’t understand” you murmured. You looked to his worried face. “why are you painting me?”.

He helped you sit in your usual spot.

He took a deep breath reaching for your hand, you let him take it. relief washed through him. “its simple” he said looking into your eyes.

“is it” you breathed.

“I love you”

You mouth fell open again as you goggled at him. “you love me?”.

“I do and I understand if-“ he looked away from you so he wouldn’t have to face your rejection. But he was interrupted when you wrapped your arms around his neck. You both fell to the floor in a heap.

You kissed him hard on the lips, putting all your hopes into one kiss. You pulled back and looked down at him. “I love you too” you smiled feeling so much joy.

He didn’t say anything only kiss you again. his hands travelled up your back to your neck. You stayed there kissing him until it felt like your lungs were burning. You gasped, “you wouldn’t believe how long I wanted to do that” he laughed.

You traced his cheek bone, “probably as long I have”.

He smiled and it felt like the sun was risen. “will you ever stopped wanting too?”

“never” you whisper before you kissed him again and again and again, and you would until time stopped.

[moons-and-stars-and-shit]

Okayyyy so here’s what I’m Thinking. Bokuto was well known in Tokyo and everyone knew not to mess with him. He met reader at a book shop she worked at. He found her very interesting. The reader is a bit shy. They became friends and started liking each other. She didn’t know that he was in the maifa until she saw him kill someone. He then tired to tell her it’s not what it looked like but reader was afriad of him and ran home. She avoided him for weeks until he showed up at her door with flowers and a bunch of gifts and begged her to talk. - 🍒

𝙼𝚊𝚏𝚒𝚊! 𝙱𝚘𝚔𝚞𝚝𝚘 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝙲𝚆: 𝙼𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛/𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑, 𝙶𝚞𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍, 𝙺𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 2.5

Oh god

It was moments like these where you wish you could just travel back in time...or at the very least erase your memory...but life won't give you those options, so the only option you have now is to run.

6 Months Ago…

"Ah yes there's nothing quite like this" you thought to yourself flipping to the next page of your favorite book. You really loved working in the local bookshop. Your friends would always joke around how it fitted your “aesthetic” so well. Not that you could disagree though, you couldn't deny that you loved evenings like these, where the rain was pouring outside while you were inside the building reading a book. The faint smell of coffee from the coffee shop next door being the cherry on top to this little vibe you had going on. “Y/n! Do you think you could close up shop for me? I gotta go pick up my brother from practice before this rain gets too crazy". You were brought back into reality by your co-workers request. “Oh for sure! Go ahead.i'll take care of it” you said putting down your book. She thanked you before grabbing her coat and heading outside. You looked up at the clock making a mental note to start closing up in about 20 minutes. Suddenly your train of thought was interrupted by the shop's door opening, causing the little bell on top to jingle. Thinking it was your co-worker you turned around to ask what she had forgotten only to be face to face with a man.

Uhm...Hey! Do you mind if i stay here until this storm dies down?” the male asked you. Giving him a quick look up and down you took notice just how drenched he was, from his grey and black hair dripping and sticking to his face, to his clothes that might as well have been dunked in water with how wet they have gotten. “O-Oh of course! Please come in'' you stuttered after realizing you had been staring at him just a second too long. You quickly ran to the back to grab the blanket you and your co-worker use whenever it gets too cold in the store. Running back to the front you hand the mystery man the blanket. “This won't do much for the clothes but maybe you can at least get your hair dry” you say as he takes the blanket. “Thank You so much!” he said beaming. There was a bit of awkward silence as he dried his hair off, but the silence was broken when he handed you back the blanket. “You're not much of a talker are you?” he said with a light chuckle. He made his way over to one of the reading chars and took a seat, motioning for you to do the same. “Yeah uh...sorry I'm a bit shy! Especially around strangers who just happen to walk into my bookshop” you said making your way to sit next to him. Once you had sat down he looked at you with shining eyes and a oh so bright smile “Well if that's the problem” he said holding his hand out to you ”I'm Bokuto Koutarou!”. You laughed a little at his enthusiasm before grabbing his hand “Well Bokuto, it's nice to meet you, I'm Y/n”

That night was the first of many that you'd be spending with Bokuto, in fact after that night he had become a frequent customer at the bookshop, always coming at the later hours, and always keeping you company whenever you started closing up. Hell he's even taken you out for drinks a couple times after your shift. You have never been one to trust strangers, let alone become good friends with them but shockingly enough, you felt rather comfortable around this strange man. Maybe it was his bright personality, or the way his eyes seemed to sparkle wherever he laid them on you, or even the way that his laugh caused a giggle or two to escape from your own lips. Either way you liked this Bokuto Koutarou, and if only you knew how much Bokuto liked you as well. Lucky both of your feelings would come to light on a night similar to the night Bokuto magically waltzed into your life...

Here you both were, sitting on the very same chairs you had introduced yourselves in. Only this time, you were both reading your respective books. However this peace was soon interrupted by a whiny Bokuto. “Y/nnnn I'm so boredddd” Bokuto said slamming his book shut. You put your bookmark in your book before closing it and looking at his puppy dog eyes ``Y'know for someone who comes into a bookshop so often, you're not that interested in books are you?” you told him with a smirk. “Hey! I'm smart enough without the help of your stinky books'' he said tapping the book against your head.. You grabbed the book from his hands and stuck your tongue out, watching as he plopped back on his self proclaimed “personal reading chair”. “Besides, I only ever really come to this shop to spend time with you”. You blushed at his small comment but not wanting your feelings to get the best of you quite yet, you decided to “test” these waters you were trending in. “What? You got a crush on me or something?” you said giving him a playful nudge. Now it was his turn to blush. It was silent for a beat to long and you were about to take back what you had just said, but you were quickly cut of when Bokuto took your hand, looked you dead in your eyes with a look that sent shivers down your spine “Would you hate me if I did?” he asked you in a soft tone, almost like a child admitting they broke something to their parent, a big contrast from his usual loud and confident voice. Instead of responding you simply squeezed his hand and cupped his face with the other “I would never hate you, especially if i feel the same way about you” Not being able to hold back anymore he simply grabbed your face and pulled you in for a soft but passionate kiss.pulling away he looked at you with all the love in the world “Y/n, I really want to be with you, but… there's a part of my life that you've never seen and I don't want to lose you over that” he told you, his eyes beginning to gloss over. Still pretty confused about what he was talking about you only took his face in your hand once more “Kou I will love you no matter what. Even your ugly parts”. Bokuto pulled you into a hug, trying to hide the tears that were falling freely from his eyes now. “Y-You promise?”

“I Promise”

Present Day

Thinking about that night still caused butterflies to flutter in your stomach. But now as you were running towards your apartment as if you were running from the grim reaper himself you couldn't ignore the feeling of dread that was sitting next to those butterflies. Had you really just seen that? Did you really just see your loving goofball of a boyfriend kill someone? It was supposed to be a normal night. You had closed the shop and were beginning to walk back home when you saw familiar spiky hair across the road. Curiosity had got the best of you, so… you decided to investigate. What you didn't expect to see was your boyfriend holding a gun to a man's head. It had all happened so fast first the crack of the gun, then your scream, then Bokuto's horrified expression as he turned and saw you standing there with your hand over your mouth. Before Bokuto could even try to explain what he had done, you ran. You ran away as if he was going to point the gun at you next.

Finally. Finally you were safe in your apartment. Your lungs felt like they were on fire, and your legs felt like absolute jelly. All you could do was collapse to the floor and break down crying. The scene from earlier replaying over and over in your head, causing you to get even more hysterical. Suddenly your phone started buzzing. You picked it up, as if you didn't already know who it was calling. The image of your boyfriend's face appeared on your screen, he looked nothing like the man who you had just seen commit that heinous deed. Suddenly anger took over your senses and you threw your phone across the room, returning to your fetal position to cry all your emotions out, eventually crying yourself to sleep

When you had finally awoken the sun was rising and the birds outside were singing their spring songs. You pulled yourself off of the floor before making your way to your phone across the room. "Damn it" you thought. Of course you had cracked your screen. Turning the phone on you was bombarded by hundreds of missed calls and text messages from your boyfriend. Could you even call him that any more? Would you really look at the man you saw kill and call him your boyfriend? Opting not to answer any of his messages or return any of his calls, you blocked him and went to go make you some tea, hoping to calm your still frazzled nerves”

The next few days were pretty quiet you hadn't even dared to leave your apartment, let alone even show up at work. You had called out telling your co-worker that you came down with a terrible cold and wouldn't be in for a couple of days. Sitting alone in your apartment during this time really gave you time to think about the events you had witnessed that night. Is this what Bokuto was talking about that night he confessed to you? Is this what he was afraid of losing you over? you couldn't really blame him if it was. But still, he could have at least warned you about this part of his life, or at the very least act like he was a cold blooded killer! You still couldn't bring yourself to think that the man you had cuddled in bed with, the man you had taken walks in the park with, the very man who opted to release a spider instead of killing it, would actually have it in him to kill an actual person. Suddenly your thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Still a little on edge you jumped at the sudden sound before that familiar sense of dread flooded your stomach. “Well gotta face the music some time” you breathed out slowly walking towards the door.

When you had opened the door you were practically tackled into a hug by a very hysterical Bokuto. You froze at the sudden contact “How could a man hug you with the very same hands he took someone's life with?" You thought as you gently pushed him off you. “Y/n I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now but-” he was interrupted when you raised your hand. “You have 10 minutes to explain yourself then you either need to leave, or I'm calling the cops” you told him motioning for him to come inside. Bokuto practically jumped at the opportunity to finally explain himself to you and hopefully make you understand why he did what he did.

Each of you took a seat at your dining table. It was time for you to get answers... “Ok for starters, why are you here?” you started staring at him coldly. “Well you weren't answering any of my calls or texts and whenever I stopped by the bookshop you were never there, so I got worried” he replied fiddling with his thumbs. You slowly nodded at his answer. “So are you gonna tell me what the hell happened that night or are you just gonna sit there” you spat at him almost angrily. He flinched at your words before taking a deep breath “Well what did you see?” he asked. That was it for you. You slammed your hands on the table, not able to control your anger any more. “WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN WHAT DID I SEE?!?!? I SAW YOU FUCKING KILL SOMEONE KOUTAROU!!” you screamed at him standing up from your seat.”I DID IT TO PROTECT YOU!” he shouted back at you, throwing his hands up in the air. You both stared at each other in teary silence. “Y/n please let me explain… then you can hate me or kick me out i don't care! Just please…” you huffed before sitting back down, doing your best to hold back your own tears. “Ok” he said, trying to find a way to tell you everything “My family has always been a part of the mafia” he started, “When I turned 18 it was time for me to “take over” the family business” your mouth fell open, since he was 18? He's been doing this since he was 18? “When I first met you, I never ever wanted to tell you how much you meant to me because I never wanted you to find out about this part of my life, or even worse...I never wanted this part of my life to find out about you” he continued. You scrunch your eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean “find out about me”” you asked him. “I mean, that if my rivals found out about you and I, they would start to come after you”. Your eyes widened at this. “S-so that guy you shot-” “was trying to kill you” he said finishing off your sentence. He then looked up at you, visible tears in his eyes. “I'm so sorry Y/n I never wanted to put you in any sort of danger but-” you had cut him off when you smashed your lips against his. All this time you had thought he killed that man out of cold blood. Not once did you even consider he was doing it for you. He kissed you back before pulling you into the tightest hug. “Y-your not mad?” he blubbered out. “Not anymore,” you said, smiling at him. “ I just wish you would have told me,” you said. “But I didn't want to lose you…” he whispered in your ear. One last time, you took his face into both of your hands. “Bokuto Koutarou I love you” you said, letting the tears fall from your eyes. He laughed a soft laugh “even the ugly parts?” he asked you

“Even the ugly parts”

[happyreid187]

Beats working - Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Word count: ~2.5 K

Description: Reader’s friends finally make her go to a party, and force a certain genius to attend as well... 

Warnings: SMUT. Explicit, 18+ only! Not gender neutral. Oral sex (reader receiving), unprotected sex, borderline degradation but not really. It’s sort of Dom!spence vibes but very soft. There is alcohol involved at the beginning but consent is made clear. I named the reader’s friends but they’re only mentioned twice so you can def fill that in with your own friends if you prefer :)

“Thank god, you workaholic bitch!” One minute into the party and Marley was already chastising you. Fair. Though you made time for brunches and wine nights, you had missed many of her signature parties. “I’m sorryyyy,” you sang, pulling her in for a hug. “I’m here now.” “Do you think they’ll survive without you for a night?” she giggled. “No, but I don’t really care. Point me in the direction of the alcohol?”

After some obligatory small talk, you found your way through the party to a slightly quieter area, leaning against the wall. You weren’t having a bad time exactly, but you were definitely reminded why you avoid these things. A tall, slim man made his way over, leaning next to you. You had seen him when he came in, having felt drawn to him immediately - he was greeted with similar fanfare, but by Marley’s boyfriend Ben, who lamented his absence at recent parties. You noticed him from the start, but as he stood closer to you, you really took him in, his messy chestnut hair and sharp jawline. He made your brain go dumb. He was, like... really pretty. He seemed shy, but still spoke first “You don’t really seem like a party person. I thought I was the only person they had to force to these things.” he chuckled. “Yeah, I find that I’m about a million percent - well that’s not a thing - a million times more charming one on one. These things make me quiet, and I’m not quiet.” “I love that you corrected yourself there,” he laughed for real this time, and you were weirdly proud of yourself for bringing it out of him. He seemed so stoic and anxious when he first walked in. “I totally relate - I’m usually dead silent at these things and normally people can’t get me to shut up, and...” he smiled at you, and butterflies overtook you “I think you’re plenty charming now.” 

It turned out he was the charming one, and he wasn’t so quiet after all. After brief introductions, he really opened up. You could see what he was saying about never shutting up as he rambled on and on, but you couldn’t understand why anyone would ever want him to stop talking. You could have listened to him all night, and you did. The hours flew by. You learned his name and title - he asked you to call him Spencer - how smart he is, and that his passion for his job mirrored your own. You learned a lot, listening to him talk, as he lamented the amount of germs at parties; how entirely disgusting he finds the proximity and amount of touching they inspire. Contrary to his words, he was sitting incredibly close to you, and you could feel his eyes on your lips. The feeling of this stranger’s eyes on you made you happy in a way you couldn’t explain. Maintaining his anti-party rhetoric, he started whining about how stupid it is to try to interact with people in a space where it’s too loud to hear oneself think. The space around you was deafening, and only getting worse, as the people around you got drunker while you two became progressively less so. The benefit of this was that it forced him to sit with his thigh against yours on the couch and say everything in your ear, like a secret. But having him that close gave you goosebumps, and you wanted him even closer.

“It is really loud. Do you wanna... maybe get out of here?” you nervously inquired. His eyes lit up at your suggestion as he started to shift to stand, but then a shyness crossed over his face. “Are you sure?” he replied, glancing at the beer in your hand. “Yes, yes I’m sure.” He looked unconvinced. “I’ve had two drinks in...” you glanced at your watch “four hours. I’ve barely been sipping this one.” He nodded knowingly, “Well, yeah, and considering the average person can metabolize roughly one drink per hour, and those have a relatively low alcohol content, your blood alcohol should be well below the legal limit for driving. I know you’re not drunk. But the whole time we’ve been talking you’ve been...” he paused. He looked nervous. “Uninhibited? Are you sure you want to leave here with me?” Your chest squeezed at the emphasis he placed on the last two words. He not only wanted to make sure you were fully able to want him, he seemed to question why you would. There was a lot to unpack there, so you pushed it from your mind. You would find myriad ways to reassure him of your desire after you left. Right now you just needed to get out of there, or you were going to suck face in the corner of your friend’s party, and you were both too old for that. You leaned in close, and spoke slowly placing excessive inflection on every single word, as if that would make him believe you. “I am absolutely certain that I want you.” Spencer seemed satisfied. He stood and grinned, pulling you to your feet.

You made your way out of the room swiftly, with him at your heels, his palm on the small of your back. He trailed behind you as you stepped out the door and through the frigid air, moving towards your car. You were too nervous to turn to look at him. Your thoughts turned to insecurity at the coffee cups, receipts, and work clothes that littered the floor and passenger seat. Before unlocking the door, you spun around to warn him, but before you could even open your mouth, his was on yours. As reserved as he had seemed inside, he wasn’t holding anything back now. His lips crashed against yours, bordering on violent, but it wasn’t messy. Your bodies seemed to know how to link, somehow. He grabbed your waist harshly, shoving you against the door. Leaving one hand with a tight grip on your waist, like you were going to slip from his grasp, he brought the other to the side of your neck, his touch surprisingly soft compared to the rest of him. He placed heavy kisses down your neck and along your collarbones. Without his mouth against yours, there was nothing to quiet you. “Oh my god, Spencer...” you gasped. You weren’t sure what you expected, but you hadn’t quite expected him to be so in charge - it was an extremely satisfying surprise. He pressed himself impossibly closer to you, that gentle hand ghosting down your spine and moving to cup your ass. His mouth returned to yours, probably to keep the rest of the party from hearing you, tongue moving with yours. 

“I thought you didn’t like to touch people,” you gasped with a smile as you pulled away dizzy, needing to catch your breath, though your desire to feel his lips felt stronger than your will to breathe. He snapped away from his powerful state for a moment, the lust fading from his eyes slightly and turning into something warmer, his gaze softening. “Oh I want to touch you,” he muttered, a grin tugging at the corners of his now pink, puffy lips. “I want to touch you,” he said again, both reassuring and frighteningly intense, the softness fading but still present “Like this,” his hand found it’s way to your reddened cheek, flushed from both him and the cold, running across you so lightly he was barely there. “And like this...” his other hand found its way from your waist to your breast, squeezing and eliciting a moan from you as he ran his thumb harshly across your nipple. The hand on your cheek simultaneously shifted to grab your chin, forcing you to look at him - as if you weren’t already. His eyes were dark again, and so fierce that you felt simultaneously consumed and overwhelmed. You fought the overwhelm, following his silent demand that you remain focused on his face. You would do anything he asked, with or without words. He returns your focus and leans in, voice deep and austere, crackling against your ear “And like this.” His hand slipped under your dress, cupping your pussy through the drenched lace. Spencer looked entirely elated. “Baby,” he started. You melted at the name. You were going to die. Your heart was going to explode through your chest, but there are worse ways to go. “You’re already so wet for me. I haven’t even started yet,” he muttered. He was so smug. “Were you this wet for me in there, sitting on our friends’ couch?” You didn’t think you would be able to speak, so the sound of your voice surprised you. “Yes. Just hearing you talk and feeling your eyes on me was enough to completely fucking wreck me.” Spencer didn’t seem to expect that answer, looking shocked and delighted, smiling as he pulled you in for a small kiss, chaste in comparison to the previous. “Mmm, well you’re going to have to be patient for me. As much as I want to fuck you right here, I don’t need anyone seeing you. Let’s get out of here.”

The drive was challenging, but quick. You were both grateful and frustrated that he didn’t try to tease you on the way. At least not much. His hand rested on your thigh through the ride, but he didn’t dare to move it. When you finally walked through the door of his apartment, he led you quickly to the bedroom. He had no interest in taking his time. His lips moved against yours with a desperation that made the room spin. You weren’t sure how you would survive him fucking you when his simplest touches overwhelmed you, but you were eager to find out. Too eager, you began grinding on his bulge, moaning into his mouth as your fingers fumbled on the buttons of his shirt. “So impatient, aren’t you?” Spencer asked. “I just want you so bad, Spence.” you begged. You felt pathetic, but you didn’t care. “Good girls know how to wait for what they want. Don’t you want to be a good girl for me?” his voice was deeper than it had been all night, and it edged you even further “Yes. Yes. But please, please don’t tease me.” Your voice shook with emotion and arousal. His teasing was hot, but you needed him now. “We just walked in the door and you’re already begging for me? Either you’re a little slut or I must be really special.” he muttered against your lips. “You are. I’m desperate for you. Only for you.” He had been frustratingly quiet so far, but he moaned at your words now. Spencer shoved you against the bed and moved to hover over you, one hand beside you holding him up while the other made it’s way to where you needed him most. “You are so fucking wet for me. So responsive.” he kissed down your stomach, and you arched your back, moaning so loud you should have been worried about the neighbors, but you weren’t. Your brain was completely empty - all you could do was feel him. With his head nestled between your legs, he kissed your inner thighs, sucking hard enough to leave a mark. You guessed he only wanted to mark you in places he alone could see. You hoped he knew he already owned your body - you were his already. You were already ruined and he wasn’t even fully undressed. “Such a good girl for me, y/n.” he breathed against you, before diving in. His mouth was too perfect, alternating between long laps and short flicks against your clit. After only a few minutes, you were already close, but it seemed so wasteful to finish on his tongue before even seeing the rest of him. You locked your fingers in his hair, pulling him off you “You don’t want me to continue?” he asked, insecure but somehow still dominant. “I want to cum on your cock, baby.” His hazel eyes grew wide at your words. “Please fuck me, Spencer. I need you.” You thought he would mock you for being so desperate, for begging, for needing him, but he seemed to return your need. 

With shaking hands, he unbuckled his belt, and you moved quickly to pull down his boxers. His dick was so pretty, flushed and ready for you. You started to pump him in your hands, but he quickly stopped him. “Not right now baby. I need to feel your pussy.” he was panting already. “Need to be inside you.” You laid on your back, as he moved over you. “Do I need a... “ he started, but you interrupted him, “I have an IUD, you’re good.” He looked relieved. He started kissing you again, but you made it difficult, gasping into his mouth as he moved his member up and down your folds. He pulled away from your mouth, looking at you for approval. “Fucking please.” He pushed into you immediately, slowly but all at once, pausing only when he had completely filled you. Again, he wasn’t as quiet as you might have originally expected, moaning loudly as he buried himself deep inside. He started moving, and quickly built to a rapid pace. Neither of you could be quiet, your moans filling the air as you tried and failed to call out his name. “Y/n,” he somehow groaned and whined at the same time, “you’re so fucking tight.” You couldn’t respond, too focused on the knot forming beneath him, trying to put off your release so that you could feel him just a little longer. 

“Spencer,” you managed, “you feel so good.” he groaned at your cry. He was even more vocal in response to your words than to your body, so you found your voice despite feeling completely inundated with pleasure. “You’re so good. I’m gonna be ruined for anyone else. No one else is this good,” you sung his praises, and it affected him exactly as you had hoped. His thrusts grew less controlled, slowing down somewhat as he said “Good. You’re mine. I - I want you to be mine.” His words nearly pushed you over the edge, but you wanted him to be ready first. “Fuck, I’m gonna - ah” you screamed, “I need you to cum with me baby, please please please” your cries were interrupted by your own orgasm, your muscles spasming around him as he came deep inside you. He relaxed on top of you, and stayed there for a while before finally pulling out. You weren’t ready to part from him yet, but fortunately he quickly returned with a t-shirt, and after cleaning up your collective mess pulled you into his arms, spooning you and placing gentle kisses on your face. Again, you weren’t sure what you had expected - it made sense that after being so desperate for your touch he would want to hold you after. But you remained surprise. Being this close to him felt like a miracle. Rather than questioning it, you settled into the comfort of being close to him, appreciating his arms around you. 

[sagemusesoutloud]

Anti-Romantic, Part 3

(credit to the original owner of the image)

Character | Jaehyun x reader

Genre | nonidol!au, Mutual Pining, Slowburn, Fluff, Angst

WordCount | 2.5 k

Author'sNote | I know I promised this would be up Monday, but life has a funny way of getting in the way sometimes. I honestly don't know what came over me, but I woke up at 3 am and just HAD to write this down. Hope you like it ^^

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Sorry I’m an anti-romantic, I want to run far away

My heart that already chases after you, Blazes up with a small flame

You begin to regain consciousness as the pain in your neck increases. Ugh, this is why you brought your pillow from home. Rolling your neck in the other direction, you reach your hand over from the warmth to fluff the pillow when you feel movement under you.

You freeze and open your eyes, the light so bright that you immediately shut them again. Once your watery eyes calm down, you try opening one at a time. The sun was shining directly on you from the window behind you, you’d guess it was probably early morning. What shocked you into panic mode was the fact that you were still on the sofa and not in the guest bedroom like you had planned last night. Lightly lifting your head, you peek over at Jae to find him still sleeping.

Sometime during the night, both of you must have shifted to a laying position on the couch. Jae was still under you, his arms wrapped around your lower back. Well, there are worse things to wake up to. But now that you were up, so was your bladder. Do you just get up and leave? You didn’t drink that much water; you eyed the half empty water bottle on the coffee-table. Yeah, you could hold it. You relax your body and plan to drift off again when you feel Jae’s chest move with a deep breath, stretching an arm over his head. Crap, maybe I should have moved earlier…is it gonna get weird? Will he be mad?

You’re so deep in thought, it takes you a while to realize he’s not pushing you away but pulling you closer. He places his arm back, this time cradling your head as he peeks at you. “You’re awake?”

“No, I’m sleep-talking.”

You feel him rather than hear him chuckle. He rolls you both over so that you’re lying side by side and able to see you better.

“We fell asleep on the couch…did you sleep ok?” the sun hits half of his face, one of his eyes shining a deep honey color. Even the dust motes help make him look ethereal. Curse him for looking so beautiful first thing in the morning.

“hmm, yeah. Don’t get too close though, I have eye-boogers,” you try to bring the blanket up from your waist but it’s stuck so you opt to covering your eyes with your hands.

“shut up, as if it weren’t normal,” he groans as he pulls you into his chest. “It’s still early, just go back to sleep.”

“I can’t”

“…You can’t?”

“no”

“oh…” he lets you go and scoots as far back in the sofa as he can, “sorry.”

“I’m just gonna go freshen up,” you say as try your best not to fall flat on your face trying to untangle from the blanket, “I’ll be back.” Your only response is a groan before he presumably falls right back to sleep.

As you take care of your business, you can’t help the heavy feeling in your chest. What you were both doing, was it wrong? Did something change or are you overthinking things? It’s happened to you before, where you get too ahead of yourself and end up in misunderstandings. You wanted to enjoy whatever step it was that you both took together last night, but you needed that reassurance or confirmation that it wasn’t all just in your head. Jaehyun would never hurt you, not intentionally. But his cold exterior had been known to break a few hearts here and there throughout your childhood. Heck, even at work nowadays. Now that you think about it, the only times he’s hurt you he hadn’t even been aware of it. You desperately wished you could just waltz right up to him and demand answers; you just didn’t want to make yourself look like a fool for diving straight in to the ‘something more’ stage.

Up until the night before, you had been content with the game of push and pull and if someone would have told you yesterday that what transpired the night before would happen, you would have thought they were joking, but…they do say that the body makes known what the heart wants. You were still in a mess when you realize that you’d been washing your hands for long enough that the water ran cold. You decide that now was a good time as any to wash your face and brush your teeth, combing your fingers through your hair. If he wasn’t going to say anything, why should you? Yeah, this is all probably too much too soon to mean something more, so you were just going to enjoy it while you can. If anything, this could be like a free trial before committing to the long-term subscription. Yeah, that’s simple enough.

You get back to the living room to find Jae still on the couch. An arm covered his face blocking the sun and the other splayed out next to him, an invitation. Or was it? Stop it. You can’t be the one to blame when he’s taking up the whole space. You pick up the blanket from the floor and lay it half on him, leaving an opening for you to slither into. Leaning over the sofa, you move the sheer curtains to cover half the window. they didn’t do much but Jae did move his arm in alarm at the change of lighting, “oh, you’re finally back.”

“yup, all good now.” You nudge your way back into his chest as you laid down facing the room. If you really were going to sleep, you don’t know how much rest you’d be getting if you were facing him again. “good, we can sleep an hour or two more,” his arm reaches around you to pull you even closer, “don’t want you to fall off.”

And there it is, the ‘excuse.’ Is that all this was?

It all felt so intimate and personal. Jaehyun wasn’t sure if the excuses he kept giving you since last night were even believable anymore. He just couldn’t get enough of your closeness. Like a man starved, he kept drinking in the sight of you next to him, the feel of your body along his. This had officially been his best birthday to date.

He was aware that some deep, deep part of him was tensed up waiting for something to go wrong or to bolt at the first chance. But for once, his heart was louder than those thoughts. He wanted this, he wanted to have you. All of you. In turn, he wanted to give you all of him as well. That’s what scared him the most, he’s known he’s wanted you since forever, but the fact that he needed to you to embrace all of him? That he needed you to be his safe space?

In a way, he’s always known about all of this. It’s why he’s kept you at a distance for so long, but maybe he was finally ready to open up to you and be completely honest and vulnerable. Fuck, he can’t even believe it took him this long to actually do something about it.

You both wake up later in the morning. Jaehyun’s preparing coffee while you whip up breakfast, an easy pattern you both fall into. He’s not sure if the silence is a comfortable one or a heavy one, but you did seem to be in a good mood. While he’d gone to freshen up, you had connected your phone to the Bluetooth speakers and had a light melody playing. He makes a mental note to ask you over more often, he would gladly become a morning person just to see you fit so seamlessly in his home.

As you both settle down to eat, he hears you let out a gasp, “I forgot!”

“What is it?”

You whine, “aww, I wanted to give it to you on your birthday. It’s the whole reason I needed to see you.” You get up and dash over to the guestroom before he can even stop you.

“So you didn’t come just to spend time with me? Ouch,” he zeroes in on your form, hiding something behind your back. “Don’t tell me you got me flowers.” Your smile drops.

“No, they’re not flowers,” you roll your eyes. You pull his arm out, guiding your hand down until you grasp his hand. He hopes you don’t see the way he shivers at the contact. “Here,” you place the red-velvet heart-shaped box in his palm. He gasps, “oh.”

For a moment, he doesn’t know how to react. Is this what he thinks it is? No, you couldn’t possibly have, you for sure would be way more nervous if you did. But it did look like jewelry, expensive jewelry. “well, are you gonna open it?”

He wordlessly lifts the lid and finds an exquisite bracelet inside. Jaehyun wasn’t much of a guy for jewelry, but it was simple enough to be worn as everyday type of accessory. It was a thin silver type of chain, the clasp had his initials and a heart hidden on the inner-side of it. “Just so you know, the heart was part of the model,” you begin explaining, a nervous shake to your voice, “but I did ask them to engrave your initials on it to personalize it. You don’t have to like it, like I said, I saw it while out shopping and thought of you.” He glances at you to find your ears red but your expression was drawn. Fuck, were you even real?

He hands you the box back, for a second, he sees your shoulders deflate before clarifying, “I’m gonna need some help to put it on.”

“Why do you always tease me?” but you concede his request, taking out the chain carefully and pulling his wrist closer to you. Because I love you…

Because this is the only way I can show you affection without scaring you…

“Because I love your reactions.”

You let go of him as you finish your work, inspecting the way it looks. “I’m glad I knew your size,” you mumble, “it fits you perfectly.” He doesn’t miss the way he feels it weighing down his wrist. Was it a comfortable weight?

“Of course it does, you got it for me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” your eyes are piercing his, no doubt that your thoughts are probably going a hundred miles per hour. “What I just said,” his eyes are staring you down, “anything you give is perfect to me.” You weren’t going to make him spell it out for you, right? Not after last night.

You frown at that, “what if I don’t want to ‘just’ give you this?”

He finally looks away as he finds the courage to say, “what are you willing to give?” He’s treading carefully, he can’t mess up now.

“I don’t know.”

That stings. Are we back to playing games? So soon?

He’s tired of it. Forget tired, he’s exhausted from it. And all it took was one night to help him realize that he really doesn’t want to continue playing, not when it comes to you.

“Then, I would be happy for the time you spent together with me last night. I would be grateful it happened but I probably wouldn’t feel comfortable being that close to you again.”

Did he just say that? Maybe this was all a dream still. A cruel nightmare.

So he doesn’t want to move things further, is that what he’s saying? After all the moments you just shared, that’s all he’s got to say to you?

“I’m sorry I crossed the line then,” you need to go. Before you say something more and before he sees the tears that are just itching to be released.

You force out a laugh, “but thank you for being honest, I guess.”

You grab your plates and move towards the kitchen. Almost there, please don’t fall. He will not see you cry. God, you knew this was getting too good to be true. You knew it had to be a trick, you were back to square one! Man, you felt so stupid now. Did you really think one night would change everything?

You don’t realize he’s quick to go after you, grabbing your arm to face him. You let the plates crash on the sink, the sound startling him as you push his hold off you. You almost make it out the kitchen when he pulls you back again, this time pushing you against the counter standing chest to chest.

“No, you’re not listening to me.” He grabs you by the shoulders. Your heart is pounding furiously against your ribcage. You finally break down, “No, you’re not being honest.”

“If you had told me last night that I make you uncomfortable, I would have respected your boundaries, Jae.” You push down a sob, “If you had no intention of—of being that close—” You can’t even find the right words to express yourself. You spent so much time thinking about what you wanted to say earlier and now you couldn’t recall a single sentence.

He cuts you off with groan, “How can I make myself any more clear? What do you want me to say?” He lets go of you and takes a few steps back, “that it scares me? How much you know? How much you hold over me?”

“Hold over you?? You keep me at a distance! You always draw the line! Even last night, all you could do was excuse each and every one of your actions. What, you thought I wouldn’t catch that?? You don’t leave room for misunderstandings; you are crystal clear.”

You get close enough to poke his chest, “YOU—it was always you! I’ve always just been happy to go along at your pace. FOR YOU. And for years, too. So no, YOU don’t get to throw it back in my face like that. YOU—”

He pushes your hand away, “Me?! Ok no, you’re joking right? This push and pull cycle? I’m not the only one to blame and you know it! What about all those relationships you’ve been in? All those relationship questions you’d ask me, literally just a few weeks back! This is not entirely my fault either. Because guess what sweetheart, it takes two to tango.”

You’re so angry at upset, because how dare he?! Was he not the one that would sleep around in high school? The one that decided to study in a different freaking country?! Leaving you and your friends behind? Leaving the sport he oh so loved behind? He’s just running away again.

You don’t realize how hard you’re breathing and how close you’re standing until you can literally feel his breath on your lips. It’s the whisper you barely catch against the loud ringing in your ears, “You want me to be honest?”

You freeze.

“I’ll be honest with you, you can’t fault me for what I honestly need to do.”

Who made the first move, you’re not sure. But the moment his lips touched yours, it was game over.

EndNote | hahahaha... and there it is. Will there be more tension or are they finally gonna stop being so stubborn?? I honestly don't know, but this has to have been my favorite chapter to write 🙊

In the future, is it ok to post short but daily? Or would people rather I post the whole story in a single post?

Previous: Part 2 | Next: Part 4

[moonyblackwerewolf]

Betrothed Ch. 4 - Sirius Black

Betrothed Ch. 4

Sirius Black x fem!Reader

Word count: 4.7k

Summary: Sirius and Y/N meet at a family dinner and have some fun, later she finds out she is betrothed to some pureblood boy so Sirius comes up with a mental idea to save them both.

Warnings: Kissing, hints of sex, aggressive parents, underage drinking, idk my writing and English? lol

a/n: Oh my god this is so long! I hope you guys like it, i think there is only 2 chapters left, idk yet. Anyway Feedback is always welcome, thank you guys :)

Xxxx

Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch. 2.5 Ch.3 Ch.4 Ch. 5 

When Y/n got home, she had time before going to the Malfoys, so she was planning on how to gently tell her parents she didn’t want to go and that she wasn’t going to accept their marriage proposal too. She spend days thinking and decided it was time, because her mom was already telling her to get prepared to go, so she sent a letter to Sirius as promised telling him she would talk to her parents on that day. 

Later the family sat down in a living room and waited for Y/n to say what she wanted to.

“So? What do you want to tell us, your father and I are busy” her mother said impatiently, not knowing the bomb her daughter would throw at her.

Y/n took a deep breath and said “I don’t want to marry Malfoy, I’m not accepting his proposal.” As simple as that single phrase sounded like, it cost her so much more. Her parents were outraged to say the very least, how could she misbehave after all those year of being so obedient.

“What do you mean you won’t? Yes you will, the Malfoys are getting their answers next week” Her mother screamed.

To say her parent were furious was an understatement. She was disrespecting not only their choice of husband, but also their ancient family traditions. But in reality that’s exactly what she felt like, those traditions were ancient and full of nonsense, it is completely wrong to promise a girl to some narcissist, conservative, arrogant, aggressive prick and make her spend the rest of her life with him, loosing all of her liberty.

“Are you calling Lucius a prick? He is a member of one respectable family Y/n!” Her father grunted, grabbing his wand.

“Why? Because they’re pureblood?” Y/n yelled, since she was already fighting their principles she might as well do it right. “That’s nonsense why would a blood status change a person? It doesn't change anything, I know many muggle borns who are ten times better people than you are, you think you can judge everyone, just because you’re pure? Or rich? Or call yourself royal? Which is absurd by the way, you and I know there isn’t royalty in our world, you only say that because you want to be better than everyone else, so you lie and you’re powerful enough for people to believe you” she roared, it felt incredible to take some of her frustrations out of her chest for once in her life, she didn’t have to pretend to be a well behaved purist, like she was before.

Mr. Watson wouldn’t believe his daughter, he didn’t want to, so he kept blinding himself from the ugly truth that he was indeed wrong. “I won’t tolerate you disrespecting our tradition Y/n” with a wave from his hands Charles hit Y/n with the Cruciatus curse, taking her to the ground almost immediately. 

“Dad! Stop- you’re hurting me, please! You’re hurting me” She cried and begged and squirmed, it felt agonising the pain touched each and every part of her body, the tears ran freely down her face, after being hit a certain amount of times she just felt numb to the pain, she stayed still wrapping her knees with all the strength she had left.

“You are going to marry Lucius Malfoy and you are going to accept his proposal in person when you go to his house, because you’re still going and I don’t want to hear a single complain or any of these ideas you cultivated in your mind, you are going to bring us respect” With no remorse her father left her there small, hugging her legs and crying alone, earning only a polite nod from her mother followed by a ‘I warned you’ look.

The rest of her time at home went by so slow she thought a whole month had passed, she was now feeling so bad being in her own house that she almost wanted to go to the Malfoys. Her parents weren’t even letting her see the mail, which meant she wasn’t receiving Sirius’ letters. Her sister wouldn’t talk with her anymore, scared of having the same fate as Y/n and her brother didn’t even know what was happening with his little sister.

The day she was going to the Malfoy manor had arrived. Her parents dropped her there in that shark tank like it meant nothing, they didn’t even bother saying good bye, she had come a long way from being the perfect daughter, who was always respectful with her parents and their ideals. Being at the Malfoys felt like being in Azkaban, but it was still better than being at home at least, there she was treated with extreme respect by Abraxas Malfoy and his wife, they were doing it out of interest of course but it was better than nothing, her only problem was Lucius, she hated him and hated even more that she’d need to sleep in his bed with him and even more that she’d have to accept his proposal by the end of the week. She felt stuck.

After having dinner Mrs. Malfoy showed you to Lucius’ room, while the house elf carried Y/n’s trunk next to the bed. The room was nice and big but it was cold and dark, she felt bad in there, fear creeping into her chest as her whole body felt numb, she just wished she could be in Sirius’ bed in the dormitories, she didn’t know why but there, by Sirius’ side was the most perfect place to be, she felt warm and safe.

“That’s it sweetheart, goodnight” after showing the room, with a final goodbye Mrs. Malfoy let her there alone, with Lucius. He was handsome, sharp jaw, strong upper body, beautiful face, she couldn’t deny it but it felt so wrong, it was sickening, she didn’t love him, she couldn’t, he was a terrible person.

“Look Y/n/n, I have to say, back in Hogwarts I was a bit jealous from you and Sirius, but now, being here with you, feels so right” he said as he was inching closer to her “Come on, let’s go to bed” his fingers were brushing her waist, the single phrase and action made her feel sick, his touch was ice cold, but what choice did she have. Y/n knew the punishment she’d have to face if she didn’t behave

“Ok” she replied, mouth dry “I’ll go change, in the bathroom”. She opened her trunk and looked for comfortable pyjamas, but to her surprise there were only vulgar sleeping clothes and lingeries, she felt a cold in her spine that made her sicker, her mother had it all planned out, crazy she thought, her mother is crazy. The last straw was when she saw a note from her mom.

Bought you some new clothes for you to share with Lucius.

Love,

Mom

She wondered what would It feel like to have a real caring mother, not one that just clearly wants her to have sex so she can have grandchildren. But she was born on a deranged family. She had no choice, so she just chose the pieces that were most discreet and even those weren't even a bit discreet, it was a black lace bra that at least covered her breasts perfectly and went a bit down and matching panties, if there was something she was sure of, it was that she didn’t want to see Lucius’ face when he saw her.

But again, she had no choice, when she entered the room again Lucius gaze fell directly on her chest. “My eyes are up here you know right?” She asked with a bored voice, while lying down in bed, much to her dismay.

“Feisty” he chuckled lying in bed besides her “I’ve always liked you Watson” Lucius was being a tease but she could see it in his eyes that he was drooling over her. She hated it. So she turned over and closed her eyes, wanting desperately to sleep for the whole time she’d be stuck there “Good night for you too, love” the nickname Sirius used to call her seemed so cold now, sounded fake coming form Lucius’ mouth. That night her thoughts kept going back to Sirius, she wondered if he was trying to talk to her, trying to reach her somehow but being unsuccessful thanks to her cruel parents. She missed him, his touch, his affections and she missed Lily, if she was here they’d talk the whole night and then maybe it wouldn’t fell so lonely, she missed reading with Remus, joking and pranking people with James and how protective he was and Peter’s cute but sarcastic comments, she missed her true family.

The next few days sucked, Y/n was running out of the less vulgar clothes, Lucius was always trying to kiss her and get close to her and the Malfoys’ forced kindness was beginning to annoy her, on top of that she didn’t feel like home in this house, she didn’t feel comfortable to do anything, basically she was counting the days until she could go back to Hogwarts.

——————————

Sirius knew something was wrong when Y/n didn’t answer any of his letters, assuming that she’d now probably be at the Malfoys, he needed to talked to her. The thought of Malfoy touching her and the things he could do made his blood boil, she was his friend after all. But things at his home weren’t good, his parents were breathing down his neck so he need to find a way to escape, so, of course he asked James for help.

James and Sirius had come up with a plan, but it was certainly dangerous and potentially problematic, just like everything they did. The plan was: Sirius would sneak away from his house, once he managed to do so he would meet with James in his house and the both boys would go pay the Malfoys a visit, once inside Sirius would need to distract the Malfoys since their families are friends while James helped Y/n run away to his house. It wasn’t quite a brilliant plan, they didn’t have much time to think, but Sirius needed to be sure she was safe.

Now Sirius thought he would have great difficulty running away, he waited for everyone to fall asleep to leave his bedroom, managed to avoid the elves, went to the broom closet, grabbed a broomstick, everything was doing great, except for one thing. Sirius’ brother Regulus thought he had herd something and went downstairs, only to find he’s rebellious younger brother trying to run away.

“What do you think you’re doing this time of night Sirius?” Regulus asked not even a bit surprised by his brother’s actions.

Shit, Sirius thought, he had two options lie or tell the truth. He chose the boldest one “Reg, don’t tell our parents” he looked helpless for the first time in his life, Regulus was quite startled “I need to save my friend, she’s in danger. I know we’re not in the best terms but, do this one favour for me-” he paused “I really care about this girl, she’s the Watson’s daughter, you know her”

“What? The Watson’s… you mean Y/n? What happed Sirius? She’s my friend too, is she okay?” He was going to tell his parents before but now he was curious and worried, he liked Y/n, she was nice to him on eventual encounters in their common room or classes.

“She’s- she’s being held captive at the Malfoys” it wasn’t a lie.

“Held captive? And what about her parents? her dad is the Minister of Magic Law Enforcement, what is it you can do that he can’t and on top of that why are the Malfoys supposedly holding her captive?” Regulus was being particularly annoying, he was suspicious of Sirius’ intentions.

“Her parents gave her away, they want her to marry Lucius, but she doesn’t. And i’m willing to ask for her hand if she accepts me, but she wanted to confront her parents, which clearly went terribly wrong” Sirius tried to defend his theses but he didn’t know if Regulus would be willing to let him go or he’d say that she has to marry who her parents want.

“You’re being absurd Sirius, it can’t possibly be that bad, it’s a marriage, considering our families, it’d happen sooner or later. You can’t stop it, if the Malfoys tell our parents they’ll kill you” Regulus was irritated at first, she was only doing what she was supposed to.

“I’m going either way” Sirius wasn’t letting his brother get in the way.

“Ok.” Sirius would be lying if he said he’s jaw hadn’t dropped to the floor. Actually Regulus was quite shocked too, hearing he’s brother say he was willing to marry a girl and a girl that their parents would approve was indeed shocking and he liked Y/n, the thought of her suffering made him less strict with his brother for once.

“W-well- hum ok then” Sirius left as quickly as he could, afraid this was only an hallucination.

James was waiting for Sirius with his bedroom’s window open. When he entered they both went to bed and talked until they fell asleep, the next day would be eventful. Assuming they woke up right before lunch, the boys hurriedly set everything necessary for the plan, muttered apologies to James’ parents and went to pay a visit to Lucius Malfoy. The weather outside was cold, but the sun was shining, making the travel rather beautiful, but the boys didn’t even notice, they were too worried, James couldn’t stop thinking about how Malfoy was treating his best friend, he hated him so much, Sirius had another motives, he hadn’t realised yet and it may take a little push, but he was jealous.

Arriving at that creepy mansion James and Sirius separated, James sneaked in quietly looking for Y/n’s belongings, while Sirius knocked on the door. The house elf asked him to come in and called his master. Mrs. Malfoy was quite surprised but tolerant.

“Good Morning, may i ask your name?” She asked politely 

“Oh i’m Sirius Black, Walburga’s son” 

“Oh! Sirius what a pleasant surprise, is Walburga going to visit us today?” 

“No madam” he paused, grabbing a gift he stole from his parents earlier “my mom asked me to give you this present, I don’t really know why, she didn’t want to tell me what it was” He never lied so badly in his entire life, but knowing Y/n was probably miserable was distracting him.

She found it suspect but didn’t do anything, it was better ti ignore it “How lovely, come in and have lunch with us, Y/n and Lucius will be thrilled to see you” Mrs. Malfoy suggested, probably trying to maintain friendly due to her relationship with the Black family.

Y/n really will, he thought. 

When Y/n saw Sirius she felt hope rise in her chest for the first time since beginning of the break, she ran and hugged him tightly, the hug felt warn and safe, she didn’t want to ever let go. But she had to, the action was inappropriate. “Sirius!!! What are you doing here, what a lovely visit” she said winking at him, trying to hold composure but failing.

“Sirius” Lucius greeted him too cordially “Came to visit my fiancé?” He asked with a smug look on his face.

“Not yet, darling” Y/n retorted with a fake smile

Sirius sat next to her at the big table, the room was dark and big, the table was made of hardwood the only light sources were the sun and a weak candelabra, the room had a giant fireplace that was probably the only warm place in the house and heavy curtains. When Lucius and Mrs. Malfoy were distracted, Sirius whispered to Y/n “Say you have to go to the bathroom, James’ waiting for you outside, he probably already has your Trunk”.

His word startled Y/n, that was a dream come true, but she couldn’t “Sirius, I can’t leave, my parents would kill me” she paused to check if no one was listening “If I run it would create a conflict between my parents and the Malfoys and I don’t want to be caught in the middle of it.” She said pretending to pay attention on Lucius’ commentaries “I’m going to stay here” she continued, shocking Sirius completely.

“But your parents want you to get married Y/n, are you just going to- marry Malfoy and the rest of your life with him?” she looked tense, knowing she’d have no choice, he hated seeing her like that. 

Suddenly she heard Sirius clear his throat loudly, scaring her “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need to talk with Y/n” he paused, the Malfoys were now looking at him “In private, if you allow us- it’s urgent” Mrs Malfoy looked a little confused but nodded. Sirius took Elena out of the room almost immediately.

“Y/n why in the name of Merlin are you staying here?” 

“I can’t go Sirius, I told you, the Malfoys wouldn’t be happy, it could cause a conflict my parents want to avoid” Sirius didn’t look convinced, he knew she was just making excuses but he didn’t know why.

“Really? Isn’t you’re family the most powerful in the sacred-twenty-eight?” He commented mockingly “Why would they be scared of the Malfoys?” Sirius could see the fear in her eyes, she wanted to go but was scared, so he sat her down on a coach near and asked her with those protective grey eyes that made her feel so protected “Y/n, it’s alright you can tell me anything” he said covering her hands in his protectively.

“No, i-i i can’t tell you” He squeezed her hands reassuringly saying that no one would know if she told him. She took a deep breath, e/c eyes staring at his grey ones “If i run, my parents, will kill me” she said eyes now full of fear, it made them look darker.

“Theoretically, right?” He asked concerned, knowing deep down what kind of family the Watsons were, he was surprised with his shock, cursing himself for the stupid question.

“No Sirius!” She whispered shouted “They’ll actually kill me, you want to know how I ended up here at the Malfoys after I told them I didn’t want to come? Do you?” She looked at him waiting for an answer, he nodded “They used two of the three unforgivable curses on me, every day until I agreed to come and marry Lucius” her voice was cracking “They used Imperio, made me not move and then used Cruciatus, I was feeling so much pain that I thought I was going to die and worse, I couldn't move a toe, I couldn’t even try to ease my pain by screaming and moving because i was under their control.” His eyes were now burning with anger “To get me to come here they used Imperio again and I don’t them to use it ever again, I lost all my free will, so what choice do I have?” Her voice was cracking, fighting the urge to cry, only the mere thought of what had happed scared her. “They’d rather see me dead than seeing me go rogue and ruin the family name” she paused, taking a breath and continued, desperation written all over her face “Why do you think i’ve always been pureblood propaganda for my parents? The gracious perfect daughter, perfect sister, the perfect student? because if I did what you do” she gestured at him “They’d kill me” She finished, looking at him, eyes begging for help, face trying miserably to hide her emotions. Sirius was scared, not even his parents had ever done something of the sort and they creative punishers. So he wrapped her in his arms not wanting to ever let her go, wanting to protect every strand of hair in her head. She melted into his embrace, all of the fear and agony being soothed.

“Oh Merlin Y/n, i’m so sorry” Sirius almost cried when she hugged him back tightly, looking for safety in his arms, the arms she knew so well. After a few moments Sirius said abruptly “Marry me Y/n” he felt her body stiffen “Please, I know you can handle this on your own, but I don’t want you to” he paused, caressing her hair “Please marry me, the Black name should be enough for your parents to accept the union, just let me take care of you, please” 

For the first time, Y/n didn’t protest, she just nodded and buried her head on his chest, she knew this plan was reckless and would make her parents angry, but she couldn’t control herself, it was like her body couldn’t take the pain anymore. “Y/n, go find James, he’s outside. I’ll talk with Malfoy, please just go, ok?” He kissed her forehead, as she stood up and went to find James.

Sirius went back to the dining room and explained that Y/n had to go home, because she would refuse Lucius’ proposal. The Malfoys were startled and outraged, she didn’t even have the guts to tell them herself? She had to bring another boy? It was all a waste of time and i’d be a disgrace for the Malfoy name if someone found out their son were rejected by a Watson, but surprisingly Sirius managed to convince them, no one created excuses as good as him. Surprisingly the Malfoys didn’t try to stop him, it was a miracle, even though they couldn’t do anything since Y/n wasn’t their daughter and it’d make a scene that could ruin their reputation, that wouldn’t last long though, they needed to run, because they would certainly contact Y/n’s parents to give a piece of their minds, it was a deal after all, they didn’t understand what happened.

“Well then Mr. Black, we hope everything’s turns out to be fine” Mrs. Malfoy politely sneered with a wave of goodbye.

“Eh-hm Thank you Mrs. Malfoy, we’re sorry for the inconvenience” Sirius said a bit nervous, leaving the room as quickly as he could.

While Sirius was talking with the Malfoys, Y/n was running to the front gate where James was waiting for her. “Y/n/n!” He shouted as he saw her running his way, when she arrived he wrapped her in a bear hug lifting her off the ground. “I’m so glad you’re okay” he said warmly, form this day on, feeling her fear as she hugged him back James considered her his sister and she considered him her brother, since he protected her, risked a rescue when she needed the most, that meant the world. 

“I’m glad to see you too Prongs” she chuckled lightly at his protective brother hug.

“Here” he said pointing to his broomstick “We’re going together, to my house, when Sirius arrive” she nodded climbing up the broom behind him.

James and Y/n were already waiting, ready to leave, when Sirius showed up getting on his broom saying “Let’s go, let’s go before they warn your parents” and taking off, James following right after. Riding their brooms fast against the cold winter air, happy that their mental plan had worked. When the trio arrived at the Potters, James’ mom was in the garden, certainly not expecting her son and his friend to arrive with a h/c girl with e/c eyes stained with tears.

“James, care to explain?” His mother asked unable to hide her surprise, but going to help the girl and try to calm her down “Let’s go inside, i’ll make you some tea sweetie and you two will explain me what happened” she said looking at the boys.

So, once inside, the boys explained what Y/n was going through and how she was being tortured and forced to marry Malfoy. Euphemia, was disgusted with Y/n’s parents, she had heard of their reputations before but this was cruel. During the whole explanation Y/n was quiet, riding out of her shock, they guessed, until she spoke and everyone went silent “I need to to my house” she said so low it was almost inaudible, they were sure they had heard it wrong but then she said it louder this time “I need to go home before things get worse” the room went silent.

“You’re not going back there Y/n” Sirius was the first to talk, desperation in his voice.

“They’ll kill me if I don’t go back” 

“There, One more reason, it’s not safe” James added, but she insisted.

Sirius stopped, looking at her “Ok then, I’m going with you, after I pay mommy dear a visit. Can you wait only until that? i’ll be as quick as possible” 

“Yeah Y/n wait a little and calm down, you can stay here until he comes back” James said patting her shoulder gently.

“No, I don’t want to bother your parents, I’m fine” she said shyly, earning a shrug from Mrs. Potter “-and I-i don’t know how long it’ll take until my parents find out i left the Malfoys, it’s too risky” 

“Dear, calm down, there’s no problem in you staying here, I promise, wait for Sirius, he’ll be there for you, your parents are not going to hurt you. If your plan doesn’t work then you can stay here with us, just rest for a bit” Euphemia said with a motherly smile on her face.

“But Sirius don’t you think your parents will be warned too?” Y/n tried to protest but James’ mom was already showing her to her room.

Y/n was so tired from the restless nights at the Malfoys, from the fear she constantly felt that Lucius would do something to her and from her parents, that when Euphemia offered the guest room and put her there, she drifted to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Sirius caressed her hair and laid beside for a minute to make sure she was alright after the turbulent events from the break.

While she slept he told James about his plan to marry her, He was a Black, her parents would certainly be pleased with the union if the anger from the Malfoy incident passed and his parents would never refuse to wed him with a Watson, it’d be like refusing royalty, maybe it’d be difficult to explain the latest incident but anyway it was the offer of a lifetime. “Wow, Sirius are you sure? I mean, I want to save Y/n too, but- this, are you sure? This whole marriage thing is mental” James gasped.

“Her parents won’t let her stay here, they’ll try to get her back and make her marry someone else, since we humiliated Lucius, they won’t stop, I know how these people get” Sirius stated “But if I go to my parents and convince them to ask her hand to the Watsons, since she’s not officially betrothed to anyone yet, not only they’ll be thrilled but they’ll also do anything to convince her parents. And my parents would Betroth me one day too so this is just the best option for both of us” James couldn’t argue, it was a good plan in the rough.

“So you’re getting married, that’s serious” James teased “Our dear friend Y/n/n will be future Mrs. Black” he laughed hard at Sirius’ blushed face. “Oh Merlin!” He pointed a finger to Sirius “You like her! You- fancy Y/n, Merlin” James was so excited “It all makes sense, this friends with benefits thing would never work and that’s why you’re so relaxed about marrying her, because you fancy Y/N/N, Merlin!” 

“No I don’t, shove off Prongs, you’re hallucinating, we’re friends” The blush on his face wasn’t ignored by James, who laughed harder “Now, i need to go home and convince mommy Black to talk to the Watsons” Sirius cut James off, leaving the room heading to the hell he called home.

“Whatever you say Pads” James yelled from the kitchen.

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

taglist: @msmb​ ❤️

[atalho-s]

Sweet Sugar

4 | Crosses

pairing: tom holland x reader

warnings: swear words, underage drinking (not much tho, nothing descritive and nothing like “Skins” lmao), suggestive scenes in some chapters, not smut!! but minors be aware. Fluff/angst/drama/ Y/n and Tom being stupid teenagers with feelings.

words: 2.5 k

a/n: english it’s not my first language, Sorry for any mistakes! If you want to be tag on the next chapters, please let me know

Summary: Y/n, Harrison and Tom has always been best friends. Since childhood they’ve always been close, but what happens if after a break up with her first boyfriend, she starts to feel something more about Tom

PART 4! If you want to read the other parts click here

❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁

I woke up the other day feeling a little better, which was good. I washed my face thoroughly, put on a pair of jeans, a Beatles T-shirt along with a jacket and left my room, ready for another week of torture.

- Good morning mom... - I was saying going down the stairs, but I remembered that she had already left for work. Which was good, because that way I didn't have to talk about the party.

I had my coffee, in the silenc  and soon after opened my phone, until I got on Instagram and saw that Tom had posted pictures of the party. The caption said: Thank you all! you guys are awesome! The photos from the party were great 😂

I was scrolling the photos, the first ones were all of us at the table, some were blurry of the people dancing... until I saw one of him with other people from school: Meghan was hugged him from the side making the peace sign with her fingers and he was kissing the top of her head. I sighed feeling my eyes fill with tears again. Okay, maybe I wasn't as ok as I thought.

I blocked my phone and put it in my pocket, taking my backpack and leaving the house, otherwise I would going to be late. I had to focus on school, not crying for silly things, I had to pay attention in my tests, that was more important than anything.

I went down the street and found Haz already waiting for me in the same place, I approached him and when he looked at my face, he made a pitying one.

- You saw the photos didn't you? - he asked and I nodded as he hugged me.

- It's alright Haz, I'll be fine- I said releasing him after a few seconds and he looked at me raising an eyebrow doubtingly - It's no big deal! By the way, I won't talk about it anymore, if we don't go now, we'll be late for school. - I said pulling him and we started walking.

- Okay... But just to close this subject, Tom sent me a message yesterday asking if you were okay and if there was anything wrong because you left early without saying goodbye.

- Hmm, and you didn't say anything right?

- Of course not! I just said that you weren't very used to drinking and that was all, and he believed... - Haz said and I breathed a sigh of relief.

- Good... He also texted me yesterday, he even wanted me to go to his house to tell me about Meghan.

- Well, whether way, he still thinks he's your best friend, nothing more than that...- Haz said, and I hated that he was right.

- It's true, and he's just my best friend, nothing more... - I emphasized the JUST- Did he tell you anything else about Meghan? - I asked and when Haz was going to answer I cut him - Never mind, It’s better if i don’t know. - I said waving my hand in the air.

- If you want it that way... - he replied. - Oh god you two have the same class today right? - he asked and I put my hand in my forehead. I had forgotten that I had English today for the first two classes and Tom would be sitting right next to me.

- I had even forgotten about that. But you know what? I'm going to stay there like a champ and ignore everything. - I said determined and Haz laughed feeling a little sad for me.

- Okay, I support that, but...- he was talking and I cut him again saying: shhh.

- No buts, and now enough of this subject, because we're already arriving. - I said and he rolled his eyes in agreement.

We arrived at the corner and Tom was already waiting for us as usual. He wore a blue sweatshirt and a backwards cap, black jeans and white sneakers. Obviously he was gorgeous as usual, which was ridiculous, but no sign of Meghan, which was good for now...

I tightened my grip on Haz's arm that I was hooked on and he smiled encouragingly. We got closer and Tom looked up from his phone, hanging up and putting it in his pocket.

- Hey strangers! - He said putting the backpack on his back, shaking hands with Haz and me with the usual kiss on the forehead. I lowered my eyes, smelling his scent and smirked. - You better y/n?

- I am, staying in bed all day yesterday did me good. - I said as we headed towards the stairs.

- That's good! And even better that now you have two classes with me- he said winking and Haz looked at me apprehensively.

- HA-HA, very funny. Too bad I'll have to pay attention in class and I won't be able to talk to you. - I said shrugging and Tom looked at me with an ironic face.

- Wow shortie, I felt rejected now. - He said pouting and I rolled my eyes. Of rejection I knew well.

- Well, I have to go because I have a presentation about geography, so, see you guys later? - Haz said when we arrived in the hallway, waving and looking at me discreetly as if he was saying: good luck.

- Let's go, grumpy face? - Tom said pointed for me to go ahead. I rolled my eyes looking at him, which he laughed and we went to the class.

I sat a little further back in my usual seat and Tom sat behind me. I was feeling claustrophobic, but it was only two classes, I could survive this. But when Mr. Ribbs came into the room and started talking, I lost all courage i had.

- Good morning students! Today the two classes will be more dynamic. As I know you had a difficult week, with so many papers and tests, I decided to leave these classes for you to go to the library and pick up any book to read and then give me a summary about it. - he was talking and I was excited, because I loved reading and I could still get my book and be quiet without having to talk to Tom, right? - But... I want you to do this in pairs. - wrong - Happy reading! - He said and everyone stood up forming their pairs and leaving the room one by one.

I felt someone nudge my shoulder and tooking a deep breath I turned around, seeing a smiling Tom.

- Good, reading... At least you like to read, because I with my dyslexia... - he laughed.

- Yeah good... it fit like a glove... Shall we go? - I said and we got up going towards the library. If Tom thought my way of talking was a little dry, he didn't react, which was good.

We arrived at the library and I was looking among the shelves for something easy and good for us to read.

- Y/n, darling... I have to tell you about yesterday - Tom started talking excitedly as he followed me through the halls. - After you and Haz left, a lot things happened...

- Hmm, I'm glad you had fun Tom. - I said a little disinterested picking up some books and looking at the synopsis.

- Yea! I had a lot of fun, but what happened was...

- Hey, how about we read Pride and Prejudice? It's one of my favorites, I think it's a good one, because we just need to read the main parts to refresh our memory. - I said, interrupting him.

-Yeah... Sure, I think it's a good one. - he said as I grabbed Jane Austen's book off the shelf and headed toward one of the tables.

- Shortie, how about if we read this outside? I think it's better than staying here, besides, we can talk better. - Tom said and I stopped turning around. Damn it, I was counting on staying there in the library anyway, so he wouldn't be able to say anything about the night before, because they were going to tell him to be quiet.

- Okay, good idea... - I said, giving up on to try to inventing another excuse.

We left the library and headed towards some tables outside. They were empty, except for a couple of couples scattered around the yard who had the same idea. I sat down and Tom sat next to me putting the book on the table and pulling out his notebook so we could write something down.

- So, as I was saying... We were on the dance floor, right, and Meghan and I were talking about the theater and other things, until... Guess what? - He started talking and I raised my eyebrow, while trying to distract myself with the book. - She said she thought I was cute and that I had a cute, sexy look. - He continued and I laughed ironically.

- So far so good, right... Until she just kissed me in the middle of the dance floor! - He said as if it were the most extraordinary thing in the world. Yeah, I thought with myself, I was there and saw everything, that's why I'm feeling bad and I can't even look at your face right now... I wanted to say it, but I just looked at him pretending to be interested.

- And mate, it was the best kiss of my life! We stayed together practically all night... Damn, I've dreamed about this so much since childhood...

- Good Tom, it must have been a really good birthday gift, right? - I said, looking at the book again.

- Yea! It was perfect...- he said and I could feel him staring at me. - Hey, you don't seem very excited about my little conquest... - he nudged me pouting and I looked at him.

- Nah, it's just that you guys are always hooking up lately, so I'm just not surprised...- I replied shrugging.

- Y/n Meghan is not just a hook up, she is an old passion, she is special - he said and I felt my heart ache a little while looking away. - You dont like her?

- It's not that I don't like her... I don't even know her, I just... I think she did it after you started getting more popular with the theater, because before that she didn't even look at you...

- That's not true, besides, people can change right? Maybe she realized that I'm not as bad as she thought before... I don't know... But as you said, you don't even know her, so I didn't understand you being mad like that. -he said scribbling in his notebook.

- It's not that I'm mad, I just... I didn't wake up very well today, that's all... 

- Yeah... But you don't need to project that to others around you, I thought you'd be happy for me.- Tom said and I looked at him ironically.

- Yeah, but there are days when we're not okay Thomas and not in the mood to be throwing confetti at every girl your friend kiss at some party. - I said and regretted it right away, it wasn't fair to him.

Tom looked at me in surprise, as I had never talk with him like that. Even as kids we didn't fight, why was I being such a bitch now? He took his things in silence and walked away leaving me with tears in my eyes.

I shook my head trying to get rid of what had just happened. I picked up the book and tried to read it, but I couldn't even get past the first line. Damn, why did I have to have those feelings? It wasn't fair.

I thought about going after Tom and apologizing, but I don't think he wanted to see me right now. A few minutes passed and the class was almost finishing when I felt someone nudge my shoulder. I turned in hopes of seeing Tom, but was surprised to see Steven standing up in front of me.

- Are you okay? I heard you fighting with Tom earlier, I never saw you guys fight like that, so I was worried. - he asked.

- I'm fine Stev, it was just a silly disagreement, nothing to worry about. Are you okay? - I asked trying to change the subject.

- Yeah, just studying a lot, you know, I have to go to business school. - he said and I agreed. Steven always wanted to work at his father's company, but for that he had to go to business school in Japan, because there was one of the company's units there and that's where his father wanted him to live. A lot of his family was Japanese, so he had an advantage with the language and culture. But that was one of the reasons we broke up, after fighting a lot about who was going to live where. - And you still focused on journalism?

- Of course, forever and always. - I said and we laughed, hearing the bell saying the class are over.

- Well, I have to go, I have to meet Elle, good luck with your essay. - He said pointing to the book.

- For you too. - I said smiling and he left towards the building.

I got up to get my things, scanning the yard with my eyes, but there was no sign of Tom. I sighed and put my headphones on, heading towards our tree. As I was already out there I ended up arriving first, so I sat down and played the song Crosses by José González.

I waited a few minutes and saw Haz approaching and I took off my headphones as I watched him sit beside me.

- So..How everything went? Where is Tom?-  he asked looking around.

- A disaster... - I said, rubbing my hands over my face. - We ended up arguing, I said some things without thinking and he left without saying anything.

- Oh y/n... I don't even know what to say, but did you confess something to him? he asked and I widened my eyes.

- No! Are you crazy? I told him I didn't trust Meghan, but in a rude way... - I said and Haz took a deep breath hugging me sideways.

- Well, you can't control your feelings...

- But I can control my tongue. - I said and we laughed a little. - How was it with Gracie? Did you guys talked today? - I said changing the subject.

- I talked to her a lot by text during class, I even asked her if she wanted to spend some time with us now, but she said she had to hang with her friends...

- Hmm. - I said putting my hand on my chin losing myself in thoughts as I watched the patio to see if I could see Tom. And after a lot of looking I found him. And there he was sitting on one of the benches near the building with Meghan hugging him, she with his cap on her head and the two of them were laughing and talking excitedly to each other. Until he gave her a kiss and she reciprocated.

[star-lemonade]

School reunion (2/3)

A.C.E Junhee x Reader

Cw: kinda angsty?, fluff

Rating: R

Word count: 2.5 k

Summary: You hire someone to accompany you to your school reunion.

He had cut his hair but it was definitely him. Junhee said hi and your colleague greeted him back. You did not know how you should react so you just nodded in his direction.

“This is our newest addition. Fresh from university…”

You were not listening to John anymore because you watched Junhee. He was standing the farthest away from you, several people stood between you and him. He was listening intently and did not look at you. Junhee wore silver earrings that gave him a more soft look.

“... know each other.”

Everyone was suddenly looking at you. John smiled and gestured at you while your colleagues' eyes were on you. Your glance met Junhee who smiled softly.

“..uhm.”

The elevator chime saved you from answering. The door opened and everyone spilled into the lobby.

You sat as far away from John as possible today. What would he think if you said how you had met Junhee? No. It was not a good idea to tell the truth. But what should you say? What had Junhee said about how you knew each other? You stayed quiet and let others speak, trying to not draw attention to yourself.

After lunch you usually got a coffee from the shop next door and went to the roof of the company building to relax for a few minutes in peace. So after you had finished your plate in record time, you stood up and left. You had to sort your thoughts and come up with some story to tell people if the topic of Junhee came up again. If he really stayed with John’s company it was bound to happen.

You got in line at the coffee shop. It was a cozy place where you also liked to go in the morning before work. There was not much sitting space because the shop seemed to have been built in the gap between two buildings. When it was your turn you ordered your usual.

The barista told you the price and as you were about to pull out your card a shadow appeared in your peripheral vision.

“I will pay for that and can I get an iced americano?”

You looked up to see Junhee give the barista his best smile. The woman looked at you for guidance. Her cheeks were a bit flushed.

“Junhee…”

It felt odd to say his name. The day you had spent with him all that time ago felt like a dream. Not a good dream but also not a nightmare. More like a dream that left you confused when you woke up.

“Please, let me buy you a coffee.”

He smiled. It was not the same one he had given the barista. This was more subtle and more familiar somehow. You nodded, still stunned.

“So you got the job with John. Congrats.”

It felt awkward to talk to him again. He reminded you of a bad time without any fault of his own. Junhee had just been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Yes, thanks again for the number.”

He sipped his coffee as you walked back to the office building.

“How have you been?”

Well, how had you been? Your steps bounced off the wall of the building. The glass facade like a mirror showed you and him walking.

“I have been okay.”

It was true. After the school reunion you had not felt very good for some time, but the further it was away from you, the better you felt. You had distracted yourself with work and let other things fill your life. It was not like you did not care about what the bullies thought anymore, just that it was not as important as before. What is done is done. You could not take that day back, so you had to live with it. The automatic door opened and you entered the lobby.

It was time to say goodbye to Junhee.

“See you around.”

Over the next few weeks Junhee insisted on buying you your post lunch coffee and people started to notice.

“Maybe he has a crush on you,” one of your colleagues speculated.

You shot them down. That was absurd. Why would he be interested in you? No, it was just gratitude, you said. You had brought him and John together. In fact Junhee and John seemed to be a dream team.

When you went out for dinner with John and some others, he could not stress enough how much he valued Junhee’s work. You found yourself talking to Junhee a lot more as time went by. You talked about your favourite artists and ended up texting each other until late into the night. More than anyone else's, the chat with Junhee was on top in your messaging service when you opened the app. But of course this did not mean anything. He was not interested and neither were you.

It was Friday night and you were hungry. It was past your usual time for dinner, but eating before the company dinner seemed inappropriate. ”Company dinner” was not the right phrase. It was more like a gettogether of colleagues. You had these from time to time. On this day John and his employees would be there too.

The restaurant had a more nostalgic feel to it. There were no chairs, just benches on either side of the worn tables. The ceiling was naked concrete and pipes ran from one to the other.

You sat down in the middle of the bench and greeted the two guys from John’s company. The others trickled in over the next 20 minutes.

“Hi.”

A familiar voice came from behind you. When you looked up, you were greeted by Junhee’s bright smile. He sat down next to you. Your colleague gave him a dirty look, when he squeezed himself between her and you. A warmth speared in your face. He looked gorgeous as always. The pullover he was wearing was just the right mix of casual and business for this event. You would have a hard time not staring at him. Maybe it was good that he sat next to you and not across. Although you had not minded looking at him all evening.

“I’m telling you I can do it!”

Minsu slurred his words a bit and some of his colleagues smiled. It was always amusing to see the innocent hubris of drunk people. He really thought he could beat anyone at arm wrestling.

“So who wants to try against me?”

He flexed his thin arms for show and now some people giggled. No one volunteered so he looked up and down the table. He pointed.

“Hey you, new guy! Will you wrestle me?”

Junhee smiled shyly at him. The pullover he had worn earlier was gone and he only wore a t-shirt now. A thin necklace disappeared under the collar. Only now you noticed how big his arms were.

“Sure.”

Junhee changed seats so he and the guy sat opposite each other. His arms looked even larger now that you had a comparison. They got into position. Elbows on the table and hands locked. One of their colleagues held their hand in the middle and counted down.

“Three, two, one!”

They began. Junhee strained against Minsu’s arm and bared his teeth, but it was no use. Minsu pushed his hand to the table and stood on the bench a moment later to let himself be showered in shouts. Junhee smiled slightly embarrassed.

When someone asked how he could have lost with his big arms, he laughed, “The muscles are just for show. Fashion muscle.”

He sat back down next to you and showed you a shy smile.

“Are you ready? Rock, paper, scissors!”

Rock was a mistake. The others left you standing in front of the restaurant with a very tipsy Minsu. You waved for a taxi and thankfully there was one just down the street that drove towards you. The old man stopped in front of you and rolled down the window. You could have just dumped Minsu in the taxi but you felt bad for him and got in the back seat next to him. Minsu looked like he was about to fall asleep and you were okay with that until you arrived at his apartment complex. You heaved him out of the taxi and dragged him to the door.

“Thanks. Your so nice”

He smiled in the “head empty” sort of way that only drunk people had. You still appreciated his thanks. Minsu was one of the only people who were still nice even while being this drunk. The door frame was his support.

“Sure. No problem.”

He leaned forward and you got a face full of his alcohol breath.

“I will tell you a secret.”

You raised an eyebrow and waited. He gave you a conspiratory look and said: “Newbie, let me win.”

Minsu giggled and started to fumble for his keys. You trusted that he would find the way to his apartment and made your way home.

A heat wave brought sunny blue skies. Maybe for the last time that year. You stood in front of your closet and made a decision. Today you wanted to wear a dress. This was not something that happened often but today felt like wearing one.

You did not like it, when people at work commented on this. Sadly, it happened every time you wore a dress. It felt like they were looking down on your usual clothes, because they were not feminine enough. You tried to ignore the feeling the comments induced and concentrated on your work.

Lunch came and went. You got in line for coffee as always.

“Hi.”

Junhee had appeared next to you. He wore his nerdy glasses and a bright smile. You were not sure, if he needed the glasses or not. Sometimes he wore glasses, but not always, and often they were just frames. He smiled the soft smile that he always had for you. The barista had seen you next in line and asked:

“The usual?”

“Yes!”

You and Junhee answered in unison. You giggled at this spontaneous synchronization. Junhee paid and you waited for your drinks. The barista set two cups down and put lids on.

“The dress suits you.”

She smiled at you and handed Junhee his coffee with a “there you go”.

“And the one for the girlfriend.”

She offered you the second cup while beaming like a neon sign in the darkness.

“Ehm..”

Junhee wrapped an arm around your shoulders and thanked the barista. You were a bit confused as he led you out. It felt kind of nice to be this close to him. The thought of how it had felt to hold his hand popped into your mind. You had not paid much attention to it at the time. Now you wished you could remember it better.

“Why didn’t you correct her?”

His arm loosened but he did not let go. You stared at him as you slowly walked towards the company building. A blush creeped up his cheeks.

“Would you like to go on a date with me?”

Lighting had struck out of a blue sky. You sank down on your chair, still trying to process. Junhee had asked you out. Kind, funny, lovable, gorgeous Junhee. And you had said yes. What had you been thinking? You were going on a date with him.

The water glittered in the evening sun as you walked along the river bank. Junhee had suggested meeting here for dinner. You thought it was a bit unusual, but seeing all the people sitting on benches made you rethink. There were a lot of couples here. Couple. Like me and … You licked you lips and shook your head as if you could simply shake off the thought. This is just a date, don’t get ahead of yourself.

You went to the cafe which Junhee had sent you. It was on the river bank with a bunch of tables outside. You were a bit early but when you came closer you saw Junhee sitting at one of the tables already.

“Hi.”

He dropped his phone and shot up from his chair, eyes wide open in shock. You waved and suppressed a laugh.

“It’s just me.”

Junhee calmed down and soon his smile returned. A waiter came over and both ordered something to drink. The evening sun warmed you and you were glad to have opted for a dress.

“That dress looks good on you.”

You looked up at Junhee whose cheeks had a light blush. He had cut his hair and it made him look even more handsome than before. Around his neck hung a delicate necklace, but the pendant was hidden under his shirt.

“Thanks.”

You felt very shy today, much more than at any point before. Now it actually mattered what Junhee thought about you. The way he smiled made your heart flutter. The waiter came with your drinks and you took a sip. Junhee had gone for a tea.

“No coffee today?”

Usually he ordered coffee so you had to ask. There was nothing else you could talk about right now.

“No. If i drink one now, I will not be able to sleep tonight.”

He took out the tea bag, even though it was probably too early and added: “Unless you want me to have a sleepless night.”

He looked up sheepishly.

“Why..? OH.”

Your face burned. Instead of an answer you sipped your drink.

“Oh! No! I mean, we could go to karaoke or party all night.”

Junhee’s attempt at saving the situation did not go down as he had planned, but you smiled at the prospect of him singing. There was no way he could sing. You did not want to leaving him hanging so you suggested:

“Or we could go to the cinema.”

His nervous laugh was adorable. You felt bold and took his hand to reassure him. Junhee froze and stared at your linked hands on the table. You hoped he would not pull back immediately, because the warm touch of his hand was so comforting. When he had got over his initial shock, his thumb began to rub over the back of your hands. The gesture made you warm from inside out and the fears you had had earlier melted away.

You spend the evening talking and walking around town, hand in hand. When the sun had set, Junhee accompanied you to the subway station.

“I guess this is it. Text me, when you get home.”

Junhee raised his hand as if to touch you but did not. The subway would come soon, you could feel the wind coming from the tunnel.

“I will.”

You were a bit embarrassed and looked at the band on the necklace around Junhee‘s neck as you added: “It was a nice evening.”

“Yes, it was.”

The subway arrived and the doors opened. You and Junhee shared a short hug before you sprinted for the door. As the platform disappeared out of view you regretted not having given Junhee a kiss on the cheek. You should have asked.