#ellie's hair took me a bit to even try to get decent

[luvrxbunny]

poolside

Pairing: No Outbreak!Joel Miller x f!Reader

Prompt: Tit Fucking 

Warnings: 18+ MDNI, praise? (tiny bit), (lmk if I forgot anything)

WC: 1.8k

A/N: the end is a bit rushed sorry :( (not proofread at all)

It’s been about 3 hours since you joined Joel by the pool. You’ve been making decent conversation, falling into a few silences but none of them were awkward. It’s a beautiful day outside, the clouds are wisp, the sun’s shining, and it’s the most peaceful weather you’ve had all summer. So when Joel proposed spending the rest of the day poolside, only to get rejected by Ellie, you had to join him.

He had his sunglasses when he first came out but quickly took them off because he ‘can’t see shit’, but it revealed a problem he seemed to be having. Whenever you were talking to him, or if you even just looked over, his eyes were on your chest. 

You’re wearing his sunglasses and your head is tilted to the sky, your eyes are on Joel though. His head is completely turned to you, eyes dead on your chest. You lift your hands over your head, using your hands as a pillow and you watch Joel's chest fill with a quick breath. You try not to smirk at his reaction as you stretch your back even more, lifting your chest to the sky, letting your boobs press into the seams of your two-piece. He runs a hand through his hair and sits up with a huff. You keep your “gaze” on the sky, ignoring his movements. 

“Y’wanna get in?” He’s scooted to the edge of his lawn chair, elbows on his knees as he leans toward you. You slowly turn your head to him, as your body twists, following your head. His eyes flicker to your body before he runs his hand through his hair and takes a deep breath. You let the smirk make its way onto your face this time. “Seems like you wanna do something else, baby.” 

His face falls for a moment, letting his desperate features show through for a second before clearing his throat and fixing his expression, closing his eyes with furrowed brows. He turns his head away from you, looking at the pool as he takes slow breaths, trying to remind himself that Ellie is right inside the house. Sure, she’s probably in her room, gaming or talking with her online friends. Sure, she always keeps her curtains shut, and yeah, there’s a good chance she’s actually gone over to her friend’s house, as she usually does around this time- No, he just can’t risk it. 

“Well sweetheart, I don’t got a clue what you’re on about.” He smiles his unfairly charming smile at you as he obviously lies. He gets up and stands beside you, towering over you, blocking the sun, and staring right at your chest with that weak expression he gets. You want him, you want to please him, even if he denies the pleasure for himself. You place your hand on his upper thigh, letting your thumb reach up higher than the rest of your fingers, almost pressing against his cock and you hear his quiet gasp. His hands almost move yours away, they stutter mid-air for a moment before resting on his hips as he closes his eyes. 

“I want you to do something for me.” You almost whisper to him softly. Joel has to fight the urge to just tell you ‘anything’ he takes another deep breath before looking into your eyes. He tries to keep them there, despite the way your chest is calling for him, demanding his attention. His avoidance becomes easier when your smirk begins to falter and your eyes get that pretty glow to them. It transfers the smirk to his face, he licks his lips and catalogs the shaky breath you take. “What is it, honey?”

You’ve lost all your confidence now, all of it melting under his hot gaze. “Can-” You break eye contact, smiling and looking down for a moment. You make that little bunny face you make when you’re nervous, warming his heart before pulling your bottom lip in between your teeth, warming his dick. “Do you- Would you want to fuck my… tits?” Joel swears he loses his hearing for a moment as you offer him something straight out of his dreams, out of his fantasies from when he’s alone in his room and missing you. 

All his blood rushes to his dick, dizzying him and sending a shock of arousal through his body, goosebumps sprouting on his skin. “What?” The ‘w’ is dragged out, his words already slurring from the idea, the concept of getting his cock in between your perfect boobs. He watches you squirm in embarrassment, your hand sliding down his thigh and you give him a little gasp when you touch his skin, sending another shock through him. “Goosebumps, Joel?” 

You’re stroking his skin softly, feeling them underneath your fingertips, just prolonging their stay as you watch his cock begin to create a bulge in his pants, slowly rising and filling before your eyes. You take your sunglasses off and look up at him, squinting into his eyes, meeting them as best you can. He’s panting now, nearly shaking as you run your fingers up and down his thighs, watching his rapidly hardening, now fully hardened cock. He can’t speak, and you never answered his question so he’s just looking at you, but just looking at you is making him even more desperate, hoping and praying he heard you correctly the first time because now it’s the only thing he can think about. 

You look down and smile at how hard he is, you slide your hand up slowly, pulling the bottom hem of his shorts with you for a moment and almost giggling at the way his thighs tense. You press your entire palm against his shaft, relishing in the way his head slowly falls back as a breathy “Oh, fuck.” slips from his mouth. You can see his stomach tensing, his pelvic muscles tightening as he tries not to thrust into you. You’re just holding your hand there, pressing against him, admiring the way he fills your hand. You take in his girth, his warmth, and slide your hand further, following his shaft to the tip. He lets out a hoarse, bitten-off breath of air, when you close your palm around it and look up at him. You’re watching his adam’s apple bounce in time with his held-back moans and shaky breaths. You’re watching his jawline and the way his beard stretches over it. You’re watching as he takes a deep breath and looks down at you, groaning when his eyes meet yours instantly. 

“Baby-” His mouth snaps shut when you pinch his tip, his thick eyebrows tilting inward for a second as his fingers grip into his sides. You smile up at him genuinely, loving- loving how much you can affect him. He bites into his lip as they begin to tremble, he’s begging you with his eyes, begging for more or mercy. “Joel..?” You start as seductively as you can. “I want you to fuck my boobs-” You pause for a bit before adding a soft and sweet ���please”. 

Joel’s silent, his expression unmoved, until something snaps. He’s climbing over you, unfastening his drawstrings as he timidly steps over you, letting you lie between his legs. You’re not really sure what he’s doing. You pictured yourself between his legs, holding your boobs together as you watch him thrust up into them, over and over, maybe pressing a kiss to his tip every time it peaks through. So him hovering over you doesn’t make much sense but you’re taking your top off anyway. 

He pulls one leg through his shorts, rests it back down on his knee, on the side of your chair, and does the same with the other but sits it higher, and climbs a bit higher over you. You see the vision now. You’re dampening your bathing suit bottoms as he jerks himself off in front of you, fixated on your chest. “Will ‘ya hold them together for me? Be a good girl and let me take what I need?” His words send a shiver of arousal down your spine and your clit begins to pulse, pleading for Joel’s touch but you ignore her. He’s lowering himself, resting his cock on your soft skin, his muscles tense as his precum drips into your cleavage.

Your eyes quickly shift from his red tip to his face once you notice his shaking hands. He’s looking at you instead of your tits this time, his eyelids fluttering as you press your boobs around his warm dick. “Sweetie-” His hips stutter against you as he lets out the breathiest whine you’ve ever heard from him before rutting into you desperately. 

Joel’s thrusting faster than he should be, assaulting himself with pleasure while you sit pretty for him. He’s watching his tip peak out, bumping against your chin if he thrusts hard enough. His eyes trail up to your face and his cock starts to throb already. You look so beautiful, you’re smiling proudly at him, your lip between your teeth and whines falling from your mouth.

He’s looking deep into your eyes as he fucks between your tits, gasping out raspy moans of your name. He’s on a level of pure need you’ve never witnessed, fucking into you like a madman, like he’s been waiting for this moment for years. His hands come from their resting place beside your head and stroke over your cheek for a moment before sliding further and cupping your hands in his, pressing your boobs tighter on him. His eyes roll back and he whimpers for you, so husky and broken. “I’m not- shit.”

Your thighs press together desperately, trying to get any stimulation you can, unbearably aroused at his confession. His hips begin to stutter against you, speeding up and his moans become unrestrained, too deep in his pleasure to hold himself back. 

His balls are tightening, his cock throbbing between your heavenly tits and you notice, you always do. He watches your head tilt down, holding his eye contact as long as you can to ensure he’s watching before pressing a soft kiss to his tip the next time it peaks through and he bursts all over your face. 

He can’t even bring himself to feel bad as he unloads countless ropes of cum onto your features. His entire body folds over, like a punch to his gut as your mouth opens, trying to catch the last few spurts. Your name is the only thing on his mind, your face, and your smile before you broke him. His eyes are shut and he’s swaying back and forth as he tries to cum down, only moving from over you when he remembers there’s still a chance that Ellie will walk out here. He pulls his pants off and lowers himself onto you, blanketing you with his warmth and weight. He whispers praise and thanks to you as he drifts off, promising repeatedly that he’d make you cum as hard as he did.

Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed, here's the rest of my Kinktober Works and be sure to check out my Main Masterlist!!

[ellisgirlfriend]

my only one

dealer!ellie x reader

summary: loneliness always scared her, always made her cry at night when the moon was shining bright. She needed a change, someone who can fill her loneliness, lucky for her.. you were there.

cw: swearing, homophobia, the d slur, ellie being an emotional mess, mentions of drugs and alcohol

wc: 3.653

It really did become a habit of hers, writing her deepest thoughts in that messy diary, she only hoped no one would open it because, to be honest, she couldn’t even remember what she wrote in the past. That thought made her shiver from her cringy past self and the drunken nights she had crying in her empty bed.

Out of nowhere, the empty room was welcomed by a warm presence, Ellie looked up, still confused to her surroundings until she had received a soft smile from the girl. She felt a bit embarrassed, being caught like this, writing in that stupid diary of hers like an eleven year old. Trying to change the atmosphere, Ellie began to speak in a quiet voice:

“hello to you too, smartass. Don’t know how to knock?”

She wasn’t in the mood for any more conversations, she really wasn’t trying to be rude to her roommate , really, but after a long day surrounded only by frat boys, begging her for free weed every 5 minutes, it was really getting to her.

“Hmm, didn’t mean to, just wanted to check up on you.” her roommate said in a more serious tone, waiting for Ellie to respond while moving slowly around her room, admiring her drawings that hung on her dirty walls. She began to shift uncomfortably, this girl wasn’t just a random roommate that she luckily was assigned with, she was her dearest friend and unfortunately for her, she could read Ellie like an open book.

“Uh…”

Ellie said in a small voice, tired from being asked the same questions all over again, she was okay, at least she hoped so. She didn’t want to cause any problems with her stupid feelings that haunt her every night, her roommate looked at her from the corner of her eye, analyzing her every move while trying to get closer to the fragile girl sitting in the broken chair.

“Hey, seriously Ellie, talk to me for fuck's sake. I’m done seeing you like this.”

“Like what, Dina?” she finally raised her voice, making Dina twitch.

“Don’t play dumb, you always sit in your room, you don't even talk to me anymore!" Dina sighed, looking anywhere but in Ellie’s eyes, feeling embarrassed for being so emotional.

“At least…tell me what’s going on, please.”

Ellie looked at Dina, feeling even more embarrassed by now, she was so dramatic for no reason it made her slightly sick to her stomach.

“I'm just tired y’know, doing the same thing all over again. I…just feel lonely, I suppose.” she was trying to look somewhere else while pouring her heart out the best she could, Dina looked at her with warm eyes, trying to understand her. After a while, Ellie finally looked in Dina’s eyes, trying to apologize with her gaze, Dina stopped her with a soft smile. “You know, feelings are hard, it’s not unusual to feel like this, Ellie.” Dina touched her long, slender fingers and sighed deeply, “I know that after the…Cat situation…” she stopped, looking at Ellie trying to get an approval from her eyes, Ellie slightly smiled. “..after the Cat situation, every romantic relationship became hard for you to deal with but, Ellie, you deserve way better than that girl.”

After a while of Dina comforting Ellie, she finally convinced her to install some cheap-looking dating app. It was a start, I guess? Since Ellie didn’t really have the energy to go out other than to sell weed to gross looking dudes. It took her a while to choose a decent photo of her without Cat in it, it made her tremble, remembering the sweet moments she shared with the short haired girl but ignored it, finishing her profile. It looked good enough, she thought. Her profile was very simple, to say the least, with only two photos and a short bio with her age and location. She really didn’t have high hopes and to be honest, she didn’t even want to do it that much. But she knew Dina will nag her about using the app, trying to make her feel better. Ellie smiled thinking about this, she really appreciated Dina for being such a good friend.

Out of nowhere, her phone softly vibrates in her hands, looking up, Ellie sees the notification, someone was trying to send her a message. Man…this wasn’t good, her hands were already sweating, it was hard talking to a new person, with the romantic intentions in mind…it’s been so long for her. She tried to calm down and with a single tap, the app opened, greeting her with a simple “hey:)”. Such a simple yet hard message to answer to. Ellie tried to be smooth about it, putting on a flirty act, it was a common thing, trying to impress the pretty girls with her fake confidence. It made her feel good about herself, almost making her forget about how insecure she is when it comes to relationships.

“hey pretty.”

You clenched the phone in your hands, this was nerve-racking, such a beautiful girl calling you pretty had you on your knees already. It was a stupid idea to install this app, you thought, but you couldn’t even flirt with a girl without fainting afterwards. It was a dramatic thing to say, but you weren’t joking, not even a little bit, the main reason being that you are not…out yet, and it scared the shit out of you so talking, maybe flirting with such a girl made you feel weird, to say the least.

“i just wanted to talk, so I messaged you!” so cheesy, you thought

Ellie smiled, feeling a bit more confident with herself, you were a shy one, but that still didn’t make Ellie completely nonchalant, before answering she checked your profile and that scared her even more now, you were just breathtaking. Your hair looked so soft, your lips were so...kissable. She shook her head, trying to control her stupid hormones, she was weak to pretty girls, that’s why she was scared to start a new relationship, a new something. It was dangerous territory for her, from getting hurt like the last time. After a minute, she exited from your profile, she didn’t really want to keep you waiting so she tried to type a message fast without even thinking, that’s how her flirting worked. It was a weird feeling, almost adrenaline, from being so blunt without thinking, it made her feel dizzy.

“i feel the same.", she typed. A very short but meaningful message to make you feel even shyer, it made her smile a bit. It was obvious you were trying to type something but stopping right after, it was almost adorable.

After talking for a while, the conversation started to become comfortable, it felt like you and Ellie were meant to talk to each other, it was cheesy since it’s the first day, but you couldn’t blame yourself, you were a hopeless romantic and the fact that you were talking to such a gorgeous girl did not help the situation at all.

In two weeks, Ellie found out a lot about you, you were on the same campus. When she found out about this, an unknown feeling began to haunt her. Don't get her wrong, she was excited to perhaps, see you around campus but at the same time she was too nervous to face you. Everything was going too smoothly, she was so comfortable talking to you but…only though text at the moment. It's been so long since she was last romantically interested in someone and, man…she was so scared, she didn’t want to get hurt again, her heart wasn’t even healed from the past experience. She wasn’t trying to be rude, but her mind always went to the worst-case scenarios. You were such a sweet girl, she knew deep down that you won’t do something like that to her but still, the deep fear in her was there, haunting her to this day.

At the same time, she didn’t want to disappoint you, it was clearly easier to type something while pretending to be really confident but Ellie knew that in real life she would stutter like a bitch. In the past it would have been a lot better for Ellie, but after such a recent and messy break up, she couldn’t be so chill about it, unfortunately. She even tried to explain her situation to you, not in great detail, though, she wasn’t ready to vent her whole life to you but just enough to make sure you know who you're dealing with. When I tell you, she was so relieved when she saw your sweet message, trying to comfort her from the break up but also giving her enough space, it just made her heart melt. Her brain was sending mixed signals everytime she talked to you, it was frustrating, this feeling of being scared but also…not wanting to leave, she was careful, she didn’t want to make a mistake that could impact your...friendship, if you can call it that. She wanted to take it easy and just experience this new type of feeling, but it made her feel dizzy, it was hard just to talk to you and not feel anything, she didn’t want to rush into things and get hurt again, or even hurt you. It haunted her day and night, but my god, she was starting to like you to another level, writing in her diary about your likes, dislikes and even fun silly facts about you that you probably forgot about, every little thing about you filled her mind and she was so obsessed with it. She even wrote about places that you would like to go to, her mind making up scenarios where you two would meet, forgetting about how scared she was to even meet eyes with you. But it was a beautiful feeling, it made her feel happy to imagine all these things with you, she really hoped one day she could just go to you.

One thing about you that she would keep her mind fixed on is that you love history, always talking about it, she was confused at first, still is but nevertheless she was listening to every word you said about your major and small facts. It was such a boring subject for Ellie, especially because of the teacher, she purposely avoided that class with her whole soul, probably not passing the class but listening to you made her want to attend that stupid class. You made the subject so interesting, you made her focus on it easily, even in messages, she even began to be into this thing, searching in her free time about it, trying to impress you like a lost puppy.

A month has passed and everything was going great, Ellie was a different person, the effect you had on her was magical, even Dina was surprised that app changed her best friend so drastically, she couldn’t ask for more. She was more than happy to see Ellie back on her feet, that break up seriously ruined her and Dina couldn’t even look at Ellie without feeling bad, she really hated it, seeing her curled up in her bed ignoring everyone around her, not even attending to favorite her classes, Dina just wanted to go and hug her.

It was late at night, Dina was still thinking about the situation, patting her shoulder for being such a good friend while Ellie was moving room to room. That woke Dina from her thoughts, watching Ellie getting ready to go somewhere, it was pretty obvious she was going to some frat boys party to sell some weed since she was low on money, after that breakup she was less and less active with her weed 'business' or whatever, but at the same time, Dina was confused to see her such in a hurry, trying so many outfits, let’s say that it peaked her interest.

“Going somewhere?” Dina said, trying to hide her small smirk, Ellie turned her head to her, her eyes clearly showing nervousness, it was a bit too obvious. “Ah, just going to some party, y’know.” She tried to change her tone to seem a bit more calmer but her insides were burning, she couldn’t wait not even a bit longer, Dina looked at her, putting her whole attention on her which made Ellie shift uncomfortably, “You know you can’t lie to me, it’s all over your face.” Dina said.

“Oh whatever…” Ellie complained in an exaggerated voice, making Dina smile even harder at Ellie’s reaction. Ellie took a deep breath before finishing her sentence, “if you are that interested, I’ll go to that stupid party but…I think I’ll see her there”. Of course, it was so easy to guess, it’s been so long since Dina saw Ellie so interested in the way she looked, it was comforting to her. Ellie became Ellie again, she stood up from the comfy couch, approaching Ellie with a big smirk while she was making a disappointed face. She was telling Dina “don't you dare” with her eyes, while Dina already began to talk about all these stupid flirty scenarios that would happen tonight, it made Ellie flustered, her imagination going wild, betraying her but she still managed to keep a serious face, pushing Dina slightly, ready to leave this room before Dina began to tease her even more, plus...she couldn’t wait anymore. Her heart was beating too hard, she couldn’t ignore it anymore, she had to leave already, to see you for the first time. She didn’t know if she was ready, it’s been quite some time but still…the feeling of nervousness never left her body but at the same the excitement was growing with each second.

After a long walk, she was more relaxed, the cool air calming her warm heart. Unfortunately, she was welcomed with a strong smell of alcohol and she already wanted to leave this place and take you to that restaurant you always talked about. She was angry with herself for wanting to meet you here for the first time, in a place like this, but she needed that stupid money very fast, it was getting ridiculous at this point. Before even getting to finish her inner monologue, a group of people greeted her, already knowing who she is from her appearance. She took a deep breath before walking up to them.

Struggling to put the damn dress on, you almost gave up but after some time it finally reached your hips, you looked in the mirror, admiring yourself, trying to look extra fancy just for this mini date you planned with Ellie. You were so nervous, you didn’t even realize how late you were, there wasn’t a specific time planned but you still wanted to be there earlier just to finally see her soft features in real life, it made your heart skip a beat. Finally, you grabbed your purse and ignored your feelings for the time being, the cool air hitting your face.

Ellie was already on a couch, a bottle of alcohol in her hand, she was obviously nervous because she couldn’t see you in the big crowd. It wasn’t an official date or something but it still made her worried about your well being, she really thought you would come. Sighing, she gets closer to the girl sitting next to her on the couch. The overwhelming feeling in her stomach made her overly sensitive, especially after the whole break up situation, she really wanted to see you, it was obviously your choice if you wanted to come but still…she was feeling a bit dizzy. She didn’t know if it was the alcohol or the emotions, but she could feel your presence next to her. Ellie looked at the girl, feeling butterflies in her stomach thinking that maybe this would be the person she had been waiting for, when her eyes met with an unknown face, she sighed, trying not to make it obvious that she didn't enjoy her company anymore. She still talked to her, maybe she just wanted some joints or whatever, and she did but at the same time she was a bit too flirty with Ellie. The alcohol was making her even dizzier, she couldn’t even focus on this girl, so out of instinct she flirted back, maybe that was the alcohol or maybe the desperation you made her feel and the disappointment of you not showing up. She gave a smile to the small girl, giving her a discount, 'just for pretty girls' she said, cringing at her own words but still going with it.

The girl was ready to talk more with Ellie, but out of nowhere, a feminine voice which sounded forced covered the other girl’s. Ellie could feel a strange presence close to her, making her feel uncomfortable, she tried to move her eyes to scan the area where the voice came from, but the other person was faster, touching her hands so tenderly, it made her blush. She looked up, hoping that maybe it’s you, finally meeting you, but unfortunately, she was met with an unknown face, she looked confused at the other person, raising an eyebrow but the other person didn’t even flinch, it made Ellie frustrated but at the same time angry, who is this person?

“Can I help you?” She said in a deep voice, trying to show some confidence but the other person slowly began to speak, “Hello,my dear Ellie. I’m so glad we finally met." the person said in a high pitched voice, trying to sound different, she was beyond confused, maybe the alcohol was making her see things, she didn’t think so though, before getting a chance to speak the other person did it first “Don't you remember me? We were supposed to meet!” 'What', that was Ellie’s first thought so she just asked without even thinking “Who even are you?”. She didn’t want to sound pissed but let’s be honest, she clearly was, this person was mocking her and she couldn’t figure it out. “The fuck do you mean you don’t know bitch.” the person raised their voice, “I’m the girl you’ve talking to, duh.”

Ellie couldn’t believe her eyes, she looked at the person in front of her, this wasn’t right, at all. She began to scream “YOU’RE CLEARLY A MAN BRUH.” She couldn’t believe that she fucking got catfished, her blood was boiling through her veins. “I’m not a man, dykey. I’m clearly non-binary, respect my pronouns.” The other person said offensively, almost mocking Ellie’s angry reaction. “Oh, for fuck's sake, shut the fuck up,"She said, “you lied to me all this time, don’t you feel sorry??”

“Not really, and the fuck are you complaining about, I’m kinda cute. Stop with the pussy lover title and get here.” He said “WHAT, ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE GET AWAY” Ellie said in a deep voice trying to maintain the dominant act “At least tell me who the fuck you are so I know who I punch.” She said with her fists already clenched, she couldn’t resist anymore. “Heh, no one can punch me baby. But try your luck..” he smirked, playing with his long hair while he continued the sentence while everyone watched the scene, Ellie was clearly too loud and it caught everyone’s attention. “and I’m Zhongli, nice to meet you, little dykey flower.” Out of nowhere, everyone gasped.

"Is that Zhongli???!! From the hit game Genshin Impact?!” Everyone began to clap, this was unreal, Ellie was fucking confused. 'Zhongli? Who the fuck.' she thought. He had a smirk on his face, almost proud for being so popular, who the fuck is this guy, Ellie was fuming. She threw a punch but the dude looked her with a smile, throwing her on the floor. “You dyke.” He moved closer to her “You don’t punch daddy,my little dykey.” He smirked “Stop the act we know you’re made for cock.” Out of nowhere everyone began to scream “Yes!” Ellie was so confused, why was everyone agreeing with him? She was the infamous dealer in here , the FUCKKK. She gave these people free fucking weed at some point and now they betrayed her like this. “I'M NO COCK LOVER YOU BITCH” Ellie began to scream throwing her hands in the air, Zhongli just laughed at her, “Don’t worry baby, there is cure.” She was ready to spit on him until, suddenly, she could feel that she was flying. Confused by her surroundings, she moved her eyes to analyze, she was somewhere else…

”Huh..?” This was definitely the alcohol and the weed, oh my god. She looked up and saw Zhongli, greeting her with a smile. "Hello dykey poo, we are in Genshin Impact, Liyue, more specifically. Do you know the game?”

“No bruh I just fuck pussy and I play Butterfly Soup” she began to get angry, enough is enough. He kidnapped her , taking her in this game called Genshin Impact…? She was beyond furious. “Heh, ridiculous indie game, should have known from a stinky yuri like you.” What the fuck is he talking about . Zhongli finally dropped the bomb, “just imagine ima girl bruh. Not that hard.”

“Damn ok” Ellie said ready to kiss this mf

Sllorp

“Wow, you kiss better than my bitches”

“Told you dyke.”

Slurp

“I love you mommy…!” Ellie said, changing her mind

“Yes my baby dyke, love you too, dyke dick 😅”

“This is amazing, thank you for changing my life Zhongli, let’s stay here forever.”

“We will babe, no more break ups for you.”

Slorp she kissed him

“Thank you mommy, you’re the best women.”

“Of course el” he smiled

“Let’s be in here forever and make babies.”

“I love babys!” Ellie said

“Aw! How many do you want babe?”

“Hmm maybe three!!”

“Three sound good love” he smiles

author’s note: yep

[snailstrailz]

Repost because the original fucked up!

Louie/Nilas (OC) fluff, no pikmin 4 spoilers, Based on the idea that Louie's love language is sharing food

Nilas rubbed their eyes before returning to scribbling at a notepad.

"I gathered more treasure and wildlife remains today. I do believe I may have discovered a new subspecies of bulborb mimic, which I managed to examine thoroughly before the leafling got his hands on it. Whatever he's making with it smells quite nice! Though I am a little reluctant to ask if he's willing to share, given his standoffish nature he's displayed. Though, the treasure, a fruit from this planet was a decent snack to hold me over. I have to promise myself I'll eat a real meal since Ellie isn't around to make me get up and have lunch at the moment. On the topic, still no sign of her nor Grove. If only l has Grove's tech talents. I could fix the radio and contact the rescue corps. For now, my only hope of finding them are the pikmin."

Nilas ran their fingers in their hair and sighed, setting down their pen. They relaxed in their chair, shooting up when they heard the sound of someone shifting behind them. Nilas whipped around in their swivel chair, seeing Louie in all his leafy glory. 

He flinched and the suddenness of Nilas' movement, one arm coming up instinctively. "Oh, sorry. I guess we spooked each other." Nilas chuckled awkwardly, "is there something you needed, Louie?"

Louie hesitated, "... yes, I brought you this." His voice was quiet, nervous. 

Nilas was so used to Louie being around food and food-adjacent things that they didn't even register him holding a saucer loaded with hot stew. "Oh?" Nilas was so caught off guard by this sudden generosity from the leafling and his unwelcoming demeanor. 

Louie quietly crossed the room to Nilas and handed them the warm dish, Nilas taking it because they didn't know what else to do. "...thank you, Louie." Nilas said in quiet bewilderment. They stirred the stew around a bit with the spork stuck inside it. 

"I noticed you skipped dinner." Louie stated flatly, fiddling with his fingers as he shifted on his feet. Nilas looked down at their food. A mixture of pikpik carrot, potato, and the dwarf bulborb all mixed in a thick aromatic roux. 

Absent-mindedly, probably because the appearance of a meal reminded Nilas' stomach that they were hungry,  Nilas scooped a generous amount of the stew on their spork and popped it in their mouth.

Flavor exploded on their tongue, making Nilas' eyes widen. They went for another sporkful at the same time they gulped down the first and took another mouthful. And another. And another. Nilas was so consumed with eating their meal that they didn't notice Louie was still standing there until they were about halfway through. Nilas swallowed what was in their mouth, "this is fantastic!" They exclaimed, making Louie shift and wring his hands more.

"...thanks." he murmured. Nilas raised a brow. Though his face was covered in leaves, they could tell from how he was carrying himself that he would be blushing. 

"I didn't think you'd notice that I forgot to eat. I didn't even realize." Nilas noted, scooping up more stew in their spork. As they spooned it into their mouth, they chewed slowly this time, savoring it's flavor.

"... I notice a lot of things." Louie replied, "I just don't do anything most of the time."

As Nilas swallowed, A silence fell between them. Louie wasn't one for eye contact, but his eyes were locked with Nilas'. His lips were firmly pressed into a line, but twitched at the corners. Is he trying not to smile? Nilas thought, chewing yet another clump of delicious bulborb meat. 

"So how have you been? I haven't seen as much of you lately." Nilas asked after swallowing and going for more. 

"...fine." Louie said.

Nilas looked down at the saucer as they prodded it with the spork. There was no veggies or meat left, just the scraped up remains of flavorful brown juices. 

"... I'll take that." Louie blurted, "... so you can get back to working." He added quickly, just now turning away in his fluster as he awkwardly swiped the empty dish from Nilas' lap and scurrying off like a scared breadbug.

"... thanks." Nilas said as Louie left. They weren't sure he heard them, but that wasn't at the forefront of their mind right then, unlike the strange fluttering feeling inside them and how they could feel their cheeks and eartips heating up. Maybe Louie and I will get along after all. Nilas said to themself. 

[accidental-deletion]

more sticks

[turning-dreams-into-chaos]

Oh Shit (Sirius Black)

~Master~

A/N: Tell me what you think please! I’d appreciate it! The keep reading thing won’t work, sorry.

---

This couldn’t have been happening.

Nope.

You’d been so careful!

So why, WHY had you woken up naked in bed next to Sirius Black?

Again.

You hadn’t moved this fast getting out of bed in forever, you always loved taking your time to bask in the easy stream of sunlight that hit your eyes in the morning. But then again, this random midday moment wasn’t like the mornings and you knew Sirius and you shouldn’t have drifted to sleep.

You heard Sirius groan with your back turned to him, your rather loud curses doing nothing to have kept him asleep. As soon as your underwear was on completely, you turned to see Sirius watching you a smirk on his lips as he silently gestured for you to complete your dressing. Shooting him a glare, you picked up your jeans, not so elegantly slipping into them as you tried to ignore Sirius.

“This didn’t happen.” You mumbled to him, keeping your voice low so he knew you weren’t messing around.

He put his hands up in a surrender and fell back on the bed, his smirk still prominent on his face despite his eyes being closed. “Fine by me, love. But you were the one who took your pants off first.”

You stopped your dressing, looking at his smug little face as you sighed. “Sirius.” You spoke softer this time, making Sirius peak one eye open to look at you. “I’m serious.”

“No, I am.” He interrupted you with a joke and you cursed at yourself, wondering why out of anyone in Hogwarts, Sirius was one you decided to screw around with. Sirius, able to see how mad you were getting, bit back a laugh. “Nothing happened between us, Y/N.” He finally said to make you relax. “You were just helping me study for an exam.” He went on, his signature smirk making way on his lips again and you knew he wasn’t done playing whatever game his was. “An oral exam-“

“Sirius!” you stopped him, your eyes wide as Sirius broke out into a laughter. You gave him a forced smile before taking his pillow and throwing it at him. He caught it without trying and tucked it under his head, sitting him up a little to watch you finally throw your shirt on. He let out a whine at your coverage as you rolled your eyes at him. “Are you done?”

He quirked a brow. “Round two? You sure you’re up for it?”

You rolled your eyes again and shook your head. “You’re a prat.” You told him and when he winked at you, you had to kept down a smile.

“Probably wouldn’t be the best idea anyways, you know, because your brother should be back soon.” You stopped at the mention of your brother. “Unless you wanted him to find out. In that case, I would suggest losing the clothes and getting back in the bed.” He lifted the blankets just enough to keep him covered but still offering you a spot. You let out a sarcastic chuckle, placing one knee on the bed and Sirius just watched you slowly climb on. “You’re a bit overdressed.” He joked as you got closer, his eyes scanning you before they met yours and the lust in his own was enough to make you feel confident.

You tucked a strand of his messy hair behind his ear before bringing your hand to cup his jaw, tilting his head so he listened. “Are you going to tell Remus about his best friend shagging his sister?” you asked Sirius and he shook his head no and licked his lips as his eyes flickered down to your own before looking back up. “Good. And why won’t you?”

“Because he’d kill us?”

“Because he’d kill us.” You repeated to drive the point home before finally letting go of Sirius and moving back to find your tie. If you hadn’t moved away, Sirius would’ve definitely pushed harder for that round two right about now.

Sirius refused to let his eyes move away from you, seeing you search over his dresser and under his bed before he caught your attention, pointing across the room to where he threw your tie a few hours ago when he removed it. He wore a cheeky grin on his face as you grabbed it, fumbling to put it on with his watchful eye on you. Seeing you struggle, Sirius pushed himself up, slipping his own underwear on before he jogged over to you to help. You let Sirius help you, his tongue darting out of his mouth briefly in concentration and you had to steady your breathing. He noticed your change, your eyes now averted completely as he continued fixing your tie, taking his time. “You okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” You spoke quickly, wincing at your rushed words.

Finding your actions amusing, Sirius couldn’t help himself. “Good to know, things don’t change Y/N.”

“You’re a prat.” You told him once again as Sirius chuckled.

“I’m just saying, this isn’t the first time we’ve been in this situation, doubt it will be the last. Glad to know I can always make you weak in the knees when I fix your tie afterwards.” His confidence was only increasing when he saw you gulp and bite your tongue, meeting his gray eyes with an embarrassed smile. It just wasn’t fair.

“Just hurry please.” You didn’t want Remus or anyone really to walk in-

“What the hell?”

Oh shit.

Sirius and your eyes were as wide as saucers at the added voice in the room, neither of you daring to look at the door.

James was the one who stood in the doorway, looking at you both in front of him. It took him a moment, a lot of eyes looking between you and your semi decent clothing, Sirius standing barely a foot in front of you without pants or a shirt on, and his bed with the sheets all askew and wrinkled before he finally caught on. “Oh shit!” He yelled really loud. You winced and both you and Sirius already trying to explain yourselves, but James wasn’t listening. Instead he was bouncing on his feet, cheering about you both as you yanked him out of the doorway and making sure Remus wasn’t near before you closed the door and turned to see James now out of breath and Sirius stood unsure of what to do, sending you looks for help.

You shrugged, having no clue of the next move before coming to stand in front of James, putting your hands on his shoulders to get him to look at you. “Prongs? Listen to me. What you know, is top secret okay?” you began, James nodding his head eagerly. “You can’t tell anyone, especially my brother, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah, no I got it. I’m good.” He assured you and you relaxed, letting your arms fall off and turning to Sirius, his nerves no longer on his face as you shared a smile, glad James was going to keep your secret. “Well then, I’ll just leave you two.” He said. You and Sirius watched him creep towards the door and leave you both in awkwardness. Sirius and you let out a breath as James made it out the door, not even closing it behind it as he took off running. “Remus! Remus, you’ll never guess what’s happening!!”

Sirius didn’t waste a second before taking off after James as he yelled your brother’s name, not even minding the fact he was still only in his underwear. Not moving from your spot out of fear, you listened to a tumbles on the stairs, no doubt Sirius having caught up with James to stop him and taking both of them down in the process. But what scared you the most was how you could hear James spill everything he just walked in on, and the sound of your brother’s voice afterwards, growing mad as James went on. You gulped, turning towards the door to see the three of them enter, Remus holding Sirius’ arm as he mouthed a sorry to you.

You put on a smile, Remus glaring you down and you knew you were in trouble. “Oh, shit…”

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[fanficparker]

A GAME OF DIAMONDS AND HEARTS // H.O.

>> CHAPTER ONE

"I felt lethal, on the verge of frenzy." - American Psycho, Ellis

(Frenemies to Lovers! Mob AU! ) Harrison Osterfield x Fem!OC

Word count: 1.2k words

Warning: Swearing, character death, jerk behaviour, anger issues

Series summary: After the sudden death of his uncle and the eccentric multi-millionaire mafia king Lufian Clarke, Harrison Osterfield's almost decent life is mostly devastated especially when half of what should be rightfully his fortune is transferred to their immediate rival for reasons he doesn't know. What's remaining is him trying to figure out how to deal with this collaboration of two rival corporations that don't belong together and work on the side of the woman he never knew would ever be referred to as his partner in crime while they are dragged into a mess bigger than what they were trained to handle.

[ SERIES MASTERLIST ] TWO >>

It was about time Harrison Osterfield would learn the difference between a good day and a bad day. Or to put it more clearly— the worst day of his life. The moment he stepped inside the four walls of his mansion, all eyes flashed in his direction. The two guards that accompanied him stood by the door, while he moved closer to his spectators.

The place was quiet and dimly lit. Nothing unusual. Except for the people living in it who suddenly felt the need to stand in a half circle imitating school children being punished for not wearing their PE uniforms. The air in the room felt musty and the walls too dark for being painted white. Harrison could easily hear the sound of his shoes softly hitting the marble floor.

He glanced down at himself.

Probably he could have gotten shot or stabbed. And like such dramatic events unfold in movies, he expected a similar sequence of events to happen to him. An action hero returning from a life-threatening mission but he didn't notice the bullet wound piercing the side of his abdomen and when he touches the spot, his hands would be dripping with that infamous red fluid and then he would hit the ground and die in the pool of his own blood.

Nah, Harrison wasn't this lucky. Someone, for sure, died today but it wasn't him.

His eyes roamed, capturing every single of the eleven people standing in front of him. Nine furious killers, one receptionist and one secretary. All of them having the same silent expression taped on their faces. He caught the eye of his first in command— Thomas Holland. But Tom just stood there with his hands clasped to his front and head slightly bent down. That was enough to piss him off.

It didn't take him long to notice the only major person missing from the scene. With gritted teeth, he swallowed his spit. "Where the hell is Clarke?" His tone wasn't any close to yelling but it for sure was full of venom.

"Sir..." Felicity, Clarke's secretary, stepped forward but Harrison stopped her with his hand in the air. He didn't care about turning in her direction, letting only his eyes to glance at her sideways, accompanied by a raised brow.

"No bullshit. Just straight to the point." Harrison demanded, words strictly separated with clear pauses.

"I am sorry, Mister Osterfield--"

Harrison hissed at the five unnecessary words she chose to initiate her sentence with, halting her abruptly altogether. The girl was definitely terrified.

His repetitive attempts to establish his dominance over everyone. Tom hated it to his guts. Luckily, Harrison's attitude never terrified him, so he stepped forward, shielding Felicity, making Harrison's tough gaze fall on his tougher one.

"Lufian Clarke was found dead in his room at 10 am, this morning." There was no ounce of hesitation on Tom's face.

Harrison's eyes slightly narrowed at Tom's declaration but the words failed to make immediate sense in his head. He noted the time on the clock above the reception.

11:13 am

He wanted to laugh.

As stupid as it may sound, Harrison had never considered his uncle to be the type that would ever die, especially in his own bed, refusing to wake up one morning. But death was inevitable. But that man also took two shots to his chest and came out alive.

Harrison refused to believe. That bastard must be on a vacation in Bali and these fools must have fallen right into his trap. Pathetic.

"He is dead, Harrison. I have confirmed it." Tuwaine tentatively clarified and Harrison bit the inside of his mouth, his nostrils flaring. He believed in Tuwaine. He had reasons to.

He unclenched his fists, relaxing his popping veins, shutting his eyes momentarily. But his voice reacted differently, devoid of any soreness— "Get his body ready for the funeral," as he walked past the men.

Julian, the youngest of the men swallowed, raising his head in wonder. "Won't you be attending it?"

He didn't bother replying. He instead answered by smashing the bowl of glass pellets from the reception table to the floor.

***

It was part fascinating and part agitating how sharply death could influence our opinion on the person in question. Lufian Clarke sucked. Lufian Clarke was a pain in the ass. But Lufian Clarke was the closest Harrison had to a father. And Lufian Clarke was dead.

Harrison would have calmly accepted Lufian's death if only it was not for the seven-paged will he left on his table. A fortune worth billions summed up in seven pages. Seven pages that should have only and only addressed one person's name apart from Lufian's own. But that wasn't the case.

The will was cut into half and only one half was named to him. The other half that rightfully also belonged to him was named to one of their first hand rivals. The one Clarke had himself taught to despise.

Sandhya Omar. The name stuck out like a sore thumb. The way his tongue hit his palette burned his gut, exploding into a fire deep within his chest. Those fools weren't standing like zombies in the hall for Clarke's death, they were there for the will, afraid of Harrison's response to Clarke's decision.

He yanked his tie, tore off his navy blue blazer and threw it over Clarke's now unused study and shoved back his perfectly gelled dirty-blond hair that fell over one of his blue irises. The climate outside the window was in stark contrast to that of the dead man's room. Harrison watched his men pushing Clarke's coffin into the grave as the seven pages crumbled in his fist. He caught Tom's eye again, and this time Tom didn't look down but up, presumably noticing the papers in Harrison's hand. The following moment he dropped the window blinds.

It was still time for the darkness to take over the cerulean sky but Harrison's heart was already captured in the night. A little knock could not bring his heart back to the bright blue day. Yet, it could bring back his mind.

Harry Holland was at the door, as Harrison rightfully anticipated. He was amongst Clarke's top assassins and conveniently enough, he was also Tom's younger brother. Harrison's lips twisted into a half grin as he walked up to the red head, rolling his uncle's will in his hand and flicking the watch on his wrist. Even when the two brothers had similar warm brown eyes, Harry lacked the cold, unafraid expression that his brother carried. That pleased him.

"Well, there appears to be something you guys forgot to tell me." Harrison remarked in an accusatory tone, tapping the documents over the study. Harry was quick to notice the papers and decipher what they meant.

He hesitated for a second, "We wanted to tell you about--"

Harrison tilted his neck to the side, leaning by the table.

"About what?" His wrath went as quickly as it had appeared, leaving him with a hollowing coldness and a smirk that said nothing and all at once.

"Sandhya O--"

"Kill her."

____________________

_____________

...TO BE CONTINUED...

IS ANYONE EXCITED FOR THIS???! COMMENTS WILL BE APPRECIATED AS THEY PROVIDE ME WITH INSPIRATION TO WRITE :)

>> Send me an ask or just reblog/comment this post with 'Tag me' or fill this NEW TAGLIST to get added to the taglist of AGODAH.

_____________

____________________

[professional-idiocy]

On Thin Ice - pt. 4

You see when I took the break. I got a lot of energy to work on this again so here we have it much earlier than normal. WOW productivity plus I stopped listening during English classes and in Finland, it's just learning words that I already know. Also, I'm trying the new post editor so I don't know how this will go.

Pt. 1 - Masterlist - Next

CW: Mentions of torture, Colby's thoughts, Ellie's cat threatening Rosa. Please tell me if I have to add more ^^

Taglist: @whoopsalittlewhumpy, @cupcakes-and-pain, @uncooly-supreme-whump, @thegreathowdini

Kevin sighed in relief when the doorbell finally rang. Ellie was here to help him. He was so lost with everything and finally, he’d have someone who knew what they were doing. He gently woke up Colby who’d curled up at the opposite end of the couch clinging to a blanket he’d given to him.

He smiled at the memory of how amazed and grateful Colby had looked when he’d been given the blanket. He’d treated it like a prized treasure that shouldn’t even be given to him. It broke his heart, but it also made him want to protect Colby more.

The doorbell rang again, and Kevin rushed to the door, glad to see it really was Ellie. He did have someone he didn’t recognize with him, but it didn’t matter. He smiled letting them both in.

“Thanks for coming. I’ve been completely lost this whole time” Kevin said as Ellie smiled warmly not judging him at all as the man behind her scoffed, but it was quickly quieted by Ellie nudging him with her elbow.

“You still did well, since he seems to be doing decently” Ellie said gesturing towards Colby who was watching them warily.

“I hope you don’t mind that Blake came too” Ellie asked pointing to the man behind him who just nodded at Kevin. He awkwardly nodded back, something made him uneasy around Blake.

“Do you mind if I go catch up with the kid while you talk?” Blake asked his face twisting with worry. “He looks more uncertain than normal”

“Wait you know him?” Kevin asked tensely when as Blake chuckled his appearance subtly changing into all too familiar villain that had disappeared years ago. He watched silently as Mimic just looked back at him clearly enjoying the surprise.

“Well, yes. I’m a retired villain after all” He said smugly as Ellie smiled fondly, before ruffling Blake’s hair as the retired villain turned all red and looked away. Kevin just watched in a mix of surprise and fear. It did explain why she was so willing to help Colby.

“You’re always such a dramatic cat but I’m sure Colby could use a familiar face” Ellie said, before turning to Kevin who just looked at him in slight confusion.

“I know Blake is a bit surprising, but I’ll teach you how to properly take care of injuries since copying from TV shows is honestly a terrible idea. They’re wildly inaccurate. Like seriously who forgets chest compressions! That’s like the most important part!”

“Yeah, sorry… Let’s go into the kitchen to talk” Kevin said awkwardly as Ellie just smiled.

“Don’t worry not everyone is a doctor but NEVER attempt to do anything without proper knowhow especially with medicine. Text me or google it before doing anything”

Kevin just nodded continuing on. He hadn’t expected that

Colby watched in surprise as the man who’d come along with Miss Doctor had been Mimic. He’d disappeared years back and never reappeared. He’d worked together with him a few times and he was always surprisingly nice for a hired killer. It was relieving to see Mimic doing well. At least he hadn’t been caught.

“Hey, kid” Mimic said sitting next to him, Colby beamed at the old nickname.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that” Mimic mumbled awkwardly scratching the back of his head as Colby watched smiling softly. It was reassuring to have someone you knew around. Mimic had taught him a lot back then, but he’d never been the best at showing how he felt. They sat there in silence for a long time before Mimic continued.

“I know you’ll have a hard time, but I promise you don’t have to worry about Ellie. She’s really nice and doesn’t judge. It’s the reason I married her actually” Mimic said softly being all awkward as Colby chuckled at it.

“It’s fine. I know I deserved it”

Mimic smiled sadly at that. “Yeah, we’ve done fucked up things but you’re a kid. You shouldn’t think like that”

“You do know I’m 23, right? You’re ancient if you think that”

“Hey, I’m only 30, that makes me young enough” Mimic said pouting as Ellie laughed at Colby’s comment walking from the kitchen. Mimic ruffled his hair before getting up and finding a wall to lean against as Ellie sat next to him.

Colby watched as Mimic zeroed in on Kevin and threw a hand around his shoulder, taking him into the kitchen. Ellie shook his head smiling fondly before turning to him.

“Nice to meet you, Colby. I’m Ellie Walker” She said with a smile as Colby watched meekly before nodding. Ellie seemed nice enough. Mimic trusted her so she should be nice.

“I know you’re a bit nervous so how about we make a deal” Colby tilted his head curiously. No one had really made deals with him before, so it felt strange.

“Blake told me you liked chocolate so I brought some with me” She said taking out so much chocolate that he couldn’t even believe it. “You can have it all if you promise to be honest with me. If something hurts or feels slightly off you tell me, alright?” Colby nodded enthusiastically.

“Of course, it was her! Kevin Mills and Rosa Mills. No wonder you got Colby out without getting killed. Your psychopathic sister did this to him. Fuck that bitch for torturing a child! Even I’ve never hurt a kid” Blake said storming out the kitchen as Colby tensed in fear.

“I’m going to stab her”

“No stabbing” Ellie said making him freeze, before turning to her.

“what about a non-lethal poke?”

“That’s the same thing but look at what you’ve done. Colby is terrified right now” Blake turned to look at her before flinching as soon as he saw Colby looking at him in fear.

“Sorry, I think I’m just gonna sit in the car for a while. To uh- calm down” Blake explained awkwardly as Ellie smiled softly before shaking her head.

“I know you’re worried about Colby but that’s not the greatest way to show it” Blake nodded as Ellie seemed so understanding and kind. Colby’s eyes widened. Alaric would’ve been mad, very mad but she just calmly explained it!

“How about you help Kevin understand Colby better? You’ve known him the longest” Blake nodded quietly turning to Kevin as he just shrugged walking into the kitchen.

Ellie smiled at Colby sitting back down. “Sorry about his outburst. He cares about you but as you probably know he’s bad at showing how he feels”

“I know.” Colby said softly “You’re really nice, you know that right?” He piped up as Ellie smiled warmly. This would help him get back to Alaric.

“You’re really nice too. So where does it hurt?” Ellie smiled warmly and Colby just could feel himself melting. She just- she just was so nice. He just watched as she waited and waited. Shit, he needed to tell her!

“Everywhere but mostly my right ankle. I can’t walk because it refuses to work with me” He said in a hurry hoping Ellie wasn’t mad. He’d wasted time and- he shuddered at the memory of how it led to- Don’t think it, don’t think it. Just focus on the current event.

“I see, can I take a look?” Colby nodded without hesitation closing his eyes hoping it would just be over. Ellie kept poking and prodding as he answered questions and she did doctor things. He didn’t know anything about medicine, and it didn’t bother him. Mimic trusted her so he could trust her too.

She moved to inspecting the injuries and taking care of them. He kept answering the questions she asked but they didn’t make much sense to him. He just answered truthfully since it probably would help him get to Alaric faster.

“There you go” She said finishing the last bandage Colby watched her curiously “And here as we agreed the chocolate is all yours” Ellie said as she pushed the chocolate to him. He smiled gathering it all up and hiding it underneath his blanket.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Kevin asked as he walked in with Blake in tow who immediately found a wall to lean against as Ellie turned to them with a smile.

“We’re all done here Colby seems fine, but you need to clean the wounds regularly, so they don’t get infected and watch out for the sprained ankle” She stated packing up her stuff before pausing and turning to Colby.

“Mostly I’m concerned how the welts on your soles didn’t bother you. It would explain why you couldn’t walk when combined with the ankle” Ellie said as Colby’s eyes widened as he flinched. Kevin bit his lip in worry. He should’ve noticed!

“Sorry. I didn’t think it was that serious. It was just that one time I tried to escape and I- I learned my lesson” He muttered softly as he fiddled with the hem of the shirt Kevin had lent to him.

“Please don’t take the chocolate. I really want to keep it” Colby said softly, sounding panicked, but Ellie just ruffled his hair with a smile.

“It’s fine you’ve earned it” She looked at the clock before smiling, quickly packing a bunch of stuff, handing Blake the stuff she’d packed.

“We sadly need to get going” She said getting up before wandering around for anything she might’ve forgotten before turning to Kevin.

“Kevin, memorize the stuff I wrote down for you. It’ll be better than constantly looking at the stuff” She said leaving as Blake smiled fondly at her antics, before following behind her.

Colby and Kevin just stayed there in silence before Kevin sat down next to him. Colby just carefully took two of the chocolate bars resting his head on Kevin’s shoulder nuzzling close. He handed Kevin one of the bars before beginning to eat his own.

He closed his eyes pulling the blanket up before melting in pure bliss. He liked these silent moments of comfort. Best of all Kevin had accepted the chocolate meaning he’d done well and didn’t have to worry about Kevin getting mad for a while.

[riversofmars]

So for today's update, seeing as I'm trying to give all my WIPs equal love: back to the headmistress and her sheep farmer! Here is part two! <3 Weather continues to be shite in West Yorkshire, hope it's better where you are!

Rating M (language and sexual themes)

TW: reference past abuse (but not a lot)

Read below or on AO3

Home Is Not A Place - Part 2: The Storm

“F-Bloody cold, bastard weather,“ Gillian groaned as she slammed the door shut. It had been storming all day, and she was soaked to the bone from being out on the farm.

“Gillian?“ Caroline appeared in the hallway, mug in hand and wrapped in a large woolly poncho. It was Saturday and she was counting her blessings that she had no reason to leave the house. Flora was staying with Greg in Manchester this weekend, and Raff and Ellie were spending the weekend with Ellie’s mother who was helping them house-shop. With Gillian out on the yard, Caroline had been left to enjoy the peace and quiet and taken the opportunity to catch up on her reading in front of the fire. At least that’s what she had been doing until she had been interrupted by the sheep farmer’s return and her colourful curses.

“Don’t even f-bloody say anything!“ Gillian snapped, peeling off her coat which had done sweet fuck all to protect her from the rain.

“For God’s sake, Gillian,“ Caroline chose to comment - regardless of her warning - upon realising the state she was in. Gillian’s hair stuck to her cheeks that were red from the cold, and her clothes were dripping. “What have you been doing?“ Caroline demanded to know and picked up the coat that Gillian had abandoned on the floor in her stroppy mood. She followed the sheep farmer into the living room and put the coat over a chair by the fire.

“Bloody foxes bothering sheep again,“ Gillian huffed, and the frequency of her curses told Caroline everything she needed to know about her mood.

“And that couldn’t have waited till the storm had passed?“ Caroline crossed her arms in front of her chest, like she might with an unruly student she expected an explanation from.

“Can’t do with losing any more to ‘em,“ Gillian mumbled, dropping her scarf onto the chair with the coat, but avoided meeting the headteacher’s eyes. She knew she was right. She should have come back inside upon finishing all the strictly necessary tasks and not faffed about going after a fox that she still hadn’t managed to shoot.

“You’re gonna catch your death, if you’re not careful,“ Caroline scolded, willing her voice to remain steady and not get distracted when Gillian pulled her shirt off revealing a tank top that clung to her body. Her shoulders were strong, despite her small frame, from years of working on the farm. Caroline wondered what it would be like to hold on to them if Gillian decided to put her strong hands to good use.

“What? And leave you in charge of farm, don’t think so. Gonna take a bit more than a storm to knock me out, you should know that by now.“

“I do know that, yes,“ Caroline had to agree. Her period of peace and quiet was over. Gillian was like a whirlwind of chaos and emotion but Caroline couldn’t pretend to be annoyed by that anymore. “Get yourself changed and sit by the fire, I’ll put the kettle on,“ she announced after brief consideration. “I’m not nursing you when you can’t get out of bed.“

“Oh that’s a shame, when nothing would make me happier than you waiting on me hand and foot,“ Gillian smirked and Caroline rolled her eyes.

“I bet,“ she huffed and made her way to the kitchen, allowing herself a moment to contemplate how nice it might be to dap a cold flannel to Gillian’s brow and smooth her hair behind her ears… She indulged the fantasy for the time it took her to fill the kettle with water and set it to boil. Then she glanced over into the living area and her heart nearly stopped. She gave a completely undignified squeak that drew Gillian’s attention, so she quickly followed it up with: “Jesus, Gillian, talk about boundaries!“ She couldn’t very well just remain standing there, watching Gillian strip down to her underwear, without shooting a suitably shocked comment her way.

“Shit, Caroline, I thought you’re making tea,“ the sheep farmer exclaimed, which was rich considering the fact that the living and cooking area were connected. She reached for a t-shirt to cover herself up but Caroline couldn’t pull her eyes off her the whole time.

“It’s open-plan!“ Caroline exclaimed, mortified, and Gillian huffed as she turned around, fishing for dry trousers in a pile of clean washing that had been dumped onto one of the sofas and was to be ironed at a later date. This, of course, required her to bend over, and Caroline watched with fascination and dread as she did so. Inwardly, the headteacher reprimanded herself, sternly, for the thoughts that crossed her mind. She was determined that she would not, under any circumstances, share them with anyone or ever act upon them. She wasn’t sure whether that made it better or worse.

“I couldn’t be arsed to go upstairs when there’s a pile of ironing right here,“ Gillian was quick to justify herself as she pulled on a pair of jeans and struggled to do so as her skin was still damp.

“You never lock the door either, anyone could have walked in.“ Caroline gestured towards the front of the house, trying to distract herself from her intrusive thoughts.

“Everyone is out, and our parents would have rung first if they wanted to pop round,“ Gillian shot back quickly and turned to face her again once halfway decent.

“Right,“ Caroline huffed, fully aware she had lost the argument and turned back to the kitchen to carry on making the tea and distract herself of the image of Gillian’s lean frame, water glistening on her toned stomach and soft curve of her breasts and… Well, Caroline wasn’t exactly distracting herself from it, she committed it to memory, allowing herself a moment to appreciate it in the privacy of her own mind.

“Sorry I’m… guess, I’m still not quite used to you being here all’t time,“ Gillian’s voice drew her back to the present. Caroline looked back around to find Gillian glancing across the room to her, her brow knitted into a frown of concern. It was that frown that she made whenever she wondered if she had done something wrong. Perhaps she wondered if she had made Caroline uncomfortable, rather than aroused.

“No, no, it’s fine, I’m not… trying to make you uncomfortable in your own home,“ Caroline was quick to respond. If anything, she should be the one apologising to her for ogling her the way she had.

“Our home. Halfsies, remember?“ Gillian gave her a hopeful smile that made Caroline’s heartbeat a little fast.

“Right…“ She responded with a smile of her own and finished preparing the mugs. “Here… I put some brandy in it,“ she explained as she returned to the living area and handed over the hot drink.

“Now, this is why I like having you 'round,“ Gillian grinned as they both dropped onto the sofa in front of the fire.

“Because I drive you to drink?“ Caroline chuckled and Gillian laughed:

“Because you drive me to drink with someone, not by meself.“ She took a sip of the tea that warmed her insides quickly, and silence fell between them as they watched the fire. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, far from it. They each turned to their thoughts, enjoying the warmth of the fire and the drink as well as - certainly in Caroline’s case, she couldn’t speak for Gillian - each other’s company.

“Does it surprise you?“ Caroline asked after a while, her eyes resting on the sheep farmer’s strong hands wrapped around her mug.

“What?“ Gillian asked, taking a sip, glancing at her expectantly.

“How well this is working?“ Caroline clarified, and Gillian chuckled:

“Should it?“

“No! No…no I mean… it was a bit of a rash decision, fuelled in no small measure to spite my mother…and yes, there are advantages to it, yes, sure, but… I expected it to be… harder,“ Caroline admitted thoughtfully. This, of course, made things difficult for her to keep straight in her head. Her attraction towards Gillian wasn’t new, it had developed over time and intensified in the last few years since she had moved out into the countryside herself. She had never paid much heed to it. There was just something about the sheep farmer, there always had been. It was evident by the sheer number of suitors she acquired. Given Caroline’s interest in women, she had merely assumed that she wasn’t immune to whatever it was. Her feelings towards Gillian hadn’t factored into her decision to move in together. It genuinely had seemed like the right decision for both of them and it was proving to be just that. Whatever concern Caroline may have had given that attraction, she had assumed that it would fade given time. Surely, living with Gillian - her mess, her moods, her… well, everything - was bound to put her off and end that idealised fantasy she had dreamed up in her head. Sadly, the opposite had occurred. While there were times where they still wound each other up, all things considered, being close to Gillian had made her realise how much she adored everything about her. Even the things she had expected she would hate. Now, all she could do was ignore her feelings and hope they would pass eventually. She would have to apply one of her mother’s approaches to problems: if you don’t talk about them, they don’t exist.

“Are you saying you expected me difficult to be round?“ Gillian smirked, never missing an opportunity to tease her.

“No! No! Well, yes, but not like…“ Caroline started and stopped herself when she realised what she was saying. She had been too preoccupied contemplating her crush on her, to mind her words.

“Keep digging,“ Gillian grinned, while clearly not taking offence, not really, anyway.

“No, I’m just… it’s nice,“ Caroline exclaimed, hoping to put the matter to bed. Not unlike she would have hoped to bed the sheep farmer but that was a different, none-existent matter that she wouldn’t talk about. “And I would have hoped it would be but… it’s nice to have it confirmed.“

“I like having you around,“ Gillian was more to the point than Caroline’s babbling mess of a statement.

“Even if I’m a snotty bitch?“ Caroline felt they were entering safer waters again.

“Particularly 'cause you’re a snotty bitch, you give the place a certain measure of class,“ Gillian laughed.

“A sheep farm with class?“

“A sheep farm with class,“ Gillian repeated with a nod. “It’s certainly stopped Cheryl trying to pick on us… and that new guy from ‘cross the moor stopped dropping by unannounced, he were a right pain.“ She grimaced at the memory of it.

“Think he had a bit of a thing for you,“ Caroline chuckled, contemplating the matter. Of course he did, show me one person attracted to women who doesn’t have a thing for Gillian bloody Greenwood, Caroline thought miserably.

“Well, he can fuck off with his fancy arse yellow tractor,“ Gillian huffed.

“Bit of a statement that, isn’t it.“

“You think?“

“Yes, like a peacock, flashing his feathers,“ Caroline mused, remembering him popping by the farm in it at one point. At the very least it had been great entertainment for Flora and Calamity but only until the point where they had started making fun of it, embarrassing them in front of what could have been a perfectly nice new neighbour.

“He were well confused when you opened door to him in your nighty that one time,“ Gillian grinned and Caroline feigned outrage.

“Well, he shouldn’t have called at bloody 10 o’clock at night, should he?“

“Probably hoping I’d invite him in, weren’t he.“ Gillian rolled her eyes.

“He must have heard of your stellar reputation,“ Caroline hummed into her tea, contemplating the matter that she was probably the envy of most of the male population of West Yorkshire when it came to “staying over at Gillian’s“. Shame it didn’t entail the same benefits for her that it had for many men in the past.

“Old Gillian would’ve,“ the sheep farmer mused, driving the point home painfully.

“He wasn’t even a looker,“ Caroline exclaimed, trying her best to keep her jealousy in check.

“Don’t have to look at his face if he has other qualities,“ Gillian shrugged matter-of-factly.

“Ew.“ Caroline contemplated adding some more brandy to her tea if the conversation was going to carry on the way it was. She glanced at the window. The rain hadn’t stopped, if anything, the storm was only getting worse, and there was absolutely no reason to be leaving the house. So what if it was only 11am? The brandy was tempting.

“You used to shag John, you can’t be that repulsed by it.“ Gillian demanded her attention with a knowing smirk.

“I liked John… for a time, loved him even, so I got over it but now… don’t think I could go back, honestly, I just… like women too much, should have stuck with them after uni,“ Caroline stated.

“That would have spared us the indignity of me shagging your ex-husband,“ Gillian had to admit.

“Ah, but then, we would have missed out on so much fun,“ Caroline elbowed her.

“Sorry… again… about all that,“ Gillian responded with a moment of sincerity while nursing her tea.

“It’s forgotten. If John could see us now, living together, his head would explode,“ the headteacher chuckled. “God knows what he’d presume was going on…“

“Hm… what indeed,“ Gillian hummed and Caroline struggled to interpret her response to an off-hand comment she already regretted making. Before she could attribute more meaning to it, Gillian concluded: “Men are idiots, aren’t they?“

“I have been saying this for some time.“ Caroline nodded with a smirk.

“Is it easier?“ Gillian asked, after finishing her drink in one final gulp.

“What?“ Caroline frowned, needing her to be more specific, and the sheep farmer took a moment to provide context, seemingly a little insecure.

“Dating… you know… women?“

“Oh. Uh- well, depends on the woman. Whether you have the same interests, want the same things out of life…“ Caroline suddenly found the inside of her mug very interesting indeed. “You for instance are…“ She broke off when she realised what she was saying but she seemed to have peaked Gillian’s interest:

“What?“ She asked curiously.

“Well, we… work well together, don’t we, we’re very different and yet…“ Caroline shifted uncomfortably, suddenly aware of a spring or something digging into her back. Anything to distract her from the sheep farmer.

“Are you coming on to me, Caz?“ Gillian smirked and Caroline’s face fell.

“No! No, no, don’t be ridiculous.“ Her voice was higher than usual and she shook her head vehemently.

“Hey, I’m not that bad, am I?“ The sheep farmer carried on, seemingly intent on exploiting a moment of weakness.

“Can’t win with you, can I,“ Caroline cleared her throat and focused her thoughts, she finished her tea, to give herself something to do.

“Relax, I’m only winding you up,“ Gillian elbowed her and Caroline became aware of how closely they were sitting together.

“Right.“

“Been with a girl once.“ Gillian added in an off-hand sort of way and got to her feet. She grabbed Caroline’s mug out of her hand who just stared at her in shock.

“What?“ Her mind was reeling from the statement and she couldn’t be sure if Gillian was trying to wind her up more or if she was serious, sharing one of her many sex-capades of the past for a laugh. Perhaps it was a bit of both. The sheep farmer didn’t answer immediately. She made her way into the kitchen and poured brandy into their mugs, forgoing the tea altogether. Caroline was watching her every move, tense for an answer, as Gillian took her time returning to the sofa. She handed her one of the mugs and took a sip of her own before sitting back down. There was a moment of quiet anticipation as Gillian appeared to be contemplating how to best tell the story.

“You know when… things were right bad with Eddie,“ she started at last and Caroline felt a lump forming in her throat. Eddie. How she longed never to hear that name again and for Gillian to forget all about him, but he would, forever, be a part of her, of them. Caroline hated hearing about that part of Gillian’s life because of how helpless it made her feel and how much she wished it had never happened. But there was also a part of her that was keen to listen, not out of morbid curiosity, but because it meant a lot to her that Gillian felt she could talk to her about him. She was, after all, the first person she had ever told of the real circumstances of her husband’s untimely death. Caroline felt honoured that Gillian confided in her, so she listened, for her, as much as it might hurt. She hadn’t anticipated this sharp change of pace and topic but perhaps it was something Gillian needed to get off her chest.

“He was controlling too, wan’t he, and wouldn’t really let me see other men, so…“ Gillian took a deep breath and a sip of the brandy to steady her nerves. “Guess he wasn’t that threatened by women so there was this lass, up in, uh... Huddersfield, actually, funnily enough.“ Gillian chuckled but there was no joy to it. “There was this one time where Eddie, he got really p-pissed on a night out there and got in a fight. Coppers had to break it up and he got arrested… I was g-gonna pick him up but when I were stood outside police station, I couldn’t make myself go in.“ She took another sip of her drink and Caroline reached out for her free hand. Gillian’s voice was more shaky now, there was the stammer too, that she got whenever negative emotions threatened to swallow her up. “C-Cause I knew if I did and bailed him out that night, he’d be…in a t-terrible state and he’d be right f-fucking pissed for having been arrested and…“ She broke off, curling her fingers tightly around Caroline’s. “Well anyway, I turned round, went to pub instead. Didn’t know it were a… gay bar or whatever, did I… but I really needed a drink and there was this girl…and she were nice and apparently liked the look of me and, by that point, I was just relieved to be away from Eddie for night and I… t-took opportunity, didn’t I. Stayed over. Picked up Eddie in’t morning. Told him coppers wouldn’t let me pick him up that night so I h-had to wait.“

“And he believed that?“ Caroline asked gently, running her thumb over the back of her hand.

“N-No. But he didn’t guess what I’d been up t-to that night, else he would have done more than give me a black eye, wouldn’t he…“ Gillian took a deep breath, eager to wrap up the story. “Saw her a couple times after that too, but couldn’t keep finding reasons to go to bloody Huddersfield, could I, so it fizzled out eventually.“

“I’m sorry, Gillian, I…“ Caroline didn’t know what to say. She wanted nothing more than to pull her into her arms, hold her close and tell her that everything would be alright but that would betray a depth of emotion that would probably overwhelm her. These were the times when Caroline was reminded of how fragile the other woman really was. She was staring into her mug, seemingly attempting to divine meaning from the amber liquid but coming up short. Caroline was struck - and not for the first time - by how small Gillian looked when she retreated into herself. Yes, physically, she was obviously far smaller than Caroline but her loud personality and presence usually more than made up for it. When the pretence of confidence fell away, what remained was the broken woman Eddie had left behind. Caroline couldn’t blame her for having killed him, not for a moment.

“’S fine,“ Gillian mumbled.

“It’s not fine,“ Caroline insisted, anger boiling up inside her.

“No, but it’s in the past,“ Gillian countered with surprising calmness as she finished off her drink. She glanced at Caroline and there was an odd sense of acceptance in her eyes, of hopefulness, of determination not to be defined by the past and to move forward. She gave Caroline’s hand a squeeze. “The girl was the point of the story, not Eddie,“ she said and managed a little smile, encouraging the conversation along to more pleasant matters. “Bloody hell, Caroline, I was hoping you’d at least be a little bit shocked or something.“ She managed a chuckle.

“So… what’d she look like?“ Caroline asked after another moment of silence, as she contemplated how to steer clear of the gloominess of the past.

“Who?“ Gillian frowned.

“The girl!“ Caroline exclaimed and let go of her hand. She watched Gillian with delight at the blush that suddenly crept onto the sheep farmer’s cheeks.

“Oh! Uhh- dunno.“ Gillian looked into her mug, which was now empty and provided no distraction.

“Yes you do,“ Caroline teased.

“Blonde. Tall,“ Gillian sighed, exasperated.

“Ohh, do you have a type,“ Caroline joked, trying to brush over a wave of jealousy.

“She was no uptight bitch if that’s what you’re bothered about,“ Gillian’s snark returned in full force.

“That's a no-go, is it?"

“It was good though…“ Gillian went on, completely ignoring Caroline's question.

“What?“ The headteacher frowned confused.

“The sex,“ Gillian smirked, causing Caroline to nearly spit out her drink.

[joelthedinosaur]

Ridin' High | Part Two

Joel Miller x OC

Part one here

Warnings: angsty old man, language

Word count: hella?? idk man I wrote this in July and then didn't get back on this blog until a few weeks ago...

Cat awoke the next morning to find Joel asleep next to her. Naked. Soft light filtered in through the window as twilight faded.

She groggily rubbed her eyes and pushed herself up off the floor. Embarrassment at what they had done enveloped her.

How could this happen? Fear and shame rose up in her. She barely knew this man.

As she rose, Joel opened his eyes and rolled over. His body stretched languidly on the floor of the cabin.

"Mornin'". He grinned sheepishly at her, a glitter flashing in his hazel eyes. "Sleep well?".

"Joel...". Cat didn't even know where to begin. They had fucked like animals with abandonment. She had never felt so deliciously confused - or sore - in her life.

She averted his gaze and hastily gathered her clothing from the floor. Slipping into the other room, she dressed and attempted to avoid him.

--

Joel sat up from the floor, stiff from lying on the hard ground, and disappointed that Cat seemed ashamed.

Damn, he ought to be ashamed as well. He just fucked a girl half his age. He was a father before this girl was even born.

With a groan, he pushed himself to his feet and dressed. The girl had already rushed out of the cabin to the horses by the time he grabbed his pack.

"Cat, I...". He followed her out onto the porch of the cabin and called out to her. He gently grabbed her shoulder and turned her towards him.

There were tears in his eyes. A tightness gripped him and his heart fell. He still desperately wanted to be close to this girl. Had he hurt her? Did he misread her signals? Hell, she seemed as eager as he the night before.

"I'm sorry. That shouldn't have happened". She choked on her words and tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Hey, hey. Shh. Don't do that". He pulled her to his chest and held her tightly. She went limp against him and sobbed. "Don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong."

Cat continued to cry into his chest until he tipped her chin up so her eyes met his gaze. "Darlin', that was amazing."

She grinned feebly but the smile was gone as quickly as it had come. Her brow furrowed. "It shouldn't have happened. I'm sure you have someone. I see the way other women look at you". Cat pushed out of his arms and slung herself up onto her horse. "We have a long ride."

Joel sighed heavily. This girl drove him insane. A swirl of emotions filled him and he felt the same electricity from last night fill him again as he stared at her on the mare. Shaking his head, he said no more and mounted his own horse.

Cat made sure to keep a decent distance between him as they rode back to Jackson. She never said a word, and he didn't dare speak up. She rode silently ahead of him and kept her eyes forward.

To his disappointment, she didn't speak to him once they arrived back at the town. She left her mare at the barn and stormed off, stone faced.

Joel led his horse slowly into the barn, brow furrowed. One of the men tending to the horses chuckled softly. "What'd ya do? Piss her off?".

"Guess so," Joel replied.

He didn't see her for the rest of the day.

--

Two weeks went by and Cat managed to avoid Joel almost entirely.

She managed to swap her patrols so they weren't sent out together. Joel hadn't seen her since she stormed off from the barn.

He hoped half-heartedly that she might see him at the dance hall or perhaps walk by his home. His body ached at the thought of her and it hurt him to think that she might be disgusted at what they had done.

A dance was scheduled for later that night. He typically didn't enjoy going, but Ellie asked him to attend. Joel hoped he might at least spot Cat there to see if she was alright.

Music flooded out from the dance hall into the night air. People clapped and swirled around the dance floor in time with the music. Joel sat off to the back against the wall chatting with Tommy and Maria.

He noticed Ellie, Dina, and Jessie across the hall but no sign of Cat. Ellie waved and he raised his glass in greeting to her.

Finally, Cat walked into the dance hall. She stayed far away from him and never met his gaze. She busied herself talking to friends for a few hours. Joel watched as she talked and laughed with the younger men.

He shifted uncomfortably, not even pretending to listen to Tommy talk anymore. His focus was on her.

--

Cat could feel his eyes on her from across the dance hall. Her heart pounded in her chest. She knew he was watching her, but she was too afraid to meet his gaze.

She tried to hold a conversation with the other girls standing around her. Guys her own age milled about, attempting to impress the group of girls with smooth talk or jokes in between drinks.

One guy whose name she honestly couldn't remember was trying his best to impress her with a story about some stunt that he pulled out on a patrol.

She tried to listen politely, but she honestly wasn't interested in whatever he - maybe it was Chad? - had to say. Cat tried to end the conversation and step away but the poor guy wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Hey, why don't you and I go somewhere quieter?". Chad reached for her arm and attempted to pull her towards him.

"No thanks". She tried to pull out of his grasp but he held her firmly. He reeked of beer and a bloom of panic started to spread throughout her stomach.

"Come on, bab-"

A thick southern drawl cut his words off. "I think the lady ain't interested". Cat turned her head and saw that Joel had strode across the room to stand next to them.

Compared to the younger man, Joel was several inches taller and much stronger. A dark scowl furrowed Joel's brow, and his jaw was clenched tightly.

"This is between me and her, old timer". Chad smirked smugly at Joel.

Cat shrank at his touch. She didn't know what was more embarrassing. The fact that she couldn't get away from this creep or that Joel was trying to intervene.

"I'd suggest you back off, boy". A crowd had begun to form around the trio and Tommy began to walk towards them, intending to stop his brother from any fights. "I don't want to repeat myself, son". Joel and the younger boy stared one another down until he finally removed his grasp from Cat and slunk off.

Joel's face never softened as he watched him walk away. He turned his smoldering gaze to her. Whispers spread throughout the crowd around them and Cat's face flushed as people stared. They had only ever seen Joel this protective of Ellie before.

Sighing in frustration, she turned without a word and hastily fled outside leaving Joel standing in the center of the crowd.

--

Joel's face fell as he watched Cat leave the dance.

White hot anger had surged through him when he saw the younger man touching her. He practically had her cornered across the hall.

Joel could see the distress on her face. He had always been a gentleman and didn't mind protecting women from dicks like him, but a hideous pang of jealousy and anger filled him as he had watched the other men around her.

Tommy clapped him on the shoulder after the standoff. "What the hell was that?".

"Nothin'." Joel shook his head and brushed off his brother's hand.

Joel exited the dance hall quietly and scanned the street outside for her presence. He jogged past a row of houses until he finally caught sight of her heading towards her home.

He called out to her softly and the girl stiffened with her back turned to him in the middle of the street. They were standing in the empty street now with no one else around, the sounds of the dance hall faint behind them.

The furrow in his brow calmed slightly as concern clouded his face, but his tone remained gruff. "He had no right to keep touchin' you".

"Joel, just stop". Cat began walking briskly away from him once again.

"I was tryin' to look out for you!" He couldn't help it, but his face was flushed with frustration and his tone rose slightly in defense. "Did you just want me to stand there while he hung all over you?". He stomped after her, his accent sharpening as his temper flared. He was letting his anger show.

"I can't do this, Joel."

He threw his hands up in the air. Women could be so difficult. He was frustrated at how much he cared for her and how distant she seemed.

"This," she turned and gestured her arms between them, "it's unhealthy". She ran her fingers through her hair haphazardly as she met his gaze. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

He stepped closer to her. They were on the street they shared now. His house was close. His face softened at the emotions contorting her beautiful face. He lowered his voice, almost sighing as he spoke. "Look...I just want you safe, girl".

She screwed up her face in frustration and groaned. "You need to stay away from me". She threw her hands up in the air. A look of pain and desperation crossed her face.

Joel was quiet for a minute or two. He felt the last bit of anger leave his body and the twinge of disappointment he felt was almost unbearable. "It ain't that easy, darlin'".

He closed the distance between them until he could feel her breath on his face. Tenderly, he took her face in his hands. "I can't handle how much I want you."

Joel pressed his lips to hers and Cat eventually gave in, gently knotting her hands in his hair. "Trust me, you have no idea," she breathed in between kisses.

[ohholyfanfics]

Cherries & A Little Loving| Tom Holland

The First Date & Cherry Jars

Based off this prompt request here: Cherries

Note by Ellie: Part two maybe, I have another draft which is a continuation of this thats like another 3.4k words in. But anyways I hope you guys enjoyed and I tagged everyone who asked for a part too. Also much thanks to @oyesmendes​ for their support in getting me to finish this today.

His heart was beating a little quicker than usual as he moved in record speed. After practically begging for the night off, and much to Harrison’s dismay Tom wish was granted. He had been sweeping and vacuuming the whole flat for the past four hours, it was safe to say Harrison was getting light-headed with the smell of bleach and some wired scented candle Tom had purchased a bit too much off.

“Mate, she’s only gonna be over for a few hours..” Harrison reminded him as Tom sent him a glare while he pulled a couple of jars of maraschino cherries from a reusable bag. The blond’s eye widened before a loud laugh filled the small kitchen.

The brunette couldn’t help the fluttering feeling spreading through his body, he knew she was joking back the other night. Yet a certain part of him truly wanted to wow her, and he had spent his free time looking up the most romantic but super low key ways truly impressing a bird you fancied. So far he thought he was doing okay, and having Harrison laughing at his attempt truly wasn’t doing any good.

“Seriously mate..” he mumbled picking up a jar and turning it over reading the label. It was the same ones Steve always bought at the bar, the same ones that she had taken a liken too. “You must really like her huh?”

Tom shrugged his shoulders as he pulled a few more ingredients from the bag. As much as he wanted to wow her with his amazing skills, the truth was there wasn’t really a lot he could do in the kitchen. So he did the one thing he could do, he picked something he was decent at and decided that shrimp tacos were the way to go. He also, may or may not have tested a different recipe almost every day and brought it to his co-works for their thoughts and opinions.

“I just want to impress her is all, kinda wanna make up for all the shit date she’s been on.”

“She already likes ya mate.”

“It doesn’t hurt to put in a little effort Harrison.” he hummed while pulling out a cutting board placing the fresh shrimp on it. “plus I’m kinda hoping this would actually lead to something more.”

By the time she was set to arrive Tom had everything prepared, and he was freshly showered. After a few changes of outfits and messing with his hair in the mirror he had decided comfort was best, the last thing he needed was to look like he was trying too hard. When a soft knock was heard at the door, he had just finished filling a tiny little plate with the cherries. He couldn’t help but stop at the little mirror in the hallway giving himself a once over before finally opening the door.

Tom swore right then and there that God had personally sent down a choir of angels to sing when he opened the door. Her smile was blinding and she looked perfect beyond comparison. Her legs were covered in black ripped jeans as her torso was covered with a light pink sweater. Her makeup done similarly to the night of her awful date, and her hair was left in a tight bun.

“Um Hey.” He breathed out as she giggled softly leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.

“Hey, oh wow, it smells lovely in here.”

His cheeks flushed as he closed the door behind her, he watched as she neatly placed her shoes beside him and a warm feeling rushed through him. It felt all so perfect almost as if that spot was meant for her.

“Um thinks..” he breathed out as his cheeks flushed. Truth was, everything kinda went south after he hopped out of the shower. After accidentally knocking over the filling for the tacos, he knew there wasn’t enough time to even try and remake more. Naturally, after a few curses and a quick clean up, he decided pizza was definitely the best way to go.

Way to go mate.

“I hope you don’t mind but I ordered us pizza.” He sighed softly with a soft frown. His hands were a sweaty mess as she looked at him. “I had this whole taco night thing planned out but I acciden-“

“Hey, it’s fine really,” she mumbled with a soft smile. Her right hand rested on his lower arm as she gently rubbed the spot causing a wave of fire to shoot through him. “you didn’t have to do all that Tom really.” 

“I just, I want you to have fun tonight.”

“Tom, I couldn’t literally be sitting at the bar watching you make drinks and get people pints and I would still be having fun.”

“You don’t have to say that.” he flushed as she giggled softly.

“I don’t have too but I mean it.” she nodded as his cheeks flushed. There she was standing before him, literally stating that she didn’t give a flying fuck about what they did. She honestly just admitted that she enjoyed being with him, she enjoyed his company and that right there was more than enough. 

“But I did get you something.”

Walking back into the room with a plate of cherries, her whole body became fuzzy and light. Her heart rate increased as he stood before her, the bright red treats making her eyes water as a soft giggle escaped her lips.

“You really know how to wow a girl.” she stated before she looked around at the small flat and an idea came to mind. “do happen to have flour? Cheese, ya know basic pizza ingredients?”

His smile widens seeing where and what she was trying to do. Her hands were gripping his own as her eyes held a twinkle in them that had him begging for air, and his whole world spinning. He hated to admit it by Harrison was right, he could’ve gone out to some fancy place ordered take out and she still wouldn’t care. After all, she had just admitted that she enjoyed being in his presence and that right there was enough to ease some of the nerves he was feeling that night.

“Yeah, I think we do.”

“Then let's get a cooking chief Tom.”

His eyes were loving as they watched her read the instructions out to her. Tom had managed to pull all of the basic ingredients needed out as they stood beside each other, her hands rested on her hips as she started to measure the ingredients while he carefully watched with a soft smile and a look in his eyes that one would describe as love.

“Have you ever done this before?”

She stopped measuring the yeast as she looked at him with a soft smile and a slow nod of her. Her breathing controlled and relaxed as she went back to measure and pouring everything in the bowl he set out for her.

“My brother and his best friend are both in the restaurant business, so pizza nights were a huge thing growing up.”

“You have an older brother?”

“Three brothers actually, I’m the only girl,” she stated as he raised an eyebrow.

“Should I be worried?”

“Not unless your plan on hurting me to a point of no return.” She teased bumping her hips with his. He rolled his eyes taken the bowl from her. “what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Ever made pizza? Do you have any siblings?” She asked watching as he mixed together the things in the bowl before letting it rest.

“I mean we’ve bought the pre-made dough before if that counts..” he chuckled looking back at the bowl and back to her. She nodded her head telling him it was fine.

“Just gotta wait till it gets all foamy and bubbly.” she stated looking past his shoulder. “should take at least five minutes or so.”

“Gotcha ya, but I’m the oldest of four.” He started as she smiled softly. This was a different side of the bartender, a more shy and reserved one. “All boys no sister.”

“Oh no, your poor mãe Tom..” she giggled softly as he tilted his head in confusion. Her eyes widen lightly understanding the look.

“Mãe means mom in Portuguese.”

“Ah, a woman of many talents I see..”

It wasn’t long before the pair were adding the olive oil, flour and salt.  Tom insisting to be the one to mix it all together, not having the heart to go against him, she took the pleasure of adding more flour as needed. His hands mixing as she floured a clear surface.

“Want me to do it?” she asked as he handed her the small sticky ball of dough. He watched with fascination her skilled hands working the dough as it formed the most perfectly round shape he’d ever seen a person make. Her flour-covered hands reaching for the cup as she rolled out the dough.

“I think I need to get a roller..” he breathed out as she giggled softly giving him a wink before continuing rolling it out. “ now what?” He asked as she placed it on the baking sheet.

“Now you place it in the oven for a few minutes.” she breathed as she placed in the preheated oven. “just until it’s a little to pre-bake the crust, my brother always says 5 minutes for pre-bake.”

“He sounds like a wise man.” Tom smiled as she nodded her head chewing on her bottom lip. “Does he live around here?”

“No, he actually moved to Birmingham.”

“Ah not too far than..” he breathed as she nodded her head and took the crust out from the oven. Her eyes soften as she looked back at him with a soft smile to match her eyes.

“Now for toppings…” she asked, holding out a jar of cherries as he laughed, shaking his head.

“Definitely not, but I’m not opposed to pineapple.”

“Where have you been all my life.”

Tom was surprised at how well everything had turned out. They spent the remaining of the time cleaning up the kitchen as the rest of the pizza was baking. A small glass filled with her go-to drink at the bar, and a bottle of beer for him. His mind relaxing completely as she slowly opened up in his presence, making his heart swell at the beautiful woman before him.

“I have to say, I thought I’d fuck up.”

She giggled softly and took a sip of her drink. She found it completely and utterly adorable at his confession. The mere thought that he had put so much thought into something that was supposed to be simple, yet it was so simple but the most fun she’d ever had on a date.

“I don’t think so Tom.” she breathed out as his smile widened reaching for another slice of pizza.

It was safe to say that the date had gone absolutely better than he had expected. It was a rather low key date, but totally something that she loved. She also let him know just how much she had appreciated all his efforts and even pressed the softest of kisses on his lips before slipping through the door. Tom was on cloud nine the next morning and Harrison took that as a good sign.

That same night was like any other, the usual Saturday night crowd. His mood was a little brighter and it most definitely had something to do with the young woman who just walked in. His eyes held nothing but adoration as he quickly pulled out the white plate with the treats.

“You know Steve is gonna give you shit for all the missing cherry jars.” Harrison piped up as Tom shrugged his shoulders placing her drink and plate as she approached. It was a Saturday and she never came in on Saturdays, Tom knew that Harrison knew that. Hell, even the young college freshman knew it.

“Hey, darling.” He smiled softly as she sent him a smile and a small wave in Harrison’s direction. 

“Is it weird that I miss you?” she breathed out chewing on her bottom lip as he let out a small laugh shaking his head. Truth was, the few hours they had spent together before he left for work truly wasn’t enough, he found himself craving more and more of her.

“No.,” he stated as he filled up an empty pint, their eyes meeting briefly. “Cause I missed you too.”

Her cheeks flushed as she played with one of the cherries on the plate before her. Her cheeks red as she avoided his eyes. Harrison couldn’t hide his amusement as he gave Tom a small nudge, in assurance. The two had spent a good while analyzing everything that had gone on during their date and little hang out at the coffee shop down the street before he had to get ready for work.

“Mate, she wouldn’t have asked to see you if she didn’t feel something towards ya.” he breathed outpointing the neck of the bottle in his direction.

“Still mate, I just really like her.”

“Didn’t she say she liked being with ya?” Harrison stressed as Tom nodded his head, a hand rubbing the back of his neck. “that’s a good sign, plus she doesn’t strike me as the kind of girl to play with feelings.”

“I don’t know mate, I just-it’s intense what I feel.”

“Maybe this runs deeper than a crush Tom.”

She brought the last few cherries to her lips as she studied the place. The pub had become a signature hangout spot for herself and her friends. Will’s being a bit too far of a drive and no one really wanted to drive that far for drinks. The first time they walked in was a little shorter than three months ago, and that was the first time she and Tom had met.

“I’ll be done with my shift soon.” He announced as she smiled brightly and leaned closer to him. Her butt lifting off the barstool as her hands rested on the counter.

“Wanna meet me at my place?” she smiled softly as his cheeks burned at the thought of finally having that alone time with her that he caved.

“I don’t wanna-“

“Stop with that Tommy..” she cooed as Harrison let out a chuckle at the nickname that slipped past her lips.

“Yeah Tommy, stop..”

The two couldn’t help but laugh at Tom’s expense. Harrison giving her a soft wink before grabbing a clean up and working on a drink as he left the two alone.

“I’ll make something to eat, I bet you're hungry..”

“If you don’t mind.”

She waved him off leaning closer and pressing a soft kiss to his lips, he smiled softly looking at her with so much love in his eyes it was overwhelming. Her cheeks flushed as she stood up straight, took her bag, and promised to have dinner ready and told Harrison she’d be sure to send Tom home with leftovers.

“I like her,” Harrison smirked looking at his flushed friend who nodded his head with a bright smile.

“Me too mate.”

Tom whipped his hands with the towel as he threw it with the others. His hands a little clammy as he took a hold of his coat, his head spinning at the thought of going over to hers. Sure, it wasn’t as late as he had thought but it was certainly not a time he would be planning to go to a girl’s house, Netherlands a girl that he wasn’t officially seeing. Though he did like to think they were a bit past the uncertainty of emotions.

“Tom a word.”

Shrugging his jacket on, Tom followed Steve into the back office. The door closed behind him and he suddenly felt a wave of nerves flood through his body. He tried his hardest to pinpoint anything he could’ve possibly done that was against policy rules, other than the cherries, he couldn’t find any. He did his job fairly well, and Steve had even stated time and time again that he was one of his best bartenders. The last thing Tom needed was to get fired before his job was finalized.

“I’ve noticed a few of our cherry jars have been missing.”

Tom’s cheeks redden with the smirk on his boss’ face, Harrison was right. He sighed more than ready to defend himself.

“I get you like the girl mate, just try and not give out too many cherries okay?”

“Shit I’m not fired?”

A loud laugh filled the room along with Tom’s nervous chuckle as Steve shook his head. He knew how much Tom needed this job and the last thing he was gonna do is lose a bartender over some shitty cherries no one really ate.

“Course not, just try not to give her too many.”

“I’m no- I don’t- fuck” he was a wordless mess as he tried his hardest to defend himself, of course, he came out short. “Just wanna impress her.”

“Does she like you?” Steve asked with a raised eyebrow. He had missed the sweet little encounter and knew that Tom deserved a good girl in his life.

“I think so, I’m actually heading to her in a bit.” He mumbled with a dreamy smile on his face as Steve let out another laugh.

“Bring her a jar.”

“You sure? I have some at home.”

“You have cherries at home?”

“The same brand actually..” he admitted embarrassedly. He really was pulling out all the cards in hopes of impressing this girl, even though he already had her. “It’s her favorite thing.”

If that Tom left the bar with a small brown bag carrying a few jars of cherries. Harrison couldn’t help the smug look in his direction as he waved him goodbye. His mood shifting as he pulled his phone out wondering if it was okay to text her, or should he wait until he actually leaves his place to do so. There was so much uncertainty it was doing his head in. He was an adult acting like a lovesick teenager and he wasn’t sure he wanted it to ever stop.

Picking the later, Tom stopped by an open corner store buying a display of flowers that he deemed acceptable. Once he was changed, showered and he may or may not have spent a few moments wondering if it was appropriate to spend the night at her place, after a few inner battles he decided that he didn’t want to get too ahead of himself and possibly spoil something that could be so good. So with a bouquet of flowers and a bag full of cherries Tom made his way to her flat.

To say Tom was completely and utterly shitting himself when he arrived would be an understatement, he double-checked the address twice. He didn’t know much about her but what he did know he was learning to love, but now sitting in a rather posh neighborhood in central London his breathing was a bit ragged and his hands a sweaty mess.

Her door was decorated with the most adorable welcome sign, that his mother would no doubt question where she could get one as well. He couldn’t help but smile at the pink and white flower plants leading up the steps to her front door. It was black and unfit for the small colorful display she had set up, the lights were on, unlike the others around them.

Taken a deep breath, he looked over his outfit. Jeans and a hoodie, simple but perfect for the small little hang out, but was it a hangout? What if this was another date and he had completely overlooked the whole situation. Before he could even think twice he was ringing the doorbell and his heart was beating out of his chest as she opened the door.

“You came..”  

“Of course I did darling..” he breathed out giving her a smile as he reached out and handed her the flowers.

“You didn’t have to get me flowers Tommy..” she breathed out shutting the door behind him. His eyes taken in her flat, the white walls lingered with pictures and a small little menu that he could only guess was from her brother’s bar.

“No worries.” he smiled pulling her in with one arm wrapped around her waist. Her cheeks flushed as she rested her free hand on his chest. Her eyes twinking as she pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

“Ready to eat?”

“Starved.”

“Perfect, I made my mae’s famous pasta.”She smiled as they walked down the hall towards her open kitchen. Tom noticed that the house seemed to follow the same color scheme. Everything was really white and clean, it was simple and it screamed her. 

“What’s in the bag?” She asked as she turned to face him with a raised eyebrow. She watched as his smile widen as he pulled out two little jars of the cherries she was munching on. 

“You really gotta stop spoiling me with all these cherries Tom..” she breathed out as she got closer to the brunette with a giddy feeling spreading all over her.

“Why’s that?”

“Cause I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let you go.”

“That’s the plan sugar.” 

Taglist: 

@littlebookbengal​ @mars1599​ @averyfosterthoughts​ @tholland96​

[illmaticreid]

We Fell in Love in October - Part Three

DESCRIPTION: Noah is in college studying film and has been a very boring freshman thus far. Her roommate demands that she goes to a party with her and this is where she meets an extremely bold Matthew. 

Warnings: smut, language, drinking

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out!! I appreciate all the love the first two chapters got. I would love some feedback or if you guys have any ideas please lmk  <3333

Word Count: 2,786

PART TWO | PART FOUR

The week had gone by smoothly, and I hadn't seen Matthew outside of class at all. I was trying to do my best to keep a distance between us. He made that very hard considering the flirting through texts and in person never stopped.

I was trying not to get attached to Matthew because as far as I knew,  this was just sex. Mindblowing sex that left me wanting more and more of him every single day.  A part of me would love to tell him how I feel about him. The other part of me knows what happens to girls who spill their hearts out to guys who couldn't give a shit.

Luckily, Ellie had invited me to another party tonight. I was looking forward to it because I would be able to relieve some stress and maybe even see a certain someone. I let Ellie do my hair and makeup like always, knowing how happy it made her to see me all dolled up.

Tonight was supposed to be very casual considering only a handful of people were coming. So, I opted for a much more casual outfit than last time. I had on a denim skirt and a cropped NYU shirt that was so short my lacy bralette peaked out from underneath. I didn't intentionally cut it so short but it looked cuter this way anyways.

"I am so jealous of you. How can you be so effortlessly beautiful?" Ellie asked me with a sad look in her eyes as I finished getting ready.

"You have no reason to be jealous, Ellie. I see how guys look at you, you're gorgeous." It was the truth, she had beautiful long black hair and bright blue eyes. If anything, I was jealous of her looks. She gave me a sweet smile as a thank you and we headed out to our Uber.

The place we were driving to tonight was somewhere different. Someone else that I had never met. I didn't mind being around new faces, it was nice to meet new people.

When we walked through the door, many people stood up to greet Ellie with hugs and hellos. I said hi to everyone absentmindedly as I scanned the room for Matthew. I quickly spotted his brown hair in a corner, talking with a couple of other guys. I immediately felt flustered as I looked at him. How could he make me feel this way when he's 20 feet away?

Ellie's friends kept talking to me and telling me how excited they were to meet me or how nice it was to meet me. I replied, saying the same thing back to them but, I wasn't exactly paying attention. He was the only thing that I cared about, I couldn't focus on anything else. He's driving me crazy.

I wanted to do everything I could to make it seem like I didn't come to this part just for him, even though I did. I started talking to other people and swigging back drinks. I had already taken about 5 shots in the past 30 minutes.

I know I said I didn't really like liquor, but tonight it would have to do. I felt myself getting a little tipsy as I took my sixth shot. Someone started playing music on a speaker nearby. It wasn't obnoxiously loud, but it definitely made some girls get up and start dancing.

"Dance with me," I told Ellie before I took another shot with her. She nodded her head excitedly and we started dancing in a cramped kitchen. I started laughing as my face started going numb and I realized how much of a lightweight I was. Ellie grabbed my hips and bent me over so I could sway my hips against her. Someone offered us another round of shots and we gladly took them with smiles on our faces.

"I love you," Ellie screamed in my face as we kept dancing with each other. My head fell back with laughter as I let out loud giggles.

"I love you more!!!" We laughed with each other and kept dancing like no one was watching. I felt my body getting very sweaty so I stopped to get a drink. I probably should have gotten water but instead, I just made myself a mixed drink. I chugged the entire cup within a couple of seconds, and I wiped the remnants of my drink with the back of my hand.

My eyes scanned the room unconsciously, and I found Matthew again. Except this time, he wasn't talking with some friends. He was talking to a girl who was unsettlingly close to his face. They talked quietly with each other as if they were in their own little world.

I felt my body fill with rage as I stared at them more and more. I was a very jealous and protective person so, something like this would obviously piss me off. I wanted to scream. But, I had to be smart about this. I wanted to make it seem like I had the upper hand this entire time. I quickly took two more shots, trying to build up my confidence.

I walked over to them and tried to keep my balance because frankly, the room was spinning a little right now. Keep it together, Noah. Their eyes met mine as I approached them.

"Hi, Matthew," I said with a sultry voice as I leaned up to kiss his cheek. His face immediately turned the cutest shade of red. Normally that would make my heart flutter, but right now, it was doing the complete opposite.

He gave me a small smile and weakly said, "Hello." The girl that he was speaking to must have been very confused, so I decided to give her a little show. I wrapped my arm around his back and put my hand on his chest.

'Hi, I'm Noah. Nice to meet you," I said to her, trying to make my voice sound as sweet as possible. I put my hand out towards her, trying to shake her hand. She looked almost as uncomfortable as Matthew.

"Um..hi, I'm Stella. Nice to meet you too," she finally spoke out. If I thought my face was numb earlier, it was definitely numb now. They both didn't say another word, so I figured I would break the silence.

"What are you guys up to?"

"Nothing, we're not doing anything," Matthew said hurriedly. Yeah, that's believable, I thought to myself.

"Oh okay great. Then you wouldn't mind dancing with me, baby?" I asked Matthew, gleaming up at him.

"Sure."

"Bye Stella! It was so nice meeting you," I said to her sarcastically as I waved bye to her and pulled Matthew with me by his hand. He gave her an embarrassed look as she just rolled her eyes and walked away.

Obviously, I didn't want to seriously dance with Matthew. I just wanted to get him alone so I could tell him how much of an asshole he was. I could feel the vodka flowing through my blood and I probably should have stopped drinking a while ago but, who was going to stop me? I stopped in the kitchen to take a shot.

"Do you want to take a shot with me? You look like you need one, baby," I asked him before pouring two shots anyways.

"I'm okay, Noah. Why hasn't anyone cut you off, yet?" I ignored his response by taking a shot and shoving the other one into his face. I let out a loud giggle as he took the shot unwillingly. His face scrunched up and his whole body shuddered. He was so adorable. I wanted him to fuck me into next Tuesday. I grabbed his hand and walked around to a quieter and more secluded area so we could talk.

"Did I tell you how cute you look right now?" I asked him as I kissed his neck sloppily, letting my tongue glide against his skin.

"You look very cute too. Your lips are bright pink. How much have you had to drink?" His thumb rubbed against my bottom lip and me being horny, I shoved the entire thing into my mouth and sucked on it. He smiled at me before taking away his thumb completely and resting his hand on my visible rib cage.

"But, your shirt is basically falling off of your body. You might as well just wear your bra by itself," he said matter of factly as he tugged on my shirt, exposing more of my skin.

"You would like that, wouldn't you, Matthew?"

"Of course I would, sweet cheeks."

As much as he was making my girly bits tingle, I was still supposed to be mad at him. I wasn't gonna just forget that he was flirting and eye-fucking this random girl. Like I said, I know we aren't exclusive but at least be decent enough to not do it in front of me.

"So, what were you planning on doing with that girl? Were you gonna take her back to your apartment and fuck her?" I asked him, not fully ready for the answer he was going to give me.

"Why Noah? You don't like the thought of me fucking someone else?" He jibed back. The thought alone made my skin crawl.

"So you were going to fuck her. That's all you care about. I don't want to be apart of your stupid game anymore." I told him seriously. As much as I loved being around him, I wasn't ready to be some side hoe or whatever.

"No, I don't want to fuck anyone but you. I like spending time with you, you make me happy, Noah." His face looked sad like he was really hurt that I thought that about him.

"I feel that way about you too, Matthew. That's why I wouldn't go to a party and start flirting with the first person that gives me the time of day."  I did feel bad for being so harsh with my words but, I meant it.

"You're right. I'm sorry, I have no idea what I was thinking." He spoke sadly as he wiped a single tear from my cheek. I hadn't even realized I was crying. Drunk me is an idiot.

I leaned up towards him and connected my lips with his. I wanted to make sure he knew everything was okay, and this was the best way I knew how. I deepened the kiss and let my hands find their way between his curly hair. He tasted like mint and a little bit of vodka, it was tantalizing.

I stopped myself before things got too crazy, even though I wanted nothing more than to take him into some random room and continue on.

"You taste like you drank a handle of vodka," Matthew said when I pulled away, laughing at me. I giggled with him and neither of us could stop laughing. I hid my face in his chest with embarrassment, knowing that he was right.

"Take me home," I said to him as the laughter stopped.

"Of course."

We both knew that home meant his apartment. I texted Ellie letting her know that I left and I was okay. She sent me a winky emoji back, knowing good and well who I left with.

The whole car ride to his apartment, Matthew left his hand on my knee. He rubbed circular motions on my inner thigh and I felt my head spinning.  I leaned over the center console and began kissing his neck, nibbling on his ear every so often.

"You're distracting the driver, my sweet girl."

"Oh? You can't handle it?" I whispered into his ear and licked up the side of his neck. He chuckled lowly, sending a shiver through my body.

"I think it's you that can't handle it." Matthew had a sinister grin on his face and I shortly realized why. His hand slipped up my skirt and he moved my panties to the side with ease. I gasped and moaned all at the same time.

"All this for me? Aw baby, you shouldn't have." He said as he gathered my slickness on his finger before sliding it into my entrance. He was right, I couldn't handle it. I immediately fell back into my seat, trying to surrender. That didn't stop him, though. He continued to fuck me with his finger, knowing exactly what it was doing to me. My head flew back as he curled his finger inside me and stroked my g-spot. I felt my stomach tighten as he continued.

Just when I was on the brink of orgasming, he pulled into a parking spot outside of his apartment complex and removed his finger completely. I opened my eyes and looked at him, with a look of shock on my face. He took his fingers into his mouth and sucked my wetness off of them.

Matthew moaned around his fingers and his eyes rolled back before he stopped and said, "I love the way you taste. I can't wait to get you upstairs. Unless, of course, you can't handle it, Noah? That would be such a shame." I pulled my skirt down quickly and got out of his car. I heard him let out a laugh as I shut the door behind me.

While walking up to his apartment, I felt my excitement dripping down my thighs when they rubbed together. Holy shit, I am such a mess. As we walked through his front door, he threw me over his shoulder with ease and carried me to his room. He gently laid me down onto his bed, and slowly took my skirt off.

Things felt a little different considering we never acted like this. It was always rough and crazy. He could sense that I felt as though something was off.

"I want to take care of you. Lay back for me, baby," he spoke and laid a gentle kiss on my lips. Without saying anything else, I scooted back onto his bed and laid down. He took my panties off and just stared at me. I felt my face get hot, getting slightly embarrassed.

"Is there something wrong?"

Matthew looked up at me and simply said, "You're beautiful." My heart felt heavy in my chest at his sweet words. He could say the most meaningless thing, and it would still make me feel some type of way.

He grabbed onto the top of my thighs and pulled my ass to the end of the bed as he got onto his knees. My feet rested on the back of his shoulders and his face found a home in between my legs. He laid gentle kisses all over my thighs before kissing me right where I needed it the most.

He paused before placing his tongue on me and laying it flat against me. I was already soaked. He teased my entrance making me squirm even more. I grabbed the sheets tightly with my hands and of course, Matthew noticed and shot me a devilish grin.

He slipped a finger inside of me and continued to tease me. He knew my body very well and could always tell when I was close. It could be because I was always moaning as loud as possible. He inserted another finger in me before sucking on my clit. My back arched off of the bed as my legs started to shake.

"Fuck, Matthew." I moaned out as I came close to my orgasm. He started pumping his fingers faster and just demolishing me with his mouth. I felt the knot inside of me get tighter and tighter as I came onto his mouth, spewing out profanities.

As always, he would never stop on his own. I had to push his head away from me so I could relax for a second. My legs were still shaking as I tried to crawl toward his nightstand to grab a condom.

"I want tonight to only be about you," Matthew whispered to me as he put the condom away. I had a defeated look on my face, knowing that I finished without him.

As if he could read my mind, he said "it's not always tit for tat. I enjoyed it just as much as you did. Besides, you need to rest for the morning sex I will unleash on you tomorrow."

My mouth fell open and he just laughed at me. As much as I wanted to return the favor, he reassured me it wasn't necessary. After Matthew cleaned me off, he climbed into bed next to me and I fell asleep to the sound of him breathing.

[keanureevesisbae]

“The road to our forever” - Prologue

Summary: John and Darcie are planning their wedding, but it comes with certain ups and downs.

John Wick x OFC Darcie

Word count: 1k

Warnings: none

Masterlist // Next chapter // 

My parents went home and Jennie and Raye have left as well, leaving me and John alone with the dogs in our apartment. It happened a couple of hours ago, but I can’t help but keep staring at my ring. The realization just keeps hitting me over and over again: I just got engaged.

John Wick wants to marry me.

I’m sitting on the couch, my knees pressed against my chest, holding out my hand so I can look at my ring. Leave it to John to pick out the most beautiful one. Though I knew that he was pretty rich (still don’t know the real number, but I doubt I want to know), I never imagined he would buy me an engagement ring this expensive. Imagine everything he’ll want to spend on our wedding bands, our wedding in general and my dress…

Despite wearing a ring this expensive and thinking about a moment when I can scold him for buying me a ring of ten grand, I can’t wait to show it to everyone. Oh my God, Greg, Tina, Roger and Ellie are going to die when they see this ring.

Oh my, am I really a woman who can’t wait to show teenagers that she got engaged? Did I become that type of woman?

‘And a hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream for my beautiful fiancée.’ John places two mugs on the small coffee table in front of us and plops next to me. ‘Still staring at the ring?’ he asks amused.

‘Well, I can’t stop,’ I laugh. ‘I mean, it’s so beautiful, John. You did well.’ I lean back against the couch and throw my legs over his. He places a large and heavy hand on my leg, peeling my pajama pants out of my thick socks, so he can touch my skin.

‘You know, Darcie, you never told me you were prom queen.’

I frown. ‘How do you know about that? I can’t remember I ever told you.’

‘Jennie told me, when we were talking about the proposal. She warned me never to propose to you in public.’

I start to laugh. ‘Oh God, she told you that embarrassing story.’ I wrinkle my nose when I think about that awful moment. ‘It was terrible,’ I confess. ‘I mean, when he asked me to prom, that was embarrassing enough, but becoming prom queen as well… I wanted to disappear.’

‘I heard he became prom king as well.’

I nod. ‘Obviously. I mean, he was really popular, but despite the fact he was kind of a jock, he was pretty decent. What was his name again?’ I frown, trying to remember his name. I remember his dark brown hair and his light grey eyes, his sweet smile and how he was really attractive. Every girl in high school was in love with him and I even had a few dreams about him. ‘Wesley!’ I exclaim. ‘Wesley Anderson. He was really sweet, though I was probably the worst date ever.’

‘I bet you weren’t,’ John laughs.

‘He tried to kiss me four times when we were on the dance floor, but I kept ducking away. Poor guy, he was such a gentleman the entire night. While we were dancing and some of his dirty friends would come close to me, he’d swat their hands away when he noticed I was uncomfortable.’

‘Did you eventually kiss him?’ he asks.

I nod. ‘We did. He took me upstairs in our school building and kissed me. It got “intense”, like his hands would roam my back and kept going lower. Since I was even worse back then when it came to being prude, I pushed him off and avoided him like the plague the rest of prom, graduation. I even hid a few times when I would see him in like Central Park and stuff. Poor kid. I wonder how he is doing.’

John nods. ‘Do you have a picture of your prom?’

I grab my laptop and start dig around in all the files. ‘Here.’ I click on one that my dad made. I try to ignore the thick fringe that is covering my forehead. My cheeks are a bit fuller and I look really uncomfortable. Wesley has his hand on my shoulder and I remember nearly fainting when he did that. I mean, he was the most popular guy in school.

‘You look adorable,’ John notes, looking at the pictures of me wearing a light blush pink dress. ‘You know, one day we watch our own kids go to prom.’

All of the sudden I feel tears building up in my eyes. ‘Oh my God,’ I choke out. ‘I’m getting old.’

He starts to laugh, but when he looks up, he sees I’m actually crying. ‘Oh no, baby, don’t cry. It’s a good thing you’re getting older.’ He closes my laptop and places it beside him, before he pulls me on his lap. ‘If you didn’t get older, you’d be dead.’

‘How wise, Wick. Can we print that out, please, so we can hang that inspirational quote here on the wall?’ I try to laugh, but the tears are just continuing to drip out of my eyes.

‘What is bothering you?’

‘It’s just that… One, I’m getting old. Two, I need to start planning a wedding, while running a cafe. Three, when I get pregnant, I’m going to be fat, while you continue to look  as handsome as ever.’

John tries to hold back a laugh, but I can see he really wants to laugh at me. ‘Sweetheart,’ he says in a sweet tone. ‘The only old person in this room is me, remember that. Wherever you are: I’m always going to be older than you. Two, we need to start planning a wedding and about your cafe… Let me do the paperwork, while you do what you love, okay?’

I sigh deeply, wiping away the tears in my eyes. ‘Yeah.’

‘And when you get pregnant, you’re not going to be fat. You’re going to look pregnant. I’ll gain a few sympathy pounds if you want me to.’

I can’t help but laugh. ‘Idiot.’

John presses his lips against my temple, before whispering: ‘I’ll always love you, future Mrs. Wick.’

Taglist: @toomanystoriessolittletime​ / @flhorah​ / @allie1804-fan​ / @cynic-spirit​ / @raven-black102​ 

[hollowtreesinhollowwoods]

Cryptid (pt.3)

(TW! Mentions of injuries, violence, bruises, conditioning. As with most things I write, I try to keep it from being too gory or dark, but I want to warn readers just in case they are bothered by it.)

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

As the young girl slipped into the tub, Ellie waited patiently, turning her head. She heard the water slosh around and the bubbles foam. "You ready?” She asked.

There was a moment of silence. “...mhm...” she mumbled finally. Ellie turned around. The girl was shivering a bit, and the horns on her head had shifted to a soft but deep green.

"Is it too hot?" Ellie reached and felt the water. It was a bit, at first, but the girl shook her head and sunk deeper into the foam. Ellie smiled, grabbing a cup and scooping up some of the water before pouring it over her head. The girl shivered again. Squirting some soap on her hand and running it through the child’s hair, Ellie took a breath.

"What’s your name, sweetie?” She asked.

The girl perked up, remaining silent for a minute. She seemed hesitant to speak, but she finally uttered softly, “...Lori...”

“That’s a very pretty name,” Ellie smiled, scrubbing the child’s hair to get the grease out. It must have been ages since she’d bathed. “...Lori...” she pondered for a moment. “Where did you live before this?”

Lori looked up at her with a questioning expression. She tilted her head ever so slightly. She couldn't understand her.

"Who with? Your mom? Dad?" Ellie rephrased. "Where... was your home?"

At those words, Lori's horns turned pale and she went stiff. Her eyes watched Ellie anxiously. "Nnuh... nunununuh! Plea...se!” She stuttered.

"Hey... shhh..." Ellie brushed her head again, wiping some dirt off her face. Lori shook her head, pulling away. Ellie's hand followed. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm not taking you back. You're staying here, okay? You're safe, I promise." She stared into the girl's eyes, trying to let her know it was okay.

Lori slowed. She reached up, feeling Ellie's hand and squeezing it with her tiny fingers. Such a small child. The poor thing... how badly had they hurt her? She had trouble speaking what words she did know, which were likely learned hearing them from someone else, if Ellie had to bet.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart..." Ellie said in a soft voice, scrubbing her head gently with soap. "You deserve better. I promise." She shook her head, getting behind Lori's big, pointy ears. After a moment of silence, she noticed that a ladybug had flown in and landed on the tub. She looked over at the thing with curiosity. Lori's eyes followed, and they lit up.

"Buuh..." she turned to it, smiling, looking up at Ellie and then back down at it. She leaned closer, twitching her ear as if listening to it. She opened her mouth and began half-speaking, half-stuttering to the bug. It was in a strange language Ellie couldn't understand. It made her ears tickle a little bit. Ellie turned, noticing more coming in. About ten more ladybugs crawled up the side of the porcelain bowl. Lori giggled softly. Ellie waved a hand to shoo them away, but they kept crawling.

"Nuh!" She held out her hand to stop Ellie, dripping water on the floor.

"Lori, they'll get all over the place," Ellie reasoned with her. Lori pouted.

"Guh..." she gave up trying to speak, instead talking to them again. She nodded, sighing as all of a sudden, they took off together and buzzed out of the room. Lori waved at them sadly. "Buuh..."

Ellie watched in fascination. She scrubbed Lori's hair a bit harder and washed off her horns as well. "You're quite the little chatter bug... huh?" Her hands caught on the tangles in the girl’s hair, and she brought out the conditioner, examining her gnarled hair as she coated it with the product. It clearly hadn’t been taken care of in ages. “Goodness, we’re going to need to cut this...”

^^^

Bundling her up in a blanket as she shivered, Ellie took Lori back to her room. The girl eyed the screen door to the backyard with curiosity. Her head followed it as they passed by.

"You like bugs, huh?" Ellie asked.

Lori nodded. Her stomach grumbled loudly. She swallowed, looking up at Ellie as if to ask, lifting a hand up to her face.

"After I take care of your injuries, hun."

"How bad are they?" Henry asked, peering out of the room as they approached, stepping back to let them in.

"She's bruised pretty badly in the stomach and a decent bit all over—Many of them are fairly recent, though, so she could have been hurt by an animal or whoever left her on the side of the road. She's malnourished, skittish, not quick to trust... I think... she may have been someone’s... captive.”

Henry's face darkened with concern. For a moment, he simply watched as Ellie brought her back into the room, laying her on top of the covers.

"She hasn't coughed up any blood, has she?" Ellie asked. Henry shook his head in response. "And you're sure you didn't see anyone with her?"

Henry nodded. "She was all by herself," he said, sitting down by the bed and putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. She flinched in reflex, but eased into the gesture. "I hate to think what would’ve happened if I'd run into whoever had her before..."

Lori glanced between them with a concerned expression. "Mm?"

Ellie looked over at her, placing a hand gently on the girl's head. She shivered even as the lady stroked her hair gently, as if waiting for her to hurt her in some way. "We need to find out how to communicate with her. If she can't understand us that will only make her more anxious.”

The two thought for a moment, then Henry spoke up. "We should start with good and bad," he said. "She understands words like eat or stand or name," He looked over at her. "But whether it's in a negative or a positive connotation seems to be the problem."

"She was probably conditioned," Ellie said, taking one of the little girl's hands in hers and lifting it up so she could raise her shirt. Lori warily watched her pull the cloth up, but didn't resist. Ellie eyed the terrible dark patch on her stomach, then her ribs, which jutted out from her body. "Starved as a threat."

"So that's what this morning was all about..." Henry said, taking the other of Lori's hands and squeezing it gently.

"What happened?" Ellie asked, looking up and tensing.

"I asked her if she wanted to eat, and she started apologizing to me. I think she thought I was going to starve her for some reason. Even when I brought the food in, she seemed really hesitant to eat it. She kept watching me like I was about to smack her hand. When she did eat, though, she ate fast. She ate like she hadn't had food in months," he said, his expression turning sad. After a moment, it lightened slightly. "She really liked the hot cocoa, though."

Ellie nodded again thoughtfully. "Can you go make her something else?"

"Already?"

"One more meal right now. One with a lot of protein... and fill up a large bottle of water, too. We'll give her another large portion at lunch but she's likely to keep asking for food for a while. I don't want to overwhelm her system."

"Alright." Henry nodded, exiting the room.

Ellie turned to Lori, who had been listening. The little girl looked up, "...Aplo...logise sing?"

Ellie smiled at her. "Yes. Why were you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong, sweetheart."

Lori furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Something Ellie had said had seemed to upset her a bit. Or perhaps the anesthesia had just made her feel a bit puzzled.

Ellie reached forward and stroked her head again, looking into those sad, yellow eyes.

Ellie thought. "Please. Don’t apologize anymore. You don’t need to worry. You’re safe.” Ellie stood, setting the girl's hand down and causing her to look up.

"I'll come back," Ellie soothed, brushing a lock of hair out of the girl's face.

She pointed to herself, then uttered quietly, "...good?”

Ellie smiled again. "Yes. Good," She leaned forward and kissed the girl's forehead gently, walking out to get her a rice bag for her bruises. “I'll be right back."

[artificialqueens]

Someone I Genuinely Love (Taywhora) - pureCAMP

A/N - I feel like a broken record but it must be said, I feel like I exclusively write for Ortega at this point and I am not mad at it, I love her more than I love myself. Here is a short little Taywhora for my favourite scottish queen <3

The night - er, morning - was a disaster.

To be honest, Tayce had seen it coming from a mile off, and she had warned Lawrence that inviting both A’Whora and Tia was going to be an absolute shitstorm. They just plain didn’t like each other, which was fine, but A’Whora had trouble holding her sharp tongue at the best of times, and mixing in a bucket-load of alcohol and a pretty cramped house, and you had a recipe for chaos.

(And, really? A house party? Were they still seventeen?)

Nevertheless, it was Lawrence’s birthday, and she called the shots, and she drank the shots, and she got to choose who came to her house to get unreasonably pissed into the wee hours of the morning.

Tia was there pretty early - or, at least, she was on time like most of them. She was stood in the kitchen with a Smirnoff Ice in her hand, happily chatting away to Ellie, wearing a dress that Tayce had complimented, if only to make some brief conversation. It was… passable, really, a half-decent outfit if she went that far, but nothing to write home about. Unfortunately, Tayce knew A’Whora was gonna hate it, and A’Whora with a loose tongue was almost certainly gonna make a comment about it.

The girl in question rocked up late and sloppy, as per her usual style. She stumbled through the front door and leant in the frame with a tipsy smile, plush lips painted pink and dabbed with glitter, eyelashes fluttering. Her skin-tight dress was fuchsia, bright, emphasising her soft tan thighs that the fabric rode up against and clinging to every inch of her. Once neat, her dark hair was messily piled on top of her head, falling tantalisingly in front of her face.

Tayce couldn’t help but feel relieved that she’d decided to come.

“The party can finally start!” A’Whora exclaimed, raising her drink in the air with a flourish and slamming the door behind her with her heel.

“It already started, ya lazy fuck!” Lawrence yelled from the back of the house. Tayce, standing at the bottom of the stairs and looking onto the front door, made eye contact with A’Whora and giggled at their friend.

“Isn’t she charming?” Tayce gestured towards the general vicinity of Lawrence’s voice.

A’Whora crept closer, her eyes wide and expectant. “Okay, listen. I saw Tia’s snapchat earlier. Tell me she got changed before coming out tonight.”

Here we go. Tayce bit her lip. “Aurora. A’Whora Borealis. You be nice.”

“I’m not trying to be rude or anything but she looks like a fucking Year Nine at her first party wearing a Pretty Little Thing dress that her mum chose for her. I mean, is she serious about it? Is it like a joke?” A’Whora covered her mouth with the side of her hand, her tone conspiratory and judgemental. 

Tayce rolled her eyes, both fond and irritated. “Whory, be nice. She clearly likes it, let her have fun. She’s not hurting anybody.”

“She’s hurting my eyes.” A’Whora rebuffed, pursing her lips. “Not like you, though. You’re a sight for sore eyes tonight.”

Internally she was pleased, but played it off smoothly. It wasn’t like Tayce had cleverly thought out her oversized blazer and thigh-high boots combo with A’Whora in mind, of course not. It wasn’t like she’d tailored her outfit hoping for a good response from her… friend? What even was A’Whora besides a hot girl she’d known forever who she spent 50% of her time blatantly flirting back and forth with and 50% of her time denying that she was doing it?

Lawrence burst through the corridor in a flourish of colour to greet A’Whora and groaned, fanning herself with her hand. “Fuck me, I am sweating.”

Tayce blinked. “It’s October. There’s no way you’re hot, in October, in Scotland.”

“Not from the heat, fuckin’ braindead supermodel. From the weight of the crushing sexual tension in this room.”

She looked pointedly between A’Whora and Tayce, neither of whom were particularly shocked by Lawrence’s openness, having grown used to it. However, in an embarrassingly same wavelength move, both girls cocked an eyebrow.

“Aye, I’m talking about you, pinchin’ your Botox lips at me Miss A’Whora the Explorer.”

A’Whora shook her head. “The cheek! Cheek of you to suggest that something’s going on here.”

“Not sure where you’re getting your sources from, but I’d consider leaving The Sun’s team out of your investigations,” Tayce added, A’Whora trying and failing to conceal her smile as Lawrence playfully whacked her arm.

“Get to fuck with those accusations. You carry on living out your little Gavin and Stacey storyline and I’ll go ask the Pope if he’s still shitting in the woods or if bears are still Catholic. Have fun ya fucking lesbians.”

As she disappeared back into the living room, where Bimini had started blasting something with a heavy, pulsing beat, A’Whora turned back to Tayce with an offended look on her face.

“Did that William Wallace wannabe just imply that I’d be the man in the relationship just because I’m English?” She asked, reeling backwards. “Fucking cheek!”

Tayce laughed. “Well, you don’t have legs like mine…” She trailed off, predicting A’Whora’s outburst.

“Hey! Listen, we’d be a great Naomi and Kim, so shut your beautiful face and stop seducing me with that gorgeous accent.” She paused for a second, thinking, and then blinked. “I mean Naomi Campbell and Kim Kardashian, I realise that sounded like something different…”

Tayce looped her arm through A’Whora’s and started trudging down the hallway, making their way into the living room with most of the others. “I love that you think you’re anything like a Kardashian, babe. The Kylie lips maybe, but you’re no Kim.”

As the music grew louder and louder in their eyes, Bimini wrapping a drunk sweaty arm around them both and bellowing something inaudible, Tayce leaned in close to A’Whora’s ear and added, “I’d much prefer what you’ve got to what Kim’s got.”

That was the game; cat and mouse, a game of chase and coy avoidance. After that, she slipped away to dance with Asttina, sipping on her drink and trying to hide her eagerness. The next move was A’Whora’s, as they both knew, and she could play it whenever she wanted.

It was after maybe another hour of drinking and gushing with her friends about how beautiful everyone looked and how drunk they all felt that Tayce realised the atmosphere in Lawrence’s living room was a little too kind. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and a house full of drunk girls was basically the club bathroom scenario elevated to an extreme level, but a kind atmosphere meant that A’Whora had clearly gone into another room. Not good.

Making to find her, Tayce got all the way to the doorway before Ellie and Lawrence stopped her to chat about whether or not it would be stupid to play spin the bottle (it would) and whether or not they should all do some more shots (they did). Then I Wanna Dance With Somebody started playing, and by the first “Woo!”, she’d totally forgotten about her earlier mission, and ran back inside screaming and grabbing at Asttina to dance with her. 

She had to give Lawrence some credit, because her playlist was incredible. Nothing but banger after banger after banger.

About half way through Good As Hell, Tayce became aware of what sounded like shouting, underwater and garbled and messy. Though she carried on grinding against Asttina and singing along to Lizzo’s affirmations, her head checked out a little as she tried to focus on the background voices over the blaring music. It proved to be quite the struggle, being as drunk as she was, but as it turned out, she didn’t need to pay too much attention, as she wasn’t the only one that had noticed.

By the time Tia was standing outraged in the living room doorway, all eyes were on her. She looked furious, cheeks red and eyes spilling over, her fists clenched and trembling.

Lawrence quietened the music.

“So, were you gonna tell me that you all think I look like shit or did you nominate A’Whora to be the nasty cunt she usually is?” She looked down at her dress, back up, and choked back a sob. “Fuck off, the lot of you.”

Immediately, half the room started to follow her with choruses of love, their words getting tangled in a web of you’re beautiful and she doesn’t speak for us and A’Whora’s just a bitch and I like it! 

The living room felt significantly emptier with just Lawrence, Ellie and Tayce in it, the three of them frozen staring at the doorway like they couldn’t believe it had finally kicked off. After a few moments, The 1975 now playing at an awkwardly low volume, A’Whora passed the living room, peered inside with brimming eyes, and broke into a run. 

Tayce followed her on instinct, leaving Lawrence and Ellie behind. Her heart sank as she rushed through the house; one part of her took in the group of girls gathered in the kitchen, their arms hooked over a crying Tia, their tongues slicing away at A’Whora’s character with every dirty look that they sent in the direction of the now wide-open front door. 

As bad as she felt for Tia, no one was going after A’Whora. And maybe that made sense, but Tayce had never cared too much about making sense - not when it came to her. 

Luckily, she didn’t have to go too far. A little way down Lawrence’s street, a familiar figure was sitting crumpled over on the curb, her face hidden in her hands, head leaning against the lamppost under which she was illuminated. Like an angel, Tayce thought. Like a sad, stupid angel. 

“Whory. What did you do, babe? I wanna hear it from you.”

A’Whora looked up. Flecks of black mascara stained around her eyes, the shadows beginning to smudge into the eyeliner from her tears, and her lip trembled. She lowered her head, prompting Tayce to sit down on the curb next to her, legs stretched out into the empty road. 

“I told her the dress was fucking ugly, because someone’s gotta do it. I was just trying to help but I know that was an asshole thing to say and I should’ve just kept my mouth shut.” 

Tayce blinked. She hadn’t expected the remorseful part of A’Whora’s answer, if she was being honest. She usually never gave in, never admitted defeat, proudly shrugged off any offence caused while Tayce tried to interject some kindness into her. It never worked, which she’d always found frustrating, but now it was unsettling that it had. 

“I mean, I’m right. She looks like the embodiment of the fucking kid’s section of a TK Maxx.”

Tayce kissed the side of her head, A’Whora responding by resting it on Tayce’s shoulder. “I thought she was the Year Nine girl in her mum’s choice of Pretty Little Thing dresses?” She teased gently. To her relief and simultaneous heartbreak, it received a short, wet laugh. 

“I didn’t expect her to - to rip into me like that. Like she did.” 

“What happened?”

“She stood up for herself. Which is good, right?” A’Whora sniffed. “She told me I’m a vapid self-absorbed little bitch, and that she can change her shitty fashion sense while I’ll be stuck with my fake face and dog shit personality for the rest of my life. And that at least our friends like her, ‘cause they barely tolerate me.”

Tayce squeezed her eyes shut and hugged her tighter. “You gotta understand she’s coming from a place of hurt, darling. I know you know this, but you have been pretty mean to her in the past.”

A’Whora nodded weakly, throwing up a peace sign. “Karma,” She sang, the humour in it betrayed by her wobbly voice. “I deserved it, but… I didn’t realise it would hurt this much. Especially because she’s right.”

“She’s not right,” Tayce cut in immediately, a little surprised by her own fierce defensiveness. “She was just angry and upset.”

A moment of silence fell as A’Whora lapsed into thought, her face still smushed into Tayce’s shoulder. She scuffed her shoes into the stones gathered at the edge of the curb, kicking them into the road and scraping her heels into the gritty dirt. As cold as the night was, Tayce could hardly feel it with A’Whora so close.

She laughed bitterly. “Tay, look at us. Do you see any of our other friends out here? No, they’re all telling Tia how much they love her. Because they do. And I’m the nasty fucking bully that won’t go away so they just put up with me until I give them a reason to talk shit.”

“That’s not true, Whory. Sure, we gotta work on controlling that lip of yours, but the girls still love you.” Tayce paused, and then peppered a few more kisses to the top of her head. “You may be a bitch, but you’re my bitch.”

“Kinky,” A’Whora giggled, softening into her side. “You still like me?”

“I always like you.” Tayce whispered. 

Above them, the orange street lamp flickered and turned off, casting them into darkness. A crescent moon shone just above them, partially covered by clouds, and the night was quiet. Tayce leaned back, pulling A’Whora with her, until both girls were laying down, half on the pavement and half into the road, their arms around one another and heads facing the sky. A lifetime or even a minute could’ve passed as they just watched the stars, endlessly fascinated by the tiny pinpricks of light, but when Tayce turned her head, it struck her that A’Whora’s eyes sparkled better than any night sky she’d ever seen.

“I should apologise to Tia.” A’Whora murmured.

“Tomorrow.” Their voices were barely above a whisper, something unspoken and sacred about maintaining the tranquility of the silent night. “Give her time to cool off.”

“And you promise you still like me?”

Her eyes were wide, hopeful. Their faces were so close it was no effort at all. It never was. 

Not with her.

The night - er, morning -  was a disaster, but A’Whora’s lips tasted like cherry gloss and her touch was soft and gentle, and maybe things didn’t always end badly. Maybe it would be okay as long as Tayce had A’Whora and A’Whora had Tayce. 

Maybe Lawrence fucking Chaney was right.

[diddlesanddoodles]

DUMPLING ch 41

Chapter 41

“Why do I need a new dress?” she asked as Lolly measured her waist.  

“Because you will be attending a court dinner and there is a level of dress expected by those attending,”  Lolly replied. “And as personal guests of the King, you will need to meet and exceed those expectations. And if I do my job well, it will leave a very good impression on the Lords. Which I fully intend to do. Besides, you’re growing out of these already. You’ve gotten a bit taller since these were made.”

Nenani looked down at her dress. When it had first been made for her, the hem had been a few inches above her ankles, but now it reached the middle of her shins.

“Does His Majesty want Haiyer there as well?” Oira asked, regarding her son with an air of reluctance. “He’s not a very...graceful eater. And sitting still for that long a time might be quite challenging for him. Not to speak of how he might react to a crowd...”

“No, I don’t think so. But I wanted to have some formal clothing made for him in any case,” Lolly replied, writing down Nenani’s new measurements. “Better to have them and never need them then to be caught off guard.”

Once she was done with Nenani, Lolly moved onto Oira and then to Haiyer. The later being much less a willing participant that his mother or sister. He had been in a foul mood all morning after having woken up in the middle of the night after a particularly nasty nightmare and even his breakfast of porridge and jam wasn’t enough to brighten him very much.

“Little boy, if you don’t stop wiggling...” Lolly said through gritted teeth, trying to get Haiyer to stand up, but he pulled his legs up every time she sat him down to measure his height. But the little boy just made a frustrated squawk and tried to shimmy out of Lolly’s hands. Exasperated, she looked to Oira for help. “Would you mind holding his legs?”

Oira went to her son and put her hands on his cheeks. “What’s wrong, baby? Why so fussy?”

Haiyer sniffed miserably, gripping his mothers hands. His face was red and he looked ready to burst into tears at any moment. “I don’t wanna...”

“Lolly just needs to measure you,” she told him with a smile. “It won’t take any time at all and then you’re free.”

“Don’t wanna...” Haiyer murmured unhappily and squirmed. “Wanna go look for Ellis...”

“Ellis?” asked Oira. “Your...fairy friend?”

Haiyer nodded. “I don’t know where she is...”

“Maybe she’s just busy right now,” his mother offered. “I’m sure she’ll turn up soon. And when she does, don’t you wanna show her the nice clothes Miss Lolly is gonna make you?”

It was a paltry offer of comfort, but after a little more coaxing, they were finally able to get the boy to sit still long enough for Lolly to get his measurements.

“Alright then,” Lolly said with a hint of triumph in her voice as she looked over her notes. “With all the girls and I working on these we should have you all ready and fitted in time. Madam Reed’s offered to do the embroidery, so I’m confident these will come out quite fine.”

“It’s going to be so odd attending a formal dinner after all these years,” Oira admitted as she stared down at her hands. “I don’t think I even remember Vhasshalan table setting etiquette.”

“Don’t worry,” Lolly said with a laugh as she slipped her paper into the pocket of her apron. “We’ll go over everything the day before so you’re not left floundering.”

“Thank you, Lolly,” Oira told the Matron with a grateful, if not forced, smile.

………….

With winter having firmly arrived, the tunnels were quite chilly. Nenani pulled her coast around herself and checked to make sure her scarf was still securely wrapped around Haiyer as he walked alongside her.

“So what does she look like?” Jae asked as he lead Nenani and Haiyer through the tunnels. Maevis’s orbs lite the dark space and thankfully gave it a little bit more of a cheery look, as otherwise Haiyer may have been inclined to be terrified. He was still jumpy from his nightmare.

Oira had left to go speak with the King in regards to the court dinner, having several questions and concerns that Lolly could not answer, and had left Haiyer and Nenani to themselves in their room. Haiyer had still been quite upset, so Nenani suggested they go look for his fairy friend as a way to keep him occupied and distracted. It was simple enough to ask one of the guards to send a message to Jae and in no time at all the three of them found themselves in the tunnels.  

Haiyer held onto Nenani’s hand as they walked, but stared up at the older boy with a flat look at his question. “...she looks like a fairy.”

“Oh. So then what do fairies look like?” Jae amended. “I’ve never seen one.”

Haiyer blinked, having not thought of that possibility. “Oh. Well...She’s taller than me. But sometimes she’s smaller,” Haiyer replied matter-of-factly. “But she’s pretty and has long hair and wings.”

Jae’s eyes flickered over to Nenani as he tried to suppress an amused grim. To Haiyer, he nodded “Oh. All right, then. A pretty shape shifting lady with long hair and wings. Gotcha. She should be easy enough to find.”

“She always comes to see me before I go to sleep,” Haiyer explained, his voice warbling in distress. “Because I have bad dreams and she scares them away for me. But she didn’t come last night or the night before and I had a bad dream…a really bad dream.”

Nenani remembered quite well being awoken in the middle of the night by Haiyer screaming. The sound had seemed to radiate into her bones and because she did not sleep with the amulet on, she and her mother both sparked as they were violently awoken by the little boy’s wails. It took almost an hour for Oira to get him back to sleep and Nenani had woken up, still a little shaken herself.

Jae regarded the little boy sympathetically and ruffled his hair. “That sucks. I get those kind of dreams a lot too.”

Her brother stared at Jae with wide inquisitive eyes. “What kind of bad dreams do you get?”

Jae shrugged. “Same one mostly. Over and over. It’s all foggy and I’m by myself near a pond and I’m holding a cup. There’s a voice telling me to drink the water.” Jae paused as though lost in thought, but jerked to attention. “When I first started having them when I was little, I use to go to the edge of the water but...there were always faces looking back at me. So whenever I have that nightmare I know not to go near the water.”

“That sounds really scary,” Haiyer said with a sympathetic frown. Staring at Jae for a moment, Haiyer then reached out to grab the other boy’s hand so that he, Jae, and Nenani walked hand in hand. Jae looked down at Haiyer with some surprise and the little boy smiled. “When we find Ellis, we should ask her to take away your bad dreams too.”

“That would very generous of her.”

Jae took them to one of the gardens first to look, but Haiyer quickly decreed that Ellis was not there after barely a minute of searching.

“How can you tell?” Nenani asked, peeking out from behind a column.

“Because I don’t hear her,” he said as though it were obvious. “When she’s close, I hear tinkling. Like when it rains and the water hits a puddle and goes tinkle tinkle.”

When Haiyer mimicked the sound of a fairy, he wiggled his fingers and Jae threw his head back to laugh. “Well, that makes looking for her a lot easier then. We just gotta keep our ears open and hope it doesn’t stat raining.”

Nenani felt a guilt ridden lump in her belly as she knew they were on a fool’s errand. Not because she did not believe that fairies weren’t real. But because she was almost certain that the one they were searching for was currently trapped in a glass jar in Maevis’s study. And she did not know how to even broach the subject with Maevis. He was so busy these days that if it were not for their daily lessons, she would likely not see the magician at all.

Production on the warning beacons was in full swing and Maevis had procured the help of several craftsmen to make lanterns that could be hung all around the castle and then endowed with some spell of Maevis’s making that would make the lantern glow should Aidus’s magic be nearby. She recalled Maevis telling Quinn the other morning that the lanterns had a range of a quarter mile and how King Warren had commissioned hundreds of the things to be made and placed so that no part of the castle would be left vulnerable. And there was further discussions still about making even more to send out to the Gate and other boarder posts. Vhasshal had been attacked repeated by Aidus and Warren was not taking lightly the precautions of preventing another.

In that moment, she wished she had thought to bring her dagger, but without a belt to hand it on, it was quite cumbersome to just be carrying around. She recalled Keral’s suggestion of asking Connar to make her one and she resolved herself to the task. Making a mental note to ask Jae to perhaps take her to the smithy later, she turned her focus back to the search.

They checked a smaller garden near the west wing and then the main corridor, but still no sign or sound of Ellis. As they returned to the dim interior of the tunnels, Haiyer’s stomach gave a sad little growl.

“Hungry?” she asked her brother.

“Yeah,” he admitted, pulling at the extra length of the scarf.

“Me too,” Jae chimed in. “How about we go see if your friend’s in the kitchens? Maybe she got hungry, too.”

Haiyer’s face lit up. “Maybe she wanted some jam!”

Holding up his bandaged and splinted arm, Jae grinned at Nenani. “Might be able to use this to gain a bit of sympathy and weasel a few sweet rolls of out Farris. With the kitchens all fixed and new, he should be in a pretty decent mood.” He paused and then shrugged. “Well, for Farris I mean.”

………………………..

“I don’t fuckin’ care what yer damn papers says,” Farris growled at the other giant. “When have I ever ordered fifteen barrels of pickled fuckin’ arduks?”

The delivery merchant was thin and older and a good two heads shorter than Farris, but he glared up at the spice master with a fierce scowl as though he were much taller.

“Well I don’t rightly know,” replied the man tersely. “All I do knows is what I’ve been told and I was told ye were needing fifteen barrels ‘a pickled arduks!”

“Well ye were told wrong.”

“I’m not gonna trudge all the way back to market with a cart full of useless pickled arduks! You ordered them, so pay me my due and I’ll be on my way!”

“If you and yer worthless arse ain’t outta my face in the next minute, I’m tossin’ ye and yer useless arducks out the gate.”

Jae and Nenani watched from the partially open tunnel doorway atop the mantel as Farris and the deliveryman bickered back and fourth while the rest of the staff went about their work and only minutely seemed to take any interest in the exchange. Finally Farris seemed to have had enough and together, he and Bart began to usher the other giant out of the kitchen, practically pushing him back up the stairs.

“So much for him being in a good mood,” Jae muttered. Suddenly, large fingers gripped the tunnel door and pulled it open all the way as another hand reached in and plucked Jae up around his middle. Haiyer gripped Nenani’s skirts and slid behind her with a startled squeak.

“Ah! Hey!” Jae growled as he was pulled away from the mantel. “Dammit Kol!”

“Well, get a look at this pathetic lil’ twat,” Kol said with a laugh as he brought his other hand to better support his grip on the human youth. “You really are all sorts of busted up, ain’t ye lad?”

“Come off it,” Jae huffed and glared at the baker, but paused and pointed at the visible bruise along his neck. “Speaking of busted, who did you pick a fight with? Because it looked like they kicked your arse.”

Kol’s arms and neck were discolored with healing bruises and after setting Jae onto the table, he looked down at the largest one on his arm and gave a dismissive snort. “Eh, that fuckin’ mage sent a couple of his snakes to ‘cause a bit a trouble. One tried to squish me. Looks a whole lot worse than it is. Not that ye’d know it by the way Quinn’s been loiderin’ over me since it happened.”

Jae grinned as Kol sat him down. “Be grateful. I’d much rather have Quinn fretting over me than Rosanna.”

Kol’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and he laughed. “Oh-ho-ho! So the Queen don’t hate yer guts now? How’d ye manage that?”

“Honestly, Lolly and the other girls did most of the work for me,” Jae admitted. “But it turns out almost dying does wonders for your reputation.”

“That may be so,” Yale said as he walked up with a bowl of freshly washed herbs that he sat down next to a cutting board next to Jae. He turned back to the wall for a moment to pull a knife down from where it was hooked onto the wall. He waved it at Jae in gesture. “I’m bettin’ it has a lot to do with her being with child. Whenever my Mum was pregnant, she got all clinging with our neighbor’s lil’uns like they was her own.” Yale regarded Jae with a smirk. “And yer not too far off from being the size of a newborn yerself, Jae.”

“The worst part of your theory,” Jae replied flatly and then sighed. “Is that you’re probably right. Hopefully when the baby’s born, she’ll be too busy to remember she’s supposed to hate me.”

Yale opened his mouth to reply when his eyes caught sight of Nenani and he grinned. “Oi, there. Were ye just gonna be loiterin’ there all day or ye gonna come out and say hello?” Yale’s eyes caught sight of Haiyer peeking out from behind his sister’s skirts as he walked along the table towards the mantel. “Ah ha...ye brought the pup too?”

Nenani turned and looked down at her brother, not bothering to hide her amusement. “You remember Yale, right? From before?”

Haiyer nodded meekly, but stepped back into his sister’s shadow as Yale put an arm onto the mantel and peered at him.

“Why so shy, boyo?” he asked the child in a softer voice. “Don’t tell me I scare ye now.”

“Yeah, don’t let his ugly mug scare you, Haiyer,” Jae called out to them from the table. “He can’t help it. That’s just his face.”

Yale tilted he head to give Jae a look, but rolled his eyes and turned back to Nenani and Haiyer.

“Well, judging by what time it is,” Yale said with a knowing smirk, reaching up to curl a hand around Nenani. “I’d say the three of ye are here to try and sneak some treats, eh?”

Nenani grinned. “Sweet roll, please.”

“What about ye, lad? Wantin’ somethin’ to nibble on?” Yale asked. Haiyer fidgeted nervously and pulled at the scarf, looking between Yale’s very large face and his sister who was calmly sitting in the giant’s hands. Nenani could see flickers of fear cross his eyes, but then he looked up into Yale’s face and said in a small voice, “Could...could I have some jam?”

Yale laughed and offered his other hand. “Of course ye can.”

………………………

“So what’s an arduck?” Nenani asked.

“Pickled flower buds. Like a caper, but much bigger,” Yale replied and then huffed a small laugh. “More popular with us folk since we can actually see the damn things. The flowers are poisonous once they’ve bloomed, but if ye pick ‘em when they’re still all wadded up and pickle ‘em, they’re real nice on fish.”

“So was he just wrong about the order?”

“Nah. It’s an old scam some try to fool us with every once in a while,” Yale explained as he chopped the mountain of herbs. Nenani and Jae contently ate their sweet rolls while Haiyer made a right mess eating a piece of bread lavishly smothered in bright red jam. Nenani had the foresight to take back her scarf before he tucked into his food. With the roaring fire in the hearth having made the room comfortably warm and Haiyer’s pension for making a mess of his food, Nenani thought it best she take back ownership of it. As it turned out, she had made a most prudent call. The jam stained Haiyer’s face and hands and she was just glad that his clothes were dark colors and mostly hid the spots where he’d ungraciously drops goblets of it onto his shirt.

“They’ll come to the gate claimin’ to have a delivery ‘a something we never ordered,” Yale continued “And then try to hassle Farris in‘ta payin’ ‘em fer their product. Ye can always tells it’s a scam when they won’t say who their broker is. ‘Cause there ain’t one. And most ‘a the time what they have is either fake or spoiled. If they’re in barrels, ye best watch out. Real easy to just fill ‘em with rocks or water and try and pass it off as something else.”

“I wouldn’t think the risk was worth a measly few coppers,” Jae said. “Trying to defraud the crown? That’s like...three months hard labor?”

“Last fella who tried it and got caught got four months,” Avery added as he loaded a large silver tray with several large roasted boars. “Only he was tryin’ to fool Hev.”

“Ah, I remember that one,” Yale said with an incredulous laugh. “He was tryin’ to pass off lead weighted tin fer fuckin’ silver. Like Hev wouldn’t have noticed?”

Farris and Bart came down the steps then, chuckling as they entered the kitchen proper. “...but he’ll probably be feelin’ that one tomorrow,” Bart was boasting as he dusted his hands off. “Pickled arduks, my arse.”

“We were bound to get one more before the snow,” Farris replied. “He’ll probably try one ‘a the Lord’s estates next.”

“Could warn ‘em,” Bart offered.

Farris considered the idea for all of one second before he shrugged. “Nah,” he said and turned to Avery. “Ye get them roasts plated?”

“Almost. Got ‘em here. Herit’s doin’ up he bread fer the sutffin’ now,” Avery replied, gesturing over to one of the counters near the ovens where the aforementioned tenderfoot was dicing up hunks of bread.

“Herit, it’s just cuttin’ up some damn bread,” Farris barked. “Get on with it, already.”

“Comin’!” Herit replied, sweeping the cubes of bread off the cutting board and into the large bowl. He hurried over and handed it to Yale who quickly poured a measure of oil and the herbs into it, flicking the bowl to toss everything together before handing the whole thing to Avery who quickly plated it. Herit ran to the servants’ stairwell and yelled up. “Service!”

A footman hurried down to collect the platter and then hurried back up the stairs again, balancing the heavy tray with an amazing ease. Farris walked closer to the table, eyes sweeping over and noting the three humans and stuffing their faces. With a raised brown, he reached out to lightly pinch at Nenani’s arm. “Ye wouldn’t just wait fer luncheon, could ye?”

“Nope,” she answered and took another bite. “Not another minute.”

“We were out and looking for Haiyer’s fairy,” Jae replied through a mouthful of sweet roll. “Then we got hungry.”

The spice master snorted and turned to eye the little boy. “So ye went and lost yer fairy, have ye?”

“I didn’t lose her,” Haiyer replied firmly, face covered in the gore of his jammy bread. “I just don’t know where she is...”

Farris leaned down closer to the little prince, noting the bright smears of red all over his face. “Boy, if yer Mum see’s ye like that, she’s gonna burn a hole in my hide. Ye know how to wipe yer face don’t ye, lad?”

“...yeah,” he said unconvincingly just as a glob of jam fell from the bread and onto Haiyer’s lap. The little boy looked down at it before plucking it up and sticking it into his mouth. Farris gave the boy a withering look and without turning his gaze from him, he called out to Yale.

“Yale, see if ye can’t clean this one up some,” he said as he straightened up. “He’s all over jam, looking like a gutted fish.”

Haiyer looked down at himself and then back up at Farris with a look of pure bafflement. “I’m not a fish...”

Bart snorted as he walked away and Farris rolled his eyes. “Could ‘a fooled me, son.”

By the time Yale came back with a small bowl of warm water and a cloth, Haiyer had finished his bread and was trying to lick his hands cleans. Yale wrung the cloth between his hands and then pluck Haiyer up from the table, ignoring his protests.

“Heard ye were gonna be joinin’ ‘em up a the top tables in a few days,” Farris said to Nenani, arms crossed and his brows raised. 

She nodded. “The King wanted Mama and I to come,” she replied. “Lolly’s making me a new dress and everything. I don’t get all the fuss. It’s just a dinner right?”

Beside her, Jae laughed. Loudly. “No, Nenani. No.”

Yale had draped the dampened cloth over his fingers and gently began to wipe the red residue from Haiyer’s face and hands, but Haiyer was not being very cooperative. “Oi, stop wiggling,” Yale murmured to him as the boy kept moving his face and trying to pull away. “Yer all sticky.”

“He’s right, Dumplin’,” Farris said, all but ignoring Yale and Haiyer. “Those dinners aren’t just fer folks t’fill their bellies. The whole thing’s nothing but a dance fer courtiers t’shuffle their cards and try to win a better hand.”

“It’s all a political theater,” Jae translated when he saw Nenani’s baffled expression. “All the Lords come together and talk out issues from all over the kingdom. At any given time, someone’s trying to dispose someone else’s position or gain favor with Lord-whats-his-name or Lady-I-don’t-remember. It’s why I don’t usually bother going.”

Nenani frowned. “They do that...every night?”

Farris nodded. “Aye. Just about. Though not all the Lords are at court at any given time. Donal gives me lists of who is expected to be at court and when so I can adjust the menu and make sure we’re pushing out enough fer the lot of ‘em.”

“And if Lady Tafford’s showin’ up,” Avery added with a grin. “You better make sure there’s extra puddin’s to spare.”

“Warren tries to make it a point of going most nights,” Jae explained after polishing off his treat and dusting his hands of the crumbs. “So if the Lords have an issue to discuss he can hear them whine or at the very least moderate between them. It’s like low key pandering without making it look like he’s doing anything at all.”

“...that sounds exhausting,” Nenani replied with a withering frown.

“Oh, believe me. It is,” Jae said. “But there’s a trade going on. Just with him being there, the Lords are made to feel like their whining is being heard and they’re far less likely to make too much of a fuss if Warren does something they don’t particularly like. It’s all a balancing act.”

“But even if they don’t like something he does,” Nenani said. “He’s the King. Don’t they have to do what he says?”

“Strictly speaking? Yes,” Jae replied. “But it’s really hard to effectively rule without the support of the local Lords. They control a lot of land and are a big part of the economy. He needs them. Like your Lord Eldherst. He owns the land where most of the mutton we eat here in the castle is raised. That armory he’s always trying to get Warren to build? He wants it built on the south moor because his friend Lord Wendleton owns an ore mine in the north and having the armory in the south moor would require a new road built. Right through Eldherst’s land. Which means he would receive a subsidy from the crown.”

Nenani looked at Jae askance, remembering Eldherst’s fine coat and jeweled fingers. “He’s a Lord. Doesn’t he have enough money already?”

Everyone within earshot burst out into laughter. Except Haiyer, who looked just as baffled as Nenani.

“Ye haven’t seen enough of the world to know, lass,” Farris told her with a breathy chuckle. “But it ain’t just monsters and smoke mages ye need t’be wary of. Greedy folks with deep pockets are dangerous enough in their own right.”

“Not only all that,” Avery added in. “But Eldherst’s land borders Sherfield.”

“Aye, that’s true. They use to be well known fer their metal workers,” Farris explained and looked to Yale. “S’where Hev’s from, ain’t it?”

Yale nodded, finally having cleaned most of the jam off Haiyer and sat the boy in the crook of one arm while he put the cloth into the bowl and picked it up with his free hand. “Just north ‘a there, but his Granddad was the foreman in that mine, if I remember correctly.”

“Sherfield use to be a big metal workers town before the mine ran dry,” Farris explained. “So the idea of a road from Lord Wendleton’s ore mine going right passed their town has a lot of support from the locals. Could rebuilt their local economy overnight.”

“Or until the armory finally sinks,” Jae offered with roll of his eyes. “Such a stupid idea...”

“So why not just build the armory in Sherfield?” Nenani asked.

Farris shrugged at her with a small smile. “Couldn’t tell ye. Ye might just have to ask Eldherst yerself.”

Nenani frowned at the kitchen master. “Is it considered impolite to accidentally light a Lord’s coat on fire?”

“Unfortunately, Dumplin’,” he said with a laugh. “I think it very well might. But ye just reminded me ‘a somethin’...”

The spice master turned from them and disappeared into the spice pantry for only a few moments before returning with a small jar. Beside her, Jae stiffened and muttered a faint curse. As Farris returned to the table, he sat the jar in front of Jae and pinned him with a look. “When was the last time ye even had any, boy?”

“Last week,” Jae replied stiffly.

Farris’s expression soured.

“I keep tellin’ ye, lad. Yer a fuckin’ terrible liar,” Farris’s his voice dropped into a warning growl. “I know ye haven’t been takin’ none since ye should’ve run out a good while ago, but ye haven’t come to ask fer more. So I’ll ask ye again; How long since the last time ye had any?”

“...two months,” Jae said in a small and guilty sounding voice. He shrank back from the kitchen master as he gave his answer, clearly knowing the kind of reaction he was going to get.

“Two months? Two fuckin’ months?” Farris scowled. “And I supose ye’ve been liftin’ spirits again?”

“I haven’t stolen anything,” Jae snapped. “Keral gave me some of his whiskey.”

“He what?” Farris yelled. “Haven’t ye learned yer lesson to stay away from that shit?”

“Look, I just...I wasn’t in the best frame of mind for a while and...it was just easier to sleep after a couple sips of whiskey than to have to drink all that tea and hope it kicks in before the nightmares or fits do.”

“Ye’d have been fine if ye just kept drinkin’ it like I told ye,” Farris said, but Nenani was surprised that his tone did not have the kind of heat behind it as she would have expected.  

“I ran out around the wedding and you told me not to bother you and then Nenani showed up and Yaesha had a little left, but not a lot and there was all that mess with Craeg and...I just let it...kind of slip away for a while. And besides, I haven’t had a fit since the wedding.”

“Oh don’t be tryin’ t’feed me that shit,” Farris said, walking around the table to the hearth used his apron to grip the kettle and pull it out of the fire. Taking one of smaller ramekins from the shelf and something from a small box, he brought both back over to wear Jae sat and filled the small cup with boiling water. “Ye ain’t a child, Jae. Ye should know better. And next time I see Keral, I’m puttin’ a fuckin’ boot in his arse fer encouraging ye like that.”

Farris sat the still hot kettle onto a trivet before grabbing the small jar and taking a pinch of the dried leaves therein before sprinkling them into the hot water. “Yer gonna start drinkin’ it again and stop with the spirits.” He reached out and caught Jae’s chin and forced the boy to meet his eye. “I mean it boy. No more. Keral may find solace at the bottom of a wine glass, but I ain’t ‘bout to let ye follow him down.”

“Okay,” Jae replied, looking genuinely sorry. “I just...”

“Ye ain’t got to explain a thing t’me, Jae. I understand just fine,” he said, releasing Jae’s face and he held out a small cup between his fingers to him and as Jae took it, he said, “One cup a day.”

“I remember,” Jae replied, looking down at the cup in his hands and his head perked up. “Do you think the tea would work for Haiyer?”

The kitchen master eyed Jae and then turned to look at Haiyer. Yale had sat the boy down next to where he was working and was now occupying himself with a pepperseed. The little boy held it to his face to smell it, but the moment the pungent spicy aroma hit his hose, he turned away and sneezed. 

Looking back to Jae, Farris asked, “What fer?”

“The whole reason we’re looking for his fairy is because he says she’s what scares away his nightmares,” Jae replied, rolling the cup between his hands.

“He had one last night,” Nenani said. “A bad one.”

Yale looked down at the boy next him. “Ye havin’ bad dreams, boyo?”

Looking up from the pepperseed he was rolling back and forth, Haiyer nodded lightly. “Uh-huh.”

“I’ll send some up tonight,” Farris said. “Might take a few days, but it should help.”

Nenani scooted over to peer into ramekin and watched the tea leaves lazily float around in the hot water, turning it a faint shade amber. “What is it?”

“Lime flower tea,” Farris explained. “Helps ease a fidgety mind.”

“I do not have a fidgety mine,” Jae protested, glaring up at the kitchen master.

“Oh, yes ye do,” Farris shot back with a smirk. “Just like a rabbit.”

Nenani set back on her knees and regarded Farris with a suspicious eye. “How come you never gave me lime flower tea? I had nightmares all the time.”

Farris snorted and pinned her with a look. “Lass, it’s practically all ye’ve been drinkin’ since ye came here.”

She blinked up at him. “What? Really?”

“Aye,” he laughed. “Didn’t do a thing fer yer nightmares, though. And it might not help yer brother either, but till he starts takin’ it, we won’t know. Some folks just take to it better than others.” He looked to Jae with a pointed look. “Should be fine now, lad. And yer not leavin’ that table till ye’v downed a whole cup.”

With a sigh, Jae carefully dipped his cup into the tea, avoiding burning his fingers. He took a metered sip and made a face. “I hate lime flower tea.”

[breakingsomething]

the fall part nine - the truth about magic

basic summary: henrik meets some old friends, a LOT of worldbuilding happens, and the world falls apart

trigger warnings: vomit, kidnapping, violence

tagslist: @synonymsforzombie @spicydanhowell @skyewardlight @dreaming-of-stories-and-stars @cest-mellow

henrik was hurting. his phone was dead. and he had not realized how far away the golf club was.

fuck, maybe he was going to need help.

he wasn't far from one of his coworker's houses, and they were on... decent terms, so henrik figured he'd be able to rest a bit there and maybe ask him for a lift. just the thought spurred him on, giving him the energy to walk just the little bit further to the expensive houses two streets away.

this was one of the much nicer areas of brighton. of course, henrik and his coworker worked as surgeons. that was a high paying job. but henrik lived in a small flat with his brothers (because it was in a safe area to practice magic in, and because staying together had always helped keep anti at bay), and he couldn't help but feel slightly insecure as he limped up to the white doorway surrounded by green shrubs in a well kept garden and rung the bell. christ, even the doorbell sounded posh. henrik winced in pain as he shifted from foot to foot, trying to find a comfortable position to stand in while he waited.

after maybe ten seconds, he heard sounds from the other side. shuffling, footsteps, a loud barking. when the door opened, henrik was immediately greeted by two tiny dogs leaping up his legs, and he cried out, grabbing at the door so his legs wouldn't give out.

"down, bacon, down, hash!" a sharp voice yelled, and henrik's head snapped up from the yipping puppies to the man in the doorway. brown hair shaved at the sides, skin orange from fake tan, wearing plaid pajamas like a cartoon character. nevertheless, he grinned when he saw henrik, bright white teeth practically glowing in his mouth. "schneeplestein!" he boomed, throwing out his arms for a hug that henrik wasn't sure he wanted but felt obliged to accept. "haven't seen you at work in yonks! where've you been, friend? come inside!" he clapped henrik's back, to which he began coughing wildly. the other man didn't appear to notice. "i have another friend inside you may want to see - she also visited unexpectedly, haha! is this a surprise party or something?"

henrik couldn't answer. his head was suddenly spinning, and without warning, he grabbed at the man's shoulder as he collapsed to the floor.

"oh - oh, jeez! schneep, are you alright?" the man asked, yanking him back to his feet. "son of a monkey - what did you do to your leg and your back?"

"parker - don't - i -" henrik ran out of words and simply let parker drag him inside, hardly able to stand up himself. the man rambled on and on as henrik stared, awe struck, at all the intricate decorations and paintings on the walls. "nice place," he managed to say. "it's… changed a bit, since since i was last here."

"it sure has!" parker laughed loudly, guiding him towards what henrik remembered to be the kitchen, if it hadn't been renovated into a ballroom. "me and molly got pay rises, her especially - don't know what i'd do without that woman, by the way - and we redecorated! i like it much better. what do you think, schneep?"

"yeah," henrik agreed weakly. "lovely. also, i've mentioned that i'm not fond of the nickname -"

"and these are our dogs, bacon and hashbrown!" parker interrupted, gesturing towards the fluffy white dogs that were padding behind their owner, tongues hanging out. "very clever names, molly chose them. do you have a cat?"

"my brother has one -"

"ah, so that explains why they're so enthusiastic. they love cat smells. ellie, schneep's here!"

henrik paled as they entered the kitchen and he saw who it was that was sitting at the table.

a woman. long brown hair, a pale, heart shaped face, dark painted lips forming the shape of an "o". henrik didn't blame her; he was doing the same thing. "el - why are you here?"

"i could ask you the same thing," she snapped, scraping her chair back and standing. "nathan, what is henrik doing here?"

parker held up both hands beside his head - not that henrik was looking at him. his eyes were pinned on the furious looking woman at the table, her yellow-brown eyes stormy. she hadn't changed a bit in the six months it had been since he'd last seen her. he wasn't sure what he'd been expecting.

"i didn't invite anyone!" parker cried. "i'm still in my damn nightclothes!"

ellie and henrik simply stared at each other for a long moment, until henrik cried out in sudden pain and grasped one of the kitchen chairs. parker helped him sit, propping his leg up on another chair in front of him.

"what happened?" ellie asked, concern darkening her face despite everything. she shuffled over as parker rolled up his trouser leg, hissing through his teeth in sympathy.

"jeez louise, schneep, these are some bad burns," parker commented. "what the heck did you do? did someone hurt you? should we call a hospital?"

henrik shook his head rapidly. "no, no, no," he babbled desperately. this had so been a bad idea. "i - i need a lift, if that's ok. to the golf club a little ways away. i would have walked, but -"

"oh no, you can't walk like this!" parker exclaimed. "especially not - you could get an infection - what burned you, tell me th-"

he suddenly cut off, eyes glazing over unnaturally. he stood up straight almost robotically before turning and leaving the room. henrik watched him go, confused, before turning to ellie.

"what was that?" he laughed awkwardly, before his face fell. her expression, too, was completely blank for a moment before returning to its previous rage.

"why did you never call?" she asked angrily, as though having forgotten everything they'd just been saying. henrik blinked, wondering how to reply.

"i - well, i…" he trailed off, looking away. "i don't know."

he could feel ellie's eyes on him. the guilt burned underneath his skin.

"six months, henrik," she said softly. "are you that much of a coward? do you always date women then leave them on read for months?"

henrik wanted to argue that he couldn't have left her on read because he'd only ever read her messages from the notification bar, never clicking them, but decided that was maybe a bad thing to bring up at this moment in time. "i didn't mean to," he mumbled. "i got overwhelmed. i'm so sorry, ellie. you deserve better than that."

she paused, staring down. "you're a douchebag," she told her clasped hands.

"i know," henrik agreed miserably. he tapped his fingers on his thighs. "i, uh, hope you have been doing ok. i should have checked up on you. i… haven't exact been very social with anyone recently. things have been happening, which i know is not an excuse for what i did, but… yeah."

she nodded. "i've been doing ok, i guess. nathan's been good to me. he was the only one who kept in touch after i left work."

henrik bobbed his head, guilt eating him up. they sat in awkward silence for a couple minutes until parker came back into the room. "found my keys!" he announced cheerfully, waving them in the air. he had also changed clothes to a pale blue button up and black dress trousers. he looked like he was going to a job interview. "now let's take you…" his blue eyes clouded over again. "where was i taking you?"

"um… hecate golf club." henrik glanced back and forth between parker and ellie, confused. "are you two ok?"

ellie got to her feet suddenly, not looking directly at henrik. "i'll leave too," she said loudly. "i should probably be getting home too. i'll drive myself. thank you, nathan, for your hospitality."

"anytime," he said with a smile. "see you, els. come on, schneeplestein, i gotta get you there before molly gets home. i'm not supposed to leave the dogs home alone for too long."

had they completely forgot about the injuries on his leg and back? henrik stood on shaky legs and limped to the door and outside, where two cars were in the driveway. parker walked over to his car (a mercades benz) and threw open the door casually. "hurry up! i'll get her started, let's just…"

"henrik?" ellie asked quickly, lowering her voice so parker couldn't hear. she turned to face him fully, eyes large. "your whole not talking to me thing… was that because of… the reason i left work? i know people were gossiping, and -"

"mein gott, no!" henrik exclaimed. he shook his head rapidly, rushing to explain. "ellie, i understand - if the whole gossip bullshit is true, then i completely understand. mental health is - it's much more important than work, ok? i get that."

ellie hummed softly, seemingly unconvinced. henrik softened. "perle," he murmured. "did you - did you ever wonder why i took so many breaks from work myself?"

she blinked, but before she could say a word, parker called him over again. "come on, we don't have all day!" he cried, and henrik finally ducked into the car, watching ellie step back.

"i'll call you this time," henrik promised. "i swear."

she said nothing, but the corner of her mouth twitched. henrik sat back in his seat, breathing deeply.

"hecate golf club, here we come," parker told him. henrik craned round to see ellie out the window. she was standing in the driveway still, but she was smiling softly.

-

the drive to hecate was rather awkward, especially given that lucas was their driver.

"are you like, the official chauffeur of hecate?" marvin asked sarcastically from the back seat. chase had called shotgun, and was awkwardly tapping his seat with his nails as lucas drove.

"kinda, actually!" lucas said cheerfully. "my main magic specialty is shields and protection, after all. i make a good chauffer."

"really?" chase said, looking up at lucas with wide eyes. "marvin can do protection spells and stuff, is that what you do?"

"kinda," lucas said again. "marvin here is a very skilled magician - one of the best i've seen. he can probably do the spells better than me, not gonna lie." he laughed, and marvin sunk lower in his seat, glaring out the window and listening to the other two chatter on and on.

he wasn't sure how chase was so calm, given what they'd just heard. everything was falling apart and jackie was partially responsible - marvin refused to believe it. a few people acting odd and a strange magic smell wasn't exactly the end of the world. not only that, but the possibility that henrik could be in danger made marvin feel sick, and anti had fucking drained his phone before he could finish the call. god, he hoped he was ok. "are we nearly there?" marvin interrupted. "i can barely see out the bloody windows, and i'm tired of having anti on my shoulder."

marvin shoved anti off to accentuate his point. anti, half conscious, groaned and weakly batted at marvin's legs before slumping against the car door.

"nearly there, yeah," lucas told him. "miss kamata asked me personally to take you there. it must be big stuff. is it about your brother?"

marvin hesitated. "yeah," he mumbled. "i guess."

when they drove up to the parking lot, chase peered through the window curiously. "so many cars," he noticed. "and people. i thought this wasn't a real golf club?"

"it's not," lucas said, parking the car in an empty space. "a bunch of this is all illusions, to keep up the pretense of this being an active organization. well, it is an active organization, but not… a normal, active golf club. that's it. yeah."

"while do you act as a golf club?" chase asked. "like, out of everything you could choose…"

"because it's easier to hide," lucas said. the car stopped fully, the locks on the doors clicking open. "no one important notices an expensive golfing place. that's why they chose this area to base it in too, i think. not only is this one of the more magical areas of the city, but it's subtle. blends in with all the other rich people shit."

"so some parts of the city are more magical than others?" chase asked. he and lucas stepped out of the car, leaving marvin and anti in the backseat. marvin frowned - chase knew all this stuff, why was he asking?

"yep!" lucas said, flashing chase a grin. "especially in brighton. brighton is one of the more magical places of the world. mostly cause there was a resurgence of magic here in the last few years. no one knows why, but it's good for us. our branch of hecate is pretty powerful, considering."

marvin rolled his eyes. "hey, can someone help with anti, please?" he called. the two men startled, like they'd forgotten he was there.

"oh - oh, shit, sorry!" chase spluttered, turning bright red. he and lucas helped marvin to get anti out the car, and together they dragged him inside.

two magicians were waiting for them at the door. "mcloughlin?" one woman asked, and marvin nodded. anti moaned softly, stirring and attempting to straighten himself.

"miss kamata asked us to take the sick one to our medbay," said a man with purple hair. "she'll speak with him later. you're to come upstairs to her office so she can fill you in on the current situation."

"my brother's coming here," marvin said. "his name is henrik von schneeplestein. looks just like us but - shorter hair than all of us, uh, with a streak of grey. glasses. he's hurt, i think. will you keep a lookout for him?"

the magicians exchanged glances. "we'll see what we can do," the woman told him. she gestured for him to follow. "come on, we'll take you to her."

some other magicians took anti from marvin's arms to help him along to the medbay while they walked through the halls. marvin had seen it all before, but chase was in awe, craning his head back to look. "woah!" he cried, spinning on the spot. "this place is epic!"

"it's under an illusion," the male magician told him. "to all those without magic blood, it's just a normal place. it's a risk to mask it that way, as those with evil intent could theoretically discover us through that, but we have other ways of hiding such things. besides, we help those with magic. do you have magic, young man?"

chase shook his head sadly. "i wish," he said longingly. "i've always wanted to do magic."

"but you can see through our illusions," the woman said, perplexed. "you have magic blood."

"just from my brothers," chase said casually. "marvin does a lot of miscellaneous spells, stuff he discovers, and jackie has photokinesis. henrik can heal minor injuries as well, i'm pretty sure."

"a healer?" the magicians look at each other again. "we don't have many of those. i think your brother could be a useful asset to hecate."

"wait, wait, wait," marvin interrupted. he moved between the magicians and his younger brother, holding his hands up. "you're not here to fucking recruit my brothers, especially not the ones who aren't here." he shot chase a look, and chase shrank under his gaze. "we probably shouldn't talk about that stuff right now anyway."

they continued up the stairs in silence.

"sorry, marvin," chase mumbled to him. "didn't mean to say too much. i'm not used to all this."

marvin just sighed. "don't mention jamie," was all he said in response.

they were taken to kazuki's door and the man went to knock, but the door swung open almost as soon as his knuckles graced the wood. "thank you alana, zack," came kazuki's voice from inside, and the doors quickly shut behind them.

"kazuki," marvin said cooly, standing straight. "explain what's going on, please. what's happening to the people?"

"hello to you too, marvin," kazuki said. she was standing in front of her desk, wearing a red suit with her hair loose around her shoulders. she nodded at the other two men with him. "chase brody. lucas. good to see you two. lucas, thank you for driving them here."

"my pleasure, miss kamata," lucas said with a smile and an awkward hand twirl. "shall i go?"

kazuki considered. "do you wish for him to stay?" she asked. the question was directed at marvin, but chase answered.

"yes, please," he said, giving lucas a smile. lucas smiled back, surprised, and chase turned back to kazuki confidently. "i like this guy."

kazuki's lips upturned, and suddenly the four of them were sitting in an odd circle next to her desk. there were no seats under them, just what felt like solid air. "cool," chase breathed, and he giggled. kazuki tittered softly at his amazed reaction before turning serious again.

"so let's talk about your brother," she started. "we know he stole your magic - the black magic spells you discovered."

"i never performed them," marvin said quickly. "i just found them and never would have -"

"yes, we've been through this," kazuki sighed. she shifted in her invisible air chair, possibly using magic to make it more comfortable. "but here's the thing. we... know of the organization he sold it to."

marvin turned to look at chase and lucas, who both looked surprised. "we do?" lucas said uncertainly.

"let me rephrase that. the higher ups of hecate know," kazuki said. she leaned back onto the desk behind her, blue eyes scrutinizing their reactions. "the leaders of each branch around the world."

"this is a worldwide problem?" marvin said. rage suddenly rose in his chest like boiling water. "why did i never know? i was practically top of hecate when i was with you!"

kazuki raised an eyebrow. "were you?" she said flatly. "even your ex boyfriend was higher ranking than you."

chase piped up while marvin spluttered indignantly. "there are rankings in hecate?"

"in a way," hecate told him. "but that's a conversation for another day. this other organization…" she sighed. "they were once part of hecate."

no one said anything. marvin blinked rapidly, mouth hanging open, but couldn't summon any words. kazuki continued. "hecate was originally a rebel organization founded by british magicians in 1735, when the witchcraft act was passed by parliament. you don't need all the history, though. magic was highly disliked by many back then, is all you need. we named ourselves "restitutio", latin for "restoration." our cause spread. we took in magicians and everyone who did magic and trained them. we hid. but some of us did not want to hide. some of us… turned to darker ways of life."

there was a dramatic pause. chase cleared his throat and opened his mouth, but didn't say anything. lucas sniffed loudly. marvin tapped his foot against the floor.

kazuki twirled her hand absentmindedly. a few trinkets floated off her desk and round her hand. "some of them wanted to fight. didn't want to keep our magic hidden. they… did many horrible things. people died. many of them. this was near the end of the 1700s, and many of the original values of restitutio had been lost." she took a breath, glancing up at her hands. "eventually, we, the hecate side of restitutio, took as much dark magic as we could and the others left. it was more recently that things began to change."

"what was the change?" lucas asked.

"there were a few," kazuki said. "all happening within a few years. first off, we discovered that the darker half of us had been hiding for years, cultivating dark magic by infiltrating our ranks. then, around the same time, magic itself changed. it seemed it learned to hide itself, through a barrier we called the veil."

"i didn't know all this," marvin muttered. then he raised his voice. "is this another thing only higher ups know?"

"you should know about the veil," kazuki said. "it hides our magic from nonmag eyes. it was discovered a few years before the dark organization."

"and.. when were these discovered?" chase said, voice low. he had a strange look on his face, and didn't turn to look at marvin.

"well, the veil was discovered on, i believe, october 10th of 2014," kazuki said, seemingly not noticing how marvin and chase jolted. "and we found the first traces of the black magic on october 31st of 2016. we thought it was a halloween prank of sorts, at first - are you two ok?"

chase shook his head rapidly, bouncing on his air seat and waving his hands, slapping his thighs lightly. "we're fine," he said firmly. "fuck, we're fine - what does jackie have to do with this? where does he tie in?"

kazuki frowned, though didn't comment. "his magic… is unnatural. you say he's a user of photokinesis?" the brothers nodded, and kazuki took a breath. "that's not good. photokinesis is a branch of light magic. whatever magic the organization gave him - i'm sorry for always calling it that, it doesn't have a name that we know of - we don't know what that magic is. it's dark, and it's corrupting him."

"it comes from a necklace," chase said. "does that mean anything?"

kazuki swore under her breath. "it could be… we'll talk about that later. here's the important point."

she leaned forward, eyes cold. "the magic in him is fighting for power. and he clearly has never been trained in controlling either branch of magic. and ever since the explosion in that motel in new romney, the veil has been… breaking."

the silence was deafening. marvin felt like it was crushing him, his breaths coming quicker with the effort of staying upright. "could be a coincidence," he said, but his voice was very small. "it can't be… breaking, what do you mean -"

"the two worlds are trying to collide and for some reason they're physically unable to now," kazuki said. "he's tearing a hole in the veil, in the barrier between magic and… normality, i suppose."

marvin was about to finally say something - he wasn't sure what, just something - when a man burst into the room. zack, the purple haired magician from earlier, was gasping and panting for breath, trying to force out words.

"zack," kazuki said, narrowing her eyes and standing. the air chairs under marvin and the others lifted them up onto their feet and promptly dissolved underneath them. "this better be important."

"it - it is, miss kamata," he wheezed. "we've been breached. one of our own has been taken."

-

it all happened so fast.

parker dropped henrik off at the gates of hecate, not even heading into the car park. "see you soon, schneeplestein! come visit, i'm sure molly would love to see you," he said with a dazed grin, eyes unfocused. henrik stepped out of the car and closed the door, smiling nervously at the doctor's strange expression.

"are you alright, parker?" he asked with a small laugh. "you are acting very strange."

"what? just - just fine!" parker exclaimed. he didn't look at henrik. "go do your… golf. i'll be seeing you."

henrik swallowed, straightening as much as he could with his injured leg. "yes," he mumbled. "i'm sure you will."

parker's grin was far too wide. he turned the car, preparing to drive off down the road, when the car glitched and disappeared.

henrik stood in absolute shook for a moment.

the car glitched. and disappeared. it had glitched in a burst of static and vanished completely, leaving nothing behind. not parker. not anything.

ok, so henrik was hallucinating. the magic aaron had hit him with was making him hallucinate. he blinked and turned away, suddenly aware of his head pounding, feeling slightly sick. there was a strange smell in the air. something wrong. he sniffed, realizing it was a very specific scent. like… smoke. like smoke through an open window.

"henrik?"

he jumped, eyes focusing on the man in front of him. as soon as they did, he soured. "raymond," he said with slight disdain. "fancy seeing you here."

raymond snorted. "i work here, friend," he said, sarcasm in the last word. "what are -" his brown eyes widened as he took in henrik's wounds. "oh, bloody hell!"

henrik grabbed the man's arms for support. "don't feel well," he managed. "ich glaube, ich könnte krank sein…"

he stumbled back and promptly threw up on the concrete. raymond's noises of disgust reached his ears through his retching, and as he wiped his mouth he just managed to decipher "fuck, dude, you got vom on my fuckin' suit!"

"sorry," henrik said weakly. his vision was beginning to blur, blackness creeping into the corners of his eyes. "g'hit… car, it glitch…"

"i am not looking after my ex's sick brother," raymond said disgustedly. he reached up and tapped a device behind his ear. "hey, some guy down here is sick. probably a bad hex or something. i dunno, man, it doesn't look good. physical too. leg, back. should i send him to the medbay?"

the more the man spoke, the dizzier henrik felt. someone else was talking to him. he thought he couldn't hear what they were saying.

" - here, come inside," raymond was saying. "we'll check you over. alana, open the spell for a sec so i can get him in."

henrik passed out then. but later, people filled him in on what had happened.

the spells on the gates to the car park has briefly been lowered to let henrik inside. but the second they were down was all that was needed. two men had burst in, ripping through the air with magic that reeked of smoke and something else, something unplaceable. the attack hadn't even really been an attack; it had lasted maybe a minute. when henrik woke in the medbay, he was informed that raymond had been taken, kidnapped, captured, and that was that.

it all happened so fast. so fast.

not only that, but the magicians didn't know what the magic in henrik's body was. dark stuff, they said. incurable, at least by them, they said. it must have come from the same two men who had broken into hecate, they said. they thought black magic didn't exist anymore, they said.

henrik was numb to it all.

"i'm sorry i wasn't there!" marvin had said when he came to see him, chase and another blonde man in tow. "i tried to contact you, anti drained my phone - henny, i'm so sorry, i shouldn't have left you alone!"

henrik hurt. jackie was truly gone. hecate had been breached. a man had beem captured. henrik didn't say a word.

fuck, it had all happened so fast.

-

"you did it, babe!"

"we did it! fuck, it was far easier than i expected. i can say this now, but i was pretty certain we weren't going to manage it."

jackie laughed at aaron's words, kissing him before drawing back with a grin on his face. "honestly? me neither," he giggled. "but look at what we got! far, far better than i could have hoped - oh, he doesn't like that, does he?"

the man chained to the chair in front of them narrowed his eyes, rage burning in them. jackie bent down in front of him, grinning wide. "been a while since i last saw you, raymond! when was it? god, i can't remember. was it the time that you came round demanding marvin paid back your money? was it the time marvin caught you in bed with some fucking nomag twink and you and him had that screaming match? was it the time we saw you in the street with your new boyfriend and marvin started crying so i nearly hit you?" jackie flicked raymond's nose, still giggling like a child. "god, every day since then i've wished i'd beaten the fucking shit out of you. i used to be disgusted with myself for thinking that kind of stuff too, you know? but now… i think i've embraced it."

he tapped a sleek black dagger on raymond's face, just on top of the gag shoved in his mouth. "you like my knife? my boyfriend got it for me. this is him, by the way. say hi, aaron!"

aaron waved from the corner where he was leaning, resting on a blue baseball bat. raymond's eyes were wild with fear and anger, and he shook his head to try and get the blade away.

"what's that?" jackie said, pretending to listen like a kid playing with a doll. "you want to talk? certainly!" he slashed the knife down the man's face, cutting through the gag but the skin underneath as well. raymond screamed in pain, but cut himself off as quickly as he could, biting down on his lip and panting.

"bitch," raymond spat. "what are you? a demon? what type of magic is this?" blood dribbled down his chin. "and - ha, why did you break in? idiot, i would have left anyway - do you not understand how high security hecate is? you got in, and all you did was, what, knock out your sick brother and kidnap me?"

jackie leaned back, sticking out his lip and looking upset. then his smirk returned like it had never left, and he threw back his head to roar with laughter. aaron giggled from the corner before coming to stand next to his boyfriend.

"oh - oh, raymond, no," jackie giggled, wiping at his eyes. "oh, you think we - you think we just grabbed you and left? nooo, no no no. time is an illusion, my bastard friend!"

"we got so much done!" aaron said joyfully. "all thanks to jackie's wonderful brother -"

"oh, stop it, mo chroí, we couldn't have done anything without your lovely magic!" jackie elbowed aaron and the two dissolved into peals of laughter while raymond watched with a forced neutral expression.

"what do you want with me?" he said, trying to keep his voice flat. "i don't know what information you think i know, but it's nothing good. i'm not as high ranked as you might think, i swear, i -"

"shut up now, ok?" aaron suddenly interrupted. "we were having a moment there and you ruined it. fuck, they're never polite, are they, jackson?"

"i don't know, this is only my second prisoner!" jackie joked. then he rolled his eyes. "and we don't fucking care what rank you are, we just snatched the first guy we saw. it just so happened to be my brother's filthy, cheating whore ex." he leaned forward, right into raymond's face. "you're my ticket to a better life, bitch. look at that. you have a fucking use after all."

jackie turned to aaron, gripping his arm and turning him to face him. "they're really gonna love him, aren't they?" he cooed. "will he be good enough?"

"course he will, babe," aaron said. "he's hecate, he - what does he do, teleport? he teleports. that's interesting, they might like that."

"'they?'" raymond shouted angrily. he struggled against his chains, grunting. "who is 'they?' why can't i teleport? is this - is this about what i did to marvin? i never meant to hurt him!"

without warning, jackie slapped raymond right across the face. "i already fucking told you that it's nothing to do with you," he snapped, dropping the soft tone from before. "i saw you and took you. we kind of had other priorities at that moment. you fucking got it? jesus shit, dude, not everything's about you - although, i know you think it is, huh?" he hit raymond again, sending him reeling. "do you know how many nights i spent holding marvin while he cried, feeling worthless, depressed - you meant so much to him but you are nothing but a repulsive -"

"jackson, calm," aaron soothed, taking his face in hand. "you can't hurt him too bad. they'll get upset, it'll show a lack of control. that's something they look for. do you want to be accepted or not?"

"accepted?" raymond cried, voice high in pitch. "are you selling me to a cult or something?"

"nope," aaron said cheerfully. "much worse."

jackie growled in raymond's direction. "fucking bastard. the organization better see self control from me if it means i can't beat the living daylights outta this guy."

"they will," aaron reassured. "they will. then we can properly be together, and you can't -"

jackie suddenly screamed, a howl of complete agony that made raymond throw his head back like it would save him. jackie clawed at his chest, doubling over as his whole form… his form, his body… raymond cringed. the man's form was flickering, like a glitching computer screen. and as he watched, raymond started to smell something. a stinking, magical smell so thick it almost made him choke. it smelled like smoke. like smoke creeping through an open window.

"jackson, jackson - fuck, let's get out of here," aaron said, pushing jackie out the door of the small room raymond was being kept in. aaron whipped back round to look at him as he left, glaring. "get comfortable," he said. "you might be in here a while."

the door shut behind them, leaving raymond cold with the taste of copper and smoke on his tongue.