#especially since i WAS sick ish and i’m getting BETTER. it’s supposed to be OVER

[scholarhect]

feeling weird but the only symptom that isn’t basically nothing and completely ignorable (headache, chest discomfort/perceived difficulty breathing, perceived heart fluttering a little, throat ache lol it’s literally either stress or something i ate. probably most of these symptoms are due to me freaking myself out) is feeling weird standing up & propping myself up, feeling heavy. which means i’m freaking out over… feeling fatigued at nearly 2 in the morning 🤔

[chronicdisasterwrites]

you can do better. i'm better

pairing: gojo satoru x reader (modern, college au)

genre + warnings: - FLUFF !! alcohol consumption, smoking, swearing, and a jealous and very flirty gojo. reader is gender neutral but is shorter than satoru and has long-ish hair.

word count: 1,934

summary: this is a song-fic based on this ask, the song being "FEEL" by Måneskin. for the full experience, start listening to the song after the 4th break, there'll be a very obvious indication in the dialogue!

enjoyyy <3

“So, there’s a party.”

You hum non-committedly, pen still dancing on your page as your eyes flit between your textbook and notebook. You hear a pen tapping against the wooden desk and try very hard to ignore it. The tapping gets louder and more constant until you’re unable to ignore it any longer. You release a long sigh as you look up at the person pest sitting before you.

"Okay, what?"

Shoko grins as she sets the pen down and clasps her hands underneath her chin, "There's a party. Let's go."

You stare at her for a few seconds before asking, "When, where, and why?"

"Tonight, at Mei Mei's place and because we can and should."

You groan, "I really don't wanna, Shoko. I have work and I'm so sleep-deprived I can't-"

Shoko shuts your books and flicks your forehead, ignoring the small "ow" that escapes your lips. She stands up and takes your things with her, "We are going, and that's that. You can sleep and work and whatever after the party. It's been way too long since we actually had some time to relax and I'm not going without you, so suck it up."

You dejectedly watch her leave with all your things and wonder why you even hang out with such a menace.

---

"Oi, Suguru."

The man in question is distracted, hunched over his desk, sketching away in his notebook with loud music blasting through his earphones. Satoru slams the door shut hoping it'll break his best friend's trance. Suguru feels the reverberation from the door slamming closed and tilts his head to look at a pouty Satoru with arms crossed across his chest. Suguru sends an apologetic smile as he takes off one earphone from the ear closest to Satoru, "Hey. Sorry, what's up?”

“There’s a party.”

Suguru pauses his song, suddenly concerned at how loud the volume was. Rolling his chair back and fully facing Satoru now he says, “Let me guess. We're going?”

He watches Satoru fall back on his bed sprawled out like a starfish. There's a pause before Satoru speaks, “Depends. Y’know if Shoko's going?”

Suguru gives him a sly smile, “I’m not sure. Why?” Satoru spares him a glance masked with disapproval, “Just asking, jeez. What's with the face?”

There's a laugh as Suguru stands up and makes his way to his closet, rummaging through his typical array of edgy, dark outfits. He hears the bed squeak and assumes Satoru is now sitting up, glaring at the back of his head. He decides to pull his leg a bit more, “Just sick of your childish antics.”

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Suguru sighs as he lays down his selected outfit on the side of the bed Satoru wasn't currently occupying. Satoru sighs exaggeratedly, obviously mocking his best friend and only gets a deadpan look as a response, "You just proved my point."

Satoru whines Suguru's name and falls back down on the bed, dropping his arm on Suguru's clothes, "You're annoying."

Suguru watches Satoru with amused eyes. He knows all about the silver-haired boy’s embarrassing crush on you. He flirts and teases you all day only to mope around and whine about why you don’t like him back. Suguru loves his best friend, but how much whining can a person take? Especially since he talks to Shoko, and Shoko is your best friend, and Shoko has informed Suguru that you very much do like Satoru back. 

With a snort, Suguru walks over to his chair and goes back to doing what he was doing when the man-child speaks again.

"Hey, make a playlist. Nanami will be there and I can't deal with any more of his depressing emo music."

---

When you got there, the party was in full swing. People are dancing on tabletops, drinking cheap beer and hard liquor, and smoking all kinds of things, and you're pretty sure you saw someone passed out on a desk littered with plastic cups and playing cards. Leave it to Mei Mei to throw the craziest parties in college history.

You wished you could cling on to Shoko through the entire night, but she ditched you with a simple pat on the back and a nonchalant "have fun", and so here you were, in the kitchen drinking something too colorful, and ridiculously sweet for your liking. Satoru would like this shit, you think, begrudgingly swallowing the concoction.

"You don't like the drink?"

You look over to your side and find a guy you've never seen before. The kitchen is more or less empty with a few people coming and going as the blaring music from the room connected to the kitchen shakes the walls. Sheepishly smiling and putting the glass on the counter you were leaning against you reply, "It's a bit too sweet for me."

The guy laughs a hearty chuckle and moves closer to stand right in front of you, blocking your view of the open entrance of the kitchen and the room conjoined to it. He's tall, not taller than Satoru, you deduce, and fairly good-looking.

"Ironic. You seem pretty sweet yourself."

You snort, "Wow, smooth."

He looks at you with half-lidded eyes and you know what he's thinking, as he reaches out his hand and introduces himself. You reciprocate and give him your name before adding, "I haven't seen you on campus before."

"Yeah, I don't go here. I'm a friend of Mei Mei's."

You nod your head slowly and look for an opening to get out of the conversation, "So, just here for the party?"

He grins and places both his hands on either side of you, caging you against the counter, hovering his face too close to yours for comfort, "Initially yeah, but now I think I found a better reason to stay."

You cringe internally. Oh god…

---

"What the fuck?"

Moving his eyes to follow Satoru's line of sight, Suguru scrunches his face, "Ouch. Sorry, man."

Satoru's eyebrows are drawn together and his eyes are flaming as the plastic cup crumples from his unyielding grip. He thinks about walking over to where you were in the kitchen and stomping all over that random guy's face until he looks like the red plastic cup; disfigured, sad, and lying motionless on the floor.

"Who the fuck is that guy?"

Suguru senses upcoming trouble as Satoru's anger starts to pulsate louder than the actual music. He takes another plastic cup and fills it with a concoction consisting of alcohol mixed with something fruity, handing it to an absolutely livid Gojo Satoru, "I dunno. Why don't you go and find out?" 

He watches Satoru down the entire cup after which he slams it on the table. They exchange glances as Satoru gives Suguru a sly grin, "Play something appropriate, will ya?"

Suguru watches with a smirk as his best friend marches over to the kitchen. Playing a song he deemed appropriate, he looks around to find Shoko talking to Utahime and saunters over to her, nudging her on the shoulder.

Glancing at him, she quirks an eyebrow as she takes a drag of her lit cigarette. Suguru points over at the kitchen as Shoko leans to the side to check out what he was gesturing to, and a wide grin blooms on both their faces. Their thoughts seemed to merge at that moment. This is either going to be really fun, or really bad.

---

“There you are, sweetheart!” 

Your attempt to maneuver yourself away from the counter and the man blocking your way was interrupted by the booming voice you know so very well. Peering over the guy’s shoulder you see Satoru sporting his usual smug smile, bounding toward you and gently wrapping his fingers around your wrist. The man immediately scampers five steps behind as Satoru towers over him, his intimidating posture and menacing grin wiping the overconfident facade the man was previously showcasing. Wrapping his arm around your waist, Satoru leans down to leave a kiss on the top of your head, all while keeping his piercing blue eyes locked on the terrified man’s pale face. 

“You done flirtin’ with my girl?”

The guy stutters face darkened in embarrassment as he rushes away, presumably to crawl into a hole and die. You watched the whole interaction with confusion overwhelming your senses. When Satoru’s arm drops from your waist, you snap back to reality as you laugh and look up at him with amused eyes, “Well, that was hilarious. Nice acting.” 

You expect him to laugh and just leave it be, so when his eyebrows furrow and eyes stare pointedly at you, your confusion comes rushing back. 

“Seriously? That loser?”

You wonder why Satoru’s being so hostile; maybe he doesn’t like that guy, maybe he’s just protective. But then you notice the light blush covering the apples of his cheeks and it hits you - Oh, he’s jealous.

Huffing, you lean against the counter crossing your arms across your chest and reciprocating the same pointed look right back at him, “Why do you care?” 

He stares at you for a few beats and then sighs and turns back around to leave, “Forget it.”

You have liked Satoru for a while now, but the boy never speaks freely. One moment he’s flirting with you nonchalantly, and right when you start to think he might like you as more than a friend, he does things like this. So you decide to persist this time by reaching out and grabbing his slender wrist, “Hold on, just tell me. Why do you care?”

You watch his shoulders rise up and down and before you realize what’s happening, Satoru whips around and cages you against the counter, similar to how to were trapped a few minutes ago, except this time you’re sure your heart skipped several beats. 

He drops his head next to your ear and whispers, “Because, I know you.” 

You feel his fingers run through your hair as he tucks a few strands behind your ear. Keeping you between him and the kitchen counter, he leans down and aligns his face directly across yours. You feel his sapphire eyes burn through your eyes to the back of your skull as he leans closer, his nose mere inches away from yours. “I know what makes you blush, I know what words you like to hear, I know what you want to feel…” 

Your face is getting exponentially warmer by the second and you think your heart is following the rhythm of the drums playing in the song currently blasting through the speakers. You stare at him wide-eyed and stunned at his antics.

“S-Satoru-”

His eyes trail down to your lips and then back to your eyes and his lips curl into that stupid smile you hate so much. At this point, you’re both breathing into each other's faces and he tilts his head to the side, eyes zoned in on your lips, inching forward until you can smell the sweet scent of alcohol and mint in his breath and the deodorant on his body. You’re too stunned to close your eyes, so you don’t miss the way his lips barely graze yours before he stands straight and grabs the cup you had previously abandoned on the countertop - a piece of information you had completely forgotten about. You watch him chug the entire drink and sigh in satisfaction, as he gently sets the cup down and moves back. “Sorry. Got carried away there,” his eyes are soft and your stomach is light as if filled with feathers. You’re speechless, shocked, and so bothered. Standing there with your heart lodged in your throat, you watch Satoru leave with a smile and not a clue in his pretty head on just how he makes you feel.

a/n: very special thanks to my dear @daisy-the-quake for test-reading this <;33

taglist: @thepup356, @porridgesblog, @stray-npc, @daisy-the-quake, @reignsaway, @ainetx, @icarusignite, @mariapierce789

[sparrowofthedawnsworld]

Last Minute Changes - Sam Kiszka

A/N: Here she is, in all her filth and glory!! I was watching Dirty Dancing the other night and have also been goofing around with some of my old dance routines. I always wish I had stuck with dance, but who knows… Maybe I’ll end up going back. Anyways, enjoy! I love you all!

DISCLAIMER: I haven’t danced in YEARS okay, so forgive me for my lack of proper terms in this fic - as I honestly don’t remember most of them.

WARNINGS: Sam and Reader don’t get along, Light-ish angst, arguing, harsh language. Contains explicit sexual content! 18+, Minors DNI! Hate fucking, degradation, choking, slapping, spanking, mirror play, oral (both receiving), edging, fingering, unprotected sex.

Masterlist

••••

You ran towards the doors of the dance studio, holding a random hoodie that was in your car over your head to shield yourself from the rain.

It certainly hadn’t been one of your best mornings ever and of course, the sky decided to fall out in a torrential downpour.

“For fucks sake,” you muttered in annoyance, yanking the the door of the building open.

“Hey, Y/N! You okay?” One of the dancers there - Danny, had asked with a concerned expression.

“It’s been a shitty morning… but I’ll be fine once I start dancing.” You told him honestly, giving him a halfhearted smile. “How are you?”

“I understand. It’s definitely not been my best morning either. I’m okay, though,” Danny admitted with a light chuckle. “But, I have to get going so I can work on my routine with my partner. Have fun and I hope your day gets better, Y/N!”

“Have fun! I can’t wait to see it!” You waved him off, walking down the opposite hallway to your own practice room.

The dance company that you were part of, was participating in a huge dance competition in two days. This was the most pressure you’d ever been under, wanting to be absolutely perfect for the sake of not only your partner, but also for the entire dance company. There was nothing any of you would love more than to win this competition; the effort, time and tears each of you were putting into your routines, was something all of you deserved some recognition for.

There were a number of you picked for duet dances, the rest of the company being left with the freedom of solo pieces. You had been one of the first dancers picked to be part of a duet, with another boy in your company named Luke.

You and Luke had practiced every day (even into some late nights), for the last two weeks. You were both incredibly proud of your routine and the chemistry the pair of you seemed to share.

You came up to the door of your assigned room, looking around in slight surprise that Luke wasn’t there yet - Especially since you both had yesterday off to get some much needed rest.

Figuring he was just running a little bit behind, you decided to just start warming up without him.

Nearly fifteen minutes passed and you got up from the floor, walking over to check your phone to see if you had maybe missed a text or call from him.

Suddenly, the door was being opened and you looked up with hopeful eyes, but your face quickly dropped upon seeing your teacher.

“Miss Y/N! Lovely to see you’re well,” Mrs. Scott greeted with a sympathetic smile that made your face twist in confusion. You returned a warm smile anyway and she continued. “Unfortunately, I have some bad news…”

“What is it…?” You hesitated to even ask, worried that it may have something to do with Luke.

“Luke has fallen sick. He said he started feeling bad last night.” She explained, with a disappointed shake of her head. “This means either I will have to assign you a new partner, or you will sadly have to back out of the competition this weekend.”

“Excuse me Mrs. Scott, but how am I supposed to teach and learn our whole routine with somebody else, in just two days at that?” You panicked, hands becoming shaky and clammy.

“You are incredibly talented, my dear. I think you can manage just fine. I have the utmost confidence in you.” She answered genuinely, with an expectant look.

You stayed silent for a moment, processing everything she had just dumped on you in such short notice. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, but it undeniably felt horrible and a bit unfair.

“Who would my partner be?” you asked her, mind running through all the people who were dancing solo and could do it.

“I was going to pair you with Sam Kiszka.”

You found yourself fighting back a groan at Mrs. Scott’s words. The urge to back out of the competition, didn’t seem nearly as bad as before.

You stared at the ground silently, while your mind raced in circles.

“Does that not sound like a fair plan?” Mrs. Scott asked, raising her eyebrows questioningly at your sudden silence. “Sam is fantastic and could learn your routine very quickly. I would hate for you to have to withdraw from the competition, when you have a solution right in front of you.”

You knew she was expecting you, as your longtime teacher, to see this through - Despite the time crunch and doubled pressure you were now being practically crushed and suffocated under.

“I… No, yeah… I guess that will work. We can make it work.” You nodded in -hesitant- agreement, letting out a ragged breath.

“Like I said, I have the utmost confidence in you AND Sam.” Mrs. Scott reiterated. “I’ll go and get him for you.”

With that, she disappeared out of the studio door to retrieve Sam.

Sam was probably one of the most skilled dancers in the entire company. You had no doubt he could learn your entire routine in the two short days you had. It really came down to the fact that he could be a nightmare to work with. He was snappy and so easily irritated by everything it seemed. You thought you were a perfectionist… until you met Sam. He would definitely have something to correct about your routine. Sure, you were open to helpful criticism, but he didn’t seem to have a good grasp on how to deliver constructive criticism very nicely.

You paced around in front of the mirror lined wall, glancing at yourself in it every few seconds - Looking like a flustered mess.

You practically jumped out of your own skin when you heard the door swing open, whipping around to see Sam sauntering in. Sporting an unfazed expression. Shocker.

“Alright,” Sam sat down on the floor, stretching out his legs casually. “Tell me about this routine, I guess.”

“Well… t’s really sensual and sexy,” you began, trying to stay cool as you broke it all down for him. “Lots of touching, very intense emotionally… Seductive. It’s to the song ‘Crazy In Love’, but the Fifty Shades Of Grey version.“

Sam’s lips twitched at the corners with an amused scoff as you finished explaining. “Surprised you would do such a risky routine.”

“Why?” You scoffed, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“Don’t know really.” Sam shrugged. “You just don’t seem like the type to do such an erotic number.”

You let out a humorless laugh, looking at him in disbelief.

“Especially to that song.” Sam added, with a pointed expression that made your blood start to boil. “I hope you can pull off being obsessively in love and seductive.”

Your teeth gritted in irritation as your jaw clenched painfully tight. “I guess you’ll know soon, won’t you?”

~

“That’s sloppy.” Sam huffed for the thousandth time, stepping away from you.

The two of you had been practicing since the early morning, when your plans were so suddenly changed. It was now after eleven o’clock at night and both of you were tired and irritated, but neither of you were ready to quit - feeling pressure of having less than forty-eight hours now, to complete the routine.

The routine that Sam had been nitpicking at all day.

“Jesus CHRIST, Sam. What do I need to fucking fix?” You snapped rather loudly, not caring about your volume. You were the only two left in the building anyway.

“A lot of shit! We need to switch up some of these moves. We’re supposed to be toxic and sexy and intense.” Sam emphasized frustratedly. “You expect these judges to believe any of this shit you came up with? Because I certainly wouldn’t buy it.”

Your mouth gaped at his harsh words, hands balling into fists at your sides. “For fucks sake! We’re dancing, Sam! Not fucking on the stage, for god’s sake!” You raised your voice, gesturing around wildly as if there was a stage nearby.

“But the same level of passion and energy needs to go in this god forsaken dance!” Sam argued, matching your volume. “You act like I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing!”

“My GOD, I never said you don’t! I said we don’t have the time to change these fucking moves, Sam!”

“I suggest you stop yelling at me or I will walk the fuck out of here right now!” Sam hissed, taking a step closer to you with a pointed finger.

You drew in a quick breath, trying to calm yourself down as best you could, despite your raging anger that Sam and all the stress had caused.

“Maybe we should take a break.” You suggested dryly, looking at the two of your bodies in the mirror.

“Fine. Fifteen, then we’ll come back and we’re gonna try some other moves.” Sam told you, as if it wasn’t up for any sort of discussion.

You didn’t even bother answering him, snatching up your water bottle and storming out of the door. You bee lined it to the front doors, desperate to feel some cooler, night time air on your skin in hopes that it would sooth you.

Unfortunately for you, the anger was so deep set in you that even the crisp, late night air wasn’t quite enough to calm you down.

Regardless, your break was coming to an end and you had to go back into that god forsaken, mirrored room with Sam.

You breathed in the nighttime air, mentally repeating as many encouraging and uplifting things to yourself as you could. The two of you would surely be much better after this break, right? It was definitely naive to even hope that just this little fifteen, would solve your problems and relieve all your anger. - On not just your end, but Sam’s as well.

Sighing in partial defeat, you swing the door open and made your way back to your practice room.

Pausing just outside the door, you heard the song for the routine playing. It almost made you wonder if Sam had even taken a break, or if he had just sent you off to take one.

You shoved the door open, watching Sam work through different moves that you had been arguing about changing, since you started teaching him the routine.

Sam caught sight of you out of the corner of his eye as you made your way deeper into the room and stopped, walking over to shut the music off and turning back to you.

“You ready to cooperate?” Sam snipped, a sharp edge still lingering in his tone, showing you he definitely hadn’t done much calming down.

“Are you gonna compromise?” you countered, trying to sound much calmer than you really felt.

Sam sighed in half annoyance, half defeat, throwing his hands up and out dramatically. “Fine, yes. Whatever gets us out of here faster.”

“It’s almost midnight, can you please cool your jets? Just a little?” You chided, putting your water bottle down beside your phone.

It felt pointless to even ask. Sam was clearly not calming down anytime soon.

“Let’s try and run this with the music.” Sam said, completely ignoring your plea.

You sighed in defeat, picking up your phone and searching for ‘Crazy In Love.’

The run through with the music was… a mess to say the very least.

Both of you messed up in multiple places and collided awkwardly in moments where the moves just weren’t flowing.

Of course, this would all happen with Sam. You never had any of these issues with Luke.

Sam marched over to the speaker, shutting it off from there.

“Oh, my god.” Sam tangled his fingers in his hair, rubbing at his head in frustration. “Yeah, we’re changing like… everything.”

“Whatever the hell you wanna do, Sam.” You hissed venomously. “It’s not like we only have less than two days now or anything.”

“You know what, Y/N? Why don’t you go the fuck home and let me work this shit out on my own? I’ll rework some of this and teach it to you tomorrow.” Sam threw his arm out and pointed at the door, hurling just as much venom back at you.

“And hopefully you can learn it that quick.”

Your jaw clenched painfully in anger and you stormed over to all your belongings, snatching them up in your arms.

Jerking the door open, you turned to Sam one last time. He was frozen in place in the middle of the room, arms crossed over his chest.

Absolutely fuming, you snapped the final words of the night between the two of you.

“Fuck you. Do whatever you want.”

<>

The next evening’s practice with Sam rolled around way quicker than you had hoped it would. Not a single part of you wanted to go back.

When you finally entered that same practice room, neither of you could be bothered to even mumble a dry “hey,” to the other. It was torturously silent in the room, until Sam had finally started to explain all the things he had changed - Going as far as dancing it out for you to the song.

“So,” Sam finished, shutting off the music.

All you had really gathered so far was that it was practically a whole new routine. He left maybe one of your own moves. Two if you were lucky.

“Think you can do all that?”

You fought against the urge to cuss him out, feeling just as angered (if not more) than you were when you left last night. But, in light of just wanting to get this whole evening done and over with as quickly as possible, you swallowed down your anger and agreed.

“Yep.” You nodded once. “I can do that.”

~

The two of you ran over the routine piece by piece, with as much patience as either of you could find within yourselves. And there certainly wasn’t much patience to be found.

It was nearing midnight and the amount of times you guys had tried to run your routine in full -but failed- Well… both of you had stopped counting.

“For fucks sake!” Sam’s voice rang out angrily over the music. Your own aggravated groan ringing out not long after. “”Yep! I can do that!” He spat, mocking your words from earlier dramatically.

“SHUT the fuck UP, oh my god!” You yelled back. Neither of you bothered pausing the song, far too lost in fury to even care anymore.

At least the two of you were (once again) the only two in the building.

“I got all the fucking moves right! What else could you possibly want?!”

“I want some damn emotion!“ Sam threw his hands out towards you, gesturing around to your body and face. “I mean, jesus christ! Be seductive! Obsessive, sexy. Be a fucking whore!”

“I think you’d be better off being the goddamn whore! Hell, you’re already a brat!” You shot back, through clenched teeth.

“Watch. Your mouth.” Sam seethed, stepping a little closer to you than you had expected, but you stood firmly in your spot. “How about you put all this bitchy energy into this dance, huh? Cause being a bitch has to be good for something, right?”

You took a step closer to him this time, your body acting long before your mind had processed what you were even doing.

With both hands, you shoved into Sam’s chest roughly, causing him to stumble backwards. His look of utter shock didn’t last long, before his eyes darkened and flashed with something you couldn’t hardly process.

“Do that shit again. I fucking dare you.”

As you and Sammy stared each other down, It felt like the music was somehow blaring even louder than before, as the song was set to repeat over and over again.

“I can’t fucking stand you.” your voice was drenched with pure anger, but way Sam was staring at you, had your stomach twisting in an undeniably delicious way.

“Well, I need you to be obsessed.” Sam spoke in an unwavering, low tone. “Absolutely desperate.”

Sam took a few steps forward, getting rid of most of the space that was between the two of you. He peered down at you, and as much as you hated to admit it, his fiery gaze started to make you feel small.

“Show me you can be the part, or I will help you fucking learn.” Sam growled.

A sick, twisted part of you wanted to push him further. The urge to make him run this whole dance again and you fuck something up on purpose, just to see what he would really do… Well, it was becoming harder and harder to ignore.

“Get the fuck off my case, Kiszka. I know what I’m doing.” You bit flippantly. “You’re such a dick.”

“Then god damnit, Y/N, DO IT.” Sam’s voice raised. Had you not been half expecting it, you might have cringed slightly at his volume.

“Cause I’m sure as hell getting sick and tired of being here with you.”

Storming over to speaker, you started the song over for what was easily the millionth time and went back to your starting position. Sam was already in his, giving you a bone chilling stare.

The two of you started moving towards each other in perfect synchronicity. Truthfully, if it weren’t for the raging anger in both of you, you’d probably be doing this whole routine perfectly. Alas - doing this dance sans the rage, was probably not going to happen. Not even at the competition; unless both of you were miraculously lucky.

In a half decent attempt at looking past your anger and exhaustion, you followed Sam’s lead, delivering each move beautifully. You could tell Sam was letting himself get deeper into it, almost fully diving into the part.

Obsessive. Sexy. Intoxicating. Crazy.

He pulled you into his body and you continued to follow his lead, coming close to the section your routine where you had found yourself falling apart every single time. It was so intense. Sam was demanding something from you that you secretly didn’t believe was there.

“Don’t fucking fall apart on me.” Sam spoke loudly over the music, demanding you to keep it together and follow through the way you had been so far. “Put a little more passion in it. It’s not that damn hard.”

Spinning you around, you listened to his demands and began growing hot. ‘Perhaps I could pull from your anger’ you thought to yourself. Maybe you could shift that energy into some warped and twisted form of passion somehow. That was probably the only way you were gonna get it… At least to the level Sam was looking for, anyway.

Mentally hyping yourself up and diving into your raging anger that Sam had provoked the last two nights, you mustered up as much courage as you could - hoping and praying it would carry you through these next few moments.

“Fucking finally. Keep going,” For once, Sam sounded half pleased with what you were giving him.

You said nothing back, hyper focused on not crumbling into your awkwardness. Again.

Everything was going perfectly and you were finally a little over halfway through the routine. It felt like it was taking forever to get through it; having to look deep into Sam’s eyes with an intensity that had you wanting to throw up and fall to pieces. You couldn’t though. No matter how badly you wanted to pry away from his burning touches and look away from his still cold, fiery eyes, it was all too good. The two of you were bound to win with this… So long as you kept yourself together.

However, while you were busy fighting with yourself to stay focused, Sam had a problem of his own. Between all his built up frustrations and anger, mixed with the lust that he was supposed to be exuding into this routine, the lust slowly became much more real for Sam than it was for you. Sure, it was driven solely on his exasperated state, but so was the distorted “passion” you were pushing out.

Sam took a firm hold on your arm, pulling you roughly, but rhythmically into his body. Damn him for keeping this move of yours. Of the few he decided to keep - this one; the one that had put you in the predicament of having to go over this dance, over and over again with him - is one of the ones he kept.

The two of you sunk down to floor together. You hadn’t met his eyes just yet, but you were anxiously counting away the beats that were leading you up to the intense moment… The crescendo of the whole thing.

Sam grabbed both sides of your face and your eyes shot up to his. His grip on your cheeks, forcing you to keep your eyes locked with his. You kept your eyes fixed on his for as long as you could, determined to finally make it through the rest of the routine. Sam’s hands traveled from your face and down your body, as you slowly started to stand back up together. Even though you’d made it a few good seconds passed where you had previously been losing it, you began to falter yet again.

“God damnit, keep your eyes on mine!” Sam commanded, chasing after your gaze that had abandoned him, to stare at your reflections in one of the large mirrors. “Y/N, I swear to god!”

You groaned in vexation, ripping Sam’s hands off your body aggressively. Turning away from him, you sighed heavily. You were doing everything you could to try and understand why you were just so flustered. Was it Sam? Was it doing such a handsy piece with a new partner? The stress of how little time you had to get this, and you still hadn’t even run the whole thing through flawlessly?

All of the above seemed to resonate deeply, which didn’t make you feel much better at all.

Sam came up behind you, eerily quiet , causing you to tense. You could feel every bit of the hot-blooded, fierce energy that was pouring out of him. It filled the room with a suffocating heat and palpable tension.

“What did I tell you, Y/N?”

Your breath hitched as his now raspy voice, broke through the music that was still bouncing around the four walls. Your brain searched frantically through the countless things he’d said to you tonight, eventually landing on the one you knew he was probably alluding to.

“”Show me you can be the part, or I’ll help you fucking learn.”” you weakly quoted his words from earlier perfectly.

“Exactly.” Sam reached out for you, turning you around to face him. You didn’t dare meet his eyes. “Look. At. Me.”

It took you what seemed like forever to meet his command. You eyes trailed around the floor for a moment, finally landing on his feet. From there, you raked your eyes nervously up his body - taking note of how his hands were fisted at his sides. His shoulders were visibly tight and his face was flaming bright red.

“You’re an absolute nightmare to work with, you know that?” Sam questioned, as if you genuinely didn’t know you were being difficult.

“Sam, i-“

“Shut up.” Sam barked, stepping closer to you. “I think you need a little bit of an incentive. What do you think, doll?”

The pet name rolled off Sam’s tongue effortlessly, sending a wave of fresh heat through your body when it reached your ears. It made you even more irritated that he was getting to you.

“I don’t need help. I can get it, let’s just do it aga-“

“Absolutely fucking not. I’m not doing this god forsaken routine again-“ Sam closed the remaining space between your bodies, poking your chest pointedly. “-Until I believe you can do it without screwing it up.”

“Oh, do tell me, how the fuck do you expect me to prove that?“ You snarled, stepping back from him.

He took another step forward, not wanting any new space between the two of you.

“I want you to prove to me that you can keep your eyes on mine.” Sam told you, as if it was obvious. “We drop eye contact, we lose the intensity of this whole damn thing. We lose focus. You end up out of touch with me and that, doll, is what is royally fucking us up.”

You scoffed loudly. Even though Sam had made a seriously valid point, you still didn’t quite understand how he intended to get you to prove anything to him.

“Am I just too much for you?” Sam taunted, leaning down to come nose to nose with you. “Do I make the poor little brat shy?”

“No.” You stood your ground, trying to remain firm and cool. “You’re just insufferable to be around and work with.”

“Mmm, then we’re just two peas in a pod, aren’t we?f” He jested dryly, rolling his eyes. “You know…” Sam’s hand raised to your face, causing you to jolt when the back of one of his fingers came in contact with your warm temple. “I think behind this little bitchy attitude, you’re dying for me to show you what I want you to do.”

You blinked away from him, trying your absolute damnedest to keep heat from rushing to your cheeks.

“I’m only being bitchy because YOU are bringing it out of me.” Despite your efforts to keep your voice strong, it still came out shaky and overly defensive. Not meeting his eyes, was definitely not helping your case either.

“See?!” Sam huffed an exasperated and humorless laugh. His finger found your jaw and tilted your head forward, but your eyes didn’t follow - Looking absolutely anywhere but Sam. “You’re already doing it again. Come on, look at me… right in my eyes. Be a big girl and do it.”

When you stubbornly still didn’t listen to him, Sam settled on a different approach. He turned you towards the mirror, moving to face it with you.

Feeling the growing wetness between you legs, you quickly tried to dig your way out. “Sam, what are you doing? Let’s just take a brea-“

“No breaks. If you won’t look at me, look at yourself,” Sam cut you off, pointing at your reflection. Finding the will to fight him growing thin, you caved, slowly raising your eyes to meet with your own in the mirror. “So flustered and pink. You’re just too sweet to do this. Maybe I should find a different partner…”

Sam’s words definitely stung and you hated that they did. You gave him a single glance as you spat back. “Fuck you, prick.”

With a widening smirk, you words clearly barely even scratched the surface. They were utterly amusing him if anything. “You would love that, wouldn’t you?”

Your eyes fell down to your arm, where his fingertips were grazing the skin of your shoulder, just shy of the strap of your sports bra and trailing down your arm. You cursed the chill that shook your spine and the goosebumps that formed over your skin, because they definitely didn’t go unnoticed to Sam.

“You’re so reactive to me…” He teased lowly, watching you closely in the mirror. His fingers stopped at your wrist and moved over to your exposed torso, running across the hem of your leggings. “I think this might be the motivation you need.”

“What? A good hate-fuck? Yeah, that’s just what I need.” you snarked. “You probably can’t last long enough for that to even be an effective solution.”

It slipped past your lips before you could stop it. You had said some questionable things to him, but judging by the shade of red that his face took on, these were definitely the words that hit him the hardest.

Within a blink, you were being abruptly turned back towards Sam and his hand found your jaw in a grip that could take you straight to your knees.

“Listen you little mouthy brat, I will fuck you so hard you can’t even fucking stand tomorrow. Then what? Neither of us get to fucking win. How does that sound?” Sam stared you down like he was ready to throw you across the room.

Reaching up, you pried his hand off your jaw and held it away from you. “I think that sounds like an empty fucking threat.” you hissed back, knowing good and well you were challenging him. It was easily close to one in the morning now, so fuck it. There was very little chance of getting anything else done tonight anyway.

Sam closed the gap between the two of you, yanking your whole body into his so forcefully it had you both stumbling. Your teeth clashed with his, but neither of you cared even the slightest bit. His tongue fought against yours for dominance, which he won by tangling a hand into your hair and pulling it roughly.

“At least so far your mouth is good for something other than making bitchy comments.” Sam shot as he pulled away to catch his breath.

“As much of a dick as you are, I hope you know how to use yours.” You shot right back, earning you a harsh smack to your outer thigh that had your knees buckling.

“Oh, pretty baby, you’re about to find out.” Sam smiled wickedly. It was probably the first smile you had seen out of him, in the two days you’d spent with him so far. “On your knees, I’m tired of listening to you.”

You sunk to your knees immediately, as if you had absolutely no control over your body anymore. Sam took a step back from you, taking the hem of his shirt in his hands and pulling it over his head. His fingers found the tie of his sweatpants, tugging it lose.

You watched his thumbs hook into the waistband and spoke up in protest. “What if I wanted to take them off you?“

“You haven’t earned that. You’ll be lucky if you even get to touch me at all.”

The only thing that stopped the annoyed groan from coming out of you, was the sudden view of Sam’s hardened cock as he shoved his sweats and boxers down his legs.

He looked as though he’d already been achingly hard for a while. He ran his thumb over his tip, soaking it completely with his pre cum.

“Open.” Sam commanded, gesturing to your mouth with his hand. You did as he told you, slowly opening your mouth up for him.

Sam’s thumb dipped into your mouth, giving you a taste of himself. “Go ahead… suck it.”

Without hesitation, you closed your mouth around Sam’s thumb, sucking every drop of his pre cum off with a barely audible moan.

But, even though he couldn’t hear it, the tiny vibration it sent through his finger was definitely a give away.

“Yeah, you would love this,” Sam scoffed down at you. “You’re just a submissive little thing, just like I thought.”

“Far fucking from it, asshole.” You lied and he knew it.

“As easily as I got you down on your knees, I’d say otherwise.” Sam snickered, beginning to stroke himself right in front of your face.

The drool that formed in your mouth at the sight of him was embarrassing. It was a damn good thing he couldn’t see it, because it would just be one more thing for him to make a snarky comment on.

“Just fuck my face already. Maybe I’ll pass out and won’t have to deal with you anymore tonight.” you huffed, licking over your lips.

“Bold words for a girl who can’t even look me in the eyes.” Sam retorted, grabbing your jaw and forcing your head back. “But since you asked…”

You opened your mouth for Sam and he slid himself in, giving you time to feel out how he felt in your mouth and his size.

After you adjusted and got comfortable, you slowly began moving your head up and down his length. Your hands gripped at each of his thighs, digging into the soft skin as you took him all the way to the back of your throat, earning a groan of approval from him.

“Fuck. That mouth could get you in so much trouble and get you out of it, all at once.” Sam groaned, head tipping back as his eyes gazed up to the ceiling blissfully.

Sam let you keep control for a while, until he figured you were comfortable enough. “You want me to fuck your mouth now? Hmm? Fuck all of those rude words right out?”

You nodded around him, but didn’t even try to hold back the exaggerated eye roll you gave at his words. Grabbing each side of your face with his large, calloused hands, he slid in and out of your mouth slowly, but rhythmically at first.

“This rude little mouth takes me so perfectly,” Sam rasped out, fucking into your throat harder.

“Who would have thought.”

You hummed around him, too focused on breathing to really listen to what he was saying. Even though he was being an ass, the few things you did choose to listen to, didn’t fail to send waves of wetness quite possibly soaking through your leggings completely.

“Look up at me. C’mon, be a big girl and look at me while I fuck your pretty face.” Sam’s thumb rubbed over you cheek, a much softer gesture compared to the force his hips were snapping into your mouth.

You squeezed your eyes, preparing yourself to look up at him. There was no way you were gonna let him win. You had to prove him you could do it.

Opening your eyes, they traveled up his toned, thin, chest. You hadn’t really had much opportunity to admire him, but you were definitely gonna take it now. Sam was so perfectly and intricately sculpted. He was painful to look at, really.

Finally meeting his eyes, Sam had the filthiest smirk plastered over his lips. You despised that smirk… And how it alone made you wetter than any man ever had.

“There they are… those innocent little eyes.” Sam cooed tauntingly, hips slightly faltering in your mouth.

“Mm, you didn’t think I was gonna cum in your mouth, did you?”

You gasped to fill your lungs back up with air, as Sam pulled out of your mouth.

“You don’t deserve to taste all of me like that.”

A noise of disappointment tumbled out of you before you could stop it. Thankfully, Sam chose to ignore it in light of the other plans on his mind.

Before you could even try to stand up, Sam was sinking to the floor in front of you.

“You’re not really gonna fuck me right here on the floor…?” You asked incredulously.

“Where else am I gonna fuck you stupid?” Sam questioned, sounding as if your question was the biggest inconvenience. “Unless you want me to take you up against the mirror.”

A brief glance at the mirror caused his eyes to darken even more and without another word, he was moving around to sit behind you.

“Sam, what are you doing?”

“Just turn and face the mirror and be quiet.” Sam ordered, not really giving you the time to move on your own - rather helping you along with a bruising grip on your shoulders.

“Okay… Now what?” you questioned, sounding horribly impatient.

“Christ, how many times do I have to tell you to shut your mouth?” Sam wondered aloud in annoyance, swinging a leg around so that he had one on either side of you. His fingertips trailed up your arm, all the way up to the strap of your sports bra.

Pulling the wide strap away from your shoulder, he released it with a loud snap against your skin.

“Fuck- Sam!” You hissed, hand reaching across your chest to cling to the burning spot on your shoulder.

Sam let out a low chuckle, moving your hair around to your opposite shoulder and pecking soft kisses to the back of your neck.

“What? I want it off.”

With a shaky hand, you reached up to the front zipper running down the middle, wincing at the sound it made. An obnoxious reminder of what you were about to do.

“Jesus christ…” Sam mumbled, unabashedly marveling at your chest as you pulled your bra away from your body.

Barely giving you any time to get it off and toss it to the side, his hands came around to cup both of your breasts in his hands.

A shaky breath was all you were willing to let slip, not wanting him to know just how much his touch was setting your body ablaze with need.

“Is your dress for the competition tomorrow night low cut?” Sam asked seemingly out of the blue, staring at your breasts through the mirror.

Your brows knitted together in confusion. “What?”

Sam’s fingers grazed across the swell of your breasts, all the way up to your collarbones. “Will the judges be able to see all this pretty skin?”

“I mean… Yeah, probably so don’t-“

Sam shifted, pulling you down to lay back against his leg. He leaned down over you, mouth sucking dark hickeys along your chest.

“Sam, fuck- You can’t-“ You choked out. Not a single part of you truly wanted him to stop, though. “Damnit, Sam..”

“Yeah, you’re gonna need to cover these up,” Sam smirked wickedly. Of course, he’d put them there just to make your life a little harder. “Don’t worry, I’ll leave you a few that you won’t have to put makeup on…”

You relaxed a little deeper into his arms, subtly pushing your chest out more for him. His mouth continued leaving hickeys scattered around your chest, going back over different ones to make them darker. Growing too hot for the leggings you were still wearing, you hooked your thumbs into the hem, not even pushing them down an inch before Sam stopped you.

“Did I tell you to take those off yet?” Sam asked lowly, barely lifting his mouth away from your skin.

“No… But it’s hot.” You huffed, going back to shoving them down your hips.

“You’ve been dancing how many hours now and these are just now getting too hot for you?” Sam smacked one of your hands away, replacing it with one of his own.

“Just take them off, I guess, since you’re obviously not gonna listen.”

You didn’t even try to suppress the smirk that tugged at the corners of your lips. That was definitely going down as a win for you, even though he was right; you were definitely not going to listen.

“Look at that…” Sam gasped in faux shock.

You looked at him in confusion once again, but followed his eyes.

“Oh..” Your eyes landed on the wet spot that had formed over your panties.

“How are you so shy, but such a whore all at once…?” Sam wondered, gliding his fingers over the top of your left thigh. You watched his fingers trace around silently, holding your breath in anticipation for where they were going.

“As much as I’d love to make you beg…” Sam pushed your panties to the side, coating his fingers in your slick and slowly began sinking them inside you. “I’m tired of listening to you talk.”

“Fuck you-“ you snapped through a gasp. Sam moved the two of you around, tilting your face towards the mirror as his fingers continued their slow pace.

“Look at yourself. Fucking pathetic, right?” Sam locked eyes with you through the mirror and you avert yours immediately. “That’s what I was hoping you would do.”

Sam’s thumb joined the mix, rubbing agonizingly slow circle into your clit. A moan of relief bubbled out of you before you could stop it.

“I bet that does feel good, doesn’t it?”

You nodded, fully leaning back against the front of Sam’s body.

“Here’s the catch, baby doll,” Sam grinned evilly. Pulling his fingers out of you, he gestured for you to raise your hips up. Skillfully, he tugged your panties down your legs, throwing them to the side somewhere to join your bra and leggings.

With a glance up at the mirror to try and catch your eyes, surprisingly he did and before you could tear your eyes away, he started to speak again. “If you look away, I’ll stop everything… How does that sound?”

“I think that sounds like a dick move.” You breathed out, not sounding nearly as harsh as you wanted to.

“Well, you’ve gotta learn somehow princess. You wanna win, right?” He spoke right into your ear.

A particular curl of his fingers as the slid back into you, sent you lurching forward and grabbing at his wrist. Accompanied by a loud moan that was loud enough to drown out the repeating Beyoncé song.

Sam’s free arm wrapped around you, jerking you back to his chest and holding you there. “Settle down, doll face and look up.”

You forced your eyes up to meet your obscene reflections.

Sam’s hand was buried between your thighs, other arm tightly around your upper body to hold you in place. His face was right beside yours, with perfect access to all the places he needed: Your neck to bite and suck on as he pleased, or your neck - to lean in and whisper his cocky demands.

“Oh, god, Sam…” You whined, eyes closing in pleasure as you circle your hips into Sam’s hand harder.

A dull burn had already started to form in the pit of your stomach. Sam had his own way of knowing of your building orgasm; watching you clench around him through the mirror.

“You better open those eyes if you wanna cum.” Sam warned, pressing his thumb deeper into your bundle of nerves.

“I c-can’t.“ you gritted out, only able to keep your eyes open for a few seconds at a time.

“Mm, that’s too bad.” Sam pulled his fingers out of you, bringing his soaked fingers up to your mouth.

“Open.”

You turned your head away from him, like a baby turning away from food they don’t want.

Sam’s arm wrapped from around you and shoved you forward onto your hands.

“Why are you so fucking impossible? A stubborn. hard-headed. brat.” Sam delivered three harsh smacks to the swell of your ass, each one significantly harder than the one before.

“Sam!” You cried, fingernails digging painfully into the hard floor in search of something to grab onto.

“Should I keep going, or are you gonna do what I say now?” He questioned with raised eyebrows, watching you slouch deeper into the floor.

“I’ll listen, I’ll listen.” you rushed out, looking up to watch Sam without him even having to ask.

Just to be a dick, Sam gave one more harsh smack right over the same spot.

“Atta girl.”

In reward, Sam’s fingers dipped into you again, attacking a whole new spot inside you thanks to the new position.

You moaned loudly, completely giving up on holding to your stubborn act. Sam bit his lip as he watched you. The way you were drinking in your entire appearance and just the current situation you were in. Your eyes swept over your own face, taking in your flushed cheeks and the way your mouth hung open slightly open, letting out little gasps and whines. Then on to the rest of your body: Your arms, the way they shakily held you up as Sam’s fingers sent shock waves of pleasure through your body. Your chest, heaving up and down unevenly with each breath. And finally, you pushed yourself a little, eyes landing on where you were connected with Sam’s fingers.

“Awfully vane of you to only look at yourself.” Sam scoffed, deepening the angle of his fingers. “Looking at yourself isn’t gonna do you much good. I’m the one you need to look at.”

You released a noise of irritation, but your eyes traveled up his arm and up to meet his eyes nonetheless.

Sam undeniably had gorgeous eyes, along with an intensity to them that seemed as though they could burn holes into literally anything and anyone.

You fluttered around Sammy’s fingers, trying not to become dizzy as your heart pounded away rapidly in your chest.

“I think you like this. Am I that nice to look at?”

Your blood began to boil at his cockiness and what was once a pleasure filled gaze, quickly shifts into a chilling glare. You hurled a command of your own at him, feeling the knot in your stomach tighten.

“Shut up and just make me cum.”

“That all depends on you, doll.” Sam shrugged cooly. “But let’s change it up a bit, shall we?”

Sam removed his fingers from you, beckoning for you to sit up with a nod of his head.

“Lay down.”

“On the floor…?” You hesitated, the spoiled side of you that had only been fucked on nicer surfaces showing through.

“Right here. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

You laid back against the cold, hard floor with a long sigh. Sam moved around you, carefully positioning himself between your legs.

“When you get close, I want your eyes on mine while you cum. If you break eye conta-“

“You stop. I fucking get it.”

Clearly becoming incredibly agitated by your attitude for the millionth time, Sam wanted nothing more than to shut you up.

He licked up your center, immediately flicking at your clit with his tongue. Forgetting where you were thanks to his mouth that had been on you for all of 10 seconds, you threw your head back. A groan of pleasure and pain ripped out of you; one hand shooting down to tangle in Sam’s hair, the other to cradle the back of your head.

He chuckled against you, watching you in amusement as you frantically tried to collect yourself.

Sam’s mouth worked against your fervently. His tongue worked against your bundle of nerves in skillful, intricate patterns. Bringing two fingers up to your entrance, he pushed them inside you, immediately searching for that sweet spot inside you.

Within a few short minutes Sam had you pulsing around his fingers. Even though you refused to make hardly a sound, it was evident that he had some sort of effect on you, just by how quickly he brought you closer and closer to that sweet high.

You made it just to the edge of your orgasm and remembered what Sam had told you just minutes ago. You mustered up every bit of courage you had and looked down at Sam, who was already looking up at you.

You stared directly into his eyes and immediately felt the heat rush to your cheeks.

Feeling yourself growing flustered again, you rolled your hips into Sam’s mouth, hastily trying to throw yourself over the edge before he could deny you. Your eyes had done nothing more than briefly shoot up to the ceiling and his mouth was already slowing down to a stop.

“Eyes down here, or I stop.”

“Sam, I- Fuck. Fuck, I hate you.” You said through clenched teeth and choked moans that you were trying to hold back from him.

“I’m blushing, Y/N. Really.” His fingers kept pumping in and out of you, but your clit was void of his mouth. You could already feel your second orgasm dwindling back down to just a dull ache. “You know, it’s a good thing you have me as your partner now. You and Luke would have never pulled this routine off.”

“You know, I think your mouth is better at spouting- bullshit than it is at giving head.” You managed out bitterly, not sounding nearly as venomous as you intended - Although, that definitely didn’t seem to make a difference in Sam’s reaction.

Sam retreated from your core entirely, moving over your body so quickly that you winced slightly.

“You’ll be lucky if you can even god damn dance tomorrow night.” Sam wrapped his hand around your throat, lining himself up with the other and slamming into you.

“I- oh fuck, Sam!” You cried out, Despite your efforts in keeping yourself quiet, not wanting to give Sam the satisfaction of pulling true moans from you.

“Take it, bitch. Or do you wanna run that nasty mouth of yours some more?” Sam spat, tightening his grip around your throat as he mercilessly pounded into you.

“M-maybe you should just smack me in the m-mouth next time.” You stuttered out, half hoping he would do it.

“If that’s your way of asking me to slap you, I think you can do a lot better than that.” Sam rasped, removing his hand from your neck.

“Smack me, Sam. Do it, right here.” You turned your face to the side, gasping loudly when his hand collided with your cheek without even a second thought.

“Oh, fuck- yes! D-Do it again, please-“

He repeated the action with the same amount of force as the first time, clearly more cautious about hurting your face. Regardless, it sent you plummeting straight for your high and Sam knew it.

“God, you’re already close? You’re such a little whore, baby doll.” Sam mocked, bringing his hand in between your bodies and to your clit. “This is how I need you to- be tomorrow night. Fuck— my little dancing slut.”

You couldn’t even find the words to form a quick, bitchy, remark. There was absolutely nothing. Your brain was completely clouded with debilitating, mind numbing, bliss and an ongoing chant of Sam’s name.

“You’re right there. Give me those eyes, let me see them.” Sam demanded, his hips stuttering inside you a few times. If you had even been half coherent, you would have gathered that he was close, too.

Sam’s free hand grabbed your jaw roughly, growing immensely impatient with you. “I’ll get myself off and make you run this dance with my cum dripping out of you. You’ve got about 10 seconds, doll face.”

As simultaneously hot and antagonizing as the idea was, there was no way you were letting him win on such a level.

You pried your eyes open, locking with Sam’s. They were impossibly dark and lust filled, fiery and still holding a bit of that coldness from earlier when the two of you were still practicing.

“Cum for me, baby doll. Look at me while you cum all pretty on my cock.”

You were slammed into your orgasm, like waves slamming against rocks. Your vision grayed out around the edges and whatever else Sam said was completely lost on you.

Sam followed only seconds after you, quickly pulling out and pumping himself through the rest of his high. Swears and groans of pleasure flowed out of him in a constant stream. You’d already started to come down before him, and you were hoping that he was letting go of all his frustration.

Somewhere in your few moments of silence, you realized the music was still playing on a loop.

“Fucking christ…” Sam let out a long, uneven breath.

He stayed over top of you for a moment or two, before he finally got up and walked over to his bag. Retrieving an extra shirt he had, he walked back over to you and knelt down, cleaning you up as best he could.

“Get dressed, doll. Quickly.” Sam tossed your clothes to where you were still sat on the floor as he gathered up his own.

“We’re running this shit ONE more time and then I’m going the hell home.”

@theharryhype @theweightofjake @jordierama @jake-kiszkas-smirk @samsrestingbitchface @belovedsamuel @safety-sammy @positivegvfthings @doodle417 @shutupdevvie

[sabraeal]

Just a Second Away from Being In Love (Or Alone)

[Read on AO3]

Written for @another-miracle, who asked for any Obi POV in Wide Florida Bay-- but hopefully an obiyuki one 🤣. It actually took me a while to circle in on which one to pick; there's a few that I had my eye on earlier in the timeline, but when it came to obiyuki bits...I knew it had to be this one, which starts off a small mini-arc in the established relationship part of this fic!

It takes him two hours and two pounds of eggplant, but after five minutes of this newest crisis of morale, Obi finally gives in: he going have to use his Phone A Friend for this one. Or at least someone friendly. Ish.

“Tell me this is gonna be worth it,” he huffs, contorted into nature’s worst pretzel shape; his newest attempt to locate anything that could pass for another pie plate in this place. No way Doc’s lived here for three years without putting at least five of the most grandma-worthy vessels for piping-hot fruit somewhere in the cabinets. “Tell me this is gonna be the best thing I’ve put in my mouth my whole life. A fucking paradigm shift when it comes to food.”

“It’s eggplant parmesan. You’re gonna wish it was chicken.” Kelly Ann clucks her tongue, and god, she can be a thousand miles away, but he knows she’s got a knee balanced up on her desk, head tipped back because her eyes can’t roll far enough. “But you just spend half an afternoon drying the most finicky vegetable known to man, so you can’t turn back now. You’re committed.”

That’s the sort of talk that would have given him a life-threatening case of the hives years ago, limping around Atlanta’s unforgiving streets looking for an Urgent Care more quickly than taking a jab to the gut. But now he just asks, “But she’ll like it though, right?”

Kelly Ann sighs, already sick of him. “Yes. The poor innocent you’ve tricked into thinking you’re boyfriend material will think it’s the best thing she’s ever eaten. Even Cal’s officer buddies eat it, and they’re more picky than the four-year-old.”

“I dunno,” he hums, hand-pulverized breadcrumb scattering over sea foam ceramic. “She cooks really good. Have I told you about the Cornish hens? They—”

“I have heard all about the Cornish hens. I am sick of hearing about the Cornish hens.” Obi’s mouth twitches. Gotta be hard for her, having to share the pedestal for Gayle’s Favorite Child. At least with someone who isn’t her own kid. “What kind of guarantees are you look for here? That it’s going to get you laid? It will definitely get you laid.”

“Kelly Ann.” If his hands weren’t covered in egg, he’d be pressing one to his chest, scandalized. “I wasn’t— I’m not doing this for sex.”

She snorts. Which, frankly, he’s earned. But he’s turned over a new leaf. Become a new, better man. One who knows that the most important part of a relationship isn’t what happens between the sheets.

But it certainly helps hedge your bets, especially when you’re as much of a fuck up as he is. Hell, if sex was an option, he wouldn’t be here, debating which hand he’d used for the wet ingredients and which was for the dry. Oh no, he would have been far too busy making her see shrimp colors to worry about whether eggplants stayed crispier fried or baked. But since he’d had fallen for her absolutely genius— though, as Yuzuri warned, biologically inadvisable— beach-dinner-sex seduction strategy, Doc’s on the bench for the next quarter, sexy-time wise, and he’s—

Well, he’s got to show her he’s got talents out of the bedroom too. Or, er, off the couch. And shower. Sometimes even—

Ah, well, non-flat surface based talents. Cooking’s supposed to be one of them.

At least, it would be, if his eggplant slices weren’t eating floor. “How are you supposed to even get these slippery bastards over to the tray? They just keep— fuck.”

“Just go slow,” Kelly Ann informs him with an aggravating amount of patience. “It’s not a race.”

“I am going slow,” he snaps, gingerly transferring his next slice to the rack. “There is no possible way I could be going slower. I’m going to be here for days just doing this. Years from now, archaeologists will find my body and wonder why I’m only halfway through—”

“If there was an Olympic event for complaining, you’d take gold five years running.” She can tease him as much as she like, but there’s no bite to it anymore, no sharp teeth waiting to take a nibble. No, he’s pretty sure that the stretch on her vowels means she’s smirking; the closest thing to a smile when she’s aimed in his direction. “Maybe you should be doing this for sex, it sounds like you might need—”

“You keep this up and I’ll ask Gayle when you’re thinking you’ll have round two.” His mouth is all teeth as he adds, “After all, Laila would make such a cute big sister.”

He can’t see her, but he can hear her seething on the other end of the line. “I know where you live.”

“It’s a fourteen hour drive at best and I’ve got Mom on speed dial.”

Her scowl radiates from the speaker. “Fine,” she grits out. “Guess I’ll just have to tell her we’re waiting until number two could have a playmate.”

Obi blinks down at her picture. “Huh, Toddy’s found some girl? That’s fast. He was single at—”

“I’m not talking about Toddy.”

There’s enough silence in the kitchen to make his ears ring. “…What?”

“Oh, come on, Obi,” Kelly Ann sighs, as if he’s the one being obtuse. “The only people you two were fooling at Christmas were yourselves. And now you’re spending a whole day pampering eggplant to impress her?”

“I had a day off,” he murmurs, knees suddenly as solid as his egg dredge. “And I don’t think battering and frying count as a spa day.”

Kelly Ann grunt, unconvinced. “Sure, sure, we can sit here and have you deflect all day. But when it comes down to it…you’re serious about her aren’t you?”

As a heart attack. Which would be fine, if they weren’t barely two months in to the longest relationship of his life. “I think it’s a little soon to say that, uh…”

“That you love her?” His heart beats so loud in his ears he can hardly hear her ask, “You do, don’t you? Love her?”

“Yeah.” It’s a miracle he can even speak with his mouth this dry. “Of course I do.”

“Have you said that? With your Big Boy words?”

He has to press his hands against the counter to keep them from shaking. A strategy that would go better if both of them weren’t covered in egg gunk.

“Ah, gotta go,” he gasps, already reaching for a towel. “Making a real mess of all this.”

“Obi—”

The first finger clean shoots out, cutting off the call.

“There,” he sighs. “That’s enough of that existential crisis.”

*

The eggplant’s fresh out of the oven and sauce just off the heat when the door opens with a shush, his own personal problem stumbling out into the living room, trying to toe her sandals into the tray. If he weren’t elbow deep with this casserole dish, he’d saunter out to appreciate her attempts; there’s a lot on TV nowadays, but none of it can compete with Doc nearly giving herself a concussion trying to unlatch one of those little buckles. TLC used to say you learned something new every day, and listening to her grumble approach swears without ever intersecting, Obi agrees.

“Oh, really.” Most people might be happy just to hurl abuse at inanimate objects, but not Doc. Oh no, she’s got to reason with them.  “This sort of…of…tomfoolery is very…rude. I think you should just…stop…if you would…”

He waits until the first tell-tale clatter and clunk, to call out, “Welcome home.”

“Obi!” she yelps, and oh, he might not be able to see it, but he knows that shocked look: mouth as round as her eyes, skin flushed down to where it meets the swoop of her collar. Extremely kissable, is what he’s saying. “You’re here?”

A tap of the sauce spool sends a chunk of it skittering across the stove, but he grins anyway. “Am I not supposed to be? Did you have plans? Maybe even naughty—?”

“No!” It’s more of a croak than a gasp. “No, I mean…you’re supposed to be here. I’m happy your here. You” —her voice drops, soft, like her pillows— “belong here.”

He thought he’d known all the ways a heart could ache these past few years, but when she talks like that, ah, he’d never thought it could feel this good. Or this terrifying. “You’re not denying the naughty plans thing.”

And she still doesn’t, going so quiet a guy might get suspicious, if he didn’t know— keenly— that she was still in the shop. Taking her nice places and making delicious, boyfriend-worthy dinners has been great; a bigger rush than sex in a bathroom stall. But still, when most of their nights involve staying in, settling into the couch the way they always did, just with the new, heady knowledge that they both are wanting the same things…

Well, there’s been a few inadvisable make out sessions. Exciting ones, the kind that involve hands going under shirts and down pants and wearing hoodies in eighty degree weather the next day. But every time they wandered beneath her shorts— or, more than a few personally exhilarating times, skirts— the mood swerved off the rails, ending things before they— or well, she could get anywhere. After a three-year dry spell, Obi thought a few weeks would be a breeze, a quick breather between rounds, but after a month of having her moan his name at just the simplest touch—

It’s a special kind of torture, he thinks as the other shoe drops. Especially when Doc’s never been one to behave.

“You are home early.” Doc doesn’t often get the jump on him— in shitty childhood vs playful girlfriend, there’s a clear winner every time— but this time, when her sweet voice pipes up from his elbow rather than the galley window, he does. “And cooking dinner?”

“Yeah, I, ah…” She’s always been a curious little squirrel, skittering hither and yon, but when she leans around him to catch a peek of his hard work, her breasts brush against his arm, and, well— like he said. It’s been a long time. “Haah…just needed to let some data compile for a diagram. Thought it might do better on my laptop on our internet.”

He should be playing Tetris with these eggplant pieces right now, but Doc doesn’t make it easy, not with the way she tucks herself against him, her front pressed to his side, a burning line from shoulder to hip. “Are those eggplant?”

One small hand traces a path across his belly, just below his navel, and— and Obi can read a room. Really he can. It’s just not possible that she’s putting down what he’s picking up. “Y-yeah.” He clears his throat, willing it back into an actual, grown adult’s register. “I, uh, got the recipe from Kelly Ann. She…”

Her wrist twists, just enough to dip the tip of her finger beneath his waistband, and oh god, okay, he can’t take it. “Can we talk?” he asks, desperate, one hand gripped around her wrist. “Just for a second here. Because I…I need some clarification, I think.”

Doc flusters, every visible inch of her skin red as she tries to slip from his grasp. Which is absolutely not happening, not if she’s barking up the tree he thinks she is. “S-sorry! I just…I thought…”

One tug sends her careening back into him, every inch of her pressed against every inch of him. Or well, most of them. He's got ten or so that don't quite match up “I’m not complaining about the thinking here. I’m confused about the doing, because I thought we weren’t supposed to, er…”

Do the doing isn’t really where he wants to take this sentence. “I thought,” he starts again, a shade more collected, “that you were in the shop.”

“No.” Her cheeks flush so pink he’s half tempted to bite them, just to see what she’d taste like against his tongue. “I-I mean, I was. But I went to my doctor today, and um…?”

Every muscle in his body stiffens, tense like a cat ready to pounce. “And…?”

Doc might be bold enough to throw herself out windows and into swamps full of at least three of his most deadly fears, but at the twitch of his dick against her hip, her eyes skitter back toward the counter. “A-are you at a good place to stop?”

The eggplant’s going to get floppy in the sauce, and none of it will be as good as it would be if he finished getting this in the oven now, but he can hardly care, not when she lets out a delicious little gasp as she bumps into the counter.

“What exactly did the doc clear you for?” he rumbles, leaning in to give her parted lips the barest brush. “This?”

Her fingers clench at his shoulders, as frustrated as the moan that slips from her throat. “Obi…”

There’s a warning in that, a promise for what will wait for him if he keeps up his teasing, and it only makes his next taste all the sweeter.

“This?” It’s a whisper against her lips, one lost when she swallows it whole. Those fingers yank him down, trapping him in this endless drag of lips and tongue, each one teasing out another moan, another shiver, until he’s nearly drunk from it.

One of his palms scrapes up her side; the silky material of her dress catches on his calluses before he dips beneath it, her nipple already pebbled against his palm. “This?”

His mouth drops to catch it, and oh, if he thought she’d been close before, there’s nothing but cloth between them now, her body arched to fill the curve of his. “Obi!”

She’s trembling in his grip, only the arm at her back keeping her upright, and oh, it’s nothing to trace his fingers up her thigh, to trace the edge of her panties. “This?”

His only answer is a whimper and the bite of nails at his shoulder. It’s enough; he shoves them to the side, the small hairs there tickling his palms. And when the tip of his finger slips between her folds—

“Jesus. Fuck.” His forehead rests against her shoulder. “You’re…?”

Wet. Soaked. His mouth is too dry to get out the words. He doesn’t need to, not when she nods, wiggling against his hand. “Uh-huh.”

“Hah.” He licks his lips, hoping she can’t feel how he trembles now, every part of him drawn as tight as a bowstring. “How about this?”

His fingers dip inside, two sinking straight to the last knuckle. God, he nearly cums right there, from the noise she makes. “Is this what the doc cleared you for, Shirayuki?”

She whines, a pathetic, frustrated sound. One he’d be happy to tease out of her again, if she didn’t reach down and pump his fingers into her again, like he might need the help.

“Haah,” he breathes, hard. “Yeah, I think I can help with that.”

By the way she’s moving, it won’t be enough. Not nearly enough for either of them, not with his cock straining his jeans, soaking them where it’s trapped up against the band. He grinds against her hip, trying to get some relief, pulling her even tighter against him as his fingers work, and—

“Obi,” she gasps, pushing his shoulders away. “We eat on these counters.”

He’d argue that, if they weren’t already sharing space with dinner. Instead he leans in, giving her one, long kiss as he drags his fingers out of her. “Your room or mine?”

“Whichever,” she sighs, hopping up into his arms, “is closer.”

[astaroth1357]

Long Distance Longing with the Brothers

Want a little angst and sweetness? I love how this turned out and I think it’s a new favorite for me. I honestly should wait to post it... But I have no patience, I love it too much. Weirdly enough, thank Taylor Swift’s new album for giving me this idea. Go figure. 🤷‍♀️

Warnings: Angst, implied starvation

Intro:

The brothers knew it was going to happen eventually. The year can't last forever, and at some point they were going to have to say goodbye to their human for the break… But that didn't make the situation any easier. Nobody likes being so far from the one they love. It was only a matter of time before our boys are reaching a breaking point...

Lucifer

Lucifer has never really had a reason to not to work before… Like, yeah there are those days where things get stressful and he takes a step back, but actually taking an extended period of time to just... not work? A "vacation" if you will? He’s never had the desire. What would he even do with himself?

Well, for the first time in literal God knows how many centuries, he had an answer for that question. He was going to be with MC.

And that's exactly what he told Diavolo when he finally accepted that missing the MC was negatively affecting his work. 

He wanted a… "vacation."

Diavolo had never once thought Lucifer would ever ask, and to be fair the man never thought he would either, but he's more than happy to give his friend a few days off to visit his dear human.

Whatever brief hit that his pride took by having to admit that he needed a break was more than made up for by finally seeing the MC again. He knew he missed them, painfully aware of that fact, but just the sight of them waiting to meet him outside the portal was enough to nearly take his breath away…

His first vacation was sure to be paradise. 

Mammon 

Oh, the distance was killing this poor boy. Any day where he can’t have the MC on his arm feels worse than when he's on a losing streak…

Speaking of a losing streak, he's been stuck in one for a whole month without his beloved partner in crime with him. Did he lose his lucky charm or was he just too down in the dumps to gamble well? Anyone's guess.

Well he got fucking sick of it. He wanted to see the MC, ASAP. But how would he get to the human world…?

It takes a week but he gets an idea. It took another for it to actually trigger.

Like clockwork one of the witches he's regularly in debt to, one that just happens to be a bad gambler herself, summoned him out to give her a little extra luck. Usually, he'd just kick whatever slot machine she’s parked herself at and be done with it but this time he's got to ask… How long does that summon spell last, eh?

He made a new sort of bargain. She gets to take Goldie out for a spin if she gave him some time in exchange… 24 hours to be exact.

He didn't waste a second after striking the deal because he had a lot of flying to do.

The MC probably didn't expect to hear frantic knocking on their door at the break of dawn, nor to find a beat tired and disheveled Mammon leaning outside it….

But he embraced them for all it's worth anyway. If it meant feeling them in his arms again, he'd trade away the whole world if he had to...

Leviathan 

He… didn’t do so well with the distance. Like at all. He'd mope around the house, constantly bemoaning how unfair things were. Not even his favorite games can give him any joy because those were the games he used to play with MC…

Sneaking in the occasional video call was pretty much the only thing that could make him smile anymore. Just seeing their face felt like getting a cold drink in the middle of a scorching desert… But he wanted more.

Thankfully, the MC themselves gave him a really, really good idea…

For two weeks straight, Levi seemed to get out of whatever funk he was in to help out around the House… Like, really help out. Suck-up levels of help out. It creeped everybody out...

After a time he finally approached Lucifer and made a simple request. There was an anime convention going on in the human world soon and he'd like to attend…

The ulterior motive for this little visit is practically written on the wall, but he'd been acting so damn unnerving for the past two weeks Lucifer just gave him permission to make him stop.

When the MC agreed to meet him on the opening day, they said they'd be dressed up as someone he'd recognize. Frankly, he was expecting Henry or maybe Ruri-chan but he was completely floored to see them waiting for him dressed in a familiar black hoodie with coral-like horns on their head and a carefully crafted serpent's tail behind them.

To this day he still can't decide what made him happier: seeing the love of his life so adoringly dressed as him or finally feeling their body collide with his after they came running to each other outside the convention hall...

In the end it probably doesn't matter because for that whole day alone, he finally felt like he had everything he could of ever wanted right there with him.

Satan 

Satan's not one for idle moping so when he felt that yearning in his chest finally hit a tipping point, he didn't whine. He didn't complain. He got up and did something about it.

Teleportation magic is tricky to master and dangerous to perform even with sufficient skill. One wrong move and you could end up smearing yourself across three different continents…

But like that would stop him.

He pulled out every book he could find on the subject, researched for days, then practiced for weeks. First on books and apples, then on some of Lucifer’s belongings.

He had to keep making new excuses to throw Lucifer off the scent (especially after he started sending some of his shirts away to different parts of the house) but after some time, it finally paid off.

Satan was probably the last person the MC would have expected to see show up in their room randomly one night, sitting casually by a lamp and reading a book like he didn't just master time and space just to come say hi.

But who was going to be all that picky when they could finally shower their nerdy cat-lover in all the love and kisses they've both been missing for months now?

Asmodeus 

If you took Asmo at his word, then the sheer depths of longing and despair he was experiencing while the MC was away could far outweigh that of anyone else to ever have existed in the history of all time.

He was the Avatar of Lust, desire was in his nature. Couple that with a burning need to have his lover as close to him as he possibly could and it was safe to say he was losing his mind!

This might have been the reason Solomon finally gave in after his 16th-ish time trying to beg the sorcerer to help him. He really was quite pitiful in this state...

When Solomon told Asmo that he could smuggle him out of the teleportation gate between the Devildom and human world ONLY if he could magically disguised his appearance, he was kind of expecting Asmo to refuse. This was Asmo he was talking about. He honestly thought that he'd rather die than deprive the world of his beauty so selfishly…

The world is full of surprises, ain't it?

No matter where they were, no matter what they were doing, the MC was suddenly mowed over by a "stranger" running at them at top speed like an Olympic sprinter. It’d probably have been pretty scary before Solomon lifted the enchantment shortly after to reveal their demon’s gorgeously familiar face.

Solomon wasn't going to let him stay too long, lest he incur the wrath of Lucifer, but Asmo couldn't care less. Be it a thousand hours or a few short seconds, he could always find a way to make his time with the MC last a lifetime...

Beelzebub

Fun fact, Hell freezes over a little every time Beel says "I'm not hungry…" No. Seriously. A freezing wind blasts across the entire Devildom like the realm itself gets a sudden chill...

So imagine the levels of panic that went through pretty much everyone there when his appetite started to fail him.

It's not like the poor baby could help it, food just tasted so much better when the MC was there that eating without them was like trying to digest actual disappointment… He got tired of trying after a while.

A few days of this behavior were worrying, but when he started to get a little thinner the family went into an uproar, starting with Belphie but soon spreading to the rest of the House as well.

Lucifer's soft spot for the twins may have influenced his decision. I mean, it was awfully generous of him to get Diavolo to approve of an fully sanctioned, planned meeting between Beel and the MC. He probably wouldn’t have offered that to anyone else...

Not that Beel cared about all that background favoritism anyway. Hell, on the day that he was finally allowed to see them, he couldn't be bothered by anything other than holding the MC close and hoping they'd never let him go again.

His appetite did return to him eventually, of course, but as long as he had his human with him even the cheapest street taco tasted like a fine five star-meal.

Belphegor 

Frankly, Belphegor was sick and tired of missing people.

Ever since the Celestial War he missed Lilith. When he was stuck in the attic, he missed Beel. And now that the MC was away he was supposed to just sit patiently and miss them too? No way. Not happening. Something about that had to change.

It wasn’t the first time he'd gone to Lucifer in an angry huff, but admittedly he had more ammo than usual...

There was a… discussion between the two. It went on for a couple hours… There may have been some words to the effect of, "Don't you think you owe me?" exchanged… 

Honestly, it was kind of amazing Belphie didn't end up in another attic "timeout" by the end of it. But he got what he wanted, so what's to complain about?

With a little persuasion on his part, Lucifer managed to get Diavolo to approve of a weekly visit for the two, SO LONG as Belphie stayed on his best behavior in the human world.

There wasn’t really much worry about him acting up, though, since he'd have his nap buddy back. It would be pretty hard to be a threat to humanity when he was too busy staying snuggled up to his favorite person until well past noon...

[henqtic]

Draco takes care of you when you tear your acl in quidditch and after surgery too

𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 || 𝒅.𝒎

word count: 945

warnings: tearing your acl- that’s a given, mentions of breaking your bones, kissing ish?, I think that’s about it.

a/n- I’m sorry this took so long lol- I’m a bit of an over achiever so I did ‘research’ before I started.

+masterlist | draco malfoy masterlist

The day had been annoyingly long, each sympathetic look weighing down your mood more than it already was. In simpler words, it was utterly exhausting. The only thing that could possibly make it better was a relaxed afternoon cuddled up with your boyfriend.

When you were younger, you always yearned for the attention others got when they broke a bone and came back to classes with a cast, prepared for anyone and everyone to sign.

Now that you were older, you realized that all the attention and ‘longing’ stares of pity just weren’t the best thing in the world, especially when they were coming from Gryffindors who’s whole existence was hating your house. You know what? You wished you had broken a bone, it would’ve been better than this.

Draco did try his best to help when he noticed you looked uncomfortable. But scowling at ninety percent of the school that were genuinely sorry that you had gotten hurt so bad had only drew more attention. It was out of sweetness really but sometimes he needed to read a room.

A week ago ago in a Slytherin versus Gryffindor game, a quaffle was directed right at you, and out of instinct you moved out of the way. Or at least tried to. Seconds later a blinding pain struck the middle of your right knee; a loud popping sound following.

Draco swooped in and grabbed you before you lost grip, disregarding both the snitch and the game at hand. You were about to complain that it wasn’t that big of a deal but once you looked down, you realized it was. Your knee had already started to swell up and looked very- obscure.

“Be honest with me Draco. How bad is it, ‘scale of one to ten?” You asked worryingly, half listening to what Madame Pomfrey was saying. Your hand was tightly latched with his big ones as he peaked at it. He grimaced before looking back at you. 

Truth was it was an eight and very close to being a nine but the worry was practically oozing out of you. “Let’s not worry about that love,” he said sympathetically, wiping a fallen tear from your face.

Out of all things that could've happened in your time in Hogwarts, you didn't think tearing your acl was going to be one of them. You also didn’t expect to be transported to st. mungo's for a surgery.

When it was done, you were informed that you would be able to go back to Hogwarts the very next day and someone would have to help you around. But the only part you were focusing on was if you were going to be able to play quidditch again.

You knew what torn acls did to a lot of athletes and you didn’t want that to happen to you- the fact that you had magical healers at your fingertips slipped your mind. You’d be able to play quidditch again just not in the next six months and maybe some time after that.

A downside was that you had to go around wearing both a cast and knee brace and crutches, which undoubtedly earned unneeded attention. Everything was better with Draco there. At some point he went as far as to bribe the physical therapist to be in the same room as you and promised to ‘not be a distraction’.

He had to leave after about ten minutes when he had gotten bored and decided to play with your crutches. He lost balance and fell face first, earning a bloody nose in the process.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

“Draco you really don’t have to do all this.” He had already put pillows under your leg to keep it elevated and was going to grab an ice pack too. “What are you gonna do? Get up and stop me for carrying for you?” He asked rhetorically with a small chuckle placing the ice pack on top of your knee.

“Ha-ha you’re such a comedian Draco, the funniest guy out there” your tone was full of sarcasm; getting an infamous scowl. He caught sight of the school uniform you were still wearing, “Stay here and let me get you something more comfortable to wear yea?” He hadn’t given you a chance to answer before going to one of the dark dressers that decorated his room.

Stay here? Where does he expect me to go? You wondered looking down at your injured leg. Your thoughts were interrupted by a familiar emerald green jersey getting thrown onto the bed.

At any other given moment it would be comforting to wear a piece of his clothing, especially one you had been wearing since fifth year when you two started dating. 

But seeing as it was closely connected to the whole reason you were in this position in the first place, you’d rather be wearing nothing at all.

“It is supposed to be some sick joke,” you laughed, picking up the quidditch jersey. It wasn’t much of a joking matter but watching him scramble to get it out of your sight was nothing less of amusing.

“Are you- are you laughing at me?” He asked feigning offense, making you shake and bite your lip to contain the giggle that wanted to pass your lips.

“I’m going to get you back for that,” he threatened making you laugh louder and widen your eyes to fake being scared. He scoffed before grabbing your face in his hands and peppering kisses in every place he could.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with giggles and kisses and occasionally him trying to practice walking on crutches again. This time not giving himself a bloody nose.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

general taglist- @90smalfoy  @ch0kemedracomalfoy @dracosaccount 

draco malfoy taglist- @turn-to-page-394-please @clownybrit  @aguamvnti  @callmesasha   

if your name is crossed out that means I couldn’t tag you for some reason.

+Taglist form →here

[justapoet]

Hi mary! Can I request for tarlos: 37 "How weird is it that I just realized I want to marry you?" thank you in advance! xx

Sara!! Thank you so much for sending this ask! I really hope you like it :)

Prompt list: "How weird is it that I just realized I want to marry you?"

Send me a prompt!

2.2k | read it on Ao3

let's have conversations in the dark

Time seems to stand still whenever you need it to rush, and TK had learned it from a young age. The clocks seem to play a trick and decide not to move the way they're supposed to, just to prove whoever was staring that, even if time is merely a human concept, it still holds power over their existence.

It's something he had learned to deal with, only because he really needed to. Since he was a kid, his father would end up in a hospital, and he would be in the waiting room, staring at the clocks and hoping for the moment he would look back and see that it wasn't too bad to wait in there.

Time would pretend not to exist while TK would ask anyone above their heads to bring his father back home.

And, yet as a kid, TK would stare at the clocks and count the seconds until the time he knew both his mother and father would leave work. He would sit by the kitchen counter with his dinner and stare at the pointers, his leg bouncing and his heart racing, expecting the minute they would walk in through the door and look at his new "super-awesome" dinosaur pajama.

Time would go too fast until they would say it was time for him to sleep, and the nights would go too slow just for him to see that none of them were home by the morning.

Growing up, TK would try to fool the clocks, pretending he was having fun when he needed time to go faster and lying about how boring things were whenever he wanted the minutes to freeze for a few hours. It was silly, he could see, but also endearing ― according to Enzo.

He would slowly learn how to deal with it, though, not playing tricks on time anymore ― he would take a deep breath and just accept things as they were, hoping that the waiting would turn out to have a happy ending. TK would go out for a walk, watch a movie or a random show, or start some new book he had left on his shelf for far too long.

He would make peace with time until the moment he began to wish that time didn't even exist at all.

It was funny when he looked back to see how much things changed in a couple of years. The nights he would wish that never came so he could stay awake a bit more would become his only refugee and shelter from his parents' fights or absence, and the hours he spent crying would be just known for him and the walls. The sunny days he loved so deeply would become torture, people asking why he didn't go out or acted like a typical teenager, enjoying life and the young years.

And when he couldn't even remember how the days passed by, TK would wish the clocks to stop moving. Just for a bit ― just so he could rest. Just so he didn't have to cry for one more night.

It was weird just how that time wasn't a long time ago. And even more when, sometimes, those thoughts would take up TK's mind, hours, and seconds.

He was getting better, though, in both time and misery management. Sure, the clocks still stopped whenever he needed or desperately wanted it to go faster and rush whenever he wanted more time, but he was getting better at dealing with his agony and deception.

Especially when, after a shift from hell, even if it was only a twelve-hour one, TK got to get home to Carlos.

It was a Friday, and the both of them had the weekend off. Although they had planned to take a trip to Marble Falls, less than an hour from Austin, so they could relax and have some time to enjoy each other's company, Carlos getting sick had terminated that they wouldn't get too far out of the house.

Carlos got pretty upset over it, apologizing and saying that he didn't mean to ruin their plans ― and TK had only hugged Carlos close to his chest, trying to take the groundless guilt out of the man's mind. He dismissed every apology, saying that the only thing that mattered was that Carlos would get better so they could plan their trip again.

It had happened on a Wednesday, and TK had taken Thursday off after they had to take a ride to the ER within the late hours of the night ― or early ones in the day, for that matter. Carlos was running out of air and vomiting everything he didn't have in his stomach, and his fever was high enough for TK to cry when waiting for the doctor ― and, when she came, he couldn't get himself to pay attention as he should have.

His boyfriend was whimpering, crying, and asking for them to go home, and TK wasn't strong as he needed to be at that moment. The clocks wouldn't tick by, and Carlos would ask how long they've been there every five minutes, and TK would only wish it was nothing, and he only needed some fluids and regular medication.

TK knew it wasn't too serious ― he was experienced enough to know that ― but seeing Carlos in pain was a hell-sent experience. He would get withdrawn and make himself look small, silently begging for it to stop and searching for any contact TK could offer. TK would offer him a smile, some comfort words, and would caress his sweaty, messy curls just to get a shadow-ish grin in response.

It was worthy, though.

When Carlos got discharged, a few hours after he was admitted, TK messaged Grace so she could talk to Tommy and Judd ― who would tell the rest of the team ―, and Andrea and Gabriel, letting them know that he was okay. Both Grace and Carlos' mother had offered to make them some soup, and TK knew better than decline any offer, sending a thumbs up and a heart.

Against his will, he had gone to work Friday morning, his heart getting lighter when Grace knocked on their door minutes before he had to go. Carlos was still sleeping, curled upon himself, and TK pressed a kiss to his forehead before hugging Grace tight and leaving to the fire station.

And no matter how much he trusted Grace or how deeply he loved his job, he had spent the whole shift staring at some clock whenever he could. He wanted to go home, ask how Carlos was doing, and then let the other man curl himself against his side to feel some sense of protection ― he just wanted to see his boyfriend again and make sure he was there.

So, TK had taken a shower at the station before accepting Judd's ride to get Grace and check on Carlos, thanking God when he waited in the car, and Grace was already by the door. He loved them both, he really did ― but he didn't want to be cordial at the moment.

TK walked up the stairs silently, thanking God that their room was further in the hallway than it was in the condo they'd lost to the fire. His bag and shoes were left by the locked door, and he had thrown his hoodie somewhere in the living room.

He stepped lightly inside their bedroom, smiling fondly at the sight of Carlos lying on his back with one of his arms thrown over his face and the other in the vacant space that belongs to TK. His chest was rising and falling more smoothly than it was on the two previous days, and the paramedic couldn't help but sigh in relief at that.

Not wanting to wake his boyfriend up, TK made his way to their bathroom to take his clothes off, except for his boxers, and brush his teeth, stretching his back and letting the day settle behind him. Knowing he wouldn't fall asleep so easily ― worrying was inevitable ― TK walked to the bookshelf they had in their bedroom, taking one of the books he had bought and had yet to read it.

Then, he took his steps to their bed, where Carlos had already moved his arm from, and sat with his back pressed against the headboard, taking one of the blankets and covering his legs. He smiled at the man beside him before making himself comfortable and opening the first pages of the book, sighing in relief to be home.

TK didn't make it to the third page when Carlos groaned and turned his body, stretching his arm and loosening it to fall over the paramedic's lap and the book he was reading. TK blinked in surprise, turning to Carlos and then chuckling softly, his heart swelling with how much he loved that moment.

"Miss'd 'ou," Carlos grumbled, getting closer to TK and making him slip down a little so his boyfriend could hug his waist, at least. The paramedic closed the book, then, putting it over the bedside table, and turned lowered his eyes again, watching Carlos' sleepy face.

"I missed you, too, babe," TK said. "How are you feeling?"

It took Carlos a bit to process the question, his fogged brain still too deep in unconsciousness. When he did, he snuggled even closer, his head almost placed over TK's stomach and his arm not hugging him but still thrown over his frame.

"I'm good," Carlos said. "I missed..." he stopped, almost drifting to sleep again. TK thought he would, but then he took another breath, leaning closer to TK's fingers on his hair. "You," the man completed, and TK smiled fondly.

"Me too, love," TK said. "Are you comfortable like this?"

"Uh-hu," Carlos answered and then frowned. TK watched, his fingers scratching his boyfriend's nape. "Are you― I am not― the door," the man grumbled, and TK noticed he wasn't in their room anymore but somewhere in his sleep-fogged mind.

"What?" TK asked anyway. Carlos groaned, and TK thought he would pull away, but he seemed to think twice and froze in place.

"Did you get the... the rings?" Carlos mumbled, and TK frowned with a smile.

"The rings, sweetheart?" he asked, moving down a bit each second to be lying down like Carlos. His neck would be thankful in the following morning.

"Yeah," Carlos agreed, and TK was more than sure that he didn't know what he was agreeing to.

"Which ones?" TK asked again, watching as Carlos' lips parted so he could breathe better between each sentence.

"The... Uh," Carlos mumbled, now against TK's chest. "Saturn," he completed, and TK held back a chuckle that could wake him up. Instead, he passed his arm around Carlos, hugging him close, and took another of the blankets to cover his boyfriend.

"Saturn? I don't think I have them, love," TK said, an inch of supposed sadness in his voice. When he thought Carlos had fallen asleep once more, his boyfriend snuggled even closer.

"'ts okay," Carlos said. "Love you," he mumbled, and TK's breath got caught in his throat as if it was the first time he had heard Carlos say that he loved him.

He looked down at the man cuddled around him, and his mind settled with the peace he hadn't felt in forever. Time, well-known for its games and tricks, seemed to realize just how wide, gigantic, and precious that moment was, stopping in its tracks and lingering in the air just like those promises TK never dared to break apart.

Suddenly, there was silence and a quiet realization of the loudest of TK's feelings ― suddenly, there was just who they were, in all their greatness and insignificance, and it was enough.

It was enough, and it was real. Unlike the concepts of life, death, time, it was real, tangible, there, and theirs. Unlike the unknown presence of an unexistent villain, the clocks seemed to realize that there was something there that no one could ever put in words. Unlike all the demons, and the waiting rooms, and the sleepless nights and the feeling they hold, there was peace.

And there was a certainty TK could never see coming.

So, he smiled because there was nothing else to summarize what he was feeling.

"How weird is it that I just realized I want to marry you?" he whispered to the silence, Carlos' breaths slow and steady, indicating how he was already deep in his sleep. TK sighed, staring at the man he loved as if he was the most precious thing to be something on Earth, and lifted his head to press a kiss to the messy, brown curls.

He stretched his other arm, then, and took Carlos' hand in his, watching as, unconsciously, his boyfriend's fingers tangled around his own, a sigh escaping from his parted lips.

"I love you," TK confessed, his voice echoing in the room. "And I'll get the rings, too. Soon," he said again, his heart thundering in his chest with how sweet and sure the words sounded out of his lips. Carlos didn't move, and TK closed his eyes so he could join his lover in his sleep. "Promise."

And time didn't dare to rush their beating hearts, lulling them to sleep in peaceful silence and a glowing ticking of frozen clocks.

[ceratonia-siliqua]

Update about Sweeter Than Sugar and the Ru Situation

The original text for this update is pulled from the ao3 post on Sweeter Than Sugar I made. This original is here in order to both update those on tumblr and so I have a physical record that can not be tampered with as proof of my words on the subject. This post is fine to reblog if you feel the need to spread it but I stand firmly behind no hate being sent to anyone involved whether or not they were named here. Anyone vying for a fight will be blocked. 

I would like to start off by saying that I hope this doesn't get deleted as I cannot remove Ru as a co-author for my end. Secondly, I would like to apologize to anyone who has been worried about Ru. 

I found out in early December that my former co-author and friend was lying about being sick, what was going on, and other things that are private at this time. I am deeply sorry to anyone who was stressed by this situation. I know that it was not anywhere near as big of a deal on here as it was on Tumblr but I feel responsible for not seeing red flags sooner and stopping this situation before it began. 

I am struggling over what I should do with this fic. While neither Ru nor the supposed family member I was in contact with has surfaced since about December 7th-ish, I have no idea if she will return to Ao3 or Tumblr. I imagine not given it would require explaining what happened and why she has cut contact with me. I did try to address the situation in an adult and unjudgmental manner but given I haven't heard a peep in over a month I am going to assume she has chosen to wash her hands of all of this and disappear. I am hesitant over continuing the story only because she still has access to it all. I would like to round it out, maybe post an update or two before concluding, but I don't want things poked at in a way that would hinder all of you from reading and enjoying the story as it is. I would be happy to take suggestions on what to do here as I don't want to leave you all with an unfinished fic. 

I ask that you not attempt to contact Ru. I do not want anything hateful going towards her. Yes, I have sufficient evidence to know the illness was not real but I will not be publicly sharing these details because I do still believe that she deserves her right to privacy. Much of it contains things such as phone numbers and pictures. I have reason to believe she may have lied about being of age so I especially do not want anyone harassing a minor for any reason or having their safety put at risk.

I wish I could tell you what the motive to lie was. I believe it may have just been that she wanted out and had no idea how to do so. That does not make it right but it is the best explanation I can offer.

I am sorry I waited over a month to say anything. I was in an extremely fragile place emotionally up until recently and even then I still have difficult days. Ru, or at least who I thought was Ru, was someone I considered my best friend. Ru was someone I placed as the most important person in my life. Being jerked around and told she was dying and even that she had to resuscitated twice within a week, was an emotionally damaging and deeply upsetting experience. I am coming out of a very, very dark place and I am still dealing with and processing the last ten months as a whole. I am deeply thankful for the people I have met since discovering what was going on, I do not think I would be here right now without their unconditional love and support. I can never repay their kindness and patience, I only hope that I can one day pay it forward.

If you made it this far into the message, thank you for hearing me out on all this. I know many of you were Ru's fans before mine and I am sorry I could not give you all good news on this. I do regret the time I spent creating stories with Ru, I only regret how it ended. I hope all of you are safe and taking care of yourselves. I understand if you would like to walk away from this fic after this. I just felt you were all owed an explanation. I do not want to continue much of this conversation to be honest. I would like to looj towards a better future after everything. Ultimately, I am not mad at Ru, I'm just hurt. You do not have to follow my lead in this but I thought I should at least make that clear from my end. 

Thank you for your time and your support. I hope someday soon I can bring this fic to a satisfying end for all of you. 

[rwby-necro-au-archive]

The Kid, The Songbird, and The End.

Clover would never understand why the prisons had open courtyards for the prisoners.

It was constantly freezing, and the prisoners never had enough to wear to keep them warm. Typical.

He gracefully rushed to his hiding spot along the out rim of the open concrete courtyard, waiting. The prison break was going to start any minute, he needed to mentally and physically prepared in case the guards put up a fight.

“Sirens and Cameras deactivated, proceed.” A woman’s voice sounded through his radio. Good, at least that part was out of the way. The harder it was to deactivate the sirens and cameras, the riskier the mission.

This one was simple in comparison to the others, get everyone out, get a move on to Vale. At least, that’s what the other songbirds had to do, Clover notified his boss that he needed to go get intel from the main council building.

A dangerous and stupid move for sure, but one that would be thanked and rewarded if he managed to do it correctly.

He laughed quietly to himself “Not even a full 2 months in yet and I’m already trying to get myself killed, how typical of me huh?��� He thought to himself.

He looked over to his boss who nodded and gave an ok signal to begin the raid. Clover quietly hopped down the concrete wall he had been standing on and ran up behind a pursuer.

He quickly knocked the Pursuer unconscious and moved on to the next, and the next, and the one after that, until at least 15 of them were knocked unconscious.

It was better if he didn’t look at the faces. He didn’t want to recognize anyone from the miserable life he was brainwashed into thinking he loved. And he especially didn’t want anyone recognizing him.

Clover approached the command center of the prison. After some pondering over the buttons, he pressed one and almost all the steel prison doors opened below him.

His radio sounded again, this time, the voice of his boss, “Great Job, remember, solitary confinement cells have a different control center. It’ll be harder to find that one.”

Clover just laughed before speaking into the radio “Eh, I don’t think it’ll be that hard. You know, since the whole thing that happened in my past.”

His boss responded “That is true, but with that you gotta remember to keep you head down, face covered, or they’ll recognize you.”

“Copy That.” Clover then darted down the stairs to direct the prisoners to where to leave. He couldn’t lie, he really honest to Cosmos couldn’t, he liked the job. Liked the adrenaline, liked helping people. Maybe that’s part of the reason he was so good at his previous job, being able to work quick on adrenaline.

This wasn’t that job though, and he got more of a kick doing this then he would’ve ever gotten from being a pursuer. He was meant to be here.

As he reached solitary confinement he slowed his pace. Guards. Seems there were still a few that needed to be taken care of. Clover ducked into a hall behind a few boxes, full of what, he didn’t know, nor did he want to know.

After the guards had passed, he speedily but quietly ran down the hall. He skimmed over the door labels until he saw one he almost passed, labeled “command center”. He quickly ducked into the room.

Looks like he didn’t check before he went in.

“Who the hell are you?!” The pursuer sitting in the command center chair yelled. She had a white uniform on, the female uniform. Shit. The other guards were gonna hear this chick.

Clover kept up his confidence though, nothing a few punches to the jaw won’t fix. “Nobody important.” He said as he threw her out the door of the command center and locked it. He shook his head and mumbled to himself “Cosmos forgive me for throwing a woman…” he certainly wasn’t the type to like doing that.

Now wasn’t the time for that though, he opened the solitary confinement cell doors and quickly unlocked the door to the room he was in. Time to fight.

——————————————————————————

Successful. The prison raid that is. Everyone got out, and there were minimal problems that popped up during the mission. Everyone was back on the ship and waiting to be sent to Vale.

Everyone, except Clover.

He was running and dodging Pursuers left and right to find this guy he was told about. To be honest, when he joined the whole “send me an ask thing” on the internet, he kinda meant it as a joke. Just to see what the people thought of a pursuer being on the internet.

He sure as fuck wasn’t expecting these people to be some all seeing beings or whatever, but hey, he sure as hell wasn’t complaining. Anything to make his life a little easier.

Which he could really use right now considering he was kind of getting sick of having to fight all the pursuers defending the capital.

He looked up at the signs and skimmed through them similarly to how he skimmed through the prison signs. He eventually found one labeled dorms and quickly ran in.

As he was running down the hall he was suddenly yanked into a dorm. He reached for his weapon until,

“W-wait don’t shoot! I’m here to help you!!” The shorter man replied. He didn’t look very old, maybe about 17-18 ish, fresh out of highschool from the looks of it. Light brown hair, tan complexion, all topped off with dark blue eyes and the male pursuer uniform.

Clover then realized who he was speaking to, “You’re Rory?” He was dumbfounded. This skinny teenager was the one who got the intel for him, “I mean, good for him for sneaking that shit underneath Irondick’s nose but not what I was expecting to say the least.” He thought.

Rory stuttered out an apology before quickly rustling through the dorm, pulling out three very thick, probably 200 page individually, documents and handed them to Clover. Rory cleared his throat quietly before speaking “I-I was told that you were to be trusted with this stuff…”

Clover read the names, shocked at what he saw. He grimaced down at the papers “Yeah……I know them so yeah, I think I’m to be trusted. And so are you for getting these in the first place…”

Rory looked up and gave a confused look “What’s wrong?”

“I was never really told about this…” Clover stated, avoiding eye contact.

Rory nodded solemnly “Sorry you had to find out like this.”

Clover shook his head “I’m sorry you had to read these…” he couldn’t help but stare at the photographs. They looked nothing like how they looked now. Especially Oz.

“I-I only read one…..I didn’t read the others because after I read the bottom one, I….uh….kinda had to go into the bathroom to throw up….” He mumbled, as he pointed to Ozpin’s document.

Clovers eyebrows furrowed, “Is it really that bad?”

Rory shook his head “I’d say worse.” He fumbled with his hands for a moment, “O-Oh! I wanted to ask, do you think you can take me on the boat with you? I want out of here!” He exclaimed frantically.

“Of course! I can explain your situation, but we need to go, NOW. We’ll be in trouble if we don’t.” Clover peered at the door before grabbing Rory’s wrist and running.

The two ran down the halls of the capital, attempting to make their way out. During the rush of everything, Clover’s hand slipped from Rory’s wrist suddenly.

Rory was caught by 2 other pursuers.

He didn’t even have time to think about it, before he knew it, he was outside. And Rory? Was nowhere to be seen.

——————————————————————————

Rory was shoved forward by the guards, nearly falling in the process as he looked behind him at the pursuers, fearful and confused. It wasn’t until he heard his voice that he realized why they shoved him forward.

——————————————————————————

“Shit.” Clover couldn’t be selfish this time. He just couldn’t. He ran back inside, frantically searching for the younger man.

He turned countless corners until he came into the main hall. Quickly ducking behind a corner at the sight of the one man he didn’t want to see.

He peered out to see Rory there.

——————————————————————————

“So, first, you go against my right opinion, and then next you try and run. Pathetic.” Ironwood spoke cruelly to the younger man.

“I—“ Rory attempted to defend himself, but was not granted such a thing

Ironwood scoffed, “You what? Made me look like a moron in front of the other council members? Is that it?”

There was a long silence.

Rory spoke barely above a whisper, “Is there anything I can do to get your forgiveness….sir?”

Ironwood raised an eyebrow and proceeded to feign thoughtfulness for a moment before smiling down at the young man, “I suppose there is one way you can make it up to me.”

Rory looked up suddenly, surprised at the man’s answer.

Ironwood smiled coldly, “Don’t be anymore of a stain to anyone else, as you have been to me.”

“W-what do you mean s-sir…..” Rory mumbled, confused

Ironwood rolled his eyes and scoffed “Lord, you need a lot of hand holding don’t you? I’m letting you leave, Pursuer. Go, out the door you go.”

Rory was ecstatic, he was letting him leave. Him. Of all people! “T-thank you sir!”

Ironwood smiled “Don’t mention it, I know you won’t be a pain to anyone else after this.”

He stood up straight and ran for the exit. He didn’t think he could be happier in his life. But all would soon came crashing down, and everything would go black.

The last thing he ever felt emotionally, was utter betrayal. And physically? Something wet coming from his forehead

The final thing he ever heard. Was a gunshot. From a man he should’ve never trusted.

——————————————————————————

[megalony]

Two out of three

This is a King! Harry Styles imagine which might have a follow up, I’m unsure yet. There is a lot of angst and some fluff in this part, I hope you all like it, feedback is always appreciated.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem @butlegendsneverdie @langdonzvoid @jennyggggrrr @rogmeddows @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout @deaky-with-a-c @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac @vousmemanqueez @jonesyaddiction @ambi-and-sunflowers @milanosaurus @httpfandxms @saint-hardy @7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls @mrsalwayswritex @rogerina-owns-me @peterquillzsblog @im-an-adult-ish @crazylittlethingg @allauraleigh

Masterlist

Summary: Harry and (Y/n) are in labour expecting twins and people are counting on them having a boy so their is an heir to the throne. But things don’t go smoothly for the royal couple. (Set around early 1900s).

Enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We're supposed to have another month of this, yet." (Y/n) spoke quietly like she was afraid to break the calming atmosphere around them but the slow and tense way that she spoke gave away that she wasn't best pleased. They were supposed to have another month of preparing before they should have to think about labour and even though (Y/n) did want this to be over and done with soon, she didn't want it to be now.

She tried to force herself to smile but her lips only tightened to form into a wince when she tried to sit up straighter against the sea of pillows engulfing her and a twinge of pain tightened like a knot at the base of her spine. Pushing through the uncomfortable feeling, (Y/n) sat herself up straighter with a little help from Harry before she sank back into the feather pillow behind her that felt heavenly against her sore spine. A small push of air left (Y/n)'s lips when she let her spine and her back muscles relax but once she was relaxed on the bed her back felt much better.

"Better?" Harry smiled cautiously as he tried to move a few of the pillows so they were better surrounding (Y/n). More recently it seemed that every day Harry came back into their shared room, he would find another pillow on the bed or another blanket cocooned around (Y/n) like she was creating a burrow or a nest. He knew the pillows eased the pain in her back and made it more comfortable for her to sleep but at the same time, it was getting to the point where Harry couldn't move or sleep for pillows.

But if (Y/n) was indeed going into labour now like she suspected then the nest of pillows wouldn't be needed for much longer.

"Hm, I'll be better when this is over."

(Y/n) smoothed her hands over her stomach that now meant she couldn't see her feet or her legs when she laid down like this. Having another baby was a blessing to (Y/n) and Harry but (Y/n) had hoped she would get a bit closer to her due date before labour happened. It somehow felt safer if she reached her due date since they were having twins, it could ensure they were both okay and healthy and ready rather than being early.

"Don't pretend you don't like being pregnant." Harry coiled his arm to his chest when (Y/n) playfully hit him with a scowl on her face.

She knew he was partially joking but he wasn't being very sympathetic like she wanted him to be. They both knew that (Y/n) liked being pregnant because people didn't bother her half as much, no one pestered her in case she turned around and snapped at them which she pretended to blame on the hormones. No one said anything when she sat in on a meeting with Harry or when she wandered into the kitchen for a rather unusual snack or food concoction. And since reaching the seven month mark of the pregnancy (Y/n) had been confined to their room and on bed rest which meant no one bothered her or hassled her or got on her nerves.

Even though people did tend to fuss when she was pregnant and constantly ask if she was okay, it was better than being put down or treated like she was a little girl who didn't belong or know what she was doing. And there was something about the way that Harry looked at her when she was pregnant that made her stomach flutter with butterflies.

"Yes, but I also like seeing my feet and walking without being weighed down, Harry. Labour isn't very fun, either."

At the mere thought of what was going to happen in a few hours, (Y/n) grimaced and turned her head until she could bury her face in Harry's chest.

The first time around it was worrisome for them both because of why Harry was the King. Before him, it had been a Queen who was the Monarch but her childbirth had been so traumatic and harsh that the baby passed away and the Queen died four days later from a haemorrhage. Harry was King because the Queen's childbirth hadn't been successful so it made Harry scared beyond belief when he thought about (Y/n) having a baby. He loved his wife more than anything in the world and he couldn't continue if something happened to her.

(Y/n) knew the risks, there were so many women who were dying during childbirth or soon after from problems and infections and she did not want to be one of those women. It caused her to lie awake in the dead of night on many occasions fretting that when labour rolled around it would be the last thing she did or endured before she died.

But when they had Emily, even though it had gone on for just over two days and had been more than stressful, it had been okay. Only a few things had gone wrong but Emily had been born perfectly fine and healthy and (Y/n) recovered quickly. She didn't get an infection or suffer mass bleeding or suddenly pass away and they allowed Harry to be in the room when Emily was born when normally the man was supposed to wait outside. But him being the King meant it was hard for people to deny him anything.

"You, will be perfectly fine, my love." Harry pressed his lips to the top of her head in an attempt to calm her down but he could still sense the worry circulating through her head. Even when he turned on his side to face her and leaned to kiss her or smoothed his hand over her stomach, he could feel her concerns.

It was the first birth that was supposed to be the most worrisome and (Y/n) had got through Emily's birth like smooth sailing, but this time it was twins and that doubled the risk.

"I've heard things, Harry... it's supposed to be harder with twins, I could start bleeding with the second one or not be able to do it or the doctor might have to intervene and I don't want-" (Y/n) had heard things that made her skin crawl and she knew what labour was like, she'd lost all her energy before Emily was even born, by the time she had the first twin she might not have the strength to give birth to the second. Or the second one could get stuck, (Y/n) knew that had happened for one poor woman and (Y/n) did not want a doctor tampering with her to try and get the baby out.

She knew what doctors were like and they would be worse with her because this was an heir to the throne. They would care more about the baby than (Y/n).

"Sshh, you're overthinking and scaring yourself. You were brilliant having Emily and you're so strong, you'll be fine with these two, I know you will and I'll be there, I won't leave you."

"What if they're both girls?" (Y/n) had to ask, she had to know what Harry thought because it was a question that had been rattling around in her head for much longer than it should.

Times were progressing, Queens could be on the throne just like Queen Alexandra before Harry, but it wasn't the same because heirs to the throne were supposed to be boys. If Emily had been a boy then the members of the court and council would have left (Y/n) alone and that would be it, (Y/n) would have been praised to high heaven and adored because she had a boy. No one would expect her to want or have another baby if Emily had been a boy because she would have given Harry and heir to his throne.

Many women through history in the royal line had stopped after having a son.

But Emily was a beautiful little girl and if (Y/n) and Harry had a boy then the crown would not be placed on Emily's head. They were expected to have a boy and if at least one twin was not a boy then (Y/n) would be expected to have another baby and another until she had a boy.

Harry wouldn't expect her to. If he had his way he would have an army of little girls surrounding him, he wanted as many kids as possible and he didn't care about having an heir. If (Y/n) wanted no more kids after these twins he would be perfectly fine with how their family was but (Y/n) would feel inadequate. She was the source of the royal line, she was supposed to ensure a King could follow after Harry.

"Then I'll have four lovely ladies to spoil-"

"Harry I mean it." (Y/n) bit her lower lip to stop herself from crying, especially when Harry cupped her face with his hands and smoothed his thumbs over her cheeks. "I- I want so many children with you, b-but if they're both girls and labour is hard or makes me sick or I die then you won't have an heir."

(Y/n) wanted children, she wanted so many and not just because people expected her to bear children, she wanted them because she loved Harry with everything she had and she loved being a mother. But if this labour proved very difficult and it scarred (Y/n) in any way or made her ill having another baby might not be able to happen or she might be too afraid. If God forbid, this labour killed her and she had two girls, Harry would be left with three daughters and no son to take the throne.

"Don't say that I won't hear of it! You're too strong and stubborn to die we both know that and I won't let anything happen to you. But if we have two beautiful daughters and you want to stop there then that will forever be fine with me. I don't expect a boy, I would love Emily to take the throne after me because she's a smart little cookie. Don't you listen to what anyone else says because girls are much better than boys."

When they were in the last month of Emily's pregnancy people started to talk, things had to be put into place and it had to be discussed about what would happen if (Y/n) passed during labour and if the baby didn't make it either. It needed to be talked about so things could be set in place but Harry had lost his temper.

Every single member of staff and council in the palace had been under strict instructions not to worry (Y/n) with that talk and no one was to dare bring it up with Harry because he wouldn't have it. He wouldn't talk about the event of his wife or unborn child's death because it scared him and he knew if he lost (Y/n) he wouldn't want to continue living without her.

To hear (Y/n) saying she was afraid of dying made Harry want to sob or be sick because she didn't have to worry. He knew she was too strong to die, she had proved that when they had Emily.

If they didn't have a boy Harry would be content leaving his throne to Emily because even though she was only three she was a smart little girl already and she would grow up ready to be Queen.

When Harry leaned his temple against hers, (Y/n) closed her eyes and basked in the heat and love he was giving and it felt like he was trying to convey his thoughts from his mind into hers to try and calm her down. One of his hands stayed resting on her cheek whilst his other hand moved back down under her gown to caress her stomach. He massaged his fingers into her skin, trying to help ease the tension in her stomach when another twinge of pain shot through her that he could feel.

As long as his wife and twins were healthy Harry couldn't care less about anything else, their health and happiness meant more than if a King or Queen would follow his succession to the throne.

"No- come away Miss Emily!" The voice of Claire, Emily's governess, suddenly cut through the air in a hissed whisper that was a warning to the child to listen to her but everyone knew she wouldn't, she only listened to her parents.

It had been expected that as soon as Emily was born, she would be given to a nanny and then to a governess who would effectively bring her up and teach her. For royals, the parents were more role models than actually parents, they weren't supposed to get involved and change the nappies or dress their children or wake up during the night and feed them and get them back to sleep. But both (Y/n) and Harry had decided from the off that they were going to raise Emily.

Claire was only there to teach Emily and watch over her when her parents were simply too busy.

"Want my papa!" Emily's high pitched voice was more of a crying whine than a small giggle like it usually was and it made Harry pick his head up and lean up on his arm so he could look towards the door.

"I'm so sorry your Majesty, Miss Emily has a small fever and isn't feeling very well."

"My papa!" Emily let out such a wail for Harry that broke his heart and made (Y/n) shudder at her desperate tone. It was like everyone was always trying to separate Emily from her parents or act like they were too busy when they weren't. If someone was wrong they wanted Emily to come and find them.

Harry turned his head to look down at (Y/n) who nodded her head to his silent question that asked if she was well enough for Emily to stay with them for a while. But the pains weren't bad, they were only just starting meaning any proper contractions were a few hours away, (Y/n) was fine to have Emily lying with them for a while.

"It's not a problem Claire, she's fine. Come here baby girl." Harry sat himself up and gave a small nod to the governess before he reached his arms down to pick Emily up when she toddled round to his side of the bed. Harry sat her on his lap and smiled gently at his girl before he pressed his hand to her forehead, noticing she did have a bit of a fever. "You can leave her with us now, Claire."

Harry didn't bother to look over at the governess when she curtsied before exiting the room, leaving the family in peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The lamps in the room were turned down until the flickering flames were only burning with the smallest flame possible, cascading the large room into a bask of burnt orange and vermilion light that felt like Harry was standing inside the sun itself. But rather than the light keeping his mind active and awake, the glistening colour made his mind soothe until he wanted to sleep rather than stay awake.

His bare feet padded against the carpet that should be worn down from how his feet had been constantly up and down on the same patch of floor in front of the windows which had the drapes pulled shut to keep the outside world away.

The girl in his arms was growing heavier by the second when she no longer held the control over her body which was limp in Harry's arms that were desperate to put her down after holding her for forty minutes straight.

Emily had woken up only an hour and a half after it took (Y/n) and Harry two hours to settle her down to sleep with them and she felt no better than when she came in to see them. So Harry took it upon himself to cradle Emily in his arms and pace the room with her to try and lull her back to sleep. When she cried or whimpered in his ear he started to hum and sing to her which really seemed to do the trick but now that she was asleep, he didn't want to set her down in case she woke up again.

Her head was resting neatly on Harry's shoulder with her small arms slung around his neck and her knees curled up against his stomach.

When a rather worrisome moan escaped (Y/n)'s lips, Harry stopped his pacing and turned around on the spot so he could cast his eyes over to the bed where (Y/n) was. It was close to midnight now and over the last hour (Y/n) had started to become restless. One moment Harry had helped her off the bed and onto the floor so she could kneel with her arms on the bed, the next moment she had been pacing up and down with him and more recently she decided to sit back down on the bed again.

(Y/n) had moved again since the last time Harry looked over at her, she was now kneeling in the middle of the bed slightly hunched over with her chin pressing into her chest.

"I- I think we should c... call the doctor." (Y/n) breathed through her words that were paused and stretched out when a pain caught her off guard.

Harry looked between (Y/n) and Emily for a few seconds before he quietly hummed in understanding. He watched (Y/n) as he slowly approached the bedroom door, a pained expression on his face when (Y/n) pressed one hand to her stomach before she leaned over and pressed her head into the bed, arching her back out to try and alleviate the pain she was feeling.

Opening the door, Harry padded down the hall until he found a maid passing by.

"Could you send for the doctor please, the Queen's going into labour?" Harry managed a small smile towards the maid as he tried to keep himself calm. He watched the way her eyes seemed to widen despite her obvious tiredness and she curtsied and nodded instantly.

There was something about the servants that always unsettled Harry because they always seemed to think he was a monster or a generally angry person when he was the very opposite. They talked and walked around him like he was going to snap at any moment and were always surprised when he used the manners he was taught or smiled or said please and thank you. He wasn't a monster.

"Of course, your Majesty. Would you like me to take Miss Emily to the nursery?"

Harry looked down to Emily who he almost forgot was still asleep in his arms, he'd simply forgotten about the way his arms were deadlocked in position or how she was clinging to him like a monkey clinging to a branch. He wanted to take her back himself and settle her to make sure she didn't wake up, but then again that would mean leaving (Y/n) on her own and he didn't really want to do that either.

"Yes, thank you but please make sure Claire stays with her I want her watched until her fever goes down."

He pressed a small kiss to Emily's temple before he slowly eased her down into the maid's waiting arms and unhooked her arms from around his neck. Even though she was calm and now asleep, Harry wanted Claire or anyone available to sit up and keep check on her so her fever didn't get worse because if it did they would have to send for another doctor to monitor her. Harry couldn't be sat with (Y/n) with half his attention panicking over whether Emily was okay and being looked after, he needed his full attention to be with (Y/n) tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Almost there my love." Harry's lips were soothing against (Y/n)'s burning skin but his words didn't help like he was desperate for them to. All he had to offer was himself and his words, he had no ability to take away the tremendous agony (Y/n) was going through and he couldn't make this process go any quicker but he was doing anything he could to try and help.

"N-no I'm not."

Harry could feel (Y/n)'s words vibrating throughout her body that tensed dramatically and her jaw locked as she spoke and spat the words in anger. They might be nearly there to meeting their first baby but the second one wasn't even close to being born yet and (Y/n) didn't have the energy to keep this up. She knew it, she knew from the first moment the doctor told her she was expecting twins that it wasn't going to go in her favour. (Y/n) had a sixth sense that when labour rolled around she would use up all of her energy on the first baby or something would go wrong or she just wouldn't be well enough to keep pushing through and she was right.

The pain was so bad that she couldn't feel anything below her torso, her body was overheating to the point the windows had to be opened and cold rags were smothering her skin to stop her from combusting and she felt horribly sick to her stomach.

The only good thing about this was that this labour was going much faster because her body knew what it was meant to do now.

Leaning herself forward off of the pile of pillows behind her, (Y/n) pulled on Harry's hand until he got her message and shuffled forward with her, wrapping his free arm around her waist with his chest against her back in case she needed him to hold her up. He pressed his lips to her exposed shoulder where her gown had slipped down her arm and he began to brush his fingers up and down the side of her stomach like his fingers were brushes painting delicately over a canvas.

Harry let go of (Y/n)'s hand so he could crack his knuckles and stretch his fingers before he held her hand with a bit better grip since they were both sweating. He'd taken the liberty of removing all of his rings beside his wedding ring after learning last time that his rings had cut into both their hands and created slash marks without either of them feeling anything.

Such a shriek left (Y/n)'s lips that made Harry shake, especially when (Y/n) seemed to tense completely until he thought she'd become locked in place. But the moment her muscles loosened and she turned to jelly against Harry, he felt her chest releasing such a relieved yet exhausted sigh and he looked over at the doctor sitting on the end of the bed with a baby in his arms.

"What did I tell you? You've done it love, it won't be much longer now."

"Are t-they okay?"

(Y/n) couldn't seem to stop her body from shaking like she had electric currents rattling through her body and it hurt, it felt like she was falling through the sky with no clear landing in sight. She couldn't hear the baby crying but she couldn't focus her vision on the doctor long enough to see if their baby was moving or in shock or just too calm to bother with crying out.

Harry reacted quicker than (Y/n), the moment he heard a familiar gagging sound he let go of her hand to grab the bowl resting beside the bed and held it in front of her just as she threw up. He gently pulled her hair away from her face before rubbing his hand soothingly up and down her back but when his bright eyes darted down to look at the doctor, he was met with a grave face and a simple but grave shake of the head.

They'd lost a child.

A choked moan escaped (Y/n)'s lips that caught both men's attention before she threw her head back onto Harry's shoulder, her muscles tensing when she felt another contraction building up.

Out the corner of her eye, (Y/n) saw a maid taking the baby from the doctor before she scuttled out and into the adjoining study, presumably to clean up and weigh the baby. (Y/n) let the child drift from her mind like they had the room so she could try and focus her energy on the next baby.

Before the head was even born (Y/n) let out a horrid, bubbling sob before she pulled away from Harry and let herself sink back into the pillows. Everything hurt, everything ached and everything felt numb. (Y/n) wished her life was a tape that could be cut down to size so she could cut out the labour and just attach the before and after birth together. She wanted to jump straight from the first contraction to being laid in bed cradling her babies in her arms. But life didn't work that way and mother nature was cruel.

The round of screams and humiliated sobs that left (Y/n)'s lips were defeated and lifeless because she had no energy to put into her screams that could convey how she felt or do her pain any justice.

(Y/n) couldn't believe how exhausted yet thrilled she felt when the baby seemed to come into the world so effortlessly once their head was born. It was as if (Y/n) had blacked out for a while and was now awake and their baby was here. She could hear the rather loud scream that their baby let out the moment they were in the doctor's arms and it made (Y/n) smile.

Their baby had a very powerful set of lungs, that was good.

"Done... I'm done, it's over." (Y/n) closed her eyes and held her breath, swallowing the lump in her throat to prevent herself from feeling or being sick again as the bed seemed to envelope her in a congratulating hug that she sank into until she thought she had slipped into the next floor below.

When she found the will to do so, (Y/n) opened her eyes that immediately searched for Harry who was peering down at her. With what little energy she had left, (Y/n) reached her shaking hand up to cradle Harry's face when she saw him sobbing silently.

"A girl, your Majesty." The doctor moved his arms to let (Y/n) see her wailing baby before the same maid who took their first baby wrapped up their little girl with a very weak smile.

"M-my baby, w-where's m..my baby?" It was clear (Y/n) felt weak and she looked very pale and rather sick in Harry's opinion but it was only as to be expected after what she'd just gone through. As much as Harry wanted to lie to (Y/n) so she could rest and not feel her heart breaking, he couldn't help the small sob he let out at her confusion and he watched the exact moment her heart snapped in two and her lips curled in distaste.

(Y/n) couldn't question it. She couldn't ask why or how or tell Harry he was wrong, all she could do was scream like she had eaten glass which was now puncturing into her stomach and organs and was splitting her apart from the inside out.

Despite the agonising howl of pain that left (Y/n)'s lips, Harry leaned down until he could bury his face into the crook of her neck. He kissed her flush skin repeatedly to try and stop her screams but he knew nothing he could say or do was going to make this okay.

"Sshh, shh my love..." Harry felt (Y/n)'s trembling fingers tangling into his curls as she wailed and he cooed in her ear, not knowing how else to calm her down.

"W... what was it?" (Y/n) hiccuped through her few words which made Harry's head lift from her neck so he could look at the doctor. It didn't cross his mind to ask whether or not they'd had another girl or a boy, he only thought to dwell on the fact that whatever gender their baby was, they were not alive.

"A boy, your majesty." The doctor's voice was solemn and calm showing this kind of news was one he had had to deliver more than once, but never to the King and Queen.

(Y/n)'s chest shuddered and bounced up and down rapidly before a very low whine almost like a baby's wail for attention cut from her lips. She'd done what they'd asked, she'd had a boy and now she'd lost him. What were people going to say when they heard all the Queen could do was produce girls? How would they react when they found out she'd lost an heir to the throne but managed to have another girl?

(Y/n) smothered her face with her hands and screamed into her palms but Harry quickly reached down and removed her hands, he didn't want her smothering herself like that or hurting herself unintentionally. He would rather witness her screams than have her trying to hide them.

"Your Majesty, could we sit you up so I can examine you please? The afterbirth hasn't passed yet." The doctor's rather kind yet solemn tone grated on (Y/n)'s nerves when she knew it shouldn't. She wanted him to be rude to her, she wanted him to be annoyed and indifferent rather than kind because it was how people were going to treat her. He may as well be the same and be disappointed that she could give Harry another girl yet cost him a son at the same time.

She barely felt Harry and the doctor taking an arm each and gently ease her up so she was sitting up more or less straight against the pillows that clawed at her and pulled her back into a comforting yet broken embrace.

When Harry heard his name whimpered from (Y/n)'s chapped lips he felt another flood of tears leaving his eyes. He wanted to hold her like he normally did, he wanted to lay down at her side and wrap his arms around her waist with his front resting on top of her own. He wanted his face smothered into her neck and her breaths fanning through his curls. But he couldn't hold her like that yet.

Desperate to have (Y/n) in his arms properly, Harry gently moved (Y/n) as slowly and carefully as he could manage until he could worm his way behind her with her laid between his legs. He slipped his arms under her own and wrapped them around her, feeling a tiny bit calmer when (Y/n) moved her hands to tightly grip his own, sliding her fingers between the groves of his hands. He dipped his head down until he could kiss her cheek and keep his head pressing against her own, holding her tightly like she wanted because he had no need to fear her breaking in his hold for she was already broken.

For a few seconds whilst the doctor busied himself examining her and feeling her stomach, (Y/n) thought she was going to blackout or even die. She welcomed the darkness, she wanted it to smother her mind and take her away for a few hours until she could wake up and have this all be some kind of sordid nightmare she would forget in a heartbeat. But sleep nor death ever overtook her, she was left limp in Harry's arms.

"Is there a problem?" Harry prayed to God that there wasn't, they couldn't take any complications or errors or problems right now.

"Your Majesty..." The doctor waited patiently for (Y/n) to open her eyes and focus on him and he rubbed his hand over her knee to try and comfort her as well as ground her and keep her concentration that he desperately needed right now. "There is another baby, I've given you an injection to start more contractions so I need you to push again."

It was Harry's turn to have his lips curl up in distaste and his eyes darken like the night sky. They couldn't have another, (Y/n) couldn't have another. She was broken and exhausted and one more push away from slipping into a state close to death. Another baby could kill her, Harry knew they had been tempting fate by having twins, with the state (Y/n) was in she didn't look like she would survive another baby.

"I can't." (Y/n)'s voice was a whisper before she closed her eyes and turned her head to bury her face into Harry. She felt like going to sleep. She wanted to tell this doctor to have a word with God and take the third baby away, magic it into in-existence, into the dark realm where nothing existed because she couldn't give birth again. (Y/n) had nothing left, she was broken on the inside and out, her other two babies had taken everything she had.

When a dull, throbbing contraction slowly but steadily built up (Y/n) ignored it which somehow felt so easy when before a contraction was too hard to miss or push from her mind. She realised now that she hadn't felt the doctor give her the injection he spoke about, nor was she feeling much pain or even the baby moving.

"Sir, the longer we wait the worse she will become. She must push now."

Harry wiped his eyes with the back of his shaking hand before he turned his head to look at (Y/n) who stared up at him through half-lidded eyes.

"Love, this baby needs you... you have to try or else we stay stuck here like this and it will hurt so much more. Please... please, try for me." If (Y/n) didn't try her body was only going to feel more broken and confused and something could happen to the baby or to (Y/n). Harry couldn't lose (Y/n) now and as bad as it seemed, the baby wasn't as important to him right now. He needed (Y/n) and he needed to look after her but no one could do anything if she didn't try.

(Y/n) couldn't scream. All she could do was whimper and moan quietly and hope that what she was doing was pushing because she couldn't tell anymore, she could only work out that her mind was short circuiting and wanted to switch off completely.

A small, almost non-existent smile formed on (Y/n)'s face when she felt Harry humming in her ear and very lightly swaying them both side to side but it was to calm himself down as much as her. (Y/n) wasn't holding his hands very tightly at all and Harry was holding her up, she had no energy left it was very clear. But when Harry looked down he could see a river of blood surrounding his and (Y/n)'s legs.

When the head was born, Harry watched the doctor move his blood-covered gloved hands to inject something into (Y/n)'s stomach that he could only hope was to help with the bleeding.

"Just a little more, my love."

(Y/n) couldn't tell if the doctor was intervening and trying to help but she didn't care as long as the baby was out of her and she could go to sleep. Her shoulders slumped and her forehead fell against Harry's chin when she felt the weight lift from her stomach and the pain suddenly evaporated like steam from a hot bath.

"You have another boy." (Y/n) felt a single tear escape her eye and slowly trickle down the ridge of her nose and fall down her cheek before jumping free from her chin at those few words.

Had she killed this heir too?

"Open your eyes... (Y/n) open your eyes." Harry shook his arms a bit too violently for his own liking but he had to so (Y/n) wouldn't go to sleep. He couldn't have her falling asleep on him in case she never woke up. The urgency in his voice made the tears fall faster but it worked and caused (Y/n) to lift her head a little and open her eyes. And Harry watched her marvel at the baby the doctor was holding up for her to see.

Without speaking or thinking or even breathing, (Y/n) curled her fingers to her palms and moved her hands to indicate that she wanted her baby. Their first baby had died and been snatched away from them, their girl was lively but she wasn't here, someone else had her and was tending to her. (Y/n) wanted one of her babies to cradle and reassure herself this was real.

Harry locked eyes with the doctor and nodded with a look that told him not to refuse (Y/n)'s small request. They hadn't been asked if they wanted to hold their daughter and it was assumed they didn't want their first boy- who Harry was going to make sure he held very soon. They had to hold one of their babies now to keep them both sane.

He was tiny.

The little boy was much smaller than what Emily had been or their next girl who looked very healthy and was wailing showing that she was strong. This boy was pale grey-skinned rather than pink, his lips were tainted blue rather than red and he looked sickly. He wasn't breathing perfectly either but he was here, he was alive and for now he would be okay.

His fragile body was laid on (Y/n)'s chest and he curled up until he was almost invisible. (Y/n) moved her weak arms until one hand was on his back and the other was cradling the back of his head and she felt Harry's arms overlapping her own so he could hold them both closer to him like he wanted them all to merge into one. Harry knew they were both unwell, his wife and his youngest were going to need a lot of love and care to get them on the road to recovery.

But as he watched (Y/n)'s fingers skimming over their boy's head, he saw her lips curving into a tired, lost smile.

"We'll be okay, little one."

[i-growl-growl-growl]

Mobile masterlist p.2

Since the first masterlist can no longer take any more sections, I’m attempting to make a second masterlist for those on mobile.

                                Super Junior reactions

they are jealous

accidentally kicked in the privates while wrestling

all the members are in love with the same 98 liner

Eunhyuk gets a vaccination

helping you recover from a Lecion

their partner has low self-esteem

                           BigBang reactions

His partner sells drugs to a celebrity

discovering their partner is a tazza

                            EXO reactions

1 Drying their patner’s hair after showers (fluff)

Being in the ER after their child attempts suicide (sad/triggering)

Their partner agrees to let them adopt children (fluff)

their child is diagnosed with ADHD (slice of life+drama/family)

Their unborn baby might be abnormal (slice of life+drama/family)

Their boyfriend wants to top (smut/sexual)

Their child comes out as transgender (slice of life+drama/family)

His partner proposes to him

His partner knows how to massage

Their partner denies that they are sick

They’re are in a Daddy/child age play relationship (smut/sexual)

Worrying about their pregnant partner overworking (angst)

Accidentally saying something about their secret relationship (dating)

Their child dies from cancer (sad/triggering)

Watching the filthy Frank show (viewing)

Watching John Cena vines (viewing)

Their partner continues to train with an abusive ballet teacher

Meeting a child who’s hiding from the doctors (fluff)

Having an overly attached partner

Hearing you sing TaTu’s songs (viewing)

Watching CL’s Hello Bitches video (viewing)

Their child shows them their self-harm scars (sad/triggering)

When their partner is the real sculptor of Rom muecks artwork (fictional)  

Visiting a horror house with their partner

Receiving another figging punishment but being consoled afterward (smut/sexual)

Giving their bulimic partner medicine

Their partner wants to remain a Tazza even after being beaten up (fictional)

Their anorexic partner won’t let them give them an IV (sad/triggering)

Fighting with their daughter (drama/family)

They slap you during a fight (drama/family)

Dating someone who is similar to themselves (dating)

You cheat on them (angst)

You do the “now you see me” piranha tank stunt (fictional)

His daughter has an abusive boyfriend (drama/family+triggering)

You’re in Tove Lo’s High video (viewing+fictional)

Sehun dates Kaya Scodelario (dating)

Watching Rihanna’s Bitch better have my Money video (viewing)

Receiving a figging punishment (smut/sexual)

Their religious partner is afraid to kiss them

Their partner over practices ballet because they want to be the best

Their partner injures their should but continues practicing Acro-Dancing

Their partner hides their body curves because they’re self-conscious

making a Halloween pumpkin with their partner (fluff)

their partner suggesting an open relationship (dating)

Their partner plays Harley Quinn in the next Suicide Squad

their child kisses another members child that is the same gender

their boyfriend comes out to them as bisexual (slice of life/……)

walking in on their younger brother having sex with another member (smut/sexual)

showering with their significant other

they are doms and spank/punish you when you do something that’s not allowed (smut/sexual)

His boyfriend denies he has an eating disorder (sad/triggering)

seeing their partner featured in Jay Park’s Mommae mv (viewing+fictional)

his lover has an asthma attack and exo can’t find their inhaler

accompanying their daughter while getting an injection (family)

their partner swallows nails to hurt themselves (sad/triggering)

you’re really sad and tired so they try to comfort you (fluff)

you end up in jail for scamming a person and they pay the bail fee

Their partner says they are “friends with benefits” rather than partners (dating)

A youtuber they like covers their song

Their female friend walks out in a towel but it drops

seeing you fangirl to Bang Bang Bang (viewing)

Their partner lets people treat them badly (drama/family)

Their partner has anemia but won’t take any medicine (sad/triggering)

Finding out their partner is a cannibalistic serial killer (fictional)

Finding you cutting yourself in the bathroom (sad/triggering)

Awkward morning after a drunk one night stand (smut/sexual)

getting stuck in an elevator with a foreigner who speaks their language

First time with their boyfriend/partner (smut/sexual)

seeing your self-harm scars (sad/triggering)

Their idol crush steals their papel on Running Man

Their partner is a slow eater

meeting their child for the first time (fluff+family)

discovering their partner is a Tazza (fictional)

They find out you write fanfics about them

Their partner walks around the dorms in a hoodie and under and the others see

Saying their partner is cute around the other boys and one of them replies

finding out their partner was a gifter before meeting them (fictional)

you put a bra on top of their chest and take a picture while they sleep

his partner does illegal gambling (drama/family)

Their best friend’s partner is abusive (sad/triggering)

81 going with their partner to the doctor and the doctor makes an indecent preposition

EXO page 2

When they are crying and the ageplay mommy/daddy comforts them  (Lay, baekhyun, Chen)

when they accidentally go into their “little space” (ageplay) (Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Kyungsoo)

Their vampire partner refuses to turn them (Kris, Suho, Kyungsoo, Tao)

EXO/NCT announcing to their partner that they’re pregnant (Luhan, Baekhyun, Yuta, Ten)

Their partner doesn’t let them meet their child because they might be unhappy/accusing  (lay, Sehun, Chanyeol, Chen)

being trapped in an elevator with their crush (Sehun, Chanyeol, Lay, Chen)

their partner’s child accusing them of replacing their mom (Suho, Baekhyun, Xiumin, DO, Kai)

Finding out they’re supposed to be the next victims of their serial killer partner (Kris, Chen, Lay)

Being insecure about their relationship because their partner already has a kid (Luhan, Chanyeol, Tao, Sehun)

A jealous fan tries to hurt his family

Finding out their partner is a demigod (fictional)

Their partner doesn’t eat much and won’t take vitamins

Their partner being in a mafia family but they cut all the ties to the mafia

His dom partner punishes him for worrying about them

his partner has ADHD (slice of life)

Being friends with benefits but realizing they love you

Ageplay (part 2)- when he’s the child in the relationship (role switch)

his partner trains with the abusive ballet instructor again (sad/triggering)

being rewarded by their dom after the figging punishment (smut/sexual)

When you stop eating after they finish eating bc you eat slowly

Discovering their partner is a virgin after having sex with them for the first time (smut/sexual)

Going w/ their religious partner to a confession

Making their partner feel good for their first time (smut/sexual)

Being punished for laughing about their Dom’s status (smut/sexual)

Their shy partner gets jealous of a hot waitress

Finding out they have speeding tickets

you’re pretty but don’t believe it (slice of life+drama/family)

Their teenage daughter gets pregnant (drama/family)

Their partner is addicted to a legal drug but it’s harmful

Catching their partner smoking weed at a party

30 Trying to feed you because you have an eating disorder (sad/triggering)

Their partner is afraid of injections and has to get vaccinated  

Learning that their partner is pregnant with 4 kids instead of 1  

When another member breaks up  

Their partner gets bitten and is dying (zombie au)  

Having “sexy time” with their partner and their parents/ other members catch them

What type of fathers they’d be      (family)

seeing you dancing and singing sensuously to “sexy, naughty, bitchy”  

wanting to be comforted when they’re upset  

Hearing their partner puking in the bathroom, finding out they have an eating disorder  (sad/triggering)

Their partner speaks english and spanish but is trying to learn korean/mandarin  

Falling in love with a person with pixie hair  

Their partner serves them breakfast in bed (edited 9/8/17)

seeing their partner dancing to country music  

what sex with exo would be like (smut)

45 Finding out Luhan kidnapped Xiumin  

Having to give up “sexy time” because their partner’s dog tries attacking them  

They want to do stuff but you don’t get it (smut-ish)

when their bed breaks after a long night with their partner (smut)

their daughter wants to do their hair and makeup for a performance

Exo their long-time gf (sexualy active) wants them to take their tshirt off to sleep  

you dress up for them and you’re that kind of person who doesn’t care about their appearance

you are partner (Polish) and you unconsciously start talking in your mother language  (this is linked it just doesn’t look like it is)

coming home and finding their partner watching hsm and singing along  

their idol partner can sing on Inkigayo and you hit INCREDIBLY high notes  

If they’re in Hello Baby  

their partner comes to them and want to hug them without a reason  

finding out about their partner’s love of aquariums! especially florescent jellyfish  

reaction to chen turning into a kitten  

seeing their partner coming home completely wet from head to toe and pissed  

coming home to find their partner eating ice cream & crying bc of a movie but they continuously ignore them because the movie is too good  61

Exo: reaction to kai’s  short lived Instagram  

when Sehun meets a girl not willing to deal with his sassiness  

their crush, a trainee, nailing the high notes and also dances perfectly to their songs  

finding out their partner turned into a vampire  

coming home to see you and DO planning world domination  

when you catch them checking you out (I think this is a repeat….)

finding out you have a naughty ( ;) ) piercing  

seeing their model gf walk the catwalk for a Victoria Secrets Showcase  

finding out you have a really sensitive part of you neck like Lay does  

reacting to Lay watching My Little Pony  

their partner gets scolded by their dance teacher because they’re not learning the dance quick enough 72

when their their partner does a lingerie cf  

seeing a girl with short (boyish) hair  

your mom doesn’t approve of the relationship  

finding out that their partner smokes  

they catch their partner drinking even though they know they had an alcohol addiction  

their b/gf comes home late really drunk because you two had a huge fight.  

their cousin undresses their b/gf in his mind  

their partner puts their hand down their pants after their cousin flirts with them and yells “it’s in my every night” in front of their entire family  80

EXO page 3

(Yandere) types of yandere/ soft-sadistic mtl *not a reaction*

their s/o keeps loosing at strip poker and is almost naked  

Their partner helps them while they’re pregnant (Luhan) (Baekhyun) (needs yuta & Ten)

getting attention from other companies after their partner’s fame skyrockets (Suho) (Sehun) (Chanyeol) (Chen) 59-62

Reacting to you sucking their bottom lip (all members) (linked but doesn’t look like it)

Finding out that their partner was a serial heartbreaker and player in the past (Lay, Chanyeol, kai, Sehun)

reaction when their kid comes out of the closet  

you suddenly brushing them on their ‘thang’ when they spill a drink on you and you try to clean it up  

seeing their partner performing in a HUGE award show with a broken foot  

having a dream of their partner getting kidnapped   (edited 9/9/17)

becoming jealous after seeing you hug a close guy friend from school  

Kyungsoo and Ariana  (kyungachu[.]tumblr[.]com) having a cute fluffy relationship  

50 when you fangirl(boy) over G Dragon to them  

falling in love with someone older than them  

they’re students in your class and they fall in love with you  

they change their hairstyle and want compliments but you don’t notice  

they wake up to find you asleep at your desk because you’ve been studying for an exam  

you both watch You’re beautiful and you start crying when a sad scene comes on  

reacting to Luhan singing “do you want to build a Minseok”    

hearing you fangirl(boy)ing over Shinee’s “Your Number” when they come home    

their partner has a crush on One Direction  

their partner sends them nudes  

realizing their jewelry was stolen after shaking hands with someone  

Their crush asks them out  

buying tampon for their sick partner  

their ‘partner’ has a panic attack  

getting lost in a foreign country and they don’t know the language  

finding you sleeping with the teddy bear they got you for when they’re touring  

their partner is sassy & cries after yelling at them during their pregnancy  

A sex scenes come on and you tell him you want to try it    

32 you mumble in your sleep for Kai to stop eating Suho’s cat and buy him another one  

finding out that their partner watches hentai  

their bestfriend starts having feelings for them but they don’t feel the same way  

their partner is rushed to the hospital/has to have surgery  

finding out their friend is having financial trouble & is starving but they didn’t want to tell them  

catching their partner reading yaoi  

when their ex is harassing their partner  

their reaction after sex with you for the first time  

being partnered with their crush to do the Thinking out Loud dance together  

when another member drunkenly kisses their partner  

when their partner is afraid of thunder  

an incident happens when their partner sits on their lap  

they accidentally hurt their partner during sex  

Their partner runs away after telling them they love them  

falling in love with an android/robot  

falling in love with the “girl of Ipanema” at the beach  

16 what they would do for their partner on valentines day  

their partner kisses them then runs away  

you tell them that you’re afraid (or don’t want) to have kids  

trying to have alone time with their partner but their band members keep following them  

when you drink a lot because of depression from having a miscarriage  

when you shave all of they hair off while they’re asleep  

hearing their crush’s new song about them “bug a Boo”  

finding out you’re protective and get jealous easily  

you already have a partner but you’re cheating on them with an exo member  

asking you to marry them    

they tell you they’ve been in love with you for a long time  

they find out you can sing Growl in korean  

when you tell them you’re breaking up with them but it’s a test to see how they’d react  

having their first big fight as a couple but neither of you want to apologize first  

when they think you’re in love and will leave them for someone else  

their partner tells them that they actually aren’t pregnant  

EXO unlinked/unpaged (in archive Jan-Feb 2015)

39. exo: They find out that you like them

38. exo: they saw you catch them masturbating

37. exo: you tell them you’re pregnant after ‘sexy time’ (you’re married)

36. exo: nervous about messing up on recording with their favorite senior idol

35. exo: you try to comfort them because they can’t stop crying after winning an award

34. exo: they flirt with someone to make you jealous but you don’t notice

33. exo: your parents don’t like them

32. Exo: their boy/girlfriend is an evil villain in a movie

31. exo: they win the Best Couple Award for their drama with you

30. exo: their child(ren) can take better selfies than them

29. exo: they broke up but see you with someone else and wants you back (jan. 31 2015)

28. exo: you leave hickeys on their neck and shoulder

27. exo: they’re your boyfriend and they see you checking someone else out

26. exo react: they find out you’re taller than them

25. exo:you’ve had sex before but they’re still virgins so they feel awkward

24. exo: they receive sexy underwear from their boy/girlfriend and the band teases them

23. exo: their Brazilian girlfriend dances samba on international TV

22. exo: seeing their crush being rejected by a guy/girl

21. exo: they’re your teacher and they’re in love with you

20. exo: before/after their wedding ceremony

19. exo: a member walks in on them making out with you in the dorm

18. exo: their crushing asking to paint them naked

17. Exo: having wet dreams about their boy/girlfriend so they feel awkward

16. exo: their crush kissing them to stop them from rambling about their love for them

15. exo: you tease them for liking hyoyeon (snsd)

14. Exo: has a secret crush on you but they’re are drunk

13. Exo: their boy/girlfriend kisses them for the first time

12. exo: their boy/girlfriend has a month to live (they have children)

11. exo cheat on their boy/friend

10. Exo: you ask for a lap dance

9. exo: you call them your ex’s name

8. exo: when you broke up but see you with your new boy/girlfriend

7. Exo: meeting their favorite idol for the first time

6. exo: their boy/girlfriend joins “we got married” with someone else

5. exo reacts:seeing the model/actor/actress they’ll work with

4. exo reacts: someone flirting with their boy/girlfriend

3. exo reacts to their boy/girlfriend wanting to “do it”

2. exo finds a dog/cat and wants to keep it

1. exo meets you for the first time (jan. 18 2015)

[annakie]

Patchy

A little under two years ago I made this post, a chronicle of Patchy, the outside feral, turned inside kitty who took ten years to learn to love being petted.

Today we got some bad news.

TW for pet illness under the cut.

Patchy’s always been a bit of a puker, usually oh, say, once a month or so she’d have a good puke for no reason.  I’ve had other cats that are pukers so it’s not that surprising.

In the late winter/early spring I started to notice more frequent pukes.

I’d decided around that time that I needed to find healthier food for my cats, with Leela, the oldest turning 16, Fry turning 11, Pemily turning 7 and Patchy turning, I don’t know, 12 or 13.  No way to really know.  They already got decent food, but I did my research and had started looking at Blue Buffalo, American Journey and Dave’s canned food. 

Patchy had been on a mostly canned food diet since she went to the vet back in early 2020 and had a bunch of teeth pulled.  Also, as a note, Patchy’s brief flirtation with hanging out in the rest of the house ended after like a month.  She and Fry fought too much, and eventually he claimed the rest of the house is his.  He also still thinks the master bedroom should be his, but, Patchy defends that territory well if anyone else encroaches. (The door just stays closed most of the time.)  I really wish they could have all gotten along, I loved having Patchy out, but both Fry and Patchy agreed it wasn’t going to work.

The food she’d been on was pretty junk-food-ish though, which she did love and eat. But I wanted everyone on more or less the same diet and the highest quality food I could readily get them.  So I bought a lot of cans of different kinds of food, and kept a list of which ones seemed to be hits and misses. (I still have a dozen cans of the kind nobody liked -- Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon -- I’ve been meaning to take to the city shelter).

Around halfway into this experiment I noticed Patchy puking more, so I decided to try to stick with her favorite kinds, which, I thought was helping.

But once I was fully vaccinated this year, it was time to get all the pets to the vet.  I noticed Patchy had still lost some weight, I thought it was due to switching around her food too much earlier, and tried to stick with the things I felt she really liked.

Then, of course, Leela got sick, spent two and a half days in the pet ER and almost died back in April, and then it was like... yeah we’re done being afraid of COVID, we’re done waiting.  It’s time to get them all their checkups.

My regular vet was doing COVID restrictions so no pet owners inside the clinic back then, so they took Patchy (and the others) in without me.  I thought Patchy had lost some weight, but Dr. B. sounded alarmed when he called me with how much lost she’d lost in the last year, about five pounds.  He wanted to do some bloodwork for Patchy, and I said of course go for it.  

He called back, sounding much calmer and was like “her bloodwork couldn’t be more perfect.  Let’s try switching up her food, get her on some sensitive stomach food and let’s see how she’s doing in a couple weeks.”

So two weeks later it did seem like she was doing better, I called Dr. B back and he said to bring her back in a month.

It was my plan to take her back next week when I had some PTO coming.  I admit, later than planned... my last couple of months have been mucn more focused on Leela... who, thankfully, continues to thrive.  But feeling like my time with her is running out, she’s been my main area of concern.

The last few days though, Patchy has really not been eating well.  Sometimes she does OK, sometimes nothing at all.  And then puking every day.  I swapped her back even to a few cans of the Junk Food (Whiskas) I still had laying around.  She’d eat it... and then puke it up.  And also she... stopped sleeping with me.  I thought... well, it’s summer.  It’s probably too hot to cuddle.  But she stopped laying on the bed.  She stopped coming up for pets when I come to bed and hang out for awhile specifically to spend time with her and pet her.  She runs under the bed again when I come into the room.  It’s like we regressed to three or four years ago... just two weeks after our two year anniversary of getting to pet her.

So this afternoon we went to the vet.  Getting her into the carrier sucked.  I tried nice methods, then I had to scare her into the closet by running the vacuum, and then pretty roughly grab her.  I have scratches and a pretty deep bite on my thumb which either maybe hit a nerve or is infected, may have to go to the doctor for it tomorrow. (Yes, washed it thoroughly with soap as soon as I could.)  I also hated betraying her trust that badly, but it’s for her own good.  But it was rough.

Dr B. wasn’t working so I saw one of the other vets.  I liked him. Also COVID restrictions are gone so I got to go inside. But after talking to him for a few minutes, going over her history and what changes I’ve made, he spent a long time rubbing her intestines (Patchy was perfectly behaved, at least.)   Then he looked concerned.  Then he said let’s do an ultrasound.

A few minutes he came back in and showed me her scans. 

Lymphoma.

I was a bit stunned for a second so I missed a bit of the technical speak he said next, but it came down to the best thing we could do is give her some medicine that may buy her more time.  It doesn’t sound like Chemo or Operating is even really an option.  I’m going to call back tomorrow and see if Dr. B or the vet I talked to can talk me through it a little better now that I’ve had a chance to digest.

If I can get Patchy to take the medicine, and if she responds well to it... she may have 3 - 6 months left.

If she won’t take it, or if she doesn’t respond, it’s at this point, a matter of her comfort and quality of life.  So... weeks.  And I’m worried about getting her to take the medicine, especially since she won’t even come let me pet her and we just had a huge trust betrayal today. I don’t know if I could take her spending her last few weeks hating me, especially if the medicine doesn’t work.

The vet also told me that... I didn’t do anything wrong.  And we did the right thing six or so weeks ago by changing her food and seeing if a few other things worked. Especially with how good her blookwork looked.  He barely felt the cancer today, he said six weeks ago Dr. B wouldn’t have been able to feel it at all.  And for this particular type of lymphoma... there’s not a lot to be done, anyway.  That made me feel better, at least.

(As a really dumb side note, after I got her home, I sat down to eat dinner and watch an episode of Star Trek to take my mind off of all of this since I’d been crying since I found out, paid my bill, and drove home, stopping at a drive through so I didn’t have the mental load of cooking.  And I’m in the middle of my rewatch of Enterprise.  I bet any trekkies reading this can guess what episode was next in my rewatch because yep I’m in season two and A NIGHT IN SICKBAY started playing, of course, so obviously I NOPED THE FUCK OUT OF THAT EPISODE.  For the non-Trekkies.... the Captain has a dog on board, an adorable beagle, Porthos.  The dog gets sick and almost dies and spends his night in Sickbay.  He does pull through.  But the ONE episode centered around a beloved pet getting sick and almost dying... and that’s the episode that fate decreed I was supposed to watch tonight. I did not.  I don’t know if I can watch it anytime soon.)

So now for the next few weeks I will spend my time being grateful that Leela is alive and thriving and pray she keeps doing so -- I will continue to give her extra love and care and attention, and also I will need to do the same for Patchy.  I can’t even do it at the same time because Patchy will not come out here, and will not allow Leela in her room. 

I am low-key freaking out that there’s the possibility of the nightmare scenario happening to me again.  In winter 2016, after months of being sick, I woke up on Christmas morning and my 16-year-old cat Jim had died overnight.  It was terrible, and traumatic, and I had to deal with everything all alone because anyone who could support me was... well, it was Christmas morning and my family was all out of town, too.  Posting about it on Tumblr... actually really helped me, since it’s the only place I felt like I could talk about it.

That Christmas was on a Sunday.

Wednesday morning I woke up to hearing my dog, Cebu, moaning in pain.   I rushed him to the vet, but whatever happened overnight, it was too late, maybe there wasn’t anything we ever could have done even if I’d been awake when the puking started.  The vet said the kindest thing we could do was put him to sleep.  And we did.

Also I just, JUST now realized that the vet who helped put Cebu to sleep was the same vet who I saw today about Patchy.

But I lost two of my pets within 3 days of each other.  I was very lucky that my job let us have the week between Christmas and New Years off that year.  I had a few days to pull myself together, and I needed it.  It took months to recover totally, though.  Every once in awhile I think about that week and I still cry, though.  I miss them both so much and they both had deaths that were less than ideal.

I remember thinking then “I have like, five years of reprive.  Leela will be sixteen in five years, and that’s when I have to start to worry again, when I have to be ready to say goodbye again.”

I thought then that even after that I’d have two or three years until Patchy would leave me, and two or three years past that until Fry.  And then five more years with Pemily.

Right now I’m realizing that I will likely lose Patchy, very best case in six months, but possibly before July is over.

I need Leela to keep thriving.  I don’t know how I would handle losing another two so close together again.

Patchy is... she’s the one who chose me.  I chose my other cats.  Fry and Pemily I plucked from the backyard when they were tiny kittens and brought them inside.  They didn’t have a choice.  Leela I adopted from a rescue, she didn’t have a choice.  Patchy chose to stay.  She chose to stick around when she realized I’d feed her.  It took years but she learned to trust, she chose to come inside when it was cold, when it was hot, when it was storming, and when she was pregnant.  She chose me to help raise the last litter of kittens she’d ever had.  (My entire Rescue Kitties tag is full of adventures in finding, raising and usually adopting out strays. Lots and lots of posts about Patchy and her final litter.  Been awhile since I’ve done it, though.)

I used to joke that Patchy was my roommate, not a pet.  She ate, drank, did her business, and kept to herself for a long time.  Don’t get me wrong, she was a very good, quiet, considerate roommate and I loved her.  But it wasn’t until that wonderful day she let me pet her that I felt like she was my pet. 

I loved having her just hanging out living in the house since 2014, but the last two years especially have brought me such joy.  I’ve tried to never take Patchy’s trust in me for granted.  It was EARNED.  Every small step forward was a milestone to be celebrated. I worked for every bit of trust and love Patchy has given me, and have been rewarded.  And it was worth it.  Every minute.  Every long, patient year.

Even now I’m telling myself... without me, she would have died years ago.  Probably violently, or starved, maybe frozen to death.  Getting to die of cancer brought on by older age is not something that most feral cats ever get to do.  Getting to become an inside kitty where she’s loved, and comfortable for the second half of her life was something remarkable, brought on by her wiles and will to survive for so many years, bolstered by the food I left out for her.  She’s had this much time, this much life, this much comfort and love that she would have never had otherwise, and that’s something to be happy about.

I’ve watched dozens of ferals come and go through my neighborhood throughout the years.  I feed them, I work on seeing if I can get them to trust me enough to let me TNR them, but even those that I have, I don’t keep seeing for much longer.  There’s one right now, I jokingly call him Patchy’s Boyfriend.  He still won’t trust me and never has fallen for the trap when I’ve tried.  But he’s there most nights when I feed him around 11.  He’s getting terribly thin despite the quality food I leave out.  I’ll miss him.

But none of them were Patchy.  None of them became what she is to me. None of them survived long enough to adapt and decide to live another life.

Also?  I wouldn’t have Pemily without her.  Pemily is literally Patchy’s Granddaughter and that is one more thing I love Patchy for.

I feel guilty sometimes, both because I don’t spend nearly enough waking hours with her I feel, but I have three others who need me, as well. One who’s time is growing short, as well.  And they don’t get to sleep with me, she does.  What a joy it was all winter when I would wake up and she’d be sleeping on my chest.  I’d get a bit annoyed when she’d sleep with her backside to my face and her tail would tickle my face and wake me up.  I’m a side-sleeper half the night and she hated that it was harder to get comfortable on me that way.  She still doesn’t want to have my hand just stay on her, she wants pets and skirtches, no long-form touching.  That’s ok.  I sleep better with her weight on me.

I don’t know what the next few weeks or months will hold, but at least pet-wise, it’s going to be rough.  I’m going to wrap this up and give these three out here a good pet, then go hope Patchy comes and asks for love, too.  Tomorrow is one more day with all four of them, and for that, I’ll be grateful, for every remaining day.

[antisocial-af]

Title: The Dangers of Petting a Cat

Chapter: 3/3

Square Filled: Cursed Item (For @shadowhunterbingo​)

Raiting: T

Wordcount: 1615

No Major Archive Warnings

SFW, Attempt at Humor, Annoyed Raphael, Demon Simon, No Chairman Meows were harmed or even put in harms way to begin with in this fic, Protective Magnus.

Summary:

Magnus tries to sort out what is going, Simon attempts to stay in one piece, and Raphael is done.

Read on Ao3

Story:

Simon stared at the warlock that just passed through the portal. 

Shit! I didn’t see him call for backup! Especially from a greater demon’s kid! 

Simon hoped that the vampire was too distracted to notice him as he tried to stop the possession. The demon needed out of here now. A banishment would mean an automatic failure on his mission. 

When Simon tried to stop his magic and separate from the cat, he found he couldn’t. Something was trapping him inside the host. 

The demon started to panic and focused harder. Simon was sure it was just a hiccup and would work this time. Still, once again, his spell stayed in place and seemed to rebound him back into the cat. 

“What is going on?!” Simon panicked aloud in an almost yowl. Even that was out of the ordinary, but Simon had let it go, thinking it was just because it was his first time. But, he had never seen one of his friends bound to the voice of their host. He kept cursing at himself for not taking up Kirk on his offer to shadow him for his first possession. 

“Raphael, you better tell me someone found a spell that makes cats capable of speech, or I am revoking your babysitting privileges,” Magnus glared at Raphael as he flicked, capturing Chairman Meow in his cat carrier. 

“We both know you would be the first to know if someone made a spell like that,” Raphael bit back, glaring at the possessed cat. 

“I am supposed to be enjoying a nice drink and relaxing at the beach right now, Raphael,” Magnus complained, allowing his magic to deliver the cat carrier safely to him. 

“If you two are having a moment, I could just leave,” Simon chimed in from his less than favorable position. 

“I’m sure you figured out that isn’t a possibility,” Magnus replied with a smirk. “Now, do tell what made you dumb enough to possess my lovely Chairman today?” 

“You leave your cat with a vampire?” Simon asked before he could think of his words. 

“When I must, but that wasn’t the question, little demon.”

“Hey! Just because I’m in a cat doesn’t mean I’m little! I’m over 200 Earth Years!” 

“Isn’t that like 20 ish in your realm?” 

“Yeah, but I’m on Earth right now, so I can use my Earth age!” Simon hissed and startled himself in the process. He didn’t know he was capable of that. 

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Raphael complained and ran his hand through his hair for the hundredth time that evening. “Magnus, can’t you just yank him out already?” 

“I would if you would stop feeding him,” Magnus grumbled as he started to read the wards he had placed on Chairman’s collar. “The demon is a Trickster demon, meaning he feeds off your frustration. You have been an all-you-can-eat buffet for him.” 

“I don’t deserve this,” Raphael groaned and took a deep breath, trying to compartmentalize his anger and annoyance. 

“Does that work for vampires?” Simon asked as he sat up in the carrier. “I mean, vampires don’t breathe, so does it work?” 

“It does when there isn’t a squeaky nagging voice in the room,” Raphael continued.

“Not helping, Raphael,” Magnus intervened before it could go on. “Still, my question stands. I have known my fair share of Trickster demons, hell I’ve contracted some myself for the usual joke or prank on a friend, but in all my years, I’ve never known one to possess an animal, much less a cat.” 

“I might’ve missed,” Simon confessed. “I was supposed to be the grumpy vampire.”

“So it’s because you missed that I am here instead of with my husband,” Magnus attempted to glare at Simon, but when Chairman’s wide eyes and pulled back ears looked up at him, Magnus couldn’t do it.  

“If you let your wards go, I could just be out of your hair,” Simon quickly reasoned. He needed a way out of this quickly. Currently, the Downworlders were distracted by the situation, but Simon had no plans of sticking around when that passed. 

“Getting you out is a start,” Magnus agreed as he pulled at the wards around the collar, adjusting the locking mechanism to allow the demon out. “What way you return to your realm once you are out is another question.” 

“Wait!” Simon panicked. “You have to promise you won’t banish me once I let the cat go, or else I won’t release the possession!” 

“Oh, you are young if you think I can’t safely force you out of my precious Chairman,”  Magnus smirked and pushed a bit of his magic through to nudge the demon out. 

“Woa-” Simon’s words were cut off when he felt a push of foreign magic push him out. Simon started to get sick when he began to phase through, and his body pulled itself back together. “What part of that was safe!?” 

“Oh, I meant for Chairman,” Magnus smiled as he petted a now purring Chairman. Magnus let his magic run through his cat to verify the demon had done no damage. Since the collar activated, he wasn’t too worried about Chairman being scared or traumatized by this incident; it should’ve sent Chairman’s mind into a dream. Still, he needed to make sure. “I don’t usually keep unwanted guests around. By now, I would’ve banished you, so I never know the side effects for you.” 

“So I’m free to go then?” Simon asked as he stretched, trying to get used to standing on two legs again. 

“No.” Magnus and Raphael both answered. 

“Since you missed, I am assuming Raphael was your target,” Magnus reasoned as he glared at the demon. “What did you plan to do once you did possess him?” 

“Oh, you know the usual stuff,” Simon answered, looking away. There is no way he could let them know his actual plans; it was already bad enough that he got caught. 

“So you planned to cause chaos and play pranks on the vampires of Hotel Dumort?” Raphael growled. “Did someone send you?” 

“Well, not exactly,” Simon started to back up and look for an escape route. He had knocked over many of the books and furniture throughout, dodging Raphael in cat form, and his only escape was the window he came from. 

“What do you mean not exactly?” Magnus flicked his fingers at the demon and watched a prison form around the demon. “Who sent you?” 

“Well, they didn’t exactly send me to the hotel,” Simon gulped and stood still. He didn’t want to find out what would happen if he touched the blue bars around him. 

“They send you to New York to cause trouble?” Magnus asked. 

Simon looked at the bars and back at the glaring warlock. He was sure his mission was already a failure, so there wasn’t a point anymore. 

“I wanted to pet the cat,” Simon sighed and mumbled. 

“What?” Raphael questioned, shocked. 

“I wanted to pet the cat!” Simon stated clearly. “I was going to possess Raphael and pet your cat.” 

“So all this,” Magnus emphasized by pointing to the broken vase and torn drapes. “was because you wanted to pet Chairman Meow?” 

“Yes.” 

“I’m never pet sitting for you after you get back from vacation,” Raphael declared. 

“It’s fine, Chairman prefers Cat,” Magnus snapped his fingers, causing the jail around Simon to dissipate. He pulled Chairman up from the couch chair and into his arms before walking towards the demon. “Go on then.” 

Simon looked between the cat and warlock briefly in shock. He didn’t know if this was a trick, and as soon as he touched the cat, he would be hurt. But Simon couldn’t pass up this chance. If not the mission, then at least he was going to pet a cat today. Simon carefully brushed his fingers between both of Chairman’s ears and watched as they twitched from the pets. 

“He’s adorable,” Simon whispered. 

“Agreed,” Magnus smiled as he kept a close eye on a demon just in case. Chairman’s collar would still activate again if anything happened, but he didn’t want to take a chance. “If this is all you can go back, right?” 

“You’re just going to let him go?” Raphael questioned. “He did all this, and you are just going to send him back with a slap on the hand?” 

“Trickster demons are harmless; you know that,” Magnus shrugged. “The little demon just got a bit sidetracked.” 

“I’m not a little demon!” Simon huffed and immediately regretted it when his new cat friend jumped away. “My name is Simon, and yeah, I will portal straight back to my realm. No need to worry.” 

“See, he’s going to be a good little demon and go back home before it even gets dark,” Magnus waved his hands, already making plans to summon his own portal back to his Alexander. 

Raphael groaned and sat back down on his couch, glaring at the two people in his room. 

“Don’t worry, at least now you will have something new to complain to Chairman about other than your Clan,” Simon teased as he opened a portal to his realm, quickly jumping through as he watched the vampire leader pick up a chair to throw at him. “See you!” 

Simon sighed in relief as he stepped through the portal and smiling as he made his way up the Academy steps. He didn’t know if he still had a chance at passing, but he hoped that Prof. Modo would give still approve his first mission. Even if he didn’t, though, at least Simon had petted a cat, and that was worth all the trouble from the mission pass or fail.

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

Best Friend (Stressed Out, Part 4.)

Happy Hallowe’en!

Series despription: Once upon a time, there was a lonely dog locked up in his own home. The lonely dog became sad and angry - until a woman came to stay at the lonely, sad house one day.

Part summary: As you got ouf the stoic state, Grimmauld’s place started to shake under your presence - the house hadn’t been through such a great cleaning in ages and the only one who couldn’t get over it was Kreacher... About whom you decided not to care about in the slightest.

A/N: First signs of affection, I REPEAT FOR PEOPLE IN THE BACK: FIRST SIGNS OF AFFECTION. We really be taking our time. As one very wise, red-head boy once said... “You’re gonna suffer, but you’re gonna be happy ‘bout it.”

Word counter: 3.9 K

Tagging: @missdictatorme​, @siriusly-padfoot​

Playlist: The Black Vibe ™

Series masterlist: H E R E

The night, there was a promise made on the sofa. Neither of you knew if it was to be taken seriously; Sirius was still half-drunk and you were sobbing more than talking; Black couldn't understand the better half of what you've been mumbling. Yet you promised to confiscate every bottle of alcohol in the house, letting Sirius drink only a bit each day. On the other hand, Black promised not to let you sit around various parts of the house and stoically gaze into oblivion. It was solidified by a handshake just before you fell dead asleep as if someone hit the back of your head.

Black wasn't wondering why did it happen; you must've been tired after everything that was going on inside your head for the last couple of days. And to his unpleasant surprise, he didn't even have to worry about you being lifeless. You continued right where Molly left off, cleaning the rooms. Kreacher, as expected, was revolting heavily against your doings. Yet the house-elf was forgetting that you were now as angry as he was... All the time. Every time he started to curse in your presence, you turned into a furious hag and yelled at him to leave you alone finally; usually grabbing him by his clothes and shoving him into the nearest cabinet. After each of those extempores, Mrs Black started to yell her lungs out once more and you were wondering if it's worth it, to shout at the elf and so. Yet every time Kreacher came by to continue his daily dose of making you sick, you knew that it's bloody worth it.

After some time, you started to answer the painting back in the same enraged tone. While Walburga was yelling that you were just a scum, a traitor and an overall disgusting piece of filth, you've been yelling back at Walburga various not-so-nice things. And to be honest... Both Kreacher and Walburga were helping you to get past your grief sooner than you'd do so normally. It felt good to let all of the pressed anger out of you in such a way, especially if it meant that you didn't have to be angry with Sirius, who was your only so-called friend at the time. But that didn't mean you were good all the time either.

This was caused mainly by the fact his drinking got a bit out of hand when you had your weird phase. Now, it was hard to stop with it from an evening to an evening. Sure, he wasn't near close to being an alcoholic, yet the beverages became a part of his day-to-day life for a few weeks. It was hard to cut it off just like that.

Yet when he saw your outbursts of pain (it was simply the pain you've been feeling you've been yelling out at his mother and Kreacher) he decided it might be better not to try to sneak for the beverages into your room. You'd know; Sirius wasn't sure how would you find out, yet he was certain you'd find out easily. In the end, he was allowed two big glasses when you sat on the sofa every evening, so there was nothing to riot against.

One late October morning, it was three days before another meeting of the Order, he had woken up to a particularly amusing sight. Kreacher was crying out inaudibly as you were trying to set the damn portrait on fire with a torch you've found somewhere in the house. The said portrait was screaming on the top of its lungs with fear - and such sound was enough to make Sirius' morning a bit better. Against his better judgement, he flicked his wand and the fire was extinguished immediately. While Kreacher was still angrily yelling things at you, Sirius swiftly covered the portrait. Then, he turned his as Kreacher who was now kicking your shin as you sat in front of the wall, breathing heavily. - "Go to your place, right now, Kreacher." - Sirius muttered out with amusement, offering you a hand. The house-elf shot a last hateful gaze at you before he bowed to Sirius, apparating into the thin air.

"How are you doing?" - The man asked you with an entertained smile, patting your shoulder. With a sigh, you swung the put-out torch next to your leg, rubbing the nape of your neck. - "I think that I am perhaps short of a marble, or at least that I am starting to losing it." - An answer sounded through the staircase as you walked to the dining room side by side. - "This is the magic this house has. A charming one, am I right?" - Sirius let our a breathy laughter as he put a kettle to the fireplace, preparing the water for a cup of tea. - "Fancy a cuppa?" - He mumbled from searching for a particularly old tea set. To his surprise, you were kneeling in front of the stove and checked something, that was backing inside. - "What you got here?" - The man stuck his head next to yours, freaking you out so much that you almost burned his face with the hot stove door.

"You'll see, shush now." - You pushed him aside with a giggle. It wasn't too hard to figure out what you were trying to bake since there was a cookbook opened at the page 'Pumpin Pasties and other Hallowe'en treats'. - "What's the date? I lost the touch with the outside world." - Sirius, who was now paying attention to the flavours of the tea, asked silently. How long have you been there already? How much time had passed by? - "That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. Can Kreacher go to the market for me?" - You wondered innocently, covering the book with your body.

Sirius now shot an interesting gaze your way. - "Hallowe'en is around the corner and since the members of the order will be here for the evening, I thought we might make it pretty in here. I've already found me some candles I can enchant to fly around," - A smile broke out on your face and it was the first time Sirius saw you excited about anything. There were small sparks in your eyes as you spoke of the subject and there was a whole new expression in your face; when Kreacher moaned in horror (since it were his Mistress' candles), you kicked the door with your heel to shut him up. - "But I was thinking a few pumpkins here and there, some Hallowe'en baking and such. I might pull out some of the bats from Buckbeak's attic." - With that, you smiled more subtly than before.

The water was already boiling as Sirius watched you with a moron-ish gaze. Kreacher sure was allowed to go outside, yet the directions must be complex. He wasn't allowed to talk about where you've been or where Sirius is hiding, he can't tell how to find the place or who is the secret keeper. Yet Sirius didn't find the will to tell you no. It might lift the spirits for a moment. It might be fun, to carve pumpkins and prepare the house for a befitting jolly mood. - "Of course he can leave the house. Write me a list and I will send him out." - Sirius answered with a subtle smile resembling yours. With that, you jumped on your feet and took your cup of tea from his palm. - "That's why I'm trying Pumpin pasties from the old book I've found here. I think you might like them. And Kreacher can take one if he fancies it, I'm in a generous mood."

As you've said, so Sirius did. He recited the whole list to Kreacher - eleven big pumpkins, fifteen small ones, another pack of candles, a whole lot things so you could bake, some lemonades and butterbeer; to make Sirius happy, you've asked Kreacher to take a big bottle of fancy whiskey. Both of you gave Kreacher some money, you've been more than willing to invest in the holiday celebration, and while Black was more generous and gave Kreacher two Galleons, you've only given him a few Sickles. As soon as you were done with the first batch of the pasties and it got a bit colder, you've made the man taste it.

Honestly, when he saw your expression, Sirius expected a whole rodeo. He was worried for a moment, but then the salty caramel and sweet, spicy pumpkin pasta hit his tongue. - "Merlin's beard." - The man hummed after eating two of them. - "I last had such good pasties back in Hogwarts." - This started the whole topic about if you should make both sweet and savoury treats, or just stick with one of them; to which you decided you'll make both just to be sure.

For the next two days, after Kreacher was unwillingly sent to shop while Sirius hissed a whole lot of comments regarding your safety at him, Grimmauld's place was turned into a bakery and also became a lot more lively than before. You've spent a whole afternoon figuring out how to make the candles fly without setting anything on fire (there were a few spots that were soot-coated by the candles), then you craved the pumpkins, both small and big, arranging them around the whole house. Even though you used magic at most of them, you've craved at least five of them by hand, arranging them around the house in various places. Some were flying along with the candles, some were put on the railing to shine through the pitch-black corridors, some were put into the tapestry room where you've been spending the most time.

The house itself was suddenly bursting with the right creepy atmosphere it was all the time, but now it was enhanced by all the Hallowe'en decorations. Sirius liked it the end - the whole dining room was decorated with small bowls of candy, pumpkin pasties (both savoury and sweet) and a pint of butterbeer for everyone who was supposed to come.

When Moody entered the Grimmauld's place, his eye was flying in every direction so he'd figure out if the decorations were something dangerous or not. Tonks was so taken away by it that her hair changed into bright orange colour and Lupin just told you it looked wonderful, which was the biggest compliment you were able to get out of him. Dumbledore practically waltzed into the room, Hogwarts were in the jolly mood at this time of the year as well, and all the decorations made him smile widely. You've been wondering how is it that Dumbledore is staying so jolly in times like these, yet eventually, his mood became quite contagious.

Severus Snape ignored all of the treats you've presented to your guests, but it was greatly appreciated by Minerva McGonagall, the headmistress of the Griffindor house of Hogwarts. - "See, Black? I knew you had it in you." - She sang out with a small smile, making Sirius huff out with laughter. There was not much to talk about at the meeting - there were only new people with new information who were able to tell you something. Some of the guests stayed a bit longer and drank a few glasses of whiskey before they left. Yet just before you joined the lively group in the dining room, you've caught up Dumbledore.

Minerva McGonagall gave you a confused look as you gently gripped the man's upper arm, yet she nodded when Dumbledore smiled at her kindly. She remembered you, of course, she did. You, Brian McLeavey and Charlie Weasley were an inseparable group back in your Hogwarts days. Back when you were still studying at the school, it wasn't even that long ago, you've been in the Forbidden forest almost all the time; it was mainly caused by Charlie's persuasive skill and your thrill for a bit of adventure. When she heard that Brian had died, she fell silent for a moment - neither of you were great at Transfiguration, yet Charlie and he were known lovers of the wild beasts and you've been really great with herbs. Such a nice man's life lost... What bad news.

"I never had seen Grimmauld's place looking so sharp, miss Y/L/N." - Dumbledore told you kindly and moved out of Alastor's way with one elegant move. - "It was your work, wasn't it?" - He smiled as if you've been gushing about a secret of sorts. - "Sirius helped me greatly. When it comes to silly things like these, this man can be brilliant." - You answered honestly. - "Yet this is not what I wish to speak of, sir."

It was still within you. Even if Album Dumbledore wasn't your headmaster anymore, there was this respect deeply craved under your skin. This man was most probably the most brilliant, the smartest and kindest wizard you've ever had the luck to speak with. Dumbledore sighed, looked around the decorated hall and nodded at what you've been saying. - "I know it's not what you want to talk about, but take this as my answer. It is too soon for you to leave the hiding you have at Grimmauld's place. As I wrote to you in the letter, it will be wiser to stay here until we know what curse is ailing you. This is the safest place you can find yourself at. How's Buckbeak doing, when we're chatting away anyway?" - The headmaster asked kindly and made sure his beard still looks presentable. Your answers were now much less enthusiastic and quieter than before; you were hoping to hear that you can, in fact, leave the house at your will.

It wasn't right to leave Black there all along, yet you were surely slowly losing your marbles while staying there with Kreacher. One of you will be found dead in the following weeks and you were sure it won't be you. The Grimmauld's place wasn't a location you'd voluntarily stay at, but there was something inside you telling you that you should stay inside the house. As you watched Minerva gently placing her palm on Dumbledore's forearm, you sighed out loud before they disappeared right in front of your eyes. Slowly, you closed the door and walked back to the kitchen. Tonks, Lupin and the Weasleys stayed there for a little longer. As to be expected, you've slipped into two groups - the women were gushing over the latest news and men were drinking a bit to get into mood (Sirius might have drunk a bit too much) and talked about various topics. Molly even brought you a few of the latest Daily prophets so you would have something to read through.

"How are you doing, darling? it must be horrible to live... Here." - Molly looked around and searched for Kreacher lurking around the table somewhere. For a moment, you've been quiet; until you shook your head. You decided not to tell her about the few crucial weeks you and Sirius had before the first meeting of the school year was called. - "It's not that bad, really. Kreacher and Mrs Black can be a whole lot at times, that I admit, but this house has its perks." - You looked around with a soft smile. Over the last few weeks, you've grown to know every small detail of a few rooms. - "For example, there's always something to do and to clean up. Mostly, Kreacher is fast and slips with a few trinkets to hide them away, so then I can argue with the old moron for a while, letting all the stress out. Which wakes the hag living in the portrait." - Then, you and Tonks chatted about Kreacher calling you all these names at which you just laughed carelessly. Around eleven in the evening, Molly and Arthur left the house, hugging you as if they were seeing you for the last time ever. You've grown to appreciate both of them during their first stay at the Grimmauld's place (since Charlie never introduced you to his family) and you liked the pair ever since.

It was after they both left the house when Sirius finally managed to talk you down to have a good, big glass of the whiskey with him and Lupin. Tonks, who certainly wasn't afraid of alcohol, had drunk much more than she was capable of handling. When Lupin was leaving, she persisted on walking him out of the door. To keep the discretion, you and Sirius sat in the dining room and continued to sip on the whiskey. He pretended that he's sober, but you knew he drank at least a whole bottle on his own. - "Most of the members were blown away by the decoration. It was something magnificent in my opinion." - The man whispered to you as you heard Tonks and Lupin conversating about something very loudly in the hall. With a flick of your wand, the door to the dining room had closed while your gaze slipped from the fireplace to Black.

Even he was now looking like a changed man. The company you've had poured some energy into his veins, that was clear as a day. Suddenly, he looked at least ten years younger than he did before, mainly because he trimmed his beard and moustache and made sure his hair was somewhat presentable. His blue eyes now had small sparks of happiness inside them - which was partially the alcohol's doing. The only thing you were afraid of was that once this excitement flushes away, he maybe will be an insufferable moron. This time, you wouldn't be able to just sit through all of it, gazing into the oblivion. - "We better raise the bar on Christmas, then." - You said with a small smile, pouring rest of the booze down your throat. Then you picked one of the sweet pasties, biting off the better half of it.

"What do you mean by that?" - Sirius leaned his back into the chair, being taken away for a moment. He didn't know for how long Dumbledore is planning for you to stay at the Grimmauld's place, yet it couldn't be that long, could it? Sirius had already a bit of experience with isolation, he knew how bad it can get with him - but you were a young woman. You'd surely lose your marbles if you'd stay longer than three months. Not to say that it was almost two months already. - "I mean that you probably won't be able to drink like a local drunkard for some time because Dumbledore hadn't disclosed any certain date. And I think I might be stuck here until the New Year. Poor you." - You snickered with irony, yet it seemed to take Black away even more for some reason.

Was he a bad person for being... Happy after you learned such news? Sure, in the beginning, it was not too charming to live with you under one roof. Yet once you got over it and moved into the stage of being angry, living at Grimmauld's place wasn't feeling like such a prison. Sometimes he joined you with cleaning up the mess after his family, sometimes he chatted with you for a while - but when you realized it's almost Hallowe'en and you could surprise your guests, it was one of the funniest weeks he lived through in the last few years. You could be funny, especially when you were cursing about the damn candles falling on your head, you could be overly energetic with it (which made Sirius filled with energy as well) and you could be... Nice. Especially when you just told him stories about the Hallowe'en celebrations in your household. He enjoyed your company and by Merlin's beard, a part of him relaxed when he realized that you weren't about to leave just yet. - "Poor me." - Sirius tried to agree with the same amount of irony in his voice, yet the mascarade was easy to look through. - "Poor me."

Just before the conversation could go in a different direction, Tonks opened up the door with tears in her eyes. You and Sirius exchanged a glance before she sat at the chair Lupin was sitting at just a moment ago, drinking straight out of the bottle. - "You, my friend, are sleeping here tonight." - Sirius told her and patted her shoulder as he picked himself from the chair. It was probably the best idea. Tonks, who didn't leave the bottle out of her palms, started to sob, yet refused to tell you what was going on. Shortly after, Sirius led her to one of the empty bedrooms. As you were walking next to them, each of you at least a bit drunk, you stopped at the ajar door leading into the tapestry room. There were no words needed - Sirius simply nodded at you while climbing upstairs with Dora, chatting with her about something quietly.

As usual, it was your time to cry and get the sadness you before you'd start your yelling competition with Mrs Black and the ungrateful house-elf in the morning. It was a daily convenience that Sirius found you sitting on the sofa, all curled up into a tight ball, staring into the flames. With the bottle he managed to wiggle from Tonks' grip, he sat next to you as he always did. Usually, you've been crying and he was just sitting there, as emotional support. For several hours until you decided it's time for sleep. Well, it certainly wasn't the best thing he could be doing, but what were his options? To sit with Buckbeak in the attic? Lay in his bed? Cook? No, Sirius got used to this already.

It was as that moment you took the bottle and took a long swing out of it too. This was different. He had never seen you drink during there before. It was not too long after when you managed to speak out loud. - "Can you do something for me?" - You mumbled, pitting the bottle on the small decorative table next to the sofa. The man turned his head at you, giving you a curious gaze. - "Can you hold me as if you really mean it?" - A whisper hit his ears loud and clear. It wasn't making much sense, the whole plea was nonsense.

To hold you as if he's meaning it? What precisely were asking for? What was the thing he was supposed to mean? Should he be worried about the thing he was supposed to mean? And were you about to explain it to him at some point? - "Of course." - He answered nonetheless with politeness and scooped closer to you. It was really awkward for a moment there, as he put his arm on the back of the sofa, not touching you in any way. With your nose red and eyes smudged, you've scooped so your head rested on his shoulder and one of your arms circled around his side, making sure you're as close as you could be.

After another prolonged moment, Black's hand gently slipped on your shoulder and squeezed you for a moment as he let out a contained sigh.  He didn't know how long you've been pressing yourself to his side, yet at one point, you stopped sobbing and a long breath escaped your lips; you've fallen asleep right there and then. Sirius rose his other hand slowly, putting your hair in place before planting a long kiss on your temple, cradling you a bit as you huffed out unpleasantly. He did hold you as if he meant it. And the best part? Sirius Black really meant it that night.

[soda-drabbles]

Sick Day | Dan x Reader

Synopsis : After noticing you're having a sick day, Dan takes it upon himself to help.

Type : Fluff

Pairing : Dan x Reader

A/N : Here's some Dan shit since I barely write him here :')

“You aren't looking so hot.”

Dan's concerned tone mentioned to you after you had another rough coughing fit for the fifth time that day. After you cleared your throat, you ended up rolling your eyes playfully. “Gee, thanks, Dan.” You sarcastically said.

The two of you were at your place for the weekend. Sometimes Dan would either come to yours or Arin's place to hang out. The three of you would hang out together sometimes, just like today since Arin was meant to be coming over later as well.

Dan sat on the couch, one arm thrown over the top of it. His concerned face was directed towards you, who was in the kitchen. “I didn't mean it in that kind of way. You always look cute. I just meant that you look not that good, especially with that coughing fit.”

Your lips pressed together in slight annoyance. “I always look like this.” You folded your arms against your chest.

Dan cocked a brow, “You always look like you're pale as shit and about to pass out?”

You spun to him, head a bit dizzy. “..Yes.”

“You know that there's a stomach bug going around, right? It's completely normal for you to get sick and junk.” He suggested, yet you wouldn't budge.

The man on the couch sighed. Clearly, you weren't going to give in about the whole being sick thing. He stood and approached you. “I'm gonna call Arin and cancel the plans for now. You're clearly sick.”

“I'm not sick!” You struggled to find the words and when they did, they scraped your throat. It hurt like hell and it was clear in your voice, including the way you winced.

Dan's brows furrowed, his own lips pursed. “Look, why dont you go lay down on the couch for me. I'll head to the pharmacy and get what you need, okay? I'll even grab us food on the way.”

Throat too hurt to complain, you defeatedly gave in and plopped onto the couch. Dan relaxed a little and smiled. “Thank you. I'll be right back.” He then reached over to pat your head softly before he grabbed his coat and left.

During that time, you mostly sat there and stared at the ceiling for a good while. You felt as if you were on the verge of sleeping. The temperature was just right and you didn't need any covers, things were comfortable as they were. Just as you were nodding off, Dan rolled in with a couple bags.

“Wow, you actually stayed put.” He teased as he took a seat beside you and placed the bags down. All you could really do was pout at him since your throat was still sore.

Dan then pulled out some medicine from the pharmacy, mostly cough medicine and throat spray. “Alrighty, so I'mma need you to be a big girl for me and open wide.”

His sudden words brought a distinct flush from your cheeks and another coughing fit. “-What?”

Dan didn't think of how the words affected you, as he was more concerned about giving you the meds. “The cough medicine. Open up.” He said as he poured the red liquid in the cap.

He then handed it to you. You then downed the odd disgusting cherry mixture, a twisted grimace on your face. Dan couldn't help but laugh. “It doesn't taste that bad.”

“Danny, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to poison me.” You groaned.

He shook his head, a smile on his face. “Now let's do the throat spray.”

“..Throat spray?” You questioned, looking at him like he was crazy.

He laughed. “Its supposed to be something that you spray in your mouth and it coats your throat or something. School nurses use this stuff so it should be fine.”

You then attempted to use this 'throat spray' which thankfully wasn't as bad as you thought. Upon spraying, it gave you a soft tingle and numbness with a cherry-ish taste. It tasted better than that cough medicine did.

Dan smiled contently after you were done. “Is it helping anything?” He asked. You nodded.

“Yeah, kinda.” You shrugged, “The throat spray thing is kinda weird though, like, tingly and shit.”

Dan chuckled, his tone slightly teasy. “Now that wasn't so bad, was it?”

You folded your arms across your chest and let out a huff. He was looking at you like he knew he was right and of course you knew he was. “No.” A soft pouty mumble left your lips.

Dan snickered and lightly pinched your puffed pouty cheeks, “Aww, don't be like that~” His tone was soft yet teasy. Kind of like how you'd talk to a puppy who wasn't getting their way.

Your cheek burned in his hands, which were also warm. You didn't know if it was his warmth or if you were just blushing.

Afterwards, he pulled out some soup. Many kinds actually. “I wasn't sure what kind of soup you liked so I just kinda went ham and got a bunch.” He mentioned, smiling a little sheepishly. “I had already got you takeout but soup always does help a throat, especially when you're sick.”

Instead of pouting about how you weren't sick, you were silenced by the warmth that tingled your heart. It wasn't because of the cold either. Dan was such a kind person. He always went out of his way to help those who are close to him. You honestly couldn't think of a sweeter person. You wondered to yourself how exactly you got so lucky.

“(Y/N)?” Dan's voice broke through your thoughts, his confused face stared back at your own flushed face. “Are you okay? You seem kinda out of it.”

You nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I am. I just..” Your eyes met up with Dan's and a smile lifted your features. “I'm just thankful to have you.”

His once confused face turned to a relaxed grin. A laugh bellowed out of him. “You really must be sick. You never say that shit to me.”

Instantly, you huff and playfully shove his shoulder. “Let me be nice for once, yeah? Besides, its not like I don't think about that all the time.” A small hint of guilt riddled your voice. A part of you wished you let him know how amazing he was more often.

He smiled still, hand rubbing his arm as if it was sore from where you shoved it which of course it wasn't. “I'm kidding. I appreciate it, I really do.”

That warm feeling was bubbling up all over again. The pit of your belly burned and your chest tightened. You weren't one to go for the idea of love but..

Nope, just another coughing fit. One that brought Dan to rub your back and jump up to make some soup. After you could finally talk, he asked you what kind of soup you would like and of course, you chose good ol' chicken noodle. He instantly got to working at it while you settled on the couch and allowed your throat to rest.

You heard Dan hum to himself in the kitchen as he heated the soup up on the stove. You always loved his voice. A secret of yours was that whenever you missed him or just wanted to hear his voice, you'd turn on some Ninja Sex Party. On certain occasions, his voice would be able to put you to sleep. His voice was just so soft and smooth, perfect thing to both listen and sleep to.

He arrived back with a steamy bowl of chicken noodle and placed it gently on the coffee table. “I'd wait for it to cool down a minute before you dig in.” Dan suggested.

You took his advice, allowing the soup to cool for a bit. During this time, Dan put on a movie. You decided it was finally time to try the soup and thankfully, it was cooled enough. You tasted it and it was pretty good, as chicken soup could be.

Dan smiled down at you, admittedly not really paying attention to the movie. “How is it?”

You shrugged as you slurped some more soup. “I mean, its chicken noodle. Pretty good.”

He smiled, pleased with your response. “Good, it would've sucked if I just got shirty chicken noodle or something.”

Nightfall soon hit and somehow you found yourself with a blanket around you, your head rested against Dan's chest. His arm was around your smaller body, laced around your shoulder gently. The whole feeling was so warm and fuzzy, you thought you could just pass out.

“Dan,” You muttered tiredly, which got his attention. “You know you can go home, right? I'd hate for you to be cooped up here and get whatever the hell I got.”

His head was tilted towards you and the smile in his voice reassured you. “Come on, its the weekend. Plus, I don't exactly trust you alone when you're sick like this.” He hugged you close, his hand lightly squeezed your shoulder. “Are you sleepy?” He apparently noticed the tired tone in your voice.

“Yeah, you may have a point there.” You couldn't help but yawn at the mention of sleep. You snuggled more into his chest, not really realizing what you were doing. “Kinda.”

Dan leaned back, his own head leaned against yours. “Go ahead and take a nap. I'll be here when you wake up.”

All you could do was groan a little. “Goodnight, Danny.”

Dan smiled warmly and chuckled at your sleepy behavior. He closed his own eyes.

“Sweet dreams.”

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 154

154

Fussing over Lance, Lance sighed for the hundredth time at his boyfriend. He loved Keith. Treasured Keith. Adored Keith. Cherished him with everything he had, but surely their had to be some kind of limit to the amount on guy could fuss over another, especially seeing he’d been fussing over him since early morning. Keith had wanted to cancel their date on account of Lance’s morning sickness. Lance wasn’t having it. He was having his date with Keith and nothing was stopping him. Not nausea. Not lack of sleep. And not Keith fussing over him when he was totally fine-ish.

Keith was taking their date seriously. Lance was seriously kicking himself over the previous day, despite the fact that Keith finally working it out made him stupidly happy. Plus, Keith had enjoyed the evening, even if he had no idea what was happening at the time. His boyfriend had taken this date seriously enough that he’d spent a hefty chunk of time on his phone working out where they were going. Knowing Keith would consider his feelings, he really hoped that Keith had seen how much he wanted to do something with him that his boyfriend enjoyed. Things were better that way. That way they’d both be excited and have more to talk about than just Lance blabbing on and on about his own interests.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve got your hands on your stomach”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at Keith, Lance wondered where else his hands would be. The twins were moving, like they were as excited as Lance was for this date

“Keith, it’s kind of the most convenient place for them”

“You’re not in pain?”

Lance gave in to the urge to roll his eyes as he replied

“I’m fine. Like the other hundred and one times you asked. I’m fine and I’m excited, but no pain”

Other than the discomfort of having to pee, and the general achiness of his hips. He’d been anxious about the date, being pregnant and all that, but now he was in disguise... Kind of. He had his jumper on that no longer really hid his bump, but the cap on his head his hair, and the thick sunglasses took up most of his face. Coran has given them the okay to go out, as long as they were careful and Lance took things easy. Around his neck was a blue scarf, that Keith had stunk up for him, so he was as ready as he was ever going to be when it came to slipping back into the general human population.

Huffing, Keith drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for the lights to turn green. Lance clueless and loving that he was

“I’m sorry... I know you’re excited”

“I am. And you’re anxious that I’m not going to like the surprise...”

“A bit”

“Babe. It’s not going to be like super different than normal. It’s you and me, seeing something together. It’s about making memories and not stressing”

“I know. I still... want things to go well”

He would have kissed Keith if Keith wasn’t so focused on not killing them

“They will. Just concentrate on not getting us lost”

Keith shot him a scowl, deadpan with his reply

“You’re hilarious”

Another 5 minutes passed before they were pulling into the parking lot and Lance was lighting up. Being landlocked Platt didn’t have a whole lot of water around it. There was an artificial dam of sorts, where people could swim, boat and fish, and for some reason there was also this place. Platt Aquarium and Animals. Their sign boasted about the conservation work they did in the area. It’d been a long time since Lance went there. Probably sometimes around his first year back at college when he’d only just made friends with Pidge and Hunk. He’d brought Mami along, so she could meet them again, and it was one of those places he’d meant to take Keith on a date to before all the craziness had happened.

Cutting the engine, Keith seemed tense. Lance reaching out to place his hand on his boyfriend’s thigh

“This is it, right?”

“I mean... uh... if it’s not too lame”

Probably a little lame, but by Lance’s standards it was a whole lot of unlame

“It’s not lame. Did you know this place has sharks?”

“It said on the website”

“That’s the whole reason isn’t it? You want to see sharks and tell them their traitors for not having two dicks, don’t you?”

Keith’s cheeks reddened. Lance chuckling. His boyfriend was so cute when he blushed

“It’s fine. As long as you don’t get the compulsion to try punch one”

“I’m not going to punch a shark. Not unless it tries to make you lunch”

Lance raised an eyebrow, knowing full well what Keith meant

“I could support a shark making me a sandwich”

Keith groaned. His boyfriend too stressed to be able to take a joke

“Not like that. Why... How would that even work?”

The mental images shouldn’t have been as funny as they were, he couldn’t help the small giggle at the thought

“Carefully. Seriously, if you keep stressing in going to start stressing”

“But is it enough? I wanted to...”

“Babe, you’re overthinking. This is one of the places I wanted to bring you. I think the names changed, but this place is super cool. I thought you’d love taking photos of the fish”

“So... this is better than a shooting range, right?”

“Much. Let’s go already. I want to see all the fish and the animals. I think they even have bats here. You’re not going to get me confused with another bat, are you?”

“As long as you stay human”

“Well I can’t seem to turn into a bat carting around our twins, so I think we’re pretty safe in that department”

“You’ll let me know if you need a break or anything?”

“Yes, dad. Now can we go in?”

Keith paid for their tickets, Lance already losing concentration when it came to the tanks filled tiny neon fish in the reception area. Keith’s eyes had lit up the moment they’d stepped through the doors, Lance smiling at his boyfriend’s excitement that Keith was trying not to let break his cool calm “adult” demeanour. Keith had probably never got to go to an aquarium as a kid. Shiro had to have taken him, or maybe Shiro and Adam had made a family day of it. Lance hoped so. He hoped Keith wasn’t overthinking him having been there before. Having older siblings meant doing this kind of thing when Mami and Papi could afford it. When he’d been a kid there’d been this face painter at an aquarium they’d been to. Lance had his face painted with as many different fish as he could, then refused to take a shower that night because he didn’t want them to come off. Instead most of them scratched off against his pillow and he’d been devastated the following morning.

Sliding their tickets into his wallet, Keith took him by the hand as Lance moved away from the family wanting to get to the ticket counter. His boyfriend putting his wallet in his back pocket, staring at his feet as he did

“You probably know this place better than I do”

Stupid nerves. Lance wanted to kiss away all Keith’s anxieties. Sure, internally he was paranoid and just as fearful of something going wrong, but if he kept to that chain of thought then neither of them would have any fun

“If that’s your way out of us seeing everything, I’ve got news for you”

“I mean... where do we go?”

There were maps, and three different ways to the exit. Keith would know this if he wasn’t so anxious. His boyfriend had no right being so adorable

“You follow the yellow arrows on the floor until you’re past the biggest tank. That’s the one with the sharks in it”

“And is there anything I shouldn’t do?”

Other than punching sharks? And following common sense? Nope. There was only one “rule” that Lance could think of which would ease both their anxieties

“Yep. But the absolute worst thing you can do here is let go of my hand. I want to see everything here with you”

Keith ducked his head as he squeezed Lance’s hand, embarrassed as he mumbled

“I didn’t mean that”

“I know. Still, I want to hold your hand”

“You already are, dumbarse”

“Yep. I’m not letting go either. You’ll wander off and get lost if I do”

“If anything, you’re the one more likely to wander off”

“Why would I? I mean, like, the best part of the date is you, so why would I leave your side?”

Keith groaned at him, Lance bumping him with his hip

“Come on, mullet. Let’s go see some fishes... I wonder if they actually have mullets here... a photo of a mullet in front of a mullet...”

Keith stepped on his toes lightly, Lance shaking his head as he grinned. This was going to be the most awesome date ever. He was going to make sure of it.

*

Lance was a vampire in too deep. He couldn’t help himself and now he was lost as Keith tried to make conversation over the “colony of Nemo’s” in the tank they’d stopped to coo over. He couldn’t help but be distracted, and what was worse was that Keith had noticed his distraction. His boyfriend trying to make more of an effort, though he absolutely didn’t need to. Excusing himself to the bathroom. Lance went through the usual routine, before standing in front of the mirror. He didn’t look like he was having a good time. He didn’t look terribly healthy either. There was a major problem he was having and it was ruining his whole date.

Keith was too cute.

Trying to fix his appearance up in the bathroom, he came out to find his boyfriend sitting on the bench looking dejected. With his elbows on his thighs and his figure hunched forward as he held his head in his hands, Lance felt like a douche. He wasn’t trying not to have a good time. He just kept looking at Keith and getting caught up in the expression on his face. The wonder. The innocence. The way he scrunched his nose and put on a posh accent as he tried to pronounce species names. This date was so perfect that his stupid heart was dying from a Keith overload. They weren’t clumsy teens fawning over each other, they were supposed to be mature adults... but that went out the window each time Keith would smile and Lance would find his own smile growing wider. Keith was stressing out and his boyfriend had no clue. Despite how embarrassing it was going to be, he was going to have to tell him so Keith knew the date was anything but awful.

Sitting down beside his boyfriend, Keith sighed heavily

“I fucked this up again, didn’t I?”

Lance’s heart damn near broke

“No. No... it’s not that”

“I thought you’d be happy...”

“I am”

“So why are you... so sad?”

Resting his head against Keith’s shoulder, Lance let out a shaky breath, trying not to cry over Keith feeling so bad

“It’s...”

“It’s me, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. But not the way you think”

Lance cringed at his own words. Zero reassurance right there. Flinching a little as Keith sat up and he was forced to move back

“I wanted this to go well”

“I... okay. This is kind of embarrassing, but I can’t take my eyes off of you”

Drawing his brow, Keith seemed ready to start yelling or internally implode trying to ask what the heck that meant without having quite the right words or brainpower to figure them out. Right. He could do this. He’d comforted Keith a hundred times before... though if that was true than his boyfriend probably should have more rights when it when it came to fussing

“I mean... You just look so happy and so cute that I keep getting distracted by you. And then I realise I’ve kind of mostly missed everything because I can’t take my eyes off you. I’m not not having a good time. I’m just being... weird... because... you’re really cute”

“What the fuck?”

Finally it was Lance’s chance to groan. What part of what he’d said wasn’t making sense

“You. Look. Cute”

“You’re watching me instead of the fish?”

“I’m watching you watching the fish...”

“I start looking at the fish then I see you and my heart goes weird. I’m having a small panic about what to do though. I like being able to talk to you about your interests, and mine, in this case. But I can’t seem to keep my eyes off you”

Keith opened and closed his mouth, before dramatically sighing and ruffling up his hair

“What am I supposed to say about that?!”

“I don’t know”

“You sound like you love me, or something?”

As if that could be doubted. He wouldn’t be having so much trouble paying attention if he didn’t

“I do. Very much. Have you taken many photos?”

“Yeah... I mean... a few”

Lance had the feeling Keith was trying to cover up that most of those photos were of him from the tightness in his boyfriend’s tone

“We should take some more. I don’t want to forget this day”

Keith dropped his head down to kiss Lance on the shoulder

“Where I made your brain go all stupid?”

“Mhmm. If you think I’m stupid now, you should see me later”

Keith cocked his head

“What do you mean?”

“You see, I have this boyfriend. He’s kind of fucking amazing... and he turns me into this massive mess when we’re in bed together. Can’t think at all about anything important other than him. Zero brain cells remaining”

Keith snorted at him, Lance managing to sound to proud and serious at the same time, ruining it by laughing at the end. Keith deserved to feel good about himself. He was wonderful and everything Lance could want. Other people had stared at Keith as they’d made their way through the complex, but Keith was oblivious to their looks

“Are you sure you had brain cells to begin with?”

“My sources say no. I’m sorry I made you worry. I know you want everything to go well, and it is. I love you”

“I love you, too. Though I do think the fish are much more interesting than I am”

“That’s because you don’t see what I see. Just like elbow me if you catch me staring or phasing out”

Lance tilted his head, leaning down to nuzzle into Keith, Keith wrapping his arms around him as he nuzzled back

“Nah. Having you watching me... it’s nice to know you can’t take your eyes off me”

None of the fish compared to Keith. Not the tiny Neon Tetras, or the rainbow of colours of the fake coral reef that the Gropers swam over. The Black Cardinals reminded him of Shiro and the clownfish of watching Finding Nemo for the first time. He didn’t know what fish suited Keith the best, but he’d buy a whole damn aquarium if he got to see Keith so excited every day of his life. Actually, he wouldn’t. His boyfriend would be sad each time a fish passed and they were both pretty clueless over how much went into running a place like that. What Lance really wished was that he could bottle the happiness he felt when he watched Keith’s eyes tracking the fish in the tanks. The way his eyes would widen, or he’d squint to find the fish in the tank, then widen when he’d found his target. They should have picked up Keith’s proper camera. Next time they’d have to come with the twins and the rest of their family. But that’d be okay because he’d gotten to see all these expressions on Keith’s face that made him fall in love all over again.