#even being on my phone feels blegh

[dragoncarrion]

I need to be submerged in liquid nitrogen

[twistedwonderlandshenanigans]

Hi, I was wondering if you could do an NRC Students (Except Ortho) x Reader, Where Reader and they are having a Romantic moment/Date, but it gets interrupted by Someone or Something?

Yeah of course!! Thank you for the req and for your patience, I know it's been FIVEEVER. My concrete sequential brain can't omit characters though, so Ortho is on here in a platonic like. babysitting/sibling outing way :D

I hope you enjoy <3

MC! GN! Reader - SOME ARE FLIRTY OKAY I'M FLIRTY IN THEORY AND NEED TO LET IT OUT

Ruining The Moment

**Every single one is different/written as it's own drabble. Apologies if some cut off abruptly, I struggle with knowing where to end things.

Heartslaybul

Riddle:

You and Riddle were studying together on one of the upper floors of the library. While quiet remarks had been made back and forth, more than anything, you both just enjoyed each other's company.

Neither of you had really noticed just how much time had passed since class had been out. Now, with the library being bathed in the warmth of the sunset, Riddle was about ready to pack up to ensure he made it back to his dorm in time for tea time. However, as he looked up from his work, he found himself pausing to study your visage.

The sunlight pouring in from the windows behind you made you look like you were glowing; ethereal. His eyes lingered on you, studying every inch of your expression, focused on the task at hand, which happened to be your history homework. The slight furrow of your brow, the sharpness in your eyes, determined to finish your work, the slight pout of your lips...

He found himself feeling shy all of a sudden, without much of an explanation. He wanted to compliment you - at least...to tell you how lovely you looked, his hand reaching gingerly across the table to try and hold your free one, but just as you noticed, he startled as a very distinctive voice cut through the other hushed chatter around the library.

"Eheee~ goldfishie!! And lil shrimpy, aww I get a two for one deal!! Whatchya guys doin'?"

Floyd came over, picking up one of Riddle's book and flicking through it, feigning interest, before looking bored and setting it aside.

"Blegh, have you guys seriously been here all d- eh?? Goldfishie, you're all red~ you're not mad though, are ya? Usually it takes more than that t'push your buttons."

Riddle seemed to be at a loss for words, opening his mouth as if to say something, then snapping it shut, just making Floyd giggle as he sat on the table and leaned backwards to talk to you.

"Ahhhha I see what's goin' on. You should ask goldfishie out, shrimpy, he ain't gonna do it himself otherwise."

Riddle somehow managed to flush even more, his cheeks nearly matching his face in colour.

"Yes I would! I just- I- If you hadn't so RUDELY interrupted our-"

Riddle's rambling was cut short by a soft peck on his cheek, causing him to sputter and look at you in disbelief. The rather smug look on your face combined with Floyd's rambunctious laughter was enough to render the redhead completely speechless, contemplating now, how the future would play out.

Trey:

He would never admit it, but these late night rendezvous in the kitchen were some of his favourite moments. He was always concerned about your journey from Ramshackle to Heartslaybul, but you always stayed on the phone with him while he prepped everything and you walked over.

Being the voice of reason in the dorm, as well as Riddle's handler often left him drained, but your presence and an empty, quiet kitchen were more than enough to make him feel better. There was also a bit of a thrill to it, as nobody knew the two of you were dating yet. He loved knowing that the two of you would be left to your own devices...that he would have your full, undivided attention.

You let him know you were getting to the front door, so he made sure to go unlock it for you, before heading back to the kitchen.

You walked in on him measuring a tablespoon of vinegar into a cup of milk.

"Won't that curdle it?"

Trey hummed in amusement, pulling you in gently against him.

"Yeah, that's the point. Buttermilk in red velvet cake is a must."

He leaned down to kiss you softly. Admittedly, it likely lasted longer than it felt, but he pulled away rather quickly, pulling you to his chest and turning you away from the sudden flash of light from the hallway. Hushed giggles and whispers were heard afterwards, rather panicked sounding as Trey's glare penetrated through the darkness.

He was about to pull out his pen to stop the footsteps that were clearly booking it down the hallway, but you gently lowered his hand. Though embarrassed, it was nothing worth expending magic on.

"People were gonna find out one way or another..."

Trey sighed softly, his face softening as he turned back towards you.

"True, I just wish it could have waited a little longer."

You smiled a bit mischievously.

"Well they're gone now, and it's not like anything we do at this point will change what they do with the photos. Want to continue where we left off?~"

Cater:

"Don't let me go."

"I'm not going to let you go."

"Don't let me go."

Cater laughed softly. "I couldn't let you go if I tried, you've got a vice grip on me right now."

He walked beside you slowly, letting you try and get used to the feeling of being on his skateboard, your forearms locked together to help you keep your balance, but you were still wearing a helmet as an added safety measure.

"Do you want to try giving yourself a little push? I'll still-"

"No, no thank you, this is still fine."

He couldn't help but chuckle again, finding you rather cute. He enjoyed being the person you were relying on for safety right now, and your focused face and determination to not fall were just too adorable to ignore! He tried to lean in to kiss your cheek, but you weren't expecting it, so you leaned away, tilting you backwards on the skateboard. Cater tripped over the skateboard as you tumbled backwards, but at the last moment, he managed to pull you on top of him and took the brunt of the fall instead, grunting a bit before laughing softly.

"Sevens, I'm sorry-"

"Are you okay??" You cut off his apology, more concerned about the fact he not only fell on the pavement, but that he had taken your weight along with it.

"Hm? Oh of course I am, Cay-Cay's taken MUCH rougher falls in a far less prepared manner. You can't get into skateboarding if you don't become an expert in how to fall properly." He hummed, rather satisfied with himself that you hadn't gotten hurt, sitting up and helping you sit up in the process.

You gave him a small, faux pout.

"Well, I'm afraid the only falling I'm an expert in, is head over heels for you."

You couldn't help but grin and wink as the ginger's face flushed a bit, a bashful smile a mile wide being hidden behind his hand.

Deuce:

"WOOOOOOOOOOOO DEUCE!!!!! GO DEUCE!! N-R-C, N-R-C!!!!!"

He could hear you cheering him on from the stands as he crossed the finish line, coming in first place. Pure elation coursed through him; not only had his training paid off and he had beaten RSA's competitors, but he had done it in front of you.

As soon as he got the go-ahead from coach Vargas, he was jogging off to come meet you at the bottom of the bleachers, a little out of sight of all the hubbub. He was absolutely beaming as he approached you. You had a small hand towel in one hand, and his water in the other. Despite this, and the fact Deuce had just run a race, you wrapped your arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around you, laughing.

"I did it!!!"

"You did!! And I got it all on video for your mom too!"

He laughed again softly, hugging you a little tighter before letting you go.

"You're the best, you know that right? I really appreciate you coming here."

He averted his eyes for a moment, before leaning in to try and place a kiss on your cheek.

"Thank you for-"

"Deuce? Coach is looking for- ah-"

Jack averted his eyes awkwardly, his ears flattening, his tail tucking slightly, and rubbed the back of his neck a bit.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting something, but coach said he needs everyone...uh...back, I'll give you two a minute though...sorry-...sorry."

Even though you couldn't see Jack's face, you could hear the embarrassment in his voice as he slinked back from whence he came. Not to mention, Deuce's cheeks were flushed from both being "caught" and from the race.

Deuce stuttered a bit, trying to recover, but failed as you placed a soft kiss on his cheek instead.

"You should get back to your coach before he sends someone a little less considerate than Jack to come find you. You can return the kiss later, okay?"

You giggled softly, gently pushing him to go join his team lest he get into trouble with Vargas.

Ace: (OTL this is a little different sorry)

"You know you could have just done this right the first time and we wouldn't be stuck redoing this assignment for Crewel."

Ace mocked you through facial expression before responding.

"Yeah well if you had shown up at lunch like you were supposed to, we wouldn't be stuck here after school."

You rolled your eyes.

"You knew I had to talk to Crowley at lunch, your poor planning and listening skills are not my issue. I know I told you that the recipe only called for mustard seed and bat fur, not snake tongue. How do you even confuse that??"

You searched his face for answers, but he just turned his face away from you, a light blush on his face as he mumbled something under his breath. You huffed and rolled your eyes.

"Oh come on, I deserve an explanation as to why you did it. There's no way it wasn't on purpose."

He sighed, puffing his cheeks just slightly and restating what he said.

"Maybe I just wanted to spend time with you"

With the cauldron bubbling, it was rather difficult to hear him, so you just shot him a confused look.

"Dude, speak u-"

"I wanted to hang out, okay?! Like. One on one. You're always so busy with your...rEspOnsiBilItiEs and...taking care of everyone and babysitting Grim, I feel bad trying to ask for some of your time when I know it's a precious commodity and this was the only way I could think of doing it, okay?! Just....we'll get this over with and then you can go."

His face stayed flushed, his safety googles too fogged up to see his eyes. You were stunned into silence for a moment, before you tried to reach for his hand. You startled away however, as Crewel's crop hit the edge of the cauldron.

"I take it you two pups are staying on task?"

You gave him a strained smile. "Of course Professor."

Ace silently added the last of the ingredients before using a funnel and ladle to help him add the brew into an Erlynmeyer flask, leaving it open to cool and nodding slightly at it as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"That should be it, it just needs to cool and then put a stopper on it."

Crewel grabbed the neck of the flask, his gloves thick enough to withstand the heat as he swirled the contents gently and studied the fluid. He nodded slightly.

"Get some tape, label it properly, then you'll be dismissed. I'll take care of clean up and storage. Well done."

The professor cracked a smile at the two of you as you nodded to acknowledge him, thanking him before moving to join Ace at the desk. He was writing your names, the date, the class - all as expected for the label, but now that you were a little bit away from the professor, you waited for him to put the tape down before holding his hand gently, speaking quietly.

"Ace, time might be a precious commodity, but you're precious to me too, okay? Grim should still be with Deuce and Epel for a little while. Once we get out of here let's go get slurpees or something, okay?"

It took Ace a moment to buffer, his hand coming up to cover his face in an attempt to hide just how flustered being called 'precious' got him. Near immediately, the crack of Crewel's crop was heard, making both of you startle.

"Gloves do not go near your face Trappola. That's a health hazard."

He gave the two of you a bit of a knowing smile as Ace nodded meekly at the reprimand, still reeling from the fact you had just asked him out.

You slid your gloves off and lifted your safety googles, grinning.

"Sound like a deal?"

Ace smiled shyly but tried to play it off as he followed suite.

"You sound like Azul. Yeah, sure, I GUESS we can go get slurpees."

Savanaclaw

Leona:

"You really think you're hot shit, don't you?"

You couldn't help but laugh softly at the lion beastman. This man really tried to kabedon you and expected you to take him seriously. Yeah right. Amusement was written all over your face, which on one hand was a little unexpected, but on the other, just made it all the more entertaining for him too - he didn't mind a challenge if the prize was you.

"I might think something like that, yeah. You got an issue with that herbivore?" His voice carried a bit of a playful growl to it as he leaned in closer, going so far as to nip at your ear lightly.

His ear flicked slightly in annoyance as he backed up just a tiny bit; a group of panicked first years came barreling down the otherwise empty hallway.

"THERE'S TWO MINUTES BEFORE CREWEL SAID IT'S DUE"

"YEAH NO SHIT, BUT HE WASN'T IN HIS CLASS HE BETTER BE IN HIS OFFICE"

"DUDE YOUR SHOELACES-"

"WATCH OUT!!!"

Leona grumbled something about them being a nuisance, but you watched in horror as the poor boy holding the potion he was so urgently trying to get to Crewel tripped over his friends shoelaces. For everyone save for Leona, you're sure time slowed right down as the potion flew out of the boys hand, the stopper flew out of the bottle, and the potion landing all over Kingscholar.

At the very least, the boy who tripped didn't hit the floor as Leona yanked him up by the back of his shirt, growling.

"What the FUCK did you just spill on me?"

The boy was winded and whiplashed, but his friends seemed to be a mix of distraught and trying not to laugh. Leona growled, tossing the boy to the side gently to let him get on his feet, before nodding and growling at the group of bystanders.

"WHAT WAS IT?"

You had to suppress your own laughter as Leona started to shrink in front of you.

One of the boys laughed nervously.

"It's a shrinking potion, it's really nothing dangerous!! And ah- we really really need the mark for Crewel's class so...we're really sorry but we're gonna have to take you in as proof we completed it!!"

Leona looked bewildered, his ears flattened against his head as he growled, though it sounded rather...cute as he continued to shrink.

"No! You touch me I'll turn you to sand!! You're going to regret this!!"

You couldn't help but join in on the giggle fit in the hallway, the once tall and mighty Leona reduced to mere inches. Despite his protesting, you lifted him by the back of his shirt like it was his scruff, poking his chest gently with your other hand.

"Mm, well, I think it's bad enough they'll be getting a 20% dock on their mark, so we're going to help them out and submit you as proof."

Leona growled, his hands holding your finger tightly as if it could do anything to stop you.

"....I'll make it up to you later, or you can choose to refuse but I'm going to tell Malleus about this."

Even at his minuscule size, you could see the flash of anger in his eyes at the mention of Malleus.

"Don't you dare bring this up to the lizard...fine. We'll....we'll go to Crewel's...but if ANY of you breathe a word of this to ANYONE else, turning you to sand will be a show of MERCY."

Ruggie:

"And the crowd goes wild as Ruggie Bucci scores one more goal for Savanaclaw right before half time! He couldn't have cut it closer if he'd tried!"

The announcer kept rambling about one thing or another, but your eyes were on your boyfriend as he, (rightfully), showboated a little on his broom, working the crowd a bit. His smile was downright adorable as he did so, before he finally made eye contact with you and it got a lot more devious.

He shot up on his broom into direct sunlight, so when you tried to follow him with your eyes, it took a few seconds of blinking before you saw him hanging upside down by his knees on his broom in front of you. His tail had to be wagging a mile a minute as he giggled a bit.

"Shyeeheehee heya sweetheart~ you're a real pretty face to be showin' up around here. Y'got a boyfriend?"

This little shit

He knew he was just out of reach for a kiss, and while amused, you tried to conceal it under a mask of being jokingly mad.

"You know, if you had a significant other, they might not be too impressed with these shenanigans."

Ruggie stuck his tongue out a bit.

"I'm pretty confident I'm cute enough to get out of any sort of trouble with them."

Your expression was pretty telling that that was exactly what the case was. He snickered and came close enough to hold your face, teasing you with the possibility of a kiss before he just shed his jacket and tossed it at you instead. The whistle blew, and Ruggie sat back upright on his broom despite the indignant sound you made.

"I'LL KISS YOU AFTER I WIN IT FOR SAVANACLAW!!"

Jack:

Even though the first time you had attended Magift practice at Savanaclaw you had been...given a concussion by Grim via magift disc to the head, it wasn't enough to keep you away for good.

Jack had invited you, (and reluctantly allowed Grim), to come watch morning practice. (But only if you wanted to.)

Before he had even seen you, his ear flicked and his tail started wagging just from recognizing your footsteps. He had to keep his attention on Leona during the brief as a sign of respect, but as soon as Leona dismissed the debrief, he flashed you a bright smile and waved at your spot on the bleachers.

It was clear to everyone playing, Jack was distracted, as he kept glancing over at you after every play, to the point where Leona had to stop the disc from hitting Jack square in the jaw and call a recess.

Jack didn't seem to realize the break was done because of him. You couldn't hear from where you were, but whatever Leona said to Jack made the freshman's ears flatten and tail tuck a bit. Leona shook his head a bit before gently shoving Jack in your general direction, Ruggie looking rather amused at the entire interaction.

Jack approached you, a little bashful and ashamed as he rubbed the back of his neck, averting his eyes.

"Ah...uhm...for some reason...Leona thinks you being around is a distraction to me...which is NOT true, but he doesn't think it's safe for me to play as long as you're here...which is dumb, because...I wasn't distracted."

You couldn't help but grin a little, using your height on the bleachers to meet him right at eye level. You didn't make him look at you, but you knew he certainly felt like he should.

"Wanna look at me and try saying that again?~"

Jack sputtered a bit, his cheeks feeling warm and feeling as if he needed to take a step back as you just gave him a bigger shit eating smile, stepping down from the bleachers until you were right in front of him, trying to get him to look at you, though he covered his face partially with his hand.

"Okay, that's enough, if you keep teasing him he's not gonna be able to focus for the entire day."

Leona sighed, shaking his head and holding his head with three of his fingers.

"I'm surprised his tail isn't sprained from how fast it's been wagging shyeheehee" Ruggie snickered, and you stepped back, shrugging innocently.

"I wasn't teasing, I was just-"

"That's enough I said. You can go wait by the mirror entrance or go back to Ramshackle. Somebodies puppy crush is a hazard to himself, so if he's still acting a fool he'll come meet you soon."

Octavinelle

Azul: (extremely Flirty MC SORRY LKSJHFLKSDJF)

"It's good isn't it?"

As much as he detested that smug tone, there was no way he could deny just how much he had enjoyed the meal you had prepared, ready to offer a trade.

He sighed.

"You're obviously skilled. I would be willing to pay for the recipe in exchange for giving you free food at the end of the night."

The less food waste recorded the better, and you needed to save every cent you could...not to mention, just giving you the trash food at the end of the night would save him the trouble of hiring you, going through the onboarding process, and having to pay you. Hopefully you would go for the free food, considering it enough compensation for the rest of the time you were here.

What he didn't expect, was for you to laugh, taking a seat on his desk and serving another forkful of food, holding it up to his lips.

"Oh come on now Azul. Do you really think I can't provide for myself? I didn't come here for that type of trade~"

Azul felt his cheeks flush, gently pushing the fork aside as he averted his eyes, his mind deciding to entertain a train of thought that was more emotional than logical...surely you weren't implying what he thought you were.

He chanced a glance back at you, only to be met with that...infuriatingly conniving smile he found aggravatingly stunning.

Your smile only widened. "What's wrong Azul? Not in the market for a kiss or two?~" You leaned closer to him, a pathetic squeak leaving him before you heard a very polite clearing of the throat from near the entrance of Azul's office.

"I'm so very sorry if I'm interrupting something, but your next clients are here Azul. It would be rude to keep them waiting." Jade flashed a polite, but strained smile at you, hoping you would get the message.

You sighed softly, blowing a kiss over your shoulder as you left the room.

"Enjoy the rest of your meal Azul~ You've got my number if you want it again!"

Jade: (sorry this doesn't quite fit the bill but I think it's cute)

"It's not much further. Please, be cautious of where you step, the moss can be quite slippery."

You fought to not pant trying to follow Jade. You had only agreed to this hike because he said it was beginner-friendly, and he had seemed SO excited when he had told you about a mushroom species he was eager to find.

Yet here you were, scaling a small waterfall, watching Jade's every step to try and follow for the sake of not DYING.

Maybe that was a bit dramatic, but the point was, whether it was due to embarrassment, or not wanting to get hurt, you didn't plan on falling in front of Jade.

Jade made it up first, offering you a smile and his hand to help pull you up.

Part of you thought about how he might pull you close once you got up, but that was quickly dashed as he kept you nearly an arms length away. A small pout threatened to form on your lips, but you just smiled and thanked him for his assistance. He nodded slightly, before venturing forward.

"The mushrooms I thought I saw shouldn't be much farther. Do make sure you stay cl-"

A yelp left Jade as he slipped on the very moss he had warned you about. You weren't entirely sure what made you think you could catch him, but your body acted before your mind. It must have been the adrenaline, or maybe a desperate need to impress him, because somehow you managed to catch and support the merman before he hit the ground so you could gently place him down, you staring down at him in confusion, and him looking up at you in absolute bewilderment. You weren't exactly what took over, but before Jade could say anything, you could feel a shit eating grin grow on your face as your heart felt as though it was pounding out of your chest.

"Falling for me hard and fast, huh?"

Jade looked shocked, but amused, picking himself off the ground, before matching your height with a small smile as he spoke softly in your ear.

"Did it take you this long to notice?~"

Floyd:

It was 3am.

It was 3 in the fucking morning when you heard a crack from your front door.

And yet, your sense of self-preservation went completely out of the window as the smell of your favourite meal started to fill Ramshackle. Making sure you didn't wake Grim, you gingerly left your bed, curiousity getting the better of you as you made your way down the stairs.

You took a peek at the front door as you came down, expecting splinters, but from what you could see, it was completely fine. You could hear soft humming and scatting coming from the kitchen, giving you a pretty good idea of who was in there. You couldn't help the smile that played over your lips as you watched Floyd use your kitchen utensils as drumsticks, making sure to stop right before they made contact with anything while he vocalized the drumline instead. You assumed it was an attempt to be quiet, but as soon as he heard the floorboards creak, his attention locked onto you and he pushed his headphones back as he beamed.

"Floyd wh-"

"Shrimpyy!!! I got bored and Azul took my key for the Mostro Lounge so I came here. Gotta few recipes I felt like makin', 'nd I know you ain't comin' by food easily. Figured you could be my taste tester in exchange for me usin' your kitchen. Also I broke the lock on your door cuz I lost the key ya gave me, but I fixed it too so don't get mad about it."

If it were anyone else, you may have gotten a little pissy, maybe asked for more of an explanation, but Floyd's animated nature and excitement as he continued his little drumming session had you smiling fondly. You sat at one of the stools on the far side of the island in comparison to Floyd, watching him work.

"I'm fine by that." You couldn't help but wonder a little bit, what had kept Floyd up this late, but you knew asking would likely only kill his mood, and that was the last thing you wanted. Not just because he was cooking FOR you, but he seemed so happy doing so...it wasn't worth it, he was clearly distracting himself with whatever kept him up with this.

By serving you.

Your mind wandered to a few other times Floyd had looked out for you in his...unique way. You must have zoned out for longer than you thought, as you were brought back to the present as Floyd waved a piece of food in front of you. He looked at you expectantly.

"Well are ya gonna have a taste?"

Your eyes flicked up to his mismatched ones as you offered a mischievous smile.

"Of the food or your lips?"

His eyes widened slightly, before he started giggling, then leaned over the island.

"Well I wouldn't be opposed t'ya tryin' both~"

You were so close to him, your stomach and heart doing flips just as you leaned in and-

"MRAH?! FLOYD???! GET AWAY FROM MY HENCH HUMAN!!"

Possibly the fastest you'd ever witnessed Grim move, he launched himself at Floyd's face, managing to land a kick and effectively move you and Floyd apart.

The food he had offered you plopped unceremoniously onto the counter as Floyd made a spitting noise, and Grim stood protectively, panting, staring Floyd down.

"That's right! Ya better not be scarin' my hench human! You're lucky all you got was a mouthful of fur, I'll light you up next time!!"

After a beat of silence, Floyd started to giggle.

"Ehee~ Seaaaalie, ya sure got some nerve interrupti-"

"Aha, you were hidin' food!! I can't believe you did this, I thought you loved me prefect." Grim's ears folded down, the pout audible in his voice as he scooped up the food that had landed on the counter, oblivious to the now murderous glare Floyd was giving him.

You couldn't help but chuckle, getting up just enough to move closer to Floyd. With the cat distracted and fanboying over the food, it was easier to relinquish Floyd's anger without another interruption. You grabbed his shirt and tugged him to you, grinning.

"I missed out on tasting that bite, but I won't miss out on enjoying you~"

Scarabia

Kalim:

You were just sitting on the front steps of Ramshackle, watching as the sunset painted the sky in beautiful red, orange, pink and purple hues. A slight breeze kept the lingering heat of the day at bay, the only sound you could hear being the slight chirping of birds. Grim was currently, at least supposedly, with Ace and Deuce at Heartslaybul, meaning all three thirds of the braincell were not your responsibility.

God was life always this boring without them around?? Yeah, sure, the peace and quiet could be nice but it felt weird now, where was the drama, the tension, the shenanigans, the tomfoolery?? You rubbed your face with your hands, groaning a bit out loud. Were you seriously so wired to this world's madness now that a moment of peace felt like you were just waiting for something to go wrong?

".....MC?"

Your head shot up, to the voice that was coming from above you.

"Kalim?? What are you doing here?" You smiled, moving to stand up as he descended slightly on his carpet, somewhat dismissing his concerned expression.

"Ah- well um, I was gonna come and ask if you wanted to come to Scarabia tonight for a party! But then I got in trouble with Jamil and he didn't know the party was gonna happen so I didn't want to throw it anymore, but I still wanted to hang out with you! If you're not busy that is. I can take you on a magic carpet ride!"

Oh thank the sevens, someone was going to relieve you of your weird, anxious boredom.

"Scooch over, I'm getting on." There was a lilt of amusement to your voice as you clambered on behind Kalim, wrapping your arms around him, gently resting your cheek against his shoulder. He giggled softly in response, making sure that the two of you rose slowly away from the ground.

"Where'd you wanna go? I can take you over the school, we could go to the field and cheer on the track team, we could even go to the beach! Ah, but if Jamil caught us he might get grumpy, so maybe we should stay on campus."

You hummed softly. "Honestly, I just want company right now. If you just take us to the top of NRC and let us watch the sunset together, that'll be more than enough for me right now."

"I can do that!! Hold on to me, okay??" You nodded a bit against his shoulder, and he took off.

Though he had to speak a bit louder over the rush of wind in your ears, you could hear him perfectly well as he spoke.

"You know, back home, there's a story about this sort of thing, there's even a song! I'll sing it to you if you want!"

"It might be better if you wait until we stop flying-"

"Nonono, part of the whole appeal is singing WHILE flying." He glanced back at you, his puppy dog eyes working their own kind of magic before you silently agreed. His expression lit up immediately as he began to sing.

"I can show you the woAGHOU"

Kalim's hand went to beat on his chest, causing you to yelp as the two of you started to careen forward. You reached forward and tugged up on the magic carpet, narrowly avoiding running into the school and sent the two of you sprawling into the grass instead.

You were glad your hands made contact with the ground first; it made it somewhat easier to help roll Kalim away from eating dirt, and to stop yourself from colliding into his back.

It took a moment for both of you to collect yourselves after you hit the ground, but in less than thirty seconds you were both on your knees, looking at each other. Somehow you managed to ask at the exact same time, "are you okay??!", followed by a beat of silence, and then laughter.

Jamil: (this killed me to write so I'm sorry it's not as good as the other ones/not quite the same)

Jamil had invited you to the Scalding Sands. Rather, Kalim had beat him to the punch, as there was an event going on he wanted you to attend. Jamil had offered to let you come with him a day or two before, seeing as he was supposed to be there early to assist his parents with preparations. As if he needed to entice you further, (and convince Kalim it was a good idea), he offered to give you a tour of the palace.... nobody wanted you to be victim to the expansive maze that the Al-Asim's property was after all.

Well, that was the excuse you both rolled with.

The streets were buzzing with energy, vendors calling out everywhere, sights and smells and sounds of the market filling your senses, but your focus was on something else entirely.

Jamil wasn't a touchy person, but he had been the one to take your hand. His hand held onto yours firmly, leading you with confidence through the bustling streets of Silk City. Despite the errands you were running with him, he insisted on being the one to hold everything. He was also incredibly patient as he stopped anytime you inquired about something.

However, it was him who slowed down upon seeing a small crowd congregate around what you could only assume was some sort of street performer, music playing. He had brushed past most others, but he worked his way through the crowd, seemingly curious to see who was at the center of attention. No sooner had you made it to the front of the crowd that one of the dancers lit up and called out to Jamil, greeting him as if they were old friends.

"Do you know them?"

Jamil had a bit of a mischievous smile on his face. "You could say that."

You quirked your brow as his 'friend(?)' came over, the two of them speaking rapidly in Arabic as they shared a quick hug. Jamil switched back into English, introducing you to his friend.

His friend wore a bit of shit eating smile. "You know Jamil dances, right? Did you ever wonder how he learned?"

"Now hold on, don't go crediting yourself for that, I taught myself."

"If you count flailing like a monkey as dancing, then yes, you did, but as an art? You only got to where you're at because of me."

Jamil tsked and rolled his eyes, waving his friend off, though it was clear it was light hearted.

"You haven't seen me dance in ages."

"Right, I'm sure you've had pleeeenty of time to practice at that fancy college of yours."

You couldn't help but interrupt their bickering by taking everything from Jamil's hands and shoving him forward a bit.

"Just let him show you what he's got."

Both of them looked at you in slight disbelief, but amused.

"MC we really don't have the ti-"

"Are you scared of embarrassing yourself Viper? Come on, if your date says you're as good as you claim you still are, you should have no issue joining us for one song. Just like old times."

His friend could see the gears in both of your heads come to a screeching halt, even if for just a moment. Sure, you had wanted it to be something like that, but hearing it put so bluntly...

You wrapped your arm around Jamil's waist with a shit-eating grin, ignoring the rising heat to your own cheeks.

"My boyfriend plays down his abilities all the time. I hope you're ready to be humbled." Before pushing him into the middle of the ring.

Despite his slightly flustered state, you could have sworn you heard him whisper about how he would get you back for that, a promise you could only hope he would keep.

Pomefiore

Vil:

"I told you to stop moving." His voice, though slightly irritated was just as amused as you struggled to stop laughing.

"But it tickles. Can't I just put it on with my hands?"

An offended gasp left Vil as he tilted your face slightly, brushing on more of the facemask. "No you heathen, we can't just apply it with our hands."

"What if. I washed my hands super super well." His expression left you giggling again as he sighed and pulled the brush away, his faux frustration melting away to a soft smile, shaking his head.

"Sometimes even I struggle to tell when you're just teasing or when you're serious." He chuckled softly, reapplying a bit of product to the brush to continue putting it on your face. You tried not to scrunch your nose, but sevens, he was applying it so lightly it felt weird!

As absorbed as you were in the feeling of the brush, he considered what your reaction might be if he were to kiss you this very moment. He knew that of all the people in the school, he was the only one who had achieved this level of casual intimacy. As good as he was at reading other people's emotions, the nagging anxiety of reading you, specifically, wrong could be the end of the friendship he held so dear. Of course, even if you were to reject him, you were both old enough to be mature about it, but rejection was not something Vil handled well.

He was pulled from his thoughts as he realized just how close he had gotten. Hell, your breathing had hitched at his closeness, eyes wide as your mind raced with possibilities. Vil SO wanted to kiss you in that moment, but his door flung open with a bang, startling the two of you apart. Vil shot the intruder a dirty look.

Epel was out of breath, bent over, pale and wincing as he looked to his housewarden in his P.E uniform, not noticing you there.

"I SHOT ROOK."

Vil's face went from mildly frustrated to near fear for his vice housewarden, until the mans laugh from down the hall echoed into the room.

"Oui. I believe it's nothing major, but you are more versed in healing magic than I am Vil."

Rook came into view, holding an arrow that was firmly lodged into his shoulder, his smile subdued from pain, but genuine.

Vil immediately came over, getting over his initial shock and ire in favour of helping Rook.

You got up from the bed, mostly with the intention of teasing Epel, but he took one glance at you and couldn't help but laugh breathlessly.

"You look like y'got mayo on your face."

"You're about to have disappointment on yours."

"Huh?"

You nodded towards Vil , who evidently didn't feel confident in removing the arrow at the dorm, chiding Rook for coming to him instead of going to the infirmary.

"If that's the talking to Rook's getting, I can only imagine yours."

"....aw shit."

Rook: (insert distressed Sebek emoji I've become far too reliant on on Discord to convey my Feelings because I'm Just Hoping this suffices for the Rook Fans.)

You could hear knocking at the door, light, but insistent. You were slightly annoyed - Grim could open the door by himself...at least he could if he were home. You forgot that you had given him "permission", (AKA, you had begged Vil to let Epel keep him around for a night to give yourself a night to relax), to go to a "sleepover".

So who was knocking at your bedroom door?

You felt a wave of anxiety wash over you, until a soft voice came from beyond the door.

"Mon trickster, I know you are awake. May I come in?"

Your brain needed a moment to buffer before you responded.

"Rook?"

As if there was any question about it, you chided yourself a tiny bit, but Rook took it as an invitation to come in, smiling warmly and waving a bit as he entered the room.

"Bonjour. I was hoping to whisk you away for a mome-"

"What are you doing here??"

Your question was as amused as it was...a little concerned.

"Why didn't you knock at the front door?"

Rook tilted his head a bit, as if he were surprised you were questioning him.

"Ah, I did, but upon not getting a response and knowing you were up, I let myself in. Do not fret, nothing is broken. I wouldn't want to leave you without a reliable lock on your door. However, I do respect your privacy, so I knocked before coming into your bedroom."

He smiled softly as you wondered just how reliable that lock was, before Rook continued.

"As for my presence in our home, I was hoping to treat you to a relaxing night. I know Monsieur Fuzzball is currently occupied."

He fully stepped into the room, and only then did you note the picnic basket in his hand, complete with a blanket on top. The flash of interest didn't go unnoticed by Rook - why would it? He smiled and held it up a little bit.

"These are the leftovers of the food I helped some of the dorm members make, undetected by Vil. I thought we could have a few snacks while we stargaze...then again, I could gaze at the most lovely star I know if we were to stay inside."

A sly smile grew as he winked at you playfully, causing you to look away a little bit.

"So? What do you say my dear?"

Somehow, when you lifted your head again to look at him, he was next to your bed and awaiting your answer with a fond expression.

You couldn't help but push his face away a bit, laughing a little flustered as you got out of bed, causing him to giggle a bit too.

"We can go up. I would love to stargaze with you."

At least, you would have.

Rook had shown you how to get up there, your common sense returning as you remembered just how dilapidated Ramshackle was when you showed up- you hadn't spent nearly as much time fixing up the outside of Ramshackle as you had on the inside. You scooted yourself nervously onto the ledge, just enough to be secure, though Rook reassured you he had done this dozens of times, (he had?), and there was no reason to worry.

Despite his reassurance, he let you stay where you were so he could set up the blanket, walking confidently and lightly across Ramshackle's roof. There was a comfortable silence between the two of you, crickets chirping and the buzz of other insects filling the air, as well as the now familiar creaks and groans of the old house settling beneath you two.

Rook hummed softly, satisfied with the set up and came back to get you, his hand outstretched. He smiled warmly, the moonlight only serving to make his already attractive features more stunning.

"Will you join me for our date, mon tri-"

Just as you reached out for his hand, both of you heard a loud creak. Despite his best efforts, Rook let out a soft, but discernable "Merde" as he fell through Ramshackles roof, laying winded in the attic on his back trying to gather his thoughts.

Obviously concerned, you peeked into the sizeable hole in your roof, peering down at the blond.

"....Are you okay????"

You tried to suppress your laughter, but at his slightly bewildered look, followed by a grin and thumbs up, both of you bubbled into giggles.

He stood up, then reached out towards you.

"I'll catch you. We can continue down here instead my dear."

You smiled and slid your legs over the hole, letting it be future you's problem as you hummed, giving him a cheeky grin.

"Promise? Because I've already fallen for you a hundred times before."

His eyes widened slightly, before smiling a little bit more.

"Then this time, I promise to catch you and never let you fall again, mon amour."

Epel: (this one is different sorry)

You could see him, just barely, peeking through the classroom doors narrow window. The tell tale purple poof of hair was hard to miss.

Evidently, Crewel's class had gotten out a little early, and here you were between Ace and Deuce, listening to Trein drone on about something he already covered. With Passion. You held in a ragged sigh, glancing at the clock on the wall, willing for the seconds to tick by faster.

Finally, the bell rang, Trein's voice being drowned out by the shuffling of bags and students making their way to the door.

In all the hubbub, you had managed to get squished in an Adeuce sandwich as they walked you out the door, Ace's teasing voice lilting in amusement.

"Where ya runnin' off to so fast preeeeefect? Got a special someone waitin' for you?"

Deuce chimed in, though gentler in his tone.

"I saw a certain someone looking at you through the window....mostly 'cus Lucius meowed at him peeking, but-"

You groaned, elbowing them both in the ribs as you saw fit, shaking them off your shoulders. Gods you hated to love them and loved to hate them the little shits. You and Epel were just friends. That was all there was to it. Grumbles and giggles followed behind you from the two of them as you managed to make it out of the classroom.

You were just friends.

....then why did your stomach do a flip when you looked at Epel and he greeted you with that boyish grin of his?

Ignihyde

Idia: (also don't come after me for nobody recognizing Lilia's voice assume he has a voice changer or something idk)

"Brb, my brother needs me for something."

You and Muscle Red responded softly, hearing as "Gloomurai" AKA "Gloomy" AKA Idia Shroud got up from his desk, leaving you and his friend alone.

Now, you only knew it was Idia because you usually would game together in his room, so it wasn't like he didn't know it was you on the other side either, you just had finally had the means to get your own set up and wanted to test it out. Idia and Muscle Red had plans already, but neither of them minded you joining them as you had a couple times before.

But you and Red had never been left together before. And just like IRL, being left with a friends friend left some amount of awkwardness to be had.

You held in a breath of relief as Red spoke up.

"So, how long have you and Gloomy known each other?"

"Just under a year. We go to the same school together."

"Oho? You've met in person then? Forgive me if I'm being invasive, but please do tell, what's he like? We've been online friends for years, I can't help but be a teensy bit curious about the man behind the screen."

You waited a beat. You knew part of the reason that Idia didn't share much about his personal life was because of his reasoning behind not wanting to ever feel too close to the people he connecting with online...yet Red was one of his best friends. And you wouldn't overshare, you could just share your thoughts on him. Besiiiides it wasn't like Idia would hear you gushing about him to his friend, he had left his desk to go help Ortho with something.

"....well...Gloomy is a pretty introverted guy but...as I've gotten to know him better? He can be really sweet, and passionate about the things he loves. He's a little shy and awkward, but I think it's part of his charm. He's also, just. Gorgeous. But don't tell him I said that."

Mischievous laughter came from Red as an audible "Idia dying" sound came through your headphones.

"You know, after being able to know our dear friend, I would have thought you'd have known Gloomurai wears Bluetooth headphones." You felt a little embarrassed as Red chuckled again.

"I told you Gloomy, that they liked you back. You've got no doubt about it now. I'll leave you two lovebirds alone~"

The telltale blip of him disconnecting left the two of you in incredibly awkward silence, until Idia had the guts to ask.

"D...d-do you really think all that?"

Ortho: (platonic, obviously)

"Ah, there you are Prefect, I tried to call and text, I even dropped by Ramshackle to see if you were there, how courteous am I to have sought you out to hand deliver your tasks for the week, aren't I just the best?"

Ortho could all but see the light drain from not only your eyes, but your expression as a whole as Crowley continued to ramble on about his generous nature.

How dare he? This was supposed to be you and him time. You had even less time than Idia to dedicate to hanging out together, because of how hard you worked for the headmage.

Before you really had a chance to acknowledge the headmage, Ortho got in between the two of you, getting in Crowley's face a little bit, floating to ensure the man would see him eye to eye.

"You're interrupting my time with the prefect sir. This is my one and only warning for you to stop."

Crowley took a slight step back, flabbergasted at the boys behaviour before he brushed his outfit down as if he was calming ruffled feathers.

"Well...I really must speak to the prefect Ortho, it's no small matter and you're far too young to underst-"

"I gave you a warning Sir. If it's no small matter, then it's probably your responsibility anyways. Instead of pawning off your less than desirable tasks to the prefect, why don't you think a little harder about what sort of stress that puts them under when they've already dealt with overblots completely unassisted. They've done more than enough for you and the school, and will no longer be at your beck and call, mkay? My brother and I can make sure they get the money they need so they don't have to work for you at all anymore. So now, you know that they won't be doing your dirty work anymore, you and your shadow can go back to your office and be the pathetic mess of a man you are on your own because you've got no friends, no family, and no significant relationships in your life to ease the ache of loneliness. Goodbye."

Without waiting for a response, Ortho grabbed the headmage by the shoulders and turned him away from you, giving him a light push towards the school before returning to your side.

"I know where we can find some really cool rocks, follow me!!"

DIASOMNIA (RIP my braincells, sorry guys)

Malleus: I'm so sorry this man. It's more platonic than anything.

"See that one? It's modeled after Corvus corax, the Common raven. And that gargoyle is similar, though the subtle differences imply it's modeled after Corvus corone, the Carrion crow."

He smiled rather proudly at you, glad to share and show off his knowledge to someone he cared for so deeply.

"What do you think?"

"I think I like the fox grotesque more."

A small 'hm?' left Draconia, a bit of a look of shock on his face until he registered that you were teasing, a playful smile playing over his lips.

"Only you would jest with me so casually Child of Man." He chuckled softly, patting your head. "Thank you for accompanying me today for club hours. I've rather enjoyed having someone else to speak to."

He turned towards you more, gently taking your face in his hand, rubbing your cheek gently with his thumb.

"It's not often I feel as appreciated as I do with you. Thank you, for everything you've do-"

"WAKASAMAAAAA"

Sebek's pathetic bleating drew both of your attention, an almost annoyed sounding huff leaving Malleus as he let go of your face, though stepped closer to you as Silver and Sebek ran up to the both of you.

"Wakasama, we've been looking for you everywhere! We were so worried-"

"We were not..."

"That we may never find you again!!"

"You're so dramatic..." Silver shook his head a bit, sighing.

"Apologies Malleus. Fa- Lilia sent for you. He went to your meeting for you and wants to fill you in."

He wore a slight pout on his lips, but nodded.

"I understand. Thank you Silver." He turned towards you, offering a slight bow. "I'll see you in due time, child of man. Until next time."

Lilia: (a little different, sorry)

"Kehehehe, are you excited prefect?"

You had to refrain from rolling your eyes. Of course of all the people you could have been paired with for home ec. you got Lilia Vanrouge....not that you minded entirely, he was pretty cute.

But being cute didn't get you good grades, and it certainly didn't improve your cooking ability.

You tapped the end of your wooden spoon against his nose.

"I'll be excited if you and I can pull this off successfully. No experimenting with the recipe, okay?"

Lilia sighed dramatically, sticking out his tongue.

"Fine. Ruin my fun. That's fine." He giggled a bit afterwards, scooping the recipe card up just as Crewel placed it down, not giving you so much as a glance at it.

"Alright, you ready? Let me read the ingredients to you."

You gave him a bit of a dirty look, only to be greeted with a wide grin. He took the spoon from your hand, gently booping your nose back.

"Aw come on~ you trust me, don't you? And you already took away my other fun, let me have this!"

Despite your better judgement, you relented.

He kept his promise- everything seemed reasonable as he read it out to you.

"Whisk two cups of AP flour, two and a half teaspoons of baking powder and a pinch of salt in a large bowl."

"Got it."

"Then beat the eggs until aerated, and slowly add the sugar. While you add sugar to the eggs, give me a kiss to give me some sugar too. By the time we're done, the eggs should be triple their size."

"Got- huh"

You turned around, bewildered at what you had heard, to see Lilia's cheeky grin.

"Well prefect, are you gonna follow the recipe card?"

You gave him a playful smile, gently pushing his face away from yours, leaving you both in giggles.

"I'll follow what the card actually says....and if this turns out, maybe I'll give you that kiss."

Silver:

"This is my favourite place to feed the wild rabbits....I know it's not great for them, but they deserve a little treat every once in a while just like everyone else."

Silver's voice was soft as a small group of wild rabbits hopped around the two of you, as if they were pets. The two of you sat under the shade of one of the many apple trees of Night Raven College. Silver used a dagger to expertly cut into the ripe, unbruised apples he had picked out for the rabbits, claiming they deserved better than the fallen fruit.

You watched him, how focused he was, yet how soft he looked under the dappled shadows casted on him from the leaves above. He caught you watching, glancing at you and cracking just the slightest smile as he cut a piece of the apple and handed it to you,

"The grey one is super friendly. You can try feeding it. You'll probably be allowed to pet her too."

You thanked him softly, so as not to startle your furry friends and heeded his advice. You weren't exactly surprised when his advice paid off, though you still let out a soft sound of content as the bunny hopped into your lap, allowing you to pet it gently.

You heard Silver hum softly. "She really likes you. You should come here with me more often."

You couldn't help but smile a little shyly at that. "I would lo-"

"HEY WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING??!!!"

Kalim's piercing voice cut through the quiet, peaceful environment the two of you had, startling all of you, but most of all the rabbits as they scattered and disappeared into the bushes, making Silver sigh softly in disappointment before offering you a small smile.

"We can get them back after. Let me talk to Kalim. I'll be right back." His gaze lingered a moment longer than it should have before he got up. You felt a bit of a funny feeling in your chest as you entertained the thought of him kissing you, trying to erase the thought before he would be able to tell.

Sebek:

"How did you even manage this human?"

Sebek had to bite his tongue, trying to keep his voice down so as to not spook your horse.

Somehow, your boot had slipped all the way through the stirrup, but nothing you or he did got your foot or boot loose enough to pull it back through. He tried to pull your boot off too, but that had just hurt.

You were trying really hard to not laugh. Yes it was inconvenient and uncomfortable, but how you managed to get yourself in this position was as funny to you as it was frustrating to Sebek.

You had asked Riddle for assistance at first, but Silver had called his attention over for something more pressing, so he had appointed Sebek to help you.

Sebek let out a frustrated bellow as yet another attempt was met with no progress, your horse side stepping away from him anxiously. You patted your horse gently and just looked at Sebek apologetically.

"You can just wait til Riddle or Silver can help with magic. It's not like the pain is unbearable."

"No. I was tasked with releasing you from your saddle. I will complete what has been required of me. Excuse me."

He knelt down to undo the saddle from beneath, and you got the hint, trying to move your foot out of the way best you could to let him do so.

He stood back up, and gestured to get you to get your horse to lay down so he could be taller. He offered his arms to you.

"Hold onto me. I'll make sure the saddle comes with you so it doesn't tug on your ankle."

Of course, it was just as your arms wrapped around Sebeks neck that Riddle came back, making a bit of a flustered noise at the sight of the two of you so close to each other.

"What is going on here?!!"

Sebek reeled, ducking his head out from your hands, flushed.

"NOTHING."

You looked rather unamused between the two biggest sticks in the mud you knew and gestured at your foot, still firmly stuck in the stirrups of your saddle.

"I'm still just trying to be granted sweet release."

--------------------------------------- RAHHHHH GOOD GOD I FINALLY FINISHED IT

I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG OTL

Hopefully it lives up to expectation <3

----------------------------- Tag list:

@fluffle-writes @my-cursed-brain

@nyx-of-night @sickle-stick @distant-velleity @nemisisnemi @amatsuchan-eiliniel @random-twst-and-oc-stuff

I'm so tired BYE I love you guys

[gingerjolover]

Ariana! What are you doing here? - Julien Baker x fem!reader

Synopsis: soft!gf is doing jb's makeup on halloween and she just can't sit still (hc, soft!gf is pete 😭)

G's notes: okay like always, a bunch of requests combined! also had to throw in some switch!julien for y'all, she's a natl treasure

wc: somewhere around 1k (probs like 980)

warnings: RPF, makeup!julien, ariana grande!julien, subby!julien, soft!gf as pete, smutty-ish talk, no fundamental physical descriptors?

"You're going to poke my fucking eye out, princess," Julien grumbles, moving her head away quickly, her lips in an annoyed frown.

"Are you this difficult for the makeup artists working on photoshoots, or just for me?" you reply sassily, two fingers under Julien's chin, lifting her head up.

"Don't be a baby JB," Lucy says through the phone. Julien stares at the phone on the bathroom counter to her left, glaring at it as if Lucy could see her expression.

"Are you guys almost ready? We'll be there in like 10," Phoebe's voice carries through the phone.

"If Jay stops wiggling and actually lets me do their wings, we'll be ready by the time you get here," you grumble, causing Julien to pout.

"You're going to poke my eye out!"

"Baby, I do this all the time; I'm not gonna poke your eye out," you say, exasperated.

"We'll be there in 10, and then we'll pin her down," Lucy teases, Julien shaking her head quickly.

"No you will do no such thing, I'll-I'll stay still, I swear," Julien promises, staring straight at you, eyes softening when she makes direct eye contact. You smile softly, index finger and thumb gripping her chin as you pull her into a kiss; it's a small kiss but one you've put all of your gratefulness and adoration into. Julien feels it as you pull away; she knows how badly you want to make this costume work. Originally, she was stoked...when she thought she was going to be Pete... but the way your eyes looked up at her, smile so big when you had a plan where she was Ariana, how could she say no?

You're staring at her, a crooked smile on your face when you see her lost in thought. "I'm being still baby, just...get it over with, quickly," she grumbles again. You giggle loudly, holding her cheeks and jaw, very carefully (and expertly), drawing cute little wings on her eyes.

"Julien's being quiet which either means baby's killed her or she's finally sitting still," Phoebe snickers along with Lucy.

"Shut up, I can't move," Julien grits out, impossibly still.

Lucy and Phoebe laugh loudly on the other line, your giggles soft but matching theirs. "Don't laugh when you have that shit near my eye," Julien exclaims as you step back, looking at her face. Seeing Julien with makeup always throws you through a loop. "You look pretty," you murmur, Julien's face flushing instantly.

"Blegh," Phoebe gags over the phone.

"Shut up," Julien nags.

You grab the comb to start fixing her baby hairs, Julien's hair already fitted with extensions and a ponytail, a massive sweatshirt on her body. It's like she forgot the previous conversation because she can't stop squirming.

"Julien, sit still!" "My hair feels like 8,000 pounds, babe, my fucking neck hurts!"

"Listening to this is tortuous, you know?" Lucy comments, tone even, you giggle imagining her and Phoebe's deadpan faces.

"How did you guys get on with your costumes? Luce did you find some heels?" you ask, giving Julien a look, asking Lucy to speak almost as a distraction while you hold your girlfriend's head.

Lucy starts to talk about her journey to finding specific parts of her costume, Phoebe interjecting a few times. Julien squirms when you gel down her baby hairs.

You grab her chin, giving her a stern look, leaning into her ear. "Stop moving or you can forget about fucking me tonight, let me finish this," you sneer, voice unusually dominant. You pull back, Julien's eyes are wide, mouth parted open. You look at her with mocking wide eyes, a quick shake of your head as if to say "are we clear?".

"Yes, ma'am," Julien murmurs, both of your voices quiet enough not to be heard on the other line.

"Well, I'm glad you found them thrifting Luce. I feel like you got really lucky," you say sweetly, your voice returning to its soft tone. Julien feels like she has whiplash, her entire body heating up. First, how did you even hear what Lucy was saying? And second, why did you threatening her make her sweat? She clenches her thighs together, keeping her body as stiff as a board until you spray her hair with hairspray and clip in some barrettes.

"Okay, we are like 5 minutes away, so we'll see you?" Lucy asks.

"I'm coming in to use the bathroom," Phoebe says quickly.

"No problem, doors unlocked, see y'all soon," you say sweetly before hanging up, leaving Julien sitting on the bathroom counter as you go to grab her heeled boots.

Julien sits there stunned, watching you in the track pants and big t-shirt, hair up, big flannel swallowing your body. You come back, kneeling down in front of her, unzipping the heel.

"What?" you ask, eyes looking up at her. She can feel her insides stir, hating that all you have to do is look up at her for her briefs to be soaked.

"Nothing, I'm being still," Julien says cautiously, pausing between each word as if she's never spoken before. The threat of not ending the night between your thighs enough to keep her still and quiet.

You scoff softly, shaking your head as you get her feet into the boots. You hold out your hands, helping her hop down, letting her get used to standing taller. You start to clean up behind her, her hands in the sleeves of the sweatshirt.

"I was really still there, at the end...I-I did really good," she says, almost like she's trying to convince the both of you.

"Oh, you were being good? Is that what being good is?" you say, throwing words she's said to you before back at her. Her eyes widen again, almost comically, jaw dropping softly.

You turn around, giggling, your usually dominant girlfriend absolutely dumbfounded. "Your makeup looks pretty," you murmur, kissing her lips softly. She eagerly presses herself against you, chasing your lips. You laugh as you pull away, wiping her lips with your thumb. "Maybe if you're good tonight, I'll ruin it later."

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for joking that my sister should get a girlfriend when she's trying to get a boyfriend?

I (21 X) have an older sister (23 F) who has made some jokes in the past about finding fictional women "hot", even though she had a boyfriend at the time. I'm not saying she's definitely bi, since she's, well, homophobic, and anyone can objectively find anyone attractive, but when she makes these "jokes" about finding certain women hot, I say she should get a girlfriend, a cottagecore girlfriend specifically.

My sister is vegan, wants to own a farm, and homeschool her kids (bc she had some developmental disabilities that were severely mishandled in both public and private schools). She also has some physical disabilities that were unfortunately the reason her ex-fiance (man) broke it off with her.

As a fellow queer person, you hear all the jokes about all the labels, and while I know lesbians aren't by nature more wholesome than het couples, I know that some woman somewhere would be happy to love my sister. My sister was devastated by her ex breaking up with her, and she fell into a bit of a downward spiral regarding her future and kept saying that no one would ever stay with her due to medical reasons.

Now, I visited her for New Year's, and she starts talking about this older man she's been crushing on. He gave her his facebook (blegh) and we went through his posts. There were some cute posts about his nieces, some generic messages, but then there were some, imo, concerning right wing memes. My sister has told me that this man is a decade older than her, recently divorced, former military, current private security, and she didn't find any of this to be too concerning, so I let her enjoy the crush, since she's feeling hopeful about her future again.

Flashforward to last week, I'm talking to my sister on the phone, she tells me she's gone over to his place for dinner and movies a few times (okay) and he LET HER HOLD ONE OF HIS AR-15s WITH NO TRAINING! He's planning on taking her to a gun range once they're "official" to learn how to shoot and my sister is over the moon! I mean, I'm glad that she's happy and healing, but why This guy?

Anyway, I was lamenting to my fellow gay college friends about the situation and why couldn't my sister "just find a nice cottagecore lesbian"? Someone who is not part of my friend group overheard and said that I'm being an asshole for saying that. I kinda get where they're coming from, but it was a call-back joke to friends who I knew would know the previous joke I was referencing to lighten the tension of a relatively small problem. Really, my sister's new "boyfriend" may be a completely normal and nice dude, I've never met him irl.

AITA for joking about her getting a gf when she basically has a bf?

What are these acronyms?

[idwt-money]

Love triangle pt. 2

MDNI

thank you to this anon for this idea!

Series Description: reader is polyamorous and in a relationship with Nicholas, when Noah replaces the lead singer of the band, reader catches feelings!

3k words, Noah Sebastian x fem!reader

CW: protected sex, fingering (fem rec), handjob, dirty talk

i do want to add that i did my best to research for this series, but if i got something wrong, PLEASE let me know so i can correct myself!

i imagine younger Noah for this one 🤗

the love that blossomed between you and Noah wasn't as slow burning as it was with Nicholas. it was rather quick paced, actually.

you and Noah had met when your boyfriends band had to acquire a new lead singer. the previous singer had gotten cocky, claiming it was “his band” and he knew best. the remaining 3 boy had voted him out and the decision was made.

within 4 days, Noah was knocking on Nicholas’ front door.

“hi, um..i'm here for…this.” he held up a flyer that the band had put all around town.

“ah! sick! right this way man!!” Nicholas said, being excited. Nicholas showed him around to the garage they would be practicing in later that day.

“usually before we practice, the garage door is wide open so feel free to come in and get set up. but, for now we can just chill since it's only..” Nicholas checked his phone, looking at the time. “3:30ish and we start at 5.”

Noah nodded, following your boyfriend into the kitchen. Nicholas pulled a chilled beer out of the fridge for himself, offering Noah one, which he gladly accepted.

Nick: hey my love! going to start practice soon, got this new singer we're gunna try out. wanna come listen?

y/n: yes obvi!! be over soon <3

you got ready in about 15 minutes, finally making your way over to your beloved boyfriend's house.

it was a rather short walk, you were thankful the weather bestowed its good graces on you, you wouldn't have walked if it was too hot.

you knew Nicholas’ back door was never locked. you entered and made your way to the garage, only after getting yourself a hard seltzer out of his fridge.

as you opened the door, Folio, Jolly and Nicholas greeted you with hugs.

you took little notice to the tall, partially tattooed man in front of the mic. you were too fixated on Nicholas to care. your focus was pulled away when he introduced the two of you.

you took a long once over of Noah, Nicholas’ words not even registering as he spoke.

Noah was…not what you expected. over the phone, Nicholas made him sound like some longer haired loser. in actuality, he was sex personified.

his hair fell over his forehead, he had a dermal piercing on his cheekbone, he was tall and pretty lanky, and his tattoos poked out every which way they could through his tank top.

your eyes snapped back up to his eyes and he greeted you with a friendly handshake. you couldn't lie to yourself, he did look nerdy, but it worked so well for him.

you took a seat on the couch, as they started, everyone was anticipating Noah's performance. he seemed like he would do well but you could tell his nerves were getting at him.

Nicholas explained the song to him, point to parts on the part, showing where the chorus would start and so on.

the sythn-ish sounds started to play out of the speakers and you locked in. after about 30 seconds, Noah had seemed to forget all about his nervousness and absolutely demolished the song. his screams straight away sent shocked looked to all 4 of you.

as the song got to the middle of it, Noah's blegh sent shivers up and down your spine. the boys gave each other stunned facial expressions.

the song came to and end and the boys exploded in cheers.

“holy shit! i did not expect that out of you!!” Folio said as he dapped Noah up.

Noah said his thanks, blushing at the praise.

they did a full set with their shiny new toy, enjoying how well Noah was able to control his voice. his breath control was out of this fucking world and it all seemed to so naturally to him.

your head swooned as you watched him. a part of you felt a ping on guilt in your heart. you didn't know how Nicholas would feel actually living out a polyamorous relationship.

it made you queasy to think about. of course nothing was official. shit, you hardly knew the man, what were you thinking? you could silently appreciate him, without making it weird or awkward for anyone involved.

they started playing “broken youth” which was one of your favorites off of the album and you were beyond excited to see how Noah took his spin on it.

needless he was breathtaking with it. you didn't notice how shitty the last guy made it sound now that you were hearing it how it was meant to be sung.

the band finished and you yourself gave Noah well deserved praise. you gave him a hug and boasted about his performance.

“you were fucking sick! amazing vocals on this one, boys!” you said the second half to the men behind Noah.

as you gave Noah a hug, his arms instinctively wrapped around you, feeling like they could protect you against anything. he was warm and inviting. his cologne filled your senses and you swore that was the moment you fell for him. it seemed too natural.

you pulled away, a slight blush making itself known to your cheeks, which led you to pull yourself away from him, you didnt speak much to him the rest of the night until the rest of the boys got tired and crashed on Nicholas��� couches/spare beds.

“well, im going to head off to bed, my love, but feel free to sneak in with me anytime.” Nicholas winked and gave you a small peck to your lips before heading off to bed himself.

silence filled the room for a few second, which to you, felt like forever, before you spoke up.

“how did you learn to do that? scream so well?” you were genuinely curious and it didn't hurt to get to know the guy since he was now in your boyfriend's band.

“well, i wish i could tell you but it came pretty natural to me. i messed around with some of my favorite bands sounds one day and kind of just…discovered? i guess, that i could do it.”

you engaged in the conversation by nodding and giving small “mhm"s while he spoke.

“it did take a little practice here and there to get my voice to what it is now. but, yeah most of it was natural talent i guess” he chuckled at the end of his sentence. your heart swooned at the tiny lisp he had when he pronounced his S's.

“how about you? do you sing or anything?” he asked, cocking his head to the side as he took a sip of his water.

“yeah, i sing here and there. mostly in the car or the shower. but, i have been playing bass since like, forever.” a smile plastered onto your face as you spoke to him.

something about Noah enticed you so much, he seemed like a man with man secrets and you wanted to learn them all.

the night went on and on, it was now almost 1am, you could say you had gotten to know Noah pretty well within the couple hours you had talked to him.

“well, i think i should head home.” he said as he stood up.

“yeah, i think i should get to bed too. here, i'll show you out.”

he followed you through the house, giggling everytime Jolly snored on the couch in Nicholas's livingroom. you walked out with Noah, not wanting your goodbyes to wake up the drunken man on the couch.

you gave Noah a hug once more to finish the night off, Noah's hands linger on your waist. you couldn’t help yourself. it felt like there was a magnetic pull working on you and Noah, enchanting his soft, pink lips towards yours.

Noah, not thinking, put a hand on your face, closing the kiss. it was a bit weird in a general aspect, thinking about how you just met him today. but to you both, it felt so natural.

just as you went to deepen the passion in the kiss, Noah pulled away, a frantic look making its presence known in his eyes.

“oh my god- i didn't- oh fuck! Nicholas is-” he started to panic as the realization set in for him.

“Noah! Noah please can you just-” your words weren't registering in his brain, they were barely entering his ears.

“fuck! i just got this spot in the band-” his fingers pushed their way his long hair.

you pushed against his chest to get his attention.

“fucking listen to me! god!” your voice was ridden with annoyance.

“i'm not cheating on Nick, he knows i love him, but i'm poly. Nick knows this.” you gave a brief explanation, his face utterly confused.

“wha-”

“look, my house is that one over there, you don't have practice tomorrow so come over around 12 and i'll explain.” you pointed to a house further in the distance.

you didn't wait for his response, rather just turning around and getting in bed with your boyfriend.

you were genuinely surprised when Nicholas’ arms wrapped around you and his words flowed through the walls of the room.

“i saw you looking at Noah.”

your stomach dropped. you knew Nicholas knew, but its your first time having a boyfriend and genuinely being interested in someone else.

“i-..um yeah.” your voice was low, not knowing what to expect out of this conversation.

“i don't know- um…how-” you tried to get your words out but the lump in your throat seemed to catch your words.

“i'm not mad at you, baby. i knew what i was getting into when i asked you out, i don't regret it either. it might take some time getting used to, but i'm not mad.” his words were soothing to you. the tears that were threatening to spill, thankfully dispersed as your boyfriend spoke.

“we kissed.” your words were so quiet you weren't sure if he heard you.

“what?”

“we kissed. i walked him out and it kind of just…happened.”

it was quiet for a few moments.

“oh. well…i think i'd like some heads up? if possible?” Nicholas chuckled and closed his eyes, getting comfortable once more.

“yeah. i'll give you a heads up...if possibem” a soft smile spread like butter against your lips as you both fell asleep.

the next day, you woke up around 9am. very, very early considering the time you went to bed last night. you figured it was your nerves getting to you, knowing you'd be one on one with Noah again later today.

you ate breakfast with the 3 boys and watched some tv, you were having a good time, yet your mind drifted away every so often thinking about Noah and what you would say to him.

Noah: omw

read at 11:43AM

“hey, guys. i'm going to head home. i need to go feed the cats and lucy.” you smiled as you gathered your things.

“okay, baby. be safe, see you later.” you pecked Nicholas’ lips before heading out.

you somewhat hustled back to your house, not knowing exactly how much time you had to get ready.

quickly, you fed your two cats and your dog. afterwards you made yourself more presentable.

three knocks on your door and you were panicking. you opened the door and your heart fluttered at the sight.

“come in.” you smiled, hoping your anxiety wasn't too noticeable…

your orange maine coon instantly came up and rubbed himself against Noah's leg. Noah closed the door behind him and chuckled as he knelt down to pet him.

“i love cats.”

“that's eddie. he's very friendly with new people. that's lucy.” you pointed to your pomeranian who was laying on her doggy bed with a pink bow in her hair.

“and woody is around here somewhere.”

“woody? like the toy story character?” Noah smiled, standing back up.

“no, like wood. he's a havana brown, so it kind of made sense.”

as on time, woody made his appearance down the hallway, walking back and forth, not too sure on the tall man standing in the door way.

you both took a seat on the couch and you slowly, thoroughly explained what was going on with you and your boyfriend.

“i'm polyamorous. which means i can feel desire or romance for more than one person at a time.” you looked up at him, trying to read his face.

”does Nicholas know..?”

“yes, 100%.”

you explained to him that you had told Nicholas that you were polyamorous long ago before you started dating. you had discovered your sexual identity right after you graduated highschool.

Noah listened to you as you rambled on.

“i ended up telling him we kissed last night. he wasn't mad but he did say he would appreciate a heads up next time.”

it took a while for Noah to understand and grasp the concept. it wasn't a completely new concept to him. he had heard of it before but he had never actually met someone who happened to be polyamorous.

it was a lot for him to take in, but slowly he felt better about the “events” that had taken place last night.

“y/n..i think i really like you. which is so completely fucking weird because i just met you like yesterday.” he was looking down at his hand, picking at his nails.

“i feel the same..but i think it's best to just…take it slow. no labels yet. just us as two individuals seeing where it goes.”

Noah nodded, agreeing with the idea.

“can i kiss you again?” his voice was soft, not wanting to do anything to make you uncomfortable. but, you of course said yes.

your lips connected to one another's and it was full of passion and need, drastically different from the one you shared last night.

Noah effortlessly pulled you onto his lap. his kisses trailed down your neck, placing soft, wet kisses all over. you had barely noticeable hickies left from Nicholas that Noah had no problem kissing over.

his hands made their way down your curves and onto your ass. Noah kneaded at your skin as your hands found their way into his hair. soft moans were heard from both of you Noah seemed almost scared to progress in what you both silently consented to, so you took control.

you grabbed his hand and gently guiding it into your panties, letting his cold fingers glide through your now progressing wetness. after a couple swirls around your clit he plunged his fingers into your cunt.

your mouth dropped open and your eyes rolled back, his fingers hit new spots inside of you that you could have never found by yourself.

his fingers worked magic inside you while his thumb toyed at your clit, making delicate circles.

you took it into your own hands to release his aching cock from his skinny jeans. emo fuck.

you spit into your hand and started to pump your hand up and down. Noah did the same as you, mouth in a perfect “O” shape and let his head fall on the back of the couch, eyes rolling to the back of his head.

his fingers were now alternating between fucking into you and giving your achey clit attention. you were approaching your climax.

“fuck, your hand feels so much better than mine.” Noah moaned out, a little chuckled at the end.

“you think my hand is good? wait until you feel my pussy. so warm and tight.” you said between broken moans and whines.

Noah found the perfect spot within you and it sent you spiraling. your orgasm overtook you in white, hot, burning pleasure.

you fell forward into Noah's chest, letting your body twitch and wither in his grasp. he slowly took his fingers out, licking them clean. when you came down and could once again breathe properly, he asked

“can you go again, hm?” his voice was saturated with lust. you nodded, eager to feel his cock.

“do you have a condom?”

you hopped off his lap, rushing to your bedside table to grab one.

once you got back to the couch, you scrambled to take your bottom half of clothes off, with Noah's help of course.

once you sat on Noah's cock, some sort of dominance clouded Noah's mind. his grip became tighter, as he fucked up into you, he would growl out.

“god- fuck, i could use this pussy for the rest of my life.” he watched as your clothed breasts bounced as his hips fucked into you.

your mind was filled with dirty thoughts of the man in front of you. you gawked at his tattooed throat, his adam's apple moving up and down as he let growls and grunts escape his chest.

something about Noah made you so fucking weak. from the way he carried himself to the way he spoke, it was all some weird spell he unknowingly casted upon you.

you clawed at his chest, bunching his shirt up in your fist.

“shit, you fuck so good, Noah.” you cried as you felt your orgasm approaching you once more.

you tightened around Noah, only causing Noah to fuck into you faster. fuck, you'd be surprised if you had the ability to walk after this.

you could feel Noah's cock twitching as he got closer.

“Noah, fuck, please please cum with me.”

Noah gave a count down.

“3…” fuck, you knew this would feel so good. finally getting to released after being fucked senseless.

“2…” the grip you had on each other only became tighter. you were now pressed against each other, Noah's arms pulling you into his chest.

your head was rested upon his neck, giving soft bites and sloppy kisses to the skin.

“1…cum for me.”

you both let go as the countdown ended. bliss taking you both over. it felt like heaven on earth.

you rested your forehead against Noah's as you both tried to catch your breath.

---

it took 2 months, and lots of understanding from both of the boys, but you had made it official with Noah. you were happier than ever.

tag list 🩻: @lma1986 @bruisedleftknee @sprokat @itsafullmoon

(if you want to be added to the tag list please dm me 👐🏻)

[since0202]

Taking Time—Fifty Four

Home is a person

Word Count: 12,959

Trigger Warning: Mentions of Abortion (I will bracket where it starts and ends in an obvious manner so you can avoid if needed <3).

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

Every step home has felt right so far. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been away for so long, but it feels like something has changed or shifted. And as I get closer, that feeling only gets stronger. Now, as I sink into that undeniable warmth, it’s hard to think otherwise at all. Soft, warm breath spans gently across my hair and I reach for the warm body nestled next to me. It must be Paul. How he knew I was here, I’m not sure, but in the halfway point between sleep and wake, I’m not sure of much. The soft body grunts and rolls closer to me, making soft sounds that lull me deeper into sleep. I want it always to be like this: sleepy mornings, just peace, before the sun cracks me open like an egg and burns me from the inside out. 

Maya rolled toward the low rumbling groan coupled with that hardy warmth she’d come to know so well when she was home. Paul was so soft. She ran her hands up and down his sides to a pleasant smacking sound coming from his lips. She burrowed closer for warmth, still in that holy toss between dreaming and awake and felt his warm breath flow over her hair. It almost felt wet. Maya inhaled a deep breath savoring his smell only to be met with a warm mildewy scent of dried fur and the forest. He must have only just phased back from rounds and the smell of his wolf form simply clung to him. It didn’t matter. Maya leaned her head up and was met with the his soft, warm, wet lips. Really wet. He kissed and dampened her entire face with his mouth, his tongue. 

Maya leaned back and groaned her dissent, but the onslaught kept coming, possibly even more eagerly than before, until her entire face was coated in saliva. Paul really had it coming. Maya’s face twisted into a grimace as she opened her eyes, only to be met with the towering dark frame of Leah’s german shepherd. 

“Blegh!” Maya managed before the dog continued with vigor to her dismay. She braced her arms across his chest and tried to push, but the thumping of his tail wagging only seemed to make him stronger as he continue to cover Maya’s face in fervent licks with delight that she was awake. 

Maya heard a laugh from the door before Keye said,”Yodel, that’s enough. Come here!” Yodel immediately hopped off the bed and hurtled toward Keye, standing at attention at her feet with his tongue lolling to one side. Keye dropped her hand to stroke his head affectionately, “I thought we said no more kissing dogs after that trip to Seattle when Becks convinced that forty year old bouncer she was old enough to get in by her expertise?” 

Maya rubbed her dog-drenched face on the pillow before rolling over and beginning to rub her eyes, “I remember that being you, not Becks.” 

“Oh, yeah,” Keye replied lazily as if the thought hadn’t occurred to her until now.

“Come on, Leah’s making breakfast,” Keye stated from her place leaning up against the doorframe. As she plodded away softly, Maya heard Yodel following her dutifully down the small hallway to the kitchenette.

“Okay, but you still have a lot of explaining to do,” Maya called after her as she sat up and ran a hand through her disheveled hair. She didn’t even attempt a glance at her phone. The soft, gray morning light of Seattle pulled her eyes toward the window and Maya let out a soft sigh and let the day breathe her in.

Leah’s apartment was bright and airy. The kitchen and living room sat in a lofted space with high ceilings that allowed large industrial air ducts to span it. The bright beach wood of the rafters above seemed to capture light and sprinkle it down across the warm butcher block island where she was preparing another omelet, this time for herself, after making one for Keye and Maya. They tucked in around the island on carefully crafted wooden bar stools that Maya had a sneaking suspicion were the handiwork of her boyfriend. Maya peered over shoulder to look out the floor to ceiling narrow windows covered in a gauzy, white curtain. The living room was a collection of well loved, mismatched furniture pieces, all softened by time and use. 

Maya hadn’t fully recognized the neighborhood they were in when they drove in but she wondered how close they were to Paul’s workshop. Leah was laughing at Keye as she exclaimed how she’d never thought to add spinach to an omelet, or any vegetable to any dish for that matter, when Maya zoned back into the love fest unfolding before her. 

“You need to eat more vegetables, I keep telling you, or you’ll never be able to hold up a bike at a stop light. Even a little one,” Leah’s face was all sunshine. She tore off a piece off her omelet and handed it to a waiting Yodel at her feet. 

“She’s got a thing for bikes,” Keye hummed around a bite.

“I do not,” Leah tried to bemoan, but it only came out as soft embarrassment, her neck flushing with a hint of pink. That was hard to dispute considering Leah’s apartment was stationed above a bike shop. Her bike shop in fact. 

“Crotch rockets, some call them,” Keye quipped, shooting Maya a gleeful look.  

“Stop,” Leah replied breathlessly with a laugh, “They’re not called that.”

“She rode up on one to Seth’s wedding, what was I supposed to do? Not fall in love with her?” Keye goaded, shooting a bright smile in her direction. Maya lit up at this—she wanted to know everything about how Leah and Keye met, how the imprint happened. 

“So, it was at Seth’s wedding then?” Maya leaned onto the counter, trying to quell her excitement. Leah looked down at her omelet with a soft smile as if just recalling the memory overwhelmed her with joy. Keye blushed and shoved another bite of gooey omelet in her mouth. 

“Yeah, it was at Seth’s wedding,” Leah started softly, “Gah, I still can’t believe that little twerp is married. I swear I was helping him with his homework only last week,” she shook her head, still lost in her moment of nostalgia. 

“Uh, I’m pretty sure you were helping him with his homework last week, babe. You guys were debating the merit of classic authors still being considered the classic norm in a postmodern world in this very kitchen.” Maya giggled at that and Leah looked up at Keye with such soft eyes that Maya thought she’d explode on the spot. Keye held her gaze for as long as she could before blushing and looking back down at her omelet, playing coy while continuing to eat. 

Oh, so it was that kind of imprint. 

“Yes, we met at Seth’s wedding,” Keye continued for her after a few bites as Leah started cleaning up. Keye launched into the story like it was well known and been written down for years. 

She said it was instantaneous. Much like Maya and Paul had, Leah and Keye and locked eyes and that was it. But most of the guests had been distracted and the pack was thoroughly drunk on special Quileute brewed beer so no one was really paying them any attention. No one had even really realized, except for Keye and Leah. They had sat there and stared at each other, across the dance floor for a cool minute or two. It could have been eons for all Keye knew. 

Leah’s face, which had been schooled in a cool complacency for most of the night as she muscled through her baby brother’s wedding, had shifted to something bright and surprised. Breathless, she had strode across the dance floor in her pale cream suit, sparkling under the carefully hung lights as she weaved her way through couples. Her eyes never left Keye’s and Keye had stayed glued to the spot, her heart beating wildly. Nothing would stop Leah from getting to her, and as she startled to a stop in front of her, Keye let out a loud exhale as if breathing again for the first time. 

“It’s you,” Leah had said, so surprised yet relieved, “It’s you. Y-you…you are so…you’re my—,” 

“Keye,” she interjected, relieving the stuttering Leah. She held her hand out somewhat awkwardly, but it had felt like the only thing she could do. “I’m Keye,” she said again. 

Leah slipped her hand into Keye’s, not shaking it, but just holding it there for a moment before threading her fingers purposefully through hers and nodding. “Yes, you are.” Leah’s whole face brightened into one of incandescent happiness as light tears shone in her dark eyes. Keye was on the verge of losing it and letting this wave of joy rush over her and spill from her tear ducts. 

There she was.

Shortly after, Keye skipped town that night with Leah and sealed her fate. She just disappeared. No one even realized she was gone, and her parents just thought that she went back to campus early. Leah was prone to disappearing spells, so there was no connection made there either apparently. 

Maya’s head swum up out of the story and looked over at Leah who was leaning against the sink with her hands outstretched next to her, smiling softly at Keye. 

“And after I moved in, I took this semester off—” Keye continued after a moment.

“Wait what?!” Maya snapped out of it and jerked her head toward Keye, her eyes wide with shock.  

“My, come on,” Keye groaned, “What is it with you and school? It’s not that big a deal.” Keye said half heartedly. 

Just because Maya had a vice grip on school didn’t mean everyone else needed to maintain that level of intensity to make school an important part of their lives. Just look at what it did to her and Paul. She willed her body to relax as she shook her head, glancing quickly at Leah for any back up and finding none.

“No, no,” Maya tried backpedaling, controlling the features on her face to remain impassive, “I just mean, I didn’t realize! I should have realized.” 

Keye leveled her with an expectant stare, a small smile on her face. Maya was trying to keep her lips clamped shut so she didn’t ask the question she really wanted to ask. 

After about thirty seconds though, Maya burst: “But why though?!” 

So much for self control.

Keye couldn’t help but throw her head back and laugh. Leah looked on with a bit of concern on her face. 

“Sometimes, things just work out that way, My. But don’t worry, I’ll go back and finish up,” Keye proclaimed, “Just for you.” 

Maya smiled and shook her head. That soft concerned look was still pulling at Leah’s features as she continued to watch Keye carefully. 

Maya spent the day putzing around Seattle with Leah and Keye visiting some of their favorite local haunts. They even stopped in a few local bookshops and let Maya wander for as long as she liked. She discovered some old chemistry books that she fell in love with and was thoroughly brightened despite the low hanging clouds over Seattle as they walked down hidden side streets. 

The three grabbed lunch at a little sandwich shop not far from Leah’s bike shop. When Keye got up to use the bathroom, Maya casually stayed behind to Keye’s chagrin. Leah was trying to stuff the butt end of her meatball sub fully into her mouth, sauce dripping down her chin in an endearing way as she hunched her shoulders over the low table. 

Leah had been pretty tight lipped about her estrangement from the pack but now that Maya had her alone, she wondered if without Keye’s constant frown whenever the pack was brought up, she could ask her about it. 

“What?” Leah said around her mouthful. Maya hadn’t realized she had been staring, marveling even at this intensely, wonderful woman who had captured Keye’s heart and taken care of her best friend so completely. 

“Nothing, sorry, I—” Maya stumbled and ran a hand through her shaggy hair, frizzed by the gentle rain they had walked through to get here. Maya exhaled through her nose trying to gather her thoughts about how to ask but instead, Leah spoke: 

“You’re sure you want to go back?” Leah chewed valiantly and Maya couldn’t help but let her mouth hang open a bit in surprise. That wasn’t…. “No offense, but you seem torn. And I never try to make hard decisions when I’m on the fence.”

Maya closed her mouth abruptly and shook her head to try and clear any confusion that Leah could see in her eyes, “No, I…I need to go home. It’s time to go home. Not forever, but..just for now.” 

“Tortured him enough, then?” 

Maya’s eyes shot up to meet Leah’s in shock, but that feeling quickly faded when she saw that gleam of mischief in Leah’s eyes. She hadn’t meant it the way everyone else would have. 

“I guess,” Maya shrugged. “I do miss him, though.” That was an understatement.

“Of course you do,” Leah tucked back into the table scavenging chips from Keye’s plate. “Regardless of what you know, and regardless of what you feel, the imprint should always show you true north,” the sound of crunching chips perforated Maya’s concentration, “Or so they say.” 

“What do you think then? About the imprint, I mean, now that you have it?” Maya challenged. Leah took a moment, always thoughtful, never rash in her conversation. Just clear and true and decided. 

“I think the imprint is different for everyone. So if anyone tries to tell you what to do with it, you should take that with a grain of salt. Listen to what it says to you, trust that,” Leah shrugged. 

Maya paused at that and really tried to let that sink in. Everyone had tried to tell her what the imprint was meant to do, what it was based on legend. But it had been hard between her and Paul since the beginning. Some parts were easy, when they were just together and there was nothing else, but most other things were hard—harder than the other imprints at least. So much so, that Maya and Paul had wondered for a while if there was something wrong with them. 

“I will say though,” Leah’s voice suddenly turned serious. Maya met her eyes and was taken aback by the sheer intensity at which they bored into her, “While I don’t know how your imprint works, I do know Paul.” Maya gulped, “And I can say without a doubt in my mind that he loves you with every cell in his body.” 

Maya let out a sigh. She knew that of course and so she could only say as much, “I know.” Her voice came out hoarse. 

“But he’s also a bit of an idiot. Emotionally, I mean. The guy was abandoned by everyone when he was a kid and then was swallowed by anger for most of his adult life. He’s only found his way through in maybe the past five years. That’s still no excuse for how he’s been with you, but still. That man comes with baggage and I do not envy you that task of unpacking it all,” Leah brushed her hands together to get off the excess crumbs. 

There wasn’t enough that Maya knew about Paul’s past. He’d told her the basics, but she’d gotten more information about Paul’s dad from her own mother and that was a wobbly source. 

“Speaking of members of the pack,” Maya said quickly, “do you think you’ll ever come back to the rez?”

Leah let out a gentle laugh and shook her head, “Not unless they need me.” 

“Do they not need you now?” Maya quirked an eyebrow. Leah once again leveled her with that intense stare.

“Cute girls are always too brave for their own good,” Leah leaned back and stretched her arms behind Keye’s chair just as she slid back into it. 

“You guys can stop talking about me now,” Keye said dramatically as she shook her hair away from her face. She shot Maya a knowing look to which she rolled her eyes. 

Leah leaned forward just enough to kiss Keye’s shoulder and said softly, “Never, babe.” 

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

—-<<Trigger warning: mentions of abortion in this next section>>---

Maya and Keye cuddled up in the guest bed that Maya was sleeping in with a laptop between them that night watching an old 90’s vampire movie. Leah had disappeared downstairs into her shop to get some work done. 

As one of the main vampires looked out over a burning city, Keye readjusted her head on Maya’s shoulder as Yodel let out a soft sigh at the end of the bed. Somehow, it had felt like no time had passed at all. 

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Keye asked softly. Maya stared at the screen as she tried to reconcile her worry into something else. 

“I think so,” she breathed in and about before continuing, “It feels like the right time to go back. I don’t know how to explain it.” 

“True north,” Keye muttered softly. 

“Jesus, you guys really are in deep, huh?” Maya joked and Keye giggled. 

“I don’t know, probably. She was there for me when everyone was either busy or gone. I don’t think that was the imprint either, she just…knew I needed her and she stayed,” Keye was quiet. Maya’s heart rate picked up as she realized her mistake in shutting everyone out. Even if Keye had said that she had understood why Maya did it, she knew she had hurt people who didn’t deserve it for the sake of her own peace. Keye, and a lot of others deserved more than that. 

“Keye, I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I should have stayed in contact, I know that. It all just felt hard and this was easier. But I shouldn’t have done the easy thing….not when it comes to you or Becks,” Maya scrunched in closer to Keye. 

“It really is okay, My. I get it. I disappeared too, you know. Just…tell us next time.” 

“I promise,” Maya breathed. “But I don’t plan on disappearing again. I didn’t even mean to fully disappear before, it was just….easier that way. But it wasn’t fair to your or Becks, so I promise.”

The vampire on screen looked wide eyed at the little girl who was drinking from an older woman. She looked so small, so innocent. Her too-young youth, eternally frozen in time. 

“I have to tell you something,” Keye breathed, her voice hitching at the end as if she was unsure. 

“What?” Maya said softly, looking down at the side of her face. Keye sat up and Maya turned toward her, realizing that her face was pulled tight with pain. “What is it?” she reached for Keye’s hands that were clasped tightly in her lap but pulled back when she flinched slightly as if being touched might be too much at the moment. “Are you okay?” 

“I am..I am. I really am. I need you to know that I am okay going into this,” Keye’s voice wobbled slightly as she sat up straight, before leaning back against the headboard. 

“You’re kind of scaring me, Keye,” Maya said slowly as she pressed pause on the movie and sat up too, crossing her legs in front of her and turning her whole body to face Keye. The looks that flitted across her face were hard to read but as Keye bit her lip, Maya knew this was something more. 

“I…” Keye began slowly, her eyes on her hands that fidgeted in her lap. Maya leaned over and covered both of her hands with her own. Keye swallowed hard, tears forming at the corner of her eyes but never falling before looking up at Maya. 

There was silence, strong and solid between them, and Maya just let it hang there to give her the space to say what it was she needed to say. 

“I left the rez because something h-happened,” Keye’s voice was quieter now and Maya listened carefully as soft rain started to patter on the windows above the bed. It was another few moments before Keye continued, “Colin and I were still dating and we were…things were going okay.” 

A cold feeling slid into Maya’s stomach, but she held her breath to keep from thinking the worst. 

“He and I were…well it doesn’t really matter, but things were going well and it was like…four days before Seth and Sadie’s wedding and I wasn’t really feeling good. Just kind of off you know?” Keye took in a breath and Maya heard the sound shudder through her, “And I…I thought that maybe I was…Fuck,” Keye wiped the tear that had escaped from the corner of her eyes and coasted down her cheek. 

“You were what?” Maya asked softly, concern laid plainly on her face. Keye tilted her head and gave Maya a knowing look as she frowned. Maya waited. 

“That I was pregnant,” Keye hiccuped softly and Maya let loose the breath. 

“Oh.” The word came out small and barely there. Just above a whisper. Keye stared down at her hands again, playing with the tips of Maya’s fingers. “Were you?” Maya prompted gently, leaning her head down to capture Keye’s eyes. 

Keye shut them tightly and the tears fiercely rolled now as she nodded. 

“Okay, okay,” Maya looked over her shoulder toward the door wondering if Leah knew…if she knew Keye was… Her gaze flitted over Keye’s body to try and discern how far along she was, but she looked entirely the same. “How far along are—”

Maya was cut off by Keye shaking her head slowly, as hot tears continued to roll down her cheeks. Maya furrowed her brow, confused. Everything was coming at her so fast and she was just trying to piece every part of the puzzle together but felt like she was missing information. When realization dawned on her, her eyes widened with sadness, “You lost it…” she breathed. “Oh, Keye—” Maya reached out to stroke her shoulder, scooting closer but Keye stopped her. 

“Not exactly.” Keye said, wetly. She swallowed hard and forced herself to sit up straight. Her eyes were harder now, and through the tears Maya thought she saw Keye watching her carefully for any reaction that would make her shutter completely. Maya’s mouth hung open again in momentary confusion before she said even softer, her breath barely a whisper, “Oh.”

She blinked rapidly as it all sank in. Of course. Maya kept her face neutral, soft, and open as she watched Keye watching her. Keye’s eyes flicked all around her face, trying to scan for any disapproval, or upset, and that made Maya worry that she had encountered some judgment from her circle. 

Maya reached out and grasped Keye’s hand softly in hers and gave her a soft nod, “It’s okay, Keye. That’s totally your decision.”

But Keye was silent, watching her as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. Maya let the air hang between them a moment longer before she said, “Do you want to tell me about it?” Keye grimaced. “Or tell me why?” Keye crumbled slightly at that. “Let’s start with an easier question… And you don’t have to answer anything at all if you don’t want to. But, I want you to know that any answer you do give is enough reason and enough justification for the decision you made.” Maya dipped her head to meet Keye’s eyes. Only then did she see her gaze soften with trust again. “It’s enough,” she reinforced. Maya tried to emphasize that love with her eyes as well and held Keye’s gaze. 

When Keye finally nodded, sagging with relief, Maya scooted closer so that their knees were touching, “When did you find out?” She wiped gently at Keye’s tears. 

“Just after I met Leah…Like I said, I hadn’t been feeling great up until Seth and Sadie’s wedding, but after I met Leah, it was like I needed to know, you know?” Maya nodded and just let Keye go. 

“I drove out of town to get a pregnancy test. That whole fucking tribe has eyes everywhere you know and I didn’t want to risk it getting back to…well, I bought three and I was in a fucking gas station bathroom in Beaverton with a full bottle of gatorade just…waiting for what felt like forever,” Keye stopped then and gulped down air. 

Maya was pushing her hair out of her face and stroking her thumb over her hand. “And then it was like…everything stopped you know. It was real…three times it was real. And I….I panicked,” Keye was looking around the room now, the guilt just absolutely pulling her in different directions. “I didn’t want anyone to find out. At least until I could just think for a bit you know. You know how they are about babies, if they had gotten wind that I…and it was Colin’s? No way, game over.” 

A fresh sob broke through Keye’s chest. She opened her mouth a couple of times to speak and couldn’t so Maya let her breathe through it, allowing her the space to continue or stop. But she carried on as if she needed to say it out loud, “I knew I didn’t want it, My. And I just felt….bad. I felt bad because, I don’t know…fuck I don’t know why should I feel bad, you know?” Maya just nodded. She understood guilt like that. “I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I couldn’t go back to the rez. And so I…I called Leah and she came and got me, no questions asked.” 

Thank god, Maya thought. Thank god for Leah, because Maya could just see herself so clearly mirrored in this same situation. She was so grateful that her best friend had someone like Leah to come and protect her the way she needed to be protected. 

“It took me a week to tell her. And she was just…ugh,” Keye reached for a tissue next to the bed and blew her nose before saying, “She was just perfect, you know? She knew just what to say and what to do and…” Keye’s eyes sparkled for a moment as she looked at Maya. Maya couldn’t help but give her a sad, knowing smile back. 

“Yeah, yeah, imprints are great,” she joked, rolling her eyes before squeezing her hand. Keye smiled sadly, looking down at their joined hands. 

“She told me that whatever I wanted to do, it was the right decision. And that I didn’t need to tell anyone if I didn’t want to, because it was my body. She was just…there. All the time for me. I-I don’t know if I could have done all this without her but…she held my hand through it all and I…” Keye looked up at Maya, her eyes sure and firm now, “I don’t regret it.” 

Maya shook her head, “You shouldn’t. That was your decision, and I still love you just as you are.” Keye smiled, bigger this time and nodded. 

“Still fucks with me though,” she said, resigned. 

“Yeah well, they never said being a woman would be easy,” Maya pulled her into a tight hug. Keye held on so hard, she thought her ribs popped, “I love you.” Maya breathed into her hair. 

For a while they just sat there, hugging, listening to each other breathe. Maya hoped her decisions 

— << end trigger warning>> ---

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

November, 1 year ago….

Go see the elders. 

Jacob’s voice echoed and roiled in Paul’s ears as he worked away at the lower deck in the back garden. The cool November air whipped round Paul as he worked at setting wood planks on his foundation. The chill did nothing to bring down his temperature though. Paul was running more than hot these days—he was constantly burning up, as if an unbreakable fever clung to him since Maya left. 

Left him. 

Paul stalled, his hands stilling on the wood as he closed his eyes tightly against his last memory of her, tear stricken and shaking her head at him. I won’t. She had said to him that she wouldn’t stay. Not for anyone, not even for him. And that tore him to pieces and set him on fire. And ever since, he’d been burning. 

Paul forced his eyes back open and worked to refocus them on that task at hand. Work on the house always gave him some temporary peace, but he could never truly escape that hollowness that deepened and ached, threatening to drive him mad before the first snow would melt. 

He couldn’t even bring himself to go on rounds at this point. But no one blamed him. No one even came looking for him. He chalked that up to Jacob, citing space, citing time, citing…whatever it was Paul was supposed to find during his time of abandonment. 

Because that’s what it was, anyway you shook it out, he was simply abandoned. Again. 

Go see the elders. 

Jacob’s voice persisted in his head, sounding firmer, angrier each time that Paul refused whether internally or externally. What would the elders do for him exactly? They got him into this mess in the first place. Setting unrealistic expectations, putting pressure on them, coaxing them along with arbitrary milestones. They wouldn’t let up with their pleading eyes and knowing conversations until Maya was pregnant. Jesus. Paul skated quickly away from that thought and continued working on the deck. 

Plus, what could the elders say to him now? Maya was gone, and all he could do was hope that she’d come back. A ripple of anger ran down Paul’s spine as he gritted his teeth. Suddenly he felt like he was six years old again, sitting on the stoop of his dad’s double wide as thunder promised rain overhead. Waiting for someone who might never return. He hated that feeling. And what he hated more was how that anger that he once thought was well and truly tempered began to roil viciously within him again. 

Go see the elders. 

Jacob’s tone turned into a rough growl in his head and Paul couldn’t stand it anymore. The hammer that had gone so still in his hand now shook and he reared back before hurling it with all his might without a care of where it landed. It connected with something far off, a tree perhaps, that shook its occupants free and had them flying off in a hurry. 

Paul let out a harsh breath as he tried to swallow the well of emotion building in him. If he was being honest, he hadn’t done so well since Maya had left. To be fair, that might actually be an understatement. As hot, unshed tears brimmed his dark eyes, he stood with his hands lightly rested on his hips. 

“Fine,” he said to no one in particular, “I’ll go see the elders.” Paul headed off in the direction of his lost hammer.

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

The next morning, Maya and Keye stumbled into the kitchen together after having fallen asleep, exhausted from their conversation the night before. 

Today was the day Maya planned to return to La Push and she would be lying if she wasn’t a bit nervous. 

But, even more nerve wracking was Keye’s request to drive her into the rez. After last night, Keye had woken up feeling better, but she had told Maya sleepily that she needed to go home to fix some things too. 

It only made sense that she would come with her, but still, the thought of Keye having another conversation last night made Maya ache, especially if she wouldn’t be as accepted by the others—least of all the council. 

But Keye had assured her that Leah and her had talked about this and that she felt ready after unloading a little on Maya last night. She could do it and even more so, she felt like she needed to, to continue to heal and grow past it. 

Now, hunched over their individual bowls of cereal as Leah watched from her place leaned up against the counter, both women held an air of dread about them. 

Leah took a bite of cereal and said suddenly to Maya: “You know he’s going to know you’re there as soon as you cross the boundary, right?” 

At this, Maya couldn’t help a small shiver run through her. He’d know she was there, but what he would do about it was still up in the air. 

A few hours later, Keye pulled up the familiar, neatly paved driveway to the house. If it wasn’t for the familiar blue stone, Maya might not have even clocked that they were at her house. There’s been so much work done to it, almost as if someone frantically decided to build with unbridled purpose and determination.

“Holy shit,” Keye breathed as she looked through her windshield of Leah’s Subaru. They both sat in stunned silence for a moment, mouths slightly agape. Then Maya replied weakly, 

“Yeah.” 

The little blue house wasn’t so little anymore. 

“Did you know he was—uh,” Keye faltered to complete her sentence so Maya just answered:

“No. This is…” Maya was lost for words. 

“Yeah,” Keye breathed. Finally, she tore her eyes away from the house and looked over at Maya. “So, are you ready?” 

“Are you?” Maya said back just as hesitantly. Keye considered it for a moment and then just shrugged. 

“Yeah, why not?” She answered with a small smile. Maya exhaled a breath through her nose and nodded. Why not. 

She pushed open the door and stood slowly on the dark paved driveway that was dotted with solar lights that would guide her in at night. She grabbed her duffel bag and backpack from the backseat and shut both doors with purpose. 

Keye only pulled back up the driveway once Maya had opened the front door. But Maya stayed frozen on the threshold for a moment, marveling at what lay within. 

The quaint front entryway had been completely opened and transformed into a wide open expansive living room that wrapped around the staircase that was now exposed on either side. Off to the right of the living room where there had only been a stone wall before, Paul had put in a cozy office, the entryway was arched and held two driftwood french doors, the glass mingling perfectly with the hand carved wood. 

Maya peeked in, her eyes coasting over the back wall behind the raw edged desk that was packed books in the floor to ceiling bookshelves. An oversized, plush chair was nestled neatly next to the bookshelves and the bay window that looked out into the woods. A small iron fireplace had been installed in a free corner. It was…perfect for lack of a better word. 

Maya spun on her heel and carried on toward the back of the house. The kitchen had been further expanded, a large warm wood island stretched across the expansive green tile. New appliances had been installed, the cabinets fitted and hand carved with intricate designs to heighten the simplicity of the sleek and soft kitchen around it.

Someone had been busy. Maya wrapped her arms around herself and glanced across the space. It was all so beautiful and different. But it still somehow felt like her home. It held the exact warmth and memory as before, just opened more to welcome new memories. 

Outside the sun was beginning to sink lower in the sky into the late afternoon. She pushed aside the long sliding glass door and stepped out onto the deck. A hanging bed flocked in white gossamer curtains and shaded by a partially covered pergola hung seductively off to the side. The deck had been expanded to include three levels, each holding a different space to gather with cozy chairs, firepits, and hand carved weather-proofed wooden tables. 

The most impressive thing that she had seen thus far though was the renovated workshop. Paul had completely rebuilt it, expanded it, and settled it a little further back onto the neighboring property. It almost looked the size of his studio in Seattle now, but he had built the entire front with reclaimed antique windows so that she could easily see into the intricate workspace within.The beveled glass glittered in the winter sun and made the entire backyard sparkle. It even held a second story loft that looked out toward the ocean. 

The cold November breeze rolled over Maya and she took a deep breath. She knew the kind of frenzied state he must have been in when he started building all of this. As a distraction. To keep him from feeling that hollowing pain that she herself felt almost every day when she had left. It was heartbreaking what they’d done to each other. But there was no getting around it now. 

Still, the most surprising thing was, he wasn’t here. Maya looked over her shoulder back into the house. Maybe she could find the keys to her Jeep, now neatly tucked away in the newly built two-car garage in the adjacent lot that Paul must have purchased to make all of these renovations. 

With Paul nowhere in sight, she let out a long breath. She guessed she could go to Emily and Sam’s and look for him there. That’s what she needed to do—she needed to find him. 

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

February, 9 months ago…

Paul stood on the aging and worn steps of the last elder front porch in the icy rain that was oscillating annoyingly into sleet. As he looked around the front porch, shirtless and drenched in cold rain that steamed off of him, he noticed the wood rot close to the house where the porch met and made a mental note to come back and repair it once the weather cleared. 

After a few more seconds, Elder Ti’Hal slowly pulled open the door, a wool woven shawl hanging heavy over her shoulders. Her bright white hair was braiding neatly into two plaits. 

Elder Ti’Hal was truly ancient. And Paul didn’t mean that in a negative way at all. She radiated the distilled essence and teachings of their tribe. She was an elder before Paul was even born and he’d never known her without her bright white hair framing her wrinkled, warm face. 

She still managed to move fairly quickly and with agility that wouldn’t normally be attributed to someone of her age, but that was the mystery of elder Ti’Hal. She also never attended council meetings or bonfires anymore, and instead preferred to stay in her quiet cottage in the forest that she had shared with her husband before his passing over two decades ago. 

“Paul Lahote,” she said softly. “To what do I owe this very wet appearance?” 

Paul scowled off to the side, his jaw clenching so hard he thought his teeth might crack. He hadn’t realized it, but he was breathing heavily, his shoulders rising and falling with the effort of it. When he didn’t answer she just nodded gravely. 

“Come in,” she walked back into her small, warm, wooden home and Paul only hesitated for a second in the cold rain before he ducked under the tiny threshold and entered. “Let me get you a towel,” she grumbled. 

“Don’t bother,” he said, his tone coming out harsher than he intended. 

“For my couch then,” she was already digging in the small linen closet and produced a worn, threadbare towel that she draped across her couch for gesturing to it. “Sit.” she commanded. 

Paul had forgotten how bossy the elders were. He trudged across the living room, careful not to trip on the woven Quileute rug before he slumped down onto the couch in a huff. A warm fire crackled off to his left and Elder Ti’Hal had disappeared around a corner into her tiny kitchen and was clanging around with a kettle. 

“Do you want to start or should I?” Elder Ti’Hal called from the kitchen. Paul was still breathing heavily, the ache in his stomach crescendoing to a harsh beat. He may have groaned painfully in response, but he was too distracted by the unrelenting pain the imprint was causing him. “Right,” Elder Ti’Hal came around the corner with two hand thrown mugs in her hand steaming with what Paul hoped was something stronger than tea. 

She handed him his mug and when he took a whiff, he nearly threw it begrudgingly into the fire. 

“What pains you today, Paul Lahote?” she began. Paul shook his head, trying to find the right place to start, but nothing came to him, so instead he said, 

“Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?” she sipped slowly from her mug. 

“Call me by my first and last name. It’s not like you haven’t known me before I was born. Both names seem overkill don’t you think?” 

He shifted uncomfortably on the warm, plush couch as she leveled him with her gaze and took her time answering. 

“It’s more to remind you than me,” she said cryptically. Paul scoffed: 

“Oh believe me, I know who I am.” 

“Do you?” she replied quickly. Paul glared at her full on now and leaned forward, his mug still cradled between both hands. 

“She didn’t come home for Christmas. She didn’t come home for Seth and Sadie’s wedding. Nothing. Not a fucking peep from her,” he could feel the tension in his body snap, the anger flowing through his veins freely now. He trembled slightly—this wasn’t his first time having to channel unchecked rage through himself and he doubted Ti’Hal would appreciate him exploding into a giant wolf and shredding her comfortable living room to pieces. 

Instead, Paul glued his eyes to the fire, trying to let the anger move through him and then out of him to be consumed and burned away by the fire. But every time he breathed in, it felt like ash flooding his mouth, the embers of that anger still hotter than anything else within him. 

“What does one do with so much anger?” she posed the question suddenly. Paul looked up at her wide-eyed as if shocked by the fact that she could see it on him. He was naive to think that much anger wouldn’t still be palpable to someone as attuned as her. Paul rolled his jaw and sat staring at her, waiting for the anger to ebb, but it wouldn’t. 

Fuck. 

Elder Ti’Hal settled back into her large armchair covered in different soft, worn blankets. When it was clear he wasn’t going to respond, she glanced out the window, watching the rain settle into a gentle drizzle. 

“What do you think the imprint is, Paul?” her voice was warm with a gentle thrum to it like dried maize kernels pouring into a stone bowl. Comforting, consistent. It was maddening to say the least, so Paul continued in his aggravated tone, feeling the heat rise on his skin. 

“An anchor for packmates. A promise for imprints. It’s a reason to stay.” 

“Hmm,” she breathed, her eyes still on the window watching the rain make trails to the muddied window ledge. Paul huffed, rubbing his hands against his knees with impatience. A fucking waste of time, he thought as he clenched his jaw. “But it wasn’t reason enough for her to stay?” 

When her eyes slowly drifted back toward him, Paul looked ready to burst into flames. 

“Clearly not. I can’t go get her because I’ve been ordered to stay away, but also….she doesn’t want me to come,” his voice was quiet. He waited for her to speak again but she just stared at him sadly. A deathly calm rolled over him and he thought that if Ti’Hal didn’t say something soon, he might just give up and collapse in on himself like a dying star.

“What is it then? The imprint?” Paul asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. 

Ti’Hal smiled slowly, warmth creeping into her eyes as she tilted her head to the side and surveyed Paul thoroughly. She took her time before she finally said: 

“A choice.” 

Paul tried to quiet the tremors radiating through his body. If the imprint was a choice, then Maya had clearly not chosen him. Never. Not even from the start. The thought of it made his blood boil. His face twisted in rage before he spat out. 

“What the fuck does that mean? How is it a fucking choice when it’s supposedly pre-ordained from the ancestors? That makes no fucking sense, you know that right?” Paul was on his feet without remembering when exactly he stood up. His hands were curled into fists and his chest was rising and falling quickly. He needed to calm down. If he could just calm down he could…

Ti’Hal just watched him with that serene look on her face, as if nothing fazed her anymore and the anger of a full blown werewolf couldn’t even shake her. Paul tried breathing, closing his eyes, counting to ten, but nothing could quell this desperate anger that spiraled and felt like lead dropping into the bottom of his stomach. 

Why was it always like this? This anger? It was like a tide that he couldn’t escape. Like clockwork it would just rush over him and pull him under in seconds and there was nothing he felt like he could do about it. It was an exposed wire in his veins just ticking and twitching with so much heat and sharpness that he felt his skin would burn away and leave him exposed and vulnerable. 

 “Have you given her a choice?” Ti’Hal’s voice cut through the raging quiet like a whip, but her voice still remained calm. He tried to focus on that—that there was calm to be achieved and he could reach it. He could reach the shore if he just stayed calm. He was panting, losing his breath every moment he kept himself solid and here. 

“I thought I did…but I wasn’t given one either,” he thought back to the moment the imprint had happened. Seeing her there across the fire. It was like an instant salve to a long forgotten pain. And then in the next moment, he was all resistance and rage again. Nothing felt like a choice when it came to the imprint. “We…we didn’t have time to make that choice,” Paul tried to slow his breathing. Calm, in and out, just like the waves. Not sinking but drifting.

“Some see the imprint as a gift, but that’s also just a choice wrapped up in a nice bow, in my opinion. It is a choice, Paul Lahote. You’ve made plenty in your very short life so far, but it is one that you give to her and wait until she makes it. It’s a question, and not a command and it can take many forms. You’re part is making sure you ask her the right one,” she watched his body language shift ever so slightly. “Miss Sunriviere was told that you were her imprint, told that there was to be in a relationship, and then told what her life would most likely be, in so many words.” Paul opened his mouth to retort but she continued anyway, “You are her choice. So ask the question and be patient for once. And most importantly, be vulnerable to her answer,” Ti’Hal took a moment to sip her tea. Paul tried to let those words sink in. 

He was vulnerable with her. Her absence had nearly destroyed him, was that not vulnerable enough? 

“No, not that,” Ti’Hal responded as if she could hear his thoughts. Paul’s eyes widened. 

“What’s the question, then? The one I should ask?” Paul said desperately, his voice rasping as he realized he had been holding his body tensely throughout Ti’Hal’s speech. 

“Start with the answer you want and work your way back from there,” she gave a cryptic smile and stood, disappearing behind her kitchen door and singing softly to herself, unceremoniously excusing him. 

Paul stood there for a while longer, rapidly breathing, and listening to Ti’Hal singing the songs of his childhood in her kitchen, muffled and sweet.  ------------------------------------------

The door to her Jeep shut with a sharp click as Maya shrugged on her cropped puffy jacket. Much as she had suspected, the keys to Maya’s Jeep were in the sun visor, as if waiting for her. The whole drive to Sam and Emily’s felt…calm. As if she were driving toward something rather than into something. There was no sweeping dread, no overwhelming nervousness—she just felt ready. She chocked that up to just time. The time away had made her ready for home, refreshed her.

Sam and Emily’s looked the same as it always did—warm and inviting with a steady stream of smoke coming from the chimney. It was familiar and as she took in a deep breath, the cold November air spiced with pine and fallen leaves, with a hint of the salty Pacific sent a pleasant reassuring thrum through her body. 

Maya stood by her Jeep for a moment just taking it in, before the potential chaos—whether it would be angry or joyful—would be wrought on her. Just the quiet creak of the forest, a distant river rushing toward the sea, and muffled laughter booming from within the home. 

Maya took a deep breath and took a couple of steps forward, her feet crunching on the wet gravel. She hadn’t made it more than a few steps when the screen door opened and Paul walked out slowly onto the porch, hands in the pockets of his dark jeans. Maya halted, her breath caught in her throat as her eyes met his. 

She braced herself for whatever awaited her, but still that pulsing calm spread through her. It all felt…alright. And she hadn’t felt that way in so long. She watched in for just a moment as he stood on the top step of the porch, his face neutral before it broke into an earth shattering smile. 

Maya could have sobbed at the sight of it. He sauntered down the steps toward and it took all of her self control not to break into a full on sprint to quickly close the distance between them. Somehow she managed a quick walk and nearly crashed into his body, but he held her fast, one arm coming out to wrap around her waist as his other hand cupped her jaw. He peered down at her, that warm smile still spilling sunshine in every direction and she stared up at him, eyes glittering with unshed tears. 

He shook his head lightly and smiled, as his thumb reached up to gently brush across her lower lip, parting them softly. 

“You came home,” he said gently, the emotion clearly wavering in his deep voice. Maya nearly crumbled at his touch. She was home. 

“Yes,” she said simply, her voice barely above a whisper. “I thought it was…time,” she paused when he raised his eyebrows at her, a hint of humor and warmth in his eyes then quickly clarified: “For a visit.”

But this didn’t seem to faze him. He just nodded gently, humming in acceptance with that warm, pleased look on his face as he took her all in. There was a palpable vibration happening between them, what Maya could only assume was a physical manifestation of the imprint’s tension. 

The last time she had seen him on the rez  was over a year ago. And yet, time washed away and parted to let them stand there together again as if nothing had passed, as if this was any other day. Comfortable. 

Maya’s hands shook she gripped the sides of his abdomen. She’d come all this way to say….to say what exactly? Her mouth parted softly but nothing came out. She needed to say something, anything. The silence stretched between them and Maya just couldn’t let it hang there any longer. How could she? After he had left her in that hotel room, and how it had felt coming home again—she needed to tell him everything. 

He was tall, god so tall, he towered over her really, and yet she felt like his matching pair. 

“Welcome home,” he said gently, his nose nuzzling hers gently. 

Maya looked up at him curiously, her eyes slightly narrowed as she took him in. His dark beard was closely trimmed to his face, and his hair was a bit shorter than the last time she saw it. He looked good. Well, he always looked good, but this was different. 

His eyes seemed bright, not clouded with the anger or jealousy she had seen back in the spring. No, this Paul felt solid, for once. The light was shining on his face, his color back to its warm russet, flush with heat and health. Everything felt simpler. 

And with the confusion and despair that had once clung to that hollowness in her stomach from the imprint’s ache clearing completely, she felt like she could see clearly for the first time in awhile. She was worried momentarily that maybe it was just the trick of the imprint, beckoning her in—a salve to her burning anxiety. 

But staring up at Paul, there was an openness there that hadn’t been there before. Something that she wanted to discover and ask him about. For now though, as his hand slowly threaded into her hair and pulled her close, this was all that she needed. 

Finally, after watching her with such intensity, such heat, as if trying to rememorize every part of her face he lowered his head toward hers and crashed their lips together. It was like coming up for air after swimming beneath a current for too long. His kiss pressed new life into her and she arched her body fully into his, her curve slotting into the shape of his body just so as he held her against him. 

Paul moved his mouth over hers, slow and wanting, washing the ache of their absence away. There was no succumbing this time, just an equal measure of elation at being together again, and Maya felt that familiar sensation of something clicking into place and she saw it for what it was: being in the right place at the right time. 

She sighed into his mouth and heard him give a soft groan of pleasure before the air rang with the hoots and howls of his brothers. He pulled back gently, his eyes hooded and soft as he looked at her. Paul glanced over his shoulder at his pack crowded onto the porch and gave a gentle laugh before looking back, his eyes shining with something new as he said gruffly, “I guess they missed you too.” 

Maya swallowed thickly and laughed, not willing to let go of him first. But he took her cue and said, “Come inside, I’m sure they all have a million questions.” Paul kissed her forehead before turning and slotting her neatly into his side as they walked the short distance to the porch. 

“Hey, hey Ivy League!” Jared crooned. 

“Welcome back, My,” Seth said softly. 

“We needed a little more brains around here,” Colin laughed as Brady shoved him lightly. 

“Maya?!” a soft, female voice floated out from the front door as Maya and Paul climbed the porch steps. Becks pushed her way through the pack crowded on the porch and started sobbing instantly upon seeing her. She was heavily pregnant, and Jacob wasn’t far behind her as she nearly dropped into Maya’s arms in a hug, squeezing her so tightly she thought she cracked a rib. 

“Oh my god!” she cried into her shoulder. Maya chuckled and rubbed soft circles on her back as she looked over her shoulder at Jacob who shrugged and looked lovingly at his hormonally devastated wife. Becks pulled back to look at Maya, her face puffy and tear stricken, “You absolute JERK!” Maya barked a laugh at that and tried to wipe some tears away from Becks’ cheeks. “Don’t ever disappear on me like that again. I thought— I thought—,” 

“I know. I’m sorry,” Maya said, pulling her best friend back into a hug. “I should have texted.” Becks hiccuped a sound of disapproval, “Or called.” Maya corrected. When she pulled back, Becks nodded, seemingly trying to get herself calm as Jacob settled a hand on her lower back. Maya’s eyes widened as she took in just how pregnant she was. 

“Yeah, I know,” Becks said disappointed, “He’s like a week late.” She truly looked exhausted and the size of her belly stretched to almost painful extent. Jacob rubbed her back and leaned down to kiss her temple. 

“He’ll come soon, babe,” he promised. “Plus, Maya’s here. That’s literally all the good luck we need to induce your labor. Like last time.” 

Maya laughed again and shrugged, “Just no vampire delivery this time, right?” she quipped. Jacob rolled his eyes. 

“Jesus, I hope it doesn’t come to that. But, Carlisle is on standby if the water birth stalls or we need quick intervention,” Jacob said nonchalantly. 

“What the fuck is a water birth?” Brady whispered to no one in particular. 

“Come inside, come inside,” Becks waved a hand and with Paul’s hand on her waist gently, Maya let the warm, comforting Uley home swallow her up. 

They stayed at Sam and Emily’s until late in the evening, laughing and swapping stories. Paul stayed next to her, his presence relaxed and content, which was so unlike the tense and overwhelmingly protectiveness he had always exhibited before she left. 

She glanced over at him a couple times, and each time, he caught her eye and gave her a smile. One that promised nothing but exactly what he was in that moment. And it made her…happy. 

When she started to yawn, Paul took that as an opportunity to lean over and whisper softly against her ear, “Let’s go home.” 

Maya nodded immediately and they said their quick goodbyes to those remaining there, promising to come back tomorrow for lunch and babywatch. 

When they pulled up to the house in Maya’s Jeep, she couldn’t stifle her laughter quickly enough before Paul looked toward her amused and said:

“You don’t like it?” he asked, not even a little offended. If she didn’t know any better, there might be a slight teasing tone to his voice.

“No, no! It’s beautiful, I—,” she shut her eyes tightly to quell the rising emotion in her stomach from burning behind her eyes for too long. “It’s beautiful, Paul. You’ve clearly been busy, but I’m not sure why you did all this work.” Liar, the voice inside her quipped. 

The corner of Paul’s mouth pulled up in a smug grin beneath his closely trimmed beard, “Bullshit,” he replied, maybe to that voice in her head. Maya blushed and shook her head at the soft teasing tone. 

They hopped out of the car and came around the front into each other’s sides, arms weaving effortlessly over each other’s waists like magnets pulled them together, as they walked toward the house.

“Well, why else would you feel the need to renovate our entire house? It’s not like we needed to. The house was…fine, before,” she swallowed a gasp on the last two words as Paul confidently reached for her hip and tugged her closer, pulling her body flush with his. He stopped her, his other hand came up to rest on the side of her neck and threaded through her hair at the  nape of her neck.

He chuckled and Maya felt the warm rumbling vibration of it stumble through her body and land in her belly. “Shut up,” he said with a gentle smile. Maya couldn’t help her returning grin before she quickly wiped it from her face. 

“Seriously, if this is what happens every time I leave, I’m going to have to have someone confiscate your power tools,” his warm breath fanned across her face as he sighed, his eyes dancing around taking her all in in this light. How did he do that? Look at her like he was seeing the most incredible thing he’d ever laid eyes upon for the first time, and yet, the familiarity of his gaze said he’d known her forever, lifetimes before even. She let her hands rest on his chest now as she looked up at him. 

“I forgot how much of a little shit you are,” he teased.

“Me?! Really, you're a menace to homes everywhere—” Maya was cut off as she shrieked with delight as Paul growled, squeezing her hip and biting her neck, his rough stubble tickling beneath her chin as he backed her over the threshold of the house and kicked the door shut behind him. 

Once inside, he grabbed her under her thighs and carried her effortlessly up the stairs toward their bedroom, his mouth never leaving hers. Maya wrapped her arms around his neck, letting herself sink deeper into the kiss. Nothing was hurried—for once. 

When he lowered her gently onto the bed, his hands coasted across her thighs and unbuttoned her jeans. He peeled them off her slowly, kissing down her body and pausing to press an open mouthed kiss to delicate V between her thighs. Maya watched him, her eyes hooded with desire as he took his time kissing back up her bare legs once her jeans were discarded, pulling her shirt up now and peppering the expanse of her belly with warm pecks. 

Maya sighed, a small moan escaping as made his way up between her breasts, swiftly pulling her shirt up over her head and burying his face in her neck, the stubble scraping against the soft skin and making goosebumps rise across her breasts. 

Paul was slow and methodical in how he worshiped her, his hands touching every part of her, pausing to measure just how well she fit in his hands. Maya felt it too and an overwhelming sense of contentment rushed through her. The imprint bond that normally rang so clear through her during a time like this was completely silent. She didn’t pay it much mind though as Paul quickly unsnapped her bra and pulled back the delicate lace before encasing her nipple in his mouth. Maya’s back arched off the bed and Paul’s hand traced the shape of it. 

His thigh nestled neatly between her legs and Maya couldn’t help but seek friction desperately there, grinding down on him and rolling her hips as he tugged gently at her nipple with his teeth, biting softly across the swell of her chest to her other breast. 

Maya was panting with desire, rolling her hips as her eyes flutter shut to simply exist in this moment with him. She heard the soft swish of his t-shirt coming off and the familiar hum of his zipper. When she opened her eyes, he was standing and discarding his clothes, fully naked at the end of the bed and he simply looked—gorgeous. Maya’s breath caught in her throat as she leaned up to look at him. His throat bobbed in equal adoration as he leaned over her, his fingers ghosting across her hips and slowly slipping her panties down her thighs. He kissed her bent knee as he slipped the lacy garment over it and when she was fully naked beneath him, he let out a well deserved sigh. His eyes raked in every inch of her as if drinking her in. Maya was propped up on her elbows, her eyes softened as she slowly let her knees drop to either side, baring herself to him. 

She was already dripping—she knew that. Paul licked his lips and kneeled between her, not wasting anymore time as he bit gently on her thigh before leaning in to devour her. His tongue, flat and warm, seemed to touch every part between her thighs and Maya threw her head back, letting out a sharp moan. He let her settle on his tongue, tasting her, relishing her scent, as he held her there, his hands anchored firmly on her hips. His mouth sucked and pulled at her clit, his tongue darting into her opening, as a groan rumbled from his throat and through her body. 

Maya was cresting, light bursting behind her eyes as she whimpered through her release. She twitched against his tongue and only then did he lean up, his eyes glazed with lust and love so intertwined that she thought she’d melt into the mattress. 

Paul ran his hands over her body again, reverently, as if to prove something to himself and Maya shivered. The ache growing inside of her was present, persistent, but he leaned down slowly, taking her mouth over his and she sighed into it. Their breath mingled, mixing, and Maya felt like she was coming home all over again. 

He wrapped his arm down around her back and shifted her up the bed, but before she could settle onto the pillows, he whipped her over him and Maya straddled his abdomen. Her eyes sparkled, and she couldn’t help but smile. Paul almost always preferred to have her beneath him when he claimed her, but in this moment, his eyes shone with a desire to see her claim every part of him. 

Maya let her hands run down his chest, memorizing the hard expanse, the ripples and lines that made him strong and immovable. His chest rose and fell in quick breaths as if her fingertips were tracing some new pattern of love into his skin. Maya slowly traced over each dip and line of muscle, her eyes trained to each small freckle or scar, taking him all in. 

His hands gripped her hips tightly, kneading the soft flesh that creased between her hip and thigh and she smiled. “You are torturing me,” he rasped, his eyes dark and desperate. Maya glanced up at his face and just smiled softly. 

“I’m just remembering,” she replied barely above a whisper. Paul pressed his thumbs into that delicate crease where her hips met each of her thighs and pressed. A shot of lightning struck between her legs and a soft gasp fell from her lips. 

“Remembering what?” he asked, so soft, so gentle. A sweet juxtaposition to the hard bodied, giant man that lay wanting and ready beneath her. Maya’s fingers paused over where his heart lay thumping wildly in his chest. 

“What it feels like to come home,” she replied, as she lifted her hips and pressed him against her center. She slid down onto him slowly, feeling the warm stretch of him. A feral groan ripped from Paul as she sank onto his hilt, her hips neatly connected to his. She feel his hands flex as they gripped and loosened on her thighs. Maya braced herself on his stomach, taking in deep, stuttering breaths as she tried to get used to the sheer size of him again. As he twitched inside of her, she let out a soft “Ah!” as she clenched around him. She was so sensitive. Being fully in control had set her body alight and Paul waited for her to move, groaning each time she inadvertently squeezed him inside of her. 

When she lifted slightly, Paul braced her between his hands, helping to raise her hips. His eyes were glued to where they connected as the sheen of her slick coated every exposed inch of him. Maya raised herself halfway up his shaft before slowly settling back down onto him working herself into a slow and languid pace. 

Maya watched his eyes, sharp and dark as they took in every bit of movement. He was in absolute awe, completely taken by the shape of her and Maya felt completely in control. 

Her mouth hung open in unadulterated want as she quickened her pace on top of him. Rolling and sliding her hips against him. Paul’s hands tightened and loosened of their own accord as if he had to remind himself to let go a little so he wouldn’t bruise her. 

With each roll of her hips, that ache was replaced with warm relief and she felt a whole body shiver rush through her as Paul started chanting her name. She needed him closer, as she felt her tits swell and ache from her impending release. As if he heard her, Paul leaned up, connecting their bodies. His chest pressed flush against hers, but Maya didn’t stop bucking her hips against his. Paul wrapped his arms around her body, nipping along her collarbone, his moans echoing across the room as Maya threw her head back, panting and cursing. 

She felt him release first, and it took her over the edge. Paul’s eyes were closed tightly as he shuddered through his release and Maya curved in on herself as she let go, her body clenching to him tightly with wave after wave of pleasure as if she was trying to rinse herself through. 

Finally, she collapsed on top of him, breathing heavily into the crook of his neck. He placed a hand behind her head and stroked gently, kissing her temple as he tried to slow his breathing. 

Still, the imprint was silent. Maya wasn’t complaining, it was just…strange. 

“Welcome home,” he breathed. Maya chuckled and buried her head in his neck as she let sleep overtake her in one fell swoop

The next morning, Maya awoke slowly. She was keenly aware of Paul’s body behind hers, his arms wrapped lightly around her waist. Rain pattered gently on the windows and she had to admit that she hadn’t felt this content waking up in a long while. 

Paul stirred gently behind her, kissing her shoulder as Maya rubbed her hand over his forearm. They stretched into one another, Paul groaning sleepily as she turned in his arms. 

“Good morning,” he said gently, his eyes barely open. Maya bit her lower lip and smiled. 

“Morning.” 

“Do you have plans today?” he asked nonchalantly. Maya quirked an eyebrow and stifled a laugh. 

“No, I don’t think so. These are my plans, what about you?” she said in only a slightly teasing tone. 

“Yeah, I want to show you something,” he opened his eyes fully now, looking down at her and Maya looked at him carefully. Not a bit of hesitation in those eyes, she noticed. “Will you come?” 

“Sure,” Maya breathed. She didn’t know why but her stomach erupted with butterflies. He gave her a warm smile and closed his eyes again pulling her closer as he settled back into sleep. 

Later that afternoon, once the rain had stopped and Maya was bundled in her heavy winter coat and rain weathered hiking boots. Paul was dressed simply in jeans and a black t-shirt, his hair neatly coiffed to the side as if he had tried to tidy it up just a little bit. 

Paul drove them into the woods and parked in a clearing. He led her through the forest and they walked for nearly an hour along sloping pathways and fern covered earth. Paul carried her over fallen trees and helped her down rain slicked slopes until the pathways went decidedly up and up. 

“Where are we going?” Maya laughed as she breathed in the briney air, her cheeks flushed red with heat and exertion. Paul looked back at her over his shoulder and squeezed her hand. 

“Almost there,” he reassured her. 

Once they broke through the treeline, Maya knew where they were headed and her heart began to race. 

It was the cliff from her dream all those years ago. Where the wolf had beckoned her forward. 

“Paul what are we—” she began as they started up the slope of the cliff. 

“When you were gone, I went and saw the elders,” he began not looking at her. Maya stopped and her hand fell from his. 

“Oh?” she couldn’t say that that filled her with the reassurance she was hoping for. The elders had been incredibly intrusive throughout their relationship. “What for?” she probed. 

Paul took a few more steps forward toward the jutting edge of the cliff that pulled out over the water. “I was looking for advice and they didn’t really offer me much…until I saw Ti’Hal,” Maya’s eyes widened at that and she followed him a couple steps onto the cliff. 

“Ti’Hal?” She was shivering, not from the cold but from something else. Nerves? She couldn’t place it. No one ever went to Ti’Hal. She was the tribe’s oldest advisor, never came to council meetings anymore, and was a recluse for lack of a better term. Still, she was revered within her community and if you did seek her out, there needed to be a very good reason. She didn’t give away her time easily. 

Paul looked out over the cliffs, the wind whipping around him as he put a hand in his pocket. “I was trying to figure out what to do about us.” Maya’s stomach dropped at that. Paul still didn’t look at her and she felt like she was waiting for other shoe to drop, “I was miserable without you Maya, I think you know that.” 

“Paul—” Maya tried again. 

“No. Let me get this out,” he breathed harshly, turning to look at her finally, his eyes were burning. “Let me, please.” He nearly begged. Maya swallowed hard and nodded. He looked out again for a couple of heartbeats before he continued, turning to look back at her but staying close to the cliffs edge. 

“I was miserable without you. I had no idea what to do about the imprint, how to get you back. It was driving me insane. Actually insane. I didn’t phase back for a few months because I couldn’t handle being without you and lending myself to that animal side was simpler. But that started to make everything worse….I felt like..I was dying without you. And that terrified me.” 

Indeed his eyes were pained and dark and Maya thought the pain of it would reach out and shatter her. That the imprint would begin to tug her closer. But it didn’t. It was odd. 

“I just wanted it all to stop. If you wanted to stay away, be without me, I wanted you to have that and for me not to feel this way anymore. So, I tried to figure out the bond the imprint made. At one point I even asked…I even considered…trying to break it,” his voice was so defeated and Maya couldn’t help a soft sob from escaping her throat at the thought of it. “I was in so much pain, I just…” 

Maya took another small step forward and he continued, determined. “Still, the elders had no advice. The imprint would pull you back to me. There would be no other option but that. And then I saw Ti’Hal. I realized after talking with her that I got the imprint all wrong. I got us all wrong,” his eyes were hard now as they looked past her, through her. 

Was this some sort of sick joke? Fear shot through Maya as she thought the absolute worst. 

“Paul, wait,” Maya said, holding her hand out. 

“No, My,” he shook his head, “Let me finish.” 

“I don’t want you to,” she nearly had to yell over the wind, “Please, let’s just go home.” 

Paul shook his head, a smile now bursting over his face and Maya had to swallow her tears to keep from letting the panic sink in. 

“You have no idea how much I love you,” he said gently. Maya’s eyes widened and she took a step forward. Please don’t let it be bad. “I realized that because of the imprint and because of what everyone thought it meant, you were never given a choice in all this. I was never given a choice in all this.” Maya started to shake her head to stop him, to make him listen, he couldn’t leave her like this. It wasn’t fair. 

“Please,” she choked. 

“I decided I wanted to make a choice in all this. And you deserve one too,” his eyes on her were hard. And he took one step forward but then, he shrank from her eyeline getting onto both of his knees. He was actually kneeling before her, his hand now out of his pocket holding something. “I want you to choose me because it’s what you want. I want a life with you and I want us to create that together. Not because of the imprint or because of what is expected. But because you love me and I love you. I want…I want so bad to marry you, My. Will you marry me?” 

The shiny glimmer of tears caught in the corners of his eyes as he stared up at her. Maya took the last few steps toward him slowly, her mouth open in shock as tears flowed freely over her cheeks now. The ring glittered in his hands, a large oval shaped diamond set in a delicate gold band. Maya was crying completely now, the tears beginning to blur her vision and she couldn't quite catch her breath.

“Will you—” he tried again but Maya cut him off quickly. 

“Yes, yes I will! Yes, Paul. Yes,!” she sank to her knees before him and he tugged her forward, kissing her through her tears as the waves crashed and roiled below them. 

Next > >

[dotdothoneypot]

Text Me *teaser*

Synopsis: Geto×Reader fic. You're a spoiled little rich girl whose dad hired Geto and Gojo to be your bodyguard(babysitter more like). Inspired by Tangerine and Lemon from Bullet Train if you squint. Reader is a phone sex operator for fun. Geto finds out and shamelessness transpires.

Tw: sex work, mild kidnapping, rough horsing around with gojo, rough sex,maybe minor dub con elements, oral giving and receiving, afab femme reader, geto is kind of a creep but he's our creep so it's okay :3

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"There you are!"

A muffled sing song voice met with a giggle rang behind you. Before "huh" even got a chance to escape your lips, a cloth was almost suffocatingly slapped over your nose and mouth.

The club was loud, smokey, with eyes too drunk (and whatever else) to notice anything beyond the blurred lights surrounding them. Despite your resistance and attempts at screams, no one was the wiser you were essentially being kidnapped. Your captor effortlessly zigzagged amongst the crowd, and before you knew it, your ass was slammed against the backseat floor of an all black Escalade.

"Hey, baby! You miss us?" Looking up you see flourescent blue eyes. The most God forsaken blues you could ever hope to see.

"Oh fu-!"

His raven haired friend didn't say a word. He hopped in the front seat and let Gojo do the talking(as he always did).

"Dear old daddy said you weren't answering your phone. He had us catch up with ya. If you're going to be 'studying' half way across the world the least you could do is answer his texts." He slams the door in your face, letting out an impish laugh before hopping in the front seat and buckling up. "Safety first."

You shoot him a pointed glare. "Okay you see I'm fine. I'm going ba-" Geto stomps on the gas the sheer force knocks you even further back before he slams the break, knocking you forward again like a rag doll. "What's your fucking pro-"

Geto turns giving you the blankest stare he could muster. You were sure he practiced that shit in the mirror daily, with his brooding ass. "Your dad wants us to keep an eye on you, and I'm not quite in the mood to hang around your drunk friends all night."

"For the record, I was fine with it." Gojo shoots you that smile. Probably more to be around pretty girls than doing his job, that was nothing new.

Turning around and returning to the wheel, "we are going back to your apartment. You might want to buckle your seatbelt."

You roll your eyes and sit in the cold leather seats. At this point you knew better than to talk back or ask for anything else. If Gojo hadn't already convinced him to go ahead and party a bit, he wasn't going to.

"Oh, honey. At least buy me dinner first." You roll your eyes, securing your own belt then tap on Gojo's shoulder. "Put some music on," you hiss.

He grins eyes closed and pulls out his smart phone. "DADDY'S HOOOOME" shakes out the speakers.

"NO, NOT THIS AGAIN!" You reach forward to snatch his phone out his hands, his speed and strength by far outweighed your own. His big hand and spider leg fingers nearly swallowed your whole face entirely before shoving you backwards into your seat.

"My phone my song, babe!"

You scoff and face back out the window. Geto witnessed it from out the corner of his eye. "Don't be a dick, Satoru. We're already forcing her to go home." For as cold as he could be, he was also fair. Gojo makes a disgusted "blegh" Before handing you his phone.

"Fine, if I don't like it we're turning off the radio."

"Mhmm". You put on an r'nb Playlist you find and let it go. You knew that's the one genre the two of you had in common, earning no complaints from the silver fox in front of you.

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Kicking off your shoes you all drawl in.

"Would anyone like a drink?" A bit of you asked to your own self and a bit to them.

"Nah" Gojo slumps on your couch, kicking his feel on your coffee table. Geto also shook his head no and took a seat next to Gojo.

"Ah, Satoru!" Geto notes your PS5.

"Oooohhh! When did you get this, babe?!"

"A few weeks ago." Coffee it is then. You rummage through your cabinets for the coffee tin. "I'm gonna brew some up then go change. Try not to miss me too much."

You saunter into your room and after rummaging through your drawer for a bit you settle for some booty shorts an a long sleeved pajama top that barely covered your ass.

You let out a small side, boredom already bleeding through you. Your friends were probably all drunk and enjoying themselves, getting free drinks they didnt need from the both the ugly and blessed.

On the ride home you'd texted them saying you were safe, that youd only been kidnapped by Gojo and Geto *again*, sending them a pic of the two arguing confirming your trecherous situation. Of course, all they were interested in was you hooking up and getting the dick report for them finally. Hoes.

An itch tickles at your better judgment as you shift your phone along in your hands. Coming to a decision a few taps and scrolls, you were now available to sext. Did you need the money? Absolutely not. You never would. But a little bit of cheeky fun was in order if you were gonna be stuck in your apartment with those two.

On a busy *and horny* Saturday night it might be a bit before you got a buzz, you hop back to the living area with tweedle dee and tweedle dum sitting your phone on the coffee table and skipping into your kitchen, snatching the coffee you mixed to your liking.

"Ahhh~" and not a moment after your tail met the seat between them-

"Where's ours?" Gojo pouts at your mug.

"Uh you said you didn't want any?"

"Satoru and I thought you meant alcohol. I would prefer tea but Satoru likes coffee. His extra sweet, please." The smile on Geto's face would have been pleasant if it wasn't so obviously teasing.

"Ugh fine" you sit up and nearly slam your mug on the coffee table, none the wiser than Geto is following your every move with a small smirk. "What else, my king. When I get back I'll give you both the sloppiest of toppy while I'm at it." By then you're already in your small kitchen rummaging through k cups and tins of various teas. They were gonna get whatever you had the most of and like it.

As the hot water was dispersing in Geto's mug you hear a vibrate from the coffee table. Ah shit.

"Ha ha. What a funny number. What's it-"

You lunge full speed back to the TV area, snatching your smart phone that Gojo was dangling in the face of Geto eyebrow raised.

"Haha ah I was only joking. I didn't even read it. But now I wanna-" Before he could reach out his hand you snatched it away from him.

"Could you please grow up and mind your business?"

"Don't be mad at me. Was that a boyfriend."

Too caught up in Gojo's teasing, going back and forth with him like bickering children "I don't have a boyfriend, numb nuts. So no." you don't even notice Geto had picked up who the source of the number could be. More or less what it's for at least. It would be something he'd have to get back to later. He was practically babysitting you afterall.

"Sweetheart, weren't you making us coffee and tea? The water is getting cold."

"Yeah, babe. You can text your boyfriend later. Make us our drinks."

"Oh, honey. I'll get right to it. Want me to hold the piss this time."

Gojo fake pouts, "baby, that's the best part."

An eyeroll or two later their drinks were deliciously made. Earning a hum of approval from Gojo and sweet thank your from Geto.

"You're playing Fortnite? How fitting. Beat any nine year olds yet." You snort before plopping back down between them. Geto's manspread 'coincidentally' widening, give you some thigh to thigh action. Thinking it an accident, you tuck your legs under you, and grab the throw blanket to snuggle solo in.

"The nine year olds are the toughest opponents. You should know since the game was already downloaded and you're a level 98"

"I play with my nephew."

"I bet you do."

Another buzz and vibrate of your phone. Sneakily you try to examine the message with a shield from your covers. Gojo is too busy scrolling through skins to choose from for his next match. Geto, however, is looking for confirmation of his suspicions.

You don't even note the added warmth of his body heat when he ever so slightly shifts closer to you to get a peek at your screen. That signature wry smirk tugging at his lips when he reads the flirty hello followed by your sultry 'stage' name.

[sherrendipities]

lola's post fr has me thinking what kind of pet i ammmm 🥺 i always likened myself to a puppy bc when i get so excited n giddy (ie every time Daddy or Sir talk to me hehe) i Feel in my SOUL like a lil pup that's jumping on their owner in excitement. also tail wagging. if i had a tail she'd be wagging aggressively every time they so much as look at me !!

buuut. that said. hard agree with lola that i'd yellow at being told to bark. idk that's like. blegh :p doing it, i mean!!! i love seeing other adorable lil subs barking, but i think i'd just feel weird for me.

fetch is smthn i never even considered? i've always thought it'd be cute to be asked to fetch things for a Dom, just in the sense of being able to service them in day-to-day life. like if we're snuggling and you ask me to "be a good girl and fetch my phone/a glass of water/ etc," i'd jump up n be soooo eager to serve 💕 though if what ppl mean is the inherent act of playing fetch as erotic play then idk it'd feel silly and it'd take me out of the moment lol. i think it'd be super fun to watch another sub do it!!! ugh now i'm imagining laying my head on Daddy's lap, his hand gently petting my head, while he makes another of his subs play fetch hehe 🥰 one of our common friends is the world's cutest lil puppy (u kno who u are xoxo) and it'd be such an adorable look on her!!!

that said, i'm a giant cat person n i have some cat tendencies lol. genuinely the more im thinking of it the more im like ohhhh i rly am kitty. i could make a list fr. like hear me out:

nuzzlinggggg omg. yk how cats rub their cheeks on things incl their owners as a scent marking thing?? v me core. wanna feel his cock rubbing against my cheeks before i start licking n taking him into my mouth 🥰 but also i love love love hands cradling n caressing my face!!! i always thought of it as a hand fetish thing (it is lol) but it also lowkey feels like i'm a lil kitty getting her cheeks pet

i love making biscuits!! sort of lol. but fr one of my most frequently recurring fantasies is laying down with someone, our legs tangled together, my head in the crook of their neck, n my hand running up and down their chest 💕 n now that i think abt it, very kitty coded. we've all had a kitty snuggling us n started purring n making biscuits. bonus points that i dont scratch u while doing it (well, maybe a little if u want 😋)

i am a purring machine lol. am i vastly disappointed i can't make the exact sound of a purring cat? deeply. but when i'm rly relaxed n cozy n very horny, i have to actively hold myself back from mewling nonstop 🥺 just tiny lil whines every time i sigh out a breath. n i for one think i deserve sooo many pets n that i shouldn't have to suppress that urge ever !!!

i 1000% have the energy of a kitty that loves snuggling. like why would i sit anywhere except ur lap?? if ur sitting anywhere i'm right there fr.

last but not least is the obvious fact that i own multiple sets of kitty headbands lol. they're just so cute n i used to wear them out all the time !!! i have puffy curly hair n i always loved the look of two cute lil kitty ears poking out from the bushes hehe

bonus point: my aforementioned fav puppysub mutual n i are both Daddy's pets, n i think the image of Daddy owning a kitty n a puppy who like to play with each other is tremendously cute. i rest my case your honor.

[demoncatapologist]

9 people you want to know better tag game

Tagged by @lesbiansanemi let's gooooooo

Three ships: I have not been up to shipping anything as of late, so I don't think I can really answer this lmaooooooo But if I really have to then I am microwaving Shlong a.k.a The Shifting Mound/The Long Quiet in my brain, Saturn/Luna-Terra/Pluto the always wonderful polycule whose story changed my brain chemistry for the better, and honorary shoutout to Billford I guess

First ship: Can't remember, the earliest ship I can remember is probably Shinichi/Shiho from Detective Conan I suppose? I remember liking it as a ship before I even knew what a ship was

Last song: Steady, Steady by The Crane Wives

Last movie: Honestly can't remember the last time I watched a movie because movies in general mess with my emotional regulation to fuck and back. Probably Avengers Endgame I guess and it is like 5 years ago and all I remember was that I was on my phone like 3/4 of the time (my dad dragged us to the movie theater and I was like sure why not I like being out of the house anyways) and I still had popcorn leftover afterwards??? (gods now I want sweet popcorn)

Currently watching: I have not been watching anything either other than YouTubers' stuff, again, movies in general mess with my emotional regulation so I prefer to stick to reading (whether it is manga or books)

Currently reading: Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry 8th edition (International Edition) Since I just finished Piranesi, I guess this award goes to Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, which I am still less than halfway through? It is a nice book so far, you might want to read it a bit critically though. I am absolutely not in any position to speak about many of the topics in this book, so if any Greenlandic Inuk person somehow end up in my corner of the Internet, please give me some thoughts on this if you are comfortable with it.

Currently eating: Water lmaoooooooo, but I just finished some fried rice with ketchup and chicken tendies and it was blegh (in my defense neither the fried rice nor the tendies was of my own cooking)

Currently craving: Give me some Vietnamese food right now or I will end up on the news (Preferrably phở because I am sick af rn or the rice paper mix)

Tag time: @sprooknooky @treffyfrinn @thoughtless-gay-frog @qualityrain @cheesydelphox @pancake-man if y'all want to, no pressure <3

[stellasvault]

I’m not exactly sure where to go for requests so I’m gonna assume this is okay (I’m new to making requests 😭😭😭) but we all know that Miles grew up in New York and loves the culture there and I just think it would be really funny if he had a girlfriend who was from a very rural southern area and she isn’t used to city life at all. Idk just a silly little thing that popped into my head that I think was cute

ur in the right place don’t worry!! also ur right this is such a funny idea i love it, thank u for requesting! 💜

“sorry, i’m not a city gal”

pairings: 1610!miles morales x fem!reader

warnings: sfw, reader and miles are kinda in a long distance relationship

you loved miles, you really did. you loved everything about him.

his adorable cheeky smile when he was genuinely happy, the way he awkwardly held your hand when he was feeling clingy. there was just one thing you didn’t understand:

how did he live in such a large and loud place?

you had grown up in a country area where everyone was spread out and cars were consistently used to go basically.. everywhere. so it was definitely a change when you first arrived in brooklyn with no idea where you were going. you were fresh out the train, dusting yourself off and adjusting your headphones.

you already didn’t like this place. did people seriously just be this disrespectful and live with it? chewed gum and stickers blanketed the walls and ground, and you swore you heard the sound of tiny feet scurrying. rats? blegh, you didn’t even want to think about it.

ok.. you thought, just find his apartment, and walk up to his floor. that’s it. you reassured yourself, looking at your cell to remind yourself of the directions.

it took lots of turns, retracing your steps, and asking strangers who had no interest in you, but you made it. you looked up at the tall building blanketed in graffiti.

what if they talk in city slang and i don’t understand? you panicked, biting your freshly-manicured nails. or what if miles decides he wants to break up?! you got yourself even more riled up with your horrible scenarios, fidgeting with your phone.

your panicking was interrupted by your phone’s familiar ringtone, vibrating in your palm. you picked up, still nervous. you perked up as you heard the voice you loved so much: the voice of your boyfriend, miles.

“mi amor, you okay?” he spoke into the phone, obviously anxious to talk to you.

you smiled at his usual awkward reaction. “yeah miles, i’m fine. what’s up?” your visit had been planned for days, carefully organized so that it would fit both of your schedules.

he sighed. “my parents, they won’t let us go out until they talk to you…” he trailed off apologetically, knowing talking to rio and jeff could be a challenge.

you gasped sharply. again?! what do they want this time? you thought to yourself, ridden with fear.

“hey, i can feel you being nervous from all the way over here!” he laughed into the speaker, it was almost like you could hear his stupid grin. “it’s fine. they just want to make sure you’re ‘respectful’ or whatever.” he reassured you.

you felt a smile tugging at your lips, your boyfriend was too adorable for his own good. you sighed in a mockingly dramatic way. “fine, if you insist.” you heard him mutter ‘yes!’ in victory, making you giggle.

“see you soon?” he asked rhetorically.

“soon.” you repeated excitedly, before rushing up the stairs of the apartment.

—————————————————————————

the last hour had been a blur of sweating nervously, having laughing attacks, and sneaking tight squeezes of the hands when mrs. morales & captain morales weren’t looking. you couldn’t even count the amount of times mrs. morales had corrected you on her and her husbands names.

you now sat at the top of the apartment. it was dark, but the lights of the city illuminated the sky beautifully. miles had shared this was one of his favorite places to think, his favorite place, however, was where his late uncle told him how to spray paint.

“it can’t be that bad!” miles laughed, playfully shoving your shoulder.

you sucked your teeth. “i’m afraid it is that bad.” you placed the piece of scrap paper even closer to your chest, making sure it was completely hidden.

“if you show me, i swear i’ll show you my sketches!” he promised, waving around his chunky sketchbook in his hand.

you debated whether not to give in, all the outcomes running through your head. but, the lingering curiosity got to you, you knew you had no choice.

“if you laugh, all those precious figures of yours are going straight out of the packaging.” you warned him with gritted teeth. the anger you showed was hiding your plain anxiousness. miles absolutely adored art, you knew that. but what if yours wasn’t good enough?

he shrugged, confident that he wouldn’t let out a single chuckle. you slowly turned around the white paper to reveal a sketch of miles. in the picture, a slight smile was tugging at his lips, and his eyes seemed to shine through the paper somehow.

he almost immediately tugged the portait into his hands, observing it silently. “wow..” was all he could say.

you squirmed slightly. all his face showed was that he was definitely focused, but did he like it?

“mami, this is amazing.” he turned his head to look at you in awe, but his expression showed he was getting a burst of energy. “how did you hide this from me? you always insist you never want to draw, but there’s no way you’re bad at this!” he laughed, grabbing one of your hands with his free one.

you tried to decipher whether he was just trying to be nice or if he was being honest.

“so let’s see that sketchbook.” you smirked. his face scrunched up in anger.

“i hate you..” he muttered under his breath as he flipped through his book.

“and i love you.” you cupped his face and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

—————————————————————————

AHHHH I LOVE MILES ☹️☹️

thanks for reading! likes and reblogs mean the literal world to me <3

•☘️☘️☘️

[gaykarstaagforever]

Apparently my politics align with the progressive left, but my worldview and lifestyle aren't turtlely enough for the local turtle club.

As in, even the Democrats in rural areas here are wealthy, college-educated centrists who think the solution to all life's problems involve paying lawyers. They have zero interest in local farmers or blue collar labor progressives or quirky country hippie gays doing anything besides weak-ass phone bank / door-knocking shit, which is just asking already registered Democrats to please remember to vote.

And fine. But that almost literally does not matter. You could get every mild Democrat sympathizer to vote around here, and they'd STILL lose every election by 70%.

You need to do outreach. You need to confront the Republican misinformation and white-grievance shit head-on. And shockingly, the last people equipped to do that around here are interloper McMansion Work-from-Homes who think the rest of us only exist to sell them tomatoes from roadside stands.

We need a populist blue collar appeal to people who are being ground down by the entrenched GOP establishment. They're angry and looking for solutions, and only the GOP are exploiting that, with racist lies and culture war distractions.

But that's harder than hanging out at the local winery and laughing about Twitter roasts of JD Vance, which seems to be all they do up here. Because they literally do not care about votes. They don't actually intend to win anything. This is just a social thing for people who feel isolated politically.

And that is NOT interesting to me.

But what am I going to do? Subversively hang out with people I don't like, doing pointless shit, on the off chance one of the VIPs thinks I'm funny or something and maybe takes my advice? How long is that going to take? And also, that fucking sucks.

This is why I wasn't involved before. The Democrats here suck. I don't like them, and they don't want me around.

All I can think to do is randomly try running for some tiny office as a weird indie progressive, and make enough noise that they show up to either tell me to stop or meekly give me $5 to see what happens.

And I totally have time and energy to do this.

Blegh. I don't know.

[whoblewboobear]

Cursed with the fact that a month ago I was like here’s a list of things that need to happen in chapter 5 and I- 👀 all of those things still need to happen but like figuring how to make them flow has been so difficult and it’s the only roadblock stopping me from progressing the story. BUT I think I’ve landed on an idea that somewhat gets the job done so I can finally stop writing around it and write through it. Bc trying to cram 6 months time in one chapter was never going to work. Spreading it to two works a little better. Maybe 3 if necessary..

Initially I wanted Porter to feel very stuck in time bc he’s exiled on leviathan. The weather pretty much stays the same, the people stay the same, the compass points stays the same.

His changes comes through his phone convos with Jace. Jace that very much is feeling the passage of time throughout the them talking. Watching the summer heat turn to colorful leaves. Elmville is changing along with him while he rebuilds himself and his life and tries to find happiness and purpose after the failed plan & Porter who he still wants a connection with but isn’t sure if it hold him back or not. There’s still pain there from being murdered and abused and used for two years.

By the time they reunite, Jace has changed so much and so has Porter to some degree but he falls back into that god complex and that arrogance if he doesn’t make the effort. They aren’t quite in the same page yet by the 6 month mark, but they know that they need each other and maybe even love each other. Jace is more willing to admit that to himself but Porter isn’t. He just knows he missed Jace and that he feels bad for causing him so much pain. He’s sure of that. His body knows he loves Jace before it catches up to his brain. Bc just as much as he can’t communicate with Jace, he has an even harder time communicating with himself and putting that body feeling into words. He knows Jace makes his heart race, makes his hands clammy, makes him feel lightheaded, and makes him feel like he’s missing a limb without him by his side.

But good lord is it a feat to try and conceptualize all of that over a written 6 month montage. It’s ruining meee~ But I’m determined to see it through. Wiiimdfy has been my little passion project and I gotta finish it. Everything else is in place. It’s just chapter 5 BLEGH.

[amitiel-truth]

Trick the Devil

Where does the Jujutsu Society actually get their money? (Not proofread, too lazy)

After getting disciplined by Yaga, the second years of Jujutsu Tech Tokyo lounged about in the gym, as Satoru and Suguru began to have a moral dispute.

"Quit making yourself feel better by spouting bullshit. Blegh." Satoru mocks, even putting up a show of throwing up.

"Want to take this outside, Satoru?"

"You feeling lonely? Go by yourself-"

"You know you two, usually, I'd high tail out of here cause right now I have an excuse of taking a smoke break, but Yaga-sensei told me to be on my best behavior and make sure the two of you are on it too for just today or else he'll confiscate the rest of my cigarettes, so unless you don't want a problem with me, I suggest shutting up" Shoko suddenly speaks up, as she looks at both of her classmates with an irritable look, seems like she hadn't had a smoke since this morning.

"Huh? What's wrong Shoko? you look like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Satoru teases, poking the bear once more

"Yaga happened, apparently we have important visitors, he threatened us suspensions if we weren't in all our good behaviors. That's why he took my cigarettes." Shoko seethed, rubbing her head.

"Visitors? Who could they be?" Suguru asked, looking curiously outside the gym doors, as Satoru suddenly had an idea.

"Hey, wanna go look?

"Whoa, that car looks like it could pay for my medical tuition fees." Shoko mutters as they peak from afar, watching a limousine park in front of the school in front of the waiting school staff.

"Eh, I could afford that if I wanted to." Gojo snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Who's that?" Geto asked as a pale blonde man stepped out of the vehicle, downing a suit specifically tailored for his built figure with a large black coat hanging over his shoulders, pink eyes turning their attention to Yaga as he smiled in greeting, the red tassel earring on his ear swings as he turns his attention towards the teacher.

"I don't know but he looks expensive." Shoko mutters as Gojo sighs, tired of these rich fucks entering his school.

"And look who we have here" Geto mutters catching Gojo's attention as they watched another one step out of the vehicle, a teenage girl around their age, she looks a lot like the man but more feminine, like a mini-me, short blonde hair that reaches just above her shoulders and pink hues as innocent as it can be, wearing a suit instead of a typical dress, but without the ornaments, just a plain black suit.

Geto lets out a low whistle at her image "Now that one also looks expensive." the girl also engages in the conversation between the men, before being led further into the building.

"Shit, hide!" The trio rushes into one of the many rooms of the building as Yaga leads the two visitors through the hall losing track of each other.

due to Gojo's curiosity, he can't help but peek through a door, shook as Yaga and the visitors pass the room, blue hues make contact with pink ones, as the teen girl looks at him blankly, before smiling cheerfully at him, continuing to follow behind the men.

"This meeting is not for your ears for the moment, so, why don't you wait here for a while? I won't be long, and I also permit you to look around a bit but make sure to be nearby and have your phone on you." the blonde man orders, his soft pink hues demands understanding from his younger counterpart.

"Understood, Father." the teen nodded with a blank smile on her lips, before Yaga led him into the building, leaving the girl sitting on a bench in front of an open field, looking through her phone

"Hey there, shorty! what cha' doing around these parts?"

the girl looks up to see a white-haired teen wearing sunglasses around her age, mischief can be seen across his lips before she stands up to greet him properly.

"Hello to you too, though, I don't seem to have the pleasure of getting to know you yet?" The blonde girl asks, tilting her head, shocking Satoru as she stands nearly as tall as him by a few inches, her figure is thin, almost the same as Satoru.

Satoru chuckles at the girl's tall stature.

"Wow, you're pretty tall...I'm Gojo Satoru." He extends his hand towards her, waiting for her to shake it.

"Chiyoya" Chiyoya introduces herself as she shakes his hand, smiling professionally at him.

"Nice to meet you, so, you a sorcerer?" He tilts his head, eyeing her up and down.

"No, no. Just waiting for my Father to finish his meeting." Chiyoya shakes her head, it seems like she's telling the truth, Satoru can barely sense an ounce of curse energy from her.

He smirks, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Really? What's your father like then?" Satoru continues staring at her, seeming suspicious of her now.

"I guess you could call him...a Business man" Chiyoya vaguely explains, her professional stance still intact

"Hm...and you? you work as an assistant for your Dad or something? He some kind of CEO or something?"

"I guess you can call him that."

"What? some kind of big shot? a millionaire? billionaire?"

"Sort of like that" With every poke and prodding of Satoru all he got was vague answers, but this time Satoru didn't need a clear answer as it shows, aside from wearing a black suit, a Breitling rose gold watch wrapped around her wrist and a leather glossy black shoes clad her feet.

Satoru's expression falls back into smugness as he stares at her.

"So your Daddy spoils you alot, huh? a pretty girl like you must be used to the luxury life."

"Oh, Don't be like that, Gojo-san, we both know that you also came from this kind of life." Chiyoya teases, her smile never leaving her lips

Satoru chuckles, surprised by the comment

"You found me out, huh? seems like you family has already done research on me." his smugness returns

"And I don't know about that. my family is rich, sure, nut nowhere near as wealthy as yours."

"That's one right thing you got there" Chiyoya agrees, her smile ever present.

Satoru looks at her up and down, taking in her appearance."So what are you up to? you don't have any classes you gotta go to right now?"

"I've finished my classes for today, currently chaperoning my Father in his meeting here, too bad they didn't let me in" Chiyoya pouts, sighing.

"Sounds so boring, eh? sitting around waiting for your Dad to finish his boring business meeting" Satoru smirks, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Say, can you fight? bet you can't, you probably sit on your ass all they every day without doing anything." Satoru taunted, trying to get a rile out of Chiyoya, but to no avail.

"I don't like to brag but I'm quite skilled at it, Gojo-san, was taught at a young age to defend myself, to prevent kidnapping and such." Chiyoya simply answers, looking at the track field before them unbothered.

Satoru smirks, thinking to himself "Are you up for a quick spar, then? If it's basic hand-to-hand combat."

"Sure, why not?" Chiyoya agrees, rolling up her sleeves, confusing Satoru that she's not removing her blazer at least.

But his smirk did grow bigger at the thought. "You sure? Don't you wanna remove your blazer...you might get your Daddy angy" Satoru teases, as Chiyoya chuckles at the sentiment.

"Oh, Don't worry, if it does I'll just get it replaced." Chiyoya reassures, walking to the edge of the field and getting into position.

Satoru smirks, noticing how tall and slim Chiyoya is, but doesn't let it distract him.

"Alright...let's do this then." Satoru gets into a fighting stance across her, seemingly not taking things seriously.

Chiyoya smiles as she lets Satoru make the first move.

He smirks, before suddenly rushing in to throw a right hook at Chiyoya's head.

but to his surprise, she simply caught his hand and threw him off, completely guarding herself.

"Whoa! Impressive! I guess you're better at hand-to-hand than you let on!" Satoru smirks to himself, before rushing in for a left jab.

Chiyoya simply watches his hand, before rederecting the jab, making Satoru hit himself.

Satoru's smile falls, he seemed impressed. " Damn...you're pretty damn good" His smirk returns, and launches into an attack combo, sending multiple fist at Chiyoya from different angles.

Instead of dodging them, she redirects every attacks his sends, even turning the motion of some of his punching to himself, as if she knows something about Gojo, even though she's a Non-Sorcerer.

Satoru's smirk disappears as he realises what Chiyoya is doing as he back away, panting. "So, that's how it's going to be, huh?" Satoru raises an eyebrow, looking at her slightly annoyed at not being able to lay a finger on her.

"You're pretty good, I'll give you that."

"Are you catching onto me, Gojo-san?" Chiyoya asked, her smile unchanging, not even a single sweat formed from her.

Satoru chuckles while looking into her eyes. "Maybe I am, after all, you never threw a single punch at me, all you do is guarding yourself and redirect my attacks to me...you know something, don't you?" Satoru questions before rushing onto her once more, changing the pace of his attacks.

Chiyoya simply caught his knee before dodging an incoming punch.

"There is no use in attacking something you can't hit, so, make it hit himself." Chiyoya explains with that unchanging smile, before backing away from a punch to his other hand, making him hit his own shoulder.

Satoru's eyes widen as he realizes her observation, grinding his teeth.

"Damn it!" Satoru lets out another annoyed sigh, he seems frustrated.

"Fine then, if your going to make my own attacks hit me, we'll use my own technique-" Satoru cuts himself off, raising an eyebrow in thought.

"...I wonder how well you can evade my Domain Expansion..."

"GOJO SATORU!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK ARE YOU DOING!?" The two suddenly stop as they turn their head to the edge of the building, seeing Yaga and the blonde man from earlier.

"Father, I see that you've finish your meeting, quite quickly may I add." Chiyoya smiles, no even a single sweat formed on her forehead as she fixed the sleeves of her blazers, It's like she didn't even spar with Satoru, as she approached the older man.

"WHAT IN THE HEAVENS DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING!? FIGHTING MR. CHIYOYA'S DAUGHTER LIKE THAT?!! WHERE'S SHOKO AND SUGURU!? I'LL HAVE THE THREE OF YOU IN-" Yaga screams like a banshee at Satoru, he would have continued to do so if the blonde haired man didn't raise a hand.

"It's quite alright."

"But. Mr. Chiyoya-"

"No no, It truly is, besides, I wanted to see how she'll hold up against a Sorcerer, the strongest one at that." Mr. Chiyoya reasures, as Chiyoya reaches her father before standing next to him, poised in every way.

"I'm quite surprise you're able to find a loophole to the immovable force of Infinity, Satsujin, tell me, how did you think of such a strategy?" Mr. Chiyoya asked, calling Chiyoya by her given name, shocking Satoru by the name choice.

"Whoa, guess their a bit hardcore then."

"An immovable force would suggest that the object is immovable, but the thing is, Father, Gojo-san maybe immovable, but he's movements aren't, also making him an unstoppable force, that's why you could only redirect his attacks away from you or onto himself." Chiyoya explains, a blank smile on her lips.

"Hmm..seems about right, alright then, we best be on our way, please don't be too harsh on the boy, Yaga-sensei, have a great rest of the day to the both of you." Mr. Chiyoya stated, as Yaga continues to escourt them out of the compound, but not before glaring at Satoru, an incoming punishment going into his way.

Satoru could onlyroll his eyes and sigh, before noticing Chiyoya, who waves her hand with a closed eyed smile, before turning to leave with her Father.

"You always sure always got yourself into a bigger trouble, don't you?" Suguru suddenly appears, walking up to Satoru.

"Can't help it! it's a chick that can fight well, smart, and very pretty! not to mention she probably have the deepest pockets there is around here." Satoru ranted as Suguru sighs in annoyance.

"I'm more curious as to what's her cursed technique is" Geto asked, looking at Gojo for answers.

Satoru lets out a small chuckle and shakes his head. "That's the crazy part...she doesn't have a cursed technique" Satoru's expression turns more serious. " I couldn't even sense a single ounce of cursed energy from her, yet she almost made me manage to use my domain expansion on her."

"Not a single cursed energy from her and you almost used your domain expan- ARE YOU CRAZY!?" Suguru asked, looking at his friend like he lost his mind

Satoru roll his eyes, and simply shrugs "Hey, She's a pretty good hand-to-hand fighter, though. She's practically using my own movements against me. It was a fun experience, but I could have won, had I used my domain expansion."

"Still!! She's technically a Civilian! and you can't just use your domain expansion while sparing! you'd kill her!" Geto reminds him, poking his head repeatedly but not reaching because of his infinity.

Satoru chuckles. "I wasn't actually going to go through with it...she's too pretty to kill, after all." Satoru proclaims, before remembering something, a hand on his chin

"Though, there is something weird about her" Satoru mutters in thought, catching Suguru's attention.

"What about it?"

"Her full name...Chiyoya Satsujin" Satoru crosses his arms

" 'Endless Murder'...who is the world would give their daughter a name like that?" He seemed puzzled, but at the same time somewhat intrigued.

"Strange, a pretty name is free especially for the rich, so why name her like that?" Geto also mutters in thought.

Satoru thinks for a few seconds, before he lets a small smirk "She can fight damn well even without cursed energy, not only that, she's a beautiful girl, etherial even. I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun playing around w-" Satoru is interrupted by a slap on his forehead from Suguru, albeit on his infinity.

"Watch where you fool around, Satoru, this one doesn't seem like the type to play around like you do." Suguru warns, looking at him with a bit of worry.

Satoru just gives him a small scoff, rolling his eyes. " Oh please, It's not like I'm going to fall in love with her or something-"

"GOJO SATORU!!! YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO AS TO WHY DID YOU ATTACK A SPONSOR'S DAUGHTER!!" Yaga suddenly yells causing his students to freeze, seems like he finished escourting the visitors as Geto looks at him blankly.

"Run while you still can." Suguru is now rushing away, completely ditching the white haired boy.

"Damn it! he left me to die on my own again!"

Gojo then turns around to face their teacher, giving him a signature bright smile.

"Yaga-sensei! I was just-" but nothing could save him from the mountainous amount of discipline, lectures, and punishment

"The Strongest Sorcerer...He's strange...I quite like that"

Part 2

[luveline]

i've been going through a really similar experience with my own writing, so i really empathise with the way you're feeling. it fucking sucks. especially because (for me, at least) people being supportive about it almost makes you feel worse (and then in turn feeling bad about people being nice makes you feel EVEN worse, like what a vicious fucking cycle). like, i know they're being so genuinely kind but it fundamentally clashes with whatever's going on in my brain so it's easy to disregard or see it as disingenuous or overly optimistic (like, i don't feel talented. i don't feel like a particularly noteworthy writer. so i'll just smile and say thank you and then go back to feeling like shit and obsessing over the negative comments)

ANYWAY what really spoke to me was the way you said even thinking about your blog, or a character that caused anon hate, or any of it inspires dread. i feel that way too. i went m.i.a. from tumblr for a solid few weeks because of it, and even then i couldn't stop thinking about it and feeling awful. like my heart would race when i thought about opening the app or reblogging something or ANYTHING

also, the feeling that you're betraying yourself (blegh corny) is so fucking real. like you're giving up on something you've put so much time and effort and thought into (and that people keep telling you means a lot to them, too) just because someone maybe said or did something not so nice to you. it feels like shit. like you're weak for getting upset over something (that, to be fair, most people would be upset over) because none of this is meant to be that serious

i don't know if this is helpful in the slightest (especially because it's kind of just me talking at you about something you already understand and experience) but i want you to know that you speaking about how you're feeling made me feel seen because it's so similar to how i'm feeling. it's like, the things that used to be fun on here aren't anymore because you have to exist in a intensely self aware space where you overanalyse everything you do/say and feel at least a little nervous every time you get a notification or some interaction, even if (proportionately) the odds are it's something very supportive

(no pressure to answer this, i just felt like letting you know that what you're going through isn't a personal failing... or if it is then we are personally failing together lol)

no really I'm gonna kiss you on the mouth cause god am I I sorry you're going through this but christ I am fucking relieved 😭😭 I'm so sorry for being relieved

I KNOW it's tacky, it will always be tacky, but every time someone says to me "You're a good writer" I have that moment (which changes in length depending) where Im just thinking no I'm not. I don't like to make other people feel bad or awkward and I know the right thing to do is say thank you, but when you don't believe what the other person is saying, the thank you doesn't feel as genuine as they deserve and then you hate yourself for hating yourself

The dread thing, I'm so glad to know you know how that feels, but so sorry too, but there's a big relief in knowing my brain hasn't individually pathologised a new strain of worrying. And the weight of self awareness. I think, besides fighting with yourself, there will always be people who want to misunderstand you. If you don't phrase something specifically and add disclaimers you worry later on that someone will emerge from the woodwork and neg about it because that's a thing people really do. And so, like you said, notifications stopped making me happy and started to make me worry instead. I turn my anonymous asks off after I make a personal post most of the time because I know from experience that someone will find error in what I've said and seek to correct me, and it's kind of the same for fic. I used to be really excited after posting a new chapter, now I turn off my phone 😭 Not saying this is the absolute 100% source of my dread, but it def doesn't help!

Thank you for letting me know angel. I don't know if anything that I've said in return has any merit, or even makes sense, or is useful to you, but I'm really grateful to know how you feel

[shoresoftheshadowlands]

I think the only odd thing I've heard about zoomers is they may not use computers / know how because their phones do much if not all the things they'd use one for? I have no idea if that was accurate mind you, it went around a month or two ago on here. It seemed unbelievable to me, and I'm still not entirely sure I buy it but I could at least see how that could be the case.

I remember being on a long roadtrip with my SO and my folks and my mom started going off about some viral bs (read: Selectively picked reactions to a thing) in which kids could not figure out a rotary phone and an old gramophone? radio thing? as well as g1 gameboy. Along with this she was angry at how 'stupid' most of our generation was because she saw video of one of those sidewalk questionnaires from some (blegh) right wing late night talkshow or other. The ones who selectively pick and choose which ones to use on the show.

She was furious! She refused to listen when we told her these things are chosen 1. For being funny, 2. The most extreme examples out of what could have been hundreds. We also tried to explain to her that even if the kids couldn't figure out these older devices, it does not matter in this day and age- those are relic technologies at this point, antiques aside from the gameboy, that there is no reason whatsoever for them to even need to know how.

Knowing what they are, sure, that's one thing, but being angry about it is outrageous. I feel like this thing against zoomers is exactly as dumb as what my mother did that day. They are going to have their own things, they're going to cause lingual shifts and use words we don't and make up new ones. They may stop knowing how to use certain things we can't live without. They are the future-our future! We always want the next generation to be smarter and better than the one that came before, we need to let them find their path and take the torch, not hold it out of their reach or mock them or make up shit about them.

I will be honest if someone posted "I'm a tutor and everyday I watch zoomers try to double tap on books to open them" thousands of you would reblog it and tag "😱 it's so scary that this is what all kids today are really like they're so helpless and stupid omg!!! those damn kids need to get off their phones!!!!"

[fakeloveaskblog]

Hi, me again. Awwwwww! Even amongst all the angst Janus and Remy still manage to be adorably cute. Also I’m not sure of a question to ask them so I’ll just watch them silently incase they need anything. (And because I’m nosy and want to know what happens next.)

Glow Eyes

"Girl am I like losing it or has that vitiligo patch like moved..??"

Remy and Janus were laying tangled up together in the bath. The mirror had been covered in steam from how warm they had the water. The enby was mindlessly looking at their partner's (!) hand while leaning against his chest.

"Possibly. I don't keep count of my patches" Janus raised their eyebrow "My darling, why have you kept check on it"

"Well girlie you see-" Remy let out a string of incomprehensible blubbering while their cheeks turned pink.

"Ah I understand now. Very logical" They snarked back to which Remy lightly smacked their shoulder.

Remy stretched their arms like an old cat and about 5000 bones in their body instantly made such intense cracking noises it sounded like an avalanche made of bones.

"Feeling any better now after the bath?" Janus asked.

"Think so. I mean like my stomach still feels like toooots fucked up but I'm feeling less like blegh y'know. More like present I guess"

He pressed a kiss to their boney shoulder, right by a bruise that had been left after a bitemark "I'm glad then"

--

Later on in the evening the twins worked together to make dinner. Remus got to hack everything up with a sharp knife while laughing maniacally and Rowan got to pretend like she was being controlled by a magical rat.

Remy tried their best to at least get some of the noddles the twins had fixed for them down but the food came up just a few minutes later. They stuck to just sipping juice with a spoon for the rest of the night.

The evening air was still warm when Rowan left to catch a flight to some french movie screening she was going to in the morning. The apartment lulled into a quiet piece as Janus read and Remus sketched down whatever outfit Remy told him to draw.

The notification sound rang out from Janus' phone and a relaxed grin spread over their lips as they read the messages "Logan is asking me to go grocery shopping with him. Should I tell him I plan on staying over at his place or do the two of you prefer if I come back here?"

"Depends girlie. Do you want to leave us long enough to give us time to like tots destroy your whole apartment like some coked up rockstars" Remy joked back.

"Or give me enough time to steal your Remington" Remus added while jokingly flexing his muscles.

"You are going to have to avoid my booby traps to do either of those things so I believe I can leave"

"Hehe boob"

"Why're you like looking so excited to like go buying shit with the Logie guy" Remy fake gasped while nudging Remus "You think grocery shopping is a codeword for some freaky shit?"

"Cannibalism!?" Remus exclaimed "OR! Illegal Graffiting!!"

"I am simply looking forward to spending time with my boyfriend. And darling Remy once you are feeling good enough to leave the apartment again I am sure I will get just as excited to go grocery shopping with you"

Janus leant in for a kiss but hesitated and was about to ask if he could kiss them. But before he could ask Remy had already smooshed his cheeks together with their hands and kissed him right on the lips.

As soon as he had left Remus casually moved his arm around Remy's shoulders "So are they good at it?"

"What? At kissing?"

Remus raised their eyebrows while nodding.

"Fucking great girlie!"

"Hell yeah!"

The two of them high fived.

"Wanna watch a horror movie-"

"Girl. Bestie. Sweetie. You've already showed me like 6 million. How many horror flicks can there be"

"I wasn't finished. Wanna watch a horror movie...with bimbos in it?"

"You got me!"

Remus cuddled up close to them before moving a blanket around them. Ms. Carl slithered up to the coach and made her long body comfortable over their laps as they watched the movie.

By now Remus knew how much gore Remy could take so he had tried to find a more spooky and less gory film. When he knew it would probably get too bad for them he simply moved his arm around them and let them press their face against the crook of his neck until the scene was over.

While they were watching the characters running around a bunch of dark hallways Remy lightly bonked their head against their crush's shoulder to get his attention.

"You ever been thinking of like transitioning in like other ways than socially" They asked, a bit unsure of their words "'Cause I've been like talking with Janie about me maybe like wanting to like I dunno go on a smaller dose of hormones"

Remus fully turned towards them. He had instantly forgotten about the film "You do?"

"Mhm"

"And Jan's been saying?"

"Ah he's all like chill 'bout it"

At almost the exact same time both of them let up into a half forced laugh before saying "My ex wasn't!"

They looked at each other before falling into genuine laughter. Remus steadied his hand against their wrist while continuing to talk.

"I have been thinking about it. I think I would wanna do a full dose though"

"The waiting lists tho. Girl they're-"

"Fucking rough. Like being ass fucked with a cactus"

"Yeah...."

The two of them sat back and sighed. Remus rolled his thumbs for a bit before shining up and slowly turning his head to one of the dark corners of the room.

"You don't think the like supernatural weirdos could magic up some hormones?" He asked with a toothy grin.

"Bestie. You're a genius! Tho I don't think I wanna take it with like a syringe. I think E comes in pills as well"

"Hehe and I will be committing illegal testosteron crimes hehe" Remus rubbed his hands together like a sleazy villain.

"Okay but like girlie even if we like get it from the creatures we should still like check in with like a doc first 'cause I don't want my super macho bestie bro to like suddenly die from too much macho y'know?"

"Good point beanie. Good point..." He thought for a bit "Didn't Logie get a doctor's degree in college?"

"I dunno. Jannie's the one who knows him mouth inside and out"

"I think so! I was gonna go check out spiders with him next week for one of my installation ideas anyway! You could come along so we can ask him about it?"

Remy leant against his side "I like that idea"

"Great! I think there's spiders at both the zoo and aquarium so which one you'd think be better?"

"Uh-uh bestie. I'm no good at doing decision. Let the flying magic dudes make that decision"