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grabyourpillow · 2 years ago

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Wrong number

___

Steddie - Written for the Discord Server "Fanfic Lounge"'s Weekly Prompt". This is pt.1

___

[Unknown number]

Wanna get a coffee?

Or ice cream

Or talk

Idk.

Whatever u like.

Ik this is stupid. I jsut wanted to try at least

U know I see u every day. U don't look at me though.

I admire u n it hurts because u're urself and so bright and I'm just

A dumbass.

it feels like if I try and reach out it will burn yk?

And I wish I could just forget about u but u're sitting right in front of me, n all I can do is look at that beautiful brown hair of urs

Sometimes i. An when I see ur face n just. U have the prettiest eyes.

But just sometimes, u look tired. i don't think. I don't think you're happy. Ppl can be jerks.

I mean I would know. Hope I'm not as much one now.

Anyway ppl are jerks and so they make u believe u don't deserve to be but

And Ik it hurts but u seem so wild n strong and but I wish u didn't have to all the time and also

u deserve to.

be happy I mean.

I'd like it if u talked to me.

Just once

Eddie blinks at his phone screen for 2 seconds.

The fuck.

He had just pulled his phone out from under his pillow to see who the fuck was awake at 3:54 in the morning — well, he was, but that was normal — and kept texting him.

Cause no one fucking texted Eddie.

The number of his buddies amounted to a grand total of two, and Gareth and Jeff preferred WhatsApp, and the only other person whom it could have been, namely his uncle, was loudly snoring in the bedroom next to him.

His original thought had been that it might be one of the DnD kids but then it had better be a fucking emergency.

He hadn't been expecting... whatever this is.

Eddie taps in the space to reply and waits as his keyboard takes bloody ages to open.

At least he can look at his Metallica lockscreen, while in his messaging app, the only problem his phone had that was actually useful.

This phone had been past its prime for a while now, but it's not like he could afford to change it.

When the keyboard finally pops up, he types in

Wrong number dude

and goes the fuck to sleep.

The messages pop back into his head 3 days later.

He's playing his guitar harder than he has ever done before, the vibrancy of the saturated sound drowning out the noise of his mind in which his thoughts, as always, were racing carts on seventy-two roller-coasters, going in different directions. And the carts were on fire.

Black Sabbath lyrics always managed to convey things he didn't know how to express.

As he sets the guitar down, the sentence "You deserve to be happy." rings in his mind.

Maybe he did, but he sure as hell didn't see how.

His DnD campaign-preparing and Song- listening evening gets interrupted, as Spotify cuts — how dares it — the song he is listening to because technology has decided there is nothing more important than for him to be aware he has an incoming message.

[Unknown number]

Omg

The notification reads.

The music resumes and Eddie doesn't pay it any more attention.

Then his phone starts to vibrate, the red "INCOMING CALL button" smeared across the screen.

Eddie groans.

God knows what possesses him to pick up. He stays silent at first.

"Hello?" Comes from the other end of the phone.

A guy. Roughly his age, Eddie would think.

"Hi."

"I'm. I didn't think you'd pick up."

I didn't think so either.

"Oh god I'm so sorry. You must think I'm such a creep."

The voice, oddly enough, seems distantly familiar.

"Hey don't sweat it man," Eddie lightly drums on the heater next to him with his free hand. "We've all had our silly I-wish-you-would-talk-to-me crushes," he says, remembering the messages.

"Right, yeah." The guy chuckles. "Honestly, I'm not planning to... I don't know. Murder them? or something." He pauses. "That... sounded creepier, didn't it?"

Involuntarily, the corners of Eddie's mouth pull upwards. "Yup." Eddie already likes the guy.

They both fall into a short silence.

"If I may, uh–"

"Steve."

Huh.

"–Right, Steve." Eddie likes most people who bother to talk to him. It's just, those people did not usually include guys named Steve. "Just talk to them. Life is too fucking short."

Steve seems to consider it.

"I'll... I guess I'll try. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Eddie hangs up.

___

Eddie scrolls through the messages. He's bored.

"I wish I could forget about you."

"You deserve to be happy."

Something about the lines hits him in a way that tugs right on a taught string in his heart.

Didn't help that he himself had brown hair. A wavy/curly brown mess of a hair, that was now past his shoulders – still the best decision of his life – but brown hair nonetheless.

Steve seemed like a good dude. Eddie wishes him luck.

___

"Do you ever feel like you're losing your mind?" Chrissy asks him, as they walk home from uni together.

Eddie chuckles. Humorlessly. "Like, every day."

___

[Unknown number]

https://open.spotify.com/track/0GjEhVFGZW8afUYGChu3Rr?si=VlTksqrCTRaLT3uGRIxuGg&utm_source=copy-link

.... Thanks?

ABBA is great

They sure are.

ur turn.

Helloo

Hang on

___

Eddie sticks his hands into the deep pockets of his jeans jacket, only half listening to what Dustin is saying as they're walking to the DnD club room.

"I wish Max would come. You know Max? Red hair? Wheelchair? She is the absolute coolest."

The kid is jumping up and down excitedly, as always. "Oop—" he trips, and Eddie narrowly manages to haul him back from the road so that he doesn't die.

"Jesus Christ kid, eyes in front of you alright?"

Dustin nods but mutters something under his breath. "Sometimes you sound just like Steve."

___

Eddie's eyes pop open in the middle of the night.

Wait a minute.

He grabs his phone, scrolls past the few messages —and occasional cat photos— Steve has been texting him.

Eddie answers sometimes.

More often than not it does bring a smile on Eddie's face. More often than not, Eddie tries not to think about how it's one of the highlights of his day.

But today it's Eddie who messages Steve before he can think twice about it.

[Steve guy]

Do you know a kid named Dustin? Brown curly hair?

The reply is immediate.

nosey, baseball cap n thinks he's sooo clever?

That's the one

haha yes I know him

What a coincidence. Did that mean that Steve, a guy his age, not an asshole, might actually live nearby? That they might even have crossed paths?

His phone rings.

"Hi Steve," Eddie answers.

"Hi. I uh."

Steve clears his throat. "Offer for a coffee still stands."

You deserve to be happy.

Anyone writing stuff like that deserved to be known a little more. And really, it had been a long ass fucking time since Eddie had met anyone interesting. Maybe Steve needed someone to talk to about his crush.

Why the heck not.

"Sure."

"I'll text you the address?"

"If it's a remote location in the woods," Eddie pauses,"for murder, I ain't coming."

"I would neeeever." Steve retorts, mock wounded.

They both pause.

"See you there then."

"See ya."

___

>Pt.2

#steddie #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #steve harrington fanfic #steve x eddie #eddie x steve

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uweiy · 2 years ago

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By the way

here are my answering works to Fanfic Lounge's Weekly prompts 👇

Week 1: Wrong Number - fandom related (Stranger Things, Steddie)

Prompt: A stranger texts the wrong number, and accidentally sends you a declaration of love.

Week 2: A Sunset over Madison Beach

Prompt: Use five points of view to describe one situation.

Week 3: The House of the sun (ao3) (gdocs)

Prompt: Write a story with an unreliable narrator that readers can never quite trust.

Week 4: The girl with seeds in her pockets

Prompt: The flowers Epiphyllum Oxypetalum are the calling card of a killer. Someone in this building is about to die.

Week 5: The reasons it burns slowly - fandom related (Good Omens, mention of The Untamed)

Prompt: slow-burn love story that is narrated by a very impatient narrator.

Most Links are directly to my Google drive and I haven't added CWs yet so read at your own discretion. Take it as Creator Choose not to achieve Content warnings kinda.

#writing #fanficlounge #prompt #ao3 #original work #since i dunno where to publish them #google docs it'll be

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verobatto · 2 years ago

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Written for the Fanfiction Lounge's Weekly Prompt...

Title: "Fairy Cake Shop"

Pairing: Dean/Castiel

Author and Artist: BENKA79 (verobatto)

Rated: Teen and Up Audiences

Length: 2.5 k

Warnings: N/A

Tags: Fairy!Dean, widower father!Castiel, kid!Jack, first meeting, love at first sight, fantasy, modern setting, romance.

Summary:

Dean, Charlie and Benny are unpaid fairies working for Fairyland collecting human's emotions like pearls. To do this work, they run together a cake shop that fullfils human's good wishes.

One day Dean meets Castiel, a widower father, and his life changes for ever.

Link to Fic on AO3

Tags under the cut...

Hi hi!!!! I came back with a destiel one shot, so I hope you really enjoy it!! Tagging some friends to spread the word!

Tagging: @emblue-sparks

@magnificent-winged-beast @michyribeiro @lapsus-story @casualpandabeliever @a-bit-of-influence @trashblackrainbow @bluebell-24 @ashleyzander-blog @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @destiel-shipper-11 @love-neve-dies @sunshineandwings86 @staycejo1 @justmeand-myinsight @dizzypinwheel @piratebuttercup @shippsblog @spnsmile @mrsaquaman187 @all-or-nothing-baby @espejonight28738 @babysimpala @legendary-destiel @ballistamoon @theshipinspector @rosegirl1994 @sidewaysprogression @profoundgay @cmths5 @bill-nye-is-a-russian-spy @saratsuzuki @nguyenxtrang @mylovelydame21 @yeah-i-get-that-but-why @darkwings17 @supernaturaljess @tobeleftoutinthedark @byebh @ballistamoon @pacers98 @jack-of-all-fandoms25 @yagmcb67 @f-able @moosetex @dancerdovegirl @mybonsai1976 @sweetsatty @inexahustablesourceofmagic @ioascc

#destiel #destiel fic #destiel au #fairy!dean #teen and up audiences #Fanfic Lounge's Weekly Prompt #my writing

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benka79 · 2 years ago

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Written for the @fanficlounge ' WPC

Original Work

Title: Look at the Mirror

Rated: GA

Warnings: N/A

Length: 590 words

Tags: Mirrors, first person POV, reflection, humanity.

Summary:

Are you willing to see your reflection on the mirror?

Link to fic on AO3.

#fanfic lounge's weekly prompt #original work #my writing

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verobatto-messy-art · 2 years ago

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KazuRei art made for the @fanficlounge 's Weekly Prompt...

#kazurei #kazurei fanart #buddy daddies #fanfic lounge's weekly prompt #kazuki x rei #suwa rei #my messy art #kazuki kurusu

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theladyofdeath · 3 years ago

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Life As We Know It {Chapter 28}

Summary: After the sudden deaths of Nesta’s sister and Cassian’s best friend, they gain guardianship of their nephew, Nyx.

Based on Life As We Know It (2010) and a prompt sent in by anonymous for our Nessian fanfic contest. This is a modern au.

Instead of doing a tag list for this story, we have decided to have a set posting schedule. Chapters will be posted weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Occasional surprise chapters could be posted at miscellaneous times. Chapters will be posted on both my and Shelby’s blogs! >> @snelbz

Life As We Know It Masterlist

Shelby’s Masterlist

Tara’s Masterlist

A/N: Legit cried while editing this chapter lmao no shame......two chapters left! Both will be posted on Shelby’s blog! I hope you all have enjoyed this story as much as we did while writing it.

Warning: NSFW, 18+

Once Cassian closed up the restaurant at midnight, he didn’t call Justine, even though she had left her number on a napkin, which Cassian had found once he’d left the closet with Nesta.

Instead, he got into his truck, and drove through Velaris, pulling into a familiar driveway ten minutes later, parking beside Nesta’s little car.

He got out, locked his doors, and hurried up the driveway.

He didn’t knock.

He let himself in, locking the front door behind him.

He kicked off his boots, then tossed his keys and wallet on the side table.

He was home.

The house was quiet, the only light on being the lamp in the corner of the living room.

He was about to make his way up the stairs, but stopped as he peeked into the kitchen and caught sight of the open sliding door that led out back.

Nesta was sitting by the pool in a lounge chair, even though it was covered as it was far too cold to swim. She wore one of Cassian’s old hoodies, and leggings, and her slippers. In one hand, she had half a glass of wine. In the other was Nyx’s baby monitor.

She was looking up at the stars.

He opened the door a bit more, making sure it made noise as he stepped out, so she’d know he was there.

Just as he expected her to, she jumped slightly, glancing over her shoulder to where he approached, his hands in his pockets.

“Hey.”

His words were quiet, but he didn’t want to break the silence surrounding them, the peace.

“Hi,” she breathed, standing and meeting him halfway. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be at Elain and Azriel’s or if you’d come home tonight.”

His stuff was still at Az and Elain’s, his bag with his phone charger and the things he’d grabbed on his way out the door. But he shook his head.

“There isn’t anywhere else I wanted to be tonight. Nowhere else I would rather be, but with you.”

Nesta looked up at him, the few feet between them feeling like miles. She whispered, “Cass, I’m sorry-.”

“Don’t apologize,” he replied, earnestly. He didn’t want apologies. He knew full well how sorry she was, how confused she had been, how hurt she had been from her own hand. He knew that her brain worked differently than most, that when she spiraled, she spiraled far. He didn’t want to think about all that, not now. Now, he wanted her to feel loved. He took a step toward her. “Come here.”

She didn’t need to be told twice, not now. She met him in the middle, and fell into his arms. He held her, tightly, quietly, his hands sliding down her back to her waist.

When he leaned back to look at her, she was already watching him, those gray-blue eyes full of longing and need.

Cassian leaned down and kissed her, softly, slowly.

It was like the weeks apart never happened. She melted into that kiss, needing to feel his body against hers, to breathe him in and just be with him.

He must have felt the same way, because where his arms were wrapped around her waist, they tightened, as if he couldn’t stand any space between them. His lips were unhurried, and Nesta wondered if it’s because he thought they had all the time in the world.

She assumed he was right, they did have that time. Time to explore and learn and absolutely utterly worship each other.

His tongue separated her lips and swept across her own, and Nesta pulled back.

Cassian’s brows furrowed, afraid she was about to protest, but she simply rested her hand against his cheek and whispered, “Take me to bed, Cass.”

He nodded, and took her hand before picking up the baby monitor and going inside. Nesta set her still half-full glass of wine on the island before walking upstairs, her hand still in Cassian’s.

They didn’t speak.

There wasn’t any need to.

Everything that needed to be said in this moment they could already feel through every simple touch.

Cassian shut the door to the master bedroom behind them, and placed the baby monitor on the dresser.

He faced Nesta, and she was only just a step behind him. Her hands found his chest and her lips parted as her fingers found the zipper to his jacket and pulled it undone, pushing the jersey sleeves down his arms.

He was near trembling as her fingers brushed over his skin, on the path up to his neck. She clasped her hands behind his head, gazing up at him. Somehow, she’d never really taken the time to do so. She obviously knew how handsome he was, as anyone with eyes could see, but the light that sparkled in his eyes as he looked at her… It threatened to bring Nesta to her knees.

Her hands lowered to the hem of his shirt, gathering it up and lifting it, revealing every inch of his perfect, muscled torso. She was unable to stop herself as she trailed a finger down one of the many intricate lines of his tattoo. She relished in the sound of his breathing hitch softly as she skimmed a finger down his ribs.

Closing her eyes, Nesta leaned forward and pressed a featherlight kiss, right over his heart.

Cassian’s hands knitted into her hair, pulling her face up towards his own, and his lips found hers again. The kiss wasn’t bruising, but there was an urgency to it there hadn’t been minutes before. As if he needed to touch her, taste her, feel her, or his tentative control on himself might snap.

He pulled his hoodie up over her head and tossed it aside, gathering her up into his arms. With his forehead pressed against hers, he carried her to the bed and laid her down. After admiring her for a moment, he crawled on top of her and kissed her neck, and down her chest along the neckline of the tank top she wore.

Nesta’s fingers wove themselves into his long, tangled hair as her legs wrapped around his waist.

Each kiss that Cassian pressed against her skin was gentle, slow, deliberate, even though they still held that urgent hunger. His tongue brushed her skin and Nesta’s eyes fell closed.

The entire world was shut out, and all she knew was him, his mouth against her skin, the weight of his body against hers.

This is what it felt like to be ready to give yourself entirely to another.

All of her barriers were dropped, gone, and there was nothing left except the two of them.

With hands that were far steadier than the rest of his body, he skimmed his fingers from her throat, between her breasts, and over the plane of her stomach, until her reached the black fabric of her leggings. She lifted her hips off the bed slightly, and she could tell he did his best to hide the smirk that took over his expression.

She was so ready. She needed him, that rough and hasty joining the store room weeks before only having stoked the flame of her desire for him. She was desperate for him and she didn’t care how foolish it made her look.

But he wouldn’t tease her, wouldn’t toy with her, if only because his need was as urgent as hers.

With one hand, he tugged her leggings down, surprised to find she was bare beneath, not a whisper of the lacy panties she usually wore.

Cassian’s breath must have hitched, because she whispered, “I didn’t want to assume, but I was hoping you’d come home.”

He met her eyes as he whispered, “I will always come home.”

It was a promise, one she knew that he fully intended to keep. Cassian slid Nesta’s leggings down past her ankles and spread her legs open wide, nestling himself between them. His hands swept beneath her thighs, where her ass rested on the fluffy, white comforter. Slowly, gently, his lips swept from her knee, and down her thigh, then he did the same to the other before spreading her folds with his thumbs and finding her sex with his tongue.

Nesta was breathless.

That tingly sensation that she had been craving since she’d been with him last quickly filled the pit of her stomach. She held onto the back of his head, afraid if she didn’t that he would stop, and she didn’t want that.

The other hand clutched her pillow, next to her head.

The whimpers and little moans that spilled from her only heated his blood further, so much so that he couldn’t stop the groans that came from him. The taste, the smell, the feel of her, it was more intoxicating than any liquor, better than any high he’d ever had from any drug.

And then she whispered his name.

His hands gripped her thighs tighter, spreading her as open as she could be for him, and he feasted. He listened to her moans, listened as her breathing quickened, and let her body guide him. He licked and nipped and sucked and felt as her core, her entire body went rigid with pleasure.

When she said his name next, it was something between a gasp and a scream and a prayer. He would never tire of it, would never get tired of the many different ways she would say his name in the heat of the moment. Every time, in every which way, it made him weak.

She spilled onto his mouth, and Cassian looked up at her, his tongue still circling her clit until her body grew relaxed, once more.

Her hand fell from the back of his head, the other letting loose the fabric of her pillowcase.

Cassian pushed himself on his elbows as he watched her chest rise and fall, quickly, then as it slowed.

She cursed, and Cassian was climbing up her body, taking her tank top with him as he went. After slipping it over her head, he met her lips with his own. Once he cupped her breast, she was flipping him over, eyes glazed with drunken love, straddling his waist.

Cassian fell back against the pillows, his arms open wide, waiting to see how she would completely unravel him.

She leaned down, and he closed his eyes, expecting to feel her lips against his. But instead, he felt the flutter of a kiss to his forehead. Then over his closed eyelids, and his nose. Against each of his cheeks, the corners of his lips. As if she were trying to memorize his face by her kiss alone. But she didn’t stop there.

The kisses began to trail down, over his jaw, the strong column of his throat, and she lingered at the spot where his neck and shoulder met, gently sucking and biting. Marking him, claiming him.

He’d wear that purplish bruise with pride if it meant she were his and he was hers.

Nesta’s kisses continued down his chest, pausing to worship each rippling muscle and pectoral. She lingered near his heart again and Cassian watched her as she kissed right over where it was about to beat wildly out of his chest.

Down and down and down, the slow, tortuous path of kisses trailed, until at last, her mouth halted at the smattering of hair dusting just beneath his navel. Her eyes, still glazed with her orgasm, flicked up to him and locked with his as she nimbly unlatched his belt buckle and popped the button on his jeans.

He remained quiet, his breathing shallow as he watched her intently. He noticed every touch, every movement, and drank them in.

Nesta yanked his jeans down in short, quick movements until they were long gone. She sat up straight on her knees as he laid before her in his briefs, giving him the most glorious view of her beautiful, nude body. Cassian didn’t touch. He just looked, his arms going behind his head as Nesta pulled her hair back and tied it in a ponytail.

It was the simplest, most mundane action, but it thrilled him. So much so that without her request, removed his underwear, threw them who knew where with the rest of their clothes, and stroked his cock once.

He was already painfully hard, just from the taste of her and the sight of her body. She hadn’t even touched him yet and he was already ready for her, ready to be buried deep inside her, hearing her those wondrous moans as he brought her right to the edge. But as she lingered on her knees, watching him touch himself, her tongue peeked out to wet her lips, and he wouldn’t be opposed if she wanted to put those beautiful, rosebud lips on him.

She finally spoke, and her voice was husky in a way he’d never heard it. “I want to watch you someday.”

The words caught him off guard and his hand, where it was still fisted around the base, tightened.

Her smile widened in response, even as she lowered her body to the bed and he felt her breath fan out over the head. Her lips were so close. “I want to watch you and I want you to watch me.”

He thought back to the time he found her in the tub, had barged in on an extremely private moment, but couldn’t find it in himself to be sorry. He began to stroke himself, her eyes watching every slow, deliberate movement of his hand. “Oh, really?”

She nodded, still watching him. “Not tonight, of course. But at some point, I want to see what you do to yourself to make you lose control.”

Cassian swallowed, and asked, “And tonight?”

“Tonight, I need you inside of me,” she whispered. He could feel every burst of air that came from her lips against his sensitive skin. “After I suck you dry.”

A string of foul curses fell from his mouth, her words alone had him nearing the edge.

Nesta put her hands over his, the one that was wrapped around his cock, and pumped once, twice, before leaning down and wrapping her lips around the head.

She twirled her tongue around it, that teasing game continuing. He knew what game she was playing at, too, knew she loved to watch him writhe beneath her touch, her lips.

Nesta gasped as Cassian grabbed her ponytail and wrapped it around his hand, yanking her head back. Her eyes were bright when they met his, as her tongue stuck out and she licked him, once more.

“Tease,” he muttered.

“Patience,” she crooned.

He slowly shook his head. “Impossible.”

She could tell then, how his whole body was trembling with restraint. He let her ponytail fall from his hand and he framed her face with both of them. She began to crawl up his body, as he sat up, meeting her half way, and his lips found hers in a searing kiss as she straddled his powerful thighs. Pulling back, he breathed, “I need to be inside you. I need to feel you, Nes.”

She couldn’t argue with that, couldn’t argue with the desperation building inside her as well. Reaching between them, she gave him one more stroke and then another, as she lined him up at her entrance. All she would need to do was lower herself down and he would be nestled deep inside of her. But she didn’t.

Instead, she dragged that thick, sensitive head against her slit, working him into such a frenzy that he was unable to stop himself from gripping her hips and sliding her down upon him.

In one, smooth move, she was full, so gloriously full, and her head fell back as she began to rock her hips against his.

Cassian held onto her waist as his face nestled into the nook of her neck. His lips found her collarbone and sucked the tender skin as Nesta’s hips rocked back and forth. His muttered curses became muffled by her skin, and nearly drowned out by the new sounds coming from Nesta’s lips.

Cassian pulled back and he uttered her name.

She brought her head up and ran her hands up his chest and around his neck. He kissed her, softly, as he groaned.

“I love you,” he breathed, brushing the wisps of her hair back that had escaped from her ponytail. “I love you, Nesta.”

Nesta kissed him again, slowly and deeply. “I love you, too.”

Those words were his undoing.

He gripped Nesta’s hips and brought her up before slamming her down on top of him. The scream that tore from her lips had him ready to explode.

He wasn’t going to last long, he knew that, the feeling of being inside of her, of her walls gripping him, working him, too much. But he could tell she was well on her way to that sweet release, to the utter ecstasy that only they could bring to the other. He captured her mouth with his and one of his hands found her breast, cupping and pinching and teasing, until she ripped her lips from his and her head fell back with a moan. Her entire body began to quiver and the sight of her coming undone, as her orgasm washed over her, was enough for Cassian to fall over the edge right behind her.

The groan that tumbled from him resembled her name, and he repeated it like a prayer as he spilled himself inside of her.

NestaNestaNesta

She collapsed against him, utterly and completely spent, and he wrapped his arms around her as he laid back on the bed. They didn’t speak for long moments, his fingers trailing up and down her back as her breathing calmed. But finally, when she pulled back, far enough to gaze into his sparkling, hazel eyes, he saw the truth of her words in her own.

“I love you,” she breathed again. “So, so much, Cassian.”

He breathed a laugh as pure joy consumed him. “I love you, too. More than I have ever loved anyone else before. More than I could love anyone else.”

“Promise me,” she began, and kissed him, softly. “Promise me you’re not going anywhere.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he swore. “I promise.”

The smile she gave him was one he rarely saw, one no one else saw, one that he memorized every inch of and stored it away in a special place in his mind, in his heart.

“Let’s clean up,” he said. “It’s late. We need to sleep..”

She nodded and climbed off of him before holding out her hand. Cassian took it, and followed her into the master bathroom. They climbed into the shower and washed each other off before making love, yet again, beneath the steaming water.

As they walked back into the bedroom, a soft cry came through the baby monitor.

“So much for rest,” Cassian chuckled, slipping on a pair of sweatpants as he dried off his hair with his towel.

Nesta took a step toward the door, but Cassian said, “Take your time. I’ve got him.”

After tossing his towel in the hamper, he was walking down the hall to the nursery.

The teary-eyed baby was sitting up in his crib, though when he saw Cassian peek through the door, his cries quieted to whimpers. Nyx was immediately reaching for him, just as Cass was the second he was in the nursery. His pacifier had fallen out, so he picked it up as he scooped Nyx up and held him against his shoulder.

“Dada,” he said, softly, sniffling.

“Dada’s here, buddy,” he crooned, resting his cheek atop the messy mop of dark hair. “He’s right here.”

Nyx squirmed, sitting up and pointing towards the open door. “Mama.”

“You’re not one for subtly, you know that, kiddo,” he chuckled. Grabbing Nyx’s blanket, which he officially could not sleep without, Cassian carried him down the hall, into Nesta’s bedroom.

Their bedroom.

She was sitting up in the bed, already under the covers, waiting for him to return. But her eyes brightened when she saw Nyx in his arms. Still, she jokingly chastised, “Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

Nyx grinned, showing the teeth that had popped through over the months, and as soon as Cassian sat him down on the end of the bed, he was crawling for her.

“You’re going to be cranky tomorrow,” Nesta muttered, pulling Nyx into a hug. “Binky?”

Cassian plopped back on the bed and popped Nyx’s pacifier into his mouth. Within a matter of minutes, thanks to his pacifier and Nesta’s hand patting his back, Nyx was drifting off.

With a quiet chuckle, Cassian scooted close to Nesta and pulled both she and Nyx into his arms. Nesta rested her head on Cassian’s shoulder as she continued to pat Nyx’s back until he was right back to sleep.

Nesta was soon behind him, her breathing evened, but Cassian couldn’t close his eyes.

He didn’t want to miss a moment of this, this beautiful, wonderful, perfect life he had somehow found himself in.

He didn’t want to miss a second of this life.

With Nesta.

With Nyx.

With his family.

#nessian #modern au #acotar #acosf #fanfiction #snacmc lawki

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snelbz · 3 years ago

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Life As We Know It {Chapter 17}

Summary: After the sudden deaths of Nesta’s sister and Cassian’s best friend, they gain guardianship of their nephew, Nyx.

Based on Life As We Know It (2010) and a prompt sent in by anonymous for our Nessian fanfic contest. This is a modern au.

Life As We Know It Masterlist

Shelby’s Masterlist

Tara’s Masterlist

It had been a long day.

They hadn’t done jack shit, but a long day nonetheless, thanks to the run in with Tomas.

After eating lunch, Cassian had taken Nyx out to the pool, letting him float around in his little inner tube and splash in the water. He kept a close eye on him and he wasn’t sure he’d heard so many giggles from the little dude in months.

Not even fifteen minutes after they’d come out, Nesta decided to join them, though it wasn’t to play and splash like Nyx. No, she brought a book hat, and tanning oil, but Nyx squealed his delight when he saw her regardless.

After some goading and thinly veiled threats to splash her smutty book if she didn’t get in, Nesta relented and Nyx had the time of his life.

Until he got chlorine in his eye and had a meltdown.

Just like that, pool time was over, and after taking him inside and getting changed, Cassian was lounging on the couch while Nyx played on the floor.

Nesta started up the stairs and said, “I think I’m going to take a bath. Relax from…earlier.”

From that piece of shit Tomas and the things he’d said. Cassian wished he’d of at least said something, but he most wished he’d have throttled him.

Cassian simply nodded and Nesta was off, hurrying up the stairs and shimmying out of her bikini once she closed herself inside of the master bathroom.

She hadn’t been in the warm water with her eyes closed for five minutes before a horrid sound came from downstairs.

One word screamed at the top of Cassian’s lungs, her name.

“NESTA!”

For a moment, she thought she had imagined it. But, then he screamed again.

“NESTA!”

She shot up in the tub and was about to yell back, when she heard, “COME QUICK!”

Panic rose in the pit of her stomach as she jumped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her wet body as she threw open the bathroom door. “I’m coming! I’m coming! What happened?! What’s wrong?!”

“Come on, come on, come on!” Cassian yelled, but it wasn’t fear in his voice - only excitement. “Hurry, before you miss him!”

Nesta rounded the top of the stairs, and froze. A few feet in front of Cassian, on his own two feet, was Nyx, taking slow, steady steps toward his uncle.

Her feet carried her down the stairs in a flash and she was next to Cassian, on her knees, just like he was. At the appearance of his aunt, he grinned, those angelic cheeks rounding out and reached for her.

And he tumbled down.

“Shit,” Cassian muttered and lifted him back onto his unsteady feet, praying they weren’t about to have more tears. But the dark blue eyes that gazed up at him were not tear-filled, just wide and curious as always.

Taking a few more tentative steps, he reached them, leaning into Cassian, but a hand reaching out to take Nesta’s as he animatedly spoke in his own baby language.

“Good job, bubba,” Nesta cried, hoisting him up into her arms and crushing him in a hug. “Such a big boy.”

Nyx giggled and wiggled to be put down.

He wasn’t done just yet.

His feet hit the ground and he was off. He walked from Nesta to Cassian then back again. Every time he fell down, he got right back up and kept on moving.

“Look at you go, buddy,” Cassian laughed, catching Nyx as he made it to him.

“Think he’ll sleep good tonight?” Nesta asked, watching them both with a smile on her face.

“I hope so,” he chuckled, letting Nyx pat him on the face, grinning up at him.

He meandered back across the room, plopping down at his toys and began playing again.

“And I guess we’re done with that,” he laughed, standing up and shaking his head. “He finally walked.”

“Sixteen months,” she sighed, propping a hip on the side of the couch. “I was starting to think he’d never do it.”

“Me either,” he said, sitting down. He glanced up at her—and froze.

He’d completely forgotten she was wearing nothing but a towel.

“Didn’t we have a rule about coming down here nude?” Cassian asked, under his breath.

Nesta’s eyes darted to his. “Pardon?”

His eyebrows raised and he gestured to her towel, and Nesta looked down, as if she had completely forgotten that she was wearing it, too. “Oh, shit, sorry. I was in such a hurry to come downstairs-.”

“I mean, I don’t blame you-.”

“I could’ve put on something-.”

“I was screaming your name-.”

“Screaming my name,” Nesta repeated, her cheeks heating. Last time Cassian had screamed her name, it had been under very, very different context.

Although, she had been wearing little to nothing then, too.

The memories flashed through her mind, and from the way Cassian was watching her, she assumed that they were flashing through his, too.

She watched as his throat bobbed and his eyes left hers, dragging down her body as if he couldn’t stop himself. He met her gaze again and she felt her cheeks heating. Her cheeks, her ears, her neck, her entire body heated under that gaze.

“I’m going to…” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, towards the stairs. “Finish my bath, I guess.”

“Right,” Cassian replied, his eyes still on her. “I’ll put him down in just a few minutes.”

She glanced over at the baby as she backed up toward the stairs. Nyx was indeed starting to rub his eyes, and noticing Nesta’s attention on him, he yawned and reached for her.

Before she could cross the room, Cassian was on his feet and picking Nyx up.

“I can take him,” she protested, but he shook his head, not looking at her.

“You go relax. I’ve got him.”

Nesta cleared her throat and nodded, convincing herself to say nothing more as she hurried up the stairs, clinging to her towel.

She settled back into the bath, even though the water had chilled.

She couldn’t control her breathing.

She thought of that time when he’d caught her in the bath before, right after they had moved in, when he caught her doing intimate things with herself, alone.

Then she thought of the immense amount of pleasure that he’d given her, and how nothing and no one had ever compared to it.

Her heart began to beat a little bit faster, and a throbbing formed between her thighs.

She wondered if Cassian ever caught himself thinking about it, if he ever wanted to do it again.

Judging by the look in his eyes downstairs, the intense way he had been watching her…

Nesta pulled herself out of the tub.

She dressed and pulled her hair into a ponytail atop her head, but couldn’t decide if going downstairs would be a good or bad idea. She couldn’t decide if being around him right now was a smart decision, not when the thoughts in her head were so distracting she couldn’t even focus on the laundry she had neglected to fold for a few days.

Her phone vibrated where she’d plugged it in on her nightstand and Balthazar’s name lit up the screen.

That was another reason she couldn’t allow herself to entertain the thoughts constantly running through her head. She and Bal weren’t in a relationship, they were in no way exclusive and hadn’t had that conversation, but Nesta wasn’t the type to date—or in this case, sleep with—two men at once.

She could hear Cassian down in the living room again, no doubt cleaning up Nyx’s toys and settling down with a beer. She wanted to join him, wanted to curl up on the other side if the couch with a glass of wine and listen to him commentate whatever stupid show or game he was watching.

But she knew that wasn’t a good idea.

So she laid down on her bed, grabbed the book from her nightstand, and read until all of those emotions that Cassian made her feel faded into the back of her mind where she told them to stay.

The next morning, Cassian was on Nyx duty. Since he had the day off, the nanny didn’t have to come, which meant bro time.

First, they went for a jog along the Sidra where both Nyx and Cassian got their fair share of looks from the ladies. Turns out a cute kid was a great way to gain the attention of beautiful women.

On the way back home, Cassian decided to make a detour for some lunch, and ended up pushing the jogging stroller right into Nesta’s restaurant.

He knew where it was, and knew that Nesta was a damn good cook, but somehow, he hadn’t visited the restaurant in the over four months they’d been living together.

It was packed, to absolutely no surprise and when he walked in, he was greeted by an amazing array of delicious smells. Quickly realizing the stroller was going to be a hindrance, he parked it in the corner by the door and held Nyx as he made his way into one of the sitting areas.

“It’s open seating, so please, sit where you like.”

Cassian turned as a deep voice spoke from behind him. The man was watching him, and when he turned, his eyes fell on Nyx. Recognition lit them up for a moment, Nesta having brought Nyx into the restaurant more than once.

“Thanks. Is Nesta free?”

“Last I saw, she was helping out in the kitchen, but I’ll check. Take a seat and I’ll be back.”

Cassian nodded and the man was gone, disappearing through a swinging door to the back.

Indeed, Nesta was manning the grill, an assortment of sandwiches, meats, pancakes and other items sizzling around her. She was reading order tickets and communicating with her line cooks, and everything was exactly as it should be.

Until Helion was leaning on the wall next to her.

She groaned. “Tell me it’s not the lady who claims to find a hair in her food every time she’s here.”

The patron in question was in the dining room, a brunch buffet spread out before her and her friends. Her curly, red hair was piled on top of her head and without fail, she always seemed to find a lone, red, curling hair in her dishes, no matter what she ate and who was in the kitchen. Even though Nesta had no one in her employment with curly, red hair.

“Oh, no,” Helion said, his smirk growing. “There’s a handsome man out front asking for you.”

Balthazar.

Nesta groaned. Even though she didn’t mean to. “Let him know I’m busy, but I’ll be out in just a minute.”

“It’s not him,” he replied, practically singing the words. “This one has a very cute baby with him.”

She was moving before he’d finished speaking, hollering at one of her cooks to take up her place on the line.

When she went into the dining room, Cassian was sitting in a booth, Nyx in a high chair at the end of the table next to him.

“What a pleasant surprise,” Nesta crooned as she approached.

Nyx’s head whipped around at the familiar voice as Cassian looked up from his menu. Nesta was lifting Nyx out of the high chair when Cassian said, “We were out and about. Someone was hungry.”

Nesta chuckled. “Was that someone you or the baby?”

“Fine,” Cassian said, grinning. “Two someones were hungry.”

Nesta snorted as she kissed Nyx’s cheek. “Couldn't have cleaned up before coming in here?” She asked, nodding to Cassian’s damp t-shirt.

He shrugged his shoulder. “This was on the way home. You should be glad we graced you with our presence.”

“Right,” she laughed softly, sitting Nyx back in the high chair and buckling him in. “Any idea what you want?”

He was flipping through the menu, and honestly, every damn thing he saw looked delicious. He smiled up at her. “Surprise us. I can’t choose.”

Smirking, she took his menu and said, “Chicken livers and brussel sprouts, coming right up.”

He rolled his eyes as she walked away, but she entered their order into the system and returned to the table, sitting down in the empty booth seat across from him.

“He have a good morning?” She asked, holding Nyx’s outstretched hand and letting him grip her thumb. He shook her hand as hard as he could and grinned up at her, babbling excitedly.

“Aside from the blow out he had this morning, I’d say so. Which he found very amusing that I had to clean up” Cassian chuckled, rolling his eyes. “This is the only kid who laughs while he’s covered in shit, I swear.”

Nesta shook her head, laughing softly.

Cassian took the chance to look around. “This place is great, Nes. The only thing it’s missing is a bar.”

Nesta looked around with him and nodded. “I’ve thought about it quite a bit. Don’t wanna mess with licensing. I’ve already got too much on my plate around here.”

Cassian cocked his head to the side. “You just gotta get someone to run the bar, that’s all. You don’t have to do everything on your own, you know.”

Nesta looked back to Cassian. “Someone like you?”

“Handsome, smart, with a high knowledge of what it takes to run a bar?” He asked. “Yeah, someone like me.”

She narrowed her eyes and nudged his shin with the toe of her shoe. “Don’t get too cocky. If you decide to leave your bar and want a new project… Sure, I’ll add a bar.”

Cassian blinked. “I can’t tell if you’re messing with me or not.”

Nesta shook her head. “I’m always serious.”

“At one time, I thought that was true,” Cassian muttered.

His shin got another nudge.

“I’m serious,” she repeated, with a quiet laugh. “Shockingly enough, you’d be one of the few people I trust to let into my management.”

He stayed quiet for a minute, long enough that she glanced at him from where she’d been looking at Nyx. He was chewing on his bottom lip and she had to physically restrain herself from reaching over and working it out from between his teeth. Feeling her attention on him, he looked at her, and said, “We’ll talk about it more at home, yeah?”

Nodding, Nesta replied, “Of course. But don’t just do it because I said something, I don’t want-.”

“I’ve actually been thinking about opening my own place for while,” he murmured, and then quickly added, “Not that this would be my place, it’s yours, of course. But I’ve got savings. I can help with any applications and licensing and renovations that need to be done. Not to mention, it would be an investment in a growing business. That always looks good in a portfolio.”

Nesta smiled. “Like you said, we’ll talk about it at home. I’m gonna go check on your food.”

“Please do,” Cassian said, waving her away. “I’m starving.”

With a roll of her eyes, she stood up and walked toward the kitchen, shoving Cassian’s sweaty head as she walked by him.

Helion was waiting by the kitchen doors. “Flirting, how cute. It’s like watching two horny teenagers.”

“Fuck off,” Nesta muttered.

Helion only grinned and followed her into the kitchen. “Admit it. You’ve got the hots for hot uncle.”

“I can fire you, you know,” Nesta said.

“You wouldn’t,” he said, right on her heels. “You’d be bored to death here without me.”

She didn’t need to bother telling him he was right. On either front.

Nesta was beat by the time she got off. It was an effort of will to make it home before she fell asleep, but as she parked her car in the driveway, she nearly sighed in relief. Cassian had said he’d handle dinner, so she knew that a glass of wine—and hopefully, an uninterrupted bath—was in her future.

She hadn’t expected to find Cassian on his hands and knees as soon as she came in the door.

He looked up at her, eyes wide and said, “Uh, hey. You’re home.”

“I am,” she replied, chuckling. “What are you doing?”

He hesitated before saying, “Playing hide and seek with Nyx.”

Nesta blinked. “Hide and-? Cassian, he’s one.”

“I left him on the floor with his toys and I went into the kitchen for thirty seconds to check on dinner,” he said, standing up.

She waited for him to go on, not understanding. And then her eyes widened. “You lost him?”

“He’s not lost,” he said, holding his hands up. “We’re playing hide and seek.”

“Cassian-.”

“He’s one, Nesta, he couldn’t have gone far-.”

“He walks now!” She cried, tossing her purse on the bench by the door and hurrying into the living room.

A giggle sounded from the other room, and they both sped around the corner where Nyx had made himself perfectly happy.

In the laundry room, Nyx sat in a pile of Nesta’s laundry, waving her underwear in the air.

As Nesta let out a relieved breath, Cassian chuckled. “Atta boy.”

Nesta whacked Cassian on the shoulder before picking Nyx up and freeing her panties from his grasp.

He immediately started crying.

“Way to take his toy away,” Cassian muttered.

Nesta shot him a look.

Cassian shrugged. “I would’ve cried, too.”

Nesta tried her best not to laugh, but failed. “You’re ridiculous.”

Cassian opened his mouth to reply, but the smoke alarm near the kitchen began to blare.

Nyx’s cries got louder and Nesta stopped Cassian, giving Nyx to him and hurried into the kitchen, pulling a pan of burnt French fries out of the oven and opened the back door and the door leading to the garage. She got a kitchen towel and was waving the smoky air away from the smoke alarm, and after a minute or two, the incessant blaring ceased.

Leaning back against the counter, she took a deep breath and looked at the doorway, finding Cassian standing there, Nyx still in his arms, though the tears had stopped. He was cringing, expecting her to start yelling any moment—.

But Nesta took one look at the charred French fries and started laughing. Deep, belly laughs that made her stomach hurt so badly she doubled over.

Cassian turned to the living room, getting Nyx set up in his playpen, and walked back into the kitchen, where Nesta was still laughing with her hands on her knees, trying to get air down.

“You find something funny, Archeron?” He asked, pausing in front of her. Even he was unable to stop the small smile on his face.

“French fries?” she asked, unable to catch her breath. “You— You burnt frozen french fries? How long have they been in there? Two hours?”

Cassian looked behind him at the clock on the stove and rubbed the back of his neck. “I like them crispy.”

“Oh, they’re crispy,” Nesta promised, straightening her back, small bouts of laughter still finding their way out. “They’re really damn crispy.”

“Shut up,” he muttered, shaking his head. He pulled a series of paper towels off the stovetop and revealed a tray of chicken nuggets and a pot of cooked broccoli. “At least I didn’t burn everything.”

“Chicken nuggets and broccoli?” she asked, her grin still wide. “Kids barely old enough to eat solids and we’re already having kid dinners?”

“Kid dinners?” Cassian repeated. “You’re lying your ass off if you’re telling me that you don’t enjoy a big ass plate of chicken nuggets.”

Nesta laughed, shaking her head. “They’re dinosaur shaped!”

“The dino ones taste better!” Cassian protested.

“We’ll see about that,” Nesta said, and just as she looked up at Cassian, she realized how close he’d stopped from her.

He couldn’t have been more than a foot away, but he felt much closer.

Nesta’s laughter died down, although that light feeling in the pit of her stomach remained.

One of his hands was braced on the counter she leaned on, and though he wasn’t caging her in, she couldn’t help but stare up at him.

“At least it’s not breakfast again,” she murmured, noting the way he was staring at her, too.

“You’ve never complained about my breakfast,” he said, swallowing roughly.

She tracked the way his Adam’s Apple bobbed. “Well, you’ve never burnt it, so.”

The corner of his mouth twitched and she knew he was trying his hardest not to smile. He opened his mouth to reply, but Nyx started talking from the other room, babbling and nonsense and baby language reaching them.

Cassian seemed to realize how close he stood to her and backed up a step, clearing his throat. “If you want to grab him, I’ll put some fresh fries in the oven.”

Nodding, Nesta said, “Yeah, of course.”

“I’m making them crispy, though,” he said, as she left.

Nesta snorted as she shook her head and lifted Nyx out of his pack n play. “Your uncle is nuts. Yes, he is.”

Nyx’s grin melted Nesta’s heart.

Forty minutes later, once the french fries were sufficiently crispy, the three of them were sitting at the table, eating dinner. Nesta didn’t mind it, not one bit, the fact that they sat there every night and ate together.

It was almost as if they were a family.

An odd, dysfunctional, interestingly beautiful family.

#snacmc lawki #snacmc collabs #life as we know it #lawki #snelbz tacmc collab #nessian #nesta archeron #cassian #acotar #acomaf #acowar #acofas #acosf

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glygriffe · 2 years ago

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Saving Grace

Fandom crossover - Dark Angel, Supernatural Characters - Alec McDowell, Bobby Singer Summary - Alec is in a foul mood because of Max (of course, it's because of Max…) and he gets a surprise visit that doesn't lift his spirits much. But at least there is pizza. Word Count - 2086 Warnings - Angst, mention of murder and of mental illness in a derogatory fashion A note - In the same universe as Family Matters, 12 years later. (from a prompt of the Fanfic Lounge weekly challenge

Alec was fed up with Max's crap. Ok, he was not a model employee at Jam Poney, but being a bike messenger sucked. It was a means to an end - and the pay was not the end goal there because the pay sucked, too. The end was a mode of transportation and the "All sectors" pass that came with the job. So, he was late sometimes or even skipped runs: big deal. And it was not as if Max was better at the job than he was.

He was sure she was on his case because things were complicated with her boyfriend; she was frustrated in her life, so she picked on him for every single thing he did.

Whatever.

Pedaling home, he tried to think of something else to get out of his funk. He mentally recited Pi to the 45th decimal: it didn’t have the desired effect. When he arrived close to his building, he jumped off his bike and hiked it on his shoulder to get into the lobby. His head was still full of Max’s doings. Two weeks ago, she had told the two girls he was seeing that Alec was not exclusive in his love life - which he never said he was-, so now, after a big dramatic and public scene at the local bar, he came back home alone every night.

That wasn’t so bad, being alone. Since Manticore burned to the ground and he didn’t have to go back to his unit dorm every night, he liked having his own apartment. He was very protective of his space, of his privacy; he wouldn’t in a million years share his place with a roommate. But a bedmate was something different. He missed that kind of temporary company.

Alec sighed while replacing his slipping bike on his shoulder and fumbling with his keys to check his mailbox. No mail, of course. He had no friends apart from the people he worked with. And the clients from his side gigs were too afraid of their illegal activities to leave a paper trail.

He had always been a bit of a loner. Since 2009 when his twin, Ben, had escaped Manticore with the rest of his unit and he was left to suffer intensive PsyOps ‘rehabilitation’ and all the crap tests they did on him to make sure he was not a liability to the program. After months of that treatment, he had been allowed to go back to his unit but he never thought of them as his family after that.

He preferred to keep to himself. He was sociable enough to be able to wheel and deal with almost everybody since most of his income came from serving as a middleman in an array of transactions, but he craved alone time after work and between trysts.

He chuckled to himself in the stairway at his choice of vocabulary. Crap instead of shit, tryst instead of hook-ups… Maybe ‘better than thou’ Max was rubbing off on him. He hoped not since that would mean his chances of getting laid would stay near zero in the long run.

At the landing of his floor, he put the bike down and looked for his keys again, feeling a little sorry for himself. Even if Alec was basically a lone wolf, he wasn’t in the mood to be alone tonight. But since he was giving Max the cold shoulder as retaliation for butting into his affairs, and she was at the center of his small circle of acquaintances, his options were almost non-existent. Drinking and hitting on women in another bar than Crash was technically possible, but bars were not as common as before the Pulse. Blame it on the poor supply system that kept his under-the-table middleman business thriving and his own liquor cabinet full. He didn’t have it in him tonight to change sectors to go to a strip club or to the little whisky place he liked. Anyway, he should get something to eat instead. He could get by on very little food, but he still had to eat sometime. That might be why he was so blue tonight: low blood sugar.

He battled a little to get the bike over the threshold in the pitch black of his apartment, not as graceful as he usually was. He rolled it far enough inside to lean it on the bathroom door and closed the door without hitting the light. Maybe he wanted to hide from himself a little longer. He slouched on the wall beside his bike in the darkness, and with a derisive smile, he said to the void: “Hi, Honey. I’m home.”

Almost as an answer, a thud came from the pantry room on the far side of the kitchenette. Somebody was inside his apartment. Alec was now on high alert. No sign of breaking and entering at the front door, so… maybe one of Ames's special agents or another Manticore Alumni? Whoever it was, they were done being stealthy and just flicked the light on in the pantry.

The next sound was an unimpressed “humph”: somebody didn’t appreciate the sparsity of his kitchen cupboard. And that somebody was an older male, judging by the tone of his voice.

“You have less food in there than I do in my own house. Good thing I brought pizza.”

A stocky silhouette appeared in the archway; a man in his fifties, a couple of inches shorter than Alec. A perfect stranger with a baseball cap on his head - who wore baseball caps anymore? - a fisherman's vest and, indeed, a pizza box in his hands.

He didn’t look threatening. He surely was not transgenic and he didn’t look like somebody Ames would hire. Nevertheless, he was in Alec’s locked apartment, uninvited, so he couldn’t be sure he was entirely as harmless as he appear.

The intruder had a beard and a country look to him. Maybe that was what threw him off: people from the country often looked friendlier. Alec was torn; on the one hand, the man was gruff, nosy, and probably carried a gun judging by the way he was holding the pizza box. On the other hand, something in his eyes - the way his gaze softened when he took in the sight of Alec, maybe - told the younger man that he could trust him.

Motioning to the box in his hands, the man said: “I asked them for bacon as an extra topping. I went on a limb that you’d like that.”

He walked to the center of the living room and dumped the pizza on the coffee table. He was indeed carrying a sawed-off shotgun. Alec’s eyes were doing rapid back-and-forth micro-movements, scanning all the possible threats and plausible exit strategies. He considered using his superior speed to cover the six feet between them and disarm the man. Or getting the hell out of there since he didn’t keep firearms in his quarters.

The man squinted, seeming to perfectly grasp what Alec was thinking about.

“So what? Are we fighting or are you fleeing? Or do you have a little more sense than your sibling and you’ll actually talk to me?”

Sibling.

So, he had known Ben before the fool went serial-killer nuts and Max had to kill him?

Even when she drove him mad, Alec had a lot of sympathy for Max and the pain she felt at the loss of any of her “siblings”; but he couldn’t escape the low burning rage he felt each time he thought about the twin that he actually never met and still messed up his life.

“Oh! I have more sense than Ben. For one, I never went psycho and killed a bunch of people to take their teeth.”

The man's eyes widened in surprise. After a beat, he slowly laid his shotgun beside the pizza while maintaining eye contact with Alec.

“Well, that Ben fellow seems a handful. He’s the one that killed that dozen of persons with the neck tattoos? Not sure I want to meet him. Me, I was talking about Dean. He’s 492. His tattoo thingy, I mean.”

It was Alec’s turn to have eyes as big as saucers.

Who the heck is X5-492?

He mentally noticed his use of ‘heck’ in a situation that surely required a much stronger expletive. This was almost annoying. But since he had something - someone - more pressing to focus on, he let it drop.

“Who are you and how did you get in here? No offense, but you don’t seem the type to crawl on a ledge to enter by a 3rd-floor window.”

“The name is Bobby Singer. And…”

Reaching into his vest’s pocket, he showed something that looked vaguely like a folding swiss army knife but Alec knew exactly what it was: a lockpick. This middle age guy, Bobby, had waltzed into his apartment building, picked the lock, entered his apartment, and then just locked the door back behind him like it was his own home. He had balls, Alec could not deny it.

“Do you want to eat?”, Bobby asked. “The pizza is still lukewarm; better sit down and enjoy it while we talk.”

Deciding to trust the guy, Alec dropped onto the couch, still leaving some distance between himself and Bobby. The older man had pushed aside his shotgun to open the pizza box more freely on the table, and the aroma of bacon and spicy tomato sauce was now hitting Alec’s nostrils in full force. It did smell heavenly. He wondered for a second how someone who looked like Bobby could afford a pizza with any kind of meat in this economy. But he let it slide to promptly take the slice Bobby was offering.

Before long he was moaning with a mouthful of food. Forget the lack of sex. This was better than sex. He was going to find a way to always have bacon on his pizza from now on. Bobby was looking at him with a smile.

“Yep. It sure looks like I wasn’t wrong about the bacon. Dean loves bacon. It must be in your genes. It's worth the arm and a leg it cost me just to make you more amenable to what I came to say.”

“So. I have another clone beside X5-493. Is he completely loco, too?”, Alec asked sobering up.

“You’re 491?”

He shook his head while taking another big bite of his slice. “My designation is X5-494.”

“Then technically Dean got a second clone since he is 492. That’s the way serial numbers work, usually. Or maybe you were triplets. Who knows. And Dean is working with a full deck; he is even surprisingly well-adjusted for someone with superpowers who was raised as a child soldier. It bodes well for you.”

It was said with some kind of fondness and Alec didn’t know what to do with that.

“Bobby, why are you here?”

The man kept silent for a while, munching his pizza. Then he sighed, dropped the rest of his slice on the cardboard box, and turned resolutely towards the young transgenic.

“We need someone who remembers that place you were all cooked up in, way back in Gilette. Dean has a brother, you see. Not a blood brother nor a clone, but he also comes from that place. And he is not doing so well. We’re trying - I’m trying - to figure out what they did to him. To try to fix it. So John would stop being an idjit with this crazy talk of asking one of his sons to murder the other.”

Alec stopped eating.

Huh.

He was not expecting that .

He tried to summarize what he knew. One of his clones left Manticore as a child to save his found family, his unit; he lost contact with them over the years and it lead him to crack and start executing people for no good reason. The other clone left too, somehow. He apparently found a family that now wants him to kill his sibling.

Maybe that was what family was: people that needed each other so much it made them insanely murderous when things didn’t go as planned. Maybe he was better off without a family.

Alec's one lucky trait was that he was able to survive on his own. He was a loner - not really by choice, but by necessity. And it was bittersweet to him that his lack of attachments, of family ties, could be his only saving grace in this crazy world.

#Dark Angel #fanfic #writing prompt

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