#forced myself to finish this today so i could start cooking up au stuff in peace

[quirkle2]

kiddos

[starrgaziinggg]

BEGIN AGAIN | hwang hyunjin

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Hwang Hyunjin messes with your head, unknowingly, for over a month. Until you can't take it anymore.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

Growing up with Chris Bang as your best friend had it's perks - a permanent bodyguard, a shoulder to cry on... and seven other boys who also became your best friends as you grew up together.

Week in, week out, your routine stayed the same. Study, go to class and patiently wait to attend your regular Friday evening home cooked meal with your friends. You just couldn't wait to graduate and start working, to rid yourself of exams and finally start earning some proper money like the boys.

Desperate to put some light back into your mundane, studious life, Chris forces you to start blind dating. Two miserable dates down and ready to murder the man, someone completely unexpected appears and makes a mess of your orderly life.

And a mess he does make.

|fake dating|friends to lovers|slow burn|non idol au|

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: chapter twenty two

You stirred the next morning, groggily opening your eyes. You had totally forgot about the events of the night before, until you saw the man sleeping next to you. His hair was messy, his mouth was slightly open and he looked so peaceful. You just stared at him, not trying to be creepy, as he slept. He started moving a couple minutes later.

"Good morning," you say to him in a whisper. He smiles keeping his eyes closed.

"Shh, it's early. I'm sleeping," he says in his husky morning voice, totally setting butterflies off in your stomach, which you try to ignore. You take a look at the clock beside you, moving over slightly to look at it. But Hyunjin has other ideas, pulling you closer to his chest to stop you from creating distance between the two of you.

You giggle at his morning clingyness. "It's eight thirty, Hyun. Don't you have work at nine?"

He groans, nuzzling his face into your shoulder and wrapping his arms around you. You just roll your eyes fondly and accept it. "I do, and as much as I want to stay here I have an important meeting today. It's about the whole situation."

"You're still having meetings about that?" You ask, and he moves away from you slightly to open his eyes and talk to you.

"Unfortunately yes, but they've said this should be the last one until it's dealt with, so I need to go," he explains, staring at your face with a smile.

"Quit looking at me like that," you said, putting a hand over his face as he wriggles away from it.

"Sorry, can't help it when you're that beautiful," he says to you with a sheepish grin. You can't help the smile from forming on your face.

"Stop complimenting me and go have a shower, you stink," you say, totally lying but unable to accept the compliment as you're trying your best not to blush.

"Oh shut up, you," he says with a laugh as he rolls away from you and sits at the edge of the bed, stretching out his limbs. "I'm glad we sorted everything out. I don't think I could have dealt with the mushy angst much longer."

You laugh at him as he cringes, standing up off of your bed. "I agree, it was so unlike us. But just so we're totally clear of the mush, can we get the awkward conversation out the way? You know, the 'what are we' stuff?"

He smiles at you being awkward about the nature of your relationship, but honestly you just want to know where you stand. "Of course we can. I really, really like you, and I want to call myself your boyfriend, but -"

"But?" You say nervously, interrupting him.

"If you'd stop being a brat and let me finish," he chuckles. "I was going to say, but I want to ask you to be my girlfriend properly. I'm old fashioned, I guess I just want to make it special. So, for now why don't we just label ourselves as exclusive?"

You feel your heart pounding in your chest at his words, and once again you can't stop a grin from spreading on your face. "Yeah, okay. Me and you? We're doing this?"

"I guess so," he says with a grin. Then, he sighs and flops back onto your bed. "I really, really don't want to go to work."

You lean over him, giggling when he gives you a toothy grin. "Do you want to get fired?"

"Technically, I can't be fired, because I own the company..." he starts, revealing his cocky side. You just can't help yourself but lean in and peck him on the lips. He just looked too damn cute lying underneath you like that. Hyunjin looks so taken aback, his smile dropping as he stared at you.

"What was that for?"

"To shut you up," you reply, and he covers his face with his hands to hide his blush, keeping them there as he rolls off of your bed.

"You're gonna be the death of me, you know," he says, turning around with a smile as he walks towards your bathroom. You lie back into your bed when he closes the door, just smiling there. You can't help but feel so damn happy about the way things turned out. Although it absolutely breaks your heart that Hyunjin's been having to put up with so much for so long, you can't help but be pleased you now at least know what's happening and can help him with it.

"I have to go back to mine, but I'll see you tonight, yeah?" Hyunjin says when he walks back through to your bedroom. You nod your head. "You have fun doing nothing all day."

"Oh I will," you reply cheekily, snuggling back under your covers.

"I'm gonna be thinking about you all day, princess," he says, raising his eyebrows with a smile as he walks over to your side of the bed, and you can't help it when your insides twist and twirl at the nickname. You find it so funny how a simple, mocking nickname he used to use has become so endearing to you.

"In what way," you reply as you wiggle your eyebrows, feeling bold and wanting to cause trouble. Hyunjin lets out a breath as he moves away from you.

"Don't you dare start getting suggestive when I have to leave, I swear," he says, giving you a glare and pointing at you. "Im going to go before I do something stupid."

You huff, but giggle afterwards, knowing you succeeded in riling him up. You smile at him as he grabs his car keys and comes towards you, holding the back of your neck as he kisses your head.

"Goodbye, princess. I'll see you tonight," he says warmly.

"Bye Hyun. Have a good day at work," you reply as he walks away, flashing you a smile before he closes your bedroom door and you hear him leave your apartment.

You can't help but thrash around under your covers, giggling and kicking your legs like a damn schoolgirl. This is such new territory for you - entering into a real, romantic relationship that you can see lasting more than just a couple months. You and Hyunjin? Half of you thinks your crazy, but the other half knows you just make so much sense together.

Instead of lazing around doing nothing like you were planning to do, you do chores - keeping on top of your washing, dishes and hoovering your apartment. For some reason, your heartwarming morning has put you in too good of a mood to waste, and you feel so excited for once. Hyunjin seems to put a spring in your step.

You decided to go to Seungmin and Jeongin's half an hour early, having nothing else to do once you had finished your chores for the day. You just chucked on some comfortable clothes before heading over, deciding to walk since you had to extra time.

When you arrived to their apartment complex, you knocked on the door and waited. After a minute, Seungmin opened it with a defeated look on his face and all you could hear was Felix laughing in the background.

"Hey," you said as you walked in.

"You've arrived at an unfortunate time," Seungmin said, shaking his head as he closed the door behind you. You look into the apartment and see takeout bags on the dining table.

"Why have you bought takeout?" You ask annoyed. The whole point of Friday dinners is to have a home cooked meal. Then, Felix walks over to the two of you, putting a hand on your shoulder whilst he laughs.

"Bro," he says between laughter. "You have to go through to their kitchen right now."

You give him a confused look, but follow his advise and open the door to their kitchen. Your jaw drops when you witness the disastrous scene in front of you.

Black smog is everywhere, stemming from the oven. It looks as though a bomb's gone off, and there stands Jeongin. He turns around, and when he does you cannot help but start peeing yourself laughing at him. The boy has black soot all over his face and chest, and the look on his face is indescribable.

"There's been an accident," is all he says, holding his arms out to show you what's happened as if you can't already see.

"I can see that," you say, putting your hand on the top of a kitchen chair to keep yourself from crumbling. "How the actual fuck have you managed to create such a mess?"

"He's Jeongin, it's written in his DNA," Seungmin says from behind you. You turn to look at him, laughing at his horrified expression. Then again when Felix pops up from behind him and has to instantly remove himself from the room when he sees Jeongin and starts cackling again.

"It wasn't my fault!" Jeongin whines.

"It most certainly was your fault!" Seungmin counters, walking out of the kitchen. You follow him, struggling to contain yourself as you watch Felix roll around the couch laughing. "You fucked up the instructions!"

"You shouldn't have left me with the most important part of the meal, so realistically this is your fault."

"What the hell happened?" You ask, taking a seat next to Felix.

"Jeongin was supposed to be slow roasting beef while I was at work since he has a half day from work on a Friday, so he put the beef in the oven - but he only knows how to put the oven on one setting. So the beef was slow roasted...at full heat for four hours."

Felix loses it again from beside you and you can't help but crack up with him. Poor Jeongin is trying to dust himself down, but the soot won't budge.

You hear the door open and watch as more of your friends enter the apartment - Jisung, Hyunjin and Minho together. You don't even get a chance to smile at Hyunjin because the minute he sees Jeongin, him and Jisung literally fold together with laughter.

Minho starts blinking rapidly, a smirk appearing on his face. "I don't know why I expected anything less."

"Okay, can we stop being mean to me now? I'm sorry," Jeongin says, elongating his words dramatically. "I need a shower."

He sulks away and you can't help but giggle at the poor boy. Hyunjin looks at you once he stands up again and gives you a smile, but you notice how he keeps his distance. You understand, though, because you never actually spoke about whether or not you would tell the boys about your....almost relationship? Maybe Hyunjin just wanted to wait until he asks you to be his girlfriend, you think.

The other boys soon arrive and have a very similar reaction to the scene in front of them as the ones before them, but soon enough you're all sitting around the table. Your heart flutters when Hyunjin makes an effort to sit beside you, with Seungmin to the other side of you.

Luckily enough, the takeout they bought is delicious, and they managed to remember everyone's favourites. Unluckily for Jeongin, it takes him half an hour in the shower to wash all the soot off off himself, so he comes back to the table miserable.

"You have to admit, Jeong, that was hilarious," Felix says, trying to lighten the mood when the younger boy returns.

"I'm sure I'll laugh at it in a few weeks, but until the kitchen is fixed it is very much unfunny," he replies, taking the only seat left. The boys settle into natural conversation, and a shiver runs down your spine when Hyunjin turns to whisper to you.

"I missed you," he says, leaning in to your ear to say the words. You can't help the blush forming on your face and will yourself to not make a scene in front of the boys.

"You too, how was your meeting?" You ask him, and surprisingly he smiles.

"It went great - the whole thing has been dealt with and I'm finally not in trouble anymore," he says with a grin. "And, to make things even better, the contract runs out in two months, so after that I'm finally done with all negative bullshit. My main focus from now on is you."

You try and cover up your smile with your hair, putting your elbows on the table and leaning your face into your hands. You see Hyunjin smile and lean back in your peripheral vision.

"Okay," Seungmin interrupts. "Jeongin, since you've had a not so fantastic evening, you can pick what we do now."

You see Jeongin's face instantly light up. "Mario Kart."

You groan, but the boys get so excited. You used to have Mario kart competitions between yourselves constantly when you were teenagers, and Seungmin and Jeongin still had the game, so this started a tournament between you all. It was four v four, as Changbin had to leave early to get home to the wife. It was seungmin v Hyunjin v Chris v you vs Jeongin v Felix v Han v Minho. You loved Mario kart, but you hated when the boys caused a competition because you always ended up last.

You started off doing okay, but you ended up getting hit by shell after shell and you ended up dead last in the first round. Hyunjin got first, Seungmin got third and Chris came fifth.

"Eat my dust, Seungmin," Hyunjin said mockingly when the first race was finished, and you glare at him when he only gives you an apologetic look. The next round goes similarly, but when you start to get huffy you notice Hyunjin slacking off. In the next two rounds, his position slowly drops until he's second last out of the four of you.

"Ha ha, you suck," Seungmin says to Hyunjin after the last race, sticking his tongue out at him. Hyunjin just raises his eyebrows and makes a face back at the younger boy, and moves off the the floor where to four of you were sitting to go to the couch and let the other four boys take the controllers for their round.

"You totally bombed that on purpose," you say to Hyunjin when he sits next to you on the couch. He just looks at you innocently.

"I'd prefer talking to you than playing more rounds anyway," he says, and you can't help but smile with an eye roll. "And you were doing so terribly I felt bad."

You nudge his shoulder with a glare as you watch the other boys play. Felix gets first place, Jeongin gets second, Han gets sixth and Minho gets eleventh. You can't help but laugh at the older boy when he starts to get grumpy from losing, just as you had done.

"You need to try and drift round the corners," Felix tries to explain to him, but even with his advice Minho still comes last in the next round they play.

"This game is so stupid," he says, his competitive nature peeking out.

"You're almost as bad as her, hyung," Jeongin says as he points to you.

"Hey," Hyunjin says to Jeongin, and you turn to him with wide eyes. He seems to realise that at the moment nobody knows why Hyunjin would ever have a protective instinct over you, so just clears his throat, nudging you. "Nobody is as bad as this one."

You roll your eyes at his ridiculous attempt to cover up the fact he was ready to tell Jeongin off for making fun of you, but the others don't seem to catch on and just laugh at what Hyunjin says.

As you sit and watch the boys play, with Hyunjin beside you making every attempt to show you his affection under the radar, you can't help but be so thankful that things turned out the way they did.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE HERE!

[wayward-dreamer]

Life’s Lessons - Part 2

Title: Life’s Lessons - A Lesson in Fitting In

Pairing: Mechanic!Dean x Female!Teacher!Reader (eventual)

Other Pairings: Dean x Lisa, Female!Reader x OMC – Ethan (past, mentioned)

Other characters: OFC’s: Emily Charlton; Olivia; Katie (Y/N’s best friend)

Word Count: 4,778 (song lyrics in italics). 

Part Summary: Y/N has survived her first week in a new town. However, after discovering that Dean and Lisa are in fact a couple, she wants nothing more than to lock herself up in her house. The neighborhood Saturday barbecue comes around, and Y/N finds herself by his side when Lisa isn’t around. Their conversation brings up some thoughts for her about Dean and Lisa’s so-called ‘perfect’ relationship.

Warnings: swearing, slight angst, reader misses her family, mentions of past family struggles, mentions of reader’s ex.

Music: All The Pretty Girls by Kaleo (Y/N unpacking scene), Howling at Nothing by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats (BBQ scene), You Make Loving Fun by Fleetwood Mac (Dean and Y/N conversation).

A/N: Here’s Part 2! I’m so glad everyone liked the first part, and it’s been great to hear what you think about what might happen! Keep sending your theories and thoughts in, I love hearing what y’all think! Happy reading! :)

Dividers by the wonderful @firefly-graphics! Check her out for all your AU needs!!! 

Y/N’s first week didn’t go as great as she expected.

She naively thought things would be good after the first day, which had started a little wonky but ended up being better once she met Cas and Charlie. She had become really friendly with them, and she was glad that they were a highlight of each day. Her 7th graders were great, but she had to do a lot of work with them to make them come out of their shells. Her 8th graders on the other hand… she just didn’t understand how to get through to them. Some of them were loud and disruptive, a couple of them were bullying another girl, and others just didn’t seem to care at all. Ben was a good kid, but he got easily swayed by the loud ones. They had so much potential, and they had to start being better if they were ever going to survive high school.

She walked out of the grocery store, pushing a shopping cart with two heavy brown bags. After finishing up at school, she decided to go and buy a few essentials plus some stuff to make dinner. She was looking forward to a nice meal she cooked and a glass of wine, maybe two. As she drove through town to get home, she smiled. Despite everything, Lawrence was a peaceful town. She had to hope that she could strap in and really get through to the kids, so that living here would be worth it.

As she drove down her street, she smiled as she saw Dean sitting on his porch steps. She pulled into her driveway and got out of the car, smiling as she saw him talking on the phone. She walked over to her trunk and opened it, picking up the two bags in there. She left the trunk open, as she struggled to hold the bags, cursing the guy at the check-out for filling them so much to save on bags. Suddenly, there was a pressure on one of the bags, as it ripped at the bottom, not being able to handle the weight of the items. Two cans fell and started rolling down her driveway.

“Shit!” she yelled, as she manoeuvred the bags and tried to hold them both in one arm.

Dean, who was still on the phone as he sat on the porch steps, saw everything from across the street.

“Sammy, let me call you back” He quickly hung up the phone and rushed across the street. He got to the end of the driveway just in time and swept up the rolling cans. Y/N saw him and beamed, relieved.

“Thank you” she breathed heavily.

“No problem, can’t have run away cans on the street” he smiled, as he continued to hold them. “Here, let me get that for ya.”

He picked up the broken bag from her arm and held it, his hand at the bottom.

“Between my furniture and my groceries, I think you’re my savior” she laughed.

Dean shook his head, a smirk on his face. “I take the job very seriously.”

“I hope that call wasn’t important?” she asked, knowing he had been on the phone with someone.

“Nah, just my pain in the ass little brother. It’s okay, he’ll get over it” he replied, laughing slightly.

Y/N laughed with him, getting lost in his green eyes again. He looked even more sexy and handsome today, now wearing a red and black plaid shirt on top of a black t-shirt and dark blue jeans. She had told herself she’d wait to ask him for dinner, and now she couldn’t think of a more perfect time, having just saved the items for dinner.

“Hey, um… are you doing anything tonight? I was going to make dinner for myself but if you’re free-” she started to ask but got cut off by a voice coming from his house.

“Dean!” a female voice called as she came out onto his porch.

Y/N’s heart sunk as Ben’s mother, Lisa, came out and looked around. When she spotted him, she waved him in.

“Can you help with dinner?” she asked and then walked back inside the house. Y/N had never seen which house Lisa and Ben had come from that day, so this was shocking. The guy she was kind of crushing on was Lisa’s boyfriend. Ben’s dad. Fucking great.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize-” Y/N started but Dean shook his head.

“It’s okay, Y/N. I should go” he helped her take the bags inside the house and then awkwardly stood there.

“I’ll see ya around” he gave her a quick nod before he rushed off, before she could say anything.

Y/N frowned as she closed the door behind him. She leaned her head against it as she groaned. Why did she have to start liking him without knowing his situation? She moved away from the door and walked into the kitchen. She was going to get started on dinner for one and try to stop thinking about her ridiculously good-looking neighbor.

Dean walked into his house, finding Lisa in the kitchen. She had a blank expression on her face, as she chopped up the vegetables.

“What do you need?” he asked.

“Why were you talking to Y/N?” she asked in return, abruptly.

Dean blinked a few times, confused by her question. “She was just struggling with some broken grocery bags. I helped her.”

“Whatever” she mumbled, as she moved away to the stove.

Dean shook his head, walking out of the kitchen and to the backyard. Lisa was suddenly in one of her moods and he needed to get away. He usually hid out in the garage until things cooled down with her.

Y/N was thankful to have finished her first week and now move into another Saturday. She still had a few boxes that needed to be emptied, having done most of them last week and then sporadically through the week. She was going to do that in the morning and then look over her plans for the next week of school, before chilling that night and having a drink.

After a quick breakfast and putting on one of her phone playlists this time, she got started as her favorite Kaleo song came through the speakers. She smiled sadly as she put up some of the pictures she hadn’t yet, her heart aching knowing she had left her family behind. One of her with her sister and parents. One of her sister and brother-in-law with her nieces; the younger one having just been born before Y/N had to leave. One of just her and her sister. This was the one thing that made her regret leaving: her family. She stepped back as she looked at the photos on the mantel above the fireplace, remembering all the wonderful times she had with her loved ones.

The doorbell rang, interrupting her thoughts. As she walked to the door, Y/N looked up at the clock, seeing it was 12.30pm already. She opened the door, her smile becoming a bit forced once she saw it was Emily Charlton, one of her middle-aged divorced neighbors. She had already been over several times that week with baked goods, which she ended up feeding to the birds after one bite.

“Hi, Emily. What can I do for you?” she asked, politely and hoping the woman would leave soon.

“I’m just here to find out if you got the fliers in your mail about the barbecue today” she replied, her big white teeth beaming.

“Oh, yeah, I did see that” Y/N said, remembering the two fliers she had received.

“Well, it’s at Sid and Olivia’s and starts at 1, and it would be good for everyone to meet you” Emily continued to smile. She pointed at the house, then primped her blonde hair with her long acrylic nails.

Y/N rolled her eyes while she wasn’t looking. “I’m sorry, Emily, I can’t. I just have a lot of work to do-” she started but Emily waved a finger, her fake nails looking like they could gauge an eye out.

“Nonsense, I absolutely insist on you coming to lunch. There’s still so many on the street you haven’t met yet” she insisted.

Y/N sighed, shaking her head. It was better to give in than keep arguing. “Sure.”

Emily laughed in a high pitch tone, making Y/N cringe. “Wonderful!”

“Great” she mumbled, under her breath.

“So, we’ll see you soon, and uh” Emily looked her up and down, causing Y/N to frown. She looked down at herself, dressed in just a loose, plain red t-shirt and her boyfriend jeans. Emily smiled one more time, fake as ever, before she strutted off.

Y/N closed the door, wanting to shut everyone and everything out, but she wasn’t going to do that. She was going to glam herself up and go to the barbecue, to rub it in Emily Charlton’s face that she could be fake all she wanted, it wasn’t going to affect her.

She frowned as she thought about how she shouldn’t go there empty-handed. If she did, she’d probably be the talk of the street and be highly judged for it. She normally didn’t care what people thought of her, but in this case, if she could avoid it, she would. It was better to be slightly late. Plus, who showed up right on time, anyway? She quickly searched around in her kitchen cupboards and found a box of Betty Crocker brownies in her pantry. She quickly made the pre-mix. She smiled. She was good, even in a time crunch. No one needed to know they were from a box. She put the brownies into the oven and set the timer.

Y/N showered and washed her hair, drying it into a natural, summer-y look once she got out. She got dressed into a red, cap sleeve summer dress, with a small white flower print on it. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was 1pm.

When the timer went off, she walked back into the kitchen and took out the brownies, waiting for them to cool. She went back into her room and applied her make-up, keeping it simple with a little foundation, some mascara and a little lip gloss. She put on her wedge heels and her small bag across her body. After a few minutes when she was dressed and ready, she cut the brownies and put them in a container. She put her sunglasses on, before walking out of the house. She locked up and put her keys in her bag, climbing down her porch stairs before walking down the street.

Y/N was nervous to be around so many people, hearing the sounds of music and laughter coming from Sid’s house. Especially if most of those people turned out to be like Emily Charlton, but she couldn’t let them scare her if they were. She wouldn’t let anyone overwhelm her and push her around again. She had suffered enough the first time, and she wouldn’t let it happen again.

She saw some people walk in through the side entrance to the backyard, as some older teens played touch football in the front yard. Y/N followed behind those people, looking out for Sid or Olivia. She looked around the large backyard as Nathaniel Rateliff crooned away from the large speaker on the back porch. She had seen them around, Emily telling her who they were, so Y/N hoped she could spot them properly and didn’t confuse them for someone else. Luckily, she heard Emily’s high pitched “Olivia!” and saw her hugging another blonde woman.

Y/N walked over, putting her sunglasses on her head. She smiled as she approached Olivia, laughing to herself as her face looked just as uncomfortable to be around Emily.

“Olivia, hi. I’m Y/N” she said, smiling.

“Oh yes, so good to finally meet you” Olivia smiled, shaking her hand. “Emily told me about you, welcome to the neighborhood.”

“Hello again, Y/N” Emily’s fake smile beaming once again.

“Hi” Y/N nodded at her before turning back to Olivia. “I thought I’d bring a little something.”

She handed over the container.

“Oh, you didn’t have to, but thank you. Okay, Sid’s handling the grill and there’s already plenty, so please help yourself. Can I get you a beer? Wine? Something stronger to deal with Emily?” Olivia laughed, when Emily had walked off to speak to someone else.

Y/N’s eyes widened with surprise, as she laughed too. She liked Olivia already.

“A beer would be great” she continued to laugh.

Olivia bent down and took a beer out of an ice bucket. She opened the lid with a bottle opener and handed it to her.

“So, what do you do, Y/N?” Olivia asked, as she sipped her wine. She started walking towards the food table and Y/N followed beside her.

“I’m an English teacher, junior high” Y/N replied, before taking a sip of her beer.

Olivia stopped and smiled at her, a fondness in her eyes, which Y/N would’ve found strange but something about her look was pleasant.

“My mom was an English teacher. She passed last year, but it still feels like yesterday” Olivia quietly told her.

“I’m sorry, Olivia” Y/N gave her a sad smile. “She must’ve been amazing, if she was anything like her daughter.”

Olivia beamed; her eyes slightly watery. She wrapped an arm around Y/N’s shoulders as they walked towards the food table.

Y/N’s smile dropped when she saw who was standing at the table. Lisa was shifting things around, making place for everything on the table. Dean, who was dressed in jeans and black half-sleeve button-up shirt, came up behind her. She turned her head and kissed him on the cheek. Y/N felt a tightness in her chest but chose to ignore it. Olivia walked over to the table and placed her container down, making some small talk with Lisa. Dean turned his head, smiling when he saw Y/N.

Dean could feel his heart racing. She was stunning, every single thing about her. From her hair, to the way she looked in that summer dress, which had a slit on the side, giving a peek of her smooth leg. He couldn’t be looking at her, not with Lisa standing right next to him. Y/N smiled in return, getting lost in his features yet again. He was so incredibly good-looking, it hurt to look at him.

Y/N looked away from him when Olivia tapped her shoulder. She smiled at her, trying not to let it show that she and Dean had been staring at each other.

“Aren’t they perfect together?” Olivia said, not really seeking a reply as she smiled at Dean and Lisa.

“Yeah.” Y/N smile faltered.

“So, help yourself. I’m just going to check in with Sid and see if he needs anything. I’ll be back” Olivia walked off, leaving her to go to her husband.

Y/N walked closer to the table, trying to smile when Lisa noticed her.

“Hi, good to see you” Lisa smiled. “Can I get you anything?”

Y/N shook her head. “No, I’ll help myself, thanks.”

“Okay” Lisa turned from her to Dean. “I’m just going to check where Ben is, can you plate some for me?” she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

“Sure” he nodded, before grabbing a plate and putting food on it.

Y/N smiled as Lisa walked past her and then looked over at Dean. She didn’t know for sure, but it felt like Lisa was being a bit aloof with her. She chose to ignore it for now. She walked closer to the table, and Dean looked up at her.

“It’s really good to see you” he said. The way he was looking at her was different to how he had been looking at Lisa.

She felt her cheeks get a little hot. “It’s good to see you, too.” Y/N started to put some food on her plate.

“So, how-” he started but was cut off by a shrill voice calling out her name.

“Y/N! Get over here, young lady!” Emily yelled from across the yard. She had a gaggle of middle-aged women around her.

She turned back to Dean; her eyes wide. “Is there any way I can get out of going there?”

Dean laughed. “Afraid not.”

She groaned, as she closed her eyes. “Wish me luck.”

“You don’t need it” Dean smirked.

Y/N opened her eyes, smiling when she saw him smirking at her.

“You can handle a few divorcee’s and housewives” he assured her.

She bit her lip, as she shook her head. Somehow, he had managed to ease her mind. “Thanks.”

Y/N took her plate and beer, throwing her shoulders back and walking over there with confidence. Dean admired her as she walked away, checking her out as her hips swayed. It was dangerous to be doing that with so many people around, but he took his chance. He picked up two plates and walked away from the table, in search of Lisa.

Y/N couldn’t hide the boredom on her face, as the divorcee’s and housewives asked her questions about her life. 

“So, Y/N, are you seeing anyone special?” one woman asked.

“Nope” Y/N answered around a mouthful of hot dog, not really caring about anything other than food at that point.

“Why not? A pretty, young girl like you” equally nosey Jill, added.

Y/N shrugged, still eating. “I just got here and want to take my time, you know?”

Emily shook her head. “No, there’s definitely more to the story. It was a bad break up, wasn’t it? That’s why you moved here.”

Y/N frowned, glaring at Emily. “You know, it’s really not something I want to talk about.”

“Oh, Y/N, if you don’t talk to us, who can you talk to? We’re here to help” Emily gave her the best sympathetic face she could probably muster.

“You know what? You could help me with this” Y/N handed Emily the empty plate. “I’m going to get another beer.”

She didn’t stick around to see the shock on Emily’s face to her abrupt departure and Y/N’s plate in her hand.

Y/N felt the anger simmering in her belly as she walked away. The last thing she needed was advice from that woman. She just wanted to grab a beer and go sit somewhere in the front yard, away from everyone else. She picked up a bottle and opened it, taking a sip as she walked away. She walked out to the front yard and looked around. There was a large tree with good shade near the fence, which would be nice and secluded. As she walked closer, she noticed someone leaning against it. She walked around, smiling when she saw Dean with a beer in his hands.

“Mind if I join you?” she asked.

“‘Course not” he smirked, as he shifted over.

“I seriously had to get away from those women” Y/N groaned, sitting down on the ground next to him.

“Yeah, they’ll do that to ya” he laughed, sipping his beer.

“Well, I handled it like you said” she smiled, holding her bottle towards him.

He nodded, approvingly, clinking his bottle to hers. “Nice.”

A comfortable silence fell between them, as Fleetwood Mac could be heard from the backyard. Y/N looked at him, appreciating his features now that she was closer. Freckles scattered under his eyes and on his nose, and his eyes were even more striking up close.

“So…” she trailed off, thinking of what to ask him. “Did you grow up here?”

He nodded, a small smile appearing on his face. “Yeah, born and raised. My parents are still in the same house we grew up in. My little brother lives in Kansas City with his wife.”

“Are you and your brother close?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s always been me and Sammy. I mean, don’t get me wrong, my parents were good with us, but there were times when they’d fight, and I’d have to look out for him” he replied, looking down at his bottle.

Y/N frowned, and Dean noticed. “Oh, don’t worry, my parents were great, it’s just sometimes… they didn’t see eye to eye, you know? They’re good now, though. Have been for a long time.”

She smiled, seeing how fondly he spoke of his family. They must’ve been close. She was missing hers a lot.

“What about you?” he asked in return.

“I was born and raised in Rhinebeck, New York. No brother, but sister instead. She’s married to a great guy, so he definitely feels like a brother” she told him, a sad smile on her face. “They have two beautiful daughters, one was just born before I left so I’m going to miss seeing her.”

“Wow. From New York to Kansas” he muttered, laughing. She joined in. “Why the big move?” he wondered, as he took another sip of his beer.

“I…” she breathed out, shaking her head. “I needed to get away. It just became… too much.”

Dean nodded, but he understood that that wasn’t the whole story.

“But this is a great town, not too different from back home, so that’s a plus” she said, smiling at him.

Dean smiled in return. “That’s great.”

They looked into each other eyes, and she felt that familiar fluttering in her stomach.

Don't, don't break the spell It would be different and you know it will You, you make loving fun And I don't have to tell you but you're the only one

The words of the song were beginning to freak her out as they maintained eye contact. Y/N quickly looked away. This was unsafe ground they were about to tread.

“How’d you meet Lisa?” she asked, quickly changing the subject.

Dean breathed deep, with a long exhale. “She was here from Indiana visiting some friends, and we met one night at a bar. It was a one-time thing, but then a few months later she moved here with Ben when she got a job opportunity. We met up again… and we’ve been together three years.”

“Wait…” she thought about everything he just said, suddenly confused. “Ben’s-”

“Yeah, he’s… not mine, technically. It feels like he is, though” Dean finished for her.

“Gosh, I really should’ve guessed with the last names” she shook her head, rolling her eyes at herself for not realizing sooner.

“It’s all good, Y/N” he chuckled.

“Well, you guys look really close” she said, trying to sound happy.

“Yeah” he huffed, knowing he and Lisa were far from close these days.

Maybe coming to talk to him hadn’t been such a good idea. She seriously had to start liking a taken guy, didn’t she? At least he wasn’t married. Oh yeah, Y/N. That makes it better she thought, as she closed her eyes at her own stupid thoughts. Though she had to wonder, if things were great between him and Lisa then why was he sitting out here, far away from her?

Dean looked up and looked into her eyes again. Sitting there and talking to her about Lisa just didn’t feel natural. It really did feel like he was living a lie, it had felt like that since way before Y/N showed up.

Y/N quickly looked away from him. She needed to leave. She quickly stood up, dusting her dress off.

“I should really get going. I have a lot of work to do” she said, turning to him as he stood up.

“On a Saturday?” he asked, confused. Dean took the empty beer bottle out of her hand. The brush of his fingers against hers sent a tingling sensation through her arm and over her body.

“Life of a teacher” she quickly joked, pulling her hand away.

Dean huffed a laugh, scratching the back of his neck. “So, I’ll see you around?”

She nodded, a small smile on her face. “Yeah.”

Dean looked back at the back yard, before looking at her. “I better find Lisa.”

“Thanks for the chat” she said, playing nervously with the strap of her bag.

“No problem” he smirked.

He slowly walked backwards and gave her a small wave, before turning and walking away.

Y/N watched him walk to the back yard before she turned and walked down the sidewalk. She quickly made it home, closing the door behind her. She walked into her bedroom, dropping her bag on the chair and then stripped off her dress and shoes. She changed into her large sleep shirt, which came down to just above her knees. She threw her hair up in a bun and walked into her bathroom, taking the make-up wipes to rub off her make-up. She washed her face and wiped it down with a small towel, flicking the light off as she left.

As she went about that routine, her mind was on Dean. Just a short amount of time to talk, a few looks between them, a small touch of his hand against hers, and she couldn’t stop thinking about him. There was an air about him, almost like you could trust him completely. He would take care of you and never let anything happen to you. There was a sadness behind his smile, however, and she could feel that it had something to do with life at home. He and Lisa weren’t the perfect couple they wanted people to see them as.

She walked out into the living room, her phone in hand. She dropped down on the couch, tucking her legs up. She scrolled through her phone, finding the name of her best friend, Katie, and sending her a quick text to see if she could talk. They had been best friends since college, and right now, she needed to talk to her about Dean. Maybe she could give her some advice on how to stop the way she was feeling. When she got a text back saying she could talk, Y/N called her.

“Hey, sweetie” Katie greeted.

Y/N smiled, closing her eyes. “You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice.”

“It’s good to hear yours too. Though… you do sound a bit… off” her friend’s concern was evident in her voice.

Y/N scoffed and thought about what to say. “Well, it’s been a week in a new town… and I already have a guy problem.”

“Wow, that was quick” Katie commented.

“Yeah, well…” Y/N trailed off, playing with the edge of her shirt on her knee. “I wasn’t expecting for it to happen so fast, either. Especially after Ethan.”

“Okay, what’s his name?” Katie asked.

“Dean” a smile grew on Y/N face’s as she said his name, but it quickly dropped. “But before you say anything, he’s with someone and she’s got a kid, who’s practically a son to him.”

Katie let out a whistle. “Wow.”

“Yeah” Y/N agreed.

A silence fell between them, and Y/N knew that Katie was thinking.

“Well, as much as you probably don’t want to hear it, I think you got to let this one go” she said, finally.

Y/N sighed. “You’re right. I was already thinking it. I guess I just needed someone else to say to me, so I didn’t do anything stupid.”

“You’re a far more rational person than I am, so I doubt you would’ve” Katie reassured her.

Y/N huffed, rolling her eyes. “You haven’t seen what he looks like.”

“Well, photos when and if you get the chance” Katie laughed.

Y/N laughed, shaking her head.

They spent another half hour catching up on everything back home. It made Y/N miss everything even more, but she was glad to get the latest news. After they ended their chat, she got up from the couch when she noticed what the time was. She started fixing herself something for dinner, when she heard voices from across the street. She looked out the window, seeing people going home from Sid and Olivia’s.

Y/N watched Dean, Lisa and Ben walk back to their house. Dean and Lisa were holding hands, as Ben walked in front of them. Y/N felt her heart sink, seeing them look like a happy couple. Though it seemed that things weren’t all that great, or at least that was the impression she got from the way Dean looked at her.

Y/N shook her head and went back to making dinner. Once she was done, she settled in on the couch with her plate, a glass of wine and FRIENDS on Netflix.

It was silly of her to think that anything would ever happen with Dean. Even if he wasn’t with Lisa, she had only been around Dean twice. That wasn’t enough time to start thinking of him. This was just a crush, and it would go away soon.

Or so she hoped.

-x-

Tags: @flamencodiva @deanwanddamons @winchest09 @katehuntington @akshi8278 @hobby27 @michellethetvaddict @spngirl05​ @kyjey​ @halesandy​ @440mxs-wife​ @stoneyggirl​ @deanswaywardgirl​ @wonder-cole​ @that-one-gay-girl​ @redbarn1995​ @marianita195​ @babypink224221​ @deans-baby-momma​ @parinarain​ @thoughts-and-funnies​ @mandalou29​ @castiels-a-winchester​

[luhanvirus]

Butterfly Effect

 In which a 29-year-old gay LXC married his 26-year-old family friend JC (who happens to be a trans man) out of convenience so that both of their traditional families would leave them alone and let them live their lives, without thinking that he will find love in this marriage.

N/A: Xicheng AU based on that Redditor who shared his touching AF love story.

For the #CultivaTober2020, another story that no one asked me. Incomplete for the lack of time.

Day 23: Butterfly

.

A lot of people like to think that love comes before marriage, oftentimes it doesn't always work out that way. 

Sometimes people get married because of different pressures and expectations put on them by society and their families, but that doesn't mean you can't find love in this kind of situation.

Lan Xichen didn’t expected falling in love with his husband.

They didn’t marry for love, actually they married to make a giant scam on their families.

It maybe be weird, but Lan Xichen was a gay man that came from a wealthy and traditional Chinese family where he managed the business extension abroad. 

And as the current heir of the company after his father’s death, the elders didn’t liked when he came up openly about his homosexuality and they didn’t accept it. No matter how many times Xichen said them that he wouldn’t marry a man, they still wanted him very married to a lady from a good and influential family.

One day Xichen got tired and said them clearly that he will just stay single, so they should stay out of his business.

That kind of worked for four years, until the last year when uncle Lan Qiren trapped him in a visit with a this “girl” that was the single “daughter” of one of their business allies and left them alone in a room.

Xichen looked at her, she was pretty indeed. His posture emitted an air of confidence and his almond gray eyes resembled storm clouds, like lighting bolts would appear in any moment to attack, her short black hair was pulled into a bun with a purple ribbon and she wore a big violet hoodie that covered all her body curves. 

It was so obvious that neither of them wanted to be here.

Anyways, Xichen didn’t expected that this person would misunderstand the whole situation:

“Listen to me, because I’m not going to repeat myself. I’m a trans male and I’m not out of my family and I DON’T WANT to get married to you”, blunted out the person. “You don’t want to be married with me because I am a MAN, so just leave it!”

Lan Xichen blinked, really shocked.

Did she.... Did he really thought that I set up the visit?

“I don’t even like women, what do you mean?” Xichen babbled, confused at least.

The boy looked at him, suspicious.

“What did you said?”

Xichen massaged the left side of his forehead, without knowing if the should laugh or cry at the turn of the events. “Well, I’m gay.”

When he said it, he didn’t wanted to be funny.

He was serious.

“Oh my god,” mumbled the boy before to start laughing loudly. “My mom will die if she knows!”

At least one of them was having a good time, finding the whole thing hilarious.

Xichen didn’t noticed when he started to laugh too.

Well, could you blame him? This was so ridiculous. Yet, they ended being friends after that unfortunate turn of the events. They even exchanged numbers before to part away.

. 　   ·  ✦

“I knew it was her, she’s perfect. Well mannered and ...”

Uncle Qiren was delighted at the idea that Xichen was cured from homosexuality, the poor man still has hopes that he would change his mind and will fall in love with the little daughter of Jiang Fengmian haha.

If you only know, uncle. Thought Xichen, having a good time that night.

Unlike Wangji who seemed worried, he was his only support in those kinda family meetings.

“Brother.”

Xichen smiled at his brother, relieved that everything ended in good terms even if it was a disaster. “Don’t worry, Wangji. I know what I’m doing.” 

He couldn’t be more wrong.

Wangji looked at him, unconvinced. “If you say so.”

However, Xichen didn’t overthink it in the moment because Jiang Wanyin was someone really nice to talk by the way, so he keep talking with him.

And they talked a lot through nine weeks.

What made both families to get excited at the match, they never got this far with any other candidates. 

So they kept pushing them about marriage.

Xichen didn’t knew why, but one day they just accepted to marry each other. He remember that both were "like yeah, screw it" and that’s how they got quickly married in Yunmeng a summer day of August to get their families off of their backs.

Wanyin moved at Gusu with him and both pulled a giant scam on their families and got away with it.

No matter how you see it, it was a win-win situation. Wanyin lived his own life and take the guest room for himself while Xichen didn’t get more cutting remarks about being gay because he has a “wife” now.

Life was easygoing, so he let Wanyin cut his hair short and stop dressing feminine as his family forced him.

It was a little gesture, but that small change resulted in something unexpected.

. 　   ·  ✦

The things had been so smooth sailing between them that they even adopted a dog, Xichen was having a good time when he come to his house now that he has a roommate and a pet.

It felt more like a home than the place where he’s slept.

He didn’t noticed before, but his house didn’t felt like a home before he married.

Wanyin resume his university studies and made new friends, he was so comfortable and happy that he started to cooking dinner for both of them recently. Sometimes Xichen couldn’t eat with him because he returned at home passed by midnight, but he tried to return early at home to share at least a couple of dinners together at week.

That night Xichen got a little late, but Wanyin stayed with him in the dinning room. Looking him eat everything and even repeating a dish.

“Were you hungry, huh?”

Xichen was used to not talk when he eat because he was educated like that, but he found rude to not reply his husband at the same time. So he did an exception that night.

After all, Wanyin cooked that delicious food for him and waited for him.

“I didn’t have lunch today.”

Wanyin looked at him, with a bothered frown in his eyebrows. It reminded Xichen the first time that they share a dinner in home and he couldn’t stand the spicy food that Wanyin cooked. 

That time he thought he would die, but he survived to Wanyin spicy food.

Now he’s getting to used to piquant food.

“I can cook your lunch.”

“You don’t have to do it, Wanyin.”

“What kind of husband am I if I left my spouse starving?” Wanyin teased him, smirking.

. 　   ·  ✦

Next morning Xichen didn’t expected that Wanyin would fulfill his word and made a lunch for him, even his coworkers seemed surprised to see him eating in his office instead to skipping the lunch when he had important meetings. 

That day he had a meeting with Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao, so they planned to invite him to eat a hotpot without knowing that Xichen would refuse.

When they saw why he refused, they stayed to accompany him.

It seems that it was a friendship duty annoy at your recently married friends.

“Now Xichen-ge gots lovely lunchs made by his wife, I’m jealous”, said Jin Guangyao as he looked for food delivery on his telephone for him and Mingjue, they didn’t want to leave his friend alone if they could tease him.

Mingjue nudged at Xichen, grinning “As your childhood friend, I demand to be the godfather of your first child.”

“That’s unfair, Da-ge! Let Xichen-ge chose the godfather!!”

Xichen smiles nervously at his friends, feeling a cold sweet in this forehead.

“We are not having kids.”

Mingjue raised an eye brown, confused. “Why not?”

Xichen felt conflicted.

Well, these were his friends and he should trust them, right? He wasn’t ashamed of his husband, actually he felt proud that he could be himself since they met.

“Uhm, how I could say this? My “wife” is a trans male, so...”

“Oh.”

“It’s complicated, we got it.” Ends the conversation Jin Guangyao, putting a hand in Mingjue’s mouth. 

. 　   ·  ✦

Months passed fast and it was December when Xichen realized that his husband started to getting closer to him.

Not like they were strangers before, but something changed after Christmas.

Wanyin started to watch tv with him in the sofa when Xichen was in home, eating with him every time they can, buying him stuff and even texting him more frequently, sending photos of him and Huan Huan when he go to walk their puppy. He even started staying in Xichen’s room to facetime his mom because she always complained about how he always facetimed alone so he came to Xichen bed to get him to say hi.

And after a while, Wanyin got tired to get out of Xichen’s bed to go back to his own to sleep, so he moved to Xichen room permanently.

Before Xichen knew, they escalated to cuddling awaken and sleeping.

Contrary to Xichen could think, it wasn’t that weird.

Actually it felt heartwarming to hold his tiny husband on his arms, specially when their puppy dog was in the middle of them. Enjoying the warm between his owners.

It made him feel something, but he wasn’t sure what.

. 　   ·  ✦

“When are you two going to give us a grandchild?” Wanyin’s mother asked them one day via facetime.

Wanyin went all red, screaming. “Mom!”

It was obvious that he didn’t wanted to have this conversation with his mother.

Xichen was beside him in the bed, working on his laptop before to speak in the name of the two. “We want to enjoy our youth first. So no kids for now.”

Hoping that Wanyin wouldn’t mind with his idea.

They didn’t talked about children, yet.

His mother-in-law sounded a bit beaten after that, but she insisted on encourage Wanyin to make his own family as if their dog wasn’t their son already. 

When Wanyin cut the call, Xichen finished his work so he put the computer aside.

“Sorry, Xichen.”

“Why? It’s not your fault that your mother want another grandchild.”

Wanyin looked at him before sprawled out on top of him, doing random things and Xichen was unsure what it means. “Then, how many children do you want?” 

He asked so suddenly that got Xichen out of guard.

“What?”

“I’m joking, do you want children anyways?”

He was always like that since they got close to each other last year, always joking around him.

Sometimes Xichen didn’t know if he was joking or being serious.

“I don’t know, I never thought about having kids.” Xichen blurt out of his mind, smiling at the thought that they have this level of communication to talk about things like this. “What about you?”

“We have Huan Huan, enough for me.”

“I don’t think your mother 

“Well, Huan Huan would be the only grandson that I’m going to give her.”

. 　   ·  ✦

They almost kissed twice, one time when they were cuddling in the bed and the other one when Wanyin started sitting on Xichen’s lap, nuzzling him and stuff like that.

Their faces were so close that Xichen thought they were going to kiss.

It was so close that he could feel his hot breath, but then Wanyin went all red and jumped ship at the last minute. Xichen felt so disappointed that they didn't kissed already, but he thought that he understand why Wanyin might not kiss him.

He must be thinking that he doesn't want this or something like that.

Contrary to what people could think about his husband, Wanyin had the tendency to overthink things.

He still was working on this, but Xichen couldn’t handle with the self-isolation and the romantic? tension in the house every time he saw Wanyin flustering and getting shy around him.

It was odd after met the confident and a little arrogant side of his husband, so this new side made him feel things that he didn’t know he could feel for Wanyin.

Xichen even feel butterflies in the stomach every time they get close for any reason.

He just wants to kiss Wanyin so badly that he felt embarrassed.

He was so screwed.

. 　   ·  ✦

One day, Xichen couldn’t stand the situation anymore. He was still a little unsure about his own feelings so he talked long and tended with his friends at the bar about how he wants to take Wanyin on dates and kiss him and let him speak as much as he wants because Wanyin likes to talk about the things that he loves and how much he loves their dog, he could talk about Huan Huan all day and Xichen wouldn't mind, he loves their puppy too.

In the end, he ended asking advice to asking his husband out.

“I want him be happy and I want myself be happy. So how can I ask my literal husband of nine months to be in an actual relationship with me?”

"Talk to him. Tell him what you’re feeling. Ask if he feels the same way," said Mingjue.

“You made it sound that simple, Da-ge.”

"I think you should let him know that you’re open to having a more intimate relationship. It seems he’s feeling something too since he’s cuddling you,” added Jin Guangyao.

“I don’t know what to do.”

Mingjue take a a big sip of wine before to talk again. “Just close your eyes and jump, man. You got this."

[vindicatedvirgil]

in the library / logicality

for those of you who don’t know, i’m in a master’s degree program studying to become a librarian right now. so, yeah, i spend (or, you know, spent, before coronavirus) a lot of time working in public libraries and learning about libraries and studying.

so, here, a logicality human au. Patton is a Children’s Librarian and Logan brings his two sons, Roman and Remus, into the library. wanna know more about librarianship and how it’s actually a really hard thing to do? i’m always happy to answer questions. i am so Patton here.

includes: dad!Logan, eventual logicality, adopted kid!Remus and kid!Roman trying to get the two together, lots of fluff so please prepare your hearts

wordcount: 5133

(masterlist)

Patton looked down cheerfully at the child he was helping. His biggest joy in life came from helping young kiddos find their perfect book; whether it’s because they’ve read all of the popular stuff and need something new or if they are reluctant readers who need something to pull them in to reading as a hobby, Mister Patton always has something for them. And when he wasn’t doing reader’s advisory, he was trying his darndest to diversify their collection, run storytimes for the littles, and set up a book club for those almost-teens. Sure, most days he went home completely exhausted, feet aching in his sneakers, a dull headache poking at the back of his eyes, but it was all worth it. Even on the days that he had to deal with parents who tried to force their kids to read their childhood favorites or parents who complained about Patton’s Pride Month book display (which he was very proud of) didn’t deter him from doing what he loved.

He never turned away a question or passed it along to a coworker. Sometimes he would ask for recommendations from his fellow librarians but for the most part, Patton stuck to his guns and did his best for every single patron that came in, regardless of what they wanted.

One afternoon, a tall man with glasses and a dark blue tie came in with his twin sons, one dressed in red and the other in green. Patton gave them a warm smile.

“Hello there! Is there anything I can help you find today?” He asked cheerfully, looking between the three. The boy in red spoke up first.

“Do you have any new fantasy books that have dragons and princes?” He asked excitedly. The boy in green rolled his eyes, and the dad set a hand on his shoulder.

“Roman doesn’t judge you for what you like to read, Remus, don’t judge him,” He said. Patton stood up from his seat behind the desk.

“Have you checked out our new books display?” He asked, walking the three over. “These three books right here are some incredible new fantasy books, perfect for kids your age who love knights and dragons. I’d take them all, give them a try. Always read the first few pages and if you can’t get into it, set it down and try something else. It’s never good to force yourself to read something you don’t want to, unless it’s for a school assignment,” Patton explained. Roman smiled brightly, taking the three books in his hands, turning towards his dad.

“Thanks!! Dad, can I go sit on a chair and start reading?” The man nodded and Roman leapt towards some of the reading chairs. Patton turned his gaze to the boy named Remus.

“Alright, and what are you looking for, kiddo?” He asked, smiling. Remus frowned, crossing his arms.

“Got any horror comics?” He asked. His dad sighed, but gave a nod to Patton, who led the two over to the graphic novel collection. He selected a few of the best comics for his age, and suggested some other ones. Remus went over to sit and read, and the dad smiled weakly.

“Thank you, er-”

“Patton,” He smiled, holding out his hand. The man took it and shook it once, the firm grip startling the librarian. “Or Mister Patton, whatever you’d prefer.”

“Logan,” was all that the tall man said, glancing over at his sons. “They’ve needed a distraction lately. I just adopted them. They’ve had a rough time at school, Remus especially. He can be… eccentric.”

“They seem like good kids. Probably a sign of their good father,” Patton said cheerfully. “They might be interested in our Dungeons and Dragons group, our writing club, or our book club. It could be a good way to help them meet kids who have similar interests.” Logan nodded, looking down. Patton started walking back to the desk. “Here, I’ve got a flyer with all of our kid and teen activities coming up for the next month. If you have any questions, my email address is on the bottom of the flyer.” Logan took it, smiling lightly.

“Thank you, I’ll see if they’re interested.”

-

“Alright, let’s pause the campaign there for now, kiddos,” Patton smiled, closing his DM notebook. “We’ll meet again next week to finish it off.” A chorus of thanks Mister Patton rang out throughout the meeting room as most of the kids left to go home. Patton glanced nervously at Remus and Roman, who left together but were chatting with a few other kids. He cleaned up the space and exited the room to see Logan standing there, waiting for his sons to finish chatting with their new friends. He had a faint smile on his face. Patton held the notebook and tote bag with his materials close to him and approached the man.

“They seem to be… doing well, now,” Logan mused, eyes focused on the twins. Both were talking animatedly, smiles on their faces. “Programs like this… it’s amazing.”

“Yeah,” Patton sighed happily. “That’s why I push so hard to have programs for the kiddos. Everyone needs a place to belong, even two kiddos who share the same face and DNA. And who have a pretty neat dad.”

“You put a lot of effort into these things, it’s amazing. So many kids show up and are interested in all of the programs you do, I don’t think it’s just that they need a space to fit into, but I think, in large part, it’s because you provide them with a welcoming space,” Logan watched as Remus walked over to the two. “You have a good time?”

“Yeah,” Was all that the boy said, watching his brother. “Can we go now?”

“Sure thing, go get your brother.”

-

Patton was walking the aisles of the grocery store, handbasket in tow, trying to figure out what he would make himself for dinner. He didn’t always love living on his own, especially when it meant lots of silent nights in front of the television, but at least he didn’t have to argue with anyone about what to eat.

“Mister Patton!” A voice rang out behind him. Patton spun around on his heel to see Roman dashing toward him, Remus pushing a cart and Logan not far behind. The dad waved a hand in greeting. “Mister Patton, are you shopping for your family’s dinner, too?”

“Oh, um,” Patton smiled weakly. “I don’t have a family, Roman. It’s just me. I’m doing my shopping for the week’s dinners.” Remus approached him, peering into the handbasket.

“Lots of microwavable meals in there,” He pointed out. Patton stammered, his face turning red. Logan sighed, adjusting his glasses as he turned to examine the poultry.

“M-Mostly for my lunches,” He explained. “Don’t worry, kiddos, I get my nutrients all good and well.” Remus raised an eyebrow. Roman looked to be deep in thought.

“You should have dinner with us, Mister Patton!” Roman finally exclaimed, then he ran over to Logan. “Dad, can we invite him over for dinner? Please?” Patton was at a loss for words.

“I don’t want to impose, really, I’m okay with making myself dinner,” He tried to make his voice as clear as possible but it wasn’t every day that he got invited to have dinner with someone other than his television. Logan sighed, nodded, and Roman bounded back over to Patton.

“Please, Mister Patton?” His eyes twinkled, and Patton’s heart gave a gentle tug. Kids asking him things with eyes like that was his biggest weakness, he could never turn down a kid with a soft voice and hopeful eyes. “We’re making roast chicken and veggies, and I’m going to try to make some cupcakes!”

“Thank you, Roman,” Patton smiled, “I’d love to join you, if it’s not too much of an issue.” He glanced over at Logan, who was setting some chicken in the cart.

“It’s no imposition. You’ve done great things for my sons thus far, and… cooking is sort of our way of thanking you, I suppose,” the tall man responded. Remus took a pen out of his pocket, grabbed Patton’s hand, and scribbled down their address and a phone number onto his palm.

“Here, now you’ll know where to go,” He said, tucking the pen back into his pocket. Patton smiled down at him, then at the writing on his hand. “I wrote my dad’s phone number, too. Just in case.”

-

“I’ll get it!” Roman exclaimed, running to the front door to open it. Patton stood there, changed out of the clothes he was wearing earlier and holding a gift bag. “Hi, Mister Patton!”

“Hi, Roman,” Patton smiled kindly, stepping inside. “Thank you for inviting me for dinner.” Remus came around the corner and hesitated, then waved at Patton. “Hi, Remus.”

“Hi,” He said before he walked into the kitchen. Patton followed Roman into the kitchen as well, and saw Logan chopping up some vegetables. Remus hopped up to sit on one of the empty counters. “Roman, what kind of cupcakes are they?”

“Lemon cupcakes, and I still need to make the raspberry frosting,” Roman responded, opening the fridge to take out some raspberry jam, butter, and milk. Patton set the gift bag on the table, watching the interactions in the kitchen quietly. “Mister Patton, do you like lemon and raspberry?” He went to the pantry to get the powdered sugar sugar and vanilla.

“Oh, yes, I do,” Patton responded. “Do you often bake cupcakes, Roman?”

“Not always cupcakes. I want to bake more. I like making cookies the most, I think, but last weekend I made a coffee cake for breakfast and it was really good,” Roman mused, starting to put the ingredients in a bowl to make the frosting. Logan put the veggies on a pan and put the pan into the oven, then turned around to look at the boys.

“It was a really good coffee cake,” Logan said, leaning against the counter. Patton glanced at the fridge, noticing all of the photos that had been put on it, the magnets around. He noticed a photo of the twins with a mom and a dad, but next to it was a photo of the twins with Logan, all three of them in suits, and a sign that said Adopted Today! held in front of them. Patton tore his eyes away from the photos and turned to Logan.

“I brought a small gift, as a thank-you for letting me join you,” He said, gesturing towards the gift bag. Logan raised an eyebrow and picked up the bag, opening it. He pulled the bottle of wine out. “I don’t know if you’re much of a wine-drinker, but it’s a pretty good bottle.”

“I do, actually. I’ll pour some for us to have with dinner.” Logan asked. He turned around and opened one of the cabinets, pulling two wine glasses out. 

-

“These cupcakes are so delicious, Roman, I could have three more,” Patton said, licking the frosting off of his lips. “You really are an excellent baker.”

“Thanks, Mister Patton,” Roman smiled, a pink blush coating his cheeks. “Dad, we should make sure to send him home with some leftovers!” Logan nodded, taking another bite of his cupcake.

“Alright, it’s getting late, you two should both go finish up any homework and then go to bed,” He said, earning a groan from both of the twins. “No grumbling, boys.”

“But we have a guest,” Remus muttered, wiping the excess frosting off of his chin. “Can’t we stay up a little longer?”

“Now, kiddos, your dad is right. Homework is very important, and you can’t do well in school without a good night’s rest. I’ll be in the library tomorrow if you want to say hello,” Patton smiled. The boys both nodded, and Roman stood up, dashing up the stairs. Remus got up slower, hesitating, then he gave Patton a hug before running up after his twin.

“They seem to have taken quite a liking to you,” Logan mused, standing up and beginning to clear some of the plates. “Remus never hugs anyone, not even his friends.” Patton also stood, grabbing the plate with cupcakes. The two went into the kitchen and quietly put the food away, and Patton watched as Logan loaded the dishwasher.

“Can I ask… what happened to their parents?” Patton’s voice was hesitant, but Logan turned around, a firm look on his face.

“They were my students last year. Smart, good kids… and then their parents died in a car accident on the way to the school play.” Logan sighed, eyes trailing to the photo on the fridge. “They didn’t have any other family, no aunts or uncles, no grandparents, no close friends who could take them. I started fostering them, and after only a few days I put in the request to adopt them. And, a few weeks ago, they legally became my sons.”

“You’re a very kind person for doing that,” Patton said, wiping a tear from his eyes. “And… you don’t have a partner. You’re doing it all on your own.”

“The boys make it easy to love them and care for them,” Logan smiled. “When I found out they were going to be sent away, I just… something in me screamed no, you have to take them in, and so I did.” He crossed his arms, watching Patton carefully. “Remus was hesitant, at first, as expected. He didn’t have many friends before the accident, and after… a lot of the other kids avoided the two of them. They really only had each other.”

“And you,” Patton pointed out. “They’re very lucky to have someone who cares for them so deeply, Logan. My mom raised me on her own, and when I was 18 she passed away. I didn’t have anyone. You gave these boys a second chance, you know.”

“Is that why you went into children’s librarianship?” Logan asked. He sat down at the table and Patton sat next to him.

“I went into it because books were my saving grace as a kid. I didn’t have a lot of friends, but the characters in books… they were there for me,” Patton twisted his fingers together. “The librarians who helped me find those books quite literally saved my life. And I figured that there are kids now who need that same thing, and that I want to be that person for them.”

“That’s why I became a teacher,” Logan was still watching Patton’s face very carefully. Patton reached his hand out and took Logan’s in his. “Despite all of the things about teaching that are hard, helping kids figure out their passions and seeing them grow into awesome humans… it’s all worth it.” He squeezed Patton’s hand. 

Outside the kitchen, Remus and Roman were in their pajamas, peeking in. They shared a glance and went back upstairs quietly and into Roman’s room. Roman sat on the bed and Remus on the floor.

“You think Dad likes Mister Patton?” Remus asked hesitantly. Roman nodded. 

“I like him a lot, Re. Maybe… maybe he could be our other new dad.” Roman pulled a notebook out from under his bed along with a pen, and opened it. “We should figure out ways to get them together.”

“...what if Mister Patton doesn’t like Dad back? Or… what if he doesn’t want us around?” Remus’ voice was wavering. Roman shook his head. 

“I think they like each other. Or… they will, once we push them together.”

-

“Okay, so here’s the plan for today. You’re going to leave your bag behind after the book club meeting, so that Mister Patton has to call Dad,” Roman and Remus were huddled together outside the meeting room. Roman’s notebook was open and in their hands, a complicated timeline plotted out. “When he drops off the backpack, we’ll invite him to join us for dinner. Get them to drink some wine, maybe try to encourage a movie night…”

“This seems kind of obvious and cliche, Ro,” Remus muttered, crossing his arms. “What if we invite Mister Patton to join us for our Sunday morning hike? Or… lock them in a closet together?”

“I like the hike idea, maybe we can suggest that at dinner,” Roman said, scribbling it into his notebook. “We should start slow and simple, and then work our way up to the more intense, more thorough methods.”

“What if the simple methods work really well, though? I want my ideas used, too,” Remus pouted, watching as the other kids filed into the meeting room. Patton approached the room, books and materials in tow. 

“Hey, it’s my two favorite twins!” He said cheerfully. “How are you boys doing today?” He stepped into the meeting room, the twins following close behind. The room slowly filled up, the meeting began, and at the end of the meeting, Remus “forgot” his bag. 

-

Logan was startled to feel his phone buzz in his pocket. He was making dinner, some baked potato soup. He pulled the phone out of his pocket to see an unknown number calling, but he picked up anyway. “This is Logan Crofters, how can I help you?”

“Hey, Logan! It’s Patton Hart from the library. It seems like Remus left his bag at the end of book club today,” The voice rang clearly from the other side. Logan sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Okay, I can come by to pick it up from the library later–”

“Oh, well we’ve already closed for the day, but I have the bag and I can drop it off at your house if it’s not an issue,” Patton responded. “It’s no problem, really, your house is on my route home.”

“If it’s not too much of a problem, then yeah, that would be really great, thank you,” Logan eyed the twins carefully as they stepped into the living room. “Thank you again.”

“See you soon!” Patton hung up the call, and Logan stuffed his phone back into the pocket of his jeans. He crossed his arms, giving a firm look to the boys.

“What was that all about, Dad?” Roman asked, an innocent twinkle in his eyes. Remus sat down at the table, head down.

“It was Mister Patton. Apparently, Remus left his bag in the meeting room after book club today,” Logan said. He turned to stir the soup. “You’re not usually one to forget things, Remus. Is everything alright?”

“I must have just been… distracted. By our new friends,” Remus said, voice low. Logan raised an eyebrow at him, and he looked down.

“Right. Well, he’s going to come by and drop off the bag, so when there’s a knock at the door, you need to be sure to apologize to him for going out of his way to bring it,” Logan instructed. Roman hopped up on one of the counters.

“Can we invite him inside for dinner again?” He asked, twirling a strand of his hair between his fingers. “It’s been a few weeks since he joined us that one time.” Logan sighed again, but nodded.

“Only if he agrees, don’t beg him to join us this time, okay? He does have his own life,” Logan reminded him.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door, and the twins went to go and answer it. Roman smiled cheerfully at Patton, who was holding Remus’ bag carefully. “Hey, kiddos. Here you go, Remus.” Remus took the bag gently.

“Thanks, Mister Patton. Sorry that you had to come out of your way to bring it to me,” He said, head down. Patton just smiled.

“It’s no problem at all,” He said. Roman noticed that the librarian peered a little bit around the two, and he wondered if he was looking for Logan. “Well, I should get going. Tell your dad hi for me, okay?”

“You don’t want to come in to say hi? Or you could join us for dinner, we’re making baked potato soup for dinner, and there are some brownies that I made last night,” Roman started, but Patton waved his hands in denial. 

“No, really, it’s okay kiddos, I have to work tomorrow and today was kind of a long day,” He smiled still, glancing down for half a second. Logan stepped out of the kitchen just as he was looking back up, and the librarian gulped. Logan’s tie was loose around his neck and the sleeves of his dress shirt were pushed up. His glasses sat on the top of his head.

“Boys, I told you to not beg him to stay if he didn’t want to,” Logan reprimanded them, then turned to look at Patton. “Sorry, Patton.”

“I-um, well… I suppose I could stay for a bit…” Patton’s face reddened and he looked down. “I was just going to have my lunch leftovers for dinner, anyways.” The twins shared a knowing glance.

“But you just said you had a long day and have to work tomorrow,” Remus muttered, raising an eyebrow. Patton stammered, his words not coming out clearly. 

“Well, come on in, Mister Patton!” Roman said cheerfully, stepping aside to allow the librarian to enter. They all went into the kitchen, and the boys each hopped up on the counter spaces, raising eyebrows. “So, you work on Saturdays, Mister Patton? What about Sundays?”

“The library is closed on Sundays, so that’s the day I usually get things done around my apartment, run errands, and the like. I don’t usually work on Saturdays, but we have an event tomorrow,” Patton explained, taking a seat at the table.

“You should join us on our Sunday morning hike! We hike every week, and it’s really nice,” Roman suggested. Logan turned away, tending to the soup again, making Remus raise an eyebrow. “Do you like hiking?”

“Oh gosh, I haven’t had the time to go on a hike… in a really long time,” Patton mused, resting his chin on his hand, his elbow sturdy on the table. “I used to hike a lot in my college days, but it’s not as fun on your own.”

“Then you should definitely join us,” Remus piped up from his spot on the counter. “It’s such a beautiful hike. We all leave our phones at home and just talk and look at nature. It’s pretty great, right Dad?”

“It is a really great hike,” Logan replied. “Soup’s done. Remus, would you get me some bowls, please?” Remus did so, settling the bowls down next to the stove. Logan began ladling the soup into each bowl, handing them to Remus to set on the table.

“Yeah, I’d love to join you, then.”

-

“Alright, here we are,” Logan said, turning off the car. The twins scrambled out of the backseat and outside, and Patton got out from the passenger’s seat, putting his sun hat on. Logan got out of the driver’s seat and locked the car, watching as the twins ran to start the hike. The two men followed close behind.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Patton said quietly, looking around, a smile on his face. Logan watched him carefully, the smell of sunscreen emanating from the librarian, his polo and shorts flowing gently in the wind. 

“Yeah…” Logan mused, turning his direction back to the twins. “Don’t go too far ahead, boys!” Roman continued walking but turned around, giving two thumbs up. Patton giggled a little bit, startling the teacher.

“They’re quite energetic kiddos,” He said, meeting Logan’s eyes. “But they’re really great.” Logan nodded but said nothing as they continued walking up the hill. Up ahead, the twins were nudging each other, kicking rocks, and laughing, and Logan smiled. 

“Sometimes I wonder if I’m enough for them. Maybe they need more than just me.” Patton wrinkled his nose at this.

“Why wouldn’t you be enough for them? You’re such a great father, and it shows,” Patton said, twisting his hands together. “Sure, they had two parents before, but not every kid needs two parents. I had a single mom, and I turned out okay.”

“More than just okay,” Logan said under his breath, so that Patton couldn’t hear him. “I don’t know, it’s just… they’re very touchy, and I’m… not. They want to hug and snuggle, and I can’t provide that for them, at least not in a way where I’m also comfortable.” Patton looked over at Logan, who was wearing his button-up with the sleeves rolled up and workout pants, his eyes focused, facing forward, and he gulped a little. Logan also had a backpack with snacks, water, and a first aid kit, just in case.

“I think that they can understand that,” Patton responded, finally turning his gaze back to the path in front of them. Remus was giving Roman a piggyback ride up the hill, and the two men could hear the boys pretending to be a knight and a horse in battle. “They have each other to snuggle with, at least.”

“Do you have any siblings, Patton?” Logan asked, also watching the boys. “I’m an only child, but I have a few cousins who I was close to in childhood.”

“I’m also an only child, and I didn’t have any cousins, at least that I’m aware of,” Patton said, eyes drifting down. “My dad left when I was three, and I don’t know much about him. I’ve been trying to find him for years, for medical record purposes, but I can’t seem to track him down. I don’t think he wants to be found.”

“He’s a fool, then,” Logan sputtered out, then he covered his mouth. Patton raised an eyebrow, giggling softly. “Sorry. I know he’s your father. But anyone who doesn’t want anything to do with you is an idiot, and they don’t deserve to be in your life.”

“That’s very kind of you to say, Logan. Thank you.” Patton said, and the two fell into a comfortable silence, climbing the hill steadily, the twins always in view. Logan, deep in thought, glanced back over at the librarian. 

“I mean it, Patton. You’re an incredible person, not just in your career but in how you are around the boys,” He smiled at Patton, who blushed and looked down. The librarian stumbled over a branch, falling forward, but he was caught by two strong hands. His hand still scraped the ground, and he winced. “Whoah! You alright?” Logan sat down on the ground, pulling Patton down too, and inspected his palms. “You’re a little scratched up.”

“I’m alright,” Patton said, looking down, face red. He couldn’t get the feeling of having Logan’s hands on him out of his mind. Logan shook his head, removing the backpack and digging in it for the first aid kit. He got some sanitizing wipes, and took Patton’s hands in his own, wiping off the pebbles and dirt. Logan was focused as he put a bandaid over the scratch on the librarian’s palm. The twins came bounding up to them.

“Mister Patton, are you okay?” Roman’s voice was concerned, and Remus got on the ground next to them watching carefully as Logan made sure everything was okay with Patton’s hands.

“I’m fine, boys, don’t worry, just a little stumble. If your dad hadn’t caught me…” Patton’s words trailed off, and Logan put the first aid kid back into the backpack. The teacher stood up first, and then held his hand out to help Patton up. He took it, and their eyes met, a blush covering both of their faces. Roman coughed a little, pulling Remus away, and the twins walked a ways away, but kept glancing back. Logan still hadn’t let go of Patton’s hand, though. “Um…” Patton looked down, his blush deepening. 

Logan hesitated, then decided that he needed to do or say something, because not saying or doing anything was eating him alive. He couldn’t hide it anymore. He didn’t want to hide it anymore. So he took Patton’s chin in his spare hand, tilted his face up, and kissed him gently. Patton gasped, but didn’t pull away; instead, he wrapped his arm around Logan’s neck, pulling him closer, their kiss deepening.

The twins were losing their minds, cheering and jumping for joy.

-

several months later...

Patton unlocked the door and stepped in. He closed the door quietly behind him, then peeked into the kitchen to see Roman stirring some cake batter and Remus chopping some fruit. He stayed quiet, going into the living room, where Logan was putting up a sign that read “Happy Birthday!”

“Hey,” Patton finally spoke, startling the teacher. Logan set the banner down, then approached the librarian, hugging him close and kissing him.

“Welcome home, babe,” He said, leaning down to kiss Patton again. “Happy birthday.”

“You didn’t need to do all of this, Lo…” Patton’s face was bright red as he glanced at all of the decorations and the pile of gifts on the coffee table. “But… thank you.” He leaned up to kiss Logan again, but was nearly knocked over by the force of two preteens joining the hug. 

“Patton!” The twins cheered in unison. “Happy birthday!” Patton laughed, hoping that Logan would be able to keep all of them from losing their balance.

“Thanks, boys,” Patton said. The hug finally broke, and the twins went back into the kitchen to finish the cake. The librarian took a breath and sat on the couch, watching Logan carefully. “Hey, Lo?”

“Yeah, what is it?” Logan asked, going to finish putting the banner up. He didn’t look back down at Patton until the banner was up, and when he saw his boyfriend next, the man was on one knee, holding a ring out. Logan gasped, then fell into a fit of laughter as he took a ring out of his pocket, getting on his knee in front of Patton.

“I guess that’s a ‘yes’, then?” Patton giggled, tears trickling down his cheeks. 

“I had a huge thing prepared,” Logan sighed. “The twins were going to play a song for you.” He scooted a little closer to Patton, then kissed him. “But yes, of course Patton. Yes.” A flash startled the two of them, and they glanced over to see the twins. Roman had his phone in his hand, taking pictures. Remus was pouting a little.

“Aw, man, he ruined the plan!” He said. Logan and Patton laughed, kissing again, then they stood up, sliding the rings onto each others’ fingers. The twins bounded towards them, and they fell into another group hug. “Does that mean we can call Patton ‘Papa’ now?”

“Of course, kiddo.” Patton smiled. Logan wiped a tear from his fiance’s cheek, and held his family close together.

“I love you,” He whispered into the librarian’s ear. Patton smiled, kissing him again.

“I love you too, Logan.”

[lu-undy]

Chapter 78 - SBT

Here it is!

"I assume you had your reasons for doing it this way but it has to change, and fast." Lucien sat on the oval table and crossed his arms. The smoke from his cigarette floated in the air like a cloud above his head.

"I did. But now that there is no danger anymore, I might actually do it." 

Lucien frowned and pondered.  The king of the beggars went on.

"I will set a rendez-vous point. All you have to do is have him be there." 

"Non." Lucien answered, raising cold eyes to his ex-colleague. 

"What?"

"Non." He repeated firmly. "You are not taking any risks in this business, I am. So we will do things my way."

"What risks are you taking?" Maurice asked and Lucien's anger flashed on his fair irises.

"You know very well." He answered drily.

"Very well, what do you suggest?" 

Lucien sighed. 

"I do not know yet. I need to think about it. The stakes are too high. Every second that I spend with you discussing it is a second that I betray him and his trust. I cannot afford that, nor do I want it, not anymore, not ever." 

"Fine." Maurice said, from his old wooden throne. "You do as you please." 

"Tell me where they are. I shall bear the responsibility of the rest." 

Maurice wrote something on a piece of paper and slid it to the ex-spy. 

"That is where I have kept them. Good luck. They are expecting him."

The Frenchman's rage boiled up a notch higher. 

"Pardon?" He asked in his native tongue. "Do not think for one second that this puts you out of any responsibility!"

"What are you going to do? Stab me in the back, like in the old days…?" 

Lucien's jaw relaxed and he smirked, not like the free man he was now, but like the spy he had been: cold, arrogant and overly self-confident.

"Me? Nothing. Him? I am not so sure, Maurice." 

He took the piece of paper that he stored in his pocket and exited the hideout. When he made it back to the surface, he adjusted his scarf and headed back home. 

-- Next day -- 

"Mundy, I forgot to tell you something."

"What is it?"

Lucien was sitting next to his lover at the table while they shared breakfast. 

"Richard and his wife agreed to take Diamond." 

"Oh, that's great news!" 

"I also sent the word to Maurice, and he is happy to take Star."

"Oh, alright."

"Oui, he shall train her to take on Perle's job and hunt mice and chase away any undesired rodents." 

"That's nice, hear that, Starry baby?" Mundy was cuddling the lady kitten. She meowed happily. "You'll get a nice home and a job. Kids'll cover you in pets too!"

"And guess where our beloved ball of hunger will end up?" Lucien asked, petting Glovy on his lap. 

"I don't know, where?" 

"There is one young man who will make him more than happy." 

"Who?"

Lucien smiled before answering. 

"Bastien." 

"Bastian?" 

"Who better than an apprentice chef cook for our beloved Glovy?" Lucien asked. 

"Hear that, fat boy? Your new dad's gonna make you delicious food!"

"Mrow!" He answered excitedly. 

"Yeah…" Mundy extended his hand and scratched Glovy under his chin. "You're one happy, chunky boy, aren't ya?" 

The large yet short cat purred happily under the attention. 

"So that settles it apart from Junior…" Mundy said. The kitten had grown up like his brother and his sisters but still looked smaller. 

"Viens, mon petit." 

[Come, my little one.]

Lucien bent down, released Glovy and scooped his namesake off the floor to put him on his knees. 

"He will have a good forever home. We shall offer him as a gift and a surprise." Lucien answered, cuddling the kitten. 

"Yeah, but to who?" Mundy asked. 

"To whom?" Lucien corrected. "Well, who will need a Lucien and has been missing me while I was away?" 

"Me?" Mundy answered. 

"Apart from you?" Lucien asked. 

"Don't know, who?" 

"Victoria." He answered. 

"Oh…" 

"I think she will take the best care of him." Lucien added. 

"I'm sure you're right, darl'." Mundy laced a lazy arm around Lucien's shoulders and the Frenchman leaned on him. 

"Any plans for today?" Mundy asked.

"I was thinking of taking the kittens to their new homes." Lucien answered, pushing a lock of silver hair behind his ear. 

"Oh, ok, sure."

"I suggest we start with Bastien and Richard, they are not too far apart from each other. Then, Maurice and in the end, Victoria."

"You wanna take Junior to the diner?" 

"Non, I planned on knocking directly at her door, after her shift." 

"You know where she lives?" 

Lucien raised his eyes and his smirk to his lover. 

"Right, right, ok, ex-spy, I get it." Mundy chuckled.

"I see you are learning." Lucien teased. "But what do you think of this plan? That ought to keep us busy for most of the day."

"Seems like it, yeah. I'm alright with the plan. But first, we need to tell Pearl and Soot." 

"But of course." 

Lucien and Mundy finished their breakfast and found themselves sitting on the carpet in the living room, facing the cats. 

"Right, ladies and gents…" Mundy started. "Today, you're gonna leave Mum and Dad, even your gramps."

The kittens listened with wide open eyes. 

"Meow?" Perle, who had been laying on the carpet, moved to sit up.

"Do not worry, mon bébé," Lucien scratched her head gently. "They will all go to good homes. Star will go to Maurice and hunt the mice there, oh and Junior will go to Victoria."

"Meow?" Soot rose to his feet too. 

"Hey, Sooty boy, you trust the old gramps, eh?"

The black cat went straight to Mundy and purred when he scratched his jaw. 

"There we go. Now, we're gonna give you a few minutes to say goodbye, ok? You be good boys and girls." 

Mundy rose to his feet. 

"Mrow…" Perle bit her Papa's sleeve. 

"Oh? Qu'est-ce que tu veux, ma chérie?"

[Oh? What do you want, my darling?]

She kept on pulling his sleeve and meowing sadly. 

"I will stay with her, go and get ready, Mundy."

"You sure?"

"Oui, she needs me." 

"Fair. See ya in a bit, I'll go get my shoes and stuff." Mundy left a kiss on Lucien's brow and left him with the cats. 

Perle stood on her back legs. Lucien smiled and lifted her into his arms, rocking her gently.

"Qu'est-ce qui se passe? Tu n'aimes pas les 'au revoir' ?"

[What is happening? You don't like goodbyes?]

"Mrow…" She answered sadly. 

"Personne n'aime les au revoir. Ni les hommes, ni les chattes apparemment. Ne t'inquiète pas, tes bébés sont grands maintenant, ils n'ont plus besoin, ni de toi, ni de leur père, ni de nous."

[No one likes goodbyes. Neither people, nor lady cats apparently. Don't worry, your babies have grown up now, they don't need you or Soot, or us anymore.]

"What's wrong, baby?" Mundy joined them and put Lucien's shoes down next to him. "Don't want the kids to go, eh?" 

"Non, she does not." Lucien answered. They both spoiled her with affection, scratches and sweet words. 

"When…" Lucien started. His eyes were riveted on Perle. "When Jérémy was growing up…" 

Mundy's eyebrows jumped. He hadn't expected Lucien to talk about his late son. 

"There came an age where he liked me… less." 

"Oh?" Mundy scooted closer to his lover. 

"Like any other child of his age, he started seeing me not as a model, but as someone who continuously failed to understand him."

"It's fine, luv', we all had that phase for a bit…"

"I guess so but," Lucien sighed and looked away. "It still felt strange to hear the baby that I had carried in my arms a few years before tell me that he hated me, that I was never there for him, that… that…" 

"Sshhh." Mundy wrapped his arms around Lucien and pulled his head under his chin. 

"I was a poor father… I was absent, I was busy, I was away, I was…"

"Hey, it's alright. All dads are like that, ok? They're all busy with work and stuff when we're kids. Then we get to teenage boys and we start gettin' weird, and wonderin' about sheilas… And boys, I guess… About ourselves. We got all these questions and parents are shit at answerin' them. So we feel alone, and not really understood. But it's fine, it's how it goes and how it should go." 

Lucien buried his head deeper in Mundy's chest. 

"Doesn't mean you were a bad dad. And I'm sure of it now, I've seen you with Victoria and with Pearl. You're a bloody good Papa." 

"Maybe." Lucien's voice was muffled. His eyes were closed against Mundy's heart that he heard beating gently in front of him. He could smell the cheap cologne too, it brought him immense comfort. 

"Hey, not to me, eh? I saw you. I even told you. Wish my dad was like you."

"Oui but…"

"But what, love? Tell me." 

"I…"

"Get it out, darl'... Better out than in."

Lucien's shoulders sank. 

"I wish I could now know what Jérémy really thought of me. At the end, he kept on reproaching me all those things and, well, they were all true. Each time he did, I looked in his eyes, God, his eyes… He had his mother's eyes… Blue, of a darker shade than mine, dirty blond hair, buck teeth… He was an adorable little boy but he grew up to hit puberty, too soon. And each time he would address me, it would not be with admiration anymore, but with anger and hatred." 

"Hey… Darl'..." Mundy gently rocked his lover and slid his fingers through his long hair. "Close your eyes and remember when you were his age, eh? Didn't you think that you had it all figured out, that you'd be better off without your parents, that they didn't understand what you felt…?"

"Mundy, you are not understanding."

"Oh?"

Lucien pulled himself out of the embrace and rubbed his eyes. 

"Non, I understood him too well! I knew this rage, this powerlessness, this frustration. I knew it so well that when I was faced with it, I decided to leave home and live in the streets." 

Mundy frowned. 

"When I turned 18, I fled. My mother and step-father pressured me and forced me to choose between Medicine and Law. I didn't want either, and so I ran away. And whenever I saw Jérémy look at me with hatred, I would see myself, right before I fled. It terrified me, that sight."

"You were scared that he'd run away too?" Mundy asked. 

Lucien raised his eyes to him and nodded sadly. 

"Oh, I get it now… But Lu'..."

"Who knows? Maybe he wanted to flee too. Maybe God claimed him back before he had the chance."

"Ssh." Mundy pulled Lucien in a hug again. "You can't know. No one can."

"What terrified me most is how his mother would have reacted, had he decided to run away."

"Lu', stop thinkin' about it. You can't do anything about it, and in any case, you don't have to."

"Oui, but what if-?"

"No, luv', listen." Mundy cut him off and cupped his face such that he rested his forehead against his. "What ifs are useless, darl'. Stop thinking about it. Let your baby boy rest, and let yourself rest too."

"I cannot. There are things that I have been holding within myself for far too long. I want someone to know. I want someone to share all these personal secrets with, I want to share the weight of that burden, all those mistakes, those sins." 

"Hey now, don't be dramatic. Everyone does stuff they regret. There isn't one man or sheila alive who doesn't regret somethin'! It's just not possible!"

"Oui, but I don't care about other people!"

"Neither do I! But you can't continue carrying stuff like that on your back!"

"You want me to forget?" Lucien asked, his eyes wider than planets. 

"No! I want you to learn to live with it in your heart, not on your shoulders like you're carrying the world's misery on yourself!"

Lucien lowered his head and softly headbutted Mundy's chest. 

"I know it's hard, love. I really do. Sometimes I think about my parents and how I… I-I…" 

Lucien raised his head and Mundy looked away. 

"How you what?" He gently asked. 

"I'm a monster… I-I left them to die."

Lucien's eyes snapped wide. 

"Non!" He frowned. "You outdid yourself to avenge them! I saw you, the delicate, shy, compassionate you torture a man. You burnt a man, you burnt every square inch of his chest while he was wide awake and alive!"

Mundy rubbed his eyes and winced. 

"Yeah, you don't need to remind me of that, thanks…."

"Mundy…" Lucien put a hand on his cheek. "You have surpassed yourself, you have done what you never thought you could and yet what did you do? You put yourself aside and did more than what trained soldiers did during the war! Mundy, you avenged them and made them proud."

"Hm. Don't think they're proud." Mundy answered. 

"That is not what I said. I said you made them proud. You avenged them and that is what you had set yourself to do, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"Don't you feel at rest now with respect to your parents?" 

Mundy raised his eyes to Lucien and his gaze hung there for a few seconds. 

"I… I'm not sure." 

"Do you regret having dealt with Duchemin?" 

"N-not really but…"

Lucien nodded as he started to understand it. 

"Ah, I see… It is the discussion you had with your parents when you took me to meet them?"

Mundy nodded and sighed. 

"I feel like they'd be even more furious at me." 

"Why?"

"Mum's a good woman. She never would have wanted to hurt anyone. And Dad just hated violence for the sake of it."

"So you feel like you have avenged them but betrayed the education they gave you, their values?" 

"Yeah. I think you put the words on it, again." 

"Again?" Lucien asked. 

"That's why I was so fascinated by Lulu at first. It's cause he managed to put words on things I felt inside me."

"Mundy, you did what you did because it was the right thing to do when you had to do it." Lucien said. "Had things been different, of course you would have reacted differently. Had you not been dragged into the alligators business, you surely wouldn't have followed the track of the worthless man who killed your parents. Besides, this isn't a case of violence for the sake of it. You didn't wake up with the crave to torture someone, no one does. Non. You used violence because what else was left?"

"Nothing." Mundy answered.

"Exactly, you were alone and you didn't have any other way to set things straight. No law on Earth would have condemned that man for the atrocities he caused. So don't look at it the way you are. Had you not followed that lead to find the alligators, Duchemin might still be walking this Earth."

"And I wouldn't have met you." 

Lucien smiled. 

"Non, you would not have, but such is the game of life. You cannot win everything. Either you missed all this, you didn't deal with Duchemin and you didn't meet me, or you indeed go through all of this but with me at your side." 

"Is that the choice I have?" 

"Not exactly. You have made the choice of pursuing the alligators' road and we know where that has led you up until today. Who knows what the other path could have offered?"

"I wouldn't have known you."

"Indeed, but you would not feel this almost regret that you do right now." Lucien explained. 

"Hm."

"It is similar to me. I thought I had put away the suit and tie for good after Marie and Jérémy passed. Yet when the Minister of Defense told me of Duchemin, I could not resist the urge to deal with him." 

"D'you think they'd uh… They'd be… proud of you?"

"Non." Lucien chuckled. "Marie hated my job with a passion. She was very wary of Jérémy discovering it and becoming attracted to the idea of becoming like me. I pretended I had an office job - after all, the suit and tie worked wonders to fool anyone - and invented all kinds of stories and lies to him. He was too young to understand. But I think that as he grew up, he might have had suspicions. There aren't many jobs where you travel left and right, attend luxurious parties but don't take even your partner with you. I think he had his doubts about my job, maybe that added to his hatred towards me." 

"So we're both in the same state, eh?" 

"Oui."

"Again?"

"Oui." 

"Thank God." 

Lucien looked at Mundy. He smiled softly. 

"I'm tired of feeling alone and have weird feelin's inside me, and I'm startin' to get used to you understanding me and feeling the same way too." 

Lucien returned the gentle, lopsided grin. 

"I am grateful to have found you for that same reason, mon loup."

[My wolf]

Lucien tapped the tip of Mundy's nose and the Aussie's eyelids fluttered as he chuckled. 

"Hey…!" Mundy pulled Lucien from his waist and kissed his nose. "There, now we're even."

"Merci!"

[Thanks!]

"You're welcome. So, shall we take the kittens to their new homes?" 

"Before we do, do you feel any better?" Lucien asked.

"Yeah… Thanks love, you're the best."

"My pleasure.  In that case, let us proceed." Lucien turned to Perle. "May we…?" 

The lady cat rubbed her head against Lucien's hand before going to his mouth. He kissed her and she went to lie against Soot. 

"I think that's a yes, Lu'." Mundy said. "I found this cardboard box. Let's put the kitties in and I'll carry it. You lead the way." 

"Perfect." 

The couple scooped the kittens and placed them gently in the box. They went to the door and exited the place. 

"Mister L, Sir?" 

"Oh?" Lucien saw a group of kids running to him in the street. "Oui, what is it, gentlemen?" He squatted to be at their eye level. 

"Maurice said Francis left this for you." One of the blond boys recited his text and inflated his chest proudly. 

"What did he leave?" Lucien asked.

"This!" The child pointed further in the street. 

"Oh!" Lucien's eyebrows jumped and he failed to hide his surprise. "Is that really true?" 

"Yes, Sir! Francis said he was delighted to know you were doing well. He sends his regards." 

"Thank you. Here…" Lucien took his wallet out and gave the children a note. "Don't spend it all on sweets, and do share it." 

"Thank you so much!" The kids ran away, leaving the couple and the kittens alone on the pavement. 

"Hahaha!" Lucien went to the black motorcycle and tapped it gently. "A marvel of elegance and technology. I am delighted that Francis decided to leave it to me…" 

Mundy caught up with him, the box still in his arms. 

"I remember that bike. You came to see me at the lake with it. It's the one that turns invisible, right?" 

"Indeed, that is the one." Lucien let his fingers run on the leather seat. "A delight to drive too." He raised his eyes to Mundy and took the box off of his arms to secure it at the back. 

"What are you doin'...?"

"You don't think we will walk to deliver those kittens, do you?"

"N-no, we could take me van?"

"Non. Here." Lucien handed him the second helmet and made sure the kittens were safe. He wrapped his scarf around the box to dampen the noise of the engine.

"W-what? You want me to-?"

"Come on, Mundy!" Lucien straddled the motorcycle and held a hand out for his lover.

"You sure?"

"You don't trust my riding abilities?"

"N-no, nah, it's just that…"

"What then? Am I too old for riding a motorcycle?" Lucien chuckled.

"Nah, course not, hold on…" Mundy put on the helmet and took his lover's hand. He straddled the motorcycle, behind Lucien.

"Be careful on the road, love." 

"I will. Now hold on." Lucien started the engine and the motorcycle woke up in a roar. 

Mundy put his hands on Lucien's sides and took advantage of the situation to hold him dearly. The Frenchman smiled in his helmet and off they went to deliver the kittens. 

The first stop was made to Bastien. He was delighted to meet his new companion. Then came Maurice and a well earned lunch break. Lucien and Mundy were left with Junior. While waiting for Victoria to finish her shift, they spent the afternoon in a park with the young cat. 

"Mundy?" 

"Yeah?"

"I had a thought about something you said."

"What is it?"

"Remember when you told me that there were things you wanted to do with me and that you hadn't had the chance before I went away?" 

"Yeah."

"I think we should do one of them this evening." Lucien answered.

"What d'you have in mind?" Mundy asked. 

"Surprise…!" Lucien teased. "But first, let us deliver this young man to his new mother." He scratched his namesake's jaw and the kitten purred. 

"Alright, you lead the way."

[pettrichore]

dunno if i’ll be able to finish this. but so like dabihawks au where like. dabi does his research aka when he was touya he was with his dad once during the whole takami thief thing and met keigo. flash forward he doesnt believe a thing about this hero hawks. sees him for the fabricated person he has become. and eventually hawks sees dabi for who he really is and was and like vigilante-ish dabihawks. bits about the au and the snippet i wrote under the cut.

cause this shit gets LONG af

hawks feels fake. doesnt rlly know who he has even become

the commission kinda forced a lotta habits out of him and completely molded him into who they want him to be

he barely even finds his name to be anything more than a stranger’s name at this point. 

anyway so dabi p much knows who he is. does his own digging. and kinda puts some pieces together and sees how fake hawks is

hawks barely even knows if he shows any genuine emotions at this point. he’s kinda at a breaking point where he cant recognize himself and separate keigo from hawks. feeling like hawks has just swallowed him whole

he does show genuine things though. sometimes says or does shit out of line but he tends to have obedience beat into him even if he sometimes has a bit of a mouth on him. it’s mild tho

at the start of dabi working w hawks, hawks was very careful

it kinda progressed into keigo coming out more around dabi even though it was in bits and pieces

anyway dabi puts two and two together and realizes him and hawks are pretty similar and instead of seeing him as a traitor (though he’s sure that he’s not 100% on their side) he sees him as someone who can fit in with the misfits and he can p much fully convince hawks to ditch the bs

so the confrontation happens (see ending snippet) and hawks is like wtf just happened

and p much eventually there’s some tender moments between dabi and hawks and hawks ends up explaining how used he’s felt

he has been molded into the perfect obedient soldier; maybe sorta kinda explains that the commission is having him do double agent duties and instead of reacting badly dabi is p receptive and doesnt just try to kill him. instead he can see how badly hawks wants to break out of his cage and fly free and he deeply feels for that and knows how that can feel and is like aight well fuck them

so hawks kinda double agents on the commission?? 

and he does end up meeting the LoV and like sees how human they are

but also he’s like damn son but okay i dont agree w everything

and dabi is like yeahhh same ??? idk they are a means to an ends for me but also not lmao 

and then there’s some dabi spilling his guts as they get closer and get more intimate and very much boyfriends

and hawks is so livid and he cant help but fuck around with endeavor the next time he sees him. and like he’s just so much more distant to him. he can’t begin to wrap his head around it. and he’s so broken that like.. the one person that he saw as his true hero. that “saved him” is a horrible person behind closed doors

the one person who he was inspired by and agreed to join the commission’s forces for is just horrible

there’s just a lotta solidarity between hawks and dabi and a lotta shared anger and hurt

and they’re boyfriends and it’s great but also like hawks isn’t a horrible person

neither is dabi ??? i mean listen they’ve both killed ppl. they probs will continue to kinda do it. but it’s always just horrible ppl

like listen killing ?? not great folks??? but also like idk man.. 

they also def leave kids outta this 10000% 

anyway p much they end up ditching the LoV too. try to get some of them outta that shit. like toga who has become like a sorta lil sister for dabi in a way

they both just feel so horrible and gross seeing kids get into that shit

also like the girl needs some HELP. some therapy and rehabilitation idk

idk i love the morality shit with the LoV but might not play with it too much here

anyway they end up doing their own thing and the commission is quick to denounce him and just ruin his image

and try to kill him lmao they made him a perfect hero which could be a perfect villain and if he isn’t working for them he’s working against them (i mean he is) and needs to be Stopped Permanently

anyway here’s the snippet. my single brain cell that helped write this has left my body:

At this point, Hawks wasn’t so sure he was even real. His existence felt fabricated. Each smile or joke carefully placed. Each movement was calculated. He didn’t act out of line. His interviews were carefully thought out months in advance if not lies that he himself began to believe after years of telling them. His penthouse had just enough “personal” touches that when he had a spare moment to invite someone over it actually seemed like it could be a home. Hawks’ original motivations were squashed and were pushed aside unless they created an interesting story. His natural mannerisms that came with his mutation quirk were learned to be suppressed. Hell his own name sounded like a stranger’s to his ears. That is if anyone even knew it. 

“Is there anything real about you, hero,” Dabi spoke. His back wasn’t fully to Hawks, left side presented to him as he set a framed graduation photo down and fully faced the winged hero. Dabi stuffed his hands in his pockets and tilted his head to the side some, waiting for an answer. Hawks snorted and gave him an unamused look.

“I’m as real as they get, hot stuff.” He kept a casual air about his words, hands spreading out in surrender. “Not sure what else you expect.”

Hawks was on edge, but he wouldn’t let the villain know it. They were supposed to be meeting soon, but once again the villain pulled something unexpected and had been waiting for Hawks in his own apartment. Hawks’ feathers twitched slightly, sharpened edges ready for the command if it came. Dabi leveled him with an unimpressed stare. There was a moment where their gazes met in an intense battle, though Dabi’s look softened as he broke out in a lazy grin.

“Y’know... You might be just as much of a mystery as I am, Pretty Bird.”

“I think I’m a pretty open book myself.”

“I think you like to let people think that.”

“And I think you’re just trying to fuck with me. Can we just get to what you came here for? I had a looong day and kinda wanna get some food and some sleep.” Hawks punctuated his words by stretching his arms up high before shedding off his coat, goggles, and headphones. He tossed the coat over the back of his couch and dropped the gear onto the end table. He hoped Dabi would just drop this whole line of thought, take this as some sort of submission, and be satisfied enough to leave. 

Wrong.

“Oh, we can get to that later… You, on the other hand, are much more interesting.” He moved closer, hands coming out of his pockets as he crossed the room to stand a few feet from Hawks. 

“I’d love to be a great host and entertain you, but unfortunately I wasn’t expecting any guests today.” Hawks crossed his arms and watched Dabi carefully, eyes narrowing some in challenge. 

“That’s too bad. You know, I’ve been doing some research on you. I don’t quite think you are who you say you are, Hawks.” The winged-hero tensed just ever so slightly before forcing his muscles to relax some. He didn’t like the way things were going. While Dabi’s fire was his ultimate weakness, he’s sure that he’s fast enough to put a sharpened feather to his throat and end this all here and now than Dabi would be if he wanted to put the spy to an end.

“And who do you think I am then, Dabi?” He raised an unruly eyebrow. His primaries ached to shoot out and end this, poised at the ready.

Dabi blinked slowly, bright turquoise eyes disappearing for a moment before shining under heavily lidded eyes. His grin stretched a bit wider, tugging on where healthy skin met the grafts. 

“I think you aren’t the hero you put out there… Or the person you say you are. You like to say a lotta nothin’ don’t you?” Dabi stepped closer and Hawks’ fingers twitched but his arms remained crossed.

“I think you like to pretend to be this airhead bird. Like to use that name. Like to look like you’re the perfect little hero... You’re good at it, too. You aren’t though, are you… Takami Keigo.” 

Hawks had a primary feather in each hand, on pressed to Dabi’s throat. It pressed in just enough to draw some blood from the marred skin grafts. He could feel the heat radiating from Dabi’s skin and particularly from the small flames in each of his palms, but the villain made no move to use it against him. He just continued to grin. 

“What’s the look of surprise there, Birdie?” Dabi purred. 

“How do you know that name?” He demanded, crowding further into Dabi’s space. 

“Like I said, I did my research. Now unless you want to end up on the crispy side of cooked, I’d ease the fuck up,” Dabi’s voice took on a slight bite towards the end and his grin lessened. “And here I was going to tell you that you can meet the boss finally. Thought you might be real League material.”

Hawks instincts and mind screamed to press the sharp feather further or at least hold his position, demand answers. His judgment told him to ease off and soften the feathers once more. Hawks didn’t move too far from Dabi, though the primary feathers in his hands softened and returned to his wings. The heat radiating off Dabi died down along with the flames in his hands. Steam left his skin as he killed the flames. 

“Much better… We don’t want any incidents like that when you get to meet the boss, right? You’re lucky I’m a lot more patient.” Hawks wasn’t sure what this was all about but didn’t argue with him on that point.

“Glad to see your fake little hero persona is starting to crack.”

[captain-aralias]

Creators: give a “behind the scenes” look at one of your works. This could be things that got removed or changed, the origins of ideas/details, whatever you like!

oh hey - it’s trivia tuesday already (i guess it’s been a long two days back at work this week). i know everyone is still working their way through the remixes that are finished and posted - and i say, do this! some cracking stuff. i’m over half way through now, and i want to write up some thoughts about how these 26 stories approached remix - because it’s super inventive. i think people benefited from not being familiar with the format.

but i also wanted to share my thinking around why i picked the fic to remix that i did - and what else i was considering from @bazzybelle‘s ficlist, because i think the thought process around remix is interesting. AND i wanted to show you the 500 words i wrote almost immediately of a completely different remix that i definitely won’t finish. it would have been... a publishing AU, fake relationship with too-early-in-the-relationship sex. all good things in a fic, right?

so - read on for deleted scenes, and discussion of thought process. and don’t read on, if that’s not your jam. 

(in general remember - i’m keen to leave stuff in the original that’s good, rather than just thieve everything. so that’s my thought process here.) 

first idea: 

I Just Want Your Extra Time And Your .....

(texting, sex chat). i already really liked this fic, and i have IRL experience of working in publishing (which you’ll see to some extent in the fic - i worked very near people who worked on celebrity cookbooks, which is what baz works on in the fic) (the launch party is not revealed to be at the groucho club in the bit i wrote, but would have been - and i’ve been there/i know soho, so ... that was all appealing)

my idea was: the original is a text fic, mine isn’t, although they still only know each other through the sex chat set-up. so instead of simon and baz having text-sex (as in the fic), baz asks simon [who he's never met] to come and be his fake date at a publishing launch party where he sees lamb, his former boyfriend. 

the trigger for simon and baz progressing with their relationship/having sex (Because they were going to have sex but IRL) would be the same - baz seeing lamb and freaking out. and some of the texts would be literally copied and pasted in my fic as backstory. 

here were my original notes:

in the original fic there's a bit where baz sees lamb, his ex boyfriend, and then is like - hey, simon distract me and they have phone sex

my fic will essentially start there - baz is at a launch party for one of his books, lamb is there - dating the author. it is awful. baz wants to leave, but can't. also, it's time for the text slot with simon - he goes and hides in a cloakroom

and is texting simon, it's terrible - i am so drunk and it's still terrible. and i think simon offers (rather than baz asks) to come and pretend to be his boyfriend

for some sort of plausible denial reason like baz will text him a lot over hte next few days so he'll get a lot of extra money or some shit, but also because simon thinks lamb is a dick even through teh messages

simon shows up - they both drink a lot. they like each other, simon punches lamb (probably). baz asks if he can take simon to a restaurant, they talk more - they kiss. they go back to a hotel together. they discuss whether or not this means that simon is a prostitute (no). they have sex IRL

baz wakes up - and leaves immediately, obviously.

they text again the next day - it's awkward. simon thinks about how he could track baz down if he wanted to - but he feels like baz doesn't want him to, so he doesn't

simon gets out of his horrible job - baz probably tries to get in touch with him, but can't because he's gone. simon gets a message from baz ....... this is still to be determined

anyway - i will probably steal the meet cute in the elevator, it's nice.

why i stopped writing it: 

i knew it was going to take ages to write - i didn’t have the time or brainspace to write 20k of fic. i’d assumed going in that i could lean on the original fic to provide the meetcute, but realised that since it was an AU, i still needed to sell the relationship - particularly given that they were meeting in real life for the first time in my fic. 

also, it would have been my first mundane AU for the fandom, and my first thing where they weren’t enemies first. (so i was trying to think about how i could get them not to like each other a bit WHILE STILL doing fake dating - and it was throwing me off). it was all just too much.

everything i’ve written is pasted for you at the bottom.

other ideas: 

a month passed. i didn’t write any more on my original remix, but went back to greener grass instead. i sent out the month warning email to remixees and thought - i am not going to finish this fic. 

so, i went back to the list of bazzybelle’s fic and thought what can i write that i can definitely write in a month? 

1. You're F***in' Perfect to Me - daphne POV

i thought, i could write this from malcolm's POV.  in the fic daphne talks a lot about how she and malcolm are just friends, rather than true love, and it's baz she has real (motherly) feelings for, not malcolm. so i thought i could write 'the courtship of mrs grimm' where malcolm gets a wake-up call from this argument, and thinks, i actually do love daphne but she likes my son more than me. he's been hiding behind not wanting to sully natasha's memory, etc, etc. fiona would probably be in it. 

2. bat baz

i also had a bit of a naff idea where instead of baz turning into a bat, in bat baz, he would turn into bat man... 

(interestingly one of the remixes was about baz turning into a cat) 

3. If I Fell In Love With You - which i eventually chose

i took the dancing and the music, the set up, and the theme of communication - also some dialogue. pushed some of the focus onto baz’s relationship with niall, pushed the action back in time towards wayward son, added a truth spell (based on a spell in the original) to force communication.

i think this is one of the most interesting remixes i’ve ever done, btw. i’m really pleased with my take on it. 

i chose this to remix because i thought - it’s only a few scenes, rather than a whole get-together arc, and it felt achievable in the timespan. i also had a strong idea about what i could do that was different - the relationship with niall and the spell, and what i would leave for people to discover in the original (simon’s POV - including the warmth he feels when baz cooks for him, the two of the resolving the initial fight when simon comes home in a bad mood). 

the title is a combination of - another line from ‘if i fell’ but one that is about not talking to each other/not putting yourself out there... and ‘where words fail’ - which is the spell i used, and also picks up on what baz says to niall - that telling simon wasn’t enough. even if he’d had the right words, they wouldn’t have been believable. but - through the music/magic, they were able to communicate. 

i also considered using a line from ‘into my arms’ instead (I believe in some kind of path), since that was the song that the magic is cast on - but it didn’t work as well thematically. 

here’s the fic i wrote: Don’t Run and Hide (The ‘Where Words Fail’ Remix’)

and here’s the remix i didn’t write. i think i almost wanted to finish it just for the elvis gag. alas, alas.

I Just Want your Extra Time: remix, not written

BAZ

I don’t smoke as much as my father thinks I do. And I don’t drink – not usually. This evening, though, I’ve already had several glasses of champagne and I’m on my fourth cigarette, the second this smoke break. Because it’s that or go back inside. And I definitely don’t want to go back inside.

I should have known he’d be here.

Not that he was invited. Not that he’s on the guest list. Not that there’s any reason at all, in fact, for him to be here, except that my life is an absolute disaster. Today definitely not an exception.

If anything, it’s worse than usual. I thought I’d already hit bottom when Dev told me I had to ring our printers – in China – and get them to promise to ship one of our new titles three weeks early, as some idiot had sent the press release out with the wrong date. That was excruciating, but things seemed to be improving.

It’s a launch party night. I’m not sure why, but I always look forward to them, even though I hate crowds. (Niall would probably say, other people in general. And he wouldn’t be far wrong.)

But I get to wear a suit. (Tonight’s is Spencer Hart. Dark grey. Green tie.) And I know Snow is going to text after the first hour. And even though no one ever remembers to thank the editor – not unprompted, anyway – I do enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that I’m responsible for turning whatever dross we’ve been told to sell into something that could loosely be called a book.

This one is a cookbook by an actor (not a chef, in other words. I had to hire someone else to write the recipes and then we just photographed him next to the result.) It should be a triumph. It is – we’ve already sold several thousand copies. I should be enjoying myself. But then I heard a voice next to my ear.

“Baz.” And someone put a hand on my waist. “Don’t you look rosy?”

Not someone. Lambert. (I never called him Francois, even when we were intimate.) As irritatingly handsome as ever. And just as confident I’ll do whatever he wants.

I haven’t seen him for months. Not since he left me Las Vegas to go off with one of the better-looking Elvis impersonators. (And if that isn’t the most humiliating break-up story you’ve ever heard, then I really don’t want to know what is. Dumped. And for Elvis.) (Not even the real Elvis - not that it makes a difference.)

“I hoped I’d see you here,” he – Lambert – told me. “It’s been far too long.”

“Since you left me.”

He gave me a hurt look. “Baz. We said Auf Wiedersehen, not goodbye.”

“Who are you really here with?”

The author, of course. I watched their eyes meet across the room and Lambert smiling, before he told me it wasn’t serious. And that he’d be interested in taking me to dinner.

“Unless you’re seeing someone?”

I raised an eyebrow – even though I know Lambert knows I only do that when I can’t think of anything to say. Which means he probably knows the truth, which is that there isn’t anyone else. Not anyone else real, anyway.  

Which reminds me …

I check my watch – it’s later than I thought.

[thdorkmagnet]

Mother Knows Best (Star is Rapunzel AU)

A/N: Next up is Tangled!!

Summary: A series of one-shots and multi-chapters proving why Star Butterfly should be considered a Disney Princess, as Star and company take over the roles of all your favorite Disney Princess characters! (Starco inevitable)

Check out my other stuff on Fanfiction! 

Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. Tangled belongs to Disney. All rights go to their respective owners.

This is the story of how I died.... oh wow, sorry, that was way more intense then I thought it was going to be. D-Don't stop reading! This is actually a really fun story, I swear!

Marrrrcoooo, hurry up!! Get to the part about me already!

Umm, right, sorry Star. Okay, let's see, where was I? *ahem* Once upon a time....

Ugh, boring! Do you want to put the readers to sleep? Start off by telling them something really cool, something that's gonna draw them in. Like a... a monster fight!

Hey, who's telling this story here?

Sorry.

Okay anyways, this is the story of a beautiful young princess with magic golden hair that had the power to heal the sick and wounded-

That's me!

Star, shhh! For years, she lived locked away in a tower, hidden deep in the woods, kept there by an evil and controlling woman, who wanted nothing more than to horde the girl's gift for herself.

Yeah, cause she's a meanie!!

That and so she could live forever. 

And also cause she's a meanie. 

And the name of this princess was Rapunzel... I mean, Starunzel! Ugh, I mean Star.

Geez, Marco. You really don't know what you're doing, do you?

No, I'm sorry.

Aw, that's okay. How about we just start by showing what happened the day we first met so we don't confuse the readers anymore than we already have.

Yeah okay, that sounds good.

Great!

Soooo, how do we do that exactly? 

Simple. We use the mystic and magical page break.

Page wha-

…

Star was excited, practically racing through her chores that morning, cleaning every inch of the well-kept tower she called home. What would normally take her fifteen minutes to complete, today only took her a mere ten, which was quite the accomplishment for her dragging around seventy feet of long, blond, and sometimes unruly hair wherever she went. Though the downside of this was of course, that she now had the rest of the day to herself with literally nothing to do forcing her to find some other way to fight off the horrible enemy she was in almost constant battle with...boredom, but today she didn't really mind too much, her excitement over the special day helping to keep her mind occupied.

Once she was finished with the last of the cleaning, she looked around at the neat and tidy room in satisfaction, grinning with pride as every last inch of the tower seemed to be sparkling. “There, perfect, if I do say so myself,” she said boastfully, adding, “which I do.” She giggled at her own joke, while putting away her broom.

“Hey Janna!” she called to the ceiling of the tower, which was dark and not very well-lit. “Jan! Come on Janna, wake up,” she tried again, with still no reply. She frowned, before grabbing a strand of blond hair, flinging it out like some sort of lasso, where it wrapped around a lever that was normally just out of reach for her. She gave her hair a yank, pulling the lever down and opening up one of the windows above, lighting up the scaffolding of the tower, as well as the small purple bat currently snoozing up there.

Janna flinched as her small, fluffy body was encased in the hideous light, keeping her eyes glued shut, as she wrapping her wings tightly around herself to shield her from the intense beams, before going back to sleep. Star blinked, before groaning as her only friend ignored her, her cheeks puffing up cutely in anger. She wasted no time as she grabbed a bigger strand of hair and threw it up toward the beam the small bat was sleeping under. It flew over the beam before wrapping around the beam next to it, Star now able to use her hair as a rope as she climbed her own blond locks up to where Janna slept.

Once she was next to her animal friend, she gently poked her with her finger over and over again waiting for a reaction, a wide smile spread across her face. “Come on, sleepyhead,” she said softly, as she tried to gently awaken her bat friend.. “Wakey-wakey.”

Finally, Janna sighed, unfolding her wings and giving her a blank and tired stare, clearly wanting to know why she was being woken up so early in the morning. “Now don't give me that look, Janna,” Star defended herself, seeing the intent behind her friend's piercing green eyes. “It's not my fault you stayed up all night.” She crossed one arm across her chest, while the other still had to be dedicated to holding onto her hair to keep from falling, turning away from the bat with a pout, closing her eyes and refusing to look at her.

But after a few seconds, she slowly peeked open an eye and could see out of the corner of her eye that the look on the bat's face persisted, a small scowl on her fuzzy features. Star groaned in exasperation, before angrily stating, “Okay fine! I know you sleep during the day and everything, but c'mon, tomorrow is my birthday and I don't want to spend it all alone.” She gave the bat a pouting look, her lip quivering cutely knowing Janna couldn't resist the stare she had spent the last fourteen years perfecting.

Janna gave a small huff, rolling her green eyes before flying off of her perch and to the floor with a look of annoyance.

“Yay!” Star cheered, pumping a fist into the air, as she slid down her hair to the ground, excited her friend would be with her on the very big day. Once she was on the ground, she asked her friend, “So what should we do first?” She didn't even bother to wait for a reply as she began listing off potential activities to fill time in a nearly sing-song voice. “Playing guitar, knitting, cooking, puzzles, darts, baking, oh I guess that's probably the same as cooking, huh? Haha, umm, well we could also try some pottery or ventriloquy or candle making, I could try painting if I could find a spot that I haven't already painted on. Hmm? Oh, oh, oh, or we could re-re-reread those books I have, what do you think?”

Once she was done, Janna just gave her a one of her bored looks that said, 'I-don't-really-care'.

“Huh, you're right,” Star said thoughtfully. “We'll do them all!” she declared at the top of her lungs, pointing a finger in the air, dramatically.

Janna just sighed again, thinking it was way too early to be doing anything right now.

…

Meanwhile, in the nearby kingdom of Corona, the whole town was teeming with excitement and lively chatter on that lovely morning. Townsfolk were already going about their daily work with more vigor than usual and the streets were filled with the sound of children's laughter and general merriment. Everyone was in high spirit, the air itself practically electrified with jubilant energy, as all were happily anticipating the festival that would be the following day. Preparations had been underway for weeks, streamers and decorations hung up all over the busy streets, fluttering freely in the breeze and proudly showing off the beautiful logo of the kingdom: a purple flag with a bright, golden sun. This served as a constant reminder to the townsfolk of what was to come and the anticipation many were feeling was close to bursting at this point.

But one such individual was free of any feelings of merriment that plagued the rest of the kingdom, as he looked down on the people below with an impassive look. He was more focused on the work that had to be done to care about some silly festival and besides he would be long gone by that point.

He stood high on the roof of the large castle in the center of town, keeping a close eye on the guards that patrolled the perimeter, none the wiser to the teen's presence and he smiled to himself. Idiots. He took a moment from his precarious position to stretch, mentally and physically preparing himself for what was about to happen, letting out a calming breath. The boy had tanned skin and brown, spiked hairs (which he kept styled at all times) brown eyes and a mole just under his left cheek. He wore a white long-sleeved shirt with a red vest over on top of it and a brown belt hugging his mid-section firmly. The sleeves were rolled up to above his elbows on his shirt and a satchel hung loosely over his shoulder. He had on light brown pants, which were tucked into black, hunting boots.

A gentle breeze blew up against him, causing a shiver to crawl up his spine which he ignored. It was bound to happen being this high up. All he had to say was thank goodness he didn't have a fear of heights. Behind him, he heard a strangled squeak and he turned to see his two accomplices behind him, one tall and thin and the other short and fat. The thin one was tightly hugging his partner in a death grip, shaking as he looked at the ground below. “Do we have to be this high up?” the teen asked in a nasally voice.

“Can't be helped, Alfonso,” the boy in red shrugged. “This is the easiest way in. The higher up we are the less the guards look.”

“Marco's right, Al,” the third boy, Ferguson, agreed, pushing his friend off of him, causing him to shriek in fear and Marco cringed, glad they were too high up to be heard by the passing guards. “The last thing we need is to get caught stealing from royalty,” the chubby one added.

“Yeah and with that in mind we better hurry, just in case someone does happen to look up and see us,” the thief in red, Marco Diaz, said, before he recklessly jumped off the side of the roof, sliding down its tiled side and landing on the side of one of the towers with a barely audible thud. Ferguson followed quickly after, with an anxious and fear stricken Alfonso following hesitantly after, trying to ignore the long, fatal fall beneath him.

The three boys began making their way slowly and carefully around the side of the tower, leaping from tower to tower, Marco in the lead of his friends, jumping and maneuvering his way around expertly. This wasn't his first time stealing from another person, but his was the biggest and most satisfying job of his criminal career. If he pulled this job off right he would be set for life, even after splitting it three ways with his cohorts.

He did question bringing these two along, their skills as thieves not anything too impressive, but he couldn't pull this job off on his own and they were the only ones he trusted enough to help him, knowing anyone else would stab him in the back and take off with the goods in a heartbeat. He was the one who had gotten them into this life after all, asking them to tag along with him on jobs when he had been just getting his start as a thief. He could tell that they weren't too interested in it in the same way he was, going along with his schemes more out of obligation from being his friends than actual want to engage in criminal acts. Still, they never turned down any of his offers and this job was no different, so he was fine with cutting the share with his two long-time partners.

The three finally reached their desired destination, Alfonso at this point panting and shuddering all over with fear. Marco and Ferguson quickly opened a small hatch in the roof, revealing the throne room, where about a dozen guards stood around a small pedestal. On it lay the object the three thieves had been seeking, the lost princess's crown, lying preserved and safe on a soft, purple pillow. It was made of pure gold, intricately crafted with white diamond's embedded into its top, as well as several rubies that made up the bottom half of the priceless prize.

Marco took a moment to marvel at the beautiful crown, while his two companions began tying a long, thick rope down beside him. He released a slow, breathy sigh, still unable to look away from the golden headpiece. But he was quickly pulled back into the moment as he felt Ferguson and Alfonso now tying the other end of the rope around his waist. He lifted up his arms allowing them to do their job much easier and waited patiently for them to finish. The two took their time making sure that the rope would be secure but also cause no discomfort to their friend, tying it as tight as they dared without hurting him.

Once the rope was properly in place, Ferguson and Alfonso began lowering Marco down into the throne room, making sure to keep a firm and steady hold on the rope as the thief was inched closer and closer to his prize. Marco took slow, even breaths, trying to stay as quiet as possible, not wanting to alert any of the guards to his presence. The large chamber was so unnervingly silent that if a pin were to suddenly drop Marco was sure it would startle every guard in the room. He honestly wondered how someone could tolerate being in the room all day, every day, as their source of earning. It seemed awfully boring. And to the adventurous, thrill-seeking Marco that was like a fate worse than death.

The young thief quickly pushed aside his racing thoughts, focusing instead on the guards themselves, his highly trained eye on alert for any notable or abnormal movements from the bunch that would indicate that they had been discovered. But the guards around him were none the wiser to his presence, their backs to the young thief as their eyes alertly scanned only directly in front of them.  

Finally, the boy in red came to a sudden and jerky stop, the pedestal and crown now only a few inches below him and easily within arms reach. He smiled to himself, but made sure to keep a weary eye on the guards as he quickly snatched up the crown, before tucking it safely away in his satchel. So far so good, he thought to himself, giving the rope a tug to let them know to pull him up. We might actually pull this off without a hitch.

But it seemed the boy had spoken (or rather 'thought') too soon, as he heard a small yell of none other than Alfonso, which sounded like a bombshell going off in the once deafening silence of the throne room, every guard jumping at the echoing noise. Before Marco could react, the boy felt the rope go slack and he was suddenly sent catapulting downward, as they boys above him, for whatever reason, lost their hold. Marco felt his stomach drop and he let out a small yell himself, as his body rushed toward the ground. He crashed into the pedestal on the way down, knocking to over, where it hit the floor with a loud bang.

Somehow, Marco was saved from the same happening to him, as Ferguson and Alfonso must have gotten a hold of the rope again, as he was yanked to a stop, his face near centimeters from the ground, the tips of his bangs touching the tiled floor. But all the commotion, of course, attracted a lot of attention, every guard swerving on their heels to see the young criminal suspended precariously from the rope, all of them in shock and disgust at the illegal action that was clearly taking place.

“Hey, stop thief!” one of them shouted angrily, as he and the others gritted their teeth and held out their spears, the sharp tips pointed directly at Marco.

“Pull me up!” Marco shouted above him in a panic, trying to somehow maneuver out of the way of the deadly weapons that now surrounded him on all sides. But the two thieves didn't have to be told twice as they began frantically pulling Marco back up, the dangling thief in just seconds out of the guards (and more importantly their spears) reach and he let a sigh of relief. The guards watched helpless as the intruder was hauled back onto the roof, their anger growing as they shouted up at him, while several ran to go get reinforcements.

Once Marco's was safely back on the roof with his two friends and his feet were once again planted on solid ground, he shot a glare at the two, demanding in a breathless and nerve-wracked tone, “What the heck was that?! Why'd you drop me, now the whole castle knows we're here?!” He began working on untying the thick and intricate knots, tugging relentlessly at the coarse rope in frustration.

“Sorry, Marco, something landed on my shoulder and it scared me,” Alfonso apologized sheepishly. “But it was totally a spider or something that was about to bite me,” he quickly added in his defense.

“It was a pigeon and no it wasn't,” Ferguson corrected, rolling his eyes at his friend.

Marco's eyes narrowed at the nasally teen. “So you just jeopardized one of the most important jobs of our career over a stupid bird,” Marco said irritably, the annoyance in his stony gaze unmistakable.

“Uh, apparently,” Alfonso muttered guiltily.

The boy in red face-palmed, letting out a infuriated growl as he dragged his hand slowly down his face. But he recovered quickly, as he said to the two in a much calmer tone, “Okay, then, time for 'Plan B'. We need to get out of here and fast. Let's go.”

He left no room for arguing as he began making his way down the castletop with no regard for his safety, more focused on getting away quickly than bothering to take things slow. He hopped from tower to tower and ran across perilous scaffolds without even looking to make sure his feet were in a good position to do so. Ferguson and Alfonso, to their credit, kept up with his quick and reckless pace, though the latter looked terrified the whole time, fighting off the panic attack that was slowly building up inside him.

Eventually the three were able to make it off of the castle, jumping from one of the balcony's onto the roof of one of the nearby houses, Alfonso stumbling slightly and looking paler than a ghost from the long drop. Marco wasted no time though, as he slid down the roof, landing on a nearby awning, doing a flip in the air, before tucking himself into a roll as he hit the stony sidewalk. Ferguson and Alfonso, on the other hand, carefully made their way over to the side of the building, dropping down onto the awning, before sliding down the poles using them to hold the thing up.

Marco rose to his feet, waiting until his companions were both down before leading them into a race through town, several guards already racing out of the gates of the castle and chasing after them, spears in hand. Marco dodged his way around the traffic on the streets, civilians screaming and frantically moving out of the way to avoid being knocked over, in total confusion and disarray over what was happening around them.

Soon the gates to the city were in sight, the bridge that would lead them into the forest and their freedom within reach. Marco smiled, before slowing his pace enough to allow Ferguson and Alfonso to run past him, knocking a cart of apples over, ignoring the shout of alarm from the seller, causing fruit to tumble into the road behind them. He hoped this would stall the guards long enough to give them enough time to escape.

He was rewarded with the sound of a scream and a crash behind him and the boy picked up his pace even more. As he and his companions ran out of the gates to town and across the long bridge, they all began laughing in victory, all quite overjoyed with their success.

“We did it, guys!” Marco shouted at the top of his lungs. He let out a loud chuckle, before adding, “Today is a very good day!”

…

“Today is a very good day, Janna!” Star stated to her bat friend, one musical montage and several dozen time-wasting activities later, still just as giddy and hyper as earlier. Nothing seemed to be able to deter Star's enthusiasm that day, not even the dreaded clutches of boredom, but unfortunately Star's peppiness was not shared as Janna just lay on the girl's shoulder looking utterly dissatisfied with life. But the young blond didn't notice this either, as she looked up at her newly constructed masterpiece with increased satisfaction. “I mean just look at that beautiful painting, I'm a true artist,” Star bragged proudly, puffing out her chest and striking a dramatic pose. “When mom sees this she'll be sure to let me go see the floating lights.”

Janna's gaze slowly shifted to the picture, not sure if she quite agreed. It was a terrible looking stick version of Star with goofily large eyes looking up at small white dots that Janna assumed were supposed to be the floating lights. And, because it was Star, she had also needlessly added in a lopsided skull and a smudged picture of a spider wearing a top hat floating in the air around her. All in all the pitiful excuse for art looked like it had been drawn by a four year old kid, not a soon to be fifteen year old teenager.

It was almost unbelievable that even after all these years living alone inside a tower with nothing but time to practice Star still hadn't gained even a speck of talent in painting whatsoever and the bat would have bet a fortune that the only thing Star's mother was sure to be when she saw it, was confused. Janna barely understood what she was looking at, there was no way her human friend's mother would know what it was supposed to be, as well.

“Well, what do you think?” Star asked, looking to her only friend in anticipation. This was when she finally took notice of her bat friend's clear difference of opinion, adding shamefacedly, “Uhh, sorry I didn't put you in the picture, too. But I kinda ran out of room.” The nocturnal mammal would have been offended she hadn't been added onto the picture (terrible as it was), if she actually cared. All she wanted was just to go back to sleep, unable to stop thinking of all the precious daylight that was being wasted. So Janna didn't say a word about how awful it looked and what a crime against true artists and art it was, instead she just shrugged and gave her a look that said, We-done-now?

Star sighed dramatically. “Fine, you can go back to napping,” Star said rolling her eyes, unable to believe Janna's lack of enthusiasm in all of this. How could she even consider napping on such a monumental occasion? Didn't she realize how amazing and life-changing this was?

But apparently she didn't, as the purple bat just flew up to the ceiling, hanging upside down from one of the pillars that was still in shadow, tucking her wings around her as she drifted off to sleep. Star tried to contain her disappointment as she muttered more to herself than Janna, “Mom will be back soon anyway. Don't want her to know I've been hiding a pet from her all these years.”

As if on cue, Star heard a call from outside the window, a familiar voice that the blond instantly knew had to be her mother's. “Star! Are you there, dear? Let down your hair, please?”

“Coming mom!” Star yelled, as she raced over to the window, opening the shutters, before looking down at her mother, waiting patiently below. Lady Eclipsa as she was known to be, had poofy teal hair and a flowing purple dress with small black dress shoes.

“Star, you know I don't like being kept waiting,” her mother called up in a warning tone. Star tried not to let this get to her as she hung her hair on a small hook that hung down from the top of the windowsill, before gathering up the rest and quickly flinging it over the side. Her long, blond locks fell gracefully down the entire length of the tower, nearly touching the ground when she was done. Eclipsa moved out of the way to avoid getting hit by the make-shift rope made of her daughter's own incredibly long hair.  

Once in reach, Star's mother quickly grabbed the end of the blond locks that were now nearly glowing in the sunlight, and raising it up to be used it as a little foothold for herself. She stepped onto this, before waiting for her daughter to begin pulling her up. And Star wasted no time in doing this, heaving back on her hair and the heavy form that now weighed it down immensely. But Star had had plenty of practice at this and was able to slowly but surely began pulling Eclipsa up the side of the tower, with little to no problem whatsoever, her experience in pulling things up by her hair alone a much more accomplished skill than her artistic ability.

She grunted as she pulled the last bit of distance needed for her mother to step onto the window frame and then safely inside the tower. Star panted heavily as moved to hug her mother, saying in a tired but cheerful voice, “Welcome back, mom.”

Eclipsa though just handed her the basket she had brought back, before stepping past her, not even noticing her daughter's show of affection. “Excellent work, Star. Though I think you could have done that a bit faster, hmm?” her mother commented, as she began gazing at herself in the mirror, messing with her hair to make sure it was still the way she wanted it.

Star looked hurtfully down at the basket for a moment before setting it down on the nearest table, racing over to her mother, hopping up and down on the balls of her feet to try and contain her excitement. She quickly asked in a hinting tone, “So mom, do you know what tomorrow is?”

“I believe it's Saturday,” her mother replied flatly, still examining herself closely in the mirror. Star shook her head saying, “No, no that's not what I meant.”

But her mother once again wasn't really listening, her eyes widening as she spotted a gray hair hidden in with the mess of blue locks around it. “Star, dear, we can talk in a moment, first I would love it if you would sing for your mother,” Eclipsa said, turning to her daughter with a small smile.

“Oh right, of course,” Star said, quickly jumping at the task, rushing over to get everything ready, running and grabbing the chair and stepstool needed, setting them in front of each other. Eclipsa just watched all of this with a blank stare, following her daughter's movements as she sat herself down in the chair Star had brought her. The blond grabbed the hairbrush before running back over to her mom, handing her the brush and laying a thick portion of her hair on her lap, as she plopped down onto her own small seat.

She cleared her throat before singing as quickly as she could the song her mother had taught her. “Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine. Make the clock reverse bring back what once was mine. Heal what has been hurt, change the fates design. Save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine.”

As Star did this, her hair lit up golden, trailing all the way down the entire length of her mane. Eclipsa hummed along with the fast pace of the song, seemingly unaffected by how quickly her daughter was going, as she just ran the brush a few times through the glowing locks. The woman felt a deep powerful magic coursing through her veins, a wonderful feeling overcoming her as all at once all her ailments and aches were reversed and healed.

Once Star was done, she quickly jumped up from the chair, grabbing her mother's arm in a tight hug, as she quickly began talking a mile a minute, “So now that that's done, I was going to tell you that tomorrow is kind of a big day and since I know you won't be able to guess, I'm just gonna go ahead and tell you that's its my birthday!!”

She smiled widely at her mom as she finished, but her mother didn't seem to react much at all, as she merely said, “Really, so soon?”

“Well, it has been a whole year,” Star mumbled under her breath, to her it had felt like she had been waiting forever for this day to come.

“Star, you know what we talked about with the mumbling,” her mother scolded, giving her a look, and Star remembered immediately all the previous lectures she had been given about how it was undignified for a young lady to whisper things under her breath and not speak loudly and clearly enough to be heard.

“Sorry, mom,” Star hastily apologized, making sure her voice was now loud enough her mother could easily hear it.

“It's alright dear,” her mother said, giving her a small hug, before walking toward the kitchen and pawing through the bowl of fruit, looking for something to eat. “So is there anything you wanted for your birthday?” she casually mentioned.

Star sucked in a breath. This would be the hard part, convincing her mom, but she decided to just go for it. “Well, I was thinking,” Star said as casually and innocently as possible. “Since I'm turning fifteen tomorrow I thought that it would be a good idea... to maybe go outside.”

Star had a wide, awkward smile on her face as she waited for her mother's reaction. Eclipsa stilled, dropping the apple she had chosen back into the bowl, as she turned to her daughter in surprise. “What?” she asked, shocked.

“Not for forever, of course,” Star quickly added, seeing her mother's concern. She chuckled nervously saying, “I mean that would be... crazy. But just long enough for you to take me to go see the floating lights.”

Now Eclipsa looked even more startled, asking hesitantly, “Floating... lights?”

Star could tell her mom was starting to think she  had gone insane so she quickly clarified, “Yeah, y'know the big glowing lights that fill the sky, every year, on my birthday.”

“You mean... the stars?” Eclipsa said slowly and Star let out a sharp, frustrated sigh.

“No, not the stars, mom. These are different. Here, let me show you,” Star quickly used a length of her hair to pull open a lever on the wall, opening a hatch which sent a flood of light cascading on her drawing, highlighting against the rest of the musty tower. “See,” Star said, pointing at the painting. “These things. The big bright things that always appear out of nowhere on my birthday.”

Eclipsa looked at the painting in silence for a few moments, her face completely unreadable. “I... see,” was all she managed to reply, trying to keep her face calm. She turned to her daughter asking, “And your sure you didn't just dream them? “No, I didn't,” Star said defensively. “Have you seriously never noticed them before?” When she received no reply she quickly waved this off. “Whatever, it doesn't matter. I see them every year, mom, and I just... really want to know what they are. I want to see them, up close, in person.”

“Why do you care so much about these stars, darling?” Eclipsa asked, sounding amused at her daughter's bizarre interest in something seemingly ordinary.

Star's cheeks puffed up some in anger. “First of all, they're not stars. And second of all, I don't know. I just feel like they're meant for me somehow, y'know.” Star shrugged not sure how quite to put it into words.

Eclipsa grew very quiet after that, watching her daughter closely as her eyes glazed over in thought. This was very bad. Very, very bad and she knew it. She had to do something. She couldn't let her flower discover the truth. She had to find some way to get her to stay. But how.

“Now, now, darling you know the rules about going outside,” she began, stepping closer to her daughter.

Star began to fiddle with a strand of her hair, nervously. “Yes, I know but, I thought maybe we could break the rules, just this once.” She gave her mom a sheepish smile, hoping that this would somehow convince her to let her go, though her optimism was beginning to fade.

And to Star's dismay, Eclipsa shook her head, before saying, “The rules exist for a reason, Star. To keep you safe. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out there?”

“Well no,” Star admitted, but quickly tried to argue, saying, “But I-”

“Exactly, dear, you don't know,” Eclipsa continued, as she walked over to her, placing her hands softly on her shoulders. “But I do. The world outside if full of dangers you couldn't even begin to imagine and you are just not ready to face them yet. You're too naive and the people out there would take advantage of that.”

Star looked sadly at her bare feet. “Not to mention what they would do if they discovered the power your hair holds,” Eclipsa continued softly, running a hand through Star's hair once.

The blond felt her heart thumping a bit out of control, fear filling her being. Her mother had told her stories of what had happened when she was just a baby. How everyone had wanted to cut her hair and have the power all for themselves, even trying to take her away from her mom and she shuddered at the thought.

Eclipsa pulled Star close in a comforting embrace, as she said worriedly, “I couldn't bare to see you get hurt. It would hurt me if that happened, you know that right?”

“Yes,” Star said sadly, feeling all the fight and hope drain from her, leaving her feeling empty.

“Then you are going to listen to your mother and stay put?” Eclipsa asked, waiting to hear the answer.

Star hesitated, but finally sighing saying again, “Yes.”

“That's my girl,” Eclipsa said, pulling out of the hug to cup her daughter's face in her hands. She gave her gentle kiss on the forehead. But as she pulled away, she saw the pitiful look on her daughter's face and added, “Trust me, Star. I always knows what's best for you.”

Star just gave her a half-hearted smile, as her mom gave her cheek a soft pat. “Well I must be going again,” Eclipsa said, as she quickly retrieved her basket and then climbed back up onto the window, before taking hold of the still hanging hair. She turned back to her daughter one last time before saying, “I will see you in a bit, my dear. I love you.”

With that, Eclipsa quickly began descending her daughter's hair. Star stood perfectly still, waiting until she couldn't feel the tug against her scalp anymore, letting her know her mother was now on the ground and probably heading out of the clearing and into the big, bright world Star was forbidden to see. Once she was sure her mother was out of ear shot, she loudly huffed, flopping herself down on the ground and crossing her arms in front of her, childishly.

She just fumed angrily to herself for a few moments, muttering comments about being trapped there forever, bored out of her mind, and calling her mom a poophead. Finally, Janna flew down and landed on her shoulder, giving her a look with her wide, brown eyes.

Star sighed, rubbing at her eyes as she agreed, “Yeah, that definitely could have gone better.”

…

“Hurry their gaining!” Marco shouted over to his two comrades, looking back to make sure they were still with him. To his relief, they were, Ferguson and Alfonso just barely managing to keep up, both panting immensely. But none of them had time to stop as, not a short distance away, the roar of approaching horses could be heard, growing louder by the second.

Marco did his best to evade their pursuers, going between trees that would be too narrow for horses to follow, jumping over fallen trunks, and sliding down steep inclines, but nothing seemed to work. Nothing seemed to be slowing any of them down any and Marco was quickly running out of ideas. If something didn't change soon, they would definitely be captured.

Suddenly, the three thieves all came to an abrupt stop as they reached a dead end. Marco looked up at the rocky cliff in front of them, quickly judging the distance, before turning back to Ferguson and Alfonso. “Okay quick, boost me up!”

The two shared a look with one another, looking unsure. “What?” Marco asked, seeing their hesitation.

“You sure you'll remember to pull us up when you're done?” Ferguson asked, in a half-accusing manner.

Marco looked hurt at the comment. “What? Of course I will. You two are my best friends.” The two still looked hesitant and Marco sighed, adding, “Look we don't have time to argue about this, the whole royal army is right on our tail.”

As if on cue, they heard a shout followed by the thundering roar of horses racing at full-speed toward them as it grew steadily louder. This finally seemed to convince the two thieves as they quickly formed a human ladder for Marco to climb up, the young man taking care not to step on their hands or faces as he scaled the cliff off of his friends.

Once Marco reached the top and had hauled himself over the ledge, he quickly checked his satchel, before giving a quick glance below, making sure no guards were there yet.

But he heard more guards riding up from around the clifftops and knew they had no time to waste. “Come on, guys! Let's get going!” he shouted before running away at full speed, forgetting the predicament he had left his two friends in.

The two just stared up at the cliff blankly for a moment. “D-Did he just leave us behind... again?” Ferguson asked.

“Yep,” Alfonso replied.

They both sighed dejectedly, as they waited to be arrested... again.

…

Marco continued at full sprint though the forest looking back occasionally to check and see if his pursuers were gone or not. Unfortunately for him, they weren't.

There were about four horeses following him, all carrying armed guards dressed in Mewni's traditional golden armor, the lead guard being none other than the captain herself, Kelly, her recognizable blue hair tied up in a bun, most of it covered by her helmet. “Great not her, that's just what I needed,” Marco muttered to himself, focusing on the impossible task of outrunning the riders on foot. “Does the universe just hate me or something?” he pondered to himself, as his eyes scanned the area around him, trying to think of a plan.

Finally, an idea came to him, as he grabbed onto a nearby vine, using the momentum to swing himself around the tree before kicking the unsuspecting Kelly off of her horse and instead taking her place. He situated himself better into the fancy saddle, checking back once to make sure the girl was okay. He breathed a mental sigh of relief as he saw she had landed in some bushes, her usually well-kept hair now coated in leaves and sticks, rubbing at her head and glaring daggers of death at him but not looking too injured. Once he knew she was fine, he allowed himself a small laugh of victory as he rode triumphantly away from his honest-working rival.

Kelly gritted her teeth as she watched helplessly as the thief rode away on her own horse and she stood up with a huff. After a few moments the other guards caught up to her, stopping to see if she was hurt, one of them worriedly asking, “Are you okay, Kelly?”

“That's Captain Kelly! And yes I'm fine, Tad,” she angrily snapped at her ex-boyfriend. “Just follow after that guy before he gets away!” The others all obeyed, returning to their chase as they hunted after their target, one of them stopping long enough to lift the girl captain up into the saddle behind him before galloping after the criminal, as well.

While that was going on, Marco was putting more and more distance between himself and his pursuers, confident he would easily allude them at this speed. He still took a few seconds to double-check and make sure he really was in the clear, though, listening to the now near-silent trotting of horse hooves, and smiled with satisfaction. Perfect. They were nowhere near him and at this rate he would be long gone before they had time to track him down. He was pretty much in the clear now.

The young thief allowed himself to relax a bit in his seat, loosening his tight grip on the reins. He absentmindedly patted the horse, saying, “Good job, girl. I think we lost them.”

The horse he was riding, who was names Pony Head (Kelly wasn't very clever with the names, her mind on more important things like hunting down criminals), hadn't been paying attention to the whole thing, finding all these stupid chases boring. She would much rather be hanging back at the castle with the other horses, maybe even flirting with a few of the better looking stallions there, not going on some annoying chase through the dumb woods looking for some turd.

But the second the boy spoke, the horse snapped to attention, the unfamiliar voice from her current rider setting off red flags in Pony's mind. What the heck?! Pony thought, as she turned her head to see some dumb boy sitting comfortably on her back, looking behind him rather than even paying attention to what was in front of him. Oh no! Pony thought in anger. No boy is gonna sit on by back!

She dug her hooves into the ground, bringing them to an abrupt halt and Marco, who had been distracted checking behind them to make sure they were free and clear, was nearly sent flying. The thief screamed, squeezing the reign's clenched in his hands with a death grip, somehow managing to stay on Pony Head, much to her anger and dismay.

“Hey what's the big idea?!” Marco screamed down to the horse, his heart still in his throat, causing him to pant harshly. When he got no reply from the animal, he repositioned himself back in the saddle, taking slow, steady breaths to try and calm his frazzled nerves. He did a quick look around for anything that might have spooked the mare. “Did you see a snake or something?”

Only the one on my back, Pony quipped back in her head.

The boy sighed, letting the scare go for now. “Never mind, let's get going,” he said, snapping her reigns to try and get her moving again. But to his surprise the horse didn't move an inch. “Uh, hello?” Marco said with slight annoyance, flicking the reigns again, a little harder this time. “Move.”

Still nothing. The boy was starting to lose his patience, the longer they lingered there the greater the chance the guards would catch up to them, Captain Kelly surely not giving up the chase so easily. This was exactly what Pony Head was thinking, as well, mentally smirking to herself at the idea of getting the annoying boy caught. Yeah keep yellin', turd. I ain't movin' a muscle.

“Come on fleebag, forward!” he yelled, kicking the stubborn horse in the side.

Oh he did not just call me that!! Pony mentally screamed, letting out a loud huff through her nostrils. The red thief heard this and opened his mouth to comment, but it quickly turned to a scream as the horse's hind legs bucked up over and over again, trying to knock the annoying pest off her back. It was a quite to see, as the horse aggressively kicked and stomped her way around the clearing, the poor young man holding onto her back for dear life as he was flung around like a rag doll, shouting out his complaints at the top of his lungs, “Whoa! Wait, stop!!” The thief felt his stomach churn in protest and he quickly exclaimed in a panic, “I think I'm gonna be sick!”

Oh you better not puke on me, you little turd, Pony angrily thought, before giving the hardest buck yet, this time finally managing to throw the boy off of her, Marco releasing a high pitched scream as he was sent flying through the air and right toward a cliff. Luckily for him, he was able to grab onto a tree branch, now suspended over the steep incline, hanging on for dear life as his feet dangled helplessly. Marco swallowed down the panicked lump in his throat and tried to ignore the fact that he was currently hanging over a hundred foot cliff, focusing instead of pulling himself up onto the branch. He just prayed it would support his weight. He managed to wrap his legs around the thick back, meaning he didn't have to worry about his arms giving out just yet, but he still understandably held onto the limb with a death grip.

Just as he was about to begin trying to get back on solid ground, he heard the familiar clip-clop of horse hooves, followed by shifting from the branch, alerting him that he was not alone on the limb. The young thief craned his neck to see the same stupid horse that had gotten him into this situation now try to walk onto the unstable branch. He gasped in horror, terrified that the clearly brain-dead mare was about to get them both killed, Marco not sure if the limb could support their combined weight.

He wondered what on earth could be causing the four-legged creature to act so recklessly. That was until he noticed the satchel handing on the far end of the tree, hanging precariously on one of the small limbs that had luckily stopped its descent. And do despite his fear, he began inching his way across the trunk, trying to move as fast as possible, ignoring his safety instincts screaming at him to stop. Pony, though, quickly caught on to what Marco was trying to do and began trying to step on Marco's hands with her hooves, also seeming to completely disregard the dangerous drop directly below them.

Marco, now with a new motivation to beat the stupid horse and keeps his hands from being crushed, took the risk and jumped toward the branch. He just barely managed to grab the satchel, as well as grip the branch it had been loosely hanging off of, the bag nearly slipping off from all the jerky movements and sent plummeting off the cliff. Marco let out a victorious yell, as he turned to the stupid horse with a smug grin, showing off his claimed prize. “Ha, take that you stupid-”

But Marco didn't get a chance to finish his insult, as suddenly there was a loud snapping sound, Marco and Pony Head both looking over to see the large crack in the trunk, which had been made weak by the two's overwhelming weight and constant abuse on the fragile limb. The didn't have any time to react as it gave altogether breaking free of its hold in the cliff side with another loud snap, now sent falling to the unforgiving earth below.

Marco screamed at the top of his lungs, giving out a very undignified yell, while beside him Pony neighed loudly in terror. He felt his body go weightless, his stomach twisting uncomfortably, as he continued to cling to the plummeting branch. A wave of nausea rose up, both from his unbridled terror and his well-known case of motion sickness, which was choosing to come back at the worst possible time. But suddenly his lifeline was gone, snapping in half when it bumped against the cliff side, sending Marco and Pony spiraling away from one another on their fast track to becoming acquainted with the ground.  

Next, Marco reached the treetops, thick vines wrapping around his body and slowing his descent immensely. Finally, the vines went taunt stopping the young thief mere inches from hitting the hard ground. His body went limp, allowing the ropes to hold him there, swaying unevenly above the ground. Marco just stayed like that for a few moments, panting as the stress of the ordeal slowly wore off and his heart rate slowed to a more normal pulse.

Until finally he said in a remarkably calm voice, “Well that was scarring for life.”

The young thief managed to untangle himself from the thick, knotted vines and get himself settle back down on the soft ground, nearly tempted to get down on hands and knees and kiss it. He would have to, if it weren't for the fact that the ground would have been what would have ultimately caused his death and he really didn't want to go around praising his almost killer. So instead, he just put his satchel back over his shoulder and began walking deeper into the woods.

He wasn't sure where he was headed but literally anywhere was better than here at the moment, just in case that dumb horse had survived too and was now looking for him. Right on que, Marco heard an angry neigh in the distance, not that far away. Marco panicked, looking around for somewhere for somewhere to hide, slowly backing up toward a large hill covered in ivy. But as his back brushed against the vegetation, he found no resistance there, stumbling back and into the hidden entrance and cave within.

The red thief had no time to ponder this as he quickly hid behind a nearby rock, just as the distinct shadow of a horse appeared on the vegetated wall. Pony stopped, as if sensing his presence, looking around her, her ears twitching as they tried to pick up any sound from the boy. Marco pushed himself a little further behind the rock, making sure to make no noise whatsoever, holding his breath and trying to keep himself as still as possible.

For a few tense seconds, Marco watched the silhouette of the mare, unmoving and stock still. Then, at last, the annoying pony seemed to give up on the chase, trotting away from the area and allowing Marco to finally release his held breath. But he kept an eye on the entrance as he backed slowly into the cave, taking slow, cautious steps just in case she was still within hearing distance. Once he could no longer see the entrance, he allowed himself to drop his guard and turn.

The boy's mouth dropped open at the unexpected sight before him. Instead of a dingy, dirty cave like he had been suspecting he had found himself in some sort of secluded clearing, though it was hardly empty. For in the middle of the green and vibrant clearing was an abandoned tower, standing tall and majestic as the sunlight gleamed off of it. Its color was faded from years of neglect and thick, green vines clung around its base and crawled up its sides. But despite this, it still looked remarkable, seeming like it had just been ripped from the side of a castle before being dropped into the hidden clearing. That or it had been taken right out of a fairytale book, but that one was just silly, this was real life, not some fairytale... right? Behind it was a rushing waterfall, which also gleamed brightly in the sunshine, running into a gentle stream.

“Huh, a tower? How'd it end up here?” Marco wondered aloud. But he quickly dismissed his wonderment with a shrug. “Oh well, better not look a gift horse in the mouth.”

The young thief cringed at the phrase, before releasing a violent shudder as he was reminded of his brief encounter with that stupid horse. “Okay note to self, never use that phrase again,” he told himself.

“Still this is a good place to lay low for awhile,” he muttered, his eyes scanning the tower carefully, searching for any form of entrance along its crumbling exterior. “Now if I could just find a way inside...”

Marco's gaze froze on a small window near the top and luckily for him, it was open.

“Bingo!” the boy said with a satisfied smile. He made his way over to the tower, looking up its side, trying to plan out a way up. He pulled out two arrows using those to climb slowly up. He got into a stead rhythm, sticking an arrow in the wall with a loud thunk, before pulling out the next one and sticking it into the wall a bit higher than the last, careful to make sure his feet had a proper resting place as he did. Clop. Thunk. Clop. Thunk. The sound repeated itself over and over again, until at last Marco reached the window, grabbing onto its frame and lifting himself inside. He tucked the arrows into his satchel along with the crown, as he looked around the dark room.

It was impossible to tell what anything looked like inside until his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, but he didn't really care of the condition of his temporary hiding place at the moment. He was more interested in checking on his valued prize. He looked into the open satchel with a content grin, staring pleasingly at the golden crown shimmering inside.

So distracted, in fact, that he didn't see a small form making its way over to him in the darkness. He let out a satisfied sigh, saying softly to himself, “Looks like I'm finally out of danger.”

A loud bong sounded, echoing around the dark enclosure, as the young thief fell over unconscious, his body going limp as a heavy frying pan smacked him hard in the back of the head. Star, for a moment, just stood over the sleeping man on the floor in front of her, her eyes wide in shock of what she had just done. She continued to hold the frying pan up, ready to strike once again, just in case he did manage to remain conscious after the hit.

“Um, hello?” Star hesitantly called down to him. “A-Are you awake?”

She poked him a couple of times with the pan, but when he didn't react she relaxed some, letting her guard drop a little. Though she was anything but calm, as she began pacing around the room, saying to herself. “Okay so I just knocked out some guy and now he's unconscious in my living room. What do I do? What should I tell mom? No, I cannot tell mom about this. Then again,” Star stopped pacing, putting a finger to her chin as she looked thoughtfully over at the boy. “If she saw that I was capable of taking out this intruder then maybe she would see that I'm strong enough to be able to go outside! I'm a genius!”

Star patted herself on the back for the idea, a wide, hopeful grin on her face, as she approached the boy again. She looked down at him smugly, saying with a laugh, “Ha, thought you could just sneak in and try and steal my hair, didn't you? Well you are no match for my incredible talents, mister.”

Once, she finished bragging, she just grinned proudly down at the unconscious boy. But her smile vanished as she finally got a good look at the intruder. He was actually quite handsome, his soft brown locks laying across his face, which looked so peaceful and warm as he slept. She could see the slightest hint of toned muscles though his shirt, which caused a lump to form in her throat for some reason. And to top it all off, he had the absolute cutest mole on his left cheek.

For a moment, all Star could do was just stare, love-struck at the handsome boy laying on the floor in front of her, a blush beginning to light up her cheeks. That was until she felt a small tug on her hair and she jumped turning to see Janna flapping her wings behind her, a frown clearly discernible on her fuzzy features. “W-What?” Star said, quickly hiding her blushing cheeks from the bat. “I've just never seen another human before is all,” she said defensively.

Star didn't have to be looking at her bat friend to know that she was raising a skeptical eyebrow right now. “L-Let's just find a place to put this guy, before mom gets back,” Star said, trying way too hard to change the subject.

She scanned the room in search of a good hiding spot, finally landing on the large closest. “Ah ha! Perfect!” She looked to Janna for agreement, but the bat was still just giving her a skeptical look, not convinced the boy could fit in there. Star frowned, before demanding, “Just help me get him in there.”

[suicidalcatz]

DOG DAYS ARE OVER : CHAP 11

Pairing : Jake Kiszka x reader

Genre : College AU

Previous parts : Prologue ; Chapter 1 ; Chapter 2 ; Chapter 3 ; Chapter 4 ; Chapter 5 ; Chapter 6 ; Chapter 7 ; Chapter 8 ; Chapter 9 ; Chapter 10

Masterlist : here

AN : It is wednesday, my dudes! This part and the next ones are like 90% fluff, 10% angst... like bittersweet. You’re still heartbroken but try to keep your friendship with Jake, while doing all of your homework... A lot to handle. Actually I had to cut the chapter in half because it was too long (9-10 pages). I really hope you’ll like this chapter because I liked writing it! Feel free to tell me what you thought of it, send me dms or questions, and thanks for reading me x

Chapitre 11 : Would you cook for me ?

Ignoring Jake's texts or avoiding him was useless. But hanging out with him was a challenge I wasn't ready to handle, never asked for, and yet was pushed into. Pretending I didn't see him when we crossed paths in the hallways, or that I didn't receive any of his texts was petty, there was no point in doing so. I couldn't avoid him without giving him any reason, and I couldn't tell him why I needed some time far away from him either because it meant revealing the truth and 1) I wasn't ready, 2) he'd be the one avoiding me like the black plague if I did. It brought me to the conclusion that I would simply pretend nothing happened at all. Jake hadn't noticed the whole situation anyway, so to him it'd already be like everything was normal, just like it always had been between us. It was the best I could think of. For him, for Josh, for anyone. For me ? Not so much. Of course I was still heartbroken, of course it'd take me some time to get over him, and staying by his side would be like rubbing salt on a wound while demanding for it to heal. But I wouldn't risk to break our group's dynamic for selfish reasons. So I sucked that in, everything. The sadness, and painful pang of my chest every time I saw his face, while repeating myself it was for the best.

That aside, I had some other things coming. For the worst. My useless self got so into self-pity and deprecation that I had totally forgotten about homework... And my drawing teacher would be less than pleased as we were all supposed to hand her five new portraits on Monday. Realization hit me during breakfast with Josh who had slept here, when I saw Mandy pack her things and idly noticing out loud that I wasn't carrying a lot of stuff for once. This. This was the cue. But it was too late now, I thought as I walked down the halls by their side. On our way to the amphitheater we saw Jake, waiting in front of the door for the teacher to come. Other students were here too, chatting and yawning with their backs against the walls or sitting on the floor. Josh looked at me like he wasn't sure if he should greet him but the brunette was the one spotting us, gesturing us to come join him. My eyes were probably still a bit puffy but with the makeup it could pass for lack of sleep. Of course he knew Josh stayed at our place last time, I had made sure the boy texted him, and the jerk had taken this opportunity to ask his brother to bring him all his school supplies, backpack included. Unbelievable.

- Your stuff, said Jake handing Josh his bag.

- Who's the big brother again ?, I jokingly asked with a raised eyebrow.

- He's 5 minutes older, replied Jake.

- You'll never live it down !

We all chatted quietly, and I never felt more conflicted in my entire life. My heart didn't know if it should beat faster or hurt like hell, so it seemed to do both, making me feel weird just by being next to Jake. My body was in total contradiction with itself. I couldn't hold back the smile that crept across my face, but at the same time wouldn't meet Jake in the eye, disguising it by cracking joke after joke while my stress level kept rising the more time passed. My thoughts were running wild. In a few hours the drawing teacher was going to yell at me in front of the whole workshop and I couldn't handle it. I'd surely burst into tears and feel even more ashamed. I'd probably-

- Hey, you alright ?

A soft touch caressed my back and I involuntarily jerked forward, out of its grasp, before realizing and suddenly feeling bashful at my reaction. I could tell Jake was surprised by it but it lasted only a second before his face showed concern.

- Yeah, I just didn't finish my work on time... That witch is gonna murder me and ask the others students to draw a perspective of my corpse I'm sure.

I heard his chuckles before the tutor cut him off, passing by us with the keys in hand to unlock the door, separating the sea of students in half like an artsy Moses. Jake was at the other side when the crowd engulfed through the small door, letting us no choice but to keep our bodies to the walls.

- Do you wanna sit together today ?, asked Jake above the loud stomping noises.

Because of the students between us I couldn't really see his face, but was glad because it meant he couldn't see mine whitening. Josh and Mandy on the other hand were just next to me and clearly witnessed my expression change. To think that a week before I would've been on cloud nine being able to sit next to him for two whole hours... Oh how things could change fast.

We were now the three last people left outside and Jake held the door for us, continuing speaking.

- You guys are always exchanging notes, we should just, ya know ? Sit next to each other and... quietly chat.

As backup to his words, he murmured the last part in a very exaggerated fashion, in a failed attempt to make me smile. I couldn't just say no to him without looking weird because I had no reason to. Even if I knew he wouldn't push the matter, there was no way he wouldn't question it, right ? Josh came to the rescue, playfully elbowing him.

- But then where's the fun in that ? Right girls ?

Both agreeing, we rushed to our usual seats, letting a dumbfounded Jake close the door behind him. In their habitual fashion, Mandy and Josh threw paper balls at each other, while I was for once too focused on the lecture to participate in their shenanigans. I needed to get my mind to focus on something and right now Gilgamesh sounded like a good deal, so I took as many notes as possible. A task proven even more difficult because in the corner of my eye, I could see Jake staring at me.

Saying my drawing teacher killed me was a little bit of an understatement. She scared the shit out of me with her scolding. To be fair, even in a normal mood she was a scary woman. The already quiet   class went completely still and silent when she barked at me, admonishing me with charming names such as « useless », « disappointing » and the timeless « lamentable ». A classic. Truth to be told it hurt much less than I previously anticipated, mainly because I was already half dead inside, with the emotional range of a cactus, and my self-esteem nearly reaching zero. Nothing much to attack, really. Nevertheless, she demanded that I hand her all five portraits plus the five others we had to do this week by the next monday. Meaning I had ten to do in a week. It physically hurt just thinking about it, and I could hear a quiet « oof » escaping some of my classmates' mouths. It's with a huge relieved sigh that I found my bed this afternoon once school was over. This day had been a catastrophe so far, so there was no other thing I wanted to do more than put on my Pjs, put some music on, and slowly work at my desk, thinking Tuesay will be a better day.

Tuesday was not a better day. Wednesday either. All my homework slowly started piling up on my desk to the point where it was starting to be difficult to keep track of it. And sleeping four hours a night wasn't doing my mental health any good. I knew I had two possibilities now ; sleep less but do my work, or skip some classes to work. It was beginning to get ridiculous, skipping classes so I could do my homework. I knew art schools were difficult, awfully so, but like most people I hadn't realized until then, in this very moment, standing in front of my desk completely covered in paint, canvas, my computer, sketches, inks... some brushes had fallen on the floor, staining it in their passage. My laptop was so dirty it wasn't in its original color anymore. There were blotches of paint, ink, and charcoal here and there that I couldn't remove the harder I had tried to, forcing me to give up. At some point I got so tired I put my paintbrush into my cup of tea/coffee, mistaking it with the goblet of water.

- ...Are you alright ?, enquired Mandy on Thursday night.

One look at my face and she had her answer. Bless her soul, she didn't need any more to bring me an energy drink from the fridge.

- I still have five portraits to do. Four pencil ones, and one painting. They all have to be from different angles, and I can't find any models, I complained while throwing my hand in the air in an act of pure desperation.

Mandy knew better than to sit at the edge of my risky desk with her designer clothes, so she leaned on the doorframe, slowly nodding her head in a pensive manner while I kept explaining the situation.

- All week I couldn't find anyone because they all had homework to do, and now most of them are skipping tomorrow's lecture to go home early so nobody's available !

My rommate crossed her arms, thinking hard. I already did almost all my paintings, asking for both her and Josh's help. Both of them were glad to help and even more so to figure on a monochrome painting on a canvas.

- Can you draw the same person multiple times ?, she finally asked.

- Actually... I don't know. I don't think that would be a problem as long as the work is done ?

Hopping on her feet, Mandy lifted an eyebrow before dragging a chair to sit on.

- Let's get into it then, we only have one lecture tomorrow, you can skip it I'll take notes for you.

Having a good night of sleep never felt this good. No. Waking up at 8, slowly realizing everybody was sitting on a lecture except me, and then getting back to sleep was way better. I sketched poor Mandy two times last night but the results were good, and she looked pleased herself. I didn't have time to redo any of these anyway, I still had other work to do. Waking me from my well deserved nap, my phone vibrated under the pillow, the screen blinding me despite the sun peaking through the curtains.

« The boys asked where you were. Told them about the portraits situation. Jake wants to help. Couldn't stop him. »

If the beginning of the text made me smile, the end completely shook me awake, making me sit hurriedly on the bed, rereading the words multiple times. Scratching my face, I quickly glanced at the hour. They were out in a few minutes. My fingers tapped the next message as soon as they could, asking her how and when, while I ran to the showers with my towel, soap and toothbrush in hand. At this hour, and a Friday, they were all available. The other residents were all either drunk as hell and passed out in their room, or in their hometown with their family and friends. The buzzing of my phone vibrating reverberated against the shower walls and it almost got drowned in the sink when I caught it to look at the screen. It was Mandy.

« They kinda invited themselves over to eat. Josh's idea.»

What the hell Joshua we're not your moms ! Throwing my phone to the nearest flat surface, I jumped on some discarded overalls and put on a sweater, wet hair dripping everywhere on the floor, table, but mostly on my clothes, making me sneeze in the process. The whole week I was so overwhelmingly busy with work that not only did my fingers hurt but I didn't have any time to see the Kiszkas let alone think about them since our shared lecture on Monday. I even skipped the Lunch Club in order to get back to the dorms and work on my assignments. Which thankfully saved me a lot of time, but I still had 2 pencil drawings to do and one painting. Once I had put on some makeup, I took a moment to look around me. Our place looked like a dump, no less. Clothes and art furniture were everywhere, the trash was overflowing with empty cup noodles and fast food leftovers, it smelled like perfume and soap mixing with rotten food, paint and cold tobacco. It was terrible, and made me shocked that I even got used to that. A life achievement of some sort. Everything on the floor I put it on a trash bag, running in the stairs to throw everything outside with the others'. My phone vibrated in my pocket, a new notification popping on the screen.

« They bought some stuff at the store, they wanna cook us something. Jake's idea. »

Okay, time to clean the kitchen.

By the time they got here, I looked even more tired than before, owing my guests looks of concern. If was funny, how they put on the exact same face while seeing me. It was like I just mirrored a picture. Their similar features would never cease to amaze me.

- Mama you're very pale.

- Did you not sleep well ?

- I did, don't worry, I dismissed their concern. Had to clean up a bit.

Mandy bit his lip, knowing damn well the place had been a war field when she left. Unaware of anything, the boys put the bags of groceries on the table before apologizing for intruding. We all sat around the table to have a pleasant talk, my friends always making sure I wasn't next to Jake to avoid any brutal peak of awkwardness / sadness. But some habits died hard, I realized when Jake asked if he could have a tour of our dorm. Ignoring glances, I stood up and gestured for him to go first, into the biggest room, were Mandy and I's workshop and beds were. The boy let out a low whistle that flattered me. He looked impressed by everything around him, touching odd looking brushes and browsing illustration books. I knew better this time, and had put his painted portrait under my bed, wrapped in an old sheet. Just as his brother did, he liked to take in his hands everything that came by, caressing it with his fingertips or idly lifting the weight of it in his palms like he was discovering an unknown world. Unmoving, I let Jake do his little tour, watching the street view by the window, sitting on my disheleved bed, jumping slightly to make the mattress bounce like he was testing it before buying.

- So this is where you're gonna paint me, he said, pointing at a chair between my desk and me.

My pale face grew some colors at the thought of it before I nodded quickly, in a childlike way, caressing the wooden chair's back.

- I'll try to be fast so you won't get bored, I assured without looking him in the eye.

It was this moment Josh chose to appear at the corner of the doorframe.

- Jakey we should start cooking or the potatoes will never be ready on time. Come on, doll.

He took me by one of my overalls' straps, pulling me inside the kitchen, making me laugh and pushing my shoulders so I stayed on my seat. Mandy and I gazed at them with awe as they poured us drinks while Jake asked where the spatula was, and Josh was washing the vegetables, already familiar with his surroundings.

In silence, I looked at Jake removing every one of his rings to put it on top of the fridge where no one could kick them, before tying his hair in a tight ponytail. Maybe it was because I only ever saw him with long brown locks framing his face, but he looked even better than usual. If he caught me staring, he didn't adress it, only smiled at me, turning his back to us to help his brother.

- Do you need any help ?, I asked while showing them where the frypans were. You guys are our guests it doesn't seem fair...

Of course the kitchen wasn't a real one, there was only a microwave and some hotplates fixed to a cabinet by the sink. Putting more than one person behind the counter was impossible without bumping into each other, and I could smell the accident from afar when Josh maneuvered the hot water filled pan at the same time Jake opened up a cupboard right above his curly head. Curiously so, probably because they had way more cooking experience than I thought, the boys handled the situation neatly, and Jake was the one preventing me from bumping into his brother.

- Go sit and relax, we've got this, he said while turning me around by the shoulders.

Watching boys make lunch had got to be some sort of ASMR because just watching the muscles of their back move while they were chopping onions and peeling potatoes had some real therapeutic effects on me. We continued chatting together, all the while answering their questions on « Where are the knives ? » and « Where do you keep the salt ? ». Kind of surprised that Josh had the permission of holding a kitchen knife, by the way, this part made me feel the absolute opposite of ASMR but he did a pretty good job, from what I could see. Mandy put on some music on the speakers, argued with Jake over the sound of it as to what was acceptable or not music-wise, and Josh made a show of crying because of the onions, yelling about becoming blind until Jake gently slapped the back of his head. It was all laughs and good conversation, like we've been friends for years, and at the same time I couldn't shake these feelings I had towards Jake. There was something extremely erotic about seeing a dude wearing a dishcloth on his shoulder. Or was it just Jake wearing it really well ?

They refused to tell us what we were eating, muttering to themselves and sometimes asking if we were allergic to this or that, only announcing it while putting the plate on the table, with Josh making grand gestures as usual, using his best waiter voice.

- Crêpes au zucchini accompanied by a fresh salad decorated with feta and its apple slices, ladies.

- Bon appétit, added Jake.

The table was already set because it was the only thing we were allowed to do, so at least the boys could now rest. It looked really good. Way less fancy than what Josh had announced of course but it smelled wonderful, the sweet scent settling in all of our dorm. And the taste, oh Lord. Everything melted in my mouth, the onions they fried were just crispy enough to add something to it, and I learned this day that cheese and apple were really good and refreshing together. A new snack idea I'd keep for my sleepless work nights at the desk. And as dessert, the boys brought beers. Of course.

[verai-marcel]

Caring For Kitten (RDR2 Fanfic, Prisoner AU, 18+ ONLY)

Summary: Charles and you are planning to have a nice weekend together, complete with good meals, great sex, and fantastic aftercare. To your surprise, he gives you something that means more than you think.

Author’s Notes: @arthurs-atonement and I were thirsting over Charles one day, and the topic of bath time with Charles was brought up. And thus… this.

Tags: charles x reader, D/s, aftercare, tender love, rough sex, accidental injury, bathtub sex, slice of life, fluff

Find it on AO3 here!

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

You sat at your coffee table, happily munching away on some naan that Charles had made. You were pretty sure the man was fattening you up, but everything he made was so delicious, you couldn't help yourself. As you reached for a third piece, you heard Charles call your name.

“What?”

"You saving any room for actual dinner?"

"Uh…" you pulled your hand away and sighed. You didn't want to eat so much that you couldn't have fun times later. You distracted yourself with the television, streaming silly cat videos until food was ready.

As Charles brought over two bowls, spoons, and a steaming plate of curry and rice, you squealed with delight and dug in.

"God, how do you cook so well?"

Charles shrugged. “Taught myself a lot. And it’s relaxing.”

You wondered if he had done it for a living at some point in his life; he had told you some of his past, like how Arthur had been his roommate before Arthur got put in jail for trying to steal his tools back from a man who had hired them to build a wall in his backyard, and had decided to just keep the tools too. He had told you that he and Arthur used to work at a club in a big city, but he wouldn’t say where or what kind of club; “just a club,” he’d always say. You didn’t press him more than twice; clearly he didn’t want to talk about it.

Sopping up the last of the curry in your bowl with your fourth and final piece of naan, you popped the morsel into your mouth and chewed slowly, savoring the spices and flavor. You raised your eyes to Charles, who was watching you with a soft smile on his face.

“Whut,” you mumbled past the food in your mouth.

“Nothing, I just like seeing you enjoy my cooking, that’s all.”

You chewed and swallowed, and took a big gulp of water. “It’s good stuff. I can’t believe I’m so lucky to have you,” you said nonchalantly.

Charles blinked and let out an amused breath. “You say things like that with zero gravitas,” he remarked.

“Eh, there’s no need for that high falutin’ shit; I figure I’ll just say it like it is and let actions speak for themselves.”

He laughed. “Wise words.” Getting up, he took all the dishes back to the kitchen and started cleaning while you flopped down on the rug and stared at the ceiling. You were exhausted; you almost had a double shift yesterday, and worked a few additional hours today. Your boss had tried to send you home early, not wanting you to exhaust yourself, but you ended up staying when a woman brought in a kitten with a wounded tail. You just couldn’t leave when you heard its pained mews and just instinctively went to help.

Your boss both praised you for your work ethic, and yelled at you for not going home to rest. She reworked your schedule to have an additional day off this week, and sent you home with an order not to check your email for two days.

You slowly blinked, the tiredness from the past work week sinking into your bones. Combined with the good food and comfortable rug beneath you, your body relaxed. Perhaps a bit too much.

***

You woke up in bed, the sunlight glaring through the window.

“Oh, shit,” you muttered. Were you that tired that you just slept the whole night away? Lifting your head to look at your clock, you groaned softly when you saw it was 7:04 AM. Pretty sure you had finished dinner around 8PM. You sighed.

Then you turned over and looked at Charles, who was sleeping soundly with his back to you. Grinning, you wrapped your body around his, though it seemed rather pathetic, you trying to be the big spoon. He was huge, it was like a koala clinging to a thick tree. Still, you nuzzled his skin and sighed happily.

“Morning, wildcat,” he mumbled, and you mewled playfully in response. Turning around in your arms, he pulled you into his embrace and kissed your forehead.

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah. Refreshed, for sure.”

“Good. I have plans for you.”

***

Charles told you he had to go run some errands and would be back in a couple hours. So you cleaned yourself up, showering and brushing your teeth and other stuff. You picked up around your apartment and did adult things (paying bills, balancing your budget, bleh) until you heard Charles knock on the door.

“What’d you get me?” you said jokingly as you opened the door. When he smiled mysteriously, your eyes widened in shock.

“No, no, we talked about this. No gifts unless they’re under five dollars, and even then, you know how I feel about accepting gifts,” you said hotly.

“It’s more for me than for you,” he said as he shut the door behind him. “But I think you’ll enjoy it too.”

He put his hands on your shoulders and turned you around.

“Lift your hair up.”

You did so, and when you felt something soft slip around your neck, a smile grew on your face. You felt the cool metal chain on the back of your neck and trailing down between your shoulder blades. Then Charles turned you back around.

“Come see.”

He led you to the bathroom and turned on the light. The dark red velvet choker necklace had simple green leaves embroidered around it. There was a pendent in the middle, and it had the word “kitten” written in an elegant script.

“It’s… it’s beautiful,” you said, unable to hold back your smile. Then you turned to him and frowned. “Goddammit, I told you not to buy me nice things,” you chastised, even though you were also thrilled to bits.

Charles wrapped an arm around your waist, and then reached for the thin chain, tugging on it to force your head back. “I told you. It’s more for me than you.”

He captured your lips, his hand wandering up to cup your breast, kneading it through the fabric. When he finally let you up for air, he released the chain and chuckled.

“What?” you asked, puzzled.

He pointed at your Tenga Iroha stick vibrator, just sitting on your bathroom counter, out in the open. “You shouldn’t leave that out and around, someone will notice.”

You scoffed. The vibrator just looked like a tube of lipstick, innocuous. “No one's pointed it out before… just you.”

Charles tilted his head. “Hm.” He grabbed it off the counter and smirked at you. Taking the end of your chain, he guided you to the bedroom.

***

“Take off your clothes.”

You eagerly removed everything, taunting him by going slow, stripping playfully for him. He stood, arms crossed, watching your every move. You knew you were going to pay for your teasing, but you couldn’t help it. When you flung your panties past him, he finally walked towards you.

“Lay down.”

You swatted at his pecs.

He grabbed your wrists and wrestled you down onto the bed as you laughed.

“Such a bad kitten,” he said in a low voice. “Needs training.” He spread your legs, holding them down with his knees as he palmed your breasts with one hand, kneading and teasing them in turn. Then he twisted the vibrator on, the hum sounding ominous as he slowly lowered it to your pussy. He teased around your clit at first, making sure you knew he controlled your pleasure.

“Will you behave?”

You stuck your tongue out at him.

He grinned and pushed the vibrator against your clit. You cried out, surprised by the sudden burst of sensation.

Charles expertly moved the vibrator around your clit and around your pussy, dipping it inside of you every once in a while. Waves of intense pleasure followed by a soft thrum of bliss went through your body, your mind drifting off as you gave in to his touch. Whatever he gave, whether it was his hand caressing you as he stroked every inch of your skin, or his wet tongue on your nipple, you took it gladly and begged for more.

“More Charles, I want more!”

He raised an eyebrow at you. “Oh? Such a needy pet.” He stepped away from you completely, and you let out a sob. He set down the vibrator and took off his clothes, slowly, teasing you in return. You knew you were going to pay.

When you got up and tried to help him take off his pants, he none too gently shoved you back on the bed. When you tried again, he grabbed you, flipped you over, and held your wrists at your back as he dropped his pants.

“Bad kitten,” he growled, and pushed his cock against your entrance. “You know what that means.”

You mewled.

His huge cock took you slowly, stretching you as he kept you held down. You grunted as he filled you completely, his hips pushed up against your ass.

“Will you be good?”

You shoved against him with your hips.

He let out a short bark of a laugh before crushing your body against the bed. Grabbing the chain, he pulled, making you lift your head up so he could kiss you as he began to fuck you vigorously. It was so good, so fierce, and you were humping him back just as rigorously, until…

“Ow!”

Charles immediately froze. He let you go as you slid off him and curled up in a fetal position.

“Tell me what you need,” he said.

“Just give me a minute,” you gritted out. After a few deep breaths, you laughed shakily. “I think I may have fucked too hard. My pussy feels sore.”

He just nodded, sitting next to you and running his hands through your hair. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault,” you responded. “I shouldn’t have humped you so hard.”

He leaned down to kiss your temple. “Let’s be more careful next time,” he said, artfully dodging any potential arguments about whose fault it was. “I’ll run you a bath.”

You watched as he pulled a bag of bath salts from the same bag that your collar had been in. “Bath salts?”

Nodding, Charles went into the bathroom and you heard the sounds of your tub being filled. Coming back out to you, he lifted you up carefully and carried you into the bathroom. The scent of lavender filled the air as he stepped into the tub and lowered himself down, moving you to sit between his legs. He moved to take your collar off, but you held his hand and shook your head. He let go of the clasp and left it on.

It was a small tub, the two of you fitting in tightly, but it just meant you could use Charles as a giant body pillow as he massaged your shoulders and back. He let you soak, his hands working their magic on your whole body, relaxing you so much that you closed your eyes and dozed peacefully for a few minutes, leaning back against his broad chest.

“How are you feeling?” he finally asked when you looked up at him to kiss his chin.

“Really good. Thank you,” you replied, reaching up to tangle your fingers in his hair. You started to move your hips, feeling his cock twitch beneath you.

“Aren’t you sore?”

“Just a little. Anyway, I want your cock inside me.” You moved your legs to the outside of his, continuing to undulate your hips against him.

Charles laughed softly as he grabbed your hips and lifted you up just high enough to let his cock nudge your entrance, then slowly lowered you down. You sighed happily as he filled you back up again, the threshold between pleasure and pain wavering. When you were fully seated in his lap, his shaft completely inside, he wrapped his hands around your breasts as you moved, your back sliding against his chest in the water.

He thrust up into you, unable to control himself as he slid a hand down into the water to play with your clit. Rubbing you with a gentle touch, you felt your pleasure building up with each stroke, his other hand playing with your nipples, his lips against your neck.

“You feel so good, kitten,” he praised in his deep voice. “You want to be filled up?”

“Yes, please,” you begged.

“Be a good pet and come for me.” He grabbed your breasts with both hands and started thrusting harder into you. You panted and reached down to your clit, pushing yourself to your climax.

“Oh fuck,” you cried out as your body spasmed and you slammed your body against his and twitched your hips. He grabbed the chain of your collar with one hand and pulled, growling as he followed you into a mindless ecstasy, pumping his seed deep within you.

Falling back against his chest, you could feel Charles breathing hard as you caught your breath, his cum leaking from you as he slipped from your body. You looked up at him, and for a moment, he just looked at you like he was drunk, a big grin on his face.

Then you winced.

He scowled.

“Did you push yourself too far again?” he scolded.

You grinned innocently. “Would I do that?”

He rolled his eyes at you. “Someone has to take care of you.”

You nuzzled his neck. “That’s why you’re here.”

He wrapped his arms around you and sighed. “Silly kitten.” He caressed the collar around your neck. “Why didn’t you want to take off the collar?”

You smiled. “Because you gave it to me.” Reaching behind you to tousle his hair, you sighed happily. “Besides, you like how it looks on me, don’t you?”

He kissed the top of your head. “I like you, wildcat.”

***

After the two of you cleaned up and dried off, Charles carried you to the bed to lay down. You curled up in his lap like a cat as he stroked your head.

“Charles?”

“Hmm?”

“How did you know to bring bath salts?”

“I’ve been meaning to buy some. I know I’m… big. I don’t want to hurt you, but like today, I know accidents happen. Wanted to be prepared.”

You twisted in his lap so you could look up at him. He was wearing just boxer shorts, and seeing him from below just made him seem bigger, almost frightfully large.

But to you, he was just your big cuddly bear, and you knew he’d never hurt you. You held your arms up, and he picked you up with ease and sat you up in his lap so you could wrap your arms around his neck. His arms wrapped around your torso, his hands splayed out on your back, and he held you close. The chain of your collar felt cool on your skin, the velvet soft against your neck, and you smiled; you hadn’t taken it off this whole time, and neither had he. The two of you stayed like that, just holding each other peacefully.

“Please stay,” you whispered.

“Always,” he whispered back.

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

End Notes: I read three articles about bathtub sex, and I still made stuff up. Anyway. Hope you enjoyed this peek into their daily lives! Next part, back to Arthur & Prison Guard!Reader for some kinky fun. Thanks for reading!

[tisfan]

Indenture

Square: O1 – Mechanic for WinterIron Bingo and K5: Kink: Virgin for tisfan’s Tony Stark Bingo Title: Indenture Participants: @27dragons and @tisfan Warning: None Rating: Explicit Characters: Tony Stark, Bucky Barnes, Valkyrie Tags: indenture, sci-fi AU, gladiator, virgin kink, anal sex, oral sex, fingering, mechanic Summary: See the galaxy on a two year work-contract. Well, Tony Stark figures, can’t be worse than home. When he ends up on Sakaar, in the hands of a gladiatorial team, it might be his mechanical skills they’re interested in… or it might be his virginity. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18921301 Word Count: 14,587 Posted for @winterironbingo and @tonystarkbingo

The holographs in the space port flickered the outgoing fares and destinations. He knew exactly how many credits he had left -- a novelty in and of itself, but not a particularly good one. If he put all his credits together, and presented it to a ship captain, he would arrive at his destination, utterly destitute. With no place to live, no contacts that he dared to impose on, and without a local sponsor. Under those circumstances, he’d be lucky if he wasn’t dead in a gutter in a week’s time.

All he wanted to do was get away.

But that didn’t mean he needed to be stupid about it.

“See the galaxy,” one holo advertised, “on an indentured ticket.”

Small print showed that he could sign himself up for a job, selected after a series of tests and aptitude exams, for free passage to any of a list of destinations. Tony thumbed down the list -- there it was. Malibu. A two year contract, food and housing and work… and he could get to Malibu with his nest egg intact.

And he had skills aplenty to offer. He glanced over his shoulder -- ridiculous; he wouldn’t be missed until tomorrow at the earliest -- and then poked at the More Information icon on the holo.

The display swirled into an infodump, and he scanned it quickly, memorizing the address and route to the testing office. At the bottom, a cheerfully bright line advised him to make his appointment now. He reached out, and then hesitated, just short of letting the holo scan his thumbprint. No. Who knew what kind of strings his father would pull to force Tony home, if he was able to find out where Tony was? He pulled a stylus from his pocket instead and summoned a keyboard, tapping in the name: Tony Edwards.

That was innocuous enough, he thought. And even if they did guess what name he was travelling under, there had to be thousands, maybe even millions of Tony Edwards in the galaxy.

He tapped the Register button, and the screen flashed his appointment time -- only an hour away. Good. Just enough time to mildly injure his thumb so they’d have to accept a secondary contract signature. He glanced down the street and then looked back at the holo, which had gone back to its colorful enticements.

He was leaving. Today.

(more below the cut)

He made it to the testing facility, an engine burn obscuring half of his thumbprint. The waiting room was packed with hopefuls, aliens and human alike. A scruffy raccoon, talking with a tiny, moving twig in a pot, was sitting next to the only empty seat in the place, and he glared at Tony with intelligent, black eyes. “Tell ya what, Groot,” he said to the potted creature, “the neighborhood’s going to hell. Look at all these humies.”

Tony didn’t have to endure the raccoon for much longer; Rocket was called back for testing in less than twenty minutes of waiting. The sapling waved at Tony over Rocket’s shoulder.

Time passed. The holos were mostly full of advertisements for different indentured positions -- cleaning and catering on passenger cruisers, healers and nurses, street cleaners on a wide variety of urban planetary systems. Tony wasn’t a bad student, even for subjects that didn’t interest him, but he hadn’t even heard of half of these systems. Outside the Core, probably.

“Edwards?”

“That’s me,” Tony said, gathering his bag and slinging it over his shoulder as he stood.  

“Thank you, Mr. Edwards, if you’ll come with me, we apologize for the wait, there’s been quite a crush recently, people looking to start over in a new life, which is just what we offer, and some trade skills in the meanwhile,” the woman said. “All of our positions come with a pressure-free offer; we’re simply interested in discovering where your unique skill set will be most useful. All indenture contracts are held by a bondsman; your bondsman is your contact to People Placements. All of your basic health needs will be provided, shelter, food, medical care, adequate rest and relaxation. If you experience any problems with these necessities, your bondsman will direct you to our People Resources department and investigate your complaint. Here you are. While you wait to see your health and physical assessment coordinator, please start this test series which will question you on a number of aptitude and skill packages.”

The room was full of more holo advertisements, each cheerfully talking about his opportunities. She waved them away with a single swipe. “Hard to concentrate, isn’t it, Mr. Edwards, when they keep blinking at you. Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Tony said, and waited until she’d left the room, closing the door behind her, before sitting at the small desk and waving at the test to start it.

Most of it was laughably easy. There were a few subjects that he stumbled over -- obviously, he wasn’t fit to be a cook, after the way the test had buzzed irritably after only a handful of guessed answers in that subject. But once the program had veered into technical aptitudes, Tony was answering questions faster than the terminal’s limited processors could keep up.

It was actually sort of fun, in a childish way, and Tony found himself grinning as he swiped through the questions, daring them to try to trip him up.

He wasn’t sure how long the test went on, and then there was a knock at the door. “If you’re quite finished, Mr. Edwards, your test results have been stirring up interest. I’m to escort you to get your physical right away. The planetary representative for Sakaar is expressing an interest in your skills, but the only ship for that system leaves in less than two hours.”

Sakaar was a name Tony had heard -- a destination planet for gamblers and gamers where the chief draw was a massive system of gladiatorial games. Though if they wanted him based on his test scores, obviously, he wouldn’t be working in the pits. Repairing or programming displays and scoring machines was more likely.

He could think of worse things to be doing for two years. And more importantly, it got him off the planet quickly. He picked up his bag and opened the door. “Sure, sounds fun,” he said. “Lead the way.”

“I’ll ask some basic questions as we walk, Mr. Edwards,” she said, “just formality. Speak your answers, they’ll be recorded. Are you fully immunized? Family history of heart failure? Any food or medicine allergies that you are aware of--” She continued to fire questions at him as fast as he could answer them, including “What is your sexual history, please?”

Tony nearly stumbled over his feet at that one. “Uh. None. You don’t have to worry about any diseases or anything here.”

“Thank you,” she said, finishing up. “Walk through here, lift your arms over your head. The medical scanner will give you a brief physical, and then the Bondsman from Sakaar would like to speak with you.”

The scanner buzzed, flashing lights at him and spritzing him with an odd smelling mist before spitting out a series of hard light records with his vitals and statistics on it. There was a small red dot flashing at the corner of the display. “Very good. You’re healthy and good for travel. Miss-- Miss Valkyrie,” she sighed.

“What? I’m not piloting the ship,” the woman on the far side of the room said.

“We asked you not to indulge while--”

“This is not indulging,” Valkyrie said, getting up and rolling across the room with the practiced gait of the perpetually inebriated. “I have not yet begun to defile myself. You Edwards?”

“That’s me,” Tony agreed warily. Howard’s drinking had been half -- well, maybe more like 42% -- of the reason he’d left in the first place.

“Great, great,” she said, the smell of her booze wafting into his face. “We… uh, yeah… mechanic. We need a mechanic. How are you with integrated… uh, circuits?”

Tony opened his mouth to tell her that he’d built his first circuit board when he was three, but then realized that was exactly the sort of identifying information he should be keeping to himself. Maybe he shouldn’t have had quite so much fun with those tests. “Um. Yeah, integrated circuits, I can do those,” he said. “Most of my experience is with logic gates, but I can handle amplifiers, timers, whatever you need.”

“Fantastic,” she said, clapping him on the back. “Was indentured myself a while. Came out ahead, now I’ve got my own ship. Recruiter. Here--” She handed him a small, flat disk about the size of his palm. “This is your identification while on Sakaar; keeps the riffraff away. Wouldn’t want anyone to mistake that pretty face of yours for… an entertainer, right?”

“Entertai--” A couple of beats late, Tony got it, and had to suppress the blush that tried to climb out of his shirt collar. Sexual history, right. “Uh. Yeah, definitely... not.”

“Great. Standard terms,” Val said, “come on, this way, my ship…” she swayed again, her hips rocking alarmingly. “I uh, might have lied about flying the ship while drinking, but don’t worry. I’m very good. Two years service, one way ticket to anywhere you want to go. Standard bonuses, and intellectual prop… thingie. Don’t invent stuff, or it belongs to the Grandmaster. We gotta go.” She tapped her wrist to activate a ship-to communication system. “Get me on a flight path out of here twenty minutes ago. If I miss that fight tonight, I will be put out.”

Tony followed in her wake, caught somewhere in the tide between confused and bemused. He looked down at the identification disk and hoped it had a more coherent copy of his contract embedded in it. He could read through it while they were en route, if there was enough time. “How-- Miss. How long is the trip?”

“About four hours,” Valkyrie told him. “We’re going straight through the Anus. Don’t worry, I have a map.”

“The...” Tony hesitated, staring at her and wondering exactly what he’d gotten himself into.

Anonymity for two years and a free trip to Malibu, he reminded himself. He could endure almost anything for two years, right?

The ship was small, a pilot’s couch and a few benches in the back for passengers. Val took the disk out of his hand, “Like this,” she said, and unbuttoned his shirt until it hung open to his navel, swatting away his attempt to keep her from doing it. She pushed the disk flat against his bare chest and there was a brief jolt of searing pain, enough to leave him breathless and dizzy. “There you go. Belt in, I’m going to be in the air in three minutes, no matter what Tower says.”

Tony somehow believed her. He stumbled back onto the nearest bench and strapped himself in, and then looked down at the disk in his chest. He prodded tenderly at the tender edges where it was clamped into his skin. That was going to leave a scar. “Ow.” Valkyrie was ignoring him, waking her ship’s board up and running preflight checks.

Tony tapped at the disk experimentally, and it popped up a holo for him, a menu of options. He could, indeed, read his contract. He could also check on the remaining duration of his indenture, contact his bondsman -- Valkyrie, apparently -- and access the planetary information net, if there was one.

He nearly missed the fine print at the bottom of the menu that informed him that the device also served to track him and enforce boundary permissions. It would shock him again, he translated mentally, if he tried to run away.

“I do not care,” Valkyrie was saying into the ship-to. “Get it out of my way, or it’s gonna rain down over this pathetic planet.”

She disconnected, and then yanked back on the throttle, taking them into orbit at the sharpest incline Tony had ever personally experienced. Gravity crushed him into the bench, two g, five g-- his health monitor in the chip on his chest went crazy, reporting his vitals with increasing alarm.

Valkyrie whooped, swirled the ship around an incoming freighter like she meant to trade paint with it, and they broke free of atmo with a rush. “Juice him,” Valkyrie yelled, and the disk on his chest dumped-- a chempack into his bloodstream, helping to equalize the pressure. His ears popped.

Valkyrie sighed, letting the ship inject her with the same chemicals. She dodged several more incoming ships, skipped off a warship’s gravity well, and activated the hyperdrive on the cusp of smashing them into a space station. The stars went away, and they were in the hyperstream.

“And, now we just kick back and relax. You hungry, Edwards?”

Tony was still staring at the blur of hyperstream beyond the viewport. “I could eat,” he said vaguely. That had been impressive piloting. Or sheer dumb luck. Numbly, he wondered what happened to his bond if she ploughed her ship into an asteroid.

“Here.” She tossed him a ration pack, self-heating, and tore into one herself. “You’re going to be working with my top recruit. He… needs a special touch.” She tapped one of the buttons on the ship’s systems, pulling up a hologram of a handsome man dressing in gladiator combat clothing that showed off muscular legs, a ragged haircut, and-- a metal arm.

“Winter Soldier,” she said. “He’s a contender. If we can place in this year’s games? We’ll all be on easy street. We’re a team, you got that, Edwards. You, me… and him.”

“A team, sure,” Tony said. He reached out and grabbed the holo, pulling it closer and expanding it. “The arm... That’s what you need a mechanic for? Who built it?”

Valkyrie scoffed. “Hydra. I picked him up out of a bad situation a few months back.”

Yeah, Hydra was bad business. They knew their tech, though. Tony chewed on his lip a little, considering it. It wasn’t like anything he’d worked on before, and the challenge of it appealed. “Yeah, okay,” he said. “So he fights, and I keep the arm in fighting shape... What do you do?”

“Place bets,” Valkyrie said. “Arrange the fights, keep both of you supplied in gear. Promotion. We started fighting out on street corners for all comers, and I’ve just gotten him into his first amphitheater fight. Tonight. Only he’s glitched, all the stars fall and go black. If we can’t get him into shape, the gladiators are going to rip that arm off and beat him to death with it.”

“Tonight?” Tony squeaked. “So no pressure, then. Sure.”

“Welcome to my world,” Valkyrie said, raising her pod of juice at him.

The Soldier’s room was kept at temperatures barely above freezing, and he was still stripped to the waist, sweating as he paced. The arm continued to shoot bad data at him, sensory issues of every sort, sparking in the joints.

It hurt, but that barely registered over the panic that chewed in his brain. He made another turn of the room. The countdown timer in his head clicked over another minute. Hydra had built their weapon for complete control. The arm was a weapon and a restraint at the same time. The last fight, the hack that one of Val’s contacts had put on it was knocked loose, activating the beacon, and setting the self-destruct.

The cold kept it from turning him in, from sending word. As a last resort, he had access to one of Val’s pods, he could submerse himself in cryo, but if he did that, he wouldn’t be in any shape for fighting. They’d lose everything, and if she had to renege on her contract, then his would be bought up, too. They’d belong, entirely and utterly, to the Grandmaster. For life.

“Come on, Val, hurry up,” he muttered.

Heat cooked out of the arm, steaming in the air. He hurried over to the sink and dumped cold water on it, keeping the vents open for the most cooling.

Voices in the hall, footsteps.

The Soldier shook freezing water droplets from his fingers, hand going to his knife. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to steal him. The Soldier was valuable property on a hellhole like Sakaar.

The door opened on a man -- not much more than a boy, really, short and slight, with wide brown eyes and fluffy dark hair. “--ust me to do my part,” he was saying as he pushed through the door.

Those eyes swept the room and then zeroed in on the Soldier. No. The Soldier’s arm. He unslung the bag on his shoulder and he bent down to root around inside, apparently heedless of the Soldier’s defensive stance and ready knife. “Circuitry kit, circuitry kit,” he mumbled. “Where the hell-- aha!” He stood back up, brandishing a small plasteel kit. “Tell me you’ve got a space with good light so I can work properly.”

The Soldier sheathed his blade. He could break this boy with one hand -- the flesh one. “You’re the mechanic?” He didn’t mean it to come out like a challenge, but it did. Incredulous, really. Val was trusting their lives to this… boy? He looked more like one of the trembling virgins in the cathouses than someone who could initiate repairs.

“I know, I know,” the boy said knowingly. “Hard to believe. All this--” He swept a hand, encompassing himself. “--and brains? But it’s true.” He looked around again, and pointed at the table by the bed. “Sit over there, put the arm out where I can get to it. Why the hell is it so cold in here? Nevermind, we can talk while I work. Come on, Snowflake, chop chop, time’s wasting.”

This part, the Soldier knew well. He sat, cocking the elbow and resting it on the table’s top, activating the various slide panels that would let the mechanic at the innards. “Diagnostics, pain threshold 80 percent and dropping, timer reads seventy-eight minutes before Contain and Control protocols activate. Damaged sensor package, broken joints in thumb and index finger. Wrist rotation down 16%. Battery power overtaxed, complete shut down in thirty two hours, nineteen minutes.”

The mechanic’s eyes had flicked up to the Soldier’s face when he’d started the recitation, and they remained there for a few seconds after he’d finished the report, revealing a turmoil of thoughts and emotions. But then he nodded once, sharply, visibly reining himself in. He dropped the kit on the table and opened it, taking out a top-of-the-line scanner. “Okay. Given the time constraints, I’m going to start with disabling the C&Cs and then see if I can come up with a quick boost for the battery before I go to work on the sensor package. You’re the one fighting in a couple of hours -- what’s your priority for the fingers and wrist?” He was scanning as he talked, delicate fingers touching various panels on the arm.

“Finger first, then thumb,” the soldier said. “Fine control, opponent analysis indicates brute strength will be less effective. Armor contains very small weak points. If you increase pain threshold, the Soldier will be most efficient.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” the boy said. He pulled a screwdriver and a long-nosed pair of pliers from the kit. “This is going to feel a little weird, probably, but let me know if it actually hurts.” He reached under the plate at the base of the Soldier’s shoulder with the pliers.

“Pain is irrelevant,” the Soldier said, “so long as it does not impede functionality.”

The boy’s face twisted slightly. “Pain conveys valuable information about the nature of malfunction,” he corrected. “I need all the data I can get, given the time crunch we’re under. Also? It fucking sucks.” He twisted, and a shivery twinge ricocheted up the Soldier’s neck. The boy withdrew the pliers, now holding a small chip. He dropped it into a drinking glass. “One down, three to go.” He tapped his way down the plates as if counting, and then went back in.

The soldier watched as the boy tinkered, flicking through tools with precision, talking the whole time. Explaining what he was doing, and the sensations the Soldier should feel. Observations about Val and dismay at her piloting. The Soldier watched as puzzlement grew. No one spoke to the Soldier during maintenance. The readouts and diagnostics told them everything they needed to know.

No one cared if the Soldier prefered the silver ration packs or the red ones.

Certainly no one had ever touched the arm like it was a pet, or a friend, with small loving pats from time to time, gentle fingers against the metal.

The Soldier licked his lips and tried to remember-- “What’s your designation, Mechanic?”

“What?” The boy blinked up at him. “Oh, yeah, we kind of skipped over the formalities, didn’t we? I’m Tony. And you are?”

“Winter Soldier, the American Asset,” the soldier rattled off, along with his serial number, then, “Barnes, James B.” And the briefest flicker of his old life… Before. “Bucky.”

“Yeah?” Brown eyes blinked once, twice, and then the boy -- Tony -- was back to work, sliding a jeweler’s screwdriver up inside Bucky’s glitched fingers. “You don’t look much like a Bucky to me.”

Something twitched at the Soldier’s mouth and when he considered it, he was surprised to find it was a smile. “Looks can be deceiving.”

“S’pose that’s true,” Tony admitted. He pulled out a small circuit board, no thicker than a pencil, and laid it on the table to examine it closely.

“That’s a trap,” the Soldier said, before his programming could stop him. He winced at the squeeze of mostly disabled control chips in the shoulder. “The board’s laid backward. It’ll explode if you tamper with it incorrectly.”

“Mm,” Tony hummed. “I can see that. Shitty thing to do. I mean, it’s your hand.” He picked the board up with a pair of tweezers and turned it over. “I don’t have time to make a new one right now, but we’re going to put that on the to-do list.”

“It is their hand,” the Soldier said. “The Asset is a poorly designed system with permission to utilize it. The Fist of Hydra.” The Soldier mouthed the phrases by rote, even if he didn’t believe them anymore. So much of the arm, so much of him… had become the Asset.

“Well, not anymore,” Tony said reasonably. “Val bought you, fair and square, just like she did me.” He pried a tiny contact off the circuit board and dropped that into the drinking glass with the containment nodes. “Okay, let’s see how that works.” He delicately wriggled it back through the vents in the Soldier’s finger to slot it back into place.

“Running internal diagnostics,” the Soldier reported. The arm went through a series of self tests and movement controls; the nerve tingler activated, shooting steel pain through his shoulder and spine, causing him to slip and utter a tiny sound of complaint. He unclenched his jaw and panted a moment before delivering the report to the Mech-- to Tony.

“Running diagnostics should not hurt,” Tony said. “That’s another thing for the to-do list. At this rate, it might be easier if I just built you a whole new arm.”

“Safety feature,” the Soldier told him. “Installed after the Soldier damaged a technician upon diagnostics.”

“Bullshit feature,” Tony said. “It’s one hundred percent possible to immobilize this thing without activating the nerve mesh circuitry.” He’d moved on to the thumb, and despite his annoyed tone, his hands were steady and gentle. “Whoever set it up like that was either incompetent or a sadist. Possibly both.”

The Soldier blinked. “Pain is an effective teaching mechanism.”

“It really isn’t,” Tony said. He pulled the thumb’s circuit and turned it over to check the connections for its self-destruct mechanism. “You catch more flies with honey, and all that. They’ve done studies and everything. Which doesn’t seem to sway the asshats of the world, mind you.”

The Soldier thought back on all his training under Hydra hands, that had been bought dear in blood and agony. The training of the girls in the Red Room, that he had supervised. The white electric torture inflicted on him for disobedience. Even Val, who he considered an excellent handler, had taught him the limits of his freedom with pain.

He wasn’t sure if he believed Tony, this… practically a child, really. He filed it away to consider later.

After.

If the fight went badly, there would not be time left to consider anything. What would happen, he wondered, to Tony, if the Grandmaster took his contract. He studied that serious, pretty face, the way his hands were long-fingered and graceful. If the Soldier lost the fight, chances were good he’d be dead.

What would happen to Tony-- perhaps worse.

The Soldier set his jaw. He wouldn’t lose the fight.

He had something -- someone -- else to fight for.

Tony continued to ramble as he finished the work, now peppering his unending dialogue with the occasional unflattering opinion of Hydra’s mechanics and building what seemed a never-ending list of upgrades and enhancements for the Soldier’s arm.

Finally, he sat back in the chair and swiped a hand down his face. “Okay. I can’t do anything else in the time limit; all the other fixes will take longer than we’ve got. And I need some supplies for some of it.” He flashed a smile at the Soldier that seemed to light up his whole face. “Don’t think I did half bad, though. Go on and take ‘er for a spin, let me know what you think.”

The Soldier didn’t even bother to run the diagnostics. He stood, fingers already moving for his knives, sliding them out and going through a complicated set of maneuvers, twisting the blades, throwing at the nearby target on the wall, miming a block, and coming within half a hair of slicing Tony’s cheek. With a deft flick, he removed a lock of that curly, fluffy hair and coiled it around the index finger on his right hand. “For luck.”

Tony was staring at him, his eyes round like plates. “Uh. Yeah. Luck.” He shook himself, then rolled to his feet and offered the Soldier his hand. “Good luck, Bucky.”

Valkyrie insisted that Tony accompany her into the stadium stands to watch Bucky fight. Tony tried to beg off, but she wouldn’t hear of it, towing him along by his sleeve.

It definitely wasn’t the sort of contest Tony appreciated, though he’d known acquaintances of his father who’d boasted of attending these very games. He slouched onto the bench next to Val and tried not to watch any more of the fighting than he had to, and tried not to call Val’s attention to him much, either, since her drinking, which hadn’t really stopped the whole time Tony had known her, ramped up rather sharply as soon as they’d taken their seats.

Val was talking with their neighbors, drinking, and placing bets through her handscreen. Their seats weren’t great, but at least they had seats. Hundreds of alien beings pressed together in the lower levels to watch.

The first few matches weren’t much considered exciting; fighting to a pin, or first blood. Despite the first blood rule, one contender died, as the first blood was his opponent taking his head clear off with a single slash of a microbladed whip.

Val laughed and toasted the dead man with a raised glass.

A batch of alien boys, younger even than Tony, were sent in to the stadium to fight an alien predator-beast, all bristling spines and vicious fangs. The children took it down, at the cost of one of them, and Tony watched, horrified, as one of the boys pleaded with the dead kid to get up, we won, brother, get up.

“I’m going to be sick,” he muttered, closing his eyes as the cheering swelled around him. How had he thought he could endure two years of this? He wasn’t sure he’d make it through two hours. He had to convince Val not to bring him back to the stadium anymore. Not that it would help much. He’d still know. He was sure the crowd’s roar could be heard from all over the city.

“And now, I--” the Grandmaster’s projected image towered above the crowd, a slender, human like man with white hair and elaborate makeup, wearing a glittery golden robe “-- would like to present our first title match for the evening’s entertainment. Fresh off the streets, looking to make a name for himself, originally from the great Frozen Wastelands of Siberia… I give you… the Winter Soldier.”

Val slammed her glass into Tony’s hand, drank straight from the bottle.

Tony didn’t even let himself think about it. He threw back the contents. Whatever it was, it was potent, a heated gasp at the back of his throat that immediately made him dizzy.

“And, defending their honor, all the way from Azzano… Strike Force Delta.”

Bucky walked out of his gate, dressed in black leather, a combat mask strapped over his face, tactical goggles in place. He was bristling with weapons, knives and short range pistols, various explosive and incendiary devices.

“Strike Force? Grandmaster, you son of a bitch!” Val raged. “He was supposed to go against just Crossbones, not the whole squad! They’ll tear him apart.”

Tony swallowed again, still feeling the burn of the alcohol. He had a good idea of what Bucky’s arm was capable of, after having worked on it all afternoon. But he had no idea of the capabilities of the squad Bucky would be facing. He found himself leaning forward, trying to look at them more closely as they emerged. “Rigged game?”

Val slitted a look at him. “Usually,” she said, shortly. “He’s still pissed at me.” Val leaped to her feet, yelling and screaming obscenities questioning the heritage and sexual proclivities of the Grandmaster. She went as far as turning her back on him to shake a bared backside before apparently getting most of her aggression out.

In the meanwhile, Bucky had raced away, moving faster than humanly possible, a blue of black and silver, for the closest cover, set up, and picked off one of the Strike members as they tried to flank him.

The crowd surged, roaring, and Tony moved with it, on his feet, fighting to see over the shoulders and heads of taller watchers. He didn’t want to watch, really, but he couldn’t, couldn’t look away. “Bucky!” he called, even knowing he had no hope of being heard over the noise. “You can do it,” he whispered. “You have to.”

One of his grenades went into the dirt, driving back a pair of them, and then he rolled, snagging a third. His knife was in the metal hand, and he used the captive as a human shield, dragging the body with him as he moved. He was brutal, ugly and violent, never hesitating.

Except when Tony cried his name, Bucky turned his head enough, and even behind those tactical goggles, Tony could feel the weight of that stare. He gave Tony a quick nod, and then broke the guy’s neck, off again. The arm was both weapon and shield; bullets deflected off it as he sprinted.

He was fast, graceful. Death as a dancer, moving into close combat range, his knife blurring from one hand to the other.

He lashed out with a kick that sent one of the Strike members flying, where he caught in the protective electrical netting that kept the fighters from accidentally (or intentionally) injuring the spectators.

The last one, yelling curses and screaming, charged him. Bucky took a blade to the arm, and the thing snapped off, leaving the man holding only the hilt. The arm was shooting sparks, the fingers spasmed helplessly.

Bucky staggered backward and the Strike member hit him in the face with the hilt, shattering the goggles. Even from that distance, Tony could see how blue Bucky’s eyes were, wide with pain. He sought Tony out of the crowd again and gave him a little salute -- like he was saying goodbye.

Tony shook his head, clenching and unclenching his hand. “Don’t you dare give up,” he said fiercely. “Don’t you dare.”

He whirled, flesh hand grabbing the all but useless metal one and-- the crowd was practically holding its breath, waiting for the Strike Team leader to deliver the coup de grace -- Bucky snapped the metal finger, breaking it. He shoved the metal arm against the Strike guy’s belly, wrapped around like holding a wrestling pin, the man curled around the metal arm.

Three, two, one--

The hand exploded with a brilliant white flare, a hiss of smoke, and then the Strike Team leader fell the ground. What was left of him, anyway.

The stump was blackened from fire, bloody from the kill, barely extending past Bucky’s shoulder.

But he was alive.

He was alive, and the winner.

Tony all but fell back onto the bench, gasping for breath as if he’d run for miles at top speed, choking in an effort to hold back his sobs of relief.

Val cheered wildly, finished drinking her bottle, and poured the last swallow or so over Tony’s head. “Go, get him, take him home,” she said. “I have wagers to collect.”

“But I don’t--” He was talking to her back, rapidly retreating as she shoved her way through the crowds. “--know where to pick him up,” Tony finished lamely. He sighed, shook his head to get some of the booze out of his hair, and went in the opposite direction, out of the stadium seating. Downward, was probably the best direction to go, he decided. Maybe once he got closer, there would be signs, or someone more or less official-looking that he could ask for directions.

More cheers and roars from the crowd as the next fight started. Tony pushed his way through, finding a dark staircase that headed down -- that looked promising. He was on a lower level, well lit but relatively unoccupied. There were doors along the interior wall.

A holographic map flickered near one door, and Tony slapped it, getting the basic layout of the gladiator ring. Something even louder than the crowd roared from one room, the wall vibrating as whatever it was crashed into it.

A lean man, maybe an Asgardian, leaned against a wall, absently studying his fingernails, as he lingered outside a room. “Come on, brother, I’m not waiting forever,” he said, then raised jade green eyes to watch Tony with a gleam.

It wasn’t like Tony had never been looked at, before, but he had to admit he felt somewhat naked without the protection of his name and wealth hanging over him like a mantle. Still, the Asgardian looked friendlier than the few others he’d passed. “How do you find a particular fighter?” he asked.

The man made walking motions with his fingers. “The doors are in order by fight. The closer you are to the center, the more prestigious your fighter.” He looked at Tony, mouth twitching up in a smile. “Are you a prize, dear child?”

“No,” Tony said shortly. “I’m a mechanic.” He started off down the hall, looking through the few open doors as he passed.

The hallway was endless, a huge spiral, and Tony’s legs were killing him. Had it really only been that morning since he was sneaking out of his father’s house, headed for the spaceport? That seemed a lifetime ago, already.

“Ah, there you are,” a voice bellowed, and not a familiar one. The -- person -- was huge and muscular and wearing armor that looked as if it were carved from crystal. “I ordered my fucktoy almost an hour ago!” A huge hand, attached to a recklessly muscled arm, grabbed hold of Tony’s shoulder and yanked him toward one of the rooms. “Look, brothers, it’s pretty.”

“Not--” Tony tried to pull free of that hand, but he might as well have been fighting off a brick wall. “Not what you ordered! Let go!” Damn it, his identity chip was supposed to protect him. He tapped at it with his free hand, trying to wake it up. “Let go!”

“Excuse me, asshole,” a familiar, exhausted voice, said, and as both Tony and the other brawler looked up, Bucky flicked a knife through the air. Tony had time to watch the light spinning off the edge before it buried itself in the brawler’s sleeve and pinned it neatly to the wall. Bucky already had a second knife in hand. “The next one will put you in no condition to entertain your fucktoy. This one belongs to me. That’s my mechanic.”

The brawler’s hand loosened, although it seemed more like reflex than choice. Tony’s chip stuttered a few times, sparked, and then he felt the current racing along his skin, like a breeze, to deliver a jolt to the man, who yelped and let go.

“Take him, and get gone,” the man said, cradling his shocked hand, the hair on his arm smelling burned.

Tony took several steps back out of the big man’s reach, then turned toward Bucky. “Val sent me for you,” he said. “Can you walk? Do you need help?”

“‘M all lopsided,” Bucky complained. “Keep over balancing for an arm that ain’t there.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, “I bet. Come on.” He tucked himself against Bucky’s side and slung his arm around Bucky’s waist, supporting. “Let’s get you home so I can fix you up, hm?”

“Home sounds good,” Bucky said. He leaned heavily on Tony, practically letting Tony drag him, as he occasionally gave directions. As they moved into parts of the city that looked more familiar, Bucky leaned into him a moment. “Have… have you been drinking?”

“A little,” Tony said. “But mostly she just dumped some on my head.” He poked at his chip. “Probably what made this malfunction.”

Bucky put his palm against the door, which screeched, and then got about half open. “Home sweet home,” Bucky said, pushing the door the rest of the way. “Maybe we can afford better digs.”

“I guess we’ll find out.” Tony helped Bucky to the nearest chair. “She was going to collect on her bets when I left to find you.” He scrounged around in cabinets and shelves until he found a first aid kit, then grabbed up his toolkit. “How bad is the pain on the arm?”

“I feel ev’ry bit of a hundred damn years old, and like someone ripped off m’ arm,” Bucky admitted.

“Excuse me, Mr. Soldier,” the holo-com flicked on and there was a miniature of the Grandmaster in the kitchen. “Mr. Soldier, congratulations on your win. We’re so very impressed with you here--” There was something blue and tentacle-y wrapped around the Grandmaster, who snuggled into it. “As a token of our esteem, we’d like to send you a choice virgin, to celebrate--”

“No thanks,” Bucky said, and then his jaw clenched as he realized what refusing the Grandmaster’s gift might cost. “No. Thank you. I already got one.” He made a gesture toward Tony.

“Oh… oh, well, then--” and the holo flickered out.

Tony bit his lip. “I might not be,” he said, opening his toolkit and rummaging in it as an excuse not to look at Bucky.”

“Don’t matter none,” Bucky said. “I’ll pick my own bedmates, not let him send me some poisoned slipper.”

“I think you might be mixing your metaphors, a little,” Tony said, but it made him smile, and his shoulders dropped from the hunch he hadn’t realized they’d been in. He pulled another chair over beside Bucky’s and straddled it. “Let’s see if I can turn off the neural feedback for your arm.”

Bucky reached out his right hand and touched Tony’s cheek. “Hey. Thank you.”

Tony looked up, startled. “I’m just... Uh. You’re welcome?”

Bucky leaned back in the chair, closed his eyes, and let Tony get to work. It wasn’t until he’d managed to get all the nerve clustering shut down, put a temporary cap on the end of the arm, and was helping the man out of his armor, that he realized that Bucky was wearing the lock of Tony’s hair, braided small and sewn in a loop, around a strap on his armor.

Tony paused, touching it hesitantly. “I guess it... helped?”

“Maybe it did,” Bucky said, and he covered Tony’s hand with his. “You’re th’ first person who’s treated me like a person and not a weapon in more’n fifty years.” He flicked his gaze up to meet Tony’s, those grey eyes warm and inviting.

“Oh.” Tony licked his lips, and then he wondered what it would be like to kiss Bucky, to be wrapped up in that big, strong body, to let Bucky take possession of his mouth, his skin. Bucky’s lips were thick and plush and soft-looking, and they were hypnotic, drawing Tony in...

The door slammed open, banged against the wall and screeched at the halfway point. “Are you-- are you molesting my mechanic?” Valkyrie bellowed, wine bottle in one hand and a glowing holo in the other. “The grandmaster said you were, an’ I did not pay for him to be deflowered by the likes of you!”

She shoved at the door again, kicking it angrily, as Bucky jerked backward, as if they’d both been caught in the midst of doing something more incriminating than not-quite kissing.

You didn’t pay for me to be deflowered at all, Tony thought. I’m a mechanic. He couldn’t quite bring himself to say it aloud, though, not with Val yelling and banging on things, too similar to Howard for comfort, and damn it, he’d run away from this. He caught himself edging behind Bucky and made himself stop. He couldn’t turn Bucky into a shield, that was unfair.

“Pipe down,” Bucky said. “I didn’t touch ‘im. Besides, virginity is an overrated social construction.”

Valkyrie blinked a few times, putting her wine bottle down. “Did you just… make a full sentence or something? I didn’t know you knew how to do that. Look, look, stupid social construct or not, virginity is both rare and valuable on Sakaar.” She wobbled in Tony’s direction a little, expression more drunk older sister, protective and somewhat condescending, rather than angry. “I’m not saying don’t give it to this lug, I’m just saying… make sure you know what you want, when you give it to someone.”

Tony gaped at her. That was... surprisingly sweet. “I’m... better off, I’d rather give it to someone I know and trust and like, than have it given away for me, like some kind of prize.”

“Up to you,” Valkyrie said. “I didn’t pay that much for you, you still get to decide. But consider it. I can put you in touch with a buyer, if you want. First times are over-rated. Awkward, embarrassing, never as good as you’d want it to be. Might as well get rich, right, Soldier?”

“And how many times have you sold your virginity?”

“Once.”

“This is a very uncomfortable conversation,” Bucky pointed out. “Sober up. I’m going to get some rest, and tomorrow, we’ll figure out how to spend our ill gained riches.”

“Yeah,” Tony agreed weakly. “Rest. It’s been... a hell of a day.” He looked around the tiny apartment as Valkyrie rolled her eyes and stumbled her way into a bedroom, the lock on the door clicking loudly. “So, uh. Where am I sleeping?” Tony wondered cautiously.

Bucky gave him a long, steady look. “You were an emergency acquisition. No place for you to bunk up, except my room. It’s a big bed, we can share it.”

Tony looked around the apartment again, but there wasn’t much in the way of furniture. It was Bucky’s bed or the floor, it seemed. “Right,” he managed, and waved. “Lead on.”

“Don’t worry,” Bucky said, opening another door to his cold-as-ice bedroom. “Val talks a big game, but she’d rip my spleen out if I did anything to you that you didn’t want.”

What about what I do want? Tony wondered, but he wasn’t entirely sure, himself, what that was, so he just followed Bucky into the small bedroom. “I’m not worried,” he said. “Not about you.” And that was... oddly true.

Bucky woke up with a jolt, as if he’d fallen a hundred yards before landing on a soft bed. His eyes sprang open and his heart was beating so hard in his throat he couldn’t have screamed around it if he’d wanted to.

It was dark, and cold, and--

He scrambled for his arm, his arm, his goddamn arm--

Instead of finding his arm, ragged and torn from his body, bleeding out in the snow, his fingers encountered warm, soft… snuggly.

Someone in the bed with him took a deeper breath and curled more urgently against Bucky’s side.

Oh.

Tony.

Tony was sleeping, half on him, a bundle of blankets and shivers pressed against Bucky’s chest, head pillowed on the shattered remains of his bionic arm.

“Hey--” he said, soft, trying not to startle Tony too much, but-- the feedback was getting to him. Bucky’d offered Tony the side of the bed that was away from the wall, so the boy wouldn’t feel like Bucky was pinning him in. But now it meant that Bucky was the one pushed all the way up against the wall.

“Mm?” Tony cuddled in closer, practically burrowing into Bucky’s side. “Jus’... jus’ need a min--” He froze, stock-still, for a count of three breaths, and then scrambled back. “Shit, shit, sorry, I didn’t-- oh fuck, it’s freezing over here,” he whined, his tone ping-ponging from apologetic to startled to indignant.

“Hey, shhh,” Bucky tried again. “S’okay, you-- were jus’ layin’ on a bad spot.” Bucky reached for the cap of the arm, trying to figure out what, exactly it was. “Could feel m’ arm fallin’ off, dreamin’ about it.” He gave up, waving his hand near the panel, bringing the room lights up slowly. “Can you see?”

Maybe he could, but Tony was, instead, staring at Bucky’s bare chest. Even with with temperatures close to four or five degrees, Bucky put out a lot of heat while he slept, and he’d woken once before, practically swimming in sweat, and he’d shucked most of his clothes, tossing them onto the floor over Tony’s shoulder.

“I, uh...” Tony’s gaze jerked up to meet Bucky’s, and he blushed furiously. “Sorry, I’m just. Um. Arm. Yes. I can... Let me take a look at...” He stopped, scrubbing his hands over his face roughly, and then took a breath and held it as he leaned in to examine Bucky’s shoulder.

“Hope you meant what you said earlier,” Bucky said, conversationally, trying to ignore the fact that he was dressed only in a pair of thin shorts and Tony was all but climbing into his lap to look at his busted up arm.

“What I said?” Tony’s hands were sliding over his shoulder, gentle and careful even through the feedback the arm was jittering through his brain.

“That you can make a new one,” Bucky said. “Ain’t like there’s much warranty on the old one left over.”

“Oh! Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can.” Tony curved his hand around what was left of the arm and lifted it a little. “I mean, it might depend on what kind of materials I can get my hands on, and how long we’ve got before you have to go back out-- oh! I think I see it, hang on a sec.” He stretched for his bag, precariously balanced on the very edge of the bed, and dragged it closer to fish out a pair of wire cutters. “Okay, this might pinch just for a second...”

The pain was as horrific as it was mercifully brief. Bucky blinked away spots and realized that his eyes were watering in reaction. But then everything went easy and still. “Oh, that’s better.” The complete lack of pain was shocking, like he hadn’t realized that so many parts of him still hurt. He’d sublimated so much of it, had adjusted to it, that he hadn’t even noticed it anymore. “Oh.” His eyes wouldn’t stop tearing up as he shuddered with relief.

“Are you okay?” Tony’s hand was hovering, not quite touching, his eyes wide and worried. “Bucky?”

“Yeah,” Bucky said, voice rough. “Yeah, I-- maybe for th’ first time since this happened. It don’t hurt. Like at all.”

“Oh.” Tony swallowed, loud in the quiet room. “We’re gonna... When I make the new arm. We’ll make sure that doesn’t hurt. Okay?”

“Okay,” Bucky repeated. He wasn’t sure he knew who he was without the constant pain. Like the person he’d used to be was buried under it. “Come on, lay down, get some sleep. You look so exhausted, you’re makin’ me tired jus’ lookin’ at you. I know it’s cold--” He went to shrug and realized his shoulders didn’t move like that anymore. “But I run hot as Hel, an’ I can’t sleep at normal room temperature.”

“Yeah, I kind of noticed you run warm,” Tony said, wriggling carefully back down into the covers. “Why is that? You from an ice planet or something?”

Bucky shifted around until he had Tony in a little spoon position, keeping him in the warm circle of his body. “Enhanced metabolism. Healing, speed, endurance. I eat a lot, too. Val complains constantly.”

“Not enough to sell your bond, though,” Tony noted, snuggling in. “If we’re going to keep sharing, I’m going to need some more blankets. Tell me about her.”

“Val? She’s smarter than she acts,” Bucky said. He leaned his forehead against Tony’s back and waved the lights to dim again. “There was a war. She’s one of th’ survivors. She drinks to forget ‘em. Most of everyone she loved is dead. She told me, once. She was drinkin’ more than usual, had a bad dream. She’s brave, though. Stands up to the Grandmaster. Aren’t many here who do. She washed up here, years ago, fought her way up to freedom. Now she’s trying to challenge him for the championship. That’d be you an’ me. Oh, an’ she’s got a lady friend, comes ‘round once in a while, they get roasted together and make love with alarming frequency.”

“You’re just trying to make me blush, now,” Tony accused sleepily. “Does she... get mad? Throw stuff or, or break things or...?”

“Not s’much,” Bucky said. “Think the door frustrates her. She keeps sayin’ she’s gonna get it fixed. It sticks. Mostly, she sings. And cusses about the Grandmaster. I like her.” Bucky thought about that for a moment. It hadn’t really occurred to him, in a long time, whether he liked anyone. But he did. She was… sassy.

A little shiver ran through Tony’s body, and he seemed to melt, just a bit. “That’s good. She’s--” He yawned. “--hard to read. Was worried she might be like m’dad.”

Bucky pulled him in, smelling his warm, sleepy scent. “Don’t worry,” he said, yawning once. “I won’t let anythin’ happen to you. Need me a good mechanic.” With that thought, he nuzzled at Tony’s shoulder once, and drifted off again.

Tony woke with a jolt, not sure where he was, and then registered the icy tip of his nose, even if the rest of him was surprisingly warm. The previous day’s events scrolled through his mind in a blur, leaving him half-sick and half-triumphant and entirely overwhelmed. “Oh god,” he whispered. Had he really done all that?

And then woken in the middle of the night to pull a shorting wire from Bucky’s arm and maybe reveal entirely too much about himself? Not his identity, probably, but how best to hurt him, maybe. Tony bit his lip, but Bucky was still holding him protectively close, and Tony thought, if he had to trust someone, it would be Bucky.

But he was still going to get some extra blankets.

Bucky shifted against him, mumbling sleepily, and-- hello, morning wood pushed against the back of Tony’s thigh and Bucky rolled his hips, slow and sensual.

Tony’s breath caught. He had no idea what to do -- he’d been handling his own arousal for years, now, but he’d been carefully watched and strictly chaperoned and none of his near-agemates back in Manhattan had really interested him, that way, anyway -- and he had no idea what to do with someone else’s cock, pressed insistently against his leg.

All he knew was that he wanted to do something about it. His own dick was stirring, filling and firming with each heavy pulse of his blood. He couldn’t deny that he found Bucky interesting and attractive, and maybe that was just the sheer adrenaline of... everything, and the desperate need to bond with someone he could trust, but...

Biting down on his lip, Tony cautiously rocked his hips back, pushing into the heat of Bucky’s body, feeling that hardness against him.

Bucky made a soft, urgent noise, a throaty sort of moan that went straight through Tony, lighting his nerves on fire, and then that mouth was pressed against the back of Tony’s neck, tongue darting out to sample the skin right at the join of his shoulder. His hips rolled with Tony’s, a heavy, desperate rhythm. “Mmmm?”

Tony’s breath left him in a soft groan. “Yes, yes...”

At the sound of him, Bucky stiffened even more noticeably, and then, with a suddenness that took his breath away, Tony found himself on his back, with Bucky practically hovering over him. Misty eyes gazed at him, then-- “Are we awake?”

“I certainly hope so,” Tony said, breath coming faster as his heart sped up. He lifted a hand to brush Bucky’s hair back, skating his knuckles down Bucky’s cheek.

Bucky tipped his face, turning into Tony’s hand, kissing the fingers, then-- “Oh, we are.” He ground down, pushing against Tony’s hips, moaned softly, then, “Are you?” He did it again, rubbing them together with interest. “Stars, you feel good.”

The movement set sparks fizzling under Tony’s skin, more than any touch of his own had ever managed, and he gasped, rutting up against Bucky without even thinking. “Good, yes,” he managed. “Bucky--”

“Sweet, you’re so sweet, look at you--” Bucky murmured, and he nuzzled the side of Tony’s throat, kissing his neck, his jaw, peppering little kisses along his chin, before claiming his mouth. More aware of the way it juddered along his nerves, Tony noted that they were both fuzzy mouthed and sour from sleep before that all washed away as Bucky’s tongue slid into his mouth, flicking over his teeth and along the inside of his cheek.

Tony surrendered to it, and then answered Bucky’s explorations with his own, his tongue sliding along Bucky’s, testing the places where their mouths were sealed together. His hands curled around Bucky’s back, pulling them tightly together. “Bucky, I don’t-- I haven’t-- You’ll have to tell me what to do,” he admitted.

Bucky looked up at him, those beautiful eyes outlined with thick lashed. “Yeah? That-- I like that, you know. That ain’t no one else ever known you, no one’s ever touched you like this. You like it, me kissin’ you? Touching you?” He demonstrated, shifting so he was laying next to Tony instead, leaving his skin rippling with gooseflesh as he traced lines and swirls over Tony’s chest and belly, a teasing curl that got closer to Tony’s groin with each tempting whirl.

Tony shivered and shuddered under those light touches, arching into them eagerly. “I like it. I didn’t think it could feel like this, so...” He shook his head, out of words. “Kiss me again?”

“Yeah,” Bucky said, spearing his hand into Tony’s hair, pulling him closer, thumb rubbing at Tony’s ear and came in to kiss and tease at Tony’s mouth. He licked his way into Tony’s mouth, breath a soft puff against Tony’s cheek. The scrape of his stubble against Tony’s chin tingled, sensation drowning every rational thought in Tony’s brain, leaving a restless cry of more, more, in its wake. Tony shivered again, and Bucky grinned at him. “You still cold, doll? Let me see if I c’n warm you up.” He disappeared under the blanket, sliding down to tug up Tony’s undershirt, licking at the skin of Tony’s belly.

Tony gasped, arching up into the touch. “Oh...” He pushed his hands into Bucky’s hair, mindlessly trying to direct that hot mouth where Tony’s body insisted it needed it most. “Bucky, please...” His hips were twisting, lifting, desperate in the search for friction.

Bucky laughed, a soft, amused sound that might have been humiliating -- did Bucky think he was cute? -- except that Bucky traced his finger up the length of Tony’s dick, from balls to crown, pressure over the material of his drawers that he’d worn to sleep in.

Tony let out a needy whine, then clapped his hand over his mouth, glancing toward the wall. Oh, god, how was he supposed to be quiet when Bucky was making him feel like this? “Bucky, Bucky, I need, please, I need...”

“Gonna take care of ever’thing you need,” Bucky told him, and did it again, slowly dragging his hand up, fingers trailing along Tony’s groin, a tease and exquisite torture, more than Tony had ever felt in his life, and still not enough. He wriggled and thrust up against Bucky’s hand, who just pulled it back. “It’s okay, I’ll get ya there, honey. Slow, breathe with it. Know it don’t feel like it right now, but it’ll be better if you take it slow.”

Tony whined again, but sank back down onto the bed, panting, heart pounding. He wasn’t sure he’d ever even tried to jerk off slow, too concerned with taking care of the need of the moment before anyone could suspect what he was up to. The very idea was maddening, a torment, and a delicious thrill up Tony’s spine. He tried to slow his breathing, to match Bucky’s easy pace, but it was next to impossible. It seemed he was one huge mass of heated sensation and aching need.

Bucky grumbled in the back of his throat. “This’d be easier if I hadn’t had t’ blow up my own damn arm,” he complained, then, “well, guess I’ll jus’--” He slid his hand down the front of Tony’s drawers, palm brushing against Tony’s skin, then over the head of his cock, smearing copious amounts of pre-come around. He mouthed at Tony’s chest, pushing Tony’s tee up as he went, until that hot, lush mouth closed on Tony’s nipple, tongue working the sensitive flesh.

Tony writhed, each breath coming out on a moan, the heat building until it seemed he had to be burning up. “Bucky,” he pleaded, “I’m so, so close, I just, oh god...” He shoved his hand over his mouth and bit down to keep from screaming as that heat and pressure exploded, a white burst behind his eyelids as his whole body shivered and shuddered through his climax.

Bucky flicked his tongue over Tony’s nipple again, a scrape of teeth against the pebbled skin, then he pulled back, cupping Tony’s cock and nursing him through the aftershocks until Tony was too sensitive and squirming away. “Ain’t you pretty,” Bucky observed, and when Tony opened his eyes, raised his fingers to his mouth and licked away the evidence of Tony’s spill.

Tony’s cock twitched at that sight, trying valiantly to push through its exhaustion. “You are so damned gorgeous,” Tony murmured, curling up to catch Bucky’s lips with his, kissing again and again, licking the taste of himself out of Bucky’s mouth. “That was so, so fantastic,” he panted between kisses. “I want to, I need to see you come, too, can I-- tell me what you want.”

Bucky kissed him, cuddled him, petting his arm and hair with fondness. It was comfortable, in a way Tony had never thought about, being utterly relaxed with someone else. “We’ll get to it,” Bucky said. “Just catch your breath, honey. I ain’t in a hurry.” Bucky kissed the tip of Tony’s nose, and then slid out of the bed, letting in a draft of cold air.

He rummaged around in a drawer and came back with a few things; a cloth that he used to clean up the rest of Tony’s spend, a bottle of water that he offered over and a small tube. “Just in case,” he said, then crawled back into the bed with Tony. “How do you feel?”

Tony drank a few big swallows of water -- it was almost too cold, just from being in the room -- and flopped back onto the bed with a contented sigh. “I feel great.” He tipped his head, looking at the tube. “What’s that?”

“Slick,” Bucky said. “Keeps everything from rubbin’ too much an’ making it sore.” He rolled onto his back, wordlessly inviting Tony to spread out over him, sharing his body heat. “You-- back in my time, we’d use hand cream, t’ you know, jerk it. This is like that, only… so I don’t hurt you.”

“Oh, lube,” Tony said. He might not have much (any) experience, but it wasn’t like he was entirely lacking in knowledge. “What the heck kind of planet did you come from that didn’t have lube, what--” He eyed Bucky’s face, gauging age. “--twenty, thirty years ago?”

Bucky made a soft noise. “Older than I look,” he said. “A lot older. You might not believe it. When-- I remember th’ first man to walk on our moon. Space travel. All this-- that was a dream and a wish when I was a teenager.”

Tony scoffed. “That’s, like... hundreds of years ago. Almost a thousand. You can’t be more than... thirty-five, tops.”

“Well, I wasn’t awake for all of it,” Bucky said, reasonably. “Cryotube got lost. I guess, in time I been awake and aware, I’m about ninety. Give or take.”

“You don’t look ninety, either,” Tony pointed out. “They had cryo back that far?”

Bucky ran a hand up Tony’s body, from his thigh and up his hip, over his ribs. “They’ve had cryo since the 40’s. The nineteen forties.” He leaned down, kissed Tony’s jaw. “It’s a long, boring story. You don’t want to hear it, an’ I want--” He plucked at Tony’s shirt, strange how he’d not yet managed to get his clothes off. “-- to see you.”

“Uh. Yeah, yeah, I can--” Tony sat up and reached back to pull his shirt off over his head. His nipples promptly tightened into hard nubs in the frigid air, but he was still snuggled up close against Bucky, who was putting off heat like a bonfire. Tony shoved at his pants, getting them the rest of the way off, and kicked them off the bed, spreading his arms in a little “here I am” sort of gesture.

“So damn beautiful,” Bucky said. “Wanna kiss you all over. You feeling okay, not too sensitive anymore?” He illustrated his point by licking over Tony’s nipple, puckered and stiff from the cold air, and it felt good, somehow more than it had before. “Listen to that, you like that.” Tony could feel Bucky’s lips smiling against him, before he practically devoured Tony’s chest, licking and sucking at the one side.

Tony wrapped his arms around Bucky’s neck, twining his fingers in Bucky’s hair and holding on as if for dear life. Each flick of Bucky’s tongue, each delicate drag of teeth, was like a lightning bolt of pure need, shooting from Tony’s chest straight down into his balls. His cock was starting to swell up again, and he rolled his hips without even thinking about it, rubbing against Bucky’s body. “Ohhhh, god, that feels so good,” he said, breath hitching. “Thought... Thought we were going to take care of you next?”

Bucky leaned his chin on Tony’s chest to look up at him. “You bein’ relaxed an’ happy is taking care of me,” he said. “It’s fun, watchin’ you squirm around, listenin’ to the way you hitch your breath in. Ain’t never gonna be this way again, new an’ fresh. Want it to be good for you, want to be good for you, honey. Damn Val for sayin’ what she did. Your first time, it oughta be damn special.”

“It’s been pretty great so far,” Tony said, and it had been a long, long time since he’d felt this uncomplicatedly happy. And that was mostly because of Bucky. He ducked his head to catch Bucky’s mouth in another kiss, because kissing was fantastic, why had he not done more of that before? “Do I get to see you, at least?” he asked when he’d finally been forced to come up for air.

“Look all you like, honey,” Bucky said. “You already seen th’ horrific bits.” He reached for his shoulder, the stump, the scars. There was an expression on his face that Tony wasn’t sure how to read. Resignation, maybe. “And it didn’t scare you off.” He rolled his hips up. “You can help me with these, if you want.”

“I want.” Tony scooted back just enough to hook his fingers under the waistband of the thin shorts that Bucky was sleeping in. “You’re not horrific, not any of you. Hurt, some, but who isn’t? I think--” And whatever he’d been about to say dropped right out of his head as he got Bucky’s clothes off and he could finally see what had been grinding into him since he’d woken up.

Bucky’s cock was thick and long, just slightly curved, heavy and flushed with desire, and it was an odd sort of pride that swelled in Tony’s chest: that was his doing; Bucky wanted him. “Oh, oh wow, you’re... wow.”

Bucky scoffed. “Ain’t that different from yours, honey. Works just the same.” He took Tony’s hand, loose and easy, and let the palm brush down the skin, hotter even than the rest of Bucky’s skin, soft and velvety. The whole thing jumped and twitched under Tony’s fingers, as if it was begging to be touched, wanting his attention.

“No, I know that,” Tony said, but he couldn’t draw his eyes away, fascinated by the feel of it. “I just... it’s a different angle. And I haven’t seen all that many. Not in this state, anyway.” He flushed a little, focusing on what he was doing to Bucky’s dick so he’d have an excuse not to try to meet Bucky’s gaze.

“You can get t’know him, if you want,” Bucky said. “How it feels in your hand, or… you can put your mouth there, if you want. Whatever you want.”

A shiver ran through Tony, just thinking about it. “Yes. That.” He shifted his weight, slithered down Bucky’s body until he was curled into the warm cradle of Bucky’s legs. He hesitated, just for a moment -- what should he do next? What if he messed up? What if Bucky didn’t like it? -- and then huffed at himself impatiently. He nuzzled against that silk-soft skin with his nose and his lips, feeling that heat, breathing in Bucky’s scent, and then licked tentatively, a broad lap from the base nearly to the tip.

“That’s… that’s so sweet,” Bucky said, his breath coming harder, huffing out between his words, like he wasn’t completely calm, or collected. Like Tony had done that, too. It was a strange, heady sensation, a rush of power and exhilaration. And close on the heels of that was a desperate desire to do it right, do it again, make Bucky as wild and crazy with pleasure as Tony had been.

He licked again, and then again, spiraling like Bucky’s cock was an ice cream cone, trying to taste everything, to feel every little bump and ridge, testing, in search of the spots that got the best reactions -- pretty similar to the same spots on Tony, as it turned out, which made it easier. He lapped tentatively at the head, getting the sharp-bitter flavor of precome and a delicious moan.

He glanced up at Bucky’s face and blushed again at the realization that Bucky was watching him intently. He bit back the ridiculous urge to ask if he was doing it right and closed his mouth over the head of Bucky’s cock, dragging his tongue across it and sucking carefully. How hard was too hard?

Bucky’s hand closed on the sheets, tugging like he was trying to hold himself down as his hips rocked in time with Tony’s movements. Bucky shook his head back and forth, long hair getting into his face, eyes closed, mouth open, and he rocked back to expose a gorgeous, vulnerable throat. He said something in a language that Tony didn’t speak, but the tone was familiar enough, a prayer or a curse, but said with reverence.

“Okay, okay, that’s-- oh, god, that’s good, Tony,” Bucky said, but at the same time, he was struggling to sit up. “I… gotta know, if you want me t’ come like that, or, you want to move on, to the next step.” He was breathing hard, body coated with a light shimmer of sweat, steam practically raising off his skin in the cold air.

Well, that was hardly fair. Tony wanted it all, of course. How could he not, when Bucky was so gorgeous, and it was Tony who’d given him that pleasure? But he looked up at Bucky and knew he wanted to give Bucky everything, even if it was just this once. “Show me,” he said. “I want it all.”

Bucky drew him in for a sweet kiss, not heated much at all, just a brush of lip, a flick of tongue. “And I want to give it to you. Want to be the first, the one-- your one. So, I’m gonna talk you through it, a bit, an’ if it don’t sound like something you want any truck with, you just say, all right? We can always do it th’ other way ‘round, if you’d rather. I-- I mean, I ain’t got lots of experience with teachin’, but for me, helped that I, you know, knew what it felt like, before I tried stickin’ it to someone else.”

Tony nodded, doing his best to ignore the blush that wouldn’t go away. “I want you to... Want you in me,” he said. “Definitely, pretty sure, like... like 85 percent.”

“No foul,” Bucky said, spreading his hand wide. “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to stick with that. Jus’ tell me, we’ll back it up. I won’t be upset, ‘kay? Promise.” And he actually crossed his heart and then kissed two of his fingers.

The childish gesture made Tony laugh, and eased a knot of tension that he hadn’t even realized had been forming. “Promise,” he agreed. “What, uh, how do you want me?”

“Lay on your back for a bit,” Bucky said, decisely. “Spread your legs, no, not that wide, I ain’t a hippo. Just need a little room to work. Gonna slick you up and work you open. One finger, then two. Get you used to how it feels. See what you like.”

“Okay.” Tony shivered a little in the cold air, but mostly he was burning, aching for Bucky to touch him again.

Bucky picked up the bottle of lube, then looked at it, befuddled. “Well, fuck,” he said. “How ‘bout that. Forgot that I didn’t have two hands. Here, you-- yeah, get the lid off, would ya?” He cupped his hand around the shiny substance that Tony poured into his hand, blew on it. “Warm it up for you. Stuff is chilly half the time anyway, lucky it ain’t frozen, bein’ in here with me, and what would be the fun in that?”

“That... does not sound fun, no,” Tony agreed. He wriggled a little, trying to get comfortable, but mostly just flinching back from the cold sheets. “Okay. I’m ready.”

“Shh,” Bucky told him. “I’ll know when you’re ready.” He scowled again at the empty space where his other arm used to be, then leaned in, awkwardly cupping the lube, and kissed Tony, heat, and wanting, his tongue sliding in to taste. The way his tongue flickered against the sensitive inside of Tony’s lip, encouraging him to open his mouth, and then that tongue would move again, tickling at the corner of his lips. Bucky bit him, so light, teeth barely dragging against Tony’s lower lip, stretching it out.

Like all the kissing they’d done before was practice, and this was some sort of encore. Bucky kissed him, and kissed him again, and somewhere in there, slid his hand between Tony’s legs, and one single fingertip brushed along the pucker of his asshole, just a faint touch, but it sent currents straight up his spine; pleasure and weirdness and -- it wasn’t pain, not that, but it was odd.

Tony wiggled a little -- but that just made it stranger. “Oh, oh that’s... that’s different.”

“Yeah, little bit,” Bucky said, and he did it again, just that little brush, but after his hand moved, Tony felt… wet. And the next stroke after that was… more. A brush, but also with a smooth glide to it. Bucky’s fingertip circled the tight pucker that marked Tony’s entrance, and-- weird, but also squirmy. Embarrassing, really, if he had to be honest. Tony’s body spasmed on the next wave, clenching everything up, his thighs, his toes curled, hands balled into fists. “Shhh, easy does it. Here, kiss me again, it’ll help.”

Tony curled up to kiss Bucky, and Bucky drew it out, teasing and coaxing until Tony was swaying into the rhythm of it, losing himself in the slick slide of tongues and mouths and-- Bucky’s finger was in him, he realized suddenly, almost stroking him from the inside. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh,” Bucky said, and he was smiling, soft and looking at him with eyes nearly black. “This okay?” He slid the finger in and out again, pausing as he got almost all the way out to twist around the opening, which shot sunbursts of sensation all up and down Tony’s body. “Looks like part of you is enjoyin’ it, leastways.” And Bucky flicked his gaze down to Tony’s cock, which was more than half hard. Aroused, but not yet urgent about it.

“All of me is enjoying it,” Tony said, though it still felt distinctly odd, but in a good way. “I like it, it feels...” He frowned, trying to put it into words. “Filling? That sounds weird.”

“Stuffed,” Bucky said, apparently agreeing with the assessment. “That’s what I always think. Stuffed full, that sort of… like a good meal and just… letting your body do its thing. Hang on a second, this might… stretch a bit.” Bucky pulled all the way out, and that left him feeling weirdly empty and his hips chased the sensation for a moment without any conscious awareness on his part to move, and then-- more of the slick, wet stuff. Bucky rubbed two fingertips over his hole, and then, slow, almost methodical, he pushed both fingers inside Tony.

Tony’s breath caught and he couldn’t quite let it back out, the stretch becoming a mild burn, not quite painful, but teetering on the edge of it. “Oh, that’s... Fuck, that’s a lot,” he finally gasped, when his lungs refused to hold the air any longer. “Are you, uh. Sure? That I can... I mean, you’re...” Bigger than two fingers, he couldn’t quite say. If only two fingers felt like this, how would he manage Bucky’s cock?

Bucky actually laughed, and that hurt for just a second before Tony realized that Bucky was blushing and laughing, more at himself than Tony. “I promise, it ain’t that big, no matter what you think, babydoll. Here, lift your leg a little, there, that’s it, see if that’s better, an’ just wait, once you relax a little more… then it gets real sweet.”

Tony moved his leg, and shifted it again, and Bucky’s fingers in him just kept pushing at him, even though Bucky wasn’t moving much at all, but it was strange and stretching and-- Tony closed his eyes and tried to focus on breathing. He’d been through so much worse, and this was, this would feel good, soon. Bucky had said so, and he trusted Bucky’s word, and he wanted to make Bucky feel good, too. With a quiver and a jolt, his body suddenly let go, and that stretch didn’t burn anymore, and that nice full sensation was back. Tony let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, yeah, okay, that’s better, that’s... that’s good.”

“There ya go, yeah, that’s… ahhh, look what I found,” Bucky said, and it was playful and teasing, and then-- something that Bucky touched, deep inside him, responded. Like he had when Bucky stroked his cock for the first time, or the feel of Bucky’s tongue and lips on his nipple. But more, so much more, almost too much more. Pleasure and a sudden, inescapable pulse of desire. “There, that’s nice, right?”

Tony’s eyes had flown wide and he stared at Bucky in shock. “What-- Oh shit, do that again!”

“Yep, that’s the whole plan, doll,” Bucky said, and he worked his fingers inside Tony’s body, pressure and light, brushing sensations that seemed to go straight from Bucky’s fingers, through his balls and right up his dick. “Sometimes, feels so good, you can come just from this. Others, you need a hand to help you along. Which I ain’t got one t’spare at the moment. You can rub it, if you need to, but if you come again, we’re done for the night. I ain’t aimin’ to make you so sore you can’t get out of bed.”

Tony considered that and decided to keep his hand off his dick for now; it felt so good, but he still wanted to see Bucky come. Wanted to be the reason Bucky came. “Later,” he said, and his voice came out breathy, a little hoarse. “Bucky, I want, I want you. Please.”

“Yeah, okay, it’s uh. You know what, let’s swap places, okay? I only for th’ one hand and I don’t want to squash you,” Bucky said. “And uh, you can control the pace, if you’re on top. You don’t have to go any faster than you want, and you can get off as soon as you need to. Okay? Just… gonna take you for a ride. And, you’ll uh, you’ll want more slick. Put it on me, so that’ll… yeah, just like that, oh--” Bucky’s voice spiraled up as they moved around and Tony put a hand on him.

It was even more awkward like this, Tony balanced on top of Bucky’s body, trying to lower himself onto a cock he couldn’t see, that seemed determined to slide away from him every time he tried to push down and back. He finally braced both hands on Bucky’s shoulders and curled his toes into the sheets, and Bucky reached down to steady himself and then-- oh, that burned, and Tony bit his lip hard, looking up at the ceiling and widening his eyes so they wouldn’t tear up.

Just like before, he reminded himself, just have to relax, just have to let it go. Thinking about it did not seem to be helping.

Bucky was probably getting impatient, his own pleasure so close at hand. Tony took a couple of shallow breaths and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Tony--” Bucky said, voice soft and easy, as if he wasn’t teetering on the edge of anything. “Hey… you’re okay. We’re good, baby, so good. You don’t gotta go any further, if you don’t want, if it’s too much. We can try again later, or never again. Hey, come on, look at me a minute, yeah?”

Tony managed to look down, and Bucky was looking back up, expression patient and gentle and... and concerned, like he was actually more worried about Tony’s enjoyment than his own. It hit like a blow to the chest, only warm and reassuring instead of cold and painful.

So not like a blow to the chest at all, Tony thought, and hiccupped out a startled laugh. “Sorry,” he managed, and giggled again, helplessly. “I just, it’s...” Another spate of laughter, until he had curled down against Bucky’s chest, unable to stop.

“Nah, I get it. Sex is pretty damn ridiculous,” Bucky said, “an’ here I am, an arm down and not really able t’ help you. Like to sit you right down on my damn dick, I swear to you, I would.” Bucky nuzzled at the top of Tony’s head, breath sifting through the hairs to tickle at his scalp. “It’s okay, really. First time I did it, came all over the girl’s thigh and ‘bout burst into tears, thinkin’ she was gonna hate me forever. She didn’t; she showed me what to do to get her off, an’ it didn’t involve my dick at all.” Bucky wiggled two fingers at him, making a gesture that both meant nothing and seemed to say everything at the same time.

If Tony didn’t know much about sex with another man, he knew even less about sex with a woman. He managed to get his giggling under control, but didn’t move for a moment, just breathing, feeling the heat radiating off Bucky’s skin and enjoying the closeness. He thought... Maybe, possibly, it had done him some good. He felt a little easier, a little calmer, now. “I want to try again,” he said.

He lifted his head and kissed Bucky, melting into it, trying to show how grateful he was for this, for Bucky’s patience and guidance and for making this so, so unbearably sweet. And, yes, awkward, but that seemed okay, too, like the sort of small flaw that made a handmade item more precious than a perfect machined one.

Holding that thought, cradling it close to himself, Tony sat up again and found his angle, and pushed. And there was that stretch, again, but the burn wasn’t so bad, more of an ache, really, like stretching a tight muscle.

Tony sank down farther, feeling Bucky’s thickness filling him, until he realized there was nowhere else to go; he’d taken it all in.

“--oh, god,” Bucky said, short, glottal, voice straining. His whole body was shaking under Tony’s, skin rippling with gooseflesh, and he rolled his hips once, pushing Tony up. He opened his eyes, wide, staring, like he was seeing something precious and perfect, dear and adored. “Yeah, that’s… that’s exactly right, baby. You’re doin’ it.”

And that look, god, what Tony wouldn’t do for that look. He braced his hands on Bucky’s shoulders again, and started moving, slowly. Lifting up and pushing back down, shifting the angle slightly, testing. Somewhere in there, his body gave in to the intrusion, gave way, and even the ache faded into pure pleasure. “Oh god,” Tony groaned. “Bucky, that’s--”

“Jus’ right,” Bucky agreed. “You’re -- so tight, Tony, I don’t think I’ve ever, not like this, never like this. Want you, want you so bad--” Bucky was gasping, his hand opening and closing gently on Tony’s hip as he rolled up just as Tony came down, setting some rhythm in there somewhere, like the steady beat of a drum.

Tony tried to reply, you’ve got me, I’m yours -- but his throat wouldn’t push the sounds out, just a harsh groan as he rocked into Bucky’s rhythm, sensation overwhelming everything else. Another small shift and -- fuck, yes -- he’d found an angle that dragged Bucky’s cock against that place inside him, a little jolt of pleasure that only made everything light up, sweeter and better.

Gasping, he grabbed for his own dick, curling his hand around it and squeezing tight, stripping it mercilessly, chasing sensation toward the finish line, trying to hold out only long enough to pull Bucky over with him.

“There, yeah, there, honey, just like that, you-- oh, you’re so sweet, Tony,” Bucky was babbling, almost senseless, and between words, he was touching as much of Tony as he could reach. “Yeah, that’s… squeeze down, baby, can you do that for me, can you-- oh, oh!”

Tony tried to do what Bucky asked. He wasn’t sure if it actually worked, but Bucky threw his head back, jaw hanging open and throat working as he came, thick pulses inside Tony’s body. Tony closed his eyes and let himself tumble over the edge, too, spilling over his hand onto Bucky’s stomach. “Oh god,” he gasped. “Bucky... god.”

Bucky managed a weak chuckle as Tony practically fell on him. “That was so good, honey,” he said, absently patting Tony’s back and hip. “Now, here’s the not-fun part. I’mma pull out, and you’re gonna find out the hard way that body fluids go from warm and wet to freezin’ and sticky in about point zero two seconds.”

Tony lifted his head just enough to give Bucky a sad, betrayed look. “Why.”

“I didn’t design th’ system, love, I just work with what I got,” Bucky said. “Roll over, this side, an’ I’ll let the blanket cover you up. Get you a washcloth and clean up a bit. Layin’ in the wet spot is not recommended.”

Tony grumbled, but did as Bucky suggested. He pulled the pillow over his head when Bucky got out of bed to get the washcloth. “I don’t want to get up,” he complained.

Bucky brought over a damp washcloth and gently cleaned Tony up, wiping away sweat and semen with a few quick motions. He spread a dry towel over the wet spot to cover it and then climbed back in, bringing his insane body heat with him. “You don’t gotta,” he said. “This is my bed, you c’n stay in it s’long as you want.”

Tony grabbed onto Bucky and snuggled into that warmth with possibly aggressive fervor. “Pretty sure our boss is going to have something to say about that, at some point.”

Bucky pulled the blanket up and nearly over their heads. “She’ll be sleepin’ it off a while,” Bucky pointed out. “We can lounge around most of th’ day, at least.” He nuzzled at Tony’s ear, kissed his jaw. “It’s good, we’re good here--” Bucky blinked a few times, his lashes closing slowly, and he drifted off to sleep.

Tony dozed for a while, but he’d never really slept much, and he was still sort of processing... everything. So eventually he sat up, leaning back against the wall where he could watch Bucky and the door, and pulled up the ‘net connection that his ident allowed. He had an arm to design, after all, assuming he could get his hands on some decent materials.

Which meant he was deep into schematics and engineering better joint solutions when Val slammed the door open. “Boys, we--”

She stopped dead, staring at Tony, her eyes moving from his crazy, sticking up hair, across his shoulders which might possibly have had bite marks on them, to Bucky, still mostly asleep and curled up with his head pillowed on Tony’s thigh.

“Really?” she asked, blinking. “One day. You couldn’t make it one day?”

Tony reached down and lightly brushed his fingers through Bucky’s hair, feeling a fond smile tugging at his lips. “No, I don’t think we could.”

[hey-hey-chan]

Grincherella - Chan

❀ Comedy/fluff/romance with a dash of angst (Cinderella AU)

❀ Word count: 9, 284 

❀ It is THAT time of year again, yes, Christmas season and y/n seems to hate everything and anyone who talks about it. Once she is forced to attending a Christmas party, she is forced to sing, onstage, with the cute boy in her psych class. But the thing is: he doesn’t recognize her. Will she finally let go of her troubled past and present or will she let her insecurities haunt her forever?

❀ A/N: ummmm a mix between Cinderella and High School Musical ? idk what i was thinking but i felt nostalgic i guess .,,, this is the longest fic i’ve EVER written pLEASE dont let this flop AHAHAHA /sweats/ but i also feel bad for making u sit through 9k words /sweats again/ so do what u want i guess

P.S I LOVE YOU ALL! this is a treat for you guys who have been missing my writing!! now im on break so im back in the game !! 

---------

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!” I suddenly got a puff of snow to the face, which made me crinkle my red nose in disgust. “Y/N!!” I slammed my book shut and glared at the boy.

“What?” Jisung giggled and sat on the bench next to me. 

“It’s funny.” 

“What’s so funny about throwing wet snow in someone’s face when they’re trying to read.” I pointed at my book exaggeratedly, a signal for him to leave. He didn’t take it. 

Jisung fixed his scarf, making sure it knocked into my face as usual. He then proceeded to scooch closer to me, which was the final line. “Jisung? What’s your deal? What do you want?” I finally caved. The boy only came to me when he is bored, wants him, or is bored; all in that order. Don’t get me wrong, he was my best friend, but sometimes I just wanted to punch him in the face. 

He chuckled and kicked his feet in the snow. I noted they were adorned with new black snow boots. “I don’t know, I’m just in the Christmas spirit I guess.” I crinkled my nose. “Oh c’mon, I still don’t get why you don’t like Christmas so much. That’s like... illegal.” I rolled my eyes at his exaggeration. 

“Just ‘cause everyone else likes it, doesn’t mean I have to.” I slammed my book shut and looked at the boy in the eyes. “So, it would be great if you would stop pestering me about it because you’re not going to change my mind.”

I got up from the bench and started to walk off to my next class, already starting my day off feeling irritated. 

It wasn’t like I hated Christmas, I just hated when people started to be fake because of is. Kids would act nicer to their parents and relatives to get more money and loot for the winter, but return to the devilish children they are when January rolls around. Cuffing season starts and then couples start to pop up, only for the intent of getting gifts and a “cute” Christmas romance for the holidays. Then, their forced relationship ends. Everything about this season was fake, fake, and more fake. 

And I like real. 

I stopped by a coffee shop and ordered my usual drink: black coffee. It tasted bitter, but I liked the harsh taste of it. It woke me up. 

I walked into my early psychology class and took a seat at the back, my usual spot. I immediately was greeted to the group of loud and rambunctious students who sat in the front row. I groaned internally but simply leaned back in my chair and plugged in my earbuds. 

Suddenly, I felt a presence beside me and out of reflex, I took my earbuds out.

“Good morning, y/n.” I immediately smiled at his cheeky voice.

“Morning, Chan.” The light haired boy frowned and gave me the famous dimple that killed all the girls on campus. Besides me of course. 

“Aw, not even a good in front of that? Now how am I supposed to know what kind of morning I should have?” He pouted, tugging off his scarf and beanie since the room we were in was overly heated. 

I scoffed and shook my head. “What’s so good about it, dude? Our final is today and I feel like death himself.” I joked. It was true, our final was today, and yes, I felt horrible, but even I couldn’t help myself from feeling giddy about the end of the year. 

Chan smile and leaned closer to my desk. “Aw c’mon, y/n, it’s almost Chris-” 

I groaned and made a motion to put my earbuds back in. “I swear to God, if I hear one more person talk bout Christmas, I’m going to explode.” I sighed. Chan broke out into cheerful laughter, like he always does, and shook his head at my reaction.

“You know, you’re the only person I’ve ever met who hates Christmas so much. How can you hate it?? Everyone’s in a better mood, everyone’s in a relationship so you don’t have to run away from boys anymore-” He nudged me jokingly while I rolled my eyes. “And plus, you love peppermint.” 

I nodded, affirming he made a good point. “Ok, you’re right, I do love peppermint.” He was about to give me the cheekiest smile but I cut him off. “BUT, I hate that everyone is so happy this season when I swear everyone looked like they were about to cut me in half in the other 11 months. Plus, my devil for step siblings are shitloads nicer in December but once it hits New Years, all of a sudden they’re stealing my stuff again and pretending to be each other, ‘cause you know...”

“Twins.” He finished my sentence. I nodded and fiddled with my necklace. 

I’ll admit, ever since my dad got remarried, it had never been the same. It’s not like I hated my step mom... all the time... but she wasn’t mom. My mom had always treated me like an adult, even when I wasn’t. I had matured faster than all the kids in my grade, and always had felt like an old soul compared to everyone else. 

Mom used to let me have a sip of her eggnog, that had a little bit of burbon in it, and it wasn’t a big deal. But in my stepmom’s house, it wasn’t allowed, neither was running up the stairs or listening to the music while walking because I could “trip”. I had the same rules as her children, and it was irritating at times. Ok all the time. 

“Hm, well I hope that some day a person will change that for you.” Chan said melodramatically. I chuckled comfortingly, but I knew that would never happen. No one could do Christmas like my mom. 

“Just like how Chaeyoung did that for you?” I teased. His pale cheeks turned a soft red color, blending into his red sweated. I laughed even harder. “Oh come on, you cannot still be embarrassed about your girlfriend, you’ve been dating for a month now.”

Chan tsked and slumped back in his chair. “See, you said two completely different things. Chaeyoung is not my girlfriend, but we are dating. Different. People who have dated someone can understand the difference.” He teased. Usually that would offend people, but I let the insult roll off my back. 

“You act like it’s a bad thing I’ve never dated, it’s normal, weirdo. Also, I know you Chan, and I know that you’re a hopeless romantic who just started ‘dating’ someone because it’s cuffing season and you want someone to hold your hand in the snow at night.” I spat back. 

Before he could say anything, the teacher walked in, signaling the start of the final. I got out my number 2 pencils and gave a thumbs up to Chan.

“Good luck.” I whispered.

“Break a leg.” 

------

“Finally!!” I screamed into my house when I got home. Finals season was officially over and winter break had commenced. I flung my backpack into my room and plopped down on my bed. My back had ached from carry my backpack around everywhere and from the unneeded stress from school. It was finally time to relax. 

Suddenly, I heard a slight buzz to my left. I groaned and looked at the text message. 

It was from my stepmom, saying ‘will be home late today, theres some shrimp in the fridge, u can make pasta’. 

Well, that was a long vacation. 

I rolled out of bed and threw on a flannel, ready to cook some pasta. It wasn’t hard, but I just hated deshelling shrimp. It was time consuming, even though shrimp was one of my favorite foods, I would rather someone else cook it for me to be honest. 

After I cleaned the shrimp, I got out the pasta, preparing all my ingredients before I had to start actually cooking something. But before I could do that, I heard my phone ring. 

I rolled my eyes at the caller ID: Han Jisung, aka, Han Solo in my phone. 

“What.” I answered. 

“So....” He paused. I rolled my eyes

“Jisung, I’m cooking dinner, just get on with it.” I heard rustling in the back ground, which meant he was laying down in bed. Lucky him.

“Fine, fine, so, you know how I’m going to that holiday party thing tomorrow that’s for like 3 days and 2 nights right?” I nodded, but realized he couldn’t see me.

“Yup, why, you need me to watch Pepper?” 

“Nope, my sister said she can take him for the days I’m gone, but anyways, my friend, he really needs a date and he-” 

“Jisung, no-” 

“Ok, so I already knew you would say no, so I already said ye-” 

“YOU DID WHAT?” I screamed into the phone. 

I could feel my heart beat pick up in panic and I had to set down my phone to calm down. “Ok, ok y/n, I know what you’re thinking and I’m really sorry but-” 

“No you’re not Jisung, you love this don’t you? UGH, why do you always have to set me up with people?” I felt whiny but I couldn’t help myself. I hated when anyone, especially Jisung, tried to set me up on dates. They always ended terribly where either I, or the dude, was awkward or the thing just never clicked. 

Most of the dudes weren’t even friend material for me, it was a terrifying experience. 

“Ok, but look, this time, the dude is really a good guy. He’s funny, talkative, charming, attractive, good at singing-” 

“Oh then why don’t you just date him?” I mocked. Jisung made a whiny noise and said “Y/n, please, you know I’m already going with Naeun, I made a commitment!” 

I stared at the bowl of dead shrimp, wishing I could be that chill for one day. “God Jisung, you know how uncomfortable this makes me, why would you do this?” I finally said after a long time of silence. 

He sighed and I knew he truly felt guilty. “Ok, I swear I’m really, really sorry. But this time, I think this guy is at least a good friend match for you. Plus, he’s my friend, so he’s got to be a good friend for you, right??” 

“Please y/n? I’ll make it up to you I promise!” 

I tapped my foot rapidly, trying to make a decision quickly.

“Jisung, even if I say yes, my stepmom is a whole nother story. I need to watch the twins, remember?” 

Jisung sighed like he had forgot I had siblings. I guess it was even a new thing for me sometimes, even though it had been seven years. 

“Ok, fine, if she says yes, are you game?” 

“Game.” I muttered. He squealed in delight. “But don’t think I’m not mad at you, ok? I’m still mad.” I pouted, even though I couldn’t really be mad at him when I had just finished finals. My world seemed like it was so much calmer now, yet it never got exciting in the first place. 

“Ok, ok, I’ll make it up to you, all of it! It’ll be great, we’ll have so much fun! AAAH!” 

I hung up the phone before he could convince me to do anything else. I sighed, opening the box of pasta.

“What have I gotten myself into?” 

-----------

Once I was done with the pasta, I heard the door unlock, soon followed by rambunctious screaming and yelling.

“Heeyoung!! I can’t believe you asked Jake for his number, I called dibs first!” 

“Oh shut up, he was way into me anyways.” 

Suddenly, I heard some sort of wrestling on the ground. 

“Girls, girls, c’mon now, you both can have Jake! Remember, if you guys behave, then I’ll get you two new phones.” At the mention of a new phone, the girls both shut up immediately. 

The girls were twelve years old now as Hanna, my stepmom, already had them with her previous marriage. At 12, I never remembered being so spoiled and entitled, it was disturbing to say the least. 

“Oh, y/n, is dinner done?” She said like she just noticed my presence. I nodded and flicked off the stove. 

“Yup, just finished cooking, you guys eat first, I’m not hungry.” I lied. I was starving, but I hated eating with them and I knew they would rather eat with my as well. That’s just how things worked in this household. 

“Ok, you go upstairs then.” Hanna’s attention then turned to her girls who were trying their hardest to not tear out each other’s hair. It was hilarious and sad all the same time. 

Before I could go upstairs, I heard the doorbell ring, which meant Jisung was here. 

“It’s Jisung!” I called out to the table and they didn’t really pay me any attention besides the two girls who were giggling. Yes, I knew they had a crush on Jisung. Yes, it was weird. 

I threw the door open and saw the boy all bundled up in his bright white winter jacket. I raised a brow. “You’re really gonna-”

Before I could finish, he walked into the house and went right up to my mom, who adored him, only because Jisung was rich, funny, nice, and good looking. 

“Jisung! You’re here, oh gosh, did you have dinner? I made dinner, go ahead and have some.” I wanted to correct her lie, but it would do nothing except make me feel awkward. Jisung raised a brow at me but said nothing either.

“Oh no thank you, I just had dinner at my house. But, I just came over to ask you a very important question, Hanna.” I could tell my stepmom loved the attention and was already blushing. God, I hate Jisung and love him all at the same time. 

“Of course, darling.” She cooed at him, her botox hindering her from smiling widely. 

Jisung smiled and brushed his hair out of his face. “So, there was this little get-together thing that I wanted to bring y/n to, and it’s only for a couple nights and-” 

Hanna shook her head and set her fork down loudly. “Jisung, honey, you cannot ask for stuff like that. I like you a lot but you know y/n needs to stay home and watch the girls. I work and can’t be tied down all day.” 

Jisung feigned sadness, which I knew hit some pity points for Hanna. “Hanna, please, it’s a holiday party and-” 

Hanna scoffed. “Ok, we both know y/n hates anything Christmas, she’s the grinch in girl form.” 

“Ok, yes, but she promised me she would go because it won’t just be about Christmas, but about meeting new people, and hanging out in a nice lodge. So please, can she go, only for a few nights?” 

I felt my heart thump rapidly, for some reason, hoping she’ll say yes. I shook away the thought as quickly as it came; I hated Christmas and the snow and the mountains, which is what I would be facing if I went to this party.

“Well...” 

Everyone’s ears peaked up to hear her answer.

“Well, y/n shouldn’t make promises she can’t keep.” Hanna continued to down her dinner and Jisung turned his head to shake his head in failure. I smirked and shrugged my shoulders. 

“Sorry Jisung, it’s just that me and the girls are going to this huge Christmas party tomorrow night as well and I need someone to watch the dog. You know how they get.” Hanna lied lamely and took a bite of shrimp, that was her favorite food as well. “But that’s ok, y/n hates Christmas anyways, I’m sure you can make cooler and better friends at the party anyways.” 

Five years ago, those words would’ve hurt me, but now they were just annoying. I couldn’t wait til I finished college and didn’t have to depend on her for college tuition. I wasn’t like the normal girls in the fairytales; I wasn’t exceptionally smart and heading to Princeton or an amazing dancer like Selena Gomez, I was just... me. 

Jisung didn’t stick around to hear her annoying jabber and made up some excuse. “Well, my mom is expecting me home and I need to pack me for my trip. It was nice seeing you guys.” The all waved to him as I just shrugged at him as he left. He looked defeated in the moment, but with the evil glint in his eyes, I could tell this wasn’t over. 

------

“Don’t forget to feed Princess!! She needs some real food too so just cook her some fried rice, ok!?” 

“OK!” The door shut loudly, signaling I finally had the house to myself. 

I covered my mouth with a yawn, feeling warm and cozy in my flannel pajamas. My hair was tied loosely into two braids. 

“Thank God I don’t have to go out tonight,” I whispered to myself. I felt bad that Jisung had to go to this event by himself since his girlfriend was going with a group of friends. But I didn’t feel bad enough to go. 

I pulled out my guitar and started to strum lightly on the strings. I never could play and sing when they were home; the twins always complained about my music being too loud when they were studying, even though they never studied. 

“All I hear is raindrops

 Falling on the rooftop 

Oh baby tell me why’d you have to go 

Cause this pain I feel 

It wont go away 

And today I’m officially missing you”

I gently strummed the strings on my guitar, feeling the groove of the music. 

Breaking my magic, I heard my phone buzz. I set my guitar down on my bed and looked at my phone. 

‘open your window’ -jisung

I scoffed and popped open my window and somehow, Jisung jumped inside my room. That’s what I get for not chopping down that humongous tree I guess.

“Jisung... what the hell are you doing here?” I finally asked in confusion. “You’re gonna be late to the party.” I deadpanned slowly. Jisung shrugged off all the snow on his body, leaving my carpet wet. He was dressed with raggedly clothes and a black mask over his face. Of course he would go as a ninja. For some reason, the party planner decided that the ball should be a Christmas costume party... interesting. 

“HEY, asshole, what do you-”

“You know, I love hearing you sing, why don’t you do it in front of-.” My cheeks were now as red as cherries from the anger and compliment. 

“Jisung, what are you doing here?” He shrugged and adjusted his mask.

“Well, um, so we are gonna go to that party.”

I paused at his words and stared at him in silence. 

“No... I’m not going because you couldn’t convince Hanna. Done deal, bye!” I tried to shove him out, but obviously I wasn’t strong enough. 

“Y/n, y/n, listen, listen.” I crossed my arms at the desperation in his voice. “The girls and Hanna are all gone tonight, and probably tomorrow morning-”

“Jisung, they’re coming home at one am, and it takes an hour to just get to the location of your party, and maybe even longer in the snow. I’m not gonna risk it.” I walked away from him, hoping he wouldn’t follow. 

“Y/n, for Pete’s sake, you never do anything bad or even a little rebellious. You stick to rules and you stick to routine, and yes, I know it’s ‘cause of your mom-”

“She’s not my mom.”

“Right, sorry, I mean Hanna, she controls you but she’s finally not here! That’s gotta be a sign, right??” He spoke with such a desperation that I almost felt sorry for him, and myself, but what could I do? I was stuck here until she came back!

“Jisung, really, I can’t just sneak out, what if she catches me? There goes my college tuition and I can’t even finish college and become a choir teacher like I’ve always wanted. It’s just... I don’t wanna risk it.” I said lamely. 

For a few moments, Jisung was silent, which was extremely rare. He sat on my bed, making it creak slightly. I felt like the atmosphere was tense, even though I didn’t know why. 

“I just... you never take chances y/n, the party is gonna be amazing and all I want is my best friend there.” I sighed and patted him on the head. 

“Jisung, I’m not Cinderella, I can’t sneak out of the house and get back before one.” At those words, he shot up and stared at me.

“You know what? If Cinderella can do it, we can! We can just leave the party at midnight and then we’ll make it home before one, I swear on it. It’s not like the road is crowded when it’s that late anyways.”

I laid in bed, the plan not sounding too bad when he said it that way.I tried to protest, but I had little fight left since he was making such a good argument. 

“I don’t even have a costume.” I mumbled lamely. He raised a brow and gave me his signature smirk. “Oh what this time, Jisung?” 

-----

Before I could comprehend what we were doing, we were sorting through my closet and dug out something I never thought I would be pulling out. 

“Really, my mom’s wedding dress... why.” I spoke, but I was quite breathless. I couldn’t imagine wearing something so beautiful. 

Jisung shook the top off the box and shrugged. “It’s perfect for the winter and perfect for a costume as well. You know your mom, she loved...”

I smiled sadly. “Yeah, she loved winter and Christmas.” I mumbled quietly, but I lost my voice once I saw the dress. I covered my mouth and pulled out the outfit. 

“You’re trying that on now.” Jisung yelped. 

I took my time trying on the dress; as I stared at myself in the mirror, I was astonished by the detailing.

It was a beautiful, pale white dress that was adorned in glitter and sparkles. There were small flowers which resembled snowflakes that fell over the poofy skirt. The cut wasn’t too low, but wasn’t too high either. The sleeves were decked out in glitter, and somehow, it fit me perfectly.

“Y/n, we don’t have all day now!” I hurried up and walked out. As he caught sight of me, he dropped my phone. “Damn, you look so much like your mom.” He whispered. Jisung was one of my only friends who had known me when my mom was still alive and that’s probably why he was still friends with me, because I wasn’t the nicest person after she passed. 

“Ok, hurry up, Grincherella, we’re getting in the car.” 

-------

This was the most fun I’d ever had. We were jamming out to classics in the car and not caring who were waking up. 

Jisung turned down the music and shouted to tell me something.

“Oh yeah, that guy who I sold you out too? He doesn’t need a date anymore, I felt really bad so I told him you weren’t looking for a serious date and he said he’d rather go alone anyways. So now we get to party together, WOOP!” He shouted turned up the music again. I almost forgot about my so-called date and now I was happy I didn’t have one. I could just hide in the corner and eat all the food they had.

Soon, we arrived at the venue, and I couldn’t even hide that it was beautiful. There was a fountain up front that was decked out in Christmas decor. There was a machine that projected snowflakes on the building that made the snow around us stand out. And also, it was huge. 

“Oh shit.” Jisung suddenly said. I turned to him in surprise.

“What??” 

“I forgot a mask for you.” He mumbled. I shrugged. 

“That’s fine, I don’t really need one.” I noted. He glared at me. 

“That’s a lie, hold on, lemme pull out my party box.” I was about to question what that was until the boy pulled out a box from the back seat and started to rummage through it. “YES!” He said pulling out a black mask that was lacey and probably too beautiful for me to wear. “Ok, it’s not white like I wanted it to be, but... hmhmmh hold on.” 

I groaned as he pulled out a paintbrush and some white paint and glitter. “Hold still.” Before I could question him, he put on my mask and started to draw white swiggle lines from the mask and out. He layered silver glitter on me and brushed some glitter all around my face and neck. 

“I love being friends with an art major.” He let out a chuckle and threw the art stuff in the box. 

“You look hot, I hope you get laid tonight or else this all will be in vain.” I rolled my eyes.

“Please, I’d be lucky to even get someone to stare at me.” Jisung laughed and helped me out of the car. The cold air hit my arms, making them erupt with goosebumps. 

“Oh they’ll be staring all right. Now c’mon!” 

-----

If the outside was already wild, the inside was even crazier. Music was blaring through the speakers, people were grinding on each other and I’m sure some people were blatantly just making out. This is why I never leave my house.

“C’mon grinch, at least look alive.” I rolled my eyes and tried to hide myself as stares started to come my way. “Don’t look so nervous, they’re looking ‘cause you’re h o t.” I slapped his arm and chuckled, feeling nervous at all the attention.

Before the two of us could get far, I felt Jisung being pulled away from me. 

“JISUNG! Baby!” I looked to my side and saw all of Jisung’s friends. Naeun had pulled him into a deep kiss, one that I felt awkward to look at. 

“Oh hey, y/n, you look so pretty!” Naeun greeted happily, opening her arms for a hug. Honestly, I never liked the girl, but she was a good fake nice I guess. I smiled widely at her and hugged her back. 

“You look stunning as well!” I exclaimed. “All of you guys look really cool.” I complimented to the entire group. 

“You look hot too, y/n, who knew you could dress up so well?” One of the boys exclaimed, making me feel a bit embarrassed. Jisung rolled his eyes.

“Whatever, let’s go get some drinks.” As they all went to get drinks, I pulled Jisung back. 

“No drinks until after you’re back at the party, I am not going to die or kill anybody when sitting in a car with you, got it?” The boy nodded and gulped, knowing I would actually run over him if he drove under the influence. 

The rest of the night moved by slowly, until the party started to pick up at 11. 

“OK GUYS, EVERYBODY ON THE DANCE FLOOR!” A crowd of people started to swarm into the middle of the venue, making me feel restricted and uncomfortable. In the corner of my eye, I saw Naeun pull Jisung into the crowd, leaving me to fend for myself. 

Great, I expected this. 

I immediately stepped back and found a way out of the crowd and ending up in the corner, like I had imagined. 

“Stupid Jisung, forcing me to come out here.” I pulled out my phone that showed I only had 30 minutes left. Suddenly, the DJ stopped played music and another due stepped on the stage. 

“Ok people, so tonight, like usual, it’s our annual karaoke night! Since most people hate singing in front of people, it’s best that we have our costumes on tonight am I right?!” The crowed screamed and whooped. It was a gigantic crowd, probably the most people I’ve seen together in my entire life. Ok that’s a lie but still. 

I drowned out the rest of the yelling and went back to my phone, mindlessly watching food videos online until someone had sat next to me. I tried to ignore the person, but he kept getting closer and closer, and me? I got further and further.

“Hi.” The dude stated. I looked over to him and noticed he was dressed as a mummy. Clever. Not. 

“Um, hi.” I said to not be rude. I shouldn’t assume he was hitting on me, maybe he just wanted to be friends.

“You’re beautiful, what is a girl like you sitting here alone?” Ok scratch that precious thought. I rolled my eyes and scooted away. 

“’Cause I want to?” I spat back. Before the creepy guy could advance even more, the strobe lights started to go crazy. 

“SO PEOPLE! Who wants to sing first?!” Numerous people were screaming and others were shoving their friends forward. I somewhat enjoyed the multiple people becoming targets. 

“ME ME!” I heard being screamed louder than anyone else. I watched as a blonde haired boy jumped onstage. His back was facing my side, but I could tell he was dressed as Prince Charming. 

“Well, Chan, isn’t it time we’ve seen you again?” Chan and the MC hugged.

Wait... Chan ...

My heart raced faster at the realization when the boy turned around. He had a white mask over the top of his face, but I could recognize that face anymore. 

“Oh shit.” 

“For those who don’t know, Chan is the best singer we have here and he’s here every year, what a guy! Without him, most of the girls wouldn’t even show up AHAHAHA” The MC laughed loudly into the mic and I flinched back to cover my ears. 

Suddenly, Chan’s eyes danced across mine, giving me a mini heart attack. I locked eyes with him, unsure of what I wanted him to do. After a few moments, he just looked away, making the whole interaction anti-climatic. 

Wow, he doesn’t recognize me.

I felt part relief that he wouldn’t make me in a wedding dress and attending a holiday party a big deal. But part sadness that a person I considered my friend couldn’t even recognize me when I was dressed as something else. 

“Well, let’s stop the chatter and get this party started! You know how it goes, you start with a duet first to break the ice!” The crowd oohed and awed while I just wanted the clock to hit midnight as soon as possible. 

“So what’s gonna happen is that this light.” The MC pointed to a giant yellow light that seemed quite intimidating. “Is going to land on one of you lucky people who is going to get to sing with Chan, ok? Everyone excited??” Screams erupted even though I knew someone who was probably a crappy singer would get picked. 90% of these people were drunk and the other 10% were drunk AND high.

Suddenly, the light started to wave everywhere, blinding everyone’s eyes. 

“Chan, you get the honor of yelling stop!” Chan took the mic gladly and closed his eyes. Typical Chan. 

Before I could take off running, the light landed right on my face, warming my entire body from head to toe. 

“STOP!” He yelled loudly. I felt my vision blur as everyone in the room turned and looked at me. 

Fuck, shit, fuck.

“Wow, lucky Chan, choosing his Cinderella for a partner! C’mon up here, miss!” I felt my heart throb immensely as I forced myself to stand. Ok, I’m just gonna run it’s fine-

Suddenly, a group of people started to usher me to the stage, which I started to protest, but it was no use. I wobbled up on stage and tried to not look at the looming crowd.

“Well, well, aren’t you two the perfect couple? You even have matching outfits!” I glanced over to Chan shyly, and avoided all eye contact. Still, even standing so close, he couldn’t tell who I was. I guess I had never dressed up or put on makeup, and I had tons of detailing on my face so whatever.

“So, what song do you want to sing?” The MC asked me. I grew nervous, as I hadn’t chosen a song.

I turned to Chan and gestured for him to choose. Chan gave me a small smile. 

“Sorry, the guest has to choose, but whatever you choose is fine with me.” I felt my face blush with his words and I was suddenly thankful I had a mask on. I felt more empowered with it on as no one would know who I was. Except for Jisung and his friends of course. Oh shit, I wonder how Jisung is reacting to this. 

“Um, ok, h-how about... Rewrite the Stars?” 

The MC clapped his hands and suddenly music started to gear up. I felt my palms get sweaty and my dress started to feel too big for my small pride. The lights dimmed and the venue turned dark, probably for dramatic effect. If I knew that this happened at these events, I would have not have gone. But it’s too late now. 

“You can do it!” I heard from the audience. I almost smiled at Jisung’s yell, but I was too nervous for that. 

The spotlight focused on Chan, making him look more ethereal than before. 

“You know I want you. It’s not a secret I try to hide.” I heard Chan’s voice fill the room, melting the heart’s of all the girls around us.

I knew Chan had an amazing voice, but with him staring right at me while he was singing was a little too intense for me. I smiled gently as his singing, but then he sang the next line to the audience, which showed he knew how to own the stage. The embellishments on his shoulders dazzled in the light, making his shoulders look broader than usual. 

“it’s up to you, and it's up to me No one can say what we get to be So why don't we rewrite the stars? Maybe the world could be ours Tonight.”

Shit, shit, it’s my turn real soon. 

My brain turned off and I only reacted on instinct now. My palms drenched the mic and made my grip tighter, but still slippery. I closed my eyes at the light focused on me and opened my mouth.

“You think it’s easy, you think I don’t wanna run to you?” The first note was shaky, yet filled with more composure than I imagined. 

“But there are mountains, and there are doors that we can’t walk through.” Slowly, I opened my eyes and turned, finally gaining confidence. I stared at Chan who was already watching me with steady eyes. 

Soon, it came to the duet, 

“All I want is to fly with you All I want is to fall with you So just give me all of you”

“It’s feels impossible.”

“It’s not impossible”

“Is it impossible?”

“Say that it’s possible?” Our voices blended smoother than expected, making the crowd ooh and ah. I couldn’t deny that I felt the connection too as he made his way over to me, getting into the song. 

I felt him grab my hand,

“No one can say what we get to be Why don't we rewrite the stars? Changing the world to be ours”

I could hear his breathing so closely. His palm was quiet sweaty from holding the mic, but our hands felt so perfect together. 

Finally, I ended the song,

“You know I want you It's not a secret I try to hide”

I let go of his hand for dramatic effect, 

“But I can't have you We're bound to break and My hands are tied”

The lights turned black, and then right back on when cheers and clapping started to erupt. Once the lights turned back on, I felt the anxiety ride in my stomach again. 

We were still about 10 inches apart from each other. Chan’s eyes were stuck on me; the intensity was almost enough to cut right through me. 

He looked stunning in the dim light; his blonde hair was neatly done and his face was shiny from all the sweat, but he still looked beautiful. 

Damn, what am I thinking? I thought. 

Suddenly, he cracked a smile. “Hey, you’re a really amazing singer... but you also sound quite familiar. Have we ever met?” I smelt the alcohol on his breath, making me crinkle my nose in disgust. 

My heart pounded as I thought of answers to say. 

“Uhh, um, no? Not that I remember.” 

I saw his famous dimple splash onto his face, which sent butterflies in my stomach. What the hell am I feeling-

I saw him lick his lips and peer above us. I raised a brow and followed his stare. The crowd started whooping and hollering as our eyes landed at the thing hovering above us.

“Huh, mistletoe.” I felt my heart thump in anticipation as he leaned much closer to me. “Is this ok?” He whispered against my lips. I answered him by finally connecting out lips. 

Suddenly, the rest of the crowd disappeared and it was just us. 

Just me and Chan.

He pressed deeper into me, letting me taste the alcohol on his lips. I tried to not focus on the alcohol, letting myself fall deeply into the kiss. He pulled away slowly, confusing me. 

Gently, he made a move to take off my mask. Hypnotized by how close he was, I couldn’t move until I felt my phone buzz. We both flinched back at the loud alarm. 

It was midnight. 

Meaning it was time to go. 

“Um, I’m so sorry, I have to go!” I ran down the stage, not looking back, even when he yelled “WAIT!” I could NOT be late to getting home.

I ran towards the entrance and saw Jisung already there. His eyes widened.

“We are going to have a long talk, but let’s go!” I turned back, big mistake, and saw Chan looking for me. I pushed Jisung out the door in a hurry and we both started to run towards the car.

“So, uh, wanna tell me what the fuck was that?!” Jisung panted as he got into the car and immediately started the engine.

“Jisung, I wish I could say but I HAVE NO CLUE.” I emphasized. I tossed off my mask as the thing was starting to itch like hell. 

Jisung groaned and started the car. “So are we just gonna ignore how you made out with one of my friends on stage?” I turned to him with wide eyes. 

“Wait, did you just say that Chan was one of your friends?” Jisung rolled his eyes.

“Yes, I did. We’ve known each other for years, he’s Changbin’s older cousin and we hang out like all the time. How the hell do you know Chan? ‘Cause no way would you let a stranger make out with you on stage, even if he was hot.” I gulped and shook my head in disbelief.

“We were in the same psychology class and we sit, sat, next to each other.” I mumbled. I fiddled with my hair nervously, unsure of where our relationship stood now. Oh wait, he doesn’t even know that was you, you’re still just classmates., ex classmates.  “And he didn’t recognize me, so I’m just going to forget this ever happened.” 

Jisung scoffed. “Oh hell no, that was the most intense thing I’ve ever seen you do. You’re an amazing singer, y/n, I don’t know why you hide it all the time. Plus, you had SO much sexual tension on stage.” I slapped his arm as he cackled. “You know why this is so funny?” I shook my head as he continued “it’s hilarious because Chan was the dude I was going to set you up with but cancelled.” 

Suddenly, all the thoughts flooded back to me. 

“Oh my god, that was Chan? Oh shit, wait, that means him and Chaeyoung aren’t seeing each other anymore?” Then I realized, I had kissed Chan, knowing he was dating someone else. But I guess I forgot. But how could I have forgotten that? “Fuck, I didn’t know that Jisung, that means I kissed him and he could have been dating Chaeyoung! I am a terrible person.” I screamed into my dress. Jisung sighed and shoved me slightly to knock some sense into me. 

“Jesus Christ, y/n, it’s fine! They were never serious and Chaeyoung wasn’t that into him anyways, she was dating other people without Chan knowing, that’s why they broke up. You know Chan, hopeless romantic, he was devastated either way.” I closed my eyes in anger. Jisung was terrible at making things better. But I couldn’t focus on whatever their relationship was right now when such an intense thing happened.

“Well, it’s whatever anyways. He didn’t know it was me and in his eyes, that’s the last time he’ll ever see me again. And technically it is the last time I’ll see him because we don’t have a class together anymore. It’s done, over.” I said turning up the radio, but Jisung turned it back down. 

“Y/n, you cannot just ignore this! He was so into you!” I shook my head. 

“He doesn’t even know me! It’s whatever Jisung, he’ll probably forget about it the next day or give up some time over another. This conversation is over.” I made a statement by turning up the radio, the conversation truly ending this time.

-----

The days went by so slowly. My thoughts couldn’t help but constantly be surrounded by Chan, thinking about what he was doing, if he still was pining over me. 

*ding dong*

I heard my doorbell ring unexpectedly, making me jump out of my bed quickly. I pulled a hoodie over my tanktop and walked downstairs. Weird, I wasn’t expecting anybody. 

I pulled open the door, “hello-”

My heart stopped and so did everything else around me as I looked at the person standing at the door.

“Oh my god?? y/n??” Chan exclaimed, going in for that weird dude hand shake. I patted him on the back and pulled away, feigning a happy surprise.

“Wow, um, what are you doing here Chan?” I exclaimed. He was wearing a turtleneck with a long jacket, my favorite outfit on him.

“Jisung sent me here saying that I needed to pick up something?” I rolled my eyes and closed the door, letting him into my house. Weird. 

“Yeah, um, follow me.” I walked to the kitchen with him behind me and picked up the baggie of peppermint bark. I placed it in Chan’s hands while he looked at me with confused eyes. “It’s his dad’s favorite and Jisung asks me to make it every year and on his dad’s birthday because his dad likes mine the most. Of course his dad thinks Jisung makes it, but whatever makes him happy.” I shrugged.

Chan laughed and shook his head. “Wow, that’s so Jisung!” We both chuckled at the joke but then there was a silence. 

“So, uh, I should ask how you know Jisung but he talks a dude named Chan sometimes and I’m assuming that’s you?” I feigned innocence. Chan nodded. 

“Yeah! I’m Changbin’s, his neighbor, cousin, so we see each other a lot.” I nodded as we slowly walked to the door again.

“Well, I guess I should apologize on Jisung’s behalf for making you come here just to pick up peppermint bark. He’s an idiot and tries to set me with random dudes sometimes.” I rolled my eyes as Chan laughed.

“Wow, we both think you need to start dating, hmmm. Time to start searching.” I couldn’t help myself from feeling a bit hurt from him wanting me to date someone else, I guess I shouldn’t expect anything from him anyways.

I forced a chuckled and shook my head. “Nah, not into the whole dating game, sorry.” I waved him goodbye as he opened the door. He turned to leave, but looked back at me.

“You know, you’re fun to talk to. We should hang out sometime.” I raised a brow, knowing that was never going to happen. 

“I guess, yeah.” I noted lamely. Chan squinted his eyes at me and laughed.

“Wow, trying to spare my feelings now?” I blushed, caught in a lie. He just laughed though. “It’s fine, y/n. I know where you live now so you can’t escape me.” He laughed as he playfully punched my shoulder. 

As he stepped out the door, he looked back up at the top of it. “Oh what, is that a mistletoe?” I furrowed my eyebrows in shock and looked up. There was nothing. He broke out into laughter as I turned red in the face. 

“Dude, why I was about to barf.” I joked. 

He chuckled and put his hands in his pockets. “If there was a mistletoe there, would you have kissed me?” He asked abruptly. I leaned back, pretending to look confused. D-does he know? Impossible.

I raised a brow, wondering what his motives were. “I don’t know.” I deadpanned, closing the door in his face. 

I was about to walk away but I heard a knock on the door again. Then again. And again. And again. I let out a low growl and opened the door.

“Jisung told me.” He said before I could let another peep out. 

W-wait

I felt my hands turn numb and my legs go shaky. We stood in silence for a solid minute, which was a long time without saying anything. 

My mind felt numb and I couldn’t think of any lie to save myself. 

“Um... I’m sorry, you need to go.” I started to close the door, but he stopped me gently. 

“Y/n, wait, I’m not mad, and technically I knew before he told me. Look, I feel terrible for not recognizing you earlier but I was really fucking drunk. And I wasn’t in the right mind since I had ended things with Chaeyoung and my mind was just not thinking of anything. But I swear as soon as I got shown a video of us singing the next day, I knew. And I felt terrible, so I’m so sorry.” 

I felt shocked at his apology and I was unable to say anything in response. 

“Please, say something.” He took my hands and pulled me closer to him. 

And I felt terrible when I pulled back. I saw hurt run across his face as I said, “Look I was drunk too and--”

“No you weren’t, you were completely sober, I could tell in the video. Y/n please...” He made an attempt to come closer but stopped. “Look I know it’s bad that I just kissed a random girl and am now making attempts at you but there was something just drawing me to you that night. I mean the alcohol was helping me act on instinct but still. 

I was so happy to find out it was you. I had no idea who the girl was gonna be but when it was you, I couldn’t help but feel so relieved because it’s you, the girl I had a crush on in my psych class who was sarcastic with a weird sense of humor but that’s what was so awesome about you so please, we can just work something out. We don’t have to work fast.” 

A part of me wanted to just say yes and jump into his arms, but these things don’t happen to girls like me: girls who are constantly stuck in the background. He was still in love with that girl who sang confidently at karaoke, not that dull one in his psych class. 

“I’m sorry, Chan but I just can’t.” I spoke softly. I couldn’t bare to look at him as he left, but he said nothing as he walked off my porch.

------

I laid in bed, feeling like the whole world was pressing down on my chest. 

“Y/n! We’re going out to aunt josie’s house! Watch the house for us, we’ll be gone for 5 days! Merry Christmas!” The door slammed shut and I was officially alone on Christmas.

I’d always spent Christmas alone, every single year. 

Jisung had his own family to tend to and I didn’t wanna bother him. I told him that I was fine being alone since I hated Christmas anyways, and he didn’t push thankfully. It was time for me to be alone, to mourn my parents. 

It had been a few days, or maybe a week, since I last saw Chan. Jisung didn’t push the subject, knowing there was a more confusing internal battle in me. 

I felt my phone vibrate, signaling a text. My eyes grew wide when I read the contact name, scared to read the message. 

‘can we meet up right now?’ it read.

My fingers shook, unable to type a message. I hovered my finger over the ‘block’ button, wondering if that was a good idea. But before I could do anything, I got a call from Jisung. .

“Wha-”

“DON’T BLOCK HIM!” I pulled my phone away from my ear. 

“What? How did you know-”

“’Cause I fucking know you, don’t block him. Ok, y/n, let’s be honest right here right now. This isn’t about Chan, this is about you. I guess and Chan but anyways. You’re scared because of these insecurities you have, which you shouldn’t have ‘cause you’re pretty and you’re funny and cool so yeah. But, you have them, so what can you do I guess. But Chan, he’s a great dude; he’s funny, talented, hot, sporty, he’s everything a girl could want and more. Especially what you want. So I know you like him and you should take this chance because even if things don’t work out forever, at least you made the effort.”

I could hear loud music and talking in the background and I knew he was outside of his house where a big party was happening. I went soft knowing he was taking the time out of his Christmas to say this to me.

“Ok... I’ll do it.” 

“Wait what?”

“Call you later.” 

I hung up the phone and returned to texting Chan with Jisung’s confidence in me. 

‘yes... im home right now.’ 

‘are you flirting with me right now?’

I let out a bark of laughter. Chan knew how to get a girl to smile. 

‘no :/’ 

‘well i’ll still be there in 20 mins’ 

‘ok i’ll be here too’

He read my message, didn’t respond. Does that mean he’s on his way over now? 

I ran out of bed and looked at myself. 

“I need a fucking shower.” I took a 5 minute shower and ran out, dried myself and put on a little makeup, just to look not dead. I pulled on a white sweater and leggings, trying to look like I’ve been lounging all day, but cute lounging. 

Before I knew it, I heard my doorbell ring. I groaned in surprise but ran downstairs anyways. I took a deep breath, calming myself.

You can do this.

I threw open the door and saw him standing there, in a white button down shirt with dark fancy pants. His hair was now a dark brown, making him look more mature and casual than his chic blonde look. 

“Hi.” He said with a smile. 

“Hey, um, come in I guess.” I stood back to let him in and closed and locked the door behind him. “Um, merry Christmas.” He looked at me with kind eyes and smiled.

“Merry Christmas to you too.” 

We stood in a peaceful silence, one testing out the waters with the other. 

“What are you doing here instead of spending time with your family?” I asked finally. He shrugged. 

“Well, um, so both my parents died when I was 13.” I held in my gasp and held my head low for condolence.

“I’m sorry for your losses.” He nodded and looked up at me. 

“I’ve heard you have a similar story.” I sighed and sat down next to him as he took a seat on the couch. 

His body heat was radiating off him in waves and it made me feel like home. “Yeah, Jisung probably told you?” Chan nodded and I sighed. “Yeah, um, my mom died when I was pretty young, 8 to be exact. And my dad died just a couple years ago...leaving me with an ass for a stepmom and step sisters so.” I shrugged, not knowing how to go on.

“I’m sorry.” I nodded.

He leaned back in the couch and rolled up his sleeves. I couldn’t help but feel so attracted to him despite our situation being serious. 

“So-” We both started. 

“You go first.” He said. I nodded. 

“So um, I’m just really sorry about what happened the last time I saw you. I guess I was just afraid of commitment and um, feeling loved I guess. To explain it simply, I’ve always felt like I was background music while everyone else is a title track.” I shrugged nonchalantly, but I couldn’t help but feel emotional. His arm immediately went to wrap around my body and pulled me closer. He rubbed my back in circular motions which calmed me down. 

“I’m not blaming you for what happened, I guess we both have our faults.” I shook my head.

“No, you did nothing wrong, it was just me.” I argued as he laughed in surprise.

“Seriously, the first time we kissed, I was drunk as hell. I could tell you noticed ‘cause you made a face.” I blushed and hid my face in my hands. 

“Shut up.” 

As I said that, we returned to our usual banter and relationship. It felt normal again. 

“Hey, I never got to tell you, you’re an amazing singer you know that?” I gave him a small smile and shrugged.

“Thanks, you are too.” 

Then, he glanced up at the ceiling and raised his brows. 

“Mistletoe!” He called out. I grew confused and looked up. “There’s no mistletoe up there.” He gave me a boyish smile and shrugged.

“I know, I just wanna kiss you.” I let out a harsh laugh and slapped his chest.

“Dude, you can’t just say mistletoe whenever you wanna kiss me.” He wiggled his eyes brows and came close to me. My body grew warm since the look on his face was nothing but innocent. “You sure?” I nodded, daring him to go on.

“Mistletoe.” He pecked me on the lips, sending tiggles through my body, but leaving me wanting more.

“Mistletoe.” He leaned in again for half a second then pulled away.

“Mistletoe.” 

“Mistletoe.”

“Mis-” As he leaned in to kiss me for the fifth time, I pulled him closer and he didn’t fight it as he pulled me on his lap. 

He pulled away softly to look up at me. I titled my head at him in curiosity.

“Hm, so how do you like Christmas now, Cinderella?” I gasped and shoved him away playfully. 

“Cinderella? You are not calling me that!” I squealed as he tickled my sides.

“Really? How ‘bout Cindy? Ella? Cinder??” I flicked him on the neck harshly and he gasped in pain. 

“You meanie!” 

He laughed and held me down in his lap. “Ok ok fine! But I’m serious, how do you like Christmas now?” 

I thought about his question for a moment until I leaned down to kiss him gently on the lips, surprising him.

“I could get used to it.”

[thesmellofstorms]

Elu Boarding School AU part 12/?

The next morning, Lucas woke up before Eliott. He spent a few minutes watching his beautiful boyfriend sleep, not caring too much whether it could be considered creepy or not. Then, he decided to get up and prepare breakfast. He chose to make crêpes, wanting to do something special to thank Eliott for being so nice, instead of just putting cereal and bowls on the kitchen table.

Eliott finally emerged when Lucas had put the first crêpe in the pan. The smell had probably given him the incentive to get up and join his guest.

“I made myself at home, I hope you don’t mind.” Lucas said, keeping his eyes on the pan to make sure its content wouldn’t burn.

“I don’t mind at all. Even more so if I get crêpes out of it.” Eliott said, hugging Lucas from behind and leaving a kiss on his cheek.

It was pretty distracting, but Lucas managed to not totally screw up the cooking process, so he counted that as a win.

“Go sit down, the first one is done.”

Lucas filled Eliott’s plate and got back to the pan.

“Don’t wait for me!” he said, upon noticing that Eliott still hadn’t started eating. Crêpes tasted better when they were warm, and Lucas didn’t care if Eliott ate before him anyway.

“Damn, this is so good. Thanks a lot for cooking, Lucas.”

“You’re welcome.”

Lucas had a wild smile on his face, even though he knew Eliott couldn’t see it, since he had his back to him. He couldn’t help it. He was just feeling happy.

He finished the crêpes and then joined Eliott at the kitchen table. They made light conversation while they ate, and Lucas was trying to enjoy the peace while it lasted, because he knew his friends were coming in the evening and things were often the opposite of peaceful with them. He loved them, but they could be quite a handful. Plus, Lucas had made a decision: he was going to come out to them, and he was going to do it today.

He told Eliott when they were eating, and his boyfriend stopped moving altogether for several seconds.

“Are you sure?”

“I am.”

“Okay… ‘Cause I don’t want you to feel pressured because of what happened the other day or anything.”

Lucas put his hand over Eliott’s on the table.

“I don’t feel pressured. I want to do it, because my friends matter to me, and you matter to me too. It’s time I tell them about myself, and about you, well… us.”

Eliott smiled.

“I’m glad. Do you want me to be there when you tell them?”

Lucas nodded. Eliott’s presence would reassure him, and he already knew he’d need reassuring. He was stupidly nervous about this. His friends had never said anything to lead Lucas to think they were homophobic, but it would still be hard to talk to them about his sexuality. He had hidden the truth from them for years. A few weeks ago, they were thinking Chloé and he had a thing, and now he was going to tell them he wasn’t even attracted to girls in the first place. He just hoped they wouldn’t be mad at him for not talking to them sooner.

“It’s going to be alright.” Eliott assured him. “And, anyway, if they give you shit about anything, I’ll throw them out. I’m ready to use force if necessary.”

Lucas laughed at the image of Eliott fighting his friends. The idea itself was surreal.

“It probably won’t come to that.” Lucas replied, trying to convince himself that everything would go fine.

“I know. But still, I meant what I said. No one will disrespect my amazing boyfriend in my own home without suffering retaliation.”

Lucas didn’t think there was much Eliott could do in terms of physical fight, considering he was on the gangly side, but he humoured him.

“Wow, you really are my knight in shining armour.” He bent over the table and kissed the tip of Eliott’s nose.

“Oh, I am.”

“Do you have a white horse hidden somewhere?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Eliott replied, raising an eyebrow.

Lucas rolled his eyes.

“Come on, let’s go shower.” 

Things got heated in the shower, so it took them far longer to get ready than it should have. It was definitely worth it, nonetheless. Even the sore knees Lucas got from kneeling on the shower tiles were worth it. The noises that came from Eliott and the face he made when he came were more than enough to make Lucas forget about the slight discomfort.

*

Yann, Arthur and Basile arrived together around seven pm, as they had agreed on with Eliott and Lucas. The beginning of the evening went smoothly. They ate pizza and drank a few beers while they talked about many things, what exactly? Lucas couldn’t recall. He was too busy thinking about how he was going to come out. He had to do it now, because he was pretty sure they would move on to smoking weed very soon, and then having any serious conversation would most probably be difficult.

“Guys… I have something to tell you.”

“Sure. What is it?” Basile asked, before taking another sip from his beer bottle.

Lucas could feel his hands getting clammy and wiped them on his jeans. Eliott put his hand on Lucas’ thigh under the table to show him his support.

“Well… you know this thing with Chloé? In fact… there was never anything between us. I just kissed her at a party, I don’t know why I did it… I just wanted to fit in, I guess… The thing is… I… I’m gay. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.”

“Hey! Don’t apologise. It’s cool. You did things in your own time, and that’s perfectly fine.” Arthur told him with a smile.

Lucas returned the smile, albeit more nervously.

“It’s great that you told us now! If you want, I’m down to go to a gay bar with you. I can be your wingman.” Basile said.

Lucas couldn’t help but laugh at that. Basile would probably be a disastrous wingman, and anyway he didn’t need one, but he was glad his friend offered.

“Thanks Baz, but I’ll pass… Actually, I have someone already. Eliott and I… we’re together.” Lucas informed, taking Eliott’s hand in his.

“I’m so happy for you, guys!” Yann said, sounding strangely relieved. Lucas was really relieved too, since Yann was the only one who had yet to say anything before this reply.

“Thanks man.”

“I get why you’ve been spending so much time with him, now.”

“Aaaw, were you jealous?”

Yann pouted. “Well, kind of… I mean, as soon as Eliott arrived it was like he was the centre of your universe… And then suddenly you’re spending the weekend at his place instead of going home or coming to mine.”

Damn, Yann really did think Lucas was replacing him with Eliott, didn’t he?

“I’m sorry if it seemed like I was abandoning you guys. You’ll always be my bros.” Lucas said sheepishly, ripping the tag from his beer bottle so he wouldn’t have to look at his friends while having an open-hearted talk with them. That would have been too much.

“It’s okay, Lulu. We understand you were busy landing yourself one of the hottest guys in school.” Arthur replied, successfully diffusing the tension.

“Actually, I think I landed myself one of the hottest guys, no, the hottest guy, in school.” Eliott said, putting an arm over Lucas’ shoulders and kissing his cheek, making Lucas’ friends go “aaaaw”, which in turn made his boyfriend blush.

“He’s delusional.” Lucas said. “Now let’s smoke instead of saying anymore nonsense.”

*

That night, as they were in bed, Lucas thanked Eliott for being there for him.

“You don’t have to thank me.”

Eliott caressed his hair before kissing him lightly. Lucas wanted to tell Eliott he loved him, and he was going to do it, even though it was probably too soon, but he was interrupted by his phone.

It was a text from his mother. He read it, hoping his mother just wanted to ask him how he was. His hopes were immediately crushed. The text was about the devil and Judgement day, and some other equally ominous and creepy things. Lucas put his phone away and sighed, trying to will his tears away.

Of course, Eliott noticed straight away that something wasn’t right.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?”

Lucas was going to lie and say everything was fine, as it had almost become second nature to him, but in the end he decided to confide in Eliott, to trust him.

“It’s my mom… She’s not well. She has mental health issues. I was supposed to see her this weekend, but she cancelled, and now she’s back to sending me worrying texts about the apocalypse and stuff… And I’m tired. I don’t know what I did to deserve this. I just wish she was alright.”

Lucas had started crying while he spoke. Eliott didn’t reply and just pulled Lucas to him, holding him tight while he cried in the crook of his neck.

[virgil-patton-roman-and-logan]

Sshorrorfamily fanfic

I know there is already a fanfic being made for this au, but I decided to write out an extra scene because I love it too much. Credit to @dailysandersidesaudoodles for coming up with the au and @spectralheartt for writing the official fanfic.

This is horror, so don’t read if you are sensitive to that kind of stuff.

Trigger warnings for torture, abuse, manipulation, food, dysfunctional family, and altogether darkness. Please tell me if there is anything I missed, and be careful.

_______________

I looked at all the cheerful memorabilia that brightened my room. Each object was special in its own way, representing a memory made with my perfect family. Photo albums, trophies, and similar objects filled the room, with sunshine filtering on them all. On one shelf was a stack of pictures I convinced people to draw of us. It wasn’t too hard to convince them, really. And why should it be? My family was perfect.

_______________

“Good morning, LoLo!”

Silence. In the past, Logan could be a bit… cold, sometimes. I thought I had fixed that, but maybe I was wrong. Most likely, I just needed to try again.

“I said, good morning, LoLo.” I dropped my voice a level and stopped smiling to get my point across faster. It was a good way to get people to listen to me. They always listened now.

“Oh-- uh, good morning, Patton.”

I smiled again. “Better.” I walked to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. People always said cooking was hard, but I didn't see why. You just put ingredients into a bowl and cooked them. I hadn't gotten any complaints, at least, not in a while.

I mixed the instant pancake mix and water in a light blue bowl, then poured in a bunch of sugar because you can never have too much sugar. What else would be good in pancakes? I added fun size candy bars, marshmallows, m&ms, pieces of raw pop tarts, crushed Oreos, lucky charms marshmallows, maple syrup, and chocolate syrup. That seemed good. While cooking the pancakes, a very sweet smell came over the kitchen.

Some might call it sickeningly sweet, but I thought it was perfect.

And so would my family.

They had to.

_______________

All of us sat at the breakfast table, eating.Well, everyone ate except Virgil. I forgot that he couldn't eat, but could only drink liquids with a straw. He could get food some other time, anyhow. Virgil picked at his pancakes with a fork, watching the sugary goop get stuck to the utensil.

Logan, Roman, and I ate in silence, no one saying a word about the food or anything else. Tension was pressed deeply into the air, like something could go wrong at any second. But that was ridiculous. I fixed everyone and everything. Nothing would ever go wrong again.

And then something did.

Roman projectile vomited all over the table. A storm of anger wrapped around my chest, but I wasn't going to express it just yet. Better to wait. I forced my face to remain stony and impassive.

It looked like I'd have more work to do to fix everyone.

Roman’s eyes widened and his mouth stretched into a shocked O. His entire body stiffened for a moment, but then he turned and ran, knocking his chair over on the way out.

I took a couple of deep breaths. Mindless rage wouldn't get me anywhere-- I had to be more disciplined than that. Soon, my usual cheery demeanor returned, even though it didn't match how I felt inside.

“Come on, LoLo! We have a lot of work to do!” I said with false brightness, getting up from the table. Slowly, hesitantly, he followed suit. On my way out, I saw Virgil glance over.

The familiarity of his face calmed me.

The messy bangs.

The black eyeshadow smeared under his eyes.

His mouth sewn shut like an obedient doll’s.

_______________

It had been almost a week since the breakfast incident. I preferred to wait before punishing misbehavior. That way, the punished wouldn't see it coming. I finished sharpening my knife and looked towards Logan.

“Where did you last see him, LoLo?”

Logan pointed to a hallway to the left, staring at the ground. I knew he was telling the truth. He knew what would happen to him if he wasn't. I put down the sharpening tool and picked up my leathery whip. I had made it myself from an old belt, and it worked quite well.

“Okay! Come on, I need an extra set of hands for this!” Knife in one hand, whip in the other, I started down the hall. Logan followed unenthusiastically behind.

I was going to make Roman bleed until I was sure he regretted his disobedience.

It seemed a little harsh, sure, but it was what had to be done to fix my family, to make us perfect.

And the thought made me euphoric.

_______________

Humming, I walked to check my mail. The punishment the day before had gone well. I ended up using more tools than expected, but no matter. People could survive losing a surprisingly large amount of blood. My family would be perfect now.

Today was a good mail day. We got lots of drawings.

Drawings of Virgil, with his stitched-up mouth. He’d never frown or say anything snarky now.

Drawings of Roman, posing flamboyantly. He had been so gloomy for a while. No matter. He couldn't act gloomy anymore.

Drawings of Logan, the doodles carved into his chest oozing the same color as his favorite jam. I knew for a fact he wouldn't act like such an emotionless robot again.

And drawings of me, the one responsible for all of it. The drawings wouldn't stop coming anytime soon, I was sure of it.

After all, the artists knew what I would do to my family if they ever stopped.

[noona-clock]

Girls vs. Boys - Part 5

Genre: Summer Camp!AU

Pairing: Chanyeol x You

By Admin B

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

The days following the first game were pretty much just your cabin and Chanyeol’s cabin going back and forth playing pranks on each other. It was extremely juvenile, but it was too fun to think about quitting.

Chanyeol struck back from the scented water bucket with some fake cockroaches his boys made out of construction paper and straws. They’d all been rolling on the ground outside your cabin as you and your girls were shrieking your heads off. 

And then you retaliated by pouring cooking oil on his cabin’s front porch. Your stomach hurt from laughing so much as you watched him and the boys slip-sliding all over, grabbing onto each other to try and stay on their feet.

You’d then walked into your cabin one evening after dinner to find all your blankets had been stolen. It had taken you and your girls at least half an hour to find them folded up in the boy’s changing room by the pool.

Since Chanyeol had decided to invade your privacy by breaking into your cabin, you’d responded right back by going in and spraying shaving cream underneath all their pillows.

As you walked with your campers to the mess hall for dinner one evening, you were contemplating what the boys could do next, trying to anticipate their next move. You thought you heard one of your girls say something along the lines of “Maybe we should just stop, we’re spending a lot of time thinking about this when we could be doing fun stuff...” But you hoped you were just hearing incorrectly. Because you were having fun!

...Right?

You tried to avoid Chanyeol’s gaze as you sat down to eat, and you honestly found yourself thinking about what your camper had said. Maybe she’d just been hangry and didn’t really mean it. And nobody else agreed with her, so it was probably just a case of her not thinking before she spoke.

Your thoughts were interrupted by one of your girls suddenly letting out a shriek. You jumped in your seat, your head snapping over to see what was going on.

“He just threw some beans at me!” Layla cried.

But before you could say anything, Eunice shrieked and exclaimed she’d been hit with mashed potatoes.

It only took what seemed like a few seconds for the bombardment of food to fill the air. You sprang from your seat, bringing your arms up to deflect a roll whizzing through the air toward you.

You wanted to try to put a stop to it, but... honestly it was too late now.

So you simply joined in, grabbing whatever food you could get your hands on and launching it toward the boys - specifically Chanyeol.

A shrill whistle pierced the room after less than a minute (though it seemed like you’d been engaged in combat for days), forcing everyone to freeze instinctively.

“What is going on?!”

Your heart stopped at the sound of the camp director’s voice, and you immediately dropped the roll in your hand, your gaze shifting guiltily down to the floor.

“Chanyeol, Y/N,” she snapped. “My office. Now. Campers, clean this up this instant.”

You silently followed the director to her office, reaching up to wipe some ketchup from your cheek.

“I was willing to overlook all the childish pranks you were pulling on each other,” she began after shutting her office door behind her. Her voice was low and soft, and you could tell she was pretty angry.

You felt terrible.

“But this has taken it too far. You two are adults. You should be trying to be role models for your campers, not leading them in these juvenile acts of petty revenge. What were you thinking?!”

You were about to apologize, but Chanyeol’s deep voice interrupted you.

“It was my fault,” he admitted. “I pulled the first prank, and I started the food fight. You can leave Y/N out of this, I’m the one who started it all.”

You immediately turned your head to gawk at him, your jaw slightly agape in shock.

...What?!

“It doesn’t matter who started it, it matters that it was kept going. And that’s on both of your shoulders.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” you murmured, looking away from Chanyeol again. But you still couldn’t believe he’d just tried to take all the blame.

“I’m sorry, too,” Chanyeol added.

“The curfew for your cabins is cut by an hour, and your archery and waterskiing privileges are no longer an option.”

You nodded obediently. You certainly weren’t going to argue.

“Go help your campers clean up, get them back to your cabins, and have a good talk with them.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Chanyeol mumbled.

You followed him out of her office back to the mess hall, not saying a word until you reunited with your campers. You apologized to them quickly, for now, wanting to get everything cleaned up as soon as possible so you could head back to your cabin and have a heartfelt conversation.

You avoided Chanyeol as much as possible, mainly because you were embarrassed but also because you weren’t sure what to make of his words back in the director’s office.

Why had he wanted to take the entire blame?

You couldn’t stop thinking about it even after the mess hall was spotless, but thankfully, none of your girls asked if you were okay as you led them back to the cabin.

“Go ahead and shower up,” you told them once you’d unlocked the door and let everyone in. “We’re having a cabin meeting in half an hour.”

You spent the next thirty minutes thinking of what you would say, how you would explain your behavior to your girls... Honestly, you couldn’t even pinpoint when things had crossed the line. You’d thought you’d all just been having fun, even if the competition between the two cabins had definitely gotten a bit cutthroat.

Once you and all the girls were ketchup, baked bean, and mashed potato-free, you gathered everyone in a circle on the cabin floor, just like you had for quite a few strategy meetings.

But now your words would be on the completely different end of the spectrum.

“Girls,” you began with a heavy-hearted sigh. “I have to apologize for how things have transpired. I never meant for things to get so serious, and... I honestly don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s okay, Y/N,” one of the more quiet girls, Chloe, responded with wide, warm eyes. “We wanted to win, too.”

“Yeah,” the other nine girls agreed, nodding.

“I know, but...” you shook your head, feeling a small lump of emotion forming in your throat. “Life is not about winning. Camp is not about winning. It’s about happiness and joy and having fun, and even if we were having fun... we were making enemies when we should have been making friends. And I’m so sorry. You have no idea how terrible I feel, and I’m going to do my best to be a better role model for you.”

“You’re a good role model already,” Chloe assured you. “You’re the best counselor we’ve ever had.”

“Yeah, we already want to be like you!”

“You’re so cool!”

“And smart.”

“And pretty.”

“Okay, okay,” you chuckled, blinking back tears at how amazingly sweet these girls were.

But then you remembered.

“Oh, wait... you probably won’t like me anymore after I tell you this...”

You took a deep breath, the guilt sinking in even more as you told them. 

“Curfew was cut by one hour, and we can’t do archery or waterskiing anymore.”

There was silence, and you could tell most (if not all) of the girls were just holding themselves back from complaining.

“I know! I’m sorry, but... there’s nothing we can do about it now. Maybe if we behave ourselves the rest of camp, we can see if we can get them back.”

The girls agreed, and they decided to go ahead and start getting ready for bed now. When they all stood up, you made sure to give each of them a huge bear hug, letting them know you appreciated how understanding and forgiving they were being.

Truly, it was the quintessential feel-good moment.

You waited about an hour after turning the lights off before slipping out of bed and heading over to the counselor’s lounge. You were in desperate need of some chamomile tea after the stresses of today.

As you opened the door, you let out a sigh... but were stopped short when you saw Chanyeol sitting on one of the couches. He wasn’t moving, his gaze somewhat blank as he stared into the middle of the room.

Should you say something? It looked like he was either zoned out completely or deep in thought... or, somehow, both.

“What have I become?” he asked suddenly, startling you just a little.

“...What do you mean?”

He shifted his gaze to you then, his brow furrowed deeply. “How did it get like this? How did I let myself get so... competitive?”

You pursed your lips in thought before lifting your shoulders in a shrug. “I’ve been wondering the exact same thing about myself, actually.”

“One of my boys told me after dinner that he wasn’t having fun anymore, and that’s when it really, truly hit me.”

“Yeah... But, there’re still two weeks left. Plenty of time to make it up to them.”

Chanyeol stood, stepping up to you as you hadn’t really moved from your spot in the doorway. “I think I have some making up to do to you, as well.”

“What?” you chuckled. “No, don’t worry about me.”

“No, I was a complete asshole to you. I’m really sorry.”

You took a breath before nodding, slightly biting your lower lip. “I’m really sorry, too. You didn’t deserve any of that pettiness.”

He stuck his hand out toward you, and you shook it, feeling a slight smile tugging at your lips.

“No more competition, then? No more pranks?”

“Definitely no more pranks,” you laughed. “But we do still have to compete for the pizza party...”

“True. We just won’t let it go too far from now on.”

“Deal.”

You went to make your cup of tea then, figuring Chanyeol would have left by the time you were finished. But, surprisingly, he was still sitting on the sofa. And he immediately turned toward you when you came back in from the kitchen.

“So, I was thinking. Our cabins should do an activity together as kind of a peace offering.”

“Oh, yeah, that would be fun,” you agreed as you sat down next to him.

“And so we can show the directors we’re trying to work together...”

“...And hopefully get archery and waterskiing back?” you smirked.

“Exactly,” he chuckled. “Listen, I’ll let you enjoy your tea, but how about tomorrow morning? Nine o’clock? Canoeing in the lake?”

“Ooh, sounds like a great idea,” you said with a grin.

Chanyeol grinned right back, and you realized for the first time he had quite a lovely smile. It was... pretty attractive, actually.

He scooted to the edge of the sofa, but then he froze. He turned to you, looking a bit sheepish.

“This sounds weird, but... my family has a tradition of hugging it out after an argument, and... I don’t know, I feel weird if I don’t do it now...”

“Oh!” A hug? He wanted a hug? “Yeah. Yeah, sure!”

You carefully set your mug down on the coffee table and leaned over to accept his hug.

His arms wrapped tightly around your shoulders, and he rubbed your back a few times.

And he smelled, like, really good.

And you felt really warm.

But not temperature warm.

Like... warm on the inside.

Like that comforting, safe, secure, loving kind of warm?

Okay, Chanyeol was just an amazing hugger.

And... you kind of wanted to hug him again the second he pulled away.

...Huh. Interesting.

Part 6

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-Admin B

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