#good luck to me finding a well situated 2 bedroom flat in one of the if not the worst city of france in terms of housing :)

[moinsbienquekaworu]

I just spent like 20 minutes thinking about soup

[scuttling]

Head Over Feet - Chapter 4

Fandom: Criminal Minds Pairings: Aaron Hotchner/Female Reader Spencer Reid/Female Reader (Unrequited) Word Count: 5,180 Chapters: 4/4 Complete Tags: 18+, NSFW, Unrequited love, Protected sex, Oral sex, Vaginal fingering, Rough sex, Friends with benefits, Praise kink, Daddy kink, TW Fire, TW Burns Summary: Falling in love with one of your two closest friends was never something you planned; it only makes sense that falling in love with the other would also come as a complete surprise. *Inspired by/in collaboration with @ssamorganhotchner. Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Link to AO3 or read chapter 4 below! You pat Spencer on the back, rub your hand soothingly over his shoulders. He’s not crying, but he’s clinging to you like a child, and your heart aches for him a little.

“I’m sorry, Spence. I know it’s hard when you care about someone and things don’t work out, especially because of what we do. It’s complicated; sometimes people just don’t understand.”

He shifts out of your embrace, stands up, runs a hand over his face.

“I’ve spent most of my life not being understood. I thought maybe I found someone who finally got me.”

You get him, you muse; you’ve always been the one to translate his info dumps into useful commentary, to sense when he’s overwhelmed, anxious, to pull him back before his emotions get the better of him. You may only be his friend, but dismissing that fact hurts more than it should.

You sigh, step into the kitchen, fill your electric kettle with water and turn it on, pull a box of chamomile tea out of the cupboard.

“I’ll be right back. Watch the kettle,” you say, patting his arm, and you head for the bedroom.

Aaron has his undershirt on, and he sits on the edge of the bed staring at the tv—he’s not so much watching it as just looking at it, and when he catches sight of you in the doorway, he turns it off.

“What’s going on?”

“Chelsea broke up with him,” you explain, wrapping your robe tighter around your body. “He missed a function because of work, and she wasn’t able to see past that. It’s been a point of contention.” You know it’s a bit of a sore subject, even after all this time, because of his divorce; you try to tread lightly.

“I should go,” he says, standing, and instantly your heartbeat races. You step toward him, put your hands on his arms.

“No, don’t go. Aaron,” you say when he pulls back, looking around the room as if forgetting that all of the rest of his clothes are piled by your front door. “Please, I don’t want you to go.”

“He needs you.” His voice doesn’t sound particularly kind or unkind, just flat, and you sigh, reach up and take his face in your hands.

“Hey. I’m making him a cup of tea—to go.” He wets his lips, and you pull him down for a slow, soft kiss, drag it out, breathe against his mouth. “Please stay with me.”

“You want me to stay, and you want him to go,” he murmurs, clarifying, and you nod, kiss him again.

“Yes. Give me ten minutes?” He agrees, and you turn to head back to the kitchen, but he stops you, pulls you close for a kiss so full of hunger it makes your head spin. You wouldn’t have thought you’d have another round in you after all that, but it may not be completely out of the question.

Back in the kitchen, Spencer leans against the counter, waiting for the water to boil. His eyes roam over you, and then the mess on the floor—clothes, shoes… condom wrapper.

“I didn’t realize he was here,” he rasps. “I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have come.”

“It’s alright. I understand.” You walk around him, pull a travel mug down from the cupboard, an unspoken sign that a warmer welcome is not being extended tonight. “You’ll go home and get some sleep. In the morning, call her and apologize for the things you said. The situation may not be as hopeless in the light of day.”

“It feels pretty hopeless,” he counters, and you stand next to him, look up at him.

“There have been times I’ve felt pretty hopeless. You’ll get through it, with or without her.” He rests his elbows on the counter, his head in his hands, frowns exaggeratedly.

“I wouldn’t blame her if she doesn’t take me back. I was a jerk.”

“Love makes us brave and dumb; it’s an unfortunate combination—and you, Doctor, are not used to feeling dumb.” You tap him lightly on the arm, smile softly. “If she gets you as well as you think, she just might understand your reasons for saying what you said.”

“How did you get through it? When we… When I…” He trails off, but you don’t need him to finish; you both know what he means to say. “Because it feels like my heart is literally breaking, even though I know that’s biologically impossible.”

“It wasn’t without effort, or… help.” You think of Aaron in your bedroom, who has been nothing but patient and kind and caring, who has been there through sleepless nights and self-doubt and you being, honestly, a little insufferable; the thought makes you smile. You loop an arm around his, lean against his shoulder. “Or the knowledge that what is meant to be will be. I was meant to love you, Spencer Reid—but only like this: friends, partners, bad movie buddies.”

“I like this,” he agrees, and you stand close until the kettle beeps. You prepare his tea, snap the lid on the cup, hand it over, and he leans down to press a kiss to your cheek. “Okay, I’m taking your advice. Wish me luck?”

“All the luck,” you say with a smile, and then you see him out, close and lock the door behind him. You make a second cup of tea—in an FBI mug, this time—and head back to your bedroom, press the cup into Aaron’s hand where he sits propped up against the pillows.

“Is everything alright?” he asks as you climb onto the bed, curl up against his side.

“I think so; I gave him some advice, he left in better spirits. Whether or not they can work it out is another story. He can take it from here, though.” Aaron takes a sip of tea, hands you the mug, and you take a sip and then set it on your bedside table. “I’m glad you didn’t leave,” you say softly when you turn back to him; you just look up at him for a moment, then wrap your fingers in his t-shirt, pull him close for a slow kiss. “I don’t ever want you to leave, you know?” You brush your nose along his, and he brings a hand to your cheek, kisses you back—it starts as something tender, but becomes steamier as it goes on, until you’re panting, breathless against each other’s lips.

“I don’t want to leave you,” he whispers, and you kiss again, a bit rougher, more desperate, pull his shirt over his head. You sweep your hands over his shoulders, his arms, brush one through his hair.

“Good. Don’t leave me.” You rise to your knees, untie your robe, and he gets his hands inside it, runs them over your body, pushes the robe off and onto the bed. He presses up to pull his boxers off, and you swing a leg over his, straddle his thighs, curl in to kiss him deeply, wet and messy. “Don’t leave me, Aaron,” you breathe, beg against his lips, and you lean forward to slip him inside.

You grip his shoulders, moan as you sink down, and work your hips, pressing kisses to his face and hair. His hands caress you, running up your back, gripping your hair where it falls over the back of your neck. “Oh, baby. Fuck,” he groans as you move up and down, and the hand on your back slides down to press against your ass, to encourage your quick, eager movements. “You’re so good; you feel so good. I’m here, I won’t leave you.”

“Hmm. And I’m yours, right daddy?” You look up at him, chest heaving, grip his hair at the back of his head, and he nods, moves his other hand to your ass as well and squeezes hard; you whimper, tip your head back, slam down roughly.

“You’re mine, kitten, all mine; you belong to daddy.”

“Oh, fuck yes. Yes.” You moan, lean back in his lap, press your hands against his legs, and ride him hard; nothing has ever sounded better than his groans, looked better than his face while you fuck like you haven’t already gotten off twice by his perfect body tonight.

You let your hair fall back, bring a hand up to rest on his flexing stomach, and he surprises you by running his hands over your thighs, then your legs, pushing you up so you have to plant your feet against the bed. He wraps his big hands around your hips, takes control and moves your body up and down on his cock, your ass meeting his thighs with each of his thrusts. The new position means you’re leaned back further than before, and that he can see everything—your blissed out face, bouncing breasts, your pussy as it hugs him, enveloping him in tight, wet heat.

“Daddy’s good girl, fucking so pretty,” he grinds out, and you just hold onto his legs, moan while he works to bring you both off. “Come on my cock, baby, all over it. Give it to me.”

“Oh, god. Yes, daddy. I will, I will.” Your head drops back, exposing your throat, and you swallow hard, whine your impatience. You want to please him and find release, and it’s frustrating but so fucking sexy, the position he’s put you in. “Harder, please, please.”

“Harder? Are you sure you can take it?” He slams you down roughly, thrusts up faster, and you tremble both with effort and pleasure, press your nails against his thighs.

“I can take it, I can take you. Feels so good.” You’re breaking a sweat, can feel it prickling at the nape of your neck, behind your knees, and you bounce in his hands, clamp tight, nearly sigh in relief when your orgasm is just out of reach. “I’m gonna come, daddy, gonna come on your cock—oh, fuck. Fuck.”

“Yes, baby, just like that.”

Your climax is powerful, lengthy, and Aaron is loving it if the tightened grip on your hips, the low groans of pleasure are any indication. You don’t have it in you to help anymore, too worn out, but he continues to move your body until he comes, and you stare down at him, satisfied and out of breath and ridiculously—surprisingly—in love.

Oh, fuck. Three weeks go by, and you don’t talk about it—with anyone. It eats at you, and you simultaneously want to scream it from the rooftops and hide it in the dark and hope that the feelings pass.

You love Aaron. You’re in love with Aaron. Your best friend, friend with benefits, the man you suddenly on a whim decided to call daddy because you just can’t get enough of him: of his strong hands, soft hair, lips and voice and just… everything.

You’re not sure when exactly your feelings for Spencer went away, but it’s like they drifted off silently into the night, only to be gradually replaced by sharing big breakfasts and a hot coffee on your desk and wearing his flannel pajama pants just because they’re comfy and lazy morning sex on the weekends—

—are you dating Aaron? Because friends with benefits doesn’t feel like coming home to just the right person at the end of the day, like you missed him even though you work together. It doesn’t feel like desperation, like a need to know you belong in his arms, like a confirmation that he’s here because he wants to be, not just because you asked him to be.

Things haven’t really changed since that night—you still go to one of your apartments after work, have dinner, have sex some evenings or just relax others, sleep together every night—but you’re so nervous you’re going to slip up and say or do something to clue him in that you’re almost always on edge now. He notices, because he notices things, and because he notices you.

“What’s got you acting so odd lately?” he asks softly in your ear while you cuddle on the couch, reading, your back against his arm, legs stretched out in front of you. You’d like to crawl into his lap, wrap his arms around you, breathe against his neck, but you settle for this because it’s a little more manageable.

“Odd? Me?” He curls his arm around your chest, rests a hand gently on your throat. There’s no pressure, it’s just a soft claim, but it makes your heart beat fast.

“Yes, baby. You’ve been quiet. You haven’t flipped a page in a while. Is something on your mind?”

“Not really,” you murmur, and he taps a few fingers against the side of your neck.

“You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?” It’s soft, not a line your daddy expects parroted back to him, but a question Aaron feels the need to ask. You bring a hand up to rest on his arm, something of a hug.

“I’m just thinking. Enjoying sitting here with you.” You tip your head back to look at him, and he leans down to kiss your mouth, slowly, deeply, squeezing your throat just a little. It makes you feel warm and fuzzy, cared for, and a little turned on. “Are you enjoying me?”

“I always enjoy you,” he says quietly, brings his other hand to your cheek to cradle your face. “Just making sure you’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” you whisper, looking up at him, into his deep, curious eyes—he seems to know there’s something more, but he also seems to know now’s not the time. “Do you want to go to bed?”

He nods, and you both get up, tidy up the living room, turn off the lights. When you climb into bed, you just kiss, for what feels like hours, curled up around him, skin on skin. Your next case takes you to Portland, where you are tasked with building a profile for a serial arsonist. It’s not going well.

“We’ve been over this,” Derek says, running a hand over his head. “The motives for arson are simple: vandalism, crime concealment, political statement, profit, and revenge.” You stand in front of a whiteboard with your arms crossed; the words he just said are already scrawled across it in your handwriting, in green dry erase marker.

“Well we’re missing something, so let’s go over it again. There have been no signatures, no hits on social media, nothing sent to the news outlets, so we’re not thinking ‘political statement.’” You draw a line through the words.

“No connection between the buildings, so we’ve all but removed ‘revenge’ from the list,” Emily adds, and you draw a line through that one too.

“Second building had no insurance, was taken over by the city—no one profited from that,” Penelope adds from the speakerphone. You strike it out, sigh.

“That leaves vandalism and crime concealment.”

“Nothing was found at any of the scenes to indicate crime concealment, but it is possible,” Derek reminds you; that one stays on the board. Emily taps her pen against her notepad, looks up at you with a cocked brow and points to the board.

“We’re forgetting one. Hero syndrome: when a firefighter or other first responder sets the fires with the intent of returning to help put them out.” You quickly scribble it on the board.

“So we know that in most instances, those who engage in acts of arson due to hero syndrome have had some type of failed attempt at heroism in the past, be it a botched detective exam, dishonorable military discharge…”

“What about someone who failed out of the arson investigator program?” Penelope asks, keys clacking in the background. “I have an Alexander Carter who works for the Portland Fire Department who has failed out of the program—wow, a whopping six times.”

“Could be he’s trying to prove what an asset he’d be,” Emily proposes, and you turn to jot it down, then freeze.

“Did you say Carter? Alex Carter,” you repeat, and she hums.

“Yes, Alexander Carter, age 30, 5’11”, 200 lbs, brown hair, brown eyes.” You cross the room in a hurry, search your jacket pockets for your cell phone, and Derek stands almost immediately.

“What is it?” he asks, and Emily and Penelope echo his question.

“Hotch and Spencer are with Alex Carter right now. They’re checking out the last scene, the one where the fire went out on its own and didn’t spread. The one that failed.” You look up at him, hold your phone up to your ear, dialing Aaron. It rings and then goes to voicemail three times before going straight to voicemail the fourth. Derek tries Spencer, but his goes to voicemail right away. “We have to go there. Fuck. Garcia, what’s the address again?”

The three of you rush out of the conference room, passing JJ, who gets a brief rundown from Emily and offers to stay back to keep an ear out in case they call. You, Emily, and Derek strap on your vests, and Derek drives—Speed Racer may be useful right now, but your hands are trembling. You sit on them so no one sees.

The building is up in flames when you arrive, and there are firefighters on scene as well as police, EMS… and the coroner.

“Where are they?” you all but scream at the detective. He stands, hands on his hips, shakes his head, and your throat goes dry. “God damn it. Say something. Where are our men?”

“Where do you think they are?” He gestures to the smoldering storefront, and you take a calm, measured breath and step away from him; nothing you say will do you any good, only serve to get you in trouble, and it’s not his fault anyway, not really. You try the fire chief, hope you don’t sound like you’re pleading when you ask him for news.

“My people are working hard to put the fire out; we don’t know the extent of it. We can’t say for sure,” he says, and it’s kind, but firm. Not a guarantee. Derek finds you, puts a hand on your arm, and you look up at him like he’s going to have the answers to this. Someone has to, right?

“We just have to wait,” he says, soothing, and even though you know he’s just trying to help, you could punch him in the face; it’s an unfamiliar feeling, not something you’ve ever felt when faced with Derek Morgan. You shake your head.

“Wait? Wait for what, for—for them to be pulled out in body bags? I can’t wait, I won’t wait. I’ve waited long enough as it is,” you mutter under your breath, turning away. You stare at the flaming storefront, trying to formulate a plan that doesn’t end with Derek tackling you before you can get close enough to call for them, but you can’t come up with anything, and it’s not necessary anyway: less than ninety seconds later, Aaron and Spencer come around from the back of the building, looking a little worse for wear, but not as bad as Alex Carter, who is badly burned on the left side of his face.

You are so relieved you could pass out, and it’s an honest to goodness miracle that you don’t. They get Carter to the ambulance, where the EMTs begin to treat him, and then they walk toward you.

You can’t help it, your feet move without you, bridging the distance, and you crash into Aaron, nearly knocking him over; you cling to his shirt and inhale the scent of smoke and cologne, listen to his heartbeat, think the words you’ve been so afraid to say out loud.

He holds you tightly, one hand on the back of your neck, murmurs words in your ear that you can’t make out; when Derek and Emily come over, you snap out of it, grab Spencer by the shoulder and pull him in too, and the five of you form a group hug and you are not the only one to cry.

You go back to the hotel so everyone can shower, wash away the soot; you would have preferred being able to shower with Aaron, to move your hands over his body and see for yourself that he is unharmed, to wash the stale scent of smoke from his hair, but that’s just not possible. You settle for a text that tells you he’s okay, he’s just tired and ready to go home with you—home, which is apparently wherever you are, whichever apartment you are making noise in, taking up space in, wherever you are leaving half empty cups of tea.

You’ve never wanted to kiss him so badly in your life, but the flight from Portland to Virginia is five hours long and almost torture. He sits next to you on the plane, which doesn’t usually happen, and he does paperwork, brushes his free hand against yours occasionally. You drift in and out of consciousness, so tired from the emotions of the day, and before you know it Aaron is smoothing his hand over your head to wake you up.

He drives you to his apartment, stopping only to pick up takeout from your favorite Indian place—the bags are abandoned on the kitchen counter, though, because the moment you are behind closed doors, everything changes.

You kiss him like it will be the last time—and maybe it will be, considering what you plan to say—your hands in his hair, breath on his lips, the taste of him on your tongue. This could be like Spencer all over again; you hadn’t realized then just how not on the same page the two of you had been, not even on the same chapter, maybe in a whole different book, so what makes this any different? What you have come to realize is love could just be comfortable, guaranteed sex to Aaron, and if he turns you down too, you’ll probably give up on all of it.

You move to the bedroom with the practiced motions of a couple who has walked this walk many times before, but this time it feels different. It feels like matching energies, like emotions that have been tamped down and are now allowed to be fully expressed, fully exposed.

Aaron gets you out of your clothes first, with sure, gentle hands, and then you strip him slowly, look him over the way you wish you could have earlier. You touch his arms, his chest, his stomach, then bend to run your hands over his legs, his feet.

“You’re whole. You’re here,” you murmur when you stand, and he takes your face in his hands, presses his lips to yours again and again.

“I told you I wouldn’t leave you; I meant it.” You wet your lips, look up at him, exhale softly. After a sentence like that, what the hell are you waiting for?

“I love you.” His eyes search your face, and you release one soft sob before he pushes you back onto the bed, covers you with his body, kisses you deeply, wet and passionate.

“I love you—fuck, I love you,” he breathes, his hands in your hair, on your face, and then he reaches down to grab your wrists and hold them above your head. You gasp, shudder, spread your legs for him, and he weaves a hand between your bodies, roughly rubs your clit. “Going to fuck you so good. So good.”

He stares down at you, wrists clasped in one hand, the other working to bring you close, or off, you’re not sure; you ache to touch him, but since you can’t you just breathe a little harder, hitch your knees up higher, give yourself to him.

“Please, daddy,” you sigh, and he knows what you want, guides his cock inside you and then slams it all the way in, so deep that you’re overcome by the feeling of fullness and your eyes water. It’s not pain, or even really pleasure, though it does feel good, but more like… completeness. Like you were made for each other in all the ways that count.

He thrusts into you hard, his knees digging into the bed, and you take kisses when he offers them, moan when he doesn’t, struggle against his grip on your wrists just to feel him tighten it. He pounds his hips roughly against you, uses his free hand to squeeze your ass, then your breast, and then finally, eventually, your throat.

He hovers over you, panting, staring down like he’s viewing a masterpiece and not looking at your sweaty, overheated face. “Can I have you? All of you?” He glides the hand from your throat down to your chest, rests it just over your heart, and you nod, surge up to meet him for a kiss.

“All of me—all of me.” He releases your arms, plants his hands against the bed and fucks you hard, and you slide your hands up his back, pull him down so he’s fully on top of you, heavy and solid and strong. “Take me, Aaron, I’m yours. Take me.” You lift your legs, knees almost up to his armpits, and he holds your hips, kisses you deeply, messy, pumps inside and then comes murmuring your name into your hair. You clutch him, buck desperately against him, mouth at his shoulder, and he shushes you softly, brushes his palm over your hot cheek.

“I’ve got you, baby,” he says with a kiss, and then he slides an arm around your lower back, tilts your hips up, grinds inside until you come digging your fingertips into his sides.

He rests your body against the bed, drapes himself over you, moves his mouth slowly up and down the side of your throat; you wrap your arms around his shoulders, and he presses a hand to the back of your neck, holds you close to him. After a few minutes, he speaks, low, into your ear.

“So this is why you’ve been so…”

“Odd?” you say with a smile, and he tilts his head so he can see you, smiles too, kisses you on the lips.

“Yes. Odd. Because you love me?” You shift slightly, pull back so you can see him better, card your fingers through his hair.

“Not because I love you, because I was afraid to tell you I love you.” He makes a face like that’s the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard, and you brush your thumb over the ridge of his ear. “I’m not sure if you remember this,” you begin, softly sarcastic, “but I recently told Spencer that I loved him, and it didn’t go over very well. I was scared that could happen with you, too. It was easier to just enjoy what we had.”

He looks over your features, sighs lightly.

“Do you remember the night you stayed late at the office to help me with the records retention? We ordered pizza and you raided Rossi’s office for liquor.”

“Yes, and it was very expensive Scotch and it went very well with my veggie pizza. You smiled more that night than I’d ever seen,” you say, almost dreamily; you’re such a goner for him, now—it’s like letting yourself tell him was the last straw, and now the floodgates are open and your affection pours out of you, thick and sweet and sappy. You press a palm to his cheek, and he covers it with his hand.

“That was the night I realized I was in love with you.” You look up, think back, try to place that night on the calendar.

“That was six months ago. Right?” He nods, slow and steady.

“Yes, six months ago. Two months after that, I… miscalculated. I got it in my head that you and Reid were in a relationship. I tried to pull back, give you space, but you never seemed to want that, so I selfishly continued to spend time with you.” You curl around him, press close for several soft, slow kisses, lightly tug at his hair.

“Well, that explains why you were so confused when I told you what happened with Spencer. Why you thought you couldn’t talk to me. Silly.”

“I just wanted to do the right thing. You were happy, and I thought it was because of him.” That makes you frown, and you think of what happened that night after Spencer’s, how you came here, broken down about being rejected by another man, and Aaron, who was in love with you, was so kind and gracious and sweet, put your pieces back together. You don’t deserve him, or any of it.

“I was happy. I’m happier now,” you whisper, because any louder and you wouldn’t be able to get the words out over the lump in your throat. “And I am so in love with you.”

“I’m happier now, too,” he says, hovering over your lips, “and so in love with you.” Saturday morning is for sleeping in as long as your bodies will allow—that only ends up being 8:30, but it still feels indulgent—and puttering around Aaron’s apartment, stealing kisses because you can’t so much as brush past him without his arms winding around your waist, without wanting to push your hands up the back of his shirt and hug him.

You both get a text at noon, from Penelope, stating under no uncertain terms that the team will be meeting at a bar you frequent, at 9 PM, and that everyone is expected to attend—significant others are not only welcomed, but encouraged.

“So. If you’re alright with it,” Aaron says when he’s driving to your place—he’s dressed and ready, looks handsome in a navy shirt with his sleeves rolled up, top button undone, but you didn’t have anything appropriate to wear, so you’re heading home to change your clothes. “This could be an easy way to tell the team we’re in a relationship.”

You don’t think it will be particularly easy, especially not for you, because you’ll be hounded for information all night, but the timing is convenient, and you just love to hear him say that you’re in a relationship, so you agree. You change, head to the bar, and when you meet up, Penelope and Emily are already there.

“Hey, guys,” you say as you hug Emily, and then Penelope. “Just the two of you so far?”

“Just us single ladies,” Emily says with a sip of her drink. “You didn’t bring the boyfriend? I thought we were finally going to meet the man who’s been putting a smile on your face,” she says with a grin of her own, and you shrug your shoulders, wrap your arm around Aaron’s.

“Actually, I did.” They both look at you, at Aaron, between you, then at each other, and then they aww in unison. You turn to him, smile, and he offers to go for drinks, excuses himself with a soft look and a brush of his hand.

“Holy shit,” Penelope says, and you can’t help the smile that takes over your face.

“Yeah, I know.” Well, that was a wild ride! Thanks again @ssamorganhotchner for the prompt—I know I changed a lot of it, omitted some things, but this is what happened when my fingers hit the keys! 🤣 Taglist 🤍: @thaddeusly @arsonhotchner @mrsh0tchner @ssahotchie @sleepyreaderreads @mintphoenix @meghannnnnn @disgruntledchowchow @azenpal @g-l-pierce @my-rosegold-soul @ssamorganhotchner @heliotropehotch @angelhotchner @qtip-blog @gspenc @wishuhadstayed @averyhotchner @hotforhotchner11 @itsmytimetoodream @unicornprancing @uchihasteph @mugi-chwan95 @madamsnape921

[ketamineharry]

Rose Pt 2 - Joshua Bradley

Requested: No, this is the second part of the Doctor Who au. This part is slightly longer than the first at an almost 3,000 word count. I really do hope you enjoy this as it has taken me forever to write it. Lots of love, as always xx

You sat in your front room, the familiar domestic style of your ordinary life being a vast difference from the experience that you were dragged into mere hours ago. Your mum, Jackie, as much as you loved her… was always a bit over the top, always had something to say or brag about. Always wanted the Earth to centre around her.

“The whole of Central London has been closed off as police investigate the fire. Early reports indicate.” The news reporter stated. The anxiety and severity of the situation, hadn’t yet sunk in. You were barely able to keep a track of your own thoughts.

You slumped down into the sofa, hoping that if you slipped down far enough, that it would swallow you whole and that you wouldn’t have to continue processing what had gone on. It was crazy to even think about, and you couldn’t talk to anyone about it, because as the Doctor had stated, it would get them killed. You were stuck between a rock and a hard place, as the saying goes.

“I know. It’s on the telly. It’s everywhere. She’s lucky to be alive. Honestly, it’s aged her. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now, you’d think I was her daughter. Oh, and here’s himself.”

Your boyfriend, Mickey flopped down on the sofa with you. His face is the picture of concern, as he takes your hand in his.  

“I’ve been phoning your mobile. You could’ve been dead. It was on the news and everything. I can’t believe that the shop went up!” He exclaimed, his voice frantic. Laced with worry. His eyes searched your face for some sort of answer, some sort of explanation.

“I’m alright, honestly, I’m fine! Don’t make a fuss.”

“Well, what happened?”

“I don’t know!” You exclaimed, frustrated with the fact that you couldn’t tell your boyfriend. The one person you were supposed to confide in, with everything.

“What was it though? What caused it?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t in the shop.”

“It’s Debbie on the end. She knows a man from the Mirror. Five hundred quid for an interview.” Jackie said, her excitement clear.

“Oh, that’s brilliant! Give it here.” You said, as you snatched the phone out of her hand and disconnected the call. The measures that you were having to undertake to protect people were beginning to mount up.

“Well you’ve got to find some way of making money. Your job’s kaput and I’m not bailing you out.” She told you, quite matter-of-factly.

The phone rang again, your eventful night being the gossip of the tower block so it seemed. You just wanted to be able to go to bed and try to forget about it. But, you couldn’t do that, until everyone that knew you, or knew of you was reassured that you were safe.

“Bev! She’s alive. I told her sue for compensation. She was within seconds of death.” Jackie said, as she made her way through the flat, presumably so that she could work herself up and get excited and not have you bring her down about it.

“What’re you drinking, tea? Nah, nah, that’s no good, that’s no good. You’re in shock. You need something stronger.” Mickey said, trying to convince you to come out, for an alcoholic beverage. As much as you would usually be down for it, the thought of having to face even more people with even more questions, was exhausting.

“I’m alright.”

“Now come on, you deserve a proper drink. We’re going down the pub, you and me. My treat. How about it?” He asked, as he playfully pleaded with you.

“Is there a match on?”

“No, I’m just thinking about you babe.” He stated, simply.

“There’s a match on ain’t there.” You said playfully, a broad smile spreading across your face. The small normality of your boyfriend trying to persuade you to go to the pub with him, so he could get drunk and watch the football, was a comfort that you didn’t know that you needed.

“That’s not the point, but we could catch the last five minutes.”

“Go on, then. I’m fine, really. Go. Get rid of that.” You instructed him, as you threw him the plastic arm that the Doctor had pulled off of the mannequin a few hours beforehand. You just needed it out of your house, so that you could continue to try and live in some sort of normality and repress the memories of what the afternoon and the evening had presented you with.

Mickey quickly gives you a soft kiss, before taking the arm and getting ready to leave.

“Bye, bye.”

“Bye.” You respond, as you gave him a small wave.

As Mickey was leaving, he pretended to strangle himself with the arm. He would never know just how chilling that imagery would be for you, and you could never explain. Or else get him killed. For the safety of everyone you knew, you had to pretend that you were fine and you had to pretend that you knew nothing. Quite the burden to carry on your emotionally exhausted shoulders.

--

You woke up to the sound of your alarm clock, blaring beside you. Begrudgingly, you stopped the sound and went to get out of your bed.

“There’s no point in getting up, sweetheart. You’ve got no job to go to.” Jackie’s voice called. Sending you into a vivid reminder of what had happened the night before. Perhaps, it would be best to go back to sleep for a little while.

--

You were sitting at the dinner table with Jackie, discussing your future or what was left of it. You had to find another job, but everything that was available or was suggested to you, just didn’t seem like the right fit. You couldn’t force yourself to work somewhere, when it just wouldn’t work. You just weren't that type of person.

“There’s Finch’s. You could try them. They’ve always got jobs.” She suggested. You knew that she was just trying to be helpful, but there was no way that you could work in a butchers.

“Oh, great. The butchers.” You groaned. You were fed up of trying to sound grateful for each suggestion, because they weren’t helpful and these weren’t jobs you could see yourself enjoying. After all, she was your mum and you had hoped she would’ve known you better than this by now.

“Well, it might do you good. That shop was giving you airs and graces. And I’m not joking about compensation. You’ve had genuine shock and trauma. Arianna got two thousand quid off the council just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek! I know she is Greek, but that’s not the point. It was a valid claim.” She said, as she danced her way back into her bedroom.

Once Jackie was in her bedroom, the cat flap at the bottom of the front door began to rattle. A telltale sign that although you had instructed her to pin the cat flap down, because you didn’t want to have strays coming into the tiny flat, that she had in fact not listened to you. As it seemed like the cat flap was able to move freely, for it to be making all of that noise.

“Mum, you’re such a liar. I told you to nail that cat flap down. We’re going to get strays.” You complained.

“I did it weeks back!” She protested.

“No, you thought about it.”

As you bent down to try and see what was going on, you noticed four silver nails sitting comfortably on the floor. Something had managed to unscrew all of them to be able to try and get through the cat flap. Without warning, it moved. Cautiously, you pushed the cat flap back, in an attempt to see what was going on, on the other side of your door. It wasn’t a total surprise to see the Doctor, the stranger that had saved your life the night before on the other side. Quickly, you rose to your feet and opened the door for him.

“What’re you doing here?” He asked, confused.

“I live here.”

“Well, what do you do that for?”

“Because I do. I’m only at home because someone blew up my job.” You explained, a slight hint of anger to your tone.

“I must have got the wrong signal. You’re not plastic, are you?” He asked, as he made a fist with his hand and gently tapped it against your head a couple of times. “No, bone head. Bye then.”

“You. Inside. Right now.” You instructed him, as you took his arm and successfully pulled him into the flat.

“Who is it?” Jackie asked, from her bedroom.

“It’s about last night. He’s part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes.” You explained as you walked past her room.

The Doctor stood in the doorway, you couldn’t make out much of their conversation, but it seemed like Jackie had attempted to try and make a flirtatious advance onto him, which he had rejected.

As he joined you in the living room area, you felt a sense of shame. The clutter of your everyday life was on show. From magazines, to a deck of cards, the television set sat proudly in the corner of the room. The domesticity seemed alien to him. Like, he didn’t have any of these things himself and it concerned you. Perhaps, he was just some loner who in playing the hero had gotten himself attached to you and now you had let him into your house.

“Don’t mind the mess. Do you want a coffee?” You asked, breaking the silence that had filled the room.

“Might as well, thanks. Just milk.”

“We should go to the police. Seriously. Both of us.” You suggested, as you tried to think of a way to end the nightmare that you had found yourself residing in.

“That won’t last. He’s gay and she’s an alien.” You heard him mumble.

“I’m not blaming you, even if it was some sort of sick joke that went wrong.” You said, in an attempt at comforting him.

“Hmm. Sad ending.”

“They said on the news that they found a body.” You told him.

“Y/N Tyler.”

“Ah. Could’ve been worse, look at the ears.”

“All the same, he was nice. Nice bloke.” You said, as you continued trying to explain Wilson to him, but it seemed like he either wasn’t all that interested or couldn’t hear you.

You could hear that he was trying, and had failed to shuffle a deck of playing cards.

“Luck be a lady.”

“Anyway, if we are going to the police, I want to know what I’m saying.” You began, only stopping as you heard the deck of cards he was attempting to shuffle, fall to the floor. “I want you to explain everything.” You continued.

“Maybe not.”

He stops for a moment, as if he was trying to observe something. A silence from him, he failed to even explain his actions any longer.

“What’s that then? Have you got a cat?” He asked you, as he attempted to try and figure out what was going on.

“No.” You answered simply, as you finished up making the coffees. “We did have, but now they’re just strays. They come in off the estate.” You continued, as you picked up the two mugs of coffee and bought them into the living room with you. You placed them down on the coffee table in front of you, finally taking in the mess that was your living room.

“I told Mickey to chuck that out. You’re all the same. Give a man a plastic hand. Anyway, I don’t even know your name. Doctor what was it?” You asked, no sooner than you had. The plastic arm had attached itself to your face. You were barely, still able to breathe.

The Doctor, quick on his feet, pulled at it. Which only made matters worse, as he did, you both fell onto and crashed through the glass coffee table. Pieces of glass, and other matter flew everywhere as your bodies collided with it. He decides to use the metallic device that he had used the previous night to open the fire exit door, which finally pulls the arm off of your face. He then jabs the device into the palm of the hand, which stops the fingers from moving. The life from the object, seemed to have been drained.

“It’s alright, I’ve stopped it. There you go, you see. Armless.” He explained.

“Do you think?” You asked him, as you hit him with it.

“Ow.”

--

As soon as the Doctor had come, he was off again. But, you couldn’t let him leave until you had some sort of answers. A clear story in your head if you will. So, you decided to follow him down the stairwell.

“Hold on a minute. You can’t just go swanning off.” You protested.

“Yes I can. Here I am. This is me, swanning off. See ya.”

“But that arm was moving, it tried to kill me.” You said, voice raised slightly from a mixture of fear and annoyance.

“Ten out of ten for observation.”

“You can’t just walk away. That’s not fair. You’ve got to tell me what’s going on.” You all but begged. Once you had the answers, you could easily drop it and go on with your normal everyday life, treating the cause of these events as some sort of anomaly.

“No I don’t.” He stated simply.

You had found yourself outside, still chasing after him.

“All right, then. I’ll go to the police. I’ll tell everyone. You said, if I did that I’d get people killed. So, your choice. Tell me, or I’ll start talking.” You threatened. Which caused him to stop and turn around, allowing you to catch up to him a little bit.

“Is that supposed to sound tough?” He asked, flippantly.

“Sort of.”

“Doesn’t work.”

“Who are you?” You asked.

“Told you, the Doctor.”

“Yeah, but Doctor what?” You questioned.

“Just the Doctor.”

“The Doctor.” You repeated.

“Hello.”

“Is that supposed to sound impressive?” You asked.

“Sort of.”

“Come on, then. You can tell me. I’ve seen enough. Are you the police?” You enquired.

“No, I was just passing through. I’m a long way from home.”

“But what have I done wrong? How comes those plastic things are after me?” You couldn’t quite understand it all. It all just seemed a bit much. From your understanding, you hadn’t done anything wrong. Yet, these things still seemed to want to haunt you.

“Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you. You were just an accident. You got in the way, that’s all.” He explained.

“It tried to kill me.”

“It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixated on you, is ‘cos you’ve met me.”

“So what you’re saying is, the entire world revolves around you.” You stated sarcastically.

“Sort of, yeah.”

“You’re full of it.” You teased.

“Sort of, yeah.”

“But all this plastic stuff, who else knows about it?” You asked, your inquisitive nature getting the better of you.

“No one.”

“What, you’re on your own?”

“Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed and watch telly, while all the while underneath you there’s a war going on.” He explained.

“Ok. Start from the beginning. I mean, if we are going to go with the living plastic, and I don’t even believe that, but if we do, how’d you kill it?”

“The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I killed the signal dead.”

“So, that’s radio control?” You asked.

“Thought control. Are you alright?”

“Yeah. So who’s controlling it then?”

“Long story.”

“But what’s it all for? I mean shop window dummies, what’s that all about? Is someone trying to take over Britain’s shops?” You questioned, with a slight giggle.

“No.”

“No.”

“It’s not a price war. They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you believe me?” He queried.

“No.” You responded simply.

“But you’re still listening.”

“Really though Doctor, tell me. Who are you?” You asked. He took your hand in his before answering

“Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It’s like when you’re a kid. The first time they tell you that the world’s turning and you can’t quite believe it because everything looks like it’s standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We’re falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world and if we let go.” He began, as he let go of your hand.

“That’s who I am, now forget me Y/N Tyler. Go home.” He instructed, as he headed towards a blue police box with the arm in tow.

You turn around, deciding to go to Mickey’s as luckily he had a computer. Before you could go much further though, you heard a strange noise. You looked back over your shoulder to see that the police box was gone, something was definitely going on and you needed to find out what.

[feminaexlux]

Black Cats are Some Kind of Luck

Oh god this might just be a little bit of a crack fic but I had way too much fun writing this.

Rated M, probably? Iunno. LukaNoire!

∴

In most of the mornings Luka had in his life after toddlerhood he woke up alone in his bed. When Juleka was younger, maybe a toddler herself, she had dragged him out of his bed to hide under a blanket on the floor when she had nightmares. Anarka would find her babies in a tangled nest, since sleeping on the floor meant finding no monsters under the bed to very young imaginative minds.

This morning he woke up with… someone else snuggled next to him. Someone who looked a lot like Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

He hadn't gone to sleep that way. Pretty sure of that. He was and had been sober.

He had no idea what happened.

Gently he pried himself away from her, extricating himself carefully from her grasp. He took a quick look around his room and yep, this was his room in his flat that he shared with his best friend. His guitars were hung up against the walls, his music sheet paper was on his desk in random piles, his hoodie was thrown over his desk covering his laptop.

But it was Marinette. In his bed. Oh god, he thought, HOW was she here? Somewhere deep down inside of him he didn't find the idea of him waking up next to her unwelcome but… there was a natural progression to things. Sure, he'd been in love with her for years but she was Marinette Dupain-Cheng the up-and-coming fashion star and personal designer for Jagged Stone. He was just Luka. He hadn't ever given himself even the slimmest of chances when she was Marinette and she had her eyes on Adrien Agreste, the supermodel and son of Gabriel, who ran the most prominent design house in France. She was probably 2 standard deviations out of his league.

"Shit," he whispered to no one in particular. He checked himself over and double checked that he was sober and dressed (oh god we didn't… did we?). She was wearing her pajamas and it didn't look like they did anything so that wasn't going to cause an immediate meltdown. He should probably wake her up and… figure out what happened. He knelt by the edge of the bed and gently shook her by the shoulder. "Hey. Marinette?"

"Mnnng," she groaned, eyebrows furrowing as she frowned. She grabbed at his blankets and pulled them in toward her, then started opening her eyes. "Hi," she said, lazily smiling up at him. She must still have been waking up, but if she smiled like that to whoever she woke up next to he'd happily have them both go back to sleep just so they'd wake up together again.

"Do you know where you are?" He asked. Maybe there'd been an akuma attack and she got teleported here? He wasn't sure. "You're in my room. Do you remember how you got here?"

"Yeah," she yawned. "I cam--" Her eyes shot wide open mid-word and she slapped her hands over her mouth. "Th-there was an akuma!"

∴

Oh god, she almost said she came here on purpose, and not because she'd been high as a kite on whatever kitty hormones had coursed through her veins while she was Lady Noire.

Well, she couldn't blame it just on the kitty hormones. Regular hormones were bad enough. And if she was even more honest with herself she had wanted to wake up next to Luka Couffaine, the gentleman rocker, ever since she found herself thinking about blues more than greens, distressed more than clean and crisp, shy but warm laughter more than confused smiles.

So basically for a couple of years now.

She should have seen it coming. When she and Mister Bug decided to swap permanently she'd been informed by Plagg that should she choose it, she'd be able to tap into some latent powers with the side effect of being more like the animal the Miraculous represented. She didn't think it'd be a problem so she chose it. Cats just slept all the time. If she didn't have to worry about being Ladybug anymore she could afford more sleep, right?

What she didn't really account for (and she should have after a facepalm worthy moment where she realized Plagg had been teasing it all along) was the heat. Or whatever it was that made her way more… touch-oriented, and way less inhibited than usual.

She'd been alright with napping more often. She'd been alright about unconsciously licking her hands clean. It was convenient that she was the daughter of bakers and helped out making pastries. She was practically covered in flour and sugar all the time anyway (regardless, she always washed her hands after). She didn't have a tail to swish around whenever she was annoyed so nothing about her was more cat-like than usual. Though she was annoyed more often now that she thought about it.

The cat-ness also severely affected her sense of smell.

She wasn't alright with how good some people smelled, especially near her period. When she and Kagami were having a juice date Marinette legitimately drooled at how vibrantly citrusy the fencer was. Alya, Nino, and most of Kitty Section smelled pleasant. Her parents smelled… well, familiar, which was to be expected. Adrien also smelled familiar, which was unexpected.

Luka was the worst. She couldn't place the scent but she kept thinking of blueberries, sea salt, chocolate, ocean waves lapping at her feet, the warmth of a crackling bonfire with the cooling sea breeze, and how badly she wanted to curl herself around him and take in his everything. It wasn't just near her period. It was all the time.

It seemed like after the late-night/early-morning akuma attack she had nearly gone ahead and wrapped herself around him in her kitty hormone addled brain. God, he had smelled so good and her brain had still been fuzzy at the edges when he woke her up, but she had quickly gotten to her senses after he had looked a little panicked and she had noticed that she was detransformed.

She couldn't blame him for being panicked. If the situation was reversed she might have screamed and tossed him across the Seine.

"I'm… I'm so sorry, Luka," she said in her own panic. She looked off to the side and nervously played with the rose-gold ring on her right hand, wondering where Plagg had gone. She looked back at Luka when he blew out a relieved sigh.

"Hey, it was the akuma," he laughed. "You alright? Not hurt anywhere?"

"I'm alright, yeah," she answered, then suddenly frowned. Plagg, that little shit, what the hell was he doing? She found him laying on top of Luka's head, smiling a wide Cheshire cat smile.

"I don't know why the miraculous ladybugs didn't drop you off back home," Luka said, sounding like he was talking more to himself than to her. "Maybe it works differently for Mister Bug?"

Marinette could definitely fudge it and say that the Miraculous Ladybugs kinda… skipped her. "Haha, maybe I was too far from them?" Marinette forced a laugh.

Luka shrugged. "Still, I'm guessing you'd wanna go back home, right?"

Hmm, not really. And well, her ride back home was currently lounging in Luka's hair. She reached out a hand to try to catch Plagg but the kwami slipped out of her grasp. She ended up just… petting Luka. "Oh! S-sorry you had something in your hair," she said quickly, trying to cover up her embarrassment.

"Thanks?" He said, a deep blush rising up to his cheeks. He swept his hair back after Marinette reluctantly drew back her hand and for a long moment Marinette just stared. The younger Couffaines had a mild tendency to hide behind brightly colored bangs when they were feeling shy, but Luka had as much unconventional beauty packed in his features as Juleka did.

And Juleka could very well be a supermodel if she wanted.

"I'll give you a ride back on my bike. Is that alright?" He asked as his blush faded. He still looked a little nervous with his hand on the back of his neck.

"I'd love a ride," she said absently, another yawn overtaking her. Ugh, his bed was so warm and smelled so nice and she would most definitely like to ride him--ride with him, WITH him, WITH him. Yeah, she should go home now before she ruined everything.

At least, that had been the plan. They had gone down to the garage and chatted lightly after getting geared up one after the other, both more than thankful that Luka's roommate was dead asleep in the other room. The ride was smooth and relatively short so she hadn't been thinking about how she wanted to feel him under her the whole time, no, not at all. He parked nearby as her housing complex had like, no available spaces, and walked the block and a half to her apartment with her so she could get out of the borrowed gear without going barefoot in her pajamas.

As he was heading out with the spare gear over his arms, she stopped him. "Thanks for getting me home and… for everything. I'm… I'm glad I didn't end up anywhere else," Marinette said with a shy smile. She got up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.

"No problem," he said slowly, mostly surprised with a blush creeping over his face. "See you later?"

She had a giant yawn escape her after she closed the door and started walking back to her bedroom. Plagg zipped out of her pajama pants pocket to float in front of her. "Yanno you kissed him on the mouth, right?" he snickered.

∴

Luka slowly leaned forward and rested his head against her door. Had she just kissed him? Had she just kissed him and he said "see you later" like a dumbass? He tried to stifle a groan and pressed his head harder into the door when the door swung open away from him with surprising speed. Three things worked against him as he tried to recover from stumbling forward: being caught off guard, his arms already carrying stuff that made him unbalanced, and gravity.

Good thing Marinette was there to break his fall. The bad thing was Marinette had some really amazing reflexes and honed self-defense skills because she guided his momentum into throwing him onto the floor, landing him on his back. She gasped, covering her mouth with her hands after realizing what she had done. "Oh my god! Luka are you okay?!"

"Don't know," he said, blinking up at the ceiling. He'd been dressed for the slide but definitely felt hit by a truck after she'd kissed him. "Probably," he said after a beat. "Was that an accident?"

"… Yeah, I don't usually throw you to the ground?" Marinette replied, confused.

"No, you kissed me."

She made a couple of noises that sounded like abortive starts at sentences. "I… guess I don't usually do that either," she ultimately sighed, pressing one delicate hand to her very red cheeks. She knelt down next to him and brushed his hair away from his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'll be okay if you kiss me again," he said, thinking he'd be able to get away with ha, just kidding if she wasn't into it but desperately hoping she would be. Something in her expression shifted and he almost felt his soul leave his body. He started propping himself up by his hands looking for the gear that got flung aside when he was pulled up the rest of the way to sitting by his jacket collar.

He got hit by another metaphorical truck. She pressed her lips to his, which was pretty great by itself but then it got more and intense and open and she unbuttoned his collar and zipped down his jacket. The temperature of the room instantly got stifling and he was sure part of his brain melted.

She pulled back a bit and they got a few breaths of air. He should have used that time to ask Can this be an every day thing but then she licked her lips and all coherent thoughts evaporated. He didn't notice that she successfully tugged his jacket off. Didn't feel it when he got pushed back down. Did notice when she sat on his lap and leaned forward to kiss him hard over and over again. He only heard the faintest buzz of his phone that had almost been drowned out by her tiny, breathy moans, and that had only sunk in and registered after she sat back up and growled at it.

She picked it up and nearly threw it against her couch except she caught a glimpse of something and said "Goddamn it."

It wasn't his finest moment. "Huh?"

"Akuma. Sorry, Luka!" She took his hands off of her ass and jumped up. Somehow she hauled him up to his feet and pushed him out the still opened door, pressing his jacket and phone into his hands. "I'll get the rest of the stuff to you later okay? I'm so sorry!"

"Wait. Hold on, what--" She cut him off by kissing him again, which was a surprisingly effective tactic.

"I'll meet you for lunch, but for now I gotta g--hide! Be safe! Sorry!" Then the door slammed shut.

The phone buzzed in his hand and he took a look at the notifications. They were all from his roommate, the bastard.

Just now Di © K: Hope ur ok where ever the fuck u r

One minute ago Di © K: Shit akuma

Two minutes ago Di © K: Oi whered u go

Three minutes ago Di © K: ? Di © K: Lulu Di © K: Heeeeey Di © K: Hey

… Didn't the whole thing with akumas mean he should have stayed indoors? With her?

He wasn't sure he could sit on his bike comfortably for the next little while anyway.

∴

Mister Bug swore almost every other akuma was some damned mind-control wizard. Of course it had to be one of those today, and of course today Lady Noire was especially pissed off so she was slightly more reckless than usual. Which was saying something, as Mister Bug had seen her go on a rampage not 8 hours ago and that had been one of the quickest akuma fights he'd ever seen. Seen and not participated in, as he'd been left nothing but cleanup.

Heatstroke or whatever had literally thrown the akumatized object at Lady Noire's feet after she had beaten and clawed the shit out of him. He was cowering in the relative security of a dumpster bin when Mister Bug found him.

She must have really loved her sleep. It'd been maybe 2am?

This latest akuma called herself the Directator. She'd been managing a movie set and of course something had gone wrong early in the day. So Hawky gave her the power to truly direct everything to her heart's desire or similar bullshit like that. Mister Bug and Lady Noire took maybe a few minutes to try to figure things out when Lady Noire skipped straight to the attack phase, beating Directator with the director's chair.

He should have noticed that she was ready to pounce when Lady Noire's ears were angled back and her electric green tail was whipping back and forth in a threatening fashion. She'd been way more actual-cat-like than he ever was as Chat Noir.

Directator panicked and commanded Lady Noire to 1) stop attacking her, 2) put the director's chair down gently, 3) be a nice kitty, 4) take off and go.

Mister Bug spent the next few minutes chasing after Lady Noire. When he finally caught up with her and stopped her, she put up her hands. He sighed with relief that she still wanted to work with him. He'd been relieved all up until she started slapping him with those hands and he fell back in surprise. She took off again.

It looked like she was heading in a particular direction so, after deciding to stay back a bit, Mister Bug trailed after her to see where she ended up. He didn't have to wait too long until she stopped running across the rooftops and dropped down to street level, where she seemed to chat up a dude in full riding gear next to a motorcycle. The next thing he saw was Lady Noire taking motorcycle guy by the waist and using her baton to propel them both to the roof of the tallest nearby building.

Maybe he should… do something about that? Especially since it seemed like Motorcycle Guy was screaming out a "what the fuuuuck".

Mister Bug went after them and found Motorcycle Guy sitting against the raised ledge of the building with Lady Noire curled up against him, sitting on his lap. Adrien coughed to hide and try to suppress his laughter. Motorcycle Guy raised his visor (oh hey, it was Luka) and asked "What's going on?"

Before Mister Bug could answer Lady Noire leapt up and stamped her foot in front of Adrien. "No! He's mine! Leave us alone!!" she hissed.

"I'm what?" Luka said incredulously.

Mister Bug backed up a few steps to placate her. "Yeah, okay," he chuckled. "You're being a nice kitty, right?"

She huffed and crossed her arms. "I'm always nice."

"You're right. So the nice kitty will let me talk to her friend for a minute, right? 'Cause you're such a nice Lady Noire?"

"Only a minute," she said unhappily. She was pouting.

"Great!" Mister Bug said cheerfully. He walked over to Luka and contemplated what to do on the way.

∴

(Just a bit earlier)

Where had Marinette disappeared to? Luka had knocked several times after she shut him out but she didn't answer. He pressed his ear against the door to see if he could hear anything but it was dead silent on the other side. She wouldn't have made out with him and thrown him out like this and ghosted him… would she? It didn't seem like a Marinette thing. Not that he was an expert in all things Marinette… one day he'd like to see if she'd let him become one though.

He had loitered around her place for probably 20 minutes trying to convince himself to not break in and find out what happened. He'd have to respect her privacy and he did, really, but the last akuma attack magically teleported her to his someone else's bed and his thoughts were slowly spiraling into dangerous territory, where he imagined her ending up in Adrien's bed and her realizing she had better people than Luka to roll around under the bedcovers with.

Be cool, man, he thought at himself. Not going to help anyone if he suffered a mental breakdown. There might be a non-zero chance that she ended up back at his place? Okay that seemed too optimistic but… he should probably let his flatmate know he was fine and that he was heading back anyway.

He walked out to his bike after putting his jacket back on and unlocked the rear seat off to get to his helmet. He'd been ready to get back on the bike and ride off when he heard more than saw someone plunk down next to him. He turned and Lady Noire was looking directly at him. "Hi Luka," she said. "I need you."

"For the akuma?" He asked. Maybe he needed to be Viperion again? "Okay?" She rushed in and threw him over her shoulder, then they were a hundred meters in the air. "What the fuck?!"

He got plopped down against the ledge of the building and then she sat curled up on him. It might have been his imagination but… she was purring? This was… not making any sense at all. Luka saw Mister Bug land on the roof and the spotted hero managed to get Lady Noire off of him for a minute.

Mister Bug walked over and sighed before talking with Luka. That was a bad sign. "I'm sorry to have to ask this, but could you… stay with her until I can deal with this akuma? I just needed to know she's safe and in one place."

"… What?"

"Mind control akuma. Lady Noire's been hit with some weird commands." Mister Bug paused and looked thoughtful. "Hmm, I don't know, actually. Seems like she's just doing whatever she wants to outside of being ordered to leave the scene."

"Can't you fix that? Or… maybe get me out of here?"

"It'll be fixed after I deal with the akuma. I don't know if you noticed but Kitty here has been pretty extreme recently. Might be safer for everyone, including both me and you, if she's here and not ordered to Cataclysm anyone or anything." Mister Bug dropped his voice to a whisper. "Never thought she'd be a loose cannon. She might just attack me again so I'm not going to tempt fate if she just wants to hang out with you." Mister Bug shrugged at Luka. "Hey, greater good and all that. I promise I'll fix this as soon as I can. Take care of her, alright?"

"Hey wait--" "Bug out!"

Mister Bug up and left them. Shit. Lady Noire came walking back and looked over the edge of the building to make sure Mister Bug was gone. She sat back down next to Luka. "Okay, good, it's just us!" she beamed, hugging him.

"Uh," Luka started uncomfortably. "Not… to try to make things any weirder, but… could you get off of me?"

She pulled back, looking hurt. "You don't like me?"

"I… don't know who you are. I mean as a person, not a superhero." Luka tried to say that gently enough to not set her off. "I might like you if I got to know you?" He backtracked, feeling unsure. "But I mean, I'm just not great with the touching. I'm… into someone and it feels wrong to have someone else be this close."

Her ears flattened out to the side. "Who's that?" she asked, half sad and half… bitter? He felt like he just waded into turbulent waters. He didn't want to throw anyone under the Lady Noire murder bus, least of all Marinette.

"I'll tell you if you stay here," he compromised, hoping that he didn't just sign any death warrants. "Besides, you know her already. She usually chases after you."

"Alya?!" Lady Noire was shocked.

"No, Marinette? She always runs out to--"

"But I'm Marinette."

"… You. You're Marinette? Marinette Du--"

"Dupain-Cheng, yeah. That's me."

Oh. "… I thought you weren't supposed to tell anyone who you were?"

She snorted. "I can do whatever I want!" She leaned in closer. "So does this mean I can touch you again?"

∴

It was just a few moments shy of Mister Bug letting the ladybugs set everything back to normal, so he ignored the notification on his yo-yo from Lady Noire. He checked it after and saw one line: "Taking Luka home now! ;)" Oh boy. Well, she should be relatively okay now. Luka would be fine.

Hopefully…

∴

Lady Noire started whining and that whine turned into a full blown scream in the middle of dropping from the roof, just as the Miraculous Cure worked its magic over her. Luckily she still landed softly enough while she held onto Luka, so it wasn't that she had lost control or anything. She immediately jumped away from him after setting him on his feet.

"Oh my god I am so, so, so, so sorry Luka," she cried, covering her entirely red face with her hands.

"Thank god you're back to normal," Luka sighed, leaning back against the building.

"Any chance you could forget all that?" Lady Noire asked nervously, dropping her hands back to fiddle with her baton. She looked like she wanted to leave Earth as soon as she possibly could.

All that included him taking his helmet off, her crawling back into his lap and grinding herself against him, her ripping apart his jacket and shirt (they were fixed now), peppering him with kisses and tiny bites everywhere, and doing all of this while she was Marinette Dupain-Cheng underneath it all. He did his best to keep up and reciprocate but she was superpowered. She barely let him breathe but he survived. And he'd enjoyed it. He had enjoyed the hell out of it. But at the same time he had gotten thoroughly overwhelmed.

He didn't want to forget all that, but… "I can if you want me to," he sighed. She'd been mind-controlled, after all. "It was all the akuma, right?" Too bad. "What… about earlier?"

She opened her mouth to reply but inhaled too quickly and started coughing. "Um, I…" She coughed again. "Er. Um…" She bit her lip and looked down, muttering something to herself.

∴

Goddamn it, Plagg. Plagg had mentally kicked her and the voice in her head said "Cat's already outta the bag, toots, you've been wanting to mount that guy for-e-ver. Don't you dare take it back." It startled her enough to cause her to choke on air.

"Um, I… Er. Um…" She kicked at the ground. She wanted this. She wanted this. No mind-influencing akuma had told her to kiss him, that had been completely her. "No, don't… don't forget anything. I wanted all that," she sighed. "It was all me."

He raised his helmet visor to get a better look at her. "Are you sure?"

She nodded and looked back up at him. "I'm sure. I… kinda want to continue, too?"

It sounded like he choked. "I… wouldn't mind that."

She glanced back at her apartment a few blocks away. "See you in a few?"

∴

(Some time later)

Luka hadn't completely gotten used to waking up with someone else in bed. He wasn't sure if he ever would, since every time he woke up next to Marinette it'd been nothing short of amazing and he'd felt like he was dreaming but no, she was actually there.

Occasionally he'd have to deal with waking up in the middle of the night because she'd leave for patrol, or had come back from it to snuggle back into his arms. It wasn't really a problem because they were together in the morning.

He didn't really miss waking up alone.

[gothgirlmahi]

All That’s Best (Chapter One)

Dark!Steve x Reader

Masterlist

So this is Chapter 1, I’m making a part 2 and 3 to my story Selfish so the second part of that will probably be my next update. If you wanna be tagged in all my stories or just this one please send an ask and enjoy reading :)

Chapter 1

The process of taking you and getting you in his car was easier than it should have been. Steve recalled that you liked to open your window during the morning as you cooked breakfast. He also recalled that he never saw you lock it. As luck would have it, that was the only window you had that was unlocked. And it was his way in.

When he stepped into your apartment he could hear your soft breaths coming from your bedroom. You were asleep. He crept in silently as not to wake you.

He had only been in your apartment twice, the first time was while you were at work. He installed a few cameras and mics for audio. Just so he could be sure you were okay when he couldn’t physically be there. The second visit was after catching you having some personal time with a bullet vibrator. You hand was down your panties as you held it to yourself and the other was groping your breast. He wondered what you were thinking about as you came and hoped it was him. After you were done, you threw your panties in the hamper and he snuck in to take them. They smelled like you and definitely helped him curb some of his more carnal urges towards you.

Your bedroom was a bit Spartan. Very basic and not many hints of the exuberant personality you had shown him. He knew you had moved in rather recently but he had to wonder why you never decorated more. There was a cute little elephant figurine on your nightstand that he remembered seeing you buy at an open air market in the city.

That was okay. He’d let you decorate however you wanted when you moved in together. Hopefully the process of it wouldn’t be too hard. Of course he expected initial resistance but he could get you to love him. You had to.

The idea of sedating you pained him so he did it quickly, jabbing the needle in your arm and letting go. Your eyes shot open for the briefest of moments before your body went completely slack and unconscious. Steve placed a quick kiss on your forehead before pulling you over his shoulder. He was an expert at stealth so getting you into the car and into his house was no issue. 

He smiled to himself. It was all coming together.

Your mind was alight with worry as soon as your eyes fluttered open. There was the memory of...something happening. You weren’t quite sure what, but you woke up in an unfamiliar room, on an unfamiliar bed so something had definitely happened. Your skin was damp with sweat and your head was banging. Your wrists were sore and bound to the headboard with rope. Instinctively you tugged at them and realized they didn’t have much give.

Panic set in.

You had obviously been kidnapped. For reasons you couldn’t even speculate about. It didn’t make sense. The fact that you were tied to a bed didn’t exactly quell your fears about your captor’s intentions.

The door swung open and you blinked in surprise.

Steve Rogers.

Steve Rogers was standing there looking nonplussed with his hands casually in his pockets as he looked over you. Any relief you felt at first seeing him vanished when you took in his body language. Then confusion set in because this didn’t make sense.

“Untie me. Please.” It was worth a shot. He just chuckled and sat next to you. 

“I’m glad you’re awake, sweetheart. I know this is confusing for you. I brought you here because I love you. I can protect you. I’ll provide for you. I’ll be a good husband. You’ll never have to work again. All you have to do is—“

You tugged on your restraints again and Steve’s face fell.

“Calm down, you’ll hurt yourself like that.”

“What the hell is going on?!”

A flurry of theories went through your head along with your fear and paranoia. Steve Rogers has kidnapped you. He was absolutely deranged. Maybe he was some kind of blood psychopath and wanted to kill you. Maybe a cannibal? He was definitely looking at you like he wanted to eat you. That train of thought normally would have made you giggle to yourself but you were too scared to find any humor in the situation.

You weren’t sure if the truth was worse than him being a killer or a cannibal. Steve Rogers had convinced himself he was in love with you. And he wasn’t planning on letting that love fade or taking things slow. He wanted to be your husband. You barely knew this man. You had gone on one date and now you were chained up in his house. 

“I’ve been thinking. I came to the conclusion that the only way I can keep you safe is if you’re with me. I know this is sudden, but it works out well for both of us. I’m devoted to you. More than you could possibly know. One day I want you to be my wife. I want you to have my kids. I’ll take care of you. We’ll be a family and you’ll have nothing to worry about.”

You didn’t know what to say. You didn’t want to set him off but he was also looking at you waiting for a response. A little whimper left your lips and you tried to stretch your arms as best you could in their increasingly uncomfortable position.

“Steve, I don’t know what you want me to say.” There was definitely an attempt on your part or remain calm. Or to, at the very least, look calm.

“That’s okay. You’ll learn. Now let’s talk about rules. You—”

“Rules?”

“One of the rules is don’t interrupt me when I’m speaking. I’ll give you a pass this once because you didn’t know yet. If you don’t follow the rules I give you, you’ll be punished. On that note, when I speak to you or ask you a question I expect a response. It’s only polite.

“You do what I say, when I say it. I don’t want any back talk. This is my house and what I say goes. Do not attempt to leave this house. Even on the off chance you could escape, I would just find you and you won’t like what I do when I bring you back. So let’s not have that happen. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” you affirmed, shaking in your restraints. The sight of you made Steve sigh, looking a bit sad. He ran his hands through his hair.

“I didn’t want to do this. I just need to know that you’re safe. I know you’re scared, but I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to take care of you.”

You stared at him for a while. He inched closer to you and pressed a kiss to your forehead.

“Steve, my hands are going numb,” you said. He looked up at the restraints and back to you.

“If I untie you, will you be good? No kicking, fighting, screaming?

”You nodded. What could you do anyway? It wasn’t like you could beat up Captain America. Steve reached and loosened the ropes, letting your numb wrists fall limply to the side. A quick glance around had you noticing the lack of windows and stifling air in the room. You were probably in a basement. The bedroom was well furnished. Paint smelled a little fresh.

There were three doors. Hazarding a guess, you could assume one was probably a bathroom, at least one of them led to the rest of the basement and one might have been a walk in or another room. In the corner there was a vanity with makeup and beauty products out on it. Next to it was a rack of shoes of various types, pumps, tennis shoes, ballet flats, even a pair of black Mary Janes. A very familiar painting was hung on the wall. A simple scene of a field of flowers that you saw during your gallery date. It had cost a good bit of money but you had really liked it and you said as much to Steve. So why was it here?

Steve couldn’t have meant it for you. There had to be something else. Maybe a female roommate could explain all the products. But that didn’t make any sense either. If he was really as devoted as he claimed, maybe it was all for you. After all, he did intend to keep you here.

You turned away from the objects in the room and looked back to Steve. He was staring at you, face blank and unreadable.

“Do you like it?” he asked evenly. You didn’t know how to reply. You didn’t even know what was going on. When you hesitated in your response, Steve grabbed your thigh in warning.

“I don’t understand,” you sputtered out eventually. He nodded and smiled.

“Your room. Do you like it?”

“I—what? Steve, that painting was fifteen thousand dollars.”

“When you told me you liked it, I bought it immediately. I want you to like your room. When you move upstairs maybe we can put it in the living room.”

“Upstairs?”

“After you learn to trust me and love me and after I know I can trust you, I’ll take you upstairs and we can be a normal couple. For now I need to keep you here. Until I know you won’t make a break as soon as you get a chance. Hopefully soon. Are you hungry? I know it’s been a while since you ate.”

The room felt like it was closing in on you. Steve meant to keep you here. Long term, locked in his basement until he made you love him.

“I’m not hungry.” Your stomach was doing flips and you didn’t need to add vomiting to your list of problems. Steve looked disappointed.

“I’ll bring you something anyway. Just try to eat. I may have gone a little overboard with the sedatives, I didn’t mean to make you sick.”

Now that he mentioned sedatives you realized how weak your body felt. Even if you tried to get out of bed, you weren’t sure you could. Although you were literally laying down, you were still dizzy and slow in processing what was happening. It was past time for you to start screaming and crying but all you could do was lay there and resist the urge to dry heave. Steve got up and pointed to each of the doors.

“Bathroom, closet and this is to the rest of your space. There’s a TV you can watch and some books. I got you a desk and lots of paper for you to write. I’ll try to run out and get you some more books soon.”

You just stared at him. What was there to say? This was unbelievable. Your brain was foggy and you felt like you weren’t processing quickly enough. It was high time that you started screaming and attempting to fight your way out. That’s what kidnapped people usually did right? You could barely muster the energy to move let alone fight so you laid there staring at the wall, staring at Steve and trying to understand what the fuck was going on. 

Steve was conflicted. Since you woke up you were mostly calm and compliant. Your eyes were a bit glazed and unfocused as he talked to you. He could tell the sedatives were still in effect because you could barely move your arms or legs. You launched yourself from the bed with a surprising strength and he went after you until he saw you were headed for the bathroom. Your knees hit the floor and you emptied the contents of your stomach into the bowl. Steve grimaced. 

He could hit himself. This was not going according to plan. Ideally he would have brought you here, explained the rules, dealt with whatever resistance you had and fed you dinner. He had been prepared for you to yell and scream and hit him. Now you were just in the bathroom throwing up. You couldn’t even cling to him as he carried you back to bed, just weakly grasped and pawed at his shirt.

He looked at you, helpless before him. It would be too easy. He could take you right now and there would be nothing you could do about it. It wasn’t like you could win a fight against him on any other day either, but now you wouldn’t be able to resist at all.

Steve didn’t want your first time to be like this. He wanted you reactive and lively even if it was due to your resistance. For now he would just take care of you, get you healthy again so he could properly make love to you.  The way your wet skin clung to your tank top only tempted him but he swore he would hold back.

Against your better judgement, you fell asleep. Whatever he had given you was still hitting you hard. 

Your eyes fluttered open to a darkened room. A small lamp burned dimly in the corner. You were propped up against a warm mass and you panicked, remembering where you were and what happened. When you turned to look down at him Steve was already awake and smiling at you.

“Hey, sweetheart. You okay? Feeling any better?”

“I don’t know. I’m so tired.”

“Go back to sleep, baby girl. I’ll be here when you wake up, okay?”

You blinked and your eyes went down both of your bodies until your eyes were on Steve’s erection which was pressed into your ass. He pulled you closer to him and grinded against you slowly.

“Go to sleep,” he demanded. You looked up at him with wide eyes. His hand came up to squeeze at your breast and you tried to wiggle out of his grasp. He held you firmly in his arms.

“Steve, what are you doing?”

“Shh.”

You knew it was risky and you knew there was no way to get away from him at the moment. He was stronger than you but you were determined. Mustering all of the limited strength you had, you pushed yourself away from him and only managed to roll to the other side of the bed. Steve pulled you back, pushing you on your back and kneeled between your legs.

He held your arms down with both of his hands.

“I told you to go to sleep.”

“Steve, let me go! You fucking psychopath!” You screamed and thrashed around as best you could which wasn’t much. It only served to make Steve more angry.

“Oh, I’m a psycho? I brought you here to keep you safe. You want me to hurt you? Is that what you want?”

“I want you to let me go!”

“I can’t do that, sweetheart.”

He let you go and ripped your tank top off, throwing it across the room. You screamed and hit against him to no avail. Steve groaned, reaching down to bite into the side of your breast. He ground his clothed cock into your flimsy panties.

Steve quickly undressed, still managing to hold you down with his weight. He resumed grinding against you and you screamed for him to let you go. He angled himself to move against your clit and kept going until he felt a wet spot on your panties. You were mortified, knowing that you shouldn’t be reacting like this but here you were absolutely dripping for your captor and Steve thrived on it.

He let out a low chuckle before pulling your ruined panties off of you.

“I want our first time to be good for both of us. If you start fighting me, I won’t hesitate to tie you down and fuck you like that. Do you understand?”

You nodded with wide eyes. Steve smiled.

“Good.”

He flipped you to lay on your stomach and pulled your hips toward him. The quick movement made you dizzy and you grabbed onto a pillow to bury your face into. Seconds later he was slamming his entire length into you, until his hips met your ass. You whimpered from the pain and he leaned over you, petting your hair.

“I know it hurts, sweetheart. I’m sorry, it’ll be over soon.”

Steve knew the pain was subsiding when you weren’t shaking as badly. He gave a few shallow thrusts, brushing against a spot that made you moan and tighten around his length. He pulled back and aimed for it again. The noises you made spurred him on and he was picking up a quick rhythm within seconds.

You couldn’t help the way your body was reacting to him. He knew that and counted on it. With his sweet little doll face down and ass up on the bed for him, he was in the perfect position to do exactly what he wanted. Dominate you. Humiliate you. Prove you were his. Prove that you needed him. 

“That’s it, sweetheart.”

You had lost all fight and laid there pliant while he used you. His hand between your legs had you shaking and pushing back against him.

“I love to see you enjoying yourself. Being such a good girl for me.”

Your moans were muffled by the bed sheets as you grasped at them mindlessly. The loud wet noises of your coupling filled the room. Steve held you in place as your legs shook, pulling you close to get as deep as he could.

“That’s it, baby girl. Is daddy making your pussy feel good? This is what happens when you let me take care of you.”

“Oh, fuck.”

“Are you gonna come for me, sweetheart?”

Your vision went white as you spasmed around him, pulling on the sheets underneath you. The entirety of your body trembled erratically as you came, pushing your hips fervently against his thick cock. The wetness on the inside of your thighs dripped onto the bed and you bit into the pillow trying to stop yourself from screaming. Even after you came down a bit, you were still delirious for him, moaning mindlessly.  

“Ah, fuck.” He growled and leaned over you, his mouth to your ear as he pushed deeply into you.

”I’m gonna put a baby in you. I’m gonna make you a mommy. My pretty girl is gonna give me a baby.”

You squirmed around again, trying to get away. Steve held you tightly and pushed you further into the bed.

“You’re fucking crazy,” you said, but your voice was mostly muffled by the mattress. Steve kissed your neck.

“I know. God, I know.”

The bed creaked and hit the wall with how hard he was fucking you.

“Ah, fuck. I won’t last much longer. You’re gonna come for me one more time.”

“I can’t. Steve, stop, I can’t.” The pillow you held onto was now stained with your tears as you approached your climax once more. Steve was relentless. Your legs were numb and useless at this point so Steve’s strength was the only thing keeping you from collapsing into the mattress. 

He put his lips to your neck and smirked.

“You will.” He had an arm firmly around your waist while he fucked you and the other one playing with your clit. It was more pain than pleasure but you could feel your orgasm coming whether you wanted it or not. Your legs shook as you came, screaming your orgasm into the humid air. Steve moaned above you and pumped a few more times before his hot seed exploded inside you. 

He pulled out of you slowly. You could feel his cum oozing out of you and his your face further into the sheets. His fingers were suddenly in you, stuffing it back in and you yelled out from the overstimulation. You reached back to stop him but he pushed your hands against your back roughly.

“Uh uh. Bad girl. You’re mine. This pussy is mine and I do what I want with it.”

Steve pulled his hand out of you and laid on his back, pulling you against him. Before you could try to pull away, he pressed a kiss into your hair.

“Now go to sleep.”

Taglist

@xoxabs88xox @princessdancingonthesunshine @sllooney @americasass81 @shippers-heart @villanellevi

Masterlist // Chapter Two

[patrickstargang]

To Heal (Shadow of Kyoshi fic)

Chapter 1: The Other Side of Peace

Chapter 2: Master and Student

Chapter 3: A Cause For Celebration

Chapter 4: Taking Off The Mask

Chapter 5: Call to Action

Epilogue

The halls were dead quiet, the only sound being that of Kyoshi’s footsteps and the rain pouring outside. She moved slowly, with a candle in one hand trying not to wake anyone up. Kyoshi could feel her heart pounding, she still didn’t fully know what Rangi meant by having a “talk” but she had a pretty clear idea.

She was approaching the door to the bedroom, hesitant to go any further than where she was. But before she mustered up the strength to enter, the door opened. She saw Rangi, her hair taken out of her topknot, looser than she would normally wear it. She was also dressed in a beige night gown. The wardrobe choice definitely caught Kyoshi’s attention, though it made her more aware of how dirty her own clothes were because of kitchen duty. But there was still a stiffness in her posture, like she was still in her military outfit.

“Please, come in.” Rangi motioned for her to enter.

Kyoshi walked into the bedroom, doing so slowly and carefully. Her mind was going in a million different directions. At this point she was pretty certain what was going to happen now. There were too many clues to it. But then Kyoshi remembered, this is Rangi. This is probably some sort of subversion, to keep her on her toes. She knew what to do now.

Rangi closed the door behind them. “Kyoshi, I wanted to talk to you ab-” 

She turned around to find Kyoshi in Horse stance with her eyes closed. Rangi’s face was frozen with confusion.

“What are you doing?”

“Stance training,” Kyoshi said with a flat expression. She waited for a response but only got a long pause. “That's what you meant by having a “private talk” right?”

The silence was broken by Rangi’s laughter. “You idiot, what I meant by having a private talk was that I just wanted to talk to you alone. Come on, you can stand down.”

Kyoshi didn’t budge, that sounded like a chance to let her guard down, giving Rangi plenty of opportunities to strike. She softly chuckled. “Are you getting soft on me lieutenant?”

Kyoshi could not have predicted what happened next. She felt a hand on her chin, tilting her head slightly. She opened her eyes in shock to find Rangi staring right into her, a face highlighted by distress. She paused for a moment before she spoke.

“I meant what I said. Stand down…..please.”

The desperation in that last word shook Kyoshi to her core. She hasn’t seen her like this since Hei-ran was injured. She slowly stood back up. Rangi sighed deeply. 

“I wanted to talk to you about something important. Somethings been different with you lately. Whenever we’ve been together, I’ve noticed that when I talk to you about trying to get better, you always change the subject. Most of the time you just say that your ‘fine’.”

Kyoshi didn’t know how to respond to that. It felt like when Rangi and Jinpa ganged up on her for her bad habits, but much worse. It was worse because it was more personal. Without realizing it, Kyoshi smiled weakly. “Its okay, you shouldn't worry about m-”

Then she realized that she just did what Rangi was talking about. Kyoshi saw a mixture of anger and anguish come across her face. Rangi pointed at her with intensity.

“That. That face you just made. Everytime you try to brush off my questions you make that face, and quite honestly I can’t stand it anymore!” Kyoshi could feel the heat in the room rising. “I know what you're doing. Your not feeling like yourself and everytime I ask if your okay you put on that stupid fake smile. What good is it to keep bottling up your emotions?”

Kyoshi was flustered, trying to find something to reply to that scathing question. “I-Its just…. Not important right now. We can...talk about it later.”

She could feel Rangi’s accusing stare. “Why don’t we talk about it now, and how about you start by telling me the truth.”

Kyoshi was about to reply, defensive of that accusation. But the way she said those last few words caught Kyoshi off guard. It didn’t sound angry, it sounded sincere.

Every second of silence was more unbearable than the last. Kyoshi swallowed anxiously, trying to get words, any words, to come out. “I-I think the reason I keep all of that inside..is… every time I get emotional or I let my emotions do the talking, something bad happens or someone gets hurt because of what I did.”

Kyoshi exhaled through her nose, silence permeating the room yet again. Rangi looked at Kyoshi’s face, she could see that she was being honest this time. Rangi spoke with a softer tone to her voice. “So what, your just not going to feel ANYTHING?”

Kyoshi stared at the ground. “Sometimes I wish I could. I hoped before that….maybe I could do something right. Maybe I could do something that makes a difference. But all I’ve done is make things worse. Now…..now it just hurts to hope.

“What good have I ever been, for anyone?”

Then in the corner of her vision, Kyoshi saw two hands reaching in to cup her face. They were soft but firm. She picked her head up, looking at Rangi yet again. 

The firebender had tears streaming down her face. She let out sharp, quick breaths trying to keep herself together. Then she kissed Kyoshi, deeply, standing on the tips of her toes to reach her. As they parted, Rangi whispered something in Kyoshi’s ear.

“What good have you been? Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Kyoshi could feel her eyes welling up. Sometimes she forgets how much she really means to Rangi. She always knew how she felt but it was only now that Kyoshi understood the extent of her feelings. But she began push the tears back down as another thought came into her mind. 

“B-But I’ve hurt you too. I betrayed your trust, so many times. I almost got your mother killed! And I…..I almost lost you. I wasn’t strong enough to keep you from getting hurt.”

Kyoshi opted for an empty expression. A face of disappointment at nobody but herself. Rangi was struggling to stay calm, but she knew that the woman she loved was on the verge becoming her worst nightmare: someone who had no more tears to shed, nothing left to feel. She only had one other way to get to Kyoshi.

Rangi noticed that Kyoshi had been wearing her gloves all day. The material they were made of had been showing wear and tear through the many months of use. Rangi slowly took off one glove, Kyoshi’s glance moved to her hand, slightly bewildered. Rangi gazed at the scars on her hand, softly tracing outside of the red markings on her palm. Kyoshi could feel herself getting warmer, unsure if it was the warmth of Rangi’s hand or some heat that was building up in her chest. For the past few months, the only kind of touch she was used to was that of fighting, a visceral, painful contact. A touch this delicate still felt like a new experience for her, even if it was with someone she had held before. 

Rangi pressed Kyoshi’s hand against her chest, letting it stay there for a moment before moving into her nightgown. For someone who had seen battle on a regular basis, her skin was still incredibly soft. Kyoshi’s face was as red as a tomato, her eyes darted all over the room not knowing how to process what was happening. “W-wait Rangi, are you sure about this….” Her other hand began to fidget.

Suddenly her hand stopped. Then a moment later she felt something, a soft beat. It was Rangi’s heartbeat. This was a completely new feeling, she was familiar with her own heartbeat but she never felt the heartbeat of another person. 

“Do you feel that,” said Rangi. Her eyes were still watery but she was smiling. She could tell she caught Kyoshi off guard just by the look on her face. It was both amusing and relieving. “It's still beating because of you. You think you weren’t strong enough to protect me but you're wrong. You healed me, you stayed with me for days doing everything you could. And I’m here now, because of you.

“You're so much stronger than you know, but also that doesn’t mean you should keep the burden of being the Avatar to yourself. You're not alone in this anymore.”

Kyoshi remembered what Yangchen had told her about Kuruk, how he felt he had to carry out his duty alone and suffered for it. That bit of wisdom became much clearer now. During this intimate moment, she was able to find self reflection. Rangi could see that it was working, that she was breaking down the barriers Kyoshi had set up in herself.

But she decided to go further. Rangi turned around, loosening the night gown. She let it drape down, almost touching the ground, exposing most of her back until it revealed the scar. Kyoshi had already seen it many times while she was healing her, but now was a much different situation. She froze up at first, no knowing what to do until she spoke.

“Go ahead, feel it.”

Kyoshi was hesitant at first, but then she lightly grazed around the healed skin. Her back was a bit rougher than the front, but it was still soft to the touch. For only a few days, a scar as serious as that one was healing up fast. But then her face showed worry when a question arose in her mind. “Does it hurt?”

“No, not any more.” Rangi turned her head around with a loving smile. “Thanks to you.”

Kyoshi let out a light chuckle as she continued feeling the small of her back. It was only that she realized that she did save Rangi. It wasn’t just a case of luck being in their favor, Kyoshi had saved the woman she loved from death. It was still more than she could process but something about that fact was comforting.

As she was feeling the edges of Rangi’s scar, the firebender started to remember the days after Kyoshi’s fight with Xu Ping. She remembered the numerous scars she earned and the many sleepless nights waiting for her to recover. Now Rangi knew what it was like to be on the other end, having someone worried that you won’t wake up the next day. For some reason it made Rangi feel guilty, that she recovered so quickly and painlessly while Kyoshi’s scars were more permanent. It didn’t matter anymore, she shook the thought out of her head. But another one took its place.

Rangi turned her head around again. “What about you?” She paused trying to find the right words. “Do yours still hurt?”

Kyoshi was taken aback by that question. She looked down at her hands, noting the difference of the black glove and a hand covered in red searing bolts. “Sometimes. Some of the pain is gone, but I don’t know if the scars will fade.”

Rangi exhaled as her worry of Kyoshi’s pain being more permanent became true. Then another thought came into Rangi’s mind. Besides her hands shes never seen Kyoshi’s scars. Everytime Kyoshi was getting healed, she didn’t have the stomach to see the damage that was done. But now, she felt that she needed to see it. If she was going to help Kyoshi deal with her pain, she needed to see if for herself. 

Rangi turned her whole body around, still covering it with the nightgown but letting it stay somewhat loose and open. The tension in the room was palpable, another long period of silence before Rangi asked the question.

“W-Would it bother you… if I looked at your scars.”

Kyoshi didn’t know how to respond at first. It was a strange question, showing the parts of herself that were marked for life felt like it could open up the painful memories that they hold. But at the same time, and she didn’t know why, but she felt a strong desire to share it with her. “It wouldn’t bother me,” she said, her voice shaking slightly from nervousness. 

Rangi slowly walked up to her, feeling cautious in her movement. After a moment, they were up close to each other, not knowing what to do next. Then Rangi slowly leaned into Kyoshi, kissing her again. They lingered on the feeling, Kyoshi wrapping her arm around Rangi to pull her in closer. 

It was then they started to realize where this was all going. Neither of them intended to get to this, but neither of them felt like going back either. It was a new experience for both of them, but they both wanted to go further. To reach a greater level of intimacy, no matter how new and uncertain it might be. 

Rangi moved her hand to the lapel of Kyoshi’s tunic. She began pulling on the string but stopped halfway. Kyoshi looked down at the firebender, concerned that they may not have wanted the same thing. Then Rangi looked up at Kyoshi, with a light of doubt in her eyes.

“.....Is this okay?”

A wave of relief came over Kyoshi. She smiled at Rangi. A sincere smile.

“Of course it is.”

Rangi smiled back, leaning into her once again. The candle that Kyoshi brought in began to grow brighter.

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

The rain outside was beginning to subside. The only light in the room was a single candle that was beginning to dim. Rangi and Kyoshi sat on the bed, entwined and enveloped into one another. Both as bare and vulnerable as the other. There wasn’t the awkward filter of Kyoshi’s height anymore, they were both on the same level. Kyoshi softly traced around Rangi’s back while Rangi did the same Rangi made sure to go around the scars, even if it was harder in some places. It was soothing, almost therapeutic. Kyoshi had never been this intimate with anyone before, and she was glad that it was with Rangi. 

But then the thoughts came flooding back into her mind. Please, not now. But it was impossible for them to stay put, especially after everything they talked about. I could have done more.

Kyoshi had stopped the movements along Rangi’s back. Rangi leaned back to see her face. She could tell something was wrong. “Is everything alright?”

Kyoshi stopped herself before she could say “everything is fine.” Her face grew serious as she tried to come up with the right words.

“I’ve been thinking...about everything you said….everything I’ve said. It made me think about… if things had gone differently.”

Rangi leaned in slightly, encouraging her to continue.

“What I mean is… What if I wasn’t the Avatar? What if I was never abandoned by my parents? What if I didn’t become a maid at the estates? Where would we be now? But more than that, I’ve been thinking about….everything. Everything that's happened these past few months.”

Kyoshi looked off the side, trying to avoid eye contact. She was opening herself up, but it was still too painful to admit it. Rangi stared at her with sympathy as she continued.

“I could have done more…...more to help Yun. If only I had more time, if only I didn’t waste it being so impulsive. If only I thought through what I was doing, made a plan or anything. Then….maybe I could have helped him. Then you wouldn’t have gotten hurt and he’d still be with us…”

Kyoshi’s breathing began to quicken.

“I could have brought him back to us. He wouldn’t have hurt you and your mother. I could have stopped him then. If I knew I was the Avatar sooner I could have stopped so much from happening….”

I could have done more……..

“Kyoshi….”

“Yun wouldn’t have been taken away, Kelsang would still be alive. So many people wouldn’t have died for me. If only I knew….”

I could have done more……..

“Kyoshi…..”

“I could have done something….something to stop all this from happening. If only I knew what I was doing back then, if only I knew how to be the Avat-”

Rangi moved Kyoshi’s head back to face her. The firebender stared right into her, eyes burning with sadness and love. Kyoshi could feel the heat of her hand on her face. With the way that Rangi was looking at her, there was nowhere left to hide. She kept her gaze until Kyoshi’s breathing slowed. Then her lips parted to speak.

“It’s not your fault. 

“You did everything you could.”

Hearing those words, those exact words, coming from the person that Kyoshi loved most was like the greatest release. A release of all the regret and self loathing she had bottled up for so long. The emotional walls that Kyoshi had built began to crumble. At first tears streamed down her face but soon it became full on sobbing. When Kyoshi cried, her breaths weren’t quick and sharp like Rangi, but they were long and lingering. 

Rangi embraced Kyoshi, holding onto her as tight as she could. She tried to hide her own tears, wanting to be strong for Kyoshi, before she joined in. She leaned into Kyoshi’s ear, her voice shaking just as much. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

Kyoshi’s sobs continued, letting all of it out at once. It was a visceral but necessary release. After she had the strength to speak again, she leaned out to face Rangi. There was not a single bit of insincerity on Kyoshi’s face. As she tried to gather her voice, she told her something that she hasn’t said enough.

“I love you,” Kyoshi stared at Rangi lovingly, lightly brushing the side of her face. “I love you so much.”

Rangi tried to catch her breath, she still felt the sting of her tears but now she was smiling. She leaned in and kissed Kyoshi. They still held on to each other, this feeling of release was enveloping both of them. 

With time, the tears subsided along with the thoughts that plagued Kyoshi. Now the only thing left was that warm feeling in her chest, knowing that someone loved her. 

It was like being able to feel again.

But she did think about something else. She thought about that day by the lake, when Rangi had told her how she felt. She remembered what Rangi said, about how she deserved happiness, about how painful it was to watch her suffer. But there was one thing that still stuck in her mind.

“If I were better at my job you would never feel scared. Only loved.”

And she did. Even then, at that very moment, she still felt loved by her.

The light of the candle its last few flickers before it dimmed completely.

[neptunesnxpple]

Adopted by the League Part 7 (Shigaraki x male!reader)

****Minors Do Not Interact****

Summary of the Series: You move to a new country- only to find out the apartment you moved into is the home base of a league you don’t even know about! This is sort of a found family situation where reader takes care the league.

Warnings/Tags for this Part: reader is a man or masc identifying, new years celebrations, alcohol, reader and shigaraki get extremely drunk, kissing, going to bed together

Part 1 ;; Part 2 ;; Part 3 ;; Part 4 ;; Part 5 ;; Part 6 ;; Part 7

        New years eves you were passing out the glasses, mugs, and any other drinking apparatus you had stored away in the kitchen. You really hadn’t planned to have this many people over at any given time, but well, that hadn’t exactly gone according to plan. A month and a half ago you moved to Japan, got a small one bedroom apartment in a lower income area, and started work at a local market before being transferred to their café department. Unfortunately, your apartment wasn’t really that vacant- at least not after the first few days. Then, part of a league moved in. Without anywhere else to go, you didn’t feel all that great about kicking out six or so people even though technically the apartment was in your name. Now you shared the bathroom with a minimum of six other on any given day, kitchen space, living room, at least your bedroom was limited to one other person- the leader of the league, Shigaraki.

        Now you weren’t always the drinking type, usually sparingly if so, a glass here a glass there, but this was new years eve and you had a couple of conversation topics you wanted to get off your chest so to speak. You had already pre-gamed at a bar after work, gotten a drink or two, before heading back home with the left-over pastries- the café was closed on New Years Day and they weren’t a fan of keeping food around past the 24 hour mark. It was only two hours until the count down, you had laid out the pastry spread, Toga and Twice had worked together to pick up a couple of osechi-ryori for the group, Compress, Magne, and Spinner had put up decorations, and Dabi and Shigaraki were in charge of the alcohol, although you had a hard time imagining them working together. Shigaraki had gotten the others to bring the television out of the bedroom and into the living room where you could watch some kind of count down leading to a fireworks display. You hummed anxiously, finger tapping the edge of your glass and foot jittering. Shigaraki made his way over, pushing his hood down and taking your glass, drinking what was left in it, before capping it off again.

           “What’s got you so amped up?”

        “Nothing. Nothing at all. Why do you ask?” you accepted the glass, bringing it to your lips and not even pretending to look his way. You stared blankly at the tv screen,

         “You’re standing out here in the kitchen while everyone else is in the living room, and I’ve seen how many glasses you’ve downed so far. I’m pretty sure your eye keeps twitching, not like I’m looking or anything,” he muttered the second part of that, now fixated on his own mug. You looked over from where you were leaning. He looked soft. The front part of his hair was tied back, and you knew it wasn’t from his own doing. But it looked nice all the same. Seeing that much of his face. The skin around his neck wasn’t as crusted or peeling like it had been. There were still nicks, the excessive scratching and picking a hard habit to break, but it was nice to see some change.

         “I’ve got a lot on my mind,” you answered shortly, careful to not appear curt, “I’m glad you all were able to take off,” you said, changing the subject and watching the slight tense in his shoulders at the mention of work. Now it was his turn to feel uncomfortable. He wrinkled his lips, pressing them together for a moment,

         “Yeah, we had some plans but decided to hold off on them. At least until after the holidays.”

         “I didn’t take you for the celebratory type.”

        “I- We wanted your first New Years in Japan to be with friends. As a thank you, for letting us all stay with you,” he blurted out, rushing through the words.    You could tell the wine was working, his face was flush and he wouldn’t normally be so transparent about these types of these.

         “You don’t have to be so worried about this kind of thing, I would have been fine,” you moved a hand to your cheek, rubbing it as if to make sure this moment was real enough. “Thank you, though.” You let the sound of friends talking and the news caster reporting take over for the time being. Shigaraki had given you a great transition to something you had wanted to bring up. You heart began to beat harder in your chest, swallowing dryly, “there’s something I wanted to talk to you about. Well, a couple of things. I’ve got a lot of things to talk to you about tonight, but I’m not really sure which I want to do first, they’re not exactly… easy to talk about,” you turned fully to face him, both hands on the stem of your glass and nervously tracing it. You glanced up at him briefly, enough to catch the panic on his face. “N-nothing too bad. Well, one of them isn’t that good objectively, but the other is, or could be good,” you rattled on, sensing that this was actually making him more nervy or at least as uncomfortable as you were. You had a feeling you were losing him if you didn’t pick up the pace.

         “I’m, I,” you stuttered, stepping back for a moment to take a deep breath, “I really like all of you, and this past month and a half have been some of the best times of my life already, but, it’s really cramped in here. It’s kind of hard getting ready for work when there’s people sleeping all over the living room, and the bathroom is really tough to figure out. I bring a spare travel case with a tooth brush and tooth paste just in case I can’t get in before work. I don’t want to rush you all out, but I think I could use a bit of personal space from time to time. We could still hang out of course! I wouldn’t mind sleepovers every now and then. Have you had any luck, searching for a new base?” you all but pleaded, tongue feeling thick and heavy. You took a moment between heavy breaths to see how Shigaraki was taking it, worry clear in your brow. The answer was not well. His lips turned up into what could best be called a grimace, taking a half empty bottle of booze and stalking off towards the a particularly dark corner of the room, barking at Spinner to hop off the bean bag chair and flopping in it, loose strands of hair falling in his face. Your hands continued to shake, bringing you to the realization that they were shaking in the first place. You leaned back against the counter, shock and horror filling every muscle and bone in your body. You had just ruined everything. You set your glass down, grabbing the bottle of wine you had been sipping out of and deciding to make the process much quicker. The next thing you knew, a familiar shadow drew near,

         “Rough night?” Dabi asked, pointing to the bottle. Your hand squeezed the neck of it tighter, shrugging,

         “I’m not sharing,” you joked, voice falling flat,

        “Relax, I don’t drink wine. Reminds me of people I’d rather not think about. So, what’d you say to get him so riled up? Did you tell him you’d have to reschedule the wedding? You know he’d prefer something in the fall.”

         “Shut up,” you snorted, smiling and giving him a shove.

        “See? That wasn’t so hard was it? Now you’ve got me in the perfect spot between tipsy and drunk, which means if you want to spill your guts about anything without anyone else knowing, nows your chance,” he offered, picking through the assorted pastries until he came across a chocolate stuffed croissant.

         “I think I said something stupid. Something that messed everything up,” you sighed heavily, that weight being applied directly to your shoulders.

         “I’m sure it couldn’t be that bad.”

        “I asked him when you guys were thinking of moving out,” you forced out, feeling ashamed immediately, “I didn’t even mean it that way, it’s just…”

         “Relax. I know we’re a lot to handle, I mean Spinner just learned to pick up after his sheds not too long ago, there’s no way you should be expected to deal with seven other peoples craziness on top of your own.”

         You perked up a little, setting the bottle back on the countertop.

        “I mean, you didn’t really think it was customary to let strangers live with you while they apartment searched, right?” Dabi said between bites,

         “Well, at first I did,” you admitted sheepishly,

        “Then you’ve got nothing to worry about. Chances are his panties are just in a bunch because he thinks you’re kicking him out. For good.”

You tilted your head in confusion,

         “I sort of am though.”

        “No, I mean like from your life. He pissy because he thinks you’re trying to push him out, and he doesn’t want to admit that he’s taken too long to do anything about it, unless there’s something you’re keeping from us?”

         “Taken to long to do anything?” You paled, nausea coming back to you.

        “Yeah, he’s been trying to make a move since you let us move in here but has been too chicken shit to do anything. It’s embarrassing, really.”

         You looked over past Dabi, seeing a sulking Shigaraki that looked like he was locked in a conversation with Toga, Twice, Spinner, and Magne that he’d prefer not to be in.

        “Alright, advice time over, you don’t have to leave but don’t talk to me,” Dabi shooed you away, making his way down the buffet line. You stuck around in the corner for some time longer, lost in thought as you planned your next move. There was an hour left for midnight, more than enough time for you to work up some courage and practice what you wanted to say.

         Thirty minutes remained. You were back to your glass mode, keeping the liquid confidence going as your body felt warm, light, like you were made of all things sparkly just like the liquid in your hand. You were aware that you were a bit clumsier, bumping into the corner of the couch and taking a second to balance yourself out, slowly, slowly inching your way closer to Shigaraki. The energy had simmered out since an hour and a half ago, almost everyone was trapped in their own conversations. You guest starred in a few on your way over, buying time but also enjoying yourself. You had really grown quite fond of everyone in such a short amount of time. Ten minutes to go and you had only a couple more feet to go, your speed dramatically reduced, both anticipating and dreading the eventual meet up. Shigaraki was still in the bean bag chair, and while you made a point not to check out the situation, you were sure he was just as grumpy as before.  Five minutes left and you arrived, drunk, and feeling absolutely wiggly. You felt like a worm on the string being pulled around, and you wouldn’t lie, you could feel the smile pull on the corners of your lips. You knew something he didn’t know that you knew. You went to sit in the space next to him, miscalculating and ending up partially in his lap, throwing and arm around his shoulder and sipping your drink, kicking your feet a little. This was fun. It pleased you even more when Shigaraki didn’t try to push you off. At least not right away.

         “What are you doing?”

        “Hanging out. What are you doing?” you asked, a knowing grin rising to your face. He raised an eyebrow, eyes fixed to you. You could feel it, his breath was a little more labored, he was just as drunk as you.

        “Hanging out.” He repeated. He adjusted, moving an arm behind you, “I don’t want my drink to spill,” he explained. You looked at the countdown on the screen. Two minutes.

         “I know something you don’t know,” you started, mischevious glint in your eye. You leaned toward Shigaraki, speaking just to him, “Something you don’t know that I know. I found something out.” You whispered, inching closer. Your hand brushed the back of his neck, feeling how warm it was and the sweat that beaded along the jackets’ edge.

         “Oh? And what did you find out?” he lowered his drink, resting his free hand on one of your calves,

        “Something about you. Something fun,” you did the same, setting down the glass and poking his chest with your fingers. You twirled the drawstring of his hoodie. One minute left. You felt his breathing grow ragged, face flushed and not looking away. You watched the timer on the tv.

         “Something fun…” he repeated, trying to coax you along after some time. You nodded, resting your cheek on his shoulder and talking quieter now,

         “Something we have in common,” your eyes, half lidded and having trouble keeping them open, stayed glued to the clock. Sitting down had caused a wave of wooziness to wash over you, enjoying the way the room spun slowly. You felt his arm wrap around tighter, finally it was time. You sat upright, staring with wide, wide eyes as you heard your friends chant along.

Ten

Nine

Eight

Seven

Six

Five

Four

Three

Two

One!

        You turned to Shigaraki, the cheerful shouts of your friends as they celebrated became background noise. You bravely took the leap forward, pressing your lips to Shigarakis’, feeling both of your bodies tense before he tightened his grip even more, both arms around you now and pulling you closer. You both let out a breath sigh of relief, foreheads touching,

         “I found out that you like me. I mean, like like me,” you teased, eyes closed. Eyes closed felt nice. You felt yourself melt into Shigaraki, feeling more like liquid and less like solid mass. Shigaraki adjusted underneath of you, hand rubbing your back and pressing his lips to the top of your head. Your hands kept busy with his hoodie, twirling the draw strings and feeling the soft fabric, “which means you have to carry me to bed,” you joked, doubting that someone as scrawny as him could carry you too far. Or at all.

        “Alright,” Shigaraki slipped on arm under your leg, the other remaining wrapped around your back. He shifted in the overly amenable bean bag chair, pressing his feet firmly pressed to the ground, and putting as much force into standing as possible. He shot up, swaying clumsily with you in his arms. Your eyes snapped open, throwing your arms around his neck and holding on tight. Shigaraki continued to sway until his back was propped up against the wall. He adjusting you more, tossing you up higher on his shoulder for better grip and with a lot of swaying and stumbling from side to side, he got you in your shared bedroom, dropping you on the bed and flopping down on the blanket nest beside you. You rolled on your side to face him, pulling on of the warmer blankets around you and eyes drooping shut. “I thought about what you said.”

         “Hn?” you sleepily responded, shuffling closer to him.

        “I was talking with some of the league, and we agreed we need a bigger apartment. You can have your own room, if you want,” Shigaraki said softly.

         “My own room,” you repeated, smile creeping onto your face, “with you all. In a bigger apartment.” That sounded nice. You’d figure out logistics later, but for now you’d enjoy the idea, the fantasy, of living somewhere spacious enough for all of you.

         You wouldn’t mind sharing a room with Shigaraki, wherever that room might be.

[katedoesfics]

Shadows of the Future | Chapter 2

Rusl didn’t know who they were, but he was sure it meant that the social worker would come back to take him away to some other place. Though, he had a feeling that this time, the place he would be brought to would not be like the others. All he could imagine was a jail, but something told him that it would be much, much worse than that. Either way, he didn’t want to wait to find out where they would take him. If he wanted to stay alive, he needed to escape before they could get him.

It was after midnight when he climbed out of his bedroom window. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he ran. He ran out of the sleeping neighborhood, his sneakers hitting the pavement the only sound in the strangely silent night. He ran down back roads, doing his best to keep out of sight of any potential drivers, until he reached the woods behind the school. He darted between the trees, not stopping until he came through the other side a couple of hours later.

Out of the treeline, he paused to take in his surroundings. The world opened up before him, stretching to his left down hill, and to his right uphill. At the bottom of the hill, he could just barely make out a quiet road. The power lines moved across the road and further down hill. Up the hill to his left, the power lines moved away toward the horizon. Another treeline marked the way straight across, and he decided to make for the trees once more.

When morning came, his pace had slowed significantly, but he pressed onward, determined to get as far away as he could. By this point, he had long since left the forest and found the land to be relatively flat. The highway had come to life with the morning commute, but he kept to the fields beside it, hiding among the overgrown brush as he traveled. When the field came to an end, he followed the dirt road that seemed to start randomly within the trees, weaving away from the highway and deeper into the world.

The road eventually brought him into a protected park, then opened up to reveal a recreation area that remained relatively empty with kids in school and adults at work. He hurried through the park towards the other end, where the road turned to pavement and made its way through the forest. He crossed the road, eager to be back in the protection of the trees, where he traveled for the remainder of the day.

When evening crept over the horizon, Rusl found himself emerging out of the woods at an apparent rest stop. But all hopes of having some food to fill his stomach were immediately diminished when he saw a group of older teenagers laughing and drinking in the parking lot. To his dismay, their attention was drawn to him as he emerged, and they immediately recognized his Hylian features.

They shouted to him first, threatening his life and yelling every slur they could think of. Rusl decided not to push his luck and turned back toward the forest, but the teens were not about to let up. They tossed their empty beer bottles at him, closing in around him as they continued to shout and laugh. He quickly found himself cornered by them, and when they neared, they grew more rowdy and violent. Rusl threw his arms in the air to protect himself, but he was powerless against them, and they beat him mercilessly.

Fear of his power coming back kept him from defending himself further, and he could do nothing but wait as they punched and kicked him. He did his best to hold back his pained tears, but they came out all the same, only egging the boys on further. It was only when a police cruiser pulled into the lot when the group scattered. But by that point, Rusl could barely move. He was covered in blood and mud and purple bruises quickly began to mark his skin. Though he had never had a broken bone before, he was certain his arm was broken, and from the pain in his chest, perhaps some ribs as well.

He dragged himself as quickly as he could manage back towards the forest, hoping to keep out of sight of any one else, especially the police officer, but by the time he had reached the trees, he had used every last bit of energy he had left and collapsed on the ground as the cold night settled in.

Despite his exhaustion, he hardly slept through the night. He shivered violently from the chilly night. His stomach growled from not eating for an entire day. And every spot on his body screamed in pain. He didn’t stop himself from crying - it seemed the only thing left he could do. The only thing he could control. And for fuck’s sake, he wanted to cry.

He turned his gaze to the sky. Through the trees, he could just barely make out the twinkle of the stars. He couldn’t help but to wonder what lay out there in the sky, beyond this hell of a world he found himself living in. There just had to be something more - something better. Everyone else - those who weren’t like him - had it so much better. He couldn’t understand why he was the way that he was, or why Hylians were so hated. He had never hurt anyone before. Though he had, it was an accident. Maybe then, that was why he was so hated. Maybe he was meant to be a bad person; a killer.

He was so terrified it would happen again. He didn’t know why it happened, or how he could stop it. But that just had to be the reason why they hated him. Why they wanted him dead. And he didn’t blame them. It was clear he didn’t belong in that world. All he wanted to do was die.

It was on the third day when he heard the voices. He had been unable to move much further from where he had collapsed, and he was too tired to move, anyway. There was nothing more for him to do except wait to die. However, he didn’t want to be beaten to death. He didn’t want to feel anymore pain.

They found him quickly, however, though they seemed anxious to find him. Instead of rushing at him angrily, they called to one another. The one that found him first signaled to his comrades and they all quickly came through the trees.

Rusl pressed himself as far back as he could until his back hit a tree, shaking in fear as the figure got down on his knees.

“Hey, kid, it’s alright. Are you Rusl?”

Rusl regarded the man with wide eyes. He nodded slowly.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said. He pushed his hair behind his ears. “See? I’m like you.”

Rusl turned his gaze to the man’s pointed ears, though he wasn’t sure if he should feel relieved or terrified. Though this man was like him, did that make him good or bad?

“We’re gonna get you out of here, okay? We won’t let anyone hurt you. I promise.”

Rusl was still hesitant. He wanted to trust the strange man; he wanted to go with them. He wanted to be far away from the people that were hurting him. But even so, his body was bruised and broken in so many places, he couldn’t move even if he wanted to. He was hungry and cold, and he was certain he was about to die.

“I’m gonna fix you up, okay? It won’t hurt, but it might feel funny. Will you let me help you?”

Rusl nodded.

The man held his hands out slowly, turning them over until they hovered over his body. They moved over his arms first, and immediately, the pain disappeared. He watched with wide eyes as the bruises faded and the abrasions closed. He could practically feel the bones moving together in his broken arm, though it wasn’t a painful sensation. Within moments, his entire body had been healed, though he was still dirty from the dried blood and mud caked on his skin.

“There.” The man sat back on his heels and smiled. “Better?”

Rusl moved his arms and legs, wiggled his fingers, and nodded.

“You must be starving,” he said as he got to his feet. He held a hand out to Rusl, and Rusl took it, letting the man pull him to his feet. “How about we get some food and get out of here?”

Rusl hesitated. “Where are we going?”

“Well,” the man started. “There’s a lot of people looking for you. They know you’re lost. You don’t belong out here. We want to bring you somewhere where you do belong. Where you will be safe. With people just like you. Is that okay?”

“People like me?”

“Well, sure,” the man said with a grin. “Did you think you were the only Hylian?”

“Are you Hylian?”

“Not exactly,” he said.

“Sheikah?”

The man raised a brow. “You’re smart. You know who the Sheikah are?”

Rusl shrugged. “I hear stuff,” he said.

The man grinned. He held out his hand. “My name’s Cado. Cado the Sheikah.”

Rusl looked up at Cado. He did not return his smile, but took the man’s hand and offered him a short shake.

“So, Rusl,” Cado said. “You ready to get outta here?”

Rusl was still hesitant, but he felt like he could trust the Sheikah. He didn’t know where they were going to bring him, but he didn’t think anywhere could have been worse than the situation he was just in. He nodded slowly and followed Cado and the other Sheikah to the awaiting vehicles.

He sat in the front seat beside Cado, watching the world pass by out his window as they drove down the interstate. Without the protection of the trees, he could see much more of the world. Behind them, a tall mountain loomed over them. It was unlike any of the mountains he had seen before. Where the others were often snow capped and full of greenery, this one was bare and desolate. The red rock that made up the mountain contrasted against the pale blue sky, and it seemed that clouds - or perhaps smoke - came up from the peak.

Rusl watched curiously as the mountain seemed to shrink as they drove away, and soon the flat land turned hilly once more, losing the mountain behind the horizon.

It was a couple of hours before they reached a city where Cado stopped at a drive through to get him a burger. Starving, Rusl inhaled his dinner, not even bothering to complain about the gross tomatoes hidden in his burger. He finished every french fry and slurped every last bit of his soda (which most adults never let him have). They were still driving as he ate, and when he finished, he watched as Cado took a bite of his own burger in one hand, the other on the wheel. With his stomach satisfied, he felt a new sense of energy wash through him, and feeling braver, he dared asked some of the questions on his mind.

“Can’t Sheikah teleport and stuff?”

Cado took a moment to chew and swallow his food. He kept his eyes on the road as he answered Rusl. “Sure.”

“So, why are we driving?”

“Well,” Cado started. “We can’t always go wherever we want.”

“Why not?”

“It takes a lot of energy to do that,” he explained. “Especially when there’s a great distance between where we are and where we want to go.” He sipped from his drink. “And sometimes we don’t want to because we are trying to be quiet.”

“Quiet?”

“When we do that, sometimes other Sheikah can sense us. And sometimes, we don’t want to be seen.”

“Why would you want to hide from other Sheikah?”

Cado glanced at Rusl. “Maybe some Sheikah have crazy ex girlfriends they want to avoid.”

Rusl laughed, and Cado smiled. He turned his attention back to the road.

“So, where are we really going?” Rusl asked.

“There are some people who want to meet you,” Cado said. “Other Sheikah. Impa, being one. She’s our leader.”

Rusl’s brows furrowed. “Why does she want to meet me?”

“She’s, uh, heard a lot about you. About how you’ve been bounced around to a few foster homes. She wants to help you.”

Rusl frowned. “I don’t want another place.”

“This one will be different,” Cado said. “You’ll be with someone like you, somewhere better for you.”

“Somewhere better?”

“You’ve spent a lot of time in this area,” Cado tried to explain to him. “There aren’t a lot of Hylians up this way. We’re very close to the border of Hyrule. We’re going to Central Hyrule where you will be closer to other Hylians, and closer to us, the Sheikah, so we can make sure you stay safe.”

“But why do you care about me?”

Cado hesitated. His brows furrowed. “Well,” he started. “We care about all kids. We’re just part of the social workers that place you. And we just know where you will be better. You know?”

Rusl seemed to believe him. “Alright,” he responded. He settled against the seat, feeling anxious to see where Cado was taken him. He didn’t know what the future had in store for him, but he felt confident that for once in his life, there was going to be something better.

[forestfairy72-blog1]

Like Breathing

[Ao3]

A Fresh Start

Annabeth could barely think over the music. The reggae baseline was pounding at what most would consider an inappropriate volume for a small café. The bored-looking barista clearly did not fit into this category. She had picked the venue for Piper’s benefit. A quick google search for vegan-friendly coffee shops had led her here, to the Cerulean Café, even though Piper was veggie rather than vegan. It was a not what she had expected; faux-rustic or pretentious, instead it had a cute homey feel. Every table had a few mis-matched chairs around it, differing materials but in the same colour story which her inner designer approved of. Annabeth’s table was next to the window, looking out onto a window box full of brightly coloured plants.

The barista glared at her from behind the counter, clearly annoyed that she was yet to order despite having been sat at her table for nearly fifteen minutes. It probably didn’t help that she had cleared some dirty plates off the table so she could sit down since there hadn’t been a vacant table. His gaze caused her face to heat up slightly. Annabeth rationalised that the shop managers hadn’t used the space effectively, if she had been the one designing the layout there could be another three tables, none of which would be blocking the fire exit, unlike the current set up.

Impatiently, Annabeth ran her fingers through her hair. Piper was always late. She didn’t know why she expected today to be any different. Just like that Piper appeared at the door, a whirlwind of denim, feathers and bags. She scanned the room the look for Annabeth and rushed over as soon as she spotted her.

“Ahhhhhh! So good to see you!” Piper squeezed as if to make up for four months of missed hugs. Annabeth beamed as she hugged back, her frustration dissipating more with every second she was back with her friend.

“Right back atcha McLean. Can I get you a coffee?” “Don’t worry about it.” Piper began to rifle through her many bags for her wallet. “Nah, I insist. It’s the least I can do.” Annabeth’s smile faltered for just a moment but luckily Piper didn’t notice. “Bullshit.” Piper scoffed, “But I will treat you next time.” “Flat white with 2 sugars?” Annabeth asked. “A woman after my own heart!” Piper fake swooned.

Annabeth approached the counter with the cheeriest grin she could muster, ready to face the scowling Rasta hat wearing barista. The guy clocked her and instantly plastered his own smile on. “Hi there! Can I get a flat white and an Americano please?” She asked, struck by how easily the guy switched into customer service mode. Maybe he was just happy that she was actually buying something. The café was pretty full still, so it wasn’t like he didn’t have anything to do. “Absolutely! Can I interest you in anything else? One of our home-baked cakes perhaps?” “Ooh… What would you recommend?” “Well, I’m partial to the banana bread.” “Sounds great! I’ll take one of those and a lemon drizzle please.” Annabeth handed over the money and turned to look back at her friend. Piper was casually scrolling through her phone while she was waiting. Every once in a while she would click on something of laugh quietly to herself. Her friend’s presence made Annabeth feel lighter already. She thanked the barista as he placed her many dishes on to a tray and then carried them over to the table. “You are a jewel, thanks.” Piper smiled as she unloaded her coffee from the tray. Annabeth halved the two cakes and swapped over plates so they each had a part of both treats. “How cute is this place? I can’t believe I have never come here before! Loving the blue theme.” She indicated to the cups, saucers and plates which were also mismatched all in similar shades of blue.

“Yeah, it’s really adorable. Kind of reminds me of that place we went to in Soho when you came to visit me at school.”

“Yes! Oh my god that place did the best pancakes! Do you think it’s too late for me to order pancakes?”

Annabeth just laughed at her friend and agreed it was too late for pancakes. The pair began some small talk as they ate and drank – how Annabeth’s journey had been, how things were going with Piper’s PR internship, how Jason was adjusting to his sister Thalia going on the road.

“It was so sweet of Thalia to let me stay in her room while she is on tour. I really appreciate it.”

“Babe, you know she would’ve killed me and Jason both had we not done everything we could to get you here.”

Annabeth could believe it. She had met Thalia nearly fifteen years ago at summer camp and the pair had somehow managed to remain friends after all this time. They were sisters in all but blood, that curtesy extending to Jason, Thalia’s younger brother. In the years since becoming Piper’s boyfriend that had only doubled down. When Annabeth had first called Thalia to say there had been a… change in her living situation… she had to all but beg her friend not to cancel the rest of her band’s tour dates and come back east.

“Well I just don’t want to seem ungrateful. Having somewhere to stay was the first big step. The next of course is finding a job. Do you know of anything going?”

“What kind of thing are you looking for? Are you thinking of going for something design-y like an internship or…?”

“No. I need something that is going to pay bills. I cannot afford an internship right now.” Well that was certainly part of the reason. Piper noticed Annabeth twitch slightly at the mention of design.

“I mean I saw a sign in the window here saying they are looking for a barista/waitress. What about that?” Piper walked over to the notice board and returned with the flyer. “It says to ask for Grover at the desk. You could be a waitress!” Annabeth paused for a moment while she pondered this. She knew very well how to put on a customer service persona from her time in retail helping to fund her school experience.

“I mean the worst thing they can do is say no. I’ll go ask the guy up there.” Annabeth rose from her seat, drank the final gulp of her coffee and approached the rather grumpy looking man at the till.

“Hi, may I speak to Grover please?” She smiled as brightly as she could as she said it. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror lining the wall behind him, realised that she looked a bit demonic so tried to tone it down.

“You are already.” Grover tensed up at this. “Is everything okay with your food and coffee?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Annabeth rushed. “I was wanting to ask for an application.” He physically relaxed at her response, gave her a big grin and pulled out a form from behind the till. Clearly he had expected to have an ‘I want to speak to the manager’ conversation.

“There you go, the boss mentioned there have been a couple of applicants so interviews will be Friday. It’s pretty straightforward – if you think you have any experience which is going to be particularly helpful make sure you make it stand out. Good luck!” Grover smiled, Annabeth returned to her table, feeling ever so slightly guilty for thinking of the guy as grumpy when he had been incredibly pleasant. She shot Piper a thumbs up as she headed back to the table.

The pair of them grabbed their things and left the café, thanking Grover as they left.

-    -    -

The walk to the apartment did not take long, though it would have been much shorter had they not each been pulling a large suitcase topped with Piper's many bags, filled with flyers for some event she was promoting through work. While it was a pain in the neck in the short term, Annabeth couldn’t help but feel conflicted. She was getting a fresh start, but it was sad to think that her whole life was neatly packed into these two cases.

Dalinver Bay was a small coastal town about an hour outside of Manhattan. Ideally Annabeth would have wanted to go west and join Thalia, but she would only have been a distraction. Escaping her woes by partying across California sounded much too self-destructive and she was pretty sure she maxed out her quota for self-destructive behaviours this decade. Besides it was incredibly kind for Piper to let her stay

“Well here we are!” Piper sang, pulling out her set of keys and opening the front door.

“Damn. You are living large Piper!” Annabeth exclaimed as she pulled he case into the large foyer.

“You say that every time you come here.”

“Yeah, that’s ‘cause it is still true every time I come here!”

Annabeth was no stranger to money. She had attended private school, her mother was a regular in the Upper East Side social circle but there was money and then there was money. It was Piper’s turn to blush now. She didn’t like to advertise it but as the child of one of Hollywood’s most sought after action stars and the head of a fashion empire she was obviously very well off.

The apartment was three bedroomed, each being en suite, and had several other rooms spread across two floors including a guest bathroom, kitchen, lounge, gaming room and a room nicknamed the library which was full of books ranging from rare classics to summer reading fodder. The whole interior had a chic, minimalist vibe and had obviously been decorated by someone who had created many a show home. But there were still flavours of Thalia and Piper throughout the house, be it Piper’s artifacts from her father’s side or rock memorabilia Thalia had scattered around the place, including the band’s debut album’s platinum record hanging in the foyer so it would be the first thing any guest would see.

Between the two of them they took two trips to hoist the heavy suitcases up the spiral staircase to Thalia’s room. After having plonked it on the floor they headed into the lounge. There was an L shaped sofa and a love seat both facing the large tv mounted on the wall. Each of the sank down onto the black leather sofa and let out a sigh. The lifting had been heavier than expected.

“So…” Piper began then paused. “Do you want to watch tv?”

“Sure.” They stuck on some mind numbing trash and sat curled up on the sofa for a long time. The silence between them was a comfortable one but Annabeth couldn’t help but think that hadn’t been the question Piper wanted to ask. She was waiting for the full story. Things must have seemed so good when Piper had visited back in February. SO why had Annabeth had called hysterically crying three days ago? Why she was taking a leave of absence from school? Why she did pale at every mention of her family? Why she had left… everything?

But she couldn’t answer.

Not yet.

So instead she snuggled in closer to her friend and before she knew it she dozed off. Ot was the best sleep she’d had in a year.

-   -    -

By the time Friday had rolled around Annabeth had applied for seven waitressing jobs, three cleaning positions, four admin assistant posts, and even one of those advertisement jobs where you have to throw a massive plaque around telling customers where to go to buy over priced sports equipment. But hey, beggers can't be choosers. As she walked the now familiar route from Thalia's to the Cerulean Cafe her heart was jack hammering. She had been in two days ago to drop off her application and make use of their complementary wifi to send off her many applications. The walk should only have been twenty minutes but she had to stop every so often and take in a deep breath to calm herself down. It wasn't her first job interview. Annabeth had been employed every summer since she was sixteen. Bsck then however she had always had a safety net. Now she had to rely on herself. Asking for help from her friends would be mortifying, especially after everything they were already doing for her and hell would freeze over before she turned to either of her parents for help.  

She was stood outside the door. All that was left to do was go in, get through the interview telling as few lies as possible and get out. She pushed the door and stepped inside, feeling the calm atmosphere of the room wash over her. It was amazing seeing the difference between the place first thing in the morning when it was empty as opposed to the bustling experience she had shared with Piper.

"Hello?" She called out when she realised the room was completely empty. "Is someone there?" "Miss Ramírez-Arellano?" Came a woman's voice from the kitchen area. How her heart beat faster. She regretted it the second she had handed in the application. But what else was a girl to do? She didn't want to risk being tracked down so she couldn't use her own name. Reyna was going to be on tour with Thalia for the next two months anyway so what she didn't know couldn't hurt her. Now that she was faced with the repercussions of such an obvious lie she realised just how stupid she had been. First of all, she was white. Secondly -

"Yes." Annabeth finally called back before her thoughts could derail her. She had made the bed, now she had to lie in it. The woman came round to shake her hand. Annabeth would have placed her in her late forties, but something about her kind smile made her appear younger. If it weren't for the grey streaks in her otherwise brown hair she could pass for younger still.

"I'm Sally Jackson. Walcome to the Cerulean Café!" She gestured to the room around them. It was obviously in the midst of being set up for the day since she had been asked to come in before the place officially opened for the interview to take place. "Shall we take a seat?" Annabeth nodded and followed her to a table near the kitchen so Sally could keep an ear out for the timer to tell her the scones were ready.

“So, I saw on your application that you have worked in customer service. Did you have waitressing experience through this post Miss Ramírez-Arellano?” Sally Jackson asked Annabeth. It was a simple question so Annabeth should have been able to answer with the simple obvious answer but the name game was already throwing her.

“Not really, but I am a fast learner Mrs Jackson.” Annabeth smiled. “I have been practising at home and can carry three plates at once. I am dyslexic so I know that I’m going to have to learn the menu by heart which I can happily do, I have a great memory-“ Annabeth felt her cheeks redden. Now she was bumbling like an idiot, plus she was pretty sure she was sweating through her shirt.

“That’s okay, the thing I care about most is that you are friendly and welcoming to the customers. Please call me Sally, rather than Mrs Jackson. Also, can I call you Reyna? I am not fond of too much formality, if you can’t tell by the place” Sally laughed and Annabeth nodded. “We change the specials every day but the rest of the menu is seasonal, so it only changes once in a while. How comfortable are you with technology? The till is basically an iPad – my son set it up because I’m useless at that kind of thing. He is also dyslexic so it is on a pink background.”

“I can work with that! The black on pink helps everything stay in the right place.”

“That’s what he says!” Sally sighed slightly and continued reading down the application form sat between them. “So, what is it that has taken you out to the Bay?”

“I- uh” The real answer would be too long and painful. Annabeth had expected to be asked it but not quite so soon. She still hadn’t really figured it out yet herself so was surprised when the words started flooding out. “I’m uh, taking a little break from my studies” that was true “to pursue a love of surfing!” That was not. “Yeah, I just can’t get enough of the waves! So I uh, thought a place like this would be ideal…” Annabeth trailed off and suddenly felt compelled to look anywhere in the room but at Sally Jackson’s face.

The woman pursed her lips and looked Annabeth up and down, considering her carefully.

“Okay.” She straightened up a little and locked on to Annabeth’s eyes. “I am going to ask you five questions. I want you to answer them honestly, and the job is yours. After that I won’t ask any more. Are we clear?”

Annabeth felt her heartrate quicken, her nerves coming back all at once. “Yes.”

“What is your name?”

“Rey-“

“I said honestly.” Sally’s face did not change at all. “I don’t care what we put on your name badge, and I’m sure you’ve got your reasons for giving a fake name but if we are going to work together, I need honesty.”

“It’s Annabeth, Annabeth Chase.”

“Okay Annabeth. Whatever you are running from - is it drugs? If it is drugs here is where our conversation ends I'm afraid.”

“God no!” Annabeth spluttered. “I can assure you I have no interest in drugs.”

“Good. Will whatever it is keep you from being able to work?”

“Not at all.”

“Is it going to impact my business or my family?”

“No.”

“Can you start Monday?”

Annabeth stared at her, trying to work out if Sally was joking or not. “Yes.”

“Perfect” She clapped her hands together. “Grover is going to be delighted, he’s been desperate for some more wait staff to keep things going smoothly. Come on and I’ll give you the tour.”

“That’s it? You don’t want to know anything else?”

“That’s it.” Sally smiled softly. “This café was built on trust. I trust my employees and they trust me. If I were to force you to tell me every decision or experience that has led you here, you would never trust me and we wouldn’t be able to work together. The most important thing to us here at Cerulean Café is family – we are all one big family. The job is yours if you want it. Under the condition that you never lie to me again.”

“I promise, Sally.” They were three simple words, but the weight Annabeth put behind them felt like a vow, one that she would not break.

“So, come on then.” She rose to her feet and Annabeth followed suit.

The tour was very straightforward. She had already seen the shop floor which Sally now explained the fairly straightforward numbering system for. Annabeth remembered it as if the room was split into quarters and then there was a circle inside of each. Sally informed her that there was no table thirteenfor some superstitious reasons which she managed to not laugh at. Annabeth felt a bit bad for criticising the lay out of the café as Sally explained how it had been arranged for optimal ease for disabled patrons, inspired by her favourite regular who Annabeth was bound to meet soon.

“I’m really looking forward to Monday now!” Sally beamed. “But just a piece of advice. We have a few regulars who are the nosy type. Whatever story you decide you want to tell you better get it straight before you start because they will be asking questions.”

“Okay.” Annabeth nodded.

“And there is no way you are getting around trying to pass yourself off as Reyna Ramírez-Arellano – I’m assuming you are staying with her? She is known in the area so that just wouldn’t go un-noted. Besides, are you going to remember that when we are slammed with customers and you are being called for? It needs to be something a bit closer to home.”

A light bulb went off in Annabeth’s head. The name her step-brothers had called her before they could say her name.

“Abby. Please put it as Abby on the rota.”

“You got it Abby.” Sally added her to the bottom of her shift rota board and walked her to the door. “I need to finish getting set up for opening. You’ll have some training to do on the job, but Grover will get that sorted out for you and you’ll meet most of the team on your first shift. Remember blue top, black bottoms and hair up. See you Monday!”

“Monday!” Annabeth echoed and stepped out of the café and onto the bright street.

She whipped out her phone and began texting Piper to share the good news. She got a job! Things finally were beginning to resemble a fresh start.

[occultexperience-blog]

Working with Baphomet for money, instant result

My experience with Baphomet started a few weeks ago. I live in a major city in the United States, and rent is astronomical. I live in a 3 bedroom apartment close to a large university, the idea is to share the space with 2 roommates, that would make living expense more reasonable. Having said that, I haven't had any luck with finding a roommate for the last 6 months. Due to varies circumstances, I can't move either. I was burning through my savings, and I was looking down the barrel of using up all my money.

To explain my relationship with Baphomet, it is some what of a long winding story I can explain more in later post. I just feel a strong pull towards the entity earlier this month, and it seems like he was reaching out to me. To be clear, Baphomet is a not the same entity as Satan or Lucifer. I can tell you first hand that it is a very different energy. Baphomet have a very warm, comforting, almost cuddly kind of energy.

Now I didn't "sell my soul" or even form a pack with Baphomet, it was just a friendly request. I offered some dried fruits, some dry cured ham, almonds, nuts and some tiny potato. a lot of coins I found on the street over the year, a large crystal. Burn some candle and incense. No blood or life sacrifice. A bottle of water as well. I presented the offerings as gift, then place them into an air tight jar, and lite a candle on top of the jar. That's my way of blessing an offering.I left the jar sitting at top of a book shelf.

If you have found a roommate before, you know that best practice is to look for one at the beginning of the month. At the time I made the offering, it was in the middle of the month. The earliest time I can expect a tenet would be next month, but I heard Baphomet tells me to put an ad out for a roommate ASAP. Turns out the local university is running a summer program for one of it's professional schools, and a lot of people were scrambling for a last minute accommodation. Best of all. It's only a 3 week class but people are willing pay for an entire month of rent. That's over 2000 dollars right there I wouldn't have had other wise.

I also ran a web store selling books and other intellectual property I create. It's been flat for a few months. I heard Baphomet telling me to put together some minor work I dabbled before into a product. I did that and sold very well.

For the people who worked with "Demons" before, you would have experience some bumps in the road. It's just the way "demons" do their work. Before the 2 paying roommates, I had a few people who said they are interested, and never heard back, I also had someone who promise they would be here but backed out the last minute. Also, one of my roommate's air conditioning stopped working, so I have buy him another one with money out of my pocket. Up until the last minute, i wasn't sure if the deals would be successful, but things just happens to fall into the right place. On my webstore, I had a few request for refunds for unsual reason. One person said he clicked on the wrong store, and the other said his teenager got a hold of his credit card. I needed to refund the money so I get into a charge back situation with my credit card company. It was frustrating the first few days I started working with Baphomet, but thing seems to be moving along smoothly after a while.

Another note about bumps on the road, I experience a very painful sprain on my right hand, which never happened before. It was so painful I could barely sleep, and it was a huge inconvenience not able to use my right hand. I don't know it's a residue energy from working with Baphomet.

I am just listing all the quirks for documentary purpose. I am very grateful for my experience.  

All together I made about 5k of money I would otherwise not have since working with Baphomet a few weeks ago.

Overall I would recommend working with Baphomet. He is a warm gentle spirit who is willing to help. He appreciate the attention and the sense of importance in helping, just like a human would.

I have worked with other spirts before, and in time, I would like to share those stories too.

Looking online, I just haven't found a lot of people who have specifically worked with Baphomet. Do you have an experience with this entity?

One last thing, if you are a youtuber or have another blog, and you enjoyed this story, which is 100% true, please share it on your channel. Baphomet would appreciate the shoutout. Good things happens to people who gain the favor of this powerful spirit.

[artisticestheticreads]

2

WARNING THE CHAPTER CONTAINS GRAPHIC VIOLENCE

    It was Thursday morning, ten am actually, and we rehearsing for tomorrow night’s performance for Santino’s with Gabi, Demi and Jazz. I wore red leggings, a black Michael Jackson’s Thriller band tee with a pair of red and white nikes to relax my feet after practicing in heels all week. Amir was hanging on the wall on his phone, messaging with FLO Records about the details about AC Records. We were practicing “Jungle” when Charlie came in. She had on a short black skater dress, a pair of high tops Vans with her curls tucked behind her ears under a black beanie. Amir looked her way and began to talk. 

“Hey, Charlie. What’s up?”

“Hello, Mr. Carter. I am here because I know that Ms. Mitchellson needed help to find some attire for tomorrow and Saturday’s night performance.”

  I walked over. “Yeah, I actually was. Cassidy said you knew how to handle it.”

“That’s why I’m here”, she said with a wink and scrolling through her iPad. “So, tonight’s look we are going for is all about being a boss. We want people to take you as a serious artist as you are now. Hardworking, dedicated and ambitious. So, I put the most perfect look together for such a great artist. I also decided to get a look for Mr. Carter as well.” Amir looked confused and asked “why me? I’m not performing, Charlie?” Charlie smiled “yes, but according to my thorough research, in only a month you’ll will be managing your own successful record company. Not only that, but you are also one of the best new music producers to artists like Synclaire Kyle of Bronx, NY. She is a huge success because of you.” I nudged his arm and he smiled at me. He said, with his arms around me, “so what did you have in mind then, Charlie.” She scrolled through and showed us.

    “Ms. Mitchellson, you will be in this super sleek business woman short bodysuit with classic plaid stripes, a leather five heel pump and a necklace set, five layered with a gold hoop and gold rings. Bonnie is still situating your make up and hair look.” I looked over the outfit and it was actually really cute. “Looks like something I would wear all the time. It’s really good, Charlie.” She smiled and thanked me. 

     “And Mr. Carter, you will be in matching suit with Veronica here. Exact print, dark red tie with matching handkerchief, plaid vest, white dress short, gold cuff links and watch, gold studs, and a black leather dress shoe. Since, it look like you already got a hair cut, you look good for this weekend.” Amir cover his mouth with his fist and said “damn, that’s a bad suit, Charlie. Good job.” 

“Thank you. That’s what I get paid for. Now, Gabi, Demi and Jazz will all be in black mid length dresses, hair up in a ponytail and black heels. I will be coming by with your attire, Mr. Carter and Ms. Mitchellson around five o’clock and I will be with Bonnie as well. Be showered and ready by then. See you guys later.” With that she left.

AMIR

  After rehearsal, my baby and I decided to go ahead and hit up Checker’s. After we ate, we sat in my truck watching the rain drop down the window shield. “So, I talked to Monte at FLO. Looks like they throwing a huge party down here for my 28th next month and for AC Records. My artist, Synclaire will be performing down here.” She said “I love Synclaire. She is really talented. My favorite track is ‘1991′. When I heard that beat the first time, I was like ‘daaaamn’. Amari was playing it her car when I first heard about her. Doesn’t Synclaire have like a few nicknames or something like that?” I nodded “yeah, when she first came to the label, she was originally ‘Syn City’ which was the name on her first album but she is basically known as the ‘Bronx Baby Girl’.” V smiled and said “oh, yeah. Didn’t she get signed when she was like 18.?” I nodded. 

“We found her at an underground club in New Jersey called ‘Njay’s’. I actually got her on and did her beats since then.”

“Oh shit. So you did the one for ‘1991′ then?”

“Sure did, first beat I did forher .”

    V looked at me amazed and said “so, the event...is it casual or formal.?” I looked at her then up and down her frame. “Who said YOU was getting an invite.?” I crossed my arms and she looked at me like:

“Excuse me?” I chuckled and move my arm rest out the way to grab her in my arms. “I messing with you, V. Honestly, everyone might be all dressed up but don’t worry. I know ya girl, Charlie gonna have us covered. But honestly, you can go naked and still look good.” She laughed with her back on my chest. “Really? You want other guys to see me naked?” I thought about it and with a straight face said “yeah. Never mind. I don’t wanna kill no nigga on my special night.” We both laughed and chilled some more watching the rain get lighter. My arms were around her and head on my chest. She rubbed the outside of my hand and got more comfortable. I can possible stay like that for so long and not give a damn.

   We got back to our place to shower together and ready for Charlie and Bonnie to come; sure enough they pulled up as soon as we got out. V went out in a huge shirt and opened the door. I can hear their voices from our bedroom. “Hey, girls. Did you get here okay in the rain?” Bonnie said “yes, geez it is pouring so hard. But we made it alright.?” I heard heels clicking and the voices went to the island of the kitchen. “So, I have your stuff here and Bonnie will get started on your hair”, Charlie said.

“Okay, I washed my hair and everything to make it easy for you, Bonnie.” 

“Thank you so much. Do you know how hard and consuming it is to do one’s hair when it is not prepared? Hours on in. But that’s just the life I have.”

   I threw on a wife beater and my grey sweats to walked and chill with them for awhile. “Hey, y’all.” Charlie said “hello, Mr. Carter. Here is your outfit for the night. Everything you need is there.” 

“Coo, when should I get ready?”

“Whenever is fine but probably safe to wait until Ms. Mitchellson’s make up is done.”

VERONICA

  I sat in the chair at the island, waiting for Bonnie. She wrapped a cape around my neck as The Weeknd played in the background, running her hands in my hair. “Okay, Veronica. You have beautiful hair. Long, thick and full. Have you ever put heat in your hair.?” 

“Hm, not since prom.”

   She nodded and said “that’s fine. For tonight’s look, you will be rockin’ bone straight hair with a middle part. You also need a trim, about two inches. We want you hair to keep growing. For your make up, we are gonna do a dark eye and a bold red lip. Lets get started.” She started to sections my hair and ran the iron slowly through about 3-4 times on each row. Amir sat at the dining room table on his Mac Book and watched with a smile every once in a while. Charlie started to paint my nails a super dark black and placing my rings on after they dried.The heat of the flat iron kissed the nape of my neck. A hour and thirty minutes later, she began to trim the ends and I watched as the pieces fell to the ground. Bonnie stood in front to perfect my part. 

“Girl, you got the magic touch”, Charlie said as she smiled with her hands in the mom jeans she wore. “Thank you” Bonnie said as she started to run a comb through my hair and spray a little hair spritz on. When she stood to the side, I had a clear view of Amir. He stood with his Mac Book under his arm closed and a look that I saw a look that I loved on his face; shock. “Whoa, Bonnie you did a- uh- a great job”, he said has he slowly walked to stand in front of me. I looked at him as he reached his hand under my chin. “You look good, baby.” He grabbed kissed the side of my temple and caressed my chin. He stood up straight and grabbed his bag. “If you ladies need me, I’ll be gettin’ ready.” He winked at me and went to the back. Bonnie and Charlie both looked at me, giving big smiles. “They don’t make men like that no more”, Bonnie said and we all nodded in agreement. “Let’s get this face beat.”

AN HOUR LATER..

AMIR   

I was dressed in every thing but my coat and bored outta my mind so I decided to go to the studio and play around until they was ready. I sat at the piano and began playing the familiar sound that was close to my heart. I closed my eyes as I felt every key hit my fingertips. I started to think about Veronica, just starting to say stuff to myself. “It's the sunrise. And those brown eyes yes. You're the one that I desire. When we wake up. And then we make love. It makes me feel so nice.”  I smiled the kept going as I felt the flow of it. “You're my water when I'm stuck in the desert. You're the Tylenol I take when my head hurts. You're the sunshine on my life.” I opened my eyes while I continued and looked to the left to see Bonnie. “That’s beautiful, Amir.” 

       I stood and straightened out my clothes. “Thank you, Bonnie. Is she ready?” She nodded and I followed behind to see Veronica. She looked amazin’. Her outfit fit her well, legs looked good enough to eat and her face was incredible but honestly I liked how she looked always. Charlie was finishing it up and talking to V. “So, then I just decided to do track. Running up and down that court was no joke.” V gave that warm smiling after her story to Charlie. Charlie laughed and said “giiirl, who you tellin’? You just got be like ‘nah, I’m good.’ “ They both laughed then she saw me with my hands in my pockets. “Hi, Amir.” 

“Hey, V.” We both smiled at each other. “Good job, Charlie. We do look good” I said as I walked up to them with Bonnie following behind. “Thank you, Mr. Carter. Well, we will meet you both at Cassidy’s studio tomorrow at practice to discuss what I have in mind for tomorrow night. Good luck tonight, Ms. Mitchellson. We won’t be able to attend because we need all the sleep we can tonight.” With that, they left with their stuff, V locked the door and looked back at me. 

   “You ready, baby”, she asked while holding her hand out. I put my jacket, helped her in a trench coat, grabbed an umbrella before stepping out side; I had the umbrella over her head and mine as we got to the car. We soon arrived and our families were there; waiting. Teresa looked at us and said “well, look at tis. Lookin’ good.”  She kissed our cheeks and Ahmad shook my hand. “Y’all good man. That’s a bad ass suit, dawg.” V smiled and said “well. I gotta get backstage to get ready. I’ll see y’all afterwards.” She kissed my cheek and made her way back. 

VERONICA

    I made my way back and felt something grab my hand; it was Brandon. He was dressed in an all black suit looking like he was getting ready for a funeral. “Brandon, what are you doin’ here?” He looked me in the eyes. “I actually heard about you being here. One of the younger kids on my campaign was talking about it and I overheard.” I held my head up and said “well enjoy the show then” but before I can get away from him, his grip got tighter. 

“I miss you, Veronica. I miss- I miss us.”

“Well, keep missin’ us den. I already forgave you a couple weeks ago back at the church. So let me go if you wanna walk away alive.”

  He got closer and I felt my other fist ball up; I can smell that hot scent of gin on his breath. “Veronica, was that a threat?” I yanked my arm and pushed him. I heard Gabi comin’ down the hall as I walked away towards her. She had a big smile until she saw me marching to her. “Hi, V. I was just lookin’ for you. Are you okay? What’s going on?” I looked behind me and he was gone; I looked back at Gabi who had worried eyes as I smiled to calm her down. “I’m fine, G. Let’s go get ready. You look good by the way, girl.” We turned the corner but I kept my eyes behind us. 

    The announcer stood on stage to introduce us. “Hello, every one and good evening. Welcome to Santino’s. Tonight, we have a special treat. She was actually here last Friday night, the friday before that and by popular demand, she is back. Welcome, Veronica Mitchellson.” The girls took their places and I walked on stage as people cheered me on. I shook the announcer’s hand before she left. “Good evening, everyone. Are y’all ready?” Everyone cheered, I looked to Amir when he gave me wink and clap then I looked to the front row and saw Brandon. I put on my poker face as the MC played “Jungle”. My hips swayed side to side as I began.

“These days, I'm letting God handle all things above me The things I can't change are the reasons you love me Listen, you can hear them calling my name I'm all over the place, I can't sit in one place I'm not ashamed at all Still findin' myself, let alone a soulmate, I'm just sayin' Feel like we one in the same, our relationship changed That or it never existed Whenever they say somethin' bout us you listen But fuck what they talkin' about on your timeline That's cuttin' all into my time with you Forget what they talkin' about on your timeline, yeah Cause that's cuttin' all into my time with you My time with you, my”

    I looked towards my group and they were all dancing with their significant others even Jerry and... Dena. Ok, I need some details on that. I thought to myself as I smiled and gave them a thumbs up. 

“He said you're my everything I love you through everything, I done did everything to him He forgave me for everything, this a forever thing Hate that I treat it like it's a whatever thing Trust me, boy, this shit is everything to me He from the jungle, he from the jungle I take somebody else's car, drive there undercover This shit is everything to me, this here is everything Don't know where we stand, I used to hit you 'bout everything Are we still good? Are we still good? Are we still good? Are we still good? If I need to talk are you around? Are you down for the cause? Are you down? Are you down? Are you down? Are you down for the cause? Are you down? Are you down? Are you down? Are you down for the cause? You still down? You still down? You still down?”

   I looked into the rest of the audience and they were loving it. I was so happy until I saw Brandon watching with hunger eyes and sipping from his cup. My poker face came back and I slowly close eyes and opened towards Amir. 

“These days these new girls, they got me nervous They go to school and do bottle service They can't decide, they keep switching majors Being indecisive makes me anxious Call your number and it's out of service Who can I call for your information? What am I supposed to do after we done everything that we've done? Who is your replacement? Are we still good? Are we still good? Are we still good? Are we still good?

Rock me real slowly Put a bib on me I'm just like a baby, drooling over you Rock, rock.”

    Every member of the audience cheered and the MC started to play “Every Kind of Way.”  Now, this song is dedicated to an incredible man in my life.” I looked to Brandon then at Amir with my hand towards him. “Mr. Amir Carter.” OOO, girl you petttttyyyy.

“Baby, the sound of you Better than a harmony I want you off my mind And on me Holding me closer than we've ever been before This ain't a dream You're here with me Boy, it don't get no better than you For you, I wanna take my time All night.”

   All the men in our group was shaking his shoulders as they were chuckling. When the were done, he shrugged towards me and laugh. 

“Give you all, give you all of me When you need it 'Cause I need it I wanna fall like your favorite season I'll never get up Stay here forever, babe It don't get no better than this Your kiss

I wanna love you in every kind of way I wanna please you, no matter how long it takes If the world should end tomorrow, then we only have today I'm gonna love you in every kind of way I wanna love you in every kind of way I wanna please you, no matter how long it takes If the world should end tomorrow, then we only have today I'm gonna love you in every kind of way

I wanna love you I gotta love you I wanna love you I gotta love you” 

    I looked at my girls and they all smiled waiting for the cue for the next song.  I looked at Amir and smiled then my eyes fell on Brandon. Seeing his smugness, made my skin move and blood boil. I took a deep breath as I looked to Amir then at him again.

AMIR

   Her eyes were throwing daggers at someone but standing in the back I couldn’t see who it was.”This song is for the ones who thought they were the ones playin’ the mind games but guess what.” The MC started playing the beat her new track ‘2′; another song she had freestyle.

“It's cool It's really never been that deep Wasn’t thinking about you 'Cause you didn’t give a fuck about me

Thought I was up in my room Crying myself to sleep I was with a better you While you were busy playing me

I was playing you too I was playing you too”

  She was walking across the stage with just the mic, no stand and singing with a certain attitude. Her eyes keep falling to the her left side. I walked to the bar which was on my right to get a better view. She bent at her knees, looking at everyone at that side.

“Thought I wouldn't find out Thought I didn’t know how to play the game Could’ve screamed at you for hours Instead I was screaming somebody else’s name

There were no rules Now I can do whatever I want I can never lose So it’s funny how you thought you won

But I was playing you too I was playing you too I was playing you too I was playing you too” 

    As soon as the song ended, I looked straight into his soul as he got up and walked out; Brandon was testing my kindness. She bowed with the girls and left to the back. I walked up behind her and she swung around scared. “V, it’s just me. Did he try talkin’ to you?” She nodded and said “yeah. Said he missed us but I promise I didn't’ acknowledge him.” I rubbed her shoulder and said “did he touch you?” She was quiet until she pointed to her wrist. I told her “get your coat” and once she came back we made our way back to the car across the street in the parking garage. Luckily, the rain had let up, stopping completely. Bipolar ass weather. We reached the car, I helped her in until I heard Ahmad and Aaron. “What the fuck you doing here?!”

    I saw Brandon standing behind our car. She looked up at me, I threw my coat in her lap, kissed her and said “stay in here”. I closed her door and put my hand in my pockets on my way to Brandon. “You are really testing my patience, nigga. What you want?” He looked at me and said “I want Veronica back.” Amari said “my sister isn’t going in anywhere with you, batty man.” Amaya said “leave her alone.” Brandon said “aye light skin, tell these dumb bitches to shut up.” I can see Rock’s face turned dark red as he yelled “what the fuck you said you bitch ass nigga?!” Amaya had to hold him back. “Don’t trip, babe. He got it.” I looked at Rock and nodded then at Amari then asked “is V still in the car?” Brianna said “yes, I’m watching her”; good thing our folks were gone.

 “V, ain’t going no where especially with you. She  happy and got some shit going for her self and don’t need no pussy ass nigga in her life. Don’t make my south side come out.” He looked me up and down saying “so, I noticed you two matched tonight. How cute. Does that mean y’all fucking now.” I chuckled and said “unlike you, patna. I’m a gentleman and I don’t kiss and tell.”

“Well, don’t forget. I hit it first.”

“First of all, you ‘hit it first’ by force and second, the first ain’t always the best.” 

   I got closer to his face until I heard a car door open and arms wrapping around my stomach. “I told you to stay in the car, babe.” Her heels began clicking against the pavement as she stood in front of me with her hand on my back. “I know. I’m a Taurus, remember? We stubborn.” That made me grin but I wasn’t letting my eyes off him. She said “come on, Amir. It ain’t worth it.” I looked down at her as I rubbed her back. Jerry with Dena in his arms said “come on, y’all. This nigga mad ‘cause he losing the polls. Let’s get up outta here and get some food. I’m starving like Marvin”. We all chuckled like Brandon wasn’t even there anymore. As we were about to get in the car, he said with a slight grin:

   “So, how much for the night?” V and I stopped and looked at each other like:

   I looked at her and asked “what the fuck did he just say?” We both closed our doors at the same time and walked back to stand directly in front of him with our hands together. “What the fuck you just say, bitch?” I asked and saw him reach his hand out towards V. “How much for a night? I wanna hear her scream and watch her cry again.” He dug in his pocket and counted “One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Five dollars for the night.” He threw the money in her face but she didn’t flinch; she just let my hand go. I can feel my blood boil and I wanted to end this nigga’s life. I looked down at her but her eyes were still on him, talking to me. “Amir, don’t be too rough, baby.” With that, I punched the nigga dead in his jaw; spit and blood flying. I mean, I was giving it to this nigga. He got up trying to swing but I ain’t having that. I heard foot steps but V said “nah, y’all! He got it.”

    I was punching this nigga out on the concrete while holding onto the collar of his shirt. I was about to get one more punch in until I saw V’s hand on mine. “That’s enough, Amir.” I dropped him on his knees and saw the swelling on his face appear. I stood up straight and straightened my suit out. I took her hand in my mine until she turned back to Brandon watching him get up. Before he did though, she gave him a nice right hook to his jaw and he fell again. She knelt down over his body. “That was for calling my sisters dumb bitches, wasteman.” She stood up straight and said “Ahmad do me a favor and call your boys at the police station. Tell them that this man was attacking an innocent woman but she got away after she protected herself. If they need me, give them my number.” He nodded and pulled out his phone.

  We all got in our rides and met up at a nearby dinner for some late night food. She sat next to me and asked the waitress for two ziploc baggies of ice. She did so and when the waitress came back, V took the bags as she thanked her, flattened my hands out on the table and placed the bags on them. “Y’know, Amir. We could've walked away but he did had it coming. Thank you, baby.” She kissed my cheek and held my straw to my mouth so I can drink my soda. “You’re welcome, V. You know I got your back.” I kissed her on the lips and she lied her head on my shoulder while we watched people eat.

@muse-of-mbaku

@im5ftbutmythroat66

@chaneajoyyy

@melanin-samii

@theunsweetenedtruth

@doux-ciel

@unicornluvin8765

@vikkidc

@wakandantings

@thadelightfulone

@mzamethystp

@simbiann

@tropicalsun10

@babydoll756

@notoriouslynay

@vminax

@quinsly

@pinkdemolition

@quietstorm-73

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@yafavcocoa

@lostgalaxies

[trans-shuichisaihara]

fake it till (we) make it - Scene 1

the celebrity fake dating oumota au I started last month or smth and finally picked up again. I really love this au so uhh hopefully y’all do too! coughs bc it’s probably a slow burn and i have too many of those

(read on AO3)

Kaito Momota, up-and-coming actor newly known for his roles in various sci-fi films, has a problem. Said problem comes in the form of his frequent costar ringing insistently on his door at 2am.

“What the fuck,” is all his tired mind can create to greet him with. If Kokichi minds, he doesn’t show it, a wild grin filling his face.

“Good morning, Kaito!”

“It’s the middle of the night, this better be real fuckin’ important.” A headache is already starting to form right behind his eyes, so he really isn’t in the mood for-

“I’m bored; you should be a good host and entertain me!”

Three seconds later, Kaito slams the door in his face.

“Hey! Kaito! C’mooon!” The relief from his voice being muffled only lasts a matter of seconds, as Kokichi goes back to ringing the doorbell rapidly.

“Fine,” he groans, throwing the door back open, “Get in here before I call someone to get rid of you.”

He wastes no time obeying, hurrying past Kaito and straight to the living room, vaulting over and onto the couch.

He sighs, closing the door and massaging his aching head. “You could at least take off your shoes, asshole.”

“I’m good,” he cheekily replies, resting said shoes on the arm of the couch, “Come sit over here.” He pats the seat next to him. Kaito shakes his head and opts to sit on the opposite end.

“Are you gonna explain why the hell you’re awake at 2 in the morning or should I just assume you’re going out of your way to bother me?”

He hums in response, before his expression changes to a pout. “My manager wants me to change my sleep schedule so we can get some night scenes out of the way. But no one else is ever awake at this time of night unless they’re completely smashed.”

Kaito pinches his nose; what was Kokichi starring in again? He himself isn’t doing anything currently, waiting for preparations for the next film to wrap up. “Why don’t you go bother Miu then? She supposedly never sleeps.”

“She sleeps weird hours, but she’s in France with Kaede right now.”

Oh, yeah, that’s right. “Ugh, call her or text her or something then; it’s like normal morning hours there.”

“No thanks,” Kokichi declines, kicking off his shoes, “I don’t want to interrupt her honeymoon.”

He furrows his brows at his word choice; they’re there for Kaede’s piano concerts, right? Well, whatever. “Why don’t you go bother-” Fuck, who could he send Kokichi off to? He couldn’t bother Shuichi or Maki with him, and all their other mutual friends either expressed annoyance with him or didn’t stand up to him when he was being like this. Dammit. “... Fine, whatever, guess you can be my problem for tonight.”

It has to be illegal for him to look so happy at being the source of someone’s sleep deprivation. “Aw, I knew you’d come around. No one can resist me.” Fucking spoiled brat.

“Just find some way to entertain yourself; I got plenty of shit lying around. I'm goin' back to sleep.” He stands, waving him off, but doesn’t get far before Kokichi lunges forward and grabs his wrist.

“I have a huge Lego Star Destroyer in my car and if you don’t help me build it I’ll egg your house.”

... Well, how could he say no to that? “Dude, you act as if building that would be a bad thing.”

He hums in response, releasing Kaito and tossing his keys up to him without warning. He catches it midair, nearly missing the sly smirk that crosses Kokichi’s face. “You’ll see~!”

The box isn’t that big, but it’s heavier than he expected it to be. Not anything he can’t handle, but it still causes him some trouble getting it through the door, determined to be as difficult as its owner. He becomes very familiar with information on the side of the box as he’s bringing it in; 3152 pieces, recommended for ages 16 and up.

Looks like Kokichi would have to sit out, haha.

Relaying that joke to him when he finally sets it down in the living room earns him a huff and an annoyed shout reminding him that they’re the same age. Geez, it isn't Kaito’s fault he looks nothing like a 23 year old. He doesn't look a day over 15, and that's just a fact.

“So, why do you even have this? Don't tell me you bought it just to bribe me,” he asks as they pull out the bags of pieces from the box, Kokichi flipping through the first few pages.

“No way, it's just something I impulse bought last Christmas and never got around to building. I remembered it while I was sitting around bored and hey, you're the residential space freak.” He grabs the baggie labeled “1” from Kaito’s pile, tearing it open with more force than necessary.

“Hey, careful! You’ll lose pieces like that!”

“Relax, it's the first bag, and your house is surprisingly clean. Seriously, do you even live here?”

Kaito feels a bit offended at that. “What does that mean?! You think I live like a slob or somethin’?!”

“Uh, yeah? Your dressing room is always a mess.” He pauses. “Do you keep the mess in your bedroom then?” He gives him a teasing wink as he begins snapping pieces together.

“My room’s clean too, asshole. It's not hard to keep a clean house.”

“I bet it is, when you own literally nothing.” He shakes his head. “I was expecting collectables and spaceship models everywhere.”

Well... He does have those, but they're in his study where he can see them while he works out. “What, so are you saying you own a bunch of junk then?” He did say that he impulsively bought this.

Kokichi's face goes flat for a moment, before snapping back into a grin. “Yep! You caught me, I'm a huuuuge hoarder!” And a huge liar; anyone who works with him for even five minutes knows that.

“Yeah, sure.” Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. He can't judge a house he's never seen. Which begs the question- “Where the hell do you even live?”

“I wonder,” he answers with a non-answer, flipping to the next page. Kaito shakes his head, unsurprised.

After he grabs one of the other instruction booklets and his own bag of pieces - pushing Kokichi’s scattered pieces towards him to prevent mixing - the two of them work in silence for a long while. Kaito starts to yawn as he flips through the seemingly endless instructions, blurry vision causing him to keep misreading the pictures and forcing him to frequently tear apart sections of his progress.

“You're really bad at this,” Kokichi comments as he finally finishes his booklet, standing up and stretching.

“Fuck you, I'm doing my best on three hours of sleep.”

“Hmm, should've gone to bed earlier. Besides, I only got four and I'm perfectly fine.” Despite his words, the next sound to leave his mouth is a poorly disguised yawn. “Anyway, I'm gonna raid your pantry as punishment for being so slow.”

Ughhh. “Good luck finding anything, I haven't gone grocery shopping recently.”

There's a long pause as Kokichi inspects the food situation for himself. He returns a minute later with a tupperware container. “How are you alive?”

“Meal prep and tons of leftovers.” He hauls himself up with a low groan, before walking over and taking the container from him. “Don't eat this; it's my lunch for tomorrow.”

Kokichi sticks his tongue out at him. “Whatever, I didn't want your gross... whatever that is.” He huffs, turning back into the kitchen to poke around.

Kaito sighs. “Want me to order a pizza?” That's a better option than him getting into the little food that remains.

He perks up, closing the barren freezer. “I supposeee,” he drawls, pretending to be disinterested.

“What toppings?” He pulls up a list of nearby pizza places, hoping one of them would deliver at almost 3:30am. Closes at 3am, closes at 2am, midnight... Damn.

“None pizza with left beef, obviously.”

“C’mon Kokichi, a serious answer please.”

“Fine, pineapple with anchovies.”

“Alright, no take backs,” he answers, still squinting at his phone to find a place.

Kokichi sighs after a minute of unsuccessful searching. “Gimme that, I know a place.” Before he can object, his phone is in his hands and the pizza is ordered, along with some mystery combo items.

Afterwards, the phone is returned to him unharmed, thankfully. “It’s gonna be 34 dollars, spaceman.”

He scratches the back of his neck. “Yeah yeah, lemme go find my wallet.” He shakes his head and makes the mistake of leaving Kokichi alone unattended downstairs.

By the time he digs his wallet out of his nightstand and takes a quick piss, the doorbell rings. He splashes some water on his face to help keep himself awake, hurrying down the stairs as Kokichi’s opening the door.

“Thank you very much! Sorry, no autographs, but you can get one from Kaito if you want.” He hurries past Kaito and away from the delivery girl, a pile of boxed food in his arms.

Kaito sighs as he pulls a 50 out of his wallet. “Need me to sign anything? And keep the change, it’s fuck o’clock in the morning, I know.” Once he’s signed in three separate places aside from the receipt, she finally leaves, letting him turn his attention back to Kokichi.

“Hey, what’s your Netflix password?” He immediately asks once the door’s closed. “I tried a bunch of stupid space references but it’s not working.”

“Like hell I’ll tell you that, use your own.” He plopped himself back down at the abandoned Legos, trying to regain focus.

“I don’t have oneeee,” he whines in response, dropping the controller down onto the floor as he flops onto his side. Kaito resists sighing again and picks it up, turning the console off, ignoring Kokichi’s continued mumbled whines.

They sit in silence for a few long moments before Kaito realizes that something’s off with the Legos. “Hey, where the hell’d all my small gray pieces go?”

He shoots Kokichi a look, and he receives a toothy smile in response. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll step on them at some point!”

He scowls - like hell he will. “Seriously, do you want us to build this or not? If we lose a shit ton of pieces right off the bat, that’s not happening.”

“I mean...” Kokichi sat up, observing his nails for a moment before turning to the pizza box next to him and opening it. “I’m pretty bored with it now. I’m trying to think of a better game to play, since Netflix and chill is out of the question.”

He coughs. “Shuddit. Fuck, you’re such a pain.” He shakes his head and starts to pick up the pieces, taking the complete piece and the almost finished one to the empty bookshelf he’s been meaning to fill in the corner of the room. Once he’s finished, Kokichi beckons him back over, shoving a paper plate with a slice on it into his hands. He eats it, only because he paid for it and he’s hungry from sleep deprivation.

It’s not too bad, honestly.

“Hmmm, I wanna take a selfie...” Kokichi thinks aloud, leaning his full body weight of literally nothing against Kaito as he pulls out his phone and opens the camera app.

“Seriously?! I’m trying to eat!”

“Just one, promise! Say pineapple!” The circular button takes their picture silently, unlike paparazzi cameras. He lets Kaito approve of it before returning to his previous position.

“Satisfied? Will you let me sleep and not make a mess if I go back to bed?” Kaito asks after the pizza and half the breadsticks are gone, yawning again.

“Only if you answer my question.”

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, sure. Shoot.”

“What do you think about fake dating? Specifically, me ‘n’ you?”

His question is answered by him coughing to avoid choking on his own spit.

[meimikana]

A Beginner’s Guide to Caring for Your Luminary: Chapter 2: AO3 Previous Chapters: Ch1: AO3 | Tumblr Fandom: Dragon Quest XI Pairing: Erik/Eleven (eventually) Rating: Teen Summary: Follow along as Erik meets, gets to know, and slowly learns how to properly care for his Luminary.

Notes: Wow, this took longer to get out than I had intended. Very sorry for the protracted delay. It was mostly me wanting to find out the significance of the Orb in relation to Erik before committing to anything in this chapter. And then I just ended up being vague about it anyway. Go figure. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I have beaten the game now, so there shouldn't be such long delays from here on out.

P.S. The chapter is under the cut for people who don’t wanna go to AO3 for whatever reason. Cheers~ 

Ch2: Keep Him Close at Hand (But Don't Smother Him)

The old nun had taken one look at Erik and his companion's bedraggled state and had instantly whisked them off into the back room, closing the door behind them and clucking her tongue the entire way. She muttered something about fool boys under her breath as she directed Erik towards the single bed, then bustled about on what he assumed was a quest for extra linens. No questions were asked, and he silently thanked her for that, because he sure didn't know what to say at this point. He could make up a tale easily enough, but he didn't much feel like lying through his teeth when he was taking advantage of the church's goodwill. Some things you just didn't do.

The Luminary hadn't stirred at all throughout their trek and didn't make a single peep as Erik laid him out on the bed. That was… worrisome. Had he hit his head or something? But no, he'd looked fine when Erik had found him, just completely drenched. Speaking of which, Erik frowned in confusion as he reached down and fingered a lock of the Luminary's hair. It felt only slightly damp, almost dry even, which made no sense whatsoever. It hadn't taken him that long to make it to the church, and Erik could still feel water squelching around in his shoes with every step he took, but the Luminary… was almost dry. What the heck? Did being the Luminary give somebody a self drying ability or something? But no, that didn't feel quite right. This was something else…

Erik shelved that thought for the nonce as the old nun returned, her arms heaped with the linens she'd gone off in search of. Shaking her head, she clucked her tongue at Erik again as she foisted the heap off on him, told him in no uncertain terms to hurry up and get out of those wet things before he caught his death, then turned her attention towards the Luminary. Erik just shrugged and started stripping out of his clothes. What shame he had left in him was limited to very few things, and he highly doubted he had anything she hadn't seen before.

"How is he?" Erik asked once he was half down to bare skin and wrestling with a pair of shoes that got way too tight whenever they got wet. Ugh.

"A little banged up, but he'll be right as rain in no time at all." Erik nodded at her pronouncement, then did his best to fight down the intense wave of relief that had washed over him upon hearing it. He didn't need to be showing that kind of weakness to a little old lady, no matter how helpful she was being. Besides, he'd just met the Luminary. Erik had no business feeling this attached to someone he'd just met a short while ago. He didn't even know the kid's name yet, for pete's sake. Why was he being so ridiculous about this?

A sensation not unlike dread crawled up Erik's spine, instantly chasing away what he felt was a frivolous line of thinking. Uhoh. Swallowing against the apprehension clogging up his throat, Erik craned his head around and met the baleful glare the old nun was sending his way. Ah, disapproving old ladies, now this was something he was familiar with. Unfortunately. "Ma'am?" he ventured carefully. He knew that "Sister" was the more appropriate form of address here, but he didn't think she'd appreciate him trying to be proper at the moment.

"Scamp! What are you doing dragging this poor boy into your line of work?" The old nun grumped while waving her finger at him as if he were a naughty child she was about to take over her knee. Oh dear. "It doesn't take more than a glance to tell he's not fit for that."

Erik couldn't help a relieved breathless chuckle at her accusation. "You're right, he's not meant for thieving. He's definitely meant for something else." Something far greater. "But he was in a bit of a bind, and there was no one else, so I did what I could to help him out. That's all. Scout's honor." Erik held his hand up and grinned cheekily at the last. He couldn't blame her for thinking poorly of the situation. It did kind of look bad from the outside, especially to somebody who was nominally familiar with his trade. Only the truly heartless got kids mixed up in thieving… or worse.

The old nun hmmphed at him, but appeared to have accepted his explanation as she turned back towards the Luminary. "Be that as it may, you boys are welcome here as long as you have need. Don't need to be going out while you're still sopping wet, that's for sure. A stiff breeze would have me writing out your eulogy in no time flat." She nodded to herself and gave the Luminary's shoulder a gentle pat before turning her attention back to Erik. "I'll be heading up into downtown Heliodor in a short bit for the daily blessings and… gossip. You keep the bedroom door locked while I'm out, you hear? The knights are a just lot, but they've forgotten that mercy goes hand in hand, and I'd rather they not find out about my predilection for lending a helping hand to strays. You understand, I'm sure."

Erik nodded in agreement. Made sense. No one would question a locked door in a church, especially not when the resident lady of the cloth was out and about. And gossip would be good. He needed a good lay of the land to help him figure out what to do next. And well, there's no way this old lady would ever believe either of them were the "Darkspawn", so it should work out fine. Luck, fate, whatever anyone wanted to call it, had worked in their favor so far, no reason for it to stop now.

Of course, he couldn't do much until the Luminary woke up anyway. Which brought him back to his original concern. Erik waved the old nun off, then grimaced to himself and stripped the rest of his clothes off once she'd left. Snagging one of the towels out of the pile of linens, he vigorously scrubbed himself dry, then wrung the excess water out of his clothes and laid them out to dry by one of the windows. Stained glass wasn't all that great for letting sunlight in, but beggars can't be choosers. Shouldn't take too long, at least. A blanket pulled from the pile would serve to keep him warm, and solve the whole naked issue. Which just left the Luminary.

Erik grabbed a chair and dragged it over to the bed, plopping his butt down in it before reaching over and grasping the kid's wrist. His pulse felt normal. Erik frowned and leaned forward, placing his hand on the Luminary's forehead. No fever. And… Erik ran his fingers through the kid's hair. Completely dry. Huh. But still deeply unconscious, Erik thought as he tapped a finger against the other boy's cheek. Maybe… maybe it had something to do with him actually being the Luminary. That jump should have killed them, or seriously injured them at the very least. But Erik felt fine, and the old nun had said the kid would be perfectly fine.

Erik leaned back in the chair, crossed his arms, and stared up at the ceiling as he worked recent and not so recent events out in his head. He'd gotten arrested several months back when no one should have been the wiser about who had pulled off the theft of the Orb. A touch of severe bad luck on his part, or so he'd thought. The guards had been pretty lacking in actual guarding once he'd been thrown into jail, so he'd had an easy time of it digging a way out of that predicament. And then, on the day he finishes making his escape route, the Luminary waltzes into his life, just like he'd been told. Their escape hadn't exactly been easy, but when they'd gotten trapped, the bridge had oh so conveniently collapsed beneath them, then they'd somehow managed to not wash ashore in that cavern with any of the knights who'd fallen in with them, granted it had been the home of that freaking black dragon, and they'd barely escaped getting fried, but they'd still managed it. And then, when their luck had seemingly run out, they'd somehow survived jumping off a literal cliff.

Okay, so fate was working in their favor overtime, but it didn't explain how they'd survived that fall. But maybe there was another explanation for it. Erik got up and walked around to the other side of the bed. This was the Luminary, after all. Reaching down, Erik took ahold of the kid's left hand and studied the sigil emblazoned there. And maybe that was the explanation he was looking for. The Luminary was some divinely chosen hero, right? Maybe he had some built in mystical survival mechanism. Would make sense. But he was so young… Erik looked up at the kid's face, really, really looked at it. Probably sixteen, that was the usual age hereabouts when folks proclaimed kids to be adults and ready to handle whatever the world threw at them. So he was a kid with the power of a hero, but it was highly doubtful he'd had much practice in heroic pursuits, otherwise Erik would have heard about him already.

So. The kid's power must have been what saved them. That was the most likely and logical explanation. Nodding to himself, Erik walked back around the bed and plopped back down in the chair. And if it wasn't something that the kid used often, then it probably wore him out. That made a tremendous amount of sense given everything that had happened. And… Erik was good at noticing things like that. He'd had… practice… before. And while he truly doubted that the Luminary needed a caretaker, everyone needed somebody to care for them, right? Erik didn't much mind being that.

---

By the time the old nun had returned from her foray up into the city, Erik's clothes had dried out enough to be worn again. Which was good. He may not have much shame left in him, but he certainly didn't fancy waltzing around with his goods hanging out for all and sundry to take a gander at. The Luminary had yet to rouse, which really wasn't good, but there wasn't anything Erik could do but wait at this point. Carrying the kid might have gotten them here, but hauling him around elsewhere like a sack of potatoes would attract attention. Attention was definitely something they didn't want. For one thing, he was a criminal. For another, Heliodor was full of crazy people who all thought the Luminary was evil.

…Maybe there was something in the water? But no, he didn't think the Luminary was evil, and he'd been in town for awhile now. He was pretty sure no one in downtown thought that way either. So… something up at the castle maybe? Eh, best to steer clear of there if at all possible anyway.

The old nun brought back some interesting news, which she regaled him with after she'd calmed down. She'd burst into the room, nearly rattling the lock to piece in her haste to unlock the door, anxious and beside herself with worry, afraid that the Darkspawn might have gotten to them while she'd been out. Erik had almost jumped out of his skin, but had somehow managed to avoid pulling his blade on her. Not that he thought she would have cared much about that, she knew his kind well enough. You just didn't startle someone who lived in the shadows unless you wanted some steel in your belly. But still, it was the principle of the matter. He was a pro, thank you very much. He would keep his cool no matter what, or at the very least, pull off a pretty good pretense of keeping it.

Cobblestone. Erik had never even heard of Cobblestone. Which made sense, he supposed. A nowhere town was the most likely place for a hero to grow up with people being none the wiser for it. Hendrik was going to be a problem though. The kid would definitely want to go and make sure everybody he knew was all right and stuff, and Erik sure wouldn't blame him one whit for that, but there was no way they were going to get past Hendrik. They would have to lay low for awhile, which fit Erik's personal plans nicely. He didn't want to leave the Luminary all on his own. He couldn't. But at the same time, Erik had to get his hands back on that Orb. That thing… Honestly, that heist was going to be a pretty significant notch in his belt. The knowledge that he'd managed to nab something that rich out of Heliodor's stronghold of a castle would get him places, of that he had no doubt. But he really didn't care about that aspect, there were… other things that mattered when it came to that damn Orb. He couldn't- no, wouldn't leave without it, which meant he had to go back into the city to fetch it, and he was going to have to drag the Luminary along with him. Not exactly a wise choice of action, but it was something that had to be done. Now if the Luminary would just wake up already.

Wishing for things hadn't ever really gotten Erik anywhere, and it still didn't, but an hour spent poking the kid and hoping he would wake up soon seemed to have at least kept him from going stir crazy. It was the little things in life that mattered in the end, after all. The kid shifted away from one final poke and Erik couldn't help the grin that practically split his face in two. Finally. "Wake up, lazybones," Erik singsonged cheerfully. Another shift followed, and Erik couldn't resist one more chipper verbal poke before a pair of bright blue eyes blinked open at him. Huh, he hadn't had time before to think about it much, and he'd been too worried to really contemplate it later, but this kid sure was easy on the eye. That… might prove to be a problem. People noticed pretty people. That kind of attention was the last thing they needed. Erik was going to have to scrounge up something for the kid before they waltzed back into Heliodor. Neither of them were going back to jail, not if he could help it.

Erik went through an abbreviated explanation for everything that had happened after their leap of faith, overplaying the old nun's assistance and downplaying the likely mystical aspects of their survival. He didn't know why exactly, but he had the strangest feeling that the kid had no idea of what it meant to be the Luminary. Granted, Erik didn't really have much of an idea about it either. Something about saving the world and being the chosen hero of… something. Everybody knew about the Legend of Erdwin, the first Luminary, but not many folks could tell you any details about what Erdwin had actually done. Saved the world, sure, but how exactly had he done that? Well, Erik supposed they'd figure that out one way or another. But first thing's first.

He let the old nun give the Luminary the down low of what all was going on. The kid cringed slightly when the old lady waxed on about the dangerous Darkspawn, but thankfully managed to keep his cool. Good. That was a good sign. Erik sure didn't want to have to factor the kid possibly freaking out into their next course of action. A hero needed to keep it together anyway, right? Something like that. It wasn't hard at all to convince the Luminary to go along with Erik's plan once they'd bid the old nun farewell. And the nice little hood Erik had swiped from the church's stores fit the kid like a glove, so that problem was solved. Though…

"Try to keep your eyes to the ground while we're in town, they're a little too luminous to miss head on," Erik advised. The kid nodded his understanding. Oh yeah, that was something else he needed to fix too. "By the way, I haven't caught your name just yet. You know mine, so it's only fair."

"Oh," the kid had been pretty straightforward up until now, but at this he seemed a bit hesitant. Something wrong with telling Erik his name? "It's Eleven."

Erik blinked. What? Eleven what? What was the kid talking about? Was this some weird Luminary thing? "Eleven?" Erik repeatedly doubtfully.

The kid ducked his head down in what looked to be embarrassment, then reached up and scratched nervously at the side of his neck. "Yeah, that's my name."

"Oh," Erik said dumbly. That was… Well, that was certainly an odd choice in names, but who was Erik to judge? No one had a choice in how oddball their parents turned out to be in naming things. Besides, he'd definitely heard weirder ones in his time. Some folks, thieves in particular, were really kind of nuts about that stuff and went all out with stupid titles related to all sorts of outlandish crap. At least the kid's parents hadn't had the gall to name him Erdwin. That would have been really stupid and way too obvious. Eleven, huh? Erik could get used to that. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Eleven," Erik said cheerfully, emphasizing his statement pointedly with a jaunty two fingered salute and a sunny smile, "I have a feeling that this is the beginning of a beautiful partnership."

Even hidden in that hood, Eleven's relieved smile shone through.

---

The trek up to the city was uneventful for the most part, though Eleven displayed an alarming habit of trotting off the beaten path to go shove a tree or cut off a sprig of something to put in his bag. It was alarming because every single time it happened Erik wasn't expecting it at all, though it was interesting in a way. Here Erik had been assuming he was the veteran at all things survival related and the kid was already showing him up. He ought to stop doing that too. Eleven really wasn't a kid, and by Erik's reckoning, was only a few years younger than him. A young hero, but one old enough to make his own way in the world… with Erik's help.

Downtown Heliodor hadn't changed at all since Erik's arrest. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to feel relieved at that or concerned. It was still the same old sprawling mass of rickety buildings populated by loud, obnoxious people. Even the smell hadn't changed. Erik would almost consider it a home of sorts, but it wasn't. Home was the people you loved, not the places you lived in, and by that measure, Heliodor could never be a home to him. But it had served its purpose well enough. It had given him a roof over his head and an everchanging throng of marks to nick valuables off of. Maybe he'd come back once everything was said and done, but he doubted it. The only thing he really wanted from this place now was the Orb.

It wasn't where it was supposed to be. What the-? There was no Red Orb to be found anywhere in the garbage pile, and the place where they'd hidden it didn't look like it had been disturbed all that much. Didn't make any sense… unless…

He hadn't thought about Derk much during his incarceration, hadn't thought he'd needed to. Derk had always been a smart cookie and hadn't been anywhere near Erik when he'd gotten snatched by the knights. Besides, out of the two of them, Derk was the one with the real survival instincts. He'd always been able to find his way out of a jam. One way or another. That said, right about now, it sure looked like Derk's survival instincts included a nice big helping of stabbing Erik in the back. That dirty rotten-

Betrayal wasn't really a feeling Erik was all that familiar with. He generally didn't get close enough to folks to even make it a possibility. But he'd been close to Derk, had trusted the man with nearly everything. They'd been partners. Erik was livid. He was going to make Derk cough up that damned Orb if it was the last thing he did. He just needed to find out where the traitor was holed up at. Which meant it was time to go have a chat with Ruby. She'd know where that son of a- No. He needed to stop that. Erik took a deep, calming breath. If he didn't get it together, then he'd start ranting, which was never a good thing. Keep it calm and collected, at least until he got his hands on Derk.

Thankfully, he hadn't managed to run Eleven off with his snit. Did having the patience of a saint come with the whole Luminary package deal, or was he just naturally even keeled? It was a good thing either way, because Erik had ended up needing Eleven's help to track Ruby down. She hadn't been in when he'd gone to call on her at the inn. Of course not, why would anything be easy for him? She didn't really have good news for him either. The only way Derk could have opened up a shop anywhere was if he'd sold that damn Orb. That dirty rat.

Getting into uptown turned out to be a fairly painless process. That one sentry was never going to get promoted from his station in downtown, not unless he dealt with that ridiculous fear of dogs he had. Not that it was really any concern of Erik's, oh no, that fear worked ever so well in their favor. Convincing the little girl to let them borrow her dog for a short while probably would have been annoying without his inability to not snatch things or Eleven's inability to not pick up stuff in the great outdoors. The holy water Erik had nabbed at the church when he'd been digging for something to hide Eleven's pretty face served them well, and the berries Eleven had knocked out of a tree on the way into town cinched the deal. One eager doggie and one terrified sentry fleeing his post coming right up.

Uptown at least smelled better than downtown, but that was about the only good difference between the two. Heliodor proper was still stuffed full of loud, obnoxious people that Erik just had no use for at this point. He wanted that damn Orb back in his hands along with Derk's face bashed in for good measure. They had to wait til nightfall to make their way across the roofs into the "noble's quarters", but thankfully that hadn't been too far off. Not enough time for Erik to stew, which was just as well. He would have just gone barreling up on his own, endangering himself foolishly when he knew better. Having Eleven along with him kept him grounded. Being here was risk enough, he couldn't push their luck any further by acting on impulse. Or at least, that's what he tried to tell himself. Erik was still fuming though. Some partner.

If there was one good thing about everything that had happened, a silver lining if you would, it was the fact that most of the knights were absent from town while they tried to hunt down the Darkspawn. That left far too few guards to watch out for a couple of shadows slinking inbetween the rich people houses. If some other thieves weren't taking advantage of this boon gifted to them by the "evil" Luminary, Erik would eat Eleven's bag without emptying it first.

His reunion with Derk turned out to be a lot more surprising than Erik thought it would be, a lot less violent too. Go figure. It provided him with an explanation for why the guards in his cell block had been so out to lunch. Bribes worked ever so well on the bored and disillusioned, and having to play babysitters to criminals would have brought out those two feelings in droves. It still left Erik with the problem of getting his hands back on the Orb though. The Kingsbarrow was all the way out on the Emerald Coast. That would be quite the journey. Best to get Eleven back to Cobblestone first, though Erik highly doubted they'd be staying there for long. Hendrik and his posse weren't the type to give up easily, if at all. They'd have to hotfoot it out of the kingdom soon if they wanted any sort of peace. Well, they'd end up on the Emerald Coast anyway, maybe Erik could finagle their way onto a ship or something. Eh, he could figure it out once they got there. They had to get through the Manglegrove first before any of that would even matter and that was going to be quite the task. Erik was not looking forward to it, but needs must.

Derk wished them well, and asked no questions about Eleven. Smart man. Not that Erik thought that Derk would make anything of it, not now at least, but sometimes it was just better to not know. As long as the powers that be in Heliodor were acting completely bonkers over the Luminary being the Darkspawn, it just wasn't safe to know anything about Eleven's situation. Which meant it was time to skedaddle for good. Cobblestone by way of the Manglegrove ought to be quite the trip.

[the-everlasting-dream]

The Revelation AU  - Drake x MC, Part 2

Summary: After a shocking confession, Elizabeth comes to terms with her resulting situation. 

A/N: I wish I could tell you that the hurting stops and it gets better but it really doesn’t I’m not even going to pretend. 

Based on this post with permission from OP.

Part 1

Elizabeth felt the sound of the slamming parlour door resounding in her very soul. Still in shock at what had just happened, she slumped against the corridor wall, her strength seemed to fail her as the weight of what had just happened hit her with colossal force. She had just lost the man she loved. 

 Drake. 

 Her Drake. 

  He didn’t have to say it out loud for her to connect the dots. 

 Elizabeth had caught Penelope's earlier question, Kiara’s astonishment, looking somewhat akin to a deer caught in headlights but she brushed it off in ignorance, putting it down to the crush the other girl had on her fiancé in the early stages of Liam’s engagement tour. She'd heard the clink of glass as Drake moved to fill his non-so-empty tumbler of whiskey as Kiara declined the question.

Perhaps it was the alcohol flowing in her system, taking its effect or a her own blissful ignorance that had lead her to ask her question in innocence, unknowingly bringing about the end of the relationship as she knew it. 

 She watched his eyes slide over to Kiara’s, exchanging what she thought was a puzzled look. For a moment Elizabeth had considered dropping the subject because surely this was all a coincidence. A random assortment of facts that appeared to have some connection when laid out in a particular order. 

Right?

 She had been teetering on the brink of the decision when she heard it. 

His nervous cough. 

She’d learnt his tell months ago, that cough that only occurred when he was lying or hiding something. He’d do it subtly during conversations with members of the court before executing a perfectly sound lie to their probing questions but she had never ever imagined she’d hear it directed at her. 

And in that moment she knew. 

The realisation required a few moments before it permeated into her brain during which her irrational mind seemed to insist, He’s my fiancé, he’d never do something like this, he loves me. No stop stop! Its not like that, a part of her insisted. Surely there’s logical explanation for it, she chastised herself but as the silence expanded, she couldn’t ignore the little voice inside her that whispered back. 

‘What if that is the logical explanation?’ 

 Elizabeth gave him a chance to deny the accusation with his signature scoff and a shake of his unruly hair, to put her obviously overactive imagination at ease, reassuring her 'You’re the only one for me Richmond’ as he’d done on occasions before.   

Instead betrayal, guilt and regret were etched on every fibre of his irises as they flitted around the room, taking interest in every other element except her but even so some part of her still held out, refusing to believe that the man she loved could have inflicted so much pain.  His blatant denial, a feeble attempt to be a balm to her suspicion had the opposite effect and every word of his admission was like another whip of the lash, drawing fresh wounds upon the open plane of her soul. 

As Drake sat opposite her, tears gushing down both their faces, Elizabeth wanted so badly to wrap herself up in his safe and familiar scent, to seek comfort in the contours of his embrace, to take solace in the blissful lie that everything would be okay in the end but she remained paralysed unable to move or speak. 

When her vocal chords finally decided to function, the voice they created was completely alien to her and it was as if she had risen up out of her body and was watching the scene from bleachers above. Her expressionless face made a firm barrier to the turmoil and unrest hiding underneath as she numbly removed heirloom ring, his grandmother’s ring encircling her finger, ignoring how every nanometre of skin seemed to shriek as the warm metal passed over it. His desperate pleads did little to persuade her otherwise and in a deafening sense finality, the ring was left on the table between them and with it, her entire future.  

Concerned faces drifted into her field of vision now, hovering over her rumpled form, they seemed to be calling her name, asking if she was alright.   

Couldn’t they tell that she just wanted to be left here, to become one with the concrete beneath her feet and never feel again? 

‘I’m fine,’ Elizabeth barked, ignoring Liam’s outstretched hand as she pushed herself to her feet. 

The absence of a weight on her left hand where the fourth finger met her knuckle almost threw her off balance and she whipped a hand against the wall to support herself. She didn’t trust herself to retain composure much longer so it was imperative that she said her piece. Her tongue felt flat and heavy in her mouth as she forced the words out. 

'Maxwell, have Bertrand call off the engagement and the wedding.'

Maxwell’s big eyes grew even bigger with shock written clearly across his face. 'But Elizabeth -' 

'I’m not asking as a friend Maxwell, I’m telling you as a Duchess.' The venom in her voice caused him to recoil as if she’d struck him. 

A flicker of remorse sparked. Maxwell didn’t deserve that. 

She made to apologise but stopped herself and in the interest of maintaining some dignity Elizabeth turned her back on their astonished faces, rushing blindly down the corridors, desperately hoping to make it to her room without any further interaction before the dam of emotion inside her broke. 

Luck, however, was not on her side this night as the dark haired diplomat stood hesitantly in her path.

‘E-Elizabeth I just wanted to say I’m sorry,’ Kiara began warily. ‘I never intended it to go that far. I-‘

‘Save your excuses for someone who actually cares,’ she spat back, brushing past her roughly. 

Kiara caught her arm as she did. ‘Wait! No… Elizabeth stop. I know you probably hate me right now but we should talk about this!’ 

Anger flared in Elizabeth as she wrenched herself from the other woman’s grip. 'Talk about what Kiara? I have nothing to say to you. You’ve ruined my relationship, doesn’t that say enough?’ 

Not bothering to wait for an answer, she pressed onward. By some miracle the hallways were empty and soon enough she was pushing the door to her suite open, her hands shaking as they clasped around the knob, barely able to turn the lock behind her before her body failed her and she hit the floor hard, the force on her kneecaps barely holding a candle to the agony inside her. A great well of despair swelled up from somewhere deep inside her, threatening to consume her mind with its devastating effects, translating into an intense physical pain that seared through her body. Words could not describe how it seemed to slide under her skin, scraping up her spine and under her scalp, perpetuating itself almost perfectly in the ugly, violent sobs that rocked her person. 

Ignoring the insistent pounding on the door, Elizabeth dragged herself to the window seat looking out into the dark night, desperate to put more distance between herself and their pleas to just let us in, let us help you. She almost wished she’d never pursued the matter. Never asked that goddamn question. 

Oh why couldn’t she have just dropped it? 

Then they would have been able to continue on with their lives, the tour and this weddi- A little voice of reason rose up from through the storm inside her, purposefully putting a stop to that train of thought. As much as it hurt her to admit it, deep down she knew it would have only been worse for her in the long run, to find out later. At least now she had put a stop to it before either of them did anything they would later regret. 

But had she really though? Put a stop to it? 

She could find no indication that Drake’s confession wouldn’t continue to haunt her every time thoughts of him or Kiara wandering into her mind. How could she think of anything else the next time she saw their faces? Thinking of how she got to see him in such an intimate way long before she ever did. 

 What if he had been comparing her to Kiara? 

For one horrible moment, her mind grappled with the thought before it became too much to bear and she forcibly shoved it out of her brain. In the moment that followed, Elizabeth had fantasised quite vividly about running her nails down the clear skin of Kiara’s face, tearing at her perfectly styled hair, to pound her fists into her flawless figure, just so the other woman could know a tiny fraction of the pain that had resulted from this whole mess. Elizabeth knew that she lacked every ability to hold a grudge but the urge faded away more slowly this time. This was the ultimate act of betrayal. This was-

The pure rage that raced through Elizabeth was abruptly interrupted by the sound of her bedroom door slamming open and a livid figure stood menacingly on the threshold, her features arranged in a glare. 

'M-Madeline? How did yo-' 

'Oh please do you really think a locked door can stop me,’ her press secretary scoffed, looking offended as she executed a perfect eye roll. ’Now explain yourself. What is this crap I hear about you wanting to call off the engagement?’ 

Elizabeth never heard Madeline swear before and under other circumstances, she would have considered it a personal victory to have elicited such a response from the usually composed countess. 

‘There’s nothing more to it,’ she replied hollowly instead. ‘The wedding is off.’

Madeline’s eyes blazed. ‘No it is not. You’re just being a selfish child. Liam is taking a massive gamble with your stupid proposal and for reasons I can’t quite understand, it is actually doing some good for Cordonia so you’d better put your pathetic little feelings behind you and stop acting like a little b-'

'Remember that you’ve been working for me Madeleine,’ Elizabeth’s voice took on the same cutting tone she’d used with Maxwell earlier as she pulled herself to her full height a few inches taller than her counterpart. 'And if you still want that role in my duchy, I advise that you stop telling me how I should be acting.'

Her companion was silent, the conflict rolling off her in waves. Sensing that the countess was about to speak, Elizabeth beat her to it, unable to stop her voice from cracking at the end.

'Madeline you probably enjoying this but I beg you, for once in your life, please just leave me alone in peace to grieve the relationship I’ve lost.' 

What followed was a brief stalemate as the two women eyed each other defiantly before Madeline conceded first, nodding her head once before turning on her heel and exiting the room, the door closing behind her with a pronounced click. 

 Elizabeth remained speechless, rooted to the spot, unable to fully comprehend what had just occurred.  She was only broken out of her trance by a terrifying clap of thunder as the foreboding clouds finally gave way to the torrents of rain. Ignoring every word caution she’d received from her grandmother as a child to not go near any windows during a storm, she settled herself on the window seat again. Lightning lit up the sky in wonderful bursts and she was almost grateful for the luminosity imprinting itself on her retinas, an effective distraction from her own personal tempest inside. No more tears flowed now, she was too dehydrated for that but the rain seemed to fulfill this task for her, beating down in merciless sheets against the walls of the manor. She watched the storm rage on outside while inside she grew more and more numb.

It must have been hours when a gentle knock on her door caused Elizabeth to raise her head slightly from where it had rested against the window in a fitful slumber. The first rays of sunlight had not yet emerged behind the horizon and in the delirious, fleeting moment between sleep and full wakefulness, she hoped it was him. But that thought disappeared almost as quickly as it came, as the events of the day before reappeared in her mind, bringing with them a fresh round of heartache. 

‘Its open,’ she croaked in a voice of broken glass, throat run raw from the abuse of constant sobbing. 

 His shoulders were too narrow, his actions to refined to be the person she wanted to see most as he entered quietly 

‘Liam,’ she greeted him weakly, attempting to stand up but her limbs, stiff from being clasped in the same position for so long, refused to hold her up and the impact of the floor on her body was more forceful this time. 

At once his arms were encircled her, a welcome warmth to the vivid chill that had seeped through the thin material her previous night’s dress. The action itself was meant to inspire comfort, reassurance that it was okay but somehow his embrace didn’t feel right, his arms weren’t the ones she wanted to be wrapped in. 

Leaning into his warm chest, Elizabeth wondered what life could have been like if she had accepted his proposal of marriage. As his queen, she would have had a stable future ahead of her and the security that came with it. That fantasy seemed so much more appealing than her current pitiful one but it would be-

She roughly yanked her mind from pursuing that train of thought. 

It would be unspeakably cruel in her moment of weakness to give him hope where there was none. She couldn’t do that to him - Liam deserved more than just a rebound, he deserved someone who could love him as a king not a consolation prize. She loved him but he would never be able to fill the gaping crater in her soul in the way that she craved. 

'I’m sorry Liam… I am so sorry,’ she murmured into his shirt, feeling astonishment ripple through his body and the hand that had been stroking her tangled hair paused. 

‘You have nothing to be sorry for, Elizabeth,’ he began to say. 

'All I’ve ever brought you is heartache,’ she gushed. ‘Ever since I stepped off that damn plane, I’ve made things worse for you and your people. I wasn’t good enough as a suitor and now as a duchess I’m even more inadequate coz the one event that had any hope of uniting your country has backfired.'

Confounded, Liam opened his mouth to speak but Elizabeth barrelled onward, the words spilling from her mouth in such a torrent, he saw no option but to let her run her course. 

‘If I had never come here, there would have never been a scandal at your coronation, you would have found the perfect wife, your engagement tour would have gone on without a single hitch. If it wasn’t for me, you would have your best friend back, your future as king would have been secure,  your country would not have been have been in such turmoil under the threat of their king getting sho-‘ 

‘Elizabeth,’ he interrupted, allowing some of his kingly authority to enter into his tone, achieving the response he had intended as she tipped her head up to look at him in surprise. ‘None of that is your fault. You can’t possibly blame the entire misfortunes that have occurred in the last year on yourself. There is no way of knowing that all that would have happened if you were here or not and there is no point now in spending anymore energy this. For all we know, I could have ended up in exactly the same place and it would have been neither your fault or mine.’ 

His words appealed to the more logical portion of her brain and after the words sunk, her breathing evened out and she felt as though she was seeing clearly for the first time in a long time. 

‘Now are we good?’ He asked, pulling away so he could look her in the eyes. 

‘We’re good.’ Elizabeth chuckled slightly at his colloquial choice of wording before her eyes widened. ‘So what does this mean for Cordonia…? Calling off the wedding I mean?’ 

As each word left her mouth, it added to the dread and anxiety that has accumulated in her stomach since the night before. Liam dropped his hands from her shoulders, his face growing sombre as he turned away from her, the light from the morning sun highlighting the strands of gold on his head. He opened his mouth to answer her but thought better of it and instead released a weary sigh sinking down into the desk chair. He ran a hand over his face, worry etched in his figure and was quiet for a moment before delivering his answer in a grim voice. 

‘I hadn’t put much thought into it but I guess once we announce it publicly today the news will be official. We’ll have to call ahead to the other duchies and counties informing them that we will not be visiting them. The Cordonian press would definitely want to talk to us, in fact I think they’ll have a field day with the news. Once they get their scoop, you should expect to be on the front of all the tabloids for a month at least because the public will be disappointed that their favourite new duchess won’t be having a big white wedding. In terms of international matters and where we are with catching the perpetrators from the night of the Homecoming ball…’ 

Liam paused for a moment seeming to use the time to organise his next words. ‘I’m sure Bastien had been counting on having more time to find them while the press were focused on the tour but I’ll have to tell him to speed up the investigation. The needs of the people haven’t changed. They need to see that I and the monarchy are standing strong and able to protect them. That has and always will be my first priority. I guess now we’ll have less time to convince them of that…’ he trailed off despondently, his shoulders drooping as if the weight of the world had suddenly been thrust on them. 

Liam’s words only made consequences of her decision feel more real as he highlighted exactly how it would affect a great number of people outside of herself.  It only took a moment for her to make up her mind. 

‘I’ll do it.’ Elizabeth burst out abruptly. ‘I’ll marry him. 

Disbelief was stark on Liam's face as he snapped his head up to look at her. 

‘What?’ 

She swallowed hard before continuing on. ‘I’ll marry him Liam. Look, I don’t need Madeline to lecture me on how important this wedding is to you and Cordonia. Although I’m not from here, I am still a Duchess and my duty is to my people so if this is what it takes so be it.' 

'But what about-‘ Liam began to interrupt her. 

 She held a hand up, gesturing for him to let her speak. ‘Don’t worry about Drake and I… We’ll-‘ 

What exactly would they do? 

Elizabeth had seen the bud of hope in Liam’s face before it was overrun by hesitation and she took comfort in that as she continued. 

‘We’ll figure something out. After all the things you’ve done for him and I, this is the least we can do for you.’ 

 Using all of her courtly training, she schooled her features into a convincing smile as she watched him rise to his feet, his blue gaze fixing intently on her. 

‘Are you sure? Because I’m not going to pretend that this wouldn’t be extremely convenient for me especially given the odds we’re up against but are you absolutely sure you want to do this Elizabeth? 

‘This is about more than just me. So yes I am Liam.’ 

‘Alright then,’ he replied, heading over to the door. ‘I’ll make the necessary arrangements then.’ Hand on the doorknob, he paused, throwing her one last questioning look. 

‘I’m sure about this Liam,’ Elizabeth repeated to which he gave her a small smile before closing the door behind him, leaving her alone to come to terms with the weight of her impending decision hanging over her head.  

FIN

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Do you think I should make a part 3 or would it be better to leave it as it is?

I must credit the fantastic @chantelle-x0x​ for inspiring some of the lines in MC exchanges with Maxwell and Madeline, pure genius!

Tags: @chantelle-x0x @choicessa @topsyturvy-dream @lovemyrestingplacethings @xxrainbowprincessxx @american-duchess @limacity-girl @withice @sir-wigglesworth @boneandfur @ayo-minty-jess @ninamckenzie22 @drakelover78 @h3llostrang3r @cocomaxley @zarina-x-zig @kamybelen-blog @nicestrokepam @pbchoicesobsessed @bizzyschoices @lizeboredom @kellyale1804

Part 3

[realexotrash]

Cabin // pt. 6

(Picture does not belong to me // credit to its owner)

Genre: Fluff, Smut (nothing really happens in this chapter besides teasing so...), teasing Baekhyun

Warning: Cursing, smutty stuff, ya know the usual.

Authors note: Hey so uh... I’m not dead. I’m sorry I know last chapter I was like “yeah I’m gonna update more and put out stuff more frequently” and what not but... haha that didn’t really happen. I’ve gotten some messages and anons and some of y’all are heated and I’m sorry. I will try to write more and put out more chapters that aren’t like a month apart. You guys just gotta remember that I want to write and update but I have school and that is my main priority, which is why I try to reblog a lot of stuff for you all to look at while I’m away. Okay anyways, enjoy this chapter, it was requested by a lovely Baekhyun stan and I loved the idea so thank you to the person who gave me the idea you know who you are <3. ANYWAY here’s Cabin pt. 6

Not my best work, but it’s the best that I can do ❤

Pt: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

“I love you too.”

You wake up at about 9pm. The cold crisp air fills your senses and you realize you’re freezing. Looking down under the covers you’re still fully naked, and looking right next to you at a sleeping Baekhyun, so is he.

You shift closer to him, wrapping your arms around his waist as his heat radiates off of his body; this boy is literally a walking heater. You feel him stir and his arms wrap around you, pulling you closer to him.

You kiss his chest. “Baek,” you peck his chest again, “It’s already 9.”

He gives a disapproving grunt, “But you’re warm.” 

“Yeah but I’m hungry.” You giggle, reaching your hand up to brush the hair out of his face. 

As soon as you mention food he’s smiling down at you, “Me too, and your mom bought stuff for tacos.” 

“A taco sounds really heckin good right now.” 

Baekhyun starts getting out of bed, just now realizing you’re both bare. Looking back at you he smirks, probably remembering the event just a few hours ago that now has you sore.

He reaches into his suitcase that’s placed right next to the bed and takes out two oversized black t-shirts and two pairs of his boxers, handing one of each to you. You quickly slip them on and sit up. “How do those feel?”

You hug yourself, “comfy.” Earning a chuckle from Baekhyun.

He stands up and makes his way around the bed till he’s at your side, “I’m gonna go start making the tacos,” giving your forehead a kiss. “Come out when you’re ready.” 

As Baekhyun leaves you try to stand up, only to sit back down. Wow are you sore, like sore doesn’t even begin to explain it. You try again, trying as hard as you can to attempt to even look like you’re walking normal just to get to the bathroom. “Jesus it looks like you’re doing a friken crab dance y/n” you whisper to yourself quickly going in and out of the bathroom.

You wobble into the kitchen like a lamb that just took its first steps. Baekhyun catches a glimpse and tries not to laugh, “sore?” he says while literally giggling to himself as he chops lettuce.

You sit at the kitchen island, “maybe...” and start to laugh at how ridiculous you must’ve just looked. Baekhyun starts laughing too, “Hey!!! Don’t laugh at my crab dance!!!” Your comment has him clapping with a spatula in his hand, slowly bending to the ground from laughter.

Baekhyun gets up and sees your fake pout, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He makes his way to you, “Is there anything I can do?” He caresses your cheek with his thumb.

“All I need are some good tacos.” You smile, showing him you’re okay.

He chuckles, “There’s also some Aspirin in the bathroom, let me go get it.”

It’s about 10pm now, you and Baek are both lying on the couch, silently watching some weird movie Baekhyun randomly clicked on. You couldn’t really make out what the full plot was since you started watching it about 45 minutes in, yet somehow you both were so into it. 

The girl on the screen decided to have a heavy make out with one of the blonde dudes and you just hear Baekhyun gasp next to you.

“That's not her boyfriend! Her boyfriend is the other guy with the green shirt!!” Baekhyun shovels a handful of kettle corn into his mouth and continues talking “She’s dead, I’m telling you, that girl is going to die next. And rightfully so.” You literally can’t help but to laugh silently as literal tears formed at the corners of your eyes because of how absolutely serious Baekhyun is.

Further into the movie, one of the red headed girls decided to “resist” her lust for her best friend’s brother and go with her actual boyfriend (the one who her best friend made out with). 

“Wow she’s got some will power. You couldn’t resist me like that.” Baekhyun says, staring intently at the screen.

You look at him, “says who? If I recall, you’ve been the one all over me for the past couple days, Mr. Irresistible.” 

He shifts to face you, “If we were put in that situation there’s no way I would crack first.” 

You give a sarcastic laugh. “Oh yes you would, I would win like it’s nothing.”

He crosses his arms. “Fine. You wanna make a bet? No sex till... Friday when everyone gets back.”

“And what do I get if I win?” You’re already plotting your victory.

“hmmmm... Loser has to be the other’s slave for an entire week.” 

You think about it for a second. Baekhyun’s slave for an entire week, It does sound intriguing. But then again, Baekhyun as your slave sounds even better. Besides, he’ll probably make you watch The Fast and Furious or something as punishment.

You go for a handshake, “Deal.”

He playfully smacks your hand, “But, teasing is okay. Just no sex. Period. Clean slate. No sex. No frick frack in the tick tack. No doin the nasty. Zero of the sexual intercourse. No...” 

“Alright Baek I get it.” You giggle, “I wish you the best of luck this week.”

“As with you. May the best man win.”  You two exchange a firm handshake and continue to watch you movie. Baekhyun can be the biggest tease in the world, you’ve learned that he knows just how to push your buttons all while looking innocent, but now it’s your turn.

You wake up before Baekhyun. The morning sun highlights his features as you stare up at him, “This is going to be a really fucking hard.” you silently tell yourself. Before you let your thoughts take over you, you shimmy out of Baek’s grasp and head to the bathroom. You begin to get ready, if you’re going to win, you have to look as hot as possible. 

With curled hair, some light makeup, and only panties along with one of Baek’s dress shirts you managed to sneak out of his luggage, you start to cook up some breakfast. 

A sleepy and messy-haired Baekhyun emerges from the bedroom after about ten minutes and wraps his arms around you, hugging you from behind. 

“Good morning” His morning voice fills your ears as he kisses your neck.

“Hungry?” You flip the pancakes once more and put them on two separate plates along with some turkey bacon and toast.

When you turn around, Baekhyun looks at you with a heavy gaze. “You look good in my shirt.” He licks his lips.

“I hope you don’t mind I didn’t have any...uh... clean clothes.” Holy shit. You’re kind of terrible at this.

He laughs at your awkwardness and takes the plate with a small thank you for making breakfast. 

This is gonna be harder than you thought.

Its been a whole morning of you prancing around in your underwear, and Baekhyun hasn’t even taken a second look at you. You even cheesily dropped something ‘by accident’ in front of him and picked it up, ass for him to see. And yet still nothing.

When you’re finally about to go change into some pants because your legs are actually freezing, you see Baekhyun go to sit on the couch. This is your moment.

Walking till you’re standing in front of him, you move the remote control off his lap and take a seat, watching how he tenses at the sudden contact.

“Baek I’m bored.” You pout and place your hands on his chest, tracing his pecks with your fingertips. 

“Well what would you...” You shift your hips only an inch, but his breath hitches in his throat. “like to do?”

You smirk, “I don't know. Is anything you would like to do?” You kiss his cheek, and then his jaw, and then right below his ear. You could feel his chest raise and fall beneath your hands.

Suddenly something clicked in his head, “I see what you’re doing, and it’s not going to work.”

You put on your most innocent face, “What do you mean?”

His hands find themselves on your thighs, making you tense a little. “You’re not going to win sweetheart.” He makes sure to kiss your collarbone amidst his sentence, his thumbs rubbing circles into your thighs.

Shit. His hands start to linger around your inner thighs, his pointer finger knuckle just so ‘accidentally’ brushing your clit through your underwear. Your breath is in your throat as you try to fight the urge to just sit on his cock right now. 

“What’s the matter baby? Am I making you frustrated?” He smirks and does it again, this time a whimper escapes your lips. “That’s what I thought.” 

Before you lose yourself in desire you shift off his lap onto the couch next to him. You reach over his lap to grab the remote, pressing your palm flat against him till you reach the device, you can see his fist clench. “Oh sorry,” you press your hand down against him as you bring your hand back toward yourself, “just needed to grab the remote.”

About an hour and some comfy pants later, you and Baekhyun are on your way to the grocery store. You both had decided that fried rice and steak sounded like the best possible dinner you could have, but you didn’t have any of the ingredients. 

Baekhyun’s right hand lays comfortably on your knee while his left drives. You sit on the passengers side and basically just stare at him, he looks so good. His dark hair is a fluffy mess, his lips and cheeks stained pink from the cold front that had moved in early this morning, and the black sweater he was wearing accentuated his broad shoulders, making his arms look extra good.

He must of noticed you staring because he giggled (fuck did I mention his smile, wow) and whispered “Mr. Irresistible.” Making you blush and look forward towards the road ahead of you.

The shopping trip was successful. You went in and out with everything you needed... and maybe a couple different snacks that just looked way too good to pass up. 

The entire time you were in the store, Baekhyun was being particularly touchy; Pressing up against you while looking for pop tarts surely caught you a little off guard. It wasn’t until you got back to the car Baekhyun went full tease mode. The hand that found itself on your knee while driving traveled upwards, your legs instinctively opening when his fingers reached your center. You held onto the door handle for dear life when his hand made its what beneath the hem of your sweatpants, avoiding dipping into your panties.

“Wh... wh... what are you doing?” 

His fingers didn’t move, they just cupped your clothed core. “What? We said no fucking. And this isn’t that now is it?” A devilish smirk came upon his lips as he could feel just how wet you were getting from his touch.

Before you knew it he pulled the car onto the side of the road, and then you were being lifted onto his lap. 

His lips danced along the expanse of your neck, his cock hard beneath his sweats, roughly pressing into your open legs. You moan as his hands find their way to your ass.

“Baekhyun.”

You could feel the smirk on his face as he looks up at you, “Yes princess?”

You press your lips together to stop you from saying what you really want.

Baekhyun’s hands find their way back into your pants and start to rub your clit in circles through your panties. Gasping you shut your eyes.

“Come on y/n. Give in.”

Authors Note: Thank you for reading! If you have any requests or suggestions for later chapters, feel free to message me or leave them in my ask box. 

I tried to make this chapter a little longer for those who were requesting I do so, let me know what you think and stay cool my brotein shakes B)

[yeolkisses]

All the evens

Wkbpwbjpe Maddy you’re trying to kill me I swear (but thank you this kept me busy lol and it was fun to do)

2 - do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day?

Yessss I love it. Cold air is a blessing.

4 - how do you take your coffee/tea?

For coffee, I put a ton of creamer in. Tea is just a no for me.

6- do you keep plants?

Yes! A bonsai, a couple cacti, and an aloe vera.

8 - what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings?

Does writing count??? I’m not very artistic 😅 but I consider myself a decent writer and poet. I feel like words are the easiest way to explain yourself so others can understand you better. It’s specific. Painting and drawing, etc. are also good too of course, I’m just not any good at them 😂 and I feel like they’re a bit more questionable. They have different meanings to people. But that’s what allows people to connect over them; seeing different viewpoints of the same thing. It kind of shows what type of person you are.

10 - do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach?

My side or my back. I can’t do stomach 😂 it’s just too uncomfortable for me.

12 - what’s your favorite planet?

Hm. I don’t really know. I guess Neptune or Uranus??? They’re pretty.

14 - if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like?

TBH I don’t even know who my best friend is anymore lately Well it would probably be a bit of a mess 😂 but messy in an organized way??? We’re pretty tidy people, at least when it comes to our rooms, but we (or I, at least) am still a little bit cluttery. I think it would look nice. Not necessarily modern, but just kind of homely.

16 - what’s your favorite pasta dish?

Spaghetti & meatballs OR chicken alfredo. Probably spaghetti and meatballs though.

18 - tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up.

God they just brought it up today. I swear I’m not as stupid as they make me seem though!!!!! So one time at lunch (like YEARS ago) they were talking about sports and I wasn’t really paying attention (because I’m not a sports person) and they asked me something and I think I said, “I’m not into baseball.” And of course with my luck they were talking about football. So :)))) There are always exaggerations about how I must think a homerun is in basketball, etc.

20 - what’s your favorite eye color?

I mean…it doesn’t really matter to me?? I don’t like thinking about eyes which you already know, so I’ve never really considered a favorite eye color. But I hateeeee the colored contacts people wear, especially when they wear two different colors (one of my friend’s ex-boyfriends used to wear one silver and one bright green one and it was hideous). Anyway, if I had to choose a color, I guess I’d say brown. It’s under-appreciated sometimes 🙂

22 - are you a morning person?

It fluctuates. Sometimes I am, sometimes I’m not. Especially if the reason I’m waking up is to go to something I don’t want to do, then I am NOT a morning person at all.

24 - is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets?

Honestly, probably not. I just really don’t trust people to keep their lips zipped or to not judge me.

26 - what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit?

My oldest pair of shoes rn are probably the ones I’m wearing (or at least they look the oldest since I wear them pretty much daily). They’re black and white cheetah print converse, with cheetah eyes on the side. They’re super comfortable.

28 - sunrise or sunset?

Both are nice, but I like sunsets better. It’s the end of the day, time to rest, and it just looks cooler imo. More fiery.

30 - think of it: have you ever been truly scared?

In all honesty, I don’t think so. I get scared easily, but I wouldn’t say I’ve been truly terrified.

32 - tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends.

Already done~

34 - tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it?

Done~

36 - which band’s sound would fit your mood right now?

Oof I don’t know. American Authors maybe? I feel really happy and free rn.

38 - tell us about your pet peeves!

Oh boy. I could go on and on. One: the sound of people chewing. It’s awful but you can’t tell them it’s annoying because that’s rude but it makes me. Want. To. Hit. Someone. It is SO irritating. Another thing: my brother doesn’t flush the toilet :)))) and that drives me insane. Another one: people who spit on you when they talk. People in band who, rather than not playing on the parts they don’t know and working on them later, just play whatever they want and mess everyone up. People who don’t put things back where they found them. People who nitpick every little thing about something that someone else did. I could just keep going on.

40 - think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you?

I’m just gonna choose the ring I wear all the time. I got it at the fair, it was only $12 😂 it doesn’t really hold much meaning, I just like having it so I can fidget with it when I’m nervous or something.

42 - do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it!

I actually haven’t gotten to experience any coffee shops :/ just Starbucks lol. But once I’m on my own I think I’ll check more places out.

44 - when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything?

I honestly don’t know. It’s been some time.

46 - tell us the worst pun you can think of.

I’m not good with punssss! I don’t know. I can’t think of anything.

48 - what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today?

Hm I was afraid of a lot of things and I still am. I’d say pretty much the same things, more or less. Things that aren’t even closely real, things that my mind just comes up with. And now I’m actually scared of more things, I think. Realistic situations and whatnot.

50 - what’s an odd thing you collect?

I collect rocks, but I think that’s pretty normal, right?? I also collect piggy banks and hedgehog knick knacks.

52 - what are your favorite memes of the year so far?

God I don’t even know. I guess maybe the spongebob ones, the Patrick ones.

54 - who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face?

Oh wow. Hm. I really don’t know. I really, truly, do not know.

56 - what are some things you find endearing in people?

Hmm…it differs from person to person I suppose. But I guess, like…the way people smile, the different ways people laugh when they’re truly laughing (even if they find it obnoxious it’s a part of them and it’s just kinda cute and funny), when a person who doesn’t usually dress up dresses up all fancy and gets all shy about it. I don’t know. Just little things I guess.

58 - who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why?

Oof I don’t really know. I think Morgan would be the vodka aunt. But wine mom…I don’t know.

60 - do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?

Yessss I do. Hm, favorites…it depends on the mood I’m in, I suppose. When I was little though I really liked Shel Silverstein’s poems.

62 - do you drink juice in the morning? which kind?

Nopeeee I don’t really like juice 😕

64 - what color is the sky where you are right now?

Kind of a soft baby blue? Idk but it’s quite nice.

66 - what would your ideal flower crown look like?

Baby blue eyes and daisies, I think. Just blue flowers in general would be good enough for me 👍

68 - what’s winter like where you live?

Not cold enough!!!!!!!! Although this year it snowed more than I expected it to. Still, it’s not very cold and we don’t get much rain 😕

70 - have you ever used a ouija board?

No, and despite my belief that it’s absolute bull crap, I would never use one because I’m a wuss.

72 - are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it?

It depends, some things I remember and some things I don’t.

74 - describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.

Oof well I’ve pretty much mentioned all my IRL friends and they’re kinda predictable 😂 so I’ll choose an Internet friend. They’re extremely sweet, and do so, so much for other people, even when they’re already so busy with their own life. They’re always caring and genuine, and put others before themselves (even though I wish they wouldn’t sometimes). They’re super patient, which is good because sometimes I can be a bit slow 😂 and just so, so amazing and beautiful and talented and hardworking and they deserve to go far. I hope they’ll keep holding on strong and keep on fighting. And I hope they truly know how much I admire them. (Damn I kinda described all of my internet friends there?????? I had a specific one in mind though I swear)

76 - is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t?

Yes 😂 homework

78 - are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub?

I’m on the fence actually 😕 it’s not like I hate them with a burning passion or anything but I think they’re kinda milking it for all it’s worth at this point, which usually happens with movies.

80 - what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why?

3 white walls and a light bluish tealish wall (with a border of music notes in silver paint on the teal wall). I got to redecorate my room a couple years ago for my birthday and I love the color blue but I didn’t want something that would darken the room (although I keep my curtains mostly closed lol). The music notes were from a piece I played that year in the school band, it was my favorite.

82 - are/were you good in school?

I’m a procrastinator but I do get good grades 😁 I’ve never had an -A or lower. And I’m kind of a teacher’s pet 😂

84 - are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones?

Definitely not. I don’t see the point in basically paying someone to stab you with a needle over and over again. If I did get one, I think it would be a clef heart or 아리엘.

86 - do you like concept albums? which ones?

I can’t really think of any specific ones (???? maybe I’m just being dumb ????) but I do like the idea of them.

88 - are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy?

Ehhh, I’m not exactly an art buff, so idk what to say. I think that as long as it carries emotion and makes the viewer feel something or think of something, then it must be pretty good. The style doesn’t define what story it tells, it just helps set the mood.

90 - talk about your one of you favorite cities.

I haven’t really traveled so I’m gonna have to skip this 😶

92 - are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch?

Honestly I prefer just butter on my pasta but if I’m putting on cheese then I’m going all the way.

94 - who was the last person you know to have a birthday?

Well I mean idk if it counts since I know her online so I’ll go with the closest one that I know irl. My aunt just had her birthday, it was a couple days ago.

96 - do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot?

I usually procrastinate them 😅 because it always asks me when I’m in the middle of doing something and I don’t wanna stop what I’m doing.

98 - when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?

I don’t remember…but probably not 😂

100 - if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?

The past. I’d like to do some things differently. Be a better person. Make myself become a better person and have better habits. The future can still be changed but my past is set in stone. Although, if I go 5 years back, I might not end up on this site, so overall I’d rather just stay in the present 😂