#he accepted it happily and i came up with the document a week after

[sanguineshade]

Just saw a BDSM educational post and it reminded me of how I had to bring up the topic to my mother the last time I was complaining about my ex.

Basically, what happened was, I have no good things to say about my ex. She's asked a couple times over the course of these months "what I learned from this relationship" (which was my first) and my only response was "I learned I deserved better and that I need to look for someone who will care for me how I care for them".

On our last talk, she proceeded to reply that this was "too narrowing", to which I gently explained it was not, and all the ways I cared for my ex that he didn't return even when I desperately, verbally asked. I ended this by concluding it was a matter of emotional maturity (not saying he wasn't mature, just that we were at different points, with different needs, and he could not meet mine), and that in hindsight, I should've not started that kind of relationship with him, since he never even filled out his document.

And then I had to explain the Document.

You see, I put it shortly to her, I made a document detailing the kind of things I was interested in, sexually. I described what places I felt I'd like to be touched, the things I'd like to do, the things I was open to try and the ones I would decline. I made it readable, with separated topics, and had a blank version for my then-partner to simply fill out. I knew he didn't like to write much so I made it easy to check options, with minimal writing. I gave that to him, and he never filled it up.

She was flabbergasted that I'd do such an un-romantic thing, describing it as "detached" and "like work" and "who would want to sign a document before having a relationship, where did you get this idea from?"

I paused for a moment. "Do you know BDSM?" She did not. I explained what the acronym meant. She was not happy as she asked what that had to do with anything, and where I heard of such things. "Well," I started from the beginning. "You know about 50 Shades of Grey, right?"

I explained to her how, in the boom of the book's popularity, the most important aspect every critic brought up was how the story was, in fact, not displaying BDSM as it advertised, but instead abuse. I proceeded to relate how that got me to read about BDSM, and how consent and guidelines and communication were such an important part of it, how "scenes" need a lot of prep work and how people deeply care for each other.

There was nothing quite like the joy I felt as her expression mellowed, especially as I reminded her that it was my first relationship, and I came up with the document as a guideline, as a safety, as a way of communicating my needs and to hear back from my partner. "But he didn't fill it" she replied, now fully supportive of the document. "Why did you still date him?"

It cut a little deeper than I expected, even now, reminiscing of those words. "It was my first time," I remember shrugging, "and I trusted him."

That was the end of it. I'd love to have a happy ending to add, about how I moved on and found a wonderful person who filled their Document and I am now in a loving relationship with, but there's none of that. Maybe I'll never find anyone who'd do this for me. Maybe my level of maturity doesn't have a match, and my needs are too much for any partner to deal with. Honestly, the only thing I need as I'm typing this is a job, so I could have at least a semblance of financial security. I couldn't care less about intimate relationships right now.

But, all that said, I really wanna thank the BDSM community for all their teachings on consent, and trust, and on how to make things good for all parties involved. I could see the understanding in my mom's eyes with my (honestly probably mediocre) explanations. Of course she knew the difference between a relationship where you feel safe and one where you're just going with the flow, but I could tell she became aware of it while I was talking. I'm sure we both came out of that conversation with a little more knowledge in our minds.

[cosmicdahlias]

A Fatal Mistake

a ford x reader fic

MINORS DNI

Ford is being driven to the brink of insanity for betraying Bill, constantly possessed and harmed in every way possible. He’s been missing for days and you’re working to find him when he comes through the front door, looking incredibly worse for wear.

warnings: blood, injury, possession, oral, p in v, creampie, knives, death

i included one of my favorite astronomy facts! i loved astronomy in high school, it was actually one of the few classes i applied myself in. i was gonna give the ending my usual fluff treatment, but after reading the book of bill and seeing how dark things get in the lost journal pages i couldn’t help myself.

It had been days since you had seen your research partner, Ford. As of late disappearing for a day or two was commonplace for him, but it had been almost a week with no sign of him.

You never had any idea what he got himself up to when he took off like that. He’d come back with various injuries and when you tried to probe him for their source he always insisted he didn’t remember. Normally you’d think he was lying, but it genuinely seemed like he was telling the truth.

It killed you to see him like this. Not just because you cared for him as your research partner, but because you harbored deep feelings for him. You always had, ever since you met him all those years ago in college.

When he called you up asking for you to come work with him in a small town in Oregon, you happily agreed to it without a second thought. For the longest time it was just you and him, discovering and documenting the weirdness that inhabited Gravity Falls. There were so many times you wanted to tell him how you felt, but you were plagued with cold feet.

Years had passed when another brilliant mind joined the team after you’d both hit a roadblock in your studies. Ford had been struck with the idea, as if from nowhere, to build an inter-dimensional portal. You two were incredibly brilliant, but lacked the engineering skills to complete this monumental task on your own. Ford called up his old college roommate, Fiddleford McGucket, in Palo Alto. He eagerly accepted the offer, insisting Ford’s plans were “mathematically feasible!”

As much as you enjoyed Fiddleford’s company, any chance you’d had to confess your feelings to Ford fell by the wayside. Between diligent work and never being alone with him, you simply didn’t have the time.

After months of the three of you spending every waking moment on the portal, the time came to finally test it. Things went wrong, horribly wrong. The rope tied to the test dummy had wrapped around Fiddleford’s wrist, pulling him halfway through the portal. Ford’s and your quick thinking allowed you two to heave him back out. Ford tried to ask him what he had seen, but he rambled incomprehensible nonsense and said the machine would bring about the apocalypse. He quit on the spot.

What should have been a silver lining to have Ford to just yourself again did not turn out to be so. In the following days he became erratic, paranoid, overrun by sleep deprivation, constantly turning his head as if to sounds you could never hear. He was a shell of his former self, but you were determined to stick by him.

One morning he called you frantically, all you could make out was “Fiddleford was right”. He did not elaborate, insisting he had more to say to you in person. Alarmed by the obvious decline in his mental state, you raced over. He sat you down on his couch and explained everything.

He confessed that building the portal was not his idea, that he was instructed to do so by an otherworldly being by the name of Bill Cipher. He had trusted him, lured in by Bill stroking his admittedly massive ego, praising his high IQ, and promising him the secrets that would solve the mystery that was the weirdness of Gravity Falls. Bill said that the portal would be Ford’s magnum opus, a true conclusion to the answers he so desperately sought.

But it was all a lie. Bill needed the portal to link his dimension to yours so he could take over and establish a “Weirdmageddon”. A cataclysmic event that would turn all reason and logic on its head, it would spell the end to life and the universe as you knew it.

It was a lot to take in, but the look on Ford’s face told you that this was gravely serious. You took his word without question, vowing to put an end to Bill’s plans and destroy him at all costs. Within days the disappearances started to happen.

At first you wondered if these episodes were some kind bender, be it alcohol or drugs… or both. Perhaps a way to cope with the reality of being used as Bill’s pawn in a sick game of chess for the fate of the universe. But now you were certain there was something far more sinister at play.

It was a fairly common occurrence that you saw his eyes glow bright yellow, pupils catlike. His demeanor would shift and his voice would change in register, almost as if someone was speaking through him. During these instances it was like he became a different person, he was wild and unpredictable. He would say things to you either for shock value or in an overtly flirtatious manner just to see you turn red.

You had studied your fair share about demonic possession. With the way Ford had described previous moments where Bill had taken over, back when he still considered him his “Muse”, it was a no-brainer that Ford was once again being used by Bill. This time it was for his own sick enjoyment of making his former puppet suffer, a punishment for Ford’s betrayal.

You sat in the secluded cabin in the woods the two of you used to conduct research in, before things had become so tumultuous. Night had fallen and you were on the phone speaking to the GFPD.

“So you’re not going to send out someone to look for him until morning!? Why can’t you do it now? He hasn’t been seen in days! He could be-“

The front door swung open with an incredibly disheveled Ford standing in the doorway.

“FORD!” You shouted.

“Hello, hello?” The officer asked over the phone.

“He just walked in the door, sorry for all the trouble.” You said unceremoniously, slamming the phone.

“Where have you been? I was so worried!” You said.

Before Ford had a chance to respond he began to fall forward, you leapt to your feet and caught him before his face could make contact with the floor. You took his face in your hands and studied his eyes. They looked insanely bloodshot and exhausted, but thankfully normal.

“Ford, what the hell happened to you?”

“I- I don’t know.” He murmured faintly.

“Let me get you somewhere comfortable.”

You lifted him up, put your arm around his shoulders and led him back to his room, sitting him on the couch. You scanned him from head to toe. His white button-up shirt was torn with a long horizontal laceration across his chest, a ring of blood stained his shirt, it looked like he’d been attacked with a knife. You put a hand to his chest, he flinched.

“Oh, Ford. Who did this to you?”

“I can’t recall a thing. I remember nothing from the near week I was gone.”

“Regardless, I need to get you cleaned up. I’ll be right back.”

You headed to the bathroom where he kept a first aid kit in the medicine cabinet. You made your way back and sat next to him on the couch.

“This shirt’s gonna have to go.” You said, pulling scissors from the kit.

“I don’t think there’s any chance of salvaging it anyway.” He chuckled weakly.

You removed his tie and cut away at his shirt, sliding the remains off his arms and revealing his chest. With the shirt no longer obstructing your view you could see that the cut was deep, but thankfully not enough to require stitches. He had avoided a hospital trip… this time.

“You know, you’re probably gonna have to get a tetanus shot.” You said.

He laughed softly “I’ll take it over rabies shots, those are hell.”

You pulled out a small bottle of disinfectant and a cotton pad. He winced as you applied it to the gash.

“I’ll never get accustomed to this sensation.” He said through gritted teeth.

“I’d imagine obtaining the injury was far worse.”

“It’s a good thing I can’t remember it then.” He smiled sheepishly.

You unfurled a roll of gauze, pulling his back away from the couch and wrapping his chest.

“Ford, you have to tell me why you keep vanishing. I know you say you don’t remember, but I’m certain there’s more to it. I know it has something to do with Bill.”

He looked away, afraid to meet your gaze. You took his cheek in your hand, turning him to face you.

“Hey, I tell you everything, I know you can do the same for me.”

He put his hand over yours and took a deep breath. “I leave because I don’t want to put you in danger. On nights where I can no longer fight the exhaustion, Bill threatens me in my dreams- my nightmares. He wants to hurt you.”

“There has to be a way I can help keep him from taking over. Something, anything.”

“I wish I knew, but I… don’t. I feel like I’m slowly going insane, but at least if I’m away from you I can’t harm you.”

“I’m not letting you face this on your own, we’re a team and I’m not going anywhere. You scared me half to death over these last few days. I started to think I might’ve lost you. I’m not losing you again, not even for a second.”

“You don’t understand the violent things Bill wants me to do to you, to kill you.”

With stakes as high as they were you realized how foolish it was to keep secrets, even your feelings for him.

“No matter what happens, I’m staying. I love you, Ford.”

You leaned in and kissed him. When you pulled back he stared at you, blood rushing to his cheeks.

“You love me?” Ford he whispered.

“I have for over a decade.”

“I- I had no idea.”

“Well, you’re the smartest man I know, but you’re incredibly stupid when it comes to romance.” You laughed.

“Touché.” He smiled.

“Ford, I don’t know if you feel the same way, but I’ve wanted you for so lo-“

He cut you off by pulling you onto his lap and kissing you passionately.

“I love you too, stardust.”

Ah yes, the nickname he’d given you in college. You had told him a fact about how certain elements in human bodies only form from the death of a star. You told him “we are literally made of stardust” and the name stuck. He always said it in a way that came off platonically, but this time as it left his lips it was obvious the intent was vastly different.

He looked at you directly in the eyes, he hated eye contact so you knew you must’ve mattered to him a great deal.

“I’ve felt the same way for so long, I just never thought you did so I put my feelings aside, buried them deep. You have no idea how often my thoughts are occupied by you. There were so many times I would just watch you working, the way your brow furrows in concentration is adorable. I need you like a flower craves sunlight, like a fish to water.” He whispered.

You kissed him again, tangling your fingers in his hair. He lowered his mouth to your neck, kissing and sucking the skin. You ground yourself against him, eliciting a soft moan against your neck and causing him to grow achingly hard.

“God, I’ve wanted this since the day you came into my life.” He breathed.

You sunk to the floor in front of him and started undoing his belt. You unzipped his fly and pulled out his cock. Jesus christ, he was big. You stroked him a few times before taking him in your mouth.

“F- fuck, your mouth feels incredible.” He moaned.

You moved your head up and down his shaft, Ford whimpering far more than you had expected.

“Ah, hhhnh, don’t stop.” He whined.

He ran his fingers through your hair, moaning and softly bucking his hips into your mouth. He took great care to not move hard enough to make you gag. You picked up your pace, stroking him with your hand as you sucked.

“Nhhhh where did you learn to do something like that? You’re so good at this. Y- you’re gonna make me c- cum if you keep guh- going- ah- like that.” He stuttered.

You bobbed your head furiously on him. He tangled his fist in your hair and gently pulled your mouth off of him.

“N- no, stop. I need to feel myself inside you. Please?”

You nodded and he turned himself to lay back on the couch, you stood and slipped your panties off from under your skirt, dropping them to the floor. You got on top of him, straddling his hips and hovering over his cock. You lowered yourself to take his length inside you, now it was your turn to whimper as your pussy struggled to accommodate him.

“Dear moses, stardust, and I thought your mouth felt good. You’re heavenly. So warm and- mmh- tight.”

You slid him fully inside you, never feeling so filled by cock before in your life. He rested his hands on your hips and you began to move yourself on him. He threw his head back, already overwhelmed by the mere feeling of your pussy taking his cock.

He panted. “You can’t imagine the amount of times I’ve pictured something like this. How often you’ve distracted me from my work. The nights I’ve spent with my hand wrapped around my cock, the mere thought of you pushing me to orgasm. Oh stars, how I longed to know you intimately.”

He slipped a hand between your thighs, stroking your clit with his thumb, the other hand still holding your hip. You bit your lip, stifling what would have been an uncomfortably loud moan, tightening around him.

“Good girl, I love how my touch makes you constrict my cock.”

You became even tighter at his praise.

“Nnnnahhh, Ford.”

“Is that a praise kink I sense, stardust?”

You nodded fervently.

“That’s my girl, so needy for my words.”

You lifted and dropped your hips, sliding him fully in and out of you at a steady rhythm. His eyes rolled back into his head, completely overtaken by the pleasure of you. His breath was ragged, his eyes never leaving you, darting between your body and face.

“You’re so gorgeous, stardust. I’ve studied so many creatures over the years, seen the likes of sirens and nymphs, but you are by far the most enchanting.”

He reached up a hand to cup your cheek, you leaned into his touch. You felt yourself growing close between both his words and thumb on your clit. You made an attempt to tell him, but all that came out was unintelligible whimpering.

“Oh Ford, you’re- I’m gonna- ah- nhhhh.”

“That’s it, you’re such a good girl. Cum for me, you’re almost there.”

You absolutely lost it at his praise, digging your nails into his shoulders and riding him as hard as you possibly could until you came completely undone around him. The feeling of you spasming and contracting around him sent him over. He released your clit, both hands gripping your hips. He slammed you down onto the full length of his cock and came deep inside you.

“Dear god, y/n!” He half moaned, half whimpered.

Your pace died down and for a while you stayed on top of him. You both said nothing, just looking into each other’s eyes and panting as your heart rates settled. You leaned down, pressing a kiss to his lips and pulled yourself off of him. You laid down, Ford spooning you.

“In the name of all the stars in the known universe and beyond, you are absolutely incredible, stardust.” He sighed, content.

“I love you, Ford.” You said, eyelids growing heavy.

He pressed a kiss to the top of your head. “I love you too, y/n.”

You both lay in silence, slumber embracing you. Bill knew it was now or never. He took control of Ford and silently moved him off the couch so as to not wake you. He led him to the kitchen, pulling out a large knife. He crept back into the room where you slept, looming over you.

You stirred. “Mnh, Ford? What are you-“

Your eyes widened in terror as you caught sight of the knife in his hand, his eyes glowed unnaturally in the dim light. Adrenaline rushed through your veins, you bolted off the couch and ran for your life. You burst through the front door and took off into the forest, the light of the full moon being the only thing to keep you from crashing into the trees.

A constant crunching of snow behind you was a strong indicator that Ford was pursuing you. Tears streamed down your face. You said you would stand by him no matter what and now you were paying the price for thinking with your heart.

You looked back to see if you were still being followed, but didn’t see him. Before you could even turn your head again you collided with something, falling to the ground. You looked up and your heart sank. Ford grinned with a smile so wide it looked as if the corners of his mouth would split open.

“Hey there, dollface. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.”

-

Ford came to god knows how much later. He blinked, vision blurry, as it always was after Bill had taken hold. He could see a figure lying in the snow and as his eyes began to focus he screamed in horror.

You lay before him, your body stabbed near beyond recognition, an immense pool of blood stained the fresh snow. There was no way to bring you back, you were gone. A page ripped from Ford’s journal laid on top of you.

“Did you really think I’d let you have your happy ending with your little ‘stardust’? It’s just us now, sixer, I’m all you’ll ever need.”

[murder-cookie-dust393]

i have a fic request, but no need to rush it lol

Pv and MC are in a normal relationship (like, pv isnt a yandere yet) but MC starts to feel that pv is always busy and cares about his fight with dark enchantress more than he cares for them. This goes on for a while and after some miscommunication because of MC not telling ov how they feel, MC decides that they want a divore.

Pv is heartbroken but accepts when the desicion is first made, MC thinks it is a mutual agreement. But as the divorce progresses, pv starts to overthink the situation and starts to hate the idea of divorcing MC. He thinks that it is his fault and convinces himself that if he only pays attention to mc, if he spoils them maybe they could live him again

Before the divorce could finalize, he ends up locking mc in his castle going full yandere mode (possibly trying to kill the poor lawyer)

-🍋

Pure Vanilla fic here we go- a total of 786 words in an hour

Tw: kidnapping? But more like MC moves locations within the same building?, trapping, fluffy affections at uncomfortable moments

"I want a divorce."

The words made Pure Vanilla taken a back, but he didn't show it. He blinked before questioning, "May I ask why?" His eyes were open, more alert than ever, despite his blindness. He wasn't offended by the decision, but still saddened.

"I just think you prioritize the upcoming war more than our marriage, and I think it's best that we part." MC mumbled, keeping themselves at a slight distance from him. Their expression showed no emotion, other than the slight awkwardness of the statement itself.

For a moment, he was silent; thinking of the possible split. He decides it may be the best after all, no matter how much of a shadow it brings upon his life. It is true that the war has taken up his mind. "Alright. I accept your proposal." His eyes close once more, and instead his staff's eye opens: directly staring at them with its single eye.

"Great. We can start arranging the documents and legal process soon." They then left his study, leaving him to wander within his own thoughts. He sat there on his chair, blankly. staring at the cup of tea on his desk. Until the tears started to flow. He couldn't help himself as he started to cry quietly.

——————————————————

Over the next few weeks, the two had multiple meetings with a lawyer, to divide anything if they had to, and what the future in the becoming would be like. MC happily went through the process, wanting their divorce to go through smoothly. After all, Pure Vanilla had agreed to it without any complaints or breakdowns.

Or so they thought.

Meanwhile, Pure Vanilla was miserable. Every night he lay awake in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. In his deep thoughts, he's come to the conclusion that if he were to give them all of his attention and his affection, they would be happy again. Their marriage could be saved, and they wouldn't have to go through this idiotic process of a divorce.

Yes, he would stop the split. He won't let them leave. He needs them more than he needs the return of White Lily. Night or day, it doesn't matter; he'll keep his eyes trained on them for every second. But with the divorce already in process, what can he do? They're already planning to leave him...

Unless if he forcibly keeps them. Yes that'll do. They might have a fight or two, but it's alright, his love will fix them right up. Then they can have a lovely marriage again!

——————————————————

The night before the lawyer came to let them sign their divorce papers, Pure Vanilla carefully carries MC to their ex-martial bed, a wicked smile plastered on his face the entire time. He gives them a little peck on their forehead, before going to the robot cellar not too far from the castle.

The following day, MC woke up, and found themselves in Pure Vanilla's their room, wondering how did they end up there. They go for the door, but when they try to open it, it was still tightly shut. What was going on?

They look out the nearby window, and notice a hoard of wafflebots guarding the castle, one even not far from the balcony just outside. Speaking of window, why was it barred? It's not enough to restrain the view of the landscape a far, but the gaps are too small to get a cookie through.

The more time they spend observing things, the more they feel like they're in a jail cell.

Just then, someone enters: Pure Vanilla himself. He was holding a tray of tea and biscuits/crackers. "Ah bluebell, you're awake! I hope your sleep was lovely, dear." He sets down the platter, approaching them.

They step back, a bit fearful of everything. "Pure Vanilla, how did I get here?" Their voice is a bit shaky, their eyes glancing around the room rapidly.

"Oh that doesn't matter, my dearest. Now come, let me hold you." He hugs them tight before they could step away, pressing an affectionate kiss to their cheek. "I miss being able to hold you like this."

MC, a little uncomfortable at the sudden barrage of the affection, tries to gently push him away. "Pure Vanilla, what's gotten into you all of the sudden?" He hadn't given them much attention for months now, why was he all lovey-dovey right at this moment?

He pulls them right back to his chest, holding them even firmer than before. He whispers, "You wanted more attention right? So I'm giving it to you." He nuzzles their cheek, unbelievably close. "We're not going to have a divorce. I'm going to be your husband forever and ever."

(The writing feels kinda half-assed I apologize. But yes, have this. Honestly I think this is my first "true" fic on this blog)

- Celina

[wenevergotusedtoegypt]

Being a parent is so hard in ways you can never predict beforehand (because every kid is so different).

5yo is still not fully potty trained. He has a para to assist with toileting at school but we have been told he will not be allowed to advance to the next grade there if he's still not potty trained by next year, which first of all, wtf, you're holding back a child who is academically completely up to scratch because of a physical issue that he has an accommodation for?? and we don't want him to stay at this school anyway, I never wanted him there in the first place, but it was the only place we were able to get in this year. I feel like we JUST got him in here and it's already time to start trying to get another school to accept him for next year. I feel like I shouldn't have to convince a school to take my awesome and smart and funny and kind kid. The school that happily takes the kids with autism and ADHD and dyslexia and other learning challenges and works with their needs told me for this year that they simply would not know what to do with a child in a diaper because they have never had a child in a diaper. They also didn't feel he was mature enough yet for their youngest class but the diaper was the really insurmountable issue. It doesn't matter that he's great and sweet and well-behaved and loves school. The diaper.

I paid $100 to speak to a (recommended by someone I trust) potty training consultant last week and now 5yo has been home from school this entire week and I'm so introvert-burned-out and I feel like we have accomplished exactly nothing. He is back in underwear (after his morah last year requested he switch back to pull-ups because it was too much for them to deal with the dirty underwear) and he's consistently peeing in the potty without issue, but we already knew he was capable of that, he's been capable of that for a year and a half, he just usually chose not to when he knew he was wearing a pull-up because why bother. I've worked so hard to implement the consultant's recommendations for a low-pressure, positive plan to get him pooping on the potty, and I've checked back in with her by email repeatedly, I've documented everything that happens for her review painstakingly in my "free" time after the kids are in bed. But we're on day 4 out of 5 and he has "pooped on the potty" a whole whopping once, which honestly barely counted because he didn't even try to push it out, he just sat there and a little came out. I spent $50+ on 20+ prizes and he has only earned one and he told me that it's the "funnest ever" so he doesn't feel like earning more by pooping on the potty again. He doesn't care about pooping in his underwear. He doesn't care about sitting in poop or being smelly. He doesn't feel like earning more prizes no matter how much I hype them up (he doesn't know what they are, per the consultant's program). So he has no motivation to use the potty.

He also does have some fecal incontinence due to hypotonia (which he sometimes feels and sometimes doesn't) but that wouldn't matter that much if he actually wanted to be potty trained. If he were motivated we would focus on teaching him to wipe himself and he would just handle it and hopefully wouldn't need his para by next year and no one at school would even need to know anything.

I don't know how to get him to care. He's stubborn. He knows what he wants and what he doesn't want and he stands his ground. Giving him a haircut used to be a miserable full-day affair full of bribes and crying and whining. One day he just decided he was fine with it and now it's easy. We didn't actually do anything. Going to the dentist used to be an absolutely nightmare, he once bit my husband hard enough to draw blood. But one day he just decided he was fine with it and now it's easy. We didn't do anything to make it happen. Doctors appointments suddenly got easier, too. I know he can figure this one out too but I don't know how to get him there, not when every other thing has come from within for him and never been budged from without.

And I just feel completely lost and stuck. I want to give up but I can't because I have to convince a school to take him for next year. I want to give up but even his BFF is asking why he's still wearing pull-ups in that innocent-but-still-cruel way little kids have, and there are kids out there who are ready to be a lot less kind about something like this than his loudly curious BFF. I want to give up but when you're a parent you can't give up even when you feel like you've tried everything and spoken to everyone and no one quite seems to get it and no one seems to be going through quite the same thing and you have no idea what else to do.

[smelted-applejuice]

omg the wilbur’s sister!reader x tommy was so cute fkkf would you consider writing a part 2? i feel like wilbur and phil’s reactions + twts would be hilarious

Paring(s): cc!Tommyinnit x Reader, cc!Wilbur Soot x Reader (FAMILY) Pronouns: She/Her Desc: A week worth of Tommy and [YourName]’s antics. (part 1)

2.3K WORDS LETS GOOOOO!!! (Requests are open!) -

Philza immediately cut the vlog camera off, not knowing how Wilbur would react.  I mean, this is his little sister we‘re talking about. [YourName] was about to reply, but Wilbur cut her off, “What the hell? You fancy my sister?!” he questioned, anger laced in his voice. “Well- you see- I- uh…” Tommy stuttered, his cheeks turning a bright red color, “I’m not sure if i’m good with this, Tommy.  I mean, this is my baby sister,” Wilbur said, causing Tommy’s face to drop. “Now, why does it matter what you have to say? He asked me after all.  Quite frankly, it would be a little odd if he had asked you.” [YourName] said, hanging up the phone and crossing her arms. Tommy perked up at this. Hearing her defend him was like hearing angels singing from the heavens above. “And honestly, Will, I wouldn’t mind going out on a date with Tommy.” [YourName] stated, placing her phone in her purse before walking over to the blonde boy and wrapping her arm around him. Tommy let a smile sneak up to his lips as he wrapped his arms around his favorite girl.

Phil couldn’t help but ‘awh’ at the situation. “Come on, Mate, just let ‘em go on a date!” Phil whined, hopping onto Tommy and [YourName]’s side of the debate. Wilbur huffed as he ran his hand through his hair. He was a bit overprotective of his little sister, how could he not be? “Fine, but if you hurt her and things don’t end mutually, then you’re in for a storm, Tom.” Wilbur said.  The stern use of his legal name made Tommy shudder in fear.  “Got it.” When the vlog was uploaded, people went bazook. They’ve seen her before, sure, but they hadn’t gotten much [YourName] content since Tommy’s first meet-up vlog. The end of the vlog in particular, is what caused everyone to go bat-shit crazy.  Tommy had never hinted at crushing on Wilbur’s sister, so it shocked everyone when they found out that that’s who he was crushing on.  Twitter went crazy for a day and a half with #Tommyinnit and #Wilburssister trending for most of that time. About a month later, Tommy had messaged [YourName] and told her to meet him at an ice cream parlor. He did warn her that he was recording, though. He was filming ‘A Week in the Life of Tom Simons’ and wanted their first real date to be documented. [YourName] didn’t mind.  [YourName] entered the little parlor, smiling when she saw her possible boyfriend in the distance. She snuck her way over and gently poked his shoulders, causing him to jump and drop his phone, “Ayhaha!” Tommy laughed, bringing [YourName]’s arms around his neck. [YourName] placed her chin on top of Tommy’s head. “Hello Vlog” [YourName] greeted, waving a hand at the camera. “The vlog says ‘hello, [YourName]’, how nice and respectable, just like me” Tommy said, causing [YourName] to laugh.  The two of you sat for a moment and talked about whatever came to mind, eventually getting your guy’s ice cream and sitting back down. Tommy set his phone up against the window and recorded the casual talk between the two. “You see, I hit ten million.” Tommy said, eating his ice cream as his leg began to bounce. “Really? That’s great! Congratulations!” [YourName] replied, scooping some ice cream onto her spoon and bringing it up to Tommy’s mouth. He happily accepted. The date was a huge success. At the end of it, he walked her to the bus stop. At this moment, there was no camera shoved in her face.  It was just the two of them enjoying the others’ presence. “I’d say this date went pretty well” [YourName] said,. turning toward Tommy. “I’d say that, too.” Tommy agreed, smiling down at the girl in front of him. “Thanks for inviting me, I really enjoyed this.  I’ll see you later?” [YourName] questioned, “I’ll see you later.” Tommy said. A soft smile fell upon her lips as she got on her tippy toes and placed a gentle kiss on Tommy’s cheek.  Tommy was quick to get out his phone and record as [YourName] rushed toward the bus, then turned the camera to face him, “She just kissed my cheek, guys.” he said, watching as the bus departed. A day later, Tommy visited George’s house. George was not very pleased with this visit, due to the fact that Tommy wouldn’t stop squeezing a rubber duck that squeaked. “Am I the first to touch you after you hit ten million?” George asked, poking his friend’s leg, “No, actually.” Tommy replied. George simply rolled his eyes and continued editing his video for his own viewers. He only had so long before he had to go live with Tommy.  The following day, [YourName] met up with Tubbo, Ranboo, Tommy, and George at the subway station. They were going to meet some of Tommy’s other online friends. Quite honestly, [YourName] had no interest in meeting them, but she did want to spend the week with Tommy. The lot of them entered the subway station, got some coffee and drinks from the cafe there, and waited around until their subway arrived. “Tom, look, piano” [YourName] said, nudging Tommy slightly. His face lit up when he noticed it too, so he broke off from [YourName] and rushed forward toward the instrument. He began playing the piano while Tubbo recorded, [YourName] stood with Ranboo and George while Tommy played the piano, though soon, he would switch with Tubbo and begin recording himself again. “Hello vlog” [YourName] greeted again when the camera was shoved into her face, quite literally. “She’s so nice about you shoving cameras into her face” Ranboo joked with a bit of laughter, “It’s fine, he recorded our whole date the other day” [YourName] stated with a giggle.  Soon, both Tubbo and Tommy played the piano together right before their subway arrived. [YourName] sat next to Tommy, Ranboo next to Tubbo, and George on his own somewhere else. [YourName] fell asleep against Tommy’s shoulder, who fell asleep with his arms crossed and head laying on [YourName]’s head. Tubbo and Ranboo would snicker and giggle as they recorded the two, zooming in slowly before freaking out when Tommy opened up a tired eye.  Soon the subway stopped at the station and everyone had to regroup before making the trip to see Minx, Pyro, and Jack. [YourName] held onto Tommy’s arm as they walked and observed the sights. It was nice to not have a camera on her every second, which is what she thought was going to happen. Eventually, they all arrived at the house and they were given a tour. “Oh, you’re just an ugly little thing!” Tommy said once he came upon a ferret, earning a hard nudge from [YourName], “What?! He is! He’s an ugly little fella!” Tommy said, giggling. Soon, the group would separate from George and head over to meet up with Wilbur. [YourName] knew that she wouldn’t be able to be as close as she wanted to be to Tommy around Wilbur, so the whole way there, she was wrapped up in his arms. “You two are gross” Tubbo stated, a slight cringe on his face, “Won’t be for long” [YourName] said, pointing to where her brother stood. [YourName] urged Tommy to start recording, so he did and he held no regret. [YourName] broke off from Tommy and rushed forward, jumping on her brother’s back and earning yells from both Matt and Wilbur. “[YOURNAME]! WHAT WAS THAT FOR-” Wilbur yelled between chokes of laughter, then he saw Tommy walking up to him laughing with his phone recording. “Of course. You did it for Tommyinnit, yeah?” Wilbur said. [YourName] laughed and slowly got off of him. Soon, the bunch made their way toward the beach. [YourName] hadn’t been to the beach in ages, as she always preferred being away from the cold water. Tommy and Tubbo, on the other hand, loved the beach. Plus, Wilbur could use the break and the water could be relaxing for him-- or as relaxing as it could be with Tommy around. [YourName] was staring out into the ocean waves when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. She smiled and looked up, “Hello, Tom.” [YourName] greeted “Hello, Darling.” Tommy replied. [YourName] placed her hands on top of Tommy’s arms and simply smiled, shutting her eyes, “OI! STOP THAT!” Tommy yelled at Ranboo, who was recording the pair, and Wilbur, who was throwing rocks at Tommy. Eventually, the beach got boring, so, everyone returned to Tubbo’s place for the night. The following morning, [YourName] got dressed while Tommy and Tubbo waited outside.  “[YourName],” [YourName] heard as she exited the room, causing her to jump.  She looked to the side to see Ranboo standing there.  “Geez, you scared me,” she laughed.  [YourName] smiled toward the maskless Ranboo, “Sorry,” he smiled, “I just wanted to tell you that I think Tommy likes you a lot.” [YourName] felt her cheeks heat up. “Really?” she asked.  Ranboo nodded.  “Well, good, because I like him a lot, too,” she replied, a smile lighting up her face. “That’s good because he kept showing us the footage from your guy’s date after you went to sleep last night and it was quite adorable.” Ranboo stated, [YourName] was still flustered, but gave him another smile “Good. Thousands-- no, millions will see that footage too.”  Later on during the day, Ranboo, [YourName] and Tommy headed out to go meet up with Wilbur at his studio. [YourName] found herself on Tommy’s lap with Ranboo seated next to them as she began to vlog the surroundings.  When suddenly, there was a large group of school boys and girls waiting there. The group of school boys and girls were there for Tommyinnit, so [YourName] vlogged the whole situation at hand. [YourName] giggled, Ranboo bent down slightly to speak to [YourName], “I think this may be a hazard” he mentioned. [YourName] shrugged and smiled, “Aye, it might, but Tom is having fun,” she said, soon ending the video and catching up with Tommy. The three got seats on the train, allowing one school boy to sit with them. [YourName] sat next to Tommy and Ranboo sat in front of [YourName] while the school boy sat in front of Tommy. “So are you two actually dating?” the boy asked, referring to Tommy and [YourName]. Tommy lifted his hand which was tangled with yours, “We are youtube official” Tommy jokes “And what’s more official than Youtube Official?”. Soon, it was time for the school boys and girls to get off, so Tommy shook their hands and gave them whatever hand gesture they wanted. Once it was Tommy, Ranboo, and [YourName]’s stop, the three of them got off and began giggling about the peculiarity of the whole situation. “I don’t even think they noticed who Ranboo and I were, which- thank goodness- but shows how big you are” [YourName] observed while the camera was facing her.  Soon the three arrived at the studio and discovered Wilbur and his band were practicing. “Will!” [YourName] greets, busting open the door and bringing her brother in for a hug, “Oh, my darling [YourName]!” Wilbur greets back affectionately “Now, sit on the fuckin’ floor.” he said, pushing off his sister and pointing toward the floor. The whole studio was nice and it was even nicer for [YourName] to hear her brother live doing some songs with his band. [YourName] held Tommy’s face while Ranboo recorded the two lip-syncing the lyrics together. Another wholesome moment for the vlog.   Afterward, the group went to the beach where they hung out for a few hours. It was nice to relax.  [YourName] even got in the water! It was only ankle deep, of course, but it’s something. “Are ya going to go any deeper or are you just gonna stay there?” Wilbur asked as he shielded his eyes from the sun, “I’m too much of a pussy to go further” [YourName] giggled, returning to the sand. This is where they relaxed until they felt it was time to return to Tubbo’s place. The following morning, [YourName] was awoken to Tommy vlogging his situation, fatigue sticking to his voice. [YourName]’s head was on Tommy’s chest, the close proximity making it impossible for her to fall back asleep.  All she did was knock the phone out of his hand to shut him up. “Hey! What was that for?” He asked, “Because some of us are still tired, you twat.” [YourName] mumbled, causing Ranboo to laugh. Later in the day, Tommy, Ranboo, [YourName] and Tubbo were at the beach once more. [YourName] was playing in the rocks when Tommy, Tubbo and Ranboo went out into the water, something she wasn’t planning on doing. Once she noticed that they were only in their swimwear, she called out to them, “Please, wear a lifejacket! I kind of like having you guys around!” [YourName] said, making the three boys laugh. Ranboo, Tubbo, Tommy, and [YourName] spent hours at the beach, [YourName] and Ranboo sitting together as they watched Tommy and Tubbo fuck around in the water. “I don’t know if it's just me, but they look like lunatics out there.” [YourName] observed, leaning back against the sand, “Oh no, they do.” Ranboo agreed, sitting there watching the duo interact. Eventually, the late afternoon sunk in and everyone returned to Tubbo’s house. [YourName] laughed at Tubbo’s little ‘say yes to the dress’ bit. Tommy’s week would end in one last clip. One clip that would be snipped and captured forever to haunt her and Tommy throughout their relationship; “My love for you isn’t funny, Tom-” [YourName] said, laying down on the couch. “Say yes to the dress.” Tubbo giggled, cutting her off.

[3seven-gambler]

#⌁꒰Shuichi, Hɑjime, Gundhɑm, Fuγuhiko, ɑnd Kɑito with ɑ GN!S/O who gentlγ bites the boγs when theγ’ɾe upset with them꒱

⋆ word count: 2463 ⋆ genre: slight angst and fluff

࿐♡Ꮪꮋꮜꮖꮯꮋꮖ Ꮪꭺꮖꮋꭺꭱꭺ:

⋆ Shuichi was contacted by the police detective department. They’ve heard about the skills that he had, so they decided to call the Ultimate Detective for help.

⋆ Because of that, you haven’t been able to talk to him a lot.

⋆ When you called him, he usually responded only with “hms” and “ok”.

⋆ You were getting tired of this.

⋆ You decided to go to his house without telling him.

⋆ When you arrived, you knocked on the door and waited a minute for him to respond.

⋆ When Shuichi opened the door, with a sleepy but rush tone voice he said -“Thank you so much for coming detec…tive…”. He was surprised, he didn’t expect you at all.

⋆ -“S-S/O? what are you doing here?”

⋆ -“What I’m doing here, you ask? That’s the first thing you’re going to say to me after two weeks in which you haven’t seen me?” you said with an angry tone in your voice and while walking inside his house.

⋆ -“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it! I’m just surprised. You didn’t told me that you were coming”.

⋆ You were about to answer when you notice how messy his living room was. There were lots of different papers, documents and coffee cups in the table; there was a white board with pictures and words on it, along with some lines connecting all the stuff there. Books and other materials could be distinguished on the floor, stairs and sofa as well.

⋆ -“Oh.. so you’ve been doing this?” you said more quiet than before.

⋆ -“Y-yes. The investigation department of the police called me for some help, and it’s a very hard case. The good new is that I think I’m about to ending it” he said with his typical quiet voice while hugging you.

⋆ You turned around and faced Shuichi, accepting his hug and bitting his shoulder.

⋆ He didn’t say anything about it, because he was kinda used to it.

⋆ The two of you settle things down and you stayed in his house for helping him with some little things of the case, with doing some real food for both of you and, of course, lots of love.

࿐♡Ꮋꭺꭻꮖꮇꭼ Ꮋꮖɴꭺꭲꭺ:

⋆ Finals were getting closer and closer.

⋆ That’s why, unlike months before were Hajime could do his homework and spend time with you, he was studying 25/7.

⋆ You knew he was busy, but he didn’t even respond to a single text.

⋆ One day, you got tired of his attitude, so you called him several times.

⋆ But he didn’t answered.

⋆ You were getting very angry and sad at the same time, why he can just pick the phone for one minute?

⋆ You decided to go for a walk to a park near your house. You always liked that place because of the big lake in the middle and for the variaty of trees and animals.

⋆ You walked for about 15 minutes.

⋆ You were too deep in your thoughts, because you didn’t notice that a well know brown haired boy was in front of you.

⋆ -“S/O? S/O!” he said to you.

⋆ -“Uh?… H-Hajime?!” you said happily, but then your angry expresion came back. -“HAJIME HINATA WHY DIDN’T YOU CALLED ME OR TEXT ME BACK? YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS?” you said screaming, almost crying.

⋆ -“S/O please calm down!” he grabbed you and pull you into a hug, a very tight one. -“Listen, I’m very very sorry S/O. It wasn’t my intention to ignore you, I’ve just been very busy with all the finals that I haven’t been using my phone. Please forgive me, I’ll make up to you, I promise”.

⋆ -“Y-you do?”

⋆ -“Yes, I do S/O”

⋆ You gave him a big smile and then you grabbed his arm and bitted him.

⋆ -“H-hey!”

⋆ -“Sorry, that’s a why for saying that I forgive you”

⋆ Hajime wasn’t that used on getting bited, but he loved it.

⋆ After that, the two of you walked to a coffee store and expend the rest of the day together.

࿐♡Ꮐꮜɴꭰꮋꭺꮇ Ꭲꭺɴꭺꮶꭺ:

⋆ It was a sunny day when you and Gundham were on a date.

⋆ It wasn’t too much, just the two of you helping on a rescue refugee.

⋆ There were lots of different animals, snakes, bears, penguins, dogs, and so on.

⋆ Both of you were on the hamster area, he was teaching you some things about them, so you could then get practice with the Dark Devas.

⋆ Suddenly, you heard a scream, coming from the nearest area, the Snake area.

⋆ You and Gundham runed and you found one of the volunteers on the floor with a venomous snake almost biting him.

⋆ -“Stop there powerful beast! you won’t be able to fight the great Gundham Tanaka!”

⋆ The snake suddenly stopped attacking the boy and went over where Gundham was.

⋆ He grabbed it and put it again in the little cage.

⋆ -“Wow! that was quiet unique mister Tanaka” said the woman who was in charge of the refugee. -“Would you be interested in working with us? Your help would be very useful.”

⋆ -“Of course you need the great Overlord of Ice! Then, if you really need my help I might accept, what do you say, my dark companion?”

⋆ -“Absolutely, yes! You should accept Gundham, it would be a nice experience for you!” you said very happy, you knew he wanted to accept.

⋆ -“Then is settle, you can start on Monday at 8 AM!” said the woman “Now I must go, thank you so much for your help today” she said while walking towards the exit.

⋆ After that day, you haven’t been able to spend any time with Gundham.

⋆ You knew that he was very bussy, so you didn’t call him or text him.

⋆ That continue like a month and a half. You had only talked to him once by phone and a little by message.

⋆ You decided to go and wait outside the refugee for him.

⋆You waited for about 15 minutes, you were lost in your thoughts, when you felt something walking in your arm.

⋆ You looked at it and you saw Sun-D walking up to your head.

⋆ -“Hey there you little one, how are you?” you said to him.

⋆ -“It seems that my powerfuls Devas missed you, my dark companion”

⋆ You raised your head and saw Gundham smiling at you, while he approached you.

⋆ When he was besides you, you grabbed him and you bited him on his neck.

⋆ He looked at you a little confused without knowing what to do.

⋆ -“Sorry, I was a little upset because I haven’t seen you for a while” you said shyly.

⋆ He looked at you with soft eyes.

⋆ -“It is alright my love” he grabbed your chin and gave you a small kiss on your lips -”Now come with me, I shall compensate you for all the bad things that I did to you”

⋆ -“I-it’s ok, Gundham, the important thin’s that we’re together now”.

⋆ You grabbed his hand and both of you walked while the sun started to disappear in the horizon, walking in a nice silence, enjoying each other company.

࿐♡Fꮜꭹꮜꮋꮖꮶꮻ Ꮶꮜꮓꮜꭱꭹꮜ:

⋆ Lately, Fuyuhiko has been very busy with all the work that carries for being a Yakuza.

⋆ You usually went to his house for visiting him, but the past few weeks you barely could see him.

⋆ Today you went to his house, like any other day. Peko received you and she guided you to your boyfriend’s office.

⋆ You knocked on his door and you heared a -“It’s open!” from inside.

⋆ -“Hi Fuyu~”

⋆ -“Oh, S/O, hi. You need something?” he said without looking at you.

⋆ -“Uhm, well I was thinking that maybe you could come with me to buy some clothes, you know that I like to hear your opinion” you gave him a shy smile.

⋆ Fuyuhiko stopped writing and looked at you -“Sorry S/O, but I’m busy as fucking hell, the clan needs me right now, maybe next time. You can go with Peko if you want”.

⋆ -“O-ok Fuyu, see you later”

⋆ He murmurated a bye and you went out of his office. You told Peko what happend and she happily accepted the invitation.

⋆ The two of you expend the rest of the day buying stuff and having a good time.

⋆ You went again to Fuyuhiko’s house at the evening, you hoped that maybe he was taking a break for all of his work.

⋆ You and Peko walked to where his office was. Peko took a sit on her desk and you knocked again on the door. You heared an angry voice screaming -“come in!” from the inside.

⋆ -“H-hello my love, how are you?”

⋆ -“How am I? how do you think I am?” he asked angrily.

⋆ -“I guess that you’re tired for all of your work”

⋆ -“Oh wow, you finally think for once S/O” he said sarcastically.

⋆ -“H-hey, what’s wrong with you?”

⋆ -“I’m just trying to do my fucking job but you keep interrumpting me, you dumb bitch!” he finally screamed, while hitting his desk.

⋆ You looked at him, with your eyes full of tears. He notice what he had done and he inmediatly regret it.

⋆ -“W-wait I didn’t mean to…”

⋆ -“No you know what, you stay here and finish your work, I’m going home!” you said now crying. You closed the door very hard, almost breaking it. You heared Fuyuhiko calling your name but you were feeling just like trash.

⋆ After that scene, you’ve been ignoring Fuyuhiko for about a week.

⋆ You didn’t respond his messeges, his calls, or even the door. You only talked a bit to Peko, but only because she was your friend.

⋆ One day, Peko came to your house.

⋆ You opened the door, expecting to also see your boyfriend, but it was only her on the door.

⋆ She came in and told you how sad Fuyuhiko was, he wasn’t doing properly his job and he was just a mess in general.

⋆ After 10 minutes of talking, you decided to go and visit him.

⋆ You waited outside his office and Peko announced your visit to Fuyuhiko.

⋆ She quickly came out from his office and told you to come in.

⋆ You walk inside your boyfriend’s office and stay there in quiet.

⋆ Fuyuhiko looked at you straight into your eyes.

⋆ -“S-S/O hi”

⋆ -“Hi…” you said a little bit uncomfortable, but you walked by Fuyuhiko’s side.

⋆ When you were by his side, Fuyuhiko grabbed you by your waist and he sat you on his lap, while he hugged you.

⋆ -“I’m so so sorry for everything S/O it wasn’t  my intention, I was just stressed as fuck and I take my anger out with you and I promise that I’m never doing it again, but please forgive me” he looked like he was about to cry.

⋆You grabbed Fuyuhiko’s face and you wipped out his little tears.

⋆ -“Hey don’t cry. I forgive you Fuyu, but, please, don’t do that again”.

⋆ You hugged him back and you hide your face on his neck.

⋆ Taking the oportunity, you bitted a little hard his ear.

⋆ Fuyuhiko jumped a little from the unexpected bite, and looked at you waiting for you to say something.

⋆ -“D-don’t look at me like that, you deserve it…”

⋆ -“Yeah, I deserved worst I must admit”.

⋆ You now gave him a pasionate kiss on his lips.

⋆ -“Shut up you baby boy”.

⋆ He was about to fight back but he just left a sight and hugged you tighter than before.

⋆ You then went to have a nice dinner on your favorite restaurant and the next day, he took you to your favorite store to buy things with him.

࿐♡Ꮶꭺꮖꭲꮻ Ꮇꮻꮇꮻꭲꭺ:

⋆ One word, training.

⋆ Astronaut training was just too much for you.

⋆ And you started to hate it when your boyfriend, Kaito, had to go on a astronaut training camp.

⋆ I mean, you were happy because Kaito was super excited about it, but you knew that you weren’t going to expend any time with him for the next months, and that maybe you could barely talk to him.

⋆ The good thing was that when he was there, he called you every day, at least for five minutes.

⋆ But he then stopped calling, and he only texted you.

⋆ And then he stopped texting you.

⋆ You didn’t want to interfere in his training, you knew that his dream is to go one day to space, but you really missed him.

⋆This kept this way for a while.

⋆ One day, you were reading your favorite book, when your phone started to sound.

⋆ You saw that the number wasn’t in your contacts.

⋆You normally didn’t answer that kind of calls, but something told you to answer, so you did.

⋆ -“Hello?”

⋆ -“S/O! Is that you?!” a man voice said.

⋆ -“Uhm… yes? W-who is this?”

⋆ -“I’m Kaito! your boyfriend? Oh… don’t tell me that you forget me already? I-It’s me S/O! Kaito Mom…”

⋆ -“Kaito stop, of course I remember you silly! Are you still at the camp? Why did you stop calling me and texting me? I was super worried and sad a-and… and angry!”

⋆ -“I-I’m sorry S/O honey, it wasn’t my intention, I just, uhm, kinda broke my phone during training… and I didn’t remember your phone number, b-but I did now! that’s why I’m calling you from another phone!”

⋆ You didn’t knew if you wanted to laugh or scream at him, so you did both.

⋆ -“HAHAHAHAHA HOW’S THAT YOU WROKE YOUR PHONE, ARE YOU SERIOUS KAITO?!”

⋆ -“H-hey S/O calm down a little…” he said a little worried.

⋆ -“Hahahahahaha y-yes sorry I just… hahaha f-forget it. Anyways, how are you?”

⋆ -“I’m fine! I’ll get home in two days, wait for me S/O! I’ve to go, my recess time’s up, see you later my love!”

⋆ You were now happy and relief that he was safe, and that he was coming home soon.

⋆You prepared him a nice welcome in your shared house.

⋆ You made all of his favorite food and invited his friends.

⋆ When he came home, he opened the door and he felt someone hugging him, and then he felt a painful sensation in his arm, something like a bite.

⋆ He looked down and saw you.

⋆ -“S-S/O! that hurts!

⋆ -“Sorry, but that’s for breaking your phone and because you don’t know my phone number”.

⋆ -“Y-yeah- I’m sorry for that, b-but I remembered it, didn’t I?

⋆ -“Yeah whatever, come here!” you grabbed him by his arm and you guide him to the living room, and everyone screamed “Welcome back!”

⋆ You could see how excited and happy Kaito was.

⋆ Both of you expent a fun time with all of your friends and then they had to go.

⋆ After everyone was gone, Kaito grabbed you by your waist and he kissed you passionately.

⋆ -“You’ve no idea of how much I missed you”

⋆ -“I missed you too Kaito”

⋆ You spent the rest of the night laying on your shared bed talking about how much you love each other and talking about how was Kaito’s camp.

❥ 𝖱𝖾𝖻𝗅𝗈𝗀𝗌 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗅𝗐𝖺𝗒𝗌 𝖺𝗉𝗉𝗋𝖾𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗍𝖾𝖽. || 𝖣𝖮 𝖭𝖮𝖳 𝖱𝖤𝖯𝖮𝖲𝖳/𝖳𝖱𝖠𝖭𝖲𝖫𝖠𝖳𝖤.

[teiasviago]

Signs

Episode: “Je Souhaite” | Rated M | @today-in-fic | Warning: if any of the symptoms of pregnancy are squicky for you, it would be best to avoid this fic. Also, a reminder that we use Fahrenheit in the U.S., so don’t freak out at the wonky temperature stuff, my Celsius loaves.

Scully feels a little guilty for sending Mulder home last night after teasing him all day about what she was going to do to him in bed, but she blames her upset stomach on being “forced” to skip lunch that day. Scully had waved him off after three hours of on and off vomiting, feeling like she sent the entirety of her pizza and soda into the toilet.

She’d sent him back to his apartment so he’d stop hovering, his incessant chatter only magnifying the headache beginning to build at the base of her skull.

Mulder had called as soon as he got home, leaving a voicemail for her to please not come in tomorrow if she’s still sick. Well, Scully had fortunately felt right as rain when she woke up, aside from the minimal gnawing feeling in her stomach.

She regrets eating two bagels with lox and her real cream cheese now. This must be her punishment for breaking the rule of saving it for the fair amount of bad mornings she encounters. Her stomach’s mutinying again at the smell of Mulder’s black coffee and she can feel another toilet session coming on.

“Oh, God,” Scully whispers, all intent to apologize and press a soft kiss to his lips going out the proverbial door as she sprints out the real one and hauls ass to the bathroom.

She must have a stomach bug, Scully reasons, trying to even out her breathing as she folds some paper towels and wets them before pressing them against her face and neck. She’s suddenly feeling strangely hot, evidence of her sick flushed away.

Mulder knocks three times on the bathroom door. “Scully?”

“Yeah?” she sends back, splashing her face with water. She groans as she feels another gag coming on.

“I brought you some ginger ale and—and some Pepto Bismol. And Tums. I know you don’t like the Pepto but, you know, I figured this called for all the stops.”

She can imagine the look on his face as he hears her vomiting again. Scully checks her watch when it’s over. It’s still only 8:27 in the fucking morning!? How the hell is she supposed to make it through the rest of the workday like this?

The door hinges creak and she looks over at Mulder. “I told you not to come in if you’re still sick, Scully.”

“I wasn’t! I felt fine this morning, and then I walked in the office and smelled your coffee and...”

He leans against the counter and crosses his arms, puckering his lips as part of his exaggerated thinking face. Scully stands up straight and shoots him a look. Mulder shakes his head and puts his hands up. “Look, all I’m saying is that it looks like the same thing happened last night. As soon as we got out the ice cream, you bolted to the bathroom.”

She sighs and shakes her head. “What are you getting at, Mulder?”

“Just that you should go home and at least take a nap or something. If you stay off your feet for a few hours and relax, I’ll be happy. Nibble on some crackers, catch a soap opera...” Mulder shrugs. “You’re clearly sick, Scully. If not for yourself, do it on the chance that it’s contagious.”

Scully places the wet paper towel on the back of her neck, holding it there. “Fine. But only because it might be contagious.”

“I mean—that doesn’t make it better, but thank you nonetheless. Do you want me to drive you? What if there’s a random smell that sets you off on the ride there?”

She rolls her eyes but tells him, “Fine.”

—

Mulder’s assertion that certain smells have been setting off whatever’s going on with her stomach seem to be proven true when she comes back to the office after a few hours of rest and relaxation to the harsh sight of a man whose... whose mouth suddenly disappeared and had to be surgically recreated. Not a twinge from her stomach aside from shock butterflies.

Scully’s relieved that she’s been able to keep down her lunch. To be fair, it was crackers with a little cheese and a full two cups of water to make sure she was hydrated, but any food is good food. She proudly announces to Mulder during their ensuing flight the next day that it seems whatever illness hit is gone.

—

It’s not cold in Creve Coeur, Missouri—certainly not in Spring—but Scully’s feeling every degree of the breeze through the open windows like it’s in the thirties. She’s shivering the entire car ride to the Mark Twain Trailer Park, and noticeably enough for Mulder to glance at her with concern before putting up the windows and turning the heat up.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little cold.”

He frowns at that but lets it go until they hit a red light, when he leans over and presses his hand to her forehead.

Scully quirks her lips in a smile. “What are you doing?”

“Checking your temperature,” he replies. “You don’t seem to have a fever...”

“I’m fine, Mulder,” she insists, leaning into his hand for the few seconds she gets the light turns green.

“Alright, but if you’re still sick, Scully, then you have to promise me that you’ll go back to the motel, okay? I brought the meds just in case, if you need them.”

She smiles softly and places her hand on his arm. “Thank you.”

“It’s what a good boyfriend does.”

—

Her stomach bug really does seem to be gone, which is a relief. However, she’s now insatiably hungry for two things: Mulder, and the bagels from the bagel place two streets over from her apartment. Well, she consoles, one is attainable, at least. And, boy, does she attain it. They’re both breathing heavily by the time Scully’s through with him, and even though they’re sticky with sweat, she curls her body around Mulder’s anyway.

Her breasts are tingly, which has never happened after sex before, but she chalks it up to Mulder’s harsh treatment of her only a minute ago as she nuzzles his chest. She inhales and sighs happily. “I love the way you smell,” she murmurs.

He laughs and she feels it against her cheek. “Coming from the woman who made me start using a different deodorant,” he jokes, squeezing his arm around her shoulders. “Your nipples are darker.”

“What?” Scully props herself up with her forearm to make proper eye contact as her brows furrow.

“Yeah. I don’t know. They’re darker. Feel a little heavier, too. You didn’t notice?”

She shakes her head and laughs. “Unlike you, Mulder, I don’t spend hours studying my boobs.”

He shrugs and rolls them over so he’s hovering over her on his forearms. “Your loss.”

—

“Fuck,” she swears, digging around in her suitcase, fresh from her shower. She’s only got one hand because the other’s holding her towel wrap together.

“What?” Mulder asks around his toothbrush, exiting the bathroom. His tie is slung behind his neck and his suit jacket is waiting for him on the bed.

“I don’t have any panty liners.”

“Do you want me to go out and get some?” he asks, heading back to the bathroom to spit.

“Yeah, that would be great.” Scully walks past him into the still-warm bathroom and lets the towel drop as she uses the one wrapped around her hair to dry the wet strands.

“Alright. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” She drops the hair towel when he takes the singular step needed in the tiny motel bathroom to invade her space in favor of pulling him down for a kiss by the ends of his tie. “Mmm, settle down or the plan’ll be botched.”

“I was just thanking you,” Scully says, affecting innocence as she does his tie for him.

“For buying you panty liners? What would happen if I surprised you with some ice cream?”

“I would eat the ice cream.”

“Damn.” Mulder presses a kiss to the top of her head before heading out to put on his suit jacket. “Do you mind me asking why you need panty liners? Also! What brand?”

“Any with wings. And I need them because there’s been an unusual amount of vaginal discharge in my underwear and I don’t want to ruin any more of them.”

“Right.” He steps back in view of the bathroom and takes in her naked body.

Scully raises an eyebrow at him. “What?”

(Their books on pregnancy are buried inside their storage closets from a time best forgotten.)

“Nothing. I just like looking at you.”

She smiles at him, drying her hair again. “Get going, hotshot.”

—

Halfway through the flight home, Scully discovers something that makes her a bit worried. She’s not supposed to get her period until next week, so the blood on the liner she quickly tosses away with shaky hands can’t be because of that. She tries to forget about it as she walks back to her seat next to Mulder, but he must see something on her face that prompts him to ask if she’s okay.

“I’m fine,” she lies, managing to give him a smile. “Just tired.”

He seems to accept that and leaves her be. It’s not even a lie; she feels exhausted after everything that happened over the past few days. Scully makes a mental note to book an emergency appointment with her Ob-Gyn when they land, and closes her eyes.

—

“Dana,” Dr. Namin starts, disrupting her patient’s thumb twiddling.

Scully abruptly stands up as her doctor moves to stand in front of the exam table, computer and several documents in hand. “You don’t look concerned,” she says, following Namin to the exam table.

“Because there’s nothing to be concerned about at this stage except plenty of rest, hydration, and eating at least three good meals a day,” Scully’s doctor replies, opening up her computer and spreading out the documents. “We’ve done all the tests you asked for, but nothing came up. However, based on the symptoms you listed, I performed one more, and that’s where we found the culprit.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re pregnant, Dana. Plain and simple. Congratulations.” Dr. Namin slides one of the documents towards Scully, who takes it. “You’re about three and a half weeks along. You can take all the papers. There’s suggestions for all the prenatal vitamins you’ll need to take and how much water to drink in a day. Resources for managing symptoms, too.”

Scully nods dumbly, tears gathering in her eyes as she stares at the diagnosis. “Um, when should I come back?”

“Don’t worry about that right now, I’ll have someone give you a call with that information. Just relax and enjoy the news. I remember how much you wanted this, Dana. I...I don’t know how this happened, but the baby’s doing well. Minor bleeding is completely normal and you don’t need to worry. If it gets worse or doesn’t stop soon, then come back.”

“Okay,” Scully chokes out, smiling widely as she wipes away her tears and collects the documents on the exam table.

—

She spends a few hours at her apartment trying to figure out how to tell Mulder the good news but gets nowhere. In the middle of pacing around her couch, one arm unconsciously wrapped around her abdomen, her phone starts ringing.

“Scully speaking.”

“Agent Scully,” Skinner starts, and she immediately knows that Mulder’s done something stupid again, “could you check on Agent Mulder? He snuck into my meeting and was yelling at my chair.”

“Yes, of course, sir.”

“Thank you.”

Scully hangs up the phone and sighs heavily. Looks like God’s giving her a sign to just get it over with. When she enters the office, however, the woman Mulder keeps insisting is a genie is there, too. She licks her lips nervously and tries to ignore her.

“Skinner called me, Mulder. Is everything alright?”

Sitting at the desk, computer on, she has to wonder what he’s doing. “You don’t remember disappearing off the face of the Earth for an hour this morning?”

She gives her head a small shake as she tells him, “No,” truly starting to get concerned.

Mulder just shrugs with a little smile and gets back to typing with a nonchalant, “Well, I guess everything’s okay.”

Get it out, just say it, she thinks, trying to psych herself up. She sighs. “Mul—” But the woman’s still there in the office. “Could you give us a minute, please?”

“Sure,” the woman—Jenn, Mulder told her on the plane—says with a nod.

Scully steps closer to the desk, butterflies in her stomach. Jenn isn’t moving, and it’s making her annoyed, quite frankly. “Like, today?” she says, turning around, but the black-haired woman is nowhere to be found, not even in the annex. Scully turns back to her partner, extremely confused. “Where the hell’d she go?”

Mulder childishly imitates a genie disappearing and she feels the sudden urge to laugh at the thought that this man is the father of her child. “No...” she says, softening the guffaw trying to escape to a scoff-laugh. “It’s gotta—” She scoffs for real this time. “It’s gotta be hypnotism, or—or mesmerism, or something.”

And thus begins the verbal sparring. As he lists all the things he wants for the world, Scully thinks, again, of how this is the father of her child. Something suspiciously soft is trying to emerge from her heart as she responds, and she’s a coward to boot, so she leaves without telling him. Driving back to her apartment, Scully feels guilty at how little effort she put into trying to break the news to Mulder. She just—she doesn’t know what to make of the news herself, let alone how to explain it to him.

An hour into The Exorcist, hugging a pillow as she wishes Mulder was watching it with her, the phone rings. “Scully, do you wanna come over and watch a movie? I’ve got your favorite popcorn...”

She grins. “Of course. I’ll bring the drinks.”

—

They’ve both changed their clothes for the movie night, and when Mulder opens the door, they’re sporting matching grins. “Oh, zero alcohol content?” he faux complains, taking the case of six drinks into the kitchen. “Is this your punishment for me, Scully?”

She elects not to respond as she follows him and takes out the package of popcorn and a pot. “Can you grab the olive oil, Mulder?”

“Yeah, of course.” He puts four of the drinks in the fridge before reaching into one of the cabinets to grab the oil and put it on the counter next to the stove, which Scully’s turning it on.

“I’ll never understand why you won’t just microwave them. It’s faster.”

“Yeah, but if you do it in the pot, it tastes better,” she shoots back, opening the package and pouring the kernels into the pot.

“That’s just because of the oil.”

“Well, you can continue to eat shitty popcorn for the rest of your life if you want, but I’m going to eat my good popcorn.”

They turn to face each other as the kernels pop and hit the lid, a staring contest beginning. Scully wins when she licks her lips and distracts Mulder enough to get him to blink.

“Ha! I got you! I win!”

“That’s cheating!”

“I won!” she says in a sing-song voice, emptying the finished popcorn into the bowl.

Mulder shakes his head with a smile. “Why don’t you take the drinks and get comfortable. I’ll finish the popcorn.”

Scully nods and does as he suggests, but as she’s crossing into the living room, she pauses and turns around. “No butter, please,” she says, and he turns around with a scoop of butter in a bowl in his right hand, the handle of the microwave in the other.

“No... butter...?” She nods. “We always put butter on the popcorn, Scully.”

“Well, I don’t want butter this time,” she says, and makes her way to the couch, sitting down and placing the drinks on the coffee table. She hears Mulder sigh heavily and put the bowl of butter in the fridge before making his way to the living room, bowl of popcorn in hand.

He shakes his head as he grabs the movie case from the table and inserts it into the player. “Can’t believe you don’t want butter on your popcorn. Eugh. It’s un-American.” He steps around the table and sits down next to Scully.

She takes the case from where he left it and makes a face. “Caddyshack, Mulder?” she questions.

“It’s a classic American movie,” he insists, grabbing his drink and propping his feet up.

“That’s what every guy says.” Scully grabs her own and untwists the cap, tossing it onto the table. Mulder does the same, but his bounces off onto the floor, and she laughs into the bottle. “So, uh... What’s the occasion?” she asks, as if they still take the justifying movie nights thing seriously.

Last week’s was I thought you might need some help feeding your fish.

“I don’t know. Just felt like the thing to do. Cheers.”

Maybe it is time to turn over a new leaf, especially considering the baby growing inside her, cell by cell. They clink their bottles—“Cheers,” she says—and drink. Tell him, tell him, tell hi—

“I don’t know if you noticed, but I, um, never made the world a happier place.”

They nod together and Scully knows that this is the moment to tell him. She takes a deep breath. “Well, I’m fairly happy. That’s something.” A smile slides onto her face and she looks at him, a lot more than fairly happy now. “Actually, I’m ecstatic.” She gives a little laugh and reaches into her pocket for the piece of paper she’d stared at for hours earlier.

“Really? Is there a specific reason, or...?”

Scully pulls the paper out and looks at the blue highlighted text on the portion of the paper that’s not folded back for a moment before handing it to Mulder. “That’s why,” she says, voice trembling a little out of happiness.

She watches his face as the words sink in. He reads it again, murmuring, “Diagnosis: pregnancy (3.5 weeks),” as he does so, a grin spreading across his lips. “Scully...”

“I know,” she says, setting her bottle on the table, and before Mulder can say anything else, she cups his cheeks and kisses him, unwilling to fight the urge.

“Scully, this is wonderful!” He laughs joyously and kisses her again, setting the paper and his drink on the table. “I’m so happy.” He brings her into his embrace and buries his face in her shoulder for a long moment, both of them starting to cry. He suddenly pulls away and puts his hand on her abdomen under her shirt, his other arm still wrapped around Scully.

“I love you,” she tells him.

“I love you, too,” he replies.

[annaofthenorthernlights]

All you need is love... actually

Fanfiction Frozen modern AU, Disney crossover (my first go)

Pairing: Kristoff/Anna (main), Sven/Honeymaren, Mathias/Halima, Ryder/Merida

Rated M (for some nudity)

I owe nothing but my headcanon - which is loosely based on the Christmas movie "Love actually"...

Hope you have fun!

Find the fic on AO3

Chapter 19 / 28

New horizons

One week later…

Elsa sat at the bus stop and studied the document in her hand.

Every once a while she glanced up when reading the lines got her excited and the prospect of a new beginning, a change of scenery, overwhelmed her with curiosity.

The letter had arrived a few days ago, and Elsa had not yet told Anna.

She glanced down at those lines which invited her into another world, to cross the horizon that she feared would remain the same for the rest of her life. Yes, she loved Arendelle and her home, and her job in this school. But what if she accepted the offer?

Excitement made her heartbeat accelerate and the thought alone was more than she could trust for now.

Elsa glanced up again and noticed the Taxicab parking at the road´s bend and the driver walking over to Halima´s flower shop. So, his name was Mathias she had learned from Anna. And the conversation of which her sister had told her came to her mind.

A few days ago, Anna had been over to buy another bunch of flowers for their kitchen table and had asked Halima about the mysterious daily encounter with Mr. Charming. But Halima was all matter of fact about the situation that Mathias Guard was a widowed man a while already. Halima and he had known each other since young age, but then, Yelena North had come his way and knocked him off his feet about thirty years ago. Yelena was a fine lady and the two of them had been happily married. Only that the woman had died about a year ago due to severe cancer. Mathias was devastated and having a hard time. Daily visits to the graveyard, mostly after his working shifts helped him over the loss. And that´s why he came to her shop, to get some nice flowers and bring them his wife.

Anna had nearly cried when she told Elsa the touching story. She was very emotional when it came to life´s stories like that and Elsa mused that the complexity of difference in human hearts and minds were hard to understand.

Now, she wondered for how long this would go on and if Mathias was ever going to let go of his grieve…? But was he still grieving? He looked rather smiling when he saw Halima coming out of the shop. What if he did like her more than just like a friend? But it was none of her business.

Her bus arrived and Elsa packed her documents into her bag.

She had to think about her fears and doubts about facing a new horizon… to go into the unknown...

__________________________________

Merida stared at her mobile and gasped.

No! That could not be and please, please, noooooo….

She growled and ruffled a hand through her hair in frustration. She thought that her family had understood, well, that her mother had gotten the message that she was not at all into those stupid plans….

Grrrrrrr.... Just the thought of this gloomy prospect set her into a frenzy, and she almost began to hyperventilate....

Ryder had just entered the staff room to start on his shift in half an hour. Upon spotting the distressed girl, he hurried over to lay a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

He had seen Merida like this only once before. That had been after a wild quarrel about managing misbehaving passengers, when Merida had pushed that man to the wall telling him to shut up and then got scolded for her action. She had taken the report very badly… Okay, maybe she got a tendency to have a fit of a temper, but deep within she was the sweetest…

“Hey, Meri, are you alright?” he was one of the few people allowed to call her by that name. Next to her little brothers.

She let out a heavy sigh and glanced up at her good friend.

Ryder was such a dear. He was sweet, yet so tough when it came to handle those nasty people who could not follow the easiest rules. Merida wondered how he did this, but he could talk to people, and they followed his words and obeyed without arguing. And if they didn´t, he could get loud. She had not heard him get loud that many times, but oh man, if Ryder yelled at somebody, it was worth the watch!

Now, she grasped his shirt and stared into his eyes wildly.

“Hey Ryder! Want to run away with me?”

“What?!”

“I need to go. Anywhere, if only far enough to escape the doomed fate of my destroyed life.”

Her outburst was Shakespeare ripely but still confusing to the young man, who for one loved the thought of being alone with her but on the other hand, running away…? Why?!

“Why?!”

“That´s why!” And Merida held out her mobile under Ryder´s nose and he had difficulties making out the picture before him. A white dress, cut like some medieval time´s costume one would see on those ren-fair festivals.

“A costume?” He asked a bit dumbfounded.

“A wedding dress it is.” Merida yelled out and slammed down her phone onto the table and Ryder wondered why the device was not broken yet.

“Oh, nice. Who´s getting married then?” He still did not understand the connection between her frustration and the photo. .

“Me…” her voice was low now and she glanced down at the table, all colour drained from her lovely face.

Ryder felt his knees go numb and his stomach threatened to turn upside down. What?!.... He lowered himself onto the chair next to her and joined her in staring at the table.

“You never said a word about this.” He whispered still numb and in disbelief.

“Because I thought my mother would forget about that stupid idea. But I had not taken in account that once she´s got something on her mind she won´t have it any other way. She´s like a chieftain with boobs.”

“Uh?” Ryder raised an eyebrow and looked at her mouth agape.

Merida turned to face him, and it almost broke his heart when he noticed tears in her eyes.

“Our family, the Dunbrooks, are descendants of an old Highland´s clan the “Dunbroughs”. There is another family, that we have business with, the Macintosh´s, and my mother is determined that I should marry their eldest son. I have met him once and he is horrible. I mean, I don´t even know him but the thought alone that I am told what to do and who to spend the rest of my life with makes him horrible. It´s not even his fault. I even believe that he is not very happy, either.”

She bit her lips and turned her face back towards the table.

“My mother sent this picture, reminding me that I will have to come home soon to undergo the most important day of my life. She will be on her way over to Arendelle soon, to get me home personally.”

Ryder sat there in a daze.

“But Merida. What century is your family living. I mean, those times are long over, aren´t they? Where parents tell their children who to marry for business’ sake.”

Merida sighed and nodded thoughtfully.

“Yes. But my father is dependent on my mother´s advice. The business is her heritage and she´s the one with the saying. He was the one who fought for me that I could even come here to do some work to make my own living. I so wanted to do something that I could call my own success and not inheriting Mommy´s money.”

“But can´t you explain that you can´t marry that man?”

“I tried. But you have not met my mother. Even if I ran to the ends of the world, burying myself in the sand of Motonui´s island, she´d find me and drag me home. She says that´s family ties and loving your family means doing what´s best for them. And the connection to the Macintosh´s must be incredibly good I fear.”

“I understand that so far. But if that other guy does not want to marry you either, why can´t business get into contract as such and not getting you kids involved?”

Merida squared her shoulders, lifted her head, and faced her friend with a solemn expression which was hard to define if she was proud or suffering of it.

“Highland traditions.”

______

Note: Sorry… but hang on… there might a solution…

[nataliedanovelist]

GF & MvsM - Wanna Talk About Dinos?

This crossover was inevitable. It just works too well. Maybe one day i’ll write a fic about how the folks at Gravity Falls handled the robot-apocalypse. Probably shrugged it off. “Eh. We’ve had worse.” Haha! What if Stan and Ford, cuz they were out sailing, had no clue what happened and when they came back they were like, “Wait, what?”

For now, please enjoy this fic of Aaron making a new friend...

(credit goes to @stephreynaart for her OC Jacob) ~~~~~~~~~~ “Hi, would you like to talk to me about dinosaurs?”

Aaron asked this question more times than he could keep track of, but that wasn’t going to stop him from asking it. It started as a dare from his big sister two years ago, but now it’s a fun hobby. When fifth grade isn’t overwhelming him, scaring him with mountains of homework and horror stories about how hard middle school is going to be, and when he’s run out of YouTube videos to catch up on, he is on the hunt for fellow giant-lizard-lovers like a hungry Ceratosaurus.

“No, okay bye.” But it did get a little tiring to always cross out names and phone-numbers on the phone book with red ink. Hey, a dinosaur of a way to find phone-numbers was appropriate. He read the next number, dialed it, and after a ring or two he asked, “How would you like to talk with me about dinosaurs? No, okay thank you.”

Aaron crossed out another name and sighed, taking a break since he reached the end of a line of numbers. Maybe he should just be grateful for Abbey and accept that no one else wants to talk about the Jurassic Period. Or the Cretaceous Period. Or the Triassic Period. But then a big, old, gray-tinted ad distracted him. He grinned, thinking it would at least be fun to give them a call, and he dialed the number.

Private home phone-numbers were fun, but businesses were also fun! Poor, bored workers would gladly talk to him rather than crabby Karens, and they got paid for it! So Aaron smiled as the phone rang, and he grinned when someone picked up.

“Thanks for calling the Mystery Shack, you’re talking to Mr. Mystery himself! How may I befuddle or bewilder you?”

“Hi! How would you like to talk with me about dinosaurs?”

“Oh, dude! I’d love to, but I’m scheduled for a tour of the Oddity Museum in three minutes.” The man said, and Aaron grinned continuously, because it sounded like Mr. Mystery really wanted to talk with him about dinosaurs. “But hey! Can you hold on for one minute, I think I know a guy!”

“Yeah, sure mister!” And Aaron was greeted by the sound of a catchy jingle about buying t-shirts and mugs and snowglobes. He smiled and wiggled his feet along to the music as he looked outside at the beautiful late-fall afternoon, entertained while he waited.

~~~~~~~~~~

Soos was on the hunt. He planned out the house in his head. Abuelita was taking a nap upstairs, Melody was organizing the upcoming tour, and Stan took Jacob out for ice cream, so he might be…

The owner of the Shack grinned when he stopped at the doorway and saw the man he was looking for, sitting in Stan’s chair, reading a book.

“Uncle Ford!”

The old sailor smiled up at the young man. “Yes, wh-...”

“Do you think you could answer the phone for me? I have a tour and I think this customer’s request is right up your alley.”

“Uh… sure, but w-...”

“Thanks, you’re the best!” And Soos was gone before he could address Ford’s confusion.

Ford was a bit lost, having little to no business with business, but he had learned at this point to trust Soos, so he picked up the phone beside him and was immediately greeted with a sweet, “How would you like to talk with me about dinosaurs?”

Ford grinned and closed his book. “I would love to! All three periods are equally as fascinating to study, but the Triassic contains some of my favorite dinosaurs!”

A young voice gasped on the other line. “Mine, too! Everyone thinks the Jurassic period is so great, and it’s pretty cool, but the Triassic gave us Plateosaurus and the Brachiosaurus!”

“That’s very true! You know, it’s very interesting, maybe depictions don’t include feathers at all, which is a bit frustrating, but perhaps after the news has spread they will incorporate more feathers on merchandise and textbooks.”

“YES! That’s what I wanna do when I grow up, help draw better-accurate dinosaurs!”

~~~~~~~~~~

The phone rang on Sunday. The Shack was closed today, so Stan lazily answered it and was greeted with, “Wanna talk about dinosaurs?”

“Sixer, phone for you!”

Ford ran into the living room, elbowed his twin out of the chair, and took the phone. “Hello again, Aaron! Now, where were we? Right, so Australopithecus. … No, I don’t think… Oh! No, homo habilis was erect, Australopithecus was never fully erect.”

“Maybe he was nervous.” Stan groaned, getting to his feet.

Ford shot him a look as thankfully the young boy on the other end didn’t catch that and happily shared some more fun-facts about homo habilis.

~~~~~~~~~~

While most college students were excited for Spring Break so they could get drunk or lose their virginity, Katie was excited because her family had planned a special secret roadtrip. She was careful to keep up with her family and talk to her parents and brother frequently, but Aaron had a hobby he wasn’t talking about that his parents found out and were thrilled about. Aaron had made another friend.

Rick and Katie did some research and the tourist attraction sounded right up their alley! In the middle of the woods, tons of weird stuff, and a fun roadtrip filled with diners and attractions. They decided to surprise Aaron, and they made up a lie that they would spend Spring Break in California with Katie so she could show her family around San Francisco, when in actuality they would be traveling up the state to the Redwood Highway and see the oddity place, and maybe even allow Aaron to meet his new pen-pal. Or, um, phone-pal.

So after bombarding Katie with hugs the Mitchells threw her luggage into the car and drove off. Aaron turned to Katie and excitingly asked, “So where are we going first? Can we go fix the Golden Gate bridge by painting it gold?”

Katie laughed and ruffled his hair. “Maybe later, right now I wanna show you guys this fun store right outside of town. Here, check out the videos I made for my classes!” And she pulled out some airpods and gave one to Aaron.

“Cool!”

Rick and Linda smirked at each other as they drove north. By the time they reached a little diner in Redding, CA, it was very clear to Aaron that they weren’t in San Francisco anymore. “Come on, just tell me where we’re going!” The boy begged as he fed Monchi a fry.

“The best kind of prizes are the surprises.” Linda quoted.

“Eric, Deborahbot5000, where are we going?”

“Sorry, Aaron, we cannot give that information.” Eric said, he and the other robot sitting politely in their seats, happy to be a part of the social interaction.

“Yes, Mother will bury us if we disobey.” Deborahbot said matter-of-factly.

“What?! No I won’t, sweeties.”

“Won’t you ground us?”

The family laughed and Aaron let the topic go; if he was honest, he loved a good surprise. The big family stopped in a motel just at the California-Oregon border, and the next morning after muffins and coffee and orange juice they were on the road again, passing dozens of trees that made Rick feel at home. Katie happily recorded the trip, trusted to be the documenter for another fun roadtrip, with hopefully not as much mortal peril.

Aaron watched as they left the highway for a simple road, and they passed a big sign. The boy gasped and caught what was happening. “No WAY! Really?!”

“You know, I hear this Mystery Shack even has a Sasquatch.” Rick commented while Linda pulled out a pamphlet from the glove box.

“It says here it’s full of odd things you’ll never see anywhere else, even a dinosaur footprint…”

“Wasn’t there a rumor of there being a Bottomless Pit?” Katie asked, pointing her camera at Aaron to get his reaction.

“Thank you thank you THANK YOU!!!” Aaron cheered, hugging his Dad’s neck and kissing his Mom’s cheek.

“Hey, no worries, buddy.” Rick eased, fixing his shewed glasses. “We wanted to see this place, too!”

“Why don’t we eat a quick lunch and then we’ll take the backroad for the attraction? There’s a coupon in here for a diner made from a giant log!”

And so after being served by a pretty blonde teenager at Greasy’s, they drove through town to get to the backroad. Signs made them confident that they were going the correct way, as well as Eric and Deborahbot5000’s GPS. Then as they turned a corner, a big triangle-shaped building came into view. Aaron grinned at the giant sign with a missing letter. People were already leaving, arms full of souvenirs and one or two already wearing their new hats or t-shirts. Once Rick parked in the Free Parking Lot, Aaron spilled out of the car and ran for the shack, but he stopped.

Katie caught up to him and patted his back. “You cool, man?”

Aaron shrugged, holding his hands in front of him and his shoulders up to hide his face a bit. “I-I dunno… What if… What if he doesn’t like me?”

“Hey, I get it.” Katie admitted. “When I first met my friends I was really nervous. I had talked to them online for weeks and I was worried it wasn’t gonna be what it was all cracked up to be, but it was. Your system worked! You found another dino-lover! You earned this moment. Just take in a deep breath and be yourself, cuz you’re a pretty cool dude.”

Aaron smiled up at his big sister. “Thanks.”

Trusting Eric and Deborahbot5000 to watch Monchi and make sure he used the bathroom, the Mitchells went inside the shack. On the porch there was an ice cooler, a sign reading schedule times for tours of the Oddity Museum, a Help Wanted sign, and two rocking chairs with a game of checkers between them.

Inside the store a few customers filled up the gift shop, alongside t-shirts, snowglobes, a vending machine, a door beside ti that read Employees Only, a bookshelf full of comic on one side and old newspapers claiming alien sightings on the other, a fish tank holding a monkey-mermaid, and barrels full of spaceship keychains and dino claws. A new section called Camping Stuff caught Rick’s eye, selling backpacks, lanterns, flashlights, batteries, canteens, and compasses. Katie opened a comic called Lil’Stanley and laughed at the swears, taking a pic and sending it to her friends’ group chat. Linda looked into the barrel full of patches and grinned at all the fun designs, while Aaron stared happily at the mer-monkey.

The Employees Only door opened and closed and Rick watched as a man in a suit, fez, and eyepatch walked up to the lady at the register and kissed her cheek. The woman smiled lovingly and left while the guy who resembled a gopher checked a customer out. Rick waited until the buyer left to approach the register, leaning an arm on the counter.

“Welcome to the Mystery Shack, dude!”

“Thanks! So, this is gonna sound weird, but my son Aaron talks to a guy here about dinosaurs…”

“No way!” The owner interrupted excitedly. “Good to see you, dudes! I’m Mr. Mystery! Wow, you guys came a long way, huh?”

“Nah, only from California. My daughter is attending art school there.”

While the men chit-chatted and Linda joined them, Katie noticed a guy walking up to Aaron and looking at the mer-monkey. She smiled and tried to read the comic without being too nosy, but she kept her senses on her brother.

“Hm, quite fascinating, isn’t it?” The man in the blue hoodie said. “But I think my favorite is the fossilized footprint. Could be Nanuqsaurus hoglundi.”

“The Polar Bear Lizard?” Aaron clarified, touching his chin as he looked at the dino-print, his back to the man he was talking to. “Maybe, but they’re from Alaska. It’s possible plate tectonics did cause some fossils to be relocated here, but it could also be a Nanotyrannosaurus lancensis footprint.”

“The Dwarf Tyrant? Could very well be. Would you like to talk about dinosaurs after your tour?”

Aaron’s eyes widened as the voice was finally familiar to him. He turned and looked up to find an old man smiling up at him. He had fluffy gray hair with a white stripe running around his scalp, wrinkles by his eyes due to smiling, a cleft chin, glasses, and wore a blue hoodie with a maroon sweater underneath. His hands were behind his back and he smiled down at Aaron warmly, while the boy was jittery and overly-excited. He took in a sharp breath and had to fight every muscle to keep from leaping through the screen door. 

“H-H-Hi…” He peeped. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Y-Yeah, sure! I’d love to! I’m Aaron! Er, wait, you already knew that.” And he held out a hand to shake.

His phone-pal, Ford, chuckled and got on one knee to be eye-level. “Greeting, Aaron! It’s nice to formally meet you.”

Aaron shook his hand and noticed something. He had six fingers on his right hand. A quick glance told Aaron he also had six fingers on his left hand. Aaron grinned with sparkling eyes at his new friend, while the old sailor smiled warmly at the boy that reminds him of his niece and nephew when they were young.

[mementomori-demimonde]

Old Wounds

Hidden Scars: I - II - III - IV - V - VI - VII - VIII - IX - X - XI.1 / XI.2 XII - XIII - XIV - XV - XVI - XVII - XVIII - XIX - XX

Bonus Chapter (21):

Three years ago, you broke up with Miranda.

Or, to better say, three years ago, Miranda broke up with you.

After escaping Victor’s grasp and embarking on the flight headed to England, Miranda thought it was best for the two of you to be constantly moving around.

She easily procured fake IDs and documents and, as Mrs. & Mrs. O’Brien (so lame that you loved it), you checked in the most expensive hotels and made a mess of the room, only to be off the next day. Every bill was paid and the staff generously tipped, even though the money didn’t certainly come from your pockets as you didn’t have any: you found out it was fairly easy to transfer money around and trick the systems; at least all those hacking software lessons had proven useful, though you weren’t up to anything illegal - it was a matter of survivance, that was what you told yourself. 

Life was wild and exciting, every morning you were someone slightly different while remaining the same, every night you got lost in the scent of her, only to be woken up by her fingers exploring your body.

Miranda was never satiated. And while it was only a matter of sex, before, there was something addicting, now, that flickered between the two of you.

It was something you thought was unbreakable. Something so rare to be born in such a hostile condition that it would be so hard to kill that nobody would even try to.

You thought.

Miranda lit up the day you reached Glasgow.

You could see her eyes gleaming, you could see her sharp fangs shining at the pale light of the sun as she dragged you around, showing you this and that, telling you about her childhood while turning a child herself, innocent and carefree and happy enough to be pulling you in and kiss you in the middle of the road.

You stayed in Glasgow for five months after that, because she thought you were both safe.

You decided to rent a small apartment next to the theater because, apparently, Miranda loved the theatre and you loved discovering things about her just as much as you loved watching her glow as she watched the show and the people acting or the orchestra playing.

You even convinced her to take yoga classes and, except for a couple of smashed glasses when she thought a waiter was ogling you, and an exploded pillow when her football team lost to the rigors, she seemed to have learned how to manage her anger pretty well.

Even her part-time job as a dog-sitter helped her keep her calmness, even to balance with the frustration she would accumulate during her other job as a consultant; of what, you never worked it out completely, you simply knew it was something to do with finance, probably internationally. Miranda didn’t like to talk about it excessively - the pay was good, she seemed satisfied with it - so you let her be.

As for you, when the first opportunity came out, you accepted it right away: as a receptionist of a luxury hotel, you had a fair amount of working hours, perfectly timed with Miranda, and you were able to bake breakfast for the both of you, pack your lunch boxes and be back before her to prepare dinner when Miranda didn’t surprise you, instead, with some take out and a lit candle.

She uncovered a nice, unexpected side of her, but sometimes she still was the scary old Miranda, even when it wasn’t necessary, to your opinion.

Whenever she acted bad, you served her a banana on a plate instead of a nice dinner you baked, to commemorate the first meal she had you eat. Miranda would pout, eat the banana in silence, and ask for forgiveness between the freshly cleaned sheets. This worked the other way around too, of course, with the exception that she enjoyed herself a little too much, sometimes, prolonging the punishment to something more than just a banana for dinner. Either way, everything was solved in bed. Not that you complained about this method, of course.

You thought you couldn’t be happier; but you thought you could never be any less happy either, and, of course, you were wrong.

It was a casual question you blurted out without much thought.

One night, you were watching a cheesy movie on tv, just for the fun of hearing her complain while she had her legs slung over yours, silently demanding for cuddles she would never admit to be requesting. As the couple on the screen kissed and cried happily, you said “have you ever thought about marriage?”

Miranda froze. You tried to explain that it meant nothing in particular, it was just conversation, but something in her eyes had changed.

She never answered the question.

Days went by and you could tell that something had painfully shifted between the two of you.

You tried to take it back, make her forget with some rough nights, just like she used to like it, but nothing worked.

Miranda wasn’t the same.

And then, one morning she was simply gone, without a single explanation. 

After twelve days of waiting, you made peace with yourself that Miranda wouldn’t be coming back.

You started to hate everything you loved so quickly that even going out in the streets and hearing all those people talking Scottish made you sick, so taking the next decision wasn’t too hard, after all: you told Cecilia to mind the tabby cat Miranda pulled out a stray dog’s jaws and brought home for you to heal, vacated the apartment hotfoot and accepted the job as head manager of the hotel subsidiary in Rome, Italy.

 After a few weeks, you realized the change was exactly what you needed: Rome was amazing, you like the people and, most of all, the food. You even decided to join a gym so you could keep eating the delicious meals the hotel chef cooked for the staff and when the weather was good, you went for a run, early in the morning, enjoying the sight of the city lazily waking up. Late in the night, before going to bed, you would flick your tear-drop-shaped dagger and put it in the top drawer in the nightstand, only to wear it the next day, because now you felt naked without its cold blade pressing against your leg. You dropped the habit of wearing it on your thigh - it wasn’t practical with your work attire - but strapped to your calf or pocketed inside your boot. You hated yourself for it, but it couldn’t be helped. You tried to convince yourself it was just in case you had to defend yourself - it was sensible since you had to walk by yourself most of the time.

All things considered, you fit in well.

Your apartment is good, with a nice view on the Tevere, the pay is almost double the one in Glasgow and you can allow yourself some treats, from time to time, whenever you feel too blue to stay in the apartment by yourself.

You contemplated the idea of getting a pet for a time, but you decided against it since that too would awaken sour thoughts.

You tried to date for a while, but nobody was enough.

Nobody compared to her.

Despite everything Miranda did to you, her memory was latched to your brain like a plague.

It still is.

Sometimes, only some heavy drinking can get her out of your head.

 You weren’t on duty tonight, and while you’re coming back from a peaceful stroll, your colleague calls: there has been a great fuss in the hotel; he tells you about ambulances and police cars hurrying with the sirens blaring to arrest some psycho that attacked a woman in her room. A guy was shot, but you don’t register much about the events, nor do you ask for further information, eager to drop the argument and avoid some unpleasant memories rising in your mind. Guns, people attacking other people, blood… It’s all in the past.

Hurrying up the stairs and fishing in your purse for the keys, you barely notice that the door lock is slightly scratched.

You don’t pay attention to it, nor the way your key slides inside the hole, until you step inside your home, pawing at the switch, and the light doesn’t work.

Immediately, all your senses turn on, your eyes struggle to adjust to the darkness, your ears eager to capture the smallest sound.

It’s the hair on the back of your neck that puts you in alarm. Rising for an imperceptible breath of wind, they notify of the imminent danger.

The next thing you feel is a strong arm wrapped around your throat, and a warm body pressed against your back.

The attacker clearly knows what they’re doing, but you do too.

Everything she taught you is stuck in your brain, branded on your bones.

In a flash, you lift your dominant leg just enough to grab the knife.

You plunge it into your attacker’s thigh without hesitation.

She - it’s a she - grunts in anger.

The hold of her elbow softens, her arm slides from your neck, her body moves abruptly from yours as she limps away, leaving you alone and scared, but in complete control of yourself.

“My, my. I am getting sloppy.” The voice sends chills down your spine. It’s warm, it’s smug, almost amused, and familiar. Terribly familiar.

Your heart, despite yourself, throbs painfully.

You open your mouth to speak, but nothing comes from your lips.

“Good.” She says, “very good, m’eudail.”

Whatever doubt you might’ve had, now it’s completely gone. It’s not your mind playing tricks, associating a familiar event with a lost person, this is happening for real. Running away from England to another country, taking a new name, a new identity, rebuilding your life almost from zero has served you nothing: she still has found you.

“Miranda?”

Three years.

Three years you haven’t heard from this woman.

Three years you’ve tried to push it out of your head.

Three years of pretending it was just a nightmare.

Three years and she’s back as if it’s nothing, standing in your apartment like she owns the place. She does, in a way. Miranda still owns you, in the first place, whether you like it or not: it’s not your choice to make. Until Miranda decides to let you go, you’re hers. It’s inevitable. And you know, you feel it in your guts, that Miranda will never let you go.

Some exchange rings, some jump over an old broom; your ‘until death do us part’ was a carving in the shape of an M - not on wood or marble, but on flesh - and you wonder how could she be so scared of marriage in the first place if she, too, has made a promise for life.

She comes into the light pouring in from the windows: it’s sunset, and the streetlight has just been lightened up.

Like it’s no big deal, you watch her bend down and wrap her fingers around the handle of the knife and, with a quick motion, she pulls it out from her wounded flesh with minimum bleeding.

With a wince, you notice that her trousers are already stained with dried blood, mixing with the fresh one.

She straightens her back and bares her teeth into a crooked smile, her split lip glistening with droplets of crimson. It looks painful. She doesn’t seem to mind one bit. Her cheekbone is blooming with blue and purple, her throat bears a sore line around. Miranda wears her bruises as if it was makeup, proud and confident. And, oh, so beautiful like the night before she left.

You can’t help but feel concerned, which only adds to your frustration: you shouldn’t care about her, you shouldn’t feel so strongly about the blood running down her chin - she probably deserves it, and more - but you do care.

You watch her, powerless, as she stumbles toward the couch and lets herself fall unceremoniously on top of it, grunting as her bruised body slackens against the soft pillows. Her shirt is stained as well, her knuckles scraped.

“You’re beaten up.” You dumbly point out.

She lets out a dark chuckle and lolls her head back. Your eyes are drawn to the rhythmic movements of her throat as she swallows. You can almost taste the iron inside your own mouth - how many times she’s kissed you after a training session, how many times your sweat mingled with hers when you wondered if you were fighting or fucking.

It all felt so long ago and, still, it hurt like it was yesterday.

“Tried my best, but you can’t expect the featherweight to win against the heavyweight without a significantly favorable weapon. He was just a bigger psycho than me: came out on top, in the end.” Miranda murmurs, a smug expression deforming her features. “Victor, on the other hand-”

The name has your head spinning. His ugly mouse-face comes to visit on the blurry surface of your mirror every time you shower, the rough lines crossing your back are a distant yet a painful reminder of those days of imprisonment, confined in that small room with Miranda, uncovering her past, her job, her boss and his despicable ways. Those marks hurt, but not as much as it hurts the one on your left shoulder - not until now.

“You’ve gone back to work for him?”

After all you’ve been through, after all the pain he inflicted, after she promised to have him killed because he took it out on you, Miranda decided to still work with him. Betrayal didn’t even compare to what you felt.

How many things can change in three years? You lived a lifetime in two months, since Miranda kidnapped you. Three years, right now, are an eternity.

Miranda’s smile drops. Her blue eyes wander aimlessly around the room, stopping in a dark corner. They aren’t focused, but it’s easy for you to see the regret blaring in her lost gaze.

“It was what I am,” Miranda murmurs, her voice emotionless, “it was the only thing I knew.”

There’s a pregnant silence between the two of you. It feels like forever before you move your first step toward the couch, your gaze fixed on her as if you were trying to control a snake about to snap its vicious attack.

You know Miranda won’t move, not to attack you anyway, but you’re cautious when you speak.

“You’re talking in the past tense.”

“He’s dead now.” Miranda breathes out heavily. Her voice almost overlaps yours, as if she’s completely zoned out, not listening at all, unaware of her surroundings, as impossible as it seems. “I killed him, gave him what he deserved.”

The sheepish look she gives you is the sparkle that lits your flame. It doesn’t matter if Victor is dead now, the memories still haunt your dreams, and Miranda has gone back to work for him.

You feel cheated on, betrayed, and you still don’t know what she wants from you. Frustration builds up from within until you feel like exploding.

You would smack her and shake her by her shoulders if she wasn’t so bruised - and if she’d let you, of course, before succumbing to her strong arms and be stopped by force.

“Miranda, why are you here?” You would ask her to leave, tell her you can’t stand her sight… if only that was true. Angered beyond words by her persistent silence, you walk to her with heavy steps, until you’re in front of her, for the first time, towering her small figure on the couch. She looks frail, harmless, submissive, but you know she’s not any of those things. “Miranda-”

“Shut up.”

You don’t know how she’s managed that - if she’s pulled you down by the collar of your shirt, or hooked her fingers in your belt, or even hit the back of your knees with her foot - but you’re falling right onto her, like the controlled destruction of a building, collapsing right where the demolition expert planned. You try to catch yourself with one hand on either side of her head, fingers clawing the soft pad of the back cushion, even if it’s not necessary: of course, Miranda has caught you first.

Although ‘catch’ is not entirely correct. Her greedy fingers are grabbing your head, pulling more than supporting, and before you can realize what’s happening, her lips are on your mouth.

Oh, God, how much you missed her.

It’s not a nostalgic kiss, she’s not asking for forgiveness or awakening long-lost memories. Her lips are urgent, almost aggressive.

It’s like those three years never went by, as if a lot of things never happened: this one isn’t Miranda, but the mysterious woman who kidnapped you in the alley; she’s back to that unhinged creature that tortured you in the most pleasant ways, who turned a cage into paradoxical heaven where wrong was right and the pain was pleasure.

Too easily you fall back into the addicting spiral that bound you to her. You’re completely at her mercy, once again, with no power nor will to pull yourself out of it. Despite everything, you want more of her kisses, you want more of her touches, you want more of her, no matter if she’s rough or brutal - something of Miranda is still better than nothing.

Hungry hands travel fast from your face to your neck and, for a moment, you prepare to hold your breath thinking she will wrap her fingers around your throat to have you squirm in her lap, desperate for air, just to assert her total control, but you’re wrong. Miranda doesn’t stop: she paws possessively at your breasts, teasing your nipples through the coarse fabric - you hate a little how your body seems to react regardless of your mind, answering to her touch in all the right ways.

You always take minutes to remove your uniform, Miranda hasn’t taken more than one to leave you in your undergarments, confused and wondering if you were actually wearing something before she claimed ownership over you and your body, like always, like she was entitled since the beginning.

Her mouth travels fast, in tow, she nibbles and lavishes, sending electric sparks to your core.

You don’t dare speak, afraid that the spell will break, that you’ll wake up from a dream even though you don’t remember falling asleep, even if it feels real, so real, almost too real that you can’t bring yourself to renounce it.

The tip of her nose tickles the valley of your breasts when she kisses her way down your stomach and belly, her nails scratch dully at the small of your back, pulling your knickers down in one move.

You’ve never noticed how chill your apartment can be. Or maybe you’ve never been so hot before, within these walls.

Her mouth knows exactly where to tease you, her tongue touches all the right places and only in the right ways. Her body remembers everything, and at the same time, it feels new. She tastes you, pursuing the depths of you, almost as if she wants to drown right there and then.

Bare and vulnerable, you don’t even perceive the typical powering position on top of her; Miranda is always on top, also when she’s not.

You can only arch over her as she draws a hurried orgasm out of you, leaving you raw and trembling, your mind spiraling from contentment, nostalgia, and a deep sense of guilt and then back again, when her tongue doesn’t stop until she isn’t satisfied with a second climax, and a third.

It’s easy to lose count when Miranda is having her way. It’s easy to get lost and losing track of time and of yourself, it’s easy to set aside everything to chase her with your hips, desperate for everything and in everything.

She doesn’t allow you to catch your breath when she’s done. You barely catch a glimpse of her when she pulls away, working her jaw to relieve the soreness that has surely set in her muscles, but her eyes are elusive, disappointing you when you hoped to look at her and find the woman you know.

It’s just another confirmation that she is still somewhere else, at least in spirit.

You’ve learned to know her strength, despite her petite size, and yet you can’t prevent the surprised gasp that escapes your mouth when she pushes you off of her and into the couch on your front, so fast that you gape at the pillow below.

You struggle to adjust your head and tilt it to the side when you feel her climb on your thighs, her ripped legs grabbing yours with vicious force when she lowers herself, and despite being fully clothed, you can feel the heat from her core right below your bottom, where she sits.

You swallow in anticipation, shiver when her nails rake at your skin, and then, then everything stops. She pauses.

You feel all the tension leave the room like the fog lifting from the streets.

Her legs are looser when she shifts lower on your thighs, her hands are softer when she glides her fingers up the small of your back and they linger, for a moment too long, across your shoulder blades.

You want to say something, even say her name again, listen to your own voice calling Miranda while still striving to breathe, wearied by the pleasure her skilled tongue has brought you. But as soon as you take a small breath to speak, a startling weight on your back knocks the air out of your lungs.

You take a moment to comprehend that Miranda has leaned on the top of you, her chest rises and falls rhythmically against your back, her breath tickles your left shoulder and you blink at the fact that her cheek is probably resting on her carved initial, and not just by chance.

You mentally count three seconds in, three seconds out. Her warm breath sends shivers down your spine.

“Had to find you.”

It’s a murmur, barely a whisper, so small you even doubt you heard it for real or just in your head.

“What?”

You try to squirm from below, eager to watch her face, read in her eyes if she’s making fun of you in the cruelest of ways or not. Her voice has tricked you on many occasions… or not. Maybe it was her eyes. Maybe it’s better for both of you if you can’t cage into each other’s eyes.

You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding, relax your muscles, stop your hands from scrambling in the purchase of a steady surface to push yourself up and Miranda off of you.

It’s better this way: she won’t talk, otherwise.

“Thought I could do it.” She sighs, her lips move on your skin, leaving a moist halo around her lips. “Thing is… that I could.”

“You’re talking about-”

“Glasgow.” She snaps. You feel her clenching her jaw tight. “When we lived together.”

“You’re scared that you could live normally?”

Silence.

“You don’t understand.” She huffs. “People like me can’t usually walk away whenever they please and forget about their pasts.”

“But you did.” You retort. “We were fine.”

Miranda chuckles. It’s a bittersweet one, and it ends quickly.

 “I was doing fine before you came.” She clarifies. It clarifies nothing, but you don’t dare to interrupt, fearing she’ll just walk away for good. “There’s a reason why so many have failed. No one was able to ruin me while I ruined them. No one was you.”

You can breathe easily now that Miranda has rolled off of you.

You turn to your side quickly, eager to follow her with your eyes and make sure she won’t take the door and never come back after such a declaration. Rare have been the times you’ve heard Miranda talk in such ways and you can only imagine what is the prelude for: something fatally bad, or something impossibly good.

In the forced darkness of your apartment, the blue of her eyes glows at the dim reflection of the streetlights.

Her voice echoes in your head.

When you initiate the kiss you’re surprised she doesn’t pull back. She doesn’t even complain. She doesn’t grab your face or the back of your neck, she doesn’t claim the lead.

It’s startling, and it’s a foreign sensation you’re not used to, at all.

You barely register the soft rustle of fabric as you chase her taste and mingle it with yours.

And then finally you feel her hands on yours, her slender fingers reaching for yours and sliding almost perfectly in between, like pieces of a puzzle.

She swallows your breathy moan.

You haven’t expected your hands to be drawn closer to the warmth of her body. She lets her fingers move to your wrists, she lets them loop around the protruding bone there - she doesn’t squeeze, she doesn’t pull nor push - leaving your pads free to roam over her stomach, through the small crack of her shirt, gliding over the taut skin of her abdomen. You feel new bumps, new scars perhaps.

She squirms when you push a little too hard against her hip bone.

Or, maybe, she doesn’t exactly squirm.

You feel her adjust, raising her pelvis off the couch, but not to ease discomfort.

Your fingertips slip easily beyond the band of her high-waist trousers.

Miranda doesn’t move.

She’s even stopped the kiss, letting you decide.

It’s an open invitation - a request, perhaps - to touch her, properly, like you’ve been asking, for weeks, silently, before you decided to voice your thoughts and your feelings. 

Everything went downhill from there.

Your breath catches, the long-awaited moment feeling so terrifying, now, that you can’t bring yourself to just stop thinking and follow your guts, your innermost desires, to claim what has been denied to you for so long.

Miranda wouldn’t have hesitated. She didn’t hesitate to take when she wanted and could.

Thing is, you’re not her.

You pull away from her in a blink, your fingers tingle with unsatisfied electricity when you hide your face in your hands.

“Miranda.” You growl. Your voice comes out muffled from behind your palms. You’d want to yell at her, berate her, but it only comes out desperate, you sound on the verge of crying. Maybe you are. “What are you doing?”

Her hands are touching your wrists again. She’s gentle. More than she’s ever been. She forces you to unpeel your hands from your face.

In the dim light from the streetlights, her eyes shine again. They seem full of unshed tears, but you don’t want to fool yourself with dull illusions that don’t belong, with every possibility, to either of you.

Miranda doesn’t talk. You know it, you can see it, there’s a whole universe of things she’s dying to say, and still… she doesn’t speak.

You let out a shaky breath, sit lower on her legs, your gazes locked.

“Miranda, what’s your point?” You try again, softer this time.

She opens her mouth to speak then, only to close it soon after with a frustrated sigh.

You can’t endure more of it. You’re too spent to keep playing.

Miranda speaks only when you push yourself off of her, trying to stand up.

“My point is- I’m done.” She huffs out a disbelieving chuckle as if it’s the first time she’s told that, to herself even; the first time she’s truly grasped the idea and made it final. “I’ve got tons of money now and I can leave it all behind.”

“Miranda-”

“We can leave it all behind.” She corrects. One of her hands slithers to the small of your back, pushing you down to keep you near. It’s confident but for the first time, somehow, it’s not possessive. “Start over, for real.”

You swallow a mouthful of sand. Your head is spinning. You even wonder if something has possessed Miranda’s body and has turned her into some normal person who is actually repentant and is willing to start over.

How much can a person change in three years? Does it also apply to Miranda? The rules of mortals apply to such mysterious creatures like her?

You’re about to ask for a moment when you hear a distinct mew.

“What the fuck-” You startle, snapping your head toward the kitchen. It’s hard to see, but there’s definitely something on the counter. A box, maybe a crate. With something furry poking out. “You brought the cat?!”

Miranda’s lips are crooked into a sheepish smile when you look back at her.

“Please?” She whispers. Her voice is velvety against your lips, so close you could answer with a kiss. “What do you say?”

Maybe you will answer with a kiss.

Maybe.

[batsandbugs]

Daminette December

A/N: Okay so this one spiraled out of control a little bit, but I’m so happy with how it turned out! Marinette and Damian back to being chaotic little shits, Marinette being understanding, and Damian going a little too far but finding the one person who doesn’t mind. Let me know what y’all think. Thanks @daminette-december2019-2020​

Daminette December Day 15 – Cats

If you had told Marinette back in May that by Christmas she would be living in the most crime-infested city in America going to college, working at a pet store that was most likely a front for the Russian mob, and trying to unravel a 300-year-old curse on said crime-infested-city…

… she would have believed you.

After all, it wasn’t the weirdest thing that had ever happened to her.

But back to the pet store.

There she was a week before Christmas living in a shoebox apartment, drowning in fabric and notions, with a magical box filled with tiny gods who loved to squabble and give conflicting vague advice. They were supposed to work on how to break the giant magical curse laid out across the city, but Marinette had gotten hired at the local pet store down the street because if she spent one more minute sequestered inside trying to decipher the handwriting of centuries-old monks, without a break, she would scream.

Plus, the animals were ridiculously cute and the current owner obviously had no clue how to take care of them – which is how she concluded the store was a money-laundering front. The owner, a Mr. Petriov, had known her for all of three days before leaving her to manage the shop by herself. That hadn’t changed much in the month she had worked here, but at least the animals were in better shape now and she had a slightly larger budget for the endless amount of coffee she drank.

Marinette swept the back of the room, trying to make sure it was as clean as she could get it. Despite her best efforts at trying to cheer the place up, the plastic Christmas decorations and lively music did little to distract from the poor living conditions of the animals. Marinette wished there was some way to help, but she was rather limited in her options in a foreign city and Plagg’s suggestions of stealing all the animals and burning the place down was not a viable one.

No matter how much Marinette wanted to sometimes.

The store bell rang.

“I’ll be with you in just a moment,” she called. She finished sweeping the last of the room, before putting the broom away, and coming out to the main part of the store. “Hi there, I’m Marinette, how can I-”

“Did you know that Gotham Department of Health and Safety Regulations, Section 45: Animals and Livestock, subsection C.1: Living conditions, states that cages for cats must be 30 inches in width, 28 inches in length, 30 inches in height, and 30 inches on the diagonal? And that yours do not match those specifications?” There in the center of the store stood a man about her age. He was dressed head to toe in black, with a long, expensive, looking coat billowed out behind him. His voice was posh and smooth, and his tone could cut glass. He looked around the store in thinly veiled disgust.

Marinette vaguely recognized him. He’d been in the store about two weeks ago. He hadn’t said anything when she asked if he needed help. He just went around to all the cages watching the animals through the bars. She had gone about her normal routine, and then he left a little while later. The only reason she remembered him at all was he was wearing the same designer coat with wool Marinette’s hands itched to get a hold of.  

“I- I did not. Although, this is not my store.” The man glared at her, and had Marinette not been used to a lifetime of truly piercing glares from Chloe, she might have crumbled underneath it. “I’ve only been working here for a month and let me tell you it’s better than it was before.”

“These conditions are intolerable.”

Marinette usually kept a cool façade with the few customers who came in here, but this man was obviously looking for a fight; not that she didn’t completely agree with him.

“I’m well aware, but I’m doing the best with what I have here, especially since my boss doesn’t care.” One of the cats mewled loudly, and Marinette sighed. She knew exactly who that was. Walking over to one of the cages she opened it up. A tiny grey cat with tipped black ears and paws jumped into her arms. Marinette had named him Macaroon since Mr. Petriov hadn’t bothered to give any of them names.

“Sorry,” she said. “Macaroon likes attention, and he’s good with people so I bring him out when others come in to pet them.” The man came over and let the cat sniff his hand before scratching under the his chin.

“He looks well taken care of,” he complimented, although he still scowled. Marinette couldn’t help but think he would be much more handsome if he smiled.  

“As I said, I try my best. I take them all out of their cages so they can stretch their legs, and not just the dogs either. But that’s whenever I’m not cleaning, or prepping food, or taking care of the paperwork.” Or at home trying to figure out how to banish a city-wide curse, Marinette thought to herself.

The man hummed. “Look, you seem… nice.” He said the word in such a way that implied he didn’t believe the concept existed. “So, I’ll let you know ahead of time, but this store is going to get raided tomorrow. It’s a-”

“Front for the Russian Mob?” Marinette finished. The man seemed taken aback and immediately glared at her again. “Yeah, I figured that out within a few days of working here. I just had no clue as to who to go to about it. Who’s going to help a tiny French girl about a corrupt business in a city known for corruption?” She raised an eyebrow at the man who seemed taken aback by her abruptness.

“Fair point. So why are you working here then? If you know it’s corrupt.”

Marinette sighed; it was true she had plenty else to be doing, school was over for the semester sure, but there was always magic to learn, or sites to go check out to see if they were connected to the curse, or she could have gone home for the break and visited her parents, but…

If she did any of that, no one would be here to look out for the animals. And just because she couldn’t actively be a hero, didn’t mean she was going to turn up her back on those who needed her, even if they were of the four-legged variety.

She looked back at the handsome man; how could she explain any of that to him.

… not that she should.

Because that would be bad.

She didn’t know him at all.

Even if he was ridiculously good looking.

Fuck. 

She did not have the time to get caught up in anything else, especially not a crush.

So instead, she went with a mostly true answer. “Just because the people running the store are bad, doesn’t mean the animals are. I would come by here on my way from school and would want to let the poor things out of their cages. So, when I finally had enough time, I applied for a job.” The look on the man’s face was a cross between surprise and understanding. “And you’d want to do something else too if the last three months all you did was stare at miles of hand-sewn hems and contemplate if death would be kinder.”

Marinette bet the man would deny it if pointed out, but the side of his mouth turned up at her comment.

“Understandable.”

“My question is,” she asked, stroking Macaroon who was happily purring away in her arms. “Why would you tell the person working at the Russian mob front that you’re going to have the store raided the next day? Doesn’t that seem a little counter-productive?” Not that Marinette was in any way complaining, she had been waiting for an opportunity like this for weeks.

“It depends on whether you tell your boss or not.”

“Hell no.”

Finally, the man’s face morphed from a resting scowl into a self-satisfied smirk.

Oh no, he’s even hotter like that, Marinette thought.  

“Then I think telling was exactly the right idea. You’ll need to give a statement to the department doing the raid, but you won’t be in trouble for anything that went down here.”

Marinette nodded, and then remembered something. “Would pictures help?”

“Pictures?”

“I’ve been taking pictures of all the documents that come through the front desk. The legitimate ones and the less legitimate ones. It’s only about a month’s worth of stuff, but I have it on a flash drive.”

The man’s smirk grew a bit more. “Yes, I do believe that would be useful.”

Marinette smiled, finally glad this place would get shut down, but then she looked at Macaroon so snuggly in her arms, and all the other lovely creatures throughout the store came to mind. “And the animals, will they be okay?”

“Of course, I wouldn’t allow anything to happen to them. They’ll all be going to reputable shelters or good homes through the Wayne Foundation.”

Marinette readjusted Macaroon in her arms. “That’s good. So, should I bring the flash drive when I give my statement or-”

“I can take it,” he said quickly. “I mean,” he cleared his throat. “You can give it to me, and I can hand it off to the… proper authorities.” The glint in his eye spelled trouble. Marinette thought it was completely unfair how attractive she found it.  

“It’s in my apartment. My shift is only another hour, but….” She thought about her mess of an apartment covered in yards of fabric, questionable ancient artifacts, and the tiny floating talking gods. “It’s a bit of a mess, how about we meet elsewhere?”

“Yes,” the man responded quickly. He looked down at Macaroon and stroked the cat’s back, a light blush playing out over his cheeks. “Of course, that would be acceptable.”

“Coffee then?” asked Marinette, glad to have a little longer to chat with him.

“Sounds good. Inman Perk at 7th and Forge Street?”

“I love that place. I’m Marinette by the way, I think I said that.”

The man smirked again, “You did, but it’s nice to hear it. I’m Damian, Damian Wayne.”

“I’d shake your hand Damian, but my arms are a little full.” She readjusted Macaroon, moving over to his cage placing the content cat back inside. Marinette smiled, happy to know this would be the last night the animals would have to sleep in these too-small cages. She turned back to Damian and offered her hand.

“I’m looking forward to working with you, Mr. Wayne,” she said with a grin.

He clasped his hand with hers, and she delighted at the chill it sent up her spine. “Not nearly as much as I am with you, Ms. Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette paused for a moment, “I don’t think I ever gave you my last name?”

Damian paused, his face of a person caught with their hand in a cookie jar. “I may, perhaps, have done a slight background check on you before I decided to confront you today.” He retreated his hands and clasped them behind his back. “Uh, I- I apologize if that comes off a little…” he trailed off.

“Invasive, creepy, overbearing?”

Damian’s face fell. “Yes.”

Marinette tried hard to hold in her smirk. “Or protective, concerned, over-invested? I’ve had friends like that before.” Thinking particularly of Kagami, or her own actions towards Adrian during those early years. “It’s a little much, but not so bad especially when confronting someone who may be part of the Russian mob.”

Damian’s face went from contrite to an all-out grinning smirk. “You? Part of the mob? A little hard to believe.”

“Oh, you never know”’ she teased back. “I think I could pull it off, no one ever expects the tiny French girl.”

A bark from the back of the store interrupted their flirting, soon all of the dogs were barking, and Marinette realized the time.

“I’ve got to get them all taken out and fed. I’ll be finished in about an hour, I’ll grab the stuff from my apartment and meet you at… 8:30?”

Damian nodded. “Of course, see you there.” And with that he turned on his heel and walked out of the store, his long coat billowing like a cape behind him. Marinette watched him disappear from view and waited a second before she punched the air. She couldn’t wait. She kneeled back down at the cage and scratched Macaroon’s chin.

“Thanks for being such a good luck charm.” The cat purred back happily. Marinette headed off to finish what she needed to get done, wondering what the heck she was going to wear.

Permanent Tag List 

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[tinisprout]

No Doubt in Us

Chapter Twelve - What I Want *written section below*

Fiance!Haknyeon x Fem!reader

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a/n: first time writting a make out scene so sorry if it sucks

Synopsis: Life is great, you have your dream job, you finally got your first big break, and you are now engaged to the love of your life. Happier than you’ve ever been, you live life one day at a time. Then one day a terrible accident happens leaving you in a coma. Where you finally awake, everything is not as you remember. Amnesia takes away 3 years of your memory, forgetting your beloved Fiance. Faced with a reality that seems unreal, as your mind is stuck in a past with uncomfortable memories, your future with him is uncertain.

Send me an ask if you want to be put on the taglist for this series

Taglist:@my-summer-night @deputyjuyeon @juhaktheoneforme @sunqnew @givememunjang

Word count: 2.9k+

Warnings: make out session, Hak gets blue balled :)

Things have been going pretty smoothly between you and Haknyeon since the date. You even had a small in-home date the week after, you were content but not satisfied. The romantic tension has been building up in the house, for you at least. You couldn’t tell what exactly Haknyeon was thinking or feeling. There were a collection of moments where something could have happened between the two of you, but Haknyeon always backed away first.

You figured he was just trying to be respectful towards your feelings, except you were feeling that you two should have at least kissed a long time ago. Your attraction towards Haknyeon grew each day, finding out more about him and his little oddities. You found out while going through your recent books how much Haknyeon influenced your writing, you could see it wasn’t a coincidence that the male lead in your sixth book was so similar to him. This only made you feel more drawn to him. The most you had done was hold hands, and that was on the first date, at this rate if you didn’t do or say something kissing would be about six months away.

You sighed as you were trying to work on your latest work, it would go smoothly till your mind drifted to Haknyeon. You get up from your desk seat stretching your body, you go grab your phone from the bed. You send a message to him asking when he is coming home. He responds quickly and you smile. After finding out he’ll be home soon you think about how to move things along.

Going back to your laptop you save the document you were working on, deciding that you did enough for today. You walk downstairs to the kitchen looking for what you can make for dinner. You realize out of all the times you cooked it never seemed to be enough for Haknyeon. When he cooked there was considerably more food compared to your meals, he never complained, but you could tell he was used to eating more than what you made. You decided to try making more food from now on.

Almost an hour has passed and the food is almost done. You just let it simmer. You cleaned up the mess you made while you waited, it was all short work now so you also set the table while you waited. Just in time, you hear the door unlocking and opening as you set the bowls down.

“I’m home!” Haknyeon calls out from the entranceway while taking off his shoes. You came to greet him, poking your head into the entranceway.

“Welcome back.” Haknyeon smiles at your greeting. “You’re just in time, I just finished making dinner, so I hope you’re hungry.”

“I always have room for food.” He follows you back to the kitchen, watching you turn off the burner.

“You can put your stuff away first, I’m still setting up.” Haknyeon just drops his duffle bag in the living room before coming back to you looking eager to help.

“I can help too.” Add that to the list of things you find attractive about him, always so helpful and caring.

“Okay, take these to the table then,” you hand him the rice bowls and he happily complies. Dinner starts as it normally does and you ask each other the usual question of how was your day. He compliments the food joyfully eating to his heart’s content, which makes you happy. There wasn’t much to say, but it was very natural for the two of you to fall into silence while eating, focusing on the food.

You finished eating before Haknyeon, but you still sat at the table letting the food settle a little. You were glad that you made more seeing how well he is eating everything.

“You are really cute, you know that?” You suddenly speak up and he freezes at your statement.

“...Thank you?” He was flattered but confused as to why you said that out of the blue.

“I just wanted you to know what I think.” He nods accepting your answer and continues to eat for a bit more trying to play it cool while having a freak out on the inside. When he finally sets his utensils down you speak once more. “Now that you’re done, there is something I want to talk to you about.”

“Is that what your texts were about?”

“Yes, but like I said it’s nothing bad, actually it should be pretty good for the both of us.” he gives you a curious look.

“I’m all ears.”

“So you know how we’ve been sleeping downstairs since that one time? Well, I’m kinda tired of sleeping on the floor.”

“I already told you, you didn’t have to stay with me. You can go back.”

“I know, I thought instead of going back by myself you could join me back.” You wait for his reaction which seemed delayed.

“...You mean you want to sleep in our bed, together,” Haknyeon says, putting emphasis on the last word.

“Yeah, I don’t see the problem. You have my full trust that you won’t try anything if I’m not ready.”

“I didn’t say it was a problem, just… are you sure? You’re not saying this because you feel bad or something?”

“Honestly I do feel a bit bad, but this is something that I want to do as well,” you place a hand over your heart showing your sincerity. Haknyeon is silent for a moment searching you for any hint of hesitation, but there is none.

“Okay then, thank you for trusting me.” You both smile at each other and start to clean up the table together. Very slowly, the two of you were making progress in your relationship. After the clean-up was done, Haknyeon went to properly put his duffle bag away and you went to do your evening ritual of watering the plants in your yard. Although it wasn’t much of a yard to speak of seeing how small the space was, it was still enough for you to have a variety of potted plants large and small.

You took your time caring for each plant and cleaning the fallen leaves and petals off the ground from the flowering tree that was in between yours and your neighbor’s house. You finally get to the hydrangea plant and see that there is a small odd-looking cluster, you realize that it's the bud and get excited. Looking around the hydrangea you see a few other buds, you crouch next to it, praising the plant and asking it to continue growing well. You were excited to see them bloom, you had asked Haknyeon before if you had grown these flowers before and he answered that you tried last year but they didn’t bloom at all. This made you more excited to see them, it wasn’t like you had never seen Hydrangea before, but it was different when you grow the plant yourself.

“Haknyeon?!” you call out to him hoping he can hear you through the small crack you left in the sliding door.

“Did you call me?” you hear his voice shout from in the house.

“Yeah. Can you come out here and look at this, please?”

“I’m coming.” He comes out soon after and slips on his outdoor slippers walking next to you, raising his eyebrows asking what’s up.

“Look, they have started to bud.” You beam a smile at him while pointing at one of the buds. He looks at it, noticing all the buds giving it a curious glance crouching next to you.

“I’ve never seen them as buds before…,” he smirks. “It looks a little weird.” you chuckle nodding in agreement.

“What color do you think they’ll be?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. I think blue would be a nice color though.”

“I hope it’s purple. Maybe it will have both colors.”

“Fingers crossed,” you say and the both of you cross your fingers. The wind blows a particularly strong breeze knocking off dozens of petals off the tree, annoyingly landing into your yard again making you sigh, which Haknyeon laughed at. You decided to look at the bigger picture, at least it made a beautiful scene like in those anime. “Well, at least it's pretty.” Your back faced the setting sun while streaks of light shone on Haknyeon's face painting him an alluring golden color.

Haknyeon's eyes that were focused on the tree switch to you realizing you are looking at him. His eyes squint a little at the sun, he notices a couple of petals had landed on your head.

“Very pretty.” He reaches out, plucking one of them off your head and gently brushing the other ones away. He showed you the petal in his hand, tittering. For a second you thought he was talking about you and then felt mortified to realize that wasn't the case. He blows the petal away oblivious to your current emotions.

“That… were you trying to be romantic?”

“Huh?” Haknyeon questions you but then realizes what you mean. “Oh, no. Sorry, I didn’t even realize. I meant the flower. Wait no, I’m not saying you aren’t pretty. The flower is pretty, but you are prettier.” You felt a little down at first knowing he meant nothing by it, but seeing him trying hard to appease you made you laugh out loud. Hearing you he groans and mutters, “What am I even saying?”

“You’re good, I understand,” you say while trying to stifle your laughter. Now it was Haknyeon’s turn to feel mortified.

“Haha, yes, very funny.” He dramatically rolls his eyes and then stands up. He offers you a hand up, which you take, standing up as well.

“Sorry sorry. You really are cute though….”

“I won’t be able to take much more if you keep complimenting me like that,” he grabs at his heart playing up the act.

“And what would you do?” You cross your arms, tilting your head in question.

“Hmm, probably die,” he clasps his hands together over his stomach acting like he’s dead. Then I would wait for my true love to kiss me back to life.” He peeks one eye open, smirking, looking for your reaction.

“Okay, prince charming. Back into the house with you,” you say, trying to hold back your smile. You wondered what you were going to do with yourself if he kept joking like that, you might actually lose it and just kiss him. Your answer to him would have been different if you knew at the moment he was seriously testing the water to see how you felt about kissing. Haknyeon thought he had a chance of a positive answer considering how flirty you were today, but he doesn’t take your answer to heart.

“Yes ma’am.” He told himself he would try again another day. As Haknyeon went back into the house, you continued your work in the yard.

***

The rest of the evening continued as per usual. Though the real trial to come for both of you was going to sleep. After you finished preparing for bed, while you were waiting in bed for Haknyeon you made a tweet wondering if moving to the bed would have been too sudden, still, you don’t regret your decision. You see that Haknyeon replied to the tweet and you smile since he was less than 15 feet away in the bathroom. He came out of the bathroom soon after and casually took up his old spot.

“Welcome back to the room,” you say, facing him. He turns his body to the side facing you.

“Good to be back,” there is a pause with nothing much else to say.

“Goodnight, Haknyeon.”

“Goodnight, y/n.” You turn your back to him pretending the reason was to get comfortable, but really you were nervous because of how close you were this time around. Before you could sleep at the edge of the blanket but now the edges hung off the side of the bed so there was less surface area to lay on. You try to calm your mind, It’s whatever. This isn’t the first time we slept together anyway.

Your mind drifts to earlier in the evening, when Haknyeon had mentioned kissing, That was my chance, wasn’t it. Stupid. You chastise yourself for unknowingly hindering yourself. I can fix this, I just have to make the first move. I don't think I can wait for Haknyeon… forgive me for being greedy.

“Haknyeon?” You say while turning back to face him again.

“Hmm?” He hums in response, eyes still closed.

“Can the heroine revive you?” his eyebrows knit together unsure of what you are trying to say and then opens his eyes to see your sincere ones staring into him.

“What?”

“I’ve been thinking for a while now that maybe we should move things along.... I don’t know about you but I’ve been feeling some romantic tension between us for a while now and I think I might go crazy if it stays like this, and nothing happens.” Or maybe I'm already crazy for even saying all this. “Can we kiss?” He finally realizes you were referring to what he said about needing a kiss to come back to life.

“Seriously?” To Haknyeon this proposal seemed out of the blue since he thought he was rejected earlier today.

“Very serious.”

“That’s what you want?”

“Mhm.” He lifts his body, propping himself up with his forearm and you scoot a little closer to him. He cups your cheek with his other hand caressing you for a while. Your heart pounds hard then you feel his breath tickle your face as he draws closer and you close your eyes thinking this is finally it. You feel his lips press against your cheek and open your eyes when it wasn’t what you expected.

You saw his warm gaze on you before you closed your eyes again as he went back in for another kiss on your other cheek and then another. You opened your eyes once more when he pulled away once more cheeks pink, apologizing.

“Sorry, I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

“Haknyeon, I need you to trust me when I say, you aren’t taking advantage of me. I know what I want. You aren’t forcing me,” you say while you reposition yourself to sit up moving closer to him again, placing your hand behind his neck. “You can’t say ‘you can’t’ after teasing me with those kisses when you knew I wanted something like this. With those words, you lean into him and he closes his eyes this time, giving him a small experimental open mouth kiss.

His lips feel soft against yours and you find yourself wanting more of the softness. You pulled away and just as quickly kissed him again, you could feel this time his hand on your cheek moved to the back of your neck, pulling you closer. Slow and gentle, you feel how he was caring for you, this only riled you up, wanting more. Your fingers found their way to his silky locks, nails scratching his scalp. A groan came from Haknyeon’s throat in response but he didn’t pull away so you pushed further.

You traced his lips agonizingly slowly seeing how far he would let you go. His eyes flew open when he felt an acute pain on his lips. You both lock eyes as you lightly pull on his lower lip with your teeth, making him let out a small gasp. You pulled away unsure if you hurt him. He fully sat up and then leaned over you, grabbing your chin.

“Be careful. I’m the type that bites back harder.” His words sent shivers down your spine. This time he moves first, pulling your shoulders, bringing you back to him. True to his words he bites your lip and you jump letting out a whimper at the sensation. As if to quell your pain he runs his tongue along your bottom lip, instinctively you open your mouth to let him.

As his tongue pushed past your lips you could feel your body get increasingly hotter by the second, slow and gentle turned into feverish and greedy as his tongue dominated your mouth. Haknyeon had to constantly remind himself to not move his hands from your shoulders. It’s just a kiss, just a kiss, he tells himself. Your hands rested on his forearms, squeezing them as you whimpered into the kiss. I’m so fucked.

Haknyeon pulled you away and pushed you down on the bed firmly. You can hear each other’s labored breathing, trying to catch your breath. He lowered his head and kissed your lips once more, but just as quickly pulled away as if that is all he would allow himself.

“Haknyeon?”

“That should be enough, for now.” you nod your head in agreement. You weren’t sure what possessed you to lose yourself like that. It was taken farther than you thought it would be, but it wasn’t bad. Actually, you really enjoyed yourself, so much so that you felt sleepiness follow after the excitement.

“I’m a little tired now.”

“That’s okay. You can go to sleep.” you move into a comfortable position facing him this time.

“Can I hold your hand?” Haknyeon was in distress but aided your request. You closed your eyes peacefully with his hand in yours. Meanwhile, Haknyeon wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t think he would end up blue balled tonight. Would it settle itself before you fell asleep or would he suffer till you fell asleep so he could take care of himself in the bathroom?

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[animeloverskylarmoon]

Hanataro Yamada x Reader- Oneshot (Bleach)

"It's that punk again how pathetic." your eyes raised at the people gathered before you. A few of the reapers were gathered around someone. As you got closer you could see who it was.

 "Of course." you thought with a sigh. You don't know why, but somehow the blue haired healer always managed to get himself into a pickle. 

"C-Come on guys w-were all on the same side." you could hear the tremor in his voice. 

"Alright the fun is over I need him." you spoke boredly. A few of them stepped away from the reaper, and when his eyes caught you they lit up.

"(Y-Y/N)-chan!" Hanataro ran to your side and you looked over at the other annoyed reapers. One of them smirked. 

"Heh, you're always helping him, I'm starting to think you have a crush on the little guy." your face turned red. 

"Like hell I do!!" you bellowed. You raised your sword threateningly. 

"If you keep spouting such trash I'll make you regret it!" you barked. He took a step back when he felt your reiatsu start to overflow. He turned without another word, his friends following behind him. You sheath your blade with a huff. 

"Idiots." you looked back at Hanataro who was smiling at you happily. "W-What!" you demanded. Your face was getting hot by the way he was staring at you. He blinked, waving his hands around. 

"N-Nothing. Y-You're just always helping me. Thank you (Y/N)-chan." you looked away walking. "Whatever." you grumbled. Hanataro followed you and you kept your gaze low. Hoping he couldn't read the way his smile had affected you. 

"W-Why do I even like him?" You couldn't understand it. You were a fighter, he was a healer. The both of you were total opposites yet..you always found yourself helping him.

Sometimes you would go out of your way to make sure he was okay, especially since he was an easy target for some of the other reapers who apparently had nothing better to do than pick on the adorable guy. "(Y/N)-chan?" you looked up quickly in a sort of panic. 

"What's wrong are you okay!?" you asked urgently. You just assumed maybe something was wrong. Hanataro looked at you for a few moments before smiling again. 

"I'm fine, I was just asking if you were okay but you didn't respond so I thought something was wrong. " He stepped forward, taking your hands.

"If something is wrong you can tell me. I know I'm not much of a help, but I'll do what I can. You're always there for me, it's the least I can do." His blue orbs looked so determined, so generally concerned. 

"That's why...that's why I'm in love with him.." Hanataro was right, he wasn't strong, yet what had drawn you to him wasn't his brute strength, no, it was that look. The one that would do anything to help his friend even if he knew he could get hurt in the process. He was brave.

Your eyes lowered, pulling your hand out of his. 

"I'm fine don't worry. " You hated the fact that you weren't as brave as he was. Yeah, you could hold your own in a fight, but internally you were a coward. You couldn't even tell the one guy you had been in love with for years that you liked him. You swallowed. "Thank you though." you muttered. Hanataro grinned. 

"Of course!" He chirped.

~~

"Rukia-san, are you sure this is all the paperwork. " You tried to stifle a laugh as Hanataro tried to balance the large pile of documents in his arms. She nodded with a smile of her own. 

"Yes, although you don't have to try and carry them in one trip, you could always come back for the rest. " he shook his head frantically. 

"T-That's not necessary!" You knew why he didn't want to make two trips. He was probably scared he would get jumped again. You stepped forward, taking the top half of the documents. He titled his head. 

"(Y/N)-chan?" you raised your head with a light blush on your face. 

"It would be a hassle if you hurt yourself just carrying papers." You didn't say anything after that, you just started walking and Hanataro stumbled trying to catch up with you. 

"W-Wait up!!" He fell in step, the both of you walking side by side. Rukia watched the scene with a knowing look.

Hanataro's eyes wandered over you. He'd known you since well, forever. Back in the academy no one really ever paid much mind to him, yet you always seemed to be looking his way. You helped him constantly and he always wondered why. 

You never demanded anything in return. Nor did you pick on him like the others. In the back of his mind he thought, he hoped maybe you felt the same way he did. It was foolish. You were a strong beautiful fighter. And he was just well..Hanataro. There wasn't anything grand, so why, why did you even give him the time of day.

Hanataro had been so caught up in his own thoughts he didn't see you come to a complete stop. You were looking ahead with hardened eyes. When he noticed he stopped too. His eyes landed on the reapers who had been pestering him for the past week. The leader of the group stepped forward with a cocky grin. 

"What do we have here, two lover birds taking a stroll." you growled at him. 

"Beat it idiots, we're not interested. " His grin got wider. "We? So I was right. You are with the pathetic excuse for a reaper." he taunted. You gritted your teeth. 

"Shut up!!" you demanded.

"Oh! It's fine the both of you make a great couple." You exploded.

"SHUT UP THERE'S NO WAY I'D LIKE A WEAKLING LIKE HIM MUCH LESS DATE HIM!!"

Hanataro stood there hoping what he had just heard was all in his head. When he saw the wide smiles of the other reapers faces he knew it was true. That's what you thought of him. You probably felt sorry for him. No wonder you were always helping. 

"Heh, who was I kidding..of course that's what she thinks of me.." He should have expected it. There was no way someone like you would go for someone like him.

As soon as the words left your mouth you regretted it. Your eyes glanced back at Hanataro. Your heart clenched at the hurt look in his eyes. 

"Hanataro.." the other reapers looked satisfied at Hanataro's broken stare. 

"Of course not, glad you realize how useless he really is." They didn't say much else, walking off with laughs. You watched as they slowly faded from your view.

"Hanataro I-"

"It's fine." he cut you off. He gave you a smile, walking off ahead. You followed, unsure of what you could say. Every step you took felt like a weight on your heart. 

"You don't have to explain. I know you don't have those feelings for me. You are right though I am a weakling. " he laughed bitterly. "You don't have to keep looking out for me you know. It's probably a bother." Your hands gripped the papers tighter. 

"T-That's not why I.." you stopped yourself from saying anymore. Hanataro didn't look back at you. Otherwise he probably would have noticed the conflict in your eyes. 

"Either way, it's not necessary. I can take care of myself." you were shocked at how cold the words he spoke came out. The both of you continued on your way, neither saying a word to each other after that.

The weeks following that incident felt like hell. You weren't sure if Hanataro was avoiding you. Although it was pretty obvious he was. Whenever there was paperwork to collect someone else came to get them. Not once did Hanataro visit your barracks. You tried going to him and maybe apologizing for the harsh words you said. 

Every time you entered, as soon as he saw you he would make any excuse to leave. At first you understood, but after a while it got to you. You had blown it with him. There was no way he would talk to you again. All because you were too scared to admit your feelings.

"I ruined everything.."

~~~~~

You sat outside your captain's squad, tears falling to your lap. You didn't notice Rukia standing behind you watching the scene. She stepped out of the room finally making her presence known and you wiped at your eyes hurriedly. 

"R-Rukia-san." you said a bit startled. You didn't want her to see you like this, weak and broken.

She took a seat at your side. 

"Are you alright, you've been like this for a while. Do you want me to call Hanataro. I'm sure he can-"

"NO!" you yelled. Her eyes widened and you looked down. "N-No it's fine I'm okay." Rukia's eyes narrowed. 

"I have a feeling that has something to do with him (Y/N)-chan. He hasn't been by for a while now. He usually stops by at least once a week to say hello." you didn't answer, but she knew that was the case. 

From the looks of it, you weren't going to confront the problem. And Hanataro wasn't going to either. Rukia stood up, giving you a pat on the shoulder. She walked off without a word and you were thankful. Rukia stepped into the office with a new mission.

"Since the both of them are going to avoid the problem, I guess I'll just have to give you a little nudge."

~~~~

"Is there anything else taicho?" Jushiro shook his head. "I believe that's all." he said, shooting you a smile as he gathered the remainder of documents on his desk. You walked over with a sigh of relief as you placed what you had completed on his desk. 

"You've been working really hard. Would you like some tea." you giggled with a nod. Jushiro really acted like an old man sometimes. "Sure taicho." you accepted. He looked excited as he stood to get a kettle going.

Just as he walked off you heard frantic steps coming from outside. Your eyebrow raised when you saw the door fly open. Rukia rushed in with a desperate look on her face. 

"(Y/N)!!" she sounded scared. "I-It's Hanataro.." You could see the present tears in her eyes. Her voice broke and your eyes shook, heart thumping in fear.

"W-What's wrong!!" She was holding unto your shoulders panting. You could see the sweat gathered on her forehead. 

"There was a hollow attack at the fourth squad barracks. I-I was there talking to Hanataro when it happened. T-They came out of nowhere! There were so many. H-He pushed me out of the way, b-but h-he...he got badly injured. Unohana-taicho says he still hasn't woken up yet. " your body was trembling as you took in the information. 

"N-No.." you staggered for a moment, bolting out the door. Rukia watched as you went dashing through the barracks. When you were gone she wiped the tear from the corner of her eyes with a grin.

"Success!" 

Jushiro walked back in with a kettle in his hand. "Hmm, where did (Y/N)-chan go?" Rukia brushed it off. 

"She had something to take care of. Can I have some tea?" Jushiro nodded with a smile. 

"Of course. "

~~~

You pushed your body to go as fast as you could. When you finally got to the fourth squad barracks there was a visible hole in the wall of the building at the med area where patients usually resided. You panicked, rushing up the stairs. You were sprinting down the corridors, trying to get to your destination. You skidded to a stop when you got there. 

You almost ripped the door off its hinges trying to get in. When you entered the first thing you saw was Hanataro standing with a few scratches on his face. "Hanataro!!" he turned and you dove into his arms. He stumbled back, surprised at the way your hands wrapped around his neck.

"(Y-Y/N)??" you clenched him tightly. 

"I'm sorry!" you cried. 

"I-I'm so sorry for what I said!! It was so mean. I-I only said it because I didn't want to admit the truth. " Hanataro couldn't do much but listen as you rambled on. "I-I've loved you for so long and I was too scared to say anything so I-I lied when those reapers asked me. I-I was embarrassed. " Hanataro's body went rigid.

"D-Did she just say that she.." He was dreaming, he had to be. You just kept on going.

"B-But when Rukia said you were attacked by that hollow all I could think about is never getting the chance to tell you, a-all because I was a coward." you wept. Hanataro could feel you shaking against him. 

"I love you Hanataro, I love you, I love you!" Hanataro's heart beat increased rapidly at your confession. He pulled back with wide eyes. "You..love me.." you nodded with a smile.

"I love you so much Hanataro!" you confessed. Hanataro's eyes softened. This is what he'd wanted for so long. "I love you too (Y/N)-chan." your eyes started to well up with tears again. You grabbed either side of his cheeks, pressing your lips to his own. 

Hanataro's eyes grew wide at the action. He just stood there frozen as you kept your lips pressed to his. When you pulled away his cheeks were cherry red. You didn't seem to really process what you'd done. When you did you pulled away with a heavy blush. 

"Ah! G-Gomen!!" you apologized. You lifted your hand, blocking your lips with the back of your palm. Hanataro looked down at his feet, face still flushed.

"I-It's okay.." he mumbled. The both of you just stood there awkwardly for a while. Something finally hit you though. 

"W-Wait, Rukia said you were unconscious, how did you recover so quickly from the hollow attack?"

"Hollow attack? I wasn't attacked by a hollow." you gave him a blank look. 

"E-Eh?"

"Kurotsuchi-taicho brought a new invention of his, he said it would help charge some of the machines we have here. I guess I tried to charge too many at once because it exploded. " Your eyes moved over to the piece of metal that was smoking on the ground. "Is that so.." He nodded. "Hai!" you smiled, looking at the cute expression on his face. 

"You should be more careful, it could have been far worse. " He whined. "(Y/N)-chan don't lecture me." you shook your head at his pout. 

"You're my responsibility now so how can I not." you said folding your arms. He looked at you for a few seconds, a smile slowly making its way on his face. He bowed. "Then please take care of me from now on!" you flushed. 

"H-Hey no need to bow." you advised rubbing the back of your head bashfully. He stood up straight with a boyish grin. An arrow struck you right in the heart at his expression.

"Damn it..he's definitely going to be the death of me."

[padfootagain]

Such A Silly Game

Here we go with a second fic for Ben's week!! Today’s writing prompt was ‘a moment’. Join us on @benbarnesbirthdayparty​ to follow the event. This is a modern AU for Caspian! I am very proud of this little piece, I hope you like it.

Just so you know, it was meant to be a drabble. Then it became a regular one-shot, and turns out, it became a 7k-long fic... Ooops...

Anyway, enjoy!

WARNING for mentions of injuries, explosions and violence.

Tell me if you like my little fic :)

Word Count: 7365

"Lionheart is on the move."

"Copy that. Everything's clear all the way to the hotel."

"Have you checked the hotel itself."

"Of course. We're all good."

"We'll soon be there."

You ended the phone call, putting the device back in the pocket of your vest, and you nodded to your colleagues waiting for your signal a few metres down the street. The two of them climbed in the black car parked in front of the one you would be using tonight. You turned to your three other colleagues who stood by your side in front of the Narnian embassy.

"Get ready to leave," you ordered to two of them. "Marco and I will take care of the King's car. Stay close to us."

You patted the shoulder of one of your colleagues, who was younger than all of you. It was her first day as an official bodyguard serving the King of Narnia, and she was nervous as hell. After a long and difficult training, she was finally ready.

"Don't worry too much. It's Manhattan. The threat level is not that high," you reassured the young Denise. "Besides, you're paired with Reep! He's the best mentor you can have...  after me, of course."

"Ha... but Y/N here is too busy running the whole show, being the head of his Majesty's security to take care of the new recruits," your friend Reepicheep laughed at you. "Come on, let's get ready. The King will soon walk out of the embassy. And tonight, I pay for the beers!"

"Why the merry mood?" you asked, raising a playful eyebrow in surprise.

"Well, you've just said that I was a father now!" he replied, gesturing at Denise and making all of you laugh.

"Hey! I've been working with all of you for six months already!" Denise protested.

"Only as a trainee. Now, you're an official bodyguard!" Marco replied, nudging your new recruit.

"Congrats, by the way," you gave Denise an encouraging smile. "Now, go to work!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" your three colleagues chimed, and Reep and Denise walked over to the car behind yours.

One car on the front, one behind, along with three motorcycles came to complete the guard of King Caspian X. His diplomatic mission at the U.N. was about to end, only a few days left before you would find the quiet of your homeland again. Not that you complained about the charm of this city, but the threats were much greater in number on foreign soil for the King, which meant more work and more stress for you.

You had been working as his personal bodyguard for six years and been his head of security for two more. Eight years by his side, spending your days and nights thinking about his safety. You had protected him on every continent and in dozens of nations. And if it wasn't exactly recommended for you to admit it, you had formed a strong friendship with the King.

Or well, perhaps it was a little more than a friendship the two of you shared, but you were both painfully aware that you shouldn't act on it. Not in an easy way, at the very least. The King entering a romantic relationship with his bodyguard would bring the media on fire. It would eclipse every other project he might want to work on. And both of you would have to face hell. None of you were ready to take that step, or at least, you both assumed that the other wouldn't want to go through this. There were moments though when you would think like your feelings were shared, that he did see you in this tender light too. There had been a handful of moments, even, when you had thought that he might kiss you. It had never happened though. You reckoned that it never would. Besides, you knew the King well enough by now to be sure that he wouldn't risk putting both of you through all this mess if he weren't certain that his feelings for you were strong enough to resist the chaos.

You guessed that it meant that he didn't see this in you, after all.

The front door of the embassy opened, revealing the King confidently walking out. He was accompanied by two bodyguards who never left his side, no matter where he went. They would join the teams in the front car. You and Marco greeted the sovereign with a bow, and he nodded at the two of you, thanking Marco when he opened the door for him.

He settled in the back of the car while you sat in the passenger's seat and Marco would drive you through Manhattan.

"Is His Majesty ready to return to the hotel?" you asked, and he nodded once more.

You gave the signal to the other cars, and within seconds, you were on the road.

"Miss Y/L/N, you wouldn't happen to have a..."

But Caspian fell silent when you handed him a bottle of water and a box of aspirin before he could probably ask for it. He chuckled, accepting the medicine.

"Thank you. I guess I'm that predictable, huh?"

"You were to meet several other leaders today, I reckon anyone would end that kind of day with a migraine."

"How was your day? Not too much, I hope."

"Everything is ready for you at the hotel, Your Majesty."

He chuckled, before swallowing the drug and rubbing circles on his temples in an attempt to shush the pain that pierced his skull.

"That is not what I was asking, but I'm glad to know that too. Although, knowing both of you and your team, I had no doubt my room would be secured long before I would arrive there."

You couldn't refrain a proud smile.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Our day was pretty uneventful," you finally answered, your smile widening by the minute.

"Have you celebrated Miss Amos's first day as an official member of staff yet?" he asked, and you felt your heart swell with affection towards him.

He always remembered everything. You wondered how he did it. How, despite all of his duties, he still thought about every single person who worked for him.

"We were thinking about celebrating tonight," Marco joined in.

"Get a bottle of champagne on my account," Caspian instructed with an excited smile. "It's always a good feeling to welcome someone in our little world."

"It is, indeed."

"I have a few files to go through before we arrive. So..."

He handed you his phone.

"If someone calls, I am either dying or peeing."

You couldn't refrain a laugh, shaking your head.

"You shouldn't joke about dying, your Majesty. And especially not with your security team."

"I guess not," he answered, struggling to refrain his smile.

He picked up a couple of files, and started working again.

He was lost in laws and treaties and numbers and statistics. He rubbed his tired eyes, but focused on the documents on his laps despite his headache. You guessed that he would remain silent for the rest of the ride, so you turned to look at the shining lights of Manhattan at night instead. It was a beautiful sight indeed, of lights stretched with speed and reflections upon the Hudson River. The loud noise of the busy city still managed to sip inside the vehicle, honking cries and shouts and the humming of motorbikes speeding up across the large lanes. It was a rhythm that didn't really suit you: loud, busy, never-ending. You much preferred the slower pace of Narnian lives.

Despite your wandering thoughts, you remained focused on what was going on outside your car. You reckoned that as the King's head of security, you never truly relaxed. You were always monitoring whatever was happening in his vicinity, always attentive to details in every scene that played before you. A habit that was hard to lose once off-duty, but you didn't really mind. Maybe it was because of how you felt for the king, you reckoned that it was no bother to you to always be thinking of him.

You were outstandingly good at your job, and Caspian was well aware that he owed you his life, and did so on many occasions. How many plots had you brought down before they would come to fruition as an attempt on his life? He didn't know the exact number, but he was pretty certain that he wouldn't be able to count them on only his two hands. You didn't tell him about these things though, except when you were worried that a threat might still be out there. Otherwise, he would learn about your work through Reep, most of the time. He reckoned that it was just how you were: too humble to bring your good work to the light it deserved. Actually, you simply reckoned that the King had more important things to do than to listen to threats that were not relevant anymore. You did tell everything to the Prime Minister though, she had asked for the reports of all your operations. But if you could take at least one worry off of your sovereign's shoulders, then you would happily do so.

It was because you were so competent that you had quickly been promoted to a higher position in the King's security team. All your colleagues liked to praise you in saying that if you hadn't been in the team, the King would most likely not be in such a good health today.

So, it really wasn't because of your incompetence, or because of the incompetence of anyone in your team, that the quiet ride to Caspian's hotel turned into such a dangerous situation.

Because there was no emails to be found between the perpetuators of the attack upon the King that night, nor were there any strange online activity to be monitored, nor any suspicious discussions over the phone to be listened to. Every step was planned face to face between their instigators, and there was no way you could have guessed that an attack was planned for tonight.

How did they know how to find the King tonight, you never really found out. There were many mysteries about this particular moment that would take years to be revealed. And many important things would unfold in the very short time during which the attack took place. Their consequences though would linger on for many, many years.

You were always surprised by how the followers of Caspian's uncle kept his fight alive, despite the fact that his attempted coup resulted in their leader's death. You guessed that loyalty, even when misplaced, had no end. And with a bit of thinking, you understood the feeling. You reckoned that nothing could ever break your loyalty towards Caspian.

If you were supposed to hold your loyalty to the throne, you were well-aware that you had shifted your allegiance to Caspian himself long ago. Ever since he had shared his biscuits with you on that sunny afternoon in the royal gardens of Cair Paravel. You had talked like two friends, basked in the warm sun and the distant whisper of the sea. That was the first time that he was fully Caspian with you instead of the King. That was when you had fallen for him. You remembered every second of it...

But the scent of roses was long gone and at the moment at stake, you were about to face the greatest risks you had ever taken.

It was so sudden, like a flash. Everything was normal in the busy street, and the next second the car before you was bursting into flames.

Marco hit the breaks just as your foot made the same movement against the floor of the car, as a reflex. All three of you were projected forward with the strength of the deceleration, before hitting back your seats.

"What's going on?" Caspian asked behind you, a little out of breath. "Is anyone hurt?"

But you weren't given an occasion to speak, as loud gunshots rang through the night, the bullets crashing against the bulletproof windows interrupting you.

"Get down, Your Majesty!" you ordered, and for once, Caspian was the one to obey an order without a complain.

You unclasped your seatbelt and moved to check on Marco, who was holding his head.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just banged my head against the wheel."

A new sequence of gunshots came in an outburst, but the glass was holding on for now. You looked around, trying to calm your breathing and your pounding heartbeat. No matter how panicked you were and scary the situation was, you needed to analyze what you had to be done. Assess the situation and act.

Assess and act.

"Your Majesty, are you hurt?" you asked, trying to control the shakiness in your voice as you scanned the street.

"No, I'm fine. Are you both okay?"

"We're fine."

Chaos was raging outside. People were running away to find shelter out of the street, abandoning their cars in the middle of the road in their panicked state. Which meant that the roads ahead were all blocked or would soon be. Anyway, ahead, the first car was burning in bright and tall red flames, completely forbidding any way out. The gunshots were coming from the right side of the street, you guessed from one of the buildings.

You reached for your radio.

"Does anyone copy?"

"Hear you loud and clear," Reep's voice came a little distorted through the radio. "Lionheart?"

"We're all fine. What's your status?"

"Unharmed. A bit bruised, but nothing to worry about."

"Is the road behind you clear?"

"No, blocked by a bus that was left there in the panic."

You checked your watch. Only a minute or so must have passed since the beginning of the attack.

"Stay put," you ordered.

No one answered from the first car, and you had to push your grief and worry for you colleagues aside for now. All that mattered at this precise moment was to get the King to safety.

"Your Majesty, there's a bulletproof vest under the driver's seat, put it on."

"Already done," Caspian replied. "What do we do? The streets are blocked?"

You nodded, and couldn't help but be impressed by how calm Caspian was despite the circumstances.

"I'm working on that," you replied, looking around the street again.

"We stay here and wait for help?" Marco asked.

"No, we need to get out of here, the windows won't hold forever."

"I agree with Miss Y/L/N on that one," Caspian nodded.

You spotted the entrance of a subway station a few dozens of meters away. You would have to cross the road, a piece of grass and another road that seemed completely blocked by a set of abandoned cars.

What if they had chosen this spot because they wanted to trap all of you in the subway?

But the next set of bullets made cracks run across the windows, and you reckoned that you didn't really have a choice.

"We're gonna aim for the subway, on the left."

"It's too far away," Marco shook his head.

"Reep," you called over the radio. "We're gonna make a run for the subway station on the left."

"Copy that."

"Get as close as you can with the car," you instructed to your colleague. "Your Majesty, stay down, and be ready to get out of the car quickly."

Caspian merely nodded, bracing himself against your seat.

Your colleague obeyed, starting the car again and driving as fast as he could towards the subway. But there was no way the car could pass between the oak trees that bordered the second road you had to cross. You had to get out of the car while still on the grass.

Reep and Denise stopped their car next to yours, turning the car to create a large protection for your team.

"What about the front car?" Denise asked as she and Reep joined your group.

But you shook your head.

"No response. And the priority is to get the King to safety."

Your young colleague nodded.

"Everyone in formation around the King," you ordered. "You all know what to do."

And indeed, there was no need for more words. You surrounded Caspian, using your own bodies to shield his. It was a quick run to the subway. Just one road to cross. But you would be in plain sight then.

"Your Majesty, are you ready?"

He studied the way your eyes were filled with fear. It was an expression that was easy to read on your features then. He spotted the sweat across your forehead, and the way your chest rose and fell more than usual. But there was determination as well as panic to be read in the frown that creased your brow.

He knew that this moment might be the last you shared. There was no reason to deny the truth. You were all risking your lives now, and he was painfully aware that it was his fault if you were in harm's way. Still, he reckoned that you wouldn't change a thing if you could. You would still choose to stand beside him.

There were many things he longed to admit, and many confessions he ought to make before dying, but now was not the time. Despite the urgency of this moment, despite the danger, he couldn't simply blurt out the fact that he loved you with all his heart, and had done so for years.

After all this, then, he decided. It would be the reason why you'd both have to survive this, so he could tell you at last.

"I'm ready, Miss Y/L/N."

You took a deep breath, giving him a short nod, before turning your gaze towards your goal.

You could make a stop behind a car, before finishing to cross the street.

"We aim for the cab over there," you instructed. "On three. One."

The four bodyguards gathered around their King, much to his dislike. It was their job though, to protect him at all cost, and he understood it. He understood that he was the King, and despite his country being a constitutional monarchy, his role was still key in the government and the health of his country's economy. He understood it, and he hated it.

You were right behind him, your arm reaching across his back. You would be shielding him on his right, and he was well aware that it might be the most dangerous position to be in at that moment.

Still, he remained silent, and let Reep position himself by your side, and your colleagues before them.

"Two."

Your heart was beating so fast, faster, you reckoned, that it had ever beaten. You were struggling to breathe, and yet, you were painfully aware of Caspian's scent of cinnamon and orange blossom.

You closed your eyes to focus, to gather your strengths. There was no mistakes allowed, any would most likely cost you your life, or worse, Caspian's.

When you opened your eyes again, you stared at the cab you were about to run to, only a few meters away. Despite your fear, your expression on your face was determined rather than afraid.

"Three!"

You all stood up as one man, running as fast as you could, although you remained bent over the King, making sure he was safe, four human shields covering your sovereign's body.

You counted how long you spent unprotected.

One, two, three, four, five...

The gunshots started, and a couple of bullets hit the pavement right next to your feet.

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven.

You crumbled against the cab, your legs shaky with the adrenaline running through your veins while the gunshots went on, digging holes in the cab behind you.

"Everyone alright?" you asked.

You were met with four nods.

"The shooter is in the big building on the other side of the lane. I'd say third or fourth floor," Reepicheep said.

"I've spotted him on the third window of the fourth floor," you agreed. "But there's no chance we can aim at him from here. Better make a run for the subway."

"And if he wants us there?"

"Then we'll shoot whoever is inside. Keep your weapons at the ready."

Your gun was already in your hand, the safety long gone and your forefinger ready to pull the trigger while you held the weapon so tightly your hand hurt.

You had been trained for this. You didn't doubt your abilities. You only doubted your luck, it was the one thing you couldn't control after all.

"Alright, one more time. On three," you instructed once more. "One."

Bullets hit the car you were hiding behind again, and you shielded Caspian as well as you could. When the shooting stopped, he sat straighter again, his dark eyes fully black in the weak light of the street, with no way of telling where his irises started and his pupils ended. You stared at each other for a few seconds, both of you a little out of breath.

He rested his hand on your forearm, his touch delicate.

"Are you hurt, Miss Y/L/N?" Caspian asked in a concerned whisper.

But you shook your head.

"We need to move," was your answer, and the King merely nodded in response. He knew you were right. You needed to hurry.

"Two," you resumed your countdown, and your colleagues and you took back your protective positions around the King.

One final sprint and you would be in the clear, for now, at least.

"Three!"

The shots resumed the second you started towards the subway.

You counted the seconds again while bullets ricocheted against the pavements and the cars surrounding you. Glasses shattered on your right, the high-pitched noise added to the detonations.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...

You would have needed a couple more seconds, that was all. Just two more seconds, maybe three, and you would have reached the entrance and been able to take cover.

But you collapsed before that, just as the number nine rang in your head.

Caspian felt it. He felt that your hand slipped from his back, and your presence across his back and by his side disappeared too. He turned to check on you, and the scene he found was the one he dreaded most.

You hit the ground just as he turned to you.

His eyes grew round, and he made a movement towards you, but he was dragged away by the rest of his bodyguards.

"No..." he breathed, but it might just had been a shout for the pain that tore the word apart. It was simply too broken to come out louder.

Then he was pushed against a wall, and you were out of sight.

You were shot. You were hurt and it was all because of him. He had to go back and carry you to safety. He had to protect you just like you had protected him so many times before, just like you protected him just now.

"Unhand me," he ordered between grinding teeth. "All of you, unhand me."

If Marco and Denise obeyed, Reep stared back at his king with a stubborn look on his face that Caspian hated.

"Your Majesty, you can't..."

"That's an order."

"I'm afraid I can't obey this order, Your Majesty. You can't go out there for her."

The two men stared at each other, reading each other's anger and resolve in their eyes. Caspian's fear and panicked state was slowly turning into anger at the idea that he couldn't help you. And under other circumstances, he would have understood. He was the King. You had sacrificed yourself for him, and you risking your life would be useless if he walked back out there and got shot too.

But it was you. It was you, and he didn't care about anything else at that moment. Not about his country, or his duties, and certainly not his safety. You were lying on the cold pavement, just a few meters away from him, at best wounded and at worst dead. He would not leave you behind. He had things to confess, after all.

And on top of his fear for you and his panic rising through his body at the thought of losing you were added his regrets. So many of those, so many moments he had stopped himself from talking to you, from admitting how he truly felt, from holding you close, from kissing you.

It seemed simpler then, it seemed wiser too. He figured he had all the time in the world to tell you the truth. And now he was angry at himself, more than at Reepicheep, for letting so many of these moments slip through his fingers over the past years. And maybe he had let you down just as much as he had let himself by staying silent when he was so certain that he loved you. If he had let you down in the past, he was determined to never do so again, and certainly not now.

"Unhand me. Now."

"Your Majesty, if you get hurt, her sacrifice will have been in vain."

"I can't leave her there..."

"Your Majesty..."

"Get out of my way."

Reep heaved a sigh, knowing his King too well to keep on protesting. Instead, he did as ordered.

"I'll go with you then," Reep decided, and Caspian didn't complain.

Before he could add another word, Caspian was running to you, closely followed by his bodyguard.

He grabbed you by the shoulders and started to drag you towards shelter. With Reepicheep's help, he carried you to safety in just a few seconds, but he remained unprotected long enough for him to feel the stinging burn of a cut across his right arm. He merely winced though, and didn't let out a sound before all three of you were protected again.

Meanwhile, Denise and Marco had wandered further into the deserted subway and found no threat.

"Your Majesty... your arm..." Denise whispered, her eyes wide in concern.

"It's merely a scratch," Caspian brushed her remark away.

She looked for something to wrap around his wound to slow down the bleeding, but the King wasn't paying attention to her at all anymore.

"Miss Y/L/N? Can you hear me?"

His call was met by nothing but silence. Your eyes were closed, and a cut crossed your cheekbone, probably caused by your fall. He checked your pulse, but you were still breathing although your heartbeat was a little slow.

Caspian looked for your wound, but couldn't see any blood.

"Help me turn her to her side, she must have been hit on her back," he ordered, and Reep and Marco helped him to manoeuvre you so he could take a look at your back.

Sirenes echoed through the street then. The police and ambulances were arriving. But for now, you were still on your own.

After a careful examination, Caspian spotted a hole in the fabric of your suit, right under your right shoulder, and when he brushed his fingers across it, they were slightly covered with blood. He took his phone out of your pocket to shed some light on the spot, and he realised that your bulletproof vest had slowed the bullet enough for it to be still visible as it got buried in your skin and the first layers of muscles on the edge of your shoulder blade.

He heaved a relieved sigh. He was no doctor, but he reckoned that the wound in itself was not too severe. The strength of the impact must have been the worst part, he reckoned.

He gently put you on your back again, and resumed his efforts to wake you up.

"Y/N! Y/N please, open your eyes."

He ran his hand across your forehead and your cheek before cupping your face, his fingertips lost in your hair.

"Y/N... please... please, you need to wake up now. Y/N..."

Finally, your eyelids fluttered and opened, barely revealing the shade of your irises that Caspian dreamt about. And he reckoned he had never been happier to see your eyes.

"Ouch..." you let out with a wince.

He gave you a bright grin, tears shining in his eyes.

"Y/N... how are you feeling?"

"Been better," you admitted. "Where are we?"

"We've reached the subway. The police is here. Help is on its way."

"Have you... checked the perimeter?" You asked Reep.

"We're safe for now," Marco nodded.

"Happy to see that you are still the same," Caspian chuckled, his voice hoarse and a little weak.

"Are you hurt?" You asked, noticing the blood on his sleeve.

"It's just a scratch. I'm fine. We're all fine."

You made a movement to sit up, bit Caspian gently pushed you back down.

"No, lay down. Help is on its way. You need to rest."

"Your arm..."

"I'm alright, it barely brushed me. Stay down. You'll be fine."

He reached for your hand, for once not caring about the people around the two of you who witnessed the scene. It was so rare that he would let himself slip so far as to touch you in any way, and you felt overwhelmed by the chaste but loving hold.

But you were exhausted, and struggled to keep your eyes open by now.

You gathered your strengths to look at him, staring at his dishevelled hair falling before his dark eyes, and the beard covering his cheek, a little bit of sweat pearling across his forehead...

God, you loved him so much, it was almost embarrassing...

"Y/N, I need you to stay awake, okay?" Caspian's voice was low and deep and it sounded fragile now, begging. It was such a strange tone to hear coming from your King, you reckoned that you had never heard him beg for anything before.

"I'm so tired," you replied, although you were blinking in an attempt to open your eyes for good.

"I know."

"It's hard to breathe."

"You were shot. The vest stopped the bullet, but I reckon that the force of the impact was enough to knock you down. You could be more severely wounded than what we can assess now. So don't move, and stay awake while we wait for help."

"Take care of your arm first."

He exhaled loudly, a tender smile settling on his lips while his eyes filled with tears again.

Outside, the sirens rang closer again, and some gunshots could be heard from the distance. It was loud and chaotic and scary. Caspian didn't look away from your eyes though.

"You really have to always be this stubborn, don't you?" he asked, his voice too gentle for his remark, and as you thought about an adjective to describe his tone, there was no word that you could think of that suited more than 'loving'. And this tone of his made your heart melt.

Police officers finally reached your shelter a few minutes later, along with a team of paramedics. Reep guided them to you, and explained the situation, while you tightened your hold on Caspian's hand.

"As we've almost died, and it's a very short moment that'll soon end..." you whispered, so only Caspian would hear. "I think I can admit that... I really wish you could stay with me now."

But you were surprised when Caspian shook his head, giving you the most tender smile you had seen adorning his lips.

"I'm not leaving your side this time. As you said, we've almost died. Call it cliché, but it changes things."

You wanted to ask him what he meant, but the paramedics finally reached you, and you had to give them your attention instead.

"Take care of the King first," you ordered them, making Caspian chuckle.

You really would never change...

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

 You hated hospitals. They were white and cold and filled with pain. The blankets and sheets were scratchy and the mattress uncomfortable. And there was no need to get you started on the food.

You were in one of these hospital beds now though, and had no choice about the matter. If the bullet had not made too much damage in itself, the impact had hit you with enough strength to break one of your ribs. You would stay in the hospital for a couple of days, and after being patched up, you had fallen asleep alone in your room.

Only, you weren't alone anymore when you opened your eyes again.

Caspian was asleep, sitting on a tiny chair with dark circles under his eyes that showed that he had barely gotten any sleep during the night. You guessed that he had passed out because of exhaustion rather than peacefully resting. His neck was twisted to a strange angle, and you could foresee the wince he would make as he would wake up with painful muscle.

You guessed that moments of peril did change things after all.

You could already think of the headlines if the fact that the King had spent the night in the hospital to stay with his bodyguard was to come out. Caspian didn't seem to care though, clearly, as he was curled in his uncomfortable chair by your side.

His arm was pressed against his chest in a tight bandage. He looked properly exhausted, yet, your selfish side was happy he was in this chair instead of the comfort of a bed. He was by your side, after all, how could you not enjoy the sight?

The sun was rising outside, still pale and golden above the skyscrapers while the city that never sleeps came a little bit more to life. You studied the way a few stranded photons got caught on Caspian's eyelashes and in his long dark hair. You measured the distance between your hand and his. Maybe a metre, at most, you would say.

You kept on staring at him for a while. A couple of minutes or an hour, it was hard to tell, you reckoned that you could have spent your whole life just looking at him. Despite the rush and danger of the previous night, and where you were now, there was something unbelievably soothing about watching Caspian sleep by your side.

When he finally stirred, blinking his eyes open and rubbing the sleep away from them, his gaze instantly settled upon your frame. He offered you a warm smile once he noticed that you were awake.

"Good morning, Miss Y/L/N," he greeted you, his voice hoarse in the young morning as he rubbed his painful neck.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," you answered with the same smile.

He scooted his chair closer to your bed and leaned towards you.

"How are you feeling?"

"Numb. I guess they must have given me painkillers."

"You got some morphine during the night."

"Explains a lot."

He chuckled, nodding.

"I guess it must."

"How is your arm?"

"It was a mere scratch, but I am royalty, so... I reckon the doctors are being zealous."

"How did you get hurt? Is it because I fell?"

He stared right into your eyes to answer, knowing you wouldn't like what he was about to say, but he didn't really care.

"No, I went back for you. I carried you back to the subway, with a little help of your colleagues, of course."

"You did what?!" you exclaimed, trying to sit up but falling back into the bed as soon as a jolt of pain crossed your back and chest.

Caspian was on his feet in the blink of an eye, gently pressing his palm against your shoulder.

"You have to lie down. You have a broken rib. Apparently, it's going to hurt like hell."

"That... might be a good idea... Don't think it's making me forget what you've just said though. What on Earth were you thinking?!"

"Is that really how you're supposed to talk to your King?" he asked, quirking a playful eyebrow.

"When you act so recklessly? Yes."

"So what was I supposed to do? Leave you there, alone on the pavement?"

"Yes!"

"That will never happen."

"Your Majesty..."

But just as you were about to protest, he reached for your hand, and made you fall quiet, the words stuck in your throat as his soft skin met yours. Your heart sped up, and you watched him setting his eyes upon your two hands. He slowly sat on the edge of your bed while you struggled to find back your voice.

"This has been going on for too long, don't you think?" he asked in a whisper. "Such a silly game we've been playing..."

"This?"

"Well, I could be wrong, and then I apologize for what I'm about to say. But I thought... I think you might feel like this too."

"Your Majesty..."

His lips curled into a sad smile.

"Do you think you could call me a different name one day?"

You struggled to swallow.

"I'm not supposed to."

"As if I've ever cared about your origins and mine..."

"People do care though."

"Yes... I guess they do."

"So... you can stay for a little longer, and then the moment will end as you pass this door, and we'll be back to a King and his head of security."

He looked up to stare at your eyes once more, trapping your soul in them, it would seem.

"Is that what you want? After all these years? Don't you think we have lost enough time already, worrying about what people might say about us?"

"Nothing's changed. You're still the king, and I'm still your protector."

"Things have changed though."

"Really?"

"I almost lost you. I saw you lying there on this pavement, thinking that you might be dead. I've always pushed back this moment because I thought we would have time, that 'later' would come, eventually. But the reminder that our time on this Earth is a precious thing was only too violent for me to ignore last night. We've lost years already, I don't want to lose more time."

"But..."

"Just... hear me out. Let me tell you..."

"We shouldn't."

"When you were shot yesterday... I thought... I thought back on these moments when I almost didn't stop myself. When I almost told you how I feel, and when I almost kissed you and... and there is nothing in my life that I regret more than to have let all these precious instants pass."

He heaved a sigh, shaking his head.

"I'm... I know it won't be easy. But I'm tired of not being honest."

"Your Majesty..."

"No need to bring that distance between us again now."

"But..."

"But I love you."

You fell silent. You thought that he did love you. You hoped so. You wished that he would. But hearing the three words pass his lips was something else entirely. It felt... overwhelming.

"I've loved you for a while," he went on, his cheeks turning crimson, and his gaze dropping back to your hands, unable to hold your stare. "I... there will never be anyone else."

"You should marry a princess or... someone... like that..."

He chuckled again.

"Even you don't know what that means. We're in the 21st century, don't you think that I could have a choice to marry who I love. As long as the woman my heart has chosen loves me too, of course..."

His voice trailed off, waiting for reassurance, for your answer. But you remained silent.

"I want to do this," Caspian went on, staring at you once more while he gently stroked your knuckles with this thumb. "I'm ready to face it. Life is too short, Y/N. Yesterday was the last strike for me. I can't... I can't go on like this. I can't go on seeing you everyday and yet not being free to kiss you, and to ask you about your day, and to talk to you for hours just because I want to know everything about you and I want to hear your voice all the time. I can't go on being jealous of every man you speak to, imagining that maybe you could fall for them instead of me. I can't go on wasting my life like this, Y/N. I've wasted years already. You know that I would do anything for our people, I would die without a second thought if it meant protecting our country. But you becoming queen would be a good thing for Narnia too, I know you would be perfect in that role. And I just... I need you. And I want you in that role, by my side. I want you as more than the head of security. Critics will be made, and journalists will invent scandals, but we can beat this. We can, and if you give us a chance, we will."

He grew silent again, waiting for your answer. Before you would speak though, you gave him a smile.

"You're jealous of the men I talk to at work?" you asked, making him laugh.

"Of all that I've said, is that everything you've chosen to acknowledge?"

"We'll pass to the declaration of your unconditional love for me in a minute," you answered, both of you chuckling despite the tears glimmering in your eyes.

"Yes, I am jealous of them," he admitted. "Yes, I love you. And I don't want to be with anyone else. So... what do you think?"

You could have answered that it would be difficult, yet, you wanted to try it too. You were ready to embrace the storm that was sure to strike you, if it meant finally being with him. You wanted to tell him that you were jealous of all these noble women he talked to at galas as well. You wanted to tell him that you regretted these moments you had let slip through your fingers just like he did.

But instead, fewer, more important words passed your lips.

"I think that I love you too, Caspian."

He seemed a little stunned, but then, the grin he gave you was the brightest you had ever seen graze his features.

He didn't find any words to answer to that statement, so instead, he did what he had stopped himself from doing dozens of times before. Instead of speaking, he leaned down to press his lips to yours.

And Gosh, you had been wishing and dreaming and waiting for this kiss for years, but was it worth the wait...

His lips tasted of bitter hospital coffee, and they were soft and warm against yours. His scent was overwhelming, making your head spin. His hold on your hand tightened, but it remained tender all the same. When he turned his head a little more, his lips brushing yours instead of connecting with them fully, you reckoned that your entire body was set on fire by the way your two breaths mingled against each other's mouth, and how warm the air leaving his lungs felt across your skin. Finally, you were there, holding on each other, kissing, breathing the same air.

For how long did you keep on kissing? A few minutes, or a few hours, you wouldn't have been able to tell. All that you were aware of was Caspian's kiss and the way it made your body tremble, and how he was out of breath as well. Your fingers were lost in his soft, dishevelled locks like they were made to belong there.

When you finally broke apart, both of you out of breath, he rested his forehead against yours.

"So... what happens now?" you asked after a long silence.

"Now... I'm catching my breath, and then I think I might kiss you again."

You laughed, shaking your head.

"No, I meant... about... everything else."

But it was his turn to shake his head.

"It can wait until tomorrow. Or later, at least. Now... let's just enjoy this moment, okay?"

"It's nice," you agreed.

"Then let's just enjoy it while it lasts. Let's make this moment as long as we can."

"For how long do you think we can make it last?"

"Well... I reckon that a lifetime would do."

 *************************************

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[darlingandmreames]

Different Languages (But I Understand You All The Same)

Extraction was full of broken people. But perhaps, every once in a while, their broken edges were less like shards of glass and more like puzzle pieces

(also on ao3)

*******************************************************************************************

Eames was bad at relationships.

He was excellent at flings and affairs, brief periods of passion and high emotion where you put your most romantic side forward. He knew how to have fun, how to make his partner feel special and wanted as they both rode the rush of excitement. He had always been good at that. Better than most, he was willing to reckon. 

It was the comedown that he was bad at. The quiet calm after the passion began to cool. Eames had stared down the barrel of guns both in dreams and real life with barely a blink, but there was something in the tentative step from a fling to a relationship that frightened him. He was a forger, a man who wore masks and disguises and personas for a living, and those personas had long since stopped being restricted to jobs. The idea of dropping the layers of masks he wore for long enough for another person to get to know him was terrifying on a visceral level that made Eames recoil from even the thought. 

So he ran. Reinforced his defenses at the first sign of authentic intimacy and pulled away. He pushed his partners away until they finally grew tired enough of trying to bridge the gap he kept widening to simply give up. It had gained him a reputation over the years- fun but flakey, an adventure but nothing long term. Good for a fun few weeks or months, but nothing more. He wore his reputation the same way he wore his various disguises, using it to cover how adrift and unmoored he felt in the quiet of a settled relationship. The whirlwind of chaos was where he felt at home and it was simply easier to let his partners leave when they decided they wanted something quieter than to try and adapt to the silence itself.

But Arthur didn’t leave.

Eames had felt his dread grow in a way it never quite had before as the excitement of their first few months together began to fade. It grew as he pushed Arthur away just like he had everyone else, mixing with self-loathing because he didn’t want Arthur to leave. There was something wonderful about the way Arthur looked at him, about the feeling of having Arthur’s attention and focus directed at him, and Eames didn’t want that to end. It had to though. Because eventually Arthur’s attention and focus would see through Eames’ layers to whatever core he had and he couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t handle the pain of Arthur seeing whatever his true self was, a person Eames wasn’t even sure he recognized himself anymore, and still leaving. So he resisted Arthur’s attempts to draw him in and pushed him away with a panicked urgency that he hated.

But no matter how hard he pushed, Arthur wouldn’t leave.

He certainly pulled back. Every time Eames pushed Arthur took a step back and gave him space, but he never left. And when Eames had calmed down, when his panic at the offer of intimacy had subsided, Arthur- steady, grounded, unshakeable Arthur- reached back out. It was never anything major, no grand gestures or bold declarations. He never made ultimatums or demanded that Eames bare himself. He simply reached out, waiting patiently as Eames inched closer and closer to being able to reach back. Arthur stayed even as Eames felt his disguises slipping, vulnerability showing through cracks in his masks, and suddenly the calm quiet didn't seem quite so frightening. It was still new and strange and difficult to navigate but every time he began to feel adrift Arthur was there, reaching out with a steady hand and simple gestures to ground him. 

He smiled as Arthur set a cup of coffee down on the table next to him. He had no doubt it was exactly the way he liked it; that had been one of the first ways Arthur had reached out, a quiet assurance that he was there and listening even if Eames had been afraid of what that meant. Arthur kissed his temple lightly as he sat down beside Eames. “How’s it coming?”

Eames sighed, looking back at his notes. This job was proving more difficult than he’d anticipated, and figuring out his forge was quickly turning into a royal pain in the ass. “It’s…coming.”

Arthur laughed quietly, opening his laptop back up. “That’s something, I suppose.”

“How’s it going on your end?”

“It’s fine.” Arthur shrugged, pulling whatever document he’d been going through before he’d gone to get coffee back up. “There’s a lot to parse through, but it’s not too bad.”

“Well at least one of us is making progress.” Arthur laughed again and Eames smiled. Spending the rest of the afternoon trying to hammer out the details of his role was far from the most pleasant way he could spend the day, but Arthur’s quiet company would go a long way in making it better. 

Arthur’s hand was resting on the table by his computer and after a moment Eames reached over and slipped his hand into Arthur’s, smiling as Arthur intertwined their fingers and squeezed his hand gently. He didn’t understand why Arthur had continued reaching out even as Eames had pushed him away, but that Arthur of all people had decided to keep trying- had somehow decided that Eames was worth it- filled Eames’ chest with warmth every time he thought about it. And being able to reach back knowing that Arthur would still be there, steady and solid as he’d always been, was more beautiful a feeling than he ever could’ve imagined.

XXX

Arthur was bad at relationships.

He was a planner and an organizer and he compartmentalized his emotions in much the same way he organized information when researching a job, setting them aside and focusing on information that was easier to process and understand. On objective facts and impartial data. It was an excellent skill to have as a pointman; there was a time and place for emotions, and on a job simply wasn’t it. The underworld of dream sharing was violent and volatile and the ability to approach it with a distant impartiality allowed him to work with an efficiency and effectiveness that others lacked. 

It made navigating interpersonal relationships more difficult though. Arthur preferred working with facts and figures because he understood them. They made sense to him in a way that the emotions he set aside never had. But relationships weren’t made of facts and figures. They were made of complex and messy emotions and the compartmentalization that had served him so well and earned him respect for so many years suddenly put him at a disadvantage. The same words that had been ascribed to him as a pointman- distant, calculating, unaffected, cold- were suddenly thrown at him with an anger he didn’t know how to respond to.

It wasn’t that he didn’t care. He did care, sometimes painfully so. But caring and being able to express that he cared were two very different things. Years of violence and building walls to protect himself and closing off his emotions because that was what you did to survive in the world he lived in had created a gap separating him from others that he didn’t know how to cross. He tried. He tried to express that he cared and show an openness and vulnerability that felt frighteningly foreign to him. To reach out across the gap in whatever small, quiet ways he could, over and over and over again in the vain hope that maybe he could get something across. But it was never enough. He was too distant, too aloof, too cut off, and eventually whoever he was trying to reach decided he wasn’t worth the trouble of waiting.

But not Eames.

Arthur had looked desperately for some way to cross the chasm he always found himself on the wrong side of, for some way to express his feelings in the way that other people demanded. He’d liked Eames. Liked the way he laughed, the way he held him, the way he looked at him and seemed to see a person rather than just a useful asset. But the words and motions other people used to express that felt awkward and uncomfortable and impossible and all Arthur had been able to offer were the same small gestures that had never been enough. So he’d stood on his side of the gap and offered them, trying to ignore the sadness of knowing that they wouldn’t be enough this time either. That no matter how Eames looked at him now, in the end he wouldn’t be worth the effort and Eames would leave all the same. 

But Eames didn’t leave.

Eames, who lived loudly and expressively. Who was able to put emotions to words in ways that Arthur had never been able to and expressed them with an ease and clarity that Arthur had always envied. He’d accepted Arthur’s gestures without demanding more, letting Arthur express himself in the quiet, wordless way that had always felt more comfortable without pressure. Arthur hadn’t always understood Eames’ reaction but he’d kept trying, wanting so badly to make himself heard and worried each time that this would be the one that drove Eames away, that he’d reach out only to find no one there to reach out to anymore. Eames had stayed though. He’d stayed as Arthur tried to close the gap, expressing the things Arthur couldn’t find words for and never asking for more than Arthur had been able to give. And when the words finally had come, slowly solidifying into something Arthur could express more concretely, Eames had been there to hear them. 

He hummed happily as Eames came up behind him, slipping his arms around Arthur’s waist and pressing a kiss against his jaw. “I’ve always loved you in this suit, darling, you know that?”

Arthur chuckled. “You say that about every suit.”

“Well, that’s because you look good in all of them. It’s not my fault you look so bloody handsome in everything.”

Arthur tried to hide his smile, but he knew the blush he could feel rising in his cheeks gave him away regardless. “Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Eames.”

“Mm, maybe.” Eames kissed his jaw again before resting his chin on Arthur’s shoulder. “I don’t plan on stopping any time soon though.”

Arthur leaned his head against Eames’ as he went back to sifting through the various papers on the table in front of him. The silence was comfortable and familiar in a way that it had never been with any of his previous partners, both of them content to simply let the moment sit quietly. When he finally finished sorting the documents Arthur turned, leaning back against the table and resting his arms up around Eames’ shoulders. “Did you still want to grab dinner after this?”

Eames grinned at him. “Been looking forward to it all day, love.”

Arthur couldn’t help but smile back. “Me too.” Gentle warmth spread in his chest the way it always did when Eames looked at him with the fond expression he currently had, like Arthur was something to be treasured. “Have I told you I loved you yet today?”

Eames’ grin widened. “You have.”

“Well, I’m telling you again. I love you.” The words had been difficult for him to say at first, but they came now with the ease of the objective facts Arthur spent most of his time focusing on. He supposed it was only fair; it had long since become just that for him- an objective fact. He loved Eames. He didn’t understand why Eames had stayed, but Arthur would tell him that every day for as long as he was willing to listen. “More than anything.”

Eames’ expression somehow grew even fonder. “That makes two of us, darling.” He leaned in, kissing Arthur gently. “I love you too.”

[formerprincess]

A tale written with fangs and claws || Chapter 58

Chapters: 58/? Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken, Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt Characters: Liam Dunbar, Theo Raeken, Mason Hewitt, Corey Bryant, Nolan (Teen Wolf) Additional Tags: Alpha Liam Dunbar, Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, Dunbar Pack, Bisexual Liam Dunbar, Werewolf Theo Raeken, Alpha Theo Raeken, Canon-Typical Violence, Smut, Mates, Liam and Theo are mates, Top Theo Raeken, Bottom Theo Raeken, Top Liam, Bottom Liam Dunbar Series: Part 1 of Morning Dew Pack

Liam has to take care of a very important matter. And there is an invitation...

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Liam immensely enjoyed working for Ellie. She was happy to show him her craft, teach him things, but she was also very easygoing, and as long as she saw him trying, she loved him and was thrilled with his performance. Also, Ellie knew about the supernatural, so she completely understood when he looked at his phone after it chimed with a text, just in case his pack needed him. Not that anything had come up in the few weeks since Liam started working for her, but he liked to have this option. He didn't have to hide anything, and Liam realized how much better he felt with that.

When work was slow, they talked about a lot of things and Ellie taught Liam some things about supernatural creatures. She had laughed loudly at the story about the fairies in their garden and proceeded to elucidate the different variations of fairies and elves. There were plant fairies, water fairies, sun fairies, and almost that many elves classes. Just like there were different weres out there. Liam felt kind of silly he didn't know about any of this and one day voiced his thoughts. Was he simply ignorant or just blind?

"Neither. You're from a town where none of those things exist. Don't blame yourself for that", Carlie said. Carlie was one of Ellie's three best friends, the other two being Libby and Simone. All three were at Ellie's age and the friends had a weekly meeting at the shop where they sat together, talked about their lives, drank tea or coffee, and ate cookies. Carlie herself was a petite woman with short spiky hair and big square glasses. From what they had told Liam upon first meeting, they all were elves but Liam secretly suspected Carlie of being a pixie. She was cheeky, witty, always said what was on her mind, and her eyes sparkled with mischief. Needless to say, Liam liked her. "Yeah, but I also feel like I should know more." "You know enough. About Onis and Berserkers and Kitsunes and hell and other terrible things. You're twenty. Most guys your age know how to party and wear their base caps the wrong way." She bit into a cookie. Liam laughed. "My boyfriend likes to wear his caps the wrong way. He looks hot with it. But he also knows other things." "You have so much time to learn still. Don't worry. Even we old ladies don't know about any supernatural being out there", Simone comforted him and filled her cup with some more tea. She was the opposite of Carlie; tall, thin, and the quietest of the bunch. "I also agree with Carlie, you know about terrible things, traumatic things, things one should not know about. Especially not this early in life. But unfortunately, trauma is also experience. " Liam made a face. He sat down on the armrest of one of the chairs Ellie had placed around. "I just could have lived without some of those experiences. I mean, I could have gone without the experience of being homeless but hey. Maybe that's just me." Ellie put her arm over the backrest of her chair and turned to look at Liam. "When have you been homeless?" They talked about a lot of stuff but Liam's life story, she only knew parts of it. Good parts. He didn't want to deliver sob story after sob story. Liam had a good life, he knew some people had it worse. He cherished that. Now he exhaled loudly through his nose and then he told the four women how the hyenas came into town and caused havoc, how they finally destroyed the house and left the pack picking up the pieces. He ended with the move to the new house.

After he finished, his listeners were shocked. "You experienced all this and you still find it in yourself to be such a happy and polite young man?" Libby asked in awe. She was usually full of life and laughed loudly, her afro curls always bouncing around her round face, but now she was stunned. Liam shrugged. "What's the option? Turning bitter? It worked out in the end. Doesn't mean I will ever forgive them for what they did but no one died, at least." "You are a terrific young man, Liam", Ellie praised. He smiled softly. "Thank you."

The store door opened and Angela, Ellie's oldest daughter, stepped into the shop. She was a lawyer and used her breaks to visit sometimes. She greeted everyone happily and hugged her mother. Liam ran to get her a fresh cup and dragged another seat to their circle so he should sit and interact with the group. She squeezed his arm in a silent thank you as she sat down and accepted the cup. "What were you guys talking about? Is everything okay?" She asked good-heartedly. "Liam just told us about those horrible, horrible hyenas who destroyed his house" Libby filled her in. Angela raised both eyebrows. "I hope none of you were harmed." "Everybodys fine. We managed to get out in time before the house exploded. I'm just grateful I got my brother out of town before it happened." "Oh, you have a brother? I didn't know that." Angela loved kids and had specialized in family rights. She claimed she liked to help kids get justice. "Hm." Liam nodded. He walked to the cash register where he left his phone and while he walked back searched through his pictures. "Landon. He's almost ten." She showed her and the rest of the women the picture and they all cooed how much alike the brothers looked. "You said you brought his out of town? So I take he's usually living with you? Your parents must appreciate such a tight brother's bond." Angela was surprised but happy. Liam hesitated. "Landon's not my mother's son. We're half brothers. Same dad. Well, father. Sperm donor. My biological father is...he's a piece of shit. Alcoholic. Abuser. You get it. I didn't even know Landon existed until we met months ago by a pure coincidence. The circumstances don't matter but in the end, Theo and I took him home with us. Not a chance I would have let him stay with that man. So he lived with us in the house. Until I brought him to the lake to keep him safe. He lives there now." Liam missed Landon terribly but they were all still so young, they could not care for a child properly. Byron and Lana were perfect for that task and Landon also liked them. He blinked. "But enough of sad stories. Let's talk about something different, okay?"

****** He was cleaning up after Ellie's friends had left. After he had basically pleaded for a change of topic, the talk had revolved around lighter topics and ended on a very funny note. Now Ellie was in the back, doing some accounting, and Liam manned the front of the store. Angela was the only one still there. Now she stepped to the cash register where Liam was currently filling some jars with bagged candy. "I'm going to tell you something, not as a friend but as a lawyer, okay? And I need you to listen." She looked serious and Liam tensed. What happened? "Did I do something wrong? Is your mother mad at me?" "No. But listen." She tapped both index fingers on the counter. "You need your biological father to sign his rights over to you as fast as possible. What you said about him, having him in Landon's and your life is dangerous and not good for either of you. So you need to act fast. Have him make you Landon's legal guardian." Liam frowned. "I planned on doing so once I turned twenty-one. I wasn't aware I can do it now. Thought I had to be twenty-one." Angela shook her head strictly. "No. You need to do it now. In most states, anyone who is eighteen years old can become a guardian. Look, who tells you your father agrees to it in a year? He still holds guardianship and can make decisions for your brother. If he does not sign over his rights, he has so much time to cause harm. You said Landon's almost ten. That means another eight years of having the right to decide about medical procedures, school enrollment, the living situation. Even if Landon stays with you, all it takes is somebody checking who is the legal guardian for Landon. Could be school, could be a doctor's office, or if he gets in trouble it could be the police. If he's in the hospital. For eight years, you have to always fear for this to happen. If your father does not sign his rights over." "If he does not do it on his own, I will take him to court." Angela shook her head even more firm this time. "Honestly? They will ask you where Landon lived for the past year. Legally, what you and Theo did was kidnapping. If you manage to get a strict judge, that alone will cause you to lose the case. Landon will get sent back to his father and you're probably not even allowed to see him. I told you, I'm not telling you this as a friend. As your friend, I understand why you did it, as a lawyer I have to inform you about this likely possibility. The only chance you have is to have your father make you his guardian." It was a hard pill to swallow and Liam gulped. He had been naive, he realized now, and considered it all easier than it was. And maybe Landon had to pay the price for his neglect. "Thank you, Angela", he mumbled sadly.

****** Liam sat in his car and watched the house across the street. The sun was beating down and these barren landscapes made the air even drier. The dusty roads stirred up sand whenever a car raced by. Bleak. He cast a look at the passenger seat. All documents he needed were laying there, including a pen. Now all that Liam was left to do, was get out of the car, walk up to the door, and get a signature. Angela's stern talk from days ago had left Liam rallied. Once he was home, he had told Theo about everything and the couple had to admit them taking Landon out of the house had been a stupid move from the legal point of view. They had emotions get the better of them and now this potentially harmful situation had arisen. Theo had supported Liam in whatever was needed to ensure he would become Landon's guardian but the Beta was also not a lawyer and as much at loss as Liam.

Thank god for Angela. She had helped Liam set up the documents Emmet had to sign and those documents Liam grabbed now when he exited the car. Theo was not with him, his boyfriend didn't even know Liam was here. Nobody knew. This, Liam felt, was something he had to don his own. Maybe to find a deserving ending. Maybe to test his control. Or maybe this was stupid but then again, Liam could proudly admit he was doing stupid crap now and then. Stiles, according to his own claim, could show Liam a list.

He let out a shaky breath when he walked through the unkempt front lawn. Some new beer bottles and cans had gathered around the chair. Emmet was not there but Liam heard his heartbeat through the ajar window. You're not going to kill him, Liam. He does not deserve you getting your hands dirty. Liam knocked at the door. Inside the house, he heard some bottles falling and Emmet's slurred voice mumbling.  Then scuffling steps and the door opened. And the young Alpha had to gasp and take a step back. "God, you stink!" The stench of booze, beer, and sweat made him almost gag. Disgusting, his man. "You. What do you want?" Emmet slurred angrily and grabbed the door for support. Liam turned his head away and took a few breaths. He willed his nausea down and turned to face his father. "How long have you been drinking, alkie?" "What do you care? Why are you even here? I don't want you." "Trust me, I don't want you either. But I need something from you and that means I have to come here. I would rather be somewhere else, believe that." "What? Want money for the little gremlin? I'm not giving you a dime." Emmet swayed on his feet. "I don't need your money. Go inside, before you fall flat on your face. I'm not catching you." Liam pointed inside the house. His father made a step towards him. "I should beat the crap out of you for talking to me like that and not stop til you're whimpering. Do you know who I am?" "A sorry excuse for a worm." Liam pushed his biological father by the shoulder and he stumbled back. As drunk as he was, he didn't stand a chance against an Alpha.

Emmet was taken by surprise but managed to catch himself at the table. He spewed a few curse words in Liam's direction before he shuffled around and fell on one of the chairs with the grace of a sack filled with potatoes. Liam closed the door and followed inside. His nose twitched and he wanted to retch at the smell and how dirty everything was but he kept himself from it last minute. This was not for him, this was for Landon. "How's your mother? Still wailing about how horrible I am? The slut should be lucky an honest man wanted her." "My mother is neither a slut nor are you an honest man. Don't mention her or I break your nose." Liam felt his anger building up. This was a test for his control and he might fail it. "Piss off! She's the reason you're such a weak bastard. Wonder what happened with the other one. He's just as weak. Cried whenever I hit him. Begged me to stop. Just like you. Oh, I remember you. Your mother screamed and cried when the ambulance came. I would have left you on the ground. Would have taught you a lesson." "I didn't need a lesson, I needed a father who loved me!" Liam slammed the papers on the table. "Here! Sign this!"

Emmet grabbed it after a few tries and dragged it over the table. He narrowed his eyes at the print. "What should I sign?" "Those are the papers for you to make me Landon's legal guardian. Sign and we're out of your hair forever." Liam balled his hands and felt his fingertips itch. His claws wanted to come out, his wolf furious at the man in front of him. Years of pent-up rage welled up and dared to spill over. He could kill Emmet and probably nobody would shed a tear. Laughter disrupted his thoughts. Emmet had left the papers on the table and laughed. It boomed in Liam's ears. His blood rushed through his veins. This man was mocking him. "If you really think I'm signing this crap, you're mistaken. Know why? Because you bastard want me to and you get nothing from me!" Emmet was still laughing but decided to underline his words by spitting in Liam's direction. It landed on the carpet between them. His claws almost broke through and he was ready to lunge but a voice in his head stopped him. No. Not like this. Not him. Maybe it was his wolf who was even stronger than Liam's human side burdened with IED but it was enough to make Liam pause. If you kill him, you'll never become Landon's guardian. Keep the little one safe.

Liam exhaled loudly through his nose and closed his eyes for a second. If even the animal inside him knew better, he would follow. Had to follow. All for his little brother. Landon didn't deserve a murderer for a hero. He opened his eyes and stared at Emmet. Suddenly Liam was seven again, cowering at the floor while his father screamed at him and walked closer and closer. He had put his arms up back then, in a feeble attempt to shield his body from the hits, and pleaded for the man to stop. Fear. Panic. Pain. But this time Liam didn't feel panicked. He was not afraid of this drunkard calling himself a father. Instead, Liam felt disgust and maybe even pity. This guy had nothing to live for. It gave the young Alpha a strange sense of calm. Out of the two of them, Liam was the better man. The better person. IED or not. The condition didn't rule him as much as it ruled his father, and Liam had quite a lot more on his plate.

He sat at the opposite of the table and took the pen in his hands. "And why wouldn't you? What's in it for you? Just to be petty? Just to put one over on me?" Emmet snickered. "It will bug you forever, that's good enough for me." He reached for a bottle of booze and uncorked it to take a swig. Liam glared at him. Then he put the pen down. His glance landed on his bracelet. The bracelet he shared with Theo. Suddenly, he got an idea. Maybe it was time to see if he could take a book out of Theo's playbook. He raised his head and crossed his arms on top of the table. "Okay, fine, don't sign. We will play your game. I will send Landon back to live here." Emmet eyed him. "You're bluffing." "Not at all. He will come and live with you again. But be aware. I will be around every damn day." "And then what? What will you do? Punch me? You're no match for me", Emmet sneered. "If you lay so much as one finger on him, and we both know you will, I will call the cops on you. They will come and they will arrest you for domestic violence. And yes, Landon may be sent to foster care but I will make sure you will be sent to prison. There is no booze, no beer, no schnapps in prison. But the people there love people who abused kids. I know people and I will make sure every inmate knows what you did to two little boys. That's what will be awaiting you. No freedom to get wasted like you're doing now every day. Think about it." His biological father still eyed him suspiciously. "No way you would ever let him live here again." "To get you locked up, I would do other things. Landon too, by the way. All to make sure you will rot in hell. He's tough, he will take whatever you might to do him. Maybe I will move in as well. One happy family. With me comes my boyfriend, obviously. By the way, how's your hand?" He looked at Emmet's fingers wrapped around the neck of the bottle. Father and son stared at each other, accessed each other until Emmet snorted. "Your mother raised you better than this. I call bluff. You don't have it in you, weak shit!" A cold, dangerous smile appeared on Liam's face and he leaned closer. "You call my mom a slut and other horrible names, yet you forget I also inherited DNA from you. We both have IED. Wanna find out how much more alike we are? If I'm as cruel as you are?" He gave his father a death glare. "You want to start a war? I'll raise you World War III. Your choice. Either don't sign and feel the whiplash or sign and you will never have to see us again." Liam placed the pen on the papers and waited. His heart was thundering inside his chest. That was not his usual way to carry on negotiations and he had no idea if it worked. Theo made it always seem so easy and pulled it off without a hitch. But Liam knew he was not that good. Emmet grabbed the pen and fiddled with it. He scribbled his signature at the marked fields, an unruly chicken scratch but his signature nonetheless. "Get the hell out of here. If I see you on my front lawn again, I will shoot you." Liam's hand shot towards and he pulled the documents towards himself after the last signature was done. "I have better people to be around than you. Give your liver a break once in a while." He got up just in time as Emmet's hand shot towards his throat. The alcoholic missed by far and his hand thumped on the table. "Fuck off, you piss baby!" The sound of the splintering bottle hitting the wall was the last thing Liam heard from his father when he now left the house without so much of a goodbye.

It only dawned on him what just had transpired when he was in his car and already on the road. Liam stopped at a red light and breathed a sigh of relief. "Holy shit!" He had faced Emmet Dunbar, that one man he hated with a burning passion, the one who had made his childhood horrible and hurt Liam, Ilona, and Landon so much. Against what he had wanted to do to him, Emmet had left the meeting completely without a cut, Liam was incredibly proud of himself. Even though now, that everything settled, his hands shook and his heart raced, adrenaline pumping through his body. That had the potential to go so, so wrong and yet Liam stood tall. He glanced at the papers safely sitting on the passenger seat. Not only had it worked out without Liam losing his temper, but it had also really worked and he was Landon's guardian. The threat of Emmet interfering with their lives and taking Landon away again was erased. Liam wanted to cry.

His phone chimed and Liam almost hit another car. "Jesus Christ!" He accepted the call over the speaker. "Hey, Theo." "Hey. Say, just out of curiosity, where the hell are you? Nobody knows where you left. It's not like you to disappear like that. What's going on." Liam bit his lip. "I was at Emmet's." "Emmet? Emmet Dunbar? Your father? What the fuck! Is he still alive?" "Shh, let me explain. I told you about what Angela said and I went to get his signature. Yes, he's still alive, I didn't touch him. Even though I wanted to." He heard Theo closing a door and birds singing in the background. "Why didn't you tell me? I would have accompanied you." Yeah, good question. Liam didn't know for sure. "I guess...I needed to burn this bridge alone? Prove to myself I can stay calm around him. I'm not like him in any capacity and while I know you and I absolutely adore you for always being there for me, this was something I had to do alone. You understand? Maybe for my own peace of mind, I dunno." Theo was silent for a few moments. "Yeah, I understand", he finally confessed. "Did it work, at least?" A smile broke out on Liam's face. "Yep. Have all the signatures I need. Thanks to you as well." "Thanks to me? What did I do?" "Well, let's say you're a good teacher, even if you don't want to be one. I'll tell you everything once I get home, okay?" Theo laughed. "Okay. Love you." "Love you too."

****** Landon's face appeared on the screen in front of Liam and as soon as he had a picture, the child waved animatedly. "Hello, Liam!" Videocalls were a good way to keep in contact even if they could not see each other in person. Liam happily waved back. "Hey, Landon, how are you?" "I'm good. Zack and I built a fort." Landon launched himself into a story of all the things his best friend and he had done. Lana and Byron appeared in the background of the call but they simply waved and let the boy talk. Liam put his chin in the palm of his hand and listened with a smile. Seeing Landon so carefree and hearing about him being a normal child was all he ever wanted. It came nine years too late and Liam knew his brother must have been affected one way or another by his upcoming but now that he was out of Emmet's claws, Landon was in for an amazing life. After he was done, Landon asked about Liam's life in Seattle. Now it was the older's turn to talk about college, his pack, the fairies (Landon loved this part and he asked thousands of questions). Theo had joined Liam for a while and laughed softly. "He's like you", he whispered into his mate's ear and kissed Liam's cheek before he disappeared out of the frame again after a wave in Landon's direction. Liam chuckled but then he finished his story. "One more thing, Landon. You know we took you away from Emmet, right?" Landon shivered at the mention of his father's name but nodded bravely. "Do I have to go back? Please, don't make me go back!" "No, no, hey, I would never. That's why I'm telling you. He signed all the papers. I am your guardian now." Lana and Byron appeared left and right from Landon. "He did? Oh, how wonderful, Liam." Lana was touched. Landon scrunched his nose. "What does guardian mean?" "It means Liam is responsible for you now and Emmet can never hurt you again. Say you want to go on a class trip, for example, the school has to ask Liam and not your father anymore", Byron patiently explained to him. Landon considered. "So, he can't get me?" "Never again. He's out of your life for good", Liam promised firmly. His brother beamed at the adults. "That's amazing!" "Yeah, it is." Lana stroked through his hair. "But, Sweetie, you have to get ready for bed now. Tomorrow's a school day." "But I want to keep talking to Liam. I'm not finished." Yes, Landon could be stubborn. "We can talk tomorrow, Laddie. After school, yeah? Now you have to get ready for bed. Sleep is important. I'm going to bed now too. Theo does too. See?" He rolled to the side and tilted his screen so Landon could see Theo brushing his teeth with the bathroom door open. Theo waved. It wasn't that he actually wanted to go to bed but he had tried some licorice Mike had brought home, not from Ellie though, and after eating it Theo claimed to have a bad taste in his mouth. Landon huffed. "But we talk tomorrow", he insisted. "Werewolf promise." Liam raised his hand solemnly to swear. "Good Night, Laddie." "Good Night, Liam. Good Night, Theo." Landon stood up. "Good Night, you two," Lana called out and then disappeared with Landon.

Byron sat on the desk chair. "I know he signed but did the meaning with your father go well?" "It did. As well as possible with this man. I was pretty surprised at my control. At a certain point, I was ready to snap but somehow my wolf made me pull back and I got more level-headed." "That's the Alpha in you. Even if our personality or our urges say otherwise, sometimes the Alpha part can balance it out to keep the peace. It is impressive how well you learned to work with your wolf." The praise was nice because Liam tried. Sometimes it felt like all he did was running in circles but then he proved to everyone (and mostly himself) he was a good person and improving. "Speaking of Alpha and peace, Liam I forwarded an email to you just now. Have a look at it, maybe Theo should do so as well."

Theo had dried his mouth and now walked over to lean on Liam's chair while Liam opened the mail Byron had forwarded. It included a word document and when Liam opened it, it turned out to be an invitation to a meeting held in a hotel in Seattle. "Liam, part of being an Alpha are pack politics." Liam whined. "I told you I'm not good at that! What is this? An Alpha congress? I can't go there." "Maybe let the man talk before you cut and run", Theo suggested and smoothly avoided the contact between Liam's elbow and his stomach by moving aside. "I know what you said, Liam, and this is no pressure but I wanted to inform you. The invitation is indeed for an Alpha meeting. No congress, just a few Alphas coming together and talking." "About what?" Liam saw himself on a stage, in front of hundreds of Alphas, a whole auditorium filled with them, and making a fool out of himself. People would laugh. It would be a degrading experience. "Life. This and that. No one is expecting a speech from you, Liam. See I've been to a few of those meetings. There are only packs living close by attending these meetings. They're mostly boring. You stand around, do some small talk, maybe eat a quick snack, and leave. But they can also help you get a better idea of which packs are around yours. In the area. It can be interesting, if only so for scouting. But, of course, that does not mean you have to attend. It's no declaration of war not to go there. Just like you cannot declare war by saying a wrong word if you go." "Those are all Alphas, experienced Alphas probably, and then I show up. Junior McJunington. What will they think?" "Screw what they think. So what if they're older or more experienced? You're you and that's awesome" Theo passionately declared. "Thank you, Dr. Seuss", Liam hissed. He frowned and scratched his cheek. "I have to think about this." "As it is your right. Don't do anything you're not comfortable with." "If I should attend, there will be no problem? I can just show up there?" "The invitation is addressed to the Alpha of the Morning Dew Pack. They seemingly didn't get the memo about the change in our pack but that doesn't matter. The invitation is for you, not for me. Actually, no Beta can attend the meeting. And no Alpha mate either unless they're specifically invited." "I have to go there alone??" Liam shrieked. In his mind, he had Theo by his side. Maybe Brett and Caden since both could be real charmers and have intellectual conversations. Corey would have also a good match despite him being as insecure as Liam in those settings. Byron rubbed his hands together. "Those are the rules. But I know, alone or not, you will be just fine. Should you go or not. This is not something I can do for you. The decision is all yours. Just one more thing, to be fair. you will be the youngest in this group. By a few decades, I suppose. That's why I don't think they will pay you much attention. They're just curious." "Great", Liam said sarcastically. "Given my track records with strange Alphas so far, this will be a marvelous experience."

****** "I don't think you should go. What if that's a trap?" Tim worried about Liam's safety. Liam had informed his pack about the invitation right the next day and after classes, they were sitting in the living room and discussing this. "I think he should go. Just to check the others out. Maybe he can make allies?" Brett opposed. "I also think Liam should go. Byron said he has been to a few of those meetings. I don't think it's a trap", Sadie tried to dissolve Tim's worry and he gave her a grateful look. "The two strange Alphas I met in the last year have both tried to kill me. You understand I'm not keen on walking in a room full of unfamiliar Alphas?" Liam questioned. "I think that should be the reason you go", Ever stated, "to show all of them you're not afraid. If they plan on messing with you, you will look them in the eye. Maybe then they won't underestimate you." "I just don't see the purpose of those meetings. From what Byron said it sounds pretentious." Corey looked peeved. "Oh, it is", Lori confirmed. "But they are not that rare. I don't think you have to be scared, Liam." She offered a genuine smile. Liem returned it cause he knew she was trying to make him feel better. "What do you mean by not rare?" "Well, they're not, if you have Alphas of the old school" Brett took over from his sister. "Modern Alphas just meet up, talk, like Scott with Satomi. They don't even call it an Alpha meeting and send out fancy invites. Those are practices of the old guard, mostly well-esteemed werewolves who love to use those meetings to gossip. Ever seen those movies with scenes in Gentlemen Clubs? Country Clubs? Those are the people to expect at those meetings. Byron's not that far off when he says they won't spare you a look. You're - and don't take this the wrong way - not their type of person, if you know what I mean." "The Alpha from my parents' pack also attends such meetings. They always gush about the delicious and expensive things they eat there. But this woman also has a rich husband and considers herself playing tennis and golf as labor. So, pretty much pompous, entitled snobs", Sadie said. Maya rolled her eyes. "I also know about those meetings but I'm so glad I never met an Alpha going there before. Eh, no offense, Liam." Liam groaned. "Okay, just the danger of becoming the new hot gossip for the elite wolves around. Yeah, I think I'll pass." "I would still go", Caden chimed in. "It's a good opportunity to get to know how many are around. Do you know that? They invited Byron so their radius must be quite large but how many packs live between Seattle and the lake? Wouldn't it be good to know in case we need help? What if the hyenas come back? Having some werewolf allies would not be that bad."

He had a point. They all did. Liam was still torn. For once because he was afraid of making a fool of himself, then for the reason not to offend another Alpha and start a war, and on top of it, he now came to the realization just how different those Alphas seemed to be. He looked at his boyfriend. "What do you say?" Theo had listened to everything and had made up his mind. "You should go. For all those reasons. Byron said there will not come anything bad from it. He would never let you go to any event if he feared something might happen to you. If he says you can go, I believe him. And yeah, it is a good way to get information. Maybe there are not that many packs around.  But you will only find out if you go." Since most of his Betas said he should go, he considered. Maybe it was a good idea indeed. Only one problem: "If it's that high class, what should I wear?"

Fifteen minutes later Liam regretted that question. He stood in his bedroom while Theo, Brett, Mason, and Sadie sat on his bed. Sadie throned between the other guys, one leg crossed over the other, and looked like she was having the time of her life. Liam was the poor victim and had to model several outfits for the self-proclaimed fashion experts of his pack (he knew Theo could dress good but at this point, Liam felt betrayed) who all had other ideas of the perfect outfit. "That dress shirt is perfect for you. Not too out there but also not too normal" Mason praised Liam's current outfit consisting of black pants and a dark grey dress shirt. Liam hated it. It was not even one of his shirts but one of Theo's Mason had just grabbed. His boyfriend had not protested (see, there was the betrayal) but now shook his head. "That's not the outfit to go." "Absolutely right. Liam, grab the one I hung there." Sadie pointed at the clothes and Liam grumbled but grabbed them and stalked into the bathroom. When he emerged again, he was wearing jeans, a blue slipover with a white button-down shirt underneath. Liam felt like he was a kindergartener dressed by mommy. "Now you look like back in Devenford. Then again, maybe this private school flair is exactly what you need", Brett snickered. Liam glared at him and Theo scoffed before he handed Liam the third outfit. Liam glared at him too for good measure and disappeared into the bathroom again.

The outfit Theo had picked for him, Liam didn't even know where he got it. He had never seen Theo wearing this particular combo. Cloth trousers, a polo shirt and a sports jacket over it. "How the hell do you get this? And why do you get this?" He asked once he emerged from the bathroom.   Interesting, Theo became a bit sheepishly. "I got it for some occasions? Maybe a job interview?" "This is so not you." Liam eyed himself in the mirror. "This is so not me either. What were you thinking, guys? None of your outfits were good." "You wanted us to help you", Mason defended himself. "I wanted to get suggestions, not become your dress-up doll", Liam replied sharply. Sadie sighed. "You're being difficult. Don't you want to make a good first impression?" "A good impression as himself, shouldn't that be the goal?" Caden had walked into the room and crossed the arms in front of his chest. He looked at Liam. "You look strange. Actually, you look like me whenever my aunt visited the family. Horrible." "How do you look when your aunt visits?" Brett had to know. Caden pulled out his cellphone and searched a bit before he handed the phone over. Brett snickered. "Okay, thanks for the laugh. So dapper, oh my. One would not think that since you're almost only ever wearing more casual clothing." Sadie giggled. "Does Ever know you can look like that?" "As a matter of fact, yeah. She doesn't like it. I can relate. But my aunt is quite old-fashioned and conservative. She came to town, we dressed like that, covered up our tattoos, the whole shebang. We just never liked it. Liam doesn't like dressing up either." "Tell me about it. That's a topic we have had since we're friends." Mason rolled his eyes. Liam wanted to glare at him but if he was honest, his best friend was right.   So he raised his shoulders. "I have dress shirts. I just happen to like t-shirts and jeans more." "Hence why I think you should wear that", Caden stated. "You are not like the type of Alpha who wears expensive clothing and the latest brands. You're Liam. We like Liam. Why do you want to be somebody you're not? Just to impress people you probably will never see again after that one time?" "That's true." Even Theo had to admit that. "I know when you're comfortable and you never are when you dressed up to a certain extend." "I still think if the occasion calls for it, you should make an effort", Sadie insisted. "It's not about what you want; it's about what our Alpha wants. Liam goes to the meeting and Liam has to represent himself and our pack. He should do it as his truest self possible", Brett retaliated. She pouted.

But then she got up from the bed and walked towards Liam's open closet. She dug around there for a while before she pulled out a pale blue t-shirt. It was a new one, Liam had only worn it twice and he loved how soft the fabric was, it felt good and comfy on his skin. Sadie handed it to him. "The color makes your eyes pop. That and that one light blue jeans you have. If you walk into a room full of strange werewolves, bright colors make you look friendlier." "That's Sadie. If you can't dress them up the way you want, at least get into chromatics", Brett praised.

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Quite a Liam-centric chapter but then again he's the Alpha and Landon's brother. And he had to make decisions. Now the question is, what will happen at the meeting? What do you guys think? All I can say is, I'm excited about the new chapter.