#he is so oblivious about it and thinks oh that’s an interesting fact about architecture

[laurearte]

Parle plus fort meuf il entend R avec sa grosse tête la

[screwitbaby]

naive

hamzahthefantastic x reader (fic)

day 1/7

summary: a short story about the boys’ trip to curaçao. hamzah’s oblivious with girls and you’re not one to turn down a challenge.

contains: SFW content

wc: 1860-ish

~

The first thing that crossed your mind when you met him was that he was hot. Way too hot. Like, he must have the worst personality (and/or stroke game) behind closed doors to still be single. He truly is an enigma.

A pair of pale legs comes between your view of a shirtless Hamzah walking out of the water like he's in a sexy cologne commercial and blocks you from staring at him any longer. You whine and look up to see Martin with his arms crossed over his pasty chest.

"Enjoying the view?" he asks sarcastically. He sits on the beach chair next to yours.

"I was," you say, pulling your sunglasses off your face and placing them atop your head. "Then you had to go and ruin it."

"I think I made it better, actually,” he says. He lays on his side with his hand on his popped hip. You nearly gag.

"Jumpscare warning next time, please?"

"Ha-ha." He flips to lay on his back. "So go to talk to him."

"Hell no," you say. "He needs to come to me."

"You're delusional." Martin shakes his head. "And Hamzah's oblivious. He friendzones every girl he's interested in. It's really painful to watch, honestly."

"This is your best friend you're talking about," you remind Martin. "Shouldn't you at least talk him up to me a bit?"

"I'm not a good liar," he sighs. "But I know one thing."

"And that is?"

"He likes you."

Your head whips in his direction. "Don't mess with me."

"I'm not!" He squeals. "Seriously, he's bad at showing it, but I know him. He gets a certain way around girls he likes."

"You better not be bullshitting me," you point at him. "Because I will be taking that and sprinting with it."

"Mhm, go for it." Martin puts his arms behind his head, acting suave. "I'm good with this type of stuff. It's a heavy gift to bare."

"Didn't Mandy have to make the first move with you?"

"She told you about that?" He sulks. "I told her not to..."

"Bros before hoes." You throw your hands up defensively.

Deciding you've had enough of this rascal, you throw your lacy cover up over your bikini and walk down the beach to meet the object of your desire halfway.

"Hey," you greet, digging your toes in the sand.

"Oh, hey," he replies. You catch a glimpse of him looking at your legs from over his shoulder. "Welcome to my humble abode."

You eye the limp sand castle he's building with one of the empty margarita cups you guys ordered a round of earlier.

"Looks structurally sound," you joke, plopping down next to him.

"It's a work in progress," he defends himself. "Here is the start of the moat, and here's the tower I'ma save a damsel in distress from.”

"And who's the damsel in distress?"

"I don't know," he says, turning to make eye contact with you. "She'll make herself known sooner or later."

You raise your eyebrow and wonder if there's some deeper meaning that you're supposed to decode beneath his expression. Then, you remember Martin's words and shake the thought from your head.

The two of you work on improving his architectural masterpiece. It proves to be a difficult task considering the fact that the ocean waves keep knocking the castle walls down. Perhaps the location should've been reviewed before you sunk so much time into perfecting it. All you know is that every time he leans over to fix something on your side and your thighs make contact, your stomach flutters.

The Curaçao sun sets and you guys pack up your belongings, stopping by the bar to grab one last mixed drink before heading back to the hotel. Martin attempts to carry Mandy bridal style and trips, sending them straight into a bed of flowers. He says it was because of his flip flops in an attempt to cover up how much of a lightweight he is when it comes to alcohol.

With rosy cheeks and tired limbs, you say your goodbyes to the couple at their suite and make your way back to your room. Hamzah offers to walk with you so you're not alone in the dark and you accept his gracious offer because his shirt is tossed over his bare shoulder, long forgotten. Oh, and your safety, of course.

"My feet are killing me," he groans. "I stepped on, like, a billion seashells."

This triggers a "sally sold seashells by the sea shore"-off between the two of you, keeping you entertained while you clumsily make your way up the stairs of the hotel. You may or may not have been swaying your hips a little extra when you were ahead of him.

Hamzah insists on walking you to your room even though his is a floor lower. When you make it to your door together, you say goodnight and enter the air-conditioned room with a sigh.

You immediately strip and step under the shower head, washing the sand and sunscreen off of your body and massaging your sore extremities. You'd gone sight seeing with the whole gang for the past three days and it took a toll on your body. Despite that, you were the happiest you'd been in a long while. It was a good kind of exhausted. Content.

When you step out of the shower and into a complementary robe, you hear a sudden knock on your door. You frown because you were certain you had placed the do-not-disturb sign on the handle. You put slippers on and shuffle over to open it.

"Hey, again," he sighs.

Your eyes widen, "Hamzah. What's wrong?"

"I lost my card for my room," he explains as you let him in. "And my ID's inside, so I couldn't even prove that it's my room to the front desk."

"Shit," is all you can say. "What do we do?"

"I tried calling Martin ‘cause the bookings are in his name, but he didn't pick up. I think they knocked out already."

He sits on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. "And I'm still fucking tipsy."

This makes you laugh, even though you know you should be sympathetic towards the poor guy. He lifts his head to look at you and smiles.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," he says, leaning back on his elbows. "Because in case you hadn't already pieced it together, that means I gotta sleep in here."

Your heart skips a beat and the laughter fades from your throat. "But there's only one bed."

He furrows his brows in thought. "I can sleep at the foot of the bed."

"No, you freak, you're not a dog," you say, sitting beside him. "Y'know what? We'll just share."

"Is that okay with you?" he questions. "I don't wanna, like, overstep..."

"What other choice do we have? And I'm certainly not letting you sleep on the floor."

"I guess you're right."

You both sit still for a moment, eyes on everything except each other. It's cliche, really, but you couldn't let him wake up with a crook in his neck or something. Then the next day of activities would be sullied. At least, that's what you tell yourself.

"So.... can I use your shower?"

"Yeah, go ahead," you say. "But, um, do you want to borrow some clothes, or?"

"I doubt your clothes would fit me." He snorts. "I'll go buy something from the gift shop."

"I think I packed a pair of comfy sleeping shorts if you want to try?"

He shrugs, so you walk over to your luggage and search for the shorts. You find them bunched up underneath one of your dresses and cover your mouth with your palm. It was a good thing they were stretchy because they definitely were not going to be his size.

You hand them to him and he holds them up to inspect them. Then he looks at you with squinted eyes.

"Thanks." He retreats to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. You take a deep breath and decide to go watch some TV.

Once you hear the water turn off, you cross your legs nervously. The door cracks open.

"This is crazy," Hamzah shouts. "They fit!"

He steps out fully and your breath hitches. He stands there, water still dripping from his curls and onto his chest, only in your tight shorts that barely reach the tops of his thick thighs. It was like a replay of the beach, but better. You cross your legs tighter and try to avoid staring for too long.

"Yay."

He dries his hair with the towel and asks if there's a spare toothbrush. You point to the drawer below the sink and avert your gaze when he bends over to grab it. He finishes up and walks over to the bed.

"The shower floor is destroyed. I think I had 3 pounds of sand in between my ass cheeks."

You burst out laughing and so does he, climbing under the sheets. "Me too, honestly."

You sit up against the headboard, watching some random Dutch family show that was on. You don't understand much, but your phone is charging so you have no choice but to tune in. Hamzah pretends he knows what's going on and creates a riveting plot for the characters that is infinitely funnier than whatever they were actually doing. At some point, the both of you start yawning. You decide it's probably best that you sleep, even though every part of you would love to stay up all night and listen to him ramble on.

You grab some pajamas from your suitcase and turn to him.

"Could you...?" You gesture for him to turn around.

"Oh, yeah, course." He lays on his side facing the wall.

You quickly throw on an oversized tee and shorts, wincing when the bands of your underwear smack loudly against your skin.

When you're fully situated in bed next to him, you turn the TV off and nestle into the sheets. You stay on your side and he lays on his back. All there is to hear is the sound of your breaths and the crash of the waves from the open window.

"Today was fun." He yawns, running his palms over his sun-kissed face. "I wish we could stay here forever, just doing stupid tourist-y shit and hanging around the beach."

"I know," you agree. "I'm glad I got to come on this trip with you guys. I really needed it."

Your chin is tucked under the blanket. He blinks slowly and even in the darkness, you see his big brown eyes find yours.

"Well, I'm glad you came, too." You don't know if it's just the amount of drinks consumed between the two of you, but you swear you see his eyes on your lips. "I like spending time with you."

You don't know what to say, so you say nothing at all. He turns onto his side after one final "goodnight" and the two of you fall asleep in the glow of the moonlight.

~

a/n: did i have to include the one bed hotel room cliche? no. did i anyway? i’m just a girl… lmk if u liked it or if u hate my guts and want to curse my bloodline !!!

[discoscoob]

Love’s Labours Won | Loki x Female Reader

Loki (Marvel) x Doctor Who

The TARDIS arrives in The Dark Ages where the Doctor tries to solve a mystery involving witchcraft. During your stay your relationship with Loki begins to develop due to a mix of a Shakespeare, jealousy and one bed.

Part Three | Part Five | Chapter Index

Words: 7.7k

Warnings: unwanted advances, mild homophobia, death: very minor characters, jealous Loki, swearing, angst, fluff and then more angst

Read on AO3

You were sat crossed legged in front of your floor length mirror, applying eyeliner when the whole room began jerking, which caused your hand to slip and left a long black line smudged over or eyelid. 

 You huffed in annoyance, as you pulled out a makeup wipe and began cleaning up the mistake, you decided that there was no point in attempting to try again as the whole TARDIS continued to quiver. 

 You climbed to your feet, still wiping your eye, as you stormed out of your bedroom with half your sight blocked by your makeup wipe. You failed to see Loki walking down the corridor at the exact same time and with the help of the turbulence, Loki lost his balance and stumbled into you, sending you both crashing into the wall.

 “Good morning.” You greeted Loki, almost sounding out of breath from the shock of your back impacting with the wall. His face was mere inches from yours, as you were trapped against the wall between both his arms, unlike the last time you found yourself in this position with the God, it was purely accidental this time.

 From the proximity you realised that today a light citrusy and floral scent surrounded him and from what you could see, he was wearing a solid black suit with a matching shirt and tie. The outfit made him appear even more powerful and intimidating than he usually did and despite the fact you were meant to be trying to push away any desires you had towards the God, your mind was encouraging you to just lean forward those last few inches and close the gaps between your lips.

 Before you could follow your own minds advice, Loki awkwardly cleared his throat as he took a step back away from you, while straightening out his suit jacket.

 “Good morning.” He repeated.

 You both continued your way towards the control room, occasionally bracing yourself against the walls whenever you felt as though you were about to lose balance. 

 “Did you have to pass a test to fly this thing?” You asked the Doctor, who was literally sprawled across the console, with his foot pushing a leaver, while his arm stretched out to the opposite side to turn a dial.

 Donna was clinging onto the rail for dear life, while you and Loki attempted to reach her side without falling flat on your backsides.

 “Yes, and I failed.” The Doctor distractedly answered. 

 “I can tell.” You replied, as the TARDIS jerked to an abrupt stop, you instinctively grabbed onto Loki’s arm to steady yourself and he put his own hand under your elbow to ensure you were stable.

 Behind Loki’s shoulder you saw Donna watching you and the God closely, you could tell that she still didn’t trust Loki. Feeling conscious of her stare you mumbled a quick thanks towards Loki before you extended the distance between the two of you, while the Doctor ran to the doors of the TARDIS.

 “Beyond this door lies a brave new world.” He announced with his back against the TARDIS doors, enthusiastic as ever.

 “I’m up for anything, as long as there aren’t any volcano’s and none of us get possessed.” Donna seemed happily pleased.

 “Oh Donna, the chances of that are low but never zero.” The Doctor cheekily smiled, before he turned on his heel causing the tail of his long brown trench coat to fan out behind him as he ran out the door. “Come on!” 

 When you stepped out of the TARDIS behind Donna, the first thing you noticed was that it was night but still humid, leading you to believe it was summertime and you noticed that you were surrounded by other humans which lead you to the conclusion that you were still on Earth. 

 The sound of horses hooves clicking against the cobblestone of the lively street, the attire of the people who occupied it and the medieval architecture of the buildings which aligned it all informed you that you had travelled backwards in time. 

 If you required further more indication, the foul waste which came pouring from the sky, barely missing you before Loki pulled you back, was the final confirmation you needed. You could hardly hold back the gag that threatened to rise at the back of your throat.

 “We’ve arrived somewhere before the invention of the toilet. Good to know.” The Doctor commented.

 “Listen, I’m all for time travel yeah, but that’s disgusting. I’m gonna nip to the loo on the TARDIS before we explore, I don’t wanna end up shitting in a bucket.” Donna announced before she retreated back inside the blue box, the door squeaked shut behind her.

 “I always knew you were a primitive species but that is truly a testament to how far you have come in your short lives, it is positively awe-inspiring.” Loki remarked and you glanced at him with narrowed eyes, as you tried to decipher whether to be offended or take it as a compliment. 

 “So, this is London?” You eventually asked the Doctor, while you all waited for your auntie outside the TARDIS.

 “Think so,” the Doctor let his eyes wander over the street, “round about, ooh... 1599. If I’m right, we’re just down the river, by Southwark, right next to the Globe Theatre, brand new, just opened! Though strictly speaking, it’s not a globe, it’s a tetradecagon, because of its 14 sides.” 

 “What’s that?” Donna asked, after stepping back outside the TARDIS, having caught just the end of the Doctors sentence.

 “I was just saying, the Globe Theatre isn’t technically a globe, it’s a tetradecagon, it has 14 sides.” The Doctor repeated to Donna, who pulled a face.

 “You’re always so pedantic,” Donna shook her head. “Why would they ever call it the Tetra-thingy Theatre?” 

 “Tetradecagon.” The Doctor corrected.

 “See, pedantic.” Donna pointed out, and the Doctor looked insulted.

 “As I was saying,” the Doctor returned to his original point while he glared at Donna, “the man himself should be there tonight.”

 “Shakespeare?” Loki’s interest peaked.

 “You know who Shakespeare is?” Your eyebrows lifted with surprise as you turned to Loki.

 “Believe it or not, unlike everyone on Earth, we aren’t sheltered on Asgard. What can you tell me of the Nine Realms?” Loki paused to give you a chance to answer, but your lips remained sealed as your eyes bounced around in thought. “That’s what I thought.” 

  ***

 The Doctor had lead the way to the Globe Theatre and managed to sneak all four of you inside with the use a wallet, containing a blank piece of paper, which he had explained was called psychic paper. It allowed the person who looked upon it, to see whatever the Doctor presented it as, when he had said it was tickets to the performance you were let in without any bother.

 Inside the theatre was filled to the brim, the four of you were cramped near the back of the stalls. The smell wasn’t particularly pleasant, unfortunately deodorant and other essential hygiene products weren’t invented yet but since you were stood by Loki’s side his delicious and fresh scent performed as a buffer over the foul odour and you found yourself almost snuggling into his chest as the play went on.

 Once all the cast were bowing at the end of the performance, the crowd began chanting ‘author’ commanding that Shakespeare himself make an appearance on stage.

 With his arms raised above his head and a flamboyant skip, William Shakespeare entered the stage and the cheers, whistles and applause grew even louder. He blew kisses toward the crowd, as he confidently walked back and forth across the stage, occasionally he leant down to brush the hands of the audience members below, who desperately reached out their arms in the hopes they might get to touch the renowned poet.

 In the flesh, Shakespeare appeared to be a lot more attractive than any of his portraits ever suggested. He had a head full of wavy golden brown locks and a beard to match. 

 “He’s a bit different to his portraits.” You commented to no one in particular, as you continued to enthusiastically clap along with everyone else.

 “Genius. He’s a genius. The genius, the most human human there’s ever been. And now we’re gonna hear him speak! Always, he chooses the best words, new beautiful, brilliant words...” The Doctor excitedly spoke.

 “He is one of the finer Midgardian poets. I have read most of his work, he is truly gifted with his language.” Loki added.

 “Shut ya big fat mouths!” Shakespeare merrily exclaimed to his audience, who erupted into laughter, while the Doctors and Loki’s faces fell with disappointment and they halted their applause. 

 “Oh Gods, he sounds just like my brother after one too many.” Loki realised with alarm.

 “I know what you’re all saying, Love’s Labours Lost, that’s a funny ending, isn’t it? It just stops!” Shakespeare clicked his fingers to put emphasis on the abrupt ending. “Will the boys get the girls? Well, don’t get your hose in a tangle, you’ll find out soon.”

 “When?” The audience eagerly chanted.

 “All in good time, you don’t rush a genius.” The poet lowered himself into an elegant bow before he abruptly shot back up again. 

 “When?” Shakespeare repeated his audiences question. “Tomorrow night!”

 The theatre erupted into raucous applause.

 “The premier of my brand new play! A sequel, no less! And I call it Love’s Labours Won!” You and Donna continued clapping, oblivious to the suspicious glance the Doctor and Loki shared with one another over your heads.

 ***

 “I can’t say I have ever heard of Love’s Labours Won.” Donna announced, as you were exiting the theatre, still huddled in a large crowd.

 “Me neither, is it one of his more obscure works?” You looked over your shoulder to inquire with the Doctor, who easily stood a whole head and shoulders above the crowd surrounding you, as did Loki, who was walking beside you.

 “Well, the thing is, it doesn’t exist, only in rumours. It’s mentioned lists of his plays, but never, ever turns up and no one knows why.” The Doctor explained, adding a tone of mystery to his voice as he quirked his expressive eyebrows.

 Your interest peaked almost instantly, you noticed Donna’s had too as you both shared an inquisitive look, eager to discover more about this missing play.

 “But how did it disappear in the first place?” Donna asked.

 “Well... I suppose we could stay a bit longer and find out.” The Doctor suggested, to which you and Donna shared excited smiles. 

 ***

 You collectively made the decision to spend the night in one of the inns, to not only get the full experience but the Doctor knew of which one Shakespeare occupied, this allowed him the opportunity to keep a vigilant eye on the poet, in the hopes of discovering what caused the disappearance of Love’s Labours Won.

 “Hello! Excuse me, not interrupting, am I?” The Doctor asked as he knocked on the side of the doorway, “Mr Shakespeare, isn’t it?” 

 You followed into the room behind the Doctor with Loki close behind you and Donna entering last, to find the famous writer lounging at a desk as he drank from a tin cup, with two of the actors from his play sat in front of him.

 “Oh, no. No, no, no, who let you in?” Shakespeare pinched the bridge of his nose. “No autographs. You can’t be sketched with me and please don’t ask where I get my ideas. Thanks for the interest. Now be a good boy and shove...”

 Shakespeare finally removed his fingers from the bridge of his nose and raised his hand into a shoo motion, but as he lifted his eyes to look at the Doctor they instead landed on you and his words died on his tongue. 

 “Hey nonny, nonny,” the playwright addressed you, as he suddenly sat up straight and gestured to the seat beside him. “Sit right down here next to me.” 

 Your eyes slightly widened at the interest Shakespeare displayed in you, while behind you no one noticed the way Loki had begun looking upon the poet with a shadow cast over his eyes. The innkeeper entered the room and placed her hands on the shoulders of the two actors, who were sat before Shakespeare.

 “Come on, lads, I think our William’s found his new muse.” She encouraged them to make themselves scarce, while Shakespeare rose from his seat.

 “Sweet lady,” he continued to address you as he beckoned you over to the chair one of the actors previously occupied, you politely smiled at him as you lowered yourself into the chair and he sank back into his own. 

 The Doctor sat down in the chair beside you and Donna sat on his other side, so he was sandwiched between the two of you, while Loki lingered in the back, where no one could notice the way his gaze menacingly lingered on Shakespeare.

 “I’m Sir Doctor of TARDIS and these are my companions,” the Doctor listed off your names, as he held up his wallet containing the psychic paper, which he had used to enter the Globe Theatre with, in front of William.

 “Interesting. That bit of paper, it’s blank.” Shakespeare pointed out, it appeared he was immune to the papers psychic powers.

 “Oh, that’s... very clever.” The Doctor raised his eyebrows as he let his hand holding the wallet fall limp. “That proves it. Absolute genius.”

 “Who are you, exactly?” William rested his elbow on the table and leaned forward as propped his cheek upon his fist, while he returned his attention to you. “More to the point who is your delicious lady?” 

 Donna raised her eyebrows as she looked between you and the poet. “She’s my niece.” Your auntie stated, capturing the writers attention.

 “Your niece is very captivating.” Shakespeare informed your auntie.

 “And you’re very married.” Donna countered, clearly disapproving of his flirtatious manner towards you.

 Near the back of the room, Loki’s lips lifted in a proud smile as he watched Donna shut down Shakespeare.

 “Excuse me! Hold hard a moment!” A large, heavy and bearded man, wearing a pleated collar, black robes and an elaborate gold necklace which rested over his shoulders, invited himself into the room and grabbed everyone’s attention.

 “This is absolutely abominable behaviour, a new play, with no warning! I demand to see a script, Mr Shakespeare. As Master of the Revels, every new script must be registered at my office and examined by me, before it can be performed!” He lectured the playwright, who stroked his beard in an idle manner.

 “Tomorrow morning, first thing, I’ll send it round.” The experienced writer calmly answered. 

 “I don’t work to your schedule, you work to mine! The script, now!” The man demanded. 

 “I can’t!” Shakespeare finally raised his voice.

 “Then tomorrow’s performance is cancelled. Love’s Labours Won will never be played.” The man concluded, before showing himself out the room.

 “I guess that answers our questions about Love’s Labours Won. I thought it was going to be a bit more exciting than that. It usually is with you, Doctor.” Donna sighed disappointedly.

 Almost as if on cue, the shrill sound of a woman’s scream was heard from the street outside and you all stood to attention.

 “Sounds like I spoke to soon.” Donna remarked, before the Doctor sprung from his chair and dashed out the room with the rest of you following on his tail, including Shakespeare.

 Once you were all out on the street, you saw the man who had declared the cancellation of Love’s Labours Won, stumbling around and clutching at his neck as he repeatedly threw up what appeared to be water. 

 “Leave it to me, I’m a doctor.” The Doctor announced, as he rushed to the man’s aid, although he barely reached him before the man collapsed to the floor with a choked groan of pain, as water continued to pour out his mouth. 

 The man lay motionless on the straw covered cobblestone street and it appeared to be too late for the Doctor to do anything as he checked his pulse with a grim expression.

 The Doctor stood to his feet to address the innkeeper, who had come out to witness the commotion.

 “Good mistress, this poor fellow has died from a sudden imbalance of the humours. A natural, if unfortunate demise. Call a constable, have him taken away.” The Doctor instructed her, before he crouched back down by the body. 

 You followed Donna as she joined the Doctors side, you knelt on the opposite side of the body across from Donna and the Doctor and Loki settled beside you. 

 “What actually happened to him?” Donna whispered to the Doctor, understanding that what he had told the innkeeper was a lie.

 “If I’m not mistaken, it looks like witchcraft.” The Doctor suspected, his tone deadly serious.

 “Before anyone points their finger at me, I’m not a witch. I’m a sorcerer, there is a difference.” Loki proclaimed his innocence.

 “No one is blaming you.” You assured him.

 “I’m usually the first suspect when something goes wrong.” Loki explained, with a small laugh to keep it light but you still frowned, imagining how frustrating it must be to constantly be seen as the black sheep. 

 ***

 You all solemnly returned to the inn, the unexpected death of the man who had wanted to cancel Love’s Labours Won, had inspired the Doctor to stay in order to get to the bottom of it. 

 The innkeeper had accommodated the four of you with the last two unoccupied rooms of the inn, however almost looked ready to kick you all out onto the streets when Donna had suggested the Doctor and Loki take one room, while she and you take the other.

 “Two men will not lie together under my roof.” She muttered ever so quietly, as if it were far too scandalous to be said out loud.

 “The dark ages.” The Doctor sighed, while he dragged his palm down his face. “Miss Noble likes to jest,” he assured the innkeeper, who eyed the four of you suspiciously before reluctantly leaving. 

 “I broke that rule a long time ago.” Shakespeare spoke through a chuckle.

 “Oh, 57 academics just punched the air.” The Doctor muttered to himself, causing you to let out a small snort of laughter.

 ***

 Due to the innkeepers rules surrounding sleeping arrangements, this resulted in the Doctor and Donna sharing one room, while you and Loki shared the other, the rooms were situated on opposite sides of the inn.

 You and Loki stared at the double bed, both wondering who was going to be the first to break the silence. Inside your mind you were freaking out, but you didn’t let it show on your exterior, you were meant to be trying to forget these thoughts about Loki which occupied your mind, sharing a bed with him for the night would only make it worse.

 The God wordless walked further into the room, the floor loudly creaked beneath each step he took, as did the mattress once he lowered himself onto it in a sitting position, with his back turned to you. 

 He removed his tie and hung it around the post at the bottom of the bed, followed by his suit jacket and then his shoes, your heartbeat was rising with every item of clothing he removed wondering how much further he would go, but luckily he stopped there rested back onto the bed, with his pillows propped against the headboard.

 “Are you going to stand there all night?” Loki casually commented, noticing you hadn’t moved an inch since entering the room.

 You swallowed and softly moved towards the bed, noticing the floor boards didn’t creak as loudly beneath your feet and once you sat on your side of the bed, with your back turned to Loki, you copied his previous movements and began removing your shoes.

 “Shakespeare seems fond of you.” Loki remarked, as he picked at some loose thread on the blanket beneath him and you paused your actions. Maybe you were imagining it, but you could sense a certain edge to his voice that made you believe that he wasn’t only making casual conversation. 

 “Those are words I never imagined would be said towards me.” You lightly chuckled, as you resumed your movements, before you slowly shuffled up the bed to lie beside Loki.

 “It must feel nice to capture the attention of such a renowned figure of your realm.” Loki continued, and you wished instead that you could’ve captured the God’s attention in the same way.

 “I suppose,” you shrugged, despite the fact that you could admit the man was far more attractive in person than he is depicted in any of his portraits, his attempts at flirting with you hadn’t so much made you swoon but rather made you feel awkward.

 “He reminds me of my brother, you would like him.” Loki told you. “The same golden hair, the same confidence-”

 “He’s not really my type.” You quickly admitted, causing Loki to pause for a moment.

 Without looking you could tell Loki had turned on his side towards you, as you felt the uncomfortable mattress shift beneath your back. He had propped his head up on his elbow, while his other arm rested on the dip of his waist.

 “What would you describe ‘your type’ as?” Loki curiously inquired.

 You. You answered in your mind, while your lips remained sealed as you pretend to be giving it some thought while you focused on nervously fidgeting with your fingers over your stomach. 

 Eventually you lifted your eyes to Loki, his were already unapologetically focused on you. As you silently watched him from under your lashes, you willed him to read your mind from your stare alone and from the way his eyes darted over your face, you could tell he was trying.

 The candlelight which luminated the room, cause his eyelashes to cast shadows over his defined cheeks when his gaze paused on your lips for a moment too long, he drew his own lips inward to moisten them as his eyes slowly rose back to yours. 

 You leaned towards him, ever so slightly and nervously swallowed as he moved the hand he was using to support his head, to brush some loose strands of hair away from your face. His other arm made the mattress dip beside your waist, as he used it to support his weight as he leaned his upper body over you.

 His long hair fell untidily around his face and you hesitantly reached out your own hand to tuck one side of it behind his ear, surprised by how silky it felt against your fingertips. You let your palm cradle his sharp jaw as he slowly lowered his own face towards yours and both your eyelids fell shut as you waited to feel the sensation of the others lips moving against your own, but just as you felt his warm breath fan against your skin, an ear piercing scream caused you to shoot up with alarm and your forehead to smack against Loki’s.

 “Fuck!” You both cried in unison as you cradled your throbbing foreheads in your palms. The sound of loud footsteps running past your door from the hallway outside, reminded you of what caused you to startle in the first place and you quickly jumped from your bed, ignoring the way the pain in your head protested against it and rushed after the sound of the footsteps down the stairs. 

 “She died of fright.” You heard the Doctor conclude, as you turned through the doorway to the study Shakespeare was working in, to find the time lord leaning over the innkeeper’s dead body. Your auntie was stood at the open window, as if searching for something, and Shakespeare looked dazed as he sat at his desk with confusion written all over his face.

 “I don’t like how this is turning into the plot of Clue.” You commented, before you jumped when you heard footsteps behind you, only to relax when you saw they belonged to Loki.

 “Doctor!” Donna called from the window, and he immediately rushed over to catch what she was looking at but unfortunately it seemed he wasn’t quick enough.

 “What did you see?”

 “A witch.” Your auntie answered, as if she could hardly believe herself.

 ***

 During the early hours of the morning, the innkeepers body had been removed by a coroner and the Doctor had stayed up until the crack of dawn began to peak through the inn’s windows, trying to figure out how the sudden deaths and the witchcraft all linked to the disappearance of Love’s Labours Won.

 You and Loki provided little help, hardly listening to the Doctor as he voiced his thoughts loud. You were both to occupied with distracting one other, as you kept glancing at each other from across the room, the tension between the both of you had been building ever since your chance to share a kiss was stolen away from you. 

 Looking around the room, you could see everyone was caught up with trying to come up with explanations for what was happening and you realised you could probably slip out the room without anyone noticing or at least not paying it much attention.

 Giving Loki a look which made a crease form between his eyebrows you rose from your chair and quietly made your way towards the door leading to the hallway, you paused once more under the arch of the doorway and gave Loki another look, which caused his eyebrows to rise with understanding, before you disappeared into the hallway.

 You walked up the stairs and entered the room you and Loki were sharing, hoping he would figure out where to find you, you sat on the bottom of the bed as you waited.

 It wasn’t long until you heard footsteps approaching the room, no one could ever hope to move around quietly on the floorboards of the inn. The doorway to your room was lower than the others, which meant when Loki walked through it he had to duck his head. After he gently shut the door behind him, he turned and paused with his back to the door, you were looking at him, from where you sat on the bed, with a wide smile as giggles threatened to rise from your stomach at the secrecy of it all.

 “I was meant to follow after you, right?” Loki checked, as he walked further into the room.

 You nodded as you rose to your feet and met him halfway.

 “I’ve never done this before,” Loki bashfully admitted, as he looked down. “Sneak away with someone in secret, I mean.”

 “You never had anyone to sneak away with in that big old palace on Asgard?” You asked, putting little effort into hiding your surprise. “I assume you lived in a palace, I don’t actually know…”

 “Yes, I grew up in a palace,” Loki chuckled, “and no, there was no one to sneak away with in it, that was more Thor’s arena.”

 “I’ve never done this either,” you confessed, “I had visions of myself waiting here and you not showing up because I didn’t make myself clear enough and then having to return to the room pretending I just took a piss in a bucket.” 

 Loki’s laughter grew louder and his smile wider, as crinkles appeared at the side of his eyes which lit up his entire face, you decided you would like to see this expression on him more.

 You reached your hand up to his face and gently rested your palm against his cheek and in return you felt his large hands engulf your hips as they gently pulled you closer. Your other hand rose to his shoulder and brushed along it until you curled your fingers around the back of his neck to slowly pull his face towards yours.

 This time you felt his lips mould against yours without any interruptions, his right hand left your hip to brush up to the small of your back, the back of your shirt slightly rode up with his hand, and he pulled you closer so your chests were flush, while your whole arm snaked around the back of his neck and you felt the tips of his soft hair tickle against your bare forearm.

 Blindly Loki guided you towards the bed, never lifting his lips from yours for one second. Once he felt the back of his calves hit the bed frame, he let himself fall onto the mattress, it let out a squeak as did you, and you giggled against his mouth as you made yourself comfortable in his lap with your legs resting on either side of his hips.

 His hands moved to hold you firmly around your waist as your palms rested on both his shoulders. Reluctantly, you pulled away from the kiss, and turned your head away to let out a yawn, exhausted from staying up until dawn.

 “I’m that boring, huh?” Loki joked, as his hands soothed up and down the sides of your ribs.

 “I’m sorry,” you hummed, as you gave him a small peck, “I guess my lack of sleep finally caught up with me.” 

 “You should rest,” Loki suggested, as he attached his lips to the column of your neck to leave feather light kisses, you let out a throaty groan in response as the tips of your fingers dug into his shoulders.

 “Will you stay with me?” You asked with closed eyes, as you tilted your head to the side to give him better access to your neck, you felt his hand climb up your spine, before his fingers buried themselves into your hair as he cradled the back of your head. “I know you don’t need as much sleep as humans do, but will you stay with me while I do?”

 Loki lifted his head from your neck to look at you, while his fingers which were buried in your hair, gently massaged over your scalp which sent a calming sensation running straight down your spine, relaxing you even further and making your eyelids heavier. 

 You couldn’t see it on his face, but Loki was shocked by the fact you trusted him enough to wish to sleep beside him. His lips parted ever so slightly, as he stared up at you through his lashes with wide eyes full of wonder. He didn’t know what to say, so he simply nodded, which caused you to tiredly smile and give him another small kiss as thanks.

 As you both moved up the bed, the mattress creaked and squeaked beneath you. Loki rested on his back and you crawled up to him and rested your head on his chest, you could feel it softly rise and fall and you could hear his heartbeat while his calming sent surrounded you, and they all worked together to help lull you off into a peaceful sleep.

 Before you drifted off, you felt Loki’s arm curl around your shoulders while the tips of his fingers softly brushed against your arm, causing goosebumps to rise where they travelled. 

 Loki planted a kiss on the top of your head, before he let his own eyes fall shut, deciding to give sleep a try even though he wasn’t feeling particularly tired.

 ***

 You were abruptly woken up by the sounds of screams and lightening coming from the street outside your room. Due to the fact none of the candles were lit, it was filled with darkness, the only thing luminating the room was an unsettling red glow, which shone through the windows of the inn. You shot up immediately and discovered Loki had fallen asleep, kneeling on the mattress beside him you put your hand on his shoulder and shook him awake.

 “What is it?” His voice sounded croaky from his sleep, he soon heard the screams and noticed the sinister red glow of the room, he jumped from the bed and rushed to the window and you followed after him, your jaw dropped and your hand came up to your mouth at what you saw.

 From your second story window of the inn, you had a perfect view of the Globe Theatre and right now storm clouds and lightening swirled around it, while luminous crimson smoke rose from the centre. On the streets below groups of people desperately rushed away from the theatre crying and screaming.

 “Donna and the Doctor are probably already at the theatre, we have to go!” You rushed back to the bed to pull on your shoes and Loki did the same.

 Once you were both ready, you ran out of the inn and into the chaos on the street. Loki took your hand in his as you both began running towards the Globe Theatre, so you wouldn’t get separated by the large crowds running against you. 

 When you reached the theatre, you saw the stage door was slightly ajar and ran straight towards it, pulling Loki along with you. 

 As soon as you reached the stage, and saw your auntie, the Doctor and Shakespeare all stood on it, you dropped Loki’s hand. You missed the way the God’s brows formed a crease while he looked down at your hand, as you were too distracted by the terrifying sight before you. 

 Your hair blew around your face wildly, as in the centre of the theatre there was what only could be described as a hurricane of scarlet mist and lightning bolts and dark horrifying figures flew around inside the swirling phenomenon.

 “Donna!” You called, as you rushed to her side.

 She called your name when she turned over her shoulder and saw you and pulled you towards her.

 “What’s going on?” You yelled above the commotion, Loki stood closely beside you and listened to the conversation.

 “They want to end the world, take over and build their new empire.” Donna explained with tears in her eyes, “we’re too late, there’s nothing we can do.” 

 Your lips fell slack and you looked back towards the swirling flaming red mist with terror, realising it was a portal, to unleash evil upon the world.

 You looked up at Loki, his long black hair waved around his face from the gusts caused by the portal, he was staring at it with a thoughtful expression before his eyes locked with yours and he saw the fear in them. 

 With a determined look, Loki walked towards the edge of the stage, you noticed the luminous emerald mist already starting to form in his palms before he lifted them towards the centre of the theatre. His right foot came backwards, to support his weight, as his magic pushed against him but he leaned his upper body into it.

 With one hand he focused his magic on the centre of the theatre, before he moved the other to direct a burst of magic towards the royal box, your eyes followed the green mist and widened when you saw three witches who you hadn’t noticed before. With his magic focusing on the witches who were the source of the power, the portal began to deteriorate and was easily engulfed by Loki’s magic. 

 The God raised both his arms into the air, and a green surge of light shot into the night sky, taking the portal with it, the force caused the doors behind the stage to fly open and hundreds of loose pages flew into the air and with a resounding boom everything vanished, the only evidence left behind was a faint green mist which slowly began to dissipate. Even the three witches who had been sat in the royal box were gone, the only thing left behind was a crystal ball which sat on the edge of the balcony.

 The remaining members of the audience, who hadn’t managed to escape, began to slowly clap until they erupted into enthusiastic cheers and applause. 

 From the side of the stage, you watched Loki glance around at the audience, as he momentarily appeared to be caught off guard but he quickly regained his composure and lowered himself into an elegant bow with both his arms spread wide and the audience began applauding him even louder.

 Shakespeare appeared by your side and took your hand in his, your other hand was already holding Donna’s and he guided you both to the edge of the stage, beside Loki and the three of you bowed in unison, however the entire time your eyes were locked on Loki as he stared at your hand which was held in the poets, and that dangerous shadow cast over his eyes again as his jaw clenched.

 ***

 Loki had avoided you for the rest of the night. When you all returned to the inn, due to the fact most of the guests had fled the town in fright when the portal opened, there were suddenly a lot more rooms going spare. Loki had vanished to one of the rooms without a word, despite the fact everyone was trying to bestow him with gratitude and praise for literally saving the world, he ignored it all.

 You had stayed in the common room, with Donna, the Doctor and Shakespeare as they explained everything that had happened. The witches in the royal box had possessed Shakespeare last night as he was writing the end of Love’s Labours Won and wrote a spell into the script, the innkeeper must have witnessed this and died from the fright. They had killed the man who had tried to cancel the play as they needed it to be performed and for the actor to read the spell out loud on stage to open the portal, which would’ve allowed millions of their kind to travel through and invade Earth, the Doctor had called them the Carrionites. 

 The entire time you couldn’t keep Loki off your mind, the look on his face when he saw your hand in Shakespeare’s, kept appearing behind your eyes, making your heart sink deeper each time. As soon as Donna and the Doctor had finished explaining everything to you, you excused yourself and headed upstairs to the rooms and stopped in front of the door which you had seen Loki disappear behind.

 “Loki?” You softly knocked on the door, but there came no response. You tried the handle, but it was firmly locked.

 “Can we talk?” You tried again, and you waited, but still nothing.

 You rested your forehead against the door in defeat and sighed. 

 “Goodnight, Loki.” You whispered before you retreated to your room.

 ***

 The next morning the Doctor had decided to return to the theatre to see if he could help Shakespeare salvage any parts of Love’s Labours Won, but it seemed as though all traces of it vanished when Loki destroyed the portal, finally solving your mystery of how it disappeared. 

 Loki still hadn’t emerged from his room, even when you had knocked on his door to inform him that you were all heading to the theatre and then from there you would be returning to the TARDIS. 

 You were beginning to feel incredibly worried about him while you sat on a wooden box on the stage of the Globe Theatre as your concerns raced through your mind. 

 “What troubles you?” You startled, since you had been too distracted by your worries to even notice that Shakespeare had taken a seat beside you on the box.

 You contemplated whether or not you should actually tell the poet what was troubling you or if you should dismiss him, you realised that you couldn’t really voice your worries to Donna or the Doctor since neither of them knew about what happened between you and Loki yet. At least with Shakespeare he would be out of your life for good within the hour, so you decided you could share it with him.

 “It’s Loki,” you sighed sadly, “he has been avoiding me.”

 You suddenly felt the weight of his hand on your lower back, as he pulled you closer and you stiffened.

 “If Loki won’t give you his attention. Why not entertain a man who will?” Shakespeare proposed, before he began leaning his face towards yours. 

 Your eyes widened and you immediately brought your hands to his chest to push him away.

 “It seems I arrived at the wrong time.” As soon as you heard Loki’s familiar deep voice, your heart plummeted in your chest. 

 “Loki,” you looked over your shoulder at him, guilt already filling your eyes, despite the fact you hadn’t actually done anything wrong. You weren’t going to kiss Shakespeare, you had been milliseconds away from pushing him off the box.  

 You rose to your feet and tried to walk towards Loki but he took a step backwards to maintain the distance and you got the hint.

 “Good props store, back there!” The Doctor caught your attention, you turned and saw him and Donna returning to the stage, dressed in various different props and costume pieces.

 “Not sure about this, though.” He held up what appeared to be a large animals skull in his left hand, you couldn’t depict what it was, but it looked ghastly. “Reminds me of a Sycorax.” 

 “Sycorax.” Shakespeare repeated. “Nice word. I’ll have that one off you as well.”

 “I should be on 10%.” The Doctor muttered. 

 “Mobius.” You heard Loki gasp from behind you, and your attention turned to his line of sight, to find a fair haired man, with a moustache and wearing a plain brown suit enter the theatre by one of the stalls entrances, followed by a group of armed officers. You instantly recognised him as the man Loki had been hiding from in Pompeii.

 “It’s nice to finally see you again, Loki.” The man spoke, sounding like an old friend, but there was definitely something far more sinister hiding in his tone. 

 By now the exchange had captured everyone’s attention, as you all glanced between Loki and the new stranger Loki had addressed as Mobius. 

 “How did you find me?” Loki asked, as he stepped towards the edge of the stage. 

 “It wasn’t too hard, we’ve been tracking seismic activities of your magic. You lead us right to you.” Mobius smiled, it seemed that composed smile never left his face. From how uneasy Loki appeared, you decided you disliked him already.

 “I���d just like to know, who would be idiotic enough to give you, of all people, free rein through all of time and space.” Mobius asked Loki, who had parted his lips to answer but before he could, the Doctor stepped up to the edge of the stage beside him.

 “That would be me.” The Doctor announced, still dressed in all the props he had found back stage, including a pleated collar and an oversized beret while he still held the disturbing animal skull, he looked quite the spectacle.

 Mobius was speechless for a moment, as his eyes dragged up and down the Doctor’s tall form.

 “He’s a time lord.” Loki proudly lifted his head, as one might just before they lay down their cards to reveal a winning hand.

 Mobius smile finally dropped, and you couldn’t help the smirk that lifted at the corner of your lips, proud to see Loki have an advantage.

 “Impossible. They’re all gone.” Mobius tried to hide any traces of confusion from his face and tone and instead feigned confidence in his statement.

 “All except me.” The Doctor explained, and you practically saw the realisation hit Mobius at full force.

 “You’re...” The words died on Mobius’ tongue, before his eyes filled with horror.

 “I’m beginning to get the feeling that they don’t honour me as much as they do the other time lords.” The Doctor whispered to Loki, who was now frowning.

 Mobius commanded something you couldn’t hear to the armed officers around him and they raised their weapons.

 “I think that is our cue to run.” The Doctor decided as he slowly began backing away, he threw the animals skull at Shakespeare, who quickly caught it, then took Donna’s hand in his own as he rushed past her and lead her out the stage door with you and Loki following closely behind him.

 You followed the trail of the Doctors long brown trench coat, through the busy streets, glad that he seemed to memorise the way to the TARDIS because you had no idea, while you had flashbacks of running for your life through Pompeii, except this time you were running from the exact same thing Loki had been. 

  Once the familiar blue box caught your eye, your legs began carrying you even quicker as you made your final sprint towards it. The Doctor was already at the door, holding it open, you made it in first and then Loki closely after you.

 The Doctor wasted no time and immediately rushed to the controls to get the TARDIS out of there as soon as possible, while you leant over the rail, as you tried to catch your breath. You felt the sharp pain of a stitch in your side and brought the tips of your fingers up to your abdomen and dug them into your skin where you felt the pain, in an attempt to ease it.

 Just as the familiar tremors and the sound of the engine wheezing filled the control room, an outside force caused the ship to jerk harshly and sent you crashing to the floor.

 “Shit.” You cursed under your breath, as pain shot through your hip from the impact of hitting the hard floor.

 Glancing around it seemed everyone else had managed to maintain their balance, the Doctor was still frantically working at the controls, Donna was glancing at you with concern from the other side of the control room and Loki looked lost in thought while he held on tight to the rail.

 Eventually the tremors subsided and the TARDIS settled into a tranquil state and the Doctor collapsed into the seats with his feet rested up against the ships console, looking exhausted as he finally pulled the pleated collar from off his neck with a heavy sigh.

 “Well… now we’re all on the run from the Time Variance Authority.” The time lord concluded. 

[newtonsheffield]

Hello again!!!! I'm the Spanish girl back in here!

Firstly, I'd like to send you my best wishes for this tough week of work, and I bet we're going to miss you around here this week. But duty calls! And, look, how many people can say they've got a whole week for relaxing after a week of work? 😌 (Perhaps I've misunderstood the whole thing; I've read your posts quite quick and I've understood sth different to what you wanted to say lol)

Well, what can I say with one of the last prompts you have gifted to us...? Kate, Anthony (and his Spanish!!!!!!) and Spain; you got me there. 😂 I even cried the famous "Ole!" when I read all of it (curious note: not all Spaniards use the expression "ole" in daily contexts; it is more like a regional expression that became worldwide famous bc of several reasons that are too long to post here, lol) and I think it's needless to say I loved it... isn't it?

And, I LOVED a lot Edwina's POV and story (well, I've loved everything you have posted and gifted to us, but Eddie has a special place in my heart)! I don't know, but sometimes I get the impression that, in romantic literature, relationships between sisters are not addressed at all and kinda force them to be friends (if they're not rivals... which I find stupid, tbh), not really deepening in the bond between them. Like, they're sisters and they behave more like "my next door neighbour and friend to whom sometimes I'm distant bc life happens" instead of "this person and I share much more than many people can imagine that's beyond friendship and she's more important than anybody else" -idk if this makes sense anymore... I rewrote it a couple of times bc I got the impression I can't express my idea very well 😂-. And that's something I think both of you, JQ and yourself, have achieved and gifted to all of us! We see Edwina and Kate as sisters: they fight, they tease the other, they can't stand each other sometimes, but always, ALWAYS, they care for and love the other just as sisters do. Because of this, I think TVWLM is one of my favourite books in this genre: they give us a two fantastic love stories, not only between a -heterosexual- couple but also between sisters; which is as important as any other kind of relationship.

After my TED Talk (sorry if it's been too much... 😅), I cannot help but imagine an escapade between Anthony and Kate (sans children) and Matthew and Edwina (oh, Matthew... I love you) to Spain just for Anthony, in his stupid one-side battle against Matthew (I love this, tbh; it's sooooo fun 😂), demonstrate Matthew he can speak fluently another language... Just for Matthew be oblivious to this and enjoy a little escapade to Spain with his girlfriend and her family. 😂

Anyways; I hope you're alright and, again, I wish you all the best for this week.

Besos!!! 🥰 (Spanish equivalent for the "Love!" farewell expression; it means "kisses")

Hola! You’re back again! And I’m so glad! 

I do have a week off once I finish work tomorrow (Saturday)!! Very Exciting! I have a scarf to knit, and lots of writing to do so that’s very exciting. 

Oh Anthony on a Spanish beach in tiny little flamingo shorts? Ole! indeed! That is a curious note, I literally love learning things about other cultures and languages so if anyone wants to share a curious note about their culture, hit me up! I will in turn tell you about the curious culture of The Land Down under, and our propensity to butcher the English language!

I agree, Sister relationships are a very curious thing in media. I’m not a huge fan of very contentious relationships between sisters, I’m not saying they don’t exist in real life, they definitely do, I just think having them as constant rivals is exhausting. And Yes! I Love the relationship between Edwina and Kate very much because I see it as a mirror of my relationship with my own sister. My sister drives me more insane than any other person on this planet. We fight, we bicker, I get absolutely enraged when she steals the last property I need for a set in Monopoly, and yet, She is my favourite person. She can say whatever she wants about me, but were anyone else to? It’s fight on sight. I’ll be honest, that all I’m doing is basing their relationship in these fics  on my own with my sister. Nothing special! 

Okay! Here we go! Anthony and Kate + Goose and Edwina +Spain

Kate Bridgerton was many, many things, but she liked to think an idiot, was not one of them. And so, when Anthony had said, in a tone she was sure he thought was casual. “I think we deserve a holiday, you’ve been working very hard to grow the little broad bean after all and your sister and her little gander should celebrate their engagement.” She had known exactly what he was up to. And she wasn’t really sure why she played along along with it. Perhaps something in her thrived on the chaos she knew Anthony would would create, perhaps part of her just really wanted a decent paella. Surely it didn’t matter, the result was the same: Kate fixed an innocent expression on her face and said  “Where did you have in mind?” 

 And so, surprise, surprise, here she was: back on a beach in Spain. She had to admit, eyeing Anthony appreciatively as he paddled demonstratively in the shallow water, his plan had its merits. though thus far his attempts had been... unsuccessful at best. Matthew Bagwell seemed absolutely thrilled to be in Spain, on holiday with his fiancée, giving them helpful facts he knew about the architecture as they walked through the city, a wide smile on his face, Anthony practically purple when he corrected a fact Anthony himself had said.   “Do you speak Spanish, Goose?” Anthony had said dryly in the hotel lobby shortly after they’d arrived. And Kate had rolled her eyes at Anthony, though Matthew was not paying attention. He had his arms wrapped tightly around Edwina’s waist, whispering something in her ear that made her nose crinkle in delight, the sapphire of her engagement ring glinting in the sunlight. And the beautiful picture they made gave Kate’s heart a little stutter. Anthony tutted. “Matt!” He said sharply, getting the man’s attention, Matthew’s glasses slipping down his nose as his head shot upwards in surprise.  “Do you speak Spanish?” Edwina was rolling her eyes now. And Matthew, for his part was completely unbothered  “oh, no. Sorry Mate, might have to lean on your pretty heavily this week.” He said, and Kate caught the smug smile on Anthony’s face and bit back a groan Damnit Matthew.  “I’m pretty fluent in French, German and Mandarin though!” Matthew said smiling happily, turning back towards Edwina, completely oblivious to the scowl Anthony tossing his way. “Of course you fucking are.” He muttered, fixing Kate with an irritated glare as a laugh escaped her!   

The water surely must be a little cool in early October but Anthony showed no signs of it, Beckoning Kate into the water. She groaned and made her way towards him, laughing happily as he tugged her in, his hand resting on her stomach, still no sign of her pregnancy. “Is he watching?” Anthony whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist, spinning her through the water So she had a brief image of her sister smiling brightly at her fiancée who appeared to be... bless him building a sandcastle. 

“No. He’s not.” Kate said batting her husband’s hands away irritatedly as he scowled.  “Are you really trying to look more in love than they are?” Kate scoffed, disbelief at her husband’s idiocy rising with in her. Anthony looked indignant. “No! A man can’t take an interest in his wife now? Very poor show Mrs. Bridgerton.” He said, but his eyes, darted towards the shore at the last second.  “Oh I cannot believe you! You’re absolutely manic!” She replied as Anthony attempted to pull her back towards him, Kate putting up very little fight as she tumbled against. him, his voice hot in her ear. “Insufferable I hear.” Kate scoffed. “Ugh! If Anyone’s insufferable it’s him!” 

Kate turned to follow Anthony’s gaze to find Matthew waving at them, grinning broadly, completely unbothered. And Kate couldn’t keep from laughing as Anthony went on another muttered tirade.

Besos! 

[leoneslover]

hi hi !! Can I request a one shot about Suga asking the reader out on a date for the first time? Like, they’ve both liked each other for a long time and Suga finally decides to make the first move. They grab lunch, go on a super cute museum date, and it ends with him walking the reader home. I can just imagine how cute and blushy he would be, and maybe include one of those super cute first kiss scenes? 🥺👉👈

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠༄

Sugawara Kōshi x reader(gn!)

Warnings: none, just a bunch of fluff

A/n: I am so sorry this took so long, anyways I hope this is worth the wait. Also btw, this is so cute I love this idea sm dkdndkdn mainly because I have this hc where Suga is really interested in like, art and stuff, so I thought they could go to an art museum so he could explain stuff about the paintings to the reader 🥺👉👈

• He took a deep breath to calm himself down. The soft breeze of the upcoming springtime hitting his exposed forearms as he patiently waited for you. It was just a date, he had everything planned, technically nothing could go wrong. And besides, it was you, you already knew him better than himself probably, he shouldn’t be worrying too much.

Yet there he was, his thoughts running wild to places he didn’t want them to go and his hands already trembling slightly. He took another deep breath, curling his hands into fists at his sides, in a slight attempt to stop the shaking. Time was passing by way too slowly for his liking, and every second he got more and more worried that you actually wouldn’t come.

He wanted to slap himself, for being so stupid to even think such a thing. But he didn’t, it’ll leave red marks on his face and that’d probably worry you. Another deep breath followed by a sigh and shutting his eyes. He let the vague scent of spring that reminded him of you so much calm him down. Your face popped up in his mind, your bright smile and contagious laugh making him subconsciously smile. The trembling stopped.

“What ‘cha smiling at?” You asked curiously, in a slight mocking tone, as you stepped in front of him.

He opened his eyes, his gaze immediately falling to your figure and a soft blush paiting his cheeks. Was it his imagination or you looked even prettier than usual? Your hair was styled like always, and your outfit seemed like your usual style, but there was something different about you. You raised your brow, and he realized he was staring. The blush intensified.

“Oh, h-hi” he smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck.

To his dismay, you softly laughed at him. But he couldn’t help by smile, more confidently this time. Did you ever notice how radiant you looked when you were happy?

“Stop being nervous” you scolded him, raising your hand to flick his forehead with your index finger, making him jump and soothe it immediately, “we’re just hanging out”.

“I told you to stop doing that, it hurts y’know” he said through gritted teeth, a frown taking over his features as he rubbed his forehead.

You giggled again, and he couldn’t pretend to be mad at you anymore. He sighed, the annoyance fading away as he placed a hand on his hip and stretched the other one to his side, signaling the path ahead of you.

“Shall we get going” he smiled and you nodded, turning around to start walking in that direction, him following by your side.

“You haven’t told me were are we going yet” you commented, turning your head to stare at him. The sun of the early afternoon creating beautiful highlights on his silver hair. Did he ever notice how nice he looked under the sunlight?

“It’s a surprise” he smirked, eyeing you for a second to give you a brief reassuring smile, “don’t worry about it, I already have everything planned”.

You squinted at him briefly, but decided to trust him anyways. Blindly following him to wherever he decided to take you.

Turns out the place was further than you expected, since you had to take the bus to get there. And as you sat side by side on one of the backseats of the almost empty vehicle , you could feel your hands grazing his every once in a while.

Should I take it?

Should I let him take it?

But the ride was over before neither of you could do anything about it.

After some more walking you finally reached your destination. A huge building stood tall in front of you, a bunch of sculptures hanging out in the front part of the museum and filling the place with vibrant colors. You took it all in, the beautiful architecture of the place itself mixed with the nice colors of the decorations around it.

Suga stared at you as you did so. He had a gut feeling that he’d see that awestruck expression of yours a bunch of times today. And oh he couldn’t wait already.

“Let’s go silly” he pushed you gently, and he had to fight back the blush that threatened to take over his features when you turned to look at him with that spark of excitement in your eyes that he grew to love. “The actual art is inside the building y’know”.

“I know” you scoffed, starting to make your way towards the entrance with him, “but look at it, it’s gorgeous!”.

He giggled at your excitement. He couldn’t help but feel a wave of relief course through his body, the past worry of you thinking that his plan was lame vanishing as soon as you made your way through the double doors.

After a little debate you decided to make your way towards the painting section. Rooms and hallways decorated with beautiful oil paintings caught your attention immediately.

If he would be in any other situation, he would have probably stared at the dull yet rich colors that stood out in front of him the same way you did. However, even if he tried to focus on the pieces ahead, his gaze would naturally gravitate towards your figure. The way your eyes sparkled as you took pictures of your favorite ones. How you put all your focus on him and listened to every single word as he told you little fun facts about the paintings. How you excitedly grabbed his wrist to guide him to the next one that caught your eye. All little details and things that made his heart flutter and a soft blush paint his cheeks.

Have you always been this cute?

Since when had your lovely smile and sparkly eyes taken over his heart to make him feel the way he did?

You stopped in front of a simple frame. The painting of two young lovers kissing behind a tree in a beautiful park displayed for everyone to see. That’s when Suga finally looked at the actual art in front him, and couldn’t help but blush almost immediately.

“Are there any fun facts about this one?” You asked without looking at him, your gaze lost in the ethereal sweet feeling of the painting.

“Yeah, actually..” he scratched the back of his neck, staring at the frame but paying more attention to your movements from the corner of his eye, “The guy who painted this one is actually the same guy from the painting itself”.

You turned to look at him, intrigued by his words.

“He was in love with his best friend, for years I think, but he was never brave enough to tell them. Until one day, he took them for a picnic at this hidden place in the woods, a place he found while looking around for inspiration for more paintings. I think he couldn’t keep bottling up his feeling anymore and just went for it. I’m not sure of what happened next exactly, but allegedly those two are supposed to be him and his best friend. That’s why the painting it’s called ‘forbidden lovers’ or something like that”.

“Wow” you almost whispered, turning back to look at the painting again. He didn’t dare to look at you again, the story about that one hitting him too close home. But for his surprise, you spoke again. “Id like to recreate this one...”

You trailed off, and he involuntarily turned his head to look at you. Suddendly he was extremely aware of your soft hand that was still wrapped around his wrist, and the way his heart rate sped up in an instant. To him, you seemed oblivious to the effect you had on him, how suddendly all those bottled up feeling he had for you rose up to the surface, tickling his skin and screaming to just fuck it and give in, to take you in his arms now that he finally had the chance and never let you go. But little did he know, that you were struggling with your own emotions yourself.

The implication hung high in the air, and suddendly the ambient had gone tense. You didn’t dare to look at him, fully knowing that he was looking at you. You knew that if you turned your head to the side you wouldn’t be able to hold back what you’ve been wanting to do for such a long time by now. So you stayed quiet, pretending to stare at the painting in a weak attempt to calm yourself down before you ruined your chance for going too fast. You suddendly became aware of your hand around his wrist, your hand twitching in realization.

Should it let him go?

Should I pull them close?

But before neither of you could make a decision, the sound of a phone ringing in the distance bursted your little bubble.

“L-let’s go see that one” you quickly said, pulling him behind you again and running off the the first painting you saw.

He let you drag him around so he wouldn’t have to think about what you said too much.

It didn’t take long for that little awkward moment to be left behind, the two of you making your way in the huge building and finding new and more exciting things to see as time passed. It seemed like you came to an unspoken agreement to just forget what you said and keep carrying on with your date. And he couldn’t help but notice now, how it seemed like you always knew what to do in any sort of situation naturally. How to not let any awkward situation get in your way of having fun, how to comfort the other when needed, how to know where to go for lunch without even saying a word. You clicked with each other so well, that sometimes words weren’t needed, even for agreements.

He smiled to himself, his heart softening at the thought of the two of you being literally made for each other. And he couldn’t help but let the thought linger in his head as he watched you look with stars in your eyes at every single piece of art during your visit.

It wasn’t until a couple hours later, while you were waiting for the bus, commenting about your favorite paintings and showing him how pretty they looked on the pictures you took, that he realized that he hadn’t been paying attention to any of the paintings in the museum, since his gaze was fixed on you the whole time. And surprisingly, he didn’t mind it. Not a single bit.

You sat next to each other in the bus on your way back as well, your head falling softly against the window while you rested your eyes as the movement of the vehicle lulled you to sleep. However before you could completely give in to your tiredness, a soft touch grazing your hand alerted you.

Is he gonna take it?

Would they mind if I take it?

And this time, before the bus stopped, he decided to take your hand. A small smile curled up your lips for the rest of the ride.

Your hands remained locked even after you got off the bus, walking down your neighborhood since he insisted on walking you home. The smile never fell off your lips, and none of you addressed it directly, because you didn’t have to. Suga noticed how once again you fell into a mutual agreement without sharing words, and it made him smile too.

“Thanks for today, I had a really good time” You finally broke the silence once you reached your house, your hand still grabbing his.

“Me too, maybe we should go grab lunch too next time” he said, the bright smile he always saved for you shining in the dim lights of the late afternoon.

“I’d love to” you smiled as well. The implication of a future date making your heart do flips of joy.

A silence fell between you two again. None of you wanted to say goodbye just yet, it didn’t feel right, even tho your date was already over. You both became highly aware of your hands at the same time, and he prayed internally for his hand to not start sweating at that moment. You turned to look at him, the golden hour of the sunset reflecting on his silver hair beautifully, making your heart skip a beat. He looked back at you, and your lips parted slightly.

Has he always been this beautiful?

Have they always been this beautiful?

He licked his lips, and you did the same, both of you too lost on your own thought to register the other’s movements. He took a step forward, almost hetistating, and you didn’t step back.

Should I kiss them?

Please kiss me.

He took another step forward, and you leaned in.

Fuck it.

He leaned down and pressed his lips against yours, and you could swear your soul just left your body. You kissed back, your lips catching his in an kinda awkard and nervous kiss. It was a little messy, and it probably ended way too quick for both of your likings. But it made your chest burst with fireworks, and you could see the very obvious blush painting his cheeks once you broke apart.

“You’re beautiful” you both said at the same time, making you both freeze for a second, before you bursted out laughing.

It was a refreshing moment, right at the beginning of spring, the scent of new flowers and the golden tone from the sunlight making the scene just downright perfect. He almost wanted to hit himself for being so nervous earlier, how stupid of him. And you wanted to kiss him again, just one more time before you turned back.

He smiled, watching you as you reached your front door. You turned around, smiling to him one last time before getting into your house. The image of you turning around only to dedicate him one last time forming the sweetest thought in his mind.

You are prettier than all the paintings, my love.

[cascades-fiction]

Multiverse Imagines

Just Like The Old Days

co-creator : @QuinniexC in (wattpad)

It was an early day for the Jacksons. They were already up before the first light. Apollo has not even mounted his own sun chariot to bring light above the world.

But that was not the case, the young family decided to pay someone a small visit after not being able to see each other for five years.

Little Serena Jackson sat in the back seat. Still fast asleep with a slight pout, her mother Annabeth watching over her through the rear view mirror, a little smile playing her lips.

Percy had one hand on the steering wheel while the other one held Annabeth's. His gaze was pleasant and at peace.

They drove through the streets of Stamford, overlooking different sets of building apartments and several townhomes. Cars were parked beside the sidewalk and in front of shops.

Elderly women chatted happily in a nearby bench with their husbands who weren't much interested in their conversation.

He drove his BMW for about 47 minutes until arriving at New Haven. The young family decided to stop by and have some breakfast at Atticus Bookstore Cafe.

Percy looked around for a parking space and his eyes immediately fell on a blank spot in front of the store. "You wanna go in first? You and Serena?" He asked

She looked at him and shook her head " No it's okay, we'll all go in together"

He nodded and started to park the car. After he did, the two of them took off their seat belts and looked behind. They were met by Serena gazing at them with sleepy eyes. In unison, they chuckled.

"Where are we?" She asked quietly, rubbing her eyes awake. A yawn letting out her small lips, her hair in two low pigtails. She says it's her new favorite hairstyle.

"We're in New Haven sweetie,"Annabeth said softly, tickling her daughter's feet, earning a sweet giggle. "We are gonna eat breakfast okay? Then we'll go straight to Boston to meet your uncle Magnus!"

"Uncle Magnus?" She tilted her head, frowning. She was clearly not familiar with the name her mother mentioned.

"Yeah baby.. it's mommy's cousin" Percy answered.

"Hmm... Momma's cousin? Okay then!" She smiled, making her parents smile as well. Annabeth and Percy got out of the vehicle. She opened the back door, unbuckling her daughter and lifting her up in her arms while Percy locked up the car. Altogether they entered the cafe.

Once they had gone in, Serena perked up seeing all the stacked books the cafe had to offer. She wiggled out of her mother's hold and immediately started jumping up and down, pointing at the bookshelves, a wide grin plastered on her face. "Momma! I want to see the books!"

Annabeth smiled at her "Later we'll check them out huh?"

"Why later?" Serena pouted

She knelt down to her daughter's level "Because we have to order our breakfast first okay? And then after we find a table, we could go check out the books—"

"Uh uh." Percy intervened, getting a hold of Serena's hand " I could take her there now, it's alright"

"Are you sure?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah definitely." He kissed his wife's cheek "we'll meet you over there" he said, pointing at the farthest table near the window.

"Yeah sure." She looked at Serena, who grinned from ear to ear "Behave with daddy okay?"

She nodded cutely, before dragging Percy with her tiny fingers wrapped around his big ones toward the bookshelves. Annabeth smiled thinking how much her daughter was like her when she was younger and up until now. She lined up from a trail of customers, awaiting her turn.

As soon as she was first in line, smiling, the cashier asked for her order "Hi good morning, what would you like today?"

Annabeth returned the simple gesture "Good morning um, I would like 2 Croque Monsieur with 2 Espressos and 1 breakfast sandwich. Also 1 hot chocolate please"

The cashier nodded, typing down her order on the monitor. "Is that all?"

"Yes that's all" Annabeth confirmed

The cashier nodded once more. She looked up saying, "That would be $37. "

Annabeth took out her wallet and paid. The cashier thanked her and told her to wait. As she made her way towards the table they had agreed on, A little body collided with her leg, wrapping her little arms around her lower limb. She looked down and saw a sight that made her heart melt all the way.

"Momma!" The little girl chirped happily.

Annabeth grinned, hoisting her up in her arms "Baby!" Serena giggled, placing a wet kiss on her mom's cheek. "Where's daddy?"

Serena pointed toward the end of the cafe where they could see Percy carrying handfuls of various books.

Annabeth let out a laugh when she saw Percy's face. He looked so flustered and rapt at the same time. He was never interested in books because of his ADHD and dyslexia but he was always willing to go to a library just for his wife and his daughter. He loves seeing their reactions whenever they see a wide selection of books in a library or whenever they spot a beautiful architecture. They'd always beg to stop the car and he'd be more glad to do so just to see their faces.

"Aren't you a sweet daddy.." Annabeth cooed, putting her arms behind his neck. She brushed the hair away from his eyes and leaned in to give a quick kiss before pulling away and assisting him with the books. "Are we buying all of this?"

"Serena said she'd pick from all of these. Only two or three, okay honey?" He said to his daughter

"Okay!" She answered, flopping down onto one of the chairs, re-scanning all of the books she took whilst her parents settled down to the seats in front of her, watching her adoringly.

"She's a lot like you, you know" Percy whispered, beaming in happiness

She stared at him with affection.

"Yeah she is... though she's got so much of your sass and your blue food addiction it's crazy. She's as sweet as you too"

He chuckled, remarking "That's our girl"

"That's our girl…" she agreed, nodding with a small smile.

"Momma! Daddy!" The little girl looked up at them, "These!" She lifted up two books and kinda shoved them in their faces, her look overjoyed. It was Geronimo Stilton and the lost treasure of the emerald eye. And another, Geronimo Stilton and the curse of the cheese pyramid.

Annabeth grinned from ear to ear, "These are wonderful, honey!"

"Yeah they are! All of the books I have at home are too much for kids." She shook her disapprovingly, her pigtails bouncing along.

"But baby, you are a kid" Percy said

"Yeah I am but I'm smarter than most!" She declared proudly, placing both of her hands on her hips with a look of pride on her face.

"Yeah you are…" Annabeth smirked

"Gods she gets that from you—" Percy told her, shaking his head in disbelief

"Does she?" She asked innocently, tilting her head sideways "Oh well."

Percy snorted, gathering the books in his hands "I'll be paying for this," he said, standing up. "Don't have too much fun while I'm gone" he told them, with a playful smile.

"Don't you worry Mr. Jackson," Annabeth assured him "we won't. right Rena baby?"

"Yeah!" She replied almost immediately "Books! Books! Books!" She started chanting

Percy and Annabeth met each other's gaze, her mouthing 'You heard her'

'yes ma'am' he mouthed back and left.

***

Thereafter he had paid for the books she chose, he walked back to the table at the same moment the waitress came with their orders. Serena already returned the excess books with any help from her mother. (Annabeth was very proud)

"2 Croque Monsieurs, 2 Espressos, 1 breakfast sandwich and 1 hot chocolate!" The waitress beamed, tucking a piece of hair strand behind her ear the minute she met eyes with Percy. "Anything else I can get you?" She asked, amorously advancing, not even acknowledging his wife in front of her.

Annabeth noticed this behavior and as fast as lighting, a flash of irritation crossed her eyes. She pursed her lips, clearly not wanting this woman to be in her husband's presence. But Percy being Percy was completely oblivious to the fact that the woman in front has taken a liking to him. He smiled, "3 glasses of water please"

"On the way" the woman winked, swaying her hips as she left. Percy shrugged nonchalantly, sitting down next to Annabeth who stared at him sternly. He suddenly was aware of this. "Wise girl? Is there something wrong?"

She blinked hard. Pointing a crooked finger toward the woman, her other hand formed in fists. "Her."

He looked at the figure she pointed, his eyebrows furrowed. "Her? What do you mean by her?"

"She has eyes on you! Can you not see that?"

He was taken aback. "What? I didn't even notice"

She rolled her eyes, "of course you didn't. You're as oblivious as you can be Percy."

"Wise girl it's not my fault—"

"I know it's not! It's that dam girl!" She half yelled, completely vexed. Serena looked at them with both confusion and concern, still munching on her sandwich happily.

"Wise girl it's nothing okay? She doesn't mean anything to me. Just don't mind her." He tried

"How can I not mind her when she's coming back this way, with your tray of water. Just great" she exclaimed sarcastically. When the woman came, Serena did the most mind-boggling thing in the universe. "Stay away from my daddy!"

Percy's jaw dropped. Annabeth's irritated face turned complacent, feeling a swell of pride coarse through her veins. The woman was gobsmacked, unable to reply to the little girl, Annabeth intruded. "You heard her. Leave the drinking glasses here and walk away. Otherwise you'd find yourself lifeless in a second." She said in a dangerously calm voice, gesturing for her to go and get out.

The woman looked down in shame. Embarrassed. She turned toward the opposite direction and rushed for the door.

Annabeth gave her daughter a discreet thumbs up, clearly proud. Percy got over his shock and looked at his daughter and wife. "Okay, look. I'm really proud of you for being sassy but that was not very nice. Both of you" he stated

"Percy—"

"That was very wrong. She likes me so what? That won't give me a reason to stop loving you. Or leave you. Whatever this world throws at us, I can promise you, I'll always be by your side. You and Serena's. I love you Wise girl"

Annabeth said nothing at first. Her stormy grey eyes were shone with intense light. She looked into his eyes for a long moment as though searching for something of importance. Then, all of a sudden, she smiled and it occurred to Percy that she found what she was looking for, even if he did not know what it was.

Without further warning, she leaned into his tall frame, gently placing her lips on his. To Percy, he did not know if she really had any physical and emotional power over him or if it's only his own spirit but he swore, he felt fireworks explode the moment he felt his lips touch hers.

Truth be told, they only stopped when a voice said "I'm still here you know…" pulling apart, they were met face to face with a glare from Serena.

"Sorry baby, are you already finished?" Percy asked shyly

"Yup! Only drinking my hot chocolate. Also waiting for you two!" Her glare evaporated and was replaced by a delighted grin.

"Oh right! Wait for me and mommy and then we're going straight to Boston"

***

As soon as they had finished their breakfast, the time said it was only 9:00 am and they still had many hours to go before arriving at Boston. They hauled all of their belongings, Serena gripping her brown paper bag with books. She took both Annabeth and Percy's hand, trying her best to reach it and all together they went back to the car.

Percy buckled Serena's seat belt, earning a soft thank you from his daughter. He went back to his place in the driver's seat, starting the vehicle. With that, he placed the key inside the ignition and the car roared to life.

They drove for about 42 minutes through a vast over-lit city, a wide set of buildings towering over them as they crossed an intersection. The streets of Hartford were clean, polished and newly painted. Tall trees were planted near a sidewalk beside poles. Cars were parked on the side of the road and the wind blew a gentle breeze out. Serena looked outside of her car window, completely mesmerized by the scenery as the family passed each building one by one, driving at 55 miles per hour. Annabeth gave Percy her hand and just like earlier, he gladly laced it with hers. Giving her his classic troublemaker smile.

Once they were out of Hartford, the family drove for about 54 minutes, before arriving at Old Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts. As they traveled, they caught sight of a wild field of meadows, overlooking several tobacco barns and modern farm houses. People wore rural New England 1700s clothing, as If it was the day of Halloween. White historical buildings were spotted behind wooden fences. Trees the color of red and gold swayed by. Leaves fell down from the trees, rustling on the pavement.

They arrived at Lexington, Massachusetts at 10:21 am. Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex county. Only 10 miles from Downtown Boston. They passed through several storefronts and monuments. Teenagers at 14 leisurely strolled by. Orange leaves covered the grass and the asphalt. Tiny American flags were affixed on the grass. Percy turned around the corner and they passed through a sign that said, 'LEFT LANE. MUST TURN LEFT.' When Serena suddenly spoke,

"Momma, Daddy… How come Uncle Magnus only wants to meet me now? Was he busy?"

Annabeth looked at her lovingly, "Yes honey, he was. But now that he's got his work done, we can finally meet him!"

Serena smiled a toothy grin then slowly asked "what does he look like?"

It was her father's turn to smile. "Anyone who would've seen them might assume they'd be siblings, baby" he said

She tilted her head "How come?"

"Well.. he's got the very same blonde hair and the identical stormy grey eyes. Though Uncle Magnus' eyes are more friendly than your mom's" he told her, earning a playful slap from Annabeth and a high giggle from Serena.

"What's he like?" She asked once more

"He's a goofy butt" Annabeth smirked then continued "even so he's amazing. He's only a butt because he made everyone think he was dead"

"So he's not dead?"

"Oh he is but still very much alive" she answered simply. Serena looked confused, locking eyes with her father who only laughed.

They made their way out of Lexington Massachusetts. Passing through numerous skyscrapers and other tall buildings, stores and houses. After 20 minutes of driving through towns they finally arrived at Boston. Percy made his way to the food court in the Transportation center in downtown Boston. When Magnus called the day before, he told them to meet at Fadlan's Falafel.

Serena was wide awake and very cheerful. Hugging her stuffed seal tight to her chest.

Annabeth and Percy always made sure she had a toy inside the car, If not she'd cry all day like the time they went to the grocery store.

Once they arrived at Fadlan's Falafel, Percy parked the car as easy as pie. Then in unison, he and Annabeth looked behind to see their daughter better.

"Are you excited baby?" Annabeth asked, a smile playing on her lips.

Serena clapped her hands giggling, kicking her legs against the car seat. "Yeah! Yeah!" She cheered

The couple shared a look of amusement, unbuckling both of their seatbelts. Both of them got out of the car on each side, Serena waiting her turn.

Annabeth opened her car door and helped her with the seatbelt. Hoisting her up in her arms, Serena reached for her books.

"Mama books!" She said

Annabeth looked back at the car, "You could read that back home baby okay? Right now we are gonna meet your uncle Magnus. Interaction is the key" her mother explained

She pouted cutely but immediately brightened up when she thought about another thing. "Can I atleast bring my seal?"

Her father laughed beside her mom. "Of course baby girl" He tickled her nose, earning a sweet giggle from his little girl.

"I'll go get it right now"

"Sure thing"

Percy walked back to his BMW, unlocking it with his car keys. He went to the back seat, grabbing the white plush seal. Locking the car again, he made his way back to his wife and daughter.

He handed Serena her toy and she gladly took it with a small giggle. "Let's go?" He gestured towards the doors.

"Yup" Annabeth agreed and all together they walked right inside the entryway of Fadlan's Falafel. As they entered, Annabeth and Percy caught a sight of three familiar faces. Magnus, Alex, and Samirah. They seemed to be talking about dying in the fields of Valhalla.

"Magnus I came around at 10:00am and that was still early?" Samirah asked, a tone of disbelief in her voice. The three of them were seated in front of Fadlan's Falafel. "First of all, I was tired and sleeping is my way of relaxation. Besides, 14 hours of sleep isn't even enough! Second of all, yesterday I got burned from head to toe then got smashed by a boulder! Dying can really knock me off." He said and Alex snickered. "Sure does Maggie—" from behind them a voice said

"You could say that again Chase." Percy's deep voice called out from across the place.

On the table, Magnus smirked."Near death ordeals don't count Jackson" he and his friends stood up to greet them, turning around and he stopped short. The sight in front of him made his heart skip a beat. There beside Percy, was Annabeth. Holding a beautiful baby girl with long dark curls and stormy grey eyes. The girl clutched a white plush seal on her left arm while the other arm was wrapped around her mother's neck.

"Hey… I—uh— is this baby—?" He fumbled for words, a feeling of wide happiness spreading inside him. Annabeth nodded, a warm smile on her face.

"Meet our daughter, Magnus."

He and his friends slowly walked towards them, not wanting to scare the little baby who started hiding her face in her mother's neck. "It's okay sweetheart" Annabeth assured her daughter. "Can you say hi to Uncle Magnus, Aunt Alex and Aunt Samirah?"

Serena did a little wave. "Hi"

"Aren't you adorable…" Magnus tickled her small knee with a merry expression, earning a sweet giggle. "What's her name?" Asked Samirah softly from Magnus' side. She looked at the little girl fondly, perhaps wanting to have her own with Amir when she's older.

"Serena Angeline," Percy answered this time. Giving his daughter a loving look.

When the baby looked at Alex, she had to be honest. She felt herself go a little too soft inside. "She's so cute" Alex whispered, trying to go unheard but Magnus was the first to overhear. He snickered, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend (she's a she today), obviously taking the risk of Alex cutting his whole arm "Didn't know you went soft Fierro…"

She slapped him, hissing "Shut up Maggie!"

"Language Alex" Samirah scolded, gesturing there's a baby.

Alex mouthed a soft sorry and then smiled at the baby who returned the action.

"So… are we just gonna stand here? Or what?" Percy pointed out, sharing an amused look with Magnus. "Yeah yeah let's go sit down" he agreed

All 6 of them walked back to where Magnus, Alex and Sam were sitting. The Jackson's sat from across them. Serena in between her parents. "Who'd order the food?" Alex asked

"Me" Percy volunteered

"Me too" Magnus said and the boys left the table. Leaving the girls. "Okay so…let me be honest Annabeth but it is hard for me to believe you're a mom. I see you as a badass greek warrior not a gentle mother. " Alex told the young mom in amusement. Annabeth replied with a breezy laugh before saying, "I'm still a badass greek warrior just not when I'm with Serena"

"Does… does she know about—your world?" Samirah asked carefully

Annabeth nodded sadly "Yes she does...she was attacked by a clutter of spiders when she was sick one time. It scared her and Percy and I decided it was for the best. She deserves the truth after that experience."

Samirah and Alex nodded, sorry for the little girl but then laughed when Serena said proudly "I'm a legacy!"

Alex smirked, holding out her fist "Yeah you are" Serena obliged, bumping her fist with Alex. In a second, Magnus and Percy came back holding trays filled with food. Amir trailing right behind them, dragging a chair.

"You guys have fun without us?" Percy smiled, settling down beside Serena who clapped her hands in excitement. (She was excited to eat the food) "Not too much fun" Serena said to her dad. Amir positioned the chair in front of the table, sitting down. He gave a little wave to the little girl and soft smile playing on his lips "Hi.." he whispered

"Hello" she waved back cutely

"What's her name? She's adorable" he exclaimed

"Thank you.." Serena beamed, her dark curls bouncing. "I'm Serena"

"Hi Serena… you keeping mommy and daddy in check?" He patted her head and she giggled in response. "I'll take that as a yes"

"How are you, Magnus? Annabeth asked in all seriousness. "Many adventures going on, I suppose?"

Magnus nodded "yeah just came back from another one actually" he casually told her

"Oh really? That's cool… nothing too dangerous?"

"Nope" he smiled at her

"Okay.. just making sure"

"Annabeth, your maternal instincts are showing" Alex observed.

She laughed "It's quite natural nowadays"

Samirah nodded thrilled, perhaps excited at the thought she was going to have her own children someday. A young family like theirs with Amir. She would never admit it but she already thought of possible names. For a girl she would name her daughter Amira Ayesha. Meaning princess and the name Ayesha because of her mother. For a boy she would name her son Abdul Hakeem. Meaning a servant of Allah who helps people and is a pious servant of God. She must've been preoccupied because Alex needed to shake her out of her thoughts.

"Yo you alright?" Her sister asked, concerned.

She nodded, saying "never better" Then little Serena spoke all of a sudden. Speaking through a full mouth, she said

"Mommy says daddy has a lot of seaweed in his brain"

Percy choked on his Sandwich. Annabeth almost spit her diet coke but held herself for that would be a bad influence to her daughter. Amir and Sam were surprised, amused smiles on their faces while Alex and Magnus roared with laughter.

"Heck damn she is right! Seaweed brain"

"Annabeth!" Percy pouted

"What?" She said nonchalantly "I ain't lying" Then they all laughed as well.

***

"Goodbye Magnus! It was great to see you!" Annabeth smiles at him, carrying Serena with her right arm while she does her best to hug her cousin with her left. Percy shook his hand, giving him and Amir a man hug. Alex and Samirah bid their farewell to Serena who did not want to leave anymore.

"Momma I don't wanna leave…" she said, playing with her mom's hair

"We'll visit again baby. Okay? No need to get all sad…" she cooed softly

"Yeah that's right honey" Percy gently patted his daughter's back, calming her more "I think we'd be able to meet them again next month if Momma and Daddy isn't busy and Of course we need to consider Uncle Magnus' schedule" he explained to her. Serena stretched her small arms for Percy, wanting him to carry her. He gladly took her from Annabeth, who did not look too happy but nevertheless she smiled and turned toward Magnus. "You. Behave. Alex, Samirah?" she looked at them "Keep him in control would ya? This dork needs some discipline"

Alex saluted "You gotcha!"

Annabeth nodded, calm "Good bye now. Take care of yourselves"

"We will," Magnus smiled, waving farewell. The last he saw the Jacksons, their black BMW Ix turning the corner on North street, Percy singing along with One direction on the radio, Annabeth laughing at his bad voice, loud giggles of Serena heard from a mile away.

"As I said before, They'd cause a nuclear explosion of cuteness." Alex stated, crossing her arms.

"So what now…" Sam asked

"Last one back at Valhalla's a rotten egg" Magnus said hurriedly sprinting off to Forever 21's dressing room.

"Oh no you don't!" Alex yelled after him, trailing behind closely.

Samirah shook her head, crossing her arms "I work with children...Oh why..."

[aviss]

a year-in-review meme - for writers!

I thought up this writing meme for fic writers who might have been staring at the artists having their lovely and well-deserved collages of their work through the year - and wanted to join in the fun! also this works as a great reminder for those of you (and me) who’ve been thinking that they haven’t been writing as much as they want to, and allows you to go back to enjoy your old fic ;D

Rules: pick your favourite sentence from a work you posted / wrote during a month of 2020! if you didn’t write anything in any particular month, don’t worry! tell us what you were doing or use it as free space for runner-up sentences. after that, tag 8 people or more to do the meme!

I was tagged by the lovely @ladyxxdaydream​ so here is mine:

January:

Matchmaker - Kakashi/Iruka - I just love soft, established relationship for these two. Especially when they have a mischievous side.

On the way back to the living room, Kakashi grabbed him by the waist and pulled until Iruka was wedged between his legs and the table. "Are we going to tell him?" he questioned with a mischievous smile. He moved his hands to cup Iruka's ass, food apparently forgotten, and pressed his face against Iruka's stomach.

"Eventually. We can tease him a bit first."

Iruka felt the vibrations of Kakashi's chuckle against his abs, the warmth of his breath and the fingers pressing just barely on the cleft of his ass incredibly arousing. "You're evil," Kakashi said, approving. "I knew there was a reason I loved you."

"I thought it was because of my ass."

February:

Westeros Most Haunted - Jaime/Brienne - What can I say, I love horror stories. 

They walked as quick as the darkness permitted, running there was as bad an idea as staying still, and clutched each other's hands. "This is the last time I'm filming without a full crew," she said, and as soon as she spoke there a single note began to play, softly at first but gaining volume the same as the noise had before.

She liked it even less than she had the noise.

Jaime's hand squeezed hers hard enough to hurt but she didn't complain. "Oh fuck," was all he said when a second note and then a third followed, then he was moving faster and pulling Brienne with him. "Run, Brienne, run!"

She did, she knew what song was beginning to play and she knew the doors would close when it did.

They didn't want to be trapped on this side of the door.

March:

Ghost in the Machine - Jaime/Brienne - WestWorld AU, because they made it too easy for me to go there.

"There is a war coming," Maeve said. Jaime wasn't surprised. There was always a war, somehow. That thing in Westworld the man had been talking about, the fear in his voice when he had spoken about it that Jaime had ignored at the time. "And I can't fight it on my own."

"Why me?" There had been so many like him, so many other hosts. Jaime knew about war, but only in his little place, in this little fantasy world someone had written for them.

Maeve could have chosen anyone to fight with her.

"Because you are like me, you fought your programing to get back to her the same way I always tried to get back to my daughter. If they hadn't closed this park, you would have eventually got there on your own, I just got you there faster." She handed him the tablet.

April:

D-Rank mission scrolls - Kakashi/Iruka - Iruka in sexy lady clothing, enough said.

Iruka thought about his options; he could run back home and hide under the bed, pack his belongings and flee the village in the middle of the night. Naruto would miss him but he'd always thought he'd make a pretty good missing-nin, though they'd probably send Kakashi after him and he'd die of embarrassment without even giving him a fight. He could also pretend there was nothing out of the ordinary with his attire, as if academy teachers usually dressed in sexy female clothes, apologize to Kakashi and knock on the next door, hoping this time it was Raidou's house. He could also murder Kotetsu for having such appalling penmanship, and the rest of his friends for not being where they should have been.

May:

In Vino Veritas - Kakashi/Iruka - Another of my favourite tropes, second chances

"I almost proposed, once upon a time." He downed his glass and refilled it, using the last of the second jar and signalling for a third. He was feeling the effects of the drink, his tongue loosening, but he didn't mind. Not if it was with Iruka.

Iruka's eyes sharpened on him. "You did? To whom?" There was something in his voice, curiosity and sadness and maybe some jealousy. It was that what made Kakashi think, fuck it, and throw open the can.

"To you."

Iruka closed his eyes as if in pain and downed his glass, refilling it and downing it again.

"I would have said yes." It was Kakashi's turn to drink to ease the lump in his throat. "Do you remember why we broke up?" he finally asked, as if the sake had given him the courage he needed for the question.

June:

The House on the side of the Road - Kakashi/Iruka - again, horror story. Tooke me over four years to finish, but it was worth it.

It was raining. Again.

It was the thing Kakashi hated the most about autumn. The rain, and the chill that settled in the air and made people's mood turn foul, and the fact that Umino Iruka had disappeared on a day not unlike this one, windy and chilly and rainy.

It had been a year since Iruka had failed to return from his mission, practically vanishing into thin air on the road between Ame and Konoha. That same road Kakashi was travelling through now. Kakashi could still remember everything about the day Iruka had been declared MIA, the search party that had been sent to Ame to look for either him or his body. They had returned empty-handed, shaking their heads and declaring Iruka had just vanished into thin air. Without a body, without proof of any attack on him, Iruka couldn't be declared dead. The conclusion, one that didn't sit well with anyone who had ever known him, was that he had deflected, gone rogue.

July:

This Above All - Jaime/Brienne - Jaime coming out as genderfluid with his own parade

That's not the main thing, though. Seeing it like that, hearing the same things Cersei used to tell him growing up has done for Jaime what years of therapy have not managed. He's spent years and thousands of dragons coming to grips with the fact that he's not a freak for feeling sometimes like a woman and wanting soft things for himself, but he hadn't yet found the resolve to take the last step to be fully himself in public and bring the wrath of Tywin over his head.

Now he's angry enough at the treatment of his nephew to get the heir of the Lannister empire, at least until Tywin sees this, on the front page of all magazines dressed as a woman on the pride parade. He has a plan, he's kind of constructed his career around this moment without acknowledging he was doing it, has put the money his mother let him towards his own architecture studio and other small-time investments. Small-time for a Lannister but enough that he doesn't have to fear being left without resources. And neither does his cousin.

Jaime's also contacted an old friend and knows there is a place in the Martell float for him, ensuring maximum visibility because Jaime can do nothing by halves; if he's going to set his life on fire, he wants a bonfire the Seven can see from the heavens.

August:

Just as Sweet (just as thorny) - Jaime/Brienne - Secret identities, second chances, competency kink. It has all my faves

Jaime shouldn't be doing this.

He's going to be fired or punched, more than likely both. It will be no less than he deserves, he's broken the one rule of his department and he was already on shaky ground with Selmy after the whole Baratheon operation fuckup. If this gets back to him, and he doesn't fool himself that it won't, Jaime's as good as out of a job and not even his family name can save him this time. At the very least he'll be reassigned to the fucking Wall unit, something Selmy has been threatening to do for years when Jaime becomes especially obnoxious.

He looks at Brienne, her blue eyes wide and filling with tears, her entire posture radiating hurt and shock and anger and he couldn't care less. If she forgives him and gives him another chance, Jaime will present his resignation himself.

"Jay?" Brienne asks, her voice lost in the din of the club but he's seen her mouth shape that name enough times he can hear her voice in his head, down to the break at the end.

He leans forward again. "Jaime, my name is Jaime."

That's when she punches him.

September:

Skin Deep - Jaime/Brienne - Brienne owns a strip club asn it’s the most oblivious person on earth.

"She shook my hand," Jaime moans into his drink while Pia and Hilda laugh at him. It's Brienne day off and Jaime is there, sitting in her club surrounded by her employees and friends and missing her. Maybe she's really not interested, though he's seen her looking and there have been times when she was blushing and looking at his mouth, that Jaime was convinced he could just lean forward and kiss her and she'd kiss back, then those moments pass and he's back to wondering if he really is so out of practice flirting that she's not realized yet. If she wasn't interested she would just reject his advances, wouldn't she? "You all suck as wingmen and Brienne is the most oblivious person on earth. What do I have to do, dance naked in front of her so she realizes I want her!"

He groans into his drink when he sees the look Pia and Hilda exchange. "That's an excellent idea, Jaime. Roz! Satin! Come here!"

Jaime looks from one to the other and shakes his head vehemently. "No way. I am not doing that."

Famous last words.

October:

Hollow - Jaime/Brienne - The FMA AU I am not writing (and I keep not writing). This one is not posted because it insists on being a multichapter and I refuseto post it until I have at least another chapter done.

"Another fool," a voice says, low and all encompassing, and Jaime turns in the direction it came from to find nothing but a vague shape of a person, almost like a cutout of lines in the whiteness except for deep red eyes and the biggest ruby ever where its throat should be. "Who are you looking for, fool? Lover or family?"

Jaime narrows his eyes at the speaker. "Neither," he says, because Brienne is almost one of those things, but he's never had the courage to examine which one. "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter, I've had many names since the beginning of time. I'm the World, and The Flames, and Truth, and Magic and Alchemy. I'm Everything and I am Nothing. " The eyes move past Jaime's shoulder and he turns to look, where there was nothing before now a huge door wreathed in flames stands. "And you, fool, are about to learn all I know."

November:

The Drowned Heart - Jaime/Brienne - an Old Guard AU where I make them suffer a lot. 

Brienne pushes herself up on her elbows to see him better. "Will I see you again?" she asks instead of asking him to stay.

"Of course you will, wench, I don't think I can stay away from you forever." He looks at her with some chagrin. "I might kill you again when I do."

"I don't mind," Brienne says, it's the truth. "As long as you kiss me again when I come back."

Jaime closes the distance between them in two quick strides and kneels next to her, hands tangling on her head as he presses their lips together. This kiss is the kind she remembers, the kind they have shared a million times just because they could. It's gentle and sweet, a slow exploration of her mouth, his tongue probing and teasing, and so very arousing. He kisses her, and kisses her until they both run out of breath, and then puts their foreheads together and the look in his eyes is so full of love she wants to cry again.

"I will always kiss you again."

December:

The Prodigal Son - Jaime/Brienne - A view of a good future through the eyes of an outsider. 

Spring had finally come to the Westerlands after the longest and harshest winter in memory, something Celys had not been sure they would live to see. The realm had been ravaged by war and cold and famine, too many people had died during that time, and even those living in Lannisport and the small towns surrounding Casterly Rock had felt the bite of hunger, something not even the Lannister gold had been able to keep at bay.

Now the snow had melted and the sun warmed them again, a new crop had been planted and there was a new Targaryen King in King's Landing, one with the blood of the dragons but raised as a northerner, and the Lord of Casterly Rock was his Hand.

And tagging @albatrossisland @ddagent @sdwolfpup @nire-the-mithridatist @scoundrels-in-love @wildlingoftarth @slipsthrufingers @angel-deux-writes and whoever else wants to do it!

[yuta-nakamots]

Beautiful Time - h.rj ; Part 4 of 6

Pairing - Vampire!Renjun x Reader

Genre - Fluff i guess?? with some angst in the beginning??

Warnings - Mentions of blood, feeding, general vampire stuff

Summary - Vampires are creatures forced to walk upon the earth for longer than humans could possibly imagine. One would think it gets boring after a while, but not to Renjun, the foreign exchange student who seems to know a little too much about the early twentieth century. 

Word Count - 3.2k

A/N - this is the last calm chapter we’re having haha. sorry it took me so long to update. i just started online summer school but my schedule turned out to be somewhat lighter than expected so i’ll try to update more frequently. feedback is greatly appreciated!

Today was the day that you’d be saying your last farewell to your friends and family. It was a day you dreaded and feared for, a day you never thought you’d ever have to endure. You were at the airport, surrounded by your loved ones as they wished you well in your journey abroad. You wished you could trick yourself into thinking that it was just that simple, that you were only going to be away for four years before being able to return, but you knew it wasn’t that easy.

Renjun was there for you the entire time, he was waiting for you at the check-in gate and came to help you with your luggage as soon as he saw you step out of the car. “Hello, my name is Huang Renjun, I’ll be a transfer student at the same university as y/n this coming school year. Nice to meet you” he said, introducing himself to your parents as he struggled to keep a respectful distance between the two of you.

“Oh, that’s wonderful! It’s nice to know that y/n will already have a friend before school starts. She’s not the best at making friends” your mother jokes, oblivious to the way you rolled your eyes at her.

Despite the fact that Renjun was there, your emotions were just too much. You tried your hardest to not let the tears escape your eyes as you hugged your favorite relatives for what just might be the last time, though your crying would be easily justified anyways.

Once your little party had dispersed, everyone leaving the airport to continue on in their normal lives, you turned to Renjun who immediately pulled you into a hug before the tears could start falling again. You let out a sob, your tears wetting his shirt as he held you in his embrace. “Everything will work out, I promise. You won’t ever be alone as I’m still alive” he whispered, his lips almost grazing your ear as he spoke. “I know it’s not the same but you have a family with me. Whether it includes the other guys or whether it’s just us, I’ll stay with you, I’ll protect you.”

You felt numb the entire plane ride, barely even speaking to Renjun other than asking how to say the name of the airport, which he told you was the ‘Changchun Longjia International Airport’ and even taught you the pronunciation in Mandarin. As soon as the plane had taken off, Renjun was quick to raise the armrest between the two of you and pulled you so that your head rested against his shoulder, his arm wrapped around you with his hand gripping your waist.

Renjun felt your intense overflow of emotions from the sadness and grief of parting from your loved ones to the fear of making such a giant change in your life, the excitement of going somewhere new, but also the smallest amount of happiness and fulfillment. He didn’t know the cause of it, but you did. You knew you loved him even if you weren’t big on vocalizing it towards him, but you always showed it to him whether it be through the way you untangled his hair after he spent an hour messing it up out of frustration, or the way you pressed your face further into the hoodie he was currently wearing. You let his scent calm you and eventually sleep overtook you, your energy spent from dealing with so much within just the past few hours.

By the time Renjun is gently rubbing your shoulder and calling your name to wake you, the plane is already about to land. Once you got off the plane and retrieved your luggage, you didn’t even have to think about finding Jaemin, who was supposed to pick you up because that’s literally what he did. Your mind was blank, just absently staring at the ground when suddenly the monotonous tiled floor was no longer under your feet. You didn’t even have enough energy to flinch as Jaemin’s arms held you as he swung you around cooing, “oh my baby is finally here! Do you know how much I missed you? Did you miss me too? I think you did!”

Renjun had to forcefully grab you out of Jaemin’s hold while lightly scolding him, “can’t you see that she’s tired?”

“My little cutie can fall asleep in my arms any day” Jaemin said, pulling you back into his arms and smashing his cheek into yours as if he were a cat. Renjun could only roll his eyes as he took your bags over to where Haechan was waiting, leaning against an expensive-looking car and as you got closer, you noticed it was a Tesla. You were shocked that they had a Tesla, you were even more shocked to find out that Haechan could drive, as none of them had previously mentioned any driving abilities, not that they really needed it with their superhuman speed.

“Did you guys actually steal a car or what?” Renjun exclaimed, clearly just as shocked as you.

Haechan scoffed as he pushed himself off the car, “‘or what’ is your answer. I’ll have you know that we didn’t steal it and it was fully paid for,” he said as he helped Renjun and Jaemin with your luggage, “not by us though. Chenle paid for it. That kid is loaded, I swear.”

At the mention of the new ‘kid’, Renjun’s face lit up as he let out a noise of surprise. As Renjun helped you into the backseat of the car, you made eye contact with him and asked, “who’s Chenle?”

“Ah! Chenle, he’s-” Renjun began, only to be cut off by Haechan, who was buckling himself into the driver’s seat.

“A pain in the ass.”

“Haechan, please be quiet or so help me, I will remove you from this vehicle.” His statement caused you and Jaemin to laugh, only getting an eye roll from Haechan as he started the car. “Chenle is, I guess what you could say, a younger cousin of mine. He’s a whole lot closer to your age though,” that sentence earning a chuckle from Haechan before Renjun reached over to smack the side of his head before continuing, “so he and I are definitely a ways apart in the family bloodline but I heard he was recently turned and he’s in training to take over some business his family runs.”

“Oh? How old is he?” You asked, excited to possibly meet someone who hasn’t been the same age for over ten years now.

Jaemin abruptly turned around, nearly scaring Haechan as he pulled out from the stall, his toothy smile showing as he spoke to you, “he’s only nineteen though he was turned a few years ago so I think he should be about twenty-three maybe.”

“Anyways,” Renjun began, “I think you’d like Chenle. He’s a lot more modern than I am so he’ll probably get your jokes more often than I do.”

“It’s okay that you’re old,” you interjected, “I think it’s cute when you get all confused and I have to teach you.”

Renjun shook his head, letting out a sigh of embarrassment, “The important thing about Chenle though is that he’s still considered a new vampire and I think you’ll find comfort in him since you’ll be transitioning alongside him. You’ll have him to play around with and talk to so it won’t be as lonely.”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t believe how boring it was to just have Renjun to talk to” Haechan blurted as he navigated his way out of the airport.

“But you two are like old grandpas,” Jaemin complained, “I had no one to play with and talk to, they were both already some thousands of years old when I was turned. It was like being around mummies” he said, clearly exaggerating.

Despite the overly playful bantering, you were actually thinking about this Chenle guy and you were excited to meet him though you immediately associated him with your imminent fate to become one of them. The thought makes you shudder just a little because you had already done your own research and you knew just how painful it could be.

Haechan seems to always drive a little faster than what seems safe but you’re too tired to care, already dozing off, leaning against the window. The next time you open your eyes is due to Jaemin screaming at you to wake up as the car pulls up in front of a small, traditional, yet cute looking house. The aesthetics of the house immediately sparked the architecture major in you and you knew you could spend hours admiring what you assume to be Renjun’s house, but thankfully said boy pulls you inside the front door, not giving you much time to fully root yourself into the driveway.

Renjun himself seemed to pause in awe when he walked through the front door. “Like what we did to the place?” Haechan asked with a smug look on his face. The interior of the house was almost nothing like the exterior. The furniture was modern but minimalistic, mostly white with occasional wooden accents and grey walls. The difference was almost shocking yet you noticed how there were still traditional elements like the dragons carved into the walls and the gold plating around the light switches.

“Chenle paid for it” Jaemin stated. Again, it was that kid being mentioned with money, causing you to wonder just how much of it he had while Haechan complained to Renjun about how much work it was to remodel, only having himself, Jaemin, and Chenle to do the work. Though when Renjun continued to ignore him and wander off down a hallway, he moved onto bothering you, telling you how he plans to enroll in an interior design program in order to be your other half, who was interested in exterior design.

You playfully pushed him away as you followed Renjun, not wanting to be left alone with the most annoying one out of the bunch. You walked down the hallway to find Renjun  and Jaemin already in what you presumed to be you and Renjun’s shared room.

It was a large, spacious room, the walls colored a cute pastel grey-blue mixture, almost the same color as Jaemin’s hair, ironically. Your eyes went from the large closets on opposite sides of the room to the entrance to the bathroom with the beautiful marbled flooring, then finally landing on the large queen-sized bed which was definitely an upgrade from the twin bed that you and Renjun had gotten used to sharing, the other person always half, if not fully, on top of the other.

Haechan quickly joined the three of you and immediately took it upon himself to challenge Jaemin, “I bet I can unpack a suitcase faster than you.” So of course, they both used this opportunity to utilize their enhanced speed to compete against each other in unpacking your suitcases, only slowing down to ask you or Renjun where you wanted a certain item or who it belonged to. You thoroughly enjoyed the show they put on for you, even if it was slightly headache-inducing due to the fact that your eyes couldn’t fully capture them moving so quickly.

By the time you sat down to eat the stew Jaemin had lovingly cooked for you, you were starved. You had barely even taken a single bite when there was a knock at the door. Jaemin left his position in front of the stove to see who it was, exclaiming as he opened the door and letting out a loud “Chenle-yahhhh!”

Your head immediately jerked up at the mention of the name, curious to see what he  looked like after hearing so much about him. You were met by his fox-like smile and darkened red eyes as he introduced himself to you, already seeming to know who you were all the while squirming in Jaemin’s hold. “I’m Chenle, though I suppose you could tell already. Nice to finally meet you, y/n.”

“Oh, I’m so happy! Our Chenle is finally talking to a girl! And I can’t believe my two babies are here together~” Jaemin’s incessant cooing causing Haechan to do his infamous dry heave as Renjun directed your attention back to your stew which was already cooling down.

Once Jaemin had calmed down, he took a seat next to you as Haechan and Renjun were busy talking to Chenle about business-related things. You had slowly lost your appetite, as you still associated Chenle with the fact that you had promised them that you’d let them turn you once you settled down here. Jaemin sensed the drop in your mood and didn’t hesitate to grab your hand, that had balled up without you noticing, and drawing shapes on it while reassuring you that it won’t hurt as much as you think. “Y/n, look at me. As long as Renjun is here, it won’t hurt at all. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

He only continues speaking once you take another mouthful of your food. “You’re lucky you have him, though I was lucky enough to have my sister. She turned me to save me after we got into a car accident with my parents,” he looked at you to gauge your reaction, going on after he sees you still chewing, “my parents didn’t make it and she knew they wouldn’t so instead she chose to save me, not wanting to lose all the people she cared for. Personally though, I only really appreciated her after I made the transition,” he looked at you again and you motioned for him to continue while gathering up another scoop. “She spent her early years as a vampire going back and forth between us and her husband. I didn’t realize how much self-control it took until after I had to experience it myself, the constant thirst, especially when your significant other isn’t around.”

You swallowed the food that was in your mouth before asking, “why do you always refer to relationships as if you’re still human? You never just call people ‘mates.’”

“Ah, I think that’s because I’m still fairly new to the whole vampire thing. I still view relationships the way you would, you know? I could be married by now and had kids if I was still human, I think I’d be turning thirty this year” he mused.

While you were lost in the thought of Jaemin having kids and chasing his own little toddlers around, you didn’t notice Chenle taking the seat across from you until he cleared his throat, a little too obnoxiously for Haechan’s liking, getting a slap to the back of his head. The second you looked up and made eye contact with him, he asked “so when are you turning?”

All eyes went to you and Renjun, who had begun stuttering from the sudden attention. “W-we, uh, we haven’t discussed it yet.” If his ears could turn red, they’d have been burning by now.

“Well hurry up then. I can’t wait to finally have someone to play with. Everyone here is so old and boring, they don’t even know what memes are” Chenle quips, earning himself yet another slap from Haechan along with an eye roll from Jaemin, who claims he’s not that old and knows what memes are too.

You miraculously managed to finish your dinner and stayed to help Jaemin clean up the few dishes he had used to cook for you. Haechan and Renjun had ventured off somewhere while Chenle stayed seated at the table, only turning the chair around so he could face you and ask you questions while you did the dishes. Chenle asked you countless questions ranging from when you were born to what your favorite season was and if you had watched the latest trending shows on Netflix.

You could tell he was much closer to your age, as it soon felt like you were talking to just another friend rather than someone who wasn’t even the species as you. Chenle was very energetic and playful, already having taken to teasing you in the slightest ways while cracking jokes that you doubt Renjun, or even Haechan, would understand.

As you finished with the dishes, Renjun had returned to the kitchen, coming up behind you and wrapping his arms around your waist while resting his head on your shoulder. “My love, there’s something I want to show you” he murmured into your ear, gently pulling you away from the sink. Jaemin and Chenle followed along as Renjun led you downstairs and through the lounge area you only caught a glimpse of earlier.

While your attention was drawn to all the high-tech gaming devices set up, you didn’t notice the solid steel door Renjun was guiding you to, only turning to look at it as he was turning the handle and pushing the door open, revealing Haechan inside a small room painted almost entirely grey. It resembled the look of a hospital room, except instead of the cot, there was a metal table with leather straps hanging loosely from the sides which Haechan was playing with.

You looked at Renjun, having an idea as to what this room is for, as he places an arm around your waist and steps inside. Haechan looks up and clears his throat loudly, almost as annoying as the way Chenle did earlier except this one is filled with pride. “Lady and not-so-gentlemen,” he began, Jaemin whining from behind you, clearly upset at Haechan’s choice of words, “this room is my work of art, which Renjun had commissioned me to construct. It is complete with state of the art noise cancelling walls and sealed ventilation to aid you in your transfer from human to vampire” he said, with a smirk at the end.

You were taken aback at how blunt Haechan was being, but you didn’t have much time to dwell on it due to Jaemin letting out a loud ‘wOW’ and running to the table, dragging Chenle along and asking him to strap him down. You let out a laugh at their childish antics while Haechan let out a sigh before turning back to you and Renjun and stating, “I’ll be ready whenever both of you are.”

Later that night, as you were cuddling in bed with Renjun after letting him feed from you, you turned to face him in your euphoric haze and whined “Renjunnieee~ when are you going to make me into a vampire? I want to be like youuu.”

“When would you like to do it, darling?” He replied, smiling at your current state, your eyes barely even open as you struggled to stay awake.

“I want it a-s-a-p,” you babbled, “as soon as possible.” Renjun only laughed as he placed a hand on your cheek while running his thumb over your lip. “I need to stop aging now or else I’m gonna end up older than youuuu.”

Renjun wheezed at your worry of passing his frozen age of twenty when yet, he was well over a hundred years old. As you were about to start whining again, he leaned in to press a kiss to your lips, effectively silencing you and saying “we’ll turn you as soon as possible then.” He pulled away slowly as your eyelids fluttered shut, smiling to himself as you let yourself drift off to sleep.

A/N - this is the last calm chapter we’re having haha. sorry it took me so long to update. i just started online summer school but my schedule turned out to be somewhat lighter than expected so i’ll try to update more frequently. feedback is greatly appreciated!

@nct-writers​

[danyka-fendyr]

Absence of Good - 10

Chapter 10: 126 Kisses

Alright everybody I’m back! Finals are over and I’m officially free to write as much as I want until I can get a job. Hopefully that will be soon, but it’s not looking great. This chapter things sort of slow down and our heroes get the chance to relax for a minute. I figured they deserved it after their last case. Also this is just really fun for me.

Taglist:  @dreamwritesimagines @rhabakoli @alwaysadreamingoptimist

AoG Taglist:  @pancakefancake @prettyboyspenerrr @youreasnack @alioop3818 @newtslatte @rathersuspiciousbumblebee @andiebeaword @stalker83005 @lotties-journey-abroad

Wordcount: 2.5k

Warnings: None! This is all fluff. If you aren’t scared of a little making out, you’re safe here.

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” ― Jane Austen

           Trying to decide what your favorite thing about Spencer was was like trying to decide what flavor to pick at a Baskin-Robbins in hell, the options stretching to infinity. His lips, his brain, his hair, his really terrible but also really cute jokes, his hands, his magic tricks. There were a lot of options. There were so many options.

Right now though, the lips were taking it in a landslide.

“Do you really think,” you gasped, “that now is a good time for this?”

Spencer didn’t look up from where he was diligently making his way down your neck, fingers tracing little circles into the space of skin between your blouse and your slacks. You were in a supply closet, which felt very, extremely, incredibly high school, although admittedly you had never actually done anything that edgy in high school. That being said, if you were going to act like high schoolers you thought making out in a library was a much sexier choice and should probably involve fewer mops.

“Can’t wait,” he mumbled, pulling you just that little bit closer to him.

“Can’t wait 30 minutes till we’re off the clock?”

You laughed at him, but he swallowed it with a kiss, making you far too breathless to laugh anymore.

“This is our first full day of work back since the case where I didn’t see you for a full week. Perhaps you’ve forgotten, but I forget nothing, and I remember every. Agonizing. Moment.” He punctuated the words with kisses.

“I remember,” you breathed out, kissing the corner of his mouth. “I also remember that despite that, we like our jobs. We would like to keep our jobs. Which is why this is a bad idea.”

You stepped away, disentangling yourself with more restraint than you had probably ever exercised before. 30 minutes. 30 more minutes of paperwork. 30 more minutes of explaining to some desk jockey how to put a man in handcuffs. Then you were free.

You gave him one last kiss, just as a reward for the fact that you were miraculously managing to walk away from this.

“Meet me at the library after work.”

You reasoned you deserved to indulge your childish fantasies if you were going to be a responsible adult right now.

Before he could kiss you again and make you rethink your decision, you slipped out of the supply closet, straightening your shirt as you went. You stopped to check your appearance in the bathroom mirror, touched up your lipstick a little, then went back to work hoping nobody would notice your pupils were still dilated. The only person truly likely to notice that, however, was Spencer, and you didn’t have to worry about him. All you had to worry about were these forms.

The next half hour of your life was grueling. You had been literally tortured before and somehow, this seemed worse than that. You would have said it was impossible for anything to be worse than that, but now you knew better. It was simply improbable.

Finally, it ended. You let Spencer leave first, because clearly you were the one showing restraint today. He booked it out of the building, but you, on the other hand, took your time packing up. Stopped to chat with Emily, figuring she would be a safe bet considering she was either oblivious to your relationship or just so good at hiding her emotions she would never give away knowledge of it. You valued that in her as a friend. Her ability to not call you on your blatant lies when she knew the truth was better kept a secret.

You kept the conversation brief and lighthearted, and soon you were out the door too. You were aware Spencer knew your favorite library because he had confessed to you that the moment he knew he was in love with you was when you told him you even had a favorite library and that it was your happy place. You couldn’t help the fact that not only was it superior to all other libraries, but it was also superior to all other locations in general.

You wasted no time getting inside once you were there, scanning the shelves for him, and…there he was, freaking out some librarians with the speed at which he was reading. Was that the book you thought it was?

“Is that my favorite book?”

Spencer looked up, face forming a smile before his eyes even registered that it was you who had approached him.

“Yeah. You mentioned you liked it so I thought I should read it.”

“I think you’re concerning the librarians, my love. You’re going to put them out of a job.”

He blushed, and you assumed he was feigning modesty, but he quickly made the real reason for his sudden intense interest in the same page clear.

“My love?” His voice cracked softly. “We use nicknames now?”

Your face turned shades to match his. “Only if you want to.”

Wow, the books were fascinating. In fact, you could stare at them all day. Just look at bindings and never move or speak again ever for the rest of your life.

“Yeah, I do. I think it’s cute. Sweetheart.”

You stared down at your shoes, toes curling inside of them. Something about the way he said it made you go all melty inside. You definitely liked that.

“Okay, well,” you said, clearing your throat. “Considering you’re about 75% of the way through the greatest novel of all time, I have to ask. What do you think?”

“Well, I’ll admit it’s not my usual taste, but the author is certainly talented. I mean, the parallelism between certain characters, the perfect use of narrative tension, it’s all very well done. You have excellent taste.”

“And you’re not just lying because you like making out with me?” You teased.

“Well I do like making out with you.” Spencer grinned slyly. “But no. I never lie about books. Literature is sacred.”

“Agreed.” You nodded.

“That being said, I hardly think this counts as a holy place,” Spencer said, his voice dipping lower so that only you could hear, “so I think we can defile it guilt free.”

You were about to agree when you caught sight of the new arrivals shelf over his shoulder.

“Oh my gosh I’ve been trying to get my hands on that forever but I was too cheap to buy it!”

You shove past him, disregarding any apologies that might have been necessary. Not that he would require them. He had been ignoring you for books for the past week. He totally owed you.

“Can I read it first?” He asked, just as fascinated.

“Absolutely not.”

“But I’ll read it faster!”

“You’re not even done with the book you have now, slowpoke. Catch up with the big kids then you can read.”

You snatched the book of the shelf, holding it close to your chest. Spencer, meanwhile, appeared to have finished the book. You really hated him sometimes.

“Done. Now can I read it first?” He raised an eyebrow at you in challenge.

“Fine. But you owe me 126 kisses.”

“I’ll remember that.”

You snorted, not taking him literally as he took the book out of your hands and you paused to admire the architecture. Part of the reason this library was your favorite was that it was multiple stories. Books upon books not only stacked over shelves but over floors of a building. Multiple stories in multiple stories, if you wanted to be witty about it. The large glass windows in the front allowed plenty of light in, and you liked to bathe in sun pools while curled up with your books. You never liked to just be in and out of a library. One had to take time to bask in a library, to appreciate its unique atmosphere, to perhaps soak up the knowledge of its books through osmosis. Libraries were both underappreciated and important.

“Can you walk and read at the same time?” You asked.

“Of course I can, what kind of question is that?”

“Then follow me. I’m taking you to my favorite reading nook.”

You wound up the stairs, Spencer in tow, hardly glancing up from the book to see where he was going. You wondered if his genius brain came with hyperdeveloped peripheral vision.

The sun dappled blue carpet of the steps lead you to the second floor, coming to a spiraling stop across the room from your favorite spot. You made a bee line for it, sinking down into the plush curve of the couch. It wasn’t particularly busy on this floor of the library at this time of night, since this was where they kept most of the more obscure research literature. This floor was more geared towards the serious scholars, while the first floor was designed for university students and casual readers. You enjoyed all three categories of reading, yet another reason this location was so optimal.

“C’mon.”

You gestured for Spencer to join you, and he easily flopped down next to you, leaning into your side. He looped an arm around you, passing you the book with his free hand.

“Done?” You asked.

“Done,” he confirmed. “It’s kind of dead in here, isn’t it?”

“This is their slow day. We’re almost guaranteed not to be interrupted up here right now. Part of why I like it. I like to read in peace. There’s probably some research papers up here you’d like.”

You idly flipped open the pages of the book, ready to relax and read for an hour or two. Spencer had other ideas though.

“Guaranteed not to be interrupted, huh?” He said, nose slipping into your hair as he whispered the words low in your ear.

“Baby, I’m trying to read,” you whined.

That was the wrong choice of words. His hand slipped from your shoulder to your waist, pivoting you to face him as his fingers dug into the soft flesh that curved over your obliques.

“Have I mentioned that I really love the nicknames?”

He didn’t give you a chance to answer before his mouth was on yours, and you were abruptly incapable of rational thought. No unsubs, no paper filing, and certainly no books. The room could have been on fire and you probably wouldn’t have noticed seeing as it already felt like you were on fire with the warm skim of his hands against your skin.

“Maybe I should have just taken you home,” he said, already a little breathless. “As nice as this couch is, yours is more comfortable, and you look very good in a t-shirt.”

“And jeans?”

A mindless comment, a meaningless clarification as your head spun.

“No. No jeans.”

He went back to your throat, which seemed to be his favorite spot. You inhaled sharply, fingers curling into the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Besides, I still owe you 126 kisses.” You felt him smile into your skin saying it.

Oh, he was enjoying himself entirely too much.

Still, you couldn’t stop yourself from saying, “Yes, please.”

You heard him muttering under his breath as he kissed your neck, and your brows furrowed in confusion. After a moment, you realized. He was counting. You would have laughed if it wasn’t actually a little bit sexy.

Were you actually going to do this? Were you seriously making out with your boyfriend in a library? A public library, no less? The answer was no, and not because you didn’t want to.

A librarian hovered one shelf away, looking like she really didn’t want to have to come interrupt you but would if you continued. You sighed, pulling away from Spencer.

“I was wrong earlier. We are officially being interrupted. Let’s leave before we terrorize the poor librarians any further, shall we?”

You couldn’t hide your slight disappointment. It had been a long day and you deserved 126 kisses from your boyfriend. Alas, it was not to be.

Spencer was undaunted. “Guess this means I get to take you back to your place.”

“Guess it does,” you said, leading the charge back downstairs.

You ran your library card, checking out the book, before breezing out the door. You knew Spencer had walked here just like you knew he typically took the subway to work. Just as well. Meant you wouldn’t have to be separated on the drive back to your house.

“By the way, I’m investing in some t-shirts for you,” you said as you climbed into the driver’s side of your car.

He followed, sitting passenger side.

“Is there something wrong with my shirts?” Spencer frowned slightly.

“No, of course not. I love the way you dress. However, I want some oversized t-shirts.”

“I’m not following,” he said.

“It’s simple. I buy you t-shirts, let you keep them for like, a month, and then gradually steal them all from you.”

He laughed. “Why not just buy yourself t-shirts that are too big?”

“Because then they won’t smell like you.”

“I would say I’m not sure I fully understand you but actually I’ve been realizing since we got back that I’m sort of obsessed with the smell of your perfume. It would kind of linger in the air after you dropped off my coffees on that last case and that alone could keep me going for hours.”

“Really?” You kept your eyes on the road, diligently avoiding eye contact, suddenly shy.

“Really. You smell so good, all the time. I don’t know how you do it.”

“Well I shower on a regular basis, just for a starting point,” you teased.

“Did you know that some experts say you actually shouldn’t shower every day? Apparently occasionally taking a break allows your skin to rebuild the natural oils it needs to be healthy. So while it doesn’t hurt you to shower every day, it can also be beneficial to skip sometimes.”

“I’m making a mental note of that for our next case. ‘Unsub has read same studies Spencer has. Took them too far.’”

You were rewarded with another of his laughs just as you pulled into your driveway. You took a moment to appreciate it, the sound light and happy. It was nice to hear him so relaxed after the case you had just gotten off. You were quickly overcome by the urge to kiss him.

He lead you inside, the two of you practically tripping over each other in your haste. You had never unlocked a door so fast a day before in your life.

You kicked off your shoes in the hallway, and Spencer followed suit, mismatched socks making an endearing appearance.

“I’ll be right back,” you said, heading in the direction of your bedroom.

“Where are you going?”

“To change into a t-shirt. And no pants.”

Spencer smiled to himself, settling down on your couch, fully prepared to wait as long as it took. He had 114 kisses to bestow upon you in a t-shirt. A t-shirt, and no pants.

 “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”

― Robert A. Heinlein

[thunder-the-ranger-wolf]

On (Not) Wooing Steve Rogers

@aurumacadicus

Happy birthday, Owl! Hope you like the fic!

Summary: Stony No Powers College AU where Steve is definitely pining over his best friend who is a genius. They go to MIT for different reasons and Rhodey is sick of their shenanigans so he sets them up on a dinner date and he and Carol laugh from across the restaurant as they watch the boys stutter their way through a good time. Turns out, Tony thinks he's hot as hell and "was going to ask him out anyway, thanks, Rhodey! I guess."

Steve

Steve couldn’t stop looking at him. He moved fast and he talked faster. Every other word out of his mouth sounded like a foreign language that everyone in this class could understand except for Steve. He belonged on this track. He deserved to be in this class. But… maybe he’d bit off more than he could chew, coming into a two-hundred-level class and expecting it to make sense. It was on his track sheet, and no one said anything about prerequisites. In fact, when he’d talked to his advisor the older man had waved him off and allowed him into the class. On the request that they meet twice a week to make sure Steve was keeping up with the class. He was lucky that Erskine was so hands-on, but that probably had something to do with the program he was in. An Architecture student who put the art in the architecture, this stuff was going right over his head.

But his classmates were just fine with it, apparently. And so was the boy a few seats in front of him who broke into the teacher’s lecture every five minutes to correct him. Some people were a bit annoyed with the guy, who looked to be around Steve’s age, but he definitely knew what he was doing. He managed to shut them up with each question they asked until they could no longer catch him off-guard and stopped trying after a bit.

Steve was lost by his conversation with the professor and just as lost in the boy’s eyes, one chocolate brown and the other crystal blue. He didn’t even know that type of heterochromia was possible in nature, but it looked right at home on this boy. Steve spent the rest of the lecture sketching the boy’s face and writing down every other word he said. He’d look some of it up later. He needed something to bring to Erskine.

Rhodey

Four classes.

The poor kid beside him was in over his head, a freshman to his junior and Tony’s sophomore. Granted, the only reason Tony was allowed to be a sophomore is that he was a bonafide genius. Well, enough of one to skip most of the early-level classwork required of his degree track.

This kid, on the other hand, needed every single one of them.

And maybe a few others, like how to stop staring hopelessly at the genius boy who is so hopelessly out of your league.

At least this one was Tony’s age. Fucking leeches tried to get the boy for all he had, but this kid was one of the art-types that were attracted to the prestige of the school without really knowing what went into it.

Poor kid.

But four classes of this kid practically drooling over his little shit of a brother would not stand. The kid should ship up and ask a question or just plain ship out because he wouldn’t get anywhere doing this.

Eight classes and the kid… wasn’t hopeless, at least.

“You’ve actually managed to learn something.” Rhodes snorted when the teacher called for a twenty-minute break. This thing was three hours long, as a once-a-week class, but damn if they didn’t deserve every second of that break.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re not.” Rhodey snorted, amused. “But at least you’re getting something out of this class, even if it is a little eye-candy.”

“Eye-can-? No!” The boy yelped. “No, it’s not like that at all.”

“So the notebook full of sketches surrounded by random words are supposed to be invisible, got it.”

“Well it’s my stuff, so yeah!” The guy snapped defensively.

“Fair point. What’s your name, kid?”

“We’re all adults here, aren’t we?” The kid asked coldly.

Fair enough.

“Barely.” Rhodey snorts. “Seriously though, you’re what, nineteen?”

The stunned look on the boy’s face told him he was right.

“So’s Tony.” Rhodes offered.

Another look, confused this time.

“Tony Stark is the kid who keeps interrupting the professor to half-way teach the class. The one whose likeness is plastered all over your notebook. You’re in luck, kid.”

“What?”

“He’d probably be willing to tutor you on this stuff. Hell, he’s tutor half the class, if they let him. He’s a total pushover if you know how to ask.”

“How do you ask?”

“Ah, for you… just sit there and look stunned like you usually do, only make sure he can see it. And maybe show him that notebook. He’d stick around for the whole year if you did that.” Rhodes snickered.

The kid shot him a look that, if he was reading this right, bordered on protective.

Oh, this would be way too easy.

“Just because he’s a good person-.”

“Doesn’t mean he’ll help you? Sure it does, he’s a sucker for lost causes. He keeps making them every other day.”

“What?”

“Ah, I guess you’d have to see it to know what I’m talking about. Not that you’ll be getting that far. He builds robots with newborn AIs that he keeps trying to teach. It’s the funniest thing in the world because they’re so cute but so helpless at the same time.”

The kid was interested now, but the break was over.

“Ask him a question or two about the homework late on. If you can understand any of the words on the page, Tony’s got you the rest of the way. Just prove that you’re not a lost cause.”

“I’m not a lost cause.” The kid muttered. “I’m not.”

“Good luck, painter-boy. These engineers will eat you alive.”

Later on

“Don’t you think that show of yours was a little much?” Carol asked as they walked to Boca Grande. Rhodey wasn’t really in the mood for Mexican but he wasn’t sure he was in the mood for much of anything. Art Kid’s dilemma was weighing on him now.

“Well, if I want anything to get through that thick head of his-.”

“Okay, now you’re projecting. James, look at me.” Carol stopped him and Rhodes turned to face the girlfriend he’d pined so hard for just for her to turn around and act like they’d been going out the entire time. “They will be fine. People can get their own dates without their annoying older brothers interfering. You’ve known that kid since he was, like, ten, so I’ll let you off easy here, but he’s finally got someone his age interested in him. Why not let him have a little fun?”

“Because he’s completely oblivious to genuine affection,” Rhodey informed her as if it was something he’d practiced every day in front of the mirror. “Just trust me on this one, if Art Kid doesn’t make the first move then nothing will ever come of this.”

“Fifty bucks says you’re wrong.” Carol insisted. “Give it a month. Don’t interfere. If Art Kid doesn’t make a move then Tony will.”

“God, not another four classes.” Rhodes groaned. “Fine. Whatever. I guess I can stand to lose fifty bucks if the kid shapes up.”

 Steve

Steve did not shape up. He couldn’t help himself. There was no way in hell that guy was talking sense, especially since the guy was right and he didn’t really belong here. What was he doing, anyway? There’s still three-fourths of the semester left, he should go to Erskine and quit while he’s ahead.

The genius boy, Tony, has a mole under his left eye, the blue one. Not the only blemish on his tanned skin, but the most prominent. This guy’s acne stage really did nothing to him, if he even had one.

“Hey, do you know the answer to number three from the homework?” A blonde girl with mischievous green eyes leaned across the aisle and whispered to him. Steve shook his head. It was a multiple-choice question and he’d likely gotten it wrong. God forbid they write a paper anytime soon. He really is in over his head.

“C’mon, we’re almost halfway through the semester, you had to have gotten something right.”

“Fat chance.” Steve groaned.

Besides, even if he did know the answer, he didn’t like where this talk was heading. She might have taken a few tips from the guy next to him on how to look down on helpless fuckers like Steve.

The blond artist shook his head.

“I know it’s at least supposed to resemble an arch, but not how wide, so there’s that.” He groused.

“See? You’re not totally hopeless. You should see what Tony has to say about your homework.”

Steve groaned and buried his head in his arms. So she was in league with the guy who sat next to him.

“I’d rather not.” He informed her acidly.

“What? He’s a good tutor. You see how he gets up there and basically hogs the conversation, the kid knows what he’s talking about.”

“If he’s my age then he’s not a kid!” Steve snapped.

“Sure, sure.” The green-eyed blonde snorted, amused. “My name’s Carol, in case you’re trying to figure out what the hell is going on here. I had money on your actually doing something about your crush over these past eight weeks, but Rhodey was right. Ah, well, goodbye fifty bucks.” She sighed. Her friend, Rhodey, he guessed, snorted.

“Told you the kid wouldn’t know a crush if it hit him in the face.” Rhodey yawned. “Look, kid, Steve. Look, Steve, just ask him a question about the homework, talk a bit about it, play it off like you don’t understand, and slide into ‘talk about it over dinner?’”

“I really don’t understand, though.”

“All’s the better for it, Tony hates posers. Which you’re not. You’re an architecture student, and that takes a lot of engineering, but it also takes a lot of art and angles and knowing what looks good where. There’s a reason you’re here, after all.”

Right.

Steve didn’t know what to do with this, but the least he could do was try.

 “So, the word around class is you’re hopeless.”

He knew that voice. It was the same one he heard every day trying to figure out what the hell the teacher thought he was doing, teaching like this?!

And it shouldn’t be walking him to one of his art classes.

“What’s it to you?” Steve grumbled. Apparently, Rhodey spread tales of his imminent demise at the hands of failure.

“I just so happen to be a tutor, and your grades are projected to be atrocious. Lucky you, everything is technically due at the end of the year, so if you want, I could help you get up to snuff.”

“Uh, sure?” Steve choked out. “Yes, absolutely! I need to pass this class.”

You’re damn right, you do.” Tony chirped. “Which is why I’ve humbly offered my services. See you, next class, we’ll work out a schedule after that.”

The shorter boy breezed off and Steve found himself doing a very good job of watching him go.

“You gonna get to class anytime soon?” Another familiar voice snarked.

“Hello, Carol. What’re you doing in the art building?”

“I have a few classes here, Stevie-boy. And man, am I glass I do. Looks like Tony decided to take things into his own hands.”

“Looks like he did.” Steve snorted. “He called me hopeless.”

“Oh, that’s a great sign! He loves hopeless. Means he can impress you with bullshit. He’s not going to, of course.” She snorted when she noticed to look on his face. “He needs you to pass that class. This is good! You might get a date out of him yet.”

Steve scoffed at that one. Now she was just yanking his chain.

“Yeah, I just might.”

Rhodes

“We’re going on a date.” Carol announced.

“I thought I was choosing the next three dates.” Rhodes objected. “That was the deal we made for the bet.”

“You are, which will work out in everyone’s favor because you know Tony best. Where does he like to eat?”

“Oh, this. You’re lucky I’ve already thought this out because Steve is-.”

“Not as hopeless as we thought. And neither is Tony. We just have to drop hints that their first study session should be somewhere with food, somewhere Tony likes and will want to keep going because your boy rocked up to his crush in the hallway and offered to be his tutor.”

“Yes!” Rhodey threw his hands in the air. “Thank God, we are one step closer. They might get together before the end of the year!”

“So, Tony, what’d you have in mind for tutoring Steve?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, flyboy.”

“Yeah yeah, I don’t know why you think that’s still funny. Anyway, I’m asking because he likes your rambling but he hasn’t gotten anything done since the start of class so you might have to take it slow, y’know, ease him into all this, maybe get some food every few sessions, the usual.”

“I know how to handle dummies, Rhodey, and contrary to popular belief, Steve Rogers is no dummy.”

“Really?” Rhodes crowed, interested. “And just how do you know that, Shrimp?”

“Fuck off, Rhodey, have you seen the curves that boy draws? No way he’s as hopeless as you and Carol think, he’s got to have something between the ears.”

“An artists’ mind, sure.”

“Well, artists have to use the same tools we do, for some projects, just on a smaller scale. If anyone can get Steve Rogers to pass this mind-numbing class, it’s me.”

“Atta boy, Tony. Go get your guy. He looks like he’s lost on campus as well.”

Tony coughed a laugh at that and stuck his tongue out at his friend.

“Next time I see that tongue, it better be down Rogers’ throat!”

“It will be, fuck you very much!”

Steve

Steve had no idea where he was going to find Tony, but at least this looked like a place he would want to be.

“You made it!” Tony crowed. “This is my favorite spot, y’know. They have the best burritos. Chipotle-sized but a million times better. You want to order something and then we can get started?”

“Sure, yeah.”

Steve stuttered through his order, a chicken-pineapple enchilada with green chile sauce and a Sprite. Tony made him look smooth by comparison because he couldn’t decide if he wanted an enchilada, a tamale, or a burrito. The waitress grinned and said, “I’ll put you down for your usual.” before going back to the kitchen.

“Yeah, that was probably a good idea,” Tony grumbled. “Now, show me some vocab skills, what’s up with your notebook?”

 Tony kept taking him to random places to eat every Thursday. This time, he asked if they could go to a bar. Irish pub, technically. He knew it wouldn’t be anything like the stuff his mother called dinner but it’d be close enough. Indeed, the Black Rose did not disappoint. Or at least it was about what he expected. They got carded but as long as they stayed away from the bar, the bouncer wouldn’t say anything. Steve wasn’t in the mood for alcohol anyway. Steve got bangers and mash and Tony asked for a chicken pot pie. Steve wondered if they were made fresh. His mother loved chicken pot pie but he couldn’t get past the slimy feeling.

The fast-paced atmosphere fir the mood for the night because Tony was quizzing Steve for the upcoming test. Some of it would be multiple choice but this time there would be diagrams, so Steve would actually have to know what he’s doing. He does, surprisingly enough. Tony’s study sessions have really helped, and Steve’s even been able to get through the lectures with more coherent notes.

This was proved when he saw his grades online.

“I got a C on the test!” He exclaimed.

“That’s great, Steve, it’s two in the morning. Go the fuck to sleep.”

“Sam, Sam, you don’t get it, this one engineering class has been driving me batshit and I finally proved I belong in the class!”

“I’ll probably freak out tomorrow but I just came back from a long shift so if you could-.”

“Oh, yeah. Definitely. Gnight, Sam.”

His roommate yawned and nodded off pretty quickly.

Six hours later, he heard “wait a minute, that one class with the boy you’ve been drooling over who tutored you? That class?!”

“Yep.” Steve yawned. He never understood how Sam Wilson could be such a morning person on maybe six hours of sleep.

“Hey, that’s amazing! Everyone says that class is stupid hard to follow if you don’t already know what the kid up front is talking about and half the time people have to stay behind and ask him to break stuff down.”

“Wait, what?”

“Well yeah, it’s a junior-level class, Steve, what were you expecting?”

“I… not that. I thought it was just me.”

“Aw, Steve… look, find the guy who was tutoring you. He’ll know what I’m talking about. You should be extra proud of that C, too. Means you can get all your homework done before the year is out.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Steve muttered. He should probably have asked Erskine more questions before he went along with this class.

 “You got a C? On that last test? Steve, that’s brilliant!”

Even Rhodes was congratulating him. This felt… strange.

“No, seriously, that last test was not easy. And you actually got some of the questions that everyone missed, even Carol and I. Those study dates are paying off.”

“Yeah, I guess they are.” Steve mumbled.

If this was how Rhodes was reacting, he wondered how hyper Tony would be.

 “I have succeeded!” Tony crowed for damn near the entire building to hear. “And clearly so have you. Lemme at that test of yours, I need to see every-. Fuck yeah, it’s a High C, too! You passed, Steve! This is the second major test of the class and you passed enough to make up for the first one! That, plus all the homework you turned in. You should come out relatively unscathed. And if you play your cards right, with a B.”

“That might be pushing it.”

“Oh no, trust me on this one. You’ve been trusting me on everything else. So, where do you want to go?”

“Go? What for?”

“To celebrate! This is an accomplishment, Steve, this class is hard enough for the best Architecture students. They just dumped you in here, no prerequisites or anything, and expect you to pass with flying colors? But you have, and that’s great!”

“You seem to have no trouble with any of the coursework.”

“Well, that’s because I’m a literal genius, Stevie. Joined Mensa and everything.”

“Huh.” Several things clicked into place and he nodded. “Okay. Well, we keep going out for study sessions so why not stay in this time? Watch a movie or something? We could order pizza or something.”

“You mean you’re not sick of pizza?” Tony cackled. “But yeah, let’s do that. Want anyone else to be there?”

“I mean, we both have roommates, so whoever’s place we go back to, someone’ll be there. Did you not want them to be?”

“Wow, you’re dense. I thought Rhodey was joking, but nope, you’re dense.”

“Hey, you can’t take back your-!”

Tony rolled his eyes and yanked Steve down to his eye-level. Before Steve could say anything else, their lips met.

The kiss was brief and Steve had to lick his lips twice after that.

“You need chapstick.” He blurted out.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony grumbled. “Totally not the point, but whatever. We’ve been going out for literal weeks, Steve.”

“Oh. Shit.”

“Yep.”

“Cool.”

“So we’re good?”

“We’re great!”

“Do you still want our roommates to be there for movie night?”

“Nah, Sam’ll be annoying if I get you to kiss me again. But we’re still ordering pizza.”

“All the cheese your heart desires.” Tony drawled. “And I still wanna see what’s in that notebook of yours.”

[moonlightreal]

Winx Club season 8/16

In which we get a large terminology retcon and some Trix of a different color.

16 The Sparx Festival

Sparx like the starlight or have we timeslided back to 4kids when Domino was named Sparx?

We open in what must be the Winx common room.  The festival hasn’t been mentioned except in the title, we jump right in to the girls’ planning.   Aisha wants to do a gymnastic dance competition.  Musa’s ready to provide the music and Tecna the special effects.  Of course Stella thinks it should be a fashion show, and Flora’s more keen on a rare plant show.  Stella transforms her look into a lil blue dress with flowers and a very questionable hairstyle and conjures a red carpet… which is pulled out from under her by the chompy carnivorous plant Flora brought in.  Girls, you’re perfect, never change.

Bloom, though, is moping and everyone shortly realizes it and does the “you can tell us about it.”  thing.  It’s Sky, of course, he’s not answering the phone and nobody knows where he is.

Where he is, is climbing a cliff with Diaspro.  Even though they can both fly, and have a spaceship.  They’re looking for the lost medallion of Eraklyon, which changed its name between episodes.

Sky’s phone rings and he says it must be Bloom, and Diaspro does an evil grin and… throws herself backwards off the cliff, falling to her doom! O_o

Sky catches her of course, even though he was above her on the cliff and there’s a definite animation fail as Diaspro sort of kneels in midair with Sky supporting her on one arm.  Props to Rainbow that this is the first glaring mannequins-in-weird-poses I’ve seen this season!

Diaspro: oh, you saved me! <3

Sky: Be more careful next time!

Sky, she has wings. She would’a been fine.  Unless Diaspro’s no longer a fairy because Season 8 timeslide, that is a possibility but it’d be a damn dark one because that would mean Diaspro is willing to risk her life to get Sky’s attention.  I foresee a lot of this episode will probably be me microanalyzing all of Diaspro’s actions trying to put together a coherent picture of what she’s really like as a real character rather than the caricature that Rainbow is meaning to give us.  I think the final picture will be of someone who should maybe be in some kind of inpatient mental health place getting counseling instead of out alone with the object of her obsession.

They get to the top and there’s this great Indiana Jones temple with arches and waterfalls.  Sky’s phone rings again and Diaspro pops up with, “Look over there!” and when he’s still keen to check his phone, “Our mission can’t wait!”  Sky grumbles but follows her without contacting Bloom.

Back to Alfea, I swear the approach shots of the school just get better and better. We may have just had a weird mannequin moment but the settings are really quality cg.

And here’s Miss Griffin!  Still looking like herself, I think her hair is more lavender but I think the artist made her one-horn hairdo make a little more sense.  Griffin and the witch students came to perform in the festival that still hasn’;t been named, and some of the witches have conjured a friendly green slime.

Stella’s here too, she bangs into an adorable witch with Stormy’s exact hair but in pale pink.  In fact here are three witches who look just like niceified versions of the Trix!  The not-Icy has pink and blue hair and a kitty purse.  The Winx do not notice these lookalikes, but Stella does notice not-Icy’s purse.

Not-Darcy’s hair is brighter green than actual Darcy’s, it looks really good, and she and not-stormy both have kitty t-shirts.  Why kitties?  Anyway once the Winx have gone on their oblivious way Stormy says, ‘i’m gonna crush her!” revealing that these are the actual Trix.  I think it would’ve been more fun if they just randomly looked like them.  I hadn’t been spoiled with images of these undercover Trix and I love their looks.

The two groups of students gather in I guess a big classroom, it has tiered seating even though average class size at Alfea is twelve girls.  A fairy student is showing off her talent, she conjures a bubble around herself and can float in it.  The Trix can’t resist having a little fun.  First icy pops her bubble, and when she conjures it again stormy blows magic wind sending her bouncing around the hall. Undetered, bubble-fairy goes up again.  Darcy is about to prank her wen the students are summoned to the courtyard to begin their performances.

Faragonda and Griffin do this great setup, “Everything in the universe has its opposite.  Light… and shadow.  Fairies… and witches.  But the same magic spark unites us all.  The sparx!  Sparx is the energy that created the magic universe!  The sparx granted powers both to us, the fairies, and to our guests for this very special day, the witches.”

Ok, FG and Griffin, that was so awesome… except, retcon much?  Great Dragon?  Backstory of your whole universe?  Ringin’ any bells?  I mean, it would be an interesting change to have Bloom be less like maybe-an-avatar-of-the-source-of-all-magic but… I dunno.  The Great Dragon legend is so… legendy.  Solid.  I like the idea that witch magic and fairy magic are from the same source and I always assumed it was, that source being the Great Dragon.  This whole change, just to explain why Valtor needs the Trix to get the wishing star for him?

Stella: “I wouldn’t mind if the Sparx had skipped the witches.”

That wasn’t very nice, Stel.

Now it’s time for everyone to perform… but the Winx haven’t settled on what to do! Panic!  Bloom says they should pick something they like doing together and Musa suggests they like playing music together.  Bloom glows like this wasn’t a totally obvious thing.  Of course it was gonna be a concert, what else could it have possibly been?

Sorry, I snark, I’m loving this episode but I kinda want to see Aisha go off and join a gymnastics group and Stella join a fashion group and Tecna join maybe a hologram 3d art making group and Flora join a gardening group and Bloom and Musa stand there looking confused.  It’d be funny.  And I still wonder if the other girls feel pressured by Bloom and Musa into all this performing.

But then the star box appears!  The compass spins!  It has decided it’s time to chase a prime star!  The girls run off, assuming the star is in running distance I guess.  The disguised Trix follow them.

To another part of the courtyard!  The compass is pointing to the well.  didn’t they find the Sirenix book down there or something, a few seasons ago?  I kinda remember, there’s some cool stuff down a well.

The box speaks! The star is here, but there will be “tests and traps” and also, ‘You can reach your goal all alone or reach the stars joined as one.”

The Winx look down the well and there’s pillars and vaulting and all sorts of architecture down there, I guess there’s a big cave under the courtyard.  They walk down spiral steps, following the floating box, until at the bottom there is a round pool of water with light shining up from it.  A “door of light” apparently.

Cosmix up to go through the door!  Did the song get a new stanza?  Maybe I just didn’t notice it before.

They fly through the door.

Into a similar looking underground room hung with overgrown bushes and things.  A ruiny sort of place.  Flora asks a flower what they should do in this room, but the plant doesn’t want to talk to her.  The girls do some magic and the plants recede, revealing each wall of the room has a giant lock and key in it.  Six locks, six Winx, obviously.  But the flowers are snappy and won’t let them turn the keys.  The flowers have quite long stalks and Aisha gets the idea to fly around so the flowers will tangle up trying to catch them.

The Trix have reached the door of light.  They switch to their Trix selves with no transformation sequence, too bad, then Icy and Darcy start fighting over who should go through the door first.  Stormy beats them to it.

Stormy appears in a room with nine circles on the floor.  One lights up, then another, and Stormy seems to automatically know she’s playing Twister.  She has success, when a cloud slurps her up and dumps her back with her sisters.  You can’t do it alone!  

The Winx turn their six keys.  Nothing happens.  Stella realizes the keys and locks don’t match in color.  The girls carry the keys to the matching locks and another door of light appears.

Which leaves them in another cube room with round medallions on the walls and a floating cube with mystical symbols on it in the middle.  Tecna recognizes it as a die, and stella gives it a shove.  The die bangs against some walls and the symbols on the die and the walls light up, but it’s clearly not the right sequence.  Tec says all games have rules, they just have to figure them out.  Time to experiment!

Trix stand on three twister circles and another door appears.  they’re not exactly working together, Icy and Darcy keep shoving each other and stormy keeps rolling her eyes at them.

Tec figures it out, they have to match the symbols on the die to the ones on the wall. So they all together push the die to the matching wall and another door opens.

Now they’re in a room with shelves of what look like potion bottles.  A round skylight and shelves of magical implements.  This room looks like a place people might use instead of just another trick room.

Flora is delight.

Bloom seems to think the prime star is one of the objects, but there are so many.

Aisha finds an aqua ball that looks like the sphere protecting the star compass, but of course it isn’t that easy.  The ball splits into two and then into many balls that go bouncing away.  The Winx keep catching them and they keep multiplying.

The Trix find the die but can’t push it the same direction and it rolls around the room and squishes them.

Darcy figures out what to do, they have to move it together.  Her sisters are having none of this ‘together’ stuff.  Darcy uses magic and a mirror to reflect the symbol from one side of the die to the correct wall, opening the door.  Darcy is the smartest Trix.

Now our villains are also in the magic item storage room.  They go straight to finding the prime star-- wouldn’t they want to grab a bunch of magic items??  Here comes the aqua ball!  They also recognize it as the prime star and all garb it at once… and here come lots more balls!

The Winx are trying to figure out which of their balls is the real one, I guess.  They know they have to work as a team.

They do a very cool Elements of Harmony thing, each grabbing a ball and speaking words of teamwork.

Bloom: friendship

Musa: unity

Aisha: loyalty

Stella: sincerity

Tecna: collaboration

Flora: mutual understanding

They fly into the air and all the balls come back together into one ball which has a lil green star charm inside.  Bloom puts it in the star box and the girls poof away.

Meanwhile the Trix are still drowning in balls.

The girls appear back at Alfea to Miss F announcing it’s time for them to perform. Wait, what about the other performances?  I’ve seen a million Winx concerts, I wanted to see something else!

Concert!  Minor fairies dance1  the boys except for Sky are there.  Faragonda and Griffin clap along.  Even witch students seem to be enjoying themselves.

Back with sky and Diaspro, they’ve found a big door.  Diaspro says this mission is thrilling, but Sky can’t wait for it to be over and what does the map say so we can get on with it already?

Diaspro unrolls her map and it’s just emojis of her and Sky in a heart. Pffffhahahahaha!  Oh that is so weird and dumb!  Diaspro, yer off your nut, why do you even want a dude who can’t wait to be out of your company?

Ok, we didn’t get as much Diaspro analysis in this episode, but it was still a good one!  Maybe next time!

[darkspine10]

Dipcifica - Top & Tail

Top & Tail (4129 words) by darkspine10

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Gravity Falls Rating: General (but full version is Explicit) Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Dipper Pines/Pacifica Northwest Additional Tags: College AU, Awkward Sexual Situations, Banter Summary:  Dipper and Pacifica are forced into a tight situation on a college trip. Sharing a narrow single bed, sparks will fly, and both of them will try to overcome the other.

*

For an upcoming extended version, featuring NSFW scenes, see the AO3 version of the fic :)

*

"This cannot be allowed. There must be some mistake."

 Dipper rolled his eyes again. That must be about the twentieth time she’d said it. Pacifica was now pacing back and forth, getting more and more wound up.

 “I mean, how does this happen? The college booked the trip months ago!”

 “I guess there was just a mix-up or something.” He shrugged, knowing it would do little to calm her down. That wasn’t Pacifica’s way of doing things. She’d complain all evening if she thought it would fix a bad outcome.

 “But it’s outrageous! Making us all share rooms, that’s one thing, but this…” She stared unbelievingly at the narrow bed in the middle of the cold hotel room. “It’s barely big enough for one of us! And they expect us to share?! I did not sign up for co-ed roommates.”

 “No, you signed up for skiing and sightseeing, am I right?” He stretched out on the bed, tired from the lengthy flight to Helsinki and wanting nothing more than to end this debate and go to sleep. “If it’s too much trouble you could always sleep on the floor.”

 “Yeah right,” Pacifica shot back, tapping her boot on the solid wood. She pressed down on the mattress, testing the softness. It was decent enough, she supposed, but not nearly big enough to fit the two of them. Not like she was planning on actually going through with that. “Maybe I can go switch rooms or something.”

 Dipper sat up in the bed and faced her. “No offence, Pacifica, but don’t think you’ll get many volunteers.”

 Since leaving for college the rich girl had made few friends. Away from home her family’s influence had no effect, so her cold and domineering nature ended up isolating her from most circles. Dipper was actually one of the few people she cared to hang around with, simply because he was someone familiar. And the generally socially inept Dipper hadn’t complained about having someone talk too, since he too was a self-admitted loner. Pacifica was intelligent, he had to admit, and though they often sparred, they tolerated each other well enough. It was at least brighter company than spending all his time alone or visiting his sister.

 “We sat together on the plane,” he added, trying to explain himself. “I think the professors just assumed we were fine going in the same room.”

 Pacifica, in the process of taking off her expensive high-heeled fur boots, pointed a bare foot daintily at the bed. “Well I am not fine sharing that.”

 “Yeah, I remember you have problems with ‘Shar-ring’,” Dipper enunciated teasingly. He didn’t see what the whole issue was anyway. Shrugging again, he lightly pushed her foot away with one finger, not failing to notice the pink nail polish and recent pedicure. "We can just top and tail. I used to do it with Mabel on trips all the time."

 "Yeah but you're siblings. And weirdly close ones too." She eyed the bed contemptuously, as if she could intimidate into suddenly sprouting a second copy of itself. Exhaling deeply, she finally threw up her arms in defeat. “Fine. Whatever. Now help my unpack the rest of my stuff.”

 “I’m not one of your servants, Northwest. Lug your own case in.”

 “Ugh, you’re trying my patience, Pines.” Dipper didn’t budge, smirking at the fact that she already knew he wasn’t going to move a muscle to help her. She ducked back out into the hallway, then returned dragging a cumbersome, bright pink suitcase on its rollers.

 When she’d originally arrived at the college in the early hours of the morning, where they were waiting for the coach to take them to the airport, she’d astonishingly had four more cases of varying sizes. He’d delighted in watching her agonise over which stuff to leave behind when she found out about the limited cargo space on the flight. It made his single small backpack fell downright spartan in comparison.

 Pacifica finished shifting the case into their room. Her attitude was still sour, as evidence by how she was staring down her nose at him, incensed that she’d had to put in physical effort for once.

 “What do you even keep in that thing?” Dipper asked, with a mixture of highlighting her absurdity and genuine curiosity.

 “I have standards, Pines, you wouldn’t understand. Just cause the only thing you ever bring with you is that dumb journal of yours. And that.” She pointed to his chest, where a bulky polaroid camera hung down from around his neck.

 “What about my camera? My course is all about that after all, you should expect me to actually like photography. I know your concerns are above those of us poor ordinary people but have some common sense.”

 She sidled over to him and examined the camera closely. It was clear she wasn’t impressed, and let it hang back limply. “I think you spend too much time taking snapshots or writing in that book. You need to live in the moment more.”

 “Unlike you?”

 “Yes, unlike me,” she replied indignantly. “Architecture is a serious profession, not a distraction like whatever you get up to”

 “Bet you just use it as an excuse to waste time doodling though.” He shook his head. “Anyway, back to the point, I like to travel light. Less junk to weigh me down. Not like I need much, only the bare essentials.”

 “Which I notice doesn’t include any bathroom products.” She wrinkled her nose at him. “Ever heard of personal hygiene?”

 “I don’t like wasting time in the shower, ok? I let the natural cleansing properties of water do the job.”

 Pacifica laughed uproariously at him, and even Dipper had to agree he was reaching somewhat to justify his laziness. “Oh, that’s a good one Pines. You’re borrowing some of my stuff tonight, that’s a requirement.” She unzipped a section of her case and offered it to him. “Take your pick.”

 Bending over to look inside, he saw a selection of dozens of interchangeable bottles. Hair gels, shampoo and conditioner for her long, blonde hair, body wash, she had it all and Dipper couldn’t tell which of any of them he’d need. To avoid looking like a complete fool in front of Pacifica, he just grabbed the first one at random and hoped it would suffice.

 He turned the bottle over in his hand, deciding that since she’d been uncharacteristically generous he should show some courtesy. "I suppose I should go wash. I did kind kinda sweaty on the flight. Especially since it looks like we definitely will be-"

 "Don't say it!"

 "-sleeping together," he finished obliviously.

 Pacifica rubbed her eyelids and tried to avoid her roommate’s gaze. "Ugh, don't say it like that. You make it sound like we’ll be... getting up to stuff"

 "Now you've lost me." He ignored Pacifica and pulled out his phone. Maybe his sister could translate the fancy French written on the bottle of shampoo and tell him what it was. As he was making his way to the en-suite though, he had the realisation of what exactly Pacifica had meant. “Oh, wait a minute! ‘Getting up to stuff’, you mean…“

 “Please shut up.”

 Dipper gave a short, sharp laugh. “You totally meant succumbing to my masculine charms."

 “Puh-lease, Pines. You’re about as manly as an actual block of wood. Like I'd ever stoop to your level."

 "Oh, I wouldn't deign to inconvenience you, Princess." He gave a mock bow, theatrically bending over and unfurling a hand to offer to Pacifica.

 “Don’t call me that!” She slapped the hand away. “This isn’t a joke; I have a reputation to uphold.”

 “And what? If people hear that a Northwest dared to even spend time in the company of a commoner? Shocker.”

 “You are such a dork.” Unfazed by his act, she shook her head and tried to finish her unpacking. “Please let’s just try to act like mature adults. We’ll get through tonight, then tomorrow, then whatever comes next. With a minimum of fuss.”

 “Hey Pacifica?” As she turned her head, she saw him in the doorway of the bathroom, camera raised and aimed right at her face. “Smile and say cheese!” The priceless look of shock and outrage he captured in her eyes made the photo a sure-fire keepsake for his collection. Getting through the rest of the night was certainly going to be an interesting ordeal.

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

 Unable to sleep, Dipper tossed over in the bed once again, facing towards Pacifica. Somehow she’d fallen asleep in mere minutes. But for him, the cold air and tight space made it hard for him to relax and drift off. Then there was the problem of his companion.

 As he settled again in position, he tried to minimise his movements. Every time he made the slightest adjustment to the sheets, the rustling sound that resulted was like an atomic bomb going off. He could barely hear Pacifica’s breaths, they were so shallow, but any noise felt like it would wake her up.

 He tried to distract himself, to tell his brain that he was being irrational and to go to sleep. Stop overreacting, she isn’t going to suddenly wake up now, he should just accept the situation and not worry. That only made him focus more on the minute sounds of Pacifica’s breathing.

 He was hyper-aware of anything that might disturb her. Having to endure a rant about disturbing her beauty sleep was the last thing he needed. They had to be up early tomorrow to go with the group on a daytrip to some island in the bay, staying up all night fretting was only going to make him tired and irritable.

 Then he settled on something in the corner of his eye. Poking out of the end of the duvet, Pacifica’s feet were exposed to the air. He noticed her nail polish, and how sharp her toenails were. He had no idea why anyone would care enough to put that much effort into prettying up their feet. Would be a big waste of time in his mind.

 A wicked thought ran through his head. Not sure if it was a smart idea or if he was just too sleep deprived to think straight, he wriggled an arm free of the sheets. One thing he knew about Pacifica was that she was incredibly ticklish. The lightest feather touch could set her off laughing. He could reach out and do it right now.

 Maybe it would be satisfying to get some payback for all the teasing earlier? It might be worth it merely to see the look on her face; she did always have the funniest over-the-top reactions. He couldn’t deny the desire to give her the taste of her own medicine. See how she feels when she’s forced awake in the dead of night. After that at least he wouldn’t have to worry about making too much noise.

 Hovering over the sole of a foot, he prepared to apply the gentlest caress possible. His fingers brushed against her skin, then in an instant her entire body shook with a thunderous force. A burst of awkward laughter erupted from her lips as she jerked awake. Dipper chuckled to himself but regretted it moments later.

 Pacifica’s feet shot out, reacting to his tickles. Her lovingly pedicured toenails, sharpened to razors, rammed right into his eye sockets. Dipper cried out in pain and fell backwards out of the bed. “Holy shit! My eyes!”

 Pacifica, finally free of the uncontrollable spasms, flicked on the bedside lamp, and turned an accusing gaze at Dipper, sprawled out on the floor. “What the hell did you just do?!”

 A hand clutched to his face, he muttered, “Still getting over being jabbed by your talons, that’s all.”

 “My what?” She wriggled her toes, then angrily curled them up under the duvet. “You are such a jerk. What did you think would happen?”

 “Hey, at least I made you laugh.” He winked, but the joke went down like a steel balloon under her steely gaze.

 “Get back into bed, dummy. Some of normal people us are trying to sleep.”

 “No way, nuh-uh,” he protested loudly. Jumping to his feet, he pointed to the head of the bead. “I am not sleeping opposite those weapons anymore. I’d like to not go blind, thanks.”

 “Ugh, if you’re gonna be such a baby about it…” Pacifica’s head disappeared under the covers, then there was a noisy rummaging. Her head showed up again at the opposite end of the bed. “You really wanna do this Pines? Cause I can handle your immaturity up close.”

 Cautious, Dipper climbed back into bed, face to face with his upset roommate. He pulled the covers over so both their bodies were snugly pressed together under them.

 “Happy now?”

 “Sure, it’s just a little… tight.” They both blushed at the implication.

 Pacifica’s eyes darted away from his. “Now, go to sleep Pines. And don’t make me regret letting you back in the bed.” Her eyes closed again, preparing to resume whatever dream had been in progress before.

 “Nighty night… Princess,” Dipper couldn’t help but snigger.

 Pacifica let out an angry groan, but kept her eyes resolutely shut. She was trying to get back to sleep but her breathing was heavier than before. Dipper knew she wouldn’t easily fall asleep again while she was annoyed at him. He closed his own eyelids for a moment, but as before couldn’t find a way to peacefully rest.

 A shiver ran up Pacifica’s body. He thought at first he must have accidently skimmed against her, setting off her ticklishness again. But then her body shook again, and he realised it was simply cold. Despite the temperatures outside being so low, and the room providing little insulation, she was only wearing a thin pink sleep shirt and cotton shorts. Her bare legs felt frigid up against him.

 Her bare feet suddenly stood out as a glaring aberration. Realising that she must have left her warmer pyjamas in one of her other cases that she’d had to leave behind, he felt slightly guilty towards her.

 “Hey, psst, Pacifica.” He didn’t get a reply, so lightly tapped her side with a finger.

 “Shh.” She kept her eyes resolutely shut and pulled her pillow over her ears. “Go to sleep, Pines.”

 “I wanted to let you know, you can borrow some of my winter socks if you’re cold. I packed spares, it’s the least I could do for you.”

 “I’m not taking handouts from you, I’m fine as I am,” she said, despite clutching the covers tighter to herself. That was Pacifica’s way, she would rather freeze that concede any weakness.

 Dipper still felt bad about her situation, so tried to come up with another option. “We could huddle together? You know, like penguins, combine our body heat?”

 Pacifica begrudgingly opened her eyes. “Do you want me to smother your face with this pillow?”

 “I was only trying to help,” he muttered irritatedly.

 “Yeah, well don’t. I can look after myself. I’m not some helpless damsel. Now: Go. To. Sleep.”

 She was about to try yet again to close her eyes, but Dipper suddenly blurted out something. “Unless you’re still afraid of getting up to stuff with me?” There was a small red glow on his cheeks, but he had a determined smirk nonetheless. “Face it, you can’t stand the thought of me lying here next to you.”

 “Oh, now it’s personal.” She lined herself up, so she was staring eye to eye with Dipper. “First one to blink loses. We’ll see who chickens out first. That’ll show you which of us is intimidated by the other.”

 “You’re on.” Intending to take her on and win, Dipper adjusted himself so he was comfortable, then stared deep into her sapphire eyes. She did the same, turning her piercing gaze upon his hazel eyes. Locked in opposition, they steeled themselves to outlast the other.

 They’d often played this kind of game before, competing in minor ways to annoy each other. Seeing who could answer the most study questions in a set time or dinging the other if they were ever late to classes. Pacifica’s competitive streak was a mile-wide, drilled into her by her parents’ mandate to always overachieve, while Dipper didn’t like to tolerate her smug superiority complex. That meant that on average the pair usually ended up drawing in their small victories.

 Dipper realised he’d been staring at her eyes for some time now. Neither of them had budged yet. Though his eyes stayed wide open, they drifted somewhat from Pacifica’s as he started to waver slightly. As his gaze fell upon the copious amounts of dark purple eyeshadow she wore, his thoughts started to drift too.

 Who wears makeup to bed? Like her neatly kept toes, what was the point if nobody would see her this way? Her was hair though, that was one aspect of her appearance she seemed to have lost control off, messily sprawled out. It was a rare glimpse at seeing her in a halfway dishevelled state.

 A whiff of her shampoo floated past him, carrying the strong, sweet scent of champagne and roses. Hyper-awareness of his surroundings returned, but this time it was more about Pacifica than his own movements. They were so close together; they could even feel each other's breaths intermingling in the small space between them.

 Wheels turned slowly in Mason’s mind. Perhaps it was the tiredness from the flight and being kept up all night, but he felt like he was running in slow motion. But as he stared and stared at Pacifica’s face he became more and more captivated by what he saw.

 This was ridiculous. It was Pacifica Northwest for crying out loud. The most self-centred person he’d ever met. A pampered sorority brat who constantly argued with him. Now though, in the dim light, an odd sensation rose in his chest. A sensation of desire. He had the urge to lean forwards, to bridge the minute gap between them…

 Maybe he was drunk off her hair or something like that. That could be the only explanation for why he was suddenly overwhelming drawn to the girl lying opposite.

 “What’s the matter Pines? Losing your nerve?”

 Shit. It was like she’d read his mind, easily figuring out his mood had changed. He couldn’t hide the crimson blush flooding across his cheeks or the thin layer of sweat starting to form. She raised a single eyebrow to express her insight, making him crumble like tissue paper.

 “I- uh- that is to say-“ He gulped, hoping she’d think he’d given up and would declare herself the winner of the little contest. Anything to get her out of his head. Deep breaths, Dipper, he forced himself to remember. “I was just distracted by something, ok?”

 “Oh.” Instead of the expected reaction, she too blushed now, though as with all things kept a better level of composure. Actually I was kind of distracted too.” This caught him off guard. What about him could she possibly be interested in? Then he saw her gaze wander upwards and he understood.

 “This?” He lifted his hair out of his forehead, slowly exposing his unique birthmark. The strange arrangement of spots that perfectly formed the constellation of Big Dipper. He sighed and rolled his eyes. “What, you think it’s weird or funny? Go ahead, make some petty remark, I can take it.”

 Pacifica frowned, thought not in an angry way. More like he was interpreting her wrong. “I’ve never really got a good look up close at it before, that’s all. May I?” She reached forward to touch his forehead, hesitating when he recoiled slightly. He didn’t have far to go in the cramped bed though, not if he didn’t want to fall out again.

 Relenting, he held up his hands. “I guess you can have a quick look. Why though? It’s just a rare thing I have, nothing special.”

 “I don’t think that.” Her hand delicately moved his hair aside. For second she halted, then he allowed her to continue and she stroked her fingers across the birthmark. Her touch was electric, sending chills down his body. No-one had ever gotten close enough to actually feel the birthmark. “It gave you your nickname,” Pacifica added, “that’s gotta count for something. ”

 Normally he hated when people noticed or talked about his birthmark. They would either react in horror or have a sort of morbid curiosity. Either way it marked him as a freak. Never before had anyone been genuinely curious and sensitive about in this way.

 It surprised him coming from Pacifica of all people. Sensitivity wasn’t her usual style. Maybe she knew something about intimacy and vulnerability though. In her daily life she put up a façade to most of the world, a mask that rarely slipped. Yet he knew underneath there were things she didn’t like sharing. Like keeping her videogaming habit to herself or getting embarrassed if people heard her singing. Safeguards to prevent her parents’ from discovering anything they deemed ‘improper’, most likely.

 He wondered why this was happening. Why she was acting more caring towards him, and why he didn’t mind having her enter his most sacrosanct personal space. Pacifica wasn’t the sort of the person who was easy to like. She was snooty and elitist and cold at times.

 She had flaws in her personality that people steered away from. Her biting wit, which he often clashed with, her competitive drive. To him those aspects didn’t seem so bad right now. They just showed that she was a quick thinker, somebody confident in her abilities and unwilling to back down. Qualities he admired.

 If she was willing to treat with him with such respect regarding the concealed oddity on his forehead, perhaps he was right to trust her. She'd consented to this sleeping arrangement after all. Despite all the pretentions, under the rough exterior she did consider him an honest friend.

 And what an exterior it was. The upside to her over-indulgences in beauty regimes meant that she had a constant dazzling appearance that often turned heads. The luscious blonde hair, her sultry lips, those sparkling eyes. Though she was tired and unprepared, even now he found her looks so enticing.

 Under the covers, his hand traced the smooth curves of her hips. As with her exploration of his birthmark, she didn’t protest at all. In fact, her hand descended from his birthmark to cup his cheek. The soft smoothness of her skin stood out, frozen as it was.

 The intensity of their close breaths was heightened like never before, as Dipper’s rate stepped up noticeably. His heart was beating faster and he felt nearer to Pacifica now. He fixed his gaze back in her eyes, then asked the obvious question. “What exactly is happening here?”

 A warm smile shone back at him. “I think, maybe… we both lost the staring competition.” Pacifica’s other hand grabbed at his chocolate locks, pulling him across the last, tiny gap separating them. Their heavy breathing was finally interrupted when he pressed his lips forcefully to hers. She seemed surprised by his boldness, but then leant into it, gripping his head close.

 Dipper’s pushed his way further into her mouth, and their two tongues wrestled and danced around each other. At last he came up for air, gasping for only a second before Pacifica leapt at him again. She rolled on top of him, freeing up space in the bed and tightening their budding connection. Dipper’s hands made their way to her hips, supporting her above him.

 Though he deeply desired to continue just as they were, kissing passionately, he had an impulsive idea. “Hold on Paz, just a second.” He laid her back down on her side, then groped in the darkness on his bedside table. She looked at him, concerned why he wanted to stop, then understood when held his polaroid camera aloft. “Smile for me, please?”

 He wanted to capture this moment, this tentative blossoming between them, to keep as a permanent reminder. Pacifica understood that keenly, so snuggled up beside him in view of the lens. A quick flash, and it was done, recorded on celluloid forever.”

 As soon as the flash faded, Pacifica snatched the camera away from him and put it away. “Now, enough of that. Where were we?”

 Side by side, the two previously reluctant roommates returned to exploring their new relationship. It was the start of something, a potential beginning that neither knew where it could lead. With their bodies squeezed up against one another, their hearts aflame, the cold atmosphere of the room would no longer be a problem for either of them.

[writing-in-verse]

The Birds and The Bees (and The Blackthorns) Part Four

Here is part four of my collaboration with @ti-bae-rius! Click here for Lauryn’s headcanons! Here are links to parts One, Two, and Three! Master-list will be link here too!

Enjoy!

Livvy had looked everywhere for Dru - in her bedroom, in the drawing room, the training room - but she was nowhere to be found. She was heading towards the kitchen, wandering past the library for what felt like the millionth time when she saw her brother coming towards her, reading from a slightly singed piece of paper. Livvy smiled, realising that Kit had finally worked out how to send fire messages and, from how engrossed he was, Ty was happy at the private back-and-forth they were having.

“Hey Ty-Ty, are you doing okay?”

“Okay,” he repeated absently. “Yes, I’m okay. Kit said he was hiding from Julian in the library so I’m going there.” His eyes were still scanning over the paper, as if he was trying to commit what was written to memory, although Livvy knew he could probably recite every word already.

“That’s good. I saw him in there earlier and he looked like he’d appreciate some company. I’m going to go find Dru, so I’ll come and find you later, okay?”

“Okay,” Ty replied, barely stopping as he made his way toward the library.

Livvy watched him go, oblivious to the world around him, before she continued the hunt for her elusive younger sister.

Nearing the kitchen, she tried to listen for any signs of life but could only hear the traffic outside occasionally driving past, blind to the architectural marvel mere feet away. She wandered into the kitchen intending to get some water and found Dru quietly reading The Woman in Black, which was fitting Livvy thought, considering Dru was dressed in all dark hues. She closed the door as quietly as she could, trying not to disturb her, but at the click Dru’s eyes flicked up.

“You know, I’ve seen enough horror movies to know that only one of us is making it out of this alive,” she said by way of greeting.

“What makes you think you could succeed where Annabel failed?” The joke should have stung as it left her lips, but she was numb to it. The worst thing could have happened, and it didn’t. That was all.

“Well, I haven’t been dead for over a century and I’ll use the whole Mortal Sword.”

“You’re presuming you could even hit me, Dru. I have two years of training on you.” Livvy eyes shone with the challenge.

“Training tomorrow is going be so ­much fun,” Dru replied, accepting the unspoken duel. “However, I’m going to guess you aren’t here to have a verbal or physical sparring match so what can I do for you, oh sister mine?”

“Well, dearest Drusilla, as Kit has told me, Emma and Julian have already tried to give you a sex ed lesson and by the fact Kit is hiding in the library I’m going to guess it didn’t go well.”

“I mean you’d laugh your ass off too if someone half your cup size tried to tell you about body changes. You’d also be hiding in the library if you were Kit being trapped in the conversation because Emma Carstairs seriously misjudged his interest in the Blackthorn siblings.”

Livvy inhaled a laugh. “Well, seeing as you definitely don’t need any tutoring, I’m wondering if you could help me out?”

“Sure,” Dru said, taking on a more serious demeanour. “What’s on your mind?”

“Well, both Ty and Kit have had talks with me about relationships with Emma and Julian being together and it made me realise just how inexperienced I am. Looking after Ty since I could walk has meant I haven’t been able to meet anyone outside of the family, let alone get close to them. Not to say this is Ty’s fault, I wouldn’t change him for the world, but people are unkind, and I want to protect him. Recently though, with him and Kit being inseparable, I’ve been able to step away without changing a large part of Ty’s life. But while we were in Alicante and I was still recovering I met these two people, a boy and a girl, and we all got on so well. I’ve been following their socials and Dru, they are so pretty, I was so… into them and Ty almost walked on me stalking their Instagrams. Like…both of them.” Livvy blushed and averted her eyes, not being able to keep eye contact with her sister while admitting such a thing.

Dru however, merely smiled and put her arm around her older sister, guiding her to a seat. She sat opposite Livvy and thought of the best way to respond.

“That’s normal, I think. There’s nothing wrong with any of that.” She smiled reassuringly, wanting to comfort her older sister. “No matter what you feel the family will support you, Ty included.”

“That’s the problem, I don’t know what I feel, Dru. Am I gay, or bi, or straight? I’ve always thought I liked guys and that was as far as it went, but I’ve never thought to question it. Now I am, and I don’t know what makes me.”

“Does it matter?” Dru put her hand on Livvy’s, a small gesture but one instantly calmed her. “You think they’re cute. So what? That’s fine. That doesn’t make you anything. A week ago, we all thought you might not be to have this kind of conversation, do don’t worry about not figuring yourself out. Take your time. You’re still Livvy and we will all still love you.”

“Thanks, Dru. But…what do I do?”

“Honestly? Whatever you want, if it makes you happy.” Dru smiled back at her sister with all the warmth and affection she could muster. “Now, come give your little sister a hug.”

The pair got up from the table and embraced, revelling in the safety and understanding between them. When they parted, Livvy held Dru’s hand, smiling. She turned to go, but halfway to the door, she looked back.

“Thanks again for this, Dru. I’m glad I could come and talk to you about this.”

“Anytime, Livs. I’m always here if you want to chat. Well, not here…but, you know what I mean.”

Livvy nodded in appreciation and left the kitchen. She wandered back to her room and, shutting the door, climbed into bed and looked at her phone. She found messages waiting for her from the Shadowhunters she’d met and sighed in contentment, feeling surer of herself than she had in a long time.

[drink-n-watch]

  Well, here we are. It was quite a ride! Demon Slayer was not without its lows, but it’s highs were impressive and now that season 1 is all said and done, I can confidently say that I am very happy I got to watch this! But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here. First, let’s get to some important stuff: How are you Crow?

    Hi, Irina! I’m doing well. I hope you enjoyed your week! Gotta say — this episode’s energy surprised me. It felt more like an opening than a closing! Oh, I’m bold, and we’ll likely have spoilers. Don’t want to mislead anyone!

  For those of you that may not know – Demon Slayer was Crow’s recommendation and I’m sure glad he made it! How about we get this finale rolling.

When the episode opened back in Shinobu’s hospital, I thought we were in for another training montage and although I enjoy those, it seemed a little lackluster for a last episode, you know?

I was pretty happy when we suddenly moved to some creepy otherworldly demon meeting. Let’s say that poor guy’s question of “Where the Hell is this” may have been a little too accurate! But as hellish as it was, that twisty house was superb! Don’t you think?

It was architecturally fantastic. I felt like I was inside an M. C. Escher painting. It was also really cool to see how the demons themselves reacted. More than one of them were completely freaked out, which gave even more power to the feeling of unease. I’m pretty sure Crow hadn’t noticed my title when he made this comment….

And it was beautiful, too. This show excels at making evil look good.

As it happens the lower 5 kuzukis (Rui’s contemporaries) had been brought together by a rather dissatisfied Muzan. But they didn’t quite know that yet. I have been consistent in my praise for the Demons’ designs in Demon Slayer, and this episode was a treat in that regard. The lower 5 were just as varied and interesting as the hashiras but they don’t have to conform to a uniform or reasonable designs which made them even more interesting to me.

It’s impressive how much effort was put into each of their very individual appearances and even personalities considering how much time they got.

The range was amazing and the designs vibrant with individuality. One of the demons was more classical in that she had horns. The other, Lower One, was quiet and almost conservative, but here eyes and facial markings made it clear she was a demon. Even without know what was to come, there was something about her that marked her as particularly dangerous. Maybe the way she walked? How she stayed calm when some of the other demons were clearly skittish? Whatever it was, the show continued its tradition of being gorgeous. 

Turns out, Muzan had decided to be a beautiful Japanese lady that day. No one knows why. Just in the mood for it I guess. It’s all good. The thing is, this particular design overlaps somewhat with lady Tamayo, and it’s never in your advantage to compare yourself to Tamayo

I don’t know about you, but a female Muzan felt terrifying in a way the male form never did for me. It might be that I kept seeing Michael Jackson instead! But his female form? Dang. 

What follows was an education. It made sure I had properly assimilated the lessons of this season of Demon Slayer. (I say this season, I’ll get back to it).

First, being a Demon is no fun. It simply isn’t. They might grin like cheshires but no one wants to end up in their shoes. Well, maybe some people do but they are not o.k. Demons are without value even to each other as even kuzukis’ lives are cheap. Although I guess those aren’t exactly “lives”.

Second, Muzan is a monster, and whatever humanity he may have had has leaked out a while ago. There’s little point in hoping for any type of understanding. He’s also a rather horrible boss. I certainly have a whole new appreciation for mine after this episode.

And third, Tanjiro is special. Out of everything that is happening to encite Muzan’s rage; all the priorities he may have with the Demon Slayer corp nipping at his heels; the one thing he cares about is getting the slayer with the hanafuda earrings. At this point I’m seriously beginning to wonder why Tanjiro doesn’t take those earrings off, they constantly get him in trouble.

What were your takeaways from the scene?

His interactions with them were brutal. Of the demons was dumb enough to beg for mercy. What was he thinking? Another tried to argue; that didn’t get much farther. A third tired to escape — you can guess what happened to him. And when another tried to plead his case, Muzan accused him of disagreeing. “Whatever I say is right is the right thing,” he said as he killed the poor demon.

By the end of the scene, that’s how I thought of these blood-thirsty creatures — poor demons! 

But did you see how Lower One watched the others die before fashioning her response? “This is like a dream to me,” she said. “To die by your hand in person… I thank you for leaving me for last.”

He “spared” her by giving her an injection of his own blood, which will give her a power up — if she survives!

You’re absolutely right. Being a Demon is no fun!

After Muzan neetly culls his troupe, leaving only one particularly interesting looking one behind (this guy (or girl – seems Crow thinks it’s a girl and he may be right) will make for some great cosplay – also that gravity defying transition shot was the bomb!) the episode brings us back to the present where Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke seem to have mostly recovered from their wounds. And just in time as it seems the “train incident” is getting worse!

Before leaving on their new mission though, the boys have on last day at Shinobu’s to say their goodbyes. We mostly follow Tanjiro, though, and he is his usual overly earnest and touching self. First he takes on Aoi in a scene that was touching but rang hollow to me.

Aoi is chastising herself for not being an active combattant and Tanjiro cheers her up by saying he’ll carry her feelings in battle with him. I would feel worse if someone told me that. Aoi works tirelessly to help slayers recover. She basically was their nurse, doctor, maid, cook and physical therapist for months. That’s no small feat! Why is Tanjiro just basically saying – Yup you’re a coward but it’s OK cause I’m brave! I know it was animated and conveened as words of compassion and encouragement and that’s how most fans will see them. Just for me, I thought the double message was pretty amusing.

I didn’t take it that way — and I think this might be a case of a gender bias I didn’t realize I had. I saw the scene as touching: Here was Tanjiro being the combat form of Tooru Honda again, spreading cheer and forgiveness! But if I put myself in Aoi’s position, and if Tanjiro were to say that to me, I would feel humiliated. 

I’m reminded of when the two Kakushi grabbed Tanjiro and Nezuko back in episode 23. Tanjiro seriously wanted to head butt Sanemi for stabbing Nezuko, but the Master finally convinced him to stand down. As the two Kakushi carried our two heroes to the hospital, one of them practically screamed that she was furious with him for putting her in such a terrifying position. “Ready the room!” she yelled at him. That’s Tanjiro, though, isn’t it? He’s so earnest that he often misses little details — like he does later with Kanao! 

Then Tanjiro bid farewell to Kanao in a scene that was akin to emotional fanservice. I’m saying that as a good thing. I do think most fans would really enjoy this scene. It was very sweet.

For a second I thought Tanjiro may actually have lost the coin (I thought he was going to throw it away for a bit as well), and that the entire thing would have turned to slapstick comedy with Kanao royally beating him up. It stayed sweet instead.

This is where Tanjiro showed his oblivious side again! When he told her that he was going to flip the coin to determine if she would listen to the little voice in her heart, she almost looked panicked. The prospect was clearly scary for her! He showed her it was heads and was so happy that he grabbed both her hands. He had no idea what he was doing to her feelings at that point. He was just focused on the idea that he had helped her move forward!

And when he gave her his carefree grin and said goodbye, he had not a clue the emotional confusion he left in his wake. He had just introduced a huge change into his life, then skipped off to war! 

Seriously, Tanjiro, read the room!

I forgot to mention that we also saw scar boy in the halls and I don’t know what type of Demon steroids he’s been taking. I think he was roughly the same size as Tanjiro last time we saw him, now he dwarfs him. And it’s not like Tanjiro has been laying around on the couch eating chips or anything…

Can confirm. Not a single chip was consumed.

Were you as surprised as I was by the fact that all three of them could break the big jugs with their breath? Zenitsu and Inosuke actually ended up taking their training seriously enough to not be left behind. That’s pretty impressive. I figure Inosuke may have powered through on brute force but Zenitsu must have actually put in the work at some point!

They even got a reward from the three scary therapy girls. With the way they handle Zenitsu and Inosuke, I’m thinking just send these three after the demons, they’ll make short work of it. Or is that too mean to the demons?

I didn’t think they were scary! To be fair, I didn’t try to subject them to emotional blackmail like Zenitsu did. I loved how they told him, “Maser Zenitsu, please try to learn how to be considerate and respectful of girls.” I laughed even harder when he asked if they were even a little sad he was leaving.

In unison, they answered, “We are not sad.”

From that perspective? I can see how scary they can be! And good for them.

As the last scenes were coming up, I realized something. This isn’t an ending. As in, not even close. It’s a clear set up for the next arc. There’s no pretense that the story has any sort of end point here. You might as well have stopped the season mid sentence.

The reason it took me so long to realize this though is because the boys were about to board a train. A first for both Inosuke and Tanjiro who have lived isolated in the mountains their entire lives. So it was up to city boy Zenitsu to be the voice of wisdom. And he was! It was so weird!!

I almost felt dizzy because of that. It was so disorienting! 

Not only did this last scene set up the “train incident” it also brought up a lot of other great world building tidbits. Trains are still not common in the countryside, which means the world of Demon Slayer is right at the cusp of heavy industrialization. This is bound to change how Demons live and how Slayers hunt! Tanjiro has visited the big city once, it’s where he met Muzan but he was in a daze and frantic then. I’m not sure Inosuke ever has. How will they take the culture shock? Slayers are not officially sanctioned, and it seems law enforcement does take its job seriously. A clash between Slayers and the government could be an amazing storyline. And why aren’t they sanctioned, aren’t demons a huge problem? All these questions brought up in the last minutes. How mean!

I agree. It didn’t feel like an ending at all. The energy was much more like the first few episodes! 

Back in the first episode, I did a little research. According to Manga Tokyo, the series takes place during the Taisho Era, which was between 1912 and 1926. I hadn’t considered that “modern” transportation wouldn’t have reached non urban areas. It was hilarious how Inosuke thought the locomotive was the master of the land — an opponent he had to confront. Tanjiro spoke up, and I thought okay, he’s going to correct Inosuke. But no, he suggested they shouldn’t attack because it might be the “guardian spirit of this land.” Like you said, it was Zenitsu who set them straight.

Did you notice how he was more subdued this episode? Do you think it’s too much to hope this is a permanent thing?

I firmly believe it will last for the rest of the season….

All in all, this last episode was a showcase for what Demon Slayer does best. Breathtaking animation, ambitious CG integration, eye popping designs mixed with a bit of action, a bit of comedy, a measure of intrigue, a few feels for good measure, and just buckets of blood! It was fun, heartwarming and harshly disturbing all in a single episode without giving me whiplash! What did you think Crow?

I think you summed it up! Oh, do you want to share the news about the movie? Or do you want me to?

Well all we really know for now is that a movie adaptation of the Infinite Train arc has been greenlit. Demon Slayer must be so impressive on a big screen!

*** I had made a gif for my header but it turned out a bit too gruesome so I made a different one. Still it was a nice gif so here it is:

Reviews of the Other Episodes

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 01: Cruelty

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 02: Trainer Sakonji Urokodaki

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 03: Sabito and Makomo

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 04: Final Selection

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 05: My Own Steel

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 06: A Friend fo All Humans

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 07: Muzan Kibutsuji

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 08: The Smell of Enchanting Blood

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 09: Temari Demon and Arrow Demon

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 10: Together Forever

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 11: Tsuzumi Mansion

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 12: The Boar Bears Its Fangs, Zenitsu Sleeps

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 13: Something More Important Than Life

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 14: The House with the Wisteria Family Crest

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 15: Mount Natagumo

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 16: Letting Someone Else Go First

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 17: You Must Master a Single Thing

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 18: In which Tanjiro Dispenses Good Advice

Review Of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 19: The Bonds That Tie Us And A Family Affair

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 20: Playing House

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 21: Challenge Accepted and Be Careful With That Thing

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 22: Master of the Mansion

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 23: Hashira Meeting

Review of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 25: Tanjiro Triumphant and What’s Up with Kanao?

  Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 26: The House of Escher Well, here we are. It was quite a ride! Demon Slayer was not without its lows, but it’s highs were impressive and now that season 1 is all said and done, I can confidently say that I am very happy I got to watch this!

[malecsecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, @raewrites98!

Merry Christmas! I hope you will enjoy this little something I wrote for you. I poured my heart into it. And also, because it is Malec, this is a gift that will keep on giving. I was at roughly 8,000 words when I realized the limit was 5,000 so I had to edit it. But, after Boxing Day, it will be uploaded to my AO3 and I will of course link you. What you are reading as part of your gift is about one half of  what I have written (don't worry, it makes sense as it is and was stopped where I originally wanted to but Malec wouldn't stop being adorable!) 

 If I were on A03 these would be some of the tags: #Human AU #SingleDad AU #Christmas cheer all around #One Meet Cute #Two Meet Cutes #Three Meet Cutes #Baby #DOG #fluff fluff fluff

Read on AO3

*****

The Dog, the Toddler, and their Parents.

There's nothing better to become acquainted with a new city than going on runs to explore and Magnus has been doing just that for a couple of months. From regular parks to dog parks to running along the river or on the beach. From quiet greens to chasing squirrels -not him, his dog- to catching his breath while walking back to his apartment. Perfect to find quaint coffee shops and to wander the streets. One hand buried in the thick fur of the massive Newfoundland dog treading by his side, loyal, his tongue hanging out. Tail wagging whenever people coo because he's adorable.

It's a hot summer morning and Magnus has it in mind to get some iced coffee before going home. He deserves it. The bell jingles as he opens the door of the coffee shop, Buddy on his heels. Just before his eyes catch the No dogs allowed sign and he scowls, takes a step back, already cursing under his breath. Cursing even more when his back hits something sturdy. Yet warm.

He turns around to meet all 6 feet or perhaps even more of a very fitted, very smartly-dressed frame. Complete with a clean shaved face and fluffy hair and thick eyelashes. And dark eyes snapping from a phone to Magnus' studying gaze.

“Sorry,” the man mumbles, oblivious and he pockets his phone, lets Magnus step out. “Nice dog.”

“Thanks. He's not allowed inside, though.”

“I know. Most stupid rule.” He lets Buddy sniff his hand before the dog decides the stranger is friendly and lets him pet his head. “He's the most gorgeous thing.”

Magnus nods, well aware that his dog is a crowd-pleaser. Still very much thirsty.

“I better get going. Find a place where he's welcome and I can buy a drink.”

“I'll get it for you,” the stranger offers matter-of-factly, smiling at the dog then up at Magnus. Broad smile of white teeth and Magnus believes his swooning and racing heartbeat are largely due to the bright sunshine. Yes.

“You would?”

“Sure. It's not like it'll make me late. I'm already here.”

He shrugs and Magnus fishes change in his pocket, gives his order and watches from the street as the tall, handsome stranger waits in line for their drinks.

Buddy's head rests on his lap and he's drooling on Magnus' sweatpants when the bell jingles again and a much appreciated iced coffee appears on the small wooden table.

“You're an angel,” Magnus praises and maybe it's the sun, maybe it's not, but the man's cheeks turn a shade pinker.

“I gotta go now. Have a good one!” He balances his bag, his own coffee and strides down the street, his pace slowing just a tiny bit when Magnus shouts back.

“Maybe we'll see each other around! Wasn't he a work of art?” he asks more quietly to the dog, scratching his head and Buddy licks his hand. “Yes, I thought so, too.”

 Magnus knows how to recognize art when he sees it, it is his job after all. The new art gallery is small but it fits the funky, free-spirited college district and it's not like he could refuse when Ragnor asked him to temporary come help while he was in Europe. Besides, Magnus enjoys it. The calm and people smiling. Not like a small town where everybody knows everyone yet not as hectic as New York.

He adores the architecture and taking Buddy on long walks in the historical neighborhood to look at the colonial houses, red bricks and adorable front yards. Students milling around the steep streets. Students coming to check out the new art on display.

Not the same crowd as the one they're expecting for the unveiling of a new series of photographs. A European artist Ragnor has found in Sweden that he simply adores. Magnus has to agree while he puts the final touches to the frames and the black bowties and the flowing gowns enjoying their evening in the building on this particular evening seem to agree.

Isabelle is almost set on buying a particularly gorgeous photograph portraying a frozen lake and a family of ducks waddling in the snow. It's captivating and radiates peace and it will be perfect in her practice.

She links her arm with Alec's, eager to hear what he thinks.

“You'd buy all of them if you could,” he teases and it's so true she can't argue with it. She could, though, buy them all. Except then she'd run out of room.

She reaches for another glass of champagne, offers one to Alec and her eyes sparkle.

“Aren't you glad you came tonight? This is so much fun!”

“I was going to have fun at home, too.”

“But not with your favorite sister!”

He can't help smiling down at her, at how she's not so subtly hinting at perfect Christmas presents even though it's only August. It's nice to mingle and to be out among adults outside of work, Izzy's right. And he's also mesmerized by the composition of some pictures. Art is beautiful and Clary will have to come check out the exhibition next time she's in town.

He snaps a picture to send to her later. He checks his texts to be reassured that everything is well at home and when he finds his sister again, she's in deep conversation with a somewhat familiar face. As he comes closer, Alec recognizes the hair from the red hightlights in it. It's more stylish than the last time they've met and the loose tank top has been replaced by a shirt with an intricate pattern and a velvet jacket but it's still the same handsome face, with less sweat and more make-up than that morning a few days ago.

Magnus' sentence trails off, unfinished when Alec stops by Izzy's side. He smiles, surprised.

“I did tell you we'd see each other again!”

“You did,” Alec laughs and shakes the extended hand. “Alec Lightwood.”

“Magnus Bane. I'm filling in for Ragnor Fell.”

“Do you know each other?” Izzy asks, confused. Intrigued. No longer interested in what Magnus was telling her about the artist's background.

“Your boyfriend was of very valuable help to me a couple of days ago.”

Izzy makes a face.

“My brother, thank you very much.”

“A real life saver, your brother,” Magnus grins and Alec shakes his head, finishes his champagne. It's warm in the room, people chatting all around.

“Magnus here has the most beautiful dog I have ever seen.”

“You do?”

“I like to think so, yes,” he beams.

“What is it?”

He shows her pictures of the Newfoundland on his phone and Izzy has truly forgotten about the art, gushing at the screen.

“Izzy's a vet,” Alec supplies.

“If you ever need something for...”

“Buddy.”

“...for Buddy, I'll be happy to assist.”

“I'll keep it in mind, thank you. No wonder you were interested in Winter Family, then.”

Satisfied that he has sidetracked his sister from growing too invested in Magnus as a person or to start poking at the fact that he obviously finds him to his liking, Alec relaxes and listens to their excited conversation. All the terms Magnus uses as he describes the photographs, the rhythm of his voice and the singing words. A very nice melody indeed.

Until his phone buzzes with Aline's number and he has to pick up.

“Sorry, home,” he apologizes to Izzy.

She waves him off and Magnus is distracted for a moment, watching Alec stop in an empty corner, phone at his ear, a worried look in his eyes.

“Is everything all right?” he can't help asking but Izzy doesn't look troubled.

“I'm sure everything's splendid. He's too tense sometimes. Family and all. But he's great fun when he lets his hair down!”

“I'm sure,” Magnus chuckles at the cheery tone and the not-so-innocent, pointed look she gives him.

Nonetheless, Alec doesn't re-appear for the rest of the evening and Izzy eventually excuses herself to join her brother. After she's made an appointment with Magnus to further discuss potential acquisitions.

 Large dogs have plenty of energy to spend and Magnus is grateful for it because it means he goes outside a lot. He doesn't know many people in town yet, doesn't have many friends around. The most social he gets is thanks to Buddy. Running for miles in late September when it's still nice weather. Playing fetch, terrifying geese.

Flushed cheeks and short of breath, but loving the fall and crisp leaves and calling after the dog who's been distracted by a father and toddler on his way from bringing his ball back.

The dog is massive, beyond excited and the little boy is giggling to no end, trying to fend off the wet tongue attempting to lick his face clean.

“Buddy, here! I'm so sorry!” Magnus apologizes profusely, jogging to the blanket just as the man stands up, scooping the child in his arms. “Oh, it's you,” he says flatly when he recognizes Alec.

“Does this mean you're not sorry anymore?” Alec jokes, the dog pushing against his leg in the hope of being petted.

“I am. I truly am. He adores people.”

“We like dogs, too. But we already had a bath this morning, didn't we?”

The little boy squeals, reaches his tiny hands down to touch the big dog. Magnus grabs Buddy by the collar and yanks him back. The dog whines.

“Hello,” he says when the dog has settled down.

Alec gives a laugh. “Hi.”

“Having yourself a picnic, uh?” Magnus surveys the cozy blanket spread on the grass, the backpack with toys and the half finished sandwich that none of the men has time to save before Buddy wolfs it down. Magnus is mortified. He wants to crawl into a hole with his silly dog and disappear forever.

Alec finds his crestfallen face adorable and actually cute but he doesn't say it. He wouldn't want to further embarrass him.

“Bad dog! I am so sorry. Really. I'll buy you another one.”

Magnus spins on his heels looking for a food cart, or anything to save the day. The dog licks his chops, the toddler giggles as Alec bounces him in his arms.

“It's fine, really. I was done.”

“Coffee at least.” This is so embarassing and Magnus needs to repay Alec for that very first iced coffee anyway now that he knows he hadn't given him enough to cover the cost and that the then handsome stranger had paid the difference without telling him.

“Perhaps another time,” Alec declines politely. “Sundays are Max days. I don't see enough of him during the week.”

He makes a silly face at his son, kisses his giggling cheek and Magnus feels like he's intruding. It's the most precious thing he's ever witnessed though. Alec attacking his son with kisses and the boy leaning away from the stubble while still laughing to the point of hicupping. It's so cute it makes his heart swell.

“Have a good Sunday, then,” Magnus starts heading off and Alec's head snaps back in his direction.

“You too!”

“And if I see you again,” which he hopes he will, “you're not getting out of this coffee deal!”

“It's a date!” Alec shouts back, the words out before he can think, the hair on the nape of his neck standing with a shiver. Magnus gives him a thumbs up and a dazzling smile.

 Alec doesn't bump into Magnus again. Not for weeks. It's getting darker and colder and the State Capitol is insane, work is overwhelming and socializing is out of the question. There's Halloween and that's it. Max in the evenings and the weekends, cuddling on the couch and playing. It's exhausting and Alec hasn't had a restful night of sleep since his son was born. He can't even remember what it feels like. When Max is sleeping he has to catch up with work and when Max is awake, he demands his father's entire attention.

Cries and screams and nightmares and tears and first steps and a baby crawling everywhere. Working out is overrated when all the exercise you need can happen at home. Besides, Max is clingy because he doesn't see his dad enough during the day and his tiny fist clutches Alec's collar as he attempts to have a normal phone conversation with his mother. Pacing the room.

“What the hell,” he exclaims suddenly, stopping dead. Max's babbles go on.

“You better not be swearing around my grandson.”

“He didn't hear it,” Alec lies. “Listen, mom, I gotta go.”

“Did he pee on you again?”

“That happened once, more than a year ago. Will you ever let it go?”

“Nope!” Maryse laughs in the phone and Alec rolls his eyes, says his goodbyes and hangs up.

He narrows his eyes at the suspicious shape on the wooden deck. It's black, hard to discern in the night outside but as he comes closer to the French doors, two bright eyes stare at him all of a sudden and a large tail starts wagging.

“What the hell,” he repeats, puzzled.

“Hell, Dada? Dada, hell?”

“Yes, no. We don't say that. Bad Dada.”

“Bad Dada. Oooh.”

Max's eyes grow as wide as the dog's when Alec opens the door and their unexpected guest quickly dashes inside. He clasps his hands gleefully and the dog barks, running in circles around Alec who is desperately trying to remember his name.

He knows whose dog it is, would recognize it anywhere. That size and that licking tongue. The dog looks thirsty.

“Easy there, buddy.” Buddy? That's his name, Alec thinks. “Buddy?” he tries and the dog's ears stand at attention. “Are you lost?” There's no collar on the dog.

“Dada! Dada! Dada!”

Max is wriggling in his father's arms, desperate to be close to the dog, delighted with the surprise and that's how Alec ends up sitting on the carpet, googling the art gallery to find Magnus' number while keeping a close eye on his son playing with the dog.

“Hello?” Thankfully, Magnus picks up quickly.

“Magnus? Bane? It's Alec. Lightwood? We met a couple of times? I bought your coffee and your dog ate my sandwich?”

As if Magnus wouldn't remember who Alec Ligthwood is. He'd be intrigued as to why he's calling now except he has more pressing matters at hand.

“I know who you are, yes.”

“I'm calling because I happen to have a new lodger who I think belongs to you.”

“What?”

“Your dog? I think your dog escaped and...”

“He did! Two days ago! Ran off during our run. Do you have him?”

Magnus almost strangles himself with his scarf in his haste to leave the art gallery.

“I think? He answered to his name.”

“Hold on. I'll Facetime you.”

He hangs up abruptly, manages to grab his cell phone with shaking hands and has to dial Alec's number twice before he gets it right.

“Show me,” he demands once Alec picks up again and his face appears on the screen.

Alec would scowl but he can understand Magnus' anguish at having lost his pet. So he directs the phone towards the dog intently observing the baby humming while he's stacking colourful cubes.

And just like that, Magnus can breathe again. The last couple of days have been hell and he's never going for runs in the forest ever again. He hasn't slept since he's lost Buddy.

“That's him! Can you...can I...your address...I'll...”

“I'll text you my address.”

“Thank you!” Magnus literally shouts at the screen before he hangs up and Alec has to smile tenderly at the phone.

The dog has been well-fed with leftover chicken and Max has adopted him by the time there's a knock on the front door.

“It's open!” Alec yells out and the dog scrambles on the hardwood floor as soon as he recognizes his owner.

There's a lot of barking ensuing, which leaves Max confused as to why his new friend doesn't want to play anymore. He cries out and Alec picks him up while Magnus calms the dog down. He's still shaking, not quite believing that his dog has been found. Buddy needs a bath and a bit of spoiling (or a lot). There are actual tears of relief in his eyes and that makes Alec a little emotional as well.

“Thank you so much,” Magnus' voice trembles a little. He's crouching to hug the dog, his face half buried in the fur. Yes, definitely a long bath.

“No problem.”

“I owe you more than that coffee now.”

“You remember?”

“I always remember the persons I owe a date to,” Magnus scoffs. “”Especially when they're as kind and handsome as you are.”

Alec scratches the back of his neck, smiling at the flirting.

“What do you say to coffee and dinner? To thank you?”

“You don't have to.”

“I want to.”

“And I never say no to food,” Alec admits, shameless.

Magnus clasps his hands, heart racing.

“Perfect!”

“Do you want a drink or something? After your emotions?”

The front door is still wide open but the dog is lying down by Magnus' legs, head resting on his front paws, calm and content. Magnus looks at the baby, his eyes survey the living room quickly.

“I wouldn't want to intrude on your family.”

Alec gives him a quizzical look as he walks by to close the front door. He gestures to the coat stand and Magnus sheds his jacket off.

“You're flirting with me, asking me out and yet you assume there's more to my family than Max.”

“I was just checking,” Magnus winks as he follows to the kitchen, taking in his surroundings. The messy living room, toys everywhere. The table which apparently doubles as an office desk. Pictures upon pictures on the white walls. Variations of Alec with different versions of Max. Them with his sister. Maybe a brother. His parents. “Now I know there's nobody else.”

“Well...,” Alec looks pointedly down at his son.

“Right. Sure. No husband or wife or girlfriend, I mean.”

“Definitely none of those.”

“Here, I'll take him,” Magnus offers when he sees Alec struggling to juggle his son and the two mugs for coffee. Max goes willingly in the foreign arms, instantly drawn to the shiny ear cuff. Magnus snags the little fingers away. “How old is he?”

“16 months old. He's a handful.”

“Looks like it.” Magnus winces when Max tugs on the chain around his neck, fascinated by the shimmers it makes in the artificial light.

“Dada!” Max complains when he's yanked away from the jewelry so he doesn't harm their guest. He forgets all about it once he gets to toddle towards the dog to hug him.

“He's going to make a scene when you leave,” Alec realizes.

“When Buddy leaves, you mean.”

“Right.” Alec isn't looking forward to it.

Magnus sighs with contentment at the first sip of warm coffee on his tongue, estactic at how the day has turned. He doesn't need all the flyers he was going to put up in town anymore.

“This is excellent coffee. I'll have to up my game for when I take you out.”

Alec smiles in his mug, steam in front of his eyes, stomach in actual knots. Close to blushing like a teenager. He hasn't flirted with anyone since Max was born. There's no time for it.

“I haven't been on a date in years,” he admits, shrugging. “We could go to a fast food restaurant and I'd be okay with it.”

Magnus looks appaled, shocked and he sets his mug down with a thud, processing the information.

“That would simply be scandalous, Alexander.”

“Alec.”

Magnus dismisses it with a wave of his hand.

“I will take you out for a night you won't ever forget.”

Alec really can't stop smiling, actually looking forward to it. Having Magnus in his house already feels nice. Comfortable. And Max doesn't mind him. One date might also stop Izzy from pestering him with hints about how dashing and fantastic and single the new manager of the art gallery is.

 When Alec comes out of his meeting the next Monday, there are five texts waiting for him on his personal phone. Two from the same number.

Hi. It's Magnus.

My dog ate your sandwich?

Alec chuckles, heart thudding and headache disappearing.

I remember yes, he types, sitting down at his desk, trying to ignore the stack of memos demanding his immediate attention.

Would you be able to find a babysitter for this Saturday evening?

Magnus is so thoughtful already that Alec is suddenly very much aware that he'll do anything to clear this specific night.

Can you watch Max on Saturday night? He texts Izzy and also Jace, and Lydia. First one to reply will call dibs. He doesn't wait before texting Magnus back.

Absolutely. I've been craving coffee and dinner.

And a little something extra.

I'm intrigued.

Good. Dress smartly.

When don't I? Alec types then never sends because his phone buzzes with a call from his sister and he gets caught in a drilling inquisition about him having a date and how of course she volunteers to babysit her nephew and who is he going out with? She screeches in the phone when Alec eventually admits it's Magnus and her squeals of joy might actually reflect how Alec is feeling on the inside, looking forward to the weekend.

So of course the week drags on and Max makes a fuss as soon as he realizes his aunt is here but his dad is leaving and it breaks Alec's heart to have to sneak out while his son is bawling. He's only reassured when Izzy texts to say that Max settled down in a matter of minutes.

Magnus is already waiting in front of the restaurant, looking flamboyant and as attractive as ever. Alec is simply mesmerized, forgetting his words.

“You look...wow,” he manages to stutter and Magnus chuckles. He takes a step forward, feeling silly for wanting to reach out and shake Alec's hand yet not knowing how to greet him.

“You don't look so bad yourself.” He brushes an invisible thread off Alec's coat. Alec feels so stupidly brainless, unable to reply. A mess. He's been out of the game for so long. “Shall we?” Magnus offers and Alec follows him inside the brightly lit restaurant. He nods to several persons, greets a few.

“You're well-known,” Magnus can't help but remark. Their table is at the front and Alec sits so he doesn't have to face the other patrons.

“My family's lived here for generations. And I work for the Governor so yeah. You'll probably be fresh news by morning. I should have mentioned that earlier,” he realizes, eyeing Magnus carefully.

“That's okay. Only jealous people gossip. Are you telling me I'm dating the elite in town, though?” Magnus teases, eyes twinkling and Alec laughs out loud.

“We're scandalous all right.”

“Oh. Do tell me more.” Magnus bats his eyelashes on top of his menu and the gesture alone makes Alec enamoured.

“Well, talking just for myself, I'm gay, living by myself and I have an adopted black child. Is that scandalous enough?”

“Ah. You mean scandalous for old folks. Because I have personally always wanted to date a gay politician with an adopted black son. So you're my perfect match, Alexander.”

“A...,” but Alec stops himself from correcting him. Magnus sounds happy and not put-off, not that Alec thought he would be. And dinner is a blast. Up until Magnus stands up after the main course and Alec looks at him, puzzled. They're not having dessert?

“We're coming back later for your coffee.” And dessert, Alec must be thinking so loudly that Magnus corrects himself. “And chocolate lava cake. For now, we're going over there.”

He points to the other side of the street, to the theatre and Alec looks at him, awestruck this time.

“Is that your little extra?”

“It is.”

“I haven't been to a play in ages!”

“So good call?”

“Excellent!”

“Is it okay with your babysitter?” Magnus suddenly worries. He doesn't know what time Alec told them.

“It's Izzy. She'll crash in the guest room if she needs to. Thank you! What are we seeing?”

He distractedly listens to Magnus, feeling blessed with the best date ever. Magnus really delivered. They don't have fantastic seats inside but it truly doesn't matter.

“Thank you,” Alec repeats, more calmly once they're seated and Magnus has been studying the program. Alec doesn't know how to properly thank him. Well, he does but words feel flat and it is only a first date but then he really wants to and he does overthink things and just as the lights deem, Magnus finally speak up.

“You can kiss me if you want.”

Because Alec has been staring at him for a few minutes. So intently that Magnus could feel the gaze burning his skin and Alec was torturing himself so loudly he was literally screaming his thoughts at Magnus.

There's a smile tugging at Magnus' lips when he turns towards Alec and then soft, smooth, warm lips land on his cheek and Alec whispers another quick thank you as the curtain opens and people clap.

Magnus leans over, not letting Alec settle back in his seat. He kisses him again. Properly. On the mouth. Fast because there's no time but Alec is grinning throughout the entire show, Magnus' hand clasped in his after only a few scenes. Sweaty palms but tender fingers and this beats teenage movie dates.

“Tonight was amazing,” Alec professes as they're waiting for cabs after the play. After dessert. After coffee.

Magnus smiles at their locked hands and how Alec is standing so close to him, visibly eager to kiss again, which Magnus gladly obliges to because kissing Alec is as great as he'd imagined, even if it's just a peck on the lips.

“I'll never forget it.”

“Mission accomplished,” Magnus prides himself, beaming. His eyes smile.

Alec is aware of what he should say next, of what he has to say but he's conflicted between ruining everything now or letting Magnus have tonight.

“Magnus, I...you should know that I don't...really have time...with Max and all. To...date,” he decides to go with honesty.

“I'd say you're doing great.”

“That was just one night. What if in the future...”

“Oh. Because there will be future dates?” Magnus teases and Alec looks down at their hands, up at Magnus' face.

“I thought...I mean, it was...”

“I'll tell you what. What if we try not to worry about what could or could not happen? I already know about Max. I don't mind. I'm so admirative of you for being a single dad. Let's take it one date at a time, okay?”

“Okay,” Alec exhales and Magnus grabs the lapels of his coat, foggy breath washing over his face.

“Next one is on you, by the way.”

Alec nods, chuckling and he hasn't been kissed goodbye like this in forever. It's the best feeling. To part but to know they'll see each other soon.

He's positively glowing when he comes back home, thanking his lucky star that Izzy has fallen asleep in front of the TV so he can escape her interrogation until the morning. He wants to keep the memories to himself for a few more hours.

Alec felt boring for suggesting movies for their second date but Magnus sounded delighted to just be able to spend time together. Which is precisely why Alec hated having to cancel on the very day. But he didn't feel comfortable leaving a sick Max at home. Magnus did say he wouldn't mind the implications of dating someone with a toddler.

Friday night in in sweatpants, then. Until there's an unexpected knock on the front door and Alec looks stunned to find Magnus on the other side.

“Hi!”

“What are you doing here?”

“I thought, since we couldn't go to the cinema, the cinema might as well come to you. You have Netflix, right?”

“Yes...”

“Great! I have pizza and beer and wine because I wasn't sure which one you'd prefer.”

“Wow,” is all Alec can say. Magnus is still standing outside on the porch.

“Too much?” Magnus worries all of a sudden, and he takes an actual step back, bracing himself for rejection.

“What? No. No! Absolutely not. I didn't...I wasn't...This is nice. You're nice.”

“Why, thank you. May I come in?”

“Yes. Sorry.”

Alec motions him inside, relieves him of the warm pizza boxes, his stomach growling at the smells.

“Hi, “Alec eventually says, realizing he hasn't said it yet.

“Hi,” Magnus says back and then they're kissing again and Alec decides that's all he wants to do for the rest of the evening. Kiss Magnus. In between pizza slices and sips of beer. In the kitchen and on the couch. Cuddling by themselves or when Alec has to soothe a fussing Max who ends up dozing on the couch with them.

“I promise he won't crash our next date,” Alec whispers while he's heating up a bottle.

Magnus is rocking Max gently, the toddler's head lolling on his shoulder, a small hand weakly clutching his arm.

“Don't make promises you might not be able to keep.”

“True.”

“I don't mind him, though. It's not like he can help it, the poor thing.”

It makes Alec hopeful to see Magnus with Max. That maybe he can have both. That Magnus won't be jealous. Alec wouldn't be able to handle it. He couldn't. That's a worry for later he supposes but it's so important for him. Because Max is his future and he needs to do everything to protect him.

“Okay. Ready.”

“Hey, Max. Daddy's got you something to drink,” Magnus says gently, nudging the little boy who makes to grab the bottle.

He ends up drinking it snuggled against his father's chest on the couch. The movie is still on but Alec has no clue what it's actually about.

“Hey, Magnus?”

“Yes?”

“When is Ragnor coming back?” He's aware he might ruin the night, even everything, but it will ruin any chance they have if he doesn't have an answer to those questions soon.

Magnus smiles faintly, understanding very well what Alec is actually asking.

“Early spring, he thinks. I may actually settle here and partner with him long term. Regardless of how my personal life evolves. I like it here.”

“Oh.”

“Good answer?” He throws his head back and it lands on Alec's spread arm on the back of the couch. Alec is staring at him, not blinking and then his shoulders relax noticeably.

“Yes. I'm sorry. I know we said we wouldn't worry about later and...is this a date?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. This is only our second date and God knows what might happen but...”

“But Max. I understand, Alec.”

“No Alexander?”

“I thought you didn't like Alexander.”

Magnus shuffles closer on the couch. Their shoulders touch. Alec's arm wraps around Magnus' shoulder and his hand gives a tentative squeeze.

“I like it when it's you,” Alec admits.

“I understand, Alexander,” Magnus corrects. He kisses Alec above Max's head. “He's your top priority and I respect that.”

Max burps then, decides he's done with his milk and throws the bottle on the carpet.

“Perfectly dignified. Thank you very much. Time for bed, mister.”

By the time Alec comes back downstairs, Magnus has cleaned the mess, paused the movie and Alec only has to come cuddle with him under the blanket. Cozy and homey and Magnus' arms are strong and Alec is sure he gives the human equivalent of a purr.

 He wakes up in the same position, daylight in his face, groggy. To Max babbling on the baby phone and to no more Magnus. His phone flashes with a text sent around midnight that he checks as he jogs up the stairs.

You looked like you needed rest so I didn't wake you up. Thank you for tonight.

You could have stayed. You should have stayed, Alec adds, unapologetic. He likes Magnus and Magnus likes him.

Magnus replies almost at once, with a happy emoji and Buddy would have made a mess.

Alec would facepalm if he wasn't currently holding his son. Looking no longer as sick as the previous days.

Do you want to come for breakfast? You can bring him.

Are you sure?

Yep. Unless you have work?

Dot will open. What are we having?

I cook a mean omelette.

You cook? I'll be there in five!

Alec laughs at his phone, kisses his son's nose. Max giggles.

“Magnus is coming back. You remember Magnus from last night? He's Dada's boyfriend now so you'll likely see him a lot. He has that big fluffly dog you like. You get to play with the dog today. Isn't that fantastic? Big, big dog.”

“Woof?” Max answers because he knows his animals. He has a book with all the sounds.

“Yes. Woof is coming.”

Max is playing more than eating with his fruit when their guests arrive, Buddy sniffing around, ready to catch any food available. Max squeals so loudly his father winces. Magnus leans over the counter to see what Alec is doing. Sweat shines on his forehead despite the cold.

“Did you jog all the way here?”

“I was already running when you texted. And I figured you'd already seen me without make-up so it wouldn't scare you.”

Alec barks out a dry laugh.

“I like your face no matter what,” he mutters and Magnus is smirking at him when he looks up from his frying pan. “Although I liked your... last night,” Alec points roughly at Magnus' face, making a vague gesture, “...brought out your eyes.”

Magnus rounds the counter to come lean by Alec's side, elbows resting on the cold marble. He watches in comfortable silence, the oil sizzling and how effortless it is for Alec to cook. It's domestic and feels natural, nothing awkward about it. No one would believe they've only been dating for a week. Magnus shakes his head. This is crazy. Better not think about it. Better to think about how secretly thrilled he was that Alec invited him again so soon.

He sighs and Alec looks away from his preparation.

“What is it?”

“Thank you,” Magnus simply says, standing up straight to kiss him.

“By the way, I told Max you were my boyfriend,” Alec mention matter-of-factly, cheeks heating up nonetheless.

“Did you now? Does he approve?”

The little boy keeps throwing pieces of brioche on the floor for the dog to eat and Buddy has perfetly understood what the game is about. Alec points at the scene and Magnus glances over his shoulder.

“He approves of the dog,” Alec says, “so I suppose that's a yes?”

“Good for me.”

Alec hums in agreement, Magnus' warming palms resting on his chest, sliding up to his shoulders and he forgets about breakfast for a short while.

“I think being your boyfriend sounds terrific,” Magnus decides against Alec's lips, hot hand on his hips as they share a smiling kiss.

[restlessmaknae]

Disastrous [pt.5]

Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

Genre: fluff, comedy, romcom

Main Characters: Kim Namjoon; Gu Dasom (OC)

Setting: holiday AU; friends to lovers AU

I knew that this holiday will be difficult with Namjoon by my side but I never thought that it would be this difficult.

An arranged holiday with my best friend to a breath-taking island? What could actually go wrong? In my case, the question is, what didn’t go wrong?

Hoping for something that might happen but it never actually does is the worst feeling in the world. Believe me, I’ve experienced this feeling several times during our holiday. Let’s just say that I’m an expert at the field of disasters.

Our second day in Haikou was merely a waste of time. It was Namjoon’s fault and even though I could have expected that he would forget about something, I prayed that he wouldn’t be characteristically oblivious. I was dead wrong.

After our breakfast, we headed to the city centre. First, we bought bus tickets because the public transportation was cheaper than renting a car and we had already used our money which we saved up for the car rental, so we decided to hop on a bus.

“So today, we will visit the Temple of Five Lords, Hairui’s Tomb and Qilou Old Street. Maybe we can have lunch there. They say there are plenty of shops and restaurants on that street,” I said while looking at the map and trying to find out at which stop should we hop off.

Namjoon and I, we sat down at a love-seat and chatted about our plans for today. He usually just nodded or asked basic questions because I was the one who organised everything, so I knew what was ahead of us. Yet, I have to admit that he was pretty helpful at times. He was more sensible and intelligent than me, so whenever I couldn’t read the map or read it upside-down, he was the one who managed to carry on navigating. I let my eyes wander at his solemn silhouette and blondish curls which were illuminated by the dusty-yellow sunlight. He was glowing like an angel and although he wasn’t the most handsome man on Earth, he was pretty attractive.

“Dasom!” he rose his voice higher when he noticed that I wasn’t listening to him. I immediately looked away, biting my lower lip in embarrassment because I didn’t think that he would pick up on my silence. Nonetheless, I caught sight of a smug grin forming on his rosy-coloured lips and felt a chill creeping up my neck.

“Yeah?”

“The next stop is where we should get off,” he tilted his head but the smirk was still evident on his face. He was surely amused by the situation and I didn’t know why but I wasn’t ashamed of what I’d done. Neither was he, I guess.

We hopped off at our stop and soon joined a busy crowd towards our first attraction - the Wugong Temple. I was quite sure how we should get there but I still held the map in my hand like it was our last chance to find the sight. The Wugong Temple - or the Temple of Five Lords as people called it - was a place known for its sense of peace, tranquillity and beauty. Inside the architectural complex, there was an ancestral hall, three memorial temples, a watching crop hall, a studying hall and a museum about the history of the Hainan Province. It might have sounded a bit boring for some people but we were both interested in history, especially the dynasties in China, so it was the first place which we agreed on visiting.

We were walking towards the entrance door but there was already a queue, so we had to wait for 15 minutes before we could purchase our tickets. To be precise, before we wanted to purchase our tickets.

“Give me my wallet!” I turned to Namjoon who brought his backpack with him, so I had already asked him on the bus to put my wallet in his bag. When I saw that he didn’t have his backpack, the realization made my heart leap.

“Where is it?” he turned around to look for it but he couldn’t have left it on the way here. “I still had it when we were on the bus, so it−“

“It’s on the bus,” I bawled in horror and couldn’t even imagine what could happen to us if we lost the backpack forever. Both our wallets and documents were in there! Right now, we didn’t have any money, nor our passports or anything like that. What if we wouldn’t get it on time? What if someone would steal it before we found it? Oh my god!

These were the dreary thoughts that nestled into my mind while we were running back to the bus stop but of course, the bus was already gone. My heart was beating like a drum and I suddenly felt so pathetic that I just wanted to sit on the ground and cry. This was the worst that could happen to us.

“What should we do now?” I flung my arms in the air, trying to recover from the shock. I saw a slight twinkle in Namjoon’s eyes, so I bet that he wasn’t as despondent as me but it made me even madder. He left the bag on the bus, he should have been the one who freaked out!

“Okay, first of all, we should try dialling the service support and then the Korean Embassy if they don’t know anything about our backpack,” he squinted at me, his eyes full of affection and worry. I didn’t let myself fall for his cute puppy eyes. I didn’t care if I hurt his feelings when I furiously ordered him to call them himself.

He phoned the service support first and luckily, they said that they found our stuff but the exact same bus wouldn’t come back – only during the night shift −, so we had two options. One: we would wait for the bus to come with our bag, which meant that we had to wait for 8 freaking hours! Two: we could walk back to the Hainan bus station where they would keep it until we got there. I almost cried out in annoyance when they mentioned that the bus station was 10 kilometres from there. Which meant that without money and food and water, we had to walk to the bus station on our own in this outrageous, humid weather.

Namjoon was still on the phone but asked for some time to decide which option we would prefer more.

“I don’t prefer either of them!” I yelled at him, not caring about the passer-by who jumped in surprise by my sudden outbreak. “If you hadn’t left it on the bus, we wouldn’t have gotten ourselves into a situation like this! I thought that nothing can go wrong after all the calamity until now but it’s the worst of all. We have no food, no water, no money and you want me to stay here for 8 hours or walk to the station in this boiling hot weather! Oh no, Namjoon!” I shook my head vigorously. “Ask them to bring the backpack with the next bus!” I practically screamed at him by then while gloom was consuming my whole body. I was never so frustrated in my whole life because I wasn’t the one who made a mistake but I still had to bear the consequences. It wasn’t fair and his pleading expression didn’t help at all.

“They say that they can’t,” he countered with a bitter smile creeping onto his face. His eyes were like rainy clouds; so grievous and silver-like. “There are hundreds of lost properties every day and they can’t send them all back.”

“Why not? It’s a bus service we are talking about!”

“They can’t, Dasom,” he repeated patiently. “We have to choose!”

Honestly, I would have chosen to stay and wait but that would be more nerve-wrecking and 8 hours with my best friend seemed unbearable after this little incident. For that reason, I decided to walk and Namjoon didn’t go against my will, so after he ended his phone call, we started walking back to the bus station.

I was fuming inside. I felt like a giant volcano; it was just a matter of time before I erupted and destroyed everything around me. I was so wrathful and the worst of all was the fact that I was angry at my best friend! The person who I was the closest to and who meant the world to me. I knew that he didn’t mean to hurt me by leaving the bag on the bus but he still dug a hole for the two of us.

Namjoon must have sensed my sudden hostility because he didn’t say a single word for an hour. I was holding the map sternly, trying to find the shortest way to reach our destination and went so confidently that he didn’t even dare to doubt my steps. I found solace in the silence that fell between us but I soon realised that it was more terrifying than reassuring, so I felt a need to say something. I wanted to talk to him but I also wanted be alone. I wanted to argue with him and be in his arms again. Gosh, it’s so difficult when you’re mad at your best friend!

Out of the blue, he was the first to break the uncomfortable silence.

“I’m sorry, Dasom.”

His voice was laced with anguish and eyes full of fragile remorse. I knew that he meant it. He followed me for the past hour, not asking a single question, not correcting me when I walked in the wrong direction, so I knew that he meant it. My heart sunk right away.

“I know,” I nodded to make sure that he was also aware of it but Namjoon continued on like I didn’t say anything.

“And I know that you’ve put a lot of effort into organising this holiday because you wanted it to be perfect. You’ve done it on your own and still asked my opinion about literally everything that you have arranged. I know how much you sought after that so-called holiday of a lifetime and I’m really sorry that not everything went as planned. It’s my fault that I’ve lost the backpack and I get why you are mad. I deserve your rage but I just want you to know that I didn’t do it to make you angry,” he shared his sorrowful monodrama with me and there was a glint of dismay in his silver-grey orbs while he was talking. It was like the storm; that sorrowful, heart-broken storm that came with weeping clouds, struggling wind and pearl-like raindrops. Anyone that saw him could easily pick up on his regret.

“I’m mad, Namjoon, but not because of you. I’m mad because this holiday is such a disaster,” I shook my head in disbelief. “As you said, I’ve planned everything and what did I get for my work? They messed up our tickets at the airport, the accommodation is far from convenient, my stomach couldn’t bear banana boat trips after having lunch, giant spiders are slowly inhabiting our room and now we have to walk to the bus station to get your backpack. Oh gosh, what did I do wrong?” I rubbed the back of my neck and hid my face in embarrassment. My inability to avoid occurring problems was seriously my greatest weakness.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he patted my back gently but it didn’t seem to help, so he made me come to a halt. He cupped my chin, forcing me to face him.

When I finally looked him in the eyes, I wasn’t afraid to show that I was devastated. He was my best friend, he could read me well. There was no point in lying to him.

“Life can change anytime but that’s the beauty of it. You can’t control it, you can’t stop the unstoppable. I believe that everything that had happened today actually happened for a reason, for example, to show that you can rely on your best friend, no matter. I’m always here for you, and even though I sometimes get both of us in trouble, at least I won’t go to jail alone,” he boasted one of his boyish smile and that was when he got me. I couldn’t suppress the urge to emulate his reaction.

“I wouldn’t let that happen,” I nudged his shoulder, a hopeful half-smile evident on my face. I felt the tenseness draining from my body and I have to admit that it was a pretty wonderful feeling.

“That’s my girl,” he winked at me playfully and suddenly those hours that we had to spend together didn’t seem so uncomfortable anymore.