#heart’s spell is also something i’ll throw out there

[whoopseydaisy]

I know glass heart has been floated as the Suvi/Ame ship name but I do want to pitch heart’s secrets for the following reasons

Suvi’s part of the ship name starting with an S

the secrets being how in love they are with each other, maybe even secret from themselves but definitely going to be secret from each other for a long time like primo slow burn and we should honour that

“Wizards are defined by their secrets” was just such a raw line and they’re such a cool and defining part of the subclass

I just really love the concept of all of Suvi’s components in a ship name starting with S it’s about the ✨ magic ✨

[sexilene]

https://www.tumblr.com/sexilene/759818777216024576/can-i-request-a-boynextdoorjj-x

thinking so so many thoughts!!! I love this so much!! I need to know how and what went down when jj showed reader how to touch herself!! I feel like she’s very innocent and jj of course is a dirty boy!

OMG yessss! boynextdoor!jj x girlnextdoor!reader thought ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ (ignore the spelling mistakes sorry lol!!)

your next-door neighbor, the sweet golden retriever of a boy was an absolute chaos demon, and always horny…of course you knew this… but you were surprised when jj had promised not to try anything funny until you were ready, and you two weren’t even official yet!! but of course, you two would do the safe, usual, kissing while grinding and such- but there got to a point where the second he climbs through your window you just want to jump on him and have him help you with the ache between your legs!!

you were thinking about it all day, from the moment you woke up…to now where jj is sitting on the carpet on the floor next to you, “helping” you color a barbie coloring book all messily. you finally smacked your glossy lips together and turned to tell him about what you would like to do…

“jaaaayjay?”

“what’s up babycakes,” jj responds, not looking up from the page he was currently coloring in,

“i have a secret to tell you- and you have to promise not to laugh at me!” your words cause his eyebrows to shoot up, curiosity spiking. he looked up from the coloring book and nodded his head, “hit me.”

“sometimes, when i think of you…i think thoughts…” you speak slowly, dragging out the words, trying to find a way to say it without it sounding too dirty!

“what kinda thoughts?” jj tilts his head, a small smirk growing on his lips and he thinks he knows where this is going….

“like thoughts that make my…you know what get all fluttery and sticky…” jj thinks it's cute how shy you get when it comes to doing stuff like this with him, and he’s more than happy to help you out.

“s’that so? y’know i’m pretty skilled in helping relive that feeling,”

“you are?”

“ohhh yeah, can help you out if you want…no pressure of course but uh- i’ll be here coachin’ you every step of the way.” he stands up and offers you a hand to get you up off the floor as well.

“yes please, not full on sex though right?” your smile also starts to appear, heart beating fast at the thought of doing something so naughty with the boy you have the biggest crush on!

“nah s’perfectly safe, alright you have to take your shorts off for this baby-” jj begins to slide down your pink polka dot cotton sleep shorts and guides you over to your bed. jj takes a seat back against your pillows, he pants the spot between his legs gesturing for you to sit in front of him, back against his chest. “c’mere sit, m’gonna be gentle i promise,”

you sit where he’s telling you- but before you make yourself really comfortable you pick up one of your stuffed animals and whine “wait, don’t want them to look!” jj then licks his teeth before picking up all your little stuffies and practically throwing them under the bed.

“careful please!” you chide- pouting slightly,

“m’just putting these guys under the bed for now, little vacation time for em’ right?” he smiles innocently.

“ohh-ho soaked through your panties honeybunny!” jj laughs- but not in mockery- in complete awe of how bad you soaked through the cotton of your pretty panties, he smooths over the patch of wetness with the pads of his two rough fingers, making you whine and squirm in his hold. “jaaay, please!”

“im getting there hold your horses…” he tuts, you can feel his head shake in faux disapproval from behind you before he begins to slowly press down on your clothed clit and rub. “alright, watch what i’m doing- see just where you feel sensitive, ruuuub it nice n’ slow.”

“mmmphm!” you unintentionally lift your hips so towards his fingers to somehow try and get more friction, more pressure to- “yuuup, now you try.” jj interrupts your hazy thoughts, grabbing your wrist to lead you in rubbing your clit.

and once you begin, under his instruction, you bite your lower lip and apply bits of pressure while you touch yourself. “feels really nice!…”

“want me to keep going?” he whispers,

“yes please!” ”okay now watch angel, move those cute panties to the side n’ then- i’m just gonna use one finger.” jj carefully and ever so gently moves your panties to the side to get access to your dripping hole. then when finally starts to dip his finger in to start, you feel the stretch- slight but still present. “ohmygod!” you gasp, his finger curling up to find your g-spot, you quickly cover your mouth with your hand to keep you from yelling out again.

“s’just one! then move it iiiiin and ouuut-” he reassures you, “feelin’ okay?” and all you can do is nod, hand still covering your mouth. your little noises bouncing off the walls of your bedroom, his whispered praises, the ‘shlick-shlick’ sound your pussy makes with each in-and-out motion of his fingers….“hear that? little pussy makin’ sounds cause she’s all wet-” jj coos, pressing a quick kiss to your cheek.

“can you do another finger pretty please jay?”

“sure can…moving in and out easy breezy baby- and then see with your other hand you keep rubbing on your clit.” he nods his head in approval though he knows you can’t see him, trying to get you closer to your first orgasm.

“i feel like im going on a rollercoaster!” you squeal, your two little fingers focused on rubbing your clit as he showed you while he curls up two of his thick fingers into your warm heat- over and over. “yeah? shit your cummin’ already…squeezing my fingers so tight,” he smiles upon hearing your little moans and feeling how tight your pussy is clamping down on his digits.

“jay!! mphph!” you scream out, his free hand coming up quickly to cover your mouth and muffle your moans as you cum down hard on his fingers. “shhhh sh sh, came down real haaard chickie, atta girl.” he licks his lip and continues to slowly thrust his fingers in and out before he slowly slips his fingers out of your cunt.

“feel like my pussy has a heartbeat…” you breathe out, trying to turn your head to look up at him, trying to re-ground yourself.

“she’s all sensitive-” he smiles down at you, re-adjusting your panties as they were. and all you do is look at him in admiration, feeling so lucky to have him here with you and what kind of a friend would you be if you didn’t help him feel as good too? a small slime graces your face when you get up to crawl away from him and turn to face him.

“thank you for helping me jj, you're always so nice and gentle- i wish there was something i could do to help you…”

♡ ��₊˚ ⋅ ౨ৎ ‧₊ .ᐟ

[thehypnone]

Ain't No Hope In Hell

WC: 3k

Relationship: Zephyr/Rain

Tags: Disabled Characters, POTS Rain, Fainting, Semi-Public Bathroom Sex, Transmasc Rain, Non-Binary AFAB Zephyr, Cunnilingus, Minor Gender Dysphoria, Tail Sex

T4T Zephyr and Rain fuck in a disabled mall bathroom after the water ghoul has a fainting spell. That's literally it.

Notes: Commission for @everybodyshusband!!! Also tagging @ominousposting because we talked about these two deserving such action a while ago :3

Read under the cut or on AO3.

The bond that Rain and Zephyr share confuses many. They don’t spend much time together and when they do it’s either to sit in silence for hours or fuck viciously for just as long.

Sometimes one follows the other.

Still, despite it seeming so shallow and even toxic to outsiders, the two ghouls need each other. They understand each other in a way that no other ghoul ever could. Their relationship is in their hearts, minds and souls, not so much in anything that’s on the surface.

And like this, Zephyr and Rain love each other fiercely.

One of the things neither of them would ever be accused of enjoying that they do enjoy when together, is going out. Not to clubs, bars or anything like that; what they like is simple dates like going shopping or to the cinema. 

Today they decided to take a train that leaves every hour from a station a few minutes away from the Abbey and go to a mall. They didn’t have any big shopping plans, just mindless browsing, so to speak. If something would catch either of their eyes they’d get it and be pleased, but they’d be as content to leave with empty hands, only having spent that time together. They can also get some food in there, maybe dessert, too—that’s the thing Zephyr and Rain love about malls; there’s everything there.

Well, maybe they are not very fond of the amount of humans they inevitably encounter every time, but that can be overlooked.

And they are having a great day, indeed, until Rain starts feeling unwell.

“Zeph? Think I’m gonna have a spell,” he mutters, blinking hard as his head sways on his neck. The air ghoul reaches out to grab his wrist and turns it to see his watch. His pulse is going one hundred and fifty beats per minute. “Can we go find a bathroom?”

It definitely isn’t anything more dangerous than his usual episodes, so they should be fine without professional medical assistance, but it needs to be taken care of nonetheless.

“Yeah, of course,” Zephyr says, “it should be just around the corner, are you gonna make it or do you want to switch aids?”

“I–I’ll make it,” the water ghoul breathes shallowly, leaning heavier on his crutch, “just gonna go slow behind you.”

“Alright, puddle. Alright, let’s go.” Zephyr grabs their wheels and rolls on slowly, looking over their shoulder every five seconds to make sure Rain isn’t doing worse. The walk lasts both a second and an eternity, but finally the big accessible bathroom’s door latches behind them and Zephyr only has a second to throw their leather jacket on the floor (of questionable cleanliness) before Rain slides down the wall and passes out.

The air ghoul does not worry, he’ll wake up in a few moments, as always. In the meantime they watch as the other’s glamor slowly slips and rummage through his backpack for a salty snack and some water.

Soon enough Rain opens his eyes.

“There you are, puddle,”  Zephyr chuckles. “Was starting to grow bored.”

“Sure you were,” the water ghoul groans, sitting up slowly. “How long was I out?”

“Whole…” they check their watch in a theatrical manner, “two minutes.”

“Hm.” Rain makes grabby hands when he sees the air ghoul holding his replenishment set ready and they can’t help but shake their head at how adorable he is while still so out of it. He’ll feel better once he munches on a few nuts from his obscenely salty mix, though.

“You think you can get up already?”

“Why?”

“I want you off that nasty floor,” Zephyr scoffs, “and in my lap, preferably.”

Rain rolls his eyes but gets to work on standing up. Thankfully this bathroom actually is accessible—unlike many fakely advertised ones—and there’s a lot of things he can hold on to to stand. It works, albeit the water ghoul still gets dizzy and there’s black spots dancing in front of his eyes. He grabs Zephyr’s hand in the dark and flops down onto their lap. “C’mere, puddle.”

“That is more comfortable,” he sighs, leaning back against the air ghoul’s chest. They place a little kiss on Rain’s neck, just under the gills that escaped his glamor when he was out cold. A pleasant shiver runs down Rain’s spine at the gentle touch and his fins ruffle. “Gimme more, Zeph.”

“Greedy,” they hum but oblige nonetheless, putting their mouth over the water ghoul’s gills and kissing them softly. Rain groans and lets Zephyr appreciate their neck for a little while longer before he can’t take it anymore; he needs their lips on his. He tangles his fingers in the air ghoul’s hair and pulls them away from his neck and up, to kiss him. He slams their lips together and they both moan into it, getting more desperate with every second. They only part to catch a breath.

“Have we ever defiled a disabled mall bathroom before?” Rain asks, panting, as he leans down and rubs his nose up and down Zephyr’s neck, breathing in their fresh summer scent.

“I do not believe that we have,” they answer as they continue to grope the pretty water ghoul in their lap.

He hums thoughtfully, “Do you reckon it is time to do so?”

“Absolutely I do,” Zephyr breathes before tangling their fingers in Rain’s hair and pulling him up to seal their lips in a kiss even more heated than before. Their teeth clank together and they both try to shove their tongue down the other’s throat in a battle for dominance. Even though it’s obvious who is—and is going to stay—in charge. It’s always Zephyr; the only one for whom Rain always subs.

The next time they need to pull away to breathe, Rain notices something on the wall.

“Why was I laying passed out on this filthy floor when there’s a perfect bench right there?” Rain scoffs and throws his hands up dramatically; the princess that he is. There really is a perfect bench right there; albeit a foldable and rather unobvious one.

“You were already going down,” Zephyr shrugs. It is the truth, there was no time, but the truth is also that they didn’t notice it earlier, either. “You know I like to see it.”

“Oh, do you now?” Rain scoffs at the air ghoul’s poor joke. Or a flirting attempt.

“How could I not?” they seem dedicated to making him blush impossibly more, now. “Who wouldn’t like to see a pretty water ghoul between their legs, hm?”

“Are you attempting to make an offer, you old tit?” said water ghoul laughs. Both ghouls are well aware of how the half-affectionate, half-insulting nickname sounds without context and even though it does not get much better with it, the situation improves slightly when one is aware that it originally came from the bird tit and the facts that Zephyr’s feathers in their fully unglamored form are a similar color to that of a tit. The fact that it’s a rather loaded homonym just adds comicality that both Zephyr and Rain love.

“Depends,” the older ghoul shrugs. “Are we in a rush?”

“Not at all. It’s hours until the last train back home leaves.”

“Well, then…Do you want to go down?” Zephyr winks.

“If I can kneel on your jacket.”

“Such a princess, aren’t you? I’ve got a better idea.” Zephyr lightly shoves Rain off of their lap before getting up from their wheelchair and walking over to the bench. They unfold it, look it over and press on it to see if it’s reliable for…more than sitting. It’s rather high, but that will only make the air ghoul’s idea work even better.

“Hop on, puddle,” they pat it in invitation, “today’s my turn to get my mouth on that pretty cunt of yours.”

Rain can’t stop blushing even hotter at that, but he follows the other’s command. As he situates himself on the edge of the bench, Zephyr returns to their wheelchair. They bring it as close to the bench as possible, sit back down and lock the brakes so they don’t just roll away mid eating Rain out.

“As much as I wish I had that skill, I don’t think I can fuck you with my tongue through your jeans,” they tease with a wink, patting his thighs.

“Oh, shut it,” Rain grumbles but does indeed start to fumble with his pants. He drops them down to his ankles but Zephyr tuts and shakes their head. “What?”

“I want my head between your legs, puddle,” they purr, “I need full access.”

Once again the water ghoul mutters something unintelligible under his breath, as if in protest, and yet still obeys Zephyr's every word.

His pants are all but ripped off and thrown across the bathroom to land in the sink—hopefully dry—and the air ghoul wastes no more time. They grab Rain’s thighs, spread them and lean in to nuzzle their cheek against his soft skin. The water ghoul’s lower legs end up hooked over Zephyr’s shoulders and their feet on the back of their chair. A rather solid position, if not for the bench under his ass. His back and hips will hate him for it later, no doubt.

Zephyr throws him one more look before descending onto his cunt and licking a fat stripe up his folds. As always, what they start with is a way to indulge themself more than the other—they love having delicate, wet skin under their tongue. They also love seeing how easy it breaks, but that’s for another time.

The water ghoul instinctively puts one of his hands on Zephyr’s head, digging his fingers into their scalp and pulling on their white as snow hair. They groan against his cunt, but not in protest. Lucifer only knows they grew their hair out just to get it pulled more and, oh, does Rain deliver every time. His tail wraps around Zephyr’s arm when they grip his hip.

Zephyr licks between his folds, up and down to flick the tip of their tongue against his clit and then goes back down to tease around his hole. They prod at it and Rain thinks they’re about to really lick into him when a wave of unpleasantness hits him. He curls in on himself slightly.

“Zeph, wait, uh–” Rain breathes out, tightening the hold he’s got on Zephyr’s hair. They pull away immediately.

“What’s wrong, puddle?” they ask with concern in their voice.

“Nothing, nothing’s wrong, just…” he bites his lip, “don’t put it in today. Please?”

“Yeah, of course,” the air ghoul smiles at him knowingly, with deep understanding. They’ve been there. “I’ll suck your pretty cock instead, what do you say?”

Rain only lets out a rather undignified grunt as a response as he throws his head back against the wall.

“I’m taking that as a yes,” Zephyr smirks and dives back down to take the water ghoul’s t-dick into their mouth. They start out light; swirling their tongue around it and petting it gently with the appendage. Rain is already so lost in it he can only whine and whimper; thankfully the bathroom is all solid walls, or else someone would definitely be calling in an emergency.

He’s pulling on Zephyr’s hair harder and harder with every lick over his cock, losing his mind even more when the air ghoul really starts doing what they’ve promised; sucking him off. Rain all but wails the first time Zephyr hollows their cheeks and sucks at his sensitive t-dick. It’s maddening.

At some point Zephyr grunts and takes one of their hands off of Rain’s thighs to move it down and fumble with their zipper, desperate for some kind of stimulation themself. They manage to open their pants, wiggle a hand inside and rub their own wet cunt. Rain only notices when the air ghoul’s moan vibrates through him.

“Zeph–” he pants, “Zeph, lemme–”

The water ghoul can’t really articulate what he wants, overwhelmed with pleasure. He unwinds his tail from Zephyr’s other arm and shoves it down their pants along with their hand.

“Oh,” they moan as they pull away from Rain’s cunt. They squeeze their eyes and rest their head against the water ghoul’s thighs, breathing heavily as he rubs their clit with the tip of his tail.

“Good?”

“Yeah, get it–puddle, get it in deep,” Zephyr begs and their shaky voice makes Rain whimper.

He obliges—once he collects himself enough to focus—and pushes his tail further down their pants. He finds the air ghoul’s slick hole and pushes in, slowly sliding his tail deeper and deeper until he all but runs out of it.

“Fuck…” they swear under their breath and follow it with a whine and it’s like a song. Zephyr returns to sucking Rain’s dick as if they want to slurp his soul out right through it and the water ghoul himself does his very best to stay focused enough to be able to fuck the other steadily with his tail.

There’s no rhythm to it, but neither of them cares; it’s all a blur of moans and whines and groans as they pleasure each other the way they know the other likes best. That’s the thing about them; they just know things, understand each other like nobody else.

Rain’s eyes cross when the air ghoul trails their wet tongue down, past his cunt to lick at his taint and tease his ass. Just for a moment, to make Rain soaking wet all around; they don’t go further, but Rain moans as they’re taking him apart piece by piece anyway. If Zephyr had access to the base of his tail, too, it’d all be over in seconds. Alas, their position makes it impossible.

There’s something about the softness of the skin in some places that makes Zephyr lose their mind. Another rather peculiar thing about them.

The air ghoul drags a smooth fang up the inside of Rain’s thigh—both a threat and a promise, but only for when they’re back home. They’re both wrecked and the fact that they’re in public escapes their horny minds entirely, it’s the instinct that keeps Zephyr in check.

“Do that…your tail, the–that thing you do…” they groan and even though it’s not much information, Rain knows exactly what to do.

“Lean back, need–need space.” He pulls his tail out of the air ghoul’s cunt and twists it tightly around itself, only leaving the spade out on the bottom. When he slides it back into Zephyr, it’s like a perfectly textured thick dildo with an attachment to stimulate their clit. Rain presses the flat tip of his tail against it and the air ghoul folds in on themself in pleasure.

“Fuck, that’s good,” they moan and start rolling their hips slightly, riding Rain’s tail as much as possible as they return to the task at hand; the delicious, soaking wet water ghoul cunt right in front of their face. And making it even wetter.

It won’t take much more and they both know it; it’s just a minute after Zephyr puts their mouth on Rain’s cock that he cries out a warning, “Close…”

“Uh-huh,” Zephyr hums in acknowledgement and nods slightly. The water ghoul can only assume it means they are nearing their climax, too. Still, the air ghoul is focused solely on Rain and making him cum his brains out. They double down their efforts and the noises falling from rain’s lips gain in volume.

“Yes, yes, yes–I’m–c–cumming, Zeph, oh,” he moans—the loudest and most wrecked of them all—and the air ghoul can feel slick gushing out of him to drip down their chin and onto the godforsaken bench. Rain’s entire body goes rigid as waves of his orgasm wash over him; including his tail. The makeshift dildo becomes impossibly thicker inside them and Zephyr groans in a nearly pained manner as they’re thrown over the edge, too.

Rain sags forward, falling face first into Zephyr’s chest as they lean back in their wheelchair. The both of them breathe heavily for a longer while, slowly coming down from their highs.

“I hate you, you old tit,” the water ghoul murmurs at some point, making Zephyr laugh.

“I love you, too, puddle,” they reply with a grin, patting his back.

Once they deem themselves composed enough again, they get up to clean the mess that they’ve made of each other. Putting both their glamors back in place and adjusting their clothes and hair so as to not scream with their looks about what they’ve been up to in that bathroom, they get ready to go.

“I don’t even want to know for how long we’ve been blocking this bathroom,” Rain grunts, a little disappointed in himself. 

“Don’t worry, puddle,” Zephyr reaches out to pat his hip reassuringly, “it’s not a busy day and I’ve seen another one not so far from here, I’m sure we didn’t cause anyone inconvenience.”

The water ghoul hums in acknowledgement and finally unlocks the door again. To his great relief there isn’t anyone waiting. They leave the bathroom and decide to visit one more shop that was on their agenda; Rain feels alright now and one more won’t hurt anyone. After that they check potential trains that could take them back to the Abbey and start making their way to the station.

“We should have a list,” Zephyr proposes at some point.

“Of what?” Rain asks, genuinely curious.

“Places we defiled,” the older ghoul clarifies and Rain snorts out a laugh, “and places we have yet to defile.”

“I’m down,” he giggles under his breath, “but only if we write it down on a piece of paper that I can hang on the fridge in the den.”

“You got it, puddle,” Zephyr grins. “My requirement is that we put Primo’s closet at the very top of the been there, done that part.”

“Ah…” Rain sighs dreamily, “that was a glorious time, indeed, dear Zephyr.”

“Absolutely it was, dear Rain,” the air ghoul agrees. “Whose next, Terzo or Copia’s?”

“Secondo’s. Let’s go chronologically.”

“I love your brain, puddle.”

[sunshinedeekay]

The Craving (DK’s version) || lsm.

pairing: dk x gn!reader

genre: tooth-rotting fluff

warnings: tbh none. just some kissing n hugging n stuff. slight cursing but not really

word count: just over 6k

author’s note: WOW okay hello. this has probably been a little longer awaited than i anticipated, but it is done now! the first idea on my previous post and first completed fic i’ll ever post on this account,,, and tumblr in general.

anywho, if you notice some odd spelling of some words (centre, colour) i am canadian, so things are normally spelled a little differently here. so i apologize if that throws you off 😭

but finally, i felt like i had to base a fic off of this song. after hearing the craving (jenna’s version) for the first time and seeing the video for it. i was brought to tears just because of how cute and sweet it was. i’m also a huge twenty one pilots fan, so that’s another part of me that went “WRITE THIS FIC.” so, here it is. i really hope you guys enjoy it :))

special shoutout to my bestie @wooziorgans for helping me with publishing, tags, banners, and also gassing me up to actually finish this and post this. you all should follow him as well because his posts are SO GOOD. he’s such a great writer.

divider by @cafekitsune

now, onto the fic!

~sunshinedeekay <3

“I don’t know why I can’t stop crying. I fear about getting old, and I don’t know a lot about you still…”

That was a voicemail that Seokmin constantly replayed in his long history of Y/N’s voicemails they had sent. He saved every single one. Even if it was the most mundane voicemail in existence, any sound of his precious Y/N’s voice was utter harmony to his ears.

He remembered that voicemail vividly. Waking up early in the morning to see a missed call and a voicemail from his partner of a few months. Y/N’s whisper sounded like they were crying, but also attempting to stay quiet and hold everything together. He remembered how nervous Y/N was of being good enough for Seokmin, and still not knowing a whole lot about him because they had only dated for a short amount of time. It crushed his heart to hear them like that.

He sent a plethora of loving words to them that day.

Now, here he was. Lied in an unfamiliar hotel bed in an unfamiliar hotel room. Darkness overcame the space, and the only light that shone was the screen of his voicemails. His thumb pressed the play button over… and over… and over. He kept thinking. Thinking more than actually doing, and that was what led him to the sinking feeling in his stomach. He felt so much guilt and remorse for what happened between them before he left for tour, and even if they talked after like nothing happened, it still lingered on his mind.

——

“You’ve been distant…” Y/N’s quiet voice brought up softly as Seokmin was cuddling their tired body that was still under the covers. He was up and ready to leave for SEVENTEEN’s short tour around the area. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Why would you think that?” Seokmin’s voice responded just as soft, if not even softer than Y/N’s sleepy tone. “I would tell you if something was wrong. You know that.”

“But you haven’t been telling me.” Y/N spoke back. Seokmin stopped in his tracks with that statement. “You’ve been out late at practice, always on your phone with something, and always sitting with that lost puppy look in your eyes. Every time I ask what’s wrong, you dismiss me.” Y/N continued as they slowly sat up and gently pushed Seokmin off. They finished their explanation with a rub to their sleepy eyes. “I’m beginning to worry there’s something you’re hiding from me.”

“Why would I hide anything?” Seokmin found himself getting defensive right off the bat. Why was he speaking like this? He never spoke like this right away to anybody, let alone Y/N who just asked a harmless question.

Y/N’s brows furrowed from the sudden defensive tone. Their nose scrunched with slight irritation. “I don’t know why you would. You never have before, so why do you seem to be now?” They spoke in the same tone back to him. Seokmin could tell that the way he spoke to Y/N irritated them.

“You act like I’m cheating or something.” Seokmin suddenly muttered. Then he thought about what he just said, and his eyes widened while his blood turned to ice. Did he really just say that? Even after he knew that was a sore subject for you? He cursed that dirtbag for even considering another woman over you… Now he just threw that out into the open.

“…What?” Was all that could come out of Y/N’s mouth. Their voice got quiet again, and their brows angled more with worry and irritation. “There’s no way you said that just now.” Despite the instant regret Seokmin felt for saying what he just said, he felt all of the stress from his planning and work bubbling over. He couldn’t stop himself from speaking now.

“Jesus, Y/N. I just wanted to say goodbye. I don’t have time to talk about this right now. Do you really not trust me enough to believe I could cheat on you?” Seokmin asked. His voice slightly sharpening with every syllable as he stood up and looked at his partner. His heart squeezed just looking at Y/N, their expression read as two parts confused, and one part hurt.

“Well excuse me for being a little worried and skeptical about your shady behaviour recently. You haven’t exactly been open and affectionate with me as of late.” Y/N started to argue. It was true. Because of Seokmin’s thinking and panicking about their relationship, he said less, and gave Y/N less affection than he normally did.

“Do I have to be clung to your hip the whole time in order for you to trust me? That’s a little much.” Seokmin retorted back. He slung his backpack over one shoulder and raised the handle of his suitcase.

“That’s not what I said at all, and you know it.” Y/N raised their voice slightly. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Seokmin.

“Well then I don’t know what you want from me, Y/N! It’s ridiculous that I change my routine with you just slightly and suddenly you think I could be cheating?” Seokmin just spoke without thinking. If current him could go back in time, god he would slap himself in the face. “I don’t have time for this. I gotta go before I’m late.”

“Fine. Leave.” Y/N spoke sharply. No “travel safe” or “I love you” spoken between either of them. Seokmin just left without a word, and probably too harsh of a slam of the front door.

——

Seokmin groaned internally thinking about that fight. Even though he apologized profusely over the phone to Y/N that night after he landed in Japan, he felt his heart still hurting. If he could explain everything, he would. But it wasn’t like that.

Truth be told, he was thinking about proposing to them.

He thought about it so much that it made him panic to himself. What if they weren’t ready? What if they said no? What if they realized they suddenly didn’t love him enough to want to spend a life with him like that? Sure, they had been together for about three years now, living together for one, and everything had been absolute bliss for Seokmin since then. But what if Y/N didn’t feel the same?

Seokmin continued to scroll his camera roll now. Having a folder made specifically for any of Y/N’s pictures or videos he would end up taking or saving. Every time he would look at a photo, the memory replayed in his mind.

Oh! Like the beautiful one of Y/N walking a trail full of looming evergreen trees. Dawned in a cute trench coat, a beanie, and a scarf he had bought for them just moments ago before that point. Their nose and cheeks were red from the cold, and their eyes were crinkled from their joyful, genuine smile.

——

“Take a few steps ahead, love! The scenery is perfect for a picture!” Seokmin told Y/N. His new camera he got for his birthday held in his chilled, slender hands while he placed it closer to his face to get a good frame.

Y/N didn’t even question it, but he could see the way they got flustered from him being so eager to take a picture of them. He knew they always got bashful when he insisted on taking a picture of them because that moment was just right. Even if the scenery wasn’t perfect, Y/N always was to Seokmin’s eyes. So a pretty scenery like this was just the cherry on top of an already delectable sundae.

Seokmin snapped a couple pictures, and as he looked back at them, his heart lept. Y/N looked so pretty. They were always so pretty. He couldn’t suppress the goofy smile on his face. He caught up to Y/N after taking the pictures with the same smile that started to ache his cold cheeks.

“Did they turn out good?” Y/N asked, but before they could even finish that breath, they felt Seokmin’s strong arms around their waist. Lifting them off their feet and spinning them in circles. Y/N burst into a fit of laughter, and held onto him tight.

“You’re so pretty.” Seokmin mumbled into their warm neck. He placed a lingering kiss against their supple skin. “I love you so much.”

——

Seokmin continued to scroll. Finding a video of him and Y/N playfully partner dancing courtesy of Seungkwan. There wasn’t any special setting, no special occasion, they were just dancing in their kitchen to the music playing on the TV. Both of their smiles infectious through the screen as they just looked happy to be with each other, and Y/N’s darling laugh as Seokmin tried (but ultimately fumbled) a complicated spin around. Seokmin wrapped his arms around his love, and the video ended.

There were so many little things. So many pictures that were taken at such different points in time. From fun and outdoorsy, to the mundane, soft, and intimate moments Seokmin got to share. All with one person. One person he knew he could and would love for the rest of his life. If Y/N wasn’t ready, he would wait for the rest of his days until they were.

He needed to let them know just how much he was ready for this next step. How much he loved them. He hated the thought of putting them on the spot like that, but goddammit, he would give Y/N the universe if they asked for it. Even if it meant taking a chance, and possibly taking some sense of security for such a big decision even for a split second. He would give them everything.

And that’s exactly what Seokmin was determined to do. He was gonna marry Y/N.

“So, I’ve had this idea for a while,” Seokmin started casually, sitting across Joshua in a secluded café the next morning. The warm sun comforting both of their bodies in addition to the lattes and pastries on a large plate in front of them. “But you have to swear to me that this stays between us. It goes to nobody else in the group or anybody else you know unless I say something to somebody else.”

This puzzled Joshua. He eyed Seokmin over his mug as he sipped from it for a lingering moment before setting the drink back on its saucer. He licked the frothed milk off his lips before he spoke. “Alright. What are you thinking about?”

Seokmin felt his heart begin to race in his chest once more as he nervously tapped his index finger onto the porcelain cup of his half-drank latte. He had to prepare himself to gain the courage to even say a few words- the main words- of his plan. How was he gonna explain everything he thought about the whole process?

“I…” His voice fell short for a moment. His throat forced a hard swallow before he sighed and tried again. “I’m proposing to Y/N.”

It was a good thing Joshua had his mug set down by now. Otherwise he’d have choked and had hot coffee spilled all over himself. Fortunately, only one of the two things happened. Except he choked on air when he heard Seokmin finally explain the summed up version of his idea.

He finished coughing a couple more times before patting his chest softly. “You’re being dead serious?”

“I’ve never been more serious than anything in my life.” Seokmin breathed. His brows furrowed in concern for his friend, but they quickly softened once he saw Joshua was fine. “I just,” he continued. “I was thinking about it all last night. Listening to their beautiful voice over the phone, looking over our old pictures and videos… It made me realize just how lucky of a person I am to have somebody as great as Y/N. They make me shine only the best parts of me, and I’ve never felt unsafe or uncomfortable around them once. I’ve thought about this for so long, and it was what was making me so off these past couple weeks. But now, I don’t think any other choice is a compromise.”

Joshua stared in awe, but the way his doe eyes twinkled when hearing Seokmin just open his heart up and speak truthfully about such a huge decision made his heart swell with pride for his best friend. Honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised if he cried at the wedding. “Seokmin…”

Seokmin looked to Joshua, and paused for a moment before continuing. The tapping on his mug stopped. “Every moment we’ve shared together has held a special place in my soul. Y/N is the most patient, loving, and perfect person I’ve been graced with. I want your help in carrying out the plan, and even the planning. I was thinking of asking Seungkwan as well, but I wanted to tell each of you this privately.”

Joshua couldn’t fight the smile on his face. He reached to take Seokmin’s nervous tapping hand and clasp it in a firm grasp. “I’ll do anything you need me to do. I’m so proud of you, Seokmin. You deserve Y/N and Y/N deserves you. To see the way you two have blossomed over the past couple years has been an honour, and I would love nothing more than to help you take the next step.”

Seokmin felt his eyes gloss slightly. He squeezed Joshua’s large hand with the same intensity as he gave him a tearful smile. His bright teeth in full view and almost glimmering from the morning sun coming through the window.

“I knew I could count on you.”

“Y/N-ah!~” Seokmin’s sweet sing-song tone would call out to his beloved partner. His feet scuttled from the kitchen to their shared bedroom, where a sleepy Y/N, probably only about half awake thanks to Seokmin’s loud voice, would lie.

“Min…” Y/N would grumble. Opening their eyes and squinting from the neutral light that now flooded the bedroom. “What time is it?”

“I’m sorry, lovebug, I know it’s early and you like your sleep,” Seokmin started. Straddling his partner’s legs to lean over them and slightly press his weight onto their body, peppering Y/N in delicate kisses. “But I have a big day planned. I’m making breakfast right now, so you can get ready while I finish. Dress nicely, because I’m pampering you, today.” He gave a cheeky grin. Leaning over to place one last kiss right in the centre of their forehead.

Y/N would laugh gently through their nose. They moved to lazily wrap their arms around Seokmin’s toned body and pulled him closer on top of them. “But you’re so warm and comfy like this…” They’d whine into his warm neck.

Seokmin would breathily laugh in return. He rested more of his weight onto Y/N’s body as he nuzzled his nose into their cheek and gave a lingering peck on their skin. “Mmm… But today is gonna be so fun. I know you’ll love it.” His voice was a sweet and low purr into Y/N’s ear. Something that could always make them shiver just from the sensation of his breath and the vibrations from his voice.

“Fine.” Y/N sighed and slid their arms from around Seokmin’s broad body. They lied flat with their arms sprawled out so he could climb off of them with ease.

Seokmin would grin like a child on Christmas while hovering over Y/N. Placing one more kiss onto their lips before climbing off. “That’s my lovebug. Trust me. You won’t regret it!” He exclaimed, then hurriedly shuffled his way back out to the kitchen.

Y/N pushed themselves up and sighed softly again. They looked over to the clock, 7AM. Jerk. As they rubbed the sleep from their eyes and face, they couldn’t help but wonder.

What did Seokmin have planned?

“Okay… And… Open!” Seokmin uncovered Y/N’s eyes. He had covered them some minutes ago to lead Y/N to a very special place for the both of them. One they would often go to when they needed a break outside, but also didn’t want to do anything too huge. In front of Y/N was the small café where they and Seokmin had their first date. Nothing had changed about it, despite it being a couple years since that fateful day, but that’s what always made the experience so wonderful each time they revisited.

“I had a feeling you’d bring me here.” Y/N teased Seokmin with a grin and a small poke to the right side of his ticklish waist. Seokmin would laugh and grab ahold of Y/N’s hand, lacing his long fingers with theirs.

“Yeah, yeah… But you don’t love coming here any less.” Seokmin chuckled and led them into the café. The little bell rang as the cyan door opened, and Seokmin held the door for Y/N to let them enter first.

Y/N entered and absentmindedly made their way towards the table they always sat at since that first date, but a sight of something caused them to stop in their tracks.

Already lied out on the table was Y/N’s favourite pastries and coffee. The beverage being made just the way they liked it. On the little cup, the word “Lovebug” was written beside it with a small heart beside it.

“Min…” Y/N would gasp softly. Bringing a hand over their mouth as they felt their heart swell from the sweet gesture.

“Yes, love?” Seokmin would have a loving grin on his face again. Bringing his arms around his lover’s waist as he pressed them up against him a little more. “Is everything alright?”

“Of course, yes! Sorry I’m just—“ Y/N tried to explain. But there wasn’t any words that could put together the amount of love and tenderness they felt in this moment for Seokmin. Maybe it was because they resolved their fight just the night before, but they also just felt… Happy. Overjoyed to have somebody like Seokmin who loved them enough to do this.

“It’s alright… Just sit down and enjoy. We can take whatever we don’t eat back with us to the car.” Seokmin reassured with his gentle tone. Moving his hands over Y/N’s hips to gently rub gentle circles around the bones with the pads of his thumbs.

The café date was everything Y/N could’ve dreamt it would be. They caught up with Seokmin, who told many stories about SEVENTEEN’s escapades during their tour, showing pictures, videos, and whatnot. But not to mention, Seokmin was just as lovey-dovey as he always was.

He held their hands over the table, under the table, gently grabbed their knee under the table and gave it a loving caress. But the way he looked at them…

Y/N had never noticed it before, maybe because they didn’t believe the people who told them all the time about how Seokmin looked at them, but they saw it now. His eyes glimmered with the sun whenever his attention was on you. His expression was bright, beautiful, endearing. They didn’t think it was true, but Joshua was right.

“He looks at you like you put stars in the sky.”

“Everything okay, lovebug?” Seokmin’s voice would bring them back to reality. Y/N suddenly looked up to Seokmin’s curious, and almost concerned expression since they had zoned out suddenly.

“Mm? Yeah. I’m all good.” Y/N reassured. Gently squeezing Seokmin’s hand that was holding theirs on top of the table. “Keep talking, I’m listening to every word.”

To let the food settle, Seokmin took them to a park next. One in the middle of town where they’d normally walk at any time of the day. Early morning, afternoon, middle of the night, you name it. They walked it.

Seokmin had Y/N’s hand in one hand, and the strap of his camera bag in the other. He was looking for a perfect scenery spot to take pictures. But not just of the trees, or that cute little bird that perched and twittered on the branch, no. He needed a picture of Y/N. One where he could capture the memory of this moment, of Y/N, before both of their lives would change forever.

“Y/N, go stand over there. Right under those trees. You see that little divot in the grass?” Seokmin tugged gently on Y/N’s hand to get their attention. Then leaned in real close to their side to point. He wanted to make sure they could see the spot, and that he wasn’t just crazy. But honestly? It happened more than he’d admit.

Y/N squinted to look for the spot. Seokmin looked over to their expression, and a small grin spread on his narrow cheeks. The way their nose scrunched always had his heart in a knot.

“I see it!” Y/N grinned. Slipping their hand out of Seokmin’s and making their way towards the spot. Seokmin was already getting his camera out. Taking test pictures to alter anything that made the picture look less than perfect. He then watched Y/N through the camera, and his heart pounded against his chest.

God. He was down horrendously.

“Now just look around. Don’t even worry about me being here. Just be you.” Seokmin instructed. Holding the camera up to his face as he carefully watched his loving partner through the lens. He couldn’t fight the goofy smile from his face.

Y/N would casually pose and look around. Smiling up at the little bird on the branch and even whistling back. Well— they attempted to, anyway. This made Seokmin laugh behind the camera.

When they saw Seokmin lower the camera, their attention caught glimpse of a group of pigeons. Picking from the ground and minding their own business. Y/N suddenly wondered how close they could get to the pigeons without startling them.

They took careful and slow steps to the group, and eventually found themself in the centre of the pigeon circle.

Seokmin looked up from his camera to where Y/N was before. They weren’t there? He looked around the area for them, and then found his partner standing in the middle of what looked like a pigeon cult. This made his chest ring with a hearty laughter as he took out his phone and started to video them.

“How did you get in there?” He laughed.

“I don’t know! I just walked in!” Y/N would respond with a giggle. Looking up to Seokmin and shaking their head when they noticed him recording. They continued to look down at the pigeons all strutting around them. Smiling when just watching their little mannerisms.

Suddenly, Y/N did a little hop. The pigeons went flying around them. They would laugh and shield their head. Rushing their way back to Seokmin, who was laughing even harder at this point. His dimples on full display as his eyes crinkled happily. He placed his phone away and took Y/N into his arms while they both still laughed.

After the walk in the park, things were staring to get a little darker now. The afternoon was setting into dusk, and the air stared to get a bite of chill within the breeze.

“We’ll head home soon. There’s just one more thing I need to do.” Seokmin smiled. His voice had suddenly gone more quiet. It faltered slightly. Was he suddenly nervous?

“Is everything alright, Min?” Y/N asked. Squeezing his hand to attempt to reassure him, even if they didn’t know what was happening.

“I’m more than alright, my love. Don’t worry.” Seokmin smiled. Squeezing Y/N’s delicate hand in return as he led them to another small place. An abandoned boardwalk over a lake not too far from the park. It was deserted. Not a single soul in sight.

The only sign of life Y/N could see on it, was a path made just for them to walk. Small candles bordered the pathway to lead them towards the end of the dock. Their flames danced elegantly in the breeze.

“Seokmin? What is this?” Y/N asked with a surprised laugh. A wide smile on their face as they gawked at the scene in front of them. They couldn’t help but pull out their phone and take a picture.

“Shhh… Just walk with me.” Seokmin grinned. Moving his arm to wrap around Y/N’s waist and pull them into his hip. Leading them through the path in a slow pace. Like one you’d take through an art exhibit. Y/N took in the sight around them. The clear sky showed the beautiful colours of the forming sunset, the gentle waves of the lake plopped onto the shore from the slight breeze. They felt their heart beat pulsing against their chest. What was all of this?

Seokmin, on the other hand, was quaking in his dress shoes. This was it. This was the final step to take before he asked Y/N the biggest question he’d ever ask in his life. He did his best to stay calm on the outside. Pulling Y/N closer and just walking in silence to let them take in the scenery. It was beautifully romantic. Seungkwan nailed it.

As they approached the end of the dock. There was a projector screen that came into view, as well as a plethora of rose petals, and a small rug that was lied down in front of the projector.

Seokmin guided Y/N by the small of their back to stand on the rug. Watching their expression light up and their jaw slightly hang open as the projection finally came on. What would play is little video memories of Seokmin and Y/N together. From when they first dated, progressing into more recent times. While a gentle song played in the background. One Y/N had sent to him when they first started dating.

“When you touch me, yeah I feel butterflies

I’m gonna love you ‘till the day I die.”

Y/N covered their mouth with both of their hands now. Feeling tears well up in their eyes as they continued to watch the compilation of videos. There were so many. Recorded by Y/N, recorded by Seokmin, or even from an outside source of one of their friends.

Seokmin stood carefully behind Y/N. Making eye contact with Joshua and giving a small nod of acknowledgement. Joshua followed the signal. Sneaking out from his hiding place to hand Seokmin the ring box.

Seokmin clasped his fingers around the box. Joshua placed his hand over Seokmin’s fingers and the box. Joshua gave Seokmin a silent encouragement through the reassuring touch. Seokmin nodded, feeling tears already well in his eyes as he smiled to Joshua.

When the slideshow looped again, Seokmin tucked the ring box in his back pocket. He approached behind Y/N and casually wrapped his arm around their waist. He took a moment to appreciate the new music playing. A peaceful, romantic piece that Woozi had put together just for this special night.

“We’ve spent so many memories together, haven’t we?” Seokmin started. His voice just above a whisper as he tried his best to keep his own emotions in check for this important moment.

“Min…” Y/N started. Looking up to Seokmin. But he took their hands in his and gave them a tender grin. Rubbing his thumbs over their knuckles as if he still didn’t remember how they felt off the top of his head.

“I love you, Y/N. I always get so scared I don’t say it enough.” Seokmin started now. His chest tightened with tears. He sighed softly and just kept himself grounded by rubbing his thumbs over their small knuckles. “But I really do love you. With all of my heart, my soul, my existence. I wouldn’t be who I am if you weren’t by my side. I don’t know who blessed me to have you, whether it was some sort of god, or the universe, or just something that drew us together. But I will always be thankful for what I have. That I have you.” His voice broke slightly. The tears making his vision blurry as he tightened his grip on Y/N’s hands. Bringing both of them up to gently place a kiss on each set of knuckles.

“You’ve been my world, my happiness, my inspiration, my muse… You’ve been and always will be all of these for me. And Y/N I— to imagine a life without you in it breaks my heart.” Seokmin continued. He gently lowered their hands, but kept them in his grip. Blinking back his tears to meet Y/N’s tearful gaze.

They already figured it out.

“Which is why…” Seokmin trailed off. Slowly bringing himself to his left knee. His gaze never leaving Y/N’s, and his heart leaping when he saw them gasp alight from surprise and start to choke out silent sobs.

“I want you to be my everything for the rest of my days, Y/N. I don’t see myself in the future with anybody else other than you. You complete me, you love me in ways that I’m sure you don’t even know yourself. You’re kind, patient, caring, selfless… You’re everything I could ever hope to achieve.” Seokmin’s voice now began to break. Seeing their tearful expression mixed with the overwhelming feelings of both love and fear made it impossible for him to hold back his emotions now.

“I don’t say enough how much I love you or appreciate you, and I feel terrible I can’t remind you every single day just how deep my feelings root for you. So… I hope that this can tell you just how much I need you with me.” He finally one of his hands out of Y/N’s. Reaching into his pocket to pull out the black velvet box and lifting the lid of it. He held it up to them. The ring was a beautiful silver. The jewel wasn’t just a diamond within it, but instead, a mix of amethyst, his birth stone, and Y/N’s birthstone. A(n) [insert birthstone].

“Y/N. I’m not perfect in loving you like you deserve. But I’ve never been more sure of this choice in my life. So my question is, do you want to love me for just as long? Will you marry me?” Seokmin finally asked. There wasn’t much silence between them in terms of words, but even the most brief pause felt like a million years. Was he pushing this too far too soon? Was Y/N not ready? What if he just put them on the spot all for nothing?

“Yes… God, Seokmin, yes.” Y/N choked out through sobs now. Frantically nodding their head as they covered their trembling lips with their free hand that still wasn’t in Seokmin’s.

Seokmin felt his world stop for a moment. They… They said yes?

“You… You will?” Seokmin stuttered out. His eyes going wide in surprise as his jaw hung agape. The tears were now flowing down his tanned and flushed cheeks full throttle now. They said yes. He couldn’t believe they just said yes.

“Yes!” Y/N nodded as they nodded frantically again. Feeling more sobs escape their chest as they looked over the ring, then to Seokmin. The Seokmin who had lived them better than anybody ever could, the Seokmin who was made of affection and tenderness, the Seokmin who was now on one knee wanting their souls to be dedicated to each other.

Seokmin quickly took Y/N’s trembling left hand and the ring out of the box with his other hand. Sliding it over their finger and looking over it now. It was beautiful. Just as amazing as he’d imagined. The best part was, it fit perfectly.

Now, Seokmin had pushed himself up to envelop Y/N in a tearful embrace. Sweeping them off their feet to wrap their legs around his waist as he quietly sobbed into their neck, while they did the same on him.

“I love you, Y/N. I love you so much.” He sobbed quietly. Moving one hand to the back of their hair to press their face a little more against his warm skin. He wanted them to be as close as possible.

“I love you too, Seokmin. With everything I have.” Y/N sobbed back. Clinging to him tighter as if it would be the last time they would ever hold him. But they both knew now that that was far from true.

Suddenly, cheers erupted from behind the embracing and tearful couple. Y/N would look up and realize that, indeed, Seokmin had help.

Seungkwan was throwing leftover rose petals in celebration, also crying with the two. Joshua was just crying and cheering for Y/N and Seokmin, a clear smile of pride written all over his tearful face. Wonwoo was clapping for the pair, his camera hanging from its strap over his neck as he had the widest smile out of the bunch. Soonyoung, standing next to Seungkwan, who was also throwing petals and shouting in victory like a viking going to war. Finally, a calm Jihoon and Minghao, well— calm compared to the rest. They were just as happy as everybody else, but weren’t the open crier types.

Seokmin set Y/N down, which caused Y/N to look back up to him with a trembling smile. Seokmin wouldn’t hesitate in taking their face between his hands and connecting their lips together in a deep, loving kiss. Wonwoo raised his camera to take a few more final pictures of the beautiful moment.

When Seokmin pulled away from Y/N, his forehead went to rest against theirs. Just closing his eyes and enjoying their new moments as an engaged couple.

“You won’t regret this. I’ll be the best husband anybody could have…” Seokmin promised through a whisper.

“I know you will…” Y/N whispered back. “I love you, Min.”

“I love you, too…”

As the group now worked to clean up the romantic scene, there was nobody short of a smile, or a stray tear. Joshua was clinging onto Seokmin from pure excitement, even though he wasn’t even the one that got engaged.

“Well,” Jihoon started. Approaching Y/N’s side and placing a gentle hand on their shoulder. “I guess the bad news from all of this is you’re really stuck with us now.” He joked with a slightly cheeky grin to his round face.

“Oh no, that’s gonna be terrible.” Y/N chided sarcastically as they playfully rolled their eyes.

“Listen, I’m just warning you now, this is your last chance to run for the hills.” Jihoon added. A chuckle leaving his chest as he finished. There were a few moments of comfortable silence between the two, before Jihoon tightened his grip slightly on Y/N’s shoulder.

“Welcome to the family, Y/N.”

[mythmerth]

do you have any favorite canon era fics? I love a modern merthur but there's something so healing about the canon era ones!!

ooooo yes I do! there’s actually so many I love that it’s hard to verbalize, I go back to canon era perpetually in between modern. It’s like I need both or else I wither away. Now canon era and canon in line with the series fics are a bit different, but I’ll focus more on ones that feel closer to canon series!

For really long ones, To Bear our Teeth and our Hearts by queerofthedagger and so close and I’m halfway to it by ariadne_odair have a very close place in my heart. these are like my go to rereads when I’m itching for canon era that will always hit where I need it to. just excellent works, make me giggle and fulfill the canon merthur needs in me.

Glow Gold by BelleCow was a really excellent post finale (arthur survives) canon era fic- Arthur’s characterization I really really loved. Like he is so AUUUGGH you know what I mean?

Requiem of a Forgotten Prince by kairennart and queerofthedagger also was a really great canon era fic. Has a unique premise but the spell works really well within it, just love love love it truly.

And… when discussing canon era but significant plot/character divergence, I’ll recommend The Ballad of the Moon by Ro_88. This is one of the first Merlin fics that I ever read, and it’s intense but the plot and the resolution was really crazy and enjoyable! the new lore they made while still having the canon era feel is really impressive.

thanks for the ask! there’s literally so many and I don’t know whether to focus on one or recommend multiple. being the indecisive person I am I’ll just throw these all out there~

[seonghwaddict]

EYES DON'T LIE — i. heat, physics and jeong yunho.

synopsis. you've always resented jeong yunho, and you were positive that the end of high school would've marked the end of your rivalry and hatred. yet now you find yourself in the same crappy hotel as him. assigned to be right next to each other much like the good old times. pairing. jeong yunho x fem! reader. genre. mini-series, fluff, slice of life, mature, academic rivals to lovers, non-idol au. chapter warnings. mentions of infidelity, immature teenagers, swearing. word count. 0.7k

playlist. chapter ii.

if you were asked to list three things you hated, it would have been the following:

1. heat

2. physics

3. and jeong yunho

first, it started with you two being in the same class for the entirety of elementary, middle and high school. you were an exceptionally hard working student; top of the class in every subject.

nearly.

because jeong yunho was just always equally as good as you. he just had to be. it’s not like either of you were first or second place. it was a shared space at the top. it was the most annoying thing. you hated it, but most of the time you refused to let it bother you. sometimes you thought about him too much, thinking about how if it weren’t for the constant arguing and you weren’t so petty, you could’ve been great friends. perhaps more.

unfortunately though, it seemed like his mission was to be a cocky smartass who just had to annoy you every chance he got.

like in chemistry class, you two were paired up out of a coincidental and greatly unlucky wheel of names spin. and he just wouldn’t stop taunting you.

“i think you’re doing that wrong.”

“one more word out of you and i’ll break this beaker with your face.”

“as if you could reach.”

“jeong yunho, if you don’t-“

or that time when you were assigned to sit next to each other in english for a full year. one day you walked in looking positively murderous because you hadn’t slept in three days. and he just wouldn’t mind his own business.

“damn, were you run over or something? who hurt you?”

“you. 5th grade spelling bee where you beat me by one word.”

“really?“

“no, of course not… actually maybe partially.”

or of course the times where’d you’d spit immature jabs at each other for no particular reason.

“you look stupid with your hair like that.”

“your lips are chapped.”

“stop looking at my lips, idiot.”

“i would but they’re so dry they might compare to your social life, it’s painfully hard to ignore.”

but then things got slightly more serious.

despite you warning her, your best friend started dating your mortal enemy jeong yunho in junior year. it wasn’t a surprise to you when they broke up and she came running to you, crying and stuttering out about how he absolutely broke her heart.

about how their three month long relationship came to a stop when he drunkenly admitted to cheating on her. multiple times. with different girls.

after that, any respect you had for him which wasn’t much anyway disintegrated into nothingness. though you did talk shit before, now it was a lot more frequent.

you found yourself and your best friend going on and on about how insufferable he was. how much you both despised him though you were usually the one throwing in more and more points.

to you, it was justified and perfectly valid.

he broke your friends heart, and soon after, you also heard about the things he’d say about you. spitting shit about how you thought you were “soooo much smarter than him” which you were and how you were “so obsessed with him” which you definitely weren’t.

you were more than relieved when twelfth grade came to an end. nothing could’ve ruined your day not even when the devil himself jeong yunho sauntered up to you with a cocky smile. you barely spared him a glance, even when he brought up the fact you were each other’s co-valedictorian—a title your school had come up with because they genuinely couldn’t choose who deserved it more.

after the ceremony, the two of your had to stand together for almost half an hour, receiving flowers and congratulations from teachers and parents alike. but, alas, before you knew it, it was over.

all the prolonged eye-contact and glares from across the classroom. all the accidental run-ins during your free periods. the heated yelling during debate club. analysing and picking him apart to find flaws, just to realise there weren’t any. the bickering. the frustrating and borderline flirtatious comments he’d make any chance he got.

it was all over and you’d never have to see him again.

playlist. chapter ii.

[ lilo's notes . . . ] and there is the first chapter. i hope you guys enjoyed this :)

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[ashboy-3]

The Unspoken Deal

Fandom: Danny Phantom, John Constantine, and DCU Characters: John Constantine, Danny Fenton/Phantom, Batman, Superman, other JL members Words: 3507 Summary:

Danny and John have a deal. It's a simple deal. Every month they have a meet up. Danny keeps as much control over the ghost as he can in return John keeps track of them in the human realm. That's it nothing else should be so simple.

So why do feelings keep getting involved and why does the justice league suddenly seem so interested in the beings of the infinite realms.

John knows one thing for sure: This is all Danny's fault.

“You know these meetings are supposed to be taken seriously? Right mate?” John Constantine asked, only a little annoyed at dealing with the half-ghost.

“Who says? The council, meh I don’t really fully care what they have to say,” the half-ghost laughed, throwing another snowball at the human.

“Why do I put up with you again?” Constantine rubbed his hand over his face.

“You love me,” the ghost teased.

“What makes you so sure,” John hid the small smile that was on his face. He would never admit it, but the half ghost does hold a special place within his heart, a place that very few ever made it to.

“Any big threats I need to know about?” the ghost floated in front of John, ignoring the question that was being asked of him.

“Nothing I’ve heard about oh Danny boy,” John nodded towards him, watching as the Ghost King looked him up and down.

“Sell your soul recently?” Danny eyed him.

“Don’t know what your talkin about mate,” John avoided looking at the ghost, choosing instead to focus on his neglected cigarette.

“Well mate,” Danny easily copied the brit’s accent. “I happen to have a soul piece here.” Danny took the small delicate object out of his pocket, showing it off to John’s widened eyes.

“Be careful with that!” He shouted, seeing Danny just throwing it in the air as if it was a plastic ball.

“I would be if you didn’t treat your soul like a throw away joke,” Danny glared at his old friend, watching him put out the cancer stick as the two walked inside the castle also known as phantom’s keep and talk. “I’m serious John. Every time you sell your soul, I have to find a way to get it. You’ve sold over half of your soul. Soon you won’t have any pieces left,” Danny rolled his eyes, walking into a room where he keeps a singular candy jar, dropping the glowing piece in the jar. It made a small clink as it fell with the other pieces.

“That really is my whole soul isn’t it,” John peaked into the room to look at the jar.

“Farid so. Makes almost a whole soul. Be careful, our time is almost up so I’ll be seeing you next month?” Danny frowned at the idea of John leaving.

“I’ll be sure to give you a call if something comes up mate,” John assured him.

“And the heroes will be kept out of my realm?” They both know Danny’s rules about humans walking around the realms. Even now, years later from his teenage years, the humans he allows in are few and small. Adding heroes to that list just makes it worse.

“No heroes,” John assured him, opening the portal with a simple spell, stepping back into the house of mystery. “I’ll be seeing you ole Danny boy,” John smiled a sad smile at watching the portal close, shutting off his communication with the older ghost.

Recently all of their monthly meetings have the old warlock feeling like this. Feeling like something is missing or wrong. Sometimes he debates saying more, extending their meetings, even offering to meet more than once a month, but it never goes that far, choosing instead to ignore the feeling and continue on his day.

Pouring himself a drink, a favorite activity of his. He couldn’t help the groan that came from his mouth at hearing his phone ring.

Ring Ring Ring

Constantine sighed as the annoying ring hurt his ears. It was worse when he checked the caller ID. “What do ya want bats. Ima little busy?”

“Meeting at the watchtower. Be there,” the rough voice ordered from the phone.

“You could at least butter me up a little,” the thick British accent responded. Batman didn’t dignify him with a response, choosing instead to just hang up the phone.

“Well doll seems I still can’t take a break,” John signed, talking to the house. Downing his drink within one gulp he casted another spell, landing him right in the watchtower.

“Do you have to appear on the table every time?” Superman asked in wonder.

“Just how magic works mate,” John dusted off his tan coat, stepping off the table that was surrounded by multiple leaguers. “Alright what’s this whole shin dig about?”

“We have gotten multiple reports and sightings about strange creatures,” Batman started, clicking buttons on a small remote for all of the leaguers to see. Up on the big screens were creatures, creatures that Constantine was very familiar with. A bad feeling began to weave its way into his liver ruined gut.

“Are they aliens?” one of the leaguers questioned.

“Nothing in any of our databases,” Hal shook his head with crossed arms.

“Nothing from under the sea,” Aquaman agreed.

“So, they’ve come from a strange place that none of us have heard about?” Wonder Woman threw her hands in the air from disbelief.

“I don’t believe they come from the underworld, but John would be a better judge then me,” Zatara looked towards the brit.

“I don’t know nothing bout them mate. Prolly best to leave them be for now,” John shrugged, ignoring the questioning looks he was getting from some his ‘coworkers’ with trust issues.

“I’ll look more into them,” Zatara nodded. “Find out if they become a threat.” He assured the league.

“We’ll be looking into the lantern database and getting contact with others, find out if anyone knows anything,” Jon agreed, nodding towards Hal. All three getting up to leave the table.

“Well, if that’s all I’ll be on my bloody way. Drag me out of my house for notin,” John muttered angrily.

“Actually, John if you wouldn’t mind having a conversation with me?” Zatara asked, waving him over.

“Fine,” the brit groaned, getting a pack of his smokes out, lighting one up within the watchtower, ignoring glares he was getting from the three top dogs.

Zatara had taken John to a lone room, nothing really in it besides a desk, a few chairs, and one small couch, it was clearly only a room used for conversations.

“What’s this bout?” John wondered.

“You know something about those creatures,” Zatara stated firmly.

“I know nothin bout nothin,” John nodded, not agreeing with the magician’s statement.

“Oh please, you’re eyes widened when you saw the pictures. If you know something it should be shared. I will not reveal your secrets, however if you refuse to say anything it will just cause everyone, including me, to dig deeper into them.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s a promise. They could be dangerous.”

John laughed at that statement. “If that’s all I’m leaving.” Zatara was ready to fight back but looking up he discovered to see the brit gone.

***

“Danny mate pick up your damn phone!” John yelled at the blasted thing from his third time calling his old friend, now pacing around the old House of Mystery. Grabbing the full glass of scotch that the house kindly made for him.

“Sorry John. I was in a meeting,” Danny smiled into the phone. He may be a supernatural being, but he still had plenty to use of his fourteen-year-old mind, an age he hasn’t been for many years.

“Danny you bloody idiot! I thought that you were keeping them under control!” John yelled into the phone, surprising Danny.

“Don’t you dare yell at me John Constantine!” Danny yelled back into the phone, stopping him in his place.

“You’re right. I’m sorry Danny boy. The Justice League just got on my bloody ass about your spooks. Bats is ready to go to war with them,” John sat down in his chair.

“Want to summon me? We can talk about it?” Danny asked into the phone, both knew the undertones of the conversation.

“Things never go right when I summon you,” John refused to look towards a picture of him and Danny. The old ghost laughing, his baby face unable to grow much facial hair, as John cheered a beer, a smile on his face as well. It was one of their first nights out together in the human world.

“But it’s fun. No funny business this time?” Danny offered.

“Now you’re just tempting fate love,” John grinned into his scotch.

“You’re easy to tempt,” Danny nodded in agreement, both understanding the silent message.

Grabbing a piece of green glowing chalk John stumbled towards an empty part of his floor, no need to look up the sigils Danny choose for his summoning. He didn’t understand most of them, but the guy laughed every time he appeared in the human realm, a silent joke that only he knows. He remembers one drunken night when Danny tried to explain, he got nowhere with the brit.

“Numquam agnus dabo te

numquam agnus dimittam te

numquam amet discurrere et deseram te

numquam agnus fac te clamare

numquam agnus dicere vale

numquam agnus dic mendacium et nocuerunt tibi”

John, always confused by the spell, spoke it loud and clear, letting the candles and lights around the house dance as the green fire descended from the hells, lighting up the circle, leaving in a swirl with a half ghost king, smiling and evil smile at him.

“You summoned me,” Danny stepped out of the circle, walking closer to John.

“I summoned you,” he agreed, the mood much different from their business meeting they had just yesterday. John’s breathing becoming deeper and heavier the closer Danny stepped towards him. It forever amazed him that the ghost could become bigger or smaller with just a thought.

“I promised no funny business,” Danny noted, his half breaths just as deep.

“Screw that!” John declared, pushing their lips together, creating a fire between the two. A fire that would not let out till the two were done.

This was routine for when John summoned Danny. A routine that neither is sure how it started, but neither regret. They both agree it’s just sex. No feelings need to be mixed in, but John can’t help the flutter in hie heart when he thinks about everything that Danny does for him. Keeping him updated, collecting his soul contracts, giving him this. It was everything that he could dream about.

“Do you want to stop?” Danny asked carefully, his breath on John’s.

“If you stop, I will exorcize you,” John glared at the ghost.

“Fair enough,” Danny laughed, the two stumbling towards John’s room in the old mystery house.

The next day, both barely clothed, wrapped up in blankets and each other, John woke up, staring at Danny, tracing his fingers over the old, faded scars.

“You’re staring again,” Danny’s eyes fluttered open.

“You make it hard not to,” John grinned at him, turning around in the bed to light a cigarette.

“You said my subjects are hurting the humans,” Danny started to sit up in the bed, the ring of rage glowing proudly on his finger.

“I never said hurting. I keep an eye on them for you here. I promised, didn’t I?” John turned towards him, clearly understanding that this is no longer pleasure, only business.

“Then what was the call about?” Danny raised an eyebrow, getting up from the bed in a way only one trained in royalty could. John thought that he was beautiful.

“Bats called in a meeting. Trying to figure out where they came from. I was honest. Told them they ain’t form the underworld. Bloody Zatara caught me. Wanted to know how I recognized them. Refused to tell him that they were looking for limbo. I made a promise to ya Danny boy and I intend to keep it,” John tapped his cigarette on the ashtray he keeps by the bed. Watching as Danny slowly dressed himself in his torn-up jeans and shirt, a jacket going with it. One would never think he was dead, much less royalty.

“Do you want me to talk to them?” Danny asked.

“Do you want to talk to them?” John uno reversed him.

“I’m free in two days. I’ll calm down the Justice League,” Danny snapped his fingers, disappearing in green fire, just the same as he arrived. John knows that when he walks back to his living room all evidence of his summoning will be gone as well.

“Damn. You have it bad,” a voice laughed from the living room.

“Damn it!” John shouted, face turning red from anger as he shut his bedroom door, a door that was not shut last night, as he quickly got dressed, stomping back into the living room. “Chas. What the bloody hell are you doing here?”

“Checking up on you. Someone has to,” he shrugged. “Haven’t seen you be like that with someone in forever. So, when’s the next date?” Chas teased.

“Sod off Chas. We’re not dating,” John waved him away, grabbing a cold beer.

“Sure. You only look the people you shag like that because no feelings are attached,” Chas nodded, clearly sarcastic.

“He doesn’t want a relationship. He just wants to make sure I keep his subjects out of trouble while in the human realm. Nothing more nothing less,” John took a big gulp of beer.

“Have either of you ever actually talked about this?” Chas asked.

“C’mon mate. We’ve never talked about it because there is nothing to talk about,” John yelled. “We meet in his realm at a set time we talk. If something comes up, I can call him,” John shrugged.

“so, nothing ever happened while in his realm?” Chas raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing worth bringing up in conversation,” John argued back, the jar that contains his soul in the back of his mind.

“Sure,” Chas snorted, clearly not believing him. “I’ll leave you. Just. Don’t ruin this for yourself John. You are clearly happy with him and that doesn’t happen often with you,” Chas walked out of the house, leaving John by himself, only the house to keep him company.

“I don’t like him. I can’t like him. Why would I even like him?” John asked himself and the house. “The guy only rescues my soul every chance he can get. He willingly comes to visit the human realm for me. He willingly gave me his summoning. “Fuck!” John shouted, realization hitting him.

Panic still fresh in his brain he called up Batman. “I have news about the creatures. Meeting in two days.” John didn’t give the guy a chance to reply, closing his phone and ending the call. He has two days to get his body ass unsober as possible before he has to see Danny again.

***

“Alright bats. Everyone here?” John asked, appearing once again on the table, the annoyance clear on Superman’s face.

“You have news about the strange creatures?” Batman asked, coming from him however, everyone knew that it was an order.

“Yeah yeah. I’ll get to that. Move out of the way people,” John only got down form the table to put his bag down, grabbing the green glowing chalk, and walking back up on the table, aware that he has other magic user’s eyes on him. Writing the familiar symbols, he knew by heart. He still had the old book on his shelf, but he has no use for it.

“Be prepared mates. He’s a tad dramatic,” John warned, muttering the same summoning from before. His eyes turning white as green flames enveloped the room, clearly it was done in a more dramatic way for the audience the two have present.

“Numquam agnus dabo te

numquam agnus dimittam te

numquam amet discurrere et deseram te

numquam agnus fac te clamare

numquam agnus dicere vale

numquam agnus dic mendacium et nocuerunt tibi”

Unlike yesterday where all Danny was wearing was ripped jeans, a t-shirt full of small holes and a warm jacket, today he was draped in armor of black, white, and ecto green. The crown of fire worn proudly at the top of his head and the ring of rage glowing proudly on his finger. Fire forming under his feet as he took steps down the table. John had to take a smirk at how Danny presented himself. This is the same person who tripped over his feet walking in a straight line the other week, crashing his face right into ghost rocks. It never amazed John that Danny could present himself this way, but no one could deny the affect that it had.

“Who are you?” Batman asked, taking the lead as usual.

“Did you not explain to them?” Danny’s voice now held an echo to it, a few leaguers unsure if they were hearing him correctly.

“Sorry love figured you would love to do the honors,” John waved him off, taking a seat.

“I am Phantom. King of the Infinite Realms. John Constantine is the watcher of the human realm for me. He has informed me that the “Justice League” was getting curious about my subjects,” Danny chooses his words carefully. John snorted at his phrasing of the Justice League. “My subjects are not causing lasting harm to any humans. No humans have been injured from them or have been killed. There should be no reason that this club house is looking into my subjects,” Danny’s eyes glowed a deep green, clearly angry about the accusations he has formed in his mind.

“We never claimed that your subjects have injured anybody. We were just concerned. These are new creatures. No one knew of them, and we wanted to make sure they were not a risk,” Wonder Woman was quick to jump in.

“Hah!” Danny grinned, showing his fangs in full view. “My subjects are not new. Most have been around longer then you have been alive. It is your ignorance that has made you assume such a thing.” John knows that if this was with just the two of them alone Danny would have cracked some stupid joke like, “You know what assuming does right? Make an ass out of you and me! Ha! Come on John! It’s funny!”

“I’m sorry?” Wonder Woman was confused.

“My subjects are mostly ghost. Spirits who have refused to pass on. Spirits who have been formed from human ideals. Death, Nocturne, and Time. These are all spirits that have been formed from the thoughts of humans. They will live as long as their ideas live on. There are ones that form naturally, there are ones who have died and left this world, unable to move on they come to my realm. They come back to finish what they started, their right to, or to just cause petty mischief, something they need to do to survive. I keep an eye on every single one in the human realm. From now on if there is an issue you go straight to John. Do I make myself clear?” There was a fire burning in Danny’s eyes as he turned around, stomping out, not wanting to hear any more questions.

“Guess I have no choice but to follow his highness,” John sounded like he was mocking the king, but he knows that if Chas was here, he would call John out on his bullshit quicker then he could snap.

“Did you see their faces?” Danny smiled, as John grabbed Danny’s arm, easily bringing them back to the house of mystery.

“They believe that you are a ruthless tyrant who cares only for his people,” John agreed, pouring himself a drink.

“Pour me one. I know it’s great isn’t it! I worked all day with Ember to get that speech perfect!” Danny’s grin couldn’t get wider, John handed him the drink, watching as Danny drank it with ease.

“Listen Danny boy,” John started, happy that he had the famous liquid courage to help him In this moment.

“What is it, John?” Danny looked up from his drink. There were no problems. The Justice League was handled. What else could there be.

“Mate- Love. It has come to my attention that we might have to rethink our situation John tried, not fully sure how to get the words out.

“You’re going to have to be clearer with me John,” Danny crossed his legs, floating in midair as if Gravity didn’t exist.

“Love I-“John’s throat stopped, not letting him get the words out. “Damn it!” John chugged the rest of his drink, cursing the heavens at his predicament. “Danny I- “once again he was stopped by himself, his beer not helping him at all.

Tired of trying with words, John did the next best thing, he let his actions speak for him. Grabbing Danny, pulling him close, no lust in the moment, unlike a few days ago, he took a deep hopeful breath and pushed a messy kiss upon the half ghost. “Danny, I like you,” John was finally able to whisper.

“Took you long enough mate,” Danny’s smile was wide and hopeful, grabbing John’s neck to kiss him once again. John knows that he’s in for a lifetime of puns, but he is kissing Danny, kissing the half ghost he doesn’t regret a single thing.

[sehtoast]

A Future For Three (Homelander x OC)

hurt/comfort, ambiguous s4 ending, relationship road bumps, ryan butcher, ben being the better parent, pathetic homelander, spidersona oc | Fic Directory

Benjamin has done all he can to point Homelander in the right direction. Between plans for usurping power and parenthood, nothing has gone quite well. At least the bug will be there to help put out the fires.

Not even the crunch of rubble can pull his eyes away from the splotchy screen that spells out his failure in big, bold letters.

The silence between them is so very loud.  Louder than the ringing in his ears, louder than the news anchor’s dismayed voice as she reports Neuman’s death.  It’s only when those red, web-patterned shoes stop beside him that he dares flit his gaze anywhere else.  

Within a single day, he’d lost it all.  Ryan ran out on him, then Benjamin did the same… 

“You’re not being a father, you’re being a fuckin’ bully,” the bug had spat, fists clenched at his sides.  

He can still see the way they both looked at him.  Ryan’s eyes full of indignance, Ben’s full of heartbreak and disappointment.  The bug had bailed him out of his messes so many times now.  Talked to him about parenting, tried giving examples from his own upbringing on what to do and what to say, lectured him about patience and understanding.  But how?  

How can he do any of that when all the boy seems to want is a better father?

“It’s not a matter of dads,” Ben whispered to him so very long ago. “You’ve both taken care of him.  He’s got love for you both, but it’s not a competition, y’know?” 

But he never listened.  He never learned.

“Thought you wanted space… after…” he blurts, voice hoarse and thin. He gestures vaguely to the destroyed penthouse.  His eyes fall to the crumbled remains of Atlas.

It’s like looking in a mirror.

“I did, but…” Ben squats down, one hand snaking through his hair while the other lands atop his bent knee.  “I also told you I’d always take care of you.”

Homelander tugs Ryan’s book bag closer.

“Look at me, Johnny.” Ben whispers.

He hates the rimming of tears in his little spider’s eyes more than anything.  He put those there, didn’t he?  Took everything too far, was too cruel, said all those horrible things to rile up his fans… 

He barely registers the arms looping under his knees and around his back to lift him to the couch.  Benjamin murmurs something about him deserving better than sitting on the floor, but it sounds warped– messy and discombobulated as if they were underwater.  He lets Ben guide him, lets himself be coaxed to rest his head atop the bug’s lap and away from the sights of his failures.  He’d complain at the sound of his eagle epaulet puncturing the leather of the couch, but it was already destroyed anyway.

Just like everything else.

The tears start again.  The sobs quake, the shivers rattle him, and he gasps for air that simply won’t fill the void.  

“I’ve got you, pumpkin.”  Benjamin coos, fingers stroking through his hair.  “S’gonna be alright.”

“What the fuck is wrong with me?”  Homelander sputters.  Why can’t I do anything right?  

“Mm, a lot, honestly…”  The bug sighs, thumbing his cheek with a tenderness that conveys nothing but love behind such a devastating statement.  “But I’ll keep ya.” 

He hates the way that makes him cry harder.  He hates the way Ben holds him through it all.  It’d be so much easier if the bug would just throw him to the curb already.  Toss him aside, tear away one last shred of humanity from his used and abused heart.  One last anchor to remove him from that which he can never escape.

But it isn’t that simple.  It never will be.

By the time he’s devoid of any more tears, Benjamin still comforts him.  Still promises him an eternity.  Still shows him love.

“We’re gonna go down to my place, okay?”

“Why?”  He croaks.  His head throbs when he lifts it.

“I don’t want you sleeping in a big mess like this.  You deserve a little better than that.”  Benjamin pinches his cheek but the usual smile doesn’t spread across his face at the act.  Homelander’s drained.  He’s got nothing left inside but the hollowness of his own misery and the weak shimmer of hope sown by his little spider.

So he lets Ben carry him through the halls like some sort of wounded child who’d skinned their knees and couldn’t do it himself.  Not that there was anyone of consequence in the tower left to see it.  Not after he’d given the order to do away with them.

Another thing Benjamin begged him not to do.

He’s like a compliant mannequin as Ben strips him of his suit and all of the accompanying dust it’d gathered.  He expects to be kicked to the couch by the time he’s sporting just his briefs, but exile is not what fate has in store for him.  Instead, he gets to be tucked under fuzzy blankets and held close.  Benjamin’s breath kisses the nape of his neck and an arm slings over his midsection.

In his own arms, he still clings to Ryan’s bag.  He can’t take his eyes off the photo of him and his son that sits atop the nightstand.  He’s got the boy’s cheeks pinched between his gloved fingers, both of them smiling brightly.  In his hands, Ryan holds the carrier with their milkshakes.  He remembers the moment Ben took that photo.  How happy they all were…

“I texted him.” Ben murmurs.  “Let him know we’re here for when he gets back.”

He pulls the bag closer.

“Listen t’me.”

Homelander’s gut drops for the millionth time.  What could possibly be coming?  The end of their relationship?  Reprimands he can’t escape?  Will it hurt?

“We need to have a serious talk later about everything, okay?”

Oh god…

“I’m not goin’ anywhere, but I need– we got a lot to work on, y’know?”  

He thanks whatever god there may be for the clarification.

“And I need you to understand something.  I love you.  But that doesn’t mean you can hurt me all the time.”  Ben’s voice cracks with cries that threaten to spill. “I don’t ever wanna get to the point where I can’t come back to you.  I fuckin’ love you, but I’m scared you’re gonna push me too far away someday and I can’t–”

The arm around his body curls tighter.

“I can’t imagine anything else but you.  And I don’t want to.  I know you’re trying, and I know it’s hard and it’s all gone tits up these last few days– that this was all your dream, but please…” 

Ben’s face presses to his nape and he can feel the wetness of tears.  Those are his fault, too.  The pit of shame in his gut opens wider. The guilt grows stronger.

“Please save room for us in your dream.”

[captain039]

Playing pretend

Aemond x reader

Warnings: Gore, swearing, intimacy,tension,niece/nephewcest, Targaryen incest, reader is Rhaenyras daughter, if I spell something wrong I don’t care 😂, AOB, anxiety, anxiety attacks

Did I ever think I’d write something for Aemond no no I did not I hate team green and Vhagar with a passion 😂😭

Me to me: I hate Aemond

Me to me after reading a fic: I mean-

Rhaenys will not die I swear to the gods I’ll riot about her death one day 😭

Dragon-

Aelwyn, white and gold scales daughter of Syrax. Mix between Syrax and Seasmoke.

It’s always cold at DragonStone keep. Your bed is never truely comfortable and you never sleep with both eyes closed. Your father’s gone as is your mother and as the eldest and next in line you’re struggling to keep yourself from feeding these council men to your dragon. Rhaenys is thankfully on your side majority of the time to help you calm these battle hungry mostly alpha males but you’re exhausted in need of a winters long rest or perhaps you should raid the cellar for some disgusting wine.

“That’ll be all council” Rhaenys’s voice is sharp and cuts through the bickering after she gives you a glance. They all leave and you sag against the table before instantly sitting up again when a knight comes in.

“A Raven princess’s” he says handing you the note. You thank him and he leaves and you unravel the small paper.

You know this writing, it’s the queen mother’s writing. Alicent has sent many Ravens to your mother to which she has read none but this one is addressed to you. You frown as you read your stomach dropping as you see her proposal for peace at the price of marriage. You lay the letter on the table with shaky hands, contemplate throwing yourself into the sea before rationalising that this is the way to stop the war, all the while Rhaenys has read the letter with a neutral look on her face.

“Has anyone seen my mother? My father even?” You ask the princess and she shakes her head.

“I’m afraid not” she sighs leaning back into the chair after lying the note back on the table.

“Well then” you say your heart pounding in your ears just as your brother walks in. You all but snatch the note off the table and shove it into your pockets not noticing the small chuckle Rhaenys does before she leaves.

“Brother” you greet as he sits himself opposite to where Rhaenys was.

“Is she still not back?” Your brother doesn’t look you in the eye and your heart breaks a little. He’s got too much that he puts on his shoulders.

“Not yet” you answer sagging.

You plan in privacy, pack your things inform your servants and knight guard to keep this all quiet till you can sort it out. You’re on the balcony when a knock comes and you say a ‘come in’ before Rhaenys enters.

“Princess” you greet.

“Princess” she greets back coming to join you on the balcony.

“You’re not overly sneaky I’m afraid” she says after some time and you frown tensing slightly.

“Why would I have to sneak?” You ask hoping to deflect her question but she smiles and you sigh.

“There is no other way I will agree to these terms, my mother nor my father seem to be doing anything!” Your anger rises before you force it down again.

“Apologies for yelling” you say quietly after.

“If you did not yell I’d question your Targaryen heritage” Rhaenys jokes and you smile.

“If you feel this is the right way, however I’d advise you, you are throwing yourself into a den of vipers” she leans against the stone railing eyes out to the sea.

“I’m aware” you say.

“Nor will you have allies there, and your betrothed has already killed one of your siblings” her reminder stabs you like a knife in the side and you gulp.

“You cannot kill him either” she adds.

“She said too leave in a week from the letter if I were to accept, it has been five days I shall notify the council the day I leave and if my mother or father show up I shall inform them also” you nod trying to ignore the anxiety nauseating your stomach.

Neither your father or mother show up and it breaks your heart, as you gather the council and tell them the outrage you receive is like a wasps nest being upset or an angry mother dragon whose had her eggs stolen. The one who stays silent though is your brother, the death look he gives the table makes you question his thoughts.

“Enough!” You finally snap.

“You men of the council do nothing but sit here and bitch like a bunch of ladies!” Your words stun them into utter confusing and silence and you instantly regret your words and clear your throat.

“I-“ you stutter.

“The princess is under a lot of stress as it is from this decision she does not need you to add to it” your brother finally speaks and the men finally quiet themselves.

“I leave today at lunch, my things are already packed, my ladies are in order as are my knights, they all know” you say.

“I will get peace from this war, nobody else is trying” you don’t know why you stare at the table most of the talk, but when you look up your mother is there. The room goes silent, the council leaves, as does your brother leaving you and your mother in the room. She looks as if she hasn’t slept in days, she’s covered in dirt, tear streaks down her cheeks and a rugged red cloak in her hands, Lukes cloak. Tears form in your eyes as your mother walks to you, lays the cloak on the table and rounds it before her arms are around you. You sob softly against her despite her appearance and smell, you feel her crying silently also. You stay like that for a while before she pulls apart, hands on your face as her thumbs wipe away your tears.

“If this is what you must do then so be it” she says.

“Peace doesn’t come cheaply, sometimes it may not come, I hope it does” she takes a small breath leaning your foreheads together.

“Be brave my daughter” she whispers pressing her lips to your forehead.

The ride to kings landing is daunting you’re thankful you don’t get shot down, but you see the army waiting for you by the dragon it entrance. Aelwyn grumbles on her way down as you calm her softly in high Valyrian as you land. Aelwyn despite being young is almost as large as her mother, you climb off her side down her white golden scales while a knight comes over and seizes your arm. Aelwyn growls in response.

“Calm Aelwyn” you say as the dragon keepers urge her into the dragon pit.

“So you have come” you look queen mother, adorned in a green dress.

“I have” you say and she nods relief flooding her eyes while she keeps a stoic face. You are thankful you took some scent blocking tea and purple tea. Purple tea was used to reduce one’s designation though it only lasted a couple of hours.

“Let her go” Alicent orders the guard and he lets your arm go.

“Come” she beckons you and you follow.

The castle is restless, jittery and on edge, you can hardly walk by anyone without them tensing. You wish for your things and a bed quickly, the teas are wearing off and everything is starting to overwhelm you. You head to the throne room, away from the chaos but it is too late, your heart pounds, you’re sweating, Alicent’s scent is almost as haywire as you’re feeling. You both stop but you’re unaware of the prince in front of till you breathe him in. You feel you might choke, sweet scent of an alpha filling your nose.

“Is she alright mother?” You hear distantly, you close your eyes momentarily feeling the Queen mother’s hand on your arm.

“Apologies my Queen, my prince” you curtsy but your body sways. You hadn’t noticed the prince so close till both of his hands hold your arms and a gasp leaves you. Your eyes snap open and you’re face to face with the one who killed your little brother. You reel back in your mind, blink a few times to clear it before offering a smile and nodding.

“I am not use to flying that long” you counter and the prince nods letting you go. Your arms tingle but you ignore it as you look to Alicent.

“Aegon isn’t aware of this marriage neither is the realm” she says and you nod.

“Half my family isn’t either” you say and worry flashes in her eyes.

“My mother is aware” you say and she nods.

“How shall we play this?” You ask.

Next part ->

[toomanyfandoms-notenoughfics]

Celestial Beings

Chapter Nine: Sides

Characters: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Female Reader, Molly Weasley, Moldy Voldy (Voldemort)

Summary: (Y/n) wakes up much later than she planned only to head downstairs and overhear Remus and Sirius. She can't understand emotions well.

Word Count: 2,835

Warnings: Swearing, Threats, Mentions of Blood, Cutting (Accidental not Self-Harm), Arguing, Implications of drinking

Reminders: @nicolegrace2004 (not sure if this is the right blog but I'm hoping so)

(Y/n) awoke with a start as a knock sounded from the door. She looked around the room wildly, as if expecting someone or something else to be there. Another knock at the door finally shook her from her thoughts, causing her to throw the blankets off herself as she hurried to the door. She swung it open quickly, with a little too much force, making it hit the wall loudly.

“Shit! Sorry.” She muttered quickly, her thoughts still racing. “Didn’t mean to sleep, I-”

“Are you alright dear?” Molly asks worriedly, her eyebrows stitched together. “Sirius and Remus told me what happened, I won’t pry. It’s been a few hours since dinner, and no one’s heard a peep from you. Just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Oh.” (Y/n) takes a moment to breathe, unsure of how to respond. “I’m… I don’t know really, I think I’m alright though.” She assures Molly, giving her a small smile. “Sorry about missing dinner, I really didn’t think I was going to fall asleep.”

“It’s alright, I saved you a plate downstairs. I didn’t do too much tonight anyways, just a small casserole.” Molly waves it off. “They’re still waiting in the parlor for you, if you feel up for it. Don’t feel pressured to do anything that will… agitate yourself.” she says carefully.

“Right, yeah…” (Y/n) runs a hand through her hair, trying to quickly brush it back into place. “Which way to the parlor again?”

“All the way down the stairs, take a left, third door to your right nearest the exit.” Molly reminds her with a smile. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” (Y/n) says as she fixes her clothes. “Once again, so sorry about dinner. I’ll be sure to get there tomorrow.”

“Alright, well I’ve got to-” Molly gets cut off as a crash is heard down the hall. “Those silly kids, I swear if Tonks has them doing some stupid spell again… I’ll check in with you tomorrow, (y/n).” She quickly hurries off toward the sound of the crash as another occurs.

(Y/n) rushes down the stairs, adrenaline starting to fade as the nightmares fade fully into nothingness. As she gets to the bottom of the stairs she hears voices from the hall, talking rather loudly. Stopping just shy of the corner she listens in.

“We could always wait a little longer.” Sirius groans. “She didn’t look too good earlier, probably just lost track of time.”

“Or she just doesn’t want to see us…” Remus sighs. “We’ve been waiting hours Pads. I’d rather just head to bed.”

“You.” Sirius says bluntly. “You mean she doesn’t want to see, you.” (Y/n) hears him take a drink of something. “Which, even if that were the case, she’d still would like to know we waited I’m sure. Besides, what if she does want to come down here and we’re gone? It’d be like lying to her.”

“She’s the one who lied.” Remus retorts quickly, also pausing to take a drink. “She lied about the mirror, didn’t tell us about being able to read minds, and who knows what else she’s been lying about. You can’t just blindly trust people, Pads.” (Y/n) feels her heart drop.

“I’m not.” Sirius sighs. “But she deserves at least part of our trust by now, doesn’t she? She’s earned it.”

“By doing what? Sulking around?” Remus lets out a dry laugh. “We let her roam around, let her have her own room, she hasn’t helped us once.”

“She doesn’t need to.” Sirius takes another drink. “That’s not the goal remember?”

(Y/n) feels her cheeks getting warm with anger and embarrassment. Her fists balled up as she takes a step back, not wanting to know anything else. She turns to head to the kitchen as whispers swirl around her.

“You forgot didn’t you?” a familiar voice says from nowhere. “To them you’re nothing more than a means to an end. A pawn in their game.”

“Because you’ve always thought of me as anything other than a weapon, shut up.” (Y/n) mutters in response, shutting the kitchen door behind herself. “No need to pretend to care.”

“Pretend? You’re my blood, (y/n). Of course I care.” Voldemort tuts. “I can both care about you and discipline you. The two are not mutually exclusive. Besides, without me you’d have been murdered by the ministry when you were born. You’re special, and that scares them.”

“Special is just a nice word for abomination.” She retorts, finding the plate Molly had made for her, taking the foil off the top. “Your version of discipline is torture. Go away.”

“I see they’ve confused you.” his tone becomes more strained. “Don’t worry, we can fix that when you return.”

“No.” (Y/n) says, quicker than she could think. She freezes mid bite. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“No? No?!” Voldemort’s voice feels like daggers in her head now. “How dare you tell me no. After everything I’ve done for you? Fed you, kept you clothed, kept you alive! You’ll do as you’re told, as you’ve been taught, or I will make the ‘torture’ you’ve endured seem like child’s play. Next time you want to say no, just remember where I currently reside and whom I live with.”

(Y/n) feels the connection loosen, his voice fading into nothingness, leaving her to think on his threat. She looks down at the food and tosses it into the trash, no longer having an appetite. She shakily begins to wash the plate, the water burning her hands as she turns it to maximum heat.

“(Y/n)?” Sirius’s voice startles her, the plate slipping from her hand as she turns around. It shatters as it hit the floor near her feet.

“For fuck’s sake!” She shouts, her anxiety being quickly replaced by frustration. She quickly kneels down and starts gathering the broken pieces. “Sorry, I’ll clean it up.”

“Here let me help.” Sirius says softly, taking a step forward. She flinches as he crouches down.

“I said I’ll clean it up.” She snips. “It’s my mess.”

“It happens, it’s not an issue.” Sirius speaks quietly. He begins picking up some of the glass, conjuring a trashcan. “Here.”

“I don’t need your pity, I can do it myself.” (Y/n) grabs a piece of glass too tightly, slicing into her palm be accident. She drops it quickly, pulling her hand to her chest. “Damn it!”

“Let me see.” Sirius holds out his hand, waiting. “I’ll just worry more if you don’t let me see it, so if you want me out of your hair sooner, let me look.”

“Fine.” She reluctantly gives him her hand. After a few seconds she hears the sound of ripping fabric, before she feels cloth being wrapped around her hand. She looks at him confused. “Why not use magic?”

“Well, you can’t use yours so I’ve been trying to cut back using it myself.” He shrugs. “What’re you doing in here?”

“Molly left me a plate, I was hungry.” She lied easily. “Figured you two had gone to bed or something. Fell asleep by accident for a few hours, don’t expect either of you to wait for me.”

“If you were so hungry, why’d you toss the food?” He asks, pointing at the open trash.

“I.. I um…” she fumbles on her words, unable to find a good excuse. A quick sharp pain shoots behind her eyes, making her wince. “Stop asking questions.”

“(Y/n),” Sirius sighs, gathering the last of the glass. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but we’re trying to understand. We can’t do that if you keep lying to us.”

(Y/n) stands up slowly, looking away from him. She doesn’t say a word as she turns around, looking down at her hand. Sirius eyes her cautiously as he puts the trashcan back. (Y/n) shuts her eyes, muttering something to herself before she takes a deep breath and turns around.

“Am I really so hard to understand to you?” She asked him quietly, not looking at him. “Has it never occurred to you that I have no reason to tell you anything? Since I’ve been here my memories have been stolen and destroyed, I’ve been moved from one dungeon to a bright golden cage, I’ve been tortured with Unforgivables, and my own father has attacked me. Why would I show any vulnerability in a place that’s only ever been unsafe?

“I see the wardings and spells that you’ve put into place, including the ones that will nearly kill me to restrain me. I hear all the things everyone thinks about me, about each other.” (Y/n)‘s voice is shaky as she continues. “Why would I tell the truth when none of you ever do? You all pretend to be fine having me around, but I can hear you all wondering when the next shoe will drop. No one has even trusted me with knowing that Harry is going to be coming here before school starts. Too worried I’ll break, that I’ll lose it. But you want me to be truthful? No, you want me to be helpful? Wait, that’s not the goal though, right, Sirius?”

Sirius is too stunned to speak. (Y/n) huffs as she pushes past him and out the door. She pauses for a moment when she sees Remus staring at her in shock on the other side of the hall. They lock eyes for a moment, neither saying a word. She’s the first to look away, quickly going up the stairs, undoing the makeshift bandage.

(Y/n) tosses the cloth to the side, ignoring the stinging sensation on her hand. She makes it to her room quickly, slamming the door shut behind her. She drags a chair over and puts it in front of the door, angled just below the door knob. It doesn’t take long for there to be a knock at her door.

“(Y/n)? Can we talk?” Remus’s muffled voice asks. She watches as he turned the handle, trying to open the door but fails. “(Y/n) please, I know you overheard part of our conversation downstairs. We didn’t mean anything by it, we were just clearing the air.”

(Y/n) stays quiet, sitting down on her bed. There’s a soft thud sound outside the door, followed by the sound of something sliding. She looks at the door confused.

“You’re right.” Remus tells her through the door. “When we first let you up here, we wanted you to be helpful. We give you something, you give us something. And we are worried about you losing it. You said it yourself you’ve lost it before.”

(Y/n) flinches hearing his words.

“And we do have a goal. It’s not for you though, not entirely.” Remus sighs. “It sounds stupid, but we… we want you to be able to be yourself. Even if it’s just in this stupid place. And I know, what you’ve had to go through here, what you’re still going through… it’s not fair.”

(Y/n) sighs, standing up slowly.

“And I’ve been an ass.” Remus admits. “It was my idea to talk to you in the first place, to get you out of the cell. I want to trust you, but… I guess if anyone would understand it’d be you. I’m a werewolf, (y/n). I hear heartbeats the way you hear thoughts. It gets in the way sometimes, no matter how much I try to ignore it.”

(Y/n) moves the chair from the door, opening it up. She doesn’t say anything as Remus falls backward into the room, having been sat against it. The two of them stare at eachother in silence for a moment before she holds her hand out to help him up.

“I don’t mean to listen you know.” (Y/n) mutters after helping him. “You all have a habit of thinking loudly, I can’t always ignore it.”

“I’m sorry about yelling at you before.” Remus apologizes again. “About the mirror.”

“S’fine.” She shrugs. “Like I said before, I deserve worse than your anger.”

“Sirius was going to come up too.” Remus says awkwardly.

“I’m sorry about lying so much.” She blurts quickly. “It’s just… it’s the only way I survived growing up. Hard habits or whatever the saying is. I’m not used to this.”

“They really did do a number on you, huh?” Remus remarks. She freezes for a moment, looking down at her hurt hand.

“Yeah. I… I guess they did.” She takes a deep breath in. “I’m going to regret this…”

“Huh?” Remus looks at her confused.

“He’s in my head.” (Y/n) says quickly as the fire-like pain flares up behind her eyes. A wave of pain hits her hard causing her knees to buckle, sending her to the ground.

“Hey you don’t have to-” Remus tries to catch her but fails. He quickly crouches down. “You’ll just hurt yourself, stop.”

“I… I don’t want…” (Y/n) feels tears fall down her cheeks. “I can’t just do whatever he wants. I won’t!” She shouts, holding her head in her hands as the pain worsens. The whispers start swirling around her head.

“(Y/n) you need to stop.” Remus urges worriedly. “Talk about something else, anything else.”

“No!” She growls, swatting away one of his hands as he reaches for her. She manages to open her eyes, meeting his. “Let me help!”

“(Y/n)…” Remus looks at her eyes, panic running down his spine. Her eyes are bloodshot, her nose beginning to bleed. “Please stop.”

“You should really listen to him.” Her father’s voice rang out.“Stop trying to brute force your way through. It won’t work. Not without killing you.”

“Shut up!” She cried loudly, covering her ears. Remus backed up a bit.

“You think I’d have made a curse so easily broken?” Voldemort laughed loudly. “You were raised better than that, trained better than that. Just give it up, no matter what you do I’ll win.”

“(Y/n),” Remus said softly, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. “Please, stop. You’re hurting yourself, and you’re worrying me.”

“Look at how he pretends to care!” Voldemort barks. “Poor (y/n), to weak to help herself. You’re as disappointing as your mother was. I suggest you stop before you meet them same fate.”

“What?” (Y/n) asks stunned. “What does that mean?”

“I said you were worrying me.” Remus says confused. “I’m worried. You’re bleeding from your nose. Whatever you’re doing, it’s not going to help.”

“No, not you.” (Y/n) waves him off. She’s silent for a moment, trying to listen for her father, but is instead met with silence. The whispers melting into the background and the pain starting to subside.“Damn it!”

“Woah, hey what’s going on in here?” Sirius asks from the doorway, glass of scotch in one hand, bottle in the other.

“Curse.” Remus and (Y/n) both say in unison, the young woman flinching as she says it.

“Wanted to help.” She grumbles frustrated. “Turns out, not much help.”

“Okay, good.” Sirius smiles, turning toward his room. “Worried you two were fighting again. Heard yelling.”

“Are you okay?” Remus asks her, ignoring his drunk friend.

“Do we fight that often?” She asks confused. “And yeah, it goes as quick as it comes.” She flinches. “When I keep my mouth shut.”

“Right, sorry.” Remus lets out a sigh of relief. “Next time, more warning.”

“Sorry.” (Y/n) groans as she stands up, using the dresser as stability. “I um… I do think I just chose though.”

“Chose?” Sirius asks from the door, stopping in his tracks. “Chose what?”

“A side.” She looks at Remus worriedly. “Is that what I did?”

“Well… I guess yeah.” Remus looks at Sirius and then down at the bottle of scotch. “Did you bring more glasses?”

“No, but I could always just conjure some, why?” Sirius asks, a small smirk on his features.

“I think we all deserve a drink.” Remus says, helping (y/n) to her bed. “Any objections?”

“Merlin’s beard no.” (Y/n) says, gesturing to Sirius to come in. “Hurry before I change my mind.”

“Haven’t heard that one in a while…” Sirius jokingly mutters as he enters the room, shutting the door behind him. “Then again, was in Azkaban for a while. Not a lot of choice in there.”

“I’m sure you’ve had many happy partners.” (Y/n) says, taking the bottle from him as he gets close enough. She takes a big gulp of the alcohol straight from the bottle. She coughs lightly as it stings her throat. “Why’d I do that?”

“Drink from the bottle?” Sirius asks confused.

“No, why’d I do all of that?” She gestures toward the dresser area. “Choose a side, try to brute force, ow, the curse, fuck!” She grabs her head in pain.

“Worry about that tomorrow.” Remus says, taking the bottle from her and having a sip himself. “Tonight, we drink.”

End of Chapter Nine

[littlemissvenom0]

Draco Malfoy x Reader: "Please.. stay with me" angst

The night was thick with tension, the air heavy with fear as we stood in the courtyard of Hogwarts. The Dark Lord’s voice echoed in the silence, cold and victorious as he announced Harry’s death. A chill ran down my spine, and I felt sick, my heart pounding in my chest. We were all gathered here like lambs, waiting for what came next, and when his eyes fell on Draco, my blood turned to ice.

“Draco,” Voldemort called, his voice smooth, mocking almost, as though he knew exactly what he was doing.

I turned to Draco, my hand instinctively reaching for his. His face was pale, eyes wide with shock, with fear, but also something else. He was trapped, just like the rest of us, but this was different—he was being called to him. His father stood beside the Dark Lord, his mother’s eyes pleading, waiting.

“Draco, don’t,” I whispered, my voice shaking as I gripped his hand tighter. “Please… stay with me. If you go, I’ll never see you again.” My throat was tight, the words heavy with desperation. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I fought them back. I needed him to understand, to stay.

He turned to me, his hand still holding mine, and I could see the war raging inside him. His eyes were glassy, his breath shaky. “Come with me,” he whispered, his voice breaking as tears began to fall down his face. “Please… come with me.” His hand trembled as he squeezed mine, and I could see how much he was trying to hold it together. “We can leave. Now. We can go.”

“Draco…” I shook my head, tears spilling over now, even though I tried to keep them at bay. “You know I can’t. I can’tgo with you.”

His father’s voice rang out, cold and sharp. “Draco!” But Draco didn’t move, didn’t take his eyes off me. He was still standing there, still begging me with his eyes, his body shaking as his father called him again, more forceful this time.

“I can’t,” I whispered, feeling the words break something inside me.

He knew. He knew I wouldn’t leave. And the moment he accepted it, his tears fell freely, his whole body trembling with the weight of it. He nodded, a hollow, broken movement, and then he stepped closer, pressing his lips to my forehead in a gentle, desperate kiss. “Maybe in another life,” he whispered against my skin, the words filled with pain, with a finality that made my heart shatter.

Before I could say anything else, he pulled away, his eyes still locked on mine as he turned toward Voldemort. His steps were slow, reluctant, but he walked forward, his hand slipping from mine. My breath caught in my throat as I watched him walk away, his back to me, his body hunched, broken.

“Draco!” Voldemort called again, and finally, Draco reached his family. But just as they began to walk away, he stopped on the bridge, turning back, as if he was still waiting for me, still hoping. My chest tightened, my whole body screaming at me to run to him, to change my mind, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave. I shook my head, and his face crumpled in defeat. He looked down, his shoulders sagging before he continued walking with his parents.

“Such a disappointment,” Voldemort sneered, his eyes landing on me now. “I had hoped for better from you.”

I scoffed, forcing every ounce of defiance I had left into my voice. “Go to hell,” I spat, my eyes narrowing in disgust. There was nothing more I could say to him. Nothing more he could take from me.

And then, everything exploded into chaos.

Suddenly, Harry was on his feet, alive, and the battle resumed, people shouting, spells flying everywhere. I fought with everything I had, blocking curses, protecting the younger students, throwing myself into the fight because there was nothing else left. I had already lost too much.

I found myself facing Death Eaters, people who had once been family friends, people I had grown up with. They didn’t hesitate, so neither did I. I fought them off with all the strength I could muster, but the battle was brutal, relentless, and my body ached with every movement, every spell I cast.

Then, before I could react, a powerful curse knocked my wand from my hand. I stumbled back, falling to the ground as the Death Eater loomed over me, a cruel smirk twisting his face. “Such bravery,” he sneered, raising his wand, his eyes glinting with malice. “And for what?”

Behind me, a young first-year cowered in fear, tears streaming down his face. I knew I couldn’t let him die. I stood, placing myself between him and the Death Eater, my body trembling with exhaustion but my resolve unbroken. “Go,” I whispered to the boy. “Run. Hide.”

The boy hesitated for a second before nodding, scrambling to his feet and disappearing into the shadows.

The Death Eater chuckled darkly. “How noble,” he mocked, his wand aimed at me now. “Let’s see how long that lasts.” He raised his wand, and before I could move, the spell hit me like a sledgehammer, knocking me off my feet, pain erupting in my chest as I crashed to the ground.

I could hear his footsteps approaching, his laughter echoing in my ears as I tried to push myself up, but my body was too weak, the pain too much.

And then… Draco.

“Get away from her!” Draco’s voice was wild, frantic, and I saw him out of the corner of my eye, lunging at the Death Eater, knocking him back. His spells came fast, precise, until the Death Eater crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

But it was too late. I could feel it—the curse was inside me, spreading, the pain slowly numbing, my body growing colder by the second.

Draco dropped to his knees beside me, his hands trembling as he pressed down on my wound, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. “No, no, no… this can’t be happening,” he whispered, his voice broken, tears streaming down his face. “You’re going to be okay. I’ll fix this. Just stay with me. Please.”

I looked up at him, my vision hazy, the world starting to blur at the edges. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice weak, barely a breath. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be better.”

“Stop,” he begged, his voice cracking with emotion. “Don’t say that. You’re perfect. You’re going to be fine. Just stay with me. Please… don’t leave me.”

I could feel his tears fall onto my face, but I managed a small smile, raising a trembling hand to wipe them away. “It’s okay,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” Draco sobbed, his whole body shaking as he held me, his hands covered in blood, my blood. “Please… don’t leave me. I need you.”

But I was slipping away, my body growing colder, my strength fading. I wished I could stay. I wished I could hold on for him, but the darkness was pulling me under.

“I love you,” I whispered, my voice barely a breath.

And then everything went still. Everything went dark.

[samstree]

“Ow, ow, ow…” Jaskier hisses, holding his injured shoulder still. The arrow pulls at his flesh suddenly. “Ow! Are you trying to kill me, witch?”

He turns around to send a glare, only to find Yennefer rolling her eyes.

“It needs to come out so I can heal you, bard,” she says pointedly, one hand holding him by the arm, the other wrapped around that gods-damned arrow. “Now hold still, and stop being a baby.”

She mumbles something about even Ciri making less of a fuss with injuries, and Jaskier makes his most offended noise, ready to throw back more insults.

“I’ll have you know, I was the bravest bait who ever lived, as appointed by a princess! And this is the proof of my bravery! How many bards have taken an arrow in the back? Nary one, I say! I am not being a baby, you cruel, heartless—”

A sharp pain shoots through his shoulder as Yennefer pulls out the arrow in one swift motion, nearly blinding him. Jaskier’s breath catches, and all sounds die in his throat as the world darkens for a moment. The surprise of it all leaves him shaking, his chest heaving.

“It’ll be over soon…”

Distantly, Jaskier knows Yennefer is saying something as she works her magic, but all he can focus on is the pain and the warm trickle of blood down his back. He touches the tips of his fingers on instinct, a self-soothing motion he’s developed in the past year.

“Hey.”

A gentle hand lands on where the arrow struck him, and Jaskier gasps, realizing Yennefer is now touching smooth, unbroken skin. All the pain is gone.

“Hmm,” Jaskier says, intelligently, blinking as he tries to move his shoulder. Nothing tugs at the muscles underneath. He’s as good as new. “Oh, I—Yennefer, I guess I should—”

“Don’t thank me.” She has sat down beside him, one hand still on his shoulder, a magical tingling under her fingertips. “Promised I’d save you, didn’t I?”

Jaskier chuckles, exhaling with relief. “Did you? Not before tormenting me greatly, though.”

Yennefer blinks, violet eyes boring into him. The next thing he knows, she’s leaning down to press her lips to his shoulder, right where the phantom pain has faded. The kiss ends quickly, but it is soft, bordering on sweet.

“Oh…” he breathes.

His skin is now tingling for an entirely different reason.

“What about now, oh brave bard?” she asks, half-teasing, half-sincere. Their hands find each other’s, linking together. She squeezes in reassurance, careful to avoid the burn scars on his fingers. “Still cruel and heartless?”

Jaskier holds onto her hand in return, heart picking up its pace. He doesn’t know how she does it, driving him up the wall and making his insides melt into a warm puddle of goo at the same time, all the while being her most infuriatingly witty self. There must be a special magic spell for it.

“No,” he answers, a smile stretching across his face. She raises her eyebrows, as a challenge, as a dare, but he settles on something also half-teasing, half-sincere. “Kind and generous, is what you are, my dear, dear witch.”

He takes Yennefer’s hand to his lips and kisses her in return, and watches violet eyes melt with warmth.

If there was a magic spell, Jaskier thinks, he must have been enchanted by her a long time ago.

(this is for @cherryjuicegf <33 I counted the number of crumbs you were getting and took pity...)

[atinyniki]

i hate you.

group: tomorrow x together !

pairing: non idol!huening kai x f!reader

genre: hurt/comfort, angst, fluff, suggestive

warnings + additional info: reader is referred to as y/n, misunderstandings, love confessions, crying, kissing, a little suggestive at the end, friends to lovers, insecurities.

authors note: thought of this scenario after my friend of like four years told me they hated me as a joke </3 sorry if its not angsty enough lmfao :P this is also not proofread. english is not my first language, so please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors. happy reading :)

wc: 1255

he throws another pillow, but this time it hits you straight in the face. you giggle, throwing one back at him, but he dodges it.

“ugh! i hate you”

“i know.”

“what…?”

“i said i know.”

your eyes widen in surprise, your heart clenching in your chest. “kai…”

he looks back up at you, completely disheveled from the pillow fight that took place seconds earlier.

everything is still a mess, the sheets are ruined, there’s pillows absolutely everywhere, yet the only thing you can stare at is him.

“what do you mean…?”

you stand at the foot of the bed, still completely shocked by the sudden shift in the atmosphere. only seconds ago you were giggling with him, whacking him with your pillows and screaming in delight.

yet now, it’s as if everything has changed by the sudden confession. you stare back into his teary eyes, and you realize that he means it.

“i don’t know… you just always say it…”

“yeah but— i mean it in a playful way…”

he sighs, the tears finally spilling over his waterline. “how was i supposed to know…”, he whispers.

if you weren’t paying attention, you doubt you would have even heard his voice. you take a deep breath, sitting across from him at the other end of the bed.

“i say it all the time, kai.”

“i know…”

and it all makes sense now. every time you’ve said it, though in a playful manner, his mood has changed.

sometimes he goes quiet. sometimes his smile fades, and sometimes the happiness is sucked out of him. and it’s your fault.

“so every time i’ve said it—”

“yeah”

“kai… why didn’t you tell me?”

he doesn’t feel the need to answer your question, instead asking you something else.

“did i do something?”

“what?”

please don’t say he thinks it his fault.

“you say it a lot…”

“kai… i say that to everyone. i promise. why didn’t you tell me…?”

he doesn’t answer, only tilting his head down further. he doesn’t want you to see him in such a vulnerable state, even though he’s your best friend. 

you scoot closer towards him, pushing the hair out of his face. the second you touch him, he bursts into tears, a loud sob escaping his lips before he could stop it.

“oh kai… i’m so sorry.”

you bring up an arm wrap him in a hug, but he shrugs it off.

“d-don’t touch me…”

you instantly retract your hand, the situation suddenly becoming awkward. before you can say anything, he butts in again.

“i’m sorry… it’s not your fault. i shouldn’t act that way towards you.”

he tentatively inches his hand towards yours, linking your pinkies together. you take the chance to lace your fingers together.

“do you like me, y/n?”

“i love you kai, you’re my best friend…”

“why have you never said that to me before…?”

you furrow your brows in confusion. surely you’ve told him you loved him, right?

“im sure i have at least—“

“no, you haven’t.”

your head drops down, staring at the place next to you where your hands connect. “i’m sorry, kai. i really do love you.”

“i love you too. i sometimes think i love you too much. my friends think im in love with you. i think i am too.”

“what?”

“no. i know im in love with you. i know im in love with you because of how painful it is. how much it hurts. it hurts to know you will never see me the way i see you. it hurts because i feel like ive lost someone that i’ve never had in the first place. everything hurts, y/n. but i’ll love you just the same…”

he doesn’t even notice that he’s crying until he feels the droplets trickle down his neck. it wasn’t really a planned confession, but he didn’t know how much longer he could hold back.

“kai.”

he continues staring at his lap, not wanting you to see him like this. 

you bring a hand up to cup his cheek, and you fix his gaze towards you. his eyes are focusing on everything except you.

“kai. look at me.”

another tear slips from his eye, and you swipe it away with your thumb. 

“c’mere…”

“really? even after—“

“kai.”, you repeat, a little sternly.

he scoots closer to you, and you finally wrap your arms around him. it makes him cry even more, but he doesn’t try to stop himself anymore. 

you kiss the top of his forehead, and he quickly jerks his head towards you. you smile, wiping the remaining tears off of his face.

“y/n…”

“before i say anything, i need you to calm down, okay?”

he nods, finally getting his breathing back to normal. small whimpers leave his lips as he hugs you tighter, and your heart cracks with each sound.

“i love you, kai. i really do. i wish id told you sooner, maybe you could have avoided all this pain. i know it’s a little backwards, but you’re the light of my life. even the simple things you do make me a lot happier than i’ve been able to express…”

“so… what are you saying?”

“i’m in love with you too, kai.”

he looks back up at you, planting a kiss on your jaw. “you mean it?”

“i mean it with all of my heart. i love everything about you, kai. and i mean everything. your eyes, your smile, your voice, your heart. anything you can think of…”

he smiles at you again, the tears finally coming to a halt. “why didn’t you tell me?”

“i’m terrified. i’m terrified of what’s to come, and i didn’t want to ruin anything between us either…”

he quickly pulls you onto his lap, smoothing down the small hairs sticking up from your scalp. it feels oddly intimate, and you can’t help but smile.

“it will be scary, i know. but will you take a chance? with me…?”

“what if it doesn’t end well?”

“then it doesn’t end well, there’s nothing else we can do. but if i don’t try i know i will regret it forever…”

you find yourself staring into his eyes for way too long, and your heart flutters in your chest. you have a choice to make.

the answer is quite obvious.

“kai… can i do something?”

“anything.”

you lean down, pressing your lips to his. they slot together perfectly, like a lock and a key. it takes him a second before he kisses you back, still taken aback by the sudden action.

he places his hands on your waist as you pin him against the headboard, now impossibly close. it takes a while for you to pull away, the feeling is too addicting.

“i—“

“before anything, i need you to promise that you’ll be completely honest with me, okay? tell me if i’m hurting you, or if you’re uncomfortable. i don’t want you to feel this way ever again…”

“i promise…”

you notice the way his cheeks go red from your touch, and you place another kiss to his forehead.

“awh, baby… you’re so cute”

“hey! i’m not cute… i’m just happy. i really thought you hated me…”

you kiss over his neck, flustering him even more. the crimson color spreads to his collarbone as well, and you giggle.

he holds onto your waist to ground you, his breathing getting heavier. slowly, you lower yourself onto him again, making him groan. 

“sounds like i have a lot to make up for then, hm?”

<3

[egcdeath]

okay but imagine frankie stressing out about taking his little girl to the father daughter dance and the reader has to calm him down and assure him he’s gonna do great.

pairing: frankie morales x reader

summary: frankie has some concerns before his first father-daughter dance.

word count: 1.2k

warnings: insecurities about parenting, very light angst, mostly fluff, hurt/comfort, lightly edited

author's note: frankie my beloved!!! i can't believe i didn’t write for him sooner. i'm also taking drabble requests for all pedro characters right now! just drop it in my inbox and i'll try to crank something out :-)

“Say cheese!” you directed, grinning as your daughter flashed her newly grown-in teeth and clung onto her father’s black dress slacks. Frankie looked just as pleased as he squatted down next to your ecstatic daughter, her excited energy clearly infectiously spreading to her parents. 

“You guys are just precious,” you gushed before lowering your camera, pleased with the boatload of pictures you’d taken of your two favorite people in the world. “You ready to go, conejita?” you asked, approaching your daughter and lowering yourself to her level.

“Yes!” she squealed, her little chubby cheeks rising as she beamed once more. “We’re gonna have so much fun, right, daddy?”

“Of course we are,” he agreed, his soft voice fully equipped as he seemed to fall under the spell of his adorable daughter.

“I’ll race you to the car?” she asked, although she was already taking off out the door with zero regard for her dress, or anything for that matter. 

Frankie looked at you and raised his brows as if to ask if he should’ve been chasing her, and you gave him a noncommittal shrug. “It’s her new thing,” you explained, walking at a far more casual pace as the two of you headed outside. “And she prefers to win.”

“Good to know,” he chuckled softly. “You know, I do want to be home more often to do this kind of thing. I want to know what her new interests and little quirks are,” Frankie’s face seemed to fall the slightest bit as you turned to look at him, a small frown now on his face.

“I know you do,” you said understandingly, despite the fact that more often than not, you didn’t understand. His missions were often very hush-hush–even for you–but what you did know was that there was often a lot of money involved. Enough money to allow your husband to become a stay-at-home father, and to send your daughter to college several times over. Yet, despite his growing joint pain and his desire to be with his family, he was often sent on many months-long excursions that ended with him being mentally absent for days, and waking you up in the middle of the night from squeezing you so hard that you thought you might burst. “But this mission is your last one, right?”

“It should be,” he shrugged, stepping out into the garage with you. While you tried to have hope, you could think of multiple occasions where Frankie was told that a mission would be his last, but that ended up not being the case.

“Then you’ll be back with us soon permanently,” you assured him, “More father-daughter dances, more playdates at the park, hugs and kisses from us whenever you need them… Just try to look forward to that. I know I am.” 

You were doing your best to reassure him, but in the process you were also attempting to reassure yourself. It obviously was not your preference to have your partner and the father of your child gone so frequently, but it also wasn’t up to you. That much was clear. 

“I will,” he said, his frown dissipating once he laid eyes on his daughter once more, who was standing outside of the car door with a very self-satisfied grin on her face. 

“I won!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air in celebration. “You’re too slow, daddy,” she giggled.

Frankie wasted no time walking over to her and scooping her into his arms, pressing a big kiss onto her cheek with all the love in the world. As you watched, your heart melted, particularly as your daughter happily scrunched her face up at the affection. You yearned for more of this, to be able to wake up every day and be able to bask in the love that came from the two people across from you. 

“I’m too old now. I’m such a slowpoke,” he said dramatically, making your daughter laugh as he moved to get her settled in the back seat of the car. “We’ll have to do a do-over race at some point.”

“I’ll still win,” she said confidently, causing you to laugh where you were standing by the door. After strapping in your daughter and closing the back door, you were sure that the conversation between you and Frankie was over. He was off to have a fun, well deserved night with your kid, and you had a bottle of pinot noir and a trashy romcom calling your name. 

Yet, before you turned to go back inside, Frankie reached out and grabbed your arm. 

“Everything okay?” you asked, concern written all over you. His previous behavior around his daughter compared to the look he was giving you right then were night and day–his shoulders tense and his worry lines making an appearance as he gulped.

“Yeah, I’m just… I want to make sure that she has the best night possible. We just see each other so little now that I want to be sure that the memories she does have of me are good ones,” he confessed.

“It will be a good one,” you assured him. 

“I-” he seemed to stop himself before he said something else. “I’m a terrible dancer.”

For some reason, you were getting the feeling that his worries weren’t just related to his dancing skills. Frankie had shared his insecurities with you over his parenting a number of times before–his concerns that he was going to end up not knowing anything at all about his own child, his fears that she would grow up resenting him for his absence, and his biggest fear that she one day might even forget that he was her father in the first place. It made sense that something like a father-daughter dance would bring out some of that insecurity in him. 

You pulled Frankie into a hug, knowing that he was never all that great with sharing his feelings, but a bit of physical contact always seemed to help him a bit. You swore you could feel his shoulders relax as you embraced him, swaying him ever so slightly. 

“Baby, you are not a bad dancer. And even if you were the most awful, terrible dancer in this world, all she’s gonna remember is how fun of a night she had with her daddy,” you attempted to comfort Frankie with your sincerity. “You should hear how she talks about you when you’re gone. The amount of times she’s retold me the story of your trip to the conservatory, or about the time you two went to the aquarium together? I promise, all the little details don’t matter. What matters is that she loves you, and she loves getting to spend any time with you.”

The assurance from you that your daughter didn’t think of him in the same way that he seemed to think about himself seemingly did the trick, giving Frankie all that he needed to gently pull away from you. 

“Thank you,” he said earnestly, pecking your lips before looking at you with an almost watery expression. 

“Of course. I’ll always be here for you,” you replied with just as much sincerity. “Now, you should probably get going before she starts complaining about you being a slug and taking so long.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” Frankie agreed, fully pulling himself away from you and turning himself towards the door once more. 

“Love you guys,” you called as you began to walk towards the house door. “Make some fun memories tonight, okay?”

The grins and waves you received as the two began to back out of the garage told you more than any verbal answer ever could’ve.

They absolutely would.

[peachpitlover]

Hear me out -

JJxCameron!reader on poguelandia but reader is deaf and after a while on the island her hearing aids start beeping (need to be replaced) but Sarah is the only one who can speak sign language.

Fluff of JJ trying to communicate with his gf and beating himself up by the fact that he doesn’t know sign, caus she normally doesn’t need to use it !!

I’m gonna try my best because I’m not super familiar with this kind of thing, i hope you like it! Also i am so sorry if anything I write is not correct or doesn’t make sense, please let me know and I’ll fix it:) all signing will be in bold.

You were sitting with JJ helping him break sticks for the fire he was planning to start once the sun began to set when there was a familiar beep. That sudden noise caused your heart to drop, your hearing aids had just died.

JJ notices the way your smile quickly faded and you began to frantically look around.

“What’s wrong?” You could barely make out his words as you rarely needed to lip read. You continued to frown and gently tapped your right ear with a shrug of your shoulders.

His eyebrows furrowed and he said something you couldn’t make out. “Sarah?” You signed.

JJ spoke again before getting up and leaving you on your own, it hurt you to not be able to communicate with him. Just as you picked up a stick to throw it in frustration, Sarah crouched down in front of you.

“They’re both dead?” She asks.

“Yeah, I didn’t even think of that when we got stuck out here.”

“Me neither, you wanna keep them on so you don’t lose them? Or I can give them to John B to keep in his pockets, they have zippers?”

You thought for a moment before removing both hearing aids and handed them to Sarah.

“You can’t fix them?” JJ worried as he saw Sarah close her fingers delicately around the hearing aids.

“They’re dead, nothing we can do now.”

He watched Sarah walk to John B before turning his head back to you with a sympathetic frown.

You weren’t sure what exactly he said as you could only make out a few words here and there.

“What?” You signed.

He looked at you in thought before turning and walking away, and you couldn't help the hurt you felt. You resorted back to breaking up sticks and playing with sand. You were in your own world; not feeling the presence of your sister and boyfriend until Sarah nudged your foot with hers.

JJ smiles proudly: "Hungry," he signed.

"You're hungry?" You signed in confusion and watched Sarah translate for him.

"He meant 'Are you hungry?'"

“A little, I’m just annoyed about my hearing aids.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Sarah smiled gently at you.

You could see the frustration on JJ’s face as he struggled to communicate with you, he was trying at least.

Later in the evening, you sat by yourself by the water, you were beginning to feel lonely as you couldn’t communicate with anyone besides your sister. You once again didn’t notice JJ’s presence until he rested his head on your shoulder.

Just then, a thought popped into his head: “Love you,” he drew in the sand.

“Love you too J.”

“Teach me.”

You sat with JJ and spelled out words in the wet sand and repeated the motion of your hand until JJ got it perfectly. You taught him to sign his name and how to introduce himself. You also snuck in fuck you, but that was just between the two of you.

While he was nowhere near fluent, and often mixed up signs, but he was trying, and that made your heart squeeze with love.

I hope this is ok, I’m not super familiar with this kind of thing so please correct me if anything isn’t accurate:) Thank you for reading

My Masterlists

[twisted-turtels]

Crossed Paths (Pt.7)

Author's note: My fingers hurt. Also if you say anything bad about my picture you're anti-black. I didn't make the rules. Also please ignore the amount of times i misspelled venetia. I though i had messed so i fixed it but to come to find out i was spelling it right the whole time lol.

5310 words

Crossed Paths

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Jordan slowly wakes up as she feels a light tap on her shoulder.

“Jordannn. Wake up,” she hears a soft voice whisper. God?

A Jordan lies, still hoping the person will leave; she feels an even more aggressive tap on her shoulder. 

“Jordan, get up. I brought you breakfast since you slept in late,” Farleigh laughs. With an annoyed groan, Jordan flips over to see Farleigh standing by her bed with a teasing grin. 

“Your food is on the nightstand. Also, change into a bathing suit when you’re done and meet us outside,” Farleigh states.

Jordan reaches over to grab her breakfast, noticing Farleigh still standing by her bed. 

“Why are you still here,” Jordan narrows her eyes playfully at Farleigh, taking a bite of her eggs.

Farleigh joins Jordan on her bed, “No reason,” he shrugs. Jordan nods her, “Mmm.”

She reaches up to touch Farleigh’s hair, “Braids look good. Did the durag stay on all night?”

“Nah, it was off by the time I woke up,” Farleigh laughs, “My head doesn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would, though.”

Jordan nods her head in understanding, “Yeah, I didn’t braid them as tight as I could, but I didn’t know how you would handle them though,” she takes a bite of her food, “If we’re going to be in a pool though you should put it back on.”

Farleigh looks at her with faux disgust, “Can you chew your food before you continue talking?” 

Jordan swallows her food before laughing, “My bad. Anyways, I’m done,” Jordan puts her food down as she begins to stand up, “I’ll see you at the pool?”

Farleigh stands to leave, “Yeah. Wear something cute,” he leaves before Jordan can throw her pillow at him. Jordan chuckles, shaking her head at Farleigh’s antics. I’ll wear something cute, alright. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jordan walks the halls, earbuds in her ear, pool bag in tow. As she’s walking, she also sees Oliver standing in the hallway. Jordan approaches Oliver, her tone neutral as she addresses him, “Oliver,” she yells out. Oliver turns around, noticing Jordan’s baby blue two-piece, “Hey, Jor-”

“Where’s the pool,” she asks, her expression showing little warmth towards him. 

“Well, Felix said we were meeting at the field,” Oliver points through one of the many large windows in the house, “over there.” Oliver continues to stare at Jordan with interest. Jordan nods in acknowledgement, before noticing him staring at her, “Do you like what you see, Ollie?” She quips, raising an eyebrow challengingly. Oliver silently nods as Jordan walks closer to him. She lightly touches one of the buttons on his shirt, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She places her hand on his chest, “Why is your heart beating so fast,” she asks with an innocent tilt of her head. 

Before Oliver can respond, she pulls away, “Lead the way,” she throws her hand out, indicating for him to proceed. 

Jordan follows behind Oliver as they make their way towards the field. Jordan listens to her music as she walks behind Oliver, not paying much attention to her surroundings; she looks up and notices Oliver speaking towards her, so she takes out an earbud, “What did you say,” she asks in confusion. 

“I was just asking how you like Saltburn,” Oliver states. Jordan thinks before answering, “I’m having fun,” she answers, “What about you,” she asks. Oliver is interrupted again as Jordan hears a familiar voice yell as they walk into a field, “Guys! Over here!” Felix yells. 

Jordan squints her eyes to see Felix, Venitia, and Farleigh lying in the tall grass. 

Her eyes widen in surprise, “Are y’all naked!” The group laughs, “We’re sunbathing,” They yell together. Jordan and Oliver walk closer to the group before Farleigh stops them, “No swimsuits allowed in the field,” he states. 

Jordan shrugs her shoulders and walks in front of Oliver, “Okay,” she yells before stripping off her clothes and skipping towards Farleigh. 

Damn, she looks good, they all think. Jordan lays next to Farleigh, book in hand, before taking a sip out of his bottle of wine, “Didn’t know you had an ass on you,” she jokingly states. 

“Yeah, the same can be said about you,” he replies. They both watch, amused, as Oliver takes his trunks off. Farleigh looks over his sunglasses as Jordan laughs in surprise.

“Well, well, well,” Farleigh states.

“Leave him alone,” Felix scolds. Farleigh points at Oliver, “But look at him. Good for you, Ollie,” he continues. 

He looks towards Jordan, “What a twist,” Farleigh states with a sly grin.

Oliver puts on his sunglasses and walks to the group with a confident smirk.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As days turned into weeks, Jordan quickly settled into life at Saltburn. Having no choice but to be around him, she has learned to tolerate Oliver’s presence. 

The group lounges at the pond, Jordan and Farleigh share a lounge chair together, Farleigh stroking his fingers through her braids while reading ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.’

“Do you think Harry, Hermione, and Ron all have threesomes,” Felix asks.

Jordan lightly laughs, “Oh, for sure.”

“Without a fucking doubt,” Farleigh agrees.

“You think they all fuck,” Felix wonders.

“They’re missing out if they don’t,” Farleigh quipped.

One such evening, they watched “The Ring” with the rest of the family. 

“Oh my god,” Venitia screams with fright. Jordan laughs as she watches the TV, unable to take the movie seriously. She throws herself on Oliver’s shoulder as they laugh at the scene before them. Farleigh shifts his gaze to them, jealously evident in his eyes. 

“Why is she wet,” Elspeth asks.

“Because she’s been down a well, Mum,” Felix yells in disbelief.

Jordan even got a chance to show off her tennis skills.

“No, I want Jordan on my team,” Farleigh complains, “You have Oliver,” he yells across the court.

Jordan looks up from her bottle of wine with wide eyes at the sound of her name.

“Why can’t I have her,” Venitia complains, sounding like a defeated child, “She was on your team last time.”

Jordan runs over and holds her hands to calm the group down, “Calm down. Calm down. There’s enough of me to go around,” She goes to Venitia’s side of the court, “But it is Venitia’s turn now,” Jordan shrugs.

“You have Oliver,” Jordan lightly pushes Oliver to Farleigh’s side of the court. Farleigh looks unamused as he throws his head back in protest.

“Oh, stop being a baby, Farleigh,” Oliver laughs while walking to his side of the court. 

“Shut up,” Farleigh retorts, voice laced with annoyance. 

“And remember, if you miss, you drink,” Jordan shouts as she takes a drag of her blunt.

“Keep score, Felix!”

And guess who won?

“Farleigh, love, you’re heavy. I can’t carry you,” Jordan says as she struggles to drag a drunk Farleigh to his room, “Help me out here,” she grunts. 

Farleigh responds with a drunken giggle, offering little assistance as he slings his arm around Jordan’s.

“Love? You’re not British, Jordy,” Farleigh states matter-of-factly.

Jordan rolls her eyes, “Should’ve made Felix bring you.” They make it to Farleigh’s room, and Jordan throws him on the bed with a grunt. Farleigh lays still before Jordan taps him, “Nuh-uh. Get up. Change into your PJs first before you go to sleep,” she commands. 

Farleigh complies with her command, albeit with some reluctance and a few drunken grumbles. He manages to change into his pajamas with Jordan’s assistance, stumbling slightly. Farleigh finally settles into bed, eyes dropping in exhaustion. 

“Thanks, Jordy,” Farleigh mumbles. 

“No problem, hun,” Jordan states before kissing Farleigh on the head and walking out the door. Jordan walks towards the kitchen to grab a snack before heading to her room, noticing Oliver also standing in the kitchen. 

“Hey, Oliver,” Jordan says out of courtesy, “I’m surprised you’re not as drunk as Farleigh was,” she lightly chuckles to herself. 

Oliver chuckles, “Yeah, I can handle my alcohol better than some,” he watches intently as Jordan walks over to the freezer to grab a pint of ice cream. As Jordan bends over to grab the ice cream, he admires her movements and how her braids fall over her shoulder. He clears his throat, trying to distract himself from his wandering thoughts.

Jordan goes to sit on one of the kitchen counters, “How are you doing…You know, ever since your dad died,” she asks bluntly while looking up at him. Oliver’s expression flickers momentarily, surprised by her sudden question, “Oh, I’m doing fine.”

Jordan nods, though her gaze remains probing, “Mmm. You sure? Losing a parent can’t be easy,” she presses, tone gently yet persistent. Oliver offers a casual shrug, his eyes carefully avoiding Jordan’s penetrating gaze. “Yeah, well, you know. Life goes on,” he says, attempting to brush off the topic. 

But Jordan doesn’t seem satisfied with his evasive response, “Right,” she says, her tone tinged with skepticism. “You wouldn’t be lying to me, would you, Ollie?” 

“Why would I lie about my dad being dead, Jordan?” Oliver challenges. Jordan hops off the kitchen counter and saunters towards Oliver. She tilts her head slightly to meet his eyes, “I don’t know, Oliver,” she replies evenly, voice unwavering, “But you seem to have a knack for keeping secrets,” she shrugs before continuing, “How is it that a random scholarship boy like you somehow manages to weasel his way into staying at Saltburn,” she shakes her head. 

Oliver’s jaw tightens, expression slightly darkening, “I’m not keeping any secrets. Jordan,” his eyes narrow slightly as he meets her gaze, “And maybe I got lucky. Or someone saw potential in me.”

Jordan scoffs, “Potential? Please. You’re just another one of Felix’s pity projects,” she moves back from Oliver, “Shame.”

Oliver’s expression tightens, further, frustration simmering beneath the surface, “That’s not true. Felix didn’t bring me here out of pity. I earned my place here,” he answers defensively. 

Jordan’s skepticism remains unyielding as she meets Oliver’s gaze head-on, “Earned,” she challenges, “You give a random man your bike on a Monday, and now all of a sudden, you’re besties. You give people a sob story, and suddenly you’re part of an elite crowd. Please spare me,” she rolls her eyes. 

With a final dismissive glance, Jordan turned on her heel and strode away, leaving Oliver standing in the kitchen. He watches her walk out with a mixture of annoyance and admiration. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The days following Jordan’s conversation with Oliver were filled with glances exchanged between them, each one laden with tension and unspoken suspicion. Despite the unease, Jordan and Farleigh found solace in the simple pleasure of lounging in the pool. 

“My mom called me,” Jordan interrupts the comfortable silence. 

Farleigh lifts his head in interest, “Hm? About what,” he asks.

“Just to talk. She was asking about my summer and whatnot. When I’m gonna start studying for the LSAT, blah blah,” Jordan laughs, “When’s the last time you talked to your mom,” she asks.

Farleigh scoffs, “Let me think...exam day, I think.” 

Jordan looks at Farleigh in disbelief, “Damn, that was almost two months ago.”

Farleigh nods before focusing back on the book on his lap. Jordan notices his shift in attitude, “Touchy subject?” Jordan’s question hangs in the moment before Farleigh responds, his voice tinged with resignation, “Yeah, you could say that,” he looks towards Jordan, “She’s just annoying sometimes, but that’s my mom. Love her.”

Jordan nods her head in understanding before hopping off her floaty and going to grab her towel, “What are you doing later tonight,” she asks Farleigh. 

“Nothing. Why,” Farleigh asks with skepticism. 

“Well, we’ve been in the pool all day. I can wash your hair and put it in some braids for you. Only if you want,” Jordan asks. 

Farleigh briefly considers Jordan’s offer before a small smile tugs at the corners of his lips, “Sure, that sounds nice, actually.”

Jordan grins, relieved to see Farleigh’s mood-lifting, “Great! I’ll meet you in your room in, like, two hours?”

Farleigh agrees, “Yeah, I’ll see you then.” 

Two hours later

“Stop moving,” Jordan commands as she moves Farleigh head back under the running water. 

“But you’re getting shampoo in my eye,” he whines. 

“You are a grown man. Stop whining. And look, we’re done anyways,” Jordan says, finally turning off the water. She grabs a towel before tossing it to Farleigh, allowing him to dry his hair. 

“Come sit down when you’re finished,” Jordan says while gesturing to the floor before his bed. Farleigh nods and quickly dries his hair before sitting between Jordan’s legs. 

As Jordan starts to braid, the two fall into a comfortable conversation. 

“Honestly, you can take these braids out tomorrow morning, and your hair would be so curly. I think it would be cute. You always have your afro, but the curls would be a bit more uniform,” Jordan states while focusing on a braid. 

“Is there something wrong with my hair now,” Farleigh asks, consciously touching his hair before Jordan smacks his hand away. 

“I never said that, did I,” she quips. 

Fareleigh jokingly argues you back, “I’m just trying to figure out what you’re insinuating. If you think my hair is bad, just say some-” Farleigh stops talking, eyes widening in shock. Jordan’s eyebrow furrowed in confusion, “What?”

Farleigh gets up to sit on the window ledge. “Look,” he says, pointing to the field.

Jordan follows, “What are you talking about-” Her eyes widen. On a bench, she sees Oliver kneeling under Venitia’s nightgown. Is he?

Jordan’s mouth dropped in shock before she took out her phone. “I’m so telling Felix,” she said with determination. 

Farleigh nods in agreement, his gaze still fixed on the field, “You stupid little boy,” he mutters under his breath, his voice laced with contempt. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jordan and Farleigh sit beside each other outside while the family enjoys breakfast. They both exchange glances as they notice the looks Oliver and Venetia exchange with each other. Felix walks up to the table sulkily before sitting down. 

“Morning. You sleep well,” Oliver asks.

“Not really, mate, no,” Felix replies with an attitude. 

Sir James continues speaking, “We’re thirty for dinner tomorrow. Stopford Sackville has cried off.”

“Oh, what a shame,” Elspeth answers sarcastically. Venetia, Farleigh, and Felix audibly groan.

In confusion, Jordan looks at the table, “I thought we liked dinner time?”

“No, we dont,” Venitia mumbles with her hand in her head in annoyance. 

“Wait, who is coming to dinner again,” Farleigh asks while taking a drag of his cigarette. 

“The Henrys,” Venitia mutters while biting her croissant. 

“Who are the Henrys,” Oliver asks, curiosity laced in his tone. 

“Dad’s friends. They’re all called Henry,” Venetia answers. 

“Not all of them, Just most…” Sir James trails off. 

“It’ll be fun,” Elspeth exclaims while patting Jordan’s shoulder, smiling. 

“It’ll be being molested by Henry,” Venetia turns to her father, “You know which one!”

“I’ll put you next to Oliver! He can molest you instead,” Elspeth says casually. 

Jordan chokes on her tea as she watches the conversation unfold. She coughs and sputters, trying to regain her composure as Farleigh pats her back. 

“Jordan. Are you okay, darling,” Elspeth asks, voice laced with concern. 

Jordan nods, “Yes, ma’am. I’m fine. You can continue,” she dismisses. 

“Oh, Oliver, I was going to say we should do something fun for your birthday. A proper party! No Henrys! Something actually fun,” Elspeth speaks excitedly as she turns to Sir James, “What do you think, darling?”

“If Oliver would like it, I think it’s a splendid idea,” Sir James agrees.

“I think Oliver looks like he’d rather throw himself out of a window,” Farleigh says, lip twitching into a slight smirk. Jordan laughs as she stares at Oliver in amusement. Oliver turns towards Elspeth, “What kind of party?”

Elspeth shrugs, “I don’t know, whatever you want. What do you think? About a hundred people?”

Oliver stares at her in shock, “A hundred?”

“Or two. You can invite whoever you want. All your friends,” Elspeth continues.

“What friends,” Jordan mutters while taking a bite of her pancake. Oliver quickly glances at her before desperately looking at Felix, lightly tapping the boy playfully but watching as he shifts his body away from him. Venetia gets up from the table with a huff as the group watches her stomp away. 

“We could have a theme! How about Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Elspeth suggests. 

Jordan nods her head in agreement, already planning out her outfit. 

“Bring on the slutty fairies,” Farleigh says with disinterest. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Farleigh couldn’t help but stare at Jordan as she entered the busy dining room. She’s conversing with one of the Henrys’ wives, her charm and grace evident in every gesture. He takes a sip of his drink before walking over to her. 

“Sorry to interrupt,” Farleigh says. 

The two women stop their conversation before noticing Farleigh’s approach. Jordan offers him a warm smile as he joins them while Henry’s wife looks at him expectantly, “Hello, Farleigh. How are you, love?” the older woman exclaims.

“I’m doing good, ma’am,” Farleigh answers charmfully. Jordan smiles at Farleigh’s response, appreciating his polite demeanor. “I was just telling her how great my time here has been,” she says, turning back to the Henrys’ wife. Farleigh nods, feigning interest in the conversation. Jordan bids the woman farewell before following Farleigh to sit in their assigned seats at the long table. 

“Look at you, Ms. Houston,” Farleigh teases. 

Jordan nudges his shoulder, “Listen. I’m trying to network. Okay?”

Farleigh holds his hands up in protest, “Hey, I’m not judging,” he laughs. “You know we’re doing Karaoke later,” Farleigh asks while eating. 

“Oh, I love Karaoke! I can’t wait,” Jordan exclaims excitedly. I love her smile. 

Much later into the evening, everyone gathered in the great hall. Farleigh sits next to Oliver on the couch as he watches one of the Henrys drunkenly yell the lyrics to “Low.” He turns his head to see Jordan laughing with Felix and Venetia. He lightly smiles before turning his attention back to Oliver.

Farleigh leans closer to Oliver, “Fuck, chuck, or marry: Richard III, Henry VII, or Henry XIII. You know. I think I’d fuck Richard III. He’s so insecure, so you know he’d do the work, right?”

They chuckle. Oliver looks him in the eyes, “Or you could just fuck me instead,” he says casually, tension builds up in the air between them, “Why did you and Jordan tell Felix about me and Venitia?”

Farleigh smiles innocently, “Well, we didn’t think he’d react that badly,” Yes, we did.

“Yes, you did,” Oliver objected.

“Yes, I did,” Farleigh confirms. Oliver shifts closer to Farleigh, “You know, if you ever want someone to talk to, you can always tell me, Farleigh,” Oliver whispers. Why would I do that?

“What do you mean,” Farleigh asks.

“Well, I know you’re having a hard time at home. I know how that feels. When things are so precarious, it’s terrifying. And lonely. And it must be so fucking weird having to ask them for everything.” He nods his head towards the Cattons, “And I know it seems like Jordan is way out of your league,” Farleigh eyebrows twitch in slight anger, “And I know you fucking hate me-” Oliver rants before he’s interrupted. 

“I…I don’t hate you,” Farleigh begins; Oliver continues,”- but if you ever want me to talk to them. If I can help in any way, just ask.”

Farleigh offers Oliver a faux smile before being interrupted by Henry’s terrible singing. 

“Alright. I think I’m gonna go put him out of his misery.” Farleigh stands up to take the microphone out of Henry’s hand and select a song. 

“Alrighhht. Well done, Henry, that was great. Round of applause for Henry,” Farleigh smiles mischievously as he picks a song, “Now it’s time to take things up a notch. We have someone here who is a very talented singer.” The speakers blare the intro to “Rent” by The Pet Shop Boys. 

“He’s your best friend and mine,” he says sarcastically, “Oliver Quick!”

Jordan and the Cattons cheer loudly in the back of the room. Farleigh grabs Oliver’s hand to force him to the front of the room. Oliver reluctantly makes his way to the front of the room, feeling a knot of apprehension tightening in his stomach. His gaze flickers to Farleigh, who watches him with a knowing smirk.

“Don’t be shy, Ollie,” Farleigh teases.

“The words are on the screen, Ollie. Go crazy,” Jordan yells mischievously. The music starts, and Oliver begins to sing, his voice shaky and uncertain. Jordan watches from the sidelines, her expression unreadable as she observes Oliver’s performance. She notices him starting to slightly loosen up. Farleigh leans against the wall with Jordan, a smug grin playing on his lips, cigarette in hand, as he watches Oliver.  

You bring me food. I need it. You give me love. I feed it.

Felix and Venetia look at Farleigh and Jordan, noticing the amusement on their faces. 

I love you. You pay my rent. 

Silence takes over the room. The audience now understands why the song was chosen. 

Jordan and Farleigh cheer from the back of the room, “Whooo! You tell ’em, baby,” Jordan exclaims. 

Felix exclaims furiously, “Guys!”

Oliver smiles through the humiliation, “This is your song as well, Farleigh. Come finish it,” he says slyly. 

Farleigh leaps up, “Only if you insist,” he walks to Oliver. He grabs the mic confidently, “You took me to a restaurant off Broadway. To show me who-” 

Oliver glares intensely at Farleigh, his eyes boring into Farleigh’s with an unsettling intensity. Fareligh, undeterred by Oliver’s intimidating gaze, continues to sing, his voice strong and unwavering, spurred by the crowd’s cheers. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jordan stumbles slightly as she holds on to Farleigh’s arm, Felix and Venetia trailing behind them. 

“Did you see his face? He looked absolutely mortified,” she laughs.

Farleigh chuckles in agreement, his arm steadying Jordan as they continue walking down the hallway, “Yeah, it was priceless,” he replies, a smirk playing on his lips. Felix’s jaw tightens as he glares at the back of their heads, “Why did you do that, Farleigh,” he asks, frustration evident in his voice. 

Farleigh turns his head, taking notice of Felix’s disapproving tone. Farleigh shrugs nonchalantly, “Do what,” he asks innocently. 

“Lighten up, Felix,” Jordan chimes in, her tone teasing. “It was funny, no?”

“No,” Felix deadpans. Jordan rolls her eyes.

“This isn’t a joke, Jordan,” his tone stern. “You two need to stop antagonizing Oliver.”

Jordan’s frustration bubbles to the surface as she confronts Felix, “Oh my god. It’s always about Oliver. He’s a big boy, you know? He doesn’t need you to protect him,” Jordan groans. 

Felix’s eyebrows knit together in disbelief at Jordan’s reaction, “What the fuck is your problem with him?” He asks, taken aback by her sudden outburst. 

Jordan stops in her tracks, her eyes blazing in intensity as she meets Felix’s gaze, “First of all. Don’t ever curse at me again,” she warns, voice firm, “Secondly, he doesn’t belong here,” she argues.

Felix’s expression shifts from surprise to frustration as he tries to make sense of Jordan’s frustration, “What do you mean he doesn’t belong here,” he presses, his tone demanding an explanation.

“What I just said, Felix,” Jordan challenges.

Felix scoffs, “And you think you do?”

Farleigh and Venetia watch from the sidelines as the scene unfolds in front of them. 

“What’s that supposed to mean,” Jordan asks.

“You’re just some random exchange student. Do you think you’re better than him,” Felix questions, voice heavy with anger.

Jordan laughs in disbelief, “Oh, that’s how you think of me? I never said I was better than anyone, but at least I don’t try to act like someone I’m not.”

Farleigh exchanges a glance with Venetia, concern evident in his eyes as he watches the argument between Jordan and Felix escalate.

Venetia steps forward, her voice calm yet authoritative, “Felix, that’s enough,” she interjects, her voice firm, “You’re drunk. You don’t mean that.” 

Felix rolls his eyes before storming towards his room, Venetia following him. Farleigh looks at Jordan in disbelief, “Where the fuck did that come from?”

Jordan barges into her room. Farleigh follows closely behind, catching her arm and turning her around to face him, “You need to calm down,” he instructs, “You’re drunk.”

Jordan rolls her eyes before throwing his hand off her arms, “I’m not that drunk. I meant everything I said,” she huffs as she sits down on her bed.

Farleigh’s brows furrow in concern as he takes a step closer, “What’s going on,” he asks, voice laced with concern.

Jordan rubs her hands down her face in exhaustion before sighing, “I had talked to Oliver the other night. Asked him how he felt about his dad dying.”

Farleigh’s expression softens as he sits beside Jordan, “And?”

“He just seemed so nonchalant about it. Too nonchalant. Obviously, everyone’s grieving journey is different, but that was more than acceptance; that was indifference,” Jordan looks at Farleigh with concerned eyes, “It just doesn’t sit right with me, you know?” 

Farleigh nods his head in understanding, “I get you. I also talked with him,” Jordan looks at him, intrigued, “What did he say?”

“He said, ‘If I ever need to talk, I can always go to him,’ Farleigh says in a high-pitched voice. 

“Why would he say that?” Jordan asks.

“I think he overheard a conversation between me and Felix,” Farleigh rolls his eyes, “Because there’s no other way he would know that information.”

“See! He’s a snake,” Jordan pauses “…What did you and Felix talk about?” 

Farleigh sighs before throwing his head back, “My mom is not the richest in the family,” he begins reluctantly, his expression reflecting a mix of frustration and vulnerability. 

“She’s been struggling for a while now with her money, and the only way I can attend school here is because of my Uncle,” he continues. 

“What were you and Felix arguing about then,” Jordan asks. 

“He claims my uncle doesn’t want to enable my mother anymore. Even though they have no problem throwing a party for a stranger, they’ve only known for two months,” Farleigh asks, frustration evident in his voice. 

“That’s stupid, and Felix has no business speaking for his dad,” Jordan says bitterly. 

Farleigh nods and shrugs his shoulder, “It is what it is, I guess,” he states before lying in Jordan’s bed. Jordan notices his eyes drooping, “You don’t want to get any clothes to change into?”

“I probably should, huh… You’re letting me sleep in here.” Farleigh teasingly asks.

Jordan narrows her eyes playfully, “Yeah, dont push it,” she retorts with a smirk, “And hurry up before I change my mind.”

Jordan chuckles as she watches Farleigh rush off to grab his clothes. Ten minutes later, Farleigh darts back into the room, durag in hand, “Can you put this on for me?” 

“No, you got an afro right now,” Jordan digs in one of her drawers and takes out a black bonnet, “Put this on instead,” she tosses the bonnet towards Farleigh. Farleigh puts the bonnet on and looks at Jordan with a cunning grin. 

She lets out a surprised yelp as Farleigh playfully throws her onto the bed. She lands with a thud, laughing as she looks up at him, “You’re on top of me,” she states matter-of-factly.

Farleigh’s playful grin widens as he looks down at Jordan, his eyes sparkling with mischief, “Is it a problem?” he teases, leaning a little closer. Jordan’s laughter continues, but there’s a hint of something else in her expression as she meets Farleigh’s gaze. “Depends on what you plan on doing up there,” she replies, gaze lingering. Farleigh licks his lips, a hint of anticipation in his eyes as he leans closer to Jordan, “What do you want, Jordan,” Farleigh asks, voice low. 

As Jordan’s lips brush against Farleigh’s chin, a surge of electricity courses through him. His heart quickens as he inhales sharply at the sensation. 

Jordan pulls back slightly, her eyes locked with Farleigh’s, “What do I want?” she echoes, her voice barely above a whisper. 

Farleigh’s breath catches in his throat, his gaze fixed on Jordan’s lips, longing for more. “I want…” he begins, his voice husky with desire, but his words trail off as he leans closer, closing the distance between them, lips meeting in a passionate kiss. 

Farleigh’s hands find their way to Jordan’s waist, pulling her closer as he deepens the kiss, his heart racing in anticipation. Jordan grabs Fareligh’s hair, her breath mingling with his. Their kiss is intense, fueled by longing and unspoken emotions. Farleigh’s breath hitches in response to Jordan’s touch, a soft moan escaping his lips. 

As they pull away, their eyes meet. Jordan smiles slightly and says, “How long have you wanted to do that?”

Farleigh gazes into Jordan’s eyes, his eyes filled with a mix of adoration and desire. He brushes a braid out of her face, “For longer than I would like to admit.”

Jordan’s smile widens, “Well, I’m glad you finally did,” she says softly, her voice laced with affection. Farleigh leans in to gently kiss Jordan’s forehead before settling next to her. Jordan wraps her arms around Farleigh, pulling him close, “It was good, wasn’t it,” she asks jokingly. 

Farleigh rolls his eyes, wrapping his arm around Jordan’s waist as he pulls her closer. “Don’t let it go to your head,” he teases, his tone playful as they settle into the comfort of each other. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The room is dimly lit, shadows dancing on the walls. The only sound is the sound of Jordan’s light snores. Farleigh lies asleep in bed, his breathing steady and calm. Jordan is next to him, sleeping soundly. 

Suddenly, Farleigh fills a heavy weight on top of him, and before he can react, he feels a hand cover his mouth. Farleigh’s eyes widen in alarm as he realizes the danger he’s in. He tries to move, but Oliver’s weight holds him down, pinning him to the bed.

Farleigh whispers angrily, “What the fuck are you doing?” he whispers furiously, his voice barely audible beneath Oliver’s hand.

Oliver’s gaze meets Farleigh’s with a chilling intensity. “What do you think I’m doing?” he retorts, his voice dripping with malice. 

“I think you got the wrong fucking room,” Farleigh whispers fiercely.

Oliver leans closer, his breath hot on Farleigh’s face, “And I think you don’t belong here. Both of you.”

Oliver looks at Jordan before glancing at Farleigh, “Jordan’s been getting too nosy, Farleigh. Asking too many questions.”

Farleigh’s heart races as he feels the weight of Oliver’s threat bearing down on him.

Farleigh’s eyebrows furrow in anger, “Leave her alone.”

Oliver grins down at him menacingly, “Ah, Ah. Nothing will happen to her. If you behave.”

Farleigh’s fear is palpable as Oliver’s words hang heavy in the air. He knows he’s in danger, and Jordan’s presence beside him only adds to his unease.

“Are you going to behave, Farleigh?” 

Farleigh heart pounds in his chest as he weighs his options, “Yes… I’ll behave,” he answers reluctantly. 

Oliver’s grin widens, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes. “Good. Sleep well.”

Oliver gets off Farleigh and slips away into the darkness, leaving Farleigh shaken. The room is silent once more, but the threat lingers. Farleigh looks over at Jordan, still sleeping soundly beside him, unaware of the danger that lurks in the shadows.