#hehe i love vampires they’re so silly

[wonderviolet17]

how many times do you think vampires can say “ugh kids and their new slang these days” before they realize that the language has adapted to the point that they can’t understand what anyone is saying and no one can understand them

[kavehater]

Who is that vampire dude in love and deepspace >:0 It appears I only like artistic bbgs who are a little wet and pathetic and major complainers

[crowleywowley]

Babe wake up laurelicious has returned with more modern au headcanons 🥱 thank u to everyone who loves on these posts and adds their own silly things to it!!! Y’all make me very happy and I’m glad we can share this goofy universe!!

Previous sillies:

1 2 3 4 5 6

See yall unda da cut 😼😼😼

-little miss Unnamed Marston Daughter has absolutely been blasting Olivia Rodrigo’s new album around the house

Everyone complains but John finds himself quietly murmuring “seeing u tonight… it’s a bad idea right??” While he’s brushing his teeth

Abigail tries to be supportive and plays it while she drives the kids to school, now she and Jack know all the words to Vampire and listen to it once they’ve already dropped UMD off

-both Marston children always dress as something weird for Halloween

John and Abigail stay up late making the costumes for their weirdo children bc they love them :)

On a similar note when John and Arthur were kids they were little matching power rangers and if you bring it up to Dutch he WILL cry over it bc he loves his babies

-the entire Marston family takes Halloween way too seriously to be completely honest

Abigail and John are the cool family in the neighborhood with the really good candy

Dutch and Hosea have now graduated to the old person level of giving out full sized bars but the window of opportunity before they turn in for the night is SMALL so all the kids in their neighborhood sprint to their house first

Charles and Arthur give out tootsie rolls and milk duds. That’s it.

-the following are songs John cried to as a teenager:

Fall for You by Secondhand Serenade

Miserable at Best by Mayday Parade

Scars by Papa Roach

Disenchanted by MCR

-John and Javier were absolutely bffs in middle/high school, they kissed once at a party then never spoke of it again

Javier is now the cool childless uncle that they all see once a year and brings the kids cool gifts

-when Arthur was a teenager he got caught sneaking back into the house after curfew, he was grounded for a month

John was the asshole little sibling who was super excited that his brother was in trouble

-Arthur wears slippers, Charles wears fuzzy socks. I’m right

-Charles uses nice shampoo/conditioner and Arthur is always hovering around on wash days:)

-Arthur has broken every single toe like. 5 times at least.

-Charles and Arthur love corny ass reality TV

They started watching the bachelor to make fun of it, but now they tune in every single week and have their favorites

Tell me Arthur wouldn’t love the masked singer. He goes nuts every single time (“Charles!!!!!! They opened it up and it was KERMIT!?! That’s too good!”)

-Because Isaac doesn’t live with them full time these two go absolutely bananas when he comes to stay with them, Charles is scrubbing down the house while Arthur clears out the grocery store of all his favorite snacks :)

Before he visits Arthur is texting Eliza like “what drama should I know?? Any new friends? A girlfriend? A boyfriend?!?” Just so he’s up to date

-Arthur loves Raisin Bran/Corn Nuts/other old man cereals

-we’ve touched on this before but Charles’ mom absolutely adores Arthur and when she comes over she’s basically shoving Charles out of the way like “my baby darling Arthur how are you!!!🥰”

-Isaac plays baseball and Charles and Arthur are full on sport dads in the best way possible

They bring snacks for the team, they’re sitting in those little fold up chairs, they’re cheering louder than everyone else in the stands, etc.

Arthur ‘sentimental ass’ Morgan keeps a little box of all the memorabilia from baseball throughout the years :)

This was a particularly silly batch, methinks. As always if anyone wants me to add other characters into this universe lmk😼 alsooooo I have started writing little oneshots/drabbles/etc expanding this if anyone would be interested in reading them!! No promises on when they’d be done but I think it would be a good time hehe

[per-asperas]

some ghouls random silly headcanons n thoughts!

side note i’m still new to the band so pls forgiv any mischaracterization!!

also this is more about them as characters!!

Thinking about Sodo’s voice as I Monster’s “Who is she” idk i just feel he would have that kind of voice!!

For Swiss i feel he would like the chorus of TLT’s ‘My ordinary life’ idk hehe i feel it sounds like him just a little

The ghouls want to believe they have no leader, but really it’s Mountain, then Cirrus & Cumulus, then Swiss in the authority hierarchy.

The ghoulettes are very girls for the girls, Sunshine is the only one who gets along with the boys while Cirrus and Cumulus are more dominant with them (?), Swiss being the exception.

Aurora/Whisp likes to scare the other ghouls with her Opera type of singing. The Aether, Sodo, Rain trio could be walking down a hallway and she would just randomly mimic heavenly choirs and they just start screaming and panicking and running back to wherever they came from.

Swiss definitely showed Phantom and Aurora how to shimmies, Copia, Cirrus and Mountain stopping him from hanging out with the new ones.

They all have different end tails, Ghoulettes having more sharp and elegant while the Ghouls have them shorter blah blah blah your average demon tail. They’d like to accessorize them a little with golden/silver beads and other types of jewelry

They use their tails similar to opossums and they move like cats :•3! but they’re very sensitive if touched by another one!

Aether literal himbo

Mountain barely speaks, whenever he enters a room he stays still. everyone gets quiet and wait for him to say something but the just hums, growls, whistles and leaves the room

Swiss and Aether the type of siblings to enter the other ghouls rooms (specially Sodo, Cirrus and Rain’s room) say something funny, walk around inside the room for less than a second or just smile and leave, with the door open. Sodo throws a fit, Cirrus curses them, if it’s Aether who does it she might chase him a little. Rain just looks at them in disbelief and proceeds to do whatever he’s doing

Phantom and Aurora’s welcome party was very chaotic, Aether cried because he didn’t wanna leave his guitar. Aurora got immediately adopted by the girlies. Phantom had to fight a little for respect, specially Sodo’s

These mfs have to behave like the vampires on twilight in public to avoid being looked at weird

The one time Papa took them to disney, Aether, Sunshine and Cumulus wanted to keep the kids that were following them around. Sodo fighting his inner thoughts to not punch anyone. Mountain didn’t bother to come. Rain and Swiss actually had a good time, until Cirrus started to stress because she was secretly the one in charge.

Swiss used to leave the smoke of his vape on everyone’s faces to mess with them. He stopped doing it when Cirrus got pissed and bent his last vape.

Rain had a crush on a human once and the ghouls poked fun of it, until Cumulus scolded them!

Sunshine, Aether and Swiss are not allowed to be near claw machines or they’ll use all their money, Cumulus or Cirrus always have to be supervising.

Sodo can’t be near claw machines either but for anger management issues, Mountain ended up paying for the damages after Sodo not being able to win a plushie for Rain.

Mario kart, Uno and Mario party are games that are NOT allowed in their home. They are all competitive and explosive about losing.

The Ghoulettes love to dress up in fancy and elegant clothing :•3

Aether big bro to Sunshine, Aurora, Phantom’s little sibling energy. He likes to pick the three of them in his arms like potato sacks and spin them around.

and das it they were all revealed to me in a dream

[mochiwrites]

Hi mochi! Soo this might be very unexpected and feel free to ignore but, I've been rereading songbirds blood au again. While I've been reading I have had my notes app open taking notes and questions and I have a ton for fics 1 - 3

:^]

( “You know there’s been people saying that the culprit is a vampire with all the neck biting stuff involved.” Pearl tells him, making Grian scoff. 

He swallows his toast, “C’mon Pearl, no one actually believes that.” )

( Vampires aren’t real. They’re just a myth, a story.” )

-two of the quotes which i just find ironic in showing your teeth at the moon fic 1

Ohhohhohh grian if you only knew what was going to happen. :^]

Fic 2 (I could only lead you so far)

Firstly Cub giving the murder cases to Grian is mighty suspicious, especially after Grian met Mumbo for the first time. I believe Cub mightve knew that Grian met Mumbo and he knew that Mumbo would help him with the case. Time travel or he is physic or warden hearing power??? (It could just be that he is just tired of the case and he is human)

Also Boogle??? I love it I think Google should change to Boogle, just imagine!

Mumbo mentioned that ghost and ghouls exist. Will we possible see any ghost or ghouls in the future? But are ghost kinda the same as phantoms such as in the origins mod pack?

Fic 3 (Defend your factions, cut the lines)

Since Doc is the mayor of aqua town does he use like magic to make himself look different. I would think soo because he is literally a creeper hybrid green skin, robotics and all. I think if he were to make a appearance like that in town people would run for their lives. Like said he was giving a speech or in a meeting etc...

Now Impulse mentioned that he and zed are roommates. "And they were roommates!"/silly . Soo does that make zed also a supernatural or is he like Grian and knowing that Impulse is a supernatural? Or it might be that zed doesn't know but I think that is kinda impossible with how nosy he is/pos

Now when Grian was following Mumbo to town how did Mumbo not hear or smell him?

Lastly how did you come up with the titles? All of them are soo unique and fit the fic soo perfectly!

Thank you for listening there might be more ask in the future if you're comfortable with it😊

EEEEEEE I LOVE ASKS LIKE THESE HEHE

I do really love looking all the way back at the start of songbird and seeing where grian was at in the beginning 🥺 he was so naive and free of trauma and was really just dropped headfirst into the supernatural world. and GOD grian and mumbo at the start??? they’ve come such a long way

cub gave grian the spotlight with the paper for two (2) reasons!! :D it truly was simply because he thought grian could do it more justice and well. being such a focus in the paper isn’t quite his style <3

the Boogle thing… I think it’s my proudest achievement of songbird actually /silly

ghost or ghouls HM. in arc 3 we probably won’t! but maybe they’ll appear in the story, you never know! I don’t have any plans at the moment, but that can definitely change in the future <3 as for if they’re similar to origins phantom… I’ll probably end up using ghost and phantom as synonyms and swap them around if they ever appear in songbird. so yeah! they’ll be the same thing — maybe just with some extra world building chucked in hehe

so!!! for doc, he’s not a creeper hybrid!!! he’s a vampire just like mumbo is! in songbird he looks like a regular guy™️ with pale skin and green hair. I imagine the only thing he would use his glamour for is to hide his pointy ears :D

zed doesn’t know that impulse is a demon :3 impulse has been alive for like. thousands of years now (he was definitely alive during the supernatural rebellion), he’s had lots of practice keeping his demon side a secret, especially from nosy people like zed

with mumbo not hearing or smelling grian, it’s two factors! one: grian kept enough distance. and two: it’s as simple as mumbo had a lot on his mind that distracted him. I mean, he just found out about the murders going on in town and got more information about it from doc. we know just how much mumbo cares about people, even if he tries not to. between doc, the council, the murders, plus mumbo doing “work” for the council? there was definitely a lot going on inside his head that left him a bit distracted and therefore not paying attention to grian

and hehe thank you!!! I pull my titles for songbird fics from the playlist I made specifically for the au!! :D my process is pretty simple — I grab a song or song lyric (if it’s a one shot) that matches the vibe/theme/focus of the fic and there we go!

double and!!! I’m more than comfortable with more asks :D I genuinely love seeing other people’s thoughts and theories on songbird, it always makes me so excited. the fact that people take the time to engage with my writing like that is so ;w; it makes me very happy and almost??? honored??? 🥺 so yes!!! please feel free to share more <33

[robinette-green]

Hey! ❤️

My comfort fics are definitely "Two Hunters and a Bloodsucker" and "Small One" ❤️❤️

Thank you for your amazing work!

Can I please get crumbs for one of this two? ❤️❤️

I wish you an amazing day ❤️❤️

Thank you for the ask! I’m so glad you like my work!

Small one’s a comfort fic for me too. I’m so glad others find comfort there as well!❤️❤️❤️

Hehe! Yes you may! Have some unedited hunters and vampire. I love writing this sweet group. They’re so silly ❤️

Clouds hung dark and low in the sky as I walked down the cobblestone streets with my hunters. Solaris had his fingers woven with mine, tugging me along as he pointed out cute little shops and restaurants along the way. Lucien kept close behind me, a solid protective presence.

I felt relaxed with them two… I felt giddy.

“I want to take you to my favorite place to eat! It’s this cute little bistro just around the corner-“ Solaris stopped in his tracks and I ran into his back with a small oof.

“Ah… maybe not…” he said softly as he turned to look down at me, brows creased with worry.

I gave Solaris a kind smile, Lucien’s hand coming to rest on my shoulder.

“I would enjoy the smell of the food and maybe even the taste even though I can’t eat anymore.” I hadn’t been around cooked food in a long time, only ever horsing away fruits and vegetables to make people think that I did eat periodically. Being able to smell fresh bread, cooked meat, garlic and herbs would be wonderful.

“But… didn’t you just eat? Lucien made you both breakfast.”

“Sol has a bottomless stomach.” Lucien murmured into my ear and I smiled as Solaris flushed.

“I-I- well, so what? The food on the road is bland and cold or burnt. I enjoy greeting to have my fill on delectable cook goodies while I can!”

[lee-minhoe]

Hi!!! Omg its been a minute, my weekends are so busy I can never get time just sit down and type these out im sorry Mel. But omg yesss that video of Minho showing Jeongin the dance is one of my absolute favorite videos! Especially because it really shows how soft he is for Jeongin, even when he’s not getting something or messing up Minho is endlessly patient but also teases him about it.

I totally get trying to like just one group, especially when they have so many members. Every group I liked when I first got into Kpop I was like ok its JUST going to be this one… these two…. Just these three and now I think my wrapped said I listened to like 200 Kpop groups this year lmao. All your groups are suchhh good choices I stan most of them too! I think p1h is the only one I haven’t really listed to  yet, mostly cause they debuted at the beginning of the huge jump in groups debuting that’s happened over the last few years, and I find them all so overwhelming. But omg I love flying, I really feel like they don’t get talked about enough when it comes to really good bands, hun is my Bias and they’re just a really silly group, I’m sure u’ll love them when u learn their names! Ok I listened to those nine.i songs and consider me sold omg?! Crazy that I’ve literally never heard of them before, like not even in passing, but I thank you for sharing because im hooked now haha. I totally get you on the gg thing, I like a few ggs a lot but I never ned up really following their regular content for some reason, and most I can only name a member or two just because I don’t get the consistency of seeing their faces all the time like with the bgs I stan. 

Ok what are some of your favorite colors or aesthetics? Also are there any looks/eras for Minho that are your favorites? (so I can start working on your present 🤭)

-🍒

omg i read your first sentence "it's been a minute" and idk if you're an nct fan but i immediately thought of mark's rap in misfit hahaha vampire mark my beloved

no worries about the later reply, i hope you are doing well <3 and yes one of my fav things about lino is how you can see he changes the way he acts based on who he's with, like he is savage with seungmin but so soft with lix 🥺 (and jeongin too)

omg 200 groups on your spotify wrapped??? wow HAHAHA i love that <3 i remember when i first got into kpop in 2020 and my wrapped started saying that kpop was my top genre of the year and i was like oh no haha but now im like whatever i fully embrace it, 90% of my listening is kpop (maybe higher if you also count like krnb/k-indie and stuff lol). it's part of my personality now 😂 what was your top artist? and yes n.flying's music is so good!! i love the kbands :)) when i learn their names i will let you know who becomes my bias LOL. why is hun your bias hehe

YEAH THE NINE.I SONGS ARE SO GOOD i love the rock sound (?) in the songs, and the boys are such cuties too. they debuted earlier this year so it makes sense not a lot of people have heard of them yet (i only found them because i was listening to this k-rock playlist on spotify hahaha), but i think they have potential if they keep going in this direction ^^ i'm looking forward to seeing where they go

my top favorite color is blue 💙 i also love pastel colors in general!! oh and favorite minho looks/eras.......gosh where do i start hahaha 😂 hmmmmm well i really like the thunderous and maniac eras for lino!! let me list some of my favs (this might get long lol)

this thunderous outfit

this thunderous outfit 2

lino was so hot here lol

gods menu

literally any of the all in outfits

any of the maniac outfits LOL

in general i love when he wears a button down shirt and or suit lmaoo and when he has a bw cap on 🥴 or when he smiles hes just the cutest 🥺 honestly anything lino related and i will melt, i am very easy to please hahahaha

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

im never leaving the blanket fort mickey i fear u will have to call pest control 😔😔

FIRST OF ALLLLL the song !!!!!!! listening to it rn hehe AND I CAN TOTALLY PICTURE IT WITH THE PAINTING SCENE WAHHHHH something about the instrumental…. it’s sooo soft and just . Enchanting? Bewitching? i can imagine gojo just gazing at sugu all mesmerized…. he’s almost hypnotized. have i mentioned that journalist!gojo is the realest ever i kin him

OH AND AND the lyrics !!

you’re the piece of gold // the flushes all my soul…..

it’s just sooooooo tender :((( so pretty and soft and intimate. mickey ur song choices always get me so invested in the scene i can practically taste it

but wahhhh we need to talk abt this!!.. suguru teaching satoru how to paint 🥺🥺🥺 mickey… mickeyyyy.,…. there r tears in my eyes they are T_T the sweetest. i can picture it soooo vividly like the moonlight the sound of the brush against the canvas…. suguru being so attentive and so eager to teach. i think he finds so much satisfaction in taking that role yk?? esp since vamp!reader is the teacher when it comes to their own dynamic…. journalist!gojo is the realest as always i would also pop a boner just from looking at sugu LMAOOO he’s just so ethereal!!!! so beautiful!!!!!

but mickey what if sugu noticed 😭😭😭 i can imagine him giving gojo the MEANEST side eye he’s like i am trying to teach u abt the wonders of colour theory….. what is wrong w u …. (he thinks it’s a little cute. just a tiny tiny bit!!!!) they’re so fucking funny im wildly obsessed

AND MICKEY….. WE’RE SO FUCKING CONNECTED what if i told u that during my frequent mickey!vamps daydreams i kept picturing them w a beautiful long-haired siamese cat……  maybe this is less of a ari/mickey hivemind moment and more of a cat people hivemind moment though. vampires NEED to own a cat it’s the law!! and more importantly stsg need to own a cat no matter the universe <33

anyway anyway SUGU BEING THE CAT’S FAVORITE SOOOOO TRUE YOU’RE THE REALEST he has this Allure that no cat can ignore. it’s simply how he is. VAMP!READER BEING JEALOUS TOOOO THEY’RE THE CUTEST :((( HELP them trying so hard to act nonchalant…. sneakily trying to lure it in with treats….. and then pretending not to care when they get rejected 🥺🥺 sugu even encourages the kitty because he loves them and he thinks they are being soooo cute but the cat is just :< no thoughts head empty only sugu!!!

AND SATOSHOKO WAHHHHH no bc i can picture them getting along SO well even though no one expected it 😭😭 it’s that shared thirst for knowledge yk????? both of them love digging into other people’s brains except in shoko’s case it’s more. Literal. I LOVE THEM MICKEY ur dynamics make me so overjoyed they alwaysss feel so warm and thoughtful and they resonate w me soooo deeply i feel so thankful to have u here!!! i can just crawl into ur askbox and get a bunch of cute silly heartwrenching thoughts for free >:3 love u love u i am rubbing my head against yours like a cat

AND AND AND PLAYING BOARD GAMESSSSS ohhh they’d have so much fun …. sugu always plays by the rules and toru always tries to bend them LMAO i feel like vamp!reader just enjoys the chaos <33 SHOKO ALWAYS WINS SO TRUEE ok but mickey … would they joke about shoko being a witch. idk why that came into my mind or if witches exist in this universe i can just imagine shoko rolling dice and getting double sixes every time until satoru is just like . are u a witch 🤨🤨 did u cast a spell on the dice 🤨🤨🤨 no u idiot lady luck just loves her. I LOVE THEMMM the only fambly ever…

also heheheh armin came to sit with me just as i started writing this!!! he has received his kiss!! he meowed back!! he loves you!! i know bc i know his language so just trust me!!

🥺🥺🥺🥺 mickey what if i told u i cried. i dont have any cats of my own at the moment sniffle bUT my brother has two n they love me >:33 here is one of them!!! as a treat!!!!!! he told me to send u his regards!!!! he’s like a little puppy he loves sleeping and snoozing and cuddling . i would kill for him his name is haku bc my brother is a weeb <33

MICKEY i am jumping out of the blanket fort excitedly <333 this is so long overdue bc ive been too excited to sit down and think abt the Vamps properly BUT it’s finally time.. this is just going of ur most recent rb abt them btw which was . a While ago IVE BEEN THINKING OF IT CONSTANTLY THOUGH BUT ;;;;; STSG…. THE STSG DYNAMIC….

mickey i’m convinced that u are secretly plotting my downfall there’s no other explanation. VAMP!SUGU FLIRTING W JOURNALIST!GOJO ……..…. i DIED i exploded they make me feel so ill. I’VE PROBABLY DEFINITELY SAID THIS BUT EVERY TIME U GIVE ME ANOTHER PIECE OF VAMP LORE I FALL FURTHER INTO THE PIT just . sugu feeling more comfortable in the dynamic & getting more confident… JOURNALIST!GOJO BEING FLUSTEREDPEKSJ HELP MEEEEEE vamp!reader would find that so funny wouldn’t they. so sweet. now i’m just imagining the vamps teaming up to fluster gojo 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 me next

(he doesn't want u to be jealous he's more asking for reassurance - is it okay if the two of them mess around together too? and of course it is bc you want your boys to be happy)

dont even get me started on this ^^^^ im sending u my hospital bill watch out . MICKEY :(( im so obsessed w vamp!reader it isn’t even funny i need them so bad it’s sickening. they KNOW they call the shots and sugu knows it too and the way they’re kind of just. indulging their beloveds…… they’re sooo <33333 yeah.

i just wanted to let u know i am in fact thinking abt these three constantly i am kissing ur brain always. pls give mr armin a lil kiss from me too !! <33

HI ARI BABY!!!

it's so good to see you here (i might keep you forever)(/hj).

what do you think of playground love by air (btw doesn't the cover for this song look like sugu lmao i just noticed that) for this stsg? it might not be something you immediately thought of, right? but i feel like it suits the sugu teaching satoru how to paint?? do you see the vision?? or did you imagine something else?? i need to know. i think this moment would be such an important one in their relationship such a pivotal moment

i can totally see suguru talking about the colors and anatomy and how to hold the brush and then little journalist!gojo is just staring at him with stars in his eyes trying to concentrate because he really does want to learn but fuck it's so hard with this angel before him...

and i think the song name is also funny in a sense that satoru is like a teenager bc how easily he pops his boners lmao okay he just gets so fucking excited in his head it's literally not even sexual????? like sugu is just sooooo handsome under the moonlight it's making his head spin and oh! oops!

another thing i thought about is the fact that they definitely have a cat!!! idk if i said this already somewhere but they do!!! not a black one bc that's a little basic but maybe like a siamese one? meow very cute. anyway i think satoru desperately want to have the cat's attention but it loves sugu the most lmao and he's soooooo smug about that too!!! satoru is all pspspspsps bribing the kitty with the treats but it literally ignores him?????? and just gets comfy on sugu's lap without a second thought. imagine the pouty little satoru here:((( btw the reader is also jealous of sugu in this case but they refuse to show it. bc c'mon they're the leader of the house they can't be upset over their own cat liking their beloved more. no way. never. that's so childish. :(.

oh and and and!! the vamp!reader really does like satoru and they know that he's the perfect guy to help bring suguru out of his shell even more yk they know that a little curious puppy like him is only gonna do good in their household (after they reassure sugu ofc)

wait actually i can't remember whether i said that satoru just kind of moved in too right??? like he rarely goes to his city apartment and he just has his own room (as if he fucking sleeps there smh) and he absolutely loves lliving in the mansion he doesn't even hide it. i do need to say that he also adores having maids and a butler but he's still incredibly respectful towards them yk like he isn't pointlessly bossing them around

he also loves to blast stupid fucking music over the whole house.... canon i'm afraid. idk why but justin timberlake just popped into my head lmao like his music in the 10's wheww bangers though i won't lie

OHHH WAITT I JUST THOUGHT ABOUT SHOKO AND SATORU bc like they don't know each other yet!!!!! so imagine shoko comes over for their usual wine night and then finds this blue eyed guy lazing on the couch without a shirt on????? like who are you???? but then she recognizes him hehehe i think journalist!gojo is a rather known one he's good at his job so she just rolls her eyes but after an hour or two i think they actually get along surprisingly well!! (okay i mean it's not a surprise for us but for the reader and sugu) they kind of share the same stupid af humor and it all just gets super fucking funny when they're all playing board games together lmao (shoko always wins btw)(always.)

also heheheh armin came to sit with me just as i started writing this!!! he has received his kiss!! he meowed back!! he loves you!! i know bc i know his language so just trust me!!

ANYWAYY THIS IS THEMM!! i love talking about them it comes so easily the words really write themselves really (i can't wait to actually you know.. write something real for them lmao)(SOON I PROMISE SOON)

thank you for coming by i hope you never leave!!! mwah mwah mwah!! love you lots and lots and lots!!

[moonchildstyles]

ok bestie my brain has been EMPTY lately but it’s been chilly this weekend so I’m fixating on vamp h and halloween so… vamp h seems v annoyed by his stuffy vampire halloween parties so what if petal takes him to one that charlotte or one of her friends was hosting?? like it’d take a bit of convincing to get him there but he can’t say no to her hehe so once she tells charlotte they’re coming she gets super excited about costumes and she wants to surprise him but wants him to feel comfortable still so she just gets him a little headband with black cat ears and then he can just wear his fancy black clothes and still feel like himself:( but she knows she’s his puppy so she goes the dog route and does some really soft and sweet makeup and he’s just :((( you really are my puppy now, huh, petal?? look so cute in your little ears:( and he’s just glued to her the whole night and she’s introducing him to some of her friends he hasn’t met yet and he’s just so happy bc they’re so loving and accepting and no one’s asking if they can feed from her and there’s no predatory energy going on HAHA but they get home and she’s a little tipsy and sleepy so he’s basically carrying her into the house and setting her on the countertop and gently washing off her makeup and helping her get into one of his shirts for bed and she’s just laying completely on top of him and he turns on a silly little Halloween movie for her to fall asleep to and she’s just in the softest half-asleep voice “thank u for coming with me tonight I know u didn’t necessarily want to but I hope it was fun, my friends really liked u”:) and :(((( “petal I always have fun when I’m with you” and just so snuggly and soft and happy and not at all like last year :) 🐢

Wait bestie stop it omg:((((( I literally love this idea so much I want to steal it and write something for this so bad like her being a puppy and him a kitty that’s already making me SCREAM:( omg I have so many thoughts but I don’t want to spoil since I want to write a real thing for this just thank you so much for sending this omg I love it:(

[the-mostdiabolik-of-lovers]

Happy birthday to triplets 7 years of loving you crazy bastards, here’s y’all treat *hands them each of their favorite presents sweets crossword puzzles and takoyaki* especially happy early birthday to me and Ayato my favorite vampire~ I think I deserve a kiss don’t cha think? *points to cheek*

Ayato: I think you mean I deserve a kiss, so c’mereーー

Laito: Seven? Wo~ah, Bitch-chan’s a hardcore hopeless romantic, huh~? And you still haven’t failed to celebrate? How cute.

Kanato: Of course they haven’t; They’re completely trapped because of their silly, human feelings. Pitiful, but yes, cute, hehe.

[lululawrence]

hello!! i was wondering if u had a werewolf tag for fics? i would search it but not sure how to use tumblr that well :)) if not do u have recs? LOVE U HAVE A NICE DAY<333

hi babes! i don't have one here... damn that's a fucking great idea. hahaha i'm HORRIBLY unorganized when it comes to tags for fics on tumblr. i mostly use ao3 for the organization of fics. so! that said, i defo DO have recs for you!

you didn't specify pairing, which makes me smile because i get to rec rare pairs in addition to larry and hope you read them hehe okay, here we go!

He Carries The Key by me (8k, NR, niall/louis) - this fic is the only one of mine i'll include, okay? promise haha but it is also one i wrote for wordplay just a week or two ago and it's werewolves and a pack fic and i just had a lot of fun. very soft. much fluff. many feels. i hope you enjoy. lol

There's Fur Everywhere by @londonfoginacup / LadyLondonderry (4k, G, Harry/Louis) - this is a 5 times fic, and it's HYSTERICAL. it feels slightly spoilery for me to even be including it on this list, but also... it's still fucking hilarious. emmu is queen of the crack fic that makes you feel all the soft and wonderful things, and she doesn't disappoint with this one.

I Hear Them Calling for You by @jaerie / jaerie (6k, E, Harry/Louis) - this fic is... not for everyone. like at all. please please please read the tags and the summary and if you don't like it or it makes you uncomfortable, then close right out of it. as for ME i loved what she explored with it, all the emotions and the story and worldbuilding of it all. i thought it was fantastic and incredibly interesting. it is A/B/O, pack fic with claiming and... yeah. it's amazing.

Campus Creatures by @kingsofeverything / kingsofeverything and @louandhazaf / YesIsAWorld (25k, E, Harry/Louis) - werewolves! vampires! fae! university! frat houses! science research positions being vied for! enemies to lovers! like... not sure what more you could ASK for, but there's also a fuck ton of humor and nudity and sexual tension and... it's just a lot of fun. can't go wrong, really. haha

From What I've Tasted of Desire by @evilovesyou / 4ureyesonly28 (72k, T, Harry/Louis) - okay so i'm including this one even though like... harry and louis aren't werewolves. but it's a twilight au, so there ARE werewolves and i'm ASSUMING you know twilight and therefore know that means you know they're pretty involved and... that's true for this fic too. ahha for real, though, i love evi's writing and this fic was one of my first introductions to it and it was a fun read, so i wanted to include it in case it had enough of the werewolf flair to entice you haha

Compete Against the Stars by @daggerandrose / amomentoflove (31k, M, Harry/Louis) - omg okay so this one is like ANGSTY AF and i FUCKING LOVE IT because it's one of those fics that you HOPE you have figured out, and you probably do, but also there's SO many twists and turns to it all that you just have NO idea how it's all gonna work out and omg are they gonna just ruin it all for themselves by being stupid and ahhhhh the tension of just FIGURING OUT HOW THEY GET IT ALL TO WORK OUT!!! and of course it does. hahaha but HOW??? this is a RIDE and in my mind feels like a longer fic than 31k in the best of ways, they did an amazing job of packing a LOT of world building and storytelling into those 31k.

the straight for your heart (wolfpack au) series by foreverkneeld and foundfamilyvevo (96k, T/G, Multiple or No pairings including Niall/Louis, Zayn/Liam, OT5, and Shawn/Niall) - This series is the ultimate hurt/comfort and healing pack fic series omg. it was recommended to me when i was in a super hard time and my anxiety was so bad i couldn't focus on anything. These short fics that all focused so much on healing and found family were exactly what i needed. so so soft, so lovely. I still haven't read them all because i'm saving them for when i need them. they're glorious.

when the air ran out and we both started running wild by darlingjustdont (48k, M, Nick/Louis) - OMG OKAY LISTEN THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVS. a tomlinshaw werewolf pack fic?! ahhhhhhhhh i was SO happy when i discovered this one. louis is alpha of the pack and things are... shaky, shall we say. there's a lot going on that he's worried about and then he meets nick and it's kind of enemies to lovers? okay, more than kind of. but omg the FEELS. SO. MANY. FEELS. but also danger and a;lsdgkhas;ldfkja just please read this and rave with me because i don't have many i can talk about this one with and i LOVE IT.

You Smell Like by mystic_believexx (185k, M, Harry/Louis) - i had no idea this fic was so long hahahaha wow ANYWAY louis is human, but he's always been close with harry and therefore basically a part of his pack. but then one day harry leaves and louis kind of accidentally becomes the pack alpha. even though he's human. but there's SO much more to it. there's just sooooo much with the friendship and the pack bond as well as the danger and trying to figure out what the hell is going on... it's just a LOT and one of those epic fics that i still think about even though i read it...a year and a half ago i guess. but it's amazing and i highly recommend it if the word count doesn't scare you away haha

Canyon Moon by @eeveelou / delsicle (41k, E, Harry/Louis) - this is a lion king au, made a/b/o werewolves! i really enjoyed this one a lot, actually, because i could absolutely see the parallels, but also the way it was adapted made it so it wasn't always obvious how it would all play out. it was a really interesting and cool world building as well.

The Truth I Can't Explain (Smoke and Mirrors) by @fallinglikethis / FallingLikeThis (9k, M, Harry/Louis) - ohhhhh this one is SO cool cause it's by tabby so she made it incredibly fun and fascinating to try to figure out. there's magic and mages and werewolves and feuds and they're basically on the eve of battle and holy cow it's just SO cool.

One Touch Is Never Enough by @kingsofeverything / kingsofeverything (4k, E, Harry/Louis) - once again lauren delivers and there's just so much i keep giggling about with this because it is SO fun. there's a lot that louis is dealing with in this fic hahaha and the way she writes it all is so funny. the poor man just wants a fucking massage! lololol it's lighthearted, humorous, and basically filled with fluff, crack, and smut. hahaha

Knot Safe For Work by @jaerie / jaerie (6k, E, Harry/Louis) - a;sldkgha;lfdkjas listen i forgot about this fic until i found it in my bookmarks for werewolves because jenna writes so many fucking amazing fics that when i think of werewolves, i think of at least two others first, but i could NOT do this rec without this fic because now that i remember it exists i am going to have to go and read it again! hahaha harry's a werewolf, louis is a wizard, there's knotting dildos and table sex and... just read it. lolol

Saving's What I Need by @jaerie / jaerie (17k, M, Harry/Louis) - writer louis is out for a drive one day and he hits a dog. THIS POOR DOG! he takes it to the vet and tries his best to take care of it... but things are not as they seem. because yeah, harry is defo not a dog. lollllll this fic was hilarious and sweet and omg there's just so much to love about it. there were so many more emotions in it than i expected. loooove!

Out of the Wild by @jaerie / jaerie (22k, E, Harry/Louis) - this fic has such fun world building, which is actually a huge strength of jenna's fics and you'll hear me rave about it with all 50 of her fics that will end up on this rec list (not really 50, but ya know lol). louis is a fairly wild and undomesticated wolf and harry's from the city and they end up as roommates during the x factor process. oh my word this fic is so fun because of all the challenges they're going through PLUS the wolf side of things and just... the way they work together and navigate it all as well as falling for each other is pure gold.

Out With The Old, In With The New by, you guessed it, @jaerie / jaerie (7k, E, Harry/Louis) - listen, just. this one is smutty as hell and it's gonna take you some places that some people will be uncomfortable with, which is totally valid and fair. please be sure to read the tags and make your decision on whether or not to read accordingly, but also know that its written in a super interesting way that is also pretty amazing if you do decide to give it a shot. lol

Instincts by @marastarfar / StarFar ( 100k so far - it's a WIP!, T, Harry/Louis) - omg listen. i LOVE mara's fics so much and when this first posted it was a one shot little thing that was FASCINATING. i loved it! and then i was happily surprised when i learned more was added to it. and then it was turned into a wip and omg i am so far behind now but i trust mara with my life because i love everything i've read by them and what i've read of this so far is INCREDIBLE so just. yeah. lollll

There's a Power in What You Do by @londonfoginacup / LadyLondonderry (7k, T, Harry/Louis) - i just read my comment i left on this one and it was just mainly me begging for time stamps because there wasn't any way for her to improve upon the perfection of this fic (nesting! softness! even a silly comment in her endnotes to perfectly cap it all!), but i still wanted to remain in the story just a bit longer and learn more about them. hahaha anyway, those time stamps aren't happening, but this fic is still complete perfection.

amaryllis by @hattalove / hattalove (147k, E, Harry/Louis) - for a long time this was thought of as THE werewolf fic. if anyone was talking about a werewolf fic, it was probably this one. is that still the case? probably. i'm not sure. ANYWAY. there's a REASON it was THE werewolf fic and that's because this is amazing. it sucks you in and you feel like you're truly a part of the action. it's filled with the vibe of found family and wanting to figure out what happened while also adjusting to your new life and just... so many feelings. so much angst. SO fantastically epic.

[natolesims]

Same anon here, thank you!!! Do you have any specific worlbuilding in your story? Are you only playing with the disney princesses or do you have other disney characters mixed up? And I loved how you made this HUUUUGE plot twist with Cinderella! Are you doing the same with the next princesses? And about the side stories!! Are there more to come? I'm sorry if I'm being annoying, but I'm so loving all you do!!

My, these are important questions xD This is way too long to answer normally, so I'm writing all you want to know under the cut! I'm sorry, It is really long. I apologize in advance :')

If you have some spare time and are curious about this stuff of my legacy story, check this out. It my explain some things, hehe.

1. WORLDBUILDING

There is a "complex and connected" universe in this, yes, but I do not limit a story to the same sim world. I imagine certain game worlds as specific areas with their own social problems, forms of government and characteristic population. Still, I jump from world to world using specific lots or scenery places thay might complement the current chapters or, if I happen to need it, I'll rebuild the whole world again for upcoming generations if I'm already done with the previous ones.

For example:

In Snow White (the H.E.A. founder) the story developed in Windenburg and Windenburg only. Not even the whole world was used for the story, only three lots (The White Manor, Eis' cottage and the flower shop).

Cinderella and The Princess and The Frog develop in Willow Creek, but it's not the same Willow Creek. The only permanent lots are the royal palace and a couple of residential lots (the Tremaine and Bonfamille manors), but I redesigned the whole world for each arc. Ella's story took place in a more high-class victorian part of the kingdom, and Tiana's will be in a New Orlean-ish, humble zone with some vip spots. The townies are different and the social situation changes as well. I'll be also using specific locations from Windenburg, implying those scenes are still having place in some other unknown part of Willow Creek.

In some upcoming generations, I'm merging worlds into a whole area. In Rapunzel and The Beauty and The Beast, Glimmerbrook, Granite Falls and Henford-On-Bagley, as well as specific Windenburg areas, share the same territory.

This is a bit confusing, but it works for me :'D So far, this is how I've organized the story world in the save (mild spoilers):

Willow Creek + Magnolia Promenade: Kingdom ruled by a strong monarchy. Population: Humans and Hybrids** Connections with: Britechester, Newcrest.

Oasis Springs + Strangerville: Emirate and local mayoralties. Population: Humans, spellcasters, undercover aliens. No near connections.

Brindleton Bay: Mayoralty. Population: Humans and Hybrids. Connections with: Henford-On-Bagley, San Myshuno (not that close, but reachable).

Mt. Komorebi: Parlamentarism. Isolated area of the mountains. Population: Humans. Connections with: Granite Falls (veeeery lightly).

San Myshuno + Del Sol Valley: Presidency and Mayoralty. Population: Humans and undercover occults (Gods**, Spellcasters, Hybrids). Connections: Newcrest.

Windenburg: Parlamentarism. Population: Humans, Hybrids, Vampires. Connections with: Henford-On-Bagley, Glimmerbrook, Granite Falls.

Sulani: Principality and local chiefdoms. Population: Humans, Mermaids, Gods. No near connections.

Forgotten Hollow: Mayoralty. Population: Vampires and Spellcasters. No near connections.

Selvadorada: Republic. Population: Humans, Hybrids and Spellcasters. No near connections.

Evergreen Harbor: Mayoralty. Population: Humans, undercover aliens, cyborgs. Connections with: San Myshuno. If there is ever a future-like pack, it will be related to this area.

Britechester: Grand Duchy. Population: Humans. Connections with: Willow Creek, Windenburg.

2. CHARACTERS

I will mainly play with the "princesses", yes! I'm following these Disney Legacy Challenge rules as a main guideline, so the heirs are related to that. Even so, they won't always have the same looks or gender like the cartoon ones, nor the spouses. Since I'm a nerd, I try to surround the heirs with familiar characters from their stories, but they might be ooc or don't have the same role as they do in the movies. I just want to create the vibes, but give them my own twist!

I thought it would be fun to create a Disney movie themed save for this challenge, and I'm stil adding recreations of a lot of characters thay may fit in the world. Since I really enjoy rotational gameplay, I thought it would be fun to create mini challenges for certain households and play them aside from the main legacy to have a little change and relax. Buuuuuuuuut every single time I play this game a story pops up in my head, and yes, so far there is one side story with some of the minor characters. I'm afraid my save has turned into a graphic feverdream disney fanfiction, but here we are :'D It is important to say I also play with the EA premade townies, so this is a weeeeirddd mashup :')

Since I have the characters roaming around freely, they also interact with the main legacy and, in some cases, they even gain some importance. In Cinderella's case, I never planned Mr. La Bouff to become Ella's friend. My original plan was to have Tia and Lottie meet at university. Also! I created two fake occults: the Hybrids (think of were!Sims. Like Werecats, Werefishes, Werewolves, Werebirds... you get the idea... it'll be properly explained in the future. No, they don't turn into animals.) and the Gods (squish vampires, mermaids and spellcasters together. Now make them OP and immortal).

So far, I've included characters from:

The Aristocats, Finding Nemo, Peter Pan, 101 Dalmatians, Tarzan, Robin Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Coco, Pinocchio, Big Hero 6, Lilo & Stitch, Hocus Pocus, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Jungle Book, Toy Story, Cars, The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis.

I had the intention of presenting them all and giving them out for download. I've been slowly makeovering them, so I hope I can manage to do so in the near future.

3. STORYTELLING

The plot twist was kind of a happy accident xD It wasn't planed at all! It's just I find it not-that-exciting to retell the same old story again and again. Cinderella is poor and mistreated, but then marries the prince and she's happy. We all know that, right? I don't intend to follow the same path... I need chaos to keep me entertained in my own game xD that's why I went like "welll.... what IF the prince is a bit of an ass?" I didn't see the whole load of drama that would come.

In the upcoming chapters, things are being similar. I don't say everything is going to be bittersweet, but I'll take elements from the main story and shape them differently. I'm taking a lot of creative liberties here!

4. SIDE STORIES

Im so glad you like them!! I get attached to my characters as soon as I start playing with them and can't help myself from giving them a story, even a little one. It's like... they're in my save for a reason, right? Not only as townie fillers, even if that was the main purpose in the beginning. It's safe to say there is one WIP side story with the Tremaine descendants involving some of the characters I mentioned before. I have another one in mind, but since it is not related with the main legacy at all I'm still not sure how to include it... but I'm working on it.

You can bet I'll keep telling these silly little stories because I really can't help it, hehe.

Thank you so much for asking! I'm really sorry for writing a lot, I hope this is what you were looking for!! And I'm so glad to have you as a reader ^^

[londonspirit]

Oh look, ramblings again!

SPOILERS for Thor: Love and Thunder AHEAD!!! Do NOT read if you haven’t seen the movie yet (unless you don’t care about spoilers!)

Last chance to back out... no? Good, happy reading!

First of: it should be mandatory to watch a Taika film at least TWICE before being allowed to form an opinion. There’s always way too much going on to catch it all on one viewing! 

That includes myself too. 

After my first viewing on Thursday I came out of TLAT with mixed feelings. It felt chaotic and a tad overstuffed, not long enough to squeeze everything in. 

Overall I liked it tho, there were bits and pieces that I adored (and yes, the goats are fucking hilarious!!!), but I KNEW I had to see it a second time to form a proper opinion. 

(It also didn’t help that the face of the first God that got killed looked soo familiar but I couldn't really sort him! It took me two days to finally find out why - the Taika!Bingo had already been employed. Adorable man can’t stop casting friends for his films *hehe* But you do NOT expect a vampire in a Marvel movie so… (Jonny Brugh aka Deacon from WWDITS, for those curious.) 

I loved the cameos even though they were very short but it’s always nice to see familiar faces popping up here and there. 

I screamed at the post credit scene because BRETT FUCKING GOLDSTEIN!!!! My Ted Lasso loving heart was in AWE and in shock and I might have yelled at the poor man on Twitter!) I cannot wait to see where they’re going with him - that’s going to be amazing!! 

I'm also utterly amazed and slightly shocked that T managed to get as much queer content in it as he dared. (and so far I do NOT see the film being banned in those who banned Lightyear and MOM for much less!!) But then again (as he does) it’s both soo in your face and yet subtle enough to be overlooked, I guess. 

Although, he basically put a GAY SEX SCENE into it without anyone batting an eyelid. Sure, it’s between two non-humans but still… maybe that doesn’t count. I don’t know. I just love it. 

(and yes, it took me a few hours and the internet’s help to lose my mind over the fact that his partner's name is DWAYNE!!! I mean, WTF?!?!?! I'm curious whether DJ knows about it, and what he’s thinking (here's hope somebody asks him at SDCC, I NEED to know this!!)). 

Anyhow, I felt a tad sad that I didn’t immediately loved it. It was good, it was fun but it lacked…something?! 

So naturally I went again yesterday, properly rested this time with the intention of just letting it play out and NOT pay special attention to my darling Korg *hehe* 

And it helped - a LOT!!! 

I loved it. 

I loved how he intersected the funny with the heartfelt scenes (still think some could’ve been a tad longer for more impact). 

I loved that he didn’t shy away from hitting you hard with death and illness to then lighten it with screaming goats and silly heart eyes and awkward reunions. But there’s love in every single moment: love for family and partners, love for your home and the place that had become home, love for friends and found family. There’s heartache about losing everything and there’s hope for a future that may not be as terrible as one thought. 

It’s beautifully quirky and lighthearted yet very profound and underneath it all there’s everything that’s important in life! 

So yeah… a very typical Taika Waititi film. NOT a typical Marvel film so I guess that’s where the hate of some for it comes from. 

But that the beauty of Taika’s work: you have to pay attention, you have to soak it up to get it. You have to look closer to realize how precious the life is you have, no matter how dark it seems. 

I also liked (even though it may sound weird) that Jane died in the end. But she died doing what she loved, she died for the man she loved (and I’m pretty damn sure, had it been the other way around, Thor would have sacrificed himself for her as well). I liked that she said it: what’s the point of living if you suffer in a hospital bed, dying on your own anyways, having loved ones seeing you  like that, or going out with a bang, saving the world and LIVING until the very end! I mean, WOAH, that’s one hell of a statement. (Yes, of course I cried!) 

I also loved that for once the villain in the end changed his mind. I mean, how often does that happen??? I loved that he eventually saw that his revenge only caused heartache and pain. So giving his daughter over to the ‘enemy’ to have her being raised by him… well damn, that's quite something. 

And yes, naturally I adored Dad!Thor and I'm very curious how they’re going ahead with that! 

Do I still think it could’ve been a tad longer to give us a bit more Valkyrie? YES! 

Or that I would’ve loved to see those cut appearances everyone was talking about? Absolutely.

(I do NOT need to have EVERYTHING explained to me, like how did Jane get to Asgard or other things that happened off screen - as the man so nicely stated once or twice, sometimes you just have to think for yourself and connect the damn dots!)

But in the end, it was just about the right length, it wasn’t the least bit boring (not even in the first time round), it was entertaining as hell and only the second viewing showed me how much love the man put into it. 

Yes, I will want to see all the cut things and the deleted scenes, I wanna know how that 4 hour cut would’ve looked like. But that's mostly because I'm dying to know what his brain cooked up in the very first place!!! 

But I also respect the fact that we might never see that. (I want all the bloopers tho!!!) 

So yeah, I can’t wait to watch it again, maybe once more in the cinema but definitely at home, with a pause button so I can appreciate all the little things (I LOVED how excited he got when some reporter mentioned that the Kronan God was sitting on a throne of scissors - I missed that the first time around and squealed at the second because THAT’s the kind of thing I expect from him, small things that are not important but still makes his movies so unique and special!!) 

I also can’t wait to search for all the kids: I did spy Matewa but not TK, so that’s definitely a fun thing to do once I have that pause button. 

So yeah, these are my ramblings. I’m once again very much amazed with this incredible man and his brains, and I hope he doesn’t EVER get encouraged by all the asshole things I keep seeing in his tags - I hope he never reads them (I totally understand why he’s not on Twitter anymore and it takes everything I have to not lash out at some of those hating on him for absolutely no reason. Critique, totally fair, but some of that shit is pure, mean hatred, based on nothing and tagging him with that is just a NO GO. But I know better so I sit on my hands and hope he takes solace in the box office numbers and the fact that his visions are just not for everyone!) 

*I* just fell deeper in love with his work, his incredible brain and his way of looking at the world and translating that into compelling movies that help make the real world that bit better! And I’m sooo looking forward what he’ll do next!

[jasperwhitcock]

equinox | chapter 07 –– “a cruel god, a wrathful goddess”

here is chapter six of my bella as a vampire and edward as a human fanfic inspired by an au that @bellasredchevy​​ posted. you can read the new chapter on AO3 or here. i post updates on AO3 or on tumblr using the #equinoxjw tag. but it seems 10/10 times my tag does not work, so that is a fun mystery for me to solve.

oof... sometimes u get distracted and then ur sister gets married and then u get unmotivated & d*pressed and forget to update ur fanfic for over three months... my bad y'all... sorry for the wait hehe. i hope it is worth it. again, i'm so thankful for the comments & i read them all. i get too shy to respond, but i WILL. i just need to talk myself up first. i love u. thank u. hehe. ♡♡♡ merry christmas/happy holidays if i fail u again before the 25th. i WANT to update more frequently. my catchphrase these days is "i'm trying my best," so... i'm trying my best.

this is for the sweet anons who slide into my ask box & ask me questions abt my fanfic. and for taryn, who consistently reminds me that there are people wanting to read this seeing as she is one of those people, kim, who i am so desperate to impress that i began working on a new chapter once she started to read my fanfic, and kae, because without her, this fanfic would never have existed in the first place. i love how i'm writing this as though it's the intro to an actual book when it's literally just chapter seven. ok, i will shut up now so u can read. love u. again.

07 A CRUEL GOD, A WRATHFUL GODDESS

In great contrast to the noisy ambience of the other students in the hallway, we were silent on our walk to our shared biology class. I wondered how conscious Edward was of the stares and whispers focused on our proximity to one another, but my guess was that he was very much conscious of it. I intentionally ignored glancing in any direction that I sensed one of my siblings’ presence, although I figured it was mostly paranoia driving me to feel as though we were about to cross paths. Holding my breath to more easily walk beside Edward left my senses impaired to the ability to pinpoint their location. 

I was lucky that for the majority of my immortal life, I’d managed to escape unwanted attention. But now, it seemed that precious luck had finally run out. Maybe embarrassment had been creeping up on me, maliciously building itself up all these years, waiting until just the right moment to rear its ugly head and exact revenge that immorality had stolen its favorite object of humiliation to torment. But here it was, ensuring that I was finally catching up on feeling awkward and out of step, a feeling I experienced for what seemed like the entirety of my human life. I thought once I’d been changed, I’d never feel this way again, but becoming misaligned with my family made me feel bashful to parade my defiance in their faces. I had operated better under no scrutiny as a mortal and was surprised to realize that that still held true as an immortal as well. Because though there was now never a struggle of staying upright or a risk of tripping over my own feet, that didn’t prevent me from feeling self-conscious as I walked beside Edward. Although for different reasons –– it was too mortifying to consider what my family might make of what my actions suggested about my feelings towards Edward.

And yet still, I would put up with the ridicule and disapproval of my siblings if it meant I could listen to Edward speak his silly philosophical theology, his questioning of god and existence, for just a few more hours. If I were going to be teased over Alice’s visions regardless, I might as well find out what I can about this pretentious boy before I leave him alone forever. If only to understand why his moving to this small town threatened to warp my own future so much. In losing night and in losing death, there were so very little anomalies in the endless amount of time I’d been given. So what would it hurt to allow myself to fixate on this minuscule difference in my life for just awhile?

It could hurt Edward, a more selfless part of myself reminded me. If indulging myself was playing with fire, I was being justly punished with the way flames were efflorescing the inside of my dry, burning throat.

If a god did exist, why would it make sense for such a being to craft someone like Edward with his perceptivity, and send him off to this small town, home to a secret such as ours? If a god did exist, why it would be fair for such a being to craft someone like Edward, someone who tempted me both in bloodlust and in curiosity, and send him off to this small town, home to the very vampire who desperately wished to kill him most? If a god did exist, if our kind had fallen short of heaven, I could understand why sending Edward into our path –– and more specifically, my path –– could be some kind of punishment. But what I couldn’t understand is why a god would allow someone as innocent as Edward to be endangered for the sake of bringing a sinful, undead creature to justice. It seemed the only reasonable explanation would be that a god probably did not exist. 

And how could there be? I was on the precipice of falling into temptation with every step further in the hallway and every question he asked and answered. I could never not be very much aware of the fact –– especially now with his body merely inches from my side and his sweet fragrance blooming both deliciously and relentlessly in the air. And even as I impossibly withstood the lure of his blood, how was I meant to ignore the irresistibility of his mind and how inexplicably concerned I was to understand it? It seemed like a very cruel experiment of free will and knowledge –– far too cruel to allow much room for the kind of god Edward hoped for.

I frowned as I realized that this experiment wasn’t that of a cruel god’s but that of a cruel vampire, and I felt very much like a vampire as the sound of his heartbeat was so appealing that it made my mouth water.

“Do the stares bother you?” Edward spoke quietly to me as we weaved throughout the hallway. Easily distracted, his question was able to pull the more civilized parts of myself together, though this was probably also in thanks to my choosing not to utilize my sense of smell. I found it funny that at least one of his thoughts had been in a similar vicinity. But of course, the rest of his thoughts were probably free of all consuming agony and struggle. For all his curiosity about morality, to inflict this existence upon him would probably devour him in misery. At least as a human, despite whatever conclusions he may come to, there was still some hope to be had for an afterlife. This thought should have been dark and depressing, but because it made Alice’s vision seem like a complete hoax, I almost found it funny. How would Edward ever end up like me?

“Oh, no,” I swallowed the venom in my mouth. “I live for attention.” I watched from the corner of my eyes as his gaze flickered over to me, the ever present half smile appearing on his face at my joke. My answer came out so comfortably as though I was used to this, when in reality, the student body for the most part had grown accustomed to ignoring me. And, of course, there was nothing comfortable about the demanding, aching dryness in my mouth or the burning in my nostrils. “How about you?”

“Likewise,” he joked, laughing. “This is interesting –– their fascination. I understood their interest on my first day because I’d guess a new addition to the student body in a town this small is something of a rarity, but today, walking by your side is garnering even more attention. Is it a once in a lifetime opportunity to have Bella Cullen walk you to class?”

“You’re just so observant, aren’t you?” I rolled my eyes, though the corners of my mouths pulled up despite myself. “And I’m not walking you to class. I’m walking to a class I just so happen to share with you, so don’t get the wrong idea. I think they’re just surprised because they’re probably under the impression that I don’t play nice with others.”

“And do you?”

“You tell me,” I replied, pausing to face him beside a wall of lockers next to the entrance of our biology classroom. As he stopped beside me, a gust of air from a passing student walking hastily down the hallway sent his scent reeling into me at an unfortunate moment where I’d chosen to breathe in. My muscles tensed to spring, and I desperately anchored myself to the floor as my mind fell into disarray.

“Nicely enough,” Edward winked naturally as though we’d been the best of friends since his first day. The demanding thirst was intruding on my awareness, and the desperation for something wet and hot and delicious in my desiccated throat was so dizzying that his voice sounded as though it were underwater. With an effort as though I were swimming through drying cement, I resurfaced, just barely proving my dominion over the desire. I focused on his voice so that it’d become clearer, forcing myself to take another excruciating breath in and exhale the fire out. “I will say I am honored to be the exception –– to be plucked from the masses by the renowned, reclusive Bella Cullen.”

With torturous effort, I snorted as though I wasn’t fighting everything within me to keep him alive. I breathed in again heavily, allowing my body to become a pyre so that I could speak. “Alright, that’s enough. Stop saying my name like that. And you’ve lost the privilege. I am never walking you to class again,” I rolled my eyes even though my joke could very much be the truth. The bunching of my muscles, the twitching of my hands, and the fierce pain in my throat reminded me of the fact. Before he could point out the contradiction of what I’d previously clarified, I sighed. “Let’s take this quiz.”

His pretty green eyes were alive with mischief and enlightened with what must be more answers to questions he hadn’t outright asked me as he turned to enter the classroom. I followed behind him towards our shared table.

Air from the vent rushed out, thrusting the scent of his blood wafting into my face again. I paused for an indistinguishable moment as I battled agony, murderousness, monstrosity. Holy fuck. What was I trying to prove! Was it really worth this? Swallowing hard, I sat beside him as though nothing happened. My suffering was so great that Emmett could have brutally ripped my arm off, he could have beat me with it, and I wouldn’t have noticed nor felt a thing. I could have been set on fire, and it’d feel like sinking into a cool pool of water on an even cooler day. I was already burning alive, my body acting as a furnace, and I was imprisoned inside it.

Without intending to, I sighed aloud, exhaling as though it would smother the flames. It was a stupid, attention seeking thing to do. Humans sighed to expel air or express some sadness or relief or exhaustion, so when my family emitted an audible breath, we did so as a means of blending in. But to breath out in a way to clue Edward into the fact something was plaguing me… it was a stupid invitation for more questions. And these were questions I had no intention of sharing the answers to. I felt his eyes on me, but before he could say anything, Mr. Molina began passing out quizzes face down on our lab tables as students continued to pile in from lunch.

“Alright, class. Today we have a pop quiz–– oh, come on, guys, don’t groan. You will have the opportunity to make corrections after these have been graded. This is just an assessment of what you’ve retained from this unit so far. You will have the entire period to complete–– thanks for joining us, Mr. Patterson, glad you could fit my class into your busy schedule. Why don’t you take your seat? –– You will have the entire period to complete your quiz. If you finish early, feel free to get a head start on this weekend’s homework! I’ve written the reading down on the board. Aw, I’m sure you’re all moaning because you’re disappointed at how light of an assignment it is because I just know how very excited you all are to continue your passionate pursuit of studying biology. Alright, now that everyone’s settled–– wait a minute––”  Mr. Molina paused, raising his pointer finger in the air, his eyes squinted in anticipation. Three seconds later, the bell signaled the beginning of class. “Begin!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward reluctantly turn away from me. In an elegant script, he wrote his name at the top of the paper and began his quiz. I turned away from him to look at my own paper, preparing myself to uncomfortably hold my breath for the next hour. The difference this made in my thirst was almost insignificant, but enough so that it gave me a tiny more leverage in my control. I smoothed out the pucker on my forehead with the eraser from my pencil, accidentally snapping the rubber off against my face. 

Absentmindedly, I began to breeze through the assessment, circling the correct answers, but my mind was more absorbed in the warmth of sitting beside Edward. Aside from the affliction of doing so, it was too pleasurable to have sat beside him so often and for so long today. I enjoyed the toastiness like a lizard basking in the sun. It made me recall the muddy human memory of laying out on a blanket in my backyard beneath my beloved blue Arizona sky, hiding beneath the small shade of a book. Not the blistering heat of a summertime Phoenix sun, but the warmth of the first day of spring. But the heat of Edward’s body alone was enough to fill my mouth with venom, so I tried to refocus my attention onto my quiz.

When I turned to the last page of questions, a motion beside me diverted my concentration once again. I peeked over, turning my head slightly in Edward’s direction to see what it was. As he thought over one of the questions, his right hand was moving peculiarly as he lifted and dropped down his long fingers almost as though he were impatiently tapping each digit one by one along the tabletop. Except the movement was more exact and calculatingly random. Engrossed, I watched as his his soft, fragile skin rippled over the muscle, the tendons appearing and disappearing with every bizarre movement. It took me a moment to make the connection between the large grand piano in his home and the motion of his hands. I realized he was miming piano movements while he thought through his answers. There was something both weird, funny, and endearing about this. I smiled to myself, not having the required oxygen to quietly laugh.

I felt his curious eyes flicker over to me and watched peripherally as he raised his eyebrows. I shook my head, biting down on my lip to unsuccessfully fight the smile, and returned to completing my quiz.

I finished a moment later and impatiently waited another ten minutes or so before I could turn in my work. I tried to ignore Edward for this small period of time at least, mentally reading myself the opening chapter to Wuthering Heights. Even though the words were committed to my memory, it was still never as good as actually reading from the book itself.

Once I’d decided an appropriate enough time had passed, I stood up to walk my quiz to the completed basket on Mr. Molina’s desk. Even having waited, I was still the first to finish the examination.

“Thank you,” the teacher whispered without breaking his focus away from the crossword puzzle he peered through his glasses at. I breathed in now that I’d placed some distance between myself and Edward, gladly facing the cool, fresh air from the vent.

“Neophyte,” I whispered back now that I’d replenished my oxygen supply.

“Excuse me?” He glanced up, his slightly aged face confused.

“Neophyte,” I repeated. “Eight across, two down.”

I took in one last clean breath and walked back to my seat as he tapped his pen across the squares of the space, mouthing his count of the letters to check if the word fit.

As soon as I took my place in my seat again, Edward stood up to walk his own quiz to the basket.

I wanted to watch him, but instead I forced myself to unzip my backpack and retrieve the biology textbook.

Busying myself with the assigned chapters, deciding to actually read them so as to not feed into my invasive Edward obsession, I couldn’t help but listen as Edward too placed his own textbook on the countertop.

I heard the scribble of pen on paper as he began to write what I imagined were notes until his large hand slid the paper over to me beneath the wall of my hair spilling over the desk. Well, I wouldn’t ignore him if he was the one deciding to bother me.

You know I’m pretty certain that cheating is a violation of the student handbook, but I’ll let you get away with it just this once.

I turned to glance at his face to see if he were serious. His eyes were warm and inviting, his mouth in the same crooked smile.

I took the piece of paper and looked around for my writing utensil that had gone missing somehow. My eyes zeroed in on a suspicious, tiny pile of wood dust on my side of the desk. When had I brutalized my pencil? He held his hand out to offer his own pen, and I accepted it, carefully plucking it from his fingers without making contact.

I wasn’t cheating. You were doing something funny. And what do you know about the student handbook? You’re new.

I slid the paper and pen back to him and watched as he combed a hand through his bronze hair, reading my response. The smile grew wider as he construed the biting tone of my note. 

Can I be let in on the joke? Edward wrote, turning to look at me once he was done. Again I was prisoner, though this time not to my own body. I was momentarily held hostage by the beauty and warmth of his light green eyes. I was understanding more and more the attraction the other students had for him. If I had a soul, it was as though he were staring straight into it.

I recovered, placing my hand atop the desk and then wiggling my fingers as though I were weaving my way through a very complicated piano piece.

Oh, Edward mouthed, immediately understanding. He silently laughed and placed his left hand to his forehead briefly as if to hide his face in mock embarrassment. The ink from the pen spilled onto the paper as he began to write again.

In my defense, there’s research that supports classical music puts students in a heightened emotional state, making them more receptive to information and helping them focus.

That’s very nerdy of you. I scribbled back, the corners of my lips pulled upwards.

I know. As I read the words on the notebook paper, we both laughed a little too loudly for the quietness of the room.

“Please remain silent for your classmates still working,” Mr. Molina stage-whispered from his desk, his eyes still fixated on the crossword puzzle.

It’s a bad habit. Edward tacked on to his message. I beamed. I knew a thing or two about bad habits today. I was appreciative of this silent conversation on paper; it made it easier to be beside him without needing to breathe to speak aloud.

What were you playing? I scrawled.

Clair de Lune. Edward wrote back. His thick eyebrows raised as my eyes lit up, and he continued writing. You know Debussy?

My mother used to play a lot of classical music around the house. It was one of my favorites.

It’s one of my favorites, too. Edward’s eyes were a little sad and lost in thought, and he smiled softly.

I was shocked by the change in expression and weirdly desperate to return the brightness back to his eyes. The burn in my throat was almost forgettable in the face of my concern. Almost, but not quite. He turned his head down to write on the paper again.

You said Rosalie played piano. You never learned? He turned to look at me, his expression curious. I shook my head and shrugged, reaching for the pen.

I didn’t think I had the coordination for it. While this was true for the time I was human, it wasn’t true now. Still, even though my days stretched into endless nights, I hadn’t yet devoted time to any instrument as an immortal.

Edward read the paper, his long pointer finger tracing the line beneath the words as he did so. He held his large hand out, and I dropped the pen into it.

I’ll show you sometime. Edward half smiled at me, his eyes sweet and earnest.

Knowing I shouldn’t be allowing him to think making a plans with me was an option, I reached for the pen to tell him that it was alright, but I froze as he suddenly moved to drop the pen and take my hand. Though he should have been the one hesitant and cautious as though approaching a dangerous, wounded animal, I held perfectly still as though he were the danger, and I needed to play dead for protection. You can’t play dead if you are dead, I thought to myself. 

My body tensed as my hand was enveloped in the heat of his much larger palm, uncertain as to what he was doing. My muscles screamed at me as I clenched my free hand into a tight fist, terrified of myself.

A shiver rippled through him as he felt the chill of my frozen fingers, and I twitched the hand in his possession, wanting to yank it away to protect him from the iciness but not wanting to alert him with the swiftness of the motion.

He smiled mysteriously at the spasm as though he somehow expected it. I wanted to ask him what he was thinking but didn’t want to risk breathing. My control could too easily be lost. Besides, I was scared that if I were to open my mouth, I’d end up screaming.

I felt him push slightly and realized he wished for me to curl my fingers, so with great concentration and the acute awareness of his fragility, I moved my stony hand into the shape he directed, my fingers curved slightly beneath his like a relaxed talon. I didn’t like the shape; it was odd and inhuman and made me think of the violence I could cause.

But it wasn’t a claw. Because once my hand was positioned the way he wanted, he began to slowly place pressure on my fingers, and I dipped and rose them accordingly to carefully move with his. I watched as the two of our hands together played what I imagined must be the opening chords to Clair de Lune.

The disconcerting emptiness in my chest soared at the bizarre pleasure of this touch, and a weird sensation tickled my scalp, moving swiftly down my spine to my entire body. 

My muscles tightened violently and then relaxed, sending a shiver to ripple through me. It was too much pleasure and too much pain as my throat ached and I leaned into the warmth.

Embarrassed and not wanting to push my luck, I cautiously pulled my hand slowly away. He lifted his hand to allow me to escape as though I couldn’t just break his hand to do so, a half-smile pulling on his lips. I pretended not to notice the goosebumps on his arms.

See? he mouthed before deciding to whisper. “You could do it.”

I forced myself to smile and then turned away for the rest of the hour, trying to keep from doing anything stupid like looking at him or killing him. I’d completely forgotten where we were.

When the bell finally rung, I collected my things atop the desk hastily. Edward reached for my backpack and held it up for me.

“Thanks,” I murmured as I dumped my books into the bag. Before I could take it from him, he slid it onto his back and nodded his head once for me to go forward.

Feeling awkward, I turned and allowed him to follow me to the door. I was lucky to walk in front of him, taking the opportunity to breath again as the vent blew out in front of my face.

Exiting the classroom, I paused for a second when I saw Emmett waiting for me across the hallway rather than his typical spot beside the wall of lockers next to our shared Spanish classroom. Even though I was well aware of the fact I’d been dangling my irresponsibility in their faces all day, I still felt as though I was being caught in the act.

Emmett’s eyebrows raised as his golden eyes watched Edward follow behind me, carrying my backpack. I crossed the hallway reluctantly towards my big brother.

“Hello,” I greeted him, avoiding his eyes. I felt smaller than ever beside him with my head down, and yet not small enough as I wished to disappear.

“Hey, little sis,” Emmett began uncertainly, though I glanced up to see his full lips were beginning to stretch into a smile that I didn’t like. “Who’s that with you?”

“Uh…”

“I’m Edward Masen,” the lanky human boy introduced himself confidently as he stopped beside me. “And you must be––”

“Emmett,” my brother interrupted, grinning as though he always so comfortably interacted with humans. This was all too weird, but he looked to be enjoying it far too much. His desire to mess with me and his confidence in Alice’s visions seemed to override the abnormality of speaking to a student so amicably. I watched as he breathed in and shot me a meaningful look. I grimaced.

I opened my mouth to put an end to this torturously awkward interaction, but Emmett interrupted again.

“It’s nice to see you made a friend,” he began, an evil glint in his eyes as he watched my face. I was confused as to where he was going with this because our entire family would come across as misanthropic to the rest of the school, so why should it matter to him. He turned his attention to look at Edward who was closer in height to him. “You know, we worry about her––”

“Okay, let’s go to Spanish,” I cut him off quickly. “Edward, can I have my bag, please?”

Without looking at him, I reached for my backpack as he offered it and threw it over my shoulder, heading down the hallway. It was a massive relief to put some distance between myself and Edward. My thoughts were clearer, and I could breathe freely.

Emmett burst into laughter, his guffaws booming in the hallway. Several students paused in fear making me concerned about Edward’s reaction to my giant of a sibling, but I relaxed when I heard Edward chuckling along with him.

“Um, see you,” Emmett said to Edward before his steady, near silent footfall followed after me.

Even moving at a lethargic human pace, he caught up to me quickly.

“That wasn’t funny,” I grumbled.

“What the hell are you doing?” Emmett chuckled, ignoring my question.

“What the hell are you doing? What was that back there?”

“I don’t know. That was weird, but not as weird as you playing with your food.”

I hissed quietly.

“Damn, I’m kidding, Bells. But seriously, what are you doing? What happened to your high and noble speech about doing the right thing and staying away from the kid? I thought Esme was about to produce real tears. It even softened Rose.”

“Ugh, don’t talk to me about Rosalie right now. She’s been giving me dirty looks all day. It makes me feel awful. I already feel bad!”

“Well, I don’t really care what you do either way so––” I looked at him questionably. “I mean, sure, I want you to do the right thing, whatever that means. I don’t want you to feel miserable. But on one end, I didn’t really mind so much what happened to me.”

“Rosalie did,” I countered.

“Yeah, Rose did,” he acquiesced quietly.

“Anyways, I’m not having that conversation. I wasn’t talking to him today to test whether or not he’s worth it. That’s… unethical.”

“So what were you doing?”

“I don’t know,” I groaned in answer.

Emmett laughed.

“You’re weird these days, Bella.”

“You’re weird everyday,” I quipped back before sighing. “I don’t know. He’s weird, too. I guess… I’m not making any decisions, at all, but if Alice told you what she told me… wouldn’t you be curious?”

Emmett thought it over. “Yeah, I think so. But I also don’t think I’d have even made it to this point,” he admitted. I winced.

“It’s kind of unfair for me to care more about satiating my curiosity and dance with the devil this way, right?”

“Well…he may not know it, but isn’t it more so that Edward’s the one dancing with the devil?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, frowning as we walked into our Spanish class. “I guess it is.”

I made the decision to avoid thinking of Edward for the remaining hour of school. I paid very little attention in Spanish, returning to the familiar mind-numbing boredom that classes had been prior to the last few days. Now that it was in stark contrast to the sudden life breathed into my time at Forks High School by my fixation with Edward, the tedium was no longer something dealt with indifferently and sluggishly. Now, it left me feeling restless, and it almost pained me how laborious it was to sit through a life I wasn’t an active participant in. It was nowhere near the pain of dealing with the excruciating thirst I had around my bronze-haired lab partner, but it almost tampered with my thoughts more knowing I’d feel less miserable if I spent this time analyzing every word Edward shared with me, every fluctuation of his tone, every glint in his perceptive eyes, every expression on his pretty face… But I was becoming too obsessive. The same hunger for adventure that made me fall in love with reading must be what was leading me to so treacherously, so impetuously dive into exploring this insignificant and yet cataclysmic difference in my life.

As though it had a personal vendetta against me, time moved even more lethargically than it ever had before, but finally, the bell signaling the end of school rang. Emmett’s eyes shot a concerned look at me as I rose from my seat too quickly, and I immediately felt embarrassed again. The cautious reminder in his expression made me feel childish as Emmett was never one to care much about bending the rules. 

“See you at home, I guess,” he shook his head, giving me one last look that seemed to suggest I’d lost it.

“See you,” I mumbled, slinging my bag over my shoulder. Leaving Emmett behind to wait for Rosalie, I weaved through the crowded hallway and out to the parking lot. Students were bundling together and squealing at the chilling air as tiny, fluffy snowflakes fluttered down from the overcast sky. The floor of the parking lot was almost as glassy as yesterday as the rain from this afternoon had melted into a thin layer of icy mush. Though there was hardly enough snow for a decent snowball fight, some of the rowdier students were bundling up a pitiful pile of snow to form pathetic snowballs in their fists.

I nearly skipped to the pearly white vehicle parked beside Rosalie’s overly conspicuous crimson car which was forming a small crowd of admirers. Leaning against the trunk of the car, I watched the front doors of the school to look for Edward.

The tangle of reddish-brown hair was easy to spot because of its strange metallic tint as he strolled out of the building with Naomi, the student who’d provided him with the information about my family on his first day. He had his coat folded over his arm, revealing how form fitting his light tan turtleneck was. He truly was a very attractive boy. It was odd that I hadn’t really paid much attention initially. With his dazzling face and tall, lean frame, Edward was pretty enough that for the vampires who searched for exquisitely beautiful humans to create into even more stunning immortals, he could probably be a contender for someone to collect.

Thinking of how Emmett questioned my motives today, I quickly banished the idea of Edward as an immortal from my mind, even if it was only a hypothetical inspired by my observation.

Edward paused, asking Naomi if she could hold on to his backpack for a moment. When she grabbed it, he pulled on his long black coat, and fiddled with the collar. Recollecting his backpack, he slid it onto one shoulder, then rubbed his hands together, blowing the warm air from his mouth to heat them up. Thinking of the sweetness of the smell of his breath made me remember to take in swallows of fresh air before he made his way over to me.

As he was distracted momentarily, I watched as a stray snowball flew towards Edward’s head. I was overcome with the urge to intercept it in the event it may hit him too harshly and knock him to the pavement, but flying across the parking lot inhumanly fast twice in one week was probably not the way to go about correcting my mistakes.

The soggy snowball crashed into Edward’s hair, exploding into shards of ice and water that slid down his prominent cheekbone. I laughed aloud at his shocked expression as the curtain bangs framing his face were immediately drenched, darkening his hair into a brown color. Once he’d realized what happened, his face broke into a good-humored smile.

“Holy shit! Sorry, Edward!” The classmate who had thrown the snowball with poor aim called out.

“No worries!” Edward called back. He shook his head, chuckling as he wiped the water from his face. As he laughed, his eyes found the space where I waited and brightened seeing that I, too, was enjoying the moment.

“Hey, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he told Naomi, who was too beside herself in tears of laughter to reply.

Edward sauntered over towards me, and I inhaled deeply as a fortuitous whisper of wind blew from the tree line. I held onto the notes of crisp eucalyptus, fresh snow, and cedar wood, trying to distract my mind from the offensively mouthwatering scents approaching me.

Edward was a coordinated human, but even he lost his footing on the icy pavement. His body slid forward for a moment, but I stepped towards him to close the space between us and caught him by the elbow.

He looked up from his boots against the frozen parking lot into my eyes, startled momentarily at the swiftness in which I had appeared. Then, his full lips lifted into a crooked smile that creased his astonishing green eyes into half moons. I let go immediately and took a big step back to ensure a safer distance between myself and the warmth of his fragile body. It had been a risky movement, but somehow in comparison to yesterday, it didn’t seem to matter as much. I figured our classmates were too involved in their gawking at the details of my sister’s car or their feeble, slushy snowball fight to notice, and oddly, I didn’t care that Edward had seen. It was beginning to feel too late to keep up certain pretenses.

Although, it wasn’t too late, and it shouldn’t feel that way. I reminded myself I still had every intention of leaving Edward alone once I’d figured out what was so compelling about our paths crossing that had Alice’s visions spiraling in a confusing jumble. I took another step back slowly.

“Thank you,” Edward said, his eyes humored with another secret he didn’t seem willing to share. “You keep saving me.”

“Well, let’s not make this damsel in distress thing habitual,” I snorted, turning so that he couldn’t see the smile forming on my face. I felt shy about showcasing any comfort or happiness in his presence now that I was reminded of how fleeting this experimental friendship was, but I wondered if subconsciously I wanted him to catch me in my misery and ask me to explain, though I wasn’t certain why I wanted to sabotage myself like that. I opened my door and turned to look at him again. “You coming?”

Before he could answer, I dipped into the driver’s seat, and breathed in one last time. Well, once this was all over, I could finally stop inhaling dramatically as though they were truly my last, dying breaths. The air was mostly clean of his scent, but I knew that regardless, the heat of his body would be enough to disrupt my comfort and control. As the thought crossed my mind, I painfully swallowed back the venom pooling beneath my tongue.

Edward swerved through the crowd obsessing over Rosalie’s car and opened the passenger door, sliding into his seat. As he placed his backpack on the floor and fiddled with his seatbelt, I made sure to adjust the air conditioning so that the heat could warm Edward from the frigid Forks air. Though for me, just being in his presence made the intimate interior of the car feel as though I were again sitting by his fireplace.

“That’s a beautiful car,” he murmured. “Is it an M8?”

“Uh, it’s a BMW?” I asked uncertainly as though he’d spoken another language.

Edward grinned as though he wanted to laugh but didn’t want to make me angry. Rosalie would have loved to answer all his questions if he too had an interest in cars. Would have loved to, if she wasn’t deeply offended by my actions or if I had any intention of Edward meeting any more of my family members.

“Ready?” I bit my lip as I forced out any inconsiderate plots of murder that threatened to distract me from being a defensive driver.

“Mhm,” Edward answered.

I reversed out of the parking slot slowly, but as I looked in the rearview once I’d straightened out, I saw the fleeting image of Rosalie’s exquisitely beautiful and exceptionally angry face. I quickly readjusted the mirror to remove my sister’s reflection and sped out of the parking lot in a way that could have taken out a few unlucky students if I didn’t have above average years of driving experience.

Peripherally, I watched as Edward’s thick eyebrows raised, but he decided not to question me. Once we’d reached the main road, I slowed my speed so as not to rush through this time, even though I knew for his safety and my sanity, I should. As I drove, his right hand moved in odd shapes again against the arm rest of the passenger side door as though he were playing piano once more.

I decided to bite and use up some of my limited air supply.

“What are you playing?”

“Clair de Lune again,” he replied. Then, he began to hum the melody aloud for me as he moved his hand.

I thought to offer to play the song for him through the speakers, but I decided against it as I listened to Edward’s soft, velvety voice hum beautifully through the song, breaking the silence.

The ugly, slush-like falling of snow transformed into a falling of rainwater, and Edward’s voice was orchestrated by a lovely symphony of raindrops.

Before his voice could weave into the more involved moments of the piece, Edward stopped.

I looked over at him, curious for the reason as to why. His face was turned away from me so that all I could see was his untidy bronze hair as he gazed out the window. I pulled in front of his driveway and parked against the curb.

Miraculously, I’d made it again. Carefully, I inhaled through my nose to experiment with my control. The sweet bouquet of the boy’s blood was potent and even more mouthwatering than usual from the snow turned rain that’d wet his hair. I hadn’t considered the possibility that he could smell better than before, and I kept myself from groaning aloud as I dug my nails into my own palms. The tingling sensation in my nose was as though I’d sniffed some powerful chemical, the burning sensation in my throat as though I’d taken a long drag of a cigarette. But more painful. More demanding. Desire, need flew from my core out towards my extremities, and the beating of his heart pumping the blood through his body drummed loudly in my ears. It seemed to move through me, my frigid body almost twitching with every pulse, ready to lunge forward and crush his neck to my lips.

“What was your mother like?” He asked me suddenly, his voice soft. Edward turned from the window to face me, and I was bewildered by the intensity of his expression. His eyes were light and beautiful against the gloomy grey of the sky, and they squinted slightly as though studying my face like this information was absolutely essential. But this was not what stunned me, as I’d already seen the severity of this expression before in our ephemeral time together. It was the unexpected vulnerability of his stunning face. The more time I spent looking at him, the more I realized how beautiful this human boy really was. And it seemed a great tragedy for this beautiful boy to harbor such devastation in his eyes.

Whereas previously in his presence, my thoughts had become incoherent due to a lapse in control, now my thoughts were incoherent in distress and desperation to understand what had gone wrong and how I could fix it. I was momentarily dumbfounded, but I pulled myself together after the soft sound of a few droplets of rain against the roof reminded me that he was waiting for an answer.

“Well, she looked a lot like me, but prettier,” I began stupidly. He raised his eyebrows. “Or at least, she used to look a lot like me, and I used to look a lot like her. I don’t so much anymore.” It’d been so long since I’d really spoken about my mom, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh or cry. I knew I should have made some comment about whether or not she looked like Esme or Emmett since our story made us siblings, but I didn’t want to taint the rarity of sharing who she was with a lie.

“She was more outgoing than I am,” I continued, thinking through the foggy memories I held onto from my human life.

“That’s difficult to believe,” Edward teased quietly, his lips curving into a half smile.

I laughed, listening to the melodic sound of it, thinking of how it symbolized how very much different I was now from the human girl my mother knew.

“I was always very shy,” I smiled, before speaking up again, caught in the echoes of my past. “She was brave and irresponsible and slightly eccentric. And she was a very unpredictable cook!”

I laughed aloud again thinking of some minor explosions in our tiny kitchen and some questionable dishes. Edward laughed too, but when our laughter faded into the falling of the rain, my smile faded.

“She wasn’t perfect,” I admitted. “I think I recognize now that she was very fallible. I worshipped her when I was younger, but when I think back, I do see how in some of the ways she raised me, I was done a disservice… I grew up too fast. When she died––“ I sighed, feeling insincere and guilty about perpetuating this lie when I really should have said when I died, “––Esme became more of a mother to me, and even Rosalie’s been more traditionally nurturing than my mom ever was… But still, she was my best friend.”

“You miss her,” he murmured simply. I met his gentle eyes.

“Yes,” I bit my lip.

“How old are you, Bella?” Edward asked. “And not the formulaic, theorized version where you were born in your thirties. How old are you really?”

I tensed, wondering if he was asking this again because he’d taken note of how I didn’t directly answer this question the last time he asked.

“Seventeen,” I answered automatically.

“You don’t seem seventeen,” he responded, reproachful.

The tension left my body at the tone of his voice. I smiled again easily.

“Sorry?” I asked, biting my lip to hide the smile, unsure of how to respond.

Edward chuckled and the subtle crinkles by his eyes lit up his face. “Well, I wish you’d been given a happier, normal childhood.”

“I’m fine,” I shrugged, brushing it off. “I hardly remember most of it, and what I do remember reminds me that I probably didn’t have much chance at a normal childhood to begin with. I was terribly shy, remember.

“I did do girl scouts, though….Oh, and ballet briefly,” I admitted, unsure as to why I was volunteering so much information about myself. Wasn’t the purpose of me sitting here to uncover information about him?

“Why does that make you… embarrassed?” Edward’s eyebrows pulled up.

For an odd moment, I felt betrayed by the flush of my cheeks before I realized there was no blood rushing to my face. I blinked, bewildered by the peculiarity of this long buried instinct to become frustrated with my easy blushes when I hadn’t blushed for years. I felt self conscious as I wondered what Edward saw reading my expression to so perfectly decipher my feelings.

“I was very uncoordinated,” I dismissed his question as I fought the urge for my hand to flutter to touch my cool cheek.

“Now that truly is difficult to believe,” Edward half-smiled. “I can’t imagine I’ve seen anyone as graceful as you.”

I laughed aloud at his compliment, though I didn’t doubt his sincerity. I knew this was true of myself. It was true of all of our kind to appear fluid and effortless, but still, no one had ever applied the word to me. My vampiric poise was irrelevant and unimpressive to my family, and the very few humans brave enough to overcome their nerves to compliment me typically found their words to fail them.

“You’re very odd,” I beamed.

“What do you mean?” The bronze-haired boy asked, again wanting to be let in on the secret. While I had an insatiable thirst, it seemed he had an insatiable curiosity.

“How old are you really? Your word choice is bizarre for someone your age, you know.”

“Oh,” he laughed easily. “Well, I’m actually not seventeen. I’m eighteen. But I’ll try to strictly adhere to a more teenage vernacular, so I can compliment you in a more acceptable way from now on.”

I looked out at the dim light of the brewing storm, my smile fading as I decided that I should probably allow him to escape me before I did something I’d regret. But I knew I wasn’t resolved enough to completely leave him alone. He made me monopolize too much of the conversation, and I wasn’t satisfied with what I knew about him yet.

I sighed aloud, and Edward, too, looked out at the rain darkened sky.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” he asked hopefully, making the assumption that our conversation was coming to an end.

“Yes,” I promised reluctantly. My eyes flickered back over to his pretty face, studying the lines of his strong jaw, his chiseled cheekbones, his full lips, committing this inconsequential face to memory as I silently resolved that this should be –– and would be –– one of the last times I’d allow myself to be this close to him. Tomorrow may well be the very last.

Likewise, as though his thoughts were in the same vein, his beautiful green eyes studied my face as well, though he did so in that mysterious way of his where he looked at me as though hoping to read my mind.

He sighed, then collected his backpack. Edward opened the door, stepping out into the bitterly cold weather. A shiver ran through his lanky body, making my body tense with perverse excitement. I cringed away from the deadly instinct and swallowed against the dryness of my yearning throat.

Edward’s tall, lean frame leaned down to peek into the car.

“Goodnight, Bella,” he spoke softly.

“Goodnight, Edward,” I almost whispered, gazing into the beauty of his dazzling green eyes.

Edward smiled his half smile, and closed the door, escaping into the building torrent of rain.

I gasped in relief at his absence, then stiffened realizing how the cab of the car was still heavily perfumed with his scent. I took in another deep breath, forcing myself to confront the burning thirst again, willing myself to manage it. I sighed as I hit the gas, making Edward disappear behind me.

  Both my control and the rain pour strengthened significantly as I turned onto the long drive leading to my house. I grimaced as I wondered how I’d face my family and explain the complete reversal of what I’d promised to do. I didn’t have time to consider for much longer as suddenly, a figure appeared instantaneously in the drive. I slammed my foot on the brake immediately in shock at its appearance, not wanting to total yet another car against one of my siblings.

I peered through the windshield, unable to see through the complete downpour that submerged my vehicle as though it were underwater. It was annoying for my perfect sight to be obstructed by anything, rainwater or even the transparent windshield because of my eyes’ desire to focus on the microscopic scratches.

The car violently screeched against the muddy pavement, and it looked as though we would have to bid this car goodbye until the figure hidden by the storm placed their hands out on the car roughly and forced it to a stop. The tires screamed in protest, and the metal groaned as it warped into the shape of the palms. I listened as it unnaturally bent again in a piercing moan as the figure fixed the indentions they’d created.

My windshield wipers swatted away a flood of water. Finally, I could make out my sister Rosalie, her hair dripping wet down her back like a supermodel who’d just emerged from a pool on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Her exquisite face was absolutely furious.

I gulped, feeling like a child who’d just been discovered sneaking home past curfew.

I felt uncertain as to what to do and why she’d chosen to stop me here. Surely she could wait for us to be under the cover of the garage before she chastised me. Not wanting to be drenched by the rain, I revved the engine to ask her to move aside, but the car didn’t inch forward against her strength. Beginning to feel annoyed, I revved the engine again loudly and for longer, but still, she didn’t move.

“Rose,” I hissed as I hit the brake again so that the car could roar viciously in the storm, only to be cut off by the voice of my adopted mother.

“Girls!” I couldn’t see Esme through the obscured glass behind the downpour, but even with the barrage of the rain, I could hear her lithe steps run furiously to the front porch. “Please!”

Rose’s head snapped up to look in Esme’s direction before turning to glance unhappily back at me. She stepped aside, and I sped into the garage, parking the car hastily.

I exited immediately and went to expect the damage to the front of the hood. It was only a minuscule bend from having been pushed and prodded back and forth, and I was positive Rosalie could make it look like new, though why it had been necessary to punish the car was beyond me. It wasn’t even mine.

I wheeled around once I’d heard the near-silent steps of her run, a wave of anger making me forget my guilt.

“Are you insane?!” I demanded.

“I could ask the same of you, Bella!” Now free from the obscurity of the rain, I could see in perfect detail the stunning fury of her glorious face. Her golden hair had been darkened by the rain, and it was slicked back effortlessly, like a glittering waterfall down to the middle of her back. She looked like a wrathful god, but I couldn’t find it in my stubbornness to care about how valid her anger may be.

“Okay, but did you have to take it out on the car? What did it ever do to you! You couldn’t have waited another twenty seconds to confront me? Well, you have my attention now, Rosalie, so say whatever it is you want to say!”

“You’re just unbelievable, Bella!”

“He’s not going to say anything, Rose! We already talked about this yesterday. You heard Alice! He’s not a threat to you and Emmett, so I don’t understand why you’re taking this so personally.”

“Exactly, Bella. I heard Alice. Which is precisely why I fail to understand as to why you wouldn’t understand why I’d take it so personally. After all these years of sisterhood, how can you not understand how I feel about this?”

I frowned, my forehead puckering, but still, I retained my anger. She huffed, continuing.

“If it was an inevitability, I’d understand. However, it hurts me deeply that you recognize the choice that you have. The choice that Edward has. And still, you’re willing to play with his mortality as though it were a game, when I never had that choice.”

I froze, the realization dawning on me that she was right. No matter the ways in which I tried to justify my actions or spin my intentions, she was right. Another part of my mind acknowledged that while I was aware of right and wrong, I wasn’t certain that what was right would be enough to keep me away anymore.

We stared each other down much like we had yesterday. Only today, rather than anger, her face was contorted in hurt, and mine was contorted in hopelessness.

“But… you found Emmett when he was still human…” I weakly protested, selfishly trying to highlight the irony, though I knew it was pointless as I wasn’t advocating for Edward to be changed either. That was too complicated a thought to wrap my mind around. But whatever may happen –– and I was still very much aware of the worst of possibilities –– I didn’t want my sister to hate me for it.

“He was dying, Bella,” Rosalie whispered. The anger on her face had completely faded, and in its place, pain marked her eyebrows, her full lips, her golden, sad eyes. In her sadness, she looked like a work of art, like one of those paintings of a weeping saint. “It’s not the same.”

I didn’t have a response to that, and I felt as though I was at an impasse, both with myself and with Rosalie. Because I knew the promises I’d made and broken, but I knew the promise I’d made to Edward today, and I had no willpower, no desire, and no intention to break that promise.

“You may not feel anything for him now,” Rosalie began, her eyes intently fierce as they bore into mine to warn me. Only this warning felt significantly more horrible than I’d imagined it may be, because it wasn’t made in anger, but in desperation and love. “But if Alice is right, you will. And it seems to me a horrible way to repay someone you love to steal their life, their future, their soul from them. You should leave him alone now while you still can, because once you love him… it’ll only hurt more one way or another. And you’ll have to live with that for the rest of your existence. I know I have.”

And with that, Rose turned, her face cold and sad, and she left the garage.

[lifeinquarantine]

Reading Corner: Romance!

Lifeinquarantine presents… books to absolutely read this February! The upcoming list is a series of romances which have flooded (or will flood) my heart with love, and which will hopefully do the same to yours!

1. Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Heartstopper is a graphic novel series (yes, series, as in 3 wonderful books) surrounding two boys, Nick and Charlie, who prior to sitting next to each other in their tutor group had never spoken. Charlie joins the school Rugby team and gets trained by Nick, and throughout the book there are themes of friendship, discovering sexuality, finding self love, and a budding romance! (Note: I finished this 3 book series in two days and I loved every moment of it! Alice Oseman is an incredible author and artist)

2. If I never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane

After the end of an 18 year long relationship, Laurie is left to deal with vicious amounts of office gossip, pitiful stares from colleagues, and all round embarrassment. Upon hearing that her ex moved on to another woman in the office, Laurie decides the humiliation is no longer worth taking. After the elevator gets stuck, she bumps into Jamie Carter, the office “bad boy”, who so happens to need a steady relationship to prove to his boss that he’s worthy of a promotion. They decide to come together in a fake relationship to reach their separate goals, but of course it’s a complicated arrangement. (Warning! I really liked this book)

3. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Two rival publishing companies come together (wow, another office romance. I guess I have a type?) in attempt to survive within the business, and now all the employees must work together in harmony despite their differences. The two bosses assistants, Josh and Lucy, are forced to share an office, constantly annoying one another with silly games. Then the game changes, they’re now playing for a promotion which will place them above the other assistant, and Lucy is determined to win. But now a new game obstacle comes to light, (this obstacle is that they both totally have a crush on one another)

4. Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

(I haven’t read this one but it is highhhly rated, and it’s no my tbr)  “First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations. The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations.” (hehe I took this synapsis off goodreads)

5. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Okay okay, hear me out! This is an odd book to suggest for a february romance, I know, but when I tell you reading twilight is an experience like no other, I mean it! Bella moves to the gloomiest town in the US, Forks, to live with her father Charlie. Her expectations are pretty low, but nothing has prepared her for what she finds in this town (Spoiler: Hot vampires!) I don’t think this needs much explaining, it’s twilight! It’s horrific and amazing. 

😻💌Happy February💌😻

Ps. I made the title image into a really cool gif but tumblr wont let me upload it. #wack

pps. It would make sense to include “to all the boys I’ve loved before” in this list, but I forgot lol. That book is good though!! Read it.

🍀Hana🍀

[rimalupin]

Arthur x MC: “Never Have I Ever...”

(A/N: Fluff piece w/ a hint of angst and the *tiniest* bit of suggestive content. I wanted to show Arthur some more ~love~ by writing him w/ a bestie who’s comfortable with platonic touching/cuddling ((but also this is once again a lowkey self-indulgent piece bc i miss hugging my friends hnggggg T_T)). I’m also a sucker for the friends-to-lovers trope, so there’s that, hehe~. c: )

~~~~~

“Never have I ever… Broken a bone.”

“Well, I didn't expect that from you.” Arthur raises his eyebrows in surprise. “Haven’t you at least sprained something?”

“That's not the same as breaking something,” I point out as I massage my wrist. A habit I’ve developed ever since I first sprained it.

“I’m well aware.” His eyes dart to my wrist and he reaches out to grab my hand. Of course he’d know I’d sprained my wrist before just by seeing me touch it. Normally, Arthur’s super-observational skills would catch me off-guard. They still do, but I think they’re growing on me now. I guess that’s how you know we’ve spent A LOT of time together. 

He lifts up my hand and gently moves it about. I’m assuming he’s making sure that my wrist is still working. “I’m glad you haven’t broken it.”

I shrug. “I don’t do anything too weird with my hands, so I’m not really worried about that.”

“Oh? Define what you consider a ‘weird’ activity for your hands.” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively and I lightly punch his shoulder with my free hand. “OH! MAN DOWN!” He lets go of my hand and clutches his arm before falling onto his bed. 

I giggle and follow his lead so that I’m lying beside him. “Alright, stop stalling: it’s your turn.”

He turns to lay on his side and places a finger on my lips. “Have patience, my dear assistant! I’m still thinking.”

I gently pry his finger away. “Arthur, ‘Never Have I Ever’ is just a silly get-to-know-you game. It isn’t something you’re supposed to mull over for hours like… chess.”

“Usually, players aren’t supposed to think for THAT long in chess. But you’d know that, Miss ‘Almost-National-Chess-Champion’.”

I roll my eyes and sigh. I never should’ve let that fact slip out. I hadn’t played chess since middle school, so I’m dreading the day that Arthur asks me to play a game with him. My rusty skills wouldn’t be enough to beat him at even one game...

I quickly attempt to re-direct him to ‘Never Have I Ever.’ “Ohhh, just play the game already!” I poke at his sides, trying to see if any ticklish spots exist there. I’ve been trying to look for them for a while, but I still haven't quite found them yet.

“Alright, alright.” He chuckles and grabs my hands. Our fingers interlock almost automatically.

It’s not the first time we’ve held hands like this - it’s become kind of our “thing” ever since we got close. Arthur’s the first friend I managed to make at the mansion, not to mention my first best friend who happens to be a vampire. Our friendship is special, and this is one of the many special things that resulted in it.

“Never have I ever…” He gives my hands a light squeeze, and I promptly return the gesture. “Been bitten by a vampire.”

I furrow my brow. “Pff, no way. I don’t believe you.”

“What? Why not?”

“Isn’t that how humans get ‘turned’? Like some powerful vampire bites a mortal and suddenly they become a vamp?”

“My dear, that is but a myth. The contract we have with le Comte didn’t require him to just bite us to give us a taste of eternal life.” Arthur wraps an arm around my waist, and I squeal with surprise when he pulls me close to him, his body flush against mine. His voice is low and he gazes at me intensely. “It required something much more dangerous.” I have to tell myself not to blush as I feel his breath on my face.

On one hand, I can see why so many ladies fall for Arthur’s advances: he's handsome, charming, and - dare I say - very sexy when he chooses to be. If they were in my position now, I'd imagine that they’d throw themselves into Arthur’s arms and start making out with him before they… well, you know…

On the other hand, it’s Arthur. Yes, he’s an awful flirt, but he’s also extremely intelligent, caring, and goofy. I love these sides of him, and I’m glad that he’s been showing me more of them lately.

I raise an eyebrow at him. “Don’t tell me that le Comte is secretly pimping you guys out.”

“My word, get your mind out of the gutter!” he chides.

“It’s your fault for putting that thought into my head! But no shame if it’s true,” I tease. We laugh aloud, our voices echoing through the room.

Once we catch our breaths, Arthur speaks again. “_____ seriously, you’ve been here for almost a month now. Have you really not been bitten yet?”

I shake my head. “Nope.”

“How interesting…” He’s quiet for a moment. “Nobody here has bitten you?” 

Besides some really close calls (courtesy of Arthur, though it never went further than his mouth hovering near my neck - a move he used on me when I first arrived at the mansion), none of the residents had actually done that to me. “Arthur, I’m pretty sure I’d know if someone bit me.” “I’m just asking! But…” He looks at me with a curious gaze. “Have you ever wondered what it feels like?”

I shrug. “I mean, I guess.” I’m living with a bunch of vampires - of course I’m a little curious. 

But I’m also scared. Does it hurt? How much blood will I lose? Will I pass out?

As if reading my thoughts, Arthur gives my arm a reassuring squeeze. “You don’t have to worry about that here. We’ve got plenty of Blanc and Rouge stocked up, so none of the residents would just sweep you up and make you their meal.”

I look at him, my expression deadpan. “Gee, thanks. Glad to know I won’t be eaten up during my stay.”

“I’m serious! But if you want to know…” His fingers reach up to tuck some stray hairs behind my ear. “You can use me.”

I blink at him, confused. “Use you..?”

He nods, completely serious. “I can bite you. And there’s no need to worry: I’ve done this plenty of times before, so I won't go too wild on you. Not that I've gone completely wild on anyone else!" He quickly adds.

I widen my eyes as I recall what Sebastian had told me when I first met Arthur: “Arthur feeding off of others is a sort of - How do I put this? - ‘vampiric foreplay,’ I suppose.” Does that mean that if he bites me, we’ll..?

No, that can’t be true. Surely Sebastian was over-exaggerating. I’ve heard that people can be into that kind of stuff, so how could it be any different with a vampire?

But I don't want to become just another one-night-stand for Arthur. He's my best friend - I wouldn't want to ruin what we already have...

Again, Arthur reads my thoughts. “We don’t have to do anything beyond that if you don’t want to. But I should warn you that the feeling is rather… intense.”

I narrow my eyes at his explanation, my skepticism at an all-time high. “I don’t believe you.”

“Well, perhaps I can convince you with an alternative explanation. A demonstration perhaps?” He’s speaking with his “Flirty Arthur” voice, but his eyes… There’s a look in them that I haven’t seen before. It’s almost as if he’s been wanting to do this…

I reach out to touch his cheek, curious about the longing look in his eyes. He leans into my touch, and we silently gaze at each other for a while.

I finally manage to answer him. “Fine. Just this once.” My voice comes out quiet and a little shaky. Am I nervous about this..? “But if it hurts like hell and if you draw too much blood out of me, you’d better stop.”

Arthur’s gaze softens and he gives me a kind smile. “Alright. Just tell me and I will stop. I promise.” After I nod again, he wraps his arms around me and rolls us over so that he’s on top of me. I look up at him, still wondering about that look in his eyes. 

He leans closer to me, and I hold my breath as his forehead touches mine. “Just relax,” he whispers. "You trust me, right?" Something wavers in his gaze. Is he as nervous about this as I am..?

I give him a gentle smile, hoping to reassure him. "Of course I do."

He nods and takes a breath before speaking again. “The pain only lasts for a moment.” He moves closer to my neck, gently pushing my hair aside before hovering his lips over my pulse. “But I promise that you’ll feel much better right after.”

Before I could ask what he meant, Arthur’s fangs pierce into my skin, and my eyes widen as I yelp aloud. “AH!” 

The pain is sharp and intense, and I feel as if my neck is on fire. My eyes begin to fill with tears as the wave of pain spreads throughout my body.

But a short while later, the pain starts to fade until it feels... nice..?

An involuntary moan spills out of my mouth, but I’m too overwhelmed by the feeling to quiet myself. What is this feeling anyway..?

Pleasure? No… More like ecstasy radiating throughout my entire being. 

The spot on my neck continues to throb, becoming more intense as it travels down to the rest of my body, setting everything on fire.

Arthur begins to suck on my neck, and I wrap my arms around him, almost instinctively. “Mmm…”

It feels so good… 

My fingers tangle through his hair and he moans onto my neck.

I want more…

I pull him closer to me, and he presses his chest against mine.

I want him...

This feeling. It wasn't just lust. It was…

I have to tell him…

He lifts his head and gazes at me.

I need him...

My eyes dart down to his lips, now lightly stained red from my blood.

Arthur...

He's inching closer to me, his lips hovering over mine. So close, nearly touching.

Our gazes lock onto each other, and he whispers to me. "Do you want this, _____?"

I stare into his dark blue eyes. Those beautiful eyes filled with longing… need… and something else…

The right thing to do is to say "no." Even if I do like him, I still have to return to my own time sooner or later. I didn't want either of us to get hurt by that inevitable future. But now that I'm facing him like this, I'm not sure if I can hide my feelings any longer…

So I nod. "Yes." There's no point in running now. I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck. "I want this. I want you, Arthur."

His eyes widen with surprise. He whispers my name as he lifts a hand to my cheek, and I lean into his touch. We draw closer to each other, closing the distance between us until…

We're kissing. Arthur and I are kissing. It's a gentle, slow kiss so achingly sweet that I nearly cry when our lips first touch. The taste of his lips sends a thrill through me that I have never felt before.

Soon enough, the kiss grows more passionate, sending even more flames throughout my body. My lips part slightly as I moan, and his tongue easily slips into my mouth. I cling onto him, and he holds me tight as our kiss deepens.

And then we break apart, our foreheads touching as we catch our breaths. As if waking from a dream, I blink at him, dazed. "Did we just..?" I didn't just imagine that, right?

He's as shocked as I am. "I… I suppose we did…" He looks into my eyes, searching for something. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you..?"

His concern for me is so sweet that I nearly kiss him again. "No," I shake my head. "Well, it did hurt a little bit. But you were right: the pain didn't last very long." I blush, still feeling the flames inside me that have yet to be quelled.

He lets out a sigh of relief. "Good." His head moves back to my neck, and he peppers the spot he bit with light kisses.

"Ngh… Arthur, what's this for..?" I ask, even though I don't want him to stop.

He lifts his head and looks up at me with a sheepish smile. "To apologize for hurting you."

"Arthur, it's alright, really."

"I still feel bad though. So I hope you'll accept my apology."

Honestly, how much sweeter can this man be? "Of course I do."

Another lovely smile. "Thank you, _____."

I return his thanks with another kiss, and I feel his lips curve into a smile as he kisses me back.

I really do love him…

The kiss is short and sweet. After we break apart, he rests his forehead against mine. “Can I kiss you again..?” he asks in a soft voice.

I raise an eyebrow and move away a little to tease him. “What for?”

He pouts as he moves closer to me. “To ask you to stay.” My eyes widen with surprise at his answer. He wants me to stay..? “I don’t want you to leave...” His hands move up to cup my cheeks, and my heart aches at his gentle touch.

“Arthur, I have to go back someday…” I close my eyes, willing myself not to cry at the thought of leaving him.

“I know…” His thumbs gently caress my cheeks as if he’s wiping away the tears I refuse to let fall. “But until then, can we stay like this? Together, I mean?”

I open my eyes to look at him again. “Together..?”

He nods. “I want to be with you, _____. Even if it’s for this short blissful while, I want to be with you.”

His honest confession is too much for my heart to handle. “Yes,” I say as the tears rush down my face. “Yes, of course. I want to be with you too, Arthur.” I wrap my arms around him and hug him close to me. “I don’t want to leave you…”

He holds me close. “You don’t..?”

“Of course not. You’re my best friend and… I love you too much to leave you." I bury my face onto his chest, his scent washing over me.

“We’ll figure something out, my love. But for now…” His index finger gently lifts my chin up, and his lips meet mine once again. Our kiss is slow, and we take our time tasting each other, exploring each other, loving each other. 

We take our time to make this short eternity last because we don’t know when it will end.