#him smiling and for some reason there's sunset nearby

[coffeebrownn]

[cheapshrimpysheep]

There's a Calm Surrender

SUMMARY: The Bead Brawl tournament ends and Leona and the other three run away leaving you, Grim and Jack behind. This causes Neji(Kifaji) to reprimand Leona and trigger him into taking you on a ride to confess to you.

CHARACTERS: Leona Kingscholar x Reader 🦁

TAGS: Fluff; GN Reader; Love Confession; Kiss; Flirting

WARNING: Spoilers from Cloudcalling on the Savanna (Sunset Savanna's Tamashina-Mina) and its respective cards.

WORD COUNT: 2.200 words

COMMENTS: At first, I was going to write scenarios for all the event cards, but as Leona's was so personal, it ended up inspiring me to write a lot. So I decided to let him have his solo post. I'll still write scenarios for the others in a separate post.

By the way, I was undecided whether to use the name Neji or Kifaji, so I used both. 😅

I hope you enjoy. 😘

To escape from Cheka, Neji(Kifaji) and the palace guards who were with them, Leona rushed to the car to drive back to the hotel. Vil, Kalim and Lilia went with him. And you, Grim and Jack were left behind in the rain.

I mean, Leona wanted to escape and the car didn't have seats for everyone but... still... it made you a little sad. At least you had Jack who never left your side. Eventually, Cheka and Neji(Kifaji) reached you, after Leona and the others had already fled. Of course the first thing Neji(Kifaji) did was apologize for Leona's rudeness and offer to take you back to the hotel.

During the ride back, Cheka wanted to stay with you, especially after finding out that the name Leona used to win the tournament was yours. You were like his new favorite person. He even started calling you Unca, like he does with Leona.

There was a moment when it seemed like Neji(Kifaji) was going to correct Checka, perhaps explaining that since you're not married to his uncle, calling you “Unca” as well wouldn't be correct. But for some reason, he interrupted himself with a smile and just said amused: "Yes, they are the real Unca [Y/N]."

SUNSET SAVANNA - SUNSET VILLA

When you arrive at the hotel, you decide to take a shower to clean yourself from the rainwater. And after that, you hear two voices arguing in a nearby room. One is from Neji(Kifaji) and the other from Leona. You can't contain your curiosity and lean against the door to listen.

“The other three only went with me because they wanted to!” Leona says “I could have left alone.”

“And you, as a prince, would leave all your guests behind?” Neji(Kifaji) replies “In the middle of the rain? It would be shameful enough if it were discovered that you did it to three of them.”

“There were no more seats in the car.” Leona says in that smug tone of his. “It would be dangerous if I took more people. I took whoever I could and you took the rest. And for that I thank you. For bringing my other dear colleagues when I couldn't.”

“Hum, dear colleagues. Fu fu.” Neji’s(Kifaji) tone sounded like he was smiling in amusement. “Is that all they really are to you, prince Leona?”

“You know even the ‘dear’ part was deceiver sarcasm. And I don't like that smug on your face.”

“Oh, forgive me, Prince Leona. Far be it from me to insinuate that I know, for knowing you, what feelings you hide for them.”

“Feelings? You don't really think they're my friends, do you?”

“I wish. But I didn't mean all of them. I was referring to [Y/N].”

“And what exactly were you referring to?” Leona's voice lost its smug and sounded slightly annoyed.

“You know, Prince Cheka liked them very much. He even started calling them Unca [Y/N]. Something tells me you would like the sound of it.”

“No, I wouldn't. And it's a good thing those thoughts and assumptions of yours never leave your mouth ever again! Or be written in any way!” Leona had a growl in his voice.

“But of course, Prince Leona. I would never do such a thing.” and his tone became more serious. “You let them get closer and at the same time they are the first person you push away.”

“I didn't ask them to come. The furball insisted that he wanted to come and he is unbearable without his caretaker.”

“You are trying to deceive others by deceiving yourself.”

“Mind your own business and get out of mine!” He roars. There is silence for a few seconds.

“Very well. I will withdraw now. Forgive my intrusion, Prince Leona.”

“I will not.”

“But there is a limit to which a person can be pushed.” His footsteps and voice approach the door and the last thing you hear before leaving is the phrase: “Until they find someone who is willing  to embrace them.”

SUNSET SAVANNA - SUNSET VILLA (later)

It was night. You were only going to return to NRC the next day. You were in your room with Grim and he was already fast asleep, when someone knocks on your door. With your pajamas on, you open it.

Leona looks you up and down. “If you want to come on one last ride, get changed and head to the entrance in half an hour.” He tells you and leaves.

You did as he said and a few seconds later you hear a car approaching. Leona stops, the front passenger door right in front of you ready for you to open and step inside. There's no one else in the car other than the two of you. You can't contain a little smile.

SUNSET SAVANNA - LEONA'S CAR

You ask him where you are going.

“I don't know.” He responds, very naturally.

What did he mean he didn't know? Why did he invite you to take that ride? What was happening?

“I know you heard our conversation.” He says, without taking his eyes off the path and speaking as he normally does. “I heard your footsteps and smelled your scent.” He smirks. “What a rude guest. If he knew maybe he wouldn't praise you so much.”

You apologize.

“It's a little late for that, don't you think? You already overheard a private conversation. And between a prince and the chief chamberlain of his royal family. Few would have such insolence.” he was grinning smugly.

“And what are you going to do with me?” you ask. “For this so-called insolence.”

“I could have you arrested for espionage. I invite you, out of the kindness of my heart, to introduce you to my country and culture, for you to betray me and try to find out personal information about the royal family of Sunset Savana.” He finally looks at you, from the corner of his eyes and with a serious face. “You know I could really do that, right?”

You immediately looked worried and flinched a little.

He laughs. “I’m kidding. Don’t be frightened of each little joke. It's not like I mean any harm to you.”

“Then... what is this?” You ask.

“A night ride.” Leona answers. “Just enjoy it. Look up.”

You do it and you see a beautiful, clear, dark sky full of stars you didn't even know could be seen from earth. He was calmly driving, which made you also feel like everything was okay and that you could relax too. He ended up making his way to the arena where the Bead Brawl tournament took place. But he continued driving toward the colossal boulder that was the tournament's background.

SUNSET SAVANNA - PRIDE ROCK

He parked right at the base of the stone. He gets out of the car, knowing you would follow, and walks up to a locked steel door. He takes a key out of his pocket and opens the door. You ask if you can be there.

“I can. I have the key, don't I?” He starts to climb the stone stairs and you follow him. “Close the door, will ya?” He turns on the lights in the passage and you close the door behind you.

You go up the stairs until you reach a kind of room with a large opening, like a cave. It was blocked by a fence with a locked door, probably for the safety of visitors. You look outside and see that extensive ledge in front of you, the most striking point of that place.

“When planning began to turn this place into a tourist spot,” Leona explained “they thought about placing the fence outlining the stone, to create a landscaped balcony, I think. But the stone has an unstable shape to support a lot of weight, so they blocked the passage here. For the tourists.” He takes the keys again and opens the fence door. “You're not afraid of heights, are you?” He laughs and walks along the ledge.

You go carefully after him. He stops halfway, takes off his cloak and spreads it on the ground. And he lays down beside the cloak.

“I know I'm hot, but wouldn't you rather lie down next to me and see the stars? You can admire me all you want at school.” He was referring to the cloak, it was for you.

You lie down and look back at that wonderful starry sky. It was calming.

“Legend says that it was on this stone that the shaman presented the newborn prince or princess to the other animals.” he tells you, and points to the tip of the stone. “The shama would go there, right on the edge and lifted the cub. Like the golden statue in the city center. I wonder if any lion has ever fallen from there.” he laughs. There's a short moment of silence. “Sorry.”

“Hum? Sorry for what?” you ask

“For leaving you behind in the rain.” he explained looking at the stars. “But if you had been faster I would have brought you too.”

“You��re apologizing?”

“Why are you herbivores always surprised by that?” he sighs.

And then he rolls over and positions himself on top of you with his arms stretched out. Making you look at him with the starry sky behind him.

“And just so we're clear, I didn't want to bring you because this wasn't a vacation. I was just trying to resolve an inconvenience. I didn't want to involve you in these matters, and I just wanted to get this over with quickly.” he smirks “However, I admit it wasn't bad that I had the opportunity to show off in front of you.”

You get flattered, maybe even blush and end up looking down instinctively from his face. But when you do this, your gaze ends up stopping at his torso, with that tight top and the muscles on his abdomen exposed and flexed. And you end up looking to the side, even more flustered, and with a little smile. He interprets this as a green light.

“You heard what Neji(Kifaji) said, right?” He wasn't smiling, but his face was relaxed and he was looking at you with strangely tender eyes. “About you.‘You let them get closer and at the same time they are the first person you push away.’... And you're still here.” he sighs. “Fine, then. I surrender.”

“What do you mean?” you ask “Surrender from what?”

He bends his arms, now supporting himself on his forearms and getting closer to your face.

“From the fight. You’re too persistent. Stronger than me apparently. Always wanting to see me happy. Always present with that smile. You looked like a puppy excited to go for a walk when I let you and Grim come with us... Cute... I’ll put all my cards on the table and give you a choice. And make sure you listen to me because I won't repeat myself. I like you and I'm willing to make you mine. I will give you the choice: Look away and refuse me or kiss me and accept me.”

You take your time. You look at his lips instead of looking away.

“It's your choice, herbivore. Let me be your number one and I'll make you mine... [Y/N].”

You kiss his lips and he lets his body move closer to yours. Until you're in each other's arms. You had started cuddling each other when he tells you:

“Don't tell anyone about this yet. I don't want Neji(Kifaji) to get all cocky thinking he was right and that he had a hand in this.”

“And he didn't?”

“He doesn't need to know that. No one needs. I never thought I'd say it this way, but...” with an arm around your waist he brings you closer. “Hakuna Matata... Let's not worry about it tonight.” and he kisses you again.

You will start to feel him more relaxed, even more than usual. He has nothing left to hide anymore, no feelings to fight against. Instead, he is free to behave however he wants, to hug you, kiss you and fall asleep next to you, especially if you pet his ears. But don't worry, he'll still wake up easily if you need to escape before you two get caught there and people start asking questions.

SUNSET SAVANNA - SUNSET VILLA

The two of you return to the hotel, when you are getting close to separating to go to your rooms, you say good night to Leona and turn to go to your room. But he holds you by the waist.

“And where do you think you're going?” he asks with a smirk. “I skipped the parade, but I still want to celebrate my victory.”

“Do you mean my victory?” you say “After all, I'm pretty sure that masked mysterious warrior that appeared last minute had my name.”

He laughs. “Whoever we celebrate, I want to do it in my room. And I want you there with me.” The way you smile is enough for him to know that you want the same. He picks you up and takes you with him to the prince's bedroom.

If you would like to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

[inumakis-boo]

ITAFUSHI .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚

⌗ fanfiction synopsis ␥ itadori and fushiguro have had rumors about them being together in secret ever since their first year. of course, they never did anything, but as all things, that changes. friends to lovers x first kiss.

word count - 3,765 // enjoy!

They had heard the rumors for.. a long time.

Of course, friend groups were like that, they both figured. They teased and bullied each other, tickled and argued over the little things. Fickleness and friendship usually went hand in hand.

Maybe it was their own fault, Megumi reasoned. They had become close, and being close friends even within their own friend group was bound to create a joke circle at some point.

It happened first last year, Megumi thinks it was about ice cream he helped wipe off Yuji's cheek with a napkin after many failed attempts at smack it away from the other. They remarked how cute it was, to be so close that the gay was practically seeping in.

Even Yuji laughed.

But it did not end there.

These were good sorcerers, Megumi had to remind himself. They were brave and strong and extremely intelligent with bigger goals than their own heads. They were valuable members of society, and if it wasn't for that, he wouldve spawned Mahoraga a long time ago for the teasing they endured more and more frequently.

It would be something dumb, like remarking how close they were sitting or where they went last night, or even the fact sometimes they got the same dish at a fast-food place, or their shirts were matching, all remarking how nice it was to have such a good 'friend', and that they were so adorable together.

'friend.'

It wasn't until Yuji, being the idiot he was, had fell asleep on his bedroom floor after fiddling around with his new switch, and consequently, had not been seen returning to his room for the rest of the night.

They both didn't realize how bad it looked until they were both arriving at the breakfast table together, and all the third years were looking at them, including Nobara, like they had stumbled on the next best joke for the year.

They had not heard the end of it. Even Gojo suspiously eyed them, of course, not without reassurance that whatever Megumi liked, he would always still be his little gumi.

Meguni daydreamed of watching Mahoraga destroy the entire school.

Yuji.. tended to shrug it all off. He was used to some kind of teasing, he told him at one point, about dating girls and whatever. But he never seemed too phased by their idea that they not only liked each other but might actually be dating or at the very least, should.

That didn't stop them from hanging out though. Megumi figured they were in the right, everyone was wrong, why should he have to abandon his friend to stop them?

Yuji seemed to feel the same way, considering they were sitting together on Yuji's bed, leaning against the wall as they looked out to the rest of the room.

The sunsets colors were gleaming through his curtains, and the littering of colorful posters of anime characters, video games and movies, along with his desk, litered with school books and papers made the room feel.. much more normal than other parts of their day. It felt like he was just a normal teenager in this room, with no weapons or curses lingering nearby.

The smallish tv sat on a dresser, and played some stupid forgotten movie on youtube, and Yuji was still distracted by the game in his hands to care that much time watch it.

Megumi never had such a regular childhood, even in his middle school years with Gojo always lingering around, but he could imagine this was exactly how Yuji liked things in his own bedroom, when he was just a normal Japanese student, and did normal things.

Megumi lazily watched him as his thumbs fiddled with the game, his tongue peeking out between his lips in concentration, and his pink tufts of hair rebelliously stuck in random angles due to the gel that he religiously used every morning. He smiled subconsciously at his game as he took the lead, and Megumi suppressed a smile when he finally raced to the finish line and his character danced.

Yuji let out a sigh of relief and finally stopped hunching over, leaning against the wall aswell and blinking his eyes a few times. Megumi was never really into video games like this, and watching Yuji try to see beyond his ridiculously bright screen did not make it seem worth getting into. Of course, that didn't stop him from taking up a controller when challenged.

"I am so happy it is the weekend," He stretches, and Megumi lays his head back flatly against the wall. "I finally beat this track, and now I can just chill."

"So thats were your priorities lie." Megumi sighs, much to Yujis confusion. "I know you still haven't started your homework."

"I can't hear you-" Yuji whined, feigning ignorance. "I shouldn't be thinking about homework right now! It's supposed to be a relaxing day."

"You always leave homework for sunday night." Megumi is used to scolding his friend by now, and Yuji easily brushes it off without much thought. The games music still plays between them.

"Well, I suppose we couldve studied yesterday-"

"But you decided staying up until midnight and then waking me up to go sit on the roof was a better measure of time."

"Hey," Yuji pouted, "That was fun. Plus, couldn't sleep anyways. You always make me tired."

"Thanks." Megumi deadpanned.

"No problem." Yuji only smiles sarcastically in return.

Megumi doesn't resist this time with a smile, and they both lean back again. The strands of sunlight gleam in through, and project around them as they sit.

Megumi feels normal here.

"Sometimes I can't believe I am actually here." Yuji interrupts. "Like yknow.. I had no idea a world like this was right under my nose, and it feels like forever ago that we started."

We.

"You were clueless back then to what a weapon you really were." Megumi remembers standing on the rooftop with him, ready to commit him to death. It is a sour thought that is quickly abandoned. "You are still the same, but.. not as dumb."

"I think that was you trying to be nice?" A glittering snicker.

"Just a little. Too much goes to your head."

Yuji bumped his shoulder a little hard than he wouldve when they first met, and Megumi only huffed.

"Not like we listen to what anyone says anyways." He can hear the smile in his voice as he speaks.

"Not anymore. Don't you think they are being annoying when they do that?"

"I was talking about that time Nobara gave us one of Inumaki's blunts and promised that it would be okay to smoke it all, then I greened out infront of everyone."

"Sorry, was I supposed to pick out all the other times you have listened to stupid shit and got stupid results or..?" Megumi retorted. "I was talking about-"

"I know what you were saying." Yuji rolls his eyes, and puts his head on a knee, drawn up to his chest as the other laid flat. "I can see how.. guess there are worse things to be said."

Megumi waits as the pink haired boy sighs.

"But yknow.. at the very least, I am happy we still get along. Maybe it is contributing to them thinking that we are hiding something."

"It probably is." It was true. They denied everything but, they never actually stopped hanging out. Yuji was too lighthearted to care that deeply about these things. "It isn't really fair to your reputation."

"Pfft." Yuji laughs, "What reputation? With girls? I don't think I have gone out with a girl since I came here."

Right- most normalcy stopped at the school gate.

"What if you did want to? Youd never hear the end of it-"

"I already don't hear the end of it." He shrugs. "Doesn't really bother me that much. I kinda expected it, for being a high school."

Megumi figured that just because this was special circumstance, didn't mean the teenagers that attended acted much differently than those living regular lives. He tried his best to not compare.

"It's.. I just thought it would bother you more." The raven hair offers his confusion up, eyes looking back to the other. Yuji characteristically shrugs.

"I mean.." He seems to focus on the tv, but he can tell he isnt paying much attention. "Sometimes I kinda wonder where they get the idea from.. but it makes sense, if they don't really see it."

Megumi wants to say something, but he continues. "Like.. of course we hang out and I burrow your stuff and sneak out. Thats what friends do."

"I think it is because we don't really do it with anyone else."

"Its not like I don't. We just.. do it together more often than everyone else." Yuji rests his knee now, and sits up straighter again. "I.. like hanging out with you. Honestly, I was worried for a second."

He didn't like the sound of that. It was unlike him to worry about anything, other than typical shit.

"What were you worried about?"

"Well, uh." Yuji shifts his console out of the way from his reach, and puts his hands on his knees. "You aren't the drama type. You never seemed like the type of person to deal with that stuff."

"I try not to get involved."

"Right." Yuji confirms, "So.. I thought maybe to get it to end, you would not really want to hang out or whatever. To get away from it."

Megumi had honestly had not considered it. Even since watching him die and then resurrecting almost two years ago, he knew by then if had the chance, he wanted to stick around. Leaving his friendship, maybe his only friendship behind for some lazy gossip didn't make much sense to him.

"The gossip wasn't coming from you." Megumi tried to reason. "It isn't our fault. Why would I blame you?"

"I don't.. know." He cracks an unsure smile, the type with words behind it, but still, assured. "I don't know why I would have thought that. I guess it seemed like something that could happen."

"You don't think that high of me, huh?"

Yuji practically whips his head around, even though Megumi was slightly joking, he supposed he didn't reveal his tone enough to the other, as Yuji shifted closer with a pouting expression.

"Nono! It isn't that, I-I.." He grunts. "I just wouldn't have blamed you if you did, it isn't fair. I know it bothers you."

"Itadori, I honestly.. tune most of it out." Megumi states rather fairly, "And whatever does bother me, isn't worth stop being your friend over. It's all kinda stupid. Especially when Gojo decides to do it."

That makes the other lose his panicked face to something a little closer to what Megumi is used to seeing- a smile and a fresh breath of release.

"I makes me happy to know that.. I guess I was being just as stupid, thinking that stuff. I am really glad to be your friend."

Then Yuji turns his smiling face away, and Megumi can feel his heart strings tug, despite his smile. He wants to reassure him, even though with anyone else, this conversation would've been ignored.

The room now turns to a magenta pink to match the sky outside, muted only by the curtains. When Megumi registered it instead of following his thoughts, it made Yuji's hair even pinker than it was, and it looked nice to touch. Of course, he had before, but just appreciating his presence, wasn't wrong either.

"I am happy to be your friend too."

Megumi speaks up, as Yuji looks towards their four feet down the bed. "I.. guess I never thought I had to tell you. But, I haven't really had ever the time for friends or even go out much. You made time for that, and encouraged me, no matter if I thought I was dumb. I.. always have a good time with you."

When Yuji looks up at him finally, the first thing Megumi notices is his eyes. They are the same kind ones from all the days before, but focused in on Megumi kinda made his chest feel lighter, full of air. They are accompanied with a smile, classic Yuji optimism shining through with his red cheeks and haze, it almost makes you want to smile too. Megumi does- he stopped resisting the charm months ago.

Then he notices how close they are. Their faces, only a few inches apart as their heads lean on the cool wall. Megumis head was straight forward, but he angles to get a better look.

Yuji seems to be taking in Megumi too, and it feels nonsensecal- they have looked at each other many times over, in photos and in drawings, sitting together at the opposite sides of a desk at lunch, in combat. Megumi couldn't tell if this was a different kind of looking, if it was wrong or right, if it made sense too.

Megumi, for what feels like the first time, wants to fill the silence. He wants to say more, how he appreicates him, how he felt in the months that he believed him dead, how he hopes that he can live, despite all the bonds over his head waiting for his death, how much he cares, how much he would never let some stupid highschoolers take away all that meaning.

Yuji seems focused, even with his precious switch on the bed somewhere and the tv playing something stupid as it flashes light on their faces, he isnt paying attention to any of it other than his friend infront of him. Megumi can feel his heart beating, and it feels..

"I am glad that we-"

Yuji doesn't tune into what he says before he leans up and presses his lips onto the others, and the air in Megumis chest releases, like a bow string snapping, and he only then realizes it was tension- that is all second to Yuji though, torso turned and face tilted, his soft lips pushing against Megumis slightly chapped ones. Megumi cant move, can't even breathe, as he feels the other so softly.

Yuji catches this nonmovement and slowly parts from him, but the missing touch suddenly feels wrong- Megumis arms had no desire to pull him away, nor could be convienced to by any rational thought. Looking at the other open his eyes, yet finding no panic or worry behind him, only calmness, like it was natural, like it shouldve been normal this entire time- glittering warm eyes, and open lips.

Fuck it.

Megumi's hand reached out to touch Yujis arm, and in one swift movement, leaned down to kiss him, slotting his lips between his effortlessly, and with no compliants from Yuji.

Yuji..

God, all his thoughts had never not been about him.

His skin is soft, and he can feel the edges of scars where they once were, and feeling Yujis other hand sit on Megumi chest could have been a ploy to rip out his heart, but Megumi honestly wouldn't have even cared because Yuji simply felt so good to kiss.

It was soft and sweet and warm, and the same feeling he had when riding his bike with him at dawn or sharing a snowcone that somehow gets on Yujis uniform, or sitting next to him at movie nights, rushed him all at once.

He didn't want to part and talk anymore however- they had done enough of that, and Megumi had no more room for any more logical agreements on how they were or what they were.

It was all taken up by feeling Yuji's tongue sweep across his lips and Megumi not giving it any thought than to accept it, opening his mouth to allow the other in, and the feeling the pads of Yujis fingers at the base of his neck as he pulls him in closer, while exploring the soft raven-head of hair that he was seen looking at just a moment ago.

Megumi had never had anyone touch him like this before, and it was thrilling that Yuji wanted to run his fingers through his hair as his arms leaned on the tops of his shoulders, to lean closer and closer until Megumi could feel his chest rising and falling against his own.

Megumi can feel the surge of heat travel down his body, and he almost wants to shut it all down before things get too out of hand, before Yuji decides that this was a mistake, but the little noises coming out of him flushes those thoughts down the drain.

He trusted Yuji.

Megumi feels the desire to have him closer, and it is enacted immediately, his hands that were being rather useless now curled around his hip to help him, and Yuji quickly gets the memo; by putting his leg on the other side of his lap, settling himself neatly down ontop of it.

Fuck, this was happening.

Yuji looked at him with the flush on his cheeks, his lips a pink hue he could've made his favorite color right then, and hands leaving his neck to touch his chest, rubbing up and down, as the pressure on Megumis lap was going to really make mistakes happen.

They both pull together like magnents until they are just merely a breaths away, the familiar smile with a hint of flirtation now spread across Yuji's face. Megumi smiled in return, yet his eyes flickered between his lips and his fluttering eyelashes.

Maybe it was a wake-up call, really. They had spent all these years, not even realizing what they looked like to everyone else, so oblivious.

Just like now, too oblivious to notice Yuji's phone had been buzzing on the carpet (of course, because it was the weekend, turned to dnd) and now, only being made aware once the knob of the door turned and the silver haired man stood in the doorway- with his two students all over each other, so clueless until right now, as Yuji was made wide-eyed and nearly about to come off from his best friends lap, while Megumi stiflied the need to absolutely burn up in anger and embarssment.

Gojo made such a face, lips pursed tightly and his shades on the top of his head, falling to the bridge of his nose after a second of silence.

"Is Itadori in his room?" Someone asked down the hall- fuck, it must have been dinner time, how could he be so stupid?

After two or three more moments of an unclear silence, Gojo musters up whatever braincells left in his brain to fake peer into the room, totally avoiding them, before looking down the hall to whomever. "Nah. 'Gumi wasn't in his room either. They probably went out on a date or something."

Was that really necessary?

"Wouldn't be surprised. It would be about time they realized they are into each other- we can only give so many hints."

Gojo flashed a smile, and kicked the door closed, not looking back to the two sorcerers, now lazily ontop of each other as they stare down the door.

By whatever means, it gets locked as Gojos slippers walk down the hall and some fading conversation.

They didn't move until a moment after, and instantly, he can feel Yuji vibrating almost. He tears off frustrated eyes off the door up to Yuji, hunched over and knees touching as he sits in the middle of his legs, no longer pressing against him. His lips are squeezed together as he seems to be holding back. His cheeks are red, and eyes shut as he cusps a hand over his mouth.

"H-Hey." Megumi says, and it comes out thick sounding. "What is so funny..?"

Yuji can barely stop laughing for just a second to say what happened, and even then, hiccups the entire way.

He sniffles, trying so hard to stop. "We are.. fucking dumb..! I was so scared when he opened the door, his face!"

The idea of them being right the entire time isn't nearly as funny, but knowing they did what was expected of them anyways was in retrospect, even more so when you realize the entire time, they had been into each other and yet, everyone else could tell but them.

They were so stupid.

Megumi has to hold back a snicker, but the more Yuji laughs, and says how scared he was, that is the kicker for him, and he can't control his laughter either. The complete surprise on his face nearly makes up for how pissed he probably would've been if Yuji didn't say just how ridiculous it all was.

Soon, they fill the room with laughter, poking at each other as Yuji makes the same face as Gojo, and somehow it is like all those times Yuji regonized the joy in seemingly everything without effort, even here.

Yuji was still Yuji.

He was still his best friend.

Megumi didn't want to play the game anymore, as he watched the echos of the pink haired boy laugh, now wiping his eyes from the tears. He didn't want to give up any of this, even if they were going to be made fun of or teased for years on end. He hoped he could hear it forever, if this is the reward.

"So.." Megumi finds himself saying, and he can barely believe it. "What about this date?"

Yuji smiles, and this time, it warms his whole body up, especially as his hands reach up again to hold his shoulders.

"There is a showing of Human Earthworm 5 tonight.."

"Not even kissing you would convince me to go see that."

"Man youre no fun, I thought that would work." He pouts playfully.

"I don't think I can be that stupid to actually go watch that." Megumi crosses his arms, to spite the boy sitting between his legs.

"I don't know.." Yuji teases, but his hand snakes down to cross their fingertips together. "I think we qualify enough to go see it."

Megumi tries to deny the smile that wants to form on his face, but like everything else, it happens anyway. He sighs in defeat, but not without a begrudging smile along with.

"Should we leave infront of everyone or through the window?"

"What kind of choas would it be if we left infront of everyone?" Yuji squeezed his fingers between his.

"Alot..

Megumi leans his head against the wall again..

But I don't care."

Yuji looks just as carefree, as if he had been waiting for this since their first year.

"I wish we stopped caring sooner."

thank you for reading, i hope you enjoyed this! i wanted to write a first kiss x being caught type of thing, and i am so happy i am finally putting it up. i love taking requests as well.

art credits @kaa05n2 on twitter for the banner and @kingadi97 for giving me inspo a million years ago :p

bye pookies !

[icameheretoreadstuff]

I wanna feel your lips against mine

Pairing: Kakashi x F!Reader Warnings: 18+ ! MDNI!, NSFW, Smut, Friends to Lovers, oral, big dick kink ofc, unprotected Sex, Breeding Kink, Multiple Orgasm. Summary: Youre hoplessly in love with Kakashi and youre currently on your way to tell him. A/N: Masterpost & links are pinned on my tumblr

You were walking the streets on a nice summer day. You wanted something to cold to drink and maybe some sweets. That was your sole reason for heading out. It was not because you knew your friend Kakashi would be there, not at all.

You sighed out loudly for yourself, you were hopelessly in love with him and all your friends knew. But did Kakashi? Honestly you think he did, but it always made you second guess yourself.

You couldnt help it, you loved running in to him. And since you two had been friends for a really long time now, you knew you had to make your move. He is the most handsomest, sexiest and wonderful man you've ever laid your eyes on.

You flirted with him and he flirted back. But He had a wall up that was stopping you, Understandibly so. You just thought maybe you should try to just be honest this time.

You walked over to the cafe when you saw him. Your heart always started to beat hard when he was nearby. You walked into the cafe when He instantly looked over at you and smiled with his eyes "Hi y/n" He was sitting in the furthest booth. "Hi" you smiled back and ordered something to drink from the vendor.

You sat down in the same booth infront of him, "how are you?" you both said at the same time. You chuckled as the the vendor came with your drink, you thanked her and tasted it right away. You sighed happily of your choice of drink "you first" you said to him and put the drink down, "I´m good, I was just reading my book" You couldnt help but to giggle and tease him "you did, huh?" you took your drink and sipped it as you looked at him "What have you been up to" he asked "not much, Been taking some missions here and there" you answered.

"I`ve missed you" you blurted out. You tried to keep cool but you felt your cheeks warming up. "I mean I missed our talks" you said quickly. You could feel him staring on you. You looked down stared at your drink in your hand. “You did, huh?" you looked up at him and he winked, "maybe" you smiled and drank up the rest of your glass feeling your heart beat loudly "So you missed me and missed our talks?" He responded, you could see it in his eyes that he was smiling "yeah, you know-" you said and cleared your throat "I figured you wouldn't mind" you joked and tried to calm yourself down. You looked out and saw the sunset looming over the buildings. "Hey, do you wanna join me and get a drink?" You asked him, he looked at you and raised up "after you" he said as he held out his hand.

You both were walking beside each other when someone almost ran into you, before you could react he grabbed you quickly and pulled you close. You looked around you and saw you were in a back alley all alone.

You looked up at him, Your bodies were pressed against eachother "thanks" you said as you looked up at him. "No worries" he replied and suddenly he went silent.

You cupped his cheek, leaned up and kissed him ontop of his facemask. "I love you kakashi, I can't hold it in anymore" the words fell out of your mouth. You felt the whole world stand still as you waited for him to resbond.

You heart started to hurt, "Sorry" you said and were about to leave when he grabbed your hand and pulled you close into his chest and kissed you deeply. You hummed into the lips but couldn't help but wanting to kiss his lips properly "I wanna feel your lips against mine, kakashi" you whispered into his lips "I actually want to do more than just kiss you"

Kakashi's Apartment

He pulled down his face mask revealing his lips for the first time. You smiled as you leaned up your hand to his chin as you gently stroked his lips, you stood up on your toes and kissed his lips. You sighed happily as he deepened the kiss, wrapping his hands around your waist. "Your lips taste so sweet" you whispered and kissed him, you could feel his lips were forming into a smile.

"Wait!" you said and gently pushed yourself away from his lips. "I wanna see your smile properly" you grinned and He sighed "Come on, I've been dreaming and wondering about that wonderful smile for so long, you've always been so secretive and I've always respected that, not wanting to push you or anything-" You felt like you were melting in a puddle seeing him chuckle over your ramblings "Really?" he smirked and kissed your nose "Youre so cute" he sighed happily.

"Youre beautiful" you said and kissed his lips, he moved his hand up to your face and deepened the kiss. His tounge was playfully licking yours when he looked at you with a face you never had seen before. His lips were slightly parted as he looked down on you "I want to taste your neck" he said as leaned down to your neck and kissed softly, he licked and sucked, making you moan silently.

You could feel his warmth coming from his breath as he kissed you up twoards your ear "I wanna taste every inch of you" he whispered and kissed your cheek "I want you to take off your pants so I can taste your pussy" he said and gently laid your hair behind your ear. "I've been dreaming about how good it must taste" he whispered as he kissed you on your neck. you finally remembered how to breathe as his words were making you smile.

"I've been dreaming about you too, Kakashi" you felt like your body was shaking with arousal. Like something snapped inside him, he crashed his lips into yours, kissing you like he was starving.

"Off" he said as he opened your pants. You kicked off your shoes before he dragged your pants and thong down. He gazed up into your clit in awe before he leaned in and tasted your clit. You moaned the instant his tounge licked your clit.

While licking your folds he helped you take off your pants, as he threw them away. He hummed as he licked every inch of your clit while grabbing your leg softly and placed it on his shoulder. He moaned into your clit like he had just discovered his new favorite dish. Your legs were trembling as you struggled with standing. "Kakashi" you breathed heavily.

He kissed your thighs as he put your leg off his shoulder, raised up and carried you in bridal style over to his bed while kissing your lips. He laid you down and began to take off his clothes. While watching your clit like he was starving.

He took off his vest, then his sweatshirt which took your breath away. You automatically spreaded your legs and began to touch yourself "Wait, let me" he said as he took off his facemask. You just smirked at him "you look so good" you moaned "Take off your pants" you smirked and he grinned "Take off your top" he agreed and took off his pants.

The minute you threw off your shirt he was between your legs "Kakashi" you moaned as he smirked into your folds, licking your entire sex. "I wanna see your cock-" you whined, but were cut off by him sucking your folds. You gasped silently as he wrapped his big muscled hands around your hips. You felt you were close as you could hear him slurping and feel his tounge licking on a spot which made you moan louder.

He smirked as he leaned closer into your clit and devoured you. You panted as you felt hips automatically thrust up into his face. he moaned as he put his tounge inside you. "Wait" You moaned, feeling his tounge bringing you closer to your release "I want you inside me" you moaned "I wanna cum on your dick" you huffed and grabbed his hair as you thrusted harder onto his tounge "kakashi" you moaned and thrusted your clit onto his mouth. While he bobbing his head slurping and sucking your clit, he grapped your hips as he moaned. you grabbed his hair into your fists "Kakashi" you moaned defeated as you climaxed, he slurped and sucked every inch until you had rided out your orgasm on his face.

He crawled over to you while smirking "you want my cock huh?" he leaned his cock between your folds, you looked down and moaned. "You'll get your turn" he groaned as he leaned up and smacked his dick onto your pussy "Fuck" you winced, You leaned on your elbows as you watched him pumping his dick.

"I gotta be inside you, y/n" You were in awe of how big he was, He smirked at your reaction as he placed his dick onto your entrance "Don't worry" he said and pushed it in slightly, you moaned as you watched up at him "Fuck youre big" you looked down on his big hard dick "We'll go slow, ok?" he said as he slightly thrusted his dick in and out. You laid down onto his pillow as you tried to take his length. He moved your legs up on his thighs as he spreaded his legs, pushing his dick a little deeper inside you before he thrusted out.

you gasped silently as you felt his dick was stretching you out "Breathe" he huffed. You looked up at him and melted completely over the look on his face. His lips were parted as he moaned silently, thrusting his hips slowly in "y/n, breathe" you breathed slowly "Good girl" he groaned, he thrusted out and then he pushed half way into you "Remember to breathe for me" he said and leaned over you and kissed your shoulder.

"Does this feel ok?" he asked while he clearly wanted to just fuck you silly. You panted and replied "yes, keep going" He grabbed your breast while humming with each kiss onto your neck, you moaned as he kissed your lips.

He leaned his forehead against yours as he pushed slowly deeper inside you, you wrapped your hands around onto his back while moaning. "Fuck" he groaned as he thrusted out of you, "I want to fuck you so bad" he cooes "Your pussy feels so good" he groaned as he thrusted inside you, but still not fully inside.

"please" you huffed, feeling his dick teasing your gspot but you wanted more "Fuck me how you want to" he kissed you hard "Are you sure?" you nodded as an response. "Let me hear you say yes, I dont want to hurt you" he said as he pulled his dick out halfway "Yes I'm sure please Fuck me" you said and kissed him "I need you" you whispered into his lips.

Like something snapped inside him he rolled his hips pushing his cock deep inside you, he huffed as he rolled his hips deep inside you, thrusted slowly out and then he repeated. You closed your eyes moaned loudly, He groaned as he kissed your lips "Stay with me" he managed to say "Look at me" he hummed and you opened your eyes.

He leaned on his elbows as he looked into your eyes. His body was pinning you down, he kissed you and thrusted harder into you. "Fuck" you moaned as he kept thrusting his dick inside you, while moaning his deep beautiful moans "fuck" he huffed. "Im so deep inside you" he moaned as he looked into your eyes "Fuck me hard, Kakashi-"

He moaned as his hips began to clap hard inside you, he groaned as he grabbed the pillow under you into fists as he slammed hard into you. You moaned hard as you felt you were close. His hips were clapping so hard into you, your toes curled as you lifted up your feet, making him go even deeper inside you.

He huffed "I'm close" you grabbed his shoulders as he slammed hard into you "cum inside me" you moaned "I want you to fill me up" you panted, feeling close "fill me up" you moaned, you looked up into his eyes as you could see him blushing.

He kissed you sloppy, as his tounge touched yours you let out a moan "you want me to cum inside you?" he moaned "please" you panted "cum inside-" you climaxed before you could finish your sentence, he moaned and huffed as he slammed his hips into yours and wrapped his hands around your neck and nuzzled his head into your neck, moaned into your ear and climaxed deep inside you.

He panted and moved his hands away from your neck as he was about to leave, you pinned him down as you wrapped your legs around his waist. "No" you said simple "Stay here" you kissed him, you looked at him and he smiled.

He leaned back down on his elbows and kissed your forehead. "Don't leave me like this" you whispered as your eyes were closed. He looked at you for a second as you felt your heart beat fast. "y/n look at me" he cooes, you look up at him "your heart is beating so fast" he said "Iknow" you whispered trying not to get emotional. "My heart is too, your feelings are not one sided-" before he could say anything else you crashed your lips onto his. He sighed happily as he deepened the kiss. "Do you know how much it turned me on-" he began as he exhaled and kissed you deeply "that you wanted me to cum inside you?" he said and his hips slowly started to automatically thrust inside you again "Fuck, just thinking about it makes my dick hard" he admitted "I dont want to leave you, I wanna fill you up-" he said as he began to thrust faster inside you making you moan. "Kakashi" you moaned, he kissed you deeply "I thought about filling you up everytime I jerked myself off" you moaned over his words and his honesty and didnt know how to respond, the only thing you felt you could do was to kiss him.

You looked at him as he moaned your name, thrusting his hips harder into you. You blushed as you couldn't believe that this was truly happening "I love you" you huffed "Fuck" he groaned. You moaned into his sloppy kisses as he hips began to clap hard into you, you panted hard as you felt you were close "kakashi" you moaned grabbing his ass while he thrusted hard into you "y/n" he moaned and climaxed into you.

The thought of him jerking off while thinking off you sent you over the edge making you climax, you thrusted your hips up into his dick as you panted. He kissed your neck as he couldn't stop kissing you.

He panted as he looked at you "I gotta clean you up" he kissed your forehead. "Hold onto me hard" he said and you wrapped your hands around his neck and your legs around his waist. He grabbed your back and leaned up, and carried you to the bathroom. He managed to slip his dick out of your clit before he let you down.

Your legs were trembling as you grabbed his arms. "Kakshi" you whined "let me help you" he smiled and helped you into the shower. "You ok?" he asked you as he cupped your face "yeah, just not used to your size yet" you said making him blush. "Fuck you're cute" you grinned and kissed him deeply.

[angel-kyo]

Pay it no mind

Part III

In which reader confesses their feelings to Gojo, but it seems these are not returned (maybe?).

Warnings: reader is on the receiving end of rejection (kinda), and the fact that I'm obsessed with unrequited love is a warning itself.

Previous: Part I, Part II

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

Ikeda Haruki and you had met while you were in high school, although he did not attend Jujutsu Tech. In fact, he did not know anything about the jujutsu world or curses, the reason being that he was a non-sorcerer.

“Oh, I see… So you think they discontinued it?” Haruki looked at the products you had been holding just a couple minutes ago, touching his chin with his finger.

You shrugged. “I think so. This is the third store I try, and they just don't have it” He had asked you if you lived nearby, to which you had admitted that you did not, but your search for a certain shampoo brand had led you to that particular store.

He had laughed, but still said he totally understood, and that he would also search all of Tokyo for his favorite tea if it ever disappeared.

That made you laugh a little. “It’s not quite the same.”

You had forgotten how easy it was to engage in conversation with Haruki. That is how you quickly learned that he had only returned to Tokyo a couple months ago but was becoming a regular at that store; that he had spent some time abroad, but he had come back for work and now lived alone; and that he was sorry he did not do more to stay in touch with you.

The sun was setting when you exited the store and were about to part ways with Ikeda. The shine in his eyes reflected the colors of a sunset sky and, although nothing like the shades of blue you had grown to love, his gaze made you nostalgic for a time, years ago, when you were younger, and your hearts were probably lighter.

“Would it be okay if I asked for your number?” Haruki’s face showed just a bit of embarrassment, “I’m not trying to be creepy!”, he blushed and laughed nervously as you smiled. He was still as charming as you remembered him. “It’s just that it is nice finally seeing a familiar face. I’m sorry if that sounds…”

“No, I get it”, you interrupted him. “Things must feel different after being away for so long. I would love to catch up sometime.” You put out your phone to get his number.

***

“Don’t you dare mix your sweets with my popcorn, Satoru!” you warned him from your small kitchen.

It had been almost two months since Gojo had rejected you, but your friendship had somewhat returned to normal.

Of course, there had been weird moments between you two, like when he would mindlessly drop an arm around your shoulders and lean too close to your face, or when he would fix your uniform or try to feed you something sweet. Those things had been just part of your usual dynamic weeks ago, but now, he would back off a bit, sometimes, even before seeing your flustered face.

Now, he would do his best to just point out you needed to fix the button of your jacket and put a sweet in your hand instead of taking it straight to your lips. You did not know, but he had resolved in his heart that, if he could not give you a clear answer, at least he did not want to give you any mixed signals.

You carried the drinks to the living room and sat next to Gojo. “Are we really going to eat all of that?” You observed the variety of food in front of you that Satoru had brought and unpacked.

“You underestimate us.” He smirked and put his arm around you. He was trying, truly, but old habits die hard.

“We are going to have a hell of a stomachache after this.” You sighed and scooted closer to him. Old habits really die hard. “So, what are we watching first today? I think it is your turn to pick.”

It was usual for you and him to meet at one of your places every once in a while, to have a movie marathon and eat as much as you humanly could. Albeit unsaid, both of you were glad you were not giving up that tradition despite the events of the last few weeks.

“That one where the kid dies at the end.” He shoved a bunch of popcorn in his mouth

You glared at him. Satoru was a movie enthusiast but also a walking spoiler alert.

***

2:47 am

Your eyes opened and adjusted to your poorly illuminated living room. You had fallen asleep at some point during your third movie and judging by the position you and Satoru were in, he had been deeply asleep for a while too.

“Satoru”, you whispered. “Hey, wake up. Your neck is gonna hurt if you stay like that.”

His sunglasses had fallen off his face, so he recognized your ceiling immediately. Had he dozed off? His arm tightened slightly around your waist, and he looked at you.

“We fell asleep.” Your face had been pressed to his chest, but you were moving his arm away to sit up, your eyes on the tv screen showing the credits of the movie you had probably not finished watching. He looked at them too; his neck was a bit sore.

“What time is it?”, he asked.

You stretched before reaching for your phone. “Almost 3:00 am. We should head to the bedroom.” You yawned.

Now that woke him up. “The bedroom?!”

You raised an eyebrow. “You are staying, right? But you cannot take the bed if you don't want the futon this time.” It was not a big deal that he stayed. After all, he would do it most times.

Since you did not have a guest room, he had insisted on getting a futon so he could stay over when he was 'too tired' to go home, although he would sometimes steal your bed and force you to take the futon instead because 'it was more comfortable' and 'best friend privilege'.

Of course, you had argued that he could just teleport home if he wanted, but he would put the futon in your bedroom anyway or in the living if it was a summer night and stay over.

“Right...” he said.

It took you a second too late to realize that he might have thought it to be weird. Sleeping in the same room as him used to be one thing, but now would he not prefer going home?

"Alright." You nodded and went to the bathroom in a hurry to shake away any awkwardness.

Gojo felt relieved when you left him alone, hoping his expression had not been too revealing. He sat up straight and ran his fingers through his hair. His face felt hot, and what on earth had he imagined at the mention of your bedroom?

He thought of how close you had been just a moment ago and how easily he had relaxed and fallen asleep with you in his arms.

We fit perfectly.

He smiled at that thought but immediately felt the urge to scold himself.

What is wrong with me? We are friends.

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

Note: Can you tell I enjoy picturing Gojo in denial?

Thanks for reading!

Next: Part IV

[circeyoru]

The Boy & The Witch = Requested

[Human!Alastor x Witch!Reader]

The Request

Part 1 (here) — Part 2

You heard of the terrifying witch trials from your ancestors, their revengeful spirits and those that were wrongfully accused would scream and cry when the night falls. You mostly couldn’t sleep and would be strolling about in the dead of the night to gather some herbs or sneak into town for some supply. It was one of your strolls that you found the boy in the forest, wounded and beaten

The spirits you befriended avoided an area for reasons of fear and intimidation. You were curious and thought a reincarnation of a witch hunter soul was in the forest, so you went to check it out. You didn’t expect to find a boy resting against a tree with wounds and bruise all over him

You stood nearby debating. It was deep in the forest, any deeper your home would be nearby though it’s protected with charms and the ‘dark’ voodoo magic people fear. Still, it was the state of the boy that made you empathetic. What kind of parents would let their child be such a depressing state? Or let their child this deep in the forest?

So against your better judgment, you stepped forward cautiously, careful not to wake him from his rest. You were unique, more so among your rare kind of witches. You placed a hand over his heart and a white light glowed, his wounds and bruises disappearing slowly. Then you brought him back to your home so he could properly rest

The boy woke up, feeling more refreshed and alarmed that he was not in the forest anymore. He was laying on a couch, his shoes taken off so as not to dirty the sitting. Then he saw you. Perhaps he was still drowsy from his rest, but he felt at peace and warm in your presence. He listened as you explain to finding him alone in the forest and healed him with some special self-made medicine. Then you brought him back to the entrance of the forest before the sunset

It was supposed to be a one time thing. You meeting this boy, then it was back to your everyday life alone in the forest. Yet the boy, whom introduced himself, kept coming back. Perhaps it was a mistake on your part to take him to the entrance of the forest cause now he knew how to go back and front from your place to his home

In his eyes, you were a human choosing to stay alone in the forest in that small but comfortable cabin of yours. You were normal to him. Odd in your life choices. But still, you were someone like a friend, you suppose. You never asked him, but it appeared to be that way since he would return to the forest almost daily

And you had to hide all your spellbooks and anything related to your identity as a witch. You thought it worked

Alastor saw the charms and symbols on random objects, on the path to your home, he’d see some weird drawings as well. Then he tested it out. By then, he had been telling you a lot about what happens around and to him outside of the forest and specifically the bullying and abuse he endured

He grow to love your attention on him, he craves it more and more as time pass with each visit. It was different to the attention his mother would give him and it was a different craving as well, he couldn’t explain it, but it was much like you were his other half that he never had the opportunity of meeting

You appeared to be older than him by a few years, but your knowledge and wisdom of the world was much much more. At first he saw you as an elder sibling. Though the feeling didn’t feel like familial bond. There was something more. He couldn’t place it. Love? No way. You weren’t mean to him like his father and he was coming back to you like his mother, but it can’t be love. Love was unnecessary

While the bully and abuse was described as normal from Alastor, you never saw it that way. The poor boy to endure it all. You snapped when Alastor’s arm was broken and glass shards were sticking out of his wounds, he bit back cries, only sobbing a bit. You didn’t understand why he could still smile

With the snap of your fingers, you put him to sleep, forging his dizziness from the pain he’s feeling, loss of blood, and energy he used to come all the way to you. Then you worked your magic on him, healing his wounds and relieving his pain. You wanted to see who did this to him through his memories but you knew he’d tell you when you wake anyways, so you waited by his side while crafting a voodoo puppet base

The moment the boy woke up, he apologized for passing out and using your home as a resting place. It no issue to you, you’ve gone to care for the boy like a lost baby deer in the forest. You knew, one day, he’d be out of your sight to be free as a bird

“So you mind telling me who gave you such pain?” You asked while holding a sketch pad. You noted down the pointers and drew a sketch of the individuals. One was his bully from school and another was his father. You hummed as you got everything you needed, asking Alastor to give you something that he’d wear the next time he visits

He given you a coat he wears, a bit torn at the edges, but he loves it because his mother made it for him. You added your own touch to the coat. A blessing to protect Alastor from harm, think of it as a lucky coat, you told him, as long as he wears it, he would be more lucky. Meanwhile, to those that would do him harm, they’d be cursed with nightmares one would kill themselves over for that night

“Everyone, I’m sorry to say that we have sad news. A classmate of ours won’t be returning because he had passed away. Apparently he was trying dark magic and ended up… with a bad consequence.” The teacher one day broke the news to the class

The boy turned to the empty seat that was his bully’s, then he looked out the window where the forest would be insight if not for the other building. He kept his composure, but that smile he had widened as je clutched his coat against his form

“Welcome, little one, how was school today?” You greeted him like usual when he visited that day, tending to the plants in your backyard

“It was you. You killed him, my bully.” Alastor spoke so firmly and calmly

You forain innocence, saying you didn’t know what he was talking about. He continued, listing things to be his evidence and to make you crack. You were thinking of keeping his mouth shut so he wouldn’t tell others, but there was that kind human side of you that wanted the opposite of such action, so you continued to listen with a neutral yet intrigued look

He really caught you by surprised with his request

“Please, teach me your ways. You’re human but you have magic, I want to learn dark magic, voodoo. I want to exact my own revenge. It would feel more entertaining and satisfying if it was by my hands!” The look in his eyes and the smile on his face. It told you all you need to know why the spirits avoided him and why they were so fearful of him. This boy was a sleeping demon waiting to break free

You hummed with a small smile, “I can, but I think your name is too pure for someone of your character.” You snapped your fingers, a red staff suitable for the boy appearing. “From this point on you’ll be known as Alastor.” You offered the staff, “Take this and you’ll be learning under me.”

The boy asked, “Why that name?”

A wicked smile formed as you stated, “Man’s defender; avenger. He who does not forget. Tormentor.  It’s actually similar to the name ‘Alastair’, a form of the name ‘Alexander’, which means ‘protector of mankind’. But for you, ‘Alastor’ would do just fine.”

The boy, Alastor, took the staff in his hands and gave it a swirl, feeling its weight before tapping the end to the forest floor and bowed to you as gentlemen would, “Alastor, pleasure to be under your teachings, my dear. Quite a pleasure.”

Note: Love this idea. Been wanting to write something like this, but what came out was {The Spirit's Favourite Human}.

Circe Y.

Other works: MASTERLIST

Taglist:

@aconfusedwonderland

@crowleysthings

@donustellaron

[milkistay]

STRAY KIDS as first dates

pairing. skz x gn!reader

format. headcanons

chan

- chan is so down to try new things with you - he wants to get to know you and what you like so he asks you to pick an activity that you're into - maybe it’s a pottery class, maybe it’s stargazing, maybe it’s ice skating - regardless, chan is there and ready to get a glimpse into your world - you show him your tips and tricks and he soaks it all up, grateful to be let into a hobby of yours that’s dear to you - when he watches you do something you like, he feels as if he understands you better - plus it’s just plain fun - after your date, without your knowledge, he continues doing the activity on his own, feeling like it brings him closer to you - he likes the way it makes him feel connected to you - and when you see him again, he shyly admits this and steals your heart

.

.

minho

- cat cafe... - can you blame him? - he pays for your drinks and you spend the whole afternoon petting sweet cats and kittens while sipping on coffee or tea - secretly, there’s something so attractive about him being so good with cats - secretly, you melt his heart when you connect with one cat and smile so brightly at it and hold it in your arms - and if you’re allergic to cats or have some other reason why cats are a no, don’t worry! - there are plenty other themed cafes - dogs, raccoons, meerkats, you name it! - animals + you = happy minho

changbin

- he takes you shopping - he enjoys weaving in and out of stores just chatting with you and point out cute items - he also enjoys spoiling you like crazy - if you pick something out you like, he’s buying it for you - how can he not when your face lights up and you hug him so tightly as a thank you? - you’ve got him flushing pink - and you pick out some things for him too! - matching plushies, a fun pair of tinted glasses (you tell him he looks sexy in them and he’s speechless), a joke shirt - if you give him ANY sort of compliment (”you like nice,” “it suits you,” etc) he’s buying it - he’s obsessed with you...

hyunjin

- is it too self-explanatory to say art gallery date? - we all know hyunjin adores art galleries so he’d love to take you there for your first date - he shares all of his knowledge and wants to get to know the kind of art you like - he makes a mental note of all the pieces you like and already plans future dates and anniversary gifts - he’s such a romantic, he would love to share one of his favorite activities with one of his favorite people - OF COURSE he buys you flowers and a little gift from the gift shop - then he takes you to a cafe or a boba shop cause he really wants to just talk to you and get to know you - you have a fantastic time and your second and third dates are already scheduled by the time the first one is over

jisung

- movies with jisung! - maybe you go to the theater together to see a new movie - you share a bucket of popcorn and he holds your hand halfway through (he spent the first half working up the courage) - then after, you get ice cream and share all of your thoughts - or you spend the night in at either of your places - he subjects you to a horror movie and is equally pleased whether you find enjoyment in it or you curl up in his side out of fright - but you don’t even finish the movie - you start talking and find that you can’t stop - conversations flow between the two of your so easily - an instant connection

felix

- day at the park! - walking along the river and under the trees talking about your lives and your likes and dislikes - taking photos with the pretty flowers and blushing when he picks one and puts it behind your ear - maybe you even rent bikes and cruise around with the summer breeze in your faces - you slip into a nearby cafe for some drinks that you share - by the end of the day, you know virtually everything about each other - you watch the sunset on the grass and, though neither of you realize it, you begin to fall in love

seungmin

- karaoke bar - yes it’s to show off his talents - yes it’s to compete with you and tease you when he eventually wins - (unless you one up him and leave him astounded) - it’s low stakes fun and the perfect amount of chill that he craves - he gets to find out what kind of music you like and share his love for singing with you - you order food and drinks and spend hours just singing and laughing under the cheesy colored lights and disco ball - you’re in your own little world, just the two of you

jeongin

- he has one goal and that is to learn everything there is to know about you - if he’s considering you romantically, he needs to make sure you click - so he picks out a first date that is very conversation-heavy - dinner, coffee shop, picnic, whatever it may be - it honestly doesn’t really matter what you’re doing because you’re too wrapped up in your conversations to care - you two click alright - it’s almost impossible to stop talking - you get to know each other so incredibly well and it’s apparent to both of you that this relationship would work amazingly - you’re both confident you’re meant for each other

[milkiepie]

Hi ☺️ so I was reading your "new move_Nagi Seichiro" and I really liked it so can you do a part 2 to it like when they go hangout together ❤️ and thank you

yes sure. i didnt really expect you to want another part of that short scenario hehe.

cherry blossom - nagi seishiro

once the bell rings, it means the school is over. you waiting for Nagi at the front school gate while scrolling through your phone. you didn't really expecting much from Nagi because this is the first time Nagi asked you to hangout together. maybe he wants to spend his last time with the three of you together before the Blue Lock Project starts.

a small cough caught your ears. you turned on your left and saw Nagi standing and smiled sheepishly.

"how long have you waiting here?" he asked, his eyes looking at yours softly.

"about 10 minutes."

"shall we go now?"

"sure. where's Reo?"

your question had him surprise. he thought you know what he meant by the way he invited you but sadly no. he looked a bit upset but he washed it off because he understood. the three of you always hangout together so it is weird when Reo is not around.

"i want..." you hummed to his silence after his unfinished answer.

"i want this to be just us. me and you, Y/N" he answered with a blush on his cheek. his eyes sparks like a diamond and his face told you enough that he want to hangout with you, only you.

"oh... i'm sorry, i didn't catch that quick. sure, this evening will be ours, Nagi"

you both decided to go to a few places that you guys can hangout. you went to the arcade and play a few games together, and as you know the game addict Nagi Seishiro is so good at every games that you played. eventually he let you win one or two games just to hear your cheerful laugh.

after playing at the arcade, both of you went to the nearby restaurant to eat since you and Nagi are pretty tired from playing those games. you eat your food deliciously and pretty much enjoyed the moment together with Nagi.

eventho you and Nagi didn't have a long proper conversation throughout the hangout, both of you are still comfortable with it.

it's that feeling whenever you're around Nagi, alone. you feel safe, warmth, chill and comfortable. Nagi's aura that makes you feel that way.

"Y/N" he called you.

"yes?"

"would you like to go this one place with me before we head home?"

without hesitation, you nod.

you didn't know where he would bring you and you wonder what kind of place that caught his eyes.

after eating, you both go to the place that he wants to bring you. you follow his lead from behind him. from this side, you can see how tall he is and how his body is really fit. that body of him can be a good shield for you. as you walk, a breeze of air hits your face, hair, and body. a really good evening breeze.

his hair waved through the breeze, his soft white hair looks so good when the sunset light hits it.

a few minutes later, you arrived. this place caught your eyes on how spectacular the place is.

he brings you to the blossom tree park that is full of pink colour scenery. it's spring so the flowers are blooming everywhere here. you can see a few people happily hanging out together with their loved ones.

"wow it's pretty..." you murmured.

as you mesmerize the view, on the other hand, Nagi is mesmerizing the view beside him which is you. you look so pretty with that pink flush on your cheek, your beautiful eyes, your soft lips smiling as you are happy right now.

"but why here?" your question broke the silence.

"i...i just thought girls like this kind of place. its pretty right" he said. you nodded understand what he said. indeed you like this place.

both of you become silent and watch the view quietly. now this is awkward for some reason.

"why do you want to hangout with me today? we never hangout together alone without Reo" you asked.

he sighs slowly.

"just because..." he didn't finish his words because he is kind of nervous.

your eyes are now all focused on him. a serious face expression from you makes Nagi more tense.

"because i want you in a more than a friend way. i adore you so much, Y/N." he stopped.

your heart skips faster and your face is burning from the flustered feeling as you recap all of his words just now. what is this? a confession?

"i know its shocking but same goes to me. i didn't expect this situation will come but i do want to let you know this before i join the project. i know i will be there for a long period and its hard to see you, your smile, your laugh, your face again". he said with a full of confident, full of emotion, love emotion.

"its ok if you don't have the answer now. i'll wait." he continued.

your lips curve a smile, a happy smile to Nagi. you're happy to him become more open to you and he let out all of his emotion. you didn't see Nagi in a romantic way but after what he did today, it changed your thoughts and your feelings.

who doesn't like a confident good looking boy?

"so wait for me." you answered with a smile.

there's a hope for Nagi's confession to be accepted but he doesn't want to get all high up.

"damn, that's why i adore you, Y/N. you drive me crazy"

without hesitation, Nagi hugs you tightly and you hug him back.

[differenteagletragedy]

Hi, could I request a fic of mc and Cove (and Cliff if possible) reuniting after not seeing each other for 3 years while mc was studying abroad?

Here you go, thank you!!!

You were practically vibrating as you sat in your cramped airplane seat, your eyes glued to the window. Down below, you'd seen long stretches of green, the brown of the desert, the mountain peaks, but now, finally, you saw what you'd been waiting for.

The Pacific stretched out to the horizon, big and blue and endless. You'd seen an ocean hours ago, of course, as the plane passed over the Atlantic, but this was your ocean.

Which meant you were almost home to your ocean boy.

It had been three years since you'd been home -- three long, exciting, excruciating years. After your freshman year of college, you got the opportunity to study abroad in Europe, and you couldn't pass it up. The following summer you got an important internship, and the cycle continued until it was your senior year. You'd just graduated, and you were coming back to Sunset Bird.

In those years, your parents had visited you, but you'd been too busy to make a trip halfway across the planet. You'd kept in touch with Cove through letters and emails and occasional phone calls, and the rare video chat when you were able to find a good enough internet connection. He hadn't been able to come see you, so the last time you'd been together was when you were 19.

You were 22 now. So many things had changed, but you hoped with all you had that the special bond you had with Cove wasn't one of them.

You'd had a pretty major crush on him for as long as you could remember, maybe even since that first summer he moved to town. There was always some reason not to tell him -- you weren't sure if he felt the same way, you didn't want to risk your friendship and, most recently, you were going to be on another continent for a considerable amount of time.

But as your plane began landing and the reality that you'd be seeing him soon really started sinking in, you thought that maybe you might be ready now.

When it was time to get off the plane, you waited for the passengers ahead of you to make their way through the aisle and into the airport, checking your watch. This whole process would take a bit, then you'd have to make your way to the outside entrance for your moms to pick you up, then it was about a 30 minute drive home if traffic wasn't too bad.

You were still working out the math, trying to figure out how many minutes until you were with your best friend again, when you heard someone shout your name as you left the terminal.

And there he was -- a little taller, a little broader, and a lot more tattooed. But it was Cove.

You barely had time to process the surprise before he barreled into you, wrapping his arms tight around your waist and picking you up so you could be as close as possible. You dropped your bag and hugged him back just as fiercely, burying your face into his neck and smiling so hard it hurt.

It took him a bit to let you go, and even when he did it wasn't completely. After he set you back on the ground, he held onto your arms, stepping back just a bit to get a good look at you.

"Did you have a good trip?" he asked softly. There were tears in his eyes, but he wasn't bothering with trying to hide them.

"Yeah," you laughed, finding yourself getting a bit teary too. There was so much to say, so much to catch up on, and it felt surreal that you were actually together again.

While you were standing there looking at each other, you heard someone nearby clear his throat. You looked over and saw Cove's dad. That wide grin made yet another appearance, and you momentarily stepped away from Cove to hug Cliff.

"Hey there, kiddo," he said fondly, patting your back. "It's been too long."

"I was going to come get you myself but dad wanted to drive," Cove explained.

"Yep, thought you'd be a little too distracted to handle heavy machinery," Cliff laughed. Cove rolled his eyes, but there was no real malice there -- he was still beaming at you.

"Here, I'll get this," the older man said, leaning down to pick up the handle of your forgotten suitcase. "Now let's head home, what do you say?"

As the three of you made your way through the rest of the airport and out towards the parking lot, you and Cove stayed close together. Any worry you'd had about the reunion had evaporated as soon as he held you, but now it was clear -- things were the same as they'd always been. Hundreds of days and thousands of miles couldn't change what you had.

When you made it to Cliff's car, you climbed in the backseat, surprised when Cove hopped in beside you. You gave him a questioning look, but he just smiled and shrugged.

"I didn't want to be that far away," he said, glancing up at the front seat like it was another universe.

The two of you started catching up in ways you couldn't over all your letters, and while you thought you knew how much you'd missed him, it didn't really sink in until you had him again. Whether you decided to share your feelings or just stayed best friends, he was your person. There was no doubt about that.

Sometime after Cliff pulled out of the parking lot, Cove laid his hand down in the middle seat, his palm facing up. You met his eyes, then placed your hand in his. He laced your fingers together, giving you a squeeze, then went on talking about everything he wanted to do with you this summer.

You weren't back to Sunset Bird yet, but a warm, fluttering feeling in your stomach told you that you were home.

[thebelovedmuse]

I kinda want some puppet gore in these x reader things, like torn felt with stuffing poking out or missing limbs. So~

Wally Darling finding an injured puppet (Reader)

(darker reasons can be implied for the injuries, but having Wally try to put someone back together to save them and nurse them back to good health feels more on brand for him.)

Your eyes open to see the light streaming through the treetops and confusion sets in. And then the pain. You try to sit up to look around and are horrified by the scene, you find yourself in the woods. Not only that but you realize the pain is coming from a giant gash in your abdomen, stuffing poking out. You slowly roll yourself over, hoping to get yourself on your knees when you now see that one of your hands is almost fully detached, hanging on by bits of felt and thread. You sense that your threading is loose in other places as well. You finally get where you can stand and slowly start limping your way through the forest, holding in bits of stuffing as small pieces start to fall out of you.

As you walk you think over how you came to be like this. The last memory you have is standing in your yard, taking photos of the sunset. Then nothing. You must have been in the woods all night, the thought makes you shiver. You finally see the neighborhood through the trees and with the last bit of energy you have you clear the trees, making your way to the street where you notice a few of your neighbors having a chat. Your vision goes dark as you once again pass out.

You open your blurry eyes and sense that some amount of time had passed. At least you were inside somewhere now...your eyes start to adjust and you realize now that you are at Home. Laying in a bed with Wally sitting in a chair nearby keeping watch over you. Wally jumps up and moves to your side seeing that you have regained consciousness. "Oh Neighbor, I'm so glad your ok!" Wally exclaimed, running a hand down your arm. You look down and see that you have been lovingly stitched back together. You try to sit up, "No, please rest Neighbor. We were all so frightened for you, we weren't sure if you were going to make it. I offered to have you stay here until you're fully healed."

A week or so passes at Home, Wally has been amazing in his work of taking care of you. Getting you whatever you need, he was almost glued to your side and you couldn't help but feel your affection for him grow. He had been so sweet, reading to you in the afternoons and exchanging stories with you while sitting next to you in bed. You begin to notice signs that these growing affections were not one-sided. Prolonged glances from Wally, light brushes of hands when sitting together. You felt like a new bond had formed during your stay here with him.

While in a conversation one evening, Wally's eyes light up, "You know Neighbor, I should go check your yard for your camera. Its probably still there. Maybe you can practice your photography skills here at Home." You smile, that would be a wonderful idea and missed taking photos you think to yourself. This joy is short lived when you have a sudden realization, you feel yourself freeze and your body grow cold. "W-Wally..." you stutter out, "How did you know about the camera? I didn't mention that...." Wally tilts his head, "Of course you did, silly. Don't you remember?" You start questioning yourself but you can't escape the nagging feeling that something is wrong. You glance up to see Wally now hovering over you, his dark eyes seem to grow unnaturally large.

"You know Neighbor, if you're having problems remembering things maybe you aren't fully healed yet, you should stay longer. Stay here with me."

[couldawouldashoulda50]

This is Part One of my entry for the wonderful @cellythefloshie's birthday BINGO, featuring Matthew Knies (I know he was past the 2018 cutoff but celly gave me the green light for him). Although I did get bingo with my 5 tropes (Virginity, Age Gap, Secret Lovers, Meet Cute, Pining), the 5 are spread across Part One and Two. I am finishing Part Two soon, and then there might be a smaller third part - I just haven't figured out the fine art of writing smaller fics yet but I'm working on it. Nevertheless HAPPY (early) BIRTHDAY CELLY! I hope you enjoy this ❤️

Warnings/Notes - profanity, toxic parenting, parent estrangement. This part mainly covers the initial development of Matthew and the OC

OC Face Claim - Anna Katharina

Approx Word Count - 5.7k

August, 2024

Well, this is a huge fucking mistake… Lana thought to herself, forcing a smile as she sat across from her date.

She chastised herself further in her mind. Shit—I can't even remember his name. Was it Terry…or Jerry? Wait…Phil? No, he was last week. Fuck.

Against her better judgment, Lana allowed her arm to be twisted by her beloved brother to go on yet another blind date.

"Just try, Lana—just try again," he'd say. Now, she was wasting away across from this person, who was blathering about a subject that she had already forgotten about, alongside his name.

Lana rotated the highball glass with her fingertips, as she pretended to show interest in the man's one-sided conversation. Although her eyes appeared to be focused on his face, she was actually gazing out the window, just over the man's shoulder. From the 51st floor of the ManuLife Centre, the view of that particular evening boasted a magnificent August sunset, which added to the magical twilight of the Toronto city skyline.

Lana pouted in her mind. Why can't I be sitting here admiring the view with someone I love? Or even like? Attracted to, maybe?

It was from these moments of desperation, or weakness—whichever it was—that she found herself in this blind date situation to begin with.

She loved her brother, Andrew, for trying to set her up with a decent guy to develop a connection with. Lana thought it was reasonable that he might know a little more about men and dating since Andrew was in a loving relationship with Jason, his long-time partner.

She thought it was reasonable mainly because Lana had never dated anyone.

As in never, ever, ever.

Based on the non-success of the past men that Andrew sent her way, Lana felt her relationship status would not be changing anytime soon either.

Lana snapped back to reality just in time to catch what's-his-name staring at her tits as he finished his sentence.

She smiled demurely as she studied his expression. She really had not heard a word he had said, and it did not appear that he was awaiting a response from her. Seizing the opportunity, she excused herself and headed off in the direction of the ladies' room.

She turned back around to glance at her date. He was already otherwise occupied, ogling a nearby female server.

In the confines of the washroom stall, Lana swiped open her phone to remind herself of the name of the man she regretted suggesting to meet at one of her favorite restaurants.

Upon finding it, she muttered "Darren."

Lana responded to a text her brother had sent her earlier, asking how things were going.

L - Do you think that Jason can start vetting these guys before you send them my way? Personality of a piece of cardboard. I think I actually may have lost consciousness while he rambled on…

Andrew must have been waiting for her message, as he promptly responded.

A- Jason and I love you but we're done with sending you men. Coming to breakfast tomorrow?

Lana smiled at her brother's message. He always teased her saying she wouldn't have the foggiest clue what to do with a man anyway.

L - Love you both too. Breakfast is a no-go. Taking a client to view some condos. TTYL

A- Msg me when you get home

Lana exited the stall and glanced at her reflection as she washed her hands. She pondered what method she would use this time to send Darren packing.

Interestingly, most men never bothered to call once she handed them her business card anyway.

They seemed to trip over the word "Owner", especially of one of the most prestigious real estate brokerages in Toronto.

As they wrapped up their date, Lana cordially offered her business card with her contact information. Darren glanced at her card and then back at her. His expression gave her all the information she needed to know about the man standing before her.

Other than "Owner", there was a second word that was a lingering fact about Lana. A word that had begun to plague her mind and body more and more. She always wondered how a man would react, if in fact they were ever able to look past the first word, and get to know her more.

That second word was virgin.

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Lana and her older brother Andrew grew up in a small, close-knit community approximately two hours northwest of Toronto.

Their parents were cold, strict, and controlling towards their children. Although they made sure Andrew and Lana had everything they needed, there were always strings attached with everything they were provided.

Andrew was intelligent, strong-willed, and independent from an early age. Being 5 years younger, Lana idolized her handsome older brother. In turn, he adored her and always pushed her to succeed in everything she tried. Their bond became even stronger as their parents became even more controlling with Lana as she approached her high school years.

Andrew clashed badly with their parents, experiencing constant conflict and turmoil while living under the same roof. Andrew was determined to leave as soon as he could. He worked multiple jobs while still managing to excel academically. After earning as much money as he could, Andrew left to study architecture abroad at 18.

Once Andrew departed, his parents no longer acknowledged his existence. Andrew always felt a tremendous amount of guilt and remorse knowing he had deserted his beloved little sister. From afar, he did his best to help his sister navigate their parents' increasingly stern and uncompromising attitude toward her.

Meanwhile, Lana was experiencing rapid growth spurts at the age of 13. She was long, lean, and had natural curves which enhanced her athletic build. Her mother often shunned her appearance, making her feel that her natural beauty and her blossoming figure were a detriment and a cross to bear.

As she entered high school, it would mark the hardest time of her life.

Lana's mother drowned her with archaic myths and cautionary tales about boys, sex, disease, and unplanned pregnancy. She would be forever "ruined" if she gave in to having relations out of wedlock. As the ever-dutiful daughter, Lana absorbed everything her parents said and never scrutinized or disobeyed them.

The teenage boys at her school, with their raging desires fueling their comments as she walked by them, did little to convince Lana that her mother might be wrong in her teachings.

Teenage girls were in some cases worse than the boys. The behavior of the girls at Lana's school was full of envy and competitiveness. She often felt ostracized and alone during her first weeks and months of high school.

Lana would message Andrew in tears in the stall of the girls' washroom between classes. He was always there for her with words of comfort but would only allow her just a few tears of pity. Andrew would then coach her on how she would need to rise above it all. Step by step, Lana put her head down, studied hard, and became active in student council and various athletic programs.

Lana developed a no-nonsense type of attitude which served her well in her secondary school years, as well as keeping the peace at home. She managed to forge a few solid friendships with those who were authentic, intelligent, and did not concern themselves with trends or being popular.

At the end of high school, Lana was rewarded for her diligence and focus by excelling in academics, athletics, and the arts. She received a full scholarship to enter the Law program at the University of Toronto.

Fast-forwarding through her first two years in university, she maintained the same steadfast and hard-working mentality that was part of her nature. However, Lana soon discovered that Law did not ignite her passion. With Andrew carving his own path in architectural design and serving as her constant guide and mentor, she uncovered an unexpected love for real estate.

She landed a paid internship with a brokerage firm owned by an older gentleman by the name of Reine Schmidt. Reine immediately recognized Lana's dogged determination, her intellect, and her willingness to learn.

Reine taught Lana everything he knew. He had a proven track record of understanding trends to predict future outcomes, alongside his charisma, sharp wit, and masterful negotiation skills. With the guidance of her brother, Lana eventually followed her instincts and dropped out of university to work alongside her older mentor.

Lana's parents were furious and, in a fit of true toxicity, they severed ties with their daughter completely as they had done with their son.

As the cloud of devastation from the estrangement dissipated, Reine became a much-needed father figure in Lana's life. He provided her with shelter, which was merely a back room of the brokerage office. He helped her with the bare minimum, just enough to set her off in the right direction. The rest, Lana would have to work on and figure out for herself.

And she did. As the years went on, Lana gained a reputation throughout the GTA, being touted as Reine Schmidt's brilliant and beautiful protégé. She was elegant and poised while being creative and shrewd in her negotiation tactics. By the time she was thirty, Lana had her own substantial property portfolio, worth millions of dollars as the Toronto real estate market exploded.

When Reine became too ill to fulfill his responsibilities at his firm, he appointed Lana to step in on an interim basis. She did not know it at the time, but Reine had already decided to will her the firm. He just needed to make doubly sure that she was ready.

Lana remained by Reine's side as his illness progressed. He had no family to speak of, and he always said that he was not in the business of making friends. But he had grown to love Lana like a daughter, and although he never said as much, he was grateful that she made sure he was not alone during his last moments on earth.

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Lana awoke the following morning with the memory of her near abysmal date from the night before all but washed away. Retrieving her cell from her nightstand, she broke her own rule about no screens until after she had completed her morning Pilates. She just wanted to check if what's-his-name had messaged.

He had not.

Her business card had become like a detection device which helped identify those that would waste her time. Moreover, she was pleased that she could still calculate risk and probability by simply observing someone's non-verbal cues and other subtle behaviors.

Lana laid back on her pillow and gazed out her floor-to-ceiling windows in her bedroom. Her panoramic view of the city displayed all the colors of the sunrise of a late summer's morning. But the sunrise triggered a pang of loneliness within her. The sunset had a similar effect on her last night, and now the sunrise was having a go. She wanted someone to lie with and enjoy the wondrous city views in the morning. She longed to have someone to sit with at dinner and have them witness the perfection of a sunset by her side. She wanted to feel what it's like to crave someone and have them equally yearn for her.

Pushing her lonely thoughts aside, Lana yawned and stretched and slid out of bed, turning her phone off until it was time to leave for the office.

Any other morning, Lana would have opted to take transit, walk, or even run to her office. She quickly realized the good fortune of driving to work that day in an air-conditioned vehicle. The humidex was already climbing and it was only just 7 a.m. Another sweltering summer day in the city had begun.

As she drove, she mentally pre-planned her morning. Yesterday, a last-minute request came in from a very important client-turned-friend to view some condo listings in the downtown area. What left Lana perplexed was who the request was from.

Lana's mind drifted to another thought while idling at a traffic light.

Just two more weeks—two more weeks until I'm off and I'll press pause on the whole "trying to find a mate" search. Maybe I'm just meant to be alone. Maybe you just need to sleep with someone once and that'll be enough… maybe he's just not out there…. Lana mulled over these thoughts as she ventured south on St. George Street.

It had become a custom for Lana to flee the city at the beginning of September and spend a few weeks at the expansive lakeside home that she co-owned with her brother. With 5+ acres and an exceptional lakefront, it was a place where Lana could experience quiet for a while. That is, quiet after their friends, colleagues, and in some cases clients, descended onto the property for a popular get-together for the Labor Day weekend.

Arriving at her office before 7:30, Lana slipped into her leather chair and dove into a landslide of unread emails.

As the office began to fill, she left her office to greet her assistant and enjoy a morning chat. To Lana, this was one of her most favorite times of the day. Despite her upbringing, Lana sought connection with her professional family and was nurturing and compassionate to all of her associates. In turn, her staff were fiercely loyal to her and it showed in their combined success at the firm.

Lana returned to her office to tie up a few loose ends before her appointment arrived.

Ainsley tapped on Lana's office door, letting her know her 9 a.m. had arrived, and asked if she would like them escorted to her office. In her mind, Lana tripped over the word "them" as she was only expecting one person. Shaking off the confusion, she declined Ainsley's offer and thanked her as she made her way down the corridor.

As she approached the reception area, she was prepared to see Aryne Tavares but not her handsome husband John and another even more striking man standing next to the couple.

Lana's professional-turned-friendly relationship with the Tavares' began with helping Aryne navigate the Toronto housing market when John was traded from the Islanders to Toronto. Although John was present during some of the preliminary preference discussions, Aryne always appreciated how Lana focused mainly on her and her needs during the conversation, as opposed to her husband. Oftentimes, it was the opposite with other firms and their agents who wanted to talk hockey or suck up to the player in the hopes they might be able to drum up more business for themselves.

For several years, Lana's name had become the number one recommended by the majority of Toronto WAGs who were either in search of shorter-term furnished rentals or more permanent homes. She understood and made it clear (while treading lightly) that where the player-husbands were often making the salary allowing the upscale and sometimes super luxurious homes, it was the wives and families that had to live in them day in and day out. As such, Lana's firm cornered the market for finding suitable homes for Toronto's professional athletes and their families. Due to the unique demands, she created a specialized team and trained them specifically to work with sports agents, significant others, and the player's surrounding support system.

Lana's eyes lit up, as did Aryne's, as they greeted each other and hugged warmly.

"What an amazing surprise! Good morning!" Lana gushed, first embracing Aryne and then John.

Lana approached the third individual standing slightly behind John. He was taller than the veteran player by a couple of inches, visibly younger, and was extremely broad and fit.

Lana thought she recognized his face but couldn't quite place it.

Aryne made the introductions. "This is Matthew Knies. Matthew, this is Lana — she's a friend and has been our real estate guru for a number of years."

Matthew's cheeks were already burning when he first glimpsed at Lana. He was positive he had never seen a woman nearly as beautiful as she was.

But when Lana turned and looked directly into his eyes while extending her hand, that's when his insides fell apart. He had difficulty swallowing, and he realized his mouth was slightly agape.

Lana squeezed his hand warmly. "I thought I recognized you. It's really wonderful to meet you, Matthew."

Trying to pull himself together, he shook her hand and with a dry throat, he squeaked out, "Nice to meet you too."

As Lana escorted the group towards her office, Aryne explained that she and John just wanted to help sort through some of the available condo listings for Matthew.

Lana smiled and explained to Aryne and John her initial confusion when the request for condo listings appeared under the "Tavares" file. After all, she had already helped Aryne find their ideal home twice as their family grew.

Matthew had resided with the Tavares family at the beginning of the 2023/24 season and later moved to a rental unit downtown mid-way through the season. Unfortunately, for various reasons, he was not at all happy in that building and wanted to start the upcoming season in more suitable place. Although it was not discussed in their meeting, the main reason being that Matthew and his now ex-girlfriend had parted ways in that same unit, and it was not an amicable ending to say the least.

Lana appreciated having John and Aryne there to assist Matthew. In recent years, other members of her sales team had primarily handled the real estate needs of younger male players. Time was ticking before the start of the season, and Lana wanted to be efficient in pinpointing exactly what would suit Matthew. John's input would be valuable in considering practical factors, especially regarding proximity to Scotiabank Arena and the practice rink in the southwest end of the city.

As Matthew sat diagonally across from Lana, he pretended to show interest in the selected listings which Lana walked them through on the large monitor mounted on her wall.

But it was only Lana that held his attention.

Matthew wanted to absorb every detail of her from head to toe. He wanted to stare and drink in every detail of her face.

Not wanting to appear obvious, he made sure his eyes didn't linger too long when they wandered to catch another glimpse of her as she pointed out various features in each listing.

Matthew had not even realized that his auto-pilot responses were in full swing. He barely recalled agreeing to see a handful of ready-to-show condos in the surrounding area and that it would be Lana herself giving him a tour of each unit.

Lana rose from her desk. "So Matthew, if you're alright for time now, it sounds like we'll be spending the morning together."

Matthew smiled as he silently willed his cock not to twitch at the very thought of being with Lana in any capacity, morning, noon, or night.

"Sure — absolutely… I'm all yours."

With the feeling that his heart was in his throat, Matthew realized how true those words had become in just half an hour after meeting this siren.

Lana stopped by Ainsley's desk and quietly gave some instructions for tasks that could be taken care of while she was out. Ainsley couldn't help but look past Lana ever so subtly at the handsome young player as she nodded her head.

Sensing that Matthew had caught her pretty assistant's eye, Lana gave Ainsley a knowing smile. "You want me to find out if he's dating anyone?" she quietly asked.

A bashful smile spanned Ainsley's face. "Oh my god, he's just so hot… I don't know… I guess it would be nice just to know if he's got a girlfriend?" she replied under her breath.

Ever so coolly, Lana gave Ainsley a discreet wink. "I'll see what I can find out and report back later, ok?"

Ainsley beamed, barely able to suppress her excitement as she nodded enthusiastically.

Lana joined the group as they meandered down the corridor towards the elevators. Little did she know that this little "meet cute" with Matthew Knies would soon change her entire world.

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Later in the day, Matthew arrived at the building of his close friend and teammate, Joseph Woll. He pressed the intercom button and within seconds, the door to the lobby clicked open and Matthew made his way towards the elevator.

Minutes later, Matthew was at Joe's door, which he had left propped slightly open inviting him just to come on through. Matthew always appreciated Joe's easy-going and considerate nature and felt grateful for his friend and how they both seemed to naturally anchor each other.

He walked through to the open living room and kitchen area where Joseph was working away assembling his most recent Lego project — the famous Concorde aircraft.

Joe glanced over the tail of his newest Lego set towards Matthew. "How did it go — see anything you liked?"

Fuck… yeah, only it wasn't a condo, Matthew mused to himself.

"Not sure… I guess nothing really stood out," Matthew replied as he flopped onto the nearby couch. "Might take a few more times… I just want to pick the right one."

Without looking up from snapping a series of small blocks together, Joe continued. "Too bad there's not anything available in this building…" He searched the table for the next appropriate piece before adding, "…but then again if you moved in, maybe there's such a thing as seeing someone too much…"

Matthew looked at his friend with a pained expression. "Ouch — fuck, bro… is that what you think?" he chuckled.

Joe shook his head laughing. "No… I just like getting a rise out of you. Oh—and just letting you know that we're meeting up with the rest of the guys at the bar around 8 tonight. I guess it's guys only now… the girlfriends opted to do something else."

"Who's all going? Mints, Cowboy…?"

Joe continued, "Me, you, Bobbo, Mints, Cowboy, but then there's a few vets coming — Max, Muzz… Doaner I think. It's shaping up to be a fun night."

Matthew stretched and yawned. "Sounds like it. Alright… fuck — I need a nap. Can I crash here for a bit? I don't feel like going back to my place."

Joe was concentrating on reading the instructions for the rudder for the plane. "Be my guest… we'll head out to the bar together then. I think you've even got a pair of shorts and a shirt here so you can change. Crash as long as you want."

Matthew traipsed down the hallway to the second bedroom and fell backward onto the mattress. He was tired, but his mind bounced in a million directions, wondering about what Lana was doing now and how her day would end. He wondered if she went home to a perfect husband or significant other who loved her and treated her right, or if she was with some prick who would never realize just how amazing she is.

Matthew's insides were starting to twist and flutter each time his memory pulled him back to the seemingly insignificant moments of that day. Sitting next to her in her car. Chatting seamlessly while stuck in traffic. Riding the elevator with her, or holding the door for her whenever they entered or exited a prospective condo.

His mind traveled back to the quick lunch they had, where Lana couldn't stop laughing after Matthew told her a story from his childhood. When she continued to chuckle about it for the rest of their time together, Matthew thought he might melt with desire right then.

Matthew finally pushed past the restlessness he had begun to feel and drifted off into a deep sleep.

Later that evening at an upscale sports bar, the table of hockey players cheered when the servers presented the group with the most bizarre and fascinating Caesar concoctions. The popular Canadian cocktail was adorned with everything from pulled pork sandwiches and burgers on skewers to tempura prawns and dessert options.

The group's boisterous laughter marked the upbeat and optimistic mood of the group with the start of a new season just around the corner.

Matthew tried to mimic the mood but he simply wasn't there in mind or spirit. He even ignored being chirped by a few of the rookies for nursing his Corona and avoiding the subsequent tequila shot altogether.

Matthew had a close friendship burgeoning with former rookie Bobby McMann, whom he sat next to at the table. Bobby noticed Matthew's glum demeanor but initially assumed it was over the demise of his recent relationship.

Bobby clinked the clear glass neck of his beer bottle against Matthew's, which was still virtually untouched. "It'll get better, man—try not to let it drag you down too far."

Matthew nodded and smiled to acknowledge his friend's support.

Joe, who was sitting across the table, silently wondered about the change in his friend's mood. Yes, Matthew had been through some turmoil in the past months with ending a relationship that had gone off the rails. However, after the dust had settled in the off-season, his mood and outlook were full of confidence once again. Joe knew Matthew was really geared up about finding a new place quickly, so perhaps his low mood was a result of not having any luck that day. It didn't quite compute in Joe's head, but he would keep his thoughts to himself, for now at least.

When Matthew quietly announced to those sitting nearest to him that he was done for the night and was heading home, Joe and Shane (Doan) walked him out just to make sure their good friend was alright before taking off. Matthew assured them he was, that he was just tired.

He ordered an Uber and was back home in no time, but the change in location to his quiet condo only exacerbated him more. Pulling out Lana's business card, adorned with her headshot that he couldn't avert his eyes from, he placed it on the coffee table. He picked up his guitar, a not-so-new hobby that Matthew freed his mind with, much like his buddy Joe did with Lego, and began to pick at the strings. He was pissed with himself as he tried, and failed, to think of anything else other than contacting his new and unexpected crush.

Setting the guitar aside, he picked up his phone, entered Lana's cell number into his contacts and sent her a brief message, beginning with an apology hoping it wasn't too late to reach out to her.

Matthew was pleasantly surprised that she responded within minutes. He asked Lana a series of questions, all about viewing more condos, but it was mostly to establish whether he could reach out to her specifically. She responded that indeed he could, and she would do her best to accommodate his schedule in the coming days. Matthew wasted no time in setting up a time with Lana for the following day, and then two days after that.

He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

Following a silent moment, Matthew then shook his head and muttered to himself to get a fucking grip and that he was acting completely ridiculous by already pining over a woman that he didn't even know.

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As the end of August approached, Lana and Matthew had spent a considerable amount of time sorting through listings and narrowing down options to view. Lana encouraged Matthew to be selective, as it was important for him to be happy in the space where he would spend the majority of the next eight or nine months.

On the other hand, she knew the start of the season was sneaking up quickly and she hoped, for his sake, that he would find a place before training camp, media days and everything else that goes with it was upon him.

Matthew secretly knew this and sometimes felt he was playing with fire, appearing either indecisive or hard to please with the places Lana showed him. With this in mind, Matthew quickly finalized his decision on a place and chose a second one as a backup.

He also wanted to take the plunge and ask Lana out for dinner to say thank-you.

The following afternoon, Matthew sat next to Lana on the sleek, white sofa in her office as she walked him through the paperwork. The air between them was comfortable and relaxed, but the professional nature of their relationship was still very prominent. While initialing and signing wherever Lana indicated with her elegantly simple manicured nails, Matthew tried to ignore the anxiousness that was swirling in his mind.

Lana had consumed his every thought since he first met her. Whether he was in the midst of strength training or skate drills, he imagined what it would feel like if she was there watching him. He thought about her in traffic, in the shower, or running out to get food. He continuously caught himself having these harmless daydreams and did his best to shoo them away in order to refocus his mind, but often he was fighting a losing battle.

With his last initial inked on the page, Lana smiled widely and extended her hand. "Congratulations, Mr. Knies—I think you'll be very happy in your new place. It really is such a great neighborhood."

"Well, thanks… yeah, I know I will. And thank you for all your help. And for being patient with me. I hope it didn't feel like I was never going to choose one… you just gave me so many great options," Matthew smiled as he shook her hand.

As they stood, Lana felt a little disappointed that this might be the last time her and Matthew crossed paths. Her initial impressions of him and his frat boy exterior had almost immediately dissolved and she found him to be very mature and he spoke with an intelligence that was far beyond his years. Oftentimes, Lana found that she genuinely looked forward to seeing him, especially the times when they decided to walk to each destination instead of fighting traffic. She had only felt this level of comfort, ease and enjoyment with a select group of people, and although she never would have expected it, she considered Matthew a friend.

If she was really being totally honest with herself, she had thought about him as a little bit more than a friend as her base female urges had only increased since she met him. Lana often fell asleep feeling frustrated, squeezing her thighs together to try and get relief from the pressure building in her core.

Lana moved towards the door, knowing she had limited time before her next meeting. “I hope you won’t be a stranger but I can only imagine how busy you’ll be once the season starts. Oh - and all the best…I hope you guys have a really great year ahead.”

Feeling that time was not on his side, Matthew’s adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously and stepped in close to Lana.

“Hey - well, I kind of felt like I was being a bit of a pain in the ass with monopolizing your time, so to say thanks, I - I was wondering if maybe you’d let me take you out to dinner sometime?

Lana’s eyes softened as she smiled, feeling flushed at Matthew’s invite. “Absolut - “

“Sorry to interrupt,” Ainsley appeared at the door, her eyes darted between the expression on Lana and Matthew faces. “Your 3:00 is here.” The curtness in Ainsley's voice would be unrecognizable to most, but Lana picked up on it quickly. She had all but forgotten that Ainsley had developed a crush on the young hockey player. Normally, her attractive assistant caught the attention of most guys around Matthew's age and type, but any interactions she had with Matthew thus far were strictly polite and professional.

Lana thanked her and said she would be out momentarily. She made a mental note to check in with Ainsley later, as she noticed her pursed lips before she walked stiffly down the hallway.

Lana turned back to Matthew. “How about this, I send you a note once I’m home from work and we can get something arranged, ok?

“Perfect - I guess until then…” Matthew postured for a hug which Lana gladly accepted.

For a split second in his embrace, she imagined how it would feel if his hands held her a little more firmly. Pulled her in a little more tightly.

She watched as he sauntered out into the reception area, quietly mumbling as she chastised herself.

“He’s 21…you're 32. Get your mind off of this notion, Lana.”

But for the remainder of the day, she couldn't stop the fluttery sensation in her stomach. It mystified and excited her but it was a feeling that also terrified her.

After her last meeting had wrapped up for the day, she hurriedly sent a message to Andrew and Jason. She flagged it as urgent for good measure.

L - Are either of you home tonight? Desperately needing advice - can I come by?

Jason responded first.

J - Are you ok? Already setting a place for you at the dinner table.

Andrew responded asking the same question.

Lana paused, held her breath and typed in each letter slowly.

L - I think I'm interested in someone.

There was a silence that could be felt, even over the phone.

Andrew eventually responded.

A- Jason probably fainted. You might want to pick up something stronger to drink than wine.

[electrosair]

Husband & dad headcanons anemo + cryo ver.

english isn’t my first language, sorry for mistakes

characters: heizou + kazuha + scaramouche + venti + xiao + kaeya

say ty to my best friend because if it wasn't for her this wouldn't be finished in 3 years.

word count: 1.8k

Heizou

how does he propose to you?

He will leave little clues around your house, he is such a good detective that it will get complicated and in the end he will have to tell you in a 'subtle' way. "I think someone is definitely trying to propose to you. And I happen to have a ring in my pocket."

where is the wedding taking place?

The beaches of Inazuma, at sunset. No more questions, right? They are too beautiful not to celebrate your wedding there.

where are you going on your honeymoon?

My best friend came up with this idea and it couldn't be missed. Heizou would be obsessed with solving something in his style to whatever destination you end up at, so why not go to Liyue and find out all about the ancient mountains and legends of the adeptus?

children before or after marriage?

Although it may not seem like it I feel that he is quite hooked on his work in some strange way. His top priority would not be to have children soon.

how many children does he want?

As I said before, I doubt with his job he has much time to offer to a large family, so between 1-2 kids, maybe a third one when he doesn't work so much anymore, but I doubt it.

how is he during your pregnancy?

He would worry about you, but he would hide it most of the time because he is a detective for a reason. He would always have an eye on you in case anything happens to you, and the moment he notices a first kick, his face lights up with a smile.

any memorable moment with his child?

Take the baby to work day, cause an impressive stir in his office and somehow or other end up solving a case thanks to your little kid. How? He doesn't even know.

Kazuha

how does he propose to you?

After one of the tournaments that Beidou organizes, he would use this stop of the ship to take you to the most beautiful place nearby that he could find. Facing the sea and with the wind blowing in the face of both of you.

where is the wedding taking place?

The Crux, please and thank you. All decorated with the wedding theme and the crew and wedding guests gathered on deck watching your union. We will skip the part where several guests got seasick.

where are you going on your honeymoon?

A place he hasn't been to yet, which leaves us with Sumeru, Fontaine, Natlan or Snezhnaya. I assume you would go to Sumeru because 1. it has port 2. it is more accessible 3. there are so many things to see and explore that Kazuha would take you around as excited as a toddler.

children before or after marriage?

Later, but just for the simple fact that you wouldn't be too sure you'd have the best life to take care of babies right now. I mean, if it's already hard as normal, I don't want to imagine it going from place to place on a boat, so you would wait a little bit.

how many children does he want?

He would be fine with whatever you wanted, but I can see him having more or less around 3 or 4 children once you are already settled in a house or at least for the first few years of the children's lives.

how is he during your pregnancy?

He would take you to different places for walks, with short breaks in between so you don't overexert yourself too much. "Breathe, we're almost there. The top is beautiful, I promise, besides, this is good for when it's time to see our baby."

any memorable moment with his child?

He would probably sing lullabies for your baby to fall asleep, when he grows up they will become little stories and I assure you that no matter how hard you try now he will always want Kazuha to put him to bed.

Scaramouche

how does he propose to you?

If he can fly he's going to use it to surprise you, seeing your amazed face when you landed gave him the strength he needed, so he would simply pick you up off the ground and carry you to the prettiest flower meadow he could find.

where is the wedding taking place?

Sumeru is a good place, nice landscapes, good places to eat and a port so that when you finish the wedding he can continue wandering around the other nations with you as a travel companion.

where are you going on your honeymoon?

Is it okay if I discard Inazuma and Snezhnaya? I'll take that as a yes and say Fontaine seems like a good place to go, especially if it's summer and you can enjoy dips in the water, I bet he'd try ducking you but he'd feel too bad since you're just married.

children before or after marriage?

I feel like he's the type of person who tries to delay having kids as long as possible, so you would definitely end up having them after you get married.

how many children does he want?

I would say between 1-3, 3 being the maximum because he might not be able to stand that much. You would start by having only 1, but after seeing that it is not as bad as it seems you would convince him, he would convince himself, to have another one. "You know what I told you about one being enough for me? Well, I've been thinking about it, and I think you're right…. No, it's not at all because I think they're too cute."

how is he during your pregnancy?

He'd tease you about little pregnancy cravings and such, but at the end of the day he'd try to give you everything he could get. And add to that the bonus of giving you little massages just to get you to 'stop complaining'.

any memorable moment with his child?

He would plan little pranks with the child behind your back and if you caught them he wouldn't hesitate for five seconds and say that the idea was your kid's idea. Only to then make the child forget all about it and make an even better plan.

Venti

how does he propose to you?

After a long time without setting foot in the ruins of the northern part of the nation, he decided to take you there himself. He would guide you to the top of the central tower and propose to you in front of the beautiful view.

where is the wedding taking place?

The Mondstadt church, I mean, what is it for? Other than to praise the anemo archon, who happens to be the same as your future husband. What a coincidence that he was the one who chose the site.

where are you going on your honeymoon?

Let's be honest, he likes any place where he can be served a good wine, and if he is accompanied by you while he drinks it, it's even better. So that's his only requirement, you choose the rest.

children before or after marriage?

Venti doesn't really care, what he likes most is freedom. So I doubt very much that he should be carried away by what people say about having children sooner or later. He lets it flow.

how many children does he want?

Neither too many nor too few, maybe 2 or 3, although the maximum would be 4. He would already be burdened with all the responsibilities that only having one entails.

how is he during your pregnancy?

He doesn't have much else to do during the day apart from playing and being with friends, we can say that he has plenty of time to spend with you. He would also do little things like sing to you during the last few months, when he is sure that the baby listens to him too, and he would even try to drink less. "I'm fine like this, I won't order wine today. A tea like the one you ordered would do me good."

any memorable moment with his child?

A chuckle escaped him as you looked in surprise at your baby floating instead of taking the first steps and turned to see Venti frowning. He wouldn't be able to give a vision to a child barely 1 year old, would he?

Xiao

how does he propose to you?

At first you were worried to see Xiao so nervous, he was usually quite calm and even if he was overwhelmed he wouldn't let you see him like that. You thought it might be because of some of his duties as adeptus, but when he took you to a isolated spot on the mountain and knelt down it all came together.

where is the wedding taking place?

It is obvious to say Liyue, but exactly where, I have doubts. I would discard places like The Chasm and the city, but regarding the rest, I don't think he'd care much about where you're going to celebrate it, he wouldn't even care if it was so inaccessible that almost nobody could go.

where are you going on your honeymoon?

Mondstadt seems like a good place, it's close and he could go relatively quickly to Liyue if he really needs it (a lot). Because it doesn't look like you're going to let him go that easily.

children before or after marriage?

Afterwards, but not for the fact that you are getting married, I feel that he wants to be absolutely sure that you and your children are as safe as possible with him.

how many children does he want?

2, a reasonable number. I don't see him as a father of a very large family, maybe even 1 but he would end up wanting more even if he denied it.

how is he during your pregnancy?

Just attending to your needs whenever he can and watching you 24/7, he used to do that before too but now he has an excuse to do it so you don't say anything to him about it.

any memorable moment with his child?

We all know that Xiao ate snow, not at all would he mention it casually in front of your son and his best idea was to try it and follow his father's steps. He got sick. "I promise I won't say those things in front of him again, even though I don't understand wh- Sorry, sorry."

Kaeya

how does he propose to you?

The bar where you were spending the evening was about to close and Kaeya saw his chance coming. He led you to a slightly more private place and kissed your hand as he knelt down in front of you, pulling out of his pants pocket a small object that glowed in the moonlight.

where is the wedding taking place?

Perhaps on the Mondstadt square, a place where you can have a big celebration to which you can both invite all your friends.

where are you going on your honeymoon?

Maybe Inazuma or Fontaine? Even Snezhnaya. I don't see him as the type to withstand very hot climates very well so Sumeru and Natlan would be out of the question. So a good refreshing trip in which you enjoy the new cities and bars.

children before or after marriage?

He's not the type who cares about the whole problem of having children, as long as he can have them with you he's fine with it any time. So let's say both before and after.

how many children does he want?

Large family for Kaeya. I'm sorry that being an only child and that after everything that happened with Diluc and his father they are now like this…. I mean, he definitely wants siblings for your first child. So around 4.

how is he during your pregnancy?

He would spoil you and ask for days off just for you, but let's not fool ourselves, when he sees your belly grow the slightest bit he would hug you and put his head close to it to try to hear something. He talks more to the baby than to you and it's not even born yet.

any memorable moment with his child?

I can just imagine him telling them stories about how his family are all pirates and that's why they never see them and he wears an eye patch. Just like he did to you when you first met. "Your grandfather gave me this treasure map for when you grow up, that's why you have to eat everything to grow up so you can get the buried mora and jewels."

[maybankswife]

Falling for him part 4

JJ Maybank x fem Kook Reader

Summary-

You and Sarah have been best friends since you could walk, and now it has all started to change. and fast.

*This uses scenes from Obx Season 1, but modified to fit Y/N into the storyline.*

Warnings:

Mentions of a fight, bruises, tension, swearing.

A/N:

this is a longer part, around 4.9k words 😬 hope you enjoy!

6:45 AM

You’re woken up to the sound of your mum opening the shutters in your room, your mum is a big fan of routine and even when its summer break she doesn’t let you sleep in on weekdays, only weekends. You cover your eyes with your arm, trying to shield your eyes from the light. You can hear your mum walking over to your bed, she leans down and kisses your cheek, pushing your hair away from your face.

“Come on Y/N/N, time to get up” she speaks gently, rubbing your arm. You put your arm down and force your eyes open. Your eyes meet with hers, shes already in her active wear from Lorna Jane. You stretch under the covers. Removing the duvet off your body, you sit up your feet touching the rug that’s next to your bed.

“What are we doing today?” you ask her, standing up stretching. She smiles at you,

“I’m not sure, whatever you would like. I need to work on a case today, so you can do whatever you want” your slightly annoyed that she isn’t waking you up for a real reason, but you know this has benefits to you.

“I might go surfing” you say as your start making your bed, your mum is calling Oakley over to her.

“Sounds fun sweetie” You continue fixing the pillows on your bed, you can hear Oakley’s nails tap the wood floor as she walks over to your mum. “Okay I’m going to take Oakley on a walk down at the beach, I’ll see you soon” your mum breaks the silence, she leaves your room, closing the door behind her. You sit down on your bed, grabbing your phone from the side table. You look through your notifications on your lock screen, nothing important. You stand up, walking out of your room and into the hallway. You make your way to the kitchen, the huge floor to ceiling sliding glass doors that lead out to your backyard and the beach, are open as well as most of the windows in your house. You pull open a cabinet and pull out the blender. You place it on the counter, plugging it into a nearby outlet.  You walk over to the fridge, pulling the door open.

You grab out the ingredients to make your favourite smoothie.

Frozen Mango

Frozen Pineapple

Coconut water

Fresh passion fruit

Fresh kiwi

Orange juice

Since you’ve made this smoothie hundreds of times, you can guesstimate how much of each thing you need in it. You put all the ingredients into the blender, turning it on. Whilst it’s blending you get a glass cup from the cabinet, and a glass straw. When its finished blending, you take the lid off the blender cup, pouring it into your glass and putting the straw in. you make your way over to the kitchen island, sitting down on a barstool. You open your phone, looking through who messaged you last night, and what’s been going on in the world whilst you were sleeping. You sip the smoothie, delicious as always. You see that all of the pogues have accepted your follow and have all followed your back. You accept all of their request and start looking through their accounts. You start with Kies, all of her posts are single photos of the beach, sunsets, turtles, and the silhouettes of the pogues. Shes taken down all the photos of you in them. her highlights are pretty much the same as her posts, a couple of photos of her and her parents and that’s it. You move onto JB’s account, his posts are similar to JJ’s, a lot of the same photos too. He doesn’t have any highlights, but you see a post of him and Sarah holding hands. Secret but not secret relationship. Pope’s account has nothing. Literally nothing but a Bio saying “P4L”. You move onto snapchat, responding to some people’s snaps. You really don’t feel like hanging out with the pogues today, as much as you would like to, you just need a day to yourself after yesterday. You message Sarah.

“Hey Sarah, I can’t hangout today mums making me hangout with her” sent.

“Awh okay, that’s okay see you soon” She replies, you sigh grateful for the lack of interrogation. You put your phone back down onto the table, finishing your smoothie.

You stand up, and walk over to the sink, rinsing out your glass and putting it into the dishwasher. You walk down the hall, back into your room. You walk over to your dresser to find a bikini. You decide to go with a hot pink set, that has small white hibiscus flowers on it. You pull off your pyjamas, then pull on the bikini top. This set is made for surfing, so its securer than your regular string ones. You pull up the bottoms, they sit in the perfect spot for a good tan line. You grab some loose white linen shorts to wear over the bottoms, and your Birkenstocks. You grab one of your many tote bags from a hook and start putting in a few essentials. Sun-Bum SPF15 tanning oil, towel, book, a cap, your hairbrush, and lastly your phone. You tie your hair up into a bun before leaving your room.

You walk out to your backyard where your surf shed is, you grab your surfboard out from the corner and carry it down to the beach. It was waxed a few days ago, so no need to rewax it just yet. You make your way down to the sand, the sun beaming down onto you is your favourite feelings. You find a good spot to put your stuff, dropping the surfboard onto the sand as well as the tote bag. You shimmy out of the shorts, putting them into your tote bag. You pull out the tanning oil, putting a generous amount into the palm of your hand, rubbing it between your hands. You rub it into your skin.

One of your skills that you have, is being able to put things like tanning oil and sunscreen on your back, its easy for you to do it. You make sure you get the tanning oil everywhere, including your face. You sit down on your board, letting the oil sink into your skin before you go into the water.

You sit there listening to the waves crash against the shoreline, and the seagulls calling out. Breathing in the familiar smell of salt and sun. The sand warm on your feet, letting your mind wonder.

You can tell the oil has melted into your skin, so you stand up ready to surf. You pick up your board putting it on your side and running towards the water. Once your deep enough, just below knee deep in water, you put the board onto the water, jumping on top of it. You start paddling out, waiting for a wave to come.

Riding the wave, your mind goes silent, absorbing the summer sun. This is all that you want to do this summer. Wait for the perfect wave to come, ride it, let your body move, and doing it all over again.

Its around mid-day when you finally decide to get out the water, your hair is wet and messy. You paddle back to shore, standing up when its to shallow to keep paddling. You lift up the board, holding it on the side of your body and walking up to where you left your stuff. You put your board down onto the sand, laying your towel over it so you can soak up the sun for a while. you remember this thing you had seen on TikTok, a girl put sunscreen into the shape of a love heart on her leg whilst she was tanning, and when she took it off it left a love heart tan line on her skin “sunscreen tattoo”. You didn’t bring any sunscreen with you, but there was some in the surf shed so you decided to run up to your house.

You got to the shed, opening the door, and walking in. you found the Sun-Bum SPF50 sunscreen, you grab it throwing it up in the air and catching it again. You run back down to the beach, sitting down on your board. You decide to do it just above your bikini line in the shape of a sun, you made it look pretty, and lied down on the board. You set a timer for an hour on each side. Whilst you were tanning, you decided to take a photo for your Instagram story.

Once you posted the photo, you put your phone back in your bag, pulling out your book “The summer I turned pretty” written by Jenny Han. You lie on your board, reading the book and listening to the world around you. This is what you call “me time”.

2:00PM

It’s been 2 hours already, you stopped reading when you had to turn onto your stomach and instead fell asleep for an hour. You woke up when the hour timer went off. In that time, your hair had completely dried, and you had the best sun nap ever. You got up, stretching. You pulled your hair out of the bun it was in, you grabbed your hairbrush, brushing out all the knots. You put the brush back in the bag and pulled out your phone. Scrolling through the notifications. You opened Insta to see who liked your story and you were shocked when you saw JJ’s name. you smiled seeing his name on your screen, it was a new feeling. You put your phone back into the bag, standing up. You decided to go for a swim before going back inside. You ran down to the water, splashing it everywhere. You dived in getting fully soaked. You emerged out the water, pushing your hair back. You swam around for a little while, looking at all the tiny fishes that swam close to your toes.

3:00PM

You finally convinced yourself to get out the water and go back home. You collected all of your items and wrapped the towel around your body. You started walking back up the sand and to your backyard. You put your board outside the surf shed, letting it dry before you did put it in there. You walked pass your pool, and onto your porch. Your mum was sitting on the couch on her laptop, probably doing some work. You walked in, Oakley wagging her tail at you.

“Hey mum” you walked behind the couch to the kitchen to get some water.

“Hey bubba, did you have a good day?” you could hear here typing away at her laptop, she usually got off her devices when she spoke to you, so the fact that she is still on her laptop meant that she is really busy.

“Yeah, I surfed for like 4 hours, tanned for 2 and swam for 1” you pulled out a freezing cold bottle of water from the fridge and started chugging it.

“Sounds like fun, did you see anyone?” she asked, her voice not a genuine as what it usually is.

“No not today, I just wanted some me time” you swallowed another sip of water, “what did you do today?” you question her, putting the empty bottle in the recycling bin.

“Well, I took Oakley on a walk, when I got back, I saw you surfing from the house. I went to the shops, bumped into Rose Cameron, came home, and started doing some work” she replies, you can tell shes not really focused on the conversation.

“Oh cool, okay I’m gonna go for a shower” you walk towards the hall but pause when you hear your mum call out to you.

“Okay, let me know when you want dinner” you continued walking to your room, you put away all the stuff you had taken with you to the beach, then picked out a casual outfit to wear for the rest of the day.

You picked out your favourite sundress, its yellow with white flowers on it, for shoes you decided to go for your white converse. You put the dress on the bed and made your way into the bathroom. You pull the bikini off and look at your tan lines in the mirror. They are literally perfect. You turned on the shower, because your hair had only just been washed you chose to just rinse it out and put some conditioner in. You rinsed your hair, then put some Ouai conditioner. You put it in a claw clip and washed your body whilst waiting for it to soak in. you wash your body with the philosophy vanilla coconut body wash, cleansing every nook and cranny. Once you finished washing your body, you took your hair out of the claw clip brushing it with a comb before rinsing out the conditioner.

Finishing your shower, you changed into the yellow sundress and converse. You love the way the dress looks on you, it sits on all the right places, curving all the right curves it is utterly perfect. You sit down at your vanity, pulling out your Dyson air wrap. You started drying it, then styling it in our favourite way.

You put on your go-to gold jewellery stack that consist of 2 necklaces, one that has a diamond incrusted sun charm and the other with F/L/Y/N charm, then your pura vida bracelets for both wrists, your ring stack for both hands, and finally your favourite chunky gold hoops.

4:30 PM:

“I was thinking about going out for dinner tonight, what do you think?” your mum broke the silence between you.

“Ooh yeah, at the Wreck?” you respond, petting your dog Oakley who is sitting on the couch next to you.

“Yeah, I need to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Carrera anyways. Are you ready to leave now?” She stood up, shes wearing an outfit you hadn’t seen before. It’s a dark navy button up shirt, that’s tucked into high waist shorts. It looks really nice, elegant.

“Yeah sure, are we taking your car?” you stand up, walking over to the sliding glass doors closing them.

“Mhm, I’ll meet you at the car. Thanks for closing up” You continue closing other open windows and doors, once you did that you filled up Oakley’s water bowl. You walk out the front, your mum has already reversed the car out of the garage. You can hear her blasting music in the car. You stroll over to the car, opening the door of the passenger side and scotting in. Shes playing “Young Folks” written by Peter Bjorn and John. A song from one of your favourite tv shows “Gossip girls”.

You sit down at a table, tucking your dress behind your leg before sitting. You put your phone down on the table, looking around at the restaurant. Behind the counter you see Kiara working, she seems to be writing down an order. The restaurant is busy for a Monday night, you pick the menu off the table and read through the items.

“What are you thinking? I was looking at the prawn cocktail for a starter” your mum spoke, still looking at the menu.

“I was thinking some garlic bread” you reply, moving your eyes to the Mains. One thing catches your attention, their crab boil. You’ve heard a lot of good things about it but haven’t had the chance to try it.

“I think I’m going to get the tomato and tiger prawn pasta” your mum said, licking her lips. You put the menu down now that you know what you’re getting.

“I’m going to get the crab boil” you readjust your sitting position, taking a sip of water from the complementary water they gave you.

“Sounds delicious, what are your plans for tomorrow?” your mum questions, putting her menu down.

“I will hit up Sarah or something” Bzzzz, you feel your phone buzzing on the table. You pick it up, looking at the notification. Funnily enough its from Sarah, you open the message reading it.

“Have you spoken to JJ at all today?” the message causing your heart to beat faster, you re-read it thinking back to today.

You start typing “No y what’s happened?” you respond, staring at your phone waiting for her to respond.

“He’s gone MIA, he walked off earlier today and isn’t replying to anyone’s texts” You read through the message, carefully and slowly as to not miss any small details.

“I will lyk if I hear anything” you type out the words and hit sent, putting your phone back down on the table. Your mind rushes with thoughts of worry, you assume its not like JJ to disappear like that seeing as Sarah is asking you about it. You stare off to the distance, thinking about what could have happened.

“You okay princess” the words cut through the air like a knife, you blink turning your attention back to your mum.

“Yeah, just thinking about food” you laugh it off, forcing to push the thoughts about JJ to the side.

Kiara walks up to your table with a notepad and pen, “Welcome to the Wreck, Oh! Hi Miss Palmer” she realised who was sitting at the table halfway through the sentence, she glanced over to you giving you a half assed smile.

“Hello Kiara! How are you?” your mum asks her, she knows everything about Kiara and your friendship and what happened last year.

“Yeah, I’m good thank you! what can I get for you guys?” she asks, tapping the pen against her notepad.

“For starters, can I order garlic bread please” you speak, looking at the menu making sure your saying the right thing.

“Of course, and for you Miss Palmer?” Her voice is different to usual, probably her ‘customer’ voice.

“I would like the prawn cocktail please”

“And for mains?”

“I’ll get the crab boil please”

“Can I please have the tomato and tiger prawn pasta”

“Good choices, those are my favourites. Any drinks?”

“Y/N will have a sprite, and I’ll get a glass of your finest red wines” your mum finished the order, handing the menu over to Kiara. You pick yours up off the table, passing it to her as well.

“Perfect, shouldn’t be to long” you watch as she walks away, and behind the counter. You want to ask her about JJ.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom” you say, sliding your phone off the table. You push the chair back, standing up.

“Okay sweetie” your mum grabs her phone out of her purse. You turn around walking towards the counter. You slow down, your still thinking of what to say to her. You get to the counter, and she looks up at you.

“Hey, sorry I don’t mean to bother. Sarah was wondering if you’ve spoken to JJ at all?” you ask, putting your hands on the counter. She looks at you funny, as if you have spoken to her in a completely different language.

“No, I haven’t. Why?”  her words taste sour, she spits them out at you. you clear your throat.

“Apparently he’s gone MIA, walked away from the group earlier today and isn’t talking to anyone” you tap your fingers on the counter and watch as she types your order into the tablet.

“Haven’t heard from him. Look, I’m really busy right now I’ll talk to you later” She turns around, pushing open a door that leads into the kitchen. You stand there like a complete idiot, you decide to go to the bathroom before returning back to the table. You push the door open, and it squeaks obnoxiously as it closes behind you, you don’t even really need to use the toilet, so you just look at yourself in the mirror, fixing your hair.

When you walk out of the bathroom you see Mr Carrera standing at your table, talking to your mum. You walk up to the table, sitting down on your chair observing the conversation.

Its nothing interesting, just about a recent law case that is going on. You go back to your phone, scrolling through Pinterest. Your Pinterest feed is mainly couple photos, the ocean, room ideas, and surfing. You’re still thinking about JJ, your worried about him. Clearly Kiara couldn’t care less, you want to find him and make sure he’s okay.  

“And how are you Y/N?” Mr Carrera’s voice booms through your ears, you look up from your phone. He hasn’t spoken to you since last summer.

“I’m really good thank you, how are you?” you return the question, turning your phone off and throwing it onto your lap. He smiles, big white teeth grinning at you.

“I’m doing well thanks, same old” he laughs, gesturing to the restaurant around him. You smile sweetly, snickering, trying to be polite. You turn your focus back to your mum who’s watching the awkward exchange between you and Mr Carrera.

“Well, I hope you enjoy your food. Let me know if you need anything” He places a heavy hand on your shoulder, quickly taking it off.

“Thank you, Mike, talk soon” To your despair, your mum ends the conversation with him. You watch him walk away and through the same door that Kiara had walked behind earlier.

7:30 PM

Your mum pulls into the driveway, the taste of the crab boil still in the back of your throat. She puts the car into park and turns the car off.

“That food was delicious” Your mum expresses, picking her purse up from the floor of the car. You push the seat belt buckle, unclicking it from around your frame.

“Yeah, it was really good, my breathe smells like garlic now tho” you laugh, pulling the door handle to open the car door. You put one foot on the concrete, followed by the other you swiftly get out the car. You mum follows after you, slamming the car door when she gets out. You're stuck in thought, thinking about the way Kiara was so dismissive about JJ. You follow your mum to the front door, watching as she unlocks and pushes it open.

“Ladies first” she giggles like a school girl, standing to the side and gesturing you to go inside.

“Very funny, thank you” you laugh at her joke as you walk inside, the recognizable smell of home wafting you as you stood in front of the shoe wrack, kicking your converse off. Your mum gently presses her hand onto your back,

“I’m going to feed Oakley, then I’m heading to bed” she takes her hand off your back, walking past you and down the hallway into the living space. You can hear her calling Oakley and talking to her in a baby voice.

 You slump, finally free from having to act perfect all night. You walk down the hallway that leads to your room, pushing the door open you run over to your bed. Belly flopping on top of it. Your exhausted from today, the sun and water makes you feel so tired. You let your body relax, you lie there fighting off sleep. You groan, pulling yourself up. Sliding off the side of your bed you walk over to your dresser, searching through your pyjama drawer. You pull out a tight cropped grey shirt, and blue and white striped grandpa shorts. You hold the pyjamas in your hands as you walk into your bathroom, placing them on your sink bench. You unzip your dress, pulling it off your shoulders letting it slide down your legs. You step over the dress, leaving you standing in your bra and undies.

JJ’s POV:

I wince for every step I take, exhausted. I have my arm wrapped around my torso, trying to keep the pain as little as possible. I’m on figure eight, walking around in the dark. I hiss at the pain on my face when I wipe the sweat off my forehead. As I walk down the street, I look around me recognizing the houses around me. I’m somewhat near Y/N’s house, I need her, all I want is her right now.

I turn the corner, the smell of the ocean getting stronger with each step I take. I remember that Y/N’s house is right in front of the beach, I have to be close.

At this point I’m practically crawling, I’m hunched over trying to walk as fast as I can. Dad really did some damage this time, hope he’s happy. I force myself to stand up straight, groaning as I do so. I look down the street, noticing a manicured lawn and a big white house. Its Y/N’s. I sigh, relived to know I’m close to some sort of comfort. I can feel the blood drying up on my face, but the pain only intensifies.

I’m on my hands and knees, dragging my body up the lawn to a window. I can see dim lights shining through the sheer curtains, I just have to hope is Y/N’s room. I pull myself up with all the remaining strength I have left in my body, I stand in front of the widow. I stare into it, reluctant to tap on it. But I see a figure walk across the room, a breathy laugh exits me.

I knock on the window.

Y/N’s POV:

As soon as you sat down on your bed, you hear a knock at your window. your heart pounds in my chest, you jump up to your feet but freeze in place. Too scared to look.

Another knock on your window.

You lean to the right, trying to see if you could see who it was but you couldn’t see through the curtains, and its pitch-black outside.

Another knock on your window.

“Y/N are you there?” a voice comes from outside, you can barely make out the words. You wince at the sound of your name falling out of whoever’s mouth this is. “Please, let me in” you hesitate, hearing the words coated in a weep. “Fuck it if I die, I die, its whatever.” You whisper to yourself. You walk over to the window, pulling the curtains to the side. You nearly jump out of your skin when you see a face staring back at you. But your breath slows when you see its JJ’s blue gaze that’s staring at you, with a pleading look on his face. you sigh, shaking your head. You push the window up, opening it. A gush of humid air surrounds your body.

“JJ what the hell, you scared the shit out of me” you step back, giving the blonde room to climb into your room. You watch as he pulls himself in, but gasp as his body hits the floor with a thump. You look over him, his knuckles covered in blood and bruises. You move your eyes further up to his beautiful face, his lip is busted, dried blood under his nose, a black eye, and a huge gash on his forehead just below his hair line. His hair is covered in sweat, and messily dropped over his forehead. You stare at him, confused on what’s going on. You watch his chest rapidly rise and fall, his eyes frantic looking around your room. You drop to your knees by his side, looking him up and down thoughts rushing through your mind.

“JJ what happened?” your words come out harsher than you wanted them to. You look into his eyes, but he struggles keeping eye contact with you, looking down at the floor. You sit in silence, watching his jaw tense up and an angry scowl on his face.

“Nothing” he blurts out, he stands up fast causing you to fall backwards. He starts to climb out the window, “shouldn’t have come”. Your quick to grab his shoulder, his attention turns back to you.

“JJ, stop. What happened?” you tug gently at his shirt, telling him to come back inside. He rolls his eyes, leaning his head up against the window frame.

“Got in a fight” His words are sharp, to the point. Your hand still on his shoulder, you gently rub your fingers in circles. Barely touching him, but touching him enough to feel.

“With who JJ?” you question, watching the blonde swing his feet back onto your bedroom floor.

“Nobody doesn’t matter who” he stands up, towering over you. You place your hand on his chest, you can feel him quickly pull back from pain. You pull your hand off, hovering over where you had placed it. “Shit sorry”, you rush through the words, looking up at JJ.

“Your okay” He looks down at you, you can see his glazed blue eyes.

“JJ let me help you. Here sit down” you point over to your bed, you watch JJ in anticipation waiting to see if he will comply. He nods his head, you watch his as he limps over to your bed. Carefully he sits down on the corner of the bed, he is barely on it. It’s like he’s scared to sit on it. “Take your shirt off JJ, I’m going to grab the first aid kit” you hurry into your bathroom, squatting in front of your bathroom sink you pull open a drawer. You pull out the first aid kit, you kept it in your room because you often had surfing accidents. You stood up, closing the drawer with your foot. You can see JJ in the mirror as he pulls his white shirt off, revealing the mess of bruises and cuts all over his body. You take a deep breath before turning around and walking back to where you had left JJ.

[bellezaycafe]

sunsets and self doubt (and words left unspoken) - 2.

Main AO3 tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, 2024 Formula 1 Season

Sadie's Faceclaim: Maia Mitchell (but you can visualise her howver you want :) )

warnings: swearing, hints of romance (ugh).

comments: this is a bit of a filler chapter to characterise some things. enjoy :)

Max Verstappen was passing the Mercedes hospitality and chatting to GP, his race engineer, when someone caught his eye. Dark brown hair, round face, sharp nose and an aura that compared to no others.

“Wait- hang on. Lewis! Lewis!” The older man, who had been leaving his hospitality, looked over and his gaze followed Max’s pointed finger. “Mate, is that who I think it is?”

“Yeah man, I think so.” Lewis’ smile only grew as he agreed.

“Who are you pointing to?” GP asked.

Max hoped that there were no cameras around as he said, “the volunteer from Australia. The good one.”

He didn’t know how else to explain his respect for her in English; to him, she was good.

“It’ll be good to finally learn her name,” Lewis mused, scratching at his neat stubble.

“None of you know her name?” the engineer asked.

“No,” Lewis said. “I never had the chance to find her after the interviews.”

“I saw her the next day, I apologised for my behaviour to her,” Max commented. “But I forgot to ask her for her name.”

GP shook his head. “Alright well, I’ll see you in the garage. Don’t be long.”

Max nodded respectfully while Lewis said, “thank you.”

Then they both charged through the crowd towards the last place they saw the woman.

“Bets on her name?” Lewis asked, zipping his Mercedes suit around his hips.

“I don’t know. Something very Australian?”

“I feel like she’s a Layla or a Nira.”

"I think it's Sadie," came Lando's voice as he squished himself between the champions. "I asked Dave, one of the McLaren staff."

But when they reached the spot she had been, she'd vanished.

Max frowned and tried to use his height to see her but it was hopeless. Lewis pulled his phone out of nowhere and dialled a number. Lando just sat on the edge of a nearby pot plant and, as if by magic, Oscar appeared beside him in a matching McLaren t-shirt.

"Heya," Lewis said into his phone. "I'm gonna need a paddock pass for our garage."

A pause.

"No, ass. I haven't found someone for the weekend and I don't intend to. It's for the girl from Melbourne, the volunteer George told you about... Yes, I know Carmen wants to meet her, that's why I'm asking you for a paddock pass."

Lando laughed from his seat, something boisterous and loud that had surrounding staff glancing over. Oscar was smiling like he was the reason for Lando’s outburst. Max was glad to hear the McLaren driver’s laugh again, it had been too long since they had hung out.

"No, I don't know her last name. I haven't even confirmed her first name... I can't ask her, she's not in front of me... I don't know where she is, we saw her from a distance... Max, Lando and Oscar... Alright, fine. We'll find her."

Lewis hung up and sighed with a glance to the sky.

"They won't give you a pass?" Max guessed.

"They need her name first."

"Did you see who she was with?" Lando asked.

"Yeah," Lewis said. "Some paramedics. I recognised Mark, he's been the on-call medic for years."

Max mulled over the fact he hadn't noticed anyone around her. He also mulled over the excitement little Lando Norris was trying to squash.

"I know where the medic tent is." He almost leapt up from his perch.

Oscar gave Max a knowing smirk as they disappeared into the crowd.

——$——

Sadie had no idea the drivers had seen her. She was hoping that none of the drivers would remember her. She still hadn't seen their interviews from Melbourne and was clueless about the actions the FIA had taken to hand out penalties efficiently.

"Hungry?" Mark, a middle-aged paramedic with greying blonde hair and smile lines besides his eyes, asked.

"I am starving, please tell me there is somewhere I can get a decent sanga."

Mark frowned. "Sanga?"

"Sandwich," Sadie corrected. She was almost bouncing as she spotted the food trucks.

"You Australians are weird," Mark quipped but he couldn't hide his smile.

"And you English are uncultured," she returned.

She liked Mark, they'd met yesterday during practices and clicked. He was her supervisor during the free practice sessions and qualifying but she'd stuck by his side off track too. He didn't mind, he knew she was there, on the other side of the world, alone.

He'd told her at the volunteer's group dinner last night that she was living the dream he had wanted to at 20. He'd had a couple wines and would not shut up about how much his wife would love to meet her.

"Mark, what do you want?" she called over her shoulder as the reached the sandwich truck. When he didn't reply, she glanced behind her.

He was 100 metres back, talking to none other than Sir Lewis Hamilton. Sadie turned back around, remembering her interaction with the drivers in Melbourne.

Another body stepped up beside her, swathed in bright orange.

Correction: Papaya.

Sadie didn't turn, assuming it was a McLaren employee looking for some early lunch.

"It's a surprise to see you here." Lando Norris offered the icebreaker.

She turned at his voice and fought to keep her composure. His brown curls swished as he turned his head towards her. Oscar’s equally brown eyes warmed as he smiled and waved slightly from the otherside of Lando. 

"I didn't think you'd remember me," she said truthfully. Sadie focused her eyes on the bridge of the older driver’s nose as she spoke, she didn't want to meet those ever-changing eyes. She'd already noted that they matched the day's grey sky.

"Most of us did." The driver shrugged. "Carmen, George's partner, wants to meet you. Lewis is trying to get you Mercedes paddock passes."

Sadie groaned at that, stepping closer to the food truck as the line moved forwards. "I'm not stepping near any of your garages unless I'm doing my job. Too many cameras, too many people."

Norris laughed. "Understandable, but Lewis is determined."

Sadie paused for a moment as the line moved again. "How about, I will come and meet Russell and Carmen after the race? I'll meet Carmen while Hamilton and Russell do their interviews and debriefs?"

The same brown curls swayed as Norris nodded. Piastri muttered, "I think they'll agree to that. All the cameras will be focused on the interviews and top three."

Sadie made an 'exactly' gesture and stepped up to the food truck with a goodbye wave.

By the time she had ordered her sandwich and Mark's signature wrap, the drivers had finished speaking with the paramedic.

He joined her while they waited.

"You never told me it was you who scolded Max in Melbourne," Mark noted.

Sadie muttered a curse. "I was hoping that everyone had forgotten about that. I lost my temper and I'm not proud of it."

"Lewis said that you stood up for yourself. Max doesn’t hold a grudge."

"I scolded him like a school teacher."

"You did call him a child."

"Angry, remember?"

"Sandwich and wrap for Sadie!" the food vendor shouted.

She stepped up, collected their food and handed her wrap to Mark.

"I didn't tell anyone about it because I don't like media attention," she told him, but she could feel her sweaty palms. "I hate how the media follows the drivers. They have to fight for a private life, and I hate that. Verstappen was angry, I was angry, and that interaction was something between the drivers and I. It had nothing to do with the fan's consumption of the race."

Mark hummed his agreement around his wrap. He hadn’t noted her shifting feet. 

"The media circus doesn't know what happened, and they don't need to. His reaction was fair, and they don't need to be involved."

Sadie watched something pass over Mark's face but she couldn't place what it was. She devoured her sandwich instead.

Let me know what you think!

credits to saradika-graphics for the banner :)

Masterlist | Series Masterlist | AO3 link

Taglist: @snubug @cmleitora @izzy-marvel @aquangxl @morenofilm @viennakarma @simpingcorner @randomgirlnumber-13 @leilanixx @spookystitchery @itsjustkhaos

[needfantasticstories]

Blood and Blade, Chapter 10: Desert Ruby

by SkipBreaker (aka needfantasticstories)

Summary:

Legend gets to meet the Gerudo of Wild's era. (Fun fact! So far, in his games, Legend has never met Gerudo people besides Ganondorf and Twinrova!) This should be fun, right?   THANK YOU CHEETO!!!!!!! THE Beta ever!!!!!!! Crack TW: very relatable technology issues. (Qar, Riju would punch the screen.) Real TW: discussions of gender and sexism, some descriptions of arrow-wound care on a child

Desert Ruby 

Deep sand dunes clawed at Legend’s Pegasus boots, slowing him. Waning afternoon sunlight baked his hands and face, yet the veteran forged on with a vengeance across the scorching grains. The breeze created from his reckless forward run helped soothe only some of the desert’s blistering heat. He hoped it was enough for the girl; he could worry about healing his own sunburns later.

The scorching sun inched lower behind him, still hours short of sunset.

Through dancing vapors of heat, the city walls drew nearer. A humble, arched gate on the western wall greeted him. Unseen streams whispered somewhere nearby, cooling the air around the city.  Within the archway, sparkling cool blue and green tiles decorated the walls and small pools of water. 

Legend sighed in relief. Wild spoke highly of his Gerudo, especially compared to the Gerudo tribe of Time’s stories, who seemed to hate Hylians. Legend waved to the guards and hurried to pass through.  a request for aid on the tip of his tongue. Instead, he froze when the towering women shoved speartips against his chest.

“Wha–”

“No voe allowed!” snarled a veiled guard. If the blademasters were “strong” then these women were the equivalent of bipedal chain-chomps. Muscled arms flexed, and their boulder-firm stances left no question as to their capabilities. The guard on the left glared, and her drawn brows twitched as if she itched for him to give her any reason to run him through. 

He glared back at her, and resisted the urge to leap over the gate. Fresh off multiple fights for his life, what was one more, if it came to it… but what then? Jostle the girl further in a mad dash with no destination? Delay getting her aid? He could not solve this with a fight. 

‘Smile, and assume incompetence over malice,’ Zelda would remind him in moments like this, on those rare occasions she’d tasked him to guard her throughout tense diplomatic meetings. 

He could do this. This was simply a puzzle, not a fight.   

Legend took a slow step back and turned to reveal the child’s face and her injuries, her breath shallow and labored on his ear. 

Their horrified gasps would have been satisfying if not for the girl’s groan at the sudden motion. 

“Wait here until I call the healers.” The guard lowered her spear by mere inches and blew a tiny whistle with three long calls.  

At last, she lowered her weapon and the guards helped him ease the child atop a blanket one of them produced. Legend stepped back and let his legs collapse. He knelt in the sand a moment, watching them carefully ease the girl to rest on her side. The arrow wounds looked more shallow than he’d first feared, at least—none of them shot at close range thanks to their wild descent—but it was little consolation when he could see her bleeding and shivering. 

“Here. Healing potion,” Legend staggered to his feet and poured some on his blistered hand for them to see. He knew his era’s potions looked different than Wild’s. The healer snatched it as soon as the wound faded. 

Legend watched, unable to help further but unwilling to look away as each arrow came free. Instead, the veteran fisted the dense weave of his tunic as she bit down her pain. He could have done more. 

She took it all with a courage he admired. And, she was right. Gerudo were tough .  

At last, the red-tipped arrows lay discarded on the ground beside the empty bottle of healing potion. Legend rested again in the sand just outside the gate, watching the little girl breathe  deeply in her sleep, safe in the shade.  

One of the guards turned to him with a softened expression. Not a smile, but not aggressive. “Thank you, young voe, for rescuing her. Buliara has been frantic over her disappearance,” she said with a sad shake of her head, “She’s very close to her nieces. I’m sorry we can’t allow you inside, or I’d buy you a drink myself.” She leaned closer. “Although,” she whispered, “You could do what another voe warrior does and buy a convincing vai set. Not many voe can pull it off, but I suspect you could do better than most, especially with that pink in your hair.”

Voe. That word again. 

Oh .

A man. 

He had found an entire civilization that hated him, helping the little girl notwithstanding. Legend regretted not grilling Wild about his era as soon as they’d come. He couldn’t even restock here, couldn't rest, might as well move on. Legend looked back at the wavering ocean of sand waiting for him to search. But where? Not back to the Yiga base. To Hyrule castle, perhaps, to find Wild’s Zelda? To Wild’s house in Hateno, the only place they’d spend time in their short visit before? Legend had no map, and such a lush village as Hateno must be hundreds of miles away. 

The guards looked relieved when he asked for directions to both the castle and Hateno. 

The guard who answered, one with short hair who wore it loose, pointed towards the far side of town. “There’s an oasis a few hours ahead where you can resupply, then a Hylian-run stable at the mouth of the canyon. Follow the canyon for a few days, cross Digdogg Bridge, on your first left is another stable. Return to the road going east, then beyond the coliseum ruins–”

Colosseum ruins… Legend’s heart sank at the words. 

“Take the road north. You will see the castle. For Hateno, stay on the path instead of going north. You will find stables to rest in  along the way. It’s a two week journey, at least, for most travelers. Best of luck.” 

Legend saw a pair of green eyes staring at him. The girl rested, perfectly still, as her caregivers whispered above her. He waved a small goodbye. She lifted two fingers in answer. 

“Yari!” A booming voice called from within the walls, and Legend stared as a massive Gerudo warrior collapsed at the girl’s side, her spear clattering on the packed earth. She wrapped the girl in a bear hug that might have killed the poor child if she hadn’t been healed first.

She would be just fine. A smile tugged at Legend’s mouth, though accompanied by a pang of jealousy. He missed his own brothers, and especially Hyrule, and the certainty of knowing they were all okay. 

“I’m glad I got to see that, at least,” Legend told the guard as he took his leave. 

She smiled as she waved. 

Hot wind blew sand across the barren path ahead. He took one uncertain step. Two steps into the arid desert, the first steps of his next journey, and paused. 

It felt more than lonely, without the girl on his back or brothers at his side or even his fairy companion from years ago. It felt more than daunting, with his skin already pink from the burning sun. It simply felt… empty. 

“Buliara, that voe is the one who brought Yari back.” Called the guard he’d just said goodbye to.

“You!” the newcomer, Buliara, barked at him from the entrance. “Young voe! Explain.” 

Legend slowly pivoted, hoping he would see someone who could help rather than hinder his quest. He took in her stern expression, and her rosy floral silks clasped in place with golden plates of armor, royaly jeweled. Legend wondered, if he faced her in the fighting colosseum, if he could even win.  

Buliara eyed him skeptically in return. “What were you doing inside the Yiga base? How did you find her?” 

To his own surprise, he rather liked this woman’s simmering rage; it was refreshing, somehow, and it matched his own. And, despite her people’s appalling sexism, she knew Wild’s world far better than he did. Honesty, it is , he decided.

“The Yiga ambushed my brothers and I, along with some demon, those bastards–” He was surprised at the slight wince the guards gave. Then again, with that much jewelry, Buliara could actually be royalty. Court voice , he decided. He explained, much more formally this time, the basics of the ambush that morning. “We reappeared deep within a cave complex in the canyon in that direction. Unfortunately, the demon did not appear there, the one who took my brother. I thought he was in the caves too, but I searched the whole complex, and even the Yiga did not know where they’d gone. I found Yari in the dungeon, and we made our escape together.” He paused to sip from his waterskin, at long last. It gave the guards a chance to whisper back and forth as he washed hot grit from his throat. “Now,” he added, “I still need to find my brother, wherever the demon took him, and return to our companions.”

“You say the Yiga are in league with a… demon?” Buliara scowled, and for the life of him Legend could not discern what it meant. But every guard and nosy civilian gathering near the gates to watch the commotion had also flinched at the word as she said it.

“Yes. Tall, thin, white hair and clothes. Do you know anything about demons, or where to find them?”

“We are no demon tribe!” One of the guards glared at Legend. “Have you come here to brazenly insult us with old prejudices?” 

“No!” Buliara cut her off, stepping between them. “I believe they are earnest, and clearly a stranger to our history and our culture,” She eyed his clothes with something akin to amusement. Legend stood a bit taller. She nodded with something like approval, some decision reached. “The increasing brazenness of the Yiga clan may be explained by what he has seen; if there is such a monster among them, we must know. I will take you to our Chief. She should hear of this.” Buliara beckoned him to follow, and in one graceful motion she hoisted her sleeping niece into her arms like she weighed no more than a rabbit. Yari settled back to sleep almost instantly.

Legend hesitated, eyeing the guards. “As much as I’d like to brag that I got invited to your super-exclusive city, I really need to get back to my brothers. Do you know a man named Link?”

“Ah! The one with the vai clothes!” the guard whispered to her companion, much too loudly. 

So, that’s what those silks were for? Wild wore them to get in? Legend suppressed a laugh. “I need to tell Link where I am. Do you have a way to contact that slate device he uses?”

“You know him, and the Sheikah slate?” Buliara considered him anew. “Lady Riju might know a way to contact him. You get to enter our exclusive city after all.” Buliara rolled her eyes, “Now put on decent clothes, for Nabooru’s sake. That dress is too thick for our sun, and we can’t let our citizens see a voe within the gates. Here. change quickly.” And she handed him a handful of soft fabric from her pouch. Like his own pouch, it was small but carried far more than its size implied. 

“Uh, am I supposed to change here?”

She pointed to a gap behind some crates just inside the gates, and joined the other guards in shooing away the chittering crowd and telling them he was, in fact, a vai in disguise. Yari remained fast asleep on her shoulder. 

Legend palmed the soft clothing she offered and walked behind the crates, and carefully examined each piece. 

He took out his rok cape, briefly entertaining the idea of climbing a wall and soaring with the magical item to the palace without the grumpy soldiers hovering, but he did not particularly want to get on her bad side. He changed quickly, missing his skirt until he slipped into the silk pants, shimmying into the top and instantly feeling cool relief from the heat. 

They felt… nice , he admitted in the privacy of his mind. I’m keeping these . 

Buliara pointed to the gate, now cleared of spectators. “This way.” 

Legend was never one to commit halfway. He swayed a little as he walked, trying to copy the sea-like gait of the vai filling the narrow street. If he was going to do this, he’d do it right , Hylia damn him. 

Passing through alleys, all tiled in colorful mosaic designs, they soon entered a large plaza.

Canvas-covered shops lined the adobe town square, and shopkeepers reclined on rich carpets in the shade behind unfamiliar wares. They didn’t bother shouting, there were customers aplenty, Gerudo and Hylian and bird-like creatures and gorons all milling around curiously. The sun had a smothering effect, even in the cooling silks. This market would be a tough place for a thief to steal, so spread out were the stalls, and with so many eyes on one another’s customers. 

Behind the shops, soft susurrations promised more waterways running somewhere behind the low walls, and cool air drifted into the plaza from above. Or he thought, until they passed water streaming from atop the wall itself into a mosaic-lined pool, the water diverted underground, but so close below he could still hear it as they entered the main plaza. 

The central walkway to the palace was flanked by palm trees, and the water was exposed again between the walkways, joined by two wide waterfalls flowing down blue-tiled steps, all leading up to the adobe palace and its towering crown of stone pillars, bulbous at the top. A shimmering cascade flowed down like a divine gift from the sun goddess itself. Perhaps it was. Hylia was a strange goddess.

Sellers and Gerudo customers called familiar greetings to Buliara as they aimed for the palace steps. Curious eyes turned to him with open curiosity. Legend reflexively covered the scars of the trident on his chest and stared at the shimmering pools of water to keep himself from glaring back at their shameless gawking. 

Stepping into the shade at the top of the palace steps, Legend finally sighed in relief, free of the sun and stares and the exhausting performance of walking in the awkward, foot-tilting shoes he’d only seen women of the court don for galas and balls. He missed his boots. 

The little girl stirred in Buliara’s arms, and she whispered quiet greetings and comforts to the girl and held her closer. The girl settled, and watched Legend through heavily lidded eyes as they entered the Palace. Her gaze moved to his hair. She seemed uncertain. Legend resisted the urge to look around the opulent palace and waved at her instead. She smiled back at him, and closed her eyes.

“You found her!” Came a young woman’s voice, older than Yari’s but far higher than any of the guards. Legend begged his eyes to adjust faster. 

Buliara dropped to one knee—spear braced in one hand and little Yari snuggled in the other—and bowed with only her knees. “Chief Riju, my niece is safely returned, and I present to you her rescuer.”

The tall throne, carved in ancient script like a monument, was fitted with a sort of wooden booster seat and small steps to accommodate the girl sitting in it. She lifted her gaze from some papers in one hand, her radiant gold headpiece–that looked much too large for her head—wobbling as she looked up. 

“Praise all the sacred mothers!” The bejeweled girl looked relieved to see the child resting in Buliara’s arms. She faced Legend. “And who is our brave heroine?”

“Forgive me, Chief Riju, but I will personally vouch for this particular voe.”

“Oh!” The Chief gasped, and she laughed, light and airy, like the way Zeldas sometimes did when her courtly mask slipped. Several nagging worries evaporated with the sound. Riju straightened her headpiece from where it had fallen forward a little. “Well, she’s—I mean he’s not the only one, is he?” 

Chief Riju slid off the throne and examined his eyes as she approached, as if trying to see the clues to some mystery. Her smile was open and unguarded, and refreshing. She reached for his hands and he readily offered them. She smiled even wider at his compliance, and held his hands earnestly as she spoke. “Thank you, young voe! Buliara has been inconsolable. She had all the troops gathered when the news of your arrival came. Please accept this in thanks.” 

She pressed into his hand something heavy and warm. He knew better than to refuse a gift, so he bowed in thanks and peeked at it before stowing it subtly away: it was the warmest, heaviest ruby he’d ever seen, a gem that would have Ravio begging to buy it for crafting some new magic item… if he ever found out about it. 

When he looked up again, Chief Riju was still staring. The chief blushed as she seemed to realize it herself. “Please forgive me, but you look so much like a very dear friend.”

“You mean Link, right? Hero of the Wilds?”

Riju’s open smile snapped into a frown. “You know him?”

“We were traveling together. He’s probably looking for me, and our brother.”

“I would like to know how you came to know Link, and of the Sheikah slate he carries.” Buliara asked, failing at keeping her tone neutral. 

Their guards were up again. With enemies like the Yiga and that pale demon, Legend didn’t blame their suspicions. He knew the risks of shapeshifters and possessing spirits all too well. 

Buliara did not wait for an explanation. “Chief Riju, I brought him here to his tale of encountering the Yiga, and his rescue of Yari, and his journey with our mutual friend. But he also claims to have seen–” Buliara paused and whispered it in Riju’s ear.

“What? What sort of… As in the ancient… does Link know?”

“We should listen to his report.”

They both turned to him.

“Please, share your tale.”

“It’s… it’s a bit hard to believe, but…” Hylia, where to start? “Are you very familiar with portals that can move you, not to different places, but to different times ?” 

An uncomfortable silence fell as Riju blanched. “Yes.”

Legend began alowl, awkwardly, as awkward as the day he first stumbled through a portal and his confusing meeting with Hyrule and the black eye the traveler gave him. But as he spoke the story wove itself more easily: meeting the others, the sha-shifting creatures of dark magic and the monsters it infected, the ambush, the teacher and the mage, finding Yari, their escape, and finall to the moment he arrived at their gate.

The only interruption was when he shared their nickname for Wild.

Buliara laughed, “That’s quite fitting. He smells like a wet dog and muddy leaves most days, especially when he’s been around his wolf.”

Legend stored that intriguing comment to ask Wild and Twilight about later.  

A long silence followed the end of his tale. 

“Wait here,” Riju ordered, and she marched past her throne, and disappeared behind it. From behind the monument of a seat came a cacophony of thumps and bumps and clacks, of some jumble of items being pulled around.

“Chief Riju, please be careful!” Buliara hissed, trying not to wake her stirring niece.“Purah has yet to repair it.” 

Riju ignored her. 

Legend waited with growing dread, fingers itching to reach for his pack in case things went… well, as they often did: sideways. Had he said something to make them think he was secretly an enemy? Why was the Chief so upset about time-travel? He ran through all his words, but exhaustion had long since taken the edge off his mind. He sat, and drew slow, calming breaths. Nothing was wrong, not yet . Wild trusted them, and though their auras were not overwhelming like the mage, he could still feel them, fresh but strong like rainstorms. 

Riju emerged at last. Her arms overflowed with a tangle of wires and cords, small stones and crystals and metal coils. Screws dropped from the mass as Riju moved. “She said it could still connect to the Princess’s, so I’ll risk it.” Riju answered her guard, dropping the bundle on her booster-throne. “We don’t have the technology or spells for time-travel,” And she mumbled, “Not in this version of our history.” And she stopped, sighed deeply, and continued louder, “However, we can travel and contact each other across great distances, thanks to the Sheikah technology the princess and Link have rediscovered.” The young chief pulled out what looked like a slimmer version of Wild’s fromslate amid the nest of cords. She studied it, her nose wrinkled in deep concentration, scanning the slate with uncertainty, and finally she pressed something on it. 

“Your majesty, wait!” Buliara yelled, momentarily distracted by setting down her niece, but too late. A jolt of blue light pulsed from the crystals and stones, along the wires and cords, and promptly faded before reaching the slate itself. 

Riju frowned, and Buliara sighed in relief. Whatever it was, it hadn’t worked. 

“Oh, by all the mothers!” Riju grumbled, and held up the slate in one hand. With the other hand raised in an elegant pinch, she snapped . 

OceanThunderHyruleWhere!? Legend’s mind scrambled for understanding as light consumed his vision.  

When color at last bled into view again, Riju stood with the slate glowing softly in her hands, the wires and stones dangling from it pulsing steadily with a now-familiar blue glow. 

“R… ch… Rij—” A crackled voice spoke from the stone. “Chief Riju, is that–worki—gain?”

“Princess!” the girl shouted. “Princess, I have found someone you should meet! He says he knows Link!”

“l—be there as soo—ake care of—oon–here me? –e on our way there,” a barely intelligible chorus of voices crackled in reply from the various stones.  

“I do hope that means they’re coming,” Riju furrowed her brow, but the optimistic smile at the corner of her mouth never dissipated. 

Hylia, why does she remind me so much of Hyrule? And the princess was coming? Legend could have cried in relief. She’d have answers. They always did.

As guards marched out to meet the Princess, and attendants brought refreshments, the trio waited on a collection of plush cushions and carpets set to one side of the court. Legend made use of the damp towels provided to wipe his face as the late afternoon sun peeked below the window tops, inescapable.

[zaynsxsoul]

Honey sunbathed summer | Eddie Munson x Reader

summary: sleepy summer afternoon at the trailer park, ice cream debates, and sloppy kisses with Eddie ♡

warnings: 1k words, fluff, curse words, established relationship, play fighting, teasing, just a short cozy summer drabble

my masterlist

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

The heated rejoicing colors of purple, blue and coral red, light brightly the dozy sunday skies of Forest Hills Trailer park. The flushed summer sunset rises the glossy evening, which is only around two hours away until the moon begins its hike within the stars.

The four p.m. afternoon has a certain magical aura to it. The one when simpleness turns into mere worthy admiration. The start of summer at Hawkins usually has that effect.

Right in front of the limit that crosses the division between the quiet forest and the trailer park, lies a kiddy pool that’s being more than enjoyed by children whose voices reflect the excitement of the simpleness that water gives at any age.

A racing water slip slide is set right across Eddie’s trailer too. A hose sends the right amount of water and soap ratio for it to be slippery enough for the nine year olds who play some sort of made up secret coded game that only they understand. The watermist kisses the tip of your nose from time to time.

The thought of summer accompanied by fudgy banana splits, water, the smoky whiff of a deliciously glazed barbecue aroma coming from nearby, forest tree leaves transporting the warm heat, and the essence of freshly mowed lawn that vaporizes the smell of wet dirt and grass, never fails to spike a shot of serotonin.

And within the immortalized echo of the melody produced by the bustle from the neighbors, wind chimes, the evening honey whiff, water splashes and cicadas, your laughter fades into that chorus among Eddie’s voice.

Because although outside on his porch the heat is still unbearable, skin being sticky under your two piece playsuit, and every texture feeling fuzzy and icky, that doesn’t even come close to ruining spending time with him.

The smell of your coconut scented sunscreen feels like summer itself. Even more when you had applied it, –or more like bathed— Eddie’s reluctant scrunched face in it as well.

And how couldn’t you? after the awful experience of his almost burnt to shrimp-skin the other day at the pool. But as impossible as it seems, even with gooey sunscreen that draws a line from his cheeks and down his nose, he looks radiant, sitting just a few inches away from you.

With hair pulled back and a low pony from which some reluctant little hairs fall, he smiles. It’s hard not to think about how enchantingly adorable he is with that hairstyle. As adorable as you’d love to squish his little face and make him turn love sick out of kisses.

His torso is covered by a very thin black fabric shirt. Your bare leg brushes from time to time with his knee. And you can swear that his warmth adds even more heat to the afternoon. A certain type of heat that you probably don’t mind feeling.

He himself is in awe at the beautifully deified sight of your cheeks, plum red and glossy, at the way your legs sit crossed in front of his and move sporadically, how your shoulders shine and bathe golden under the toasty sun. And he can’t help but adore the way your eyebrows furrow, concentrating on the deck of twenty plus cards that you hold right below your face.

“You’ve had the worst luck today” He mocks. The cheshire cat-like grin teasing ever more when you’re taking your sweet time to pick a card.

“I can’t let you win again.” You pout, arms falling down as if you were mid-surrender. “It means you’d win over my Candy Center Crunch!” He chuckles boyishly, and you react with a mixture between an eye roll and a grin when you understand the reason why. “You’re being dirty”

“Funny Feet would be better though” The sight of his spread abdomen, glimmering with water and sweat when he leans back being supported by his hands is surely divine.

“Eddie! God, that sounds even worse” He can’t help but smile stupidly at the sight of your nose scrunch. “Do I honestly have to not just bear with you stealing my ice cream but also underestimating it for a Funny Feet popsicle?”

“Uh tut-tut, not stealing, winning, snippy” He reprimands playfully.

“Who even likes funny feet? I’d only let you undermine center crunch over a snoopy ice pop or choco taco”

“What?” And he sounds crushed. Like if you had said the most insultingly revolting thing ever. “The snoopy ice pop sucks, babe” He states mid chuckle. “It’s just fake marshmallow. Fuck, it’s not even an ice pop”

“It is an ice pop!”

“If there’s no fruit or water is not an ice pop” He states.“you only like it because it’s a dog” You shrug, playfully ticked.

“It’s not any dog, Eddie, it’s Snoopy” He pinches the doughy soft flesh of your thigh gently after the correction.

“Either way, I won”

By laying his last remaining card on the main deck, his victory is endured. Cheerful hands shake your shoulders back and forth in a celebratory motion until the palms also drum your legs gently.

And you still can't believe that he is walking over to the kitchen and taking your beloved crunchy ice cream out of the fridge, much less how he is mocking you by showing it and smiling like a child from where he stands.

“Fuck, this is so good”

Your eye almost twitches when he plops on the couch, and it doesn’t take more than a few seconds for you to follow and sit beside him. The coldness of the tin-like material is dripping water.

You’re staring deeply.

With the corner of his eye and a smile evoked from the edge of his lips, he looks at you in amusement while fidgeting with the crinkly bag. As if seeing you like this was the funniest thing he’d ever experienced.

And in the back of his mind, when the ice cream is already out of the wrapper, he actually feels bad by just the sight of the way your eyes reflect those of a puppy imploring for food.

“Here” He hands it over, although you don’t take it yet. “You can see it”

“Stop it!” His burlesque snort that mocks your plea turns into a gasp when you push his own hand when he leans for a bite.

The taste of revenge is sweet. Quite literally.

The expression on your face changes to a splendid smile, observing his vainilla covered cheek and reminiscing the way it landed there because of you.

“Give me a bite” You pout. mouth watering at the sight of his lips and teeth sinking into it

He nods. Unbothered by the cream that drips from his face. You wish you could seem more stern, but when he’s leaning near your face making a growling lion sound ready to bite into your cheek, It’s absurdly impossible to not break down to giggles.

“You know what I mean, Eds”

“No! you bet on this, you little cheater. Plus, look at what you just did” His finger points at his distressed cheek, as if you hadn’t noticed yet.

“I can fix that”

Your hand presses onto his thigh while scooting over. The tip of your tongue licks expertly the trace of the sweet chocolate iridescence that drips from his lip, right where the vainilla drop slides. His skin is soft against your tongue.

From the proximity he can feel the scent of your perfume, the reminiscences of wildflower shampoo mixed in with sunscreen, pool chlorine and your own aroma. It’s a bewilderment that makes him shiver even inside of the heat box that his trailer is.

And when your face leans a little closer, his own gesture drops once you’re swiftly biting into the ice cream very slightly. A cold bit of the peanut covered chocolate crust falls to his leg, instantly melting over his warmth.

“Stop it” He laughs. “Thief” But it’s pointless to make a fuss out of it when he has already surrendered.

“Whoops, sorry” You say, the tip of your tongue licking the trace of the chocolate on his leg. And shortly after, the trace that melts down his fingers and knuckles.

“You can’t do that” You raise your eyebrows innocently. “This! with the cute little face and big eyes.”

“Why not? Always seems to work” The silence of the stare is gratifying, and when he grins it feels like he’s trying to say ‘it really fucking does’.

“You know? It’s real sad you stole from me, cause’ I had something else for ya’”

With a covered face behind rebel brown locks of hair that escaped the pony, he looks over his shoulder and seems to stretch to grab something. Sparks rise when he’s pulling out a beautiful snoopy ice pop that crinkles like the sound of heavenly chants.

“You got it for me?” When your smile turns into a dazzling glare, and your eyes shoot flickering stars, he yearns for the magnificent instant to last a little longer.

“Of course I did, I said I despise the snoopy fake ice pop, or ice cream or whatever, but shit, how I love that smile of yours when you see it.”

Moved by burning excitement, your hand moves to grab it, but when he pulls it away, your face naturally lands near his. So taking advantage of the situation, the skin of your cheek purposely but flawlessly rests on his jaw.

“Not so fast. What am I getting in return?” The magical sound of his question ardently stirs the butterflies on your lower belly.

“A bite out of it?”

When his mouth puckers expectantly, the sweetness of your kiss mends the itch of his expecting lips. The chocolate taste that lingers on him is heavenly, dipped proudly, praising the feeling. Your mouth is cold from the ice cream. His is colder.

It’s gooey, and messy, and sticky. And that’s what makes it so special.

When you pull away, a love sick smile welcomes you back from the celestial trip. And with nothing more to say other than thinking ‘well deserved’, he hands over the ice pop.

“Thank you, Teddie” You coo, pulling the bag away to reveal snoopy’s cheeky smile.

He might adore the proximity of the defining moment once you sit on his lap more than anything else. The dear moment pains and soothes his heart in the most beautiful ways.

“You’re welcome, ice pop” His giggles come out like a mewl.

From honey sunbathed shoulders, Eddie pulls you in closer to his chest. Serenity steps into the moment when his jawline bobs with each bite lolling you towards tranquility, when his arms hug you close, when his proximity is intimately tender. And although you’re both sticky and sweaty, it couldn’t be more insignificant right about now.

The sun is finally fading. And the sky prepares to welcome the night, which you hope comes with faith of a cooler breeze. through the open front door and blowing curtains, you admire with heavy eyelids the way the golden evening glimmers his skin.

And when the warmth of his embrace makes you dizzy, the taste of vanilla takes a trip down your taste buds, and laughter and the conversations from not so far away make your heart swole, you think there’s nowhere in this world you’d aspire more to be, than here.

Because when summer makes it’s glorious entrance, it means afternoons being spent just like this in Eddie’s company. Which always makes it all better.

Even better than Snoopy Ice creams, Crunch Center, and Choco Tacos all merged into one.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚