#his reaction to his own guitar case on the floor help

[lock-my-feelings-in-a-jar]

[whiskey-bumblebee]

Hey, hope you're doing good 😊 my dream gift from Sugar Daddy! Hotch would be a Private Stock electric guitar from PRS or my own private studio or really honestly anything music related cause that shit ain't cheap 😭 anywho, thanks for this idea!

Hope you're doing well too! Please enjoy :)) Disclaimer: I'm not a music-instruments person (more of a listening person) so there are probably some anachronisms 😭 sorry in advance!

Divider courtesy of @animatedglittergraphics-n-more 

Hotch's hands are warm over your face, covering your eyes as you stumble towards... What exactly? You're in the home you share, but you have no idea what exactly awaits you. A puppy? A red room? A surprise party?

You hear the sound of a key in a lock, and you decide it's definitely some sort of kinky sex room. Taking a few deep breaths, you prepare yourself to keep your reaction moderate, whatever you might see.

"Okay, open," Hotch pulls his hands away from your face, and takes a step back so you have space to take everything in.

"Oh my god!" You say loudly, whipping your head around as you take in the room. He's renovated a section of the basement, adding a wall which created a whole second room. This room was soundproofed with recognizable black foam, the best of the best. A small soundboard was set up on the far wall, with a rolling chair beside it. On another wall, a shelf, mostly empty, but with a few books of sheet music. The same wall was adorned with posters of all of your favourite artists.

As you looked closer at one of the posters, you noticed that it was signed. You turned around to face Aaron, beaming.

"You did all of this?"

He nodded. "Do you like it?"

You wrapped him in a tight hug. "I love it, thank you."

He followed you into the room, pointing out the Gibson amps, the blank notebooks and pens in a hidden drawer, and kissed the side of your head as he explained that the shelf had plenty of empty space, whether you wanted to fill it with vinyl or Grammys.

You took a seat on the wheelie chair, spinning around, trying to absorb the room and all the love he'd poured into it.

"Hotch?" You called. He'd left the room, you weren't sure when.

"One second," He replied, and returned holding an acoustic guitar by the neck. Passing it to you, he grinned widely.

"It's a Gibson J-45. John Lennon wrote some of the White Album on one just like that."

He left the room again, and came back with a guitar case.

Your eyes widened. "No way."

He nodded, a huge smile on his face.

You took a seat on the floor and undid the clasps on the long rectangular box. With shaking hands, you pulled it open, and were met with a box lined with crushed velvet, and one of the most beautiful instruments you've ever seen.

"It's ash and walnut," He says, as you take it into your hands. "I thought it just had a nice classic look to it."

You couldn't help but laugh, running your hands over it lightly, and glancing at the goosebumps rising on your arms.

"I love you," You said. "But I'm going to have to ask you to leave so I can make love to this guitar," You joked.

He raised his hands playfully. "Alright. Enjoy it, sweet girl."

[okwritingandpain]

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da: The Beatles x Reader

Chapter 10

"John." "Ringo." "Paul." "Geo." "It's George-" "Ie! Georgie!" John laughed on the studio floor. George rolled his eyes and strummed his guitar. Paul was fiddling around on his bass, Ringo was tapping the ground with his drumsticks, and John was writing lyrics down on a piece of paper. Next to him was Y/N, who had gotten lucky and now had her own guitar. John was teaching her how to play, which was rather kind of the growing popular rapidly John Lennon.

"That's the B string." John was helping her remember all the strings. She wrote it down on a piece of paper. She went back to strumming the strings and practicing chords.

"How's that baseline coming along?" George asked Paul who seemed extra focused in practice today.

"I've almost cracked it, Geo," Paul replied, playing a part of what he had written.

"Speed it up," John said, not looking at Paul.

"Speed it up? You haven't even heard what it sounds like with-"

"Speed it up." John cut in. Paul glared at John and played the bass line part faster. He then turned to Ringo, George, and Y/N.

"So? Which sounds better?" Paul asked. Everyone shrugged.

"It's hard to tell without hearing it together..." George said, softly.

"I agree with George." Ringo didn't seem interested in the conversation as he continued tapping the ground.

"Maybe if you play both versions during a session, we could hear the difference," Y/N suggested.

"If we change the speed, we'll have to change the tempo," Paul explained. John shook his head.

"Just trust me," John replied. Paul looked frustrated.

"Okay, okay." Paul took a deep breath. "Let's try it." John did a quick tune of his guitar. George, Paul, and John began to strum. Y/N watched with Ringo beside her. The song flowed well with the speed-up baseline. Ringo tapped the floor as he joined the others. As the song reached the end. Paul improvised the ending because his part was faster.

"Nice improv, Macca." John smirked. Paul gave a little smirk.

"I guess you were right, John." He said, looking at Y/N.

"Well of course I was right! How could you question me?" He asked with a chuckle. Y/N gave a devilish grin.

"Very easily." She retorted, warranting a smile from the band.

"Are we calling it a day?" Ringo asked, fiddling with his drum sticks.

"We've only been in here for three hours, Ringo! How could we even be close to calling it a day?" John questioned, preparing to play the next song.

"Can a man not be hungry?" Ringo muttered as George snickered beside him.

"I could go for some lunch." He replied, messing up Ringo's hair.

"Alright everyone. Let's vote!" Paul said, "Who wants to practice?" John raised his hand. Ringo and George stuck their tongues out at John. He looked appalled by their reactions. "Now everyone who wants to go to lunch." George and Ringo raised their hands. Everyone now turned towards Y/N. She raised an eyebrow at them.

"What?" She asked.

"Aren't you going to vote?" George asked, confused.

"No." She replied, packing up her guitar in its case.

"Why not?" John squinted at her.

"Because I have to go see Scott." Y/N stood up with the case around her shoulder, carefully avoiding stepping on the instruments.

"Of course you're going to see Scott." John rolled his eyes.

"Stop being jealous, John." She remarked, now at the door to the studio.

"I'm not jealous!" He yelled as the other band members laughed.

"I think he is jealous, George!" Ringo bubbled, wiping a tear from his eye. George quietly giggled at Ringo's remark.

"Stop it!" John snapped.

"Or what?" Ringo questioned, still laughing. Paul watched them all silently. He stood up and walked over to Y/N.

"So, are you going out tomorrow night?" He asked as the others continued arguing.

"Why?" She smiled. Shrugging, Paul watched John scream at Ringo and George who couldn't quit laughing.

"I think John wants to go out on another date." He chuckled.

"I never would have guessed." She replied, sarcastically. "Hey, John! Do you want to go out tomorrow?!" John turned his head towards her.

"Really?" He asked as George tried to muffle his laughter.

"You know it!" Paul replied, turning back to Y/N.

"I thought you were going to ask me out McCartney." She grinned as Paul smirked.

"I just want to see John try and have a girlfriend." He confessed, walking away. Ringo was messing up John's hair as George snatched his guitar.

"George if you get one scratch on that thing--" John yelled.

"Oh, whoops!" George joked. John tried to push Ringo off, but he was determined to mess with John as much as possible. Paul decided to get in on the action and he took the guitar from George and began playing it.

"Paul!" John roared, now successfully pushing Ringo away from him. He jumped up and chased Paul around the studio. Y/N was laughing harder than she ever had, watching all four of them trying to get John's guitar. They all came dangerously close to stepping on their instruments, which was bothering her, but she decided to let it go. Finally, Paul gave the guitar to Y/N which she was surprised by. Everyone stopped in their tracks, not knowing what she would do.

"Well..." She started, checking to make sure the door was unlocked. "I have to go!" She ran with the guitar in hand through the door.

"NO!" John screamed, pushing past everyone to get out the door. He chased her down the hallway, but caught up quickly. She gave him his guitar.

"Fun as always, John." She gave him a hug.

"Are you sure you have to go?" He asked, sadly.

"I'm afraid a job is something I should be on time for." She smiled, giving his head a little pat. Without hesitation she messed his hair up like Ringo had done.

"Seriously?" He mumbled as she laughed.

"What? Creativity comes from messy hair. I would know and also trademark that's mine now." She remarked, turning around to leave. The others filed in behind John.

"I guess John will see you tomorrow!" George snickered.

"Yeah! Maybe we'll have to tag along!" Ringo added.

"Oh, give him a break. You know he never gets girls." Paul held back a laugh.

"Macca, I swear--" John got cut-off.

"Bye guys! See you tomorrow!" Y/N waved at them. They waved back as she disappeared around the corner and headed for her job on the other side of town.

[lawain-dimensional-heroes]

Drabble - Dopplegangers

"Breaking news - the three idols - the Kagamine duo and Hatsune Miku has recently been seen falling from a strange phenomenon that's been known from those outside planet earth as unstable dimension gates. No one knows how these form or why, nor do we know where they went, but officials confirmed that they're on the case..."

It was the day after the plan was into motion with the three idols having stayed at home as they waited for the announcement that Naona had to say. Soon enough they got a message from Maroon, with the message that they were waiting for.

[Maroon] > [Rin], [Len], [Miku] "Meet me over at the police office in 10 minutes. We've got them."

"..." The three looked at each other with a nod, with Rin nodding reluctantly. Even if she had a fear...She had to see it with her own eyes, right?

With that, the three made their way to the police office, with Maroon waiting for them at the entrance, with a nod and a rather cocky grin looking at the three.

"There you three are." He pointed at the entrance, knowing the obvious question they might ask. "They're down in the headquarter, Y'know, near the training room?"

Nothing much was said as the three nodded before they followed him to L.I.G.H.T's base of operation.

They took the elevator to go downstairs. The closer they got to the base of operation, the clearer they hear voices...Eerily familiar voices.

"H-hey, why're keeping us cuffed!?-- ACK-- We didn't do anything this time, I swear!!"

That sounded like Rin's voice coming from the headquarter. It caused Rin to shiver knowing that it's very likely her faker who's down there.

"Calm down sis-- Panicking won't help us get out of this easier."

That was the doppleganger of Len they heard. He already feel like his hair stood on end. With that, Len spoke up softly. "...I'm not going to lie, it feels strange hearing my voice coming from there..."

He could feel a gentle touch wrapping around his hand. It was his sister, who's hand was twitching ever so slightly.

"...I know." Rin responds. "...I at least have my guitar with me to keep my mind off of it... That and I have you all."

"...Yeah." Miku on the other hand was very quiet. Calm...A bit too calm, which causes Maroon to notice her silence. He knows her doppleganger was there, but she-- alongside the real Miku was silent.

"...Are you alright, Miku? You seem to be taking this very well."

"...I'm fine." She responds. "I know I wasn't going to be let go off that easy one way or another, but I didn't expect the twins to have clones..."

"..." A slow nod came from the half dragon, before looking at the door that was about to be opened as they reached the bottom floor-- the floor where the headquarter is at. "...Well...Get ready, you three. This will be a surreal experience for you, but we need to get to the bottom of this."

As the door opened, the walked towards the headquarter, with Rin already taken out her guitar and softly playing to get her mind off of . And in the center, there's Akari, Hanaka and Naona.

And then there's the suspects-- the dopplegangers, with Doppleganger Miku looking at the ground, Doppleganger Len slowly looking at their original selves in confusion and with Doppleganger Rin lying down on the side while being tied at the chair she was forced to sit in.

Their original selves looked at the dopplegangers almost in disbelief...

"..."

....With Rin having the most extreme reaction of the three as her eyes were locked with her doppleganger's eyes. With the nightmare crawling back in her mind, she started to walk towards the other self, while the thud alerted Doppleganger Miku, causing her to look at the real Rin, who was now walking faster and faster, having now, with of both her hands having a firm grip on her guitar's neck, ready to swing it at the other self.

"...YOU!!!!--"

Almost everyone was screaming at her to stop with her doppleganger looking at what she was about to do in horror, but Maroon, composed under this circumstance, stopped her by catching the neck and body of the guitar before she swung it.

"Calm yourself, Rin--" Maroon spoke up loud and clear, before wrapping one arm around her waist, pulling her closer and away from the doppleganger. Everyone was now watching the young blonde struggling, confused, panicking, in tears.

Rin struggled for a few seconds before putting down her guitar, before being comforted by the male who stopped her from harming or even ending the clone's life.

Now there was tension in the air, with Rin being the first one to openly express this situation.

For a while it stayed this way. A unnerving silence with the dopplegangers thinking that a situation like Rin almost caused could happen. And the silence continued all the way until it was time to interrogate the three.

[muriels-brainrot]

Hi Anon, sorry that took forever!! Here's a headcanon of musically challenged MC: ---------------------------------------------

Muriel when MC that has 0 guitar skill

Pre-Route Muriel with musically challenged MC [guitar]

You and Asra had a phase where you both wanted to learn every instrument under the sun

Muriel would try his damn hardest to not be in the same room as you guys

The noise coming out of your shared room is much like many different animals screaming all at once

Eventually, you dropped it and the guitar fell into disrepair

Post-Route Muriel with the same MC [headcanon/mini bullet fic]

It was cleaning day, because Julian and Asra living together is the perfect recipe for very messy roommates

Muriel says you should charge them more rent and you agree

He helps you clean the kitchen. Then the bedroom. Then your storage areas

Cleaning up the mess that Asra and Julian created is much like pulling a string of loose thread, unravelling the many abandoned trinkets that had been left rotting in your closet

Muriel cringes when you excitedly present him a guitar case. Oh boy, he thought this phase was over for good.

He's relieved when the guitar inside is completely banged up from the inside out

You give him the puppy eyes

Damn, you're giving him the puppy eyes

He reluctantly takes a look and decides to help you. The wood is still good

You help him work on it in his hut.

Watching this big man with his giant hands handle the tiny screws and nuts with perfect precision is a wonder that you can watch forever

It occurs to you that this may be the first time you've watched Muriel complete a project from start to finish

And, well, with the hut being relatively warm, you catch yourself respectfully watching his large biceps and veins flex as he concentrates on placing tiny parts or re-stringing the guitar strings.

Just when you're about to internally gush about how handsome he looks, your gaze accidentally finds against his. Except, he had been waiting for you this whole time, staring at you with a deadpan on his face.

He reminds you that his eyes are up on his face and not lower than that

You blush

He says if you're going to stare, you need to do a better job at hiding it (though he's already blushing and looking away from you)

You realize by the slight quiver in his jaw is that Muriel is actually trying not to smile and laugh at your deer-in-the-lights reaction.

But when he turns back and catches your own smile, you both end up laughing at the situation

Once the guitar is completed, you're elated. Muriel gives you a demo of how it works

You're floored when his fingers strum the individual strings to play an intimate, sultry melody. His skill far surpasses most professional players you've seen busking in the marketplace

Turns out, an old annoyed Muriel was bothered by you and Asra's guitar skill. So Asra jokingly challenged him to do better. Muriel took that very literally

And now you are back to learning how to play the guitar with every fiber of enthusiasm in your soul. Seeing Muriel play made you realize you want to play alongside him

And he actually doesn't mind. When he's bothered/overstimulated by you playing the guitar, he usually just excuses himself. But most days, as you get better and better at playing, you find him by your side and enjoying his hobby while you fill the air with sweet, strumming melodies

Muriel when MC plays guitar all the time but has absolutely 0 skill

:33

So, uh, this turned into a whole thing, so I'm gonna reblog this with the headcanon-turned-into-mini-fanfic once it's done ദ്ദി ( ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ ) HEHEHEH

[loveelle]

Saturday

Luke Patterson x Reader

Request from Anon: Luke Patterson prompt? Luke (ghost) likes to flirt with reader every chance he gets? Kind of like the scene with Julie/Nick at her lock? He even gets a little jealous?

And Request from Anon: Julie and the boys try to convince her best friend she’s in love with a ghost? Luke Patterson x reader?

A/N: Two requests done in two days??? Who is this girl writing because damn she’s productive for once!??! I’m also sorry that this one is like so abrupt in the ending, I write the same damn endings for every fic and it’s fine, but I’m getting bored with myself, so I’m trying to figure out where to go with the endings, which means... absolutely nothing. lol.

WC: 3.2K

MASTER

---

“Do you think this shirt makes me look good?”

You nearly jump out of your skin and let out a squeak as the sudden appearance of Luke next to you. Offering the people around you an apologetic smile, you hold up your phone and pretend like someone was talking to you. As soon as the attention was off you, you turn back to Luke who was laughing hard and send him a glare. “Must you decide to jump scare me when I’m at school?”

He smirks at you as he leans on the lockers and crosses his arms. “When I get that kind of reaction? Of course, I must.”

You roll your eyes at him. “What did you want?”

“Oh, does this shirt make me look good?” He pulls his shirt out from his body, making you gulp as your eyes flicker down.

“Nope.”

Luke scoffs playfully at you, knowing you were just messing with him. “Haha.” He mocks and you can’t help but smile.

“Why did you need to know? It’s not like anyone could see you besides me and the band.”

“Well, yeah.” He shrugs and the smile on his face only gets bigger. “Always gotta look good in front of a pretty girl.”

You feel your cheeks heat up at Luke’s flirting as you turn back to your locker, lodging your phone which you had been pretending to talk on, between your shoulder and your ear when you pull out the last of your books. “And you went with that shirt?” you joke and watch Luke put a hand on his chest and pretend to be wounded. You laugh softly before you close your locker and start your walk to class with Luke next to you.

“Y/N! Wait up!” A voice calls out from behind you two as you spin around, seeing a kid from your math class jogging to catch up with you. When he finally stops in front of you, you hesitate glancing to Luke only to see his jaw locked as he stares down the boy.

“Gotta go. Bye.” You say into your phone before shoving it into your pocket. “Hey Daniel, what’s up?”

“I was hoping to get to walk you to class.” The smile on his face makes Luke’s jaw clench only more as he looks to you, only to see the smile on your face.

“He wants to walk you to class.” Luke says and you pretend to ignore him, focusing on Daniel.

“You don’t have to do that.” You assure him and Luke forces a smile, turning to square up to Daniel.

“Yeah, you don’t have to do that. I’ll walk her.”

“It’s no trouble, it’s on the way to my class.” You know there wasn’t much of a way to get around this so you suck in a breath and nod. As Daniel moves to walk by your side, you shoot a glance back to see Luke jaw dropped as you walk away with Daniel. You chuckle softly at him and he snaps out of his daze.

“I’m coming with!” He shouts over the sea of kids and sooner than not, Luke was on your other side.

“So, I was wondering,” Daniel begins, turning slightly as he walks to talk to you, “if you were free this Saturday like I am, maybe we could hang out.”

You were taken back by Daniel’s offer. “Uh, Saturday? Like, tomorrow Saturday?” you ask and Daniel nods, hopeful that you’d say yes. You ignore the comment Luke made under his breath as you think about Daniel’s offer. “Uh, I think I might have plans tomorrow.”

Luke furrows his brows and scoffs. “You don’t have plans tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I have plans tomorrow.” You repeat, looking away from Daniel briefly to Luke and scowl at him. You wince, however, when you realize Daniel couldn’t hear Luke refuting your plans.

“Oh.” Daniel frowns. “Maybe Sunday?”

“How about never?” Luke mumbles and you bite your lip, tightening your hold on the books in your arms.

“I’m not sure. I have to check.” Daniel’s face brightens at the possibility of going on a date with you and you feel bad for knowing Sunday would come and go and Daniel wouldn’t be getting that date. “This is my class.” You point briefly to the door that was ajar for students to enter and Daniel moves past you to his own class as he turns around to talk while walking backwards.

“You have my number, right?” He calls out and you nod, pulling your lips into a thin line to at least try and smile. “Cool, uh call me or text me if you’re free!” He points at you and you give him an awkward thumbs up. He smiles at you one last time before running down the hall to his own class.

“She won’t!” Luke calls after him before turning to you smugly. You let out a heavy breath and pull out your phone before resting against the wall and avoiding looking at Luke. “So, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Luke.” You chastise him, giving him a glare that you quickly drop out of fear there was someone behind him thinking you were glaring at them.

“I’m just asking you know, in case you wanted to drop by Julie’s and watch us practice. You know how much I love seeing you there.” He leans on the wall next to you, meeting your eye as his lips tug up in a smile. “That is, unless you did already have plans?”

You roll your eyes and control the smile making way on your face. “If you weren’t already dead, I’d kill you.”

“So, I will be seeing you Saturday?”

“Yup.” You say before shoving your phone in your pocket and walking into the classroom.

You hear Luke laugh behind you and you can’t control the smile any longer, letting it take over your face as he shouts at you. “I thought so.”

“Oh, shut up.” You mumble and fall into your seat, beginning the long wait until class was over and you could go over to Julie’s and relax.

---

You were draped across the couch in Julie’s studio, Luke’s guitar in your lap as you strum gently on it, playing the chorus of a song that’s been stuck in your head for almost a week. While you were humming under your breath, you don’t notice Julie walk into the studio.

“Luke’s gonna kill you if he catches you playing that.” Julie calls over, making you laugh.

“He can try.” You smirk. “But I’m not afraid of ghost boy.” Despite not being afraid of Luke, you did put his guitar back where you found it.

“Let’s not ignore the fact he wouldn’t kill you because you’re both in love with each other.”

You let out a laugh and Julie raises a quizzical brow at you. “Luke’s not in love with me and I’m definitely not in love with him. I think I’d know if we were in love with each other.”

“Y/N, Luke could get down on one knee and propose to you and you’d still think he just sees you as just a friend.” Julie deadpans and your jaw drops. The corners of your mouth twitch into a smile as your best friend doubles over in laugher.

“You are so mean!” you gasp out, picking up a pillow and tossing it over at her. In the middle of doing so, the boys appear right in your line of fire. The pillow went right through Luke’s chest as he furrows his brows, looking between you and the girl behind them who can’t control her laughter.

“Did we miss something?” Alex points between the three of you and you shake your head, not wanting to repeat what Julie had just told you. There was no way they were right. Luke wasn’t in love with you and you weren’t in love with him. Simple as that.

“Okay then.” Luke’s words were slow as he eyes you and blow away any confused thoughts as he takes the spot next to you, draping an arm over the couch behind you.

“Nope.” You say and shoo him off the couch. “You have rehearsal.”

“Oh, but I’d rather stay here right here next you.” Luke’s smile had your cheeks heat up but you pretend to gag, making everyone laugh as well Luke. He pushes himself off the couch, refusing to look away from you until he has his guitar in his hands and turns to his friends. He was met with several different smirks knowing exactly what Luke was doing flirting with you.

Julie moves past him all the way until she was by your side and sending her smirks to you. Your eyes widen and you grab another pillow and hit her with it. She grabs it before you can get a second swing in and hit you back with it.

“Stop!” you laugh out a Julie keeps hitting you with it, giving you enough time to grab the last pillow on the couch and try to defend yourself. The band was watching on, Luke’s focus was strictly on you, trying to memorize the way your smile made your eyes close tight and the way your laugh fills the air. Until you land on your back on the floor and knock over the glass of juice you brought out to the studio with you before rehearsal began.

You freeze as the cold drink covers you, your mouth still upturned in a smile as Julie stands over you. She drops the pillow back on the couch, her hands covering her mouth as she gasps. “I’m so sorry!” You let out a small laugh, reaching your hand up for her to help you up.

“Don’t worry about it.” You assure her when you get to your feet, looking at the way your shirt was soaked.

“Are you okay?” Luke asks you and you gave him a funny look before sighing.

“It’s just juice, Luke. I think I’ll live.” Luke nods, glancing to the ground before meeting your eyes again and you took a deep breath before turning to Julie. “Hey, Julie? Can I borrow a shirt?”

Julie nods and grabs your hand to take you inside. You follow her without a word, only a glance back over your shoulder to see Luke watching you. Once you were out of Luke’s sight, Luke tosses his head back and groans.

Reggie and Alex laugh at their friend’s struggle. “Dude, just ask her out.”

Luke rolls his eyes at Alex’s advice, knowing that a relationship between you and him wouldn’t work. “I’m not going to ask her out.”

“Why not?” Reggie faked whined and Luke gave him a pointed look.

“Should I start with the fact that even though we can touch each other, I’m dead and she’s not? Or the fact that she’s not interested?” Alex and Reggie share a look that made Luke’s brows draw close. “What?”

“She’s interested.” They say at the same time and Luke take a deep breath, glancing to the door before shaking his head.

“How do you know?”

“We know.”

“Then could you let her know?” He points towards the door, his finger dropping seconds before you and Julie and enters the studio and you were donning one of the oversized sweaters Julie had stashed in her closet.

“Thanks again for letting me borrow this.” You tell her, holding the door open until she was inside.

“Course, you can just give it back tomorrow when you come over for rehearsal.” You nod at her, making a note to wash the sweater tomorrow morning before you come over.

“Oh, you didn’t hear?” Luke interrupts your thought as you and Julie glances up, seeing Alex and Reggie growing confused like you and Julie were.

“Hear what?” Julie speaks up, looking between the boys, thinking it had something to do with them. You catch Luke’s eye, seeing the way his lips tug in a smirk and you realize what this was about.

“Luke.” Your voice was low and he knows you were trying to get him to keep things hush.

“Y/N’s busy tomorrow.” He reveals and falls onto the couch, kicking his feet up on the table in front of him.

“What?” Alex calls over, a look of surprise struck across his face and you kind of take offense to it. “You are?”

Your mouth opens, not knowing what to say before you shake your head. “No.”

“No?” Luke repeats, pretending to be confused.

“No.”

“But I thought you were and that’s the reason you couldn’t go out with Daniel?” Your eyes close and you let out a sigh as Luke spills and you weren’t prepared as Julie gasps and grabs your arm.

“Daniel asked you out?” She looks almost mad as you turn to her.

“Um, maybe?”

“And you said you were busy? Are you crazy?”

“Well, I-” you stammer out, trying to form a thought on what to say.

“Y/N!” Julie stops you from coming up with an excuse. “You have to go out with him!”

“Woah,” Luke was off the couch in an instant, suddenly realizing that the idea to mess with you wasn’t all that smart considering Julie was stubborn and would get what she wanted, which in this case was for you to go out with someone who wasn’t him. “Well, I don’t think she has to do that.”

“Quiet Luke, this doesn’t involve you.” Julie snaps at him, seeing him gulp as he looks between you and Julie.

“I’m just saying, like maybe she is busy!”

“She’s not.” Alex butts in once he realizes that this could be Luke’s chance to tell you how he felt.

This time your look of annoyance was sent to Alex and he knew you wouldn’t last much longer. “I’m am.”

“Doing what?”

You bite your lip, letting your eyes move around the room inconspicuously until your mouth speaks on its own. “…Pilates?”

“Pilates?” Julie clarifies and you run a hand through your hair, hiding your face briefly before nodding. “Y/N, I don’t even think you know what Pilates are.”

“I know what Pilates are!��� You practically screech as your friends all glare at you, except Luke who looks almost as panicky as you. “Okay fine,” you give in. “I just didn’t want to go on a date with Daniel.”

“Why not?”

Luke lets out a breath you were sure he meant to be a laugh, but you could almost sense his nerves. “Does she have to have a reason?”

“Yes!” Everyone shouts at him at once you cover your face, backing out of the room and letting yourself outside to get some air.

Luke wanted to go after you and apologize for bringing up Daniel’s date, but the moment he took a step, Alex stops him with a hand on his chest and shakes his head. “You should stay here.” He says and Luke scoffs.

“I’m not going to-”

“Luke.” Julie cuts him off. “We’ve got this.” For the first time since the argument started, Luke believes they’re on his side and lets them go outside and leave him alone in the studio, only growing more anxious by the passing second.

You were seated on the steps outside as Julie, Alex, and Reggie all come outside, making you groan. “You guys, I really don’t want to talk about Daniel anymore. Can you just go back and rehearse?”

“How about we stay out here and don’t talk about Daniel?” Reggie offers and you hesitate before nodding. That sounds… fine? They take seats on the steps around you before Reggie throws his arm over your shoulder. “Let’s talk about how you’re in love with Luke.”

You groan, shoving Reggie’s arm off you and turning to Julie. “You told them your stupid theory?” you grumble and Julie puts her hands up.

“I didn’t need to. They figured it out by themselves.” You roll your eyes.

“There’s nothing to figure out.” Your voice was quiet as your head dips, chewing on the inside of your lip. No one said anything as your sights move up from the ground, clocking each saddened look before you give in. “What do I do about it?”

Evil grins, that’s how you would explain the 3 different looks being shoot your way. Of course, none of your friends were evil, only excited, but nonetheless, you were terrified.

“Well, we have good news.” Alex begins and you listen eagerly. “If we can tell that you’re in love with him- and don’t fight back on that, you are- then we can also tell that Luke is in love with you.”

You inhale deeply. “You’re sure about this?” 3 eye rolls were all you receive. “I just have to know before I go in there and screw up the best friendship I’ve got.”

“Hey!” Julie nudges your arm. “I thought we had the best friendship!”

“We do, Jules.” You say sweetly and Julie’s brows raise out of annoyance and unbelievability.

“She’s just not in love with you.” Reggie adds on you hide your face as you groan, hearing your friends laugh all around you.

“Advice. That’s all I need.” You remind them and the laughing stops, finally being replaced by your friends telling you what to do.

---

Luke had been pacing since the moment his friends all stepped outside. He knew Alex and Reggie at least knew how much he liked you and it was the only hope he had that Julie wouldn’t convince you to go on a date with Daniel.

His thoughts ramble in his brain until finally the door opens and you step inside alone, tugging on the sleeves of Julie’s sweater. He freezes only seconds before your eyes lift up to his. Luke takes a breath of courage. “I don’t want you to go on a date with Daniel.”

His words stun you as your brows lift briefly and you clear your throat. “Um, and why is that?”

Luke couldn’t answer. He can’t. He wants to tell you that it was because he was falling for you, that every time he’s flirted with you it’s because he likes you and he likes hearing you flirt back, he likes imagining that someday by some miracle, you’d be a couple and do actual couple things, that he could make you happy. His mess of thoughts were cut off by a pair of lips. They were soft and plump, and had several bite marks lining them, but they felt perfect against his.

Luke pulls you closer as you kiss him, your hands gripping the sides of his tank top as he cups your face to pull you closer. Alex’s advice plays on repeat in your head and suddenly, you were very thankful you decided to listen to your friends.

Just forget everything and kiss him.

.

.

.

.

[you-did-well-moon]

Day6 Reaction to s/o learning their instrument while they're away

Type: Fluff, angst in Dowoon dont know what happened wasnt me

Word Count: 2.865

A/n: I took some creative freedom with why they were away but that is it. Keep in mind, I have no experience with instrument except for when I played the piano in 5th grade for like two weeks. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! - Moon

TW: small cuts, fight, second hand embarrassment

Sungjin

Sungjin was absolutely and devastatingly exhausted. His own guitar case felt like it was weighing him down tremendously, and he had a huge headache. Jae and Wonpil arguing in the back of the car was not helping in any way. It has been going on since they left the airport. He rubbed at his temples tiredly pressing his head against the cool window from his place in the passenger seat next to their manager. 

Still, he couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at his lips as he thought about seeing you, probably curled up in the couch cheeks puffed from the snack you were inhaling. The pounding in his head lightened at the cute sight he would soon get to enjoy as he played with the loose threads of his old button up shirt. 

True to Sungjin’s imagination, your form was sitting on the couch. Not true to his imagination, you were actually bent over something in your lap, lightly humming and bopping your head to the rhythm being produced by your still clumsy fingers. The guitar in your lap had gotten lighter as the days went by without your boyfriend, and in replacement of his touch, leaving your fingertips warm and tingling, it was small cuts you hadn’t bothered to bandage as it disrupted you when playing.

 You missed Sungjin an abnormal amount. The cold spot in the bed or him making weird faces at you through the mirror in the mirror when brushing your teeth. You missed all of it. With a slight tremble in your chest you started playing the chorus to “You Were beautiful”.

You were so focused on trying to get it right you didn’t notice the door closing only to startle when you slightly looked up through your lidded eyes seeing the shadow looming over the coffee table. With a small yelp of surprise you jumped immediately looking up only to find your boyfriend staring at you with wide eyes. 

His surprised expression made you shrink into yourself. You threw your head into your hands in pure embarrassment letting the guitar gently slide off your lap, hitting the floor with a soft thump. “Can you just pretend you didn’t see that I can’t believe I even tried learning all that by myself I” you cut yourself off with an un-pleased sigh shaking your head and looking at him with pleading eyes. 

Your boyfriend continued in his frozen state for about five seconds before breaking out in the biggest smile rushing around the coffee table in which you panicked trying to get away from him with a squeal, but being too slow im the excitement that was usually in a much dormant state in Sungjin. The wrinkles near the corner of his eyes deepened adoringly, and his chest shook with soft laughter while he held you close. 

There was a fond twinkle in his eye as Sungjin forgot any tiredness that clung to his bones and kissed the tips of your fingertips while maintaining eye contact. He kept your hands encased in his when scolding you for having such low faith in yourself and softly encouraging you. He would probably put little stitch band-aids on your fingertips and continue teaching you, sitting you on his lap and scolding you when you lose focus with a sharp poke at your ribs smiling when you giggled. This man just fell impossibly more in love with you.

“You shouldn’t say those things, look at you love, learning all alone and doing so well. I'm so proud. Would you rather have the elmo band-aids or the stitch band-aids… I don’t know about you but Elmo kinda creeps me out. Just five more minutes little love then you can go mug Young k with Dowoon. Don’t look at me like that! You finally have a teacher and you take him for granted. The audacity-”

Jae

Jae was a thin hair away from just ripping his hair out. He didn’t believe the kpop industry would take very kindly to him going bald, but he had come to a point where he didn’t really care about what people thought anymore. But thinking about you not being able to play with his hair anymore while he drifted off to sleep with his head on your chest severely upset him.

 Jae had gotten stuck in another limbo, stuck in the studio and in his own head desperately trying to finish any of the unfinished songs left in his computer files. He missed you so much, he eventually called it quits, deciding to go home to you, who he hadn’t seen in days.

Just the thought about seeing you energized his previously exhausted self. He never could get sick of you. Every day, every week was a new adventure, a new chapter, all with his favorite person in the world. The night sky, although beautiful, seemed to mock him, reminding him of how late it was, meaning you were most probably asleep. 

Opening the door to his apartment, he heard soft music. He briefly recognized “I Need Somebody”, and thought you were playing it from your phone. All his thoughts came to a halting stop when he saw you perched on the bed, in his shirt, playing the melody of the previously mentioned song.

You had hair falling into your eyes with your eyebrows slightly scrunched trying not to mess up and heavily focused. Jae had loudly yelled in surprise, causing you to flinch and look up shocked at the sudden surprise. When you saw it was just him, you had comically thrown your hands in the air yelling at him about how it was supposed to be a surprise. 

The irritated look on your face vanished as you went up to give him a light hug with a kiss, softly smiling at him. Meanwhile Jae, was completely out of it, lovestruck eyes while he instinctively returned your affection.

“Come Jae, you look like you haven’t slept in ages, your eyes are so sunken babe”, you had softly whispered to him, rubbing the soft skin under his eyes, the way you were always soft with him when he came back from the studio. You slept in the same bed for the first time in what had been days, Jae tightly clutching on to you.

 He may have not been completely there at the moment, but in the morning when he had time to process everything, he was a changed man. He wouldn’t stop laughing and giggling excitedly, eagerly wanting to hear everything you had learnt. He even poked fun at you when you made a mistake. But it was all lovingly as he also praised you non stop while looking at you with his messy hair and big smile next to you on the couch. He had so much inspiration now. To finish what had been left behind.

“Pop off queen who gave you this much talent, you couldn’t even tell me what bass was last time we talked, which was like a week ago. Might just make you play when I don’t feel like playing. Give you a wig and people won’t know the difference! Why are you booing me, I'm right?”

Young K

Young K’s foot tapping on the floor of the car was the only sound that filled the car aside from the soft sound of the car’s engine and tires. He was absolutely spent, having to have stayed in a different city for a show he was invited to that was filmed far away from his home. 

Far away from you. Young K could tell his manager was starting to get irritated, but Young K was already massively annoyed and too far in his own world to really care. He missed the pine scent of his sheets, and he missed you.

It was not a good combination. When he got to his place he quietly thanked the manager,  getting his bag before trying to ignore every urge telling him to run into the building and fall into his soft bed with you in his arms. When he opened the door, your keys were there, so he knew you were in the building. That thought filled him with more relief than it should have. 

He did have to admit, hearing “I smile” this early in the day was odd as you usually saved the more mellow songs for later in the night. Young K told himself he had many euphoric moments in his life, but seeing you staring at a sheet of paper with so much determination and a bass guitar in your arms came pretty close to the top.

The absolute warmth that exploded in his chest was a feeling he would not forget in a long time. He could feel his lips slightly curl up in fondness as your hands shook while your eyes wavered unsurely between your hands on the strings and the video on your laptop sitting further on the edge of the bed. Your face scrunched up before you sighed and stared dejectedly at the instrument on your lap. 

“Why so sad love?" His voice made you instantly sit up, pushing the instrument gently off your lap. You crawled to the edge of the bed where Young K had already gotten closer where he met you tenderly running his hand through your hair, and he curved his hand around the back of your head bringing your forehead to his abdomen.

He brushed his thumb over where your hairline met the sensitive skin of the back of your neck immensely enjoying being back at your side. Your hands were clutching the back of his shirt, and your simple touch brought a warm feeling to his chest. You both leaned back as Young K’s chest started to rumble with laughter “You should have waited for me, it would have been easier if I could teach you”, he softly said, pushing your hair back from your face causing you to lightly laugh.

 “I wanted to surprise you, but I didn’t get that far anyways. Can’t become a prodigy in one day I guess”. Young K smiled again, promising to himself to help you as much as he could as he put his hand fondly on top of your head.

“You’re doing so good, just move your finger up a little, you’re plucking the c chord instead of the e chord during the chorus, don’t look at me like that i’m trying to help?! I wouldn’t put you on my level, but I think you’re doing really well. I’m hungry now, what do you want? No- What do you want? I am okay with anything just tell me-”

Wonpil

Wonpil was trying his hardest not to think about you. From the way you got excited when you got to see the moon in the cloudy sky to the way you smiled when you saw the neighbor’s cat while getting the mail. 

He was happy to be on a trip with her sister, he hadn’t had much time to be with her in recent, well forever really. While you had been invited, you hadn’t been able to attend due to work. Wonpil did his best to keep his mind off you and enjoy the trip, he just hadn’t spent this long without you in a while. 

Even so, he still had a fun time with his sister and her boyfriend creating many memories. He didn’t regret it, but he was extremely happy to come back to you. Opening the door to your apartment, he dropped his suitcase by the door, an excited smile tugging at his lips as he traveled through the apartment with his arms spread knowing you would embrace him as soon as you saw him. He felt so giddy, he didn’t even notice the broken keyboard sounds ringing throughout the living space.

His smile fell in a comical way, his face morphing into one of confusion instead. He recognized a broken rendition of “Mary had a little Lamb”, and tilted his head as he opened the door to your room seeing you with really big headphones on your head staring down at the keyboard with the most offended look on your face.

 How dare this keyboard not give you its secrets! Wonpil couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his chest, not mocking you, but he just thought you were so cute. He lightly touched your shoulder causing you to jump, and the slight movement of your head caused the headphones to slide off your head. It didn’t matter much. You instantly dove into his arms, pressing the side of your face against his chest.

He felt warmth flood his chest as his hand encased the back of your head while he pressed his lips to the top, closing his eyes in bliss enjoying having you in his arms again. He leaned back from the brace as his eyes flashed with amusement and yours with slight embarrassment. He lightly laughed, eyes crinkling. He cradled your face in his hands, a teasing lilt to his voice, “What were you trying to do, hmm?” He could feel your face grow hot under his finger tips.

 “I was just trying to surprise you. I felt bad for not being able to go with you”. He shook his head, hands playfully pinching your cheeks as you whined. “You shouldn’t act that way, I understood from the beginning. It must have been hard for you. Here, come, your lovely boyfriend will make this easier for you”.

“Y/n the keys will not bite prEsS dOWn, no, no keyboards do not have to be oiled, this is a musical instrument not a mechanical vehicle. You are so cute. What am I gonna do with you? No, you can not play the keyboard with your forehead, DO NOT put your foot on the keys. I don’t care if it’s for the vine. 

Dowoon

Dowoon was beating himself up. Looking back at what happened a few hours ago made his chest tight. He couldn’t help but wince at the words both of you had thrown at each other. You had been with each other for so long, and when his lovely mother asked him when he would propose, although with good intentions, it put pressure on him.

 He was still young. He had mentioned it to you in a joking manner, but there was a misunderstanding and you thought he was blowing it off as he didn’t see a future with you. 

Somehow feelings were hurt, and the fight escalated. And Dowoon decided he was a coward because it was when you had started stuttering through your words and avoiding eye contact, he knew. He knew he had pushed you across a line that might not be able to be crossed again. 

He panicked. He was really good at doing that wasn’t he? He left. He took a bus and went to the nearest hotel he could find. There he was sitting on the edge of the too perfectly made bed with his head in his hands.

Had he just ruined his precious relationship because he was scared of what the future could or could not hold? Why did he have to run away? Why couldn’t he just stay? Most importantly, how badly had he hurt you?

 With a sigh he stood up, and he got on the bus back to your apartment. Staring at the door, the fact you were just on the other side and hurting is what pushed him to open it with the key you had given him. Opening the door, he was met with silence and darkness. Have you already gone? He walked through the apartment, hope dwindling with every step. 

Then he heard a soft thump thump thump. His heart seemed to match with it, and as he walked to his studio which held his spare drum set, he thought of what he could say to make it better. Opening the door, he saw you softly hitting the drum with one stick, as if testing the waters and humming along to “When you Love Someone”. Dowoon couldn’t fight the sad smile that broke out on his face, and the absolute warmth that filled his chest. 

Why did he ever even doubt your future with him? There was no person more perfect for him than you. He stood next to you, softly taking your hand in his and guiding your hand to the right beat, although a bit broken. When your sad eyes looked up into his, forgiving in nature but still frustrated beyond belief, he knew he could still fix things. You were you, and Dowoon was Dowoon. You always somehow found your way back to each other.  

“No no, put your hands higher on the stick, no lower, now higher...a bit lower. No, Y/n drum sticks do not belong in my throat. What do you mean I have no room to talk, I thought we were over the fight. I would marry you in this life and the next! Why are you looking at me like that? I am not cute, I am handsome and overflowing with testosterone. Oooh are those gummies?

[muselin]

See You Later - Part 1

Who: Beomgyu

Group: TXT

What: Beomgyu/f!reader, collegeAU, slow burn, eventual smut, college student!Gyu, model!Gyu

Word count: 2,238

A/N: this is for @bluekais ❤ Hope you enjoy! Sorry that it's taken so long! There will be a Part 2 coming but I got myself elbows-deep into Kinktober so might take a while as well 🎃

____________________________________

"Tch."

The dissatisfied noise leaving your lips had become habit by now. Just his presence annoyed you, but the fact that he had the nerve to show up late to class almost every time, carrying that stupid skateboard, made your blood boil a little bit. He never studied, never did the assignments, always showed up late and he was still somehow passing this class. This class that you had worked so hard to get into and had to keep working so hard to stay in. It didn't come naturally to you but it did to him and it made you green with envy.

"Ah, Beomgyu-ssi, how kind of you to join us," your professor quipped sarcastically as Beomgyu beamed a smile that was frustratingly charming and headed for the only empty space in the auditorium which, to your displeasure, happened to be next to you.

You didn't acknowledge each other as you continued scribbling furiously into your notebook while Beomgyu sat with his chin leaned on his hand. You noticed that he hadn't taken out anything to write with.

"Now I will hand out your assignments for the next lecture. Remember we have study week, so you will have one week to complete these. Please remain in your seats as you are now."

Your professor proceeded to hand out stacks of papers and you couldn't help noticing that he was handing only one stack for every two students. He was making his way down your row and dropped off an assignment right between you and Beomgyu.

"I can hold it for us," Beomgyu smiled pleasantly as he looked over to you, seemingly unaffected by your sour expression. As the two of you read the instructions for the music production assignment, Beomgyu would stop and mutter to himself every once in a while: "Hmm, I already have a bass guitar for this," "This would be very easy to add a snare to," "I just need vocals and someone to match the drum line to this".

"Alright, everyone ready?" The auditorium hummed with mumbled "yes"es.

"Good," your professor continued, "you will be doing the assignment in pairs, in the order that I've handed the assignments out to you".

You groaned inwardly, noticing yours and Beomgyu's names at the bottom right corner of the cover page.

"Class dismissed!"

You were unsure what to do. You'd have to spend quite a lot of time with Beomgyu to finish this but you didn't have his number and you didn't even know which dorm he was in. Before you could open your mouth to ask Beomgyu when you should meet up, he was getting up and slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"See you later, Y/N," his voice laced with his regional dialect reached you as an afterthought.

"Tch. Fuck you too, Choi," you muttered.

___________________

It had been four days since you last saw Beomgyu and you were getting nervous. You had started the assignment early and done as much as you could do. You hated to admit it but you really did need him for this. You had worked out a base melody but it was too bare and uninteresting and you knew from hearing him talk to himself that he knew a lot of elements which could add flare and points to the assignment. You hunched over your laptop, browsing the music library. Begrudgingly, at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday, you decided to email him through the university central email list.

### 22:01 ###  Hi Beomgyu, it's Y/N, your partner for the music production assignment. I've thrown some things together but we need to meet to do the rest. I realised I didn't have your number or your dorm address, let me know when we can meet up. ###

You waited for a while after pressing send, just in case he was on his emails right now. At midnight you gave up and went to sleep.

### 03:44 ### Hi! Sorry about that! Can you bring what you have over to mine at about noon tomorrow? Here's the postcode ###

You woke up to the reply from Beomgyu and nearly panicked that you would be late. He didn't live close by at all, the post code seemed to be for a swanky area of newly built apartments downtown, miles away from your suburban campus.

You showered and dressed as quickly as possible. You weren't dressing up for anyone. Jeans, sneakers and a flannel shirt was all Beomgyu was getting from you. You grabbed your laptop and equipment and headed out the door.

________________

At 11:55, you knocked on Beomgyu's door. He lived on the 13th floor and on the elevator up to his apartment you hoped to whoever would listen that this wouldn't turn out to be as unlucky as the out-of-order sign on the second elevator.

The front door clicked and opened to reveal a somewhat sleepy Beomgyu, dressed in a tshirt and pyjama bottoms.

"Oh, Y/N, you're early," he said, then looked at his watch. You found this ironic, considering he never showed up to class on time.

"Well, not by much. Can I come in?"

"Sure," he said, opening the front door widely for you to walk in past him. "I'll make coffee," he yawned.

As you walked past him you couldn't help but note in your head that he smelled really good. You weren't sure if it was his cologne or laundry but it was the kind that settled pleasantly in your chest and made you want to breathe in deeper. You stopped that train of thought harshly as soon as you felt your mind drift that way. You were perfectly happy with feeling generally mildly annoyed with Beomgyu. It was your comfort zone, even if having to work with him was pushing it.

"So how come you don't live on camp-- Wow..."

Your jaw dropped as you walked into the apartment. It was nothing like the cramped dorm rooms you and your friends shared on campus. It was bright, spacious and well-decorated, with huge windows and a view that rivaled the best hotels in the business district.

"How the fuck are you affording this," the words tumbled out of you with little grace before you could stop them.

"Well, since you ask, I work a lot of side jobs," Beomgyu said nonchalantly as he poured water into the kettle in the open-plan kitchen.

"Really? What do you do?"

"Uhm...," he scratched his neck sheepishly, "at the moment I model."

"You? You model?"

"Yeah, why," he tilted his head at you, looking at you quizzically.

Those big brown eyes, the soft curves of his lips, his chiseled jawline... And his hair looked really soft too. Suddenly from thinking nothing of him you were imagining him as a model. You wondered what he modeled for. Could it be fashion brands? Lifestyle? Prints? Maybe even swimsuits? He always wore those baggy jeans and t-shirts, but maybe...

"Y/N?"

"Oh," you snapped back to him, realising you hadn't answered him. "Yeah I just... didn't know, that's all."

"Uhm, cool. Why don't you drop your stuff off in the room down the hall, the one on the left?"

You nodded and picked up your laptop bag and equipment, your feet sinking into the plush carpet as you padded down the hall. You nudged open the door to the room he'd pointed you to, jaw dropping again for the second time today as you walked in.

The room was a small makeshift studio, with mics, a sound control board and several guitars. Several notepads were strewn about along with a few used coffee mugs and muffin wrappers. It seemed to be the most lived-in space of Beomgyu's house so far and you were suddenly starting to understand why he never seemed to pay much attention to the classes. You dropped your bags off in the corner and sat down at his computer, looking at the various pieces of equipment connected to it.

"How do you like your coffee?"

You nearly jumped out of your skin when you heard Beomgyu's pleasant voice reverberate in the room. You hadn't heard him come in after you. Covering up your startled reaction, you mumbled your preference and he returned shortly with two steaming mugs, setting them down on his desk.

"Um, so... For this assignment I've tried layering the melodies but it's very bare. I thought we could use it as a starting point and build on it," you said, trying to sound more businesslike.

"That's good, thanks. I actually don't have a lot of time so a head start would be good. I have an hour now but then I need to head out."

Your brow furrowed. An hour? It had taken you three days to put together what you had so far.

"Let's see what you've got," Beomgyu reached for the USB stick in your hands and plugged it into his computer. He downloaded the files and ran them.

An unobtrusive melody filled the small studio. He listened politely, head tilted to one side until it faded out.

"Um... Yeah, I don't play guitar so I wasn't sure what would sound good with that," you started, hands playing with the edges of your shirt nervously. You hated feeling incompetent, especially in front of Beomgyu.

"Yeah, no offence, but it does need a lot more than that," he said. "Let's see what I can do with that."

You sat in your chair and watched him plug one of his guitars into the amp behind you. He tuned it according to the scales in your melody and started to play along.

"Nana naaa," he hummed along quietly. "I don't know about that bar, what do you think," he asked you.

"It's not bad but I think it can go for longer," you replied. Beomgyu nodded, stopping the recording and starting again.

You watched him get lost in his own world as the notes coming from his guitar breathed life into your melody. You watched his fingers strum and pluck, watched his lips open and close in concentration, occasionally the lower one being worried by his teeth. You watched his long hair fall into his face. You simply watched Beomgyu in his zone, not noticing when he stopped playing.

"Y/N?"

Your eyes focused and met his deep brown ones, your lips tensing as you tried to seem attentive.

"Yeah? Yeah, that was good, let's add that in," you spoke quickly.

"Cool," Beomgyu then stood up and reached behind you to switch off the amp. You couldn't stop yourself from breathing in again when his chest and neck nearly brushed across your face. His warm hand dropped to your shoulder, giving you a casual pat.

"Why don't you sit at the computer and keep replaying the recoding while I write down the chords," he suggested.

"Okay, sure," you stood up in the cramped space and there was barely room for you two to switch places. Beomgyu's hands instinctively came up to your waist to steady you as he brushed past you. Your breath hitched but you said nothing as you sat down at his desk and started the recording.

Your combined melody filled the small room and you found yourself nodding along. You hated to admit it but you liked it much more with Beomgyu's additions. You played it several times while he wrote down the chords.

"Right, awesome," he drawled in his dialect after he was finished. "I have to get dressed and head out now, but if you want we can meet up again later today. I won't be done until quite late but I sleep late anyway."

"How late are we talking," you asked suspiciously.

"I would be done about 11, we could meet back here," Beomgyu offered.

You hesitated for a second. It was a lot later than what you considered acceptable but at the same time you didn't trust Beomgyu. You weren't sure you would get any more time out of him than this.

"Okay, deal. Message me when you're done and I'll head over."

"Cool, here's my number," Beomgyu grabbed your phone to type his own number in and called himself. "You okay to let yourself out?"

He left the studio and went into the room across, which you guessed was probably his bedroom. You copied the new files onto your USB before you packed up your things and left the studio as well. On the way you saw that Beomgyu's bedroom door was ajar. You saw him standing with his back to the door as he was pulling his t-shirt over his head. Your lips tensed into a line as you tried to not to make any noise and not even to breathe.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"See you later, Y/N."

You stood frozen in place as your eyes traced the lines of his back muscles to his pretty shoulders, not missing his toned arms flexing as he reached up to push the t-shirt over his head. Your gaze trailed back down his body to his hips where his bottoms were slung low, exposing the two cute dimples at his lower back. He didn't look like he was wearing anything underneath.

Beomgyu dropped his shirt to the floor and you suddenly darted down the corridor, panicked that he would turn around and see you. His bottoms dropped down just as he heard his front door open and shut.

[mochegato]

Hope on Board

Chapter 27 – The Time Has Come to Talk of Many Things

Chapter 1     Chapter 26

Nightwing landed on the roof Chat had taken Marinette to and immediately rushed over to her.  He took a moment to study her, looking for any new indications of injury or distress. Assured there was none, he pulled her into a tight hug, unable to withhold touching her any longer.  He needed to know she was safe.  He needed to feel her in his arms, have that familiar weight.  He needed to hear her reassuring, even breathing, to calm his own erratic breathing.

Marinette let out a surprised squeak and looked over to Chat in confusion. Chat stared at Nightwing with a concerned frown but didn’t move to detach him from her.  Nightwing pulled away just enough to look at her face. He’d missed being able to look in her eyes.  He cursed his mask being between them.  Even with the mask, her eyes were sparkling in the moonlight but he would bet his guitar that her eyes would look even more beautiful, the sparkling even brighter, if he didn’t have his mask on.  He reached up to cup her face, but she stepped back before he could reach her.

Marinette eyed him suspiciously and looked back to Chat to see what his reaction would be.  Honestly, the most curious part of the whole situation was Chat just sitting back and letting Nightwing touch her like this.  Something was going on and they both knew what it was.  Chat would never allow just anyone to touch her in such an intimate way. He barely allowed it when Dick did it and he knew she had liked that contact.  She turned back to Nightwing with a slight look of fear.  If Chat was allowing him to touch her like this, what were they hiding?

Chat looked back and forth between the two for a few seconds before speaking up awkwardly.  “Well, I think you’re in safe hands now, Princess,” he nodded to Nightwing with a severe glare.  “I’ll leave you two to talk.”  

He gave a two-finger salute to them and jumped back toward the Court’s base. Marinette gave him a confused frown and turned back to Nightwing and raised a curious brow at him, her breathing picking up slightly. She waited a few moments for Nightwing to say something, but he seemed just as uncomfortable as Chat had, and unwilling to start the conversation.  “Is everyone okay?  Is Dick okay? Did anyone check on him?  If they wanted my son, they may have wanted him as well.”

“Everyone is fine,” Nightwing assured her gently, his expression softening slightly from her concern.

Marinette let out a sigh of relief but then noticed how he was standing.  He was cradling his side in a very familiar way. In the same way she and Chat would cradle their sides when they were injured in battle.  “You’re hurt!” she exclaimed, rushing toward him to examine the wound.

“I’ll be fine,” he tried to protest, but Marinette wouldn’t hear it.  She gave him an unimpressed look and pulled on his hand to move it.  He reluctantly took his hand from the claw marks for her to examine.  He hissed at her gentle prodding to gauge the severity of the wounds.  “Stitches at least,” she mused.  “You have someone that does that for you?”

“I do,” he nodded in affirmation, “back in the Cave.”

She nodded in approval, but the furrowed brow and slight frown of concern stayed in her expression.  Nightwing rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and looked around them.  The buildings were mostly uninhabited, but there were still a lot of floors that could be occupied and have people watching them.  He couldn’t just pull his mask off here and he couldn’t act too intimate in case someone saw and figured out who he was.  “Are you really okay?  Are the babies okay?  Did they do anything to you?  Why didn’t you wait for us?”

She blinked a few times to process the onslaught of questions.  “I knew Chat would come but I didn’t know he was bringing the cavalry,” she pouted.  Honestly, did he lecture everyone he saved?  “I didn’t know how long it would take him to find me and I sure as hell wasn’t just going to sit back and let them take me to a secondary location or use me and the babies as a human shield.  Do I look like a damsel in distress?”

“It was incredibly dangerous,” Nightwing objected, trying to fight down his admiration of her fiery streak.  He always knew she was fierce and feisty, but he hadn’t realized just how capable she was. Her belly looked like it weighed more than the rest of her, and she had still managed to make her way halfway to freedom on her own and help fight, albeit not much, in the last fight.  “They could have killed you for trying to escape.”

“I can protect myself,” she answered indignantly.  “I knew they wanted the babies for some reason, so they weren’t going to hurt me too badly and risk harming them, which gave me an advantage because I had no such qualms.  I was willing to do what I had to in order to protect my babies,” she protested, laying both her hands over her belly in a protective gesture.  “It was more dangerous for me to just sit around and hope.”

“Well, you definitely never have been the wait around type,” Nightwing chuckled affectionately.  He watched her intently for a few moments, a concerned frown settling on his lips. “You sure you’re going to be okay? An ordeal like this… maybe it would be better to stay somewhere with better security for a while.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow at him.  “You have a suggestion?”

Nightwing rubbed the back of his neck.  It was now or never… well not never, but he had to do it now.  He’d put it off for too long.  She’d waited for too long.  He took a deep breath to ground himself and prepare for the long overdue conversation.  “Marinette, I…”  His reveal was interrupted by Marinette groaning in pain and crouching down. “What happened?  Are you okay?”

“No. I knew I shouldn’t have tempted fate.  That was a contraction,” she looked down at her belly for a few moments. When she looked back up, her eyes were sparkling with surprise and anxiety and anticipation.  Finally, her eyes seemed to settle on concern.  “And I’m really early.”

“The doctor said you probably would be,” Nightwing said with a calm he didn’t actually feel.  His tone was even but his mind was going faster than Wally trying to break a sound barrier.  Everything that they needed to do, everything that might happen, everything that they had yet to discuss.  But the most important thing right now was getting Marinette to a hospital.  He reached out to guide her to the stairs.

“How did you know that?” She asked suspiciously, pulling her arm away from him.

“We need to get you to the hospital,” he answered instead, attempting to guide her toward the door to the stairway again.  Once they were in the safety of the stairwell, he touched his ear. “Agent A, we need a car here immediately to take us to the hospital and a change of clothes, if you could.”

She shook her head and took a deep breath and let it out slowly grimacing in pain. “I need to contact Dick.  He should know.”

Nightwing smiled lovingly at her.  He ran his hand over her hair and cupped her face.  “I’m right here.”

Marinette batted his hand away and furrowed her brow with an annoyed huff. “No offense, but I couldn’t give less of a fuck if you’re here.  He’s the father, he should know.  He’ll want to be there.”

“Marinette…” he took off his mask and looked to her with soft eyes.  “I’m here.”

Marinette stared in awe at him for a few seconds.  “Dick…” She touched his face carefully, reverently, like she didn’t believe it.  

“It’s me, Mari,” he said again, more gently this time, more vulnerable.  He reached out to touch her again, this time she let him.  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.  This is what I didn’t tell you before.”

She shook her head blankly.  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered.

“What?” Dick asked, quirking his head to the side.  He expected a lot of different reactions to his reveal.  That was not one of them.  He was fully prepared for anger, hoping for forgiveness, but expected annoyance.

She looked up at the ceiling with an annoyed glare.  “Very fucking funny.”  Suddenly she gripped his hand hard and let out a pained whine.  “Of course I’d end up with a hero.”  She looked back up at him as they slowly made their way down the stairs.  She suddenly stopped and stood rigidly straight.  “Oh my God, I was wearing a Nightwing shirt and you were wearing a ladybug shirt when we met.” She groaned and bent over.  “How did I miss that!”

“It’s okay, just breathe through it,” Nightwing encouraged her, rubbing reassuring circles on her back.

“That was a groan of frustration not pain.  I should have called that, the cosmic joke that my life is.”  She turned to face him with a narrow-eyed glare.  “But if you say that to me when I do have a contraction, I’ll make you understand the pain making me make that sound.”  She turned forward again and started making her way slowly down the stairs.  “Just breathe through it,” she mocked.

Nightwing grimaced.  “Sorry,” he said sheepishly.  “That’s what the videos said to say.  To help breathe through the contractions.  Relaxing your muscles as much as possible and focusing on breathing instead, makes the pain seem less intense.”

“What kind of an idiot came up with that idea?  Guarantee it was a man.  Silly women, just breathe,” she continued in a mocking tone.  “I’ll perform an appendectomy on him and see how just breathing helps him with the pain,” she grunted as she waddled down the stairs.

She paused mid stride and groaned in pain again.  Nightwing was at her side in an instant, holding her hand and rubbing the small of her back and applying pressure to try to offset the contractions. As soon as the contraction passed, Marinette watched him analytically.  He was suddenly very close to her, his face mere centimeters from hers as he encouraged her.  She quirked her lips to the side, trying to figure out how she felt.  

Dick was here.  He was here! He had come to rescue her.  And likely everything he had done, everything he had lied about, was related to his secret identity.  But it was more than that, wasn’t it?  It was more than just the secret.  She was keeping secrets from him, secrets she wasn’t ready to share until or unless she trusted him and she didn’t, not anymore.  She narrowed her eyes at him again.  “This is what you couldn’t tell me?  This is what you lied to me about?” she asked confused.  “You knew about my history with Chat and still thought I wouldn’t understand this?”

“I was tracking down a plot by the Court of Owls.  When the talon said they had to change plans due to their latest failure, my team was the one that caused that.  That was where I was going when we had that fight,” he answered quietly.

“And you thought, what?  I wouldn’t understand?  I’d freak out?  Demand you leave it to be with me?” she demanded indignantly.

“I thought…” he hedged, his voice uncertain.  “I thought I needed to protect you and if you knew you’d stop me. But I needed to do it.  I needed to know I had protected you and our family.”

She gripped his hand and squeezed it, letting out a scream of pain and breathing heavily.  “You absolute bastard.”

“Yeah, deserved,” he looked away guiltily.

“Oh, thank you for your permission,” she bit out harshly.  “You’re damn right it’s deserved.  Do you know how miserable I was when I realized you had lied to me? How confused I was?  How lost I was?  And you wouldn’t even try to give any kind of an explanation.  Nothing!  I questioned everything.  I thought you and your friends were doing something illegal.  And then I was wrestling with myself because that didn’t seem right at all, but if that wasn’t it, I couldn’t figure out why you would hide it.  So then I thought maybe you were getting forced into something you didn’t want to do, but then your family seemed to know what was going on so I thought that was unlikely.  I thought you didn’t care about me.” She shook her head to try to calm her anger and returned to his words.  “What was I to you then?  An inconvenience you had to handle while you ran away to do your macho man business?”

“No! No, Marinette.  I… was stupid and I was so caught up in protecting you and our babies, I… I’m sorry,” he pled.

“You certainly are.”  She shook her head and opened her mouth to continue berating him but let out another scream instead.  

“Those are really close together.”  He took note of the time to start calculating the time between contractions and made a mental calculation of how much longer it should take Alfred to get there.  “Agent A should be here in just a few minutes,” Nightwing assured her.

“Agent A?”

“Alfred,” he elucidated.

“Of course,” she sighed with a nod.  Her eyes suddenly opened wide.  “Oh God, it’s your whole family isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he grimaced at her tone.

She shook her head again.  “Figures.” She glared up at the sky again.  “A normal life.  That’s all I asked for.  As normal as possible.  But noooooo. Can’t let even one thing be normal.  Can’t get a freaking break, because Destiny is a petty, mean bitch and has to get their sticky, meddling fingers into everything,” she muttered bitterly.  She looked over to Dick with pursed lips and sighed. “Better put on your mask again unless you’re ready to let all Gotham know your identity.”

Dick’s eyes got wide again.  “Oh Right!” He pulled the domino mask out of his pocket and affixed it again before pushing open the door to the sidewalk and the waiting car.

Tags:

@dickinette-february @demonicbusiness @ichigorose @iloontjeboontje @ladybug-182 @toodaloo-kangaroo @dast218 @golden-promises @trippingovermyfeet @emimar7 @laurcad123 @lady-bee-fechin @thewitchwhowaited @redscarlet95 @jayjayspixiepop

[wisherbysharlight]

My God if I could only say, I'm holding every breath for you

Description: Patton Hart has been pining for his best friend's twin brother and his boyfriends for as long as he can remember. Word Count: 3067 Ships: Patton/Remus/Janus/Virgil, background Logince, established Remus/Janus/Virgil Warnings: Remus being Remus, twins squabbling AO3 This is a gift fic for @sunshineandteddybears​ for the @sanderssidesgiftxchange​. The “summer romance” piece kinda got away from me, but this is definitely found family! I hope you enjoy!

Patton was wiping down the counters, about 15 minutes after closing, sunset shining through the windows as he hummed along to the radio, a sense of peace radiating through the store. 

Of course, that’s when chaos erupted.

“Pattycakes, you gotta save me!” Remus cried as he threw the door open so roughly the windchimes actually smacked against the window above the door before falling back down and jingling merrily to announce his presence. He ran behind the counter with no hesitation, gripping onto Patton’s waist. (Patton only shivered because of the burst of adrenaline. That was the only reason. No other possibilities. Nope.) Remus angled them both towards the doorway just as Roman came bursting in with the same amount of urgency, fire in his eyes and shirt dripping wet and seemingly tinted a particularly garish shade of greenish-brown.

“Remus, you can’t hide behind Patton forever, you bastard!” he seethed, and Logan, Janus, and Virgil came through the door behind him, much more calm, almost to the point where Patton would call them bemused. Logan took a seat at one of the small tables along the wall, pulling out his phone with a very evident intention to simply wait the whole debacle out, while Janus and Virgil both leaned up against the glass case in front of Patton. “Get out here and face me, you coward!” Roman bellowed again, clearly not giving up anytime soon.

Patton grabbed an empty paper towel roll from next to him and turned at the waist to whack Remus in the head with it, “Remus you cannot use me as a human shield, go answer for your crimes.” “Kinky. I’d much rather have you issue my punishment,” Remus joked with an eyebrow wiggle, then cackled when Patton made a strangled noise and shoved him back to the other side of the counter. However, as soon as he was in range, Roman grabbed hold of him and pulled him into a headlock and his laughter turned swiftly into a shriek of “Oh shit!”

They were 12 years old, tearing through the woods in a dual-friend-group game of manhunt the summer before 7th grade. Virgil was hot on everyone’s heels and adrenaline was coursing through their veins. Patton leapt over a log and turned a corner, hunting for a good place to hide. 

He heard a curse of “Oh shit!” echo through the woods before the sound of three branches breaking in succession, a huge crash, and a subsequent groan. He quickly pivoted and went sprinting back towards the house, and the sound, easily finding Remus splayed across the forest floor even in the dim light of the moon.

“Why would you climb a tree, silly goose? Don’t you know the branches are weak that high? Scared me half to death!” he chided as he fell to his knees beside him, already pulling band-aids out of his wallet in his pocket.

Remus grinned impishly up at him, and Patton felt his breath catch in his throat, fumbling with the wallet briefly in a way he prayed the other boy didn’t notice. “What’s a lil fear in the face of a bunch of excitement, Patty?” he crooned, and Patton shoved a handful of band-aids at him with little delicacy in his haste to move past the tease. “Besides, I have the best nurse in the world to patch me up when my fun does go south, apparently.”

Patton flushed and turned away, positive Remus could tell even in the weak light, but he couldn’t keep the earnestness out of his voice, “I’ll always patch you up, Ree. Promise.”

Remus didn’t get a chance to respond before Virgil burst through the bushes and tapped them both on the shoulder to get them out and a loud, extended debate began about the validity of the “injury time out”.

Janus leaned on the counter in front of Patton, jolting him out of his reverie. He pointed at the menu, with three shiny new additions at the bottom, “You finally manage to find a flavor sweeter than you, sugar?”

Virgil shoved him out of the way with an eye roll and a fond grin, thankfully distracting from how Patton felt his cheeks would melt the freezers. “He can’t stop flirting even for two seconds, I swear.”

Janus gasped dramatically, swooning against the counter and batting his eyes at Virgil like a starlet in an old black and white, “Maybe if you and Remus gave me the attention I deserve I wouldn’t need to hunt it down in beautiful, endearing ice cream shop owners.”

Remus snorted despite the way he was currently trying to claw his way out of his brother’s hold while being noogied like they were still teenagers and not fully grown and employed adults, “We could give you all the attention in the world, Janny, it would never stop you from flirting with Patton.”

Janus sniffed derisively at them, then cocked his head to the side as the song changed and smiled softly, “Hey, I know this song.”

Patton smiled brightly back, “Yeah of course, have it on all the playlists for the shop!”

“Simp!” Remus called over just as brightly, and Patton glared back at him, assuming it was aimed at him.

 “Ok, you look miserable,” Janus said, making Patton jump from where he was staring down at his water glass watching the liquid swirl around the glass as he moved it in little circles and maybe lamenting his singledom a little bit in the face of a dance floor full of sappy teenagers in fancy clothes enjoying the crisp June night and each other as their last hurrah before graduation.

Patton plastered on a smile, “Oh Jan, I am perfectly hap-”

Janus arched a brow at him, tsking lightly and just loud enough for Patton to hear and stop speaking. “Don’t try to lie to me, I know what you look like when you are actually happy, Patton. And also you’re a god-awful liar.”

“...yeah ok. I’m a little bit lonely, maybe, with Ro and Lo gettin their dance on for the romantic stuff. But I’m not mad, they’re in love, and I told them to go hang on their own. We’ll hang out at the beach house after!” He couldn’t help but glance at the dance floor, where Logan was leading Roman in a waltz that was perfectly on time with the music, lost in their own little world.

“Well Ree and V bailed for the beach early. Not exactly their style of music or dancing, or my vibe to make them do something they don’t enjoy just to get my feet stepped on. Why don’t we be miserable together?” The song changed, to a song with a more Latin-inspired beat that Patton knew only one of every 10 words to, and Janus smirked, “Maybe you and I can even make the most of it and I can score a salsa partner.” Janus ended his proposition with an exaggerated wink and bow, and Patton took his offered hand with a genuine grin.

Janus didn’t miss a beat, switching eye contact to Roman on a dime, “Hey, did you know Remus was the one who’s been screwing with your guitar’s tuning?”

“NONONO HE’S LYING,” Remus cried as Roman tightened his hold and doubled down on his attack, this time poking at his ribs and making Remus shriek in laughter.

As Janus watched Roman wrestle Remus down to the floor of the shop, clearly satisfied with the reaction he managed to get, Virgil nudged him over with his hip to take his place leaning across the counter and whisper conspiratorially, “I bet it was actually Logan. Bastard can get away with murder, I just know it.”

Patton couldn’t help but giggle, with Virgil’s playful smile and dancing eyes across from him, so open and trusting in a way he never was unless it was just the group of them. He smirked a bit, nibbled at his lip in consideration, then leaned in to say in an equally conspiratorial style, “Logan’s only involved to see how long it’ll be before anyone catches on. My record stands.”

“You are a trickster Patton Hart,” Virgil gasped in mock-scandal. He wagged his finger with his hand on his hip in a not-half-bad impression of Patton during a lecture, though he was unable to match his Patton-ted Disappointed Frown while he was grinning, “I’d never expect my partner in crime to be doing something like this without telling me, shame on you. You know I always have your back.”

 It was their last weekend of freedom before they started high school, and as per usual both twins had both their friends sleeping over. Patton woke before Logan and Roman, also as per usual, and snuck out of Roman’s room down to the kitchen, only to jolt as he found the light already on and Virgil sitting on the kitchen counter.

“Whatcha doin?” Virgil asked, legs kicking in the air in front of the cabinets lazily.

“Gonna try to make pancakes! I’m positive I won’t burn them this time, I just know it,” Patton enthused, then squinted suspiciously at Virgil, “What’re you doing?”

“Oh just hanging around, keeping an eye out in case anyone tries to burn the house down again so I can help out. Figured they might need a partner in arson crime, ya know, and I could let them know I’ve got their back,” Virgil teased, nudging Patton’s leg with a sock clad foot. He looked so precious with his sleep mussed hair and eyeliner from the night before smudged under his eyes that Patton couldn’t even bring himself to argue that he really didn’t need a babysitter. Honestly, he couldn’t even begin to pretend he didn’t want the excuse to spend more time with him.

 The twins’ argument grew more heated, finally managing to distract Patton from where he was a bit lost in the way Virgil’s eyes lit up when he was amused.

“You fucked up one of my favorite shirts!” Roman screeched as he attempted to give his brother a wet willy.

“You put red koolaid in my shampoo two weeks ago, you baby!” Remus cried back, shoving at his shoulder to try to get him off, and succeeding rolling them only for Roman to roll them straight back.

“I know you were the one who put my script out of order,” Roman fired back.

“You should have been off book anyway! And you broke bro code and told Virgil I was the one who deleted his X-Files off the DVR. You are just as bad as me.”

“You gave mom’s computer a porn virus and blamed it on me!” Roman protested, and everyone else seemed to simultaneously sigh as they descended into their usual back and forth of dredged-up pettiness.

“Oh you're still - you squashed my bug collection.”

“You left me stranded in the yard after Remy’s homecoming party senior year.”

“That was absolutely justified, you made me listen to you wax poetic about Logan’s fucking lips for 3 hours.”

“You made me listen to you wax poetic about Patton’s EVERYTHING for 13 YEARS”

Everyone in the shop simultaneously went silent in a blink of an eye. Virgil went white as a sheet and swung to look at the twins with wide eyes, Janus gripped the counter white-knuckled and looked at Patton with a similarly stunned expression, and Remus turned nearly as red as the sash on Roman’s favorite Prince Charming costume. He shoved Roman off of him for real, a more severe growl to his voice as he seemed to realize there was no way to play it cool, “You are such a fucking dick!”

Roman stammered for a moment, clearly trying to digest the change in tone and the weight of what he’d said, before waving his arms above his head in apparent bafflement, “It’s not like he didn’t know you all were into him!” 

“Roman,” Logan spoke up suddenly, gesturing at Patton and what Patton knew had to be a completely shell-shocked expression.

Roman looked up and went just as wide-eyed as the others, “Pat… did... did you not know?”

“...all of you?” Patton asked, then winced as his voice cracked in shock. He watched Virgil flinch and seem to retreat into his hoodie out of the corner of his eye, and Janus’ face smoothed over into a perfect mask of calm in the blink of an eye. He felt his heart break just a little bit at the disappointment in both of their eyes at what he was sure they saw as a rejection.

Logan grabbed Roman’s arm and yanked him away roughly, though Roman followed easily, “You all clearly need to communicate. I will handle this one.”

“Don’t wanna know about you handling my brother, poindexter,” Remus joked hollowly, sounding almost like it was a reflex with none of his usual cackle behind it.

Logan rolled eyes and headed out the door, tugging behind him a Roman who was fervently whispering, just barely audibly, “He didn't know, how did he not know,” to himself over and over again.

There’s silence in the shop for a while, just the sound of the radio faintly playing over the loudspeakers echoing off the walls as they all just stare at each other, not knowing how to start. Then Janus took a deep breath and spoke first, “Patton, I refuse to speak for these two clowns, but I will absolutely tell you that I, at the very least, have had feelings for you for many years, feelings which i was unaware I was not making perfectly clear, or that there was a chance of any sort of reciprocation.”

“Around 7 years for me, give or take. That first morning we made pancakes together,” Virgil added quietly, fiddling with the zipper on his sleeve.

Remus averted his gaze, looking nervous in the way Patton had only seen the day before he confessed to Virgil and Janus in high school, and admitted in the quietest voice Patton’d ever heard him use, “I don’t know exactly when, Pattycakes. You’ve always been there and as far as I’m concerned I’ve loved you just as long. And-and I just assumed it wasn’t returned.”

Patton swallowed thickly, trying to push back tears because he knew these boys and knew they would take them for disappointment rather than the joy they were. He dove at Remus first, vaulting the counter the way he always scolded Roman against and sliding to his knees next to the other man on the floor before crushing him in a hug. He flailed back at Janus and Virgil with one hand to pull them in as well, “Come here, all of you, we’ve lost so much valuable cuddle time!”

Patton was pretty sure Janus broke the sound barrier with how quickly he was plastered to his side and burying his face in his hair, and Virgil wasn’t far behind, wrapping an arm around his waist and burying his face in the crease of his neck and shoulder. Patton took that moment to be a bit daring himself and press a kiss to the corner of Remus’ lips, then giggled brightly when Remus grabbed hold of his cardigan and used it to pull him back in to kiss him full on the mouth with just as much passion and impulsiveness and laughter as Patton had always imagined. His mustache tickled Patton’s nose a bit but he leaned into it, humming happily in the back of his throat and feeling like a puzzle piece clicked into place.

Virgil only gave them a minute before he untucked his face from Patton’s neck and grouched that he wanted a turn. Remus let Patton go with a very put-upon sigh that didn’t match his playful grin, flicking Virgil on the nose lightly. “You gotta give him his kisses or he’ll never shut the fuck up,” he fake-whispered.

Patton grinned and turned readily to Virgil, and his lips met Patton’s in a much gentler dance. His kiss was no less deep or passionate for its caution, and his hands cupped his face like he feared Patton would float away if he didn’t hold tight. His fingers curled and twitched upwards like they wanted to bury themselves in his hair but didn’t want to overstep, so Patton took the initiative to grip the back of his neck and tilt his own head to encourage Virgil to do what he wished.

Janus was more patient, waiting for them to part for breath a few minutes later before taking hold of Patton’s chin from Virgil without a word and gently but firmly turning Patton towards him. Janus’ kiss could only be described as a caress, light and teasing and peppered with soft nips to his bottom lip before building up to something more solid. His warm hands rubbed calmingly up and down Patton’s spine and over his shoulders like he couldn’t figure out where he wanted to touch first.

Remus soon demanded he get another shot, then Virgil wanted another, then Janus again, leaving Patton so beyond cloud 9 he could barely think any more. They spent at least 20 minutes there on the floor, lost in each other, rotating kisses that were long overdue, letting their actions make the confessions their words hid from for years, not daring to move and break the spell of the moment.

Then a camera shutter sounded, paired with a bright flash of light that made them all jolt and look up in surprise.

“I said communicate you know, not make out on the floor,” Logan sighed, digging through his wallet to pull a 20 out to hand to Roman, who was grinning victoriously.

“I’m sorry for being a dick, but I had to do something and I told Logan the “accidental slip” would work,” Roman said as he pressed a triumphant kiss to Logan’s cheek and pocketed the 20, “But you have to admit it was a pretty great performance on my part.”

“Can’t believe I was betrayed by my best friends, I don’t know whether I owe you a scolding or a fruit basket,” Patton lamented playfully, cheeks hurting from how wide he was smiling. Janus ruined what little remained of the facade even more as he shifted slightly and pulled him into his lap and Patton clung tight to Virgil and Remus’ hands, with no intention of disconnecting any time soon.

[jimmys-zeppelin]

ghostin'

chapter fifteen

(table of contents)

(chapter fourteen)

june 26, 1976

"We're here today with Miss Ellie Saunders, singer and writer of the newest song going up in the pop charts, Songbird! Would you like to say hello to our audience, Ellie?"

"Hi, everyone! Thank you so much, Bill for having me on."

"Pleasure's all mine. Last time we had you in the studio was...two years ago with your single, Dreamer, isn't that right?"

"Very much so! Since then lots of things have changed." Ellie chuckled, reflecting on the past for a split second.

"Yeah, you were just a wide-eyed kid who had no idea what the business was like or where you were going. Nice to see you settled down. Now, you're with Led Zeppelin's guitarist, Jimmy Page, right? How's that working out with their constant touring?"

Ellie visibly tensed. If they were there to talk about Jimmy, they should have just called him on instead, but alas she was polite and answered the question. "Yes, Jimmy and I are together," she chuckled nervously, "Well, we manage our time pretty well. He's currently away doing his stuff and I'm working on my new album, but we find time to get a phone call in before bed...middle of the night," she laughed, "we find a way."

"Adorable, you two are. So this album of yours? Got a title yet? And what kind of songs are we going to see on it?"

"Not yet," Ellie answered, but quickly saved herself, "we have a working one, but even that's under wraps for now. As for songs, they're mostly just your regular old love songs I guess. The experimental piece was actually one I plan to release soon. I really hope my fans enjoy it. It took a lot to write it."

"And the title?"

Ellie looked over to Carolyn, who sat across the room puffing on a cigarette. The brunette nodded at the blonde, allowing her to speak on the song, "Well the song is called Sign of the Times. It's about seeing a change in someone you love and having to accept it. It could be with a wife, husband, lover, friend; anyone you hold dear who you just...can't help but worry about." She explained, getting lost in her own words as she thought about Jimmy. "As you can see I'm still a bit raw about it," Ellie lightly rubbed at her watering eyes.

"Do you miss your person?" Bill asked, suddenly becoming quite sincere.

Ellie met his gaze, nodding, "I do." she said, thinking of what lie to tell people to convince them she wasn't talking about her lanky, dark-haired boyfriend.

"Well, now onto what you're here for. Tell me about Songbird, then."

"Um, well...there was a slight bit of a rough patch lately that affected me a bit. I decided to get my trusty notebook out and spew out all the words that would come. And Songbird came out of that."

"Some beautiful acoustic on there, who did it?"

"I did! Jimmy's not the only one who's well-spoken in the ways of a guitar in this relationship. Although I did want him to come play on it for me, our schedules just didn't line up." She shrugged.

"Incredible. Well, here it is, folks. The new song by Ellie Saunders: Songbird." Bill said, fiddling with some buttons and getting his turntable ready before removing his headphones, "you can take those off now." he said.

Ellie removed the bulky headphones from her hair and held them idly in her lap as her song played out to the broader Los Angeles area. She knew it wasn't the first time a station had played the song in the week or so that it'd been out, but it was different knowing that she was right there while it was playing out to thousands of people. It was daunting if anything.

"Ellie that was great. Thank you so much for coming on!" Bill said, standing to shake Ellie's hand. The singer mirrored his actions and went in for a handshake, returning the favor.

"Thank you for asking me to come on. It was a pleasure. Maybe I'll come back when Sign of the Times comes out." She said with a wink.

"Of course," Bill replied, "tell me. In confidence; off the record. Is there a title for the new record?"

Ellie contemplated her honest answer, then exhaled through her nose in a laugh before answering, "No, actually. I have no idea what it's called. I've been so focused on writing songs that...I just haven't had time to think of a title, honestly." Ellie laughed as she spewed the honest truth.

Bill laughed out loud at the comment, giving Ellie a pat on the back, "Seriously, Ellie, come back any time. New song, new album, or if you just wanna chat with me for the morning segment. It would be great."

"Thank you so much, Bill." She repeated as she started picking up her bags. Carolyn put out her cigarette in an ashtray near the microphones and gave Bill a firm handshake. The women left the building shortly after.

After they'd been settled in the car to take them back to the studio, they finally got a chance to take a breather and relax. Things had been moving at a touch and go pace since finishing the two bigger singles. The rest of the songs still needed more, Ellie thought. It often occupied her mind just what she wanted to add to each song. That and Jimmy.

Not only was she concerned about him, she found herself getting increasingly more discouraged when she spoke with him. Like she was walking on eggshells when it came to a conversation with him. If either of them said the wrong thing, the other would get set off. Ellie found herself as more of the latter. She hated arguing while they were away from each other, but she couldn't help comment about his activities. He knew her disdain of it and it seemed there wasn't much else to talk they had to talk about since their days were full of nothingness lately.

☆

Andrew came over late that night. One more song on the album had been finalized and he deemed it enough to celebrate. Five of twelve songs completed, in case anyone was counting.

"Cheers to another amazing song by my best friend." Andrew said, raising a glass of some old whiskey Ellie had had hidden in her house since she'd moved in. The blonde could hardly remember who had given it to her. It seemed it just was a part of the house at that point.

They clinked glasses and each took a sip, both inevitably coughing and gagging at the taste and giggling at their reactions. Their conversation carried on until Ellie's eyes wandered to her stack of mail. Since getting home she hadn't had much time to give it a look so she gave each letter a once-over before focusing on Andrew again. That was the plan, at least.

However, a postcard caught her eye and she couldn't help but pick it up.

'Sunset Strip, Hollywood, California' Read the front as it was decorated with a photo of the infamous Sunset Strip at night. Ellie flipped over the postcard, her eyes quickly darting past the words that had been scrawled onto the paper.

'I recall you saying something about the Sunset Strip calling your name when we went out for dinner. How about we go out again sometime soon? You can be a Dreamer about life again. Call me when you get this. 213-xxx-xxxx

Hugs, Roger

P.S. Did you get the reference of your song that I used?

P.P.S. Ask for Simon Ferocious'

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows, but was delighted at the prospect that Roger would send her a postcard. She reached for the phone, starting to dial the numbers.

"What's up?" Andrew asked, taking another sip of the blasted whiskey, to which he exhaled sharply only seconds later. He set the cup down in disgust.

"It's Roger. He's in California. Told me to call him." Ellie replied, handing the man the postcard as his hands reached out for it. The line rang while Andrew exhaled through his nose, laughing at the corny jokes made in the letter.

"Ritz Los Angeles, my name is Angela. How can I be of service to you this evening?" The woman on the other line said. Ellie was taken aback slightly at the discovery of the Ritz's hotel having been the main point of contact for Roger.

"Uh, hi. I'm calling for a Simon Ferocious staying at your hotel." Ellie said, trying to hold back her laughter.

"And who's asking?" She asked.

"Say it's Mrs. Page. He'll know who it is."

"I'll put you through."

"Thank you."

Silence came through the phone before the Hold music shortly began. An ear-raping jazz number made Ellie put the phone down as soon as the music started.

"Simon Ferocious?" Andrew asked, having come back into the living room with a near-empty bottle of blush wine Ellie had been keeping in the fridge along with two flutes. She shrugged as he poured the rest out for the both of them as the infernal jazz finally came to an end.

"Mr. Ferocious for you, ma'am." The woman said.

"Thank you," Ellie paused waiting for the clicks before Roger's familiar rasp came through.

"Mrs. Page, hm?" Roger asked.

"I heard we weren't giving out our real names." Ellie laughed, twirling the phone cord around her finger. Her eyes followed Andrew as he walked over to her record collection beside the turntable.

"Well, I had good reason. I'm staying on the down low."

"Is that it? Who's Simon Ferocious, then?" she asked as the sounds of a song she couldn't quite place by Led Zeppelin came flooding through the speakers. The song was from a  special release pressing Jimmy had gifted her when Physical Graffiti was released the previous year. Close friends and family received them. Ellie had been honored to say the least.

Roger chuckled, "A guy looking to take you out to a show. Someone there with you?"

"Just Andrew. He's my best friend—"

"And I'm gay!" Andrew shouted across the room.

"Nothing to worry about." Ellie smiled, and though Roger couldn't see it, he could sense it.

"Right. Simon Ferocious is something Fred called Sid Vicious because he was bothering him one day in the studio," Roger laughed, "Ask him about it one day, he'll get so cross about it."

"I think I might. Feel like you're not doing the story justice." Ellie chuckled. "So is Mr. Ferocious going to take me out to a show?"  She asked as Andrew returned to his seat on the floor across from the singer, munching on a cracker that was sitting on a plate.

"I was hoping to today, actually. Then I heard you on the radio this morning and thought you might be busy."

Ellie apologized for the delay, "I got your postcard yesterday, I just didn't bother to look at my mail because it was all mixed with bills and other junk that it got lost. I'd ditch Andrew for you any night."

"Bitch!" The aforementioned man exclaimed, slapping Ellie on the shoulder with a push. A bubbly, hearty laugh left her throat as she fell back onto the floor.

Catching her breath, she confessed, "We're getting a little tipsy." she giggled. "How much longer are you in LA? I'll make it up to you."

"I leave on the 5th of July. I have to be back in London so we can start the new album."

"Well let's go to a Fourth of July celebration! I think my record label's throwing one. They're usually on top of some pretty rooftops. It'll make for a great view."

"It's a date then. Keep me posted on this...roof party."

"Didn't I give you my phone number, Rog?"

"..."

"Hm?"

"I dropped the slip of paper in a puddle on the day I got here. God's honest truth, El. Which is why I sent you a postcard."

"I'll entertain that story for a while...." she joked, "I can give it to you again, if you'd like."

"Yes please." Roger said sheepishly; a shuffling audible in the background.

"626...."

---

masterlist | playlist

Taglist: @diaryofafan17 @tophats-n-lespauls @witchesdust @jonesyjonesyjonesy @paginate54 @hejustsatisfiess @salixfragilis @princesspagey @reincarnated70sbaby @rebel-without-a-zeppelin @kyunisixx if you want to be added to the list lmk!

[storytellerofuntoldlegends]

to see the sun again i’d give anything

A/N: if you couldn’t already tell, the dream smp has definitely taken over my thoughts lately. also hello and welcome to my "c!philza needs to process losing his son and his wings in the span of ten minutes instead of deflecting with laughter and destruction" agenda. title is from Bird With A Broken Wing by Owl City! enjoy!

Warnings: past character death, trauma, past injury, emotional repression, flashbacks, crying, minor violence, emotional hurt/comfort, teasing/banter, hugs

Summary: Phil tries to get some work done around Techno's house. The only problem with that is that his mind ends up wandering into darker thoughts than he'd like, leaving Phil to shatter. But luckily, someone is there to pick up the pieces.

-

Beware the Angel of Death, who cackles while cities burn. That was what they said about him, that was what everyone expected of him. That or they expected wisdom and fatherly care from the man whose wings died with his son. But the truth was that the great Philza Minecraft was neither of those things. Well… to be fair, the moniker “Angel of Death” was well deserved, the rubble of L’Manburg made that fact absolutely certain. But Phil didn’t want that to be who he was. He wanted to be safe and at home with no war or fighting, preening his wings while Wilbur’s music drifted through the house- but he had ruined all of that on his own, hadn’t he?

Phil squeezed his eyes shut and let out a shaky breath. He was in the middle of checking over the bee farm, why were all of these thoughts hitting him now? Maybe it was because the yellow of the bees made him think of Wilbur’s sweater, their buzzing resonating at a frequency similar to the sizzling of TNT-

Okay. Maybe Phil should leave the bee farm for later. There were other things he could do… like gathering supplies for the Syndicate! Yes, that would be good, having something monotonous to work on always helped. With that plan in mind, Phil spun on his heel to head to Techno’s house to check and see what they needed- and smacked right into Ranboo. The two stumbled away from each other, Phil ending up falling onto his back- and therefore onto his permanently damaged wings. Phil hissed in pain as the fragile, half-there feathers made crushing contact with the snow and cold ground beneath it, and Ranboo’s expression twisted in a mix of guilt and sympathy.

“I’m sorry! I thought you knew I was there,” Ranboo said, holding out his hand to help Phil up. He took the offered hand and shook the snow from his wings once he stood up.

“It’s alright mate, I was just… lost in thought, I guess,” Phil said, trying for his usual smile. Ranboo didn’t seem to buy it, if the worried frown was anything to go by, but he didn’t directly comment on it.

“Oh. Okay! How’s the uh, bee farm?” he asked, clearly trying to keep things casual, which Phil was grateful for (even if it was painfully awkward).

“Giving me difficulty, I keep getting… frustrated. Think I’m gonna deal with it later,” Phil replied with a shrug.

“I can do it!” Ranboo blurted. Phil startled a bit at the outburst from the usually mellow teen, blinking in surprise.

“I, uh- thanks mate, but…”

“Really, I can do it! You showed me how to take care of them once, and I put down what you said to do in my memory book! I can handle it, promise,” he said, pulling out his memory book and flipping through the pages. Phil smiled, a true smile this time, at Ranboo’s eagerness to help.

“I- thank you. You let me know the minute you need help though, okay?” Phil insisted, tone leaving no room for argument. So of course, Ranboo argued against it.

“I think I can handle taking care of some bees, Phil,” he scoffed with a grin. For a split second, the snarky reply felt so reminiscent of Wilbur. If things had been different, would Wilbur be there with them? Phil could practically see the alternate reality play out in front of him- Wilbur helping out with the farms, getting into snowball fights with Ranboo and then egging on Techno and Phil to join them, or sitting on the porch and strumming his guitar and humming half-worked out melodies. A bittersweet smile came to Phil’s face, and he blinked away the sudden mistiness in his eyes.

“If you say so, mate,” he said softly, then walked away from the bee farm and to Techno’s house.

Once up the stairs and safely inside, Phil let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. His wings sagged, their damaged tips lightly brushing against the floor. Saving face in front of Ranboo… that took more energy than he had thought. That combined with how much he had seemed like Wilbur for a moment… well, Phil wasn’t exactly in the mood for gathering supplies anymore. But he didn’t want to be idle either. Being idle meant being alone with your thoughts, and Phil’s thoughts often weren’t that kind to him. They’d be filled with accusations of him being a terrible father for killing his son, for letting Wilbur twist and become such a darker version of the bright young musician Phil once knew, for destroying the thing his son had built to rid himself of the memories of Wilbur’s screams begging Phil to kill him-

Before he realized it, Phil crumpled to the ground, knocking something over as he went, hand clamped over his mouth to stifle his sobs. What on earth was he doing? He had to get up. He had to stop crying. Wilbur, his wings, and L’Manburg- those tragedies were in the past. He should be over it now. Right?

Phil’s feeble reassurances to himself did nothing, as he remained on the floor with his wings shielding him like a fragile cocoon and shoulders shaking with sobs he was stubbornly trying to hold back. He was so lost in his sorrow and denial that he hadn’t realized that someone heard something crash in the house, and now had come inside to investigate. They tried to get his attention, but upon garnering no response, they put a gentle hand on Phil’s back, right between his wings.

The touch, no matter how gentle or well-meaning, caused something inside Phil to snap. Some strange, almost primal instinct took over and replaced the mournful sorrow. No one touched him anywhere near his wings and lived. He shot up from his curled up position on the floor, drawing his sword in the same motion and lunged at the person behind him. He tackled them to the ground, sword edge at their throat- and froze. Because he saw eyes wide with fear and shock, and for a moment all he could see was Wilbur. Then he blinked, and registered the heterochromic red and green eyes of the person he just attacked- Ranboo. He broke eye contact and scrambled away from Ranboo like he had been burned, tossing his sword aside and hardly registering the clatter it made over the thundering of his heart.

“Ranboo, I’m so sorry, I didn’t-”

“It’s okay, you clearly didn’t realize I was there or who I even was, it’s not your fault and I’m not hurt anyway,” Ranboo said, voice low and soothing as he shifted into more of a sitting position on the ground, not standing up quite yet. Phil felt way out of his depth. Not only had he been caught crying by a teenager, but his immediate reaction to said teenager trying to comfort him was to kill him. Some father figure he was.

“I-I-”

“You don’t have to talk about what’s bothering you if you don’t want to, but… something tells me that this is something you’ve been keeping to yourself for a while. And trust me, I know that bottling things up is never good. So when you’re ready to talk about it… I’m here,” Ranboo said softly. Phil let out a sigh.

“Ranboo, you’re just a kid. I can’t be putting all my problems onto you,” Phil said, his voice a hollow echo of the cheerful kindness it usually held. A mildly irritated expression crossed Ranboo’s face.

“In case you haven’t noticed, this server is full of kids and people who are basically kids to you anyhow. So who exactly else would you be able to talk to about this?” he said, a bit more blunt than he probably meant to, but beating around the bush certainly wouldn’t help things either.

“I don’t need to talk to anyone about anything,” Phil huffed, sounding a bit like a stubborn child.

“Uh huh. Says the guy who made a loud crash when having a mental breakdown, and then startled so bad that he instinctively attacked someone. You’re right! You don’t need to talk to anyone about this at all,” Ranboo said flatly. Phil winced, and let out another sigh.

“I… you’re right. I shouldn’t be keeping this all bottled up. It’s just that everyone here is so young and already has had so much struggle and heartbreak. I couldn’t bear to add to that,” Phil said softly.

“Misery loves company,” Ranboo pointed out with a smile. Phil couldn’t help but smile back.

“I suppose so,” he said. Ranboo’s smile grew wider, and he stood up, then offered a hand to Phil to help him up (again).

“I’m capable of standing up on my own, y’know,” Phil chuckled, but took the offered hand anyway.

“And yet I’ve found you on the ground twice today, old man,” Ranboo teased. A surprised laugh burst from Phil’s lips.

“Oh you little shit, I thought you were trying to comfort me,” he said, still laughing.

“Okay hold on, first: there is nothing ‘little’ about me, I’m a lot taller than you. Second: I got you to laugh, didn’t I? Seems like the comfort is working pretty well,” Ranboo said, sounding unreasonably smug. And yet again, Ranboo reminded him of Wilbur. It was strange- upon first meeting the half enderman, Phil saw so many similarities to Technoblade in him. But now, the more he got to know him, the more he noticed a remarkable similarity to Wilbur as well.

“Maybe so,” Phil sighed. Ranboo squinted at him suspiciously, and Phil kept his eyes trained on the floor.

“You keep getting that wistful tone in your voice and a faraway look in your eyes. Do you… wanna talk about that?” Ranboo asked, fidgeting with his sleeves and looking otherwise unsure of what to do with his hands. A smile tinged with bittersweet memories came to Phil’s face.

“I suppose I should. Let’s sit down by the fire, this isn’t a conversation I want to have standing or feeling cold,” Phil said, taking a seat in front of the fireplace with Ranboo quickly following his lead. One of Techno’s dogs, who somehow had stayed snoozing by the fireplace throughout Phil’s mental breakdown, instantly perked up and trotted over to sit in Phil’s lap.

“Dogs are good for comfort too,” Ranboo pointed out. Phil agreed with a chuckle, gently running a hand through the dog’s fur. After a deep breath to calm himself, Phil delved into the story of his son, his wings, and L’Manburg. Ranboo listened with a patient and understanding expression, reaching out every once and a while to put a comforting hand on Phil’s arm whenever his voice wavered.

“And that’s it, I guess. I’ve tried to put my focus into working on farms here or gathering supplies to keep my mind off of it… but as you can tell, that hasn’t entirely worked,” Phil said after he finished his story. Ranboo was quiet for a few moments, taking in what Phil had said.

“In theory, I guess trying to distract yourself isn’t the worst idea, but… you haven’t really given yourself time to… process anything, have you?” Ranboo finally asked. Phil laughed bitterly.

“Unless you count what happened earlier? Not really,” Phil replied, keeping his eyes on the dog dozing in his lap.

“Phil,” Ranboo said reproachfully.

“Oh, because you’re the champion of processing emotions?” Phil shot back. Ranboo winced, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Phil immediately felt guilty.

“To be honest, I don’t really remember many things to process them anyway,” he said, voice low. Phil sighed, and reached out to put a hand on Ranboo’s arm, much like Ranboo had done for him earlier.

“It’s alright mate, I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. You were just… entirely correct, and I didn’t want to admit it,” Phil said with a soft, apologetic smile.

“Hey, if I were in your shoes, I probably would have lashed out too,” Ranboo said, smiling back and affectionately nudging Phil’s shoulder with his own. Once again, Phil was reminded of Wilbur. He had always been so dependent on touch- things like shoulder bumps, hair ruffles, playful punches on the arm, hugs- and it seemed Ranboo was the same way, albeit a bit shyer about it. Phil must have had that “faraway look” as Ranboo put it, as the half-enderman was regarding him with a puzzled expression.

“There’s… probably something else I should explain to you. But I don’t want it to affect who you are as a person, and I don’t want you to think that anything you do makes me feel… bad,” Phil explained, internally wincing at the way his words came out. “Uh… okay? Gonna admit, you’re scaring me a bit there,” Ranboo said with a nervous laugh, looking a bit startled. Phil took a deep breath, then reached out to take Ranboo’s hand and squeeze it comfortingly.

“When I first met you, you reminded me so much of Technoblade. A little standoffish, skeptical of everything and everyone, and a bit stubborn. But the more I’ve gotten to know you, the more you make me think of Wilbur. You have this snark to you like Will, but at the same time you have the capacity for cheerful optimism like he did. Sometimes your mannerisms even remind you of him! So that’s why I get a little… wistful, every now and then,” Phil explained. Ranboo’s expression brightened at the comparison to Techno, but the Wilbur comparison clearly threw him off a bit.

“So… I remind you of the power-hungry revolutionary leader who is now a bizarrely cheerful ghost?” Ranboo asked, head cocked to the side in confusion. Ranboo’s puzzlement startled a laugh out of Phil, and he shook his head fondly.

“I forgot that you never knew the real Wilbur- I don’t know if anyone in this server ever really knew the real Wilbur. Maybe some of the original people of L’Manburg did, but creating that nation… it corrupted him. He was so far from the person I raised… I should have gotten here sooner. Maybe things would be different now,” Phil said, voice soft and tinged with regret.

“Well… I think you did the best you could, considering what you had to deal with when you arrived. And if what you say is true, about no one really knowing the true Wilbur… I don’t know if coming sooner would have helped anything. But I guess none of that really matters, all we can do now is focus on our present actions,” Ranboo replied, sounding much older than he actually was.

“Pretty wise words for someone your age,” Phil said, unable to keep the impressed tone from his voice. Ranboo’s eyes widened, and an awed smile came to his face.

“Huh… yeah, I guess so. And for what it’s worth- I think Wilbur sounds like he was a pretty neat guy. I would’ve liked to know him, the real him,” Ranboo said, squeezing Phil’s hand before letting go of it again.

“I think you two would have gotten along well,” Phil said, finding himself a bit misty-eyed. He wiped at his eyes quickly before any tears could fall, and Ranboo frowned sympathetically. He scooted closer to Phil, then slowly and cautiously leaned his head on Phil’s shoulder and wrapped an arm around him in a half hug. Phil initially stiffened at the contact, but quickly melted into the touch, his arm going around Ranboo’s shoulder while his fragile wing gently covered the hybrid like a cocoon.

The two of them stayed by the fire like that for a while, leaning against each other with Techno’s dog in Phil’s lap. Neither one said a word- not that they really needed to. It felt so nice to be the one being comforted for once, to not be looked to for answers, or to be looked upon with fear. Sure, he was the Angel of Death, the great Philza Minecraft, and a fatherly figure that those could rely on for guidance- but for once, it was nice to just be Phil.

[damn-stark]

The Trouble Ch.5

Jesse x fem!reader

A/N- so here's my surprise :) lmao, I’m going to try and finish this mini series!! I’m not ready for the next chapter though :(

Warning- Violence, talks of blood and death, angst, swearing.

Pairing- Jesse x reader

——

Leaving to you to look like a criminal caught red handed, frozen and unable to think of what to do next. Just stuck between options….options you knew already—you swallowed thickly and looked between your best friend and your boyfriend, parting your lips to answer, “I…”

Your gaze fixates on Ellie and your frown deepens as you begin to offer her an apologetic look. One she understands and responds by looking away. Hiding whatever facial reaction she could’ve given.

“I’m sorry Ellie, but it’s Tommy. I have to make sure he’s okay.” You continue.

She nods as she turns to look at the ground, muttering out her answer. “Yeah, I understand.” She finally looks solely at you and offers you a half smile that was only partially meant. “I’ll see you later.”

After mirroring her smile you turn away and walk off with Jesse, hopping off the second floor to land on the first floor with a soft thud before quickly getting pulled by said man to hide behind some rubble. You peek over the rubble and see two soldiers. It looked easy enough to take them out, both Jesse and you could sneak up on them, or use your silencers. It would be messier, but it would remove the obstacles in the way—

“Come on, let’s distract them and leave this damn building.” Jesse whispers, breaking you from your stupor. “Let’s try and get to the marina as quietly as possible, or else we’ll never make it there alive.”

You look to Jesse and then back to the two soldiers, debating whether or not to follow his command. But your hesitation wins you over and you nod before looking back at Jesse to follow after him.

In that instant that you were sneaking out of the mall, you hear gunshots go off, followed by hurried footsteps. Jesse pulls you to hide in the shadows as footsteps keep approaching and retreating. The noise and tension makes you slap a hand over your mouth, while the other slid to hold onto Jesses. It took everything within you not to run off and help Ellie at the sound of the gunshots. But you had to remind yourself that Tommy was still out there.

“She’ll be okay, lets go while they’re distracted.” Jesse tries to assure you, pulling you along with him now that he had your hand in his grasp.

Even if the worry for Ellie gnawed at you, you let Jesse pull you away to finally leave the mall and make it outside where the shots were only faint sounds.

“I’ve looked at the map and they’ll be everywhere, but there are weak spots, we’ll go through those parts.”

“Mhmm,” you agree, beginning to walk ahead even if you still looked back. “You think she’ll forgive me?”

“What is there to forgive? You’re doing what we were here to do, helping Tommy, she let her revenge in the way.” Jesse argued, “she should apologize to us.”

Your gaze narrows and you falter behind him. “She’s just hurt, if I were in her position I’d do the same, I’m pretty sure you would too. Plus you’re just saying this because you’re mad.”

Jesse looks to you over his shoulder and slowly continues forward. “But she should’ve thought it clearly, the best thing to do was get Tommy, return to the theatre and then go home. Dina can’t be here anymore.”

At that your worry is replaced by...confusion, unsureness and stress. Again you’re reminded of the problem dangling over Jesse and you. It was inevitable talking about it again, he was making sure of that, and he was upset, it was a matter of time.

“The marina is not far from here, keep your eyes peeled for Tommy, or any threat.”

“Okay.” You mumble beginning to do as he said to keep your mind distracted and try to avoid talking with Jesse.

But that was a fail. Again, inevitable.

“Look, y/n, I just want to make clear that I,” he begins again, slowing down to fall by your side. “I love you, and I meant what I said, I want you by my side with this new moment coming in my life. Of course if Dina chooses to keep the baby.”

You sigh and look to the passing scenery, keeping a hand on your gun and the other balled at your side. He notices your silence and continues without a fault.

“Nothing, or no one is going to change that I want you.”

“Your baby might,” you interject, finally looking back at him. “Look I know that you’re promising all this stuff now, you’re trying to be hopeful, but try to see things from my perspective, Jesse. The baby is going to change everything, you might not see it now, but it is. You say you’re willing not to be with Dina. But what if,” your gaze falls again and tears fill your eyes. “You want to give your kid a whole family? I mean I would understand, and that’s what scares me, you changing your mind halfway through our relationships and leaving me hanging with nothing but a broken heart.”

Jesse's eyes turn pitiful, yet meaningful, every bit of happy, loving emotion you had seen him express to you with that simple look only a few days ago was there. He tries to assure like he has many times before, but before he can a loud crash coming from a music shop just a couple feet away steals the attention of the both of you.

Could it be Tommy?

“What if its Tommy? You ask out loud.

Jesse begins to slowly make his way towards the music shop, focusing his gaze on the shop for a long moment before looking back at you to express his own thought. “Wouldn’t doubt it, it’s a music shop. But we need to be careful.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” You mutter before rushing towards the shop, stopping as you reached the door to press your back on the surface, pulling out your gun and pointing it to the dark rubble filled shop. You have the urge to call Tommy’s name, but you stay quiet just in case it’s something else inside. However you do continue sneaking inside, examining the shop and smiling as you see what still remained intact; the old records, guitars and drums. For a moment you forget what you heard and walk towards the records, scrunching your nose as your fingers touch the dust over the records.

“Look,” you say to Jesse as you pull a record of classical music. “I read once in a book that playing classical music for a developing baby is good for their brains.”

“Hmm, interesting, what about a grown adult's brain?”

You snort. “Oh, why? You need some help in that department?”

Jesse shrugs and keeps moving to the back room. “Not me, for a friend we have in common.”

You laugh quietly and shake your head, placing the record back in the shelf to follow after Jesse, hearing as he changes the topic. “So we good now, or what?”

“Uhmm,” you voice, glancing past his head to walk past and keep up ahead of him. “No.” Before he could say more you pick up your pace and stop once you reach the door, drawing in a deep anticipating breath before pushing it open. Seeing nothing but darkness and dust, hearing…a clicking sound until it's too late.

Once you identify the clickers, one is already rushing towards you, tackling you forcefully to the ground while the second one attacks Jesse.

You try to lift your weapon to shoot the clicker, but it all too quickly knocks the gun out of your hand, pinning your arms to the ground with an unbelievable force that you still couldn’t understand they had; a groan escapes your lips and sweat beads begins to form on your forehead as you use all the strength in your body to try and shove it off, but it keeps snapping its jaw at your face, moving viscously. You try to kick it, but it’s body was sitting on your legs, keeping them from moving. You try to hear for any sign of Jesse still alive, but the sound of the clicker snapping its jaw is the only thing that echoes in your ears.

It’s at this time however, as your life hangs from a cracking edge, that all your mind can focus on is Jesse, you try to turn your head to get one last look at him as the clickers jaw comes closer to your skin, but you’re trapped, unable to make any movement. You can’t help but think of all the memories you had with Maria, her father and Tommy, not even the family you had been born too because the truth is you didn’t even remember them. The only family you remember having, is them. One that kept growing when you met Ellie and Joel, when you finally got together with Jesse.

Yet Jesse felt like much more, you loved him and he knew, but you knew he questioned it now that you faced new problems and kept him out in the cold.

However in this instant even the thought of being without him broke your heart, even if you knew a new chapter was opening in his life, you wanted to be a part of it to be with him. You regretted not thinking that much sooner than when your life flashed before your eyes.

“Was this really going to be my last moment in life?” You couldn’t help but wonder, feeling tears sting your eyes and the faces of Ellie, Tommy, Maria and Jesse all flash in your mind, all happy memories before your fight was going to be no more. You shut your eyes and see them much clearer.

Yet before the clicker could bite you, a shot rings in your ears and hits the clicker behind the head, instantly making it go limp and fall on top of you after all it’s blood spilled all over your face. You couldn’t help, but gasp and stay on the ground stiff and blinking repeatedly at the bafflement that struck your whole being.

“You love scaring me half to death don't you?” You barely hear Jesse's voice ask as he pulls and throws the clicker off of you, wrapping his hand around your arm to pull you to your feet. “This is the second time that you do this, this is the second time you almost get bit and scare me.”

Finally breaking from your stupor, you blink to meet his gaze. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you—”

You cut him off by wrapping your arms around his neck, gripping onto him tightly and smiling like an idiot. “I love you, Jesse.”

Jesse sighs and hugs you back. “Yeah, I know. I knew you still did.”

You scoff and pull away to meet his gaze once again. “Sure. I would kiss you, but my face is uh, dirty.” You point out as you wipe clicker blood off your face. “Regardless, I just want to say that whatever you chose, I’ll stick by your side, okay?”

“Really?” He tries to assure himself.

You nod, “yeah.”

Jesse's eyes fall to your lips, but before he could step closer to kiss you, he stops and instead gets a cloth from his backpack and wipes your face. You chuckle and shake your head. “Cute.”

“I know,” he shrugs, shoving the cloth back in his bag and pointing to the exit with the tilt of his head, “let’s go, Tommy is probably still at the marina.”

——

“Do you think Ellie is at the aquarium yet?” You ask Jesse as your eyes roam the dark raging ocean shore, finding it all quite unimpressive. But then what could one expect in the winter? Hopefully you’d see a blue ocean one day.

“If she’s not there then she’s probably on her way.” Jesse answers, his eyes unlike your scanning the area for a threat, or Tommy.

You drop your hand to your side and look his way for a brief moment. “Are you really going to leave her behind?”

Jesse stops at your question and expresses a deep sigh, looking back at you and sharing a genuine look of concern. “My friends' problems are my problems.”

“That’s what I thought.” You express with a relieved smile. “Let’s just find Tommy and go see if we can catch up with her.”

“Yeah, let’s check this building first,” Jesse instructs as he points to a building with a broken balcony rail.

You nod in agreement and begin to follow after him, picking up your gun again and slowly sneaking towards the first floor of the building, finding the backdoor slammed open. Blood pooled the ground and left a trail that led inside. Out of curiosity you crouch and touch the blood, finding it still wet. “This is fresh blood,” you think out loud, standing to your given height and looking to the inside, seeing nothing out of the ordinary yet; just broken furniture, dirty puddled floors and darkness. “Whoever it belonged to is probably close. We need to be careful.”

“Yeah,” Jesse breathes, pushing you behind and leading the way. “You’re right, stand behind me.”

You scoff softly, “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“I know that, but I’m just trying to help you.” Jesse said nonchalantly, looking back at you with a smirk. “I’m being a gentleman.”

You snicker and you roll your eyes, readying your retort, but cutting yourself off as a voice breaks from the back of the room. “Put your weapons down and,” there's a pause and shuffle. “Goddamn I must be fucking dreaming, or going insane.”

You freeze and look towards the direction of the voice, seeing nothing but a shadow appear in the distance. You freeze in your spot as Jesse and you glance at one another with your guns raised up higher.

“Darling you’re getting hell of a scoldin when we get home.”

You blink and drop your guard, feeling your mouth drop open at the voice, the accent that finally registered in your brain. “Tommy,” you grin, seeing the shadow finally show his face as the light hit him. “Tommy!”

In a matter of seconds, without looking to Jesse, or hesitating a moment longer you rush towards Tommy to meet him halfway.

“Y/N, what are you doing here?” He asks, still seeming to be confused if you were actually real, or just an illusion.

“I came after you, you old man.” You say cheekily, letting your eyes scan his face; finding it looked exhausted, but he still looked the same. Old. Nothing really caught your attention until your eyes found fresh blood leaking on his shirt. “You’re...bleeding.”

“Oh, that’s nothing,” he tries to assure you, pushing the subject aside to give you a half hug that he made sure wasn’t the side where his blood was leaking from. “Even if I don’t like seeing you here, it’s good seeing you.” His eyes lift to see Jesse and his grin stays just as bright. “Jesse, man, you’re here too.”

“Like she said.” Jesse grinned, “we’re here for you.”

You pull away to let Jesse get wrapped in the same half hug, letting all three of you get wrapped by a happy daze for a moment until your eyes find his bleeding wound again. “Really, Tommy what happened?”

His eyes fall on his wound and he just shakes it off. “You tell me first, how did y’all get here? Is there more of you?”

“We got here two days go,” Jesse answers, still avoiding your main concern. “On horseback. It felt like hell, but we got here. And you don’t have to worry, you and y/n will deal with Maria when we get home, it’s just us, Ellie and Dina.”

Tommy hums and nods. “That’s what I thought, I’ve been hearing the radio chatter and all I hear is news on a tresspar girl with red hair.” He begins to walk past the both of you so he can walk outside, still continuing to talk over his shoulder. “Never imagined you two though. Still feels like I’m dreaming. You two okay?”

“Never better.” You sigh as Jesse and you follow him. “Couple of scratches, but we’re fine. You on the other hand, I’m not going to stop bothering you until you show me that your wound is stitched up.”

Tommy groans and shakes his head, turning around to lift his shirt and show you a sloppy stitched up stab wound. “I’m fine. Did it all myself before we found each other.”

You hum and force yourself to be okay with it for now. “Fine, but I’m restitching after we return to the movie theatre.”

Tommy let’s his shirt go and spins back around. “Is Ellie there?”

“No,” Jesse answers for you, “she’s on her way to Abby. She’s going to the Aquarium.”

Tommy stops and looks to the ocean, not even thinking about it twice before he assured your other concern. “That girl loves getting into trouble.” Tommy begins his pace again and changes directions this time. “But we can’t let her deal with it alone. I found a good boat, let’s get on and go after her.”

.

.

.

.

Tagged- @protect-lev, @expecto-nox , @vintage-and-hypnotic , @kokomaesadie​ , @0j-b0, @itsyellow , @minheoly

[whumpmatsus]

tw // noises , loud noises : osomatsu afraid of an emergency alert system test

I went ahead and made it an actual emergency alert, because rainy days and Mondays and whatnot-

also it's worth noting I did look up Japan's emergency alert system, but I have no idea how J-Alert actually functions, I've just kind of assumed it's similar to the system that's in place where I live XD

Osomatsu, you've got some top-notch little brothers there!!

it's technically Allmatsu but like... big Sokudomatsu vibes tho :D

-

All things considered, a few days of bad weather keeping all the sextuplets cooped up in the house pretty much guarantees that they’re all going to be on edge.

They’re occasionally two seconds away from being at each other’s throats anyway, with all the challenges of being a big family in a small house. When the skies darken and open up with rain, though, it all becomes that much worse.

It means Ichimatsu can’t venture out to feed the stray cats, because being out in the cold rain for so long will probably lead to him getting sick. The comfort and stress relief that Karamatsu finds in playing guitar on the roof is vanished into thin air. Everyone has to keep Jyushimatsu from going outside since he’s half determined to play baseball even when it’s pouring. Choromatsu can’t hit the streets in search of a job or anything; too much chance of getting caught in a torrential downpour far from home. That’s also the reason Totty can’t make any plans with his friends, and counts his blessings that he doesn’t have any work shifts during these days.

All things being equal, Osomatsu is almost certainly the most laidback of their little group. Big brother tries his best to find solutions to keep all of them distracted, such as playing games or helping everyone settle on what TV show they should watch. Even though there are other places he’d rather be right now ― like the races or pachinko or maybe somewhere trying to pick up girls ― he can acknowledge that it’s kind of nice to spend time with his brothers when they can’t go outside.

The rain’s been coming down steadily today, a constant pattering that’s rhythmic and borderline soothing. It’s already put Ichimatsu and Totty to sleep, the two of them curled up under a blanket together. Before they fell asleep, Totty said something about the storm being “free ASMR”, whatever that means, and Ichimatsu mumbled an agreement as they cuddled in against each other.

To be completely honest, the energy in the house in general is pretty low. That might be best for a stormy day. Everyone can chill out and recharge their energy.

For the most part, Osomatsu is playing at being as responsible as he can handle today; gathering snacks, making tea, keeping kerosene in the heater so nobody gets too cold. Now that Totty and Ichimatsu are down for the count, everyone else is starting to get sleepy. Which, of course, means it’s time for a collective nap.

He takes a look around the room as he settles in on the couch himself. There’s Ichimatsu and Totty under their single blanket, seeming to be getting along just fine to share it. Choromatsu and Karamatsu are nuzzled against each other with their legs under the kotatsu, with Choromatsu’s head resting on Karamatsu’s shoulder and Karamatsu’s head resting on top of Choromatsu’s. And Jyushimatsu is… huddled up in a few blankets near the couch. For all intents and purposes, sleep has apparently claimed him, too.

Well, that’s good. Now that he’s made sure all his little brothers are comfortable, Osomatsu can doze off himself.

There’s a leftover blanket folded up at the end of the couch, so he pulls it up around himself and lies down with his head propped against one of the arms of the couch. He’d certainly like to be nestled up with one of the others, but he’s not gonna disturb them for that. They’re all in their own pairs, save for Jyushimatsu, and he’s not going to make the second youngest clamber up onto the couch just because Osomatsu wants some physical contact.

Besides, he can get that later if he wants. It’s going to be chilly and dreary all day, so more snuggles are inevitable. If he gets lucky, everyone will gravitate to one big cuddle puddle after dinner.

So he does his best to relax on the couch. He closes his eyes and tries to slow his breathing down a bit. The rain continues to pound in sheets against the window, and in heavy drops against the roof. There’s the soft rumbling of thunder that’s begun in the background, so low and powerful he can feel it. Somehow, it’s a comfort, something that whispers to him that he can go to sleep now.

Surrounded by his brothers and the lullaby of the storm outside, it’s easy to drift off.

Osomatsu is nearly sunk down into the beginnings of a deep sleep when suddenly, a blaring alarm goes off. And it’s not just one ― it sounds like several firing off in perfect, irritating harmony.

He can’t explain why he has the reaction he does. All he knows is that the abrupt, loud, obnoxious noise cuts through everything else and seems to hit the panic button in his head. A terrified yell rips itself from his throat, and he’s bolt upright. Then he’s on the floor, rolled onto Jyushimatsu and waking his younger brother up.

“HOLY MOLY!” And as soon as Jyushimatsu shouts, it’s enough to wake everyone else up. How anybody could sleep through that siren is beyond Osomatsu, though he’s pretty sure if anyone could, Jyushimatsu could. “Osomatsu-nii-san! You’re on top of me! What the heck is that?! Are we late for school???”

Totty groans as he’s woken up in the rudest way possible. “We’re too old for school, Jyushimatsu-nii-san. We’re adults.” He pulls his phone out, and his other hand reaches to pat Ichimatsu on the head. “Aaahnnmmm… it’s a weather alert.”

“Severe thunderstorm warning,” Choromatsu groans, having turned to glance at the TV. “Looks like it’s only gonna last till like 7 P.M., though.”

Karamatsu yawns and rubs at his eyes. “Should we get supplies together in case the power goes out?”

“The rest of you dumbasses can do that,” Ichimatsu huffs. “I’m not moving. As soon as the alerts stop making that shitty noise, I’m going back to sleep.”

“Well, I guess it falls to the three oldest, then.” Choromatsu stretches, giving a quiet, “Oof” when something in his back pops. “Osomatsu, do you wanna come help us… uh… Osomatsu?”

Strangely enough, the eldest brother is still incapacitated from the unexpected sounds, curled into a ball with his hands pressed over his ears. There might even be tears in his eyes, if one’s looking close enough.

Jyushimatsu runs a gentle hand, (or sleeve, as it were), over his big brother’s head, seeing as he’s the closest one. “I think something’s wrong with Osomatsu-nii-san. He’s all shivery and breathing funny.”

That’s really all it takes for Choromatsu to be over lightning-fast, knelt down next to the eldest. ��Osomatsu? Osomatsu-nii-san, are you okay?” He frowns and tentatively tugs one of Osomatsu’s hands away from his ear. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

“Th… the noise…” His hand is trembling in his younger brother’s grip, tears welling up in his eyes. It still feels like his heart is trying to hammer its way out of his chest completely. He can’t really get a good breath in.

Choromatsu’s brow furrows and he looks back toward the TV, which Karamatsu scrambles to turn off in case it’s the prolonged sound causing the problem. “Did you… ahah… it startled you, right? I think it startled all of us…”

Ichimatsu pushes himself up a bit so he can turn his attention to his older brothers. “Looks like it did more than startle him. He’s about to jump out of his skin.”

“Ah…” Choromatsu quickly gathers Osomatsu into his arms, and is surprised with the fervor with which the eldest clings to him. It reminds them both of… being kids. “H-hey, Osomatsu-nii-san… it’s okay, it’s okay. It’s over now. Can you, um, try to follow my pattern of breathing here? That might help you calm down.”

Osomatsu nods and does his best, mirroring the way Choromatsu inhales for four seconds, holds the breath for seven, and exhales for eight. It takes several cycles, a few minutes’ worth of this, before he can feel himself starting to be a little less shaky. His heart is still pounding, but not as fast as it was a moment ago.

Choromatsu holds him carefully, rubbing Osomatsu’s back, until he can feel the tension beginning to fade from his brother’s muscles. That was… weird. It’s not like Osomatsu to get so anxious, especially not to the point that he’s crying. “There… is it better now?”

“Y… yeah…” Osomatsu raises a hand in an attempt to scrub the tears away. Man… how embarrassing. He’s the oldest and he’s over here acting like a baby because of a stupid weather alert. “Sorry… I, uh, don’t know where that came from, haha.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” Neither of them make any move to get out of the position for a minute, then Choromatsu gradually pulls away once he can’t hear his older brother’s heart beating like a gong. “You… good?”

“Yeah… yeah, I think so.”

Ichimatsu stretches his arms above his head. “Damn. I guess we’re all awake. I hate those alert things… remember that one night when we were kids, and it came on just as we were getting ready for bed?”

Totty laughs, rolling over and propping his face up against one arm. “Yeah, I remember Choromatsu told me they were warning us a big storm was gonna come and wash all the baby brothers out to sea.”

“A-ah…” Choromatsu’s face goes red in an instant. He was such a little bastard as a child. “I’m sorry about that, Totty!”

He waves a hand. “Nah, it’s okay! ‘Cause remember what we did next?”

“Ah… I remember!” Karamatsu grins. “We all said we wouldn’t let the storm get you, and we wrapped you up in blankets and stood guard the whole night.”

“Until we fell asleep,” Jyushimatsu giggles. “I remember panicking when we woke up, but then we all high-fived each other when we saw Totty was still there in the morning!”

“W-we could do that again,” Choromatsu suggests, stealing a peek at their eldest who still appears to be tired. “Except this time…”

Totty’s up in a second. “Ooh, yeah!! Let’s cocoon Osomatsu-nii-san so the big, bad weather alerts can’t hurt him!”

Osomatsu feels like he should be having the hairs on the back of his neck stand up right about now. Instead, he feels sort of warm in a good way when everyone starts to wrap blankets around him. “Geez… you guys don’t need to do all this shit…”

“Well, no, but it’ll be fun.” Choromatsu gives him a smile and nestles in against his older brother’s side. “I’ll take first watch.”

Osomatsu snorts, but lets his head fall on top of Choromatsu’s anyway.

“Man… you guys are lame.”

Thank God for that, though.

[valwrite]

the bella-vista avenue book club; daveed diggs

masterlist

summary: if only she’d double checked her Amazon shopping cart, Y/N L/N wouldn’t find herself torn between what book to give her hot neighbor next.

warnings: fluff, cheesiness, a slither of smut, mentions of a car accident, cooper is a basic dog name, i know but stfu about it.

fic style: oneshot.

word count: 6455.

author’s note: this fic took way too long to write, bye. no but for real, i’ve been back in uni for one month and so far i’ve: done way too many assignments; had more breakdowns than a disney child star; had a covid scare; and spontaneously dyed my hair dark blue/green at 4am instead of finishing an essay. we’re doing well, folks :)

It took exactly twenty one days for the loneliness to kick in.

On the day the lockdown was first announced, Y/N L/N felt the most confusing sentiment of relief and fear blended together. She'd spent just about the whole day in the meeting from Hell, during which three people had stormed out of after countless shouting matches had broken out and her boss had blatantly fired one of the guys from her department, right in front of everyone. When she did eventually get out of said meeting- a whole two hours later than her usual work days ended -, she was struggling with an impending migraine, threatening to blur her eyesight the whole drive home. She arrived home safely that evening, by the force of some miracle, only to find countless texts from relatives and friends alike, detailing the quarantine announcement and all the rules that came with it. Though concerned over the state of the world battling against the rapidly spreading virus, Y/N was just glad there would be no meetings for a while.

Quarantine was exciting at first. In the normal day-to-day life she lead, Y/N often found herself falling short on time to do things she truly enjoyed. There was just always one more task needing done at work; one more errand to complete; one more mile to run. By the time she stepped into her home come the end of the day, her eyelids were always battling to stay opened. So, it was very fair to say that the sudden infinite amount of free time had her feeling rather excited.

Day two and she'd already set herself a list of goals to spend all this time on, a chance to do all the things her schedule got in the way of. Of course, with the situation at hand, all these goals were modified to be achievable from within the confines of her home. The first goal she achieved was knitting a sweater. Granted, it was a mess she'd ended up trying to turn into a dog sweater only to watch as her fur-baby, Cooper, chewed it into rags.

There was no goal on the list to be good at all those goals.

In the following weeks, Y/N found herself trying her hand at pottery - she both made and broke a mug -, baking - the first cake burned but the second she made was actually pretty edible -, guitar playing - it really was just like riding a bike: one never really forgets how to do it - and many other hobbies. In between finding her artistic calling in life, it seemed family quiz nights became the norm.

But twenty one days, that's when she finally took notice of just how lonely living had become for her. A full twenty one days of not having made eye contact with anyone outside of a screen or who happened to not own four paws and a tail.

The loneliness wasn't unique to her, she was very aware. But she was stuck quarantining in a house all by herself, hours away from any of her family and she knew it was going to be a fair while before she even spoke with someone face to face. Much longer than most people. She was still at the point where even bringing up the thought of going to the store- with a trusted mask on, of course - would send her mother into a spiral of worse case scenarios and her father would be threatening to call her doctor.

As neurotic as the two could be about her health, Y/N completely understood their reactions. Things had never really been the same since her accident, even with the years gone by.

She was sat on her sofa- well, actually, sat on her floor, with her back against the sofa - when the door bell rang. She was up at lighting speed, bounding her way over to the front of the house before peaking a look through the peep hole and finding no one there. Unfazed by this, she unlocked the door and pulled it open to unveil a package at her doorstep, the ever familiar Amazon logo splashed across it. In the past few weeks, the delivery service and her bank account had become well acquainted, with most of her new found hobbies being aided by it.

In a matter of seconds, she'd picked up the package, shut the door and made her way into her kitchen, a drawer being pulled open as she dug through it for a pair of scissors. The package was ripped up and there she found a sight she wasn't awaiting, her eyes widening ever so slightly and a "Huh." noise escaping her.

There, laying on the remaining cardboard package, sat a hardback copy of A Tale Of Two Cities. And right next to it sat an identical copy, both of them staring up at Y/N.

“This can't be right, right?” She proposed the question down at Cooper, who'd at some point sauntered in to the kitchen and sat down at her feet, his tail wagging lazily upon being spoken to.

Sure enough, when she checked her receipt online, there was only one copy on the list. She wondered if it was perhaps a “buy one, get one free” kind of deal but quickly found no evidence to back up her hypothesis.

Thinking of what the right thing to do would be, Y/N on instinct began to investigate how she could possibly return the additional book they'd sent to her. As she came to the realization that it would entail her having to return both books and, then, waiting once again for a copy to be sent to her, she changed her mind instantly. A few other solutions came to mind: she could mail it to her sister-in-law, she was just as much of a book worm as Y/N; or she could keep it until the next time she needs a birthday present for someone; or she could just keep both of the copies, even if it felt a little wasteful.

It was only later on that very evening, as Y/N chopped away at some onions and was struggling to contain her tears- she had a spoon in her mouth because her mother swore it stopped you from crying, spoiler: it did not -, that the perfect idea struck.

In the corner of her eye she spotted him, strolling about his own kitchen. He hadn't lived next door for very long, he'd only moved in at the very start of the year, if she remembered correctly. And though they had never really spoken or interacted- polite waves and stiff smiles when spotting one another either leaving or arriving home wasn't exactly very conversational after all-, Y/N couldn't help but decide he was going to be the honorary recipient of the book. After all, what was the worst that could happen? Well, he could use the book to keep his fireplace alight, but Y/N was more eager to just think optimistically about it.

With her mind firmly made up, she neatly wrapped the book in some stray wrapping paper she'd found in her junk drawer and tied a neat, makeshift bow around it. His doorstep was only a couple feet from her own and it wasn't long till she was stood right in front of it, finger hovering over the doorbell as she wrestled with the thought off handing the present directly to him. She recalled one night, where her bedroom curtains had been wide open to let in the moonlight, and he'd walked past his own bedroom window, nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. The image of water dripping down those defined abs made her mind up and she placed the wrapped book next to his door, the little note she'd written taped on to it carefully.

Happy housewarming! I hope you're taking care during these trying time! - Y/N, your neighbor from door 27. p.s. Cooper (the German Shepherd) says sorry for peeing in your flowers :(

A few days later, as Y/N and Cooper arrived home from their daily walk, a mysterious package sat on the doorstep. What made it mysterious was the fact it wasn't from Amazon, nor from her local grocery store either. Cooper possessed no hesitation and dashed over to investigate, his tail beginning to wag as Y/N approached the front door.

“What is it, Coops?” She crouched down, her hand rubbing over the top of his head as his tongue dangled out of his mouth. There was a small piece of paper stuck on the package and, at first, she wondered if perhaps her attempt at a kind gesture had backfired and the hot neighbor had just dropped it back off. Then, she read the note. “Housewarming? Took you a while. This Dickens guy's good, hope he finally get's some popularity soon. - Daveed, your neighbor from door 28.” A smile crept onto her face as she learnt his name. It felt nice on her lips. His calligraphy skills only made the name look prettier. “P.S. check this book out, author is a real hidden gem. P.S.S. tell Cooper it's chill, I got my revenge and peed in his flowers.”

It was there on her doorstep, with a thin layer of sweat decorating her face and a tired out dog at her feet, that Y/N upgraded Daveed from hot neighbor to hot and funny neighbor.

It was almost like an otherworldly sign when Y/N stumbled over a chew toy the next day, her whole body slamming right into her bookcase and out from it fell a book, smacking her right on her head to add yet another bruise on to her list. Her mother had always joked that she bruised easier than a peach, partially on account of her incapability to walk five paces without stumbling over air or slipping on dry ground.

She let out a groan, her hand rubbing at the spot the book hit her and she reached down to grab her attacker- which lay face down - off of the floor. The cover turned out to be that of The Great Gatsby and the sudden urge to wrap it up, attach a note and drop it over at Daveed's doorstep became overwhelming. It still felt so personal to know his name.

Was she seriously about to use a book as an excuse to try catch a glimpse of her hot neighbor, who just yesterday was claiming to have peed on her flowers? Yes, yes she was. Because, after all, he was hot. And if society had taught her anything, it was that hot people were excused of everything. Okay, perhaps she was exaggerating just a little bit but it all added up to the same thing: Daveed was hot and she was thirsty.

Maybe quarantine really was beginning to have an effect on her.

A few hours later, Y/N was comfortably snuggled under her blankets in bed, the room illuminated by nothing but her television screen and the streetlights outside. A door opened somewhere, her anxious brain questioning if it was one of her own doors but the sudden laughter she could hear changed her train of thought quickly.

Oh my god, his laugh was music to her ears. And, oh my god, she'd actually made him laugh.

She lay back, wondering which part of her note had made Daveed laugh as consciousness slowly slipped away from her. One house away, her hot and funny neighbor was near mirroring her position in his own bed, his head replaying the note he'd received from the cute girl next door.

Not too sure about this author, he seems to have a fetish for big feet! I'm beginning to question exactly what kind of weird foot erotica you read, Daveed from door 28! -Y/N, your foot hating neighbor. P.S. this guy definitely needs more clout, can't you just picture his writing being used to teach the younger generations? P.S.S. Cooper isn't happy about you peeing in his flowers but he is happy about the treats.

Two days later, in the morning, Y/N was sat at her kitchen island. Her computer lay open in front of her, untouched for the past half hour as she flipped through the pages of her book and sipped away at the smoothie she'd blended up for herself. Cooper lay sound asleep under her seat, the occasional snore coming from the pup. It was those moments in her quarantine that she enjoyed most, just pure tranquility. It took her mind off of the loneliness.

A feeling overcame her, as the hairs on the back of her neck began to rise. It was almost like she could feel someone's eyes on her. She tore her own eyes away from the printed text and checked her surroundings vaguely. It was only when she looked straight ahead, out of the window that she spotted the intrusive stare of his.

They were sat in near parallel, him also sat at his kitchen island with a computer opened, only he had a mug of coffee instead of a smoothie. When their eyes made contact, he grinned at her, waving the book in his hand before pointing at the cover. The Great Gatsby.

He really was reading the book she'd sent over.

Mirroring his actions, she lifted up her own book, the one he'd sent over all those days ago. The Hobbit.

It was short, it was sweet and it was the longest they had ever interacted off paper. Even without verbal communication, so much was said between them both in that small instance. It was a sign that these little book deliveries were appreciated, they both cared enough to read whatever the other sent over.

Maybe it was time to consider Daveed her hot, funny and caring neighbor.

The book exchanges continued onward for weeks.

Daveed sent over a collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers, his attached note read: Thanks for putting me onto Fitzgerald, gonna have to see if the school board will let me teach his work in my lectures. Think they might be against it, what ya think? In the meantime, check these indie short stories out. Think Cooper will resonate with the wolf in the Red Ridding Hood story. -Daveed, your literature professor neighbor. P.S. Noticed the Raptors jersey on your washing line, tell your boyfriend the Warrior in me is unimpressed.

To which Y/N replied to with, alongside a copy of Twilight,: Cooper loved the Red Ridding Hood story, but he says you remind him of the grandmother in it. Speaking of wolves, check out this classic example of American literature, the lack of emotions this author puts into her writing is truly astounding. -Y/N, the Raptor next door. P.S. The Raptors jersey is mine, but I'll applaud you for smoothly trying to find out if I have a boyfriend. For the record, I do. He's tall, dark haired and lives in my imagination. P.S.S. Could you ask your girlfriend if she knows any good foundations? I'm thinking of changing mine.

He took less than a day to fire back with a copy of 50 Shades Of Grey: If Cooper is the wolf, and I'm the grandmother, would that make you the girl? I think the romance in this book is quite poignant, it really values the emotional over the physical. - Daveed, your grandmother neighbor. P.S. Not sure about my girlfriend's foundation, seeing as she doesn't exist, but I use L'Oreal. Very creamy, or whatever it is foundation is meant to be like. P.S.S. You looked cute in your paint splattered t-shirt the other day.

Not even an hour later, he opened his door to find a hardback of the Holy Bible and the following: I went into that book expecting a rush of happiness and sweetness, but ended up feeling scared and turned on in the most confusing way. I worry about your taste, Daveed, and that is why I'm recommending this book to you. This will cleanse you of all you've done wrong, my friend. -Y/N, your concerned neighbor. P.S. I'm not the girl, I'm the huntsman. P.S.S. Your dog is so cute, Cooper wants her/his number.

It took 45 days of lockdown for Y/N to finally venture out to her local grocers, tired of ordering food online and desperate for some human contact which didn't have to be separated by a great distance and united by a glass screen and a stable internet connection. She'd felt wrong; out of place; strange the whole time she'd been wandering up and down the aisles of the shop, her mask secured on her face and a near full basket hanging on her arm.

The fact Cooper was at home, holding down the fort for the time being gave her a little comfort.

Despite paying through self-service, and using a contactless card payment, her father's voice was ringing in her ears, scolding her for even taking the risk of stepping outdoors. Naturally, she appreciated his caring tendencies but she liked to consider herself old enough and smart enough to manage her own health problems.

With four bags stacked awkwardly in her arms, she took a few steps away from her car, attempting to peak over her shopping to see just where exactly the gate to her garden was. She could very faintly hear Cooper's excited whining, his paws scratching against the metal gate.

It was the sound of a voice, a very distinct voice, calling out her name that halted her movement and turned her head.

“Let me,” He, Daveed from door 28, paused, his hand clutching at his heaving chest. As her eyes drifted over him briefly, she took note of the trainers, the sweaty running shorts and, most of all, his bare chest, perfectly lined abs scattered along him. “get that for you.”

Before Y/N could so much as protest, Daveed had already snatched all four bags from her arms and was stood holding the gate open for her, a stupidly handsome smile decorating him. Her mask was still firmly held up but she smiled beneath it and done her best to share her gratitude with him.

“You don't need to do that.” Despite her words, she never attempted to take her bags back from him, instead cautiously slipping her way past him into her open garden. Cooper launched his paws up onto her, a bark of excitement escaping him before he licked at her arm and redirected his attention to Daveed. Cooper was still fairly young, not even a year old yet, but he was a fierce dog when it came to guarding his owner from any stranger. So, for Y/N to turn back and find him happily circling Daveed's legs, his favorite toy in his mouth and his tail wagging at lighting speed, it was purely a shock to her system.

And the clearest sign she'd ever seen that Daveed, whether he was a complete stranger to her or not, could be trusted.

“Where should I leave these?” He ignored her protest, effortlessly walking up the path of her garden with the heavy bags secure in his hands. Having him around her, all sweaty and heavy breathing and half dressed was more of a health hazard than her trip to the shops. Y/N began to wonder if it was legal to look so good.

“Uh, just,” She fished through her purse for her door key, avoiding the temptation to peak at his abs again. “on the table over there, if you don't mind.” She nodded her head in the direction of the small table sat out on her front porch and, within a couple seconds, she felt as Daveed brushed past her, so close she swore she could feel the heat radiating off of him.

He done exactly as she requested and lay the bags gently to rest on the table, the muscles in his arms flexing. Y/N had to wonder if this was a purposeful action, a way to tempt and seduce her, as if he needed to try much to succeed at that. She'd more or less been whipped for him the second he delivered his first book to her.

“Are you looking after yourself?” Her parents had asked this every time they spoke on the phone - which was basically a daily occasion - but hearing it from Daveed felt refreshing, as though she'd never heard the words before; as though she'd never been spoken to with such tenderness. She let her eyes meet his face, a dangerous choice when she found a dazzling smile reflected back at her.

“I am.” Was it possible for a smile to be brighter than the sun? “Are you?”

“Yeah. Even started eating kale.” Daveed chuckled and she followed suit, because his laugh was infectious and she would willingly let it consume her. “It tastes like shit, don't get me wrong, but it's gotta count for something, right?”

“Oh, totally, kale-boy.”

“Excuse me, I'd prefer if you called me by what I really am: a kale-man.”

The mask slid down the bridge of her nose as she smiled wider than the Cheshire cat. In her mind, she cursed her heart-eyes behavior but it did nothing to halt it, Daveed simply put her on edge in the best way.

“It was nice to finally hear your voice, it's cuter than I thought.” She wondered if he was aware of the effect he was having on her, if each word and every gesture of his was carefully calculated to make her weak in the knees. “I'll save you from my sweaty smell and head off now, I can hear the shower calling my name.”

The last thing, yet also the best thing, Y/N needed to be envisioning was a water soaked Daveed. “I didn't want to say anything but, yeah, you smell worse than Cooper's breath.”

“There's the attitude from all your notes!” Daveed had at some point stepped closer to her, to the point where it was likely a big enough inhalation of a breath would have their chests touching. He was so tall, and muscular. “I'll see you around, Y/N from door 27.”

For two minutes she stood there, mask slapped across her face and her breath caught in her throat, nothing but the raw memory of his body so close and, yet, so far away from her own. She made her way indoors, finally, in a zombiefied state. Cooper trailed happily behind her through the house and all the way into the kitchen and, like the good pup he was being raised to be, he helped put away a few of the groceries, by greedily grabbing at the packet of dog treats when something else in the bag caught Y/N's attention.

“Thank you for the bible, now may I rebut with a copy of the Torah? The characters might seem similar but I swear it's different. Friend? Was that you officially friendzoning me, Y/N? And to think I was willing to look past the fact you're a raptor.” She mumbled allowed without even noticing, her eyes drifting across the note in her hand. When Daveed had snuck this into her shopping, she didn't know. Perhaps he'd left it earlier on that day and simply scooped it into the bags after carrying them for her. That sure made more sense than her theory of him hiding the book down his running shorts. “P.S. My dog and I share a number, so I guess I'll just have to give you that one. Just tell Cooper no phone calls past ten o'clock, that's her bedtime.”

She'd never thought it would be so easy to achieve her hot neighbor's number, but the crumpled paper in her hand told her differently.

The room was dark. Or maybe her eyes were closed. Y/N honestly didn't know nor care enough to find out which was the truth. No, all she cared about was the feeling of her nerves being lit on fire and simultaneously soothed. As the moments passed, she became more and more aware of the predicament she found herself in. Her head was thrown back on the comfort of someone's pillow- it couldn't be one of her own, it was far too plush and soft -, both her legs were bent up at the knee, her hands were busy grasping on to anything and everything close by (the bed sheets, the headboard, the hair of whoever was currently positioned between her thighs) and her mouth was agape. Hushed moans and whimpers of ecstasy filled the thick air of the room, and they were all coming from her.

The tension was building in her gut, a knot winding itself tighter and tighter all the while threatening to snap at any moment. Her hips started grinding in time with the warm tongue against her heat. Or, maybe, she'd already been grinding before. Nothing was making sense. Up was down, left was right and Y/N was on the brink of the most thrilling orgasm she'd felt in a while, or ever, really.

“You gonna cum for me, baby?”

Her eyes- which apparently had in fact been opened all along-, with heavy eyelids, flickered down to between her legs. The man was certainly a specimen built to the likes of a Greek god, or something deriving from one. His fingers, buried deep within her, coaxed out another moan from her as they curled upwards. Daveed only smiled in satisfaction at this, as if he was getting more pleasure from it than she was.

Daveed.

Holy shit.

Daveed was between her bare legs.

Y/N bolted up and out of bed, hand reaching out and switching on the light. Just as she expected, there was no sign of Daveed in her room: not on her bed, not under her covers, not in her closet. But he was everywhere in her mind. Fully dressed, Y/N had never felt more naked in her entire life as she gazed out of her bedroom balcony door, over at the very window of the man who'd soaked her dream in a haze of steam. 

His light was on.

Worst of all, she found that Daveed was sat at his desk, typing away at something on his opened laptop. As though he felt her intrusive gaze, he looked up from the screen and met her eyes. Due to the distance between them both Y/N couldn't tell for sure but she could have sworn he sucked in his lower lip before releasing it in a teasing smile, his hand lazily waving at her.

With all the shame in the world, she shut her curtains and flopped back on to her bad.

In the span of five minutes she'd dreamed of Daveed doing unspeakable things to her with that mouth of his and been caught peeking into the bedroom of the very same man.

She hadn't phoned him.

She hadn't sent a book over to him.

She hadn't opened her blinds.

He'd been stuck thinking about her for eight days straight, yet it was beginning to feel like she'd been nothing but a creation of his own socially starved brain.

In the grand scheme of things, Daveed was not a narcissist. But he also wasn't an idiot. He was very aware of his own looks, of the lingering stares he'd receive from his students- male and female alike-, of the way soccer moms would shamelessly pay more attention to him than their own sons when he coached the local little league team. And, up until that point, he'd been sure Y/N had been reciprocating whatever feelings he'd amassed for her.

One thing Daveed was is decisive.

Mask pulled across the lower part of his face, he let himself into the gated front yard. In a couple seconds, Cooper had pounced up at him, tail wagging a million miles an hour and tongue lapping away at his face. He chuckled as he lowered the dog safely back onto all four paws.

It only took knocking on the door twice for him to get a “Hold on!” shouted from some part of the house as a response. Relief flooded him at the sound of Y/N's voice, reassuring him that everything was okay. But it only brought on more questions about her sudden lack of communication.

“Hell- Oh, Daveed.” A mask decorated her own face, meaning he was unaware  of the hint of a smile on her lips. All Daveed could see were her widened and tired eyes. “Can I help you?” He'd been stood staring her in silence for a little too long, it seemed.

"You never called.” He'd never sounded more pathetic in his life.

“You noticed.”

“Of course I noticed. Did I do something to make you uncomfortable?”

Apart from appear in one of my wet dreams? “What?! No! I've just been busy and I also didn't want to burden you, if I'm honest.”

“I gave you my number so you'd call me, Y/N.”

“And here I thought it was so our two dogs could kick off their fairy-tale romance.”

“As their parents, don't you think it's our responsibility to get along?” Daveed wanted to ask what had kept her busy for eight days. He wanted to know what she thought about in the morning, in the evening. What she thought about him. About the prospect of there ever being a “them”. But it wasn't the time nor the place. “Promise you'll call.”

“I promise I'll call you, loser.” She laughed behind her mask, leaving him with a longing to see her smile. “Now get lost, I've probably just burnt my omelette because of you.”

Daveed had just closed his front door as he felt his phone begin to buzz in his pocket, an unknown number displayed across the screen.

“You owe me an omelette.” Were the first words he heard as he answered it.

Two months passed. The quarantine rules had loosened and tightened over and over again. The supermarkets had restocked their shelves many times. An entire season had come and gone. And Y/N and Daveed had spoken nearly every single day on the phone.

He'd come to learn a few key things: a health scare had kept her busy those eight days; she was allergic to bullshit and always called him out on his; she loved rose wine, or any wine really; she had the most beautiful mind.

She'd also come to learn some stuff about him: he was a university professor, specifying in classic literature; despite the muscles, he was one heck of a dork; he knew a little too much about the rap industry and was prone to throw himself into tangents about the subject; his voice was even more heavenly in the morning.

“Make yourself something to eat,” Daveed spoke down the line, a twinge of excited demand in his voice. “pour yourself a glass of wine and go up to your bedroom balcony.”

“Ooh, someone's feeling bossy tonight, huh?” Y/N laughed, switching the phone between hands as she pushed herself off of her couch, disturbing a sleeping Cooper. After a few strokes to his head, she began her journey to the kitchen, suppressing a laugh as the tired dog chose to follow her, much like he done all the time. “Am I allowed to ask why I'm doing this?”

“Just do it, before I hang up.”

“I'll add grumpy to list of Daveed Moods tonight.”

With a bowl of heated up leftover pasta, a bottle of red wine and a glass balanced in her hands, and her phone glued between her ear and her shoulder, Y/N found her way up stairs to her bedroom. She was incapable of turning on the lights until she'd put down the items in her hand. It was then, as the lights lit up her room in a warm, golden hue, that she noticed Daveed.

No, not in her room. That would have been completely creepy, and partially arousing.

He was sat out on his own balcony, room lit up behind him, with a dish of unknown food, some wine and a candle lit in front of him. He was dressed casually, yet Y/N still found herself on the cusp of drooling at the sight of him. And when he finally noticed her, Daveed waved with the most shit eating grin on his face.

“Cute onesie. What is it, a bunny?” His tone was friendly, as always, but that never stopped her from groaning in frustration at his teasing.

“Did you call me up here just to criticize my choice of clothing, Diggs? Because I was taking part in an intense Criminal Minds marathon before someone interrupted me.”

“I actually called you to invite you to enjoy the evening with me.” It was a curse and a blessing to be so foul minded, Y/N's instantly flooding her with different meanings to his words. “The sky looked pretty tonight and I need someone to appreciate it with me. Unfortunately, you're the only one who answered my call.”

“I won't hesitate to hang up.”

“Stop talking and sit down, your dinner'll get cold.”

Who knows how much time really passed as the two sat staring out at the other, bellies filled by food and wine, hearts filled with desire and longing. There was a great distance between the two balconies but Y/N couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so close to someone, even before social distancing had become the norm.

“It's crazy, I know. How can we be prepared to teach classes now that the infection rates are higher than back at the start of the year, where we all shut down?” Daveed had brought up the fact he was going back to work soon, a topic which made him a perfect blend of relieved, infuriated and confused. “I give it one semester till they make us go back to online teaching, honestly. What about you? Any signs of getting back to your office?”

“We just got the go ahead last week, we're opening back up in a fortnight.” Her reply was paused by a sip of wine, her second glass of the night. “I say we but I really mean them. My doctor told me I'm not allowed to go back yet, apparently I've got some tests left to do.”

The silence that ensued lasted quite a few minutes, then Daveed sighed down the line.

“Is it alright for me to ask why?” He seemed to regret his words instantly, at least from the limited expressions Y/N could read on his face. “I mean, the doctor thing. Are you sick or...?”

“Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't ask sooner.” In their months of getting to know each other, there were times she couldn't even open the door to him when he'd deliver some of her mail or drop off a bunch of flowers he'd stolen from a neighboring garden. It was always under the excuse of doctor's orders and he never questioned or doubted her, he just accepted her for everything she said and gave of herself. “I was in a car accident a couple years ago. It wasn't fatal for anyone, thankfully, but it was pretty bad. One of my lungs ended up collapsing.

I pretty much lived in and out of the hospital for months, which almost sucked more than having a lung that was pretty much giving up on me. I don't know if you've ever spent a lot of time in hospital but it's like attending your own funeral. Everyone that visits you has this look of grief, everything they say is apologetic and there are so many tears. Not to mention the fact the place smells like a crime scene with how much bleach cleaning they do. Anyways, I'm okay now but I guess they consider me high risk or something so they're taking extra steps to make sure I'm as safe and as far away from that virus as possible.”

“So, correct me if I'm wrong, but does that mean I won't be able to take you out anytime soon?” Daveed spoke up finally, and boy was she glad that he didn't want to stick on the topic of her hospital stay. It was a dark and sad time, and she didn't want to experience any of that with him.

“Nope, not until I get permission from my doctor.”

“Can't believe I'm getting cock-blocked by some fucking virus.”

A laugh, so loud that Daveed heard it without his phone pressed to his ear, erupted from Y/N. “You'll just have to settle for balcony dates for now.”

“This isn't a date, Y/N.” It was his turn to laugh.

“Oh, sorry.” Clearly, she was worse at reading signs than she'd thought. She'd never felt more foolish in her life.

“When I eventually do take you on a date, there won't be so much space between us.” His words honestly had the chance to make or break her in that moment, her entire soul depended on whatever he said next. “It'll be a night where I take you to the most ridiculously expensive restaurant. We won't really like the food on the menu but we'll stay as part of a principle. You'll be reluctant to let me blow all my money on the bill but I'll get my way eventually. We'll find some excuse or reason to stay out. Maybe we'll find some piano bar, do some dancing, share some drinks. I don't think I'll be able to stop thinking about how beautiful you look. We'll still be hungry because dinner was shit, so we'll get some fast food before you let me drive us home. I'll probably hold your hand while I drive. I'll walk you to your front door and, even if I really wish you'd invite me in, I'll be relieved when you don't. I'll try tell you how much I enjoyed our night but I'll probably fumble my words. You'll finally send me on my way but I'll find a way to steal a kiss from you. I'll probably think about your lips until the next date I take you on.”

“The english major really jumped out of you.” Y/N wished she didn't lack the self control to say something normal when a man spoke to her like Daveed did. “But, uh, that sounds really nice. Honestly. Except the bill part. We'll be splitting it or I won't be coming on that date.”

“You're so high maintenance, Y/N from door 27, but I guess that could work.” The eye-roll was audible in his tone. “Speaking of english major, I actually have a book for you to read.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, I'll drop it round in the morning.”

“I'll be at the doctors in the morning, sorry.” The wine had rushed to her cheeks, heating them up and making the chill in the air all the more relaxing, lulling her into a half asleep faze.

“Don't worry, I'll leave you a note.”

[nobodyfamousposts]

Blue Memories (lbscexchange2021)

Yay! It’s Valentine’s Day! 

Soooo....who wants a sad?

He opened the door for Marinette and gently escorted her inside.

She looked around, surveying every detail. The baby blue of the accent wall. The furniture in all of its strange varieties of makes that still somehow fit together. The assortment of decorations from the little black cat figurine that had been a joke housewarming gift from friends to her potted plants lined up at the wide windows—still tenderly cared for, even in her absence. All things that were part of the home. All things that made the home their own.

And yet, not a single hint of warmth came to her eyes.

“This is…my house?”

Ours, he didn’t say.

After all the things they had experienced throughout the years—the monsters they’d fought, the battles they’d won, the people they’d saved…

It seemed so surreal that it was something as simple as a car accident that would take her down.

She stepped through the entryway into the main room—tentative. Unsure. Like she didn’t think she belonged. Her grip on her cane tightened, belying her anxiety.

He rested a hand on her shoulder in reassurance. Allowing her to use him as her other support as she was forced to confront a home she didn’t know and memories she couldn’t recall.

“Just…take a bit of time to familiarize.” He whispered.

I will be with you every step of the way.

She took a breath but nodded before moving forward, and for a second—

Standing tall, wearing her suit like armor, her shoulders broad and head high in steely determination even in the face of overwhelming odds—

Luka could see the courageous young woman he loved in this stranger’s frame.

For her part, Marinette was…handling the circumstances if nothing else.

She stepped away from him, standing with only her cane and her one good leg for support. Rather than immediately head for the couch or any place to rest, she wandered the room, taken in by the all of the remnants of a person she used to be.

There was an array of frames along the wall as she passed, each containing memorabilia from newspaper clippings to artwork to awards. She gave them a cursory glance, none of them really standing out. At most, she barely touched one that contained a pink ribbon—

“Isn’t this a bit much? And a bit silly?”

Alya had gasped in mock outrage. “Girl, this is your own design house! We have to have a ribbon cutting ceremony to make it official! Otherwise, what have our years of labor been for?”

Marinette giggled. “You mean my labor?”

“Hey, don’t forget who did the interviews.” The other woman said with a wink.

More giggling.

“Of course, of course! I never would have gotten this far without you. Any of you.”

“And don’t forget it!” More giggling. “And besides, a happy opening is a sign of a happy beginning. This is your dream, girl! Go all out and enjoy it becoming real!”

“Okay, okay! So how will we do this?”

Luka smiled as he brought over the fancy scissors.

—pink ribbon, a couple inches thick, contained in a frame along with a picture of a group of strangers standing outside a building.

He carefully took their bags back to their his room, allowing her a moment to reflect and himself time to gain some composure.

To think it would be a car accident that did this. Not some epic villain battle, no. A stupid car accident because of her insistence on meeting him at the airport and some idiot who decided to run a red light. He'd consider laughing if he wasn't on the verge of breaking down…

But…she needed him. More than ever now.

When he returned, she was standing at the wall aligning with the window, lightly touching the dollhouse that was stationed there.

“Do we…did we have kids?”

“No.” Not yet.

It was grand—a four storied house with five rooms on each floor, each fully furnished in different ways. Its outside had the design of a cozy cottage, with walls were painted with a soft pink as well as white doors and window shutters. All of which were moveable, to her amazement.

“Where did we even get something like this?”

It had been a labor of love.

She hadn’t wanted to leave the kwamis stuck in the Miracle Box with no idea of the happenings in the world. And as they had begun spending more time outside, Marinette had been insistent that the kwamis deserved their own space outside of the Box. It had taken her weeks to make it—and multiple failed attempts.

She gave them their own home within hers. She’d wanted them to feel welcome.

It may very well have been the first time the little gods had cried.

“It was…a project.”

She frowned, but didn’t speak further. Her gaze turned to the nearby shelf on the adjoining wall. Holding a number of books. A single bin full of yarn for knitting. Two guitars rested along the side.

“Luka, it’s beautiful, but…why?”

“Why not?” He smiled.

“But…I’m not much of a guitar player. You know that. I’m not like you, Mr. Top 20 three-weeks-in-a-row. I still don’t know how to play the guitar.”

She moved to put it back in its case, but he pulled her back and into his lap along with the guitar. Her squawk of surprise only made him grin, and he placed a kiss to her head.

“That just means you’ll have more opportunity to learn.”

She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

“Do you play?” She had asked, curious as she looked over the two guitars.

He smiled bitterly.

“Wow,” Dingo whistled as he peeked through the curtains. “Quite a crowd out there.”

“I’m not sure I can do this.” Luka muttered.

It had been one thing when he had been playing with Kitty Section. But the band had gone their separate ways and now he was playing center stage.

“No worries. It’s only your first show. If you choke, who will even remember?”

He sighed. “Yeah, see, that? That’s not helping.”

“I’ll tell you something that will, though…” Dingo trailed off with a smirk. Before Luka could react, the other wrapped an arm around his neck and dragged him to view the opening in the curtain.

“Dingo!”

“Take a look!”

Luka glared at his friend—or tried, but Dingo’s grip around his neck really kept him from turning in any direction besides the one the other wanted.

Dingo, for his part, didn’t even have the grace to look back, instead grinning at something through the curtain.

“A certain little lady in the center seat of the middle row.”

Luka froze. And immediately, his eyes glanced over the crowd, searching for…

Dark hair.

Blue eyes.

A bright neon pink sign with his name.

Her smile.

He breathed.

“Mari…”

Dingo clapped him on the back and released him.

“If you can’t play for your fans, play for her. You know she’ll always listen…”

“Yeah.” He answered.

What else could he say?

He’d built up his music career over years. For all that she had been busy with her own design house, she had still be there for him every step of the way. Supporting him. Inspiring him.

And now only one of them still knew that.

“Congratulations on the release of your new single!”

Ah.

He winced as the flashing lights hit him.

For all the time he spent on tour, he would never get used to this.

“Thank you.”

He knew better than to respond. It wouldn’t be enough. It was like an avalanche of questions and microphones barreling down on him.

“Mr. Couffaine! How do you feel about your ranking on the Music’s Top Ten?”

“Is there any truth to the rumors that you are doing a collaboration piece with Jagged Stone?”

“Are you really having an illicit affair with XY?”

“Luka Couffaine, you just completed the last stop of your world tour! What are you going to do now?”

Finally, the one question he wanted to answer.

“I have someone to see.”

It had been both a dismissal and an explanation as he took his leave to wait for his ride.

Tomorrow was their anniversary, after all. He’d managed to schedule the end of his tour to give him just enough space to make it back in time to spend it with her.

Marinette was probably already waiting at the airport at this moment.

Or at least…she should have been?

He checked his watch. Was he early? A bit, but not by much…it had been a little last minute for her, though. Maybe she was caught in traffic?

His phone rang. Was that her?

“Hello?”

“…”

“…”

“…what?”

He winced and turned away, trying to fight back the burning in his eyes.

Maybe she saw his reaction because she went silent as well. The tension of the room heightened, near to the point of stifling. For all that he wanted to reach out to her, there was a distance between them that felt…impassible.

He heard her move further into the room. Closer to the kitchen, it sounded like. He listened as something seemed to slide briefly across the countertop, as if she had picked up something for a closer look. Despite his better judgement, his curiosity got the better of him and he turned to see—

It had been hell. The date. The entire day. Hell. To the point he was convinced that some higher powers were giving a sign that this relationship wasn’t meant to be.

Except it wasn’t a sign, it was a fucking billboard.

He’d had it all planned out. Picking her up in his new car. They would have dinner together, followed by a movie, coffee and dessert at a nice little cafe he’d heard good things about, then a stroll by the Seine.

Except whatever higher power up there hated him, apparently.

First the car—the brand new (okay, only slightly used) car he’d recently purchased wouldn’t start, so he’d had to ride his bike to reach her. This meant the restaurant was a no go, meaning his reservation that he’d put in a good month in advance went to waste. Marinette had suggested they just walk to the movie which he was fine with, except that it started raining and the theater in question suffered a power outage. Desperately trying to salvage the night, he’d led her to the cafe anyway only to find they had apparently gone out of business the day before.

Luka was…done. He was just done. He’d apologized profusely and tried to call a cab for her before he’d walk home in the rain so he could scream into his pillow.

Suffice to say, he was pretty sure the date was a bust. And would likely be the first and last he’d ever get with her.

But while he’d been on the phone discovering that traffic was backed up and even THAT much of the night wasn’t going to go right either, Marinette had noticed a little souvenir kiosk under an awning nearby. He hadn’t known what specifically had caught her eye, but when she returned, it was with a thermos of tea she had brought from home and two little mugs she’d just purchased—both with their own different engravings.

She passed the "I AM WEIRD" cup to him. Was…was this a joke? Was she saying something?

He wasn't sure what it was until he saw her blushing as she sipped from her own cup, clearly displaying the engraving of "I LOVE WIERD".

The night went wrong in so many ways. But there…huddling from the rain under the storefront tarp, sitting next to her...he felt warmer than the hot tea could have been responsible for.

She held the “I LOVE WEIRD” cup gingerly, staring at the porcelain as if it could tell her its secrets. But when nothing could be found, she set it back at its previous place and continued on.

Marinette’s gaze had moved on to the next item of interest. She peered into the various photographs lining the top of the nearby shelf. Each contained images of a young couple. A man with teal hair and a lip ring along with a woman with dark blue hair and earrings. The pictures varied—them hugging while bundled up in the winter season, him picking her up and her holding him tightly for balance, them dancing at an outdoor festival, them making silly faces in a photobooth. Each one of them smiling.

One that kept her attention, however, had the man in a tuxedo and the woman in a stunning floor length dress. It was white with an illusion neckline, and bore the images of petals. But the truly striking feature was the airbrushed effect at the bottom of the dress as it changed from white to vibrant teal and finally to black—a clear match to the hair of the man standing beside her.

It was a wedding.

She had said he inspired her dress. That she had made it with him in mind. He had believed her, of course. He never needed her to prove she loved him.

But oh, how his heart had sung seeing her like that. In his colors. Showing the world whom she belonged with.

He had barely heard anything the priest had said. He had to have stumbled in his vows at least twice. He was torn between burning to touch her and yet not wanting to dare to—that something so beautiful shouldn’t be touched.

He would never forget the way she had reached out for him instead and held his hands with hers as she said she wanted to start a life with him.

She picked up the picture.

“It’s beautiful.”

It’s her.

“It’s beautiful. And I can’t…I don’t…”

Like gravity had failed her, she collapsed rather than sat onto the sofa—

That ugly, ugly leather sofa that Jagged had insisted they take with them from Marinette’s brief stint as his personal designer.

“No, you keep it, Mari. You’re gonna need something to spruce up your new place.”

“Jagged, seriously. That thing is hideous and I don’t need it.”

“What are you talking about? It’s perfect! It’s leather! And sturdy! And you can even pull it out into more of a bed. Besides, who knows when you’ll be bringing a studly young man to your place and need something to ‘rock it’ in, eh?”

“Oh my god, Jagged, please don’t!”

“Ey, Luka! Come on, mi boy, back me up!”

“Luka, don’t you dare—!”

Luka, for his part, kept his focus on cleaning his equipment and wisely said nothing.

He moved to her side without thinking.

“Mari…”

“What…” She looked up at him, hopelessly lost. “What now? What do…we do?”

She held the picture frame to her, as if trying to fill the hole in her heart that once contained years worth of love.

“I don’t know what…I don’t know how to…”

She sobbed.

If the phone call had shattered his world, this had crushed the remaining pieces.

“What…what are you saying?”

The doctor sighed.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Couffaine. But the damage of the crash and the shock of the incident has led to some trauma. We are running tests, but there is no way to tell just how great the extent is or how long it will last.”

He barely heard the words for what they were. Percentages. Chances. Outcomes. Luck.

She’d always beaten the odds before, hadn’t she?

She could…

Surely, she could…

He barely noticed when the doctor had led him to the white—white, white horrible white room.

And the all too pale and shaken woman resting inside.

“Who are you?”

It was her eyes.

Her beautiful blue eyes.

But not a trace of familiarity.

“Hello, Marinette.”

He smiled, trying to not let tears fall.

“My name is Luka…”

He slowly moved to sit beside her, taking his wife into his arms like he always did.

It…wasn’t the same.

"It'll be okay..."

Throughout his life, Luka had always been a river. Slow. Steady. Constantly cutting a path through life and through the world.

Luka was a river.

But for Marinette, he had been her rock.

“We’ll make new ones.” He promised her.

Day by day. Moment by moment. He would stay with her and make new memories.

It wouldn’t replace what was lost.

But they would make it together.