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genesisrose74 · 4 years ago

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Believe It, Baby

AHH HELLO I LIVE!! I am so sorry about my lack of publishing content besides some general community posts as of late - I’ve probably said this before but school is a buttface sometimes :// I’ve been really enjoying the new episodes of Haikyuu so I decided to finish a self indulgent fic to try getting back on track! Kinda like how it worked out so here it is!! Yes, it is Hinata again, how did you freaking know???

Pairing: Hinata Shoyo x Fem!Reader

Words: 2122

*******

“I don’t believe it for a damn second.”

The ginger under scrutiny groans for what seemed the eighth time that day, shooting his friend an exasperated look as they walk into the practice gym. “I swear, Kageyama! She’s in the college preparatory class with Yachi!”

At this, said blonde turns her attention to the entering duo with a curious tilt of her head.

“What’s this about someone in my class?” she inquires politely.

Kageyama glances at Yachi. “Hinata says that he’s dating one of your classmates, which I say is a bunch of crap.”

“How many times do I have to tell you, Bakageyama? I’m her boyfriend!”

Tsukishima scoffs from across the gym.

“Sounds like someone had too vivid of a dream last night,” he jeers, Yamaguchi snickering beside him.

Even Tanaka and Noya doesn’t seem to believe the aspiring ace, the former clapping a hand on Hinata’s shoulder with a philosopher’s air about him.

“It’s alright to be single, little man. You don’t gotta go and make something up to look cool.”

Hinata huffs before shuffling to set up the court for practice, while Sugawara takes his position as mother crow by smacking the troublemaker second years upside the head.

“I for one believe you, Hinata,” the silver haired setter declares, smiling when the first year boy beams with happiness.

“Thank you, Suga-senpai! At least someone here does.”

“Mind telling us what she’s like?” Daichi chimes in.

Hinata’s grin blossoms even wider, and his gaze turns excited. “She’s amazing, and really smart, and super competitive! And she’s...also really pretty…” he trails off in embarrassment.

Suga gushes at his flustered state, ruffling his kouhai’s mop of orange hair. “Look at you, all affectionate. She must be special.”

Yachi follows up with a nod of agreement at Sugawara’s statement, joining Hinata on the court for set up.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s her name?” the manager in training questions.

When the middle blocker tells her proudly, the remaining first year boys all bust out in laughter.

“Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it,” Yamaguchi guffaws. “Isn’t she like one of the smartest students in our grade?”

Hinata nods affirmatively, and Tsukishima shakes his head with a dry laugh. “Try picking a more believable person next time, Hinata. There’s barely even a chance that you’ve ever crossed paths with her before, let alone dated the girl.”

Yachi, on the other hand, takes a moment to ponder on Hinata’s words, not even close to giggling like the rest of her fellow first years.

“You know,” she mumbles to herself, “that’s honestly not that far of a stretch, considering how outgoing she is.”

The orange haired boy offers her a weary half-smile for at least thinking he had a shot with who he claimed, but made no further attempt to emphasize that he was in fact dating said girl. It was clear that nearly none of the team would believe him without solid proof.

Coach Ukai grabs the team’s attention, and from then on leads a rotation of digging drills to help improve everyone’s foundational abilities. This format of training continues for most of practice, such routines making it easier for some of the boys (namely Tsukishima) to laugh about Hinata’s “attempt'' at having a girlfriend in line. Said middle blocker remains in a pouty mood due to such circumstances, but decides to keep it quiet for the time being - lest he dig a bigger hole in which his teammates could tease him.

Soon enough, practice for the day is over, and the Karasuno boys organize their things in the club room before filtering outside. As Hinata waits outside for the rest of his team to come downstairs, the whole team planning on making a stop at Ukai’s store, his phone screen lights up with a soft chime.

Hi sunshine! Did your practice just finish?

The first year smiles, knowing that you must have snuck him a text during your student council meeting, and quickly opens his phone to type something back.

Hi angel!! Yeah, we’re gonna get something at Ukai’s rn

Hinata playfully raises an eyebrow at your fast response, the chat bubble popping up right away. Usually you’re pretty invested in your club meetings, so today’s must be a pretty boring topic.

Wanna save me a meat bun pretty please 🥺

If there’s an extra I will <3

:D hehe thank u love

Tanaka’s voice breaks the ginger’s focus from his texts, the second year shouting about food as he ushers the team towards the school exit. Hinata tosses his phone into his practice bag and catches up with the walking group, his mood significantly improved from just minutes ago.

*****

The town is basked in the soft glow of street lights as the team makes their way down the hill to Ukai’s, currently unaware of a presence in a sprint to get to them.

Your fellow Student Council members had shot a bewildered look in your direction as you scrambled to pack up and hustle out the classroom door. You ushered a quick goodbye to them before stuffing your phone in your skirt pocket, determined to surprise your boyfriend after the council meeting ended early.

Maybe you were starting to regret the idea of running in the god-awful flats Karasuno High enforced in their dress code, but you pushed past the irritation in favor of keeping pace. That meat bun wouldn’t stay hot forever, you reasoned, but in reality the opportunity to see your shining boyfriend truly drove your motivation.

After finally getting a glimpse of a large group near the base of the hill, a spark of victory flames in your heaving chest at your persistence. With a heavy sigh, however, you realize that your competitive ball of energy was likely at the head of the bunch, racing that setter with whom he always argues. Your plight was not over yet.

So, attempting to reign in your eagerness to see the ginger haired boy of your affections, you continue the path down the quite steep hill, this time using the art of determined speed walking. The soles of those forsaken flats on your feet would not be forgiving if you started running again, anyways.

When you finally manage to close in on the team, Sugawara is the first to notice you, observing for a moment before nudging Daichi on his right. The Karasuno captain looks confusedly at his vice captain, the latter’s eyes holding a parent-like intuition.

“I think that’s her,” the silver haired third year murmurs, nodding his head in your direction as you make your way closer.

“Who’s her?” Daichi whispers back, and Suga looks like he’s about to karate chop him in the side.

“Hinata’s girlfriend, Dai!” he hisses. “Look at who she’s focused on.”

Daichi follows your gaze to find the little decoy first year at the end of it, causing him to raise an eyebrow in surprise. “So he really wasn’t pulling Kageyama’s leg.”

The two third years of Karasuno watch you with great interest as you inch your way to the front of their group, more of the boys taking note of your presence with the passing moments.

The only few who don’t seem to notice are the gaggle of first years in the front, many of whom are bickering with each other. Yachi is the only one in your grade to see you as she walks beside Kiyoko, and you give her a small wave before putting a finger to your lips. All she can do in response is nod, mouth slightly agape at the fact that you even acknowledged her in the midst of your pursuits.

“-If there’s an extra bun in the bag today I call dibs!”

“And since when have I ever listened to you, pipsqueak?”

“Who’re you calling pipsqueak, you giraffe!?”

You have to conceal your chuckle at the group’s antics. You’d been told a handful about the first years known as Hinata’s teammates, but had yet to formally meet them due to your consistently busy schedule. Today, you felt it was about time for that to change.

Yamaguchi picks up on you, followed quickly by Tsukkishima when his freckle-faced best friend notifies him with a tap on the shoulder. Even Kageyama, who somehow managed to get into yet another argument with Hinata, slows his banter as he gazes at you, completely bewildered.

The last person left in the dark is - of course - none other than your dumbass of a boyfriend.

“Why did you get so quiet all of a sudden?” the aspiring ace inquires. “It’s ‘cause you realized that I would win the argument anyways, huh?”

The boy jumps when he feels you sidle up next to him, brushing your arm against his own.

“Yes, sunshine, that’s surely the reason.”

The first year whips his head to face your playful smirk, before practically launching himself into you and trapping you in a bear hug.

“You surprised me!” he exclaims with a giddish grin, nuzzling into your figure.

“That was kind of my plan,” you laugh. “Student council meeting ended early, so here I am.”

Hinata didn’t seem to want to let go of you any time soon, so you resorted to taking his face in your hands and pecking his cheeks.

“You gonna introduce me or not, silly?”

The middle blocker was blushing like crazy at this point, reddening with the realization that his entire team was a current audience to the little show taking place.

“Guys, this is my girlfriend,” he gestures to you awkwardly, and you couldn’t hide the small smile that curls on your lips. “You’ve probably seen her with the Student Council before.”

You wave enthusiastically to the team, many of whom are still recovering from the newly confirmed discovery (namely, some very skeptical first years).

“So, he wasn’t joking?” Yamaguchi spoke up, eyes wide with disbelief.

“Aw yeah, Hinata!” Tanaka whistled, “Sorry that I ever underestimated you!”

“Good job, Shoyo!” Nishinoya affirms, jumping on his second year best friend in excitement. “She’s a cutie too!”

The first year squeezes your midsection tighter to your surprise, seeing as his face was practically steaming from previous team comments.

“She is cute,” he mumbles, and the unexpected statement elicits a laugh from your lips.

You tap the ginger’s nose playfully, bringing his attention to your content smile. The sight of it causes him to grin right back giddily, momentarily forgetting the larger group beside him once more. “Saved me a meat bun, Sho?”

He was like this whenever at the other’s house or on a date: mushy, cuddly, affectionate, the whole nine yards of fluffiness. Public spaces involving acquaintances, however, was a bit of a different story, as Hinata got very easily flustered in front of teasing friends. Even without meeting the other team members of Karasuno before, it was quite obvious.

“I always manage to when you ask,” he responds proudly, although a faint frown briefly appears on his features for a moment, “but Tsukishima’s being a bit of a jerk about it today.”

The blond in question sends his fellow middle blocker a look of annoyance, before his expression melts into a cheshire grin as he turns to you.

“Just didn’t want him eating too much, that’s all,” he explains. “Overindulgence isn’t a great habit for athletes, you know. But since you’re actually here and not a figment of Hinata’s imagination, that’s absolutely fine with me.”

“Hey! You saying I’m a pig or something?” the first year pipes up with a glare.

Tsukki smirks. “Or something.”

Sugawara steps in to lessen the obvious tensions between your feral ginger and the smug beanpole, giving them both a deathly glare that practically screamed, ‘don’t make me whoop your asses in front of a student council member’.

You giggled at the team’s dynamic, one that clearly resembled a rambunctious family on their nightly outing together. It really was just as you had imagined the first time your boyfriend described it to you - with maybe a bit more emphasis on the rambunctious than you had previously inferred. But it was actually quite enjoyable to be around.

As the group finally started on their way again after your surprise introduction, Hinata came up beside you once more with a curious glint in his eyes.

“What are you smiling all giddishly about?” he inquires, head tilted a fraction.

You can’t help but chuckle a bit at the question. “I just really enjoy being around your team is all.”

The aspiring ace of Karasuno interlocks his fingers with yours as you stroll along together down the street, his teammates in tow as they observe the situation before them with some remaining bewilderment.

“Good, cause I think they might like you too.”

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rebelcap · 4 years ago

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We are not just friends — Part 19

Chris Evans x bi!latina!character (Sofia is a people of color, she’s brown.)

Chris and Sofia meet when their best friends started dating, it all started at friends with loads of bumps on the road.

Warnings: drinking, smoking, drug use (weed), assault, Chris being Steve Rogers, commitment issues, my girl Sofia kinda messy.

This is slow burn at its best, at least emotionally.

Series masterlist

Sofía had definitely closed up, she became a recluse in her own apartment and the only thing she did was go to work and back. She felt mostly okay, she wasn't crying her eyes out or seeing a random photo of Chris and crying.

She was hurt, deeply hurt but all she did was avoid thinking about him. This wasn't like the first time they broke up, this felt different. Like, this was it.

She loses one of her most precious friends and gains another failed relationship, another ex that probably will end up resenting her because they couldn't reach her and when she opens up she gets shot down.

After Chris…

Sofia was sure that she was meant to be alone and she was mostly okay with it.

On the other hand, Christopher was devastated—he honestly thought she was the one, he felt it in his gut, his heart, his whole being made him feel that she was the one. She just kept pushing him away in all the ways that she could find and he took it, until he couldn't anymore and that alone made him feel like he was failing her, he didn't know how to help her and she won't let him.

They were so far away from each other—it was exhausting and the fact that he had just started talking with Jenny again made him feel insecure about his relationship.

But he love her with all his fucking heart that it hurt his whole body knowing that she might ever be able to love him back the way he does.

"I miss him," Sofia said, putting her eyeliner on. She was going out as Amanda was very pregnant to even move.

"He does too." She said rubbing her belly. "It's been, how much time now?,"

"Four months , so he's dating Jenny. That's what I heard…" Sofia tried not to get emotional about it but… Fuck.

"Yeah, Luke told me about it… but it's going anywhere and he knows. Not sure about her though."

"He always gets back with all his exes. Got us on rotation, fucking idiot. He wants to commit but he can't actually commit with anyone. Then in the one with commitment issues," Sofia shook her head and let out a groan. "I love him, I swear to you I love him, he's a good friend but he's a terrible boyfriend."

"Right back at you," Amanda laughed and Sofia had to, because she was absolutely right about her too.

"I don't go back with all my exes, though"

"Mostly don't, Chris it's the exception."

"Because I thought it was going to be okay for once." She made a face and began putting the make up back on her little make up bag. "I can't believe he's back with Jenny, she's funny and intelligent and great—but God, I don't fucking like her." Sofia said, throwing the make-up bag on her bag and pout. "I don't want to go out now. More because I know he's here in Boston and it's not leaving until next year and I'm seeing his brother today."

"You don't wanna run into him?,"

"Of course I wanna run into him, I miss him so much but I'm totally not over him yet." Sofia explained sitting on the toilet seat looking at Amanda that was leaning in the door frame. "I don't know if I'm ever going to be over Chris."

"I'm sad now, you're make me feel sad and my boy too—

"I'm sorry—

"Don't be, I'm feeling sad because I can't go out with you and drag Chris's name all over Boston even though he's great but he left you."

Sofia smiled looking down and felt Amanda's hand running through her hair and she sighed deeply.

Sofía was vibing or at least trying, the place was comfy and she knew almost all the people that were there—witch where all of fucking Christopher closest friends and some random girls that the guys bring from somewhere.

Apparently he wasn't coming, which Sofia didn't know if she was actually relieved or not.

"Jesus fucking christ." She murmured to herself tried of her own fucking mind noise. She stood up and walked to the little bar area and started pouring a drink, straight whiskey and downed it all and poured herself a second and then a third walking away with the drink on her hand.

He saw her first, saw her leaning on a wall, talking with some dude —younger than her, brunette and with a fucking man bun, he was built, lean and tall. She laughed, at whatever fucking thing he said she laughed and looked at him with the little fucking straw on her lips. Oh, boy he was mad.

Chris rubbed his face and went about to hang up with his friends and mingle a little bit. But he couldn't stop looking at their direction every fucking second.

"They sure look cozy," Luke said and Chris looked at him. "Did you talk to her yet?"

"I can't talk to her, man." Chris muttered and downed the warm beer on his hand and his friend handed him another. "What I'm supposed to say?, hey, long time remember when I dump you because I'm a fucking imbecile and i cant fucking wait." He said dropping sarcasm on every word.

"That's a good opening," Luke laughed and Chris just stared at him, murdering eyes directed at his very own best friend.

"Who the fuck is that?" he asked referring to the guy she was talking with.

"A friend of Ryan's cousin."

Chris made a face and rolled his eyes. "The fuck he doing here?"

"It's Ryan's house, dude," Luke said and was a little amazed at Chris, he definitely hasn't seen him like this in a really long long time. "Man. .." Luke said, kind of amazed. "You're still head over heels in love with her, don't you?"

"I wonder what gave it away," Chris said, drinking his beer and rubbing his face. "imma talk to her,"

"Ah—don't think it's-uh," Luke was looking at them and saw them share a kiss, it was quick and he kinda went for it.

"What?," Chris said turning around and saw them just breaking the kiss and that's the moment Sofia saw him.

And her stomach dropped, her whole ass body dropped—

"Oh, woow. Are you okay?," Alex, asked her when her knees buckled and he caught her.

"Ah, yeah, yes. Just," She smiled at him and looked at her empty glass. "Little drunk, imma get more—" Sofia made an attempt to leave but Alex, bless his fucking kind heart, offered her to get her those drinks and something to eat.

As soon he leaves that was a cue to Chris, who literally strutted to the wall she was leaning and Slfia just… started.

"Hi," He said, hands on his pockets as Sofia kept looking at him. "How-how are you?"

Sofoa kept quiet and simply walked away from him, ahe couldn't possibly do the whole small talk bullshit they alwaus did and it emeded up al fucking badly. Chris looked at her go and he was the one that stormed after her.

"Sofia, come on," Chris said and walked besides her. "Sof, it's going to be like this?"

"I can't talk with you Chris, like…" She sighed and sat down on a bench, they weren't completely away from the people and there were some girls sitting on a couch messing around with their phones and minding their business.

"Why not?," He asked, looking at her. He just wanted to reach out and hug her, he missed her.

Sofía finally looked up at him and asked him, "How's things with Jenny?," Chris looked away and rubbed his beard and stayed quiet at her question for a moment.

"We're not together anymore," He said and Sofia made a face and sigh. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you seeing someone?" He asked looking at the bar where the dude was talking with Ryan, probably giving him the talk.

"Look, Sofia is off limits."

"What?, why? She told me she's single." Alex asked and looked back at where she was supposed to be and found Chris looking back at him with that death stare he did when he was annoyed.

"Yes, she is. But it's also Chris ex and they still didn't figure it out and he's my friend, so kid. Off limits,"

"Do you care,?" She asked, sassy.

"If I didn't I wouldn't be asking, wouldn't I?," He asked right back at her, also sassy.

"Last time I tried that, it didn't go well," Sofia said, rolling her eyes at him. "And the one before that, worse." She said at their obvious relationship and Chris just grunted. But couldn't blame her, it was a mess…

"Yeah," He murmured and dug into his pockets and fished out a packet of cigarettes. "want one?" He offered her and she took it.

"Thanks, we should smoke outside though." Sofia said walking out to the backyard where the other guys were doing the grilling.

They waved at them but kept their distance, not Scott though because it was Scott.

"So…" He said walking up to them and putting a hand on each shoulder. "You two are actually talking,"

"Not really," Sofia rolled her eyes and Chris grunted again.

"Sof," He said, putting those little blue eyes to work on him and it worked, of course it will work.

"Okay, okay…" She agreed and lit up the cigarette giving Chris a look. Thinking that the moment she found him unattractive was when she stopped looking at men all together and dedicated herself to pussy forever.

He was so fucking attractive, jesus fuck.

"Either way, is there a point here?," She asked looking at both of them. "We're good, I guess," She shrugged.

"Are we really good?," Chris asked.

"I don't know, you left me." Sofia took a drag and Scott made a face.

"And that's my cue to leave, I love you both." He said and Sofia laughed.

"And I do too." She wink at him and Chris was staring at her, waiting for Scott to leave.

"I shouldn't have done that—

"Chris, don't." She waves a hand at him. "You seriously need a new woman on your life, this thing about getting back with all your exes ia getting old as fuck."

"Ouch," He said and actually smile and so did she. "I do miss you, you know that."

"I miss you too, come on. We were really good friends for a moment there,"

"Yeah," He smiled and bit his bottom lip, shaking his head. "We fucked up, don't we?"

"Yeah, and I told you so."

"You did. Guess I didn't listen,"

"You never listen, stubborn Gemini man." She said punching him on the arm.

"Yeah, you're right but I don't regret it though."

"Me neither," She smiled and sigh, just thinking for a moment. "So, there's a wedding coming?"

"You mean ours?," He joked and Sofia barked a laugh.

"I mean our better halves, idiot. Besides, we will be divorced in the first four months."

"What?, come on I gave us at least… a year," Chris saif and Sofia made a face, disagreeing.

"Six months, tops." She said and put her hand on his month. "The thought of me being a wife, ew."

Chris laughed out loud. "You look pretty in white,"

"I look pretty in everything because I'm pretty," She rolled her eyes with a smile. "But, jokes aside. Do you see yourself married?"

"I like the idea of marriage but… Honestly, I don't know."

"I preferred to have a kid before marriage, it's just a fucking paper in the end. You can divorce, I think I'll know when I have a kid, if I have a kid."

"We never had this talk before," Chris said and pointed at a little bench for them to sit. "About us,"

"Did you think about it?" Sofia asked as she sat down beside him. Chris was holding his beer between his legs and looking forward.

"Yeah, I mean…" He looked at her. "I have never been this in love with someone like I am with you, so yeah. I did, a couple of times actually."

Sofia was dumbfounded at what he said, and she did toyed with the idea a couple of times…

"I almost propose to you, actually…" He laughed and Sofias head snapped so hard to look at him. "After you met my mom, I bought that ring you liked. I thought that maybe someday…" He shrugged and Sofia's eyes watered up and just stared forward.

"Chris, I…" She whispered and he looked at her.

"What's wrong?," He asked, frowning.

"What's wrong!?," She said, wiping her tears. "Dude, are you hearing what you are saying to me?."

Chris realized it at that moment, what he did. Bomb after bomb he just dropped on her.

"Sorry, I got carried away." He muttered slouching on the bench and drank the rest of his beer.

"You'll find someone, Chris…" Sofia said in a small voice.

"Already found her," He muttered and stood up and walked away.

#chris evans #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans x y/n #chris evans x female reader #chris evans x latina!#chris evans x poc!reader #chris evans x reader #chris evans x ofc #chris evans x you #chris evans angst #Chris Evans x reader #chris evans imagine

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houndin-around · 4 years ago

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Covenant | Maul

warnings; slight age gap? I guess, can’t remember if there’s cursing oops, boss-employee relationship

a/n; First ofF I’M DROPPING THIS BC IT’S A SPECIAL SOMEONE’S BIRTHDAYYYYY!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNA ILY<3 @hxldmxdxwn

- I’ve been avoiding dropping this because I’m super self conscious about my writing but oh well here we goooo! This is a more modern AU even though I use a lot of SW terms/lore but i’ll probably branch out as we go on throught he chapters. Takes place in coruscant and reader is 23! Maul ios around 30-31 haven’t fully decided yet. Uh hope everyone enjoys this!!

Summary; Getting an opportunity at a reputable company, you’re eager to show everyone what you’re made of. The only odd part is...no one knows who the owner is.

not my gif

Curses rolled off your tongue as the silence was disturbed by the raucous alarm emitting from your phone. Hurriedly you tried to silence it, avoiding waking up your partner that is sleeping next to you. The clock read 4:55 am and the sky was still pitch black. Yet the lights of Galactic City never died, it was hard to get rid of the illumination in your room. Even some curtains weren’t enough to block the livelihood, something you still have yet to get used to. Staring up at the ceiling, the dread of leaving the warmth that consumed you whole was winning the battle lulling you back to sleep. Another ear-piercing song flowed out of your phone causing you to jolt upright. Rubbing the back of your neck, a sigh escaped your lips before you tossed your legs over the side of the mattress. From the second alarm, your boyfriend grumbled before turning over, aggressively pulling the sheets over himself.

Today was the day of your brand new job. Anxiety nestled in your gut the more you thought about it so you tried not to. Two years ago you were leaving Naboo and your family after school. It was one of the hardest things that you had to do, and being an adult wasn’t easy or all that it was chalked up to be. Living on Coruscant was a totally new experience. Everyone dressed so differently-- obsessing over the latest fashions, erasing the idea of modesty as well. Luckily for you, that’s when you met Kenth Madon. Upon arriving, your ship was having difficulties, and you needed a mechanic. Out of all the shops around you, you chose his almost as if it were fate. Due to frequenting his shop, Kenth got the courage to ask to see you outside of the permanently grungy, gas smelling establishment. It wasn’t your first relationship, although it has been quite a while. It was nice to have someone give you the type of attention Kenth did.

Since he grew up on Coruscant, your boyfriend claimed to know what real fashion was. Hinting at the fact yours was a little outdated. So, he helped you restyle your wardrobe as you lacked any type of pizazz when it came to fitting in. At least according to him. During your outing, you still were drawn to rather lackluster choices of apparel, but at least it was slightly updated. Slipping on a white puff-sleeve shirt, you quickly tucked it into the black dress pants you were insistent on getting. The reality of putting on this outfit made your palms sweaty, your heart lurch up in your throat. with the realization of starting this new chapter in your life. Grabbing your white one-button jacket, you scanned your room one last time before placing a feathery kiss on Kenth’s stubbled cheek.

—————————

“Next stop: Galactic Square. Please, refrain from getting up early and blocking the exits. Thank you.” the feminine voice echoed throughout the subway train.

You rubbed your hands up and down your thighs, staring out of the viewport of the train. The job itself was competitive and the position wasn’t guaranteed. Nineteen other candidates were presenting their brand new prototypes for QuanCom, as well. The business that created the HoloNet, the Holocomms, comlinks, and much more. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This job could start you down a successful track, but you didn’t care. It was honestly only for the good-paying credits, since it was hard to find a job degree or not.

With a sudden stop shoving you against the seat, you quickly checked the time on your iPhone. 6:00 am. “Kriff!” you hissed to yourself. You were told work began at 8:00 am, so what in the hell were you going to do for an hour and a half? Being early helped ease your anxiety, though being this early only fueled it-- making it a lose-lose battle. Waiting for the other passengers to exit, you soon rose to your feet, swiftly leaping off the train. Examining the underground tunnels, your eyes shifted all over trying to locate the staircase leading upwards. It was crowded in the subway, yet it didn’t compare to the hustle and bustle that hurried by on the streets of Galactic City.

Humans, Rodians, Twi’leks, and species that you could swear you’ve never encountered before shouldered past you, as if you didn’t even exist. One long blink and an exasperated sigh later, you began to move your feet in the direction of QuanCom. The directions on your phone were confusing. The arrow rotating every once in a while was unable to read your location. Regardless, you continued hoping it was the correct way. The sudden smell of caf penetrated your nostrils, causing you to scrunch up your nose.

“If they sell caf, they probably have some deychin tea and maybe some food…” you trailed off hurriedly toward the small shop named “Caf Project ''.

Inside, it was cozy, brick-lined walls with a large sign hanging over the counter. Swallowing thickly, you stood back just far enough to show you were thinking of what you wanted, but really you were trying to stifle the anxiety welling back up as your mind kept going blank. A jingling sound interrupted your inner battles, and so did the voice of who was walking in.

“I don’t care. I told you to get this done yesterday. Not an hour before I arrived at the office. Is it really that hard to follow through? Do you not realize the utmost significance of this report? I swear I’m dealing with a bunch of imbeciles. Sith give me strength…'' Sucking in a breath, he glanced at you, brow raised. “Shut up for a second, Tannis.” He demanded before turning to you. “Are you in line?”

Your face went completely blank, just a second ago it sounded like he was about to murder whoever he was speaking to. But while speaking to you…his voice was smooth like silk, endearing actually. Swiftly shaking your head “no,” he stepped forward and flashed a warm grin at you, incisors slightly visible. Once again he continued yelling at someone, the barista not even batting an eye. His order was briskly made, though he didn’t even give any notion to what he had wanted. You couldn’t help but examine this stranger before you, attired in a charcoal grey suit that was paired with a very light grey dress shirt with two buttons undone. On his feet were freshly polished black Oxfords, his outfit so simple yet so suave. Once he handed the cashier some credits, you noticed a glimmer on his wrist, by the looks of it one kriffing expensive watch.

Adjusting the lanyard around your neck that holds your ID for QuanCom, the stranger with geometric tattoos all over his face turned to face you. You noticed a shiny stud piercing on the upper cartilage of his left ear. Maintaining some eye contact, you couldn’t help but feel a knot in your stomach. He was quite handsome, and his ivory horns…wow, you thought to yourself, cheeks running hot. “Get yourself together...you’re with someone,” You reminded yourself.

Lips parting, he studied you up and down.

“Good luck.” The words were quietly mumbled as he continued listening to what you assumed to be an employee, on the other line.

“Thank you,” you mouthed back, a sheepish smile tugging at your lips as you continue to fidget with the lanyard.

Maybe, he had heard of the big job offer at QuanCom? Advertisements were flaunted everywhere; it was hard to miss them. Shaking your head lightly, you step forward, showing that you’re ready to order.

“I’ll have a small deychin tea please and…uh- um..a croissant?” Everything on the menu food-wise wasn’t too appealing, but you needed something in your stomach to satisfy the beast. “Uh..how much, sir?” you inquired, pulling some credits from your spotless white jacket.

Shaking his head, the cashier's lips opened to a wide grin, “No need, miss, the man before you covered your order. You’re all set!”

There was that wave of nausea again. Why would he do that? Who even was he? Was it just his generosity for the day? Or did he think you couldn’t afford much based on your attire? Sighing, you frantically think about what you’ll be expecting for this job, continuing on your path toward the QuanCom headquarters. Getting closer to your destination, you glance over your phone, once more checking the time. 7:50 am. Finally, what felt like forever was finally here, and you were so eager to start on a positive foot.

Entering the monstrous building, people were hustling all around you-- confused, lost, and eager to get their days going, as well. You had to remind yourself that you were here as competition and not as a friend for anyone. Though right now, you could really use a friend and some directions as this place was large and filled to the brim. Inspecting the environment, you noticed a few flimsies posted. Maker’s sake, it made things easier by telling you where to go. Padding toward the nearest elevator, you crammed yourself in amongst the other bodies seemingly all going to the same exact floor. Not being able to help it, you held your breath midway until the doors opened on floor 18. Exiting, you followed the tall, skinny woman down the hall to meeting room 1804. To your amazement, it was already quite full, so you took a seat nearest to the door, pulling out some flimsy and a stylus so that you’re ready to jot down any information. The room was white-walled with very little decor besides a large glass table in the center. This is where the fun begins, the long drawn out rules and regulations.

“Alright! Now that we’ve gone over the workplace protocol and the prototype expectations, I will pair you up into four groups of five.” Her voice was raspy, though flat enough to make your eyelids heavy. Everyone around you was also struggling to fight the sleep that tried overpowering them. Names being called brought you back to attention every now and then, but you couldn’t stop thinking about him. “I’m sure Kenth sees more attractive women daily anyway…” you try to convince yourself.

“(Y/N), Fox, Steela, Hardcase, and…Finn. You five will make up group three.” The grouping continued slowly, but the names rang in your mind over and over. “Alright, now that groups are established, get to know one another and start some planning. Each member in your group has a very different degree path; this will help you all utilize one another's skills to create the best results for QuanCom. You have three weeks until you pitch your prototypes to Dooku, the COO.. Remember, 5 pm concludes your workday, so get to it.”

Sitting around your new coworkers, you fumbled around with your stylus, afraid to make the first move for introductions. It seems that you weren’t the only one being fidgety; the gentleman named Hardcase was bouncing his leg vigorously. If you were correct, he and Fox were clones. After the bill was granted clones rights and citizenship, they ended up all over the system. So many felt that cloning was unethical, especially for the fact they were treated similarly to droids. Though it was nice to see the two making something of themselves.

“Guess I’ll start! The name’s Hardcase. Yes I’m a clone, and--yes--I’m perfectly capable of thinking for myself. I’m great with my hands and can assemble anything together. For a short while, I was working as a mechanical engineer for the GAR.” The clone oozed with excitement and enthusiasm, which was quite entertaining. Clad in a pink-hued dress shirt and a blue suit, which matched his facial tattoos. On his feet were freshly polished loafers still tapping the ground.

“Well, I’m Fox. My skills are geared toward CAD and any type of 3D rendering. Once I devote myself to something, I see it through. You can trust me on this project; I assure you that,” he barely showed any type of emotions compared to his counterpart. His attire was dark-- suit, shoes, everything. It said a lot about him and which made you anxious.

“Well, I’m Steela! Researching is my speciality. Problem-solving is also a breeze. I’ll be able to find the answers in order to help us advance to a whole other level! I enjoy leading projects like this, since I know I can keep us on track one hundred percent!” The excitement radiating from her was encouraging. She seemed like a strong woman ready to lead this team to success. She wore brown high waisted dress pants with a matching blazer, and white blouse. On her feet were suede, caramel heel booties.

“I’ll go next…” the young Twi’lek’s voice was soft and elegant, soothing to everyone in the group. Just as she was about to speak the double-doors swung open.

“Asajj, we have a problem,” her voice hushed but full of urgency as she glanced around the room. “Tannis was fired. We need to fill her position. Now!”

“Gods, I knew this was going to happen. I told her she wasn’t ready for this position. Now he’s going to take it out on me,” Asajj let out a long sigh, arms folding across her body. The woman that just emerged looked similar to her, though her face was more relaxed.

“(Y/N), can you come over here for a second please?”

Everyone in the room glanced up at you before continuing their tasks.. Rising from your chair, you crossed the room sliding past everyone with ease. Asajj acted like she was presenting the finest delicacy in the galaxy; arms held out at you.

“I think she’ll do. A tad on the quiet side, but I’m sure Mr. Crimson can work with it,” Her response was more of a question, as both women had their eyes upon you.

“It’s not like we have much of a choice. You cannot run this and take on two secretary positions. You’re going to need the help,” The woman’s pale grey eyes burned into you.

“Fine. Take her to Mr. Crimson. You better hope he approves,” Asajj warned, giving you one last glance.

Quickly grabbing your belongings, the conversation you just had replays in your mind.

“Tannis,”

Why did that name sound so familiar? Who’s Mr. Crimson and why did you have to go see him. Your mind whirled around, anxiety eating away as you set foot in the elevator. It felt like a full rotation cycle before reaching floor twenty. Being led out you walked down a hallway that was decorated lavishly. The flooring was a beautiful dark marble. Each step you took echoed off the walls. Nearing the end of the hall, both of you walked through another set of tall glass double doors. Entering the spacious room, you can’t help but notice the viewport walls. Also catching your attention were two long black desks. They were set across from one another stacked with datapads and pieces of flimsy. Towards the middle was a closed black door that had a frosted glass panel. Without a doubt this room was breathtaking and even though it lacked decor compared to the hallway, the view of Galactic City made up for it. Light knuckles hit against the panel three times, waiting for a response.

“What is it now?” The aggressive tone was enough to send a chill down your spine.

Slowly opening the door to peek her head in. A few words were exchanged before she fully opened the door, motioning for you to follow right behind. Inside was a long glass desk, the legs were black; matching some of the furnishings or complimenting them. In front were two rounded leather chairs, the area rug underneath a bright white. Paintings and picture frames hung on the right side of the room, though you were too afraid to really gawk at them as a gruff voice began erupting again. There he sat, his black leather chair facing the viewports behind his desk seeming to be amidst another phone call. Something about his voice was all too familiar but the fear bubbling inside you made it difficult to pinpoint. Soon enough he swung his chair around slamming the phone down, right hand pinching the bridge of his nose.

“What was so important that you had to interrupt yet another phone call, Leys. If it’s not about numbers, you know, the job I pay you to do? Then leave. I’ll fire you too. I’ve had it with everyone’s complacent behavior. Any fool could be my financial officer, so if you as so step out of line again, you’re done,” The snarl erupting from this man was horrifying, bringing you back to the Caf shop.

It was him! The same eerie tone used then too, and yet he was able to turn it off so quickly when addressing you. Your hands began to clam up, eyes not even daring to meet his.

“Yes sir, I understand I’m very sorry. I just wanted to bring you Tannis’ replacement,” voice quivering, Leys bowed her head and hurriedly left Mr. Crimson’s office leaving you behind, alone and defenseless.

A satisfied chuckle was released from Mr. Crimson as he watched his employee scatter from his office. Brow raised in your direction, his stare intense, a sneer presenting itself. “Well. Take a seat.”

His hand motioned to the smaller round chairs, eyes never leaving you. Pushing his seat back just a smidge, a polished shoe crosses over his left thigh and his hands fold against his stomach. Releasing the breath you were holding in, you padded over to the seat in front of his desk sitting as straight as humanly possible.

“It seems I’m in need of another secretary. But it’s not an easy job-- I need someone reliable, someone organized, and to understand the urgency of when I say to do something, they do it,” Towards the end of the sentence, his voice dropped a little lower, eyes narrowing. “It is a permanent job that is until mistakes are made. Pays reasonably well especially for dealing with...someone like me. Seems Asajj and Leys picked you and they’re typically alright when it comes to the judgment of character.”

Something about the way he spoke to you made your heart skip a beat. Even the way he stared at you had your arms lined with goosebumps. Trying to compile a coherent sentence was no easy feat with his eyes burning into you.

“I-I, um..” fumbling over your words caused your cheeks to run hot. “Well...first off I wanted to thank you for this morning. You really didn’t have to pay for me...but I greatly appreciate it. As for my work, I am quite organized and pay attention to directions given, but I don’t exactly have the experience in being a secretary, which would probably be important…” trailing off, you broke eye contact with him to glance at a red light blinking on his phone.

He barely acknowledged your thanks, just giving a small nod. A deep hearty laugh left his lips, “Any fool could be a secretary, but you don’t seem like a fool. No, just the way you speak and hold yourself exudes intelligence. Normally a secretary is chosen from within the company, as an outsider could be one that would leak vital information about QuanCom to its competitors. Someone that has worked their way up the ranks, whom I could trust. However, due to obvious circumstances here we are. If you so choose to take this job you will have limited access to certain databases as I need you to earn that trust. Understood?” The sneer plastered itself once more upon his face, incisors visible this time.

“Yes sir, I understand. I’ll make sure I do this right Mr. Crimson!” a little bit of enthusiasm worked its way to you, eyes lighting up like Coruscant itself.

“Please, call me Maul.” he pleaded, followed by a half-smirk.

Rising to his feet, he outstretched a hand that you mirrored. His callused hand engulfing yours in a gentle embrace. Just this morning you were going in ready to compete against nineteen other candidates, and here you are sealing a deal with the CEO of QuanCom to be his second secretary. Breaking the handshake, he opens up his desk drawer pulling out a datapad, handing it to you.

“That will be yours. You’ll need it for all the paperwork and emails. You’re free to take it home, just don’t lose it. Asajj will send you some emails tonight that will need to be completed before you come in tomorrow morning at 6 sharp. Once you do that you’ll be set up in our system and able to begin your duties. You’re dismissed for the day, but you will be paid for a full day. Just a small token of gratitude.”

Taking the datapad in your hands, you gave a curt nod, ensuring you understood the importance that was just given to you. Getting yourself together along with your things, you exchanged a few words expressing how grateful you are for this new position. Heading toward the door, you outstretch a hand to grab the handle. Just as you’re about to open the black door, his voice cuts the silence.

“Oh, one last thing, don’t mention our little encounter this morning to anyone. Some may think... I’m beginning to play favorites.” his voice honeyed paired with a smirk and eyes ogling you, trying to take in one last visual before you leave.

---------

taglist: @maulfrk @honestlystop @pinkiemme @idiotonastar @nawpitynopenope @maulieber @rishi-moon

#maul x reader #darth maul x reader #Star Wars fanfic #star wars #Clone Wars #The Clone Wars #star wars clone wars #userlilylils #ceo!maul #maul

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thorne93 · 4 years ago

Text

The Stars Made Us (Part 27)

Prompt: In this world, you’re one of the “lucky” ones who got a soulmate, but what if the universe gives you more than you bargained for?

(Prompt challenge – You live in a world where your soulmate can write on their skin and you will get the writing on your own and vice versa. Where they can wash away the ink on their own skin, however, the writing is forever scarred onto your skin until you meet face to face)

Word Count: 1722

Warnings: angst and language throughout, seizure/medical complications

Notes: This was supposed to be for @sorryimacrapwriter and their challenge like a year ago, I think? I still loved the prompt though and have been working on this story for quite some time. This aesthetic was made by @dontshootmespence thank you so much! Beta’d by @like-a-bag-of-potatoes, couldn’t have done it without you, as well as @carryonmyswansong and @arrow-guy and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo

Also, I’ve never really liked the whole soulmate AU thing idea, but this felt so right and it was amazing to write. I hope y’all love it too!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charles got you up to your shared bedroom, getting you laid down on the bed as he laid down behind you, wrapping his arm around your waist and kissing your shoulder.

You weren't sure if he'd read your mind yet, but it didn't matter seeing as you couldn't speak anyway.

The sobbing continued for another few hours before you fell asleep from exhaustion. You didn't have anything that replenished your loss of blood. You were still wearing the outfit that had been torn up. When you finally woke up, it was late night, after midnight.

Charles was still awake, waiting to see if you were alright.

"Darling?" he softly addressed. "My love? Are you okay? What happened?"

"Doctor Stephen Strange happened," you informed angrily. "Have you already read my mind?"

"You know I never do that purposefully," he reminded gently as he delicately put your hair behind your ear. You were on your side, facing the large windows of the bedroom, with him behind you, propped up on one elbow.

You rolled over to see him. You wanted to see his fantastic face.

"It's so good to see you," you breathed, reaching up to stroke his face with your hand. He peered down at you lovingly, but with concern.

"What happened to your leg?" he wondered.

"I was stabbed. Some form of mystical, evil, magic. Stephen and I accidentally got caught in a mystical war..."

"That... I'm sorry, what?" he asked, alarm in his voice.

You waved him off. "It's fine. He killed one guy, we stranded the other woman. But the other guy, he did this to me." You rotated your leg and he looked at it.

"My god. You nearly lost your leg."

You nodded.

"That's not the pain that hurts though," you informed.

He lied down next to you, still in his suit.

"You didn't change," you noted.

"Of course not. I couldn't bear to leave you in this state." He gave you a soft smile. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I don't want to push you."

You shook your head. "That's not it."

"What is it, then?"

You looked at him and sighed before going into the whole story. You explained everything in detail from the day you arrived to getting on the plane. Charles listened intently, trying to keep everything straight.

"So he just... he sent you back to the temple after telling you to get out of his life?"

You nodded.

"Charles... it hurts so bad. It's almost as bad as when I thought you were dead. How could he do that to me?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, my love. I've loved you for a very, very long time, and we didn't even meet. He had almost a year with you. He's your other mate. I honestly don't know how he could turn you away."

You nodded.

"But hey," he tried, his finger trailing your cheek as tears quietly poured from your eyes. Your eyes shifted to look at him. "I love you, you know that right? And while I wish he didn't break your heart, I am so happy to have you home."

"I know," you said with a smile. "I'm so happy to be home, to see you again. I've missed you so much." You pulled him down to you, to give him a firm kiss. "Also, I have a concussion," you informed.

"Never a dull moment, hmm?" he teased before booping your nose ever so gently with his index finger before laughing. "I suggest we get rest, and then in the morning, we get you a proper shower, hmm?"

"What about work?"

"You come before everything else, always. You know this. I'm clearing my day. It's the least I can do for you, after everything you do for everyone else."

"Thank you, Charles. I have no idea what I'd do without you."

"Perish the thought, love, perish the thought." He smiled at you before the two of you got ready for bed and slipped into a deep sleep.

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

The next morning, Hank and Charles treated you to breakfast.

Charles kept it to himself that at this point, he hated Stephen. It had nothing to do with the fact that you lived with him for several months. Or how hard you had to work to get in his life.

No, he resented him because Charles knew how much you loved him, and he threw it away. He broke your heart. He could forgive everything. Even if Stephen ultimately stole you away from Charles -- at least you were happy.

But this? Treating you so horribly after everything you'd done? No. That was absolutely unacceptable in his eyes.

"Do you need anything, love?" Charles asked as he eyed you sipping your coffee, barely touching the food on your plate. Hank looked at you then at Charles, his face concerned.

"No, I'm fine." You took a deep breath before looking at the two men. "Really. I'll be okay. There is no point in moping about this. I need to get back to work anyway. I'll be in your office if that's alright, darling?" you asked, getting up from the table.

"Of course, whatever you need."

He grabbed your hand as you walked by and gently squeezed. You squeezed it back and went on your way. You got your suitcase full of work related items into the office, closed the door, and started to set your things up. But then the darkness closed in. The sorrow wrapped you in a tight cocoon. And you couldn't for the life of you, get out of it.

How could he throw eight months away? As if it were nothing? He opened up to you. He was starting to really believe in you two. And now... you were nothing to him.

Tears wracked your body as you held your face, trying to keep your sobbing volume low so you wouldn't alert the others. But it was hard.

Meanwhile, Charles looked defeated in the kitchen as he rested his elbow on the table and put his hand to his mouth.

"I don't know what to do, Hank," he confessed. "She's so broken-hearted."

"Why did he do that to her?" Hank asked. "From what I'd heard from you two, things were fine."

"They were. She explained it all to me, and I can't quite put it together either."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I have no idea. Support her I suppose, and never mention his name again. That will be easy. I just have to try not to mention how much I loathe the man."

Hank nodded. He knew his friend well enough to understand what he meant. Even Hank was feeling a bit of animosity towards Strange for breaking you like this.

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

After Stephen had defeated Dormammu, he worked with Wong to get him set up properly at the New York sanctum. He had realized that he could save lives doing what he did there, being a Master of the Mystic Arts. He was surprisingly okay with this and accepted his new form of work.

"Where is Y/N?" Wong asked as he got to work, helping Stephen clean up the sanctum.

"Gone," he replied casually.

"Odd. She isn't the type to leave. Especially you. What happened?"

Stephen looked to Wong. "You're never a talker, and now suddenly you won't shut up about Y/N?"

"What can I say? I liked her. She made you bearable."

"Thanks," he muttered.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" Wong pressed.

"Nothing to tell. She was here. Now she's not. She was in the way."

"Yes, because she seemed like a true inconvenience when she was helping you train and learn."

"Sarcasm now? Fantastic. Look, she has her life to lead. I have mine. She has Charles, her other mate. She's fine and I'm better off without her."

Wong stared at him, eyeing him while he cleaned. He knew he wasn't telling the whole truth but getting emotions out of Stephen Strange was like pulling teeth.

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

"Care for a game?" Charles asked as he walked up to you in the library. A fire was going, as fall was in full swing. He gestured to the chess board next to you. He thought he'd find you reading and was a bit surprised that you were just staring into the fire.

"What? Hmm, oh, sure," you said, adjusting your seat to the chess table between the two seats. He sat opposite of you, eyeing you.

How he desperately wanted to break his vow to you and get inside your head, but he couldn't. He shouldn't. He cared about you too much to violate your privacy, but he also cared about you too much not to.

Ultimately, he remained steadfast and decided to not breach your mind. He didn't ever want to disrespect you like that.

He watched you play the game, feeling so powerless. It'd been two weeks since you'd arrived back at the mansion and you were clearly putting up a front. Sure you smiled, laughed, and got back into the swing of things quickly, but when the others weren't looking, your face would fall, you'd get a far off look in your eyes. Charles heard you crying in the shower on more than one occasion.

He hated that he couldn't do anything for you. But what could you do for someone with a broken heart? Nothing. The pain would have to ride itself out. Much like grief, there was no getting around it.

But this wasn't some summer fling.

This was a soulmate you'd lost, one you weren't sure you'd ever get back.

But you remembered how incredibly blessed and lucky you were to have two mates. Never before seen in the history of the world.

So you tried your best to push Stephen Strange from your mind, and focus on the epitome of perfection that sat across from you, playing chess. And you knew him, and you knew he was fighting his powers to read your mind. You knew he wanted to help. You could see him mentally scrambling to find ways to cheer you up and distract you, and you loved him all the more for it.

Both of you were painfully aware that this was something not even a soulmate could fix.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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#the stars made us #charles xavier x reader #charles xavier fic #charles xavier #stephen strange x reader #stephen strange fic #stephen strange

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bunnimew · 4 years ago

Text

Starstruck 2: Lost at Sea

Fandom: Rise of the Guardians Relationship: Jack Frost/Pitch Black Also featuring: Jamie Bennett Tags: Mermaid AU, Modern Mer AU istg, jamie is a good bro, Pitch is The Most Dramatic, There is angst here, there is also fluff, Action Plot! Rating: T Words: 3601 Summary: Sequel to Starstruck Pitch is missing. Jack has to find him. Jamie has to follow Jack, just to make sure he doesn't get eaten by sharks or something.

For RotG Mermay 2021 prompt Mother of Pearl On AO3 Here.

Jack was beside himself with worry.

No one had seen Pitch since yesterday morning. Since Jack said goodbye to him before heading off to work.

Pitch never made it to the theater. No one had seen him at rehearsal the entire day. Jack only found out when he arrived home to an empty house and his agent knocking on the door to ask if Pitch was feeling alright.

Pitch was gone.

And Jack couldn't rest until he found him.

He went straight to Jamie. No one understood how much Jack needed Pitch more than Jamie. Jack talked about Pitch all the time, confided everything to his best friend, which meant Jamie had unique insight into just how broken Jack would be if Pitch never came back. Worse, if Jack didn't even try to find him and it turned out he could have.

Jack didn't know exactly how Jamie was going to help, but he maybe should have predicted that Jamie would grab his pick-shovel and demand to come along.

They were already on their way back to Jack and Pitch's house, their plan set to trace Pitch's path to the theater and start their search there, When Jack decided to try one more time...

"You don't have to come with me, you know."

"You can't stop me, you know."

"I know!" Jack said. His voice was a little high, a little defensive, and very tense. It wasn't Jamie's fault, but Jamie got to hear it anyway. "I'm just making sure. Pitch isn't your fiancé. You're my friend, but… I don't even know what I'm doing, so. I'm just making sure you know you don't have to do this."

Jamie pressed a hand to Jack's shoulder as they swam along, their pale and true blue tails oscillating in an oddly perfect tandem. There was strength in that hold that Jack was sorely missing right now. "And I'm making sure you don't do something stupid, or that at least you don't do it alone."

Jack almost stopped dead in the water, but Jamie’s firm hand kept him moving forward. “It might be better if I did it alone.”

Jamie snorted, the brat. He didn’t even look at Jack when he replied. “Yeah, no. No way. Even if I’m just a witness to what happens to your remains, it’s better if I’m there.”

Jack blinked, taken aback. So much for optimism and solidarity. “You’re just gonna watch me die?”

Jamie shrugged. “Depends on how it happens. I’ll take on a shark for you. I won’t take on twenty sharks for you.” Jamie paused. “Probably.”

It was a bad joke, but it brought the smile back to Jack’s face. He put his hand on Jamie’s shoulder in kind and made his peace with the fact that Jamie was going to waste however much time he wanted on having Jack’s back while Jack went out of his mind searching for Pitch.

And honestly, Jack was thankful.

“I’m going to stop in and change,” Jack said when they reached his door. “I should probably be wearing real clothes when I meet my doom.” That was going to be their running joke now, Jack decided. The thing that kept the tone from getting too heavy to handle. The thing that kept Jack focused on finding Pitch and not focused on the fact that he was lost. “Do you want a jacket or something?”

Jamie started to shake his head, then rethought it. “Actually yeah. Another layer wouldn’t be a bad idea.” He swam over to hold the door when Jack went through. “Got anything fashionable? Something that will make me look badass for our rescue adventure?”

Jack almost laughed. Jamie was an amazing friend. “I’m wearing the badass jacket. You can wear the sexy one.”

“You mean they’re not the same jacket?”

Jamie was right to grab his pick-shovel. It was a tool as much as a weapon, and Jack did also have one, but the only time they needed both was for prying huge chunks of rock out of the ground. The likelihood that Pitch was pinned under something large enough it would take both of them to free him…

Was not zero.

Jack grabbed his pick-shovel.

He also grabbed a bag to put snacks in and the knife North had given him. It was so beautiful and fancy that Jack had never used it before. But it was a knife meant for work, and Jack didn’t know what he might need to cut. So he was bringing it along just in case.

And, also just in case, Jack left his lovely seastar in its feeding tank for safety.

Jamie noticed all of it. “How long do you think we’ll be gone?”

Jack shook his head on his way out the door. “I don’t know. Maybe we’ll be able to come back in between. Maybe we’ll see something and… not be able to come back. I don’t know. But I’m bringing food enough for at least one night.”

“Seems smart,” Jamie agreed. His tone wasn’t in total agreement with his words. Jamie hesitated for the first time since hearing the news, on the idea that they would be at this for long enough that food would be a concern.

“You don’t—”

“Shut up and lead the way,” Jamie interrupted.

Well.

Okay.

Jack turned toward the theater and flicked his tail hard. Jamie would keep up. They had no time to waste.

-o-

“This is the longest I’ve ever swam in one day, I swear.”

Jack agreed. They were following a current that ran… somewhat close to Pitch’s path to the theater. It would have been kind of ridiculous for Pitch to have gotten caught up in it, but with his huge fins and unwieldy tail and, let’s be honest, ridiculous manner, it seemed the most likely thing to have happened.

That, and Jack didn’t have the authority to investigate other mers or search their homes, so it’s not like he could search anything but the natural surrounding area for Pitch.

Jack sighed. He felt defeated. “We can take another break soon. How far do you think he went?”

Jamie slowed and rotated upright in the water. “He could still be trapped in it, Jack. There’s no way to know.” But then he smiled and met Jack’s eyes with honest enthusiasm. “Glad you brought those snacks!”

Jamie was the best friend.

Jack laughed and pulled one out for him. “I really hope my idiot of a fiance is not still tumbling tail over fin in this current. That would be horribly embarrassing and also very inconvenient.”

Jamie nodded. “And very Pitch.”

Jack sighed again, this time put upon. It was true.

Hopefully one day this whole fiasco would be a great story to tell over the dinner table to Pitch’s latest celebrity friends and not the end of his world as he knew it. The cold hand of dread began its now very familiar clutch around Jack’s heart and he struggled to swallow down the rising anxiety and keep his tail moving.

Until Jamie wrapped his arm around Jack’s shoulders, again, and shook him just a little bit. “Don’t worry until we have reason to worry, Jack,” he said. “Let’s find him and figure it out from there.”

Jack agreed, because what else was he supposed to do? Except the nagging thought stuck with him that the hours Pitch had been missing already and the hours Jack and Jamie had spent looking for him were amounting to something to worry about.

So of course when they noticed the sudden plethora of fishing nets, Jack’s worry set sail for the stars and skyrocketed.

“Shark-eye on a woodlouse,” Jack moaned with his face buried in both hands. “They ate him!”

Jamie rolled his eyes and shook Jack by his elbow. “Don’t be dramatic. Pitch has been rubbing off on you.”

Jack shook his head, but kept on. “You know how these things are. Anything and everything gets caught in them and all of it dies. It doesn’t really matter if they ate him, although I’m really hoping they didn’t eat him. If he got caught in one of these nets, he’s gone.”

Jamie didn’t reply. He swam forward with a steady beat of his tail, and that told Jack everything. Jamie was an optimist, but he didn’t want to lie.

These nets meant real danger.

Made more and more evident as they continued to follow the current and found thousands of fish caught up in them. Jack and Jamie had to swim out of the way of sweeping nets more than once and each time, Jack thought of their agility and of Pitch’s huge, billowing tail. This was what got him, Jack was more and more sure. It had to be.

Jack closed his eyes as they swam on, letting Jamie guide their way. If Pitch did get swept up onto a fishing boat, how would Jack ever know for sure? He would just be gone, and Jamie wouldn’t let him mourn if there was still hope left because that’s the kind of person Jamie was. But Jack couldn’t just hope forever and live in that house without Pitch and pretend it would all be fixed when Pitch magically showed up some day.

Jack would hope, though. Because how could he give up when he loved Pitch so much? The whole idea made Jack fear his own future, so he just… swam. And let Jamie guide them. He needed to be in his own head for a little while.

“Spawn of a…” Jamie trailed off in a faraway, disbelieving tone, and Jack opened his eyes because that was either good or very, very bad. “Is that him?”

In an instant, Jack was scanning the seas around them. Fuck, but all he saw was nets. “Where?”

“There!” Jamie pointed, but he also started swimming. Jack hurried to keep up, and then—

He saw what Jamie saw. A small, long, black and gray thing tangled in an abandoned net caught in the current’s flow. It was anchored from below, but the line was too long and Jack’s concern was too short to give it more than the glance it took to verify Pitch wasn’t about to be swept away in the current again, this time without any hope of swimming his way out of it.

The figure wasn’t struggling against the nets at all and Jack swam faster. His huge fins, twisted and folded in the spun plastic, gave him away before anything else. It was Pitch. It was absolutely Pitch.

Jack screamed his name over and over as he swam nearer, waiting, hoping, praying for Pitch to look up at the sound. He looked so pathetic and sad, immobilized and swaying helplessly in the wake of the current. He could have been dead already, except that he finally stirred from all the noise Jack was making and looked up. When their eyes met, when Jack could see for himself that Pitch’s gaze was clear and focused and that he was just stuck, the ridiculous man, relief flooded through every part of Jack’s being so suddenly and so completely that he almost lost the rhythm of his stroke and stumbled in the water.

Pitch was alive, and, other than his current circumstances, he was fine.

Jack realized Pitch was neither trapped under nor between anything heavy and so his pick-shovel would do nothing but fill his hands. He tossed it behind him for Jamie to catch and continued on unhindered.

“Jack!” Pitch shouted to him, and the sound made Jack’s heart sing. The heavy pull of the current sent it sinking again, but Jack was on a mission and skillfully rode the tide right into his chest, where he clung with all of the accumulated desperation of the last several hours and steadfastly refused to let go.

Jack pulled the fancy knife from his hip and prayed the inset mother of pearl handle survived what he was about to do to it. He pulled the netting as far from Pitch’s skin as he could, then pressed the knife into the synthetic fibers and began to saw away at it with everything he was worth.

Pitch tried to help. His wiggling wasn’t very effective, but it did get him a little further from Jack’s blade, and that was something. “How did you find me?”

Jack smiled at him. It wasn’t really anything to smile about, but Jack was just so glad that he could smile at Pitch, so he did. “Followed your tracks. Made some good guesses. Jamie helped a lot.”

Pitch looked behind Jack at where Jamie must have been hovering with the two pick-shovels out of the current’s reach. “I thought he couldn’t stand me.”

“He can’t stand me when I talk about you. That’s different.”

“Oh right,” Pitch said absently. It was obvious he wasn’t really taking anything in. His eyes were glued to Jack’s hands slowly tearing away at the nets now, and he was biting anxiously at his lip.

“Don’t worry,” Jack soothed. His voice was tense, but Jack couldn’t help that. His hands couldn’t stop moving until Pitch was free, and the netting was stronger than it looked. “I’ll get you out of this, Tigershark. I promise.”

Pitch met his eyes again, and there was so much heat there. So much love and trust that Jack nearly forgot what his hands were doing. “I know.”

It felt like forever before the first rope gave way, then two forevers for the second. Jack’s arms were burning and Pitch’s tail wasn’t even free, yet. The pace was excruciating, and after hours of constant swimming, Jack was tired.

The thought of Pitch’s safety was all he needed to keep on.

Pitch, on his part, tried to help with every limb he could wiggle out of the way. The net had tangled around him at least three times, but Jack hoped once the tail was free, the rest would come easy. When the bottom fin finally broke through, Jack wondered if he imagined the way Pitch’s soft tail brushed against him, as if it were on purpose.

But then, as soon as Pitch’s first arm escaped the plastic cage, he pressed his fingers to Jack’s cheek, and Jack knew he hadn’t imagined anything at all.

Before the last snarl was cut, Jack made sure both of them had a firm grip on the net. It would absolutely suck to go through all of that just to lose Pitch to the current again. And then they had another problem.

Jack took hold of Pitch’s arm. “You trust me, right?” he asked.

Pitch looked very much like he did not trust Jack right now. “What do you mean? What are you doing?”

Jack sighed. Why did he have to ask questions? “I’m going to get you out of the current so we don’t start all of this over again. Do you trust me?”

Pitch’s eyes widened. He looked thoroughly unconvinced. “What about you?”

“I’m a stronger swimmer,” Jack said. Then he tightened his grip on Pitch’s arm and swung him around in the water. Pitch flailed hilariously, but let him do it and that was all Jack asked for. When he let go, the force and the pull of the current tore Jack away and spun him viscously, but the net kept him anchored just as it had done to Pitch before.

When he finally got another glimpse of Pitch, it was to see Jamie holding him back by the shoulders. The idiot had honestly turned around and tried to get back to him.

Thank the universe for Jamie.

Jack held the knife between his teeth and gripped the net with both hands. All he had to do was make it far enough out that the pull wasn’t stronger than him. That… should be easy, right?

Right.

Jack took a hard breath through his nose, then went for it. He swung on the net as far as physics would allow, then pushed hard with his tail and both arms to escape the drag of water trying to keep him in. He could feel the water he pushed against with his hands, but he could also feel the water slipping backwards over his shoulders and sides as the current slowly won.

Jack pushed harder, swam faster, felt himself beginning to thrash as he realized it wasn’t working. The current was going to take him and throw him out who knows where else? He had some food, but Jamie and Pitch didn’t and what if the current never let him go at all?

Then a hand grabbed his and Jack looked up to see Jamie, strained and panicked, reaching out for him into the turbulent water. Jack’s expression probably looked much the same, but some of the anxiety smoothed out when the two of them began to move, this time steadily away from the current that wanted to claim him.

Jack didn’t understand, but he didn’t care. He clung to Jamie’s wrists and didn’t look away until finally the pull began to loosen its grip and Jack could breathe again. Then he noticed the massive black tail swishing back and forth in the water behind Jamie. Pitch?

Jack blinked, startled, and accepted it without fuss when Jamie suddenly shot backward and Jack was flung bodily into a circle of four arms and two tails that seemed ready to crush him before they would let go.

It was Pitch. Pitch had pulled them out. Pitch had been tugging on Jamie’s tail and Jack was really going to have to treat Jamie to something nice because that probably hurt like hell but first, Jack was going to have to kiss Pitch senseless for saving him. Nevermind that Jack had saved Pitch first. Pitch could kiss Jack senseless, too. It was only fair.

Jack wormed one arm around each of them and held on. They were safe. They were finally safe, all three of them, and now they just had to get home. Jack’s eyes were burning and when he looked up, Jamie and Pitch’s were red-rimmed, too.

Yeah, okay. That was scary. Jack could admit that whole thing had been scary. He would do it again in a heartbeat, but… He was glad he wouldn’t have to.

Jamie finally loosened his hold and gave Jack some water. Jack, who immediately turned and smothered himself in Pitch’s chest because it had been more than twenty-four hours since Jack last laid eyes on him and the idiot had nearly gotten himself killed by accidentally getting swept up in a current that he had no business being that close to in the first place.

Pitch pressed his face into Jack’s hair and wrapped around him the way Jack liked, the way that made Jack feel safe. It was stupid, because obviously Pitch was a danger magnet, but the man had also proven himself to be strong and capable not two minutes ago, so Jack would take it.

“I love you so much,” Jack whispered into the water. “Don’t ever do that again.”

“I won’t, Jewelfish.” Pitch said against the shell of Jack’s ear. “Never again.”

Jack pressed his face up against Pitch’s throat. “I’m serious, Pitch. I was so worried. I thought I lost you. I thought I was going to have to—”

Pitch pressed two fingers against Jack’s lips to quiet him, then leaned just far enough away to meet his eyes. “I swear, Jack. I will be more careful. I will never do this again.”

Jack stared deep into Pitch’s gaze, judging for himself whether Pitch really meant that or not. Pitch held Jack’s stare, steady and calm. Calm, after all of that. How? But he was. Calm and sure, and Jack slowly started to believe him.

With a nip at Pitch’s fingers, Jack gave in. “Alright, Cuddlefish. Take me home.”

Pitch smiled and swam pointedly away from the current that started all of this. “Anything you wish, Nibblefish. Thank you for coming to find me.”

Suddenly Jamie was on Jack’s other side again, and his solid warmth was very much appreciated. “There was no way we wouldn’t. Seriously,” Jamie said, wide eyes fixed on Pitch. “I don’t think you really know. There was no other option. Jack was coming to find you. I only came to make sure Jack didn’t die in the process and, as it turns out, good thing I did!”

Pitch’s smile, adoring when it was aimed at Jack, shifted into a sort of baffled amusement. Jamie had that effect on people. “Thank you. Jack is very lucky to have a friend like you.”

“Yeah,” Jack agreed. He wrapped his arm around Jamie and squeezed. “I know.”

Jamie grinned and hugged him back. “Good thing. Because I am not looking forward to the hours it’s going to take to get back and watching you two be disgustingly sweet and all over each other the whole way.”

Jack bit his lip to keep from laughing.

“I’m going to see you home safe,” Jamie continued, “but as soon as we are, I am clearing out, because I know exactly what you two are going to get up to and I want no part in that.”

Pitch’s face was equal parts embarrassed and scandalized, and Jack couldn’t keep the laughter inside anymore.

Jack was incredibly lucky. He had an adoring fiancé who would give him anything, an amazing best friend who would do, for him, anything, and a future that didn’t scare him anymore.

Also, Jamie was one hundred percent right.

Jack couldn’t wait to get home.

#TheBunni #rotg #rise of the guardians #blackice #blackicerotg #blackice rotg #jack frost #rotg fanart #mermay #merman #mother of pearl #mermaid au #starstruck

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amanda-teaches · 5 years ago

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Til Death Do Us Part? (4)

Series Summary: At a work party with your best friend, Dean, you panic when your new boss asks if you’re couple. Lying to protect your promotion, you wind up fake engaged before you can take it back. When Dean agrees to go along with your lie for a weekend retreat, you end up finding something neither of you had bargained for: love.

Chapter Summary: After your kiss, your feelings for Dean are only growing. You try to fight them, but quickly realize it’s that much harder to do that when you have to share a bed with the man you’re falling for.

Pairing: AU Dean x Reader

Square filled: Bed Sharing for @spndeanbingo and Breakfast in Bed for @spnfluffbingo

Word Count: 1855

Warnings: So much sexual tension, you guys. Just lots of yearning, bed sharing, kissing memories, smutty dreams. It’s basically just all kinds of sexual tension with lots of fluff and humor, and a side of angsty feelings. Your typical slow burn.

A/N: We’re about halfway through this series, and this chapter is my favorite yet. The feelings are real, y’all, and I’m loving how into each other they are. Buckle up, because it gets real emotional from here on out. Let me know what you think! I’d love to see your thoughts on what’s been happening and where you think it’s going. Tags are open for this series!

Til Death Do Us Part? Masterlist

It had been nearly 30 minutes since you’d locked yourself in the bathroom, ostensibly to shower and get ready for bed. But, in reality, you’d been scrubbed down and dressed for a full 10 minutes now. You were just hiding, afraid to walk through the door, because you knew Dean was waiting on the other side for you, and, honestly, you didn’t know how you could face him after tonight.

You closed your eyes, sighing blissfully as the memories of his kiss washed over you. Your fingers ghosted over your mouth, imagining it was his touch instead of yours, his lips pulling at yours, his groan coming from the back of his throat, his hand moving slowly up your thigh…

Your eyes snapped open, the tingling in your stomach pulling a throaty moan from deep inside you. How could you even look Dean in the eye without imagining the way he’d touched you, how he could have kept touching you...how you wanted him to. You knew you had to leave the bathroom, but how could you face him after that?

Taking a deep breath, you steeled yourself, pushing the thoughts out of the forefront of your mind. You had to leave the bathroom eventually, so no time like the present. You’d just act cool, collected, like you didn’t even remember the kiss.

As if that was even possible.

Tugging on the hem of your tank top, you tried to pull it down a little further, until it brushed the band of your shorts. It barely covered your stomach, but there wasn’t much you could now, considering it was all you’d packed in the rush to get this weekend over with. Probably not the smartest idea you’d ever had, since it turned out you and Dean were sharing a room, but at least you hadn’t packed your lingerie like a true idiot.

Turning, you grabbed the doorknob, rotating it slowly until the door popped open and you were able to push it forward. When you stepped into the room, the first thing you saw was Dean lying on the bed, one ankle crossed over another. His eyes were locked on a book in his hand, giving you a second just to watch him, unnoticed.

He was beautiful. You wished you could say handsome or rugged or even sexy, but, while all those adjectives and more certainly applied to him, beautiful was just the word that encompassed them all. His face, his body, his soul. It was all just so breathtakingly beautiful, the kind of beautiful that made you want to get lost in it forever.

He’d stripped off his dress shirt, leaving just the white undershirt remaining over some loose, faded Levis. The shirt was fitted, stretched so you could see every muscle, every soft dip underneath, which certainly didn’t help with the nervousness. In fact, it pretty much amplified it ten-fold.

Looking away from his chest to his legs, you smiled softly to yourself, knowing he’d probably left the jeans on for your sake, so that you’d feel comfortable. He never cared about his own comfort, only yours. Your smile widened, because, somehow that small little gesture put everything in perspective. Underneath all the feelings and nerves, it was still just Dean, your best friend, the person you trusted most in the world, and that realization instantly grounded you, driving away your nerves.

“Hey,” you whispered, loud enough for him to hear.

He looked up, a smile forming at the sound of your voice, but it froze the instant he saw you. His eyes drifted down the length of your body before moving back up to your face. Quickly, he pulled himself back together, closing his mouth and smiling softly. “Hey. I was starting to worry you’d drowned in there.”

“Very funny,” you joked, picking up a pillow off the end of the bed and playfully tossing it at him. He caught it easily, laughing out loud before he threw it aside and put his book down on the nightstand.

You started walking towards the other side of the bed, but you paused, hesitating at the edge. He noticed immediately, sitting up straight. “I can sleep on the floor...”

“No, no,” you said, quickly shaking your head. It didn’t surprise you at all that he’d be willing to, but you couldn’t ask him to do that, even if the thought of sleeping next to him made your stomach fall right back into nervous somersaults. “That would be stupid. We can share.”

He stared at you closely for a moment, as if gauging your real comfort level, before he shot you a reassuring smile, humor flashing in his eyes. “Well, I can always build you a wall of pillows if that’d help. Keep you nice and safe.”

You laughed, pulled the covers back, and placed one knee on the bed, sinking down so you were meeting him at eye level. “Now, why would you need to do that, Dean? Do you think I need protecting?”

You were joking, but the teasing way you said it still stopped him in his tracks, his face hardening with something far more sensuous than you were expecting. His gaze dropped to your lips for a split second, and you felt a shiver run down your spine at the way his eyes darkened. You held your breath, aching for him to kiss you, but he spoke instead. “You’ll never need protecting from me, Y/N.”

He was solemn, serious, and you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was telling the truth. He’d never hurt you. You licked your lips, swallowing slowly as his eyes continued to bore into you. You wanted to lean in and pick up where you’d left off earlier, fall into that safety and never let go, but you were scared. No matter how much your body screamed at you to, you just couldn’t let yourself take that leap. “We should probably get some sleep.” You paused, your breaths coming out heavy. “It’s, uh, been a long day.”

Disappointment streaked across his face, but he masked it quickly, tearing his eyes away from you. “Yeah, not every day you get a promotion, right? You must be exhausted.”

Without waiting for a response, he quickly got up, letting you climb under the covers first before he turned off the light and followed suit. He was very careful not to touch you as he settled in, closing his eyes almost instantly, but you could still feel the heat radiating off him, and it was torture. You could hear his heartbeat, every rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, and all you wanted to do was close the distance between the two of you and touch every damn inch of him.

Instead, you rolled the other way, fluffing your pillow a little too aggressively once you were on your side. As you closed your eyes, you tried to ignore the tension building in your body, pretending you were alone in this bed instead of next to a man who electrified your whole body, your whole mind. No matter how hard you tried, it didn’t stop the memory of his lips on yours from crowding back into your mind as you drifted off into a restless, dream-filled sleep.

You dreamed of Dean.

Bright light invaded your eyelids the next morning, dragging you from your sleep with a disgruntled groan.

“Mornin’, sunshine.” You squinted your eyes open, groggily turning your head to find Dean standing next to the previously closed curtains, now replaced with rays of brilliant, streaming sunshine.

“Ugh, no…” you whined, pulling the pillow over your head and turning onto your stomach. “Too early.”

Dean chuckled, and you could feel his weight drop onto the bed as he sat down beside you. “Y/N/N, it’s 10 am.”

As his words sank in, so did the panic, and you threw the pillow to the side, popping up so fast, you made your head spin. “It is?! Shit!”

You began to look around frantically to get your bearings, but he put his hand on yours, stopping you. “Hey, don’t worry,” he assured you quickly. “You’re fine. All the others left for a hike about 20 minutes ago. I told them we’d skip it and meet them for lunch out by the pool. They didn’t mind.”

“They weren’t upset that I didn’t show up?”

“Nope,” he said, shaking his head. Then, he grinned mischievously. “I could’ve just told them you were sleeping in because we were up all night celebrating your promotion.”

A quick image of Dean’s naked body hovering over yours flashed through your mind, him dropping down to kiss your stomach before slowly moving lower, and you clenched almost imperceptibly, chasing it away. It wasn’t very far from the dreams that had kept you tossing and turning all night long. “Tell me you didn’t…”

He laughed. “No, Y/N, they’re your bosses. I’m not that crazy. I just told them you were still tired from our ride yesterday.” He stood up and crossed the room, making his way to the table. “But, it did buy me some time to sneak this from the kitchen.”

He picked up a plate covered with a silver dome and dramatically lifted it up to unveil a healthy serving of eggs, bacon, and fruit.

You smiled, your heart swelling. “You got us breakfast?”

“No,” Dean clarified. “I got us breakfast in bed. Infinitely superior.”

“Oh, infinitely,” you laughed, taking the plate Dean handed you while he jumped into the bed beside you, holding his own. He sat at the foot of the bed, with his legs stretched out so that he was facing you, starting to dig into his meal with vigor.

“Damn, these fancy people know how to cook,” he sighed happily after the first few bites. “We should take all-expense paid trips to resorts more often. Did you know they’re throwing some big, fancy party tonight? I bet the catering will be insane.”

“Slow down,” you laughed, watching as he practically inhaled the food. “It’s not like it’s going anywhere, Dean. It’s free all weekend.”

“Which is basically half over,” he pointed out, still shoveling down his food. “Gotta enjoy it before we head back to reality tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” you agreed, your smile fading slightly at the thought of this weekend ending, because you knew exactly what that meant: you’d have to go back to being just friends, feelings or no feelings. “Hey, thank you for doing this.”

Dean glanced up, raising an eyebrow. “The breakfast?”

“Well, yes, that too,” you chuckled, shaking your head. “But, I mean, all of this, everything. You didn’t have to pretend to be engaged to me, but you did, and that really means a lot to me.”

He put his plate down on his lap, staring across at you. “Y/N/N, I’d do anything for you. You know that, right?”

You looked into his eyes, willing it to be true. But, you knew there was one thing you wanted from Dean that he could never give you. “Yeah, Dean, I know.”

Forevers- @atc74 @babypieandwhiskey @be-amaziing @carryonmywaywardcaptain @deans-dirty-writer @deanwanddamons @deanwinchesterswitch @dolphincliffs @edgeofreality35 @emoryhemsworth @focusonspn @hannahindie @heyitscam99 @impala-dreamer @impandagrl @karikatz12481 @katymacsupernatural @maddiepants @masksandtruths @mrsdeannafuckingwinchester @mysterious-398 @ohmychuckitssamanddean @pinknerdpanda @roxyspearing @spnbaby-67 @squirrel-moose-winchester @wi-deangirl77 @wonderfulworldofwinchester

Dean Tags - @adoptdontshoppets @akshi8278 @alexwinchester23 @dean-winchesters-bacon @flamencodiva @squirrelnotsam

Til Death Do Us Part?- @vicmc624 @wayward-gypsy @compresshischest09 @lottieellz101 @roonyxx @marvelouslysherlockedhunter @hardcoresupernatural @jerkbitchidjitassbutt

#spnfluffbingo #spndeanbingo #dean winchester #dean winchester x reader #dean x reader #dean winchester fanfiction #til death do us part?

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mud-nostalgia · 3 years ago

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☕️ + thoughts on each season of btvs ? <3

Mazzy, thank you so much for sending this, I love this question. Sorry for taking so long to answer, I had like a whole ass essay on each season I was starting to write and I thought it was way more than u wanted to hear lol, I honestly could just talk about my thoughts on each season forever. If you or anyone else is interested I'd totally be down to go more into detail of my opinions, like review style in a separate post.

Season 1 is so campy and cheesy and I mean that in a good way!! I remember watching btvs for the first time bc my aunt put it on for me when I was in like 3rd grade and I was shocked I thought it was literally the best thing I'd ever seen, after that I wanted to be just like Buffy.

Season 2 is my favorite, I love like 98% of it, the only parts I hate are j*ss being shitty and writing some offensive/racist/sexist things, and that we unfortunately have to deal with for the duration of the show. I even like the super dumb corny episodes. The finale will literally make me cry, this is one of very few pieces of media that will consistently make me emotional.

Season 3 is sooooo good. Probably my second favorite. Have so many thoughts and I honestly don't know how to make them make sense to other people but this season feels like trying to find a way back to the way things were despite knowing you'll never be able to, it feels like the end of an era. I just adore the way even the costuming choices for buffy reflect who she's trying to be and the image she wants to convey, especially when compared to faiths wardrobe (and the way she mimics faiths look in bad girls and when they fight). Idk dude I just love this season.

Season 4 is... not my favorite. It's good, I do love a lot about it. I love tara and I think spike is hilarious in this season. Idk I watch it a lot and I do like it but I don't think it has the same emotional weight for me that 1-3 do.

Season 5 is good, however I think it's probably the season I rewatch the least. I like a lot about it and I think it has a lot of really great eps I just don't watch it very often. Honestly the Body was very hard to watch for me, I first watched it as a kid and I couldn't even finish the ep and I've never gone back to watch it all the way through. Yeah idk it's a great season but as a whole I don't really rewatch it often even if some of the episodes are in my "rotation" of ones I'll throw on pretty much whenever.

6 was honestly really great. It was dark and it delved into some darker aspects of the characters in ways that were heartbreaking for someone who has grown up with these characters. I think a lot of it was done well and a lot of it was frustrating. I hate that they killed Tara, I hate the whole mess of consent issues with buffy and spikes relationship (not even just in seeing red, there were consent issues from the beginning) and yeah toxic relationships can be shown on TV and often are but the way it's handled in most shows, including buffy is not good imo. Idk this season makes me sad but some of it is in a good way.

7 is another one I don't watch as often. I love a lot of it, so much great dialogue comes to mind when I think of what happened in 7. I also love getting faith back. I felt really moved by Cassie even tho she was only in 1 ep, it was so tragic. I love conversations with dead people!! Peak late seasons buffy horror ep it's fucking scary! I actually really liked the ending, it felt so bittersweet but I think it was really good (hate that they killed Anya tho)

All in all I love this show, I like everyone else, have a lot of issues with how a lot of the content was handled as well as just having issues with j*ss but it's a childhood favorite and the good aspects of it are so so good.

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cruddyborderlandstheories · 4 years ago

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Best decision I ever made when writing H2O au was making every other planet besides Pandora a dlc story instead of part of the main story

Because

A) you're more attached to the main cast because it doesn't rotate every 3 hours to a whole new set of people. Also the B-team and the bl2 VHs are actually around this time since they are very important characters in the series

B) you get to help Ellie and Moxxi build Sanc-3 with crew missions, and that also gave me a reason to bring Scooper back because hello he's adorable

C) the Calypsos are the sole main villain with their cult instead of Maliwan butting in randomly and stealing the spotlight so we can focus on twin character development and maybe some actual set-up plot twists

D) I get to design a new HQ because honestly. The naming system for Sanctuary-1, 2, and 3 still confuses me I thought the flying city was Sanctuary 1 as the mining ship, but apparently its not bc it started flying so the flying version is 2 that blew up and that's why we don't talk about it?? and uhhhhh... I might be dumb. So I just designed Sanctuary-II as my own HQ for the Raiders (cough Roland's rest cough) after Sanctuary (one) blew up in Commander Lily n the fight for Sanctuary (note that it doesn't say 'and the fight for Sanctuary-II' so yknow.)

E) it's understandably way more concerning when the apocalypse happens at the end of the game and Pandora is about to fuckin crumble to pieces bc the ship isn't done yet and the crew has no way of leaving so if Pandora goes bye-bye so does everyone on it. Plus the Destroyer is released. But hey. Who ever cared about the Destroyer clearly not the lore checking team ooooooh

F) Maya is actually on Pandora with Krieg and Ava instead of just dicking around on Athenas 'cause guess what books are hella portable with digistruct technology and Krieg is way more important to Maya than... Whatever she was doing on Athenas. Reading? Meditating? All things she could be doing on Pandora. And Ava being Ava would be more than happy to tag along to Pandora 'cause obviously she hated Athenas in the first place.

And finally:

Pandora can have its environmental diversity back!!! I LOVED the different environments in 2, it showed that Pandora wasn't JUST a desert planet but then they regressed in 3. We got the Arms Race map which is beautiful and amazing, but that's the only one that takes place in a different area. The rest are all deserts and it makes me a bit sad. I was hoping to see more of the highlands with the grassy areas and stalkers and threshers, or the glacial areas with the bullymongs and skags, but :( I miss stuff like that where entering a new area could be *anything*. Like the eridium blight was SOOOO cool the first time through. It blew my goddamn mind, environmental storytelling Ho! But now in 3 every main story planet is basically just a single biome or type of area and ech. I wish there were more, so keeping the game on Pandora gives that opportunity for the characters to explore beyond the small circle of desert they find themselves in during the start of the story. Like they didn't have to go so hard with the Caustic Caverns but they did and I'm forever grateful

#G) Typhon DeLeon doesn't exist #Need I go on from there lol #But fr tho #The planet hopping makes the game feel so disjointed and wrong to me #I hope it isn't just me who feels that #Like every 20 minutes suddenly there's a whole new cast of characters #The story doesn't feel Right because of it #Iunno if I can explain it very well but it feels very broken into chunks and thus nothing feels right #Like it isn't cohesive or flowing together #It makes it hard for me to even remember the story in the first place because everything is so disjointed #Oh were in a swamp now oh were in space oh were on Athenas for 5 minutes okay bye oh were back on Pandora oh hey alien homeworld that #Literally sucks and has no depth to it whatsoever #Swamps are on Pandora see Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt #Athenas is crap it is one map 0/10 couldve been cut #Promethea is something we couldn't have on Pandora but I think as a dlc it wouldve really shone #We could have had spaces like Old Haven in BL1 if they really wanted those maze like city areas #borderlands #borderlands 3 #h2o au

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patchdotexe · 4 years ago

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explorers of arvus: now what? / 2.2.21

LAST TIME ON EXPLORERS OF ARVUS: we kicked the shit out of a witch, a murdercow, and a tree, and nearly got murdered by a broom! also i exploded the tree, which was pretty fucking poggers. we also did have to hold taure down to feed her some healing elixirs but yknow

silje, meanwhile, was spaced the fuck out the entire time (bc of being a dmpc last time) and has no idea what just happened or that he commited gratiutous amounts of tree violence.

And Then We Slept For 24 Hours (we didnt)

thorne rolled a nat20 on drawing the tree blight on fire! which is EXTREMELY COOL. im glad we have a memorial of the coolest thing ive done on arvus so far (and also hopefully the fire wont spread bc it would suck if we set all of arvus on fire) oh nvm we're in a swamp so we good. hard to set things on fire in a swamp.

i swear im paying attention but green is talking about dreamout in 772 rn and has some very interesting theories about how the eggpire plot would go down so i am just. side-eyeing it. i am Looking. i swear im paying attention.

oh man i havent collected my notes from last session bc i was liveblogging in discord for nyx's benefit. that's gonna be interesting to compile.* i wonder if i should put these in gdocs instead of wordpad lmao (wait no i use wordpad bc its easier to just pop open and have layered over discord / roll20) * [ AND THEN I DIDNT DO THAT FOR LIKE 2 MONTHS ]

michael: ...burn the house down charlie: ~ we're gonna burn the whole house down! ~ thorne: [confused] how do you know that song? we dont have any bards charlie: [buffering] ...BITCH I MIGHT BE

what if i took a level in bard, would that be fucked up or what

tiny hut tiny hut tiny hut tiny hut. TINY HURT (sieron casted Leomund's Tiny Hut bc we burnt down the only nearby shelter)

lots of discussion about the hut. hut talk

thorne: sieron, why havent we been doing this? charlie: great question! hey sieron, what the fuck? sieron: i guess i just havent thought about it? charlie: you're lucky you're cute >:/ sieron: AA??

discussion of sieron's alter appearance and how its probably somewhat awkward bc thorne is just. openly a horc. unfortunately, sieron's hometown is super racist

HELLO I HAVE BEEN DISTRACTED BC RUBY DID A PANEL REDRAW FROM ASP AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA aa a a a a a

time for taure and thorne to chat on watch! frenship taure hasnt noticed her hair colour bc shes been busy doin stuff, like killin people taure misunderstands thorne asking abt her hair and thinks he has a tragic backstory of being a hairdresser before becoming a warlock DOES TAURE KNOW WHAT THE FEYWILD IS yes she does! war of the veils was a thing, where the feywild invaded the material plane and honestly i should read all the worldbuilding again bc its been forever but i thought all that was neat

oh shit thorne called taure a uhhhh eladrin? OH BOY TAURE ROLLED A 1 we're on the same page here TIME FOR THORNE INFODUMP eladrin are feywild elves! as in closely related to the fey, as well as living in the feywild. their hair changes with the seasons, like taure's does :O !! taure and thorne have not had a fucking one on one conversation before

thorne: taure. taure: yes, hello that is me i am taure [..] taure: now, counterpoint, the sun makes hair change colour-- thorne: Taure.

thorne is trying so hard i love they everyone else is sleeping through this convo so theyre spared the awkwardness but ooc we are having a great time :o eladrin hair colour changing stuff related to mood / seasons / powers?? thorne is admittedly confused bc Weird Documentation but this is really neat to hear about taure, meanwhile, has no idea why this is important.

thorne: if i had told you this, and you had-- transcended-- into your next phase-- id be very concerned taure: hold on [loud grunting] okay no

why havent we been doing tiny hut this whole time. sieron.

oh right taure has a tragic backstory and her mom ditched her as a babby. MEANWHILE, THORNE DOESNT EVEN HAVE PARENTS michael: there are two types of people in the world: those who're kidnapped as infants, and those that kidnap infants WAIT IS THIS LIKE, THE FIRST TIME ANYONES HEARD ABT THORNE'S BACKSTORY BESIDES "LIVED IN THE FEYWILD" thorne is very chill about it though. god i love thorne. i love the entire party

thorne: ...after the third or fourth prophetic vision, they all sorta blur together.

god i wish id written down more about the magical mystical adventure OH. THE ORACLE FORESHADOWED THE ELADRIN THING. NEAT thorne: oh, the oracle! is that the guy with the, uh... [snaps fingers] the gryphon fart orb?

IREL IS HERE YAY IREL i have forgotten how to spell their name. how about i split the difference and spell it Yirel. michael is rolling to see if thorne and taure woke yirel up-- OH OKAY yirel just. sleeps for fun. god i wish that were me

charlie's hair can hold many small pets of dubious sapience.

I LOVE YIREL,,, thorne is just pleasantly confused. WAIT IS YIREL PURRING yirel: you are confused by that action! :D taure: ...yes. what were you doing? yirel: i was performing magic! i can now detect your minds! i can hear your thoughts. :D OKAY SO YIREL WAS. NOT PURRING. yirel has cast Detect Thoughts on thorne. thorne's train of thought is now "???"

we need to teach the snake consent. we have now taught the snake consent.

YIREL IS GOING TO VERY POLITELY ASK THE BIG BAD IF HE CAN READ THEIR MIND its okay i love them. thorne is SO CONFUSED yirel is attempting to be helpful YIREL LITERALLY DISCOVERED THEY COULD CAST DETECT THOUGHTS SO THEY CASTED DETECT THOUGHTS. thorne is hoping yirel wont learn to cast fireball on themself. yirel: there's two timelines where that could happen. i will do my best to avoid them! :D

okay its really hard to get across in text but yirel is basically just. permanently happy/excited sounding. like a puppy! or like the ":D" face in winged snake form.

ooh, a celestial serpent location! off in the mistwall mountains. they are Extremely Dead but yirel told thorne+taure where it is on the map and said we can learn stuff abt time! and then went to sleep. goodnight yirel. i will kill for you

S. S. BIG BOAT (it is 60 miles across. big boat. thank you jorb)

WHAT IS WRONG WITH JORB'S CAMERA, WHY DOES IT KEEP ZOOMING IIIIIIIIIIN

it rained overnight so all the water that collected on the tiny hut got dumped on everyone, and THEN silje shook off like a dog and charlie is MISERABLE

SILJE GOT A NAT20 FORAGING the survival squad are gonna get the fuckin best breakfast ever

oh yea the poison / disease was stored in the tree blight! so now that we've incinerated it it's all good. still gonna take time for the whole river to clear, but with the source of it gone we should be golden. fuck yea

oh man today was hourly comics day, wasnt it. or was it feb 1? fuck shit damn uhhhhh i have done. nothing. besides work on the PMV, talk about dreamout, and now play d&d. this is unrelated to everything im just Thonkin

TIME FOR SWAMP FACTS solar knows So Much about swamps. time to discuss cattails (please no) these are cattails............. ME WANT BITE. ME WANT PLANT CORN DOG DELIGHT. ME WANT DEEP FRIED. ME THINK WATER TWINKIE NICE

oh shit thorne has spotted a ufo. yuufo time OMINOUS YUUFO silje, with an armful of frogs and a lizard in his mouth: [looks up] mrrp? poor silje cant see for shit. NEITHER CAN THORNE its either very small and close, or very big and far away

HRM. actually this MIGHT be related to the vision bc the ominous yuufo was heart-shaped, and the vision was of a necromancer on a floating bloody platform raising all kinds of undead

its been forever and i didnt take a lot of notes on the mini-session but the last time we saw the oracle was a cave on theral! so, unrelated to the place yirel marked on the map. which michael marked down as "seat of the oracle"!

TAURE THINK OF THE CHILDREN THAT WE DONT HAVE (we have yirel!) TAURE THINK OF THE CHILD THAT WE HAVE

ahoyhoyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy i wanna go to ahoyhoy. we are not currently going to ahoyhoy but maybe some day

i had to stop paying attention because buttons wanted to see my Horrible Streaming Setup and apparently something terrible has happened. also honse

we are potentially dealing with a salad katamari.

thorne: could that be what the object in the sky is? silje: ...a lettuce?

we have voted to ignore the salad katamari for now. this action will have consequences.

charlie and silje take watch! charlie wants to know what silje's deal is! silje is a monster hunter. charlie misses bein a thief ): SILJE WAS A MONSTER HUNTER SINCE HE WAS 12?? charlie realizes that perhaps becoming an adventurer and doing a huge amount of murder on a regular basis, especially as a child, is Maybe Not Great silje likes books! charlie offers to lend him her books :D charlie, quietly: i am totally doing the friendship thing so good. RATS RATS RATS RATS hehe rats.

uh oh, nyx has died. NVM NYX IS OKAY nyx's power has not gone out again

we've been on arvus for 13 days! neat.

OH SHIT FLOATING ISLAND its also shaped weirdly like a heart. YEP IT LOOKS LIKE ITS BLEEDING probably bc of clay or iron oxide in the dirt but still that looks ominous as hell SIERON'S A SMART BOY he rolled 20+ on the 3 rolls he had to do, fuck yeah. this fucked up island is an Earth Mote! which are lil sky islands. or like, just general dirt chunks thatre in the sky. theyre either natural events or wizards showing off! also they usually move, but this one is just kinda... tethered. not like Literally but its locked in place. this is apparently the "Heart of Arvus"! which is . at the heart of arvus. or at least the centre of the continent.

solar: leo, we've found the ruins of mumbo jumbo's base. leo: [leans over and thwaps solar on the leg w nerf sword]

penn: i swear to god, if i look out my window and i dont see jorb in the sky, im going to be disappointed that hes not doing his job. jorb: slowly rotating.

we are now thinking about how to get up on the rock. TINY HUT STAIRCASE solar: could i featherfall the wrong way? wand of wonder / wild magic surge! NOPE mage hand! charlie is 41 pounds. mage hand is 5 pounds limit. korred rope! we have enough rope to tie together and tie to the korred rope, BUT the korred rope cannot fly. OH THE ROCK IS INHABITED there's an elf!

sieron & taure: [worried about the necromancy] charlie: HOWDY~!

[party arguing about who's gonna go up bc not all of us can fit up there] [leo and solar start swordfighting in the background]

sent kaepora through the portal to the heart of arvus aaaaaand end of session! CLIFFHANGEERRRRRRR

michael: DID YOU FUCK MY MOM, DUNGEONMASTER?

#leo chirps #ttrpg #explorers of arvus #BACK TO NORMAL NOTE FORMATTING whee #i hope youre ready for a lot of Tiny Hut Staircase from now on bc im so fucking enamoured by it

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whattimeisitintokyo · 4 years ago

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Somos Familia Ch 41: Meet the Parents

Skeletons!

SKELETONS!

Héctor would have kept screaming if he could have, but absolute terror had stolen his voice away and he was left gasping like a landed fish as he looked frantically all around him. Everywhere he turned there was a new skeleton standing beside him, glowing as golden and as translucent as he was. And he kept bumping into them! Some rattled, some yelped out ‘hey!’ in protest. Héctor was certain he had managed to knock one’s head off of its body. Soon he was too overwhelmed by skeletons that he had no place to move, only to drop down to the ground.

Scooting back quickly until his back was against a headstone, Héctor trembled with fright as suddenly all of the skeletons’ attention was turned to him. Their annoyance at being shoved and jostled quickly turned to confusion, then to astonishment as they finally saw that a man, a living one, was able to see them. They all crowded around him, looking at him like he was the abomination that shouldn’t exist instead of them, and started to whisper.

“Is that… Héctor Rivera?”

“He can see us?”

“Dios mio, it is him!”

“Héctor!”

“Héctor Rivera!”

Ave María Purísima, they knew who he was! Pressing himself further back into the gravestone, Héctor could only manage to squeak out a creaky moan of horror. The skeletons knew who he was. Skeletons that were dead. He was dead! He had died and now these creatures were here to drag him to hell. No no no, he couldn’t have died! He was healthy! He had made sure of it! Ever since his health scare all those years ago he had made it his goal to be as healthy as could be! No drinking, no bad food, plenty of exercise. He couldn’t have just died without warning!

“Héctor Rivera…”

Suddenly one of the skeletons drew in close to him. Héctor wanted to shut his eyes tight, block out these horrifying monsters from his sight, but he found that he couldn’t look away. With fearful trepidation he watch as the skeleton knelt down next to him, studying his face carefully. Was this the one who would be taking him to the underworld? He panted faster as the figure raised a grotesque bony hand up, reached deep into his jacket. Dios what was he doing?

Then, achingly slowly in Héctor’s terror-filled mind, the monster pulled out…

A pen.

“Señor Rivera, I am a huge fan!” the skeleton grinned widely. “May I have your autograph?!”

It took a few seconds for the question to force its way through the mind-numbing horror, but slowly Héctor’s panting stuttered to a halt and the words finally registered. For a brief moment he was able to see past the nightmarish ghouls in front of him and unbelievable predicament he was in to fully see how… that was the absolute last thing he was expecting a glowing skeleton with eyes and hair to say to him. And the stupidest.

“WHAT?!” He managed to finally scream out in pure exasperation. But it didn’t stop there as more skeletons began to crowd around him, each holding their own writing utensil and scratch pieces of paper.

“Me too! Me too! Ooh, Prima Lula is going to be so jealous!”

“Can you make it out to Fidelio, por favor?”

“Oye Héctor! It’s Manuel Fernandez, remember?! Your first customer! Your wife leaves a new pair of boots every year on my ofrenda. Tell her I said ‘Gracias’!”

“Ay, I don’t have any paper! Can you just write on my sternum? Sideways is fine!”

Their clamoring didn’t stop, as more and more excited skeletons grinned their toothy smiles and shoving pens in his face. Héctor backed further and further into the gravestone, sharp corners digging into him painfully, but he didn’t notice it much. His brain was overloaded with surging emotions: Fear, anxiety, annoyance, and more fear. He was just about to let out another scream when suddenly a bony hand clamped around his wrist. And he did scream at that, in an embarrassingly high-pitched shriek that could have come from a small girl instead of a fifty-year old man, when a voice briskly.

“Lo siento, Señor Rivera is not handing out autographs at the moment. Please check back a later time.”

Héctor found himself yanked back to his feet and pulled away from the groans and complaints of the skeletons, forced to run as the mysterious figure led him further into a more secluded corner of the cemetery. As they got closer and closer to the end of the gate Héctor finally decided he’d had enough and tried to skid them both to a stop. Jerking back his hand hard he tried to dislodge himself from the figure’s grip… And succeeded in popping the figure’s arm off straight from the socket. Still clutching him around his wrist.

“AAAH!” Héctor screamed and flailed his arm around, trying to fling the bones off. “GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!”

“Héctor, please! Calm down, mijo!”

A soft pair of hands gripped his shoulders and Héctor gasped, freezing in place. His whole frame still trembling in fright, the bony hand let go of his wrist and then the whole arm hopped away from him towards the figure. The arm bounced off the ground and slipped in cleanly through the sleeve of its shirt, and Héctor could see it was yet another skeleton. Rotating and working out the kinks of his newly reattached arm, the skeleton had the gall to glare at him.

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, cabrón.” The skeleton snorted in disgust.

“Shh. Mi amor, please!” The voice behind him shushed and then made it’s way around to face him. It was a female, and unlike the male standing before him she was smiling at him. A small, sweet smile, trying to keep things as calm as possible. But as Héctor continued to draw back away from them in terror she could tell it was in vain. “Héctor, we need you to calm down for a moment.”

“Stay back!” Héctor cried out, swiping his arm out and managing to make the two skeletons flinch back. “Stay away from me! Don’t come any closer!”

“We’re not going to hurt you, Héctor.”

“What do you want from me?!” Héctor squeaked out, past the point of reasonable thought as hysteria clouded his mind. “Am I dead? Is this how death works? Are you going to eat me? Are you going to eat my skin?!”

“Ugh, no!” the male skeleton shuddered at the thought. “I came here tonight to eat menudo.”

“Just stay away from me! Someone! I need help! I need- AAH!” Suddenly something hot a wet slid up his cheek all the way to his hairline in a split second, and a cheerful bark burst through his eardrums. Turning he saw Dante happily smiling at him with his tongue lolling on his shoulder, and Héctor gasped in surprise. “Dante?! You can see me?!”

Dante barked again and made to lick him again, but Héctor pushed him away and began to smile madly. Tittering in near hysteria, Héctor grabbed Dante by the jowls and turned him toward the skeletons. “Good boy! Dante! Dante look: Bones! Get them! Get the skeletons, get the bones! Sic ‘em! Sic ‘em, boy!”

Dante whined in confusion and looked between his master, gesturing wildly and screaming at him while looking like he was on the verge of collapse, and the two skeletons, sighing and palming their faces in their hands. They seemed more composed than Héctor at the moment. So, with a small chuff he hopped away from him and stood by the woman’s side, earning himself a soft rub on the head while Héctor let out a moan of dismay.

“Dante, you dumb dog!” Héctor yelled out, causing the poor to shrink back and whimper. “Don’t let it pet you!” Running his fingers through his hair and ranking hard, Héctor didn’t notice that he was rocking jerkily back and forth as he began to babble. “What’s going on?! What happened to me?! I-I-I don’t know what to do! What happening?!”

“What are you asking us for?” The skeleton grumbled while crossing his arms. “Dios, can’t we have a normal Dia de Muertos for once? First Miguel’s birth, then that concert fiasco with de la Cruz, and now this?! Honestly, what is the deal with you, yerno?”

It took a few moments for his words to run it’s way through Héctor’s addled brain, but once it did he slowly stopped rocking and his panting ceased. He hazarded another look up at the two glowing skeleton and the wheels began turning again. “Y-yerno?”

Yerno?

Son-in-law?

Héctor started to look closely as the two. Past all the candy-like swirls of purple and silver on the man’s skull, other facial features started to stand out. The slicked back hair, the thick mustache, and his eyes. Those same hard, judgmental eyes that always seemed to look down on him, even from beyond the grave, every time he looked at that foto on the ofren-

Oh…

“…P-… Papa… Gaspar?”

“Hmmph.” Gaspar grumbled. “You can just call me Gaspar. Otherwise you’ll make me feel old.”

“Amor, you are seventy-three years old.”

“Nooo, I died at twenty-five, and so I will stay at twenty-five. Forever!”

As the woman laughed, a sweet yet hearty laugh that reminded him so much of Imelda, Héctor finally started to relax a little. Her features were familiar too. The same long face as Oscar and Felipe, the prim little smile like Imelda. “Mama Mirasol?”

Mirasol smiled back at Héctor, leaning down a little to meet his eyeline. “Hola, Héctor. It is so nice to finally meet you.”

Héctor blinked back dumbly. “… N-nice to meet you too…”

Now that he knew their names, knew who he was talking to, it made him feel less panicked. Imelda had told him enough stories from her childhood to know basic information about her parents. Gaspar was a great farmer who was able to grow a pumpkin once that was so big he had it fashioned into an actual carriage for Imelda when she was a toddler and pulled her around in it like she was a princess.

Mirasol made the best dishes out of whatever fruits and vegetables Gaspar didn’t sell. She was always constantly drawing on scraps of papers and napkins, some of which Imelda still had in box with other precious items. Her favorite one was a handkerchief that Mirasol had sketched the actual likeness of all three of her children when they were newborns, each child on three corners and ‘Mis amores’ on the fourth.

He was stern yet clumsy, she was sweet yet soft-spoken.

And they had both let their young children take the limited medication that the town had that saved their lives during a malaria outbreak, while they themselves went without and had died young.

“You calmed down now, payaso?” Gaspar asked. At Héctor’s slow nod, he held out a hand to him. “Good. Up you get, then.”

Héctor took Gaspar’s hand, wincing a little as the loose bones shifted unnaturally in his grip, and allowed him to hoist him off the ground. Gathering himself and trying to look as dignified as he could after his embarrassing meltdown in front of his in-laws, Héctor smoothed back his unkempt hair and mumbled, “Gracias… I-I can’t believe it. Imelda’s parents… I’ve always wondered what you both were like.”

Mirasol smiled. “Ay, Héctor. We’ve also always wondered what it would be like to finally meet you. This is a little unorthodox, you not being a skeleton, but still. There’s so many things we always wanted to thank you for: Being a loving husband to our daughter, a wonderful father to our grandchildren, a great provider-”

“Sí sí, that’s all very well and good.” Gaspar interrupted. “But first things first. There is something I’ve been wanting to do for the last thirty-three years, and I hope you’ll oblige me Héctor.”

Héctor gulped a little and managed to bring up a corner of his mouth nervously. “O-okay. What do you want-”_

*SMACK*

“AY!” Héctor reeled back and immediately grabbed his left cheek as it stung harshly for the second time in one night. Managing to force a watery eye open he saw a boney finger pointing directly at his face.

“That is for getting my teenage daughter pregnant out of wedlock, you perverted little-”

“Gaspar! Ay Dios mio…” Mirasol grabbed her husband by the shoulders and forced him to back off, giving Héctor a weak grin. “I’m so sorry, Héctor. He’s been clamoring about that for years.”

Héctor nodded, eyes wide as he brought his hand back down. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean- That was an accident! I would never- AY, CARAJO!” His abused cheek was struck for a third time, and this time the finger pointing at him was Mirasol’s.

“Don’t ever call our little Coco an accident, niño!” Mirasol barked out, her sweet timid voice all of a sudden sounding as loud and forceful as her own daughter’s. But the moment quickly passed and she pinched her nasion in shame. “Ugh, I’m so sorry Héctor. We are not making the best first impression to you.”

As Héctor rubbed his reddened cheek, wondering why everyone who had slapped him happened to be right-handed, Héctor managed a chuckle. “Heh, it’s all right. I always thought that if I ever did meet my in-laws they’d want to slap me. I remember when Coco first started dating Julio I was- WAIT A MINUTE!”

The two skeletons and Dante flinched as Héctor started to rave again. “What the hell am I doing?! Chatting with two people I have never met before, and who have been dead for nearly half a century! I’m seeing skeletons everywhere I turn, no one can see me, I’m glowing, and Miguel thinks I’m… Oh no, Miguel! He’s thinks-! He’s been taken away! I have to go get him!”

“Héctor he’ll be fine!”

“No!” Héctor brushed Mirasol off of him and tried to walk back to the exit. “He’s in trouble! I have to save my-erk!” With a jolt Héctor stopped in his tracks. Looking down he saw Dante had grabbed him by the hem of his jacket, teeth clamped tight around the fabric. He tried to yank it free, but the dog refused to let up.

“Miguel is fine.” Gaspar said, his hand on Héctor’s shoulder. “He’ll be with his family tonight. They’ll take care of him. The one you need to save is yourself, tonto. Because what’s happened to you is not normal, and we need to find out what it is exactly.”

His word sinking in, Héctor nodded a little and Dante released his jacket with a happy snort. Looking down at himself, he patted his chest and groaned at the eerie glow he was emitting. This was definitely not normal. “So, what happened to me? Am I dead?”

“No.” Mirasol shook her head emphatically. “No… I don’t… think.”

“That’s not very reassuring.”

“You aren’t dead, Héctor.” Gaspar affirmed. “Believe me, you’ll know you’re dead when you’re filling out enough paperwork to make you wish you’d die again. No no, this is something different. Now I’m no expert on the matter, but if I were to guess I’d say whatever has happened has to do with that guitar.”

“Wh- guitar?” Looking down Héctor was astonished to see that, during all the craziness and emotional scarring that he had been exposed to in the last ten minutes, he had been clutching Ernesto’s golden guitar the entire time. He had not even noticed that he had still kept a grip on the blasted thing. “Why am I still holding this?!”

“Well it is a beautiful guitar.”

“No no! I want nothing to do with-wait…” Héctor stared into space for a few seconds, the gears slowly turning. “I grabbed the guitar. Then the flowers went crazy, flying in the air. That’s when-” With a gasp, Héctor smiled widely and pointed at the guitar giddily. “That’s when it happened! I got all glowy and see-through-y! It’s because of this pinche guitar!”

“Isn’t that what I just said?” Gaspar grumbled. Next to him Dante whined in worry at Héctor’s train of thought. Why was he fighting this so hard? This was becoming more difficult than this simple dog could handle.

“So, it comes to reason that once I let go of the guitar… Then everything will turn back to normal! Ha HA!” Héctor held out the instrument at arm’s length and gave a slight bow. “Well then, so long Señor and Señora Rivera. This has been a de-lightful visit. But I must go back to a world of living, breathing human beings and sanity. Adios, and I hope you enjoy the offerings. And as for you, you useless instrument- Begone!”

Releasing his grip from the neck, the guitar dropped to the ground. Good, this nightmare was over. Now he could go home, forget this whole ever happened, and go on liv-

*zip*

There was no clanging of wood against the ground. It hadn’t even made contact. It had stopped less than a millimeter away from reaching it and then had magically flew back up into Héctor’s hand. Dante panted happily as once again the plan was back in motion. The other three, however, blinked for several seconds as they gawked at the guitar. Again, Héctor let the guitar drop, only for it to come back. Again. And again. Finally Héctor was practically chucking it to the ground, each attempt more frenzied than the last, and panting hard.

“Wow.” Mirasol couldn’t help but giggle as Héctor kept trying to force the guitar out of his hands. “It’s like a big, oddly shaped yo-yo.”

Héctor stopped what he was doing to glare at his in-laws, who were both snickering to themselves. “This is not funny! I’m trying to get back to my family, to my life, and you’re laughing at me?! This is bad! Really bad! What am I going to do?!”

“I don’t know, Héctor. But maybe someone else will be able to tell us.” Gaspar said before turning to Mirasol. “If he can see skeletons, then he might be able to cross the bridge. Then we can take him to Marigold station.”

“The Department of Family Reunions?”

“Exactamente.”

“Stop having conversations without me!” Héctor shouted. “Bridge? Department of Family Reunions? Where’s that?! Where are you taking me?!”

“The Land of the Dead, mijo.”

Héctor was taken aback from that. He looked at the two of them in shock. “The Land of the?-… No… No no no no…”

“Héctor-”

“No!” Héctor shouted, pointing at them both wildly. “No! You said I wasn’t dead! I’m not dead! I’m not going there, especially with people I have never even met before in my life! I’m not even convinced this is real. I’m dreaming or-or hallucinating or I have a huge tumor growing in my brain, all of those are more believable than this basura you’re spouting. I’m not going anywhere with you, so you and this dumb guitar can go straight back to hell together!”

With a mighty heave Héctor flung the guitar as hard as he could into the air. The sight of it spinning freely and high through the night sky was enough proof that he was finally rid of it, and with a mighty whoop of triumph he turned tail and started sprinting towards the exit of the cemetery. He heard Mirasol and Gaspar shouting after him, but he paid them no heed. He was not going to come back, not going to stop, not going to duck or whatever it was they screaming at him. He was going home! And nothing was going to stop-

*KA-BONG*

Several skeletons shouted in alarm as all of a sudden a large clanging sound shot through the air and a tall, gangly man went head over heels tumbling down their path. The body performed several impressive yet dangerous looking somersaults before crashing hard against one of the many protruding tombstones, resting into a mangled heap of long limbs, dust and mud. Héctor let out a small high-pitched whine as he collapsed onto his back and then was still. The only thing seemingly undamaged was the beautiful golden guitar as it magically shimmied itself back into the unconscious man’s hand like it was always meant to be there.

Gaspar and Mirasol caught up to Héctor, placating the nervous crowd with uneasy smiles. “Ah, lo siento everyone.” Gaspar chuckled. “This is a small family matter but we’re going to deal with it. J-just go about your business and enjoy the holiday, bueno? Bueno.”

The other skeletons were still skeptical but murmured in agreement and went back to their families and offerings, leaving the dead Riveras standing over Héctor. Dante came over and licked wet trails thick with slobber all over Héctor’s cheeks, his hair, even into his nose and mouth. Héctor didn’t even flinch, but he was still breathing normally.

Héctor was out cold.

Gaspar sighed. “So… This is who our daughter decided to marry.”

“I blame myself.” Mirasol replied wearily. “She gets it from me, I’m afraid. We both have strange tastes in men.”

“Sí, I guess you’re right… Hey!”

Ignoring her husband’s offense, Mirasol bent down to place her hand on Héctor’s forehead. “Gaspar, would you be a dear and go fetch Dr. Rosales? He’ll be either at his home or Imelda’s museum, but I’d check the museum first. I’ll stay with Héctor in case he comes to and ward off anyone else who gets to close.”

Gaspar winced a little at that and groaned. “Him? Are you sure?”

“Well, Héctor is obviously very traumatized by all of this, understandably. Trauma is his specialty, after all.”

“Ay, all right.” Gaspar started to head off, but paused and wavered a little. “Hey, um… should I tell… um…”

“I don’t know.” Mirasol said. “Maybe not. It might be to much for him, it might push him over the edge. Ask Dr. Rosales first about whether… she should come.”

With a quiet, sad nod Gaspar left his wife alone with Héctor and made his way out of the cemetery. As Mirasol quietly stroked Héctor’s hair and spoke softly to him, she didn’t notice Dante staring them both down.

Dante huffed in annoyance. He may not be the smartest dog in the world, as the little weird looking dog that guided his boy’s mate always told him, but he knew enough. They were not going along with the plan at all! Whatever the plan was. Did he even know the plan? Well whatever. Dante knew that his boy was scared and sad and angry. And if he was ever going to go to the world of the delicious bone people, he would not go with these bone people who scared him. No.

But he would go if he were to be reunited with his puppy. His daughter. His Leti.

So, like any good dog would, he would go and fetch his Leti for him if no one else was going to do it. With a yip he bounded out unnoticed by the bone woman and raced off to find the boney puppy.

Yes, Héctor would love to see his Leti! After all, Leti was the best girl-boy in the world!

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

I am truly sorry for the lack of updates. These past few months have a kind of mental health break for me. For someone whose story kind of morphed itself into a study of mental health it was high tome I got some for myself! Hope it made you laugh, though.

#somos familia #Hector Rivera #coco pixar #pixar coco #coco fanfiction #Gaspar's got a bone to pick with Hector!#sorry

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partyinthemysterymachine · 5 years ago

Text

On Purpose

Harry wiped his hands on the dish towel. He leaned back on the kitchen counter and took his time rubbing his fingers dry, pushing the damp terrycloth fabric into the webbing, and rotating it over his knuckles. There was a man seated at the table that he wanted to watch fiddle with his smartphone. It’s been three years since they got home, took off their jackets, and packed them away into a box that went directly into the furthest corner of the closet. Those three years have been a hell of a bumpy hayride for the Mason family of two and the Sunderland of one. Honestly, Harry wouldn’t trade it for anything.

His hands were clean and dry. He tossed the bunched up towel back and forth, and inclined his head. “You good over there, babe?”

The wrinkle of his nostril answered that question. Harry smiled wide and warm. “What’s got you in a tizzy now?”

“I think I deleted my email,” James mumbled, distracted. “I dunno what I did.”

“You deleted your email,” the aging patriarch repeated, dumping the terrycloth on the granite top island. “From your phone or from forever?”

“Phone first, forever second,” he replied, the frown wrinkling his brow deepening. Harry strolled over and bent over the back of the chair, laying his arms around James’s neck. He tucked his dark head against the side of the one of blond and snuggled into his lover’s pale, and perpetually cold skin. James’s head was forced to tip to the side by the enthusiasm of his partner’s lion-like nuzzle, yet he had no intent to fight it. From there, Harry observed his frustrated swiping and fumbling.

He pressed a little kiss to James’s cheek and extended his arm, pointing at the phone. “Hold up, stop stop,” Harry spoke against him. “Go into setti— no, babe, go back. .. go back.. okay. Scroll down to ‘Mail.’” James felt the little frown pressed into his face. It caused his own to bear a soft smile. “Uh.. scroll back up. .. scroll down? Uh.. okay, what the hell did you do with— hang on.”

James patiently did as he was told while Harry patted his legs, then maneuvered his phone out of his pocket. All the while, he chose to tuck his face into James’s neck. Then he sighed and nuzzled up on his partner’s cheek again, wrapping his arms around him to hold the device out for both of them to see. “Okay. Let’s see here.”

He wasn’t so sure if he’d get over the strange initial discomfort he got when Harry unlocked his phone to a picture of Heather trapping James in a bear hug. She got caught mid-laugh, and he noticeably embarrassed, though his shy smile and the affectionate way he looked up over the camera at the person behind it always settled that discomfort pretty quickly. James liked that memory a lot, though getting to have it as a visual memory meant even more. He wondered, as he often did, if Harry knew what he’d captured.

It’s the little things that mean the most.

The picture was only there for a second, the settings menu being all there was to see now. Harry lifted his chin a little off his shoulder, moving the phone a little further down. “Maybe I should have my reading glasses for this.”

“Then go get them.”

“No. I don’t wanna move.”

“Put your accessibility settings at AARP member.”

Harry incredulously inclined his head, staring at his boyfriend’s profile. “Excuse me?” he inquired a younger man whose deadpan wasn’t holding up like it used to. James tried to withhold his smile, but it was no use; the only thing he could hold back was his laugh. A partial grin crept onto Harry’s face. “That voice sounds like James, but what I’m really hearing is Heather.”

It was war to keep the smile from becoming a full blown grin, but there’d be no sure victory from trying to keep it out of his words. “You might want to call an audiologist, then. Or tell your psych. You saying that worries me a little, Harry.”

James flinched and uttered an ‘ow!’ from the righteous flick at his ear. “Stop hanging out with Heather. She’s a bad influence on you.”

He leaned slightly to the side to look at handsome tyrant-in-training at his shoulder. “Why? She just says what we’re all thinking.”

“You’re a brat,” Harry told him matter-of-factly. “And she’s a brat. And he’s a brat - we’re all brats, hey!” he chanted under his breath at his ear, making James shake his head and return his attention to their little project. There were many reasons why he and Heather liked to complain about Harry, and this ranked in the top twenty of the endless list. “Okay, so,” the middle aged annoyance continued, “you should have ‘mail’ here under ‘passwords and accounts,’ and that kind of shit just doesn’t up and disappear, so.. what’d you do with it?”

“I don’t know, Harry,” James replied. “I thought it’d be a fun prank to see what I could delete from this phone and forgot to consider that I might not be able to get it back.”

“Look at you, Mister Technology Wiz,” Harry mocked. “I knew you were smarter than you let on.”

“I like to keep you guessing. It gives me a sense of superiority.”

“Wow, no shit?” He smiled at the soft chuckle from the former conduit and pecked another kiss on his cheek. “Okay. Restart your phone. If it’s still fucked up we can take it in to the Apple store and get it checked out. If you somehow unintentionally jailbreaked your phone, I’m gonna fucking die laughing.”

James held the appropriate buttons and watched the screen blacken. “Okay. Still want the cookie jar, or did you change your mind?”

“Nah, still married to the cookie jar idea,” he confirmed. “Just put it on somewhere on the counter to horrify guests when they come over.”

The phone lit up and James punched in his passcode. “We’ll keep it unsealed and put some cookies in for you to munch on in the afterlife.”

“Oh, James,” Harry sighed dramatically, smiling down at the picture he’d chosen as his wallpaper. It was a simple snapshot of Harry’s work desk. The yellow lamp light illuminated his spread of books, papers, and his open, but dark laptop, and cast dark yet peaceful shadows where they were meant to be. He’d known about that picture for a while. James has had it since he learned how to set a custom wallpaper on the same day he got the phone. Every time Harry saw it since, he nearly burst with the strain of resisting the urge to drown his boyfriend in kisses. “It’s like you know me.”

It’s the little things that mean the most.

“Not willingly.”

“Preaching to the choir. Okay, let’s see what you’ve got now.”

James leaned his head on Harry’s for the rest of their futile tinkering. Eventually he checked out of the the whole business and nudged his forehead to Harry’s warmth. He smiled ever so softly at the gentle caress on his neck from Harry’s heavy hand, and the kiss planted on his brow that followed. His eyes slid closed when it became evident that Harry had decided to work with one hand and left the other where it’d landed, lazily brushing sweet touches over his throat and behind his ear.

There was no solution to the email problem, and they’d both lost interest in it awhile ago. Now Harry folded his left arm across James’s chest, holding the sleeping phone to his shoulder as he combed his fingers up through blond hair that no longer smelled of lake water. He nestled his nose into the plainly styled cut and closed his eyes. James, in general, was a plain young man; always had been, always will be.

He loved that about him.

The dull thunk of the smartphone being set on the table didn’t affect him. In fact, he smiled so blissfully when James’s cool hands loosely found a place clasping his arm and hand that nearly all the lines of age on his face deeply creased. James felt it in his hair how happy that smile was. He loved to see it. He loved to feel it. It made his heart do Olympic gold medalist acrobatics, as it did now knowing it was there at all.

But lately within the last year, while his heart still leapt with joy to see that genuinely adoring smile on a daily basis (truly, he couldn’t recall a day where he didn’t see Harry beam like that at some point), he’d realized how many more lines there were. February had passed a few months ago. Harry’d turned fifty-three this year. And no, it wasn’t that he thought fifty-three was anywhere near being a senior. James had trouble explaining it to himself. All he knew is that his heart had begun to hurt while it celebrated seeing that look on Harry’s face.

The hurt was different than the way it hurt because he was loved, and because James loved him, too.

He idly stroked his thumb back and forth on Harry’s hand. The pressure against his head meant another kiss. James reached up and took Harry by the back of the neck, pulling him down as he tilted his head to get a proper kiss out of him for once.

You can’t say that to me, Harry! James had angrily spat at him at the time. I don’t want to hear it! Okay?! Just don’t— even start to even fucking think it—

Why? implored the distraught, heartbroken man. Why can’t I say I love you? I’ve said it before, James, and if you really want me to I won’t say it again, but I’m just— I’m trying to— I just want to understand why—

Because I can’t fucking hear it. I can’t fucking hear it from you. It drives me fucking insane.

But.. why?

His shivering, barely beating heart had sunk like an anchor from the pure agony that dripped from that simple word. Why? Why, he’d dare to ask? Why? James had hated that question from Harry Mason since day one. Today, that goddamn question made him burn so red hot that he wished that Red Pyramid Thing would come along and skewer him right through.

Because I don’t want to fucking hear it, Harry!

James had suddenly lost all that fury in a single breath. In one swift blow, he’d murdered a tired man who he’d caught smiling at him countless times already; who liked to take his hand and kiss his fingers; who liked to talk to him even though he had no obligation to respond; who fought with him, for him, and had almost given his far more precious life for his safety; a man that held him just because he wanted to.

I just.. I can’t take how sincere you are when you say it, he’d tried to explain, as weak and deflated as Harry looked. It’s like you really mean it, and—

I do really mean it. I love you. I don’t think I can even apologize for it.

But you shouldn’t, Harry, James had protested. You really, really shouldn’t. I can’t have it. I can’t deal with it.

Why shouldn’t I? the grief-stricken author had asked. Is it because of what you are? Is it because of what you did? Because of how depressed and hopeless you are, how sometimes you’re barely functional and a drag and kind of a shitty person and you hate yourself so goddamn fucking much that you can’t imagine why anyone would even care enough about you to pick a piece of lint off your shoulder? Is that why?

The had words hit home, and from Harry, wounded and shamed him to the point that he’d pathetically hung his head and stared at the floor.

“Sorry we couldn’t figure out the case of the missing mail,” Harry slurred on James’s parted lips. “Maybe we can ask Heather to figure it out later.”

A smile and a light breath from the other man was caught between another slow kiss. “You find a new way to disappoint me every day.”

“I have to get creative.” Harry’s palm pressed firmly into the back of his lover’s head to briefly strengthen their kiss. “Because I know you like it.” His nose was often described as a beak for the way it curved, and James thought it handsome, especially when it touched his own sloped one in what was known as an Eskimo kiss. “And what sort of bullshit would that be to disappoint you for me being unable to find a new way to disappoint you?”

That’s just too fucking bad, James. I’d say sorry to disappoint you, but I’m really not fucking sorry at all.

“Mm. But wouldn’t that have been a new way to disappointment me?”

“Oh, shit.”

What do you think this is? Tell me honestly, really, I’m very interested to know what you think. Because I’m going to tell you my side of things, so listen up, okay? This is not going the first or last time I’m gonna tell you this, either. I’ll say it every goddamn hour and every fucking day for the rest of my life even if you ever start to believe me. I’ll say it until the sun goes down for the last time and even then I’ll figure out a way to keep saying it to you.

Are you listening?

“Mmhmm.”

I love you. I am choosing to love you, because loving you is something I want to experience no matter the outcome. That’s it. Full stop. I know what you are. I know what you’ve done. I know who you are, even just a little bit, and I swear to fucking god, James, I love you. I’m not brushing off all the bad shit you’ve done or what kind of monster you think you are. You’ve done some pretty terrible stuff. I’m not forgetting that.

But even knowing that, even despite that, I have seen it for myself that you want to hear me say it. I hear it when you say my name. I feel it when you do something as little and thoughtless like grabbing my sleeve, Harry’s voice then broke and thickened, trembled with the beginning sobs of a desperate, begging heart. James covered his eyes behind his hand and had tried to clench his jaw to beat back an intense, once-foreign feeling that wouldn’t allow itself to be repressed any longer.

Harry loudly hummed and encased James in a strong bear hug about his shoulders as best he could from behind him. James’s exaggerated groan that sounded a lot more irritable than he actually was, which was not at all, got somewhat stifled against the author’s hairy, meaty forearm. His older boyfriend then transformed his hum’s pitch to match his groan, and together they raised their voices, swiftly building a challenging crescendo, a duel of lung capacity and stamina.

You never have to say it aloud, James. I know. You tell me all the time. You tell me all the time and yet you still think you don’t deserve to feel that way or have anyone give a rat’s ass about you. I love you because you’re you. I’m aware of everything you are and did and all that crap, and I love you.

Do you fucking understand me, James Sunderland?

James won the battle.

Harry forfeited with grace and maturity. Of course, that meant that when James decided he’d like to get up, the Mason patriarch used his bulky weight and strength to try to keep him in the chair and make it as difficult as possible for James to escape.

“Get— ugh, Harry! Get off me. Come on, don’t be a sore loser.” That groan he emitted at Harry’s decision to tighten his arms was a mite more sincerely annoyed than the last time. “God, come on. Why are you such a pain in the fucking ass—“

“Do unto others as you would have done unto you.”

Disgust distorted his face as the fact sank in that such a well-respected piece of ancient wisdom got turned into a crude double entendre. “Oh, aw, what the fuck— that’s gross, Harry. And blasphemous. And before you say it, yeah yeah, pot calling kettle black, whatever, don’t wanna hear it, I know, now let me up, old man.”

“Mm, mean, but not yet,” Harry both scolded and vetoed with a kiss to his ear. James sighed and sank his bodyweight onto the chair, still holding his boyfriend’s arm in both hands. He dropped his head the slightest bit back onto Harry’s soft shoulder.

He was wearing that cable knit sweater he’d gotten him last Christmas. It was a handsome, rusty orange, like if autumn were a color. Heather had laughed and called it a ‘dad sweater.’ Even though Harry agreed with her, and James sheepishly acknowledged the accuracy though he hadn’t intentionally chosen it with that in mind, he had actually blushed when Harry pulled off the navy blue he wore and donned himself in knitted fall.

Do you fucking understand me?

Harry wore that sweater often.

James smiled.

He didn’t reply.

“Hey. Harry.”

Listen to me again, James:

“Mm?” he mumbled on his pretty, pale neck.

I am choosing to love you. Because loving you is something I want to experience no matter the outcome. You need to internalize that. Someday, I want you to believe it.

“I love you.”

I want you to believe that you are so goddamn worthy and deserving of my love. I’m going to love you, or die trying.

James closed his eyes to soak in the emotional, radiant smile against his skin, and tightly squeezed Harry’s forearm to try to replicate the fiercely adoring way he wrapped him up in his embrace, even though the couldn’t at the moment hold him like he wanted to.

Everything I do, James - protecting you, caring for you, loving you, I do it all, and I do it fucking all--

“On purpose?”

His eyes opened, his head turned, and lake greens met deep, earthy browns. James loved the color of Harry’s eyes; perhaps even more than Harry claimed to love the color of his, too.

It’s the little things that mean the most.

“On purpose.”

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rwbyremnants · 4 years ago

Link

WARNINGS: fluffy date feels, roleplay, spooning, reacharound, fingering, female ejaculation, cuddling. Nuts And Dolts: make out session, public sex, car sex, fingering, cunnilingus, coitus interruptus.

NOTICE: There are many references to Harry Potter in this chapter. The authors of this fic do not agree with or condone JK Rowling's controversial views on the transgender community. She might have made a universe that many of us loved but it doesn't mean she's right about everything, and sometimes our idols can really disappoint us.

=Chapter 4

After the spasms subsided to an occasional twitch, Winter turned aside and kissed Ruby’s ankle. "That looked like you enjoyed it quite a lot."

All the poor girl could do was lay against the ground with an elated grin on her face, breathing deeply but happily to recollect herself. She certainly did enjoy every moment, and such an orgasm had clearly taken its toll on the poor little Hufflepuff. She definitely wouldn’t mind if they did this again sometime.

After giving her a minute or so to collect herself, Winter asked as softly as she could manage, "Okay… out or in?"

"Whuh?" Ruby only just managed to ask, turning her head in Winter's direction to try her best to look again. She could still feel the large object inside her, and even now there was an odd fullness that she enjoyed. But alas, if she had any hope of calming down enough to make the journey back home, she'd need to end things now. "O-out."

"Okay," Winter chuckled. "On three, then. Alright? One, two… three." Then, in one smooth, quick motion, she withdrew the thick length from within Ruby's well-deflowered flower.

"Oooh!" One last shudder, and Ruby was free of it again. Empty. It was a strange feeling after taking something so big, but came with just as much relief. Smiling and panting still, she asked rather cheekily, "Don't suppose I can see it now, can I?"

"Sure," Winter sighed, pressing her face up against the arch of Ruby's foot. "Just… give me a second and I'll untie you."

But that didn't fool her. She could feel Winter there, and she wasn't going to let her get off Scot free. "What's the matter? Foot got your tongue?"

That quickly, Winter pushed herself upright and away. "Right, sorry - your wrists must be chafing by now…"

Flexing her hands and rotating them around, she chuckled slightly nervously in agreement, trying to push them toward her. "Yeah, kinda. Knees ache, too."

"Alright, let's take care of that. These knots are actually very easy to undo." Which she proceeded to demonstrate, fingers flying over them and loosening bonds here and there. Only once more did Winter pause over the wriggling soles, and it was very brief. Then, her sub was freed.

"There," she sighed, sitting back on her shoes. "You are a turkey no more."

"Gobble, gobble!" With a giggle, Ruby brought her hands back at last and rotated them quite a while to loosen them, rubbing them to aid with that, as well. She also rotated her feet in the same way to relax them, flexing her toes here and there in addition. Only then did she finally reach up and pull away the blindfold.

When she looked over, she saw Winter had used quite a strange object, indeed. It was more or less the size and dimensions of a human phallus, but more perfectly straight… and tapered. Between that, the tannish colour, texturing, and the shape of the handle…

"It's a 'love wand'," Winter informed her with a smirk. "Special ordered. Might be kind of ridiculous, but I thought it was at least wizard-themed."

A light blush formed on Ruby's cheeks again. Special ordered? Yet another thing she had bought for their one particular scene. It seemed like Winter practically had money to burn. Making short work of the rest of the ties around herself, she let them drop to the ground, stepping out of them.

"How much did you spend on me?" she asked. "’Cause I know the robes alone don't come cheap."

"Don't worry about that," Winter told her right away, no hesitation. "It was part of the scene, and I volunteered to do it. You didn't even help me set this one up, so it's all on me."

"I know but, this is a lot." She shrugged her shoulders once again nervously. "Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate it, really! But, if you're spending this much on me, how much are you dropping on everyone? Are you okay with it? Like, you’re not taking out a small business loan just for your subs, are you?"

The elder woman blinked at her for a moment before her mouth turned up in a soft smile. "You're really worried, aren't you?" Reaching forward, she cupped Ruby's cheek with the lightest touch she could manage. "I'm fine. Not 'Google futures' fine, but believe me, buying a couple of outfits and this piece of silicon that looks like wood isn't going to mean I can't eat or pay rent. But… thank you."

Smiling back contentedly, she nodded. Yet again, she found one of her hands raising to the one on her cheek, pressing it up against her face even more. Winter's soft hands… "It's no problem."

The content expression grew deeper on Winter’s face, and she allowed herself to enjoy the touch for a moment before she spoke again. "Good. Now then, to reveal the solid gold Galleons I bought for you…"

"Wha?!" For Winter's sake, and the sake of her own sanity, she hoped that was a joke.

But in their encounter for the night, something different seemed to twig for Ruby. Winter was the first person to treat her with various luxuries. Even if they were just for one night, it was more than anyone had done for her before. How could this just be friendship? And there were also the adoring looks, comments on her body… Could her sister-in-law actually have a bit of a crush on her?

Nope, we're not going down that road, either, Ruby told herself. Penny treats you great! In her own way, at least; she can't afford this stuff, sure, but you can't betray her by not telling her about any romantic stuff going on with somebody else. Don’t worry about what’s going on with Winter until it’s a real problem.

However, that thought brought about a gasp. She had forgotten something else she promised. "Wait, what time is it?!"

"Hmm? Oh, I…" Glancing around, she craned her neck over toward where the nightstand usually was - only to see nothing there. "Ah, damn. I was so concerned with making sure all technology was hidden! Hang on, I'll check the bathroom clock for you." She was already heading through the door.

"Alright, sorry!"

Shit. Not only did you forget you'd be home for Penny, you made Winter feel like crap, as well. Great job, you dumbass. Those thoughts alone were enough to make her run her hands down her face, groaning in annoyance. It was probably midnight, knowing Ruby's luck; way later than her self-designated curfew. It might seem a ridiculous promise to some, but Ruby knew how important it was to sleep beside her girlfriend.

"About ten 'til ten," Winter said as she returned, tossing something in a foil wrapper to Ruby. "Also, you'll want to have a small something, especially since you… well, lost a little blood."

"Oop!" Just managing to catch it before it hit her across the face, Ruby unwrapped it immediately to reveal: "A chocolate frog!" That would hit the spot. The poor Hufflepuff was certainly in the mood for something sweet after that intense pleasure! But before Winter went to put things away, she thought it best to speak up.

"I'm sorry, by the way. About the whole virginity thing. I honestly had no idea."

"You didn't know you were a virgin? That's a first. But honestly, I'm only sad I couldn't give you the proper treatment - like, if… oh, but it doesn't matter what I would have done now. I hope you enjoyed today, though."

"Well I'm not, exactly. Or I wasn’t, even before. I mean, me and Penny have done stuff. With fingers. I guess I just counted that as my virginity even without the… breakage." She nervously scratched the back of her head again. Although, she was still curious. "What would you have done?"

Winter shrugged, thinking for a moment. "Oh… I don't know, I haven't had to take a sub's virginity before. Probably something involving covering the bed in rose petals, maybe some soft music. And probably fairly vanilla sex; it's sort of a lot to deal with on top of being tied up and things, isn't it?"

"That's sounding very…" Don't do it. Don't go there! "…romantic."

God fucking damnit! But it honestly was. The idea of a woman setting things out and making them perfect just for her was enough to warm her heart, make her feel truly special. A feeling that she should only feel for one person.

Who, talking of which, she was supposed to be heading home to, and so Ruby began to fetch her underwear. "I'm sorry I never mentioned that I have to get home tonight, either, but Penny kind of wants me to. I mean, if I'm desperate, I don't think she'd have a problem but-"

"Oh? That's fine…" The disappointment in Winter's tone was very slight, but there all the same. She tried to dispel it as she continued, "Would you have time to go over today's session, or are you… needing to leave immediately?"

Pulling on her underwear first, she looked back toward Winter. She could sense the disappointment, even if she wasn't trying to show it. Running off so suddenly wasn't something she wanted to do at all. Nor did she truly want to leave Winter without doing her part in tidying up.

"Well…" It was getting late, however. The ride was at least half an hour back to home, and Ruby had told Penny half past ten would be her latest to get home. With there being so little time, she shrugged, following her deepest heart’s desire. "Okay, I'll let Penny know I'm tired and I’m gonna stay; if that's okay with you."

"What? No, you don't have to cancel on her! That wasn't… I didn't mean for you to change your plans if you need to be home, I'm sorry."

"No, I want to." It was the truth. Gesturing to the layout of the room, she said, "You spent forever setting this up for me! It wouldn't be fair for me to run off and leave you to clean up without any help. She's just…" Scratching her head nervously, she sighed. "She's scared of things possibly turning romantic without her knowing about it first. Like, she's okay if things do, but not behind her back."

That caught Winter by complete surprise. She had been about to bend to pick up the "Hogwarts textbook," and forgot all about it as she straightened again. "You… think you and I… she thinks we would have an affair? An actual adulterous affair?"

"No… Well, yes… Well, no- I don't know!" Ruby hadn't even bothered to put the rest of her clothes on, dropping her shirt again from when she was about to slide it over her head. Running a hand through her hair, she tried to think more into it. "I guess she's never done this kind of thing before, she doesn't know what to think. And honestly, neither have I. This is all brand new! It's not that she doesn't trust you, or doesn't trust me. I think she just worries she'll be left behind, or something."

But Winter was chuckling to herself. It seemed a bit out of place and insensitive, until she said, "Penny has nothing to fear, believe me. I don't fall for my subs. Not that you aren't an incredible young woman; she's very lucky to have you. But I've never felt a romantic attachment before." Then she shrugged as she picked up the book after all. "Or at least, the few times I have, I just ignored the feeling until it went away. Too inconvenient."

For a moment, Ruby paused again. "So, you've never been in a romantic relationship? Ever?"

"Not once." She continued tidying while speaking. "Oh, I tried meeting men in bars, things like that… and there was never a spark. Didn't lead anywhere. It was fairly frustrating until I just came to accept that if that ever does happen for me, it's not going to be because I went seeking it out."

Something about that made Ruby feel sad. More sad than she'd ever expected. Winter had so much experience, but never once had any of that been romantic - never had anyone to cuddle up to at night, or give her small kisses throughout the day. Never even something as small as silly text messages throughout the day just to let her know they were thinking of her. From the vague things she had found out through Yang, she knew Winter had a troubling past with men; but learning this, as well…

"I just gotta go get my phone to text her," she insisted, moving her clothes to the top of the bed for a moment, before going off to collect those she left in the bathroom.

"Alright," was all Winter said at first. When Ruby was in the bathroom, she called out, "Oh - if you were serious about staying, you can borrow some of my pyjamas."

It seemed to fall on deaf ears. Once she'd gone back to the bathroom, the took her phone from her pocket. Ten PM according to her phone's time, it still wasn't too late to get a taxi. Only just.

But instead, she wrote out a message: Our playing got super cray and I'm really tired so I'm gonna stay. I promise I'll make it up to you when I get back, and if you wanna talk about things more, that's fine. Love you, sleep well xoxo

Once that was sorted, she collected her clothes up into her arms. If nobody had ever given Winter a romantic night, she was going to do it herself. There was no reason why she couldn't do it as a form of play, even if it would end up with sleep. That was allowed, right?

“Winter,” Ruby whispered to herself, flicking off the bathroom light, “prepare to be… romanticized!”

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

By the time Ruby returned to Winter’s bedroom, the cauldron and most of the other odds and ends were put back where they belonged, though the rest of the room still looked very "Hogwarts". That couldn't be helped; she probably had men roll out the false floor and move the bed on top of it. Also, the steamer trunk would take at least two people to heft.

"We could have a nightcap while we discuss the session," Winter said once she noticed Ruby standing there. "Also, you can choose the bed or the couch; I'm fine with either."

Picking up the remaining parts of the potion pack, Ruby placed them near the bedside table. That seemed like a good idea, taking time out and finishing the rest tomorrow. However, rather than make a decision, she looked toward Winter.

"Actually… What if we did something else? Like a second session?"

"What?!" Winter burst out, nearly dropping the satchel she had been moving over by the closet. "You just lost your virginity! I'm… a little surprised you'd want to go again!"

"Not exactly…" Making her way toward the bed, she sat on the bedside, elegantly crossing her legs. She still wasn't dressed, and was clearly making no effort to do so. That became a lot more obvious. "Like, not necessarily a sex session."

"Ah… wait, what are you talking about, then?" Winter seemed genuinely confused. "A training session, more like the first time? Or what?"

"I'm talking… about switching roles." Patting the space on the bed beside her the smile was beginning to become a little more mischievous. Especially so as she leant back. "Remember our first session, how it was like, first date fluffiness?"

Winter's brow was still furrowed, but she said, "Of course. Except that date slowly turned into you being Lady." Her lips quirked slightly as she set back to tidying. "Even I know that's not how most first dates usually go."

"Yeah, well…" She shook her head. "Okay, forget about that then! I mean… I wanna give you an experience of your own. A different kind of session, like a…" She swallowed. Again with the word. "A romantic one."

"What?" When she finished putting down the potions ingredients case by everything else, she stood ramrod straight. Then she slowly turned to look at Ruby. "You want to give… me one?"

Ruby nodded. Rather than patting the bed again, she instead pulled up the covers by her side, inviting her into the bed itself. Even without the pyjamas, both in the same bed… "Have you ever been spooned before?"

"What?" Winter asked again. She really did seem to be having trouble processing what Ruby was offering, but she finally seemed to be moving past the initial confusion. "Oh… come on, I wasn't trying to get you to- Ruby, you don't have to do this. I'm fine with my life as it is, really. Happy, even! My relationship with Weiss is more secure than it ever was, and I have a good circle of friends, so… so you don't need to start worrying about me, alright?"

"I'm not," she insisted. Still not budging, still not moving, only continuing to hold the bedsheets open for her. "I'm seriously asking; A, have you been spooned before, and B, do you want a romantic session with me?"

Swallowing hard, Winter began to say something. Her lips parted, and she leaned forward, then stopped herself. With a shrug, she said, "No, I haven't. And… yes, I do." Hastily, she added, "If you really, truly want one with me. Otherwise, I'm not going to make you uncomfortable by accepting. I absolutely refuse to do that."

Immediately, Ruby rolled to one side to allow herself into the bed first, budging right over to one side under the covers and patting the large area between them. Leaning her head against her hand, she continued that smile back toward Winter. That enticing, genuine smile.

"You never made me uncomfortable, never guilted me into this," she reassured. "I wouldn't have offered if I felt either of those things. Seriously, I really want to do this for you."

"Oh. Well, I suppose… we could try it. For a bit." She took a step forward, then snorted and began taking off her shoes. "I'm not getting in wearing this getup, though. Firstly, because it would wrinkle, and my dry cleaner already questions my wardrobe choices often enough."

"Well duh." Ruby chuckled, waiting patiently as she got herself comfortable for a moment, laying her head against the pillow lazily. "What would your Ravenclaw character wear? Like, right after she's given Rose a wild night?"

Pursing her lips, she thought on that for a moment as she undid the dress shirt, loosened the necktie just enough to slide it over her head. "Well… probably something conservative. I sort of envisioned her as only really liking to torture 'Rose' because they have that kind of arrangement. Outside that, she's not too liberal with her body or sexuality."

"Okay…" Perhaps this was going to be more difficult than she thought. Not even Winter's 'sona' was into romance it seemed, or at least wasn't willing. But maybe that was because of how she saw Ruby's own persona in their play. The small, bumbling Hufflepuff of whom she could toy with however she wanted, a student that just liked disobeying the rules. Maybe that was what had to change.

"Then perhaps… after she's given Rose her lesson for the day," she began, still watching as Winter stripped, "she returns to her dorm, to… um, Red. A pretty ironically-named Ravenclaw she has a different kind of connection with? Or something?"

That made Winter grin from ear to ear as she finally discarded the shirt, revealing her bra. Next came the skirt, which she shucked as she answered, "I like where this is going; separate play, but equal. So how long have Winter and 'Red' been cuddle buddies? For the past two years, perhaps?"

"Oh, since they were third years. Maybe Winter's not as hard-as-nails as she acts, and got scared of a thunderstorm one year…" Ruby was having just as much fun making up their characters as their session had been. Even if it was just for the sake of play, it was a fun exercise - especially when Harry Potter was involved. "So Red just snuggled up to her one day, and it helped. So they kept doing it, and maybe they even kissed a little too, that kinda thing."

"I can see that. Very well, we might as well start the scene now, if it's going to be Winter coming back from that session with 'Rose'. If you're prepared to start, that is."

"Very well, then." She attempted herself to sound rather posh in that moment, grinning still at how easily Winter accepted things. But eventually, cleared her throat.

"Begin play."

Then her demeanour seemed to change. She still leant against the pillows in bed, only this time was rather eagerly rubbing the empty space by her side, trying to encourage her to take up the space. "You've been gone a while; I take it Rose enjoyed her session today?"

"She did," Winter sighed, a little more stiffly than before. "You know, I wasn't sure how she was going to take to ropes and tickling, but… she seemed really, really turned on by those developments. It was interesting."

"I see…" 'Red' smirked to herself, continuing to look to her partner with half closed eyes and a smirk. This was going to be a fun role to play, especially since it was going to be more dominating. An interesting switch. "Sounds intense! I bet you wore the poor girl out."

"Completely." Winter decided to let a little of reality slip into their fantasy, and she sighed. "Really wish I had known she was a virgin before tonight… I think that made for an unpleasant surprise for both of us."

"Oh?" Ruby was able to sense this. Even in the middle of 'play', she was using this as a way of venting how she felt about the whole thing. It wasn't as though things could be reversed, but at least she could also put her own thoughts across. Even as Red.

"I wouldn't say it's unpleasant," she began, finally moving her arm aside when it looked like Winter was going to come to bed. "Out of all the terrible Slytherins out there, she lost it to you; someone who will look after her and take care of her. I'd say she did well."

The blush that crept into Winter's cheeks was obviously real, but all she said was, "Th-that's a fair point, I suppose. And of course, I'm more than honoured to have been the one for her." Then she sighed as she sat down on the bed in front of Ruby, wearing only panties and socks - the latter of which she was removing. "She really seemed to like what I could do for her, though."

"Oh, I'm sure she did." The slight slip of character was of course her agreement, to show to her Dom that she had in fact enjoyed their session thoroughly. But still beginning their next one, she leant forward, looping her arms around Winter's waist as she sat up herself. "Just as I'm sure you'll enjoy what I can do for you."

"Hmm?" Looking over her shoulder, Winter blinked down at her for a moment before smiling. "Oh, I'm sure I will, Red. We've been doing this for long enough that I'm pretty certain I will."

"Good. Then get in here," she finally commanded, retracting her arms and getting herself right back to her position in the bed. It felt rather nice to be the one in control. There was a peculiar thrill about it, one she could get used to.

"Yes, ma'am," Winter breathed, easily falling into a submissive role and dipping her head slightly as she slipped into the covers, backing up against Ruby's front before she pulled them up higher.

Right away, the hands began to loop back around Winter again as she felt Ruby nestling into her back. With her smaller size, she found quite a simple spot; head leaning against her neck, legs tucking away just below hers. All the while, her hand started to very gently stroke her stomach. Just a small amount to comfort her in their time together. And Winter shivered. It was part of her character, to be sure, but also an involuntary reaction to the affectionate gestures. Her own hands fell to the backs of the arms in front of her, only touching them lightly so as not to stop them from progressing in whatever direction they may.

Nestling her head on Winter's shoulder as best she could, Ruby could be clearly felt smiling happily. One such smile that only brightened when she looked to the soft skin of her partner's neck. Deciding it would be in character, she leant in, pressing a kiss against it, before returning to her position.

"You're so soft."

"Thank you," she breathed shakily. This was getting a lot more intense a lot faster than she anticipated! "I… always think you're soft, Red."

Swallowing hard, she tried to back up a little further until she could feel shins underneath her heels. There was a rather pleasant feeling down below that Ruby approved of, even if nothing could really be done about it without another item. Ruby's crotch was pressed right in against Winter's petite behind. The soft cheeks were more than comfortable, but feeling them so close to her was enough to get her feeling in the mood again.

But not for her. Ruby was finished for the night. No… her feelings and desires were more to serve another. She had been so patient with her, giving her a fantastic orgasm. It felt fair to try and return the favour. Already, her hands were beginning to stroke slightly lower, and lower…

"Red?" Winter asked in a hushed tone, trying to look over her shoulder at the smaller girl. "What's… what are you doing?"

Returned only with a sly smirk, Red looked back up toward her as best she could. Her hands were continuing to make their journey downward, delicately stroking while they did so. "Tell me, did Rose return the favour? Pleasing you, I mean."

With a knowing smirk, she whispered, "Oh, of course not. After the paces I put her body through tonight? Nobody's that resilient that they could turn around and do it for someone else the same night."

"I dunno, I think she could have had it in her…" Ruby continued to tease, continued to pet. Right until she was toying with the waistband of Winter's underwear. "But either way… maybe I can provide that relief."

Shivering all the way down her spine, Winter curled her toes up against Ruby's shins. "O-ooh… maybe you can. Maybe I would like that."

"You would?" she asked, very slowly dipping her fingers into Winter's underwear. Just the fingertips at first… then more… "Because I'd very much like to. I do love hearing you squeal my name."

Ever the professional, Winter let out a shaky breath and whispered, "Red…"

Even if she was supposed to be the Dom in this scene, Ruby's cheeks lit up just as red as the word. She was glad that Winter was in front of her and couldn't see that shyness in her cheeks, couldn't see how it affected her. But she had a job to do. The hand went even lower into her underwear, fingers lightly scratching through the small patch of hair below. Winter always kept herself neat, and today was no exception.

"All short for me? You know how to lay out the welcome mat."

"Well," she panted shakily, "I… couldn't have you seeing me… messy." After a beat, she added, "Not unless it's a mess you made."

Purring in delight, Ruby nuzzled her face up against Winter's neck again. Giving a quick kiss to distract her, she pressed her fingers further down between the soft lips below. And for a moment, she let them linger there as she whispered softly, "Do you want me to make a mess?"

Winter's entire body seized, and she reached up to grasp Ruby's hands instinctively. It wasn't intended to stop her, but she wasn't used to being handled so gently and so confidently at the same time - especially not by a woman.

"I… I really do," she breathed.

Ruby could only smile to herself again. Winter wanted to try. It was something so unlike her normal experiences, something much softer and calmer and 'Red' certainly didn't want to disappoint. Leaning in, she allowed her lips to press repeatedly against Winter's cheek while she dipped her fingers further into the lips below. She was really touching Winter Schnee! This was crazy! Over and over they brushed up and down, collecting the moisture.

"Hhahhh," Winter breathed softly, beyond pleased with the efforts 'Red' had made thus far. "That's good… I l-like that…"

"You usually do." Ruby teased. Of course, it was all for her fake role of Red the Ravenclaw, a character or Ruby's design solely for the purpose of being with Winter. Or at least, Winter's role. She was determined to make it a deeply romantic experience for her, something unlike all of her sessions before.

To do that, she continued the movements of her hands, but pressed kisses further up, toward Winter's soft lips. And she accepted, wholeheartedly and immediately, leaning back to open her mouth very slightly as their lips began to knead against each other. How divine, how sweet! Of course, every time Ruby kissed her, she enjoyed it, but somehow their current play made it that much better, that much more thrilling and…

Romantic. Why did Ruby suddenly feel the urge to start this play in the first place? Of course, Winter was enjoying herself immensely, but the question wouldn't disappear, no matter how much she enjoyed the sensations. Was this something she had wanted to explore with Winter for a while now? Or was it something Penny was unwilling to try, just as with the other sexual fantasies? Perhaps she would ask after it was done.

Smiling to herself, Ruby continued to kiss those soft tender lips of her partner. She could feel Winter's legs beginning to part just by her fingers, and it filled her with joy knowing she'd have more space to work with. And she'd do so. Now that her fingers were coated, she could quite easily push two inside, and slowly began to thrust. In and out, in unison with each of her kisses. Whatever she could do to help Winter feel what she had missed out on in all that time, she would do it.

Being entered was so thrilling that Winter's thighs parted immediately, letting the hand do its deed. Both fingers felt so good, so full and articulate inside of her body! Of course, they weren't going precisely where they should; Ruby's inexperience shone through, despite her confidence. To that end, she pulled back from the kiss just enough to tell 'Red', "Curl in a little more" under her breath.

She heard. Even now, Winter was guiding her through their play, despite being the “sub”. Ruby certainly didn't mind, and took the lesson in stride. Curling her fingers as asked, she was starting to feel just why as her fingers pressed against Winter's inner walls with each entry, pushing in and out over again against her.

Slowly but surely, the elder woman began to moan louder, with less reserve. It was good. Very good, enough to make her climax fairly soon if she kept it up. Of course, that was partly because of their earlier play having whet her appetite, but that didn't mean Ruby wasn't adapting to her new role quite smoothly.

"Yes, good," she cooed, continuing to push her fingers in and out slowly as she whispered toward her ear. "You love it, don't you? You like when I help you unwind after a hard day?"

Allowing her thumb to move forward, she attempted to stroke at the small nub at the top of her sex. It was something she hadn't tried before, but instinct told her it would be a good move. And jerky as the motions were, Winter groaned aloud from the contact, shivering all over and arching her back.

"Y-yes! Yes, I like it so much - you're so good to me, Red! How… can you know my body this well?!" Perhaps it was embellishment, or perhaps it was a true and honest question. There was no easy way of knowing.

"Because I want to satisfy my little Winter as much as I can," she whispered, pressing another kiss against her neck. "And I want her to make a mess for me."

With those last words, she plunged her fingers in as deep as she could, curling them right against where it always felt best on herself. She only hoped it would be enough to push Winter to that edge, and give her a most satisfying end.

"Nnhh! OH! Yes, right there, that's perfect!" Winter began to writhe against the contact, feeling the twin digits curling deep into her and prompting more pleasure than she could have expected. It was good - as good as she had from any of her other partners in sexual escapades. She found herself quite stunned that Ruby could learn all this, despite never having had an ongoing bedroom partner before.

"Goooood," Ruby cooed one more time. Continuing to curl against that spot over and over, she delivered kiss after kiss against her neck and cheek, lavishing her with love while trying to bring her to her end. To give the experience she was unsure Winter had ever had before, something new just for her.

Or you genuinely do like her. The inner monologue was intruding once more; mocking and teasing. Maybe she really would have to discuss these things with Penny relatively soon, if this was going to become a common practice.

"Y-YES! Yes, harder, Rub- Red! YeahhhhHHHH!!"

And with that, Winter felt herself losing control, finishing hard and strong. Her entire body was spasming back against Ruby's, toes curling and back arching, mouth hanging open as she gasped for air between loud moans and keenings. It was one of the better orgasms she had ever experienced – and all thanks to her youngest, most inexperienced sub.

Ruby could feel it against her fingers. She felt the muscles clamping down on her, trying to milk the fingers for all they had and to keep them against that sweet spot of hers. But also felt something else, something on the outside. Alas, Ruby wasn't the only one to squirt it seemed. Small splashes came from Winter herself against her hand. Not as much as Ruby did on her occasions, but still enough to have Ruby gasping in surprise as she tried to look down, and grinned.

"You really did make a mess, huh?"

"Y-yeah," Winter panted shakily, licking her dry lips as she slowly descended from the heights of pleasure. "I… did. Wasn't that… what you wanted?"

"It was," she reassured her, delivering another kiss to her cheek now that Winter had finished. She had done it! She had brought Winter to a powerful orgasm by herself, now with fingers rather than her tongue. And judging from Winter's squirting, it was a very intense one, indeed.

But their session wasn't over yet. In fact, that wasn't even the main event. Right after Ruby withdrew her hand from below to rub against the sheets to clean it, she wrapped her arms around Winter again. Continuing to spoon her even the finish, nuzzling in close.

That brought a light chuckle from Winter, and after a moment she laid a hand over one of Ruby's and whispered weakly, "You don't have to keep going if you don't want to. I'm… very satisfied with that scene."

But 'Red' only kissed her cheek again, gently rubbing her stomach in a comforting manner. "You might well be," she whispered into her ear, nuzzling against her. "But maybe I'm not yet."

That robbed Winter of the power of speech, and she tightened her grip on the hand. Did Ruby really mean to play this out, all the romantic bits after the fact? What did couples even do in bed before falling asleep? They talked. That was about the only thing she knew of, so she figured she might as well attempt it. "S-so… um, I was a little surprised at how much Ruby seemed to enjoy being tickled."

'Red' smiled to herself. It was still a review of their previous session, which they intended to do anyway. What did it matter if they were still in their roles? "She did, huh?" she asked, giving a small squeeze. "Well, as long as you don't tickle her too much; wouldn't want her to have an accident or something."

"Oh, but Ruby's a squirter, and so am I; a little variety in squirting wouldn't bother me. But you're right, everything in moderation." Biting her lip for a moment, she then added, "You should have seen her squirming… I think you'd have liked that, Red."

"Watching her? Or being tickled?" She giggled to herself again, nuzzling against Winter even further again, pressing her cheek flat against whatever skin she could. Nothing could distract her from this moment, or dampen their spirits. Not even when she could faintly hear the vibration of her phone in her pocket…

"Perhaps you could remove a memory for me to watch in a Pensieve. That would be fun."

"Yes, perhaps I could." In an undertone, Winter whispered, "Wish I knew what that was." Then she cleared her throat and went on, "But I did mean watching her be tickled; I know you like to be in control."

"I more enjoy watching you be happy," she reassured with yet another kiss against the skin, slowly rubbing her hand even still in a calming manner. Now it was more to lull her to sleep than to arouse. That was the intent at least. "But watching you be in charge is fun, too."

The motion was having the intended effect, soothing Winter somewhat. But she was still nervous about this type of play; she had done a few scenes like it before, but not with anyone she cared about as deeply as Ruby. "She also really seemed to like those ropes. A bit chafed, but fun for her."

"You really like tying people up, don't you?" Ruby began to tease, but gave a quick nuzzle against her cheek when she didn't respond right away. "Lemme guess, you stunned her first, then did it?"

That earned her an affronted gasp, followed by, "I w-would never! Well… not unless she asked. Then, maybe, I suppose."

"You totally did, didn't you?!" she continued to tease, giving a light squeeze yet again as she laughed quietly. "I love that with everyone else, you're this fierce dominatrix, but here you're just a softie."

"I'm not a softie," Winter protested. It wasn't a very strong protestation, but she tried anyway.

Pressing herself in close for one final time, Ruby laid in silence for a moment. Mostly due to how tired she was after the earlier events that was finally catching up to her, but also because there wasn't much to say. Their scene was close to an end. "So are," she just insisted, beginning to close her eyes. "But that's why I like you."

There was a grumbled "fine," and Winter settled down. It was a few minutes later when she whispered, "Ruby?"

Barely awake anymore, Ruby didn't even open her eyes again when she whispered, "Yeah?"

"Do you…" What was she going to ask? Did she have any right to ask? Might as well, considering how they were tangled up with each other, about to fall asleep. "Do you really like me?"

There were both advantages and disadvantages of Ruby being half asleep in that moment. It meant she wouldn't be lying, for one. Anything that would come from her mouth would be the honest-to-God truth. However, she probably wouldn't be awake long enough to have a follow up response.

"I think…" Before she faded to sleep fully, she whispered, "I think I do…"

For the same reason, Winter only had a few seconds to smile to herself contentedly. She was determined not to take that as anything more than it was: just a mention from a friend and sub that she didn't dislike her, at least. Though it could easily mean more. Either way, it was more than she got from most people.

“Okay. Goodnight, Red.”

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

Another few weeks passed. In that time, there had been more visits to Winter. More sessions of different natures between one another, some that resulted in her sleeping over yet again. They were both pleased with her progress, but there was one lingering worry that Ruby had.

Penny. Her girlfriend wasn't all too pleased about Ruby sleeping over as she first said, but there wasn't anything she could do about that. Since then, they had never talked about it – or Penny had been actively avoiding the conversation. So much to the point that she went back home to her fathers’ for a few weeks. Although she had insisted it was a general visit, the darker-haired girl couldn't help but think it was all down to her actions and sessions with Winter.

Today, that was going to change. Like it or not, Ruby knew she had to tell Penny the truth about her feelings. That they had grown – she did like Winter, the feelings were more than just those of a Dom/sub relationship. No matter the consequence, Penny deserved the truth. And as she stood in the airport carpark awaiting her return, she was growing more and more nervous.

That was, until she spotted her, and held a cardboard sign she had made up high for her to see. Though Penny had mostly looked tired, when she saw the sign her face lit up and she stifled a laugh behind her hand. Speeding up very slightly, she walked up to the car, wheeling her luggage behind her.

"You're a dork, you know that?" Penny called out when she was close enough to be heard easily.

Smiling back warmly, Ruby lowered the sign once she was close enough and embraced her in a warm hug. "I missed you," she whispered into her ear, only letting her go once she'd placed a kiss on her cheek. The ginger leaned into the lips for a second, then pulled back with a placid smile.

"Missed you, too. Help me get these in?"

"Oh, yeah! Sorry, I forgot." Quickly taking the case from her hand, Ruby made quick work of sliding it into the trunk of the car. Thankfully she'd already lowered the rear seats so there was plenty of room. Once that was done, she held the door open for her partner, before getting in the other side.

But before starting the ignition, she asked, "So, how were they?"

“Dad and Father? Very well, thank you for asking.” And that was all she said. Her expression was just as pleasant as before, but she seemed to see no need to elaborate.

"Good… That's good." When realising there was nothing more she was going to say, Ruby started up the car. So things were going to be awkward right from the start, it seemed. Nothing more was said while Ruby concentrated on leaving the parking lot, or when she began the journey home.

Fifteen minutes into their drive down the highway, Ruby had only just plucked up the courage to speak again. "Sooooo… I'm thinking McDonald's for dinner, maybe? There's one on the way, I think…"

"I would prefer Wendy's," Penny remarked easily. "But if there's something you want more at McDonald's, that's fine." Glancing over, she added, "Don't you love their nuggets?"

"Nuggets are more Yang's thing. I prefer chicken sandwiches myself. So, sure, we can do Wendy's!"

Continuing to drive a little longer, she looked back and forth between the road and Penny yet again. She didn't seem upset or angry at all, and yet, she still wasn't talking. There was nothing for her to work with. Eventually, she hunched her shoulders and asked the hard question.

"Are… you mad at me?"

"For eating chicken?" she laughed softly. "I'm not that vegetarian. I just like Wendy's salads better, that's all."

"No, not… argh, I'm sorry." They'd fallen back into silence yet again. Guilt had continued to gnaw at the redhead once again as she turned her focus back to the road for that bit longer. But upon spotting a Wendy's, she quickly pulled in. Except rather than going straight into the drive through, she parked at the rear of the parking lot. It wasn't until she turned off the ignition and put on the handbrake until her intentions became clear.

"I've been a jerk…"

Penny hesitated before answering, keeping both her face and her voice carefully neutral. "How so?"

"For letting this hurt you." Running a hand through her hair, Ruby stared blankly toward the wheel. This had clearly been on her mind for a long time, playing on her thoughts. She looked so guilty. "You asked me to come home that night, and I didn't. Dumb! I should have made sure I did, put you first instead of… my stupid fun-time."

Penny remained focused on the first part of what she said. "Ruby, I told you I didn't mind, and I meant it. When you mentioned it might run late… I mean, it made perfect sense. Yes, I would rather you have come home, but it's not a big deal if you can't one night."

"But that's just it. I-I… I could have. We finished up just before ten, plenty of time for me to get an uber back home." She rubbed her eyes, stopping a few of the stray tears that were beginning to form. "But I just… I didn't. Like, it’s going to sound like a bunch of crummy excuses… but I couldn't leave just yet."

"Oh…" Looking away at last, she seemed to think upon that for a while. "Then… what happened? If you're comfortable telling me."

Ruby only continued to look downward, continued to sniff sadly. The guilt never left, in fact it was only getting worse. "I'm a bad person," she whimpered. "I love you, and that hasn't changed. It'll never change. But I… I’m starting to like her, too. In the same way. Nothing makes sense, I already have you, we’re a team; why am I feeling this way for someone else? It just feels like I'm turning bad!"

It took Penny a long time to answer. Her green eyes bored into the dashboard console in front of her. When she did speak again, she began very simply, in that same neutral tone she seemed to have mastered.

"Don't think about me for a second. Please, I want you to try to forget I exist. Then I want you to tell me how you feel about Winter; just be very honest."

"But I can't forget you exist." The words were barely audible anymore. Just a high pitched mess from where she was about to cry. With another sniff, she tried to calm herself back down, taking a few shaky breaths. "I can't. I love you more than anything… But then I'm finding myself liking her in the same way, and I feel so guilty, like I'm cheating on you. And I don't want to do that!"

"The same way," Penny breathed, latching onto the one comment that had been a response to what she asked of her partner. A few more seconds went by with Penny taking a deep breath, gripping her knees.

"I know."

It seemed to take a while for Ruby to realise what Penny had said. She sniffled, looking toward her partner. "You… know?"

"Yes. I've been able to see the way you are when you talk about her, how you get so excited and happy. It's the way you talk about me, or used to talk about Weiss before your sister became her girlfriend." The words were melancholy, but not overly sad. "It's been getting more and more obvious, I just didn't want to bring it up. You seemed like you were struggling with enough."

Blinking back a few more tears, Ruby sniffed yet again. Struggling was certainly one way of putting it, she thought to herself. She tried to look into Penny's eyes a moment, before having to look away again. She couldn't bear it.

"I still talk about you in that way…" She made sure that was clear, reaching out and taking her hand. "I still love you, that hasn’t changed and never will change. I need you to know that. I need you to believe me!"

"Oh, Ruby… I do." Penny reached up to cup her cheek. Her expression wasn't as pleasant, or as glowing as it would have been before their situation changed somewhat. But it wasn't harsh, wasn't disapproving or sad. Just contemplative. "I told you before, I don't own you, and I don't want to try. If you feel a connection to Winter… even if it's just because she can provide you with certain things I can't, then that's okay! I'll adjust."

Leaning into the hand on her cheek, Ruby nodded. There was a wave of relief over her features, and she found herself managing to force a little smile. Penny didn't hate her, that was what was important.

"I just worry that you'll think I'm ditching you," she whimpered, holding the hand on her cheek instead. "Because that's not true, no way! You're my priority. I might feel this way about Winter, too, but if you want it to stop, it will. In a heartbeat."

"Why would I want it to stop? I've noticed you seeming happier and more complete ever since you started meeting with her. It would be selfish of me to take that away from you just because…" She sighed, forcing herself to finish her thought. "Because I don't understand. And I probably never will; I'm just not wired the way you and she are. But I can see you haven't stopped loving me, and that's enough to soothe my fears."

Unable to help herself, Ruby flung herself forward and pressed her lips right up against her partner's, kissing her deeply and with more passion than she ever had before. Any way to dispel away the sadness she had been holding back for so long, to keep remind her that Penny loved her. Once finished, she rested her forehead against Penny's, shakily sighing.

"I'm so glad… you have no idea. So glad you still know that."

"Of course, my little Rubáiyát," Penny whispered, kissing her back just as strongly.

That was a private joke between them; they had been studying Middle Eastern culture, and the minute she came across 'The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám', it had stuck fast. Still giggling to herself, Ruby placed a few more kisses at her lips again. She couldn't stop! It had taken a few weeks of Penny being away for her to realise how much she truly did miss her company. That was something Winter couldn't quite make up for herself. At least not yet.

And Penny was most certainly intent on returning that attention, sliding her arms around her love's shoulders and pulling her in even closer. It seemed the distance wasn't only affecting Ruby; even if it wasn't sexual, she had an aching need to be close to her girlfriend after those weeks in New York.

All the while, Ruby continued to grin. It was rare Penny was in the mood for anything all too intimate, but whenever it appeared, she would leap at the chance whenever it was. And here was no exception, even if she thought it would only last a few minutes. Testing the waters, she allowed her mouth to hang open a little longer than usual, giving Penny the chance to take advantage, should she want to.

As it turned out, Penny did. There was a brief hesitation before the ginger seemed to come to a decision, and then she leaned in and slid her tongue in past Ruby's lips, shivering at how they felt against each other. They both knew by now that Penny had very mixed feelings about that kind of kissing, because she both enjoyed the feeling and was disgusted by the "swapping of germs," as she usually referred to the practice.

Ooooohhh, she's in the mood. This wasn't a moment Ruby Rose wanted to ruin! Turning to face her properly as best as the car seats allowed, she rested her hands on Penny's waist, smiling to herself each time their tongues brushed against each other. It truly was worth the wait to have her back in her arms. Her Penny.

Instead of tapping Ruby on the shoulder to stop, or pulling away as she might have normally done, all she did was press in more, moving her mouth and tongue faster, more hungrily. Her own hands gouged in harder against Ruby through her clothes, not wanting to let her go for even an instant.

Holy shiz, she really IS in the mood! She could barely believe what was happening. This really was a once in a blue moon instance. Not that she minded; any time spent with her girlfriend was important, whether it was sexual or not. These rare moments simply made her appreciate them all the more when they did appear.

Another thought occurred to her: But wait, what if she's only doing it because she's hurt? Of course, her own mind had to bring that up. How typical. Still… it was possibly true. No matter how much she wanted intimacy from Penny, she couldn't bring herself to enjoy it if it was only borne of jealousy. With that thought in mind, she broke away for a moment, catching her breath as she rested her forehead against her lover's.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," she reassured. "I only want this if you do. For real, not just cuz you think you have to."

"I do want it." Penny was adamant, staring deep into her eyes. "I know I don't enjoy what you try doing for me in bed, and that I'm so squeamish that it's difficult for us to find common ground as far as pleasuring you. But it's been so long, I've missed you so much…"

Suddenly, a stray hand was slipping down between Ruby's thighs. "I want to be with you right now. I want to make my Rubáiyát happy, from nose to toes."

So quick, so bold… Penny really must have missed Ruby to be this ready. It really wasn't a chance to ignore, even if they were in the middle of a parking lot. Well, technically we're at the back of the lot… The more Ruby thought about it, the more tempted she was by the idea. And if you change a few things, no one will see… Biting her lip, she looked back toward Penny with a mischievous expression.

"Well, if you're completely sure…" She instead reached for a button at the side of her seat to adjust the back, lowering it to its lowest point.

"Oh!" Penny gasped in mild surprise, then smiling down at Ruby, cheeks slightly warm. "Y-you want us to do things right now, in public? That's… most unusual."

"Well, I thought…" Quickly sitting up to check the coast was clear, Ruby then returned to the position back in the chair, looking up toward Penny with equally red cheeks. "There's no one here… and it's not like the time we both did stuff while Pyrrha and Jaune were asleep while we slept on their floor…"

Laughing at the memory, Penny began to rub the outsides of Ruby's thighs now, teasing very lightly, preparing her for more. "We were so inquisitive then. I still didn't know I don't enjoy that, and you didn't know how to please a vagina, anyway – yours or mine."

"I tried my best…" Ruby looked down to one side out of embarrassment. Or at least, it seemed that way. A more likely cause for her red cheeks was probably the woman's hands all over her legs, rubbing, teasing away at her. This would be an awkward position with only one seat lowered, but she had no doubt Penny would manage. That was unless… The seats in the back were completely down. The only possible barrier was Penny's case, but there was more than enough space. Looking back with mischievous eyes again, she asked, "Here or the back?"

"Right here is fine with me if it's fine with you." One hand drifted inward again, sliding between the soft, squishy thigh-flesh. That, she thought, was beautiful. As she had explained before, it was only such bodily fluids as saliva that she found offensive; the skin all over Ruby's body was one of her favourite things in the universe.

With a light nod, Ruby grinned to herself as she watched Penny's movements. She was always so soft with her, so soft and gentle. Ruby was fairly sure that Penny would worship her body should she allow it, from how well she was treated all over. Allowing her legs to part even further, she rested her hands on Penny's shoulders, using it to anchor herself for what was to come.

As the hand drifted closer and closer to her center, its owner whispered, "Now don't forget, you have to help guide me. This isn't my field of expertise."

"You've been pretty good the times you tried it out." She smiled back at her, parting her legs even further to give Penny the advantage she needed. How glad she was that she decided to wear a shorter skirt today! It meant all Penny needed to do was move the panties to one side and have at it in whatever manner she wanted.

"We are technically out in public," Penny whispered needlessly. "Is it okay if I move a little faster?"

Which happened immediately. Though Penny only began to trace her fingers up and down her soft folds, there was no hesitation, no teasing her through the underwear this time; straight through the side of it and to the intended goal.

"O-oh! S-slow down a little… Don't go in for the kill just yet." As eager as Ruby was to begin, she knew too well that rushing would only ruin their moment together. She needed time to be ready, for her body to catch up. But Penny rubbing up and down the length of her was doing just that… "Yeah… that's it," she encouraged, sinking further back into the seat the more Penny rubbed at her folds.

Penny swallowed hard as the musky scent of arousal began to fill the air around her. It wasn't that the scent was appealing or unappealing; it was part of Ruby, and for that reason, she was fond of it. But only that reason.

"It's so good to smell this again," she said very bluntly, dipping her head lower as she pet along her lover's sex, slowly making it damp with her attentions. "It's been too long."

One of Ruby’s hands ended up at the back of her lover's neck, encouraging the actions below so eagerly. "Penny…" she whispered, hungry for more, hungry for her partner. They had barely even begun just yet!

And it seemed that today, Penny was more insatiable than usual. She always loved kissing Ruby's body, and this was no exception; even as she continued to tease, getting her ready, her lips pressed into the soft flesh of her thigh, delighting in the smooth, cool feeling. For her, this was pleasurable… this was what made her feel the excitement that Ruby felt from sexual escapades. Closeness, intimacy.

A few kisses later, and Ruby was starting to notice just where she was heading. And that was certainly a shock for her, given how her legs began to twitch again. "Penny!" she gasped, placing a hand on the back of her head, just enough to get her attention. "Are you sure? I mean, you know what sometimes happens."

"I have some moist towelettes in my bag from the plane," Penny told her in a reasonable tone, without slowing down much to do so. "If it's more than those can handle, Wendy's has a bathroom, don't they?"

"Well, yeah…" But Penny wasn't stopping. She was determined to see this through, it seemed, no matter what happened in the end result. Ruby's only hope was that this would be one of the few times it wouldn't be required, and they could just enjoy their time. With a brief nod, she allowed her hand to sink back into Penny's hair, lightly petting her. "Okay… Go for it."

"You got it." With a serene smile, she pushed her head a little further up her skirt, kissing her labia. It was a marked improvement from their other attempts; she only shivered slightly, instead of drawing away and needing a moment to recover.

Already Ruby was beginning to shudder herself. They were really doing this, after such a long time. And in a Wendy's parking lot, as well! But she wasn't about to complain at all. If her Penny was feeling up to it, they she was willing to let it continue, even if it meant their escapades were mainly in risky areas at risky hours. Lightly stroking her scalp all the more, Ruby tried to quell the few quiet moans by biting her lip, shifting in her seat slightly to find a better angle.

"Have I told you lately," Penny whispered against her soft wetness between kisses, "how much I adore every part of you, Ruby?" The hands began to slide up and down her thighs again, now that the mouth had taken control of her pleasure. "So much…"

Shakily sighing, Ruby found her head swinging back, staring upward toward the ceiling of the car interior in some sort of hope to keep her grounded. Even if they weren’t the most sensual of words, hearing them from Penny's mouth was all she could ever dream of. Scratching at her scalp still, she nodded slightly to show she heard her.

"Okay…" Two fingers slid up to push back the hood over the sensitive nub of her partner. "This is the most sensitive part, right? Do you… want me to touch it, or not?"

"Hnn…" She could barely think. What did she want while Penny was down there? She could ask her to do what she usually did, rubbing it to get a reaction; or try something new. That option seemed exciting enough. "Your tongue… If you're up for it."

"Oh…" Penny glanced up at Ruby's panting form, then back down at the glistening sex waiting for her to explore. After a few seconds of indecision, she tentatively stuck her tongue out, pressing the tip against the little nub. The tongue began to flutter up and down over the swollen little nub, drawing in vestiges of sweet nectar in the process. Of course, it wasn't quite so sweet to Penny as it would have been to most women-loving-women, but that didn't mean she couldn't handle the taste if it was to please her favourite person in the whole world.

"Is this good?" she breathed against the moistened lips a minute later.

"Y-yeah!" Not that she could explain it, but Penny's actions had her weak at the knees. Just like always. In their rare moments together, Ruby always favoured her lover to her own hand. It didn't matter if it was Penny's skill or because it was her delivering it – Penny always managed to have her moaning, which she did so rather loudly.

Hearing that Ruby was responding well, she began to stroke up and down the folds again as her tongue took care of things up at the top. She knew from explanations and previous encounters that stimulating both was even more erotic to her partner than just one or the other. And the moans kept on coming! Now growing louder in volume, her partner couldn't help but squirm in her seat that bit more, trying to hitch herself closer to the assaulting tongue. Already she could feel herself beginning to grow warm, begin to feel a few beads of sweat falling down her cheeks as her spare hand went to hit the window, finding anything to ground herself.

The way Ruby was trembling told Penny that she was definitely getting somewhere, and relatively quickly. Deciding not to take her chances guessing at things, she drew back as her fingers continued to glide up and down and whispered to her love, softly and as sensually as she could manage. "Do you want my fingers inside?"

"Yes! Holy SHIZ, yes!" she moaned back. In all honesty, her mind was so clouded with pleasure she barely knew what was said; she only knew she needed Penny's mouth back where it was, back to performing its magic on her body.

"Okay," she breathed against her soft wetness before wrapping her lips around the throbbing clit once more, her fingers just beginning to edge past the boundaries of her body. Only the certain knowledge that Ruby wanted them there kept her from worrying about hurting her, or that they were doing something they shouldn't be.

"Oh!!! O-OH! Penny!" Fantastic! That was all she could think as she felt Penny's digits push their way into her body. Over and over again they ground against her inner walls, teasing her flesh and sending tingles of joy through her body. Yet again, she felt herself growing warmer, felt her end beginning to come in sight.

Then, just when Penny's hand was speeding up, aiming to bring her off in record time and with record levels of ecstasy… there was a knock on the window.

"H-HAAAH?!"

Both the shock of the sudden interruption and the increasing speed of Penny's fingers was enough to have Ruby jolting upright, and pleasure spurring through her body. She climaxed, able to feel her muscles clamping down onto Penny's finger for that short moment they were in there. Thankfully for her, it wasn't enough to get her usual, messy reaction; but enough to give clear evidence she was finished.

And then she looked toward the source of the noise, and her heart stopped.

"Can't do that out in public like that, kids!" said a large man in a blue uniform, complete with mirrored sunglasses. A cop. They were sitting there in their car, giving Ruby an orgasm, and being glared at by a police officer.

It was both embarrassment and the heat from her dwindling orgasm that made Ruby Rose's face go entirely red. Still panting heavily, she looked back at the cop with wide eyes for a moment, before very hurriedly patting the pack of Penny's head to get her to move, and withdraw her fingers.

"I-I'm so sorry!" She barely had the breath to speak! Let alone string an excuse together.

The policeman had been pulling out his ticket pad, clearly intending to cite them for something minor as a reminder not to do such things again – until he noticed Penny's moist face, her nervousness and shame at having been caught. His brown features seemed to lighten a shade. Blinking, he glanced between the two of them, obviously uncomfortable.

"R-right. I'll, uh, let you… girls off with a warning, this time, I guess. Just, uh… just try to find more privacy in the future." Then he nodded to himself, cleared his throat, and turned to go back to his squad car.

"I-I… Uh, w-we will… T-thank you, officer!" was all Ruby could shout as she watched him walk away – not that it would likely be heard. He was already gone by the time she called up properly. Soon after she took a moment to regain her breath again, before slowly covering her mouth. They'd just done things in public. Got caught, by a cop of all people! They'd managed to escape a ticket by a fraction, something they probably wouldn't be able to do again.

And yet all Ruby seemed to be able to do was begin to giggle to herself, until it turned into an outright laugh. "I can't believe we did that!"

"I can't believe being in a lesbian relationship actually has a benefit," Penny was breathing, eyes still on the officer as she eased back into her own seat. "Did you see his face? He looked as if he was going to faint, interrupting two women!"

"I know! Holy Toledo, that was so lucky…" Ruby quickly glanced out the window to continue to watch as he returned to his car, before looking back to Penny again. Her cheeks were still red as anything, but she didn't care; she was still laughing and giggling away to herself. "No one will ever believe this!"

"They won't!" A mischievous glint crept into Penny's eyes. "Did you want to take a selfie of us with the cop car in the background, as proof, perhaps?"

"Oh my god…" Ruby was still wearing that ridiculous grin, clearly assuming Penny was joking about such a thing. But when noticing her expression remained unchanged, she looked toward her, and then smirked. "You know what? I'm always wanting to find stuff to post to Snapchat…"

#Lady Stardust #ruby x winter #rwby smut #rwby fanfiction #rwbyremnants #nsfw-Text

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gasoliya · 5 years ago

Text

*air horn noises*

this is a massive post, so if you’d like to see some of the wanted connections i’ve typed out for my girl soliya, please read through the cut!! if your’e interested in any of them, please feel free to like or comment!!

let’s get writing, y’all!!! and come in here and catch this snuggle (and these plots)!

if you want a quick and dirty run-down of soliya, please click here for my intro where i talk a little bit about her past and bio! if you want to read her bio (it’s pretty short!) click here! but if you want both the live action and the replay...read both B^)

a few things to say - i know i have alienated her to a degree since the highest population of muses are in their early to mid 20s, but that’s why i purposefully wrote her as a traveler to offset some of that!! so that this way, at least she’d be able to travel around to the other nations and make meaningful connections with a whole variety of people!

also - these titles are all song titles/lyircs from songs on a playlist i’ve had on repeat for the last few days in quarantine. some are directly applicable feelings/vibe wise, others are just the right feel in the title itself and not necessarily the song lyrics apply to the plot! (wow this feels like krp tumblr in like, 2014). sidenote: i am a very flexible rper, and am comfortable with nsfw themes but PLEASE let me know if you are not! would never want to make any of my partners uncomfortable and PLEASE do not try to push yourself if it’s something you don’t like to/don’t usually incorporate!

LASTLY, i’m 100% down to plot out original connections too! and if you have a plot or role that you think liya might be able to fill for your muse, just let me know! but the below are certain connections i’d love to see for her c’:

now, onwards & upwards!

the other side x. (m/f/nb! any age! 2 open!)

for how angsty that title sounds this plot is not angsty at all LMFAO. while traveling with her father i imagine that she’d make some friends that she consistently seeks out whenever they’re in that nation! soliya is pretty relaxed and friendly, especially since that’s the whole point of a diplomatic visit. plus, just traveling to all the different air temples and nations, you naturally make connections! she probably tries to get to know as many people as possible and make as many connections as possible - plus a tour of each place from a local? heck yes! post-black sun, as she’s going through and getting the feel for how each nation is, as a representative of the air nomads and on her father’s behalf, i can imagine she’d be so fucking worried for all of the people she’s met and knows! this also allows us for current plots and past plots!! at the moment, looking for 1 muse for each spot from the other nations to start!

fire nation: open!

water nation: open!

earth nation: @zuerga

way you move x.(m/f/nb! +/- 6 years! 3 open!)

sometimes you just gotta get out excess energy! what better way to do so than a friendly spar? love the idea of our muses passing the time not just with companionship, but with some bending sparring! learning the tricks and the trades of each other’s bending styles, and pushing each other to be even better. there may not be a need per say, to train, but it’s always nice to keep your skills sharp and learn more about each style and person! i think soliya would be fascinated by the other types of bending out there, especially the particular and unique subsets of each, and also by how each person’s own style affects the moves/impact/force! since she’s also on the older side of the spectrum, could definitely see her being a mentor type not just to other airbenders, but also just in tactical elements/critical thinking during spars, etc. post-black sun...there may be a need to spar for the intents of training. but also - check ins on status, health, is there anything that i can do for you?

fire nation: open!

water nation: open!

earth nation: open!

love me less x. (m/f/nb! younger sibling! open!)

cough, so this requires the making of a muse, and i will put this on a wanted connection ask to the main page maybe like...a few days after i first start but like...this is a big part of liya’s origin story! i go over it here and here, so i won’t make this too long, but yes! i would SO LOVE someone to work this in their bio if they’d like and we can play out the various interactions pre, during, and post the incident. liya holds SO MUCH guilt from the accident and will probably never fully forgive herself, especially as she gets older, as the more mature she gets, the more obvious it is to her how much of a shithead she was as a teen. and even now, in her relationship with her bending and her personal relationships (esp. romantic) she’s guarded to a degree, even almost 15 years later.

I got too much dirt to come clean Closets full of skeletons that you don't wanna see Will you judge me? All my ugly? I won't blame you if you do

me & your ghost x. (m/f/nb! any age! 2 open!)

after the accident with her younger sibling at around age 16/17, she went into a period of self-isolation for about 4 months. 3 of which were spent on air temple island, and one in which she soul searched at the other 4 air temples (nesw). after she comes back home she’s ready to take on her father’s teachers on self-discipline and applying it into her everyday life & demeanor. that probably takes about another 4 months of intensive learning/meditation/isolation, along with traveling to other air temples for training with other airbending masters which comes to a total of 8 months in which she is just MIA. the idea for this plot would probably be that she is significant is some way to your muse - be it a big ass crush, an older-sister figure, a mother figure???, an incredibly strong friendship or any other dynamic, and when she just disappears without notice (i feel like she cycles through all the nations at least once every 2 months or so, stays for at least a few days) your muse is just “what the hell?” primarily a pre-black sun plot for the drama and character development, but that probably also means that by now (almost 15 years!) their relationship is hella strong and they’re very, very, close!

spot one: open!

spot two: open!

good news x. (m/f/nb! +/- 2 years! open!)

emotional support. someone to talk to, to confide in. this is someone, one of the VERY few people (maybe even the only one?) that she would confide in and talk openly about her feelings with, regarding the accident. i imagine this is a - after her 8 months of isolation/soul-searching, they’d meet for the first time, exchange kind of stilted pleasantries, and then just *emotional breakdown* as soon as they hugged. she’s be 17 at the time, so this is someone who would need to be about the same age/maturity to be able to handle it (or not!!! lmfao!!!!) and comfort or just, be there to help her work through it as she wouldn’t want to talk to her family about it - they’re just too close to the situation and their reassurances always feel a bit fake (to her).

similar to the above! primarily a pre-black sun plot for the angst and drama and character development, buy they’re super fucking close by now (or do they have a fallout???) so whatever we decide, it’ll affect what their relationship is like post-black sun!

I spent the whole day in my head Do a little spring cleaning, I'm always too busy dreaming Well, maybe I should wake up instead, A lot of things I regret, but I just say I forget Why can't it just be easy? Why does everybody need me to stay? [...] Well, so tired of being so tired Why I gotta build something beautiful just to go set it on fire? I'm no liar, but sometimes the truth don't sound like the truth [...] Good news, good news, good news That's all they wanna hear No, they don't like it when I'm down

roxanne x. (m/f/nb! +/- 3 years! open!)

the general gist of this plot is like...liya, in her head: man, fuck this asshole!

it’s that person that just gets under your fucking skin for some goddamn reason. be it completely different values, incompatible personalities (which is some a1 shit cause she usually gets along with most), or they’re just flat out hostile...something makes it almost impossible to stay calm around this person. they just dig at her finely shaped walls, and though she’s spent YEARS cultivating her self control and discipline, this person always gets her so close to breaking it and having her lash out (aka returning back to her younger days), but she’s not going to let them get the best of her (right?)

post-black sun...honestly i have no idea LOL. this would probably just have to be worked out in more detail with whomever takes this plot! as the undercurrents of why they don’t get along can be attributed to many different things (pure unadulterated hatred? simple annoyance? hate chemistry?), which would then affect how they are/interact after black sun!

Goddamn, Roxanne Never gonna love me but it's alright She think I'm an asshole She think I'm a player

alright let’s make a right at this stoplight into sad bitch hours! beep, beep, we’ve arrived! (i’ve been listening to a lot of sad ballads don’t mind me)

details: i’d always imagined that liya’s had 3 significant heartbreaks/relationships in her life. why three? because it’s a magic number and there are 3 main sad songs that have been in rotation on my spotify!

when we were young x. (m/f/nb! +/- 1-2 years! open!)

*krp writer voice* childhood sweethearts...*aza voice* but with a twist it doesn’t have to be requited if you don’t want it to be! i’m totally down for the longing childhood sweetheart/crush dynamic but if that’s something you’re interested in! i’m down for liya to be the one with the fat ass crush or it can be your muse too! but at some point i imagine they do go it a try, but it does end cause they’re...young and dumb (lol). but it’s your ‘i didn’t want to lose you as a friend, no romantic relationship is worth losing you forever’ dynamic but they’re already past that point!!! but is it of no return? especially with recent events? they obviously care for each other very deeply still, and i imagine that they still keep in good contact, and now that they’re older it’s easier to brush off/get over, but did all of those feelings fade completely? who knows! you decide (pre-black sun)! post black-sun...hold the ones your love a little tighter.

Everybody loves the things you do From the way you talk to the way you move Everybody here is watching you Because you feel like home You're like a dream come true

all i want x. (m/f/nb! +/- 4 years! closed!)

CLOSED: @ddmaiga unrequited in a way (?)!!! i don’t have hard opinions on who is who, but they fall into a relationship naturally (probably either instant chemistry, same interests, shared spaces, same opinions, yanno, the way young adults fall in love). but one of them keeps holding back because yanno!!! they’re BARELY young adults (think 19-23)!!! and while one is ready to deep dive, the other one gets cold feet and things end...not badly (but it could if you want it to!) but things just aren’t the same. it’s not a BAD breakup but it’s one that’s never really resolved because neither was willing to completely hear the other person out, and seet things from their perspective. it felt like neither was willing to meet the other halfway *sad violin music* so it’s a breakup with lots of loose ends! even better if we can make up situation in which they HAVE to interact and it’s awkward as hell (pre-black sun)! post-black sun...cue situation in which they have to interact probably LOL

And there's one more boy, he's from my past We fell in love but it didn't last 'Cause the second I figure it out he pushes me away And I won't fight for love if you won't meet me halfway

bruises x. (m/f/nb! +/- 3 years! closed!)

CLOSED: @gataash i’m gonna keep this one a bit shorter and only give the gist, as i’d really love to flesh out this plot via...well, plotting! essentially, they/she fell really deeply in love (i’m thinking she’s like, 26-28 during this), as in - ‘i may actually end up marrying this person’ kind of deep. they’re not co-dependent by any means, but they’re attached at the hip whenever they’re near each other, and i think this would probably be a relationship that’s REALLY steady for at least like, 3+ years, but whatever the exact reason, something comes up and it’s related to her incident when she hurt her younger sibling as she’s naturally incredibly guarded about this (i mean hey, she went into a self-isolating state and didn’t airbend for about 4 months after it happened). they fight, she tries to keep calm, ends up losing a bit of that control, and VERY VERY MILDLY injures the s/o, but due to the precedence and the guilt and lasting trauma from all those years ago, she breaks down, ends it, and runs away (aye) and plays the avoidance game for as long as she can manage.

post-black sun...there’s no way they’re not going to reach out to each other, just to make sure they’re okay. (wow this wasn’t that much shorter...darn it, self...)

I've been holding on to hope That you'll come back when you can find some peace 'Cause every word that I've heard spoken Since you left feels like a hollow street [...] There must be something in the water 'Cause everyday it's getting colder And if only I could hold ya You'd keep my head from going under

#ga:plotcall #gaplotcall

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