#how dare you leave your grid kids alone

[vinvantae]

Enemies (occasionally to lovers) Scenarios with the current grid

with prompts from @koishua

Mostly angst with no resolution, but there’s a bit of fluff sprinkled throughout. Enjoy!

Thank you to @percervall for beta reading for me!! You’re a star ⭐️

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#1 Max Verstappen

The breeze was cool against your skin as you gripped the railing - looking down out over the city below, the music of the nightclub increased for a moment as someone joined you, before being muffled with a quiet click of the door. Your shoulders tensed, you knew exactly who it was - you’d come out here to escape him and he’d followed you.

“Go back inside, Max.” Your jaw clenched, but his footsteps continued until he was beside you, back leaning against the railing. “Didn’t you fucking hear me?”

“I did.” He hummed, arms folded across his chest.

“Then why are you still here?”

His silence caused you to snap your head to look at him, throw a glare in his direction - expecting the same look back. But his eyes were soft, gently flickering across your face - you watched as he swallowed heavily, daring to let his gaze fall to your lips.

Your voice was venomous when you spoke again. "Don't you dare look at me that way. Not now, after every vile thing we've done to each other."

“Listen…”

“No. You don’t get to do this, Max… it’s not fair,” you snapped, “You don’t get to bully me and talk shit about me and then all of a sudden decide you fancy me! We’re not little kids, you can’t grab me by the pigtails and push me down just because you have feelings. You should go.”

Every fibre of Max’s being wanted to protest, tell you that you were wrong - that he wanted to make things right between you, but your tear soaked cheeks were too much for him to handle. So instead he mumbled a quite sorry before leaving you alone with your thoughts. You let your face fall into your hands as you sobbed quietly - you’d always waited for the moment for Max to finally admit his feelings, you just never thought it would go like this.

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#2 Logan Sargeant

His head lifted from his phone as he heard a loud laugh from your side of the garage - your head tossed back as you smacked your engineer on the arm. Logan couldn’t help the way the corner of his mouth tugged up into a smile.

At the start of the season, he hated you. There was no denying it - he was jealous of how talented and likeable you were, how he was always compared to you. So he went out of his way to make you angry, make you scream at him - for just a second of your attention. But after his last DNF, you’d gone out of your way to check on him - give him soft words of encouragement and when your hand briefly ghosted his cheek to get his attention - he was smitten.

“Last time I checked, you guys were at each other’s throats,” a mechanic spoke up, “How come you’re sending heart eyes every time you see her now?”

He couldn’t help the way he blushed, just as you looked over at him - giving him a smile and a small wave. “You know what they say man, it’s a thin line.”

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#3 Daniel Ricciardo

You had to actively bite your lip to stop yourself from smiling as he talked - turning your head away so he couldn’t see your silent protest. He was smug and arrogant and didn’t deserve anyone else giving him the positive attention he so desperately craved.

“Hey, you’re allowed to laugh at my jokes, y’know.” He rolled his eyes, finally spotting you - your eyes fixated on the iPad in your hands.

“I would if they were funny,” you replied, not giving him the satisfaction of even sparing him a glance. You’d made it very clear from the day you met him that you weren’t going to fall for his shit like everyone else and Daniel hated it.

And he was desperate to win you over - he’d caught you smiling before, but you’d never admit it, much rather stomp on his ego - especially when he was already down.

"Fine, continue to act like you hate me," he teased, his dark eyes had a glint in them - throwing you a wink when you finally looked up from your work to roll your eyes. “I know the truth.”

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#4 Lando Norris

Lando was the happiest he’d ever felt, rushing towards his team with the biggest smile on his face - letting their cheers rush through his veins as he dove into their arms. He felt on top of the world and he thought there was nothing that could bring him down - until he was placed on his feet and saw you stood amongst the rest of the team.

He expected some scathing remark about how he’d not even done any overtaking to get the win or that the safety car was the reason but instead you gave him a bright smile.

“That was absolutely phenomenal, Lando. You raced amazingly. Your family, especially your grandma, are so proud of you - I just know it.”

You offered him your hand to shake but in the heat of the moment he wrapped you up in his arms - relishing in the way you didn’t even hesitate to reciprocate, your body fit perfectly against his. He never wanted to let go.

“This is a one-time thing only, don’t let me being nice to you get to your head,” you whispered, giving him one final squeeze.

He pulled back from the hug just enough to look into your eyes, smiling at the pure adoration on your face as you looked at him - your words meaningless. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

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#10 Pierre Gasly

There was something about you that irritated Pierre to no end - and he knew exactly what it was. He wasn’t dumb, he knew he was attractive enough to get pretty much any girl he wanted to fold for his attention but you. You would bat your eyelashes and flirt with all of his friends, but when he approached you’d tense up, face falling flat. He wasn’t sure what he’d done to offend you but he couldn’t get you out of his head.

“You’re incorrigible, Pierre,” you hummed nonchalantly, swirling your drink in your glass as his blue eyes followed the long legs of a girl as she waltzed past. “She’s way out of your league.”

"Fuck you."

“I’m flattered, really, but no thanks.”

He groaned and practically slammed his beer down on the counter. “Do you know what I think?”

“Enlighten me.” Your bored tone nearly tipped him over the edge but he held his ground, stepping closer to you - placing a hand over yours, finally getting you to look at him.

“You want me.” You went to protest, but found your breath catching in your throat as he lent in - his lips ghosting the shell of your ear. “But you don’t want to be like the other girls… but trust me, you’d never be.”

You placed a hand on his chest, gently pushing him back - confusion ghosting his features. “I’m not that easy. Try harder… but, nice to feel wanted I suppose.”

He smiled, his heart skipping a beat as your walls finally began to crumble.

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#14 Fernando Alonso

You wanted to scream, throw things, punch a wall - but you couldn’t; you just had to sit there like a good little worker as they read off your schedule for the year. When you had been put forward for your promotion, you hadn’t been expected to be glued to Fernando’s side for every second of every weekend. He noticed your tension as you gathered up your things.

“If you clench your jaw any harder you’re going to break your teeth.” He tried to avoid having a tone, but his voice wasn’t friendly. “I’m not that bad.”

“There are only three things in this world I truly cannot stand,” you hissed, shoving your things into your bag, “You, you and you.”

Fernando frowned. “I don’t understand what you think I’ve done to you.”

“Of course you don’t, your head is too far up your own ass to remember,” you scoffed.

He pressed his hand against the door to stop you opening it, a frown etched into his face - he tilted his head a little. “Tell me what I did, let me fix it.”

You sighed softly, eyes meeting his. “On my very first day, I tried to talk to you and you shoulder barged me out of the way - not even looking back to apologise.”

“I-I… wow, yeah that’s not okay. I’m sorry.”

“You’re too late, Fernando. I can be professional with you but nothing more.” Your voice was small. “Please let me go.”

He stepped aside and held the door for you, watching you scurry away - his heart splintering, hating himself that all of this torment was his own doing. He had to make it right.

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#16 Charles Leclerc

You kicked your shoes off messily as the two of you stepped into the hotel - his lips barely leaving yours for a moment as he shrugged off his jacket, letting it fall to the floor. He pressed you into the nearest wall and made quick work of your shirt - tossing it over his shoulder without a glance.

Your memory of how you ended up in the situation was hazy, the last thing you remembered was screaming at him for ruining your race - saying he didn’t deserve his podium and now you were desperate for him. Your well known distaste for Charles drowned in the alcohol you’d chugged to get over your disappointment.

The taste of champagne on his tongue was addicting, you could feel yourself being drawn further in as you clumsily worked at his shirt buttons - not wanting to break the kiss. A soft whine escaped your lips when he did just that.

“Your clumsiness never fails to amaze me,” he teased, finishing the job himself before taking your hand in his and dragging you towards the bed. “You’d trip over your own toes if they weren’t attached to your feet.”

With a gentle shove, you find yourself on the mattress - propped up on your elbows as he shimmies your skirt off of your hips. “I hate you, I hope you don’t forget that after tonight.”

As he pushes your thighs apart, a smirk on his face. “I think you’re going to be the one who struggles to remember that, Cherie.”

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#18 Lance Stroll

It was petty and you knew it - you had a shit car so getting points was usually a pipe dream but when you saw the dark green of his Aston Martin in front of you, it made your blood boil. Despite rarely fighting for points, the two of you were notorious for your on track battles - with more than one incident resulting in a DNF for one, if not both of you.

In the back of your mind, you knew he’d done nothing wrong, he was an okay driver but you were jealous that his seat was so secure because he had a father who loved him so dearly. You had to earn your spot and by god you weren’t going to let some pretty rich boy be better than you.

“There’s a thing called a brake. You can fucking use it, y’know,” he shouted, storming over to you as you climbed out of your car.

“Oh that was all you! There was literally no room. Why would you try and make a move there?”

The Marshalls tried to step between you, but he wasn’t having any of it - he crowded you right against the barrier - the visor of his helmet pushed up so you could see the rage in his dark eyes, his anger only slightly muffled by his helmet. “You just need to accept that you’re a shit driver.”

“I might not be the best, but like hell would I let you be better than me,” you spat.

He placed his hands either side of you - eyes now boring into your soul, as if he was trying to read you, but with your helmet still covering your face and cameras definitely all pointed in your direction, he simply took a step back. “We’ll finish this later.”

You swallowed heavily and nodded, finally letting the Marshalls lead you away…wait, finish what later?

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#20 Kevin Magnussen

You slouched into your chair as you were scolded once again for fighting with Kevin on the track - your teammate sat looking just as pissed off as you, his arms folded across his chest. The two of you had just never clicked, and at some point the apathy turned into anger - it felt like he went out of his way to ruin all of your races when you were supposed to be teammates.

The room fell quiet as the PR team slammed the door behind them, leaving the two of you alone with your thoughts. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at him, as this time the incident was your fault - you’d shoved him wide at the start and he’d fallen all the way to the back, unable to make up places. It surprised you when he was the one to speak up first.

“Why can’t we just let whatever this pointless rivalry is go?”

“…I can’t even remember how it started,” you said, your cheeks heating up. “Can you?”

He paused for a moment before laughing. “No, I can’t. I’ll try and be a better teammate to you, I swear I just… I don’t know, I like our fights.”

Kevin could’ve sworn his heart was in his throat when your eyes met his, your lips curved into a soft smile. “I do too, let’s just maybe keep them fair, yeah?”

“…yeah. Yeah I can do that.”

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#22 Yuki Tsunoda

Hate wasn’t a strong enough word for how Yuki felt about you - you were arrogant, smarmy and you looked at him like he was the dirt on the bottom of your shoe. You didn’t even consider him a rival, your car was leagues above his - but whenever you found yourself behind him after a pit stop, he suddenly had the widest car on the grid.

You’d got on the podium, like always, but that didn’t stop steam coming out of your ears as you approached him after the race. “Why do you race me so hard? Your fight isn’t with me… I could’ve won the race if you had an inkling of sportsmanship.”

He shrugged, taking a sip out of his bottle. “If you were as good as you said you were, I wouldn’t be a problem.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “You’re infuriating. Stay in your lane, yeah?”

Yuki placed his bottle down on the nearby wall and began to pat his pockets before sighing dramatically. “Oops, it seems like I’m out of fucks to give.”

Your jaw was practically on the floor as he grabbed his drink and walked away, unable to help the smile on his face - he’d won this round.

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#23 Alex Albon

“Hey…”

You looked up from the spot on the floor you were staring at to see Alex standing over you, pity written all over his face. He sat on the ground beside you, bending one knee as you hugged yours to your chest. “What are you doing here?”

“Not sure, I came to see if you are alright, I guess.” He looked at you, noticing your reddened eyes and sniffling nose.

You frowned. “Why do you even care?”

“I may not like you, but I’m not heartless.” His voice was softer this time. “What that reporter said was over the line, the incident wasn’t even your fault.”

“Might want to pass that along to your best mate, he seems to think it was,” you sniffled, wiping your eyes before any more tears could spill. “…I don’t need you to feel sorry for me, Alex.”

“It don’t, I swear.” He held his hands up defensively, cracking a small smile. “It was a shit thing for them to say and I just want you to know that they’re wrong.”

You looked at him properly, eyes flickering across his features for even a hint that he was talking shit - but he genuinely looked concerned, so you gave him a gentle albeit slightly forced smile. “I’ll be okay, you can go back to being a dickhead.”

He rolled his eyes playfully, giving you a gentle shove on the shoulder making you laugh softly. “Says you… if you need a vent, I’ve been told I’m a good listener.”

“…thank you, genuinely,” you practically whispered.

You tensed up as he gave your knee a gentle squeeze before standing up, leaving you with your own thoughts - surprised at the affectionate gesture but unable to help the way you had enjoyed it.

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#24 Zhou Guanyu

He held his phone in his hands - Nico Hulkenberg to join Sauber in 2025 - but in whose seat? Carelessly, he tossed his phone onto the sofa and groaned into his hands. He knew he had the talent, he was capable, but Alfa Romeo-Sauber had just never given him the car to back him up.

“Hey, so they want you in the media pen in-“ You stopped talking when you saw his defeated stature - head in his hands. “You okay?”

When you were assigned to him as his PR manager at the start of the year, he was desperate for you to like him - but you quickly made it clear you were only here for the cheque. You were blunt, professional and didn’t like to waste a second being personal with him.

“You know about Hulkenberg?” His voice was quiet, refusing to meet your eyes.

You gently sat beside him on the sofa, tucking your notepad into your bag. “No… but I’m sure it’ll work out for you.”

“I don’t need your pity.”

“I know.” You tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it was definitely pitiful. “But I need you to wipe the miserable look off of your face and get down to the pen. I’ve got work to do so… chin up or whatever. You’ve got 5 minutes.”

You didn’t even look at him as you left the room - reminding him that you just didn’t care.

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#31 Esteban Ocon

Your relationship with Esteban wasn't always strained - in fact, when you first met him, you genuinely enjoyed his company. But when he took it upon himself to push your attention to the side to make way for that of younger, prettier girls, you realised he was no different from the others and any positive feelings you had faded.

It definitely didn’t make your job any easier - more often than not, you would be checking your watch as he chatted away. You just wanted to knock some sense into him, remind him that he had a job to do.

“Got somewhere to be?” he practically snorted, as you checked your phone for what must have been the 10th time.

“No seriously, take your time,” you scowled, “Hell’s happy to wait for you, but waste another second of my time and it won't have to.”

He gave the girl he was chatting to a sideways look before finally following you - his hands shoved deep into his trouser pockets like a mopey teenager. You could see him considering conversation with you out of the corner of your eye but you tried to focus ahead - not giving him the time of day.

“What happened to us?” His voice was quiet, but you weren’t going to let him get away with it.

“You happened. You decided I wasn’t worth your time anymore, so I’m not going to let you waste mine,” you huffed.

You flinched as he took your bicep in his hand - making you look up at him with a face of what Esteban could only describe as disgust. He didn’t blame you for disliking him, but he could feel you really slipping away and he didn’t want that to happen.

He squeezed your arm, holding you far too close for comfort - his eyes boring into yours. “Can you just let me explain my side?”

You tore your arm from his grip, scowling even further. “Just leave me alone to do my job, Esteban or so help me god I’ll have them pair you with the shittiest intern for the rest of the season.”

He swallowed heavily and nodded - you weren’t expecting him to put up a fight, but still felt the same disappointment you swore you’d never let him make you feel again.

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#44 Lewis Hamilton

His hands felt like fire across your body, tracing every inch of your exposed skin as he hauled you in close - you had no idea how you got yourself in this predicament. The man in question was the bane of your existence - every second of the season was spent scrapping with him for the top spot - whether it was on or off track there was nothing but venom between the two of you.

So how you ended up with him in your apartment, hands pushing up the sides of your dress - you didn’t know but you couldn’t get enough. You groaned as his lips met the pulse point on your neck, fingers wound in the expensive fabric of his shirt.

You could feel him smirk against you as a moan escaped you. “God, I fucking hate you, Lewis.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes, really.”

He chuckled deeply, slotting his knee between your thighs to haul you in closer - pulling back just enough to look into your eyes, pupils blown with lust. Your breath hitched as his thumb brushed across your lip. “Lying doesn’t suit you, sweetheart.”

Before you could call him out, he pressed his lips against yours once again - strong hands cupping your face, allowing your knees to buckle a little. Your breath was stolen away as he pulled back, dark eyes flickering across your face for any more signs of protest, smirking when he saw none - you willingly let him guide you down onto your knees, hand cupping under your jaw - a smug smile on his face.

“Now,” he hummed, pressing his thumb between your lips to part them, “why don’t you be good… and use that mouth for something else instead. Hmm?”

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#55 Carlos Sainz

You were the last person Carlos expected to see when he opened the door to his apartment - any good person would ask if you were okay, but he simply smirked and leant against the doorframe.

“Shut up,” you scolded, pushing past him to step into his place, furiously wiping the tears away from your cheeks.

“Look who’s running back into my arms,” he cooed patronisingly, catching your jacket as you threw it at him. “I told you that I’m irresistible, didn't I?”

“Maybe that’s not why I’m here.”

Carlos chuckled darkly, tossing your jacket to the side so he could take your hips in his hands. “Hermosa, you were supposed to be on a date tonight but yet you’re here with me. I think that’s exactly why you are here.”

Your eyes were wet with tears when you finally met his gaze, but it didn’t even phase him as he slowly stepped you backwards - further into his place.

“So, tell me - what do you want?” He purred softly, brushing a thumb across your cheek to wipe away an escaped tear. “Need me to take care of you, hmm? Help you forget all about that idiot that wasted your time?”

You nodded, unable to speak as he hauled your shirt over your head when the two of you reached his bedroom.

“You sound pretty hot when you shut up, cariño,” he laughed, pushing you against the bed, “but I prefer the pretty noises you make when I have my way with you, let’s hear them.”

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#63 George Russell

You narrowed your eyes playfully at George as the two of you bickered about who would win in a fight between you and Roscoe. “He’s literally a dog, George. Who loves me, might I add.”

“Which is why he’d beat you. Because you’d go too easy on him,” he teased, his arm draped lazily across your shoulder - the two of you sat outside Mercedes hospitality together. “One look from those sad little eyes and you’d wave the white flag.”

He laughed softly as you jut out your bottom lip before leaning in to kiss you softly. George couldn’t believe his luck that not only you wanted to be seen with him but that you loved him. As kids, hell, up until your early 20s, the two of you were non-stop arguing - constantly having to be separated by your mutual friends. But it all changed when you witnessed the crash at Silverstone in ‘22; the way he leapt out of his car with no hesitation to try and help made your heart soar.

“You know…” you hummed softly, “I still don’t really know why I used to despise you.”

George smiled. “I genuinely don't remember. But, it got us here… and I’m quite happy here, aren’t you?”

It was your turn to kiss him. “Happier than I’ve ever been.”

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#77 Valtteri Bottas

Infuriated wasn’t a strong enough word for how you were feeling as Valtteri stood in front of you, practically red in the face as he scolded you for yet something else that wasn’t your fault. You weren’t sure why he disliked you, but from day one with Alfa Romeo, he’d treated you differently from everyone else.

But today, you’d had enough.

“That data could’ve helped me get some points for once, don’t you understand how important it is that-“

“The world could really use some of your famous silence right now,” you cut him off, not regretting it for a moment when you saw his jaw tick. “Have you maybe considered that getting that data… is not my job? Making sure you’ve got a clean kit is not my job. For god’s sake Valtteri, do you even know what my job is?”

His eyes widened. “You… you’re uh-“

“Exactly. So do me a favour, and just take a big fucking step back and reevaluate,” you hissed. “Because I’m out.”

“You’re out?” He frowned.

“I’m going to another team. Effective immediately, that’s what I came to tell you, so you won’t have to deal with my so-called incompetence anymore.”

Valterri just stared at you like he’d seen a ghost, and not willing to wait for anymore scathing comments - you turned on your heel and left, leaving the driver to question every single time he’d scolded you.

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#81 Oscar Piastri

You lay in the medical centre, bright fluorescent lights certainly not helping your headache. It wasn’t a big crash, but you’d still ended up with a nasty case of whiplash - your ears still ringing. As the door swung open, you expected to see the medic, ready to let you go home, but it was in fact Oscar… holding flowers?

“Any time something bad happens to me, you’ve always been there,” he spoke, no anger in his voice - in fact, it almost seemed teasing. “Are you cursing me or something?”

“Not my fault you’re always in my way,” you replied, surprising both Oscar and yourself when you matched his tone. “Flowers?”

“Uh… yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “It looked like a pretty nasty ding you took out there, so I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

Oscar’s heart raced with anticipation as you took the bouquet from him, just waiting for you to throw them back in his face. For some reason, despite being the most chilled driver on track, you really got under his skin - and, he hated the cliche of it, but seeing you struggle to get out of your car made him realise - it wasn’t hatred, he had feelings.

"They’re lovely, thank you.” You smiled, genuinely smiled at him. “Are you doing alright?”

He waved off your concern. “Yeah, I’m fine. I think you took the worst of it… say, uhm, can I take you out to dinner to apologise?”

You tilted your head. “You’re actually taking the blame for the crash? Oscar-“

“Please.”

You bit your lip, letting yourself study his face for a moment - his usual calm expression was replaced with something you didn’t recognise. “Yeah, okay, I’d like that.”

His smile alone was worth it - you don’t think you’d ever seen it directed at you, and it felt good.

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Hope you enjoyed 🥰

[realmackross]

PARTIES: @fox--tales, @realmackross TIMING: Morning of July 13th SUMMARY: Llama goes for a cup of coffee, but runs into Miyeon in the process. The last thing she wanted. WARNINGS: None!

It was early. Way too early. The wait for her usual morning iced latte was taking forever. Miyeon was pretty sure she was going to get her second tail by the time it came out. If they didn’t hurry up, she was going to get a caffeine headache. Or maybe she just had a headache anyway, whatever. She just wanted her coffee and she was so close to whining about it. 

She sighed and resigned herself to her tragic fate when she caught sight of someone from the corner of her eye. Hot damn, it was Mackenzie Ross herself. Miyeon had seen her at that party the other day but she kinda thought she was just passing through town or something. There was no way she was living here. Like sure she went off the grid or whatever but here, in Wicked’s Rest? In the middle of nowhere? No way. Maybe she had family here. Or maybe there was something else. Something more scandalous. It didn’t matter what it was, Miyeon was itching to find out the deets. 

Suddenly she wasn’t pressed about how long it was going to take her to get her coffee. “Hey,” she said with a little wave to the girl as she walked over to wait for her order, too. “It’s good to see you again.” She offered a small smile. “You look like you’re doing better than at the party. I don’t know what happened but you’re okay, right?” There was genuine sympathy there, it wasn’t all bullshit. Miyeon didn’t want anyone to be upset, not at something that’s supposed to be a good time. “I mean you did get to miss seeing me embarrass myself with my dare. Fingers crossed there’s no video.” 

—

Llama had been covered in a hoodie and sunglasses. Her goto for going out in public these days. Why she had chosen to come this early for something she couldn’t taste almost didn’t make sense. But the last time she went for a late night coffee run, things hadn’t gone so well. And there was a teeny-tiny part of her deep down that had wanted some normalcy in her life. In fact, the more it crossed her mind, the more she had started to long for it. And right now being out in public didn’t seem too bad. People had been minding their own business. She hadn’t been noticed…

Shit. She had been noticed, but it was by a familiar face and someone who had seemed nice enough. But if what she had seen on the internet was true, and Miyeon really did work in radio, then Llama was going to have to stay very tight-lipped on a lot of things, “It’s good to see you.” As long as you’re not here to pry. “Thanks, and yeah, I’m fine. Something came up, and I had to rush home. I hated to leave the party so soon.” She really had wanted to stay, but Nora had made that nearly impossible with her comments, “Oh? What was your dare?” She was curious. “Don’t you hate when that happens. People posting videos of you without your permission.” She had genuinely meant it, but had also hoped Miyeon would pick up what she was putting down in terms of just leaving her alone, when it came to private matters.

“Llama…Ross…Okay, who names their kid Llama?”

Llama rolled her eyes and sighed as she started to move forward to get her drink, “Well, it was nice talking to you. That’s me, and I hope to see you around town sometime.” She knew the conversation had just started, but poor Llama was trying to avoid being questioned by Wicked’s Rest’s own inquisition.

Snagging her drink from the barista, Llama quietly said ‘thank you’, before leaving the small shop. However, on her way out, she heard Miyeon’s name being called by the same barista. Shit. She was gonna have to pick up the pace a little bit.

—

“There’s always next time,” Miyeon said with a small shrug and a smile. “I’m just glad you’re doing alright.” As much as she wanted to dig into Mack for a story, something she could craft into the next big podcast to hit the net, it wasn’t going to be at the expense of her as a person. Miyeon wasn’t that desperate. And if she was invited to the party with the rest of the people there, she had to guess that Mack was a decent enough person. 

She hoped regaling her own tale of embarrassment would lighten the mood a little. “Well, you know that wolf girl on tiktok? The one who jumps around and makes fun of those kids in elementary school who thought they were an animal or whatever?” Miyeon always had to laugh at them. They so wanted to be her but they just couldn’t. And they would never even know. She got in big trouble with her mom the one time she told kids she could turn into a fox. Which is why she was super careful that it never got back to her the one time she full-on transformed right in front of Jimmy Macintyre, the little shit. He nearly pissed his pants, too. “Anyway, some people didn’t know or acted like they didn’t know so I got dared to do the wolf girl jumps. It was a stellar performance, totally Oscar-worthy if I do say so myself. I mean it was no mime lessons reenactment, of course.”

Alright, that comment was pointed. Miyeon considered dropping it — she wanted to start off on the right foot, after all— but she simply couldn’t. Not when her integrity was in question.“Hey, if you’re accusing me of something, you can just come out and say it. It’s not like you’re on the record,” she said, her tone firm but not aggressive. She didn’t want to wage a war here, all she wanted to do was get the facts straight for all parties involved. “And, for that very record, I didn’t record any video.” Only some really terrible audio that she could barely hear over the other side conversations happening around her that night. “Even if I did, I have journalistic integrity. I get that that’s not really a thing in LA but you’re not there anymore.” She knew Mack had no good reason to believe her, not really, but she was sincere in her words and Miyeon was usually pretty confident that she was able to effectively communicate her thoughts and intentions.

Miyeon’s face scrunched up in confusion when she heard the barista shout out “Llama Ross.” An interesting choice for a pseudonym. She was going to have to ask about that. And it was her lucky day, her order was ready for her to swipe off the counter with a quick thanks and smile which meant she could stay right on Mack’s — or should she say Llama’s — heels. “Hey, where are you hurrying off to?” It couldn’t be a set or anything, not here. This town was weird but not the Hollywood kind of weird. Maybe the SyFy Channel kind of weird but even that was pushing it. 

—

Llama had felt bad not really giving Miyeon the time of day, but she had been hounded like this one too many times. Cue many of the hideous paparazzi photos that were now floating around on the internet. Instead, she opted for the good old classic nod and haul ass plan, but with Miyeon hot on her heels, she really couldn’t escape. And instead of further being rude, she stopped walking, and turned to see exactly what the woman had wanted, “Look, you seem like a really nice person and all, but no offense, you work on the more journalistic/podcast side of things, and for me,” especially now when I stand a chance to be outed for everything that I am and have done, “it makes me nervous. Not to say that you’re like that, but I’ve been burned, one too many times, by people who I thought I could trust, but really just wanted the ‘scoop’.”

Maybe getting to the point was best. But she didn’t want to hurt Miyeon’s feelings. Llama was sure her podcast and morning show were great. It was just a matter of not getting too close only to be burned at the worst time of her life.

She looked at the ground sheepishly ashamed for trying to outrun the woman she had briefly met at the party. She didn’t know if she had taken video or what, but it was still only fair to give Miyeon a legit chance to prove herself. Llama would have wanted the same thing. Please don’t regret this. Please don’t regret this. “Can we start over? It’s not fair that I jumped to conclusions about you when I don’t even know you, and I’m sure those Wolf Girl Jumps were totes cute.” Sticking out her free hand that didn’t contain coffee, Llama looked to Miyeon with a soft smile.

—

Miyeon was pretty sure she was watching a window of opportunity close in front of her. Not that she knew what the opportunity was. She wasn’t sure if it was an opportunity for that interview or for maybe just something simpler – like friendship. Miyeon didn’t even know what she wanted anymore. Sure, when she first saw Mack Ross at the party, she could only see the stars in her eyes, thinking about the potential interview, the scoop, the deep dive, the exclusive. But she couldn’t bring herself to be that kind of slimy gross journalist who would tear someone apart just for a story. 

Not to mention, that seemed like a terrible way to get a tail. Sure, okay, she didn’t really know how to earn one of those. Yet. But she figured it had to be good deeds and not like shitty manipulation tactics that would get her closer. Either way, it seemed like they were running in the same circles of people in town. It wouldn’t hurt to see if maybe she could find a friend there. 

To say she was almost bowled over by what happened next would be an understatement. “I would love to start over,” Miyeon said with a smile and reaching out to shake Mack’s hand. She nearly jumped at how cold it was and had to make sure she kept the surprise off her face. It was probably just poor circulation or something like that. Did she have an iced drink or hot? Whatever, didn’t matter. “I hope so. Because I’m pretty sure for the most part they were just totally embarrassing.” The shop was busy, but mostly with people coming and going. The seats were pretty empty. “There’s a booth by the back there if you want to hang out?” She wasn’t sure if the other girl was going to take her up on it. “Totally cool if not. But you can interview me instead of the other way around. A nice little turn of the tables, yeah?” 

—

The handshake confirmed things. Miyeon was willing to start over and that sent a wave of relief over Llama. She could just eat her later, if things didn’t exactly go according to plan. Okay, that was more of a twisted joke inside of her own head, and one she kept cued up at times, but she knew it wouldn’t make any kind of sense and would only be funny to her. She had to entertain herself and the shitty situation she was in somehow, “Good.”

Pulling her hand back, she glanced over to the booth that her new friend was referring to. It wasn’t like she had anywhere to be. And now that Miyeon wasn’t so much of a threat, Llama didn’t see why she couldn’t spend a little more time getting to know her, “How does one do a Wolf Girl Jump exactly?” She had totally been messing with Miyeon knowing there wasn’t a chance in Hell that the person standing in front of her was going to hop around like a dog and howl in the middle of the coffee shop, but she had to ask. After a brief pause though, Llama’s expression eased up, and she began to laugh, “I’m kidding, but yeah, let’s go find a seat. I’m sure I can figure out some more questions to ask you.”

Llama made her way back to the empty booth and slid in the seat with her back to the door. Normally, she had preferred to see who was coming and going, but at least they would get more privacy if people didn’t see a famous actress sitting in the back when they walked in. Taking a drink of her coffee, she sat it down on the table and crossed her arms, getting comfortable.

—

Miyeon shot the girl a look. There was no way she expected her to do full on wolf girl jumps in the middle of the coffee shop. Like sure, she’d consider it if she got something good out of it. But it would have to be really really good if she was going to completely humiliate herself in public. So she was relieved to see that it was all in gest. “You had me there for a second,” she said with a smile. “I hope you know I’m serious enough about a second chance that I was briefly considering it.” Still, she was glad to have an opportunity to actually chat. 

She followed towards the empty booth and took a seat across from Mack. “Alright, hit me.” She went to take a sip of her coffee and paused. “I mean like, not literally. But, you know, with questions and stuff.” It was weird, being the one to get questioned and not the other way around. She wasn’t entirely used to that. She hadn’t been in this position often, especially not lately, and she was really not going to sit and introspect on why that was. There probably was one and she just wanted to enjoy her coffee and not think about her own flaws or failures or anything like that. Too much of a downer for morning coffee.

“Oh wait, can I ask one thing first?” she said, leaning forward eagerly. She got close, looked around to make sure the coast was clear and lowered her voice to a whisper, just in case. “Why are you going by Llama? Is it like a code name or something? Low profile? Sorry, I’m just curious since, you know.” Miyeon pointed at the name on Mack’s drink. 

—

Llama had kind of wanted to see Wolf Girl Jumps, but she would save that for later in the evening when she’d probably be scrolling Tiktok endlessly, unable to sleep and trying to avoid thinking about life, errr…death. Still the fact that Miyeon was considering it did mean something to the young zombie. Instead, she was going to relish the opportunity to turn the tables and interview the interviewer, “This, like, never happens, so I’m pretty excited that someone else is in the hot seat for once.” She took another sip of her coffee, before sitting it back down.

Llama had spent years in the spotlight constantly being questioned about this and that. Some things she gladly talked about and others that she really just wanted to be left alone about. But since she had fled her apartment down south after the Brody incident, the idea of being questioned had made her incredibly nervous. Sure, she had been taught not to breach contracts with spoilers knowing there were consequences like fines or possibly being fired, but if she breached this contract by accident, she would likely be sent to prison or worse. It was a thought that had constantly lingered in the back of her mind.

Seeing Miyeon lean forward made Llama’s brow furrowed in confusion. What was this question going to be? If it was anything super personal, she’d get up and leave. Simple as that. But hearing it was just about her name and why she was going by Llama seemed to give her some relief, “I’m not gonna lie, I thought you were about to ask me something super personal, but yeah. Code name. I’ve always loved llamas, so I thought, why not?” In reality, she still couldn’t put her finger on it, and though she hardcore ground it into everyone’s mind who questioned her, the fact of the matter was that Llama couldn’t really understand why it felt so off. It just seemed to help that Miyeon had come up with an answer right there on the spot.

—

Miyeon smiled when she saw Mack’s shoulders drop just a little as she sunk into her seat when she mentioned she was excited to do the questioning for once. As much as Miyeon liked being the one to do the investigating, she knew there was value in sharing enough of herself to make others comfortable. Not to mention, she didn’t have a whole lot to hide. Well, other than the fact that she could turn into a fox and would live for centuries and her parents were ancient and sometimes she ate ghosts. Aside from that, totally normal.

Some part of the kitsune was hoping for some sort of crazy answer, something wild and exciting, but she would have to concede for now. “Why not, indeed,” she said with a smile. “Llamas are pretty cool, fair enough. That’s not a bad code name.” A thought struck her. “Wait, don’t they spit? Or, no, that’s camels. I think. Maybe? I don’t know. And hold on, are they the same as alpacas? I mean llamas, not camels. Like are all alpacas like squares or something and llamas are rectangles? Or are they completely different? Do they–” Miyeon caught herself midsentence. Oh yeah. Mack, or rather, Llama was supposed to be interviewing her. She wasn’t supposed to be asking twenty questions about llamas. “Sorry, I get carried away sometimes. You can always stop me.” She laughed before taking another sip of her coffee. “Or at least you can try to.”

—

Llama leaned back against the seat and settled back in. What she didn’t expect though, was a flurry of questions regarding llamas, camels, and alpacas. But instead of shying away from it, she welcomed it! “Considering Llamas are sort of my thing, you’ve come to the right person. So llamas, alpacas, and camels spit and do so out of feeling agitated or threatened. And while they do spit at humans sometimes, wouldn't you spit too, if you felt threatened and didn’t have arms to punch or push with? I mean we’re coming into their area and their comfort zone right? And they are all from the same family, but llamas are much larger than alpacas. And something good to remember…llamas may not look as cute with their longer snouts and taller ears, but they’re the puppies. Alpacas have squished snouts and shorter ears, look way cuter, but they’re like cats.” Llama caught herself. “I don’t think you’re the only one getting carried away.”

After taking another sip of coffee, she laughed, “I could talk about llamas all day, but I won’t.” It was hard coming up with questions on the spot, but she started with something easy, “Back to me interviewing you. So first question, what’s your favorite animal?” She took another sip, before sitting her cup back down. It was Miyeon’s turn to talk and explain herself. Llama was just along for the ride this time, which was nice.

—

Out of sheer instinct, Miyeon went to reach for a pen to take notes on the notepad that she didn’t have in front of her. There was no paper, there was no pen, of course there wasn’t. Whoops. She tried to act like she was brushing crumbs off from the table instead. “Sorry, whenever I get good answers to something, like really good info, I just want to jot it all down. Even though I’m not currently doing a story on llamas or anything,” she said, a small chuckle following. “I mean I could if I wanted to, I guess, considering I have Wicked’s Rest’s foremost llama expert sitting right here with me.”

It was impossible to keep the smile off her face. If she could see it, she might even call it sly, which would have only made her grin wider at the irony of it all. “Oh, foxes, definitely.” Miyeon nodded and took another drink of her latte. “The ears, the little snoot, the whiskers, that bushy tail!” Of course, she would love to have way more than just the one but that was so not the point at the moment. “You can’t beat them. They’re the best, hands down.” Sure, she was incredibly biased but what else was she supposed to say, guinea pigs? Ew, no. They were cute and all but like she was definitely cuter and she wouldn’t stand for anyone saying otherwise. 

—

Llama watched as Miyeon went through the motions. It would have almost made her nervous, if it hadn’t been for the fact that Llama was the one doing the interviewing and the fact that the person sitting across from her didn’t actually have a pen or paper to write on. It was actually a relief, but Llama understood that old habits die hard. She still found herself preparing herself most days, when depression didn’t have a death grip on her, for life as a celebrity. Look presentable. Stay in shape. Eat healthy. Of course, some of that had been slipping lately. She had donned her hoodie more than anything, and it really didn’t matter what she ate now, considering she couldn’t gain weight, “I get it. I still live like I’m in Hollywood sometimes, when I’m really not.” She sighed and her eyes dropped for a minute.

She didn’t want to bring the mood down, so instead, she focused on Miyeon’s answer, “Okay, but foxes are a legit and pretty good answer. They’re not llamas, but I’ll take it. Plus, you’re right. They are pretty cute. I wonder if Fox Girl Jumps are a thing…” She had pondered about the Wolf Girl Jumps before shrugging it off, “Okay, next question. What brought you to Wicked’s Rest or have you always lived here?” It wasn’t like she was going after anything in particular. If they were going to possibly be friends, Llama had just wanted to get to know Miyeon better.

—

“Yeah you’re pretty far from Hollywood,” Miyeon said with a wink. “I hope you’re ready for fall and winter. If you don’t have a snow shovel and some salt, get it now. You’ll thank me later.” She couldn’t imagine living anywhere without four distinct seasons so she was sure this was going to be a big shock to Mack’s system once it got cold. “But, on the bright side, that means you get to buy a whole new seasonally appropriate wardrobe. And if you’re anything like me, that’s more than a perfect excuse for a shopping spree.” 

Miyeon had to take another glug of her latte to keep herself from saying anything stupid. It was too easy to make quips and jokes about being a fox girl, especially when people had no clue. But given the vibe of the party the other night, she wasn’t sure if she should even toe the line of revealing that secret any more than she already had. “Born and raised here, unfortunately,” she answered with a shrug, her arms out to her sides. “I know the ins and outs and then some for better or for worse.” 

—

Fall and winter. Llama’s experiences with other seasons had certainly been odd. Though she had been around snow and the cold before, it was usually for brief periods of time. Shooting a movie here or vacationing there. But that was something that hadn’t even crossed her mind since moving to Maine. She had been excited at the idea though. The changing of the leaves. Sweater weather. Hot chocolate (with lots of cinnamon). And possibly even building a snowman and having snowball fights. It all sounded fun - a word that Llama didn’t take lightly anymore, “Yeah, I don’t have either of those. Where do you get that stuff? And are you saying what I think you’re saying, because Shopping Spree is my middle name.”

The thought of the cold made Llama instinctively shiver just a little bit. Could she even get cold? Would snow cause frostbite on her already dead skin? Just more questions she’d have to wait and find out the answers too. But she knew one thing, her coffee was sitting in front of her, and she was going to enjoy that, “Wow! So you could essentially be my own personal tour guide with the dos and don’ts of Wicked’s Rest.” Now Llama knew who to go to if she had a question, “Next question. What made you want to become a DJ?”

—

“Bet.” Miyeon was already making plans, lists, outfits, and accessories, she was ready. “In a month or so we should be getting fall looks. Get your PSL ready and we’ll hit the shops.” There were few people who could keep up with her once she was on a shopping high and, fair enough, that was partially because few people could keep up with her normally. That and she didn’t have a whole lot of limitations on her wallet and as much as she could insist that it didn’t matter and she could help, things could get weird. She had a feeling that wouldn’t be an issue with Mack. At least she hoped not. Unless financial ruin was the reason she was in town. Well, that would be a scandal. So really this was going to be good for her either way. 

“That I could,” she said with a nod. “I’m sure you already learned the one about avoiding the woods at night. Like the news and whatnot does a pretty good job of advising that one.” Did they say the real reasons why people should avoid the woods at night? No, of course not, but it was better than nothing. “Ah yeah, that one,” she paused to take another sip of her latte before continuing. “So I studied journalism and communications and I don’t know if you could tell this about me but I like to talk a lot. Crazy, I know. I hide it so well.” Hey if she couldn’t joke about herself, then who could? “Anyway, I did a project where I tried out hosting a few spots on Leticia’s station. You know, at Vinyl Countdown, she’s the owner. Amazing, I love her. Anyway, she sort of showed me the ropes and I learned I’m pretty good at it and so here I am.”

—

Llama’s closet was full. So full that she probably needed to rid herself of some clothes, but it was hard. She had memories tied with every piece and parting with any of it would prove to be nearly impossible. It’s okay. She’d just rent out a storage unit if need be. But the last thing she wanted to become was a hoarder - where her next starring role would be the Hoarders crew visiting after reports from her friends came in that she had a problem, only for everyone to find her trapped under a pile of clothes, just to later eat everyone when she was finally dug free after being starved from human brains for so long, “Count me in. PSL will be locked and loaded with extra spice.” Yep. Storage unit it was.

“I’ve heard that one and about everyone’s suspicions with mimes.” Of course, she was also a walking example, considering her name had been stolen, but to her, she was just Llama. “This town sure does have a lot of weird shit going on.” Maybe moving here hadn’t been the greatest idea…But then how would she have ever met people like Alex, and now Miyeon, who was explaining, in detail, how she started working as a DJ. It was nice, though, hearing about someone else with so much passion for what they did. Llama had loved her job as an actress. And not being able to do it was something that had been hurting her, so in this moment, she chose to live vicariously through Miyeon. “Okay, final question…If you’re going to be my friend, you’re not gonna try and use me as a story for your radio show right?” She took another sip of her drink, which she was pretty sure was cold by now, but it’s not like she knew that for sure.

—

“Alright, that settles it. It’s going in the planner.” Miyeon lived and died by her planners. She would never remember when anything was happening or what she was supposed to be doing otherwise. Even if no single other person on earth could interpret her organizational methods, it worked for her and that was enough.

“You can say that again,” she said, pulling a face as she set her cup down on the table. Strange was putting it nicely but there was no point in diving into that deep end. Not today, at least. She didn’t know what Mack knew and honestly, there was a lot that Miyeon didn’t know herself about the supernatural aspects of the town. Her parents had made sure of that. All she knew was where not to go and what not to do. And that only made those more appealing, to be honest. 

The last question Mack asked was one that Miyeon should have seen coming a mile away. It was her job to anticipate responses and plan follow-ups to a certain extent. So she was disappointed that it surprised her at all. Ugh, it would be so convenient to just go for the story, get what she wanted and to use it to get ahead, but as sky-high as her ambitions were, Miyeon could never step on anyone else to get there. Sometimes she almost hated it about herself – she could only imagine how far she could go by now if she was willing to look out just for her own goals, but that wasn’t who she was. Tragically. So she held back the sigh she wanted to let out and instead held up her hand, fist closed and pinky raised. “Pinky promise,” she said, looking Mack dead in the eye. “Friends only guest on my show when or if they want to. And I don’t snitch on my friends.” And she meant it. As much as she desperately wanted an in, a story, a break, anything, she only wanted it if she earned it, if it was done with integrity. If Mack had a story to tell, she hoped that she got to hear it. And if she wanted to share it, she hoped she could earn enough trust to tell it. But those were some big ifs that she knew might never come to fruition. And she was okay with that so long as she got something out of it all in the end. Friendship was enough. 

—

“I’ll have my people call your people to set it up.” Would Taylor still set this up for her? She was her assistant after all. But did Miyeon have people? Llama was so used to having to set up appointments and even schedule time with friends that she wasn’t sure, “Do you have people Taylor needs to call? You know what, I’ll just put it in my phone, right here, right now.” Pulling out her phone, she opened it up to the calendar and put it down for October. That’s when it got cold enough right? Miyeon would have to be the judge of that, since Llama always stayed cold.

Once she was finished, she shoved her phone back into her hoodie pocket only to see Miyeon holding up her pinky and making a promise. Promises…what had she heard about them? That you weren’t supposed to make them in this town? And though Miyeon was a reporter of sorts, she had been truthful the whole time they had been hanging out. If she was willing to make that promise, then Llama was going to take it.

Raising her own pinky up, she wrapped it around her new friend’s and shook on it, “I truly appreciate that, Miyeon. I’ll be honest. When I saw you earlier, I was hesitant to give you any kind of chance. People in the media looking for a photo or the scoop make me nervous, but I’m not in Hollywood anymore, so I’m glad I’m actually looking past that and giving you a chance. You seem like a pretty good person. Plus, I don’t snitch either. What’s the saying? Snitches get stitches?” Or your brain ripped out of your head? Letting go of Miyeon’s pinky, she lowered her hand and grabbed her cup, “And hey, I mean it about shopping. You’re gonna wish we never planned this.” With a wink, she got up from the table and tossed her cup in the trash, before walking out with a smile on her face.

[formulamuppet]

Lewis: How many kids do you have?

Sebastian: Biologically, emotionally, or legally?

[seijorhi]

nostos.

well it’s not exactly monster fucking but um... here there be monsters.

Kuroo Tetsurou x female reader

TW implied non-con, nsfw-ish, blood, gore, minor character death, animal death, um somebody gets munched... 

Every good writer needs peace and quiet. Fresh air and a change of scenery.

You’re not running away, it’s more of a… tactical retreat. Two weeks disconnected from well meaning friends, pushy family members and your eternally irritating editor, with nothing but the beautiful, sprawling forests to keep you company.

The mountains are familiar, if isolating, you think, leaning against the porch railing with a warm mug in hand as the breeze picks up and the tall maple and birch trees rustle in response. The leaves are turning vibrant reds and gold with the falling temperatures and even in the eerie quiet of the cold morning, you can’t deny that it’s breathtaking. 

It reminds you of your childhood, the countless vacations you’d spent here with your family, always in autumn, always in time to watch the leaves change before the first snows of winter set in. Fond memories of running through the trees chasing after cute little bunnies, giggling even when you tripped up and scraped your knees. There was something mystical about the forest back then, something special. But it’s been years since you’ve been here last, and the first time you’ve ever come alone.

And yet it feels different somehow, colder despite the nostalgia. You’re no longer a child, looking at the world through innocent, wondrous eyes. The forest is just a forest. 

Of course, you weren’t an idiot; disappearing off the grid was one thing. Disappearing off the grid without anybody knowing where you were going was another entirely. They’d been surprisingly supportive of the plan – until you told them where it was you were planning on running off to.

‘Why go back to the mountain, honey?’ your mother had asked, her smile wavering and an odd tightness in her eyes. ‘Why not go to the coast instead? Or spend some time in the city?’

But this isn’t a fun little vacation. You don’t want to be distracted by beaches and crowds, you need space to finish your book and time to work through your mess of an emotional state without any interruptions. You want to be untraceable, at least for a week or two.

God knows the last thing you need right now is your ex tracking you down to try and apologise again.

Part of you had thought – somewhat naively, perhaps – that by coming back you’d spark… something. Your memories of the mountains are full of warmth and happiness, but as you stare out into the wilderness, all you feel is a cool chill that runs down your spine and the goosebumps that prickle at your skin. 

Setting your now empty mug down, you pull tighter at the thick knit cardigan draped over your shoulders. Enough reminiscing, your manuscript awaits.

—

The mountain’s too quiet. You don’t notice it so much during the day, the sound of music softly pouring from your laptop and the gentle clacking of keys as you type enough to distract you  from the eerie stillness outside the cabin. Even at night, you’re preoccupied with dinner, and then curled up on the couch with a warm throw rug watching reruns of your favourite shows on Netflix.

It’s only when you lie down, burrowed into the blankets to try and sleep that you notice just how silent the forest at your doorstep truly is. At first you think it’s simply being away from the hustle and bustle of home. There’s no cars driving past, or the sound of neighbours floating through your open windows, there’s not even the distant hooting of owls or dogs barking.

But it’s more than just quiet. There’s nothing. Even the trees seem to still once the sun falls beneath the horizon. And it shouldn't bother you, shouldn’t unsettle you, and yet…

The first few nights, you don’t sleep well. Tossing and turning in bed. When you do sleep, your dreams are plagued with unpleasant things. Not nightmares as such, but an uneasiness that bleeds into otherwise pleasant thoughts. On the fourth night you wake, gasping for air. Whatever dream you’d been in the grips of fades like smoke, and as you draw in another shuddering breath your throat itches and burns.

Water. You need water. 

You don’t switch on the lights as you fumble your way down to the kitchen, trying to preserve what little remnants of sleep are still in your system. Even with the moon almost full and the night sky clear, the canopy shrouds it. 

And it’s in that darkness, as your eyes flicker up from the faucet, that you see it for the first time.

A shape, huge and looming, silk shadow against black. 

For a moment, as your heart hammers against your ribs, a chill creeping down your spine, you don’t dare trust your eyes. Maybe you’re asleep still, dreaming, or your mind’s playing tricks on you, because there’s nothing that should be lurking in the woods outside of your window that size.

Two golden, cat-like eyes peer back at you.

They’re still there when you race to flick on the lights, unblinking, curious as you skitter backwards, hand over your racing heart.

You’re tired, emotionally drained and this–

This is nothing more than a figment of an overactive imagination, a child creating monsters from the shadows in their bedroom. Yet even as you run back to the safety of the bedroom, yank the curtains shut and huddle under the meagre warmth your blankets afford you, squeezing your eyes shut, you feel it out there still, watching.

And in the stillness of the mountains outside, you swear you hear footsteps.

—

You wake to fresh snow, too early in the year, even at these altitudes. It dusts the ground, covering the mossy paths in glittering white, clings to the branches of the trees – the red leaves looking like droplets of blood scattered across a grey sky. The snow will undoubtedly melt as the sun rises, turn to slush and mix with the dirt, but for now it’s a thing of beauty.

For a moment, you allow yourself to forget how tired you are, how unsettled, venturing out from the cabin with wide, excitable eyes. It never used to snow when you were here as a kid, and while you get the occasional snowfall back home, it’s nothing like–

You stop dead in your tracks. 

There’s two human footprints imprinted on the snow – only two – right outside your bedroom window, crisp and clean, as if they’d been left just moments before.

—

Your mother sounds worried when you call her. Of course, you don’t tell her about the lone footprints at your window, or the creepy pair of eyes you’d seen through the dark, you know how that sounds. You’re not crazy, and even if some part of you truly believed what you’d seen, your mom is the last person you’d admit it to.

Once upon a time, when you were little, she’d indulged in stories of fairies and spirits, but that was a long time ago. Now she turns up her nose and sneers at the myths and legends that your grandma still spouts, dismissing them with a scoff.

It’s not the kind of thing well-adjusted adults talk about in polite conversation.

She’s a good woman, but you can’t tell her this. 

And you’re not even sure you’re entirely sold on it either. The eyes could have been from a wild animal – big cats might be rare in Japan, but they do exist here. You were half asleep (half terrified) when you had seen them, you don’t want to make a fuss over nothing. The footprints are less easy to explain away. If there’d been tracks leading away, you could convince yourself that it was a lost hiker and nothing more.

But there weren’t any tracks leading away; just the two footprints. And what kind of hiker doesn’t wear shoes in weather like this? It’s possible that this is some kind of prank, a mean spirited trick designed to unsettle you – a job well done, by the way – but you can’t quite bring yourself to believe that either. 

In any case, you’re hardly going to admit over the phone that you’re freaking out over some footprints in the snow. God knows she’s already worried enough about your mental state, has been ever since the breakup, and you’re not going to give her any more ammunition. 

But perhaps there is something to that maternal instinct, because despite your best efforts to reassure her that you’re doing just fine, that your novel’s going great and you’re so glad you came out here, she still sounds entirely unconvinced.

“Honey, you know you can tell me if something’s wrong,” she tells you, her voice strangely hesitant. “You don’t sound yourself, are you sure everything’s okay?”

You don’t know why you called her at all. You always have been a shitty liar, and she’s always been able to see right through you. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Honestly the fresh air’s doing me good,” you tell her. “It’s weirdly quiet here though, I’m not used to it,” you laugh, and even to your ears it sounds hollow and fake.

There’s a heavy pause on the other end of the line, and if you close your eyes you can almost picture it, your mom leaning against the kitchen counter, teeth worrying into her bottom lip–

“I just don’t like you out there all by yourself.”

Relax, what’s the worst that could happen?

The words almost, almost slip out, an instinctive reaction to a mother’s well meaning but overbearing concern. But it feels like tempting fate, and whether or not you’re fully convinced that there is something strange happening, you’re not that bold. Instead you begin to tell her (again) that everything’s fine when she suddenly speaks again.

“Bad things happen in those mountains. Just… just promise me you’ll be safe.”

Abruptly, the line goes dead. 

Pulling the phone from your ear, you glance down at the illuminated screen, only to frown when you see the little ‘SOS Only’ flashing in the top corner. Huh, you’d had a few bars when you’d started the call, but… 

The weather’s gotta be messing with your signal. Stranger things have happened, right?

Shaking your head you resolve to give her a call tomorrow. And yet, even as you try to put her parting words from your mind and throw yourself back into your writing, you can’t help but feel that familiar sense of cloying unease seeping through your skin once more. 

What the hell had she meant, ‘bad things happen in those mountains’?

—

A good night’s sleep can do you wonders. 

Well, theoretically speaking. You can’t remember the last actual decent sleep you’d had, but regardless, the point stands. All you need is an uninterrupted eight or nine hours, and this… paranoia will go away. Things’ll be clearer in the morning, so long as you sleep.

The mantra doesn’t help you any, of course. 

You don’t need to peer through the window to feel those watchful eyes staring. And maybe it would be easier to ignore the prickling sensation at the nape of your neck if it weren’t for the noises.

Music isn’t loud enough to drown out the sound of the mournful wails, like a wounded animal crying out in pain. It’s incessant, inescapable, reverberating inside of your eardrums until it’s all you can focus on.

It’s instinctual, you think, the urge to creep from your bed and try to find the creature making that sound and help it. But even as your feet touch the cool floorboards, your gut clenches, hackles rising. Something deep inside of you warns you from leaving the safety of the cabin.

Whatever creature is making those noises, it’s not calling for help.

You don’t feel like you’ve slept at all, but you must have because at a certain point in the morning you blink your eyes awake, exhaustion clinging to you like a second skin.

And this time it’s not snow that greets you, but the mangled remains of a doe ripped apart on your porch. Deep, jagged gouge marks run along its flank, organs spilling from the cuts and there’s little left of its neck, the whole thing torn out with teeth. Yet for the gruesome injuries, the only blood you find is congealed, pooled beneath the poor creature.

Whatever happened to it, it didn’t happen here. The knowledge doesn’t soothe you like it should – the park ranger you spoke to on the phone mentioned that while it’s rare, sometimes bears venture a little too close to buildings, though he sounds doubtful even as he says it.

He sounds even less interested when you tell him this doesn’t look like a bear attack, but promises they’ll send someone down in the next few days to check everything out. In the meantime, he suggests, it’s best to stay indoors. 

Yeah, not gonna be an issue.

And so with no feasible way of moving it, you’re left with the butchered corpse of a doe just outside your front door. And the thing that bothers you isn’t so much the body, though you still can’t look at it without wanting to throw up, but the fact that it was just… left there.

Not eaten. No, aside from the missing throat, the deer’s all there. Ripped apart with its guts spilling out, but otherwise untouched. Growing up you had a cat, the sweetest little thing, but every once in a while she would get out of a night, find some poor little creature to torment and without fail, she’d bring it back home, leaving it half dead on the doorstep like a gift.

‘See what a good hunter I am?’ she seemed to say, smugly sauntering back inside. 

It wasn’t about food. It wasn’t hunger that drove her, but instinct. As you stare out the window at the doe, at the milky white emptiness of dead eyes, you wonder whether that’s the same here. There’s no tracks in the dirt, no blood smeared across the ground – it wasn’t dragged here. No animal could’ve done this. 

A gift? 

Or perhaps something less benevolent. A threat. You’ve crossed into territory you don’t belong and the deer, cruelly ripped apart and left to bleed out on your doorstep is a line in the sand.

Either way, as tears fill your eyes, a sob tugging free from your chest, you realise that it was a mistake to come here. You don’t know whether you trust your eyes and your ears anymore, but there is something deep inside of you that tolls like a warning bell and as much as you’d like to bury your head in the sand and pretend there’s nothing wrong here, you can’t.

Bad things happen in those mountains.

You need to leave.

The next ferry to the mainland doesn’t leave until tomorrow morning, but it’ll have to do. Once you stop shaking and calm down enough to carry a conversation, you call the local cab company to arrange a pick-up first thing.

You can survive one more night, you just need to throw yourself back into your writing… if you can only just ignore that sense of foreboding prickling at the back of your neck.

—

There’s a boy running through the trees, giggling as he glances back at you. His hand’s outstretched, wrapped ‘round yours tugging you along as he laughs at you to hurry up.

It’s late, the sun dipping below the horizon, but you don’t wanna go back just yet.

You’re having fun, playing in the forest. And the light is golden, filtering in through the pretty red leaves, your sides burn a little from all the chasing and laughter but it’s a good kind of ache. You don’t want today to end.

His name is Kohsuke, you remember, and he lives down in the village by the valley. He’s only one year older than you, and you’d follow him anywhere. 

You think you might be a little in love with him.

‘C’mon, hurry up! It’s only a little further!’ he calls, and you nod, scrambling over the fallen trunk of an oak tree. There’s old spirits who live in this forest, he’d told you, and today you’re finally gonna see one.

It’s dark now. Cold too. You’re tired and hungry and you kinda want to go home, but Kohsuke won’t let you. ‘Just a little longer! Don’t you wanna see them?’

You do. Of course you do. It’s just that you’re starting to get a funny feeling in your stomach… Can he hear the footsteps too? Is somebody following you?

There’s a voice in your ear, a soft, silky purr that makes a shiver roll down your spine, but you can’t make sense of the words, they’re not in any language you understand. You don’t tell Kohsuke – he can’t hear it, otherwise he would have said something. You just clutch his hand tighter, skipping closer.

‘W-we should go back, Koh,’ you murmur, wincing when it comes out in a childish whine. ‘We’re gonna get in trouble.’

You aren’t supposed to stay out playing after dark, he knows it as well as you do. ‘You trust me, don’t you? Stop being such a chicken!’ he snickers as your cheeks heat.

The voice at your ear growls, low and threatening. You need to go back, now.

You blink, and the scene changes.

You’re curled up on the forest floor, hands covering your eyes. Somebody’s screaming – Kohsuke – crying out your name through ragged sobs, pleading–

There’s a crunch, a ripping sound, a wetness sprayed across your cheek. 

Kohsuke’s not screaming anymore.

Something warm and heavy touches your head, drags through the locks of your hair and you just huddle tighter, eyes squeezed shut, shaking like a leaf as more tears spill. You don’t wanna die here. 

The crunching sounds continue, and you keep your eyes tightly shut. It can’t hurt you if you don’t look. 

It can’t hurt you if you don’t look. 

It can’t hurt you if you don’t look. 

It can’t–

A loud knocking jerks you back to consciousness, your body jolting upright, almost swiping your laptop off the table as you try and gather your bearings. Right, you’d been working on your novel, sitting up at the kitchen table, you must have dozed off… A quick glance out the window tells you that you must have been out of it for a while ��� the late afternoon shadows are starting to creep in, the sky a golden orange. 

What the hell was that dream?!

“Hello? Uh, anybody home?” a masculine voice calls, another loud knock sounding. “We got a call about a wild animal attacking deer…”

Oh, you think, trying to shake yourself out of your stupor, the wildlife people, yeah. You feel a little nauseous, feverish and trembling, though maybe that’s just the result of your erratic heartbeat. 

Swallowing down the bile in your throat, you turn your attention to the door. Truly you hadn’t actually expected that they’d send anybody out to investigate, much less that they’d arrive before you left, but you can hardly turn him away now.

Especially not when there’s a freshly butchered deer corpse lying only a few feet away from your front door. Quickly, you run a hand over your hair, taking a moment to try and collect yourself before you answer.

It doesn’t work – there’s a knot in your throat and for every step you take towards the door it feels like your legs are gonna give out from under you. You move in a daze to unlock the door, only just remembering to school your features into an expression slightly less alarming as it swings open. 

A ranger, tall with a shock of black, messy hair that reminds you oddly of a rooster greets you with an easy grin. “Oh good, I was starting to think nobody was home. You the one that called?”

Distantly, you nod, fingers clutching at the edge of the doorframe. The ranger glances over at the remains of the deer, still lying in a pool of half dried blood, studying it for a moment, hazel eyes sweeping over the deep gashes in its side. You can’t bear to follow his gaze, you’re not sure you can look at that thing again without throwing up. 

He whistles lowly, shaking his head, “Well you don’t see that every day,” he laughs.

Your eyes snap to his, narrowing slightly. It’s not his fault, you know that, but you can’t help the flicker of irritation that sparks at the cavalier attitude. This is just his job, you get it, but you don’t exactly feel like laughing right now. 

“You still think a bear did this?” you retort, the words coming out a little sharper than intended. 

But the ranger takes it in stride, shrugging as his smirk widens. “A bear, huh?” Amusement glitters in his eyes, sharp and mocking. “Why don’t I come inside and you can tell me all about it?” he offers, stepping closer towards you. 

And there’s no reason for your heart to skitter, your blood running cold as he looms over you in the doorway, still wearing that stupid, irritating smirk. There’s no reason for your insides to clench either, or for the tiny, jerky step backwards you take, your body moving of its own accord.

The ranger pauses, head tilting to the side as he stares at you.

Really stares, like he’s waiting for something. And as discomfited as you are (and as much of an asshole as this guy is), a weary apology is halfway to your tongue when he shifts slightly, propping an arm up against the door – the last, dying rays of light catching his face. 

It’s just for a second.

A heartbeat.

But long enough for you to watch those hazel eyes shift to gold, pupils elongating into slits. 

You stumble backwards, breath coming in a short, ragged gasp as your eyes widen into saucers. “What are you?”

The ranger before you chuckles and you catch a glimpse of his teeth; pearly white and glinting, sharper than they had been only moments ago. “Why don’t you let me in and find out for yourself, kitten?”

You shake your head, retreating further into the cabin, heart pounding. 

“No? You don’t like this body, is that it?” he asks, a cruel edge to his smirk as he takes a half step backwards and slowly spreads his arms. “Something more familiar, then.”

And you don’t think there’s any room left in your heart for more fear, your stomach already twisting in sickening knots, but you blink and standing right there in front of you is Kohsuke.

It’s a punch in the guts, a knife slipped between your ribs, yanked ruthlessly through your still beating heart. He’s beaming up at you, those same adorable dimples, the same ridiculous bowl cut, bleeding youthful innocence. “How about now?” he asks, holding out his hand and wriggling his fingers like he expects you to take it. “You’ll let me inside now, right?”

A strangled noise escapes you as you fall to your knees. Tears fill your eyes, blurring your vision – you blink them away but more take their place. 

“You trust me, don’t you?” he asks, and you wail in response.

It’s too much. You shake your head, hugging yourself tightly, as if your arms are the only thing keeping you from falling apart entirely. 

He calls your name – not in Kohsuke’s childish lilt, but that deep, ancient purr that makes the tiny hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. “Let me in.”

“Go away,” you gasp through tears. “Please– please go away.”

The creature shifts again, the dark haired ranger back in Kohsuke’s place. He eyes you, those unnatural gold irises watching with utter enthralment as you sob pathetically on the floor, still pleading – though you know it’ll do you no good – for him to leave. 

“Last chance, kitten. Let me in, or I’ll make you come out.”

He – it – doesn’t sound nearly as put out by the prospect as it should be. 

And you don’t know why giving permission matters, all you know, all you care about, is that it’s keeping that thing at bay for now. It can’t come inside and so long as you don’t leave the safety of the cabin, it can’t hurt you. The words are nothing but an empty threat.

Right?

You shake your head, defiant even as your voice hitches and trembles, “No.”

“Stubborn little thing,” the creature croons, the smirk on its face widening until the visage no longer resembles anything human – mouth splitting its face in two, rows of long, sharp teeth revealed. “So be it.”

A low growl resonates in its chest, and you can only watch, petrified, as thin, vein-like black marks begin to appear over pale skin, growing thicker, cracking as shadow curls from underneath. The creature itself starts to grow too, limbs elongating as muscles ripple and swell, claws bursting forth in place of fingernails, shoulders broadening – until it’s towering over you, wreathed in thick shadow, grinning with that terrifying mouth. 

This is the thing you’d glimpsed that first night. A creature ripped from nightmares and primal fears, strong enough to tear you apart with a single hand. That’s what it’d done to Kohsuke, to the doe, what it’d do to you if you gave it half a chance.

“You wanna play, kitten?” it asks, head tilting to the side. 

Slowly, it backs away from the door, keeping its gaze fixed firmly on you. For a moment, you think that it’s going to disappear back into the forest, or plant itself by your window to watch for another night, waiting you out till dawn, but instead it stops by the old oak that overhangs the porch and stills entirely, simply… waiting.

“Let’s play.”

Abruptly, the oak beside it bursts into flames. It takes only a heartbeat for the entire thing to be engulfed, red and orange flames licking along the trunk, the gnarled, spindly branches, even the leaves are alight, burning away into ash and floating off in the breeze. The heat from one tree alone is searing, the crackle of burning wood and your own horrified, shuddering breath the only sounds in the night.

It snowed only a few nights before, but the fire spreads with unnatural ease, flames racing across the canopy, embers lighting up the undergrowth, and in the space of a few seconds there’s an inferno raging through the forest before you. And through the smoke and the red, burning haze, the creature watches, smirking.

The heat from the wildfire sears painfully at your skin, the air around you suddenly thick with smoke, stinging your eyes, choking your lungs, and yet you can’t seem to tear yourself away. It’s like a dream, a nightmare, some kind of… hellscape.

And for a moment you forget that there was a purpose to this, too lost staring in mute horror as the forest you’d played in as a child burns–

At least until a single leaf from the oak tree, edges curling as it’s consumed by flames, falls, carried by the breeze and lands on the wooden railing of the porch. With a soft whoosh, the old wooden beam catches fire, and with your chest heaving, panicked breaths falling from parted lips, you rise to your feet as flames spread, the fire eating everything in its path until the entire porch is alight, burning.

Run. 

You don’t know if the voice in your head is yours or not, you don’t have time to care. You scramble for the back door, throwing it open, and you run.

Run until your lungs burn, til’ your bare feet are scratched and bleeding, run, pushed forward by the sweltering heat at your back, the chilling crackle of laughter that follows. You run through tears, through pain and air so thick with smoke that it hurts to breathe.

And you know the creature’s giving chase, you know that you won’t – can’t – outrun it, nor the inferno that blazes around you. You know that it’s futile, that you’re probably running to your death, but that’s human, isn’t it?

To run when you’re scared?

The sky’s awash with a hazy red glow when it catches you, throwing you to the ground, and still you try to crawl. Desperate, choking on broken pleas and sobs, nails raking through the dirt as you try to pull yourself forward. 

And when your pants are ripped from your legs, a puff of warm air ghosting over the nape of your neck as you’re shoved back down, those long, black arms settling either side of you, caging you in – you know that you’ve lost.

“Mine,” the creature growls, and you barely have time to scream before its cock shoves into you with one brutal, merciless thrust. “Mine.”

[donaidk]

Nyck de Vries - Overwritten Plans

So, this one. This wouldn’t be the next one, but as I just really couldn’t start the Marcus & Callum one yet (my mood wasn’t in the right place for that one), I had to get this done so I won’t get stuck. I really hope this contains enough angst for you, as after re-reading maybe I went a bit soft in between scenes 😅 I really hope you will like it Anon, and that you don’t mind me choosing Nyck. You didn’t give me a driver, and as I was watching back the FE season while writing, he just brought all the inspiration I needed 🥺😂 Thank you so much for requesting, and have a great start to your week 🧡🧡

Slight TW: car crash (no ones hurt, non descriptive), birth (non descriptive)

Masterlist | Taglist/Queue | Request

Having to watch all the races from home felt like torture. Going from travelling with him everywhere, to just sitting around at home and keeping up with him by phone calls and the TV coverage was strange. For the first 2 months I didn’t even mind as we were getting ready for the birth, but then nothing went as we planned. Firstly, we thought Nyck would have time to be home but then by getting a seat in Formula E he had to start the season in November already. If that wasn’t enough, my due date was at the start of January, meaning he would be able to come home, but it never started. When he was about to leave for Mexico city to continue the season, I was still sporting a bump and slowly giving up on anything happening while he’s still at home. The only thing I could hope for was the baby waiting for Nyck to get back home before going to Morocco as I really didn’t want to go through something like this without him. We didn’t plan everything just for fun, but because that’s how we wanted the birth to happen.

Before he left we managed to at least get me moved into his parent’s house, as he didn’t feel content with me staying home alone. I wasn’t the happiest with the idea, but with my family living far away it was the only way to get me under 24/7 supervision. I didn’t feel like it would be needed as I was capable of everything, not really affected by the usual pregnancy symptoms, but I just gave up the fight, knowing they wanted the best for me. I would also never give up company if it was offered so nicely to me, my relationship with his family helping the situation a lot. They always made sure I knew they looked at me as part of the family, right from the first moment of Nyck introducing me to them. After hearing so many stories about the families hating each other and not accepting of their kid’s partner, I really appreciated them. Going into our life together it was a relief that I didn’t have to fear them being dismissive towards me or trying to break us apart.

“ How are you? ” I heard his voice as soon as FaceTime finally connected, but his face wasn’t visible on the screen yet. “ And don’t you dare hold back just because I have a race. ” He added, finally leaning over his phone so I could see his face, which was a bit more serious than I thought it would be.

“ I’m fine, really. I don’t feel anything else than how I’m like a whale. ” I sighed out, a smile getting onto my face just at the sight of him. “ I just hope it stays this way for the next few days. Until you get back, finally. ” I added, fixing my position a little with leaning back fully. There wasn’t anymore a position that felt relaxing while sitting or laying down, as everything was just in the way.

“ I’m flying back as soon as possible. The team knows already, and they won’t mind me leaving all the packing up for them. ” He was trying to get ready and get his suit up over the underlayer while at the same time looking at me on his phone, which made me smile. He would have been quicker probably if he focused on only one thing, but I couldn’t get myself to just wrap up our call.

“ Yeah, thanks. Usually I would say you should stay and help, but… not this time. ” I shook my head a little, looking up at his mum with a smile when she entered the living room. “ Even if I have all the help I can ask for, it’s not the same. ” A sigh got out of me as I knew his parents did everything possible. Sadly they couldn’t help with how much I was missing Nyck since he flew out to Mexico. No one could, other than him.

“ I know… we planned everything for a reason, but sometimes life doesn’t go as we want it to. ” He took the device in his hand when the suit was finally on him and he could sit down on the bed. “ At least it didn’t go wrong, just didn’t work out as we wanted. ” He added, making me nod in agreement. He was right, it could have been a lot worse if there were complications or any health problems.

“ Luckily. And we will have time before your next race. Not a lot, but at least you can get home for a bit. ” I sent him a smile before I could hear someone open the door to his room and he looked up too.

“ We’re going to need you in like five minutes. ” I could hear his trainer talking while saw him nodding at the info before looking back down at his phone. I could see that he didn’t really want to leave, but it was still his job to go out there and drive the race.

“ Go, I’m gonna be here when you’re finished. ” I told him with a smile, seeing as he stood up with a sigh. “ Good luck, and be careful. ” I added, before the both of us sent a kiss to the other and not gladly, but put down the call.

While they were only showing interviews and some highlights from previous races I went to the kitchen to get a tea ready for myself. I knew the little amount of caffeine it offered would be needed, as I already felt a bit tired and we weren’t even at the start of the race. I patiently waited for the kettle to finally go off so I could pour the boiling water over the tea bag in my favourite mug. I was the first one to sit down on the couch with my legs pulled up, before Hendrik took a seat in the armchair to my right, paying a bit more attention to the reporters than I did. I was mostly watching because of Nyck, while his dad was more into the sport itself and was watching it even before there was someone we knew driving in it.

I felt a bit more energetic when the cars were finally on the track and soon took their positions on the grid. A smile got on my face as they showed Nyck’s car, still trying to hide it with the mug as I usually did. Sometimes it felt like I was too head over heels for him, but I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t help either as I started turning the thin engagement ring on my finger, as it was a reflex for me at the start of the races. It was a kind of lucky charm for me to do so, in a way being there for him even if I was on the other side of the world sometimes. It usually worked and as they took off with Nyck up to second in just a few turns I could say it was successful once again. With a relieved sigh I went back to drinking my tea and slowly layed down when my back started hurting a bit.

We were almost half an hour into the race when I started to become a bit tired. Nyck’s start was perfect, starting at the top and getting a position almost immediately, but then was a bit unlucky and fell back a few. He was still doing good and had time to get back at them and fight himself up the order. I was just sitting up to look at Hendrik, who was in the kitchen behind the couch I was lying on, when we heard the commentators raise their voices. Turning my head back towards the TV screen I could see the white smoke around Nyck’s black Mercedes as he was trying to stop while going straight towards the wall. My fingers clutched at the blanket in my lap as on the way he hit Frijns, before he arrived at the wall and hit it quite hard. Luckily it was the softer barriers not just a concrete wall but you could still see how instantly the car came to a stop. My eyes were stuck to the screen as they showed his team and I was still holding my breath as his radio animation came up.

“ He’s probably okay. Wasn’t the worst crash ever. ” I heard Hendrik as he tried to calm me down, his hands coming onto my shoulders while standing behind the couch. Sadly it didn’t really work as they only showed replays and we could only hear Nyck’s engineer asking about him but there was no answer.

We stayed in the same position, my stomach turning at how they were still not saying anything. When the radio animation came up again and in the next second we could finally hear his voice a sob almost ran out of me. I had my face in my palms, leaning forward a tiny bit as my elbows were propped onto my knees. He still sounded a bit out of breath, his voice hoarser than usual which didn’t ease any bit of my anxiety as in the next second they were already back to showing the leaders. I knew that to them he was only one of the drivers, meaning they didn’t really focus on him while the race was still running. It was only when they showed him getting out of his car, which was already pushed off track, when I could let out the breath that was stuck in my lungs. He was in one piece and well enough to walk back to the pit on his own. That’s a good sign, isn’t it?

My phone was in my hands in an instant after letting it fall to the ground in the shock we experienced. I almost started ringing him, but realised he wouldn’t have his phone with him anyways and gave up on my idea. I was just stuck in my seat, waiting for any footage of him, but they never delivered, only keeping the cameras on the track. For a second I got scared when my device started vibrating and ringing with a well known tune that was linked to Nyck’s contact. Seeing his name on the screen was a surprise, but I accepted the call immediately, lifting the phone to my ears.

“ Are you okay? ” I was the quickest to start talking. “ I mean we saw you walking and that you’re alright, but did you hurt yourself? ” I couldn’t stop myself, hearing as he let out a quiet chuckle at my rambling.

“ Perfectly fine. Hit my side a little and I was confused for a second, but nothing to worry about. ” Nyck assured me, his voice having a calming effect on my anxiety as I could feel it leave my body finally. “ My ego is more bruised than my body. ” He added with a sigh and as he stayed silent I could hear the team behind him who were still working with Stoffel.

“ You can survive that I think. ” I smiled in front of myself, drinking the last remaining sip of tea I still had. “ Early evening then? ” I asked him, in a way not minding that I didn’t have to stay up for longer. Usually it took longer after the race ended to get him into a call, but today’s events meant after we were done here I could go to sleep quite early.

“ Guess so. I’m pretty sure you don’t mind it too much. ” The smile in his voice was almost audible, and I couldn’t deny what he said. Although usually I was easily functioning on 5 or 6 hours, in the last few months I needed at least 8 not to bite off someone’s head during the day.

“ I would rather you be out there than to have an early night. ” I shrugged a little, disappointed a little that this wasn’t a FaceTime call and I couldn’t see him. “ But there’s at least one good thing about today. After knowing you’re not hurt, of course. ” 

“ Maybe I can even catch an earlier flight. Make the good list one bit longer. ” Nyck’s idea made me smile, as him getting home earlier was always great news. “ I’ll just pack up, thank the guys and leave if they don’t need me too much. Everyone will understand. ” He added, the background noises getting quieter as he probably went back to his changing room and closed the door on himself.

“ But only if they really don’t need you. ” I told him while taking a deep breath to calm myself down. Every time he got to travel home earlier than planned was exciting, but in this situation it was everything I could have asked for.

We disconnected the call after a few minutes of talking when it was official that the team would allow him to leave early. I always liked them and knew they were really understanding, supporting Nyck in his every decision since he signed to them. It was the same with his off-track life, as they acknowledged our situation and always made sure their driver could take part in scans and milestone events even after they started the season. Most would say this is the least they can do for their employees, but working in the racing world was usually cruel to your life outside it. You had to find the right place to completely feel supported and not lose control over your own life.

Keeping my unspoken promise, after getting off the couch I did call it a night and went to have a shower. I felt the last bits of stress leave my body as the warm water enveloped me for a few minutes, before I got some pajamas on. Falling into bed never felt better before and I closed my eyes with a content sigh. The house was slowly turning silent as I could hear Nyck’s parents taking turns in the bathroom, with his room right across it. First I thought it was only the few noises coming from the outside that kept me up, but even when the only sound was my own breathing and heartbeat it still wasn’t enough somehow.

Although I never truly fell asleep, at 5 a.m. it felt like I was waking up from the worst sleep of my life. It took a second or two to make me realise what actually woke me up as the pain around my lower abdomen and stomach slowly registered in my mind, and it immediately switched into panic. I got out of bed with a groan, slowly stumbling to the door and down the hallway so I could notify everyone. They were all quick to react, considering it was just dawn and they must have been tired still. While one of them helped me change into some real clothing and get the packed duffle bag from the wardrobe, the other one tried reaching their son, although he was probably on the plane already and didn’t pick up. My only hope was that either the flight will be shorter then announced, or I will somehow get to wait for him.

In the end it wasn’t my decision, but as I wasn’t dialating enough we were still just at the labor part, slowly crawling to the point where we could get on with it. I almost couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing when Nyck entered the room, still with his backpack with him, and I was sure all the other luggage was either outside the room or in the car as he probably didn’t go home to drop them off. As my anxiety was over the top, the doctor letting us know that we should soon get to the birth as there could be complications otherwise, him getting here in time was the perfect surprise. Turns out it was also perfectly timed as just half an hour later we could finally take the last step, everyone other than me calming down that it won’t get to a cesarean. I truly just wanted to be finished with all of this and the pain. We waited enough for her.

Almost all of my energy and also strength was gone when the midwife finally held our baby in her hands, although there was an eerie silence around the room as she never cried out. I saw her getting up to put her down on a small counter and check over her, although she was completely blocking our view. My heart was stuck in my throat and I could feel tears running down my cheeks as we were waiting for seconds that felt like eternity. Nyck got my attention onto him by squeezing my hand and leaving a kiss on my forehead. I was just about to turn away from the scene and probably break down when we finally heard a little noise and then a baby crying. My head immediately lifted, looking at the midwife who was bringing the little bundle toward us with a relieved smile on her face.

“ She just needed a little bit of coaxing. ” She added with a quiet chuckle while handing her to me. My hands were still shaking a little but as seen as I felt her weight they finally stopped and let me hug her to myself. “ I’ll steal him for a minute, but make it real quick, okay? ” She asked, motioning for Nyck to follow her, probably to get a few informations and signatures from him.

With one last glance at the little girl he left my bedside, letting the grandparents get closer until he got back. It felt like I was in a trance, looking down at her and not really managing to break my eyes away from her now calm face. Time flew by without me noticing anything that was happening around me. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that she finally arrived, that we finally had our Ilse with us now. Looking back at the last more than 9 months, it was unbelievable that we didn’t go crazy while waiting for this moment. Not knowing how this will feel, was probably our only saviour. When Nyck finally arrived back, I sent him a sleepy smile and welcomed his kiss, although I didn’t have the energy to do anything other than lay there and smile.

“ Would Dad like to hold her? ” The nurse asked when everything was finally cleaned up and organized, with only family staying in the room. They already had time to check her out while Nyck made sure the paperwork was done, before coming back into the room.

“ Yes! How could I say no to that? ” Nyck asked back with a low chuckle, following instructions and taking a seat in the armchair close to my bed with his shirt off for skin-to-skin contact. I gladly let the nurse take Ilse from me and carefully lay her down on her dad’s chest, before smoothing a soft blanket over them so they won’t catch a cold. “ Welkom in de wereld kleintje. ” He looked down at her and I could see as his arms gently enveloped her tiny body under the blanket.

I did catch a glimpse of his bruised ribs and knew they would be turning an angry purple color in the following days, but I couldn’t really care at the sight of them together. Whatever happened in the last few days was now really the past, being part of a previous chapter, and not the one we were living through now. It felt like such a big turning point, even if we have known for the last 9 and a bit more months that it’s gonna happen. It was a surprise that wasn’t actually a surprise, as we already knew what the gender of the baby is and approximately when she’s going to arrive.

“ This feels unbelievable. ” I stated, even though I knew he was probably thinking the same and I wasn’t sharing anything new with him. “ I really don’t know how we’re gonna wait another 9 months with the next one. ” I shook my head a little and could see as Nyck tried to hold back his laughter.

“ You just went through the birth, something that’s so painful I can’t even imagine how it feels… but you’re already thinking about the next one? ” He asked back, forcing himself to look up at me. His words made me think for a second, realising how surreal it sounded actually.

“ It’s probably just the hormones. Although, we did mention more, and not just one. ” I reminded him, shrugging a little and feeling as my eyes started slowly closing. “ But I need a nap first… probably a month long nap at least. ” I let out a yawn, but forced myself to look at them again, only letting sleep take over me when I saw that Ilse fell asleep too. This way I won’t miss a lot from her first moments.

[seostudios]

mr.lee

pairing: ten lee x fem!reader genre: fluff, smut info: professor!ten, student!reader, established relationship warnings: public sex word count: 1.4k a/n: this is inspired by pretty little liars and a request i recently got

MAY 2018

You gaze out the display window behind the mannequin you were currently dressing. Working part-time at an boutique was hard enough but, you made it your goal to reach above and beyond, farther than any student would ever dare to go past, you make your back to the table, sketching out a couple of ideas that had just popped into your head after measuring the life-size doll. You bring your hand out to grab your marble cup, to sip on the green tea you made earlier that morning. 

The shop wasn't open yet since it was still the earlier hours of dawn, but the ring of the bell in the front indicated someone was in too much of a rush to pay attention to the sign outside, reading 'CLOSED' Bringing your eyes up, you see a man. He wore a faded black grid plaid blazer, paired with a tucked-in white tee, and Levi's jeans. It was simple, yet so chic his choice of attire already said so much about him. He seems sophisticated, better than you. He knew that. "Hello?" He asked, looking around and above the clothing racks to look for a worker. "Right here," You reply, waving at him motioning him to come forth. "You do know we don't open for another," You look over at your wrist to the watch, "20 minutes." You finish, you notice him raise his hand to scratch the back of his head awkwardly, informing you he walked in so fast he forgot, "It's fine, what can I help you with?" You ask him. "I need a little hemming done on this blazer, could you do that?" He requested, you hum looking him up and down before getting up from your seat. You ask him to remove the blazer so you can chalk it, what you didn't expect was the boy to be pretty ripped. His arms were a sight you didn't miss. He was older than you, a good 8 years probably. "Are you gonna hem or just stare at me?" He laughs, looking at you fondly as you go reddish, “Right.”

"Here you go, on the house," You say, handing his blazer back, fitting him more perfectly than it probably did in the first place. He throws a quick thanks before running out. You grab the stranded marble mug with your now, room-temperature green tea, still sipping on it as if it was freshly made. What you don't expect to see out the display window is the man,  jogging right back in. "Can I-" He pauses to bend over panting, how fast did he run? After catching his breath he swoops his hair back to look at you once more. "Can I get your number?"

OCTOBER 2018

It had been almost seven months since you've started dating, Chittaphon. After his, not so exceptional gesture of asking you out, he had been trailing behind you like a lost puppy until you agreed. Who would reject such a cutie though, you had to be mad. You've learned over time that he was a professor, for literature in the East end of Dongguk University or other words; your school. The two of you weren't aware of this until he had strolled into the West end of Dongguk to the Economics side. The first set of eyes he met were yours while entering the lecture hall, he was shocked and you were ashamed. It was a misunderstanding, he thought you are attending a school online, but you were taking online courses until September. Sooner or later reality will take a toll on you two, your love, but now, you enjoy it while you can.

SEPTEMBER 2020

It's been 2 years and 4 months since you've met Chittaphon and 2 years since you've met Mr.Lee, you have to admit it's been quite a fun year indeed. You've both had your ups and downs, risks, were most definitely performing an immense part in preserving your relationship, making sure you two stay inline and don't get in over your heads, there have been days where you were almost caught by students, faculty and even your friends. "We've been together for a little over two years now Y/n, I think we should celebrate," Chittaphon said, hand grazing over your thigh, laying beside you in your shared bed. "I don't think so, you almost got us caught today with what you pulled in the Computer Lab." You say rolling your eyes, too focused on your phone. He sighs in defeat, opting to cuddle away his hard-on. Yours enclosed around him holding him close as his leg flung over you, arm tightened around your waist. He made sure you felt his teeny pecks with his head in the crook of your neck, "Stop, sleep." You mumble Chittaphon sees you are still idling on your device so he pulls his teacher-card, "You have to attend a class tomorrow Y/n, I think getting some shut-eye is what you need, right?" He said in that voice which boomed over the empty room- you fire back, "You have to TEACH a class tomorrow Mr.Lee I think you need more sleep than me." You state hearing his whine beside your ear, knowing how badly he just lost that. "Please Y/n, I just want to cuddle you and kiss you, Please, for me?" This time he opted to whine, oh god what a child you thought chuckling to put your phone away. You bring your hand up from his back to comb your fingers through his hand, lightly massaging his scalp knowing it puts him to bed fast.

SEPTEMBER 2020

"Y/n L/n? Is there a Y/n L/n?" Mr.Lee, who's voice boomed throughout the auditorium. Your grin was slapped off, as you nervously stand from your seat, "Yes? That's me," You say licking your lips, "I need to discuss your proposal for the literature contest you are applying for, please stay after class." He said watching you nod, sitting back down in your seat. He nods and continues his conversation with some students upfront. I can't believe out of all the teachers available, they pick Chittaphon to sub this class. You mentally face-palm at yourself and your boyfriend for causing such a scene, now everyone is gonna think you are bad at literature, only the dumb kids get held back! Finally the end of class, you get up along with the 50 other students in the class to walk over to the door, you stood by the entrance, waiting for everyone to leave the room, "How horny do you have to be to make me stay after class?!" You shout at the man in front of you, whacking him with your textbook. "Hey! I'm not horny!" He shouts in defence, "I wanted to talk with you about your contest entry." At least he tried to look believable. I mean this pent up sexual frustration hasn't been used, due to recent school projects which required a lot of energy which couldn't be wasted. But you didn't have any more classes and Mr.Lee was available for another hour. You walk over to sit on his desk, "Mr.Lee" You say interrupting him in the middle of his sentence, "I think we should focus on something more important," Pointing your finger over at his growing buldge. He walks over, your quick to grab his tie pulling him closer, between your legs, rubbing your clothed core against his pants. "I think so too," He told you before you brought up your hands to the base of his neck pulling him in.  

One hand was over your mouth suppressing any noises you were making from the sensation of having Chittaphon's cock stuffed in you. I guess calling him Mr.Lee brings out his dark side. He's been relentlessly pounding into you like crazy, nonstop. You've come like what once? Twice? Keeping up at this point was too hard to calculate, But Chittaphon was about to paint your walls with his cum all over again if you keep clenching around his thick cock. Your back arches; reaching your climax again as he came. "You did so well babe," He praised, grabbing the tissue box beside you to wipe his liquid off you. "You're so hot," You tell him, getting up fixing your physical appearance, your dress was pulled up to your stomach, and your panties, which were in his mouth. After retrieving your undergarments from Chittaphon (which was a challenge itself) you help him fix himself up, buttoning his shirt and doing his tie. "There, as handsome as always." You cooed ruffling his hair around, "You got a class, and I gotta go make dinner,", "Short-ribs?" He questioned remember you were talking about it last night. You nod,  "Correct, Bye-bye I love you" You finish dashing out the door, leaving him alone in the silent room which was filled with both of your sinful noises not too long ago

[anobscurename]

ocean eyes – chris evans

PART I | PART II | PART III | PART IV | PART V | PART VI

concept: after a power outage cuts the heating, body warmth is the highest currency in the evans household. the slowest of slow burns, part 7 of many

pairing: chris evans x reader

word count: 1,1k

warnings: grumpy evans, loyal dodger, painfully slow burn

author's note: i just want them to kiss at this point but i meant what i said with slowest of slow burns

It was rare but not unheard of, power outages in the Hollywood Hills.

Many of the houses – if you could even call them that, those absurdly large homes of the elite dwarfing any and all buildings in your old neighbourhood – ran on on-premises generators.

Chris' place – your newfound home – was halfway to being one such house. He had a generator, but it was a manual start-up should the grid fail.

And fail the grid did, but only while it was well late into the night.

The temperatures in California were not particularly forgiving, even in summer. During the day, the heat was oppressive. But during the night...

It was the heating dying that had woken you up. The room still held some warmth, but your sheets were already starting to cool, causing you to withdraw your knees to your chest.

Another contributor to the fast lowering of temperature was the open en-suite bathroom door. The tiles were warmth's enemy, leeching all of it from the coziness you had enjoyed. In spite of your reluctance – horror movies had really done some permanent damage to your nighttime paranoia of psycho killers residing in the darkness – you agreed to keep it open after one specific night.

Chris had been home for a while at that point – around a week – and Dodger had spent almost every second at his side aside from quick good morning greetings to you or the numerous kisses you'd get on the grass of the expansive garden should you be around long enough to join the inseparable duo.

At some point, your morning routine had become sleeping in – until Chris began the ritual of letting Dodger into your room to drag you out of bed.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," he'd smirk from behind his cup of coffee, watching as you groggily stumbled – looking fifty shades of bedraggled – into the kitchen, eyes squinting into the light.

He was almost always met with a sarcastic smile, and sometimes – if it was a particularly good dream you'd been "kissed" awake from – you'd even flip him off.

But at some point, Dodger started to miss you a little too. You could hear him pawing insistently at your bathroom door – having escaped Chris for the night and deciding to room with you for the remainder of it – begging to be let in.

You hadn't responded one night, guilty in your selfishness. Exhaustion had weighed you down, and you didn't want to leave the comfort of your bed. That was when Dodger started whining, howling for your company.

So you and Chris had agreed to keeping the doors open to the conjoining bathrooms, only at night. And, should you require it, closing the door as quietly as possible so as to not awake the other person. It was a respectable enough arrangement, and it didn't come without its perks.

One such as now.

Deciding the cold was too much to suffer alone, you sat up and patted your bed. Your movements were exaggerated, loud enough to alert the pup, but hopefully not loud enough to wake his owner.

You heard Dodger shift on Chris' bed, head raising from where it rested on Chris' shoulder, the charm on his collar tinkling with the movement.

"Dodger," you whisper-yelled. "Come here, boy."

You heard something else move – something bigger. Chris had slung a protective arm over Dodger, preventing his exit. "Don't you dare, bud," you heard Chris sleepily mumble.

"Dodger," you called louder. Your voice had taken on a sing-song quality, one you knew he responded well to.

"Dodge, buddy, stay here with me. You know how much I love you, bud, stay. Don't listen to her, ignore the siren song, bud."

It was now a battle for Dodger's affections – but, more specifically (at least at that very moment), the heat Dodger radiated on a regular basis. He was a hot water bottle on legs, often keeping your feet toasty while you immersed yourself in whatever book you were currently reading.

"Dodger, baby!" you sang out.

That was enough to do it. You heard some shuffling, and then the sound of victory as Dodger's paws landed on the wooden floors of Chris' bedroom. Every clack of his claws was a punctuation of the fact that you had won, and Chris had lost.

He scampered through the bathroom, and happily hopped onto your bed, circling his favourite spot – curled up right next to you – into a comfortable little patch. He flopped onto you with a huff, looking up at you with those adorably large eyes.

"Good boy!" You scruffed his head in praise.

Chris groaned. "Traitor!"

———————

It took twenty minutes, which surprised you. You didn't think he'd last fifteen, but after twenty minutes, you heard him.

Bare feet hit the floor in the other room, padding silently on the wood, before slapping grumpily onto the tiled floors of the bathroom, getting louder as he drew closer.

He paused in the doorway, and you feigned noticing him for the first time although you had been expecting him for at least five minutes.

You turned your head, eyebrows raised expectantly. Innocently, you batted your lashes. "Yes?"

Nothing could've prepared you for the sight you saw. It took everything in you not to laugh.

Chris stood in your doorway, blankets draped over his shirtless figure, clung tightly by dejected hands. His head was hung, lips pouty, eyes bleary with sleep. His hair stuck out every which way, and he was toeing the ground, almost shy in his sleepiness. His grumbles were husky, barely audible. "You stole my dog. Temptress."

And, without invitation – although it had already been on your lips, waiting to be extended – Chris stalked grumpily toward you, peeling back the covers on the other side of Dodger and clambered into your bed.

"I'm sleeping here," he stated simply. "And if you don't like it, there's an empty bed through there."

He had lazily gestured towards the bathroom, in the general direction of the room in question, before snuggling up to Dodger again.

"Fine, but only for tonight," you giggled softly. He was acting like such a spoiled little kid who had just lost his favourite toy, and it was highly amusing.

"You steal my dog, I steal your bed. Fair exchange."

"I mean, it's only logical. Preserving body heat."

He hummed in agreement, eyes already slid closed, breath already evening out. You weren't sure if he had even heard you.

He looked so peaceful when he slept.

The sight was almost enough to make you ignore the thousand butterflies that had suddenly come alive in your stomach, stoking the fire in the pit of your belly, at the thought – now made tangible – of Chris Evans in your bed.

Almost.

[xxkellsvixen19xx]

Spotlight: A Life Of A Troubled Celebrity Heartthrob Ch 8

Word Count: 3,940

"Y/N, I need you in your dressing room now," Michelle grabbed mt arm as soon as we stepped out of the limo, "we don't have much time." She hurried them along, security surrounding them at every turn.

"I'll see you in a bit sweets," Colson called out and blew her a kiss as they separated.

Y/N blew one back and he caught it, causing her to blush furiously.

"I see your husband has beefed up your shadows," Michelle said wryly.

"Yeah, yeah he has. I don't have a say in the matter unfortunately," Y/N shrugged.

"Can't blame him though. You and Colson have been the entertainment headline news ever since he announced your wedding on social media," Michelle opened the door of the dressing room and Y/N followed behind.

"Please remove your clothes and wear this gown," Michelle handed her a short black silk gown

"Really? We've been on the news?" Y/N furrowed her brows, wanting to continue the previous conversation.

"Sweetheart, which planet have you been living on? Anything to do with Colson Baker is news. Sit," Michelle commanded as she pulled out a chair.

"I kinda went of the grid after..you know?"

"I know," Michelle gave her a knowing look and laughed, "I can tell by the marks he left on your body sweetie."

"Oh," Y/N covered her face, embarrassed.

"No need to be ashamed," Michelle laughed, "if I wasn't already married to Byron I would gladly stand in line to jump Colson's bones," she joked, "so does he live up to his rep or nah?" she pried.

"What?" Y/N blushed again.

"Sorry. I don't mean to pry," she pursed her lips.

"No, no. It's okay. I'd like to think we're friends?" Y/N asked.

"Of course! I should be hurt that you'd even-" she held the make-up brush mid-air.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Y/N squeezed Michelle's hand, "but he was more than I ever thought or imagined!" she gushed.

"I knew it!" They giggled like a pair of giddy school girls. They were interrupted when someone knocked at the door.

"Michelle," Colson cleared his throat as he stood at the door, "can you excuse us for a minute?"

"Make it quick and don't even think of spoiling her hair and make-up," Michelle glared at him before leaving the room.

"Well.. you heard the lady Bambi.." Colson locked the door and discarded his t-shirt at the door. He flexed his muscles like he had just entered a boxing ring.

"Colson..noo," Y/N held out her hands in a futile attempt to stop him from getting to her.

"I prefer it when you scream out yes.." he lifted her off the chair and switched places with her. She straddled him as he trailed hot kisses on her neck, causing her to lose herself in him.

"Michelle.."

"Can wait.." he claimed her mouth possessively and all resistance crumbled..

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

Good Evening Brussels!! How's everyone doing toniiight???!" Colson bounced onto the stage like he owned the world and everything in it.

The crowd went ballistic and he reveled in their screams and shouts. "Colson! Colson! Colson!"

He smiled and made a turn round the stage, psyching himself up for his performance. He ran from one end of the stage to the other touching and high-fiving as many fans as possible. Some fangirls passed out as soon as he made contact with them and guys ran around in circles. The crowd was in a frenzy and Colson hadn't even started performing yet!

"COLSON BAKER WE LOVE YOU!" the fans chanted over and over again.

"I LOVE YOU ALL! I LOVE YOU BRUSSELS!" Colson shouted over the screams and shouts as he sprinted from one end to the other one last time. More screams, crying and fainting ensued. The paramedics would be busy tonight.

"Tonight we have a very special guest on the ones and twos-please give it up for my one and only doe-eyed beauty-my wife Y/N Baker!!" Colson swept his hand towards Y/N as she stood behind the sound engineers desk. She waved shyly and slipped on her headphones. She was going to be taking Slim's place as sound engineer and DJ for the night. Michelle had dressed her up in a short Saint Laurent sequin embellished cocktail dress, epitomizing the band's statement sex appeal. She looked daring and fearless and it was a head-turning number, She completed the look with studded leather boots and her hair was a 80s messy look .

"You're looking hooot baby!" He winked at her and walked back to the edge of the stage. "I just want to give a shout out to my wife for taking care of me when I was sick. I don't know many people that would wipe puke off my face -for free-but you did it babe. I'm so grateful for you. This first song is for you sweets," he winked at her and positioned himself on a high-stool, "The song is called "Hangover Cure ," Colson strummed his guitar and his angelic voice resounded all over the stadium.

The audience was undoubtedly entranced and mesmerized by Colson. He had a commanding stage presence that sucked everyone in and all they could do was be fixated on him and him alone. Girls in the crowd were openly crying like he was singing the song to them and when he hit his signature high notes they were in a state of delirium. Banners and placards went up everywhere with words expressing how much his fans loved him. And he was truly loved by all of them.

Colson continued the next several songs on a mellow vibe and the crowd was falling more and more in love with this side of him. At one point he removed his baseball jacket and gave it to an adoring fan; who ran around the stage like a headless chicken. Of course the paramedics had to be called in to remove her from the stage after she had passed out.

"So tonight we're going to switch things up a bit," Colson carefully laid his guitar down and stood up again, "I'm going to get a few fans from the crowd to come up here and we're going to sing some of your favorite songs together. Can we do that?" The fans roared in agreement.

"I hope you all still have your ticket stubs cos' I'm just going to randomly call out a ticket number and if it belongs to you then you get to do a duet with me. That okay?" Colson grinned and the fans went wild.

"For the purpose of time and logistics, I'll call them out all at once and I hope you can make it to the front..if not then we will have to pick out someone else okay? Ready? Here goes..Drum roll please!" Colson said dramatically.

"Ticket number 2005, 5721; uhh-3688; 1012, 4562 and last one-6000? Please make your way to the front and produce your ticket to protocol otherwise..you all know the drill," Colson drank some water and a crew member rushed forward to wipe down his body. He wasn't feeling well but he pushed himself, he had to. "Music please," he called out to his band before hurrying over to Y/N.

"Sweets, I don't feel one hundred. Can we please go backstage for a few minutes?" he whispered in her ear and she nodded.

"Bathroom-" he ran to the restroom, clutching his stomach and Y/N asked security to wait outside while she checked on him.

"Are you okay babe?" she tapped on the door lightly.

"Yeah..noo-" he grunted before she heard him spilling his guts into the lavatory again.

"I'm coming in," Y/N announced, his meds and a bottle of water in her hand. She found him seated on the floor, with his back against the wall. His face was pale and his forehead had beads of sweat. Y/N handed the pills and water to him; then started to wipe him down with his face towel.

"Sorry," Colson held her against him.

"It's okay," Y/N gave him a weak smile, "I need to rinse out your towel, I'll be right back okay?"

"Hey! Are you guys okay?" Jax called out from outside, "Can I come in?"

"Come inside Jax," Y/N swung the door open and walked back to Colson, Jax close on her heels.

"Hey, are you okay kid?" Jax crouched next to Colson's slouched frame.

"Yeah, please get Byron to get a supporting act to cover for me for a while. I'll go and lie down in my dressing room for a bit. Help me up?" Jax pulled him off the floor effortlessly.

"I've already told Byron to take care of it. You sure you want to continue?" Jax asked skeptically.

"I will have to manage somehow..can't let the fans down. Beside I just have fan-dues and then I'll be done," Colson said as he put his arm around Y/N for support.

"If you're sure.." Y/N looked at him with concern.

"I'll be okay sweets; stop stressing," Colson leaned forward and kissed her temple.

"Fine," Y/N muttered.

"Okay, I'll leave you two to rest then. Will half-an-hour be enough?" Jax asked as they stopped in front of the dressing room?

"Yeah," Colson nodded.

"Okay, I'll be here to escort you back on stage," Jax replied.

Y/N opened the door for him and helped him lie down on the soft couch.

"Stay with me?" He pleaded. Y/N lay down next to him and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Your body is so hot," Y/N said in alarm.

"Ooh, tell me more baby.." he drawled and buried his nose in her neck.

"Colson, I'm serious..you're burning up," she turned to face him.

"Shh..stop worrying," he kissed her forehead, "I've taken my medication so I'll be fine in a minute. Go to sleep baby."

"You go to sleep Baker," she replied, "I'll be right here," she said softly.

"Thank you baby," he said before he drifted off to sleep.

*********************************************

"Are we really going to the after party?" Y/N frowned at her husband.

"Yes WE are!" Colson laced his hands with hers. They were standing in the foyer at the hotel where the after party was already in full swing.

"But you're not well?" she raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow, courtesy of Michelle.

"We won't stay for long. Promise," he kissed her chastely, "I have to make an appearance you know that right? Plus I really need to get you home so I can finish off what we started in the dressing room.." he nuzzled her neck

"Hmm..and no drinking tonight? Agreed," she looked at him with her pretty E/C eyes.

"Sweets, come on!" he whined, "can we just go and have fun please? I could really use it," he massaged his temple with one hand.

"Why are you avoiding my question?? I'm watching you Baker," she eyed him suspiciously.

"I don't mind baby," he hugged her and gave her a long kiss.

"That's blackmail," she said, breathless.

"Is it working?" His breath danced on her lips.

"Let's go," she pushed him away playfully, "I really need to get this over and done with so I can go home and rest. I'm overdue on sleep."

"Sorry, that's my fault, I know," he said sheepishly.

"Just remember that when partying the night away and I have to drag you home," she muttered under her breath.

"I heard that Mrs Baker," he laughed softly as he hugged her waist.

"Good," she replied.

"What's he doing here?" Colson froze and Y/N followed his gaze. It landed on Slim. Jax and Byron were arguing with him in a corner.

"Let Jax handle it okay?" Y/N put her hands against his chest and pushed him back gently, "Let it go. Please?"

"Fine," he said through gritted teeth and walked away.

"Hey Colson! Hi Colson! Great show Colson!" was all Y/N heard as Colson held her hand all night.

"I need the bathroom," Y/N whispered in Colson's ear.

"Let me come with you," he stood up with her.

"No. Stay with your friends," she said with a wave of her hand, "I just spotted Ash so I'll go with her," Y/N pointed over to where Ashleigh was standing.

"You're sure? Slim is lurking about so I'm a bit uneasy," he confessed.

"I'll be fine okay"" she kissed the side of his mouth and he smiled.

"If you're going to kiss me then you should make it count Bambi," he crushed his lips against hers and kissed her breathless.

"Hurry back before I start missing you," he said as a parting shot.

"Hey there stranger!" Ashleigh practically jumped on her.

"Hey! Careful," Y/N giggled.

"How have you been? How are you handling having your face and relationship splashed all over the tabloids?" Ashleigh asked.

"Colson prefers it if I don't see that," Y/N replied, "probably doesn't want me to get worked up I guess,"

"So you've already become the little submissive wife have you? You consummated the marriage yet?" she smiled and nudged Y/N with her elbow.

"Something like that.." She laughed.

"I want all the deets but let's go and get something to drink first," Ashleigh pulled her over to the bar.

"I really didn't want to drink today Ash.." Y/N said hesitantly.

"Just have one with me?? We haven't hung out for a while..please?" Ashleigh coaxed.

"Okay fine," Y/N sighed in defeat, "just one," she held up her index finger for emphasis. They went to the bar and Ashleigh ordered two cosmos.

"Can we go to the bathroom?" Y/N shifted around in agitation, "otherwise I will pee on myself," Ashleigh laughed as she handed Y/N her drink.

"Let's just go up and use the one in my room?" Ashleigh suggested and Y/N nodded, "I-uh-need to get my phone. Need to take pics you know. It's our last week on tour," she said as the stepped into the elevator.

"Sommer!" they cried out in shock. Sommer was curled up in a ball, whimpering in the corner of the elevator. Her face was badly bruised, her nose was bleeding and she was a mess. Usually she was well dressed, without a hair out of place but tonight she looked like a junkie.

"Who did this to you?" Y/N demanded as she crouched next to Sommer.

"Just leave me alone okay!?!" Sommer snapped, "you and your perfect little life! Just leave me alone! Go away!" she yelled.

"I want to help you!" Y/N said, forlorn, "please allow me to help you?"

"Let's take her to her room, Maybe she needs to clean up a bit and sleep it off," Ashleigh looked around, nervous.

"If you're sure..?" Y/N said hesitantly.

"Look, why don't you go use the bathroom in my room and I will take care of Sommer? I'm sure Slim must already be looking for her of something," Ashleigh babbled.

"No! No Slim!" Sommer backed away in fear, "don't call him. Please?" she grabbed my arm.

"Okay, I won't," Y/N assured her. Something strange was going on here but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Come on Sommer let's get you cleaned up. You'll need a change of clothes as well," Y/N steered her in towards her hotel room.

"Let me do it!" Ashleigh said too quickly, "well..since you needed the bathroom so badly-I can help Sommer. You go ahead-I got this," she said with a tight smile.

"Okay.." Ashleigh was acting very strange today, maybe she was high on something, Y/N thought. Y/N looked walked into Ashleigh's hotel room and got a sense of foreboding but she just shrugged it off. She went into the bathroom and relieved herself and as he was washing her hands she heard hotel room door open.

She thought it was Ashleigh so she hurried out of the bathroom to find Slim standing at the doorway with a smug expression on his face.

"Hello Bambi..so glad you could make it," he slammed the door shut and locked it.

********************************************

Y/N stared at Slim as he stood at the door, lazily leaning against it. He looked at her the was a lion on Animal Planet would eye it's prey before it moved in for the kill.. This was like déjà vu to Y/N but this time she wasn't going down without a fight. She had to think quickly before he had his way with her and by the way he was undressing her with his eyes, he was going to pounce on her any minute from now. Her short cocktail dress would make it so much easy for him.

"I've waited for this day for a very long time and I'm going to savor every inch of that delectable body.." he licked his lips and continued to trail his eyes down her body.

She was saved by a loud pounding on the door that startled both her and Slim.

"Slim!" Sommer called out from behind the door, "I know what you and Ashleigh planned-don't do it! Please! I'm begging you!" she said her voice breaking.

Y/N took this opportunity and dashed back into the bathroom and locked the door. If Sommer kept up the racket long enough then help would arrive soon. Slim snarled and he pounded on the door; Y/N searched around frantically for an opening but found none.

"You can try and run from me but you're only prolonging the inevitable," he taunted as he tried to beat the door down, "I'm going to have you and you're going to enjoy it my precious."

Y/N was wringing her hands, trying to figure a way out when her eyes fell on her Apple Watch that Colson had got her just last week. She quickly scrolled to the phone app and dialed Colson's number and he answered on the second ring.

"Hey I've been looking all over-"

"Help me please! I'm stuck in the bathroom in Ashleigh's room and Slim is outside-he tried to-he wants to-" Y/N's voice broke-.

" I'll be on my way. Hang tight okay?" Colson rang off.

The room was silent and she couldn't hear Slim moving around so she began to panic. What was he up to? Suddenly the bathroom door swung open and Slim stood with a self-satisfied smirk.

"I know how to pick locks my precious," he held a paper clip between his fingers. He threw the pin on the floor and locked the bathroom door again from the inside. Y/N tried to back away but the room was constricted. She started to hyperventilate and pressed redial on her phone, wishing and hoping that Colson would get here quicker.

"Told you..you can run but.." he trailed his finger along her cheekbone and she spat in his face.

"You're going to regret that," Slim  gave her a dagger and pushed her against the tiled wall, "I'm sorry this is going to be quick and rough..I would have liked to take it slow but time is not on our side," he grabbed her roughly, lifted her up and placed her on top of the sink. Y/N began to scratch at his face and to kick and scream, but he grabbed her hands and tied them with his bandana.

"You're making this so hard for yourself precious..if you would just give in then we would enjoy the ride together but-I guess you like it rough," he tried to yank her dress further up her thighs but it was too tight and it was proving to be difficult. He pulled her off the sink and pushed her against the wall, "turn around," he said roughly. She faced the wall and started to cry.

"Save your tears for Colson. They're not going to work on me," he unbuckled his belt and she heard his pants fall to the floor.

"I'm not going to run like Scott. I'll just plead insanity due to drug addiction and they will let me go. I'm going to stick around so I can keep coming back for seconds," he pushed her face against the wall and whispered into her ear, "that's if you're good enough..hope I won't be disappointed Precious," he stuck his tongue in her ear and she cried out.

"Please don't!" she whimpered, her tears cascaded down her cheeks.

Suddenly, someone came crashing through the door and hurtled towards them. Slim had no time to register what was happening but a pair of hands grabbed his neck, threw him on the floor and started to strangle him. Y/N sank onto the floor and broke down. Sommer ran over to her and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry Y/N-I didn't know-" Sommer cried along with Y/N, "he and Ashleigh had planned it. I had nothing to do with it-I swear! Please believe me!"

"Colson!" Jax shouted, "You're going to kill him-let go!"

"Death is too good for this scum!" Colson screamed as Jax and the other body guards dragged him off Slim. His eyes fell on Y/N and he dashed over to her. She had passed out probably due to shock or relief or maybe both.

Slim took advantage of the distraction and made his escape, spluttering and fighting for breath. Jax eyed him warily and decided to let him go. He knew he would be back.

"It's okay sweets. I'm here now. You're safe. I got you baby." he lifted her limp form in his arms and carried her out of the room.

"Do you want me to go after him?" Jax walked beside them.

"No. I'll get him. One way or another, I'll get him," Colson narrowed his eyes, "I want you to get that spawn of Judas-Ashleigh. I want her to look me in the eye and explain why she did what she did to my wife," the elevator doors slid open and Jax held them back to allow Colson to step inside.

"She's already in a car and is on her way to the house," Jax reported, "I have a few things to say to her as well. I hope we're pressing charges? We can't let them walk-Y/N deserves justice," he said vehemently as he opened the car door.

"Oh we're going to make them pay..then we're going to hand them over to the police," Colson laid Y/N inside and jumped in beside her.

Colson clenched and unclenched his fist as he looked out the window. Ashleigh had messed with the wrong person. He was going to deal with her personally. Her career was officially over before it even began.

"Jax, can we make a quick stop at a hospital? I need to make sure she's okay," Colson caressed Y/N's face as she lay on his lap, "plus we need to gather evidence."

"Sure thing Boss," Jax nodded.

Colson hoped and prayed that he had got there on time but Slim's pants were down and Y/N's dress was-he shook his head and blinked his eyes rapidly. He couldn't-didn't want to even think about it. His heart bled a thousand times when he thought about what he saw when they crashed through the door. He shouldn't have allowed her to go with that snake-he should have listened to his gut; trusted his instinct.

Now Y/N was a wreck and it would take a while to piece her back together again.

[mish-tique]

hii i’m loving your fics and looking forward to reading more! i’ve started to get into abo thanks to you so i thought i’d request an abo fic with pierre/max (alpha pierre and omega max preferred) kind of a didn’t know they were dating kind of situation where everyone assumes they are together because of how much they smell of each other and them eventually realizing they like each other, would love to also see people’s reaction when they realize they weren’t dating before

hi sweetie!

Thank you for your kind words! I'm really happy you like my fics and that I have made you enjoy omegaverse a bit more. Your prompt sounded really cute so here we go! I made it a college au so I apologise if you wanted a grid au, don't be afraid to message me if you want something else!

Might not be perfect but it was really cute to write so....

Here we gooo, hit "read more" to read the whole thing or follow this link to my ao3 account.

“Pierre, what are we eating tonight?”

“The better question would be if you have done the groceries today.”

“….I can go right now.”

“I’ll look up something for tonight as long as you get me the stuff I need. We need to cook properly more often, you like to order in way too much.”

Max just raises an eyebrow at Pierre because while technically his flatmate isn’t wrong, it’s not his fault that he can’t cook. The alpha opens his laptop and Max already knows he’s going through his bookmarks. Pierre liked reading those food blogs while Max never understood what could be so enjoyable about reading recipes. He has no right to complain though, Pierre’s cooking abilities most likely is the only thing keeping them alive.

Two years ago they both started the same college course. Since secondary genders were mixed the teachers wanted to stimulate intergender communication and work by always pairing an omega and an alpha. More often than not Max was stuck with alpha’s who thought they didn’t need to do anything. That Max would just do everything like they asked and that those assholes would just get good grades. But he wasn’t like that. During his life he had been surrounded by quite a few older and strong-willed omega’s that showed him that he didn’t need to listen to anyone’s commands. So when his partner was too much of an asshole he’d just turn in his project with only his name on it.

Pierre though, he had been the first alpha that threated him with complete respect. It made the progress on the projects way easier and Max enjoyed having someone he could work together nicely with. Teachers must have noticed that both their names were always on the project and paired them together more often. After that they started to sit together during classes, breaks and even plan stuff outside of school. Their friendship developed quite fast and they soon went from discussing project plans to looking for flats they could rent together.

Renting houses was quite expensive in this area was way too expensive to go without a flatmate for long. That had been the sole reason for moving in, but Max definitely didn’t mind being able to spend more time with Pierre. Traveling home alone as an omega after a night of projects, movies or even drinking became annoying quite fast. Pierre did offer to walk him home for safety but they soon developed a rhythm in which they just stayed over, sometimes even sleeping in the same bed. It felt safe, not that Max wanted to admit that to anyone.

“Found it,” Pierre announces and Max observes how he notes down all the ingredients on their grocery list, making it even longer than it already was. It slightly annoys him because grocery shopping isn’t his favorite thing to do.

“I’ll back in an hour,” he tells the alpha with a pout, getting a roll of his eyes and a smile in return. “You’re going to get food, not present the results of your research to Ms. Grocher. Stop acting like you’re going to die, you idiot.”

“It’s close enough,” Max argues and he leaves their apartment with a laugh. Grocery shopping isn’t even that hard, Pierre actually notes down the stuff in order of how you walk through the shop. That way he doesn’t have to search for everything individually, because Pierre soon found out that sometimes left the omega in the shop for half a day, or coming home with only half of the stuff they needed.

It’s not too busy, which is a relief. Being stifled by scents, hormones and have bodies pressing against him that aren’t Pierre’s isn’t something Max was looking forward to. That one song the alpha had on repeat this week is stuck in his head so he hums it and he starts planning what they could do this weekend.

Lando said he needed an omega night this weekend so he’s going to be gone on Friday night. But maybe he could watch a movie with Pierre on Saturday night? And the weather was supposed to be amazing on Sunday so they could go shopping first before visiting the park.

And Pierre had been talking about getting a cat too so maybe they could call the shelter so they could visit on Sunday? He hadn’t been completely convinced at first but the more he saw Pierre’s eyes sparkle when talking about it, the more he was willing to incline. The image of them sitting in the sun on their balcony with the little feline playing around their feet doesn’t stop it either.

“Yo, Verstappen! Are you going to keep ignoring me?

A mad French accent stops his planning and he’s suddenly faced with Charles. “What no,” he replies, “I wasn’t ignoring you at all.”

Charles gives him an unimpressed look, the familiar scent of the omega softly interacting with his. “You’ve been staring at that shrimp for 5 minutes now. Unless it reminds you of Pierre I can’t imagine it’s that interesting.”

Why would it remind him of Pierre?

Wait. He really has been slow today so he shakes his head. “No of course it doesn’t you pervert, stop thinking about his dick please. I’ve just been thinking about our plans for this weekend.”

A grin appears on Charles’ face and Max really feels like he’s missing something. “Anything special? Pierre doesn’t tell me anything lately.”

“Well, Friday night is going to be with you guys. I’m going to look for a movie for Saturday to make up for it and we’re probably going to go shopping and visit the shelter on Sunday. You know how Pierre has been talking about getting a cat,” he explains.

“Wait, you’re getting a kid together?” Max can literally smell how surprised the other omega is, but honestly has Charles hit his head?

“No, we’re getting a cat. Like I just told you.”

“Man Max, how are you a top student when you’re this slow? One day there is going to be an alpha who tricks you into being his. Getting pets together is like starting a family, those little rats are going to be part of you two. Lord knows how the two of you got together, both of you can be so oblivious.”

Should he start worrying about Charles? “Pierre and I aren’t-“

But before he could fully explain that Charles misunderstood, he’s getting called away. “I’ll come to visit after the two of you get your kid, I want to see the little rat!”

“Who says I’m going to let you?!”

Max is still grumbling about it when he gets home. How is it that Charles is that confused about the two of them? He doesn’t pay Pierre much mind, walking past him to the kitchen without saying much. This has never been something Max had to overthink but now it feels like he’s years too late.

Suddenly there are two warm hands on his hips and he feels Pierre stand behind him. He gets pulled back into somewhat of a hug and he’s being scented. It’s strange because Pierre normally doesn’t do it like this, so out of nowhere. They live together so of course they smell like each other, sometimes scenting each other after a bad day, after news or just on the couch while watching a movie. But he doesn’t resist it because it smells like home, it’s warm and relaxing and it stops Max from stressing over Charles’ words.

Because as much as he couldn’t explain it to Charles, he can’t explain it to himself either. They live together, always have plays together and he really enjoys Pierre’s company. He really hopes it’s the other way around too because he wouldn’t mind staying like this, together, for a long time. He wouldn’t mind staying like this forever, his mind corrects him, because he really doesn’t know how he would cope if he would have to do everything without Pierre.

And that realization scares him as much as it settles him down. Because it’s new, risky and it could have him loose everything but at the same time it explains so much. Even Charles’ words make sense now. Together with Pierre, Max feels like he could take on the world. And having a little kitten with them would feel like the first extension of their family.

Yet it’s scary that he could lose everything that is this because he doesn’t truly know if Pierre feels the same.

“Max, love, what’s wrong? Can you tell me what happened, sweetheart?”

Pierre’s scent is concerned, his hug from behind even stronger and Max never realized just how much the alpha seemed to care about him too. “Why aren’t we one yet?”

He doesn’t specify anything because they could be so much. They could be boyfriends, lovers, mates, each other’s and so much more. Hell, even family could be used to describe it but he’s so unsure of what Pierre would want them to be that he doesn’t dare to label it.

Max feels Pierre still and he stops breathing for a second. This could go so wrong. “Would you be willing?”

The question is soft and sweet and everything Max would want to hear but something in him breaks because he has never heard Pierre so insecure. It triggers something in him because how can Pierre not see that he would give up the world if the alpha asked. He breaks free from the alpha’s grip, turns around and faces Pierre. “I would be more than willing,” he promises.

He can smell their scents spiking and he looses himself in the feeling of Pierre kissing him, scenting him, marking him. He has never felt this whole before and he has absolutely no regrets. It’s like he found that last thing he didn’t know yet his heart was missing.

“Please, please,” he begs, not even quite sure what he’s truly asking for. He just knows that after so long he wants to be Pierre’s, completely his. And have the alpha as his to have, to share his life with.

“Are you sure? Max, I want you to be completely sure, I can’t have you regret this,” Pierre asks him and the alpha’s voice grounds him, breaks him free from the desperation and the want for a few seconds. Just long enough.

“I’ve never been so sure of something,” he replies and lets himself be lead into the bedroom they’ve been sharing most nights, too lazy to go to their own. Anything else is forgotten, he only feels the love he holds for Pierre.

It’s omega night and he’s jittery for some reason. Like he wants to go home to Pierre but he doesn’t have to be, so why? It’s strange because he has never been overly dependent on someone and he doesn’t like to be. But something in him longs for his alpha and he doesn’t completely hate it. Pierre told him that he should just enjoy tonight, they still had the whole weekend so he let himself enjoy the presence of the other omega’s. Or at least, he’s trying.

He’s in the middle of the omega pile, surrounded by calm and loving scents as he listens to the others give Lando advice on how to finally confess to Carlos. Hell, Max always thought the kid was hopeless about love but after last week he realized he was just as bad.

The conversation dies and Max finds himself hesitating, still somewhat scared to let himself be so vulnerable. “Did anyone else become really clingy after the first time together with their alpha?”

It’s silent for a second before Lando groans and mumbles, “Does this mean I have to wait more than a year before Carlos is going to fuck me?”

Seb sighs and apparently decides to interfere to calm the younger omega down. “No Lando, you don’t need to wait a year. You can wait if you want to, both are totally fine. It’s different for everyone. I’m sure Max just got reminded of the early stages of his relationship because of your talk.”

Well. Max doesn’t want to be the one to tell Seb that he’s wrong but he is, so it seems he has to. “We only got together a few days ago.”

Lando squeaks, “Does that mean I can get fucked that fast?”

Charles slaps Lando before sassing him. “You could’ve long been fucked already if you had just gotten your shit together and confessed. Carlos always gives you heart eyes,” before he turned to Max, “So you’re telling me you weren’t actually together when you told me about your little family plans?”

He shakes his head.

“How did you manage to live together with him so long before confessing your love to him? We could all see how smitten you guys were, hell we could even smell it. You two were disgustingly cute.”

Max thought about it for a bit. “Sometimes you don’t need to declare something for it to be. It just felt so right that I never really thought about it, it didn’t feel necessary. Now I know that maybe I should’ve because it made me even happier.”

“You smell disgustingly in love,” Charles tells him, “but for your information, I went into heat immediately after my first time. You might want to tell Pierre to prepare for that.”

Oh.

Oh.

Help.

[mister-softy]

Oblivion - A Nancy Holbrook Playlist

playlist

tracklist below the cut

notes: some of these selections don’t really fit with the film’s canon - i.e. i went with the alternate ending timeline, hence why there’s an angry revenge song towards the end. my vision for nancy’s life after the events of the story is that she and quentin get out of springwood and try to make a better life together, thus “exit music” and so on.

1. Mad World - Tears For Fears 

Went to school and I was very nervous

No one knew me, no one knew me

Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson

Look right through me, look right through me

And I find it kind of funny

I find it kind of sad

The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had

2. Waste of Paint - Bright Eyes

It's clear to see, it's not them, but me

Who's lost my self-identity

And I hide behind these books I read

While scribbling my poetry

Like art could save a wretch like me

With some ideal ideology

That no one could hope to achieve

And I'm never real, it's just a sketch of me

And everything I've made is trite and cheap and a waste

Of paint

Of tape

Of time

3. Oblivion - Grimes

I never look behind all the time

I will wait forever

Always looking straight

Thinking, counting all the hours you wait

See you on a dark night

See you on a dark night

See you on a dark night

See you on a dark night

4. In My Head - Bedroom

It consumes my mind

It consumes my soul

It wants my life, it wants complete control

Somebody help me before it's bad

Somebody help me before I end up dead

5. Toynbee Tiles - The Scary Jokes

There's a dozen round every corner

But it won't be easy to piece them together, no

But we've got minds like barbed wire

I never thought that it would be so tough

Just to exist through the simplest, most menial stuff

But I know we're gonna figure this thing out, or self-immolate trying

6. Body of Years - Mother Mother 

All the remains of a cadaver of days

I keep hidden away

Keep them there just in case

I wanna visit that place

Blow the dust from the bones

Off a body of years

That I leave all alone

7. Murders - Tally Hall 

I was in the middle ground

Looking to find the

Flowers in the garden

Wearying of the hate me hate me not

Wait they forgot

Woe oh the rot

Deeper in they crept

Oblivious of the bears and darker terrors

Or none were there

How did they dare

8. Lights Out, Words Gone - Bombay Bicycle Club

Keep your old and wasted words

My heart is breaking like you heard

But the town has always turned

These lies and made them all burn

9. Roslyn - Bon Iver & St. Vincent

Up with your turret

Aren't we just terrified?

Shale, screen your worry from what you won't ever find

Don't let it fool you

Don't let it fool you down

Dancing around, folds in her gown

10. Monsters - Ruelle

You've got no place to hide

And I'm feeling like a villain, got a hunger inside

One look in my eyes

And you're running 'cause I'm coming

Gonna eat you alive

Your heart hits like a drum

The chase has just begun

11. Exit Music (For A Film) - Radiohead

Wake

From your sleep

The drying of

Your tears

Today

We escape

We escape

Pack

And get dressed

Before your father hears us

Before

All hell

Breaks loose

12. Glowing Eyes - Twenty One Pilots

We all are stranger creatures than when we all started out as kids

Culture forbids

We have romantic fantasies about what dying truly is

Fall off the grid

We live for

The night's decor

It reveals what

We dream of

13. A Burning Hill - Mitski

And I've been a forest fire

I am a forest fire

And I am the fire and I am the forest

And I am a witness watching it

I stand in a valley watching it

And you are not there at all

[babybottlepop96]

Home Again Chapter 2

warnings: Same as the first chapter (reccommend reading chapter one first)

~10 Years Ago~

When Jean awoke, it was dark, wet, cold. The smell reminded him of that time he left a cheesesteak sub in his mother's fridge, stuffed all the way in the back and forgot about it, it smelled of rot, decay and death. The air was thick and he choked on it. When he tried to move, he couldn't, his hands behind his back and stuck to whatever wall was in the room, the feeling of mold and miss sticking to his hands had his stomach churning with disgust.

"Ah, looks like the runt is awake." A deep, raspy voice sounded, echoing off the walls and sounding much louder than what it probably was. Jean turned to the sound to see a doorway lit by a candle. Above the flame was a long, thin, stubble coated chin, a mouth of thin lips curled into a wicked smile showing off dark yellow and brown stained, crooked teeth, a short pug like nose and then eyes that seemed to burn a bright blue in the low light. The man was tall, lanky, but underneath the tight green shirt showed off toned muscle. "How you feeling princess?" 

Jean just looked at the man, "What's going on? Where am I?" He asked just above a whisper.

"Ah, straight to the point I see, well, ya see princess-" 

"Don't call me that." Jean hissed as a boney, calloused hand smacked him across the face.

"Don't back sass me boy!" The man's deep voice bellowed, causing the volume in the small space to vibrate the moist walls. "I will call you whatever the fuck I feel like!" The man pulled Jean up and pushed him against the wall, bending down a significant amount to get right into his face. Jean's nose scrunched as the smell of tobacco and whiskey invaded his nostrils. "You belong to the Nevidljiv now, you have no right to speak to anyone without permission. You will learn place, princess, and I will making fucking sure of it." The man sneered in his face. Jean's eyes widened and his body started to shake. What the fuck was happening? What is the Nevidlijiv? What's going to happen to me? All these questions ripped through Jean's mind as he was dropped to the floor, landing with a painful thud against the hard floor beneath him. "The quicker you learn, the less painful it'll be for you. So I suggest you do what your told the first time." The man looked at the young teen on the floor and smiled wickedly, "We start lessons in an hour." With that, the man and the source of light was gone. Jean was left alone in the cold, damp, dark space with just his thoughts.

~1 Hour Later~

Jean was suddenly dragged out from wherever he was, the sloshing of something thick and liquidy seeping into his work out sketchers. Jean let himself be taken, the words of the disgusting man from earlier still ringing in his ears, 'The quicker you learn, the less painful it'll be for you.' Jean was then led up a set of stairs, the air becoming less thick smelled more like tobacco and cinnamon scented candles. A door was swing open and Jean had to close his eyes before the blinding light that smacked in his face. "This the new kid?" Another man asked and Jean opened his eyes, only to stare into a pair of eyes, one white like cream and another eye that was like an olive green, staring back at him filled with an emotion that screamed hatred.

"Yes, sir. This one was found walking in the park only a few hours ago. Lappell found him." The man dragging him spoke, the man from earlier.

"Well, Lappell did a good job this time. Finally, a bitch that should make a decent penny if he is trained correctly. Thank you Marcus, you may leave the boy and do whatever." The man, Marcus, pushed Jean into the big, bright room and closed the door behind him. Jean stared at his surroundings, the white walls and high ceiling seemed to stretch on for forever, the only things that he could see that weren't white were the dark brown, leather couches and a baby blue door on the opposite side of the room. "Get a shower kid, then come back out. Do not make me wait longer then five minutes." The short, chubby man walked towards one of the couches and turned to look at Jean, who was standing frozen in place. "Don't make repeat myself boy!" The man yelled and Jean turned to the blue door, which he assumed was the bathroom and made a mad dash towards it, opening it and stumbling pass the threshold.

He was right, this was the bathroom, but the site of it made him want to vomit, it was dirty, spelled of shit, vomit and copper. Yellow stains covered the walls that he only assumed used to be a pristine white at one point. He quickly undressed and turned the shower on, he stepped in and let the burst of cold water drench him. He scrubbed off the dirt and sweat and everything else that seemed to cover his body in the amount of time from the morning he woke up to now. What day was it? The man, Marcus said a few hours, but was it longer? 

Jean got out of the shower only to find that his clothes were missing and he had no towel. Panic set itself within his body and he bagan to shake. Suddenly the door was ripped open, almost off it's hinges, and the shirt chubby man stood before him. Jean made aove to cover himself, but the man grabbed him arm and drug him towards the center of the two couches that now seated more men, all in dark business suits and perfectly styled hair, puffing cigars. "Men! Meet the newbie." The stubby man spoke…. Happily? 

"My, my, my. This one is a beauty! You really out done yourself this time Reggie." A pale man with peircing hazel eyes and cherry red hair spoke, lips curling into a smirk as he looked over Jean's naked form. Jean moved to cover himself again, but the red head snatched his hands. "Don't you dare cover yourself, boy. We quite like the view." Jean stared to shake again, he was not liking where the conversation suggested, he just wanted to bolt through the door Marcus brought him through, but he had no light, no clothes, no shoes, he didn't know where the hell he was or how he even got here. He was stuck and he was alone. 

"Spin around for us." Reggie spoke from his seat on the couch next to the red head. When Jean didn't move, a hand hit his face, the force giving Jean whiplash. "Spin around!" Jean nodded shakily, the faint taste of blood hitting his tounge as he slowly turned in a circle, hands balled at his sides as he concentrated on not covering up his dignity. "Good boy." Reggie purred like he was talking to a dog who just learned how to obey a simple command. "Who would like to break in the new toy first?"

~Present Day~

"Where the hell did you find him?!" Marco cried as he rushed to a sleeping Jean, holding a cold, pale, thin hand in his own warm, freckled, tan ones as a tear slowly slipped down a cheek.

"We went looking for a new maid, as you know since… Mrs. Kirstein passed, we haven't been able to find one quite as good as her. So we scouted for one at an auction." The young men were silent, all knowing how much everyone on this side of the state hated under ground auctions that sold off people for there own benefit. But Marco, knowing his father was desperate for a friend like Mrs. Kirstein, understood why he would've went so low. "We made it for the last fifteen minutes or so for the pleasure portion of the auction. None of us bothered to look and see who was being sold off, we didn't have the hearts, until the last person came out and the bids were flying out left and right, huge numbers, more then any other I've heard for being sold. I got curious and turned to see the one face I never thought I'd see again. Jean." 

Marco looked at the sleeping man and gently brushed some hair out of his face, his eyes roaming the expansive canvas of his body, bruises varying in color from blue, purple, yellow and green, all in various states of healing. The scars and freshly stitched wounds done by Dr. Yeager himself. His once almost smooth perfect body had been beaten on, dirtied, and touched by unknown men and possible women, he was put into pain and suffering for probably ten years. A while decade Marco wondered what had happened to Jean, and now he wasn't liking the reality of it. "Who had him?" He whispered as his fingers traced old wounds on jeans right arm.

"He was being sold throught a human trafficking organization known as The Nevidlijiv, it's Creation for Invisible. Meaning this organization it's soon secret, no one knows about it unless you know someone, someone powerful. It started back in the late 1800s by a group of men who wanted nothing more then to steal and use others weaker then themselves to.. keep them company, if you get my drift." Dr. Yeager informed and the rest of the young adults listen intently. "After a few years of kidnapping young men and women, they decided they wanted to make a pretty penny, so they started selling them. Always moving to different locations or even different countries to keep themselves off the grid. It's cash only, if it's traceable, it's not allowed. No phones or may other electronics are allowed in the places the auctions are held. Hence, invisible." Dr. Yeager looked at Jean's unconscious body and sighed, "And I'm afraid Jean here, was the top prize for those disgusting pigs. Sure, being the best means too care, but that doesn't exclude from anything else, he was probably treated worse because of being the top one to want." 

Marco could feel the tears cascading down his freckles cheeks, as held onto Jean's hand tighter. "Fuck! If I would've known something like this could've happened, I would've-" Eren suddenly spoke up, his voice cracking as he willed himself not to break down. Sure, he was an asshole to Jean, a major dick bucket, but he realized after Jean had vanished it was because he himself, was trying to hide the fact that he also liked the same sex. When Jean never showed up for school again, he felt this odd pang of hurt inside his chest and realized then, he really liked Jean.

"Eren, it's okay, none of us could've guessed this would've happened." Armin then spoke, putting a comforting hand on his boyfriend's shoulder and brought him in for a hug.

"Do you know what else happened to him?" Marco asked, as he looked towards his father with tear filled eyes.

"I was given this. A list of prior "owners" and all the medical records he had in the last ten years." He held out a decently sized folder, filled with papers. Marco took the black folder and began looking through it, heavy in his hands, he wanted to be sick.  Every single medical record was signed with a different name for major things like surgery or anything that required severe medical attention. Others where I put signed by people who had bought Jean at auctions and some just had awful names written down: Bitch, Whore, Slut… just to make a few. As Marco got further the papers the words began to blur into a mess of scribbles. He closed the folder and tossed to across the room, laying his head on the couch next to Jean, Marco let out a loud sob, breaking everyone hearts as they saw the heir to the Bott mafia and business weep his heart out for the boy he lost and then found again.

Jean suddenly let out an ear piercing scream, shaking and clawing at his own skin. Marco fell away as he wanted the man he loved for years convulse like mad man and scream like he was in pain. Dr. Yeager and Mr. Ackerman held him down, "Get the sedative!" Dr. Yeager yelled at no one in particular. Mikasa grabbed the syringe from her adoptive father's bag and handed it to him. After Jean was injected, Jean fell limp against the couch once more.

[simphibians]

this is my submission for @dagdagsims beguiling the heirs bachelor challenge (?) this is admittedly WAY more than i’ve done for any sim i’ve made.. ever LMAO but once i got started i couldn’t stop so .... enjoy my sim babies, under the cut is a massive “interview” i made so @dagdagsims could get a better feel how they present themselves 

Camping or Binge Watching Shows at Home?

Ashlyn: watching shows at home all the way,,, well it would depend on where and how we were camping, would it be camping or glamping? and the weather? If it was nice.. maybe, but if it was humid? gag no huge pass then 

Fin: watching shows, I do not have time for all those bugs, ugh I’m getting the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it 

Coffee Cup or Thermos?

Ash: Thermos I’m on the go far too much for that.

Fin: coffee cup, for me thermos just leave this... metallic taste? if I need to take my coffee I use a reusable cup rather than a thermos, because I’m not too worried about temp control, I only drink it iced

. Soup or Sandwich?

Ash: weather dependant 

Fin: Yeah, very weather dependant, I will not eat a deli sandwich when it’s snowing out, now am I? 

While walking: Music or Podcasts?

Ash: music all the way, I would get too distracted in podcasts.

Fin: podcasts, I think I would end up dancing rather than walking if I had music

At a movie: Candy or Popcorn?

Ash: Popcorn,,, oooo the possibilities are endless. Plus, who said you couldn’t add candy TO the popcorn ;) 

Fin: ... Ash.. you.. astonish me sometimes.. also neither, I don’t care all that much for snacky foods, I’m a health junkie in its sorts

Tablet or Computer?

Ash: neither. my phone

Fin: depends on my workload, if I have loads to do I feel more productive on my computer as I’m almost,, locked? to a certain area, because my tablet I can go anywhere, so I find myself distracted 

Toilet paper: over or under?

Both at the same time: under.

Working Alone or Working in a Team?

Ash: team for sure, it’s no fun doing things alone

Fin: I don’t connect to people in the same way Ashlyn does, but it would be impossible to run my nonprofit alone. 

Okay! Just a last few more serious questions and we’ll send you on your way, how’s that sound?

Ash: Let’s do it

Fin: ha.. ha sure! 

What drew you to meeting Atticus and Imogen? 

Ash: oh! easy! my PR manager brought up the show to me and I was making fun of it but Fin here dared me to join! but now the more I read about Imogen the more I get this little pang of excitement, I love meeting new people and I make my living off of traveling and doing just that, so I’m just excited to travel, meet a beautiful woman, and whatever comes out of it, comes out of it. y’know?

Fin, crazy blushing mess: I.. well.. *clears throat* Ash showed me the flyer for the production and me being me thought nothing of it besides daring her to join, I forgot who I was talking to and my brain clicked as hers lit and I realized at that point she was going to give me puppy dog eyes until I followed with her. So here I am, not as cute as her story, I’m... a little nervous? I feel like this thing is out of my comfort zone, but first and foremost I would do almost anything for ash, and... I will not lie... Atticus... mmm.. let’s just leave it there if ya get me

What’s something you want to learn or wish you were better at?

Ash:.. hm... I wish I was better at slowing down and taking things in the moment, I’m always on the go, and while that brings me nice opportunities and I’m not ungrateful for the experiences I get to take part in but I find myself in situations where I’m not living in the moment or for myself but for others and sometimes I wish I could just... I don’t know disappear into the selvadorian jungles for a moment, go off-grid and recoup, okay now that I’m thinking maybe not the jungle, bugs, humidity, hmm nope. maybe I’m destined to be a cottage core lesbian? eh? *laughs* 

Fin: I feel like wanting to learn or be better at things is just a normal human experience, like... what’s life if you’re not addressing things and adapting to the surrounding changes? so I just wish I had a more natural ability to adapt as changes are anxiety-inducing but I realize things change for a reason.. so perhaps I wish I was better at accepting change, and god an instrument I want to learn an instrument, we have a piano at our house that ash drug in from god knows where but I’m TERRIFIED to touch it!!! I’m inept to musical abilities, trust me, you don’t want to be around when I’m singing in the shower might lose the ability to process a decibel or two after that! 

Alright, guys! Just one last question, what are some personality quirks you’d like the producer and show team know about yourself that hasn’t been touched on?

Ash: uh... To be honest, I can adapt to everything? I like an enjoyable challenge; I’m not shy, I’m an open person, but besides that, I feel confident in how I’ve expressed myself. 

Fin: nope! I think we’re wonderful; we got it all, gay dads, trans, queer, deaf, oh vegetarian I am very vegetarian, meat .... animal meat, grosses me out I can’t, I used to as a kid but god I don’t miss it, yuck the blood, I despise it! But other than that, I too feel hopeful in my character representation, so... that’s it?

That’s it, guys! Thank you so much for your participation, I’m excited for you guys to meet the twins, it’ll be exciting to see how this blossoms, or fails? Who knows?!

[davidobitch]

Are You Trying to Seduce Me? | Kian Lawley

(so here’s part 2. it’s definitely a lot longer than i anticipated but it’s finally done. i merged it with a request someone sent cuz I'm innovative. also thanks for forgetting about this part 2 cuz it’s been a hottt minute since i started writing it but thanks to quarantine i had plenty of time to finish it) (and a big thanks to the anon that gave me this idea on why they broke up!)

PART 1

prompt request taken from this post

14: why’d you leave? (part 2) 20: are you trying to seduce me? (part 1)

You were woken up from the constant shifting happening next to you. Glancing at the time, you saw it was a little past 7am. You let out a sigh, mad that your feelings got the best of you. Trying not to make too much noise, you slipped out of bed and made your way out the door.

You didn’t know where you were going but when you started walking your feet led to the beach. Part of you regrets giving in to Kian but the other part of you missed him a lot more than you wanted to admit. Neither of you ever got the closure you deserved and every day without Kian, you regretted leaving the way you did.

You watched the sun rise as thoughts and memories flooded your head, not realizing how long you’ve been out there. When you got to the beach, it was nearly empty, just a couple joggers here and there but now it’s filled with people every way you look.

“Where have you been!” Franny yelled at you as you walked off the elevator to your floor, “We’ve been trying to call you dude,”

You shrug your shoulders, not seeing the big deal, “I was at the beach.” 

Franny’s face contorted, clearly confused, “You were at the beach...in sweatpants?”

Brushing off her comment, you pull your key card and walk into your room only to have 4 pairs of eyes on you. “Uh, hello?” you said, cautiously stepping further into the room.

An abundance of questions and comments started filling the room.

“What the fuck (Y/n),” from Jc

“We thought you got kidnapped,” from Corey

“Next time bring your phone if you’re gonna run off,” from Bobby

Your eyes locked on Kian’s, waiting for him to say something about your actions but it became clear he didn’t want to talk when he got off the bed and locked himself in the bathroom.

“Seriously, (y/n), what the hell happened?” Corey asks as they make space for you on the bed.

You couldn’t understand why everyone was freaking out over your disappearance until you looked at the clock. 1:45pm.

You were out for almost 6 hours with no phone, no way to contact anyone if anything happened. When you left, you didn’t even think about bringing anything with you. You also hadn’t expected to be there for as long as you were.

“Listen, I’m sorry, okay? I went to the beach and I didn’t realize how long I was out for. I forgot to grab my phone before I left,” your fingers played with the drawstring on your pants. You knew if you said anything else they’d bombard you with more questions.

You could feel everyone looking at each other and then at you and then at the bathroom door. Everyone assumed you and Kian probably had an argument and you didn’t want to be near him, but little did they know it was the complete opposite.

“As long as everything’s good,” Franny said, giving you her ‘I know something’s up but I’ll pretend you’re fine’ look.

You let out a little laugh when Corey said from behind his phone screen, “We’re just glad you’re not dead. That would have put a damper on this trip,”

“Oh thanks Cor. Glad that all you care about is your vacation,” you joked, rolling your eyes at him.

“Well am I wrong?” He retorted causing you to throw a pillow hitting him square in the face.

Your friends started their own conversations, finally leaving you alone. Nobody seemed to notice that Kian was still in the bathroom. You knew you couldn’t avoid him forever, as much as you wanted to, but right now he’s the one avoiding you.

You texted him that you needed to talk but minutes passed and he didn't answer. You felt a pinch on your heart when you saw he read it. 

Just as you were going to give up on him, Kian emerges from the bathroom, instantly locking eyes with you. The room went silent and once again all eyes were on you.

Neither you or Kian said a word, but it was clear that he wanted to talk when he tilted his head towards the door. In the background your friends fake coughing to ease the tension but when the hotel room door opens, they begin to whisper like little kids.

The two of you walk a couple rooms down the hall for privacy. You settle next to Kian on a bench you guys found by the elevators. Your fingers found their way to the drawstring once again, putting all your attention on anything but Kian.

“Why’d you leave?” Kian asked, his voice low and barely audible. You could hear the hurt in his voice as he spoke, “There were so many ways you could have gone, but just leaving? No note, no text. Nothing, (y/n).”

Your eyes roamed every inch of the room, not daring to make eye contact all while Kian never took his off of you. He studied your features, up and down, like he’s never seen you before. But he knows you. He knows you’re feeling guilty and scared. He knows you’re mad at yourself for letting him back in so easily. He spent 3 years with you, 3 years studying every facial feature, every look you make.

“I just..” You started to say, but as you opened your mouth every thought you had sublimated, “I don’t know why I left, okay? I just woke up and you were next to me and I don’t fucking know, Kian.”

The two of you stayed quiet, neither of you knowing what to say to the other. 

“Do you regret last night?” Kian asks, finally taking his gaze off of you, knowing if he continued looking at you, he would get the answer he was dreading.

No.

Not one second.

Tell him! Tell him you don’t regret it

Just say it, (y/n).

Your head was spinning with words but nothing seemed to come out of your mouth. Kian got the hint, that your silence was your answer. He stood up, ready to walk away.

You couldn’t tell him he was wrong. That you never wanted last night to end. It was as if your lips were glued shut, keeping in a secret you swore you’d never tell.

“I don’t,” you finally blurted out before Kian could take another couple steps away from you, “Last night, I don’t regret it.”

You could see Kian’s lips pull into a small smile before you turned around to sit next to you again.

“Then why’d you leave? And go off the grid for half the day?” Kian leaned back, resting his around on the ledge behind you. It took everything in him not to grab your hands and comfort you like he used to.

“Honestly? I knew if I stayed we’d have to talk about what happened. And not last night. I wasn’t ready but then I started thinking, and it’s not fair to you.”

Kians head rocked back and forth, taking in your answer but not getting the information he wanted. “Glad you’re finally realizing that,” Kian said, not completely joking, “So can you finally tell me what the fuck happened that made you leave us the way you did?”

You took a deep breath, sewing together words into sentences, hoping whatever you were about to say came out correct, “I just got scared,”

So many words. So many sentences. But that’s all you could get out. 

“Scared of what though?”

“You. And Andrea.”

“Me and And- (Y/n), what the hell? Because of our friendship?” 

You nodded, “You guys were getting close again and I felt like it was just a matter of time before your feelings for her came back and we just stopped being us.” 

Kian let out a small laugh, realizing how far off you were with your assumption. You shot a look at Kian, making him go serious, “Look, me and Andrea had history, yeah. But I was with you. I love you. You’re the only person I wanted to be with. Me and Andrea broke up for a reason.”

“But still. You were spending so much time with her. It was like you forgot about me and I just couldn’t do it anymore. So i left.”

The memory of that night played so clearly in your head. It did every night since the breakup.

“Franny, I can’t. Every time they’re together it’s like I disappear from his life and everything is about her.” You were holding back the tears as you confessed to Franny. You were going back and forth about leaving Kian. You wanted to stay and deal with this with him but you could only fight for so long.

“Did you walk to him about it? Does he even know how you feel?” Franny asks as she cradles your body, doing anything she can to keep you calm.

You couldn’t speak. You knew if you did a waterfall of tears would come and there’s no stopping until your eyes were empty of tears.

“I think you should keep fighting for him. But I get it. If you mentally and emotionally can’t deal with her being around anymore then maybe this is the end, (y/n).” Franny’s words kept replaying over and over.

This is the end.

3 years of your life gone just like that.

Everything you and Kian built together.

Every morning. Every night. Every kiss. Every touch.

Everything

Just like that, it’s all gone.

You picked yourself off the bed and headed straight for the closet. Grabbing your suitcase and bags, you stuffed all your belongings you had scattered around Kian’s room into them, praying you didn’t leave anything behind.

All the guys were out for the night, which gave you your chance to leave without anyone seeing.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Franny asked as she met you at the bedroom door, getting ready to follow you out.

“No, but I know this is what’s good for me.” You say before exiting the room.

You were staying at Franny’s for a couple weeks until you could find your own apartment. Not a day went by that Kian didn’t try reaching out to you. Whether it’s a call or text or showing up unannounced at Fran’s. 

“Please let me talk to her, Fran. I haven’t heard from her in a week. I need to know she’s okay,” you could hear Kian say from his spot behind the front door. You could hear his voice crack, knowing he was seconds away from a breakdown.

“Kian, I know you love her, but she needs space. She’s fine I promise. We’re all looking after her. But you need to let her get her head straight.”

And he did. He stopped calling, and texting, and showing up unexpectedly.

He moved on.

But you never did.

“It wasn’t fair to me. Do you know how bad that fucked me up (y/n)? All I wanted to do was talk to you and I couldn’t even do that.” Kian played with his fingers, reliving that moment in time all over again.

The feelings from months ago came rushing back. All the sleepless night, the numerous reach outs, every night he went to bed without you got harder and harder.

“I know. And I wanted to call you but by the time everything settled down I didn’t think it was right to put you through it all again,” tears pricked your eyes as you just now realized Kian never moved on. For months all he thought about was you. Just like all you thought about was him.

“So now what?” Kian asked, breaking the silence that fell upon the two of you.

You hadn’t thought this far ahead when you were racking your brain on what could possibly happen. You wanted him in you life, whether as a friend or more. You missed his presence every day he was gone.

“I don’t really know. We can’t exactly pick up where we left off,” You glance as Kian to find him already looking at you.

You knew that wasn’t true. You could pick up where you left off, But a couple hours before that. You could fix everything together and nothing would change.

“I mean,” Kian said as he leaned forward, not once taking his eyes off of you, “We can. It wasn’t that hard for us last night,” You eyes fluttered to his lips. His tongue gliding over them as he inched closer to you, “Do you want to pick up where we left off?”

Your attention was brought back to his eyes. For once you didn’t think twice about your actions. You leaned forward, colliding your lips with his.

Everything happening around you stopped. The entire world was put on pause and the only thing happening was this moment with Kian.

“I’m assuming that’s a yes,” Kian muttered as he pulled away, his lips ghosting over yours.

“Of course it’s a yes,” you say before continuing your moment with him.

[iwillsithereandtrytocontribute]

The Melanie King Conspiracy

Pairings: wtgfs (mentioned/background)

Warnings: Blinding yourself (mentioned)

Spoilers up to the end of Season 4

Masterlist Ao3

This is my first fic for the tma fandom and first time writing in this style please cut me some slack. All spelling and grammatical errors (or most of them anyway) are on purpose to mimic a real group chat. Let’s hope I haven’t messed up the timeline to horribly :)

June 13, 2017

whathappenedtomelanieking: guys guys guys. you know how i was talking about that show Ghost Hunt U.K?

ijustworkhear: again with this? what about it

whathappenedtomelanieking: well, it went all weird like a year ago right? after that episode at the Cambridge Military Hospital. They all left one by one except for Melanie and then she went… crazy i guess. Freaked out, tryd to say she saw a ghost

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: its a ghost show…

whathappenedtomelanieking: yeh but she got really into it.more than ever before and everyone kind of knew it was fake

ijustworkhear: like those unsolved guys

whathappenedtomelanieking: yeah

whathappenedtomelanieking: anyway it sucked when Andy left but we had Melanie and that was fine

whathappenedtomelanieking: then she kept saying one of their camera people left then their sound until it was like melanie was the only one left

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: k… this matters why?

whathappenedtomelanieking: she got arrested

ijustworkhear: woah

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: jkjhjkhkghsjhk what

whathappenedtomelanieking: ikr? She broke into a junk yard up in Sheffield, says she got stabbed by a ghost or smth

 imnotjusthomointhesapienway: 🙄

whathappenedtomelanieking: lol yeah. shes really gone off the deep end. idk i just feel bad

ijustworkhear: yeah

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: so… that it? She’s in jail?

whathappenedtomelanieking: nah, they dropped the charges. she was actuallY in the hospital for a bit, hurt herself

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: breaking into a scrap yard at night… couldn’t be me

ijustworkhear: lol

*

January 24, 2018

placeholder: so…

imbeggingforausername: so…

imbeggingforausername: what’s up

whathappenedtomelanieking: 🙃

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: no we are not doing this shit again

imbeggingforausername: what is happening? Why’d you change your name?

whathappenedtomelanieking: Melanie’s back!!! (sort of)

imbeggingforausername: what

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: don’t ask

whathappenedtomelanieking: you ever heard of Ghost Hunk U.K.

whathappenedtomelanieking: @imnotjusthomointhesapienway rude

imbeggingforausername: not really… i know it went downhill in like 2016 tho

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: 😝

whathappenedtomelanieking: long story, ghosthunting show, melanie went off the rails and the grid for like a year (she was a host btw), and got arrested for breaking into a dump

imbeggingforausername: yikes

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: so what new incredible details have you uncovered now? (@imbeggingforausername this happens like every couple months when Jay thinks they have some new revelation).

whathappenedtomelanieking: HOW DARe!

whathappenedtomelanieking: anyway i was stalking her twitter and she was like posting stuff about being in India and shit and get this. She got shot!

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: let me guess. By a ghost

whathappenedtomelanieking: YES!!!

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: fucking...

whathappenedtomelanieking: Not even the best part… she’s back in London and you’ll never guess where she’s working now.

ijustworkhear: where

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: ayyyy!!! Sam’s here! help me

ijustworkhear: <3 

whathappenedtomelanieking: The Magnus Institute

ijustworkhear: k… cool

whathappenedtomelanieking: omg guys you don’t know what the Magnus INstitute is?

whathappenedtomelanieking: how are you my FRIENDS?

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: *sigh* tell us

whathappenedtomelanieking: they collect supernatural statements and “look into them” sounds like a piece of baloney to me, but you gotta pay the bills somehow i guess

imbeggingforausername: thought you believed in the supernatural

whathappenedtomelanieking: yeah, ghosts. The Magnus Institute pretends that there’s like evil books and stuff

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: and Melanie’s working there now? She has cracked

whathappenedtomelanieking: no kidding

ijustworkhear: maybe its for the best

imbeggingforausername: might be good for her

ijustworkhear: jinx!

imbeggingforausername: <3 i don’t know how to tell you this, but no

February 3, 2018

imbeggingforausername: @whathappenedtomelanieking

whathappenedtomelanieking: i’ve been summoned

imbeggingforausername: You see what’s been up with Melanie King lately?

whathappenedtomelanieking: no… what’s going on?

imbeggingforausername: all these vagueposts about how much she wants to kill her boss, which like, mood but im worried shes serious

whathappenedtomelanieking: do tell

imbeggingforausername: she’s like “my boss is trapping me and all these people into working at the archives”

whathappenedtomelanieking: dude… really?

imbeggingforausername: really

imbeggingforausername: i thought it was funny at first, but… you know… you can only read so many posts about what eldritch horrors someone thinks is attacking them before you start to worry.

whathappenedtomelanieking: i’ve been looking into the institute since Melanie joined, i was curios

whathappenedtomelanieking: their last head archivist was found in the tunnels beneath the institute shot three times and their latest archivist is on the run from the police for beating an old man to death with a pipe and probablt killing one of his assistants

imbeggingforausername: wtf

whathappenedtomelanieking: and they got this real bad worm infestation a while back, apparently it freaked one of them out so bad they lived in the archives for like 6 months

imbeggingforausername: How do you know this?

whathappenedtomelanieking: talked to the receptionist, her name’s Rosie, she’s very nice

whathappenedtomelanieking: she’s seen some weird shit. I think i might have seen Melanie but i didn’t talk to her

imbeggingforausername: I forget you live in London, any other weird things?

whathappenedtomelanie: don’t know how much is real, but yeah. 

whathappenedtomelanieking: she thinks some lady can control worms, there was this weird tall guy in Jon (that’s the archivist guy)’s office at one point and she never saw him leave (same with the lady giving Jon a statement), 

whathappenedtomelanieking: oh and Rosie didn’t tell me this one, but the head of the institute, can’t remember his name, came out of his office at one point and just stared at me

imbeggingforausername: creepy

whathappenedtomelanieking: ikr?

whathappenedtomelanieking: i left like right after that. I did ask if i could look in the archives, but no, you need some kind of degree or something

imbeggingforausername: a degree???? Are they serious???

whathappenedtomelanieking: they looked it, 🤷 i wasn’t going to push my luck, the old guy really freaked me out. It was like he looking into me

imbeggingforausername: what kind of degree would you even need??

imbeggingforausername: ooh weird

whathappenedtomelanieking: just saying, don’t think I’ll be going back for a while

imbeggingforausername: probably smart

October 25, 2018

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: @whathappenedtomelanieking i’m blaming you for getting me interested in this… but all your talking and theorizing about the Magnus Institute has gotten me interested

whathappenedtomelanieking: ooh, in listening

whathappenedtomelanieking: *I’m

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: I went up and talked to Rosie too (you were right she is v. nice) the head of the institute got arrested and the archivist is in a coma 

whathappenedtomelanieking: jesus, i feel like we’re uncovering a conspiracy just by being worried about an entertainer we enjoy… Maybe we should leave this alone?

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: i’m kind of getting that too

whathappenedtomelanieking: what about melanie tho?

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: idk, I asked Rosie about her and she just glanced around and then shook her head

whathappenedtomelanieking: i’ve been asking around on some forums and stuff, even emailed one of her old cameramen seems no one’s heard from her in upwards of a year and she’s barely been seen outside the institute

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: um…

whathappenedtomelanieking: genuinely getting worried, but… it’s her life i guess? idk...

October 20, 2019

whathappenedtomelanieking: WE WERE NOT WORRIED ENOUGH ABOUT MELANIE!!!!!!

ijustworkhear: what happened???

imbeggingforausername: wtf

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: did she kill someone or smth

whathappenedtomelanieking: I WAS JUST LISTENING TO WHAT THE GHOST AND GEORIGE MENTIONED MELANIE OFFHAND. I KNOW THEY HANG OUT SOMETIMES SO I CHECKED GEORGIE’S INSTAGRAM AND MELANIE WAS IN ONE OF THE PICTURES (they’re a couple btw, v. cute) SHE WAS BLIND!!!! LIKE PROPERLY!! IT LOOKED LIKE SHE’D BEEN STABBED IN BOTH EYES!!!

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: jesus wtf

ijustworkhear: omg, she’s okay though

imbeggingforausername: damn…

whathappenedtomelanieking: i mean… she’s blind… probably not having a great time, but she looks happy

imbeggingforausername: 🤷 it’s not like she died

whathappenedtomelanieking: i’m not saying its bad she’s blind Erin, just that i’m worried about how it happened. 

whathappenedtomelanieking: she was working at that fucking weird institute (you know, ever since i went there i have this feeling like i’m being watched constantly)

imnotjusthomointhesapienway: yikes

October 31, 2019

1:35 p.m.

whathappenedtomelanieking: guys i think something happened…

1:40 p.m.

whathappenedtomelanieking: guys?

whathappenedtomelanieking: @imnotjusthomointhesapienway @ijustworkhear @imbeggingforausername

2:01 p.m.

whathappenedtomelanieking: please answer me i’m freaking out

whathappenedtomelanieking: i can’t find anyone 

whathappenedtomelanieking: please

whathappenedtomelanieking: mt hasds arw shaking so bd i can;t type

whathappenedtomelanieking: there;s noone herre

whathappenedtomelanieking: please

2:23 p.m.

whathappenedtomelanieking: @ijustworkhear @imnotjusthomointhesapienway @imbeggingforausername

3:56 p.m.

whathappenedtomelanieking: @ijustworkhear @imnotjusthomointhesapienway @imbeggingforausername

4:47 p.m.

whathappenedtomelanieking: @ijustworkhear @imnotjusthomointhesapienway @imbeggingforausername

Any similarities to actual usernames weren’t intentional (although I am really proud of “I’m only homo in the sapien way”). 

@whathappenedtomelanieking was lost in the Lonely in the Eyepocalypse in case I didn’t make that clear enough.

Feel free to ask about my writing or ask to be added to my taglist. Stay safe :)

[17thrankwizard]

Day Four: March 13th

Day four: March 13th

It was dark outside and slightly windy. Ms. Vince zipped up her jacket and I put on my overcoat. It made me feel like James Dean. Resident cool guy. In reality, I was the new kid and nobody. Just a low-rank wizard that lived in a small town.

The air smelled slightly salty and it gave off a mid-october vibe from the lack of light. It left the parking lot feeling very vacant, with only one street light and two cars in it, it felt like a vast empty expanse we crossed in a matter of minutes. Her buttons reflected the light, her lips and eyes did it too.

“Whatcha thinking about?” She asked me.

“How empty this place feels.”

“It does, doesn’t it?”

We continued walking and she kicked a pebble around. It was strange being with someone so angry yet so calm. Much like a storm, I guess but the eye was much larger than she was letting on. She was calm and concerned with so much but didn’t let it out. Unlike me.

When we arrived at the mysterious destination she didn’t let me know about it except for what she opened up with: “I’ve been DYING to know what's in here but I could never find anybody to go in with me.”

“I would like to know where we are at before we go in,” I demanded.

“An abandoned mall.” She then kicked open the front doors and ran on inside. I buried my head in my hands and walked in after her.

It was a surreal place to be, most of these stores were in commercials I had seen. Now it was decadent and melancholy. A stark contrast to the commercials.

“You could have gone on your own, right?” I asked.

“Nah, my parents told me I could only go with someone, and I chose you, dummy.”

“I’m charmed by that, Emma.”

I yawned and felt my eyes burn a little. I never stay up late. She must be different, so lively and happy at this time. I flipped over my wrist, one seventeen. I followed her deeper into darkness. Her flashlight made the place look a bit more lively again. The bright colors made the place look haunted. But ghosts don’t exist, at least I never learned about them. Reapers exist, unnatural beings of terrible fate. Only created from the deaths of innocent and those in excruciating pain. They leave most alone but exist to vindicate and destroy those who have committed crimes in likeness to their death. The sad thing is that they are pure anger, nothing else but that suffering.

Chills went down my spine. “Great, I’m cold and sleepy,” I mumbled to myself. Emma had run into a random store and brought back a stack of notebooks.

“Carry these, I’m going back for some backpacks of a talking waffle.”

“Goodness.”

I looked around and sighed, not a bench in sight. I decided I would just follow this mad lady around until something happened. She just kept coming back with stuff which was alright when it was a backpack full but now it was three and a half with two somewhat massive teddy bears and a plastic sculpture of a dancing peanut. Who leaves this stuff behind and why in a hurry. I know it was hurried because most arcade machines still had tickets coming out of them, and a newspaper standstill had newspapers. They were all dated November 1st, 1999.

“Do you know what happened here?” I asked Emma.

“Not really? I think something about the owner evading taxes or something. I was too young to remember.”

“Huh.”

She placed more stuff down and sighed, sitting in between the arms of one of the chairs.

“Tired?” I asked her. Before she answered me she blew some hair away from her face.

“Yeah…”

“C’mon.” I held out my hand and she took it, got up, and sighed again. I grabbed two backpacks and put them on my staff and carried a bear in one arm. She put a backpack on and grabbed a teddy bear.

“Let’s just leave the half-full one.” She yawned. We both walked slowly towards the exit and I kept wondering why this place was so abruptly abandoned. The place even felt sinister in a way. It was just the cold, and the darkness. I am sure if it was bright and warm it would not feel as it does now.

After walking for another hour to her house I dropped off all of this assorted merchandise and bid Ms. Vance farewell so I could sleep. She was cute when she was tired, something I would never dare to say to her because I knew I would be punched for it.

By morning I still felt tired but at least I wasn’t cold. I got up and put on my pants, hat and stuck with the shirt I wore last night. I smiled in the mirror, made a few funny faces, and brushed my teeth. Then I put on my cloak, and head downstairs, flipped the sign, and waited for a customer.  Within 10 minutes of opening a very slim man in glasses and a nice beige suit walked in, he scratched his beard and asked, “Do you have any Pikirio mechanisms?”

“I do, actually, very rare but useful in a variety of ways,” I opened up a metal box that contained a wooden box that contained a circular device made out of cherry would with metal circuitry and gears. “May I ask what you are going to do with it?” I poised this question because many a people use this mechanism to cause small chaos to traffic lights and electrical fields.

“I’m using it for an intense examination of my Rhopalocera, and other insects,” his voice was somewhat deep and almost confident.

“Ah, entomology studies, the original purpose for this thingy.”

“A favorite of mine, I had one for many years but it broke almost a year ago and it’s hard to find a shop that will sell such an item to me, sadly a beautiful machine can cause much damage.”

“Just in luck for you! This is my only one, and please use it wisely.”

“I will, good sir, but please if I am to buy something with such an intricacy I must introduce myself, Neil Bacchero, residential entomologist in this State.”

“Quintas the 17th, hope that’s all you need sir.” I had placed the device in a new box one that was more appropriate for travel. “Do I need to give you the warning pamphlet?”

“I would love it. It’s been so long I don’t want to accidentally cause a malfunction in the power grid.”

“Here you go and have a nice day!”

“I will be back for more items! I just need more grant money!” He laughed and walked out the door. What a strange man, but I feel I could learn something from him. Nothing much else happened, Ms. Vance apparently slept after school so I watched TV. That day became a daze. People looked through my various items but the most bought is a stone dog or cat that is about an inch tall, when they are threatened or about to be hurt they turn back and are rendered practically invincible, plus they are very easy to feed. Lots of children get them as their first pet. I miss Charlie.

[carrera-ffxiv]

Welcome to Sanctum, Pt. 3 of 3

He couldn’t tell how much time had passed since his fateful encounter with his newfound friends. The friendship was short-lived. He finished washing the blood and dirt from his hands in the restroom and went back to relax on one of his couches after all the digging and dragging he had to manage by his lonesome till the sun came up. A few puffs of a pipe and a small break was what he needed before he continued on his list of chores. Hadriel went about cleaning the broken decor and tossing the table out, sweeping and mopping the floor. He had his share of drinks in between tasks, it was one of the perks to owning a bar or two.

The lock unbolted and the partition was pushed aside as N’syri and Kaede walked into the establishment. “Good morning!” Hadriel greeted, uncharacteristically motivated.

Syri couldn’t help but narrow her eyes.

“You’re here early. I brought Kaede here to… help clean up, teach her a few things, and prep for opening later today. You moved some things around…” N’syri spoke.

“Yep. Felt like it needed a slight face-lift. Too cluttered. Took some things out. I think it looks better.”

“It looks beautiful, sir!” Kaede responded cheerfully, matching his energy.

“Just Hadriel is fine.” he responded.

Syri seemed suspicious of the whole situation and looked about the place, nit-picking everything with a careful and discerning eye. “You have some dirt on your face.”

“Stuffed three barrels with cabbage and red pepper paste real early this morning. Buried them out back to let them ferment. Goes well with a variety of dishes.”

“Oh, you make food here too?” Kaede asked.

“N-” Syri began before Hadriel cut her off. “I’m thinking about it. Nothing too complicated. Just some small dishes we can have ready on-hand to serve customers. Little delicacies.”

Syri knew very well that something was off. She rightfully assumed that he was out burying something else instead but didn’t press any further in the presence of their new employee.

“You look beautiful in that yukata. You look like the very reason men fall in love.” he said with a smirk.

Kaede blushed and smiled. To her, Hadriel was a friendly sort and seemed to make the comment lightheartedly as if to keep her in a cheery mood. “Thank you.”

The late morning seemed to go by quickly for him as he was still exhausted from being up a good portion of the night and toiling into the morning. His attention span was cutting in and out but he tried his best to make his new employee feel welcome, talking to her, and sharing a laugh or two with Syri glaring off from the side wondering what he was up to.

Eventually a couple customers wander in the early afternoon and they decide to let Kaede take the reigns after they had gone over etiquette and the drink menu with her. Finally, Syri had a chance to speak with him alone at the opposite end of the establishment.

“So. What really happened?” she asked in a hushed and solemn voice.

He laughed lightly, “I was really burying some barrels.”

She didn’t skip a beat and followed up, “What was in the barrels? And stop being so cheery, it’s creepy.”

Hadriel was out of energy and decided to drop the facade. “Some old friends came by. Now they’re taking dirt-naps. In barrels.”

“Hadriel… this is serious…”

“So am I. It was a matter of time.”

“I told you we should use pseudonyms. I shouldn’t have left you alone last night after I saw the feather.”

“I’m not hiding. I’m in plain sight and don’t plan on changing that. Besides, part of me thought they assumed I changed names and went off grid. Anyway, it’s all part of the plan, don’t worry.”

“Plan? What plan?” her voice raised a moment causing the guests to look over a moment.

“They’re fools if they come after me with everything I know about them.” he responded in a hushed tone.

“But they just did. Isn’t that exactly why they came here, to silence you?” she mirrored him and lowered her voice again to barely above a whisper.

“Not exactly.” he lit a pipe. “I’ll be back tonight. I’m gonna go take a nap. Don’t be so on edge. Everything’s fine.”

“Fine? Do you think this girl is going to be safe working here now? What about S’mira? Didn’t you ask her to help out? Are you fine with putting them in harm’s way like this?” Syri chastised.

“They wanted me back. Either that or to leave with my eye. They’re not after her. This isn’t one of those fantasy books where the bad guys take hostages to try to get the good guy to give up. There’s no moral high ground between me and the Black Blades. We’re all bad guys. And as far as hostages go, what would stop me from killing them after they kill the hostage? And why would anyone ever give up just because someone is captured? It’s not a good tactic all around. Besides, it’s not how they work.”

“I thought that the eye was just an inherited aspect of your half-Eorzean lineage… why would they want it? You fed me some garbage about hiding it because you were made fun of as a kid.” 

"It’s a mark for those who run the organization… it’s uh… treatment of sorts. An experiment, rather.” he revealed. 

She simply nodded lightly with an irate look in her stare as if to tell him to carry on with the explanation.

“It’s research stolen from Garlemald. An invasive surgical procedure that involves more than I care to explain and a lot of pain to go along with it. Thanks to that, we can see the flow of aether in someone’s body.”

“... doesn’t sound useful against imperial troops… they can’t manipulate aether… isn’t that why your organization was founded? For clandestine missions or fights against Garleans?”

“They can’t manipulate aether, like you said. Doesn’t mean they don’t have aether. They’re living beings and whether they can control it or not it’s intrinsic to life. But the point was- seeing the flow of aether gave us a better edge in a great many aspects. Some have even said that they can tell if a person is lying by reading them. Anyway, there’s only a handful of us with this and it’s kept from even others in the organization, for those few who know what it is, it’s a telltale sign. That’s why I keep it behind this.” he tapped alongside his eyepatch. “Better safe than sorry.”

“Hmn…” Syri paused a moment to take it all in. She glanced over to Kaede who was entertaining their guests, smiling and laughing. Seemingly lost in thought for a while something broke her out of her contemplation. There was something earnest about the girl’s efforts and intentions, yet there was something Syri couldn’t quite put her finger on that bothered her. Something off.

“Well, as for why the Black Blades were founded… they’ve fallen far from their days as avengers and patriots of Doma. Now they’re murderers and criminals running in the shadow as an organized crime family. Getting ‘protection’ fees from the merchants, moving contraband, bribing the authorities, silencing people for money… all the good stuff.”

“Is that part of the reason why you left?” she whispered.

“No. You know the reason. I had people to look for. An untrackable quarry to find. For both our sakes. That man has wronged us both, betrayed our hometown as well as all of Doma. That was the only reason. The council I was on didn’t want to condone or support my personal vendetta. Not good for business. So I left. We were after the same person, it was like the kami were lighting the path forward. Like I said, I don’t pretend to stand on some morality or principle. Those are empty pretences that I can hardly afford.”  

“The girl.” she said, looking at Kaede and spoke hurriedly. “She came here the same day this happened.”

“It wasn’t her. She wasn’t the one who drew them here. And her mother really is sick.”

A cynical look wore about her visage, “And how would you know? You never even made it very far from the bar since you met her.”

He subtly winked at her with his only visible eye. Or was it simply a blink when there was one eye? She could never tell.

“Anyway. Like I told you. Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. I’ll ship the pieces of their friends back and then I’ll meet with a few of my old friends to settle this. For now, I’m going to get some sleep.”

“Mn.” Syri sounded. “Well, I’ll keep an eye here for a while. If I’m not around I’m probably reaching out to some contacts this evening.”

“I told you everything’s fine.”

“You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t categorize you burying three people out back as ‘fine’. I’ll be doing my due diligence regardless. Thank-you-very-much.”

“It’s your choice. You’re just wasting your time.” he said as he got up and casually wave two fingers, “I’ll be back later.”

Hadriel didn’t remember his trip home and practically collapsed in his residence. When his consciousness finally stirred, the moon’s light peeked through the windows in his home. Again, he would slip into a lucid sleep and dream the same dream that always came. 

“I missed you…” His dry voice sounded. 

She laughed lightly, the warmth of her smile filling the air around him as if the sun itself dared to give him a moment of reprieve from the loneliness clutching at his heart. A smile cracked from his lips.

“You missed me? How could you miss me when I’ve been here this whole time?” she responded with the sweetest voice, a soft tone dripping with honey in a sweet and rhythmic manner. She spoke lightheartedly, gazing at him with a beaming smile.

The kind beauty continued, “I didn’t miss you, because you’re always here…” she softly rested a hand on her chest- motioning to her heart, “…but!” she excitedly stated, “You know who did miss you?” she asked excitedly.

“Papa~!” the girl ran to give him a hug. He would reciprocate the tight embrace. The warmth filled his heart for a moment even as dread crept up close behind knowing the dream would be over soon again, “Papa. Don’t do it… please. Don’t go where we can’t follow.” she whispered.

He jolted awake and shot up on his couch. It was later than expected. He shook his head to regain some semblance of his bearings. She was warning him. She knew what he was about to do. But how was this worse than any of the other things he’s done?

Hadriel heaved a sigh as he reached for a kodachi sitting in its stand. He slowly sheaths one after the other and placed them both on his hip. He stepped out into the brisk air as light rain trickled down his hair. He took a moment to listen to the sound of raindrops fill the air all around him. A frosty breath escaped his lips as he took some measure of relief from the rain.

He walked in and noticed everyone had cleared out for the night, save Kaede and one older man sitting by the bar. 

“Welcome to Sanctum.” Kaede sounded in a sing-songy tone. “Oh it’s you Mr. Hadriel. Come have a seat!”

“I told you, just Hadriel is fine.” he said with a smile as he sat at the counter. “I’ll have a-”

“Whiskey, neat.” she said while placing a glass in front of him.

“Noticed that, huh?” he gave a light chuckle.

“It’s late. Let’s close down soon, have one with me.” Hadriel said in a tired voice.

“I haven’t drank whiskey before… but I’m willing to give it a try.” she said in a cheery attitude.

“I’ll pour one for you, lock the door so we don’t have early morning stragglers trying to come in.”

She bowed with a measure of grace and elegance undoubtedly learned from N’syri, a slight bend of the knees as her hand folded across her waist, her head dipping respectfully. She meandered along the bar and furniture over to the door and did as was asked.

“You don’t mind if I stay just a little while longer, do you young man?” a gruff voice sounded. The lighting was dim, just the way Hadriel liked it so it was a tad hard to make out features. He seemed dressed in plain Doman attire, not exactly the typical clientele for the new establishment.

“Of course not. Do me a favor though, look to the corner there just behind the counter, there’s a box of cigars. If you wouldn’t mind grabbing a couple out of there for me?”

“Oh, of course, son.” the man had to reach over a bit and look for the box but succeeded in the task, moving beside Hadriel and holding one out for him. He took both in hand and drew a cutter out of his pocket to snip the ends.

“Other one’s yours of course.” he said, motioning for the man still standing there to take a seat next to him.

“Thank you, thank you. Forgive my forwardness, you seem a bit young to own such a nice place. And a nice place it is!”

“I guess I’m a bit older than I look.” he said with a smirk.

The man takes a look at Hadriel’s drink, paused and then turned his visage back to him. “Drink and a cigar. End of a good day? Celebrating something?”

“Yeah… it’s a bit of a celebration…” he struck a match and the audible sizzle of the burning calmed and its intensity died down. He held it for the old man who appreciated the gesture and lit the expensive-tasting cigar. 

“Thank you.” the man replied.

“You’re welcome. Maybe I look a bit younger than I am. Saved up a lot of money doing a lot of different jobs. Easy to do when you don’t have family to worry about.” he looked over to the man.

“Oh. To each their own, son. It’s clearly worked well for you. What are you celebrating then? Newly opened establishment?”

“No. It’s been a long journey. I finally found what I’m looking for.” he said, lighting his own cigar and sighing. The man paused again.

Kaede smiled and held her drink up. “Making fast friends I see! Cheers, Mr. Hadriel, to friends!”

A solemn look overcame him, almost saddened, and Kaede paused. It seemed like the other two were holding their breath a moment. Both seemed to be waiting for the other to drink before he finally relented, took a few gulps and set the glass down, her mirroring his actions.

 “To family...” he mentioned in a somber tone, his expression was filled with a quiet reflection. “How is your mother, Kaede?”

She was taken aback by the unexpected question.

“Not well…” she replied in a low tone. She fidgeted with her hair and took another sip of her drink.

“Well. She’ll be fine soon enough, I’m sure.” the old man injected himself into the conversation. “She’s just as strong as her daughter after all.”

“Thank you, papa.” Kaede responded.

Hadriel continued to smoke and leaned on the counter.

“I guess I’m sorry I had to ruin your celebration, young man. But… I couldn’t let you kill me.” he placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “Now that you drank that poison, you don’t have much time so I wanted to tell you why.”

“You don’t have to tell me why Futoshi. I know why.” Hadriel responded.

“Well, indulge an old man, would you? I know I deserve what you want to do to me, and there’s been so… so many times I would have welcomed it. But… I have my daughter to look after. I want to give her away one day to a home of her own. My wife is frail and needs me. I can’t abandon them.”

“Selfish desires from a selfish man who betrayed his countrymen for gold.”

“You might not understand, Hadriel, but I did it for my family. I’ve regretted it every day of my life. But I’ve found the resolve to live. Which is why I sent Kaede here to get us to this point. I was hoping tipping off the Black Blades would’ve been the end of it but… I always have a plan B.”

Kaede seemed to turn pale, a level of remorse wore on her expression, “I’m sorry, sir…”

“Yeah. Me too…” he uttered softly before putting the cigar out. He poured another glass for himself and took another sip.

“We’ll see that you a proper burial back home in Yangxia-”

Kaede collapsed on the ground as her mouth foamed. Not long after, convulsions began to take place. Wide-eyed, Futoshi stood with his hands on the counter to look down in horror at what was happening to his daughter. He was in shock and couldn’t feel his hand pinned down to the bar, only noticing it when he couldn’t move to his child. A kodachi had made itself a new home through his palm and the bar counter.

“I had a daughter once. And a wife too. I understand why you did what you did. But you chose this path. How many mothers and daughters lost their lives? And again, during the uprising? Then again, over the years. You took my family. Countless families. Then you ran. Across Doma, across the seas, across Eorzea and back again. An untrackable quarry. You took everything I had.”

“H-how…!?” the man held onto his wrist, fumbling through words as tears streamed down his face, almost whimpering at the fact that he was too helpless to save his daughter. “M-my wife, if we die, she has no one to take care of her!”

Hadriel almost looked saddened by the course of events. “Well. I guess I’m sorry I had to ruin your celebration, old man. But… I couldn’t let you kill me.” he placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “Now that you don’t have much time to live, I wanted to tell you why: As you took my wife and daughter, so... in turn... I take yours.” he spoke grimly, not a hint of solace could be found in his expression.

Hadriel continued in a low tone, speaking almost to himself, “I was afraid of myself. What I would do to you, but you made it so easy to want to kill you. Everyone that was in your regiment, your comrades, your friends... you had none left. I saw to that personally, so... you could only trust your family to something this important. So you sent her to me. The Blades were always keeping an eye out for me. I figured I’d use you to bait them in. Now I get to send them a message.”

Futoshi winced in pain but after hearing Hadriel speak he seemed to have resigned himself, and continued listening. His head dipped as he let regret take a hold of him. Slowly, he let the calm of surrender engulf him. There was no more need to run anymore. He could find solace in that.

“With no one else to rely on you sent the only person you could trust into the maws of the wolf. Your own kin. How selfish of you... of course she would want to help save her father, her family. You were too busy grabbing this…” he motioned to the ashtray, “... to notice I swapped the drinks. She had prepared the drink for me before I even walked in here... you told me you were sorry. I’m not. Not really. I just wish the story had a slightly different ending, is all.”

“Yeah… me too. For what it’s worth, I never meant for your family… for any of this to happen…” he shook his head with a grimace, “Do you… do you think the kami will forgive us for what we’ve done?”

“No.” Hadriel answered, sliding the rest of Kaede’s drink to the man. “Not men like us.” He raised his glass to the man.

He simply smiled and nodded, “No… I suppose not. Not men like us.” A clink echoed in the quiet, cold bar. “Thanks for the drink.”