#i cant chew on him he's basically made of glass | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mandalhoerian · 7 months ago

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NO TIME TO DIE | leon kennedy x oc | 11

pairing: leon s. kennedy x oc word count: 1OK warnings: the girls are fightingggggg summary: Tensions arise. Leon thinks it's between him and Vera, but he doesn't expect to find himself out of the picture when Ada comes back into frame. author's note: i thought i was never going to finish this omg... but we're officially done with the sewers! nearly at the end of this work i cant believe it tbh

READ ON AO3 ! ☆ NO TIME TO DIE MASTERPOST

“Holy shit…”

“Ada!”

“How the fuck did she get in there—”

“We need to get her out.”

He was lucky Vera didn’t respond with, Yeah dumbass, and instead began circling the monitoring room they were in; bloodshot, yet sharp, intelligent eyes gliding through for anything that could help them out while he paced back and forth in front of the giant, rectangular window overlooking the pit of garbage — thinking, thinking.

Leon’s teeth ached from gritting them, the unconscious attention orbiting around his shoulder making itself scarce and bouncing around in his skull instead when he needed it to focus. Ada was a small blotch of red fabric on a bed of scrap down there, curled on her side with her back to them, a hand outstretched and the other tucked beneath her body. Identifying exactly where she was injured was difficult from the position her body was in. He could only assume she was unconscious from the rise and fall of her ribcage since they couldn’t get her attention from banging on the glass.

This was basically them observing her like she was an animal put on display in one of those glass cages in a zoo.

He rested a fist on the stainless surface, and pressed his forehead to the back of his hand, shutting his eyes. The pulsing, subtle pain wasn’t helping the thinking process, nor the panic chewing away at the back of his mind refusing to let him come down and focus. Chewing the inside of his bottom lip, he turned his head to rest his cheek against his curled knuckles and opened his eyes to glance back at Vera, who had her back to him, standing in front of some kind of control panel fixed to the wall behind him.

The cold chill in the air was sapping his strength as he reached out to her. “Anything?”

The demanding, impatient undertones weren’t supposed to be there, Leon wasn’t even aware some part of him was doing that to hide the frazzled pity party raging inside — at odds with the comfort of her always having some sort of solution no matter the situation, with the expectation she would somehow make the problem of retrieving Ada disappear.

“Map.” Not turning away to face him, she pointed to the wall right next to the window Leon was agonizing on, and then stopped whatever she was examining to walk over there, and ran her fingers across the board, tracing the blueprints. Not dwelling on his lack of environmental awareness, he perked up, lifting himself off to peer at it.

At first glance, it was confusing, but she made it easy to read. Somehow. “Right outside this place is the first floor of the treatment room. We were just on the upper level of it. See?” She jabbed her finger on the title at the top of the poster, and made a line downward. “Ada must have fallen from… there. They’re connected. Looks like they have a system to contain the trash gathered above and treat it before dumping ‘em in the incinerator, or whatever.”

“I don’t get it,” Leon sighed.

“Yeah, well. This isn’t a class. You’re good. Ada on the other hand… She got lucky landing right there so we can see her.” Her fingers dragged over the diagram, the chipped black nail polish contrasting with the white background of the chart. “According to this, we need to pass through that door over there. The U-Area is where the waste disposal opens to. And…”

Leon was already grimacing at the red lights surrounding the very obvious blockade in their path, looking more and more like a bank vault in his eyes. “Fantastic. Code again? Bracelet?”

Vera ripped the map off, hastily folding it while she crossed the path to the terminal, the crimson washing over her silhouette and making it glow around the edges. Leon also followed, with no idea what the neighboring sockets next to it were, trying to make sense of the three vertically paralleling panels side by side with slots in the middle of each one. Some had… chess piece-shaped plugs inserted in them. This designing choice. In a sewer.

He’d blame the hallucinations, except this was reality.

“I had a hunch.”

“A hunch,” he echoed, the insides of his eyebrows pulling together.

“Just, gimme a sec,” she dismissed with a playful clicking sound resonating from the back of her mouth, and pulled out a switchblade from her utility belt, shoving the end of the blade in between the front cover and the case of the biggest of the panels on the very left, just beside the vault door, breaking it open after wiggling the weapon in a circular motion. The metal came away with a soft clatter as it bounced on the concrete floor, other buttons and screws following suit in her careful prying to reach the circuitry.

He watched over her shoulder with great interest, the swiftness of her fingers fumbling around in the electronic guts and maneuvering around the wires. A true professional knowing exactly what to do. “So…?”

“Yep,” was all she said, finding something where he only could see plastic threads of different colors in a metal skeleton. “This is our guy.”

“Okay…?”

Vera did a double take on him, eyes appearing eerily red from the light as she pulled him away and got him to stand in the middle of the area for whatever reason, and he was dumbly obliged. “See those snake-wide wires from one station to another? Don’t they look like they’re connecting everything together?”

“Yeah,” Leon said, following the path she was following with her index finger.

“So like. Think of this as a very complex electric circuit. Maybe you don’t remember, it gets taught early I think? I don’t know which grade. Late elementary?”

Leon was one more outrageous misinformation from sputtering. “Physics. High school.”

“Ah,” she said, in the most monotonous, disinterested way possible, and shook it off, leaving him there to work on the big case again, burying her hands inside the mechanism of the contraption, and a loud pop was heard as a spark came off. Leon flinched at the sudden occurrence, and it didn't go unnoticed, judging by Vera's smug expression as she looked over her shoulder at him. “Anyway. Electric circuit. You know what to do with those. Wire it correct to turn the light on.”

“You make it sound so easy.” Leon would have laughed if it weren't for the current circumstances. “Isn’t that risky? If you fry the entire thing, we’re not getting through that door.”

“Good thing I’m not that much of a mess, right?” Vera replied, and suddenly jerked her hand away, the movement quick as she hissed in pain and stuck her finger in her mouth. "Ow."

"Careful!"

“Just a tiny pinch,” she muttered, sucking on her fingertip to ease the burning sensation, and Leon stood there, not knowing what to do and awkwardly struggling with himself over it. “Easy as I’m making it sound, this is gonna take a while.” She went down on one knee and shrugged off her backpack, searching the contents for something, not sparing a glance at him when saying, “You should do a thorough sweep of this place. We need anything we can get.”

He didn’t know what had him spaced out so much, the painkillers or finally being in a safe space where no need to look out for what lurked just around the corner, so, he only soaked the words in when Vera stopped whatever she was doing and looked as if she was awaiting something.

“You want me to go?”

"Are you sure you're not secretly a child and the sun didn't rise today for you to be able to do such a thing?"

“I—” At a loss for words, all he could do was open his mouth and close it for a comeback that wasn’t there, standing there like a huge idiot. “I mean, yeah, I could do that, it’s just—”

“Ada will be fine,” she interrupted, a tiny smile there as she took out some supplies from the bag: pliers, tape— “I’m on it. One thing at a time, you know? Or rather, many things at once. We gotta pick the speed up. Maybe you could try contacting Claire in the meanwhile? Marş, marş!”

He had a feeling that last part meant ‘Chop, chop,’ or something and not a type of wetlands, nearly offended at being kicked out. This was coming out of nowhere. Nevermind splitting up always causing more trouble than it was worth, leaving Vera with Ada in her condition was out of the question. The uneasy doubt made for an immediate objection and the offer of a better suggestion, but Vera beat him to it once more, “It’ll be fine. I know you don’t have a lot of faith in me at the moment, but—”

“Wait, what? No,” he burst out, the shock of it getting his body to move and stand right next to her, disbelief outweighing the constant, persistently annoying presence in his shoulder, having to look down at the kneeling girl. “That’s not true, this isn’t about that.”

He trusted her with his life, what was she talking about?

“Are you sure? Umbrella and all?”

Leon froze mid-inhale with the accusation, his hackles rising at the momentary pause that made it irrefutable on his tongue like a sweet turning acrid with the mention, and he bit the tip of it to swallow the bile, the saliva leaving a dry trail in its wake. She lightly scoffed as if this was all the confirmation she needed, and he hadn’t even said anything. The gray gaze veiled over with transparent red was steady and patient as she looked up at him under her lashes, the shine of it uncanny against the relaxed stance. The shadows of the room shrouded her, hiding her from the fluorescent glare of the artificial lighting, but Leon could still make out the details of her features, her jaw, the bridge of her nose, the curves and the sharp angles, the gleam in her eyes, all bathed in red, overtaking the pink.

He had to look away to sigh for a second, eyelids fluttering shut, and he scratched above his eyebrows to cover for the fact he was trying to rub the tension away.

The information she revealed had been shelved moving forward. For way too many reasons. One of them being too much to process, all things considered, with everything they’d been through; the near death experiences, the encounters with unholy monsters and zombies alike, and whatever else there was hiding in the dark. It wasn’t a conversation to be had lightly. Choosing to ignore it in the meanwhile was inspired by Marvin’s wisdom — don’t think, thinking slows you down, slow gets you killed. He’d embraced that willingly, because he could at least trust that she wasn’t out to get anyone other than Umbrella, and so far, she hadn’t proved him wrong.

So, it wasn’t about faith. It wasn’t about that at all.

It was about the tangled barn of yarn tied in knots with no hope of unraveling his insides that only a punch to his face would snap him out of. He didn’t know what to feel, but at the same time, things were coming at him with no name attached to them — all of which lacked any form like they’d stopped in the developmental stages.

Resentment was there, for being told half-truth, followed by guilt as an allergic reaction for harboring bitterness towards a friend, elevating sympathy for what she’d been through, a child used as a puppet in a scheme involving human experimentations. Something that cut deep at the knowledge she’d been aware all along. Admiration for her inhuman dedication to keep going. Incomprehensible. Unimaginable. Simply something out of fiction. Vera already had something around her from the start that emanated she was too brilliant to be real like some neon sign, and this had completely broken Leon’s reaction scale.

(Fear of having her run off with the evidence to save her own ass and abandon him. Prove his trust wrong like his superior did.)

And yet, “You saved my life. You’re still here. End of story,” came out of him unblinking, confident as a proven scientist. Three simple sentences sliced that tangled ball of yard in one go. “Page me if anything happens.”

Vera turned her gaze down, just nodding and offering a silent, “Okay,” and Leon started walking away, hand coming up to cradle his shoulder, feeling at the bandages and rotating his arm in small circles. The heat emitting from it was distracting, but he endured and pushed open the door, welcoming the cool draft despite the stink.

“Take the map,” she called out after him.

Leon caught the flying paper thrown at him with the force of a boomerang right in the nick of time, the sound echoing all around him. “Thanks.”

“A cable car?”

Only when his voice bounced back to him from the vast, empty space of the facility that Leon noticed he’d said that out loud, laser-focused on the Umbrella logo staring right back at him on the large vehicle. “Interesting.”

The single vagoned train-like structure was anchored to the platform, suspended in the air by steel cables, the rails above leading to the unknown depths of the underground area obscured by pitch black, intermittently illuminated by a spark of electricity running through damaged circuits where the lights ahead should be hanging from.

Now that he thought about it, metal and steel had replaced cement of the sewers infused with stool and piss the closer they got to this part of the complex, the stench fading and giving way to a more neutral, less offensive copper smell.

He had a feeling about the destination, but it was impossible to determine how long it would take to traverse the entire length, and the last thing he wanted to do was get on it and find out that it was a one-way ride or a trap waiting to spring.

Still, couldn’t hurt to take a peek, right?

“ID wristband required for cable car entry,” a robotic, female voice announced when he got closer to the door with a glowing green screen on it turning red upon his arrival.

Leon stared at his bare wrist, recalling Vera having snatched one from that uninvited zombie only able to have access to the corridor because he had it on him prior to turning. If they had any business with the lab, his instincts were telling him one of those bracelets would grant them the pass needed.

He was hoping it wouldn't come to that.

Digging deeper when you were already in a hole and needed a ladder to climb out was not a good decision.

"Vera, come in," He drummed his fingers on the device as he waited for an answer, walking the short length of the platform, staring at the orange and yellow signs warning about the danger of high voltage in the railways. "Found something interesting.”

“Yeah?”

“Cable car.”

“Uh-huh.”

Something made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and he whipped his head around to see nothing, but the feeling of being watched, being followed persisted. He moved further away from the entrance of the car and went to lean against the railing instead, observing the gloomy scenery. “Know what this is?”

“Is that rhetorical or you want me to answer?”

“Vera.”

She was strained from the signal cutting in and out. “It’s a ride to NEST.”

He gave a concentrated puff of air from his nose at the way she said it so casually. At one hand, the no-bullshit attitude was appreciated, at the other, he was caught off guard by the honesty — the normalcy of it.

“Is NEST the secret underground lab Ben Bertolucci was talking about?”

“Yeah.”

He expected more snark and less directness along the lines of, ‘What do you think the word nest implies, dum-dum.’ A headache was coming in.

“Ada’s heading there, then?”

The static on the other side was growing louder, her voice inaudible for a few moments as she fought to get the device to work. “Has to be. Cable car’s the only way to reach it. That I know of… Either that, or she’s looking for another route to get there.”

That’s the most she’d said about the topic. He dragged a palm down his face, fingertips picking up dampness along his brow line. “Got it. Anything else I should know?”

“About?”

He deliberately made what he said next sound dumb. “Well, whatever’s over there. More of those things?”

And he waited for the response as Vera mulled over it for a little. Option one was themed Leon not really needing to know. Option two was a jab about him not needing to since they wouldn’t be going there. Option three varied: duh, obviously, technically yes, or, probably.

Instead, she said, “Worse than that, I imagine.”

No joking around. Yeah. She was simultaneously saying nothing and everything he needed to know. This wasn’t doing any favors to Leon’s already anxious mind. “You could have lied, you know.”

Her chuckle crackled, broken by the bad connection. “Bit busy at the moment.”

The line fell silent afterwards, and Leon decided to not to push it further, leaving Vera to finish her job, closing his eyes as he went to hop on the table adjacent to the cable car with an assortment of papers, a computer monitor, and fliers scattered on the surface. Sitting down and flexing his shoulder helped to ease the tension, but the occasional flickering of the fluorescent lights above that washed over him and stuck a beam of ache right between his eyes definitely didn’t.

He absentmindedly picked one of the notes, expecting it to be about construction or technicalities, and was instead met with: Sally, Dad loves you so much. I’m coming babygirl. Wait for me a little longer.

The words were shaky and the ink had smudged in places, leaving spots, some of the lines so thick that the pen tore into the paper from the pressure. Leon peered at the date in the corner, only a week ago, and the ache in his shoulder and the heaviness in his limbs doubled. He wondered where the father had ended up, imagining him mindlessly wandering this underground maze, chunks of flesh dented in with teeth marks among countless companions who shared the same fate with a loved one's picture tucked in their breast pocket.

"Leon?!"

He whipped his head toward the originator of the shocked call, jumping down from the table and lowering the note gingerly, heartbeat accelerating. "Claire?"

"Oh my god!"

The relief that had him going weak in the knees was short lived, though. Claire was jogging up to him with Sherry cradled like a rag doll in her arms, a bundle of limbs trying to curl up on herself as attempts at soothing her were interrupted, and even from the distance it was uncanny how off her color was. Leon sprinted to meet them halfway there before he was even aware of it, grabbing the girl’s shoulders, checking her over for any bites or scratches.

He was afraid to ask, but did anyway. “What happened?”

The exhaustion weighing Claire down got to Leon’s radar then. “She’s infected with G.”

The tremors he felt underneath his palms transferred over to him as Sherry kept shuddering, breaths coming out in short gasps from cracked lips with barely a splash of color. He could hear her lungs clicking with each exhale.The warmth of her skin was searing to the touch.

He was so lost in the brief memory of little Emma that the click of heels closing in didn’t get through to him until it was too late.

“Step back. Now.”

Not commanding. Definitely not intimidating.

Armored misery was what Annette Birkin had spiraled into, pointing her gun at him with the hammer pulled back to reveal a shell in the chamber, knuckles white from the force of her grip and shoulders taut, a dark burgundy bruise on the left side of her face blooming on her cheekbone, the white of her eyes pinked from having shed tears beforehand.

Claire let out a heated yell, as frantic as Annette looked, half-shielding Leon with her body, Sherry still in her arms. “Stop! He’s with me!”

“He’s with that bitch,” Annette said in a correcting way, low and spiteful. He could only assume she meant Ada. “I’m not letting him anywhere near my daughter.”

“You already shot me once, and here I am.”

The advantage he took in hopes of smoothing down the tension had the opposite effect as the barrel of the gun pointed at him shook with Claire’s outraged, “What?! She shot you?”

Annette shook her head, lips thinning before they parted. “It was a warning shot. Wasn’t meant for him.”

He put his hands up, slowly, practically seeing the bristles raising on Annette’s back like a dog. “Aimed at an FBI agent. Good for you I got in the way.”

He didn’t know if her huffing laugh was genuine surprise or a sarcastic scoff, but it didn’t matter when her hands didn’t move an inch to indicate letting up, the steel of the barrel catching the intermittent spark of light from above like a taunting. “FBI? FBI.”

He swallowed the lump in his throat, the bead of sweat trailing down from the back of his neck to his spine was the drag of the tip of a knife to his senses. “You might want to reconsider your choice of enemies,” he tried, voice coming raspier than he intended. “I understand your reaction. I’m sure in these circumstances, she’s willing to forget about it until we get out of here. We all want the same thing.”

Annette shifted on her feet, briefly glancing at the suffering little girl when he nodded his chin in that direction. The veins in her neck bulged as her jaw clenched, breathing slowing. Unshed tears that would have escaped if she blinked filled her eyes, and she turned her head away, refusing to look any more. She gestured with a cock of her gun for Leon to step away. “Before I change my mind.”

Claire started to protest. “Don’t do this Annette—”

“Please, I’m not the enemy. Listen. Put it down, let me help, and then I’ll do anything I can to put you in the best possible position to—”

“You listen to me, boy. Stop wasting my time. You have no idea what you’re doing, who you’re protecting, or what you’re risking by getting in my way. I’m putting the next shot between your eyes the moment you open your dumb mouth again. I have a child and a city to save. Make your choice now.”

With a deep exhale, he carefully stepped aside with his hands up, clearing the path to the cable car's closed doors, and Annette slid on the floor towards them, not daring to take her eyes off him. The lock glowed green as she came closer, and she didn't need to lower her weapon as she took advantage of it to slip inside the safety of the capsule.

"Get in," she called to Claire.

Claire sent a pleading look to Leon standing a few feet away, and he couldn't do anything but remain there helplessly as she scurried in after bracing Sherry to hold her better, peeking at him over her shoulder in the last second to mutter, "Sorry."

“Not your fault.”

Her eyes shone with sincerity. “She said she can cure Sherry.”

Leon’s lungs were a balloon deflating at that. “She can?—”

“Yeah. So, take Vera and get out of here. Don’t follow us. We’ll be okay.”

And to his sinking horror, Claire wholeheartedly believed what she was saying.

Annette cut in, not caring to elaborate any further on what little context Claire provided. "I'd take her advice if I were you."

The door shut with a muffled hiss, leaving him on his own trapped in a state of shock and confusion, the telltale beeping of the lock mechanism signaling his defeat. Leon was rooted where he stood, in a daze locked on the car disappearing from sight with the speed of a snail, continuing to observe the eerie darkness that slowly swallowed it in pitiful curiosity.

Eventually, he turned around and trudged through the platform, barely aware of his movements, each step that carried him away from the now empty station stretching the fragile string holding him together thinner.

Taking the map in one hand and the radio in the other, he numbly thumbed at the buttons as the map crinkled, the creases fresh and symmetrical. “Vera, come in.”

It was faint, but he heard the radio buzz. “Everything okay?”

Better to rip the bandaid off in one go.

He drew in a ragged breath, his mouth tasting like cotton, his pulse pounding in his ears and he could feel it in his fingertips, could feel the sweat gather on his hairline and his clothes clinging to his hot body. "I..." He croaked and cleared his throat, wincing at the sudden noise and how the sounds clashed in his skull. "Bad news, Sherry got infected. Good news, Annette can apparently fix it. Claire's with them on the way to the NEST right now."

The lack of reply was normal in his opinion, he waited until he heard the crackling of what he assumed was sputtering breaths. “Jesus fuck. What the fuck.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I know.”

“How’s Claire—I mean—”

“Just. Tired.”

“Are you going with them? Did Annette—”

Leon wiped at the dampness on his forehead with the back of his hand. "No, no, I... I wouldn't be able to go along even if I wanted to. Annette didn't want me there."

He was going to add, ‘I wouldn’t leave you two behind like that,’ — but Vera’s immediate, “Because of Ada?” derailed his train of thought.

“Because of Ada.”

“How nice of her to give a fuck about you like that.”

“She didn’t shoot me this time.”

“What a character development,” she said, he could picture the roll of eyes that came with it, but didn’t feel like laughing or bantering at the moment at all.

“Listen, um,” he started, unable to hold back the words anymore, and they came out as a bundle of words that didn’t quite know their turn, spilling from him in an anxious mess. “I… This— cure. It could be cured. G. Do you think… Did you know…”

What he meant was: Did you know we could have saved Marvin if we were faster? Has it been weighing on you all this time? Can Raccoon City be saved after all? Did this many people need to suffer if they had a cure all along? I can’t stop thinking. I can’t stop thinking.

Her, “Fuck off,” made his spine so straight he thought a rod had gone through his esophagus. So sharp and cold it was a slap to the face, heat shot up from his neck all the way to the tip of his ears, the sudden rise in temperature scorching his shoulder. “My dad would still be here if I did.”

Good thing nobody was there to see a grown man go beet red from shame.

He bit down on the inside of his cheek, a metallic tang flooding his mouth as his teeth pierced the flesh. He stared at the tip of his shoes, itching to somehow be able to walk away from the conversation. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he apologized softly. “I’m sorry. I was just. Sharing? I guess…”

Could have worded it better.

“Ah.” The sigh through the receiver was long and spent, the long stretch of silence having him wonder if she cut the line off or not. “My nerves are on fucking pins and needles, I—”

“It’s okay,” The tension in his shoulders and back dissipated, and he took a deep breath to wash out the remains of mortification that settled on his palate. "We’re good—we’re good, right?”

“Yeah,” she sniffled. “Yeah. Of course.”

Eager to change the subject, he rubbed his fingers together, the material of the fingerless glove wrinkling with the motion. “I can’t believe they had a cure for G-virus lying around, everything could have been—”

“They don’t.”

Leon stared ahead, focusing on a random safe sitting on top of a table at the end of a catwalk, and a dead body propped up against the railing beside it. “What do you mean they don’t?”

The bitterness of her laugh cracked into the void of the transmission. "G isn't the strain raising people from the dead, or making those dogs rabid. It's what made William into that thing. You still remember what Claire read to us, right?"

“Yeah..?”

“The… zombie virus is a different thing. Fuck if I remember which letter of the alphabet they named it. But G, it's something else. Something new. It's no wonder people who made it have an antiviral agent lying around. Can't exactly test shit without a control group."

He didn’t get the difference at all. It was all the same in his eyes, the maker of abominations.

"Zombie virus is a different thing," he repeated, ignoring her remark about testing viruses on living subjects, "I thought it was all the same? But Ada said—"

"I know what she said," Vera interrupted him, and Leon had to stop himself from getting on the defensive over the hostility that wasn't even directed at him. "Either the FBI are misinformed or she was just saying things to satiate our curiosity. Classified information, yeah?"

"We should tell her if she doesn't know."

"If," She emphasized. "No point in trying to get more involved otherwise. Not our business."

“You’re still saying that?” It very much was their business. Claire, Annette, and even Ada before told them to walk away, but he wasn’t going to. He couldn’t. Who would after coming this far? “We’re past that point already. We might even be close to ending all of this, and— Jesus, don’t you want definitive, undeniable proof? That’s where we’re going to get it. A lab, Vera. Fingerprints of Umbrella straight from the source. Come on.”

He was tired of playing it logical and safe when it was already obvious they were headed down this rabbit hole. Time to dive in with their eyes open.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," was all Vera commented before she dropped the subject, her voice taking on a lighter sheen. "I'm almost done, by the way. Don't go too far."

"Sure," he agreed, easily, the knots in his stomach unwinding. "See you in a bit."

Leon felt like he was caught in a never-ending loop of the same repetitive steps. Discover a new area, open the gate, get swarmed by zombies, lose a bullet, stack up on supplies, get swarmed by zombies, get up, walk forward, find a safe zone, rest a while, find new stuff, set out again, open a door, get swarmed by zombies, press his back to a wall, reload, open a door, walk, get swarmed.

At this point, he wouldn't be surprised to see the exact same room he saw a mile ago with a path leading to another hallway in the same shape. There was no telling where he was going, just blindly trusting the instinct to go and go and go, and when it didn't feel like it was right, his gut screamed at him to turn back and take a different road. The map Vera threw at him for this very reason remained crumpled and useless in the back pocket of his pants, the scribbles and the drawn routes all crossed over each other, the network of routes resembling a child-designed maze as they all somehow led to the waterways waist-deep with sludge and trash and decomposing corpses, and he wasn't about to take a dip with his open gunshot wound anytime soon.

On the brighter side of things, he was now more or less familiar with the layout of the facility thanks to his adventures and Vera's colorful additions, getting better at evading, conserving bullets and the damage to his uniform and equipment. It was the downside of using guns - the ammo consumption being the biggest factor to keep in mind as they kept becoming scarcer and scarcer to find. He needed to be careful with his shots from now on, and only use them on the creatures that were a little more threatening and dangerous than the standard fare, but that didn't mean it was any less frustrating when he still came out of situations with a handful of shallow wounds, especially ones he was supposed to be more skilled at avoiding.

"Status update, Vera, how is it going?" he asked for the second time in the last twenty minutes, the impatience dissipating after he opened a locker to reveal a body that didn't belong in the small space, crouched in all the wrong angles and stuffed in there by someone by the looks of it, the missing flesh of his face rotting with green blotches on the purple skin. He averted his eyes and instead focused on the pallor of the undamaged portions of the cheek and the vacant blue pupils, the corpse's features revealing it belonged to a young man, no older than him.

In one of the earlier conversations, she’d given him the best news he received so far in this shithole: Ada was awake in there, and Vera had gestured to her they were working on a way to get her out.

The last few times, though, with the weight of Ada’s mortality off of their shoulders, she’d gone on technical tangents with all the eloquence of an electrician he was too unfamiliar with engineering to understand that at this point he thought finding the right plugs for the sockets to open the door would be easier instead of trying to rewire the whole thing, resulting in conversations such as: "what's this wire to do?" "pump energy to the relay" "what does it do?" "relays the power to the circuit breaker." "so what's the purpose of that?" "the circuit breaker?" "yeah." "it breaks the circuit so it doesn't blow up and fry the cables when it reaches its max wattage." "great. what is the circuit we're supposed to break then?" "are you being serious?" "...yes."

Which resulted in him receiving a, "Fuck off," in the end.

Not that he minded.

This time around, he expected a barb to deflect his insistent jabs, mock annoyance or a promise of bouncing back faster than lightning, but what he received was the uncomfortable crunch of static followed by silence, the monotonous drone of the open line indicating she was listening.

"Hello?"

He pressed the button of the device in hopes of making the sound clearer, his other hand splaying open in front of him in a confused gesture.

More crackling, a soft hiss, a mumbled curse. "Shhhhit," she hissed, followed by a clatter of metal like she tossed a screwdriver. "You piece of shit, where did you go?"

He checked around the corner he'd previously cleaned up just in case, his shoes squeaking as he rounded the sharp turn and peered into the darkness with his flashlight shining the path ahead, and hurried across the corridor. "Need help?"

"What are you gonna do, hit it with a rock?" The slight amusement in her tone was drowned in more rustling and groaning as she struggled to do something. "It's fine, just—it slipped, gimme a sec. Sorry, I—" Her voice broke off mid-sentence. "Stop distracting me, go away, you're making it worse!"

Was that directed at him or at something else? He stopped at the next turn, a door blocked by a trash container next to a rack of lockers, and was met with nothing but the unappealing, wet squelch of the sole of his boots in the puddle of blood next to an old fire extinguisher. His skin prickled as he leaned closer to check around it, only to be met with an empty hallway, a blackboard fixed on the wall with the letters H E L P emblazoned across it in chipped red paint.

"AAAAAAAA!!!" Vera's screech echoed in his ear. He'd gained the ability to distinguish between serious screams and irritated ones, so it didn't make him jump but he winced from the sheer volume, rubbing his free palm against his aching shoulder as he tuned back into her rambling. "You fucker! No, not the other one, the one— I got it, I got it! Ha, suck it up!"

A puff of air left Leon's nostrils. "Aren't you a ray of sunshine?"

Vera took offense in that, her offended gasp as she scoffed made it more comedic than dramatic. "Says the guy who keeps calling me every ten goddamn seconds like a needy little puppy."

"Oh, sorry for being worried, I guess. It's not like you're wide open for anything that comes through the door or anything."

"Do I look like I'm asking for a rescue party?" she drawled.

A chuckle left him in the form of an amused huff, the tension in his joints easing up. "Like you came across cockroaches."

"I hope you slip on one, asshole."

"Wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to me today."

Her next words came out nasal and muffled from what he assumed was her cupping her nose and mouth with the back of her palm. "Eh. That honor is probably mine." The mood changed like a switch that was flicked on and off again, she coughed a few times, and he heard her pat the front of her shirt and take a deep inhale and a shaky exhale, and then the radio went quiet. The shuffling of clothing rustling through the speaker was the next thing to indicate she was still there. "And on that note, I got the door open. Heading downstairs to get Ada out."

"Huh?" Leon looked at the pink walkie-talkie as if it personally insulted him. "No— wait for me, you can't go on your own. Who knows what's down there?"

"I do. It's fine."

"We've been through this, you know..."

She laughed, a nervous titter. "It's just a door."

And what she didn't say out loud, he heard as an echo. What could go wrong?

The unannounced, jinx-sent Birkin fight left them both traumatized from getting trapped in a burning control room with no other choice than to play whack-a-mole with the giant monster's claw as the hammer, followed by having to strategize like it was a turn-based RPG not to get thrown off the side of the platform while one played the bait and the other handled the crane controls to send container after container hurtling back to knock the mutated William into the abyss — because there was nothing else left to do other than getting him off their back. No fighting this thing.

And get rid of him they did, one crate at a time until the man was completely out of sight, the only remaining evidence of his presence being the last of his shrieks fading to black.

"Just a door, huh," Leon breathed out, panting and staggering forward on wobbly legs to wrap a steadying arm around Vera's middle before she fell over on the side in front of the crane controls.

She pushed him aside and full-on laid down on the ground, belly-down, starfishing under his open-mouthed amusement. "Just a fucking door," she wheezed, the backpack that somehow had survived the whole ordeal made her look like a turtle. "If that son of a bitch pulls a Terminator I'm nuking him. I swear to god. Sorry to Sherry but I can't do this anymore."

He rested his hands on his knees, crouching in the shadows of the massive construction machine, and gazed at the infinite expanse of nothing but a pitch black sky, the stench of sulfur around them filling his lungs. The wooden flooring of the platform creaked beneath him as he shifted his weight to settle on his backside, dropping next to her, a relieved hissing out from his lips.

There was no way for him to even begin to comprehend how Vera was feeling, her hands visibly shaking next to her, her hair an untamed, frizzy mess, the rips on her fishnets tearing apart more with the friction and she was absolutely covered in all sorts of stains from the dark patches of soot to the splatters of blood, her sweat seeping through the fabric.

He rolled over to mess with the outer pockets of the bag, looking for some kind of snack to bring her blood sugar back up, and found a chocolate bar that he guessed was a lucky find. Vera's mane of hair grunted when he handed it over, a deep frown on her face that scrunched her nose, her eyes cracking open enough to show the whites of them as she snatched it from him and wolfed it down.

After swallowing the last bite, she said, "Thanks."

It was funny to see her muching on it with a grimace of pain as she moved her jaw and chewed, and he watched her as she got back on her feet with the grace of a baby deer and extended a helping hand. She ignored it and stood on her own, slapping her palms together to dust the grime off, and he took her example to wipe at his dirty cheeks.

"We're not going back the way we came," Leon pointed out, stepping towards the edge of the platform to look up at the large crane that hung over the gap, Birkin's previous assault knocking down the scaffolding along with the metal walkway and leaving them with nothing to cover the bottomless pit.

"We got that door." Vera sounded drained, the lack of energy in her voice enough of an indicator. He understood her sentiment.

Leon couldn't stop the jab from coming out, taking out the map from the back pocket of his trousers. "Let's hope this door has something better in store than the last one."

"What a thing to say about Ada!"

He had a long way to go before winning a verbal sparring match against her.

"Huh," he hummed, the sizable paper in his hands bending backward and folded in half as he studied it more closely, the creases etched into the lines and contour of the tiny rooms and hallways. He found the right spot and began pointing out the structure with his finger. "This opens straight to the U-Area."

"No way, let me look," Vera squinted as he held it up for her, and he saw her gray irises flicker from the right to the left in a rapid back and forth, a fleeting brush of her shoulder as she got up close to peer at it. "Huh."

"Told you," he said. "Let's go."

"The fair damsel awaits," she sighed, no doubt talking about the agent, and wiped at the sweat dripping into her eyes from her fringe, combing it in place with her fingers. The ends of her hair were burnt and curled inward from the fire they'd narrowly avoided, smelling of smoke, the blackish curls reminding him of the stray cats he often spotted walking down the street next to the cafe where he used to grab a morning coffee from before classes, the thin furry bodies wandering around the alleyways and looking for scraps of food to eat.

A bit too eager, she began marching towards the opposite direction of where they came from, her steps not quite as surefooted as he was used to seeing her stride with such confidence, the exhaustion showing as she hunched over in an attempt to catch her breath. Leon fell into a slower pace next to her, keeping an eye out for anything that could possibly jump out of nowhere as he switched the gun's safety off, ready for combat, and scanned the surroundings with his flashlight to guide them through the narrow stairway going up.

"I can't believe power's still holding up," she observed after seeing the green light blinking above the garbage disposal door while Leon pulled down the lever, the mechanism whirring to life as the shutter lifted upward, revealing piles, no, hoards of trash, cans, broken glass and boxes scattered around with pipes and the walls colored in an assortment of mucky brown. The stench that permeated the air, a combination of rot and dirt and something so pungent his nostrils burned with the smell, made him gag, but he managed to hold it back to spare himself the embarrassment of coughing his lungs out, covering his nose and mouth with his sleeve instead — Ada had been stuck here for god knows how long.

Ada.

Forgetting about the odor, Leon rushed in as he pictured the image of her, surrounded by filth, and he was caught up in the whirlwind of relief and panic and urgency of going to get her, the exhaustion forgotten. "Ada? Ada, where are you!"

"Over here!"

He pivoted at the sound of her voice coming from somewhere near, spotting splatters of blood on the floor that was once white and gray and now the color of rust, finding Ada hiding herself between two mountains of garbage leaning to the wall, and didn't recognize her at first glance. Her trenchcoat was gone, leaving her in a short, flimsy cocktail dress, supporting her body weight by her hands on the floor, the leg a metal piece was sticking out of facing up. The put-together, clean appearance of hers was no more, she was covered in grime just like they were, and in the dim lighting her exposed limbs were shimmering with sweat.

He ran to her as fast as he could, squatting to check the extent of the injury. "Ada... I was getting worried there for a sec..."

"Oof," Vera grimaced behind him, hands going to her knees as she bent down by her waist, her hair swinging over her head and pooling in front of her face. "That looks nasty."

"How do you think it feels?" Ada quipped, a bit dry, and gave Vera a tight lipped smile, though Leon wasn't sure if she meant it in an insulting manner or as a joke. "I can't get it out."

Leon looked at her thigh, and back at Ada. "I don't know if we should..."

"Just do it. I can't walk like this."

Vera knelt on one knee next to her and tilted her chin to the side to inspect it from a different angle. Ada didn't seem to appreciate the attention but tolerated it with a quiet acceptance, watching Vera as she continued to look, but Leon was the one who blurted out, "Don't touch it!" when she reached for the metal piece, stopping in her tracks, fingers hovering over it.

"The hell," Vera exclaimed, backing her hand away as if she'd burned it and looking up at Leon standing over them, her eyebrows arching.

"Antiseptic," he explained, positioning himself behind her for better access to her backpack, pulling out the bottle of isopropyl alcohol and the roll of bandages from the bag. Vera stared at him for a couple more seconds before she seemed to finally catch up, then nodded in understanding and took the materials from his open palm as he handed them to her, "I take it out, you disinfect and bandage right after."

"Sure thing, boss."

His cheeks flared up in response to the nickname, his heart jumping up to his throat at the acknowledgment, but it all washed away when Vera nodded at him to go on, the teasing forgotten for a more pressing matter, and he went on to take care of it as gently as possible, all the while being hyper aware of eyes on him as he worked to take the metal out in one go. Ada kept her expression impassive, her back ramrod straight with a fist resting on the knee of the healthy leg, only a hiss of discomfort escaping through her teeth as the shrapnel slid out of her flesh.

Vera's touch was surprisingly gentle despite her usually brash demeanor, cleaning the area with a soaked piece of cotton to get rid of the dried blood and disinfect it, humming under her breath at Ada's reaction letting her pain show more than before. She tied the gauze with a deft knot, sealing it in place, and began packing the things back into her bag.

"Can you walk?" Vera asked, holding up a hand for Ada to take it and pull her up, getting a firm nod in return. Ada brushed herself off, her legs not entirely steady as she took a few experimental steps, the heels of her pumps clicking against the concrete floor.

Leon noticed a few drops of blood sliding down from the piece of metal and dropped it on the floor. "So... what do we do now?"

"We?" Vera paused for a moment, like she hadn't expected him to phrase it like that, and looked back at the other woman.

Ada shook her head. "Get yourself out of here. While you still can."

"I'm — we're not just gonna leave you. Not like this," he protested, gesturing at the bloody rag on her thigh, out of worry and confusion and maybe some lingering sense of responsibility that made him feel like he'd be betraying Ada if he simply up and left, especially after everything that she's done for them. She was a capable person, true, it just didn't feel right.

"You don’t understand. The situation’s worse than I thought."

Vera scoffed, crossing her arms. "Right. How're you going to get out of this shitpit exactly? After we leave?"

"I can take care of myself."

The other girl didn't have to say anything, making a point just by openly staring with eyebrows up all the way to her hairline, making a face that expressed what she thought about that statement.

"I don't know what your objective is, but you need to listen to your own advice," Vera continued, as if Ada had never said anything. "That leg isn't gonna get you far in this condition."

The look she received was one that said they were at an impasse and Ada was considering it, the tilt of her head and the way her mouth parted to say something made Leon think they were actually going to cooperate with each other and make it work, only for her to break her gaze from Vera and fix him with a stare that sent shivers down his spine. "Good thing I have you two, then, huh?"

Leon brightened up, a bit proud and happy to have some sort of resolution, even though he could feel the daggers Vera was trying to drill into the side of his skull without saying anything. He chose to ignore it, thinking that this was a win-win, because really, Ada finally letting them help when they were obviously going in the same direction? Why would that be bad?

Vera was as stiff as a board, but turned to lead the way, taking a step to walk past Ada as she did so, giving her a polite nod and nothing else.

Leon began to follow her, but not before he noticed Ada's eyes following her, a contemplative look in them that disappeared as soon as Ada's focus landed on him, making Leon wonder if he saw it correctly at all. "You still want to help?"

He nodded fervently, spirits soaring. "Of course!"

"We have to get to the NEST. It's—"

"Umbrella's lab, we know." He shared a look with Vera, somewhat content with himself to let it be known they were on the same frequency with Ada. "That's where the G-virus is, right?"

Ada's eyes narrowed, a missed beat in the way she answered. "That was easy to deduce, I suppose."

"Yeah." There was no need for distrust to come between them, so it was an easy confession. "And Vera's a private investigator, she already knew about Umbrella before this started."

He caught the girl in question mouthing his name in anger, teeth clenched shut, looking like she wanted to cave his head in, not understanding where the anger was coming from.

Ada turned her attention to her. "Is that so? What kind of a PI?"

"The kind that gets snitched on, apparently," Vera glared daggers at him, her nose wrinkled, nostrils flaring as she let out a scoff that was aimed at him.

"Come on, she's FBI. No harm in her knowing," he dismissed, hoping she wouldn't press it further and chew his ears off for this. Vera made a noncommittal noise that he didn't know how to interpret, but she didn't voice out any objections, so he thought they were good, at least for now. "We're together in this. So... NEST?"

The agent ignored him, however, "How much do you know?"

"Enough," Vera answered, clearly wanting the subject to be dropped.

"About?"

"Am I being interrogated, Agent?"

"Depends. Is there something you're hiding?"

Vera stepped closer, her demeanor shifting. "There's a lot I'm avoiding, let's leave it at that. It's been like that for a long while, and will continue to be so until I get what I came for. For the greater good."

There was no answer coming. Instead, the silence that followed was so thick with something that it made his hairs stand on end, goosebumps rising on his forearms. Something was happening between them he didn't understand. Ada was scrutinizing her with an intense glare, something fierce and calculating flashing in her eyes, a bit intimidating, but Vera returned the gaze with such a ferocity in her own, challenging Ada to call her bluff and say something else.

And she did. "Okay," Ada agreed, with the hint of a smile in the corner of her lips. "Then, for the greater good, shall we?"

Leon didn't know what he was supposed to be expecting. Maybe a proper introduction, a clear outline of the plan, a friendly chat. Anything, really, but this sudden shift in atmosphere, it was suddenly very hot in the room. Like something else was going on other than getting to NEST, like they had history.

"O...kay," he muttered.

"This tram is bound for NEST. Do not exit until the final destination."

Leon stared at the speaker attached to the ceiling of the vehicle as he pulled down the lever to get it moving, Ada and Vera already inside, the latter of which had her arms crossed and was glaring at the ceiling as if she wished to smite it, not noticing Ada's observing gaze that followed the way she fiddled with the digital camera she'd just used to record the outside of the cable car to catch the Umbrella logo on it, or the way she swayed and pressed herself to the wall as the tram began to move. They were sitting next to each other on the bench, Ada's injured leg stretched out, and she had to be feeling uncomfortable, but didn't let it show.

"You know what I was thinking?" He started, heated as he tried to start a conversation, anything really to get rid of the tension hanging over their heads. "I can’t wait for the FBI to raid Umbrella headquarters and take those bastards to justice."

Vera leaned back after setting down the still recording camera to face the window of the cable car, her hair hitting the metal of the wall with a soft thud, the muscles of her throat straining as she gulped down and closed her eyes.

" I agree… but to be clear, you’re not working in official capacity. This is a federal case." Ada stressed, the sharp tone of her voice making Vera snap her eyes open to look at her from under her eyelashes. "Once we get the G-Virus—"

"We?" asked Vera, for the second time tonight, turning her head to meet Ada's gaze that was unreadable, filled with some emotion that made the space between her eyebrows pinch.

Ada's eyes darted away to stare at the floor, and she sat upright to avoid further eye contact. "Yes," she admitted, a bit strained, but it was genuine. "I thought I might need your help… and I was right. If you can secure the G-Virus, I can make sure what happened in Raccoon City never happens again."

Vera was surprised at the offer, and she gave it some thought before she replied. "I'm not risking any of our lives for that stupid virus. We're not some disposable assets. Finding Claire and Sherry comes first. You can deal with the rest as you wanted from the start. On your own, that is."

"No, wait a minute," Leon objected, shaking his head as he turned to look at Vera. "I want to do something. Umbrella has to pay for what they've done. You heard her, she's with the government, she can take this to the media, the whole country — the world. With what we have, all of this, this is not something they can sweep under the rug. Please, let's help her get the virus. It's important."

She shot up from her seat and grabbed her backpack, going for the camera next to stop the recording. "God, no," she huffed, the calmness breaking to reveal how frustrated she was with everything that happened. "Claire and Sherry are more important than the virus. And you're not putting their lives on the line for something that's not guaranteed—"

"I'm not putting their lives in danger."

"And yours doesn't matter?"

"It does, but," he gestured with his hands in a hopeless motion. "I mean, I signed up for this when I applied to the RPD. If it's for the people, then—"

She scowled at him, and he hated the disappointment on her face, her eyes darting back and forth over his face, as if she was searching for something that wasn't there. "It's not worth it, Leon."

Ada watched their exchange like a tennis match, staying quiet, and he thought she would interject, but she didn't, choosing to see how things played out instead.

"How can you say that?"

Vera clicked her tongue, and his stomach sank, his chest growing cold. "The fucking G-Virus isn't the reason why RC went to shit, I told you already," she said, and something in the way she spoke sent a chill down his spine.

He wondered why she was being so defensive. Was there something she knew that he didn't? Again?

It wasn't the first time.

He shook his head and pursed his lips. "Even if it's not the direct cause, it's definitely a part of it. All that experimenting on people, all that bloodshed. The police, the entire city, my fellow officers died trying to keep everyone safe. The civilians. Us. You saw that little girl," he pleaded, his heart sinking lower when she averted her gaze from him and focused on the screen of the camera, fidgeting with the buttons. "I'm doing this for them. Even if I have to die for it, then so be it."

Vera sucked in a sharp breath and didn't look at him. She didn't agree to anything, or argued, just stayed silent, a hand reaching out to take her headphones out of her bag and slip them around her neck, turning away from him and bringing her legs up to sit on the bench, faint rock music filled the air. He knew there was no use in pushing, and she wouldn't change her mind no matter what, but the cold indifference, the blatant refusal of wanting to do anything that she disagreed with made him mad. He understood where she was coming from, that she was concerned with getting the younger girl to safety and probably wanted to forget about all of this and get as far away from it as possible, but he wanted to fight it. To do something. Make a difference, however small. It was naive and probably short-sighted, but he needed to do it.

With a heavy heart, Leon looked back at Ada and saw the corner of her lip quirk up in the faintest of smiles, her chin in the palm of her hand.

#leon kennedy x oc #leon s. kennedy x oc #leon s kennedy x oc #resident evil oc #oc: vera kaplan #era: no time to die #story: gravedigger #resident evil x oc

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calkestis · 2 years ago

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rewatching tlou game and god i just love their journey together. i'll admit tlou2 broke my heart & i hated it for a long while but when i watched it again, the story made sense, even when it was heartbreaking. i loved lev and abby, their motivations were fair, like i cant expect everyone to be ok with joel just killing ppl even tho i knew what /his/ motivations were. i was just bitter but the story is honestly so good. it killed me when at the end we see ellie start trying to be on good terms with him again :'(((( and they were supposed to watch a movie and then that happens... basically im already not ready and we're not even done with the first part yet

i really want to replay tlou part 2 but i'm still so emotionally devastated from the first time i played it that i just postpone starting it again. i totally get what you're saying about hating it at first cause i was so mad when i first started the section with abby (even if rationally i KNEW she basically has the same reasoning as ellie). i was just so heartbroken and mad that i didn't want to see her perspective or learn about her motives and that's exactly what makes this game genius. and i still can't watch that last scene without crying my heart out. when he says "she would be lucky to have you" i start bawling instantly (i literally have tears in my eyes right now); no matter how many struggles ellie has, how low she thinks of herself, he loves her so much and now i want to chew glass just thinking about it. yeah, if we get a season 2 it's gonna be so much pain to handle...

#i need to tag a lot of spoilers here hang on #the last of us part 2 #the last of us spoilers #the last of us part 2 spoilers #tlou spoilers #answers

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pig-wings · 4 years ago

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six sentence sunday but its like 900 words of xanadu instead

"Did you know that Amos didn’t know how to swim?”

“I did know that. I offered to teach him years ago, but he said no.”

“Really? He let me teach him.”

The waiter came over with their drinks. Naomi took a long sip off the top of hers, her expression thoughtful. “You know, I was just thinking about how Amos has changed more in the past few years than he had in all the time I knew him on the Cant. He never would have showed that kind of vulnerability before. And I think that it’s all because of you.”

“I don’t—”

“Hear me out.” Her tone was patient but firm, commanding and soft all at once. Something about it made him both straighten his spine and relax into the cheap leather upholstery of his seat. That was just the effect she had on him. “Every scrap of vulnerability I’ve gotten from Amos, I’ve waited years for. Amos and I understand each other, but that sort of implicit understanding comes with drawbacks. He didn’t open up to me often. When he did, I usually had to piece together what he really meant. And that’s fine. I’m not bringing this up because I’m jealous or resentful or whatever.” She paused, took another sip of her drink.

“But you, you’ve managed to pry him open with so little effort. There’s just something about you—it’s like he can’t help himself, and he just wants to be his most honest self with you. I mean, I’ve felt it too, but it’s just so surprising with Amos.”

“I don’t think it’s all me,” Holden objected softly. Naomi shrugged and gestured vaguely with a hand.

“Sure, but I think you’re a big part. If there’s one thing I know, it’s that Amos didn’t have a lot of positive male role models in his life. And I think he sees you and…,” she trailed off, fishing for her next words. Holden wanted to protest but he knew better than to interrupt her. “He sees you, and I think he starts to understand what he was missing back on Earth. What wasn’t provided for him.”

She was right. She was always right, and it was one of the things he loved best about her. She was right even when she was wrong, because she believed so strongly in what she said and did. He thought she was wrong now. He wanted to say that it was all of them. It was her, Alex, himself, and all of the other people that had intersected their lives—Prax and Bobbie and the countless others who had come and gone in their lives like ghosts. Each of them had helped Amos in their own way.

But he kept thinking about to their post-coital conversation in the tent, the sad constant song of the poorwill above them. How Amos had told him, his heart bared, about how he had been abused. About the woman who had cared for him and, he suspected, contributed to the heavy burden of trauma that Amos worked so hard to hide. She’s a good person. Just like you. Good people.

“I don’t know what he sees in me that he didn’t see in you,” Holden said. It made him more comfortable to deflect the compliment, though he suspected it may annoy Naomi, or at least amuse her. Sure enough, she shook her head with a look of patient resignation. She didn’t say anything in response; she didn’t need to, really. Holden sighed and picked up his glass.

Amos Burton had been chewed up by a system fueled by exploitation, used by clients and abused by his handlers. He had been abandoned by a government that had sworn that all of its citizens would get basic necessities—medical care, income, food. And still he had come out the other side. He had dragged himself out of the teeth of that trap, and he had clawed his way up the gravity well. The Amos he knew was a man quick to savagery and quick to joking. His face could go from stony to smiling quicker than the eye could see. He labeled everything he owned with his name in big, blocky letters. He always cleaned his plate and never complained about the food he was eating. He was fiercely, violently protective of children.

Holden had known him first as Naomi’s shadow, then as his mechanic, and now as his lover. Each of these men felt like they were very differently people, though he knew they weren’t. Knowing Amos was a rare gift. But knowing him—really knowing him—that was something beyond words, he realized.

“I don’t understand him,” said Holden. Naomi shrugged. Who does? “No, I mean—I mean that I don’t understand how he could have gone through all that, and still come out of the other side trying to be a good person.”

“Oh.” Naomi fell very quiet. “That, I understand. That, I understand very well.”

His heart throbbed with pain for her. Vulnerability was on the menu tonight, apparently.

“It’s luck,” Naomi said. “Luck, and the sheer willpower to gnaw your way out of whatever's holding you, even if it means losing part of yourself in the process. That’s all there is to survival. That’s how Amos and I know each other.”

#my writing #my wips #canon typical references to Amos' trauma within #and Naomi's as well

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mistymark · 5 years ago

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nct dream as college kids

RENJUN

works on campus til late

always asleep

likes to study in the library because its the only place he can get some bloody peace

texts jaemin to bring him food

went to the on-campus gym once and never went back

complains about parking on campus

complains about his friends on campus

but he loves them and always organises activities and catch ups

the glue that keeps everyone in touch despite their different degrees and campuses

laughs too loud and always gets stared at for doing it in class

once got kicked out of the library for his loudness

to be fair, he did accidentally fall out of his chair... and pull the table down with him

his id actually looks good

does half the pre-reading then just listens to lectures to understand the rest

o ve. r whe l me d

still maintains a brilliant GPA

his project group members always love him

JENO

wears hoodies and sweats to every class

still looks really good though

and distracts everyone in his classes

lives off free food at parties and tight-ass tuesdays specials

is in advanced classes bc he had the grades for them but doesnt understand shit

still manages to look bored in class even when hes confused and/or focused

sits in the back and then squints at the board bc mans cant see

carries like three things with him to every class

owns one (1) pen

he doesnt even write anything with it he just chews on it during class

everyone thinks its hot but the guy sitting beside him (jaemin) looks disgusted the entire time

has received many anonymous love letters on facebook but hasn't read any of them

not to be mean - he just doesnt find it interesting

drafted a love letter to someone in one of his lectures and then deleted it

hasn't looked at the page since

actually does the pre-reading

then gets bored in lectures when they just go over what he read about

JAEMIN

smiles 24/7 even when hes stressed

supportive af tho

always sporting the Cozy aesthetic

wears sweaters and vests in temperatures you'd think wouldnt be suitable but the boy doesnt appear to sweat???

wears rly cute glasses sometimes and !!!!!!!!

waves at people he knows

does not hesitate to run up to people and start conversations with them out of nowhere

attends Donghyuck’s parties to SpEnD TimE WiTh HiS fRieNdS

has never lost a game of beer pong

girls say he gets 10x hotter when hes drunk because hes way more flirtatious and fun

but he probably just flirts w Jeno the whole time

walks into lectures with sunglasses on and everyone knows what happened the night before

never leaves the house without food

his backpack is 30% necessities like laptop, books, phone, keys etc.

and 70% granola bars and fruit

doesnt want to spend money on food on campus

drinks way too much boba tho

is in Disney society and probably becomes co-president after a year

DONGHYUCK

throws parties for every no reason

wears the same outfit every day bc he knows he looks good

youngest kid in his frat

talks a lot of shit about how hes a player and can get any girl he wants but the second a girl looks at him hes a blubbering mess

in fact, hes probably got a huge crush on someone in his lecture that hes never talked to

attends online lectures so he can play video games at the same time

has to be told to turn his mic off during group discussions because hes eating really loudly

isn't afraid to talk in class

sometimes rocks up wearing something outside of his normal dress code because hes still discovering his style

but everything he tries suits him

basically started the bucket hat trend - he claims so anyway

won't let anybody touch his student id

no one has seen the photo but many speculations have been made over how bad it is

the only person who has seen it is one of the librarians

Chenle and Jisung made it their mission to see it but to this day they havent been able to get it

its a series on Chenle’s tiktok bET

CHENLE

became famous on tiktok over the summer so now everyone knows who he is ??

does wild shit bro

does vlogs with his friends

‘I joined the kpop dance club at my college and it went like this”

lots of videos of him and his friends going batshit crazy at night

wears expensive yet extremely tasteful clothing

catch him walking around campus in pressed shirts

never looks tired ??????? how does he cope ??????

tags jisung in love letters that are definitely not for him

tags jisung in love letters that are definitely for him

probably wants to start a youtube channel when he graduates

girls want to date him but more often guys want to be him

is super nice but

glares at anyone who says he doesnt need a degree to take over daddy’s business

did a kiss or slap challenge once and everyone kissed him and its very pure

maintains solid grades

everyone knows who he is whether they know him from tiktok or not

probably on really good terms with his professors

loves to send emails ?

JISUNG

that one kid in high school that became super hot over the summer

people from his school dont even recognise him

makes the older kids feel gross when they realise hes younger than they are and they've been thirsting over him for ages

people who wouldnt even glance in his direction in high school now want to be his friend

mostly keeps to himself and his studies

joins a few clubs and societies

got roped into Disney society by jaemin

had to attend the ball and wanted to die when he got crowned as the official prince

I dont think he did Disney society the year after

though he did think the dancing at the ball was fun and joined a dance troupe

gives his number to people in his project group then forgets to respond when they text him

does his work tho so who can complain

dies of embarrassment whenever he sees chenle has tagged him in love letters on facebook

at some point chenle has downloaded tinder onto his phone and tried to match him with people

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kweebtrash · 5 years ago

Text

Blind Leading the Blind

WonwooxReader

Summary: basically a cute/nerdy/awkward moment between two people who cant fucking see without their glasses and are nervous about hooking up for the first time

Words: 2.3k (drabble)

Features: really awkward hookups, nerdy!wonwoo, nerdy/shy reader, both wonwoo and reader being clumsy as all hell, heavy making out/grinding/caressing, fingering/stroking, some nipple sucking

Masterlist Buy Me a Ko-Fi

Wonwoo fumbled with the door to his bedroom, struggling to grab onto the knob. It was rather difficult with his lips on mine and him pushing me against the wood but we had been so wrapped up in each other we almost didnt notice. My arms were around his neck, pulling him as tight as possible to my heated body. He was making me never want to come up from air but he did just that and made me chase after his lips. "H-hold on! S-sorry, just hold on a second. My hand is kinda sweaty and i cant-" He jerked the doorknob and twisted it, opening the door. "I couldnt get it open. But um...here we are." He chuckled awkwardly and held out his hand for me to view his simple university dormroom. It was a shared space that resembled a small apartment more than anything. His actual bedroom however still had a bunk bed which seemed annoyingly small for his tall frame. Not the most attractive place to have sex in but it would have to do.

I stepped into his room and adjusted my glasses shyly. I never expected us to get so far as to wanting to come back to his place. We had seen a movie at the local theater, had terrible university food, then walked around campus. He was a perfect gentleman. A perfectly gorgeous hot gentleman. Someone who was respectful and kind and turned me on just by being his dorky self. A sweet kiss goodnight lingered for far longer than intended and when the need grew too much to bare we decided to end the date on a more sensual note. He came into the room after me and we stood around for a moment, chuckling nervously and not knowing how to exactly pick back up where we left off.

He shrugged off his jacket and asked me if i wanted something to drink which i denied. An uneasy silence filled the room and i chewed my lip in ponderance. "Um so..." I began softly. "Do you want to...keep going, maybe?" I hoped he said yes. I had felt his strong and muscled arms beneath the thin shirt he wore during our first embrace and i was determined to have them trap me against his body once more.

"Oh! Yes. Yeah. Yes. Um...yes keep going. Thats cool. Youre cool. God sorry, i keep talking because i'm-" I cut him off with another kiss, reaching up to cup his face in my hands. His slightly full lips were soft and tender. It felt as if they were made to be on mine, a perfect fit like the final piece of a puzzle. His hands didnt seem to know where to rest at. They roamed from my shoulders to the center of my back then lower to my ass before he changed his mind and went back up to my shoulders.

"You can uh...touch my ass if you want. Like grab it...or w-whatever." I blushed.

"Oh? I didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Youre not." I shook my head. "In fact youre making me want you more. Youre cute when youre flustered."

"youre cute in general." He responded quickly, his own face turning rose as well. I gave him a small peck as a thank you for the compliment and took his hand.

"do you think we might be more comfortable on the bed?" He nodded and let me lead, ducking his head to avoid the upper bunk as he joined me on the mattress. We sat on the edge, again wondering where our hands and lips should go. A few more tentative touches and he settled on my hips while his tongue nudged its way past my teeth. With a bit more confidence he added some control to the kiss, making sure that he could trap my tongue in a few sucks and lure soft whimpers out of me. Every time i made a small sound his grip on me grew tighter and he was slowly moving me down to meet the mattress.

He tried to shift on top of me smoothly but the frames of our glasses jutted together and made the lens smack against my eye. We drew back from one another, eyes squinting and trying to rub the slight pain away. "S-sorry about that. I meant to go down a little be easier."

"im sure you'll go down fine." I said, not realizing the double entendre right away as i blinked clarity back into my eye. "I mean um...just lay on top of me! Well i mean, you know what i mean!"

"yeah, yeah! Totally. Do you think we should take off our glasses? Maybe that would be better." Wonwoo offered.

"We wouldnt be able to see each other at all. Wed both be one big blur." I laughed knowing that our eyesights were utterly terrible.

"Feeling around might be more fun though." His deep voice had lowered into a whisper and he nipped at his bottom lip. I was starting to like the way he was thinking. We removed our glasses and set them on the desk that was just a few inches away from his bunk. The blurriness helped a bit. Though i loved his good looks, it did shave off some nervousness between us.

He set himself between my legs and watched my reaction as the tips of his fingers disappeared under the loose skirt of my dress. His thumb stroked the smooth skin of my inner thigh making my hips buck ever so slightly when he would get close to my panties. I panted softly against his lips as my fingers trembled through opening the buttons on his shirt. Once they were free i shoved the shirt away. He struggled to get his arms out the sleeves and hit his knuckles on the bunk above as he had been flailing out of them. He huffed once he was free, rubbing his knuckles momentarily, and tossed the shirt on the floor. As he returned to kiss along my jawline i wrapped my arms beneath his, holding onto his biceps tight. The way his muscles flexed under my fingers had my stomach clenching in earnest. I wanted him badly and though i had never slept with anyone on the first date i knew i wanted him to have the first experience, especially because i got the sense he wasnt a jerk who wouldnt call me back.

Being bolder i slid one hand into the minimal space between our hips and groped the center of his pants; not too harsh but just enough to get his attention right away. "Wonwoo..." I mewled. "Can we...?"

His whole face flushed crimson, traveling all the way to the tips of his ears. He stared at my hand then at my face then back at my hand again. I grew nervous that I had made him uncomfortable and went to move away from him but he gripped my wrist lightly and kept me right where I was. I smirked and worked my palm over him, watching the way his eyes fell closed and lips parted slightly. The baritone sound was perfect and I longed to make him repeat it as much as possible. He moved his hips into me even going so far as to pluck open the button of his jeans and pulling the zipper down. My heart did somersaults at the prospect of seeing him fully. I swallowed hard, starting to chicken out, and diverted my eyes. It was far from my first time but I was still a rather shy person and when he made to pull my panties down I snapped my legs shut. “Do you want to s-shut off the lights?”

“Huh? Why? I want to see you. You’re beautiful...” He replied softly.

I covered my face at the compliment. “I-I mean...i-it’s like you said, it’s more fun to feel, right? Besides not like we can see much now.”

“Well, if that’s what you want...” He agreed with a slight pout. He left the bed to shut off the light and I made quick work of removing my dress. I laid back on the bed once the room was in darkness, waiting for Wonwoo’s return. I heard shuffling and small grunts of frustration as well as the sound of fabric waving around.

“Wonwoo, what are you doing?”

“Taking off my-!” Another small grunt. “My pants! I got them off now. It’s ok.” He breathed a sigh of relief which was right before I heard a loud thud and Wonwoo cursing.

I sat up quickly and tried reaching out to him. “What happened?!”

“I hit my head on the stupid bed! God that hurt!”

“Oh god, Wonwoo, come here.” I cooed at him. “And please duck your head.” I felt the bed dip as he moved onto it, unharmed this time. I pulled him close and kissed his forehead, trying to soothe the damage as i giggled. "Poor baby."

He huffed. "Sorry im an idiot."

"A cute idiot." I compromised. "A very cute idiot." I kissed along his strong jawline and cupped his neck gently while leaning into him. I decided it was my turn to be on top and stunned him once i straddled his hips. I moved his hands to settle on my hips as i pressed our chests together and decorated his neck with small bites. The cover of the darkness increased the spark between us and we filled each others mouths with moans and whimpers.

Much to my surprise, his hold on me allowed him to guide me into rough grinds against him. He was beginning to stir beneath me, filling out his underwear more and more until i felt every inch of him between my thighs. His fingernails etched half moons into my hips as he begged for me to pull my panties off. I hummed in agreement and kissed my way down his neck to his chest and toned stomach before scooting away to pull off the impeding garment. He turned on his side to face me, instantly placing his long fingers between my slowly forming wetness, drawing them through my lower lips and making shudders run through me.

My hand returned to his hardness, gripping the outline of his shaft and stroking him in conjunction with my own pleasure. i spread my legs wider, giving him more room to slip a single finger inside my willing hole. I mewled his name, trying not to be too loud in case any of his roommates had come home. It was getting hard though with the way he was curling his finger and pulling down the cup of my bra to suckle at my breast. With my free hand i dug my fingers into his thick hair, fisting the locks tightly as i arched my chest into his mouth.

I rubbed my thumb over the tip of his cock, drifting over the small slit that had begun to leak. He tensed then, muscles within his thighs trembling ever so slightly. "P-please..."

"Hmm?" I kissed his cheek and nudged my forehead against his.

"C-could you...? Would you...? I mean you dont have to-i dont want to make you uncomfortable-but maybe, if you want, um..."

"Do you want me to suck you off?"

Wonwoo chuckled nervously. "A-ah...y-yeah. Thats what i meant to say."

"Will you keep touching me while i do it? Your fingers feel...really good." I buried his face in his chest even though he couldnt see my embarrassment in the dark. We were both fumbling idiots that could barely get through anything sexual without something triggering our nervousness. It was almost comical. I was glad we could at least say what we wanted from each other even if it was through stutters and mumbles.

“Yeah, of course. I want you to feel good too.” He assured me.

I switched my position to lower my head towards his cock while my ass wiggled closer to his chest. His finger resumed its position inside me, being joined by another to stretch the small space open. As he pleasured the soft walls within me, i guided him into my mouth, wrapping my lips around the thickness of his head. He kicked off his underwear and spread his legs more, giving me room to stroke what couldnt fit in my mouth. The feel of his girth against my tongue had me struggling to hollow out my cheeks but i bounced my head away, wanting him to feel the utmost pleasure. With us being wrapped up in the intensity of our sensuality we barely noticed the door opening or the light flickering on until we heard an "Oh fuck!!"

Wonwoo and i both shot up, squinting hard to see a tall figure now a few feet in front of us. I screamed and tried to cover myself and Wonwoo as quickly as possible. “Mingyu!?” He shouted. “You couldn’t have knocked?!”

“I didn’t know you were getting laid! Besides it’s my room too!...Wait.” Wonwoo’s roommate seemed to have a revelation. “Dude, you’re getting laid! Finally!” We watched as he ran out the room screaming, “Yo Vernon! Wonwoo’s finally getting laid!”

Wonwoo groaned and flopped back onto the mattress, covering his face with a pillow as he groaned deeply. Though we may not have been able to see without our glasses, it didn’t take 20/20 vision to see that we couldn’t have a night to ourselves without something going wrong.

#wonwoo #jeon wonwoo #wonwoo svt #wonwoo seventeen #seventeen #svt fanfic #svt fanfiction #seventeen fanfic #seventeen fanfiction #svt drabble #seventeen drabble #wonwoo smut #wonwoo fanfic #wonwoo fanfiction #jeon wonwoo fanfic #jeon wonwoo fanfiction #jeon wonwoo smut

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maxparkhurst · 4 years ago

Text

Trial and Error

May 29th

Deep breath in…

Slow breath out.

Time felt nonexistent in this surreal space. Max watched the shop’s amber glow shift along the water’s surface. It was almost like being in another plane of existence; an existence where her body was independent of her head, and where she filled her lungs with water instead of air. She wondered if this was what being pickled in a jar would feel like, adrift in stagnant water with only the pressure in your ears for company. She had to admit, it wasn’t so bad.

Deep breath in…

Slow breath out.

Augustine’s silhouette glided across the surface and reflected back at Max in its ripples. He stared intently at his pocket watch, his lips puckered in a demur pout as he nodded in tandem to each beat. It was like watching him through a distorted looking glass- his childlike features warped into a pseudo version of himself. Max stared curiously at her brother, knowing full well he couldn’t see her, and allowed a subtle smile to touch her lips. There was a bit of euphoria to be found submerged in water. She was free to observe the world unobstructed through this slightly askew lens; everything else- sound, smell, touch- muted. Restricted to only one sense, Max felt weightless and light.

Deep breath in…

She held that breath as she followed Auggie’s form. He crossed the basin’s length and disappeared over the side. Her lips parted in protest when her lungs seized. A bright, poignant sting started from her nostrils and ran all the way down her throat as her shoulders buckled. Drowning. The thought struck Max in a flash. I’m drowning!

Max erupted from the water, drenching the floor in her wake. Hunched over the basin, she heaved and retched into it. The contents of her stomach emptied and the water clear from her lungs, she fell back onto her haunches and gulped down as much air as she could muster. It took her a moment to realize Augustine was by her side. He patted her back vigorously with one hand and threw a towel over her head with the other, drying her hair before a chill could set it. “How long was that?” she wheezed between breaths.

Augustine paused. He bit his lip and focused his efforts on toweling Max dry. After a prolonged silence, he answered, “Four hours.”

“Damn it.” She said in a whisper, her voice coarse against her raw throat. Her fist smacked into the floor. “Just...Damn it.”

“I thought we had it that time…” Augustine lamented. He settled cross-legged next to Max, slipping off his glasses to clean them on the edge of his shirt. He inspected them bleary-eyed in the light and breathed a dejected sigh. “Was hoping we would, anyway.”

A twinge of guilt tugged at Max when she saw the dark circles under his eyes. He must’ve been exhausted. She couldn’t blame him; they’d been at it for hours. Slivers of grey light peeked through the drawn curtains, washing the siblings and their efforts strewn across the shop in a muted glow. Candles burnt to the nub, books cracked half-open on their spines, papers covered front to back with scrawlings, and ooze-filmed vials laid scattered across the shop’s floor and counter. The cauldron frothed with their latest edition of Aquatic Breathing, its putrid scent of Blackmouth Oil mingling with the bile floating in chunky motes inside the water basin; both were doomed to be dumped in the back alley.

Max smacked the sleep from her cheeks and pulled them taunt with a frustrated groan. “I don’t get it… Where are going wrong?”

They’d tried nearly everything; extracted the basic oils from the stranglekelp, distilled and reduced the Blackmouth oil, let the whole affair simmer in calcium and lime sulfates, and even threw in a pinch of salt for added measures. Its potency was fine. It made breathing under water almost feel like second nature, unlike their first attempt which almost ended in Max waterboarding herself. Duration, that’s what it lacked. To last eight hours they needed a key component. Something specific, yet simple.

“Something,” Max thought. She pressed her lips together and rubbed at her temples. “Something crucial but glaringly obvious. Run through it: Calcination, Dissolution, Separation, Conjunction, Distillation-”

“What did you eat?” Augustine tucked his glasses on top of his head, gingerly peering into the water basin. His nose wrinkled at the rancid scent which drifted up from it. “Smells like ripe cheese. Do you chew?!”

“Ripe cheese…” Max echoed. She perked up as a thought flashed. Her lips curled with a manic grin. “You genius boy. Ripe cheese!” she exclaimed, leaping to her feet.

Augustine dumbfoundedly blinked at Max. “I’m not following…”

“You-you-you ferment it! You ferment cheese to make it ripe, right?!” She gestured wildly in the air before promptly turning on a heel. She swept the counter clear of its vials and candle nubs and opened its drawers, rummaging through them in search of her chalk. “It makes the taste…” She snapped her fingers as if it would summon the right words. “Makes it taste.. I don’t know… More potent!”

Auggie’s glasses slipped from his curls and plopped down onto the bridge of his nose. “So...We’re making cheese?” he questioned, canting his head.

“No!” Max snapped, slapping a box of chalk onto the counter. “Focus, Augustine! We’re fermenting the Stranglekelp and then extracting the oils.”

“Oh…” Auggie drawled. He pushed his glasses up and rose to his feet, tentative in approaching his sister. He watched as she drew one large circle on the counter followed by a series of smaller ones inside all connected with a single, angular line. “Do we even have enough time?”

“No,” Max said pointedly. She discarded the chalk over her shoulder and brushed the dust from her fingers. “So we’re going to cheat a little.”

Augustine’s eyes widened with sudden realization. “Oh!” he chimed, looking down at the transmutation circle inscribed on the wood. His awe melted into a mild perturbation as he lifted a brow. “I thought you said the Siren’s Stone was only used for emergencies?”

Max spread hands out with a nonchalant shrug, looking off with a tired smile. “I deem this an emergency.”

“I deem it as you having too much coffee and not enough sleep.” Augustine balked when Max shot him a look and sleeked off with a sheepish grin. “I-I’ll get the kelp…”

Max chuffed and turned her attention to the circle. She noted its curvature and made certain that each line connected with the correct node; transmutation was a complicated art and a wrong connotation could spell disaster for their project. When all was double checked and a pile of kelp was placed in the certain, Max ducked under the counter and retrieved a lock box hidden in its shadows. There was nothing ornate or complicated about it. Just a wooden box and bronze lock sealed away the single most valuable object the Parkhurst’s owned- a Siren’s Stone.

The box’s key laid hidden amongst the miscellaneous objects cluttering the desk’s drawers. The idea of keeping it in such an obvious place may have looked negligent from an outsider’s perspective, but in Max’s mind it was the ultimate safety precaution. She rarely knew of people who checked beneath their noses. She fumbled with the box’s tumbler and cracked it open, her face washed with a crimson glow. A Siren’s Stone, not quite unlike a Philosopher's Stone, was an essential component in transmutation. It was the driving kinetic force. The only difference between it and its counterpart was that a Siren’s Stone had a limited number of charges before it became unstable and disintegrated. Max couldn’t remember the last time she’d used it; it was anyone’s guess to how many more uses she’d get out of it.

She laid the stone amongst the bundle of kelp. It glimmered with an ethereal, crimson light like a ruby buried in a pile of mud. Her hands hovered above the circle as the air grew dense. Augustine watched from over the counter’s lip, huddled behind it in case things went arie. Max flexed her gloved fingers and closed her eye.

Deep breath in…

Slow breath out…

Her hands clapped together, their echo resonating in the growing quiet.

Focus on your intent.

Max felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as an electric current coursed through the shop. It pulsed from the stone, its light growing brighter by the second. Vials shook in their castes and books shivered in their shelves which teetered dangerously from side-to-side. Sparks flew from her fingers as she forced her hands apart, fighting against a magnetic pull.

Deep breath in….

Slow breath out…

“Please work…”

She slammed her hands down onto the circle. Light erupted from the inscription and struck the shop with a blinding flash. Moments passed. And as the dust settled and the shelves no longer shook, Max peeked her eye open. Relief bubbled in her chest and was expelled with an airy laugh.

“Yes!” she hissed, cocking her head back with a sigh.

Augustine poked his head out from behind the counter and beamed down at the now rotten kelp sitting on the counter. “Woah…” he breathed, readjusting his askew glasses.

Max retrieved the Siren’s Stone and held it aloft. It glistened in the morning’s light as if it’d been just conjured; they’d been granted another day with the precious gem. She wiped it clean on her trousers and tucked back in its lockbox where it’d remain under the counter. “Clean out the cauldron, Auggie,” she breathed, meeting her brother’s inquisitive- albeit tired- eyes- “We’ve got one more shot at this.”

Augustine straightened and gave his sister a firm nod. He wrestled the cauldron from its hook and pushed out the back entry-way. Max turned her attention to the rotten kelp, pinching a strand between her fingers and twirling it. “This might actually work,” she muttered to herself, “Just maybe…”

Continuation from here

#The Alchemists #| Trials of Alchemy |#Maxinora #Augustine #The Parkhursts #IC #RP writing #Original Writing #dribble drabble

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emilyxvalentyne · 5 years ago

Text

Alcoholic Love CH

A/n: So this is my first ever series so please bare with me. I may not be the best but I’m trying so please leave some positive feed back. Don’t let this flop please.

Disclaimer: This is just some good old classic fiction. I am not involved or do I know anything about the character used in this.

Warnings: not really any in this one but for the (series) there is going to be some of the following: alcohol abuse, drug abuse, cursing, depression, anxiety.

Summary: CalumXgirlfriend theres a rough patch in the relationship Calum has become distant, she slowly turns to drugs and alcohol to numb her pain.

A/n: please don’t let this flop!! Give me some tips on how to better it or if you have any ideas for me.

…………

I woke up to the bed empty this morning, I heard some noise going on downstairs so I assume Calum is still here. I got out of bed and put some socks on trying to avoid the cold floor. I made my way down stairs and into the kitchen. I saw Calum making some coffee. I slowly made my way behind him wrapping my arms around his torso resting my head against his back, he tensed up against my touch but didn't respond to it. I sighed and moved away from him walking over to the fridge, grabbing the butter, jam and orange juice. I set them on the counter next to Calum, who was sitting on a stool drinking his coffee and texting someone on his phone. I turned away from him and stuck some bread in the toaster. Calum seemed to be entertained with his phone to pay me any mind. I leaned my side in to the counter keeping me up on my propped elbow. I stared at Calum trying to read his face. Lately it's just been nothing but him working or going out, this is probably the longest we have been in a room together in about three weeks. He was dressed up as if he was about to head out. I would be lying if I said I wasn't sad that he was going out. I've tried talking to him about it but all he says is that he doesn't have time to talk about it or that he was to tired. I felt sad whenever I was alone here in our home, of course I went to work and did some college classes but whenever I got home to an empty house (besides duke) it always depressed me. I was pulled out of my thought when my toast finally popped up. I took out a butter knife and smeared the butter and strawberry jam on the golden squares. I poured some juice into a glass and put everything away. I pulled out the stool next to Calum and sat down. I felt Calum's stare burn into the side of my face as I sat there eating my toast.

'Do you want some of my toast?' I slide my plate over to Calum finally making eye contact with him. His eyes were dark and unreadable, but I could sense he was annoyed. Calum rolled his eyes and got up placing his mug into the sink. I felt as if he was almost annoyed with my very existence.

'No im heading out' I heard Calum mumble as he stared walking towards the living room. I followed I never ask Calum where he went anymore so I could avoid him getting mad but now I was kind skeptical on where exactly he was going. Calum was crouched down petting dukes head.

'Heading out where?' I asked more to myself rather then to him. I could practically see him rolling his eyes. He stood up and glared over at me.

'I'm just going out, God do you need to know where I am like your my mom' Calum was now heading up to our room I was right behind him following him into the closet where he continued to look for shoes.

'I never ask you where you even go anymore because you get mad all the time' I stood there in front of him as he sat on the bed tying his shoes.

'Well then why do you ask its just a waste of my time and yours' Calum was now putting on some cologne. He looked extremely agitated with me but at this point I could care less.

'Because I was wondering what time you would be home so we could hang out you know it's been a while since we-' I was cut off by Calum chuckling he stared at me as if I was stupid.

'Look I really don't have time for all of this right now I have to get going' calum said as he stared walking past me. But I reached forward to grab his wrist.

'Are you seriously to busy to even hang out with me? What has gotten into you, huh? All you do is go to rehearsal and go out with your friends, you seem to never have time for me, your girlfriend anymore' I looked into his dark eyes trying to see anything but all I could see was annoyance.

'Oh my god, fine then be ready by 6' Calum pulled his arm back and walked out of the room. I followed not wanting to give up.

'Are you serious, you are taking me out later?' I said before he walked out the front door. He turned around stood directly in front of me towering over me. I felt as if his eyes were burning into my soul, all I wanted to do was step back but I felt locked into place.

'Yes, I'll be back later' Calum reached forward and and caressed my cheek and leaned in placing a kiss on my forehead. He then turned out the door shutting it closed with a loud thud. I was left in the same position as he left me in. Confused his kiss didn't feel right on my skin anymore almost as if he had forced it. I walked back upstairs and into my room where I then laid on our bed. I glanced over to his side of the bed. It was slightly wrinkled as if he only slept on top of the blankets. I wish he was still here, I wish he would spend the day with me, I wish.... I wish he would love me... no he, does love me maybe he's having a hard time at the studio and rehearsal.

I rolled into my side and looked at my alarm clock it was 12:36 in the afternoon. I sat there deciding whether or not to clean the house. After a long sigh I got up and walked over to the laundry basket that of course had only my clothes in it with Calum's clothes all bunched up on the floor around it. 'For the last time the clothes goes into the basket' I groaned out loud, I put all the dirty laundry in to the basket and made my way down to the laundry room. I started organizing the clothes and washing and folding. It's amazing how much clothes Calum goes through in one week. After about an hour and a half of washing and folding I finally finished and fed duke and washed the dishes. The rest of the house was basically clean since I clean it almost everyday. I sat on the couch finally checking my phone. I responded to a few text and checked the time it was 3:17 I groaned and decided to watch tv. I flipped through the channels while duke laid on my lap.

'You understand me right' I spoke to the little furry dog that laid on my lap. Duke just continued to chew on his bone. 'Why is your owner such an asshole sometimes' this time duke looked up and whimpered almost as if he understood what I said

'But I love him just as much as I love you' I ruffled his fur and kissed his head. I got up finally making my way to take a shower and getting ready to go out with Calum.

I put on a two piece set with some sandals I curled my hair and sprayed myself with Calum’s favorite scent on me. My makeup was done and now it was just a waiting game.

6:30 rolled around at this moment he could just be late. I let duke go out into the backyard I watched him run around then come back inside where he literally stopped to look at me and then he ran back out. I laughed at every little thing he did he really does cheer me up when I’m feeling down. He’s like a best friend but I always wish he could talk that would be cool. I played tug war with him and I always let him win. He made me miss my family and my dog back home.

7:30 rolled around the sun was getting ready to set and there was still no sign of Calum. I knew at this point he wasn’t going to come but a small part of me still had hope. I was mad that I got all ready for him to not even show up but in the end I should have expected this it’s really no shocker. I texted him but it wasn’t the usual ‘hey are you still coming!’ Text. Rather I sent this instead ‘ you could’ve just told me you were busy tonight or not even have told me to get ready for disappointment tonight at all. It probably would have hurt less’. I dragged myself up stairs to change I put on some sweats and a Pink Floyd t-shirt, I slipped my checkers vans on and grabbed my credit card and keys. I decided to just leave my phone I got into my car and went to the local Mexican restaurant I usually go to. I really didn’t want to sit around being sad.

“Well well well welcome back, long time no see” Celia my usual waitress was always to cheerful.

“Yah yah yah I know” I laughed as I took a seat right in front of her as I scanned the menu as if I didn’t know what was on it.

“What will it be hermosa? The usual?” I nodded and handed her the menu.

“Wait Celia can I get it to go and a strawberry margarita to go as well please”

“Of course Emily, I’ll be right back” I scanned the restaurant it was pretty slow for a Friday night usually the place packed with customers.

“Slow tonight because banda MS is in town, how come you’re not there you usually love seeing and going to bailes mija”

“I wasn’t really feeling it tonight I guess” I wasn’t even feeling anything tonight. I didn’t even know my favorite Latin band was in town.

“What’s wrong chula you seem like you have a lot on your mind you know you can tell your momma Celia anything” I really wanted to cry she always made me miss my mom.

“I’m just stressed about school and work that’s all”

“No no I think this something else, do you got boy troubles is it that boyfriend of yours the Australiano” she could always tell what was wrong.

“Yah... he stood me up again I don’t know what to do anymore, god Celia i really love him, but he doesn’t seem to feel the same anymore. It’s like the more I try to talk to him the farther away he gets” tears welted up on my eyes but I held them in.

“Chula you cant force love, sometimes you just have to get up and go. If he is the one for you he will make that clear he will chase after you if he wants you for you because he loves you. And you will see that he wants you because he loves you, you will feel it but if he doesn’t want you then you need to move on and do what is good for you, you have to fall before you can get back up you are young and beautiful and dont forget you are a Latina, nos otras somos fuerte (we are strong) I don’t want to see you all sad next time you come in okay?” I hugged Celia she’s my mom from my home away for home.

“Okay thank you Celia” I paid and tipped her and left I made my way back home to finally eat my Nachos and drink my margarita.

11:30pm rolled by and there was still no sign of him. I always try and try and try. I Put others before myself, and my heart just isn’t ready to let go. I feel as if having this big heart of mine is only a blessing when it becomes an accommodation to other but it’s a curse to my feelings. I put my plates in the sink and my trash in the bin. I switch off the lights and locked up so I can head up to bed.

Another night alone, same bed that made me feel so loved and protected. Now it’s the place where I long for that innocent loving touch

#calum blurb #calum hood imagine #sad calum #calum 5sos #calum hood #calum hood fighting imagines #calum 5 seconds of summer #calum x reader #luke 5sos #ashton 5sos #micheal 5sos #5sos blurb #5sos imagine #5 seconds of summer #5sos #5sos fic

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solaneceae · 5 years ago

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MY HUMAN!EGOS AU

i got a surge of inspiration and started creating my own versions of the egos! its still a work in progress but i love them to bits and im really excited to share them

JACKIE

grew up in an abusive household, emotional and sometimes physical abuse

parents screamed at each other all the fucking time, father was an alcoholic

Left home as soon as he was able to live by himself (16)

he’s 22 now

poor

trans boi, on T, wears a binder cuz he can’t afford top surgery

lives in an apartment with two roommates: Max, a philipino sound designer and independent musician (they/them) and their girlfriend Nilanjana (Nana), a buff training coach from indian descent

Jackie is in a queerplatonic relationship with them: they cuddle and kiss on the forehead during movie nights and all that cute shit

he has a part-time day job to pay the rent and bills: he gives self-defense lessons

he drinks his respect women juice

vigilante at night. gets hurt a lot. his roommates think he fights in an illegal fight club for extra cash and are worried about him

wants to save people and spread positivity wherever he goes

but he has the wrong way to go about it

basically he does the PMA thing wrong and thinks any kind of negativity is bad and tries to force himself to be happy all the time.

not healthy, someone help this poor boi

anger issues, undiagnosed ptsd and ADHD

antsy boi! stimmy boi! He’s always bouncing on his feet or humming a tune or fiddling with his hair

aromantic asexual

pure of heart, dumb of ass. seriously, he’s such a dumb, but he does have street smarts

vitiligo!!

light blue eyes, dyes his brown hair lime green

extrovert, loves people

the kind of guy to record himself doing parkour and post it on tiktok

team hot cocoa

for the love of god please don’t give him coffee, he’s enough of a jitterbug already

wants a dog. prolly needs an emotional support one.

plays the drums. Fished a beat-up set somewhere, would like a proper one

fights with his fists and a wooden staff

no special powers, just self-taught fighting skills, natural flexibility and talent at acrobatics and rigorous training

MARVIN

he was born with green cat eyes, the physical representation of his extremely potent magic. parents were freaked out, and basically hid him away

had no control over his powers as a baby, would wreak havoc around him. think Mob from Mob Psycho 100

the upper side of his face was badly burned when he lost control of his powers as a toddler, so he wears masks to hide the scars. the cat one is just the one he wears most often

“hey, nice mask!” “it’s a prosthetic.” “...oh.” (it’s not that bad really, he’s just really self-conscious about it)

he was homeschooled his whole life and generally wasn’t allowed to go out much, so his social life/skills are nonexistent

his parents are famous fashion designers

they’re super rich and travel the world and send him a ridiculous amount of money every month

they say it’s for work but the real reason is that they couldn’t deal with having a “freak” as a son but couldn’t abandon him without getting bad PR

so instead they just took their distance and left him to live in a big-ass mansion by himself as soon as he was old enough (10 years old)

they dont really care what he does. last time they called him was when he was 13

last time they sent him a birthday card was when he was 18

now he’s 24

(and at this point he makes me think of bruce wayne lmao. he needs an alfred)

since he has money and home, he doesn’t need a job, so he just stays cooped up in the property and almost never leaves, he orders his food and groceries to be delivered to him

he’s basically a hermit at this point. and a huge nerd

he tries to use his natural magic as little as possible, (hello trauma my old friend) so he still has flimsy control over it

instead he dabbles into wicca and the occult to do stuff

A bookworm, quite serious, dresses like a hipster art school student. he wears SAROUEL PANTS.

glasses!! Big round rimless glasses!! soft!!!!

long brown hair, messy bun, dyes the tips dark green and purple

disaster gay

“sleep? what’s that? i only know coffee”

has three cats he rescued himself: Spades, Jasper and Poppy

has a huge greenhouse linked to the main building. he likes gardening a lot, whether it’s for his craft, for cooking or just because he likes seeing plants flourish

HOW THEY BOTH MET / IDEAS AND SHIT

Jackie tried to take on a whole ass drug ring and bit more than he could chew at the time so he got beat up pretty bad. He managed to escape with his trusty grappling hook and swung around a bit before crashing through the glass ceiling of the greenhouse while Marv was tending to his plants, in the early morning.

Long story short Marv is in a panic because a complete stranger (also the only human being he’s interacted with in months) just flopped in front of him and is probably dying and he wants to call an ambulance.

jackie: *beaten black and blue and coughing up blood* jackie: oh hey how’s it goin’ marv: *distressed nerd noises* marv: oh my god who the fuck are you but also are you dying in my house im calling an ambulance- jackie: uh yeah no please dont im kinda doing illegal stuff also i cant afford it marv: marv: wh-

also what if marv calls the family’s doctor since jackie won’t go to a hospital, and it’s fucking Schneep henrik: what the fuck did you do this time marv: it wasn’t me! jackie: your family doctor scares me marv: that’s why they hired him

maybe after that jackie keeps coming to see marv and marv is like “ugh you again-” and he always come to marv whenever he gets hurt, to get patched up by schneep. he broke the ceiling two more times basically they become “hey ron hey billy” vine, its just a habit at this point.

Marv is a rich boi that doesn’t know anything about life. at this point i realize he’s like a mix of Elsa and Rapunzel, and Jackie is kinda Flynn xD Jackie just… aggressively becomes Marv’s friend despite the magic man’s reluctance, and shows him the world. love me some smart grumpy nerd/dumb happy jock friendship

jackie: im your friend now marv: wh- jackie: *drags him outside* LETS GO CLIMB A BUILDING TOGETHER-

Marvin but he’s never been in a grocery store in his entire life because he just orders super expensive pre-made meals to his house or cooks his own veggies, and he’s just amazed at the first one they go to

like “wHAT, IT’S A ROW OF FREEZERS! Remind me to install one of these at my place!”

and Jackie, who just came here for bread and milk, looks at him fondly but also is very concerned. Also he doesnt question marv’s masks, he just thinks they look cool

@tabbynerdicat it’s my bois! @lilakennedy because i know you like those two, and your love for them motivated me to develop them first

#caori's stuff #jacksepticeye #jse #jse egos #jacksepticeye egos #jackieboy man #jbm #marvin the magnificent #jse au #human!egos AU

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devil-in-those-eyes · 5 years ago

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Return the Favor part 2-Roger!Ben

Hi, it’s here!! Sorry it took so long but as I promised, it’s here! It isn't that long and I could have probably done it all in one part, but I really wanted it to be in Roger’s POV.

Roger-

It took her thirty minutes to eat half the soup I brought for her and then I had to basically pour the water down her throat because she was so freaking stubborn. If she weren’t sicker than a dog, I’d find her stubbornness sexy, like I always did but every time I looked at her she just looked small and I couldn’t wait to cuddle up to her.

When she set the glass down she started coughing and every time she did, it ripped through my chest. I reached over and rubbed her back, slipping my hand up her sweaty neck and rubbing slow circles, giving her some comfort. When it finally stopped she relaxed into the couch, curling her legs to her chest and putting her head on the back of the couch.

Over the last six months I had been trying to find ways to see her, whether it was taking the long ways to my classes just so I could catch a glimpse of her, or intentionally leaving my things at Brian’s flat just so I could come over when I knew his little cousin would be there. They were basically attached at the hip, so seeing Y/N wasn’t too hard, but lately seeing her had become more scarce and I knew Brian blamed me. I blamed myself too, the innocent flirting that led to enjoying watched her eyes blow into annoyance led to hurting her feelings. I said the wrong thing and she shut down so hard that she didn’t even bother fighting back, which rare from what Brian said.

I heard Y/N breathe heavily and looked over at her. I touched her foot that was covered by the blanket, “You alright, love?”

“Yeah,” she said softly but then sighed after a couple seconds, “Rog, I cant stop shivering.”

“It’s the fever, love, come here.” I said and opened my arms for her to settle into.

She looked at me in question, “I might get you sick.”

“Come here,” I said again, “I’ll keep ya warm.”

Y/N chewed on the inside of her lip before moving towards me, I helped her throw her legs over my lap and she cuddled into my side with my arm around her shoulders. I grabbed the other blanket and covered us, she wasn’t lying because as soon as she settled down I could feel her body shivering into mine.

Y/N tilted her head to look at me, “what if I get you sick?”

I truly didn’t care if she got me sick, because I didn’t want her alone if she was this sick. Hell, I’d take it all away from her if I could. I lifted my hand from her shoulder and pushed the hair off of her sweaty forehead, smiling softly at her. “If I get sick, then you can return the favor. My favorite soup is chicken and wild rice.” I joked, but I meant every word.

I leaned down to kiss her hot forehead, lingering for a moment before tightening my hold on her and pulling back, watching as her eyes fluttered shut and she sighed into me, melting against my body. It was only a matter of minutes before she fell asleep, her breathing evening out and her body relaxing. I sat there watching TV while she slept, every once in a while a shiver danced through her body and through the next thirty minutes her hand drifted out from her blankets and onto my chest, her head nuzzling deeper into my neck.

Y/N didn’t sleep long before she woke up. I smiled as she groaned, out of unhappiness, and laid back onto the couch, stretching out before curling up with her feet in my lap. “Need more soup, sweetheart.” I whispered, squeezing her legs.

“No,” she groaned again, her voice raspy.

“Yep,” I argued and got up from my spot, grabbing the soup and heading into the kitchen. I heard her groan as I started heating up the soup and she headed into the bathroom. Brian’s phone started ringing and I walked towards it and answered it, “Hello?”

“Rog?” Brian spoke on the other end, “What’re you doing at my flat? Is Y/N alright?”

I rubbed the back of my neck, “Y/N’s fine.”

“So… what are you doing there?” he asked in an accusatory tone, but he had every right to have it in his voice.

“You said she was sick and I wanted to check up on her because you’re in Glasgow. Good thing I did, Mate, she’s really sick.”

“Yeah, I know,” he sighed. “But, Rog, we talked about this, I don’t want you…”

“Obviously you don’t listen because I care about her.” I said, looking over my shoulder to make sure Y/N wasn’t walking back out of the bathroom.

“Funny way of showing it,” Brian grumbled. “well, if you care like you say, mind staying the night with her? I’m worried.”

“Of course,” I answered instantly because I already planned to stay until Brian walked through that door. I heard Y/N coughing again as she opened the door and looked at me, I smiled at her and offered the phone, “It’s Bri.”

I watched as a little color appeared in her eyes, a very tiny smile on her lips as she made her way towards me. She sat on the couch and I handed her the phone, but not before I kissed her forehead. She put the phone to her ear, “Bri.”

As I heated up her soup and grabbed more water, I heard a small puff of laughter while she muttered, “Yeah… him showing up was a shock for me as well, but he brought me soup.”

I smiled to myself, she thought she was being quiet but I was straining to hear her words. She spoke for a couple more minutes before whispering, “Have fun in Glasgow, Brian.”

Y/N hung up the phone as I sat back down beside her, handing her the soup after she scrunched up her nose at the food but she needed to eat something. I sat back as Fawlty Towers turned into a different show and let her eat in silence but I felt her eyes on me the whole time. If she weren’t so sick I would’ve crawled on top of her by now and kissed that look of pure confusion and curiosity off of her face.

“Why did you decide to spend your time with me?” she asked, making me turn my head to look at her and found her tucked into the back of the couch, hugging the soup to her chest. Her hair was up in a scrunchie, and her cheeks didn’t have any color and her normally brightly colored eyes were pale and almost grey. Even now, I thought she looked beautiful. I just wanted to soak up the time together because once she was feeling better I knew her willingness to cuddle me would be down to a low no way.

I watched as she mustered up a smirk and stirred her soup, suddenly not wanting to meet my eyes. “Aren’t there more fun ways you could be spending your Friday night? Prettier ways.” She answered her own question.

“No,” I answered honestly, I had been itching to get her alone since Brian first introduced us a year ago. I put my arm on the back of the couch and stretched out my legs on the coffee table, “Why bother going out when what I really want is sitting beside me?”

Y/N didn’t mutter a laugh, or scoff at my words, she just looked at me with round eyes. I watched as she set the soup down and crawled towards me, nestling in my side again. As her lips pressed softly to my shoulder I lifted my hand to touch the back of her head. “Stay the night?” she breathed out.

I smiled tenderly, “Already planned on it, love.”

Seemingly content with my answer, she laid her head on my shoulder and leaned into me. A shaky sigh of relief left her body, and I kissed the top of her head.

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lihikainanea · 5 years ago

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plane food is grim and tiger being tiger dramatically refuses to eat any of it but the flight is a long haul one and bill is like ???? you cant just not eat for 14 hours so he has to start being more firm about it, ordering her food before she can protest and telling her she has to eat at least three mouthfuls maybe even feeding her himself if shes being extra stubborn (which let's be real she probably is), we love stern bill

I need this today. I also needed this image. God, someone please send Good Dude Bill to look after me tonight? pretty please? Leilani needs some love.

Tiger is probably super fussy for a number of reasons. And can we take a moment, please, to appreciate the word fussy and to acknowledge that she can be this way with Bill? Because fussy is different from bratty and full of ‘tude. Fussy is tiger is genuinely uncomfortable and vulnerable and she feels safe enough to show this side of herself to Bill, because she knows she will be taken care of. That he’ll be all over it.

So she’s fussy and she’s hungry but god plane food is so gross and I don’t know about any of you, but I also get mega bloated on planes and my hands swell and I’m just a little smol angry ball of discomfort.

And Bill....Bill doesn’t like it when tiger doesn’t eat, because then not only is she fussy, but she’s hangry too and we’ve talked before about how a hangry tiger is basically intolerable. And he knows plane food is gross, this is such a general truth. But he also knows she only had some fruits for breakfast, and that was hours ago. And he knows that she was so cold she took his sweater when he held it out to her, which is also a sign that she’s getting hungry. Tiger always gets cold when she’s hungry. And she’s pouting and squirming and in general looking so uncomfortable, but Bill kinda knows she’s probably also just looking for...structure. For care, for comfort. Because maybe some shit happened at the airport that stressed her out, shit like secondary security checks and maybe some fans approached him and she had to slip away, maybe their flight was delayed and they got stuck somewhere. And it’s the type of thing where she’s so completely feeling small, except she has no idea she’s feeling small and has no clue why she’s such a grumpy idiot and therefore can’t ask Bill for what she needs. She’s hungry but she doesn’t want that food and you know what? Fuck you Bill, while we’re at it.

But Bill knows. GOOD DUDE BILL always knows. He orders his choice with the flight attendant, and he lets tiger pout and state angrily that she doesn’t want anything. Then he calmly gets up a few minutes later, goes to the washroom--stops the flight attendant on the way and says tiger will have the chicken--and is there green onion on it? Yes? okay, no problem, if the flight attendant could please make sure she serves HIM both meals. He’s hungry, he says. And he grabs a glass of white wine for tiger on the way back to the seat, makes her drink it. He wishes he could give her a kiss--just a little one--but friends and peering eyes are everywhere and there’s no way he’s going for it. So he settles for tucking an arm around her, throwing a blanket over the two of them so he can lightly rub at her stomach, preparing himself for the argument that’s imminent. He took a quick glance around and made sure nobody's looking at them.

“You didn't eat much today,” he murmured in her ear. She huffed, taking a big gulp of wine.

“I’m not hungry,” she snapped. He patted at her stomach gently, thrumming his thumb once across her lips and she settled some. She even--to his shock--snuggled a bit further into his side. He held her there until the flight attendant came by, plopped his tray down with two meals on it. He gave tiger’s head a quick kiss as he took his fork, scraping everything she didn’t like off of the plate. Maybe he even cuts a piece--I think cutting up her entire dish into small pieces would make her slap him into oblivion, but maybe he loads a forkful--a separate fork, so she doesn’t get the taste of all the things she hates--with a perfect bite. And leaves it propped on the dish, while he eats. A few minutes goes by, and she doesn’t take it.

“Hey, kid,” he prompts, thrumming his thumb gently across her lips again. Bill can swear that she looks small, and it’s maybe the first time he ever realized it, “Can you manage just a bite?”

She pouts, but he leans to kiss her cheek. He makes it linger, because it’s really the only part of her he can kiss right now without raising suspicions.

She huffs again, shakes her head. She goes to pull away from him but his arm around her shoulders stops her, and he’s able to subtly grab her chin and force it back so that she’s looking at him.

“Tiger,” he says, and it’s that stern tone that she can’t ignore, “Eat.”

She goes to protest but he just raises his eyebrows, tightening his hold on her chin. He even taps her nose--oh my god you guys, I LIVE for this action--because it has become their secret code for a warning. He taps her nose and stares at her, and he feels her relax a bit under his arm. She takes the forkful, and eats it like a good girl.

“Another one,” he commands, and she sheepishly reaches over to cut another piece, chewing on it slowly.

“Eyes up,” he orders gently, and he says it softly but there’s definitely the undertone there and her eyes snap to his, “Finish it, kid.”

And she goes to protest, but he cuts her off by literally clamping his hand over her mouth.

“No arguing. You barely ate today. Finish it, and I’ll rub your belly after.”

She pouts, but ultimately agrees because 1) she has no choice, and 2) Bill’s tummy rubs are the best.

Bill just marvels at how with just a few simple instructions, a few gentle demands, she’s already settled tremendously in his grasp.

#Leilani answers #BFF!Bill #BFF!Bill HC #bill skarsgard #sub tiger

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moirai-au · 5 years ago

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Ollie’s grand entrance

how he and mars met!

ollie tries to take on a whole ass drug ring and bites more than he can chew

so he gets beat up pretty bad

he manages to escape with his trusty grappling hook and swings around a bit

before crashing through the glass ceiling of the greenhouse while Mars is tending to his plants, in the early morning

mars is in a panic because a complete stranger (also the only human being he’s interacted with in months) just flopped in front of him and is probably dying

ollie: *beaten black and blue and coughing up blood* ollie: oh hey how’s it goin’ mars: *distressed nerd noises* mars: oh my god who the fuck are you but also are you dying in my house im calling an ambulance- ollie: uh yeah no please dont im kinda doing illegal stuff also i cant afford it mars: mars: wh-

since ollie wont go to the hospital mars calls his family’s doctor who took care of him since he was a little kid: Cecil!

mars not knowing anything about lgbtqa+ stuff cuz shut-in

so when the doc arrives to help he asks ollie to take off his hoodie

and ollie isnt super stoked about that, but its either that or cecil knocks him out

so he does it, the doc doesnt comment on his binder cuz he knows that stuff

but mars does because he has no idea

mars: wait, you’re a girl?? jollie: *dysphoria intensifies* cecil: dear god mars show some decorum- okay i need to tell you about some stuff

(later)

mars: oh hey you feel better man? ollie: *visible relief* yeah :D

ollie just… aggressively becomes mars’ friend despite the magic man’s reluctance

smart grumpy nerd/dumb happy jock friendship

ollie: im your friend now mars: wh- ollie: *drags him outside* LETS GO CLIMB A BUILDING TOGETHER-

mars but he’s never been in a grocery store in his entire life because he just orders super expensive pre-made meals to his house or cooks his own veggies

and he’s just amazed at the first one jackie takes him to

like “wHAT, IT’S A ROW OF FREEZERS! Remind me to install one of these at my place!”

and ollie, who just came here for bread and milk, looks at him fondly but also is very concerned

also he doesnt question mars’ mask, he just thinks it looks cool

ollie gets the habit of coming to visit mars, sometimes to hang out and try to get him to go out, sometimes to crash with a major injury

they basically become the “hey ron hey billy” vine where the guy falls through the ceiling at some point

cecil: cecil: why and when did i become the local vigilante’s designated nurse mars: sorry… ollie: *laying all bloody on the couch for the fifth time this month* sup

cecil: *squints* when was the last time you took off your binder? ollie: uuuuuuh cecil: nevermind, that alone tells me enough. take it off now. ollie: no! cecil: do it, or ill pump you so full of sedatives you’ll be out for days. mars: *shudders* please just do what he says, he’s not kidding. i know that first hand. ollie: what kind of doctor even are you???!! cecil: the kind that gets shit done.

#moirai au #jse au #jacksepticeye #jse #jse egos #jacksepticeye egos #moirail!jbm #jackieboy-man #jackieboy man #jbm #moirai!marvin #marvin the magnificent #marvin the magician #first meetings #cecil #mars #oliver

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alarriefantasy · 6 years ago

Note

Hi could you suggest some fics with rich Harry and normal Louis?

Here you go, love!!!! :)

Rich Harry Fic Rec

Do you know just how pretty you are? by Brxvery

Words: 3k

Louis’s always been treated a little bit more special than everyone working for the Styles family.. He knows that Harry is behind some of it- with that strange gaze always on Louis.. He doesn’t exactly understand it until Harry shows him.

When Bad First Impressions Lead To Love by jacinth

Words: 3k

What do you do when you’re trapped in a summer house for 2 months with a snobby rich boy who made you cry the first time you met?

Every Breath We Drew by sohappily (somuchitshurting)

Words: 7k

Harry is alone; Louis needs a loan.

you think you’re all that, huh? by orphan_account

Words: 10k

au. louis leaves school to become a maid for one of the richest men in britian who’s son complicates his life a bit.

Opposites Attract by louisgrindsonharry

Words: 11k

Or, the AU where Harry’s an innocent little preppy kid and Louis has lots of tattoos and piercings and Harry wants wants to know why he cant’ stop thinking about the boy who walked him home.

Put It On Me by stylinsoncity

Words: 14k

Harry’s bachelor party doesn’t go as planned.

You’re something by tessalane

Words: 15k

or Harry is one of the most successful and richest men in the world right now, running a company with his best friend Liam. He’s not happy until he meets the cheeky bartender Louis dressed as an elf, who’s working to go to Uni.

Sweet Cheeks by NoShitSherlock

Words: 17k

Louis is an innocent, pretty in glasses, flustered mess of a high school sex-ed teacher who gets far too many dirty compliments and taps on the ass from his students. Harry, the lacrosse senior star and bad boy of Rowan High, gets transferred to Mr. Tomlinson’s sex-ed class after humiliating his previous teacher. It’s just what he likes to do.

Harry becomes set on humiliating Mr. Tomlinson who just so happens to be his next door neighbour, but it backfires when sexual comments get made. There’s one thing about Harry Styles: he doesn’t do teachers.

Until he does.

Nothing’s as sweet as you by harrystylesandstuff

Words: 17k

Louis flies to California with his squad to party but end up falling for a cute giant in a pink apron selling frozen yogurts.

AU where Louis spends his life without shoes and eats too much frozen yogurt to hang out with a clumsy Harry who’s rich af. With a special appearance of Louis’ hot friend Luke and Niall’s hat. It’s basically filled with fluff and Californian vibes and I needed to get it out there.

Meet me in Stockholm by indierection (amandamoraisa)

Words: 18k

Or that one where Zayn and Louis accidentally kidnap Harry and he happen to develop Stockholm Syndrome and a bondage kink.

i’d burn this city down to show you the light by you_explode

Words: 23k

Harry’s a sheltered rich kid and Louis’s a punk with a heart of gold. They meet when Louis breaks into Harry’s house, Harry obtains an instant and all-encompassing crush, and they spend the summer falling into a whirlwind romance.

Show me wealth, I’ll show your heart by harrystylesandstuff

Words: 30k

Or AU where Harry has more money than he can handle, Louis can’t handle not having any, and they both find out the greatest wealth isn’t countable.

Million Dollar Man by selflovelouis

Words: 47k

“I’m putting myself out on a limb here but…” Harry pauses, reaching out to grab a hold of Louis’ hands tentatively. Louis’ a bit taken back, but his hands are so warm and Louis’ hands are so cold from handling the ice in the back. “You shouldn’t have to work in a place like this, I could… I could take care of everything. You can quit here and pursue Broadway full time,” Harry says, voicing quivering and Louis can feel his hands shaking and Louis holds onto them tightly.“I don’t understand, are you an agent or do you just invest money in young actors?” Louis asks, eyebrows furrowing slightly as he chews on his bottom lip.“Let me take you out, hm? We can talk more about it. I can pay for your tuition and…” Harry trails off, and Louis gasps quietly, leaning in towards Harry.“Correct me if I’m wrong, but are you asking to be my… sugar daddy?” Louis asks, lowering his voice and Harry can’t help but chuckle.“Something like that, yeah,” Harry replies, squeezing the boy’s hands and smiling at his flushed cheeks and innocent expression.

CEO by aace1234

Words: 58k

Louis has just graduated university when he meets the successful, dominating and rich Harry Styles.

Louis has no idea how well known Harry is and he falls hard.

Harry has one thing on his mind and it’s Louis, he’s not used to relationships and caring about someone, but he knows Louis is different somehow.

Louis comes with a lot of surprises and three very overprotective brothers. Harry finds himself falling for the boy and when the past becomes intertwined in their lives, things become even more serious.

Anonymously Yours by DirtyLarryStylinson

Words: 64k

Louis creates a fake, female social media account to talk to the new, straight boy, Harry Styles, on. Along with this, Harry is getting closer and closer to Louis and his friendship group, and things are taken way too far online.

Further than Louis had ever intended.

And secrets are revealed on how Harry feels about Louis…

Little Cub by aace1234

Words: 68k

Harry is head of the underground, he’s ruthless, possessive, feared and powerful.

Louis is a student, his dad works for Harry but Louis has no idea about the underground world.

What happens when Louis Dad causes trouble and Harry kidnaps Louis for revenge.

And I’ll judge the cover by the book by harrystylesandstuff

Words: 73k

Or a Private University AU where Harry is a queer posh prince, Louis is a closeted troublemaker, and neither expect to understand each other the way they will.

Strawberries & Cigarettes by dimpled_halo

Words: 76k

Summary: Two stories, eleven years, and the two boys that never stopped loving each other.

satellite by suspendrs

Words: 100k

Or, Harry finds out that someone’s been living in his house without him knowing, but instead of kicking him out, he falls in love with him.

Deuxsphere by sweetlullabies

Words: 158k

Harry’s first year at uni is guaranteed to be a breeze as long as he stays focused, steers clear of flying footballs, and completely avoids boys who are in bands.

Enemies with benefits by ssii8

Words: 267k

Where Harry is captain of basketball team and Louis is captain of football team and they hate each other.But somehow this doesn’t stop them from having sex, tutoring each other once a week, or going to each other’s house for a night when things were too difficult at home.

And everything is perfect until they start to feel something more.

#ask

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watchmegetobsessed · 6 years ago

Text

Crush // Shawn Mendes mini-series part 2

part 2 wohoooo!! this is honestly such a cute story i love writing it, im currently finishing the last part so i’ll probably update very soon!

part 1

masterlist

The awkwardness soon vanishes. This clear new chapter we just opened with Shawn allows me to loosen up and just enjoy a nice evening. Aaliyah and Eric seems satisfied with the outcome, the parents seem to hit it off quite easily and when we leave they already start making plans for another meetup.

“It was so nice meeting you!” Karen sighs happily as she hugs goodbye to all of us.

“You too, email me that recipe you told me about!” Mom points at her and she nods her head laughing.

I’m just about to step out of the house when Aaliyah grabs my wrist and pulls me back. I look at her with furrowed eyebrows.

“I need your help with a little something. Can you come over sometime tomorrow?” she whispers confidentially.

“Um, yeah. Around what time?” I ask.

“Three pm?”

“Sure,” I smile at her and she lets go of me.

On the way back home I’m thinking about what Aaliyah could need help with and the only thing I have in mind is Eric’s birthday that is on the 29th. She must be planning something special for him.

I call Maddi around midnight when I’m already in my pj’s, but I know she must be still up, maybe even drunk. For my surprise, she answers the phone quite modestly.

“How was the family union?” she asks chewing on something. I throw the cushions off of my bed and crawl under the blanket.

“Um, very interesting,” I chuckle closing my eyes and just shaking my head at the thought of the evening.

“Uh, spill the tea!” She cheers clearly very thirsty for some drama, though this story is not as juicy as she would want it.

“Guess who Aaliyah’s brother is!” I say, but I don’t expect an answer so I just continue. “Shawn Effing Mendes.”

“What?! Are you kidding me?” She gasps. “How did Eric forget to tell you this small detail?”

“Apparently, he thought it doesn’t matter to me, which is kind of true, but there is more.”

“What more? Did he hit on you? Because I’m not talking to you again if he did. He is hot!”

“No, he didn’t, but what you don’t know is that we have history.”

“Okay, now I’m confused!? How do I not know about this?”

“Well, remember my ex, Dylan? I told you about him.”

“Yeah, the asshole who cheated on you,” she hums.

“Well, Dylan and Shawn used to be best buds when we started dating, but the guy hated my guts, or so I thought. He was always mean to me, talking against me and just… avoiding me like the plague.”

“I thought he is the nicest person on earth.”

“He might be now, but when I knew him, he treated me like shit. So it was pretty awkward to see him again after all these years.”

“And how did it go? Was he an ass again?”

“No. He was… nice. Well, we both acted awkward in the beginning, I didn’t know if he would continue his act with me, but he turned out to be nice. And then at one point he told me he is sorry for everything in the past and he was just acting like that because he wanted to amuse Dylan.”

I turn to my side and stare out the window.

“That’s good, right? I mean, he grew out that mean phase and he is all good now.”

“Yeah, it’s just still weird to be around someone I knew from my Dylan phase.”

“But it’s Eric who is dating Aaliyah, why would you be constantly around him?”

“Aaliyah asked me to go over tomorrow, I think she is trying to put a surprise together for Eric’s birthday, so I’m spending the afternoon at the Mendes house.”

“Oh, then keep me updated about the details and sneak me a shirtless photo of Shawn please.”

“Maddi!” I scoff laughing. “Why would I even see him shirtless?”

“Maybe he likes wandering around in his home without clothes on, how would I know?!”

“Unbelievable. I’m going to sleep.”

“Bye bitch,” she sighs making me roll my eyes at her smiling.

“Bye.”

I sleep late the next day, it’s past noon when I actually make it downstairs looking like a real human being. Eric and Dad are watching a documentary on WW II. while Mom is reading the newspaper at the dining table. I join her with a bowl of cereal.

“Do you have any plans for today?” She smiles at me over her narrow glasses as she turns a page. I lean closer hitting a confidential tone.

“I’m helping Aaliyah today, she asked me to go over around three.”

“Oh, birthday surprise for Eric?” she asks clearly excited.

“I think yeah.”

“Great. And you will probably see Shawn again.” Winking at me she puts the papers down.

“Why does that matter?” I ask with my mouth full. She caresses my cheek before standing up and walking over to the sink for some water.

“Isn’t he a nice young man? I think the two of you would look cute together.”

“Mom, you are literally talking about the biggest pop sensation, he is not really the kind of guy who just casually dates,” I say.

In my mind all these celebrities are living their wildest life. Even if I were interested in Shawn in any way, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t even get in the game, he must have thousands of girls waiting for him in line. We are not really on the same page.

“Oh, come on. You guys knew each other in high school, you have a past, that connection must mean something!”

“He was an ass to me!” I blurt it out making her eyebrows raise.

“He was? What did he do?”

“It’s nothing,” I roll my eyes, but Mom gives me a demanding look. “He just didn’t seem to like me no matter what I did, he was avoiding me most of the time when I was with Dylan and also made some pretty rude comments sometimes.”

“Maybe he was into you,” Mom shrugs and I almost choke on the milk.

I start coughing like I’m about to die and my eyes start watering when I’m finally able to breathe evenly again.

“No fucking way!”

“Charlie! Language!” She hisses at me, but there is a smile hiding in her eyes. “You know, young boys tend to do it. They are mean to the girls they like.”

“Mom, it wasn’t in kindergarten, it was ninth grade or something. I think he just really didn’t like me back then and I don’t blame him.” I was annoying, thinking back at it. But hey, all teens are annoying!

“You can never know,” she sighs.

I totally ignore the theory Mom tried to make me believe, there is absolutely no chance of the nonsense she told me, and this is what I keep telling myself as I’m on my way to the Mendes house.

“Hey!” Aaliyah greets me with a wide smile. She is now wearing some more comfortable clothes than the last two times I saw her, the grey sweats and lose white shirt must be her home wear. “Come in! My parents are out at a friend’s place, and Shawn…” she starts, but just when she is about to finish he appears on the top of the stairs.

“Is here,” he chimes in. I look up and there he is, in a pair of checked pj pants and a black shirt. Looking at it, I think Aaliyah has his shirt on, it seems like the same size.

“Hi,” I smile at him.

“Come, let’s sit.” I follow Aaliyah into the living room and we sit down to the couch next to their Christmas tree. From the corner of my eyes I see Shawn going into the kitchen and for a moment I’m actually disappointed he is not coming with us.

“So. I want to surprise Eric with cooking for him, but I have no idea what. I tried to find out what’s his favorite, but he says it’s his favorite to everything!” she growls frustrated. I shake my head laughing.

“That’s typical.”

“Yeah. So do you have anything in mind?”

“Well, he really like tiramisu. He can eat tons of it, all the time. That’s good for dessert,” I offer. Aaliyah has her phone in her hands and she is typing everything I say down.

“Okay, got it.”

“Um, he likes gazpacho. He thinks it sounds fancy and you know, he likes everything with ketchup, so a soup that tastes like tomato was made for him.”

“Oh yeah, he pours so much ketchup into his sandwiches, it’s crazy,” she rolls her eyes jokingly. “Okay, so gazpacho. Anything else?”

“Um…” I try to think about the times we went to restaurants and Eric got really excited over the food. “Oh, we were once at a place and he ordered grilled mushrooms and he couldn’t stop moaning, it was very embarrassing, but I guess this meant he really liked it.”

“Grilled mushrooms, perfect,” she nods to herself noting everything down. “Do you mind helping me pick out his gift too? I have a few ideas, I want to go into the city and buy it tomorrow, I already looked up some jumpers online, but I can’t really decide.”

“Sure, show me!”

We spend the next thirty minutes scrolling through everything she had saved as a possible gift. She found some really nice ones, her taste is fantastic. As the time is passing I’m starting to feel like I’m with a friend and not with my brother’s girlfriend and I’m just hoping Eric will keep her around for a long time.

She asks me to stay a little bit longer so she can show me the awkward photos she has taken of Erik since they’ve been dating, but she gets a call and excuses herself quickly. I stay there in the living room, looking around a bit, I haven’t really had the chance yesterday, I was too occupied with the situation.

Shawn walks in, this time he has a headband on, keeping his locks back from his face.

Damn, Maddi is right. He is hot.

I shake my head at the thoughts and try to look as casual as possible.

“How is the birthday planning going?” he asks plopping down on the couch next to me.

“Good, Aaliyah basically had everything right, I just had to choose the best options.”

“How crazy is that our younger siblings are dating? I mean, I was thinking about it yesterday, the last time I saw Eric, he was about twelve or something. No wonder why I didn’t recognize him when I met him,” he chuckles and I nod agreeing. Aaliyah changed a lot in the past years too.

“Yeah. Strange that they are not babies anymore. I mean, I’m still mad that Eric is taller than me.”

“Oh I remember how you always wanted to get taller!”

“You remember?” I ask surprised. I used to never stop talking about my height, later I accepted my fate.

“Yeah, I remember once you told Dylan how you want to wear the highest heels to the dance so you two can be the same height.”

I laugh at the memory. I remember it too, it was quite early in our relationship and Dylan asked me out for the Halloween dance. I wanted to look taller and told Dylan I would wear heels. Of course, I ditched the plan as I found out how uncomfortable they are and ended up wearing my Converse.

“And at the end I looked like a punk princess with my Converse and mini skirt,” I scoff at the thought of my outfit for that night.

“I think you looked pretty,” Shawn says and I look at him. I catch his small smile before he shakes his head clearing his throat. What the Hell? “High school feels so far away, right?” he quickly says.

“Um, well for you I guess, for me… not really,” I chuckle shaking my head. “Your life got turned upside down, but not much has happened to me since then.”

“What? I don’t believe you. I’m sure you’ve been having plenty of fun. Parties, dates and everything.”

I can’t help, a sad smile plasters across my face. He can’t be more wrong.

“Not really… I had some rough years after Dylan and I split.”

“Can I ask what happened? I mean, after the split,” he shyly asks.

“Well, since I was a dumb naïve little girl, I needed an entire year before I could even think about getting to know other guys. Now it all just seems like the biggest bullshit. I shouldn’t have cared that much. And I’m not a fan of partying, I only go out on birthdays and maybe New Year’s Eve,” I shrug. Maddi has been trying to boost me up a bit, she attempts to drag me out every month or so, but I’m really not that kind of type. I thought I was, when I was with Dylan, he was a popular guy, I kept going to these lame parties with him in the last year of our relationship, but I never really enjoyed them. Shawn was long gone by then.

“I’m sorry Dylan played you so bad.”

“It’s fine, I mean, not your fault,” I chuckle. “But what happened to you and him?”

He sighs scratching the back of his neck.

“Not sure, I guess we grew apart and I realized that he is an ass. When I became a private student we kept in touch, but I met new people and I saw how different a friendship can be, so… I cut him off, I guess.”

“Did you guys fight?”

“Not really,” he shakes his head. “Well, we had one last very awkward phone call when I was in Atlanta, if I remember right. It was forced and… just awkward, really,” he chuckles shaking his head.

“And your life has been better since Dylan is out of it, right?” I grin at him.

“Yeah, you must know about it.”

I laugh nodding. I know everything about it!

Before I could even think about what I’m saying, my mouth just opens and the words roll down.

“The only good thing I got from my relationship with Dylan is that I know you now.”

My eyes widen and I wish I could take it back.

“I- uh I mean…”

I don’t even know why I’m so nervous suddenly, I didn’t even tell much. But for some reason, I can feel myself blushing.

“I meant that he basically ruined my senior year and I needed so much time to get myself over him, but at least now we can talk like, normal people,” I quickly add somehow saving the situation.

“What do you mean he ruined your senior year?” he asks with furrowed eyebrows and I’m happy he didn’t get caught up on what I said before that.

“Well, he successfully made me push all my friends away, leaving me totally alone when we broke up.”

“Wait, what? How about that friend of yours, um… I don’t remember her name, you always sat together at lunch.”

“Rochelle. Oh Dylan played us dirty. He told me Rochelle keeps hitting on him and being my dumb naïve self I believed him and not her. We had this huge fight and I called her a bitch. No wonder why she didn’t care about me when I was alone in the last couple of months of senior year.”

“Ouch, that sounds horrible. I’m sorry he did that.”

“Why did we even like Dylan in the first place?” I ask laughing to myself. It still bothers me how blind I was, I wish I could just shake myself.

“I have no idea!” He sighs rolling his eyes. “I’m sorry your senior year got fucked up, I wish I could be there to have lunch with you.”

I turn to him and swear to God he is blushing! And it is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I feel the urge to touch him, anywhere, to take his hand in mine, but I stop myself.

“That’s… nice. Thank you,” I whisper touched.

As I’m staring at him I realize this is probably the closest I’ve ever been to him. I wonder how many girls want to be in my position, they see the popstar, the heartthrob from the stage, while all I see is the guy who used to be mean to me in high school but now we are friendlier than ever. I could never see him as a celebrity.

“Okay, so I found some- Oh am I bothering?” Aaliyah walks into the room with her phone in her hands and she is giving me a knowing look. I quickly clear my throat turning away from Shawn.

“No, you girls just… do your thing. I have to make a few calls.”

Shawn jumps up from the couch patting his sister’s shoulder before walking out of the room. Aaliyah takes his place, still grinning.

“What?” I ask her playing dumb.

“You guys… I felt the sparkle,” she says wiggling her eyebrows.

“What sparkle? Aaliyah, you see everything in pink because of my brother.”

“Oh stop, don’t tell me you don’t like him.”

“I don’t know him,” I say truthfully. “The last time I saw him I was dating a douche and he was also being a douche to me. I can’t tell if I like him, because I don’t know his new self.”

“But you seem to get along with him pretty well and I’m sure you are attracted to him.”

“I’m not talking about this with you, you are his sister!” I gasp feeling myself blushing again.

“Whatever. But I think you two would look cute together.”

I refuse to carry on with the conversation about me and Shawn and Aaliyah fortunately doesn’t force it on me. I leave the Mendes house around five, Aaliyah thanks me the help and I can’t help but feel disappointed I don’t see Shawn anywhere when I’m leaving. Aaliyah’s speech about me and Shawn is slowly getting to me.

By dinner, all my thoughts are racing around him and soon I find myself stalking his social media profiles. I knew he is very famous, but seeing the numbers on his pages makes me gasp. Millions of people are following him, waiting for him to post anything. The last photo he uploaded to his Instagram is with his family, Karen and Manny are smiling proudly into the camera while Shawn and Aaliyah are messing around next to them. Before I could realize what I’m doing I double tap the picture liking it.

“Oh shit,” I suck my breath in. I hesitate, but then I realize how dumb this is. He must be getting millions of notes every minute, he won’t see this.

Gaining some confidence from this, I decide to follow him and continue my stalking session. I’m a few months deep into his profile when I get a notification. Opening the tab my eyes widen.

shawnmendes followed charlieprkr

I guess I was wrong about the notification getting lost. A moment later I see that he has liked two of my photos.

One was taken on a family vacation. Eric and I are posing at the beach, I have a red swimsuit on and the wind is blowing my wavy blonde hair that was so much lighter back than from all the sunshine. The other one is a picture Maddie took of me last month. I’m sitting in our armchair with a mug of tea in my hands, smiling shyly at the camera. We had Christmas lights in the window and the lights made me look colorful in the photo.

I’m just about to put the phone down and go to bed when I get a dm. I’m not surprised to see Shawn’s username, but I definitely get excited.

shawnmendes I’m happy I’m not the first one to accidentally like your photo, though I was minutes away from that haha

I smile at the message rolling my eyes.

charlieprkr Ha. Ha. I was hoping I can easily hide in the millions of your followers.

shawnmendes You could have, if only I weren’t stalking your profile as well. Fate?

charlieprkr I guess.

My fingers linger across the keyboard, trying to think of something else to write and keep the conversation up, but nothing comes to my mind. I almost give up when I get another message from him.

shawnmendes I’m in a nostalgic mood, I want to have a walk in the neighborhood, around our school tomorrow. Would you like to join me?

My smile grows wider than ever reading his lines.

charlieprkr Totally.

shawnmendes Great! Sometime around 4 pm?

charlieprkr Perfect. Where?

shawnmendes I’ll meet you at your house and we’ll go from there.

charlieprkr Then see you tomorrow!

shawnmendes Yeah, good night Charlie.

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