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jasmariswonderland · 2 years ago

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Shining Hearts Chapter 8 ~ Guilty Kiss

Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Chapter Summary: A leak on magicam plunges the Swans of Six back into turmoil and finding the culprit nearly tears them apart; with the stress bringing Danica to her breaking point.

Warning For This Chapter: Mentions of weight issues, lots of ballet/dance terminology, heavy angst (especially towards the end) and EVERYONE is being mean in this chapter. (even Danica) Also the ending gets somewhat suggestive, but nothing too graphic.

A/N: A huge thank you to @twstinginthewind and @twst-the-night-away for being kind enough to let me use their ocs for this chapter. I’m always nervous working with ocs that aren’t my own but I hope I was able to do your babies justice! ❤

~~~

Sometime Back In November…

The hour was still early, but thankfully, it was a Saturday and one of the few times Danica could be certain the ballroom would be empty. As she was waking up that morning, some ideas for choreography came to her that she wanted to take note of while they were still fresh in her mind. Ideas that she would show to her ballet teacher back home and hopefully use for the New Year's masquerade in which she’d be performing.

She opened the curtains and sat in a pool of warm morning sunlight as she stretched and prepared her shoes, slipping on a long skirt similar to how her costume would move. Her eyes closed as she envisioned the moves and decided on a sequence. The last thing she did was place her phone upright in a chair by the mirror. It was a habit of hers to record every performance and every practice. Even when she was just dancing for herself, she still had a need to critique.

The camera beeped, indicating it was recording. She began with a slow, elegant adagio and relevè, finishing off with an arabesque. Contemplating the musical accompaniment that would breathe life into her routine, she seamlessly transitioned into a series of delicate jumps and soft turns, each step carefully thought out in her mind's symphony.

If one were to ask why Danica enjoyed dancing, the easy answer for her would be to keep Fiona’s memory alive and to be close to her spirit. That was certainly true but her love of dance ran even deeper than that. She could still remember what her heart felt when she watched her sister dance for the first time. Not just the praise she received, but also the emotion conveyed in Fiona’s movements. Witnessing her ability to evoke raw sentiment within her audience ignited a flame within Danica's soul.

Danica’s own emotions were often complex and confusing, even to her. Yet in dancing, she felt as though she had an outlet to untangle the intricacies her own heart. All of her deepest emotions, all the things that words couldn’t say, she could share with those who watched her dance.

Behind the curious violet eyes watching her, there were certainly very deep emotions developing within. This wasn’t the first time Vil had seen her dance and he was no stranger to it, being professionally trained in ballet himself. He had even seen Fiona on stage once, a long time ago. But something about Danica always stirred something in him, something that was both endearing and bewitching at the same time.

She was normally so shy, and so unsure. Frequently comparing herself to her late sister and always afraid of being in the spotlight. But behind every note she sang, every turn when she danced, there was such profound, incredible passion. Passion that nearly matched his own, and, if he didn’t know better, could even compare to that of the Fairest Queen of legend.

Why was his heart racing?

Vil had come here because he thought he heard some activity in the ballroom and figured he might as well have his morning yoga session here. As he approached the door leading inside, he thought he’d heard the unmistakable sound of pointe shoes tapping on the hard floor, and tread quietly. Half-hoping to have a rare chance to see Danica completely removed from her normal timidity. What always surprised him most when he watched her was how the world seemed to vanish and how time would stop. How nothing seemed to matter at that moment save for watching Danica for as long as he could.

No one would doubt that Vil was an impressive person, but considering the life he lived, he was not one to be easily impressed. All the more reason why he found himself increasingly fascinated with this shy freshman. The longer he knew her, Danica’s quiet yet impassioned presence left an undeniable impression on Vil, sparking a curiosity that defied his usual indifference.

A small high-pitched sound cut through the silence of the room, a gasp in realization that Danica was being watched. She was midway through a turn and suddenly lost balance but before she could fall, Vil quickly went to her and caught her in his arms.

“Ara, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, placing her on her feet.

“Vil-san! Oh…oh goodness…” Danica gasped again, taking a few steps back and lifting one of her feet as though she were about to remove her shoes. “I…I’m terribly sorry…I didn’t realize…”

“Now, what have we told you about needlessly apologizing?” She was about to apologize again but she quickly bit her tongue. He chuckled. “And at least you’ve given up coming in here late at night and neglecting sleep.”

"N-no one...the ballroom is usually empty on Saturday mornings," with her eyes directed to the floor, she saw his feet walking closer to her. “I’m…practicing for a performance I’ll be in for New Year’s Eve and…”

“Look at me.”

His tone was gentle, but stern enough to get her attention. Danica wouldn’t dare disobey her dorm leader and reluctantly lifted her head to meet his gaze. She realized how close he was but he did not appear angry or even displeased. Was that…a smile?

��You’re not upset?” She hesitantly asked.

“Why would I be?” He answered her question with one of his own. “How could I possibly take issue with how deeply committed you are to your craft? And how your hard work has paid off in such a beautiful way.”

“S…senpai…”

A hot flush of embarrassment came to her face and she lowered it again. Vil’s words were more on par with something Rook would say to her. Yet it was exactly because Vil was rarely so direct in his praise that was why it was so special to her.

“I’m…I…when you were watching me, what did you think?”

“My eyes were glued to you. The way you move, so smooth, so elegant. You are truly gifted and I do not say that lightly. It’s all the more reason…”

He closed his eyes thoughtfully. But he didn’t finish his sentence.

“Vil-san…? Vil-san!”

Fingers brushed against each other and Danica realized that Vil wasn’t wearing his gloves. Her heart was pounding through her throat, but she didn’t move her hand away, even when she felt his enfolding hers. Yet his eyes remained strangely pensive.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s all the more reason why I don’t understand why you’re so timid about sharing your talents with us.” He sighed, grasping her hand tighter and bringing it to his view. “Why are you so unsure of yourself when you hold such incredible power in your hands?”

“Power?” Now Danica smiled. “What power could I possibly have?”

“The power to captivate,” Vil replied without hesitation. “The grace you carry when you dance, or even when you sing, has the ability to captivate your audience. Beauty in any form has the power to hold people’s attention and capture their hearts. That is your power, Little Potato.”

“Vil…”

“And when I watched you, I was also under that spell.”

“I’m…sure you’ve seen far lovelier dancers in your field of work,” Danica murmured; her words were laced with subtle self-doubt even as she smiled. Even if she heard nothing to indicate Vil was teasing her, the idea of her captivating someone like him seemed almost laughable.

“But I’m not talking about other dancers right now, am I? I am talking about you, Danica. And how your grace has captivated me.” His voice lacked its usual formality but Danica felt strangely comforted by this, allowing herself to draw closer to him. Vil took her hand again. “And I’m certain your dance partner will be captivated with you as well.”

“I…actually won’t be dancing with a partner for the masquerade,” Danica replied. “I’ll be dancing with other girls. In fact, I haven’t begun training with a partner.”

She lowered her head, blushing a little and wondering if she could say what was fully in her mind. No, not this time.

“Not yet anyway. But I would like to.”

“Really? One of your age should have already begun pas de deux training.” This genuinely surprised Vil, but an enticing thought quickly came to him, one he didn’t mind indulging in. “Would you like to begin your training with me?”

“What?!”

By what sorcery has Vil managed to read her innermost thoughts with such precision? His question caused a sudden spark in her chest and a wave of nervousness as she felt him take her other hand and gently pull her towards him. H is touch invoking a myriad of sensations within her. Such was her flustered state that she wasn’t fully thinking and tried to step back, her feet going on relevé.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Oh…” she lowered herself, looking up at him. “I’m sorry…I mean…would you really? Vil-san?”

“We haven’t time for that at this moment,” he replied. “But in the future, I would consider it a great privilege to guide a dancer as passionate and beautiful as you.”

“Vil-san…”

“It’s almost a pity I won’t be attending the New Year's masquerade, for I would love the opportunity to see your dance.”

Very carefully, Vil wrapped his arm around her while his other hand was still in hers. With practiced ease, he softly pressed at her back to bring her closer, placing them both in a position as if they were indeed about to dance together. She smiled and, in a moment of profound boldness, placed one of her hands on his shoulder as she had often seen when watching couples waltz.

“I would love to be the one to sweep you off your feet, Danica.” Responding to her boldness in turn, he slowly spun her around as her feet went into arabesque. He caught her hand with a little smile. “And should you fall again, as your dance partner, I will always catch you.”

It was Danica’s intention to leave the ballroom after this, but Vil insisted that she stay and join him for his yoga session. She couldn’t describe it, but something in the kind way he regarded her made her less apprehensive of the idea of being alone with him. Danica agreed, spending a pleasant hour doing yoga with her dorm leader, and secretly enjoying his company nearly as much as he was secretly enjoying hers.

And all the while, the camera continued to record. Only when she returned to her room later, did she realize this. Initially, she was embarrassed that her phone had caught such a personal moment. But as she watched the video, more than an hour long, a warmth came to her chest and rose to her cheeks.

Vil was a strict dorm leader and was often harsh with her and other freshmen, but at this moment, she saw a side of him that she had never seen before. A side that reminded her that behind his cool exterior, there was genuine warmth and a desire to see her succeed. His methods might have been difficult to understand, but they always bore fruit and the longer Danica was in Pomefiore, the more confident she felt herself becoming. Not once did Vil ever compare her to Fiona, and with the profession that it was her dancing that captivated him, she felt a great sense of accomplishment. This was exactly what she aspired to as a performer.

If one were to ask Danica why she danced, there were many reasons. But her greatest reason? For the exact reaction Vil gave her that morning. And for that reason, she decided to keep the video. As a reminder of her desire to please him. A reminder of his rare moments of sweetness. And a reminder of why her feelings for him were beginning to shift from admiration to something far deeper.

~~~

One Week Earlier…

Vil looked around him, making sure he was completely alone before opening the video on his phone. He knew the boys were still rehearsing and the girls were getting fitted for their costumes. They were all soon to return to Ramshackle for the evening so time was extremely scarce.

So why was he hesitating?

An edited version of the video played on his phone. It was cut down from its hour length to only five minutes, highlighting the sweeter moments of their conversation that November morning. He watched it a few times, fondly remembering that morning and wishing he and Danica could have more moments like that together. Not in the roles of dorm leader and freshman, but simply as two students—two performers with similar tastes and equal drive and mutual respect and admiration for each other.

Of course he would be hesitating; he should be hesitating. Truthfully, Vil would think himself a very horrid person if he didn’t hesitate at all. Indeed, that he was even thinking about doing this was horrid enough. He was taking a huge risk. Even if he was certain this would be received in the way he wished, there was still the possibility this would be seen in the opposite light and spell disaster for his career.

But at the same time, Vil was becoming frustrated and that frustration was quickly becoming desperation born of ambition unfulfilled. It galled him how all of his talent, his passion, his drive, all seemed to be ignored in favor of the transient charms of his infantile rival. All Vil wanted was for the world to cease comparing him to Neige. To stand upon the stage until the final curtain fell.

But more than anything, Vil sought not villainy, but redemption—a chance to rewrite his narrative and emerge as the hero of his own story. And what better way to prove his worth as one than by playing that part to one destined for the role of his princess?

That’s what he told himself as he made the call to his manager. Yet even as he gave his instructions, a distinctly sick feeling refused to leave him. Beyond the general risks, this was also a major breach of his honor as Pomefiore’s dorm leader, and, on a more personal note, a breach of trust between him and someone whose trust he valued.

That is, if she ever realized that he was the one responsible. But Adela promised, with the help of her staff, this would never be traced back to him. The video would be leaked via a bot account that would make frequent posts over a week’s time to give off the impression that there was a real person behind it.

After the video had been up on magicam for twelve hours, it (along with the uploading account) would be erased from the site. Not enough time for anyone to trace the video’s origins but long enough to make an impact. Danica might wonder how a video from her phone found its way online, but otherwise, she’d never be the wiser. The thought offered little solace, however, as Vil continued to ponder the moral implications of his actions.

“I won’t ask the reasoning behind this,” she said. “It’s none of my business, but I assure you, Vil, leave this to me.”

“And she will never know?” He asked.

“I cannot promise that she won’t ask you about this, or even try and figure it out on her own, but that would be an extremely difficult feat. I am curious though.”

“Hmmm?”

“The girl in this video, she’s the one dancing with you in the masquerade videos. Forgive me if this is out of line but you seem fond of her. Is she…?”

“You certainly are out of line!” Vil snapped.

“I’m sorry, but from these videos, one could easily make the assumption…”

Adela let the statement hang as Vil further contemplated his decision. It was true, one could easily make the assumption that he and Danica were more than friends, but wasn’t that what he wanted? He wanted a princess to play prince to. He wanted a perfect swan to break the curse upon him. It’s all Vil had wanted for weeks, yet at the moment it seemed his goal was closer than ever, he was hesitant.

Enough dithering! He told himself. This must be done! Danica must see firsthand how the world sees her. She is a white swan, and only a white swan. In fact, this can be another test for her. Yes, to see how she responds to the leak and the resulting pressure. She’ll pass of course, like she’s passed all my tests, and she will finally understand the role she is destined to play.

“Go ahead and release the video!” He said at last. “Release it and see to it that she never realizes its origins!”

Vil quickly hung up the phone before Adela could respond, and before he could have any more second thoughts.

~~~

Ramshackle Dorm ~ Danica’s Temporary Room

In Taima’s lap, Danica wept with humiliation while the other four girls sat in stupefied silence. Iman was scrolling through magicam, looking at comments on the video, and hoping to find some positive ones to cheer her leader up. But Danica wasn’t interested. She looked at the video only once before nearly passing out from shock, Taima held onto her as she tried to compose herself but ended up crying instead. Loudly and frantically at first before slowly fading into soft, impassioned weeping.

How? Just how? That was the only thought she could hold at the moment. She recalled every moment her phone was out of her sight since November and even then she still couldn’t decipher who would have access to this. But how this happened almost didn’t matter. It might as well have been a video of her sleeping or bathing, for how intimate the content was. It was more than a sweet moment between her and her dorm leader; her deepest feelings, her most personal desires were now on display for all the world to see.

And even that wasn’t the worst part. Yes, Vil was a strict dorm leader, yes he was often critical and his aura might have been intense. But Danica knew better, he was far more than all of those things, and that November morning was the evidence. But that sweetness he occasionally showed her was reserved ONLY for her. And now it had lost exactly what made it so special in the first place. Stripped of its significance by the prying eyes of netizens.

Why did I decide to keep it?! I’m such an idiot!

Ione remained silent for the last several minutes, as had everyone else. She wanted to say something, but emotions were high and the deeper she felt, the more likely she was to say something stupid or rude. But seeing Danica’s anguish was too much for her, especially since it had been Danica to comfort her not too long ago. She wasn’t a naturally warm person and didn’t know what to say, or how to comfort in this situation, but she wanted to try.

“I…can’t possibly leave you in good conscience, Danica,” she said. “I won’t leave the group, I want to stay and support you the best I can.”

“Thank you, Ione,” Taima smiled. “And she’s right, Dani. We all will!”

Danica heard their voices, but not what they were saying. Her mind was still clouded but she pulled herself up into a sitting position. She reached for her phone but Iman gently grabbed her hand, there was nothing on that phone that wouldn’t just upset Danica further, she thought.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Hmmm?” Danica looked at her through tear-stained lashes. “Why? What have you done?”

“When we first started, I teased you about our song and why you wrote it. I didn’t realize…and now…I…sorry, I’m not used to feeling like this. Like I should be the one to…”

“I think she understands, Sister,” Vidaria spoke up. “We’re both sorry, Danica.”

“It’s alright,” Danica sighed and reached out for her phone again, only for Iman to swipe it out of her grasp. She tried reaching for it again but then thought better of it. “In the end, this is all my fault anyway.”

“How?!” Iman asked sharply. “Were you the one to leak this?”

“No, but I did keep it on my phone. So…”

“Then this is NOT your fault!”

“But there are other things that are my fault. The truth is, I did write Our Happily Ever After because of Vil. I’ve admired him ever since I was thirteen. But when I came to this school, it was my plan to continue admiring him only from a distance. I never imagined, nor did I hope, that I would find myself in a position as close to him as I am now. I was fine being invisible to him, until…”

Her face quickly became hot, and pressed her hands to her face with shame, letting out another loud sob.

“...until I forgot about wanting to be invisible. I didn’t want to be invisible to him, I wanted him to see…to see…me…I…I….Ohhhh I’m such an idiot!”

“No, my dear. You’re in love,” Vidaria tapped her shoulder to get her attention. She smiled. “Your place in Pomefiore has allowed you to graduate from being merely a fangirl to appreciating Vil for the person he truly is. Your feelings are genuine and that’s not your fault.”

“It doesn’t help that I feel like I’m also falling for another person,” Danica said quietly. “But even then, when I think about my feelings for Vil…I think about how different he has made me. I’m still afraid of judgment, but at the same time, I’m learning not to care. Being around Vil has changed me for the better. I want to be the best performer I can be and it makes what he wants for me all the more confusing.”

“And it makes this leak all the more foul!” Sidonie spoke up, glaring at her phone. “To expose you like this, such a beastly thing to do!”

There was silence. Not even Vidaria could disagree with this statement, but her voice bore the slightest undertone of malice. This was ignored at first but when Iman picked up the tart box again to hand to Danica, Sidonie spoke up.

“What the hell are you doing? You said Vil cast his UM on all the sweets in the fridge!”

“Not this one!” Retorted Iman. “I saw when he did it. He only touched the ones Ace and Deuce brought with them. He left this one alone!” Iman opened the box and Danica reached for the tart, but Sidonie continued to glare. “Do you really think I’d let Danica eat this if…”

“I don’t know what you’re capable of, that’s the point!”

“How dare you?!” Iman glared at her before breaking off a piece of the tart and putting it in her mouth. She swallowed it and when nothing happened said, “See?! Perfectly safe! Get over yourself!”

She offered the tart to Danica and she took it. Sidonie sat back, with a little huff. Iman had been correct, loath she was to admit it. But something about the way Iman comforted her friend did not sit right with her, even if she was indeed being genuine for once in her life. She bit the inside of her lip and remembered why she was so angry in the first place.

“We have to get to the bottom of this,” she said.

“I’ve been looking over the account that leaked the vid,” replied Taima. “It’s weird cause you really can’t tell if this person is a student or what.”

“What do you mean?” Vidaria asked.

“Just what I said. Like, there are pics here from some areas I recognize as around school but there are others in places I don’t recognize and none of these other pics have people in them, except one of some random Pomefiore students in the courtyard.”

“What?!” Danica allowed herself to look over at Taima’s phone. “Is it possible that a Pomefiore student is behind the leak? No! There’s no way…”

“Girl, you need to look at all possibilities right now!” Iman said.

“Well you can count me out of that,” Sidonie added.

“Yeah, and besides Sidonie and our dorm leaders, the only people I talk to are Farron, Epel, and Savvy from freshman Class D. None of them are capable of doing this.”

“Let me look at the account myself,” Sidonie scrolled through her phone, looking at each photo multiple times and then taking screenshots of several to show the others. “Okay, I recognize these pics, they’re from a famous hotel in the Queendom of Roses, but look at this one, at the poster in the background.”

“That’s Vil-san,” Ione said. “But Sidonie-san, that doesn’t exactly mean anything. Do you honestly think Vil-san could…”

“All I’m saying is that he is the only connection I can find in these pictures,” replied Sidonie. “That hotel only serves very wealthy and famous clientele. The only other pic with people in it is a pic of Pomefiore students. And the poster…”

“I am astounded by you, Sidonie,” Vidaria quickly cut her off, shooting her a poisonous look. “You see Danica in tears, her deepest feelings exposed to the world and you have the audacity to lay blame on the object of those feelings?!”

“Yeah, what the hell kinda friend are you?” Iman sneered. “Besides, most of the comments on the video are positive. Like, very positive! I can see another Pomefiore student doing this outa jealousy or something, but not Vil himself!”

“That’s the point!” Sidonie snapped, thrusting her phone in Iman’s face. “No one benefits from this but Vil! Most of these stupid comments are about Vil and how romantic he’s acting! Yeah, there are a few about Dani but most are about Vil!”

“That doesn’t mean shit!” Iman pushed the phone out of her face. “This could have easily gone the opposite way. You know how netizens are! Why would Vil take that risk?!”

“Exactly!” Vidaria added. “Maybe forget your own disdain for your dorm leader long enough to comfort your friend!”

“EXCUSE YOU?!”

“Don’t act coy! Vil-san has been on your shitlist since freshman year and you’d never suggest him as the culprit if he wasn’t! You covet his place as Pomefiore’s dorm leader the same way a hawk covets a rabbit!”

“Sidonie!” Danica gasped, looking at her mentor with slight surprise. “Is that true? Do you want to replace Vil-san?!”

“That’s irrelevant right now!” Sidonie snapped again, her temper on its last legs. “And as for you Vidaria, shut up! Just shut up! You know nothing and I think as a Pomefiore student, I have a better idea of how Vil thinks!”

“You never denied it,” Vidaria smirked.

“DO YOU WANNA TAKE THIS OUTSIDE?!”

“STOP IT!” Danica got up to sit on the other side of her bed, between Sidonie and Vidaria. “I thought I said no more fighting! Sidonie-san, you’ve especially surprised me. I’ve never seen you so hostile. What’s happened?!”

“What’s happened?! SHE’S what happened!” Sidonie pointed to Vidaria, who was staring at them in an infuriatingly calm manner. “I’m sorry you have to be in the center of this, Danica, but…”

“Clearly, you aren’t sorry enough because you two have refused to squash this! Even after I’ve begged several times!”

“Danica, sweetie, you’re really going to take Vidaria’s side on this?!”

“Don’t ‘Danica-sweetie’ me!” Danica cried. “And I’m not taking ANYONE’S side! I just want you guys to stop fighting!”

Sidonie sighed, rising to her feet and making her way toward the door, making a point to turn her back to Vidaria. She knew Danica was right, she knew she was letting her disdain for Vidaria poison her love for her. And perhaps it was a little true that she suspected Vil for unfair reasons. As such, she felt it was best to leave, but not before turning to Danica with one final question.

“My own feelings aside,” she began. “Will you even consider what I said, Danica? That Vil could be the one to do this?”

Danica hesitated, she thought again about every moment that her phone had been out of her sight over the last two and a half months. And she remembered a week prior when Vil had come into Farron’s studio to talk with her. The end of that conversation still left knots in her stomach, but could Vil really be capable of something like this?

“No. You’ve always been a good friend to me, Sidonie-san, you’re my mentor and I’ve always trusted you and listened to you,” Danica said. “But I can’t this time. I don’t know what happened in the year I wasn’t here, but I trust Vil-san. I’m sorry that you don’t.”

~~~

An unbearable crushing sensation sat upon Sidonie’s shoulders as she closed the door and pressed her back to the wall, sinking to the floor. Her heart ached for her friend, this was not in doubt, but she was also incensed by her. True Danica was only a freshman and couldn’t be blamed for not knowing a lot of things. But how could she side with Vidaria on this? After all the merciless teasing both she and Iman had subjected her to. It didn’t matter if they apologized, they had still hurt her and Sidonie didn’t believe for a minute that their change of attitude was genuine.

Danica, sweetie, you aren’t an idiot. So why are you acting like one? How can you be so blind?

She didn’t just blame them, she also blamed Vil. For allowing them to join the team in the first place, for not considering the volatile history between the three of them, and, most of all, for what he had now done to Danica. The others might believe Sidonie was being vindictive, perhaps she was to an extent, but she was not a fool. From the beginning of VDC preparations, Vil had been weirdly obsessed with Danica’s image, pressing her not to be too provocative, forcing her into an archetype that she no longer desired to be. And, most egregious to her mind, forcing Farron to abandon some of his greatest work because it didn’t suit Vil’s wishes for Danica. And judging by the buzz on magicam, this most recent crisis worked perfectly into his plans.

Sidonie didn’t know what Vil’s endgame was with all of this, but at the same time, she really didn’t care. Danica was close to her breaking point. It wasn’t enough that she was working herself tirelessly on a performance that Sidonie knew she secretly hated. Now he had betrayed her trust in a very personal way. For all his care for beauty, he was being incredibly ugly right now.

And at that moment, she resolved that she would expose it. Vil couldn’t get away with this and since none of the others would even bother to consider his guilt, she would uncover it herself. This was no longer about her own distaste for him or her desire to be dorm leader. She owed this to Danica, she had to seek justice.

~~~

Ramshackle Dorm ~ NRC Tribe Room A

The first thing Sidonie decided to do was go to the room Rook shared with Jamil and Kalim. Whatever her thoughts about her dorm leader, her rapport with her vice dorm leader had always been amiable and warm. And as Vil’s right-hand man, he would have the best insight into Vil’s intentions out of everyone in the training camp. It only made sense.

The door was ajar and as she pushed it open, she heard a noise that came from downstairs. The boys were back from their rehearsal, meaning she would be able to speak to Rook very soon. Sidonie smiled and decided to sit in a nearby chair and wait for him there. While she waited, she looked around the room and noticed a thick book sitting on the nightstand by Rook’s bed.

At once, she recognized it as the very same photo album that he had brought with him when they first arrived here—a photo album that Taima had teased Danica about. She had been under the impression that the album was full of pictures of Danica, and now, with it right in front of her, Sidonie couldn’t help but be curious.

Rook is certainly kinder than Vil, and he’s fond of Danica too. Maybe…but he did say it was private…hmmm…should I really…?

But Sidonie couldn’t help herself, driven by the hopeful fantasy that Rook’s affection for Danica might finally sway her perception of Vil. Without any further thought, she picked up the book and carefully opened it to its first page–and was seized by a violent feeling of nausea as she recognized who was in the first photo.

No…it…can’t be…

She frantically flipped through the pages, hoping this was only her mind playing cruel tricks on her. That perhaps Rook’s eccentricities had led her mind astray because surely he wouldn’t possibly be so tactless. Her heart sank as she approached the end of the book and realized that this was real and a thousand times worse than she could imagine. Taima had been right on one point though: the object of these photos did, in fact, have dark hair and wore white in the majority of them.

But it was not Danica’s face that graced the pages. Instead, the album was brimming with the pure white face, ebony locks, and ethereal image of Neige Leblanche. Even the single photo from the Ledelle Cosmetics holiday promotion depicted only Neige. Danica was nowhere to be seen, shattering any illusions Sidonie still harbored.

How could you?! I thought you cared about Danica! You didn’t even think to include photos you took of her here! What the actual hell is this?!

In that moment, an album filled with pornography would have been a lesser offense. If Vil’s actions were a betrayal of Danica, then Rook’s were a betrayal not just to her but a betrayal to them all. But Sidonie had no time to think further about this. She could hear someone coming up the stairs and this was followed by the jovial sound of Rook’s voice, calling out to them and Vil’s voice calling for Danica. She quickly closed the album and placed it back on the nightstand, taking extra care to arrange it exactly as it had been before she picked it up. For good measure, she opened the door wider and called out to him.

“Rook, I was just looking for you here in your room, can I talk to you for a sec?”

He immediately came in and she made a point of sitting back on the chair just as she had been previously, as though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Rook looked at her briefly, curious about her presence, but smiled all the same.

“Bonjour, Madame Etheree, what has brought you here?”

“Rook, I need to talk to you,” she replied gravely. “About something serious that cannot wait.”

“Hmmm?” His curiosity was further piqued and he shut the door and sat on his bed, looking at her with interest. “I think I know what is troubling you, mon ami. Could it possibly be in relation to what’s currently trending on Magicam?”

“You’re correct on that point,”

Her eye twitched, and she subtly clenched her fist. Recalling the distressing revelation she had just uncovered in his photo album. When would Danica catch a break?

“Danica is very upset about this but no one can seem to guess who is responsible.”

“Ah, I understand,” Rook nodded. “It does not help that the account that originally posted the video is now gone.”

“What?” Sidonie looked up at him with surprise. “But, it was there not too long ago. We all looked at it.”

“Indeed, quite le mystere. The original video was up for only twelve hours, but needless to say, there are several reposts floating around.”

“But why?! How?!” Sidonie’s anger began rising once again. “That video was only on Danica’s phone! How did this happen, and more importantly, who would do this?!”

“Your guess is as good as mine, cherie,” Rook shook his head.

“Well, that’s why I’m here!” she stood up indignantly. “I intend to find out who’s responsible. And considering that Vil is in the video, too, I wanted to ask…”

“I know what you wish to ask, Sidonie,” Rook calmly raised his palm to silence her. “And while I know nothing about this myself, I can assure you Vil had nothing to do with this. He would never do anything that would Danica to this degree.”

“Hmmm, are you really so sure about that?” Sidonie laced her fingers together, squeezing them to keep herself calm. “While I would never accuse our dorm leader of treachery…”

“But, you just did, cherie. That is exactly what…”

“WHILE I WOULD NEVER accuse our dorm leader of treachery,” Sidonie deliberately ignored him to finish her sentence. “There are too many things pointing to him as the culprit! You can’t deny he’s been pretty hard on Danica as of late!”

“Oui, you are correct about that,” Rook replied. But while he is harsh, Roi du Poison is not cruel—not intentionally cruel.”

“Really? Because it’s very hard to tell sometimes!”

“Oh, Madame Etheree,” Rook sighed. “Could it be that your own thoughts about Vil are clouding your judgment?”

“NO! THEY’RE NOT!”

She fell back into the chair with a frustrated huff, glaring at Rook. This was the second time she had been questioned like this. She hated it, perhaps because it was more true than she cared to admit. But that didn’t matter; she wanted to help Danica and clearly, Rook wasn’t going to reveal anything to her. Though she began to wonder if he really knew anything in any case. Sidonie looked at him with a little sigh as her eyes unintentionally wandered toward the album. She quickly lowered her gaze.

“Whatever I think about Vil, I always believed he wanted what’s best for us. But now I’m not sure if I even believe that anymore,” she said. “The truth is, Danica has been working very hard but I don’t think anyone really grasps just how hard she’s working! She really wanted to perform that other song for the VDC but she abandoned what she wanted to make you and Vil happy!”

“She puts on a cheerful face even when Vil is scolding her, but inside, she is screaming! She's so afraid of being judged but Vil still does so if she doesn't act in the way he feels is best! Farron has had to take in her stage costume twice now. It’s taking its toll on her and now this video has made things worse!”

And you! Flaunting affection for her, acting like you’re smitten with her, yet carry around photos of Neige!

“SHE DOESN’T DESERVE THIS! SHE DOESN’T DESERVE ANY OF THIS!”

A surprising influx of tears burned through her eyes and she lowered her gaze further, letting out a muffled sob. The depth of her frustration with Vil, her anger at Rook, and her worry for Danica surprised her and Rook as well. His heart was genuinely moved and he went to gently place his hand on her back, only for her to sharply jerk away.

“Oh, ma cherie. Your tears speak volumes,” he sighed. “You truly care for our petite cygne and wish to protect her. As do we all.” Rook handed her a handkerchief and waited for her to dry her face before continuing.

“But you have nothing to fear. If Vil ever did anything that appears hurtful, it is only out of care for her. He sees Danica as I do, a perfect, delicate white swan,” he smiled. “How could anyone dare think to harm one so sweet and pure? Vil and I both desire to protect her loveliness, so won’t you help us, Sidonie, and keep Danica safe as well?”

She did not respond right away, allowing the silence to linger between them for a moment. The only noise was coming from the hallway, it was the sound of Vil, it was the sound of his anger. Sidonie got up and went to the door and could see that Vil was scolding Danica, most likely regarding Crisanta’s departure. Danica took this in silence, nodding slowly but Sidonie noticed her hands behind her back, one of them clenched into a fist. She turned back to Rook.

“No! You’re wrong! Absolutely wrong! You couldn’t be more wrong if you tried!” she said.

“Pourquoi?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

“From the moment you met her, you’ve always compared Danica to a pure white swan. Vil does the same, too. But there’s one thing about swans that everyone seems to forget. Swans are undoubtedly very beautiful birds, but they’re not fragile. Behind their beauty, swans are secretly very tough and don’t need protection. Danica doesn’t need protection either. What she needs is support, and if she doesn’t receive it soon, she will become a swan in another way.”

She bit back the beginnings of a smirk as she walked out of the room and closed the door.

“When a swan is provoked too many times, she fights back. And if Danica’s sweetness continues being undermined, I’m afraid you’ll all realize that even swans can bite.”

~~~

Ramshackle Dorm ~ Reception Hall

Three Days Later…

There was no way out for Epel this time. After trying to find any excuse imaginable to skip out on Vil’s wishes, he and Deuce were at last made to sit and observe the girls’ rehearsal before taking more ballet lessons. At this point, Danica was as uninterested in teaching Epel as he was being taught. To her mind, their lessons had gone nowhere and while Deuce and Ione were at least trying, she no longer had the patience for a student like Epel. So solidly committed to remaining stubborn and not even trying to implement what she was trying to teach.

But Vil had finally found someone else to teach the ballet lessons and promised Danica that this would be their last season together. This came as a relief to her since Crisanta’s departure meant she and her team now had to adapt their performance accordingly. Unfortunately leading to renewed disagreements between them. They couldn’t agree on the new choreography, which Sidonie and Vidaria found hard to memorize, a rare point of agreement between them. Danica also decided that each girl should now sing one piece of the song solo, something Ione dreaded.

Taima had also added a new instrumental bit at the beginning for Danica to dance to, but she wasn’t as thrilled with it as Taima thought she’d be. The truth was, Danica really could only think about how much she now just wanted the training camp to end. She found herself gradually becoming more disagreeable as well, and sometimes, she even lashed out at her teammates. The stress of the last few days was taking its toll on her.

As she and the girls entered the rehearsal space that morning, her head was spinning. When Danica first woke up, she finally looked at Magicam for the first time in days and immediately regretted it. Buzz about the video had died down but was still there, and while most of it was positive, there were a lot of comments and discussions about her and how adorable she was. How her adorableness made her an odd choice for someone like Vil, but how she made Vil seem sweeter by comparison. None of it sat right with her and she felt as though everyone was now secretly mocking her.

To make matters worse, Vil had not mentioned the video to her even once, compelling her not to speak on the matter either. Internalizing her feelings, as she always did. So the last thing she needed was to be bothered with Epel’s hardheadedness. At least this burden would be lifted soon, she thought. All they’d have to do is get through this final rehearsal and all would be well.

“I know you didn’t like the new intro, Dani, so I changed it back,” Taima told her as the girls prepared to start rehearsals.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Danica replied, her head a little cooler than when Taima initially introduced it to her. “It’s just that, our new performance is a lot more dance-centric than what we planned. Before, it was a little more acceptable if some girls fell short in some areas but now we all must be more uniform. I’m fine doing a small solo at the start.” A new thought intruded her mind and a sarcastic little laugh escaped her. “After all, it’s what I’m known for now!”

“Oh, Dani…” Taima sighed. Clearly, her friend was still upset about the video. “I’m sorry. I know you’re still not in the best headspace. If you like, I can take over for today, and you can just focus on the ballet lesson.”

“I’m fine!” She snapped, though far from the truth. “Let’s just get this over with! The sooner rehearsals are done, the sooner I can give Ione and the boys their ballet lesson.”

“Speaking of which,” Ione spoke up, looking over at the door and seeing Epel and Deuce walk in.

“Good morning, ladies,” Deuce greeted them, smiling awkwardly, but Epel subtly frowned. He was clearly uncomfortable being around so many girls.

“Hey, so…what are me and Deuce supposed to be doing here?” Epel asked. “Why do we gotta watch you guys?”

“Vil-san said he wanted you guys to observe our rehearsal and see how hard we’re working,” replied Danica. “So you’ll get it out of your head that strength is exclusive to guys.”

“I see,” Deuce said as he sat at the far side of the room. “Actually, even though we’re all training for the VDC, I don’t think we’ve seen what the girls are doing yet.”

“Same here! But you’ll get a chance today!” Taima grinned.

“Ehh, I still don’t get this,” Epel grumbled. “I’m sure it’s all the same dumb crap the boys are doing.”

“Excuse you?! Our performance is awesome, thank you very much!” Iman retorted. Whatever her personal thoughts, Epel’s comment was not appreciated.

“Ignore him!” Danica intervened. “And I really don’t expect you to understand, Epel. You’ve been ignoring almost everything I’ve been trying to teach, even though you’re not that bad at ballet. Ione and Deuce are at least trying…”

“Can you blame me?! Ballet has nothing to do with being strong or even a good mage!”

“And it’s that way of thinking that is why we are both in this mess!” She pointed dismissively to where Deuce was sitting. “Just sit over there, we’ll be sure to make this quick and then I’ll give you your lesson for today!’

Epel huffed but said no more. The more he argued, the longer he’d be stuck here after all. He sat next to Deuce and they whispered among themselves as the girls began discussing their performance.

“Has everyone had a chance to review their solos?” Danica asked her teammates. When everyone agreed, she went on, “Before we start, Vil-san told me that a week from now, we will be performing for the headmage. He wants to see how we’re progressing for the VDC. I know we’ve been disagreeing on the new direction of our song with one less person, but today I’d like us to finally decide.”

“If we’re making decisions about that now,” Sidonie replied. “Can we please talk about the new choreography cause I feel like it’s a lot more…involved than what we originally planned.”

“I know it is,” Danica shrugged. “But I really don’t want to make any more changes at this point. So what we’re going to do is pair everyone off since there’s now an even number of us. We’ll dance in groups of three and two and everyone will be responsible for making sure their partner knows what they’re doing.”

They got into position, Sidonie behind Danica, Ione behind Taima, and Vidaria behind Iman. After a couple of run-throughs—once with the new intro and once without it—Danica found herself favoring the new intro. They were a little out of sync with the new choreography, but Danica tried not to think of it, feeling that a few practices in the ballroom would quickly fix this.

“Okay, that was passable,” she said. “What did everyone else think?”

“I like this more to be honest,” Iman chimed in. “ It highlights my dance skills better. Now if we could do something about our fluffy ass costumes, I’d be a hundred percent content!”

“Sadly, nothing can be done about the costumes,” Danica sighed. “But I’m glad you like our new choreography, Iman.”

“Vidaria kept getting her footwork mixed up,” Taima observed. “So be sure to help her out with that, Iman. And I’ll do the same with Sidonie.”

“The best way to think about it is like a mirror. When we’re not all dancing in unison, if your partner’s leg is extended left, yours is supposed to go right,” Danica tapped on her phone and started the music over again. “And with that in mind, let’s run through this one more time.” She turned to Deuce and Epel, still sitting in the corner. “This time, I’d like you two to closely watch us.”

As the girls got back in position, Danica had a new thought and quickly paused the music before they began. She realized that her new solo in the beginning gave the performance an elegant feel that she actually liked and she wanted to add to that. From her dance bag, she pulled out her ballet shoes and put them on.

“This is just for today’s rehearsal,” she said. “For the actual VDC, I’m going to ask Farron to design my shoes with a demi-pointe so they’ll be easier to dance in.”

The third time they rehearsed was definitely the best thus far and they all thought so. Danica made sure to keep an eye on the boys, ensuring they were actually paying attention. Deuce was watching intently, almost as if he were taking mental notes, but to her annoyance, Epel appeared to be bored.

“Besides the singing solo part, I think we can definitely work with this,” said Ione once they were done. “Well, I want to try.”

“You’re getting a lot better, Ione,” Danica smiled. “It’s nice to see our ballet lessons haven’t been a total waste after all.” She turned to Epel when she said this.

“I’m still having trouble keeping up,” Sidonie admitted, pointedly ignoring when she heard Vidaria scoff under her breath. “But you seem happy with this, Dani. So for your sake, I’m going to try.”

“I’m glad to hear that. It’s still early and we can continue rehearsing later in the ballroom. The last thing we’re going to do before I begin the ballet lesson is…is…”

Danica was stopped mid-sentence by a sound that she couldn’t mistake, one that quickly returned a burning sensation to her chest. She turned to Deuce and Epel to find them laughing about something. She bit the inside of her lip. Whatever they were laughing about could very well be something completely innocent, and she didn’t want to think the worst.

But when the boys noticed her looking at them, Deuce quickly tapped Epel’s shoulder, loudly shushing him. Unfortunately, Epel didn’t catch the memo and was still laughing, enough to catch everyone’s attention. Danica was certain now that she was not mistaken but still maintained her cool as she slowly walked toward them.

“Hmmm? I wonder what could possibly be so funny, boys?” Danica asked, rather sweetly, but with the smallest hint of malice in her tone. “Because, you know, we girls have been working very hard and could use a laugh too. Couldn’t we, my Swans of Six?”

The other girls looked at each other, but Sidonie bit back another smirk. She knew that tone well, though she had only heard it used once: when Danica was helping rid the campus of unruly guests during NRC’s Halloween event a few months prior. It was sweeter than honey, but profoundly sharp. Hopefully, Epel hadn’t said anything too egregious.

“Well?”

“Ohhhh!” Deuce stammered, his face turning red. “Epel just told me a very funny joke is all…ahhh! No! I mean…he….we…”

“A joke?” Danica looked down at Epel. “What kind of joke? I’d love to hear it.”

“Uhhhh,” Epel squirmed, struggling to form a response. He knew if he told her the truth, he’d never hear the end of it, but at the same time, he didn’t know what else to say. “I…well…it wasn’t really my joke. Deuce was trying to make me feel better and…”

“Epel!” Deuce jumped “Don’t drag me under the bus! That’s something I’d expect from Ace!”

“But you did! You started it!”

“Yeah because you said you were feeling second-hand embarrassment watching the girls and it made you wanna quit!”

“No! No! Don’t say that!” Epel cried. “She’ll get pissed at us again!”

“THATS ENOUGH!” Danica stamped her foot.

“Ohhhhohoho!” Iman laughed. “You idiots have done it now!”

“Aaaarrggh! Shut up! I’m NOT an idiot!” Epel retorted, jumping up and getting too close to Iman for comfort. He wasn’t sure what had gotten into him, but he couldn’t hold back any longer. “And why shouldn’t I be embarrassed doing something so stupid and women-like! I wanna be a man, a real man! And real men don’t do stupid girly shit like this!”

“STUPID?! Okay! First of all, get OUT of my face!” Iman pushed Epel back and when he got back in her face again, she pulled out her magipen. “Back up cuse stupid girl WILL put you in your fucking place!”

“Bring it! Cause I’m sick of this and…”

“Epel, stop!” Deuce tried to pull him back. “My mom said guys should never hit girls!”

“You stop too, Iman!” Danica pulled Iman back also. “Deuce is right, and unlike Epel we have class! So we’re going to resolve this in only the classiest manner possible!”

Iman took a few steps back from Epel, but he still seemed more than ready to fight and Vidaria held her arm for good measure. Meanwhile, Danica went over to her dance bag, pulling out another pair of shoes, her pointe shoes. She walked over to the boys and her teammates gasped.

“Dani! Rook-san gave you those shoes!” Taima said. “You’re not really gonna beat Epel with them are you?”

“No! Let her beat him!” Iman replied. “Maybe she can beat some sense into him too!”

“Don’t be absurd! I’m not gonna beat Epel! That would be far from classy, remember?!” She tossed her pointe shoes at Epel’s feet. “Put them on!”

“What?!”

“You heard me! Put! Them! On!”

“Danica have you gone off yer’ knocker?!”

“Contrary to what you think, Epel, I’m not totally unsympathetic to how you feel,” she said. “I know you want to be stronger, even if you have a really narrow idea of what strength is. So we’re gonna do something a little different today.” With her foot, she pushed her shoes closer to him.

“They should fit you. Put them on; you’re going to do your ballet exercises with them, including center work! If you can do it all, you will have proven yourself strong and…”

“How will dancin’ on mah’ tippy toes prove that?!” He asked.

“If it’s so simple, something only for stupid weak women like me, you should be able to dance en pointe with ease! And when you do, not only will you not have to do any more ballet lessons but I’ll personally speak to Vil-san about pulling you out of the VDC. Exactly what you want.”

“What?!” Deuce’s eyes widened. “But Danica! We need him! Epel is one of our lead vocalists! Without him…”

“Deal! I’ll do it!” Epel cut him off.

"EPEL!"

“I don’t care anymore! I’ll prove how stupid all of this is! I’ll finally prove all of you wrong! You’ll see!”

But the second Epel slipped the shoes on, he began to regret all of his posturings. They were indeed a perfect fit, but they were incredibly narrow, squeezing at his feet with what felt like a small block that was all he had to rest his toes on. Even with the toe pads Danica gave him, he wondered how he could hold his weight on shoes like this.

Maybe there was more to ballet after all. No, this was still a girly dance, and Epel couldn’t possibly take back his words now. He had to prove his point, he had to do this.

The girls decided to watch the lesson, partially in curiosity but also because they had never before seen Danica act so vindictive. Vidaria was more than a little surprised and Iman and Sidonie found it amusing. But Ione and Taima were concerned. Would Danica really be acting this way if she weren’t already so stressed? They wondered, but were unsure if they could truly doubt it. Danica seemed to be getting a little too much pleasure watching Epel wobble and struggle.

Barre work was first, Epel seemed to manage this decently until it was time to relevè and he had to put all his weight on the pointes. How was Danica able to do this on a daily basis? And Epel had seen Vil also dance on pointe and he was taller and sure to weigh more. How was something like this even possible?

“Hmph, not bad,” Danica said. “Perhaps you might prove me wrong after all, Epel. But come to the center. That’s where the real test will be.”

When Epel and Deuce came to the center of the room, Danica gave them a combination a little different from what they were used to. It was similar to her solo at the beginning of her VDC performance but simplified. They tried to follow her but Epel found it especially difficult and kept stumbling as he tried to do turns. Danica looked at him with a curious smirk.

“What’s wrong, Epel? You did these turns perfectly during our last lesson.”

“It’s just hard!” He replied, fighting back humiliated tears. “I’m afraid I’ll fall!”

“We all fall sometimes! But we just get up if we do! Falling doesn’t kill us!”

“No, no really! I feel like I’ll fall if I try and turn with these shoes on!”

“I thought you said ballet was something anyone could do? That it’s something woman-like and therefore doesn’t require strength!” She folded her arms. “You wanna prove us wrong? Pirouette!”

“B…but…”

“I SAID PIROUETTE!”

“Danica stop!” Ione stood up, afraid of where all this was leading. “You’ve made your point! I’m sure Epel will stop being stupid now!”

“I’M NOT STUPID! DAGNABIT!”

On impulse, Epel did just as Danica requested and did a pirouette en pointe—a quick, clumsy pirouette with sickled feet and poor foundation. The trouble Epel had holding his weight on the shoes finally broke through as his standing leg slipped, forcing him to come crashing to the floor on his side. At least he was able to pull off a proper ballet fall.

The room went silent as everyone stared down at Epel lying on the floor. Even Iman and Sidonie were a little baffled at how quickly this had all escalated. Deuce helped him up but Epel refused his help. He ripped the shoes off and threw them at Danica. She dodged them easily and couldn’t help but snicker. Her point proven.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Deuce shouted. “Was that really called for?! Epel could have really been hurt!”

“Hurt?! HURT?! How hurt do you think I feel having to hear all his bullshit week after week?!”

Danica had enough, slamming her fist against the wall as she yelled at him.

“How hurt do you think the girls feel when Epel says shit like that?! How hurt do you think I feel when I'm just trying to follow Vil's orders, and Epel pulls this nonsense?! Or how hurt Farron might feel when Epel mocks his work?! BUT WHO THE FUCK CARES AS LONG AS HE DOESN'T FEEL LIKE HE'S NOT ACTING LIKE A GIRL?!”

“I HATE YOU DANICA!” Epel cried. “I always thought you were nice and cool but you’re just like everyone else at Pomefiore! You’re just like Vil and I hate it! I fucking hate it!”

“Me? Like Vil-san?!” She screeched with frantic laughter even as tears began streaming down her face. “I’M NOTHING LIKE VIL-SAN YOU IGNORANT HICK! I’m NOTHING like Vil-san because if I were, MAYBE YOU WOULD HAVE ACTUALLY LEARNED SOMETHING!”

And with that, she stormed out of the reception hall, not even bothering to pick up her shoes or grab her phone. Her angry footsteps could be heard going up the stairs, followed by the loud slamming of her door. She slammed her door with such force that some of the ceiling's foundation crumbled above them and fell to the floor, another testament to the less-than-ideal circumstances of their training camp. Iman recoiled and once again the room went silent save for a few frustrated sniffles from Epel. The girls exchanged silent glances, unanimously agreeing that practice was over for now.

“Look, even if Danica was hella harsh just then, you aren’t fully in the right either, Epel,” said Taima. “If we can get her to apologize, then maybe…”

“No! Fuck that! I ain’t never apologizing!” Epel snapped. “This is still stupid!”

“I’m not saying Danica was right for that, but don’t you think…”

“Shut up! I didn’t do nothin’ to deserve that!”

“Epel, Taima didn’t do anything wrong,” Deuce tried to calm him down. “Don’t be mad at her.”

“She let this happen. She’s just as wrong! They all are!” Epel retorted.

"Excuse you, I did nothing wrong!" Ione snapped. "It's your own fault for laughing at us!"

"Even if Danica was acting bitchy,” added Vidaria, “You could have just kept your mouth shut and..."

"YOU KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!" Epel cried. "I'M NOT TAKING ANY MORE SHIT FROM GIRLS OR GIRLY GUYS LIKE VIL!"

"Okay, I've had enough of this!"

Iman brandished her pen again and this time Vidaria didn’t even try to restrain her. Ione had to do that while Deuce did the same for Epel, but both were determined to settle this in a way very befitting NRC students. He got in her face but she pushed him back, quickly dodging when he swung a punch at her.

"Common street rats would have more manners than you so I guess I'll have to teach you some!"

"STOP THIS BOTH OF YOU!" Taima placed herself between Iman and Epel before their fight could become more heated. "You're BOTH acting like street rats and you BOTH know better!"

As she said this, Ione managed to pull Iman away from Epel and Deuce pulled Epel away from Iman. Both of them still glaring at each other.

"Now Epel, I know you're frustrated but that was not…”

"I don't wanna hear it! If Danica won’t tell Vil to take me off the team, then I’ll tell him myself!”

“You know what?! Fine, Epel! I’m just about done caring about this myself! Do what you want,” Taima sighed, picking up Danica’s shoes. “In the meantime, girls, go back to your rooms. We'll pick up on rehearsals later. Deuce, Epel, I guess you guys can go to your rehearsal at Pomefiroe now. And I'm going to make sure my friend and team leader is alright.”

~~~

Ramshackle Dorm ~ Danica’s Temporary Room

The door was locked but from outside, Taima could hear her friend’s crying, and whatever her thoughts about her actions, it tore her apart. Danica was the kindest person Taima knew, with the patience of a saint. To see her act out so viciously, it was almost as if the girl she had just seen downstairs wasn’t really Danica at all.

Yes, people were now speculating about whether she was dating her dorm leader. Yes, Epel’s misogynist comments had been annoying to them all, especially when he made them during their costume fittings for Farron to hear. But something else was happening here and Taima wanted to know what it was. She softly tapped on the door and a loud sob answered her.

“I will NEVER apologize!”

“That’s cool, cause Epel said the exact same thing!” Taima replied with a hint of amusemnt. “But I’m not here because of that. I don’t care about that cause Epel is an idiot. But I know you better than that, Dani. You’re better than this.”

“Hmph! You think so?” Danica opened the door, wiping her face as she smiled sarcastically at her friend. “Over the last two weeks, I can count on both my hands and feet how many times I’ve wanted to beat Epel with my pointes! I’m not better, Taima, I’m just not!”

“Yes, you are! But you’re hurt!” Taima grabbed her shoulders. “You’re hurt, you’re stressed and you snapped! This was going to happen sooner or later and I’m sure what happened…”

“Didn’t you just hear me? I just said I’m not better! I just hold a lot of shit in because I don’t want to burden anyone!” She let out another sob. “But I don’t know how long I can keep doing that! I know what I made Epel do was wrong, but I was just so angry at him! And I’m afraid of what I’ll do next if this keeps happening! I’m so afraid!”

“Come now, Dani!” Taima tried to smile. “You act like you might overblot and murk someone and I know you’d never do that!”

“Maybe not,” Danica sniffed. “But sometimes I have thoughts about…dark feelings that I worry I’ll act on them if my stress keeps…”

“What kind of dark feelings?” Now Taima was curious. “That sounds worrying. What do you think you’ll do?”

Danica leaned into her friend, whispering what was, at that moment, her deepest longing. Something she had envisioned for herself and her teammates, a desire that had been brewing for quite some time now, growing more intense with each passing hour. Taima jumped back, her eyes widening and she suppressed a fit of laughter before clearing her throat.

“Ohhh! Ahh, well, yeah we definitely can’t have you doing that. Vil-san would flip the fuck out and logistically speaking, Farron might have a nervous breakdown.”

“But you understand now right?” Danica asked. “How stressed I’ve been?”

“Trust me, bestie. I understand and we’re going to fix that right now!” Taima pulled her phone out and went through her contacts, tapping on one before bringing the phone to her ear. She smiled. “Joker! Heyyyy! Are you busy?”

“Tai-chan! What are you doing? Why are you calling…?”

“You’re not? Sweet! And is Riddle-san out of the dorm? He is? Even better!”

“What’s going on?!” Danica asked, trying not to giggle.

“She’s stressed out and I don’t think I need to tell you why!” Taima went on, not listening to Danica’s protests. “This magicam leak hasn’t helped matters either! She needs to decompress! Can I send her over there, please? She needs a safe place away from all this VDC prep! Where Vil-san won’t be breathing down her neck! She can? Cool beans! She’ll be right over!”

Taima hung up and grinned at her friend. Danica sighed. She wasn’t even going to try to object because truthfully, she wanted this just as much as Taima wanted it for her. But for good measure, she smirked and asked:

“I have no say in what you just planned for me, do I?”

“Absolutely none!” Taima smirked back at her. “You’re going to Heartslabyul! You’re going to relax and enjoy yourself with Joker and Violetta! And don’t come back here until your head is cooler and you no longer have such…crazy ideas in your head. I’ll take charge of rehearsals too, so you have no excuse!”

“And what if Vil-san wonders where I am?”

“Who says he has to? No one need ever know!”

“Hmph, remember what happened last time you said that?” Danica laughed. “But fine! I know you’re right. Maybe this will be good for me after all.”

~~~

Ever hospitable, when Trey heard that Joker and Violetta were having a guest from another dorm, he insisted that they welcome her with Heartslabyul style. A tea table was set out in the kitchen with cakes and tarts and other delights that Danica had been forbidden for the last few weeks. She stared at them for a long time, but was extremely reluctant to eat anything. Still feeling rather shaken, and worried about Vil somehow finding out about this.

“You’re here to clear your mind, and you can’t do that if you don’t eat something.” Joker tried to encourage her. “We promise, Songbird, Vil-san will never know about this.”

Danica hesitated for a few more moments before hesitantly taking a cupcake and eating it. The delightfully sugary taste on her tongue brought a wide smile to her face, she hadn’t realized how long it had been since she had eaten something like this and at least she didn’t have to worry about the cupcake being cursed. She took another one, and then another, causing her hostesses to smile as well.

“You should try having some tea also,” said Violetta, pouring some into a cup. “It’s a special herbal blend that’s good for stress. Trey-san makes it for us all the time.”

Danica took her up on the offer and accepted the tea. For a while, the three didn’t talk much since Joker and Violetta understood that the point of this visit was to help Danica and they didn’t want to stress her further with a lot of questions. But slowly, the antsy look in Danica’s eyes faded and her breathing became more normal. After another sip of tea, she placed her cup on the table and let out a long sigh.

“I…I just don’t know what to do anymore…” she said.

“Did something happen?” Joker cautiously asked. “Are you still having trouble leading the girls?”

“Not anymore,” Danica replied. “It’s now other things. First, Crisanta had to drop out. I’m not mad at her or anything, but it did upset Vil-san and we had to fix our performance accordingly. And then Epel and I got into a fight.” She shook her head. “So much for that friendship.”

“Come now,” Joker smiled. “I’m sure it’s nothing that can’t be resolved.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew what happened,” Danica sighed again. “But probably the worst thing, and probably what caused a lot of my stress in the first place was…”

“That magicam video?” Violetta spoke up. Danica turned to her but she quickly lowered her head. “I’m sorry! It’s just, Joker and I were talking about it earlier. We thought that might be why you’re upset.”

“We’re so sorry that happened, Dani,” added Joker. “The second Cater showed me I knew you were probably….eh….well, what did Vil-san say about it?”

“Nothing, and that’s kind of the problem!” Danica placed her hand on her cheek. “He hasn’t mentioned it at all! At first I figured he was remaining silent about it as a matter of professionalism but the more I thought about it, the weirder it seemed. It doesn’t help that the video is…well…it shows us in a kind of…” she blushed, unable to finish the statement.

“Like a couple in a romantic movie! Oh! I’m sorry!” Violetta blushed also. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said that!”

“No, no, you’re right.” Danica allowed herself to laugh. “It did seem like that. Like we were rehearsing a scene for a movie. But we weren’t. That moment, well, I don’t know what he thought but it was a very personal one for me. And it makes this leak all the more embarrassing!”

“But what I’d like to know is this,” Joker held up her phone, showing a screenshot of the magicam profile that initially leaked the video. “Who the hell is this person and why the hell would they do this in the first place!”

“You’re guess is as good as mine, dear.”

“Well, have you tried to find out who might be responsible?” Violetta asked. “What I mean is…”

Her words were interrupted by the sound of Danica’s phone. Danica looked at it and immediately the color drained from her face. She didn’t have to say who it was calling her, the fearful tension in her face made it clear. Without hesitation, Joker took the phone from her to answer it.

“Joker! What are you doing?!” Danica exclaimed. “It’s Vil-san calling! He’s probably wondering where I am!”

“I’m sure he is, but you are supposed to be relaxing, Songbird!” She held the phone out of Danica’s reach, grinning mischievously. “He’ll be alright, and Tai-Tai is handling your rehearsals right?”

“That’s true but he might have found out about what happened…”

“Again, it can wait! You are NOT re-stressing yourself on my watch!” Joker made a point of holding her phone a little higher out of reach and smiled when it finally stopped ringing. Handing it back to her friend. “Now then, Violetta, what were you talking about before?”

“Just that there’s probably a way to find out who’s behind the leak,” Violetta replied. “Granted, I’m not the most tech-savvy. But isn’t your brother? Ignihyde students are all pretty tech savvy, at least that’s what I’ve heard.”

“Oh! Ohhhh! That’s a great idea, Violetta!” Joker grinned. “Dunno why I didn’t think of that before! And it’s true! Punch could probably solve this mystery! If not him, maybe Idia-san could! Yes, you’re a genius!”

“Umm, I’m not sure about all of that,” Violetta smiled modestly. “But I’m glad I could be helpful.”

“You have been helpful, dear,” Danica added. “Thank you, Violetta, for suggesting that. I think that will be the last place I visit before heading back to Ramshackle.”

“But you’re not gonna leave just yet are you?” Joker asked. “You just got here and I think you could use some more tea,” she placed another cupcake on Danica’s plate with a smile. “And could use more cake too!”

~~~

Joker called ahead to her brother, informing him that Danica would be stopping by but didn’t tell him why. After she and Violetta turned Danica’s mood around with their combination of sweet conversation and sweeter homemade baked goods, they sent her on her way. As it happened, Punch was already ahead of them, investigating the magicam leak out of curiosity, but also for another reason.

“Another Pomefiore student came here a few days ago, skiing me to look into it,” he told Danica when she arrived at Ignihyde a few hours later. “It was sooooo odd; it was in the evening and she was wearing a coat with a hood that hid her face. I only know it was someone from Pomefiore because of the crest on the coat.”

“Yeah, our dorm uniform coat has a hood like that,” Danica replied. “It’s supposed to replicate the hooded cloak the Fairest Queen wore when she transformed herself into a hag. But did the student give you her name?”

“No, and that’s what I found weird,” Punch spun around in his chair as he thought more about it. “It wasn’t Savvy; her voice was different. But this student did mention you by name. And that she wanted to know who had hurt you by leaking the video.”

“That…actually sounds like my mentor, Sidonie Lilyth,” she sighed. “I was kind of rude to her when I said I couldn’t trust her about this. But she wanted to accuse Vil-san! There’s no way…”

“Uhhhhh,” he stopped her mid-sentence. “About that. I did look into the leak, I was able to backtrack one of the photos to another, private magicam account and from there, an email address the account belonged to.”

“You were?” Danica smiled. “Wow, you are tech-savvy! That’s awesome!”

“I’m…glad you think so, Dani,” he chuckled nervously. “But…I’m not sure you’ll think so when I tell you the rest.”

“What do you mean?” Her excitement quickly morphed into anxiousness, made worse by his darkening expression. “W…was it a Pomefiore student after all?” Punch didn’t respond right away, turning back to his computer. “Punch?”

“I…wanted to tell you first,” he said. “I decided not to tell your mentor because I don’t know her and I was worried about causing drama for your dorm if just ‘ol anyone knew that…that…”

“That what?!” She was beginning to panic. “Please tell me!”

“Danica, are you sure you want to know?” He asked. “I’m giving you a choice here. This could really hurt you. More than you’re hurt now. You could leave now and I wouldn’t blame you. Have you ever heard the saying ‘shooting the messenger?’”

“I could never be upset with you, Punch! After all, it was my decision to come here, I want to know who did this!”

Punch sighed, she was adamant at least, he had to admit to that. He hesitated for a few moments longer, a few more minutes of peace before Danica’s whole world was sure to come crashing down. Before her heart was sure to be torn to pieces. With a deep breath, he pulled up a webpage with the profile of a very stylish-looking lady, someone Danica had never seen before.

“This is the person behind the magicam profile,” he said. “Her name is Adela Rafinesse, she’s a talent agent from the Queendom of Roses but she works with celebrities from all over the world.”

“I’ve never seen this woman!” Danica said, closing her eyes and trying to think if there was any possibility she could have met Adela in passing. At the masquerade, at a photoshoot, at one of the gatherings held by her parents. Nothing came to her mind. “Why would she do this? I’m certain we’ve never met!”

“You and Adela might have never met before,” replied Punch, his voice heavy with the weight of what he was about to reveal. “But you two have a…mutual acquaintance in common.”

With that, he clicked on her profile and pulled up a list of clients she worked with, names of models and actors she was responsible for. Danica scrolled down the list, rather casually at first before she neared the end of the list. Her hand froze on the mouse and her heart stopped.

Immediately Punch blurted out a storm of apologies and repentance that Danica couldn’t even hear. She was suddenly deaf to everything except the memory of that November morning, rapidly playing in her mind. The memory of Vil handing her phone to her a few weeks prior, and memories even further back. Each reccolation more painful than the last. She felt the room spinning and found herself short of breath.

Danica had certainly been exposed by this leak. And by the very one who was the object of her feelings. Her secret, complicated, humiliating feelings.

“No…no! Nonononono!!!”

Trying to find breath, she finally cried out, screaming and sobbing as Punch placed his arms around her, apologizing further and damning himself for being the one to give her such shattering news. His repentance was lost in the chaos and all he could do was hold onto her. Letting her cry for as long as she needed as the mouse of his computer was highlighted over the name of the one responsible for her pain: Vil Schoenheit.

~~~

It was with great anxiety and greater sorrow that Danica finally returned to Ramshackle late that evening. Her heart heavy with the weight of all that transpired that day. Unbeknownst to her, she was not the only one who had a difficult day. And she was not the only one who had learned difficult truths and lessons as well. When she walked into the lounge, the only ones present were Deuce, Rook, and Epel. She made a face and was about to make her way upstairs, but Rook quickly stopped her.

“I understand you’ve had a difficult day, ma cherie,” he said gently. “A night of sleep will do you a world of good. But before you retire, Monsieur Crabapple has something he’d like to say to you.”

Her face was white, streaked with tears, and her eyes were blurry. But however dejected she felt, Danica was in no mood for more of Epel’s nonsense and shot him a poisonous glare.

“Nothing of consequence I’m sure!” she coldly replied. “I don’t know what Epel has told you, but I’m done with him, I can’t deal with someone so narrow-minded that…”

“I’M SORRY!” Epel jumped up to his feet, running to her. “I’m so sorry, Danica! I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time when you were only doing what Vil told you to!”

“It’s not just about the ballet lessons, Epel!” she went on. “You said some very hurtful things and not just to me. Your comments have hurt me, Vil, Farron, and the others on my team! Even Taima was hurt by what you said about girls and you know it takes a lot to get under her skin! Do you even realize that?”

“I do! I do!” He hung his head in shame. “The truth is, I never understood people like you and Vil, and I always looked down on you guys. I didn’t want to be like you guys and…”

“Is that supposed to make me forgive you?!”

“No! I don’t feel that way anymore! Today, Vil-san did something that finally made it all click with me. What you said at the start of the school year, about Pomefiore’s strength being secretive and surprising, I understand it now! I know you’re mad, you deserve to be mad! But I’m really sorry, I’ve been a total dunderhead!”

Danica looked at the boy, slightly less annoyed than before. She wasn’t sure what he was getting at, or what change occurred in her absence, but he sounded sincere and she felt the least she could do was listen. At least resolving this would solve one less problem she was dealing with today.

“You have been a dunderhead, Epel!” She said, “There’s no doubt about that!”

“But I promise I won’t be one anymore!” He replied. “I wanna be in the VDC now! I wanna learn how to use my charm and defeat Neige Leblanche!”

“Come now, Mademoiselle,” Rook smiled. “Epel has made a sincere apology and sees the error in his ways, couldn’t you find it in your heart to forgive him?”

Danica hesitated, looking at Epel thoughtfully before nodding slowly. “I think I can, for now. But we can talk about this another time. Right now, I need to talk to Vil-san.”

~~~

Ramshackle Dorm ~ Vil’s Temporary Room

In her heart, Danica knew this moment was coming. It wasn’t just about the leak, or even what happened in rehearsal that morning. The conversation she was about to have was one that had been building up for many weeks. It was only a matter of time.

Even when she made her promises to him, even when she agreed to no longer argue with his wishes, none of it sat well with her. But never did she imagine that Vil's actions would escalate to this extent . Was this meant to solidify her white swan image? Was this meant to add more pressure on her not to go against him? At this point, none of that even mattered. Danica was hurt, hurt, frustrated, and above all, confused.

Each step toward Vil's room felt like a monumental effort, made heavier by her anxiety. What would she say? What could she say in a situation like this? Should she ask why? Should she at least give him a chance for an explanation? She pondered all these things as she reached out to knock on his door.

“WHAT KIND OF DORM LEADER ARE YOU?! NO! WHAT KIND OF PERSON ARE YOU?!”

“Do you want the entire house to hear your tirade?!”

“I don’t CARE if I’m heard! Let them hear me! I want them to know what their leader is capable of!”

Danica’s hand paused mid-knock, startled by loud, heated arguing coming from inside. She knew who it was and it shouldn’t have surprised her. Sidonie had decided to confront him, she had been right all along. Danica clenched her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut to stave off tears as she was reminded of what all this meant. Sidonie had always been there for her and Danica repaid that by not trusting her when she most needed to. Guilt twisted her stomach, along with everything else.

“When Danica finds out, do you really think she’ll even want to take part in the VDC anymore?” Sidonie asked him. “And do you think she’ll ever…”

At this, Danica worked up the courage to knock on the door again. She didn’t wait for Vil to answer and opened the door, staring into the angry faces of her dorm leader and her mentor.

“Yes, Danica?” Vil asked. “What is it? I was just about to come to your room and talk to you.”

“I already know about what,” she replied, biting the inside of her lip. “And I thought I’d save you the trouble by coming to you.”

She gave Sidonie a look that told her to leave, the older girl gazed at her with some concern but Danica nodded. What was about to happen between them had no need for an audience.

“Leave us, Sidonie,” Vil commanded. Sidonie turned away from him, rolling her eyes as she left. “And close the door.”

She deliberately disobeyed this last order and Vil scoffed, going to close the door himself before finally looking at Danica. Even now, she found it difficult to meet his gaze.

“Epel told me about this morning,” he began, glaring at her. “He fell again during rehearsals, but thankfully it’s nothing that won’t heal in a few days’ time. Reckless girl, do you have ANY idea how fortunate you are that his injury wasn’t more serious?! What has gotten into you?!”

“What has gotten into ME?!” All of her sadness vanished, replaced with anger that wasted no time bubbling to the surface. “WHAT’S GOTTEN INTO ME?! I NEVER WANTED TO TEACH HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE! All the time I spent wasting on him could have been spent perfecting our performance! And for what?! He didn’t learn a damn thing because he’s more stubborn than a new horse!”

“Whatever difficulties you had with Epel, you still had no right to lash out at him like that!” Vil sharply retorted. “You know better than any of us the risk that comes when you dance en pointe and don’t know what you’re doing! What you did was childish, vindictive, and dangerous!”

Danica sucked her teeth, Vil was certainly right about that. Her anger had gotten the best of her and loath she was to admit it, that wasn’t her finest moment in the slightest. It was enough to almost cool her down, but his next comment reignited her fury.

“And I am extremely disappointed in you. Truly, I expect so much more of you, Danica. It’s almost revolting.”

“Revolting?! Spare me, please!” Tears began to burn in her eyes and she took a deep breath before they could run down her face. “And Epel’s little pointe incident wasn’t what I wanted to discuss anyway!”

“Is that so?” He folded his arms. “Then why did you come here?”

“YOU ALREADY KNOW WHY!”

“Lower your voice! Others are trying to sleep! And no I don’t know what you’re going on about to just tell me!”

“Magicam! The video! The one of you and me back in November! I know you’ve seen it! And I know you leaked it!”

Vil had to quickly regain composure after this, biting back a small gasp as he tried to fix his face to remain nonchalant. He let out a deep breath.

“How do you know it was my doing?” He calmly asked.

“That video was on my phone and no one had access to it but me! But you’re the only one who’s had access to my phone since then! Not even Taima or my parents knew about that video!”

“You’ve seen my magicam, you’re one of my followers. You see what I post on my magicam and you know nothing of the sort exists there.”

The longer Vil spoke, the harder he found it to remain composed. But surely she couldn’t have found out in such a short amount of time. Could she?

“Yes, it’s a video of you and I, but that doesn’t mean…”

“Adela Rafinesse!” She cut him off. “Ring a bell? You know her, don’t you?! She’s your manager isn’t she?”

Her words struck Vil as he realized that he could no longer pretend. He let out another deep breath, closing his eyes and shaking his head. And after she assured him Danica would never be able to trace the video’s origins. If she weren’t so good at her job, Adela might very well be looking for a new one first thing tomorrow morning.

“There is no use denying anything then, is there?” He asked blankly. “Since you have it all figured out, I won’t even waste my time denying it.”

Somehow, even being fully aware of the knowledge couldn’t fully prepare Danica for the moment she heard it from Vil’s own lips. Doubly so that he admitted to it so easily. If she had any hope that this might be a misunderstanding, it was shattered, along with her heart. She gasped, wrapping her arms around herself as she tried not to cry.

“How…how…could…you?” She whispered. “Why? What…what have I done?”

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?!” She screamed, all of her emotions betraying her. “I’M NOT LIKE EPEL! I ADMIRE AND RESPECT YOU! I LISTEN TO YOU! I WANT TO LEARN FROM YOU! WHATEVER YOU’VE ASKED OF ME, I’VE DONE! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!”

“I could ask the same of you, Danica!” Vil moved closer to her, shaking her out of her fetal stance and eliciting a sharp cry from her lips. “All I want is the best for you but you constantly second-guess me! All I want is for the world to see how incredible you are yet you’re committed to having them vilify you!”

“But that doesn’t answer why! Is this about the promotion I did for my family?! Would it make you feel better if I told you I think Neige is an idiot?!”

“This stopped being about Neige a long time ago!” he replied, biting his lip as a sudden twinge of jealousy came to him. He tightened his grip on her. “This is about us! And how your desires could negatively impact us both! Even after I’ve explained the risks of presenting yourself in a provocative way, you still didn’t understand! What else was I supposed to do?! Can’t you see?! I did this for us!”

“FOR US?!” She yanked her body out of his grasp. “How the hell does that even make sense?! Make it make sense to me now!”

“You want me to make it make sense to you? Hmmm? Is that what you want, Little Potato?”

He grabbed her again, even tighter than before, pressing her body to his. Close enough for her to hear his heartbeat and take in his scent. With all his strength, he pushed them both back onto his bed, refusing to release her. Heat enveloped Danica’s body, nothing like this had ever happened to her before and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. He gazed down at her and the look in his eyes was one that both thrilled and terrified her. She tried to pull away again but this time, Vil wouldn’t let her escape.

“Fine, I’ll make it make sense in the best way I can. And maybe then, you’ll finally understand all that is at stake…”

Before Danica could say anything further, she felt his lips crash against hers. A powerful spark went off in her chest as her mind registered what was happening. He was kissing her. Vil Scheonheit was kissing her. Passionately and intensely, and Danica would be lying if she said he was a bad kisser. For the briefest moment, her terror melted away and all she could think of was how much she wanted him to continue kissing her, among other things.

Without realizing it, she began to kiss him back, managing to free her arms long enough to wrap them around his neck. Vil caught her hands, roughly pinning them to either side of her head as he continued to dominate their kiss. Gently pulling on her lower lip with his teeth. She let out a surprised little squeak and pulled her head away, reality crashing back to her.

“Vil-san!” She gasped, looking up at him and quickly finding herself short of breath again. His violet eyes were half open, gazing at her in a way that made her blush. She subconsciously reached out to him, softly running her fingers across his cheek before he grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips. “Vil…san…how long? How long have you…”

“I hope you understand now,” he whispered, slowly caressing her face. “You are talented, beautiful, and determined. Perfect in every way. I’m the only one who truly sees you for the jewel that you are. Not Neige, not anyone else.”

Vil took her hand and placed a kiss inside her palm and on each of her fingertips. Boldly letting one of her fingers slide further in his mouth so she could feel his tongue. She could explicitly feel his other arm wrapped around her, subtly pressing their bodies closer. All the while Danica watched him with a strange sense of excitement that was mixed with guilt. He had such beautiful eyes, gazing at her with a mix of tenderness and lust. His embrace was firm but intoxicating and his lips were perfectly soft and warm against her fingertips.

This feels so...so...why did you do this?

But still, try as she might, Danica couldn’t shake away her anger at what Vil had done. He was taking her other hand and appeared as though he were about to kiss it in the same way. But when she tried to pull her hand away, he tightened his grip again.

“You are the ideal person to stand by my side, Danica. But a black swan cannot stand by the side of a prince.”

“B…but…does that mean I have to be a white swan forever?” Danica asked, whimpering. “Must I stay the same and never change? Why can’t I be both? Why can’t…”

Vil silenced her with another intense kiss but this time, Danica tried to resist him. She moved her face away with his lips grazing against her cheek before he forced her lips back to his. His grip was strong and now she was beginning to feel afraid. She couldn’t put her finger on it but she felt as though this wasn’t supposed to feel like this. She wanted him and was glad that he wanted her as well, but not like this. This wasn’t right.

“Vil…let me go…” but this seemed to make him hold her even tighter and she whimpered louder. “Let me go, please!”

“Can’t you see I want you for myself?!“

He peppered kisses down her neck, inching further down her collarbone and with no indication that he was going to stop there. His lips were tender at first but were quickly becoming rougher. Danica felt the tips of his teeth nipping at her skin and this was enough to fully wake her up. She began kicking her feet.

“Stop this, please!” she cried. “You’re hurting me!

Upon hearing this, something immediately clicked in Vil and he pulled away from her, setting her free. Danica let out a small gasp at the realization he was no longer restraining her, but her body remained frozen. But when he gazed down at her, the sight he was confronted with caused his heart to drop. She looked up at him, beads of tears in the corners of her surprised, frightened eyes. Her lips quivered, but did not make a single sound.

What had he done? No, this was worse than before. Even if Vil had no intention of going further, his intentions didn’t fully match his thoughts and it disgusted him. She slowly sat up, her eyes remaining on him, surveying his expression for any indication of what he would do next. Her entire body was flushed in the most intriguing way possible. Even now, all Vil could think of was how he wanted to do so much more than just kiss her. And that’s what disgusted him the most.

What a joke of a hero he made.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry…I didn't mean to…” His voice trailed off and he turned away from her, his face burning with shame.

“Vil-san…”

“Leave.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t understand the word leave?!” He jumped off the bed and quickly opened the door. “Leave! Get out! It’s late and you need to sleep! Go!”

“But Vil-san!” She knew not to question him, but at this moment, in these circumstances… “Please…ca…can we talk about this?”

“There’s nothing to talk about! Don’t make me ask you again! Leave!”

Danica gave him one last look, half confused and half hoping for some sort of understanding she would not receive. The truth was, so ashamed Vil was at that moment that he couldn't bear her presence. Not after what he had done. Their first kiss was supposed to be special, tender, and sweet. Not like this. Not what he had subjected her to.

The moment she was gone, Vil shut the door, sinking to the floor and for once, not concerned about dirtying himself as he already felt rather dirty. On instinct, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and went to magicam. The video of him and Danica was still the top video on the site and renewed interest in the two of them had caused videos of their pas de deux to begin trending again as well.

Vil watched the video of them in the ballroom, recalling how he felt watching her dance before making his presence known. How calming it was to watch her, how nervous she was when he approached her before allowing herself to get closer to him, how much he enjoyed being alone with her. And how much she seemed to enjoy being alone with him. But when he read a few comments, his face began to burn again.

Most of the comments were positive, just as they were with the pas de deux videos, comparing Vil to a prince romancing a damsel and how such was out of character for him but not in a bad way. So far, there was no indication that people knew the source of the leak and for that, he was profoundly grateful. But as he continued watching and reading the positive comments, a heavy sense of guilt came over him. She appeared so happy, nothing like the frightened and heartbroken girl he had just sent away so coldly.

The video stopped, closed out by an unskippable ad. Fate must have taken great amusement in taunting him because it was the very same he had made a point of avoiding for all these weeks. And as much as he wished he could click away from the image of his perfect swan and his even more perfect rival, Vil’s guilt wouldn’t allow him to look away.

In an enchanted forest, Neige followed a single white swan flying overhead. He was led to a moonlit lake and he watched as she transformed into a lovely maiden. As they met face to face, Danica blew a handful of white feathers toward him. The feathers landed in his palm and transformed into a crystal jar studded with pearls. Neige thanked her but asked for her name. Danica said nothing but placed her finger to her lips, as if concealing a secret of her own from the boy. Even so, the two of them shared a secret smile.

“Just in time for the holidays, indulge your skin in a cream that will give you the softness of a snow-white swan. Experience all-day moisture, with just a hint of magic. Enchanted Veil Moisturizer from Ledelle Cosmetics.”

Here was an image of what a hero was supposed to be, something he could never emulate no matter how hard he tried. It didn’t matter if the comments on the video were mostly positive, he had hurt Danica in a way Neige surely never would. And as Vil continued watching the ad with a heavy heart, the image of Danica’s sweet face as she smiled at Neige was sharply juxtaposed with the image of her pinned down on his bed under him. Her eyes silently begging him not to hurt her.

Vil’s vision became hot and blurry and he quickly squeezed his eyes shut. No. He was nothing but a monster, and he had no right to cry.

~~~

Ramshackle Dorm ~ Danica’s Temporary Room

Back in her own room Danica collapsed on the bed. Overwhelmed an dizzy by all of her emotions of what had just happened. She held herself, trying to replicate the warmth of Vil’s body. Somehow, now that she was in her own room, she missed it even if she tried to resist him at that moment. It made no sense to her, she knew she should hate Vil for what he had done, but she couldn’t. At that moment, the only person she could hate was herself. And even then, she couldn’t understand why.

“Your smile left me frozen, an invisible spell has me fully at your whim..."

Without realizing it, Danica began to sing. The lyrics were from Our Happily Ever After . The lyrics that spoke of her feelings for Vil, before she knew him. When her feelings for him were still innocent, still a fantasy untainted by genuine feelings of love. But as she softly sang to herself, her voice was choked by tears.

“Do you…even know who I…am? With but a single glance of your amethyst eyes, you’ve…captured my heart….”

She pressed her face to her pillow, soaking it in tears as she cried herself to sleep.

“…and now…I’ll follow your radiant light…until I’ve reached…our happily ever after.”

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #things i write #oc x canon #vil x oc #shining hearts ~ melodies and melancholy #otp: vildani #oc: danica #twst vil

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the-fiction-witch · 3 years ago

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PE Kit

MOVIE SLAUGHTER HOUSE RULEZ COUPLE WILL X READER RATING: SMUTTY

I stood my hands on my hips trying to get my breath back feeling the hot sticky sweat running down from my forehead. My stupid sneakers, My scratchy red shorts with the gold stripe across the bottom, My old white shirt, and My grey zip-up hoodie around me in an attempt to have a shred of comfort given the Slaughterhouse PE kit feels like it's made from sandpaper with dental floss. I gasped for breath attempting to well.... breath.

"Blake! It is not break time!" Cleg yelled to me forcing me to continue running around in the stupid giant circle with everyone else

"I hate running. I hate activity. I just wanna smoke. I just wanna go to bed" I muttered between my gasped breaths "I hate running. I hate Slaughter. I hate Cleg. I hate all of you. I just wanna sleep" I groaned

I glanced across the fields of slaughter glancing over to the other group. I couldn't help but smirk at the view. The Andromeda house was out on the fields too, in little groups playing tennis, hockey and rounders. as well as a rather.... uhhh, Impressive Yoga? stretching? I don't know what it was but all the Andromeda girls in their PE kits's doing these strange positions.

The girl's Kits were always better than ours, They had little trainers, thigh or knee-high socks similar to their usual uniform, and some had little shorts and others little skirts, they had little red vests with the gold lining many of them very tight with the hints of sports bra's below. I Caught a beautiful sight.

Y/n Y/l/n. she's been at slaughter as long as I have and I admit I oftentimes was caught staring in her general direction, she stood in the first row of girls in her little skirt her hair in a tight bun, bending in such a.... ummmm interesting way.

"Fuck" I groaned unable to stop looking

"BLAKE!" Cleg yelled pushing me to the grass

I tried to get my breath back as I lay on the grass.

"Go back to your room"

"I can't... I think I'm gonna die."

"Go. Or I'll have you run four miles every morning for the rest of the week" He says

"I can't move. seriously"

I glanced over and saw y/n she saw my fall and then she dropped to the floor too

"Owww! my ankle! oww!" she complained

"Go non inside y/n rest up," one of the other girls says so she nodded and headed over

"come on, I'll take him back," she says as she took my arm helping me up

"Fine" Cleg sighed

I happily took her hand and we headed back to the changing rooms, and I sat on the little bench.

"You okay Willougby?"

"Yeah. I'm okay" I nodded "Thanks y/n"

"you're welcome."

"Is your ankle okay?"

"I never hurt my ankle, I just didn't want you to get in trouble"

"Ohh. thank you. that's sweet of you"

"I like being sweet to you" she smiled "so. gonna be a while till they all get back"

"Yeah a couple of hours at least," I nodded "What uhh what did you wanna do?"

"I don't know" she giggled "Can you think of something we could do?" she smiled stroking my arm

"Uhh.... well can you?"

"Maybe" she giggled standing between my legs hitching her skirt up flashing her little pink panties "anything you can think to do will?"

"I can" I smirked resting my hands on her hips and tugging her panites off...

#asa #asa butterfield #asa butterfeild #asa bopp #asa butterfeild imagines #asa butterfeild smut #asabutterfeildsmut #will #willoughby smut #willoughby blake #willoughbyblake #willoughy blake #slaughterhouse #slaughterhouse rulez #SlaughterhouseRulez #slaughterhouserules

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doodlesnchaos · 3 years ago

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Gentle Mornings

Background: Just a bit of softness in my Sasharcy werewolf au. Templated based around the illumination of a full moon lasting 3 days.

——————————————————————

Sasha was woken by an all too familiar pinch in her neck. Wincing and then grimacing as she was plucked from a peaceful slumber. Sunlight danced its way into the room as she sat up, pulling one hand to rub at her eyes, the other to try to soothe out the pinch.

Twisted her neck, pausing as she waited for the last inkling of fuzziness cleared away from her vision as she stretched. Feeling the small soreness in her muscles, though it was probably nothing compared to the other whom her directed her attention to.

Sasha jerked with a small yelp, pushing back away from the sleeping smaller girl curled up, yet the noise caused her to stir.

It was a good thing for Anne’s idea of the giant equivalent of a yoga mat, allowing for some level of washability; especially given that Marcy was doused in a good amount of mud.

“Mm’Sashy?” Marcy mumbled in a drowsy daze as she sat up, realization having not yet come to the surface. Her pajamas, once a soft green were instead mudsplattered, similar prints along her arms and face.

“Mar-Mar, I love you, but you need a shower.” Sasha responded simply, keeping a bit of distance.

“But cuddles—“ a soft whine, grabby hands accompanied by a set of puppy eyes that took every ounce of pure strength Sasha had in order to resist. It didn’t help that her ears drooped downward slightly to round out the look.

“Shower first, then cuddles.” Sasha countered firmly, having paused with the mental debate of how well could she manage to resist with the eyes.

Another low whine, before Marcy pulled herself up, making a big deal of going off to do so. Sasha winced at the sound of a thud, no doubt the other having managed to trip and fall. It wasn’t until she heard the start of the shower did she get up herself.

A second stretch and a pop of a few joints. She surveyed the mat, debating a bit of how to deal with it. Nonetheless, time was of the essence with knowing how snuggly her girlfriend would be when she came back.

As such, he merely rolled it up, set it off to the side. It’s be needed for the next couple days anyways, no harm in pushing it off a little.

Sasha then went off to his room, switching from pajamas to instead a loose shirt and sweatpants. As well as picking the few bits of leaves out of her hair. She flipped on the television, picking out one of the paranormal marathons to watch.

With a sigh, she fell backwards onto the bed, her limbs like a starfish. It wasn’t long until the bed dipped beside her, followed by a fruity scent coming from the form nestling itself against her side. Said form was no longer mud laden, own clothes swapped for a hoodie and shorts.

“Now cuddles.” Marcy hummed happily, gaining a chuckle in return. Sasha pulled herself slightly upright, propping against the pillows, before gently pulling Marcy closer.

“Mhm, I still don’t know how you managed to get so filthy, even when I keep eyes on you.” Sasha teased, fingers soon threading through the damp, short locks and gently scratching around the ears.

She had grown accustomed to the extra wolfish features that her girlfriend had during this time of the month. Her upright ear was frequently twitching, listening in on all the various sounds. The tail was usually a good give away of emotions, such as now it’s soft thumping showing the others current contentment. Usually the only tricky thing were the sharper, canine teeth, with Sasha having to occasionally get creative on measures to prevent her from chewing on something.

Marcy merely gave a low hum back, eyes shut as her head inclined more into Sasha’s touch.

“Big puppy.” another mild tease.

“Your puppy.” came the correction, punctuated by her nuzzling closer, breath gently tickling Sasha’s neck.

Sasha merely rolled her eyes, continuing the gentle hand movements. It wasn’t long until she had lulled her to doze off, feeling Marcy relax further against her as her breathing evened out.

Sasha took notice of course, and soon her hand movements had begun to slow, watching over her. Marcy was never truly a still sleeper, and it was easy to see that. Noticing the way her ears twitched every now and then, nonverbal mumbling, a small twitch of a foot, hand curling ever so slight in the blondes shirt.

Even with the movements, Sasha knew she was out cold for a little while at least. Which was good. She was very serious about ensuring her girlfriend got sometype of rest between nights, which wasn’t easy considering her workaholic nature. Yet Sasha was stubborn and soon found methods to be able to cause the other to finally rest.

So when the pinch returned, she ignored it, content to have her girlfriend nestled against her side, attention bouncing between the television and her. It wasn’t long until she begun threading her fingers through her hair once more, gaining a faint hum and a soft thump of a tail.

#amphibia #marcy wu #sasha waybright #sasharcy #werewolfau

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tenderlyrenjun · 4 years ago

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the one with the morning classes

summary: you don’t really want to go to class, and Yangyang half-agrees.

↛ ↛ ↛ psych major!Yangyang x art history major!reader

↛ ↛ older female reader, college au, mentions of alcohol, yearning, best friends to lovers/ish, smut (18+) - there is literally sex in every scene, best friend!ten on both sides, study dates, love confessions in bed

↛ word count: 11,9k (I am so sorry lmao)

part one > part two > part three

if you are under 18 and interact with this at all, i will block you

An obnoxious ringing interrupts your day, way too early, and you whine at it, suddenly reminded about the terrible decision that you made last year with the on-call academic advisor: selling your soul to Satan, or, as they phrased it, taking an 8 A.M. class. The default iPhone ringtone seems especially heartless right now, even though you have a class at this time every semester.

Still, it takes Herculean effort to pull your hot, sweaty face out of the pillows and actually get a breath of fresh air. You inhale once, twice, then support yourself on your elbows, tossing all your messy hair over your bare back, like a curtain, to draw it away from your cheeks. The sunlight makes you squint, not having given you enough time to adjust to it yet, because laying in bed, naked, is so much more enticing than actually waking up. Unfortunately, the ringing persists, getting louder, you think. You find yourself clawing through the sheets again, in search of that damn alarm. And when you do find it, screen faced down, you hit snooze via power button, giving yourself extra time before class.

After the annoying sound stops, Yangyang leans toward your naked shoulder, his d!ck thrusting in you at a further angle. He kisses the tip your spine with slightly parted lips, peppering more along your deltoid muscles, directed by his trailing tongue. You cannot tell was tingles more – the goosebumps left in his wake, or the blood rushing to your vulva, caused by the nipping at your skin. Yangyang finds a more permanent spot (that would be hidden by a shirt) above your collarbone and sucks deeper for a few seconds. Instinctively, you drop your cheek into the sheets again and swirl your ass up, before propping your lower body on your knees. His groans fall with you, and he nearly did too, but he stands on his hands. You are very aware of his strength, especially now as you close your eyes and he reverses your moves, grinding his hips forward. One of his hands reaches forward to grab your face and finally kiss you. He is slow and head spinning, and he continuously inclines his head at varying degrees to keep the embrace going.

Then, your phone goes off again and you break the kiss.

“We need to get – Oh, God.” Your forehead redirects onto the mattress, and your breath becomes shallow, cracked by sharp whines blurring out the alarm. As far as you are concerned, Yangyang is all consuming, from the way he kisses you to the way he makes you feel. “Ah, right there, please.” He squeezes your ass, fingers drilling deeply into your skin. His touch feels better than a massage, you think, almost loosening up all your muscle tension.

“So naughty,” Yangyang whispers, strongly. He sounds masculine without being so aggressive. It is very sexy of him. You try to show him, too, that he is hot, by reacting more enthusiastically. Unlike him, you say it silently and hope he knows. He replies, slapping your butt again, and smirks when you moan. “Wanna play hooky? You still, fuck –“ His breath drops, voice getting lower, huskier. He propels his d!ck shallowly, at the same pace your mouth widens in an ‘O’ shape. “- remember your manners.”

“Mmm hmm,” you agree. You roll your hips side to side, slowly stretching as if coming out of child’s position in yoga. It similarly feels satisfactory, like an injection of morphine. “We really need to get up. I have class; you – shit –“ His thrust pushes you forward, muting your counterarguments. “- you have class soon.”

Yangyang combs your baby hairs onto your opposite shoulder, gently nibbling around your thyroid, and you whine, knowing that you have an easily swayed mindset right now. “It doesn’t sound like you want to get up yet.” He guides your hips like a figure eight motion. His hand comes around front, between your thighs, holding on in a way that allows him to stimulate your clit with his index and thumb. Every movement gets more intense: the speed, the pressure, even the direction of his fingers, as he elongates all the sensations. It feels like he gets bigger too, lunging more alert with his thrusts. “You need a good wake up call, huh?”

You nod, eagerly, biting your lip. “Mmhmm, my morning ritual is, is really long, fuck.”

Yangyang smirks, motivated even more by the double entendre. And the way his tip rasps against your walls, oh god. You ball the sheets into your fists, putting a protective layer between your nails and palm because he gradually becomes erratic. He comes down to your ear, using his lips to bite at it while whispering, “Wanna turn off the alarm?”

“Hmm?” You open your eyes. “Oh, right.” It doesn’t feel like it has been nine minutes. So, after you pick your phone up again, you turn it over to look at the alarm settings, but it is replaced by the call acceptance slider. You blink a couple times and try getting a clearer look – which is difficult, considering that your head keeps bouncing as he grinds harder and harder, and harder. Then, the call restarts. “Shit.”

Yangyang stops moving to glimpse at what’s wrong. His chest brushes against your back and you can feel his erect n!pples graze your spine. You turn the screen at him, contemplating whether to answer it. Thank God, though, that Ten isn’t asking to FaceTime. You honestly don’t know how you would recover from him seeing Yangyang lay naked on you, especially after that comment at the Halloween party about feeling ‘too comfortable’ with him like this.

“I’m gonna answer it.”

“What?”

“I have to answer it,” you argue. “It’s Ten. He’s going to suspect something if I don’t.” The call ends again, and the notification center shows six missed calls. You turn over your phone again. “Shit, he’s been phoning all morning. I have to answer it.”

You partially expect Yangyang to get up. Instead, he comes down, brushing your hair over your shoulder and pushes you into the blanket. You stretch your arms away from him to redial Ten’s number, although your hands (and thighs) start shakily with his moves. The line rings four times before Ten answers, and you sigh, half-disappointed, half-orgasmically.

“Um, hello?” Ten answers sarcastically, on speaker. “Are you ready? ETA 20.” You hear rustling on the other end that sounds similar to Yangyang ruffling your bedsheets. He is trying to get at your t!ts and you let him, propping up into a true doggystyle. Ten doesn’t appear to discern anything, so you keep the phone on mute – which is necessary because you buck your hips at Yangyang, getting his tip angled on your g-spot. He outlines your n!pples, fingers squeezing over your areola. You almost moan again, but Ten reminds you about his presence: “I’m getting in my car right now.”

“Hmm?” Why?

The silence is deafening, all excess noise stopping, until it is just your heavy breaths and small wet noises. You widen your eyes, thinking that Ten discovered your current … entanglement, so you grab Yangyang’s hand, to suppress anymore sounds. It makes you lose balance temporarily, but expectedly he catches you, by the waist. He waist a few seconds, then drops his wrist to your clit, lightly sliding up and down without thrusting his d!ck. You let him continue, panting with your lower abdomen quivering. He has to stop though, because his exhibitionist tendencies might expose you two. You take his hand off your clitoral hood and kiss his inner wrist before sucking his fingers clean. He shudders his hips. You bite your lip. He smiles. Then, he takes his hand back, planting it into the mattress for extra support so that you can actually answer this call, that the two of you keep forgetting about.

“It’s my treat, remember?” Ten tries to jog your memory, nearly shouting. You can hear him breaking through your bubble. It is just that you are a bit distracted at the moment to really recall any memories. You cannot be entirely held accountable for Yangyang’s big d!ck.

Yangyang starts sucking on your neck again, pushing his pelvis slowly into your ass harder, to give you a better reminder: that you are currently being a good girl for him, to make up for being so naughty this morning (even though he also seemed pretty close to ditching class earlier).

“For breakfast yesterday, after the party,” Ten outwardly tells you. Right, it’s Monday, and you often grab coffee with Ten on the way to campus because 8AMs are hell – you have to absorb new information when you can barely see through all the crap in your eyes, and he can barely comprehend his notes from the night before without the morning bean juice. There is some shuffling on his end again, similar to shaking his wrist free of a sweater to get a better look at his watch. It isn’t enough to hide the moan trapped in your throat. So, you try biting your fist as Yangyang swirls his hips, grazing the ends of your nerves. You roll your eyes to the back of your head and hit mute, in order to moan. “Unless you want to walk? I don’t think you’ll make it though. It’s, like, almost 7:20.”

“What?” your voice cracks. You are still muted though, so you un-mute and repeat the exclamation, whining a little when Yangyang tries to get you to orgasm faster, also having heard the time. Hopefully Ten does not notice anything. You think that you were quiet enough to push it off as a complaint.

“I’ll be outside your apartment in 20.”

Yangyang pulls your chin to make you look at him, staring at you to ask what is going on. You mouth a quick explanation: Ten. Ride. Coffee. 20 minutes. He is so close, warm breath enveloping your skin. You take the distance, initiating yet another kiss, essentially in front of your best friend, although the latter cannot hear or see either of you. Yangyang holds onto your chin, possibly afraid of being swept away or falling again. But you have enough support for both of you, and you know that if you fell, he would catch you. So, you kiss him again, and again.

“Hello?” Ten calls into the void. “Did you lose signal again? See, I told you not to choose the shitty complex on Main because the connection is so bad there.”

You put a hand above Yangyang’s heart and clear your voice, turning to the speaker. “I’m still here. Just, hold on a second.” You hit mute again, then turn to Yangyang. “Do you want a ride too?” Yangyang contemplates for a second, and you drop your forehead into your elbow, biting your lip because, after all, he is still inside you, inside your clenching and very aroused p.ussy, where you want him to finish. He nudges your shoulder with his nose and confirms that yeah, he needs a ride. You kiss him a few more times, unsure why, just wanting to be close – something about want to say in his presence, enjoying his presence. He swirls his hips. It feels really good to be with him. “Yeah, so Yangyang is in the neighborhood.”

“Wha-“

“A huh,” you whine, more at Yangyang than Ten. “He just texted me. He’ll meet you – us! He’ll meet us at my apartment. I’m going to get ready now, bye!” you say everything in one breath, hanging up as equally abruptly before Ten could insert his two cents. You drop the phone and turn around, kissing Yangyang deeply. As he returns your affection, you enunciate slowly, “Five minutes, then we have to get ready. Ten is getting too suspicious.”

Yangyang finishes a little bit after five minutes, not that you mind. Non-residents have to get buzzed into your building, and Ten doesn’t have a key to your front door. You indulge the moment, laying on your arm bent under a pillow. He looks at you with all the care in the world, no longer that suave fuck buddy from a few moments ago but a young romantic who caresses your inner thigh and talks big game about all the connections you two have in common, or don’t. Your hand dips to the top of his head, combing a small section with your nails to his ends. Yangyang asks you for the time, and you almost don’t give it to him, preferring to spend time with him here than overanalyzing some stupid thesis statement that you wrote at 4AM. You pout, and pull his phone between the two of you, showing him that Ten will arrive in ten minutes – ironic, you think.

Yangyang approaches your face, millimeters from your lips. He waits for you to flutter your eyes closed, anticipating a kiss, then runs into the shower. It takes you a minute to join him, and when he sees you, smirking, like you have some dastardly revenge plan in the works, Yangyang shuts the glass door, isolating himself in the cold shower. He holds on extra tightly so that you cannot get in. You look hot when you are annoyed though – he needs to annoy you more. It is even more fun to mollify you. He pulls you into the shower next to him by grabbing your ass and makes out with you against the wall for a few seconds, until you start stretching at the lavender body wash on the shelf behind him.

This time, Yangyang finishes first, hopping out to sprinkle the roots of his hair with dry shampoo so Ten does not get too suspicious. If he has wet hair, then it would be obvious that he stayed over. He puts the powder back on the shelf and wanders into your room, towel wrapped loosely around his waist – even though it’s nothing you haven’t seen before. There are a few of his clothes in your closet from all the time you stole them, or a couple mini getaways that you two have taken. After he changes into an outfit that he can actually wear in public, he picks out an extra one of his over-sized shirts and drapes it on the towel rack for when you get out. He knows that you really like his clothes, especially the organic band tees. It is another plus that you share the same music taste. Hopefully, none of his friends catch onto the coincidental similarities.

Yangyang likes that you spend a lot of time in his clothes. They always end up smelling like your lotions. It is comforting and reminds him of all the nights ‘studying’ until 3AM. You know, not that he would actually say it out loud (mostly because he also likes to wear his favorite shirts), but you look cuter than him, in his Kendrick Lamar concert tee. And besides, there is a secondary reason as to why he rummaged through your underwear drawer: he wanted to choose your panties for today. It might be a black lingerie set, but how is he supposed to know the difference between a t-shirt bra and a balconette? :^)

Yangyang makes his way into the kitchen, snagging a mini muffin off the island. With the work out he just had, he needs protein but there isn’t enough time to cook anything, not that he actually could; eh, he’ll end up buying something on campus. He tosses two more muffins into his backpack for later – one chocolate for him, one strawberry for you. On Mondays, between classes, he usually catches you in the student experience center, finishing some last-minute assignments. You always end up pushing lunch until after four, ergo he tries to bring you some snacks, whenever he can. Once, his research methods class got cancelled and you didn’t have any pre-lecture materials to work on, so he brought two cups of ramen. You two had a semi-date then. He wonders if it can happen again, today. Ten interrupts the thought though, before it can develop into a real plan, and he sighs. He doesn’t know why, but he keeps thinking about defining this relationship at the worst possible times.

“Yellow?” Yangyang answers, mid-bite. He shifts the phone to his shoulder so that he can check your notification center for any missed calls. You have three. Ten has been going to voicemail all morning, Yangyang deduces, and if he was Ten, he would be damn suspicious at this point.

“Hi, baby,” Ten coos. “I’m outside. Buzz me in, yeah?”

Yangyang reflexively pouts. “I’m not your baby. I’m 20 now.” Still though, he complies, letting Ten into the building, and his friend is upstairs within a minute – not that it is too far. You live on the second floor.

“So,” Ten sings while glancing around the apartment. Yangyang wonders what for – hopefully, not searching for his secret relationship. Ten closes the door, his eyes landing on Yangyang and eying him down suspiciously, in a curious way. “What are you doing in the neighborhood, anyways?”

“I, uh, bought breakfast at Allen’s coffee, down the street,” he lies, “And I didn’t feel like walking back to the frat.” He shrugs too, trying hard to be as nonchalant as possible.

“A huh.” Ten does not seem to accept it, but he lets it slide when you walk into the room, wearing Yangyang’s t-shirt tucked into a pair of black jeans. Yangyang cannot see why Ten would recognize the top because you also happen to like Kendrick Lamar – one of your favorite songs is King Kunta, even though you cannot sing along to save your life. Yangyang finds it endearing that you enjoy rap music, even though you cannot match the flow or pitch.

His gaze is still endearing when you walk into the kitchen, beelining for the last mini muffin. Yangyang catches how intensely he was staring at you, after you blink at him (and Ten).

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing,” they mutter, looking away.

“Okay,” you drawl suspiciously, swallowing half your breakfast. You fold the rest of it into the front pocket of your backpack and pick up your textbook. Yangyang meets your gaze but you immediately flicker to Ten. “Can we grab something at Starbucks really quick?”

Ten stares at Yangyang. You just got coffee for yourself, even though you were coming here? Yangyang waves a hand, unsure how to respond. This whole secret relationship has gone on longer than he thought it would. It was supposed to be a one-night stand kind of thing when he first kissed you, the night that Ten introduced you two back in March after Renjun’s birthday party, and not even a one-night stand! He just expected you to make out with him, not give him a blowjob in Kun’s bathroom then let him take you back to his room at the frat.

“What?” You look between them. Yangyang shakes his head, nothing. You stare him down and give in, then turn back to Ten. “I haven’t eaten anything. Please?”

“Alright, fine,” Ten cedes. He holds his hands up in surrender, his keys waving like a white flag. As you all file out the door, Yangyang jokingly asks if he can drive. Ten deadpans at him, protective over the car, and smacks him on the back of his head. “Let’s go.”

Yangyang barely notices when they pull into the drive-thru on 1st, too busy scrolling through Instagram while you and Ten talk about an EDM festival coming this weekend. He only picks up his head when you lean over the gear shift, blocking the GPS from his view (in the middle seat) – he was monitoring the distance to make sure that you get to class on time.

“Can we get two breakfast sandwiches, an iced coffee with 2% milk, and an iced London fog latte, extra pump of vanilla, with coconut milk?” You turn to ten. “Want anything?”

Ten furrows his eyebrows. Neither of them looks at Yangyang, and he lowers his phone, knowing that he is about to be caught in a lie. He didn’t think that Ten would ask anything because of the time crunch. Evidently, he was wrong, and now he doesn’t know how to unspin the lie.

“Who are you ordering all that food for?” Ten asks.

You look at him skeptically, a what the fuck hanging palpably in the air before you point to the backseat. “For the baby.”

“Not a baby,” Yangyang pipes up, voice cracking. He tugs on the collar of his shirt, smiling embarrassed.

Ten turns on his side, back facing the window as he stares between the two of you, ultimately settling on Yangyang. “I thought that you said you already got breakfast at Allen’s.” Ten rotates to you. “That’s why he’s in the neighborhood, right?”

A huh, yeah. Yangyang almost tells another lie but the monitor clerk asks if they want anything else, and they are holding up the line with an empty lane in front. Saved by the bell intercom. Ten orders an extra americano, then you all persist through the awkward silence until reaching the front window. You pay with the app as Ten passes out the round of drinks like a bartender. Yangyang pokes his paper straw through the lid. You can’t baby him if he does everything himself first.

“Uh, are you good?”

Yangyang looks up. You have your iced latte between your legs, holding it at the top of your thighs on your crotch like an ice pack.

“Yeah, what do you mean?”

“I mean,” Ten enunciates, putting this drink in the cup holder, “people only put ice on their private parts when they’re sore.” He widens his eyes, posture stiffening and he points at you. “Did you have that guy over? The best y-“

“You don’t –“ You hold up a hand, physically interrupting him. Yangyang should have known that Ten would never seriously suspect him as your fuck buddy; he doesn’t know whether to be relieved or offended. “- have to repeat it. I just feel sore.”

Yangyang smirks at that, but he has to hide it when Ten looks at him, pinching his cheeks down like a Tim Burton character. The look in Ten’s eyes is confused again, and he knows that one of two questions is going to come out: if he met that guy that you’re sleeping with, of if he is the guy that you are sleeping with. Fortunately, Yangyang sees the navigation touch screen, and the time is two minutes until eight and you are five minutes off campus. Ten has to drop the conversation and speed to the art building so that at least you get there on time. The extra few minutes he has to spend alone with Ten gives him the idea to cool things off with you for a few days.

That sounds bad, like he is blowing you off, but honestly, you agreed.

Yangyang caught you in front of the communal office space for linguistics GTAs, a few minutes before office hours ended. He snatched you into a supply closet, dragging you by the waist, and covered your mouth to prevent you from screaming bloody murder. You two acknowledged the thin ice that has been melting for a couple weeks now. And he brought up taking a break from seeing each other for a while. At first, you thought that he was breaking up with you – or as close to breaking up as possible, because still, you are not dating. But then, he saw your face and reassured you that he does want to keep seeing you, even in secret; maybe next time, you two should talk about your relationship.

Friends do not need to see each other every day, you know. Or, like, at least, casual friends don’t. Sure, you FaceTime Ten all the time and Yangyang lives with Xiaojun so he sees his best friend daily by default, but you two are not similarly close friends, especially not when other people can perceive how you two interact. No one has to know just that you see Yangyang just as often, in person. And you do it because, well, because you like him – which explains how he ends up back in your bed by Wednesday.

“I’m gonna be late again.”

“No, you won’t.”

Yangyang reaches around your collarbone, brushing his thumb along your bottom lip until he can comfortably hold your jaw. He draws you in for another kiss, his eyes mirroring yours - distracted, enamored, aroused. You cautiously spin around, throwing your arms around his neck to avoid getting swept away, which seems impossible because he holds you securely, at your mandible and the beltloop on your waist. He inhales upon the next embrace, closing his pretty mouth over your philtrum like a slow bite – like several slow bites. You meet him, every time, at the end of each kiss when he shifts onto his toes, getting too tall for your lips, and pull him back on the ground to get more. He moans, after you start roaming your hands under his shirt, running your nails over the crevices in his body like a memorization technique for an early class you don’t have.

You feel hungry, for love, wanting to feel warm. The sun will not rise for another half hour, but he is the warmest thing in the room, even though you are fully dressed, not expecting to be late like two days ago. He copies your moves, unbuckling his hand like a belt, sliding it under your shirt and palming your b.oobs. Then, you squeal, giggling breathily, when he spins you around again and smacks your ass, pushing your thighs into the mattress that you two are standing over.

“Do you trust me?” he whispers in your ear, sucking upward on your external jugular vein.

“No.”

Yangyang stops, deadpanned. He hits your butt again, like a punishment – his favorite kind of punishment, it seems because he repeats it every morning like a bad kind of player, the rich one who goes to bars and unexpectedly falls in love with an attendee, as if it is a coming of age Netflix movie. He repeats it again until you fall on your hands over the bed. You look behind your shoulder at him, jaw dropped. And he takes no time to interpret it, stumbling next to you.

You roll over, led by your hips, so that you can match him, latching onto his face with your hands on his cheeks. “Of course, I trust you, dummy.”

He looks down still, picking at the seams of your jeans. And you detect his teasing tone, easily, because he goes directly to your inner thighs, tracing up along the thread until he reaches your zipper. “Really?”

You roll your eyes, then make him look at you. He has that kicked-puppy expression in the way the outline of his eyes falls below his eyebrows, but the glint and the gummy smile have you knowing otherwise. “Yes.”

Yangyang pops your pants button undone, mischievously pulling his lips into a dramatic pout. “And you’re not lying to me?”

“No,” you emphasize. You brush his hair back, scratching your nails along his scalp, behind his ears. His smile cannot help itself, breaking out in a way that has you completely immersed. It reminds you of that time when you went go karting with Ten and a few others. You were undoubtedly a bad driver, bumping into the track walls, even during the straight lanes. One time, you made a particularly excellent sharp turn, surpassing Johnny to the finish line. Unfortunately, you were completing lap 3 of 5 and him 5 of 5, but Yangyang still congratulated you afterward – in bed. He also lit up, when you two were just laying under the covers, staring at the ceiling because the stars were too far away. You held onto the arm around your waist, laying on his naked shoulder as he told you about wanting to be a race car driver as a kid, then an automotive or aerospace engineer as a teenager, before he settled on psychology. He kept talking, as if crafting this beautiful galaxy. That is when you knew.

“Prove it.”

“What?” You sit up and straddle him. “How do you want me to prove it?”

Yangyang starts begging for affection, slithering his hand down your stomach, into your underwear. He pulls you into his chest, giggling when you topple him into the pillows, clearly not having estimated the force. You like that you never have to beg for his attention. He always, for some reason, notices you, and it is so hard not to pick up on it. You wonder just how no one has learned about you two yet. It’s not like you are being subtle. Although, the smallest acts he gives you can be found under subtle in the dictionary. Like now, he tucks your hair behind your ear, gaze flickering from his hand across your cheek to your eyes. You kiss him again – only a brief peck, because he inserts two fingers inside you, making you gasp sharply enough to break.

“Can I confess something?” you ask, suddenly braved by an idea to prove that you do trust him.

Yangyang stops fucking you, his fingers flexed still. He scans your face for an actual lie but knows that he will never find one, mostly because he already knows the next few words out of your mouth; he has felt the same way for months. And maybe, at this point, he owes you some explanation, for keeping his own confession unspoken. He wants to give it to you first, before your own declaration. It is something that he thinks he should do, like a societal norm for the guy to confess – that is what all the romantic movies say, right? Well, there is Princess Leia and Han with their whole I love you and I know dynamic, and while that was really cool in the scene, Yangyang has a fixed scenario in his head.

“I love you,” he blurts, quickly, sitting up.

“You love me?”

His heart drops. You are not supposed to surprised. He was nearly 100% confident that you had fallen in love with him, too, but this might confirm that so much was in his head. You keep staring at him, jaw slacked and hands on his shoulders. Only when he starts pulling away do you react, catching his hand.

“I really like you,” Yangyang reiterates, self-pouring salt into his bleeding heart. He hesitates for a second, unsure if he should even be vulnerable again, but what does he have to lose? “I –“ He swallows, still looking into your eyes – “I love you.”

Then you kiss him.

And he lets you kiss him.

He lets you kiss him because of the way you cradle his face, like he is made of glass, like he is the most precious crystal that you have to protect. Your lips get softer when he wets them with his tongue, after feeling confidence in your embrace. You kiss him in a way that takes away the word the love, wrapping him in a security blanket to return the warmth.

“I love you,” you whisper slowly, barely audibly enough for him to hear it over the smack of your tongue as you lower to him. You pause, mouth slightly ajar on his. “Too.”

Yangyang peers at your closed eyes, almost willing you to open them so he can tell you, again, that he loves you, so he can see your reaction when he really tells you. He grabs your face and sits up again. You roll your head to the side, like you anticipate his kiss. He gives it you, simultaneously returning his hand into your pants.

“What time is it?”

“What?”

“What time is it right now?” Yangyang asks you with a sense of urgency.

You turn around, fumbling around for your phone, which is now somewhere mixed in your sheets. The two of you had spent a good ten minutes remaking the bed after the night you had, and currently, blankets are strewn across, folded into messy piles. With the thought distracting you, Yangyang slips two fingers past your underwear again, twisting the crotch area with his thumb for easier access. You pause, sighing heavily, hand bunching up the linen as he scissors you.

“I asked you a question,” he reminds you, slightly stuttering at the end, hesitant to add a term of endearment. Even with the confessions you both just gave, it does not define your relationship and he doesn’t know how to broach it just yet, only wanting to kiss you closely and hear all the love sounds that he feels deprived of.

“It’s 6:21.”

“Good,” Yangyang whispers in your ear as he prepares you to take him. “We have time.”

Yangyang redirects your face to his, tilting your chin up as he leans to the side, almost inhaling your lips. Upon another kiss, he adds his tongue, tired of the light pecks. They don’t express his affection as much as he wants, because small embraces end quicker, causing you to withdraw – which is the furthest desire from his mind, especially considering that he just confessed, multiple times. He curls his tongue, placing only the tip beyond your lips. You check him, trying to catch his tongue but merely snagging his spit. He smirks because you whine again. Was that not enough? Obviously not, he notes after you pull back, breathing on his lips, making him chase you. Your breath sounds rapid and rough, and he wants to alleviate your nerves. Yangyang extends his neck again, craning to meet your lips. He gives you a second to recover, to prepare, panting the faintest ghost kisses across your lower face. Your hand comes above his shaking heart, stopping there as you bite your lip coyly. He wonders if you want to stop. Both of you just acknowledged a lingering more-than-friends adoration.

But then you slide your hand under his chin, making him really look at you.

“I love you,” you repeat.

The repet!tion exceeds his own confession, and he isn’t sure whether to confess again, but you take the initiative for him, rocking side to side like ridin’ d!ck bicycle. Yangyang parts his lips just enough to blow small, uneven breaths. He feels you open his jeans while shifting over one of his thighs, his fingers still trembling inside you. Sex with you always feels so reciprocated. Your nails graze his c.ock erect, your hand tightening at the tip, where you push your thumb on his pre-cum. It gives almost the same sensation as your tongue and the sensation gets more intense. He starts thrusting in tandem, making you clench, around his bicep, for support. When you start flicking the flesh on the underside of his penis (the part that connects the shaft to head), he stops your hand.

Yangyang comes forward, caressing your mouth and massaging your clit. “I’m gonna cum.”

“So cum,” you taunt him, smirking into the kiss.

Your resolve temporarily falters, dripping into a moan that he swallows up wholly. He keeps sinking his fingers at different depths, at a fast and shallow pace, waiting for you to reach the same point. You certainly feel wet enough. He touches that spongey tissue area in your p.ussy that has you seeing stars. You moan his name over and over again, until the two syllables become a tongue twister. He disentangles your tongue, using his own. All those years tying cherry stems in his mouth as a teenager really paid off. He starts making a come-hither gesture, simultaneously flirting with your lips. After your hand ceases, exclusively squeezing his base, right above his balls, Yangyang slows down, slipping his fingers away from your G-spot, up and over your clit, your orgasm weakening.

“Ugh,” you grumble.

“We have time,” Yangyang tells you, “to have sex.” He looks at you through his eyelashes, gradually lowering his head under your shirt, his shirt. After Monday, he wondered if you ever owned any shirts yourself, or if you donated all of them once you ‘discovered’ his closet. “Tell me you want it too.”

“I want you.”

He doesn’t know whether to clown you or flirt with you. The first option would make you laugh, but the second would get him laid. Luckily, you decide for him, shimming out of your jeans and panties, then you slide his pants down to his ankles. He wraps his hand around your throat, drawing you to his lips, and he unintentionally squeezes when you settle on the tip of his c.ock. As you ride him, your walls hug his d!ck nicely, giving it a nice tight feeling that he can’t help but moan at. You straighten your back to gain some height over him and slip your tongue in his mouth. His hands reach out to your ass, guiding your hips forward in waves. He starts breathing heavier and his grip gets stronger.

“Shit, I’m gonna cum.”

Yangyang kisses you, pulling your words into his mouth, “So cum.”

“Fuck.”

He chases after your high, under the guise of helping you ride out this orgasm, getting his d!ck to twitch deeply inside you. When his hold gets too firm, you whine, suddenly over stimulated. Your nails dig into his bicep roughly, barely soothed by the t-shirt he still wears. He thrusts asynchronously with you before coming undone and dragging you into his chest. You feel warm and sweaty in this post-sex glow, your hand and head resting on his chest. He traces little hearts on your inner wrist, not wanting to let you go completely.

“You need to stop picking my underwear if you’re just going to destroy them,” you joke, kissing him on the cheek. “I have to double wash these thongs you know.”

“Can we –“ Yangyang swallows a lump in his throat. He feels like he is pulling you impossibly close, even though you are not moving away. “Can we go back to that thing you were saying earlier?”

“Hmm?”

“The,” he pauses, indecisive whether he actually wants to bring everything up right now. He ultimately decides for it. “Part with the ‘I love you’?” He knows that his voice sounds smaller than normal and that his eyes are shifting nervously at yours, but he wants to hear it again, wants the validation.

“Right,” you understand, nodding your head equally slowly. You straddle his lap again, and he immediately balances you by the waist, wanting to keep that impossibly close distance. “I’m – I’ve fallen –“ You swallow, looking away, but he needs you to look at him. Because if you can’t say it to his face, how does he know that you’re not just saying it out of obligation? Thankfully though, you see to be on the same wavelength, returning to his eyes, and his breath hitches, abs shaking in anticipation. You confidently give him the sentiment, “I love you.”

Yangyang tucks a strand of hair behind your ear, watching the way his fingers finish, stroking along our cheekbone. “I know,” he whispers coolly, leaning into your ear. “It’s hard not to love me,” he changes the subject, “I’m the best.” You scoff and push his chest, but he fastens an arm around you as equally fast, smiling too wide. He is a little sorry, for ruining the moment, but his laugh isn’t convincing at all. “I love you too.”

Sex, you think, feels infinitely better once the weight was lifted off your chest, once the spoonful of love was added. And the way Yangyang keeps kissing you, absolutely obsessed with holding your waist, tells you that spoonful is a misnomer, too small. The measurement for an entire ocean might be a better description. Still though, you would never call describe sex as love making, especially not to his face. At that point, you would be faced with an ‘oh, my god; that’s disgusting, man’ – not that you mind entirely, because the teasing smile he uses is so, so important to you, and sex feels just like that – the love part, not the disgusting thing. Although, sometimes he can be quite disgusting, yanno. Ah, he just makes you want to skip class and stay in bed beside him all day.

Except, both of you know how bad of an idea that is, with midterms are right around the corner.

Despite that, he spends the night at your apartment again, staying up until 3AM even though he has abnormal psych at 8 on Thursdays.

“I need a study break.”

You roll the cover of your design textbook towards your spiral notebook and toss the pile onto the floor, kicking the blankets off your feet. Yangyang barely spares you a glance, too absorbed in his case study. It is the last of five, and he only has the results, psychometrics, and summary statement left to write for this one before he is completely done for the week. Similarly, you have an exam on Joseon architecture later today and you are a third of a chapter away from catching up on reading, but honestly, fortresses get annoying to look at, especially when you have to compare militia structures against lower-class housing. So, you infiltrate Yangyang’s personal bubble, sliding an arm over his hips and your head into his lap.

“Does this mean I have you join you?” he teases, already putting away his pens. He pushes all his study materials by his feet, never leaning too far up, to keep your head in place. It gets even more comfortable when he relaxes again, resting across the pillows. You close your eyes, melting, when he massages your scalp, like he immediately knows where every knot or corner of tension are.

“I would really appreciate it, if you joined me.” You sigh. His touch is heavenly, and it makes you tighten your arm over his pelvis.

Eventually, Yangyang goes back to his homework, this time reclining in a way that lets you curl into his side. And you aren’t actually asleep, just mildly daydreaming with your eyes shut, thinking about literally anything (Yangyang) other than structures. When he raises a book midair, in front of his face, you move positions, sprawling across his chest, leg coming between his thighs. You (purposefully) annoyingly stick your head under his cheek, to ensure that you, at least, moderately block some of the passage.

Yangyang giggles. “Am I officially joining you now?” He puts his papers on your nightstand and wraps an arm around your shoulders, luring you to his lips. Your leg slithers above the waistband of his joggers, and he helps you straddle him again, sinking into the mattress to get a good view of the way you look in his oversize hood, in only his oversized hoodie. “You’re clingier.”

“Than what?” you ask innocently, rubbing his shirt fabric along his chest. You start pouting, as a response to his silence. Does he not want to cuddle? You shake your head. No, he does, given the way he pushes up the hoodie and yanks you further up his lap. “We cuddle the same amount.” You lower toward his ear, holding his neck in place, and whisper, “Do you not want to? Because I can leave.”

Before you can even think about getting off, he kisses you, sitting up. “Don’t go.” His hands come under your ass, squeezing as your arms circle around his neck. “It’s just –“ He bites his lip, suppressing a whine, which you can feel clog his throat. “You can’t sit on my lap like this. I’m getting hard.”

“Again?” you taunt. He slaps your butt, rather harshly, leaving a warm tingling sensation that he kneads away. You grind into his touch and kiss up his neck. “We can try the Pomodoro method.” You blow into his ear, shakily, as his hand presses particularly rougher. “I’ll set a timer for 25-minutes.” You look at him with chaste, despite the way you are purposefully making his blood rush. His fingers move to the edge of the hood, lifting it slightly. “Think we can have fun in just 25 minutes?”

“Mmmhmm,” he agrees early, nodding his head forward to kiss you. You don’t let him meet you though, not that you think he really noticed, what with being distracted by your very naked legs. He slowly sits up, all the way, and you feel his d!ck twitch against your thighs.

“Or do you think we won’t be able to finish?”

Yangyang throws you onto the bed and removes his shirt in one fell swoop. “Bet?”

“Missionary?” you ask, almost sticking your tongue out at him. “You’re getting more vanilla.”

Yanygyang gasps, then whacks your butt. “Take that back!”

You prop yourself on your elbows, eying all the naked parts of him up and down, from his low waisted briefs to his well-defined pecs to the rather cross sulk on his lip. “Make me.”

“Don’t have to.” He takes away your smirk, displaying it across his face. You tilt your head to the left, expression slacking blankly, but you catch on, feeling his fingers outline your sides. He slips his thumb between your lips, pushing it slowly until you basically give him a finger job, like a preview to the actual head he wants. “You’re already prepped.”

Your eyes flicker up, purely, as if he is about to ruin you for the first time. It’s his favorite part whenever you blow him – you looking into his eyes, taking every inch of him. He pulls his fingers out of your mouth, dragging your lip down until he lets go, your lips smacking together. You bite your lip, suddenly feeling empty, even though neither of you have really done anything yet. “Are you going to fuck me then?” Your voice sounds so harmless, now lacking the bite as you mentally anticipate his d!ck to stretch you open right now. He shakes his head, no. “So what –“

Yangyang spreads your legs a little wider, strictly, darting in the direction of your main bullseye point. His touches remain light and teasing, not getting there yet, responding to all the little mannerisms that make your lower body so rhythmic. He rubs a finger, swirling the ends of his movements to get your hips riding his digits. You whimper breathily, voice cracking at such a high pitch. He sweeps your bottom lip, pressing his tongue softly, making you wish that he would fuck you already. It is insanely evil, for him to give you a preview of the intense foreplay without actually doing it, barely giving you the imagery of it all. You clutch his shoulder, to steady him for a constant kiss and to actually get on his slender fingers. But he never lets you. Instead, he pulls you by your ass, one-handed, forcing you to roll your hips on the silhouette of his d!ck. Fuck, how can you even feel his c.ock? His joggers are so thick. He maintains the stupid, inhumane taunts, kissing the air between you two, caressing everywhere along your hole. A few minutes pass without him changing the routine, so you reverse the positions, throwing him on your mattress and straddling his lap like a stripper. And with almost the same level of experience, or confidence (you hope it’s confidence), you seesaw over his d!ck. He swiftly locks your arms around his neck and his behind your lower back, palming your ass. You look into his eyes for a second, then kiss him roughly, smashing your lips on his.

“You’re. So. Eager. Today,” he says, muddied by elongated spit noises. His eyes are flittered closed as he smiles smugly, accepting your style of manhandling. Your embraces are light and rapid, doing everything in your power to prevent him from straying too far. But his abs get too shaky, too firm, the familiar build up washing over him, so he has to pull away. When he does, you try chasing him and he brushes your hair behind your ear, slowly stroking your jugular vein like ticking baby hairs. “I love you.”

You smile. “I love you too.” You peck his lips, now sitting sticky on his lap. He looks so pretty, eyes glazed and lips slightly parted. You just have to kiss him again.

Yangyang bends your back to the comforter, guiding you by the throat, simultaneously pushing his pants mid-thigh, c.ock bouncing more freely. It slaps your p.ussy, naturally twitching aroused. He is so close that when he pumps himself a few strokes, his knuckles rasp along your clit and you buck your hips for more touches. You feel his wet tip run along your slit, and you just know that his hand locks above his balls, right around his base, ready to push in. But you stop him.

“Let me ride you,” you pant, slowly opening your eyes.

He nods his head enthusiastically, and you pop off his head. You turn around, back facing him as you take off the hoodie, leaning down to graze your n!pples on the blanket.

Yangyang wails. “That’s not fair. I want to see.” He takes off his pants, to be as equally naked.

You redirect his attention back to your p.ussy, using your first two fingers to pinch your clitoral hood and gently tug it up and down, over his d!ck as you back into him. He lets out a loud moan at the sight; it takes everything in him to not thrust, listening to your command ordering him to wait. You brush your hair over your shoulder again and look at him behind your shoulder, sultry. Your mood changes are so sexy. His body moves automatically, hunching over your spine to litter you with kisses, his hand trailing behind his saliva. You take that palm and put it on your t!t as you grind his c.ock between your ass cheeks, sliding it to the most sensitive nerves of your p.ussy. He aids your building orgasm with two fingers, leaning his metacarpal inside of your thigh to rub circles specifically under your nub.

“Oh my god,” you exhale, walls throbbing in a vacuum of emptiness, needy.

You sit up and push him onto the pillows by his chest, then reach behind to grab his c.ock erect. His breath thunders, encouragingly. He waits for you to do something, scanning your bare back for every little love bite and mark. You slowly descend and use your knees to bounce, ass swirling between his thighs. Your hips oscillate from outward jumping to figure eights, to rocking sideways. And his favorite position seems to be when you take all of him, gyrating shallowly, letting only about an inch leave your p.ussy before you slam back down on him. You mimic his slaps, taking your hand off his inner thigh to grip your ass, dragging your nails up, leaving a tingling sensation. He rolls his eyes to the back of his head, recording the moment in his brain forever, then slaps your jiggling flesh several times. This position gets his big c.ock deep within your p.ussy, causing his balls to bump against your labia. Then he starts thrusting with you, pounding his hips up.

“Fuck, Fuck, Yanygang. Mmhm.”

He copies your expletives, adding some bad girl’s and other lewd nicknames, before slamming with some finality. You think that he is about to cum, but he withdraws, making you whine sharply. Yangyang flips you onto your back, immediately attacking your chest. His hands support you like a wired bra and shakes them, pushing the pads of his thumbs into your sternum so that your hardened n!pples remain level with his mouth. He licks one lightly, circling around the areola, then latches on, sucking with his tongue flattened under your skin. You arch your back to him, drawing him close. He repeats the action on the other, but longer, as he pinches and kneads your b.oob.

“Come on my d!ck again, you dirty little girl,” he orders, voice low and hoarse.

“Then stop pulling out,” you whisper, similarly breathless.

“Okay.”

You lean away from him, supported with your hands on his thighs, spinning your hips in circles and side to side. His hands squeeze your waist, jostling you to his chest brutally.

“Don’t do that,” he growls, teeth barring before he kisses you again, croaking the moan in your throat. He drags you close, fingers digging into esophagus so that his tongue and reach inside.

Your grip scratches on his triceps, pink lines haunting his skin. You keep bouncing up and down, until his chokehold drops. His mouth falls open, releasing strings of curses after gasps. He spanks you hard, twice, then grips your ass, jerking it savagely. You change the motion, grinding in tiny, little, miniscule circles. Your thighs shiver, your entire body following. He rotates his d!ck, thrusting asynchronously. And you claw through his hair, tugging the strands rougher and rougher as your abdomen keeps tightening.

“Almost, almost,” you whimper. “I’m so close.”

Yangyang pulls your bottom lip with his teeth. “Me too.”

You begin slowing down, no longer able to bounce up and down, choosing to rock back and forth. Then, everything stops for just a second, your walls compressing his springy c.ock until you break. All of his muscles grate against you, making you feel each ridge and movement. He follows your orgasm, feeling the way you milk every drop out of him, sucking his entire length balls deep. Your whine sounds like a treble, harmonizing with his lower moan. And you two spend another moment in cowgirl position, collecting your breaths, basically fused together.

“I love you,” Yangyang repeats. Ever since yesterday morning, he has been throwing out the sentiment spontaneously whenever he can: during sex, after sex, while cuddling, in the middle of study dates, behind his cup of coffee at the physics café in the afternoon when no one else is nearby. He follows up with another confession, “I want more than 25-minutes.” And it catches you off guard, considering his previous statement and the other, in the midst of sex, or love making, as some people would call it.

“The 25-minutes is just for right now,” you reassure him, gently patting his cheeks. “We have to study. I still have part of a chapter left to read.”

“Then say it back.”

You pull his face to yours, brushing your noses together. “I love you,” you tell him slowly, enunciating every syllable.

“So, spend the night at my place tomorrow,” he requests. His arms come behind your lower back, his eyes pouting like a lamb.

“Of course,” you answer impulsively, immediately going to kiss him after. Then you pull away, stopping him on the shoulders. “Wait. You have roommates. You have six roommates.”

“Four,” he corrects you – Sicheng graduated last year and moved in with Yuta. “We’ll be fine. Dejun is going with Kun to some conference; I don’t remember what. Hendery is staying at an AirBnB before the EDM festival this weekend. Lucas is …” Yangyang bites his cheek, trying to recall his roomates’ schedules. “I think he’s going on a date. I don’t know, but he bought roses and they’re sitting in the fridge. And Renjun … Renjun …” Yangyang swallows. He almost forgot about the tidbit that he learned at the Halloween party last weekend.

“Renjun what?” you ask, pecking him lightly and chastely.

“Won’t be there either.” Yangyang stops you. “Can I ask you a serious question?”

You sense the serious tone and straighten up, clasping your hands around his neck. “What’s up?” you prod slowly.

“Did you really like him?” he questions so softly that you almost do not hear him. “Renjun?” he clarifies after you stay quiet (even though it was just a few seconds).

“Yeah,” you answer quietly, not entirely sure if you even want him to hear you, the ambience settling into something melancholier. “But I love you.”

It seems like he ignores you.

“Why didn’t you get with him?”

“You don’t mean that.”

You shake your head, pulling back, your eyes painfully dry. All the fuzzy spots from your orgasm earlier connect the dots in your head, and you wonder what this is, if he doubts you, doesn’t trust you.

But he agrees, “You’re right. I just … I mean, why are you with me instead?”

“Instead?” you ask. You come back to him – it’s always him, and you hold his face, making him look at you. “I’m not with you instead of Renjun. There’s no compet!tion. I love you,” you enunciate the confession again to really emphasize it.

“But –“

It doesn’t seem to stick. And you sigh with your entire body, slumping away from him. “Does it really bother you that much?” You shift around, biting your lip while his soft c.ock scrambles inside you. He meets your eyes this time, scanning your pupils for more reassurance. “You are kind and smart and hard-working and insanely talented, and … and I love you.” He stays quiet, and you almost throttle him, needing a bit of affection too. “Say it back,” you beg, differently from minutes ago. You drop your forehead on his shoulder. “Please.”

Yangyang seems to understand and reciprocates, “I love you too.”

You pull yourself to face him and beam, mirroring his tender gummy smile. Then, you kiss him again, toppling him into the pillows. He rolls you over, causing you to giggle loudly as he peppers small bites along your cheeks, across your nose, and whispers the same confession on loop.

“I love you,” he ends, kissing you deeply. He comes up for air, inhaling sharply. “So, stay the night with me tomorrow – tonight. At my place.” He brushes your hair away from your face, to get a better look at the sweet glaze in your eyes. You think that you fall in love a little more, especially with all his domestic acts.

“Okay,” you agree.

“Okay,” he repeats. “Okay.” He nods his head, smiling wider, if possible, and kisses you over and over and over again.

Funny thing about Fridays: Yangyang doesn’t have a morning class, doesn’t have class at all actually; meanwhile, you have another art history class, at eight. The damn class is 90-minutes, so it is held three times a week. His lectures, you recall bitterly, go on for 2-3 hours each, granting him the three day weekend that every college student desires, pushing his classes to the first four business days of the week. That means he can stay up all night Thursday to Saturday, gaming for long hours into the night – not that you get to see it often, because when you do stop by the frat house, you spend time with anyone else. And usually, someone is visiting at the same time. You know, you write yourself into Xiaojun and Sicheng’s pool compet!tion, or watch moves with Lucas, but tonight (really morning, considering that it is 1 A.M.), you sit with Yangyang in his wide gaming chair, thumbing at The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BotW) while he plays Overwatch with Haechan and Jeno. Thankfully, you don’t have any major assignments due later or any in-class presentations, so you can just curl up next to your boyfriend and pull an all-nighter, stealing snacks and drinks from his new mini-fridge so that you can avoid accidentally bumping into one of his roommates. Although, you Uber’ed to his place with a box of friend chicken and side dishes.

After the same gold lynel kills of Link for the third time in a row (the one in the Hebra region, outside the shrine, that has a sword you want), you lazily toss the controller onto his desk. Dying again and again gets frustrating, and you need to relieve the buzz. So, you turn to Yangyang, who looks to be in the middle of a campaign (is that what his levels are called?), and start asking him questions about his video game. Like, you know how sometimes people get so desperately horny that they ask their partner to explain Overwatch to them? Yeah, that is exactly how this feels, as Yangyang’s distracted voice describes his location and next move. And it is no wonder that he is a psych major – he is good at communication.

“What does that character do?” you whisper-ask, while the screen refreshes after he wins a battle.

“That’s an attacker.”

“A huh,” you nod along. You vaguely know what that means, based on the t!tle and all your years of the Club Penguin Card Jitsu game. “And that one?”

Yangyang removes his headset to around his neck and faces you, grinning sideways. “Are we sharing interests right now?” He pushes your legs apart, then straddles you over his thigh. His desk separates you and the game, pressing a fine line between the bones in your spinal cord. He turns the microphone down, muting himself from his friends. It is one thing for the two of you to be alone in the frat house and another for his close friends to physically hear you in his arms. “Or are you just needy for my attention?” Yangyang pulls one hand on your skin, rubbing small soothing circles. “That’s a sign of a relationship, you know.” He leans into your ear, whispering, “Like a date.”

You push him against the chair cushions, scrunching your nose at his laughter. “As if we haven’t done that already,” you say sarcastically, rolling your eyes for emphasis.

“What?” he asks. “Go on a date?”

You nod your head. Neither of you really call these types of things dates, but they are. Sometimes you also hang out in public, alone, maybe holding hand or kissing, even though lately it seems like you stay inside and study and have sex all the time. Actually, there is a rave going on this weekend with one of your favorite DJs – one shared equally by the two of you. You have yet to invite Yangyang, but now seems like a good time.

“You don’t really care about my games,” he pouts, “Do you?”

“I’m sorry,” you agree, pouting with him. “I don’t speak nerd.”

Yangyang gasps, sitting up straighter. “It’s not a nerd thing! It’s a game of strategy!”

You shake your head, still not understanding. “I don’t speak virgin either.”

He slaps your ass. “We both know that isn’t true.”

“Am I supposed to be the virgin, in this scenario?”

“Are you becoming a born-again virgin?”

You shrug. “What would you do if I did?” You completely straddle his lap, scooting up his thighs until his d!ck sits at attention between your abdomens, and you whisper in his ear, “Would you leave me?” You bite his ear, softly licking the external side then blowing on it. “Would you ruin me? Take it away?”

“Virginity is a social construct,” he reminds you, growling. He slips his hands into your underwear. “I’ll ruin you right now.”

Except, another round on his game loads, and you find yourself leaning onto his shoulder opposite the microphone so that he can play, despite the insane wetness soaking your underwear right now. Then, two more games go by and you want his attention. He asked you to stay the night with him, and this doesn’t necessarily feel like that. So, you get off his lap, slithering down his legs onto the ground, onto your knees.

First, you untie his pants and spring his d!ck out. It’s not difficult, because (1) he has pyjama bottoms on, and (2) he manspreads like a motherfucker, giving you easy access. Then, the blow job starts. You lick your palm a couple times and angle his tip in your mouth, starting soft. His legs tense momentarily, making you consider stopping, but a hand appears, pushing you halfway down his length.

“You look so pretty down there, angel.”

He obviously did not actually look at you; you know because he usually makes eye contact when he is close to cumming, enjoying the way your eyes glass over. And because his keyboard continues clicking.

You continue on that way – keeping one hand squeezed halfway down his d!ck; hollowing your cheeks, adding extra suction all over his tip; flattening your tongue on the underside and rolling it like sushi at the very top. Despite his d!ck being fully erect in your mouth, his attention is less than enthusiastic, fingers working diligently on those numbers. It gives you an idea. You start bobbing your head faster, in tune with his typing, egged on by his compet!tiveness. And when his voice goes up an octave, your grip gets tighter, only slacking when you drop back down halfway. His groan echoes in your ear, sounding like he lost (whatever that means), so you pull off. He breathes a little bit harder after the smacking sound falls from your lips, preceding all the fluttering little kisses down his shaft. You hold his d!ck up and lick one stripe up between his balls, and he shouts at his friends:

“Alright! I’m done for the night. Play tomorrow. Bye!”

Yangyang pulls you to your feet, standing with you. He scans your eyes, pulling you closer and closer, debating whether to kiss you or not; he never really kisses you after you suck his d!ck, unless he eats you out too.

“Bed now,” he orders you in whispers, patting your butt a little too hard. You fall onto his queen-sized mattress stomach down, bouncing with his fluffy duvet. He kneels next to you, lifting his sweater off your thighs and spanking you again, three times. Each smack precedes a loud, high-pitched gasp. “You’re so needy.”

“Fuck,” you mutter at a particularly hard hit, his hand slipping to the wet p.ussy lips that need some friction. “Is that a bad thing?”

A door shuts loudly down the hall, making you two straighten up in attention. You prop yourself forward on your elbows, staring at the door. Yangyang watches your reaction, his ears alert and back facing the door. You hear Hendery walking up the stairs, something jangling with him, like keys or plates. A second pair of feet march with him, making you look at Yangyang. He shrugs his shoulders, shaking his head; he thought everyone was going to be gone this weekend, which does not apparently start on Fridays for his roommates.

“You’re going to need to be quiet,” he whispers. This is nothing new. The two of you constantly fuck, like rabbits, regardless if anyone can hear you, but Hendery is two rooms down and Yangyang is sliding two fingers knuckle deep until hitting the urethral sponge. His curling has your thighs tensing to the point of shaking. As he settles between your legs (not letting up on the pressure), he taps your sternum twice, telling you to keep still and quiet.

But you moan. It just comes out, not something that you can control. Especially when he nips all around your clit, lip biting at your skin and sucking small bruises. He keeps going like this, nodding his head for more vibrations everywhere except the most sensitive spot. Your breath gets more labored, breaking loudly.

“You need to be quieter,” he reminds you.

“Mmm, I can’t. You’ll have to move slower.”

Yangyang speeds up his fingers. “Not a chance.” He swipes his thumb across your clit once, then twice, then harder, giving it a little pinch. “Even if you cum, I’m still going.”

You whine, disagreeing. “Mmm mmm, you can’t say things like that. Fuck –“ He starts crawling over your body, peppering light touches along your stomach, around your b.oobs, above your collarbone. “- I want to cum.” You mewl, again frustrated, because he pulls his fingers out. He gestures you to shush, putting them in your mouth. With his hands occupied around your face and throat, his d!ck jostles, sliding between your p.ussy lips without actually entering. “Please,” you beg, “I want to cum so bad.”

“Ugh,” Yangyang moans in your ear, this time guiding himself inside your warm and aching hole. “I know,” he tells you. “I can feel it.” He rotates onto his side, propping up one of his legs to get into an easier position where he can pound you better. You grab one of the pillows, briefly arresting it with your nails acting like handcuffs before settling it under your oblique. The new angle puts Yangyang right back at your G-spot, his tip abusing the sponge harshly. “You’re milking my c.ock, huh? You’re – You want me so bad, huh?”

“Mm hmm, yeah,” you agree. His gaze fixates on the way your ass claps against his pelvis. He doesn’t even have to lead you anymore; you start backing up on him, motivated the rougher he tugs your hair. “Please, please,” you chant in whispers. He spreads your cheeks, obsessed with the disappearing act you pull, needing to see it more.

“Fuck,” he groans. He cups your b.oob off the mattress, supporting the other one with his arm, and pinches at your n!pple, swirling it around between his thumb and index finger. “Come on, pretty girl. You need to cum?” You nod your head fervently, face warming intensely. “So, cum on my c.ock. You can do it; come on.” He drops your chest for your neck, pushing your head into the blankets so he can kiss you again, incoherently vibrating broken praises on your lips.

“Yangyang, Yangyang, I’m – I’m – Harder, please. I’m so – Oh, fuck.”

He moans your name seconds after, spilling into your pulsating core, and relaxes, chest falling into an equilibria rhythm with yours. His c.ock softens, finishing its workout, so you swing your leg away from him and spin around, placing a hand on his chest. You stare at him for a little bit, like watching the sun set. He peaks an eye open, then closes it quickly, teasing you because he knows that you saw it.

“You’re going to get cross-eyed staring at me,” Yangyang jokes.

“Then let me get cross-eyed,” you counter, slithering an arm under his head like a neck cushion.

“That’s disgusting.”

You scoff, pulling on the ends of his hair. “You’re disgusting.”

He smacks your butt lightly. It is definitely his favorite punishment. “And you can call it a kink, fyi.” He opens his eyes in time to see you pout, and in return, he pecks your lips, pulling away just as fast.

You look over his shoulder at the time: 2 A.M. and bury your face in his chest. “We need to stop sleeping so late. My body can’t handle this.”

“My body can handle yours.” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, even though he would not be ready to go again, at least for twenty minutes.

You chew on your lip a little bit, then repeat a post-sex tradition (well, it has essentially become a tradition this week). “Can I ask you a question?”

Yangyang kisses your shoulder, wrapping a leg around yours to keep you locked nearby. “Of course, anything.”

“Do you want to go to the rave with me, this weekend?”

“Like,” he processes, still hidden the crevice of your neck, “as in a date?” He lays across your arm, and you notice the glint in his eye. “Are you asking me out? I was supposed to do that!”

“Oh?” you return the tease. “We can just not go then, and I’ll wait for you to ask me out.” You start getting up, but he drags you back down, tugging specifically on your hand. He kisses you as a confirmation that yes, he wants to go; he wants nothing more than to go on a real date with you.

#wayv #nct yangyang #wayv yangyang #yangyang #yangyang smut #wayv smut #nct smut #yangyang fluff #wayv fluff #nct fluff #yangyang imagines #yangyang x reader #liu yangyang #wayv imagines #nct imagines #wayv scenarios #nct scenarios #/mine

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sillyrabbit81 · 4 years ago

Text

The Pull

Summary: Alternative Universe. Vampire Henry. Henry, Crown Prince of the Vampires is avoiding his responsibilities because of his mother's fate. When Henry finds his mate, the circumstances are eerily similar to his mother's. Rather than risking his mate's life, Henry chooses to run, but can he run from his fate?

Pairing: Henry x OFC

Word Count: approx 3k

Warnings: implied blood play, implied smut

Authors Note: Thanks to @henryobsessed for beta reading and support!

Masterlist

Part 11 Part 13

Part 12

Rowena

The bright sun woke me as it streamed through the windows. Looking around confused, it took me a minute to remember where I was. Groaning, I pulled the blankets up over my head. Another day with Henry. Another day spent wrestling with my feelings for him. Another day without Charlie and Alice. Another day as a human.

On the plus side, I didn't dream about Henry. Last night wasn't all terrible either. Henry was sweet when he wanted to be, romantic even. I assumed he had carried me to bed last night because I don't remember going myself. I was wearing the yoga pants and sweater from the previous night, so I guessed he was a gentleman. I'm surprised I had lasted so late into the night in first place. So much had happened over the past few days it felt like a month had passed.

I stretched out in bed, feeling unusually relaxed. Checking the time, I saw that it was mid-morning, I hadn't slept that late in years. I almost always got woken up by Charlie with the rising sun. Maybe I should look at this as a holiday and give myself time to refresh without parenthood's responsibilities. Although, with the tension between me and Henry, I don't think I would have a lot of time to relax. I thought about having a shower, but after yesterday's debacle, I wasn't sure if I should.

I got up and went to the bathroom, washed my face and brushed my teeth. I looked at myself in the mirror, fingering the silver necklace. An increasing loud part of my mind told me I should take the silver off and let fate take over. After all, this mate thing doesn't seem to be all bad. Lawrence and David were very happy. Alex and Delphine seemed very much in love. Alex had urged me to give it a chance. Alice, too, had never said a bad word about her mate and seemed to still be in love with Alex's father since she had never even dated again after losing Conell. Alice was human too, so surely that meant I could be happy in this mythical world. I thought about all of the women I had seen at Lawrence's party. All of them had been human once, and they all seemed happy.

There was a soft knock on the door, and Henry's voice called, "May I come in?"

I hurried back to bed and got under the covers. "Yes," I said when I was settled.

Henry walked in with a broad smile, a coffee and a croissant. My breath caught in my throat as I took in his smile, he was so stupidly handsome. I absentmindedly touched the silver at my neck. "Thank you. Did you go out this morning?" I asked, forcing my hands away from my neck.

Nodding, Henry said, "Yes, I had to pick up a few things. I got some supplies and," he looked away, almost guiltily he added, "I also fed. I uh, need to control myself with you and keeping well-fed helps."

Curious, I asked, "How do you feed?"

"I usually bite," he said, smirking in jest.

"No, I mean," I felt silly asking, unsure if even talking about it was crossing some boundary I didn't understand, but I needed to know, "Do you kill them?"

"Oh," he said, blinking, "I could, but I try not to. I haven't killed anyone in 100 years."

"And after you turn me, you'll only feed on me?"

"Yes," Henry flashed his teeth at me, not making any attempt to hide his excitement at the prospect.

I looked down at my blanket, suddenly very interested in its eucalyptus green leafy pattern. "But I'm a vampire then."

"We can feed on vampires too. I have fed from vampires before, but it's taboo to do so if it isn't with your mate. Kind of like having sex for humans. You can sleep with anyone, but once you're married, you only sleep with your spouse."

My stomach dropped. "Should I be jealous?" I asked.

He laughed at me, and I pouted, feeling childish and embarrassed at my question. "Sorry, Little Fawn. No, you shouldn't be. No one compares to you. It's laughable to me because I desire you so much."

Unbidden, I felt a low throb between my legs at his words. I couldn't deny that I felt the same as he did. I squirmed on the bed, feeling uncomfortable by how little he needed to do to arouse me.

His face lost its joy, his breathing became laboured, and his eyes swirled. "You like to hear that from me, don't you, my Little Fawn?"

"I find you attractive too," I admitted in a low voice.

His fangs appeared as he grinned smugly. I gasped at how beautiful they were. It wasn't like when I saw them on Lawrence or David. When I saw his, I wanted them to sink into my flesh.

He stopped smiling and turned away. "Sorry," he mumbled. "They can be frightening."

I wasn't sure what possessed me, but I crawled out of the covers to where he was sitting at the far end of the bed. I put my fingers under his chin and brought his face towards mine. "They're beautiful," I told him.

He exhaled, relieved and allowed his smile to return, showing a hint of his ivory teeth. He cupped my cheek, and his eyes settled on my lips, "I want to kiss you." He whispered.

I licked my lips and closed my eyes. Henry growled, but when his lips brushed mine, they were as soft as butterfly wings. I moaned at his delicate touch, his tenderness was unexpected. I thought he would be rough with me, uncontrolled like he had been in the kitchen last night. His other hand came to my cheek as he kissed me again. His lips enclosed my lower one, and he sucked gently on me with almost indiscernible force, yet my body responded. A warm tingle pulsed through me, radiating between my lips to my core. Henry took my top lip the same way, and my tongue ventured out between my parted mouth to lick at his. My first taste of him made me gasp, he tasted sweet, like sugar. Shocked and intrigued, I wondered if it was something he had eaten or was that how he tasted? My tongue sought entry to his mouth, and he opened for me. I found his tongue again and licked at him.

I pulled away and asked breathlessly, "Why do you taste like sugar?"

Henry's reply was just as breathless as he said, "My Little Fawn if we needed any more proof, we were mates we just found it. You taste the same." His eyes roamed my face, and his gaze moved down my neck. His brows furrowed as they took in the thick heavy necklace covering my veins. With that, the moment was lost.

I sat back and crossed my legs, and put the croissant on my lap. I tore a small piece off and ate it, washing it down with my coffee. Henry stayed where he watched me with the corners of his mouth slightly curved. I tore another bit off and ate it, starting to feel a little self-conscious as Henry continued to stare.

"What?" I asked.

Henry shook his head. "Nothing, I love to watch you eat."

"You're weird," I said, avoiding his eyes, knowing my cheeks would be flushed. His idea of flirting was ridiculous. Risking a peek at Henry, his eyes were swirling with red and amber, and I realised he wasn't flirting, he was serious.

"Why am I weird?" Henry asked me, bringing a finger up to my mouth and tracing its outline. With a voice that was hoarse and rough, he murmured, "I like to watch your lips make pretty little movements and watch your fingers slip past them into your mouth. I can see your jaw work your teeth and imagine what they will feel like on my skin. And although I can't see it, your tongue is rolling around inside your mouth, moving your food from one side to another, and I dream of having your tongue lick at me. And when I see your throat swallow the food down, I know that one day you will swallow me, and you can't imagine the joy I will feel knowing that my blood satisfied you." He hummed as if he were already feeling that satisfaction. "You don't know what the thought of all that does to me."

Henry's gaze dropped to his lap a moment, and my eyes followed. I choked and coughed when I saw the hefty bulge in his pants. Fuck. I didn't have a lot of experience with men, but I was sure they weren't supposed to be that big. Alex had been large, but I don't remember him being that thick.

I took a big swig of my coffee, and, clearing my throat, I said, "Well, when you put it like that."

Smiling smugly, Henry took the plate with the croissant from me and tore a piece off. "Open," he said.

I blushed again, feeling silly. He smiled, but his voice wasn't amused, "Come on, Little Fawn, open for me."

His authoritative voice made me shiver, and I wanted to obey. Hesitantly, I parted my lips, and he slipped the pastry past my lips, letting his fingers linger a moment before he withdrew them. I slowly ate but found I wasn't hungry anymore. I was too worked up and, well, horny.

I took the plate back, and Henry furrowed his brows. I tore a piece off and said, "Your turn. Open."

Playfully, he gripped my hand, holding it still and moved his mouth to my fingers. He swallowed the tips of my fingers in his warm and wet mouth. Henry's tongue licked at my pads, and his teeth slid over my skin before he took the food into his mouth. He chewed quickly, and as I watched his lips move and his strong jaw worked, my eyes widened. I saw what he meant.

"You should breathe, Little Fawn," Henry said when he stopped chewing.

Embarrassed and trying to catch my breath, I took a drink from my coffee. "Ok."

Henry sighed, "I'm a little tired, Fawn. I haven't slept in a few days. Do you mind if I sleep a while?"

"Of course not."

"It's a lovely day outside, probably one of the last warm days before winter," Henry said. "Do you want to go for a swim while I sleep?"

I was relieved suggested something for me to do. I didn't know what I would do with all this free time I had. However, there was a snag. "I can't go swimming, I don't have a costume."

Henry smirked. "Wait here," he said excitedly.

I don't know why he told me to wait, he was gone and back within two seconds. He was holding a bunch of department store bags full of clothes.

"Ummmm... What is this?" I asked, although I already knew. Someone had gone and bought me clothes.

"Well, I realised you had nowhere near enough clothes with you, so while I was out this morning, I bought you some." Henry seemed proud of himself.

"Thanks," I wanted to add 'I think' but I held my tongue. "You could have gone to my house and packed some things. You didn't have to buy me clothes."

Henry shook his head. "No, I'm sure my father knows by now where you live. If I had gone there, I would risk him finding us. I shopped in Alex's territory, so it's unlikely anyone would track me."

Curious, I looked in the bag. I pulled out the first piece of clothing, It was a short black top with see-through sleeves, the kind of thing you would wear on a night out. I pulled out the next item, a pretty floral dress but I was shocked to see how short it was and how low its sweetheart neckline was. In a panic, I pulled out a third item, a white dress that at least was longer but looked far too tight. "Oh my God, I'm not going to be able to wear any of this."

"Why not?" Henry asked, his voice sounded hurt.

"I don't dress like this. I'm a mum, for God's sake."

"You're also young, beautiful and fun. You don't need to hide your body as you do."

"You haven't seen..." I paused. Now was not the time to bring up my insecurities. I kept digging through the bags until I found the underwear he bought. Everything was lacy or strappy, bold colours or black, there was even a fucking corset. I slammed the bag shut and nearly hurled it across the room.

"What's wrong now?" Henry asked.

"They didn't have cotton underwear?" I asked sarcastically.

Henry gave me a sly grin and said, "They did, but you'll look much more fetching in these."

I looked in another bag and found the poor excuse for a swimming costume, a tiny red string bikini. Shit, the bottoms were a thong! I pulled it out and held it up. "Really, Henry? This is... yeah... not happening."

Henry burst out laughing, "I admit I went a little far with that one. Put it down to wishful thinking? I got another more sensible one."

It was a white laser cut bikini that wasn't as scandalous as the red one but still smaller than I would typically wear. It would have to do. "This one is ok, I suppose."

"Great," Henry said. "If you get into trouble or see anyone. Just call me, and I'll hear it."

"Ok," I said. I looked at the bags of clothes, and even though he had essentially bought everything that he wanted to see me in rather than what he thinks I would wear, it was still a nice gesture. "Thanks, Henry," I said, indicating the clothes.

Henry cupped my cheek and gently met my lips with his. "It was my pleasure. There is a parker downstairs, a beanie, scarf and gloves for night time. Also, two pairs of jeans and a couple of t-shirts and sweaters are in another bag. I wasn't completely selfish. But, I think you are beautiful, and I would love to see you in beautiful clothes." He kissed me once more and said, "I'll see you in a few hours." Then he was gone.

I got dressed and checked the bikini out in the mirror. It was very nice, covering most of my stretch marks and c-section scar. I searched my handbag and pulled out a small roll-on sunscreen I kept in there for Charlie. I could put most of it on myself, but I couldn't reach the top of my back. I looked at the sun outside, there was no cloud cover, only sun. I would get burned if I went out without the protection of sunscreen. Sighing, I knew there was only one thing for it.

With some trepidation, I knocked on Henry's door. "Come in," he said.

Henry's room was very dark from the block out shutters and closed curtains, and I couldn't see a thing. I heard Henry hiss as I opened the door. "Sorry, is the light too bright?" I asked and shut the door behind me. It was pitch black, and I couldn't see my hand in from of my face.

I heard Henry chuckle just before he turned a lamp on, and a soft, warm light flooded the room. He was covered in a sheet, but his chest was bare. I was speechless as I saw his body for the first time. Henry's broad chest was covered in dark curly hair which briefly stopped then flowed into an alluring path down the middle of his abdomen and disappeared under the sheet. The hint of his muscular physique I had felt before was now confirmed by the washboard stomach that bordered his hairy trail. I took an involuntary step forward, wanting to dip my fingers into his furry chest and trace the peaks and valleys of his abs.

He smirked as he sat up and raised an eyebrow at me. I stopped my advance, embarrassed, but if he noticed my unease, he didn't mention it. Henry tilted his head, taking me in and said, "You look lovely, Little Fawn."

I spoke quickly while I still dared to ask, "I can't reach the top of my back. Can you put the sunscreen on me? If it's not too much to ask."

His swirling eyes sparkled, and he pressed his lips together, suppressing a smile. "I will control myself, Little Fawn." He patted the bed, and I sat on the edge.

I jumped as the cold cream hit my skin, then relaxed as the warmth of Henry's fingers rubbed it in. I felt him pull the strap of my bikini away as he rubbed it down my back. He finished in a few moments, and I felt disappointed that the experience was over quickly. "Thank you," I said and moved towards the door.

As I left his room, I turned around to say goodnight, but Henry had laid down flat on his back and I could see the growing tent between his legs, the thin sheet leaving nothing to the imagination. Lord have mercy, he wasn't wearing anything under the sheet! I mumbled something and ran down the hall to the sounds of Henry's chuckles.

I grabbed a book and a towel and sat on a deck chair down by the jetty. I let the warm sun soak into my skin as I read "A Clockwork Orange." I had seen the film but hadn't read the book, and I thought why not, it wasn't a very long book.

Later when the sun was higher, and I had reapplied my sunscreen as best I could (I was not going back to Henry's room), I jumped in the water and swam across the wide lake to the other side. Then, turning around, I started to swim back.

I felt a tug on my leg and was dragged beneath the surface. I felt something against my lips and something warm and sweet pushed past them as I felt stone-like solid limbs wrap around me.

Part 13

Tag List

@henryobsessed @omgkatinka @legendarywizarddetective @posiemax @nostalgicb-txh @moonlacebeam

#henry cavill #Henry Cavill vampire #fanfic #alternative universe #Vampire!Henry #alexander skarsgard #vampire #werewolves #henry cavill x ofc

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pokeexehasstoppedworking · 3 years ago

Text

Love Doesn’t Do Encores Ch10 Battle Gym Leader Nessa

(Will have a reference to Pokemon Twilight Wings Series.)

You slept well that night. The hotel wasn't too far from the Hulbury stadium so it wasn't a very long walk from where you four left the light house and stationed yourselves for the night. Not before dishing out the rations between the four of you. You were a lot lower on food than you thought and surprised you hadn't noticed earlier. A month's walk drained almost all of the food you had aside from a few packets of dried fruits. Thank goodness for restocking. The next morning wasn't anything too different. Gloria and Hop of course wanted to stop by the stadium and get one of them that spot to battle Nessa before another trainer took it. Huh. You wonder how the battle between her and Bede went the other day? Victor mentioned wanting to go back towards the Hulbury Aquarium and offered for you to come with them but you had other plans for the day.

"Hey, Y/n. Since Glory and Hop's going to be busy all day considering would you like to come with me to the aquarium?, Victor offered after the two of you had dug through your rations for breakfast. Your Sobble tiredly yawning on your shoulder rubbing at his eyes.

You shook your head. "No thanks. I actually wanted to check out that market down by the docks. I heard they sell all kinds of trinkets and stuff and it's been a while since I was able to go somewhere by myself and have some me time."

He nodded in understanding before smiling. "Alright then. You guys know where I'll be if you change your minds."

The two of you parted ways outside the hotel before you headed back up the road towards the docks. Already in the morning the place was all a buzz with ship horns blaring off in the distance and a few people walking around. It was a nice day with the salty smell of the ocean, the gently breeze, not being too hot but nice and warm, etc. It was a very nice day that filled your tired body with a happy feeling as you inhaled deeply. The small market place was past the restaurant and just across the docks past the convenience store you had visited the other day for supplies. It wasn't really big. There was only about five stalls set up alongside a concrete wall with one or two picnic tables a little bit a ways from them. A few people were already there looking at the stalls or sitting at the tables to eat or just to sit. Walking over you strolled up to the first stall that sold a few random things like flowers, dishes, and a couple clothes hanging up. The man handling it was talking up some of the flower pots but you weren't too interested in those so shortly after moved on. The other four were a fruit stand, someone selling records, another one selling random objects, but the last one had you notice something. Sweet smells of perfumes and spices wafted from it the closer you gotten to it. And it didn't take too long for you to find out why. A young lady was there surrounded by a bunch of incense. She smiled as you stopped to admire all the sweet smells and gave a greeting.

"Get a whiff of that fragrance! Doesn't it smell sweet?," she asked holding out some sweet smelling sticks that smelt of lilacs, "How about some incense for you, Girl? Good for meditation, yoga, relaxing, or just making a room smell nice. And it all natural so it's safe for pokemon too and helps them destress....As long as they don't eat it. Non edible."

"Destress huh?,'' you pondered looking at your sobble who seemed more interested in staring at the food stand with hungry eyes despite just eating breakfast a while ago. Considering how spooked this lil guy could be, it might be a good idea. "....What scents to you have exactly?"

You ended up using the twenty dollar bill you had saved forever now to buy some of the sea and rose scented incense and then later one or two apples at the fruit stand since your sobble kept jumping on your shoulder and chirping in it's directed until you finally did so. All of it costing almost half your money leaving you from twenty dollars to twelve dollars and some change. You found yourself wondering over until you sat down at one of the picnic tables so your sobble could sit and eat and give your poor shoulders a break from carrying it all the time. Granted Sobble wasn't really that heavy, about half the weight of a small cat, but it was nice to be able to stretch your shoulders and neck out without worrying about accidentally knocking him off. Lazily you watched it make happy noises as it greedily ate as if you didn't already give it a big breakfast about an hour ago. It was still pretty early in the morning so it you really hadn't anything to do other than just sit here and watch your sobble. But it was refreshing. With a sigh you closed your eyes and slowly put your head down on the table. The only problem with having a bunch of free time is that your brain slowly fills itself with thoughts you might not want. Like now. You had been gone for what must've been a little over a month now. How worried was your mom? She must've been worrying herself sick if you were gone for this long without any notice or clues or anything. And(tho you were HIGHLY doubtful now-) if this all IS some kind of dream universe it was certainly the longest one you ever experienced. Not only that, but you were SURELY not going to be able to start college just like you wanted. You'd have to wait another year just to start it and that's only if considering you'd be able to go home after this whole journey has finished. It was the only way you could think of that you could go back, once this is over. If it'll ever be-

"I can NOT believe this!," an angry woman's voice piped up. Startled you jumped up and blinked light rushing back into your vision.

"Calm down, Ness. Don't make a big scene in public." ....That voice sounded familiar.

"I AM calm. I'm just restocking my incense before I head back!" Now that you think about it, that angry voice sounded familiar too.

Blinking you turned around to look behind you, and your eyes widened at what you saw. Two ladies were at the incense stand with their backs towards you, one with bright orange hair and a coat you recognized and the other wore a black cap and shirt.

"First he said I should stop modeling and now he's breathing down my neck because I just happened to lose to his endorsed challenger!,'' Cap Lady growled out as she waved her hand. "I mean yeah, usually I'm busy so I cut back to one challenger a day! That doesn't mean I lost my touch as a gym leader!" She paused as the lady manning the stall held out a small paper bag of incense to her similar to the one you had. "Oh..Thank you. It just drives me up a wall just thinking about it!"

"Then don't think about it," Orange hair replied patting her friend on the back, "It'll only stress you out before your other gym match today."

Cap Lady sighed. "You're right, Sonia...As usual. It just ticks me off knowing he's in town just to see you too no less and buddy up with the crowd!! It makes me angry!"

"Sonia?"

The orange haired woman turned to you immediately as you stared back, her friend turning too and that's when you recognized the other woman too. She smiled. "Hey, Y/n! Fancy meeting you here! Haven't seen you in a while." She fully turned to you now and walked over her friend following.

You casually waved where you sat and gave a tired smile. "Yeah. Honestly wasn't expecting to see you here either. What are you doing here?"

She gestured to none other than Nessa next to her. "I was chatting with an old friend before she needed to go. Since you're here I assume Gloria can only be here as well."

You nodded. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure she's at the stadium right now." Your gaze slowly shifted over to nessa as you spoke and you waved again. "Hello again. Nice weather you guys have here."

Nessa smiled. "Yeah. It's usually warm and sunny here all year round being the coast and all. You should visit the beach if you ever get the chance."

You shrugged. "I might. I mean I guess my sobble could use the chance to swim."

"Well, that all depends. Is your sobble a freshwater or saltwater sobble?"

"There's a difference?"

"Hey wait a minute!" Both of you turned to Sonia who was looking between the two of you with a confused look on her face. "You two know each other?"

"Sort of. She helped me out with some stuff yesterday, I didn't even know she was the gym leader until someone told me," you explained with a shrug, "I just appreciate anyone who helps carry groceries."

"Oh. I see. What are you doing here if Gloria is I assume at the stadium?," she asked.

You gestured to your sobble as it spat out an apple seed. "Someone wanted more food. I'm telling you he's worse than a kid hyped up on sugar once he sees the stuff." Both of you jumped at a ....snort? Blinking you looked at Nessa and noticed her holding her mouth and chuckling.

"I-I'm so sorry," she giggled out, "That's just the funniest thing that I've heard all day while stressing out. U-U-Usually people don't say that about s-s-sobble care."

You blinked. "Oh yeah?"

Sonia nodded as Nessa's giggles slowly fizzled out. "Usually sobbles are....how do you say it?...Massive cry babies that'll cry at the tiniest things like a baby would. It happened ALL the time with my Granny gave a trainer their first pokemon." She groaned closing her eyes as if the memory gave her instant annoyance and headaches. "They don't get an extra snack? BOOM! Crying! They trip the littlest, I mean tiniest bit. Crying! You're too busy to pet them? Crying! Forget playtime? CRYING! And don't get me started on the amount of times I had to buy Sobble Eye Drops for all the stinging and headaches. It's like walking on eggshells until they evolve into a drizzile! It's why a bunch of trainers rather chose scorbunny or grookey than a sobble." She pointed towards yours who had finished eating and began crawling it's way over to you. "In fact, the sobble Granny gave Leon for the trainers he endorsed was the pokemon who stayed in our care the longest. She must've had it for at least since it hatched and was given to her. It was such a little wimp clinging to her all the time...I never really had mush patience for them."

You jolted when something tugged on your arm, calming yourself once you noticed it was just your pokemon. "...Really?"

With a frown Nessa sighed. "She's right. Sobbles are much better suited for older more patient people. They aren't exactly really popular pokemon among starting trainers who are eager to start their journey. Most end up for adoption to pokemon centers or abandoned to the wild because the person decides it's not worth it to have their eyes burning after every battle or basically raise what could essentially be a child in their eyes." Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "I remember once Raihan came all the way to Hulbury just to give me a sobble someone carelessly discarded at his gym after they lost. The poor thing was so confused and scared. It was a miracle I found someone who loved it. Much more than the thoughtless trainer who never gave it a second thought. Pokemon aren't just toys you can give away or leave lying around after you decided you outgrew them."

"THAT'S AWFUL!!,'' you shouted feeling an anger grow in you as one hand instinctly came up to grab your sobble who chirped in confusion at your actions, both women giving you looks of surprise at your shout. How could anyone DO such a horrible thing!? That's like the equivilant of someone getting a brand new puppy and then not wanting to deal with the work and attention that goes into it and then straight up abandoning it to the streets in your world!! "How could anyone do such a thing?! That's like...So not ok!"

"Well....That is very true. Its not ok. But it seems to be you and your sobble have a very special connection," Nessa said gesturing towards your sobble making Sonia take a double take at you as well.

"Huh. Now that you mention it he does looked rather relaxed. He usually never looked so comfortable before Granny gave him to Leon."

"Really?,'' you asked, "He seemed pretty ok so far. Cried like...only one time but that might be cuz he was pushed over by these rockstar wannabes."

To that the ladies seemed lightly surprised. "Really now? Well then you must have lots of patience then. Sobbles usually tend to work better with people who have lots of patience or a motherly personality."

"And considering you mentioned never having a pokemon before I'm kinda impressed too. You must be a natural babysitter!," Sonia joked. You huffed and rolled your eyes at her joke. Yeah. You sure felt like one sometimes during your journey so far.

"Oh, Scales!" You blinked backed towards Nessa as she now held up her phone to her face with a frown before looking back towards you and Sonia. "Hey. Sorry but I have to bounce. I have to stop by home then head to the gym really quick if I'm going to make it to that match on time." Turning with a smile she waved. "I'll see you later Sonia. It was nice seeing you again too, Miss. good luck with that sobble of yours."

As she walked away, the both of you waved as you watched her go before Sonia turned back to you. "Hey. If you're not really busy, would you like to come to the docks with me?" She held up a small clear plastic bag with, what looked like to you at least, dog kibble with a smile. "There's always a small school of chinchou everyone likes to feed there. I always like to visit whenever I come to Hulbury."

You paused considering her words for a moment. It would be nice to have more time with another person around your age before you had to go back for a bit and they wouldn't be expecting you for a while. So it should be fine. With a shrug you stood up. "Sure! I don't think I've ever seen a chinchou anyways."

Smiling she gestured for you to follow. "C'mon. We're pretty close anyways. I think you'd really like them."

She was right. The small market area was right across from the docks anyways, so it took less than five minutes to reach the docks. You followed her onto the pathways on the water and looked over the edge. The crystal blue water acting like a mirror letting you see your reflection and your sobble's as it blinked big innocent eyes at the water. You nearly bumped into her when she stopped and already had the bag open with her hand inside rummaging around until she pulled out a small handful of the kibble. With a toss they all went into the clear water sending small ripples as they floated and bobbed on the mirror water. That was until almost instantly bubbles appeared from under them and in a flurry of lightbulb antennas and blue skin tons of tiny little creatures swam to the surface and the floating kibble was devoured by the pokemon. You blinked as you watched them swim around. There must've been around ten of them all swimming about here. You blinked as the bag was suddenly held out to you with a smile from Sonia.

"Do you wanna feed them a little? This pokemon food is specifically made for water type pokemons' tastes," she offered.

"Yeah! Thanks!" You happily took some from her and a small blue hand tried to reach out for it too as you pulled away and gave your sobble a look. It stared at you for a moment before chirping and grabbing your nose. "*sigh* Fine." With a sigh and roll of your eyes, you silently held one piece of the kibble up to him and watched as he grabbed it from you and popped it into his mouth. Before tossing more kibble at the peeping lanturn fish like pokemon still swimming around. As before they began devouring it. "They sure are hungry huh?"

"Always are," Sonia replied tossing some more kibble to them. "It's a really popular thing to do around here if you aren't visiting the stadium or Aquarium or eating at the famous cafe up the road. Since there's a battle later today with Nessa I suspect that's why it's so vacant."

You smiled. "Yeah. I just hope everything goes well for them later today. Hop and her seemed pretty excited to go battling Nessa."

Sonia nodded. "I can't blame them. When Leon and I were they're age we were excited over battling the gym leaders too." She smiled at some distant long memory. "In fact, it seemed like it was just yesterday I was right here feeding some Chinchou and then Leon came out of no where and fell in the water! S-Said he d-d-didn't even know how he got there looking for the stadium." She giggled and you couldn't help but smile back.

"Oh. Is that anything like the time I heard he somehow ended up on top of a barn?" Sonia snorted. "Or the time he went out to catch a train and somehow ended up back in front of his house?"

"That happened?"

You nodded. "Oh yeah. He ended up waiting for me to thank me for the two's Slumbering Weild field trip after it happened. I have no idea how."

She chuckled. "Neither do I. Lee's always had a bad sense of direction just like his Da-" She froze. The once smile and cheery attitude replaced by a look of mild panic before she coughed and tossed some more kibble towards the chinchou. "Hey. Look at how cute they are today. They look like such healthy wild chinchou. Don't you think?"

It was her attempting to deflect away from what she already said. You knew that and personally you wouldn't really bother looking into it as 1. It was really none of your business and you hated budding into someone else's business and 2. you didn't feel up to making Sonia more uncomfortable than she already looked...But you couldn't help yourself since this was the second time this has happened. ...That's right. She did a similar thing at the Opening Ceremony when she asked you not to mention what she said to anyone. By now you had completely forgotten about that moment with everything that's been going on and at the time just brushed it off having more important things to worry about. But now....You looked at her and by the look in her eyes she knew what you were about to ask.

"That's right. I spent a few days between their houses and I saw their families. And I met their mothers. And Hop's grandparents." You fully turned to her with a raised brow. "And Hop's older brother. And Gloria's brother. But not have I ever once seen any of their dads nor had they even mentioned them. So that's begging the question of where's the missing link then isn't it?"

There was a pregnant silence between the two of you as you stared at her expectantly and Sonia stared back down at the water, seemingly trying to process the situation she found herself in. The only sounds was the boat horns from the docks, and the splashing around and noises of the chinchou as they still begged for more of the kibble Sonia held. And after more silence your expression softened and a guilty feeling bubbled up. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to ask. Even if you were traveling with them it was none of your business really. So you went to apologize.

With a sigh, Sonia finally seemed to find her words and turned to you with a sad but serious look. "I...understand if you're concerned or curious. I'd be too all things considering. But I really CANT tell you anything since it's not my place to say....By now you obviously noticed they just..aren't there and let's leave it as that."

You nodded. "Hey. I'm..I-I'm sorry. I know it's none of my business. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

She shook her head. "No. To be honest you wouldn't be the first one to ask that question to Leon or anyone else and you probably won't be the last. But if you could do us both a solid and not tell anyone about this it'd be great."

"Believe me, I was about to ask you the same thing." You smiled. "Trust me. I won't tell us a soul."

"Thank you, Y/n. I'm glad you understand."

"Hey. Of course!"

So.....No fathers in the picture huh? A strange feeling settled into your guts that was something akin to feeling extremely guilty. And a....strange feeling of familiarity of it all for your own reasons...Then the reality hit you. In a memory of what happened back at the inn back in Motostoke. In the very slip up Sonia had made before that you had passed off until now-

"And thanks for taggin' along with the kids this far. I know we're practically strangers but there's just....I don't know....really good aura about you. I'm sure Lee appreciates it too. He's always so worried about Hop. He practically raised him after all-" All of a sudden it was like a switch flipped off in her mind and her happy smile went to a sudden shocked face. "Oh no. I didn't mean to mention that. Please forget I even said that."

You had pretty much pieced it together right after remembering that. For some reason, in one way or another, Hop and the twins had no fathers and Leon as Sonia said must've practically filled the role in which a father figure would fill. This would sum up a lot of the things you've bared witness too. Hop and Gloria's infatuation with Leon(especially on Hop's end), they're desire to climb their way up the ranks and make him proud-..Heck. Leon's behavior know that you think about it could've been summed up as brotherly...or fatherly. Sponsoring two (although it was VERY clear he was full on ready to just endorse Victor as well no questions asked if he hadn't made the choice of not competing in the Gym Challenge) kids for the challenge which as you came to know wasn't typical of a Galar Champion, buying you and them all those supplies and stuff, and with what Sonia said just set that fact in concrete. And....While that did make you feel guilty and sad for them...At the end of the day it really was none of your business. Any moment or day now you could wake up back home and none of this would have mattered, and you shouldn't really butt in between their business. Especially since you weren't planning on staying in the long run. Plus...you were trying NOT to uproot the game's progress as much as possible or no more than you might've already had done if at all with your actions. You might've not remembered how the game went entirely but you knew you were on the right track. For now at least. You continued to make small talk with Sonia about how her research was going and your trip over before deciding it was best to part ways there and bid her farewell before heading back towards the stadium. Nessa mentioned leaving to make sure she arrived on time. You wondered if Gloria was battling her right now?...Well you soon found out the answer to that question.

when you were just making your way up to the resturaunt your stomach grumbled. Making you wince a bit. Huh. Guess you were out for longer than you thought if you got hungry. Glancing up to the cafe you wondered how much a simple meal would cost? It was supposed to be famous for their food after all. With a shrug you decided on entering and seeing if they had anything your measly twelve dollars could buy. Fancy was the first word that came to mind when you entered through the double doors and a bell rung off. A woman at a front desk was the first thing to greet you along with some kind of pokemon you didn't recognize. It seemed the theme of the whole place was blue and white, giant tables lined the area with table setting and napkins fancily folded into boat like shapes, a MASSIVE window looking over the stadium, and a bar like area near the far right walls with another pair of double doors you assumed lead to the kitchen. The only other people there besides you and the lady was a man behind the bar counter who was talking on the phone with someone.

The woman smiled at you. "Greetings and welcome to the Hulbury Seafood Restaurant!" She greeted with a bow. "Do you happen to have a reservation or would like to make one?"

"Uh-..." You shook your head. Oh man. Was this one of those places where you HAD to make a reservation in order to eat? "Not exactly. I just heard your food was pretty good."

The woman still smiled. "Oh. Well then I'd be more than happy to seat you by the-"

"AHH!" Both of you jumped when a thud rang out which turned out to be the man in the chef hat slamming down the phone he was previously talking to.

"Chef, what on earth is the matter?," the woman asked.

The chef pointed to the phone scowl on his face. "My delivery boy just called. Apparently he's caught a cold and can't make it today! Out of all the days I need him most." The old man grabbed at his grey hair. "I have all these orders and no one to take them. The Chairman could show up any minute for his reservation but instead he's going to be present with angry customers calling for their orders and our reputation as Hulbury's greatest restaurant will be tarnished!!"

"Well...I could run out and deliver a few," the woman suggested.

"And leave your post!? OH no no no! That'd look even more bad if no one was here to greet them in while I cook!" He slumped forward. "This is an utter disaster! What am I to do?"

You looked between the two of them before slowly holding up your hand. "Um...If you'd like, I'd like to help."

Immediately the chef snapped his head up and blinked at you. Before a suspicious look came over his face as he looked you over. "You, Young Lady? You would please help us deliver some food?"

You nodded. "I mean..Yeah. It looks like you guys are pretty.." You gave a glance at the empty place. "-busy at the moment and I'd like to help."

After looking you up and down a few more moments the chef sighed before shrugging. "Why not? I have nothing else to lose in this moment anyhow." He reached under a counter and beckoned you to come over to which you complied before placing a small take out box onto the counter. "Thank you. I truly appreciate it. Tell you what. If you manage to deliver all the take out orders then I'll prepare you my famous 'Lucky Egg' dish as thanks. How does that sound?"

You mouth watered just thinking about free food. This just might be your lucky day after all. You nodded with a smile and took the box from him. "Sure! Sounds fair enough. Where do I deliver this one?"

He paused for a moment...before he rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh uh. Well as for where to deliver the food.....Sorry. We've been so stressed out for the Chairman's visit I forgot to ask for an address." You stared at him. .....WHAT!? "B-But I heard a clickity clack sound from the phone when I took the first order. Maybe that's a clue as to where to go?"

..........You sighed. "Yeah..Don't worry about it. I'll figure it out somehow."

"That's the spirit! Come back as soon as you're done delivering that one! And hurry please. Oh! And here. Take this notepad with you. They'll have to sign off on it so I can send the bill."

You had no idea what you had gotten yourself into this time. With a groan you exited the restaurant and spotted a peculiar sight to behold. There was Gloria standing just outside the restaurant as you approuched with her back to you and you soon saw what she was staring at. A little ways from her standing in the middle of the road was HIM. Mareep Head-..Er. I mean Bede who looked bored and in front of him was....It was her. The same woman from your dream and the Opening Ceremony as well. And in front of her was...No. It COULDN'T be!! In front of them was a group of about six to eight people, but with that group was none other than the CHAIRMAN himself!!...Tho he looked a little different than the other times you've seen him. You didn't expect to see Nessa outside of her gym leader suit, but you hadn't been caught too much off guard. The chairman however was a different story. Instead of that professional slim fitting suit he wore a baseball cap, slip on white shoes, sunglasses, .....a sweater that showed how chubby he was actually under his suit, and blue shorts with white polka dots to top it all off. You could only star at the man...Was this-....This COULDN'T have been the same professional high standing man that ran the whole Galar Region! He looked like someone's Dad on a lazy day. ...You chuckled which startled Gloria into giving a yelp and whipping around to see you and the box you held.

"Holy Magikarp, Y/n! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry....Hey. What are you doing all the way over here? I thought you were having a battle today."

She sighed. "We got hungry just waiting for Nessa so Hop suggested I go grab us something while he holds our place. What are you doing?" She noticed the box you held and pointed at it. "And what's that?"

"Long story short is that I agreed to be the fill in delivery boy for a bit." You nodded past her towards the group. "Hey uh...Gloria, is that who I think it is?"

She turned around and with a huff she crossed her arms and frowned. "Yeah. The Cottonee so full of himself he needs a garden hose to wash the ego from his brain!"

".....Uh..Actually I was talking about the chairman over there, but I guess Bede's here too yes."

"Oh...Well yeah. It's weird just walking around the corner and seeing him right that. Like..what the bloody heck are those shorts?"

"Y'know I was thinking the same thing." You two continued to watch in bewilderment as the chairman smiled and spoke with the small group of people, before the woman suddenly stepped in front of him as he was about to shake another person's hand.

She held up a hand. "Our sincerest apologies," she spoke with a calm and professional tone, "The chairman is quite busy at the moment. Everyone please disperse. Please leave now."

The crowd murmered but eventually slowly parted ways, one woman saying. "Ok. See you later, Chairman."

"Oh h-hey! No need to rush off! I can still do autographs!," the chairman called after them raising a hand, "I'll even give you my pokemon league card!" To your surprise no one really paid attention and kept walking besides you and Gloria...And you rose a brow. With a sigh he turned back to the woman. "we need the support of our fans to keep doing what we're doing. Chasing them off like that. Aren't you being a little too harsh, Oleana?"

"Fans are very important of course," the woman, who must've been Oleana explained, "That's why you need to keep doing your work for their sake."

"I promise to do everything in my power to assist you too, Chairman!," Bede butted in proud of himself. Huh. Maybe Gloria had a point.

The chairman gave him a look for a moment before raising a brow. "Oh. And you were?"

Maybe it was just your imagination most likely, but you could've sworn you saw Bede frown for a moment before he answered, "Bede, Sir."

"AH! That's right! Bede! I daresay I'm impressed how fair you've come since I gave you that pokemon all those years ago. Will you be the one to win the Gym Challenge? Or perhaps it will be one of the Trainers endorsed by the Champion."

"I will prove your faith in me was well placed, Chairman," Bede assured, "I won't lose to anyone. Anyway speaking of which, I'll be on my way now." He turned and began walking away, but completely froze upon seeing you and Gloria..Well more Gloria than you as the two of them made eye contact...And he suddenly pointed. "YOU!?"

"Hey Mareep Head. How's your Hatenna?"

"WHY YOU-....YOU- ..LITTLE-"

"AH! You!" Bede practically jumped out of his skin as the chairman was quick to push past him and walk up to Gloria with a smile, Oleana right behind him. Gloria practically just stood and stared as he approuched and you rose an eye brow. "Your name was...." He thought for a moment before pointing to her. "Gloria right? We were just talking about you!" Your brow rose more. That was a complete and utter lie. They were standing right there entire time in front of you but you shrugged it off as an awkward ice breaker.

.....Gloria exchanged a look with you before pointing at herself. "....Me?"

he nodded. "Yes! I admit I'm curious about Leon's reasons for endorsing you. Ah! I just had a good idea, as I tend to do!" Brag much? "You're going to face Gym Leader Nessa soon, yes?"

"Um...Y-Yeah. I was on my way back to the stadium actually-"

"Well if you get a gym badge from her I'll hold a celebration! I'd like to get to know you a little better after all." He smiled and you felt ....odd about it all.

"Um..Y-Yeah..I guess so??"

"Chairman, we should really be going if you want to keep that dinner reservation," Oleana stated.

The chairman nodded to her before turning back to Gloria. "Alright. Please do your best, for the sake of Galar's future."

"I Uh...Y-YES SIR!!" Gloria gave her best smile under the situation.

With a smile and nod he turned and walked past her and you not sparing you a glance and you followed him with your gaze brow raised...You weren't sure, but you had a funny feeling about him and it wasn't a good funny. When you turned back around you nearly jumped the box in surprise. The woman-!! Oleana was standing right in front of Gloria so close her shadow was literally blocking the sunlight from her. The poor girl frozen under the woman's studying gaze.

"The Chairman will be heading to this town's seafood restaurant." She stated monotonely, "Win the gym badge and join him there at once. Do not keep him waiting. Am I clear, Young Lady?" Gloria didn't say anything..and you looked at her. Eyes shooting to the size of plates. She was more frozen than a glacier. ...All that came out of her was a small squeak noise making the woman's eyes narrow. "Perhaps I wasn't clear. Do not keep the chairman waiting. Head to the seafood restaurant. The Captain's Table. Do you need me to repeat myself once more, Child? Or do you understand-"

"Too skinny."

Gloria jumped having probably completely forgotten you were there for a moment as she snapped to you and Oleana followed her piercing gaze to meet your glare. ....She slowly blinked. "I beg your pardon, Miss?"

"I said you're too skinny for that," you explained as they both stared at her.

Her brow flicked up as she studied you. "And I happen to be too thin for what purpose, Ma'am?"

"Well you're certainly not fat enough to be throwing your weight around not to notice you're being a jerk," you explained raising a brow back, "Obviously she heard you with how close you are. Maybe she'd answer if you weren't so close making her feel uncomfortable like that."

They both stared at you stunned. Gloria jaw dropped and Oleana had the same face but her eyes much more widened as she stared at you. It was so quiet you could've heard a pin drop as you joined this little three way stare down. HECK. It felt like an entire hour just staring at her before her face slowly contorted back to her original bored/professional looking one and she took a step back, spooking Gloria in process as the poor girl blinked.

"Do you happen to know who I am, Miss?," she asked like you should already know this.

"Somebody who's heels makes them so tall their head's in the clouds obviously."

This time her brows furrowed, her mouth frowned, and you noticed the way her hands gripped each other. As if she was physically holding back her anger. But before she could reply a chuckle seemed to interrupt you. Blinking you turned around only to find that the Chairman guy was looking right at you. Raising a brow and humming. You rose a brow and frowned right back.

....He waved a hand off. "Oleana, you're right. We'll be late for that reservation. Give the young trainer my League card and let's be on our way."

It's amazing how fast her aura and face changed at a moment's dime. "Of course. So you will not forget the Chairman's face, I will give you one of his League Cards." She suddenly held something out to Gloria who blinked but after a moment took it. "Chairman Rose is the kind of man who gets downhearted if he doesn't take care of things he needs to right away. Go to the seafood restaurant as soon as possible so as to not keep the chairman waiting." She glanced back to you and your eyes narrowed more. "...Good luck in your battle." With that she stepped around Gloria who followed her as she went and so did you with your frown. And after the Chairman gave another look to you, also turned and walked away.

....You sighed and turned back to Gloria, only to blink when she was staring right back at you. "....Uh...H-Hey. Are you ok there? You looked spooked." Shaking. Your eyes widened noticing her hands shaking. "WHOA! Hey! Are you ok!? She didn't scare you too bad did she?"

"Y-Y-Y/n..," She stuttered. Her hands slowly clenched into fists. "T-T-That..was..." Her face snapped up to you in a smile. "AWESOME!! SERIOUSLY!! Like! Yeah she gave off major scare vibes I swear she's worse than a gengar in the darkest room! My heart was pounding so fast! Then you were all well slayin' 'ere like a beast!!...Omg." She looked down for a moment realization settling in. "....My traveling partner talked BACK to the Chairman's right hand!! What's he going to think when I show up!? I mean it was amazing to watch don't get me wrong. But STILL!!''

"Hey, hey, hey!!" You caught her attention by grabbing her shoulder making her blink at your face. "Hey. Look at me." Once you knew you had her full attention you smiled. "That woman was making you feel scared, and that's not ok. So I did what I had to do. If anything I'll get in trouble. Besides, Im a girl standing on the sidewalk holding a delivery box. They'd probably think I was just a stranger going to delivery a pizza or something. Right now you should just worry about your gym battle."

It was like a record scratch went off in her mind as she suddenly paused, face going blank for a moment before her hands suddenly snatched the top of her head. "AH!! MY GYM BATTLE!! I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THAT!! BUT THE CHAIRMAN SAID IF I WIN TO SEE HIM!! IF!! IF!! WHAT IF I DON'T WIN!? OMG!! CAN I STILL MEET WITH HIM IF I DON'T-"

You shook her with the hand still on her shoulder. "Gloria! Get a grip on yourself! Of course you're going to win!'' You smiled. "If you could beat Milo you can beat Nessa too! And if you lose it's fine. I'm sure he'll understand, you can't let all of that overthinking stop you ok? Be more confident in yourself, and if you lose..." You shrugged. "Then it's ok. You can always try again tomorrow or any other day. You are going to be ok....Ok?"

She stared at you for a long moment before taking a deep breath and sighing. A determined look now plastered on her face. "You're right! I'm just overthinking this! I just need to remain calm and everything's going to be fine!"

You smiled. "That's the spirit...Hey. Isn't it gonna start like..right now?"

"GAH! Y-You're right! I gotta go!" With a wave she quickly turned on her heel and ran off towards the stadium. "Thanks, Y/n! You're the best!"

You sighed before shaking your head watching her go. Well...glad that went well at least, she was a brave girl so she should be ok..But then why did you still feel eyes on you? As you turned your f/c eyes met purple ones and Bede jumped having noticed you spotted him. With a jerk of his head the other way, he quickly sped walked away from you in the opposite direction leaving you lightly confused. But you shrugged it off. Right now you had bigger fish to fry like getting this fish you were currently holding to the person who ordered it. Who ever it was. That was the thing you had to figure out as you stood there in the middle of the sidewalk staring at the box in your hands like someone staring off into space. Good gosh the guy couldn't think to ask for an address? What were you supposed to do with a click clack sound? That could mean anything....Well what kind of click clack sounds were loud enough to be heard over a phone. ....Your head turned towards the train station back towards the stadium. Didn't trains usually make a noise like that? A train would certainly be loud enough to hear over a phone. With a shrug you started off down towards the train station and right up to the first house right by it since there was two. Knocked and waited patiently as footsteps approuched.

The first one was answered by a middle aged looking man and you smiled. "Hey! Uh...Did you order seafood?"

"No. I don't like fish."

"Oh..Sorry about tha-" You flinched as the door was slammed back shut in front of your face..before you frowned. "Well he was pretty rude wasn't he?" Your sobble chirped in agreement. "Couldn't have said it better myself," you mumbled as you turned away from the door and away from the first house to go to the second. The Stadium not too far away roaring alive now with cheers. Must be Hop or Gloria having a battle with Nessa. Shame you couldn't attend but you were a bit busy right now. Walking up to the second home, you knocked on the door and waited. After a moment footsteps approuched and a sweet elderly woman answered. You smiled. "Hey! Good afternoon! Did someone here order some seafood?"

To your delight, she smiled. "Oh, are you the one delivering my food?" She happily reached out and took the box from you. "Thank you for your trouble! This restaurant's dishes are full of seafood and it's so delicious if I say so myself. They are pretty well known after all."

"Your welcome! ..Oh wait!" You reached into your pocket to quickly pull out your notebook. "I need you to-''

"Oh of course! Your tip. "

"Actually I-" You blinked when a small bag of what looked like small jaw breakers was placed into your hand tied off by a cute little red ribbon.

"I've already paid the restaurant over the phone, so I'll give you candy as a tip. There's nothing like sweets to go along with a beautiful day. You have a nice day now."

You blinked looking at the small bag. "Hey wait! I need you-" The door closed leaving you staring at it. "..to sign this. *sigh*" You held up the overly cute bag and your sobble gave it a curious look over. "Well, it's not money but it's better than nothing I guess. Wouldn't you say?"

Your trip back to the restaurant wasn't anything unusual, still faintly hearing the cheers from the gym on your way there. The only thing that was a little strange was a small group of three or four people standing outside the place trying to peep into the windows. Your brow rose but you shrugged it off and just stepped inside seeing the same woman as before.

"Sorry. We're closed at the mome-..OH! It's you young lady,'' she greeted.

"Back again?!" You looked over towards the chef and he smiled seeing you. "Excellent! I wanted to ask you to deliver some food again. Is that ok? I suspect that the package was delivered?"

....You held up the bag of candy. "Yeah. Sorry I couldn't get her to sign it. But she tipped me in candy."

"Oh. That must've been Mrs. Wesley. Don't worry about her, she has a habit of doing that." Again he reached under the counter and brought up another box. "But right now I need you to deliver this next one as soon as possible!'' You walked over and he held it out to you before slightly nodding over towards the right. You glanced over and your eyes widened seeing the chairman and Oleana looking out of the window over the stadium, not seeming to notice you thankfully. "Since the Chairman's here we're doing our best to try and not upset the atmosphere. Since you're taking care of this for us it's really taking one less thing off our shoulders to worry about."

You sighed with a smile before taking the second box from him. The fresh smell of fish and chips wafting from it making your mouth water. "Hey. It's no problem. Where do I take this one?"

He paused. "Well....I uh...Haha. D-Didn't quite get the address for this one either?" You stared. "...B-but I don't know if this helps, but I think I heard a pokemon cry over the phone this time. Like....Swiirl...Or something like that."

"....I'll...figure it out I'm sure."

Figure it out indeed! How in the HECK were you just supposed to deliver a dang food order based off a pokemon's cry?? Whelp! There was only one way to solve this! ...Visit all the houses here until you came across the right one. So that's exactly what you did. You already delivered to the lady up by the train station and the guy next to her rudely stated he didn't so that was two houses you could cross off your list. So there you went starting from one end of the long, LONG street of houses one after another smiling and asking if they ordered a take out. Every. Single. One. Said. No. Or just didn't answer at all, and to be honest you were feeling justifiably annoyed at this point. What was the POINT of having someone deliver food if you didn't know where to send them!? It must've taken you at least fifthteen minutes of walking and asking until you FINALLY caught a break coming to the very last house on the block before the road split off between the train station and stadium. You knocked and waited patiently as footsteps approuched, and you smiled when a blonde man who looked to be in his early thirties opened the door.

"Hey. Sorry to bother you, but did you order some seafood takeout?"

"Oh, I can smell the ocean. You're from the restaurant aren't you?" You nodded and held the box up to him as he took it with a hum. "Ah! I'm starving! I've been drooling while waiting for the food! Than you for delivering the food!"

"Oh hey. Before you go." You held up the notepad. "Could you please sign for this?"

"Oh sure thing. Wait right here." He turned and walked back inside leaving you standing there able to see the inside of the home as the man handed off the food to two little girls who looked so much alike that they must've been twins. A pink pokemon looking like cotton candy swirling around them. "Stacy, Lacy. Food's here. And this time don't let Pinkie eat my share of it." You stood there awkwardly until he finally came back grabbing the note pad. "Sorry about that. You know how kids can be."

"Heh. Yeah. Sorry if it took so long. Had to go the long way around to get here."

"Well you get energy from food. If you need energy you should eat balanced meals." He handed you back the notepad with a smile. "Thanks again!''

With a sigh you turned on your heel and began trudging off back towards the restaurant. Your stomach rumbled again and by this point you were seriously wondering if this was even worth any free food for? If you had half a mind you would've just quite, returned the notepad, and then just go back to the hotel to just eat some of your rations or order the cheapest thing on the room service menu. But then again, you already promised to help and free food does sound better than spending your remanding money. Plus their food was supposed to be really good. So..You made the choice to go back to the very cafe you came from and waltzed back through the doors and up to the counter this time. The chef seemed very pleased to have you back as he had already placed the last box on the counter he explained. Only one more? Oh THANK goodness. You weren't sure how much of this mumbo jumbo you could handle. You took the last box from him not sparing a glance over your shoulder in the chairman's way.

"As for the address-"

"Let me guess. You forgot?"

"Actually. No. I remembered to ask." Your eyes widened. Was this finally gonna be easy? "Unfortunately I have no idea where it is.".....WHAT?! "The customer told me to look for a green roof, but I wonder if there is such a house in Hulbury. I've certainly never seen a house like this before but Im sure you're smart enough to figure it out like the other two!"

".......Right."

Of course it wasn't going to be that easy. It never was going to be easy for you was it? It seemed simple enough tho. Just look for a house with a green roof and that should be it right? Except..none of the houses you had asked previously had ordered anything and the ones that did couldn't have possibly ordered a second time in such short notice right after getting the first. Oh well. Green roof. That's all you had to go on......and the amount of time you had spent walking up and down these streets looking for any building with a green roof was exhausting. NONE of the homes here had green roofs and when you checked the few buildings around here that weren't homes (like the light house and pokemon center-) discovered surprise, surprise. No green roof either. Oh you hoped whoever ordered this didn't live outside Hulbury. Not having any luck where you currently were, you decided to go ahead and go back down to the docks where you first went that morning. You didn't remember seeing any buildings there but it wouldn't hurt to cover all bases before giving up. Your body ended up wondering back to the market place you were once in...And you were about ready to give up. There wasn't anything around here with a green-

"HEY! Young Lady with the sobble on your shoulder!," a male voice shouted. Blinking, you turned around to one of the stalls. the one with the green and white top. A man with brown hair waved at you. "You're delivering food?" You nodded. "Well hey! I'm the one who ordered it!" He was!?...You glanced towards the striped roof of his stall.....Oh. A green roof. Whelp! Might as well get this over with. he smiled wider as you approuched. "You got here earlier than I expected! It was easy to spot the green roof wasn't it?"

No. Not really. In fact it would've been a LOT easier if he just said he was in a stall in this marketplace but instead you forced a smile and handed him the box and notepad. "Please sign here."

He gladly signed it. "The tail curry of this restaurant has a unique flavor. I love it! Say hi to the manager for me!"

You quickly grabbed the notebook. "Have a nice day!" And then you quickly retreated. A groan leaving your tired body as you dragged yourself back the way you came for a second time that day. By the time you had gotten back close to the restaurant you were sore, tired, but most of all you were hungry! OH! The food had better be worth it or else you were going straight back to the hotel to-

"Y/N!!" Hey. You knew that voice! Sure enough Gloria was waving her arm at you with a smile as you proceeded to walk towards her. Despite wanting time to yourself today you were absolutely glad to see her. "What are you doing by the docks?"

"Finishing my role as a replacement delivery boy," you answered when you got close enough and pointed at her white uniform. "Why are you still wearing your gym challenge uniform?"

"Oh uh.." She sheepishly smiled with a chuckle. "It's a long story. On the bright side I managed to defeat Nessa! LOOK!" A flash of bronze went in your face and you blinked before leaning back. A badge with some kind of blue water pattern shown before you. No doubt the water gum badge. "Feast yer eyes! I thought I was a gonna when I lost the second round, but I managed to pull a turn around and win enough rounds to pass! Ain't it great?!"

You smiled. "Hey! That is great! I'm so happy for you! But where's Hop? I thought he was with you."

"He stayed behind to set up his own battle with Nessa tomorrow. Don't worry. He already knows where I am. Said he'll meet back up with us when we're done having dinner with the Chairman."

"...We?"

"Oh.." She slowly lowered her had back down to her side. "I just...thought you'd be coming too since you were there with me when he invited me.I-...I just thought since y'know...B-But that's fine! I won't force ya to come with me. Yer probably tired from running around all day anyways."

You paused. Yes, you were tired but you were heading back inside the restaurant anyways. And if Oleana was there...You smiled. "Hey! I'd love to come!"

Her eyes lit up. "REALLY!?"

"Yeah. I gotta go in to let 'em know I'm done delivering all these confusing orders anyways." You turned and nodded towards the doors. "C'mon. Let's go eat and see what he wants. Ok?"

With a smile of relief she nodded and the two of you went up towards the doors and went inside. The woman from before was there and upon seeing the both of you greeted you both with a smile. "Welcome to the Hulbury Seafood Resturaunt. Unfortunately we're not accepting any reservations or walk ins today but if you'd like to schedule one for a later or order take out you're more than welcome-....Oh! It's you again, Young Lady."

"Uh. Yeah." You held out the notepad. "Actually I was promised free food if I delivered everything and we were both invited to eat with the Chairman over there."

"Oh." She glanced to Gloria who looked nervous, seeming to realize she was a trainer. "Yes. I recall he said something about an extra guest trainer with his party today. Chairman Rose comes here incognito, but the word always gets out when he's here." She grabbed the notepad from you. "You both may go ahead to the Captain's Table in the back. I'll notify the chef you completed your tasks."

With a thanks you both took off towards the back where you saw the Chairman, Oleana, and..HEY! It was Sonia. Relief flooding in seeing another familiar face. This might be more tolerable then...Maybe you should take this time to apologize? You glanced to Gloria who still looked nervous. If this was someone very high up and important it wouldn't hurt to swallow your pride and just apologize, if nothing else but to keep the peace and show you're willing to be the bigger person. After all you don't want to cause trouble. The first to notice you two was the chairman himself as he turned his head from Sonia to you two and smiled.

"Ah! If it isn't the young trainer I met earlier today," he greeted with a smile and raised brow, "If you're here then I suppose it's safe to say you won against Nessa?"

You didn't miss her gulp before forcing a smile. "Uh..Y-Yeah. Piece of cake!"

He nodded. "I'm so glad! Gloria, come. Let's celebrate your recent victory! On me!" ...You felt eyes on you and you turned from the Chairman's face to Oleana's who was staring right at you. ...You frowned back at her- "And I believe I've seen you before as well, Young Lady." You blinked back to the Chairman's face as he was looking at you too now with a raised brow. ...AH CRAP!! "You were the lady back there who gave my assistant quite a 'roasting' as the young kinds call it nowadays."

...You blinked. Forcing up a smile. Here we go. "Uh. hehe. Yeah. Actually I wanted to apologize to you.." You gave Oleana a glance. "-and her for that. I just thought things were getting a bit scary back there."

To your surprise he chuckled it off with a wave. "Not at all. In all honestly Oleana can be quite intimidating to others. It's one of the reasons she's so good at her job. But there's no hard feelings. Right Oleana?"

The woman next to him inhaled before breathing it back out. "Of course, Sir. Apologies accepted and all's forgiven."

"Excellent! I don't suppose you know Sonia here? She's a wonderful person to have on the research team."

"Yeah. We do actually. Hi, Sonia."

"Oh. Were you invited too?," she asked surprised.

Before you could reply the chairman interrupted you. "You two know each other? That's great! Come now." He gestured to the table directly behind him. "Please be seated." And the three of you followed him and did so after you and Gloria exchanged a glance. She still looked nervous. The order of which you sat was Gloria sat across from the Chairman, Sonia next to Gloria, and you next to the Chairman. Naturally you would've preferred to sit next to either one of the other girls but you weren't about to let Gloria sit right next to a guy you had a funny feeling over. Strangely enough Oleana didn't seem like she was eating with you four and instead opted to stand silently next to the Chairman. How odd. You watched as he oh so casually picked the napkin off his own plate. Hmm...Guess he's been here more than once. "Now that we're all together. Gloria was it? Tell us how did your battle go?"

She shrugged. "Oh. Um. I-It was pretty good. Very thrilling. It was really nice to get ta meet Nessa. She's very nice." Sonia smiled at her.

"That's all very good. If you're as talented as Leon mentioned you then you should have no problem defeating the other gym leaders."

"Well I wouldn't say that. I-It was really hard to beat her. She's a tough gym leader."

"Hey. What were you talking about with Sonia?," you asked successfully steering the topic off Gloria for the moment as the Chairman smiled.

"Oh nothing really worth talking about. How her trip was so far studying around with the legends and the Geoglph in Turffield. The theory is that the two are somehow connected but I digress. AH! Our food has arrived." You looked over to what he was gesturing at and perked up at the lady from before who greeted you carrying two plates. One obviously being some kind of fish as it was placed before the chairman who happily accepted. "Ah! My usual. You always remember." And you were surprised when the other plate was sat in front of you. It was curry, smelt sweet, and had an egg smack dab in the middle of it. "Oh. It looks like you're a regular here too I presume."

"The chef asked me to give you his 'Lucky Egg' dish as a token of his appreciation, Miss," she explained, "I hope you're ok with sweet boiled egg curry. Are the rest of you ready to order?"

"Go ahead ladies. It's on me today."

"Mm. Just a salad. I'm not very hungry today."

"...I mean. The tropical curry sounds good," Gloria guessed.

You were too busy studying the dish in front of you to notice the lady leave. Instead staring at the massive egg just sitting in the middle of the darn plate. ...You weren't up to eating something that might've been a pokemon egg no matter how much your stomach rumbled at the sight and your mouth watered at the smell. Luckily it seemed like you had a back up plan because your sobble was crawling down your arm already on his way towards your food. You extended your hand to allow the small pokemon to sit on the table next to you and without really thinking grabbed the egg off your plate and held it out to it. He smiled and happily accepted your gift with a loud chirp before grabbing it and you watched as it bit it nearly in half with one bite. Goodness. Guess you weren't the only one hungry.

"Hulbury is a seafood town. Naturally if one is going to eat here the obvious choice is the local cuisine," the chairman said already digging in, "Everything on the menu is delicious. Oh, Sonia. By the way how is Professor Magnolia getting on? I'm quite indebted to her you know. She was the one who figured out how to unleash the power of Wishing Stars and use that power to dynamax pokemon. We would never have been able to create dynamax bands without her."

Sonia sighed. "*sigh* She was saying that there's still so much we don't know about dynamaxing. It's causing her some worry. She even made me take a power spot detector with me when I started traveling."

"A power spot detector?," he asked interested, "That's the device that allowed me to discover power spots. Locations that emit galar particles and allow pokemon to dynamax. I don't like hearing that Professor Magnolia is worried though. If only there was something I could do." You glanced at him again out the corner of your eye and rose a brow. Why were you getting a weird feeling in your gut from this guy?

Sonia shrugged. "Unless you can suddenly provide more intel on the phenominon then I'm afraid there isn't much, Sir."

He hummed.".....Sonia. It may be good for you to visit the vault in Hammerlocke. I believe the key to unlocking the secrets of the dynamax phenomenon lies in the history preserved there."

Sonia blinked. "Oh. You really think so?"

"We usually study history based on what was left on it from the past. Although mostly legends at this point you know they always say that every legend has truth to it. Who knows? It might even help tie in with the lengend you've been studying currently. Oleana can arrange a meeting I'm sure. Can't you?"

"Understood, Sir," Oleana replied monotonly, "I will arrange a meeting with Ms. Sonia."

"Very good. See? Nothing to worry yourself over about. Now shall we dig in?"

The rest of that dinner get together was a blur. Honestly you were too busy stuffing your face to talk but you didn't mind. You only watched and listened to the small talk. Gloria and Sonia's food arrived a short while after and by this point they were mostly done eating as well. His other questions didn't seem too out of the ordinary. Asking how their day was? How they were enjoying the challenge so far? Talking about some of his recent appointments involving some kind of arrangement with a Prince from the Pasio Region?? You weren't sure. But the sun was starting to set soon.

"So then I figured the best way to solve the matter was to set up individual warnings for the two of them and move one to a different department under Oleana. *sigh* Both are hard workers so it'd be a shame to just fire one or both. Don't you agree Oleana?"

"Yes, Sir. However I believe it is about time we get going, Chairman."

"Hm?" He looked at her. "But I've hardly had a chance to speak with Gloria." You rose a brow. You had literally been sitting her an entire hour.

"With all do respect, Sir. It's getting rather late. I'm sure the young lady is quite tired from her day."

...He sighed. "It's regrettable but I guess it can't be helped. If something needs to get done there's no time like the present after all!" He slowly stood from his seat as the three of you watched and smiled. "Truly though I'm glad to have had a chance to speak with you ladies today. So sorry if we couldn't have spent more time together. In any case I bid you farewell."

"OH! Uh..G-Good bye, M-Mr. Chairman. Sir."

You remained silent as the two left. Narrowed eyes watching as they went...Something about those two just felt...Off. Like it didn't sit right in your gut, but you had no idea why? Was there some kind of plot in the game with those two you couldn't remember?...Hm. In any case you were glad they were gone now so you and Gloria could rela- Your head perked up with at a sigh as Sonia rubbed her face.

"Hey. You good there?"

"Does he think he's doing me a favor? He's right that the vault would be a good place to look for the legends but..." She paused suddenly looking up and noticing the two of you staring at her confused. "UH!...Nevermind! You got the water badge right? Defeating Nessa is no easy feat!"

"Uh..Yeah. What are-"

"Nessa's a good friend! Perhaps I should drop in on her!," her chair screeched as she stood up all of a sudden giving a nervous smile, "Ahaha! Yes! She'll be so happy to see me! Until next time, Gym Challenger! Nice seeing you again, Y/n!"

Both of you stared as Sonia quickly sped walked away from you two and then out of the restaurant as if she was escaping something...

Gloria blinked. "What the world just happened?"

"Believe me I have learnt in this point of my life to just go with things. C'mon. It's free food. Let's finish eating and meet the others back at the hotel."

#pokemon shield #pokemon sword #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon swsh #pokemon piers #piers x reader #pokemon piers x reader #reader x piers #Piers #reader

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goldgreekgods · 4 years ago

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Act Of Devotion And Self-Love (Aphrodite🌸!)

I've gotten into the habit of starting every morning by following a 16 minute self love yoga video (on youtube), the moment I get out of bed. It is a lovley time to work with Aphrodite on self love/body positivity, and makes a beautiful act of devotion. Keeping her in mind whilst appreciating your body, stretching, and following the videos easy and supportive guide is such a perfect way to kick off your day, and has me feeling great about myself. Whilst stretching and holding some heart-opening poses, there is no better time to send her small prayers and thank her for all her help and guidance on your self-love journey. 🥺🌸

Notes: you can do this anytime of day, morning just works well for me because it starts my day well, and I can pray to Apollo afterwards just before the sun rises ☀️🥰 This isn't sacred or specific to Aphrodite, so if any gods are helping with self-love, or even something similar like health or mindfulness, this can be a great act of devotion! You can feel them with you while you do it, especially when taking deep breaths towards the end, trust me ❤🌻

Let me know if any of you try this or want the youtube link!!💌🤗

#hellenic pagan #helpol #hellenic deities #hellenic polytheism #greek deities #deity #goddess #aphrodite #self love

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tricksters-captain · 4 years ago

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Roman Sionis/Victor Zsasz/Birds of Prey imagines - Pussy Cat

AN: Second Gif credit is @ewanmcgregorz

Overall Summary: You’re Roman’s little ‘pussy cat’. From the moment he met you, you were his but when you catch Zsasz fantasising over you... Things change...

Pairing(s): Roman Sionis xReader, (some) Victor Zsasz x Reader

Word count: 2,920

Warnings: Smut, Masturbation, Cheating, Strong Language, unprotected sex

“Good morning my pussy cat.” Roman announced his presence as he turned the corner from the bedroom and sauntered down the hall in his pyjamas and dressing gown.

You sat at the dining table opposite from Zsasz and your eyes glided over to Roman’s handsome morning look as you sipped your coffee.

“Morning my love.” You greeted him back, kissing his lips lightly as he leant down before he rounded your chair to find his own.

Your eyes moved back to your gaze on Zsasz as he stared at you back with hard look.

“Morning Victor. Terrible weather this morning, I’m afraid we’ll have to move our plans over to tomorrow and perhaps arrange our meeting at the docks with Mr William’s for this afternoon.” Roman helped himself to the filling spread across the table, picking up some pancakes and fruit.

“You got it, Boss.” Victor’s eyes didn’t leave yours as he spoke.

You smirked at the staring match you two seemed to have going and you even saw Zsasz lip twitch on the corner but he controlled himself before Roman could pick up on the little game.

“Are we still on for dinner tonight or shall I leave my dress at the dry cleaner another day or so?” You couldn't help but be cheeky with Roman which only earned a raised eyebrow and a dangerous smile.

“Of course, Kitten. I wouldn’t want to disappoint you now.” Roman’s nickname for you rolled off his tongue and you smiled.

Roman had called you his ‘pussy cat’ since he met you. You had walked into his club for the very first time and his eyes were watching your every move from the moment you passed through the doors.

You had reminded him of a sleek curious cat with your dark cat-like eyeliner and your silky hair that framed your face almost perfectly. You wore a black dress that hung off you, low cut at the front and even lower at the back. The thin material clung to your hips and cascaded down to the bottom of your heels, your knees only just moving the slinky dress with every step.

You studied the room as Roman watched you. Zsasz had noticed his boss had been distracted by someone that night and when he saw you, he soon understood why.

Roman immediately swooped you up that night and claimed you as his own. Within hours of meeting you, he knew he never wanted anyone else to have you but he also learned soon enough not to keep you on too tight a leash.

You’d been together a while now, long enough for the entire city of Gotham to know this wasn’t some usual fling.

Zsasz had grown more trustworthy of you, something very hard for him to do as all he’s wanted to do was protect his boss, but it was rare that you and Zsasz were alone too long together.

“Don’t forget you have a meeting with Miss Lance this lunchtime to discuss her new suggestions.” You reminded Roman as you rose from the table in your silk dressing gown similar to Roman’s but white.

“Thank you, my love.” Roman beckoned you towards him and you obliged, kissing him once again before you left to change for the day.

Roman was right; the weather was terrible which lead you to make the decision to stay in for the day. You spent the morning doing some yoga and working out before you finally crashed on the couch.

Roman was downstairs dealing with some business with the club and some potential new decor that might be added so nothing too risky/dangerous. By the time lunch came around and Roman was due to have his meeting with Black Canary, he sent Zsasz up to check on you.

When you heard footsteps coming towards you, you began to stir from your nap.

“So, we’re all working hard and you get to snooze?” Zsasz said with a light sarcasm as he came into view.

“Deciding on new wallpaper and seat covers isn’t exactly what I would call hard work, Mr Zsasz.” You teased the man, you actually knew that the faffing was all Roman’s business and that Zsasz would have been making business calls and sorting meetings for Roman that morning.

You stretched out on the couch as you spoke. Zsasz couldn't help but let his eyes travel across your body as you reached up, extending like a feline before turning and resting on your stomach.

You hadn’t changed from the morning so wore a simple sports bra and yoga shorts which hugged the curve on your ass as you lied down on your stomach.

“Ha Ha Ha.” Zsasz responded as he studied you.

“Roman sent you up to babysit or are you just visiting?” You knew Roman worried about you and you didn't mind too much when he sent one of his guys to check on you.

“You wish, princess. I’m just here to grab something for the Boss.” Zsasz was a pretty good liar usually but you learned to see through his bullshit. You knew well that Zsasz didn’t really like admitting that Roman sent him up to see you, he thought it might drive you away from Roman or cause a fight and he’d be damned if he started a fight between you two. He wouldn’t hear the end of it from Roman for days...

You smiled brightly at the man to which he just turned and headed to his bedroom.

You spent the next minute lying on the couch before you got bored and decided you should probably shower.

You walked down the hall towards yours and Roman’s bedroom when you passed Zsasz’s door.

An unusual noise made you stop just outside.

“Fuck...” Zsasz groaned, his slow pants audible through the door.

You were frozen. You didn’t know if moving away would make it more awkward. What if he heard your footsteps if you walked away and then he would know you were hovering outside?

“(Y/n)...” Your name rolled off of Zsasz’s tongue clear as day.

You felt your heart stop and your insides flutter.

The door was slightly ajar, closed but not closed enough to latch so you could easily push it open a fraction without him noticing.

You didn’t know what you were doing when you found yourself peering through the tiny gap with curiosity.

You could see Zsasz in his mirror opposite the bed he was sat on.

He had his eyes closed, his length in his hand and his chin slightly raised with his lips apart.

You bit down on your lip subconsciously as you watched the man stroke himself, cursing and moaning your name every few strokes.

His member was large in his hand, you could feel yourself tighten at the sight and your mouth seemed to go dry.

“Holy shit...” Zsasz moaned again, his low voice making his thick accent undeniably beguiling.

You watched him in the mirror as he started to pump faster, drawing himself closer and closer to climax.

Zsasz’s tongue darted across his bottom lip as his moans became louder and more gruff.

He threw his head back as he came. His seed spilling over his knuckles as he placed his other hand above his tip.

You weren’t aware that you stopped breathing in that moment.

When Zsasz cleared his throat and hunched over to return his member to his pants, you took that moment to walk away, picking up your feet as lightly as you could.

You reached the bathroom and shut the door, falling against it with wide eyes and a new found hunger.

You switched on the shower and immediately stripped, trying to cool yourself down from what you just witnessed.

(Gif by @directedbysnyder)

You didn’t see Zsasz again until later that day.

You brushed through your hair as you sat in front of your vanity mirror, you were dressed ready to go to dinner but as always waiting on Roman.

“Boss is waiting downstairs.” Zsasz knocked lightly on your door,

You looked at him in the mirror, he hovered in the door way, his fingers tapping on the door frame as he waited for your response.

“He’s not changing?” You asked, trying not to stare at his fingers too long as images filled your head.

“Guess not.” Zsasz bent his head backwards as he turned away to look down the hall.

Your chest tightened at the side of his bare neck. A vein swelling out of the skin as he looked away from you. Your eyes travelled down his neck down into his shirt where the first few buttons of his shirt were open; the scars the decorated his skin only drew you to him even more.

“What?” Zsasz had noticed you staring before you noticed he was looking back at you.

“Nothing.” You frowned, trying to play it off. You went back to fixing your hair when Zsasz rolled his eyes.

“You look great, can we go?”

You were quick to leave the apartment and jump into the car with Roman.

“Hey, I missed you.” You kissed Roman on sight and he returned it.

His leather clad hand took hold of the side of your jaw as he deepened the kiss.

You felt the fire that had been brewing since lunchtime light up with Roman’s kiss. You hiked up your dress enough to swing your leg over Roman’s lap, sitting yourself down on top of him.

Roman’s hands moved to your hips but his lips parted from yours when your hands found his belt.

“Slow down, Pussy Cat...” Roman stopped your hands with his own.

“Why?” You whined,

“Because we’re meeting important people tonight and I can’t show up looking anything less than I already look.” Roman broke the news that it wasn’t just you two. Of course, it wasn’t, why were you even expecting it to be.

“Oh.” You climbed off of Roman and pulled your dress back down.

“I’ll make it up to you later, kitten, I promise.” Roman brushed your hair from your face with the back of his hand and stroked down your neck.

You stared ahead but pushed a smile on your face before Roman signalled the driver to leave.

The evening seemed to fly by unexpectedly and soon you were back in the apartment, lying beside Roman in bed.

Roman snored lightly as he slept beside you.

You couldn’t sleep.

Thoughts circled your head about your dirty little secret.

You couldn't get Zsasz’s voice out of your head, or the picture of his lips only slightly parted as he breathed heavily to the thoughts of you.

You brushed your fingers across Roman’s forehead and through his hair, he didn’t stir. You loved Roman. You admired him, found him entertaining, adored his passion and excitement. You even loved his tantrums when things don’t go his way, you loved the sex that followed them too.

But after today... After seeing Zsasz...

You couldn’t get rid of the feeling, the temptation, the thought of what it may be like...

Everyone couple had their slips, their doubts, the times where they considered the idea of someone else. Right?

You slipped out of bed and headed down into the living space of the apartment.

You passed the dining table, stroking your fingers along the cool table top as you did.

It was late. You figured around 3am but the city outside was still lively. Gotham never slept.

“What are you doing?” Zsasz’s voice startled you.

You were stood by the window when Zsasz found you.

“Jesus Zsasz...” Your hand rested on your chest from where you jumped around to see him.

“It’s 3 in the morning. I heard something outside my room, I thought it were a trespasser.” That’s when you noticed the large knife in Zsasz hand.

“Well you can put that thing away, big boy, it’s just me.” The words left your mouth quickly and whilst it was something you’d usually retort you found your cheeks flushing which made you spin back around to look out the window again.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone.” Zsasz commented, ignoring your remark.

“Why not?” You asked,

“Boss has a lot of enemies. If someone down there saw yous was alone through that window...” Zsasz gestured with the knife to the window you were people watching from.

“And if they dared, Roman would have you on their asses quicker than you say peeled face.” You smiled, trying your hardest to avoid looking at Zsasz, especially since he was only half dressed.

“You should go back to bed, princess, Boss wouldn’t like waking up to an empty bed.”

“I can’t sleep.” You responded, finally looking over at the man.

His pyjama pants were low on his hips, his v-lines prominent and dark hair trailed down. They were the only item of clothes he wore as he brandished his knife. With that, you could see all the scars that scattered over his chest and neck.

“What’s that gap for?” You walked towards the man, suddenly interested in the empty space above his heart.

“That’s a special place I’m saving for the Joker’s whore, Quinn.” Zsasz tapped on the space with the tip of his knife.

“Harley Quinn?” You found yourself raising your hand to touch the empty space and you saw Zsasz visibly tense up at your touch. “You and Roman really hate her, huh?”

You smiled up at him but it soon started to fade when you saw his eyes almost boring through you.

His lips were agape much like before.

You couldn’t stop.

Your hand reached behind his head in a blink of an eye and your lips crashed against his.

Zsasz only kissed you back for a second before he remembered who you were. He pushed his hands against you and shoved you back hard, causing you to stumble back a few steps; catching yourself on the couch.

Zsasz was breathing heavy, he was unsure what to do.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” You whispered, skiing your head, your eyes locked on his.

After what felt like forever, Zsasz dropped his knife and strode towards you. His hands took hold of your face as he brought you against him, kissing you like you were water and he was dying of thirst.

You grasped onto the man, your fingers burrowing into his skin as you kissed him back. His mouth still tasted minty from his toothpaste; his teeth grazed your lips.

“Fuck...” You managed to say.

Zsasz’s mouth moved down your jaw and onto your neck, you had to bite down on your lip to stay quiet.

You started pushing Zsasz towards the couch to which he didn’t resist.

Zsasz sat down on the couch and his fingers brushed against the skin on your stomach as he grabbed the hem of your pyjama top. Your stomach was doing somersaults at the connection and all you wanted was more.

When your shirt was removed and your breasts fell free, Zsasz gripped onto your wrist and pulled you down onto the couch so that he could climb on top of you.

“Naughty little kitty.” Zsasz purred as he stared down at you.

You reached up, pulling his neck down so that you could meet his lips again.

His member pressed through his pants against your leg, making the fire in your belly roar wilder.

“Fuck me.” You begged whilst the man sucked on your nipples, nipping at them lightly. “Please.”

Zsasz yanked off his pants, springing his member free before tugging down your pyjama shorts.

He stroke himself a couple times before pressing his tip against your sex, rubbing it against your wetness.

You dug your nails into the man’s scarred chest as he finally pressed himself inside of you.

“Ohh fuck...” Zsasz groaned, closing his eyes from the pleasure of your tightness.

You, being inpatient, buckled your hips against his to take him fully and Zsasz had to bite down on your shoulder to stay silent.

He pulled his head back, propping himself up on the couch with his arms as he thrusted in and out of you.

He felt even better than you imagined.

Sweat beaded on the man’s forehead, his white hair tempting you to take a handful but his length only allowing you to press your fingers against his scalp.

Zsasz cursed again before pulling out and forcefully flipping you over, taking a handful of your ass before he entered you again.

You whined as he gathered a fistful of your hair and pulled. His thrusts were hard and deep, drawing you closer to your finish with every pump.

Zsasz could tell you were close, he pulled you up towards him so that your back was touching his chest. His hand covered your mouth, his thumb inside where you let yourself suck him.

You bounced against Zsasz as he thrusted and soon you were coming undone, coming on his lap.

“Good girl.” Zsasz hissed in your ear as he rode you through it.

You turned your head and met his eyes as he continued to fuck you.

Your (y/e/c) eyes are what brought Zsasz to a finish, his seed filling you as he became sloppy and slow.

“This is our secret now.” Zsasz murmured, his chest hot against your back as he held you there. His hand now on your throat.

You nodded, running your fingers over his plump lower lip to which he moved to suck on.

This was gonna be trouble...

#Victor Zsasz #Victor Zsasz x reader #roman sionis #Roman Sionis x reader #Roman Sionis imagines #victor zsaasz imagines #Chris messina #Chris Messina imagines #Chris Messina x reader #Ewan McGregor x reader #ewan mcgregor imagines #ewan mcgregor #birds of prey #harley quinn #margot robbie #black canary #imagines #smut

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lasting-inkpressions · 4 years ago

Text

I Put A Spell On You (Because You’re Mine) [2/11]

Summary: Denali is in love with her very much straight best friend, but a break up later and one drunken night together changes everything.

Note: Definitely NSFW.

Prefer reading it on AO3?

“Rosie Rosie Rosie.”

Denali chanted her name repeatedly as Rosé continued pumping her fingers into her, her head thrashing against the pillow as she whimpered. She watched Denali unravel beneath her ministrations, marvelling at how she looked even more beautiful when she was consumed in ecstasy. Pushing herself up, her fingers never stopping, she pressed her mouth to Denali’s, groaning when she felt the other woman’s mouth open, allowing her to sweep her tongue in. Rosé curled her fingers and Denali’s hips jerked, head turning and disengaging from Rosé’s lips with a sob.

“So beautiful.”

Rosé sucked a new mark on Denali’s jaw, trailing kisses down her neck as she moaned her name louder.

“Rosie, Rosie…”

Rosé grinned, pressing her face against Denali’s neck.

“Wake up Rosie!”

Rosé’s eyes flew open and she shot up, panting hard.

Fuck, it was just a dream.

And it wasn’t the first time Rosé had dreamed of Denali in that way either. Sighing, she tossed back her covers and got out of bed, rubbing her face in frustration. She left her bedroom and walked over to the kitchen, deciding that some water was what she needed to cool her off.

“Rosie?”

Stopping, Rosé registered Denali sitting cross legged in the middle of the pink fur rug in the living room, with her notebook opened and records with post its stuck on them scattered about on the ground. How on earth had Rosé not noticed her earlier?

“Nali? What are you doing up so late?”

“Just working on some music and choreography ideas. Are you okay? You look a little flushed.”

Rosé swallowed and shrugged as she retrieved a bottle of water from the fridge. “Just had a nightmare, that’s all.” Nightmare was definitely not the right word, but she couldn’t exactly tell her best friend that she had been having vivid dreams of fucking her for the past week now, could she? Walking back out to Denali, she saw her scooting over on the rug and patting the space on her right. Hesitating for a second, Rosé moved over and sat next to her, taking a drink of water. Setting the bottle down, she turned to find Denali staring at her mouth.

“Denali?”

The younger woman blinked and cleared her throat, her cheeks tinged pink for a moment before stuttering. “Yeah, so I’m just brainstorming for my choreography classes. Was thinking of maybe finding some new tracks, or at least less mainstream ones. Have to keep things fresh while educating the people with good music, right?”

Rosé chuckled. “That’s my Nali, always educating the masses.” She looked over the post its stuck on the records, trying to make sense of them when Denali leaned over, reaching for the record on Rosé’s right. Rosé froze, hit by Denali’s scent and struggled not to react to her hair brushing against her bare thigh, assaulted by the images of her latest dream, of Denali writhing beneath her, moaning her name over and over again. Rosé took a deep breath and clenched her fist, forcing herself not to think about it.

“Check out this record I managed to find the other day.” Blinking back to reality, she looked at Denali and then the album that she was holding out. Taking it out of her hands, she flipped it over and scanned the track list as Denali rambled on, then looked back at Denali’s bright face.

Rosé liked moments like these, when Denali was talking about work. She always admired how Denali injected so much life and passion into her dance, and listening to her talk about it was always a breath of fresh air. Denali’s eyes were bright and alive, lips stretched into a big smile and her dimples were out in full force. Her hands were moving in tandem as she spoke, pointing to the different records she had laid around her as she explained her thought process. One of her hands moved to rest on Rosé’s knee and suddenly Rosé was hyper aware of how warm her hand was on her skin. Biting the inside of her cheek and fighting the urge to hold it, Rosé nodded along, until she noticed Denali was starting to yawn. She looked over at the clock and noted that it was close to 3am when she felt a weight on her shoulder. Peering to her left, Denali smiled sleepily at her as she leaned against her. Rosé smiled back, patting her head.

“Looks like it’s time for someone to go to bed.” Shaking her head and whining, Denali burrowed into her shoulder. “Not yet, don’t wanna. Just wanna sit with you for a while.” Smiling fondly at the sleepy Denali, Rosé wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, letting her rest at her side for a while. They sat in silence, Rosé breathing in Denali’s scent and enjoying the feel of having the younger woman against her as she rubbed soothing circles on her waist.

It wasn’t too long before Rosé heard soft little snores and noticed Denali had fallen asleep. Deciding against waking her, Rosé carefully picked Denali up and carried her to her bedroom.

Gently tucking the young woman in, Rosé sat on the bed, watching over Denali for a bit. She looked more innocent in the moonlight, a contrast to her lively self when she was awake, her features soft and peaceful. Rosé reached out, wanting to stroke Denali on the cheek, but stopped herself just an inch away. Retracting her hand and sighing, Rosé instead pulled the blanket up and left Denali’s room for her own, hoping to be able to have a more restful sleep this time.

———————

It was one of those rare days where Denali had some time off where there were no classes that day, and she had decided to take the time to do some house cleaning. It wasn’t that Rosé and her were messy, it was just that sometimes their schedules were so packed that they didn’t have the time to actually tidy up the house. Thankfully, the only class she had that day had been a private one that had been cancelled due to a conflict in her student’s schedule.

After mooching about on her bed in the morning, she had gone through her catalogue of records and set a random one she had to play on the player in the living room, setting the volume to be loud enough to be heard throughout the house, but not too loud to disturb the neighbours. Dressed in nothing but a tie dye crop top and denim shorts, hair pulled into messy bun, Denali whisked around the house, starting with the living room.

When she had first moved in with her original roommate, the living room had been generic, just a typical white washed one with the basic amenities. Once her roommate had moved out, she had slowly personalised it with a beanbag, moved her record player out from her bedroom with a small shelf of her record collection and hung a few of her favourite pictures on the walls. Denali hadn’t really been keen about finding another roommate and had been stalling on that. She had enjoyed having the place to herself, but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to handle paying the rent on her own for long. When Rosé had broken up with her boyfriend and needed a place to stay, Denali was more than happy to have her best friend as her roommate.

When Rosé had moved in, the living room had reflected that. The photos on the walls now included Rosé’s pictures, a pink fur rug was thrown next to the beanbag, a Nintendo Switch set up by the television and her own records were mixed in with Denali’s collection. It was a lot cosier now, not as cold and impersonal as it once was. It wasn’t that Denali’s old roommate had been boring, it was just that they never really got to know each other, so the relationship had been nothing but cordial, a necessity. With Rosé, the apartment seemed to liven up more, with both their personalities touching the whole place.

Denali sat in front of the shelf of records and started sorting through the ones that were strewn about on the floor. She honestly loved the fact that both their things had mixed so well together, their aesthetics and tastes similar. Even their interests were pretty similar. There were days where the both of them would just play a random record and dance about just because they could, or they would push the furniture to the sides to do some yoga, which would inevitably end up with Rosé grunting in frustration for the harder poses and Denali laughing at the faces that she’d make.

Sliding the last record into the shelf, she moved on to tidy up the rest of the room, humming as her mind began to wander back to her best friend.

Lately, Denali had noticed that Rosé was acting a little off, and she couldn’t exactly pinpoint when the change had started. It wasn’t glaringly obvious, but somehow she seemed to be treating Denali differently.

It had been subtle at first, just catching Rosé looking at her every now and then, and every time she caught her, Rosé would just turn away and carry on with whatever she was doing. And then there were the increased number of casual touches, fingers grazing against hers when taking something from her, brushing against her side if she happened to walk past her, sitting closer to her on the couch, their hands bumping together when they walked side by side. If she hadn’t known any better, Denali would think that this was in reaction to the night they slept together, but it seemed impossible since it had been more than a month ago and the slight change in her behaviour was more recent. Besides, Rosé seemed to have forgotten all about it and had never brought up their time together.

Then again, neither did Denali. As much as she had treasured that night, she had buried it deep inside her, not wanting to do anything to jeopardise their friendship.

Just like how she would never let Rosé know her true feelings for her.

Hours later, Denali had finished tidying up their shared quarters and was finishing up with the kitchen. She was getting tired and her skin felt grimy, but she felt accomplished with how much tidier the house was. She’d even tossed the dirty laundry into the wash, and the dryer was now humming happily with the load of clean clothes, the smell of fresh laundry detergent permeating through the house.

Denali was putting the dried dishes away in the kitchen shelves when she heard the sound of the front door opening.

“Honey, I’m home!” Rosé playful voice echoed in the house and Denali laughed. “Welcome home Rosie! Notice anything different about the house?”

She grabbed the last cup to put it away and was eyeing the last bit of space on a higher shelf when she heard rustling and footsteps coming up behind her. The footsteps stopped just as she tiptoed and stretched upwards to push the cup into place when she felt a hand on the bare skin of her back to support her and another hand guiding her own to slide it in. Smiling, she turned around to thank Rosé but the words died on her lips when she was met with smouldering eyes. Denali inhaled sharply as Rosé took a step forward and crowded into her space. She noticed Rosé’s eyes raking her figure, lingering at the swell of her chest before settling on her slightly parted mouth. Licking her lips and swallowing the lump in her throat, Denali whispered.

“Rosé?”

As if snapping out of a trance, Rosé took a step back and cleared her throat, then smiled at Denali. “Someone did a bit of house cleaning I see.”

Blinking at the lightning quick change, Denali nodded slowly. “Yeah, I even did the laundry.” Nodding back at her, Rosé seemed to think for a second before dropping a quick peck on Denali’s cheek. “Thank you, Nali. What do you want to order in for dinner? I’ll pay since you cleaned.”

Stunned, Denali watched Rosé as she left the kitchen, her mind wandering back to how oddly Rosé had been acting lately. Another thing to add to the growing list in her head.

“You might want to take a shower first though, you don’t smell as clean as this house right now.”

Sputtering at Rosé’s comment, Denali abandoned her train of thought as she chased after Rosé with an indignant, “Hey!”.

———————

Rosé didn’t know why, but lately she felt as if her control was slipping and she was beginning to act more impulsively than usual when she was around Denali. Everything the younger woman did seemed to taunt her.

When Rosé had gotten home the other day and entered the kitchen, her breath had been knocked out of her when she saw Denali tip toeing and stretching up to put a cup away on the kitchen shelf, the smooth curve of her back exposed. The next thing Rosé knew, she had her hand cradling the small of Denali’s back and her hand covered hers, supporting her. When Denali had turned around, Rosé couldn’t stop herself from getting closer, desire clouding her mind as she took in Denali’s form. The crop top she wore revealed a toned midriff, the swell of her chest barely covered and as her eyes travelled up, her heart stuttered at the pink that dusted Denali’s cheeks, slightly parted lips and loose dark strands falling around her face.

If Denali hadn’t said her name, Rosé didn’t know what she would have done then and there.

Now here she was, knocking back a few drinks at the bar with some of her friends. She knew alcohol had been the root of her problems the last time, but Rosé needed something to distract her from the object of her desires dancing in the middle of the club. Denali was her best friend, she shouldn’t be lusting after her the way that she was right now. It was just so wrong on so many levels.

Ordering another vodka shot, she knocked it back and turned back to the dance floor, her eyes automatically drawn to Denali. She gripped the shot glass in her hand as the colourful neon lights lit her up, her moves fluid as she danced, leaving many staring at her in awe, Rosé included.

“Looks like someone’s got it bad for her bestie.”

She turned to see Gottmik watching her, eyebrow raised.

“What?”

“I meant you. You haven’t stopped staring at Denali since she went off to dance with the others.” Scoffing at the shorter boy, Rosé discarded the shot glass on the counter, resisting the urge to order another.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Gottmik shrugged at her reply. “I wouldn’t blame you, the girl’s gorge. I’d go for her if she wasn’t clearly interested in only women.”

Rosé snorted and turned back to look at Denali just as she spun around. The younger woman spotted Rosé looking her way and grinned, waving her over. A part of her wanted to stay away, but the need to be close to Denali outweighed that and soon she found herself going towards the other girl, leaving Gottmik with the others.

The music thumped rhythmically around her as she joined Denali on the dance floor, Olivia and Joey not too far away.

“Hey angel.”

“Hey Rosie.”

Denali took hold of Rosé’s hand and playfully tugged her closer, causing Rosé to laugh and spin her around by the hand in return. The two of them danced to the music, bodies moving in sync. There were times when others tried to intrude, but the two would simply brush them off, not wanting anyone else to join in their small happy bubble. It wasn’t long before the alcohol in Rosé’s system started to take effect, and she began to regret her decision to have those last few shots. As the night wore on, more people started joining the dance floor, forcing her and Denali to dance even closer.

The fog in her mind started to increase the closer she got to Denali, and soon she found herself more and more enamoured by the woman practically dancing in her arms, her hold on Denali slowly tightening, pulling her closer than necessary. They younger woman hadn’t registered their intimate proximity and instead was happy to carry on dancing with her, smiling up at her with wide innocent brown eyes, and Rosé felt the control she held onto so tightly slipping even more. Before she could do anything she would regret, she quickly excused herself and left Denali on the dance floor.

Pushing her way out of the crush of bodies, she exited the club and made her way to the side, her mind racing with too many thoughts. She leaned against the brick wall, breathing heavily as she tried to reign it in.

What was wrong with her? Just one night together with Denali, and suddenly she couldn’t stop thinking about her. It had gone way past unhealthy and bordered on obsession, and she didn’t know what to do with herself. She’d lost count of the number of times she had wanted to drag Denali to her, to kiss and touch her all over, to completely devour her whole until there was nothing left. Denali didn’t even need to do anything, and Rosé was panting after her. She couldn’t understand herself. How could she go from being in a relationship, with a boyfriend, to wanting her best friend?

Her very much female best friend?

“Rosie?”

Rosé shut her eyes at her familiar voice. Denali was the last person she wanted to see right now.

“Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

She felt a gentle hand on her cheek, and she opened her eyes to see Denali staring back at her in concern, feeling herself drown in warm brown eyes.

Beautiful warm brown eyes.

Denali came closer, pressing her forehead against Rosé’s, and she had to bite back a groan. Denali was too close, and Rosé’s tenuous control was fraying.

“You feel a little warm, do you want to go back?” Not trusting herself to speak, Rosé nodded in response and to her relief, Denali pulled back. The relief was short lived though as Denali took her hand and pulled her to the road to catch a cab.

Suddenly all her focus was on that one point of contact, and Rosé couldn’t help but notice how well their hands fit together. Years of being friends and casual hand holding, and only now did she notice how soft and warm her hands were, almost petite against her own strong ones. She was pulled out of her daze as Denali tugged her into the backseat of a cab she had managed to hail. Denali rattled off their address to the driver then pulled Rosé to her side, resting the older woman against her shoulder and hummed to her, never once letting go of her hand and completely oblivious to the effect she had on Rosé. In the small cab with no where to run, Rosé was getting more and more intoxicated with Denali’s scent and being, the soft hum of her voice, the warm soothing touch of her hand, the press of their thighs together.

It was too much.

The fog in her mind got heavier and she lost track of the time between getting into the cab and reaching home, because the next thing she knew was Denali was dropping her off on her bed, and was moving to leave when she grabbed hold of her hand, not wanting to let go.

“Rosie?”

Denali looked down at Rosé in confusion, and gasped when Rosé pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, slowly pulling the younger woman closer to her as she kissed her way up her fore arm, stopping to nip the skin at the crook of her elbow, before wrapping her arms around her waist, pressing more kisses round her middle and pulling Denali down onto her lap.

Burning hazel eyes met innocent brown ones before Rosé hungrily pulled Denali into a blazing kiss.

———————

There was too much. Too much going on at once. Clothes had been hurriedly pulled off of her, her body pressed down onto the bed as Rosé touched Denali everywhere with her hands and lips.

This wasn’t what she was expecting. She hadn’t expected this again.

At first Denali had tried to protest, smelling the faint scent of alcohol on Rosé’s breath, but her words were simply swallowed by Rosé’s lips. She didn’t fight very hard, her own feelings getting the best of her, the feeling of the woman she had been so in love with all these years finally in her arms. She had tried to forget that fateful night all those weeks ago, and had been mostly successful, but with each kiss and caress from Rosé, she started to unravel. She found herself giving in, letting Rosé do whatever she wanted to her body, until Denali was a shaking mess. She had tried to return the favour, but each attempt was met with more ardent kisses and the feeling of being so utterly consumed.

She felt like she was burning with all the attention Rosé was giving her, all the constant touches and teasing leaving her feeling absolutely wrecked, Rosé seeming to derive her own pleasure from pleasuring her.

Denali panted hard, feeling as if her third orgasm had been yanked out of her. She felt absolutely boneless, her bare skin damp with sweat from the exertion. Barely seconds later, she felt fingers slide back into her and she gasped, the feeling of curling fingers too much on her sensitive walls. She weakly tried to push the hand away but stopped when she felt a strong hand push down against her left hip. Denali looked down and whimpered when her glassy brown eyes met burning hazel ones. Shaking her head as tears started forming, she tried to push the hand away again. “Too much.” She gasped. “Rosie please, it’s too much.”

Denali tossed her head back with a ragged moan when the pressure increased, Rosé’s fingers relentless.

“Just one more, baby. Please? For me?”

It was just getting too much, the overstimulation, the tangy sweet scent of sweat and vanilla, Rosé’s very being enveloping her completely. Denali felt like she was going to combust, her senses overloaded. She wanted to say no, wanted to stop to recover, but with how Rosé was looking at her, worshipping her body, her own feelings of longing for the older woman overriding all reason, she gave in, nodding weakly in consent. Rosé smirked, the hand that had been holding down Denali’s hip wandered down to join her other hand as she pressed her thumb against the sensitive bundle of nerves, before pulling her fingers out, spreading Denali open with both hands and pushing her tongue in where her fingers had just been.

Denali nearly screamed, having to bite at the back of her hand to muffle it as she felt Rosé lapping at her walls, fingers teasing the bundle of nerves and sliding in to stimulate her even more.

It was too much. Too much all at once, as she felt Rosé continue to absolutely wreck her, alternating between her fingers and her tongue, face buried between her legs. Denali buried her fingers in Rosé’s pink hair, tugging her up and she heard her groan, pulling away, face shiny with her slick, pupils completely blown. She swooped back down and kissed Denali deeply, one hand palming her left breast while her other hand never left her core. It wasn’t long before she felt her walls clench around Rosé’s fingers, hips jerking as Denali came undone with a sharp cry. Rosé let her ride it out, continuing to stroke her through the aftershocks until Denali whimpered at her to stop, only then did she pull her fingers away, massaging her sides as she cooed at how good Denali had been.

They younger woman’s eyes were glazed over, her breathing shallow as she felt herself slowly recovering from her back to back releases. She faintly registered Rosé leaving the room and returning moments later, and felt herself being wiped down with a damp cloth. Finally coming down from her high just as Rosé was done cleaning the sweat and slick off of her, Rosé carefully manoeuvred Denali into her arms, spooning her. She wrapped the younger woman in her arms, pressing soft kisses to the back of her neck and murmured quiet words of praise as she traced mindless patterns on her hipbone, letting Denali finally rest and drift off to sleep.

———————

So... That happened. It's a lot. A lot more than I expected.

Now let me go hide my face in the sand as I question my life decisions.

#rosenali #rpdr fic #i put a spell on you fic #inkpression writes

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is-that-another-soulmate-au · 4 years ago

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Alrught so Modern soulmate AU bending is still a thing because I want it to be, sit down.

Soulmate AU: lock and key.

Everyone is born with either a lock or a key somewhere on them. The most common placements are the neck or the wrist. Some can be on their thigh, ankle, or even their waist.

Sokka has a key around both wrists

Suki has a key around her left wrist and a lock on her right

And Zuko has two locks on a single chain around his waist just above his hip bones.

Modern AU: looking for roommates.

Zuko put some 'looking for roommates' posters around town and gets a call from two people Sokka and Suki. He decides to meet up with them at his Uncle's tea shop (which I'm calling 'Dragon Insomniac' because I want it to be a 24hr teashop).

Now, onto the story:

"Zuko, you told them to meet up at 4 , its still 3" his Uncle said as he set down his nephew's cup of tea.

"I kno that Uncle, I just wanted to be ready for them" he fidgeted in his seat for a moment and readjusted the sleeves on his shirt out of habit.

"An extra hour of preparation before discussing roommates?" Iroh chuckled when Zuko nodded "alright, enjoy the tea, I'll show them to your table when they get here"

Zuko hummed a response as his Uncle walked off. Taking a drink of his tea he went over what he planned on saying to the duo when they managed to get to the shop.

Lost in thought he didnt even notice it had been a half an hour already, and only managed to resurface when he heard the little bell go off and two people walk in, a tall man with an undercut and his hair pulled back into a ponytail and a woman with shoulder length hair with the top half pulled back into a braid going down the back of her head. The man had a blue jacket on while the girl simply wore a green turtleneck sweater.

"Didn't expect us to come in at the same time, wonder which one he is" the man said while looking around

"Lets ask the man at the counter, I think he said his uncle owned the place" the woman pointed out

Ah, thats them. Interesting. Zuko let out a sigh and tried to swallow his sudden anxiety. He watched as his uncle directed the duo over to him and they both kind of stared at him for a second, turned to look st eachother and then back at him. Most people have that reaction due to his scar so he didnt find it unusual. He made a small wave and took a sip of his tea.

The two walked over and took their seats "Zuko?" The man asked as he sat down

"The one and only" he smirked a little "Suki and Sokka I presume?"

They nodded "yeah, so uhm, we actually know eachother from high-school" Suki motioned between her and Sokka

"Oh?" That was a little unexpected

"Yeah, I didnt know you meant this Suki when you told me her name, we haven't seen eachother in years!" Sokka chimed in

"Is the fact you two have a past together a deal breaker with being roommates?" Zuko rose his brow

"Oh not at all! It's a pleasant surprise to be honest" Suki chirped "we were two of the very few non-benders in the school"

"Oh? That's a relief to be honest. Last time I roomed with another bender they broke my gaming console" Zuko laughed

After they went over the agreements and signed some papers they all hopped into their cars and the duo followed Zuko to the apartment complex. Zuko gave them a mini tour and showed them his animals, that being a bearded dragon named Druk and two cats named Mushi and Lee

Before the end of the day Zuko handed them both keys to the apartment and sent them on their way to pack up, telling them he'd have their rooms ready by the next morning.

And he did, he had the rooms ready and organized with beds made (he totally went out and bought them both really nice bedsets in the colors they wore that day.) Laundry hampers, little bedside tables and a desk in both rooms, knowing through text conversations that Suki blogged and Sokka drew and carved.

Sokka was the first to arrive, having spent most of the night meticulously packing his items into boxes. "Wow, this is different than yesterday? Did you have this packed away?"

Zuko let out a snort "no, I went out and got the blankets and hampers after you two left, my Uncle had the rest of it in storage, I steamed the beds though so you don't have to worry about any dust or what have you."

Sokka raised a brow "you went all out huh?"

"Just being hospitable, I hope you like the bed set, I'll go start lunch, you down for burgers?"

"Hell yeah I'm down for burgers"

Zuko chuckled "alright, Ill get them started, when Suki gets here let me know."

Later on Suki arrived and she was just in time for lunch. Walking in and slipping off her shoes to set them on the small shoe rack Zuko set up, she sniffed the air "oooohhh whats that smell!"

"Zuko! Suki's here!" Sokka called

"Yeah! I could here that! Thank you though!" And with that said Zuko rounded the corner and made a little wave "Im making Burgers, do you want wheat buns, white buns or Brioche buns?"

"Brioche please, I like the apron" she giggled

He flushed "it was a gift from my uncle" the apron simply read 'look at these hot buns on the chef' and Zuko didnt want to get a new apron because he was afraid of hurting his Uncle's feelings

"He sure has a good sense of humor" she laughed

The rest of the day went smoothly and they all eventually went to bed around 11 that night. The next two weeks Zuko was busy working doubles at the teashop, Suki was busy working as a bouncer at Kyoshi Rise and Sokka was busy doing commissions and working at his dads flower shop, so it was kind of a blur.

The Saturday after the busy two weeks they all had off. Suki and Sokka were sleeping in while Zuko was taking the time to do some morning yoga, donning a pair of black yoga shorts and a red crop top as he did his stretches. The soul chain and locks hanging around his waist now visible to anyone who might see him. Though he was sure his roommates wouldn't be waking up any time soon.

Little did he know Sokka was leaned against the doorway to the kitchen watching his flexible roommate do yoga while sipping on a mug of coffee. "So thats where your soulmate thing is?"

"Ack!" Zuko lost his balance and collapsed on his mat "you twat! You could have waited until I was in a more stable stretch! Ow that really hurt" he rubbed his backside "and yeah, thats where my soul locks are"

"Locks? As in plural? I have two keys, Suki has a lock and key"

"Oh? Thats uh... interesting?"

"Whats interesting and what was that bang?" Suki yawned as she walked out of her bedroom

"Oh just the fact that we all happen to have two soulmates" Zuko said in a grumpy tone "and that bang was me falling because this jerk scared me while I was doing yo-"

"Woah, you're kinda hot" Suki blurted and turned red "sorry, ive just never seen you in a crop top. You're uh, well built" she cleared her throat awkwardly

Zuko froze and turned beet red "uh, thank you? I kick box and do yoga and that's about it" he then stood and stretched his arms above his head "anyways, do you guys want waffles for- agh! What are you doing?" He jumped back when Suki reached out to one of his locks

"Shush, one of your locks has a similar pattern my key I wanna try something" She brought her left wrist up to the lock "hey, what'd'y'know, it actually matches" she smiled but brought her hand back to her side "I guess I'm one of your soulmates huh?"

Zuko blinked at her and then looked to Sokka and then back to Suki "why didn't you unlock it then?"

She laughed "well if you have multiple soulmates you have to have both unlock at the same time, thats why me and Sokka lost touch after sch- Sokka come here real quick"

"Oh my gods" Zuko mumbled under his breath as Sokka came closer and brought his right hand up and smirked

"Would you look at that, weve been under the same rook for a total of two weeks and never noticed." The duo then looked at Zuko "would you be okay with us unlocking them?"

He nodded and watched them unlock his soul locks simultaneously and watched sokka unlock Suki's. His face was probably the same shade as his shirt when the chain sealed around his waist as a sort of tattoo instead of an actual chain.

"Well, this has been an interesting morning. But I have to restate my question, who wants waffles for breakfast?"

>should I continue this? I'm tempted, but im gonna end it here for now<

#avatar the last airbender #prince zuko #zuko #avatar: the last airbender #atla zuko #atla sokka #sokka #sokka x zuko #suki #atla suki #suki x sokka #suki x zuko #i will die on my endless soulmate au hill #soulmate alternate universe #soulmates #soulmate #modern au #roommates

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revisionaryhistory · 4 years ago

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Three Days ~ 77

~*~Emma~*~

I woke in the morning feeling more relaxed and rested than I had since the last week I'd been in Hawaii. Music, friends, sex, and cuddling with my boyfriend were a good recipe for contentment. I felt light as air. Part of that was knowing today was going to be a fun day. We'd been dating for a month. I'm not big on celebrating every anniversary, but I am generally aware of them. A month isn’t anything. I've had many month long relationships. As I've said before, a month is usually when I decide if it’s worth continuing. Sometimes it takes a little longer. Depends on how much we've seen each other. If it's a weekend only thing, four dates might not be enough. If it's been more frequent it might be too long. Sebastian has been in the middle. We've spent a lot of time together and some stretches away. I like the combination. If you see each other a lot it's easy to lose yourself in something new. Friends and your normal routines get pushed away in favor of the new relationship, but if you don't see each other often there's a tendency to not want to let go of your normal for the relationship. I don't know which is better. For me, if I'm more interested in doing what I normally do I'm not very interested. On the other hand, too much together at the expense of other things can cause a problem when one of you wants some normalcy back. Finding that balance can be hard. That we've both had prior obligations has made the balance easier. I like how our self-care time has worked its way into our relationship. Exercise, meditation, guitar practice have started to be us time too.

I lifted my head and saw Sebastian was still sound asleep. He was on his back, one arm over his head and one thrown out to the side. His legs were similar. The one closer to me was stretched out and nearly touching me. The other was mostly out from under the covers with a bent knee. His face was relaxed with a slight smile on his lips. One part of him was not relaxed. Nothing unusual about that.

I should help him out. He had said waking up to find me sucking his cock would be a good thing. He was positioned perfectly with space between his legs and the sheet close. I wonder how long it will take for him to wake up?

Very slowly, so as not to move the mattress, I moved between his legs. Once there, I carefully lifted the covers over his erection. I paused a moment to let any movement settle and to look. As far as penises go, he's got a nice one. Somewhere between six and seven inches, just right girth (for me anyway), with a slight up and to the right bend. He's uncut, which is actually my preference. Foreskin is fun to play with and with the under bits being protected from rubbing against pants all day, they're more sensitive. I know a man who as an adult got circumcised at his girlfriend's request. Even years later he regretted it. Sex wasn't the same. He was less sensitive and needed much more stimulation to get off be it masturbation, oral, or intercourse. He developed a preference for anal because the increased tightness made up for the loss of sensitivity. I can feel the difference inside me too. That bit of extra skin moves in an unpredictable way. I'm in the lucky minority that can often come from vaginal intercourse, but it’s easier with uncut. I like Sebastian's cock. We're good friends.

I wrapped my hand around him at the same time I took him in my mouth. No teasing. I wanted him to wake up to full on suction. My hand pulled his foreskin down where my tongue could work his most sensitive places. That's when he moved. I kept my eyes up to watch him. He stirred a little, rolling his shoulders, and slowly licked his lips before biting the lower one. Sexy as fuck. I kept a slow and steady pace. Every few strokes he became more alert. A quiet moan, shifting his hips, a hand in my hair, and finally, a "Feels good, Emma." A few seconds after speaking his eyes opened and met mine. He looked like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Since he was awake, I backed off and used my tongue to tease him. He hissed in a breath, "Fuck." When I returned to sucking him properly, he mumbled, "I love you." before arching into the bed. From there it wasn't long before his orgasm hit. I can't decide which I like better: the feel of him coming in my mouth; the way he pulled my hair; or the sounds he made better. All were good.

I kissed my way up his body, giving him time to regain his senses. I loved the way his stomach jumped with my wet kisses. I could spend all day doing nothing but covering him in kisses. I don't think he'd make it through. I estimate an hour before he'd be buried inside me. I made it to his neck before laying down on top of him. His body against mine made me smile, "Buna dimineata, Sebastian." <Good morning>

"Foarte bună dimineața, dragostea mea." <Very good morning, my love.> Sebastian laid his hand on my face, turning it to him and kissed me softly, but thoroughly. "That's a kick ass way to wake up."

"You were positioned perfectly." I smiled and pressed my lips to his.

He kissed me again and I sank against him. The way his hand stroked my lower back felt great. The slightest bit firmer than a tickle. I shifted my hips a little, craving the contact. I needed attention, his attention. Sucking his cock may not bring me physical pleasure, but the feeling of power, his reaction, and the sounds he makes definitely have me feeling some sort of way. The sort of way that only Sebastian can fix.

Sebastian rolled us over and laid kisses on my neck. His hand moved to my breast and I hummed happily as his fingers kneaded me. When his mouth took over, I purred, hooked my leg around his, and rubbed against him. "Ah, I want you."

"Good."

It was very good from the first lick of his tongue to the final stroke of his cock. The way we kissed, touched, and held onto each other was a wonderful way to wake up.

We laid in bed holding hands while we caught our breath. I rolled over to lay my head on his shoulder and feel him. I like the stretch of skin between his armpit and pecs. I kissed him there before taking in his face, his blue eyes looking over to meet mine. "Tu iubusc, Sebasti-an."

He smiled, "Tu iubusc." We kissed softly. His fingers brushed through my hair and down to draw nonsense patterns on my forearm as it lay across his stomach.

"Want to hear my tentative plan for the day?"

"Very much."

"Go for a run, hit the gym, then back here for a shower. Relax, meditate, practice guitar, have sex. Shower. Pizza, park, movie, ice cream. Back here for slow dancing and more sex." He waved his hand around. "Eventually sleep."

"Can we add in finding where your parking space is? I'd rather drive down than deal with luggage on the train."

"Sure." He smiled. "When you fly back from Paris you should stay here. I don't want you driving tired."

"You sure?" I liked his plan.

"Wouldn't have given you a key if I wasn't." Before I could say anything, he went on. "I don't give out keys. I trust you and the thought of you asleep in my bed with me not here makes me happy."

I just looked at him.

"Why are looking at me like that?"

I don't know how I was looking at him, but with any luck, it was close to how I was feeling. "I think that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."

He started to roll his eyes and make a joke but stopped himself. "You're serious."

I raised my eyebrows and nodded.

Sebastian slowly gathered me in his arms and kissed me. "I'm glad it's me."

"I am too." I put my hand on his chest. "You don't have to..." his kiss stopped me from finishing the thought, "make a big deal out a month."

"I want to."

"Second sweetest thing anyone's said to me."

"I'm on a roll."

A few kisses later we got dressed and had a cup of coffee before heading out. We ran along the less busy streets, winding in and out, and ended up at the gym. This was a heavy day for him and I opted for a yoga class. I lifted some before the class and kept an eye on my lover. They laughed as much as they lifted. A couple of times I caught him watching me, his friends did too and would wave at me and shove him. I blew Jackson a kiss before heading to class.

I found Sebastian later sitting with the others and drinking a smoothie.

Len hugged me, "Good to see you've hung around. My boy must be doing ok."

Sebastian put his arm around my waist, "She's forgiving."

"I have no complaints." I poked him in the side, "Except he's letting me starve." I ordered a chocolate cinnamon protein smoothie. "Good work out?"

"Yes. Feeling flexible?"

That was a loaded question. I patted his face, "We'll see."

I got to hear stories while we drank our smoothies. Funny stories. Embarrassing stories. Stories that made Sebastian cover his face. I thought about diverting, but honestly, it was too funny and his reaction was too cute. I could tell he was having fun too. He filled in details on the walk home. Including several parts that would have been more embarrassing to them.

I was still laughing, "Why didn't you out them back there?"

"They would have made up more shit to embarrass me."

"Friends are awesome!"

Our afternoon was lovely. I settled next to Sebastian on the couch for meditation "Should I be doing this on my own? Not using the guides. And I missing some benefits?" I've wanted a regular practice because I know the benefits, but my stress to do it right held me back. I needed a guide. Sebastian can be my guide. Now, our second joint meditation session seemed like the time to ask.

Sebastian was holding my hand and pulled it up to his lips. He was smiling at me in a way where he thought I was cute and I was the one overthinking. "The object is to change your brain waves by relaxation and not focusing on thoughts that drifty by. It’s training to focus and what to do with interruption. It's whichever works for you."

"Will you do mine with me and give me feedback. I'm not sure what I’m supposed to feel or be doing."

"Sure."

"It won't ruin your practice?"

He frowned and shook his head, "Might learn something new."

I picked one of my favorites that I thought would resonate for him. There's a short story about finding peace and when you take it in it's part of you and can return there. You imagine yourself suspended in a globe of light supported in a bubble or being surrounded by loving hands. You breathe in peace as yellow sparkling light and breath out your worries. Then you’re walked through letting go and releasing tension and back to the bubble breathing in joy. By the end of the meditation, you’re breathing in the yellow light and breathing it back out. The dark has been released. There's several minutes of quiet before your brought back to full awareness.

When it was over, I opened my eyes and let out a sigh. Sebastian took my hand, "Tell me what you felt. What you did?"

"I see myself in a transparent balloon surrounded by golden light. In the bubble I bounce slowly, never touching down, arms out, kinda dancing to the music. I see me breathing in the yellow and breathing out the black. I'm listening to the affirmations as I bounce in the ball, I'm always smiling and bouncing, and by the and the air I’m breathing out is the same sparking gold I breathed in."

He smiled, "How do you feel?"

"Happy relaxed. Arms and limp heavy. I don’t want to move."

"Did you get pulled into thoughts?”

"Some, but it's pretty easy to get back into my bouncing and twirling.”

Sebastian leaned over and kissed me, "You're getting the benefits of mediation. If you a more comfortable with words and music stay with it."

I cocked my head, "What did you think?"

The way he took a minute to think told me it wasn't his favorite. "You get caught up in counting breaths if it's silent. I had trouble not critiquing my floating and my breathing never went to yellow. Frustrating."

We laughed. "You need unstructured and I need more structure. The opposite doesn’t work."

"Yes, but both do the job."

"Cool." I kissed him as I stood up. "Gonna get my guitar."

Sebastian kicked back on the couch with his fingers laced on his stomach and his eyes closed while I practiced. Maybe he was meditating again since my version didn’t work for him. He just sat there with a smile on his face. I ran through favorites and familiar things. Sebastian never moved. When I finished I walked over, putting a knee beside him and pressing my lips to his. “You asleep?”

He smiled wider, but didn’t open his eyes, “Nope, listening and enjoying my life.”

“Good.” I kissed him again, “I’m going to get ready. Big date tonight.”

~*~*~

I walked into the family room in the bright pink swing dress with embroidered accents. It was a fun first date outfit that would look good with the necklace my boyfriend had bought me. We'd be walking a lot, so I wore flat strappy sandals. Sebastian was in jeans, a white t-shirt with an abstract blue geometric print, and white trainers. We make a cute couple.

He sat up on the couch, "Can I take a picture of you?"

"Sure."

This was a little more complicated than him hitting a button on his phone. I didn't mind. His wanting me a certain way, to capture how he sees me, made me feel beautiful.

He got what he wanted he came over and kissed me, "You look pretty."

My face dropped, "Pretty?"

"First date. I don't want to overdo it."

I smiled, "You didn't get laid on our first date, how far do you want to take this?"

There was an immediate change in his attitude. He cupped the back of my neck, bringing me in for a deeply passionate kiss. "You're so beautiful. I can’t help myself. I don't know how I got so lucky."

I patted his chest, "Don't oversell."

He kissed me again, his hand leaving my neck to settle on my ass "Too much for a first date. Perfect for now."

My heart rate quickened. He does such things to me. I folded my arms around his neck and took over the kiss, pulling at his bottom lip before fully engaging. His grip on my butt tightened and he pulled me up and against him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He took my hand and headed toward the door. A few steps in he leaned closer. "Back on track for getting laid later?"

I scoffed, "Absolutely."

Turning the other way he pumped his fist, "Yes."

We took a cab to a by-the-slice pizza place before heading into Washington Park. We found a bench and unpacked our dinner. Sebastian always takes up a lot of space. He sprawls. Sitting on the bench his thighs were wide, well into my space. My response was to drape my legs over the invading one. When food was gone, he laid his arm on my leg, his fingers playing on the skin behind my kneel. We watched people, talked, and enjoyed the sunshine.

There was time before the movie and we took off walking. On the edge of the park, he pointed our joint hands at the buildings on the NYU campus. "You went to NYU."

"Grad school. I used to walk this park a lot. Lunch. Study."

He squeezed my hand, "We could have walked by each other or sat on the lawn feet from each other."

"Maybe." I saw a familiar face crossing the street toward us and pulled him in that direction. "One of my professors." We drew closer and I stepped into his path, "Dr. Simon."

"Emiliana, what a surprise. Are you here buying books for next semester?" He shook my hand with a smile.

This is embarrassing. "No, unfortunately, I wasn't accepted. Thank you for your wonderful recommendation." I glanced beside me, "I'm here visiting my boyfriend. Sebastian, this is Dr. Simon. He taught my favorite reading class and was my student teaching supervisor. Dr. Simon, Sebastian Stan."

They shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. "If you need to learn to read, you're in luck."

Sebastian laughed, "I could have used her help about twenty-five years ago."

Dr. Simon returned to me, "What do you mean you weren't accepted?"

Sebastian was lost. I explained quickly, "I applied for a new doctoral program in digital media and learning. Dr. Simon was nice enough to write me a recommendation." I looked to Dr. Simon. "I received confirmation of my application and that emails would go out in May. I never received anything."

"It’s a new program, nothing is on time. I assumed since you were on campus they'd gone out. Between your master's work, your post-grad continuing education, your online classroom, and marvelous letters of recommendation it wasn't a difficult decision. Congratulations, Emiliana."

"Really?" I'd been disappointed, but had been distracted since late May.

Dr. Simon leaned in, showing me his phone, "I'm on the admissions committee." The top of a document read “Acceptance Fall 2019” and there was my name on a list of ten.

I dropped Sebastian's hand and hugged my former, and apparently future, mentor. "Thank you so much."

He laughed, "Don't thank me, you did the work. I'll check on the emails tomorrow. You two have a good night. Nice to meet you, Sebastian."

"You too, Dr. Simon."

I stared after Dr. Simon for a few seconds before facing Sebastian. I was excited and in shock. "Oh my god."

Sebastian's smile matched how I felt. He took both of my hands, "Congratulations, baby."

I threw myself into his arms, feeling my feet leave the ground, "Thank you."

He was still smiling widely when we parted. I got a sweet kiss before he took my hand and started in the direction from which we'd come. "Do you want to skip the movie?"

"No, no." I shook my head. “More to celebrate.”

"You need to tell me everything."

I took a deep breath, letting it sink in a little more. "After I moved to Beacon, I started taking classes every winter. Too cold to do much else. Continuing ed, coding, and digital media. That's when I started building my online class. Last summer NYU announced a new doctoral program. Several of the classes I’d taken fell under the listed courses. I figured I might as well apply the classes to a degree. Since I hadn't heard from them I’d started researching other programs, but got distracted and hadn't applied."

"Umm, distracted.”

"Much more fun than classes.”

"Good to know." He bumped my hip with his "Does this mean you're moving back to the city?"

I thought I noticed a lilt to his voice and felt bad squashing it. "No, it's an online program. Predominately. I think there's a couple of in-person seminars each term, but even those can be arranged distance learning."

"I can't say I'm not a little disappointed." He let go of my hand to put his arm around me. "At least you'll have a place to stay for seminars."

"At least." I squeezed his waist and held onto the hand on my shoulder. “The way it was on the website there's a lot of room for designing my own degree. There are parameters and foundation courses, but it's up to me and my advisor to make it work for me."

"That's exciting, a do-it-yourself doctorate."

I laughed, "Yeah, I liked that idea. Take what’s important to me, what I want to do."

"What do you want to do?"

"Not sure. Maybe nothing. Just something to further my teaching. I like learning and taking classes." I took a step away where his hand fell off my shoulder and I could turn to him. "I do know what I want to do right now. See a first date movie with my handsome older lover." I didn’t want to derail our date too much.

Sebastian gasped, "Scandalous. Cradle robber.” We had a good laugh with that one. "How do you feel about a subtitled horror movie."

"You'll have to read it to me when I cover my eyes."

"The Orphanage" turned out to be both an effective scary movie and a touching drama. We jumped and cringed. I buried my face against Sebastian's shoulder. And by the and we both had cried.

The sky was dark when we exited the theatre. I tucked my arm through his while we walked. Sebastian stuck his hand in his pocket, squeezing my arm close. We talked on the way to our next stop. I enjoyed hearing Sebastian's opinion on the filmmaking.

Admittedly, I didn't pay attention to the same details he did. "Now, I want to see it again and see what you do."

"You don't want to get me started. I can talk for hours. Friends make me shut up."

I rubbed his bicep, "If I want you to stop talking, I'm sure I can find a way to distract you."

"I'm sure you can."

I smiled slyly, "I'm excited to see you in something and hear how it came together. Or see several takes and then see the final product. How often is the movie not what you expect from what you shot?"

"Usually. It’s more of nuances than anything major. Sometimes what I thought was the best isn't used. You have to trust the director. It's their vision. Marvel movies are different because sometimes you have no idea how anything connects. You may know someone is in the movie, but if you don't have a scene with them, you'd never know. Seeing those the first time was fun. Any project is if I can get out of my head" He put his hand over mine, "You'll get to see and if you ask me questions while we're watching something at home you'll hear more than you want."

I sang, "I know how to distract you."

Sebastian went for a mango gelato and I had milk chocolate. It didn't matter since we wound up sharing. I staked out a table while he bought it. For once I preferred what I ordered. From there it was a short walk back to his place. Inside, I handed him my phone, "My playlist tonight?"

He quickly unlocked and found the app, "What's it called?"

I quirked an eyebrow, "Bastian slow dance."

Sebastian rolled his eyes, "Naturally. How silly of me?" He started scrolling. “Thanks for going with Bastian."

"Alphabetical order is our friend."

After hooking my phone into the speaker system and hitting play he came back to me, holding out his hand. "May I have this dance?"

I put my hand in his and curtsied, "I'd be delighted."

"First time you curtsied we were heading into the pool house."

"Not for dancing."

He hummed with a grin, "Still rhythmic movement."

"It was a good night, but so were the two before."

We reminisced and laughed. Sharing memories of things we knew and a few we didn’t. "Here we are, a month after the world’s longest and most innocent first date." He pressed his lips to mine in a chaste kiss. "I'm a better man and in love in a way that I didn’t know was possible. I’m happy it's you."

The sincerity in his tone and the love emanating from his eyes burned. I slid my fingers through his hair, leaving them on the nape of his neck. "You're a good man, Bastian. I don't believe you've ever been less than a good man, you just lost your way. I'm glad I was there when you got back on track."

His lips tightened and he shook his head, "I was back on track, but I didn't know where to go or how to get there. Once I had your attention how could I not crave it." He kissed me longer this time. "Nothing is chance. A bag of chocolate chips started a neurochemical reaction. Ghirardelli knew we were a good match.”

“And we were smart enough to not mess it up."

We danced in silence. My head on his shoulder. His hand warming my lower back. His lips brushed my temple as the second song ended. I felt my pulse pick up. I looked up, meeting the soft touch of his lips, the slightest taste of his tongue. He held my body tighter against his. "I love you."

I smoothed my hand over his shoulder, "I love you."

His eyes squinted as he looked at me, "You rarely say too. I love you too."

I smiled slowly, "Too makes it sound like an afterthought, a response, instead of a fact."

"Hmm." The corner of his mouth turned up and he glanced toward the hall then back to me. "I'm going to carry you off to my bed and make love to you now."

Perfect Peace Guided Meditation

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