#i fell off of several bridges and also there was a Guy following me

[spacelandz]

some screenshots and gifs i took while playing LSD Dream emulator tonight! You can see my mouse cursor in some of them but i think i was decent in it very very Minimal

[tmbgareok]

I had no idea that this song would eventually become tied to memories that I will think about during my last few moments of my life (which I hope isn’t happening for at least a hundred more years.)

Kiss Me, Son of Blog is always free to subscribe. You can also just read it here if interested. I love these guys and all the like-minded fans.

Have you ever found a song that followed you through your whole life?

Let’s just get this out of the way right at the top: “Birdhouse in Your Soul” is a never-skip, beautiful piece of music that may very well be one of the greatest songs ever written and recorded. Like many of John Linnell’s melodies preceding hit or to follow, each phrase takes you on this cascading journey of almost classical levels of perfection. It is full of so many complimentary sounds and arranged like a Christopher Nolan story board.

The structure of this song alone is a narrative twist: it kicks off with a bridge, followed by a musical intro, and then dives into the chorus before you even hit the first verse. It's a song that never fails to excite me, especially when I introduce it to the uninitiated.

First Encounter: The Notebook in the Bedroom

The way I was introduced to this song is rather serendipitous as I read the lyrics to the bridge without music or any context many months before I would finally locate and purchase Flood, my first TMBG record.

Last week, I shared that while in the 6th grade, I was in my friend’s bedroom, I picked up a spiral notebook laying on his bed to read what was scribbled down.

“I’m your only friend.

I’m not your only friend

but I’m a little glowing friend

but really I’m not actually your friend

but I am.”

I thought this was some oddball thing he had written and laughed while I demanded an explanation for the nonsense. He said it was some lyrics he heard that he liked from a song on the radio. A station that his older sister was into was playing it.

Through the Years: Birdhouse in the Rearview Mirror

7 years after I read that piece of paper with the bridge for Birdhouse in Your Soul, I would become a dad at age 19. Every night when it was time for bed, I would sing my son this song in a more lullaby-inized way of course (slower and softer.)

Over the next 8 years, I 3 more awesome kids. for a several years, three of them were all at an age where they loved falling asleep to Dad singing lullaby songs.

Birdhouse, Older, What is a Shooting Star, and Mammal among others were all sung nightly x3 for at least 3 years. Now, at 44 years old, 3 of my children are adults who can vote. One finished college and is married, building a life of his own. Half of my kids no longer live at home let alone want me to sing them songs at bedtime.

This used to be a song that I would hear and think of that day when I read the opening lyrics in my best friend’s notebook. Now, I think about how my kids have all grown up and life is different. Really good but different.

Did anyone else sing this to their kids?

There are roughly as many years ahead of me as there are behind me and I’m excited to see how many more memories I form around this song that fell into my life one day. I’m curious to hear if there are any other fan-parents who sang TMBG songs to their kids at bedtime or are there any fans who had these songs sung to them?

[halloweenvalentine1997]

Pariah by Vivica Salem

In July 2020, I was released from a state mental institution after a 7 month stay. I was unable to find housing because of my felonies, and my parents didn’t want me back in their house. So a hospital van dropped me off at a local women’s homeless shelter, a brick building with a parking lot on surveillance. I spent the first day or two browsing through used paperbacks donated to the bookshelves. Sitting inside on the utilitarian bed. Going outside to chain-smoke on the blacktop. Everyone around me was talking shit and making me feel dangerous. I used the sign-out sheet to write the time and the reason for my leaving: “walk”.

So I went on a meth binge with my imaginary lovers. Swallowed it from my palm, its dust like a diamond disintegration. We lingered under the freight train bridge, smoking hit after hit with a multitude of people. As the curtain of velvet night fell over the skyscrapers, the courthouse, the smokestacks, the labyrinths, I noticed a young brown haired woman having a bad trip on a drug. She was moving erratically from side to side, and seemed to be fixated on the guy I was talking to. It’s been three years so it’s hard to recollect their faces, but I’ve been haunted by what happened ever since. The guy was around her age, also young. Both were homeless. I was very high and felt V.S., my imaginary spouse, whisper in my ear, “If she’s going to follow this guy, let’s go with her.” Me, the guy and the girl with drug-induced anxiety ended up all walking in the same direction past vacant traffic lights and darkened apartments. We made it to the river and it must have been the middle of the night. I do not understand why I wasn’t feeling any fear, but I helped her drink from a water bottle someone was holding in a vehicle by the serpentine black river. We walked further on and turned to the right through pathways of rocks and green foliage. 

A campsite with a makeshift tent soon came into view. Dismantled books were shredded by a campfire not lit; they must’ve been using the paper remains of the books to cook in the wild, to light a flame. Another girl was sleeping next to a small black kitten. I petted the kitten while I heard the guy say to the girl who followed him there, “I could throw your dead body in the river.” 

“Don’t talk like that!” I snapped.

He quit. The girl who was tripping on drugs walked away from us minutes later. She somehow made her way  through the dark, navigated all those moonlit rocks and fell asleep by a playground, where I saw her in the morning. I’ll never know why I didn’t go with her. Maybe because of the meth I was offered at the campsite. I was glad to ditch the guy, who I could see was as cold as a glacier. I was about to ascend a hill back into the downtown area when I was offered a ride. Like the people from earlier, his face is a blur and I can’t remember what we talked about, smoking meth in his truck. We went to a Motel 6, he went to get more meth and let me stay in the rented room by myself, where I shouted at the TV. I left the room briefly to go have a cigarette. I came back inside the building to discover I was locked out of my room, and my sneakers were still in the room. I told a motel staff but he wouldn’t let me back in to get them.

 “How do I know they’re your sneakers?” When I started screaming, he threatened to call security. They were ugly sneakers anyway. I left in my black socks with my valuables still intact. I walked from the motel until my feet started to burn several minutes later. I sat in the shade next to the first business I saw, a convenience store. Someone placed a bottle of strawberry soda beside me. I felt half-dead. When the staff of the convenience store noticed I was loitering, I told them what happened and why I wasn’t leaving. 

“I don’t have any shoes, and the pavement feels like walking on hot coals.”

They didn’t care. One said I was “worse than dirt”, the other employee tossed my soda bottle into the shrub by a parking space after a lecture about following rules. 

“Now you’re the one breaking the rules,” I said (feeling like laughing). “You’re littering in the bushes.”

The guy who compared me to dirt called the police on his smartphone. 

I didn’t care because it’s not like I had any drugs or weapons on me, anyway. They took a long time to respond, but someone unseen saved my ass. 

Some turquoise flip flops were tossed next to me. I thanked whoever it was profusely, put them on and left the store, never to return. I went back to the freight train bridge, thankfully not having to deal with police. I was glad to see the girl who was mistreated earlier also made her way back from the riverside and was alive. I knew I had to return to the homeless shelter. I was kicked out of there for smoking a cigarette too late at night. The place had a lot of pointless rules for no reason. I returned to my family home and found a way to reconcile things with my parents.

I’ve been sober from methamphetamine for one year. 

I don’t walk outside at night anymore.

I have two Gemini twins of mine that rest upon my shoulders.

One is dressed in black and white, the other favors red and white. 

Three years later and I realize my own identity has become a triad. 

Three years later and I’m not still locked up in jail or the psych ward.

One year without fucking up my mind on meth. 

I don’t want to leave this room. I don’t want to leave imaginary rooms. 

I want to make amends, but I don’t know how. I can’t remember most of what I did wrong.

I don’t want to be dragged through the thorns and thickets of reality anymore, entangled, pricked.

I want to replace grim shades with pastel. I want to hide (with the invisible ones I love) inside a treehouse. 

Into the woods.

Away from the lenses, the screens. 

You can’t put a wire in the trunk of a tree.

You can’t dangle one from the pines.

The only eyes in the woods are those of the wilderness creatures. 

And my own, their own, crowned with bones. 

Butterflies on shadowed violet lids.

A “Keep Out” sign on the door. 

I never want to see anybody again.

[tarosin]

the great adventures of y/n tommy wilbur and george - the water olympics

requested:yes/no

part 9 to the great adventures series

warnings: cursing, a suicide joke (the one george made in the vlog)

you were currently sat in your bedroom editing a video for your youtube channel however someone had different plans as you heard your parents talking to someone telling them you were in your room and that they could go straight up

“Y/N ITS ME CAN I COME IN”

you laughed before getting up placing your laptop on your desk before opening your door letting your friend inside.

“what is it with people randomly showing up where I live”

“ill have you know I asked your parents”

“Pfft yeah okay Tommy sure you did. anyway I’m glad you’re here editing was beginning to make me want to throw my laptop”

“you are honestly so dramatic pass us your laptop I’ll edit for you if you let me stay the night as it’s about to rain”

“you brought a backpack with you...you clearly planned on staying the night anyway but yes it’s a deal”

Tommy laughed before sitting on your bed waiting for you to bring the laptop over and sit next to him keeping him entertained as he edits for you. it was around late afternoon when he finished editing the video and you spent the entire time telling him about your merch plans and getting the sizes and items he’s going to want as you were planning on sending him some when you’ve agreed on a final design and products

“all done I want full credit for editing”

“hey I edited like a whole 3 minutes of the video..fine fine just stop staring at me like that”

the two of you realised it was a little late and neither of you wanted to cook anything so decided to go to a local restaurant. a few hours later you arrived back home it was pretty late now so your parents had gone to bed so you had to keep reminding each other not to yell, once in your room the pair of you collapsed onto your bed, you rolled over to face Tommy

“So why are you actually here huh, what’s going on in that mind of yours”

“I know it’s short notice but tomorrow afternoon would you like to go to this inflatable water course with me will and George”

“I don’t have anything else to do so I’d be more than happy to come with you guys what time do we need to be awake, we may as well set an alarm now in case we fall asleep as I tend to sleep in really late”

“I’ve got it don’t worry about it”

Tommy set an alarm as you logged into Disney plus so you and Tommy could watch tv for a while before deciding on sleeping arrangements, you put on the good dinosaur and instantly regret that decision as you began ranting to Tommy about how the films depressing. soon enough the pair of you fell asleep.

at 9 am Tommy's alarm went off waking the pair of you up

“y/n get up we’re going to a lake”

“Okay okay I’m up”

Tommy went to the bathroom to get ready so you could get ready in your room a few minutes later you both made your way downstairs grabbing a snack you could eat whilst you waited for your taxi to arrive. the pair of you arrived at the lake first, George arrived next and that’s when you noticed Wilbur show up and George beginning to record what’s happening

“Tommy is he wearing a suit?” you tilted your head to the left as Wilbur stepped out of the car

“it worked George”

“Why are you wearing a suit?”

“for the meal”

“we’re not doing the restaurant”

your eyes widened and you tried to hide your laughter as Tommy said he couldn’t change as he only hired three wetsuits, you all made your way to get your wetsuits, Wilbur reluctantly following you all as soon as you all stepped in several people began to stare at you all

“they’re staring at me because I’m wearing a suit”

George laughed before telling him it could also be because your hair was awfully similar to a highlight. you lightly hit his shoulder before rolling your eyes

“rude”

you laughed as you went away to get changed returning a few moments later

“I’m ready boys oh they gave will a life jacket”

“Why do you sound so disappointed”

“you not a fan of drowning then?”

“no, I’m not!”

Tommy grabbed your hand and ran towards the water before jumping in taking you down with him

“TOMMY I HATE YOU”

“HELP ME”

“NO SUFFER”

soon enough will and George made it onto the inflatable, Tommy tried to film his intro however the fact you and George were jumping in the background made it rather difficult. Tommy ran to Wilbur who pushed him into the water

“HA GET FUCKED”

you made your way across but saw Tommy in the water making you laugh which made you fall in the water too

“well hello again y/n”

“Hello Tommy funny seeing you here”

George managed to help you up whilst Wilbur pretended to help Tommy up before walking away. Tommy just held onto the inflatable whilst looking at you

“fine”

you reached your hand out and helped him back up onto the inflatable.

you made your way across the bridge Wilbur not far behind you so he could push Tommy off of the bridge into the water, he did but fell with him, you fell over laughing as George went to help Wilbur but ended up falling in himself. you George and Tommy ran to a high point of the course which will wanted you all successfully defended it and even managed to push will into the water. you and George weren’t the best at this course you had fallen three times and George fell twice

“look at them both”

Tommy turned around to see you and George in the water again as the pair of you fell once back on the inflatable you both made your way back to the others however George slipped and grabbed your arm trying to stay up ultimately dragging you down with him

“When is it my turn to be happy”

you all made your way to the canopy without falling, well that was until Tommy decided to lean on it causing it to fall into the water taking Tommy with it

“bye tom”

“he’s stuck save him”

“Nah this is funny”

Wilbur ended up helping him by making it so he could actually climb onto the inflatable

“you’re embarrassing us in front of the lifeguards”

you made your way across the course this time you didn’t fall as much as you did earlier on in the day, Wilbur went to push Tommy into the water again however this time you and George decided to get payback and attempted to side tackle him so he fell into the water

“bye will”

will finally got back onto the inflatable and pulled you aside

“We should form an alliance...I wouldn’t leave you behind”

“deal”

“When I say meet you there you start running the course I'll make sure you don’t fall”

“understood let’s do this”

you got ready to go as will told Tommy and George that the truces weren’t working and there was only one way to settle it

“meet you there”

you started running across the course you were doing surprisingly well, Wilbur only had to prevent you from falling once and that was because you lost balance over one obstacle

“I've got you! keep going”

eventually, you both turned around to see that Tommy and George finally set off and were making their way to you both

“we’re team weak..strong every day of the week”

you managed to contain your laughter as George fell as soon as Tommy said that

“we’ll be team pussy”

soon enough they caught up you and will went to push Tommy into the water however George snuck up behind you both and pushed you into the water

“ah yes water my good friend we meet again”

will helped you up first then you helped him up will noticed George fell and went to push him in the water whilst you made your way to Tommy

“I call this the leg turrent”

“you plan on doing this forever heh?”

you helped George back up whilst Wilbur tackled Tommy further down the course

“oh Tommy is still on the floor”

“what have you done to him”

you made your way to Tommy with George only to hear Tommy yell about the art of deception followed by a splash and Tommy's laughter. George got up to go get the drinks but fell again then stood up slowly turning to face you all

“that was called comedy.. I'll go get the drinks kills myself”

“the hydration is good”

“ah thanks, George you see I’ve personally been spending the majority of my time in the water”

Tommy ran over to you all then fell into the water making you all laugh followed by Wilbur telling him to complete the line about how many people are and are not subscribed to his vlog channel

“When did George fall into the water”

“How are you guys feeling for a race”

“I’m down”

“right you and George are going to run that way around, y/n and I will run this way and we’ll meet at the nub we fought for”

“winner gets to launch the other of that big floppy thing”

“GO”

Tommy and George ran off before you two however you and will made it to the nub before the others, mainly because neither of you fell and worked together.

“come across Tommy we will let you have the win if you make it across that”

Tommy ran at the bridge however he fell three quarters over the bridge

“oh fucking hell”

“he tried”

you and will helped Tommy up however George ran over

“George you’re ruining the moment” Wilbur pushed him over the edge into the water

“bye again George”

“let’s go back to the nub”

“I think me and y/n technically won”

“friends?”

���friends”

Tommy decided to shake hands with will and made you go over to him so he could give you a hug you stood with will filming Tommy for the outro you waved bye to Tommy as he fell a rather long distance into the water, once will stopped recording he pushed you into the water from the same height

“WILL I'M GOING TO KILL YOU”

once you all dried off and got ready you and Tommy made your way back to yours as it was late you agreed Tommy may as well stay the night again, the pair of you spent the night playing games together and arguing about who won the game you missed spending time with just Tommy and he missed spending time with you so you were both incredibly thankful he decided to come over to yours a few days earlier than expected.

taglist:

@l0ver0fj0y @etheriaaly @xx-smiley-xx @hawarun @kylobensgirl @cawcaw-pretty-thing @reverse-iak @renleicrashed @c1loudee

[reidgraygubler]

multiply (kyle orfman/reader)

Title: multiply Request: no Couple: Kyle Orfman/Fem!reader Category: angst/smut w/ a taste of fluff Content Warning: SEXUAL CONTENT (penetrive sex, unsafe sex, mild hatefuck, grinding/groping, heavy petting, light breathplay (hand over mouth and nose) breeding/impregnation kink, fingering), zombies and zombies eating humans, death, descriptions of death, death of a grandparent (grandmother), mentions of guns and gun violence (but none actually happening), petnames (kitten/officer) Word Count: 5,943 Summary: After narrowly escaping her grandmother eating her, Reader is on her own to find other civilization. She meets the Orfman family and they take her in for safety. Reader and Kyle share a special bond. A/N: I am in love with this piece, so I hope you guys love it as much as I do. thank you to @reidetic for beta/editing this for me! this was also written for @imagining-in-the-margins "there was only one bed" trope challenge for june! thank you all so much for the support! i really do appreciate it. check out my masterlist!

{***}{***}{***}

My grandmother was alive… And then she was dead… And now she’s alive again. Which is very confusing because I watched her die. Like I can’t be the only person experiencing this, right? It’s not some weird fever dream either, I don’t think. This has to be a town wide phenomenon.

My grandmother was acting totally normal too. As if she didn’t die. She was living life day to day, making cookies, knitting, and sipping her tea, just like she did before she died. It was like life went back to normal. And then… She tried to eat me. That’s definitely not normal. Is it?

Who eats another person!? Zombies! That’s who! And how do you kill a zombie? I don’t really like that answer. Because I love my grandmother. She’d do nothing to hurt me, except eat me, I guess.

I gotta get out of this house. It’s not safe to stay in the house with her anymore, and it hasn’t been for a long time. So instead of killing her, like any other sane person would do, I just left. I packed my backpack with a few clothes, snacks and water, and I left.

Turns out it was a lot more than a town wide phenomenon. It was country wide. Everyone was experiencing their dead loved ones returning from the dead. Just showing up, like how my grandmother just showed up. It caused something of an uprise, too, considering people don’t just come back to life after being dead, and they’re eating other humans. It wasn’t an uprise. It was terror, pure terror of the people who didn’t die and come back to life.

I hadn’t left my house in a while, at least since my grandmother came back. So I didn’t realize just how dire the situation was. Piles of burnt stuff were all over the place. Cars with shattered windshields were crashed into trees or homes. And the number of bodies just on the street was… incredibly disturbing.

I needed to find any sign of civilization, and quickly. There was no telling just how long I’d make it alone. I probably only had enough water for the next day or two. And the only zombie movies I’ve seen were Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland, and that wasn’t very helpful… Well maybe Zombieland was helpful.

A long branch with a sharp and pointy end was sitting in the middle of the road. I grabbed it, hoping it’d be enough of a weapon to protect me from the disaster around me. I silently hoped, and prayed to whatever God was up there, that I’d find safety before nightfall.

I was beginning to lose hope as the sun started setting; the sky lighting up with the fires around the town. Several people wearing orange jumpsuits came running around the corner, each carrying various weapons in their hands and over their backs. I nearly fell to the ground because of how startled I was. I tried to pay attention to the crowd around me, but the pavement chewed up the palms of my hands.

A guy with a crew cut hairstyle seemingly looked in charge. Weird to have a gangly and scrawny man be in charge of a zombie take out group. He had this weird stature that he held, like he was trying to be intimidating but not everyone took him seriously.

The guy looked right at me and pointed a gun at my head. I slowly lifted my hands and stared at him.

“D-Don’t shoot! I’m human!” I shouted as I stared at him. He stared back, stepping closer to me. He dropped his gun away from me, but still kept his guard up.

“Human my ass!” The guy with the crewcut shouted. I looked at my hands, watching as blood began seeping from my palms. I quickly looked back at him, hoping he’d look at the human blood.

"Thoughts on smooth jazz?!" he asked in a loud tone. I stared up at him, feeling the terror bubble up my throat.

"I-I… Not my first choice in music?" I furrowed my eyebrows, as I wondered what this had to do with anything.

"Thoughts on dirt?!"

"Ew? Good for gardening? I don’t know!” I shouted back before I stumbled to my feet. The guy with the crew cut cautiously stepped closer to me as he examined my face and body. I’d assume it was because he was looking for any impurities I could possibly have. “I almost had to kill my grandmother. But… But I had to leave. I couldn’t do it. So I left. I left because she lunged at me… from across the table,” I mumbled as he stepped back. “I just need somewhere.. To lie low for the time being. I promise I’m safe.” I whispered as I looked at him. The guy looked back at the rest of his team, gauging their thoughts and concerns about letting me go with them.

“You can come with us. But the second you turn your back on us, or turn into them, don't be shocked when I’m the one to put a bullet into your head,” his voice got scary low as he stepped right up to me. I swallowed roughly and nodded.

“Understood,” I whispered as I looked up at him.

I was shoved into the middle of the crowd of orange jumpsuits. The guy with the crewcut took the lead and brought us to a house that was guarded by tall cement and steel fencing. The people who were currently occupying this home knew how to keep themselves safe.

We entered the fenced in yard of the house, the leader making sure everyone got in safely, and no undead beings followed us. Then we entered the house. I was half expecting it to be stripped down, or decayed. But when we got in… It looked like a normal home, just no power, and the windows boarded up.

“Oh! A new person!” A woman exclaimed once I stood in the area that was once a living room. She came right up to my side, looking at me with a bright smile. She was very happy that I was here. “Don’t worry! You’re safe now!” she cooed as she threw her arms around me. I froze, my body refusing to move as she embraced me.

“I-I…” I swallowed roughly as she pulled away from me. I barely had time to say anything else as she pulled us to sit on the couch.

“I’m Judy Orfman. Kyle is my son.” She smiled as she gestured towards the crew cut guy wearing the orange jumpsuit.

“Mom,” Kyle muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. I snickered as I looked back at Judy. I smiled softly as I gave her my name. It was weird how homey this place felt, albeit our situation in the world. Part of me wondered if Judy had any part in that.

“My husband, Noah, is out right now. And my other son, Zach, is with one of the women. She also had to kill her grandmother,” Judy whispered that last part. I looked at her with wide eyes, feeling a certain nervousness settle in the pit of my stomach. I could tell she meant well, and I shouldn’t be scared around anyone here. Everything that’s happened is just unsettling. When I woke up this morning I wasn’t expecting to have to escape zombies.

“Is it okay i-if I lie down? I’m just very tired after everything that’s happened.” I I looked between Judy and Kyle.

“Oh! Kyle, honey, you should let her sleep in your room. She obviously needs it,” Judy spoke to her son as she carefully smoothed out my hair. I looked at her with a small smile. I loved how motherly she was. It was definitely something I needed in a time like this.

“I’m not going to do that, Mom.”

“We don’t have any more bed space. You’re the only person with a bed big enough to hold two people. We aren’t going to force her to sleep on the floor or on the couch.”

“I-I don’t have an issue with the flo-”

“Non-sense! Kyle has plenty of space!” Judy clapped her hands together as she glared at Kyle. Kyle looked back at her with wide eyes before dropping his head and mumbling something. Even though Kyle was in charge of the orange jumpsuits, Judy was the head of household. Anyone could argue with her, but she would end up getting her way no matter what. Kyle probably knew better than to fight his mother.

“So it’s agreed then! You guys will share the room!” Judy smiled brightly. “Just no funny business.” She then glared between me and Kyle. I looked at her with wide eyes before shaking my head.

“Ugh! Ew! With him!”

“Her?! Are you serious?”

Even though I basically said what he said, I was still hurt by his utter disgust behind his words. I tried not letting it bother me as I grabbed my backpack and stood up.

“Why don’t you show her around? The bathroom, kitchen, bedroom.” Judy stood up beside me as she looked at her son. Kyle begrudgingly moved towards the opening of the living room, leading off to a new area.

“C’mon,” he grumbled as he looked over at me. I looked at Judy before looking back at Kyle. I dropped my head before dashing up beside him.

Every room he showed, I was met with a new person distraught by the events of the day. Kyle just showed me the room. I didn’t really know what I was expecting when he showed me around the house.

“Finally, this is where I sleep,” Kyle muttered as he gestured towards the closed off bedroom. A small smile grew on my lips as I entered the room, heading right towards the bed. Kyle, however, stopped me by grabbing my backpack and pulling me back to the door. “And just what do you think you’re doing?”

“Judy said I could sleep in here, too. So I figured I should take my side of the bed.” I looked up at him, folding my arms over my chest. A smirk grew across Kyle’s lips before he nodded. At this point we were standing toe-to-toe, and our chests were practically pressed together.

“You’re adorable,” he muttered before pulling my backpack off my back and tossing it to the left side of the bed. “If I find out you’re cuddling with me, you’re outta here. And if I see you going through my shit… You’re dead.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” I whispered before looking away from him. I walked away from him and towards the bed. Even though I wasn’t facing him, I could feel Kyle’s eyes on me as I went through my bag. “Are you just going to stand there and watch me? Or are you going to let me sleep peacefully?” I asked as I dropped my shoulders and the things I was holding.

“Until I know you won’t fuck around with stuff you’re not supposed to…” He spoke out loud. I rolled my eyes before turning to face him.

“Do you want me to just mess with your stuff while you’re here?” I asked as I walked back around to his side of the bed. Kyle’s eyes widened and his jaw steeled as I went to his night stand. “Or will you leave me alone so I can get some rest?”

“I’ll leave you alone the second you back away from that nightstand.” His words were quick and sharp as he spoke. A small smirk grew across my lips as I looked back at him. I stepped away from the night stand and stood in the middle of the room. “I’ll come back in an hour,” he muttered before leaving the room.

With a deep sigh, I returned to my side of the room, finally getting ready to lie down for the first time in what feels like days.

{***}{***}{***}

I don’t think time exists anymore. Ever since the world went to shit, it feels like days felt longer than 24 hours. So it was hard to say how long I’d been in this safe house. I wished time was still relevant...

I try not to let things bother me. But I feel like it’s especially hard in this house with all of these people I hardly know. It was even harder because I was still sharing a room with Kyle. And he is probably the worst person I’ve ever met. He talks in his sleep. But he wouldn’t own up to that. Noooo, he’s too good for that.

The first night I realized he was talking in his sleep wasn’t too bad, mostly because it was him talking about stuff that happened before before a stupid zombie apocolyspe. But now it’s just annoying shit. I never get a moment alone anymore.

For a moment of privacy, I sat in the closet. It was just for a moment before the doors swung open and a woman my age sat down beside me.

“Zach wants to go to a stupid graveyard today,” Erica muttered as she sat down. I looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. “He wants to visit Beth’s stupid grave.”

“Beth’s his ex-girlfriend, right?” I asked, still unsure of who people were here. She nodded as she began picking at the loose threads on her pants. “You shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, Erica.”

“Okay, but when the dead start trying to kill me, then I’m going to talk ill of the dead.”

“That’s fair, I suppose,” I muttered as I looked at the floor in front of us. “It’s still not really safe to do that… Little weird.” I glanced back at Erica with a raised brow. She looked back at me and grimaced. I had nothing else to say, granted conversations between us didn’t last too long. We had nothing in common other than our grandmothers tried eating us, therefore we had to kill them. So what was the use of us talking? I knew a friendship would never grow between us.

With a resigned sigh, I stood up, leaving Erica in the closet alone. I ignored her bothersome questions as I walked away from her. I didn’t want to be around her, or really anyone. So I went to the safest place I could think of, hoping no one else would be there, my shared bedroom with Kyle.

Of course, it’d just be my luck that Kyle would also be there. He was sitting at his desk, wearing nothing by his boxers while he cleaned his gun. I just didn’t realize that till I had fully entered the room.

“What the fuck!? What are you doing?! Don’t you knock!?” he shouted as I entered the room more. I turned and looked at him, my eyes wide as I stared at him. “S-Stop staring! Are you crazy!?”

“Me crazy!? You’re the one cleaning your gun half naked!” I shouted as I gestured at his attire. I quickly threw a hand over my eyes as I blindly searched for the bed.

“It's how I relax!” He shouted back. Once my body finally touched the bed, I laid back, quickly throwing a pillow over my face. “Can you leave?”

“How come you get to relax but I don’t? Roommates remember?” I sat up and glared at him. He glared back at me, keeping his hands on his gun.

“It’s so funny to me that you were going to be a police officer?” I scoffed as I laid back. That seemed to strike a chord in him, causing him to stand and look at him.

“What? I didn’t tell-”

“You talk in your sleep,

“No I don’t, Kitten,” Kyle retorted. I stared at him for a moment, trying to comprehend what he just called me. Kitten? Really? Seriously? “If anyone talks in their sleep, it’s you.” He pointed at me. I smirked and shrugged.

“If you say so… Officer.” I grinned before reaching up to shut the lamp off. Kyle stayed sitting in the darkness. I could only imagine his face was beet red, and his knuckles were white as a ghost as he held his gun.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” Kyle’s voice came through the mild darkness. I shrugged, even though he couldn’t see me.

“Taking a nap, Officer, because it’s how I relax.”

{***}{***}{***}

It had to have been the middle of the night. I couldn’t be too sure. I just knew it was late at night, and Kyle’s whole entire body was clinging to mine as he talked.

“Someone’s gotta repopulate the world… Why… Why don’t you do it with me?” Kyle mumbled into my chest. I stiffened as his hands drifted all over my body. “You’re like the only feasible person to do it with.”

“Okay, first off, rude,” I muttered as I shoved his body off mine. It was impossible to keep him off me though, because the moment his body was away from mine, he knew, and instantly wrapped his arms back around me ten times harder than before. “Secondly, haven’t you heard of personal space,” I groaned as I laid perfectly still on my back. I finally just gave in and let him keep his arms around me. No use in fighting that.

“C’mon, Kitten,” he mused as he nuzzled his head into my chest more. I widened my eyes and looked down at him. “We’d make some pretty cute kids.”

I hate this so fucking much. And there was no way I was getting out of this. I just wish this was when I knew the weird sex dreams started...

{***}{***}{***}

I laid perfectly still on the bed. The lights were off, and Kyle was perfectly asleep. I was envious of his sleep. The last time I had a peaceful night of rest was ages ago. The nightmares I had were awful, keeping me awake till dawn. But also, Kyle also talked in his sleep and always clung to me like his life depended on it.

I’d be lying if I said Kyle and I hadn’t gotten close. Even though part of me still hated him, the other part of me knew that he was probably the last person I had to be friends with, other than his mother and Erica.

With a deep groan, I shoved Kyle awake, nearly pushing him to the floor.

���What the hell was that for!?” he shouted from his spot on the ground beside the bed.

“You know when you talk in your sleep…” I spoke aloud. I kept my eyes on him as he glared at me.

“No I don’t,”

“You sure about that, Officer. How else would I know you wanted to be a cop?” I scoffed as I stood up off the bed. Kyle watched as I walked around the bed and stood at the foot of it.

“You… You read through my personal belongings.” He shot back as he stood to his feet.

“Y-You have a diary,” I stifled my laughter as I looked at him. Kyle glared at me again. “No, I only know that because you talk in your sleep. And at first it didn’t bother me too much because it was cute shit like being a police officer, or having a family and kids, and cute shit… But now… For the last week, Kyle, you have been having sex dreams. And I wake up to you clinging to me…” I lifted an accusing finger as I spoke. Kyle looked at me, waiting for me to continue my rant. Which was rather surprising because he hardly lets people finish their thoughts or rants before he interprets them. “Do you know how weird that is?! Having sex dreams about someone who’s just sleeping next to you?” I stared at him for a moment, trying to understand if he was going to say anything. “Whatever, I’m going to help Judy.” I scoffed before turning to leave the room.

“With what? It’s midnight!” He gestured to the dark window. Yeah, that was true. Judy was probably asleep. I just needed to get out of the room and let my frustrations be out instead of held in.

“With something!” I shouted at him.

“Kitten, wait,” Kyle started before grabbing my wrist and pulling me to face him. I spun around on my toes and looked right at him. I couldn’t help but feel annoyance grow on my face as I stared.

“Why do you call me that!?” I shouted at him. Kyle stayed silent as he stared up at me. I could see a certain confusion grow on his face as he tried to connect the dots to my question. “Kitten! Why do you call me that?! You’ve called me that since I got here.”

“Well… I…” Kyle paused for a moment. I watched as his mouth opened and closed a few times, and his jaw clenching momentarily. I stared at him, as he sat in thought for a very long time.

“Whatever,” I scoffed as I turned to leave again.

“Because you’re attractive…” He finally spoke after an eternity of silence. He looked up at me with a stilled face. “Because I’d fuck you,” he stated truthfully. I blinked, taking a step back before I stared at him.

“That’s a bit of a raunchy way to say you want to sleep with me.” I folded my arms over my chest. Kyle smirked before shrugging. “I’ve been sleeping with you for the last month.”

“You-You know what I meant,” he muttered as he approached me again. I stopped right in front of me, our toes just barely touching. “Well, do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Want to have sex with me?”

“You… You want to have sex… During the end of the world. Bit cliche don’t you think?” I was still taken aback that he just asked that. I’m still stuck in the argument we had less than 10 minutes ago. And now he wants to have sex with me?

“Well I wouldn’t say that it’s the end of the world. But that’s essentially what I’m saying… Yeah, I wanna have sex with you, during the end of the world.” Kyle shrugged as he looked at me.

“If you say so… Officer,” I whispered with a shrug. Kyle looked at me, his jaw stealing at my words. “Someone’s gotta repopulate the world.” I smirked at him. I could tell my words did something to him. It was obvious that he did indeed want someone to repopulate with. And I was the winner of that contest. Not that I’m complaining.

“Don’t… Don’t call me that,” he warned as he cornered me between his body and the bed. I took a deep breath as I looked at him, feeling my heart rate pick up in my chest. He still made it possible for me to escape if I wanted to. But, at this point, who says I wanted to escape?

“Why? D-Does it do something to you, Officer?” I whispered as I lifted my hands to his shirt. A small smirk grew across his lips as I smoothed out the wrinkleiness of the fabric against his torso. I could feel the semi toneness of his chest through the light fabric.

“You tell me yourself, Kitten,” he muttered before pressing his hips into mine. My breath was instantly knocked from my lungs as his bulge pressed into my legs. “Tell me now… If you want to stop…” he half growled into my mouth. I quickly shook my head as he pressed his groin into me more.

“P-Please,” I whispered before I pulled my lips between my teeth.

“Please what, Kitten?”

“Don’t stop,” I whimpered into his mouth. He looked down at me, a pleased smirk growing on his lips before he quickly pressed his mouth along my face and then down my jaw. It was impossible to stay down on earth the moment he began leaving little bites across my neck. A soft whimper fell from my lips as he pushed me back down on the bed.

“We gotta be quiet… My parents are in the next room over. Don’t want them hearing us,” he whispered into my ear as he quickly threw a hand over my mouth. I took a deep breath before he pressed his thumb over my nose. “You think you can do that for me, Kitten?” He kept his voice low, almost a growl as he spoke. With his other hand, he carefully pushed past my pajamas and cupped my pussy.

I wanted to nod, but I knew the nod would mean nothing the second I whimpered again. Kyle smirked as he slowly moved his fingers over my clothed sex. I don’t think I’d be able to be quiet...

It just got harder to stay quiet the second he started stroking my clit over my panties. He knew exactly what he was doing. Driving me nuts, that’s what. He could’ve gone slower, and I would’ve hated him for it… Or loved him. At this point they were both interchangeable.

I bit down so hard on my lips I was sure they’d bleed as he moved my underwear to the side. My lungs slowly grew a blaze, feeling a certain tightness in my chest as he slowly moved a finger between my folds, slowly pressing it into my entrance. A dark smirk grew across his lips as he withdrew his hand.

“I didn’t know a kitten could get so wet,” Kyle mused as looked at his glistening fingers. He quickly glanced at me, his smirk growing daker by the second. Then he carefully stuck his fingers between his lips, sucking on them for a brief moment. A soft whimper came from me, causing him to laugh. “She tastes good, too,” he hummed.

Kyle carefully dragged his hand down my side, tracing over my waist and hips, before diving back into my pants and underwear. He knew exactly what he was doing, on purposely making me make noises. Because the second he started stroking over my clit, I couldn’t stop any sound that came from my mouth, even with his hand over it.

“This is already better than any dream I had, Kitten,” he murmured in my ear. I swallowed roughly and nodded. He smirked as he gently pushed a finger into me, quickly followed by a second. “If you’re quiet I’ll move my hand.”

I hummed as I closed my eyes, my head lolling to the side. Kyle dragged his hand from my mouth, sliding it down to my chest. My lips stayed between my teeth, forcing myself to be quiet as he started massaging my breasts.

“D-Don’t stop, whatever you do… Please k-keep going,” I struggled to say as his movements hastened. His thumb carefully brushed against my clit, causing me to push my head back into the bed beneath me.

“You like this, don’t you?” Kyle laughed lightly. I could feel my chest lifting away from the bed the heavier my breath grew. “How long has it been since you’ve been touched like this? Since you’ve been used?”

“Kyle, Kyle, please,” I bit down on my lower lip. I brought one of my hands to rest over my mouth, while the other held his arm.

“I’d call you a desperate, but I’m the one having sex dreams of you.”

The funny thing is… I was desperate. Even though he was the one having the sex dreams, I was the one having the thoughts when I was awake. And a lot of the thoughts were hoping this would happen. Guess we’re bothing having dreams coming true.

It was only a matter of moments before I was finishing over his hand. My eyes stayed closed as I tried catching up with time. And in the few moments I had, Kyle had climbed off the bed and quickly undressed, leaving me still in my pajamas. I didn’t feel rushed, but I hated that I was still wearing clothes.

Once I had my moment of recollection, I sat up, peeling my shirt off and kicking my pants to the floor. I was too busy undressing to even notice that Kyle was staring at me, watching my quickness and excitement. But when I finally did sit back and look at him, he was watching me with a smirk on his lips.

I tried not to let my eyes linger on his body for too long. When I noticed his hard length, I couldn’t help but stare. Then he laughed, forcing me to look up at his face and swallow roughly.

“No, please, keep staring,” he muttered with a smirk. I slowly blinked before shaking my head, silently lifting my hand to him. I could feel my sudden neediness radiating off my body, surely Kyle could sense it from where he was standing.

When he didn’t move, I slowly moved my legs apart, making it so there was space for him to kneel comfortably. He smirked again before crawling onto the bed, coming right up to my face.

“Tell me, Kitten, how badly do you want this,” he whispered against my lips. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before nodding. “Use your words. I trust you know how. You were pretty vocal a few moments ago.”

“I don’t think you understand, Officer, how bad I need you,” I murmured as I looked up at him. The corner of his lips twitched at the nickname I had so lovingly given him. “Only you can help me.”

“Damn right I am,” he muttered before roughly pressing his lips to mine. I threw my arms around his neck as he moved so his length was pressing against me. My breathing stuttered slightly before I began gasping for air as he very slowly entered me.

Once he was fully sheathed in me, Kyle knelt straight up. I stared at him, watching as he hooked his arms under my knees. With that, he managed to press deeper into me, inciting a moan from me.

“More,” I tried to whisper as I looked up at him. His eyes locked with mine for a moment before rolling his hips into mine. He fell into a steady rhythm, hitting the right spots at just the right times.

Any conversation between us ceased to exist, leaving us with struggling moans and gasps for breath. My hands ran over my body, trying to relieve myself of something.

Kyle dropped one of my legs, bringing his hand to between my legs. My head fell back before rolling to rest against my shoulder, feeling the eventual relief in my abdomen.

“You feel so good, Kitten,” Kyle mumbled before dropping my other leg and coming back down to my face. I huffed out a breath of air before lifting a hand to his head. “Better than anything I could ever imagine,” he added before pressing his lips to mine. I hummed, pushing my fingers through his hair.

“I’m gon-gonna cum,” I whined before biting my teeth into his shoulder. Kyle ran his hands up my back before pulling me close.

“Yeah?” he groaned into my ear. I nodded as my breathing grew ragged. “Me too,” he added as his movements grew faulty. He pressed his forehead to mine, his heavy breath fanning across my skin. My eyes stayed glued to his.

“Do it, please do it,” I whimpered. Kyle’s eyes grew darker the moment the heaviness of my words hit him. I don’t think I was supposed to notice his brief pause, but I did. “I’m serious.”

“You know what-”

“God, Kyle, I know. I know what it’ll mean,” I cut him off, lifting my back up into his body. He looked at me for a brief moment before capturing my lips in a gentle kiss. I threw my arms around his neck, holding him close to me.

“If that’s what you want,” he moaned, his movements turning sloppy. I knew I wasn’t about to last long. “Someone’s gotta have my kid.”

“Let it be me then,” I cried out. My legs wrapped around his waist, keeping him in place. “Please.” My whole body tensed around his as my head fell back as I tried to keep quiet. Kyle looked down at me before putting his hand over my mouth. Then a warmth- that I didn’t realize that I missed- grew in my stomach.

Kyle fell, laying against my body. With that, we fell into silence. The only sound was our heavy breathing and the sounds of crickets outside. The silence was nice though.

“My mother better not find out about this,” Kyle said after an eternity. I laughed and shook my head.

“Then you better hope I don’t end up pregnant, because she’ll find out eventually,” I sighed deeply as I brought my hands to hold the back of his head. His body stiffened before he lifted his head to look down at me.

“I’ll tell her in the morning.”

“Well you don’t have to do that,” I laughed. He stared at me for a moment. “You tell her she’ll probably break us apart. And, well, like I said earlier… Someone’s gotta repopulate the world.”

“No, yeah, you’re right. She’d probably kill me if she found out we’re having sex,” he stated before trying to move away from me. “Actually I think she’d kill me then pray I come back to life for that kid.”

“I’m not living through someone trying to eat me twice.”

“I can change that,” he teased with a smile. I stared at him once I realized what he meant.

“Tomorrow night please. I’m so tired.”

“If you say so,” Kyle laughed before slipping out of the bed.

Some months after the apocalypse ended

“You look mighty dashing in that uniform, Officer.” I looked at Kyle as I smoothed out the few wrinkles in his shirt. I tried my hardest to hold the young boy in my arms the moment he became fussy.

“Don’t start that now. I can’t be late,” Kyle warned as he looked back at me. I smiled and shrugged.

I looked up at Kyle with a soft smile on my lips. Although our son was young, he tried to blindly reach out for his father, but failed as he was just out of the child’s reach. “Be safe out there,” I whispered before pressing my lips to his.

“Of course I will.”

“Good, because your little man will be pissed if he finds out you’re not coming home.” I smiled before kissing him again. “But I think I’ll be even more pissed than your kid.”

“Please. I’ll come home in one piece, with no bites.”

“You better, Officer.” I smirked again.

“Well since you asked so nicely,” Kyle scoffed before rolling his eyes. I smiled and nodded.

“Good luck out there. Judy’s making dinner so be home in a timely manner.”

“Okay, for real, I gotta go. See you later, Little Man.” Kyle smiled as he rubbed the top of his son’s head. I smiled before puckering my lips. “And I’ll be home before you know it.” He quickly pecked my lips. “Love you.”

“Yeah, yeah, love you too. See ya later.” I swung our son over to my other hip, resting him gently on my hip. I turned around and slowly walked back up to our home.

“It’s not too soon for another one, is it?!” He shouted from the end of the driveway. I turned and looked at him as I made it to the front door.

“If anything, we can practice!”

if you want to be a part of a taglist (lmk if ur 18+ for smut) or have any comments about this one-shot, let me know here

taglist: @thebluetint @muffin-cup @itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto @spencersmagic  @spenciegoob @flipperpenguins @broken-stardust​ 

[secondhand-trash]

Gojo + 20 plz! Thanks! Can u also make the reader as if she had a bad day that time? Thank you so much!! <3

Pairing: Gojo Satoru x reader

Word count: 1104

20. When you see people walking past you in the evening, your heart filled with an odd warmth knowing that these people are on the way home to the ones they love

You wondered if you could file a request to claim back the fee for the taxi ride home if you could not leave the office before the last train ride goes out.

You yawned, rubbing your eyes violently to brush away the soreness that had plagued your vision. You were seeing white during the brief moment when you blinked to let them rest from staring at the pale screen for far too long. There were several other of your colleagues scattered around the otherwise empty office, each one looking just as worn out and soulless like you were when their heads poked out of their cubicles.

The needle on the clock was treading closer and closer to the very top, and you sighed as you turned back to the task at hand, knowing very well that you were not leaving this hellish place anytime sooner.

And it wasn’t like you were here because of your own doing. You had finished your own portion of your work just fine, making sure that all tasks that were due soon were sent off to the correct departments for check-up before the supposed deadline. You could not say a word when your manager, who seemed to have a bone to pick with you for no good reason at all even though you had never had an interaction with them where you acted anything but professional, dunked a heavy file onto your desk when it was several minutes until the time you could sign off.

“The head of the department came down with a notice that they had given you the wrong set of data for this report last time,” you blinked when you thought of how long it had taken you to get the report done, “do this again before the deadline.”

The deadline was the following day, and you had handed over the initial report several days before. You could only think of several reasons why they only chose to tell you now that there was an error.

You squeezed your eyes tight before forcing them open again, sighing to yourself at the painful fact that this all was part of your job.

You returned to the life of being a normal person because you thought those that were in charge of that other world you were once a part of were all shitty people, but you forgot that shitty people existed regardless of where you were.

Fumbling for your phone that got thrown to the corner so you could focus, the fatigue that was weighing on you only got worse when you saw the many notifications across the screen.

Good looking guy Satoru💙: I’m bored🥺

Good looking guy Satoru💙: when are you coming homeeeee

Good looking guy Satoru💙: I’m lonely🥲🥲

Good looking guy Satoru💙: I miss you🥲🥲

The colourful emoji next to his name (that he set for himself when he discovered that you set his contacts under his full name and didn’t bother to change it after you started dating) spammed your phone and you scrolled through until it arrived at the end exasperatedly. Oh, what you wouldn’t do to go home now but after looking at the several more documents that you hadn’t gone through that seemed extremely unlikely.

He was online, and he stayed being online even as you didn’t reply. Had he been waiting for you to read his messages? 

You: I don’t think I’ll be back until way later💀no need to wait for me, I’ll take a taxi home

One tick quickly became two until there was a little mark saying ‘read’ next to your message the moment it hit sent. His status changed to ‘typing’ nearly just as quick but you flipped your phone upside down and put it to the side before he finished typing.

You cracked the joints of your fingers and got back to work, aiming to leave as soon as possible.

It was well past midnight when you were finally done and you slammed your drawer shut with a violent force when you could finally put your files away. It was just you now and your groan echoed through the empty room as you stretched your limbs out on your chair. 

You looked up at the ceiling and sighed when you remembered that you would be back at the exact same spot in several hours.

Finally having the time to check your phone again as you packed your stuff to leave, your eyes widened when you see one single text box in the middle of your screen.

Good looking guy Satoru💙: look outside🥰

You stumbled towards the largest window in the room, pressing your nose to the glass when you spot a familiar figure somewhere down below. Your office was several stories off the ground but still, there was no way you would miss the lean figure standing under the nearest lamppost, his white hair looking all the more eye-catching in the dark under the light.

You nearly dashed down the building, pressing the buttons of the elevator impatiently when it didn’t close as quickly as you wanted it to be. The street was silent except for the few cars that dashed by occasionally. You had noticed that people always drove faster when it was nighttime from your observation under many nights of leaving work late. You did not understand why at first, but now you seemed to get them now that you were running towards the person that had been waiting for you all night yourself.

He was tapping mindlessly on his phone when you rushed out of the glass doors, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He looked up and flashed you a smile when he saw you coming close to him, letting the sunglasses fell down from the bridge of his nose as he pretended to pout. 

“You’re so late,” Gojo whined, pulling you to his side with one arm swung across your shoulder.

“What are you doing here?” you asked, not even bothering to hide how delightfully surprised you were to see him.

“Pick you up from work,” he said in a sing-song voice, bending down until his face was right in front of yours, “thoughtful, right? Do I get a reward?”

He had his lips jutted out and the end of his sentence going up to a higher note than his usual voice, and you knew he was trying to make you laugh by playing up his antics.

He broke into a wide grin when you gave a quick peck to his cheek, seemingly  satisfied with your reply.

“Yeah. yeah,” you wrapped your arms around his waist, “let’s go home.”

[pterodactylterrace]

Title: Go To Bed

Chapter:  1/1 (can be considered a follow up to Goodest Boy or a standalone. You don’t need to read Goodest Boy to understand what’s going on.)

Summary: He’s just one giant toddler when he’s been drinking

Rating: T

Warnings: Alcohol consumption. Drunk Henry. My botched attempt at a drunken British accent.

In retrospect, staying with Henry at the same time that a 'very important rugby match' was on TV, may have been a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, everyone was super polite. They were also super loud. And as the night wore on, they became super drunk. Add to that the fact that I know nothing about rugby and I wasn't having the best of times. I definitely should have tried to reschedule my visit for the next time I would be back in London. It was only a few weeks away, rugby season would be over by then, right? Did rugby have a season, or was it an all the time thing?

I could probably ask him that when he was sober. As for right now, he was several rounds deep, and probably wouldn't understand the question if I did ask. If he could even hear me. How are they all so loud? Which team was I supposed to be rooting for again? They are all probably drunk enough to not notice me leave right now. I could just walk right out of this madness and curl up all cozy with a book.

My plan went off without a hitch, easily detangling myself from the pile of dudes drunkenly fixated on the TV and walking straight out and up to the guest room. I should probably lock the door in case Henry forgets I'm here and offers the room to one of his pals. The last thing I want to deal with is a drunken stranger in my room in the middle of the night.

The door muffled their boisterous laughter and cheering well enough. I could still hear them, but I was able to concentrate on my book. I fully drowned out the noise as I immersed myself into my favorite fantasy realm for what had to be the tenth time. Once my eyes grew too heavy to force open anymore, I marked my page and clicked off the bedside lamp, snuggling down into the bed for a good night's sleep. I had the suspicion I was going to be the one making breakfast tomorrow.

What was that sound? It sounds like scratching. Is Henry's house haunted? I really needed to check if people's homes were haunted before staying with them for any length of time. When I heard it again, it was accompanied by a whimpering sound, followed by a booming bark. Good news, it was just a bear scratching at my door, not a demon! Henry probably forgot to let him out again before he went to bed.

"Shh, buddy, Henry's probably getting some much needed sleep right now." I soothed as I opened the door. Kal hopped down the hallway, whimpering and tapping his feet when I didn't follow right away. Poor boy must really have to go. "Alright, come on. Let's get you settled for the night." I sighed, following after him.

I was more than a little confused when Kal led me to the kitchen instead of the backdoor. Did Henry not give him dinner? No, he fed him before everyone came over. Was that little piggy trying for another dinner?

"Kaaaaal!" I heard a familiar voice drag out, followed by what could only be described as giggling. "Kal, ca' you ope' the pea'butter?" I cautiously peered around the island, groaning when I saw Henry sprawled out on his back, attempting to open the bottom of a jar of peanut butter. He must really be out of it.

"Henry." I called, slowly stepping closer to him.

"Abi!" He cheered, lifting his head to look at me, a goofy smile plastered on his face.

"Is there a reason you're laying on the kitchen floor?"

"I... I drop it." Henry explained, holding the jar up, only for it to tumble out of his hands once more, bouncing off his stomach. "Ouch. Not nice."

"Can you stand up? You'd sleep a lot better if you went to bed." I explained, offering him my hand to help him up.

"M' fine." Henry scoffed, abruptly popping himself up into a sitting position. He blinked rapidly a few times, trying to regain his equilibrium before turning his head to look at me. "Abi!" He cheered again, throwing his arms around me locking me in a bear hug, his face buried in my stomach. "You' so nice." He mumbled, his voice muffled by my shirt.

"Ok, save the snuggles for when you're in bed." I sighed, wiggling my way out of his grasp.

"You stay wit' me?" He gasped excitedly, scrambling to his feet and accidentally tackling me when he tried to me hug again, somehow managing to twist us so he took the brunt of the fall. "I... 'm sorry." He mumbled after a second, popping his head up to look at me, still clutched to his chest like a child with a teddy bear.

"Come on, you need to get to bed. No more tackling." I attempted again, slipping free again and stepping back as my gigantic host rose to his feet. It was times like this, when he was unsteady and unaware of his sheer mass, that I am reminded of exactly large he is. He typically carries himself very well, he is gentle in spite of his strength. When he's drunk, he's a bull in a china shop.

"m snack." He whined, looking dejectedly at the still un opened jar of peanut butter on the floor.

"Sorry buddy, I talked with sober Henry and he told me he has a strict rule about peanut butter in the bed."

"He sound' like a... stupid." Henry mumbled, leaning against the island and rubbing at his eyes.

"Now come on, big guy. Bed time." I repeated, gently turning his shoulders toward the hall and giving him a small push in the correct direction.

"'s your bed time." He grumbled, taking unsteady steps to the hallway, pausing when he reached the archway, leaning on it and looking back at me again. "You' go ta bed."

"After I make sure you're safe for the night." I compromised, shooing him down the hall again.

"I can... I can take care 'o m'self." He scoffed, pinballing his way down the hall to the stairs. "See? You' bein' dramatic." He yawned, plopping down on the third stair and leaning back against the rest them.

"And you are trying to take a nap on a staircase."

"No 'm not."

"Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill, get your ass up those stairs and go to bed, right now!"

"Tha'... tha's kinda hot." Henry chuckled, his eyes popping open to look at me again. "You bein' bossy. So lil' and bein' bossy." He continued rambling as he crawled his way up the stairs, giggling to himself the entire time. "Call' m' by m' full name an' ever'thin'."

"Keep it moving." I sighed, grabbing onto his hips to steady him when he stood himself back up to weave his way down the hall, finally shoving the giant onto his bed, relief washing over me when he landed face down, bouncing safely on the mattress. "I'll get you some water and a painkiller. Don't move." Henry groaned and shot me a thumbs up from his face down position, finally turning his head so he could breathe.

I was halfway back up the steps, Kal dutifully following me when I heard a loud thud from upstairs. Of course that stubborn man wouldn't listen when I told him to stay put. I rushed the rest of the way back to his room, rolling my eyes when I found him sitting on the floor, trying to wrestle his shirt over his head.

"Help." He whined, pausing in his struggle when he took notice of me and his canine companion standing in the doorway. Kal only huffed at his human, trotting over to his bed and curling up for the night, content his job was done.

"I thought I told you to stay still." I chastised, setting the glass of water and pill bottle down before helping him out of his shirt.

"I gotta take a piss." He grouched, pushing himself up on unsteady legs and stumbling off to the bathroom.

"I am not cleaning your bathroom if you pee on everything!" I called after him, my shoulders slumping when I heard him start swearing from the bathroom. "You just peed on everything, didn't you?"

"No! Fuckin' zipper!" He yelled back. "AH HA! I got it! Hey... Hey, Abi, I got it." He called triumphantly.

"Thank God." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. I was getting a headache of my own from dealing with this over grown toddler. "And make sure you leave your underwear on!"

"'S on!" He grouched, shuffling back in just his underwear, sending me a dopey grin. "Abi!"

"Yes, Henry. I'm still here."

"Oh 'm glad 's you." He laughed, wrapping me in his arms and leaning his weight on me. "You... you're th' bes'."

"And you are drunk." I reminded him, shuffling us around to sit him on the edge of the bed.

"So pretty." He sighed, snatching me up again and burying his face in my chest. "Mrr mmeee."

"I'm sorry, Henry, I can't hear you."

"I said marry me!" Henry repeated, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he looked up at me. "It'll be great!"

"Now I know you're trashed." I laughed, pushing his forehead until he fell back on the mattress.

"Noooo." He whined reaching for me again, though I was sure to stay out of his reach this time.

"You don't know what you're saying, Henry." I soothed, grabbing his long, muscular legs and heaving them up onto the bed.

"Yeah I do." He pouted, his hazy eyes locking on me again. "You're th' bes'. You... You're always there 'f me. Gon' marry you."

"Ok, big guy." I sighed, throwing the blankets over him.

"Stay." His voice was so quiet I wasn't sure I heard him at first, but then I heard him wiggling around in the bed before speaking again. "Plea' stay?"

"Henry, you're drunk. I don't think that's a good idea."

"Pleeeeease?" He whined, pouting back at me. "I wan' make sure you don' run 'way 'morrow."

"I won't go anywhere, Hank. Get some sleep, I'll check on you in the morning."

To say I was surprised to find Henry not only walking around the next day, but bringing me a cup of coffee before I even woke up, would be an understatement. He looked freshly showered, he had dressed himself and judging from the smell wafting through the house, he even cooked something. He really was Superman.

"Morning, Abi." He greeted, shooting me that obnoxiously handsome grin.

"Morning, Henry." I yawned, sitting up and rubbing at my eyes. "Feeling better?"

"Yes, I'm doing much better now. Thank you for helping me last night."

"I'm shocked you're doing so good."

"Well, it is almost three in the afternoon." Henry chuckled, shaking his head at my panicked look.

"Why did you let me sleep so long?!" I gasped, scrambling out of the bed like it burned me.

"I'm pretty sure I kept you up a fair bit last night. It's all a bit fuzzy, honestly, but I thought you earned a bit of a lay in."

"How much do you remember about last night?"

"Not much. I remember wanting peanut butter and you yelling at me, but not much else."

"So you don't remember asking me to marry you?" I teased, laughing when all the color drained from his face. "You know, if you wanted to be more than friends, all you had to do was ask."

Taglist: @Xxxkatxo @Weallhaveadestiny @lunedelorient

[kaistarus]

Haikyuu Among Us

Pairs: Nishinoya X Reader

Words: 2.8K

Summary: You're playing Among Us with the Karasuno gang. When you get selected to be the Imposter you're not above doing what it takes to win.

Notes: This is a completely self-indulgent fic for Nishinoya's b-day

Masterlist

"There are too many options. What do you think?”

Nishinoya’s yellow character stood motionless beside the lobby’s computer as he selected between several hats. Your animated crewmate ran circles around him while waiting for him to finish his customizations and for the rest of your friends to load into the game.

“I think the post-it is the most accurate, but the egg is the cutest.” You said mindlessly, smiling when Hinata’s bright orange character hopped off one of the benches at the top of the screen. You left Nishinoya so you could chase around Hinata instead, running circles around each other in excitement over your matching stemmed helmets.

Nishinoya grumbled as he selected the raw-egg to cover his helmet. “Should I buy a child?”

“Are you ready for that?” You asked as more people finally started loading onto the ship. “It’s a lot of responsibility and what if we both die?”

“Oh, you’re right. I’m not ready to be a single father.” Nishinoya left the computer and came to run in the circle with you and Hinata in the center of the lobby.

“You guys are disgusting,” Tsukishima’s condescending voice filtered into your headset. You rolled your eyes and glared at his black spacesuit with the devil horns. So rude.

“Let people be happy, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi said while his dark green character joined your dance circle. You couldn’t explain it, but the wet floor sign felt extremely fitting for his character.

“I’ll help you raise your child if (Y/N) dies Noya!” Hinata said brightly into your headset.

“Thanks, Shoyo!”

“No, I want to help him raise the child!” Tanaka yelled into the mic causing you to jump in your chair. You quickly opened your audio settings to turn his volume down. “I deserve it. I’ve known them the longest.”

“No way, I already called dibs!”

“Guys, you can both help me! The more parents the better!”

“There is no child.” You said, pinching the bridge of your nose,” and stop planning for me to die.”

“Sorry.” They all said in unison.

“But one day…” Hinata added ominously. You blinked at the screen confused and opened your mouth to respond before deciding it better to write that off entirely.

“All right, I’m starting the game,” Yachi said before the countdown appeared at the bottom of the screen.

“Wait, is Kageyama AFK? He hasn’t said anything.” Hinata asked, concerned.

“I just don’t want to talk to you, idiot.”

“Ouch.” Nishinoya snorted.

You muted your mic after a small giggle. The red crewmate appeared to shush everyone and you couldn’t help the wicked grin that crossed your face when ‘Imposter’ appeared in red letters afterward. Beside your character stood your partner in crime, Hinata, his name also bled red for the violence to ensue. You nodded to yourself confidently. Hinata wasn’t the best imposter, but you two were pretty in sync so you weren’t too concerned.

The airship loaded and everyone appeared around the center lunch table in cafeteria. You debated what you should do… maybe hang out with Hinata and attempt a double kill? You two could pull that off. Maybe just try some fun vent kills like you’d seen streamers do recently. Too bad Nishinoya ran over to you and began dancing beside you, clearly trying to get you to follow him to the right side of the map. It would probably be cruel if you slowly garnered his trust to use him as an alibi…

You followed him out of cafeteria. He began a wire task so you pretended to watch the bar go up until he excitedly danced beside you when he was finished, happy he’d cleared himself as an innocent crewmate-not that you hadn’t known that already. You went to fake asteroids, standing beside the chair while hoping to all that was good the green bar would move on time, when it did you leaned your forehead on your desk with a heavy sigh. Nishinoya’s character ran circles around you, likely thrilled that you were both crewmates, before continuing down the gray halls to the oxygen room. You took a moment to feel guilty before shaking it off.

While Nishinoya went to do another task in O2 you noticed Tsukishima running down the hall, alone, so you briefly separated and went to follow him. Unfortunately, Tsukishima decided to go to navigation all alone which left you with absolutely no choice. You strolled up to him and pressed the lit up ‘KILL’ button in the bottom corner of your screen. The animation had you snapping his character in half which you were a little too satisfied with-you could practically hear him raging from across town.

Once complete, his little half body flopped over and you snickered to yourself in your room. Then you remembered Nishinoya probably heading this way and you quickly self-reported the body.

“Naviga--.”

“Somebody killed Tsukki!?” Yamaguchi yelled so loud you had to lift your headphones up.

“Oh no,” Kageyama said, sarcastically. “What a loss.”

“You don’t sound upset…” Yachi pointed out.

“Should I?”

“Yes! He’s our friend and he’s dead!” Yamaguchi yelled.

“He’s not actually dead Yams.” You smirked, propping your elbow onto your desk and leaning into the palm of your hand.

“Sometimes I still hear his voice…” Nishinoya sniffled into his mic and you rolled your eyes fondly.

“Where was it?” Hinata asked.

“Navigation.” You said calmly. “Me and Nishinoya were doing tasks. I saw him go down to nav and I wanted to see if he died in the murder zone and he did.”

“Makes sense,” Nishinoya said casually. “So, who else is there that killed him?”

“Makes sense? She literally said she followed him to the murder zone.” Tanaka pointed out. You purse your lips because you did kind of say that, yeah. You should probably phrase things better.

“I saw her do asteroids though and she saw me do other tasks so we’re good.” Nishinoya scoffed at Tanaka’s accusation. “She couldn’t possibly have murdered Tsukishima if she did asteroids.”

“Okay… but what if she faked it?” Tanaka suggested.

“Are you suggesting my girlfriend would lie to me?” Noya said, gasping dramatically. “How could you dude?”

“The absolute disrespect.” You said, narrowing your eyes at Tanaka’s brown character. He knew too much.

“What if they’re both the imposter?” Yachi suggested.

“No way. If Noya was imposter half of us would be dead already.” Hinata said, with a chorus of agreeance following him.

“Well, who else is around here?” You asked.

“I’m almost there,” Kageyama said.

“Almost there or running from the crime?” You asked, excited to bring someone new into suspicion.

“Dun dun dun,” Hinata shouted.

“I don’t know if this means anything, but Hinata was at card swipe for a really long time…” Yachi added quietly.

“I just failed it like ten times, okay?” Hinata said sadly.

“Yeah, that checks out.” Kageyama snorted. “This idiot would fail a card swipe.”

“Let’s just skip, but Kageyama and (Y/N) I’m watching you,” Tanaka said.

“Good,” Kageyama responded.

The round ended with no one being ejected, thankfully, but you were a little concerned about the amount of suspicion being thrown at you. Hopefully, Hinata would keep Kageyama alive, and if the opportunity presents itself Tanaka would be your next target. Until then, you ran around the table to Nishinoya and danced beside him until he was ready to move. It was most important that Nishinoya believed you were innocent. You needed a strong ally, especially now.

As you waited patiently for him to complete another download task you kept the sabotage map open contemplatively before Hinata decided to shut off the lights for you. You tried to stay close enough to Nishinoya that he would see you in his limited visual area while you run to electrical, that is, until you saw Yamaguchi trailing behind you. Once you all entered cafeteria you pulled a quick u-turn under the cover of darkness and stabbed Yamaguchi’s poor unsuspecting crewmate body several times in the back before returning to Nishinoya and helping fix the lights. As if nothing had ever happened.

After fixing lights like the innocent, fake crewmate you were an air horn went off in your ear to signal Yamaguchi’s body being reported. You fell back in your chair with a whine before unmuting your mic.

“All right, this is good,” Tanaka said, a few muffled smacks heard as he excitedly smacked his desk.

“Disrespectful, dude. What did Yams or Yachi ever do to you?” Nishinoya asked. You raised an eyebrow because you hadn’t even noticed Yachi’s crossed off character. “They’re the two nicest people on earth.”

“Yeah, that’s sus.” You said with a smirk.

“Super sus.” Nishinoya agreed.

“What? No. I mean, I was on my way to the button because I literally watched Hinata jump into a vent when I found Yam’s body. Which means we have two pieces of evidence now.”

You cursed internally and glared at Hinata’s bright orange character. He would get caught venting.

“Dude, seriously?” Nishinoya laughed.

“What? I didn’t vent.”

“I watched you.”

“Oh yeah? How can I vent when I’m not even the imposter?” Hinata said confidently. You rolled your eyes.

“Damn, he’s got you there dude.” Nishinoya snorted. “Solid defense Shoyo.”

“Thanks, man!”

“Don’t defend him!” Tanaka yelled. “Unless you really are the second imposter!”

“What? No! Where’s your evidence? Give me proof!”

“Yeah, give him the proof!” Hinata added.

“Where were you when Yamaguchi was killed?”

“How the fuck would I know?” Nishinoya asked, astonished. “We were only in cafeteria when the lights were off and I didn’t see a body.”

“We?” Tanaka sounded deep in thought. “When the lights were off…”

“Are we just forgetting about mister thank god Tsukishima is dead?” You said, pulling attention toward Kageyama. “And last I checked only Noya and I fixed the lights.”

“Oh yeah, where were you, Kageyama?” Nishinoya asked.

“I’m where the boxes are.”

“You gotta learn the room names, man.” Hinata sighed.

“Maybe this is a tactic!” Tanaka shouted.

“Oh, and self-reporting isn’t Tanaka?” You asked.

“I don’t know. Tell me about the last round?” He responded confidently. Oh shit.

“Hang on, we gotta vote. We have like 15 seconds.” Nishinoya pointed out.

“Vote Hinata. He vented.” Tanaka said, repeatedly.

Everyone voted quickly and Nishinoya even apologized to Hinata, so you sighed before going with the majority. You had officially lost your partner. On the bright side, if you could take out Tanaka you could probably convince Nishinoya that Kageyama was the last imposter. You just had to play this last bit safe.

You waited a bit before going in the direction Tanaka had run after, but your last few rounds backfired when Nishinoya trailed after you. You needed to get away from him long enough so you could kill Tanaka without him seeing. You broke away from him for a moment and hopped into the nearest vent, jumping around until you found an area close to where you thought Tanaka had last been running around. When you popped out fear immediately shot into your heart when Kageyama’s dark blue character peaked into the top of the screen.

You weren't sure if he saw you or not, but you couldn’t risk it. He had to die.

You chased after him toward cafeteria and just barely got close enough to hit the kill button when he entered the room. You let out a breath of relief when the kill animation popped onto your screen and you watched your character repeatedly stab Kageyama in the back. You thought you were safe, so when the air horn for a meeting played you shot up in your chair. Apparently, in your tunnel vision, you hadn’t noticed Tanaka lurking nearby.

“It was Tanaka. I watched him kill Kageyama!” You shouted the moment your mic unmuted.

“Wait, what the fuck?” Nishinoya’s voice was filled with genuine confusion and you almost felt guilty. Almost. Maybe after you won.

“No. She chased him down, sawed him in half, then tossed him away like it was nothing. I saw it all.” Tanaka shouted.

“You can’t even saw people.” You rolled your eyes.

“I’m so confused,” Nishinoya whined. “It’s not Kageyama? But (Y/N) was with me like the entire game.”

“Exactly, so how could I have killed anyone?” You said excitedly. Nishinoya had no suspicion of you which was perfect. You could definitely win this.

“You were at every place where the bodies were found.” Tanaka pointed out. “She couldn’t have been with you the entire time. Like when she self-reported the first body?”

“I didn’t self-report.”

“Or when the lights went out?”

“I guess not.” Nishinoya said. You hit your desk lightly in stress. “She also wasn’t with me this whole last round...”

“Exactly!” Tanaka shouted. “And she was really adamant about putting suspicion on Kageyama.”

“Cause he was suspicious!” You threw your hands up. Since when was Tanaka so good at this game?

The line was quiet for a moment. “(Y/N) he’s making a lot of sense.”

“Okay, but he also reported Yams' body,” you countered. “Easily could’ve been a self-report there too.”

“That’s true…”

“Dude, why would I have tried so hard to get Hinata out if I was an imposter?” Tanaka asked, exasperated. “It makes no sense. It has to be her.”

“He could’ve lied about seeing Hinata vent!” You shouted, deciding to throw hail mary’s in your moment of demise.

“Why would I do that?”

“My head hurts,” Nishinoya whined. “(Y/N) I don’t know...”

“Okay. You should vote for Tanaka because...” You said while racking your brain for a solid defense. “I… love you.”

Nishinoya blew air into the mic. “Fuck dude, that’s a good defense.”

“No it’s not you--” Tanaka groaned. “Dude, for like five seconds I need you to stop being a simp and just big brain with me here.”

“But she’s saying nice things to me,” Nishinoya whined.

“Dude, c’mon you know who it is.”

Nishinoya groaned into the mic. “Okay, (Y/N) you’d never lie to me, right?”

“Never.”

“Are you imposter?”

“...I love you so much and I’m so happy you’re in my life and--”

“She just fucking admitted to it!” Tanaka screamed in the mic. “Don’t let her get into your brain. You’re better than this.”

After a brief silence, Nishinoya finally voted and you stood out of your chair when it revealed Nishinoya and you beneath Tanaka’s brown character. The mixed shouting in your headset went completely ignored by your own excitement while you celebrated, thanking Nishinoya with loving words.

“You fucking simp!” Tanaka yelled. “I can’t believe you. I trusted you!”

“I’m sorry,” Nishinoya’s groan came muffled in your ears. “I just couldn’t do it.”

“Good job (Y/N)!” Hinata cheered. “I never win as an imposter.”

“Cause you vent in front of people,” Tsukishima said.

“It was an accident! I meant to sabotage doors and I misclicked.”

“Oh well, we still got a victory.” You said proudly while spinning in your chair.

“You used me,” Nishinoya said, disappointed. “For personal gain.”

“I’m sorry, Noya,” you smirked as your characters all slowly hopped off the chairs in the main lobby. You danced around his yellow character as everyone loaded in. “I’ll make it up to you, promise.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

When the second game began, you let out a sigh of relief when the light blue confirmed you as merely a crewmate. This time you could legitimately just goof off with Nishinoya and complete tasks together while hopefully avoiding death.

After the map loaded you once again made your way to navigation together, keeping guard while the other was busy, and dancing circles every time you completed a task. When you eventually had entered the murder zone you trusted him to watch your back while you did your last task on the right side of the ship. Your first mistake apparently. You audibly gasped when the kill animation appeared on the screen. Nishinoya’s yellow character snapping your poor little crewmate’s neck in plain sight, leaving its little half body lying there for all to see. It’s poor singular bone popped out and bare.

You stared blankly at the screen while Nishinoya danced around your body for a moment, knowing that your ghost was hovering over it before he went down and hopped into the vent. You flopped back into your chair watching as Tanaka’s character ran into the room, stared at your body, and ran out. You could picture him cackling at the situation from here.

When a meeting was finally called, not even for you but Kageyama, Nishinoya pretended to be upset that “someone dares to kill you” and other bull shit. You crossed your arms and glared at his stupid yellow imposter self.

You supposed you deserved being used as a cover-up from the grave.

He better at least win.

[fandomficsnstuff]

Perfect Match

Daryl x Reader

(Warnings: Mentions of gore and violence, also some flashbacks of it, toughts of suicide, it gets kinda dark guys, but gets lighter at the end!)

(It takes place before they find the prison, but after the CDC)

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

You panted as you kept running, your lungs burned, your legs ached, you felt dizzy, your heart pounded in your chest. You clutched the straps of your bag, searching for any kind of grounding, anything to hold on to. You felt the wound on your shoulder sting as yet another branch slapped across your wound as you ran, your feet starting to become numb but you kept going, you could hear your own heart in your ears, it sounded like someone banged a drum inside of your head, you could barely hear anything else.

You looked behind you, seeing if your pursuers were still behind you, so far you couldn’t see anyone, but you couldn’t take the chance, you kept running, and just as you looked back you bumped against something, it wasn’t completely solid, it moved as you fell, falling to the ground itself, and you felt a rush of panic, what if it was one of them? Best scenario it was one of the dead, the dead you could handle, but those… those monsters you couldn’t. You raised your head as you pulled yourself up, and seeing it wasn’t one of the dead, you grew even more scared, quickly pulling out the gun you had no idea how to use, it only had one bullet left, it felt heavy in your hands, almost as if it would drop out of your hand at any second, so you used both hands to hold it up, pointing it at the man with a… crossbow?... who looked just as confused as you “ah… what the hell…?” he looked up and saw you, instantly freezing for a second or two, before slowly getting up “the hell, ya can’t see or something?” he snapped at you, making you flinch, which is when he finally started to look at you, your shaking hands, your bleeding arm, how pale and tired you looked. You looked horrified, and when he tried to take a step closer to you you finally spoke up “DON’T! D-Don’t come any closer… I-I’ll s-shoot if I have to!” your voice was broken, scared, you surprised yourself by being able to speak at all. He raised his hands “it’s alright… I ain’t gonna hurt ya” he kneeled down so he wouldn’t be standing so tall, hovering over you, and it seemed to work as you relaxed a little, but only a little. “What’s ya name?” he asked after a moment of silence, making you frown, about to answer when you heard distant voices, instantly on edge again “n-no… n-n-no t-they can’t f-find me” you whispered, shaking even more than before. Your breath picked back up as you thought over your options, you couldn’t go back, you wouldn’t, and you weren’t sure how much further you could run, your legs and lungs couldn’t take it. A thought crossed your mind, you didn’t know how to shoot but… you only had one bullet left, it wouldn’t be enough fight all of them off, you finally felt tears in your eyes as you closed them and quickly raised the gun to your head, all this time, even though you ran so much it hurt, you never shed a tear, even though those bastards threw everything they had at you, you never gave them the satisfaction. You suddenly fell to the ground, your mind confused, you hadn’t pulled the trigger yet so why… you opened your eyes to see the stranger standing with the gun in his hand now, your own hand empty, void of where it should be.

You stared at him in shock, anger flooding your veins “no! I can’t go back! I can’t go back to those monsters!” you hissed at him, hearing the men come close, some even whistled out for you and laughed afterwards. You felt yourself being pulled up to your feet, an arm gripping your arm as he dragged you along, forcing your feet to run with him. You still felt the tears roll down your cheeks, but you didn’t have time to register it fully, not until you were shoved against a large tree, several feet wide. You whimpered out of fear and also from exhaustion as the man let go of you, moving his feet to sweep the ground where you had previously been running, once he was satisfied he grabbed your arm and ran with you once again, you surprised yourself as you felt your legs run with him this time, instead of being dragged along. You found yourself running with him, his hand didn’t hold you the same way anymore, now it was more to make sure you kept moving, than it was to move you.

Your feet hit what felt like a road, and once the stranger stopped you fell to your knees on the ground, heaving and coughing for air, not even noticing the strangers surrounding you, your heart pounded so loudly in your ears that you couldn’t hear them talking either. You flinched as a hand touched your shoulder, making you quickly turn and try to crawl away, only to see a woman with short grey hair, behind her stood a pregnant woman with long brown hair and a little boy besides her, holding her hand. You looked around, seeing more people, and a part of you was even more horrified, which the woman kneeling in front of you saw, quickly showing her hands “hey i-it’s okay… it’s okay, we won’t hurt you, my name is Carol” your mouth felt dry as you tried to respond, but instead your eyes landed on the man who had led you here, he was panting heavily as well, standing next to a man with a revolver, both of them standing near the tree line that you had appeared from. Carol followed your gaze “that’s Daryl, and that’s Rick” you only gave Rick a glance, your eyes stayed on Daryl, taking in each of his unique features, and Carol noticed, giving a subtle nod for him to come closer, which he did.

“It’s alright now” Carol gave you a heart warming smile, and you finally managed to tear your eyes away from Daryl to look at her “(Y/N)” you rasped, God, your voice was barely there, you tried to speak loudly, but your voice betrayed you, showing just how tired you were. “(Y/N), it's nice to meet ya” an older man appeared by your side “I’m Hershel, these are my two girls Maggie and Beth” he gestured to two girls, who gave you a small smile “ and as you now know, that’s Daryl and Rick and Carol, would you mind if I took a look at ya? It’s alright I’m a doctor” he hinted at your arm that was still bleeding, you hesitated before nodding, Carol helping you get up as Hershel approached, but as soon as you tried to stand your legs buckled, you almost hit the ground, almost, but you felt a pair of hands catch you, the same pair of hands that had pulled the gun from your hands, the same that had pulled you along with him. You glanced at Daryl, who stood awkwardly holding you up, like he wasn’t comfortable with it, and frankly neither was you, but it was that or the ground.

“How long have ya been runnin’ for miss?” you blinked tiredly at Hershel’s question, even trying to think of an answer seemed like running all over again “u-uhm… a-... a few days, I think? I-I don’t know” you moved away from Daryl, indicating that you were ready to stand on your own, and once he let go of you he stepped back a bit, allowing Hershel to take a look at you. Hershel nodded at your answer, glancing at your shoulder, which you noticed “it’s not a bite, I swear…” he looked like he didn’t believe you, making you nervous “i-it’s… it’s a-... I cut myself… on a tree that I bumped into while running… that’s it” you were never a good liar, but you didn’t trust these people with the truth either, but you tiredly moved your arm to roll up your sleeve anyway, showing the wound, one of a few, Hershel glanced at Rick, who walked over, inspecting the wound before nodding “it ain’t a bite” he declared and you quickly rolled down your sleeve before they could see anything else “but it ain’t a knife either” you gulped as you looked down “is it a scratch?” you looked at him confused “n-no… why would a scratch matter it’s not a bite…?” before Rick could say anything Hershel jumped in “scratches are the same at bites, that’s why” you nodded gently at his words “so,” Rick started, making you look at him again “what is it?” you frowned once again “it’s none of your damn business” you were beginning to grow nervous again, what if these people were like the people before? Or worse? No, no there was no one worse but them, but still, you took a risk standing around here, you had caught your breath, you should thank them and keep running.

Rick scoffed as he looked at everyone else, his hands on his belt where his revolver was, making you instantly take a step back, eyeing him carefully. But the pregnant woman stepped up to Rick, whispering something to him, making him look at her, sigh and then look at you “listen, we just wanna help” now it was your turn to scoff “bullshit, no one helps anyone just for the fun of it” you snapped, mentally getting ready to run, but the pregnant woman stepped forward “it’s alright, my name is Lori, this is my son Carl,” she gestured to the little boy “you’re scared, I can see that, and if you ain’t ready to tell us why then that’s alright, but you need to tell us who you were running from and why, we wanna help but we can’t if you don’t allow us to” you thought over her words, they didn’t seem like the people to hurt you, they had a kid with them an a pregnant woman for pete’s sake, but who knew? You sighed, taking a glance at Daryl before looking back to Lori, biting your lips nervously “my name is (Y/N) (Y/L/N), I lived with my family not far from here, a few days… but… some people showed up, and they…” you began to tear up “we just wanted to help, we had lots of food and space a-and water and we thought-...” Lori nodded and approached you slowly, letting you back away if you wanted to, but you didn’t, you let her embrace you, you let her hold you as she glanced at Rick, making Rick sigh again as he pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking things over “we don’t have much food or water, we don’t stay too long in one place, but…” you looked at him, studying the rest of the group before nodding “please, thank you” Rick nodded, looking at everyone else “alright… we’ll need to find a place for tonight, secure it, we-”

“What about the old prison?” everyone looked towards you, making you nervous again “t-there’s this o-old prison, it’s not close but, it’s not far either, there’s this huge courtyard… if we can clear it it’d be a good place… there’s fences, guardtowers, gates, there’s probably some forgotten weapons in the watchtowers…” you caught Daryl looking at you once you finished talking, but he quickly looked away. “Alright, where is this prison?”

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

You carried Judith on your hip, Beth needed a break and you could understand why, she was getting heavy, but you didn’t mind, she was adorable, Daryl even called her little ass kicker. You hummed gently as you sat down at a table, setting Judith in your lap as you gave her an old toy Glenn and Maggie had found on a supply run, she giggled and reached for it, once you were sure she had a good grip on it you let her have it, you loved seeing how she moved her arms around with it and laughed at the simple gesture. You barely heard footsteps approach, but seeing Carol you smiled “hey” you greeted before looking back at Judith, Carol smiled back at you “hey, Daryl said he wanted to talk to you, he’s up in the eastern watch tower” you frowned and sighed “can you take her?” Carol nodded, and you handed Judith to her “see ya later troublemaker” you waved at Judith as you walked outside.

You knocked gently on the door before entering, seeing Daryl leaning against the wall, smoking, he looked confused seeing you “hey, Carol said you wanted to talk?” you looked down, since the day where he basically saved your life, you had gotten to know him little by little, and every piece of him you uncovered you liked more than the last, no matter what it was. “What? Nah, she said you wanted to talk to me?” you frowned, as did he, Carol may or may not have known of your fondness for the silent archer, but you didn’t understand why she would set it up, there was no way that Daryl would ever feel the same, and you were okay with that, as long as you had what you had with him now, you wouldn’t risk that for something that would never happen.

You entered the small room raised above the prison, closing the door behind you “you sure?” he nodded, putting out his cigarette as he looked over the courtyard, and you followed his gaze, seeing Carol, and she waved at you both, making Daryl smile as he waved back, although with less enthusiasm. It made your smile falter, seeing him smile at her like that, and you turned around “s-sorry there must have been a mistake then… maybe I-I heard wrong” you chuckled nervously, reaching for the door knob when his voice stopped you “you don’t have to leave, ya know” you turned around to face him, giving him a forced smile “and none of that shit either” he waved a finger at your face and you frowned “what’re you talking about?” he scoffed “none of that fake smile shit, if you ain’t in the mood for it, then don’t” some might find his words a bit offensive, but you found an odd sort of comfort in them, making you nod and sit down on a chair across from him.

After a little while you looked at him, studying his features… okay okay you were admiring them, but come on, he is everything to admire. “She say what I wanted to talk about?” you blinked confused, now fully aware that he was looking at you, and had probably caught you ‘studying’ his face a little too much, making you blush and look away “nope, you?” he hummed low “nah, said something ‘bout you needing to see me, she said it was important” now it was your turn to hum “weren’t you going on a hunt today though?” you looked back at him to see him shrug as he looked away from you, looking down at his feet “well… she said it was important…” he mumbled, and you swore you saw his ears flush a little, and you bet his cheeks were pink, if he’d only look at you and not his boots, but the thought made you smile, Daryl cancelling a hunt because he thought you wanted to talk about something important. “Well… we shouldn’t disappoint then” he looked at you confused, making you shrug with an amused smile “let’s talk about something important then” he scoffed but you could still see him smile as he looked out of the window “like what?” he looked back to you and you hummed low in thought “well, let’s talk about…” you looked out the window yourself, realizing that all the things that seemed important before, were meaningless now, school, work, hobbies, none of that mattered anymore, except… “what about family and friends?” you looked back at him “huh?” he was clearly confused, making you giggle lightly “I just… realized that not much matters anymore… Things that were important before just seem…. meaningless now, jobs, school, how work is going, money, hobbies, all except friends and family” he just looked at you as you spoke, making you blush, you felt the tips of your ears grow a bit hot.

“Alright, you start then” you narrowed your eyes at him before shrugging again “family isn't really what it used to be. It used to be family dinners, birthdays, hell, even baby showers and holidays… now…” you gently shook your head, looking at the ground before back to him “now it’s us, you know? We don’t celebrate christmas or thanksgiving, or our birthdays together, that ain’t what makes us a family. What makes us family is this, small moments like this… or… like when you found me in the woods… I was so ready to give up, I thought that… I was either going to die there and then on my own terms or go back to those… monsters… I didn’t think I had a choice. You gave me a choice… family isn’t those stupid christmas cards you send when you can’t be bothered to show up, it’s knowing, trusting that the ones around you will help you when you need it, family isn’t blood, blood just… poisons everything…” you had looked down during your talk, unaware that Daryl’s eyes stayed on you as you looked away, his eyes mapping everything, everything from your face, the shape of your nose, your eyes, their beautiful (Y/E/C) colour, how they lit up as you talked about something you loved, and he also noticed how their dulled when you spoke of the people that were after you all those months ago.

“You know, you ain’t gotta hang on that now, you got us, you got me” he looked down immediately after saying that last bit, silently cursing himself for speaking before he thinks, which was something that tended to happen around you, but not once did you ever mind, and he was thankful for that, he realized. There wasn’t a lot in the world that he was thankful for, he had to fight for everything himself, he taught himself how to survive and hunt outside, but he was thankful for you, for the day he found you in the woods, for taking the gun from you before you could do something that broke his heart just thinking about it. “I know” your voice snapped him out of his trance, making him look at you “I know I have you, and Rick and Carol and Hershel and all the others. I… was never lucky with my family… I had my mom and sister and that was it, my dad left when I was just a little girl, before my little sister was even born. But now I have you” you gave him a kind smile, one that made him blush and quickly look away again, which made you smirk. You got up from your chair, walking over to him once he looked at you, you couldn’t help but smile even wider “thank you, Daryl” you gently kissed his cheek, he barely noticed it, despite standing dangerously still, he was scared to move, scared that if he did you would turn away, you would never speak to him again.

“You mean a lot to me, you know, and… I-I… I really care about you, Daryl and I know that you won’t ever feel the same way but I-I had to say it...” you hadn’t moved away since your lips left his cheek, but you were beginning to get nervous, what if you made him uncomfortable? What if you had been wrong in kissing his cheek? What if you should never have told him? Damn it you were thinking about how bad it would be to do that exact thing just half an hour ago, and now you told him all of this. What if he was disgusted by you? What if he thought you were joking? What if- your thoughts were cut short by Daryl’s lips on yours, and now it was your turn to be stiff like a board, but you eased into it, your hands finding their way around his neck as he slowly moved his own hands to your hips. As you parted you sighed, your eyes still closed to try and savour the last bit of it as much as possible “I-I’m sorry about just blurting everything out like tha-” you were cut short as he kissed you again, this time less stiffly and more passionately, making you relax even more, your foreheads resting against each others’ as you parted “what was that for?” you chuckled lightly as he shrugged “you wouldn’t shut up” you full out laughed at his response, leaning your head on his shoulder, feeling him press a careful kiss to your shoulder, his lips resting there for a second, smiling.

You lifted your head and looked back up at him “you’re so stupid” you whispered as you laughed again, making him smile and chuckle a bit “guess we’re a perfect match then” you fake gasped at him “Daryl Dixon! Are you calling me stupid?” he grinned at you “never” he leaned down and kissed you again, and you happily kissed him back, unaware of a very proud Carol who stood and saw you two kiss, you’d have to thank her later for setting this up.

[sasarahsunshine]

can you do the “our shirt” prompt with hotchreid ??

(First ever HotchReid fic/blurb here we gooo!) Prompt #1 from here  TW: hints towards smut, mostly fluff/soft feels. let me know if anything needs to be tagged.

This little thing they had going on was oftentimes the only positive light they could see during the week. Thing wasn’t a right word for it, but Aaron wasn’t exactly sure what the thing was. Attraction? Yes. A relationship? He didn’t know. Neither of them had explicitly stated that was what this was. Neither had asked for more than what it currently was. 

But did he want it to be more? He didn’t know that either. 

Whatever it was, the only rule they had was it had to stay secret. The rest of the team didn’t need to know: it wasn’t their business. It was Hotch and Reid’s private life, so private it would stay. At least, until they knew what they wanted from it. Because if it did become something more, then the team would need to know. But until then, Hotch was secretly prideful of keeping Reid all to himself. 

“Possessive,” Reid told him once, his brown hair framing his face as the morning sun illuminated his thin figure, his pale skin barely covered by the bedsheets. When it came to the beautiful man that Spencer Reid was, Aaron Hotchner didn’t mind being a bit possessive. It wasn’t exactly a trait he liked about himself, but with Reid, he couldn’t help it. 

Reid had stayed over again last night. This was becoming a more common occurrence when they were home, and although Hotch didn’t mind, he was growing concerned that the younger man was with him more often than not. It would only be a matter of time before someone else noticed this too. They worked with a team of professional profilers, after all. 

So, trying to pretend that they were most definitely not sleeping together almost every night, Hotch and Reid still came to work at separate times via different travel methods. Reid took the metro, Hotch drove. 

It was hard leaving Reid to walk to the subway this morning on his own, especially with his hair a disheveled mess, his lips still pink and slightly swollen from their heated night. His sleep-shirt hanging off his thin frame as he stood in the doorway, waving goodbye, “See you at the office, Aaron,” he said with a small, sleepy smile.

Hotch’s thoughts were swimming with that image as he stood in the conference room, a file opened in his hand that he wasn’t really looking at. His eyes were unfocused, his mind back in his bedroom with Spencer. The softness of his brown eyes as they fell onto the bed, lips connecting for the millionth time but still tasting like the first. Fireworks exploding behind their heated kiss, sparks crackling through their bodies. 

He had to pull his focus back to the present when he heard JJ greeting Reid, the young doctor stammering as he set his satchel down, “Sorry I’m late. I missed the first train and had to wait an extra 8 minutes for the second.”

“Don’t make it a habit, Reid-” Hotch started to say, his stern persona in place at work, but he stopped. His eyes narrowed at Reid’s attire, glancing him up and down. The next words came out before he could stop himself, “Is that my shirt?”

Reid looked down at himself, a white button-up adorning his chest that was most definitely a little too big for him. He had tried to hide that fact by tucking it in, but clearly, it was to no avail. It had become a bit of a habit to wear Hotch’s larger shirts when he stayed over the weekend. Especially after he noticed the gleam of arousal that would come to Hotch’s eye when he saw him wearing his clothes (and extra especially with nothing else on). He glanced back up at Hotch, his own words also rushing from him before he could think, “You mean our shirt?” Because, honestly, they had both worn this shirt several times now. Just not at work.

Morgan coughed after he took a sip of his coffee, the hot beverage spilling on the table as he spat it out, “What?” He croaked. 

Hotch closed his eyes, trying to ground himself, the feeling of heat rising up his neck and blossoming over his face. Oh great, he was blushing. When he opened his eyes again, he looked right at Reid, who was redder than a tomato. Rossi was just grinning, idly rocking back in his chair, “You wanna tell us something, Aaron?” The rest of the team was looking at him expectantly. 

With a sigh, Hotch ran his hand over his forehead, “Not really,” he mumbled. 

“Oh, Jeez,” Emily rolled her eyes, “We already know. You might as well just admit it, so we don’t have to tiptoe around you two anymore.”

“You know?” Reid squeaked, his eyes practically bugging out of his head. Morgan shot a look between him and Emily, “You knew? I didn’t! What is going on?” He didn’t care to clean up his coffee mess. 

Emily shrugged, “Okay, well Rossi, JJ, and I knew. We were betting on how long it would take before you guys came clean.”

Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose, “Just, get out. Reid, you and I need to talk.”

Rossi smirked, standing as slowly as he could while the girls filed out (and Morgan seemed frozen to his spot), “Just clean up when you’re done in here.”

“Rossi!” Reid’s voice cracked as he hid his face under his hands. This wasn’t happening, this wasn’t happening!

Rossi had to tug on Morgan’s arm to force him out of his daze, making him follow. They closed the door behind them, leaving Hotch and Reid alone at the round table. Hotch cleared his throat after a moment, moving closer to his... lover? He sat down across from him, his hands folded neatly. with his elbows on his knees.

“Do you want this to end?” He asked after a beat, looking into Reid’s eyes. Reid furrowed his brow, his blush lightening just a little, “What?”

“Now that the team knows. Do you want to end it? I won’t blame you, nor will I be mad if you-”

“Aaron,” Reid took Hotch’s hands into his own, his eyes just as soft as they were that morning, “I don’t want this to end. I want... more, actually. I just didn’t know how to ask for it.”

Hotch closed his mouth to keep his jaw from hitting the floor. What? Really? Reid continued, his thumb running over Hotch’s pulse point, “I’ve been staying with you because I like to. I like being close to you. Being with you. Um, if that’s what you want?”

Hotch blinked, taken aback by this. Yes.

“You’re sure? That you want this to be more? Especially now that our only rule has been broken?” He searched the younger mans eyes, looking for doubt, guilt, deciet. He didn’t find any.

“I’m sure. If you are?”

“Yes.” He didn’t need to think twice, taking Reid’s face into his hands and bringing their lips together in a tender kiss, much like the one they shared when they woke up, but this was different. This time there was a word to go with it. A word for the thing they had between them. Passion. Love. A real relationship.

[neonponders]

I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself @hoegrove your Bond!au is just too strong.

Based on their post here ~

I hope you like it 🥺 🌹 it’s on ao3, if that’s easier for anyone to read 🌹

• • • • • • •

013.

Fucking 013. Not 00.

Which meant he’d have to wait for whoever got the 00 status he deserved to either die or become incompetent.

“Congratulations, Hargrove. Report to HQ for briefing.”

He’d rather be headed for the private plane that would take him to some tropical location, where capitalist monsters waited for his bullet.

Hargrove stepped out of the elevator onto the spacious floor. He really wished HQ would renovate. The concrete floors, glass walls, and metal beams were urban but not chic.

He found the corresponding desk of his... “partner” of sorts. Every number had a letter. The computer and the muscle. As Hargrove removed his outer garment, though, only the computer desk was present, while the person - 

“Could you not dump your nasty jacket on my work station?”

Hargrove sighed and found the loon - on a bicycle. He frowned. “What the hell are you doing on a bike inside?”

“It helps me think,” Q said, riding slow laps in between the cubicles. Granted, there weren’t many of them, and Hargrove was pretty sure he’d only ever seen Q and maybe three other people on this entire floor, unless there was a crisis.

Maybe that’s why he had yet to be promoted to 00. Too much peace.

“Take your jacket off my seat!”

“Jesus Christ,” Billy cursed. He balled up the ruined jacket and threw at the bastard’s head. To his credit, he didn’t crash into anything. “Clean freak.”

“That’s Q to you,” he barked, dumping the raggedy garment into the nearest bin.

“Sure, Steve,” he purred, knowing his partner loathed the fact that he had figured out his real name. Hargrove wouldn’t work for just anybody, after all. And he was a detective first. Hired gun second.

He didn’t actually need Q. So he told himself. But Steve sure came in handy.

“So help me god, Billy. Did you at least keep my pen intact?”

“Your what?” He landed in Steve’s spinning chair, forcing the guy to lean his bike against his cubicle and stand with his hands on his hips.

“My pen, dip shit. You know, the one that’s basically a Swiss army knife. The one sanctioned by HQ to one Asshole Hargrove - ”

“Oh, that,” he said distantly, gazing out at the city around them. “It broke.”

Not surprised, nor impressed, Steve remarked, “You realize that if some nerd civilian reverse-engineers half the shit you lose, we might be genuinely compromised, right?”

“Then make better stuff.”

“Stop losing it, and you might actually be 00 one day.”

Billy glared with all the menace a man could while having his chair rolled out of the way. Steve shoved him aside with his foot and entered his computer password before navigating to the corresponding case briefs. Billy let his head recline on the seat while Steve went through the list.

“Target?”

“Deceased.”

“Car?”

“Totaled, but returned.”

“Pen: lost in action. Suspect?”

“Null. Excellent in bed, though.”

“You’re a cliche.” Steve glared from behind his glasses.

“Stop giving me cases with attractive people, then,” Billy smirked. “Who’s my next target? Tell me they live somewhere expensive and sunny.”

“Like a desert?”

“No, like Marseilles.”

“Oh, Marseilles is nice,” Steve chirped distractedly. “If you like French people.”

Billy snorted, but it evolved into laughter. “What’s wrong with French people?”

“They’re French.”

“Wow. Picky.”

Steve giggled under his breath and said, “I’m sorry I don’t have a gig for you in France.”

“I’m sure I’ll managed,” Billy sighed. “What do you have?”

“Something more domestic.”

Billy exhaled through his nose, warranting a curious peek from Steve. “Yeah, that’s what I’m stuck with. One zero and domestic jobs.”

“You’ll get there,” Steve reassured. Softly. Which was...odd.

Billy’s head rolled over the back of the chair to stare at him. Steve quickly added, “If you stop breaking the shit I loan you.”

Billy looked toward the ceiling, pressing his lips into an impertinent line...

“Q.”

“Hm?” he asked while typing away.

“There’s a bird in here.”

Steve looked at him. “What?” and followed his gaze up to the metal rafters. A grey bird gazed right back at them. “Oh shit - ”

Billy already had his pistol out. One shot knocked the bird off its perch. It landed with a loud, metallic clatter.

Steve's body doubled over when Billy wrenched his arm in the direction away from the device, and not a second too soon. The force of the explosion knocked them both over one cubicle and roughly onto the concrete floor.

"Q," Billy growled when the guy scrambled to his feet and back to his desk. He reached underneath it, uncovering a baseball bat of all things, and swung right over his hard drive. Metal and plastic debris rained over the floor, and then he ran to the router standing on a low piece of furniture along the wall. He wrenched its cables out and smashed the thing too.

Then he looked up at Agent Hargrove. "We're compromised."

Billy was already moving toward the scattered carcass of the spy bird. They didn't have a lot of time. Already, another explosive rumble sounded beneath their feet, on another floor. Billy quickly found the piece he was looking for, and pocketed it before yanking Steve in the direction of the stairs.

"I need a car."

"You know where the garage is."

"You're coming with me. That thing heard both of our names."

Steve defended, "We both lost our original identities when we signed up for this bullshit."

"We don't know what we're dealing with yet," Billy reasoned. "Until then, you're safest with me."

"Well that's pathetic." His words might've landed better if they didn't rattle out of him while they did their best to sprint down several dozen flights of stairs.

"You're really sassing me right now? What are you gonna do with that bat?"

Steve ignored that to proclaim, "We need to get to my place. I have a backup computer connected to the system."

"And how do we know it's not compromised too?"

"Because it's mine. Not the system's."

Billy could only frown at him ever so briefly, but he pocketed that information away for another time. For now, they descended into the belly of their organization, where the garage of vehicles rested beneath the city. There, another argument awaited him.

"You're not taking the goddamn Camaro."

"I'm taking the goddamn Camaro," Billy retorted, already ripping the keys out of the cabinet Steve unlocked for him.

"It's loud as all hell!"

"So are you. Get in the car."

Another explosion shook the concrete columns of the garage. Steve ducked his head and coughed on the dust while he threw himself into the car a millisecond before Billy left tire tracks on the floor. "What are you doing?"

Steve was pressing buttons on the dash. Somewhere behind them, a mechanical part was moving in the car. "We don't know how many birds infiltrated the building. I'm rotating the license plates - egh!"

He collapsed against his seat when the car angled up to speed onto the city streets. Billy mused, "And what can you do for speed trap cameras?" and held up a middle finger to the camera angled over the four-way intersection.

"Nothing yet. We'll have to trade cars eventually."

"Not soon enough."

"What?" Steve all but screeched, and turned around to see behind them. "At least you're not the only stereotype in this business."

He got the words out a moment before the large, black SUV rammed into the back of the Camaro. "Put your seatbelt on."

"IT IS ON!"

Steve provided his own chorus of swears and exclamations while Billy navigated through the city, tossing his partner left and right in his seat, avoiding another collision with the SUV that would spin them out of control. When Steve began digging through the glove box and lowering his window, Billy bellowed, "What are you doing?"

"A PEN!" he yelled before throwing something behind them. A second later, the SUV's front lifted off the road so the whole thing fell onto its side.

It was Billy's turn to exclaim, "Those things explode?"

"YES THEY EXPLODE!"

"YOU NEVER TOLD ME THEY EXPLODE!"

"WHY DO YOU THINK I TOLD YOU NOT TO TAP THE PEN THREE TIMES?"

"YOU ARE SO GODDAMN LUCKY MY DICK HASN'T BEEN BLOWN OFF."

Steve pointed out the front windshield. "BILLY!"

Another SUV narrowly rammed them from the side, but Billy pulled on the brake and swung the car into a 180. Some civilian took the brunt of that particular attack, but Billy officially needed to get them the hell out of here. Whoever wanted their heads for trophies didn't care about national news.

Which was possibly the most dangerous piece of this mess. Arguably the most powerful component of a country was its press, and these assholes didn't care if they earned the media's or internet's attention.

It was another aspect in itself that Billy had ridden in one too many black SUV's. That would also account for someone's ability to install too many explosive birds in the building.

"Billy?" Steve piped when he drove down the stairs leading to the boardwalk along the river. Billy focused on the new car behind them. He looked across the river at the opposite riverbank, where the walls sloped up. He needed to get over there.

The car rattled as he sped up a flight of stairs to the street once more, but did a hard left onto the bridge that crossed the river.

Down the stairs again, this time slaloming over the ramped wall, keeping an eye on his rearview to see how tunnel-visioned the SUV behaved.

A hand gripped the wide bell of his forearm. "Billy," Steve rasped. There wasn't a stairwell at the end of this riverbank. Just a concrete wall.

Billy went up the ramp, and braked with a hard turn on the steering wheel. The SUV tried to brake in time, but the Camaro clipped the back tire, and it spun right over the side into the river.

Billy k-turned back in the direction of the stairs. He drove seamlessly into the midday, traffic, turning on his windshield wipers against the heavy drizzle. He glanced at Steve, who had not let go of his arm. At a stoplight, Billy's other hand overlapped his, earning a pale, ghostly stare.

"We need to get to the subway. Then your place."

Despite his shock, Steve nodded and said, "Two blocks down."

Billy found the station, lodged their car in a back alley between a Polish restaurant and a laundromat, and circled the car to help Steve out. "I'm fine," he said even as his knees gave out and he hung between his arms on the car door and roof.

"I see that," Billy replied. He nestled in close to wrap an arm around Steve's softer waist. "Put your weight on me."

He did, and Billy kicked the door shut behind them. "Do you have a metro card?"

"Do I have a metro card?" Billy snorted on their way to the entrance.

"You can't jump the turnstiles."

"I'm not leaving a paper trail. I don't know if my cards are compromised too. That bird sat right over your desk, pretty boy. Someone wanted a real close eye on you. Maybe even kill you. We can try and figure out who else was under surveillance later."

They did not earn approving looks from vaulting the turnstiles, but they made it to the train, and then forty minutes or so later, Steve's apartment. By then, his color had returned to his face, and Billy couldn't help but tease, "Do you always bring colleagues home?"

Steve sighed and didn't grace that with a response. He unlocked his door, and Billy perused the living room and its bay window. The place was nice. White walls. Light wooded floors. Colorful dish ware. A bedroom off to the right with an unmade bed, and a dining room to the left with an array of folders and a laptop on it.

Billy placed the broken bird piece beside the laptop. "I don't know how much you can get out of this. But it's a start."

Steve maneuvered around him and sank into the chair. "Help yourself to the kitchen."

Billy did exactly that, and only found a few hints at the neurosis of a tech genius: Steve's pantry was entirely filled with bags of chips and hot sauce. His apartment also wielded the same characteristic Steve used at work: cleanliness. There wasn't so much as a lingering cereal dish in the sink.

Billy went about scrambling some eggs, frying up some bacon, and heating up a box of leftover diner hash browns. He poured a bottle of white and brought the dishes to the table. He set the glass of wine in view of the laptop. "For your nerves. Try to eat something."

"Thanks," Steve murmured. He didn't touch his food, but Billy sat opposite him and plunged his fork into his eggs.

After he cleaned his plate, he started tapping the back of the laptop screen, causing whatever Steve was reading to bounce. As if tossed out of a reverie, Steve inhaled sharply and took his glasses off to scrub his face. Naturally, Billy chuckled and plucked up the glasses to see how the other half lived...

"Steve."

"Hmm?" he mumbled from inside his hands.

"Explain to me why your glasses are asking for 004 authentication?"

His hands lowered so he could see Billy wearing his glasses and the nearly invisible screens layered inside the glass. The muscles of his jaw ticked as he reached across the table. Billy let him remove the glasses, but his stare did not waver until Steve relented, "I'm not 004 anymore."

Billy blinked, hard, as he absorbed that. "When were you an agent?"

Steve pushed his fork around his plate. "Right as you joined."

"Am I really going to have to pull your teeth for this? Because someone must know who you are, or were. Knows enough to keep an eye on you. How many other 00s are retired into office work?"

"My whole team," he heaved. Surrendered. "It all happened too fast. I was elevated to 00 status and just as quickly flunked out of it. Then they gave me you."

Steve exhaled as if there was a whole lot more there. Then he added, "Consider this a mentorship."

Billy huffed and relaxed against his chair. "So my guardian angel is the one keeping me from my promotion."

It took a second, but Steve processed that and lifted his head. "What?"

"You. I don't get to be a 00 until a 00 gives me the okay."

Something shy of a grimace flitted across Steve's features. "Maybe you'd be one, if you learned how to say thank you. You're not god. I've saved your ass at least twice without even being in the same country as you."

"You're a P.T.S.D. case with a laptop. That's all."

"And you're a gun with childhood trauma and abandonment issues. Welcome to the fucking club. We have special glasses."

He stabbed his hash browns and started eating. Billy crossed his arms and brooded in silence.

Abandonment issues, my ass, he mused, but could not help but watch the man opposite him eat. He'd never actually seen Steve eat. He'd certainly always been available whenever Hargrove called, regardless of timezone or courtesy of sleep.

It's hypocritical to call him an angel and treat him as disposable...after you hauled him around like precious luggage.

Billy didn't like that thought one bit.

This job wasn't actually a business. It was a lifestyle. One that didn't grant angels or precious items. And the same voice that called Steve, Angel, kept whispering in Billy's mind.

Compromised.

Something moved in his periphery and he had his gun out before he even thought twice. "What the hell is that?"

Steve, to his credit, hadn't flinched. "The cartoons refer to it as a pussy cat. She wants your bacon."

The fluffy ginger that had jumped onto the table stared Billy down until he relinquished his last piece of bacon. "Why am I not surprised that you have a cat?"

"Considering your reaction, I'd say you were petrified."

"Shut up, Steve."

"No guns on the table."

Billy groaned and set the device on the console table behind him. "Yes, dear."

It was going to be a long case.

[creativeashproductions]

What If...? III // Alive!Luke Patterson

Summary: The aftermath of both the car accident and the proposal is something Luke struggles with dividing you two for the first time. With an ultimatum in place Luke finds himself standing in front of his childhood home but can he open the door he had locked and shut?

Warning: Swearing, talk of injuries, self-guilt, angst, Unsaid Emily (I’m a terrible person), and fluff (I SWEAR THERE IS FLUFF IN THIS)

Words: 4.0k

Requested: By @beautifulblogsblog . There will be two more parts at least.

A/N: Grammarly estimates that this will take a little over 15 minutes to read. I also almost made you not get an answer to a make or break question somewhere in here but I wanted to make up for the cliffhanger in part one.

*Bobby’s last name in this is Willis, it will come clear why soon.

TO BE TAGGED SEND AN INBOX/ASK PLEASE!

Masterlist (other parts for What If can be found in the masterlist)

(This goddamn shirt is also a warning holy christ)

Hollywood 1996

Life after the car accident was strange, to say the least. You lived with the guilt that your father couldn’t pick up a guitar. He had severely broken his arm in the crash in the instinctive moment to protect you. Your mother hovered, and Luke was there, but something changed since his hospital proposal.

There was a weird tension between you and him that concerned Alex because Luke wouldn’t talk about it. He would change the subject whenever Alex inquired about that empty ring box he found. Luke hadn’t told the guys he planned to propose and being rejected wasn’t something he wanted to share. However, one night he finally did.

“You could propose at the Eiffel Tower!” Reggie suggested having seen a commercial with the tower in the background. His excitement was visible to the band members in the living room.

 “Too cheesy.” Luke grumbled, rolling his eyes slouching down on the couch, “I’m not proposing.”

“I understand it’s a big step b-“

“I’m not proposing because I already did.” Luke snapped running hand through his messy hair with a glower. Alex was quiet, taking in the news and watching Luke’s body language.

“Oh congrat-“

“Read the damn room.” Luke snapped, slamming his pen on the coffee table as he stalked up the stairs to his bedroom. The resounding slam of his door marking his anger more prominent. Alex flinched at the sound.

“Was it something-“

“Seriously man?” Alex groaned, shaking his head at the bassist standing up from the armchair leaving the bassist the lone sitter, “You are so lucky you can play bass.”

Alex left Reggie downstairs to enter Luke’s room where he was throwing darts at the board harshly. Luke didn’t need to turn around to know Alex was in his personal place with one goal in mind, to cheer his bandmate up.

“What happened?” Alex asked, sitting in the second-hand office chair with a hole in the seat. His blue eyes watching the jerky movements from the obviously frustrated guitarist.

“She said no.” Luke whispered, rubbing a hand over his weary hazel eyes, more of a blue with the sadness he felt, “I proposed, and she said no.”

“I’m sorry. Did Y/N say why?” Alex hesitated to ask the question fearing Luke would fully snap as he had down a few times in the past. The one time was when he found Alex crying as an asshole overheard Alex admit to his crush on Jonathan Taylor Thomas after seeing him on Home Improvement. Courtesy of Luke, that asshole never breathed a word about it.

“An ultimatum. She won’t say yes until I fix things with my parents.” Luke sighed collapsing onto his bed, staring at the blue ceiling. Going back home after hurting his mom was something hard to do.

The night he left had been filled with a lot of words he regretted saying, he can’t even remember the last time he told his mom he loved her. The last time dinner hadn’t been tense and filled with anger. There was a pang of deep guilt for running out on his family, his mother and seeing the missing person posters further hammered the guilt in.

“She has a point.” Alex admitted, “We made it. We proved to our parents that this band was worth it. Take it from me. I would give anything for my parents to be the way they were before I told them I’m gay.”

Luke was quiet.

“You have a chance to fix things and Luke, that’s something you’ll regret. Remember the night of The Orpheum? We were gonna get street dogs? If we had, we would have died man.”

“I guess we got lucky?” Luke half-smiled remembering when they had been walking near the Orpheum a few days after performing.

The guy that sold the street dogs was arrested, and an ambulance was taking a couple to the hospital. The couple died, and it made the guys think how close they could have come to dying all the times they ate out of the Oldsmobile.

“We did. She loves you, Luke, but if you love her. You’ll reach out to your parents. I know they would love it.” Alex spoke, squeezing his best friends’ shoulder before he let himself out of the bedroom.

Alex joined Reggie in the living room watching a VHS they had rented from Blockbuster this morning. A smile appearing on Alex’s face as the muted familiar sound of a guitar came from upstairs. The sad melody Luke had taught his band playing.

“So, what year do you think we should release a country album? I can play the banjo.” Reggie asked, looking over at Alex with a thoughtful expression, “I’ve been writing this wicked song. I’m thinking of calling it ‘Home is Where My Horse Is’? How long would it take you to learn how to fiddle?”

“Reggie. I love you man, but I am not gonna be barefoot in overalls fiddling.” Alex spoke, shaking his head at his bandmate who pouted softly.

Alex and Reggie fell asleep on the couch that night while Luke worked tirelessly through the night on Unsaid Emily. It was by far the most personal song he had ever written, but it was the only way he could release the feelings he had. By the time morning came, his eyes had turned bloodshot and swollen.

Luke’s hands trembled at the sight of the childhood home he hadn’t been inside in months, not since that cold December night he left. The car was parked in the very same spot with the front bumper still dinged from when Luke was practising for his license.

Luke had developed a streak to avoid the bitter taste of disappointment from his parents. He would sneak out to gigs or little known locations with Alex; either for the band and his secret relationship. Luke never breathed a word of the relationship for the safety of Alex and avoid anything that would spike his boyfriend’s anxiety. The guilt died down when he and Alex mutually decided to be friends instead, but the band topic was different. At fourteen it was becoming apparent to Luke’s parents that this band wasn’t a hobby to him anymore, the first time his parents regretted buying the guitar.

“C’mon!” Bobby hissed from the safety of the curb. Luke was behind the wheel of his family’s station wagon in the dead of night. Reggie stationed in front of the car and Alex behind it, “This is stupid guys!”

Luke shakily took a breath in putting the car in drive to align with Reggie before he placed the vehicle in reverse. Learning to parallel park seemed to be going well as Luke did okay pulling into the parking spot. He got ahead of himself; however, when he moved to drive forward to center between Reggie and Alex. He may have hit the gas too hard.

“Ah!” Reggie screamed as the car bumped in him in the leg. The boy went down shuddering while his three friends hurried to his side.

“Are you okay?” Luke asked not minding the sting of the asphalt on his covered knees seeing as he just hit his best friend.

“I’m good.” Reggie raised one thumb in the air. Each boy leaned back in relief confirming the bassist was as good as Reginald could be.

 “Why the hell didn’t you move out of the way?” Luke demanded helping the boy up from the ground with a deep frown.

 “I was a traffic cone. Cones can’t move unless they get moved.” Reggie proudly announced with his typical oblivious attitude. Reggie wasn’t stupid, he was definitely the comedic relief in the band and prided himself on it.

“I-what. Okay..” Alex whispered to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Sometimes I don’t know Reg.”

Reggie shrugged it off while a familiar girl jogged down the road with a furrowed brow, a girl that had lived in Luke’s neighbourhood for a while. She was moving to a bigger house soon, but she was an acquaintance that had never acknowledged the group.

“Are you okay?” The girl, you, questioned the bassist scanning him over as Luke stared dreamily at her. His ever-changing eye colour turning a soft mossy green at the girl that had held his heart for years; only temporarily vacating it for Alex.

“Oh, totally. This doesn’t hurt as much as the amp.” Reggie supplied waving it off whereas you were more worried the guy hit his head. Your gaze scanned the boys of Riot Curve. A deep developing on the pale cheeks of the Patterson boy.

“Aren’t you guys in my grade?” You questioned pursing your lips together, “You’d be like thirteen. Why are you driving? Aren’t you a little short to see over the steering wheel?”

A bark of laughter fell from Bobby Willis’ mouth, earning him a glance from you, closing his mouth as Luke’s look of disgust.

“I’m not short!” Luke shouted, “I’ll have you know I grew!”

You snickered at his offended expression, “Dude, I’m joking. You’ll get a growth spurt soon. Besides, I think you have bigger issues than your vertical challenge.”

A question fell from Luke’s lips before he followed your view. The bumper of his parent’s car had a small dent that his father would most definitely discover at some point.

“Oh, I am dead meat.” Luke sprouted just before the guys started brainstorming explanations that didn’t include four fourteen-year-old boys out after curfew driving.

“Hey, I have a little experience with bands and whatnot. Just a suggestion, maybe consider changing your band name from Riot Curve to something else.” You suggested starting to jog back to your house, “See you in class!”

Luke once again stared dreamily after your form forgetting what he should be worried about.

“Our name is already-“

“Sunset Curve.” Luke shouted, earning weird looks from his bandmates at the rather uncharacteristic change of mind, “We are renaming the band.”

“Why?” Bobby scoffed, “We agreed on Riot Curve!”

“Uh, no. You two did. Reggie and I weren’t there.” Alex raised one his eyebrows facing Bobby, “I was sick with the flu, and Reggie was at his aunt’s second wedding.”

“Why the name?” Reggie asked his pining lead singer flicking his gaze between Luke and the empty place where you had been.

“Because that was the first time, she talked to me. A sunset behind her brightening the pretty curve of her smile.” Luke sighed scrambling when the front step light at his house turned on. Each boy running for the safety from the Patterson windows.

“I like the name! I didn’t like the violence in the other name!” Alex shouted, rushing towards his bicycle to head back home. 

That was also the last time Luke saw you until 1993 at that concert as you moved to the medium-sized mansion by then.

Luke grinned at the memory of how he actually spoke to the girl of his dreams before everything went full to shit. Reggie’s parents started fighting, Bobby grew more into girls than music, Alex told his parents he was gay. Luke finally sat down with his parents telling him that he wouldn’t go to college and didn’t want to finish high school. He did finish high school to appease his parents even after running away.

“Luke?” The breathless question brought the guitarist back to the present time and to the blue eyes of his father. The shock on the man’s face preceding the tears building up, “Son.”

“Hon?” Luke’s knees collapsed as he heard the soft voice that had read him stories and sung lullabies when he was a child. Emily gasped as she saw the one person she had wished to find for so long, “Luke.”

“Mom.” Luke choked, raising his hands to press them to his face, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t-“

“Sh. Baby.” Emily wasted no time in scooping her son into her arms, so thankful nothing terrible had happened to him. She didn’t care where or what he had been doing as long as he in her arms again.

A hand clapped his shoulder to squeeze, announcing his father silently thanking whatever God there was for bringing his son home. That they didn’t have to worry blue and red lights would precede news no parent wanted to hear.

“Can I come in?” Luke asked tentatively. A soft hand brushing his hair away from his eyes for his parents to finally see the unique eye colour their son had inherited.

Emily ushered her son into the kitchen that hadn’t changed in the time Luke had been gone, the only difference being the Christmas decorations put away. They would reappear the last week of November; Emily wouldn’t have to struggle to put the ornaments on the tree without her son.

“I don’t know how to say what I want. Could I…could I sing please?” Luke murmured to his parents. It was a question he wasn’t sure he wanted to be answered. He hadn’t brought his guitar just in case it was the wrong move. His parents regretted buying him that guitar.

“Of course.” Mitch spoke, climbing to his height, “Just one moment.”

Luke watched his father leave the kitchen only to shortly return, holding a beautiful acoustic guitar. He had never seen it in his life either. He was confused when Mitch set the guitar into Luke’s lap.

“You’re like your mom. When she worries the only thing that can help calm her is knitting. I figured the guitar is your way of knitting.” Mitch calmly told his son choosing to not bright attention to tears in either of the Patterson men’s eyes.

Luke settled on the couch in the living room while Mitch and Emily took to their respective long known spots. Ones that faced the windows perfect for knitting and reading with natural light. Emily reached over to hold her husband’s hand while Luke started strumming.

First things first

We start the scene in reverse.

 All of the lines rehearsed.

 Disappeared from my mind

When things got loud

 One of us running out

 I should have turned around.

 But I had too much pride.

No time for goodbyes

 Didn’t get to apologize

 Pieces of a clock that lies broken

Not a dry eye in the Patterson home as Luke gave the best performance of his life. Performance didn’t build a bridge between him and his parents, why make a new bridge when the first one only needs repairs.

“Please record that.” Emily choked wiping her face of tears, “I want that on your first album, I loved it. I’m going to buy the first CD it’s on.”

Luke Patterson smiled a piece instead of healing at her words and the acceptance he had craved. Now he just had to propose again.

The cosy soft knit blanket Emily gave you at Christmas the first time you met Luke’s parents when it became clear that the relationship was serious. It was one that you cuddled into for a sense of comfort, eyes focused on the demo the song was waiting. Fingers itching to put in the CD player and listen to the finished product.

“Hey. Sweetheart you gotta stop blaming yourself.” Lance spoke coming to sit beside you on the piano bench. The bench you had learnt how to play directly across from the couch that you spent hours with him on learning the guitar.

“How can I? I asked for a ride, and you might never play again.” You scoffed, bringing your knees to your chest. Lance’s heart broke, hearing the guilt leaking from your words and the slump on your shoulders.

“I picked you up because I love you. You’re my daughter, my baby and I’m gonna tell you something that hope knocks some sense in that head.” Your Dad sternly spoke, taking your hand to place on his cast, “This? This doesn’t matter. If I hadn’t done this, you would be dead, and I wouldn’t be able to hold a guitar because you wouldn’t get to hear me play. I’d rather not be able to play and have my daughter alive.”

Tears rolled down your cheeks as your hero wiped your tears tugging you in his arms, “Besides I’m a Y/L/N, we don’t let other people tell us how to live.”

Lance leaned over to insert the CD into the machine before pressing play bringing a soft melody in the room. You snuggled into his side as his rich voice broke through into the most beautiful song you had ever heard. Unbeknownst to you, Luke stood in the doorway with his bandmates listening to the gorgeous record.

“I love it.” You whispered glancing over your shoulder, feeling the gaze of someone, and while you expected your mother, the sight was welcome. Not a dry eye in the room as the last chord rang with the joyful voice of a little girl; your voice from a family video.

“That’s beautiful.” Luke breathed grinning when you swiftly made your way into his open arms, “I’m sorry I haven’t been here for you like I should have been. I was hurt, and I didn’t want you to see that.”

“Was that the song that was playing- OW!” Reggie exclaimed rubbing the back of his head that Bobby had thumped. The bassist grimacing at the pain clueing that it wasn’t the greatest question he had said.

“Bittersweet was the song playing. This is the finished product.” Lance confirmed standing to his full height, “How about I let you see some unreleased songs?”

Lance ushered everyone but you and Luke from the room for privacy only winking before closing the door. Luke breathed out, leading you back to the couch with his hands squeezing your own.

“You were right,” Luke announced brushing the pad of his thumb under your eye to swipe an eyelash. His hazel eyes showing more of the green with the adoration gleaming from them, “It hurt being rejected but you were right about it. I hurt my parents by running out one them, especially my mom. I don’t want to hurt her more by excluding her from the biggest moment of my life.”

Your own hand raised to cup his cheek heart bursting when Luke turned his head to press a chaste kiss to the palm.

“You couldn’t guess how much it ached telling you no. I wanted to so badly, but your mom was always so good to me. I didn’t want her to miss out on anything.”

“She won’t miss out.” Luke replied, tugging you to your feet, “I went home, and we talked it through.”

Your feet cemented to the floor, “You went to see them?”

“I did. I was no sure Mom and Dad hated me for running away, for choosing music over them.”

“You didn’t choose music over them, Lu. You made a decision that they didn’t like, but you did what you were raised to do. They taught you to stand up for yourself, never second guess or quit.” You passionately told him, “They love you with their whole heart, they just didn’t understand how important music is to you at the time.”

“God, I love you so much. I would do anything for you.” Luke tugged you into his arms, bringing your attention to his different outfit choice.

He was wearing his best black jeans with no holes but still the chains, but his wallet wasn’t on display. His lucky blue rabbit’s foot was clipped to his necklace laying over the long sleeve purple corduroy shirt. The shirt he wore a lot when he wanted to be wanted to a little more dressed up.

“You’re wearing that shirt.” You stated glancing up to the boy, “And your lucky rabbit’s foot is not on your chains.”

Luke smirked, leading you through the house to the backyard where Luke had asked Nancy to be. Your mother sat at the piano with your father beside her, Nancy and Lance Y/L/N hadn’t sat at a piano together since you were tiny. Tears built up as Luke gently brought you into his arms entirely in time with the notes that Nancy began.

Heart beats fast

Colors and promises

How to be brave

 “Are you trying to make me cry?” You choked as he used the dance lessons he took with his mom twirling you around. As if you couldn’t cry more your gaze found Reggie strumming the acoustic guitar. Alex waiting at his drums with a grin at Luke and you.

I have died every day, waiting for you.

Darling, don’t be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years.

I’ll love you for a thousand more.

Everything faded as you two gazed into each other’s eyes, in his you swore you saw every moment with Luke play. The sweaty palms shy to hold each other to the first kiss, the second kiss, sharing the most vulnerable time at sixteen, his serenading at seventeen after signing with a label and everything between those precious moments.

Time stands still

Beauty in all she is

I will be brave

I will not let anything, take away.

What’s standing in front of me

Every breath, every hour has come to this.

Bobby made his presence known harmonizing with you mom so low you barely heard, but it was Luke singing that enthralled you. Everything about this moment you would remember for the rest of your life.

The music faded as Luke took a step back to kneel down in front of you with the ring he had yearned to give you. The ring his mother had held on to for the girl Luke would fall in love with. She had given it a few days previous so thoroughly happy she got the opportunity to pass it down.

“Luke.” You breathed cupping your hands, one still in a brace, over your shocked face. His expression softened into the most loving one you had ever receiving in the years you had been together.

“My life has been leading me to this very moment. I believe that I was guided into music because of this absolutely perfect moment. Surrounded by the people who cheered us on and gave wisdom. The people that gave us a look at what true love is supposed to be.” Luke began keeping his entire focus on the love his life, “I knew about you before you knew me. I was ten when I saw you during recess sitting up against the tree with your walkman. I fell for you at that moment, but it wasn’t until I hit Reggie with the car that I got to talk to you.”

You giggled as you remembered running to a group of guys after seeing one get hit. If only you knew who they were at that time.

“Our first real conversation was at a concert, and I fell in love at that moment, and I am so thankful you gave me a chance. There isn’t anyone else, sorry, Alex!” Luke teased over his shoulder, earning a chuckle in response, “There isn’t anyone I want to spend my life with. You are my muse, the person I share every lyric with, my love and my soulmate.”

“Luke.” You choked reaching up to cup his cheeks so close not a single sheet of paper would move between you.

“Will you marry me? In front of our parents and our friends?” Luke shakily questioned begging for his rabbit’s foot to work with it being close to his heart.

“Yes.” You answered, reaching up to pull his face down to yours. The most passionate kiss of your life he wrapped his arms around you waist lifting you in his arms; he twirled around with you.

This was his most significant moment ever. The Orpheum could never live up to this.

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[sandwichrin]

A Little into You (Junkyu x Reader) (Ch. 25)

Chapter 25 - Bridge Burn

Word count: 6.4k words

Genre: Fanfiction, PG13, Comedy, Romance.

A/N: Hi! :’) Here’s the update! Also, this chapter’s a little longer than usual-- I hope you all don’t mind 😥 also! Hope you all enjoy this one, please look forward for the next one <3

“I just don’t get why he’d ask you to run errands for him like this,” Soomin nagged as she helped grab several napkins and paper straws from the side of the counter.

You were standing beside her, a receipt in your hand as your eyes scanned the items in the list, making sure that you’ve ordered every single one that Bomin had asked for.

“Aigoo, unnie. Just let it be. It’s the least I could do anyways,” you said with a sigh.

Soomin shook her head at this. “Erm no way. I’m not putting up with this. He was never like this, you know? He’s always been a gentleman, respectful to everyone,”

“Sure, unnie,” you replied, not paying full attention to what she was saying as your head kept glancing over at the order pickup counter, in case your order has completed.

“Did you see the glare I gave him when he called you to gather orders from everyone in the room? The nerve! Asking my staff to run around taking orders like a waitress!” she continued nagging, clearly dissatisfied as to how her very own best friend was treating her staff—well, you in particular.

You chuckled, “It’s fine, unnie. I don’t have much tasks to do anyways.”

Soomin frowned at you. “Don’t let people step on you like that, y/n.”

“I won’t.”

“But you’re complying to whatever he tells you to do,”

“We’re working with him, unnie. Doesn’t that make him sort of my boss too for the time being?”

“Yeah, but I’m your leader. I get the final say,”

You let out another sigh, aware that you’re not going to win this argument with your leader. You simply nodded and replied an ‘okay’ to her to make sure she drops the subject already.

You glanced over the watch on your wrist, noticing that it was almost lunchtime.

“Oh, right,” Soomin’s voice said, making you turn to her again.

“Hm?”

“Do you have something going on with that guy?” Soomin asked casually as she fixed her strand of wavy hair to the back of her ear.

You tilt your head in response, not knowing who she was referring to.

“Oh come on, y/n. Don’t give me that look.” She chuckled. “Everyone on the 5th floor has talked about it,”

“Talk about what?” you asked, clearly confused as to what was going around about you.

“Oh, you know. You and Chani.”

“Oh, that.” You laughed. “We’re just good friends. I mean, I’ve only known him when we started this workshop in this company,”

“I see. You both look kinda close to each other. Some of the staff said you both were dating,”

Your eyes widened when she said this. You shook your head, denying what you heard. “Pfft, no way! We’re just friends, really.”

Soomin chuckled at your response. “Alright, I trust you.”

 *

 YGE Building (Junkyu’s studio)

Junkyu stared blankly at the screen in front of him. He was supposed to be working on the lyrics of one of his own self-written songs, but instead he was letting himself get distracted.

He pulled off the headphones from his head and placed it onto the table.

Pushing his chair to the back, Junkyu leans into the chair and lets out a sigh.

He wasn’t in the mood to write the song at all today. He took out his phone from his pocket and unlocks the home screen.

He checks up on the text he’s sent you and noticed the ‘seen’ sign underneath the message he sent.

He squints his eyes and stared at the screen up close like as if he’s searching for a hidden message in the chat.

Junkyu shakes his head, realising that staring at the screen up close wouldn’t make you reply to him any sooner. But then again, when would you reply then?

He had sent the text to you that Saturday and he was expecting you to at least say something. An emoji? A mad text? A simple ���no’ would’ve made him feel less guilty.

He sighs heavily and shakes his phone in frustration.

“Hyung?” A familiar voice said from his studio door.

Junkyu stopped shaking the phone in his hand and turns his chair around to see who it was.

Jeongwoo, who was standing at the doorframe of his studio, gave his hyung a strange look. “Are…you okay? Why did you shake your phone like that?”

Junkyu immediately stood up from his swivel chair and tucks his phone into his jacket’s pocket. “N-nothing. I was just…” he blinked a couple times, trying to think of a way to change the subject. “W-what brings you here?”

Jeongwoo pushed the door open wider and enters himself inside the studio fully now, “I’m taking a break from the online task my teacher gave earlier. I wanted to get something to drink from the cafeteria so I wondered if you wanna tag along,”

“Ahh, right. You had to skip school today because it’s your turn to film a T-log with Mashi, right?”

Jeongwoo nods his head.

“Well, I’m hardly progressing with my song anyways. I guess I could use a break,” Junkyu said as he turns around to grab his wallet from his small yellow treasure merch bag.

“Cool! Then maybe we can get some of those mashed crab sandwiches from the store downstairs too!” Jeongwoo said excitedly, making Junkyu shake his head in amusement at him.

 *

 YGE Building (Outside cafeteria)

Both you and Soomin were bringing bags consisting of takeaway-cup drinks in both of your hands and the both of you were somewhat arguing over who should carry less than the other.

“No, unnieeee. Just give me that extra bag! Who’s gonna help me open the door if your hands are full like that??”

“Ugh no way! You should give me your bag! You’re carrying 12 drinks in two hands, that’s ridiculous as it is!” she shot back at you.

You rolled your eyes at her and tried to snatch one of the drink bags from her hand with your fingers but then you ended up losing balance and almost falling down.

“I told you!” Soomin said as you tried to keep your balance in front of her.

“Shut up,” you said to her, your face turning red in embarrassment because of how you almost fell down in front of your leader.

Soomin lets out a small laugh, “You’re quite stubborn, aren’t you? Aigoo, just let me help you,”

“Fine,” you sighed. And just as you were struggling to hand over the bag consisting of 4 drinks to your leader, you heard a familiar voice calling out to you.

“Y/n, is that you?”

You lift your head up to see Jeongwoo and Junkyu heading towards your direction.

“Jeongwoo-aa…” you said in an unsure tone.  You were distracted with the fact that your heart was suddenly beating fast from seeing Junkyu heading to where you were standing.

Soomin looked at you, wondering why you were suddenly acting all flustered after the younger boy had greeted you.

“Unnie, I think we should hurry,” you blurted out nervously.

“Hm? But I think your friend just called out to you?”

“N-no! It’s okay,” you gave her a small smile. “We need to head back before Bomin wonders why we’re taking so long, no?”

“Uhh, sure,”

And just as soon as Jeongwoo and Junkyu had arrived closely to where you were standing, you hurriedly walk past them and told Jeongwoo that you were in a rush so you couldn’t stay to chat with him.

Soomin followed closely behind you, wondering why you were acting all weirdly the moment you saw those two boys.

Jeongwoo turned around as he watches you pass by him and his hyung, your figure slowly disappearing from his sight.

“Huh…I guess she’s busy,”

Junkyu nods slowly at this. He noticed that you were avoiding to look at him earlier.

“She…was avoiding me,” Junkyu said softly, making Jeongwoo turn to look at him now.

“Hyung…”

Junkyu lets out a small chuckle, although he wasn’t smiling. “I guess it’s over now, isn’t it?”

“No hyung, don’t say that! She’s just busy that’s all. You saw how full her hands were, didn’t you? I bet she was in a hurry for a meeting or something,” Jeongwoo added, trying to assure his hyung that everything was indeed okay.

Junkyu sighs and shakes his head. “Come on, let’s head in,” he said as he steps forward towards the cafeteria entrance.

 *

 After bumping into Junkyu and Jeongwoo, you kept walking at a fast pace, forgetting that your leader was still behind you, trying to keep up with your pace.

“Y/n, you might want to slow down. You’re shaking those drinks around too much,” Soomin said, making you slow down as you realised how much the drinks had been shaken and that some have started spilling into the paper bag you were carrying.

“Oh gosh, sorry,” you said as you stopped walking.

Soomin stood beside you and watched as you busied yourself with checking the drinks in your bags.

“Hey, you good, y/n?” she asked.

“Hm, what?” you raised your head to look at her.

“You seem…kind of bothered,”

“What? No, no! I was just—I was just worried if we took too much time being away from the meeting room,” you said, giving her a sorry smile as you lied your way through her.

“Uhuh…” Soomin gave you a thoughtful look for a couple of seconds. “If you say so,” she shrugged in the end, deciding not to ask further since she didn’t want to invade your private life too much.

“Alright then, let’s just head back now.” Soomin added as she starts walking forward again, this time with her being in front of you.

You nod your head and followed behind her.

“Oh and y/n?” Soomin said, her head still staring straight ahead as she walked.

“Yes?”

“I’d like to discuss something with you later. I wanted to ask you this earlier but I almost forgot about it,” she chuckled. “We’ll discuss this when we reach the meeting room, okay?”

“Sure, Soomin-unnie,”

 *

 (The next day/Tuesday)

YGE Building – Main Meeting Room

“You WHAT?” Bomin’s voice boomed loudly throughout the empty meeting room.

“Shh, keep it down, will you?” Soomin said in a softer tone compared to him as she looks around, even though it was clearly just the both of them in the room.

Both Bomin and Soomin regularly meet up with each other at an early time before work begins, hence, them both being the only people in the room whilst waiting for the rest of Bomin’s staff’ and Soomin’s Comms Team members to arrive.

“Soomin, as much as I support you in everything you do—you know I always support your decisions, right?”

Soomin nods at this.

“Okay, good. Now listen to me jagi,” he said as he stands closer to her, “I care about you so much. But deciding this on your own is ridiculous,”

Soomin shakes her head. “First of all, I told you—” she paused as she took a step back to distance herself from him. “I told you that we shouldn’t make it too obvious that we’re together, Bomin.”

“And, what makes you think my decision this time is ridiculous?” she asked.

Bomin presses his fingers against the middle of his forehead, hissing in frustration. He lets out a sigh and looks at his girlfriend that was standing right in front of him right now. He loves her, he really does. And he’s always wanted the best for her, of course.

Bomin had always had feelings for Soomin, since they had been close ever since their high school days. But then he held himself back from confessing to her for couple of years because he believed that a wonderful person like Soomin deserves only the best—in which he proved he managed to achieve after he secured his post as one of the head staffs in the YGE Company.

The collaboration between Soomin’s team and his made him believe that it was fate that brought them to work closely together, and for him to finally confess his feelings towards his very own close friend, which led him to today—dating the beautiful and sophisticated Soomin, and being able to call her as his girlfriend finally.

Soomin, who had only recently began dating Bomin, was happy to accept his feelings, working with him has made her feelings for him resurfaced from when they were in school back then. But she was determined to keep things professional at work. She’s that type of person.

But judging from Bomin’s careless behaviour, she could tell that Bomin isn’t trying to keep things between them as professional as she was.

“Well?” Soomin said, pushing for an answer from him since all he did was just stare at her without saying anything for the past minute.

“Tsk. Soomin. You know why I’m against this specific idea of yours,”

“No, I don’t. All I know is that you’re being a judgemental person,” she replied, implying that she does indeed know why Bomin was against her idea this time.

Bomin looks up at the ceiling, taking in the insult his girlfriend just said to him.

“Bomin, look at me,”

Bomin looks back at Soomin’s face, her eyes wider this time as she waited for his answer to her question.

“Look, babe—I mean, Soomin. You know,” he paused. “Ugh, you know I don’t like how you’re giving her special treatment all the time,”

Soomin scoffs at him, bemused. “I’m not giving her special treatment. I believe she has what it takes to do this,”

“She’s only been in your team for what—a month?? One of the company’s shareholders is going to be here today, and you have the nerve to take this stupid risk?”

“Don’t talk to me with that tone,”

Bomin groaned in frustration, seeing that he had somehow ticked Soomin’s mood off as well. He’s probably in for a bad day.

“Look, I already briefed her yesterday. I even sent her the materials for her to rehearse too. She’ll do fine!” Soomin added.

“You don’t get it! The reason I wanted you to be the one handling the presentation is because I want you to be recognised for your hard work! Now look at you, blowing your chance away!”

“That’s not true. You and I both know that half of the paperwork and data gathered for our presentations were gathered and done by y/n.”

“Even so—”

“Even so, I’m not doing it, Bomin. Y/n deserves to present her hard work for my team, and if you’re going to argue further about this…” Soomin looks at the door behind Bomin. “then I have nothing else to talk about with you.” With that, Soomin grabbed her handbag and headed towards the door, exiting the meeting room.

“Damn,” Bomin muttered to himself as he hurriedly left the room to chase after his girlfriend.

 *

 You arrived at the meeting room to see some of your team members already in their seats, all making small talk with one another. At the front of the meeting room, you saw Soomin with another one of your team members who was always in charge of fixing technical stuff for your team’s meetings so you assume that he’s probably setting up the slides and all that for today’s meeting.

Of course, you didn’t know the drama your team leader had with her boyfriend earlier today that had indirectly involved you.

Soomin was happily setting up the needed materials for your presentation, her face beaming as she was happy that she had won in the argument with her boyfriend too, enabling her to proceed with her plan of having you present for your company’s team today. As soon as she saw you putting your bag under the table of your seat, she gestured you to approach her.

You nod and made your way towards her and as you were doing so, you realised that Bomin was somehow glaring at you. Which made you shudder. What is with him today?

“Y/n, I’m so glad you made it here early. Sam is putting up your slides and notes on the screen for your reference so you can check on them before we start later on, okay?” Soomin said as soon as you were near her.

You nod at her, understanding what she said.

“Oh, and, have you read up on the materials I attached last night? Sorry for the late info, by the way. I didn’t mean to drop everything on you in all of a sudden,”

“It’s alright. I read up on them last night…though I can’t promise that it’ll be perfect today—” you grinned at her.

Soomin rolled her eyes at you and snickered, “Please—you’ll do great. I have a good feeling about today.”

“I don’t,” you joked.

“Please,” she laughed. “Okay, I think you can swipe through the slides now. Thanks Sam,” she said to him as he bowed and left the both of you alone.

You took over Soomin’s spot in front of the monitor and checked on the slides as you pressed the arrow button on the keyboard.

“Oops, incoming,” Soomin said in all of a sudden, making you stop what you were doing.

“Hm? What is it?”

And instead of Soomin answering you, you heard another voice approaching you.

“Y/n! You look so pretty today!” Chani said happily as he popped out of nowhere. He wasn’t in the room when you first arrived and in all of a sudden, he’s standing in between you and Soomin, a silly grin on his face.

Soomin smirked at the both of you and excused herself, “Well, I should get back to my seat. Good luck for today!” she pats your back before leaving.

“Hm? Good luck for what?” Chani asked as he turns to look at you directly now.

“Soomin-unnie is letting me present the final progress report for this workshop,” you replied, a smile on your face.

“Hmm,”

You stopped scrolling through your slides and turned to him. “What? You think I can’t handle today’s big meeting?”

“Well…I’m not even gonna lie, one of our company’s shareholders is gonna be here today…”

You scowled at him and punched his arm, making him laugh at you.

“I’m just kidding! I mean, I’d be nervous but hey, I think you’ll do fine. Just…don’t smile too much,”

“Hm? Why not? The shareholder doesn’t like it when people smile??” you ask him, dumbfounded.

“No, that’s not it,” he laughed. He leaned close to you to whisper, “I just think you look super pretty today and I’m afraid if you smile too much, he might fall for you like I did,”

You punched his arm another time, making him distance himself from you, “Ow, hey!”

“Cut it out, Chani. Go back to your seat,” you grumbled at him.

“Aww are you blushing? You’re shy, aren’t you? You like it when I tell you you’re pretty,” he teased you.

He wasn’t lying though. You could feel your cheeks heating up from him being so close to you like that. Not that it meant anything to you though. You were just surprised by his daringness today.

Chani has always been caring and affectionate towards you, but him flirting?? That’s new.

You shook your head at him and was about to nag at him about him bothering you too much when your eyes fell upon the people in the room. You noticed that most of them were watching you and Chani.

Have they been watching over the both of you the whole time?

“Look at them, I told you they’re dating,”

“Gasp, really? The nerve. Who does she think she is? With Chani??”

“Eh?? They do look good together…”

Suddenly you could hear them all talking about the both of you.

You were so distracted by everyone else that you didn’t realise Chani was busy looking through your notes and talking to you about what he had for breakfast.

You turn to look at him, his head lowered down as he read your notes on the screen. It seems like Chani was oblivious as to what was going on in the room.

How does he do it? How is he not bothered by what other people are saying? Is he really okay with the rumours everyone was spewing about you two?

“…seem fine. I’m sure you’ll do good today, don’t worry too much,” Chani said as he places his hand on your head, patting it.

You were too busy listening to everyone else’s whispers that you had missed out on what Chani was saying.

You pulled his hand away from your head, and smiled awkwardly at him. “Yeah, sure. Thanks. I uh, I’m gonna look through the slides one more time. You should go back to your seat,”

Chani noticed your sudden stiff expression so he decided to just comply and return to his seat.

And just as he sat down in his chair, still feeling puzzled by your sudden switch of mood, he noticed Bomin eyeing him, a smirk on his face.

Chani frowned at him, annoyed that this man is watching over him as always. He looked away and cursed the man under his breath.

 *

 After a good 20 minutes of presenting your company’s findings on the progress of the YG staff your team have mentored and tutored for the past week along with the intended future merges and implications, you swallowed the last bit of air you needed to conclude the presentation and thanked all the people in the room for listening.

“And that is all from us, are there any questions?” you asked, your voice sounding slightly hoarse as you felt it dry up from non-stop talking for the past 20 minutes.

Everyone else in the room shook their heads, to which you felt grateful for since you were sure that the presentation was made clear for everyone to understand fully.

You released a breath of air you didn’t realise you had been holding in when suddenly, the YG shareholder that had attended the meeting today raised his hand.

“Y-yes, sir? You have a question?”

“Hmm…well, frankly I’m not directing this only to you, but to everyone in this room,” he said as he turns to look at everyone in the room.

“This isn’t a question, but just want to say that I think everyone here is satisfied with your team’s plans and efforts as compared to last year. You all simply have improved much,” he continued, a smile on his face.

“Uhh, thank you, sir,” you answered back.

“That was a very insightful presentation too. I liked how your company arranged the new system. I say, a big round for PEWA Groups!” he exclaimed proudly, to which he clapped his hands to, earning everyone else’s applause as well in the room.

You bowed and smiled happily, locking eyes with Soomin who was also grinning as she clapped her hands.

“Thank you so much for the high praise, sir. We couldn’t have done a great job without your great staff here too, so, we’re equally grateful to have such wonderful clients this time around,” you responded to the shareholder.

“Well, if that is all, I believe we can adjourn the meeting?” you asked everyone, excited to end the meeting already.

“Ah, wait. I didn’t quite catch your name. What was it again?” The shareholder asked you.

“Oh, it’s y/n,”

“You did well, y/n,”

“Oh, no, really, I owe it all to my team leader, Soomin-ssi right there,” you pointed towards your surprised team leader.

“Oh gosh, no, no. He was right, you did a great job y/n. You handled the presentation really well,” Soomin complimented you with her bright smile.

You were getting embarrassed so you simply nodded and smiled before shuffling back towards the monitor screen at the front of the room to take down the meeting slides from the screen.

“Alright then, this marks the closing of our workshop with PEWA then?” you heard Bomin’s voice asking the room, to which was responded with loud cheers by everyone.

Mr Ahn, the shareholder, thanked everyone another time and said his goodbye as he hurried out to leave for another one of his own appointments.

You smiled to yourself as you waited for the computer in front of you to shut down. How many days left were you to work here before going back to your own office? A week? A week plus? Oh, right. Your last day here would be next Friday.

When the computer finally shut down, you hurried back to your seat since Bomin was telling everyone to quiet down before he dismisses everyone for their lunch break.

As soon as you sat down, you felt Chani’s hand patting your head and you turned to smile at him briefly before returning your attention back to Bomin who was standing up by now.

“It has been great pleasure to work with you all,” Bomin said as he turns to look at Soomin. The both of them exchanged knowing smiles with one another.

“And of course, again, thank you, y/n, for delivering such a great presentation today!” he looked at you this time. You smiled and nodded at him.

“I mean, sure, I wasn’t expecting it to be this good considering that you’re just a high school graduate,” he added, still smiling at you.

You felt your smile freeze on your face.

Wha…t?

Suddenly, the whole room went quiet.

You licked your lips that was beginning to feel dry by now and your eyes searched the room for your team leader, who had an expression just as shocked as you were.

“Oh? Why is everyone so quiet? Didn’t you all know? Y/n is the only employee in the PEWA’s Comm’s Team who owns just a high school certificate,” Bomin asked, amused with everyone’s reaction.

You felt everyone’s eyes on you.

But how…? The only person who knew about this…was your company’s president—Mr Bae. Then how?

And in a quick second, you heard people’s voices talking all at once.

“What?? So we’re literally being educated by someone who has no skills in this field?”

“Wait, isn’t the Comms Team from PEWA the highest ranked team in their company? What??”

“Yah, are we being conned? We literally let that kid educate us throughout the workshop,”

“Bomin-ssi! How did you let an unqualified person like that have control over our staff??”

You lowered your head, unable to look at the people who have started talking about you.

Chani moved in his seat, unhappy with what was going on in the room.

“O-okay, everyone, quiet down. Meeting is over,” you heard Soomin’s voice say.

Though you could hear no one listening to her. They continued talking to one another, dissatisfaction spewing out of their mouths non-stop.

“Yahh what an embarrassment!”

“Omg and to think she’s been working with us for almost two years. Just how did she get into the company??”

“Soomin-ssi, did you know this? Is that why you favour her over us?? We’ve been working by your side for years and yet you never let us do any of your tasks for you! Yet, you’ve asked her plenty of times!” you heard one of your team members asking Soomin.

Great. Now your own team is turning on you. You grip the sides of your pants, your head feeling heavy from all the loud voices you’re hearing.

“Would everyone, please, just quiet down—” Soomin tried to calm the room but she was interrupted by Bomin’s voice,

“Aigoo. I didn’t know this would bring so much chaos. I’m so sorry, y/n.”

You could hear the smirk from his voice even when you’re not looking at him. This man…just what is he thinking?

The room wasn’t getting any quieter, yet, it seemed like everyone has started asking questions.

“Omo omo, how did you even get the job to be in PEWA?? Did you use a back door??”

“My gosh, imagine if half of the PEWA Group was actually made up of staff that are underqualified,”

“Hey, don’t start spouting nonsense!” you heard Soomin arguing back.

You couldn’t take this. How did this happen? Everything was going so well. How did it all turn so badly in a blink of an eye??

You stood up from your seat, making the loud noise in the room lessen, but then you could still hear some of them whispering to one another.

You lift your head to look at Bomin. “Thank you, for congratulating me on my efforts today.”

“And yes, what Bomin-ssi said was true. But I assure you all, none of the PEWA staff are underqualified.” You swallowed a breath before continuing, “I am the only staff that has…just a high school certificate.”

“Gasp! This is so funny! We literally let someone like her lead the workshop??”

“Tsk, Soomin-ssi, I’m so disappointed in you. I was wondering why a newbie like her was added into our team so suddenly. You must’ve felt sorry for her,”

You felt a pang of hurt in your chest. You didn’t like how Soomin was getting dragged into this. If anything at all, Soomin had been the nicest person to you in your company.

“I…I’m so sorry,” you apologised. You could feel your eyes tearing up. “I’m so sorry,” you bowed at everyone.

“What? No, y/n, no this isn’t your fault,” you heard Soomin say.

You grabbed your bag under the table and backed away from your seat. Your eyes fell upon Chani.

He had a surprised look on his face as well. He shook his head at you, noticing your tight grip on your bag. It seemed like he knew what was on your mind right now.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered before running out of the meeting room.

As soon as the door closed behind you, Chani heard the whole room talking all at once again. He was getting tired of the loud noise.

He got up and marched towards Bomin.

“Yes, intern? Is there something—” Bomin’s word was cut off as he felt Chani’s fist landing against his right cheek, causing him to fall to the floor.

“Get up.” Chani said. “I said, get up!”

Bomin huffed angrily as he got up on his feet. He swung his arm and punched Chani in his stomach.

Chani groaned loudly in pain. “You piece of shi—”

“What? You’re gonna curse? That’s the best you could do??” Bomin taunts him, a smirk on his lips.

Chani grabbed Bomin by his collar and gritted his teeth, “Yah, Bomin! You have really crossed the line this time!”

“Aw? Why? Did you feel bad because you couldn’t stand up for your friend like last time?” Bomin scoffs, “I wonder how she’d react though? Because as I recall, back then, it didn’t work out well with you and your old friend, no?”

“Why you—” Chani was about to punch him again when Soomin stepped in between them to stop them.

“Stop it you two! Everyone is watching!” she whispered loud enough for the both of them to hear.

Chani looked around the room and noticed that what she said was true. Everyone else had stopped talking now and were focused on the little fight going on between him and Bomin.

Chani pushes Bomin roughly aside and glared at him.

Bomin shook his head, his annoying smirk still visible on his face. He fixed his collar as he said, “Tsk. Violence doesn’t always work out, you know,”

“Shut up,”

“Okay that’s it, you both. Enough.” Soomin chimed. “And the rest of yous! Leave the meeting room! Quit staring already!”

Everyone else in the room slowly gathered their stuff, some of them still whispering to each other as they left the room.

All three of them stayed quiet as they watched the rest of the staff leave the room.

And as soon as the last person exited the room, Soomin quickly closed the door and turned back to look at the two men in front of her.

“Have you both no shame?? Fighting like that in front of everyone?? And you, Bomin, why did you have to say that about y/n?!”

Bomin kept quiet, not knowing what to say as he notices how angry his girlfriend was with him.

Chani clicked his tongue. “Pfft. Doesn’t feel nice, does it? Having your girlfriend being mad at you. Maybe you should’ve thought more clearly before creating a mess like this, idiot,”

“Wait—you know?” Soomin asked him.

“What don’t I know?” Chani answered smugly. “Look, I’d love to tell you everything I know about your boyfriend but right now, I can’t stand to be in here.”

Chani approached Bomin again to say, “You may think that you’ve won this again, but I’m telling you, I’m not letting you get away with this. I told you before, not to hurt y/n. You…I’ll deal with you when I get home, hyung.”

With that, Chani shot him a piercing glare before leaving him and Soomin alone in the room.

“…hyung?” Soomin looked at Bomin questioningly.

 *

 YGE Building (Treasure’s Practice Room)

“and 5,6,7,8—bam bam bam dda, dda da da da ddum!” Hyunsuk’s voice chanted as he guided his group’s movements according to his beat count.

“Okay, and then after this part here,” Hyunsuk stepped out of his spot in the formation and demonstrated another move to his friends, “After the right leg out part, step out your left leg further front and then we all turn clockwise before we enter the next formation, got it?”

“Okay hyung,” Jihoon answered.

“Okay let’s all try individually for a while, I’ll count,” Hyunsuk said. “ and 5,6,7,8— bam bam bam dda, dda da da da ddum, okay, right leg, left out, turn! Alright, NICE!” Hyunsuk cheered as he notices everyone’s movements sync with his count even when they’re all practicing on their own.

“Woooo yeah!” Mashiho cheered as well, his charming smile beaming. He wipes the sweat on his forehead with the towel he grabbed from his bag and complimented everyone on their hard work.

“Yayyyy! We’re good to go for the first part of this song! Great job everyone!” Jaehyuk said this time.

Hyunsuk showed a thumbs up at everyone. He walked towards the water dispenser and poured himself a cup of water to drink.

Jihoon approached him and pat his back before getting himself a cup of drink as well. “Great job today, hyung,”

“You too, Hoon-aa, good job.”

“Hyung, will we be leaving for lunch later then?” both the leaders heard Yedam ask, making both of them turn around.

“Yeah, sure. Text the kids too, and tell them that we’ll meet them at the cafeteria later on,” Hyunsuk answered, reminding Yedam to inform the maknaes whom were in school to meet them later when they get to the building.

Jihoon left his hyung’s side to approach Junkyu who was sitting on the floor, chatting with Haruto, Yoshi and Asahi.

“…and then before you proceed to the next level, make sure you collect the diamonds from the hidden bags in the rooms—” Haruto explained to Asahi, his fingers moving as he tapped on his phone.

Junkyu and Asahi nods at his explanation, trying to understand what he was showing them.

“What are you kids watching?” Jihoon asks as soon as he sits down beside Junkyu.

“Haruto’s just explaining how this game he’s been obsessed with works,” Junkyu answered, his eyes still plastered on Haruto’s phone screen.

“Tsk, it seems like a lot of work though,” Asahi said, making Yoshi giggle.

“Yahh hyung! Just—just watch how I do it first. It’s easy!” Haruto insisted as he pushed his screen closer to Asahi.

Junkyu turns to Jihoon who was amused by Haruto’s nagging, “No kidding, hyung. This is the second time he’s explained it to me. It’s still confusing to me,” he complained.

Jihoon nods, “Sure Junkyu. Oh right, what are you having for lunch later?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’ll see what choices they have on the menu today I guess,” Junkyu shrugs back at him.

Suddenly, they all heard a loud knock on their practice room’s door.

‘knock knock knock’

“Oh? Someone’s knocking on the door?” Hyunsuk asked.

‘KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK’ the knocking was louder this time.

“My gosh, who would knock like that??” Jihoon asked this time. “Who is it??” Jihoon yelled, asking the person outside the door.

The door opened to reveal a flustered-looking Chani.

“Chani?” Yedam asked, surprised.

Chani enters the room, looking around for something—or someone.

His eyes landed on Junkyu.

“Yah, Kim Junkyu. Where is she?”

Junkyu turns around to look behind him. He turns back to the front to look at Chani who was standing not too far from him. “Me?”

Chani rolls his eyes at Junkyu’s confused expression. “Yes, I’m talking to you obviously. Quit playing dumb. I know the both of you are kinda close to each other so just spill it. Where’s she?”

“Where’s who??” Junkyu asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“Oh my god. Are you really gonna keep it at this??”

“Hey hey, chill it, Chani. That’s your hyung you’re talking to,” Jihoon reminded him.

“I don’t have time for this, hyung! Y/n! Where’s y/n?!” Chani responds rather impatiently.

Everyone in the room exchanged puzzled looks with one another. Is Chani drunk or something? Obviously they all hadn’t met you today—let alone hang out with you after the small dispute Junkyu had with you.

Chani noticed how clueless everyone looked, making his expression soften. “Wait…no way…none of you’ve seen her?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“Agh, this is crazy!” Chani exclaims as he ruffles his own hair. “I’ve been trying to call her but she hadn’t been answering,”

Hyunsuk approaches the frustrated looking man who was standing in the middle of their practice room. “Why? Did y/n not come to work today?”

Chani lets out an exasperated sigh. “Hyung…you gotta help me find y/n. Bomin-hyung…he did it again…”

Hyunsuk’s eyes widened upon hearing this. “Wh-what?”

“He’s trying to drive y/n away from me, hyung! He said something during our meeting that made y/n ran off and now, now—” Chani swallowed his breath before continuing, “I can’t find her anywhere!”

“What…?” Junkyu’s voice said, earning the attention of everyone in the room.

Junkyu was already standing by now, his concern rising as he heard Chani’s story.

“I thought you’d know where she is, hyung!” Chani exclaimed.

Junkyu shook his head at the younger man. “Whatever. Thanks for telling us what happened, Chani,” He immediately walks away from everyone and heads for the door.

“Wait, Junkyu, where are you going??” Jihoon asked him.

“What’s it look like I’m doing?? I’m gonna go look for y/n!”

 To be continued…

[misskittysmagicportal]

can i request something to do with the thing about vincent having tics while giving oral or just vincent giving oral general i love the way you write things

I Think We're Alone Now

(Vincent Rhodes x Fem!Reader)

Warnings: language, talk of mental health, fem!receiving oral

A/N: With the pandemic keeping you and Vincent apart, he was glad that being alone didn't mean being lonely.

Vincent Rhodes didn't tic as bad or as much in his thirties. He wasn't cured. He didn't take medicine that made them magically go away. He took meds for his anxiety, and the “cure” was still going to therapy with Dr Rose. He didn't go daily or weekly or even monthly anymore. He managed every other month. Sometimes, perhaps, every three to four months. Yet it took twenty-five to finally accept a cliche: Tourette's wasn't Vincent, Vincent simply HAD Tourette's.

Don't worry though, cunt is still his favorite word.

Vincent also did all the things he told Marie he wanted to do. He finished school and went to college online. He found himself rather good at computers and a job that required the bare minimum of human interaction. His Tourette's was under control, but his social anxiety never seemed to be. We digress!

He had a job, and a place to call home that wasn't a treatment facility or a hoarder’s house bogged down by sadness and alcoholism. Vincent didn't find it shameful that his father bought him a condo. He and his roommate had an agreement to pay utilities and work on the re-election campaign.

Vincent finally had a dog. A dog he had to fight for because his roommate had.. Rituals. Rituals that also weren't as bad as they used to be thanks to the same therapy and right medication. Just like you can't get rid of Tourette's, Vincent couldn't get rid of Alex either. That was his first, and really only, friend. As tumultuous as they started out, if you survive a road trip with two neurodivergents, you're pretty much bonded for life. Alex was sometimes more work than their dog.

Vincent and Alex did things in their late twenties and early thirties they never thought they'd do. They went out. They dated around. They had awkward sex and one night stands that the two of them could finally laugh about. Vincent could hide, or save his tics from popping up during his dates. He could even manage to hold them off when he had sex. He was relaxed and focused on the woman beneath or above him.

But then he would spasm, or twist and pop his mouth. He would unintentionally squeal or swear, call her names or flip her off. Instead of understanding Vincent, or talking to him, whoever the girl of the moment was would leave and never come back. Fuck her, Vincent would think. I can't help that I have Tourette’s; she can help being an asshole.

-----

There could not have been a worse time in anyone’s life for you to meet quite possibly the single hottest guy in your neighborhood. At least, you thought he was in your neighborhood. You kept running into each other at various stores to the point you found yourself quoting an old movie from college.

“Are you stalking me?” You boldly questioned him one afternoon as he pondered Mcintosh versus Fiji apples. “Because that would be super.”

The man jumped. Then to your shock, he spasmed almost violently. His neck twisted to the left as his hand held on to his chin and yelled out, “Brown haired cunt! Grass licking big tits.”

You laughed. It wasn't malicious or in jest. You were nervous and stunned. Still you replied, “Normally a guy has to date me for a while before he calls me a cunt. Now as for grass licking? That was only once, but I was high and we were playing truth or dare.”

He stared at you, mouth agape. A violent spasm rocked his body again like an aftershock. It caused him to excessively blow a dark curl back from his forehead several times before his body relaxed and he appeared to sink in on himself. Embarrassed. A pink hue spread along his cheeks and angled jaw as he gazed at the apples again with large green eyes.

“You ok? I wouldn't say I've got big tits. They're more like medium sized. Unless you were talking about the melons.” You held up two cantaloupe in front of your chest. “I’m y/n”

Again with the mouth open staring. Then he came to, “Vincent. I've never had someone react to Arthur that way.”

“I'm from New York. That was a Saturday night in the village. Who’s Arthur?” You looked around. “Are you being held hostage? Scream cunt for yes. Vagina for no.”

Vincent laughed. It was almost a giggle that you weren't sure was a laugh or his thing. “Arthur is my Tourette's. He's the clown who shits in between my thoughts. My tics. You scared the piss out of him.”

“You named your Tourette's? You can't do that, they never go away once you name them.”

Vincent rolled his eyes, “ DAMMIT! I'll take away his bowl of food and dog bed too. Maybe I'll finally be cured!”

You didn't want him to think you felt something was wrong with him. “Mostly with all of this, I meant I keep seeing you around. Thought I'd say hi.”

“How about we exchange phone numbers, and you can say hello more often?” Vincent cocked an eyebrow.

“Bold of you to assume calling me a cunt is flirting! But you got it out of the way now instead of down the line. Give me your phone.”

He obliged and you put your number in. As you handed it back you joked, “Should've told me you had a much sexier friend.” You indicated Alex on the phone’s wallpaper.

“He's gay.”

“Damn! Lucky for men. Anyways, I work most days. Don't know how long with everything happening out there. Call me sometime?”

Vincent twitched and wolf whistled. He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, but promised he would nonetheless. But then pandemic happened, so all you had for the next six months was your phone

-----

You met Alex and learned his rituals and empathized with his panic to follow or abide by heath guidance. His OCD aggravated by everything going on. Vincent couldn't even go for a run without his friend completely freaking out, so he just didn't. Their balcony was it for fresh air.

You took tours of each other's apartments. Had dinners and breakfasts together. Shared what books you were reading and watched movies together. Vincent teased you about your fat, lazy cat and you did likewise over his ten pound shih tzu. Although, you admitted, it was because she got to share a bed with him.

Somehow in month 5 you were roped into a three way phone call with his dad. Senator Rhodes and Vincent seemed to have an easy relationship, but you were filled in later that it was anything but for a very long time. So you turned the tables one night, and introduced him to your entire family.

Forgetting about his Tourette's, because you had really grown used to it all. To the tics, the whistles and excessive use of the word cunt (Pandemic drinking game, Vincent’s idea) that his biggest episode since you met stunned not only you but your clan. Vincent had buried his face, you were terrified of your mistake. But you got it from somewhere.

“Sure you ain't from Brooklyn, kid?!” Thank Christ for meathead brothers.

“This is dating right?” Vincent asked after their dinner. “Pandemic, COVID, for now dating. Even though,” he paused to twist his neck, “One of my coworkers has uh, dick appointments all the time?” He snapped a finger several times and shouted something about a whore and syphilis.

“Hey! Tell Arthur to fuck off. Sexual liberation. She's not a whore, she's in her twenties!” Vincent laughed. “Are you nervous about something? Usually the bedtime part of our phone calls are the least tic-ish.”

“Wanna have sex?” He was straightforward.

“Right now? Facetime sex?” You scrunch your nose but more to be cute than creeped out.

“Here. Alex is asleep. Come over? We've been isolated for months.”

“God, I love you.”

“What?” Vincent laughed. “Are you sure about that?”

“I'll be there in twenty minutes.”

-----

Vincent opened the door and implored you to take your shoes off at the door. You expected nothing less as you complied and followed him in the stillness of the apartment to his bedroom.

The moment the door was shut, Vincent was on you before you could even adjust to the dark. Only street lamps from the neighborhood below showed through as his mouth consumed yours.

Your tongues at war with each other as the two of you scrambled to undress. Your lips broke apart long enough to throw shirts over heads and step out of flannel pants or yoga pants. Then they crashed together again as Vincent let his hands splay out the length of your back and shoulders.

Your one hand ensnared by his messy hair. The other under the waistband of his boxers and over his ass. You drew his body to yours to melt into. His erection strained and throbbed against your hip as you hungrily pushed your tongue as far inside him as you could.

The both of you eager like teenagers shot with adrenaline. Anxious and hoping Alex caught you as Vincent twitched and his shoulders shrugged up to his ears. His fingers fumbled with your bra made worse by his tics. Tics that frustrated only him; you reached and undid it for him. Your breasts were free for him to look at.

Vincent attempted to choke back his words but failed. “Tit fucker,” a sour look on his face as his eye involuntarily clamped shut, “huge nipples.” He swallowed his lips, mortified.

“Hey!! They make up for yours being the tiniest nipples I have EVER seen on a dude.” You took Vincent’s hand. “We can slow down if you want. I don't know what's up, do you tic like this every time you have sex?”

The two of you laid side by side on his bed, hands traced over inches of bare skin. Vincent was silent for a while as he let his fingers trail over you, his lips not far behind.

“I don't. I'm usually too focused. The last time I loved someone, it fell apart immediately. It's making me anxious.”

You held his head to your body with a tenderness. “I loved you first, didn't I?”

His mouth made its way amongst your breasts as he gently laid you on your back. His lips warm on your stomach and hips that he exposed by tugging your panties down over your knees and off. Vincent laid down between them and almost nuzzled his nose in your soft pubic hair before his tongue dove inside of you.

Your hips rocketed up into his mouth as you grabbed the back of Vincent's head. He licked and sucked on your sex. Small tics caused him to push his tongue and lips in further than before. They closed in on your clit. His tongue attacked it with a lapping motion that you could only bend to, helpless.

Vincent was insatiable, his mouth in a frenzy. Your fingers caught up in the sheets as the sensation of his mouth on your clit spread along your body. Now your words were a shock as they came screaming out into the quiet of the bedroom.

“Tongue fuck me! Faster!”

Instead Vincent looked up at you with a grin, “I see Arthur came to visit.”

Tag: @robertsheehanownsmyass @slutforrobbiebro @super-unpredictable98 @magic-multicolored-miracle @sean-falco @elliethesuperfruitlover @bisexualnathanyoung @bwritesstuff @firstpersonnarrator @rob-private

[konggodzuko]

Momtara & Dadko

Hello! Back with some more fics, just in time for Zutara month!!! This one is a piece of an old WIP on mine, modified a but and chopped down, but I still think it’s a cute fluffy thing. Ao3 link 

Story:

When the airship had descended to about twenty feet above from the snowy airfield, several crew members rappelled out to the ground, meeting the airfield’s ground crew.

“—and now, the they will work together to use the ropes the aircrew came down on to pull the airship a few more feet and then fasten it down,” Zuko explained.

There was a burble in response, then a small, yet strong hand grabbed his hair and pulled.

Zuko barely reacted, only readjusting the baby in his arms before pulling the hand away from his hair, and muttering, “No, Ursa, don’t grab Daddy’s hair,” before smiling, “Well, you seem to be in a better mood now, Moon Peach. Come on, let’s get back to Mommy and your siblings.”

The father and daughter left the observation deck and made their way through the ship to the royal family’s cabin.

Zuko opened the door and was relieved to see that things had calmed down a bit from earlier. Twelve-year-old Kya was reading a well-worn copy of Love Amongst the Dragons, while seven-year-old Haruki was working on a large drawing of… something he couldn’t see from this angle, and three-year-old Kiviuq was playing with animal toys.

Katara was sitting by the cabin window, and alternated between reading a document — Zuko was fairly certain it was a report on Nationalist movements in the Fire Nation — and staring out the window with a slightly giddy expression.

The entire family was dressed in Water Tribe blues, but the parkas had been foregone as the airship was still warm. Splashes of purple, red and gold accented the blues, to pay homage to the family’s mixed heritage.

The room itself was stately and well-furnished — reflecting the scaled-back royal aesthetic Zuko had come to prefer, with a distinct Water Tribe influence in the decor — but still rather cramped for a family of six used to having a full palace to themselves.

Zuko entered the room and Katara looked over at him, “How is she?”

“She’s fine, we were watching the airmen and ground crew bring the ship in,” he tickled Ursa under her chin, causing her to squeal happily, “And Ursa found Daddy very interesting, right?”

“Mama!” Ursa suddenly called out through her giggles, “Mama!”

Katara put her scroll aside and walked over to the pair. Ursa held out her arms and made grabby hands, so Katara plucked her daughter from Zuko’s hands and began peppering kisses all over the baby’s face.

“It should just be a few minutes before we disembark.”

Katara pulled away from Ursa and said, “I hope so, I want to be out there already,” she smiled at Ursa and started to coo, “isn’t that right, Moon Peach? Mommy is soooo tired of this cabin, and I bet you are too!”

Zuko gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek before leaving the mom and daughter and moving to look over the shoulder of Haruki, “What’re you working on?” The drawing was clearly supposed to be a human, or at least humanoid, but the head looked odd, even for a seven-year-old’s drawing, colored a green-blue with big red eyes. It reminded him of an insect.

“It’s my costume!” Haruki proclaimed, “It’s what I’m gonna wear to fight bad guys!”

Zuko raised an eyebrow, “Oh?”

“Mmhmm!”

“Where’d you get this idea?”

Haruki turned, and looked at his dad with large eyes that sparkled in wonder, “Kya told me about the Blue Spirit and Painted Lady! And how they fought bad guys all over the Fire Nation after you became Firelord!” He gasped, “Did you ever meet them?”

Zuko glanced off to the side, internally cursing his oldest daughter’s obsession with history, then said, “Erm, once or twice.”

“Wow! How cool were they? Are they spirits? Or are they people? Oh! Or are they spirits and people combined? Oh—”

“Sorry, kiddo, but again, I only met them once or twice, and it was very quick. I know what they looked like, but not much else.”

Haruki’s face fell, “Awww…”

Zuko ruffled his son’s hair, then asked, “So why green?”

“‘Cause it’s my second favorite color besides blue! And the Blue Spirit’s already Blue, so I can’t be blue!”

“Ohhh, okay. Well, your drawing’s very, very good.”

“Thanks daddy!” He went back to furiously scribbling with crayons.

“Daddy!” Zuko felt a tug on his pant leg, and he looked down to see Kiviuq staring up at him, holding aloft a wooden dragon. Kiviuq smiled widely when he saw he had hid father’s attention, and then asked quietly, “Dragon breath?”

“Er,” he glanced at Katara who had shot him ‘The Look’, “sorry, Snowball, but dragon breath is an outside thing, remember? Ask me later, okay?”

Kiviuq pouted slightly (and boy could Zuko see Katara in their son’s pout) but said, “Okay…” and wandered back to his corner to continue playing with his toys.

Zuko glanced at Kya and grinned, but didn’t go over to her. She was nose-deep in a book, and he knew that any sort of “unnecessary” distraction would be barely acknowledged. It was how he used to get way back before his banishment, when he just loved to read.

He went back over to Katara, who was bounding Ursa on her knee, much to their daughter’s delight.

“Exited to be back home?” He asked, smiling.

Katara grinned broadly, “I’ve needed this for a while. Everything’s been so—” she waved her hand irritably, “everything in Caldera, I can already feel myself relaxing.”

“You realize that the Council will probably immediately request you to show up at sessions, right?”

She laughed, “That’s fine, I’d still much rather deal with fishery disputes than, well,” she gestured at the scroll she had been reading.

“It’s nothing new, right?” They had had a briefing about the current situation regarding Nationalist violence shortly before their departure. The scroll had arrived via messenger hawk about a day into their flight, along with several other documents that their ministers had deemed important enough to pass on.

She sighed, “Apparently they’re starting to leave the Fire Nation and set up shop in the Republic.”

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose, “Of course they are,” he shook his head, “Well, nothing can be done about that right now.”

“True,” Katara said.

Their conversation was interrupted by Ursa, who yelled angrily and patted Katara’s knee, which had stopped bouncing at some point.

The parents chuckled, and Katara resumed a gentle bounce.

The family sat in quiet peace for a while as the crews worked to secure the airship so they could depart. Ursa eventually tired out and fell asleep on her mom, but after a few minutes Katara transferred her to Zuko, who had donned a sling to carry the sleeping baby. As the Firelady went back to the report she had b been reading, her husband strode around the room, rocking the baby to keep her asleep.

Eventually, there came a polite knock at the cabin door.

“Come in,” Katara said.

There was a creak as it opened to allow Qibolin, the airship’s captain, to step in. He fell into an immaculate bow and said, “Your Majesties, I am delighted to report that we have officially arrived in the Southern Water Tribe. It also appears that Chief Hakoda has already arrived to greet you.”

“Thank you, Qibolin,” Zuko said, as Katara was already pulling out the parkas and bundling up the children.

It took a few minutes to get everyone properly dressed, but soon the family was moving through the passageways and arrived at the starboard hatch, where a gangway had been extended to the ground. And at the base of the gangway, chatting with a few of the airmen who had rappelled down earlier, was —

“Grandpa!” Kya and Haruki yelled at the same time and shot down the ramp.

Zuko and Katara shouted a simultaneous and useless “Don’t run!” Kiviuq — held by Zuko — shouted and tried to follow his older siblings, but there was no way Zuko was going to let his tiny son toddle down the ramp on his own. Ursa — held by Katara — paid no mind and just snuggled into her mom’s neck.

“Kids!” Hakoda yelled joyfully and leaned at the bottom of the gangway, arms spread wide. Kya and Haruki crashed into him and he wrapped them up in a big hug.

Zuko and Katara gave each other tired looks before continuing down themselves.

[kumkaniudaku]

Simple Syrup

You asked for Daveed smut and I tried to deliver. At least this one time. Enjoy!

Warning: Sexual Content. 18+. 

Daveed Diggs x Black!OC (Olivia Jenkins)(Yes, the MC/ OC is black. Representation is important.)

"Yo, open up!" Heavy fists beat against the door of Olivia's downtown apartment, making her roll her eyes. "I know you can hear me, girl! It's your favorite pop-up roommate!"

"You've been evicted, Diggs!"  

"I paid you rent, though!"

Turning the stove on low, Olivia shook her head as she wiped her hands on a dishtowel. Daveed always found a way to surprise her with his presence. He never texted before showing up at her door but frequently sported a backpack or suitcase full of clothes or Rafael for an extended stay. He and all his baggage were welcome anytime, with or without notice.

Stepping to the door, Olivia bit back a smile before responding. "I didn't receive any payments this month."

"I got it in my bag."

"Bag or bags?"

"Open the door to find out."

Daveed took a step back as the locks began to turn, waiting for Olivia's face to greet him with faux anger the way she did the last time he showed up out of nowhere and stayed for three weeks. Despite stopping by six months ago, it felt like a lifetime since he'd been in her company. Bi-weekly phone conversations weren't enough. He needed to be near Olivia while she watched whatever Housewives franchise had her attention for the month.

When the door opened to reveal the long hallway leading to her living area, Olivia stood with a hand on her hips and a grin on her face.

"Where is my money," she asked, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Just as she expected, he stood in the hallway with a suitcase that she knew cost a fortune to check at the airport and his worn Jansport full of junk and work.

Daveed laughed and bent to rifle through his backpack for a crumpled white envelope that he handed over with exaggerated purpose. "Here you go, Miss Jenkins. Sorry to be late on rent for, what, 8 months? I hope this is enough."

"Boy, you didn't really need to pay me. You're not on the lease."

"Good," he answered as he pretended to wipe sweat from his brow. "Because those are just Chick Fil A coupons."

Olivia stood with her mouth open as Daveed brushed her to roll his luggage to the first bedroom on the right.

He listened to her insult his "stupid face" and instruct him to hurry up while he scanned the room he had called home more times than he could count. All of Daveed's belongings were in the same place, with almost unnoticeable shifts to show that Olivia had cleaned once or twice. His favorite throw blanket was folded at the edge of the bed with his initials elegantly embroidered in the corner. The air smelled of the vanilla candle she kept on the nightstand next to a framed photo of the crew enjoying a roller coaster at Six Flags. His favorite trinket, Olivia's homecoming crown from undergrad, sat next to a single gold medal from Daveed's days competing in track and field. To him, it symbolized their bond from the beginning. To her, it was probably just a space to hide old items.

"Daveed, get in here! I need you to cut!"

All at once, Daveed's sense of self returned to center him in reality. He quickly kicked off his shoes once he remembered Olivia's rules and started off toward the kitchen to answer the call for his help.

Even with the windows open, he could smell savory and sweet aromas combining for a smell that reminded him of the holidays. However, the calendar placed them square in the middle of an excruciatingly hot summer. He could see the open bottle of BBQ sauce on the center island next to a mixing bowl full of things he couldn't recognize but knew they would taste great. Bushels of greens sat in a pot on the stove, boiling amid smoked meat and seasonings to complement the food cooking in the oven. Daveed felt excitement take hold of his face and forced the apples of his cheeks up toward his eyes. Olivia looked up from her task at the cutting board and smirked.

"I thought you were vegan now."

"My business is my business, Liv. We talked about this last week."

"We also talked about you heading directly to Toronto after your job in Atlanta and, yet, here you are." She studied Daveed's face for answers but found nothing but a growing smile. "Come over here and cut up these strawberries while I sauce the ribs."

Daveed followed directions without complaint, lazily strolling to the island and nudging Olivia away. He'd been her help in the kitchen before to open pesky jars or stir while she tended to the more time-intensive parts of the meal. On more than one occasion, he had fucked up, and each time she invited him back into her safe space with open arms.

"How's Rafa and the family," Olivia asked with her back turned while she bent to take a peek into the oven.

Daveed kept his eyes on her backside for a moment too long before answering. "Rafa's good. Amy sends her love and says that you are more than welcome for Friendsgiving this year. She volunteered you for pies."

"You volunteered me for pies, Daveed," Olivia corrected, knowing how much her friend loved her desserts. "What about my babies? Is Santiago the best big brother to Emelia?"

"He's...trying. But he did send a gift for the lady with the bald head. His words, not mine."

Olivia ran a hand across her tapered fade and chuckled. "I feel like he heard Rafael say that."

"No, Rafa calls you Thick Mr. Clean."

"Yeah, because that's what you said when you were drunk on New Years," Olivia accused as she gestured toward the cabinet housing her wine glasses. Daveed nodded before answering.

"I said it with love!"

"Mhmm, I'm sure."

Together they watched half a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc be transferred into the separate glasses, waiting for the moment they could take a sip. The last time they shared a drink, they ran through two 12- packs of beer with Rafael and ended up dancing with street performers in Times Square. She hadn't been able to stomach the smell of a Budweiser since then and fully transitioned to fruity notes and sparkling Rosé with Daveed occasionally coming along for the ride.

Taking another long sip from his glass, Daveed leaned against the island counter to watch Olivia stir a mixture for skillet cornbread.

"What's got you so stressed?"

Olivia shrugged but didn't look away from the bowl. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"The last time you cooked like this, you were writing your dissertation. And the time before that, it was your mom."

The room fell quiet outside of the spoon, ricocheting off the sides of the mixing bowl. After several seconds, Olivia took a deep breath and looked up at Daveed.

"Daddy's getting remarried. Omari and I are his best-kids," she laughed. "I'm not stressed. Just a bit...sad, I guess?"

Daveed understood the issue without needing more context. Five years ago, he was the one sitting beside Olivia on the floor of her brother's home office after the news came that their mother had in the hospital. He was there for the saddest funeral he'd ever experienced and the months of reconciliation that the family struggled through on the way to some sense of normalcy. The idea that her father had found love again was heartwarming, but Daveed knew the occasion was bringing up old feelings.

"Wanna talk about it?"

She shrugged again and moved the skillet to the oven. "There's nothing to talk about. I said I'm fine. I wish she was here, ya know, but I know she isn't upset. She always told us to move on once she's gone. She sure as hell would."

Daveed chuckled at the idea of Mrs. Jenkin's moving on in the afterlife. "She was funny like that. I remember when she met me for the first time and kept calling me Devante."

"Yes," Olvia exclaimed, a spark of joy returning to her eyes. "She'd call me and be like, that boy Devante is smart! Ask him if he can put me in a movie one day!"

Olivia's voice warped to imitate her mother as best as possible before she burst into laughter with Daveed.

"One of the last things she said to me was that I need to make sure you keep having fun. She didn't want you to stop enjoying life on account of her."

"Yeah…" Daveed watched Olivia down the wine in her glass with her eyes closed, waiting for her to continue her thought. "Well, you're doing a good job. We could work on your definition of fun, but solid effort so far."

"How can I do better? I'm open to criticism."  

Daveed kept his eyes on Olivia while he reached across her body to grab the wine bottle for the final drink. Her breath hitched while alcohol buzzed through her system, creating the perfect storm for sudden arousal. She fought her thoughts by shaking her head to recover.

"You can start by grabbing those strawberries and bringing them over to the stove."

"Don't skip the question." Daveed's smirk as he followed her to the other side of the counter made Oliva hot with embarrassment, but she kept a calm exterior. "Are you still having fun with me?"

"I always have fun with you, D, you know that. Who else is gonna play Bop It with me at 2 AM on a Wednesday? The question is, are you still having fun with me, superstar?"

"Don't start that. I come and stay at your house because I miss you, not because I can't find somewhere else to sleep. You're my person."

"For now," Olivia added as a rebuttal, ignoring the way her stomach flipped at hearing the way Daveed felt. "What happens when you get married? You're gonna have to go be a family man like Rafa. Then we'll only see each other on Friendsgiving and Christmas."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Hm." Olivia's short but skeptical laugh effectively ended the conversation. Still, Daveed had already made up his mind to return to the discussion later in the week. "So, how long are you here this time?"

Daveed used one of his large palms to push a few curls off his forehead in search of relief from the heat in the kitchen. "I was thinking a couple weeks. Three or four."

"That's longer than normal! I get to have my favorite guy here long enough to help me put wallpaper up in the guest bathroom?"

"Am I only muscle to you?"

"Of course, not," she answered with a sweet smile, making Daveed mirror her expression. "You're also a taste tester. Open up."

Before Daveed could object, Olivia swiped barbecue sauce across his bottom lip for his opinion. The tip of his tongue appeared to taste the tangy brown sauce, finding an explosion of flavor that reminded him how much he missed Olivia's cooking.

"What's the verdict," Olivia asked over her shoulder as she turned off the eye under her simple syrup mixture.

"Tangy and sweet. I'm not sure why you don't bottle this up for sale. My dad would love some."

"Meh, I like having it as a treat for the people I love. All my hobbies aren't for profit, my friend."

Daveed dramatically threw a hand across his chest and gasped. "Did Mean Ole Liv just imply that she loves me? I-I'm gobsmacked. Utterly shocked and eternally grateful."

"Diggs, you're pushing it," she laughed. "Come taste this syrup before I start on the lemonade."

From experience, Daveed knew what to expect. But he humored Olivia anyway if only to see pride light up her face when he told her how amazing the sweet mixture tasted. After washing his hands in the sink, he skimmed his middle and pointer fingers across the top of the syrup to pick up enough to coat his fingertips.

He eyed the liquid for a moment, watching it slowly trickle down the side of his long fingers while he thought of his next move. Olivia stood at the refrigerator with her back turned, humming a song from The Wiz. At the same time, she gathered ingredients for the beverage.

"Hey...hey, Liv." Daveed had already started to close the short gap between them and stood waiting for Olivia to respond to his call.

"Wha -" A sudden swipe of syrup across her bottom lip confused Olivia. "D, what is your problem?"

Stepping forward, Daveed took her chin in his to bring their lips inches apart. "Is it still cool if I taste?"

Olivia stared at Daveed without blinking, fighting her brain for a competent answer to his question. Instead, she nodded in a daze with her jaw slack. His fingers took gentle meandering paths across the peaks and valleys of her face before using his thumb to part her lips.

Daveed's first kiss was a tentative peck to test the waters. When he received no resistance, he pulled Olivia closer for full access to her mouth.

Neither of them expected to fall into the kiss so easily. Olivia didn't expect to melt into Daveed's body while he dictated the pace and intensity. Daveed didn't expect to feel an overwhelming desire to consume the one person that always felt so close but far away. He wanted to feel and taste every part of Olivia while he had the green light. She reveled in Daveed's attention, even if it was only for a moment.

Taking a step backward, Daveed used his knowledge of the kitchen to guide them back toward the stove. Their lips remained connected to taste the last bits of each other. Olivia was the first to break the lip lock and move her head upward, directing Daveed to choose a spot on her neck to explore.

The cold, sticky simple syrup came next, the thick glob landing on the center of her chest and sliding to her cleavage.

"I've thought about this a lot," Daveed spoke barely above a whisper as he used a finger to spread simple syrup across Olivia's chest. "Kinda wild to say, but I have."

"How long?"

"A year. Maybe two."

Olivia released a shaky gasp once Daveed's tongue began licking from the space between her breast to the base of her neck to catch the simple syrup. As quickly as it disappeared, he replaced the sugar mixture with another round at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. He groaned as the tart strawberry flavor mixed with the sweetness of the sugar and Olivia's skin. She grasped the back of his head for stability, allowing her eyes to flutter closed for a few seconds.

"How does it turn out? In your thoughts, I mean?"

Daveed paused to kiss Olivia's lips again and run his hands down her back. "Doesn't matter. We're here now, and I can't think of anything outside of how good you taste drenched in strawberry sauce."

"Simple syrup," Olivia answered, smiling as she sneakily dipped her finger into the pot behind Daveed. "It's simple syrup, and I haven't gotten a taste yet. Open your mouth."

They kept their eyes on each other while Daveed opened his mouth, waiting for whatever came next. Olivia took her time to coat his tongue in syrup, imagining how it would feel to experience the concoction from his mouth.

There started the mad scramble to get closer, taste more and touch longer. Separate but equal desires to completely consume the other person had the pair maneuvering around the kitchen. They remained attached at the lips until they reached the solid wood breakfast table near the large casement window. Daveed was the first to remove clothing, pulling his t-shirt over his head and tossing it somewhere behind him. A split-second decision had him rushing back to the stove to retrieve the syrup pot. He carefully placed it on the table while Olivia slid the straps of her summer dress down her arms to let the fabric pool at her waist. Daveed watched with a flirtatious smile, marveling at the expanse of her warm brown skin. Olivia returned the sentiment, letting her eyes rake over his broad chest and toned midsection.

One after the other, Daveed and Olivia added bits of syrup to different body parts to lick and suck the skin clean. A handful mistakenly dripped onto Olivia's thigh, and they watched the sticky liquid carry small chunks of strawberries to the inner portion of her leg.

Daveed regarded the sight with wonder before carefully dropping to one knee for a better look. He maintained eye contact with Olivia as he kissed his way to the sweetest spot, lingering in places that earned the most desirable response. The scratch of facial hair combined with his lips and tongue's soft, silkiness made Olivia keen for more. She could feel the blood rushing to pool at her inner thigh for a bruise that would leave evidence of a dream achieved. She smiled at the thought of seeing it when she was getting dressed and how her stomach might feel with butterflies from the memories.

Daveed mumbled praise after praise into the supple skin of Olivia's thigh before starting a journey back to her lips. When he returned, he slowly pushed the waistband of his sweats down his hips and legs.

"Oh," Olivia spoke, eyes wide while she fought the natural desire to let her gaze travel. "I...wow, okay. I feel like I'm violating you."

"I'm kind of asking you to," Daveed laughed as he stepped closer.

"This is so fucking weird. Are we really about to do this?"

"Only if you want. I mean, I want to, but we can stop whenever you say the word."

He was closer now, dropping kisses on her shoulders while he pressed their chests together to reduce the space between him.

Olivia's legs naturally hooked themselves around his waist at the same time that her arms circled his neck.

She leaned forward to speak against Daveed's lips with her eyes hooded in lust, "I want this."

Passion and the hint of strawberry coating their lips intensified the moment between Olivia and Daveed. He held her writhing hips steady while he stood on his toes to push forward. Simultaneous moans of pleasure rang out in the kitchen, surely gaining the attention of nearby neighbors.

Their hips bucked an even pace, repeatedly meeting to build tension in their bellies. Daveed felt the strain of each stroke in his thighs and calves but found the desire to fuck his friend on her kitchen table to override any other immediate discomfort.

"Are you a talker," Daveed asked randomly, making Olivia's eyes snap up from the action below her waist to focus her attention on him.

"What?"

"A talker. Do you like to talk during sex?" His question came between labored breaths and grunts holding a mixture of exertion and indescribable pleasure.

"Daveed, are you trying to have a conversation with me right now?"

"I mean, I like to - fuck - I...I like to talk sometimes. Is that cool?"

A high-pitched moan ripped through Olivia's throat before she could gather her senses to respond. "It's your c-call, Diggs. Just don't stop."

He followed directions without skipping a beat, digging into his strength to pick up speed when he sensed they could move to the next level. He peppered in filthy statements that stimulate Olivia's mind while driving into her with expert precision.

They held on to each other as they reached separate peaks with no regard for the climbing noise level.

"I wanna do this forever," Daveed whispered into Olivia's ear before nipping at the lobe.

"Not look into my eyes lovingly and write songs about me?"

Daveed chuckled and snapped his hips forward, earning a near-silent moan. "Can I use you calling me daddy on the hook?"

"You got a lot of work to do before that happens."

"I'll put in overtime."

Splaying his hand across Olivia's torso, Daveed pushed her to lay flat on the table before leaning to hover over her body. He used his waning energy to give her all the power in his hips, searching for a climax. When she thought she couldn't come anymore, Olivia felt her body jolt off the table once the pad of Daveed's thumb began rubbing tight circles on her clit. Daveed smiled at the reaction but felt it disappear as soon as his hips falter mid-stroke. He rushed to pull out of Olivia, fearing that if he stayed inside for a moment longer, he would expedite his journey to fatherhood.

Olivia helped his cause by curling her fingers around his length and joining his pumping effort while she propped her body up on her elbow. He came with a choppy moan and heavy breathing on her belly, his chest rising and falling rapidly in time with the stove's timer beeping for attention.

Both Olivia and Daveed dissolved into laughter.

"Please, don't let this dry on me. It's sexy now but a pain to get off later."

Daveed's laughter climbed to hysterics at Olivia's mention of the mess on her stomach before reaching across the table to grab napkins out of the centerpiece component.

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly as he helped wipe her clean. "Condoms next time?" 

"Or my mouth."

Daveed stood shocked for a split second while Olivia worked to readjust her clothing and hurry to the stove. He followed her lead and pulled up his sweats before clearing the syrup pot and grabbing wipes to disinfect the surface.

The room was silent while they arranged hot dishes on the counter and privately grappled with having sex for the first time. A sense of "now what" hung in the air, which made Daveed more and more uncomfortable.

After plates were fixed, they chose opposite ends of the table to enjoy the meal.

"You know," Olivia started, laughing as she swallowed the last piece of cornbread on her plate. "That simple syrup recipe is my mom's. This whole meal was her favorite thing to cook, and I made it because I was really fuckin' sad and needed her nearby. Then you showed up."

Daveed's eyes snapped up from his plate. He wasn't sure what to say and remained silent in hopes that Olivia would elaborate.

"A couple weeks before she died, she told me that she would still be directing my love life from Heaven. She grabbed my hand and said, 'Dammit, Bean, I'm gone get you a man even if I gotta do it during bingo with the good Lord.'"

"You think she's up there winning the grand prize?"

Olivia shook her head. "I think she forfeited it to send you to me."

Her answer made Daveed still to watch Olivia's eyes meet his set from across the table. She reached a hand across the table with her palms facing upward, beckoning Daveed to place his palm in the center of hers.

"We have three weeks to figure this shit out," Daveed said, smiling before bringing Olivia's palm to rest on his cheek.

She looked at him for a minute to take in the way his eyes reflected the sun before using her head to gesture toward the pot still resting on the counter.

"And all night to finish off mama's recipe."