#i had to drop it to twelve because i couldn't fill spots

[24-05txt]

Screaming is a waste of breath for Simon Riley.

People scream to let someone else know it hurts. They scream to share the pain, to call for help. All screaming ever got Simon was more of the wrong kind of attention. Maybe just laughter, if he were lucky.

He remembers the day he realized it, too. Remembers a school trip to a theme park, buckled into a civilian-grade jumpseat 102 meters in the air and looking out over the park five seconds before the drop. He'd screamed about halfway down before he realized he was slipping through the restraints, (he was a small kid. Malnourished, probably) then he'd stopped, thought _if I'm going to die here I might as well enjoy the view,_ and breathed the rest of the way down.

He didn't die, he'd landed along with the rest of the class, but he hadn't screamed since. It's funny to Simon that out of all the things he'd been through by that age, it was the bloody Rollercoaster that taught him a lesson.

He grew out of screaming, but he's still not grown out of finding places to hide. When he was young it was just the smartest practice; living in a tiny flat with his violent father meant that if one were to even have a chance at avoiding conflict, he'd have to know a good spot to hide, and a good way to get out without revealing where he'd been. By the time he was twelve he'd known where he could fold himself, all the places Tommy could fit, and how long they had to make themselves presentable should their father come looking. Not seen until looked for, was the best way to go.

(Simon can still remember when he was slim enough to go into the bathroom closet and slide between the standing plastic drawers and the wall. There couldn't have been more than a foot of space for him to occupy—if that—and he couldn't crouch or sit because of it. He'd go in with his hands above his head so that he could cross his arms over the wall and rest his head on his forearms.)

Getting older was hard in that way. It meant getting taller, broader, limiting the ways he could make himself unobtrusive. Becoming an adult and properly filling out, though... that brought with it the advantage of new environments, new techniques, new ways to get himself into places. By the time he'd enlisted it was second nature to scan a room and find the places most people glossed over. It was a strange habit, he knew—something that gave away far too much to anyone who knew how to look—and so he refrained. Stood with the others, made sure he was seen. Just another one of the guys.

After Roba, he stopped caring as much about whether or not people found him obtrusive or strange. He'd had other things to focus on.

[misc-obeyme]

unchained - chapter eleven

masterpost read the chapter on ao3

recommended music: All My Days by Alexi Murdoch word count: 2873

GN!MC x Arsenios [demon OC] a/n: The date chapter! We learn some things about Arrie in this chapter, too. I'm going to be posting a special smut scene that comes directly after this chapter in a couple of days and then chapter twelve will be next Wednesday as usual. Chapter twelve is the only chapter that Arrie isn't actually in, so please bear with me. It was needed for plot reasons! Warnings: none, this is the fluffiest and cheesiest chapter~

Arsenios watched the way your eyes lit up as you took in the view of the Devildom Botanical Garden. It was meticulously maintained - a stunning outdoor space overflowing with the most unique and beautiful flora the Devildom had to offer. Trees and flowers, even a lovely stream and a small waterfall, paths lined with twinkling lights like stars.

When Arsenios realized you had never gone on a real date with him, he had thought deeply about where to bring you. In the end, he had settled on the Devildom Botanical Garden. It was a peaceful place full of beauty and he thought you might appreciate seeing so much of the Devildom's nature in one place.

Arsenios couldn't deny that it was one of his favorite spots, too, and he wanted to share it with you.

You walked beside him on the garden path, stopping to read the various plaques detailing which flowers and trees were growing nearby.

Arsenios watched you fondly, the desire to reach out and take your hand making his fingertips tingle.

Every time you looked at him, every time you smiled, his chest twisted.

He wanted to be with you, to spend this time with you, to stay by your side. He wanted to kiss you again.

And yet, he could feel his own fear bubbling just below the surface of that heady crush.

Deep down, Arsenios knew he should leave you alone. He knew he shouldn't have invited you out this evening. He knew he should stop texting you. He should stop singing the song that filled his heart whenever he thought of you. Even though everything you did made him feel light, he was still tethered down by the anchor of danger and fear.

These thoughts were running through his head when you turned around and smiled at him, banishing everything but your face from his mind. He couldn't help but smile back at you.

Arsenios had been lingering behind you, arguing with himself about how close he should get. He stopped thinking about it when you fell into step beside him and took his hand yourself.

"You like flowers, don't you?" you asked.

Arsenios shrugged a little. "There are a lot of beautiful ones in the Devildom."

"I saw the fresh bouquets you had in your apartment," you said. "Though I thought one of them looked like peonies… do you have those in the Devildom?"

"No," he said. "There's a flower market near my place that sometimes sells human world flowers. They're expensive, so I only buy some if they have peonies."

You squeezed his hand briefly as the two of you continued to stroll through the garden. "You spent a lot of time in the human world, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Arsenios said. He ran his free hand through his hair. "Actually, it was humans who taught me the most about music."

"Really?" you asked, looking over at him. "But don't you have your own music in the Devildom?"

"Of course," Arsenios said. "But Devildom music has always been heavily influenced by human world music. And it's because of demons like me - making pacts in the human world and carrying some of the culture back with us. I learned to play different instruments from humans. I encountered different genres at human performances. I wouldn't be half the musician I am now if I didn't spend that time learning from humans, demonic power or no."

You seemed enraptured by what he was telling you. "Did you… did you ever feel bad about eating human souls?"

Arsenios stopped walking and turned to face you, dropping your hand in the process. He put his fingertips on your cheek. "If I said I didn't, would you be afraid?"

You snorted. "Not this again," you said. "It's just like that night when Caligo showed up. You think if you're just scary enough that you'll scare me away."

"Maybe there's a reason for that," he said.

"Tell me the truth," you said. "Tell me about all the terrible things you've done. I'll judge for myself if it's enough for me to walk away."

"Humans taught me so much," Arsenios said, keeping his eyes locked on yours. "They shared their culture with me. And I stole their souls. I ate some of them, yes. And others I sold. Many of them died early because of their pact with me. I didn't feel bad. I'm a demon. It's what we do. I made deals with countless humans, knowing it would kill them in the end, and then taking their souls for myself."

You reached up and took his hand away from your face, pulling it down and turning it to make his tattoo visible. "I know you don't want to talk about whatever happened to you. But is there anything else you can tell me? I feel like even if you talk for hours, I'll never know everything. Tell me something important."

Arsenios flexed his fingers against your hand. "Caligo has my grimoire."

It was the first time Arsenios ever said this out loud to someone else. Each word felt like a knot in his throat. An implication of something so much deeper, something that shattered him into a million tiny pieces.

You gasped a little and grabbed at his hand. "What! But that's so much stronger than a pact. Did you really trust him enough to give it to him?"

Arsenios sighed and closed his eyes, unable to look at you any longer. "It wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't mean to get close to him. We were working together and it was supposed to be strictly business."

"But?" you asked tentatively.

Arsenios opened his eyes again, forced himself to look at you. "But I'm an idiot, that's all."

You shook your head. "I don't understand. What do you mean, you were working together?"

"Caligo was doing something he shouldn't have been doing," Arsenios said. "When I made a pact with a human, he would use the pact mark it left on me to trace where their candle was located. He manipulated the candle and that ended their lives much faster. I was able to gather twice as many souls as I would have on my own. And I gave some of them to him. That was our deal."

"But he betrayed you…" you trailed off, obviously confused about this part of the story.

But Arsenios couldn't tell it to you. Not in full. "Yeah. By then I was in too deep. It wasn't… it was bad from the start. It never should have happened. I never should have agreed to even work with him."

Arsenios abruptly pulled his hand out of yours. "I'm sorry, MC. I didn't mean to bring everything down by talking about this. I brought you here because I wanted you to see how beautiful the Devildom can be."

"Don't apologize," you said. "I was the one who asked."

You took Arsenios's hand again and he let you. You resumed walking together, now in a slightly awkward silence.

The path wound around beds of flowers and stunning trees. At a point where the path crossed with another, there was a large wooden trellis that stretched over the crossroads. It was covered in vines and twinkling with lanterns, the Devildom stars mirroring the blinking lights above.

Arsenios stopped. He held both of your hands and looked into your eyes.

"I'm a demon," he said. "Unlike the brothers you spend so much time with, I've always been a demon. My reason for existing was to tempt humans. A lot of them have suffered because of me. But I've also learned from humans. I've shared love and friendship with them. They taught me their music. It's a duality I'm always going to carry inside me. I understand if you can't accept this about me. I'll understand if you decide to walk away."

Arsenios waited as you studied him. His stomach was twisted around itself. Not just thinking of Caligo and the betrayal, but knowing that he was giving you more than enough reason to cut him out of your life. Your song filled him, it sang through his limbs and vibrated through his veins. It would hurt to lose it, but he would rather feel that emptiness now than struggle with it later.

You sighed. "I don't care what you've done in the past," you said. "So you're a demon. You're also the one who sang me to sleep. You're the one who makes a point of trying a little angel's pastries. You play the piano like you're pouring out all of your love with every note. You love flowers and macarons. I don't care what you've done or what you've had to do. I like you."

Arsenios squeezed your hands. He felt the relief flood through him, his body relaxing, letting go of the tension he'd held since the two of you started talking.

Arsenios let go of your hands and cupped your cheeks. "MC, can I-"

"You don't have to ask," you interrupted.

Arsenios kissed you. All the bright flowers around the two of you seemed to disappear as Arsenios felt himself full of nothing but you. Your song filled his mind, his heart.

One hand moved to cradle the back of your head as you took a step closer to him, your bodies pressed against each other. His other arm encircled your waist, your own arms on his shoulders, the heat of your lips against his as they opened eagerly.

It was just as intense as the first kiss you'd shared in his apartment, perhaps even more so. Arsenios let it consume him and for a blissful moment, he imagined that this was all there was. That things could be this simple. He let your song block out everything except your touch.

-

You could have gone straight home. In fact, Arsenios had been prepared to escort you back to the House of Lamentation himself when the two of you left the garden. But you tugged on his hand, pulling him in a different direction.

"I'm not ready to go back yet," you said. "There's a new food stall down this street I've been wanting to try. Will you come with me?"

Arsenios couldn't have said no even if he wanted to. But he didn't want to. He wanted to stay by your side for as long as you'd let him.

"Lead the way," he said.

You started off down the street, guiding him along by the hand. He kept pace with you, staying beside you even as he followed you.

Arsenios watched your face, your expression focused as you looked for the food stall you had in mind. The lights of the city brightened your eyes and he couldn't stop thinking about the way you felt in his arms when he kissed you among the flowers.

He was reluctant to look away from you, but you had arrived at your destination.

It was a new crepe stall. Your excitement was evident from the way you grinned at him. You pointed out the items you wanted to try, telling him what you had heard about each one.

In the end, you both ordered the same thing. The way you talked about the stall's signature offering made him want to try it. They were crepes made with matcha from the human world covered in bloodberries and shadow oranges. It was a unique combination of flavors.

The two of you settled down on a bench to eat and you leaned into Arsenios as you took your first bite.

He had to hold in a laugh at the way your eyes rolled into the back of your head.

"Mm," you hummed. "This is delicious."

Arsenios smiled. "I didn't realize you could be so expressive about sweets. Have you ever made that face when you tried something Barbatos made? You'll give the guy ideas."

You rolled your eyes again, but this time in mock exasperation. You nudged Arsenios playfully. "Just try it!"

Arsenios did as he was told. It was quite good. He tried to school his expression.

You grinned at him. "See? It's good, right? And anyway, don't put Barbatos on your level. He would never get ideas like that."

Arsenios nearly choked. "He's not as prim and proper as you think he is," he said when he was able to speak again. "And what do you mean by my level?"

You finished another bite of crepes before replying. "You haven't been able to keep your eyes off of me since we left the garden," you said. Your voice was teasing, but there was a blush on your cheeks.

Arsenios felt a fluttering in his stomach. He almost laughed. It was such a sweet, tender feeling that he hadn't experienced in so many years, he didn't think he still could. And yet here you were, setting off butterflies he thought were long dead.

"Can you blame me?" Arsenios asked.

"Yeah," you said between mouthfuls. "I can. Quit staring!"

Arsenios finally laughed, unable to hold it back this time. He took your empty plate and left you sitting on the bench while he threw away the trash in a nearby can.

Then he came back and offered you his hand. "I think I could use a little tea after something so sweet. I have just the thing at home, if you don't mind staying with me a little longer."

You looked at his hand, then up into his eyes. He had to control his breathing, to prevent himself from sucking in a breath at the tumble of feelings he saw there. He waited.

You took his hand and let him pull you to your feet. He kept your fingers clasped in his as he walked home with you.

-

Arsenios moved behind the island counter of his kitchen, ready to start making you some tea. He was thinking about the last time you were here - the first time he had felt your lips against his.

You didn't sit at the counter like you had then. Instead, you leaned against it idly, your gaze on the back windows.

As Arsenios looked around for some mugs, he saw you moving out of the corner of his eye. He stopped what he was doing to watch you.

You crossed the room toward the piano, moving past it and stopping with your gaze fixed on the corner of the room.

"Is this a cat tower?" you asked.

There was in fact a dark grey cat tower in the corner you were looking at. Arsenios knew you hadn't seen it the last time you were here.

You didn't wait for his response, instead getting closer and peeking inside one of the cubbies. You let out a soft gasp and put your hands to your mouth.

Arsenios shook his head and went over to join you. Inside the compartment, a sleek black cat was curled up in an unusual position, her soft body moving slowly up and down in her slumber.

"Don't worry," Arsenios said. "She's a heavy sleeper. We won't disturb her."

"What's her name?" you asked.

"Flower of the Abyss," Arsenios said.

You frowned over at him.

He shrugged. "It's my favorite flower. I just call her Abby. Now, come on, did you want tea or not?"

Arsenios started to move back toward the kitchen, but you caught his hand.

"Did you really bring me home to serve me tea?" you asked.

Arsenios experienced a splitting of himself in that moment. As he looked into your eyes, all he wanted to do was kiss you, touch you - he wanted to make you his. And yet, something held him back. There was something else, small but strong, deep inside, that yelled at him to stop.

You didn't wait for him to resolve this inner conflict and he hoped you weren't even aware of it. You stepped closer to him, put your other hand on his chest.

"Arrie," you said.

And that was all it took. Hearing you say his nickname like that, so confidently and yet so gently all at once, completely crumbled the last of his resolve.

Arsenios wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close before kissing you. He felt you return the embrace as you opened your mouth for him, easily granting access.

If your previous kisses had been hot and heavy, this was a volcano. An explosion of feeling, a bursting of pent up energy, aflame like magma. Arsenios's skin was on fire, every piece of him singing for you. His song was like the high pitch of several violins, strings straining against the bows, mingling with the restless sound of your desire.

Arsenios pulled back from you and it was like moving a mountain. "MC," he said, his voice low and husky.

His hand was on your cheek, his thumb running along your bottom lip. He couldn't help touching you. He couldn't stop, even when he was trying to.

Arsenios caught the sight of his own tattoo and his hands throbbed. He tried not react, but he was sure you could see something in his eyes.

You didn't say anything. All you did was wrap your arms around his neck and pull him into another kiss.

masterpost | chapter ten | chapter eleven and a half

taglist: back to normal as I've been told how to tag so everybody actually gets tagged! so here I go: @avalordream @lonely-north-star @expressionless-fr @featheredcrowbones @pumpkinsareamazing

@szired @bagofwetmice

as always, please comment or dm me if you'd like to be added or removed from the taglist!

masterlist | Thank you for reading!

[commehter]

In Blue and White - Avatar the Last Airbender Fanfic

Rating: 16+ Genre: Coming of Age, Awkward Romcom(?) Pairings: (One-sided?) Zuko/Fem!Aang Characters: Zuko, Aang Summary: Aang is born female. It doesn't change all that much, until it does. What twelve-year-old girl wouldn't instantly develop a crush on the masked dual-sword-wielding bad boy that busted her out of Avatar jail?

Zuko's dignity suffers.

~.~.~.~.~

A story in which Aang accidentally humanizes herself to Zuko far earlier than her canon counterpart by the simple virtue of being a girl with an awkward crush. Well, Aang is the one with the crush. The awkward part is all Zuko.

~.~.~.~.~

Chapter 1: A Girl Named Aang, Part 1

Zuko awakes with a groan and refuses to open his eyes.

What happened?

It feels like his entire skull is threatening to split in two.

A gentle hand touches his cheek. "Are you awake?" asks a high, childish voice.

That definitely isn't Uncle or one of the crew.

Zuko's eyes fly open and he finds himself staring up at the Avatar.

What? The last thing he remembers is...

Zhao.

Pohuai.

Yuyan.

...It isn't night anymore, judging by the sunlight shining through the branches and leaves filling out his vision past the Avatar's head. They must be somewhere in the forest that surrounds the stronghold now.

How did they get out?

"Zuko?" the Avatar says with an upside-down frown.

Belatedly, Zuko realizes he's resting in the girl's lap. With his face completely revealed. He freezes.

When he doesn't say anything, the girl carries on chattering, "I don't really know if I'm doing this right. Most of the bruising cleared up but I think there might be a fracture beneath it." The hand cupping his cheek firms and water flows slowly across his forehead.

It tingles oddly but some of the pain ebbs away.

Zuko catches the wrist of the hand at his cheek and makes a blind fumble for the one above his head. 

"Hey!" The Avatar manages to elude one out of two grabs, left hand held high and sheathed in a strange mitten of glowing water.

"Avatar," he rasps, "what are you doing?"

"Healing," she answers, "Or trying to. I haven't done this before, but I really think it's working!"

"No, what are you doing?" Zuko growls, "We're enemies."

"Oh." The girl deflates. She really shouldn't need a reminder. "Well... You saved me. It didn't seem fair to leave you behind. And then you weren't waking up and I got worried. There wasn't anyone else to ask for help, so I tried meditating to talk with the past Avatars.

"Kyoshi said -- something not very nice, but Yangchen gave me some memories that helped when I couldn't understand what she was trying to te--"

Zuko covers the Avatar's mouth with his free hand. She glares at him and retaliates by slapping her water-mitted-hand back on his forehead. Zuko flinches as spots bloom across his vision. They clear as the tingling feeling resumes and more of the lingering pain fades.

The Avatar is still glaring at him.

Good.

That's how an enemy should look.

Now if only she'd stop muddying the waters by trying to fix his head injury, maybe the world would stop spinning in ways he doesn't know how to compensate for. He can deal with a concussion. He doesn't have the first clue what to do with an enemy set on healing him.

"I wasn't saving you."

The Avatar rolls her gray eyes and fingers tap along his jaw.

Zuko scowls back at her. "I'm serious. I was capturing you for myself."

The girl shakes her head free of his hand. Zuko allows it. "I had figured that out," the Avatar snaps, "I'm not stupid. But you still helped me get away from Zhao, so helping you was fair."

It's irritating because, from a certain, stupid angle, the Avatar's words make sense.

Water drips and then streams past his temples, soaking into the orange skirts still pillowing his head. The girl's hand doesn't move. Either of them. When was the last time he let someone touch his face, never mind as long as the Avatar has been? Zuko drops his remaining hold on the girl. The Avatar fails to withdraw.

Zuko snarls. He pushes himself up and away from the Avatar to sit on the forest floor. He doesn't turn to look at her. She won't attack him now, not with how much work she must have put in to get him away from Zhao in one piece.

"Fine! I got you away from Zhao. You got me away from Zhao. All debts repaid. We're even. The next time I see you, I will capture you," he warns.

"Fine! Even!" The Avatar stomps around to put herself directly in front of him. "In that case, I have two messages for you before everything goes back to normal!

"First, Roku says 'hello.' Do you know why?"

"I -- What? No!" Zuko retorts, "Why would any of your past lives have anything to say to me? They all lived over a hundred years ago!"

The Avatar leans close, examining his face with narrowed eyes. Finally, the girl sighs and relents. "I don't know, but Kyoshi and Roku aren't subtle and you're what they argue over most. Not that either will explain why." She looks away and tucks a too-short lock of hair behind her ear only for it to slip forward again.

He doesn't know what to do with the information that two dead Avatars are wasting their afterlives arguing about him. "What's the second Avatar message?" he asks.

"Oh, well, it's just from me, but I guess that counts as an 'Avatar message'?"

"Avatar," Zuko growls in warning as his patience frays, "what is the message?"

"Sorry," the girl says with a little self-conscious shrug, "I know I talk a lot." It's the only warning she gives him before foreign lips brush his own. She withdraws before he can process what's happening, cheeks flushed. "Thanks for saving me, Zuko."

And then the Avatar flees, jumping through the forest canopy like she was made to live amongst the treetops. Zuko stares after her dumbly until she disappears from sight.

A twelve-year-old just kissed him.

It was barely a kiss.

The Avatar just kissed him.

What is he supposed to do with that?

...

That doesn't count as his first kiss, does it?

No. Innocent, childish infatuation can't count. He refuses to think it ever could.

The Avatar is a foolish little girl that saves her enemies.

It definitely doesn't count.

For either of them.

He doesn't notice the Air Nomad bracelet she'd slipped on his wrist at some point until he tries to change back into his uniform.

~.~.~.~.~

The bracelet is a loop of beads made out of various seeds and nuts along with two small tassels, one orange and the other yellow. He's noticed it wrapped several times around the Avatar's skinny wrist before, but on Zuko it is only long enough to complete four circuits before it becomes too tight to slip over his hand for a fifth.

It's called a lineage tie, typically given to monks by nuns during the spring dances of the Air Nomads' yearly fertility festivals, but sometimes exchanged among Air Nomads too young to participate as a pact for the future. If the Air Nomads had practiced lifelong monogamy like all the other nations, it would be the equivalent of initiating negotiations for a marriage proposal.

Practically speaking, it's an honest to spirits proposition.

From a twelve-year-old.

Zuko restrains himself from setting the scroll in his hands on fire.

So much for innocent.

At least the Water Tribe betrothal necklace locked away in the same drawer hadn't been given to him with equal intention. If anything, he's not convinced the waterbender knows that she wears an engagement gift. That, or she's just decided that its value as an heirloom is more important than any of the traditions tied to it. Either way, picking up lost jewelry on a prison barge has been proven preferable to unwittingly accepting gifts from the Avatar.

~.~.~.~.~

The bounty hunter has a beast that can literally sniff out the Avatar.

Zuko has the airbender's bracelet in hand and is almost back out the door of his quarters when a terrible, horrifying thought occurs to him. What if Uncle asks how he got possession of the Avatar's bracelet? Worse, what if Uncle somehow recognizes the lineage tie for what it is? It would be just his luck if Uncle Iroh knew what the collection of strung seeds and nuts represents, and Zuko doesn't trust his lying skills to be sufficient in shutting down the nosy old man's curiosity.

Worst of all, he can't be sure how Uncle would react to the situation. The only thing more awful than Uncle Iroh's disapproval would be his active and far too enthusiastic approval. Uncle's marriage had been fully negotiated and arranged by the time he was eight years old. Father had only been six, though that initial engagement was broken before the wedding could take place for reasons Zuko has never learned, and Father had instead wed Mother a year later. Zuko's own match had been arranged by Mother when he was all of nine years. ...Mai's parents probably dissolved the arrangement after he got himself banished.

...

He hasn't thought about Mai in years. He wonders if he should feel bad about that.

All he can picture at the thought of his once-intended is the sullen eleven-year-old girl he'd last seen before his banishment. He doesn't have the first clue how she might have grown and changed over the intervening three years. Is she still being dragged around by his psychotic little sister and bored with life in general?

...He'd never actually asked her opinion on their engagement. Had she been as apathetic about him and their future marriage as she was about everything else?

Not that he would expect her to still want the match, even if she had before his banishment, but...

The idea of being someone's undesired intended is somehow even less appealing than the Avatar's inappropriate proposition.

At least with the Avatar, he can be sure the girl involved favors the match.

He can't imagine why, but he knows that she does.

Zuko scowls and pushes the unwanted thoughts away. He's wasting time!

Without any winding the lineage tie is just long enough that he can pull it over his head and wear it as a long necklace. Zuko tucks the string beneath his armor and allows it to slide out of view as he doubles back for the waterbender's betrothal necklace. If the shirshu picks up on both scents, so much the better, but one piece of jewelry is clearly safer for open display than the other.

Uncle's meddling as a match-maker is the last thing he needs during his hunt for the Avatar.

~.~.~.~.~

It's just as well the Avatar stole back her friend's necklace. It hadn't worked as a bribe and the shirshu debacle isn't one he's looking to repeat. Ever. Zuko has had enough of the beasts to last a lifetime.

Any frustration he feels is only because the Avatar has eluded capture. Again.

...

Girls make no sense no matter what nation they hail from.

~.~.~.~.~

You can read the rest of the story on AO3.

3 Chapters (WIP)

5K Words (and counting)

Posted 06/08/2024

Happy reading!

[decennia]

HOGWARTS YEARBOOK: GRADUATING CLASS OF '98

↳ GRYFFINDOR

Lavender Brown, Enoch Cresswell, Fay Dunbar, Seamus Finnigan*, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Parvati Patil, Allison Potter (@juliaswickcrs), Harry Potter, Wilbur Prewett, Dean Thomas, Ronald Weasley.

↳ SLYTHERIN

Millicent Bulstrode, Vincent Crabbe, Tracey Davis, Alena Foster (@reggiemantleholdmyhand-tle), Gregory Goyle, Daphne Greengrass, Draco Malfoy, Elspeth Meadowes, Deimos Mulciber, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini.

↳ HUFFLEPUFF

Althea Abbott, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Tallula Clary (@hughstheforcelou), Leanne Driscoll, Julien Fawley (@moirei), Justin Finch-Fletchley, Bobbie Fortescue (@randomestfandoms-ocs), Wayne Hopkins, Megan Jones, Zacharias Smith.

↳ RAVENCLAW

Terry Boot*, Mandy Brocklehurst, Michael Corner*, Konstantinova Craft (@fragilestorm), Anthony Goldstein, Isobel MacDougal, Morag MacDougal, Padma Patil, Cassiopeia Rosier (@lupinblack), Archelaus Sallow, Lisa Turpin.

italicized: original characters.

*fancast: (insp.) (insp.)

TAG LIST: @perfectlystiles @sgtbuckyybarnes @anna-phora @lost-in-the-shelves @raith-way @lizziesxltzmxn @akabluekat @chlobenet @phoebestarks @zeleniafic @a-song-of-quill-and-feather @honeyandsunflowers @dandyylions @hiddenqveendom @jewelswrites-ish @lokitrasho @lukespatterson @stanshollaand @richitozier @ocfairygodmother @claryxjackson @luucypevensie @noratilney @foxesandmagic @jayneladybright

HP TAG: @nickfcwler @poruchik-logy

ALTHEA TAG: @dreamerwithapen1

[angstama]

✧. when you had a rough day and they try to comfort you

ft. mikey, mitsuya, chifuyu, inui, koko

genre: fluff, slight angst, comfort

a/n: writing this because i too, had a really long day and am in need of a good cry and hug. it's been a really really long and rough day for me, so i'm going to rest. goodnight/good morning to you guys!

i'd suggest listening to this song while reading!

now playing: hot air balloon - surl

♡ manjiro sano (mikey)

mikey had always been one to sense when something is wrong so it wouldn't be surprising when he'd show up at your doorstep with a bag of your favourite sweet treats in the middle of the night after your long day at work.

"eh? mikey what are you doing here?" you gaped at your pretty boyfriend as he casually invites himself into your living room, hands filled with bags of what seemed like your favourite flavoured ice cream with a soft smile etched to his lips. "hm? my mikey senses told me that you need a hug right now so here i am!" he grinned, spreading his arms out to wait for you to run into his arms.

and so you did, you ran straight into his arms and hid yourself at the crook of his neck, his vanilla scent instantly reminding you that you're finally home and that everything is going to be okay.

mikey doesn't say anything when he felt the material of his sweater getting damper each second, only rubbing smooth circles behind your back as you let your tears fall. "i know baby, i know. you did so well today." he whispers softly, holding you tighter in his embrace before giving you one more affirmation for the day, "i'm so proud of you y/n."

♡ mitsuya takashi

mitsuya may not be as intuitive as mikey but when it comes to reading people's emotions and well basically you, he can easily tell when something isn't right.

you had your fair share of long and exhausting days but today was different than the usual chaos. it was mentally draining and you were feeling tired of everything. so when you heavily dragged yourself into your shared apartment with mitsuya, you couldn't help but tear up at the sight of mitsuya stirring a pot of japanese curry in his purple kitchen apron.

"welcome hom — babe?" he turned to greet you, only to drop the scoop when he sees your slumped body with tears threatening to spill from your eyes. "hey" you breathed, forcing a shaky smile as mitusya quickly paces towards you.

as if he could hear your screaming thoughts of needing a tight hug right now, he quickly pulls you into his embrace, resting his chin on your head as you nuzzled closer into his chest. "i'm not going to ask what's wrong but i want you to know that i love you okay?" he whispered softly, gently planting soft kisses on forehead and neck when you finally looked him in the eye, the tears finally falling.

that's right, mitusya takashi loves you and that's all that it matters. no matter how tough life is, you're never going to walk alone on this path filled with thorns and swamps because mitusya is always going to be there with your hands held in his.

"i love you too takashi." mitusya wipes your tears with his thumb, tilting your chin up to give you a kiss to get rid of the remaining last ounce of exhaustion in your system. "i cooked your favourite curry rice, let's have dinner together."

it's twelve thirty in the morning. and that's how you know, mitusya truly loves you.

♡ chifuyu matsuno

you were closing up the store when you spotted chifuyu leaning against the glass door and waiting for you outside to walk you home. it was part of your daily routine and the two of you would often take turns, to walk each other home after your shifts. equality in the relationship as you'd like to say.

"fuyu? what are you doing here?" you asked, surprised to see your boyfriend considering how he had called you an hour ago that he wouldn't be able to walk you home tonight as he had to extend his shift at the pet store tonight. "you sounded really sad on the phone just now, so i rushed everything to be with you baby." he smiled, reaching to grab your canvas bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

you let out a soft sniff, tilting your head back slightly to hopefully push the tears back that are slowly filling your eyes. it had been an awfully long day. an awfully long day that you spent the entire time thinking that you were alone in this life. but suddenly here chifuyu matsuno stands before you, reminding you that he's here for you through every step of the way. "baby? you okay?" he asked with concern laced in his voice when he realised that your body was trembling from the overwhelming rush of emotions running through your body.

"i'm not okay." you shook your head, the truth hitting you harder now that you had said it out to your lover without feeling the need to tell him that you're okay. chifuyu doesn't say anything but only quickly walked past you. you were going to ask where's he going when you suddenly felt a pair of arms gently wrapped around your waist with your body pulled into chifuyu's chest.

warmth and comfort. that is what chifuyu is. and you finally understood why being with chifuyu felt like home because home is and should be a place where you can be at your most vulnerable without feeling judged. it keeps you warm when winter comes and it shields you from all the dangers in the outside world. your home, is chifuyu matsuno.

"i wish i can take all of your hardships away." you hear him mumbled into your hair, pulling you closer into his embrace. "but for now, let me offer you a matsuno hug that instantly recharges your energy level."

♡ inui seishu (inupi)

you had finally knocked off from work and was on your way home when you had unknowingly allowed yourself to stumble into d&d motors's little shop without you even realising it. you stood quietly by the entrance staring softly at your boyfriend who's currently still focused in tinkering, back facing you.

just being able to see inui was enough so you decided to go home, not wanting to disturb your lover but of course god still isn't on your side as if putting you through a day filled with nothing but crap wasn't enough. you accidentally tripped over yourself right right outside the store, causing you to fall on your bum and catching inui by surprise.

the world hates you.

y/n?" inui's eyes widened, quickly rushing towards you but you anxiously put your hands up to stop him from coming closer. " i - i got this. fuck — i got this. " you breathed heavily, biting your lips hard to stop yourself from getting overly emotional over the little mishap. you shakily pushed yourself up, feeling pathetic each second as you desperately dust yourself in front of inui.

"y/n? what's going on?" he asked, concerned at the shaken state you're in. one could tell that you're obviously just seconds away from crumbling apart and you were just putting up a tough front to mask your vulnerability. "nothing. just needed to see you that's all." you said softly, forcing a small smile to assure inui that everything was okay.

but inui knew better. he had seen you at your lowest of lows after all.

"well, i won't disturb you further. goodnight inui." you waved, turning to take your leave when you felt a light tug and then a tight grip on your wrist, stopping you in your tracks. you don't face inui though for you were so afraid that you were going to break down any time now. but once again, god wasn't on your side when inui pulls you into a bear hug, his hands resting on your waist as he pulls you closer to him. it was then, you finally let your tears down.

inui was a man of a few words but loves you more than anything else in the world that he'd gladly throw lame jokes whenever you're feeling particularly lousy just to see you smile or burst out laughing at his poor attempt of creating puns. so when inui doesn't say a single word and pulls you into a hug, you couldn't help but to cry even harder into his arms.

"it's okay to cry baby, it's okay." he gently runs his fingers through your hair, "cry it out and you'll feel better okay?" he smiles softly at you.

♡ kokonoi hajime (koko)

it isn't everyday when koko would be home from his executive work before you do and here he is sitting by the bar counter and looking through some documents while sipping on a glass of scotch when you quietly entered the assumed empty penthouse.

he looked at you tiredly carrying yourself up the stairs, not even acknowledging your lover who's currently staring at your tired figure with wide eyes, surprised that you weren't excitedly announcing your arrival or even going up to him to give the usual peck on the cheeks.

"y/n babe?" koko called out. you were currently sitting at the edge of your bed with your head held down, running your hands through your hair while letting out a distressed sigh. "koko?" your head shot up when you hear your lover's footstep coming closer to you. "why're you home so early tonight?" you asked. "it's already 1am princess, i should be asking why are you home so late tonight?" he hummed, settling down next to you.

you took a deep breath as your entire day thus far played through your head, forcing you to remember the series of unfortunate events that rolled upon you all at once today. "work stuff, it's nothing." you mumbled, leaning tiredly against koko's shoulder.

you knew that whatever you were feeling is collective from the last month when you had been working really hard in [your dream] industry, putting whatever you have only to be constantly slapped in the face that you weren't good enough. it's not like you don't know that fact though, but being forced to sit through that every damn day is finally pushing you to a breaking point and you were afraid that if your lover had asked any further you'd surely start to break down.

koko could sense the immense stress you were under and he had seen you worked hard at your job. it hurts him when you refused to take his money and insists on paying for half of the utility bills and it hurts him even more when he see you all beat up over a job that he can clearly pay you more for.

koko carefully rests an arm on your shoulder, bringing you closer into his shoulder. "i wish it wasn't this hard' your voice croaked upon feeling koko's warmth. "if only i was better." you whispered almost inaudibly, not wanting koko to pick up on your pathetic self hatred but he obviously did.

"baby you are better. you are the best in my eyes and that's enough." he rubs your back in an attempt to sooth you when you start to hiccup from holding back your raw emotions. it was painful to say the least. you were way deep in reality check and koko was the only one keeping you sane from the harsh truth.

you felt koko shuffling in his spot. he quickly pulls out a thousand dollar note from his black leather wallet that you got for him on his birthday, swiftly plopping it in front of you, causing you to look at him confusedly. "will you let me buy your pain away?" he quipped, shooting you a playful wink. "that's not how it works koko," you chuckled softly.

koko shrugs, placing the thousand dollar note down when he sees your mood lighten before pulling you into hug. "let's ride the hot air balloon parked outside and escape this place for a little while yeah?" he ruffled your hair, knowing how much you loved being up in the sky, up above the clouds where none of your problems could reach either the two of you.

ah, you finally remembered that be it wether up in the skies or down on earth, as long as koko is there by your side, everything will eventually be okay.

// end.

[peakyscillian]

It's my birthday | Cillian x Fem!Reader | One Shot |

Summary: It's your birthday & you know what you want. Requests: Not so much a request but a fic swap for our birthday month with @janelongxox Warnings: Smut/langauge A/N: Happy Birthday Girl! Enjoy this fic, thank you for letting me always talk about our Cilly!

It's my birthday.

The party was in full swing, everyone had a drink in their hand, you were stood with your girlfriends, you'd been away on location with Cillian and you had catching up to do, but it was your birthday and you knew you should be mingling with your guests.

Cillian had managed to pull off the ultimate surprise party, coordinating all the arrangements with your best friend in Dublin whilst you were both in Manchester. He'd even picked out a dress, which much to his relief you loved the moment you slipped it on that evening, his hand had run down your exposed back, stopping just before the curve of your backside, before he dropped his lips to the exposed warm skin of your neck making you suggest you forgot about dinner and stayed home.

He'd given you a coy smile, shook his head "plenty of time for that, birthday girl" he had teased, a gentle kiss to your painted lips before he grabbed his suit jacket and exited the room, leaving you with a dull throb between your thighs.

Your eyes caught him over with a few of your family members, your gaze dropping to his fingers, thick and long curled around the glass of Guinness as he spoke to your uncle, you felt the throb return to your core at the thought of those fingers, dragging under your tiny piece of underwear.

"Happy Birthday, Y/N" the voice made you jump slightly, you spun round face to face with Paul and Joe.

"Thank you, when did you two get here? Left you in Manchester under twelve hours ago" you laughed lightly as they hugged you in turn.

"Got the flight after you and Cill" Joe admitted

You laughed "so you were in the airport with us, why am I so oblivious to everything"

"Where is he? The big party planner, haven't heard about anything else for weeks, if this is your twenty fifth I can't wait for you to turn thirty" Paul winked.

You batted at his chest not wanting to think about leaving your twenties "he's over with my uncles, they're probably embarrassing me"

They excused themselves making their way to their friend and co-star, you were determined to distract yourself from thinking of all the sinful things you wanted Cillian to do to you.

You were waiting at the bar, when you felt the two arms slip around your waist, a firm body pressed into your back "my birthday girl" his breath fanned across your skin, igniting it with goosebumps.

You turned in his arms, back resting against the cool wood of the bar, arms instantly snaking around his neck "m' missed you"

He smiled, lips pressing softly to yours, hands on your hips kneading them through the material of your dress.

"I've been right here" he barely pulled his face away from yours, eyes locked together.

"I know, you've been the perfect host, want to be alone" you almost whined, hips moving to push ever so slightly against his.

Cillian changed his grip on your hips, firmly pressing you against the bar "later, I told you" he nipped at your bottom lip.

You felt the rush of pleasure run through you, his stern voice, the pressure on your hips, you nodded fingers running across the slightly out grown shaved back of his head.

"Cillian, uhm sorry but we need you in the back" your friend was awkwardly stood beside you both, you smiled at her as Cillian moved away.

"Be right back" he kissed you again, before they left you to sort out party business. You sighed grabbing your glass of wine and heading for Natasha, Sophie and Aimee who had also snuck into Dublin without you knowing.

The cake had been extravagant knowing that was all down to your friends, Cillian had held you close to his side as everyone sung you happy birthday, his voice low and vibrating in your ear. You'd hugged your girlfriends right after blowing out the candles, feeling so blessed to have this life.

A few wines and shots with Cillian's co-stars later the party was dying down, people calling taxis and heading to their hotels, you were on the dance floor, Aimee and Sophie ending the night with you, Cillian interrupted you all asking if he was allowed to take you home.

Sophie had made a lewd comment causing him to act like the older brother he played on screen, she rolled her eyes at him as they hugged goodbye.

Finally you were in the back of the booked car, you were hungry for him, lips pressing hot bursts of kisses across his neck, where he'd popped a few buttons undone as the night went on, your hand snaked its way into the opening pressing a warm palm against his cool skin.

"Baby...baby" he lifted your chin up to stop the assault of your lips "we'll be home so soon" he stated.

You whined, hand running across the bulge in his tight dress pants "just want you" you whispered sitting back in the seat trying to control yourself.

Cillian hadn't even got you fully through the door and you were kicking your heels off, attaching yourself back on his lips, feverish kisses leaving between wanting mewls.

"hey..hey what's got into you" he smirked scooping you up in his arms.

"I just need you, need you to touch me" you begged, as he carried you effortlessly up the stairs.

He dropped you on the bed, eyes scanning your body, licking his lips, he'd been so controlled all evening, holding off all your advances the best he could but now he was ready to ravish you, tease you into falling apart around him.

Your body was writhing on the bed, without any contact with him, just his gaze burning into you was enough to get you worked up.

"Cillian" you whimpered getting frustrated with the way he wasn't paying any attention to you.

He smiled, finally crawling over your body, pressing his hips to yours to stop you moving "yes? Birthday girl" a smirk tugged onto his face.

"Please" you whispered fingers fumbling with the buttons on his fitted shirt

"What do you want?" He was teasing you, you were so close to screaming at him for his hands to be on you.

"Just...fuck touch me" you begged eyes wide

Cillian brushed some hair from your face, fingertips feathered against your skin "where?"

You were biting your lip, tears pushing against the brim of your eyes in frustration "everywhere"

Cillian tusked, dropping a faint kiss to the side of your lips "show me or I can't help"

You groaned head thrown back, grabbing for his hands "I want your fingers in me, I want them pressed against my clit"

"You only had to say" he teased, lifting the hem of your dress up your body, you sat up letting him pull it off you, revealing your bare breasts and the barely there underwear.

"Been walking around like this all evening" he ran his fingertips over your breasts "if only I'd known" he tweaked your nipple between his thumb and forefinger, pulling a gasp from your mouth.

"Shit please Cill don't tease me" you were barely able to form a sentence, hips moving off the bed.

"Baby, you need to be patient it's your birthday after all" he nuzzled into your neck, lapping his tongue against your sweet skin.

"I should get what I want" you pouted, grabbing for his hand, pushing it down to the edge of your underwear.

He rested his hand just above your mound, tutting at you once again "I've got a bratty birthday girl on my hands huh?"

You bit your lip, nodded at him because you couldn't deny it "Cillian I swear-"

You didn't have time to finish as his hand plunged into the thin material, hand cupping at your soaking pussy, thumb brushing over your clit "oh uhh fuck" you sighed feeling some pressure being relieved from your core.

"Been this wet all night baby?" He asked slowly pushing his finger into your cunt, you nodded "yea...yes all for you Cillian" you panted eyes closing in pure ecstasy. He pulled your underwear down your legs, dropping it on the floor, as you spread your legs from him. Cillian was working you up, adding another finger in as you squirmed under his touch. Stretching you for him, you moaned as he added a third finger, curling up to your soft g-spot, tapping on the area before roughly brushing his fingers over it, thumb pressed on your clit, he could feel your walls clenching and unclenching around his fingers, your panting breaths indicating you were already close.

"You can let go as long as you come around my cock later" his lips were pressed against the shell of your ear.

You nodded erratically, holding onto his biceps, with one final stroke of your g-spot, added pressure on your clit you were unraveling under him, head thrown into the mattress, legs shaking as he carried on pumping his fingers into your tightening pussy.

Your hands were grabbing for the zip on Cillian's trousers, he chuckled lightly batting your hand away "no touching, it's all about you, you've been so good"

He stood up discarding his trousers and boxers, you almost cried out in pleasure at the sight of his hard cock standing to attention, veins nearly pulsing with the tension.

Cillian crawled back over your heated body, running the head of his cock against your slick folds, you could swear your body was on fire, you needed release again, needed him inside you.

"Cillian, baby please" you whimpered propping yourself up on your elbows, watching him dip the tip of his cock into you.

"Want me to fuck you eh?" He smiled his charming smile, you jerked your hips trying to get him inside your clenching pussy.

"Yes fuck me please" you mumbled, voice breaking with the pressure growing in your abdomen, he nodded finally pushing forward, filling you completely in one swift move, stretching you, sending a wave of pleasure over your whole body.

Cillian's blue eyes had turned a shade or two darker, his hands on your hips pulling you to meet his thrusts , legs wrapped around his waist, he lifted you off the mattress, as he knelt onto the soft duvet, using his hands to guide you up and back down in a perfect rhythm.

Sweat was building on his forehead, your hair once perfectly curled for your party was sticking to your back and forehead, your sticky bodies hitting together as he pounded into you, losing the strength to hold you up, he dropped you back, not stopping his thrusts as he lent over you.

His lips wrapping around your erect nipple sucking and nipping, your hands were tugging at the hair on top of his head the perfect length for getting your fingers into.

"You look so fucking beautiful" he was pressing his lips to your collarbone, nose nudging your jaw before he finally kissed you, biting at your lip before his tongue slipped into your warm mouth, hips still snapping into yours.

"Fuck..Cillian, this is amazing" you sighed hands cupping at his face. Eyes locked with his intense and wide as the tip of his cock brushed your g-spot, he knew exactly how to angle his hips to find it.

"Just treating my birthday girl to what she deserves, looking fucking gorgeous all evening, dancing with her friends grinding them to tease me" his hand grabbed at the flesh of your backside, kneading it with a rough squeeze as he pulled your leg to sit flush against his hip.

"Just wanted you to take me home, all night wanted to be alone with my man" you confessed, nails scratching down his back in appreciation.

"People whispering about me being too old for you I heard them, but does any else make you feel this good?" He asked stalling his hips, his cock resting inside your needy cunt.

You shook your head "never, only you, you're not too old, you're mine" you pushed your hips off the bed, needing some friction from him anything.

He was peppering kisses across your face, you claiming him as your own making his hips snap faster into you, you were moaning with no stop from the sweet noises leaving your mouth, he was so close his abdomen tightening, the feeling of his cock twitching against your walls, he was panting, forehead pressed with yours. "I can't hold out much longer" he confessed, you moved your hips causing a primal moan to pull from his throat. "Cum in me Cill.. let go for me" you were circling your hips, causing a friction between you both, then his hips stalled, thrust sloppy as he came in you, pushing you over the edge for the second time, calling out his name as you done so. Cillian was still on top of you, holding himself up by his forearms on the bed, "Happy Birthday, baby" he smiled slowly dragging himself from your swollen pussy, rolling to lay beside you.

The feeling of his cum dripping between your thighs was something you wouldn't ever get bored of, having decided that you being on birth control was enough to not use protection after about four months of being together. "Best present ever" your hand ran across his cheek cupping his jaw. "oh there's more" he stood up, you watched him cross the room, his bare bum was sculpted perfectly, he returned from the walk-in wardrobe, your mouth pratically watering at the sight of him, still semi-hard as he made his way back to you, three gift bags in his hand. "I like this present best" you giggled fingers grazing across his cock, he let out a low groan, gift bags discarded on the floor as you crawled across the bed on your knee's, licking your lips ready for the sweetest gift of all.

*** Taglist. @janelongxox @missymurphy1985 @queenshelby @datewithgianni @cloudofdisney @elenavampire21 @being-worthy @uchihacumdump @magicalpieex

[ticklygiggles]

And they were roomates | Haikyuu Captains

Sawamura Daichi, Kuroo Tetsurou, Bokuto Kotarou, Oikawa Tooru & Ushijima Wakatoshi

A/N: I didn’t know exactly which captains you wanted, but I did the basics because I love them *ugly crying* They're all grown ups living together, but this is probably a bit canon divergent, huhu. Thank you very much for the prompt, @cupcakedog2023​ I hope you enjoy this!

Polyrelationship if you squint, but not really. I want to thank my dear friend @ragewerthers​ because we've been talking about Daichi (and Iwa) lately so I felt very inspired to (destroy) write about him. I enjoy writing hc’s with you, my sweet friend *sobs* And I love Daichi.

Summary: Daichi has the best luck, (ahem, strategy), but it’s all gone when his roommates team up against him.

Words: 3,862 (hoho)

-----

Three loud groans and a soft displeased huff filled the entire apartment when Daichi threw his last card.

"You must be kidding me," Kuroo sighed, also throwing his (many) cards into the pile in the middle of the table and bringing his hands up to rub his face vigorously. Daichi was wearing a wide grin. "How many times already? Ten?"

"Eleven," Ushijima said and Daichi could only puff his chest proudly… it had been twelve times, but who counts? He does. "Look how proud he is."

"Are we going to have another round?" Bokuto asked, his smile bright, having way more fun than Kuroo, Oikawa and Ushijima all together.

"Hell yeah," Oikawa said, already gathering the cards in his hands and shuffling them with the experience of a croupier.  How he had that talent, no one knew, but it definitely made everyone look at his hands in awe. Even Daichi, who could only think about his twelve victories.

"I refuse to admit that Sawamura is the only one who can win this game!" He cried, throwing the cards to each one of them. "Even if Ushiwaka wins, I'll be happy." He pointed at Ushijima, who was sitting right beside him. 

Ushijima simply rolled his eyes and Daichi laughed softly as he took the new cards, spreading them between his hands. 

He didn't feel bad about winning. He had always been extremely good at board games and he was pretty sure that all of these former captains knew about it. At the end of their game nights, (usually on Fridays because they all had a day off on Saturday, thank god), Daichi would have mercilessly crushed each one off them - that's why they didn't gamble, the last time they did, Oikawa had to borrow money from all of them until his next payday. 

No one wanted to live up to that humiliation and it was the only time Daichi actually felt bad, so gambling was forbidden, but even with or without it, Daichi was invencible in every single game: Kuroo winning every now and then, Ushijima probably won one or two times before, as well as Oikawa, and Bokuto… well, Bokuto didn't care at all who won or lost, he enjoyed spending time with his roommates the most and his big smile was enough for everyone to keep playing until they gave up to beat Daichi. 

"Don't!" Oikawa yelled dramatically. It was his turn to throw a card and Daichi couldn't help but laugh. They had played for five minutes. Five minutes and Daichi had already screamed that word out, making the rest of the men cringe. "It's impossible!"

Uno! 

"Just throw it, Tooru!"

Kuroo had drawn almost all of the cards, he even had some on the table, Ushijima had three, Bokuro had around five of six and Oikawa, (Daichi really, really wanted to laugh), he only had two - Daichi didn't know what cards they were, but all of them knew he was going to win regardless, after all, he only had one card between his fingers. 

Oikawa sighed in resignation, throwing his card: a yellow two.

Daichi threw his own: a Draw Four Wild. 

"Ah, I was hoping for someone else to win," Kuroo sighed, almost pouting and crossing his arms above his chest. 

Daichi only smirked, seeing how Oikawa dramatically fell against Ushijima, a hand resting against his forehead as he faked fainting. "I am a disgrace," Oikawa said, sobbing quietly as Ushijima patted his shoulder. 

"I'm sorry I won," Daichi mumbled, gathering the cards again. 

"Don't say you're sorry if you are not!" Kuroo said with narrowed eyes and reaching up to pinch Daichi's nose. 

Daichi squeaked. "It's all about strategy!" He claimed, rubbing at his nose. "And knowing what cards to throw at the right time!"

"Yeah, yeah," Oikawa mocked from where he was still laying against Ushijima. "Do you want to show off your strategy skills, captain? Maybe you should give us all some tutoring?"

Daichi laughed. "If that is what you want…"

Oikawa gasped and he opened his mouth to say something else, but Bokuto's gentle voice interrupted him. "Maybe we should get some tutoring," he said and this time Kuroo was the one to open his mouth to speak out against that idea, but Bokuto continued talking. "After all, Karasuno did kick all of our asses back then, didn't they?" Bokuto said quite nonchalantly, a sudden silence filled the room and Daichi felt his heart dropping a little.

That was okay, right? That happened in highschool, right? All of them were working men already so it was in the past... Right? 

"Uh...," Daichi started but was cut off by a hum coming from Oikawa. 

"Kou-chan is right," he said, a dangerous smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. Daichi blushed. "Karasuno did kick our asses back then, huh?"

Bokuto, perhaps not catching on what was happening, (perhaps actually knowing what was happening), nodded enthusiastically, his arm wrapping around Kuroo's shoulders, because he always felt the need to touch someone.  

"Ho?" Daichi's eyes quickly turned to look at Kuroo, who was also smirking, his sleepy eyes a bit dark and a perfect eyebrow raised up. "So we really are living with our biggest rival, eh?" 

Daichi gulped nervously, eyeing the four men around him. "Now, now," he said, trying to sound calm. "That was in highschool, guys. It's not like we're still playing for our teams, right?"

Right?

"Listen to this captain trying to calm down the team," Oikawa said and Daichi positively blushed to the tip of his ears. "Don't think that you can just brush it off, Sawamura. We hold a grudge."

Bokuto laughed at that, but Oikawa punched him in the arm, a playful smile on his lips, nothing compared to that savage smirk he sent back to Daichi. 

Daichi sensed danger, so his eyes slowly moved to look at Ushijima, expecting him to help him out of this situation, but he flinched when he found his serious brown eyes staring back at him. 

"Since Daichi is Karasuno's former captain," Ushijima started, his voice emotionless, but his eyes piercing holes through Daichi's face. "He should take responsibility and be punished on his teammates' behalf."

Daichi widened his eyes, his mouth dropping open. "Wa-Wakatoshi..."

Kuroo, Bokuto and Oikawa laughed and, as if Ushijima's words were the only thing they needed to do something about their former enemy, Kuroo launched at Daichi, not giving him the chance to try and escape. 

"No! Wait, aah!" Daichi squeaked when he was suddenly picked up and thrown over Kuroo's shoulder as if he was not more than a sack of rice. "T-Tetsu! You guys, hold- hold on!" Daichi protested, but Kuroo ultimately ignored him as the rest of them quickly followed behind him (and Daichi), to the living room. 

"Toshi already said that you should be punished, Dai-chan," Oikawa said with that lethal smirk. "So we are not backing up now."

Daichi sent another glance to Ushijima and he could only whine softly when he saw him nodding his head solemnly, Bokuto now wrapping his arm around his shoulders. He let out another squeak when Kuroo suddenly threw him against the sofa, they hovered over him for a few seconds before Oikawa and Kuroo were both pinning his arms up above his head. 

"W-Wait... I'm- I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean... to win?" Daichi tried to explain himself, his back arching up as he pulled at his arms. 

"What should we do?" Oikawa asked, ignoring Daichi's pleas. 

"Shall we punch him?" Kuroo said and Daichi gasped, widening his eyes.

"What?! Do you guys really hate me that much?!" Oikawa and Kuroo snickered and Daichi looked over Ushijima just one more time, but he only blushed furiously when he found the man looking at him intently. 

He was screwed. 

"So not punching?" Kuroo asked playfully.

"Not punching," Bokuto suddenly popped in. "This!" He said before diving in, his hands latching onto Daichi's sides, squeezing them up and down. 

Daichi flinched when Bokuto grabbed him, his body tensing, actually fearing to be beaten up, but he was extremely surprised when, instead of pain, he felt those sparks waking up his nerve endings.

"Aaah! Wahahahait!" Daichi started to giggle right away; to be attacked by something so low as tickling, the humiliation! "Puhuhuhunch me!"

The rest laughed, even Ushijima let out soft chuckles as Daichi giggled and began to squirm, pulling at his arms. 

"What?! That's so stupid, I love it!" Oikawa chirped as he got a better hold of Daichi's wrists, making him squeak when he pushed his arm a little higher, Kuroo following suit, causing Daichi to let out nervous giggles. 

"B-Bohohoho!" Daichi squeaked out, trying to twist his hips so he could turn on his side, but to his surprise, Bokuto planted himself on top of his thighs. "N-Nohoho! I'm sorry! I'm sohohorry!" 

Daichi was usually okay with tickle fights. He had had some with these four men before, but never the four of them at once! He was not sure he'd survive this, after all, he was aware that at least one of them knew about his most ticklish spot and, knowing them, they'd make sure to weak him up before finally going straight for that spot. 

Daichi shuddered as he tried to bite his lower lip to stop those giggles bubbling out, but he squeaked when Bokuto started to squeeze his waist and the giggles that had gathered in his throat came flowing loud and clear and the blush on his face spread toward his ears.

"Ah, so I remembered correctly!" Bokuto said excitedly. "Daichi has a ticklish waist!"

Oikawa hummed. "I didn't know he was ticklish there… nice!" He said, talking as if Daichi wasn't there giggling like a schoolgirl.

He knew he was in trouble - Oikawa, Kuroo and Bokuto were already fired up, but Ushijima was still there (embarrassingly staring at him), without doing anything, so Daichi managed to put the best puppy eyes he could and looked at him.

"W-Wahahahakatoshi!" He giggled, flinching when Bokuto found the right spot on his waist. "H-Hehehehelp!" No, more specific. "H-Help m-mehehehe, please!"

He should had known better, after all, Ushijima was the one who suggested the punishment in the first place, regardless, Daichi was still surprised when Ushijima mumbled with his low, deep voice::

"Try his stomach."

Daichi widened his eyes and he immediately sucked on his belly, as if that action would help him at all - of course it didn't: he let out a whimpery plea, but Bokuto easily raised his shirt up to his ribs and his fingers dug into the flesh of his stomach. 

"GAHAHaha! Wahahait! Wait!" He squeaked, the giggles morphing into loud laughs as Bokuto mercilessly vibrated his fingertips right in the center of his tummy. "Uhuhuhushihihihi!" Daichi didn't notice, but Ushijima's ears turned a little red. "Trahahahahitor!" 

"Ho?" Kuroo purred. "So Sawamura has a ticklish tummy?" 

"Try scribbling your fingers on the sides," Ushijima explained, his fingers wiggling slightly to show Bokuto how to do it. 

"Nohoho!"

"Why don't you do it, Wakatoshi?" Bokuto asked with a big smile, stopping momentarily to invite Ushijima to join, Daichi shook his head like a mad man.

"Oh! That's a splendid idea!" Oikawa beamed and Daichi fought against all instinct to look up at him, he didn't want to see Oikawa's big grin. "While Toshi wrecks Daichi's belly, Bo can move to his ribs!"

Daichi squeaked. "Pl-Plehehease! D-Don't be such s-sohohore losers!" 

It was too late when Daichi realized what he just said; Ushijima was already kneeling close to the sofa and his hands were poised against the sides of Daichi's belly, his fingers scribbling against the warm and tight skin. 

Daichi's reaction was priceless and everyone laughed about it: he arched his back and let out a slightly girly shriek before bubbly laughter bloomed out of his mouth. His heels digging into the sofa's surface.

"Ahahaha! Wakatohohoshi, wait! N-Nahahaha!" 

To Daichi's horror, little hiccups started to filter through his laughter and the cooing from above him only made him want to sink deeper into the mattress, but he arched up again when Ushijima started to vibrate his fingers against the muscles at the sides of his tummy, stealing more hiccups from Daichi. 

"Oh goodness," Oikawa whispered. "Try his ribs! His ribs!" Oikawa urged Bokuto who, thankfully, had stopped to just look over at Daichi with a bright smile of his own. "It's a very nice spot."

"Nohohoho!"

"Up here?" Bokuto teased, his fingers crawling like little spider's legs toward Daichi's ribs. 

"P-Plehehehease!" Daichi shook his head and scrunched up his nose at the little pokes, his tummy sucking in when Bokuto grazed his lower ribs, but it seemed like Bokuto didn't notice as he suddenly made two claws with his hands and started to vibrate them against his bones and in the spaces in-between.

Daichi let out a shriek before cackles poured out of his mouth, he was positively kicking his feet now, or at least trying to with Bokuto sitting on his thighs. His ribs were horribly ticklish, he only needed a poke there to feel his whole rib cage tingling.

Bokuto was now squeezing Daichi's ribs, making him jump and squeak, but he was not hitting those special spots that never failed to almost throw Daichi into hysterical laughter, but Oikawa knew and Daichi knew it was only a matter of time before he instructed Bokuto again. 

"Nice, Bo, but try right at the lower ribs." There he was.

"No! Nohohoho, Kou! Plehehehease!"

"Oh?" Kuroo and Ushijima mumbled curiously and Daichi could only beg between cackles. 

"Here?"

"Yes, those ribs are really sensitive. Just use your thumbs- yeah, like that."

"AHAHAHA!" Daichi wished that he couldn't feel the tickling against his tummy, too, but that, added to the new electrifying sensation of having his lower ribs massaged with gentle deep circles, he felt like he wanted to crawl out of his skin. 

His squirming got wilder and Bokuto, Kuroo and Oikawa laughed as they pinned him a little harder without hurting him - Ushijima just chuckled, his fingers moving with experience, (didn't they have a tickle fight like once?!); his thumbs digging into the soft flesh under Daichi's belly button, forcing a snort out, or perhaps it was the way Bokuto was vibrating his fingers against those horribly ticklish ribs. 

He didn't know, he just knew it tickled, but it was not over yet. He felt it in his belly, his insides doing little flips just at the thought of that certain spot being tickled and Kuroo hadn't done anything yet. 

"That's not all! That's not all!" Oikawa said excitedly over Daichi's loud laughter 

"Look at this!" He quickly pinned Daichi's arm with his knees, Daichi was so overwhelmed by sensations that he didn't even put up a fight when he felt a little bit of freedom on his arm. 

"No! D-dohohon't l-lehehet hihihim- AH! Ahahahaha, Tooru! T-To-ahahaha!" 

Bokuto let out a whistle at such reaction, but Daichi couldn't care less at the moment: Tooru was rubbing deep circles into his highest ribs and Daichi just couldn't stand the maddening sensation - the skin, the muscles, even the bones felt extremely tender and weak against the ticklish attention. 

Not only that, having Tooru's hands so close to his actual most ticklish spot had him in frantic hysterical cackles; his body slowly growing weak, his hips wiggling slightly and his torso trying to turn away, but it was not possible, not with all of that laughter pouring non stop out of his mouth.

"Hehe, I told you guys it was a nice spot!" 

"Stahahahap!"

"I'm not sure," Oikawa said, looking down at Daichi's laughing face, he was red by now, a thin layer of sweat covering his forehead and tears falling from the sides of his face. "Do you feel any bad?" 

"I d-d-ahahaha! I do!" He squeaked out in a hurry before another cackle could cut his words. 

"Are you learning your lesson?" Kuroo asked next, but Daichi didn't have the head to learn any lesson, he was laughing hysterically, snorts burning his nose and hiccups bubbling out of his throat. If there was a lesson to learn, he was not learning it at all, but he nodded, not wanting to cause any more havoc to himself. 

Kuroo chuckled. "Poor Daichi, too ticklish for his own good. Maybe you can have it in mind next time you decide to be a little shit, huh?" 

Daichi shook his head. "I'm sohohohaharry!"

"I think you are lying," Kuroo purred and Daichi feared for his life. "That's why I should teach the rest, where's your weakest spot, hm?"

Daichi shrieked, his tired body regaining some force. "NAHAHAHAT thahahat!"

"Heee?" Bokuto and Oikawa said, Ushijima only looked up at Kuroo with a raised eyebrow. "So Daichi is not the most ticklish on his ribs?"

"AHAGAHAHAD, plehehehease Tehehehetsu, dohohon't!" 

"Of course not," Kuroo said, pinning Daichi's arm with his legs, as well. "Daichi's weakest spot is right here," he said, suddenly digging one finger right in the middle of Daichi's clothed armpits. 

Daichi went so wild with such gentle touch, he almost threw Bokuto off, but Ushijima held him by the shoulder, stabilizing him so Bokuto could properly sit on Daichi's thighs again. Oikawa was laughing at him. 

"Uh-uh," Bokuto said, his fingers back to Daichi's lower ribs. "This is going to be good."

"Brace yourself, Dai. Here I go!"

"No! Nononono- NAHAHAHA!" Oikawa gasped when Daichi suddenly threw his head back, howling with laughter. 

Kuroo wasted no time, he sneaked his hands under Daichi's sleeves, touching the smooth skin with his fingertips before digging, wiggling and vibrating against the exposed armpits, into the hollows and right in the center where Kuroo knew Daichi was the most sensitive. 

Meanwhile, Daichi was going crazy. He was howling desperately, all of his weak spots being tickled at once was something he hadn't experience before and his mind was going blank, he could only focus in the sensations and how it tickled so fucking much. 

The vibrations against his armpits, the massages against his highest and lower ribs and he was almost sure that he felt a shy raspberry being pressed against the side of his tummy before fingertips were clawing at his muscles. Oh goodness, Ushijima was actually blowing raspberries against his stomach! 

Daichi thought he was going to die. 

"STAHAHA-" it was the only thing Daichi could manage out before his laughter turned silent, his body shaking heavily with each laugh. 

"Daichi, does it tickle too much?" Oikawa asked, not slowing down at all. Daichi nodded weakly, jumping when Kuroo found a particular sensitive spot. 

"Do you want us to stop?" Kuroo mumbled and Daichi nodded again, throwing his head back with a salient cackle when he definitely felt and heard another raspberry, this time right against his navel. 

"Poor Dai," Bokuto sang. "Too ticklish for his own good." Daichi nodded one more time, not caring anymore about saving some face to these mean boys.

"Okay, that's enough," Ushijima said, lifting his hands away from Daichi's pink stomach. The other three followed him, bright smiles on their lips as they watched Daichi still laughing until he regained his voice and was giggling tiredly, his body trembling slightly. 

"I'll bring some water," Kuroo said, lifting himself from Daichi's arm, Daichi was too weak, so he just kept his arm up above his head. 

"Are you okay, Dai?" Bokuto asked, perhaps a little worried as he placed Daichi's shirt back in place, not without making him flinch and bark out a nervous laugh when he moved his hands too quickly. 

Oikawa chuckled. "Calm down, we have finished. Do you feel okay?" Daichi took a few breaths before nodding softly, a little smile curling his lips.

"I'm g-gohohood," he said, his voice hoarse after laughing so much. "N-Nohoho more," he pleaded with bright eyes and a funny smile. 

"Yes, no more." Oikawa nodded, pulling Daichi's arm out from under his knees and gently helping him to lower both of them. Daichi let out a giggle when Ushijima grabbed both his hands and helped him sit up, Bokuto placing him against the backrest of the sofa.

He felt boneless and a bit heated up, but he didn't mind when Bokuto sat too close to him at his right, Oikawa collapsing right beside Bokuto. Ushijima sat by his left, also a bit too close and Daichi didn't notice when he had gotten that magazine, but he thanked him shyly when Ushijima started to fan him with it. 

When Kuroo came back with the glass of water, Daichi took it gratefully and drank it in one sip, Oikawa was nice enough to take the glass out of his hands and place it on the little table in front of them. 

Daichi let his head fall back. Damn, he was tired and he still felt some phantom tickles all over his torso, making him twitch softly and smile lightly. That was intense, but, even so, he couldn't really say he totally hated it.

He sent discreet glances at the men resting by his sides and his heart fluttered a little when he noticed their little pleased smiles. They seemed happy - ah, could it be because they actually got their revenge on him? 

Daichi felt his cheeks heating up. They didn't really hate him for that, right? They've been living together for a while now and everything was going perfectly fine, so it wasn't like that… was it? 

He softly cleared his throat and flushed even more when the four of them turned their head to look at him, Oikawa and Kuroo moving forward a little. 

"Are- are you guys really upset at me?" He tried to look at each of their faces as he sunk a little deeper into the backrest. 

Ushijima, Oikawa, Bokuto and Kuroo exchanged a look and Daichi let out a shriek when he felt fingers suddenly digging into his ribs, tickling him again.

"Gahahaha! N-Nohoho!" He was surprised to find out that Bokuto and Ushijima were the ones doing it. 

"Dai-chan is so silly!" Oikawa laughed softly. 

"Of course we are not upset at you, Daichi!" Bokuto chirped, going for Daichi's waist again. 

"We just wanted to tease you! We don't actually hold a grudge against you, silly Daichi!" Kuroo laughed too, reaching up to ruffle Daichi's hair. 

"Mn," Ushijima mumbled, also moving down to tickle the other side of Daichi's waist. 

"Plehehehease! S-Stahahap! You sahahahaid no mohohore!"

"You should be punished for actually thinking we were upset at you," Kuroo threatened and Daichi squeaked, shaking his head a little. 

He would never admit that he felt his heart flutter at that, his face turning bright red as he felt a wave of relief rushing through him. 

"O-Okahahay! I'm sohohorry!"

"Shall we hold him down?" Oikawa asked, already getting up. 

"No!" Daichi shrieked, wrapping his arms around his torso and trying to push those hands away. "Not nahahahaw!"

"Hoo?" Kuroo hummed. "So later?"

Daichi was stuck with four tickle maniacs and they already had found their victim. If he was happy about it, he kept it deep within his heart. 

[strongsassysexysloane]

Eleventh Day of Twelve - A Tired but Treasured Day

A/N - Look at that! We are second from the end! Thank you to all the comments and love! Really appreciate it, it's been a long week!

. . . .

Read previous drabbles below.

. . . .

You walked into the office clinging to your cup of coffee. It felt like you were just here and you were, only five hours ago. This time however it was your own doing. You'd found a tiny shred of evidence to go on and had to follow it before the trail went cold. Then it lead to Gibbs and Nick finding the killer in a warehouse in town and bringing him in at just after 0100. You didn't finish interrogating until 0200 and it was now 0730. Coffee, coffee needed to be pumped into you to wake up this morning and a constant flow throughout the day would be required.

To your delight there was a hot cup sitting on your desk as you walked into the bullpen. No note so you assumed this time it wasn't from your gift giver. Day 11 and no one had spilled the beans or gone looking at the cameras like they wanted to on day one.

"Gibbs dropped it off about five minutes ago before he went down to get a report from Kasie who wasn't pleased to be called in so early." Ellie explained while leaning back in her chair and sipping her coffee. "He brought one for all of us."

"Christmas miracles do happen." Nick grinned, dropping his small cup in the trash. "Done."

"It's not a race. You just slugged all your energy for the next three hours."

"Oh please, I've stayed up later and come to work more tired before. Remember the November incident." He waved off.

"I still feel hungover from it." Ellie grumbled, scrunching her nose at the memory of Tequila.

"Please don't remind me." Tim groaned. "Plus I'm not allowed anymore Tequila, Delilah's orders."

"She may be on to something." You ran your hand through your hair, smirking at the banter. Turning on your computer for the day, you saw the next gift hanging from your desk lamp. It was beautiful, a little teddy bear carved out of marble with a shimmering purple and green crown sitting on its head.

"Day 11, the gift giver strikes again." You rolled your eyes at Nick's words while holding the Christmas decoration in your hand, running your thumb over the intricate detail.

It was sweet, a cute addition to your small Christmas tree at home. You'd put it up on December one. That was your tradition and some years it didn't seem worth it but you made the effort. Being alone on Christmas sucked, there was no way around it but this year you were making an effort to not sulk about it. The secret gift giver certainly lifted the spirit as well.

Your tree wasn't over the top but a nice addition to your home. This would fit perfectly front and centre and you made sure of it.

The day was relatively easy. The office banter keeping the spirits going with a good supply of caffeine. It was really just a lot of paper work and then you were set free around mid afternoon to try and have that weekend off. This time Vance made sure the team wouldn't be called in. There were other agents to take the call after all.

You'd missed Jack most of the day and didn't want to interrupt her as she was head deep in evals for the end of year. Instead you decided to shoot her a text when you got home.

- Just wanted to say have a good weekend. Didn't want to interrupt your head mojo.

You knew she'd get a kick out of it and you weren't mistaken.

- Head mojo hey? Smarty in the evening just like you said. Missed you today, didn't realise how many evals I still had to do before I went on my trip. Now I'm back logged and still at work.

It was just hitting 1830 which was a late one for Jack on a Friday. She was always hurrying along at the end of the week to make sure by the time 1700 hit she was out the door.

- I hope you are either finishing for the evening or planning on having dinner while you work. It's getting late, Jack.

- No need to worry about little old me. I need to get these done, I'll grab a bite later. Enjoy your night.

An idea popped to mind, you grabbed your coat and car keys and headed back out into the snowfall with your blue scarf still wrapped around your neck.

Thankfully, you weren't too far from the Navy yard and the Diner was just a five minute detour on the route. You called ahead so the food was ready when you got there and still warm when you knocked on her door.

"Come in, y/n."

You huffed, opening the door. "Now how could you possibly know it was me?"

Jack was sitting on her couch, shoes off, legs crossed and glasses tugging her hair back and sitting on her head. "You didn't reply, you always reply. And you care too much." She got up, placing her laptop on the coffee table and walking up to you.

Those were a lot of compliments you weren't entirely prepared for. You thought Jack was the one that cared a lot, but never too much. "I think I care just the right amount but I can eat this all by myself if you'd prefer?" You smirked, pretending to walk back out but Jack caught your arm.

"I didn't mean it like that. I lo-ike that you care so much." She ran her hand up and down your arm a few times before dropping it away. Her warm comforting smile turned into a cute frown. "And don't you dare walk out on me now that youve made all this effort to come here." She took a deep breath in. "Is that two cheeseburgers and fries?"

The frown and the way her nose twitched at the smell was completely adorable. "With a side of gravy. Wasn't sure if you liked it on your fries or not." You shrugged, missing the soft and loving look Jack gave, you walked past her and sat at one end of the couch, unpacking the bag of food. "Come, sit." You urged, patting the spot beside you as she just stood there and watched.

With a soft smile curving her lips, she came around after a beat and sat exactly where you said to. She took the small pot of gravy and poured it over her fries before pouring the rest over yours. "Thank you."

You bumped her shoulder lightly. "Anytime. Can't have Jack Sloane Hangry and loose in DC." That got you a slap on the knee but it was worth it as her hand soothed the spot she hit and stayed there for a while until it was time to eat.

"Didn't mean to ruin your Friday night plans either." She took a huge bite of the burger.

Between bites you managed an answer, "You mean my big watching The Holiday movie while eating a cup of noodles or the one where I go to sleep at 7pm because im living on about four hours sleep right now."

Skipping over how tired you were she jumped at the mention of the movie. "That's my favourite Christmas movie! It's got the best of both worlds! The sun of LA and the cold winter wonderland of the UK. God, I haven't watched that in years! My mum and I went to the movies to watch it and then every Christmas after we'd watch it together, some people had Love Actually, we had The Holiday. Guess I stopped watching when mum passed." She ate a few more fries. "Wow, Jack, way to ruin the good mood. Sorry. Got lost for a moment there."

You liked it when she rambled. She always would say so many interesting things and you just loved to hear her voice. You prayed the day never came when you wouldn't hear it anymore. "Don't apologize-" You held up your hand to stop her from butting in. "- And, no it's not because of Gibbs silly rule. I enjoy hearing about your past about things you love or did. The Holiday is a sweet movie, my must watch in December along with The Grinch, Home Alone and many more. I try my best to keep the holiday spirits up when I'm by myself for them which has been the last many."

"I enjoy hearing you talk too." She smiled, taking a massive bite of her burger and filling up her cheeks.

There was no silence after that. The evals were put to the side and you talked for what seemed like hours. Talking about childhood Christmas' and silly stories to cringe worthy dating moments over this time of year. It wasn't until you couldn't keep your mouth shut from yawning that you said good night around 2300.

"Sorry you didn't get your evals done." You sing over the roof of your car as Jack unlocked her Mini.

"Don't be. I'm happy to come in tomorrow because tonight was fun!" Her genuine smile told you that she wasn't lying. You could read people pretty well and most times Jack Sloane was an enigma to you but right now you knew she was telling the truth.

"Good night, Jack."

She opened her car door before adding. "Enjoy your movie!"

You yawned with a laugh. "You're kidding right? I'm going to sleep, I'll watch it tomorrow now."

"Fair, good night y/n. Sweet Dreams!"

. . . .

Who doesn't want this to end? Me. But I also maybe, slightly want a break from writing every day. It's been fun but tiring. I've enjoyed it a lot though! I love this time of year, if only I wasn't working in retail.

[blushing-starker]

Listen. I know it's been done before. But @starkermoodboards and I were sighing dreamily at starker when I had a miniature epiphany. A lot of content revolves around Peter being mafia boss Tony's lover and not taking part in the illegal business, and I am here for it. It's an amazing concept that I appreciate wholeheartedly. I just decided to shift the dynamic and see how it played out.

The man who runs the sandwich shop can't pay up because his daughter had a rollerblading accident? No problem, Peter will leave her flowers, fill the hospital room with teddy bears and extend the due date. You missed the meeting because pay day came in from the day job and you blew it on beer and cocaine? The kid, usually seen smiling and laughing with nearly everyone, doesn't appear all that threatening. Barnes does. But then this beanpole from Queens decks you so hard two teeth go flying. Consider the due date changed. There are now twelve hours on the clock before Peter comes by to collect. Hiding makes it worse. Tony's enforcers, particularly Peter, Clint, Wade and Pietro, love when people run for cover. It helps keep them in shape and breaks the routine.

But then a new boss rolls into town, a so called Killian (Iron Man 3, I can't remember the name) that tries to steal Pepper and his customers. None leave Tony, of course. Those with small businesses, the little guys, appreciate how compassionate Iron Man is. Even the people that often see Peter's knuckles up close don't turn on him; the prices are  extremely fair and the Starks' always go through with the deals. So this peacock decides to challenge Tony for the throne. It's a political suicide, a new comer daring to impose upon such an honorable house. Not only that, Tony's been in Queens for decades and he's never once betrayed those that were loyal to him. The man had helped the city become a thriving community, often offering assistance to the people while the government's hands were tied. To challenge Tony was to challenge the principles of the entire system. Thing is, it was technically allowed.

The laws state that any person who believes they have fair reason to challenge another member may do so only if the ensuing fight is overseen by the council. There is no room for competitors to initiate wars based on faux insults. Tony couldn't take out Killian's safe house as retaliation for the challenge. Killian was unable to bomb the Stark headquarters to establish dominance. It was the mafia, not an anarchic society. There was order to these types of things.

Peter arrives early with the team, sweeping the area and making sure the ring hides no lethal secrets. He's been to plenty of these fights, but Tony hasn't been challenged in nearly two decades and the man almost never has to fight someone when there are bodyguards to be found everywhere. Nonetheless, the older enforcers can easily recall the last time Anthony Stark was in the ring and they assure the young man Killian will be out like a light after the boss steps in. They wait, silent and solemn, eyeing the competition for any threats or tricks. The men on the other side are from neighboring cities, names hazy but reputations sparkling. There will be no illusions today. Except from the jester with slicked back hair and a haughty attitude.

The insults rain down and they don't flinch. This behavior is inappropriate, for there is honor among thieves and devils. If one is to seriously fight, one keeps quiet and stays with their own. Most fights that occur between opposing families are mere squabbles, friendly rivalries that keep the atmosphere thrumming during boring weekends or holidays. Barnes has a hobby of coaching Steve in the ring after work and Natasha tends to employ her knife throwing skills against Clint's bow and arrow. They would fight members of the same family for fun, for fuck's sake. But no matter the cause or how drunk people were, insults were looked down upon.

It starts with their abilities as enforcers. Peter stares straight ahead at the wall, they all do. The Stark members were considered some of the fiercest fighters by the community, matched only by the legendary Black Panthers. The little boy criticising their skills does not know how in the wrong he is. But he's a quick learner. The tone shifts slowly, and shift it does. Ten minutes before Tony arrives, his rival begins claiming how incompetent and worthless he is. That makes every person grind their teeth simultaneously.

Whether or not you were a member of the Starks did not matter. It was clear Iron Man was an efficient leader ready to help the entire city evolve into something better. So when Killian leans towards Peter, boasting how he'd do a much better job of ruling, him, a nobody that can't even follow the protocols, the kid very nearly rips him a new one. But that is not allowed and a Stark enforcer does not break a law unless absolutely necessary. He would not bring dishonor upon his job, his fellow coworkers, his family; he would not tarnish the Stark name, let alone allow this weakling to get the better of him. Peter loves Tony and he'd let Bucky put a bullet in him if he ever harmed his boyfriend in any way. Not only had Tony saved his life, he'd shown Peter a better reality that let him thrive. He'd shown the young man how to love himself. Taught him he could be loved by another without anguish souring the relationship.

He was Tony Stark's right hand man, one of the best bodyguards in the mafia. Not just a powerful enforcer either. Peter was more than a Stark; he was the goddamn Spider and that meant something here. Before Stark dropped into his life like a fallen angel, Peter Parker ruled the ring. They considered Ben Parker's nephew a legend years ago, a warrior that could go head to head with the best without dying. Fighting against people like Black Widow and the Winter Soldier had earned him his reputation. Every knocked out tooth, jagged scar and black eye made it clear to all: he was a menace unwilling to break for anyone. Becoming Tony's lover and enforcer only resulted in more respect, but the community hadn't viewed Peter as strong for the first time when he exchanged kisses with the Iron Man. They realized the kid was strong the second he looked Bucky in the eye and grinned at the challenge.

(Peter guessed that's why they get along so great. Buck was a puppy. A lethal one that could rip your arm out, but still a puppy to him. The older of the two appreciated being seen as more than just a good fighter.)

Peter vows not to break. And then Killian is claiming he could breed Tony's bitch, show Peter how a real man fucks. The man gets so close he tastes the spit that comes flying two seconds later.

"Tony Stark is unworthy of his seat. And he sure as hell doesn't deserve such a pretty little thing like you."

It's sneered at him, Killian smirking at him wildly. The whole place changes, white tiles morphing into shades of red and Peter wants.

Barnes snarls at Tony's rival with eyes gone dark, Natasha lets out a hiss reminding him of rattlesnakes and the two russian speakers pounce at the same time. If Clint and Steve weren't so attuned to their family and strong as hell, Killian would be sliced ribbons decorating the floor. All in all, a fairly restrained reaction. Peter's proud of Nat and Bucky for not killing the man on the spot. Makes a mental note to get them new punching bags and cover Clint and Steve's shifts should they need the extra hours.

Killian doesn't move from his spot when the room becomes alive with furious shouts of indignation and Peter has to admit it's impressive. But this is a child, and children respond best to the monsters hiding in the closet, not the ones standing in the light. So Peter thinks about the audacity this creature has, insulting his lover, criticising decades of hard work and dedication, diminishing their relationship and in the process implying that his fellow enforcers were just pieces of meat to satisfy lust, inadequate at their jobs. For to attempt to dishonor or belittle one enforcer meant questioning everyone's competency. Not only that, this scum thought Peter was nothing but a whore. He hadn't fought enhanced assassins just so an arrogant dick would take one look at him and dismiss him as a threat.

Peter doesn't raise a hand or growl or yell or shoot him. He could, the council would see it as fair. After all, Killian had insulted all aspects of Peter's life. Doing any of that wouldn't lead to Killian being beaten, though. And Peter wants him to submit. So Peter smiles and the Spider comes out to play.

By the time Tony arrives, his baby has two buttons undone and a single strand of hair out of place from where he stands in the ring. He knows an enraged Peter when he sees it.

The crowd parts for him, bowing slightly and falling quiet. Only the bosses held in high esteem get such a treatment and it's been years since the community behaved in such a way towards him. The Stark heir was arrogant, but he'd always preferred that the people's respect be shown in a different way, one more subtle.

The bowing reminded him too much of his father's reign, the silence that would engulf him as a child and choke the air out of his lungs with the pressure of Howard Stark's legacy. No matter where they went, the roar of nothing followed. Besides, he was always trying to remind the community that they were all equals. Tony was only in his position because of the people that chose him, the people with the actual power.

So for them to actually bow as low as possible and simply cease conversing, knowing how much Tony abhors the sight, it tells him just how deeply Killian fucked up.

By the hate found in Barnes' face and Nat's curled fist, his rival must have hit a little too close to home. But the man was still alive, leaning against a marble column. Which meant Peter, his genius lover, had somehow initiated a course of action that would lead to satisfaction for all those here. The mafia was made up of untamed creatures. For a hundred people to agree not to rip an intruder's throat when the man had so obviously comitted a heinous act, Peter must have pulled out the big guns.

He settles next to Steve, but all his enforcers surround him anyway. In fact, every person in their side of the room shifts closer. It warms his heart. He'll let them break Killian when this is done, show his appreciation for their care and protection.

Well. If Peter actually leaves something to break.

A body slides out of the ring, ends up at his feet. It's a man the size of Thor, someone living two cities over. The tattoos on his right hand are what clue Tony in. Peter's played fair. The guy will need all his teeth replaced and that scar will definitely make a lovely crisscross pattern on his face. Bruce and Strange are already there, dragging him to a corner filled with more groaning bodies and hard working nurses disinfecting wounds. Each man will showcase those scars proudly. They went against the Spider and lived to tell the tale with proof right on their bodies.

He counts ten. Turns to find Peter staring at him, expressionless face morphing into the one he's most familiar again. A grin confirms his suspicion; his darling isn't even sporting a bloody lip. The grin he gives in return appears instinctively, pride overflowing and resulting in Tony Stark beaming at the Spider. It's both unsettling and a relief. The community was used to a happy Peter so the interaction helped remind them who the Spider was. That familiar sense of comfort vanished because Jesus, Tony Stark was beaming.

"Feeling merciful, sweetheart? Giving them a minute is twenty times longer than usual." His tone is light, not wanting to imply Peter has gotten slow or rusty. Sure, it's been a while since his boyfriend was in the ring, but you don't offend the Spider when he's already in a bad mood.

Steve and Bucky tense up, eyeing Peter in case they need to fight him out of the ring. If he gets even more pissed, Killian's men don't stand a chance. Tony could stomach murder. Peter couldn't. The enhanced soldiers prefer the possibility of bruised ribs to Peter with a heavy conscience.

His boyfriend doesn't twitch and Tony thanks whatever entity exists for giving Peter some self control.

"Figured it'd be best I don't get the suit too dirty. May is always complaining about getting the blood stains out. It hurts her hands so I'm trying to help out. If I take the jacket off, the shirt will stain faster."

God, Peter could really pull at his heartstrings without meaning to. He falls in love with him a little more.

The eleventh man tries to catch Peter and tackle him to the ground. The kid just slides to the right, drops down, sweeps the guy off his feet and knocks him out with two punches. It's the loveliest thing Tony's fucking seen and he's thankful Jarvis is taking pictures. He settles the sunglasses onto his lapel, happy to let the A.I immortalize this moment from that vantage point.

"I'm gonna guess what's going on and you'll stop me if I'm wrong, right?" Peter nods and Tony is ridiculously happy for the chance to do this in front of Killian.

He glances at Nat, sizes up Barnes, reads Peter's posture and Steve's facial cues and just knows.

His father used to hate when his only child pointed at things before analysing them. Found it too mundane, or some shit like that. Tony makes sure to point at Killian with both index fingers.

"You were disrespectful to my people. That's common with you. They shouldn't take anyone's insults, but they can and they did. The council probably thinks they were exemplary, hell, Fury probably thinks they were the textbook definition of good. But you kept pushing. Just poking at their buttons. Because it's Peter in the ring, you're little stunt turned personal. You insulted him, his family, me. If it had been one of the others members, Peter would have cut you a nice scar. But tradition is tradition. Even if he could have challenged you, which he could have, Peter would have stepped aside in that case. The recipient of the insult should have a role in the fight. You pissed him off before I got here. Thought he was weak. The last person to be that naive learned how ridiculous that assumption was when Peter beat their ass."

Peter had knocked Tony flat on his back when he'd made a comment about frail sheltered boys not knowing how to fight. He hadn't seen the kid fight before that; hadn't processed the fact that soft looking Peter Parker was the menacing Spider. That was two years ago. Not a single soul has thought Peter weak since then. Until now.

"The law states your men can take your place against your rival. Which is honorable if you're at a disadvantage. Broken bones, flu, life handing you shit right before the day of the fight. It isn't really put in practice, though, because the council knows how hard it is for everyone to synchronize their schedules for a second round if there are problems. They plan weeks ahead of time to ensure participants are in perfect condition. You seem to be just fine. Putting your men in danger by having them take your place against Peter just for the hell of it, just so you survive, sounds like what an idiot boss would do. If you had courage, you'd fight Peter. You'd fight me, but I doubt you're man enough."

The taunting does its work. Tony knows Peter can just knock him out before Killian even gets close. He could switch with his lover, but Peter needed to establish his reputation once again, make it impossible for any to doubt his abilities. By saying Killian is a coward, the Stark heir challenges his claim of being good enough for the throne. No mafia member would accept his reign if they knew Killian lacked bravery. Well. They already knew this, it just needed to be finalized so the council could have it all in record.

The man has just witnessed what happened when Peter wished for destruction and justice. He could get in the ring, be knocked out and none would laugh. The community would talk about it, but they never mocked the loser. Killian would be seen as an incompetent asshole that at least had courage. If he refused…

Every Stark enforcer/member grinned when the peacock snarled and entered the ring. Until a butterfly knife gleamed and slashed through wool, cotton and flesh.

It feels odd, being stabbed. You'd think the cold blade would send goosebumps everywhere, but Peter doesn't register the cold. Would he be cold if the blade was bigger? Or if Killian hadn't been holding the knife for an hour? He knows his reaction is ridiculous. Who the fuck was wondering about the temperature when they had a knife piercing their abdomen?

Although, it could be the shock. Yeah, he remembers Bruce's lessons on the effects of stabbing. Natasha had also reminded him of the shock, so at least that's a normal symptom. What isn't normal are his other ... responses to being stabbed.

"Are you gonna need this back?" is asked sweetly, nearly sickly so. The Spider has a thing for contrasting aesthetics . Being a little shit while a knife is rearranging his intestines does not sound common, but Peter takes pleasure in behaving oddly.

Killian gapes at him, mouth wide and eyes wider. He shakes his head, careful not to jostle Peter too much. Not like it matters much. There's a metal arm dragging him to safety, sliding over the ring's edge and onto a stretcher. Bucky is being as gentle as possible, he knows. It still feels horrible to move and have the knife shift in time with his breathing. Nat is there to rip open the suit, nails clearing the area around the intrusion and Doctor Strange appearing with antiseptic and everything Peter needs. He loves the Doctor.

And yes, definitely in shock. As he's being wheeled away to the med corner, there's a roar similar to that of a lion and Peter catches sight of Tony leaping at Killian. His clothes, jacket, vest, shirt and wife beater lay in a heap by Steve. Tony's expensive shoes are guarded by Sam. The shoemaker was a nice woman. She bought him a churro once. After that, his boyfriend would always buy his shoes at her store. Peter appreciated Tony helping out the little people. It was nice being what society thought was a bad guy while not actually being a bad guy. Like capitalist loving jerks like Brad. The room's spinning a bit and oh look, sparkly lights.

Afterwards, Jarvis shows him pictures of Killian, explains how the man landed in prison five days after the fight. The council had convened with their counterparts from five different cities. All had tales of Killian's horrible behavior. It wasn't hard to call in a few favors and dump him in jail. It was a bit hard to recognize him, though. Tony had gone berserk and no self respecting person was going into the ring to drag him off his rival.

Killian played dirty, so his boyfriend had first claim to fight while Peter was being treated. Steve and Bucky only hauled him away when five minutes had passed, not wanting their boss to have more blood on his hands.

Peter himself only remembers the dull sting of a needle meant to calm him, Nat's gentle cooing and Sam wiping away the sweat near a disheveled curl. Bruce and Strange had murmured assurances during all of it, careful to work on Peter away from Tony's eyes. If Iron Man thought he'd lose his lover, Killian would've been dead in two minutes.

He'd woken up a few hours later, Tony sitting by his side and sobbing. His boyfriend was sniffling as he wrapped Peter's hand in bandages. Apart from the new scar on his stomach, only his knuckles were slightly bruised. Even so, the mafia's most efficient leader was tenderly applying antibiotic cream to the tiny nicks, letting enough space between bandage and skin for the area to breathe. Tony had never once been violent with him, but Peter thinks this is the first time he's seen his boyfriend be so gentle.

The angle was odd and uncomfortable with him being unable to bend much at the waist. That didn't stop the legendary Spider from kissing Iron Man softly, barely there whispers filling the centimetres between them.

"I love you, Tony. And I'd do it all over again for you. I love you, I love you, I love you 3000.

Alright, here we go! My mind associated Killian's body with Yinsen's name and I've no idea why, but here's the correct version.

[babieyangyang10]

violent ends (chapter 4)

(chapter 4)

series masterlist

genre: hunger games!au

pairing: huang renjun x oc, na jaemin x oc

warnings: mentions of prostitution, language, violent deaths, fighting, angst, fluff, + possible nsfw.

previous | next

"So, each of the districts get their own floors. Since you're from two, you get the second floor." Doyoung explains as we step out of the elevator.

As we walk into the apartment, I stare in awe at the glamorous quarters.  There are many giant glass columns and a random display of silver trees and rocks.

"Here is the living room and your rooms are over here. How about you freshen up for dinner?" suggests Doyoung. 

In my room, I am met by a bed with a silky, soft comforter. I make my way into the spacious bathroom and hop into the shower. Inside, there was a panel with hundreds of buttons that regulated water temperature, pressure, and even provided massaging sponges.

After finishing, a heater dried my hair and body completely. I pressed another button and a box began sending electrical currents through my scalp, instantly untangling my hair.

Returning the bedroom in comfortable clothes, I see a strange-looking remote on the bed-side table. Intrigued, I begin pressing random buttons. As a result, the window showcasing the lights and building of the Capitol changes into different sceneries.

First, there was a city street filled with cheerful families walking together. After pressing a different button, a dry and deserted desert appeared on the screen.

Switching it once again, a scene showing several mountains peaking through behind a forest of trees. I felt a pulling-feeling in my chest. My throat also feeling slightly choked-up.

During the holidays, every year Taeyong would take me into the mountains of our district. He would pretend to be my knight in shining armor, while I was the princess in distress.  He'd never tell anyone, but sometimes it was even the other way around.

It's also where he taught me how to hunt and find my own food. How to determine between what is the good food and what is the not so very good food.

It was the only time I remember us ever truly being kids. Not soldiers, just a thirteen and seven year old exploring the big, exciting world together.

Then everything went to shit after Taeyong went to the games.  That year, the Gamemakers had chosen a forest for the terrain. However, it was filled with dangerous wild dogs, wolves, and spiders. The spiders had enhanced speed and were extremely venomous. However, the wild dogs were capable of changing their form and copying the voices of the tributes.

Because of this, the entire Career pack was slaughtered alive. Taeyong was the only one who managed to escape. Wounded and without supplies, a twelve year old boy from District 11 named Dong Sicheng had found and formed a alliance with him. Sicheng had shared all of his supplies and even nursed him back to health.

On the last day, they were approached by the last remaining tribute. Taeyong, spotted him and fired an arrow straight into his heart. As he turned around to check on Sicheng, he was met with the boy clutching a harpoon, longed deep in his chest.

Dong Sicheng slowly died in Taeyong's arms.

After the cannon went off, the Captitol announced over the speakers that Lee Taeyong of District 2 was the winner of the 64th Hunger Games.

No longer did he take me to the mountains. Honestly, we never did anything together. Since then, the closest I ever got to be to him was the one time when the rest of my family stood by him during his stop in District 2 during his press tour.

I've always wondered how he felt. Wondered if  he blames himself for what happened. However, I never wanted to intrude. It's not like I ever got the opportunity to ask him, anyways.

However, since I'm going in the games soon. I hope to eventually work up the courage to sit down and have a real talk with him. The real Taeyong, not the victor or mentor he acts like in front of everyone else.

I opened the door to see Doyoung, Renjun, and Taeyong sitting at the dining room table.

Once I sat down in the acid-green chair, Taeyong began talking, "The plan for tomorrow is the same for the both of you. You go to group training. Spend time practicing something your weakest at. Swing a mace. Throw a spear. Tie a decent knot. It doesn't really matter, just save showing off for the private session with the Gamemakers. Are we clear?"

Renjun and I both nod our heads at him.

"Well, have the two of you gotten to know any of the other tributes yet?" pries an interested Doyoung.

"I haven't. Although, Athena seems to be checking out the competition, already."  Renjun answers, nonchalantly.

"Wonderful!" Doyoung innocently chimed, "It's never too early to start considering possible alliances. Are you going to ask anyone to join the two of you?"

"Oh, we're not-" Renjun and I said at the same time. We're laughing as if he's said the funniest joke in the world.

"We've always maintained our own completely different strategies. Renjun prefers to be the predator. There's no doubt in my mind that if he does want to work with others, it'll end up being an alliance with the other Careers. " Renjun just silently nods in agreement.

"And what about you?" asked Doyoung.

"Let's just say I prefer not to walk around with a huge target on my head. I want to team up with someone well-liked, so we can get resources through sponsors." I explained.

"Like Na Jaemin?" sneers Renjun.

"You know people have been calling him the Prince of Panem. He's made quite the impression, already." Doyoung chimes, "And he's not the only one. People have been raving about you, Athena. They've even started calling you, the Golden Girl."

"That's good." Taeyong quietly adds to the conversion, "If you keep this up you'll get lots of sponsors."

Doyoung suddenly blurts, "In fact, most people think Jaemin and you would make a good couple."

At this remark, Taeyong drops his knife loudly on the table, while Renjun chokes on his drink. My mouth begins opening and closing like a fish, struggling to come up with a reply.

"We're done for tonight. You two should go to bed now." Taeyong orders, not hiding his agitation.

Quickly, we all return to our rooms. I crash on my bed and stare up at ceiling.

Jaemin and I as a couple?

Where did they even dream up that possibility from? I mean, we only had one barely two-minute conversation. People really do amaze me sometimes.

My thoughts are broken by a barely-there knock at my door. I groan and force myself off the bed.

I roll my eyes, before opening the door and saying, "Renjun, would you kindly please fuck off?"

However, the person standing there was definitely not Renjun. I tilt my chin up to see no other than Lee Taeyong, towering over me.

"Oh, sorry." I frown, embarrassed.

"Can I come in?" He politely asks me.

I step to the side and allow him inside. Once he's fully in, I closed the door behind him.

"Finally decided to talk to me, huh?"

He just stays silent, just letting me say whatever I please.

"You know, I thought you'd at least be happy for me. I mean, you of all people should know that this is the best thing that could ever happen to me." The emotions I've been holding in for the past 10 years are finally coming to the surface.

Taeyong looks at me with pity, "Athena, there are some things you don't know. Things that the school or our parents never taught us."

"What are you even talking about?" I pressure.

"After the games, you couldn't see me for a reason." He took a heavy breath, "Sometimes, if a victor is considered desirable, the president gives them as a reward or allows people to buy them for money. It’s not just me either, the same thing happened to Finnick Odair a year later."

"What do you mean, 'buy'?" I swallow.

"For sex."

It’s quiet.

"I was given no choice. He said that he would kill both of our parents and even you if I didn't obey." His eyes begin tearing up, "Athena, you don't know how much I wanted to come see you and teach you things."

"Taeyong." I whimper.

I felt sick to my stomach. How could they do that to him? He was just a thirteen year old kid. Even worse, how could I let myself hate and be jealous of him, when all along he was the reason I was still even living?

"I know I'm a horrible brother, but please listen to me when I say the Capitol uses everyone, including you. You have been taught that this, the games, are normal and something to be proud of. You haven't even seen how horrible it is for the lower districts. They can barely make it through one day without starving. They have basically nothing, while the Capitol is feeding off them."

Anger rises up in me. I look around at all the expensive things in the room. Think about the large amount of fancy food I've consumed while in the Capitol. I'm furious, because I've been lied to and tricked. Furious for Taeyong and all the others the Capitol has taken advantage of.

I jump into my brothers arms and completely break down. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean what I said Taeyong. It was stupid. I'm stupid."

"It's okay. You didn’t know." He shushes, while holding me.

“Listen to me. If you-“ he corrects himself, “When you win this thing, I’m not going to let him do anything to you, okay?”

“Taeyong, can I tell you something? I’ve just never got the chance to.” I ask.

He nods.

“What happened to Sicheng wasn’t your fault. You understand that, right?”

He painfully looks down at the floor, before slowly nodding.

“I’m serious, Taeyong. It’s not your fault.”

By the time he looks up, I am able to clearly see him. Underneath the years of pain, hidden away was a vulnerable boy. The tears come falling down his cheeks.

We spend the rest of the night talking about our past, telling stories. Both laughing and crying together.

My brother and I.

[forevermybubblegum]

♡SHORT STORY♡

THE forest hummed with life all around you. Your eyes squinted open slowly, mind still trapped in a foggy haze, as you gazed up at the orange painted sky, searching for the birds that flew about. The sun broke through the cracks, lighting up the dark bushy greenwood decorated with outgrown roots, wildflowers and fallen leaves that crunched as you tried to sit upwards. You shielded your eyes, taking in the fragrance of minty grass and damp earth. Each breath feeling like water, fresh and cleansing, flowing freely into your lungs.

You feel little bit of shock spark through you as you feel a heavy body on your lap, it's Tanjiro's head resting gently on your lap as he breathes slowly through his mouth, face dusted black with dirt and debris.

"What....?"You mumbled as your eyes widened when you spotted your other teammates Inosuke and Zenitsu sprawled on the floor unconscious and beaten.

You gasped, "Nezuko!"You exclaimed as you spotted Nezuko out of her box in the same state as others, you pondered through your thoughts trying to remember the events of the nightfall. Oh yes,You all were fighting a duo from the twelve kizuki, they were the most powerful foes you had ever faced and from the looks of it your team had succeded because they would have either kidnapped or killed you all if they had won.

Just then while you were recalling back your memory, A flash from the past whiffed through your mind in a blur,

"Tanjiro!"You had yelled, as Tanjiro whipped an arm to tell you to stand back, "Stay back Y/n!, your gonna get hur--Ack!" The female opponent landed him a powerful flying spin kick to the head, causing him to collide into the ground as figments shattered about.

"How dare you!"You had screeched as you sheated out your black katana from its scabbard. You held it firmly in both hands, the gradient glimmering in the blood moon light.You weren't the strongest and your hands were shaking more than it ever had, but you couldn't afford to let fear falter your determination to protect your comrades. Zenitsu and Inosuke were busy with the Male Demon, you could at least stall her for a while.

"You're mine pest!"She taunted as her long tongue fell out her mouth and she sped towards you, you screamed as you charged towards her but she slid under you and wrapped her long lizard-like tail around you neck, you dropped your sword in the rush of things and tried to loosen your neck as you were being chocked.

"Y/n!Y/n!"Inosuke and Zenitsu immediately charged towards you but were immediately blocked further by the male demon,"Oh no you don't!" He sang, cackling melancholicly.

She unwrapped her tail from your neck and dropped you to the floor as you gasped for breath heavily then feeling her tail tug unto your right leg and pull you up to hang you upside down, "Hmmmm, such nice soft legs..I wonder what will happen if I break them"She whispered,red eyes gleaming as she ran her tongue down from your knee to your ankle and you bit your lip in disgust,eyes shut tight.

"Heheeheee..."You heard a crack, not believing it was yours till the strong wave of pain ran through your veins. You screeched in pain as surprised birds flew out the trees they had being hiding in.

"Y/n!!"Your teammates yelled as the other crack was heard, the pain was unbearable, tears streamed down your eyes as you screamed and could do nothing more than tha--.

You snapped out of the nostalgic recap and looked to see yourself still staring at Tanjiro as you gently ran your hand through his red hair with a smile on your face.You then removed his head from your lap and placed it gently on a folded piece of your robe next to you as you stared at your right leg, the bruise was more than noticeable and you gently tried to massage it to see if it would help but- "Ow!" You winced in pain as you shut an eye.

You then began to hear footsteps inching nearer and nearer to you, you stiffed yourself, scared to death that it was another demon when Hashiras and medical care came in the sight of your E/c pupils rushing to you all. You let out a loud sigh in relief as Shinobu rushed to you and you rested your head on her lap when did.

"Shinobu...san..."You breathed out with a smile on your lips as she gently shushed you with a worried frown on her face, you slowly began to lose consciousness once more as you fell into a deep sleep.

*Few Weeks Later*

"Y/n...I miss you, I'm so sorry for not protecting you..Y/n.."You felt a pair of warm hands cupping your right one as you slowly squinted your eyes open, sun kissing your skin lightly through the scraped space of the half opened window.

"T...tanjiro?"You asked softly as you turned your face to look at him, his worried eyes widened in joy as he jumped up from his chair.

"Y/n!!"

"T-tanjirooo!"You tried to match up his enthusiasm as he hugged you while you were on the bed, your right foot wrapped in a cast filled with colorful signatures. You giggled in joy and you hugged him back with one arm patting his back.

"Y/n forgive me..."Tanjiro said in a serious tone gently and calmly,falling back onto his chair. "Tanjiro I--"

"I let you down, its my fault that your leg...and you were so badly injured I--"

"Tanjiro its not your fault, I charged in when I shouldn't hav--"

"BECAUSE YOU WERE PROTECTING ME!"He yelled furiously as you were taken aback by his outburst.

"I-I'm sorry Y/n.."He mumbled in a downhearted tone as you reached in and placed your hand on top of his.

"Yoshi yoshi Tanjiro-kun"You sang gently as he laughed and sniffed, giving you his usual kind smile.

"Okay I know what im going to do!!"He exclaimed with his hands resting on his hips like a superhero.

"Hm?What?"You asked gently with a smile on your face.

"Im gonna be the one to take care of you while you recover!!"He annouced as your brows shot up.

"Ehhhh! Tanjiro you dont have to do tha--!!"

"I will and I will!!"He exclaimed as you smiled to yourself, knowing you couldn't stop him anymore after he had made his choice.

"Y/nnnnnnnnn!!!"You heard Zenitsu burst into your hospital room with tears streaming down his face.

"I knew I heard your voice! I missed you!!"He cried and went up to hug you which you reciprocated, "Zenitsuu! Y/n needs her rest!"Tanjiro warned as Zenitsu stuck his tongue out at him and skipped out of the room,wiggling his eyebrows at both you and Tanjiro as you noticed Tanjiro's cheeks dust in a light shade of pink.

"How is Nezuko and Inosuke?"You asked as Tanjiro gave you a reassuring smile.

"Ah they are well and hearty,Nezuko really wanted to see you after she woke up"He informed as you giggled, Nezuko was your closest and only girl-friend in the group, both of you were inseperable.

"Ahaha, I want to see her too"

"Y/n! You better get well so we can fight each other again!"You heard Inosuke's voice as he walked past your room,You chuckled and yelled "Will do!"in response, just happy to hear from everyone again.

A few days passed and....,"Chu chuuu!"Tanjiro mimicked a moving train as you opened your mouth and he placed the spoon filled with steaming rice and curry inside your mouth and you chewed it slowly.

"Tanjiro, you know you don't have to say chu chuu everytime you feed me"You pouted as he laughed and ruffled you hair in a caring manner and you ate more of the curry.

* * * * * *

Another day passed by and the morning had reached quicker than expected, Tanjiro as you've guessed had never left your side, he even read you a book every night as you doozed off.

"Good morning Y/n, It's time for your bandage change, Tanjiro would you like to stay?"The nurse asked as he nodded in response, both of you had been chatting before the nurse had come in. The syringe needle then came in sight taunting you as your eyes widened in horror,

"Not again"You whined, squirming in your bed as she smiled in pity,knowing this was your worse part of the day.

"It will be okay Y/n,I'm here"Tanjiro said as you took a deep breath and as much as you wanted to jump out of the bed you took his hand in yours and squeezed it tight instead.

"Ow.."You yelped startled as she injected you and few seconds later she was done, then changing your bandage and leaving.

"See that wasn't so bad"He smiled causing the tips of your lips to quirk up as well,"Yes, it really wasn't"You replied gently as you then realized both of you were still holding hands.

"Um...I-"You face increased steadily in its temperature as your cheeks reddened in a noticeable manner.

"Y/n?What's wrong?Are you coming down with a fever?"He asked, worry dipping from his wrods as he raised up your straightened h/c bangs and placed his strong forehead on yours causing you heartbeat to quicken.

"I-I-I need to rest! Yeah, thats what I need!"You blabbered in a flustered manner as you fell onto your bed and faced the opposite side of him so that he could see your back instead.

"Okay, I actually do have to go train now, Sleep well Y/n"Tanjiro's gentle voice rang through your ear and you bit the inside of your cheek.

"Why does he make me feel this way?.." You thought calming yourself down as you began to doze off into a serene state of rest.

* * * * *

"Y/nnnn cmon just take it!"Tanjiro whined, pleading you as you shook your head even more.

"You wont get better if you don't"He said giving you another reason to take your disgusting medications from the tray they laid on.

"Ugh fine..I hate this"You mubled as he beamed, happy yhat you armgreed and placed them on your palm accompanied by a glass of refreshing water. You shut your eyes close and quickly downed the drugs,grimacing in distate.

"Bitter..."You mumbled, smacking your tongue against your upper mouth as Tanjiro patted your head as his usual form of comfort.

* * * * *

"The Traveler then strolled into the forest and was never seen or heard from, 'again'"Tanjiro narrated the book in a scary way as he shut it close, laughing at how scared you were quivering under your bed sheet.

"Y/n dont be scared, Im here to protect you and this time without fail"He smiled as you removed the blanket from you and looked up at him.

"Thank you Tanjiro, I lo--"You stopped yourself, were you just about to say you loved him?, Do you love him?, Does he love you the same way you do? Do--

"Y/n!"Tanjiro yelled worriedly as you snapped out of your thoughts and back to reality.

"Are you alright!?"He asked as he placed both hands on your shoulder and you laughed in response, "I'm fine Tanjiro-kun, thank you for taking care of me"

"Don't thank me for doing my duty Y/n"He replied as he took your right hand into his warm ones,beaming once more as your heart thumped like it usually did when you were around him.

* * * * * *

"Slowly, one more step, yes you're doing it"Tanjiro smiled and instructed you as he helped you to walk down the hallway , your leg had actually recovered to the point where you were allowed to leave your hospital room and see your friends.

"I can't do it Tanjiro-san!"You whined with an arm slung on Tanjiro's shoulder for support.

"Yes you can Y/n, try try!"He supported you with encouraging words as you smiled and continued to walk with him. Ignoring the pain and limping to the field where Inosuke, Zenitsu and Nezuko were according to Tanjiro.

"Mina!!Guys!"You exclaimed as Nezuko who had been running away from Zenitsu paused to stare at you, you could see the edge of her brows perk up in worry as she hurried towards you and engulfed you in a hug.

"Yoshi yoshi Nezuko-chan, I missed you too"You giggled as Nezuko cuddled her head on your chest.

"I see you're ready to spar me again idiot"Inosuke smirked as the same expression found its way to your face.

"Come at me stupid"You responded as he began to run up to you but was blocked by Tanjiro.

"Leave Y/n Alone Inosuke, Fight me instead"Tanjiro said as Inosuke thought about it for a second and accepted his offer.

"Wait..."You thought as you stared at the space Tanjiro was supposed to be in next to you, only see blank lines of his body causing you to fall to the ground.

"Owie...my butt.."You mumbled, rubbing your backside as everyone gasped and ran up to you. You stared at their distraught faces and couldnt help stifling and then bursting out laughing. Everyone except nezuko joined in while she just blinked and looked around like usual.

* * * * * * *

"Can I open my eyes now?"You asked pouting as you waved your arms around to make sure you didn't hit anything since all you could see was black because Tanjiro was covering your eyes.

"Almost there"He told you as you pouted even more and continued walking,you then noticed you were in the field because of how normal the grass had felt tickling your feet.

Your eyes were uncovered and you stared at the beautiful arrangement of hung flowers,decorations and tables filled with food and snacks, it was nighttime as well and in the background of the midnight sky you could hear the whistle of fireworks as they bursted in a pure bliss of colorful sparks all around.

"HAPPY RECOVERY Y/N!!!!"Everyone including you team, friends, nurses and even the hashira's came out of their hiding spots and yelled out to you as the fireworks continued in the background.

Gentle and silent tears streamed down your cheeks as your heart ached,"Thank you guys,thank you so mu--"You were surprised to feel yourself held by the shoulders and twisted right to face someone.

"Tanjiro, w-what are you--"You were cut off by his lips pressing gently on yours as he placed his hands firmly onto your waist, with eyes wide and a thumping heart his kiss stole all thoughts that had enveloped your mind.

The crowd began to cheer loudly as your eyes fluttered close and with hot cheeks you willingly kissed him back, wrapping your eyes around his neck gently and humming in gentle pleasure.

"Yeah Tanjiro go get some!!"The Fire Hashira yelled as he was smacked in the head by Giyuu.

"Young love...so b-beautiful"The Love Hashira mumbled as she wiped the tears forming at the corner of her lids.

He then pulled away causing you to whimper at the lost of his lips as he placed his forehead on yours, "Y/n, I love you"He said, breathing heavily but still gentle enough to not be heard.

"Tanjiro, I...I love you too"You smiled genuinely, heart skipping in the background.

"Will you be mine?"He asked as he knelt on one knee, holding a rose that came out of nowhere with a hopeful smile on his face.

"I--"You then nodded, being too nervous to answer his question properly, "Oh my God guys she said Yes!!!"Tanjiro yelled to everyone as they all began to cheer and clap excitedly. He then embraced you in a warm and loving hug which you accepted. Standing on your tip toes to peck him on the lips, its a good thing your leg was fully healed.

"You and I forever Y/n"He whispered in your ear as you smiled and nodded.

"Mhm, You and I forever, Tanjiro-kun."

[yoursinfulurges]

Baby Blue Circumstances

Winwin ×| Taeyong ×| Jaehyun ●| Johnny ×| Irregular Office Series.

Description:

In which a handsome, young, rich man tries to persuade you into giving him full custody of your kids. Because 'Technically they were his'.......

Warnings: Graphic sex, not-so-vanilla kinks, mentions of adoption, abortion, alcohol, toxic relations, child neglect, plot based.

If you do not like any of these then i advise you to go read something else in my blog.

I feel like i don't need disclaimers because it's obvious that this ain't real so....

_____________

You scrambled to turn on the tv as the impatient three year old in your arm screams. Wincing at the sound as you hurriedly ran from one area to another. Your apartment filling with the sounds of high pitched cries, and overly positive pixilated cartoon characters. The cries seemed to only get louder as you placed her down for a millisecond, to swiftly grab her baby bottle from the microwave. It was well over Jaehye's feeding time, being that it was already two o'clock and that she usually ate at twelve. Your gaze shifts from the child in your arms to the other, peacefully sat on the sofa. Unlike his sister he was calm, even laughing at whatever the animated characters were saying. You smiled fondly at the child. And looked at Jaehye once more, noticing that her eyelids are at the midst of shutting, indicating that she was close to slumber. You smiled and slowly made your way to their shared bedroom. Entering the mellow, navy blue painted room; you carefully tried stepping over the lego's and ponies that were scattered all over the floor. Succeeding, and carefully placing your daughter on her bed. You wrapped her arms around her brown fuzzy teddy bear and gently tucked her in, not forgetting to close the curtains on your way out.

It had been exactly 1 year since you had adopted these two angels. Though it was a lifestyle that was quite hard adjust to, nonetheless you were glad you made the decision. You would've never imagined that you'd become a mother so soon, as you were just starting to get your life together. You were a college graduate one day and suddenly a mother of two the next. Your friends called you crazy; your father asked if you were mentally sane; your sister made it very clear to you she disapproved; whilst your mother tried persuaded you to do it. You were puzzled. But, you can truly say that it was the best decision of your life.

Yes it was a real pain in the ass at first, but now it's become second nature. You no longer have to wake up in the butt crack of dawn to feed them; as they were more than capable now to grab a baby bottle from the mini-fridge in their room. You saved up money and effort by potty training them. And your financials seemed to stabilized as you no longer needed to spend extra money on over priced diapers. You weren't exactly a natural at motherhood but over time you gained the skills and know the children like the back of your hand. Even having a stable routine for them, of course without the surprised tantrums and spontaneous needs for story times. Their favorite story by far was superwoman, as your daughter calls it. It the more child-friendly tale of how they came to be in your arms, but they didn't need to know that...

The story of these two touched you dearly. Really it was quite a fairytale. Whilst working as an editor for some fashion magazine you somehow caught wind of the story of these two from your co-works. It was said that they came from an unfit mother who neglected them, and left her twelve year old sister to care for the kids. Leaving them with sevier health problems. The mother was a drug addict that chose to spend her time at night clubs, instead of caring for her children. She liked the carefree lifestyle, and you tried to understand her, really. But everything went into the trash can after she was convicted for attempted murder of the kids, not to mention drug possession and distributing. You've met her and can truly say that she was the most vile and disgusting person you've ever met. And the father?.... that was uncertain... It saddened you to know that they were made by accident... Two precious and loving children were conceived with the soul purpose of pleasure.

You debated for weeks whether or not you should do it. Rolling out the con's and sticking with the pro's: a stable job with a nice boss that paid way over minimum wage, a big apparent, and a job that works from home most of the time. You've asked many for their opinions and while most encouraged you and applauded you, there were some that disapproved, your sister to be exact. You and her have always been close, her only being two years older. She was wise and you always trusted her guidance. You understood why she disapproved and couldn't really blame her. You were just getting your life together, this would just crumble everything down. You were sad that you couldn't get her approval, but you didn't really need her permission. It was mainly your parents who you really needed to consult with. Of course they were unsure at first but they trusted you and made sure you knew the responsibilities before encouraging you. You knew what you were doing. Those children needed a mother, they needed someone. And so, the very next day you found yourself leaving the orphanage in front of your work place, with two children at hand. They were happy, despite what they've gone through. Though you highly doubted that they even know what's happening.

That day was filled with so much laughter and fond memories. In just one day, you showed them more love than their previous mother ever did. They even refused to sleep in their own room, scared that when they wake up they'll be back at the hands of their unfit mother.

Your thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a lound knock on the front door. You stood up from your previous spot, on the couch, and slowly made your way to the door. Slowly opening it to reveal a handsome young man, that looked to be in his early twenties. He was wearing a grey suit that look very expensive, with brown swept back hair, and newly polished shoes. He was undoubtedly the hottest person you've ever seen...

"May i help you?" You asked, hesitancy clearly evident in your voice. "Yes, are you Ms. Lee by any chance?" He smiled, proudly displaying his dimples. His chocolate drown eyes sparkling in what looked to be delight, as his deep husky voice erupted from his lips. "That's me." You nodded. "I don't know how to tell you this, but im the father of your child." Your jaw dropped a little as your eyes blink rapidly, heart pounding in disbelief as you looked at the man again. He looked calm, pleased almost. "What are you- Jaeun, g-go look after y-your sister please..." You ordered, eyes not leaving the man. To which the little boy nodded to before turning off the tv and scurrying off. Clearly understanding that a talk between you and the man needed to be held without his presence. "Sister?" The man infront of you mumbled to himself. "I-i think you need to come in." Unnervingly, you said. To which he replied, "very well..."

"I didn't get your name?" He asked as he sipped on the wine he opted for instead of water. "Y/n, you?" The atmosphere was quieter than space; and ten times more awkwarder than your interactions with your neighbors who mate like wild rabbits. How do you follow up 'im the father of your child' by 'how was your day?' No.

"Jaehyun." He placed the wine glass down before clrossing his legs, a smirk playing on his lips. "S-so jaehyun why are you here exactly?" Jaehyun hm? Well now you can see where the mother got her inspiration from. She was probably moaning the name the entire night...

You saw the resemblance between him and the children, like the dimples and eyes, also the cheeks. They looked more like him than the mom, he was definitely the father. "Look I'll be very honest here. I wanna take back my child. I was unaware that they existed and i wanna raise him as my own now. So how much will it take." Was he thinking that he could just pay you off like that? Fuck no. Who does he think he is. To walk in here thinking he can buy the children off you. They are your children now not his. If he wants them he's gonna have to kill you off first. You were enraged as a matter of fact.

"Excuse me!? Do you just think you can pay me off like that? They're my children now, not yours. You may be the father but they're under my custody now." It was evident in your voice that you were angry but your stature remained calm. So did his, he just sat there and sipped on his wine, angering you even more. Did he think this was some game? "Look y/n, how much do you want, im prepared to pay any amount." He probed once more. "I don't want your money." Did he think he was doing you some good? You had money too, financials are the last thing you should be worrying about...

"Very well then, i didn't wanna have to do this but, Ms. Lee y/n, im suing you." He couldn't sue you, he had nothing against you. He just hoped that you would buy his bullshit and give him what he wanted.

"Suing me? You have nothing on me. What are you gonna sue me for? I signed the legal papers that clearly stated they are my children now! It was never stated that there were two legal guardians that i needed signatures from. Technically, you can't sue me!"

Damn you were smart...

"Im still suing you."

"For what!"

"Emotional distress!"

"Emotional distress?! Unbelievable! Get out!" You scoffed. Anger flowing through your vains.

"Mommy what's with all the screaming?"

In the midst of glaring at jaehyun a high pitched voice spoke, breaking your strong gaze. Your eyes soften as you turn to the hallway and see both your kids innocently watching.

"Nothing baby, nothing. This man was just leaving, go back to your room." You softly uttered.

"There's two of them?..." Asked jaehyun as he takes in the child's features.

"Yes, they're twins." The tone you used was unreadable, a mix of defeat and agony.

"Can I just talk to them, please. Then I'll leave." He begged, a glimpse of desperation in his eyes. You couldn't say no, you just couldn't...

"Alright, but don't tell them you're their father. Their not ready yet..." Jaehyun nodded and you called the kids to sit with you. They were hesitant at first but eventually did.

"Hi." Jaeun was the first to speak up.

"Hello." Jaehyun laughed at the boys cuteness.

"I'm jaeun, who are you?" He asked, pointing at the males direction.

"I'm jaehyun, nice to meet you." Jaehyun spoke to the child with care and gentleness. You saw how eagerly he wanted to get to know them. Extremely vulnerable to rejection.

"Nice to meet you hyung, that's my sister jaehye, but she's really shy..." jaehyun diverts his attention to the little girl curled up in your arms and waves. Jaehye smiles and waves back at him before quickly hiding in your chest.

"Look, I'm not giving you full custody of my kids, but you are always welcome to come and see them." You said sternly, arms wrapping around the frail figure in your arms.

Jaehyun nodded and smiled. That day he left with an unshakable feeling of excitement and a new formed attraction towards you.

He knew then and there that he wanted to be the father of your children. And if you will have him, the husband of your dreams.

Part 2?

Let me know what you guys thought of it.

[morg-among-the-stars]

I keep seeing fics written with this kind of theme of, “Four and one” for something, so I gave it a shot and I love it a lot! (That rhyme was unintentional, I swear)

⚠️ Contains spoilers for chapter ten of, “One Day At A Time” ⚠️

The Four Times Lilly Wanted To Kiss Ava and The One Time She Did

Word Count: 1,609

————————————————————————

Throughout her life, there have been many times that Lilly wanted to kiss Ava, but the times that she would let herself remember, for she repressed a lot, are all special for one reason or another.

The first time Lilly wanted to kiss Ava was at the age of twelve-years-old during a sleepover.

The thought nagged in her mind.

It nagged and it nagged and nagged, yanking and pulling itself to the front of her head.

At that age, she repressed it.

Lilly shoved it down, shoved the thought of romance with Ava and, "I love you"s and shared, sweet kisses with her down into the depths of her mind, only to creep out in her dreams.

The second time was at the ripe age of thirteen at the playground at their old elementary school in the middle of Fall.

The two girls were dropped off at the playground once school had ended for the day.

They had the playground all to themselves, able to reminisce on their scraped knees and recess-periods spent picking flowers for each other.

On this specific day, they walked around the soccer field, under the brownish-orange shade trees that lined it, talking about nothing of importance.

Nothing of importance to anyone else, at least.

To each other, every word was important.

But at one point or another, Ava pauses her important words, spotting a leaf rustling on its own, about to fall down.

And Ava, suddenly filled with the determination to catch the leaf, sprints forward with her hands out.

Though, she stops too soon, too abruptly, as Lilly sprints behind her, crashing into her when she stops suddenly.

It sends them both to the ground with a heavy breath of air being knocked out of Ava's chest and a group of butterflies entering Lilly's stomach.

She's on top of Ava, looking down at her with her face feeling warm.

It's mildly chilly outside, the weather isn't to blame.

Ava doesn't push Lilly off of her.

She simply lays there and catches her breath, panting,

"Are you okay?"

Physically? Injury-wise? Yes.

Emotionally and hormonally? Absolutely not.

Lilly is blushing like crazy when all she can think of is, "Wouldn't this be special for a first kiss? Alone in a field, no one to interrupt..."

She hears herself cough and-or clear her throat, even though she doesn't need to in the first place.

"Yeah, I'm okay." She answers, awkwardly pushing herself off of Ava and helping her up off the grass, continuing on with their time together.

The third time was at Ava's house a week or two later, on a lucky Saturday where Ava's mom and siblings were out of the house, leaving the girls to their own devices with the message of, "Call me if you need anything" sent to Ava's phone.

Ava had made a mess in the kitchen trying to make lunch that day.

They'd agreed on simple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, since Ava's mom would be home with more food later in the day.

So, Ava had washed her hands and started on her sandwich, where Lilly had joined her, making her own sandwich.

She wanted to help, she felt bad about the idea of Ava doing all the work.

There was something so domestically sweet about this, making food together.

Lilly couldn't help but think about the hypothetical, idealistic future in her mind.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" Ava exclaims, running to the sink hastily.

"What's wrong?" Lilly asks, snapping out of her sweet thoughts.

"I got peanut butter on my hand... it's gross! Can you, can you get my sleeves, please?"

Lilly rolls up Ava's falling shirt sleeves and her hand touches her arm briefly.

She doesn't even have time to think about that, because Ava is shifting on her feet anxiously as she continues with her hand washing and-or vigorous scrubbing.

She rinses her hands quickly and sighs heavily with relief when she dries them off on a dish towel.

"Are you okay now?" Lilly asks her.

"Yes, I'm okay. Thank you."

Something about the way Ava thanks her makes Lilly's heart swell.

She's already close to her by the kitchen sink.

Helping her out in this way makes her think about domestic living in the future.

And oh boy does that make Lilly want to kiss her...

But she doesn't.

She doesn't.

The fourth time was in the dead of Winter during their freshman year of high school.

They had been sitting in the library together during lunch, on the floor in a far-back corner, working on an assignment for their English class.

Lilly would read a quote from the assigned reading, "Lord Of The Flies", and Ava would write it down to be used later on.

A little while into their work, Lilly takes a glance at the paper in Ava's hands.

Half of it is book quotes and the other half... is little doodles and drawings.

There are a few hearts amongst the doodles and it makes Lilly think of all the hearts she's mindlessly doodled in these past few years, all the hearts she's doodled around Ava's name.

Ava looks at her and startles slightly when she sees that Lilly has been watching her doodle instead of reading.

Their eyes meet and for a second, Lilly feels something, an unbelievably intense feeling.

Time stops and the world goes deafeningly silent.

Ava is looking at her, an expression on her face that Lilly can't decipher. Confusion? Curiosity? She can't tell.

Lilly doesn't want to call this moment a spark.

If it were, she would know.

She would know if it was mutual.

She's felt a spark before, on that day where Ava held her hand for hours, running through faux taverns and ducking past people dressed in elaborate medieval costumes.

But this feels like a spark, it really does…

It isn't, Lilly knows it isn't. To think it that it is isn't realistic.

"Are you okay? Your, your face is kind of red." Ava asks, breaking the silence of whatever moment they just had.

"Are you sick?" She follows up with, putting the back of her hand against Lilly's forehead for a split-second too long. "You don't seem to have a fever-"

It's bitterly cold outside. If Lilly were sick, it wouldn't be too far of a stretch, at least not to Ava.

"I'm not sick, Ava. I'm fine, trust me."

Ava's hand is back on her pencil, bouncing the eraser against the folder she'd been using to write on.

"Okay." She says simply.

There's new silence between them for a moment.

Lilly sits in her own head, thinking and thinking and thinking.

Ava watches the pencil and it's nub of an eraser bounce up and down, up and down against the folder in her hands.

Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce. Up and down, up and down, up and-

"I think we're good for now, we still have tomorrow to finish this assignment." Lilly says, breaking this new silence.

"Okay." Ava repeats, sliding the piece of paper into her folder, then packing it away in her backpack. "We got a lot done, we make a great team, don't we?"

Ava says that confidently with a smile that makes the world go deafeningly silent once again.

God, she's never wanted to kiss Ava more.

She thinks about doing it, right here, right now, in the back of the library where they're hidden from the view of teachers and students.

But she doesn't, someone could still see it somehow, and most of all, she doesn't know how Ava would react or what she would say to it.

So, she just packs up her book and replies with a nod,

"Yep, we do make a great team."

There comes a time where Lilly does kiss Ava roughly two years later, during junior year.

It was at her family's annual Christmas party, where their mutual friend, Lucas, had been teasing and taunting Lilly all night about the mistletoe hanging in every doorframe of the house.

His teasing was all in good fun, but good lord, it was getting to Lilly.

It got to her so badly that she went to hide in her room, away from Ava and all the mistletoe.

She sits in her room, her knees drawn up to her chest, trying to shut her mind up, when she hears a faint knock at her bedroom door.

"What?" She snaps, her voice coming out quick and harsh.

"I'm sorry to, to bug you, but can I come in?" Ava asks from outside the door.

Lilly gives Ava a faint, regretful apology and let's her into the room.

They're sitting on the carpet together, where Ava asks her,

"Are you okay?"

No, she most definitely is not okay, but she doesn't want to tell Ava that.

She brushes it off on Lucas, saying that he was teasing her like he always does.

But then, her heart stops for a moment when Ava asks what Lucas had been saying.

This is another thing she doesn't want to, or simply can't, tell Ava.

She can't tell her about the mistletoe or the fact that she's wanted to kiss her for years, the fact that she's been in love with her for years, or the fact that she's so madly in love with her that it keeps her wide awake some nights.

Lilly can't and doesn't say any of that.

Quickly and done on the strongest impulse known to man… she kisses Ava.

She finally kisses her.

And as you know, the rest is history.

[susannaprouse]

Twelve - Baños

We woke up in Baños to the sound of the rushing river outside. We slowly made our way to the hostel breakfast which was delicious, mainly because of the inclusion of hot chocolate! It was the usual breakfast other than that though.

We decided we'd go to the Ruta de Cascadas, one of the main things to do in Baños. Close to the town there are seven waterfalls, each bigger and stronger than the last. Having looked at the cost of a taxi we decided to go for the cheaper and more tacky tourist bus. For $6 each the bus would take us to the main waterfalls, giving us enough time to look around and then get back to Baños.

We got on the double decker bus and went upstairs where the tarpaulin roof was so low we all had to bend right down to move about. We found our seats and were off. But not without some Latino music blaring out very loudly (Tony would definitely have had his fingers in his ears). We kind of loved it.

The first stop was a view over the canyon and a convenient advertisement for a zipline tour. The canyon and the rushing river were impressive but everyone was more eager to get on the little cable car across the canyon. We watched as the Ecuadorian tourists all went in and across, Mike knew there was another, better cable car later so we smugly watched. While we saved a few dollars we did end up buying a $1 plantain with cheese, a traditionally weird Ecuadorian snack. Mike had the first bite and confirmed it was not bananary and my knew found banana bravery meant I had a bit. It was delicious! It didn't taste bananary, more like a sweet potato and the cheese was definitely the best we've had while away.

The second waterfall was directly in the road and so strong the bus had to drop us off and turn around. The fall came over the cliff and crashing to the ground. We all got as close as we dared to take photos. The view to the canyon was also amazing and along the river you could see even more waterfalls on the other side.

The third waterfall was even stronger but again there were canyon activities on offer. This was where we got the cable car and it's a good thing I didn't see it go out before I got on. I was terrified, I didn't look down at all and just concentrated on the other side. It also went incredibly fast (even Mike said it was fast!) which I'm sure shouldn't be allowed. We careered across to the other side and just when I thought we could get off we went backwards and stopped in the middle!! I thought something was really wrong but Mike kept saying, it's just so we can take photos. I didn't take any photos. We finally made it to the other side and it was only when we were safely off that I said it was quite fun.

Before the ultimate waterfall we had the obligatory surprise stop at a sweet factory and shop. We were taken inside and a woman offered us a red square of something. Being cheapskates we both said no until the driver said it was free. Of course we both then gobbled it up, it was so good and tasted like the inside of a fig roll. We then got to see them making whatever it was in big bubbling pans and then onto trays to cool.

Obviously, we were then herded into the shop where I think every single other person bought something except us. We did enjoy the free shot of sugar cane liquor though.

The final stop was at El Pailón del Diablo, the biggest and strongest waterfall. We paid our $1 and followed the track downwards to the side of a rushing river. Halfway down, we had to traverse a wobbly, slippery wooden bridge with a sign indicating a maximum capacity of 50 people. I was constantly checking how many people were on it as I edged my way down. The sound of the waterfall got louder and louder until we saw the main event. It was amazing. And also terrifying. Amazingly terrifying. It was so so so strong I can't even describe it. The bottom didn't even look like water, it looked like a bubbling, steaming cauldron. All I could think was that if you fell in you would die the most horrifying death. We took a lot of photos and gazed in awe. It was like a fire, so hypnotising we couldn't take our eyes off it.

We made our way back to the bus (after stroking more street dogs) and rode back to Baños. Considering the whole thing was over four hours we thought it was $6 well spent!

A little break in our hotel and we were off again. This time to Baños' famous thermal pools, heated by water from natural hot springs. We queued up to the entrance with a lot of Ecuadorians waiting for it to open and chatting with an Ecuadorian man who was desperate to know what we'd paid for everything (our hostel, the bus, everything). We got in fairly quickly and managed to find a changing room. Whatever you're imagining this to be like downgrade it by 100. This was not a spa, it was public baths and so nothing was pristine. The shower in the bare concrete changing rooms was gloriously hot water from the springs though!

We walked up to the roof where we'd read the cooler pools were as we didn't want to make idiots of ourselves as the only Westerners there. The town's huge waterfall was our backdrop at less than 30m away and we edged our way in. The pool was filled with Ecuadorians but we managed to find a spot to sit in. It was surprisingly relaxing given how busy it was and it was the perfect place to people watch!

Having been in the pool for a while we decided to brave it and try the pool downstairs. 48 degrees of goodness! It was smaller and we noticed that a lot of people were hanging out on the stairs, too agonised to go any further. A few heroic Ecuadorian women were sitting in the pool like it was nothing. We walked in and as we did we could feel the water tingling our skin. Now, I like my baths and showers scalding so I was exciting to try the super hot bath. Mike wasn't so keen. He bravely walked in though and didn't make a fuss. I loved it!! It was admittedly hotter than my baths but it was lovely! I felt quite pleased I was among the minority who were enjoying the experience.

You're only allowed to stay in the pool for 5 minutes and it was probably a good thing that we did. We got into the freezing cold plunge pool next (which I really didn't want to do). It was cold but we got used to it after a while. Then something weird happened, I felt like I was drunk or was going to faint. My body clearly couldn't handle what was going on. I could see Mike's eyes glazing over too so told him maybe we should get out and sit on the side for a bit.

Sitting on the side we both felt very weird. My heart was pounding and I was slightly worried it wasn't going to stop. Mike also felt weird and went very quiet. Luckily a lot of Ecuadorians were also sitting on the side so we didn't look too weird and after a few minutes the feeling went away. We considered experiencing the hot pool again but decided better of it. We also realised we hadn't really eaten since breakfast so should probably have dinner.

Dinner that night was a takeaway pizza! I had decided I wanted to get a pizza from a famously good place in town, bring it back to our room and have a pizza and film night. And it was great. The pizza even had artichokes on, mmmm! We watched Oceans 8 which was fine and another episode of When they See us which was brilliant.