#i have no idea what else to tag this. not putting it in the Rita or Suzume tag they deserve better than this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

artists-ally · 7 months

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{Confess Your Lust} Reader x Azriel

You all can thank @riddlesb1tch for this. I have no regrets. It's just pure filth, but I know my whores like this 🥰 Rose this is all for you so you're the only one I care about liking it. Hope you all enjoy, title is from this song. highly suggest listening to while reading btw

Word Count: 4,682

Warnings: SMUT. Minor Dom/Sub concepts, bondage, degrading, teasing, orgasm delay/denial, overstimulation, Az is your pretty little good boy and you're gonna let him know ;)

Tagging: @riddlesb1tch @thelov3lybookworm @librafairy @needylilgal022 @bubybubsters @harrystylesfan2686 @justdreamstars @cyrygher @berryzxx @thehighladywrites @xaithings

Summary: Azriel requested a very special birthday present. And who were you to tell him no.

~~~~~~~

“Cassian, as long as I’ve known you, you’ve gotten me a dagger for my birthday.”

“Yup,” he grins.

“You know it’ll never suffice to Truth Teller, right?”

“An Illyrian can hope,” Cassian sighs, a relaxed smile on his face. “I know they all go in a drawer at the bottom of your dresser.”

Azriel rolls his eyes, but thanks his brother anyway. He appreciates them, but they hold no candle to the pretty piece of steel sat on his thigh.

Mor had gifted him a new pair of boots and a matching belt to go with them. They were of sleek leather, polished so well he could see his distorted reflection in the curve of the toe. He might have to set them aside for a special occasion so he doesn’t ruin them with training and missions.

Rhys and Feyre gifted him a custom made weapons display case. It had racks and shelves for all his favorites, as well as drawers for the ones Cassian constantly gifted. It was complete with a throwing pad on the side to practice different strikes as well as a sharpening stone. He’d never admit to anyone but himself, but it made the back of his throat string.

Amren promised him a night out at Rita’s, and coming from her it was quite generous.

Buy my gift… it was something to be shared between my mate and no one else. They didn’t need to know the secret behind the look in my eye. It was waiting at our newly constructed home, just like I promised. Just like he had asked.

“That’s it from us, I don’t see another one here,” Cassian looked around the rubble of discarded bags and decorative paper, not finding any other boxes. “Did Yn already give you hers?”

“No,” I said, sipping my glass of wine. “It’s back at the house. But he already knows what it is.”

“He does?”

“He does?” Azriel furrowed his brows, clearly not remembering the conversation the two of us had several months ago.

Azriel sauntered into the dining hall, hands fisted at his sides, wings tucked in close. “Can I talk to you?”

The sudden spring of worry in his eyes made me put down my book, following him to a nearby couch to sit on.

“What’s up, my love?” I asked tenderly, locking a piece of hair behind his ear.

“If I asked you to do something for me- to me… would you?”

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean, Az,” I cocked my head to the side, getting a better look at his eyes. Those wicked shadows blocked some of his tan skin, so I gently nudged them out of the way.

“I umm- I was thinking that we might change some things up. I’ve had a lot of thoughts about these things and I want them. And I want to see if you could want them too.”

“Okay,” I nodded, waiting for a response.

“I want to try using some toys. On me.”

Well, that is not where I thought this was going to go at all. Utterly shocked, but not opposed to the idea, I asked him to elaborate. And by the Cauldron did he. He went into detail of what he wanted, why he wanted it, how he wanted it… it sounded like a dream come true.

“I’m so happy you told me about this. Yes, I’d be more than happy to fulfill these fantasies with you,” I smiled eagerly. “I promise I’ll make it special for you. Just like you did for me.”

Azriel still didn’t seem to get it, so I flashed a mental image down the bond, watching his brows unfurrow and raise up his face. It was almost ridiculous how far they went up. Nobody else said anything as they watched the interaction.

“Oh.”

“Oh… what? What did she get you?” Rhys prodded his brother, Azriel not breaking our eye contact. I just smirked, winking in his direction before turning back to the wine. Mor spared me a curious glance, but I gave away no details. The others didn’t need to know what happened behind those closed doors.

“Just something to play with later,” Azriel swallowed, throat working down and then back up. Only I would be able to note the change in his scent. “Time for pastries?”

I giggled as he deflected the question and moved onto another topic. It was another hour or so before anyone made a move to leave, but as soon as Cassian rolled out, his hands were all over me.

“Are you being serious?” His hands were cupping my cheeks, a desperate plea to his voice.

“Of course, my shadow. Go on up, get yourself ready. I’ll be up in a little bit, okay? Send word when you’re ready,” I instruct, moving out of his reach to begin cleaning up some of the mess left behind from the small party.

“Won’t you come do it for me?” His strong arms wrapped around me, the soft scent of his wings wafting in the air. “I could really use your help.”

“I thought you wanted me to take control?”

“I do, that’s why I-”

“Didn’t I give you an order?”

“Y-Yes, I just wanted-”

“Then go. Don’t make me ask again, Azriel.”

“Yes my lady,” he obediently replied. I watched him go up the stairs, shadows lingering behind before darting after him. Once I heard the door click softly shut, I continued my work around the living area and the kitchen. I didn’t have any desire to be cleaning, I just needed to build up some tension. For this to work as he wanted to, I needed to do the unpredictable. Which would be really fucking difficult since he is basically progammed to know every turn and corner.

I threw out trash, packed dishes in the sink, scrubbed them clean and put them away. About five minutes ago he sent a shadow curling my way, enticing me up towards the play room. I ignored the urgency of the call, deciding I’ll go when I want to. And he’s just going to have to wait.

Azriel isn’t the most patient creature in this world, that’s for damn sure.

Making him wait this long would be torture.

Precisely how I wanted it to be.

Finally, after another ten-ish minutes of stalling, I make my way upstairs. Purposefully being as loud as I can without stomping up the stairs. My heels click gently across the hard stone. As I near the door, I am hit with a wave of arousal coming from the room. It’s thick and tastes devine on the back of my tongue.

The sight of him sitting in the chair, wings facing me, arms ready and waiting behind his back is a marvelous sight. I can’t help but smile. He looks so pretty.

“I thought you forgot about me,” Azriel said, a smirk in his tone. “Is it time for my present yet?”

“So impatient, all of you Illyrians,” I snorted, rolling my eyes as I made my way to the wall in front of him. Hung up, there were various toys and playthings. All could be used for pleasure or pain, depending on the mood. “You’ll get it when I say you do. Give me your wrists.”

I held the bundle of rope between my palms, stalking back over to Azriel in his chair. As I pass around to where his hands are locked behind his back, I make sure to tell him he’s allowed to safeword if and whenever he needs to.

“I know, my love, thank you. I know you’ll take care of me,” he smiles gently, offering his lips.

“You asked to be overwhelmed, so I’m not going to stop unless you give me the word. I want you begging me to stop, remember? You’ll sound so pathetic and pretty when you whimper,” I smiled sickly sweet, pecking his lips with my own. “Ready?”

He gave a firm nod, hazel eyes locking on my body as I pulled away.

Back at the wall, I open the drawer in the chest, finding those two boxes I hid away weeks ago. How he never found them, I’ll never know, but I’m so glad. One was a vibrating cuff. The other was a dildo.

After taking them out of the box and sanitizing them, I left them there for Az to see, but not to use yet. No, I wanted the anticipation to do the work for me. Rather than giving him what he wanted, I made my way over to him and trailed my fingers around his frame.

Every flick of my finger sent goosebumps slithering across his skin. Up his neck… down his arms. That sensitive place between his wings twitched as I trailed through it, delicately applying pressure on the muscle.

“Fuck, baby you… you can’t tease me like that.”

“I think I can do whatever I want,” I replied. “You are tied up at my mercy, aren’t you?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Good boy,” I smiled, threading my fingers through his thick hair, latching onto his scalp. I pulled to the side, watching his body move with the force. His chest rose and fell, I could feel his heartbeat down the bond. Wicked. Powerful. Anticipating my next move.

I slid into his lap, feeling just how much he needed me through his pants. I leaned just far enough away that he couldn't capture my mouth with his. He tried twice to kiss me, but each time I leaned away, a sick smile on my lips.

Azriel scoffed, “I just wanted a kiss.”

“I know you do, but I didn’t give you permission, did I?” I mocked, leaning in closer and closer. “Your pleasure belongs to me tonight. I decide when you get what you’ve earned. And all you’ve done so far is complain that I haven’t given you anything. That’s not how good boys behave is it?”

I can see the fire in his eyes, those two sides of his personality fighting each other head on. This desire inside him to be taken care of, to be set free by my control versus that blistering need to be in control of everything.

I’ll break him free with my bare hands if I have to.

“Don’t be shy, my shadow. You can say it, it’s okay. No one can hear you besides me. Unless you want everyone to know just how much you need me.”

“I’ll behave,” he recites quickly. “Please.”

“Look at you, begging for it already,” I smirked, standing up from my place in his lap. He groans, cock clearly straining against the fabric covering his legs.

I circle him. Like a predator to its prey. “You look so pretty tied up, my shadow.”

“When I asked you to play with me, I didn’t expect to be tortured.”

“Tortured?” I spun around to see his hazy eyes. “Oh, my sweet love, I haven’t even touched you yet and you’re already begging? Don’t be so pathetic, Azriel. You can take more, can’t you?” I nodded his head for him, fingers fisted in his hair. “Yes you can, good boy.”

I quickly walked around to see his pink cheeks, heated with humiliation. I had no intention of going easy on him the first time.

In a swift motion, I sheathed the blade at his thigh, cutting away his pants, leaving him just in his undershorts. He gasped, eyes going wide as roughly pulled them down his hips. “Y-Yn what are you-”

“Quiet,” I demanded.

Azriel shut his mouth, panting heavily as I fisted his cock in my hand. His head tipped back in pleasure, and I almost let myself enjoy it for a second before I ripped my hand away. Those fierce hazel eyes were back on mine in an instant, silently begging for more. He made a wounded sound when I walked away, grabbing the vibrating cuff from the dresser.

“Let’s play a game, okay? I put this on, and you aren’t going to cum. If you take it like the good boy I know you are, then I’ll give you something else to play with. If you cum… well, you’re just not going to stop.”

Azriel looks genuinely afraid. Like I might break him if I go through with this. I’ve never wanted to break something so badly just to put it back together again.

I kneel in front of him, spreading his knees apart. I can see the generous amount of gel he’s used to work himself open for later. His body is glowing, vibrating with tension. I spit on his dick, enjoying the sight of him flinching as it hits his hot skin.

Being extra agonizing, I blow some cool air on his tip to really watch him jump. I giggle, sliding the cuff over his length. The pale blue color is a stark contrast to his bright red skin. There is a button near the bass to turn it on and to switch the intensity. The gentle purr of the toy comes to life with a quick tap, and Azriel damn near falls out of the chair.

“Relax,” I say, forcing his knees down. I looked up at him, chest unmoving as he held his breath. “Breath Azriel.”

“I- I can-can’t,” he chokes. “Fuck Yn, it’s too much.”

“It’s only on the first setting, you’ll get used to it. In thirty seconds I’m going to put it on the next setting,” I warn, watching the way his body quivers slightly.

My mates eyes are slammed shut, teeth clenched together. His cock gently pulses with the vibe, slick trickling down his shaft in a steady stream. To be a little extra mean, I run my tongue up the length.

“Oh gods Yn…” he pleads, head tossed back. His chest is on display, perfectly cut muscles constricting with every breath.

“You’re being so good, Azriel,” I praise, relishing in the way his body relaxes into the words. “Just a little longer.”

I stand, walking to the corner of the room to the closet. I quietly wheel out the next part of his surprise, setting them aside for when I need them. When I come back, I notice the sheen of sweat lining his chest and torso. It glimmers in the low light, catching at all the right angles.

I stroke my hands up and down his shoulders, working the tense muscles. He relaxes into my body and I travel further. Over his chest, over his abs, down his thighs. When I reach his cock, I press the next button and turn up the intensity.

Az growls. In a way I’ve never heard him before. He curls in on himself, kicking his feet against the floor.

“Don’t act like you don’t love it, Azriel. I know you want to be my good boy and take your birthday present so well. You’re gonna take it until I tell you you’ve had enough.”

“It feels so good,” he moans. His thighs are shaking, his cock flushed almost purple. “M-More.”

“And now you’re begging for it? Gods, Az you are so easy for me. I’m sure if you'd found this before tonight, I would’ve caught you with it, huh? So fucking desperate.” I can’t help but tease him, he makes it so easy. And he is being so good for me, why not give him what he wants? “You asked for more, Azriel.”

I click it up another notch, watching the way it sends shock waves through the muscles in his thighs and abs. He’s open-mouth panting now, unable to take a breath without whining. He starts shaking his head back and forth, eyes blinking rapidly.

“You’re not allowed to cum, Azriel. I didn’t give you permission.”

My reminder makes him sob. “Please, please Yn. Fucking please let me cum. Fuck I-I can’t- Yn I can’t-”

“You’re going to,” I demand, pushing the hair out of his face. “Because I told you to. You wanna make me happy, right? I won’t be happy if you cum. You don’t wanna disappoint me, do you?”

He shakes his head no rapidly, sweat dripping down his face.

“Then don’t cum. It’s not that hard.”

Azriel cries out, the noise coming deep within his chest. He tries to cross his legs to relieve the pressure, but I force them to stay open. He shakes and writhes, wings slanted behind his back in a mess of shadows. He cannot sit still, but I don’t reprimand him for it.

The room is filled with the sound of his harsh breathing and the hum of the vibrator. It’s filled with the scent of his sweat and breath.

“Yn- Yn turn it off.”

“No.”

He curses, a colorful menagerie falling from his wet lips. “Please please please please please please.”

The sound of him begging, truly begging, makes me grin in a sinister way. This is exactly how I wanted him. A whimpering, desperate mess for me to play with.

I turn it off.

Azriel blows out a breath, body still writhing. His cock stands tall, a deep shade of maroon. I know one flick of my tongue would send him over the edge. And having that kind of power over him feels incredible.

After letting him rest for a second, I decide it’s time for some real fun. I pluck the dildo off the dresser and stand in front of Azriel, waiting for him to look up at me. When those hazel eyes meet mine, they’re glassy and full of pleasure. Almost too much. He looks drunk with his cheeks so rosy and ears flaming red. He looks so adorable all fucked out like this.

“Stand,” I commanded, watching the words register on his face.

His knees tremble, but he manages, stretching his taught legs. The sight of him shaking so vividly would normally scare me. But right now it's… it's beautiful. I made him this way, and this ache between my legs couldn't be stronger.

The cup on the end suctions to the metal chair when I place the dildo down. “Sit.”

“Yn-”

“Sit,” I snapped, eyes hardening. Azriel swallowed, looking from me to the chair and back. “Don’t make me ask again. I told you to sit. So sit down. Now.”

He turned back around, standing above the chair. Slowly, incredibly slowly, he lowered himself to the chair. His arms were bulging against the ropes, veins running along his biceps throbbing with his pulse. But he sits. All the way down.

With a proud smile, I drink in the way he sits. It's so rigid. His chest barely moves with his quick breaths. His eyes are screwed shut.

“Azriel,” I taunt, my voice sickly sweet. “What's got you breathing so hard, hmm? Are you in too much pleasure? Does it feel too good?”

His mouth gapes open, but he doesn’t say anything.

“You’re at a loss for words with how good you feel. So fucking pathetic, completely fucked out the first time you’re taking a toy?” I click on the vibrator again, starting at level two. He thrashes, then grunts, tossing his head back. “You can take it. You’ve been such a good boy. You’ve been pleasing me so much, Azriel, did you know that? You’re making me so happy. Keep being a good boy and I’ll let you cum.”

“Yn…” he breathed, head falling back to meet my eyes.

“What do you need, my shadow? More? You want more?” He shakes his head no, but remains silent. “You can do better than a pitiful shake of your head. Tell me what you want, Azriel.”

“Yn… Yn…” he chants, my name a plea of desperation. It's airy and full of need.

“That’s it, baby. Tell me what you need, I promise I’ll give it to you.”

With bleary eyes, he looks at me. “Please let me cum.”

The words are broken and a little slurred, but he told me what he needed. So I’ll give it to him.

“Such a good boy, Azriel. Telling me how much you need to cum. I’ll make sure you do, baby. Just keep taking it for me. You’re doing soooo good.”

I kept talking to him, praising him for how good he’s taking everything I’ve given him. Azriel is babbling and pleading like a total whore. While he drones on and on, I wheel out the surprise I set in the corner. Three long, vertical mirrors are set around him so he can see every angle of his perfect body.

So he can watch himself come undone without me even touching him.

“Azriel, look at me baby,” I commanded. He settles his gaze on me, then the mirrors. “Don’t you think you look so pretty?”

The way his body slumps in the chair sent chills down my spine. He spread his legs, admitting the cuff constricting his cock. Azriel pushes on his toes lightly, bobbing up and down on the dildo. “Fuck I- Yn I look so…so-”

“I want you to keep your eyes locked on the mirror. Don’t look at anything but yourself. This is all for you, take it all in, my shadow. Enjoy watching yourself fall apart for me.”

Azriel nodded.

I circled him slowly, amused at how… delicate he looked despite the harsh reality of his current fate. He was tied up, more vulnerable than ever. And yet he looked so sweet and simple. And devastatingly ruined.

At the first touch to the leathery material of his wings, Azriel jumped. He shouted and swore.

“Relax, Azriel.”

“I can’t handle it when you touch my wings, Yn. I’m not gonna be able to hold on,” Az pleads. I touch him again in the same spot. He shudders and grits his teeth. “Yn please.”

“Eyes on yourself, Azriel.”

With a deep, controlled breath, he pulls his eyes back to the mirrors. As I touch and explore the most sensitive parts of him, he twitches in every direction, effectively screwing himself further on the dildo. I take the curve of my nail and trace a vein running in his wing. Fibers in his muscles seize.

In the mirror, I can see the cuff working nicely. His chest is coated in sweat and it takes all my strength to not run my tongue from the tip of his cock to the base of his throat. Instead, I continue to tease his wings.

Azriel has this one specific spot right at the base of his wing that drives him insane. The moment I begin to move my hand, he begins to moan uncontrollably. He begs and whines and begs again for me to make him come.

“Are you watching yourself, baby?” I ask, locking eyes with him in the mirror. When he nods, eyes cast down at his body, I stroke his wing. Twice. And tears spill down his face.

“F-Fuck Yn I need to cum. I need to cum, fuck PLEASE let me cum please please please,” Azriel chants like I’m a long forgotten god. As if I would be able to grant all his wishes and desires. And it fills me with a fire I’ve never felt before.

“You’ve been such a good boy, Azriel. Go ahead. You can cum, let go.”

The second I gave him permission, he came. His whole body convulsed with the force. His legs and torso shivered, ecstasy pouring out of him with every whine and curse.

“Fuuuucccckkkkk,” he mewls, watching his cum slide down his cock, spreading over his thighs. The cuff keeps vibrating, drawing out his pleasure. “Turn it off turn it off turn it off-”

“Don’t you wanna see how far you can go? You look so pretty when you cum, I could keep watching you forever, my dear. Why don’t you do it again, okay? You’ve earned it, go ahead and cum for me, just once more.”

His whole body is flush, the same beautiful color as his aching cock. He strains against the ropes and for a minute I think he’s going to break free. But he falls slack, a steady wave of whimpers as the cuff continues to drain him. The flow of it never stops.

After a few more seconds to enjoy the show for myself, I turn off the vibrator. I gently slide it off, the majority of his seed landing on my fingers. I make a bog show of licking it off for him.

Azriel is lost in his mind somewhere when I begin to undo the ropes. I massage his shoulders, working blood back into his extremities.

“You did such an amazing job, my love. I am so proud of you, I hope you had as good of a time as I did.”

Azriel stayed quiet, but he nodded his head, gulping down air. He was shaking, but judging by the way the bond felt, he felt nothing but euphoria. I had done exactly what I was asked, and he loved it.

While I kneaded his shoulders, kissing up and down his back, he recovered. While I was strong, I wasn’t strong enough to lift a fully grown Illyrian warrior and carry him to the bathroom. Currently, he’s in no condition to move under his own volition, so we’ll take our time until his strength is restored.

“I love you so much, Az. My beautiful, strong mate. You did such a good job, such a good boy for me.”

“Mmm,” he hummed, a lazy smile on his lips. “Love being your good boy.”

“You are, you did so fucking good Azriel. It was so hot watching you cum like that,” I smiled, kissing his forehead, then his lips when he pursed them to me. “Feeling good enough to get to the bathroom? The tub is waiting, ready for you.”

My mate nodded, “Only if you’ll come in with me.”

Giggling, I slung his arm over my shoulder. “Of course I will. Stand up slowly, take your time. I’ve got you.”

With a few hisses as he stood up off the chair, wings splaying out to help him keep his balance, I guided him to the bathroom. He could stand just… not super well. We stumbled, but made it to the tub in one piece. I left him to climb in as I stripped, adding some salts to the bath.

“I don’t care about that, just get in, my love.”

Illyrians, not known for their extended patience, but they are known for their incredible brutality and bravery.

As well as their wingspans.

Before he could yank me in with my clothes on, I swept them away with a flick of my hand and climbed in. Azriel guided me to sit in his lap, face to face. His warm, scar-flecked hands caressed my body. It wasn’t in a particularly sexual manner, but I was far too turned on to not let a whimper slip. But he didn’t smirk or crack a teasing joke, he just continued to roam my body.

It seemed to calm him, the edges of ecstasy fading away from the bond one strand at a time. His heart rate slowed and that glaze over his eyes faded away.

“Feeling okay?” I asked, stroking my hands up and around the tattoos on his shoulders and chest.

“Mhmm,” he nodded. “Just… wow. My body feels so tingly.”

“Now you know how I feel when you make me cum multiple times.”

Azriel smiled, sending my heart tumbling in my chest. “Guess I should be a bit more gracious with you, shouldn’t I? Considering now you have what you need to retaliate.”

“I think you’d like it if I retaliated,” I grin. “I’m glad you had a good time.”

“Good time? I’ve never felt so satisfied in my whole life. Thank you for giving me that experience.”

I smiled so wide it hurt. “Of course, my shadow. But the next time you want to have a ‘new experience’, don’t hesitate to wait so long to tell me.”

“I promise,” Azriel whispers, cupping both sides of my face with his hands. Our foreheads lean in together. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

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ellieellieoxenfree · 5 days

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22, 24, 25

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

canon is not always great at doing this either, but trauma and disability. i look at some of my faves — rita farr, josee, vegas theerapanyakul, ai di, hartley rathaway, teresa mendoza, rita west — and they’re fucking absolute messes, all defined by some brutal shit. their respective canons have handled this with varying degrees of sensitivity (you know exactly who i’m subtweeting) and i don’t participate in all of the fandoms for these pieces of media, but i turn into an absolutely wild beast when people gloss over that because it’s too much of a challenge to include. people who faced years of childhood abuse or who were suddenly confronted with an unexpected, uncontrollable loss of autonomy are going to struggle with those things. one of these characters got shot multiple times in the abdomen, for chrissakes. and people are like ‘idk i guess he can have a marathon fuck sesh it’s cool this won’t interfere with his life in any way’ like YES IT WILL YES IT IS FUCKING PERMANENT, DIANE. there are physical effects and limitations that never go away. there is an ongoing, volatile sense of loss that will body you over and over again for the rest of your life. i love josee for tapping into the anger of disability (you know how i feel about my best girl) but i also love characters whose canons force them to grapple with a reality thrust upon them at a point in their lives when they can draw a clear delineation between Me Before and Me Now, rather than those who have never known the grief of your bodily function being ripped from you unexpectedly. and that isn’t just disability. that’s betrayal and abuse and loss of security and stability and identity. and if you can’t actually deal with the whole of a character’s raw ugly misery and anger on top of the fun fluffy bits to read or write then MAYBE the messes are not your arena.

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

ooooh i’m gonna get canceled for this one but i will block people who get into internet slapfights about gender and sexuality. i’m an old shithead so i find the trend of needing to affix 500 microlabels to every character exhausting, especially in canons where none of these people would have the remotest fucking idea what you’re banging on about. and further, i find it extremely off-putting when a male character expresses traits that aren’t in lockstep with stereotypical or toxic masculinity and immediately gets painted as trans. i see one of these essays where you spend 10k assigning things to a character that are really just you projecting your own identity onto your fave and onto the blocklist you go. some of y’all make me miss fucking kinnies.

i also cannot fucking abide ship wars, because i came from a fandom where people got so mad about a pairing taking up too much screen time they engineered a plot to ruin a real person’s career over it (that was wave one of the bullshit, but i digress). i have watched that shit happen for years and years and yeaaaars — usagi/mamoru and seiya/usagi fans used to throw temper tantrums at each other like they were getting paid to, way back in the day — and it has never gotten any less noxious. it has, in fact, just gotten fucking worse with the increasing curdling of twitter and stan culture. it was bad enough when it was just screaming at each other over which boring girl harry potter should bone but now people have let that shit spill into the real world. now it’s just a normal thing to try to affect someone’s careers, or discuss your rpf ships in front of the people involved. FUCKING BOUNDARIES. LEARN THEM. RESPECT THEM. what the fuck is wrong with you people. stop sharing your fics with them or tagging them in your art. and yes, that even goes for bryan fuller. just because he’s a freak who probably beat off to all the hannibal/will art you sent him doesn’t mean you should have sent it in the first place.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

since you’re my BTS buddy…i wish for a meteorite to strike everyone who identifies as an army because if i’m stupid enough to go into the tag, 99% of the posts are ‘hybe/bighit is out to sabotage (fave’s) career’ or ’this is why (ship) is the only truth and everyone else is a dirty sinner going to hell for wrongthink’ and holy shit TAKE A MIKE’S HARD LOOK AT YOURSELVES FOR FIVE MINUTES. if you are so deeply invested in the sex lives of some random korean guys that you are getting legitimately angry at other people on the internet about them not thinking your preferred boy is making the sign of the two-backed aardvark with your other preferred boy, log off. go the fuck outside. i’m not above cracking jokes but some of y’all are rolling out the murderboards and obsessively documenting every single moment their faves happen to be in the same area of the stage to explain why one of them moving their little finger an inch to the right means he’s gonna get his ass eaten after the show.

the career sabotage shit i don’t even know, understand, or care to know. i see it in the tag fucking constantly and it exhausts me. i need to not engage in baseless conspiracy theories. i’m not here for this. just like i’m not here to figure out who in the group is taking a ride on the humpatron 3000, i’m not here to go through a million posts on 50 social media sites every day combing every single word choice for evidence that my faves are one wrong step from being put to death by bighit management. i just want to enjoy myself for five goddamn minutes.

as a very casual new fan, my experience has been 1% gifs of people whose faces and talent i enjoy and 99% screeching harridan drama whose point entirely eludes me. i hate all of these people. i hope they fall into the ocean. maybe the fish will be a more receptive audience than i am.

#god this was cathartic #anyway excited to lose followers for that second answer!#asks

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lifeofkaze · 2 years

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A Search for Balance

CHAPTER 23: THE SEED OF DOUBT

Find the masterlist with all chapters of this story here, the previous chapter here, and the next one here.

Tagging: @flareshogwarts

A/N: Katriona Cassiopeia (in mention) belongs to @kc-and-co

HOLIDAY HEROES OR CHRISTMAS CLOWNS?

Rita Skeeter’s take on the first season half, how the Quidditch stars spent their Christmas break and who rang in 1994 with who.

The first half of the season is done and dusted, and our Quidditch teams have exchanged their broomsticks for candy canes. For the Montrose Magpies, the festive period has been particularly merry - they finished the year on top of the League, the Kenmare Kestrels and Wigtown Wanderers hot on their broomstick bristles. For the Chudley Cannons, it’s new year, same old story as they are cosying up with the Ballycastle Bats at the bottom of the table. Both teams will need to put their holiday hangovers aside quickly to prevent dropping down a division once the final round begins.

Someone else who should use her season break well is Wigtown’s problem Chaser Elizabeth Jameson. For the match against Montrose, coach Parkin gave preference to Jameson’s substitute Morgaine Yarwood, and Jameson hasn’t been seen attending practice since. Has the Bludger to her wrist renewed her former injury, or is there more to her continued absence?

Matthew put away the Daily Prophet and helped himself to another cup of coffee. There was a satisfied smile playing around his lips, but it vanished as he looked at the vacant seat across from him. Lizzie had been supposed to meet him for breakfast ten minutes ago, but - as per usual - there was still no sign of her.

From the first day of her Christmas break, which Lizzie spent at McRae Manor, the atmosphere between her and Matthew had been strained. She had initially planned on accompanying her parents on their trip to Boston, but Matthew had had different ideas.

“A lot has happened, and we could really use some time with just the two of us. Wouldn’t that be nice? It’d be easier for me to focus on your representation if I knew we were alright again.”

Lizzie had eventually agreed to stay, but she didn’t hide the fact that the manor wasn’t really where she wanted to be. She was concise to the point of being rude and spent as much time by herself as Matthew was willing to give her. He was disappointed in her behaviour but convinced that she would calm down sooner or later.

When the door to the breakfast room opened and Lizzie entered, Matthew smiled and indicated for her to join him at the table. The smile she returned looked forced, but surprisingly, she did as he had asked her to. Suppressing a sigh, Matthew’s eyes dropped to her wrist; the bandages Lizzie was supposed to wear were nowhere to be seen. Scowling, he snapped his fingers, and Dede, the McRae’s house-elf, appeared.

“Master Matthew?”

“My fiancée seems to have misplaced her bandages. Go and see that she is taken care of.”

The house-elf bowed, her long, floppy ears brushing over the carpet. She padded towards Lizzie and reached for her hand, but Lizzie withdrew it from her.

“You don’t need to do this. I’m fine.”

Dede made an unhappy sound. “Please, Miss Lizzie. If Dede doesn’t do as Master Matthew has instructed, she will have to drop a pot on her foot. Dede won’t like that at all.”

Lizzie’s eyebrows shot up, but she let the house-elf wrap her hand in some crisp white dressings without another word. Once Dede had left, she frowned at Matthew.

“Was that really necessary?”

“The Healers told you to keep it still. Why won’t you listen to what’s best for you?”

Lizzie didn’t reply, instead staring unhappily at her wrapped-up hand. Matthew let the flare of frustration rising in him go. The Bludger that had hit her during her last match had put her in pain; she hadn’t said so, but Matthew knew her well enough to have known anyway. To spare her from her own stubbornness, he had convinced Ethan that it would be better to let someone else play for the remaining games until the Christmas break. Lizzie hadn’t been amused to be removed from the roster, but if she wasn’t sensible about her health, someone else would have to be.

That her enforced break from Quidditch was taking her away from her teammates suited Matthew just fine. He had always known that Skye Parkin and her likes were trouble, but that they would go as far as goading her into trying to end their relationship, even Matthew hadn’t foreseen. The thought filled him with anger. If it wasn’t for Skye and her meddling, everything would still be on track.

What had happened between Lizzie and her ex-boyfriend was unfortunate, but Matthew was confident that she had learned her lesson. She would soon see that Matthew only had her best interest at heart. He loved her, after all.

Lizzie had finally stopped fretting about her new bandages and was helping herself to some breakfast. Matthew raised his eyebrows at her full plate, so she put it down with an irritated noise.

“What?”

“Do you really want to eat all this?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“It’s your fault you were late. We have people to meet.”

Lizzie pulled a face. “More wedding stuff?”

“No, not more wedding stuff,” came Matthew’s cool reply. “There’s still a lot to do before New Year’s Eve. You’re going to need a new dress, too.”

“I have plenty of dresses.”

“I don’t want to fight you on this.”

“You started it.”

Matthew sighed deeply. “Just go and get ready, please.”

Lizzie’s look was acidic. “Can I have my coffee, at least?”

“Suit yourself,” Matthew said with a defeated gesture of his hand.

The angry clanking of Lizzie’s teaspoon against the sugar bowl was interrupted when Dede reappeared, carrying a silver tray with a stack of letters, which she handed to Matthew with a bow.

“The post has arrived, Master Matthew.”

Matthew flicked through the letters after Dede had left, sorting them into business matters, private things, and those addressed to Lizzie. He paused briefly when his eyes fell onto an envelope with unfamiliar handwriting. It had Lizzie’s name on it, and when he was sure that she wasn’t looking, Matthew quickly put it between two letters from the Ministry and onto his business stack.

Lately, more and more offers from other clubs had begun rolling in, and Matthew took care that they landed on his desk instead of Lizzie’s. He had never told her about the offer from Montrose, and considering the fuss she’d made the last time he had accidentally opened her post, it would remain that way. He didn’t need her interfering with his work; she had done enough damage to her career for a while.

Putting the letters from her parents and grandmother onto the newest copy of Which Broomstick?, he handed everything to her.

“Here you go, dear. You may want to go through them when we’re back, though.”

“Whatever,” Lizzie said, leaving with her coffee and her post to finally get changed. Once she had gone, Matthew pulled out the unknown letter and opened it. It was from one Katriona Cassiopeia, a former Beater of the Caerphilly Catapults and friend of Lizzie’s, if he recalled correctly.

Upon reading what Katriona had written, Matthew’s scowl turned into a satisfied smirk. Orion Amari was spending his Christmas with Katriona and her husband and seemed to be incredibly disheartened about Lizzie’s return to her rightful place by Matthew’s side.

The fact that Lizzie had broken ties with Orion contented Matthew, but Katriona Cassiopeia was a variant he hadn’t foreseen. He didn’t quite know what to make of her; she seemed to be a woman with strong ideas and ever stronger tendencies to voice them, something that could prove problematic in the long run.

He was still weighing his options as he put the letter back onto the tray and lit it with fire from his wand. He would need to keep a closer eye on who Lizzie was surrounding herself with. She was quick to trust, but her spilling details about their relationship wouldn’t do. Maybe it was time to show her what could happen if she placed her faith in the wrong people.

He snapped his fingers, and Dede appeared once more.

“Fetch me some parchment and a quill,” he told her. “And get an owl ready. This letter is urgent.”

***

When Lizzie opened the Daily Prophet the following day, her mouth dropped open. Her eyes flew over the article, disbelief written all over her face as she held the paper out to Matthew.

“What is this?”

Matthew took the newspaper from her and quickly scanned the page. It was the gossip column, a picture of Lizzie and him attending Lewis Parkin’s farewell party last summer dominating the page. The headline above it read:

Fairytale Gone Bad? Rita Skeeter sheds light on British Quidditch’s hottest couple and their darkest secret.

“It appears we made it into the tabloids,” he said with a shrug. He kept his face straight, but there was a feeling of profound satisfaction as Lizzie pulled the newspaper back towards her and began to read out loud:

“It appears that Wigtown’s star Chaser Lizzie Jameson has been chasing more than Quaffles lately. Who is the mysterious man Jameson risks her pre-marital bliss with? Word in Diagon Alley is that the disturber of peace is none other than her teammate and former sweetheart Orion Amari, whose return from his mysterious hiatus has thrown the League and hearts of fans all over the country into turmoil. How does deceived fiancé and agent Matthew McRae cope with this horrific news as the wedding of his dreams approaches?”

Lizzie threw the Prophet on the table when she had finished. “Has this Skeeter woman lost her mind?”

“Just a bit of overly dramatic writing, if you ask me.”

“Do you find this funny?”

“It doesn’t bar a certain irony, don’t you think?” Matthew raised his eyebrows at Lizzie’s scalding look. “If I may remind you, I’m the one who got cheated on. You’re not in the position to berate me on how I want to deal with it.”

Lizzie fell silent, chagrin written on her face. At least she had the decency to feel ashamed about what she had done. It was a step in the right direction. Matthew’s face softened as he reached for her hand, on which her engagement ring was glittering.

“Don’t be upset. I forgave you, didn’t I? I don’t see why you’re making such a fuss about it, anyway,” he added after having read the article himself. “People like us get written about all the time. If I had to guess, I’d say that Rita Skeeter made this up to increase her sales. It’s not like she knows the actual truth, doesn’t she?”

“How would she come up with this, of all things?” Lizzie asked unhappily. Her eyes flicked to Matthew. “You didn’t tell anyone, did you?”

“Why would I? I’m not the one to gain something from discrediting you.”

Lizzie frowned. “What do you mean?

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but think about who would profit from putting you in a bad light. Your friend Skye, for example,” Matthew clarified when Lizzie didn’t catch on. “You’re raking in your well-deserved praise while she’s under constant scrutiny from her father. I’ve heard people questioning if making her captain instead of you was the right choice to begin with.”

Lizzie opened her mouth to protest, but Matthew wasn’t done yet.

“She was always jealous of you, even when you were at school. You said it yourself, she can’t accept it when she isn’t the centre of attention. And then, there’s your ex, of course.”

“Orion?” Lizzie whispered, all colour draining from her face.

“I’m afraid so.”

“No,” Lizzie shook her head. “He would never. And neither would Skye.”

“You know them better than me,” Matthew conceded, but the flicker of doubt in her eyes wasn’t lost on him, “but if Rita isn’t secretly a Seer, someone must have tipped her off. Skye is jealous, and Orion feels rejected. And who can blame him? I don’t know what I would do if someone tried to take you from me.”

He leaned across the table and took her hand again; this time, Lizzie let him.

“I can’t believe this,” she said, looking as miserable as Matthew had ever seen her. He rose to his feet and pulled her into his arms. She didn’t hug him back, but neither did she push him away as Matthew ran his hand up and down her spine and whispered:

“I wish I could have spared you this lesson. Sometimes, the people we trust most aren’t who they appear to be.”

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #harry potter hogwarts mystery #quidditch #orion amari #orion amari x mc #lizzie jameson #balance series #search for balance #sfb

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ffxiv-swarm · 1 year

Text

prompt 19: weal

Today was her nameday. She’d just woken up, and she was dreading it already. The summer solstice was a feast in honor of Azim, and amidst all the roasting of dzo and chugging of kumiss, not too many people had ever bothered to remember it was also one girl’s nameday. Her parents had always set aside the choicest bits of lamb for her, but if anyone else noticed it was only to paint her face with gold paint and parade her between two bonfires, crying to the Dawn Father that one of His acolytes had come. It had rather put a dent in her desires for feasting and dancing.

When she’d washed up in Eorzea, at first she’d resigned herself to being the only person who even knew she was a year older. Except then Rita had asked, and she’d answered, and on the next solstice—and the next, and the next—there had been a little round chocolate cake all for her, with candles on top shaped like the numbers of her new age.

(It hadn’t been the only reason she’d stayed with the Scions, but it certainly hadn’t hurt. The Steppes had never heard of chocolate.)

But she’d been in Garlemald for a year now, and there were no little chocolate cakes. What there were instead, still, were her fellow Xaela, and after the winter solstice bonfires word had gotten out that she was Dawn-touched. A quiet day was definitely out of the question, she thought sourly as she finished applying her face paint.

Someone was knocking on the door of the yurt. While Theo barked frantically as though they’d somehow missed it, Alan got up to open it.

“We need to borrow Gan—”

“No, you do not,” Alan snapped, and slammed the door in the Mol woman’s face.

Gan almost blinked, but that would have messed up the lines. “Not that I’m not thankful, but...” What was that about?

Alan flashed her one of those soft smiles over his shoulder, the one that said without words, I love you, and I’m so glad you’re here. “It’s your nameday. You deserve to be left alone.” He paused, looking oddly guilty, and then added, “I...made sure you’d have time off, too.”

Her heart somersaulted in her chest. “Not all alone,” she shot back, just in case her man got any ideas about blending into the wallpaper. Today of all days! “You’re here, aren’t you? And...” She swept her gaze up his body, taking in his fine fur-trimmed coat and snug trousers, and then back down just to linger on those shoulders again. And those thighs. She was a weak mortal woman and it was her nameday, sue her. “Seems you’ve got plans.”

He was blushing. They’d been together for years and he still went red when she looked at him like that, it was adorable. “...Aye,” he muttered. “You’ve been working so hard lately. I thought it would be nice to just...take Theo for a walk. No expectations that we’ll bring back game, no formal patrolling. Just us. Does that sound good? I—I mean, if it doesn’t, we can just—stay in. Do whatever you want.” He was bright red by the time he finished speaking.

“That sounds amazing.” It really did. Once, the merest flake of snow had sent her into shaking fits. But Garlemald had forced her to confront her old, vicious memories, and now...well, she’d never like snow or the cold, but it was incredible how much Alan’s presence warmed her up. Besides, summer in the Magna Glacies was almost bearable if you didn’t mind mud. “Lemme get my coat...”

As she started assembling her various layers, Alan added, “But we have to be back by sundown.”

So there was a time limit. Interesting. Her tail flicked thoughtfully. “Got it.”

Breakfast was tea, piping hot pancakes—with chocolate syrup, and when had they gotten that in?—and well-wishes from her fellow craftsmen. Theo bounded around their feet and then ahead of them as soon as they set out on their leisurely stroll around the perimeter, but she didn’t play tag with him like she normally did. That would’ve deprived her of Alan’s hand at the small of her back, Alan’s quiet laughter against her horn. And if she stopped, overflowing with love, to kiss him breathless behind a tree—well, she didn’t have anywhere else to be.

They made their way back to Laterum eventually, footsore but smiling, and then Alan announced he had another present for her—he’d arranged for private use of one of the baths for two hours, just for them. “So I can take care of your scales for you,” he murmured, but there was a flush to his face and a heat in his voice that let her know her scales were definitely not the only thing he was hoping to take care of.

Gods, she loved this man. Grinning, she breathed, “Lead th’ way.”

He did. And he was very, very thorough.

It was sundown by the time they finished. Alan hurried her past the commissary, which was odd. There was light shining under the door of their yurt, which was odder still. She was aware of quiet voices within.

More importantly, Alan was saying, “I hope you don’t mind, but...” as he opened the door.

“Surprise!”

As far as she knew, Rita was in Thavnair and Hoary Boulder was in Gridania—and yet here they were, grinning at her. They’d been joined not only by most of their other coworkers but Hoelun and Evrard as well. Avery and Thancred had even forgone their usual brooding in corners, though that might’ve just been because yurts didn’t actually have any. Portia was beaming as she joked, “I’d imagine you’re probably bloody sick of seein’ half our faces, but you couldn’t think we’d miss out on your nameday! And the cake!”

“There’s cake?!” she blurted out. And then, “’Scuse me, that’s mine—”

“Not this one,” Rita informed her. She was clearly trying for ruthless, but couldn’t keep a straight face. “Your Alan had it special ordered from the Bismarck. It’s a mocha ice cream cake with chocolate ganache frosting and serves about a dozen people. Even you couldn’t eat th’ whole thing by yourself!”

All of a sudden, some of the overheard conversations—alright, overheard threats—Alan had been hissing into his linkpearl made sense. She felt a grin split her face. “Aww, honey...”

He turned lightly pink. “You deserve it.”

She did.

Maybe this nameday would be worth celebrating after all.

#gan #alangan #scion life #ritanelle #ffxivwrite2023 #alan #fire the headcanons

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akingdomofswordsandstories · 4 years

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Unrequited

azriel (acotar) x reader

Summary: takes place during acofas, you and Azriel are mates but he doesn’t know it yet, angst, fluff, and everything in between

*Also this is my first imagine ever so I'm sorry if it sucks lol! There will be a part 2 to this, but I am still working on it!!

word count: 3927

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

The winter solstice was in a few days and you weren’t sure what to get some of the inner circle. You walked briskly down the streets of the Rainbow, chilled to the bone due to the wind. You had made the dumb mistake of rushing out of the townhouse - to avoid any questions of where you were going - without taking your scarf. Your current outfit, which was a chunky knit blue sweater with leggings and boots, wasn’t enough to keep the chill away. But the cold wasn’t the most important thing on your mind. You had already bought presents for Rhys, Feyre, Amren, and Elain, but that left Cassian, Mor, and Azriel. Mor and Cass would be pretty easy to buy for, but you put it off knowing they would look through your room trying to find their solstice gift. But Azriel, that would be much harder.

Every waking hour, the shadowsinger haunted your thoughts. Something you had come to conclude was unrequited.

You had realized the mating bond between you two before he did.

It had clicked a few months ago while on a diplomatic mission. The aftermath of Hybern had left things chaotic, and if you were being honest, it still was. Rhys decided to send Cassian, Mor, Azriel, and you to travel to some of the other courts to bring back reports on the recovery after the war. However, traveling did have some dangers. While you were on your way back to Velaris from the Winter Court, your group was ambushed by a group of Hybern soldiers who had been hiding out in the mountains. Had it not been for Azriel’s wings shielding you from the initial arrows, you would’ve surely been dead, and that’s when it clicked for you. But like an idiot, you didn’t say anything.

You had thought if the bond had clicked for you, it would've clicked for Azriel too. You realized your mistake when Azriel hadn’t acknowledged any change between you two. You hoped that he would figure it out in the coming weeks, but he didn’t. You knew the same sort of situation happened with feyre and rhys so you still held out some hope. But as the months went by, and you realized the bond still hadn’t clicked for Azriel and it felt too late to tell him.

At least that was the excuse you made up. Truly, you were also afraid of the rejection that could have followed. You weren’t a fool, you knew him and Elain had some sort of connection, and that shattered your dreams even more. The possibility that he wouldn’t accept the mating bond to be with the fair skinned, doe eyed fae. Everytime Azriel was in the same room as Elain, she was the only thing he would pay attention to. During gatherings, you would plaster on a smile and act as if you were happy, but Cassian and Mor, your best friends, could sense your discomfort. They tried to ask you about it, but seeing as you would shut down anything they said, they decided not to pry too much. Amren ended up figuring out the source of your discomfort had to do with Azriel, but kept your secret until you would be ready to share it.

You came to the conclusion that distancing yourself from him would be the best option, so that's what you did.

You walked down the street till you got to one of the finest seamstresses is Velaris. Since you were an artist like Feyre, you decided to draw out a dress and have it made for Mor. The color was blood red, her signature. It was a silk slip dress that would come down to her mid-lower calf and it would be embroidered with a brilliant gold thread. You drew out a pattern of the sun, stars, and moon, which you hoped she would like. To go along with Mor’s dress, you got a jeweler to make a custom necklace and bracelet set to go with it. You designed more dainty jewelry that had gold stars with diamonds, since she was a dreamer.

You decided to design Cassian’s gift as well, creating a beautiful silver and black dagger with a moonstone on the hilt. It was a beautiful dagger, but you also made sure it was usable, because you would hate for it to go to waste. To add onto the combat theme, you also decided to buy him new fighting leathers with touches of red embroidery to match his siphons. Lastly, you bought Cassian a bottle of fae wine, which definitely wouldn't last long.

The last thing you got for all three of you was a friendship necklace. Although that sounds corny, the two of them had become such a positive force in your life and you couldn’t imagine life without them. Keeping with the celestial theme for the friendship necklaces, you bought a sun, a moon, and a star. The sun for Cassian, the moon for Mor, and the star for you. Although they are opposites in some ways, all three need each other, just like the three of you needed each other.

Now that you had gotten Mor’s and Cassian’s solstice gifts figured out, it was onto Azriel’s gift. You honestly had no clue what to get him. Due to distancing yourself, you weren’t sure if there was something that he wanted. You were positively stumped. Lucky for you though, you ended up spotting Mor in another shop a few stores down from where you were, most likely getting the rest of her solstice gifts. You decided to sneak up on her as a friendly prank. Grabbing her shoulders, you yelled in her ear, making her jump.

“Oh mother above, it’s just you, y/n! You scared the life out of me” Mor said.

“Doing some last minute shopping?” you asked. “I could ask you the same thing”. Giving her a playful smack on the arm, the corners of your mouth curled upward, even the simplest remark from her could make you smile.

The two of you were currently standing in front of a jewelry shop, looking at the collections of necklaces and earrings through the window. “Wow” you breathed out “These are all so beautiful”

“Indeed they are, although they’re quite pricey”

“How pricey is pricey?”

She whispered the amount in your ear and you stopped breathing for a second, “Holy Mother wow, that is quite the price tag. At least we can admire it from a far”, you laughed out. Even though you got a very generous salary from Rhys, you still felt guilty spending so much money on materialistic things.

After a moment you said, “Actually, since you’re here, I do need help finding a solstice gift for Azriel”, softening your voice at the end, “Any ideas?” you asked, drawing out the syllables.

“Well, I always get Azriel some cool towels, clothing, or a dagger!” Mor said. A small scoff came out of my mouth as I shook my head and raised my eyebrows. “Fine!” she exclaimed, “I may have overheard him needing a new leather sheath for Truth Teller.” grumbling towards the end. “Oh that sounds great, thank you for the help! Now let’s go off to the closest leather goods store and find a sheath!”.

“y/n! I still have shopping to do” a scowl appearing on her face. “Fine, I guess I’ll just call Cassian, cause his judgement might be better than yours, when it comes to knife related things of course” you said, baiting her.

“Ugh, I hate you y/n”

“I hate you too Mor”

“Fine, let's get going before I change my mind” she grumbled. Then we took off down the streets of the Rainbow to find a sheath.

The task was easier said than done, for you at least. Being indecisive and a major over thinker, you had looked through close to 100 sheaths, but none of them seemed good enough to hold the blade that Azriel never let anyone else touch. Except Elain.

While you were lost in your thoughts, you laid your y/c eyes on the perfect sheath. It had a bright cobalt blue stitching to match Az’s siphons. Along the tip and lining the top of the leather was a thin coat of silver plating with little sapphires embedded in the metal. You quickly snatched it up and paid a hefty price for it, but it was perfect.

“Thank god you finally picked one, it felt like we were in that store for centuries”. Mor sighed, probably a sigh of relief for getting out of the store, “But y/n, it’s perfect, I know Azriel will love it”

“Do you really think so? I just want it to be the perfect gift and I’m scared he won’t like it because what if it’s too simplistic and what if-”

“Hey! It's perfect! Don’t stress too much y/n. And for the record, I think that you’re an amazing gift giver - the amount of thought you put into gifts make it all the better.”

You could feel a blush creeping up your cheeks and mumbled a small thank you.

“Anyway while we’re here do you need to get anything to go with your solstice outfit?”

“Oh Actually, I was so stressed about getting everyone’s solstice gift that I forgot to buy my dress” your voice falling off at the end. You felt yourself being yanked to a harsh stop and the saw Mor’s face staring at yours, mouth gaping and eyes wide.

“Are you crazy?? Solstice is in 3 days and you still don’t have anything??? Oh honey, our shopping isn’t done yet.” And with that statement you found yourself being pulled into the nearest dress shop. After trying on nearly 20 dresses you finally found the perfect one, which Mor approved. It was a light blue silk dress that was more fitted at the top but flared down at your waist. It had a cowl neckline, a slit going up the side to the mid upper thigh, and accentuates your curves beautifully and has a slight shimmer to it. You looked ethereal in it

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

After your exhausting day of shopping, you couldn’t wait to get out of the cold. You swiftly walked back to the townhouse. Once inside you made your way to your room to set down the gifts, change your clothes, and grab your book. Then you quietly headed down to the kitchen to make yourself a cup of tea and sat on the couch to read. The house was quiet since all of the others decided to go to Rita’s tonight. You decided to stay home for some much needed relaxation. You opened your book and started reading. After a few hours, you felt your eyes drooping and eventually, sleep consumed you.

The loud noise of the front door caused you to stir and your eyes fluttered open. You were too exhausted to look so you just laid your head back down and tried to go to sleep. You could hear Mor whispering something and then felt yourself being lifted off the couch and being held close to a chest with your blanket still draped on you.

“Cass?” you whispered hoarsely along with a string of incoherent words

You heard a slight laugh “Not Cass but It’s ok, go back to sleep”. Then you felt yourself being gently placed on your bed and the sleep hit you before you could mutter a thank you.

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

The sun was setting towards the sea as you sat in the sitting room of the town house. You were in your blue silk dress with a glass of wine in your hand. Rhys and Feyre were by the mantel, quietly talking while Mor and Amren were across the room. Near the window I saw Elain, and from the corner of my eye I could see Azriel making his way towards her. My face fell but I quickly plastered on a smile, not wanting to concern anyone. Especially since today was also Feyre’s birthday and we had planned a surprise for her. Feyre thought she could slip her birthday past us, but we hadn’t forgotten. After a few minutes, Cassian made his way from the kitchen with the enormous cake.

You floated towards Feyre and gave her arm a light squeeze. “Happy Birthday, make a wish before the candles melt!”

She blew out the candles and then we ate cake before opening up the presents.

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

Rhys snapped his fingers and piles of brightly wrapped bags and boxes filled up the sitting room. Amren was the first to open her presents. Naturally, everyone got her something jewelry related. Amren opened mine and you saw a wide smile set across her face, she picked up the diamond necklace and nodded a ‘thank you’ your way. You returned the gesture back, a small smile forming on your face.

Next, Cassian handed Mor her present from him and she pulled out a-. You couldn’t believe what you were seeing. He bought her red lingerie. Your face turned slightly red, but the Mor said “Don’t let him fool you: he couldn’t think of a damn thing to get me, so he gave up and asked me outright. I gave him precise orders. For once in his life, he obeyed them.”

Then, you heard one sharp knock at the door.

Nesta.

You saw Cassian tense up a bit. Nesta walked in, linking arms with Elain. She got a glass of wine before heading to sit in a chair in the back of the room. The silence was deafening. Finally Varian started talking and the present opening resumed.

From Amren, you received a new calligraphy set. It was so beautiful and you loved it. From Rhys, you got some books. It was perfect since you loved to read, and they were ones that you had been wanting to read for a long time. From Feyre, you received a painting as well as a new paint brush kit.

Cassian made his way to you and set a gift down in your lap. You opened the dark blue box that Cassian had placed in your lap. He had gotten you a sky blue hardbound journal with a gold embossed star on it. You desperately needed a new one, and this was perfect. You walked over and gave him a hug, whispered “Thank you, I love it.”.

Next you opened Mor’s present. You nearly choked when you saw what she got you and your whole face heated up. She got you a matching navy blue lingerie set like the one Cassian bought her.

“Yeah, I wasn’t too sure what to get you so I thought we could twin”. You looked around the room and saw the others holding in their laughs. You could’ve sworn you saw a tinge of red on Azriel’s ears. You just smiled and mouthed a silent “I’m going to kill you, but thank you” at her.

There wasn’t anything from Azriel. Your heart twinged. Had you not been important enough? It was just a present you reminded yourself, fixing your composure before handing Cassian his present.

He ripped it open like an animal, squealing when he saw it. A promising reaction given the amount of thought you put into it.

“Did you design these? They look amazing!”

“Yeah, I’m glad you like it. It took a long time to figure out what to get for your dumb ass”

“You mean my cute ass”, you smacked his arm and then got up to give Mor her present.

You closely watched her reaction as she opened her dress and jewelry, a large smile spreading across her face.

“You really buy the perfect presents y/n, I love it”.

“Oh Cass, Mor. One more thing.” You pulled out the small boxes with the friendship necklaces and bracelets handing it to them. “This was just a little something extra I thought of, I hope you like it”. You knew you would have started stuttering and crying if you had said the meaning to them, so you just handed them notes instead. They read over them, eyes glossing over, and pulled you into a hug.

“This is the only time I’ll wear jewelry” Cass stated, causing you to chuckle

Then Mor said, “I am never taking this off” causing you to laugh again.

Finally, Azriel opened up his presents. He had opened up all the others. All that was left was yours and Elain’s gift to him. He found his way to your present first, opening it.

“A new sheath for Truth Teller. I heard you needed a new one” you quietly said.

He held your gaze and smiled, “Thank you, it's great”. Suddenly feeling exposed, you quickly gave him a nod.

Then he went to open Elain’s gift. “It’s a powder to mix in with any drink.” she said.

Silence.

Elain bit her lip and then smiled sheepishly. “It’s for the headaches everyone always gives you. Since you rub your temples so often.”

Silence again.

Then Azriel tipped his head back and laughed.

You hadn’t heard him laugh before, and mother above it was gorgeous. You had never heard a sound so deep and joyous, a sound which made your heart clench. A part of you wished you were the reason he was laughing. You forced on a smile and spent the rest of the night drinking away the slight pain in your chest.

You were exhausted by the end of the night, sitting on the couch with Cassian and Mor, Azriel and Rhys seated on the opposite side of you.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw movement towards the door, and craned your head to see what was going on. It was Nesta making her way to the door. You felt the couch lift next to you.

Cassian. He had swiftly pushed past Feyre and went after Nesta. This wouldn’t end well.

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

Cassian had come back quiet and brooding, walking straight to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of liquor. You got up off the couch and followed him straight into the kitchen.

“Cass, let’s take a walk, yeah?”

“I just took a walk”

“It wasn’t a question”. You grabbed a white shawl and his hand and led him outside. “What happened?”

“What’s there to talk about? It was like all the other times. Why did I have to fall in love with someone who doesn't even love me back. Who looks at me like the Illyrian born bastard I am. Who hates the idea of being in the same room as me.”

You grabbed Cass’ hand, lightly squeezing it. “Don’t say that. Nesta, she,” your voice stopping for a second “She’s different. The way she handles pain and copes is different. Give her time. She just needs time. I know how much that may pain you, but you can’t rush healing”

You pulled him into a hug

“And for the record, I know the feeling more than you know” you quietly said “unrequited love”, head pointed at the ground.

Cassian tilted his head down to look at you, his face painted with confusion. You could tell he wanted to know more, but didn’t want to pry too much.

You hesitated before continuing, not sure if you wanted to reveal your closely guarded secret. “I-“ your voice faltering, “I found my mate”. The words seemed to have rushed out of your mouth and tears pricked your eyes as you said that. After months of hiding it, you had finally gotten it off your chest.

Cassian stood shocked, staring at you. “You found your mate? And you didn’t think to tell any of us? How long ago was this”

“I-, I found out who he was around the same time Rhys sent us on that diplomatic mission. And I didn’t tell anyone because he doesn’t even know yet.”

“That was almost 6 months ago, and you didn’t say anything?”.

The tears had started flowing at this point, “I thought he would figure it out. But by the time I realized he wasn’t going to figure it out, it was too late. He had already set his eyes on someone else. And I know I could never compete with Elain, even if I am his mate.” the last part slipped out without you realizing.

“Elain? What does she-“ his eyes widening “Does that mean Az is-“

You slowly nodded, tears welled up, threatening to spill out.

“Oh, mother…”, he pulled you into a tighter hug and that’s when the gates broke. You couldn’t hold back your tears as you sobbed into Cassian's chest, his hand stroking your back.

you must have been there for 15 minutes before you realized the other might start getting suspicious. Regaining your composure, you dried your tears and tried, to the best of your ability, to hide that you had been crying.

Looking back at Cassian, you gave him a slight smile before muttering, “Thank you. I’m sorry for dumping that on you, but please promise me you won’t tell anyone. Please.”

“Of course y/n, and don’t apologize, if it makes you feel better, it helped to take my mind off of Nesta and my own problems, which I desperately needed” he chuckled out.

With the smile still on your face, you linked arms with Cassian before saying, “Oh mother above it’s freezing, let’s get back inside before we turn into popsicles!”

He let out another laugh before the two of you made your way back into the house.

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

You walked into the house and your sliver of happiness was crushed as you saw Az and Elain sitting at the table smiling and laughing quietly to themselves. Elain had her sketchbook out, showing Az her plans for the garden.

Your distraught had been clear to anyone who saw your face, and you were too tired to realize you weren’t able to hide it fast enough. Not being able to view the scene anymore, you quickly got up, muttered happy solstice, and grabbed your coat and purse before heading out the door to your apartment.

While walking home, you were consumed by your thoughts. You hated the pangs of jealousy that coursed through you. You often found yourself jealous of her soft spokenness and kindness. You also found yourself jealous of her effortless beauty. It was something that kept you up at night. She was so likeable and easily approachable, something you wished you were.

You were so drowned in your own thoughts that you hadn’t noticed a male following you till it was too late. One of his hands clamped on your mouth while the other grabbed your waist and pushed you into the nearest alleyway.

The male pulled out a knife and your tears started to fall. You were terrified about what he would do to you. This could be the last time you would have seen your family. You were struggling and kicking against him but it was no use. Your senses were groggy from the alcohol and drowsiness.

You had been so stupid to walk home alone at 2 in the morning. No matter how angry you were, you should’ve just stayed at the town house.

Before you could realize what was happening, you felt a sharp pain shoot through your side.

The sound of a clatter.

Receding footsteps.

A crimson stain blooming.

Your body crumpled to the ground and your vision started blacked out. This was it. Nobody could hear you and nobody could save you.

#azriel x reader #acotar x reader #acotar #azriel #cassian #imagine #sarah j maas #azriel acotar x reader

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ratdoeswriting · 2 years

Text

juno steel and how to pretend you're fine

Summary: Juno hasn’t had a bad day in a long time. Okay, maybe he has, but not a bad-bad day, not a self-sacrifice-and-gun-fights bad day, not a what-if-I-crash-my-car bad day. He especially hadn’t had an I-need-to-hurt-myself-and-I-don’t-care-who-I-take-with-me kind of bad day.Except today. Today felt like all of those wrapped into one and multiplied by a thousand.

Prompt: “What if I just crash this car and make it all stop?” from prompt-dealer (i think)

Pairings: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel

Warnings: canon typical suicidal thoughts/ suicidal tendancies, mentions of car crashes, intrusive thoughts, previous minor character death

Word count: 1.6K

A/N: this is cross posted on ao3 and my main blog - please lmk if i need to add any tags

~~~

Juno hasn’t had a bad day in a long time. Okay, maybe he has, but not a bad-bad day, not a self-sacrifice-and-gun-fights bad day, not a what-if-I-crash-my-car bad day. He especially hadn’t had an I-need-to-hurt-myself-and-I-don’t-care-who-I-take-with-me kind of bad day.

Except today. Today felt like all of those wrapped into one and multiplied by a thousand.

The old Juno would have given in. He would have entertained the idea for all of no time at all and then dived in head first with his eyes wide open. Juno-now (he wasn’t a new Juno, he was just… now, here) still entertained the idea, hell, he might even wonder why he wanted to do whatever it was. But he wouldn’t do it. Probably.

He definitely wouldn't hurt someone else, no matter what he did.

~~~

It had started after the last job, which had gone quite spectacularly wrong.

Juno and Peter hadn’t gone in expecting an easy job - stealing a painting off the wall of a crowded ballroom was obviously going to be difficult - but that had gone off without a hitch, had gone off easier than the last time they did such a heist. No, the real issue came when a different thief had tried to steal a vase and gotten caught. It wasn’t even a nice vase, definitely not nice enough to die over.

It had turned into a messy hostage situation, Juno’s HCPD training and his own career as professional hostage kicking in as he tried desperately to find a way to get everyone out.

You can’t save everyone, Juno.

Three civilians and the thief had wound up dead, and more injured than Juno’s guilt ridden brain could count, and by the time he and Peter were back on the Carte Blanche, Juno could barely speak for the shock of what had happened. Neither Buddy nor Peter said anything when Peter debriefed with no input from Juno.

Buddy did, however, decide to put off selling the painting for a little while, giving everyone some time to relax. This is where Juno’s bad day had started.

~~~

In the timeless limbo between jobs, it was easy to lose yourself: Rita in her streams with Jet; Buddy and Vespa in their wedding plans, and Peter and Juno in each other. Juno couldn’t help the feeling he was losing himself alone.

He knows he should have said something to Peter, or Rita, or even Vespa if he was desperate, but he was too busy trying to convince himself had it under control.

His mind had been racing in loose circles, chasing empty thoughts and half-memories of every time Juno had fucked up, every time he had let someone die, every time he had almost let someone die.

Benten. Yasmin. Alessandra.

His head felt heavy with it, weighing him down into a feeling he thought he had long forgotten, numbing him so he couldn’t feel his way out. All he could find in the mess was the handy how-to he had written himself.

How to pretend your fine when you absolutely, totally are - by Juno Steel

~~~

He had been doing a good job, if he did say so himself. Even if he and the rest of the ship knew that was a lie.

Rita had been hovering more, not smothering him, just letting him know she was there; Jet never mentioned when Juno came and sat silently with him for a few hours, handing him tools when he asked. Buddy had outright told him that if he wanted to talk then she would always have time, ‘always, darling, just say the word’. Even Vespa had been a little nicer - their typically aggressive banter becoming more like a strangely aggressive therapy.

And Peter. Peter was Juno’s anchor. He always was.

But he could only pretend for so long.

~~~

Tonight, Juno wanted to drive - being inside was not helping, and so, from one moment to the next, Juno found himself behind the wheel, Peter in the passenger seat. It was late and Juno couldn't remember what planet they were on anymore.

The car’s single head light shone dimly on the road in front of them and Juno stared blankly through the windshield, muscle memory alone stopping him from crashing.

He used to do this, he used to drive for hours, let his numbness fill the car till he forgot he was driving and drifted mentally, drifted physically…

He wanted to drift today. He wanted to feel weightless.

The repetitive splashing rounds of the wheels sent Juno spiralling again, an endless list of people he had failed circling through his mind over and over and over again and goddammit he couldn't think, couldn't breathe, he needed it to stop, even if just for a second.

“What if I just crash this car and make it all stop?”

~~~

Peter had noticed the shift in Juno immediately after the job. He had seen his smiles become more strained, his eyes were hazy and unfocussed, movements slowed - as if he was drifting away, moving through a time Peter wasn’t quite in.

He stayed close to Juno, and when Juno suggested a drive, Peter thought maybe this could be a good time to talk to him. But Juno had said nothing. They had been driving for hours. The suns had set and Juno didn’t seem to be heading home anytime soon, so Peter was about to speak, about to ask Juno what he could do.

“What if I just crash this car and make it all stop?”

Peter was silent for a second, not quite sure he had heard Juno properly. Juno didn’t even seem aware that he had spoken aloud, nor did he seem to remember Peter was even there. He’s almost certain that the car was speeding up.

“Juno, can you pull over please, love?”

The car swerved slightly, Juno startled at Peter’s voice, and Peter reached out and grabbed the wheel, pulling them back onto the road, “Juno, you need to pull over.”

The car slowed and, after what felt like a lifetime, came to a stop, a small cloud of dust flying up from under the wheels.

“I- I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I should be fine.” Juno’s hands were gripped tightly on the wheel in a way that could have only been painful.

“Why don’t we get some fresh air, and then we can talk?”

Slowly, even slower than in the past week, Juno climbed out of the car and sat with Peter on the bonnet, staring up at the sky.

“I should be fine,” he said again, “I’ve been fine and now… and now I'm not fine!” Juno choked on a sob. God, he hated being vulnerable.

Peter considered this for a moment, “I know this is going to sound cliche, dear, but you don’t have to be okay. You’re allowed to be sad and angry, and-”

“But I am always angry, Nureyev. Always. I am angry at myself because I keep letting people get hurt and get dead. I’m angry at my mom and I’m angry at every goddamn person I meet and I don’t even know why half the time. There’s just- there’s just rage, and I can control it, better than I could before, but I dont- I dont know if I want to anymore. I just want to let go.”

“Why can’t you let it out, Juno?”

“I’ve done that before. Blind rage is how you get got,” Juno very carefully didn’t look at Peter when he said, “Letting go is how… letting go is how I nearly got myself. I’ve come so close to leaving this place, finally getting some damned rest. I don’t know what kept me here.”

Peter tried not to be too shocked at the almost wistful tone Juno used - they could talk about that another day, for now Peter just prompted, “You’re still here?”

Juno laughed humourlessly, “Yeah, that’s because I always got stupid lucky, and one day that’s gonna bite me in the ass. It was always other people getting got, never me,” He laid back against the windscreen, legs kicking softly at the bumper, “God, I’ve killed so many people.”

“Did you, though? Did you kill them all or did you blame yourself for not being able to do the impossible? Did you blame yourself for not being able to save every single person you met - a task which, I might add, is quite impossible, love.”

He shook his head and kept staring at the stars, looking for answers in the constellations. Peter laid next to him.

It was a few minutes before Juno broke the silence, “Can we stay here a little while, before we go back?”

Peter would’ve stayed there all night if that’s what Juno needed.

“Would you tell me a story, Juno? Maybe about someone you saved?”

Reluctantly, Juno began to tell Peter about an eccentric real estate lawyer and her exploding, tuna-brick-loving cat, absently tracing patterns on the back of Peter’s hand.

They laid there for almost an hour, but the cool night was interrupted by Peter’s comms beeping twice, signifying a message.

Is everything okay darling? You’ve been gone a while.

As good as it can be right now. We’ll be back soon.

“Who’s that?” Juno mumbled sleepily, his gaze shifting to Peter.

“It was Buddy. Perhaps we should head back to the Carte Blanche.”

Juno nodded, sliding off the car but stopping short halfway to the driverside.

“Would you like me to drive, dear?.”

Juno looked like he wanted to protest, like he wanted to tell Peter that he wouldn’t actually crash, but instead he just nodded and tossed the keys over the car.

~~~

Peter knew that they would have to talk properly, they had to talk about Juno trusting him and the rest of their family; they would definitely have to talk about Juno’s allusions to his… more self destructive tendencies. For now, though, Juno dozing on his shoulder, the night road leading them home, would be enough to put both of their minds at rest for the night.

#the penumbra podcast #the penumbra spoilers #a bit #canon typical suicidal thoughts #intrusive thoughts #car crash #mention #car accident #junoverse #juno steel #peter nureyev #lmk if i need to tag anything else #ratwrites

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tinyboxxtink · 3 years

Text

"Not My Yacht" *Chapter 1?*

So this is interesting:

So "Not My Yacht" was my very first fic. Like, I'm talking VERY VERY first.

So when I started asking around about ideas for a new series, a few of my lovelies went through my one shots and this story and "Doodling" got some good votes.

So, I decided to include the one shot and just added to it for a POTENTIAL new series. We'll see how this chapter goes over.

Also I'll be including Rita Calhoun in this for the FIRST time ever, so I may need assistance from @storiesofsvu to get her voice right. I did my best here. I'll be honest I've never really watched her, just that one where that guy blackmailed her or something.

Also Also, if it wasn't obvious enough this is obviously the beginning of the SVU episode "Her Negations".

I don't want to give anything away because I haven't even really thought that far, but I'm 95% sure this is going to turn in a William Lewis situation fic. So...pretty dark. I'm just warning you NOW.

Tag List

@madamsnape921

@lolliepopsicle

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@milkshqke

@wanniiieeee

@word-scribbless

@gibbs274

@sassyada

@aprildecker-blog

@bookishfanfic

@stars-in-the-skies-world

@stars-trash-18

@omgsuperstarg

@objection-argumentative

And yes, the results are in. There is a part 2!

You breathed in the salty air of the sea of the sunny South Hampton shore; It was a beautiful day for a yacht party.

You walked along the pier as you got closer to your boss’s boat: The Crime Wave. Her husband’s idea of a funny name she claimed as she had invited people from the office to this soiree. You were lucky to even get an invite, just being the assistant to the owner of the law firm. “Who else is going to help me dodge boring conversations with men who just wanted a "free ride” on the bosses boat?“ She had teased you; or at least you hoped she was kidding.

You really wanted to just relax and mingle among the elite lawyers of NYC, seeing as you wanted to be one of them someday.

You saw your boss, Rita Calhoun waving you down as you reached the dock space.

"Ah! There you are, for a minute I thought I’d have to mix my own drinks!” She laughed with a wink. You laugh nervously, unable to discern if she was kidding.

“Calm down sweetie, I’m a big girl. Besides, I like to make them myself, strong,” she laughed again, patting your shoulder. Crap had your face looked that panicked? Keep it cool!

“Go ahead, enjoy yourself. I’ll be here, making sure none of those damn punks tries to sneak on here for free booze,” she scoffed, nodding to a group of highly dressed teens playing chicken on the shoreline.

You nodded with a half laugh, stepping onto the yacht. It was a decent size, a second level deck and a very spacious main level. Not a lot of people had arrived yet, so you decided to pick a spot on the yachts back bench area before all the seating was taken. You began removing your over clothes revealing your swimming wear when you hear Rita greet someone else.

“Ah, Barba. You know we have flare guns on board,”

You turn to see the ADA of New York, Rafael Barba. He’s dressed in a windbreaker and what could be either a dark red or salmon polo. You realize Mrs. Calhoun is referring to the almost neon yellow color of the windbreaker, and you can’t help but giggle. It must have been way too loud because they both turn to you which caused you to immediately shut up and go back to undressing and laying out your towel, but ever so slightly still honed in on the conversation.

“You can never be too careful Rita, who knows how many enemies I’ve made in this town; someone might throw me over,” he smirked.

“And anyone here could make it look like a very convincing accident….even my aspiring protege over there,” Rita nods over to you, knowing full well what you were doing.

Barba turned and looked at you, your body frozen in mid towel thrust. You didn’t know whether to throw it over yourself or just run off the boat right there.

“I know it’s an awful jacket dear, you don’t have to keep staring at him.” She called over to you. God why did she have to be so….her.

“Jesus Rita give the girl a break, or did you invite her just to torture her on unbillable hours?” Barba scoffed with a half smile, walking over to you.

“Is it really worth the minimum wage to put up with her?” He asked.

“Mmm…it’s more for the experience, honestly.” You replied surprisingly smoothly.

“Oh….well I mean I could give you the experience without–” He started but was interrupted by your boss’s loud exclaiming.

“Yeah I’ll BET you’d give her experience Barba! Stop hitting on my intern and mingle with the adults.”

If you could dig a hole straight through the boat into the ocean you would do it right then and there.

“…..Without THAT.” He rolled his eyes, lightly flipping her the bird behind his back. You see her respond with a laugh then turns her attention back to the guests boarding.

“She’s probably been drinking since she got on the boat, yeah?” He asked you.

“I…I don’t know I just got here….” You managed to squeak out as your towel strayed from your hands. Barba grabbed it and helped you reposition it on the bench.

“Kinda windy for a yacht party, but Rita will take any chance to celebrate anything remotely resembling a boost to her ego. Am I right?” He chuckled, before sitting down on your towel.

“Just to keep it from blowing away, do you mind?” He asked, gesturing for you to join him. You nodded a boisterous “NO”, plopping next to him on the bench.

“I’m Rafael Barba,” he extended his hand to you, which you took and shook gently, praying to God he didn’t notice you were literally shaking. You had probably had the biggest crush on him since you started working with Mrs. Calhoun, he was constantly in her office challenging her with warrants and favors.

“Oh yeah I know,” you blurted out, mentally facepalming immediately.

“I see….” He raised an eyebrow. “And you are….?”

You were about to answer when his phone went off. He answered it putting one finger up and mouthing the words “one second.”

“Barba. Yeah….what? Seriously, Olivia? On a Sunday?!” He groaned into his phone with an exaggerated eye roll. He raised his hand and ran it over his face begrudgingly as he talked.

“Yeah….alright, fine. Yeah I’ll be there, give me an hour. I’m in the Hamptons. Because it’s my day off, Liv! Do you think I lock myself in my office over the weekends like a vampire in a coffin? Yeah…I’m sorry, I just…” He glanced at you.

“I was enjoying my Sunday.” He gave you a small sad smile.

“Yeah. Ok. See you soon.” He hung up the phone with an exasperated sigh.

“I’m sorry, I gotta go back to the city. Don’t let Rita push you around too much, okay?” He chuckled, rubbing the top of your head like a puppy. You felt your face scrunch up in annoyance, seriously? He thought of you as a kid?!

He obviously noticed, and quickly held out his hand again very sternly.

“Sorry, future counselor.” He said in an overly serious tone, and you couldn’t stop yourself from giggling. Again. Like an idiot.

Relieved he had fixed his faux paux, he gave you one last beautiful Barba grin as he jogged over to Rita and told her something before nodding to you once again, then walked off the boat and disappearing down the pier.

Your boss sauntered over to you, a shit eating grin across her face.

“Well Cinderella, you sure kept that cool.” She gestured for your phone beside you.

“Be sure to tell him your name this time,” she winked, handing it back to you. You glanced down at it as she walked away; she had added a number to your contacts.

“BHole Barba.” You laughed out loud. Nice. Maybe she wasn’t such a horrible boss after all….

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

By Monday you still hadn’t had the balls to text Rafael Barba. You had just stared at the number in your phone, imagining all the possibilities contacting him would lead to. You may have gotten so far as planning your summer wedding in the Hamptons, but nobody needed to know that.

But you had chickened out and left it alone, and now you were sitting at your desk typing up a memo for Rita when you saw him come waltzing through the door.

“Ah, Cinderella!” He smiled at you.

“Hey…” Your mind went blank, you couldn’t think of words. Wait, had he already given you a nickname?

“Cinderella?” You blinked in confusion.

“Well I never caught your name-- But I guess I shouldn’t even push it, you’ve clearly moved on and I must seem like a creep,” His train of thought proceeded out loud as he realized you hadn’t taken his number and here he was still flirting with you. Rita had given it to you, he had seen her type it in your phone. Obviously you weren’t interested, why was he pushing this?

“What? NO!” You said a little louder than you intended, actually a lot louder than you intended. You slapped your hand over your mouth after your little outburst, but to you relief he was still smiling.

“Oh? Well I suppose that’s good…” He was obviously fishing for your excuse as to why you had waited until he popped back in your face to talk to him.

“No, I um--” You racked your brain for an excuse that wasn’t “I was busy planning our lives together”.

“I….couldn’t think of something interesting to say,” You finally admitted with a pitiful sigh. You were not a good liar, and under pressure, forget about it.

Again, he still smiled-- but this time he laughed along with it.

“I mean, ‘Hello’ is always an option,” He chuckled. “Or...your name?”

“Oh!” Idiot. You hadn’t even given him your name, how was he supposed to fall madly in love with you without a name?

“Y/N,” You stuck your hand out awkwardly, Was this a ‘shake hands’ moment? Hadn’t you already met before? You stared at your hand as you moved it slightly back and forth, arguing with yourself whether or not this was necessary. Luckily, Rafael settled the argument by taking your hand and shaking it firmly.

His hands were so soft, his long fingers enveloped yours in them. You lost yourself in the moment, and before you knew it he was making an uncomfortable cough, snapping you back to reality. You dropped his hand and snapped yours back into your body like a zip cord, your face in a horrified stare.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry, that was so weird. I’m weird. I’m--”

“Well I don’t know what you were so worried about Cinderella, you’re clearly a chatterbox,” He gave you a tongued smile, referring to the word vomit you just couldn’t help spill all over him.

“Oh yeah, I’m a total word machine,” You laughed nervously. A word machine? What the fuck was that?

“...Word machine. Right,” He nodded in amusement. “Well word machine, would you mind shooting some words to my phone, or do you just enjoy this face to face thing?”

“With that face? Definitely the latter. But you can have my number anyway,” You typed a quick message and sent it to his number. Damn that was smooth! How did you do that?

Rafael made an impressed face with your line, but when he opened his phone his brows furrowed.

“Hit?” He gave you a curious look as he read the text out loud.

“Fuck it was supposed to be ‘hi’-- stupid autocorrect,” You muttered angrily. Yeah, that was more like you.

“Oh yes, the dreaded autocorrect,” He nodded while saving your number. “Turning fucks into ducks since 2011,”

“Oh I didn’t have a phone in 7th grade but I’ll take your word for it,” You laughed, but stopped when his face twisted into a mix of horror and discomfort when he realized how young you actually were.

Dammit. Why...why would you do this?

“....Right, is Rita in?” He quickly shoved his phone back in his pocket and headed into Rita’s office before you could answer.

“...Idiot!” You yelled at yourself as your hands went over your face and your face planted into your desk.

Well, that was nice while it lasted. All 2.5 seconds of it.

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

“Well Barba, about time,” Rita smirked as Rafael abruptly burst into her office trying to get away from you. “Done flirting with the intern are we?”

“Shut up,” He rolled his eyes, though his face was a deep shade of red.

“Oh no, what happened? Did your dentures fall out in front of her?” She smirked.

“I’m younger than you!!” He scoffed.

“Yeah but I’m not the one trying to boff a 25 year old,” She smirked harder, making Rafael angrier.

“Can I just get the warrant I came here for, Rita?” He huffed.

“Oooh, struck a nerve there, did I?” Rita chuckled as she grabbed some papers from her desk and started to hand them to him. “Barba, for the record I’m really not judging you. If I were 20 years younger, I’d hit it too,”

“Excuse me?”

“I had a lot of ‘cats’ in college,” She winked.

“Wow,” Rafael held up his hands. “Rita, we really don’t need to be that personal.”

“Fine, but all I’m saying is if you like the girl, don’t let a stupid thing like age deter you. Don’t tell her I said this, but she’s actually very competent and organized. I would almost prefer her not to graduate, unless she'd come work for me. She’s going to be a hell of a lawyer,” She gestured outside to your desk.

Rafael looked at the ground as he mulled over what she was saying, a small smile crawled across his lips as she complimented your potential.

“I’ll take that under advisement, Mrs. Calhoun,” He nodded as he walked towards the door with the papers in his hand, a huge smile across his face now.

He walked out to find you cursing at yourself and whimpering in embarrassment at your desk. When you heard the door shut you snapped to attention and stared at him, shocked he hadn't sprinted out of the office like Usain Bolt. Even more shocking was that Cheshire cat grin now upon his face.

“I-I’m sorry, I totally meant I was--” You tried doing math trying to make yourself reasonably older.

“It’s fine,” He chuckled as he put a hand over your counting fingers. You blushed at the touch of his skin on yours again, but quickly shoved your hands under the desk nervously as you tried not to look him square in the eye. His eyes were so gorgeous you were positive staring straight into them would actually get you pregnant.

“So does Rita ever unchain you from this desk?” He smirked as he was now very aware and very amused at how nervous he made you. He may be old, but clearly he’s still got it.

“Oh yeah, if I ask very nicely she let’s me--” You tried to think of something witty, but it wasn’t coming with him staring at you with those eyes. “....Yes,” You wanted to put your hands over your face but you didn’t want it to be a ‘thing’.

“Well, maybe if you’re an extra good girl she’ll let you off your leash early tonight,” He winked.

“....Am I a dog or a toddler in that situation?” You were genuinely asking, but Rafael clearly realized how insulting that must have seemed.

“Oh no no no, I just, shit,” He tried to backtrack but if he was being totally honest, you made him nervous. Maybe he didn’t have ‘it’ as much as he thought.

You noticed he was the one blushing now, oh my god were you making him nervous? QUICK, BE SMOOTH. BE SMOOTHER THAN YOU’VE EVER BEEN IN YOUR LIFE.

“Are you asking me out, counselor?” You did your best “sultry “voice with a bat of your eyes. Were you batting them too much? What was too much? Oh god you’ve done it for too long now. STOP BATTING.

“...I don’t know, guess you’ll have to wait for me to text you, future counselor,” He was impressed by the line, and decided to bow out before either of you made idiots of yourselves again. He gave you a wink and sauntered out of the office.

Great. Now he’ll probably make you wait two days for a--

*BEEP*

Your phone went off in your desk. You pulled it out to see a text message:

BHOLE BARBA: Dinner? Tonight?

You really needed to change his contact name. But that wasn’t the point right now. He just asked you out. Rafael Barba just asked you out. You stared at in your hands, unsure of what to do. Then you realized you couldn’t do this again, you couldn’t just sit there and imagine things, this required an immediate response.

You nervously typed a reply and hit SEND:

Sire ;)

“DAMMIT!!!” You cursed your autocorrect. You instantly sent another text.

Sure***

Before you could lecture yourself again, your phone beeped again:

BHOLE BARBA: Play

Play? What did that--

BHOLE: Okay** ;)

You typed the word ‘okay’ into your text reply bubble, ‘play’ came up in the autocorrect word list.

He was joking with you. He was flirting with you. RAFAEL BARBA WAS FLIRTING WITH YOU.

This work day could not end fast enough.

#rafael barba #rafael barba x you #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba fanficton #law and order svu #law and order svu fanfiction #not my yacht #raul esparza

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ghostofbambifanfiction · 3 years

Note

My dear little man (cat) is back home and healing after a stroke so now that my heart is back inside of my body I am here to list off just some of my (many) favorite things you have written. I’m keeping it to 5 because that seems reasonable.

I’m sorry to hear you’re having such a rough go of writing at the moment. Hopefully some effusive praise will, at the very least, distract from that. Here we go, in no particular order:

1. The Audition from WATJP

This whole fic is so excellent. Truly delicious writing. (Could I do five favorites just from WATJP? yes, yes I could) I love the relationships between James/Sirius/Remus/Peter - you’re always so good at setting up a clear and interesting dynamic between everyone with just your dialogue. I’m especially delighted by this after James has raised his hand - the interaction between James, Remus, and Sirius there is so funny and lived-in and real.

Of course, your banter between Lily and James is top notch, but I love how you can show so much of their relationship dynamic and their chemistry when they’re speaking someone else’s words.

2 - 3. James’ tells and general misinterpretations in (The Mostly Unwilling Participants on) The Bachelor

It’s so fun in this fic to watch James figure out that he’s into Lily - it’s not a dynamic we get to see often and you roll it out so beautifully - where there are tells long before James knows how to articulate it. One of my favorite examples is in Chapter 5, when you do this, first with James’ enthusiasm growing every time Lily plays along, and then with:

“"You’re not even his type!"

James’s sharp "Ha!" likely made it across the room, through the open (and stupidly) French doors onto the patio, and halfway across the garden.”

and finally with him getting so caught up that he hugs Lily.

You capture so much about the behavior of two people utterly smitten with one another and it makes my heart all fluttery!

Something else I love about your fics where you write from either James or Lily’s perspective is how you write their misinterpretations of each other’s behavior or words - it’s such a fun unreliability that, obviously creates some of the best dramatic irony. In this same chapter (because you are, despite how you may be feeling, rather prolific) is one of my favorite examples of this, with Lily’s pov:

“Clearly, the best she was going to get from James was confirmation that she'd been foisted upon him by Rita Skeeter, and a blokey comparison to a bloody dinosaur.

A velociraptor, of all things.

Dinosaurs were wicked cool, it was true, and she understood the compliment it implied, but he might as well have punched her in the shoulder and referred to her as dude for all the good it had done her. The resulting effect would have been exactly the same.”

*chef’s kiss*

4. James’ humor in Salmon Fishing in the Olympics

Ahhh, another that I love so much. James’ humor is especially delightful here. I feel like other people have brought up specific excellent quotes from this fic, but again:

She comes to a standstill in front of him. "As if you're allowed to eat at McDonald's."

"I'm not, but I sometimes press myself up against their windows."

"What a treat for the diners."

"Puts them right off their nuggets."

"What kind of car do you drive?"

"I—er—" Vernon is taken aback by the change in subject, but can never resist an opportunity to discuss his car. Lily has taught James well. "An Audi A4. What car do you drive?"

"None," says James. "I sprint everywhere."

Vernon blinks stupidly. "Everywhere?"

"Yeah, but I can only do it in 200 metre bursts. It took months to get to Rio."

"They always let me skip the queue at Starbucks because I'm a national hero."

"I hate you."

are all a sheer delight.

5. All the pining in Shelf Awareness

I’ve read this approximately 128 times because obviously your writing + bookshop setting is perfection for me. And my goodness, the chemistry of it all!

He's so fit that she can't look him directly in the eye without a tell-tale, inconvenient, irrepressible smile that screams, 'I want to wear you like pyjamas,' which makes her feel guilty for looking in the first place—she has a boyfriend, after all, and she's never been the kind of girl to flirt about when she's with someone—so she shrugs and buries her nose in her phone while he scans in the rest of the books.

Or: “smiling at her in a way that makes her feel like her secrets aren't her own” - I mean, come on! The economy of that. A whole culinary school’s worth of chef’s kisses.

All of this is to say that you are a terrific writer and I’m always happy to revisit your writing because it’s so full of humor and pining and banter. Every one of your characters are full, amusing and entertaining and so specific.

Also apologies for the wonky formatting - I am frustrated with my thumbs at the moment.

I don't really have words. I'm just sobbing reading this. I can't believe you took the time to write it all and send it to me, especially when you've just been through the ringer yourself. You have no idea how much this this means to me, no idea. I'm in tears. I'm so glad that your cat is recovering. Actual tears. Thank you so much.

Also I forgot to tag @fetchalgernon because she's responsible for James in Bachelor fic and she 100% deserves credit for that <3

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ladyofriverrun · 3 years

Text

I do find it odd when people in Laura’s tag go ‘She’s a bad person, stop liking her’ or ‘reminder she’s actually evil’ when the whole point of Doom Patrol is that it’s never that fucking simple. Like EVERYTHING is complicated in this show and they all make both bad and good decisions. Every single character has seriously hurt other people and the debate of whether they’re good people is a constant one for all of them.

I mean think of all the shit Niles has done to them directly, the reason they are what they are is due to him, and yet despite the irritation and even hatred they show, all of them still love him or are attached to him or helped him when he was in trouble (the only exception there really is Cliff, but then what Niles did not only hurt Cliff but also killed Cliff’s wife, and left Clara an orphan, rather than only hurting Cliff). Think of the stuff we learn from each of the Doom Patrol’s past, how questionable they can be and condemnable...and yet we don’t because we’ve seen their story and we understand. We don’t say what they did was right, and neither do the characters a majority of the time, but what we say is we understand. And this is what makes the show interesting and different from other ‘superhero’ things; the lack of dichotomy.

And yet you have people complaining (in the tag, no less), that people are understanding Laura’s motives and defending her.....well, yeah? Because we do that for all of the characters in the show? It doesn’t mean you agree with the choices they made, it means you recognise those choices are born of something else and we understand and even empathise. And there’s always going to be those you empathise more with than others. That’s the freaking fun of it.

Like Cliff did awful, awful things in his life, and was the world’s shittest Father, but as we saw in his Flagellation, he admits how much that came from his own self-destructive lack of self worth and how he came from nothing. We also saw what a terrible redneck father he has in earlier seasons. Ditto with Rita; her mother has put such toxic ideas in her mind, made her image obsessed, selfishly driven and it’s a battle for her to fight that (and one I feel she’s currently losing due to everything that happened in 1949).

I just...the whole point of the show is these characters aren’t these paragons of good, that there’s complicated shit and understandable reasons everywhere, that even the biggest threat can turn out to be a potential friend (as with the Candlemaker). So why is it a problem to do the exact same thing with Laura? Especially when the show is very consciously and obviously showing us things aren’t what they seem, that she’s not a villain for villain’s sake.

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ratisnotcrying · 3 years

Text

Juno Steel and how to pretend you’re fine

Prompt: “What if I just crash this car and make it all stop?” from prompt-dealer (i think)

Pairings: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel

Warnings: canon typical suicidal thoughts/ suicidal tendancies, mentions of car crashes, intrusive thoughts, previous minor character death

Word count: 1.6K

A/N: this is cross posted on ao3 - please lmk if i need to add any tags

~~~

Except today. Today felt like all of those wrapped into one and multiplied by a thousand.

He definitely wouldn't hurt someone else, no matter what he did.

~~~

It had started after the last job, which had gone quite spectacularly wrong.

It had turned into a messy hostage situation, Juno’s HCPD training and his own career as professional hostage kicking in as he tried desperately to find a way to get everyone out.

You can’t save everyone, Juno.

Buddy did, however, decide to put off selling the painting for a little while, giving everyone some time to relax. This is where Juno’s bad day had started.

~~~

He knows he should have said something to Peter, or Rita, or even Vespa if he was desperate, but he was too busy trying to convince himself had it under control.

His mind had been racing in loose circles, chasing empty thoughts and half-memories of every time Juno had fucked up, every time he had let someone die, every time he had almost let someone die.

Benten. Yasmin. Alessandra.

How to pretend your fine when you absolutely, totally are - by Juno Steel

~~~

He had been doing a good job, if he did say so himself. Even if he and the rest of the ship knew that was a lie.

And Peter. Peter was Juno’s anchor. He always was.

But he could only pretend for so long.

~~~

The car’s single head light shone dimly on the road in front of them and Juno stared blankly through the windshield, muscle memory alone stopping him from crashing.

He used to do this, he used to drive for hours, let his numbness fill the car till he forgot he was driving and drifted mentally, drifted physically…

He wanted to drift today. He wanted to feel weightless.

“What if I just crash this car and make it all stop?”

~~~

“What if I just crash this car and make it all stop?”

“Juno, can you pull over please, love?”

The car swerved slightly, Juno startled at Peter’s voice, and Peter reached out and grabbed the wheel, pulling them back onto the road, “Juno, you need to pull over.”

The car slowed and, after what felt like a lifetime, came to a stop, a small cloud of dust flying up from under the wheels.

“I- I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I should be fine.” Juno’s hands were gripped tightly on the wheel in a way that could have only been painful.

“Why don’t we get some fresh air, and then we can talk?”

Slowly, even slower than in the past week, Juno climbed out of the car and sat with Peter on the bonnet, staring up at the sky.

“I should be fine,” he said again, “I’ve been fine and now… and now I'm not fine!” Juno choked on a sob. God, he hated being vulnerable.

Peter considered this for a moment, “I know this is going to sound cliche, dear, but you don’t have to be okay. You’re allowed to be sad and angry, and-”

“Why can’t you let it out, Juno?”

Peter tried not to be too shocked at the almost wistful tone Juno used - they could talk about that another day, for now Peter just prompted, “You’re still here?”

He shook his head and kept staring at the stars, looking for answers in the constellations. Peter laid next to him.

It was a few minutes before Juno broke the silence, “Can we stay here a little while, before we go back?”

Peter would’ve stayed there all night if that’s what Juno needed.

“Would you tell me a story, Juno? Maybe about someone you saved?”

Reluctantly, Juno began to tell Peter about an eccentric real estate lawyer and her exploding, tuna-brick-loving cat, absently tracing patterns on the back of Peter’s hand.

They laid there for almost an hour, but the cool night was interrupted by Peter’s comms beeping twice, signifying a message.

Is everything okay darling? You’ve been gone a while.

As good as it can be right now. We’ll be back soon.

“Who’s that?” Juno mumbled sleepily, his gaze shifting to Peter.

“It was Buddy. Perhaps we should head back to the Carte Blanche.”

Juno nodded, sliding off the car but stopping short halfway to the driverside.

“Would you like me to drive, dear?.”

Juno looked like he wanted to protest, like he wanted to tell Peter that he wouldn’t actually crash, but instead he just nodded and tossed the keys over the car.

~~~

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infiniteoddball · 4 years

Note

Hi love the writing ❤️❤️could you possibly write something where the svu squad accidentally meat Rita’s wife...like they didn’t know she was married especially to a woman 😂❤️I mean it’s just a suggestion but I haven’t read anything like that before... what are your thoughts on this???

// Thank you so much for such a fun request!! I thoroughly enjoyed writing this and thank you so much for all the love! You really made my night (: Since there wasn’t a specific character pairing for Rita, I did Rita x Reader!//

Rating: Friendly! This is light and fluffy with a bit of obscene language. Nothing too serious!

Tag: @vivis-ghost-wife @teamsladsandgents @angelicdestieldemon @storiesofsvu

Surprise Cocktails

You and Rita sat in the back of the bar, happily hidden away from everyone else. The both of you sipped on your separate drinks. Rita enjoying a dark & stormy while you were on your second glass of chardonnay. You enjoyed the feeling of your thigh touching hers, only to lean in and steal a soft kiss, “I have missed us doing this,” You murmur against her lips, smiling.

Rita smiled, “I am sorry I have been so busy baby. I have missed you. I have missed us. I am glad that we are finally able to have a date night.”

You glanced at her hand, enjoying the ring on her finger. You knew that this was something that you didn’t get to see in public, so it was definitely something that you enjoyed when you could. Rita smiled even bigger, sliding her arm around your waist as she pulled you closer, placing a few kisses up your neck, “What else do you have in mind for tonight?”

“Making your dress hit the floor,” You murmur, moving your hand further up her thigh as you hear her breath hitch. You enjoyed the feeling of the silky black wrap dress, but enjoyed the feeling of her skin even more.

“Mm, that does sound perfect. But how about we eat some food so we have energy for that later?”

“Okay,” You smirk, watching as she called over a waiter. You smiled even bigger as she ordered for the both of you.

“One chicken alfredo and a chicken parmesan please,” She smiled, “As well as another dark & stormy.”

“Water too please,” You add in. You felt the familiar warmth in your stomach. Her dominance was something that turned you on quickly, “How was your day?”

“I gave Rafael a run for his money again. That was fun,” Rita smirked, finishing her drink before continuing, “My client, I am not saying they are the most squeaky clean person ever, but they are not guilty of this crime. I can just feel it, plus I don’t think they are lying to me. Rafael will be putting his star witness on tomorrow and when I cross examine, he is going to feel the annoyance in his bones,” Rita giggled.

“You never cease to amaze me.”

“Good or bad?”

“Good,” You squeeze her thigh, “Definitely good. You make everything that much better.”

“Y/N you have gone soft on me,” She smirked, thanking the waiter for her drink before leaning back in the curved booth to smile at you.

“Not soft, I am a high school counselor. What else would you expect?” You question, spinning the wine glass between your pointer finger and thumb.

“Nothing,” She answered honestly, “How is Ryan doing?”

You heave a sigh, finishing off your glass, “I don’t know how to help him. I can see it in him. The need to prove himself, but something is holding him back and I don’t know what it is. I don’t know how to fix it.”

“Babe, you are doing everything that you possibly can. I know that you think you can save everyone, but sometimes you can’t and that isn’t your fault. Okay?”

You nod, knowing she is right, but after all these years, you still struggle to accept that, “I know...I know. I just don’t know how else to feel about that.” You feel Rita take your chin in her hand gently, pulling you closer before you feel her deliciously warm lips on yours.

Rita slips her hand to the back of your neck, pulling you in closer, before finally moving away, “I love you. Please don’t let this wreck you. I hate seeing you so broken up over something like this.”

You bite your lip, but nod, “Okay,” You murmur, sniffing the air appreciatively as the food is delivered to your table.

***

Rita can’t help but smile as she wraps her arm around your waist, whispering all the things she is going to do to you once you two get home. You feel a delicious chill run down your spine as you slide your arm around her shoulders.

“Aye Calhoun! Is that you!?” Carisi called, smacking Amanda’s shoulder as he turned on the stool.

You felt her tense up before you both look at the voice who said your wife’s last name, “Who is that?”

“Get ready,” Is all you get as she drops her arm from your waist, but intertwines your fingers.

“Holy shit,” Amanda says as shock spreads through her features.

“Olivia, Odafin, Dominick, Amanda, Kat. I would like for you to meet my wife, Y/N.”

You can help but smirk as you see Odafin blow his own beer into his face and the rest of the SVU squad utterly speechless. You were barely able to hold back your laugh with the way that Kat nearly choked on her drink. Of course you knew who they were, but they had no idea who you were. Your marriage was kept exceptionally quiet due to the fact that Rita was a defense lawyer with a lot of enemies. The last thing she wanted was you to get harmed because of that.

Kat was the first to recover before she stood, holding out her hand, “It’s wonderful to meet you! I had no idea that Rita was even...”

“A lesbian?” Rita finished for her, “Yes. I have had many amazing relationships, but once I met Y/N, I knew that I met the love of my life.”

You felt your cheeks warm, hearing the way that Rita talked about you. You knew she loved you, but this was a rare occasion where she could demonstrate it so publicly, “You must be the infamous Olivia Benson,” You smile, shaking her hand.

“I wouldn’t want famous anywhere near my name,” She joked, “I am happy to meet you. Rita, how long have we known each other and you just simply didn’t tell me?”

“Some things are simply better left unsaid. I am surprised to see that the entire crew is able to make it out.” Rita grinned.

“You owe me ten bucks Rollins,” Carisi smirked before turning to Rita, “You are a profile that is hard to miss. Rollins and Sarg didn’t believe me when I said that was you.”

You burst out laughing at this before turning to Rita, “How terrified do you have them?”

“Scared enough to where the most private question they have outright asked me is what I like to drink.”

You squeeze her hand, not feeling surprised in this fact of the manner. Every time that you think your wife couldn’t surprise you, she always manages to do that, you fall more in love with her.

“Aye, why don’t y’all join us for a drink? This revelation has definitely made the night more interesting,” Fin smirked.

“And you are?”

“Fin Tutuola,” He smirked, holding his hand out to you.

You smirk back, taking his hand, “Fin? Like a fish?”

“Haha, very original! What can I get you two ladies?”

You glance at Rita, accepting her shrug as a yes, “Knob Creek Bourbon, neat please. A dark & stormy for Rita,” You smile before feeling Rita’s arm wrap around you again.

“So,” Olivia looked between the two of you, “How did this even happen? As far as I knew, all Rita does is work.”

“Hey there, you are the pot calling the kettle black!” Rita pointedly said.

“I have slowed down. I don’t want to hear it,” Olivia responded, “How did you two meet and why didn’t we know about you sooner Y/N?”

“Well, we met because of a blind date. One that I reluctantly accepted. Let me tell you, I wasn’t sure if we were even going to make it past the second date. But then, out of left field, Rita surprised me and the rest is history.”

“Please,” Rita scoffed, “You make me sound like a softie!”

“Well, you are with me,” You smiled brightly.

“But definitely not me,” Barba smirked, “Rita, Y/N. It’s nice to see the cat is out of the bag!”

“Barba, you mean to tell me that you knew the entire time!?” Kat’s jaw dropped.

“Careful. Flies will be around soon. Yes, I have known Rita longer than any of you. Please, tell me this,” He watched as Fin handed them each their drinks, “Was this planned?”

“Rafael, please,” Rita rolled her eyes.

“You haven’t even gotten to the good part yet everyone. Y/N, why don’t you tell them what it is that you do for a living.”

“I am a high school counselor. I work at Martin Luther High.”

“No fucking way,” Fin said slowly, a smile spreading over his face, “That is amazing.”

You did a double take before noticing that Rita was smiling at you, “I know,” Rita grinned, taking a long sip off her drink.

“How did this happen?” Barba questioned.

“Date night,” You responded before giving him a brief hug.

“Mm, so how does this work?” Rollins questioned, “You’re okay with the fact that next to no one knows you two are together?”

You touched Rita’s shoulder, before nodding, “Yes. It was something we had a long discussion about. Rita is a high profile defense attorney. I know that on the rare occasion that she doesn’t drag Rafael, her clients can tend to get hostile. So, for the sake of both of us, we chose to keep a low profile so my safety and her safety isn’t put at risk.”

“Smart move,” Olivia laughed, glancing at Rafael.

“Anyways,” Rita said, finishing her drink, “If you don’t mind, it’s date night and I would love to be able to spend some more time with my wife. Thank you for the drinks Odafin. Shall we go Y/N?”

You finish your bourbon quickly before nodding, “It was nice to finally meet everyone!” You say brightly.

“Rita, now that we know, you are so going to have to bring her around for drinks sometimes,” Olivia stated.

“And submit her to torture? Pass.”

You can’t help but laugh at this, “Okay, okay. No promises! I hope that everyone has a great night!” You smile, tugging Rita away from the group. As much as you enjoyed telling more people that you got to marry the love of your life, you wanted more than anything to follow through on all the things that she wanted to do to you. You couldn’t help but smile at the chorus of goodbyes behind the two of you.

#rita calhoun x reader #lesbian #fem! reader #svu #olivia benson #rafael barba #amanda rollins #sonny carisi #oda fin tutuola #kat tamin

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teawizard-n-coffeewitch · 4 years

Text

The Stafforshire Spell

2. Uh... Reporter For The Quibbler Magazine

Newt is heating up water for tea when suddenly his eyes widen, blown away at the sight of him. Credence is coming down the stairs, wearing his full body scuba diving gear.

"Hey." Credence greets as he grabs a mug and prepares to brew some peppermint leaves.

"Hi..." Newt says before the two of them are concentrated on fixing a cup of tea in the kitchen.

Newt decides to ask, "Just incidentally -- why are you wearing that?"

Credence smiles. "Ahem -- combination of factors really. No clean clothes..." he replies with a cheeky grin.

Newt coughs. "There never will be, you know, unless you actually clean your clothes." he says.

"Right. Vicious circle. And then I was like rooting around in your things, and found this, and I thought -- cool. Kind of spacey." Credence replies shooting a grin at Newt. Newt nods before laughing softly.

The two of them make their way to the table and take a seat, enjoying their cup of tea, passing the day.

Newt is writing on his notebook while Credence is squinting his eyes at the scuba gear goggles. After while Credence says, "There's something wrong with your goggles Newt..."

Newt stops writing and looks up. Laughing lightly he replies, "No, they were prescription, so I could see all the fishes properly."

Credence laughs, amused at this fact. "Groovy. You should do more of this stuff. Though I did not know you were blind." Newt laughs. Shaking his head he replies, "Not really. I can see with or without glasses."

They sit in comfortable silence, the only sound is Newt's pencil at work before he asks, "So -- any messages?"

Credence's face lights up as he sets his cup down. "Yeah I wrote a couple down." Sticking his hand in a jacket nearby one of the table's wooden chairs, he retrieves a crumbled paper and gives it to Newt who as long gone forgotten his writing.

Newt grabs it and one of the messages was that Niffler's habitat was ready and he could bring him in tomorrow morning. Newt reads the next message and after finishing he asks, trying not to frown, "Two? That's it?"

"You want me to write down all your messages?" Credence says, an eyebrow raised. Newt closes his eyes in exasperation, deciding on not replying to that.

"Who were the ones you didn't write down from?" Newt asks cautiously.

Credence hums, "Ahem let's see -- ahem. No. Gone completely. Oh no, wait. There was -- one from your mum: she said don't forget Theseus's birthday and that she and your father won't be able to make it."

Newt nods. "Right. No one else?"

Credence blinks, lost in thought before shaking his head. "Absolutely not." He leans back and relaxes.

"Though if we're going for this obsessive writing-down-all-messages thing -- some American girl called Tina called a few days ago." he reveals causing Newt to freeze then look at him with big eyes.

"Wha - What did she say?" Newt manages to choke out. Credence smirks, finding Newt's blushing face amusing.

"Well, it was genuinely bizarre... she said, hi -- it's Tina -- and then she said, call me at the Hoar Cass Hall -- and then gave herself a completely different name." Credence says before sipping calmly his tea.

"Which was?" Newt says panicking at how Credence was so calm about the whole situation.

He finishes his sip before replying, "Absolutely no idea. Remembering one name's bad enough..." Newt groans before closing his eyes and placing his head on the table.

_______________

Much later Newt is on the phone. He looked at the phone book for the hotel's number before he dials a few numbers and hears a ring and a formal man at the other end of the phone picks up.

"Hello." Newt says trying to keep calm but internally panicking at his bold move.

"May I help you, sir?" the man replies calmly at the other end.

"Ahem, see this is a very odd situation. I'm a friend of Tina Goldstein's -- and she rang me at home the day before yesterday -- and left a message saying she's staying with at this hotel..." Newt timidly says. "I'm sorry, we don't have anyone of that name here, sir." the man states authoritatively.

"No, that's right -- I know that. She said she's using another name -- but the problem is she left the message with my flatmate, which was a serious mistake. Imagine if you will the -- um a baby. A poor baby who hasn't any idea what to even call his mum -- are you doing that...?"

As Newt talks to the man Credence happens to be in the foreground, siting on the couch in the distance as he's reading the newspaper.

Listening to everything.

"Yes, sir. I have him in my mind." the man at the other end replies with a light chuckle.

"And that is the -- what can I say -- git I'm living with and he cannot remember..." Newt begins before Credence cuts him off by saying, "Try 'Coco.' "

Newt stops talking and turns around to look at Credence. "What?" he says noticing how Credence hasn't turned to look at him, his focus still on his newspaper.

"I think she said her name was 'Coco Channel.' " Credence says turning the newspaper page calmly.

Newt takes deep breath before asking nervously, "Does 'Coco Channel' mean anything to you?"

There is a second of silence before the man says happily, "I'll put you right through, sir."

Newt stands there, absolutely speechless. Coco Channel is indeed the magic word.

"Bloody hell." Newt mutters messing up his hair as his hold on the phone tightens. Realizing he's a few seconds from speaking to her Newt begins to practices how to sound.

"Hello. Hi. Hi." Newt says clearing his throat and standing up straight.

Newt sharply breaths when he hears her voice.

"Hi." is heard from the other line.

Panicking holding the phone he is quick to awkwardly reply, "Oh hi. It's Newt Scamander. We, uh... well met at my bookshop."

Tina chuckles slightly. "You played it pretty cool here Mr. Scamander. Waiting three days to call."

Newt blushes. "N-No, I've never played any-anything cool in my entire life. Credence, who I'll jinx later, never delivered me the message."

"Oh, okay." she says, slightly amused at his awkward speech.

"Um... so I was wondering... if you'd be okay with it... obviously. Perhaps... uh... I could drop round for tea or something?"

"Yeah." Tina says, scrunching her nose in disgust at the thought of tea. Newt listens to her as she speaks, "Unfortunately, things are going to be pretty busy, but... okay, let's give it a try. Though I'm staying at a hotel here in Burton I'll be in London tomorrow. Does... I don't know... four o'clock at the Ritz work? Or do wish to meet when I return back to Burton?"

Newt smiles like a dork, "No, it absolutely works. Great."

They bid farewell and they hang up.

Running towards Credence, Newt kisses his cheek before dashing up the stairs gleefully. Credence just stares at his flatmate in confusion.

_______________

The next day Newt wakes up early to drive a forty-five minute trip to Peak Wildlife Park in Leek. Niffler sleeping through most of the ride. After a heart breaking farewell and a promise to return Newt drives back to Burton and grabs a train to London. The ride is about three hours and makes use of his time by writing a birthday card for his brother and taping a few pounds inside the card. He places the card inside his briefcase and shuts it close. He leans on his seat and enjoys the scenery of the ride.

Arriving at London at three Newt makes his way to a floral shop and buys an orchid. He likes how delicate, beautiful, and admirable they look. Just... like Tina. He catches a bus and as he cruises around London he can't help but feel a sense of desponding and melancholy as he sees the city of London after all these years. He jumps off a bus and walks toward the Ritz. The vase of orchid in one hand all wrapped up nicely while his hand carries his brown briefcase.

Entering the Ritz Hotel, Newt passes by the iconic tea room before approaching the lifts. At the lift, he pushes the button and the doors open. As he is getting in, Newt is joined by a young woman. Newt looks at her name tag. Her name is Rita.

"Which floor?" Newt asks him. "Three please." Rita answers as Newt nods and pushes the button. They wait for the doors to close. The lift lands and they both gets out. Hotel rooms 30-35 are to the left while 35-39 to the right. Newt heads right and... so does Rita.

Newt is puzzled at how Rita is still following him. He slows down as he approaches room 38 and startled when so does Rita. Newt stops, so does Rita. Newt turns his head, confused, before he points at the number on the door.

"Are you sure you...?" Newt assures. "Yes." Rita affirms with a nod. "Oh. Right... er." Newt mourns before he knocks on the door. A bright, well-tailored American girl opens the door.

"Hello, I'm Quennie, Tina's sister and manager. Sorry -- things are running a bit late. Here's the thing..." She hands them a very slick, expensively produced press kits, with the poster picture of Tina, for the film 'Alien: Covenant'.

She leads them inside the suite, after closing the door and in a few seconds later -- they enter the main waiting room. Newt is startled to see there are a number of journalists waiting for their audience.

"What did you think of the film?" Quennie suddenly asks as she grabs a notebook and a pen, ready to write their critics.

"Marvelous. 'Close Encounters' meets 'Jean De Florette.' Golden Globe- winning stuff." Rita says happily before both Quennie and her turn to Newt for his opinion.

He curses mentally before looking at Rita. "I agree." Newt adds with a weak smile.

Quennie nods, scribbling down on the notebook before asking, "I'm sorry. I didn't get down what magazines you're from."

" 'The Daily Prophet.' " Rita answers with a smile. Quennie smiles back then turns to Newt, "Great. And you?"

Newt panics.

He scans the entire room, frantically looking for a magazine, a catalog, a newspaper, something! Then he sees it. On the coffee table.

" 'Quibbler Magazine.' The name's Newt Scamander." Quennie nods whereas Rita seems intrigued that he's a reporter from Quibbler Magazine. "I think she might be expecting me." Newt nervously adds before she shoots him a smile. "Okay -- take a seat. I'll check."

Both Rita and Newt move towards a sofa and they sit down as Quennie goes off, down the hallway.

Rita looks at the orchid Newt carries. "You've brought her flowers?" Newt gulps and thinks for a cover-up story.

"No -- they're -- for my grandmother. She's in a hospital nearby. Thought I'd kill two birds with one stone." he replies, a bit too fast and nervously. Rita frowns and gives him pity eyes. "Oh I am so sorry. Which hospital?"

Newt breaths in and pauses. Bullocks, he did not think of that. He's in trouble.

Quickly, he says, faking a bit of distress in his voice, "Do you mind me not saying -- it's a rather distressing disease and the name of the hospital rather gives it away."

Rita nods, with a sad face, "Oh sure. Of course." Newt thanks her silently and they both sit in silence before Quennie comes walking in.

"Mr. Scamander." she says, with a smile in spark in her eyes.

Saved by the bell. Newt bids a farewell wave to Rita and follows Queenie towards the corridor. She turns to face him, telling him, "You've got five minutes." He is then lead in through big golden doors and the room is the Trafalgar Suite Room. Quennie stays outside. Then there she is.

Tina stands straight, facing the framed in the window, overlooking Green Park. Newt can't help but think she looks pretty in her apricot color satin silk bow tie neck shirt with long sleeves button down blouse top and a long black pencil skirt. Quennie then closes the room and Tina turns around to face Newt. She gives him a nervous smile.

"Hi." Newt manages to say.

"Hello." Tina replies softly. Newt looks at the countless of dozen flowers surrounding Tina and gives her a sad smile. "I uh... I brought these," Newt shyly begin, lifting up his orchid vase, "but clearly..." he gestures at the other glamorous flowers in the room.

Tina shakes her head, "Oh no, it's okay." She walks towards him and accepts his orchid vase with a shy smile. "These are great. Thanks."

Then there it is. Instead of feeling a fair amount of tension, as they hardly know each other -- and the first and last time they met, they kissed; instead... they feel a silence of comfort surrounding them. Putting them at ease.

"Sorry about not ringing back." Newt apologizes, blushing. "The whole two-names concept was totally too much for my flatmate's intellect."

Tina smiles, reassuring him, "No, it's a stupid privacy thing. I always choose a famous fashion designer. Last time out, I was Mrs. Marc Jacobs.

Before Newt can shoot her a smile, Mr. Graves, walks in. Tina's public manager and Quennie's boss. He's a fairly grave, authoritative forty-year-old PR man consulting a list.

"Everything okay?" he asks shooting Tina a concern look. She nods. "Yes, thanks."

He turns to face Newt. "And you are from 'The Quibbler' magazine?" he asks making Newt nod.

"Is that so?" Tina asks, sounding intrigued but shooting Newt a sneaky smirk.

Newt's face turns red as he shrugs his shoulders and gives a light chuckle. Mr. Graves goes and settles at a little desk in the corner and makes notes. He just stands there, stacking some paper. There is a pause before Newt realizes and feels he has to act the part of being a reporter.

Tina motions for him to sit on the couch and she sits on the opposite on. They now face each other.

"Right... so I'll just fire away, shall I?" Newt begins, siting a bit straight. Tina nods.

"Right. Er... the film's great... and I just wondered -- whether you ever thought of having more... spectrespecs in it?" he asks, biting his lip knowing he was minutes away from death.

Tina lets out a small chuckle. "Hmm -- well -- we would have liked to -- but it was difficult, obviously, being set in space and a remote planet."

Newt can feel his ears turning red from embarrassment. "Oh right... er... very difficult indeed."

Both Tina and Newt listen Mr. Graves leave, closing the door.

Newt sighs heavily and embarrassed, putting his head in his hands. He was panicking and he completely blew it.

"I'm sorry -- I arrived outside -- and they thrust this thing into my hand -- I didn't know what to do." Newt begins as Tina cuts him, apologizing, "No, it's my fault, I thought this would all be over by now. I just wanted to sort of apologize for the kissing thing. I seriously don't know what got in to me. I just wanted to make sure you were fine about it. Honest. I don't know what I was thinking."

Newt is speechless for second before saying, "Absolutely. No worries. I was fine about it." Though he reassures Tina with a smile his heart cracks. Of course she would feel this way about kissing him on the cheek. He was nobody while she was... she was beauty.

Mr. Graves re-enters and continues stacking papers. Newt coughs, before continuing with their fake interview. Before he can ask another question Mr. Graves says, his back facing them, "Do remember that Miss Tina is also keen to talk about her next project, which is shooting later in the summer."

Newt nods, a smile. "Oh yes -- excellent. Ahem -- any spectrespecs in that one? Or shades, of course. Our readers are equally intrigued by both models."

Tina winces before answering, "It takes place during the 1970's... in a West Coast beach. My character is the ex - girlfriend of a private detective." Eh, not a setting for pink spectrespecs to be worn in.

Newt blinks before choking out, "Oh Yes. Right... But if there were spectrespecs, would you be wearing them yourself or would you be getting a stunt spectrespecs person double sort of thing?"

They hear Mr. Gracves exit. Newt has a meltdown at that point. "Merlin... I'm just a complete moron. Sorry. This is the sort of thing that happens in dreams -- not in real life. Good dreams, obviously," he stops before giving Tina a small smile, "It's... a dream to see you." Newt confesses.

Tina is silent for a moment before asking nervously, "And what happens next in the dream?"

Newt sighs. "It's a challenge."

She doesn't seem confirm with his answer so Newt adds, "Well, I suppose in the dream dream scenario. I just... um, change my personality, because you can do that in dreams, and walk across and kiss the girl but you know it'll never happen."

They are silent for a moment. Suddenly they stand up but before they can move towards each other when... Mr. Graves enters.

"Time's up, I'm afraid. Sorry it was so short. Did you get what you wanted?" he asks. "Very nearly." Newt replies.

"Maybe time for one last question?" Mr. Garves offers.

"Right."

He goes out -- and it's their last seconds together. Probably forever if Newt does not man up.

"Are you busy tonight?" Newt bravely asks, though he knows he looks nervous.

"Yes." Tina answers, her eyes flashing a bit of sadness.

They look at each other. Then Mr. Graves enters, with another journalists in tow. Tina and Newt walk towards each other and shake hands formally.

"Well, it was nice to meet you." Tina says before adding with a grin, "Surreal but nice."

Newt's heart skipped. He gave her a shaky laugh. "Thank you. You are 'The Quibbler's' new favorite actress."

Newt is escorted out and once again they part away from each other.

Newt exits the room, fairly despondent and heads for the door, passing through the suite corridor. He does not notice Rita, who is in the corridor calling on her mobile phone. She sees Newt and immediately goes to him.

"How was she?" she asks.

"Fabulous." he replies immediately. Rita looks shock as she says, "Wait a minute -- she took your grandmother's flowers?"

Newt's eyes widen. He can't think his way out of this. So he blurts out, "Yes. That's right. Unbelievable!"

Newt turns to go before Rita can ask more questions but is accosted by Quennie.

"If you'd like to come with me we can rush you through the others." she says.

"The others?!" Newt says, his eyes almost popping out.

#comedy #au #newt scamander #tina goldstein #romance #newtina #fantastic beats and where to find them #fbawtft #salamander eyes

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artificialqueens · 3 years

Text

Come Home to My Heart, Chapter 8 (Lemyanka) - Plastiquedoll

read on ao3 ✨| previous chapters

A/N: wow… I can’t believe there are only two chapters left after this one… that’s crazy. This little story is my baby now so I hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading it! <3

-8-

“Ouch!” Scarlett yelled as soon as Priyanka pinched her arm. “What was that for?”

“You’re friends with Lemon on Facebook? What the fuck?”

“Ah, yeah…” She rubbed her arm. “She befriended me a while ago.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? We live together.”

“I didn’t believe you’d mind and I thought she would add you too. I don’t know, I probably was high as fuck.” Scarlett sipped her Frappuccino.

“You, Kiara, and my mother back-stabbed me. I can’t believe it.”

“If it’s any consolation, she only posts pictures with her friends and when she’s at the dance studio… also, she spends an unhealthy amount of time rambling about The Sims.”

Seemed about right.

“I’m more worried about the pictures I appear as «tagged» on your page.”

“Yeah, you’re like a hot mess there.”

Priyanka and Scarlett went for a beverage that afternoon after stopping by the mechanical workshop to check on Priyanka’s car –it was still uncertain and the mechanic had ordered a few pieces that were supposed to arrive later that week- luckily her parents had lent her the family car for the afternoon.

Priyanka had ordered a strawberry smoothie but almost forgot about it. Her thoughts were somewhere else.

“Priyanka, are you there?” Scarlett called her.

“Yeah, sorry…”

“Girl, you’re like… gone.”

“What do you mean?”

“Uhm…”

Scarlett sat with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. She had cut her hair recently and the tips of her blonde bob were perfectly symmetric, it was almost in discordance with her rock-star-punk-grunge aesthetic of ripped fishnets, piercings, and leather jackets but Priyanka knew her better, she was just a softie who had cried with The Little Mermaid.

Goddammit. Don’t you see the subtext of female liberation, Priyanka? She had said with tears in her eyes.

“Nothing… only that you’ve been distracted lately. How weird is it that this behavior coincides with the return of certain someone to your life? Odd, isn’t it?”

“Cut the sarcasm… I know what you’re implying. Lemon helped me out the other day only because that’s what any person would’ve done.”

“No, you’re overestimating human kindness. Trust me, spending your entire afternoon with someone to help them with their… how did she call it?”

“Jalopy.”

“I mean, accurate.” Priyanka stuck her tongue out. “What I’m saying is that’s a big gesture and you should take it as a white flag from her.”

“When you’re right, you’re right.”

“So… what are you going to do now?” Scarlett inquired.

“I have no idea… You’re the second person who said something like that. Denali thought she was provoking me the other night in the club –she’s out of her mind- but she also said that I should make the next move.”

“I agree.”

“But what if I make a fool of myself in the process?”

“That wouldn’t be a novelty.”

“Fuck you.”

Scarlett lighted up a cigarette.

Right at that moment, Boa walked out of the café with an Iced Americano in her hand, she spotted both girls sitting outside and approached them.

“Hey, you two! I was going to text you later today.” She greeted both of them.

“Hey, girl.” Scarlett waved.

“Hi, Boa! Nice to see you.” Priyanka hugged her.

“So listen, some of the girls –myself included- are planning a little day at that lake that’s like half an hour from here and since the more the merrier, maybe you’d want to join us.”

“Sounds cool. Do you have a date in mind?”

“We set Thursday but if any of you guys can’t we could change it.”

“No, I think Thursday is fine for all of us. Priyanka?”

Priyanka had her thoughts floating like a cloud.

“When you say «some of the girls»… you mean?”

“Tynomi, Kyne, me…” She began listing.

“Boa we’re looking for a name started with «L», five letters, common yellow fruit used often in the kitchen.” Priyanka elbowed Scarlett.

“Oh! Yeah… We’re trying to convince Lemon to go too. She wasn’t into the whole nature thing but…” She cleared her throat. “If we convinced some more people maybe she’d change her mind.”

“Great so we’ll be there.” Scarlett wrapped her arm around Priyanka. “Text me the details later.”

“Sure, see you on Thursday!”

“Bye…” Priyanka smiled and when the girl walked away, she immediately turned to Scarlett. “What was that?”

“«Thank you, Scarlett, you’re such a good friend» you’re very welcome, Priyanka.” She put out her cigarette. “I did what it had to be done.”

“I see… but what if Lemon doesn’t show up?”

“She will be there and even if she doesn’t we could still have a nice day on the lake or whatever. Jeez, do I need to give you a pep talk whenever we plan something?”

“We’ll need a car, I can’t borrow my parent’s car all week and you came here by bus. Can Juice drive us there?”

“Yeah about that… Juice broke up with me.”

Priyanka frowned. “I thought you guys weren’t dating.”

“We weren’t, that’s why she gave me an ultimatum.”

“And what did you tell her?”

“I said I’d think about it.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“She agrees with you, obviously.” Scarlett leaned back on the chair. “However, I never wanted to break her heart with promises I wasn’t sure I was going to fulfill. I never promised her more than what I gave and it worked for some time.”

“Until it didn’t…”

It wasn’t shocking for Priyanka, she had always known that Juice wanted more but Scarlett –being the stubborn she was- never was going to admit she felt the same way, instead, she acted reluctant whenever the idea of having a serious relationship was brought.

“Scarlett, are you sure this is what you want?”

“Listen, what’s the point of starting a relationship with someone who doesn’t live in the same city.”

“She lives literally half an hour from Toronto.”

“Besides, I don’t want to give my freedom away… I don’t see myself ready to be in a relationship and you can’t say anything, you haven’t dated anyone for more than three days.” Scarlett pointed.

“Well, you got me there but this isn’t about me… don’t you see it? You’re about to lose something real and why? Because you’re scared of admitting you want it too.”

Scarlett looked down. “She deserves better than me…” She whispered.

“You idiot, she doesn’t want better, she wants you and you alone.”

“I feel like you’re insulting me somewhere there but…”

“Scarlett, focus.”

“You’re right, okay? I’m scared, I don’t want to hurt her and I’m terrified I might be too stupid to make a mistake or something… and now I don’t know what to do, I’m not a romantic person, I know nothing about big gestures…”

“Maybe roses? Carriage rides? Singing songs under the starry sky?”

“Gross…” She paused. “maybe roses though.”

“You did set the bar very low so…”

“Oh, shut up.”

“C’mon, I’ll drop you at her house.”

After taking Scarlett back to Juice’s house for what hopefully meant there would be a reconciliation between them –Priyanka had her fingers crossed- in the meantime, she stopped by her brother’s house. She had promised one of her nieces she’d take her to rent some DVDs they would watch after dinner.

It took less than five minutes to lose her at the video store.

“Mel? Mel?!” She started looking around. “Where did you go?”

Priyanka heard her voice coming from one parallel aisle.

“You’re very pretty.”

“Aw, thank you…you’re very pretty too.”

Priyanka also recognized that voice.

“Are you lost?”

She felt undoubtedly relieved when she found her niece chatting with Lemon who had kneeled on the floor to be at the same height.

“What’s your name?” Lemon asked the little girl.

“I’m Melanie.”

“Nice to meet you, Melanie. I’m Lemon, like the fruit.”

“Nice to meet you… Miss Lemon.”

“Did you come here with your mom? With your dad?”

She shook her head. “With my auntie.”

“Ah, I see… What do you say if we look for your auntie?”

“She’s right there.” She pointed at Priyanka behind her.

Lemon turned around and met the brunette’s eyes.

“Oh. It’s you, auntie… I should’ve guessed.”

“The resemblance is uncanny, isn’t it?” Priyanka smiled proudly.

Lemon was wearing a yellow and white striped long dress with buttons in the front, white sneakers, and had her hair tied in a French braid.

“You really convinced your brother to name his daughter like two-fifths of the Spice Girls, didn’t you?”

Priyanka rushed and covered her niece’s ears. “Shhhh… He doesn’t know that yet. It took me seven of the nine months of my sister-in-law’s pregnancy to plant the idea… neither Ginger nor Emma were working, so it was down to Melanie or Victoria.”

Lemon chuckled.

The brunette released the little girl from her grip. “Mel, go pick the movie you like but stay close where I can see you, alright?”

The little girl nodded and skipped with joy toward the kids’ movie section.

Priyanka looked at Lemon. “What are you doing here?”

“Getting my nails done, obviously.” She had a DVD box in her hands.

Priyanka rolled her eyes. “Knowing you, it must be… let me see, either Legally Blonde, Clueless, something with Meg Ryan on it, or… Drop Dead Gorgeous.”

She showed the title on the box. It was Drop Dead Gorgeous, a movie Lemon worshiped for her love for beauty pageants and bizarre humor.

“Rita has never watched it, can you believe it?”

“And you’re looking for new ways to traumatize her.”

“That might be my mission on Earth all along, spread the words of wisdom that come from this film.” She tapped the box with her acrylic nails.

Priyanka peeped over her shoulder to check on her niece who was still deciding between two Disney movies.

“So… are you going to the lake thing Boa’s planning?” The brunette asked as casually as she could.

Lemon shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not that into nature and being eaten by bugs…”

“Oh, so she’s a city girl now.”

“Listen, I spent a good ten years of my life going camping with my dad and hating every second of it. I thought it was finally over when I moved.”

“The girls and I are going… and I’m sure we’re taking some type of booze with us, snacks, a campfire… It will be fun.”

Lemon tilted her head. “I didn’t know you wanted me to go.”

Priyanka felt the heat on her cheeks. “Boa said the more the merrier… plus my car is still at the workshop and Scarlett might have screwed up her relationship with the one person that has a car among us.”

“So you need a ride… that’s it?”

“Yeah… and it’ll be fun being all together again.”

“Sure… okay. I’ll tell Rita and we’ll be there.”

“Really?”

She nodded.

At that moment, Priyanka’s niece returned with a DVD of Brave in her hand.

“Are you dating my auntie Pri?” She asked unscrupulous and unfiltered like any six-year-old.

Priyanka’s mouth dropped to the floor.

“Mel! You can’t ask people… That’s not… You don’t get to…”

“But daddy said that you like girls and that if you were going to date someone it would be a girl… and she’s a girl.”

Logic.

Lemon covered her mouth with her hand, she was blushing underneath.

“Mel just because I’m talking to a girl it doesn’t mean that I’m dating her.”

“But she’s pretty… she’s prettier than you.”

“Oh, I like her.” Lemon giggled.

“Hey! You little brat, who’s the one renting movies with you.”

Traitors.

“Why aren’t you dating her, auntie Pri?” Priyanka covered the girl’s mouth.

She was asking the real questions.

“Okay, I think it’s time to go home. Brave, huh? Good choice.” She looked at Lemon. “See you on Thursday…?”

The blonde smiled. “I’ll pick you up.”

“Okay, great.”

“Goodbye, Priyanka. Bye, Mel.” She waved at them.

The girl barely had the chance to wave back since her aunt dragged her to the line of the checkout counter. She stared at Priyanka with her wide brown eyes.

“What is it?”

“You like her.” Mel said with a mischievous look on her face.

“Shhh… keep it low…” She looked around to check Lemon wasn’t around. “You can’t just say those things, Mel. Exposing people’s feelings isn’t right.”

“So you like her.”

“Jeez, calm down Regina George.”

“Who’s Regina Gorge?”

“It doesn’t matter… The thing is… Lemon and I are… friends? Just that, okay? We’ve known each other since we were your age and I don’t think she likes me that way.”

“Have you asked her?” Her niece inquired.

“Well, no…”

“Why not?”

“Because…” She was scared of the potential answer to that question. “It’s complicated… growing up is complicated.”

“I don’t want to grow up never.” She whined.

“Me neither.”

Priyanka took the DVD to register it and pay for it.

Brave, sure.

On Thursday morning, Priyanka received a call from Scarlett, she explained that things with Juice were smooth sailing and that –since they had left the problems aside- she was going to pick her at home. In the car, there were Juice, Scarlett, Kiara, Denali, and Priyanka whereas Lemon and Rita had relocated in a different car.

The day started on the wrong foot since that change in scheduling but Priyanka had the hope it could only get better from there. She had a full breakfast with her parents and then prepared her things in a backpack, including sunscreen, snacks, a towel, and things only her mom could remember to include –and that she yelled from downstairs to make sure Priyanka would remember.

Priyanka brushed her hair and tied it into a ponytail, then she put her turquoise bikini on –she liked how the color looked against her skin-, grabbed a pair of denim shorts with embroidered flowers and a white cotton tank top. She found a pair of aviator sunglasses on the drawer of her room that were definitely her sister’s –emphasis on the «were»- and with a pair of flip-flops, she was ready.

Boa had said that it was allowed to swim on the lake where the water was shallow and that there was a lifeguard just in case. The weather was in their favor, the day was all warm and sunny even when it started with a couple of clouds, it had cleared up since then. Her mother reminded her to take a light jacket with her because it could get colder during the evening.

Priyanka was about to argue with her when she heard the sound of the horn outside. She put the jacket on her backpack and said goodbye to her mom before opening the entrance door.

To her surprise, there was an egg yolk car parked in front of her house.

Lemon rolled down her window. “Get in loser, we’re going to a lake… for some reason.”

She had a pair of heart-shaped pink sunglasses resting on top of her head and a lollipop on her hand.

“What is this?”

“I told you I was going to pick you up.” She unlocked the passenger’s door.

Priyanka got in the car and buckled up. Her entire body was tingling.

“I thought you were sharing a car with the other girls.”

“Don’t change the plans I’ve already set, I’m a Virgo.”

“Don’t you have a bumper sticker with that written on it?”

“I’m glad someone has finally seen it.”

Priyanka threw her backpack on the backseat and noticed how empty it was.

“Wait, what about Rita? Wasn’t she coming with you?”

Lemon got the car moving.

“No, I pushed her down the stairs yesterday.” She said, dead serious. “I’m just kidding; I went to pick some things from Tynomi’s place, Kiara and she were speaking in French and got along well so she decided to go with them. Because of that, I have the trunk full with two coolers and their bags so –for their own good- I hope they gave me the right address.”

Just then it hit Priyanka it was just the two of them for the next half hour.

Lemon looked lovely with a yellow poplin puff-sleeve crop top with little lemons embroidered around the neckline and a pair of navy paper bag shorts. The strips of a bright yellow swimsuit could be seen underneath her clothes and she was driving with sneakers because driving with flip-flops is hell but overall the look screamed summer in the Italian Riviera with a glass of limoncello.

And well, Priyanka was gay and thirsty.

“Did you hear what I said?” Lemon asked raising an eyebrow when they stopped in a red traffic light.

“Something about music…?” It was a wild guess and she would be lying if she said her fingers weren’t crossed.

“Yes, can you put something on the radio?”

Priyanka scanned the CDs on the glove compartment and finally decided for the always great Good Girl Gone Bad –just because she wanted Shut Up and Drive to play while Lemon was driving- and because it had some iconic bops.

“Are you certain about the route we’re taking?” The brunette asked.

“What do you mean?” Lemon clicked her tongue. “I know how to follow directions. I also have a map… I’m a strong independent woman who needs no instruction on how to get to a stupid lake in the middle of nowhere-”

“Hello, my friend and I are lost; do you know which is the best way to get to the lake?” Priyanka had to pat herself on the back for that level of fake kindness, she even batted her lashes.

Lemon, on the driver’s seat, kept grumbling something in a low voice.

“Yeah, you’re almost there, it’s five minutes from here… you have to take the next entry to the left and then continue straight forward. You’ll be there in the blink of an eye.”

“Thanks, good man. We appreciate it.” She waved at the man at the gas station. Then she turned to Lemon. “You see? It wasn’t that difficult.”

“We were almost there.”

“Yes, except for the fact that we’ve been driving around in circles for the past fifteen minutes. I told you it was the right entry.”

Lemon huffed and puffed like a child.

Priyanka attempted to skip one of the songs but the blonde interfered by pushing her hand aside. Priyanka crossed her arms on her chest and pretended to be offended.

Just like the man had said, in no time they spotted the lake entrance.

Lemon sighed of relief while Priyanka cheered.

“Yay! We made it!”

Once they got closer, they agreed it was all worthy. The beautiful scenery of the lake with crystalline blue water framed by the rows of mountains covered in green and leafy pine trees left them in awe.

A figure waved at them –probably one of the girls- they were gathered in a small semicircle that resembled a beach with dirt and gravel next to a wooden port. There were other people around, families, some kids playing in the water, swimmers, boats, and canoes.

Lemon parked the car in an empty spot among others, some of the girls helped them with the coolers and the bags that were on the truck.

“Good night, ladies.” Scarlett mocked.

“You two finally made it.” Boa grabbed one of the coolers with the other girl’s help.

Priyanka was about to say something about their delay in the same joking tone but she caught a glimpse of Lemon, she was serious, noticeably embarrassed by the situation. So instead, she cackled and played it down.

“Yeah, can you believe I told her the wrong entry on the highway? Lemon almost killed me we were spinning around for like fifteen minutes, right?” She looked at the blonde and subtly winked.

“Ah, yeah…” Lemon’s eyes were big just like a deer caught in headlights, the tips of her ears turned red just like her cheeks. “But we’re here… so… it doesn’t matter.”

“Priyanka you dumbass, we’ve come this way before.” Scarlett nagged her.

“Oh, shut up… I forgot.” She picked her backpack and threw it over her shoulder. Lemon hadn’t moved. “Hey, let’s go. We have all day ahead.”

The blonde nodded and locked the car before following them to the port.

The view was even more breathtaking up close as the sunlight shone onto the waters of the lake, it also glinted on the gold rims of Priyanka’s glasses and bathed her completely in a warm sensation.

They were received with cheers –especially since they have the food on the coolers and it was almost noon-, she saw Kiara applying some suntan oil and chatting with Rita and Starzy over a small wooden harbor, as soon as Scarlett and Boa arrived with the cooler, the blonde started an argument with Ilona over the best way to ensemble a tent –and repeatedly called each other “sis”-, Kyne, Tynomi and Juice ignored them and started setting a grill.

“You didn’t have to lie to cover my blunder.” Lemon whispered.

“I know.” Priyanka stretched her arms. “I figured you’ve suffered enough for one morning. If you’re feeling generous you can get me a drink or something in return.”

Lemon scoffed. “Get it yourself.” She started walking to where Rita, Starzy, and Kiara were but before she was further in distance, she turned around. “Thank you, though.”

Priyanka smiled at her and then went to help the other girls with the food. They entrusted her washing the vegetables at some gazebo nearby with a little kitchen and a sink. Tynomi helped her peeling and cutting once she was done and then they prepared the skewers. Scarlett’s pyromania was helpful to light the fire, although the flame that rose in the air caused quite a fuss.

Right when Priyanka put the last skewer on the trade for Tynomi to take it to the grill, a paper cup with pink lemonade and ice appeared in front of her, Lemon held it steadily.

“Oh, hey there.” Priyanka took a sip, it was sweet and it had something that kicked in. “Thank goodness this has alcohol on it.”

“It’s vodka, careful with the empty stomach, though.”

“Signature cocktail?”

Lemon shrugged. “I guess it falls into the category of colorful and sugary.”

“I don’t know if it’s because it’s hot as fuck but this is actually delicious.”

“Of course it’s delicious, I made it.”

“That’s obvious; you can taste the modesty on it.” Lemon made a childish grimace. “Have you jumped in the water yet?”

“I just soaked my feet for a little.”

“And?”

“Cold like a penguin’s butt.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

Lemon took the cup back and drank a sip, her lip gloss stained the material. She kept biting her bottom lip as if she wanted to say something but she sneaked out to help Boa with something when Priyanka wasn’t looking.

In that part of the lake it was allowed to camp and there were several tents set around the land, there were also a couple of forest rangers roaming around –probably attracted by the fake fire alarm- but the girls had been clever enough to keep the bottles saved in the coolers. They all ate vegetable skewers and hamburgers sitting in a big circle and drank beer and cranberry vodka in paper cups.

Someone had brought a radio and they all sang Stars Are Blind when it played. After having lunch they stayed there reminiscing and telling stories from school. They were all laughing and cracking jokes it took Priyanka by surprise when the story of her seven minutes in heaven was brought.

“More like seven minutes in hell.” She gagged.

She re-told the story for those who hadn’t heard it and then realized that Lemon was among those people. The blonde hadn’t said a word since she started her narration, in fact, she paid attention to every word that came out of her mouth. She didn’t laugh when Priyanka tried to minimize she kissed a guy she didn’t want to kiss or when she tried to use the humor as a shield as she had done before.

“What an asshole.” She said when the brunette finished the story. She was angry and it showed. She was so mad she had sobered up.

“Yeah… but on the bright side… that helped me realize things. It was enlightening, I dare to say… even when that closet was dark as fuck.”

“Still… I hope he chokes or something.” Lemon was fuming.

Later on, Ilona exposed Scarlett who had claimed to be in detention many times in high school when she was just in the library, studying. Even when she tried to argue, Priyanka caught her friend sitting right next to Juice as she tenderly held her and stroked her hand with her thumb. She assumed things were alright with them now and couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous of what they had.

Vodka, it’s me… I have seen what you did for others…

Lemon told a story about one time she got lost in the subway with their friends and they almost ended in Staten Island –Priyanka refrained from commenting on the fact that Lemon wasn’t good at following indications, indeed- and Denali, the only non-Canadian of their panel discussion mentioned it had happened to her as well.

“I’ll be in New York for a competition in a few months.”

“You should come to visit me.” Lemon smiled brightly.

“That would be fun… Priyanka could come as well.” She stared at the brunette who gaped at her in surprise. “And tell me, do you have any single friend?”

“I’ve got some… yeah. I could make some arrangements.”

“I’d love that.”

“Slut-Nali.”

“Proudly.”

Later during the afternoon, some of the girls were brave enough to try to dive in the shallow waters of the lake, Priyanka among them, and, she regretted the moment her body made contact with the glistening surface but once her body was fully immersed it was like a shot of adrenaline in her body.

She surely looked like she had seen a ghost when she emerged because Lemon laughed loudly at her. The blonde was cozily sunbathing on the shoreline at an unsafe distance for someone mocking the swimmers.

Priyanka moved her arms toward her.

“Don’t you dare… Priyanka, I swear to God if you even try-”

The cold droplets touched her skin before she could finish that sentence.

The blonde squirmed and squealed.

“Bitch…” She shook the water off her body.

“Who’s laughing now?” She moved like a fish in the water.

“You won’t be laughing when you need your towel to get out.” Lemon waved it like a flag.

“Listen, you…” Priyanka started walking out of the water, the other girl was already running.

It was way colder out of the water and it took the brunette a minute to get used to, get her flip flops, and chase after Lemon who still had her towel on her hands. She hid behind Rita and stuck her tongue out, the girl caught in the middle raised her hands in a sign of rendition. They were like a couple of kids. Priyanka was about to say something when Scarlett and Juice came near them.

“Hey, we rented a boat over there and we were wondering if you would like to come with us.” Juice grinned.

“I pass, I’m not going on a boat ride with these two.” Rita pointed at them, Lemon was still looking over her shoulder.

“Pri, Lemon? What about you?”

“Sure… it would be fun, as soon as this bitch gives me my towel back.” Priyanka cast an accusing glance at the blonde.

Lemon threw the towel directly to her face.

“What’s so thrilling about a boat ride?” She asked while Priyanka wrapped herself in the towel.

“You said the same about coming here today and yet you’re having a good time, right?” Lemon shrugged. “C’mon, I’m not going to push you in the water or something.”

“Now I know for a fact that you’ll try to push me into the water.”

“Are you possibly scared?” She taunted.

“I’m not scared of a boat if that’s what you’re saying.”

“It’s settled then, we’ll meet you in five minutes over the pier where the boats are moored.” Scarlett grabbed Juice’s hand and they walked away.

Priyanka put her shorts and sunglasses on; she grabbed her bag and hung it over her shoulder. She checked on Lemon when she was done putting clothes on too.

“Ready?”

The blonde hesitated for a moment. “I guess.”

“Listen, there’s really nothing to be scared of, we’ll get life jackets and everything.”

“That’s not- Never mind.” She shook her head and grabbed her things. “Let’s go.”

Juice and Scarlett were already waiting for them with their life jackets on, they explained to the girls how to put them on.

“You two get in the boat and we’ll untie the knots and push it in the water.” Scarlett indicated.

The boat was made of wood and painted in white with matching paddles, the name Perseverance was written in blue on one of the sides.

Lemon sat first and she helped Priyanka to get in.

“Did you know it’s bad luck to change a boat’s name?” She told Priyanka. “It’s said they always sink if you do.”

“We should double-check this isn’t repainted or something underneath, right?”

“Why? Are you scared?” Lemon mocked.

Priyanka elbowed her.

Juice was done with the knot and she jumped in the water to help Scarlett.

“Okay, one, two… three.” They pushed the boat that swayed a little with the waves before stabilizing.

“Have fun you two!” Juice waved at them.

“Wait…” It took Priyanka a moment before understanding what was going on. “Hey!”

“Oh my God…”

The girls behind were cackling as the boat was carried further by the water stream.

“I think we’ve been set up.”

“There might be a chance, yeah.”

Scarlett mouthed a soft «Sorry» but Priyanka knew she wasn’t regretting anything. This had to be planned beforehand and she had a vague idea what the point was. She stared at Lemon who had picked up one of the paddles and was examining it.

“Do you think we can go back?”

“I doubt that we can row against this current.” She declared after taking a look at how the water kept taking them away from the coast. “Our best chance is to let it drag us down to calmer waters where we can paddle from to the closest coast.”

“You really learned a few scout things when you were camping with your dad, didn’t you?”

“Aren’t you glad I did?” She smirked.

Certainly, Priyanka was glad because at least one of them had a clue of what to do and how to get them out of that situation but, at the same time, it meant that they were going to be stuck for a while in that boat.

As they started moving away from the coast, the silhouettes of his friends became blurry and they were surrounded by the vast scenery of the mountains and the woods. The sun was lukewarm and the little waves rocked the boat like a cradle, it was soothing.

Priyanka laid on the floorboards and looked at the clouds crossing the sky. Lemon watched the water around the boat to eventually join the brunette.

“This is nice,” Priyanka whispered. “I think it’s the longest we’ve been without arguing or bitching.”

Lemon chuckled. Priyanka looked at her and could see every detail of her face, the curve of her lips the little mole over them, the tip of her nose, the length of her lashes, the color of her eyes…

Suddenly she felt shy.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that I can be an annoying bitch sometimes but you’re the one person that’s always there for me…” Lemon murmured.

Priyanka’s cheeks turned red. “What?”

“That’s the first line of the last e-mail I wrote for you after we… drifted apart.”

“I never received it.”

“I never sent it.” She fidgeted nervously. “I don’t know if it would have made any difference, you seemed pretty determined to me.”

So they were going to talk about it. It was the conversation neither of them had brought up for the longest time but it was there, lingering in the air like a dark cloud of unsolved problems.

“I needed to put some distance between us…” Priyanka felt the unavoidable knot on her throat like whenever someone touched the subject. “I wasn’t being honest with you… I was scared. You had these plans that didn’t include me in your future, I felt like I was being left out while my plans always included you.”

“Priyanka, I had to move forward to survive… Yes, I met new people, I made new friends and I set new goals but you were never out of the picture. It was difficult for me because I don’t know, you were always the one that everyone liked instantly and you made friends in a heartbeat without even trying it. Your friends were our friends because of that but when I was on my own… I feel like I’m more an acquired taste, people tend to like me better when they know me but until then…”

She sighed.

“I had these problems that seemed small in proportion and I didn’t want to become a burden for you, being so far away from each other. I just wanted to share the good parts. You were the only thing in my life that felt like a constant and then… you were gone.”

She looked at Lemon in the eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ve ever apologized for that. And just for the record, small problems, big problems… I should’ve been there for you no matter what. Back in the day, I don’t know… it’s not an excuse but I felt like it was easier to push you away and that you got to live a life without me at some point.”

“Why?” Lemon frowned.

“I don’t know.” Priyanka lied. “I didn’t want to be a burden either.”

“I’m sorry, too. I didn’t know what to expect when I saw you here but, these last couple of days I realized how much I had missed you. I wrote that in the e-mail too, I wish I had sent it.”

Priyanka’s heart skipped a beat.

“Me too.” The brunette spoke clearly. “I’m freaking proud of you and everything you’ve achieved… What I’ve heard because I didn’t befriend your New York friends on Facebook to find out.”

“They were my friends too. I didn’t add them only to stalk you or something like that. And, for what it’s worth, I think you’re doing amazing too… aside from that car of yours.”

“Laugh all you want but I bought that car to go visit you in New York someday.”

Lemon sat straight on the boat. “You were going to drive all the way there in that to visit me? That counts as risking your life, you know?”

“Well… yeah… that was the idea. I wanted to see you.” Priyanka sat down as well.

“Pri…”

“And you only came back for your dad’s wedding… why did you come back now? After so long?”

“My dad’s wedding was… an event. It would’ve been fun to have you there though, there was so much booze.”

“They can always renew their vows.”

Lemon laughed. “Well, and as I told you before, my mom was going on a cruise ship so I wanted to visit everyone here. The fact that it coincided with your visit was mind-blowing for me too.”

“Were you mad?”

“Yes, I was fuming.”

They both started laughing at loud.

“I’m not going to lie I did want to start a fight that day in the dining… and later on the club… and on the cereal aisle…”

Priyanka threw water from the lake at the girl’s face.

“Hey! Don’t!” Lemon shook her head. “I think it got on my eyes wait…”

“Oh no, sorry… I didn’t mean to…”

Priyanka got closer but at that moment the other girl counterattacked with some more water.

“Bitch…”

“You deserved it.” She cleaned some drops. “But I think it really got on my eyes, can you hand me my bag.”

Priyanka’s face was still wet but she did as she asked.

“Shit, my contact lenses are falling.” She looked through her bag until she found the container.

“Do you need help with that?”

“No, just a second…” She removed both contact lenses and saved them back. “Better.”

“I’m over here.” Priyanka mocked.

“Fine… I can’t see beyond my hand.”

“I know that.”

“Could you get me my glasses? They are there, somewhere…”

“Yeah, let me…”

Lemon’s bag had lip gloss, sunscreen, candy… transparent frame glasses.

“Here.” She put them in her hand.

“Don’t make fun of me.” She mumbled. “I never wear these in public…”

“Lemon, I’ve known you for ages I do remember how you look like with glasses on.”

Priyanka took them back and opened the temples before placing them gently on the blonde’s face. She adjusted the nose pads above her nose and removed some hairs out of her face.

“There,” She looked proud of her work. “See, nothing less than stunning.”

Lemon had a beaming smile on her face, she’d never look bad with or without glasses on.

She didn’t realize how close they were until Lemon batted her lashes. She could’ve kissed her right there but instead, she just moved away with her pulse running wild and her face feeling hot and no sunshine to blame for it.

The blonde extended her little finger as a white flag. “Are we good?”

Priyanka sighed with relief. “Best friends forever.” She sealed the pinky promise.

However, the word «friends» tasted bitter on her tongue.

“That’s right.” She was still holding their fingers together. “Priyanka and Lemon, Lemon and Priyanka.”

“You won’t happen to have something to eat in that bag of yours, will you?”

“I think I packed some Oreos this morning.”

“You’re my hero.”

It was almost sunset by the time they got back to the coast and they still had to border the lake to get back where the other girls were. Nonetheless, the setting of the sun was a spectacle they watched in awe as the daytime ended with the sun’s departure.

It was starting to get cold and Priyanka was the only one who had brought a jacket so she lent it to Lemon –it looked a bit oversized but she still looked good on it.

They walked for a little before meeting the rest of the group, luckily the place was fully enlightened and they had made sure they hadn’t gone too far to lose sight of the camping area. The other girls welcomed them back with a big cheer, some of them were already setting a little fire to toast marshmallows and sing songs with a guitar.

“I’m going to the bathroom.” Lemon headed to the public toilet while Priyanka joined the circle around the bonfire.

“So…” Denali sat next to her right away. “How did that go?”

“You knew.” Priyanka crossed her arms on her chest. “I can’t believe it, y’all helped to orchestrate this stunt.”

“…maybe. But it was for a good cause.”

“Which one?”

“Getting you a girlfriend.”

Priyanka rolled her eyes.

“I swear…”

“What happened over there?” Scarlett, Kiara, and Juice surrounded her like a group of teenagers.

“She doesn’t want to spill the details.”

“That’s because nothing happened and you should mind your own business.”

“What do you mean nothing happened? You two were there for like two hours.”

“We did talk about why we first fought and other things but it’s nothing close to what you think so you should drop it. I’m being serious right now.” She cleared her throat. “Lemon and I are friends… that’s it. Don’t try to push it further because it’s not going to happen.”

It was clear at that point that fixing their friendship was more important than risking her feelings; maybe she could tell Lemon one day and they could laugh about it just like they had done earlier but, at that moment, things were very recent and fragile to drop any more information into the mix. Priyanka wanted to have her on her life and she wasn’t going to lose her best friend over some unrequited love she had.

If she had dealt with it most of her life, she surely could do it again.

The girls protested but they sat back in their places. Lemon joined them shortly after, she sat next to Priyanka, the sleeves of her jacket looked like sweater paws on her.

“Hey, do you mind going back with the girls? I was talking to Rita and she’s kind of tired so I’m going home with her.”

“Oh, sure. No problem. Is she alright?”

“Yeah, just tired and maybe sunburn. I don’t want to drive when it’s too late either.”

“Alright. Are you still coming to dinner with my family? My mom said she’ll be waiting for you.”

“Saturday, right? I’ll be there.” She smiled. “I’m really glad we got to talk today, Pri.”

“Me too.”

She hugged her Lemon before she left; the blonde then greeted everyone else.

Priyanka watched in silence as the yellow car left the park.

Her heart shrunk, this was the right thing to do, they were friends again, and yet… she felt empty inside.

#rpdr fanfiction #lemon #priyanka #lemon x priyankya #childhood friends #friends to lovers #lesbian au #come home to my heart #plastiquedoll #conceit welcome #drcan #can1

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hazbinextgeneration · 3 years

Text

Into the Casino Ch12

The trip back home wasn't anything he hadn't been expecting. She was quiet for the most part with only gazing out the window and him patting her arm in reassurance and smiling in glee. He had made good progress today. Found out a whole bunch of stuff for his curious mind to disect like a frog in class and exploit it when the time was right. But for now, he preferred to get home and get some greatly deserved rest. And that they did. But Amalfia still couldn't shake the....strange feelings she that was still bouncing around her skull. Mostly around one particular issue....Who was Lou? Now that question could easily be answered with 'He's your boss of course.' or 'He's the guy courting you.'. Or another number of things. The casino's owner. The one who helped her. Mr. Lou- But she wasn't interested in that. She still got a strange feeling whenever she stared into those red eyes. They held something behind that smile. She tried asking Cyber about him....buuut

"Eh- I don't think it's my place to really say. Everyone's past down here is personal to them. Why don't you ask him yourself? Ain't he supposed to be the one you're dating or something?" And her answer told her if she asked anyone else they would give the same answer or refuse...Frankly she did ask once or twice more about the topic, but he expertly dodged it and changed the topic back to her and asked her questions on her likes and interests. Not that she didn't appreciate he seemed to want to know about her but she barely knew anything about him. And this wasn't about to be another one sided romance with a man she barely knew. She wasn't about to be put through that thing again. Not if she could help it. But that idea was pushed back for now because after a few days of her normal routine of waking up by Cyber and working on whatever list Lou gave her for the day, she was surprised when one day when Lou came up and announced they were again going to that side shop he knew and getting her a new dress for her. She blinked and asked why. He chuckled. "The ball of course.~ You don't think I would let a beautiful young lady like yourself go in just any dress, did you? Oh no, no. My dear. Nothing but the best for the woman I ...adore.~" So once again she was whisked off into the car, down to the Black Market, and taken into that little clothes shop. But this time he introduced her to the small ladies who ran the place and beckoned her to be taken to the back...Well she wasn't to be taken back there by herself with two absolute strangers and gripped onto him as one tried to reach out to take her. Making Lou raise a brow and get to play the hero as he gently assured her and brought her into the back room himself. After explaining exactly what they were looking for, in Lou's words: "I want something resembling the radiance and grace of a peacock. I trust you ladies to work your magic with what I pay you." She blinked up at his request and rose a brow. A peacock? He wasn't going to ask her what she wanted in the dress? She didn't have to ask when she was ushered by the women and was made to pose out as they took measurements of around her midsection and chest, height, and strangely enough her arms. All the while she nervously glanced back between them and Lou who always gave a smile and those strange red eyes. And funnily enough, as soon as they were done it was time to go back home. All of that which took the amount of one hour to happen. He had no interest in stopping anywhere else it seemed, wanting to hurry and get her back home. In their hurry she didn't even notice Cyber had tagged along until she was back in the car. ...He was that much in a hurry huh? But once and a while-...The question and worries would still bounce around and cause her to sometimes space out in thought. But other than that, she didn't think about it once...That was until she was gathering dirty laundry to clean and when she picked up the very same dress Cyber had her squeeze into before that 'date' and wouldn't you know it? A small pink piece of paper slide out and she almost missed it if the golden shiny words written on it hadn't shimmered in the light and caught her eye as it landed by her hooves. Making her pause and blink at it. She slowly bent down and picked it up, bringing it too her face to read the small print. And those eyes lit up. This was-...This is the card Rita had handed to her. And the words were still neatly printed and bold enough for her to read the address and name of the club she owned. And an their conversation came rushing back to her. "W-Well he knows Mr. Charles-"

"Oh! Trust me. Those two know each other very well. They have past connections through their second businesses...Still do."

... ..... ......?!

Charles KNEW Lou. And he knew enough it seemed about him to have an actual past and enough to hate him....He could answer all your questions, a small voice whispered to her and her eyes widened. She could find out exactly what he was like. What he did. WHo he was. Her body lighting up at the excitement of it all....Before it all came crashing down. She wasn't sure how Lou would feel about her leaving let alone going to one of his rivals and talking with a man who clearly made it clear they hated each other even if Lou's smile hid it very well. He would definately be against the idea if he didn't tell her no first....And that's when the idea came to her. She quickly tucked the card into her dress pocket and grabbed the laundry. She had a certain set of Rules to check. ***************************************************************************************************** The familiar clanking footsteps of Cyber's feet came down the hallway. Another day of waking up Fuzzy and getting her groggy self ready to go do whatever Lou decided to haul her around to do. He was certainly enjoying taking his time with this whole take over plan. He was acting most days as if there wasn't any plan and looking through schedules and taking care of the fools betting souls and watching the flow of new ones steadily come to him. It what made him the powerhouse he was...but if this whole scheme of using her magic worked...he just might become one of the new overlords. She saw the lust for power he always had when he made contracts or one a particularly hefty pile of souls to add to his ever growing power and collection. But it always increased by a large amount when he spoke of the many things he wanted to do with her magic once he figured out how to extract it from her. But she still thought the party was a stupid idea. Too many people could see her for what she really was and it could turn into a real problem. She has TRIED to explain it too him- "I don't think this is a good idea, Boss. What if someone sees her? The horn is a pretty dead give away." "Cyber, you underestimate me. 'Sides, no one really feels any energy off her correct?" "Well...no. She radiates about as much energy as the janitor. But those outbursts though, big crowds and curious demons has a high possibility of causing a trigger to that magic, and to be honest...That one thing I might not fully be able to save you from." "Oh, trust me. I rarely ever make mistakes. And I have thought long and hard about this choice. If someone does find out or Rita blabbers her mouth, then we'll get 'curious' people who might want to take a peak and id the decide they want my dear pet for themselves, then it could cause quite the problem. Especially if someone on a higher level of magic and power catches wind of her." His red eyes narrowed slightly as if the thought made him slightly angered. "I already put too much time and effort into this already to have any set backs, and the very last thing I need is her dead or falling into someone else's hands.....Keeping her a secret is key, but now that word must've already gone around by the few times we went out ...and Rita- It'd be wiser to let others see she's 'weak'. Let them think I'm only humoring another woman for amusement like Rita already thinks. Hiding her now would only cause suspicion." Dang it! She hated when he had good points. But right now she had to wake someone up. So it was quite a surprise to her when she opened the door to shake her awake and she wasn't laying on the bed. Which looked made like no one slept in it at all. And the room was empty as well...Cyber blinked...Where was- "Cyber!" She whirled around to find said unicorn all groomed and dressed, holding a peice of paper, and smiling. "Sorry if I wasted your time, but I decided to get up early today to get my list done." She lightly shook the paper. Cyber still paused studying her but relaxed with a smile. "Finally getting used to the work schedule, huh?" "Oh yeah! Im hoping to finish everything Lou wanted me to do by noon. I wanted to ask him something important, but I think I can only do it i-if everything's finished before then." "Oh..And how do you figure that?" "Im in charge of his schedules. He's supposed to be meeting with an important client from the black market today about trading good with him." She rose a brow and hummed. "Well, if that's the case, then I guess I better head back. He'll be needing me on the floor if you're already up." Amalfia nodded. "That's what he told me. He's waiting for you by the lounge, and don't worry about breakfast. I made sure the cook made you and him something." Her brow rose further as she hummed again and made her way past her. Oh she was up to something. It was clearly obvious and she wasn't trying to hide it. So that begs the question. What was it? ..Lou was pretty interested too when he was informed, but he merely chuckled and told her they would wait for noon and see what she intended on planning on asking him. In the meantime, the busy floor easily took up their time as Lou did the usually laugh and greeting. Encouraging some poor bloak to bet more than needed or speaking with a curious few people who looked interesting to him. Every once and a while they would catch sight of her quickly running past with something in her hands or going somewhere on the upper floors, but that was about it. LOu raising an amused brow everytime she did go past. Time pasted. And guess who finally showed up to talk with him. The dirty man was definately from the scummier side of the city but Lou still smiled, shook his hand, and offered to escort him to his office where he usually conducted business...the one with carniverous plants and a heavy duty door in case things went south or if he wanted to do 'extra' persuasion. And on the way up, there wasn't any signs of Fuzzy anywhere. Guess she was busy doing something. So they opened the office door, gestured for the man to enter, he did, and was about to go in themselves- "LOU!! W-Wait!!" He paused and looked up amused when a white blur came jogging down the hallway towards them both. He watched with a smile as she stopped and leaned over with a wheeze. Trying to catch her breath from darting all the way down from where ever she came from. "I-I...*sigh* f-finished e-everything." "Marvelous. This must've been your fastest time yet. Now you can have the rest of the day off yo relax." He opened the door more and was about to enter when a rather rough tug was received on his arm and he was actually turned around by the desperate looking unicorn and ..paused in shock for a brief moment. "W-Wait! I-..I n-need to ask you something.'' "Darling, Im always happy to answer your questions, but as you can see-" He gestured to the inside of his office. "I have a very important meeting t-" "I want you to let me go out somewhere on my break." She snapped interrupting him. Which was a..minor shock to him. She had never done something like that before during her stay...how long has it been now? Almost a full year. Time seemed to slip by when you were planning and had her do the same things everyday. Her face was determined and her hands were still wrapped around his arm in a tight grip-...He blinked and quickly recovered. Cyber having an almost confused look. "Now why in all hell would you want to do a thing like that? Demons out there would use you like a rag doll til you were nothing but broken pieces on the sidewalk-" "According to your employee policy,which I happened to have read the whole thing last night-" She interrupted him again making him pause. "- employees are permitted to leave to other places on t-their break but to be back before their break ends and as long as they report to you or your floor manager first, and since I have the rest of the day that means I just have to get back before nighttime. Which according to your own policy is eight thirty for most day staff including me." ....He opened his mouth- "I want to go out and I-..." She inhaled. "I w-want to visit Rita's." Silence. Cyber blinked, caught off guard by what just came out of her mouth and one look to Lou, told her he was definitely not prepared for something as bold as that. As he just paused and stared down to her with a blank expression...before that smile came back and he gave a huff of dry laughter. "Now why on earth would you even want to go to a place like that? A pure being such as yourself would be eaten alive there-" "She invited me." Technically that wasn't a lie. Rita did invite her to drop by sometime for a chat even if it was never a personally invitation. Lou how ever gave slight narrowed eyes with that smile at the now suspicious situation. But paused again when he felt something on his hand and one dart to it gave him an answer as she intertwined their fingers with one hand, small rose ring glimmering on it, and her face turned into one of pleading. "P-Please. ...D-Do it as a favor for me. A-And I promise I'll make it up to you later." .....Red eyes blinked back to her. Those purple eyes giving an honest look...and something jolted in him."....I" "HEY!!" They all turned to the impatient looking man waiting for him. "Are we conducting business or are you playing cutsie with the dame?" "Oh..Of course! This won't be but a moment!" He slowly turned back to her with a forced smile. Cyber could tell right away he was holding back the urge to just say no for sake of not being rude to her and ruin any progress he had made....But this was RITA they were talking about and Charles was there....Those two could easily ruin everything. But for some reason....This gal was dead set on going and by the sudden surprise and bold display they just witnessed, she wasn't about to take no easily....He could've just easily let Cyber take her but...his eyes side glanced back to the man. This guy claimed to have angelic weapons. Usually most if not all were instantly bought off the market usually by higher and the strongest demons to increase their own strength and to help prevent these things from being used on themselves. He had a chance to gain quite a few if this gentleman did hae some like he claimed and if this deal went right...Which means he NEEDED Cyber's backup......Which meant his brain had to bust into over drive and form a plan quickly....And this one involved the only other capable person he could trust at this moment. With a sharp inhale between clenched fangs, he turned back to her with a smile. "Very well....but on the condition. You don't go alone. Cyber and I are in a very important meeting so Disease will be accompanying you there and back...I would like you to stay close to him. If you agree, then you may go." She stared at him, before sighing and giving a smile with a nod of the head. "Y-Yes. Yes! Of course!" He hummed and turned to Cyber. "Get him immediately. Now." She didn't have to be told twice as she literally ran off without saying another word and he sighed- The further closing of her hand around him made him look back to her smiling face..and pause again. "T-Thank you. I-I know how you must feel about this, but I have to do it....I-It'd be rude to not show up." "...Yes. Not showing up when expected can be rude." They stayed like that for a few seconds, tensely waiting and while they were she slowly released her grip from his hand. He slowly flexed his squeezed fingers out, looking to them for just a moment, before putting his arms behind him back just in time to see Cyber rushing around the corner with a confused Disease in tow. He blinked as she pushed him forward and they stopped right in front of them. "Uh...You wanted me?" He sighed. "Yes. My darling here-" He nodded to her. "-wishes to visit..R-Rita." Disease blinked confused. "Myself and Cyber can't be spared and Midnight would probably...not do as good of a job as your could." He hated admitting this but Disease smirked up at his compliment anyways. "I need you to take her there and back. Do you understand what Im saying?" The snake man gave a salute and smile. "No problemo, Bosssss. Ssshould be there and back in no time!" Amalfia beemed and sighed in releif- "Hey! Are we doing business or not!?" She jumped and quickly began walking away from the door. "Ok. Thank you, Lou. Ill be back. Bye." She mumbled quickly as she scurried off. Disease was quick to make a move after her, but gagged and gave a tiny yelp when Lou grabbed the hood part of his hoodie and turned him around to face the bright red eyes that narrowed at him. "Listen good. Watch her every move carefully, and do NOT leave her alone with Rita or any of those workers." A grimace can over his features. "I don't need her findout out any information that could scare her off. Im counting on those abilities of yours, Disease. Do NOT let me down." Disease merely gave a thumbs up before wriggling out of his hold and dashing off in the direction she left. With a sigh he stood back straight up and rubbed his face. This wasn't what he wanted to get into right now, and one look to Cyber told him she was mentally saying the same thing he was. 'I don't like this'. But he didn't have time to think on it right now. With a forced smile he turned back to the scruffy looking man. "Now. Where were we?"

All characters except for Amalifa belongs to @palettepainter

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