#i just read about how they slept in one bed in season of storms and i was like :o

[misunderstood-shadowling]

i'm so used to fanfic being so extremely exaggerated when it comes to queer relationships that every time i read a witcher book, i'm absolutely flabbergasted

[briefinquiries]

Tyler Owens x Reader: Too Easy

Request: Anonymous asked: "okay i have a tyler owens request!! him and reader are both tornado wranglers and they’ve always had a somewhat flirty relationship, but at one point they’re out chasing and the motel they stay at that night doesn’t have enough rooms for all of them so Tyler and the reader decide to share and reader has a nightmare? or just some kind of angst or hurt/comfort with a happy ending? love ur work!"

Word count: 3.9k

Warnings: PTSD, trauma, tornado mention

A/N: I changed it from flirty to an enemies to lovers-type relationship, just because i've been craving to write that type of banter. as always, comments & replies are super appreciated!!! thanks for reading :)

As soon as you saw the familiar red Dodge truck parked outside the motel you groaned. 

“Is this guy everywhere, all the time?” Halle, one of your crew members, mumbled from the driver’s seat. She pulled your SUV into the only empty spot in the parking lot. 

She was referencing Tyler– another local storm chaser and absolute pain in your ass. His Ram truck was like a symbol all around Oklahoma. Everyone in the midwest knew his name– and what he did. You, on the other hand, knew him as a self-absorbed jerk that constantly put his and his team’s lives in danger for a few hundred thousand views on YouTube. He was cocky and obnoxious and arrogant. And you couldn’t stand him. 

Unfortunately for you though, Tyler Owens and his entire team went where the storms went. Which meant that you were stuck dealing with him– especially during tornado season. 

“Let’s just get a room, maybe we missed him,” you mumbled before turning to the backseat. “Anna, could you pass me my bag?” 

“Sure thing,” she replied, grunting as she handed your duffel over. 

“How about two rooms tonight?” you suggested. “I feel like I haven’t actually slept since we were in Austin.”

“God, I’ve been waiting for you to suggest that,” Halle mumbled. The bags around her eyes suggested she was just as eager for a good night’s sleep as you were. 

Together, the three of you dragged yourselves towards the motel lobby, exhausted and desperate for both a shower and a bed. 

“Why don’t you guys wait with all the gear? I’ll go in and book the rooms,” you offered. 

“Two of them,” Halle said with a relieved smile. 

“Two rooms coming up,” you promised. 

They nodded in agreement and settled in on the curb while you wandered inside. The bell above the door rang loudly as you stepped inside. As soon as you did, you realized that, to your absolute dismay, a familiar someone had already beat you to the front desk. You’d recognize those stupid, broad shoulders any day, even if you were sleep deprived.  

“Evenin’ m’lady,” Tyler’s little sidekick said teasingly. He tipped his baseball cap towards you.   

“Hey Boone,” you greeted back curtly.   

“What’d ya think of that beaut earlier, huh? Not too often we get two storm cells like that.”

“Yeah it was somethin’,” you replied absentmindedly. Honestly, you didn’t dislike Boone. He was friendly– maybe a little overzealous for your liking, but overall a nice guy. It was a shame he was always around Tyler– otherwise you might not always be so annoyed with him, too.  

“There she is,” Tyler beamed. He approached you and Boone while he tucked a few room keys in his wallet. “Were you fillin’ Boone in on why you picked the wrong storm to chase today? Because that’s a story I want to hear–” 

Your gaze fell to the floor, chest tightening the same way it did in the field earlier. “The winds changed last minute– I didn’t catch it,” you muttered, although you shouldn’t even have to explain yourself to this hillbilly. 

“Ah, I see. Man, you’re off your game, sweetheart. Usually it’s me missin’ those signs. What do you got cloudin’ up that pretty little mind of yours?” 

Anger began seeping into the corners of your mind. “Why do you even care?” you asked icily. “Thought you’d be happy to have that storm all to yourself.”

“Oh, I was sweetheart,” Tyler winked. “But I don’t mind sharin’ with you.”

Rolling your eyes, you pushed past him towards the front desk. A younger girl with short, red hair offered you a smile. “How can I help you?”

“I need two rooms please,” you requested, it took about all the energy you had left to smile back. 

The girl sucked in a breath of air. “Oh, I’m so sorry– this gentleman here just rented three rooms. All we have left is one.”

“One?” you asked in disbelief, mouth falling open. 

She nodded. “There’s two beds, though, if that helps.”

“Shit,” you grumbled. Your team was exhausted– and you knew that you couldn’t just take back your promise for them to have their own beds. 

“I’m sorry–” the girl repeated, but you shook your head. 

“No, it’s okay. Not your fault,” you said quickly, trying to remember your manners.. 

“Somethin’ wrong over there sweetheart?” Tyler asked teasingly.  

“Yeah, you took all but one of the rooms. Now my team doesn’t have enough.”

“C’mon, I’ve seen you guys cram into one room before.”

“Yeah, but they’re exhausted. We haven’t had our own beds in weeks and I promised them…” your voice trailed off. Why the hell were you even explaining any of this to him? “You know what? Just forget it–” you turned back towards the receptionist. “I’ll take the one room, please.”

After passing your card over and paying, you turned and pushed back past Tyler and Boone. But before you could reach the door, Tyler’s voice stopped you in your tracks. 

“What are you just gonna go back on your promise? That’s really gonna disappoint your team–”

“I’ll sleep in the damn truck,” you snapped, zero patience for any of his sarcasm or feeble attempts at a joke. “Happy?”

“Hey–” he said, voice softening instantly. “I was just kiddin’ around.”

“Really funny,” you said, sarcasm dripping off your tongue, now more than usual, Tyler was getting on your nerves. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and disappoint my team.”

Without waiting for whatever retort Tyler could come up with next, you finally pushed your way through the door without looking back. 

You found Halle and Anna in the same place you left them– still sitting on the curb, slouched over and exhausted-looking.  

“Hey guys, bad news–” you began, guilt already spreading through your stomach. But before you could, the bell to the lobby door rang out, causing you to groan.  

You took a deep, steadying breath to calm your nerves, just in time for Tyler to speak. “Now I have an idea– how about we share? I got three rooms for my team, but that’s six beds… we only need five.”

You spun around so fast, you were surprised you didn’t get whiplash. “Look Tyler, as much as you know I love your antics, can we not do this right now? Please?”

“Who said anythin’ about antics?” he pressed. “I’m bein’ serious here. Your two can have their beds and you can take one of ours.”

“No way,” you spat quickly. “I’m sleeping in the car.”

By now, Halle and Anna had seemingly picked up on the situation. They stood up and crossed their arms disapprovingly in unison. 

“You can’t sleep in the car, that’s ridiculous,” Anna said. 

“Yeah, why don’t you and Anna take the room and I’ll share with Tyler’s crew,” Halle offered. 

“No,” you shook your head. “I promised you guys a good night’s sleep tonight– I’m not letting you crash with them.”

“Well we’re not letting you sleep in the car,” Halle argued back. “It’s like… eighty-five degrees out here.” 

You let your eyes fall shut for a moment, trying to think. But the truth was, you really were just so, so tired. You wanted everything about today– the storm cells you got wrong from earlier, the endless hours of driving, and lack of sleep, over with. And if bunking with someone from Tyler’s crew was the only way to make that happen, well then, so be it, you finally decided. Better you than Halle or Anna. 

“See– even your team isn’t as scared of us as you are,” Tyler chuckled. 

“Fine,” you snapped, shaking your head in disbelief. You couldn’t believe this was actually happening. “Who am I sharing with?”

Maybe you’d get lucky and get to room with Dani or Lilly–

“That would be me,” Tyler chirped, eyes glistening under the streetlamp. 

Well fuck me, you thought. 

…

You curled up in the double bed closest to the wall. By the time you got up to the room, Tyler had already claimed the one closest to the door.

You heard the water snap off in the bathroom, followed by the sound of Tyler peeling back the shower curtain. That was your cue to feign sleep, if only to avoid any further conversation with him for the night. You rolled over and pulled the blankets up to your chin. 

After a few minutes, he emerged from the bathroom– the noise from the fan growing louder and a sudden whiff of his shampoo washing over you. You’d never admit it– but the way he smelled was actually one of the few things you liked about Tyler. 

“I know you’re not sleepin’,” he said as he began rummaging through his bag. 

“How the hell would you know that?” you groaned. 

You heard him chuckle softly. “Because you wouldn’t have answered if you were.”

This fucking cowboy. 

“Well I’d like to be sleeping,” you said, still not rolling over to face him. 

“And here I was hopin’ we’d use our little sleepover to get to know each other a little better.”

“You can lay off the act,” you said suddenly, all of your anger and exhaustion just melting into a pool of unfiltered irritation. 

There was a brief pause before Tyler replied, “What do you mean?”

“I mean there’s no audience in here– no team members watching, no YouTube subscribers viewing us. You don’t have to pretend to be all sweet and charming.”

“I wasn’t aware I was pretending–”

“Oh cut the shit, Tyler. You love to drive me crazy me– just admit it. And it's probably my fault for letting you get to me so easily. But I mean, c'mon, was it your plan all along to just get me to share a room with you so you could keep me up all night getting to know me better?”

He let out a huff of air that sounded frustrated, as opposed to his usual amusement. “You’re something else, Y/N, you know that?”

You were caught off guard by Tyler’s use of your actual name. He always resorted to nicknames– either sweetheart or the town he knew you were from. In fact, in the few years you’d known him, the only time he’d ever repeated your name was the first time you told it to him. 

You sat up in bed and finally turned to face him– trying to gauge his demeanor. 

“I offer you a room– I didn’t have to do that, you know? And believe it or not, I didn’t offer it to you just to make your life miserable. I did it because I didn’t like the idea of you sleepin’ in your car alone–” he shook his head. “Forget it. It doesn’t matter. Goodnight.”

Before you could even think of a reply, Tyler was peeling back the covers of his own bed and crawling in. He laid on his left side, back facing you.

You stayed in place for a moment, too stunned to move or speak or do much of anything.

Eventually, you laid back down, trying your best to deny the pool of guilt spreading through your stomach.

… 

With one arm you held on to your sister's hand as hard as you could– feeling the muscles in your shoulder strain and pop as you did. 

“Hold on!” you shouted, pleading with her not to let go. 

With your other hand, you were clinging to the handle on the storm shelter door. Somehow it had managed to pop open after the two of you had escaped inside. 

She looked down at you, her body suspended in the air– nothing but sheer, unfiltered terror reflecting in her round-rimmed glasses. 

“C’mon!” you screamed. 

“Please–” she gasped. “Please don’t let me go!”

“I got you!” you screamed, but you could feel that your grip on her clammy hand wasn’t as tight as it needed to be. “No–” you yelled. 

“Don’t let me go–” she repeated, nails digging into your skin desperately. 

But you didn’t even have time to adjust your grip before she was slipping away– in the end, the winds won. 

In the blink of an eye, her body was being sucked away from you– further and further into the dark storm clouds barreling your way. 

“No!” you screamed, reaching for the spot her body was moments before. “No!” 

But then you felt your own grip slipping on the door handle and you knew you needed both hands to hold on if you wanted to survive. So, using all your strength– you dragged yourself to the bottom of the storm shelter. You found the safest corner– next to some old piping to curl up. 

The whole time the storm raged on above you– you couldn’t stop screaming. So, you squeezed your eyes shut and pressed your forehead against your knees, making yourself as small as possible. And then, with everything you had left, you wound your arms around the piping and held on like your life depended on it… because it did. 

…

Your name sounded so distant when you heard someone calling it– like it was miles away. Then, vaguely, it came more into focus as it was called again. 

The third time, it was right next to you– and it was familiar… but you didn’t dare to look up. What if the storm was still raging outside? What if it took you next? 

Hands gripped your shoulders– causing you to jolt awake. 

Your eyes shot open as you pulled yourself from your nightmare. Tyler was sitting on the edge of your bed, his mouth hung open, like he was out of breath. 

“Tyler?” you croaked, attempting to sit up from the mattress. 

“You’re okay,” he said instantly. “You’re okay– you’re safe.”

Once you had managed to sit up, you studied Tyler’s face for a moment, trying desperately to gauge if any of this was real. Despite the darkness around you, you could still make out every feature– every crease, every freckle, every single piece of stubble that made up his shaved beard. And as much as you’d admired Tyler’s face in the last few years, even you knew that you couldn’t have been that detailed in your imagination.   

You wanted to ask what the hell he was doing there– how he had gotten in her room, when all of a sudden, the same memories that had plagued you in your dream resurfaced in your mind.

The sight of the EF4 tornado that destroyed every inch of your childhood home. The image of your sister’s terrified face– right before she was ripped from your grasp. The sound of her scream, dissipating with the raging winds. 

“Easy, sweetheart,” Tyler soothed. 

You turned to face him– Tyler was here because he’d let you share his room… because he was way kinder than you ever gave him credit for. And now he was here– witnessing you completely falling apart.

Tyler’s lips began moving– he was talking. But despite the vague comfort from his tone of voice, you couldn’t really make out what he was saying. It was like the winds were still raging around you– muffling everything. 

You felt like your heart might just beat out of your chest– maybe that was the tornado working to rip it from your skin. 

“Hey–” a voice… no, not a voice. Tyler’s voice, said. “You gotta breathe.”

What was he talking about? You were breathing– of course you were breathing. Unless... unless the tornado ripped out your lungs instead of your heart. And now that you thought about it, no, actually, you weren’t breathing. You tried to inhale in, but the air wouldn’t come. You gasped, chest tightening while you began to tremble. 

Your lungs weren’t in your chest– your lungs flew away– just like your sister.

Firm, rough hands cupped both of your cheeks, forcing you to look forward. You were met by Tyler’s green eyes, currently blown open and wide with worry. 

“Breathe, baby,” he instructed. “With me– look.”

Baby, you thought. That was a new one. You didn’t hate it nearly as much as you hated sweetheart. 

You watched desperately as Tyler inhaled and exhaled exaggeratedly, like he was hoping you’d follow along.  

You tried. Really, you did.

Your wide, desperate eyes met his. But instead of following along, all you could do was imagine what your sister’s body had looked like after being struck by debris and tossed halfway across town–

“With me,” Tyler repeated firmly, his thumb stroking across the surface of your cheek gently. You leaned into his touch, craving comfort. 

Tyler continued producing loud and deliberate, slow and calming breaths. After a few seconds, you latched onto the sound, mimicking it, and following along the best that you could. 

Your shoulders relaxed slightly when you realized that you could actually breathe– which meant that EF5 hadn’t actually ripped them out of your chest. 

Tyler’s brushed a loose strand of hair from your face. “There you go,” he whispered.

“Did I wake you up?” you asked quietly, feeling even guiltier than you had for snapping at him all night. 

He hesitated– like he was actually debating on lying to you or not. 

“Was I screaming?” 

“I mean, a little bit–”

You nodded before letting your gaze fall to your lap, where you began picking harshly at an old hangnail, a feeble attempt to distract yourself. 

“Do you–” Tyler began. “Do you have those nightmares often?”

Now it was your turn to contemplate lying. But then you remembered what an absolute jerk you’d been to Tyler all night, and figured you at least owed him the truth. 

“Yeah,” you said. “That’s partially why I wanted to sleep in the truck.”

Tyler smiled softly. “And here I was thinking it was because you hated me so much.”

“I’m sorry–” you began, voice shaking slightly. “I know I can be a jerk.”

One of Tyler’s eyebrows shot up like he was surprised. 

“What?” you asked. 

“No it’s just… that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you apologize.”

“What can I say?” you mumbled, trying to make light of things. “You seem to always see the worst versions of myself.” 

Tyler’s gaze softened, like he knew you were talking about more than your lack of apologies. After a moment he sighed. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Glancing up, you hesitated. Your heart had just stopped pounding in your chest, but the thought of talking about what had happened in your home just a few short years ago made it speed up again.  

“You don’t have to–” Tyler said quickly. 

“No– it’s just…” your voice faltered. “I just haven’t really talked about it.” 

Tyler was patient. He stayed still on the edge of your bed and waited for you to be ready. After you sorted through some of the thoughts in your head you whispered, “You know I’ve been chasing in Oklahoma since I was a teenager?”

Tyler’s face lit up in surprise. 

“It’s true. I took a few years off… and when I came back, I was upset to see Oklahoma had a new storm chaser. One that everyone seemed to like more than me,” you admitted. You weren’t sure why this was all flowing out so freely, but even you had to admit that it felt nice to be honest. “That’s why I’ve been so mean to you, I think. It felt like you were encroaching on my turf. And then you showed up with your fancy truck– and all your gear, and I suppose I just felt a little jealous.” 

Tyler nodded in understanding. “Why’d you take a few years off?”

Your voice caught in your throat. Only when you hung your head did you feel confident enough to answer. “Remember that EF5 that hit Logan County a few years back?”

Tyler nodded. 

“My family’s farm was in Logan County. My parents were away– on a weekend trip to Colorado to see family. But I’d convinced my sister to stay home with me, because I didn’t want to go,” the words that were your mouth suddenly didn’t feel like yours. And the trembling hands in your lap didn’t feel like yours either. 

“The storm turned last minute. We barely had any warning. But I grabbed my sister– and we ran to the storm shelter. We made it, too– but then the door ripped open. When she went to shut it…” your voice trailed off. “Well you can use your imagination for the rest.”

You finally gathered up enough courage to glance up at Tyler. His eyes were fixated on you– sadness and sympathy plastered all over his face. “I’m so sorry,” he said genuinely. 

“Yeah, well…” you said weakly. “The worst part is– I think I remember locking the storm shelter door– but I wonder every single day of my life if I accidentally forgot. Which… I mean, convincing her to stay home already makes it partially my fault. But I can write that one off– and remind myself I didn’t know what was going to happen. But forgetting to lock the storm shelter?” you sighed. “That would be a harder one to forgive myself for.”

Tyler scooted closer towards you on the bed. He raised his hand– he was reaching out to comfort you. But then he pulled back, like he thought better. You were surprised by how disappointed that made you. 

“It’s not your fault–” Tyler assured you. 

It was the same thing your parents had said your whole life– so why couldn’t you believe it? 

“I guess it doesn't really matter whose fault it was,” you said. “She’s gone and I’m not. I took a few years off from chasing because I just couldn’t… I couldn’t get myself in the right headspace for it. Every time I saw a cell forming, I’d panic– and I’d want to run from it, not chase it. Things are better now… but every once and a while, I still run. Like today,” you admitted. “I knew the winds changed. I knew the one to the east was gonna die out. That’s why I chose it.” 

Tyler sighed. “And then I gave you shit for it,” he said, remorse in his tone. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too,” you admitted. “And I’m really grateful you let me crash in your room. I think if I’d been screamin’ like that in my car, it would’ve caused quite the scene.”

Tyler’s lips tugged into a gentle smile. “I told you I didn’t mind sharing when it came to you. Plus, I learned more about you during our little sleepover than I have in the last few years chasin’ next to you.” 

“Yeah, well…” you mumbled. “Don’t get used to it.”

Tyler smirked. “Does that mean you’re going to go back to hating me tomorrow, when we’re no longer roommates? Or have I finally cracked through that tough ole shell of yours?”

“You keep offerin’ me motel rooms for free and I’ll be an open book,” you laughed. 

Tyler nodded, like he was storing that offer for later. 

“Hey, I don’t know about you,” he said, suddenly clapping his thighs before standing up. “But all that screaming got me wide awake. You hungry? I’m buying.”

He held out his hand– waiting for you to take it. 

“Are you offering me a room and dinner in one night?” you teased. 

“And all you had to do was reveal your deepest, darkest secrets and traumas to me,” Tyler smirked. 

“Tyler Owens, you’re too easy,” you said, gladly taking his outstretched hand.

[cabinofimagines]

Cryptozoology Ver. 1.2. [FULL]

Happy Birthday Danny!!!! This is the FULL version of both Cryptozoology and the newly written additional content. If you've read those before- there is like 200 words extra in here, if you haven't go ham! This is a LONG fic (for our doing on this blog- I'm assuming nobody will read this because you never do read the bigger fics)

Pairing: Leo Valdez x gn!reader, this is a solangelo fic at it's heart Request: That's between me and Danny's chat, as many things. Word count: 7.5k Warnings: None!

-Asnyox

Will Solace cared for his friends, making sure that they ate enough, slept enough, and were happy. However, to Will’s chagrin, there was only one thing that at the moment would get Leo Valdez to eat, sleep and be happy. It was the exam period and Leo simply was not listening, unless Will would get him a significant other- something that Leo thought would only happen after pigs learned to fly, but Will had other plans... 

“Leo, I promise I will get you a lover soon enough!” Will waved his hands, “You just have to trust the genius that I am!” “Sure thing,” Leo scoffed, “And how will you do that?” “I have a plan.” Will assured his friend, “I simply need an appropriate candidate.” 

And perhaps he already had one. He didn’t even need to try too hard to stage the first meeting and start Leo’s infatuation. Will passed you on your way out, went straight to Leo’s, and forced him to take a break. While Leo was out he watched the first meeting through the window of Leo’s dorm.

The first time Leo Valdez met you was at two in the morning.

It was mid exam season, and you had decided that maybe you should take a walk to clear your mind a little. Nothing crazy- maybe just around the dorms, take a deep breath outside and go back to your room. The lights outside of the dorms were broken, so you just found the closest tree and stood against it, facing the door towards the dorms.

Suddenly a Latino boy walked out, looking like he had not slept for the entirety of exam season. As he stretched, he spotted you from the corner of his eye. However, you were not feeling like interacting with the Leo Valdez, who was known to be able to keep a conversation going and you sort of were ready to go back to bed. So, as he squinted into your direction, trying to identify you, you quickly took three steps back and hid behind the tree. You had never actually held a conversation with Leo, but that did not mean you didn’t think he was cute, and you did not want to meet him like this. Hence, you did the only logical thing that your sleep deprived mind could think of. As Leo slowly circled around the tree you were standing behind, you circled the other way and dashed for the door when it was in sight.

Leo was certain only moments ago there was someone underneath this tree – he could have sworn¸ but as he circled the tree, his earphones still blasting music, there was no one. Leo was disappointed, whoever this person was they looked good- and he thought that maybe it was that one person that always managed to slip away from his conversations. There were only about 5 people on the floor he had never talked to, and he wanted this to be his chance, what better moment to meet his possible love-of-his-life than two in the morning? Leo sighed sadly as he removed his earphones, just in time to hear doors close. He quickly stumbled backwards, tripping on his own feet as he tried to catch a glimpse of whoever was there. Looking up from the leaves on the ground, he stared at the treetops, wondering what he just met.

 And Will felt very content with what just happened. The target acted just as Will had suspected, hiding away from Leo, and Will could not wait until Leo’s sleep-deprived brain would start acting its magic. Sure, Will might’ve been unaware of their name, but he had seen them around in the cafe where he worked and he just knew they would be a good fit for Leo.

“Dude!” Leo stormed into his room, “I think I just met Mothman!” 

All according to plan.“I swear to you! There was something else outside!” Leo exclaimed as Jason slowly petted his arm.

“Leo, you were outside in the middle of the night, you might have just been sleep deprived.” He tried to console his friend.

“I am not, and I will find this cryptid- even if it’s the last thing I do!” determination flooded Leo’s face, as worry filled Jason’s.

“Please don’t,” Jason pleaded, but Leo had already stood up and embarked on his mission. Jason sighed and looked at Piper, who was distracted with her phone.

“Why did you not try to stop him?” Jason asked and Piper looked up.

“Stop what?” She blinked once, “Uh, where did Leo go?” Jason sighed.

“Piper please just ask the girl out so you can finally be present in the moment,” Piper glared at Jason, “Leo is on a mission to find the ‘campus cryptid’ he saw last night at two in the morning.” Jason explained and Piper laughed.

“They could be anyone, well, good luck to Leo. This will be great.” Her laugh got just a bit louder as Jason tiredly sighed into his hands.  Leo spotted you with headphones on, sitting underneath a tree in the shade. He had to do a double take, because he was unsure whether you were in fact his campus cryptid. The world fell away as Leo heard his own heartbeat in his ears. He wanted to approach you, yet he felt scared that he would bother you. Leo was not even sure whether you were his cryptid or not- however as he watched you grabbed an apple, eating it in only 5 bites, core and all. If you were not the person who was standing outside yesterday, you were definitely a different type of cryptid. A cute cryptid at that. Leo had not realized how long he had been standing there, but he realized he should do something soon. As he took a deep breath, being lost in his feelings, he stepped forward … and you were standing up. How could he approach you now? You were worth a shot though- except you were walking in the direct opposite direction from Leo. Dammit. Leo’s day progressed rather well- his test did not go horrible, however he was running late for a seminar he had to attend. These people standing in the hallway were not helping him. 

“Ah- coming through- I am in a hurry- let me-“ he stopped his apologies as he spotted you at the centre. You were holding a lizard, carefully in cupped hands and the students crowding you were each taking turns looking at the lizard, not touching it for every time someone tried you scolded them. 

“Don’t reach for my buddy! You will dry his skin!”  This was the first time Leo had heard your voice- and his breath stuttered. He wished you would say his name- but you two had not yet properly met so that would only be a dream. 

“What did you name the little guy?”  Leo overheard one of the students say, as he was slowly begrudgingly making his way away from the crowd- the seminar was mandatory, and he could not afford to be late-

“Little Lizard Leo,” you laughed, “He was just walking around here so I picked him up, he needs to go back outside.”  Could you read Leo’s mind? He had turned abruptly at hearing his name, being sure now that you were at least a cryptid. Leo glanced at his phone for the time, hoping he might have a minute to spare, but alas, he cursed as he ran the rest of the way towards the seminar. 

During a small 15-minute break in the seminar, Piper smiled devilishly at him. 

“Jason told me about your crush,” Leo’s head shot up. “I have a crush? No, no way-“ He felt his face get warmer, a crush on who? The cryptid? His heart skipped a beat as he thought about the concept of having a crush on you- your hair and eyes and laugh and - 

“I mean, he said it was the ‘college cryptid’ or something, but given,” Piper gestured at Leo, “Your reaction I am guessing you do in fact have a crush on someone.”  Leo shook his head. “I barely know the cryptid,” he shot back and Piper’s smile widened, “Besides I am not sure whether they would be the cryptid,” “Well, ask them, it’s not creepy at all to just go, ‘Hey, were you outside last night? At two? Me too! Wow, we have so much in common!’ And then bam- you are dating.”  

“Thank you for the suggestion, but I will not.” Leo told Piper off, Piper’s smile never dampening, “You are by the way only allowed to tell me to ask someone out when you finally ask her out. You have been pining for a good two months now!”  “I don’t even know whether she likes girls!” Piper exclaimed and Leo rolled his eyes. “She does, believe me.”  He comforted Piper, as she looked doubtful. “Fine. I will confess if you can prove that your college cryptid actually exists.” Piper challenged him, “Because maybe we can help identify your cryptid if you have a picture of it.”  The day after your chance encounter with Leo Valdez (where you heroically ran away from him, after hiding behind a tree, and then a second time in the hallway), you ranted to your friend about it, much to his dismay.

“I mean how embarrassing! I named a lizard after him!” You pouted, “What is the chance? I wasn’t even aware he was near until I saw him bolt away!” “I’m sure he’ll not mind that,” Nico said, “If he’s as idiotic as you paint him to be, he might even find it endearing. What’s his name anyways?” “I’m not telling.” 

“And why won’t you tell me the name of your crush?” Nico was exasperated. “Because you’ll try something!” You squint your eyes at him, “I know you will.” “So we’re calling him fireboy? Because he is hot?” Nico teased, and you laughed, but Nico was not deterred, “Okay, tell me the name of your lizard then.” “No.” 

From the look in your eyes when you talked about Fireboy, Nico knew that he needed to figure out who Fireboy was and how to get you together, if he were to enjoy a calm lunch ever again.

What Nico wasn’t expecting was having to fend off another guy. 

He had stared at the blonde barista in the past (for no reason at all) and didn’t like the interest the guy was showing in you. Of course, he could believe that you didn’t have any interest in the barista, but the way that, since entering the café, the barista kept staring at you intensely, rubbed him the wrong way. Clearly this guy had an interest in you that went past you as a customer. Yet, it was busy and Nico was keeping your seats occupied while you stood in line. He glared as the barista handed you more than just your coffee.  

“So you’re saying you won this ticket?” “Yes.” “From the barista just now?” “Yes.” 

“And you’re sure he wasn’t just hitting on you?” 

“With the way he was eyeing you, I don’t think so?” “What is that supposed to mean?” Nico, unwillingly, felt his face warm. You simply shrugged as you smiled at your friend teasingly, and Nico sighed, “Guess I’ll get a ticket and we can go to the movie together.” 

So, a few hours later, you were sitting together in the movie theater. You were pretty sure you might have switched up the seats, but did it matter? You both had the tickets for these seats anyways. Nico had gotten the popcorn, and the ads had just started, all was good. 

Except, all was not good for Will. While Leo had just told him that the ‘cryptid’ had named a lizard after him, it took Will a moment to realize that his ‘cinema date’ had failed. Someone was sitting in the cryptid’s seat, and Will didn’t like that. He had invited Leo, and the plan had been to get Leo and mothman to sit together. If this black-haired guy had not been sitting in the wrong seat, it would have been a date! Basically! The worst part was that now he had to make sure Leo wouldn’t see Mothman, otherwise the whole ‘cryptid’ mystic would stop and Will’s efforts would be all for nothing. 

Fine, Will Solace resigned himself as he quickly pushed past Leo so he would get to sit next to the black-haired boy, fine, Will Solace would have a ‘date’ with this kid. Fine.   

Nico, on the other hand, felt triumphant as he noticed the big ass glare on the blonde’s face. Clearly this had been some kind of setup for a date, and he managed to fuck it up. (Y/n) was not even aware that the barista had entered the cinema and sat next to Nico, all for the better. Nico made eye contact with his seat neighbor, and stuck out his tongue, to which he saw the blonde tense up. Take that, barista boy. 

Will Solace felt his heartbeat speed up, as he realized a second flaw in his strategy- he might have started crushing on the enemy. 

Will was not giving up, and a few weeks later the perfect opportunity presented itself. He found a very good sale on fresh fruits and filled his arms with them to use them as a matchmaking ploy. The plan was simple- give you the cold fruits, tell you to hand them out to Leo, and bam! You would get talking, get a hamster, get a house- but first… 

“Hey, do you like mandarins?” “You’re that barista, aren’t you?” you looked at him suspiciously. Will nodded. “Look, as a promotional bit I need to hand these out,” Will lied, “but if you just take them off my hands, then I will be free to have a lunch break!” Will pushed the fruit in your hands and started backing away. Flabbergasted, you made sure not to spill any as you looked at the blonde. “Why would I need this much fruit?” You looked like you really wanted to hand the fruit back to him, so Will had to act quickly. “Just hand them out if you don’t!” Will turned around and took a small sprint. He quickly rounded a corner and not-so-subtly spied on you. With only a bit of luck, you would instigate a conversation with Leo, who was sitting alone, within the next five minutes. And that would mean-

Oh no. Will glared at the black-haired boy who approached you, the same kid that had prevented you from sitting with Leo. His ‘definitely not a crush’. Why was he putting the fruit in a bag? Goddammit! You walked away with your friend, and Will knew he couldn’t keep taking this (cute) boy's interference. Something had to be done. Will wasn’t sure what yet- but murder was still on the list. 

Meanwhile, Nico smiled to himself. He saw the blonde glare, and he felt great having meddled with his plans again. Sure, Nico had to admit that the blonde looked cute when giving away the fruits to you, but there was no way you would fall for someone who was simply giving out fruits, instead Nico subtly walked you into the canteen, spotted your Fireboy (he stopped caring about the name now that he had a face), and nudged you to hand out the fruits there. You might not have put together that Nico knew what your crush looked like (although he did not know his name), but that would all help Nico’s plans. You would never figure out that he was playing Cupid (all in order to get you to shut up about Fireboy during your Mythomagic games, certainly not to rile up the blonde barista who is trying to hit on you). 

Which went pretty well. Leo was getting antsy. It had been almost two weeks since he had spotted you- the last time he saw you, you were just handing out cold tangerines from your bag. You had walked up to the table he was keeping occupied for his friends, said “You’re with three, right?”, put three tangerines down, said and walked away as he nodded. Leo had been working on his essay, and he got out of the essay brain fog a moment too late, for you were gone again. 

“Whatcha looking at?” Piper had asked five minutes after you had gone and Leo just responded with a hum as he returned to work on his essay. The deadline was later that day- last deadline of the semester luckily - and he could not be bothered to be made fun of because of his crush. 

Nico was a little proud of his plan- and the next step of it. Earlier, he overheard Fireboy’s friends mention a party happening, and Nico had to find a way to get you to the party, although he would be the last one to go, he had a foolproof plan. Of course, you still weren’t invited but he guessed that it would matter little to you if you found out the real catch at the party. 

“There are cats.” Nico deadpanned, and he immediately saw you crack. Sure, you weren’t planning on going out today, but how often does an opportunity like this present itself? “But they’ll be inside!” “With that amount of sound? I don’t think so, but your loss.” Nico picked up his Switch again, continuing his Hades run. “Why do you even want me to go?” You sounded a little suspicious, as you squeezed Nico’s Blahaj. 

“So you’ll stop trying to steal my plushies. Just go, nobody cares you’re not supposed to be there!” And that stinky Fireboy would be there, which is why you should go. Of course, Nico didn’t really want to miss out on hanging out with you, but he had to keep his priorities. 

 “How many cats are there?” You considered your options. “Four.” “Fuck.” and there you went. 

Meanwhile, as the exam season was finally over Leo found himself at a party. This one was at a different dorm from his own, but he was excited to see new people. Maybe the cryptid would show up. He hoped so, he would finally find the courage to talk to you or something. 

As Leo walked around the party- lights flashing, the music a little too loud for a conversation, and a beverage in hand - he was disappointed to not spot you in the crowd. Piper had already left to be with her own crush and Jason was having fun in another corner of the room. Leo sighed, the music and sadness getting to him as he went outside for some air. 

The full moon was out, and Leo took a sip of his drink. Suddenly, he heard sounds coming from the tree line. The bushes rustled and Leo carefully stepped closer. He was about to ask whether there was someone there when a blur shot out of the bushes and into a low-hanging tree. Another bigger blur quickly followed, and when Leo finally gained sight within the moonlight, he saw you petting a cat in a tree. 

“What?” Leo said out loud, staring at the sight before him. You were still crouching on the tree stem, the cat slowly sitting down on your knees. Your back was leaning against the bark behind you, as the cat finally accepted your affections. Leo wished to be that cat. Wait- that’s a weird thing to think. 

You had frozen in mid pet, but started again when the cat headbutted you, demanding your affection. You were staring at Leo Valdez, in the flesh. He sounded surprised to see you, almost happy. The darkness of the night was enough to make sure you were unable to make out his actual face. You decided to do the best thing you could think of- ignore the situation and keep petting the cat. However, as you saw Leo slowly get out his phone from his pocket, your head shot up. You did not want a picture of this, because it was not the most normal position to be in and you did not need your crush making fun of you. This movement resulted in the cat quickly jumping out of the tree, and you quickly tried to follow, only to see it running inside the dorms. 

“Fuck,” was all you said. Leo had forgotten his initial plan because of your sudden movements. You were about to just turn around and be sad about losing the cat, but you were interrupted by Leo. 

“Why don’t you follow it inside?” He asked and you squinted at him. “I wasn’t invited to the party.” You shrugged, looking at Leo as he cocked his head. 

“I was, we can get your cat out together if you want.” He suggested and you considered it for a second before nodding. You grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the dormhouse. Leo struggled for a second to get his footing, as he kept staring at your hands. He smiled dumbly, liking this feeling of your hand in his. He felt happiness in his chest as he realized he had talked to you- was having a conversation with you to some extent. 

As the two of you entered the building, Leo wanted to get you to his friends- proof you exist. However, you seemingly had other plans.

“I go left, you right. Be back in 20 with or without a cat. Good luck, detective.” You let go of his hand, on your mission of finding the cat. Leo smiled as he started looking too, stumbling upon Jason in the progress. 

“They are at the party!” He yelled into his friend's ear. Jason looked at him confused. “Who?” He yelled back. “The cryptid!” Leo responded. “Cool! Where are they? What’s their name?” Jason looked at Leo, as Leo’s face changed into one of realization. 

“Fuck! I don’t know! I will be back! Tell me if you see a cat!” Leo started moving through the crowd, trying his best to spot you. You hadn’t disappeared on him, right? He passed an empty room when movement caught his eye. As he looked inside, he saw you with four cats all cuddling you. Leo slowly made his way into the room. 

“I see you’ve found some cats!” He yelled over the music, and you looked at him surprised, before a smile filled your face as you nodded excitedly. Leo sat down next to you, keeping a little distance between the two of you. Your shoulders brushed as he leaned back, letting one of the cats climb on his lap. He started petting the cat, as he looked at you, being fully captivated by the cats. 

Leo wanted to talk to you, but you seemed so content with your activity and he dared not interrupt this time you had. He just wished to be able to scooch a little closer, to know your name, to be able to open his mouth a tell you how good he thinks you looked like this. His courage once again failed him. He figured that in a bit, if you stood up, he could strike a conversation. 

An alarm sound rang from your watch, and you looked at it in shock. “I have to go, thank you for the cats, detective,” Is all you said as you put the two cats that were on your lap on Leo’s. “Wait- Let me!” But you made a run for it, “Shit!” Leo exclaimed. Why did you have to leave? He looked at the cat in his lap, who purred against his chest. Leo pouted as he pets the cat. 

“Your campus cryptid was a cat?” Jason walked into the room. Leo shook his head. “They just left.” Was all he said. Jason sat down next to him. “Did you get their name?” He asked and Leo once again shook his head. Jason looked at his friend worried. “You alright, buddy?” Leo leaned against Jason’s arm. “I just- I couldn’t get myself to talk! They seemed so happy with the cats and-“ Leo yelled a little, “Jason, I am in deep shit and I don’t know how it happened.” 

Jason smiled as he petted Leo on the head. “It happens sometimes, Leo. You better catch your cryptid before you regret it.” Leo nodded, still petting the cats on his lap. Unbeknownst to Leo, Jason had spotted you on your way out and he knew exactly who you were. Jason figured he could ask after the weekend though, for now he had a friend to comfort.

Besides, Jason didn’t know but you had a show to catch, so you wouldn’t have stuck around anyways. When you finally arrived back at Nico’s dorm you knocked on his door, just in time for the both of you to catch the newest episode of the show you were watching together. Yet, you seemed a little fidgety to Nico and it only took a little prodding from Nico to figure it out. 

His plan had worked perfectly. Take that blonde barista! He would never stand a chance against the power of cats and your weirdness. 

Yet, Nico’s plan seemed to work a little too well, for one of Fireboy’s friends had spotted you and put the puzzle pieces together.  Lucky for Nico, the friend who spotted you was not Will Solace, unlucky for Nico, Jason Grace was a noisy bitch when something had to do with his friends. 

This morning during your lecture you had been approached by Jason Grace. You had worked together with him on projects once or twice, but you never took the energy to become good friends with him. He was just a guy you sat next to sometimes, however today he seemed to be in a chatty spirit. 

“So, you know Leo?” He side eyed you and you nodded, opening your laptop to take notes, “He has been obsessing over this ‘campus cryptid’ as he calls it.” Jason tried to gauge your reaction, however it was nine in the morning, so there was little emotion on your face except from ‘tired’, “And I think that you might be this cryptic crush he has.” That woke you up. “Me?” You gave Jason your full attention, “Cryptid?” “That is what you focus on?” Jason laughed, “You should talk to Leo, I fear he cannot approach you even if it was life or death, (Y/n).” You shook your head.

“I do not think I should approach someone who calls me a cryptid, Jason. Besides, I also do not think Leo can physically have a crush on me.” Jason looked at you, begging you with his eyes. “Look, he probably just wants to find the cats we petted or something-” You sighed, “Okay, I won’t run away from him next time I see him.” Jason nodded approvingly. “You were running away?” He smiled and you looked at him tired of the conversation. “Shut up, Grace.” Lucky for Nico, Jason Grace was not Will Solace, unluckily for Nico, Will was also a noisy bitch, who worked at a café. Will slid Jason’s favorite drink towards him. 

 “Hey, Jason, can you do me a favor?” Will intensely stared at Jason, his hand still on the lid.

“I don’t know, can I?” Jason looked from the drink to Will, who nodded as he moved the drink a little closer. “Yes you can.” Will said as Jason picked up the drink and examined it closer. On the side of the drink, Will had scribbled ‘for the best dude I know’ with a very badly drawn sun on it. Jason didn’t like the prospect of the favor being bought out of him, but he wasn’t complaining. He could always feign forgetfulness and not do it. 

“I need you to figure out who the cryptid is. Name, address, age-” Will paused, “It sounds like stalking, but you have a class with them, so maybe you can talk to them?” 

“Oh, I know the cryptid. We did a project together once.” Jason squinted at Will, “Are you trying to get (Y/n) and Leo together?” “Pfft, what? It’s not that obvious, is it?” Will laughed curtly, before going back to being serious, “Their name is (Y/n)?” “You didn’t know their name?” Jason sighed, “Of course not- either way, Leo’s obsessed with the cryptid simply being a cryptid.” 

“Good, all according to plan!” Will smiled, “I need you to approach (Y/n)’s friend and ask whether the cryptid is interested in Leo at all.” Will shrugged, “Not sure if the magic is working from that side.” 

“You mean Nico?” Jason asked

“The cute black-haired boy?” Will asked. “No.” Jason said, “I will not ask your crush whether he likes you.” 

“He’s not my crush,” Will shook his head, “He just keeps intervening with my plans for Leo and (Y/n)!”

“I suggest you just talk to him yourself, Will.” but as Jason suggested the normal thing to do, Will shook his head again. 

“Pretty please?” Will looked at Jason as he lifted his hand, clearly indicating that he would push the drink off the table if Jason did not agree. Jason shook his head as he gave in. Will did make his favorite after all, and perhaps he could befriend Nico on the way. He would probably be a little less weird than his current friends- and even though Jason could tell Will how you reacted to his probing this morning, he figured he should take the chance the approach Nico. 

“How do you know Nico’s name anyways?” Will asked after a moment. 

“He and Frank play Mythomagic together sometimes,” Jason looked at Will, “You sure you don’t want me to find out whether he likes you?” 

“No” Will blushed, “Not until Leo and (Y/n) are together! Then I can focus on myself. Who’s Frank anyways?” 

“Dating Nico’s half-sister,” Jason explained as Will seemed relieved, “Not that you would care, as you don’t have a crush” Jason laughed, while Will glared at him. 

It took a bit for Jason to find Nico, but he eventually got word from Frank that Nico would be at their usual place for Mythomagic. When Jason got there, Frank hadn’t yet arrived, but Nico was going through his deck. Jason felt relieved that (Y/n) didn’t seem to be anywhere near. 

Jason sat down opposite of Nico and cleared his throat. Nico looked up from his deck.

“You’re Jason Grace, right?” Nico asked, “You finally got a deck?”

“Not yet, maybe you can help me though.” Jason looked at Nico, whose poker face was all too good. He could not make out what Nico was thinking, so he simply continued, “I have a friend who’s interested in you and was just wondering if-” “Not the Fireboy, right?” Nico interrupted him. “What?” Jason took a moment, “Who?

“Small, curly hair, petted cats with my friend yesterday,” Nico sounded a bit disappointed in his next sentence, “you know, ‘Fireboy’, as my friend will not give me his name.” 

“Oh! No, not the cryptozoologist. Any reason why you’re asking?” “For said friend, mostly. Would be disappointing if Fireboy fell for my charms while my friend swooned for him. Anyways, cryptozoologist?” Nico asked and Jason grinned.

“He thinks your friend is Mothman.” Jason elaborated, and Nico nodded. “He’s not wrong.” 

“Sure, anyway, you’re single then? Not interested in the cryptozoologist yourself?” “Pft, I’m not that pathetic.” Nico laughed, “Why are you interested?” “Asking for a friend.” “Toucheé” Nico shrugged, still taking the boy before him in. He had never really spoken with Jason before, but he seemed friendly enough, and if there was something he needed, it was more friends (especially if you were to ever start dating the cryptozoologist, who would entertain him then?). Besides, perhaps he could actually get Jason involved with Frank and his Mythomagic games. They needed more players, desperately. 

“Either way, the cryptozoologist is going to the library later today–” 

“Why tell me?” “No reason.” 

“Well, so are (Y/n) and I, we’re studying together today.” Nico answered shortly, “Look, Jason, great conversation we’re having, but I only engaged in it because I thought you were going to get into Mythomagic.” 

“Oh!” Jason hesitated, looking at the cards, “I mean I would love to, I just really do not know where to start.” 

“I have an extra deck,” Nico started going through his bag, “I can explain the basics in a duel now, and then you can try it against Frank when he shows up. I think Frank also has a more beginner-friendly deck with him- so you won’t be annihilated too quickly.” 

“Uh-” Jason was not prepared for Nico to start talking so fast, or so much.

“Of course, you’ll eventually have to find a deck structure you like,” Nico kept going, “or invest in something more competitive, but just for getting the hang of the game this should be enough.” Nico laid out some cards and grabbed a few figurines, “let’s start with the kind of cards that you can encounter, before going to the phases of your turn.” 

“Firstly! On a different topic, would you know if (Y/n) (L/n) is interested in Leo?” “No” Nico glared at Jason, he didn’t know this Leo kid but you only had one crush and that was your little cryptozoologist. Jason, in the short span of their conversation, blown away by the sudden development of Nico’s talkativeness,  had forgotten that Nico mentioned he didn’t know Leo’s name (or maybe, he simply figured that Nico was joking. Nico could joke, right?). “Okay,” Jason seemed disappointed, “Alright, let’s get into this game” Nico started enjoying the conversation a lot more after that. 

After a few hours and some intense Mythomagic games (Jason won once with Frank’s beginner deck! Nico seemed proud), Jason encountered Will on his break, drinking tea.

Jason leaned down, next to Will’s ear. 

“So the good news is, Nico is single.” Jason told Will, who spit out his drink and then quickly turned his head. “Why did you ask him that? I gave you a simple-” “I can see the way you eye him.” Jason cut Will off, “Also, be quiet, or do you want people to approach you on your break?” Will grumbled a little before continuing. “It’s because he keeps messing up my plans!” Will watched his tone, “I eye him in disdain, not longing.” “Yes, I see the romantic tension is to die for.” Jason feigned drama as he moved on, “The bad news is, I’m not sure whether (Y/n) is interested.”

“That’s a lie.” Will looked Jason in the eye, “Ask (Y/n). For me?” “I’m not a messenger.” “I will get you more staples.” “I will be a messenger.” Jason agreed, “You better get the staples, because I asked them this morning-” Will looked at him in surprise.

“I only asked you to check at lunch?” Will raised an eyebrow, “You knew already and kept me waiting?” 

“I didn’t know whether Nico liked you, buddy.” Jason shrugged, “(Y/n) seemed like they’re interested, but Nico gave a definitive ‘no’ when asked. Maybe he doesn’t agree with the pairing, maybe (Y/n) simply got flustered at the thought of someone liking them. Who knows?” 

“You’re supposed to find out!” Will exclaimed, “I’m not sure whether this information is worth the staples.”

“Well, perhaps if you would talk to Nico you would ‘find out’ that you have a lot in common!” Jason bit back. 

“I don’t think I can, Jason.” Will quickly took another sip from his tea, definitely not out of nervousness.

“He’s going to the library today with (Y/n)- and Leo is too. Who knows what he will be planning?” Jason offered, “He might try to put Leo in a bad light, I don’t know.” Will glared at Jason. 

“And what am I supposed to do? Be a distraction?” 

“Yes.”

Sadly, Will needed to make sure that Nico didn’t intervene with your study date. He needed to talk to Nico, and he needed to get back to work as his break was over. He only had two hours left- hopefully he would be at the library in time. 

“We should study in the library today.” Nico said, as if he didn’t overhear Fireboy complaining about wanting to do that. 

But right as he was about to walk into the library, the blonde barista was in his way. 

“Nico di Angelo, we need to talk.” “How do you know my name?” 

“I’ve been trying to get Leo to date someone for weeks now!” 

“I don’t know this Leo guy, but I was matching (Y/n),  and if it wasn’t for your meddling it would have worked!” 

“Well if it wasn’t for you, (Y/n) would already be dating someone. Leo, for example.” “I don’t care about your plan, just leave them alone!” Nico scoffed, “You need to understand that (Y/n) only has the hots for that weird cryptozoology guy anyways.” Will glare dropped, and after a moment, he started laughing. 

“What’s so funny?” Nico was filled with confusion, but Will just kept laughing. Nico realized he kind of liked this laughter from his opposition, especially as Will's face got a little red in the process. Could he make Will blush like that too? Before more thoughts could develop, Nico half-heartedly hit Will on his head, “Answer me.” Will looked at Nico, realizing that Nico’s pout was pretty cute. 

“Leo is the cryptozoologist.” 

“Oh, oh.” 

From here on out they needed a plan, together. 

Luckily things were already moving in the right way, because during the time  Will and Nico talked, Leo and you had interacted. Not a conversation, of course not, but an interaction nonetheless. 

Because while they held their conversation, you were sitting in the library, not looking forward to having to confront Leo. Alas, you promised Jason and perhaps you would actually become friends with Leo in the end. You had liked hanging out with him last weekend, petting the cats. You just hoped that Leo did not actually think you were weird enough to be a cryptid. You had already figured out your plan- you found a book on cryptozoology in the library and put in some paper with your name and number on it. That would be funny, right?

Anyways, the book was to your side as you worked your way through various papers you had to read for next class. You were so consumed in your work that you had not noticed Leo grabbing his phone, not so subtly pointing it your way, and taking a picture of you. However, Leo had kept the flash on, and you did notice that. Your head shot up and you looked straight at him, staring into his eyes. Unblinking you watched as he stumbled on his words, quickly putting away his phone.

“Sorry!” Leo exclaimed, putting his hands up and he quickly turned. You blinked twice quickly and realized you messed up. Maybe this was slightly cryptic.

Leo on the other hand was panicking. He messed up massively, how could he ever approach you now? You just caught him taking a sneak picture of you like some fucking creep.  He cursed himself for messing up this badly. He should just, run away, change his name and never set foot on campus again. Yeah, that seems like a good one. On his way out he fully missed his friend Will being right down the hall. Will didn’t miss Leo bolting though, and he nudged Nico to join you in the library. 

“You don’t want (Y/n) to become too suspicious of your absence,” Will shrugged when Nico questioned him, “Besides Leo just bolted out the door, so I do not think you can ruin this study date anymore than Leo just did himself.” “We’re on the same team now, Will,” Nico deadpanned and Will smiled. “Doesn’t mean you can’t ruin Leo’s chances, buddy.” Nico flipped Will off, as he turned around to join you in studying. 

“You’re late.” You stated as Nico sat down in front of you. “So?” Nico shrugged, “Mythomagic took a little longer than planned as we got Jason to join.” 

“Grace?” You asked, and Nico huffed. “Clearly, I meant Todd.” He stated “I fucking wish,” You sighed, “Either way, Fireboy just took a picture of me.” 

“Seems like me being late is the least of your issues.” Nico opened one of his textbooks, “Maybe you should just talk to Fireboy, or I don’t know, leave a note written in code and see if he figures it out.” 

“I won’t, what do you care anyways?” you sighed again, as you looked at Nico. “I care about getting a good grade on the next exam, which I will not get with your fireboy-complaining,” Nico glared at you. 

“If you played less Mythomagic and Hades you wouldn’t be complaining about my complaining,” You stated and Nico rolled his eyes. “We’ll see- maybe you’ll run into Leo again soon.” Nico focused on his books, and you figured he didn’t want to continue the conversation. You also figured that Nico finally found out who Fireboy was- but you didn’t know how. Maybe it was an accident, or maybe it was the blonde barista you’d spotted talking to Nico through the windows just now. They would look cute together.

Yet, before you could get on your plan to get Nico and Will together, you had to face the music, which sounded a lot like Leo Valdez. Therefore you decided to put together a little something, and wait for Leo at the place where you first ‘met’.

Which means that the next time Leo saw you was the next day, right outside of the dorms. You were just standing there looking at your phone. The sun had set, and Leo had stayed behind in the library to work on his essays. Leo had wanted to apologize for taking the picture, and maybe he had also thought you would have been there because he knew he had seen you there yesterday. He was disappointed that you weren’t there, but he sat down and kept working on his essays until it was well past dinner time.

However, now you were standing underneath the same tree where he first spotted you, and before Leo’s brain could put anything in, his legs had carried him towards you.

“Look, I want to apol-,” Leo started but you quickly cut him of with an abrupt hand movement. “Wait!” You took three steps back, “Here!” you finished your sentence, and you ran towards your dorm. You quickly grabbed the cryptozoology book from your bag and ran back. Luckily, Leo was still standing there, looking bewildered. “Uh-,” You alerted Leo of your presence, as you held out the cryptozoology book to him, “Jason said you uuh- were into cryptids and-” You felt your impromptu courage deflate as you started to stumble over your words, “so I found, uh, this book- it’s from the library but you should- look inside!” you finished your sentence, looking uncomfortably at Leo. He hesitantly grabbed the book and was about to put it away when you grabbed the book and made him open it.

Leo looked down at the loose page of white A4 paper, which contained a shitty drawing of what could resemble moth man. Underneath was written ‘CAMPUS CRYPTID a.k.a. (Y/n) (L/n)’ and a phone number.

“This is-” Leo felt a smile on his face, “You?” he laughed. You smiled awkwardly in return. “Jason told me that you called me the campus cryptid and you know,” you vaguely gestured towards the book, “I thought this would be smooth enough for a cryptid.” “It’s awesome, I love it,” Leo had almost said ‘you’ but that would be too soon, “Would you maybe get some cryptic coffee with me?” He asked, nervously looking you in the eyes. “Only if there are cats,” you smiled at him. Leo laughed “You sure like your fellow cryptids,” “Pft, whatever, cryptozoologist.”A few weeks later, Nico invited you for a double date. You found the date alright- but Nico was nowhere near, nor was his apparent date.

You wondered why Nico had stood you up. He was normally really punctual, but somehow he was not in front of the café, and after a bit he messaged you, asking you to just go in and sit somewhere. It was as if you were out of luck- every table was taken, and there were not a lot of free chairs. You figured you could get a coffee to go if nothing else, so you made your order with the blonde barista, who was smiling brightly. He pointed you to the only empty chair in the cafe, where your boyfriend sat. You were a little hurt that Nico hadn’t introduced you to Will yet, but if anything you appreciated that they were still trying to get you and Leo together. You both swore Jason to secrecy and he just shrugged as he kept working on his Mythomagic deck. 

“Will recommended I visit the cafe today, and get an employee discount on the drink.” “Nico stood me up on a ‘double date’.” You smiled, as you tried to spot the blonde in the cafe, “Did Will just leave?” “He didn’t actually have a shift today,” Leo laughed, “I checked with his coworkers, it’s wild what they do to get us together.” 

“When do you think they’ll figure out we’re already dating?” You asked, as you purposefully kept your awkward distance from Leo. “At the marriage ceremony, most likely.” Leo laughed. “Ours or theirs?” You asked, as you joined his laughter. 

“Whichever is first…” 

From across the street, Nico and Will shared a fist-bump as they noticed the awkward banter between the two of you. “Well, job well done,” Will sighed, “I guess it’s time for our date!” “Our what,” Nico blabbered, as Will simply smiled and grabbed his hand.

[nightfurylover31]

Shattered Nightmare

I'm not ready for Season 3, so I wrote something for WSaTW to help. I don't know how it will all end, that's why I wanted to take what's happening to ease the tension for me.

It was passed midnight. One of those nights where Sonic stayed with Tails. He was fast asleep on the couch, a book covering his eyes. He often nodded off while reading at night. A light rain was pouring against the window. Not enough for a storm, but enough that Sonic wanted a roof over his head. 

His ear twitched. He heard something coming from the other room. At first Sonic ignored it, but soon realized it sounded like groaning. Rubbing his eye, the hedgehog got up and made his way. As he stood in the doorway, he saw Tails curled up in bed. He seemed fine, but when Sonic got closer, he saw the scared look on his friend’s face as he slept, shaking slightly. The little guy was clearing having a nightmare. 

“Tails,” Sonic whispered as he gently nudged the fox’s shoulder. “Tails, wake up.” 

Tails’ eyes shot open and nearly jumped out of bed. He looked around for a moment before fully taking in his friend. “S-Sonic?” 

“Hey there, bud. Sounds like you were having one heck of a dream.” 

“Oh, uh sorry,” Tails apologized while wiping his eyes. Sonic could even see some damp patches in his fur from sweating. 

“You wanna talk about it?” Tails remained silent, his head hung slightly. He was also avoiding eye contact. “Okay, I won’t force it out of you. I’ll let you get back to sleep. Night, Tails.” 

“Sonic, wait!” The hedgehog spun around to see his friend’s outstretched hand in a stop position. “Could you… sleep here tonight?” 

Though he paused to blink in confusion, Sonic didn’t miss a beat in making his way over to the bed. Tails scooted over and let Sonic get under the blankets. He tucked the fox in before getting himself settled. Tails didn’t nuzzle right next to Sonic, but he still inched closer. 

“It mush have been a doozy,” Sonic spoke. “You haven’t asked me to do this in years.” Neither continued the conversation. They closed their eyes, listening to the sound of the rain outside. Though not even an hour had passed when the silence was broken once again.

“Sonic, we’ll always be friends, right?” There was a nervousness in Tails’ voice that Sonic could not ignore. 

“Of course we will. Why would you even ask that?” 

“It’s just…” the younger’s voice began to trail off. “…things change, and people can change.” 

Sonic rolled over, placing his hand on his friend’s head, ruffling up his fur a bit. “Tails, if you think I would ever do something to you, I wouldn’t—“ 

“Not you. Me… do you think I would hurt you?” 

“What?” The hedgehog sat up in alarm. “Why would you ever think that?!” 

Tails clutched the blankets tighter as his ears fell back. “Because that what I dreamt. I betrayed you, and all our friends. Just to get what I wanted! I was attacking you, I hurt you! Something bad was happening to you, like you were disappearing! And I…” The fox kit buried his face in his hands, trying to hide the tears that were falling. “It felt so real… that I could do something so horrible to you…” 

While this was all a terrible nightmare to Tails, it was a memory for Sonic. It did happen. Not Tails, but an alternate version of him named Nine. When he had broken the Paradox Prism, one of Sonic biggest regrets. It had all worked out in the end, but it was still painful to think about. Could somehow Nine’s actions and memories be affecting Tails? Sonic could feel his own ears drooping at the thought of it. Being the big brother that he was, Sonic turned Tails to him, carefully wiping away the tears from the fox’s eyes. 

“Miles Prower, you listen to me.” That got the Tails’ attention. Sonic only used his real name when he was being very serious. “I know for a fact you would never do any of that. You are too bighearted to be that selfish. The only way I can think of that would make any of that remotely possible is that we never met, and you never had any friends. You have so many people that care about you, so don’t you think that will happen.” 

And Sonic was not wrong. Nine didn’t have anyone to stand up for him back then. He became cold and mistrustful of the world. Growing up in an evil city ruled by a quintet of crazy dictators would do that. He wasn’t evil himself, just misguided. 

Tails rested his head on Sonic’s shoulder as the hedgehog rubbed the former’s back. “And I probably did something stupid too for it to lead to that.” Again, he wasn’t wrong. 

“Tch, you really think that? That it will never happen?” 

Sonic leaned his own head on his brother’s. “It’s like you said. Nothing could ever break our friendship.” The two shared a hug. Longer than most would expect.

“Okay, that’s enough of that.” Sonic playfully pushed Tails’ face back into the pillow with his hand. “Back to sleep. And no more scary dreams, mister.” 

“Haha. Like I can control what I dream about. Thanks, Sonic.” 

“Anything for you, little bro.” All those bad thoughts and memories faded just as the rain began to dissipate. Now the only sounds that could be heard were the wind and the gentle breathing of two friends whose friendship and brotherhood could never vanish. 

“I also dreamt Knuckles was like a caveman or something.” 

“Heh. Sounds gnarly.” 

“What?” 

“Good night, Tails.”

[jrob64]

Pet for Rent , Chapter 4/4 (The Happy Ending) A CS Modern AU Story

And so we've reached the end of this little journey. Thank you for reading this story that was one way for me to move through my grief of losing Zeke. Some of you have mentioned that you've lost a pet and reading this has helped you, and that makes me very happy

This chapter earns the story its M rating, but the smut is bracketed by double rows of asterisks and can be easily skipped.

Thanks one more time to @hookedmom, who helped me work out the ending until it was satisfactory to both of us.

Chapter Summary: Henry, Emma, Killian and Winston get their happy ending.

Chapters on Tumblr: Ch. 1 (The Meet Cute) Ch. 2 (The Idea) Ch. 3 (The Adoption)

Rating: M (See note above)

Words: 9319

Also posted to Ao3 and ffn

Story begins under the cut

Winston’s routine between the two households was firmly established during the next month. He spent weekdays with Killian at his apartment, and evenings at Emma and Henry’s house. On the weekends, all four of them spent as much time together as possible.

Emma and Killian were both happy to see that the dog was housebroken and didn’t require a lot of extra work. He did crave attention at times and demonstrated some behaviors that made them think he still had some puppy in him, but the three humans were consistent in their training to stop him from jumping up and barking excessively.

From the very first night he spent with them, he didn’t need to be put outside until morning, and slept soundly on Henry’s bed. The boy and dog formed a fast friendship and once again, Emma had her happy-go-lucky son back. He kept a picture of Ernie on his dresser and mentioned how much he still missed him from time to time, but the joy of having a new dog was healing his heart.

On Fridays and Saturdays, Killian would stay for a few hours after Emma got Henry into bed. They watched television, had lengthy conversations and kissed…a lot. Once they were sure Winston was acclimated to his new environment, they were able to plan another date to eat out and see a movie.

Their relationship was deepening, but they had yet to declare their love for one another. Killian was sure of his feelings for Emma, but didn’t want to spook her by saying anything. Emma wanted to make sure what she felt wasn’t just an infatuation. She had only fallen in love with one other man and had her heart shattered into a million pieces. She couldn’t afford to be wrong about her feelings again, especially since she now had Henry to take into consideration.

The bond between Henry and Killian was getting stronger as well. The two of them watched sporting events on TV, played video games, worked on training Winston and built Lego sets together. Emma was happy her son had a male figure in his life now, but worried about what would happen if Killian decided to move away from Storybrooke.

The first substantial snowfall of the season happened on a Friday in early December. School was letting out at noon due to the storm, which put Emma in a bind. Ashley couldn’t watch him because she was away for the weekend. Emma had already arranged to take off work at three o’clock instead of five, but she wasn’t able to leave another three hours early.

When she considered who else would be willing to help, the next person who came to mind was Killian. As she quickly placed the call, she tapped her fingernails nervously on the desk.

He answered before she even heard it connect. “Swan! This is a nice surprise.”

“You might not think so when I tell you why I’m calling.”

She could hear the instant concern in his voice when he asked, “Is something wrong?”

“They’re letting school out in half an hour because of the weather and Ashley is out of town. I can’t get off work until three o’clock and I need somebody to pick Henry up and watch him until…”

“Calm down, Love,” he interrupted. “Winston and I will pick him up and take him home.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind? I don’t want to take you away from your work…”

“No worries. I’m finished for the day because I already put in extra hours this week.”

“Oh, good,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I’ll call the school and tell them you’ll be picking him up. Since you’re not an authorized pick-up person, you’ll have to go inside to fill out a form when you get there. I’ll also text Mary Margaret and let her know. I really, really appreciate this, Killian.”

“It’s truly no problem, Love. I’ll get Winston ready to go right now. We should be there in about twenty minutes. Will that work?”

“That’s perfect. I need to warn you that it’s probably going to be a bit chaotic in the school office because of the early release.”

“Duly noted. I’ll send you a text when I’ve collected Henry and we’re in the car ready to go home.”

“Thanks, again. You’re a lifesaver.”

Ending the call, she sent up a prayer of thanks and went back to work.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Emma was right about the chaos in the office. Killian had to wait several minutes before they could verify who he was and hand him a form to complete. Just as he was signing his name at the bottom, Mary Margaret ushered Henry in the door, along with two of her other students, whose parents were also waiting.

“Killian!” Henry cried, spotting him immediately.

“Hello, lad. Your mom asked me to pick you up.”

“Yeah, Mrs. Nolan told me. Thanks!”

“You’ll have to sign him out,” Mary Margaret explained, gesturing to the line of parents who were waiting to do that very thing. “Be careful driving home.”

“Thank you. You do the same,” Killian responded, stepping behind the last person in line.

Once Henry was properly signed out, they slipped and slid through the accumulating snow to where Killian had parked the car. Winston started barking from inside as soon as he caught sight of his boy.

While Henry greeted the dog and got himself buckled in, Killian texted Emma, then started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. So far, the snow was just making the roads slushy, but with such precious cargo in the back seat, he drove with extra caution.

By the time Emma arrived home three hours later, the snow was making travel hazardous. Killian heard her come in the door and paused the video game he and Henry were playing.

She was stomping off her boots and shaking the snow out of her hair when he greeted her. “Did you have any trouble, Love?”

“The roads are terrible and the snow is picking up, which means they’re only going to get worse.”

He helped her out of her coat and hung it on one of the hooks on the wall. As she sat on a bench to pull off her boots, he scratched behind his ear and said wistfully, “Perhaps I should just go home now, if they’re getting that bad.”

She glanced up at him, then back down as she finished her task. Once both of her boots were sitting on the rug, she stood and looked toward the living room. “What’s Henry doing?”

“We were playing a video game. He’s probably waiting for me to rejoin him.”

“Let me go say hi to him, then I have something to ask you.”

“Okay, but first…” he said, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a tender kiss. “Welcome home, Love. I’m very glad you made it safely.”

“Mmm, me too, especially when I get a greeting like that.” After giving him one more kiss, she linked their hands and led the way to the living room. Henry was sitting on the couch petting Winston, who was laying beside him. Both of them perked up when the adults entered the room, a wide grin splitting Henry’s face, while Winston thumped his tail on the cushions.

“Hey, kid. How was school today?”

“Great! I wish we could get out early every day!”

Emma laughed. “I wouldn’t count on it. Were you able to go to art class? I know how you look forward to it.”

“We still got to go and I finished my Rainbow Fish project. It turned out really good!”

“Oh, yeah? Did you bring it home?”

“No, it had to finish drying. Mrs. Fisher said she wants to hang it up in the hallway.”

“Maybe I’ll schedule a day to come in and have lunch with you, and you can show it to me then. How does that sound?”

“Cool! I love it when you have lunch with me!”

“I know. I love it, too. Let me know when it’s hung up, okay?” She watched him nod his agreement, then asked, “What have you three boys been up to this afternoon?”

“We went out and played in the snow for a little while, but it got too windy and cold. Killian made hot chocolate when we came inside. Winston loved the snow, didn’t you, boy?”

“He was trying to catch all of the snowflakes,” Killian laughed. “Then he started eating the snow on the ground. He’s such a funny pooch.”

“Show her the picture you took, Killian,” Henry urged.

Killian pulled his phone out of his front pocket and opened his photo gallery. Holding it so Emma could see, he said, “I took several pictures and a couple of videos.”

As he started scrolling through them, he didn’t see the doey-eyed look she gave him before directing her attention to what he was showing her. When he came to the last picture, she burst out laughing. In it, Henry was kneeling on the ground beside Winston, who had snow all over his muzzle.

“He looks like he has a white beard,” she giggled.

“Aye, Whitebeard the Weird, distant relative of Blackbeard the Pirate,” Killian chuckled.

Emma laughed again, then asked her son, “Where did you put your wet clothes?”

“Killian put them in the dryer.”

“Henry showed me where it was located.”

“Thank you. He usually lets them lay in a heap inside the door.” Turning back to Henry, she said, “What else did you do?”

He picked up the Nintendo Switch controller, gesturing to the TV with it. “We played video games until you got home.”

“Sounds like you guys had a good time.”

“We did,” Henry assured her. “And don’t worry, Mom. I thanked Killian for everything.”

“Aye, he did. Henry has very good manners, don’t you, lad?” Killian said, ruffling the boy’s hair.

“Yeah. Are you ready to finish our game?”

“Your mother wanted to talk to me about something first, then I should probably head home. She said the roads are getting bad.”

Henry’s shoulders drooped. “But I thought you would stay like you always do on Fridays.”

Emma said, “Henry, why don’t you play a game by yourself for a while, so I can talk to Killian?”

“Can I play Mario Kart?”

“You know the rules - only if you turned in all of your homework and didn’t get your card pulled for bad behavior this week.”

He jumped off the couch and grabbed his book bag from the recliner where he had tossed it when he got home. Unzipping it, he pulled out a folder and handed it to his mom.

She took it and pulled out the papers from the ‘keep at home’ side, placing them on the end table to look at later. Then she took a sheet from the ‘return to school’ pocket. After looking it over, she gave Henry a smile and kissed him on the forehead. “Good job, kid. I’m proud of you.”

While he was putting the folder back in his bag, she went to the closet and got the treasured game off the shelf above the coat rack. As soon as he got the game set up and was fully engaged in choosing his racer, Emma motioned for Killian to follow her into the kitchen.

She leaned against the front of the sink out of Henry’s line of sight, and Killian stood in front of her, his hands on her hips. “What did you want to talk to me about, Swan?” he asked, a concerned crease across his forehead.

Her eyes remained focused on the floor for several moments. When she finally looked up, there were tears in them.

He stepped closer, dipping his head to scan her face. “Emma, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she answered quickly. “I just…I…I think I love you.”

Killian’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “Wh-what?”

“I love you. I’ve fallen in love with you, Killian Jones.”

He surged forward, claiming the lips that just uttered the words which were music to his ears. He could have kissed her for hours, but he needed to ask her a question. “When?”

“When did I fall in love with you?” she asked, seeking to clarify.

“Aye. When did you know?”

She licked her lips. “I think I’ve been falling for you since the first day we met, but I wanted to make sure it’s really love that I feel. I’ve been burned before, and with Henry to consider, I didn’t want to jump right into a serious relationship. Then today, I just…I realized…I mean, you’re there for me, for us. You’re wonderful with Henry and it…it’s not because you’re trying to impress me or win my affections through my son. You honestly seem to like spending time with him. You dropped everything to pick him up today and then, those videos and pictures…you took videos and pictures of my kid because you were having fun with him.”

She paused for a second and he waited, understanding she needed to gather her thoughts. “But it’s not just because of Henry. That’s important, but it…it’s the way you make me feel. I love every minute we spend together. I can never get enough of being with you. As soon as you leave, I immediately look forward to the next time we’ll see each other. I…I…oh hell, I’m rambling and not making any sense.”

“You’re making perfect sense. I completely understand what you’re trying to say.”

“You do?”

He framed her face with his hands, brushing the apples of her cheeks with his thumbs. “Aye, because I feel the same way. You’re the best part of my day, whether we’re texting, talking, or actually together. I truly do love spending time with Henry because he’s such a great kid and I would never use him to try to impress you, Emma.” He brushed a kiss across her lips. “I’ve known for a while, too. That I love you. I’m in love with you, Emma Swan.”

The brightness of her smile was nearly blinding and it was her turn to initiate the fiery kiss. Afterwards, they stood with their foreheads pressed together, while her fingers played with the ends of his hair at the nape of his neck. “Can I ask you something?” she whispered.

“Of course, Love. Anything.”

She looked into his eyes. “Are you still thinking about moving away from Storybrooke?”

“No,” he answered without hesitation. “I’ve got every reason in the world to stay right here.”

“Good.”

He kissed her sweetly, then sighed. “I hate to ruin this moment, but I really should get started for home. The road conditions are probably worsening by the minute.”

“Actually, that was the original reason I wanted to talk to you. I was thinking that maybe…you could…stay here tonight.”

“Why, Swan,” he teased, “are you inviting me to a sleepover?”

“Well, it would be a very adult sleepover,” she said, watching him closely to gauge his reaction.

He tilted his head and studied her for a moment or two. “Are you saying…you want me to actually sleep with you?”

“I guess we would sleep eventually…”

“Emma, are you sure you’re ready to take that next step?”

“You’re not?”

“I’m not saying that at all,” he said quickly. “I just…would you be comfortable having me stay with you when Henry is right down the hall? We could…we could wait until we’re at my place, if you’d rather.”

“This isn’t spur of the moment, Killian. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. I think Henry is too young to understand what it means for you to spend the night and still be here in the morning. He just loves having you here and is always sad to see you leave. I’m not saying it’s going to be something that happens every night…”

“I wouldn’t expect that, especially during the week, but perhaps on the weekends?”

“That’s what I was thinking. Of course, we might be jumping the gun to consider more than tonight. You might be appalled by my snoring, drooling, or what I look like first thing in the morning. Or maybe we won’t be…compatible…in bed.”

He grinned. “I highly doubt that will be the case, Emma. Ever since the day we met, I’ve felt like we have a connection to each other that goes beyond friendship. I can’t imagine that not transferring to the bedroom. As far as your snoring and drooling, I’m sure I’ll find it to be absolutely adorable.”

“Whatever you say,” she scoffed. “But when you wake up with my morning breath in your face, you might change your mind.”

“I’m willing to risk it,” he smirked.

She began playing with the buttons on his shirt. “There’s, um…there’s one more thing I need to tell you.”

“What’s that, Love?”

After stepping away from him to check on Henry in the other room, she returned to face him again. “I haven’t been…intimate with anyone since Henry’s father. Henry is my world and everything else has taken a back seat.”

“Which is quite understandable,” Killian said. “It’s been a while for me, too. After getting hurt like I did, I was in no hurry to be with another woman. You have changed so many things in my life, Emma, and I’m anxious to begin this next chapter with you and Henry.”

“Don’t forget Winston,” she quipped.

“How could I forget Winston?” he laughed.

“Okay, so how about we get some supper and watch a movie like we usually do on Friday nights? My guess is that after the excitement of the day, Henry will be asleep before it’s over.”

“That sounds wonderful, Love. What were you planning to eat?”

“I was planning to order pizza, but with the roads the way they are, I think we better go with plan B.”

“Which is…?”

“I have no idea.”

He chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Do you mind if I search your cupboards a bit?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and crooned, “You can search anything you want.”

“Swan, are you flirting with me to get me riled up?”

“Maybe. Is it working?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he teased.

“Perhaps I would,” she answered, before scattering kisses along his throat.

“Bad form, Love,” he groaned.

“You don’t like it?” she asked innocently, looking up at him through her lashes.

“I like it too much, that’s the problem,” he said, pressing his hips against hers so she could feel the effect she was having on him.

“Okay, I’ll stop…for now,” she said. She started to move away and he reluctantly released her. “Dig around to your heart’s content and I’ll go see what movie Henry wants to watch.”

Killian ended up making spaghetti with garlic toast for supper. Afterwards, they watched “Luck” on AppleTV, while munching on chocolate chip cookies Emma whipped up. She and Killian managed to make the food while sharing lots of kisses in the kitchen.

Henry didn’t question Killian staying instead of going home; he was simply happy to carry on with their usual Friday evening routine. He made it through the movie without falling asleep, but was reluctant to move when it ended. Emma realized that he wanted Killian to carry him to his room, which he did, making her heart melt as she watched.

While Emma took Henry through his bedtime routine, Killian put Winston outside to do his business. Although he had cleared the patio of snow earlier in the evening, it was covered again.

When he took Winston into Henry’s room after toweling him off, he reported, “I’d say there’s at least six inches of snow and it’s still coming down.”

“Oh, boy!” Henry exclaimed, perking up. “Can you come over tomorrow to play in it with us again?”

Killian scratched behind his ear, looking to Emma for help.

“Actually kid, Killian is going to stay here overnight,” she said.

“He is?”

“Yeah. The roads are pretty bad and I didn’t want him to risk driving home. Is that okay with you?”

Henry gave her a puzzled look. “Sure. Why wouldn’t it be okay?”

Emma shrugged. “He’s never spent the night here before.”

“Well, he should, because we’re usually together all day on Saturdays, too. It doesn’t make sense for him to go home.”

Killian and Emma exchanged a look, then he bid the boy goodnight, patted Winston and left the room so she could read to her son.

After kissing Henry and closing the door to his room, she found Killian sitting on the couch. “Well, I guess that answers the question of whether it’s going to bother Henry,” she said, plopping down beside him.

“Aye,” he chuckled, but she noticed he didn’t look at her.

“Hey,” she said, reaching to take his hand. “Is something wrong?”

“I, uh, I…if we’re going to take that next step in our relationship, I’m concerned about what to do because I don’t have any kind of protection.”

“Well, I obviously don’t have any STDs and I assume you don’t, either.”

“I don’t, but what about preventing you from getting pregnant?”

“Oh, that’s not a problem. I have an IUD. My doctor suggested it because I had such heavy periods after Henry was born.”

“Well, that is a relief,” he said, finally looking at her. “Did Henry fall asleep while you were reading to him?”

“He was out before I read half a page. He actually held out longer than I thought.”

“Tomorrow will be another fun day in the snow for him.”

She turned on the sofa to face him, draping her legs over his. “I was meaning to ask you - did you bring along clothes to wear out in the snow?”

“Aye. Liam advised that I keep extra clothes in the car during the winter months, so I changed into them once we came inside.”

“Did you dry them with Henry’s clothes?”

“I did. I hope that was alright.”

“Of course. I want you to make yourself at home here. I was thinking it might be nice to put up the Christmas tree tomorrow.”

“That’s a wonderful idea. I’m sure Henry loves doing that.”

“Oh yes, he really gets into it,” she laughed. “Although I’m sure you can’t imagine him getting excited about anything!”

Her sarcasm made him chuckle. “That’s one reason why I enjoy being with him so much. He’s enthusiastic about everything.”

“You clearly haven’t seen him do his chores.”

“Well, that’s true,” he agreed with a grin. “I suppose that’s typical for a kid.”

“Not just a kid. I hate doing chores, too.”

“You know,” he said, wrapping his arms around her to pull her into his lap, “I could think of much better things to talk about than chores.”

She adjusted herself so her knees were on either side of his hips, her hands on his shoulders and her forehead resting against his. “Like the fact that I love you?”

“Aye, that’s a much better subject,” he said, nuzzling her nose. They indulged in a long, slow kiss, while their hands roamed each other’s body. “I love you, too,” Killian murmured against her lips. In response, she deepened the kiss and adjusted her position, putting more pressure on his groin. “Swan…” he rasped.

“Maybe we should move to the bedroom,” she whispered in his ear.

The tickling sensation and implication of her words served to increase his arousal. “I like that idea, Love.”

She kissed him one more time, then pushed herself off of him. Threading her fingers through his, she tugged him to his feet. As they quietly moved down the hall, Emma stopped outside Henry’s door, listening intently. Giving a nod, they continued into her bedroom and she closed the door behind them.

“He’s out for the night,” she commented.

“You can tell that just by listening for a few seconds?”

“He’s a mouth breather, a loud one. He probably needs to have his tonsils and adenoids removed, but up until now, I haven’t had a job with good insurance. I just haven’t taken him to the doctor yet.”

“What about Winston?”

“If he needs his tonsils and adenoids out, I’ll let you pay for it,” she teased.

“You’re hilarious, Swan,” he remarked, trying to look stern, but failing to keep the smile from taking over his face.

“Yeah, I know,” she smirked. “Winston has slept through the night since the first night we brought him home.”

“In that case,” Killian said, sauntering into her personal space, “I guess the night is ours.”

“I guess so,” she said, then nervously pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

Tilting his head, he looked into her eyes for several seconds, then brushed some locks of blonde hair over her shoulder. “Emma, please don’t feel like we have to go ahead with this if you’re…”

“No, Killian,” she interrupted firmly. “I really want this, I’m just…out of practice, I guess.”

He put his hands on her waist and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “Relax, Love. Just let things happen naturally, and if they don’t, then we sleep instead. No pressure, okay?”

“You know, the first time I saw you, I had to convince myself you were real. I was sure no one as handsome as you could actually exist. And now, you say something like that and I have to convince myself that you’re real all over again. I mean, when a guy’s girlfriend is offering them sex, how many would say it’s okay if it doesn’t happen?”

“Probably more than you think. I would hope there are more gentlemen than rogues out there.”

Emma thought about that for a few moments, before saying, “I should wash my face and brush my teeth. Why don’t you, um, get comfortable in here and I’ll go take care of that.”

He watched her leave the room, then ran his hands through his hair. He longed to show Emma how much he loved her, but the last thing he wanted was for her to feel uncomfortable or pressured in any way. After stripping down to his navy blue boxers and white T-shirt, he sat on the bed to wait for her to return.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, she was quietly berating herself in the mirror. “You have this sweet, sexy, perfect boyfriend in your bedroom and you come running in here like a scared rabbit. What is wrong with you?” she asked her reflection. When she didn’t receive an answer, she sighed, tossed a washcloth into the sink and turned on the hot water.

After she finished in the bathroom and padded back to her room, she tapped lightly on the door before entering. Killian looked up at her from his seat on the bed, concern etched on his face. “Alright there, Swan?”

She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. I, um, I laid an extra toothbrush out for you if you wanted to, um, brush your teeth,” she stammered.

“Thank you, Love.” He stood up and slipped out the door.

Emma used the time to change out of her clothes and into a turquoise nightshirt that barely covered her underwear. She was standing in front of her dresser brushing her hair when she heard a soft knock on the door. “Come in,” she said, when it didn’t open right away.

As Killian entered, she saw his reflection in the mirror. She hadn’t gotten a good look at him before he left the room; but now, she saw that he was utterly tantalizing in very little clothing. It made her mouth go dry, but at the same time, made all of her nervousness vanish.

Turning toward him, she saw the anticipation on his face and quickly crossed the space between them. Standing in front of him, she reached up and cupped his face, then pulled him down to connect their lips, trying to pour every ounce of her love into the kiss.

His arms wrapped around her, pulling her snugly against himself. She’d been in his arms many times, but there were always more layers of clothing between them. Feeling his well-defined chest pressed against hers and his strong back under her roaming hands, she could feel her own body reacting.

Finally breaking the kiss, she said breathlessly, “I’m sorry for being so hesitant. I asked you to stay and then I let my nerves and insecurities get to me. It’s just that, in the past, people were always letting me down…”

“Let me assure you, Love,” he said, softly stroking the tips of his fingers over her cheek, “I don’t intend to let you down or hurt you in any way. You mean far too much to me to ever let that happen, trust me.”

Her eyes searched his, knowing she would see nothing but sincerity and love in them. “I do trust you,” she whispered. Taking his hands, she backed up until the backs of her knees hit the bed, then sat down and pulled him down beside her.

*********

*********

“I’m yours,” she said. “Make love to me, Killian.”

Twisting his body, he embraced her, then rolled them until he was on top of her in the middle of the mattress. “As you wish,” he grinned.

They took their time undressing each other between impassioned kisses, their lips finding the skin that was revealed with every discarded article of clothing. Killian paid special attention to Emma’s bare breasts when he removed her shirt, his mouth and calloused fingers on the sensitive flesh making her body sizzle with desire.

When she pushed his boxers down his legs, her eyes widened as she took in the size of his manhood. Her hand wrapped around it, the smooth skin feeling like satin on her palm.

As she slowly stroked him, his fingers moved between her thighs, feeling the damp heat. She widened her legs as one finger made its way inside her. “Killiannn,” she whined.

“Does that feel good?” he murmured into her ear.

“Yesss…so good.”

“What you’re doing feels good to me, too,” he assured her. He pushed himself up to lean on one elbow, sweeping his eyes up and down her form. “Gods, Emma. You’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen,” he praised. “You’re absolutely perfect.”

Her hands moved to his chest, fingers swirling through the generous dusting of hair. “So are you.” The fingers of one hand followed the dark trail of hair down his belly and between his legs to fondle his testicles, satisfied when she heard his sharp intake of breath.

They continued to explore, working one another up until both were panting and pleading. Killian took his time ensuring that Emma was prepared, using his fingers around and inside her opening to make her slick with arousal. At the same time, her attention to his cock and the way she scratched her fingernails over the skin of his chest and back made him the hardest he’d ever been.

As he sucked love marks into the soft skin of her breast and rubbed his thumb over her clit, she gasped, “Killian, I…I’m ready.”

He looked up at her through his long, dark lashes. Her skin was flushed, her tongue licking at her kiss-swollen lips. As his eyes connected with her lust-filled green ones, a rush of love and longing crashed over him. “I love you, Emma,” he said, moving up to seal the declaration with another kiss.

“I love you, too. So much,” she replied, running her fingers through his damp strands of hair. Then she shifted on the bed so he could settle between her thighs.

Holding himself above her on one elbow, he reached down to grasp his cock, rubbing it through her slick, wet folds, then slowly began pushing forward. His eyes scanned up her body to study her face, hoping to catch any sign of discomfort in her features. He halted his progress when he detected a slight grimace. “Does that hurt?” he asked.

“No, no,” she assured him. “It burns a little, but mostly it feels…amazing. Please don’t stop.”

He was happy to hear those words, because being only partially inside her felt incredible, and he yearned to keep going. Dropping his elbow down to the other side of her body, he pulled back a little, then pressed forward again, going deeper inch by inch, until he was fully engulfed in her warm, tight sheath.

Resting his head on her chest, he ground out, “Bloody hell, Emma. You feel fucking fantastic.”

She skimmed her hands through his hair. “It feels like you were made for me,” she whispered. Bending her knees, she pulled her feet up beside his hips and gave a slight thrust of her pelvis.

He got the hint and began rocking slowly, savoring every moan and gasp from her. Sensing that she had adjusted to his size, he pulled out until only his tip was still inside, then slid all the way back in with one stroke, gradually picking up the pace.

“Faster…deeper,” she begged.

He obliged, thrusting into her several times in quick succession. Her hips raised off the bed to meet him every time, while her fingers gripped his hair almost painfully.

“Killian, I can’t…I’m going to…”

“Let go, Love,” he encouraged, knowing she was right on the edge.

Throbbing heat and a sudden flood of wetness around his cock told him that she followed his command. She crossed her ankles behind his back, trying to pull him closer, while her head thrashed back and forth on the pillow.

He stilled within her, trying to delay his own climax. As good as it felt to have her pulsing around him, he didn’t want it to end so soon.

“T-top,” she mumbled.

“You want to be on top?”

“Mmhmm.”

After wrapping his arms around her, he carefully rolled them over. Emma planted her hands on his chest and pushed herself up, her knees tight against his hips. His hands gripped her forearms as she began lifting and lowering her pelvis, his cock sliding in, then almost out of her over and over again.

Killian was muttering a steady string of praises, telling her how perfect she was and how good she felt. Raising his head, his mouth found one of her nipples, alternately rolling his tongue over it and sucking hard. The effect caused her rhythm to stutter and she threw her head back, letting out a long, guttural moan of his name.

Feeling his release growing imminently closer, he started thrusting up into her. His hand moved down to find her clit, rubbing it roughly as he groaned, “Come again, Emma. Please come, Love. I…I can’t…”

  With one final slide down on him, she did, shuddering and shaking as she cried out, “Yes! Yes, Killian!”

Watching her ecstasy, hearing her shouts and feeling her pulse around him brought him to his peak, too. He jerked and spasmed, spurting hot streams of cum inside her.

When she collapsed on top of him several moments later, he held her close, murmuring words of adoration into her hair. Gradually, their breathing and heart rates returned to normal, and Killian groped around the bed, finding the blanket and pulling it over the top of them.

*********

*********

Emma sighed happily, pressing kisses to his throat and collarbone. “That was amazing! I know it’s been a while, but I don’t remember sex ever being that good.”

“Well, that’s because you’ve never done it with me before,” he chuckled. Hearing her hum of agreement, he added, “It’s never been like that for me, either. Then again, I’ve never loved anyone like I love you. I think that’s what made it so much more intense and meaningful.”

She lifted her head and rested her chin on his sternum, looking into his face. “I’m sure you’re right about that. I’m very glad we decided to take this next step. I feel like we’re more closely connected now.” She wiggled her hips, causing his softening length to shift inside her. “In more ways than one.”

He grinned and reached up to tuck her hair behind her ears. “Meeting you and Henry is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Leaning forward, she kissed him; a slow, tender kiss that communicated her feelings more than words ever could. They cuddled a while longer before Emma slipped her shirt back on and went to the bathroom to clean up, bringing a warm washcloth back so Killian could do the same. After he put his boxers on and visited the bathroom himself, they burrowed under the covers, intertwining themselves and sharing more kisses until they finally drifted off to sleep - content, sated and thoroughly in love.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Emma awoke slowly the next morning, the smell of coffee tickling her nose. When her foggy brain remembered what happened the night before, she reached over to find the other side of the bed empty. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and stretched.

She felt pleasantly sore in all the right places and smiled when she remembered how she had awakened in the middle of the night to find Killian watching her sleep. The sliver of moonlight seeping in through the slight opening between the curtains illuminated his mischievous blue eyes. It was then she realized he had worked her shirt up above her breasts and was gently massaging them. Soon they were engaged in round two, finding more ways to bring pleasure to one another.

Flinging back the blanket, she grabbed a robe out of her closet and put it on as she walked down the hall. She could hear Henry chattering before she reached the kitchen.

“...and after we play in the snow, we can play more games and watch movies and…”

“Slow down, lad,” she heard Killian say, his gruff morning voice sending shivers down her spine. “I think your mother has some plans for us today.”

“That’s right,” she said, joining them. “I think you’ll like what I have planned.” Peeking over Henry’s shoulder, she asked, “What are you eating, kid?”

“Killian made egg in a basket!” he said excitedly. “It’s really good and he told me he would teach you how to make it too, if you want.”

“Is that so?” she asked, passing behind the ‘chef’ and discreetly pinching his side.

“Bad form, Swan,” he chided playfully. “And to think I made coffee and breakfast for you.”

“Sorry,” she said, stretching to her tiptoes to kiss the underside of his scruffy jaw. He turned so her next kiss was to his lips.

“You guys are being gross,” Henry complained, making the couple laugh. “So what are we doing today, Mom?”

She poured herself a mug of coffee, splashed some creamer into it, then leaned against the counter to take a sip before answering, “I thought we would put up the Christmas tree and decorate it. How does that sound?”

“YAY!” Henry shouted. Winston started barking from where he lay under the table.

“Winston, enough!” Killian commanded and the dog quieted immediately.

“Good morning, sweet boy,” Emma said, bending down to ruffle his ears. “I didn’t see you under there.” Straightening up, she asked her son, “Did you already feed him?”

Henry’s ears reddened. “Uh, no. I forgot.”

Emma gave him a stern look. “You know you’re supposed to feed your dog before you sit down to eat, young man.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” he said, hopping out of his seat and going to the pantry where the dog’s food was stored.

“Apologize to Winston, not me.”

Henry scooped out the food and dumped it into Winston’s bowl. “I’m sorry, boy,” he said, as he set it down beside the refrigerator where the dog sat waiting.

Killian laughed as he watched Winston inhaling his food like he was afraid it was going to disappear. “I think he forgives you, lad.” Looking at Emma, he added, “I already put him outside to do his business. The snow is up to his belly, but he found a spot by the side of the house that wasn’t quite as deep.”

“How long have you been up?” she questioned.

Killian glanced at the clock on the microwave. “Almost an hour.”

“Wow, you’re a morning person. It usually takes me half-an-hour just to pry my eyes open and get out of bed, especially on a Saturday.”

“Well, you know what they say - opposites attract,” he said, setting a plate of food in front of her and sitting down beside her with his own.

As they began to eat, Henry returned to the table and asked, “When are we gonna put up the tree, Mom?”

“You can help decide. Do you want to do it before or after we play in the snow?”

He thought for a second. “Let’s go outside first. Can we bake gingerbread cookies like we did last year, when we decorated the tree?”

“I’m afraid not. We don’t have the necessary ingredients for that kind of cookie.”

Seeing Henry’s disappointed look, Killian said, “I know a good recipe for sugar cookies. Do you like that kind? I know your mother has all the ingredients for them.”

Henry perked up again. “Yeah! Can we decorate them? We have sprinkles left from when you tried to make cupcakes for Avery’s birthday, remember?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me of that fiasco,” Emma groaned, making Henry giggle.

Killian looked between the two of them. “Why was it a fiasco?”

She covered her face with her hands as she answered, “I forgot the baking powder.”

“Do you mean to say,” he began, trying to contain his laughter, “that you baked cupcakes and didn’t put any baking powder in them?”

Dropping her hands, she replied indignantly, “Hey, it happens to the best of us. I’ve seen episodes of the Great British Baking Show where the bakers forget to put in key ingredients.”

“Point taken. Did you take the cupcakes to the party?”

“Are you kidding? They looked like hockey pucks! Of course I didn’t take them to the party.”

Killian laughed heartily, while Emma tried and failed to give him a reproving look. Instead, she dissolved into laughter, too.

“Mom picked up cupcakes at the grocery on the way to the party,” Henry said, then shoved another bite of food into his mouth.

“Well, I promised to bring them, so I had to do something.”

“Very resourceful, Swan.”

By the end of breakfast, they had the day’s schedule worked out. They played in the snow as soon as they were all dressed, then drank hot chocolate and baked cookies. While waiting for the cookies to be cool enough to ice and decorate, Henry and Killian brought the small artificial tree in from the garage.

As they were setting it up, Emma explained, “Henry wants to have a live tree, but I told him he needs to be a little older, because I don’t think I could get one unloaded and set up by myself.”

“Ah, well, if it weren’t for the fact we’re snowed in today, I could have helped you with that,” Killian said. “Perhaps next year.”

“Yeah, that would be nice,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. “I hope we’ll still be together by then.”

He pulled her against him, wrapping her in his warm embrace. “I have every confidence we will, Love.”

The day was the most fun any of them could remember. They decorated cookies and the tree while listening to Christmas music, played some board games, then watched two Christmas movies with only the lights from the tree and television illuminating the living room. Killian sat on the couch between Emma and Henry, both of whom were snuggled close to his side.

Emma and Killian shared many affectionate caresses and kisses throughout the day, unable to keep from touching each other. That evening, after Henry and Winston were in bed, they spooned on the sofa, quietly discussing plans for the next day, Christmas and New Years Eve.

Both of them were hopeful and excited about their future together.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Eight Months Later

“Great pass, Nicholas!” Killian shouted, running along the sidelines to coach his players. “Keep it under control, Grace! Get open, Henry! There he is! Pass it, Grace!”

As Henry’s kick sent the soccer ball flying into the goal, Emma leaped from her seat with a cheer, causing Winston to jump up and start barking. Everyone around them laughed, used to the excitable black dog who was always at the games to watch his young master.

When the game ended, Killian’s team was victorious for the third week in a row. Henry shook hands with the other team, then sprinted over to his mom and Winston.

“Good game, kid!” Emma exclaimed, returning his hug. “Your team is doing great this year.”

“That’s because we have the best coach in the whole world!” he beamed, taking Winston’s leash from her as the dog jumped around him enthusiastically.

Emma watched Killian gather his clipboard and Henry’s water bottle. Several parents approached him to offer their words of appreciation, and she smiled as he humbly accepted them.

He really was too good to be true, except that he absolutely was…and he was hers.

She turned to fold up her lawn chair and collect Winston’s favorite ducky toy, and soon felt two strong arms wrap around her from behind.

“Congratulations, coach,” she said, twisting in his arms to kiss him.

“Thank you, Love. The team is really starting to gel, don’t you think?”

“That’s because, as Henry just said, they have the best coach in the world.”

“He said that?” Killian asked, rubbing self-consciously behind his ear.

“Yeah, and I agree. They love playing for you, Babe.”

“Well, they’re fun to coach. I’m glad you talked me into it.”

“Pfft,” Emma scoffed. “I’m not the one who did it. It was that nine-year-old con artist who lives with us.”

“He can be quite persuasive,” he conceded. “Takes after his mother.”

“Hey!” she said, lightly slapping his chest. “I never talk you into doing things you don’t want to do.”

“That’s very true,” he murmured into her ear. “I’m always up for what you want me to do.”

She giggled and engaged him in another kiss, only to be interrupted by a loud, exasperated, “Mom! Killian! You guys are embarrassing!”

They broke apart with a laugh. “Sorry, kid,” Emma said, not sounding one bit apologetic. “Ready to go home?”

“Actually, Henry and I thought it might be fun to go to the nature preserve this morning,” Killian said. “Is that alright with you, Swan?”

“Sounds good to me. I’m glad I wore sneakers instead of sandals.”

They headed to the car and were soon on their way to the preserve. Emma noticed Killian shifting in his seat and nervously tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Oh, um, aye. Just working out some energy left over from the game.”

She studied him for several more moments, then shrugged slightly and turned to ask Henry what he wanted for lunch when they got home, later.

There were several cars in the main parking lot at the preserve, so Killian kept driving until they reached a more remote section. Winston always got distracted if there were too many people around, so they tried to stick to the paths that weren’t likely to be as busy.

Once they found a place to park and were out of the car, Henry and Winston started along the path that led into the woods. Emma and Killian trailed behind, falling into easy conversation, as always. Their current topic was Belle and Liam, who were due to return from their honeymoon the following day. Despite being wed at the beginning of June, the couple waited to go on their trip until August, because Liam could get airline tickets for a much better price late in the summer.

“Bloody wanker, always after a discount,” Killian grumbled, not for the first time. “Even for his honeymoon!”

“Belle didn’t seem to mind,” Emma pointed out. “She was excited because the best time to see Beluga Whales in Alaska is during the month of August. I hope they were able to see some.”

“Aye, me too. That’s probably the reason Liam booked it for this month, anyway. He just wants to make everyone think he’s a miser.”

Emma wrapped her arm around his more tightly and leaned into him. “I definitely got the better brother,” she stated playfully.

“That you did, Love,” he grinned, pressing a kiss to her temple.

After hiking for twenty minutes, they came to their favorite spot on the path - a small fishing pond surrounded by tall, reedy grass and cattails. Henry and Winston started exploring the perimeter of the water, in search of frogs. Ever since finding one at this pond earlier in the summer, they were determined to find another.

“Care to sit down for a bit, Love?” Killian asked, indicating a wooden bench.

“Yeah. I’m sure the two of them will want to stay here a while.”

They sat together in comfortable silence, listening to the chirping of birds and buzz of insects. Finally, Killian turned to her and said, “We’ve known each other for almost a year now, haven’t we?”

“We met in September, so it’ll be a year next month.”

“It’s been the best year of my life.”

“Mmhmm. Mine, too. Especially these last three months when you officially moved in with us.”

“Well, I did have to live somewhere, since the lease on my apartment was up,” he teased.

“Oh, so now the truth comes out,” she shot back with a giggle.

“Aye,” he sighed dramatically. “I only love you for your house.”

“You’re so full of it, Jones,” she said, elbowing him in the side.

He leaned back and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his side, both of them watching Henry and Winston chasing what looked like a dragonfly.

“Those two are something else,” she remarked.

“They’re both good boys. I’m very lucky to be part of their lives.”

Emma hummed. “We’re all very lucky to have you in our lives.”

After another lengthy pause, he murmured, “I love you, Emma.”

“I love you, too.”

He slipped from his seat and knelt in front of her. “Enough to marry me?” he asked, looking up into her eyes, widened in surprise.

“Killian…wh-what are you doing?” she stammered.

“Isn’t it obvious, Love? I’m proposing. But I guess I’ve forgotten something, haven’t I?” Unbuttoning the pocket on the side of his cargo shorts, he reached in and withdrew a diamond solitaire ring, holding it up between them. “Emma, we may have met because of a mistake, but I don’t think of it that way. I’m convinced it was God’s plan for us to meet in just the right place at exactly the right time. You, Henry and Winston are the center of my world and that’s where I want you to be for the rest of my life. So, Emma Swan, will you marry me?”

She brushed at the tears trickling down her cheeks as a huge smile crossed her face. “Yes, Killian! Of course I’ll marry you!”

He took her trembling hand in his and slid the ring into place. Then he wrapped her in his arms, kissing her hair, eyes, cheeks, and finally, her lips, salty with her tears.

Their celebration was cut short when Henry asked, “Did she say yes?”

Both of them dissolved into laughter. He was notorious for interrupting them when they were kissing, whether out of disgust or because he was simply oblivious.

“Aye, lad. She did,” Killian answered.

“Wait, you were in on this?” Emma asked her son.

“Yeah. Last night, Killian asked me if it was okay for him to marry you. I said it was, so that’s why we decided to come here after the game today - so he could oppose.”

“Propose,” Killian corrected, as Emma laughed.

Henry shrugged. “Whatever. So you’re getting married? We’re gonna be a real family?” His excitement grew as he realized what it all meant.

“Yeah, kid. We’ll officially become a family. What do you think about that?”

It wasn’t a surprise to either of them that his answer was a loud, “YAY!” while Winston barked his approval, too.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Emma and Killian were married sixteen months later, the day before the second anniversary of when they first declared their love for each other. Fortunately, there was no snowstorm on their wedding day.

Henry proudly walked his mother down the aisle to meet Killian at the altar. The boy shook his soon-to-be stepfather’s hand, then nearly tackled him in a hug, before taking his place beside Liam.

The ceremony was beautiful and perfect, which in Killian’s mind, matched his bride. Everyone had a wonderful time at the reception afterwards, celebrating the couple with food and dancing. Liam’s best man speech caused Killian’s face to turn red with embarrassment, as everyone else’s turned red with laughter.

The traditional father/daughter dance was replaced with a mother/son dance instead. As the two most important people in his life moved in small circles in the middle of the floor to the song “How Long Will I Love You?”, Killian repeatedly swallowed past the lump in his throat and wiped away a stray tear or two.

While the newlyweds enjoyed a honeymoon in a tropical climate, Henry and Winston stayed with Belle and Liam. The boy and his dog slept in the spare bedroom that was in the process of being turned into a nursery for Henry’s future cousin, due to arrive in two months.

Emma and Killian purchased a larger house, two blocks from the Storybrooke harbor, six months after their wedding. While they were signing the final legal papers for the sale, they were beginning another legal process.

One morning in October, Henry came into the kitchen and gave Winston an extra helping of food in celebration of their pet’s ‘gotcha day’. Sitting down at the table, he was excited to find his favorite breakfast of French toast with bacon on his plate, and folded pieces of paper beside it.

After drowning his food in maple syrup and taking a huge bite, he picked up the papers and asked, “What are these?”

“Open them and see,” Emma said, her face glowing with excitement as she met Killian’s eyes across the table.

Henry did as he was told, scanning the page until he realized that the first one was a certificate of adoption. His eyes shot up to land on Killian. “Does this mean you’re officially my dad?”

“Aye, lad, I’m legally your father. I signed the final papers a couple of weeks ago. We’ve just been waiting for that other paper to arrive before we told you.”

Henry slid the second paper out from underneath the first, his eyes widening even more. “It says Henry Andrew Jones. Is that really my name now?”

“Yeah, kid,” Emma answered. “That’s your new birth certificate and it names Killian as your father. What do you think?”

In answer, he jumped out of his chair and ran around the table to fly into Killian’s waiting arms. “I think it’s the best day of my life!” he exclaimed. “I love you, Dad!”

“I love you, too, my boy,” Killian replied, a slight catch in his voice at hearing Henry call him that title for the very first time.

Henry turned to give Emma a hug, also. “It’s pretty cool that Winston and I both have the same ‘gotcha day’,” he said.

His parents laughed. “I didn’t think about that,” Emma admitted.

That Christmas, their friends and family received a card which included a picture of Henry, Emma, Killian and Winston in front of their decorated, live Christmas tree. It was signed:

Happy Holidays! With love from the Jones family.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Thank you so very much for reading!

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[litcest]

The Innocents, by Michael Crummey

There was I, one fine afternoon, reading Henry James' The Turn of the Screw and started wondering if anyone had ever done an incestuous re-write of the novel. I found none, but what I did find was that there was a movie adaptation (by Truman Capote) in 1961 with the title of The Innocents. This movie shares the title with a 2019 novel by Michael Crummey, which DOES have brother-sister incest.

I went to check the book on Goodreads and found out that @shipcestuous had it on her shelf, and from this I found an ask she got just a month ago with some book recs. Everything is connected.

The book, narrated in the third person, follow the lives of Ada and Evered Best, siblings who lose their parents at an young age and have to take control of the family's fishing enterprise in a remote beach. The novel is set around the 19th century and so the siblings have little contact with the outside world other than the ship that visits them twice an year to collect their goods.

In a secluded cove on the shores of Newfoundland, in a recent past, lived a family. One winter, in quick succesion, the newborn dies, followed by the mother and then the father. And so, siblings Ada and Evered are left to fend for themselves.

"And he to bawling with her then, the two helpless youngsters holding on to one another in the pitch."

"For weeks after their father died the youngsters did little but sleep, lying in bed all hours for the warmth, for the comfort of the other's breathing beside them."

Evered hunts and fishes, while Ada takes care of the house and cooks. Winter turns to spring, and The Hope,cargo boat, comes to the cove, as it did every year. The siblings tell the Captain their parents have died, and the Captain tries to explain how the enterprise works: Evered's father caught fish and gave to the Captain, who in turn gave them supplies. The Captain wasn't sure that the two kids could deliver the amount of fish necessary to cover the costs of the supplies, and tries to convince the kids to go to the town and look for a job there. Ada, however, doesn't want to leave the grave of their dead baby sister (who she insists that she can talk to) and refuses to go.

Evered menages to persuade the Captain into giving them one season to try it out. The season is not much of a success, but it's good enough that Evered and Ada decide to keep trying to make it work, even though they are getting into debt.

"'You managed fine, Brother', she said. 'You done good.' 'Don't you ever leave me,' he said out of nowhere' 'Why would I do the like of that?' 'Just don't.'"

Two years go by, and a storm blows a shipwreck into the cove. The siblings explore and collect material, and Ada gets new shoes. They are two right feet, but she's happy anyway.

"She threw her arms around Evered's neck and they jumped up and down in each other's arms."

Another event of this year was Ada getting her first period. She gets grumpy about it, ignoring Evered and lashing out at him (PMS is a bitch). What I found particularly interesting about this chapters is that, to hide the bleeding, "they slept in separate beds for the next five nights". Which means that, despite they having a spare bed (the one that their parents slept in), they were still choosing to sleep together for the past two years. And, when Ada's bad mood (and blood) has passed, they go back to sleeping together.

"They talked through the black or looked to the other's warmth for comfort, gravitating to the familiar body beside them. One night, half-asleep and adrift in that liminal space, Ada hooked a leg across Evered's hip and they nudged into one another."

Also worth mentioning is Evered's masturbatory habits. He doesn't quite know what he's doing, but he knows he feels pleasure from touching himself, and that it results in a "hot spill pumping across his hand and stomach". And yes, he does it in the bed he shared with Ada, until one night, still half asleep, Ada turns towards him and wraps her legs around his torso.

"They tucked into the heat of her, Ada lifting her leg across his hips and rocking against him. And he was suddenly, vibrantly awake. He leaned into the heat of her, barely moving, letting Ada work against him, moving his hand to the small of her back to add weight to that drowsy agitation. The didn't speak or acknowledge one another at any point and Evered thought it was possible she was dreaming, that she was insensible to the waking world the entire time they were engaged."

Are they dry humping? I'm not going to lie, I'm not going to lie, the book is sometimes hard to understand. It's very poetic and I struggled to get the meaning behind the vomit of words that were on the pages. It made me feel very stupid and like my reading comprehension had gone to shit. Whatever that was, the event goes by unmentioned, as neither sibling wants to talk about it.

"It was the one intimacy that everything between the siblings seemed a prelude to. But some hesitation had always stopped them short, a shared vertigo that stayed them at the edge."

In the summer, Ada goes to bath herself in a clear water pool in the hills around the house, and Evered spies on her, admiring how her body had developed.

"A woman's body he was looking at and he was embarrassed to be watching as if it was a stranger standing in the brook below him."

Ada sees him watching and he goes away, but as she cleans herself, she thinks of "sleeping beside Evered [...] as if her body was a having a thought all on its wordless lonesome."

Their routine comes to a halt when Evered gets sick after making a delivery to the ship. He passes the sickness onto Ada, who becomes gravely ill.

In a struck of good luck, sea Captain Truss and Mrs. Brace happen upon the cove. They nurse the siblings back to full health, and when Ada first wakes up from her feverish dreams, her first word is "Brother".

Truss also teaches Evered how to hunt with a firearm, so the siblings can have more supplies in the winter. When inquired on whether he feels lonely in the cove, Evered says that he has Ada and so he isn't alone.

During this time, Evered and Ada listen as Truss and Mrs. Brace have sex and Ada recognizes the sounds as similar to the ones Evered makes when he thinks she's asleep.

"Something in it reminded her of the hitch in Evered's breathing during the solitary ministrations she pretended to sleep through. Of her brother ferreting through her small clothes to find the place she was the warmed and wet, her hips rising to his hand as he figured the works of her."

After Truss goes back to his ship, Evered begins to plan an expedition to further explore the hills around the cove, as they had never gone too far from the shore, and also so he hunt bigger animals. Ada wants to go along, but Evered tells her it's better for her to stay and take care of the house. Ada is not stupid and knows that her brother is being distant, he has been since before Truss' arrival.

"She missed her brother, missed the easy physical affection that had been the only constant source of comfort in her life."

The night before Evered leaves for his expedition, Ada waits for him to lay in bed beside her and then begins to touch him, jerking him off. Evered later comments that the gesture seemed like punishment of short, for him not taking her along.

"She placed her hand on Evered’s hip behind her and then down between them, finding her way to bare skin. He put an arm around her waist and moved to reach under her shift but she grabbed it with her free hand. She did not want to be touched. Or to turn toward him or to speak. She moved against the rigid bit of gristle in her hand, working toward that hitch in his breath, that spastic release."

Hunting turns out to be a good deal for the siblings and when The Hope comes to deliver their goods, they gain extra by selling pelts of the animals they had killed.

The next strange event is the arrival of John Warren onto the cove. He comes knocking in the sibling's door, having heard of the so called "Orphan Cove" and wanting to lumber there. At first, Warren mistake Ada and Evered for a couple, asking if they are wedded, which leaved Ada "mortified".

Warren lates asks Ada whether she feels alone, and her answer is similar to the one Evered had given Truss.

"She shook her head. 'I got Evered,' she said. 'He been good to me.'"

Warren and his crew leave, with Evered and Ada once again returning to their routine. The text time The Hope comes around, the Captain asks if Ada has ever considered marrying, as the men in town are lacking women. Evered asks Ada whether she has ever considered marrying and she says that she doesn't want to do that.

That winter, a terrible storm blows in while Evered is out fishing, and for a moment, Ada assumes he has drowned. He does make it back to shore, completely soaked through, and she takes him to the house, stripping him off the wet clothes and setting him by the fire. Then Ada removes her own clothes, as she too got wet from searching for him and straddles him for ~warmth~. This obviously leads to them having sex.

The next morning, there's an awkwardness in the air, with neither sibling knowing quite how to deal with the intimacy they had shared.

"And she couldn’t settle with any satisfaction how to feel about what happened between she and Evered, about how it unfolded or if it was all her doing somehow."

Even though they had only had penetrative PiV sex once, Ada finds herself pregnant, in a strike of bad luck akin to Cathy Dollanganger's. I know it's possible to get pregnant from just one unprotected encounter, but god, are this incestuousr girlies unlucky.

Ada realises she is pregnant when she stops getting her "monthly visitor", but isn't quite sure how she got that way. At first, she hides it from Evered, but when her belly gets big enough, he starts to suspect that Ada got pregnant because Warran had made her his wife. Ada and Warren never had sex, by the way, the just apent a lot of time alone because Warren thought of her as a surrogate daughter and wanted to keep are away from his sailors.

As the distance between the siblings grows bigger, Evered suggests that they should leave the cove and go to the town, where he can find a job and Ada can get married.

Just as The Hope appears on the horizon, Ada enters in labor and Evered helps her deliver the child.

"He nodded though his expression didn’t change. "I don’t know what to do," he said. "What do I do?" "Just don’t leave me," she said."

The child is named Martha, after they deceased baby sister, whom Ada believed might have reincarnated into her daughter. Then, in one of the most anticlimactic endings ever, the books ends, as Evered places the new-born on Ada's chest and the ship approaches at distance.

[theweirdoinurhouse]

All the little things

Media: Good Omens

Ship: Crowley x Ariraphale

Warnings: None

Author's note: This is inspired by this post by @nothankyoudear (I also didn't spell check this so sorry)

As of late, there have been some strange accurences happening in A.Z Fell and Co's bookshop. It all started on December 15th, at exactly 11:35 pm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been one of those nights where Aziraphale and Crowley enjoy themselves in the finest of wines. Aziraphale had returned back to Earth from heaven not so long before that night. It had been their first drinking night together since he left.

Crowley was in a sour mood that night. Earlier that day he had went to the complex where his flat was. Somehow, it was still trashed with all the papers Shax has left from her stay. Apparently, it was also owned under her name.

By now, Crowley was completely done with everything, and wanted some water. As he complained to Aziraphale, a mug appeared by his side. As he continued to complain to his angel, he reached over to the mug. He took a long gulp from the mug, expecting it to be water. Instead, he was met with the burning sensation of Smirnoff peppermint twist vodka.

He chocked on the beverage, entirely surprised by the strong feeling of peppermint flavor on his tounge. Aziraphale stood from his chair, his hand out prepared to assist Crowley. Sure, nothing bad would have happened to the latter, but Aziraphale still cared. Deeply.

Crowley quickly got used to the strong flavor, gulping it down in just 15.27 seconds. He placed the mug down and watched as it refilled itself. Crowley and Aziraphale continued their night, the angel drinking red wine while the demon drinks his magic vodka.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More accurences appeared on January 5th, at 7:31 am.

Aziraphale had just woken up from one of the rare nights he slept. Not because he had trouble falling asleep. Oh dear no. He just didn't see the point. Unlike Crowley, he would rather spend his time in the bookshop reading or learning more about humans. They are quite interesting creatures. The first thing Aziraphale noticed was his bed. His single bed (that he has yet to replace due to the fact he doesn't use it) has now become a double. Instead of the two pillows Aziraphale uses, there are now four. His blanket had gotten bigger to accommodate for the bigger bed. He decided to think about this later, deciding to just start his day.

This was when he saw another change. Beside his white slippers, was a pair of red slippers. They did not look like they belonged together, the slim red contrasting with his fluffy white. He, again, just decided to push that to the back of his mind. He slipped on his slippers (as that is how they are ment to be used) and went to the small bathroom in the loft.

As he reached for his toothbrush, he noticed that there was another laying on the counter. That was the question that started the angel's fall. Aziraphale stormed down the stairs to the main floor of the bookshop, miracled his usual clothes on, and went to the park to take a walk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since that morning, more and more things have been happening inside the bookshop that seems to never be open.

The lights suddenly getting brighter when Crowley steps in, Velvet Underground or Queen playing on his vinyl record when Crowley visits (which is basically all the time), the mysterious snake enclosure. Don't get Aziraphale started on the snake enclosure.

Aziraphale has decided to stop thinking about all of these strange events, and just accept it. Which has helped alot, because it won't stop.

Not.At.All

[wanderingwriter87]

god its just,,,, do you ever think about how the level of intimacy that garak and julian have by the end of the show is so intense. even if you take canon depiction VERY seriously and assume they didn't have many offscreen interactions that were substantially different from what we see onscreen, and that they seemed to grow apart in the last two seasons, they are just!!!! like, they obviously desire each other Sexually (TM) but there's a point at which it doesn't feel like sex would actually be much of an upgrade intimacy-wise. they are so close. they are already physically comfortable being in each other's space. and of course there's "by inferno's light" but i can't get into that again or i'll go feral. but like, the way they are just? so? connected????

i really like fics where julian still demonstrates his intentions in post-canon cardassia through some kind of elaborate cardassian courtship ritual because i think it is something he would do, he's very extra and garak loves that about him. i also really like the ones where they keep getting their signals crossed or drama gets in the way but when things finally align, one of them storms in and kicks the door shut and slams the other one into the wall and they go absolutely feral on each other. these are both EXTREMELY VALID.

BUT ALSO? i have a real appreciation for them just sort of letting the familiarity and closeness they very clearly already feel slide into more physical intimacy, because there is simply no reason why it shouldn't, there is no reason to draw create these artificial barriers. garak is canonically very tactile with him and despite having this sort of buttoned-up persona, or perhaps BECAUSE of it, i think this kind of thing can really work for him. how many times did they share a bed or a cot, realistically, that we weren't shown on tv because of rick berman? whomst the fuck else would bashir REALLY be sharing with in the prison camp after garak gets there? (ok, martok probably, but still). what about in rocks & shoals? what about on the defiant? come on. they have quite literally slept together, you cannot convince me otherwise. and then, and then, you know, hands wander.

like to an extent, with the "courtly love" headcanon that i've often espoused, it does make sense that they would enforce some kind of boundary with each other when it comes to prolonged close physical contact like that. and that's where my love of the other two types of "getting together" fics comes in - because it makes sense they have been denying themselves this intimacy even though they are literally so intimate already. because it felt like too much. it still feels like A Step that needs to be negotiated.

but i also love, LOVE thinking about a version of their relationship where it simply happens because they are simply each other's Person and nobody else gets me like he gets me and i trust him even though i shouldn't and gives me little gifts and sees me off at the docking bay and i read EVERY SINGLE AWFUL BOOK he recommends me and i know he's hiding something, probably something important, but when he smiles i smile even if i don't want to because he's just! him! so obviously as some point there's just, a playful whisper, lips on the neck, lips on lips, whoopsy daisy didn't mean to turn you on but as long as we're here ;) soft laughing and gentle teasing and a slow tumble into something new that feels perfectly right, like they were always meant to end up here.

sorry to be sappy on main i am just having a time.

[sisterspooky1013]

Terra Australis, Chapter Three

Rated Mature | Read it here on AO3

Mulder woke alone, confused at how Scully could have extricated herself from the back of the tiny bunk without waking him. He must have been sleeping very deeply, he surmised, noting that he couldn’t recall the last time he slept so soundly. He rolled to his back and smiled at the bottom of the bunk above him, remembering her slim fingers wrapping around his wrist, pulling him towards her. He’d been as surprised as he was delighted, and wondered if she had missed their closeness in the satellite base as much as he had. In all likelihood, it was something that would evaporate when they arrived back in Washington, once again a forbidden impulse to be denied. They did have one more night here, sharing this room. A guy could dream.

His cock stirred and he flashed his eyes over to the door, which was closed. Still encased in blankets, he slipped a hand under the elastic of his sweats and took hold of his growing erection. He wasn’t about to jack off in here; it was too risky, and he had no means to clean up. But a few soft squeezes while recalling her breath fluttering against his neck wouldn’t hurt. The brush of her pebbled nipples against his chest and the heat from between her legs. A soft groan rumbled in his throat.

Of course, the odds were very low that it would happen again. Scully sneaking out before he woke up was most likely an indication that she regretted sharing a bed and couldn’t bear to face him in the morning. Lightning doesn’t strike twice. Three times, if you consider their naked cuddle at the satellite base. Pulling his hand out of his pants, he mentally prepared himself for a withdrawn and embarrassed Scully.

Twenty minutes later, he left the room in search of the woman who inspired his little daydream. He passed by Doctor Marcy and Leavitt, offering morning greetings and smiles. Finally, he found her in the mess hall, seated at a small table with a young woman who looked to be in her twenties. She had a short brown bob and a round face that never seemed to stop smiling.

“Good morning,” he offered as he approached, and Scully turned to issue him a warm smile before gesturing to the seat beside her. She didn’t seem anything but happy to see him.

The woman chuckled knowingly.

“It’s 8:00 pm, but welcome nonetheless. I’m Bethany.”

She held her hand out for Mulder to shake, taking in his confused expression as he sat down beside Scully.

“Antarctica only has two seasons, summer and winter. It’s light out twenty-four hours a day in summer, and dark twenty-four hours in winter, so it can be a little hard to keep your circadian rhythm in check. That wicked snow storm yesterday blotted out the sun pretty good so it might have seemed like it was dark, but it technically wasn’t. I don’t suggest trying to get on Ice Time if you’re headed out on the last call ship tomorrow, so good morning. What would you like to eat?”

“Bethany is the base cook,” Scully explained, and it was immediately clear that she and Scully had been getting to know each other.

“Oh, I don’t need anything. Just some coffee would be fine,” Mulder replied, not wanting her to go to too much trouble just for him.

“Come on,” Bethany insisted, gently chiding him. “How about an omelette, do you like omelettes?”

“He loves omelettes,” Scully answered for him fondly, and she seemed so relaxed and at ease it made him feel relaxed and at ease too.

“One Denver omelette, coming right up,” Bethany said with a happy slap of her hand on the table.

After Bethany had disappeared behind a set of double doors, he took in Scully’s appearance. Though her cheeks were still burnt and ruddy, her coloring looked a bit more pink and her eyes were clear and bright.

“How do you feel?” he asked gently as he reached over to place a hand on her lower back, rubbing it in small circles.

Her eyes fluttered and she sighed — at his question or his touch, he couldn’t be sure. But he liked it, seeing her this way.

“Really good, actually,” she said with some measure of surprise. “Just about normal.”

He smiled and nodded in acknowledgement of that happy fact.

“How long have you been up?” he asked as Bethany dropped off a steaming mug of black coffee. He smiled in thanks, moving his hand from Scully’s back to wrap it around the cup.

“A few hours,” she answered, taking a sip from her own mug. “Someone was snoring very loudly directly into my ear,” she added playfully, though she avoided his eye as she said it.

He felt his cheeks pink at the same time his heart swelled. There was no trace of regret or embarrassment in her tone.

They chatted amiably while they waited for Mulder’s breakfast — or dinner, as it were — to arrive. Scully had discovered a small theater off the game room with a projection screen, and they decided to watch a movie after his meal. The subject of what happened back in Washington, much less what they saw and experienced here in Antarctica, seemed to be on hold. It wasn’t that they were avoiding it, per se, just that everything seemed to be in a state of pause. Be it the persistent daylight, or the miles between them and the OPR panel they’d soon face again, it just didn’t seem worth discussing. There’d be time for all that, but this time here on the base was for healing and regenerating. For connecting and surviving. So rarely did they get the chance to just be.

Bethany pushed through the doors with a plate in each hand.

“I hope you don’t mind,” she said as she approached, “a Denver omelette sounded pretty damn good to me, too, so I made one for myself.” She set Mulder’s plate before him and the other across the table. “Mind if I join you?” she asked before sitting down.

“So, how does someone end up cooking on a base in Antarctica?” Mulder asked as he took his first bite. The quality of the food here continued to surprise him. He would have expected freeze-dried camp food or seal meat.

“I just kind of fell into it, believe it or not,” Bethany answered around a mouth full of food. “I used to be a line cook at The Olive Garden of all places. I was feeling stuck and wanted to do something out of the ordinary. Cooking for research scientists in Antarctica was about as far out of the ordinary as I could get.”

“How long have you been here?” Mulder asked. Scully was leaning back in her chair observing their exchange, and he got the sense that she had already asked these questions and knew the answers.

“This is my second summer, but it’s the first time I’ll be staying on through the winter. Ninety percent of the people here now will be headed out with you on the last call ship tomorrow. Only a few researchers, the doctor and I will stick around through the winter months.”

“And it will be dark twenty-four hours a day?”

“Yes indeed. It doesn’t happen immediately; it’ll take a month or so to go totally dark, including the longest sunset you’ve seen in your life, but then it’s lights out. I’ll finally get to see the Aurora.”

“Aurora Borealis,” Mulder commented, finishing the name.

“Aurora Australis,” Bethany corrected with a smirk.

They talked about how they manage such high quality food so far from the source, and the strange and unexpected experiences you have living on The Ice. After a time, Bethany yawned and looked at her watch.

“It’s getting a bit late for me, I’m gonna hit the hay. You can do whatever you need to, use the facilities and all that. The bunk rooms are pretty well soundproofed so you won’t bother anyone. The big fridge on the left in the kitchen is full of ready-to-eat foods, so feel free to help yourselves. Come see me when you wake up; I make a mean breakfast burrito.”

They thanked her for her hospitality and watched her leave, the stony silence left in her wake settling over them like a blanket of snow. An edge of awkwardness arrived, unexpected and unwelcome, disclosing the secret that they were each thinking about the night before.

“I think I saw Star Wars in the movie room,” Scully offered, introducing a safe topic of conversation.

“Which one?” Mulder asked.

“Um...The Empire Strikes Back?”

There was that edge again, expectant and questioning. Begging that the topic on their minds be laid out on the table. As was their custom, it was artfully dodged.

“Well, guess we better go check it out,” Mulder said as he pushed away from the table, the shriek of the chair against the floor causing Scully to flinch.

They shuffled side by side down the hallway, the still of night present in the building even as the sun stubbornly hovered above the horizon.

“Did you sleep okay?” he asked, regretting the question the second it left his mouth.

“Yes,” she said confidently, refusing his awkwardness. “I did.”

They found the theater, which was just an eight-by-eight windowless room with a La-Z-Boy loveseat recliner and a projection screen. All the available movies were at least a couple years old, many from the seventies or eighties. In the end, they settled on The Net, a thriller featuring Sandra Bullock that they’d both been too busy to see when it came out. When Mulder discovered a microwave and a stash of popcorn hidden in a cabinet, they were in business.

The movie, at its core, was about a woman who lived a life so steeped in solitude that there was no one able to be there for her in a time of need. While meant to be an escapist fantasy about a life that the viewer didn’t lead, for two workaholics with no time for a personal life it hit just a bit too close to home. As the credits rolled, they sat in quiet contemplation, each wondering who would be there to vouch for them if the need arose.

“Star Wars?” Scully finally suggested, and Mulder grunted in agreement.

The familiar pomp and circumstance of galaxies far, far away, the electric buzz of lightsabers and the unexpressed love between Han and Leia lulled them back into their comfortable camaraderie. They first huddled around the popcorn bowl, finding themselves nestled side by side when it was empty and discarded. Stocking feet accidentally bumped and then nested together, arch to ball. A stretch became an arm flung over a shoulder, a tired head came to rest on a waiting pectoral. By the time Leia admitted “I love you” and Han answered “I know,” they were a pile of limbs and gray cotton, aching muscles and unanswered questions. Vegas rules extended to the bottom most reaches of the earth: neither ask nor tell, think nor speak, just be.

“I think I’ll go to bed,” Scully said matter-of-factly at the end of the second movie, and Mulder didn’t point out that they’d been awake less than twelve hours. The statement felt like an invitation and a directive all at once, and he followed her without comment or question.

Showers were had, teeth were brushed. The knowledge that life was waiting for them when they disembarked from the last call ship loomed large over their heads, a silent siren warning of the end times. For a moment he wondered: what if they stayed? What if they wintered here in the endless night, discovering one another under the veil of darkness? Who might they be with only the moon to light their way? An idle fantasy that would never come to fruition.

When he arrived back in their bunk room, she was a heap under the covers, back curled into the question mark she represented in his life. With disappointment pitted in his chest, he got into his own bed and switched off the light, plunging them into darkness.

“Goodnight, Scully.”

She didn’t answer.

__________

Her heart beat hard against her ribcage, thumping noisily in her ears. She tried to ignore it, to refuse the assignment it called upon her to accept. Go to him, it implored. Four steps across the room and you’ll be there.

She longed for the days when she did not know the precise warmth of his chest under her cheek, the exact cadence of his resting heart rate echoing in her ear. The way his stubble scratched against the tip of her nose should be a mystery yet to be discovered, much less the press of his groin, heat radiating and stiff flesh prodding.

Denial was her specialty. Denial of feelings, of urges. Refusal to admit, even to herself, how many times she’d imagined her own fingers were his tongue, dreamt of the feeling of him filling her, guessed at the tenor of his voice whispering declarations of pleasure against her ear. Animal urges. Basic human instinct to propagate. Natural, but not to be acted on. Not ever, and certainly not here.

The buzz of his thoughts echoed across the room. Wide awake, they were stationed like guards protecting the lie they’d been telling themselves for years. Just friends. Just coworkers. Partners. Nothing more.

And yet she’d known that he would come for her. Even when she didn’t know where, or why, or how she came to be where she was. When up was down and down was sideways, when there was no air in her lungs and her body did not belong to her, she felt him beside her and around her. She knew he would come. Tied together by an invisible red thread, it was simply a matter of when. Every question she could think to ask about how, in the haystack of planet Earth, he found her underground at the bottom of the globe, had one answer: love. Unspoken and yet stronger than miles and ice and improbability, he would never give up on her. Not ever, and certainly not here.

He heaved a sigh in the dark, heavy with longing and hope. She felt a pang of guilt, knowing he had been brave enough to cross the expanse. In the end she had issued the invitation, sure, but it was he who had opened the door.

For a moment, she imagined that she was a person who didn’t worry about reputation and image. Who didn’t carefully think through the consequences of every choice and action. What if she lived on instinct, acting out of desire rather than self-preservation? Would her life really be so much worse than it was now? Didn’t she spend an inordinate amount of time wading through consequences and negative outcomes? Didn’t she find herself wishing she’d made a different choice? It wouldn’t be all that different, she reasoned, if she at least did what made her happy. If she got to enjoy the simple pleasures of the “wrong” choice, given that she’d face the unpleasant aftermath regardless. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. When faced with a catch-22, there is really no wrong choice. Unbearable pain lives on each side, as does the potential for unimaginable joy. She could live with never knowing, or she could live with knowing a painful truth. Both hurt, but one sets you free while the other keeps you a prisoner to doubt.

Switching off higher reasoning, she rose from the bed. The move to the other bunk was swift and quiet, the questioning tense of his body perceptible but brief. She crammed her face into his neck like a child, seeking solace and shelter, comfort and reassurance. His hands swept broadly over her back and she pitched herself up and over him with all the bravery she'd banked but never spent. A hundred un-pulled triggers, a dozen retreats from confrontation, a handful of words left unsaid culminated into one bold move and she was draped over him like a blanket, knees resting on either side of his hips and her forehead pressed against his clavicle. She held her arms limp at her sides, capital spent and waiting for his next move.

He read her easily, always had, pushing his palms under the cotton of her sweatshirt and scraping the skin of her back with ragged, windswept fingertips. The gentle press of his grip on her hips communicated something that she felt in her bones, the green light she needed, the yes she didn’t have to hear out loud. Her short stature allowed her to sit upright, the top bunk barely grazing her elbows as she pulled the sweater off over her head then ran her hands over his arms and brought his palms to the cooling skin of her breasts. It wasn’t a gasp that fell from his lips, but a sigh. A long held, much anticipated, relieved sigh that breezed over her belly and curled her in two, folding her against his lips like a Venus fly trap locating its prey. His mouth was hot and soft, the taste of his tongue familiar and foreign in all the best ways. They hummed in tandem, buzzing like lightsabers on the screen, electric and seeking, striking and retreating.

His hands grasped her hips and pulled her down hard, and she became aware of how stiff and urgent he was beneath her. She hadn’t even imagined that, when she crossed the room. Hadn’t allowed herself to. She just had to get here, and the rest would be a surprise. The realization that perhaps that thing that she’d always imagined but never thought could come to pass may, in fact, be happening struck her as surprising and right. When his hands traversed under the elastic of her pants and settled over the bare skin of her ass, she stopped thinking and let her body drive.

He was controlled and deliberate, shucking off the remains of their clothes with all the intention he brought to sunflower seeds and crime scenes. His mouth was a siphon, pulling from her skin every bit of ecstasy she never knew was stored there. Lips on her earlobe had before been a showy display of movie-romance, but now seemed to connect directly with her clit, sending a shockwave down her legs as a moan tumbled from her lips without her permission. His teeth scraped over her nipple and she saw stars brighter than the arctic sun that never set. As she whimpered and keened, turning to putty under his touch, he showered her with kisses and adoration, words never before said and never again to be repeated.

They traded positions superior and supine over and over, teetered on the edge of the puny twin bed, pulled and pressed and violated every boundary they’d set along the way. By the time she touched him with her hand he was stiff and leaking, lurching under her palm with want of her. She wanted to taste him, to know that side of the body she treasured, but there was only so much time. Life awaited them on a ship set sail for reality, consequences waiting to be delivered and the truth that they should not be doing this was one they would soon enough confront. In a last ditch effort to delay it just a bit longer, she settled over him and churned her hips until he routed into her, slick and ready.

It was like melting and being set on fire all at once. She surged and he tempered her, slowing and savoring with patient hands and a steady tongue at her breast. She wanted to come, to fall apart on top of him and disappear into endorphins and dopamine, but he made her wait. He called her every sweet name she’d ever heard, described in sordid detail the ecstasy of her, tight and hot around him, extolled how wet and how perfect, how much better than he’d ever imagined. She asked him until-now unasked questions about what he’d imagined, and when, and felt the tingle of release crawl up her legs as he admitted always, since the beginning. Since Bellefleur and Tooms, since Duane Berry and long before cancer. As she crested, he flipped her on her back and made it last, holding his own orgasm at bay until she was nearly spent. He moved to pull out of her, to squirt offensively on her belly or the sheets, but she grasped his ass cheeks and pulled him flush, mashing her mouth against his as he sputtered and gasped, then pounded into her until he had nothing left.

Sticky and damp, they curled face to face like parentheses, foreheads and legs touching. In the light of the never ending day outside she might find regret and embarrassment, but here in the dark she allowed herself the reprieve of staying in the moment, of a wash of hormones and love and survival that she may never get the chance to feel again, even were she to allow herself to.

His fingers danced up her arm, finding the shell of her ear and tracing it over and over, post-coital thoughts crackling like static.

“I love you,” he finally said, his voice soft and submissive, unexpectant and vulnerable.

She imagined his face hovering over her after she sputtered back to life, here on the ice and a dozen other times. What other reason than love could explain his unfaltering presence in her life? What other reason than love could explain her unwavering dedication to him?

She sighed, pulling the blankets higher to cover her bare shoulders, then slipped her hand over his naked waist.

“I know,” she answered, and she could hear the wet crack of his smile in the dark.

_______

She woke with a start, scrambling to find her clothes as a series of soft knocks pattered on the door. When she opened it she found Mulder on the other side, freshly showered and smiling shyly as he took in her state.

“Sorry to wake you,” he lamented, “we don’t have very much time before we have to catch the boat.”

“Oh,” she answered breathlessly, smoothing down her messy hair. She felt a trickle run along her inner thigh and her eyes widened a bit with realization.

“Bethany is making breakfast, or lunch I guess, if you want to grab a shower. We can eat before we go.”

He left her with an agreement to meet in the mess hall, and she made her way to the locker room. Washing away the evidence of the night before, her embarrassment faded at the memory of his words whispered reverently against her ear as he moved within her. That he loved her is something she could have concluded a million times in a million ways, but hearing it said aloud was the evidence her scientific brain needed to accept theory as fact.

Bethany, it turned out, was not in any way over selling her breakfast burritos. Crunchy potatoes, fluffy eggs and house-made sour cream were the perfect meal to send them away with. As the final bites were eaten, melancholy settled over the table knowing that they’d soon return home, and life would go on.

There were no bags to pack, as they came here with nothing. They were lent warm clothes and heavy coats that they knew they had no means to return, and Bethany walked them to the door with well wishes for a safe journey.

As the snowcat rumbled over the snowy terrain, they sat side by side in the back, contemplative and lost in their own thoughts. OPR hearings, cancer-curing implants, a million unanswerable questions. Blindly, Mulder reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing her fingers tight. She turned to look at him, squinting out at the blinding white world he’d risked his life to save her from, knowing he’d do it all again if he needed to. She squeezed his fingers back and he looked at her, his lips quirking into a knowing smile that she returned.

There was no way to avoid facing the life that waited for them back in Washington, but they had many hours yet until that time of reckoning would come. This time, at the bottom of the world, belonged only to them. And here, the sun would never set, and tomorrow would never come. Suspended above the horizon indefinitely, time stood still for them for as long as they could stand still for it.

Tagging @today-in-fic

[i-am-a-bad-influence-writes]

A distant memory - Loki

Loki Masterlist - Full Masterlist

Summary: Thor finds a letter Loki wrote to a woman called Y/n. He does not know this woman but the language used in the letter is loving and sweet, so Thor decides to ask about her. What he doesn’t know is that this woman has passed.

Pairing: Loki x Fem!Reader

Word count: 2110

My dearest Y/n,

Not a day passes without my mind, body, and soul yearning for your touch and pleasant conversation. Just yesterday I slept on your side of the bed in hopes of smelling traces of your perfume on the pillows. It did not help. Your books still hold your bookmarks on the places where you stopped. I must say, I admire your will to read every book that belongs to you but worry that you might never finish one. Just today, I found five different books that have your bookmarks. Yesterday, I found two. I have put them aside for you to make it easier to finish them. A fair maiden asked me for a dance last week at one of my father’s feasts but I had to refuse. No maiden could ever be as fair as you, even if you do step on my toes while we dance. It gives us more reason to keep practicing. My love for you grows every day and so does my longing. I fear you might be away for longer than I can take and I wonder if you would mind if I came over to see you for a day or two. Just the two of us.

Love,

Loki

‘Brother, who is this letter for?’ ‘What letter?’ Thor holds a letter that looks old and withered. It takes less than a second for Loki to realize what it is. He suddenly looks enraged. ‘Put it down,’ he snaps with venom laced in through his words. The sudden change in demeanor surprises and scares his brother. As careful as he can be, he puts the letter back on Loki’s desk. Loki rushes over and picks up the letter with the utmost care, gently putting it back in a drawer that he locks right away. ‘Who is Y/n?’ Loki sighs and leans against his desk. He looks tired when Thor looks at him again. It’s like a pain has been buried deep within him and has been eating at him for ages. ‘A hundred years or so ago, I went to Midgard to do some business for father. He send me to visit a pagan family that worshiped us to bless them. On the next farm over lived a young woman and when I went to the pagan family, they kept insulting her. I felt I could not justify giving our blessing if this maiden wasn’t the terrible person they said she was,’ Loki explains, ‘so I went over to her house to see for myself.’

Confidently, Loki strides over to the maiden’s house. Her garden is filled with flowers and herbs. From what Loki can tell, there are animals behind the house. This woman is sustaining herself but why? Why would a young maiden live so far removed from the fuss of the city? Especially since the family says she’s not married. Loki knocks on her door and hears fuss inside. It sounds like a dog barking at the door and a big one at that. He watches as a small latch in the door opens and a woman looks outside. He can only see her eyes but the eyes are the gates to the soul and her eyes are beautiful. They sparkle like the gems his mother wears, the reflection of water, or dewdrops on roses. ‘What is your business?’ ‘Forgive me for barging in miss. I have traveled long and far and need a place to rest my head. Would you allow me to sleep in your haystack or shed? Anywhere that’s dry.’ He hears the door unlock and out runs a big, black dog. He looks like he crawled from the debts of hell but his demeanor is friendly when his owner shows kindness. Loki doubts he acts the same if she is in trouble. ‘You make me sound cruel. Please come inside. I’ve got food to spare,’ she tells him with a friendly smile. Her door is wide open but Loki hesitates to step inside. He takes a good look at the maiden. As beautiful as she is, how is she capable of being this friendly. He can not imagine she has not been taken advantage of at least once. ‘You do not know me. Are you certain you want to show me kindness?’ ‘Why would I not? I have Bella to protect me if I need it and if I am frank, you look withered and weak. I doubt you’d be able to lay your hands on me,’ she tells him, ‘come inside. There’s a storm coming.’ Loki steps inside and follows her into the house. She offers him a chair at the table and gets him a plate as well as a drink. If this is a wicked woman, what is the family next door like? They show no kindness. Bella, the big dog, lays itself down under the table by her feet. She seems at ease as the maiden pets her a few times over the head. ‘So tell me, traveler, where are you going?’ ‘You don’t want to know where I’m from?’ ‘I doubt you’d want to talk about it if you’ve been traveling for long,’ she says, offering him a gentle smile, ‘besides, where you’re going tells more about you than where you’ve been.’ ‘I like your ideology miss. May I ask your name before I tell you?’ ‘Will you tell me yours if I tell you mine?’ ‘I fear you may want me out if I tell you.’ She nods, not pushing it any further. Loki feels like she wouldn’t mind who he is as she does not seem like a judgemental person but he wouldn’t want to run the risk. ‘My name is Y/n.’

Early in the morning, Loki awakes on the comfortable couch in Y/n’s living room with more blankets covering him than he went to sleep with. He is awoken by the wet, warm sensation of Bella licking his face. ‘Good morning Bella.’ He pets the dog a few times and gets up from his resting place. He hears Y/n call for Bella, who runs out excitedly. She must be outside, taking care of her animals. He dresses quickly and walks outside to see what she’s up to. He finds her sitting in the field, one of her cows laying beside her resting it’s head on her lap. She calls out commands to Bella to herd her sheep together and back to the pen. After the raging storm last night, she probably wants to see if they’re all alright. Loki walks towards her and sits down next to her in the grass. She nods to him, too busy to greet him. It’s only when all the sheep are in the pen that she fully acknowledges him. ‘Did you sleep well?’ ‘Yes, but the strangest thing happened,’ he tells her with a slight smirk on his lips, ‘I woke with three blankets while I’m sure I had only one when I went to sleep.’ ‘You looked cold.’ ‘You are a very kind host, miss Y/n.’ She smiles and looks out over the field. Bella comes running their way and sits down next to Loki. ‘She has taken a liking to you,’ Y/n notices, ‘she doesn’t like many people.’ ‘I feel honored.’ Loki pets the dog as he looks at Y/n. She looks beautiful in the morning light. Almost as beautiful as she had looked in the candlelight last night. ‘I feel like I have been untrue to you, miss,’ Loki tells her. ‘Why would that be? You are a traveler, are you not?’ ‘I am but not of the kind you know,’ he tells her, ‘you have been a wonderful host and I feel you deserve the truth.’ She chuckles. ‘You speak like this will change everything.’ ‘It might,’ he lets his head hang, ‘my name is Loki, god of mischief. I originally came here to bless the family next door for their devotion to us but they spoke ill of you. I felt I had to be certain you were a bad person if they were to deserve our blessing.’ ‘And what might your conclusion be, Loki god of Mischief?’ ‘They should deserve our blessing for their faithfulness and devotion to us but not for their treatment of others.’ She smiles. ‘I see.’ ‘May I ask why they talk of you this way?’ ‘I am an unmarried woman living alone on a farm. If I’m not being called a spinster, I’m being called a witch. It changes with the season. I’m used to it by now.’ She shrugs it off like it’s nothing but Loki feels a pit of rage in his stomach. A woman as lovely as her should be worshiped. He rips a piece of his golden armor off and puts it between his hands, forging a golden bracelet from it. ‘If you’ll allow me, I’d like to protect you,’ he says and shows her the simple, golden band. She looks hesitant and Loki understands. He’s the god of mischief. ‘Forgive my hesitation but I have been fending for myself for what feels like forever. It’s a kind gesture but I do not need it.’ He nods but gently takes her hand and puts it on. ‘Wear it,’ he tells her, ‘I will not protect you but I will watch over you. If you need company, just call out to me.’ She smiles again, putting her hand over his. ‘That is very kind, Loki.’

As summer progressed into fall, Y/n harvested her crops and made sure they’d survive winter. Her harvest wasn’t great but over time she noticed her supplies would not lessen, even if she took something. It would just reappear when she returned. Loki had visited her a few times during summer but when fall got colder, he stayed away. She feared she might’ve read his actions all wrong as she felt her feelings grow towards him. She thought he felt the same. When Winter thawed and the ground got softer, she called out to Loki in hopes to ask him about it. He did not appear and she feared he had forgotten about her. That is until- ‘Did you miss me?’ She couldn’t stop the smile appearing on her face if she tried. It’s like her feet work on their own as she runs over to him and throws her arms around him. ‘It’s so good to see you again. I feared you had forgotten me.’ ‘Forget the fairest maiden I have ever met? I could never,’ he tells her with a smile. His eyes linger on her lips for a second. ‘I stayed away in hopes your feeling would lessen.’ ‘My feelings? How did you know?’ ‘Darling, I am a god.’ ‘That’s fair, I should’ve known,’ she says with a grin, taking his hands, ‘but why?’ ‘I am not the best suitor and a maiden like you surely deserves better.’ ‘I do not want better.’ He frowns and looks down at her darling eyes. They still shine like gems and are filled with love. ‘My darling, I cannot marry you,’ he tells her, ‘I am prince, heir to the throne. They expect me to marry a goddess.’ ‘I understand.’ She smiles but he can tell she feels terrible. Her heart dropped and her smile faltered. It wasn’t hard to tell that his words hurt her. ‘I wish I could. I truly do,’ he promises her. ‘Then, don’t marry me but stay with me until you have to give yourself to another.’ ‘My darling, my mischief seems to have rubbed off on you,’ he speaks proudly, ‘yes. I will stay loyal to you until I must love another.’

‘But the villagers started a witch hunt and as a single, unmarried woman she was the first target,’ Loki tells his brother, ‘I could not protect her. Father would not let me.’ ‘You loved her, didn’t you?’ ‘I did but it’s in the past now. There’s no bringing her back.’ ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘Don’t be. I was young and stupid. I fell in love with someone I couldn’t have.’ Thor nods and takes a deep breath. ‘Believe me or don’t but you deserve love, Loki. I hope you’ll find a woman like her.’ Loki lets out a breathy laugh. ‘There is no woman like her.’ Thor leaves Loki’s room. It takes Loki a second to come back to reality. His hand reaches for the drawer and unlocks it once again, taking out the golden band she had worn. He deserves love, yes, but he has already met the person he was supposed to be with and no one else will ever compare.

[platonic-tony-stark]

Cuddles

Dean Winchester x gn! reader fluff

Warnings: mentioned vampires kidnapping hunters, maybe once swearing, also I didn't proof-read

Summary: a break gets longer than expected and you end up falling asleep next to dean

You were supposed to do research about the on going case with Dean while Sam headed out to meet up with Cas, who randomly chose to show up for once.

You sat on the crappy motel table skimming articles on Sams laptop stealing looks at the other winchester who was sitting on one of the two beds.

It was quite normal for you to get yourself a room since most motels have two bed rooms and singles. If someone wanted some space you just switch but for the most part the brothers stayed together.

Dean finally met your glare. You noticed that he didn't type for a long time, first thinking he was reading but on second thought he also wasn't scrolling.

Neither of you had slept a whole lot since arrival. When they talked to the local police and witnesses they knew this was big. A big nest, which seemed to be well organized and somewhat angry. Two hunters had gone missing -the reason you where even there- and eight locals over the spam of two weeks. A friend of Jody's had called them in.

"Fuck I need a break" the man called out. The words had smudged when he tried to collect the information in the same paragraph or sentence even.

"Agreed" you nod and rub your hands over your face. Dean got up and grabbed a beer from the fridge handing you the drink you got at the grocery store on the way there. You thanked silently, sipping. He patted you on the shoulder when passing by.

"Wanna watch some scooby doo? It's finally on Netflix" he suggested, not really expecting you to jump up, while shutting Sams laptop and and practically running over to the bed his device rested. He smiled nonetheless and settled beside you, pulling the gadget on his lap. You on the other hand pulled the blanket over your legs and mimicked the flannel wearing man by crossing your arms.

The break that was supposed to last one or two episodes turned into half a season. In that time your head ended up on the mans shoulder and hugging his left arm. Neither wanting to admit what time passed nor trying to get up.

Sam called. Cas apparently demanded quick action and they, plus four other hunters, stormed the nest. Far less than they'd expected but one of the vamps slipped a word of it only being the "food ration". They located the others through Castiels interrogation being in neighbour states. They already contacted the hunters there and where off to a bar.

Dean put his phone on the bedside table and wrapped his now free arm around your shoulder.

"I'm kind of glad they resolved it. I wasn't keen on getting up anytime soon" he grinned and unpaused the episode. You only nod, being a slight bit surprised. You've had a crush on the winchester for some time now, being convinced that he only sees you as a younger sibling or friend max. But you couldn't help noticing that he got more touchy towards you the last days.

A week ago a hug was very rare and personal space was big. Now you can count on one a day if not more and small lingering touches through out the day. This whole scenario was also new. Him trying to cuddle. Cuddle YOU.

You questioned if he was opening up to you but that was nonsense. You've known the brothers even before they met Castiel. Around that time you became more involved though. Helping sort things out and ended up staying.

Then you thought he waa generally more open. Also cap. That would include more hugs towards sam and cas. One so far. Counting since last week.

Your hopes were high and heart racing while finally being able to snuggle into his side. Head resting on his chest while trying to concentrate back on the show.

At some point you were playing with the hand he wrapped around you. Dean wasn't watching the last few minutes. Watching you instead. Eyes flickering between screen and your hands messing with his. You giggling when he did the "duck hand" at your face, kissing your hair softly when you rested your hands on him.

You felt so warm inside, content and safe that you dozed off minutes later. Dean chuckled lightly when hearing you snore slightly. Careful not to wake you. He adjusted and tucked the blanket over you, continuing to watch.

Stopping the autoplay and closing the laptop, feeling the tiredness nagging. Moving the device to the floor next to the bed and settling on his side, facing you, to follow you into dreamland. Last thing he remembered before falling asleep is you snuggling closer to him.

When Sam got back his brother was awake again and still holding you tight. When the giant turned on the light in their room he instinctively put a hand over your head which was buried in his neck to shield you from it.

"Really?" asked the long-haired man who had a shit eating grin on as he spotted you two cuddled up. His brother motioning not to make to much noise. Without another word he took the keys to your room, turned off the light and left silently.

Dean brushed over your head softly, kissing your forehead and sighed in contentment when he settled back to sleep. A low "i love you" slipping from his lips.

Unknown to him, you were awake and also realizing how deep in love you fell with that goofball. "I love you too" you mumbled back nuzzling his neck.

His breathing stopped for a second till he pulled you even closer, now nearly over him. With the smell of his cologne and his steady heartbeat you got to continue dreaming.

[insomniamamma]

Rain: Ezra X F!Reader w/Cee

A/N: Prickle ‘verse. Takes place after Prickle but before Clean Dirt. Can be read as a one shot. Reader is established crew with Ezra and Cee. This was written for @autumnleaves1991-blog​ ‘s Writer Wednesday. I am woefully behind. I legit don’t understand how some of you write fics so fast!

Warnings: Mentions of war, a little bit of angst, but mostly gentle fluff. Feelings.

            "Hey, Ez," Ezra is engrossed in grading the latest haul, testing for clarity and hardness.  The surface of CJ's World is cut through with oxbow rivers, fantastic hoodoos of striated sandstone slashed with valleys deeper than any found in Sol system. You're digging for fossils. These rusty carved out plateaus were once the bed of an ancient ocean. Through some trickery of mineralization and chemistry the fossils of CJ's world shine like the fire opals of Old Terra. Big or small, they all have value.           "Ezra," says Cee, "She's doing it again."           "Doing what, birdie?" Ezra takes off the loupe and rubs at his eyes. Rain pelts on the tent, even sheltered the humidity soaks through.           "Look." Ezra draws open the tent flap and sees you, standing in the rain, your head tilted up, no gentle shower this, rain that pelts down hard, turns the view across the sharp-cut canyons to silver curtains. Your clothes are plastered to you like a second skin. The rain actually aids your cause, washing away loose sediment, making the fossils easier to get to. You bow your head and let the stinging rain hit the back of your neck, let it fall on your closed eyes, your outspread arms. You laugh at the sky.

           "What do you know about Falnost?" Cee's eyes go distant for a beat. She has a memory to rival Central computers.

           "Hmmm..about two thirds standard grav, class C5, would've rated lower if not for it's primary. Dustball."             "Mmm-hmm."             "She's not used to real weather," says Cee.             "Observant as ever," says Ezra. The rain is not gentle. It is chilly and hits your skin like handfuls of flung sand, but is so different from anything you've known, so new that you can't help but stand there with a huge, dumb grin plastered on your face, even as your teeth chatter with the cold. Ezra comes and gets you.             "C'mon, Artichoke, while the rain does feel slinky and delicious it is not worth hypothermia."             "Sorry, Ez," you say and allow him to take your hand and lead you back to shelter. This has become something of a habit. Many worlds in the fringe are dustballs like the one you fled, algae and fungus growing on every bit of pipe that condensation beads on. On Falnost they had a deal with the ice-miners, discounted accommodations on world or on station in exchange for chunks of ice from your primary's lush rings de-orbited, burning and evaporating as they fell. The idea was that, eventually, there would be moisture enough in the atmosphere to trigger rains. Someday Falnost will have an ocean, but you won't be there for it, half your life spent harvesting rills of water from sail-traps, careful irrigation channels covered over with plastic sheeting, calorie vs water consumption ratios discussed every planting season. How many credits do we net vs wha† we have to spend? You got fucking sick of dreaming of an ocean your great grandchildren might paddle in. You skimmed enough to buy your way off world and since then you have seen things that you never would have believed as a child.            The first time you heard thunder was on a world called Ingwy. Your first  thought was artillery. Ingwy was a contested world, Karoclan and Lussia Collective skirmishing over land rights, while small stakes droppers like you and Ez and Cee swooped in to reap the spoils while the big corps and clans fought each other.  It was the middle of the night and you were on your feet instantly, railgun in hand, screaming that there was incoming, to take cover. Someone had flicked on a utility light hanging from a cord that swung, illuminating the inside of the tent in sickening arcs, and there's another explosion, this one so loud you feel the pressure change in your ears, hear your own voice crying out in tandem, white hot light even through the thick weave of the tent.           "It's just thunder," Ezra yells over the sound of rain slamming against the tent.           "That was an explosion!" He presses gently on your arm until you lower the rails.           "It's just loud," says Ezra, "It can't hurt us. We're safe here. Put the gun down." You set on the edge of your cot and put your face in your hands.           "Kevva. You must think I'm the dumbest dirt-farmer this side of the Great Arm." The cot dips as Ezra sits beside you.           "Not at all," he says, squeezes your shoulder, "I come from a backwater as well. First time I ever saw a proper ocean I nearly lost my breakfast right there on the beach."  Thunder peals again and you flinch, shrink against him slightly.            "Static electricity," says Ezra, "That's all it is. Builds up in the clouds and discharges into the ground." He keeps his hand on you as he speaks, fingers gently squeezing the juncture of your neck and shoulder, "The sound you hear is the air in the path of the lightning instantly heating and expanding. It makes a sonic shock wave, like any explosion."            "Like the boom when ships lift," you say.            "Just like that, Artichoke," he says, "Storm's already moving off, see?" The rain pelting the tent has settled into a steady drone. Thunder grumbles, a low, almost soft sound, not the air-rending explosion that shocked you out of sleep.            "We should try to rest," says Ezra, gives your shoulder one more firm squeeze and a little shake, and when you look up, he's smiling, dimple just beginning to sink into his cheek.             "Yeah," you say, "Okay." He kills the utility light and settles into his cot. You can hear the music from Cee's headphones, the tinny, fast pop she favors, threaded through the white noise of the falling rain. She slept through the whole thing.

            The ancient life of CJ's world favored heptagonal symmetry, long-dead mollusks like seven-sided shields shine out of the rusty ground, the smallest the size of a fingernail, the largest the size of dinner plates. This is a good deposit. The small ones are fashioned into jewelry and buttons.            "They take these great big ones and slice them micron thin," says Ezra, "Use them for window-glass in the temples of the Ephrate. They say it is like standing inside Kevva's very beating heart."           "I can see why," says Cee, and so do you. The minerals that limn the shells shine translucent red with brilliant streaks of orange, yellow and even thin threads of green and blue.           "They say that Kevva's first heart-beat ignited the explosion that became the universe," says Ezra.           "You really believe that?" Asks Cee.           "I don't know if believe is the right word," says Ezra, "We all grew up with these stories, why my grandmother..." You smile and tune him out. The back and forth banter between Cee and Ezra is a pulse that underlies every harvest. Cee has grown more talkative with each drop. Their relationship has a growing ease to it. You don't know exactly what happened between them before you joined up, but Cee's initial skittishness and Ezra's new healed scars tell a story you can guess the shape of. You let their conversation fade into the background, focus on the work of your hands, the meticulous scrape of soft sediment away from the hard glitter of the fossil, working around the seven sided edge, loosen enough up to get your fingers under the shell and you can pry it out, focus on the sounds of the world around you, no birds on CJ's world, but there is a range of bug-music, hidden in crevasses in the midday heat, all metallic clicks and creaks. Your rail-gun rests within easy reach, as always. You worm your fingers under the edge of the shell, wiggling it like a loose tooth, pops out of the sediment suddenly and you plop on your ass in the sandy dirt.           "You all right there, Artichoke?" Ezra grins at you.           "I'll recover." You dust yourself off and take your prize over to the tub that sits in the shadow of the pod. Further cleaning and grading can be done after dark. Nights  are long at this latitude. You stretch in the sunlight. This job is a milk-run compared to other drops, but hunkering in the dirt still hurts your knees and you feel every bit of it when you stand. There's a familiar sound, like a rumbling stomach, thunder, you think and glance up.          "Ezra!" Your voice is urgent and sharp and he's scrabbling up in a heartbeat, hand on the thrower at his hip, but when he stands there is only you pointing out across the vast expanse of sharp-carved valleys and hoodoos, lined in sharply delineated shadows and rusted cliffs where the light catches. The rainbow swoops skyward into grey cloud-bellies, a luminous curtain against the grey clouds, distant rain falling across the canyons.

        "Ezra, look!" Ezra exhales, tension leaching out of his shoulders. His hand drops away from the thrower.          "Oh, hey, a rainbow," says Cee. You lower your arm and just stare, transfixed at the glowing phantasm, brightening and dimming with the movement of clouds between it and the sun.           "It's beautiful," says Ezra. But he's not looking at the rainbow. He's looking at you. Your eyes are wide, lit up with wonder, an unconscious smile creeping across your face, crinkling the corners of your eyes. The stiff professionalism that you wear as close as your body armor momentarily set down, forgotten. Ezra's heart squeezes. There you are, he thinks. He can count on his one hand the number of times he's seen you smile like this, open and carefree, rare and precious as the gems the three of you pull from the ground. Part of him wants to kiss you, but he suspects he would end up on his back in the dust with the barrel of your railgun jammed beneath his sternum, so instead he brushes his hand against yours and your fingers find his and squeeze hard.            "I've never seen one before," you say, barely aware of Ezra's hand linked with yours, "I mean, I know what a rainbow is, but I've never seen one. Not in the real, just in vids."            "They don't have rainbows on Falnost?" Says Cee.            "They don't have rain on Falnost," you say, "Get's a little hazy sometimes after the ice-haulers make a drop, but that's about it." You shake your head as if just waking, the rainbow still shimmers, a bit duller now, and you are suddenly aware of Ezra's hand clasped with yours, the gentle pressure of his grasp.             "Sorry," you drop your eyes, "I got distracted. We got work to do." Ezra gives your hand a squeeze and then lets you go.             "Not to worry, Artichoke, rainbows are fleeting things. You look your fill while you can." And so you do. So does he.

[venhedish]

Ven’s Masterlist of SPN Fic

I write mostly pre-series and early seasons Big Feels™ Wincest fic. There’s a lot of angst and pining here, but plenty of love and devotion mixed in with the darkness.

I always deeply, deeply appreciate likes, kudos, comments, and reblogs!

Wincest Fic

Stand-Alone

Yesterday is a Ghost I Believe In ~4.1k, Teen, Pre-series, Epistolary, Multimedia, Experimental There's an old shoebox under Sam Winchester's bed. It's been there almost as long as he can remember. He doesn't look inside it very often, but when he does, he takes his time. A multimedia collection of letters, journal entries, pictures, and other ephemera from a life on the road. .

That Monster, Love ~2k, Teen, Pre-series, POV Outsider, POV John Winchester, John Finds Out, Angst “You think you’re doing your boys any favors, raisin’ ‘em like this?” .

To Cure My Lonesome Blood ~8.8k, Explicit, Pre-series, Pining Dean, Angst, Bittersweet Ending Dean’s been sick since before either of them was born. The disease is incurable, written into his blood – the same blood he shares with his brother. If he’s not careful, the fever will spread like a fire and consume them both. .

Like Sand, Like Water, Like Sunlight ~1.7k, Gen, Pre-series, Mutual Pining, Angst, Pre-Slash Sea birds circle overhead and Dean wishes he had a camera. Sam looks so young, all of twelve years old, and exhilarated. Dean wants to hold this image in the chambers of his heart, but his pulse just carries it along; time is cruel that way. .

The Space Between Sense and Memory ~4.8k, Teen, Pre-series through Season 1, 5-and-1 Things There are a hundred unwritten rules on all the acceptable ways brothers should touch each other. There are hardly any ways at all to break them. Or; five times they follow the rules and one time they don’t. .

Every Goodbye, all at Once ~900, Teen, Pre-series, Stanford Era, Pining Dean, Angst, Epistolary "Hey, It's Sam. If you're looking for my dad, you can reach him at 866-555-9352. If you're looking for me, leave a message." A series of voicemails Dean leaves at the number Sam left behind. .

Breathe You In (Choke You Down) ~6k, Explicit, Season 01, PWP, Scent Kink, Guilty Dean Winchester Once Sam was gone, Dean missed him in a way that was all-consuming, all the way down – so deep in his bones that he shook with loneliness some nights. And it was the familiar scent of his brother’s hair where it tangled warm against the pillows, his pulse beating under his skin and sending the fear of the hunt wafting off of him in waves that Dean struggled to hold onto the hardest. Dean really likes the way Sam smells..  .

Dawn is Coming (Open Your Eyes) ~5k, Explicit, Season 01, Hurt/Comfort, Getting Back Together In which Sam and Dean suffer new wounds and stitch old ones back together. There’s an awful storm, a dead monster, an injury, and a whole lot of feelings. .

You put the Magic in Me ~9.1k, Explicit, Season 02(ish), Sex Pollen, Porn with Plot, Casefic “This is the weirdest thing we’ve ever done for a case,” Dean says under his breath, leaning into Sam and scouting the crowd gathered around a dozen tables inside the little café. “Dude, relax,” Sam says back, eyebrows raising at his brother’s nervous energy. “I thought this would be, like, your thing.” He gestures vaguely to the women milling around inside. A long, vividly red banner hangs across the open french doors that lead into the space, emblazoned with the words The Oolong Tea Room Presents: Lonely Hearts Club Speed Dating! Feb 11-14th! Or; in which Sam and Dean learn a thing or two about chemistry. .

The Stars are not Wanted Now ~2k, Teen, Season 02, Episode Tag: s02e21 All Hell Breaks Loose, Angst, Death Rituals There was a body on the bed.  It had been there long enough that the slanting light of morning crept into the room like an unwelcome invader and washed the world in a dream-shade of palest blue.   But there were no dreams here; only death, only memory. The body on the bed was all that remained of Samuel Winchester, who had died in his brother’s arms the night before. .

Demi-Gods and Hungry Ghosts ~5.8k, Explicit, Season 03, Episode Tag: s03e11 Mystery Spot, Dark, Dub-con, Hurt No Comfort This dream-state of living on pause and rewind leads to some interesting avenues of thought that Sam doesn’t mean to travel, but after a certain number of unrelenting Tuesdays, they just become inevitable. If Dean dies every day—if his memories are wiped, or if they never happen at all—what could Sam get away with, if he wanted to? Could he dare to find out?  .

In Sanguine Vita Est   ~5.2k, Explicit, Season 04, Knifeplay, Dean’s Hell Trauma, Hurt/Comfort Everything was different now. Dean was here—back from the fucking dead—but he was a stranger in his own body. Scars gone, aches from broken bones that hadn’t set right vanished back into the void as if they’d never existed at all. He’d become a stranger to the whole world. He’d become a stranger to Sam. _ Dean asks Sam to help him heal after he returns from Hell. .

All Heartless Spectres, Happiness ~5.7k, Explicit, Season 06, Episode Tag: s06e06 You Can’t Handle the Truth, POV Outsider, Angst, Soulless Sam Lisa Braeden receives an email with the subject line, "You Deserve to Know." It contains a single video file and nothing else. .

The Rungs of Me be Under You ~1.6k, Teen, Gencest, Post-Bunker, 2nd Person POV, Queerplatonic Sam and Dean, Non-Sexual Kink What they share has never been easy to define. Why should this be any different?  .

Wincest Series The Top/Bottom Discourse Series (Ongoing) [Each story is canon compliant and listed chronologically, but they can all be read as standalone works.] This series was born originally from a silly meta post I made on Tumblr as a response to some very angry top/bottom discourse I was seeing about how only Sam could truly be A Top™, or how only Dean could truly be A Top™. I personally like to kink and let kink and not drag outdated gender politics into my fandom (Dean can't be a bottom because he's too masculine? Ice cold take, bro), so I wrote a filthy little tongue-in-cheek post about all the ways I think Sam and Dean have fucked each other over the years.

 I’m Thinking About Whatever You’re Thinking About ~5.1k, Explicit, Pre-series, PWP, Bratty Sam, Exhibitionism, Fear of Discovery Sam is such a brat, sometimes. .

 Shoot to Thrill ~6.7k, Explicit, Season 02, Porn with Plot, Hustling, Getting Back Together It's just like riding a bike. .

Burn Out The Night ~4.9k, Explicit, Season 08, Porn with Plot, Car Sex, Light BDSM, Fluff What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. .

Destiel Fic

Love Made a Martyr of Me ~500, Teen, Season 05, Endverse, Past Sam/Dean, Angst Sam says yes in Detroit, and in the space of a single syllable, there's nothing left in Heaven or on Earth for Dean to love. Cas doesn't seem to care. .

The Sharp Teeth of the One You Love ~2k, Teen, Season 05, Endverse, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Pining “Quit bein’ a baby, Cas.” Dean’s hands were covered in blood, but they were steady as always while he worked to stitch Castiel back together. “I’m sorry,” Cas growled between gritted teeth. “I don’t exactly have a lot of experience feeling pain.” He hissed again when Dean slid the curved needle back through the eight-inch-long gash that ran deep and bloody down Cas’s bicep. Castiel learns something about what it means to be human. .

Wincestiel Fic

Temerate ~700, Teen, Season 05(ish), Past Sam/Dean, 2nd Person POV, First Time Your brother is sitting in the corner of the motel room. His big hands are worrying at each other; he squeezes them together, fingertips white from the pressure of his grip. He meets your eyes and his gaze is like a lightning strike. .

Dean/John Fic

Cruore ~1.1k, Mature, Pre-series, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Blood, Intrusive Thoughts Bites, Dean could deal with – claw marks and broken bones. But this- ... a bullet was a different kind of monster altogether. .

Supernatural RPF

Il Cielo in Una Stanza ~4.4k, Explicit, Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki, Getting Back Together, Prequel-Gate, Polyamory, Non-AU Jared Padalecki receives a present he wasn't expecting at all for his 39th birthday. . 

Other Supernatural Fic

Bad Things, Better Reasons ~2k, Explicit, Pre-series, Dean Does Sex Work, Angst, Brotherly Love. Dean does whatever it takes to keep the bills paid while John is gone. The kid waiting for him back at the motel room is all the justification he’ll ever need. .

No Was Her Name ~1.3k, Teen, Season 12, Dean/Mary, Light Angst, First Kiss Mary Winchester was alive. She was solid—made of skin and blood and bone—and she existed in the same world as Dean. It wasn’t a dream; she walked and talked and breathed. She ate, she slept, she wandered the halls of the bunker at odd hours. She was a ghost made flesh, and Dean was haunted by her presence. .

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Do you know any good movie aus? Not as in they're actors, but fics written based on movie plots?

Hey Nonny!!

OHHHH! This is fantastic! Because I actually have ANOTHER ask looking for crossovers too, and the list is HUGE. So I’ve used this opportunity to split the list up into two. This one here is for my MFL list, and if anyone has any of their own to suggest, please add them to this list! 

So, check out Below!

CROSSOVERS and FUSIONS (Feb 2021) Pt. 1.5 [FICS TO READ]

See Also:

Fairy Tales and Fantasy

TV, Movies, and Books AU (Fantasy Pt. 2)

Wonderful Life AU

Sherlock / Hannibal Crossovers?

Science Fiction / Fantasy

Faes / Faeries

Disney-esque Fics

Moulin Rouge AU

Crossovers and Fusions Pt 1

Two More Miracles by PatPrecieux (T, 221 w., 1 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || Angst With Happy Ending, 221B Ficlet, Temporary Character Death) – Tragedy and miracles go hand in hand.

Here, Though the World Explode, These Two Survive by TheTyger (G, 1,194 w., 2 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || Post-TRF, Ineffable Husbands, Fluff, Reunion, Rings, Hurt/Comfort) – Tomorrow, it would be three years from that day. Three years with no rude text messages, no experiments being conducted while London slept, no body parts in the fridge. And John still sometimes caught himself buying extra milk and looking for cases and making two coffees.

Just the Book by Carenejeans (G, 1,495 w., 1 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || Humour, Aziraphale’s Bookshop) – John's looking for a book. It's Aziraphale's bookshop, but Crowley provides customer service.

The Case of the Missing.... by Beth H (G, 2,601 w., 1 Ch. || Sherlock Crossover || Case Fic) – Crowley has gone missing, and Aziraphale hasn't a clue how to go about finding him. Luckily, help comes from above...or rather, from the side.

The Curious Case of the Missing Antichrist by Aedemiel (G, 2,865 w., 1 Ch. || Sherlock Crossover || Vignette, Case Fic, Desperation, Bad Ideas) – What if Aziraphale and Crowley had consulted the great consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, about finding Adam Young?

Eye of the Storm by Calais_Reno (G, 2,996 w., 1 Ch. || The Day After Tomorrow AU || Survival, Cold Weather, Boy Scout John, No Major Character Death) – Weather has become the fifth horseman of the apocalypse.

Nice and Accurate Deductions by htebazytook (T, 3,179 w., 1 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || Romance, Humour, Fluff) – Sherlock drags John to a certain bookshop in Soho.

Snake In The Flat by PatPrecieux (T, 3,293 w., 1 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || Magical Realism, Fluff, Humour, Ineffable Husbands) – There can be a snake in the grass, snakes on a plane and now there's a snake in the flat.

The Picture of Sherlock Holmes by CarmillaCarmine (M, 3,306 w., 1 Ch. || Victorian Dorian Gray AU || Angst, Paris, London, Travel, Painting, Major Character Death, Opera, Captain John, First Meetings) – Sherlock Holmes, a rich and frivolous man, after a lifetime of debauchery finally falls in love. His heart chooses Captain Watson.

The Old Town by a_different_equation (T, 3,573 w., 1 Ch. || Hans Christian Anderson Fusion || Magical Realism, Christmas, Fairy Tale Elements, Love Stories, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Museums, Sweet Sherlock) – Once upon a time there were two boys. This is the story how once upon December, they found the missing Christmas Spirit, true love and new beginnings. A Queer fairytale for all seasons.

Holmes vs. Harkness by coinin (T, 3,960 w., 1 Ch. || Torchwood / HHGTTG Fusion || Crack, Mystrade) – In which Captain Jack gets in a little over his head and is introduced to the myriad joys of bureaucracy, Mycroft is smug, the Guide offers up some helpful advice, John Watson doesn't share, and, in a strange turn of events, Jack doesn't get laid even once.

Perfect by TrufflesTheMushroom (T, 3,984 w., 1 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || The Apocalypse) – Crowley and Aziraphale have made a huge mistake. It's the end of the world and it all boils down to one fight. Crowley has picked John Watson. Aziraphale has picked Sherlock Holmes.

Limbo by Calais_Reno (T, 4,070 w., 1 Ch. || Good Omens Crossover || Waiting Rooms, Ineffable Bureaucracy, Paperwork, Explosions, Apocalypse, Second Chances, Declarations of Love, Nobody Dies) – Ordinarily Sherlock would be quite impatient by now with all this pointless waiting (for what?), but at the moment he feels as if he has all the time in the world.

The Baker Street Flat by Anonymous (PG-13, 5,000-20,000 w., 7 Parts || Lake House Crossover || Angst, Romance, LIVEJOURNAL Comments Fic) – John’s pretty sure it’s a sign of mental imbalance — of which he has been all too frequently accused of late — that he is actually entertaining the possibility that he is communicating with a total stranger two years in the future via the magic mail slot on the door of his new flat. He certainly won’t be mentioning this at next week’s session. On his way out the door to interview for a part-time position at a local surgery, another meeting where he has no intention of mentioning his most recent hobby, he drops a fairly sarcastic note: If you’re really from 2012, is the world about to end?

In the Shadows by Laur (M, 5,029 w., 1 Ch. || Loose Shutter Island Fusion || Disturbing Imagery, Psychological, Angst, Major Character Death, Grief/Trauma) – Do you believe in ghosts? When Sherlock’s eyes snap to him they are anguished.

come be my april fool by a_different_equation (M, 6,473 w., 1 Ch. || Great British Bake Off AU || Writer!Sherlock, Est. Rel., Fluff / Humour, Baking, Marriage Proposal, Military Kink, Domestics, POV John, Romance, Sherlock Wears Glasses, Sweet Sherlock, Bookstores, Queer Themes) – After leaving ‘The Great British Bake Off’, Sue Perkins has written a book about Victorian baking. Tonight, on April 1st, she is reading at ‘The Bard’, Mike Stamford’s bookstore in central London. It is the exact same spot where John Watson, battered and bruised, had learned all about his magnificent bastard – one Mr. Sherlock Holmes, famous gay crime fiction writer – for the first time. A story about found family, DRAMAtical lesbians, how to react when your boyfriend has a military kink but he doesn't want to act on it, oh, and popping the question. Sequel to 'i read your book, you magnificent bastard'. Part 2 of Magnificent Bastard!AU

The Babadook by CatieBrie (T, 6,886 w., 1 Ch. || Babadook Fusion || Post-TRF, Horror, Demonic Possession, Violence, Halloween, Grief, Angst with Happy Ending) – “A children’s book,” John mutters as he flips it open. The pages are scrawled with beautiful charcoal lines and thick black ink. The cover, bright red, edges the open pages and something tugs at the back of John’s brain. It’s a familiar feeling, black and tarrish and thick in his thoughts. He shakes it off and picks the book up off his bed, turning so that he can sit on the edge and spread the book out across his knees. If it’s in a word or it’s in a look, you can’t get rid of the Babadook. He turns the page, ignoring the pressure building beneath his chest. There’s a closet on one page; paper doors meant to be opened by the reader flutter as John reads the text on the other page.

What To Do With An Atypical Animal Within by HarveyDangerfield  & swimsalot (E, 7,804 w. || Harry Potter AU || Animagus, Porn With A Little Plot, Tail Porn) – Sherlock is determined to be an animagus. But what happens when it isn't a fox or a horse or a dog he's turning into?

The Lonely by elwinglyre (E, 7,888 w., 1 Ch. || Twilight Zone AU || Major Character Death, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Firsts, Sad Ending) – Witness if you will a distant planet with a dungeon made of desert sand and mountain stone. This planet holds one inmate, a man wrongly accused, serving a life sentence. His only solace, his notebook and the thought of the day when the supply ship brings him a pardon. Instead, salvation comes to John Watson in a large box and a visitor from The Twilight Zone.

Friend by esama (G, 7,909 w., 1 Ch. || Harry Potter Crossover || Character Death, Kid Fic) – Sherlock finds the skull when he's five.

Spell It Out by prettysailorsoldier (M, 8,344 w., 1 Ch. || Harry Potter Fusion || Teenlock, Christmas, Love Potion/Spell, Pining Sherlock) – Remaining at Hogwarts over break has become something of a tradition for Sherlock and John, staying behind together ever since their very first year, but, when Irene throws a gift of doctored coconut ice into the mix, plans quickly change, even if John doesn't. Part 6 of 25 Days of Johnlock

The Long Goodbye by elbereth (M, 8,367 w., 1 Ch. || Time Traveller’s Wife AU || Doomed Timelines, Time Travel) – Sherlock travels in time. The ending is known even before they meet, yet they choose to live this love. One of them knows the past, one of them knows the future, yet their deepest secret is safe from each other. Limited time, but unlimited love.

Sugar & Spice by Ttime42 (T, 8,476 w., 1 Ch. || Great British Bake Off AU || First Kiss, Baking) – Sherlock Holmes and John Watson compete on The Great British Bake Off.

Pygmalion by ancientreader (T, 9,136 w., 2, Ch. || Pygmalion AU || Magical Realism) – The spell to turn a statue into an animate being has been illegal in the UK for a hundred and seventy years when the -- body? -- is found on Hampstead Heath. It changes everything.

Am I the Current (Tiger) King of England? by Dee_Laundry (T, 9,360 w., 1 Ch. || Tiger King Fusion || Post-S4, Dreams, Friendship, John’s Sexuality, Sherlock’s Sexuality, Quarantine/CoVID-19, Past Character Death, Mentions of Violence, Mentions of Dom/Sub, First Kiss) – “I had the weirdest dream last night,” John said. Seven times.

I Could Try by Arcwin (T, 9,583 w., 5 Ch. || Greek Mythology Crossover || Post-TRF, Orpheus and Eurydice Myth, POV John, Pining John, BAMF John, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Horror, Angst with Happy Ending) – John is grieving Sherlock's death post Reichenbach until one day, he sees the violin case, and something inside him tells him to pick it up. Crossover between BBC Sherlock and the Greek tragedy Orpehus and Eurydice, wherein Eurydice is killed for her beauty and taken to the Underworld. Orpheus, being the son of Apollo (the God of Music and Medicine) travels to the Underworld to convince (via playing his lyre) Hades and Persephone to let Eurydice go. Orpheus then must travel with Eurydice behind him, not looking back, until they exit to the land of the living.

Puzzlebox by  standbygo (E, 9,867 w., 5 Ch. || Hellraiser Fusion || True Love, Supernatural Elements, Psychological Horror, First Kiss, Post S2, Angst with Happy Ending) – A love story with horror. A horror story with a happy ending.

you are a paradigm by 1electricpirate (M, 10,013 w. || Harry Potter AU || Wizard!John / Muggle!Sherlock, Magic) – Sometimes, only sometimes, when Sherlock is very far away and absolutely guaranteed not to return for at least three hours, John sits on the sofa and lets the tea make itself. In which John is (reluctantly) a wizard, Mycroft is (apparently) omniscient, and Sherlock is (surprisingly) oblivious. Part 1 of More Things Than Are Dreamt Of

Already Gone by johnwatso (M, 10,078 w., 8 Ch. || Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Fusion || Non-Linear Narrative, Memory Loss, Ambiguous / Open Ending) – Dear Mr Greg Lestrade,  Sherlock Holmes has had John Watson erased from his memory. Please never mention their relationship to him again. Thank you, Lacuna Inc.

A Real Deal by toyhto (M, 10,339 w., 1 Ch. || Black Mirror-Inspired ||  Science Fiction, Post-TRF, Canon Divergence) –  Please be real, he thought and pulled Sherlock closer.

You Don't Need Wings to Fly by Laiquilasse (T, 11,326 w., 11 Ch. || Wonderful Life AU || Bullying, Angels, Suicidal Ideation, Christmas) – John, an angel, is sent from Heaven to help a desperate Sherlock Holmes by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.

Backup Copies by etothepii (M, 13,332 w., 3 Ch. || Dollhouse Crossover || Major Character Death) – When John dies, Sherlock doesn't know what to do. But Mycroft does.

Silent Night by khorazir (M, 15,060 w., 1 Ch. || Codebreaker / WWII / Imitation Game-Inspired AU || Care Fic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Dev. Rel., Reunion, PTSD John, Christmas) – It’s Christmas Eve 1944, and Sherlock Holmes has received his most precious gift already: after a long, dangerous deployment, Surgeon Captain John Watson of the Royal Navy has unexpectedly returned from the front. As if this weren’t enough, there’s a case. Both events make for a night full of promise, excitement, and the difficult task of getting reacquainted with the man Sherlock hasn’t seen in three years and feared he’d lost forever. Part 2 of Enigma

In Arduis Fidelis by Raliena (T, 18,628 w., 10 Ch. || GI Joe Crossover || Captivity, Surgery, BAMF John, John “Three Continents” Watson, POV John Watson, Prisoner of War, Cobra - Freeform, soldier John, John-centric, Doctor John Watson, John is a Very Good Doctor, Violence) – Once upon a time John was a Soldier and a Doctor. And he was known John or Doc or Doctor. But things change. And he *earned* his right to the name “Three Continents Watson”. Part 1 of the Three Continents Watson series

Serendipity by Calais_Reno (T, 18,222 w., 3 Ch. || Serendipity Fusion || Christmas, Romance, Coincidences, First Meetings, Misunderstandings, New York City, Fate and Destiny) – A bit of New York Christmas fluff, based on the 2001 movie.

Magnificent by esama (T, 19,477 w., 1 Ch. || Harry Potter Crossover || Crossover Pairing) – The birth of the Ministry of Magic and his relationship with the British Government.

Much Ado About Nothing or Get Over Here and Kiss Me Already! by MorganeUK (NR, 19,847 w., 13 Ch. || Much Ado About Nothing AU || Mutual Pining, Angst, Lestrolly) – AU in modern time where the Holmes' are a powerful noble family, Mycroft is the chief of defences and Sherlock is working for secret service. Lestrade is a high rank officer in the army. Ms Hudson is an old Lady that took care of her niece and nephew Molly and John since their youth. Part 1 of the Sherlock / Shakespeare series

Dead Letter Office by a_different_equation (M, 20,364 w., 15 Ch. || ‘Bartleby’ Fusion / Office Setting AU || Different First Meeting, Epistolary, John's Blog, Angst with a Happy Ending, Pre-Canon, John Watson is Sherlock's Boss, PTSD John, Military Backstory, Writer John, Drug Use, Texting) – John Watson comes home from the war, gets a new job and meets Sherlock Holmes through Mike Stamford. Same tale since 1891, except this time it’s 2008, John is Sherlock’s boss, and they work together at the Dead Letter Office in London. It's not a love story, until it finally is.

When John Met Sherlock by MorganeUK (T, 21,293 w., 10 Ch. || When Harry Met Sally AU || Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Developing Relationship, Faking It, Mutual Pining, Background Lestrolly, Fluff and Smut, Rom-Com) – At first they thought that friendship was impossible. Then meet again and become friends. After dinners, texts, cases and discussions they become more, best friends. Faking orgasm before falling on the floor together to get real one... Then going back to pushing each other away again... Before falling in love!But not necessarily in this order.

You're The One by Mazarin221b (E, 21,768 + w. || WiP || Underage Dirty Dancing Fusion ||  Period Typical Homophobia, Sexism, Angst, Fluff) – John Watson is seventeen years old and has his life planned out: medical school, a commission, and an opportunity to change the world. He just has to get through three weeks at The Copper Beeches - a resort owned by one of his father's patients - with his annoying sister and his perfect parents before he's off to Cambridge. But John has a secret he's trying desperately to keep, and, it seems, so is just about everyone around him, including the incredibly gorgeous and amazing dance teacher, Sherlock Holmes, and his partner Irene Adler. Too bad Jim Moriarty seems to know precisely what everyone is hiding.

Into the Multiverse by AnAnYaH (M, 21,958 w., 18 Ch. || Avengers / Sherlock / Dr. Strange Crossover || Multiverses, Everstrange, Parentlock / Teenage Rosie, Sad Sherlock, Angry Sherlock, Sherlock/John Fight, Magic, Strange John, First Kiss, Whipping, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Threats of Rape / Non-Con, Mental Anguish, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Heavy Angst with Happy Ending) – Nothing lasts forever. I am beginning to think it's the same for you and me. In a world where we don't co-exist how long will it take to finally break us ? Or are we already broken in need of a fix ?A multi-chapter fic where Sherlock and John had to leave their lives to save the world from universal threats and pursue as Doctor Strange and Everett Ross.Will they ever reunite? Part 1 of the Everstrange series

Addicted to a Certain Lifestyle by KatsatheGraceling (M, 22,751 w., 1 Ch. || James Bond Crossover || Bondlock, BAMF John, Assassin John, Q is a Holmes, Clueless Sherlock, Omniscient Mycroft) – The one where John is a BAMF assassin. With an affinity for cuddly warm jumpers.

Impossible Improbable Truth by KaraRenee (M, 24,308 w., 9 Ch. || Labyrinth AU) – John and Sherlock take a case investigating the disappearance of a teenage girl and her toddler half brother. What they find is an impossible adventure that leads them on a journey of discovery of their sexuality.

The Art Of Seduction: A Study In Pulling by flawedamythyst (M, 25,279 w., 1 Ch. || Queer As Folk Inspired AU || John/OMC, Additional Tags to Be Added Upon Reading) – Sherlock ran a website called The Science Of Seduction, on which he gave advice on the best ways to get laid, wrote blog entries detailing the results of his various sexual 'experiments' and generally contributed to the stereotype of 'every gay man is a sex-mad playboy'. John avoided the thing like the plague. AU in which Sherlock treats sex like he does crime in canon. Inspired by Queer As Folk UK, but it very quickly went its own way. Part 1 of The Art Of Seduction

False Advertising by ravenscar (E, 27,722 w. || Office AU / Devil Wears Prada Inspired || Victor Trevor, Flashbacks, Hurt / Comfort, Angst with Happy Ending, Younger John/Older Sherlock, Marriage Proposal) – Sherlock is John’s boss and mentor at an advertising agency. Can they find love in the cut-throat workplace?

A Wizarding Barista's Field Guide to Seducing a Muggle by paradigmfinch (T, 29,344 w., 9 Ch || Harry Potter Coffee Shop AU || Wizard John, Muggle Sherlock, Bisexual John, Flirting, First Dates, Secret Identity) – To help pay for Healing tuition, John Watson gets a job at a coffee shop in Muggle London, where he soon sets his sights on a particularly gorgeous customer. John's seen plenty of Muggle films. How different can it really be to woo a Muggle?

Time Of My Life by fiveainley_ohmy (E, 29,719 w., 8 Ch. || Dirty Dancing Fusion || Bisexual John, Dancing, Gay/Demi Sherlock) – John Watson takes his alcoholic sister to a summer camp in attempt to rehabilitate her. He didn't expect to fall in love with the dance instructor.

Through Dangers Untold by hogwartswitch (E, 32,003 w., 13 Ch. || Labyrinth AU) – The Goblin King has fallen in love with John Watson and visits him in dreams. But the evil wizard who cursed the Goblin King cannot allow that to continue. Will John survive the labyrinth? Or will he become a lost goblin like all the rest?

Unsettled by AxeMeAboutAxinomancy (E, 33,879 w., 10 Ch. || HIs Dark Materials AU || Daemons, Dark Themes, Non-Con) – Sherlock's dæmon hadn't settled. Once John realised that, so much made sense. Though so much else didn't, because it practically wasn't possible. Part 1 of the The Utmost Edge of Hazard series

The Last Companion by standbygo (E, 34,101 w., 14 Ch. || Firefly Fusion || Prostitution, Case Fic, Falling in Love, Angst with Happy Ending, Slow Burn, BAMF John, Discussions of Non Con But Doesn’t Happen) – Thirty years after the Miranda Wars, there is peace, both on the Rim and the Core planets. There are a number of old social mores still in place, such as the Order of Companions, but there is a sense that even such respected practices are coming to an end… Sherlock is a Companion - the best Companion on Persephone. With a bit of detective work on the side, of course. Then he meets a man named John Watson, encounters a series of bizarre cases, and finds his world is getting turned upside down.

The Great Bakerstreet Bake Off by Elphen (M, 38,058 w., 8 Ch. || Great British Bake Off AU || Caring Sherlock, Sweet John, Fluff, Baking, Accidental Touching, Pining, BJ’s, Banter and Bickering, Oblivious Characters) – John has decided to watch The Great British Bake Off this year and he is determined to do so. As Sherlock joins him, he is certain that that plan is ruined. He's in for a surprise when he's allowed to watch it but the real shock comes when Sherlock decides they ought to bake themselves. What's more, they should bake what they make in the Bake Off. John's not so sure it's a good idea but when his insides flutter at the thought, he finds it hard to complain.

Toe to Toe by standbygo (E, 44,971 w., 26 Ch. || White Nights Crossover || Ballet/Dance, Slow Burn, Spies/Secret Agents, Angst with Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, First Kiss/Time, Shower Sex) – Sherlock Holmes is an international ballet star. After a favour for his brother goes south, he finds himself trapped in a foreign country, with a man named John Watson who could be an enemy... or an ally.

Silence by halloa_what_is_this (T, 44,993 w., 13 Ch. || The Piano Fusion || Victorian Sherlock, Dub Con, Voyeurism, Permanent Mutilation, Johniarty, Mute John) – In 1850, John is a mute young man forced to marry to save his father from indebtedness. His sister as his interpreter and his piano to keep him company, he travels to London to live with his husband James Moriarty. Without John's consent, James sells the piano to his friend Sherlock Holmes, who only asks for lessons from John in return. The lessons turn into a power play between the two when Sherlock proposes a deal: John may earn his piano back one key at a time, certain conditions attached. Part 1 of the Aborted Wings series

Crime is of the Essence by K8BNimble (M, 45,569 w., 18 Ch. || Harry Potter Crossover || Mystery, Slash) – When a man he hasn’t seen in almost ten years appears in his home with a man he thought was dead for twenty years, Harry Potter knew his evening had just gotten complicated. Written for Snarry Swap 2011. Named Hot Rec by "The Daily Snitch"1/18/2011. Snarry, past Harry/Sherlock. Long plotty mystery with light graphic slash sex.

Always 1895 by standbygo (E, 45,901 w., 19 Ch. || Oxford Time Travel AU || Time Travel, Friends to Lovers, Case Fic, Victorian, Period-Typical Homophobia, Pining, First Kiss/Time, First Meetings, Slow Burn, Angst With Happy Ending) – Time travelling historian John Watson goes to Victorian era England to study, and meets detective Sherlock Holmes. He finds himself torn between the work he was sent to do, the exciting life of solving crimes, and the extraordinary Holmes himself.

Curled (A Tangled AU) by crimsonwinter (G, 46,330 w., 13 Ch. || Tangled AU || Alternating POV) – Sherlock lives a limited life, high in a tower, and all he's wanted in eighteen years of isolation is to someday break free and see the floating lights. Somehow, a string of events leads him to John Watson, a surprisingly kind thief who steals his heart. Will they escape the selfish advances of Moriarty, Sherlock's paternal guardian, and will Sherlock find the meaning behind the silver lanterns?

The Boy Who Balanced on the Train Tracks by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (E, 54,894 w., 5 Ch. || Harry Potter Crossover || John/Snape, Period Typical Homophobia, Character Death, Underage Sexual Attraction, Sexual Awakening, Time Turner, First Time, Poverty, Domestic Abuse, Death Eaters, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst with Happy / Bittersweet Ending) – Every year, on the 2nd of May, John Watson dreams of long black hair.

Say You’ll Stay With Me by justacookieofacumberbatch (E, 63,349 w., 21 Ch. || Pretty Woman Fusion || Prostitution) – It was just supposed to be an ordinary business trip, but when John’s car stalls out on Hollywood Boulevard, he meets someone who just might change his life.

Whispers in Corners by esama (T, 64,402 w., 10 Ch. || Harry Potter Crossover || Deathly Hallows, Crossover Pairing) – Everything started with a stumble - his new life in a new world as well as his surprisingly successful career as a medium.

Masters of Ink by Indybaggins (E, 67,382 w., 7 Ch. || Ink Master Tattoo TV Show AU || Angst, Banter, Body Modification, Cheating, Desire, Developing Relationship, Disability, Falling in Love, Feels, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Married John, Past Drug Addiction, Pining, Requited Love, Sex, Slow Burn, Smoking, Tattoo Artist John, Tattoo Artist Sherlock) – First-meeting-on-a-reality-show AU, Ink Master edition! There is expert tattooing, slightly less expert flirting, and two men falling hard. But John is married, and they can’t all win.

The Craving in Between by love_in_mind_palace (E, 69,349 w., 16 Ch. || Wedding Planner AU || Infidelity, Romance, Angst with Happy Ending, Misunderstandings, Sexting & Texting, Alternating POV, Mary is Not Nice) – Sherlock Holmes, The wedding Consultant. Picky about his projects and a nightmare to work with. Rejects ninety percent of the couples after just having a look at them and can predict how long a marriage will last. But when unassuming, plain, John Watson reluctantly limps his way in his office, with his more than enthusiastic fiancée, Mary Morstan, instead of dismissing the ill-assorted couple on the spot, he promptly decides that the project, and the groom.. are definitely worth working on.

The Loss of Flesh and Soul by deuxexmycroft (M, 69,712 w., 6/8 Ch. || WiP || Silence of the Lambs Crossover || Serial Killers, One-Sided Relationship) – Five years after John Watson puts the murderous Sherlock Holmes behind bars, a vicious copycat killer emerges. A reluctant John is pulled out of retirement to seek the expertise of the only man who can help, a man who has developed an unsettling obsession with John himself. Part 1 of The Loss of Flesh and Soul

The Vampires of London by consultingdetective (E, 72,660 w., 21 Ch. || Dracula AU || Pining Sherlock, Army Doctor John, Sharing a Bed, Porn With Feelings, Plot Twists) –  Over one hundred years after the first battle, a series of murders have caught the attention of London's police force and Sherlock Holmes. While most of the city has forgotten the vampire that once walked its streets, the descendants of the Van Helsing, Harker, and Seward families have not.

Save Me or Let Me Drown by GubraithianFire (E, 72,986 w., 16 Ch. || Shameless AU || Dysfunctional Family, Alcoholism, Recreational Drug Use, Angst, Humour, Clubbing, Bipolar Disorder, Custody Battle, Mutual Pining, Family Fluff, Smut, Handcuffs, Anal Sex, Shower Sex, Rimming, Come Shot, Angst With Happy Ending) – How Sherlock escaped from his family, John sacrificed everything to his, and how, together, they built their own. Part 1 of the The Watsons series

This Is Your Song by agirlsname (E, 79,990 w., 19 Ch. || Moulin Rouge Fusion || Prostitute Sherlock, Poet John, Acting, Singing, Dancing, Writing, Poetry, Musical, Song Fic, Heavy Angst, Unreliable Narrator, Sherlock is French, Love at First Sight, UST, First Kiss/Time, Frottage, Coming in Pants, Anal Sex, Switchlock, Clothed Sex, Crossdressing, Secret Relationship, Forbidden Love, Jealousy, Terminal Illnesses, Grief/Mourning, Breakup/Makeup Sex, Past Drug Use, Attempted Rape, Canon-Typical Violence)– When John Watson is invalided home from the army in 1895, he moves to Paris to rediscover his writing and find a new meaning in life. His old friend Stamford invites him into a group of artist friends, and suddenly John finds himself auditioning to write a show for the famous brothel across the street. There, he meets the most beautiful man he’s ever seen - Sherlock, the star of the Moulin Rouge. But Sherlock is already promised to the investor of the show, the rich Duke Moriarty.

Sherlock, P.I. by Callie4180 (E, 83,264 w., 11 Ch. || Magnum P.I. Fusion || Past Relationships, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Canon-Typical Violence, Stalking, Creepy Moriarty) – For the Fall TV Sherlock fusion project. Sherlock, P.I. is an American television show that follows the exciting adventures of genius private investigator Sherlock Homes and his friends as they live their lives on the beautiful island of Oahu in Hawaii. Sherlock solves crimes as he wrestles with the ghosts and demons of his past.

Saudade by tunteeton (E, 96,952 w., 30 Ch. || After That Very Much AU || Case Fic, Non-Con Drug Use, Dubious Science, Canon Compliant up to THoB, John’s in Denial, Sub!Sherlock, Fake Non-Con Drug Use, Dom/Sub Relationship, Mutual Masturbation, Oral Sex, Kidnapping, Threatened Torture, Mary is Not Nice, Anal, Fluff, Non-Con Domming, Verbal Abuse, Slapping) – saudade (port.): a deep and melancholy longing for something or someone that is gone and not coming back. Homesickness, an emptiness in one’s soul, a love that remains after the loved one dies. John loses Sherlock, gains Sherlock and learns to never, ever, ever pray. Part 1 of the The Untranslatables series

Rosethorne by suitesamba (M, 98,888 w., 28 Ch. || Secret Garden AU || Injured Sherlock / John, Recovery, First Times, Minor Character Death, Disability, Past Domestic Abuse [Mary/OMC]) – John Watson, WWII army doctor, is injured in the line of duty and can no longer wield a scalpel. Sherlock Holmes, Britain’s best code-breaker, is side-lined by his own devastating injury. In a work inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “The Secret Garden,” the two men must find meaning and purpose in a world which seems to have taken away all they hold most dear. But of course, it really hasn’t.

Cake and Other Sins by  Indybaggins (E, 100,670 w. || Great British Bakeoff AU || Alternate First Meeting, Angst, Baking, Desire, Disability, Incest (Holmescest/Holmescest with John), Masturbation, Falling in Love, Oral, Outdoor Sex, Past Drug Use, Poisoning, Voyeurism) – Sherlock and John meet as competing bakers on The Great British Bake Off. There’s intense baking, lush recipes and enticing food. Mycroft, guilt, past sins in chocolate and gingerbread. And love. That too.

Fallen Through Time by susandwrites (E, 102,040+ w., 39/? Ch. || Outlander Fusion / Victorian AU || WIP || Time Travel, First Meetings, Meet-Cute, Frottage, Blow Jobs, Anal Sex/Fingering, Riding Crops, Rough Sex, Floor Sex, Breath Play, Light BDSM, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Switching, Romance, Sex to Love) – Inspired by my love of Outlander, but not exactly an Outlander AU. Sherlock Holmes, the world's only consulting detective, finds himself in Victorian London while investigating a murder. The first person he meets is Doctor John Watson, formerly of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers and his world is irrevocably altered.

Reichenbach Falls - Déjà vu by VeeTheRee (M, 180,436+ w., 29/303 Ch. || WiP ||Gravity Falls / Multifandom AU || Alternate First Meeting, Gay Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Unilock, Summer Romance/Love, Fluff, Insecure Sherlock, Villain Mary, First Kiss, Slow Burn, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Canadian John, French Canadian Lestrade, Insecure Sherlock, Mystery, Domestic Fluff, Developing Relationship Summer Love, Light Angst, BAMF! John, Case Fic) – Two Canadians, two Brits studying in Canada, and an upkeeper walk into a Mystery Shack…. and live there. Summer holidays are here, and the step-siblings, Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes, find themselves in a boring town called Reichenbach Falls, Oregon, USA. It isn’t as boring as it seems, however, once Sherlock stumbles upon a mystery journal, and the author is unknown. The journal contains ciphers, a strange colour wheel, and information about magical creatures that are said to be looming in the Northwestern forests. With mysteries to solve in hand, he and Irene set out to get to the roots of the town, and the abrupt disappearance of the author of the journal. But they’re not alone - John Watson, quite the handsome nephew of the Mystery Shack owner Greg Lestrade, is on their side to help out, plus mess with Sherlock’s feelings, in a good way. Shenanigans, romance, fun, danger, and deductions ensue. Oh, and there’s also occasional SuperWhoLock and two dorky Winchester brothers to spark up the action later on. Part 1 of the Reichenbach Falls series

To the Sticking Place by blueink3 (E, 121,973 w., 20 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Musical Theatre AU || Showmance, Friends to Lovers, Bickering, UST / RST, Fluff, Virgin Sherlock, BAMF John, New York City / Broadway) – Renowned Shakespearean actor Sherlock Holmes has finally burned all of his bridges in the theatre industry save for his constant director, Greg Lestrade. John Watson has made a name for himself in the musical theatre circuit, but age and injury are working against him. Can they reinvent themselves for an all-male Macbeth without killing one another? Part 1 of the Screw Your Courage series

Bel Canto by bendingsignpost (T, 127,481 w., 16 Ch. || Phantom of the Opera AU || Secret Identity, Sherlock’s Violin, Operas, Aristocracy, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Disguise, Inheritance, Genderqueer Character, Classical Music, Singing) – After years of waiting for wealthy patrons to faint, Dr John Watson discovers a far more interesting patient in the opera house basement.

Welcome to Silent Hill by Cleo2010 (M, 130,227 w., 37 Ch. || Silent Hill Fusion || POV First Person Sherlock, Unrequited Love, Psychological Horror, Violence / Gore, Monsters, Nudity, Drug Use, Harm to Children, Cults, Distressing Imagery, Torture, Death) – John is missing. When Sherlock receives a text summoning him to Silent Hill he's intent on reclaiming his friend but the town has other ideas. Our detective must battle through a world shaped by his own troubled psyche as he uncovers the town's secrets, attempts to find John and hunt down Jim Moriarty. Part 1 of the Welcome to Silent Hill series

Drift Compatible by J_Baillier (E, 130,380 w., 26 Ch. || Pacific Rim Fusion || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Alternate First Meeting, Angst, Family Drama, Accidental Telepathic Voyeurism, Martial Arts, Sci-Fi, Internalised Homophobia, Rubbish Siblings, Army Doctor John, Medical H/C, Bullying, Neurodiversity, PTSD, Drug Use, Depression, Mourning, Adventure, Hurt/Comfort, UST/URT) – A washed out war hero struggling with his past. A prodigy who wants nothing to do with his family legacy. Both are looking for something—and someone—worth fighting for in a world where human civilisation is constantly under threat.

Out There by DiscordantWords (T, 131,695 w., 10 Ch. || X-Files Fusion || Slow Burn, UST, Case Fic, Government Conspiracy, Aliens, UFOs, Mutants, Mutual Pining, First Kiss, Coma) – FBI Special Agent John Watson, medical doctor and army veteran, is assigned to assist eccentric genius Sherlock Holmes with paranormal investigations on the X-Files project.

Omens On Baker Street Series by WorseOmens (NR, 155,294+ w. across 3 works || Series WiP || Sherlock / Good Omens Crossover || Post S4 Sherlock, BAMF Aziraphale, Soft Crowley, Jealous Crowley, Fluff, Angst, General Idiocy, Misunderstandings, Crimes, Humour, Pining, Crimes, Magical Shenanigans, Unlikely Friendships, ?Slow Burn, True Forms, Ineffable Dads, South Downs) – Sherlock and John are no longer the only crime-solving disaster duo in London. After Sherlock unknowingly wrongs a demon, he finds himself with two mysterious rivals in the detective scene. For Crowley and Aziraphale, it's just a bit of fun, but they end up learning more about human nature than they bargained for.

Skeletons by flawedamythyst (T, 174,262 w. across 3 works || Nightmare Before Christmas Fusion ||  Implied Character Death) – Sherlock's refusal to talk about his past hides far more skeletons than John could ever have guessed at. Halloween-esque AU.

In the Deep, Where Dark Things Sleep by HardlyFair (M, 184,979 w., 26 Ch. || Scorpio Races AU || Graphic Violence, 1960′s, Slow Burn, Past Drug Use, Bed Sharing, Water Horses, Folklore, First Kiss/Time, Horror Elements, Vet!John, Protective John, Magical Realism, Horse Racing, Mutual Pining, Angst with Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort) – The closer time crawls to November, the more water horses the Scorpio Sea spits out. The colder Thisby becomes. Sherlock Holmes is an islander - completely surrounded by the water. John Watson, he knows, comes from the mainland and lives for the Races. On the first of November, Sherlock will race. The man holding steady by his side is someone he never expects. A Scorpio Races AU (Maggie Stiefvater), but no knowledge of the book needed.

Rom-com adaptations... Series by MorganeUK (T, 211,229+ w across 8 works || Series WiP || Assorted Crossovers || Rom-Coms, Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Friendship, Additional Tags Per Story) –  Mostly Johnlock with Mystrade or Lestrolly. If you want a movie to be johnlocked, let me know :-) Each story is completely different from the other!

Enigma by khorazir (M, 289,667 w., 23 Ch. || Codebreaker / WWII / Imitation Game-Inspired AU || Case Fic, Espionage, Period-Typical Homophobia / Sexism, Pining Sherlock, Inexperienced / VirginSherlock, Implied / Referenced Drug Use, Non-Graphic Violence) – It’s the autumn of 1941, war is raging in Europe, German U-boats are raiding Allied convoys in the Atlantic, the Luftwaffe is bombing English cities, and the cryptographers at Bletchley Park are working feverishly to decode their enemies' encrypted communications. One should consider this challenge and distraction enough for capricious codebreaker Sherlock Holmes. But the true enigmas are yet waiting to be deciphered: an unbreakable code, a strange murder, and the arrival of Surgeon Captain John H. Watson of the Royal Navy.

Over/Under Series by khorazir (M, 319,561 w. across 5 works || Cabin Pressure Crossover || Post-S2 / Reichenbach, ReunionFriendship, Angst, Humour, Pining, Cycling, Mountains, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Dev. Rel., Case Fic, First Kiss, Pining, Family Issues, Inexperienced Sherlock) – After his Fall, Sherlock travels the world to destroy what remains of James Moriarty's criminal empire. When things don't go according to plan and he finds himself in desperate need of a discreet means of travel, cue MJN Air ...

[otonymous]

Prisoner Of Love (Ikesen Kenshin - NSFW)

Description: Can two victims of circumstance find their way to love? Warnings: NSFW/18+: Explicit/graphic language — reader discretion is advised.  Spoilers for the first half of Kenshin’s MS.  Potential trigger warnings: angst, imprisonment, mild mentions of injuries, self-harm and death, self-loathing, anxiety, possessiveness (it IS Kenshin after all 🤣), slight dub-con elements, profanity, vaginal intercourse, squirting Word Count: ~3100 words (~17 minutes of angst and smut) Author’s Notes: Sending out a super giant thank you to the incredibly kind and gracious @azuchi-princess​ for commissioning this Kenshin piece from me.  I cannot tell you how honoured I am to have been entrusted with writing for your husbando! 🥰💕 It was an absolutely wonderful process working with you, and I’m so glad to have been able to indulge in my need for angst and smut at the same time!

(SPOILER ALERT!) This story takes place shortly after Kenshin has MC (read: YOU!) placed behind bars as his “spoils of war,” but I have taken creative license in altering the events that occur afterwards.  Moreover, the perspective shifts between that of the reader’s and Kenshin’s in the hopes of delivering that optimal punch of angst 👊🏼🤣

Please note the warnings listed above — especially the potential triggers — and avoid this read if anything makes you uncomfortable.  Otherwise, dear readers, I sincerely hope that you enjoy this piece! 💕

Chapter I (Kenshin’s POV)

Betrayal.

Cutting deeper than the sharpest blade.

Unforgiving like Himetsuru-Ichimonji, severing the red string of fate as quickly as it is drawn from its scabbard.

So why was it that Kenshin still couldn’t bring himself to hate her?

Footsteps echoing along stone walls in the bowels of Kasugayama Castle — the very place where he had her cast behind bars — Kenshin wanders, trapped in a hell from which there was no escape.

For the confines of the mind were impervious to even the God of War’s sharpened steel.

And in between each beat of his thunderous heart, he hears her: gentle tears rolling down that delicate face to fall on packed earth, the ground’s inhospitable chill reaching up through limbs to rob even the final vestiges of warmth from bone.  Her every shuddering breath is a weight upon his chest, suffocating until Kenshin clings to the reins of reason holding him back from storming her cell like a madman, animated solely by the fire commanding him to see, to touch…

…to love her.

Hands clenching into tight fists, Kenshin’s knuckles blanch whiter than his already pale skin when he slows to a stop.  Round the corner and there she’ll be.

Woman of the Oda.  The Devil King’s own.

She, who had lied in the same breath that commiserated with him as they waited for Sasuke’s return.  She, whose tears left him dazzled, catching the light of the fire like precious stones even as their salt stung, seeping into his open wounds.  She, who had held his hand within her own, caring not about sullying her perfect skin with his tainted blood.

Because tainted is what he is.  It is what he deserves.

And yet, he can’t help but see the moonlight in her gaze, shimmering like a spectre every time he closes his eyes.  Can’t stop himself from desiring the tender warmth of her smile.  Still wonders at her fearless bravado in the face of a man who brought nothing but death and destruction upon friend and foe alike.

Isehime.

No.

No, he will not see her, Kenshin thinks, gaze frosting over as he wills the ice in his veins to freeze a heart he no longer wanted to feel.  He walks away, forcing himself to believe that the sound of her sorrow growing faint was nothing more than mice in the walls.

Chapter II (Reader’s POV)

Ethereal moons beckon from scrolls depicting each of the four seasons — resplendent colours discordant against the drab stone walls on which they hang.

Cherry blossoms flutter against gold-foil skies; delicate petals frozen in time as they float across a folding screen.

Even the futon in the corner of your cell seemed fit for a princess at court, much more luxurious than the one in which you had slept at Azuchi.

The Dragon of Echigo had took it upon himself to see that his spoils of war would want for nothing, and yet he would deny you the one thing you truly desired:

The man himself.

Sasuke, Shingen and Yukimura would visit — sometimes together, sometimes in turn — graciously sharing their company for which you were so starved.  Your ninja friend swore with as much emotion as he could muster to do anything and everything possible to persuade his lord to release you, or at the very least, agree to see you.  Yukimura couldn’t stop shaking his head, the expression on his face indignant to see you treated thus, ‘boar woman’ though you were.  As for Lord Shingen, he likened you to a bird in a gilded cage, trying to tempt you with offers of freedom and a ready smile on his face that surely would’ve moved any woman to see it…

…any woman but you, that is.

For in your eyes, there was only ever Kenshin — the man who came to your rescue time and time again without knowing your true identity.  Intoxicating like the finest sake, each and every moment spent by his side became a precious embrace of a memory, emblazoned in your mind until it was impossible to forget:

The black cape that flowed from broad shoulders like a powerful wave, trailing behind him that night he saved you from those thugs in Azuchi.  The way your feet dragged behind his footsteps, moving slow just to watch him cut swift through tall grass with all the seasoned grace of a dancer.  His porcelain skin glowing from within as if lit by the light of his own moon.

And in his eyes…sorrow as unfathomable as the sea was deep, rising like smoke from sapphire and emerald in those rare moments the Dragon of Echigo let down his guard.  But alas, no more.

You had broken his trust.

How many nights have you lain awake, seeking out pinprick stars through the sliver of window high above your prison and thinking about how things might have been different?  What if you had disclosed your relationship with the Oda at the very start?  Would the press of the cold steel of his blade be more of a consolation against your neck than the heartbreak spreading from chest to limb every time you lay down to sleep?

Sleep?

No, that was not forthcoming these days — rest a luxury you couldn’t afford until the moment you could face Kenshin for yourself and tell him that you never meant to hurt him, never meant to lie.  That though Nobunaga found you first, you had no ulterior motive in approaching Kenshin other than the fact that you…you…

…simply couldn’t stay away.

No matter what anyone tried to say about him.

For even on the battlefield, every nerve singed as the stench of freshly spilt blood filled your nostrils, you still couldn’t tear your gaze from the one they revered as the God of War.  Like an immortal stepping from an unfurling scroll, Kenshin moved with the fluid grace of a master painter wielding his brush, completely at one with his sword as he dispatched his enemies with a precision that terrified and awed all at once.

And when he held you in his arms that night — the same hand which had claimed countless lives bleeding into your own as you clasped it in prayer for Sasuke’s safe return — you had felt no fear; only the wish that time would stretch into eternity so that you might forever have him near.

“Kenshin.”

You say his name once…twice…the syllables rolling off your tongue to echo down the hallway like a ghost, lonely and forgotten in the dungeons of Kasugayama Castle.  What was freedom to you when you couldn’t bear to break the shackles chaining you to a god who would never look your way again?

Chapter III (Kenshin’s POV)

“Kenshin.”

Her voice halts him in his tracks, one hand shooting out to rest upon the cool stone wall as Kenshin bolsters himself against the sudden weakness in his knees.  When was the last time he heard her speak his name?  Had it always sounded so melodic, caressing up the spine to curl gently upon the lobe of his ear?

That she is calling for him at a time when she should’ve been fast asleep is a source of elation and anxiety all at once, She is thinking of me tempered by the dread in knowing that she wasn’t getting the rest her body needed.  And slowly, slowly…the scales start to tip: if she didn’t sleep, she’d become too exhausted to eat.  And without eating, she would…

…die.

The nightmare would begin anew.  Except this time, it would be her blood on Kenshin’s hands, spilling crimson over the scars left behind by Isehime’s lifeless body.

She’ll slip away from you like the other, the voice in his head chastises, full of malice as darkness begins unfurling from the corners of his mind, tightening the vice in his chest.  They come hard and fast, thoughts tangling one over the other like a labyrinth of vines from which there was no escape:

Poison runs through your veins.  Loving her would only doom the girl to misfortune and regret.

If she is not yours, could you possibly surrender her to anyone else?

You cannot outrun your curse.  All those you hold dear will end up like Isehime: sleeping in the cold earth.

No one must lay eyes on her beauty, witness her elegance, know of the rare flower blooming in the depths of this dungeon.

No one but you.

Fist pulling back, Kenshin releases the full force of his strength in a punch to the wall.  Bruised bone and shredded skin send blistering pain to interrupt the cacophony in his head, silence reigning supreme once more until

“Kenshin?”

…she calls for him again, voice coloured with anticipation this time.  He hears a shuffle, sees her in his mind’s eye — throwing off the covers of her bedding to press against the bars, straining to peek around the wooden slats that kept her from freedom.  Kept her from him.

“Please, Kenshin…is that you?”

He knows not why he does it, body moving before his mind is even aware.  Kenshin had managed to make his way to her cell undetected every night since he put her there, standing silent in shadowy corners just to watch her sleep, allowing the rise and fall of her breath to soothe him with the knowledge that she was still very much alive.  But now, in a single moment of thoughtlessness, he had thrown it all away.

She gasps to finally see him and even the sound of that is beautiful, resonating clear like the note of an expertly plucked koto.  His gaze falls on her tightened grip around the bars, follows the solitary tear gathering starlight as it rolls down her cheek.  And when her eyes widen in horror to look upon the state of his injured hand, Kenshin feels it:

A shift deep within, barely perceptible but wholly significant, like ice cracking beneath the surface of a frozen stream.

And the rush of waters that follows drowns the lovers in a flood from which neither was capable of nor willing to escape.

Chapter IV (Reader’s POV)

Perhaps he really was a god, answering every prayer that ever slipped past noiseless lips to materialize before you in that prison.  His white kimono is pristine beneath that black cloak, as if emphasizing the sanctity of his being, the unalterable distance between Uesugi Kenshin and a mere mortal such as yourself.  But then the rivulets of red run down that swollen hand to tell you otherwise; the revelation bittersweet because maybe now, there was a way for you to be together, complicated though circumstances were.  

So you reach for him through the bars and he complies, watching as you lay kisses upon bruised fingers, feeling the familiar sting of your tears as they seep into wounded flesh and broken hearts — full of sorrow, full of joy…and impossible to stop.

“Push me away.”

His voice is soft for the hard edges of his words.  Head lifting, you meet those striking eyes, focused and still.  Yet, you felt the storm brewing in those blue and green depths, turmoil barely concealed beneath the ice of his gaze.  And there, standing before the man whose very blood stained your lips, you refuse.

Lightning flashes in those eyes and suddenly, his fingers are curling tight about the sleeve of your kimono, Kenshin pulling you close through the bars in one swift motion until the stilted rhythm of his breath is dancing hot over your skin.  

“Say it.  Say you hate me, that you want absolutely nothing to do with me.  Do it now or else—”

“No.  Never.  How could I ever bring myself to hate the one I love—”

The grimace on his handsome face cuts you off, the great Dragon of Echigo trembling at the very word, love, like it was dirty, taboo.  And as the final threads of control slip from his grasp, Kenshin is moving once more without thought — his body a slave to the dictates of the heart.  Yanking on the ring of keys hanging from his tapered waist, Kenshin throws open the door to your cell and in an instant, he is by your side.

“Fine.  Then I’ll make you hate me.”

His whisper is a promise.

The keys clatter as they’re thrown to the ground, but all you could hear was the rush of blood in your ears, deafening with every pounding beat of your heart to feel his lips on yours for the very first time.  The insistent tongue pushing into your mouth carries a hint of sake, the fervour of his kiss leaving you intoxicated and desperate for more.

Long fingers thread through the silk of your hair, Kenshin’s grip gentle yet firm as he angles your head to deepen the kiss, bringing you closer and closer until the end of his exhalation marked the beginning of your next breath.  And hadn’t it always been this way, you forever chasing after the mystery that was this beautifully broken man?  The intensity of his want is a spell that bewitches, inexorably pulling you into the crucible of his desire, passion matching yours flame for burning flame until all else was extinguished.

Good and bad, right or wrong.

Words insignificant like ash in the face of this all-consuming love.

“Hate me,” Kenshin begs, teeth sinking into your lower lip until the taste of your blood mixed with his.  “Please…or else I’ll never give you up.”

Open-mouthed kisses now trailing wet along the column of your neck, your fingers find purchase in his golden hair, pulling hard as you yield to the sensation of his breath moving lower and lower still.  Kenshin groans, the sound resonating from deep within his chest to send a rush of heat that dampens the sacred space between your legs.

Body ready and heart set, your mind had been made up long ago.  So you grasp onto those shoulders — broad and strong — to pull Kenshin up before you.  And in the silent space between the beating of twin hearts, you say with a conviction so strong there could be no doubt,

“I am yours.”

The sound that catches in his throat is guttural, almost feral as those eyes of emerald and sapphire train on you with the intensity of a thousand suns.  A sea of emotions flit across that handsome face, subtly shifting until one finally wins out:

Need.

You barely feel it though it must’ve taken considerable force to tear your obi off, the sumptuous kimono he gifted you with slipping from your shoulders as the God of War sets you upon the futon fit for a princess.  Elegant even in haste, Kenshin disrobes with the grace of snow falling on frost-covered pine, revealing porcelain skin stretched over perfectly sculpted muscle that beckons to your every nerve.

And before the dungeon’s chill could rattle your bones, he gathers you into the heat of his embrace.  Skin to skin, the arms wrapped around you tremble when he whispers, “I’ve wanted you so desperately, I-I don’t think I can hold back.”  

Head falling back onto your pillow, you will Kenshin to see the sincerity, the surrender in the darkened gaze that reflects his very image.

“Then give me everything.  I want…all that you are.”

It tears a breathless gasp from your lips, mouth drawn open in a silent scream when Kenshin fills you to the hilt with a single thrust — the thick, hard heat of his cock testing the limits of your body with its size.  Equally skilled in bed as he was on the battlefield, the God of War is a force to be reckoned with, the swing of his hips graceful even as they connect with yours, ruthless in speed and intensity.

He moves within your body like he belongs, pulling out only to dive even deeper into slick depths until pleasure bloomed pink along your skin, the hardened tips of your breasts so enticing Kenshin couldn’t help but take them into his mouth in greedy turn as he continued thrusting, harder and faster until your legs began to shake.

“Oh god, Kenshin!  You feel…so…good...ahh!—”

Pants and screams echo down darkened corridors, the sound of your pleasure in being taken this way resonating in the corners of every prison cell until you think to bite onto the sleeve of your kimono.  But Kenshin just shakes his head, the sweat of exertion glistening on his body as his fingers move towards your mouth.

“No, I want…hmm…to hear you.  Every sound you make is…precious to me.  Let it out.”  

With that, he removes the embroidered fabric, lips pressing to yours to swallow every licentious moan for himself as he props your legs up against his shoulders.  All of a sudden, like pieces of a puzzle sliding into place, the motion awakens sensations you never before knew existed.

Unable to scream with your lover’s tongue in your mouth, your body responds in the only other way it knew how: convulsing beneath Kenshin until he is forced to pull out, allowing a flood of your arousal to cascade past swollen lips, spilling down the insides of your thighs in a lewd display that wets the bedding beneath your entwined bodies.  And yet,

“More.  Please, Kenshin…I want more…”

…you were insatiable.

The sight, sound and smell of you so undone ignites a fire inside the warlord, his mind scrambled by lust.  And when he slides into you once more, he fucks with absolute abandon, yearning for complete union even as he leaves you breathless to finally spill into your depths.

* * *

You awake to moonlight glowing soft beyond shoji screens and the rhythm of a heartbeat, measured and slow beneath your ear.  The robe you wore was fresh and soft; vague recollections of Kenshin gently caressing your fatigued body with a washcloth filtering in and out of your thoughts.  At some point, he must’ve carried you to his chambers, sleeping now as you were upon his chest.

Lifting your head, you gaze at your lover in repose.  It fills you with affection to see him — heart tightening to bind you to this man.  And as his muscular arm winds about your waist, you knew you would forever be a willing prisoner to his love.

Thank you so much for reading!  Check out more of my work here! 📚

[themadauthorshatter]

It's been forever since I did one of these.

PG-13 Ninjago Pilot Season Episode 3!!!!!!

We start off with Kai walking through Four Weapons on his own, back in his old clothes. There's no one around, but he hears the hammer banging in the blacksmith shop.

Kai jogs in, excitedly calling, "Nya!"

Turns out there's no Nya there. It's Samukai, who throws a pair of knives at Kai and he gets pinned to the wall as Samukai saunters toward him, a third knife in his hand. Kai tries kicking and breaking free, but screams to know where Nya is and what Samukai did to her.

Just as Samukai goes to stab Kai, he's slapped awake.

Yeah, another dream, but it was Jay who woke up Kai, because the new kid slept in and they need to go. Mission today to get the map, so they need to haul ass.

Kai gets up and dresses, still a little drowsy, and asks about breakfast.

No breakfast.

Now that he's waking up for realsies, he has ANOTHER question: how are they getting there?

Cole barks that they're taking the carriage and tells Kai and Jay to hurry the hell up.

Kai jumps up, excitedly asking if they're REALLY taking a carriage, like RIDING IN A CARRIAGE, and Jay gives a small smile and shrug.

And we cut to the ninja pulling a carriage as Wu meditates, Cole in the front with Jay, Zane, and Kai behind him, Kai remarking that when Jay said they were taking a carriage, this was not what he was thinking at all.

Jay chuckles and admits that it at least got him out of bed, right?

Kai groans and changes the topic:

Where and how did Wu find these three?

Cole bites that if it weren't for Wu, the four of them wouldn't be caught dead together. To completely answer Kai's question, though, Wu found Cole twice before Cole decided to go with him; he'd been testing himself physically and got offered the student plan to Wu's spinjitsu academy.

Jay backs Cole's story, even though there are parts he's not saying, which he should say now that they're a team. Cole barks that Jay should focus more on pulling the carriage instead of running his mouth.

Jay groans that he's just trying to help their new brother feel welcome and explains to Kai that he was testing an invention and Wu was there when he crashed.

Before Kai can ask Zane, Wu tells him(Zane) to run and scout ahead.

Zane obeys and parkours out of the carriage, racing ahead of them.

Jay gives it to Kai up-front: they don't know where Zane came from. One day, Wu just left and came back with him. They've tried asking Zane about it, but he's had a seizure every time, and it always leaves him in terrible shape afterwards.

Kai wonders if that's what has him acting so weird, but Wu shouts for them all to stop and hide the carriage.

Kai sighs, glad to not be running anymore, but Jay shushes him as they hide the carriage and hide behind some rocks next to Zane.

In front of them are the caves of despair, having been given the name because of all the randomly falling rocks the Scythe of Quakes causes. Samukai and his army are mining for the weapon, but Wu's old man memory kicks in as he sighs that they're in the wrong spot.

Even so, the team needs to be extremely careful. Not only is the landscape easily disturbed, there are skeletons EVERYWHERE, and a dragon.

Cole's eyes widen as he echoes, "Dragon?" But there's one more thing they need to be careful of:

Kai, who's already raced ahead.

Zane drops his head onto the rock, Cole facepalms and shakes his head, and Jay remarks that that’s one way to get to the map, as he’s just rushing in head first.

New plan: Keep Kai from getting them all killed, THEN get the map and the scythe.

The ninja agree and rush out, Wu staying behind to cause a distraction for the skeletons to make their mission easier.

With Kai, he, quite poorly, sneaks around the skeletons with the rest of the ninja following with much more stealth, even taking down a guard that spots Kai. 

They catch up to Kai on the tower, and Zane smacks him over the head, and contemplates kicking him off before Jay stops him and gestures for him to get the map when Samukai has his back turned. 

Zane does just that, tying a rope to one of his shurikens and using it to get the map. 

He hands it to Cole, who examines the map and confirms what Sensei Wu was saying. The skeletons are digging in the wrong place because they were reading the map upside down, so the weapon is actually of the other side of the caves. 

Kai states that he’s on it and begins leaving, but Cole snags the back of his gi and tells him to hold his horses, unless he wants to get caught and possibly killed. 

Before Kai can protest, the ground shakes, rocking everyone and everything and making the ninja fall off the tower. The rest duck for any kind of cover because it starts raining boulders and no one brought a steel umbrella. Maybe we get a visual gag of Kruncha and Nuckal hiding under the conveyer belt that was being used to mine and Nuckal is gnawing on a doughnut shaped rock he found because he doesn’t want to be turned into bone power. 

The quakes stop and we return to the ninja, Cole sighing as Zane and Jay hug each other, still trembling; Jay just got some anxiety triggered and Zane has never dealt with an earthquake before. 

Kai isn’t reacting because he vanished, having raced to the other side of the caves. 

Cole groans and tells the two scaredy cats to keep up, though Jay groans/cries out for what Kai’s problem is because he’s always in a rush to get himself in trouble. 

Speaking of Kai, we cut to him as he tries to open the stone door to the golden weapon, only stopping when he gets a rock thrown at the back of his head. 

He turns around and sees Zane with another rock at the ready. 

He doesn’t get a chance to throw it because Cole reminds Kai to not run off because, unless he’s forgotten, they’re a team, and whether he likes it or not he’s a part of it, so no more running off and doing things on his own. 

Kai groans that he’s got it and they all get the door open.

The cavern is alight in warm gold and the ground is hella cracked and broken down, all courtesy of the Scythe of Quakes, which rests grip/handle first in the mouth of what looks like a dragon statue, one that’s covered in dirt and sand. 

The ninja are all amazed, and Jay almost shouts that what he’s seeing is very cool, almost because Cole covers his mouth and shushes him before he can be heard by anyone outside. 

Kai goes to grab it, but Zane pulls him back and hands him a blanket to use to grab the scythe with; these things are sometimes too powerful for mortal hands, so best to be safe than sorry. 

Kai wraps the blanket around the scythe and tries to pull it out of the dragon’s mouth, but find he can’t because it’s too heavy. 

Zane gives it a try and can’t either. 

Jay takes a swing, calling both of them paper handed(which means they’ve never lifted anything heavy like an engine or something like that) as he tries and eats his words. Too heavy. 

With a groan, because the statue looks real as hell, Cole gives it a try. 

And the scythe slides out easy as a knife through cake. 

Some magic energy stuff swirls around Cole and causes the ground to shake one last time, just a gentle little quiver, and then finally stop. 

Cole gets down and looks down at the weapon with wide eyes, Jay asking what all of that was Cole shakes his head, but doesn’t think on it, because they need to get back to Wu.

Speaking of Wu, he's fighting a hard as he can to defend himself against a bunch of skeletons, some fighting him as their own distraction, the rest leaving to get to the caves.

The ninja all wander through the caves and wonder where the exit is, at until Cole takes the lead and starts to show them the way outside. Jay asks if he used to study caves, but Cole denies it, admitting that caves always freaked him out as a kid.

He ends up leading them back to the room the weapon was stored in and notice the statue is gone.

Kai's equal parts annoyed at being led in a circle and confused at the statue vanished, offering that it crumbled into sand.

No time for theories because they come face to face with Samukai and the rest of the skeleton army.

ACTION TIME!!

The ninja all jump into action, fighting the skeletons while defending the weapon. Despite doing well, they still get beaten., even Kai, but he's new, so it's forgiven.

Jay, however, is thrown against the wall and slumps to the ground as skeletons surround him. His vision is blurry, but he also seems flashes of blue lightning. His body recharges and he stands lokking down at his feet as he does a circle with one foot and continues to spin with the momentum.

Cole sucker punches Kruncha away, which sends him FLYING, and races over to Jay to try helping him.

No need, because we and the other ninja are Jay is spinjitsu- ing and knocking away skeletons.

The ninja are surprised, Kai asking how Jay is doing that.

Jay calls back in his spinjitsu mode that he just saw lightning and spun with it.

With one more good turn, we transition into an anime-magical girl-esque transformation fully of fun visuals of lightning spiraling up Jay's body and then shooting outward as he plants his feet into the ground. His gi turns blue and the gold emblem turns to the lightning one we see him wear in the original, the storm cloud-looking skull with lightning in place of its teeth.

The skellies back off in fear while the ninja are very impressed and shocked.

Samukai gives no damns and orders his men to kill the ninja and take the scythe.

Zane walks ahead of the ninja and agilities his way to the skellies, spinning with the snowflakes he sees.

It also transitions into Zane's transformation, where he lands back first in snow and ice covered water. We follow him in the water as he falls upside down, though the camera turns until he's right way up. The dark water becomes lighter as snow or ice whirls around him starting from his ankles to his head. He keeps rising until he breaks through ice, revealing that his gi is now white and his emblem is the same as the show version, the ice sharp/snowflake looking wolf/dragon.

Zane spinjitsus the skeletons as well, even tag teaming with Jay, who smiles and laughs while Zane smiles with his eyes.

While he holds the Scythe of Quakes, Cole and Kai struggle with the skeletons. Jay and Zane are too busy beyblading to notice, but, out of options as Kai is almost knocked unconscious, Cole takes the scythe out of the blanket and slams it into the ground handle first.

The ground shakes and cracks even more. The skeletons are blasted back and Cole's transformation happens.

The earth aroind him rises over him ant then breaks.

... Same black gi, but at least he has his earth emblem now, the earth/stone-esque stone/mask. And he has orange eyes, which are a subtle hint to his true potential. While everyone's stunned, Kai spots Samukai and charges toward him, shouting his name.

Skeleton archers shoot at Kai, but he turns, once, twice, thrice, many times, flames growing around him as his own spinjitsu begins to work.

We dive into the flames and see Kai running, literally catching fire on his gi and causing it to burn, the black turning red. His emblem to the flaming lion.

The arrows meant to pepper him do nothing and Kai gets out of his sponjitsu out with sword drawn.

Samukai, always ready for a round 2, draws his knives.

The two clash, Kai doing much better than he did in Four Weapons, this time being on the offensive while Samukai is left simply blocking him as much as he can while Kai demends to kniw where Nya is and what was done to her.

The other ninja do much better as well, Cole alternating between his normal scythe and the golden scythe, Zane getting higher jumps and better agility, and Jay going much faster than he usually does, circling around a group of skeletons and then running at and through them once he's going fast enough, to incapacitate them all.

Samukai eventually kicks Kai away and gets gets on the offensive as well, the two semi-evenly matched.

Well, at least until he looks up and behind Kai and pushes him back, slowly backing away.

The other skeletoms do the same and Samukai retreats.

Kai begins to gollow him, but Jay stops him, telling him not to worry because they got the weapon and are one step closer to saving this Nya girl.

Kai supposes so, and the team takes a breather, Cole removing his hood to breathe better and re-wrappong the scythe in the blanket, mentally patting himself on the back for not losing anyine of getting them all killed.

That relief VANISHES when he hears breathing over his a a broken skull falls on his head.

He looks up and his face drops and pales, freezing in place.

The other ninja are too bust boasting to notice, but Zane is using his thinking cap for a second.

Wasn't there supposed to be a dragon guarding the weapon.

They hear a rumble behind them, and Kai turns, telling Cole to be more careful with the scythe.

Jay follows and gasps, Zane doing the mannequin challenge and freezing in a pose.

It was not the scythe that did that, and that statue that moved wasn't a statue.

They just pissed off one of the elemental dragons.

Cole scooches back before slowly rising to his feet, weapon in his hands.

The dragon watches and growls at him even more.

Kai asks what they do and Zane stays frozen, Jay has an even better idea, one of his best ever:

"RUN! RUN LIKE HELL!!!"

The team break for the door, but the dragon is faster and smashes its head against the ground, sending them all back as the ground shakes.

Rocks fall just as they see Wu coming racing toward them, the rocks blocking them off from each other.

The Earthe dragon snarls and circles the entrance, but Cole, using his new, super slick, earth powers, leads them to a tunnel they took earlier.

The dragon gladly follows.

The team sprints away as the dragon races after them, roaring and snarling after them.

Cole looks back and continues running, even shrieking at the fact he's being chased by a real living dragon.

Zane, Jay, and Kai are all panicked as well, Zane screaming, Jay babbling and making random noises, and Kai shouting.

We get a gag of Cole rounding a corner, still shrieking and hilding the golden scythe, followed by Zane, who we hear really use his voice for the first time as he screams/howls, Jay right behind him as he shouts, sorry if this is hard to read for everyone, "WHYISTHEREADRAGON!?SENSEINEVERSAIDANYTHNGABOUTADRAGONSOWHYISTHEREADRAGONINEVERSIGNEDUPFORTHISTHISISNOTOKAYWHATTHEHELLISGOINGONWHYISTHISHAPPENINGIAMNITOKAYWITHTHIS!!!!!!!!!" and Kai finishes the train as he screams and scrambles after them all, shouting for them to wait up.

The dragon rounds the corner as well, shaking the ground as it runs.

They eventually find their way to an exist and leave the caves, though the dragon still follows them out.

Kai, thinking quickly, takes the scythe from Cole and smashes it blade first into the ground, much to everyone's objections.

It shakes the ground and Kai enough to make the dragon retreat and avalanche of rocks to occur(a rock slide?). The ninja are still for a minute before screaming and leaving again, spinjitsu-ing away until they're back near the carriage.

They look back at the carnage and let themselves breathe for real, congratulating each other on a job well done.

That's when they see Wu scowling at them, and he asks what they were thinking.

Kai tries to salvage this operation and shows that they got the scythe.

Wu's glad for that, but they still USED the weapon and almost got themselves killed, expressing disappointment in both Kai and Cole for not thinking before acting.

Cole takes it, because you don't talk back to Sensei Wu, but Kai still defends himself in saying they were surrounded by skeletons and needed a way out, and they got the weapon, so he shouldn't be complaining.

Wu spells it out for them: if they just took the weapon and left, everything would've been fine, but since they used the weapon, they attracted the attention of the dragon, which has been known to attack on sight.

Wu drops ot and commends them for a job well done, upon seeing the weapon for himself, seeing they learned spinjitsu and seeing the map Zane nabbed, and tells the ninja they'll head back to the monastery after a little bit of rest.

The ninja agree, save for Kai, who's staring in disbelief and confusion as Wu pulls Cole aside, the earth ninja explaining what happened in the caves.

Jay walks up to Kai and pats him on the shoulder, advising that Kai really shouldn't talk back to Wu, because the guy could very easily kill him, if he really wanted.

Kai asks how a cool guy like Jay is here with a teacher's pet like Cole and... Zane, who's saying, 'fuck my safety and wellbeing,' and walking and climbing on the rocks that crashed down and almkst killed them all.

Jay shrugs and admits it's something you get used to, but it's worth the time.

Kai politely doibts it and just hopes he can save his sister.

Jay perks up at this, asking if she has a boyfriend, if she likes blue, all that jazz.

Kai grabs him by the collar and pulls him close, growling at him to back off.

Cole pulls Kai off of him, just on time, too, because Zane was sprinting over to dropkick Kai, and warns that they can't be tearing at each other, not when the other three weapons need to be found.

Kai concedes, but adds one more thing they all need to understand:

He'll stay, but only until those weapons and Nya are found. After that, he's gone.

Cole, already done with him, snarls, "Good."

Wu calls them all over and they huddle around the map as Wu informs them that the next weapons are the shurikens of ice, and they're close, but they need a boat and supplies, and need to return to the monastery.

The team agree, and ready themselves with the carriage, Cole and Kai glaring at each other before they leave.

The episode ends with the ninja running to returning to the monastery.